Favorite Hiking Trips this Summer

Normally on my days off I love to go hiking, but today it is raining. Whenever I hike I love to take about 50 billion pictures, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.

1. Angel's Landing: I finally did this hike and it was fantastic, but not for the faint of heart. This is at the very top and if you are afraid of heights you may want to think about not doing this one. It's about a four hour hike and very much uphill. For those who don't know, this is located in Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah. It's about an hour from where I live. I was really lucky because it was cloudy, but didn't actually rain much on us. Also if you don't feel like packing lunches with you Springdale has lots of really cute places to eat. They are a little more pricey, but oh, so delicious! 

My favorite so far has been Oscars Cafe. Super tasty! My meal was about $11, but I didn't even eat the whole thing cause it was huge! Sweet Potato fries are the way to go.  

2. Santa Clara Petroglyphs hike: This one is awesome and great for taking pictures. It is harder to find though. The trail is called "Tempi'po'op" which translates to "rock writing" in Southern Paiute. It takes about three hours round trip (including when I stop and take my 50 billion pictures). This hike is moderate, but does have a little bit of an incline and no shade. When you go don't forget to be respectful of the petroglyphs. It is crazy to me that every time I go I see parents letting their kids climb all over them. The link below has directions to the trail, but if you have questions let me know.   

 http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/st__george/recreation/trails/santa_clara_river/tempi_po_op.html 

I also see a lot of people trail running out in this area, so if you are into that, there you go. Just remember, no shade!

3. Kanarraville Falls: This is a beautiful hike--very picturesque. The entrance is in the small town of Kanarraville, about 10 minutes away from Cedar City, Utah (exit 51 on I-15). At the parking lot you have to pay $10 because they do not want people parking on the sides of the roads, but if you park down by the Town Hall it is free. It takes about 10 minutes to walk to the parking lot from there and worth it if you aren't feeling lazy. This hike is fun and you will get wet. So put your cell phones in plastic bags or don't bring them at all. 

There are three waterfalls on this hike. It takes about four hours to do and the nice thing about this hike is if you go later in the day it's better because the first time I went my legs froze. The water is really cold in the mornings even in the hot summers of Southern Utah! Don't forget to bring water and snacks! 

4. Red Cliffs: This is probably one of my favorites places because I hiked and camped here a lot in my childhood. It is a great example of all the beautiful red rock that we have here in the Saint George area. The trails here are all very easy and not that long. There are even some dinosaur tracks.

The cost is $5 per car or $15 for a campground. There is also a picnic/fire pit area for day use with lots of trees for shade. This is a great place to take younger kids hiking. It can be hard to find this one sometimes so here are some directions.

 http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/st__george/recreation/camping/red_cliffs_campground.html

5. Bryce Canyon National Park: Gorgeous rock formations and coloring. This is 3 hours from Saint George, but worth the drive. We went up for a family reunion and this was just a hike I went on near our campsite (which I sadly can't remember the name of). 

If anyone is ever up for a hike, let me know! Or if you know of any hiking trails that I might like feel free to tell me about them. I am always looking for new adventures. 

Philly Cheese Steak Peppers

This is one of the best ways I can get Justin to eat peppers and onions, besides sneaking them into his burger patties! I am always trying to get myself to eat more veggies as well and these aren't that hard to make. I paired it with some corn on the cob, but you could also make rice, couscous, or quinoa to go with it as a side.

Stuffed Philly Cheese Steak Peppers

Makes four servings

Ingredients:

2 large green peppers

1 package 6 oz. of  roast beef 

1/2 onion

4 slices of cheese (I usually do Provolone, Swiss, or Muenster)

1-2 tablespoons of oil

(you can also add mushrooms)

Directions: 

1. Cut the peppers in half and place them on a cookie sheet. Cut the cheese slices in half and place one of the halves inside each pepper (save the other half for the top). Pre-heat oven at 400 degrees.  

2. Chop the onion. Slice the roast beef into thin strips. In a pan, on medium heat, stir the onions and roast beef with the oil until onions are softened. 

3. Spoon the contents into the peppers. Place the cheese on top and put in the oven. 15-20 minutes of cooking time. 

Lunch meat works just fine, but if you are wanting to do actually steak, that's fine too. I hope you enjoy them if you make them and let me know what you think! 

5 Tips

Hello, everyone! So I probably wont be posting everyday in the future, but I need to get some stuff up before school starts on Monday. A lot of people ask me about things that helped me lose weight and get back into shape, so I came up with five easy tips that you could start with.

1. A Motivation Poster: This helped me because it was in my bathroom and I would look at it every morning. I put things I liked and words that would inspire me. Yes, I even put "eat" because I love food! Being positive is key, in my opinion. There would be days that I would want to just scream because I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere in my progress. Whenever I would feel this way I'd go and look at the poster, take a few breaths, and try and think of positive things about me. It may sound cheesy, but it helped me out a lot.

2. Food/Exercise Journal: I use the app "Lose It" on my phone, but if you don't have a smart phone, a good old fashion journal will do just fine (though you may want to pick up a calorie counter book as well). Now, before I scare you into thinking I am going to have you counting every calorie for the rest of your life, just hold up! When you start looking at how many calories are in the foods you eat, you can start making healthy cut backs. You don't have to keep a journal forever. Once you get more familiar than just start keeping track in your head. I still keep track of mine because it has became a habit. If you fall off the wagon and feel like your progress is stunted, refer back to this method. 

