This Site has Moved!

Hello everyone!  Just wanted to let you all know that the days of my Mindful Living blog are no more.  I have combined with my sister, Food Fit & Fun, to create a new blog (with its own domain), Sisters Running the Kitchen. We are still working on finishing up some odds and ends with the new blog, so please be patient! I hope you like the new blog and thanks to all who have read Mindful Living!!!

Got a New Tattoo!

This weekend was a lot of fun!  On Saturday morning I went to a group bike ride— rode my longest yet!!!!! ~ 50 miles.  My friend Nick (who just got into biking last year and is already a beast!!!!) decided to “take it easy” (well easy for him…definitely not for me haha) and came along with my sister Mary, Todd (mary’s boyfriend), our friend Vance, and I.  We all had so much fun out there….I really love going to the group rides and having Nick out there was a definite plus- although he was going “slow” his pace was still fast for me and it made me push myself a little harder.  I cant wait for next saturday morning!!!

Here is a shot of some of us after the ride (there was about 40 people total there)

Left to Right: me, Vance, Nick, Todd, Mary

As you all know…Saturday afternoon USA played Ghana in the World Cup.  I met my two friends Brad and Nick (and Nick’s girlfriend Chantal!) at a bar in Atlantic City to watch the game.  here is a shot of brad and nick during the game (yes those are american flags they are wearing)

Brad was pretty heart broken after the game…

for some reason I never really got into watching soccer…I played soccer for 14 years of my life but never really got into actually watching it. not really sure why because it is interesting/fun to watch.  I was disappointed that USA lost but not as disappointed (or even close to) as Brad was.  now if it was the Flyers playing on the other hand…I would have most definitely looked like Brad haha.

photo of Chantal and Nick (p.s. it is Nick’s 21st birthday today- HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!!!)

This weekend my sister and I tried a new recipe…Chile Lime Crab Salad with Tomato and Avocado. mary found the recipe in the Food and Wine magazine and has been wanting to make it…here is a photo of the finished product!!! you can visit her blog to see the recipe.  It was really good- light and refreshing.

and to top off the weekend I had the one and only… Banana Whip. A lot of people in the “blogworld” call this Banana soft serve but around my area it has been around for quite some time- and is known as Banana Whip.  Basically it is just frozen banana whipped up.  they stick it through a juicer (photo below) and it comes out looking just like ice cream- it tastes SO GOOD,too.  you would think you were eating ice cream!!!! and to make it extra healthy (haha…NOT) I like to order it with Reeses Cups (plus extra on the side because im a fatty!)

here is the juicer they use to make Banana Whip (you can also make Banana Whip at home by sticking the frozen bananas in the food processor).

I hope you believed my corny title and actually thought I got a tattoo this weekend muhahah…. I actually didnt.  What I was referring too was the bike chain marks on my sister’s leg after the group ride…they say its a sign of a novice rider…I am not sure if that is true or not so do not quote me on that one….

Hope you all had a nice weekend— see ya!

Earth Bread and Brewery

hey hey!!! last night my friends (Megan, Meaghan, Phil plus my sister and her boyfriend Todd) went out in Philly (Germantown) to this place called Earth Bread and Brewery

This place was really neat (yes I just said neat haha)….great food and a cool atmosphere.  We decided to each order our own appetizer and then got a bunch of different pizzas to share.

Phil and I both got the Spinach Salad: plum tomatoes, kalamata olives, marinated goat cheese, spiced walnuts and red onion – dressed with a herbed vinagrette

Mary and Megan got the House Salad (Mixed greens with dried cranberries, candied pecans, goat cheese, onions + fruit), Meaghan got the Edamame (Seasoned with lime, salt + red pepper flakes) and Todd got Tapenade (Sundried tomato + kalamata olives with capers, lemon and garlic – served with homemade bread) I didnt take a picture of the Edamame or the Tapenade though

we also got some wine and beer…. my sister and I both got Primitivo and everyone else got beer but I am not sure what kind!!!

I may or may not have felt pretty drunk after just one glass of wine haha woops…havent drank very much in awhile.

Here are the Pizzas:

Mushroom - Tomato sauce, portabello, button and shitake mushrooms, spicy turkey sausage and fresh mozz

Seed - Roasted garlic, pine nuts, pumpkin + sesame seeds and mozz and red pepper flakes.

