Ari, Author at Ari's Menu

Easy and Delicious

October 23, 2011 · by Ari ·

Last night I had big plans of all sorts of recipes I wanted to try for dinner, but by the time evening rolled around I was super exhausted. I decided to just put some things together and hope it worked out. After scanning the house, I picked a package of frozen butternut squash ravioli and a bag of kale and decided we were having ravioli and kale chips. I drizzled the kale with about 1 tbs of olive oil, sprayed some fakey no calorie cooking spray (yeah, I’m classy) added freshly ground salt and garlic pepper, and some sriracha and baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about kale chips and they totally delivered! Yummmm. Salty/crunchy craving satisfied!

To dress the raviolis, after cooking and draining

I added about 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 tbs goat cheese, and 1/2 tsp fig butter. I figured it could go a million different ways, but I love all of those things separately so I would probably love them together.

It was the perfect easy and delicious dinner. Oh my gosh, it was so so delicious. I would make it again and again and again! We ate our dinner on the couch watching the end of Project Runway and then starting to watch Bride’smaids. While we were watching, this happened

Winston seriously laid on top of Clementine like that for a good 10 minutes as if he had conquered her. He didn’t want to let her up, but after being content laying underneath him for a while, she got squirmy and wiggled her way out. I love these crazy puppies.

Hermano’s Piano Recital

October 22, 2011 · by Ari ·

Today Mi Hermano performed in his ninth piano recital. Oh my gosh, he was AMAZING!! He played this ridiculously hard Beethoven piece and then two fabulous Coldplay pieces (Christmas Lights was my fav I think) and then together we performed Adele’s Turning Tables. I don’t know what my problem was, but I got so nervous! I just don’t sing that often anymore, and I hated everything about my performance, so no I will not be sharing that part. But I will share his amazingness, so you will get the good stuff 🙂

We got to his house a little early to practice and Steve got right to playing photographer. I was actually trying to give him the evil eye at this moment, but apparently my evil eye needs some work 😉

One of the very few pictures of myself that I actually really like. I’m actually looking forward to getting some free head shots out of him here soon! I also love this one.

Cindy (Hermano’s mom)

After the recital, Steve really wanted to get some good pics with my grandma. She is 88 years old which I feel like is a pretty amazing accomplishment–is it weird that I consider old age an accomplishment? Anyway, at the risk of sounding morbid, at 88 you never know what will happen tomorrow so we wanted to get some good photos in.

That’s my dad. He’s a little nutty, but I love him.

Here is the super challenging Beethoven piece he played. Steve is working on uploading the rest on his youtube channel

Opening Night: Aladdin!

October 22, 2011 · by Ari ·

There are few things more exciting to us theatre peeps than OPENING NIGHT! The night when all the weeks of hard work leading up to the show becomes worth it and you get to celebrate your success (or drink away your sorrows–depending on how it goes). Luckily, between the dream team of Jodie, Tasha, John Luke and I, and the cast of amazing talented kiddos we have, it was definitely a night to celebrate. An other fun thing about opening night? You get all dressed up and fancy and sometimes you get presents! I got lovely cards and gifts from Tasha and Jodie that totally made my night! Tasha even baked for the first time ever and her brownies were aaaaamazing.

When we arrived, Tasha had already reserved our usual rehearsal viewing spots in our viewing order, plus places for our guests. This is Tasha. She was my assistant choreographer and she is absolutely fantastic. I love her and I was SOOOO lucky to have her through this process!

I was lucky to have so many people in the audience for opening night! Steve, Mi Hermano, my dad, and Steve’s mom, grandma and sister. Steve got some pretty amazing photos during the show!

The band lead by the fabulous John Luke!

Arabian Nights

Jafar and Iago

Friend Like Me

Carpet Ride

Villains! You can’t tell, but Iago is pecking at Jafar’s staff. It is hilarious. One of my fav parts of the show!

A Whole New World

Awwwwwww!

All in all, the show went great. Especially the kids, they really stepped it up and rocked it out! I really love this cast!!

