Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Please have a wonderful holiday today from all of us at MP4!
Enjoy.
Love.
Laugh.
Live a little.
This has been one of the BEST years of my life and I pray so hard that yours was the same. I am thankful for everything that I have–and do not have–because both of them are equally important to me. I pray that you have friends (coworkas amazing as the ones that I have, you have family as awesome as mine, in laws who are as selfless as they can possibly be and a perspective on life that does nothing but bare tremendous fruit in your relationships.
God bless you (sorry, no pc here), may He watch over you and keep you healthy. Eat whatever you may like today at dinner and then ship the rest off to your family. Do not gorge yourself. Get a good workout in somewhere, today…and then spend at least 20 min. today in solitude just giving thanks for the fact that you own or have access to a computer to be able to read this post.
Thank you for making this year amazing for us. I cannot wait to see what the new changes bring but regardless of what they bring–I am still thankful.
Friday, November 5th, 2010
Gorgeous? Check. Smart? Check. Driven? Check.
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighorhood, would you be mine, would you be mine? If you do not know where that came from, poo poo on you because I am dating myself then. But if Mr. Rogers were alive today, he would be jumping for joy!
How about if I sang Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely? ZZ Tops’ Legs? Ugh! I am so old!
Well she’s not…meet Nicole Blasi. Nicole is a long time friend and colleague of mine who has worked her behind off to become an impact in the fitness industry. She’s a Level 3 trainer for Healthworks in Chestnut Hill, Ma., an ACE certified CEC PROVIDER (she gives trainers credits!), a holistic health nut/nutritionist and a Pilates guru. I will let her tell you all about who she is next week when she introduces herself to y’alls but until then, I’m giving you a tiny glimpse of the smokin’ mama that is coming to our Friday spot.
Nicole is a mix between Heather and Seanna (no one is like Kas on Tuesday! she’s one of a kind;) and will bring her own mix of intelligence and beauty for your reading pleasure every Friday. She is also going to be part of MP4 live and a few other things we have coming next year. Oooo, I can’t wait! I am so blessed to be surrounded by the most genuine, real, smart, funny and interesting women out there! I am spoiled rotten and honestly do not deserve to be on the team with them. I have to go dust off some books to keep up. 
I made Heather speak in English when she came to visit and Kas is only allowed 5–5 syllable words per conversation and then she has to bring it back down to my level. Seanna and I try to keep it real for everyone but then she can only hold back but so long and then has to throw in some stuff that makes me look bad, too. *Sigh* I guess y’alls will just have to keep learning some good stuff from these ladies while I hide in my basement looking for a textbook.
Look for her first post next week as we roll out the red carpet for her and begin to lay the foundation for a hot 2011. In the mean time, enjoy your weekend and thank you so much for reading our blog! Tootles!!
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
It’s excitement!
It’s in the air. Why? Cuz Heather’s in the air!
What?
Heather. Monday blogger. Is coming to see me! I mean us. I guess I’ll share. She will be here this morning and is staying all weekend long. I’m super excited. Actually, that doesn’t even begin to tell you how I am feeling right now but it’ll have to do!
In celebration of her arrival, I say we have a cheat meal. Let’s make it breakfast for that matter. If you know me at all, you know I am obsessed with french toast as a breakfast food. I don’t think enough people take advantage of this breakfast food that can be made very clean and healthy. However, we’re living on the edge because Heather’s on the way. (Actually, we’re eating bad before she comes because she’s going to poo-poo everything in our cabinets and purify our homes while she’s here so we need to get it all in before that happens.;) So not only are we going to have French Toast, but we’re going to stuff it! Yes, there is a bit of stuff in this meal I would not ever serve everyday, but as Seanna has now learned about me–I like breakfast cheat meals, not dinner cheat meals, so I would more likely eat something like this before I would ever have “pizza” or you-name-it.
Check this out and enjoy!
p.s. Here’s my disclaimer on this one: I would probably never eat this as just my breakfast. I have to have protein (and a good amount) at every meal. How I would rock this is by getting scrambled eggwhites with the meal and having half the suggested serving size. So cut the nutritional info in half and you got a great cheat meal.
Stuffed French Toast
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 piece)
Ingredients
• 24 (1-ounce) slices cinnamon-raisin bread
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 2 cups egg substitute, divided
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• Bottled cinnamon-sugar (optional)
Preparation
Trim crusts from bread. Arrange half of the bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Combine milk, 1 1/2 cups egg substitute, half-and-half, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour half of milk mixture over bread in dish.
Combine 1/2 cup egg substitute, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and cheeses in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over moist bread in dish. Top with remaining bread; pour remaining milk mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover and bake at 350° for 55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, if desired.
Nutritional Information
Calories: 340 (30% from fat)
Fat: 11.3g (sat 5.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.9g)
Protein: 16.7g
Carbohydrate: 43.2g
Fiber: 1.5g
Cholesterol: 26mg
Iron: 3.7mg
Sodium: 447mg
Calcium: 197mg
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
It’s excitement!
It’s in the air. Why? Cuz Heather’s in the air!
What?
Heather. Monday blogger. Is coming to see me! I mean us. I guess I’ll share. She will be here this morning and is staying all weekend long. I’m super excited. Actually, that doesn’t even begin to tell you how I am feeling right now but it’ll have to do!
In celebration of her arrival, I say we have a cheat meal. Let’s make it breakfast for that matter. If you know me at all, you know I am obsessed with french toast as a breakfast food. I don’t think enough people take advantage of this breakfast food that can be made very clean and healthy. However, we’re living on the edge because Heather’s on the way. (Actually, we’re eating bad before she comes because she’s going to poo-poo everything in our cabinets and purify our homes while she’s here so we need to get it all in before that happens.;) So not only are we going to have French Toast, but we’re going to stuff it! Yes, there is a bit of stuff in this meal I would not ever serve everyday, but as Seanna has now learned about me–I like breakfast cheat meals, not dinner cheat meals, so I would more likely eat something like this before I would ever have “pizza” or you-name-it.
Check this out and enjoy!
p.s. Here’s my disclaimer on this one: I would probably never eat this as just my breakfast. I have to have protein (and a good amount) at every meal. How I would rock this is by getting scrambled eggwhites with the meal and having half the suggested serving size. So cut the nutritional info in half and you got a great cheat meal.
Stuffed French Toast
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 piece)
Ingredients
• 24 (1-ounce) slices cinnamon-raisin bread
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 2 cups egg substitute, divided
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• Bottled cinnamon-sugar (optional)
Preparation
Trim crusts from bread. Arrange half of the bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Combine milk, 1 1/2 cups egg substitute, half-and-half, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour half of milk mixture over bread in dish.
Combine 1/2 cup egg substitute, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and cheeses in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over moist bread in dish. Top with remaining bread; pour remaining milk mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover and bake at 350° for 55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, if desired.
Nutritional Information
Calories: 340 (30% from fat)
Fat: 11.3g (sat 5.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.9g)
Protein: 16.7g
Carbohydrate: 43.2g
Fiber: 1.5g
Cholesterol: 26mg
Iron: 3.7mg
Sodium: 447mg
Calcium: 197mg
