My Bags are Packed, I’m Ready to Go

If I got to pick anywhere to go for my birthday and money was no object, I’d be walking the moors of Ireland, drinking in the the shades of green from the land and grey from the sea until color shot out my fingertips.

But because money is always an object, I picked the next best place for my 25th birthday: our cabin in Florence, Wisconsin.

To the casual observer, it may not look like much. There’s no indoor plumbing. Amenities are sparse. And mosquitoes make their home in the woods, treating any visitor like an unwelcome outsider.

But there is no tap water that can compare to the icy freshness of this pumped well water. And this cabin encapsulates everything I love about summer.

Celebrating time with family. That’s me with my Grandma Leahy soon after the cabin was first built–I was about three. This cabin is frequented by my entire extended family on my dad’s side. Some families just don’t click, but one of the main reasons I grew up considering some of my cousins my best friends is because we saw each other so often in the summer.

The heartbreaking beauty of nature. I love summer so much. I always just feel more alive somehow, with so many different sensations filling my head.

Time to relax and read. If you’re a reader, you know that some books are just better when enjoyed outdoors.

Fishing. We eat what we catch, and we catch what we eat. This isn’t just a sport, it’s the way food was meant to be enjoyed.

Playing outside. I don’t claim to be particularly good at horseshoes, but I love playing outside! Kick the Can, Wiffle Ball, and Volleyball were all favorites up at the cabin when we were kids. Not to mention swimming…I fondly remember being so unwilling to leave the water that we’d eat our lunch waist-deep in the lake.

Campfires. If you’ve read this blog even a smidge, you know how much I love grilling. The slow food movement is my family’s game. And when the campfire ‘grill’ becomes a bonfire post-dinner, it’s so much more than a television set. It incites jokes, stories, and makes everyone just a little more beautiful.

Hiking. Walking. Strolling. Trotting. Call it what you will. I love exploring the great outdoors on my own two feet. (And in this picture, I am the blue raincoat, following my own path).

Did I mention the heartbreaking beauty of nature?

It bears mentioning again. You notice it more. You have the time to notice it when you’re disconnected from the technological trappings of today’s world.

This weekend, there’s no where I’d rather be. So please forgive me while I take another break from this blog. I’m going to be out in the world, enjoying life, eating good food, and bringing the pieces back to you in words and pictures.

Heading to the High Country to Cook Low Country

Heading anywhere with a group for the weekend far away from civilization posits a food conundrum: What should I bring? How much should I bring? Will my beer fit in the cooler with all that food in there?

My group of friends has stayed together for the weekend several times, and we have come up with a pretty good plan to eliminate waste and save money: we divy up meals into breakfast and dinner, and each person or couple is responsible for taking charge of one meal, as well as their own snacks for lunch. This plan seemed like the perfect idea for my family’s trip to our cabin in Florence, Wisconsin this weekend.

I was only slightly self conscious about showing my mumps-like face in public today. But I needed to get my grocery shopping done, so I made myself as presentable as possible before heading out.

Too hard to smile yet!

I got most of the dry stuff earlier this week, but I wanted to wait until today to pick up the fresh fruits and veggies. I’m keeping it healthy and delicious for lunch snacks with:

Some of the loot.

• homemade granola bars
• apples (both dried and fresh)
• cherries
• jerky (beef for Dave, vegan tempeh for me….I’m curious)
• string cheese (tomato basil flavored!)
• veggies for dipping
• hummus (I usually make my own, but Tribe was on sale for only 99 cents–too good to pass up!)
• sweet potato chips
• pita chips

Dave and I are in charge of Friday night dinner, and I knew just what I wanted to make: a Low Country Boil. Dave had another idea at first but eventually agreed the cabin was a perfect place to test this recipe out. I think the main reason he changed his mind was because he was excited to buy a new cooking tool:

A ginormous 21 quart stock pot.

I first read about the one-pot wonder of a Low Country Boil in a summer issue of a food magazine, and the idea has enchanted me ever since. I love to make an experience out of meals, and cooking a mixture of finger-friendly foods and tossing them on a pile of newspapers to devour just sounds, well, fun!

Because Dave and I are both fans of Alton Brown, we originally wanted to do his Crawfish Boil. Unfortunately, both live and frozen crawfish were just too expensive, so we decided to go with the traditional low country boil protein of choice, shrimp (which is still expensive if you don’t live on the coast, but less so).

