I have a 1-year old!

October 17, 2011December 27, 2011Nicole Hank Tags: Birthday, Bode 1 Comment

This past weekend my baby boy turned 1-year old… I can’t believe how fast this year went by and over the past 365 days he wasn’t the only one who grew… Emotionally, I can honestly say that I didn’t know what life was about until I became a mother. Being able to share every experience with my son has brought so much joy and meaning to my life. We waited to have kids till we were in our careers and got married which hit us both at 28-years old. My marriage is perfect in the sense that I married the love of my life but it’s not perfect in the sense that we fight just like any other couple out there. We are both first born in our families and stubborn so you never know who is going to back down and let the other one ‘win’. Over this past year we have gone through up’s and down’s and the bottom-line is that I made the best decision of my life marrying this man. He is the most important person in my life and without him I wouldn’t have the best little love (Bode) in my life. Your wedding day is a day to share your love with your loved ones (family and friends) and Bode’s 1^st birthday was our opportunity to share our little love with all of our family and friends and to celebrate our 1^st year of being parents. We did a Rock-Star theme which goes perfectly with his personality. He is outgoing, determined, loud, flirtatious, and makes his Mommy laugh every day with his silly expressions. I included a few shots from the birthday party we had for him to share with my blog readers…

Happy Birthday Baby Boy – Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!!

Dessert Bar

Birthday Throne - 'I am One'

Mom + Dad = Bode

Cake Time

What’s my next 30-day Challenge?

October 5, 2011December 27, 2011Nicole Hank Tags: 30 day challenge 3 Comments

Its only the beginning of October and I’m already thinking about November and preparing myself for another month-long challenge. I had so much fun with both the pedometer and salad challenge that I’m ready for something new and exciting to look forward to… Here are some of the ideas I was thinking of:

30 days as a vegan

30 days of 15 minutes of meditation daily

30 days of 100 squats/day

30 days of 8 or more servings of fruits/vegetables daily

30 days of no bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes

30 days of no eating out

what are your thoughts on which challenge I should pursue and blog about in the month of November? I’d love to keep relaxed and calm through the holidays with 15 minutes/day of mediation but I’d also love to get bikini body ready since we are going to Maui in January. I look forward to your responses! My official challenge will be posted the 1st day of November…

Easy Individual Vegetable Lasagna

October 4, 2011December 27, 2011Nicole Hank Tags: Recipes Leave a comment

I know it doesn’t feel like Fall just yet but the day I decided to make this recipe I also indulged in my favorite fall treat – the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks… All the stores are carrying fall decor and some are even carrying Christmas decor (Sam’s Club & Michaels). As I walked through the grocery store trying to figure out what I was going to make for dinner I started thinking of baked squash and eggplant and vegetable lasagna sounded like a great match….

Ingredients:

no bake lasagna pasta (whole foods makes rice pasta if you are interested in gluten free, I used the pasta from Trader Joe’s)

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 bell pepper (optional)

any cheese – ricotta, mozzarella, Daiya (mozzarella flavor), etc…

chunky marinara sauce (canned or make your own – remember this is titled ‘easy’)

canola spray

small baking tins for individual portions

Directions:

Lasagna is fun to make! Preheat oven at 375F degrees. Start with a layer of tomato sauce, add a layer of pasta, then a layer of cheese. Then add a thin layer of eggplant (I prefer to remove the skin). Then you can add the tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese layer again. Continue with Zucchini and bell pepper (optional) repeating the sauce, pasta, and cheese layer in between. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. I baked it with a piece of foil on top for 25 minutes and an additional 20 minutes with foil off.

Now Bode doesn’t eat much ‘adult’ foods yet but this would be a fun treat to make with your little one allowing them to do the layering and making their own food. You can eat this as your meal or add a side of chicken or fish or incorporate ground beef or turkey into the individual lasagna layers. Do what works best for your family and your day of the week, life is never predictable so work with what you’ve got!