On Disordered Eating

We have all been taught about eating disorders. We all know about Anorexia and Bulimia and some of us even know about Binge Eating which was recently added as an eating disorder to the DSM. What we don't hear about is disordered eating. I want to talk a little bit about that. 

First of all, basics. Anorexia- eating very little to nothing in order to loose weight. Not a diet, but a very constrictive psychological issue that controls the persons eating habits. Bulimia- binge eating or just normal eating and then purging either through throwing up or laxatives in order to loose weight- also psychologically based. Binge Eating- loss of control of eating in order to body shame, again psychological. 

So what the heck is disordered eating. Is it eating foods in the wrong order- desert then veggies? Not necessarily. Disordered eating covers the rest of the unrecognized "eating disorders" that affect society. Disordered eating, in my own words and according to my understanding, is any odd behavior towards food or eating that is psychologically based. This can include an addiction to food or to any certain food, aversions to specific foods or specific food groups, or anything under the big blue sky. I think to some degree we all have disordered eating. Not to be pessimistic, it's just a fact, and accepting it is important. 


putting in a break because I love you. click through if you love me.

Attempts at Being a Domestic Goddess: Roasted Po.Tay.Toes.

Some of you know that I am an awful eater. My family here in Utah gets together most Sundays and I have a few key cousins that will always offer me vegetables or mashed potatoes as a joke, knowing I won't accept. Yes you heard my right, I don't like mashed potatoes. That's a weird one, I know. Don't ask.

Anyway one Sunday my Grandma Westover made these amazing roasted potatoes and just asked me to  try one. Anyway I looked at them and I was like I'll take an entire plate thank you. I like potatoes when they don't taste like dirt aka fried and crispy. Up until then the only way I was getting potatoes were from potato chips or fries. These roasted potatoes are amazing- they're basically fries but  healthier? Hopefully healthier. 

Here's what you do (recipe courtesy of Gma Westover)

1 potato per person

Olive oil

Garlic salt

Pepper

Cooking spray

Bowl

Knife

Glass casserole dish

Heat oven to 400 Degrees

Cut up potato into bit sized chunks (the smaller the crispier)

Put in bowl

Drizzle olive oil. You don't need a ton, just enough to cover the potato bits

Add garlic salt and pepper. It's hard to tell with the salt so don't over do it but you can see the pepper better.

Stir it up

SPRAY CASSEROLE DISH- I have forgotten to do this EVERY time I make these. It is awful. #firstworldproblems

Put in glass casserole dish. With fewer potatoes use a smaller dish if you have one 

Put in oven once heated to desired temperature

Leave in oven for 30 minutes. Check and stir. Put back in oven.

(If you have forgotten to spray your casserole dish you'll find out now. The potato will stick to the
bottom and it's just annoying. You can repent now and move the potatoes over to one side, spray, move them to the other side, spray, and then evenly redistribute before putting them back in the oven)

Check again in 15 minutes.

Check again in 15 minutes.

It takes a total of 1 hour to cook but if you want your potatoes a little less crispy don't feel like you have to use the full hour. Also, if you're using fewer potatoes (1-2) check it about 5 minutes early on the last 15 minutes. That's when they're about perfect.



























Enjoy!

Attempts at Being a Domestic Goddess: Ravioli Lasagna

Those who know me understand that I have food issues (no veggies, no peanut butter, no trying anything new unless I have fully mentally prepared). One of those issues is just Italian food in general. Whenever my family goes out to get Italian food I always order the wrong thing (unless I order pizza, in which case I always order the right thing). I kind of have an aversion to tomato based sauces, wine based sauces, and thick sauces in general. They just don't sit well on my pallet. Hence why I never make spaghetti, ravioli, etc. I'm just scared of it.

Well now I'm married. I'm not just cooking for myself and my 5 year old diet and I want to cook things that both Dan and I will like. This means trying (and tasting) new recipes. Tonight it was Ravioli Lasagna. I found a recipe for skillet lasagna (it used ravioli) that seemed harmless enough but then it got too complicated because I didn't have all the ingredients. So then I started searching for other ravioli lasagnas (we had just bought some spinach cheese ravioli from Costco (I love Costco)) and I discovered the tricks of the trade.

