Reading Challenges for 2013

 Ever since I can remember I have loved to read.  My grandmother used to read to me all the time which is probably why I have this love of reading.  When I read its like a movie plays in my head especially when its a good book that I can really get into.  The first time I remember it happening I was reading Curious George and the pictures were in my head and became a movie.   I participated in a challenge last year through Goodreads and am again this year through them.  After reading several blogs and the challenges that their bloggers are participating in I decided that I would follow suit.  Take a look at the challenges below and if so inclined participate in one or more.



The Reading Challenge Addict challenge is for those of us who participate in one or more reading challenges.

2013 Goodreads Reading Challenge  is a challenge where you set your own goal.  You update what you are reading on the Goodreads website and your progress is tracked.


The 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge fits right in with my goal to read more than I did last year.  If you have this same goal the jump in and join us.  Last year I read 26 books and I'm looking to outdo last years number.

Do you have a reading goal?  If so join in on a challenge or two.

Are You Prepared?

Tonight has been one hell of a night.  I tried to get home from work and my street was blocked with firetrucks, firemen, and tons of people.  Our neighbor's house caught fire and the back of the house burned.  Fortunately no one was hurt and only things were lost. 

Helping them retrieve items from their home once the fire was out was very heart wrenching.  Through all of this however, looking over across the street where their three children were playing and laughing was enough to bring a smile to your face through all this craziness.  They are young enough that they don't understand the devastation behind the front door so they were enjoying being outside after dark playing with the other neighborhood kids.  That fire could have turned very tragic in only a matter of seconds and watching all those kids playing and laughing made me stop and thank God for keeping everyone safe tonight.  After going home I hugged my kids a little bit tighter because you never know when something could happen. 

The only good thing that came out of this tragedy tonight was our renewed awareness of home safety.  My kids and I talked about what we should have in our home for safety and what some other things to think about might be.  After discussions and a lot of surfing the web, here is a list of things we came up with for our family.

• Check the batteries in every smoke detector often (sources we found said every 6 moths)
• Place smoke detectors near bedrooms
• Test smoke detectors each month to make sure they are working properly
• Keep hallways and exits empty for easy evacuation.
• Have an ABC type fire extinguishers on each level of your home and know how and when to use them.
• Have an escape plan and a meeting place
• Practice your escape plan
• Be sure your home number is visible from the street so emergency vehicles can find you.

Infographic from LibertyMutual.com

Whether your child is 2 or 20 you need to continue to reinforce home safety to them.  Lead by example and your children will follow. 

Do you have an escape plan and a family meeting place? 

1 Down, 7 To Go

It's the end of the first week of my 8 week Paleo Challenge and all in all I've done well.  So far my husband and kids haven't had an issue with any of the menus.  They haven't really noticed the missing grains or dairy.  Sugar hasn't been an issue since we did away with it last year using honey or maple syrup for sweetener.

Before I ever ate Paleo I researched it quite a bit and thought it was going to be way to much work.  However I have found with a little planning it really isn't hard to do.  Tonight was a perfect example of how easy it can be.  I forgot to put dinner in the crock pot before we left to run some errands to day and got back and had no clue what to cook.  I went through some recipes and dinner was on the table in about an hour.

 Baked Honey Mustard Chicken
Serves 6

Ingredients:
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Prepared mustard
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon parsley
Coconut oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Lightly oil baking dish with coconut oil and add chicken. 

In a small bowl combine honey, mustard, basil, paprika, and parsley and mix well.  Pour 1/2 the mixture over the chicken and brush to cover.  Bake for 30 minutes then turn chicken and pour the rest of the honey mustard mixture over the chicken and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I may have forgotten to put dinner in the crock pot but we were able to still have dinner at a reasonable time and eat healthy.  And at the end of the day I have a new go to dinner when things don't go as planned.

Do you have a go to dinner when things don't go the way you planned?

 

Paleo Challenge Time!

Well it's almost 2:30 am here and I'm still awake planning my meals for the week!  WTH?!?!  I have to work tomorrow and I'm still sitting here laptop teetering on the arm of the couch.  I'm trying to figure out who is going to be here and who isn't and their likes and dislikes...ummmm wait a minute I AM THE MOM!  Why am I trying to appease the people who live in my house?  Ok so this week everyone will be happy with my meals that I have planned, if not they can go raid the fridge.