Deconstructed Pesto - Roasted garlic oil, seasonal greens, walnuts, smoked mozz and roasted potatoes

Molé - Spicy mexican chili sauce, roasted corn + black beans, blackened chicken, jack + fontina cheese.

all the pizza was so good but my favorite was definitely the Molé!!

After dinner we went to get some gelato at Capogiro— I loveee this place!!

It was a really fun night!!!  oh– I recently got a new waterproof digital camera- its the FujiFilm XP10 12MP… after our bike ride the other day my sister and I hopped in the pool to test it out….  It is kind of scary dunking the camera under water- it does not look like it belongs underwater at all haha but it worked!

Gotta make my SPINNING playlist for the night!!! then back to work tomorrow writing parking tickets MUHAHAHAH

have a nice night!!!

Fun Night with Mommom and Poppop

Good Morning!

Yesterday my sister and I headed to the beach for a little while in the morning…it was such a nice day! the water was beautifulll

still working on my biking/running tanlines!!!! it’s getting better–however, a couple days ago it was a pretty gastly sight hahah

after the beach my sister, Mary, and I went over to my Mommom and Poppop’s house for dinner. They recently moved from their house on the bay to out the “woods” as my Mommom likes to say.  It is definitely a big change but their new house is very nice and I think over time they will get used to it.  P.S. Mommom=grandmom…whenever I say  “Mommom” here on my blog everyone always thinks I am referring to my Mother and not my grandmother haha.

Mary and I made homemade Fig Almond Biscotti for dessert.  I have posted this recipe up before but I decided to post it again since it is so good!!! Really now people, make this recipe!  This time we made two changes– added more figs and made the biscotti “mini” instead of large. both changes I liked better.

2 cups  flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

sliced almonds (3/4 C)

figs (chopped- do this yourself) (2/3 C)- this time we used a full cup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the figs and almonds

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on baking sheet that is either lined with parchment paper, or sprayed/dusted with flour. Bake until light golden (40 minutes) and then let cool for 30 minutes. this time we wanted mini biscotti instead of long/large ones so we cut the batter and half and made two smaller logs- came out better this way!

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife (like one you would use for a french baguette), cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool.

For Dinner my Mommom made her staple… Crabs and Spaghetti! She cleans the crabs herself and sautes them in White Wine, Olive Oil, garlic, onion, parsley (I think that is it, right Mommom?) and makes her usual spaghetti sauce and puts the crabs inside the sauce. gives the sauce such a great flavor with the added Crabs.  I love eating crabs…it makes such a mess but it is so much fun eating them!  No one makes them as good as my Mommom does…maybe one day I will be able to master her recipe!  None of the the photos came out too great of the crabs and I didnt even snap one of the pasta…I was too anxious to start eating! sorry…

and for Father’s Day one sunday… my sister and I made my Mommom’s other staple…Rice Pudding!!! alot of people have never even heard of rice pudding before…they say “Rice for breakfast?!” but believe me– do not knock it until you try it…it is SO GOOD.  This picture is just a small portion of the rice pudding…we doubled the recipe and made a huge bowl of it…the whole thing was gone within 10 minutes…yes, we are pigs in our family.

My uncle has this HUGE truck-Ford F650.  It almost looks fake in these photos, doesnt it? I do not know how he drives this thing around…I’d be crashing into things left and right haha…

mommom

not much going on today…visiting my friend (that I havent seen since high school I think!?)- we are gonna go to the beach for awhile- then I am teaching Spinning at night.  Tomorrow I start working in a Doctor’s office…woohoo fun stuff haha….Have a good day!

beautiful beach day

Hey everyone!  This is going to be a pretty quick update… Today my sister, Mary, our friend Vance and I went on our first group ride at Tuckahoe Bike Shop. Our friend Nick rides there every saturday and sunday and finally got us out there this morning.  He was actually not riding today- he had his first race!!  I actually didnt find out how it went yet but I am sure did great- he really is an awesome rider.  anyway— the group ride was so much fun!! everyone there was so nice, too.  At first I was a little nervous that I wouldnt be able to keep up with everyone but it wasnt a problem at all- the group ride really accommodates all types of riders. cant wait to go back next weekend!

post ride

Then Mary, Danielle (my oldest sister) and I headed to the beach with our friend Nick.  After a little while we walked down the beach (which we thought was going to be a short-ish walk but ended up being really far…woops) to this place called Lisa’s Market…so good!

margarita pizza

salad with pasta, feta, zucchini, mushroom, onion...not sure what else!

nicks's focaccia panini

I got a new digital camera that you can take underwater…it takes really great photos… nick tried to get a photo in the barrel of the wave. failed but it was still a good shot.

