Right now I am struggling to move through this morning due to some sort of sleeping pill hangover.

Last night I took an Advil PM so I could fall sleep at a reasonable hour.  This little pill didn’t put me to sleep, it knocked me the F out for 12 hours!

As I plan my escape to the other side of the world next week, I’m wondering what I should bring with me so I can sleep peacefully for 8 hours and NOT feel like this when I wake up.  Jet lag is hard enough without this added element!

Going to London and China I used Ambien which worked well.  But on one trip to London, it failed to knock me out, and I had to suffer with a massive headache for the 11 hour flight.  While in living in London, I bought some over-the-counter sleep aids which are JUST the right dosage, but they sell them in the US unfortunately.  Back in the day when I hoped the pond several times a year I had a nice little stash, but that is long gone.

Lunesta is the other one people like.  I’ve heard Valium from others.  Tylenol PM never works for me at home so I don’t see how it could be effective on a plane.

I’m the kind of person who hates taking pills, especially ones that aren’t natural.  I usually don’t even take an aid when I get a headache.So, this is a predicament for me. 

Any thoughts??? What works for you??  Please share in the comments below!  Thank you in advance :)

A reader said, “I wish I could see your grocery list”  Well, here it is!  Can you read it?? Yeah, me neither. I actually have nice handwriting when I’m not rushing….

No, seriously, I never make a list unless I’m determined to cook, which I was this week.

If I don’t make a list, here’s what I usually pick up (as I go through the store):

• Broccoli crown or broccolini bunch or green beans
• Spinach or salad mix with herbs
• Herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil)
• 1 tomato
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 avocado
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 honey crisp apple
• 1 pineapple
• 2 small bananas
• Fresh OJ – medium
• Fresh Green Juice – small
• Grapes or clementines or strawberries or blueberries
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups granola
• 1/2 cup of roasted (no salt) nuts I’m in the mood for
• 1/2 cup Thompson raisins
• Dark chocolate
• 1/2 chicken with bones and skin or in-store roasted turkey slices
• 1 filet white fish
• 1 serving of flavored organic yogurt
• 3-4 Justin’s almond butter packets
• 1-2 Gnu bars
• Terra sweet potato chips, no salt
• 1 bottle white wine
• 1 awesome beer
• Cookies of some sort (the healthiest that sounds appealing)
• A couple pre-made deli stuff: broccoli crunch, butternut squash, green beans, edamame, a soup

My breakfast is usually:

• Fresh juice, quinoa, almond butter
• Pineapple and almond butter
• Protein shake

Mid-morning snack:

• Latte
• Almonds
• Banana

Lunch:

• Salad with anything I can throw in it + EVOO
• Leftover dinner
• Broccoli with some sort of seasoning/sauce

This week I’ve made two dinner recipes (thus far) from publications. But really, nothing special.  You can see  for yourself.

Roasted Talapia with apples, EVOO, and herbs.  Spinach using the Whole Foods recipe I posted last week.  Brown rice with EVOO, lime, and cilantro.

This didn’t turn out as I had hoped.  Island pork recipe from Clean Eating magazine and green beans with sesame oil.

Apple-potato latkes with maple-cinnamon yogurt from one of my favorite sources: Melissa Clark’s column “A Good Appetite” in NYTimes Dining section on Wednesdays.  (I fell in love with her after making this Chicken Adobo.  Then she offered THESE BAD ASS RIBS!) I’m sure her latkes were MUCH better, but my circumstances were not great.  I had to make the mix and then put it in the fridge for an hour before frying. Ideally, I’d like to broil them!  I’ll try that soon.  Until then, here’s her recipe and my substitutions. See what you can do with them.

Apple-P0tato Latkes with Cinnamon Sour Cream

From Melissa Clark, NYTimes Dining

• 6 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
• 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored
• 1 large russet potato, peeled
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Olive oil, for frying.

MR used: Nonfat Greek yogurt. Wheat flour. Whatever apples I had in the fridge.  Whole Foods brand agave syrup, both Maple and Cinnamon (in addition to ground cinnamon).

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt, cinnamon and syrup. Cover and chill until ready to use.

2. Coarsely grate the apples, potato and onion. Put the mixture in a clean dish towel and squeeze to wring out as much liquid as possible. For the crispiest pancakes, you want the least moisture.

3. Working quickly, put the mixture in a large bowl, add the flour, eggs, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

4. In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, cooking 3 to 4 latkes at a time. Use a spatula to flatten the scoops into disks. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes, flip them. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with dollops of the cinnamon sour cream on top.

MR notes: I know nothing about oil except their benefits.  EVOO was too thick to fry in.  Test a latke in the oil before making all of them.  I had to add additional potato and apple because my batter had too much flour.  And the yogurt is unexpectedly amazing; you need it.  I used it instead of ketchup.