Here's what I did:

First I got out all of the ingredients I was going to use:
Ravioli
Hamburger Meat
Creamy Pesto Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Garlic
Italian Seasoning
Olive Oil

First I browned some hamburger meat
     Maybe the best thing my mother taught me was how to turn a hamburger patty into ground beef.
     You just put it in a frying pan and shred off the cooked parts of the patty until it is all shredded.
     Because I used some pretty junky hamburger meat I cooked it with some garlic and some Italian    seasoning.
     Then I let it sit on the stove on warm while I prepared the lasagna

Lasagna time
     I used my little Bella dutch oven so I prepared the heck out of it by washing it and spraying it heavily with non-stick cooking spray.
     I then lined the bottom of the dutch oven with some olive oil and the sauce
     Then layer raviolis, mozzarella, meat, sauce, raviolis, mozzarella, meat...
     I only did two layers since only two people would be eating it- you could probably do more though most of the recipes I read said only do two layers
     Top layer was sauce.
     Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes
      Take out of oven add another layer of cheese (this is where I mixed in some parmesan) and put back in oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We waited a little while to eat (30-45 min) but the little dutch oven kept it warm that whole time with the cover on.

So there really aren't any specific measurements on this recipe- basically just cover each layer in whatever layer it is- meat and cheese don't really follow this rule-add to your hearts content.

The pesto cream sauce is Archer Farms brand- Target's in-store brand and it was super good although I'm sure you can find some other good sauces out there.

Enjoy!

weekend we-wind: vegasssss

So after last weeks crazy-ness with the midterms and such I took a little vacation to my favorite unholy city- Vegas! Last time I went to Vegas with some of my freshman roomies- Macey (the local) and Kylee. It was so much fun just sitting out in the sun and going to the strip {note to self: make plans to do it again soon}

cheesin for the camera/the guy that took this picture... was a creep


love these girls

This time I went with my grandma and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle+kids for the weekend. We spent our time just hanging out, shopping, my aunt got to set me up with a boy in her singles ward that she's been telling me about for probably a year now. It was a lovely 75 degrees outside when we left Sunday afternoon. I got to wear skirts without leggings {and shaved my legs for the first time in weeks...}, no jackets. It was absolutely perfect!


drive to vegas/new sunglasses- Old Navy and the glorious sun/also drive to vegas


drive home from vegas-
2 different shots- not of the same place but cool how they fit together right?


my cousins- love them/Leah and I- she was kind of hesitant towards me all weekend... I wonder why?

highlights:
seeing familia
eating at BJs restaurant- {and subsequently slipping into a food induced coma}
I highly recommend the Pizookie
driving through cool canyons in Arizona
being warm!

Definitely will be doing that again after this crazy semester is over

Attempts At Being A Domestic Goddess: Faux-jitas

As some of you know I love Mexian food

As some of you know I also dislike vegetables
This creates a couple of problems in my life {early death and the like}

Anyway, about a week ago I decided I wanted to make fajitas but didn't really have any of the necessary ingredients- so I improvised! I found a recipe for fajitas and just substituted peppers and other vegetables with spices and it was delicious! I don't think they are an exact replica of fajitas but they are pretty delicious.

