Eggs at Ohm

I started my day this morning with a fantastic yoga class at Firefly yoga in Westwood. My instructor was Hania and she was seriously, awesome. I have been feeling stressed lately thinking about my last semester in college coming up, and this class was just the remedy to slow my mind down a bit and get in better touch with my thoughts & body. Looking forward to going back again.

 To refuel, I made a bomb, super easy, super satisfying breakfast.

To Make: I fried two eggs, which I like almost over hard, with just a little bit of runny yolk. I cut up half an avocado and half a tomato, which I layered on two pieces of whole wheat toast. I then added some fresh spring mix. When the eggs were done (and seasoned with a little salt & pepper), I put them on top of the veggies and toast. After that, I sprinkled low fat cheddar cheese on top and put the whole thing under the broiler so the cheese got nice and melted. Add some ketchup and franks, and I'm still full hours later. Plus....anything + avocado, how can that be wrong?

What are your healthy / yummy breakfast ideas?

The Fab Guide to Surviving in the Land of Bread and Cheese

As wonderful as all of this food has been for the past week or so, it sometimes becomes too much.  Now that I've finally navigated my way around the market, and have been able to pick up some reasonable options, and am so looking forward to the preservative-less, fresh picked options. Am I going to refrain from Gelato or my favorite pasta dish? Heck no! But substituting meals that are generally nutritionally lacking and full of the bad stuff with better alternatives will keep me in check, and allow me to splurge when I want. Everything in moderation.

Also, another big announcement....I will be running a 10K in april here in Italy! To check it out, click here . It's no marathon, but running a 6.5 mile race is something that I've never done before, and is a step in the right direction towards longer distances and races. Also, I'm hoping that if I blog about it, It will hold me accountable for keeping up with my training. Further details to come! But for now....

My first creation in Firenze!
Instead of a pastry....

3 things to do to make this New Year awesome

If you ask me, this is a must do. Adding some shimmer to an outfit is a great way to stand out, while still looking girly and put together. Go full out in a sequin dress, or take it easy and paint your nails with glittery polish .Deborah Lippman's "Cleopatra in New York" (below) would look amazing paired with an LBD.

This is a big one. Every year I make lofty New Year's resolutions, and by the time Valentine's day rolls around they are a distant memory. Here are some ways to make sure you stick to them:

• Hold yourself accountable. This is the best way to stay on target. Tell your friends. Tell your boyfriend. Tell your dog. Whatever works, telling someone your resolutions will make them more real, and will make you more apt to catch yourself when you begin to go astray.
•  Make goals that are attainable. If you aren't realistic about what you want to do, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. If you're reaching for a huge goal, make a road map for yourself. Set a series of checkpoints along the way to see how far you've come (preferably written in a super cute planner like this one:)

By Sarah Pinto ($19.95)

And once you reach your checkpoints, don't forget to celebrate them!

I've been drooling at the office over all of the adorable New Year party ideas I've seen lately.
http://catchmyparty.com/blog  http://www.foodrepublic.com/2011/12/30/new-years-eve-tequila-punch-recipe  http://www.brit.co/winter-party-decor/ http://www.theprettyblog.com/2012/12/new-years-resolution-printable-calendar/

New Years is an awesome to get together with friends and family and let loose a little. And nothing speeds that process along like a good ol' cocktail. Now, if you're in college and on a budget, Natty L's may seem like a more plausible solution. However, if you're working on break, play bartender for a while and maybe try out some of these awesome ideas:

The first way to sip in style is to create and awesome bar. Make an adorable bubbly backdrop for a champagne bar this year, like below. The pearly pastels look fantastic, and celebrate new year's signature libation. Find out how to recreate this look here. If entertaining on New Year's eve seems too daunting, have friends over on New Year's day and set up a Mimosa bar, like catch my party did. A few bottles of champagne and a couple of juices and you're good to go. You could also stick to the classic, by using metallics, items of varying heights and uniform glassware.

Images Via Pinterest

or you could try out some festive cocktails like these:

1. Southern Comfort Punch by Martha Stewart--Super easy...and who doesn't love soco every every now and again!

2.Nerds Martini--the Nerds are so colorful and cute, great way to bring in the new year!

3. Orange Pom Fizz--OBSESSED with the gorgeous pink color, and colorful sanding sugar

4. This one is just plain old champagne, but the rim of the glass makes it look much more sophisticated (and pretty!)

5. Tequila Sangria. Speaks for itself.

Enjoy The New Year Everyone!
xoxo Jackie

Food Food Food

Clearly I've been slacking on my promise to try and write every day. I promise I'll be better soon! In the meantime, I figured maybe I'd do a quick update on all the COOKING I've been doing lately. This past weekend was a total sweatsido weekend for Den and I  

Stylish, I know. Anyways, this lucky guy grew up around four amazing woman which means a high bar for me for cooking. With finals coming up I was super short on groceries as well, which meant some creativity for me. To kick off the weekend, I made skinny chicken parm from skinny taste.

I actually really loved this recipie. I don't know how "skinny" this recipie REALLY is, but Dennis loved it and so did I. Quick pile of arugula on the side with some balsalmic, perfect "saturday night in" meal. Here's the recipie:

Ingredients: 

• 4 (8 oz) chicken breast halves, sliced in half to make 8
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted (or olive oil)
• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (I used whole milk mozzarella)
• 1 cup marinara
• cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a large baking sheet lightly with spray.

Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in another bowl. Lightly brush the butter onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb mixture. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken.

The next night, I made chicken using the breadcrumbs the same way. This time, I added spicy taco seasoning to the breadcrumbs. It actually turned out really delicious and spicy. I think I would have been happy with half a packet, but really yum nonetheless.

 

Image from eat yourself skinny

For dessert, I made Funfetti cake dip from eat yourself skinny. All it is is a box of funfetti cake mix (my fave), plain yogurt (I used vanilla greek yogurt) and cool whip. The recipie calls for animal crackers to be dipped in it, but I'm more of a vanilla wafer gal. I wasnt in love with it at first, but suprisingly it totally grew on me. I don't know if it took a few hours to come together, but I woke up the next day to finger tracks in it, so I know I wasn't the only one who liked it!

 

Last but not least, I made rolo stuffed snickerdoodles. These were SO amazing, and literally took five minutes to make. I used store bought cookie dough, and sort of formed it around each rolo, making equal sized balls. Then I rolled them in cinnamon sugar, and baked them off until they were brown. So so easy, and they looked difficult. Definitely adding this recipie to the Christmas cookie line up.

 

This post is making me too hungry...work needs to end!

xoxo Jackie

Just the Start

All I want to do is figure out how to blog. I even made a Facebook status asking for lessons! I've got Italy on the brain big time, and finals are REALLY cramping my style on my research. I stumbled across some amazing quotes about food and I just want to jump right in.

One of the main things that we were told at our preorentation is how AMAZING the italian food is.