I have actually been looking forward to this challenge since it was posted on the board at our box.  The last one was good and I did have some good results from it.  Now granted I was very lax on keeping track of everything like I should and you only had so many days to post it only, so yeah it shows as if I really sucked at the challenge.  Oh well it was my first and it was a learning experience.

I visited a lot of my favorite sites tonight to get recipes and will be posting recipes along with how the meals went over with the rugrats and the hubby.  Tonight's meal went over very well getting an "OMG this is good from the hubby".  I served it over rice because hey I needed to have a last hurrah, ok ok the cheesecake was the last hurrah but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do ya know.

Drunk Sweet Sausage

Ingredients:

• 2 cups red wine
• 1 (28-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoon sage
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion
• 15 sweet Italian sausages

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.  Put everything into your food processor except the sausage and process until you have a sauce like consistency.  Place the sausages into a baking dish and pour the sauce over and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes.

What I lo-lo-loved about this recipe is that I didn't have to chop anything so not a lot of prep time.  This will be a quick go to meal for me in the future.  This was really yummy and got a thumbs up from everyone tonight.

Have you started any type of a challenge in the new year or made a New Year's resolution?

Mother Daughter Day

Yesterday my friend had a mommy daughter day (you can read about it here Daily Venting & Exclamations) and her pictures made me think about my daughter.  Since she moved out on her own last December we haven't had very much time together without her dad or her brothers.  As I sit here thinking about it I think the last time was when Twilight New Moon came out.   So I've decided its past time to have another.  What should we do?  There aren't a whole lot of new movies out that we want to see.  So what can we do? 

No matter what age your daughter is you can find things to do that both of you will have fun.  Ask her what she would like to do and brainstorm together.  Have fun with the process of planning your day together.  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1.  Mani/Pedi at the local nail salon
2.  Breakfast or Lunch
3.  Dinner
4.  Go to the movies
5.  Rent some movies and get some snacks and have a movie night at home in your PJs
6.  Bake some cookies
7.  Cook a gourmet meal together
8.  Do some crafts
9.  Go shopping
10. Visit a museum
11. Play a game
12 Take a walk or if its raining...dance in the rain

 My daughter is 22 so just getting to spend time with her is hard to schedule.  We may not be able to spend a full day together but whatever time we have available I want to make the most of.  A way to do that is take her to lunch and making sure its not a loud restaurant so we can talk without having to talk over other people, music, etc.  At the end of the day the point is to spend quality time with your daughter and simply have fun.

What kind of things would or do you do for a mother daughter day?

 

Comfort Food

My post from yesterday (Bringing Back the 70's) and getting ready for another Paleo challenge has me thinking about comfort food.  Good thing the challenge is starting after the holidays because all but one of my comfort foods is a no no when eating a Paleo Diet.  Mac and cheese, potato soup, oatmeal, and mashed potatoes are going to be off limits for the next 8 weeks. 

So what am I eating tonight...Potato soup!  I learned this recipe from my mom who learned from her mom.  It's very simple and takes so little time to whip up.   I have been known to call my mom when I'm sick and ask her to come over and make me some.  Any time I was sick as a kid my mom or Mimi (my grandma) would make me some and it may not have taken away my fever or cured me but it filled my belly and made me feel all warm and fuzzy.   It may not be much to look at but it tastes so good and reminds me of my childhood. 

Simple Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes
Milk - just enough to almost cover the potatoes
1 to 2 Tbs Butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Cut potatoes into 1/2" pieces.  Put in a pot of water and boil until soft.  Drain the potatoes then put back into the pan and add butter, milk, and salt and pepper.  Heat on low to medium heat, just until the milk warms and the butter melts.  Makes 2-3 servings.

What food makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

Bringing Back the 70's

Recently saw the question 'If you could bring back something what would it be?' and it got me thinking.  What would I bring back?  Now don't laugh but I would bring back the 70's.  The music, the carefree days of my childhood and yes even the fashion.