After the show, one of my favorite little ones gave me a sunflower out of the flower boquet her parents had given her–soooo sweet! I almost cried. After congratulating the kiddos, Steve, Jacob, Jodie and her fam, Tasha, John Luke and his partner Alex went out to a Mexi restaurant in old town Scottsdale that I still don’t know the name of haha. When we entered I literally squealed in excitement when I noticed the skinny margarita was on special! I LOVE margs, but refuse to get full sugar ones–not worth it! So the fact that they had a skinny one and it was on special?! Heck, yes!

The artistic dream team: Tasha (Assistant Choreographer), Me, John Luke (Musical Director), and Jodie (Director)

We had a super fun night. I especially enjoyed getting to meet Alex, and getting to hang out with some of my fav peeps! And lastly, of course we couldn’t leave without riding the burro…

Aladdin runs until next Sunday. Come out and see it–super funny and enjoyable 🙂

Everything Oatmeal Cookies

October 22, 2011 · by Ari ·

Ok, here (finally) are the cookies I’ve been promising since my rest day turned into baking day!

Everything Oatmeal Cookies

yield a whole bunch, like 60+

2 large over ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups Koala Crisp (or other puffed rice cereal)
1 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
1/3 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened–feel free to be healthier than me and use unsweetened)
1/2 cup unsweetened dried cherries

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375

2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

3) In a large bowl, beat together banana, sugars, egg whites, and extracts.

4) Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix until combined.

5) Gently fold in cereal, chocolate chips, coconut and cherries.

6) Bake for 9-11 minutes until slightly golden and just barely set.

7) Let sit for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!!

My 100th Post!!!

October 21, 2011 · by Ari ·

HOORAY!!!! This is officially my 100th post since I moved on over to wordpress and my own domain. I started the Skinnified blog a long time ago, but it has only been the last 2 months or so that I began to take blogging seriously and told Steve “I want my blog to be something. I want to inspire people and I want to change people’s lives.” I have no idea if anyone other than me actually gets anything out of this thing, but I get a LOT out of it, so that’s something 🙂 Today I got up in the dark again for my long run. Kara met me at my house @ 6:15 and we set off. The first mile, I was really slow. I think I was nervous and trying to pace myself, but seriously I was like a snail, but we picked up on mile 2 and ended up finishing our 6 miles in 1:03.

When I decided to run the Susan G Komen 5K, I remember saying to Steve “By the end of the year, I want to be able to run an hour without stopping.” At this point 30 minutes still felt so hard. He said “It’s going to be hard, but I think you can do it.” Well, friends, today is October 21st and actually with my training schedule, it looks like by the new year I will be running for more like 2 hours. I didn’t just accomplish that goal, I stomped all over it and kicked it to the curb in place of a better one: 13.1. Sure the race is Jan 15, but that is basically the start of the new year and I plan to kick it off with a bang!

Our run ended at The Good Egg where I ordered whole wheat pancakes with oatmeal and blueberries cooked in and 2 scrambled egg whites. I could only finish the eggs and one of the pancakes so now I have a second pancake for later 🙂 We met Bethany and Steve for breakfast. I was feeling a little out of it at this point and desperately in need of iced coffee. After breakfast, I took Bethany to her mom’s because she leaves for her first cruise today! I’m so excited for her. She works so hard and deserves to have some FUN! Then I met Kara at Starbucks for the COFFEE. Most important part of my day, seriously. I started off with my usual sfc iced coffee, but then got a refill that was AMAZING! It’s not officially out yet, but this year sugar free peppermint has arrived!!! I made a skinnified version of a peppermint white mocha

Grande iced coffee

1 pump white mocha

1 pump sf vanilla

1 pump sf peppermint

soy milk

light ice

You’re welcome. All the rich deliciousness of my favorite seasonal treat with about 100 calories. Yes, please

I even got to write my own cup which made me feel super special. Kara and I hung out with Mona on her break and enjoyed out iced coffees, some sunshine, and the accomplishment of being finished with this week’s long run!

My joints are feeling it a little today, but we walked over to the gym for some stretching and foam rolling (I hate you foam roller) and I will spend lots of time icing this evening. I also plan on hitting up the ibuprofen bottle to hopefully knock out any pain that may be coming my way.

