Yummy Yummy Chili

I am in constant pursuit for a healthy meal that satisfies my NEVER ENDING hunger. Last night, I came up with a pretty good recipe.

I think we will call it....

HOKIE CHILI

Why Hokie? Well...I used ground turkey rather than beef and the sauce is orange. So thereyougo.

::HOKIE CHILI::

Ingredients-

-1.3lbs ground turkey
-1 red bell pepper, chopped small
-1 green bell pepper, chopped small
-1 small onion, diced
-1 green squash, chopped small
-1 yellow squash, chopped small
-1 can of corn
-1 can of red kidney beans, drained
-1 can diced tomatoes, seasoned
-1 can tomatoes and chilis
-1 package of chili spices

First, brown the turkey in a large pot. Add in the peppers and onions. Let it simmer until onions are translucent. Add in all remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover pot and let simmer for 30 minutes.

This recipe wasn't quite spicy enough for me, so next time, I'll add more heat. Other than that, however, it was really very tasty!!

Holiday Sessions

Hey There! Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm offering Holiday Photo Sessions including custom designed cards. Check it out here.

Hope y'all are having a fantastic week!! :)

Halloween

Shon and I had a fantastic Halloween! For the past 3 years, we've gotten together with our neighbors, Brian and Jana, to pass out candy. This year, we decided to dress up as Waldo! We had a pretty good time even though only about 10-15 kids came by.

Tater dressed up too! As a nerd. :-P


After passing out candy, we watched Transformers 2. I highly recommend it!

We also got new carpet this weekend and I'll hopefully post about that later.

My newest niece!

Check out my newest niece, Georgia. She's an 11 week old Vizsla puppy and she's super cute.


Though Tater wasn't as enamored with her at the beginning....she eventually changed her mind and even allowed a bit of cuddling!

A few of my favorites

1. Fiber One Yogurt - With this new diet I'm on, I'm supposed to eat a diet full of fiber. I really like yogurt, so I figured I'd give these a shot. I bought both vanilla and peach flavors (though they have more than just those) and I've only had the vanilla so far. It is SO delicious! It tastes like you're eating liquefied vanilla cake frosting, so you know it has my seal of approval.

2. Almay Clear Complexion Concealer - I've been using another brand of concealer for MANY MANY years, and I just never felt that it covered as well as I needed it to. So I went out and bought this, and so far, I LOVE IT! It doesn't take very much to fully cover any blemish! The best part is, it has salicylic acid in it, so it helps to heal blemishes as well. The shade I bought was Light/Medium.3. Almay Clear Complexion Pressed Powder - Also bought this along with the concealer, and I really like this as well. It takes away shine, and is super light-weight, so those of us blessed with oily skin don't feel like we have a cake face. Again, the shade I bought was Light/Medium.

My day was made.

Today, I found CDs and DVDs of all my photos and videos that were on my dead computer. I thought these files had been lost forever. SERIOUSLY my day was made. Included in these files are photos from college, photos of Shon and I in our early days of marriage, and photos of Tater as a puppy. Here's a little gem I found..

Tater at 9 weeks old showing off all of her tricks. :)

Tater at 9 weeks. from katherine klegin on Vimeo.

On a diet.

For life, apparently.(TMI alert!)

I mentioned in one of my earliest posts that I have PCOS. Well, last week, I had some pretty bad lower abdomen pain, so I went to the doctor. I was pretty sure I knew what it was, and the doctor confirmed it when I went in. He performed an ultrasound of my ovaries and said, "yep, you've had a cyst burst." He also said that my ovaries looked worse (meaning had more and larger cysts) than they did last time, so that was not very encouraging to hear.

(No, the following images are not of me. I found them online.)

Here is a ultrasound of a normal ovary.


And here's one of polycystic ovaries. Those little black dots are the cysts.


So, my doctor prescribed me some medication, Metformin. This medicine is used to control to the insulin of diabetic patients. Because PCOS is caused by insulin resistance, this medication is also effective for PCOS patients.

In addition, I'm also supposed to change my diet to a more diabetic or low gycemic index diet. And not just for a while....forever. I was reading articles and apparently 70% of women with PCOS eventually develop diabetes. I'm not trying to be one of those women, so I'm going to nip it in the bud now. I hadn't been taking the whole PCOS diagnosis thing very seriously, but now that it's worsened, I think it's time to get healthy.