(Love you and miss you Whitney and Jimmy.  Big hug to precious Leighton!)

Recently I’ve been cleaning and reusing the empty jars and bottles from jams, almond butter, and juices.

The bottles, especially the green Pellegrino, work well as bud vases for the bedside or a friendly gesture to brighten someone’s day. I use the jam jars for cotton pads in my bathroom, tea bags on the counter, and leftover storage. The almond butter jars go straight to the freezer to be used as ice-cold beer mugs!

The other day I actually used canned tomatoes in a recipe so I saved that to put pens in on my desk.

This little recycle program adds character to my counter tops and comes at a great price. Can’t argue with free :)

This is my favorite mid-day snack!

Right after I took this picture, I wondered, “What is the healthiest bar snack option?”  To me, this seems like it, but the chips are fried and the beer is full throttle.  Although it is a dark beer, which is less caloric than light ales if you can believe it.   Instead of guessing, I emailed Leah, aka Nutritionista who used to contribute regularly to MTM, for the numerical answer.

She responded like a champ!  Read the cold hard facts below.

HAPPY HOUR HEALTH QUIZ

by Nutritionista

Recently, Mary presented me with three common happy hour options and asked a simple question: Which is healthier? I’ve written about how to have a healthy happy hour before, but this seemed like a fun and challenging happy hour dilemma to tackle. Here are the choices Mary gave me:

• Glass of wine and a bread basket with olive oil at an Italian restaurant
• Sliders and light beer at a sports bar
• Skinny margarita with chips and salsa at a Mexican Restaurant

First let’s establish portion size. I went with 3 5-oz. glasses of red wine and 3 smaller pieces of crusty white bread with 1/2 tbsp olive oil for the Italian restaurant, 4 small sliders and 3 12-oz. light beers for the sports bar, and 25 chips + 6 tablespoons salsa and 3 skinny margaritas for the Mexican restaurant.

The first thing most people would probably be tempted to do is look at the calorie count for each of these options. You might be surprised to know that the approximate calorie counts for each happy hour pick are pretty similar: around 850 for the Italian restaurant, 745 for the sports bar, and 745 for the Mexican restaurant. Yes, you could save around 100 calories by avoiding the Italian option, but calorie count isn’t telling us much here.

So let’s go beyond calories, since I don’t think they tell the full health story anyway. The Italian happy hour choice not only has the most calories, but it also has the most carbs by far — around 95g compared to 50g for the sliders and beer and only 35g for the Mexican meal. But that low carb count in the Mexican happy hour might be due to some artificial sweetener in the margaritas — and I definitely don’t think artificial sweetener is healthy. But if you don’t want your blood sugar to spike, stay away from the Italian happy hour with all that bread! White bread has pretty much no redeeming nutritional qualities anyway.

Looking at protein, the sports bar meal packs the most punch, with 30g compared to 16g in the Italian meal and 11g in the Mexican meal. The sports bar meal also has the most fat (presumably from the burgers), which you all know I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing. No, the beef in those sliders is probably not very high quality, but the fat will still be more filling.

If I had to give a final verdict, my vote goes to the sliders and beer. It will be far more filling than either of the other options because of the protein and fat. If you want to kick the health factor up a notch, eat your sliders open-face and cut back to two beers. That brings the calorie count down to around 545 and the carb count down to 20g.

If you can mix and match, go with 1-2 glasses of red wine (a healthier option than beer) with 2-3 open-faced sliders. That’s around 400 calories, 15g carbs, and 15g protein. It would also be pretty satisfying because of the protein/fat, and keep you from walking away feeling bloated. Not a bad option!

I’ve actually been getting a lot of my music from listening to the Hits 1 Sirius station in my car.  That’s where I found “Ray Charles” by Chiddy Bang and “I’m a Goner” by Mike & Sue.

Hope these are “provocative” and “get you movin’.”

Every time I go to Target, I end up with a least one new piece of clothing. Like this jersey dress. Cute, right?

It seems every time I go in there now for a necessity, I come home with new clothes.

How can I resist? Right there at the entrance is the women’s section with trendy pieces lining the isle, enticing me to step in and browse. Sure enough, one piece always jumps into my basket. Why question the impulse buy when it’s so cheap?

Smarty corporate merchandisers. We are so predictable. :)

Yesterday in the WSJ, there was an article about retailers, Target was the example, getting upset about acting as a “showroom” for customers to experience a product before they buy it for considerably less online. Target actually wrote a letter to its vendors pleading for them to help level the playing field with price reductions or exclusive offerings for their stores.

As a consumer I just don’t feel bad for them. They’ve dominated our shopping and wallets for too long, and it feels empowering to have options and use them. Now, I usually go with brick and mortar over online, but the majority of shoppers apparently don’t. (Check out the Red Laser and Amazon PriceCheck apps to comparison shop.)