I feel pretty great about the way my training is going. I know there will be challenges and times I question why the f I would ever want to do this, but right now it is bringing me so much joy and every week I achieve something that once seemed impossible. Every week I affirm the fact that

I.Can.Do.Anything.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.

Okay, I promise the next post will include my new cookies and their recipe. But now I have to go to the tmobile store AGAIN because my stupid phone ate the new battery they gave me and now will not come back to life AGAIN. Annoyed.

In happier news, tonight is Opening Night!!!! So excited. Come see Aladdin!!!!

Rest Day

October 20, 2011 · by Ari ·

Today I woke up and had no idea what to do with myself. I never take a rest day on a Thursday. No run. No spin. Derrrrrr….what do I doooo? I decided to try to get some use out of my free morning and started out by making some oatmeal. Steve was at work and I wanted pretty pictures, so I took out his fancy shnazzy camera to document 🙂

I always chuckle when I cook my oatmeal in the Paula Dean butter warmer. Irony. What would oatmeal be without nut butter on top?!

Are you ready for the best part? Okay, let me preface with the fact that I really do not drink a lot of soda. I used to live off of it–no water, only soda, then gave it up completely, then reintroduced it occasionally, drank too much again and now I am back to every once in a while. Well Michelle came home last night with one of my favorite things in life–diet cream soda! Yes, I drank one at breakfast, I have no shame!

Yummmm. Breakfast of champions.

Winston and Clementine also enjoyed their own breakfast of champions.

“Moooommmm, stop staring at me and let me eat my breakfast! All those clicks you’re making are really ruining my moment here”

“Also, I’m long and cute. Jealous?”

After breakfast, I decided that if my morning wasn’t going to revolve around my work out, then obviously it had to revolve around food. Confession: I LOVE grocery shopping. It can (and this morning DID) take me up to 2 hours. I’m a freak. We’ve acknowledged this. Let’s move on. I will go to multiple stores and browse and read labels and look for neat new things I’ve never seen before. I love actually having the time to not have to rush through it every once in a while. Today was TJ’s and Fry’s.

I also got a hot coffee (whaaaatttt? It’s still almost 100 degrees here, but I wanted it!) on the way home. It was almost free, but then it wasn’t. I prefer it when it is free ( 😉 )

“Look I cost money, therefore I am less cool. But I have steamed soy milk, therefore I am awesome.” Yes, my coffee speaks, doesn’t yours?

It appears I may have a ~~small~~ pumpkin and fig problem…

I spent the rest of my time before work baking some pretty amazing cookies, but you will have to wait until tomorrow for them because it is 10pm, I barely got home 30 minutes ago, I’m beat and have to be up early to run 6 miles tomorrow. Yikes. I’m scared. But excited. Stay tuned for a post tomorrow I’m super excited about! 🙂

PS: LOOOOOK!!! I can take pretty pictures too! I took all of these myself!

The Return of Fajita Wednesday!

October 19, 2011 · by Ari ·

It feels like forever since Steve and I had Fajita Wednesday! This afternoon when I noticed the meat thawing in the sink, I got so excited! As I was driving home from work I was so hungry I kind of wanted to start chewing on my limbs, but walked in the door to the smell of delicious fajitas!! One of the best things in life–walking into a house that smells like food. In case you didn’t know, I am the luckiest girl on Earth and my hubby is always game to make (or at least go retrieve) me dinner when I work late. I love him. Tonight’s fajitas were extra special because they included TJ’s Carne Asada! I very rarely eat red meat. For a long time I would not under any circumstances, but now I just choose lean meats as a healthier alternative unless I REALLY want that red meat and let me tell you, this carne asada is WELL WORTH those extra calories! I’ve tried the pollo asada and it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t the same.

As Steve finished up the cooking, I added some romaine, cilantro, fat free sour cream (yes, I DO eat sour cream and not just plain yogurt AND I use the fake full of additives fat free sour cream and I like it), and salsa to my bowl, topped it with the cooked veggies and carne and then added some red fat cheddar cheese on top. So amazingly delicious.