Happy Father’s day to all the daddios out there!!! hope you are all having a nice weekend 🙂

Flounder Fishing takes an interesting turn

hey everyone! sorry its been a little while since I last updated!  so to catch up a bit, ill do a little recap on a few things that have gone on since I last updated….

The Flyers came up short in the Stanley Cup Finals… Hawks won it in game 6.  It was a disappointment, to say the least.  A few weeks ago I had a dream that the Flyers won the stanley cup and I was running down Broad Street with a bunch of people going absolutely crazy….it was awesome.  I guess ill have to wait  for a while to have my dream finally come true… 😦

Last Sunday my family and I went Flounder Fishing on our boat (our boat is named Danimartina– after my sisters and I…Mary, Danielle, and Christina).  I would like the whole world (or blogworld at least) to know that I, Christina, caught the most flounder! This is a BIG deal to me because I am usually the WORST fisherman in my family. WOOHOO!!!

but anyway… we were drifting around for awhile and decided to reel up and head home for the day…only problem was that we were stuck!!!! The water suddenly got REALLY shallow we were stuck on the ground.  on top of that…the tide was QUICKLY moving out and if we didnt do something right then and there we would be stuck there for 6 hours waiting for the tide to come back in.  So my dad told us to jump out of the boat.…hm okay then. so we all jumped out and pushed together (I wish someone would have seen this and took a photo of my whole family out of my boat, in the water, pushing the boat together..hahah).  some guy on a waverunner came over and told us where to direct the boat so we could get to deep water. after pushing for quite some time we were FINALLY free!!!!  It was pretty funny.

uncle art with a Keeper (18 inches or more is a keeper)

Monday night my sister made some broiled flounder….yum yum yum.  Fish always tastes better when you know it was caught by you/your family, doesnt it?  My mom made fried flounder too but I forgot to take a photo.

My sister also made this Cold Pasta salad with fresh jersey tomatoes, goat cheese and basil (plus some other stuff)…she got the recipe from her boyfriend (todd)’s father. I am sure she will post the recipe to her blog soon…it was SO GOOD!

Yesterday was my last day of summer classes!!! I took Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II.…. I cannot tell you how happy I am that it is over!!!  all I did everyday was go to school from 8-4:30, come home and study for my two exams the next day, go to bed, and do it ALL over again…it was starting to get old by the end and I was starting to go crazy!!!!  it was very tough to stay motivated to study in the summer…but I did it and ended up with two A’s…holla!

after I was finished with my last two exams yesterday, my sister and I ran the schuylkill river together. we did 8 miles together and in the last bit of the run we did 20 second sprints. it was a great workout. I havent done a longish run in awhile so it felt good to get some miles in!

part of the schuylkill river--- art museum is in the background---the one with the stairs that Rocky ran up fyi

After the run, we went out to dinner at a place in Philly called Mercato.

We shared the Market Salad: strawberries & bibb lettuce, caramelized red onion, goat cheese, hazelnuts, butter croutons, white balsamic vinaigrette…. it was pretty good….ive had better (movie: Liar Liar haha)… I’ll give it a 7/10 …

we each got the same thing for dinner…Pappardelle with roasted mushrooms, caramelized cipollini, crispy parsnip & arugula, sage brown butter….. this was absolutely AMAZING. we both licked our plates clean. this was full of flavor. loved it.  9/10. I really liked Mercato…the atmosphere inside was so nice!  It was small inside but decorated really nice…very welcoming haha.  and they had the windows open…felt so nice!

