Do you have company coming over to watch the Oscars? This is the first time in years that I've actually seen some of the nominated films. This year I saw Gone Girl (hear our Book VS Movie podcast on it HERE), The Grand Budapest Hotel (loved!) and The Imitation Game (also loved, #Cumberbitch). Go me!
If you have friends coming over and want to whip up a simple crowdpleaser, try this chili! You can throw it in the slowcooker on high for 1-2 hours, or low for 4-6 hours or just heat it up on the stovetop. It came out YUMMY. I've had so many requests for cooking videos! This was surprisingly easy, so I'll definitely be doing more-even though I woke up my son. Maybe next time I'll even change out of my pajamas!
Need a last minute gift for that special Weight Watcher in your life? Or for anyone who loves to cook? I ADORE my Ninja 4-in-1 Multi Cooker, and I would never have tried it if they hadn't been at Fitbloggin this year!
That wraps up the gift guide! Hope you all have a beautiful, healthy and happy holiday.
I can't believe how quickly this holiday season is flying by! Tonight the Mr. and I are attending our friends' annual Holiday Prom at Bar Pink in North Park. BUT FIRST...
I wanted to share some cool things I've come across on the web lately.
This week in the WW meetings room, we're discussing "Is this food worthy of ME?" This morning on my walk I heard this Jack Lalanne clip from FIFTY YEARS AGO that pretty much says it all.
God bless that man!
Wondering whether your Starbucks or DD habit is worthy of YOU? Check out this Buzzfeed video spilling the beans on your fave holiday, er, beverages?
YIKES!
For a while now I've been a fan of Andrew Saul, PhD and his work in the field of orthomolecular (that's a big word meaning "vitamins are awesome!") medicine. His books have truly made a difference in the health of my family-my kids have never had to take antibiotics (at least, not yet) and I haven't had one in almost 15 years. So I was SUPER excited to learn that he's FINALLY making a documentary about his field. They are crowdfunding and I will definitely make a contribution! In the meantime I thought I'd spread the word.
Last, but not least...are you following CHER TWEETS on Youtube? OMC (Oh.My.Cher.) I am LIVING for this hilarious series featuring Chad Michaels (a San Diego native, ahem), winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars. Just subscribe, already. Laughter is critical for your health!
What have YOU found on the web this week? Do tell!
We had so much fun in Zumba class last night! I always love to do special "holiday" playlists and this Halloween was no exception. Here's the tracks we got down to, maybe you can use some of them for your own spooky workout?
WARM-UP
"Planet Claire" by the B-52s.
Cardio
"Monster Mash" of course!
Standing Abs routine
"Devil Woman" by Sir Cliff Richard
Cardio
"The Creeps" by Adore Delano
"THRILLER" by Michael Jackson, naturally.
Squats routine
"Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. (aka "I Want a New Drug")
Cardio
"Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo
"Call me on the Ouija Board" by Sharon Needles
Arm toning routine
"Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones
COOLDOWN
"Ghost Town" by The Specials
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! For extra spooky fun, check out the latest episode of BOOK VS MOVIE: CARRIE!
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It's been waaay too long! But I've finally carved out some time to get back to Nacho Mama's Podcast and answer some of the questions you've been sending me about getting through the holidays. Yes, they're coming!
I've been getting a lot of questions about getting through HALLOWEEN. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. But for many years of my adulthood, Halloween meant buying candy in September, eating it all, buying it again in October, passing it out to a few cute kids and then shutting off the lights so I could sit on the sofa eating the rest of the candy while watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".
But after I joined Weight Watchers, my husband and I started changing the way we approach Halloween. Now it's the kickoff for a healthy, active holiday season. So I decided to share my 6 Top Tips for enjoying Halloween without destroying your health goals!
Click the player to listen NOW (or subscribe to Nacho Mama's Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher):
Check Out Health Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with NachoMamasPodcast on BlogTalkRadio
Get Dani's FABULOUS tips (including her candy list, with Points) for Halloween HERE.