I was a child in the 70's but remember it to be a fun carefree time.  My days were spent running around the neighborhood with the boys.  Yes I said the boys, you see there were no girls my age only boys, DR, Randy W., Randy G., Gary, Scott, and Lenny.  There were more but these were the core crew.  I have known most of them since I was three and we ran the roads of Carriage Hills together.  We played football, baseball, and went on adventures from sun up til sun down.  We would stay outside and play all day only stopping to grab sandwiches at someones house.  I wonder if our mom's got together with a schedule of who was providing lunch on what day...I'll have to ask. Once we ate lunch we were back out to play picking up right where we left off.  Then the dreaded street lights would start buzzing letting us all know it was time to get home because it was going to be dark soon.  The next day would be more of the same and again we picked up right where we left off.

Now the kids sit in the house playing video games or on the computer.  When they do venture out with the neighborhood kids they will play for a few hours then there always seems to be an argument of some sort and they all go back in and back to the video games.  If we had an argument we had to figure it out or fight it out because no one was willing to go home and go in, we would have been bored in the house.  Maybe this is why kids  today get into some of the messes that they do, they haven't been forced to learn to compromise or work things out with others and they have stuff to do inside.

It's been fun reminising but at the end of the day I think I will come back to 2012 where my children and husband are.  Maybe I'll go outside with my son and gather up the neighborhood kids and show them how to play red light green light or mother may I.

What would you bring back if you could?

The Fast Children At Play Indoors pic is from Conrad Abraham

Catching Up and Eating Homemade Mac & Cheese

It's been a while since I posted last, life has just gotten in the way.   I had to take time away from everything I had been doing to care for my mother after she was released from the hospital.  That was an experience.  It's hard to go back home when you have lived away for a while but quite different to have a parent come and live with you.  The first bit of time was as if having a guest but then a week turned into a few and it was different. 

Now that my mom is better and back in her own home things have gotten back to normal around here.  Well that is if you consider chaos normal, which I do.  Two teenage boys still at home tends to be quite chaotic but a little less than when all three were still here.  I love my kiddos but I'm looking forward to the empty nest.   Now that's not too say that if I could move them all into houses next door to me I would so jump on that opportunity!

Even with all the out of ordinary chaos happening around here I continued on my journey for better health.  Cooking healthy even through the holidays was better than expected.  Things made from scratch taste oh so much better.   For instance if you haven't tried homemade Mac & Cheese you don't know what you're missing.  I don't think I will ever make the stuff from the little blue box again.

 Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac and Cheese
  Adapted from: Alton Brown - Food Network

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni (great with gluten free pasta too)
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 oz. evaporated milk (fat free is fine and I used a 5 oz. can)
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more for boiling
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground dry mustard
• 10 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil.   Add a sprinkling of salt, then boil your noodles according to package directions.  Once al dente, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.  Add the butter and stir until butter has melted.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, cayenne, 1 tsp. salt, pepper and mustard.  Once the noodles are cooked, drained and the butter has melted, stir the milk mixture into the noodles until incorporated.  Add in the cheese and stir over low heat until cheese has melted, approximately 3 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings as a side dish (I doubled this recipe because my kids la.la.love mac & cheese)
This recipe takes about 30-35 minutes to make.  It may take a bit longer than the little blue box but the taste is so worth it.

What do you like to eat that is from scratch instead of a box?

 

Big Girl Panties

Last Wednesday marked the final Cornerstone CrossFit class for me.  I had mixed feelings about it, I feel I'm ready for a real WOD but then again I'm worried that I won't be able to do it.  I know how I am and sometimes my brain forgets that I'm not that 16 year old gymnast anymore and convinces me that I can do it.  My 40 something body gives it a go and then quickly reminds my brain that its 40 something and has been a couch potato for too many years and to STFU.  The arguments that go on in my head are rather comical and actually have made me laugh out loud at times to which I receive very strange looks.

Anyway...today I psyched myself up, put on my big girl panties and nervously headed off to work out.  This was sooooo not like Cornerstone.  The warmup, yeah not so much a warm up more like a freakin workout all by itself.  I now understand the t-shirts I've seen that say "My warmup was your workout", and now I can laugh since I now GET IT.  Now for the workout...OMG!!!!!!  Seriously they were so easy on us in the Cornerstone class.  I think if I had done this a month ago, yeah they wouldn't have seen me ever again, definitely a method to their madness cuz now I'm hooked.  Fortunately for me they did go slowly and let us get a taste of it and yeah now I'm hooked.  In only a month of this very modified workout I have lost several inches.  Let me say that again with feeling I HAVE LOST SEVERAL INCHES!!!!!! I can only imagine what these regular "Big Girl" (a term used by my Cornerstone workout buddy) workouts are gonna do to me...bring it on!

