Slow-cooked Spaghetti Sauce

After a recent trip to Costco, Jake and I accumulated a GIANT can of crushed tomatoes. We bought it to use on homemade pizza, but ended up with a ridiculous amount leftover. (Side note: I dont even like tomatoes). This giant jar was taking over our refrigerator and didnt leave much room for our new wine from Trader Joe's! Ugh. Jake's friends even came over and gave him a hard time about this huge can of non-sense.

So, I was finally fed up until I had a brilliant idea while I was in the shower (where all of my good ideas happen) at 9pm. Let's use our crock pot, which I hate and we never use, to make an even more ridiculous amount of spaghetti sauce! Yeah good idea! So I dragged Jake into the kitchen to start chopping! It made me think of my grandma, who makes her own sauce over the course of 3 days! Since it takes so long, she makes a huge, huge pot of it and freezes what she doesn't immediately use. I found a recipe online that took 9 hours. I didnt want to go the 3 day route because leaving the crock pot on while I'm at work just freaks me out. I would have visions in my head all day long of my house burning down. Not worth it!

The recipe I found is as follows:

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 large (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 small (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 cup of dry red wine
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon of dried basil
salt to taste
1 tablespoon sugar

Lightly brown garlic and green pepper in 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy frying pan on the stove. Transfer to crockpot. Add tomatoes, puree, red wine, oregano, basil, salt and sugar.Stir well and cover. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours and serve over pasta with Italian bread and more grated Romano.

We didnt use tomato paste because we didnt have any and I added some turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's. We ate the sauce with TJ's gnocchi last night and I froze the rest. (sorry, I didnt take pictures) It turned out really well, but I think the recipe could have used some onions instead of bell peppers. And that stupid crock pot is a you know what to clean!

Shreadmill Round 2!!

I took the Shreadmill class again today at the gym and I must say, I did much better this time around. I think I paced myself better because I knew what to expect. I forgot to look at how many miles I ran, but I think it is close to my goal of 5 miles. I think I might even go on Thursday to Kimball's next class. This progress is addicting!!!

Stay tuned for my next post on slow cooked, homemade spaghetti sauce!

Blog Stalking

I am an admitted Blog Stalker and I've spent most of this morning visiting some random blogs I found. I've been in kind of a crappy mood lately and some of this cheery writing has helped me out of my funk.

First up....The Newlywed Next Door. http://www.newlywedsnextdoor.com/
What I love: Her turquoise designs and the fact that she's a fellow Trojan!
Favorite post so far: Her honeymoon post. The hotel looks absolutely amazing! http://www.newlywedsnextdoor.com/2009/06/honeymoon-memories-part-two.html


I followed a link from that site to the Misadventures of a Newlywed. http://www.misadventuresofanewlywed.com/
What I love: Her Menu Mondays and quirky posts (like holy boobs, batman).
Favorite post so far: Anything under Menu Mondays. I want to try some of these recipes.

Mrs. Newlywed then lead me to Mindy Locakrd's blog. She is an etiquette consultant who has some really interesting tips. http://mindylockard.com/blog/
What I love: She pulls out all the stops and blogs about all on angles of a topic. For instance, her Taste Series has 4 or 5 topics.
Favorite post so far: Wedding Anniversary gift post. I never knew each anniversary year had a specific gift tradition.

All of these women are so inspiring to me. I'm new to the whole blogging universe, so they have really opened my eyes to what blogging can bring out in a person. My personal goals for my blog include letting out my feelings, documenting my life and sharing my experiences with others. I think by reading others thoughts, you can gain insight on what others would do in a similar situation or how they handle certain life situations. Besides, blogging and stalking is so much fun!
Happy Friday everyone!

Adulthood Stress

You know the phrase, "You always want what you cant have?" Well I've been having those thoughts lately. How I long to be a kid again and have no real responsibilities. I used to think being an adult would be so cool. I could stay up late, eat ice cream for dinner and basically do whatever the h*** I wanted. Now, I'm sitting at work in my cubicle longing for the days when my biggest stress was finishing my homework to go play outside with my friends.

When I was younger, my parents would talk about paying their mortgage or buying home-owners insurance and I thought it was another language. I remember thinking, "How do adults know all of this stuff?" I couldnt even imagine a time when I would get to the point in my life where using these terms in my everyday vocabulary was normal. These days, all I hear about are mortgage payments, credit default swaps, lay offs, and gas prices. It makes me long for the days when I had no clue what all of this was, nor did any one think less of me for not knowing. I guess I've grown up, which is a really scary thought.