Low Country Boil (serves 10-12)

• 4 lbs small red potatoes
• 5 quarts water
• 2 lbs sausage, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks (recommendations: kielbasa, andouille, or chorizo)–I got Tofurkey Kielbasa because Woodman’s was sold out of the natural Applegate Farms Chicken Andouille Sausage
• 6 ears of corn, halved
• 4 lbs large shrimp, deveined
• seasoning (see below)
• cocktail sauce, butter, and lemon wedges for serving

Add potatoes to large pot, then add 5 quarts water and seasoning. Cover pot and heat to a rolling boil; cook 5 minutes. Add sausage and corn, and return to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add shrimp to stockpot; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain.

Source: Coastal Living

Seasoning: Most people use a combination of Old Bay and Crab Boil seasoning. However, I wanted to pay tribute to Alton and make my seasoning from scratch with his recipe. Here’s what I used:

• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons whole cloves
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole allspice
• 1 lb kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
• 6 bay leaves, crumbled

I ground the whole spices, then combined them with everything but the salt, which I’ll wait to add until we’re cooking.

For sides, we’re serving Alton’s Creamed Corn Cornbread.

This will be cooked in a skillet over the fire. And for veggies, I’m serving up a simple broccoli slaw salad. Though the Low Country Boil is filled with a medley of foods, greens aren’t one of them, and I don’t count corn as a super healthy vegetable, given how starchy and high cal it is.

Instead I’m just going two mix two bags of broccoli slaw with this dressing to get my greens fix.

Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard or djion type mustard
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried  basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Source: The Nourishing Gourmet

I decided to break out of the s’mores box for campfire dessert and try to recreate something I saw on Pinterest: strawberries dipped in marshmallow fluff, then roasted over the campfire until golden brown.

Don’t those look good? My sister Moriah doesn’t even like sweets and she thought this idea sounded great.

Snacks? Check. Dinner entree? Check. Sides? Check. Dessert? Check. That leaves…..imbibables!

• 12 pack of Killian’s
• 12 pack of Fat Tire medley
• 1 bottle Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey whiskey
• 1 bottle Skinny Girl Pina Coladas

With all the delicious food and drinks we’re bringing, it should be a good weekend…here’s hoping I will get to eat most of it!

Losing Wisdom

I know I’m crazy and a little (ok, a lot) bit weird, but the thought of no exercise for at least two days post surgery made me a little unhappy. Exercising is part of my routine now, and I just feel better after I’ve done something active in the morning.

So instead of sleeping in this morning in preparation for my fun-filled day, I woke up early to do both Levels 1 and 2 of Extreme Shed and Shred.

At least I can start my summer vacation on a good note! I had a final farewell breakfast of scrambled egg whites with sauteed grape tomatoes and spinach.

Seasoned with paprika, garlic salt, and onion powder. My mouth didn’t hurt as much to open after exercising (yay for endorphins!) so this went down pretty easy. And deliciously.

I took a before picture before heading out.

Swollen face, but not too bad. My appointment was for 9:30am, and since I knew registration would take about ten minutes and the procedure about forty-five minutes, I wasn’t expecting to leave until at least 10:30.

As soon as I got comfy in the chair, the doctor came in, a thin, friendly faced man with glasses. He introduced himself before flipping through his papers. “No anesthesia? Can I talk you out of that?” He winced as he spoke

I explained my main reason for no anesthesia: that my family had already taken off two work days for our long weekend, and I didn’t want them to take off any more days just to drive me home. I didn’t explain my second reason: anesthesia costs an extra $395 and while my insurance would cover some of that, the pain of parting with the extra cash when it wasn’t totally necessary didn’t thrill me.

He explained that with all four wisdom teeth coming out, one of which was horizontally impacted and the other infected, there would be a lot of pressure, a lot of noise from drilling, and possible stinging pain. I pictured bits of broken teeth and blood flying as I stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, unable to speak. His speech made me nervous, but since I had already taken off work tomorrow, I stuck to my guns. “I’m going to go through with it,” I stated, shredding the tissue in my hands as I spoke.

Frankly, his speech made me expect so much more pain that I sailed through the surgery without a hitch. There was definitely a lot of pressure, some noise and tiny bits of tooth flying, but I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of pain–the worst pain was actually the needle used to numb me!

I will say that the last removal of the infected lower left tooth hurt a bit. But when it was out, I couldn’t believe the forty five minutes were up–they told me the time would go faster than I thought….but I didn’t think it would go that fast. It didn’t.

Because I denied any breaks, it only took twenty minutes! Anesthesia, smanesthesia. I am in the same condition now as any patient who would have had anesthesia…except I got to drive myself home. I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror.

I think Hermione snuck a stinging hex jinx on me.

