Batter Fried Zucchini

Are you all ready for another recipe? (Just shows how BORING my life is...) This one is a family favorite. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the summer my sister Laura was pregnant with Blake we ate batter fried zucchini almost daily. That's how good it is! And the fact that it is zucchini makes you feel like it is nutritious but it's fried so you know what that means--YUMMY!
We made some on Saturday to go with our BBQ so I snapped a few pics so you can get the whole effect. And I'll put the recipe below if you want to try them out at home!Batter Fried Zucchini (from my Aunt Nyla)

1 cup + 2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 slightly beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. oil

Beat them all together until the dry ingredients are wet. (Laura likes to mix it all until the batter is smooth, so it's up to you how long you want to beat it...) Slice up zucchini--it can be thick or thin, however you prefer. And then dip the slices in the batter until completely covered. Remove from batter and place into hot oil. (THE BEST PART!) Brown each side evenly. You want them to be kind of dark, but not burnt and not too light or it isn't cooked long enough. Remove from oil when both sides are brown and place on a paper towel to drip dry and sprinkle with salt immediately. Let them cool for a minute and ENJOY!

Relay For Life

Our Team--The Wacky Witches (don't ask about the team name...)

This last weekend was the Relay For Life in Blackfoot. I got to be on a team with some great people--including Laura and my Mom. For those of you who don't know, the Relay For Life is a 12-hour walk that is done by teams to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It is a great cause and I'm sure we all know at least one person who has suffered from cancer. With all of the teams raising money, they announced that there was over $85,000 raised which is a lot of money considering the size of the community! It was a really cool experience because the first lap was done by all the cancer survivors present (all wearing purple shirts) and then the next lap was done by their families and caregivers. On the third lap they gathered up their teams and we all walked together. My mom in her Wacky Witches outfit!

One of the coolest things of the night was when they shut off all the lights on the track and had the teams light the luminaria bags on the track. We all walked in silence while someone in the lead walked and played the bagpipes. It was so cool to walk with my Mom and Laura and look at all the bags that were in honor of a cancer survivor or someone who had passed away because of cancer. It was a really humbling experience. We stayed up the whole night and walked and watched the crazy activities going on but it was a fun experience and I'm so glad I got to be involved with it! Julie Van Orden, our team's survivor and some of her friends!

To pass the long hours...

I wish I had some great, exciting updates to share but let's be honest, my life is boring. And because I don't even have an exciting job, it makes things a bit more dull. So I thought I would share with you a few of the things that make my day a bit more exciting (maybe exciting is too much of an exaggeration...)
I know I have talked about this blog before, but I love it! My friend Mark is a fancy-smancy photographer living in NYC and I honestly just live vicariously through him! And you can even order his prints online right from his blog if you'd like (check it out!)
I know that most online games are silly, but I have found some joy playing Ellen's Word Roundup! Unfortunately, there is only one new game per day. Another great game that I have recently discovered is TBS's Cubicle Warfare. You get to pick your weapon--stapler, rubber band or paper clip. And then, you get to flick post-it notes, phones and your co-workers! ( I generally play this when I am frustrated with all the guys I work with! )
I'm also reading Stephenie Meyer's new book The Host. I'm not sure who I feel about it yet so I'll post you on that a little later...And occasionally I write blog articles for this guy, but I have kind of been a slacker lately! There you go--that's the excitement for my day. Hopefully SOMETHING remotely exciting will happen soon so I can blog about that!

The Biggest Loser-Cardio Max!

Let's just be honest here--ever since I graduated and started working all the time, I have been lazy. Because I don't walk to class or to my house or anything, I haven't been exercising like I should! And I sit down all day--8 hours a day. Just sitting here. Yeah. Last week I was chatting with my boss Mark who recently moved back to Utah and is working for himself. So he bought a push--no motor--lawn mower! I thought he was crazy but he said it is feels so good to just get out and do something physical. So where am I going with all of this? I needed something to do. But the treadmill/elliptical bore me and it's been so windy and cold outside to go jogging. So I started looking at Amazon.com for some videos. I'm not a big fan of work out videos actually either. I bought a Tae-Bo one a while ago and it is just not for me. (I know, I' m being picky here...) And I also hate how you get videos of people who weigh like 12 pounds each and don't sweat...Really? I've never watched The Biggest Loser but I've heard about it and it just seems so real. So I found this video on Amazon.com and thought I would give it a try. I figured for $8, you can't go wrong. And if I don't like it, I'll sell on the internet. Well, I LOVED it! It lets you customize your workout by picking a warm-up, and between the levels of cardio work outs and then a cool-down. And there are REAL people on the tape! Ben Harper really pumps you up and they are normal exercises. And I love how you can work at your own pace. It can get discouraging if you pop in a 60 minute video and can't complete it because you are out of shape (like has happened to me before..) But with this video, you can work up to the full tape. And you don't have to skip or fast forward to get to the cool down--it just does it for you! So sweet! Okay, I'll get off my plug for this video. But if you are looking for a customizable, do at home, great workout--check it out. There are other Biggest Loser DVD's too so look around!

Mis sobrinos

As I look through all of my friends blogs, they are full of pictures of their adorable children. I love to look at them all, but at the same time, I never have any fun stories to tell about my own children. So, I decided to post some of my favorite pictures of my three ADORABLE nephews! I love these little guys more than anything else! And how could I resist?! Seriously...
Marcus Alan--don't you just want to kiss him all over?!
Jackson will probably hate me someday for posting this picture but I couldn't resist! This was my last night in Lancaster with them and we had gone to Rita's (my favorite place in the whole wide world!) and Jackson DEVOURED his ice cream cone! Oh I love this guy!


Blake was like a little kid on Christmas morning playing with the balloons I got for graduation! I have never seen his smile so big! What a sweetheart!