He cooks and takes amazing photography, and sometimes does my laundry and he can fix anything and is the BEST home DIYer. He’s PERFECT! Oh and he’s BUFF! Added bonus 😉

Off to watch some Top Chef and ice my achilles!

So Much Coffee

October 19, 2011 · by Ari ·

Every time I wake up early, Winston stays in bed and stares at me with the saddest longing eyes like he’s saying “Mom, please don’t go. Come back to bed and snuggle with me.” Yes, I legitimately cuddle with my dog in bed. You are free to judge me. It won’t stop me. I got up at 5:45 to meet Kara for an early morning run around the lake. I love this route. Each lap is almost exactly a mile, slight hills, adventurous travels through the apt complex, nice scenery and of course, the ducks!

This time we must have encountered them 3 or 4 different times and each time they angrily quacked at us like they were pissed that we were interrupting their important waddle time. Those ducks crack me up. We finished 3 miles with a 9:55 average pace. Whoot.

Mile 1: 10:45

Mile 2: 9:50

Mile 3: 9:13

Talk about negative splits! My first mile is always soooo slow. It’s like it takes my body the entire mile to get warmed up and ready to actually run. I need to work on that my next week day run. Tomorrow is a rest day because Friday we are running 6 miles!! Every long run makes me equally nervous and excited. New challenges, new accomplishments! After our run, we headed to Starbucks for water and iced coffee. I got my usual: Grande SF caramel iced coffee with soy, light ice (light ice=MORE room for coffee!) I also ordered Steve a coffee to take back to him, but then I got home and this happened

Second time in a week I’ve tried to surprise him with coffee and he had the EXACT same idea. Ironically there were no days in between where either of us got each other coffee. Steve laughed and said “We need to coordinate or something.” I don’t know, looks like we’re pretty in sync to me! Two iced coffees hanging out in my fridge, soon to become one 🙂

After our I showered and got ready, I met the other Kara (hair Kara) at Forever 21 for some shopping. The new-ish one in AZ Mills is HUGE and I’d been wanting to go. I got a pair of shorts that are about 10 years too young for me, a super cute emerald green shirt that I didn’t even try on because I loved the color so much annnnnnd, the most exciting part, an ALADDIN SWEATSHIRT!!!!! I saw it and new I had to have it since we open on Friday (get your tickets, peeps–these kiddos are amazing!) I will take pictures of the new clothes (including my super awesome pumpkin shirt I bought at Target for $10 to be festive) once I have Steve around to take actually good pictures.

After shopping I had to make a super annoying trip to the tmobile store because my battery full on died–like unable to be brought back to life died. Soon my over heating phone will kill this battery as well and then MAYBE they will give me a new phone that actually works. By the time I got home I was soooo hungry and wanting the fastest lunch possible, so I took out this frozen pizza I bought at TJs a while ago.

I jazzed it up with some crumbled red fat feta cheese and sriracha on top, but I was so hungry I didn’t want to wait for the oven to preheat. My oven seriously takes years. It’s annoying. So I set it to ~~burn~~ broil and cut the cooking time almost in half. Well the burn button did it’s thing and I ended up with a pizza that was cold in the middle and burnt on the outside. I’m an awesome cook, can’t you tell?

Well, like I said, I was ready to gnaw my left arm off hungry, so I put it in the microwave for 40 seconds and then ate it anyway. It was not great my friends, but not awful. It did the trick. I would buy it again for an easy meal, but even cooked correctly, I don’t think it would have been anything too fantastic. Alright, off to get some life errands done that I’ve been neglecting, then off to work. Have a good day everyone!

Impatient Salad Making

October 18, 2011 · by Ari ·

You know what I hate most about making salads? Putting away ingredients! I always complain to Steve about how I hate putting everything away at the end and he looks at me like I’m lazy and ridiculous, but seriously! When I start taking everything out, it’s exciting–Oooohhh I could add this and this and THIS! Then the chopping is semi therapeutic–that or I’m a freak, well I am a freak, but not sure that is the main reason 😉 Anyway, by the end when my salad is looking delicious and my stomach is growling in anticipation, I always get so annoyed that I have put a million and one ingredients away before I can eat. Boo. Today I was especially sad to put away the ingredients from this salad

Romain, tomato, cucumber, low fat cottage cheese, reduced fat feta cheese, red bell pepper, carrots, cilantro, black bean burger, and salsa. So many things to put back in the fridge after! But totally delicious and worth it. This may sound like the silliest thing ever, but I am a messy person who hates mess and loves salads. This is my life.