I am now sitting at home, mouth stuffed with gauze and ice packs strapped to each side of my face with a workout headband while I patiently await the arrival of my mother. She kindly agreed to take me to Walgreens on her lunch break to help me pick up my antibiotics (to stop the infection) and happy pills aka Vicodin to help me sleep.

I may be tough, but I’m not stupid.

Always Look on the Bright Side

To say today did not go as expected is an understatement. But no one likes a whiner, so, in attempts to cheer myself up, I will try to put a positive spin on everything that happened to me today.

Last night, I woke up multiple times with searing pain in my jaw and finally got up at 7:00am with a swollen face.

I already have a round face, but now I look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

The Dark Side: I had to make a dentist appointment.

The Bright Side: I called at 8:00am, and they had an opening today at 9:30am. Sweet! I even got to enjoy two cups of coffee before I left.

The Dark Side: Because of my appointment, I had to go running later in the day when it was much hotter and the trail more populated with kids out of school for the summer.

The Bright Side: I ran 2 miles without stopping! The pain from running distracted me from the pain in my mouth, so I just kept trucking.

The Dark Side: I have three erupted wisdom teeth which need to be removed immediately if I want any semblance of relief. I had to set up oral surgery for tomorrow at 9:30am, and I elected to have it without anesthesia so I wouldn’t have to make anyone take off work as well as to save money. The entire process is going to be painful, expensive, and dampen my birthday weekend a bit.

The Bright Side: I have an extra day off of work and get to spend time recovering in one of my favorite places in the world.

The Dark Side: You’re not going to see any fantastic meals from me in the next few days, as I will most likely be consuming only applesauce, V8, cottage cheese, scrambled egg whites, and ice cream. (Case in point: food consumed today included greek yogurt, applesauce, and pureed vegetables).

The Bright Side: I am prepping for cabin weekend and should have plenty of recipes to share in advance of my break!

My family has elected to each be responsible for one meal (breakfast or dinner) and snacks for lunch. We will probably be hiking, fishing, and swimming during the day, so I wanted to pack some healthy snacks—like homemade granola bars!

Healthy Granola Bars

• 1 1/2 cups puffed wheat cereal
• 1 1/2 cup Fiber One
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp stevia
• splash of vanilla
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Powdered)
• Optional Mix Ins: shredded coconut, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, almonds, dried fruit, etc.

Inspired by: Homemade ‘Fit’ Granola Bars 

Place the cereal in a large ziplock bag and lightly crush with a rolling pin.

Add cereal to a large mixing bowl, followed by oats, syrup, honey, peanut butter, stevia, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in all your optional mix ins. I made two batches: the first one included 1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut and 2 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, the second batch included 1/4 cup of dried cranberries, and 2 tbsp chopped almonds.

Press into a greased 8X8 baking pan.

Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. Use a spatula to separate.

(212 calories per bar)

The Dark Side: Even though I cut the baking time down considerably from the instructions, the corners of my granola bars burned.

The Bright Side: I broke off a smidge, and they still tasted pretty good. (Never mind the fact that I killed my mouth trying to eat that piece.)

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for myself that I will heal quickly, because I want to enjoy my weekend as much as I can. And that includes eating real, crunchy food!

Let’s All Go to the Faire

We could not have asked for a better turn out for our first Renaissance Faire.

Frankly, I was shocked at the amount of people who showed up! It was so exciting to see so many people for our ‘trial run.’

The Mustard Seed Cafe served turkey legs, sausage, hot dogs, pickles on a stick, hummus and chips, doughnuts on a stick, Sage Hollow iced tea and lemonade and soft drinks. Butterfly Fries served spiraled potato ‘chip’ fries with cheese. (Not too much healthy food–I stuck with hummus and chips and a few of my brother’s Butterfly Fries during the day).

My sister Emily and her boyfriend Christopher were fantastic as the Queen and King. The kids just loved seeing them and being knighted or made a member of the Queen’s court for completing a scavenger hunt.

We did a parade around the park twice to show off the royal court, accompanied by a wonderful violinist.

A jester spent all day creating this fabulous chalk drawing of a wizard.

Ivy Trails sold succulents and helped people create their own faerie gardens.

One vendor did Henna designs.

Another sold fantastic fairy products.

We had plenty of live music to entertain us, including Dr. Kickbutt’s Orchestra of Death.

Attendees used larp (live action role playing) swords to fence.

My Aunt Colleen walked around selling beautiful roses while my Mom helped run our tea booth and assist the King and Queen.

I spent some of my time watching over the little fairy princess Aurelia. My brother Tyler played the Griffin Keeper and had to hand out feathers to kids for their scavenger hunt.

My dad showed up later to take over.

My cousin Jake, the archer, paused midday for a rest.