I thought a video review would be most appropriate-if I don't like the wine, you'll see it all over my face! (btw-I believe I might be required to say: this review is intended for adults 21 years of age and up)
Wishing you love with extra cheese (and wine!), Nacho Mama
DISCLOSURE: I was not compensated for this review in any way, the product was purchased with my own cash and all opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not represent any company or organization.
I have given this recipe to so many people in the last week that I thought I should just post it here! I saw it on "5 Ingredient Fix" last week, I love Claire Robinson!
I gave it a shot and, despite being the worst baker in the United States, it came out DELICIOUS. So I put it into the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder (available to WW members on eTools) and, for 12 servings, it was 8 pointsplus per serving. Which...didn't quite cut it for me.
So I made a few swaps. And OK, I added a sixth ingredient. So here's MY version of this tart:
Nacho Mama's SIX Ingredient Pumpkin Tart
Preheat oven to 350 degress
THE CRUST
-1 cup crushed ginger snaps
-1.5 cups crushed FIBER ONE CEREAL (the original one, that looks like twigs)
-6 tablespoons LIGHT butter
Mix butter with crumbs and press into your 12-inch tart pan and bake for 10 minutes
THE FILLING
-1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree
-3/4 cup FAT FREE sweetened condensed milk
-2 egg yolks
Mix all three, pour into tart crust and bake for 30 minutes.
Looks gorgeous, tastes YUMMY and...only THREE pointsplus per serving!!!
I indulge my "Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget" and so can YOU!
Want to know how to throw a great summer soiree on a tight budget? How about a party that doesn't destroy your healthy eating plans? Join me as we discuss some great tips to help YOU be the Sumer Hostess with the Mostess! Listen to the live broadcast and ask my questions in the LIVE chatroom!
I don't know about you, but I plan to fight for my resolutions this year! And I'm going to use every tool I have at my disposal be it family, friends, facebook, twitter, blogs or podcasts. Here's a quick rundown of my resolutions for 2012:
-Reach my Goal Weight and FINALLY get my Weight Watchers membership for free!
-Get my home ORGANIZED so I can be more sane and
-ENTERTAIN MORE in 2012
And find more ways to make money :)
I did a pretty good job with my resolution list for 2011 and I can't wait to take a bite out of 2012!
How about you? What are your resolutions? Have you thought about how you're going to achieve them?
Do you have any made-up holidays that you celebrate year after year? Kind of like "Festivus" on Seinfeld? I do!
The summer before my husband and I got married, we moved from Manhattan to West New York, New Jersey. It was literally across the river from NYC-if you hopped in a boat at about 79th street and rowed west you'd hit our building. Our new digs in the Garden State had many perks, including air conditioning and a swimming pool with a stunning view of the skyline.
New York City summers are notoriously brutal so we thought, by way of a housewarming, we'd invite all of our city friends out for a BIG 4th of July party in beautiful New Jersey! We'd spend the afternoon barbecuing out on our patio, swimming and cooling off in our new place. Sounds like the perfect way to spend the 4th, right?
The view from our street in New Jersey-photo via Wikipedia
The morning of the party we noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of people on our street, which also overlooked the skyline. Every hour, there were more and more of them. By 3pm, when our guests were supposed to arrive, thousands of people clogged up the road and sidewalks. Seems they thought our street was the perfect spot from which to view the Manhattan fireworks show over the river. Except that they had the wrong river. The fireworks were on the East River and we were on the Hudson. We asked our new neighbors about it and they told us that yes, this happened every year. Every year, thousands of misguided gawkers made it impossible to traverse the streets of our little town. "We just don't ever leave the house on the 4th!" they said.
We tried to call our friends back in the city but they were long gone. When they finally arrived at our door at about 9pm, they were very grumpy, the food was cold and the pool was closed. The air conditioning was poor consolation for the six and a half hours they'd just spent in traffic. Oops. Let's just say it was a very long time before they accepted another invite from moi.
