ning | Keeping up with Kate

Not Your Usual Sweet Potato Casserole

Posted on November 21, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Thanksgiving is just a week away – I can’t believe it! Are you ready? I’m not – good thing I’m not the cook in the family. I’m responsible for the wine.

A staple growing up in my family was Candied Sweet Potatoes and I despise them! I’m not sure why – I love butter, brown sugar and sweet potatoes (well at least baked or roasted) – somehow the combination just isn’t in my wheel house. The funny thing is between my brother and I – I’m the one with the sweet tooth – can’t stand them and he LOVES them!

Now onto the Sweet Potato Casserole recipe. When I lived in the NoVA area in 1995 – we had a Thanksgiving potluck at work and a co-worker (originally from S. Carolina) brought this in as her covered dish – I loved it.

I don’t have it often because I’m the lone person in our family who doesn’t like our family Candied Sweets. So I thought I’d share it in case someone wants to try something new (and note – no marshmallows either!).

Sweet Potato Casserole

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Ingredients:

1 large can of sweet potatoes or yams (drained) (you can use fresh too – you will need to boil and peel them 🙂 )
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp clove
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup Kahlua

Mix all ingredients and put into buttered baking dish.

Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 TBS Kahlua

Cook over stove until butter and sugar mixes together. Stir in pecans and Kahlua. Spread mixture over potatoes. I sometimes make extra of the topping and add to the mixture (this might be my favorite part of the casserole).

Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Getting back on track

Posted on November 18, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I’m week out from my big transformation win – so how am I doing? Believe it or not last week was a bit of a rough week. I was in a funk!

I kind of didn’t know where to start last week – I know it sounds odd – I was on such a high from the weekend – Monday was kind of a letdown.

Last week was super busy with work/personal and some volunteer stuff – so my schedule was a bit off. I was able to hit a barre class and yoga early in the week. I got some walking in when I could (the cold weather didn’t help – also making me re-think my walking during the workday – I’ll save that for another day). And I was able to hit a Spin class on Saturday. Not too bad right – eating wasn’t out of control – I just wasn’t feeling it last week.

I’ve had this annoying cough which I know is my fall asthma cough (I just need to use my advair and it should go away) – I allowed myself to let some negative self talk get into my head – I postponed my nutrionist appointment because I needed to do a 10 minute breathing metobolism test (and I didn’t want to cough through it) but if I’m really honest – I got on the scale Monday morning and didn’t like the numbers I saw (don’t worry – the appt is on the calendar for December). I didn’t go to my normal Thursday night yoga – but that was a lot more legitimate – I really didn’t want to cough through the whole thing.

I put it out of my mind over the weekend and stayed active while I watched my niece and nephew Saturday into Sunday – they even got me to rake some leaves – so they could jump in them. 🙂

Yesterday, I got a text that said – ‘Today is the day to plan your week!’ I looked at it and realized – it was time to start over. I grabbed a few things at the store last night. I still have some other things that I will pick up tomorrow. Grabbed a nice evening walk – it was so darn nice in NJ last night. But the most important thing I did last night was re-read the 5 sheets of paper I received from my very first nutrionist appointment – I needed a refresher – something to reground and start the week off better than last week. It seems so simple, but really helped. I reviewed the proteins to focus on, carbs to eat, the hunger scale, the plate methond and lastly the Nutritional Goals to Maintain Energy and Optimize Weight.

There are 10 items on the Nutrional Goals to Maintain Energy and Optimize Weight. The first 8 are all things that I know and I’ve been doing so they were nice reminders. The last two really hit home for me (a lot more last night than in the past). 9. The scale is not the only measure of success. 10. Good behavior changes take time. I know I’ve mentioned before I’m all about the numbers and both my trainers and nutrtionist have told me numerous times the scale is not always the answer – I know this from the transformation and I just need to remind myself. One of the ways I hold myself accountable is I get on the scale every morning – my goal this week is to not get on it again until Friday morning! I need to see if changing things up and not worrying about the scale (so much) this week makes a difference for me. I feel like I’m back on track this week!

My favorite Pumpkin Pie

Posted on November 12, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I thought I’d share my favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe.