From this:

To this.

I was in no condition to go out in public after the faire, but I was hungry and desperately in need of refreshment.

This O’so beer hit the spot. We checked out a new pub and eatery called Hagemeister Park in Green Bay. It’s only been open a week, and they are already having trouble keeping up with the swarms of people, no likely due to their fabulous outdoor patio, live bands, and great selection of beer and food.

This salad was definitely calling my name. Blackened Mahi-Mahi salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, gorgonzola cheese, black olives, and red wine vinegar. With a side of garlic toast. Just what the Princess’ doctor ordered.

My head hit the pillow at 10:30 last night, and I slept for 9 hours before waking up this morning to do an hour of Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

No breakfast for me, because I have to take an HRA before work, so I’ve just been drinking plenty of water.

I’m already getting excited to celebrate my birthday weekend up in the north woods of Wisconsin. I’m not wishing the days away, though–I have plenty to do this week in preparation. Happy Monday!

Chunky Monkey Morning

I wish I wouldn’t have been so gluttonous as to polish off all the raspberries last night after dinner, as they would have made an excellent breakfast. I woke up again this morning with no fresh fruit for breakfast. Hmph. Nothing seems to appeal to me for breakfast in the morning anymore.

I slept in this morning so Dave went to get his hair cut while I did Level 2 of 30 Day Shred.

I decided to eat my breakfast immediately after exercising until waiting post-shower. I didn’t want Dave to come back and be impatient while I scrounged something for breakfast.

With no fresh fruit, I had the next best thing: Chunky Monkey ice cream. (Side note: I told Dave we should go skinny dipping next weekend when we were at the cabin. He said no, so I asked “What about Chunky Dunking?” “That’s disgusting.”)

My arms were still shaking from lifting weights so I could not get a decent, non-blurry picture. I hope you forgive me. My biceps do.

• 1 banana, frozen and cut in chunks
• 1 tbsp powdered peanut butter
• 1 square Hershey’s dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 tbsp walnuts, chopped

Puree banana in a food processor for about five minutes. Add powdered peanut butter towards end of processing. Scoop into your favorite dish and top with chocolate and walnuts.

Despite the name, this breakfast will not make you a ‘chunky dunker!’ We all know bananas, peanut butter, and walnuts are good for you. But did you know that eating dark chocolate daily cuts down the risk of heart attack and strokes?

Your risk of heart attack will probably increase exponentially if you eat 12 dark chocolate bars a day, though, so keep in mind that your portion should be relatively small. Unless you want to be a chunky dunker.

Rain Can’t Stop Me

It was a dark and stormy afternoon. The rain fell like bullets, intertwined with hail and ferocious blasts of wind’s stale and icy breath.

In less stylistic words, my plans to run after work were thwarted by rain and light hail. I felt guilty, almost as if I had summoned the rain as an excuse not to go running. I swear, I didn’t. I swear by Level 3 of Ripped in 30!

Even though I wasn’t a fan of Level 2, I thought I would try out Level 3 to make up for the run I weaseled myself out of. It was hard. Especially on my tight upper leg muscles. My arms were shaking and felt weak and spindly trying to hold up my frame. I also had the wonderful pleasure of Dave returning home from work while I was in the middle, so he got to see my sexy face.

Nope, not that one. This one.

Awwww yeah. Not so great. Dave left post-shower, mumbling something about secret birthday shopping. I think he just wanted to wait until my workout face was gone.

Come on, what’s not to love about a girl doing staggered upright rows with a squat in a Guinness t-shirt?

I can even fly with weights! Stick with me, baby, and I’ll fly you to the moon. Or help you eat dinner.

The rain may have stopped us from grilling, but it did not stop us from eating a splendid meal. Just the mere mention of “European Dinner Night” made Dave and I nostalgic for it’s bohemian-like deliciousness.

Stone Ground crackers and Sesame Thins. Formaggio with Sundried Tomato & Pesto, Creamy Gorgonzola, and Abergale with Apricots and Ginger. Smoked Pepper Salmon. Peppers, celery, carrots, and cherry tomatoes.

Pickled herring.

And fresh raspberries.

Dave and I may be poor, but we eat well.

Too Hot to Eat

Mother Nature is not rising to my bait. Though it’s been in the 90s the last few days, Mr. Weatherman is promising us cooler weather with storms for the rest of the week and into the weekend (please be wrong about the thunderstorms all day Sunday!). Still, this morning was one of those sweaty, shirt-sticking, i’mgoingtochopallmyhairoff kind of days.

Especially after doing Level 2 of Killer Buns and Thighs this morning. I kid you not, I was sweating after the warm-up to this video. But I loved it!

