Operation Beautiful

Fact: Females can detect tones in the human voice that is inaudible to males.

So, when your boyfriend, dad, fiancee, brother does not respond to something that you have just said that is just so important to you, it isn't because they do not care, it's because they physically can't hear your tone of voice.

You can keep that little factoid in your back pocket for a rainy day!

For the past two weeks I have been getting to know my new co-workers, which has been such a wonderful experience. But in getting to know these wonderful people I have found that some if not all of the coworkers are either on a strict diet or trying to lose weight. There are some things in this world that I will never understand.

1. Video games
2. Harry Potter
and
3. Why people continue to want to lose weight or change their body completely, when such a drastic change is not needed.

Two girls specifically worry me the most, probably because they have decided that they want to lose 30lbs. These are normal, perfectly healthy sized girls. To lose 30lbs would leave them looking gaunt and sickly. Perhaps they think that the hollowed out cheekbones of a Holocaust survivor is attractive. Losing 30lbs would  gain a new pride in a practically nonexistent pant size, but would lose the joy, personality, and heart of a beautiful person.

I love fitness and wellness, but I believe that a big part in being well is to develop a love for one's self and persona. This love should be unconditional, it should never run and hide when those "fat pants" just won't close or when your hormones go finger painting across your skin. Never. 

Hungry Hungry Rachie

Today has been...slow. I feel like I have forgot to do something of importance. But, after cross checking my planner, calendar, e-mail, and other various forms on the web, I found nothing. I started out this morning with a yoga workout, pure loveliness. It was pretty early in the morning and it was cloudy outside, perfect conditions for slowly easing into the day. I got the workout from this website and I definitely recommend it. I also meditated for about 20 minutes, the last few minutes were torturous. In time, meditating will get easier again. I am pretty sure that I am about the only person on this campus right now writing about her morning meditation. In fact, I mentioned that I was a food blogger to several of my staffmates only to find glazed over eyes and uneasy follow up sentences. I guess that is a road block for some conversations.

Originally, I was going to blog about some vanilla protein oatmeal dish that I made this morning but it did not come out so well. The oats were crunchy and not very good at all really. The fun continued with a thorough cleaning of the apartment! Ok, this was far from very exciting or fun, but I have a roommate that will be moving in soon and I want to make a good first impression. Plus, I do not think that she would appreciate the fact that our living room was covered with poster papers, glitter, and fliers. I used to be such a neat person, what happened?

I did, however, make some no-bake peanut butter cookies/blobs! Woo!

No-bake Peanut Butter Oat Cookies
Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups rolled oats

What to do: In a pot, brink milk, butter, vanilla, and sugar to a boil stirring constantly. Boil for about 1-2 minutes. Stir in peanut butter and add oats once the peanut butter has been thoroughly melted. Spoon about 1 Tbsp lumps onto a cookie sheet or a plate and pop in the fridge.

Voila! Tasty treats that whip up in about 30 seconds, for real.

Other than cleaning, the only notable thing that happened today was that it rained. I know, thrilling! I was stuck inside and desperately looking for residents, human contact, or a friendly roach to have a conversation with. I came up empty. Since it was monsooning outside, there was no where to go. So, I watched "Sabrina" which is a very good movie!

Latest obsession?

Frozen blueberries!

Bonjour!

Long time no blog! I did not fall off the face of the Earth, better yet, I fell back into college life.

 I am working as a Resident Assistant and have been going through lots of different kinds of training. Some sessions are fun and helpful others are tedious and slow. I am just so blessed and so excited that I get to partake in this experience. I have a feeling that this year will be a memorable year! Since our training schedules are around 10-12 hours per day, food is provided by the dining hall. A new dining hall opened on campus and it is supposed to be very healthy. From what I have seen I am not too impressed. The food is great, don't get me wrong, it's just that it's not my kind of food. I have been dying for a good piece of whole grain toast and hummus, but alas there is none. They do have a make your own peanut butter station which is pretty nifty and sometimes they serve quinoa (yay!).

I was up early this morning issuing keys to residents that were moving in, I haven't seen 6am in a while. Like a week. After that I cleaned up the apartment because it was oh so necessary. But then I found myself with nothing to do, until I remembered that I bought a butternut squash and have not yet done anything to it. I was planning on using it as a substitute for spaghetti squash, but in the midst of cooking it I was certain that I was millimeters away from burning down the entire residence hall, so that stopped. I figured that I could make a sort of mashed potato-y type of side with the squash. Yay creativity!

Mashed Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1/2 butter squash
1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary

What to do:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut the rind of the butternut squash off, then cut the squash into 1 inch chunks. Add the squash chunks to the boiling water and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add in the chopped fresh rosemary after 8 minutes. Drain the water and add the softened squash to a small bowl. Mash the squash with the back side of a fork or with a potato masher.

Voila! Delicious and nutritious!

We have a staff lunch today where we will be meeting with the maintenance staff and getting to know them. From past years I have learned that the maintenance people are super sweet and I feel like they should always always be treated with respect. So I am excited for lunch! I am not excited, however, for the menu for lunch.
I was hired as the resident assistant for a special type of floor that is devoted to wellness. You would think that it would not be appealing to said wellness r.a. to eat pizza at every meeting. So I am thinking about packing my own food to bring. I actually had a meeting with some important people from my university from the wellness center, including the university's dietitian. At that meeting we were served pizza... Anyways, now that I have the mashed butternut squash under my belt I feel like this lunch will turn out just wonderfully.

Adjusting back to school life has been rather smooth this year. I suppose this is the way it ought to be when you are going into your third year of college, but I was still surprised. It's really nice living in an apartment style residence hall! My room is quite small, some would say cozy, but I have a living room area and a kitchen. Plus the lounge area outside of my apartment. I am hoping that once classes start that things will continue to be smooth and fun. Here's hoping!

Le kitchen.

I was ironing. I like to keep it classy.

Stove!

The fridge. Covered with my magnets!

Le magnets.

Sunday Morning Muffins

I love Paula Deen. I swear that we could get along super well together. I love her shows and her little sayings and of course the butter! The other day I saw an episode where she and her son were making some lunch dishes. The main course was a sandwich, pretty healthy, but they served it with fried yellow squash and some super sweet dessert. "Two out of three ain't that bad"- Paula Deen. My hero.

So today I am working on some orange marmalade, so exciting! It will take about one hour, a long time but definitely worth it.

This past weekend, my sister and I made some amazing muffins! What else would you expect from a couple of gals who are craving a sweet breakfast treat? So we made blueberry banana muffins topped with a crumbly streusel.

Blueberry-Banana Muffins

[source]

2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 mashed banana
2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever flour you have on hand)
2/3 cup sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup blueberries

Streusel:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp cold butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line or grease a muffin pan.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the streusel topping. Use two knives to cut the chunk of butter into the flour mixture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all wet ingredients, including banana and egg. Add in dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. For super amazing muffins do not stir too much, the batter should be lumpy! Gently fold in blueberries.

Pour into the muffin cups, the cups should be pretty full. Top with streusel topping. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Serve warm.

The streusel topping really makes this muffin amazing!

Voila! Delicious muffins for a lovely Sunday morning. Or any morning really.

I love these coasters!

Time to start packing for school again. I can't believe that I will be up there in just a couple of weeks! I have so much to do!