I’d like to share the story behind this recipe. Growing up my Dad had this paperback James Beard cookbook that was his go to cookbook (great recipes but also basic instructions). My Dad loves to cook – he was always in charge of our Sunday dinners – which were always special growing up. I’m not sure when he got the book – it might have been a wedding shower gift – I just know it is old and falling apart. Lots of great family favorites from the cookbook – an awesome stuffed pork chop, blueberry pie, chateau briand and of course the pumpking pie. For years, my Dad would look at old bookstores to see if he could find another copy as his was really falling apart. It was such a cherished part of our childhood it was even discussed who would get this cookbook in the will – I graciously said my brother since I’m more of a baker.

There is no need to worry – my brother and I won’t be fighting over it. One Thanksgiving about 10 years or so ago, we were discussing the cookbook and I decided to see if I could find it on eBay for my Dad. As luck would have it – I was able to find 3 copies – before I would buy – I checked to make sure it had the porkchop, blueberry and pumpkin pie recipes. We found out that the cookbook was a monthly selection from a book club – it wasn’t Book of the Month Club (which would’ve been funny as my Mom worked there when I was in college and retired from there). The James Beard Cookbook was originally published in 1959, re-released in 1961 and my edition is printed from 1970.

Here is our adaptation of the original recipe from newly revised The James Beard Cookbook:

Ingredients:

2 cups of strained cooked pumpkin (yes – my Dad uses fresh pumpkin) – you can also use canned pumpkin too – just make sure it isn’t the pumpkin pie filling – Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin or Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of ~~cognac~~ – we prefer brandy (when my Dad started making this he had Brandy in the house and one year he went back to the original recipe – we didn’t like it with the congac – too strong
6 eggs lightly beaten
~~1/2 cup of finely shredded preserved ginger~~ 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Pour into pie shell** and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the filling is set around the edges but still a little runny in the center.

**Mom-Mom’s Pie Crust Recipe

1 1/2 cup sifted flour (and yes you need to sift it)
3 TBS ice water
1/2 cup crisco
1/2 tsp salt

Make a paste with 1/4 cup flour and 3 TBSP ice water. Cut in crisco and flour to the size of peas and then add paste. Mix and roll out.

Homemade Whipped Cream – this is from a sweet potato pie recipe and is so yummy.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
2 T brandy

In medium mixing bowl, beat together cream, powdered sugar and brandy until stiff peaks form. Serve alongside with each wedge of pie. If you don’t want to use the brandy – you could use 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract.

We love this pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream and or homemade whipped cream! And of course it goes very well with a great cup of coffee. You have to eat this fast too – since no preservatives (if using the fresh pumpkin). I’ve been known to have it for breakfast too. Enjoy!

PS: Now if I actually made the pie – I’d post some pictures – however, this is a job my Dad has and the tradition continues with my brother. I’m in charge of the wine and setting the table at Thanksgiving! 🙂 I did buy some canned pumpkin so maybe one of these days I’ll make the pie. Have a great day!!

Tailgating with my Jawbone

Posted on November 11, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

When I got my Jawbone back in August, I was really excited to see how many steps I could get while at a Penn State home game. Well the battery life of my UP got in the way. So the first time I had an opportunity to wear my UP for a game was last weekend.

I knew I walked a lot during Penn State weekends – particularly on game day. A bulk to the walking is to and from the game. If I had only parked a little further away – I probably would’ve hit 16,000 steps. 🙂

This helps explain why during the Fall – I still eat and drink what I want while I tailgate and really don’t gain any weight – lots of activity! 🙂

Inspired, Motivated, Proud & Tears

Posted on November 10, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Friday night was an amazing accomplishment for me personally – I WON the 6 week Fall 2013 Transformation (to transform is to change (something) completely and usually in a good way) as a Body Project Fitness HardBody! So what does that mean? I got this awesome golden dumbbell, certificate, beautiful flowers and a year of workouts! How awesome is that? Pretty Awesome – but it is so much more – I don’t even know if I can do it justice in this blog (and my apologies if I seem to ramble – it is just so hard to get all of my thoughts together).

This truly has been a journey for me. I don’t know how many transformations I’ve participated in – little did I know then – I was just ‘participating’ – maybe even going through the motions sometimes. I’ve worked out with many of the prior winners – and I was always in awe of hearing their stories – so inspirational. I often wondered if I would ever get it? And there was a part of me that thought I never would – it just wasn’t in my DNA.