Online retailers try to entice you with the “other people bought” items, but I’m willing to bet those don’t jump into the shopping cart as often as they do in a real store.

I certainly don’t have numbers to back this up, but it seems like the ball is finally in our court! The question is then are we smart enough to consider our budget and hit it straight passed their tactics, not always ending up with the jersey dress.

I’m working on that :)

Cederick – my new trainer and owner of Next Level Fitness in Houston – has a unique approach to toning:  “Angles and Reps.”

As women, we know in order to stay slim and not bulk up, we should use light weights and do more repetitions.  Cederick intensifies this philosophy by also changing the angle at which you perform the exercise so you target the muscle in a different way.

Over the next few months, I’ll post pictures of how you can utilize this strategy with machines and free weights. Thus far I’m loving it!

Today, I’m talking about glutes because that has been the most notable change for me.

Seriously, my saddle bags are GONE on the sides of my legs and my butt is much firmer…even a little bigger.  TMI, I know, but you need to know what you’re after, right?!

Here are three different exercises that target your gluts using angles and reps.

Incline Leg Press

You can do this on the incline leg press as I am above and add plates (I use 2 45 lb plates) or on the horizontal machine (90-100 lbs on the stack).  Or you can do both because laying flat and being at an incline CHANGES THE ANGLE of the exercise!

The angles I will focus on here involve your feet.  Hopefully yours aren’t as gigantic as mine :)

In the first position your feet are at 90 degrees and hips’ distance apart.  The second, you take your heels to the edge of the platform and turn your feet out.  The last position, you bring your feet together at the bottom of the platform.

In each position do 20 reps WITH MINIMAL REST.

Dead Lifts

If you do not have a board to change the angle of your feet use two plates next to each other.  I borrowed “Bunny’s Board” for this pic – I’m guessing since the exercise was successful in toning her butt they commemorated her with a personalized board!

To preform a dead lift:

• Grab 15-40 lbs of weight total.  I use light weight because I have a bad back.
• Pull your core in, stand tall.
• With a flat back, pulling your shoulders down from your ears and back towards the wall, hinge forward to drop the weight down to mid-calf.
• Make sure your legs are straight.  My left one is a little bent in the picture.
• Pushing through your heels, keeping your core engaged, and squeezing your glutes, push yourself up to standing with a flat back.

Do 20 reps at each angle.

Abductor Machine

You’ve all been on this machine I’m sure, but I’ll bet you never thought to bend over while you’re seated.  I hadn’t, but I’m glad to know about this angle.  I believe this has been one of the key movements in toning my gluts.

In this exercise I use 80 lbs (although not in this pic because I could barely move my legs!).

The first set of 20, I put my feet on the lowest step and sit up tall (not against the cushion) with my core tight.  Immediately following that set, I bend over, move my feet up to the top step, and push out 20 more reps.

Finally, I wanted to add one more exercise you can incorporate during this circuit that doesn’t involve weights.  It’s like a dead lift and warrior 3 position from yoga combined to tone your gluts and improve your balance.

The slower you go, the harder it is and the more progress you’ll see.

Do 20 in a row on each side as dynamic rest in between your lifting sets.  If you want to intensify this movement add weights or bring your arms out straight in front of you as you lower yourself parallel to the ground.

For a complete glutes workout:

• 20 minutes of cardio (StairMaster or the elliptical on 12-14 incline are best for your butt)
• 30 walking lunges with 10 pounds in each hand
• Complete all 3 exercises at each angle.
• “T Dead lifts” (video above)
• Repeat all 3 exercises.  Decrease weight if necessary.
• 30 walking lunges with 10 pounds in each hand.
• Hamstring curls on the machine with 40-50 pounds, 20 reps.
• “T Dead Lifts”
• Stretch!

All of their fabulous designer dresses from last year are on sale for up to 80% off.  That’s better than a rental for sure!  Be proactive for wedding season and grab a couple dresses for Spring and Summer.  You know you’ll need them. Shop now here.

While I’m cleansing, my energy level is noticably lower and my muscles are weaker.  But I don’t give up exercise altogether during the detox.

The key is to listen to your body and don’t push yourself too hard.  Also, you need to nourish yourself appropriately.

Here’s what I do to make sure I can exercise without expending all of my energy:

• Limit all exercise to 1 hour.
• Decrease weight and resistance in all activities.
• Incorporate yoga.  The breathing, stretching, and compression will help with the detox.
• Nourish yourself before a workout with fresh coconut water (not from the carton) for the electrolytes.
• Nourish yourself after the workout with half of the  protein drink in your cleanse (usually cashew milk or a smoothie of some sort).  Drink the rest at its designated time slot.
• Schedule a mid-day cat nap if possible.
• Plan to be in bed earlier than usual.

