Snow Apocalypse!

I am so sick of snow. It is almost up to my waist and my four wheel drive vehicle has snow up to the start of the trunk. THAT IS NOT OK! I hate winter. I hate winter even more when I have to drive in the middle of a blizzard. 

In the midst of the crazy blizzard the Midwest was getting over the weekend I had to make a three hour drive back to college. It was snowing so hard and so fast the snow plows just could not keep up. Driving on the freeway was terrifying there were no lanes, and you could hardly go above 30mph because the roads were so slick. I was definitely while knuckle driving, but God is good and delivered me back to school safely.

The picture is what my drive back to school started out like, but it only got worse. Soon you couldn't even tell there was road. Scary stuff out there. If you're going out on the roads be careful!

Since I have been back at school we have gotten even more snow, I hate lake effect!, and campus cancelled classes on Monday and Tuesday. In addition to the 2 feet of snow we have with the windchill it has been almost -30 below! I have literally been snowed in at my apartment. I made the brave journey to the gym this morning and yesterday morning, but on Monday I stuck in a snow drift that was over 3.5 feet! Yeah I am definitely over snow and winter. Hawaii anyone? 

My dad sent me this picture of our deck at home. Back at home I don't lake effect like I do at school, but they still got almost 15 inches of snow! I cannot ever remember getting this much snow.

While I have been snowed in I have been productive in getting internship applications and essays done. I only have one more essay to write and I am officially done, whoop whoop! In between writing essays and filling out apps I threw together a quick lunch packed with nutrition and protein to power me through an afternoon of writing.

I cut up one kiwi, had a handful of cherries, 3 peanut butter Ritz sandwiches (6 crackers total), 1/3 cup of cottage cheese, and half a cup of frozen mixed berries (unsweetened, all natural). It wasn't anything fancy but it had a lot of protein and was delicious. The more colors on your plate the better!

I'm going back to working on internship applications. Be safe outside and be sure to bundle up! Have a good night! 

P.S. If you're looking for a delicious and simple meal to warm you up in this col weather try my three ingredient crockpot pineapple chicken recipe.

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken

Happy snowy Monday! Is anyone else extremely tired of winter as well? The snow on my porch is up past my knees! I'm tempted to say the heck with it and board the next plane to Hawaii, expect I am fairly certain there are no flights leaving in these blizzard conditions. Mine as well hunker down and breakout the crockpot for a warm meal!

I must admit I did not plan this tropical recipe because it is so frigid outside; however, this tropical dish should help warm you up in the midst of the arctic winter blast. There are many versions of pineapple chicken out there, but I wanted to keep it very basic. I have made it several ways, so if you're interested in spicing it up a little I will include all the details on how to do just that. 

You will need:

• 3 chicken breasts or a pack of thin trimmed chicken breast tenderloins
• 1/4 cup organic low sodium chicken broth
• 20 ounce can of organic pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (check for no added sugar) 
• You can cut up fresh pineapple and use that instead (it's really good!) If you opt for that instead buy pineapple juice and pour between 1 1/2 and 2 cups of pineapple juice over pineapple chunks and chicken in crockpot
• OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup low sodium teriyaki sauce
• OPTIONAL: 1 small/medium sweet onion diced
• OPTIONAL: Sesame seeds to sprinkle on chicken

First, pour chicken broth in bottom of crockpot.

Add in chicken breasts. If you're including teriyaki sauce pour teriyaki sauce over chicken and then toss in diced onion.

Finally pour pineapple and pineapple juice over chicken. Cover crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 

*Personally I prefer to cook it on low I think the chicken absorbs more flavor the longer it cooks, but it is delicious either way. 

Serve over steamed brown rice or white rice with a side of vegetables. Before serving sprinkle with sesame seeds if including. I had my pineapple chicken over brown rice and a side of green beans tossed with almonds.

New Year Adventures

Happy 2014 everyone! This year my New Year's Eve was very low key. I stayed home with my family and quietly rang in the New Year. While it wasn't the most exciting New Year's Eve ever I had to save up my energy for the next day.

New Year's Day my cousin braved the cold and snowy weather to make the long drive to Ann Arbor for the 2014 NHL Winter Classic. We ended up having to park over a mile from the stadium, which wouldn't have been bad had the shuttles been running, but they weren't. Bundled up in six layers of pants with snowpants, a very warm jacket, heavy duty snow boots, a scarf, two hats, and two layers of gloves we made the hike, most of which was uphill with sidewalks that had not been shoveled. 

Even though we were frozen by time overtime rolled around we still had a blast. It really was a once in a lifetime experience despite the freezing temps and my Red Wings loosing in a shootout. As an added bonus we got a really good workout walking to and from the stadium and climbing up stairs in the stadium.

Driving home from the Winter Classic was difficult given the snowstorm continued and was making roads dangerous. I ended up staying the night at my cousins house and drove home in the morning after the roads had been somewhat cleared. 

On the way home I stopped at Panera Bread and ordered a Fuji Apple Salad. The salad was huge and I couldn't eat all of it so I saved some it for a later meal. If you've never had the salad you should try it because it is delicious! Personally I don't like the dressing it comes with so I don't use it. I also picked out the red onions, both of which drastically cut down on calories in the salad. The entire salad ended up totaling 390 calories, but since I did not eat the whole salad I didn't consume the total amount of calories.

On a side note I went to the gym this morning like normal and expected it to be packed with everyone who made New Year's Resolutions. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had the entire gym to myself! I lucked out and had the gym to myself for my entire workout.

I promise I do have new recipes to post, I've just been so busy lately I haven't had time to write them up. I am hoping tomorrow is a calmer day and I can write some of them up.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to 2014! I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has stopped by and read my blog and tried my recipes it really does mean the world to me! Thank you for making 2013 such a wonderful year for me! Here's to an even better 2014!!