I have to shout out to my sister in law, Heather, thanks so much for pointing me in the direction of Cross Fit, cuz at the end of the day I may be tired, sore, and sweaty, but I'm feeling better than I have in a long time.  Also I wanna give a shout out to Mike and all the staff at CrossFit of Aces, y'all rock and you keep me pushing when I wanna quit.

Do you have a workout routine that keeps you moving and grooving? 

Broken Butt?!?!?!

Still loving CrossFit and still doing well on the Lurong Paleo Challenge, however, tonight I literally broke my butt! Seriously I really did break my tailbone, and I'm sitting here dying laughing about it.  I know I know, its not funny, but really it is and I would pay good money to have a video of it.  Yup sick mind and all but it had to be a great fall.

So tonight I was doing one of the benchmark workouts for the Lurong Paleo Challenge and was doing great.  Rowed my first 500 meters, did my 12 dead lifts, then on to the 21 box jumps when disaster struck.  Ok not disaster thats a bit dramatic but hey it's my story.  Have you ever tried to jump on a 12 inch box?  Looks super easy but looks can be deceiving!  I stood there looking at the box and the box looking back at me it was a stare down.  I swung my arms as though I was going to jump, but it was only pretend, ok I give I chickened out, are you happy?  Anyway I backed away then walked back up and told myself I could do it, its only a box what harm could it do.  Of course at this point I ran all the could happens through my head, I could jump over the box, I could jump and not actually make it onto the box and look like an idiot.  I told my brain to shut up and just focus and do this, the clock it ticking.  Yes this is for time and I'm arguing in my head about jumping on a damn box.

I took a deep breath and jumped.  Did I mention closing my eyes?  No, well I closed my eyes, don't ask me why.  As my feet landed on the box I was excited and opened my eyes and at that point I felt myself going backwards and all I could think of was "Oh shit this is gonna hurt" and I'm sure that "OH SHIT" came flying out of my mouth at that point.  I threw my arms out in front of me, since that's what I was taught, didn't want a broken wrist, elbow, or arm, when I felt it, yup hit the floor tailbone first.  I looked up and saw one of the trainers there and I got up and asked him if there was a trick to doing those damn things.  So he did one for me, yup still looks easy, so I walk up to it and get ready to try again.  Did I mention my ass and back hurting like hell?  Just before I try again Allana tells me to modify and just do step ups, I sooooooooo love her at this moment in time.  So step ups it is.  Well I finished the work out all 4 rounds and 18:59 and that was with a fall, being shown how to do it, and hurting like hell.  I pushed through and did it.  Yes I'm very proud of me.  At the end of the day its not a good idea to wear tennis shoes with shocks since those shocks will propel your ass right off of a box.  Yes new shoes with flat soles ordered tonight!

Have you ever had a night like this where you tried something, had a failed moment but continued on?

Taking Another Step to Being Fit

It's been a while since my last post but life has really gotten in the way.  It's still very crazy around my house but wanted to post what's been going on.  We are still eating natural organic foods and I'm still losing weight.  I feel great and have so much energy.

Two weeks ago I started Cross Fit and I absolutely love it.  After doing that boot camp I wanted to get back into doing something and after seeing how amazing my sister in law looks I figured I'd give it a shot.  So I went to the main Cross Fit website and started researching it.  Liking what I saw I searched for a gym near me...there were 5!  I checked out a few and ended up finding one in my neighborhood, Cross Fit of Aces.

My gym has joined a 9 week Paleo Challenge and I decided since Paleo wasn't such a stretch from what we are currently doing at our house I would give it a shot.  I've been eating strictly Paleo for the last week and it hasn't been so hard.  Cutting out all grains I thought would be a challenge but it really hasn't.  If I really feel the need to eat bread I can make some with almond flour  or coconut flour.  Cutting out sugar hasn't been an issue since we had already replaced sugar with honey or agave syrup.  Oh by the way, don't try to make lemonade with honey...tried it then proceeded to dump it down the drain.  Yes it was disgusting.  Cutting out the dairy has been the hardest part for me.  I WANT A SUPER DUPER LARGE GLASS OF MILK!!!!  I have tried almond milk and its really good but it isn't the same.   8 more weeks and I will be able to have that glass of milk.  

