Weight Watcher

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So I have not been making healthy choices in my meals these days. I think it’s by the grace of God that I haven’t gained any weight, given the pulled pork sandwiches and bacon ranch chicken sandwiches and pasta and the creamed spinach and banana nut pancakes and the chocolate cake and the beer and the wine … you get the point. It’s all been deliciously naughty, but I need to shape up if I am to continue to lose any weight at all.

I’ve never been good at denying myself things, which is why when I started this weight loss journey I decided to make changes in my diet instead of cutting things completely out. Brown rice instead of white, wheat pasta instead of white, water instead of soda, unsweetened tea and coffee, etc etc.

This worked for awhile, except that lately I’ve been allowing myself the occasional Dr. Pepper which has turned into two a week (I know that’s really not bad amount, but I really don’t need it and shouldn’t be drinking it). Also, worse, I’m not drinking the water that I was getting so good at drinking. While it was close to 60-80oz a day for awhile, I’m struggling for 30-40 now.

And portion control, which has never been my strong suit. I need to focus on this most of all. Chocolate cake and milk for dinner probably doesn’t help either.

Additionally, I really need to start actively training for this half marathon that I’ve agreed to do in February. Any ideas?

What are your downfalls? And how do you cope? And do you have any training suggestions for someone who doesn’t do well on interval training schedules? Or android apps to make training schedules easier?

Ten on Tuesday and about my weekend

I could be telling you about my fantastic weekend. Which really was fantastic – I daresay it matches or improves on LAST weekend, which also rather rocked. There was pool parties where Spencer decided to SWIM! With no PELICAN! With no attachment to ME! Like, I got out of the pool and he got back in because there were other people he wanted to play with. And he doggie paddled with his floogles all over the deep end. It was amazing. Truly, amazing.

I could be telling you about having my dear friend Autumn (who moved back down from NYC, Hallelujah!) over Sunday night and another friend Joy and her kids, and the fun that was. Gluten-free, casein-free was a success except for rice krispie treats which were made with real butter. But there was excellent wine (for us, not the kids, of COURSE) and fun conversation and the kids were on excellent behavior.

I could be telling you about how my mom spent the night Sunday night, and Monday I went to boot camp early in the morning which kicked my butt, and had Winghouse to use up any available calories for this weekend, and then did heavy yard work for four hours in the heat of the day. And the front yard is starting to look AWESOME except the one main flowerbed which neither I nor my husband have any interest in tackling. (We will though.) And the backyard is DONE except for painting the pergola. DONE. I should put honey-dos on my resolution list more often.

I could also tell you that I can barely move today because of boot camp and 4 hours of yardwork. Every muscle in my legs hurts. Arms, sore. Back muscles, sore. Butt, yep. Abs, yep. I shant be running today, I can tell you that. Cardiotrainer said that I burned about 1600 calories in my exploits yesterday. I’m sure Winghouse was about that, but oh, how good it was.

ANYHOW! Instead of telling you about my grand weekend (ha!), I’m going to answer some TOT questions. For more TOT, see Chelsea.

1. From your childhood, what do you miss most about summer vacation? I miss sleeping in (which I never do anyhow), watching movies over and over, and riding my bike to the next town to visit my friends. Mostly I miss HAVING a summer vacation. Just not enough to be a teacher.

2. Are you going anywhere on vacation this summer? I’m going to Delaware in August for four days. And my MIL is thinking about getting a beachfront condo so we might go to the beach for an extended weekend. I’m married to my cubicle, so I don’t go many places except the occasional day plane trip within the state for work.

3. What foods do you like to barbeque? I love to grill because it means less dishes. I’m on a zucchini kick (tossed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with Greek seasoning), and chicken, steak, shrimp, veggies, pizza … if it’s big enough not to fall through the cracks, it’s good to grill.

4. How do you celebrate the fourth of July? Nothing much. I’m not a big fan of fireworks, so it’s just whatever, really. This year we may have a party since we have the deck. I haven’t decided yet.

5. What’s your favorite beverage to drink in the summertime? Water, the occasional sweet tea, and new to the scene is this beer which I had on Saturday and fell in love with: Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.

Light, summery, and slightly too easy to drink.

6. What movie are you looking forward to seeing this summer? There are movies coming out this summer? X-Men looks good, and otherwise I might try to catch up on all the past movies I haven’t seen yet. There are a lot of them. Oh! And Harry Potter! That comes out this summer, right?

7. In the car: Windows or AC? If I have any sleeves at all, AC. If in a tank top and won’t be at too many stop lights, I’ll put the windows down.

8. Have you ever had a summer fling? Hmm. No.

9. Do you wear sunscreen? no, I usually don’t. I’m fastidious about getting the kids, but I’m so used to not changing color that I don’t ever worry about it. Due to the influx of tank tops and shorts I’ve been wearing, I’m starting to get a pretty dark base tan and it’s probably time to start slathering it on.