I started my day with Linda’s spin class! Linda is prob my favorite of all the gym teachers. This woman just ran a freaking marathon on Sunday and was here today kicking ass on the bike with us. She pushes me, she inspires me, and I want to be like her. Today was challenging, as always, buuuuuuut—I upped my flat road to gear 10!!! Whoot! I was so excited about it–double digits! She said there is one man who’s flat road is gear 14! Well, not that I’m competitive or anything, but obviously, I have to get to 15.

In other news, I am determined to recreate my own sugary kids cereals the healthy way. Any ideas where I can find some base recipes? Especially Lucky Charms! I spent a while looking today with no luck, but when I added a few marshmallow (yes, dad–the Kosher kind!) to my left over Koala Crispies, I knew I had to conquer one of my favorite bad for me foods in the world–cereal! Hopefully coming soon!

I’m off to watch some Biggest Loser and then get some rest! I have an early run with Kara in the am!

Technology Fail

October 17, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hi friends, happy Monday! Today is actually pretty fantastic because I thought I didn’t have to work until 2:40, but then I realized I don’t have to work until 5:30! Hooray!! I got up nice and early to start my run at about 6:15, but I had forgotten to charge my phone which meant I would have no music, so I stuck it on the charger, caught up on some blog reading for half an hour and then figured it should be ready. It was, but my Garmin which I had charged yesterday stilllll said low battery >:(

Uggghhh so frustrating. I tried to put it back on for a few minutes, but it was no use. I stared at it dumb founded for a good minute. Derrrrrr. What do I do now? I live in the 21st century and don’t know what to do with out fancy gadgets. Then I ~~had a stroke of genius~~ remembered that I actually am an intelligent human being and that I did actually run a few times before I got good ole Garmie. I remembered the 3 mile route I had been taking around my hood and set out feeling naked with no Garmin to keep track of my time or distance. It was hard to push myself at the end with out it, but I still covered a little over 3 miles in about 30 minutes. It was a good run, I just hate not knowing exactly, you know?

I came home and made the most delicious breakfast sandwich ever. I toasted a sandwich thin, spread 1 tbs almond butter on one half, and 2 tbs pumpkin and a couple drops of sugar free maple syrup on the other, then topped with lots of chia seeds and half a sliced banana. Yum

I always read blogs where they say they ate half a banana and I always wonder what happens to the other half? I tried to wrap mine back in the peel, but ended up eating the rest when I got back from Starbucks anyway haha, I spent a couple hours at Starbucks working on choreography and catching up on blogging. I still have so much more to get done, but honestly can barely find the motivation to do anything other than sit on my butt and eat. Yikes. This girl needs a vacation! Back to work on Fiddler ‘ography. Have a lovely day everyone!

Date Night: The Yard House

October 17, 2011 · by Ari ·

With my crazy schedule, I almost started to forget what Steve looked like there for a while! Saturday my friend John Luke offered me comp tickets to go see a show with him after Aladdin tech, and as much as it would have been a great opportunity (he wanted to introduce me to a producer he works with), the idea of being at the theater all day, and then going and putting on my professional face and talking myself up seemed ~~about as fun as shoving an ice pick in my eye~~ to maybe not be the best choice for my mental health. Steve and I had been kind of talking about having a date, but I wasn’t sure what was going to be happening that night, so mid way through rehearsal I texted him and said “Date night!” He immediately responded asking where to which I replied “Anywhere new with beer.”

Last weekend he had gone to The Yard House with his brothers and told me they had over 100 beers on tap! I was obviously beyond jealous, so that is where he picked 🙂 Aaaaannnd the restaurant was super close to the theater so my amazing step dad ended up giving him a ride so I could meet him and only have one car. The Yard House has an upscale pub feel–you can drink beer and feel classy. Perfection. The second I sat down, I opened right to the beer page. I started with a vanilla porter that was absolutely delicious.

