New Obsession of the Week/Month: Chobani!

Sooooo I have another obsession to share...

This time its Chobani.

If you don't know, Chobani is flavored greek yogurt, and its aaaahmazing.

The flavors are GREAT and there are so many.. I counted at least ten flavors.

And greek yogurt is GREAT for you!

Greek yogurt is made using some way-old straining technique that magically leaves the yogurt with twice as much protein as normal yogurt and nice and creamy. Each serving has around 140 calories and 14g of protein! The low-fat yogurt has 3g of fat, while the non-fat has ZERO!

My faves right now are the black cherry, and peach.

Hop on over to www.chobani.com and click on coupons to save on a couple of chobanis!

Warning: plain greek yogurt is kind of sour. Don't get the plain kind unless you plan on mixing in your own fruit and maybe some granola. Then it would be do-able.

Obsession of the Week

What am I all about this week?

Thats right.... Turbofire!

Turbofire is a Fitness program made by Beachbody, the makers of p90X.

Some of you may know that I started p90X in January. I did about 6 full weeks of the 12 week p90X program and got a little bored... I was also having A LOT of serious wrist pain in my left wrist due to a lot of push ups and Yoga.

Anyways, once you start doing one of these programs, you feel like you HAVE to be doing one at all times. They are tough. Once you get used to that amount of exercise 6 days a week, it starts to feel weird to not work out. I noticed Turbofire and decided to try it out!

Turbofire is a mix of kickboxing, aerobics and dance. there are 12 different workouts in the program. I would say that about 75% of them are pure cardio, with maybe one strength, one core and a couple of stretching DVDs. There is a schedule that tells you exactly which workout to do on each day for 12 weeks.

Turbofire uses High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to help you burn more calories even after you are done working out.

I'm really enjoying it so far.... more than I like p90X in the beginning, so maybe that will help me stick with it better? Who knows!

What are you loving this week?! Are you obsessed?

She lost half of her body weight and kept it off!

So, I stumbled onto this blog this morning on Pinterest and this girl's story is AMAZING.

Andie Mitchell weighed 263lbs at age 20, and lost 135lbs (HALF OF HER BODY!).

She explains how she lost the weight and the unexpected issues she had after losing all the weight. I would have never thought that someone would have such a hard time after losing all of that weight, I would think that would be the best part.

She keeps a blog about food and life in general. Lots of recipes and interesting stories.

Check it out.... its awesome!

340 Calorie Chicken Parm!

This recipe is from "Eat This, Not This". A super awesome cookbook that gives lower calorie, lower fat versions of dishes you would get at restaurants. This recipe takes chicken parmesan (850 calories at Macaroni Grill) and turns it into 340 calorie amazingness!

The no details recipe: (go to the link for the full recipe)

• Heat oven to broil
• Dip thin chicken breasts in egg whites then in panko bread crumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
• In a hot pan with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, add the breaded chicken and cook for about 4 minutes, until the cooked side is golden brown and beautiful!
• Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are cooked.
• Transfer cooked chicken to a baking dish, spoon enough spaghetti sauce to cover the top of each piece of chicken.
• Broil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add a slice of cheese to each chicken breast (I used provolone, but I think fresh mozzarella would be much better!
• Continue broiling until cheese just begins to bubble.

I served mine with green beans and salad...... ENJOY!

Kielbasa and Zucchini Stoup.... mmmmmmmm!

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

For my first post in FOREVER, I bring you Kielbasa and Zucchini Stoup!

This soup was inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe. My changes: no mushrooms, add kielbasa, nix the breadcrumbs, add garlic bread!

This soup is seriously, my FAVORITE soup! I. LOVE. IT.

I love that:

It has kielbasa, its a little spicy, it makes great leftovers, and its so easy/fast to make!

The instructions looks long, but I promise it wont take longer than 30mins.

So here it is!

Whatcha need:

Kielbasa (I get the turkey kind... don't tell Charlie!)

Zucchini (4 or 5)

White onion

Garlic (2-3 cloves)

grape tomatoes (1 pint)

Chicken stock (low fat, low sodium)

Thyme (dried or fresh)

Basil or Oregano (I used basil because I was out of oregano)

Parsley (dried or fresh)

Salt & Pepper

Hot Sauce or Chili powder

Watcha do:

- Cut kielbasa into 1/2 wide coins

- In a large soup pot add enough Olive Oil to well cover the bottom of the pot

- When the oil is hot, add the kielbasa

- While its cooking, stir every minute or two and cut the vegetables... cut zucchini in half, lengthwise then in 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the onion into large-ish pieces, whatever you would be happy eating in your soup. Cut up the garlic very small.