Things I dont like about being an adult:
1. Getting bills in the mail. I used to think getting something in the mail was really awesome because whenever I did, it was usually a holiday card with money in it or something equally as cool. Now I just get electricity and cable bills. Not so glamorous!

2. Paying for stupid stuff like gas, insurance, car repairs, rent, and groceries. This is all stuff that I HATE paying for. I feel like I am throwing away my money on things I will not have in the future (I would prefer my whole paycheck to go to clothes, but that is a fantasyland, I know.) I also really hate cars and any money I put into them. My car battery just died a couple months ago and I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, "I HATE CARS!" But I stalled in a busy parking lot and I dont think any one would have helped me if I did that.

3. Having a full time job. Dont get me wrong, I am EXTREMELY thankful I have a great job during these tough economic times. I feel for the many people who have lost their jobs in the past year or so. However, even if the economy was booming, I dont think I would enjoy sitting in my cubicle 40 hours per week. Especially since its summer. I cant stand being indoors when the weather is so nice. Not to mention, my office is like an icebox and I have to dress in winter wear everyday. I walk outside and sweat all the way to my car. Not so fun!

4. Stressing out about things that shouldnt stress me out because I have little time to live my life. Traffic was nasty yesterday and I'm even stressing on booking our trip to Australia this November (so excited!). I mean seriously, I wish I could have been sitting in the back seat of my moms car yesterday reading a book like I used to do instead of driving on the 55. It took me over an hour to get home and I left the office a half hour early! UGH! And I dont even have the time to book our fabulous Australia trip. We have the flights covered and some of the hotels, but we still need a serious planning session to happen.

So after my freak out session on the freeway yesterday (which resulted in my calling Jake at least 3 times and screaming, "I WANT TO MURDER SOMEONE!"), I realized I needed to calm down, take some deep breathes, and realize what I am thankful for.

I am thankful in my "adult" life for:
1. My health
2. My boyfriend, friends and family and their health
3. Having a job
4. Having basic necessities to survive
5. Being able to help others
6. Living a pretty comfortable life by most people's standards

So.......today's goal: Dont sweat the small stuff!
Holy long post. Sorry!

Today is My Half Birthday

Ok, I know I'm lame, but I lit-rally said to Jake last night, "Do you know what tomorrow is?" He said, "No, what?" I told him it's my half birthday and he looked at me like I was nuts! Anywho, I think its a pretty big deal that I'm almost 25. So I thought I would put together a list of the things I would ask for on my birthday (like anyone seriously gets presents on their half birthday. haha)

1. A massage.

2. A new gym bag. Mine is old and falling apart. I love this Lululemon one, but its very spensive.

3. Jennifer Anniston's arms. Ok, I know you cant get that for your birthday, but I can dream!

4. JCrew lovlies. I got their catalog yesterday in the mail and I had to throw it away immediately before I did any more damage to my poor credit card.

5. Sprinkles cupcakes.....mmmm mmm

6. $80k to pay off my student loans! Thank you!

Happy Half Birthday to me!

Done and Done!

Ok so......SHREADMILL wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. It was challenging none the less, but I wish I would have started this beast a long time ago. I felt great afterward although, I think I am still sweating up here in my cubicle.

The class started out with a 5 minute warm up at your own pace. Then Kimball, the instructor, told us this class was going to be about "funky hills." I guess this is a new running term, but I wasnt going to question this woman. She means serious business. She said the inclines would build up to level 12 and then slowly come down. We did this about 3 times. It was VERY challenging. I have never done interval training and these hills were absolute torture. I felt like I was going to throw up on the last one. Not to mention, I went with my co-worker Grey, who is a Shreadmill Rockstar. She goes every Tuesday and Thursday and has the best body ever! She was going up those hills at 9 mph while I was only at 6. I felt like a wimp, but I knew I couldnt tire out in the beginning.

The next couple minutes of the class were speed drills. She told us to run for 1 minute at our second highest speed and then 30 seconds at the fastest speed we could. I like the speed drills a lot because we were only at a 1% incline. I increased my speed every speed drill, so I was pretty happy with that. My last speed was 8.5 mph. Rockstar Grey was at 11 mph, so yeah, I have a long way to go. The last section of the class was what Kimball calls "the finish line." She wants you to finish strong and fast, so I basically died through the last 5 minutes.