3. Watch What You Eat: What you put into your body is important. It helps you work out, feel more energized, and can sometimes even put you in a better mood. When you don't know what some of the ingredients are that can be a bad thing. A study that was featured in Women's Health magazine (March 2013) stated that women who read nutritional labels approximately weighed nine pounds less than women who did not. I try to stick to ingredients that I can read and understand. A great is example is one of my favorite snacks: Larabar. You know all of the ingredients it lists and there aren't 50 billion. 

4. Find a Fun Activity: I love hiking! I try to go as often as I can! I do like going to the gym, but sometimes you have to spice it up. Find something to break up the schedule of just running at the gym or lifting weights. Zumba, yoga, or volleyball...the list goes on. Get out there and try new things! If you want, make it social by inviting friends to join.  

5. Pack a Good Lunch: I am not really a work-out-in-the-early-hours type of person. If you are, congrats. Because of this I try to take a good lunch with me to work so that when I get off work I wont have the excuse of "oh, I am hungry" to not go to the gym. Eating a good breakfast also helps, but that's a tangent for another day. 

I hope some of these will help you on your course to becoming healthy! Please leave me some feedback if you have time and a good luck! 

Chicken Chow Mein

Okay, so I think this is the most ask for recipe that I make, so I thought I would start with this one. I love Asian food and eventually I will learn how to make Pad Thai and Sushi (cause I am spending a mini fortune on it), but for now I have this really tasty Chicken Chow Mein recipe that I found in a kid's cookbook called "DK Children's Quick and Easy Cookbook" by Angela Wilkes.

The thing I like the most about this recipe is that it makes four servings and since I am usually just cooking for my husband and I, there are leftovers. With these leftovers I can bring a tasty lunch to work the next day. Just pop it in the microwave and everyone at work gets jealous. :P

Chicken Chow Mein
For noodles:
8 oz. Dried egg noodles
1 teaspoon oil
For Stir-fry:
2 Carrots
1/4 lb Thin Green Beans
1/4 lb Snow Peas
4 Scallions
1 in Fresh piece of Ginger
1 Clove Garlic
2 Tablespoons oil
2 Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 Lemon
(I also added Cashews, Red peppers, and sometimes teriyaki sauce if I have any)

Directions:
1. Half-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Add the noodles and boil them for the amount of minutes it says on the box.
2. Drain the noodles in a colander. Return to pan and mix oil.
3. Peel the carrots and cut into think sticks. Trim the beans and snow peas. Slice the Scallions.
4. Peel the ginger and grate. Peel the garlic and chop finely.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan. Cut chicken into strips and stir-fry them until golden. (I actually cooked it on a George Forman grill to cut out some of the fat and same save some time).
6. Put the garlic, ginger, carrots, and beans (cashews and red peppers) in the frying pan and stir-fry them for 4-5 minutes. Make sure to stir them constantly.
7. Add the chicken, snow peas, scallions, and noodles. Mix it and cook it for a few more minutes.
8. Add the soy sauce, the juiced lemon, and salt if you'd like. Mix once more. Cook for 2 more minutes to heat through.
9. Enjoy!

If you are going for meatless you can add some other types of veggies and/or tofu. Also for anyone wondering about the noodles I use. The Annie Chun's are my personal favorite to use (I swear this isn't an ad, lol). I hope you will try this recipe out and let me know what you think of it. Thanks for reading!

Everyone Starts Somewhere

So after almost a year of getting myself back on a healthy track; I have decided to write a blog about it. Now, it's been awhile since I have been writing anything, so I hope you will bare with me. I suppose I will start with my progress. I have always been more of an athletic build and played a lot of sports as a kid. My family ate healthy even before one of my younger sisters became type 1 diabetic, but when I moved out at the age of nineteen, I changed things up. I ate lots of Hot Pockets, cheese balls, and fast food. Oh, the college life. A little bit later I met my future husband, Justin, and he introduced me to World of Warcraft (I am kind of a nerd). So let's just say it was a bad recipe. A couple more months down the road I was in a very bad car accident. Story short, I was on lots of painkillers and didn't move much. The painkillers made me depressed and I gained weight. I went from around 140 pounds to 165 (though after awhile I stopped looking at the scale).

I had a different picture of what I looked like in my head and I refused to believe I had gained so much weight. Depression sunk in. I kept looking for quick ways to just lose weight, none of which work I may add, and telling myself empty promises. A year ago, on my little sister's 15th birthday, I saw the pictures that they took of me and I was speechless. I finally looked at them and said that it was time to change. Sadly, I found out I wouldn't be able to go to school for a semester or two, so my goal was to get healthy--no excuses! I finally started taking advantage of the fact that I had signed up for a gym down the road from my home and began to go almost every day that I could. I didn't change my eating habits though, which caused problems. I lost a little bit of weight, but still didn't feel that great.

In January, I thought, hey everyone makes goals in this month so that's what I'll do. I started my goal over. I gave myself until June 1st to get down to 135 (I had done some math and that seemed like a healthy goal weight for my height and body type). I cut out all high fructose corn syrup and trans fat. I would only eat out on Fridays. I would work out every day for at least 30 minutes. I also started cooking my meals from scratch when I possibly could; sometimes money is tight cause I am not a millionaire, sigh.

So this was my progress (I also have a pool in my apartment complex so I decided to get my swim on). The left is the end of December 2012 and the right is June 1, 2013. My hard work has paid off, but the point I want to stress is that it is hard work! For some it may be really easy to lose weight, but overall I would say that it takes a lot of patients and dedication. 

The reason I thought I would make this blog is to try and inspire people to be healthy (notice I don't say skinny) and to have some fun. I will be posting recipes and other things that have helped me reach my goals. I also love hiking so I may post some stuff about that. I don't claim to be an expert and I love hearing what works for other people.