10. Do you have any favorite summertime activities? Playing in the sprinklers, enjoying a finished yard (one day, I swear), spending time outside in the shade with a big glass of water and a book, and swimming at my in-laws’ house. I would say swimming at my house, but there’s only the kiddie pool. This year maybe I can get in good with the other neighbor so I can borrow his pool when he’s not around.



And now, if you’ve stuck with it this long, I commend you. I hope your weekend was fabulous!

Some hodge with a dash of podge

1) The. Deck. Is. Done. Seriously! Well, not seriously. It really is like a third child, the work will never be actually done: the railings are up, cushions on all the seating and an umbrella is up. For all functionality, it's done. We still need to get and install our shutters for the windows, find a cute and inexpensive outdoor throw pillow (or two) for the chaise, and the pergola still needs to be painted but we are waiting on that to let the deck color wear. It's never ending, but I'm so happy with how it looks for right now. (The pillows on the chaise right now are my ikea pillows from the library. I wish they made them for outdoors)



2) I bought size 8 pants today. I'm still dumbfounded that I fit in size eight (although not in everything) ... I got these and I wouldn't have spent the money on them but they are half price for Memorial day and I still desperately needed some pants. They obviously don't fit like they do on the model, but they look pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I now have 2 pair of jeans, 3 crops, and 3 pair of dressy pants. Hopefully that's enough.

3) The cobbler told me my shoe is dead. I couldn't bear to throw them away so now they're in my back floorboard. I don't think wood glue would work because the crack is right along the ball of my foot. I'll part with them, but I just can't do it yet. I bought them on clearance at DSW years ago, but I still did some googling to see if I could replace them. Nada.

4) I'm really out of things, but I feel like a failure to not be able to come up with at least a couple extra things to say.

5) I want ice cream. I'm making due with bad wine.

6) You know what annoys me? When people (okay, on facebook) profess their love for someone in their status after one date. Especially when they're not 12. Every day is life or death, broken hearts or cloud nine. My life has never been so tumultuous, and I'm happy about that. I love my husband, but even when we were dating there wasn't a bunch of drama. Okay, so that's what I'm saying. I just don't get drama. We're in our thirties, people. We have kids. Let them have the drama.

7) I'm far too attached to Facebook.

8) We were supposed to have someone over tonight for dinner but plans fell through. Tomorrow we're driving to Altamonte Springs to a pool party. I love the people having the party, but 90 minutes to go seems like a bit too much. I'm the one who confirmed that we'd go, so obviously I can't complain. Sunday one of my closest friends and her childhood friend are coming over for dinner with kids and I've committed to cooking gluten-free, casein-free, no-red meat or pork. Hmmm. Grilled chicken, zucchini and potatoes it is! Do rice krispie treats count as GFCF?

I hope you know ...

I really have nothing you need to know, except that this sandwich that I just made for dinner was one of the most awesomist things ever.

I had a great weekend, I hope you did too. Somehow I stayed up for all of Relay for Life on Friday. Then I got a few (3) hours of sleep and spent the day with the family doing nothing. Lots of nothing. I think - honestly, I'm sitting here trying to remember what I did and I can't remember. Oh! trying to find a birthday gift for my MIL, eating Chick-fila at the mall, picking my car up from Relay, reading Sarah's Key, and going back to bed.

Mother's Day I woke up to a breakfast scramble and biscuits, a pretty bougainvillaea for the backyard and a funny card. I took a latte and potted tulips to my mom and later a couple potted flowers to my MIL. No time for rest here, but still for a good time.

Today I saw this post by Stacie with fantastically delicious avocado and this post on Foodlush with egg in a basket and this post from Molly with a lovely fried egg Benedict. All of these fantastic things put me in the mood for eggs ... for dinner tonight. This sandwich is toast, pepper jack cheese, a fried egg, leftover baked chicken and sliced avocado. If you have the parts, please do yourself a favor and make it today. Give yourself a mother's day gift - whether you're a mom of kids, or dogs, or cats or goldfish. Dooooo it. Yum.

Leftover hoarding

Brought in to work today: 3 yogurts, a chicken flauta, a chicken enchilada, the last of the sour cream, some turkey tettrazini and three pieces of banana carrot bread. Obviously for more than one breakfast and lunch. Obviously.

Since my hubby is now spending more time at home, I don't always get first dibs on leftovers to take with me. This week I have taken it upon myself to take care of that.

Go me!

Don't mind me; I'm delirious from craziness since my system at work has been slow all day and I haven't been able to do the 8,172 things I had planned.

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Well fed

As I sautéed veggies (onions, poblano chiles, asparagus and mushrooms) to add to a box of 2% Velveeta mac and cheese Monday night for dinner, it occurred to me that I need to start menu planning again. I did so well for months and months, and then this year I’m pretty sure I haven’t done it at all – more than 3 months. I don’t know about planning for a whole month like Jennie, but certainly back to weekly or even biweekly. Hubby is trying to start cooking instead since he feels a little useless on the job front. Does anyone have any suggestions for somewhat healthy recipes he can make?

