"Liebster Award" - my first award ever!!

I was tagged! Divya, my friend over at Eat, Teach, Blog tagged me with the “Liebster Award,” which is:

“……given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.”

Thank you, Divya for the award!! 

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Answer the following 11 questions:

1. What inspired your blog name?
I knew I definitely wanted to have something about eating or food in the title…and something about running or working out.  So I was sitting in front of the computer one night, trying to decide if I was really going to start a blog or not and my daughter was helping me out and I was coming up with as many phrases as I could that involved eating, hungry, running, etc.  When I said “Running Around Hungry” she was like “oooh Mama, I like that!  Pick that one!” so I did.  I liked the way it sounded, and liked that it was a sort ofp play on words and when my husband got home from work, he loved it too so it stuck!

2. What do you like most about blogging?
My love for blogging is two-fold!  I love that I have been able to connect to so many great people…and that blogging friends are fast becoming real friends!  Also, I love that blogging is so therapeutic.  It’s like a diary where I keep track of my everyday life…in words and pictures!  It has really reminded me how much I love to write and that I used to want to write a book when I was little.  I can’t wait to look back (or for my daughter to be able to look back) in the future and see what life was like “back in the day” for us.

3. What was your dream job when you were a child?
I wanted to be an author and write a book (because I loved to read!) and also wanted to be a lawyer.  Yet, I was playing school every chance I got so my mom says she always knew I would end up as a teacher.  She was too, and so was my father, so it kind of runs in my blood! J

4. What has been your favorite travel experience thus far?
I did an International Public Relations Study Abroad in Mexico City in the Summer of 2000.  Best.thing.i.ever.did!  Not only did I form life-long friendships with these girls and a great group of guys that were like brothers to us, I got to study at a prestigious university, intern at an amazing PR firm, and traveled all around the country.  Traveling around México helped us discovered its beauty in not-so-touristy towns like Taxco, the silver capitol of Mexico, Oaxaca, which was so colonial and was my absolute favorite of all, and Cuernavaca, the city of “eternal spring”.  It helped me improve my (business and academic) Spanish, and connect more with my heritage and culture.

5. What is the strangest or most exotic food you’ve ever tried? And did you like it?
My family and I love – and take pride in – trying to eat as many different kinds of food as we can.  As far as “strange” or “exotic”…hmm…I guess the tacos made of worms in Mexico probably takes the cake.  It was yummy; crunchy and salty, just how I like it!  Don’t think I’m weird, though.  You see, I’m half Mexican, and was raised by my mother with the help of my grandmother and aunt (neither of whom spoke English).  I grew up on freshly made Mexican food, so you could probably throw anything inside a fresh tortilla and I would eat it! J

6. What is your favorite movie?
I think my favorite movies of all time (it’s a tie) are Forrest Gump, Ghost, Dirty Dancing, and Pretty Woman.  I’ve always been a sucker for a good chick-flick!!

7. Who is your favorite TV show character?
I think that would be a tie.  Back in the day I loved me some Will&Grace, does anyone even still watch that?  I loved the dynamic between the two but loved the crazy Karen and Jack too.  I don’t watch much television now, and when I do, it’s usually reality shows or talk shows.  I am dying to get into “Modern Family” since I’ve heard so many great things about it, but since I go to the gym every night, it’s hard to get into sitcoms.

8. What is a current goal you are trying to accomplish?
I try to always have lots of different goals.  Two of the biggest ones right now have to do with running and teaching, since school’s starting up again soon!  Right now, I am looking forward to training, running, and hopefully PR-ing at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on 1.13.13.  I am also trying to squeeze in some more reading (mostly Young Adult novels) this summer, to prepare for the school year and be able to make good book reccomendations to my 5^th graders. 

9. What’s one thing you are most proud of?
One thing that I’m most proud of?  Hmmm…that would have to be the family that my hubs and I have formed and maintained.  We fell in love after a whirlwind romance and had our daughter within a year and a hlaf of getting together.  We were still pretty young (by my standards) at 23 and 24, and struggled as we went about trying to mature and fulfill our roles as wife/husband and mother/father.  Ten years later, here we are, stronger and happier than ever…and I know it has everything to do with the fact that we didn’t just “go” through those tough times, we “grew” through them.  Thankfully, we are still together, when so many friends of ours (and other married couples around the country) aren’t anymore.  For this, I am proud.  Proud that this awesome little family (the “three muskateers” as we sometimes call ourselves) is healthy, loving, happy, and blessed!!

