Friday, January 16, 2015

These are a few of my favorite things—finally


It’s Friday, and I’ve had a good week. I woke up this morning feeling sore, but proud. I’ve managed to get in several really good workouts this week, and am planning to incorporate some activity into the weekend, too. My food also has also been steadily on plan. So far, so good.

I promised you last week to do a favorites post. So, a week later, here are a few things I’m loving.

Incredible! Edible! Eggs!

I love a hardboiled egg. Easy breakfast. Perfect snack. Yummy on a salad. Better yet? It comes in its own natural container. But that container has caused me a lifetime of grief. I’m a terrible egg boiler. Is it possible to screw that up? Well, I do. I have Googled and tried to figure out the best method. I have tried putting the eggs in before the water boils. I have tried boiling the water with the eggs already in it. I have dunked them in ice water. I have done it all, and I’ve yet to find one works-every-time method. I’ll end up with greenish yolks. Yolks not done all the way. And the worst—shells that refuse to peel and take half the egg with it when you finally get it off.


No more.

Enter the Egg Genie. Yes, it’s an As Seen on TV product. Yes, there’s a silly infomercial for it. And yes, it seriously works. I LOVE this thing. You simply poke a tiny hole in your egg with the little needle attached to the egg tray. Fill up the water to the appropriate line of the enclosed cup, pour in the water, plug it in and wait. The result is eggs perfectly cooked to your liking. They always peel without any trouble, and I don’t have to watch them or worry about them in the pot. I love this thing. I got mine on Amazon, but I think I’ve seen them in a few stores in their As Seen on TV section. Trust me. You need one. Fair warning—when the eggs are cooked, it gives off a weird sound. Not like a typical alarm. It freaks my dog out every time. But maybe your dog isn’t as prone to fits of barking as mine is.

Arugula

Could this be the most boring favorite ever? A type of lettuce? No! Arugula is NOT boring. It’s a little bit spicy and yummy and a perfect addition to salads. Lately, I’ve been buying arugula just to sprinkle in my normal spinach salads. I find the taste of arugula to be a little strong on its own, but I love the peppery punch of flavor it gives to a blah salad. A little spinach, a little arugula, a few blue (or bleu, if you’re fancy) cheese crumbles, some dried cranberries, a few toasted almond slivers and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you’ve got my perfect salad.

Shrimp and Grits

True confession: I’ve never really eaten grits. Though my birth roots are in Michigan, I moved to Georgia in fifth grade, and am, therefore, mostly Southern. But I’d kind of resisted grits all the same. When I go to brunch places, I pick the potatoes over the grits. One night, my precious mother-in-law-to-be, a tried and true Southern lady (with a lovely accent, to boot), had us over for dinner and made shrimp and grits. I am still winning points, so I didn’t say I wasn’t a fan of grits or hadn’t really eaten them, like, at all. Instead I smiled when she told me what we were having. And then? I gobbled those suckers up like it was my last meal. Holy delicious. I decided I needed this dish in my life immediately. Since then, it’s been my restaurant go-to, and I’ve found a healthy recipe to make it at home. Bless my sweet li'l heart.

Bonus Beauty Fave!

I love being a girl. We get to surround ourselves with so much prettiness (though I know and love a few boys who also do this, so no gender disrespect meant). I’ve always been a bit of a product junkie, and nail polish is one of my favorites. I’ve made a little resolution in 2015 to work on my nails, which are typically weak and peeling, to make them stronger. I’m pretty OK at painting my own nails and rarely get manicures (but bring on the pedis!), because it ends up peeling off so quickly and seems a waste of money.
Day four of my manicure. Still perfect!

Enter Gelous. You can only find it at Sally Beauty Supply, and it’s meant to recreate the look and staying power of the uber-popular gel nails that are all the rage these days. I, a self-proclaimed sergeant in the Sun Police, refuse to get these kinds of manicures, as you have to put your hands into what are essentially mini tanning beds. No thank you. The trick with the Gelous is to sandwich your polish with it. I do a base coat (right now I’m using Nailtiques for the strengthening factor), coat of polish, Gelous, coat of polish, Gelous, and finally, top coat (loving Out the Door right now—also found at Sally). 
I went FIVE days without so much as a chip on my polish. Pretty incredible for someone like me who can barely go two hours without chips and peels. This stuff is amazing.

Do tell. What are you loving right now?

4 comments:

LT said...

Oooh! First, I'm loving this blog! I love arugula too. Even though many have had difficulties with their Nutri-bullet, mine has been great for the past 3 months. I'm making green smoothies almost every morning. I've noticed that my skin loves it too :-). I'll have to try your nail technique this weekend!

Erika said...

Glad the Nutribullet is working for you! I'm guessing I just had an early version of it, and they've worked the comments out now.

One more tip about the nails--make sure you give yourself time in between coats to let them dry. It reduces air bubbles!

Ray's mom said...

I love your blog! I also love that you wrote about my shrimp and grits. You need to share the healthier recipe with me...perhaps less cheese?
Love you!

Jewel Maven said...

Erika Dahling, I love what you share about the Egg Genie. I also have 'issues' when it comes to boiling eggs. I usually have that problem with the shells not wanting to come off unless they take half the egg with them. I really HATE it when that happens. If the Egg Genie does nothing else but keep the shells from grabbing on for dear life, I will love it. I do love to keep some boiled eggs in the refrigerator!

As a Southern born girl, I hate to admit that I had not tried grits until adulthood and it was under similar circumstances to your own. We had an office potluck and the owner's wife brought Garlic Cheese grits. How could I NOT eat them (or at least put some on my plate and stir them around a little bit)? I begrudgingly took a bite....then the heavens opened up with glorious angels singing on high!! I loved them so much! Needless to say whenever grits are on the menu now, I'm all in. (Aside - Magnolia's in Charleston S.C. has AWESOME, melt in your mouth Shrimp and Grits!)

Another thing we seem to have in common is the state of our fingernails. Mine will chip, peel, break, crack and any other descriptive word you can think of that you don't want your nails to do. I love acrylic nails, but I just cant justify that expense. I will head to my Sally's and try out that Gelous!

Trying to stay on track with the eating. I am so lazy I don't want to do my online tracking! (I do it anyway.) Only lost a half a pound last week. Bummer. It's surely because I haven't gotten off my lazy butt to do any exercises yet.