The whole point of starting this blog was to cross something off of my bucket list. I started my bucket list as part of a leadership class I took at Butler, and have been slowly adding to it ever since. When I started this blog in January 2010, I had 132 items on the list and it’s since grown to 181 items. I’m hoping if the list is published on my blog, I’ll remember to update it more frequently. There are some things on the list that I have done in the past, but want to experience again. Check out the “Bucket List” tab at the top of the page. Is there something that’s on your list too? Let’s cross it off together!
January 14, 2012
Adventures in the Kitchen
When it comes to cooking, I am pretty much a disaster. I have gotten A LOT better over the past 2 years, but there is still plenty of room for improvement! The other day, I decided to make Chicken & Spinach Lasagna. I (of course) didn’t have any of the ingredients, but after a trip to Kroger, I was ready to go.
What ingredients do you need? (this recipe serves 8 – I cut it in half and it’s the perfect amount for 2 people)
1 package of lasagna noodles
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
30 oz of Alfredo pasta sauce (Bertolli is my favorite brand)
½ Cup of skim milk
16 oz of part-skim ricotta cheese
1 Egg
Shredded mozzarella cheese
At this point, a normal person would think to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I did not think that far ahead…I did remember to coat the pan with cooking spray.
The “Simple” Directions:
Mix the spinach and the ricotta cheese.
Beat the egg with a wire whisk and then add it into the spinach/ricotta mixture. Stir well to mix.
In another bowl, combine the pasta sauce with the milk. Mix well.
Spread about ½ cup of the pasta sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of the dish.
Place 4 uncooked noodles over the sauce
Spread ½ of the spinach mixture over the noodles
Spread the chicken over the spinach mixture
Place 4 more noodles over the chicken
Pour 1 ½ cups of pasta sauce over the noodles
Spread the remaining spinach mixture over the sauce
Place 4 more noodles over the mixture
Pour the remaining pasta sauce evenly on top
Sprinkle (or in my case add an entire layer) of mozzarella cheese
To Cook:
Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray
Cover the dish tightly with the aluminum foil (spray side down)
Bake for 50 minutes
Remove from oven
Let the dish sit, covered, for 15 minutes
True story ~ About 5 minutes after putting my dish in the oven I realized there was a bowl of chicken sitting on my counter…untouched. Mental head slap…total fail….That night, I served vegetarian lasagna :)
Obviously, the nutritional information will vary based on the ingredients that you use, but mine ended up be about 475 calories per serving (if you remember the chicken).
January 11, 2012
January 8, 2012
Don't Just Set Goals...Achieve Them!
New Year’s Eve – one of my favorite holidays (ok…so they’re all my favorite…whatever). When I was little, my parents would host awesome New Year’s Eve parties and invite all of our family and friends. Euchre tournaments, birthday shenanigans, and lots of noise makers at midnight. So. Much. Fun. Then came high school NYE – staying out past curfew & finally getting to watch the MTV countdown instead of the Dick Clark countdown. It was great.
Now that we’re “twenty somethings,” NYE plans have once again changed dramatically. It’s short & sparkly dresses, pre-gamming & Champaign toasts, dancing & midnight kisses, and not even thinking about changing out of your PJ’s on January 1st. I love it :)
While sitting in the middle of my living room floor with my friends -- inhaling a double cheeseburger, large fry, & jumbo Powerade -- on New Year’s Day, the topic of conversation turned to the usual Jan 1 conversation – New Year’s Resolutions.
 |  |
Run 1,500 miles
Run at least 100 consecutive days (the streak is at 8 as of this afternoon!)
Run a 5K in under 22:00
Run a Marathon
Blog at least once a week
Take the GMAT
Start my MBA
Read 1 book a month (that isn’t titled Cosmo or US Weekly haha)
Cook dinner at least twice a week (something not out of a box or the freezer!)
Clean out the closet in my spare bedroom & my storage unit
January 6, 2012
Best Month of the Year
One day I’ll actually blog exciting things that happen to me in a timely fashion. For now however, I’ll keep you entertained with another previous month recap. December is my favorite month. I’ve already listed a few of the reasons why I love this month, but here come some more! The best idea I ever had was saving up my vacation time and taking off ½ the month of December. One of my favorite December traditions is Friends Christmas aka Ugly Sweater Karaoke Partly. It’s a Christmas Eve Eve tradition that will last until we’re old and gray…or until our livers give out…
I got the best Christmas gift ever when my brother called and told me to pick him up at the airport on Christmas Eve morning. We didn’t think he was going to make it home, but the sneaky kid fooled us all! Lots of happy tears, lots of laughter, lots of food, and lots of gift. Christmas with the Huber family is always a good time.
As per tradition, we spent a lot of Christmas Eve with our scratch offs. Believe it or not…Brittney actually won a couple of dollars this year! She NEVER wins :) Best gift: Garmin Forerunner 410. I’m in love. I get started running and I just don’t want to stop now that I can track my mileage to the 100th of a mile!
Speaking of miles, I ran my 1,000th mile of the year on the 28th. Got that 2011 New Year’s Resolution finished in the nick of time! This year is the first year I’ve actually tracked my daily mileage, mile splits, and race dates & times. I’m super pumped to look back and compare all of my times for 2012. Another fun December adventure – Distillery tours. **Disclaimer: I hate bourbon. I did however, have an absolute blast touring Jim Beam & Markers Mark with two of the most fabulous people I know. If you’ve never been, It’s totally worth the day trip. I could totally win a bourbon trivia contest.
Then came the greatest Holiday of the year – my birthday. I have the greatest family, friends, and co-workers who always take time to make my day so special. After the steaks, red velvet cake, Mexican food, chocolate fondue, margaritas, mystery shots, and cupcakes…It’d probably be best if I didn’t eat again for at least a year. But enough about me….how was your December? |
January 4, 2012
BLOG-IVERSARY
For my loyal readers out there…all 2 of you (hi mom & dad!!!)…I’m really trying to make an effort to blog more frequently. I had great intentions when I started this blog as a New Year’s Resolution last January…but we all know how that goes...I barely got one post written a month there for a while (ok, most of the year).
Seriously though, thanks to everybody who is Keeping Up With Kimberly. I love to write, and my blog is a great place for me to express myself. When I first started the blog, I worried that I wouldn’t have anything interesting to post or that people would think I was wasting my time writing about silly topics. I tried to come up with a list of topics that I had opinions on and thought people would be interested in. There were even a few times when I got half way through writing a blog post and deleted it because I thought it was silly.
Round about November, I realized that I wasn’t writing for my readers (entirely). I was writing for myself. It doesn’t matter if people think I’m writing about silly things…they don’t have to read it. It doesn’t matter if my topics seem trivial to someone else as long as they matter to me. It’s ok if people don’t laugh at my jokes, don’t like my recipes, or think I’m crazy for running, eating as much junk food, or watching as much reality TV as much as I do. I am who I am. I like what I like. I write about what I want to write about.
After that ‘revelation,’ it became so much easier to write. In fact, sometimes I have to tell myself to trim the fat…it’s not a novel, it’s a blog post! I’ve really enjoyed writing my blog posts, especially these past two months. I hope that you enjoyed reading them and that I provided you with lots of giggles, some valuable information, and a few inspirational thoughts over the past year.
So to all of my readers – Thank You & Happy Blog-iversay. Go eat a cupcake to celebrate!
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