Here's what we are having for dinner:

Beef Stew Paleo Style

• 1 Tbs Coconut Oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 lb grassfed beef stew meat
• 2 medium carrots. chopped
• 6 oz beef stock
• 4 cups crushed tomatoes
• 5 oz red wine
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 large sweet potatoes, cubed

1. Saute onions and garlic in the coconut oil until soft and translucent.
2. Add beef to brown.
   Add carrots, sweet potatoes, beef stock, tomatoes, red wine, oregano and basil.
3. Simmer on low heat for one hour.

This was really good, so good there were no left overs!  So far my husband and my children haven't complained about going Paleo in our house.

When you diet does your family share the experience and eat what you eat?

Hot, Tired, & Smells Like Onions

We are back from our vacation and I'm been trying to catch up on laundry, work, email, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, and did I mention laundry.  I think I have done more laundry since we have been back than I did last month!  We were only gone for a week what gives, did someone come into my house and wear all our clothes while we were gone?

Today after going through my fridge I decided I needed to cook up the hamburger that was in there.  I sauteed some onions and garlic in my dutch oven and crumbled up about 10 pounds of ground beef.    If you haven't tried browning ground beef in a dutch oven you should try, you can get so much more cooked up and in less time that a skillet.   I put a tiny bit of olive or coconut oil into the bottom of the pot, throw in some chopped onions, and some crushed garlic.  As they start to carmalize throw in your ground beef, add whatever seasonings you like and stir it up.  Let it cook for a bit then stir occasionally until its all browned.  Then drain and package.  I freeze it in one pound packages for later.


Once I got cooking I couldn't stop.  I had found a gluten free bread recipe at Gluten Free Cooking School.  I threw together the flour mix she suggested, luckily I had it all on hand.  I have been trying to bake with different flours, we are slowly getting to gluten free in our home.  This bread smelled amazing while baking and I'm just about to slice it.

So while the bread dough was rising I thought I'd try out my newest kitchen gadget, Wilton's mini pie press.  I made homemade ham and cheese hot pockets.  These turned out so yummy.  Hubby and both boys were my guinea pigs and they loved them.  "These are better than that frozen crap" was one of the comments I received.   They also have now decided that I need to make egg & sausage, pizza, meatball, chicken pot pie, veggie, and fruit ones.  So next weekend I am going to get the boys to help and we can make the ones they want and freeze them.  These will be great for lunches or quick snacks for the boys.

I also started a roast in the roaster with a red wine sauce.  I can smell it and its making me hungry and I just ate!  I made this same type of roast last night and it was a big hit, the flavor was amazing.  It was tender and juicy and you could cut it with a fork.

While getting the roast ready my hubby came in and had the nerve to ask "What's for dinner".  Dinner really?  I have been in the kitchen prepping and cooking and now he wants dinner.  LOL I totally forgot that I needed to feed everyone tonight!  I had no idea what I was going to feed them I have been in my own little kitchen world that I hadn't even thought about dinner.  Well precooked hamburger to the rescue...Mustgo it is!

You are probably wonder what Mustgo is, I know the first time I heard my hubby and my mother in law talking about it I did.  Well it's really a very simple dish as they put it.  My mother in law had to feed 5 kids and 2 adults and leftovers were shoved in the fridge and on Mustgo night, everything in the fridge Must Go in the pot, hence the name Mustgo.  Typically she threw ground beef, elbow macaroni and whaever veggies were in the fridge as leftovers, and tomatoe juice and brought it to a boil then served.  I do it a bit differently,



Mustgo

1 lb Ground Beef
1 can Corn
1 can Peas or Green beans (whichever I have on hand)
1 46 oz can Tomato juice
1 bag Elbow Macaroni (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
 Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown ground beef and drain.  Cook pasta and drain.  Put all ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil.  Serve.

You can modify this with whatever veggies you want and they can be fresh, frozen, or canned.

 Now that I'm done cooking for the evening the title makes much more sense don't you think?  It's the end of the day and I'm hot from being in the kitchen with the oven and several burners going, I'm tired since I've been in there all day, and yup I smell like onions!