10. If money were no object, where would you live and why?
Definitely Bolivia!!  I would love to live there mostly because the majority of my husband’s family still lives there (in Santa Cruz and La Paz), and, well, because it’s beautiful!!  Plus, being that Bolivia is the heart of South America, it would be so easy to hop skip and jump over to so many other beautiful countries!  First on the list - Brasil (that’s how they spell it, in case your wondering why I misspelled it). RIO DE JANEIRO, here I come!!  I would also love to visit Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay, amongst others!  

11. What is your favorite book of all time?

OMG, narrow it down to one?!  I can’t do it!!  But I remember loving Harriet the Spy a lot as a girl, I think I read that book like 12 times. As far as books I’ve read recently, I love, love, love the Hunger Games series…and Life As We Knew It.  As far as adult books, I’m reading Andy Cohen’s “Most Talkative: Tales from the front lines of Pop Culture” and am thoroughly enjoying it!  It made me laugh so hard I almost dropped my Nook!

  

Thanks again, Divya, for tagging me!!  Answering those questions was fun!!

LISTmania: kitchen staples and grocery goodness

I decided to sit down and make myself a grocery guide.  I am an incessant list-maker and actually found this otherwise tedious task to be kind of fun! J  I figured if I was going to make a list for myself I might as well blog it too.  You never know when someone else might find it useful!

My family and I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to food…and we really do LOVE to eat.  So sometimes a simple trip to HEB or Wal-Mart does not cover all of our grocery needs so I shop at smaller, specialty/imports stores a lot too.  I’ll start off with a list of my favorite grocery stores.  I normally shop at:

-         Wal-Mart

-         Food Town

-         HEB

-         Phoenicia specialty foods

-         Trader Joe’s (now that we have one in the area, even though it is far away!)

-         Asian grocery stores

-         Costco

-         Dollar stores (occasionally you’ll find some good stuff at these too!)

Now let's talk about pantry, refrigerator, and freezer staples.  Keep in mind that I love to cook and since I do, I am often experimenting and trying out some new recipe, or making up one of my own.  Because of this, I usually keep our pantry/refrigerator/freezer well stocked because I never know what I am going to need.  Here are the items that I like to keep stocked in at any given time.

Pantry Staples
Pastas Penne Linguini Thin spaghetti Orzo Vermicelli Tortellini Wide egg noodles	Dough Bread (whole grain) Tortillas (whole wheat or brown rice) Pitas Multigrain Baking and Pancake Mix Jiffy (cornbread mix) Pretzels Crackers (saltine, Triscuit, Wheat Thins)	Canned Goods Black beans Canellini beans Red Kidney Beans Garbanzo beans Corn (low sodium) Green Beans Artichokes Beets Tomatoes Sauce Tomato Paste Rotel Tuna Sardines Pink Salmon Chicken Cream of Chicken soup Cream of Mushroom soup Peanut Butter	Spices Garlic cloves Chili Powder Smoked Paprika Coarse Kosher Salt Pepper Mill Don’s Cajun Seasoning Cayenne Pepper Lemon Pepper Sweet Basil Oregano Parsley Flakes Red Pepper Flakes Rosemary Thyme Ground Ginger Curry Powder Sage Poultry Seasoning Asian Five Spice Coriander Sesame Seeds Tahini Greek Seasoning Mix Italian Seasoning Mix Worcestershire Sauce Heinz 57 Balsamic Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar White Vinegar Rice Vinegar Olive Oil Canola Oil
Veggies Onions Sweet potatoes Red potatoes Tomatoes Grapefruit	Grains Brown rice Quinoa Oats (steel cut oats or old fashioned oats) Barley Wheat Berries Israeli CousCous	Teas Jasmine Green Tea (loose) Chamomile Earl Gray Mint Yerba Mate (orange peel, mint and regular) Kool-Aid Water Add-Ins (Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Cherry Limeade, Strawberry Lemonade, Raspberry, Orange Awake) Coffee
Sweeteners Sugar Sugar Substitute (Splenda, Equal, Stevia) Coconut Palm Sugar Honey Agave Nectar	For Baking Cinnamon Nutmeg Cocoa Powder Sugar Brown Sugar Baking Powder Sweetened Condensed Milk Evaporated Milk	Cereals Special K red berries Special K vanilla almond Honey Nut Cheerios Cocoa Krispies (my splurge) Cream-of-Wheat Barley	Protein Powder (Dymatize Elite)