Also regarding food, I’m struggling with the toddler-eating situation. Here’s how it goes: I’ve never been a food pusher. Spencer spent two years of not really eating dinner, and I never cared. He eats ridiculous amounts of food for breakfast (he could out-eat me and my husband combined) but as the day goes on he eats less and less. We are not a dessert household, so there’s no “treat” hanging over his head if he doesn’t eat.

All that being said, lately he’s been telling me he’s hungry, so I make him a (very small plate) and about 30 seconds after I put it in front of him he starts to get up and says he’s not hungry. At this point we usually make him eat half of his dinner but I feel so conflicted about forcing him to eat! And then Hubby’s favorite threat is to tell S if he doesn’t eat it, daddy is going to eat it which completely gets my goat. Every night, same thing.

So Help! On both fronts, help please.

Have a (laughing) cow

I blame it on FoodLush, but I'm now addicted to Laughing Cow cheese wedges. It started as a wedge in the middle of my turkey burger. Which, by the way, is delicious.

But then (take note, Molly) I had half a round of Laughing Cow and didn't know what else to do with it. So I took my favorite breakfast - a fried egg on cheese toast, and replaced the butter and cheese with one wedge of laughing cow. And came up with this:

And now it's all I crave. I dare you to try it.

Baking fool - with a recipe!

Saturday morning I decided to do some baking. I have a toddler who still refuses to eat vegetables and an infant who has decided he likes to eat absolutely everything, so I figured that since I just professed to not being much of a baker I should make some more butternut squash waffles (with spinach), and make up some recipes for carrot banana bread and zucchini spinach muffins. You know, just off the cuff.

I was baking for four hours. I might be delirious.

But I have for you my recipe for Carrot Banana Bread. It's a combination of carrot cake ingredients and banana bread ingredients. I winged it (wang it?) and I think I'm in love with this bread.



Carrot Banana Cake Bread

2 1/2 bananas
3/4 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

preheat the oven to 325 degrees. grease your loaf pan, and then dust with flour (or just use Baker's Pam). blend first 6 ingredients together. sift the last four ingredients together and blend into the wet. Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let set for 10 minutes to cool before inhaling eight pieces at a time.


*Note: my second one I only had two bananas so I upped the pineapple and then I added about a cup of crushed walnuts.

TOT - Food, Take 2

What is a food that you never though you would try but then tried and liked?

I can’t really think of anything – I’m up for trying anything and I really try not to have any preconceived notions. Except that I have a texture aversion so there are some things that I will never eat because, just yuck. Like corned beef hash – I made if for my husband, but gross! Also, I always think I hate peas but I really don’t. I just assume that I hate them so I won’t actually eat them.


Do you subscribe to any foodie publications? If so, which ones?

A girl at work used to bring me her Gourmet magazine, and then when that folded she gave me her Bon Appétit. I have a subscription to the Rachael Ray magazine which my husband likes because he likes her food but hates her voice. This way he doesn’t have to listen to her.


What ingredient do you find yourself reaching for the most when you cook?

Pam, these days. God, that stuff is a godsend.


Are there any foods that you hated as a child but then learned to like as an adult?

Avocados. First, nothing avocado would pass my lips. Then, guacamole. Then avocado was fine, but only on sandwiches. Now I crave them. I currently have 4 avocados from different shopping trips in my fridge, because I feel compelled to pick one or two up every time I pass a display.


What do you like that others might consider weird?

I love all the foods that children refuse to eat. Brussel sprouts are my best friends. Lima beans, spinach … we’re tight.


What is the weirdest ingredient you’ve ever cooked with?

I can’t think of anything offhand, but I did make a macaroni salad once that called for jicama, and I had no idea what it was so I kept calling it Jick-a-ma until finally someone corrected me.


Do you have any major food allergies?

Nope, but the proteins on raw shrimp makes my eczema flare up (and burn) so I have to wear gloves when I handle the little yummy suckers.


Is there an ingredient that you would like to cook with but are intimidated to try?

I’m not really intimidated by much, cooking wise. Give me a kitchen with no children under my feet and I can find something decent to make.


Do you bake?

Not often. I have a hard time taking chances with ingredients so unless I’m following a recipe to the letter, it doesn’t often get done. I’m a big fan of no-bake cookies though, and I make a mean oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. And the one thing for which I made a recipe completely on my own was strawberry loaf bread, and it was amazing. Ooh, I need to make that again while strawberries are still in season.


If you could go on any “foodie” show to compete, which one would it be and why?

I don’t have any interest in competing in a foodie show AT ALL. I would, however, kill someone to be a judge on Iron Chef. That is all.

For more, see Chelsea.

Waffles and sunshine

Another thing I am happy about and I can't believe I didn't mention it yesterday is this weather! I so addicted to being outside. I've been campaigning again for my deck, and last night while we were eating an early dinner at a local restaurant that I had a Groupon for (this place ... if you live in the area, GO THERE IMMEDIATELY. It's fantastic. And healthy. And uses local produce. And you get a free frozen yogurt with every meal. I digress.) and we sketched out how I want the deck (yes, how I want it) so Hubby can start on it soon. It's so beautiful out there!! I've been spending every minute I can outside before the heat index reaches 120 degrees and I start spending $800 a month in air conditioning.