 

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!  I sit here watching The Patriot in my hotel room with my family and silently thank those that did fight so many years ago for our freedom.   And I thank those that continue to fight to keep our freedom.

On the Road Again

Yesterday's post had us preparing for our trip from Texas to Wisconsin. Today we are in the car on the way. The plan was to leave at 5 am but as with most family trips, 5 am became 8 am.

The boys and I were up most of the night finishing up our packing, making a trip to WalMart, and cooking up food that didn't get eaten and freezing it. We only got about and hour of sleep before the hubster got up and was ready to hit the road.

Within twenty minutes of rolling out of the driveway my son was out cold. This was the way most of the day went. When they were awake they gt along great, not at all what I expected. I guess I'm used to the constant bickering but I guess they are maturing.

We made it through 12 hours of driving and only stopped 3 times for gas, food and bio breaks. The hotel bed is calling my name and I must answer.

Vacation Time

I haven't posted in a few days because I'm trying to get my family ready to leave for a lovely road trip from Texas to Wisconsin.  Does the movie National Lampoon's Vacation come to mind?  It does mine every time we decide to take a family trip and drive.  Granted its never as bad as the scenes from the movie but pretty darn close sometimes.

When you travel with small children you think "This will be so much easier when they are older".  I am here to tell you that is not true in the least.  Mine are 22, 18, and 14 and this is been the roughest trip to get ready for!  Making sure they have taken the time off work, they have school covered, they have enough clothes packed, and that they have even packed.  When they were younger we packed for them, we kept them occupied with Disney movies and a portable DVD player.  Now they do their own packing and Disney movies are not going to cut it this time.

You would think with this trip being planned for almost a year they would be ready, not the case.  We had to keep reminding our daughter to take off of work.  No clue if she has packed yet since she no longer lives at home.  My oldest son has been in some trouble so he's had to get permission to leave, I've been telling him for months to get it done but teenage boys just don't listen.  He waited until last week to let people know.  Then there is my 14 year old, the baby of the family and our "monster child", he wouldn't stop playing video games long enough to pack.  I forced the issue last night and he finally pulled some clothes together, a few t-shirts, two pair of underwear, a sock (not a pair just one sock), a pair of shorts and two pair of jeans.  Yes all this for a week long trip!  I know all the mothers reading this with teenage boys are dying laughing because you have been there done that.  Oh and one of the shirts he has is long sleeved.

Once all my laughing stopped I asked him, why the long sleeves and why 1 sock.  He looked at me with the most serious face and let me know that it could get cold you know so he might need a long sleeved shirt.  Now I'm laughing again, this child thinks that he may need long sleeves during 4th of July week.  Really?  I'm thinking right about now I must have dropped him on his head at some point when he was a baby.  He never explained the 1 sock just shrugged his shoulders and returned to his game.

At the end of the day even thought my children have made me crazy getting ready for this trip, we are sure to have a great time.   I can't wait to share with you how this trip plays out. 

Grandma Would Be Proud

Farmer's Market haul.

If you read my last post you know I have been doing a lot of cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients.  While at the Farmer's Market I picked up some fruit and veggies.  But today I focused on the small cucumbers I got in this haul to make pickles. 

I started gathering my canning equipment and getting very excited.  Seriously to this city girl it was one of the highlights of my week.  I used to watch my grandma prep her vegetables for canning when I was little.  Unfortunately I never learned from her because we movd out of state when I was 13 so spending weekends on the farm just wasn't in the cards anymore.

Boiling pickling juice.

After gathering all my stuff I gave the cucumbers a vinegar and water bath then started to cut some of them into chips and spears.  After packing them into my ball jars I got started making the pickling juice.  My house started to smell like one big pickle and my son stopped playing XBox long enough to come into the kitchen to see what smelled so good.  There aren't too many things that can drag him away from shooting zombies, but I guess pickles will do it.  He's my pickle eater, and given the choice of a bowl of pickles or a bowl of ice cream, he's grabbing the pickles.  Now back to the pickling.

Once the pickling juice was ready, into the jars of cucumbers it went.  As I put the lids on I started to think about my grandma and wondered if she ever had the same thoughts I was having.  I've made pickles before and every time I have the same thoughts, that it would be so much easier to just go to the store and buy them.  I mean the time it takes to sterilize the lids, the jars, cut up the cucumbers make the pickling juice, the water bath, I could have been to the store and back several times.  Well more than likely she didn't have those thoughts, after all she grew up on a farm during the depression, and helped my grandpa run their farm in her adult life, so I doubt that they got pickles from the store.

