New Kitchen!

Sorry this is so late, I'd wanted to show you guys the new Dinner at Christina's kitchen for a few weeks now! But the truth is, it wasn't in any shape to show off!

Little by little we brought in kitchen boxes from the garage, unloaded them, and started the long process of dozens of dishwasher loads to get everything clean. It had all been in storage for 10 months, so I wanted everything washed and shiny before I put it in my new cabinets. My mom even came over and hand-washed a bunch of stuff on her lunch break a couple days.

 

There's still a few random things that I need to find places for- but here's our biggest counter, mostly cleaned off and dishes in the cabinets! 

The center of the kitchen has a huge, huge island. I used to not be a fan of islands, but the island in our old kitchen held the stove top and also had room for stools. I've gotten used to it as a center, social part of a kitchen, so I like that our new kitchen has one too. 

One of my favorite parts of the kitchen is in the island. It has a built in wine fridge. Johnny and I have been debating getting a stand-alone wine fridge for a few years, so it's cool that the decision was already made for us! 

There's the usual fridge, stove, microwave. All in close, easy reach of each other. 

A different angle, same view. To the left of the fridge is the living room. The kitchen and living room are open into each other, like so:

And in that little bay window area is where we have a table for in-kitchen dining. (Right now it's our only table, since the people that bought our Illinois house wanted our dining room set.)

It's a cute little Ikea table and chair set my mom got for us, gently used from a friend for $50. It's normally round, but for this photo we have it extended.

And there you finally have it! The new Dinner at Christina's kitchen where I'll be making, eating, and photographing the food I share from here on out!

Splendid Isolation

Just a proud big sister bragging that Michael has started a blog to share the adventures and overhaul of his home, a 28' sailboat.

He's lived on his boat, Splendid Isolation, for over a year now, with his girlfriend, Claire and their ship cat, Piña.

It's a really cute, funny blog of their life, the work they're doing on the boat, and he also takes and shares great pictures!


There aren't many posts yet, but stop by and tell him Christina sent you :) It's a fun read, I promise!

My Wedding Shoes

Yes, shoes, as in plural.

First, I had these glorious heels. They came from David's Bridal, like my dress. I wore them for all the bridal photos, walking down the aisle, the cocktail hour, and most formal photos.

At the last minute I decided to do the little "I Do" trend at the bottom for some photo ops. I went with bright purple gems, to match my bright purple toenails. The gems were actually strung together, I found them in Wal*Mart's ribbon section, sold by the yard. I asked the girl for 6", so it turned out to be some ridiculous amount like .18¢ and they were a breeze to hot glue on. 

This is me, getting to put the shoes on, as the finishing touch of "getting ready." In case you couldn't tell by my face that I was thrilled, I'm actually squealing in delight. (Sidenote: Johnny's mom chose this photo to be in their parents' album. I love that!)

Before any of the dancing started, I knew I wanted to slip into something comfortable. Since it was a winter wedding, I didn't want to go with the traditional "white flip flops." Besides, why would I wear any other color shoe besides bright green?!

I custom ordered these bad boys from Van's. They cost more than my heels, but I love them and I wear them all the time now that the wedding has passed. Most comfortable shoes I own, as a matter of fact. (Sidenote: I switched to this Target $5 headband once I took off my lengthy veil.)

I cannot tell you how glorious it felt to sit down and kick off the heels and put on these shoes! Brides that wear heels for their entire wedding day definitely deserve an official award ceremony and recognition.

This is my aunt asking me to lift up my dress to show off my shoes. Apparently my grandfather needed visual proof that I, indeed, had bright green sneakers on under my wedding dress.


The Vans even made it into some of our "official" wedding shots.

My Wedding Dress & Veil

Let's do some wedding posts, shall we? It is, after all, the biggest thing that has happened in my life thus far, and the planning and execution of (among other things) is what kept me from the blog for so long!

This is a model in my dress. She clearly didn't rock it to it's full abilities, so I had to show her how it's done.

Consider it rocked, random model. It was an Oleg Cassini and I got it at David's Bridal. Believe it or not, that's off the rack. I was really, really pleased that I didn't have to spend any money on alterations. I was going for the "cheap-as-possible-free-is-even-better-budget" while planning.

The only thing I did to the dress was add beaded straps for $18 because I didn't want to pull my dress up all night (huge pet peeve). Great investment because I felt secure all day and I danced my tush off all night.

Wedding day started with some pictures of the dress, solo:

 

Then it was time for me to get in the dress. This is my cousin, Anne-Marie (aka my Maid of Honor) zipping me up!

After some photos, I realized we had a big static problem. Nothing a little static guard couldn't fix! Thanks for the favor, Anne (I owe ya one)!

Since my dress didn't have a train, I knew I wanted a cathedral length veil to drag behind me. Have you seen the prices on those suckers, though? David's Bridal wanted like $200. For tulle? Not gonna happen.

I found mine on Amazon for $29, even splurged a few more dollars for the fancy, beaded edge to match my $18 beaded spaghetti straps.

This is my brother's girlfriend, Claire, placing the veil ever so lovingly on my head. Claire is a cosmetologist and she did my hair and makeup for the big day. She rocks. I love her, and I love that she played such a huge part in my wedding day and will forever be in the "getting ready" photos with me.

Here's a good "showing off the veil" shot.

And one of us, at the altar fireplace, with the full attire in all its glory.

All professional photos were taken by Alex Kaplan.

Stamp Out Hunger!

It's that time of year again! The past two years I've reminded my readers about the National Association of Letter Carrier's fundraising effort to provide local food banks with food.

