Bike Fail

Can You Identify What Is Missing?

So much for my day out on my bike. I still got 5.8 miles in, though.

Artichoke & Roasted Bell Pepper Pita Pizza = Delish Dinner

So I just finished eating a really great summer time dinner: light, refreshing, and perfect with a glass of white wine.

Cooking is most definitely one of my joys in life. I love cooking for and with other people, but I am having a solo vacation this week so I'm trying to perfect some recipes for one. This is a new recipe for me and I think it turned out pretty fabulously for the first time around.

Yummy! Next time, I will probably let the cheese brown just the tiniest
amount before taking it out of the oven

Artichoke & Roasted Bell Pepper Pita Pizza

What You'll Need
1 piece of pita bread (white or whole wheat)
3-4 artichoke hearts (mine were not marinated because I prefer them that way, but either should be fine)
Jarred roasted bell peppers (I blot the oil off)
Olive oil
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Cheese of your choice (I used provolone)

What You Gotta Do
1. Heat up the broiler in your oven. Every broiler is different, so use your common sense here.
2. Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil across the top of your pita bread. Sprinkle some garlic powder on top as well.
3. Put the pita w/ olive oil under the broiler to crisp it up. This should take about 3 minutes, but watch it carefully.
4. While your pita is crisping in the broiler, cut the artichoke hearts and bell peppers into bite size pieces.
5. Remove the pita from the broiler and place the artichoke hearts and bell peppers onto the pita.
6. Sprinkle some oregano and more garlic powder onto the toppings.
7. Add however much you want of your preferred cheese on top of the artichoke hearts and bell peppers.
8. Toss the whole thing back under the broiler. Watch it carefully. Remove when the cheese is melted and you're sure the toppings have been warmed through.
9. Remove your pizza from the broiler and let it sit for a minute or so before cutting.
10. Cut it however you prefer and EAT UP!

Why Hello There!

Welcome to my very first blog post! I decided to start this blog to help myself keep track of my daily thoughts, activities, and probable struggles in trying to move my life in a much more happy direction.

Me at over 200 lbs in 2007

I've spent a lot of my life in a really negative place and subsequently wasted a lot of my life hating myself. The last few years have included a lot of positive change, but I am still not 100% happy with my life. I've always struggled with my weight, and while I am not as heavy as I used to be (midway through college I weighed well over 200 lbs!!) it is still a really big sticking point for me. I think my weight has been a huge impediment for me in trying to develop a healthy sense of myself. I've found that it is very difficult to love someone who can't love themselves; this has had some very obvious consequences for me in relationships, romantic and otherwise.

Attempts at redirecting my life in the last few years have had both ups and downs. I'm hoping this blog will help motivate myself in taking baby steps towards a better "Jenny". I think it is helpful to go back and ready about your triumphs and struggles when you might be stalling in your efforts to do whatever it is you are trying to do for yourself. I'm also hoping to maybe create a support network for myself: people who are working towards the same things I am, friends I already have who care about my sense of self, and anyone else who might find themselves caring :)

My "vintage" Motobecane

When I was in college at the University of Wisconsin, I would ride my bike everywhere. When I moved to Milwaukee, I thought my cycling days were over because I didn't think Milwaukee was a biking friendly town. However, this winter I was visiting my parents at their house in Little Chute when I found my bike in the garage. When my eyes fell on that two wheeled beauty, I fell in love all over again. Now, when I say beauty I mean that very much in the sense that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My bike is actually my mom's old bike that she bought back in the 70's at a bike shop on the south side of St. Louis. My dad had the frame rebuilt for me a few years back, but it's still not the nicest bike in the world. I still love it. A few weeks ago the urge hit. My summer job ended, the time was ripe. I took my Motobecane into the bike shop, got some new tires put on (that was quite the ordeal!), and rekindled my love affair with cycling.

My first ride back out there was 18.6 miles and it felt...amazing. I mean, I hurt like a B, but it was still so exhilarating. A few days ago I put in a 35 mile ride and the following day a 30 mile ride. The fact that I was capable of cycling what seems like such long distances and the advent of Google Maps bike directions put a crazy but exciting idea in my head: epic bike trip. I decided that I am going to ride my bike to Elgin, Illinois next weekend to visit friends. Their house is 82.3 miles away. I'm scared...but in an excited way! My mom is just scared. Haha! This week will be a training week. First thing to take care of: purchasing some cycling shorts. Why? My butt will really appreciate the padding that is an integral component of cycling shorts.

I'm incredibly excited to spend my last week of summer vacation bicycling around beautiful Milwaukee! Once I return from Elgin, curriculum work and the girls' tennis season begins, effectively cutting my summer vacation short about a month. Oh well, the life of a teacher!

Cheers, Jenny!