Ready for the water bath.

I brush those thoughts away and continue on with my pickle making.  Into the pot go the first 7 jars for their water bath.  I was able to make 9 pint jars and 5 quart jars of pickles.  Like the title says grandma would be proud, I'm kinda sorta following in her footsteps.

At the end of the day even though the thoughts of just bypassing all this work, not that it was a whole lot of work, and just going to the store and buy pickles, I kept at it and got a great batch of pickles.  Like the title says, my grandma would be proud because I'm kinda sorta following in her footsteps.

Pound Meltage

As promised here is what I've been doing to loose the extra weight I have gained over the last couple of years.  It really wasn't hard and I'm amazed at how my body has responded.  To date I have lost almost 30 pounds.

The first thing I did was to cut way back on my soda intake.  I was drinking anywhere from a 6 pack to a 12 pack of Mountain Dew a day.  Did I really think I could loose any weight drinking all that Dew?  It would have been one thing if it were Diet Dew but no, it was full on packed with sugar and calories.  I cut back to one a day.  I knew cutting it out wouldn't work for me because I would so get the lovely withdrawal headaches that come with cutting caffeine out of your diet.  The first week of cutting back to one a day I lost 7 pounds!  Was it all the water I was drinking?  Was it all that sugar I cut out?  I have no clue but I was going to keep going.


About a month later after watching "The Beautiful Truth", I went through my pantry and bagged up anything and everything that was boxed, ie preprocessed.  This movie did a number on me and I made a decision that night to only by fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables.  I decided to make everything from scratch that I could.  This wasn't a hard decision for me because I love to cook.  The problem was finding the time to make everything from scratch.  You see I work full time, have a house to run, 3 kids to deal with, and I write when I can, so where in the world was i going to find the time.

I had been pinning a lot of recipes and started really looking through them to find what I could make that wouldn't take me very long.  A lot of the items I pinned had one thing in common, a crock pot.  I dug in the cabinet and pulled mine out and started using it the next day.  My son helped me decide what to fix, Cheesy Chicken and Rice.  It was so good and took me virtually no time at all.  This was only the beginning...

That night I went through all the recipes I had pinned and made sure to get them loaded into ZipList.  If you have tried it, you are missing one of the best tools ever!  Anyway, I sat there and figured out what I was going to make for dinner for the rest of the week added them to my shopping list.  After work the next day I went to the store bought everything I needed for the week.  I was off to the races at that point.  That was 3 months ago and almost 30 pounds later.

At the end of the day, I feel much better, I have more energy and I'm not putting all that crap into my body anymore.

Caution...Tired Grumpy Mom!

Have you ever woken up and wanted to post a sign like this on your door or around your neck for all to see?  If you haven't then please let me in on your secret.  I really don't remember waking up like this before I had kids, but since my oldest is 22 that is a long time to think back on.  Well yesterday was one such day...

I woke up to my husband flipping the light on to get dressed and yep you guessed it, immediate irritation.  I'm still trying to figure out why he can't get dressed in the dark but I digress.  I looked at the clock and realized I could go back to sleep for about 30 minutes, so I pulled the covers over my head and did precisely that.  Two seconds later the alarm started blaring.  Yes that is an exaggeration but it really felt like 2 seconds.  So irritation and grumpiness? Oh yeah turned on full blast and I haven't even had to deal with my boys yet!

Jumping in the shower woke me up a bit more but the tiredness and the irritation and the grumpiness didn't subside.  Once I was ready for work I grab my keys, my purse and my morning vitamin mineral drink and was out the door.  I made it to the end of the street when I realized I didn't have my stuff for boot camp or the work I had brought home with me.  After a few choice words I turned around in one of the neighbor's driveway only to be even more irritated because I noticed how pretty their yard looked.  Why can't mine be so pretty?  Made it back to my house to retrieve the items I needed and back out to the car.  Irritation level?  Off the charts and I still haven't seen any of my children!

Once I got to work my day got no better, sometimes I feel like these people are more immature and more needy than my children.  I definitely need this sign for my office.  I tried to keep a low profile and only talk to the women in my group because who knows what could have happened otherwise.  I made it through the day with several eye rolls and biting my tongue only to get ready for boot camp.