- When kielbasa is slightly browned, remove onto a plate. Leave the oil in the pot!

- Add all of the cut vegetables to the oil... stir, to coat everything. Add a pinch or two of salt, some pepper, thyme and oregano.

- Stir every so often until everything is slightly browned.

- Add tomatoes. Cover and leave it alone for about 5 minutes.

- Rachael says the the tomatoes will burst. Maybe I'm not patient enough, but I've never seen them burst. I pop them with a potato masher (careful, they splash sometimes).

- Now all you have to do is add the chicken stock and let it heat up. (I used a small carton and a half, it depends on how much zucchini you used.)

- Once its how, add chili powder or hot sauce to taste.

- Serve with grated parmesan and garlic bread!

Sorry about only the last picture... when I find my camera I'll add some more pictures.

Good Luck!

Serena Lynn.

I found an hour!

So the car guys put a new battery in my car yesterday. I picked it up today and realized that I'm going to get to work an hour later that I had planned, I'm not going to get everything done in time today, I'm going to have to come in later tonight as well as both Saturday AND Sunday.... so annoyed.
I get to lab, start hustling to try to get some of the stuff done I have on my list before lab meeting starts... mad that I'm not going to be able to stop for lunch. I look up and realize that I am EXACTLY ontime... replacing the battery in my car reset the clock, and I'm back on schedule!

Finally, something good in the this sore, tired, crazzzzy week!

What would you do with an extra hour today?!

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Texas A WHOLE YEAR! There were some rough times when I wanted to move to Houston, but I think I’m good now.

I’m officially a 2nd year grad student. Woo! That means that I have completed the Basic Biomedical Science Curriculum (BBSC) in which all of the incoming students are in the same basic classes (think Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Statistics, Ethics, etc.) and have entered the Cell Biology Program in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology. Cell Biology is thought of as one of the “easier” degree programs because they don’t focus on class work as much. The director of the program, Dr. Boehning, thinks that your research is the important part of the program, not the course work which I am TOTALLY fine with!

So with that, this year I will be focusing on finishing up my cell biology course work. I should be done with all of my classes by the end of the summer semester 2011. I am required to take 6 hours of electives this year as well as two bigger courses in the summer of 2011( Advance Cell Biology and Academic Skills, where we will be working on our research proposals) I will also be taking my qualifying exam in the Spring of next year. Several of the Cell Biology professors write questions for us to make a take home exam. We research each question and basically write a mini research paper for each question. Passing the exam allows you to apply for candidacy. To apply for candidacy I will submit a proposal after the summer of next year detailing my proposed research path and everything I plan to do. I’ve joined Dr. Boehning’s lab (the link to his website is in one of my previous posts). I’m really happy with the choice. He really likes to get things done early, which is good for me. He has a young family so he understands that people have lives outside of the lab and he supportive of me coaching gymnastics. I am also presenting a poster at the Neuroscience and Cell Biology Department’s research retreat at the end of September. After I submit my proposal, which includes a written portion (in a grant format) a presentation to the public (UTMB faculty and students) and a question and answer session with my proposal committee I will be focusing on research for the next three years.

As for gymnastics, my level 4s and level 6s (I don’t have any level 5s in my groups) will have their first competition on Saturday! They will be competing at their first district qualifier which will qualify them for the level 4 district championship in which they will compete to qualify to the south state championship. Last week we had two judges come in to evaluate the girls. The judges were pleased with their routines as they are now, while there is always room for improvement! I’m probably as excited for their first meet as they are….. especially since its at 3:15pm (instead of 7:30am) and at the closest gym to my house! YAY!

I’m also thinking about running in a half-marathon in November! Here is the link to the one I’m thinking about http://www.seawallhalfmarathon.com/seawall/index.html. IT looks really fun! My friend Lynn is (that just moved to Washington Dc : ( ) is thinking about coming down to do the race as well! I just bought a new pair of running shoes (SUPER AWESOME!) and I’ve got a training program picked out as well as a 5K and a 10K to run as practice and mini-goals along the way. I haven’t paid the registration for any of the races yet, but I’ve been talking about how I’m going to do it… so I guess I have to do it now, right?!

Anyways, I think that’s just about it, I think. I’m sad that I’ve been here a year and not made more posts. I guess on the other hand, it’s been a year and I’m still posting on this blog…. That more than a lot of people can say for theirs! I changed the title, so Its not going to be about just Texas anymore… just my life and adventures,etc!

Love yall,
Serena