DFO.

hi, friends! i am currently suffering from DFO.

delicious.

food.

overload.

i am in pretty bad condition. i hope i make it through the night.

it all started this morning when i started my day with pancakes! it is pancake sunday, after all.

280 calories, 4g fat, 29g carbs, 37g protein

i made my usual batch of protein pancakes which includes:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 2 TB vanilla protein powder
• generous shake of cinnamon
• a few pinches of baking powder

it really makes a lot of batter! i was able to cook up five delicious pancakes.

i topped them with chemicals:

everything in moderation :)

i devoured this plate of pancakes alongside some black coffee.

after breakfast i changed into my gym clothes.. but realized i could not go to the gym! it was closed due to the holiday (today was easter, for those of you living behind a rock).. so i decide to complete an insanity workout!

i was scheduled to do a lower body workout, so i chose to do the cardio power & resistance DVD.

it is a 40 minute workout. it starts out with a 10 minute warmup that goes like this.  do the following routine for about 30 seconds each exercise, and complete it for a total of three times through:

• jog in place
• power jumping jacks (squat into the jack)
• log jumps (pretend like you are jumping over a log side to side)
• 123 heisman (3 steps right, knee lift to the chest, 3 steps left, knee lift to the chest, repeat)
• butt kicks
• high knees
• vertical jump (squat down, jump straight up)

whew! burned 85 calories in the warm up alone. insanity kicks my butt.

after a nice stretch session, the workout starts. here are the details:

three circuits of the following exercises:

• power jumps (jump straight up and raise knees to chest)
• belt kicks (squat to one side, kick leg out front, go other way, kick other leg)
• “hit the floor” (side to side lunges where you tap the floor with your hand)
• V-push ups (a pushup with your butt sticking up in the air and your fingers facing each other. this works your shoulders)

after completing the above cycle three times, there is a set of tricep dips before completing the next circuit:

• hurdle jumps (run in place and then when the DVD says, you pretend like you jump a hurdle)
• globe jumps (basically squat jumps in the shape of a square)
• moving pushups (pushup, travel left, pushup, travel right)
• floor sprints (i call these mountain climbers. you are in the pushup position and you alternate tucking your legs in to your chest)

then there is a short set of 8 squats/8 pushups (repeat for one minute)

the workout ends with some stretching. WHEW! i love the insanity workouts!

i cleaned myself up and drove to btown to start cooking the easter feast!!

upon arriving my parents’ house, i saw that the easter bunny had paid a visit :) he (she?) left a basket for my little family:

eggs filled with quarters and candy, puma socks for marshall, three cute and colorful ramekins for me and beef rawhides for penny and randy! thanks, easter bunny!

i immediately got busy in the kitchen. there was a lot of work to do!  i had a big menu planned and wanted to make sure it all got done.

i used recipes that i found online for everything i made today.  i will be linking to each recipe.. but i will not be posting how i made each dish or the ingredients that went into them. if you want to know the recipe for a specific dish i made, just click the link.

my mom had already prepared the main dish: EASTER HAM!

oh wait, no, that’s randy! here is the real ham:

i started things out by making danica’s recipe for healthy scalloped potatoes!

cheesy, bubbly, amazing.

next up was an easter staple: chive & tarragon deviled eggs.

these were definitely different from the deviled eggs i usually make, but they were tasty and provided a nice twist for a change. i think the lemon juice and the tarragon made the eggs taste totally different from what i am used to. sometimes different can be good!

we put the eggs in the refrigerator and i got to work on making dessert.. my very first carrot cake!

these three pans went into the oven to bake while we prepared the side dishes.

one side dish was alton brown’s glazed carrots. (i doubled the recipe). it was a team effort on these ones! my mom peeled the carrots, i chopped them and then MARSHALL took over and did the rest!

oh. my. gosh. these carrots were divine! seriously, people who don’t even like cooked carrots ate these glazed carrots right up!

definitely a five star recipe. i highly suggest you make these! and it turns out marshall is really good at following a recipe :)

another side dish on the menu was asparagus amandine from myrecipes.com.  momma b took this recipe on and the asparagus turned out INCREDIBLE.

i don’t think i’ll ever eat plain old steamed asparagus again! the almonds, red bell pepper and lemon juice really made the dish shine. these simple tweaks made the asparagus go from good to GREAT.

while marshall & momma b were busy working on the side dishes, penny chewed on a bone:

and i fixed up a glorious green salad with spinach, romaine, cucumber, red and green bell pepper, tomato, avocado and shredded carrots.

there was also a HUGE bowl of fresh fruit that my mom prepared before i arrived.

and last, but not least, we had a batch of three seed whole wheat rolls.

it was amazing that everything came together so quickly and efficiently. it is all about teamwork. no more than two hours later, we were sitting down to an incredible easter feast!!!

my plate:

a little of everything, i also had not one but TWO doughy, delicious whole wheat seeded rolls that slipped the camera’s eye.

oh! did you guys know that my mom collects salt & pepper shakers?

i always bring her a set home from any vacation i go on.  can you spy the set we used for the easter feast??

sickeningly cute.

after eating our exquisite meal, there was an easter egg hunt along with other easter shenanigans and birthday fun (today happens to by my grandma’s birthday!)

easter baskets on heads. totally normal! my mom and sis in law have the photos from the egg hunt, sorry i can’t share them with you. it is like pulling teeth to try to get photos from my mom ;) i kid. sort of.

and there was the obligatory easter family photo!

looks like a ghost showed up on randy’s nose!

although i was SO FULL from dinner, i knew the carrot cake had to be completed.

i whipped up the cream cheese frosting and got to work on frosting each layer.

it was stacking up quite nicely!

check out the finished product!!

i am pretty dang proud of my very first carrot cake!

the little carrot + parsley on top was my last minute touch ;)

cute!

everyone was pretty sick of me having a photo shoot with my cake.. so i decided to give it a rest and SERVE IT UP!

don’t be fooled. this was my slice.. but there were lots of “crumbs” that were consumed in the serving of the carrot cake ;)

DE-FREAKING-LICIOUS!

this is, hands down, the best carrot cake i have ever eaten! and i made it.. that is pretty cool! never again, store bought carrot cake. go make the recipe.. NOW.

after dessert, we all laid around in carrot cake comas.

and that, my friends, is DFO.

Qs~

1. what delicious food do you overload on? meaning.. even though you are full, it is SO delicious that you just can’t stop eating and you end up in a food coma? well, we can add that carrot cake to my list…

2. do you collect anything? i collect christmas ornaments from everywhere i travel. makes for a fun christmas tree. i also want to start collecting coffee mugs, but i am waiting until i move into my house.

hope you had a lovely weekend! enjoy your monday!

xo. janetha b.

P.S. THANK YOU for all the kind words and congratulations on my news about becoming a home owner! you are all so sweet <3

P.S.S. averie is hosting a giveaway! enter! (or don’t.. so i can win!)