Here's what I did:
1 chicken breast
vegetable oil
Garlic Salt, Chili Powder, Onion Powder, Pepper, and Oregano to taste
tortillas, cheese

heat vegetable oil in frying pan {I don't have an exact measurement but just enough to thinly coat half the pan}
thaw chicken and cut into strips
put chicken into pan and season
cook chicken
warm tortillas
Tortillas+Cheese+Chicken
Consume!

the process

the spices

End product

easy, fast, delicious meal- yum

Attempts At Being A Domestic Goddess: Ssaaallllssssaaa

After 3.5 months of Jerusalem without even a hint of salsa {one of my favorite things in the world} I was about to die. Seriously the only down side of Jerusalem. I mean in Turkey they had this really good stuff you'd dip bread into and it was a spicy tomato-y/spicy/pepper flakey paste {actually it was super good- does anyone know what I'm talking about?} and you could always put spice on the shawarma which I highly recommend to anyone that likes spicy food- SO GOOD! {my mouth is all sorts of watering right now- ah I miss Jerusalem}

Back to the point

So after having to live without my beloved chips and salsa for 3.5 months {and actually pretty much all of EFY too- sad story} I was so happy to be reunited with that glorious dipping sauce. Well being the poor college student that I am it gets kind of expensive to buy my own salsa- especially at the rate I go. {Lyse can vouch for me on this one} Well I decided it would be a good idea to make my own salsa- and guess what? I was right! I made my aunt Christy's salsa {thanks to the recipe book my mom sent me a couple weeks ago}

and it was so delicious!

And so easy!
AND so cheap!
Red onion, green pepper, canned tomatoes with green chilies, garlic, lime, cilantro, and salt. What more could you ask for?

{okay I actually ask for it to be a bit spicier so I'm going to add some red pepper flakes and let that kick it up a notch or two}


What made it even better? My roommate Caitlin made homemade tortilla chips. Just fry up some corn tortillas and add salt and you've got some of the best tortilla chips you have ever tasted I swear. Mmmmmm- so good. So that was my dinner tonight- homemade salsa with homemade tortillas. #reunitedanditfeelssogood

Other thoughts of the weekend:
Hannah had her first stake dance! {my mom even sent me pictures}
This weekend was all sorts of crazy and fun and also crazy {#whoamI?}
Cafe Paesan in Orem- spicy chicken pizza gets my approval
I should never assume anything/try to read people ever again

A Personal History- Valentines Day 3

Sorry I'm a bit behind on this little series but here is the story of my 3rd real valentines day.

Sophomore year of college, living in King Henry {it was just a phase}. The weekend before Valentines day my roommate Taalin and I just spent the morning/early afternoon together. We went to Target and found this wonderful little place called Pizza Pie Cafe Express. It's basically Pizza Pie Cafe but to go and super cheap. We got 5 dollar pizza and a cheese bread and cinnamon bread and had a little picnic on our living room floor. It was so delicious and cheap, yum. I ended up getting a valentines day package from my mom that day which included lots and lots of candy and a letter from Dan. Best mail day ever.

The Elders Quorum even decided to buy all the girls in the ward flowers

{still the best idea I think I have ever heard- everyone should get flowers on Valentines Day}

The Monday of Valentines Day our ward had been invited to a dance. I ended up going with my roommate and some guy friends from my ward. The dance was actually really fun until they started playing this dating game activity. It was like mystery date where you'd have one boy and three girls and questions and all that jazz. It was painfully long and awkward and the speakers weren't working and we were all ready to dance again. {No need to have another reminder of how single we were and how desperate our bishops were to marry us off} They ended up doing 4 rounds (2 boys and 2 girls) and on the last one they were calling up thelast three girls and I hear "Katie Robison" faintly over the speaker. I about died. Out of the hundreds of girls names in that bowl of course my name was chosen. I walked up to the stage {none too thrilled might I add} and took my proper place as "contestant #3" {or #1, no one really knew} Because the speakers hadn't been working properly the entire time it was impossible for anyone to hear including the people on the stage. So after answering questions like "what is your best Halloween costume?" and "what's your best pick up line?" and no one being able to understand it was basically put up to a vote from the audience. AKA dudes, tell me which girl is hottest. So awkward {the feminist inside me was slightly raging at this point} In the end the lucky man on the other side of the curtain declared he had rightfully picked for what I'm sure his bishop had hoped to be his eternal companion: "contestant #3". Yes ladies and gentlemen, I was the prize date {I should put that on my resume... 'prize date for 28 year old single Belmont dude'} Our joint prize? a 25 dollar gift card to Red Robin. After awkwardly meeting for the first time on stage in front of our peers we went off to the side to exchange numbers so that he could call me and we could potentially fall in love and graduate from our respective singles wards.