I will definitely be taking this class again because I want to improve my endurance on the hills. I walked a couple of times in between the hills, so I want to eliminate the walking and keep my speed steady. I also want to work up to 5 miles throughout the entire class. I ran 4.5 miles today and Grey was over 5 miles. I think 5 miles is a good goal for the next class. I'll post an update about that for sure!

So now I'm back at work (sort of) and eating my delicious fruit Tuesday treats! I feel energized and ready to conquer the next couple of hours. :)

Shreadmill

I am fortunate to be able to do my daily (almost) work outs on my lunch break. The bottom floor of our office building is a gym, so I usually mosey on down there around 11:15 to work out for about 45 minutes. I am showered and back up to the office within an hour. It helps me break up my day and give me energy for the afternoon. Its absolutely wonderful!

So today I have decided to tackle the behemoth that is SHREADMILL! This is a class that is taught during lunch time on the treadmill. It is basically interval training for 45 freakin' minutes and it has always scared me half to death. Every week I tell myself, "Ok, this is the week I will try this class." Then I get down to the gym and wimp out. I dont know what it is about this class that freaks me out, but I always chicken out. The instructor is this muscle of a woman, seriously, she is one giant muscle. She stands in front of the treadmills and just screams at you the entire class, or at least that is how it seems to me. And...the people with the most perfect bodies ever take this class. I have always had this fear that I would sign up for the class, get on the treadmill and the other people would look at me like I was nuts for even trying.

My tipping point came when all of our new summer interns started at work a couple of weeks ago. There are 3 or 4 girls in particular that just went downstairs and took shreadmill the first day! My immediate thought was, "OH NO THEY DIDNT!" This class has freaked me out for the past 2 years and these girls jump right in on there first day??! WTH? So, today is my day. I will come back after the class to update you on my experience....unless of course I pass out and have to be rushed to the nearest hospital! Wish me luck!

Worst Blogger EVER!!

I know, I know. Its been quite awhile since my last blog post and I really have no other excuse than the age-old ......"I've been busy." So apologies to anyone who is actually reading this.



So to catch up, I'll re-cap a little of what has kept me away. Jake and I went down to San Diego to stay with some friends for 4th of July. We got to take Jake's sweet rental car that we affectionately car the "Mini Mini" because it seriously looks like a mini version of a mini van. We stayed with one of Jake's oldest friends in Pacific Beach. The day was really fun and I feel like we did it all! Walked to breakfast and had huge pitchers of mimosas. BBQ lunch with the neighbors. Laid out on the beach. Went to a few bars. BBQ dinner and then climbed the neighbors' roof to watch fireworks! The fireworks were hands down the best part of the day. We could see at least 5 different shows from the roof, although getting down from there was not too graceful on my part :)

This past weekend we went to our good friends' river house in Blythe (and got to drive the "Mini Mini again). It is honestly one of the most relaxing and fun places I can think of. Its not your typical Havasu party house. Trust me, there is plenty of partying. But this place is different. More of a roughing it type of feel with nature all around you. I just love getting to spend quality time with my friends and not have to worry about anything except what bathing suit I'll be wearing that day:) Jake and I even got daring and decided at the last minute to go there 1 day earlier. We have never gone up on a Thursday night, but I'm so glad we did because work was seriously stressing me out last week. This weekend was a much needed escape from life at home. I have my last CPA test hanging over my head that I will be taking exactly 3 weeks from today. So.......this means probably no more trips for Cheryl for at least 3 more weekends :(

I have also been busy with an organization that Jake and I belong to called the Newport Jaycees. It is a young professionals club that hosts mixers and events to gain valuable business contacts as well as doing community development events and charitable fundraisers. Jake joined before me and he sits on the board as VP of Community Development. The girl that serves under Jake as Director of CD was just accepted to Georgetown and has left the area, so now I have stepped up and took on some of her responsibilities. I have to attend the board meetings twice a month and plan some more events with Jake now. We have already scheduled a Back Bay Clean Up, which I have already chaired before, and a donation drive to the USO for our troops overseas. I would like to get an event going for Rebuilding Together (kind of like Habitat for Humanity) and do something possibly with the Alzheimers Association, since I'm already a member. I really hope we can keep the Community Development portfolio going strong through the second half of 2009 because I love doing all of these volunteer events!

Other than that, I feel like I have been running around like a mad women these past few weeks. I look forward to getting my studying done and relaxing the rest of the summer, thats for sure!!!