Also, these waffles make me very happy.


I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those mothers who fights with their kids over what they eat. There are plenty of things to fight about without force feeding your child too (which is my own opinion and might be wrong, so please don't think I'm judging you for forcing your kid to eat his spinach). I do often request that he eat one bite, but even then he will concede that it tastes fine but that he's not interested (unless it's green and not edemame, because then it will be a cold day in hell before it passes his lips). So this week I took the leftover roasted butternut squash and incorporated it into a self-made recipe for waffles and success! So here you go:


Butternut Squash and Oatmeal Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup packed squash or pumpkin puree
1/2 cup (skim) milk
1 egg
2 tbs (Greek) yogurt
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

mix all ingredients except oatmeal well, then mix in oatmeal. makes 5 waffles, which in this house feeds one hungry toddler. For extra healthy breakfast, top with peanut butter and honey, with a side of fruit. Freeze leftovers and pop them into toaster oven as needed!

(this is the first bite being removed from the plate in record time, even before the fruit)

Now does someone want to suggest something to me to sneak greens into that doesn't involve chocolate?

TOT - Food! My favorite!

1. What condiments are always, always in your fridge? My husband likes mayonnaise (gag me) so there's always some of that, and I think we still have mustard and catsup (ketchup?) from Spencer birthday party Feb '10 (what? you say it goes bad? don't tell me). We always have Italian dressing because I use it to marinate pretty much everything. I don't actually LIKE condiments, so we have tons that I don't use except as ingredients in cooking - hoison sauce, fish sauce, peanut sauce (mmm, peanut sauce) and my husband went searching for tartar sauce when we had fish a few days ago and found some ... with the expiration date in 2009. I guess next step would be cleaning out my condiments.

2. How do you like your steak cooked? Your burgers? Steak: Medium dead ... I mean medium rare. I prefer to err on the side of mooing though. Burgers - solid medium.

3. What’s your favorite use for fresh tomatoes? guacamole or salad, or in an egg scramble or at the end of cooking a pasta dish. I don't put salad on my burgers.

4. What’s your go-to dinner when you haven’t planned anything in advance and you don’t feel like going out? I never don't feel like going out, so that would be when I've convinced myself (rightly) that it would be in my financial best interest to not go out. something - anything - with chicken. I go through phases. Chicken enchiladas, grilled chicken and whatever veggie we might happen to have, chicken tacos, honey butter thyme chicken strips, chicken spinach and Gorgonzola mushroom caps ...

5. What’s your favorite snack food lately? chocolate cherry granola. I have a little sake cup/shot glass that I'll fill in the evening and eat it with a small glass of milk and it's helping my sweet tooth. Although I think I might have an addiction, because I have 1/4 box left and I'm worried greatly about running out.

6. What’s your favorite weekend breakfast to make at home? Fried egg on cheese toast. Or an egg scramble with whatever is in my fridge. Poached eggs on toast ... Sensing a theme here? Oh, and biscuits and sausage gravy, but I really only make that once a year on Christmas.

7. What’s your favorite thing to grill? How do you do it? The most common thing I grill is chicken - marinated in Italian dressing for an hour or so, and then cooked until still juicy but good black grill marks on the outside. My favorite thing to eat grilled (but I hate preparing) is shrimp skewers wrapped in bacon with brown sugar. God, I'm hungry already.

8. What’s your favorite wine for under $10? If you’re not a wine person, what brand of beer is your favorite? Rex Goliath cab is pretty dern good for the price point (about $5.99). Also Target cab/shiraz is fabulous, and if you like white, their pinot grigio is great too (I'm not a white fan). The Kitchen Sink red table wine is pretty yummy, and so is Cupcake. Okay, so it's a little early to want a glass of wine, too.

9. Give us your most delicious cocktail recipe. Sherbert punch with cheap champaigne, down and repeat.

10. How do you like your eggs? EGGS! I love eggs. See Number 6 ... I love to make scrambles (I was home Monday morning so the scramble was eggs, poblano peppers, shallots, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, cilantro and pepper jack cheese), and lately I adore one or two eggs fried in Pam and laid over a piece of toast with a smattering of cheese (note: Spencer requested this for lunch on Sunday and ate the whole thing - yay for healthy fried eggs!) Poached on toast with light butter and salt is yummy, good omelets (heartland omelet = terrible for you and so delicious!) or just next to bacon is happy times for me too.

Go visit Chelsea for more Ten on Tuesday goodness!

Me? Quick update?

It is probably inadvisable to take your newly-out-of-surgery mother up on her offer to watch the kids while they’re “sleeping” (ha) to go out to lunch, but we did and it was heaven. Bahama Breeze, booth overlooking the water, sunshine and low humidity … I think I love you. That was Sunday.

I took a 4-day weekend this past Friday through Monday, as I was off for President’s Day on Monday and my mom’s surgery was Friday. It was much needed and actually quite relaxing. Mom’s surgery went well, and I spent most of Friday in the hospital with her: reading when she was sleeping, bringing her coffee and just hanging out.

