http://www.1077theriver.ca

It’s New year’s resolution time, a.k.a. starve yourself for two weeks, lose your mind, lose control of your emotions, snap and fail.  Don’t do it!!!  I’m no expert but I HAVE learned a few things over the years in gyms, reading articles on health and just by listening to people that ARE experts on health.  Here’s a few rules I try to go by:

Try to avoid white sugar…I use Stevia, a natural plant sweetener for my morning coffee

If it comes in whole grain, go that way

Find a veggie, any veggie and make sure it becomes a staple.  Here are some fantastic snack options.

Never go more than two days without exercise.

And lastly, make sure every once in awhile you’re allowing yourself to eat WHATEVER you want.  I don’t eat a lot of fastfood but at least once or twice a year the Mcmuffin needs to know I still love it

Good luck!  Share some tips if you have them.

JS

As I was taking down the Christmas tree with the old man this year I started to reminisce about one of the traditions we had as kids and was a little disappointed to hear that it didn’t happen this year at HIS house.  Dad’s not a big decoration guy but he did always manage to break out one thing, his singing/dancing Christmas tree.  After two too many ‘nogs he’d fire it up, and like a teenage girl with a new favorite song, play it over and over again until you wanted to toss it into the fireplace. 

It’s hard not to love something that’s been around so long, annoying or not.  And this tree has history!  One year dad must’ve gone REALLY overboard because the tree fell off his table and broke one of his blinking eyes.  So for the next few years(I’m laughing as I write this) we had to look at a dancing tree with one eye stuck open like some kind of festive bond villain.  It was such a shame when he actually fixed the little guy.  I’ve been pushing him off ledges ever since to try and get our tree back

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas

I’m just in the process of taping my ankles up for this Friday’s Walk-a-mile event for the YWCA.  I can only assume that’s what must be done to save a man’s ankles from sure defeat, and the pain that comes after?  Maybe I should be looking into getting some heavy padding for the fall instead?

Seriously, I think it’s going to be a fun event, and I actually hope I’m terrible at walking in heels.  I’m not sure all the beer and nacho buddies would ever let it go if I actually CAN walk in heels.

Thank-you to everyone who’s donated so far(taking donations until Friday – 1015 3rd ave S).  Proceeds are going to help women affected my domestic violence.

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger.  Why do you need to eliminate every single thing/person that helped you become the greatest golfer the world has ever seen?  It’s no big surprise that things have gone so horribly wrong on the golf course this season.  Sure it might have appeared to the world that you made it to those heights on your own, afterall golf IS seen as an individualistic sport.  Anyone who has ever golfed can attest though, that you gather so much from friends and family and coaches.  Whether it’s a tip on a bunker shot or just someone saying “You think that’s a good idea Eldrick?  Why don’t you just chip it out?”  The way I see it, if you want the glory and attention and moolah back Tiger, you’ve got to get the people back that got you there.  You’re obviously very familiar with eating humble pie now…I think there’s a few slices left.(No pun intended)

I was “attempting” to re-create one of my favorite childhood meals the other day, my grandmother’s cabbage rolls.  It actually turned out not too bad.  Almost there

It got me thinking about how people keep secret recipes, and how crazy-selfish that is.  If you know of some secret that could make people’s tongues dance, why not share?  Even Uncle Ben shares his recipe! Add water, cook, cool. 

Jerhett’s Grammy’s Cabby Rolls

Mix 3 cups ground beef with 2 cups of cooked and cooled rice(you can add some chopped onions if you’re an onion person)

Unravel a head of sour cabbage and rinse

Place one spoonful of meat/rice medley inside each cabbage leaf and roll up so it looks like a cabbage roll and place in a baking pan side by side like a box of kittens

Season with salt and pepper

Spread one can of tomato soup across the rolls

Bake at 450 F until the rolls begin to bubble

Reduce heat to 200 F and bake 2 hours

Enjoy, Jerhett

Finally after getting faulty directions from its’ GPS unit, fixing a flat tire and stopping to look around a roadside antique shop, Summer has finally arrived.  I’d love it if you’d share your favorite things about summer…Here’s some of mine:

Smells come back…BBQ, lilacs, fresh cut grass, the snack shacks at Whoop-up days(Aug 23rd – 27th this year), inner tubes at the beach, leather baseball gloves and freshly poured raspberry beer.

Nature returns…There’s just something about waking up early, going on a hike in Waterton and in the calm of morning spotting a deer or beaver going about their business.

Legs…pretty self-explanatory

Kindness…complete strangers will stop and say hello to you just because they are happy and can’t keep it in.  More doors get opened, more invites extended and random smiles.

What’s yours?

The numbers are in and the 10th edition of American Idol debuted with an audience drop of 13%.  Can’t be too flattering for Steve and Jen, the celebujudges.  You’d think star power would drive up the numbers.  Unless you REALLY thought it through!

Regardless of how much each person has seen Idol, if at all, we all still know everything the show is about.  So by bringing in new judges that are so well known we’ve been given zero in the form of newness.  Tack onto that the happy, easygoing personality types and you’ve got another reason the ratings dipped.  You know why Jersey Shore does so well?  It’s the same reason why newscasts save the feel good story until the end:

Our attention can only be sucked in by the ridiculous.  Thoughts?…

Love love love going to movies so I figured I’d give the scoop on the new Vince Vaughn/Kevin james movie, The Dilemma.  What a weird combo!  It’s a comedy, but probably the saddest and most awkward one I’ve seen. 

I think it’s because Ron Howard directed it but it was just chalk full of drama.  Pretty hard to avoid the drama because it dives into adultery and gambling problems but still…Vince Vaughn crying?  Kevin James throwing a hissy fit?  

I found myself squirming in my chair a bunch.  You?