Jillian never fails to deliver unique and interesting moves in all of her workout videos–I have yet to get bored of her. This video contained such fun-named moves as “Statue of Liberty jumps and “Dancing Crab.” She pulled out a chair to use for two moves, though, and since I don’t have any chairs at my apartment (besides computer chairs), I did plank row leg lifts and hollow man scissor kicks while they were doing their thing. No big deal.

After showering, I realized I once again had no appetite for breakfast. Hot weather seems to dampen my enthusiasm for food, particularly when there is no fresh fruit in the house except apples, which I already eat for lunch and snacks.

A trip to the grocery store should be in order soon.

Since hot weather calls for light, veggie-heavy fare, so I’m going to share one of my hands-down favorite summer dishes. It’s hearty enough to eat for a lunch entree and a fantastic side dish. I’ve probably made this about twenty times in the last few years–it’s so good! And good for you. 🙂

Summer Garden Couscous Salad

• 1 can of sweet corn (or 3 ears of corn, cooked and removed from husks)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Bring broth to a boil, and stir in couscous. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, onion, and parsley. Add corn kernels. Stir in couscous.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice and seasonings. Pour over couscous mixture, toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate until well chilled.

Source: Taste of Home

This salad is so refreshing, you’ll eat it even when it’s too hot to eat. Promise.

Summer Lovin’

It’s no secret that I love the summer. Today I drove to and from work in a long sleeve black shirt. It was 90 degrees, and my car has no air conditioning. I didn’t mind. I will gladly soak up every last bit of sunshine and heat that the sun bestows upon the fickle Midwest.

Do you hear that, sun? (Now I feel like Lieutenant Dan. I better not tempt Mother Nature.) Today is the first real day of summer–how are you celebrating?

I’m celebrating with…

A dirty Tanqueray martini. Shaken, not stirred. (Thus the cloudiness).

A MorningStar 1/4 lb burger with Spicy Red Pepper hummus and a tomatillo slice on a whole wheat bun. Best on the grill but still pretty delicious out of the oven.

And one of my favorite sides ever: Ghetto Roasted Broccoli. I fall more in love with this broccoli every time I eat it. When I have fresh basil handy, I will definitely revert back to the Best Ever Roasted Broccoli.

The sun has gone to bed, so I’m finishing celebrating my first night of summer with one of my favorite shows, Gilmore Girls. Don’t be scared of the word “girls” in the title. Trust me on this one, folks.

Marshmallow Legs

Everyone has a party of their body they hate. Or 12. This seems to be much more prevalent among women where an extra layer of fat everywhere we don’t want it seems to be rationalized by our body’s preparation for children.

With all the amazing things our bodies are capable of, you’d think the female body could just obtain and release those extra protective layers around the time period of child-bearing instead of our whole lives. Of course, some girls are lucky and seem to maintain a thin frame whether or not they have children. Others of us have to work non-stop to combat our unfortunately slow metabolism. Hem, hem.

I’ll take those, please! Oh, and the shorts.

There are a lot of parts of my body I’m not a fan of but summer seems to draw attention to one I keep covered up all winter: my legs. As soon as I neared my teeny bopper years, I grew to hate shorts. Standing was fine, but as soon as I sat down, my thighs pooled out around me. I always tried to have a pillow near to cover up my marshmallow legs.

With the invention of capris, I was saved. I remember explaining to my brother why capris were not stupid, but rather a genius invention by a woman who wanted to enjoy the summer sun yet cover up the part of her legs that were unfortunately non-muscular.

This morning was much too hot for my workout capris as I did Level 1 of Six Week Six Pack, so I put on my running shorts.

While I was Long Lever Crunching it up, I realized: my legs aren’t jiggling very much. In fact…they look pretty good. Einstein would not be proud at my revelation but here it goes: this morning, I didn’t hate my legs.

No, they’re not thin, long, and fabulous. My thighs still leave something to be desired. But they’re strong. And that’s what I’ve been working for. Being comfortable in my own skin is something I have been working on as long as I can remember. This morning’s revelation brought me one step closer and called for a celebration: a Hot Apple Pie Smoothie, courtesy of Mama Pea.

Streusel Topping

• 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and microwave for 25 seconds. Set aside.

Smoothie

• 1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped, and microwaved for 30 seconds
• 1/2 cup plain, non-fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp stevia
• pinch of salt
• 8 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Top with streusel topping.

Let the flavor of an icy Thanksgiving dessert explode in your mouth as you think about all the things you love about yourself. Including your ambition to make yourself a killer breakfast instead of pouring yourself a bowl of cereal.