(Btw, this pic is one of a series I’m putting together for you on “Angles and Reps” as a means to tone.  Stay tuned!)

Listening to Newt’s victory speech in South Carolina last night, this quote came to mind.  Every other industry works this way, why not politics?

Wouldn’t it be nice if they all worked together and combined their ideas to work for economic peace?  Pipe dream.

Money money money money.  It’s evil.

$10 mani. $38 mani and pedi. And it lasts!!

You have probably passed Nails Pro on Memorial Drive (just west of Westcott) a million times and never thought to stop in. One day I did, and was so pleasantly surprised with the quiet salon and quality service.

Meet Nancy:

Her manicures last a week on my claws. I’ve been to her 4 times now to make sure her skills were consistent. She has yet to disappoint me!

They’ve got big comfy chairs for pedicures. And they’re rarely busy so just drop in.

Nails Pro
5710 Memorial Drive 77007
713-880-2799

Open EVERDAY!
M-F 9-7
Sat 8:30-6
Sun 11-6

Because booze, bucks, and boobs, just weren’t enough B’s, now Vegas can add BANG to the list.

Machine Guns Vegas is a new 10,000 square foot shooting range and lounge set to open next month.  Pretty genius idea if you think about it.  The only range I know of near the strip is outside of town.  Thankfully they won’t be serving alcohol or allowing anyone already intoxicated into the establishment.

Funny story: a Yankee friend of mine said, “I don’t think anyone would get all liquored up and then go shoot weapons.”  LOL. If you’re from the south you know the opposite to be true.  One of the biggest parts of hunting culture is cold beer and lots of it!

As for this place, I don’t have to bet it will be a success, I know it will.  I’ll give it a shot next time I’m in Vegas for sure.

Tired of cooking up my veggies the same old way, I downloaded the Whole Foods Recipe App on my iPhone in the grocery store the other day for some quick and healthy recipes.  The following two caught my attention and make it to my stove top last week.  Honestly, they’re both pretty bland if you make them according to the instructions, but that means they are perfect bases for you cooks to go wild with herbs, spices, and additional veggies.

LENTIL CHILI

* I shared this with my Dad, my mom who hates healthy food, and a girlfriend.  They all loved it!

Nutrition Per serving : 120 calories (5 from fat), 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 180mg sodium, 21g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 6g protein
Ingredients

*Makes 8 servings.  I cut in half and got 5.

• 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 (16-ounce) package brown lentils (about 2 1/4 cups lentils)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (VERY IMPORTANT)
• My additions: fresh thyme and a whole bag/box/bunch of spinach

Directions

1. Bring 3/4 cup broth to a simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook about 8 minutes or until onion is translucent and pepper is tender.

3. Stir in chili powder and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

4. Add lentils, tomatoes and remaining 7 1/4 cups broth.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes or until lentils are almost tender.

6. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer. * I stirred in fresh thyme and a whole page of spinach. Probably should have stirred in thyme earlier but it didn’t occur to me.

7. Stir in cilantro and serve.

I served with sweet potato chips (no salt) instead of crackers.

HEARTY GREENS WITH HERBS AND WHITE BEANS

Nutrition Per serving: 210 calories (10 from fat), 1g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 60mg sodium, 39g total carbohydrate (12g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 14g protein

Ingredients

* Makes 4 servings.  I cut the recipe in half and got 3 servings.

• 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound (1 to 2 bunches) dark leafy greens, such as collards, kale or mustard greens (above), tough stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added Great Northern or other white beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked white beans
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring broth to a simmer in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes.

3. Stir in greens, in batches if needed, along with beans, rosemary, thyme and crushed red pepper.

4. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes, stirring once.

5. Uncover and cook another 2 minutes or until greens are very tender.

6. Stir in black pepper and serve. *Absolutely needs a little salt as well.

Today, search engines, content platforms, billionaire CEOs, and bloggers are protesting two bills in Congress:  SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). The above image came from a link on Google’s homepage: “Tell Congress: Please don’t censor the web!”

As I understand it from this very thorough dissection of SOPA on Mashable, anyone who uploads to a blog, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Gmail, Dropbox, or sites like them can be guilty of copyright infringement.  If your site allows commentary that is seen as an invitation for copyright infringement.  And if you don’t actively filter comments on your site, you are not actively attempting to prevent it, so that is a violation as well. Bottom line: the bill gives the government the right to censor the internet and charge you with felonies for actions you might not be aware are “illegal.”  Thankfully Obama has gotten behind the protest, but it still has legs.

Sites like Wikipedia and Reddit have blacked out their pages today in protest.  Tumblr is allowing bloggers to do the same as well.

Google has set up a petition you can sign here.

Screenshot from Tumblr