This year's pick up is on Saturday, May 12th. Just fill a bag or box with non-perishable food (no glass containers, and no expired food please!) and leave it out by your mailbox. When your mail is delivered, the food will be collected for families in need. Simple, easy, and almost zero effort required!

Just a few facts from their website:

• This is Stamp Out Hunger's 20th anniversary!
• It is the nation's largest single-day food drive. 
• 2011 marked 8 consecutive years that over 70 million pounds of food were collected each year.
• 1 in 8 Americans is currently being served food via Feeding America efforts. 
• As of 2011, 49 million Americans are facing hunger, including 16 million children. 

I really love food. All of us in the food blogging community do. I think hunger is a great charity for our community to back. Every day we create and share healthy, filling meals, and it's easy to take that for granted. It's horrible to think that there are families out there that are unable to do the same. 

Go to your pantries and find an extra box of pasta, an extra carton of oatmeal, a bag of rice, a bottle of salad dressing, or a can of mixed veggies. Any effort will help, no matter how small!

Fancy Sloppy Joe (aka Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich)

Ok, really, this started out as Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich, compliments of Pioneer Woman. But, I took so many liberties with it, it's pretty much a different sandwich. Both Johnny and I thought it was very sloppy Joe-esque, but fancy, so thus- a new name was born!

2 small yellow onions, sliced
1.5-2 lbs. cubed steak
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp grill-style seasoning of choice
1/4 cup barbeque sauce of choice
toast, bread, buns

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the oil and butter, and add the sliced onions. Let them cook a few minutes until softened and slightly brown. Remove from the pan, and set aside. While the onions are cooking, slice the cubed steak against the grain into about 1" strips.

Add the second Tbsp of oil to the same skillet, and add the cubed steak strips. Let the meat sit for a few minutes to brown. Stir, then add the pepper and grill seasoning. Most seasonings contain salt, so be careful not to double-salt the dish. I used .. wait for it, wait for it ... Cowboy Blend! Ahh-ha! On Marlboro Man's Sandwich? Get it?

Once the meat is browned all over, pour in the barbeque sauce and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions back in, and let everything simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to come together. Taste and adjust seasonings.

I dry toasted bread (some dummy forgot the rolls) on our panini press to give it more strength to hold the sandwich. But you could use any of your favorite breads, rolls, toast, etc. to make the sandwich with.

Spoon the meat mixture onto the sandwich, making sure to get some of the yummy juice. Enjoy! Be careful, those little onion ribbons are hot! (Says the girl with the burnt roof of the mouth.)

My Fitness Pal

If you have an iPhone, or hang around people that are somewhat health-conscious, chances are you've heard of My Fitness Pal.

It's an app that allows you to track your calories and meals conveniently on your phone. You can also use it on a desktop (and see progress charts and graphs), but it's the app features that made me fall in love, and have me using it regularly.

First, it has you enter your height, weight, goal weight, age, and sex. You can also select how many pounds you want to lose per week, or if you want to just maintain your current weight. It will then calculate your daily calorie allowance based on this information. I'm assuming because I'm short and I want to lose 20 pounds at a rate of 2 pounds per week, my magic number is 1200 calories per day.

The first few days were miserable for me. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've gained double digits since the wedding and gotten hooked on meals that are handed to me through a window or served in a little cardboard microwave tray. It was a hard adjustment to go from over 2,000 calories of junk to 1200 calories. But, I went shopping, I planned ahead, and I found my groove. I'm now able to meet my calorie goal, and satiate myself on healthy, filling, nutritious meals.

One of my absolute favorite parts about this app is the ability to scan your food labels. I actually have a tattered, worn copy of a calorie counting book my mom gave me that she used to use. It lists major food companies and their label contents. I tried this and lasted maybe a meal or two in a journal. I suck at math, so trying to read the labels or websites and calculate by the serving size didn't work either. With My Fitness Pal, you scan the bar code of the product, it lets you select the serving size or amount, and when you hit "Add" the math is done for you and it's magically added to your day! (Please note: candy used as just an example, I haven't eaten it ...yet!)

You can also add recipes the same way, then let the app know how many it serves, and just select the meal and your serving size and the information is magically added! All of these food entries are saved, so you only need to do it once. So those peanut butter Cheerios I ate for breakfast? I can just tap on them, entering them with one magic touch of my finger next time I eat them- be it tomorrow or next Thursday!

The other awesome thing about My Fitness Pal is tracking your exercise. Of course, the calories burned is an estimate most of the time, but it's still helpful to see. It records them as calories "earned" and they are added to your daily calorie allowance. You already know that my calorie number for the day is 1200. So, let's say I walk the dog at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, I've "earned" 107 calories- taking my daily allowance up to 1307 calories.

Seeing calories so simply displayed this way - as a "fuel" (essentially what they are, for your body) is really eye opening and helpful. My cousin and I are probably using the whole system backwards. We actually see what we can eat, based on how much we move our asses. Almost like bartering with calories, or earning extra sides with dinner. But hey- whatever way you can find motivation, right?

Which brings me to the last great part- it lets you add friends! I currently have 5 friends added (including Mara) and they're great at congratulating my good days and offering support for moments when I'm frustrated. With or without adding friends, you have the ability to keep all of your information private and viewable for only your eyes.

So, why all this talk about My Fitness Pal? Well, to be honest- I'm really enjoying it. It's something I've found that works for me, I've already seen results on the scale, and it's free. I hope to "check-in" here periodically to hold myself accountable. I'm going to add a progress badge on the side so you can follow along also!