Giada De Laurentiis… AND ME!

I met Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis yesterday!

Not only that, but I’m gonna be on her Food Network show, “Giada At Home”! It was a very exciting day.

Marinated Pear and Celery Salad

Another weekend, another big salad! Two weekends ago, I brought a blackeyed pea and Canadian bacon salad to a potluck, where it was a big hit. This weekend, I was asked to bring a salad to a family get-together for my aunt’s birthday. Since I don’t like repeating myself (and I wanted new food content for the blog), I came up with a delicious seasonal salad that’s perfect for autumn. Here’s how to make an easy and healthy marinated pear and celery salad.

You’re gonna start with the dressing. It’s super simple: 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons honey, whisked together. Combine them in a good-sized bowl, because you’ll be adding other ingredients to it.

Now it’s time to start

Another Use For A Parking Garage

I took a picture earlier today. Looks like a parking garage, right?

Well, guess what? It IS a parking garage! Yesterday, though, it served another function… as my gym.

Black-Eyed Pea and Canadian Bacon Salad

Need an easy, healthy salad recipe? I got one for ya! I made this over the weekend to take to a BBQ, and it was a hit. It was the first time I’ve bought black-eyed peas, and quite possibly the first time I’ve eaten them, and you know how I love trying new things!

Before we get to the black-eyed peas, though, let’s address the other titular ingredient: bacon!

My As-Seen-On-TV Stair Workout

I’ve been hitting the stairs hard. I have two big stair climb races coming up, and I want to be ready! Read about those races here, and support me by making a donation here or here (if I don’t make my fundraising minimums, I won’t be able to compete, and you don’t want to see me cry. I’m an ugly crier!).

Last month, I completed an awesome stair workout on stairways seen in classic Hollywood comedies. On Friday, I did another fantastic stair workout, this time on stairs that were just featured on TV! Have you seen the new NBC comedy “Welcome to the Family”? It premiered a few weeks ago, and on the October 10th episode, one of the stars, Mike O’Malley (who also plays Kurt’s father on “Glee”), was shown running up a big public stairway:

I’ve been

Last Night at Slimmons…

As most of you probably know by now, Richard Simmons is my friend. I’ve known him for almost 4 years now. He was instrumental in my weight loss, and he continues to be an unending source of support, inspiration, love, and friendship. I see Richard about once a week, when I take his workout classes at Slimmons. I went to Slimmons last night, and it was a particularly good class and fun evening.

That’s Kirsty Spraggon on the right. Last week, Kirsty interviewed me for her YouTube channel KirstyTV – an interview you can watch here.

Richard started class dressed, in his words, as

Mid-Month Check-In

Who wants a quickie?

I wasn’t planning on blogging today, and waking up with a pounding headache sorta cemented that plan. But then, on a whim, I got on the scale, liked what I saw, and decided to put together a quick post, headache be damned!