The next summer proved even more sweltering and I wanted so much to make up for the disaster of the "Fatal Fourth"-but what to do? Suddenly, I had a brainstorm! I sat down and drafted the following invitation:
Ever have days when you wish you could blame all of your problems on someone other than yourself?
image via Wikipedia
You are invited to commemorate the last day in history when Americans could truly pass the buck.
Come celebrate DEPENDENCE DAY with us this July THIRD!
And thus a tradition was born. Our friends delighted in coming out to celebrate Dependence Day year after year with a barbecue, a dip in the pool and games in our cool and spacious apartment. They'd come by right after work on the 3rd and get into the holiday spirit a day ahead of their fellow citizens.
At first our Dependence Day festivities bore little difference from a traditional 4th, but in the years since we've enjoyed adding more and more touches from the UK. Here's what you'll need to enjoy a Merry Old Dependence Day, indeed:
DECOR
photo via Wikipedia
Red, White and Blue tablecloths, plates, napkins, garland, etc. YES you can use the same decorations you would for the 4th, just steer clear of anything with stars. Add a few Union Jacks, a portrait of Queen Victoria and you're laughing! Don't you just love decorations that can do double duty? You can even keep them til the 14th and throw a Bastille Day bash!
MENU
You can even order Jaffa Cakes online! photo via Wikipedia
I am a gigante fan of British food and culture and am lucky enough to have somewhat ready access to it. If you don't live somewhere with a British expatriate community like we have here in San Diego, you can look up recipes on the internet or order your favorite UK treats online! The advent of the internet has made it easy to procure all kinds of British delicacies like Victoria Sponge, curries, Hobnobs and Fish & Chips. Our fave local pub, Shakespeare, has an online "corner store" with tons of edibles on offer. Click HERE to peruse their wares.
DRINKS
The UK's Bass Brewery is only 1 year younger than the United States! image via Wikipedia
British ales, lagers and more are available at your local supermarket. When my husband and I visit Shakespeare Pub, I often order a "Black Velvet", which is Guinness floated over champagne. I find it super yummy and have heard that this is Bono's favorite drink, so it must be good, right? My husband doesn't care for it, though, preferring a "Black and Tan", which is Guinness with Bass Pale Ale. Or you could skip the hooch all together and just serve tea!
GAMES
photo via Wikipedia
Soccer of course! Save the flag football for the 4th. Too rough? How about a sporting round of croquet, a la Alice in Wonderland? Or billiards? Or darts? Or a good old PUB QUIZ? Challenge your friends to a game of Trivial Pursuit, inspired by the traditional pub quiz, and reward the winner with a pint!
SOUNDTRACK SUGGESTIONS
OK, I'm going to try not to geek out too much here with my love for British music from the late 70s and early 80s. Must. Resist. Temptation. To suggest. Gary Numan! If you really need help, though, here's just a few Dependence Day-appropriate ditties:
-Fascination, The Human League
-Celtic Soul Brothers, Dexys Midnight Runners
-Dear Prudence (live at the Royal Albert Hall), Siouxsie and the Banshees
-Ace of Spades, Motorhead
-A Message to You Rudy, The Specials
And of course-
All that's left is to enjoy the party, clean up everything but the decorations and add the stars and stripes in the morning! Because we shouldn't have to depend on someone else in order to enjoy our independence, should we? Here's to a star-spangled, grand old, high-flying (In)Dependence Day weekend!
As I mentioned in my review of Legoland, I'm a sucker for anything with a "theme." I love theme restaurants; seafood places with plastic lobster-choked fishnets hanging across the ceiling and "Buoys" and "Gulls" signs on the restrooms. I LOVE theme hotels-I get giddy the moment I step onto the Vegas strip! I especially adore theme parties!
My hubby & I spent our honeymoon at The Madonna Inn-QUEEN of theme! photo via Wikipedia
So I thought it might be fun to share few theme party ideas here from time to time-hope you don't mind!
