Thursday, January 20, 2011

This has been one of my favorite Christmas presents I received this year! The day after Christmas I sat down on the couch to flip through it and ended up reading it cover to cover!

I'm probably one of the last people in blogland to have heard about The Pioneer Woman but better late than never! She's so funny and I just love her story. And the food! So tasty! But don't get this book if you are serious about watching your waistline. This is good southern food and I love how she includes detailed step by step instructions for each recipe just like she does on her website.

So far, I've made the Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Hubby said they were the best mashed potatoes he's ever had! and he's not one to compliment food like that), Olive Cheese Bread, Twice Baked Potatoes, Onion Strings and the Chocolate Sheet Cake (seriously YUM!). Now, I will admit that sometimes the butter and cream and fat can be a little over the top but they can be easily reduced without detriment (well, except for the cake, I don't mess with baked goods).

Yes, I certainly have been enjoying this Christmas gift.

And to counteract all this "hearty" food (and for general health purposes) I made a New Year's "goal" to take up jogging this year. I really wanted to be able to stick with it and not just flake out after 2 weeks so I did some reading and found the Couch-to-5k plan. I'm so glad I did because this plan really eases you into it all. I just finished week 1 of the plan and so far so good! It's been very painless and a great feeling of accomplishment!

5 comments:

juicyknits said...

OK, I thought there was no way to do mashed potatoes differently. And mine are tasty alright, they are made from scratch after all. But adding cream cheese to it? Wow! I got to try this one out. And with recipes like that, I guess I'll be joining you on couch-to-5k plan in no time. ;-)

Holli said...

Yes, PW is so great! I've been enjoying her smart wit and incredible recipes for a while now. Don't have her cookbook, but frequent her website and have tried quite a few things. I'm with you though, sometimes the butter and cream can be WAYYY too much (my words, not yours).

Good for you on the jogging goal. Soon you'll be speeding around your neighborhood (or treadmill) feeling fantastic. Jogging has been my saving grace for the past 15 months or so. My fitness goal for 2011 - to run 4 consecutive 8 minute miles. I'm at 4 consecutive 9:10 min miles now - so I've got a way to go.

Cheers,
Holli

Maryse said...

I've ran two 10k last two Septembers, but the rest of the year, I have big problems with motivation :-( I'll check that Couch-to-5k program. Might motivate me to run a 5k this May! I'll also check out the Pioneer Women Website. Thanks for sharing the info!

peaknits said...

oh jeez, this cookbook has been marinating in my Amazon cart for a week - I have to pull the trigger - thanks for the inspiration:) I have done couch to 5k twice and finished a 5k without stopping both times - then I fall off the wagon, and get back on:) There is a great ipod app for the couch to 5k too if you have a touch or iphone - very helpful - the program rocks! Please keep us apprised of your progress! Good luck, you runner, you! (positive self affirmations...)

Rachael said...

I LOVE that cookbook, the mac & cheese is just amazing and she gives great tips all the way through on how to adjust her recipes to make them fit the things you like. YUM!