Saturday I ran my first 5k since the end of January due to all the sickness and stress and it was not a pretty sight but I was glad to have done it. My body can run it but my lungs can’t keep up. Mile times: 12.31, 13.41, 14.23. I ran again on Monday morning and did much better: 11.19, 13.03, 13.11. I know you don’t care about these things, but it’s important to me for posterity, or something. This Saturday is the Gasparilla 5k and I’m excited because when I made my resolution to run the Gasparilla 5k, I thought it would be the first time I would have run that far. And it’s not. And it won’t be the last time either, because not I have not only signed up for additional races in April, May, October and November but just today I signed up for on in March also! I’m still hoping that I’ll be ready to attempt 10k by November, but either way I’m running. I just don’t know how far yet.

I did a pill cleanse last week to try to jump start my weight loss again, since I’ve been teetering between 10 and 12lbs lost for nearly a month. It did help and I got down 17lbs, but now I need to re-evaluate my portion size. No seconds doesn’t really help if you pile up the first plate, right?

I finally put the bumpers in Henry’s crib last night since he’s mobile enough for me not to be worried about him suffocating himself in them. He slept all the way through the night last night, nearly 11 hours. I’m hoping it’s not a fluke but I suspect it is. I’m still in a constant argument with the Hubby on letting him cry a bit. This is his baby. He does not want his baby to cry. While I understand this, we let Spencer cry it out and he was sleeping through the night at 4 months. And that was my baby. And S sleeps through Henry’s crying even though they’re in the same room, so it’s not like he’s being disturbed either. Ugh. I don’t know, it’s a constant struggle. And I want some sleep instead of arguing in the middle of the night.

It was a productive weekend and also a relaxing one: I finally got the Christmas stuff to the attic, some of Spencer's old toys down from the attic for Henry, the house cleaned, the laundry done, the garage cleaned, the toilets cleaned ... and also made time to turn the sprinklers on for the kids, hit President's Day sales, take my mom to a traditional birthday lunch at the beach (seriously, you haven't lived if you haven't had Frenchy's she crab soup) and had the aforementioned mini-date with my Hubby (which also may have involved more President's Day shopping, wine shopping and a stop at Whole Foods. When we live, we live dangerously).

So the moral is, all’s well on this front! Here's a picture of Henry enjoying the sprinklers, and I swear that's enjoyment on his face (click photo for full effect):

Happy Valentine’s day from the land of 67 degrees!

It’s beautiful here. A little chilly for my taste still; I would prefer a solid 70 degrees. Still, it would have been criminal to stay inside all weekend so we spent a good deal of time on Saturday and Sunday outside playing or laying around on a blanket in the front yard (I really wonder what my neighbors think of me, but at least I’m not sitting in folding chairs in my garage) … This of course means that still very little cleaning got done, but since I wasn’t inside to see it I didn’t really mind.

We had a collection of restaurant.com gift certificates, so we ate out for THREE meals this weekend. Saturday morning we headed out to The Brunchery where I had my favorite (fattening) breakfast: A Bayshore Benedict. Croissant, scrambled eggs, bacon, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. I at least skipped the home fries and had sliced tomatoes on the side. We went to the playground for a bit and laid out on the blanket and I read and took photos of the kids before heading to dinner with family to celebrate Spencer’s birthday. Isn’t that great? He couldn’t care less about where we ate (he really doesn’t eat dinner anyhow) so I got to pick and I chose one of my favorite restaurants – Stonechase. They have this salad that has gorgonzola cheese, apples, grapes, candied walnuts, fire-grilled chicken … oh, I dream of that salad. This was where I chose to eat dinner the day I came home from the hospital with Henry. I heart Stonechase.

Sunday was rather uneventful during the day. Henry has been teething and he’s a cranking SOB, especially at night so nobody has been getting a lot of sleep (especially not my husband, bless him). I let him sleep and took both the kids grocery shopping. Did you know it only costs $1.25 to get a kid’s hot chocolate at Starbucks? And they can make it not-so-hot? I always have arguments with Spencer over sitting in the cart, but since it was just me and two of them there was no way I could let him walk so I promised him a hot chocolate and a muffin while we shopped and he was in toddler heaven. He made a mess, but I needed to wash his jacket anyhow so I zipped it up tight and let him go to town. My dad and his girlfriend came over in the late morning and brought Spencer his birthday present – several train sets from Ikea. I now have tracks all over my living room. At least he’s having fun.

My mom came over in the evening to babysit and Hubby and I went on a rare date night. We really didn’t think of it as a Valentine’s Day thing, but just a date night. We had another restaurant.com certificate for a tapas restaurant called Vizcaya so we had a half pitcher of sangria and stuffed prawns and stuffed dates and deviled crab and chorizo with cheese sauce and wild rabbit in a mushroom sauce … sorry, I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. We also went to see The Fighter, which at least begins my NY resolution of seeing 6 movies in the theater. Very good, I would recommend (although I feel obligated to inform you that Christian Bale is not attractive as a crackhead, and also THANK GOD acid-washed jeans went out of style).