In my last post, I talked about how I was MISSING my workouts – not skipping my workouts. Little did I know that that was truly my AHA moment – and I almost missed it.

I went in on Friday morning for my measurements – I don’t recall the numbers but the biggest drop was in my hips with an overall decline in bodyfat – note – I didn’t lose any weight in 6 weeks (and there have been moments in the month where I’ve gained weight – amazes me how it fluctuates) (and you all know I’m a numbers person). My trainer and coach asked me a question – how is this transformation different? – she always asks me these simple questions that catch me like a deer in headlights. So we talked about how I was trying to find ways not to miss workouts when in the passed I found ways to miss workouts. We talked about how my work travel exercise was different – I walked as much as possible (it helped I had my Jawbone working again). She asked me what was a different – I know it is all about how I think about things – and the large muscle between my ears is so very powerful. I think we forget or don’t realize just how powerful it can be. I’ll be honest I walked out of there thinking I didn’t quite know the answer. I thought about the question all day – it wasn’t until I got in the car that it hit me – missing the workouts also turns into that working out (whether it is going to BP, a spin class or getting out and walking) has become a part of my life – I don’t view it as a chore anymore or something I HAVE TO DO – it is something I WANT TO DO! It has become a part of my LIFE.

Now this may not seem to be a big deal for you – it is for me – during the big reveal it became clear that everyone else noticed the change in me – probably even before I did. One of the things that was mentioned that was totally me – I would come and go at BP – I joked later – We were on a break (reference to Friends 🙂 ). There was also a reference to how much I focus on the numbers – they are still very important to me – but not the only thing – it is about how I feel too (and I’m feeling pretty good right now).

For those of you who know me personally – of course I shed some tears (I think I kept it together though) when the announcement was being read – I knew it was me when the comment came up about I would come and go (or something like that). I had an opportunity to say a few words to everyone after my award – and I believe I touched on some of those items in this blog. I’m so very proud of my accomplishment! I’m still in shock that women came up to me after the award and told me – “I’m an inspiration” to them.

I’m so very lucky to be surrounded by strong and inspirational women – they’ve always been my biggest cheerleaders. I moved to this part of NJ in 2005 – I didn’t know a single person in the area. It would be very hard for me to leave this area not only because I love the proximity to the Jersey Shore, NYC and Philly – but also because I don’t know if I could survive with out BP and my BP girls – they are an amazing group of women!

I’m motivated as I continue this journey…

6 Week Transformation Moment…

Posted on November 6, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

This week is the last week of our 6 week transformation – they actually gave us an additional week!

Accountability is one of the many things that comes with the transformation as you see yourself change. We get a calendar every week – where we check off our 70 ozs of water a day, 5 days of fitness and 5 minutes for yourself each day.

The last thing we have to do is share a moment when we realized a significant moment of transformation – here is my moment:

In prior transformations – I start off strong and then life gets in the way and I make excuses. As usual, this transformation started off strong and than life and work really got in the way (more so than before) and I had to figure it out. In previous transformations, I was really good at making excuses and letting the little voice (or sometimes loud voice) justify that it was OK to miss workouts. This transformation was different – I found that when life and work got in the way – I found a way to get some sort of activity in – even if it wasn’t at BodyProject. And I really needed the workouts as a true stress reliever. I could sweat out my frustration in a HardBody (and yes – yoga too) or really lose the outside world during yoga. I tried to walk as much as possible when traveling – at the airport or walking from the L in Chicago (vs. taking a cab). During the day when I have 1:1 meetings with my team (and it isn’t raining outside) – I put on my headset and I do the 1:1 outside walking (and I encourage my team to do the same). So for me my transformation moment was ‘missing‘ (like I miss my Mom – not skipping) my workouts if life got in the way. I made extra efforts to squeeze my workouts in whether it was a HardBody workout, yoga, barre or walking – I was getting something in so I wouldn’t ‘miss’. Something in the past if I missed a workout – I justified it in my head. ‘Missing‘ workouts for me is huge and something I won’t forget from this transformation as my moment. It has really kept me balance with my work and life this last 6 weeks!

Next week starts my next transformatin journey as slow and steady wins the race – this is truly a marathon (and not a sprint) for me.

I’m Electric…

Posted on October 16, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Either that of I just have dumb luck with electronics.