Epilogue:

How did the date go you ask? Well turns out homeboy belmont {no I don't remember his name- should give you a clue as to how it went} didn't end up calling me until the first week of March {a month later if you were wondering}. We went out on a fabulous Thursday night date to an almost empty Red Robin. We ate burgers and talked {though he actually was never facing me during the date... awkward}. We successfully spent the $25 on burgers and a sundae for two {well it was more like for 10 but you know}. He dropped me back off at my apartment and we went our separate ways never to hear from each other again.

Oh my food

Saturday is a special day It's the day we get ready for fast Sunday

Yup, tomorrow is fast Sunday and I am most definitely in need of it.
Here was my day in regards to food:
Breakfast: Cracker Barrel- French Toast
love me some french toast
though I would have happily substituted 2 of the 4 slices for hash browns.
Luckily my dear friend Ryan and I ended the breakfast on a good note
by finishing the triangle peg puzzle(It's harder than it looks- we did get a little itty-bitty hint though)
Lunch: Station 22 with some of the original roommates
It was so fun seeing my old besties Macey and Kylee
but seriously this place is delicious!
I got myself the Basil Chicken Sandwich (sans tomato and red onion)
But seriously chicken breast, fresh basil leaves, lettuce, and I think a pesto sauce.
All on a toasted roll of some delicious sort- heaven.
Definitely a cool atmosphere with sort of rag-time music, cool art, and basil water (actually way better than lemon/mint/cucumber water- in my humble opinion)
Lucky for me it's my roommates birthday on Tuesday and we're going again- can't wait!
(it is seriously that good)

Dinner: In-n-out
I know- super classic. So good though.
Basic burger with ketchup, mustard, and lettuce (you guys-I'm {kind of} growing up)
Fries (my first love) and a chocolate shake (my other first love)
It was the perfect dinner to the end of a practically perfect sledding adventure
and a great way to end my wonderful day of eating!

Needless to say I'm ready for a day of fasting!
Shabbat Shalom Y'all!

ps. important to note that several delicious snacks were involved:

NEW DISCOVERY(IES)!!!!!- Triple-double Oreos. Yum.
(Thank you so much Kyle B. for bringing them into my life)(vanilla cream and chocolate creme and 3 cookies- how can you not be in love)

Frosted pink/white animal cookies- I just learned that they actually have animals underneath the frosting. You ever wonder if you're eating a bear or a lion or really any other circus animal- just suck off the frosting and it's there! Magic I tell you**

Red vines are still delicious. Just thought I'd let you know.

(**This is probably just me that didn't know this until today... embarrassing...)

my screams about ice cream

Alright you guys I admit it. I love me some Ice Cream! (I said it. I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee!)
Recently (Thursday night at about 11:30 pm) I decided that I was craving something creamy, chocolaty, and cold. I decided that I wanted some delicious ice cream (though on the way to Smiths I realized that what I was actually craving was an Oreo Pie Shake from Sammy's but I digress). I went and bought myself some of my personal favorite Ben & Jerry's half baked ice cream. Here's the description for this deliciousness: "Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Creams mixed with Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Fudge Brownies". I actually had to have someone translate it for me because all I read was heaven in pint sized form.

But me and the good stuff don't always get along I'm sad to say. Here are my screams about my ice creams.***

1. When I'm eating ice cream from a cone I always get it on my face. I cannot eat from a cone without ice getting on my nose, chin, mouth (as opposed to in- shwoops). Needless to say it makes getting ice cream on dates embarrassing
2. I always somehow get ice cream on my hands. I don't know what it is- just getting close to my pint of B&J my fingers attract that gooey chocolate and I never know where it will show up. In fact I just was on my computer and ended up getting ice cream on my mouse pad because it was on the tip of my pointer finger- who does that? me...
3. I eat ice cream slowly... it's just a cross I have to bear. If it's cold I can't just scarf it down like I could pizza or french fries.
4. Dreyers and Breyers... can we please get a little more original?
5. 4-5 dollars for a gallon (not even a gallon now!) of ice cream (that one's for my dad)
and finally
6. It's just so good- I always want it but I also want to savor it. It creates such an internal conflict- I know another cross to bear.