Refrigerator Staples
Dairy Milk Eggs Butter (Best Life) Cheese Feta Swiss slices Kraft American slices Parmegiano Reggiano Laughing Cow wedges Cream Cheese (cooking)	Veggies Salad Mixed Greens Mushrooms Cucumber Parsley Cilantro Cauliflower Sugar Snap Peas Celery Zuchini Squash Asparagus Brussel Sprouts Green Bell Pepper Red Bell Pepper	Fruit Strawberries Mangoes Grapes Watermelon Cantaloupe Bananas Apples	Dressings Lite Ranch Light Champagne Vinaigrette (TJ’s) Caesar Vinaigrette Newmann’s Own Low-Fat Sesame Ginger
Roasted Red Peppers Dill Relish Sweet Relish Olives Capers Banana Peppers	Smoked Turkey sliced meat Honey Ham sliced meat Canadian Bacon Bacon	Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves Sugar-Free Orange Marmalade Pollener’s All-Fruit blueberry Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves Sugar-Free Orange Marmalade Pollener’s All-Fruit blueberry	Ketchup Bar-b-Que (sweet baby ray’s) Frank’s Hot Sauce Brown Mustard Mustard Olive Oil Mayonaise Sugar-Free Syrup Hershey’s syrup
Mexican sauces Salsa Valentina Jalapeño Salsa (Pineapple Mango)	Asian Sauces Low Sodium soy sauce Sriracha Hoisin Ponzu sauce Sweet chili sauce Oyster Sauce Chili Garlic Sauce	Reduced Fat – Croissant Dough (in a can)

Freezer Staples
Meat Chicken breasts Chicken Sausage Ground Turkey Tilapia Fillets Salmon Turkey Breakfast Sausage Pork Tenderloin Pork Loin Whole Chicken Beef Steak Cubes Rib-Eye or New York Strip Steak	Veggies Peas Corn Brocolli Chopped Spinach Mixed Veggies	Nuts Walnuts Pecans Sunflower Seeds Sun Dried Tomatoes Chocolate Chips
Pie Crusts Filo Dough

Now that you know what I usually have available in my kitchen, let’s talk about where I usually shop.  Where I shop definitely depends on pricing because let’s face it, I’m a cheap frugal girl!  I like to get the best price possible for the items that I buy.  Sometimes this means going to different grocery stores for different items but I also don’t like to drive all over town.  Driving around wasting gas defeats the purpose of saving money on groceries!  With that being said, here are the stores where I usually shop at.

Where I Buy What
Wal-Mart This is where I get the majority of my groceries.  Btw, Wal-Mart price matches, although I don’t have the patience to do this! Produce Meat Breads/pastas/etc Toiletries Cleaning supplies Paper goods	Food Town Meat Produce Dairy	HEB Fish Shrimp produce	Dollar Stores Water add-ins Sometimes you can find things like bread, spices, canned goods
Hong Kong Market (Asian Grocery Store) Frozen Edamame Jasmine Green Tea (loose leaves) Asian sauces Brown jasmine or basmati rice	Phoenicia Pitas Lamb Chicken Hearts Filo dough Imported cheeses (Feta, Parmigiano Reggiano, Fontina, Asiago, Romano, Goat) Fresh olives Beet Salad Prosciutto Greek yogurt Fennel Imported Olive Oil (large quantity) Spices Teas Desserts (baklava, chocolate covered almonds, imported chocolates and truffles) Sundried tomatoes Wheat berries Garbanzos Tahini Israeli couscous	Costco Trash bags Toilet Paper Paper Towels Strawberries Watermelon Frozen organic broccoli Ground turkey Chipotle Black Bean Burgers Salmon Steaks Laundry detergent Dish soap	Trader Joe’s Grapefruit Brown Rice Tortillas Imported Italian Pastas (Orechiette, /Stuffed Ravioli and Tortellini) Canellini Beans Cereal Wine Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Bacon Ends and Pieces Chicken Sausage Italian Blood Orange Soda Fresh Basil plant Cookie Butter

I hope you find these lists helpful!  Of course you’ll have to tweak them to suit your own family's likes and needs, and to the grocery stores that you shop at.  Nevertheless, I’m hoping this helps, even if just as a starting point for you.

Questions for you:

What are your favorite stores that you shop at?
What are some of your favorite grocery store items?
What are some items that you always have in your pantry/refrigerator/freezer?