I tried to make it last as long as possible, but I am a fast drinker. I down my iced coffee in about 2 seconds, and when beer is delicious, it is hard for me not to just down it. Bad habit, Ari. Just before dinner arrived I ordered a blend of a chocolate stout and some fruity beer. I had high hopes.

But I did not like it AT ALL. Yuck. Gross. Icky. Boo. Luckily, Steve thought it was good.

“Look at meeee! I have two beers!” What is it with people and needing two of things? I’m not happy at home unless both of the puppies are sitting on my lap and I can pronounce “I have two puppies!” When I was little my dad would give me two desserts. One in each hand. It is seriously the best. I’m in tech week and Steve gets two beers? Boo. In gross beer’s place, I ordered a mix of the original vanilla porter with Sam Adams cherry wheat. This one was better, but honestly, I shouldn’t have messed with a good thing and I should have just stuck with what I was enjoying. I only ended up finishing about half of the second one. Trust me, I did not need any more haha.

For dinner, I ordered a roasted veggie sandwich on wheat bread with sweet potato fries.

I was sooooo hungry and it was beyond delicious. I only ate a few of the sweet potato fries, but they were so freaking good. So crispy on the outside, so soft and mushy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. Sweet potato fries are one of those eat sparingly foods that just make me so happy. I also really really love veggie sandwiches. It may not sound that exciting to you, but it’s something that I get all happy about when I see it on the menu. I’m weird.

Steve got fish. His was delicious. Mine was better 🙂

It was so amazing to get to spend some time just the two of us. I did not speak about work the entire night. After dinner, we walked around Scottsdale Fashion Square for a little bit, before heading home and being old and lame sitting on the couch and going to bed at 10pm. Perfection. I love my life long boyfriend. He makes my heart happy and my life full! Date nights are an important part of marriage or any relationship. Make them happen. You need it! 🙂

Eddie’s Birthday

October 17, 2011 · by Ari ·

Last night, Steve and I went out to PF Changs with our favorite Starbucks friends to celebrate out friend Eddie’s birthday. There were only 8 of us there, but it ended up being the perfect sized group and the three people I didn’t know very well I liked a lot. Steve made Eddie pose for photo testing because he’s super photogenic

Charlie and Mona wanted to pose too!

Mona’s face is priceless. I love that girl!

When I opened the menu I started to stress out a little bit and proceeded to act like a total freak by looking up all the nutritional info on my phone. Yes, I’m crazy and I admit this. I’m working on it. The more I looked at the info and realized that every dish contained 2-5 servings, I started to ~~freak out~~ calmly figure out how to make a smart decision on how to proceed. I ended up ordering what I wanted and asking them to pack half of it in a to go box, so now I have a delicious lunch to look forward to today also. There is always a solution when it comes to making smart food choices, it is just so easy to get overwhelmed and either not enjoy yourself at all, or make a less than fabulous choice.

Dinner was good, but not amazing. I used to love PF Changs, but honestly I am just kind of over chains for the most part. If I’m going to go out to eat, I want it to be somewhere unique where I can try something different, and if it is Asian food, I really just want it to be sushi. I have no interest in the rest other than what I could more healthily and tastily make myself at home (stir fry, pad Thai, etc).

But the company was great. Steve became besties with Luke, a new-ish (at least to me) barista as they laughed about nerdy boy internet things that I don’t understand. Kara and I planned the next two weeks of our training (which hopefully will include a SLUMBER PARTY!!!!!)

And we all had a great time. Oh yeah, and there was some chopstick funniness in there as well…

This is Tori. I didn’t really know her before last night, but she is funny and fabulous!

Aaaannnd my Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats were a hit! TAAAAADDDDAAA!!!!

When we got outside, Steve wanted us to pose with the horse statue. Of course it took so much convincing for my to climb things and pose ridiculously in public. I normally have so much more class. 😉

I’m glad I’m not the only ridiculous one!