All in all ice cream and I have a decent relationship. Sometimes it's a rocky road (couldn't ignore the use of the pun- admitted pun intended) but I still love it.

*** family tradition of getting dipped cones from McD's on the way home from Rattle Snake Lake-
Even in the winter

Count down 7

One week left? What de heck!?!?

Such a great day of doing absolutely nothing. (okay it was great aside from the studying I did/didn't do)

Woke up with 10 minutes left of breakfast (definitely excited about not having to be awake at a certain time to receive my daily rations) so I literally rolled out of bed got dressed/put my hair up in record time and ran up the stairs to get breakfast. Then we had choir practice for our Christmas concert. I then went out to the city and just explored more of East Jerusalem and got some delicious pastries. 3 pastries for 2 shekels? I'm going to miss how cheap things are here (that's like... 60 cents by the way)
That was followed by lunch, studying, a short nap, more studying, and then....
MAKING COOKIES!!! (literally)
Lauren's mom sent us stuff to make cookies with and we just used the Bentley's (service couple) kitchen. It was quite the adventure trying to figure out the Hebrew on the butter/conversion rates/how to work the oven. It was so fun baking (for the first time in like 6 months might I add) and getting to know Brother Bentley. The service couples/teachers here are absolutely amazing. There are 4 service couples: The Ohmans (organist/music), the Bentley's (Humanitarian mission), the Skinners (field trip teacher), and the Chapmans (doctor). President Ohman is like one of the top 3 organists in the world/nation(USA)- what's the difference right?- cue Bashir Bashir saying something about being reductionist/redactionist/redundant/etc. by the way that was a joke... But seriously he's one of the top organists. Brother Bentley was/is a lawyer and specializes in law with Joseph Smith- he's actually working on the Joseph Smith Papers. Brother Skinner might be one of the most intelligent and funniest men I have ever met and Sister Skinner is just the sweetest (as are all the women here). The Chapmans are one of the cutest couples I have ever seen- I honestly believe that they are just eternal young adults whose bodies just keep getting older while their spirits/personalities just stay 25.

These amazing people are my "count down 7" thing I will miss. The Skinners are leaving tomorrow as they were only here for 6 months though they will be back at some point to complete a mission here. All of the couples here are essential to this experience and this study abroad would not have been nearly as amazing with out them. I'll talk about the teacher another time... maybe after I get my final grades back. Though just for future reference they are all amazing whether my grades reflect it or not.

The last few days in pictures

Me and Lindsay with our delicious doughnuts from the Shook

In front of the Russian Orthodox Church

real boy band in front of the Church of the Ascension

Cool stained glass at the Church of the Ascension

Me and Christine at the Light show

Me and Floren at the Light show- roomie love

Maybe the most inclusively attractive picture ever taken. Doesn't everyone look great!?
This was taken at the Orsen Hyde Garden after we did Oil Consecrations-
definitely one of the most unique experiences of the study abroad

Lindsay, me, and Whitney at Masada

Classic Kaitlyn+me pic with ice cream :)

Me in front of Damascus Gate

Pictures of Galilee

Beth She'an
Beth She'an

train ride thing in Beth She'an


On the Sea of Galilee


yay pizza... can't wait for real pizza at home


This might be the best picture I have ever taken:
Lindsay being super cute, my failed attempt at crossing my eyes (notice lazy eye),
Brielle's Giraffe tongue, and Lauren in the background


Finally making it to the "waterfall"



jumping picture at Talmudic Community ruins


Syria is in the background after you get past the "no mans land"


Seat of Moses- replica

Beautiful view in Acre

Beautiful goodbye sunset in Galilee