We decided to skip dessert and head to our favorite gelato place in philly…Capogiro!

the people that work here are so nice! they encourage you to taste as many flavors as you want…so taste we did!!! I felt bad to keep asking for samples but they didnt mind at all!  They even had Avocado as a flavor! at first I thought it sounded gross for a gelato flavor but the guy said it was pretty good- so I tasted it and it actually was pretty good! very creamy.

I got Fiore di Late (which is like a sweet creme), cappuccino, and chocolate banana. Mary got the same thing but instead of the chocolate banana she got this vanilla banana rum flavor.

Mary with her gelato!

not too much going on today…just have to pick up my car from the dealership (getting service done) and teach spinning at night! have a good day!!!

a crabby situation

Hope you are all having a great weekend so far!!!  last night my two friends, Brad and Nick, came over my house for Game 4 of the Flyers/Blackhawks series.  We decided to make crabs and spaghetti together.  none of us had ever cooked crabs by ourselves before so it was pretty exciting haha.  We borrowed Nick’s Grandmom’s pot to steam the crabs in.  In the pot we added a quarter of an inch of water, 2 bottles of beer, and a 1/3 of a small bottle white wine vinegar. then we placed the crabs in the pot and seasoned them with old bay.

the crabs before we steamed them

nick and brad haha

we let the last little guy crawl on the floor before placing him in the pot. poor thing 😦

I felt bad for the poor crabs.  They were making all sorts of noise in the pot when it got really hot.  poor little dudes.  but they did taste very good I must say haha…here is the finished product:

finished product

This is the pasta sauce I made for the Linguine.  I also added some crushed red pepper flakes….

homemade red sauce with crushed red pepper flakes

nick making a goofy face while eating his pasta….

hard at work on the crabs

Then we watched the Flyers Game… it was a great game… richards’ goal (in the first period) was absolutely awesome. but as expected, the flyers gave us a little scare in the third…

the next morning we woke up and road our bikes to get some breakfast at a place in my town called Hannah G’s and then hit the beach for a couple of hours…it was so humid outside today! had a really fun time 😉

anyways…I CANNOT wait for the game tomorrow night.  hope we can get a win away!  Here is a photo of me torturing my poor little pup bradley—

bradley thrilled about the flyers big win

well…I’m off to eat some dinner…enjoy the rest of your weekend 😉

Kenny Wayland Memorial 10K

Hey everyone! hope you all had a fun/relaxing Memorial Day weekend!  Sunday morning my sister and I ran in the Kenny Wayland Memorial 10K.  this is our second year running the race. Last year my time was a little better than this year’s time. (my time last year was 45:20 and this year it was 45:46-average pace: 7:23/mi).  Here is the breakdown of my splits:

mile 1: 7:07

mile 2: 7:09

mile 3: 7:20

mile 4: 7:26

mile 5: 7:38

mile 6: 7:41

last .2: 7:01

slowed down quite a bit in mile 5 and 6.  I did not feel 100% during this race. Perhaps it was due to the batch of brownies my sister and I consumed the night before??? (see the post below)…who knows! But I felt a little queezy once I hit the turn around.  My sister and I were joking after the race  that were both thinking to ourselves, “I wonder if Mary (or christina in my sister’s case) would kill me if I just stopped right here, threw up and walked home?” hahaha I truly felt that bad during the race.  I knew If i didnt dig in and tough it out that I would be upset with myself for throwing in the towel…and I would be letting my sister down too!

I act like I did horrible or something in this race. I didnt, at all!  My sister got 3rd female overall and I got 4th female overall.  My sister placed first in our age group 20-29 and I placed second (got a medal WOO HOO!!) and Maria (whose blog I just stumbled upon) got 2nd female overall. she snuck up on my sister and I towards the end of the race-she was flying- on a mission for sure. and basically crushed us to the ground. hahahah I was very happy for her, though!!! she had a solid race and was so excited at the awards ceremony! I remember she said she couldnt wait to get home to her husband to tell him she got second overall! …  the first place female was a lady named Patty. She is basically a rockstar down the shore. perhaps one day I can be as good as her… hmmmm

I am not sure why I love the rocky pose so much...hahah

mary loving life.