Today was the start of week 3 of boot camp.  I'm amazed I have made it this far, I think if it weren't for Hanna and Veronica I would have stopped during the first week.  I was dreading this workout all the way to the gym.  We were doing PT testing to see who could move into the advanced class.  Seriously I can't make it through a normal class I will surely die if I try the advanced class.  It was a hard workout and the testing proved to me that its been working.  I did much better than the first week and my clothes have been fitting differently.  Dead dog tired now I make it to my car and head home actually not feeling so grumpy.  Maybe those that say exercise makes you feel better are right.  I'm tired but actually do feel better, but I haven't made it home to face my children, that will be the real test.

I was dreading walking in the door but did because I needed a shower after that workout.  I walked in expecting to hear "Mom whats for dinner?" but was only got "Hi mom".   Wow who are you and what did you do with my boys?  Of course the youngest was busy playing XBox and the older one was sitting on the couch texting and watching his brother play.  I quickly let them know they were on their own for dinner and that I was getting in the tub and once again I got a shock when they both simultaneously said "Ok".  Is that sign around my neck?  Have my boys finally gotten in tune with me?  I don't know the answer and I'm leaving well enough alone, since they actually let me go in and soak in the tub for and hour....yes an hour!

Maybe they were too busy, maybe they realized my mood, or maybe they just bugged their dad.    But at the end of the day this tired grumpy mom was able to relax in a nice hot bath and just let the annoyances of the day go down the drain with the water.

Huffing & Puffing....But Not Dead!

Today marked the end of week two of boot camp and the halfway point.  I begrudgingly walked in thinking to myself "I could just turn around go back outside and head to Taco Bell".  I didn't I kept moving forward and into the gym talked to Hanna for a bit...of course about work....then started my laps around the gym for the warm up.  That warm up was the easiest part of the whole workout and I would have loved to have just kept doing laps and I HATE to do those laps.

Andy, the one that is funny and has seemed to be easy going, ain't so easy going.  I think he took on Eric's personality tonight, he was a ruthless taskmaster.  I do have to admit that if he didn't push so hard I know me and I would definitely skimp on the leg up thingies.  Those leg up thingies are hell on your stomach, which is the whole point, but in the moment I want to strangle someone.

After some more of the ab work we went to do our stations.  Yup you guessed it outside we went.  I really don't think they realize we are in Texas where it is 90+ degrees out and HUMID!!!!  What are these people thinking.  The three stations we had were killers tonight too.  Thank God we didn't do this last week because I know I would have been dead by the end of the night and would have thought about never coming back.  Well after all the shoulder work with Andy, and the leg work with Judy, we got to get good and dirty with the damn tires again with Eric.  That man must love tire work.  The tire we had to flip was bigger than me...thanks Hanna...lol.

At the end of the day I may have jello legs and arms and may be sore tomorrow but as Eric said "it's better to be sore than sorry".  I had a great workout and actually right now I'm feeling pretty great and I'm so proud of us.  Ladies we have made it half way!

Boot Camp Week 2 - Not Dying Yet

We started week two of Judy's Boot Camp last night, yes we came back!  Can you say exhaustion?   I was tired, no I was beyond tired but I kept going.  I would say this was by far the best workout I have had in a very long time and I may have been tired but I felt great. 

I can definitely feel a difference in how my clothes are fitting and I feel so much better about how I look.  Before kids I was never self conscious about my body but three babies later its a whole different story.  I do what I can to try to hide my figure.  Since I've been loosing weight with my new eating habits (yeah I know I said I would post more on that later and I will) and now this boot camp I'm not focusing on how to hide my body since I'm feeling a lot more confident.

Now, having been so sore last week I assumed that after three days off I would be sore again after last nights workout, not to mention the intensity of that workout.  To my utter amazement I feel great today, no stiffness, no soreness, nothing.  Maybe my body is getting used to it, maybe my body is remembering where it used to be, maybe this is a trick and tomorrow I'm gonna be dying again.  No matter the outcome I'm not stopping, I have a goal to get healthy again and I WILL get there.

At the end of the day this is the only body I'm going to have...well I guess if I were rich I could buy another...so I need to get back to treating as such.