Today I’m back on the exercise/eating right wagon after the indulgent weekend – I ran/walked 1.5 miles in 20 minutes this morning on the treadmill (5.3mph 1.0 incline for total of 10 minutes, 4.0mph/3.5mph at 3.5 incline for 10 minutes) and then did some arm exercises on the weight machine. I’ve been toggling between 10 and 12 lbs lost for the last 3 weeks and can’t seem to get out of that rut, so it’s time for some drastic hunger pains. Think I can drink a gallon of water a day? I have my doubts.

Dance your cares away, worry's for another day ..

It was another rough night last night, and at 3am I took another hot shower and drove to Walgreen's to get some Chloraseptic for my throat while I set my mom up with Henry and a bottle. Today we're doing better though, all of us on all fronts. I'm finally no longer contagious (the RN said 24 hours after I started taking antibiotics) so I stripped the beds and towels and I'm running laundry (six loads including my comforter - where did all this laundry come from? I swear I just did it!). My mom and I got out for a little while for formula (and cookies) and I got this awesome little contraption:

I was going to look for a garlic press, because I spent most of my adult life using jarred minced garlic even though I KNOW fresh tastes better because I hate to mince it. But then I ran out and I had a head of garlic anyhow from making garlic chips so I've been on a fresh garlic kick. But I hate to mince it so I thought I would try a garlic press even though I knew they press a lot of the juice out and you still have to run a knife through it anyhow ... BUT THIS THING WORKS AWESOMELY! We came home and I made an egg scramble for lunch - onions, mushrooms, spinach, ham, cheddar, egg/eggwhite combo and I stuck a clove of garlic in there, rolled it back and forth and Voila! Minced! I'm so excited I'm wondering what else I can stick garlic in.

I'm making this pot roast tonight. I'm not a fan of beef roasts because I don't think they often have enough flavor and I really don't like gravy (juices yes, gravy no). I plan on also making these potatoes and brussel sprouts with bacon. Yum!

I felt so helpless yesterday, not being able to help my mom with much of anything. Today though, I realize that she doesn't need me to actually do anything for her but just to help if she needs it. She'll be going home tomorrow or Friday, and she'll need to do things for herself but she needs me to be there in case she can't figure it out for herself. I can do that. In the meantime I can feed her and do laundry.

What? You say there's still work sitting on my dining room table that needs to be done?

Sunday Scrambles

Over our Sunday breakfast scramble this morning, my husband asked: "So, are you documenting this?"

The answer was no. "Well, you should."

So here I am, documenting it. The names of the dishes are because my husband also insists on naming any meal I make that I don't follow a recipe for, in case in an alternate reality I were ever to open a restaurant I wouldn't need to decide names for anything. I just use whatever's in the fridge, so it's unlikely that I will ever duplicate these scrambles, but in the event that you want to, here's a list of the ingredients:

1/2: New Year's Scramble
Collard Greens, Black-eyed peas, garlic, onions, low-fat ham, 1/2 eggs, 1/2 egg whites

1/9: Clean Kitchen Scramble
yellow bell pepper, summer squash, onion, garlic, tomato, black-eyed peas, low-fat ham, half full eggs and half egg whites, topped with a little cheddar cheese. For the leftovers for my lunches through the week, I sauteed some spinach and mushrooms and added them in too.

1/16 Mexi-Cali Scramble
onions, green peppers, the last of the black-eyed peas, turkey, pico de gallo, green chilis, 1/2 eggs 1/2 egg whites, topped with the last of a jalapeno cheese ball that my neighbor brought over on New Year's Eve, fresh cilantro, sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream

These were lovely healthy (more veggies than eggs and just a touch of cheese) breakfasts, and 7 eggs (3 full, 4 whites-only) plus the add-ins made 5 generous meals (feeding me and my husband on Sunday, and then 3 breakfasts for me through the week). I hope to make Sunday Scrambles a weekly tradition, and maybe in the future I'll start remembering to take pictures!

Menu Mondays - can someone please tell my stomach to stop growling?

My downfall is twofold: a) seconds, and b) snacking on leftovers while I clean up from dinner.

Obviously this means that I need to STOP cleaning up after dinner. One plate, do not enter the kitchen again.

Ha.

Anyhow, after Monday I googled "how to make brown rice not taste like death" and I'll be darned - someone thought of that. Friday night's brown rice was way better. Way better. Like, I might get through this switch to brown rice, it tasted that much better. The key, like the Yahoo! answers page says, is to soak it. Did you ever think about the fact that brown rice is a whole grain? Yeah, me either. I know it's better for me, and it's kind of chewy, but I never really thought of the grain-iness. So I threw a cup of rice in some water and let it soak through the day, and then when I was ready to cook I drained and rinsed it and cooked it normal with 2 1/2 cups of water and the rice cooked faster and fluffier, and had more of a texture like sushi rice, except not so sticky. More mushy. But NOT chewy! Score! I added about a Tbs of fresh grated parmesan cheese to it but I didn't really taste it so next time I won't bother wasting the calories.