Due to a vicious caffeine addiction a couple of months ago, I made it my goal to stop drinking Dr. Pepper. I've done really well with that, and am mostly drinking water, with the occasional sweet tea here and there. What?! I am southern! I am actually at the point now, that I don't even WANT a dr. pepper at all. I'm convinced they put crack cocaine in it because that was definitely a hard habit to kick.

So I've been researching what kinds of foods I can eat and diets that work. While researching that, I found a super interesting article that talks about the 33 healthiest foods. Check them out!

The Healthiest Foods on Earth

Pineapple	Speeds post-surgery	Promotes joint health	Reduces asthma inflammation
Blueberries	Restore antioxidant levels	Reverse age-related brain decline	Prevent urinary tract infection
Spinach	Helps maintain mental sharpness	Reduces the risk of cancers of the liver, ovaries, colon and prostate	Top nutrient density
Red Bell Pepper	Reduces risk of lung, prostate, ovarian and cervical cancer	Protects against sunburn	Promotes heart health
Broccoli	Reduces diabetic damage	Lowers risk of prostate, bladder, colon, pancreatic, gastric and breast cancer	Protects the brain in event of injury
Tomato	Reduces inflammation	Lowers risk of developing esophageal, stomach, colorectal, lung and pancreatic cancer	Reduces cardiovascular disease risk
Apple	Supports immunity	Fights lung and prostate cancer	Lowers Alzheimer’s risk
Artichoke	Helps blood clotting	Antioxidant Superfood	Lowers “bad” cholesterol
Arugula	Lowers birth defect risk	Reduces fracture risk	Protects eye health
Asparagus	Nourishes good gut bacteria	Protects against birth defects	Promotes heart health
Avocado	Limits liver damage	Reduces oral cancer risk	Lowers cholesterol levels
Blackberries	Build bone density	Suppress appetite	Enhance fat burning
Butternut Squash	Supports night vision	Combats wrinkles	Promotes heart health
Cantaloupe	Bolsters immunity	Protects skin against sunburn	Reduces inflammation
Carrot	Antioxidants defend DNA	Fights cataracts	Protects against some cancers
Cauliflower	Stimulates detoxification	Suppresses breast cancer cell growth	Defends against prostate cancer
Cherries	Alleviate arthritic pain and gout	Lower “bad” cholesterol	Reduce inflammation
Cranberries	Alleviate prostate pain	Fight lung, colon and leukemia cancer cells	Prevent urinary tract infection
Green Cabbage	Promotes healthy blood clotting	Reduces risk of prostate, colon, breast and ovarian cancers	Activates the body’s natural detoxification systems
Kale	Counters harmful estrogens that can feed cancer	Protects eyes against sun damage and cataracts	Increases bone density
Kiwi	Combats wrinkles	Lowers blood clot risk and reduces blood lipids	Counters constipation
Mango	Supports immunity	Lowers “bad” cholesterol	Regulates homocysteine to protect arteries
Mushrooms	Promote natural detoxification	Reduce the risk of colon and prostate cancer	Lower blood pressure
Orange	Reduces levels of “bad” cholesterol	Lowers risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, breast and stomach, and childhood leukemia	Pectin suppresses appetite
Papaya	Enzymes aid digestion	Reduces risk of lung cancer	Enhances fat burning
Plums & Prunes	Counter constipation	Antioxidants defend against DNA damage	Protects against post-menopausal bone loss
Pomegranate	Enhances sunscreen protection	Lowers “bad” cholesterol	Fights prostate cancer
Pumpkin	Protects joints against polyarthritis	Lowers lung and prostate cancer risk	Reduces inflammation
Raspberries	Inhibit growth of oral, breast, colon and prostate cancers	Antioxidant DNA defense	Lower “bad” cholesterol levels
Strawberries	Protect against Alzheimer’s	Reduce “bad” cholesterol	Suppress growth of colon, prostate and oral cancer
Sweet Potato	Reduces stroke risk	Lowers cancer risk	Protect against blindness
Watermelon	Supports male fertility	Reduces risk of several cancers: prostate, ovarian, cervical, oral and pharyngeal	Protects skin against sunburn
Banana	Increases Fat Burning	Lowers risk of colorectal and kidney cancer, leukemia	Reduces asthmas symptoms in children

Read more of the article here.