July, 2011:

I cannot believe that it is Wednesday already! This week has gone by quickly and I still have a ton of things to do today.

I know that I have promised you our salsa recipe but it is still being perfected. I think we finally have it there but I want to take some step by step photos to go along with the recipe. So, I should have it to you some time next week. For now I want to share some pictures I took of LB and Daisy yesterday at Lindsay and Kenton’s farm. Kenton and his dad were kind enough to move this tractor out for us so we were able to get some great shots of LB and Daisy playing around on the tractor.

Here is a little sneak peak…

LB was definitely playing it up for the camera last night! I have tons a pictures of him. Daisy on the other hand was in a bad mood for the most part but after about an hour we just let them play and I caught some happy pictures of her as well.

So after much thought and talking I have decided to sort of take things to the next level with my photography. I having been talking to a friend of mine who is also starting to get into the photography business and he has been very helpful and encouraging. In order to sort of take the next step I have to think of a name for this new business venture. The plan will be for the two of us to have our own separate businesses but then we would come together for bigger events; dare I say weddings (scary!) and mini photo sessions. I am very excited and nervous. But of course more excited! My business we include Lew and I because he definitely has the creative aspect to me. I couldn’t pose anyone to save my life! He is very good at that though.

Anyway…that is what we are thinking for right now.

I hope you enjoy these pictures of my sweet family!

If I have to clean my kitchen one more time today I might just scream! We have just finished our fourth batch of salsa this week and I have cleaned up more tomatoes and peppers than I ever thought possible. I love being able to make salsa from the garden but it is a ton of work to do in a short amount of time. I will have a detailed recipe post for you sometime next week. Lew and I have finally perfected our recipe and I am very excited about it.

Workouts

I know I haven’t mentioned much about my workouts since I have come back to my blog this week so I thought I would give you a little update. I have officially started the lifting program laid out in the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. I have finished the first two workouts in stage one and I am pretty confident that they are working. I know it’s only been two workouts but after each one I am super sore so I am pretty sure that I am doing to exercises correctly.

The first day I went to the Y with my plan I took Lew with me because I was so nervous about doing the free weights by myself. I get very intimidated when there are a lot of men in the weights section but with Lew there I gained confidence and felt much better about it. For my second workout I had to go by myself and I sucked it up, acted like I knew exactly what I was doing and got it done. I did great and was very impressed with myself. I am hoping to get a more detailed post about my impression of the book and workout plan soon. For now, here is my adventure with zucchini and chocolate chips…

Zucchini Cookies

Lew’s favorite thing is the world is chocolate chip cookie dough. He has been known to ask me to make just cookie dough and not even bake the cookies. Of course, he also loves baked chocolate chip cookies! He has been begging my lately to make chocolate chip cookies but I haven’t wanted to completely blow my healthy eating and weight loss attempt so I keep ignoring him. I finally decided I was going to make him cookies but I was going to make them as “healthy” as possible. So, I read a lot of recipes and finally came up with my version of Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was a little nervous about these cookies because I never have luck when I make my own recipes. I also get nervous when I make anything that is suppose to be good for me. Because it rarely ever works. My secret this time is using whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is pricey and I can only find it at one grocery store where I live but I definitely think it is worth it. It is easy to substitute in any recipe that calls for all-purpose flour and it so much better for you. It is definitely a new staple ingredient in our house. So here is goes…

Ash & Lew’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (I used whipped butter; it has half the calories of stick butter)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
• 1 cups organic sugar
• 1 cup splenda
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (2 small zucchini)
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips

1. In your stand mixer (or hand mixer) cream together butter, applesauce, sugar and splenda.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
3. Mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Stir in zucchini
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Bake on 350 for 12 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

As I mentioned I did not really have very high hopes for these cookies because I just never have much luck. However, these were awesome! Lew loved them and LB and Daisy thought they were awesome! After the first bite LB threw down his passie and ran over to Lew to get more! I was very excited that I made something good for them that they also liked!