Remember my post about my UP Band by Jawbone and how much I loved it – well I haven’t posted much on it so because it died within a month. And then it took me another month to call Jawbone. I will tell you the experience with their customer service was awesome! I think part of the reason I was putting off calling them is I didn’t want a hassle (I had read some posts on their Facebook page that wasn’t that great). I told them what the issues was, what I did to try and fix it and they offered to send me a new band (easy peasy). Even asked if I wanted the same color – so I took the opportunity to get a more neutral grey – in between black and the light taupe grey I had. It arrived a day early and it is charging now – I’m so excited to start using it again! I really love that you can track your sleep (which is so important for me lately) and your steps – which I need to do more of to help with some stress management.

Ok so back to why I think I’m electric – this isn’t the first electronic device that stopped working within a month. Within a month the external speaker of my iPhone stopped working – Apple sent me a new one – and more than a year later everything is fine. Earlier this year I got an iPad and within a month it started freezing up. I did multiple hard and soft resets and even complained that I hated my iPad. A friend actually mentioned, ‘she never heard anyone say they hated their iPad’ – well I did. I now have a new one and all seems to be ok. So either I’m electric or I just have really dumb luck and get the lemons the first time around on electronics. 🙂

Winning is AWESOME

Posted on October 15, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Some of you may or may not know – I’m a huge college football fan. I have season tickets to Penn State and I go to most home games. However, I was not looking forward to the drive on Friday night after work. Work has been super busy and I was stressing out. Even as I was getting into the car Friday night – I still wasn’t in a Penn State football mood. And as I was making the drive Friday night – it didn’t get much better – my 4 hour drive took over 5 hours (with some torrental rain that added to some stress).

So in case you missed it – unranked Penn State (coming off an embarrassing loss to Indiana the week before-which I witnessed first hand) defeated #18 MI in front of almost 108K screaming fans in a ‘WhiteOut’ in 4 OTs. I’m a proud 10+ year North End Zone Season Ticket holder – and pleased to say both OT wins I’ve seen in Beaver Stadium have been in the North End Zone. So in case you missed the game – here is a view of the winning touchdown (and Bill Belton is from NJ):

As the announcer stated – a game that will not be forgotten – we all stayed in the stadium after the Alma Mater savoring the victory. The drive home on Sunday was much better – I’m so glad I made the trip – well worth it to see this team come out on top! And I will never get sick of watching this video either!!

PS: My voice is still recovering!

Pep Talks

Posted on September 27, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I found myself in the car driving to see my nutritionist this morning giving myself a pep talk. If you recall from my post on 8/10 – my goal for this appointment was .7 down.

The past 6 weeks have been a little challenging – limited work outs, an unusual amount of dessert eating (too many trips to a local cupcakery) and football season started. As I’ve mentioned before I weigh myself every day (in the AM) to help keep myself accountable and I can tell you the last 6 weeks I wasn’t seeing much movement. I started seeing some movement about a week or so ago (and in the right direction). Now I reported last weekend that I was down but there was a part of me that was worried either my scale was off (it has happened before) or for some bizarre reason I had regressed in a week.

So back to the Pep Talk I gave myself on the ride over – “no matter what happens, keep a positive attitude”. “You’ve come a long way. If you gained weight – don’t get discouraged – you have all the right tools to get back on track”. “If you lost weight – you are doing a great job – keep it up.” Of course, the latter conversation is a much easier one to have!

After my Pep Talk, I was ready – I went in with a great attitude (and checked out of the stress from the week to focus on me). It was a really great appointment not just because of the results – which don’t worry, I’ll tell you. But it was more about the discussion. As you’ve noticed, I’m a numbers person, but I was given a little different perspective today. While numbers are important – they aren’t the only thing – feeling better, looking better (hair, skin, etc), how you clothes fit, making sure you are living your life and not missing out are part of this journey. I probably need to remind myself that every once in awhile (although I’ll always be a numbers person) – it was still important to hear. And I don’t feel like I’m missing out on things – which is a good thing!

I’m please to announce I busted through that .7 lbs and dropped 2 lbs for a total of 25 lbs down since May 2012! And even better – I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen this number in 3 years (and I’ve gone down a jean size – double bonus)! I feel great and I’m so happy. My journey is far from over, but I’m confident I’m going to continue to see success and have a feeling my five minute drive every 6 weeks will have a pep talk involved (even if I falter – I know I will be OK).

Have a great night!