One of my favorite theme parties I ever threw was a baby shower for my sister, who is the HUGEST Golden Girls fan I've ever met. Even though she was under 13 when the show originally aired, she nevertheless caught every single episode and knows most of them by heart. When my husband and I were first dating, he was totally baffled by her love for this show. I remember him having this conversation with my then-15-year-old sister:
HIM: Why do you love that show so much, anyway? What's the deal?
SIS: I'd just like to be like them when I'm their age! Sharing cheesecake and telling stories to each other in the middle of the night...
HIM: Um, so....you'd like to be widowed?
SIS: (dreamily) Yeah....or divorced!
Don't worry, she grew up to marry perfectly lovely man! And when we found out she was expecting, I immediately knew what the theme of her shower would be. :)
Got a Golden Girls fan in your life? Here's how to throw a shindig that'd make Blanche Deveraux beg for an invite!
DADE COUNTY DECOR
FIRST: The invitations! I went to faceinhole.com and found a Golden Girls template. Popped my sister's face in Rue Mclanahan's place and voila! The perfect invite.
SECOND: I hit my local fabric store and picked up a few yards of "Miami-Nice" fabric (see above). I can't sew a stitch, but my mom was kind enough to whip up table cloth for my buffet and a runner for my coffee table. Thanks Mom!
THIRD: I filled my home with vases of Birds of Paradise and palm fronds. Now I live in Southern California where these things are literally right outside my door, but if you live somewhere where tropical flora is scarce you can easily find some fabulous fakes at your local craft store.
FOURTH: Never forget that, as the hostess, YOU are the most important decorative element of your party! I served my guests and moderated the games in my FABULOUS Shady Pines apron, which I found at cafepress.com.
MIAMI MENU
(All the food and drinks had printed placards letting the guests know what they were in for!)
FOOD:
-Miami Mixed Salad
-Rose's nutty Scandinavian Meatballs (served in the crockpot)
-Dorothy's Brooklyn Sausage and Peppers
-Sofia's Dinner Rolls (Just like they served at Shady Pines, Ma!)
And for DESSERT~
-Blanche's Georgia Peach Pie a la Mode
and, of course,
CHEESECAKE!!
(my favorite is the New York-Style Cheesecake from Trader Joe's, in the blue box)
DRINKI-POOS:
-Rue McLemonade
-Iced Tea Arthur
-Betty White Sangria*
-Estelle Wetty (Ice Water)
*I realize some consider it poor taste to serve alcohol at a baby shower, but this was a party for 35 and I think you simply can't expect that many women to get along without wine (especially if they're related to me) but that's just a personal quirk!
GOLDEN GAMES
-We played the standard baby shower games (cut the string to what you think is the preggo's circumference, find the safety pins in a dish of rice, etc.)
-We also played Golden Girls TRIVIA! This was the hit of the party. I was shocked at how well those ladies knew their Golden Girls!
The prizes all had an 80s theme: A bottle of Reunite (to be served "on ice"), a Rubik's Cube, Calgon, etc.
SOUNDTRACK SUGGESTIONS
-"Conga" by Miami Sound Machine
-The theme to Miami Vice
-"Cheesecake" by Louis Armstrong
-"Bosom Buddies" from the movie Mame-sung by Bea Arthur and Lucille Ball
-For that matter, the theme from Bosom Buddies
-The theme from The Golden Girls
and so on.
Getting some ideas for your own theme party? Got a brother who can't live without MacGyver? Was your mom despondent when they canceled The Love Boat? Got a cousin who knows all the words to the theme from The Facts of Life? Make their YEAR with a party based on their TV-land faves!
Wishing you love with extra CHEESECAKE! Nacho Mama
PS-here's my favorites Golden Girls moment EVER! If this doesn't make you laugh, I'm not sure we can be friends. (OK we can-but no theme party for you.) Enjoy!