Last week's menu:

Monday: flounder, brown rice and roasted squash (very uninspiring meal -- I thought it would all be better)
Tuesday: whole wheat linguine with spicy red sauce and ground turkey (I ate mine over salad)
Wednesday: Roast pork, corn and spinach (ate over salad)
Thursday: This healthy broccoli cheese soup. My changes: 1/2 water and 1/2 fat-free chicken broth and skim milk instead of 1%.
Friday: shrimp, brown rice and roasted zucchini and squash (way better than Monday on all fronts)
Saturday: A 6" subway club, sans cheese. Not satisfying, but adequate.
Sunday: homemade pizza with mushrooms and spinach

And I actually have a two-week plan this time, because there were a lot of sales and if I don't document what I'm going to use things in, I'm afraid they'll get lost in my freezer:

Monday: salmon and asparagus and whole wheat pasta with low-fat alfredo sauce
Tuesday: grilled chicken salad
Wednesday: pork enchiladas and beans
Thursday: low-fat version of Sarah's poppyseed chicken with brown rice
Friday: lentil soup
Saturday: shrimp stir fry

Monday: green chili chicken with asparagus (this was an Apron's recipe in this week's Publix ad)
Tuesday: pulled pork sandwiches with homemade baked sweet potato chips
Wednesday: chicken sausages and side salad
Thursday: stuffed peppers (with ground turkey and brown rice)
Friday: filet steaks and spinach
Saturday: mustard and pecan coated pork chops and brussel sprouts

And my ugly-toes picture:

And on the third day I fell off the wagon ...

I think about how hungry I am all the time, and it’s not because I’m depriving myself of food, but the moment my body hears “diet”, it thinks “HUNGER!!” and kicks into survival mode. I’m still waiting for the screenshot of the weight loss pool so I can print it out and put it on the fridge at work, the fridge at home, the pantry, and anywhere else I might be looking for something to gorge myself on.

Monday and Tuesday – I was relatively good, both in exercise and in eating. I ate what I had already supplied myself for meals. Wednesday I got up and did my run and was appropriate at work and even skipped having a lunch out on my way back to the office after a meeting … but I think my downfall started when I accidentally took the elevator down to leave work instead of taking the stairs. Then I got home and I was so hungry but I held out for dinner – pork roast, spinach and corn, all of which I piled on top of a big bowl of lettuce to keep my portions in check (it was pretty tasty). Then … I ate some candy. Not a little; I have this little canister that I kept an assortment of m&ms, Reese’s Pieces and Skittles as reward candy for when the potty was used. However, now that he’s 95% trained we don’t use it much and it was still pretty full.

I. Ate. It. All.

And let me tell you, lemon skittles really don’t taste that great when shoveled down one’s throat with chocolate and peanut butter, no matter how good all things taste individually. But I live by one philosophy: If I eat it all, it’s no longer there to tempt me. Thus why there are no candies in my house anymore.

Ugh.

Today is a new day, and I’m trying to be a good girl (and even exercised moderation with the breakfast pizza at work today). I couldn’t go running this morning due to a monsoon, but I did my Wii Fit workout until I was exhausted and Spencer generally let me kickbox in peace (and now there is video of him attempting the merengue). At least there’s 11 more weeks to the BiggestBloggingLoser, right? Here’s to a new wardrobe!

Another Monday morning.

What's the song, "just another manic Monday, wish were a Sunday, that's my fun day ..." This morning has actually gone rather quickly despite getting off to a rough start. I was dreaming that I was some sort of MacGyver-type at an old folks' home. Don't ask - I have no idea. But it was an action-packed fun dream, and I woke up exhausted and running late. Then I went to put my cereal in my to-go container and Christen had gotten grease all over it last night after I cleaned it and left it for morning. I'm sure he didn't even notice it, but I was very irritated when I had to clean it again to use it. I somehow got to work only 4 minutes late, well within my 7-minute window, but a little frazzled and irritable.

This weekend was great. I didn't have high hopes because I was sick on Thursday and Friday, but I went to bed early on Friday night because Christen went out with the boys anyhow, and got ridiculous amounts of sleep, waking up refreshed and headache-free Saturday morning. My friend Acie is getting married, so I joined her and her mom and another friend to give opinions on wedding dresses (really, everything she tried on looked beautiful) and then went to Moe's for lunch -- mmm, shell-less Close Talker. Makes me happy. I ran around frantically to get a baby shower gift, and then stopped at home for my cheese platter before going to Theresa's shower. She-who-is-ready-to-pop looked rather well, and we all huddled around playing baby-poo games and giving lots of gifts and kid's books to the mommy. I am very impressed by Theresa's size. Although definitely huge and rightly so, she doesn't look that much bigger to me at 9 months than she did at around 5 months. All the weight has just moved to the tummy region. I had planned on leaving by 6, but had such a good time that I stayed until afte 7 with Tree and another girl (whose name I don't know that I ever got). I met Christen back at home where he had been playing the Wii since getting up and had been nursing a hangover for most of the day, and we went to dinner at Hops (the only one left in the area) where I had some tasty shrimp and he got a burger. We never go there, and wouldn't have except that I had a $10 gift certificate which made the decision for us. The food was decent, the service was funny (she was new and didn't know much, and dropped someone else's plates but she had a good humor about the whole thing).