This morning, my sister, todd (her boyfriend) and I road our bikes over the bridge and to the end of OC. We stopped at the top of the bridge to take some photos. The view is so awesome from the bridge….I love nothing more than riding from my house to Ocean City.  beautiful scenery..it really makes me so happy.  unfortunately, I got TWO flats during this ride.  Todd helped patch the first (stupid me had everything but patches with me…so we had to ask someone for help) but I guess it didnt really hold up so well because 40 blocks later I was flat again.  I had to call up my dad to come for me and he brought me a new tube and we changed the tire together.  Turned into a MUCH longer bikeride than I had originally anticipated!

Game 2 of Flyers/Blackhawks tonight….lets go flyers!

then back to class from 8-4:30 tomorrow- have two exams tomorrow- did I study yet? no sir.  I better get on that before the game!!!!

Stanley Cup Finals and Homemade Brownies

Tonight we had some family over for the Flyers-BlackHawks game (for those of you who are not following the playoffs…this is the final round of the NHL stanley cup playoffs—winner takes the cup- tonight was Game 1).  The game was interesting to say the least. The Flyers ended up losing 5-6….laviolette (flyers coach) pulled our goalie (leighton) for boucher in the second period….did not really agree with that decision… what do you think? although it was disappointing to lose Game 1…it looks like the series is going to be a good one and I cant wait to see them back in action on monday.

goofy face

mary and her boyfriend Todd (notice Todd's shirt- he and friend alex made them- they are really awesome...he gave mary and I one too)

I saw a recipe for brownies on  IowaGirl’s blog…it looked delicious so I decided to make it for the game tonight….

In a glass mixing bowl, combine:

• 3/4 cups melted Butter
• 4 squares un-sweetened baking Chocolate*
Microwave Butter and Chocolate until melted (on high about 2 minutes)

Add:

• 2 cups Sugar, then mix
• 3 large Eggs, then mix
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 cup Flour, then mix
• 1 cup large Walnut pieces and chunks of premium-grade Bar Chocolate (Gently fold in – don’t over-mix)** this is optional…I did not do this.

Stir Sugar into Chocolate until well blended – stir in Eggs and Vanilla, mix in Flour, stir in Nuts and Bar Chocolate. Pour into a 9×9 buttered baking dish and bake 35 minutes or longer and 350° until toothpick in center comes out with fudgy crumbs (do not over-bake).

SERVING SUGGESTION:
Place brownies on an appropriate serving dish. Zap briefly in the microwave oven. Remove. Bury each brownie with a generous scoop of premium vanilla ice cream, then ladle on fresh raspberries or another favorite fresh seasonal fruit.

my mom made a great dinner….marinated pork tenderloin, roasted veggies, grilled lime and cilantro sweet potatoes  and a salad…I thought the salad was pretty so I took a photo haha:
before the game we took the pups on the beach…

hahha so funny!!!

Hope you are all enjoying your memorial day weekend….time to get to bed…. 10K race in the morning!!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Last night I wanted to try out a new recipe for dinner and so I chose a recipe I had been wanting to make in my Ellie Krieger cookbook… buffalo chicken salad. I was pleasantly surprised that it came out REALLY good!  Both my Mom and Dad really enjoyed it, too.  If I had to change anything for next time, I would probably slice the chicken thinner and add some lemon juice and celery salt into the hot sauce (before coating it with chicken)- per my momma’s suggestion.

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 3 tablespoons Lousiana Hot Sauce
• ~2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 hearts Romaine, cut into 1-inch strips (about 8 cups)
• 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 scallions, green part only, sliced
• blue cheese dressing (recipe is below)

Preheat the broiler. Put the chicken between 2 sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet or hammer so the chicken is an even thickness of about 3/4-inch, then cut the chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch strips. In a large bowl, combine the hot sauce and the oil, add chicken and toss until the chicken is well coated. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and broil until it is cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes, turning once.

In a large bowl combine the Romaine, celery, shredded carrots and scallions. Toss with the dressing. Divide the greens between 4 plates, top with the chicken. Serve with extra hot sauce.

For the Blue cheese Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Fold a full sheet of paper towel into quarters and put it into a small bowl. Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise until smooth. Add the vinegar and sugar and continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the blue cheese and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

this is the type of hot sauce I used:

blue cheese dressing

the Flyers are playing tonight… Game 5 VS the Habs (Montreal Canadiens)…if they win…they close out the series and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals!!!