Sunday I woke up with a headache that I had started getting about halfway through Saturday, so I didn't feel like doing much of anything. I made biscuits but I cut them too thin and ended up with tasty hockey pucks which we buttered and ate anyhow for breakfast, and we spend a good portion of the day playing Wii and beat Paper Mario. Which is good; it needed to go back to Blockbuster. Around 4 we couldn't be stuck in the house anymore, so we hit Walmart for trashbags and Sudafed and then went to Winghouse for an early dinner -- so tasty! Yum! I was at the point by then that nothing sounded good, and that was the only thing that didn't sound terrible, so that was what we went with. My Sudafed kicked in during dinner so my headache finally went away and we saw Transformers. It was a good action flick -- I didn't know what to expect because I didn't want it to ruin my love for Transformers, and I didn't want to go to a mindless action movie. But it was pretty good -- I was entertained, and that's important.

But now it's back to the Monday grindstone!

Monday morning meme (although Monday was a holiday)

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. include the city/state and country you’re in.

nicole (sydney, australia)
velverse (kuala lumpur, malaysia)
lb (san giovanni in marignano, italy)
selba (jakarta, indonesia)
olivia (london, england)
ml (utah, usa)
lotus (toronto, canada)
tanabata (saitama, japan)
andi (dallas [ish], texas, united states)
todd (louisville, kentucky, united states)
miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
jiggs casey (berkeley, ca, usa! usa! usa!)
tits mcgee (new england, usa)
joe (ne tennessee, usa)
10k monkeys (chattanooga, tennessee, usa)
big stupid tommy (athens, tennessee, usa)
newscoma (weakley county, tennessee, usa)
russ mcbee (knoxville, tennessee, usa)
atomictumor mrs eaves (oak ridge, tennessee, usa)
oh really? lissakay (oak ridge, tn, usa)
mark steel blogitude.com (knoxville, tn, usa)
swanky the swank pad (knoxville, tn, usa)
johnny dollar’s vault (baltimore, maryland, us of a)
NPR Junky (Wilmington, Delaware, USA)
aprilbapryll (Palm Harbor, Florida, USA)


2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location. (I have actually picked places from all over the Bay area, because we don't often eat in our town.)

1. Vallarta's- when I got this survey, the first thing I thought of was Vallarta's! They have the best Mexican ever, and nobody there speaks English. It's awesome. The sangria rocks too - very strong! They have 3 locations in Tampa (family owned chain in Tampa only) and all of them are amazing. Everytime we want Mexican we fret because the closest one is 30 minutes away. But most of the time we make the drive anyhow. If not willing to make the drive, Los Mariachis is in Clearwater (2 locations) and it's damn good too.



2. Ginzu - I really don't eat off the chains in my area too much (we always make a point of it when out of town, but not so much here; I'm not really sure why not). But sushi is one of those things I can't get enough of, so I'm constantly trying new places. There are great places near me (there's a great one at the corner of Enterprise Blvd and McMullen Booth) but since I can't remember the names of those, I'll recommend Ginzu. This is out by my husband's cousin's house, so she and I go everytime I get out there. It's really just outside Tampa in Lutz, and the rolls are fabulous! They are fairly inexpensive, the food is wonderful and the people there are so nice! Last time I was there I accidently spilled my entire glass of wine down the front of me and they got me a new glass and helped me clean up, and then they harrassed me about it all night! It was hilarious :)



3. Lin Garden is hands-down the best chinese food in the Bay area. Conveniently located next to the original Vallarta's, when we lived down the street it was a hard decision which of the two we wanted to go to. The food is wonderful - amazing. We don't have anything that stands up to it near us. Try the crab rangoon - the best I've ever had (and I judge chinese restaurants by their crab rangoon).



4. India Grill - I've eaten a lot of Indian food since I first tried it, but the first place I tried it (with Random_Speak and Co.) will remain near and dear to my heart. Try the Lamb Saag or the Butter Chicken, and don't forget the herb naan! Fantabulous!


5. Mr. Souvlaki - If you only eat at one Greek restaurant this year, make it Mr. Souvlaki. I can't make a list like this living where I do (5 minutes from Tarpon) without including Greek food. There are a lot of awesome Greek restaurants, but this one is the best of the best. The gyros are great, Christen's favorite entree is the Greek Chow Mein -- so huge it feeds him for 3 days! The greek salads are awesome, but the best thing on the menu is, of course, the Souvlaki. If you eat pork, order it pork. You won't be let down. Also order it with extra Tzatziki sauce - I could suck that down by itself! They've lost a bit of the ambiance since they moved from the docks to the main road, but you can still get a good Opa! when you order the Saganaki (flaming goat cheese), a must for visitors.

3. Tag 5 others. You people, you’re eclectic. Go and be eclectic for me!

I don't like tagging people, but if you're in the mood for a meme, this is great fun!