Friday, January 3, 2014
Mr.P the Smoooooth Operator
Here is a picture of what Mr.P and I juiced last night in preparation for today. When we were done, he asked if he could make a smoothie in our personal blender. He dumped a container of blueberry yogurt in, peeled a banana and put that in too. I suggested to him that he add a little milk to thin it and voila! I thought he wanted to drink it right away, but he wanted to put it in a jar and set it next to our juices for the morning. How cute is that?!
Battle of the Bulge
Can I just say that the screeching halt of a holiday food binge brought about by the new year diet is pure TORTURE. I decided to dip back in to juicing to help cleanse myself after the holiday eating. There was a time in my life that I was really into juicing. Jeremy and I had watched a great documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (highly recommended, btw) and pretty much got up from the couch when it was over and went to buy a juicer. I went on a cleanse of pure juice for a very short while, I honestly can't remember now if it was 1 week or 2...I'm thinking 2. Then, went back to normal healthy eating and having juice now and then. Those who know me well, know that I'm more often than not, trying to eat healthy or drag myself to the gym. It's a constant battle, as it is with most people, sometimes food wins and sometimes I win. I actually did pretty good with the eating part until just a week or two before Christmas. I then gave in to the breads, the dips, the cheeses, the desserts, the rich foods, etc. It's time to pay the price.
Mr.P and I spent a while last night making a couple of juices for Jeremy, one for breakfast and one for lunch. I used to juice spinach and kale right in with the rest of the fruits and veggies that I was drinking, but this time I decided to do it different. We juiced all of the kale, alone, and then all of the spinach. I poured them into their own little 2oz containers and Mr.P wrote either a K or an S on the lid. Vegetable juice isn't the most lovely tasting thing in the world and the spinach and kale just made it worse, for me. I'd rather take it as a shot, kind of like wheat grass.
This is no fun, but I have two goals on my mind. I don't want to look like a rolly polly going down aisle at my sisters wedding on 2/16 (that's 44 days from today!) and my 40th birthday is coming up in April. I don't want a full face and a muffin top when I'm 40. lol Mmmm...muffin.
I'm normally pretty gung ho when I start out but this time seems so much harder! Maybe I need to watch that documentary again to get my mind on board.
Today, I've drank:
6 carrots
1 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 Granny Smith apples
1 grapefruit
1/2 of a bunch of kale
and 1/3 of a bunch of spinach
I didn't wake up until 11, so I guess it's not that bad. I'm looking forward to having chicken for dinner! Good luck with your most difficult resolutions, dear reader. I hope they make you stronger.
Mr.P and I spent a while last night making a couple of juices for Jeremy, one for breakfast and one for lunch. I used to juice spinach and kale right in with the rest of the fruits and veggies that I was drinking, but this time I decided to do it different. We juiced all of the kale, alone, and then all of the spinach. I poured them into their own little 2oz containers and Mr.P wrote either a K or an S on the lid. Vegetable juice isn't the most lovely tasting thing in the world and the spinach and kale just made it worse, for me. I'd rather take it as a shot, kind of like wheat grass.
This is no fun, but I have two goals on my mind. I don't want to look like a rolly polly going down aisle at my sisters wedding on 2/16 (that's 44 days from today!) and my 40th birthday is coming up in April. I don't want a full face and a muffin top when I'm 40. lol Mmmm...muffin.
I'm normally pretty gung ho when I start out but this time seems so much harder! Maybe I need to watch that documentary again to get my mind on board.
Today, I've drank:
6 carrots
1 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 Granny Smith apples
1 grapefruit
1/2 of a bunch of kale
and 1/3 of a bunch of spinach
I didn't wake up until 11, so I guess it's not that bad. I'm looking forward to having chicken for dinner! Good luck with your most difficult resolutions, dear reader. I hope they make you stronger.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Ortho- Schmortho, They'll Never Notice
Wrong. We noticed.
Mr.P had an orthodontist appointment today. There are a few points that I want to cover about this appointment with the first one being that I was early. Not a huge deal, as I'm very rarely late to appointments at offices, but I thought it was newsworthy all the same. After all, it IS the first time I got to try out my On Time resolution, so, yay me. Now...let's move on to something more interesting.
This appointment was set for 11:00. We showed up and signed in at 10:55. Guess what time he was called back. 11:38!!! Whaaaat? They had sent an email the day before letting us know that things would most likely be running late at the office with the regular appointments and especially if there were any emergency bracket problems, but almost a 40 minute wait? That's crazy. I was telling Jeremy that if I had shown up that late for an appointment that they scheduled, I would be immediately REscheduled and a 20.00 no-show fee would be tacked on to my bill. Lucky for them, everyone still seemed to be floating on a holiday high, myself included, and no one seemed to be too bothered. I bet if we collected the phones and took a peek into all of our social media outlets, they would be plastered with grumbling posts on the lateness of the office and negative hashtags. lol #earlyforappointmentlateforwork #orthoslomo #waitinggame
So he finally makes it in and I sit in the waiting room, playing with my phone and wondering if the appointment will be a short or long one. It seems like 10 or so minutes go by and Mr.P pops in and tells me that 'she' needs me. The doc is a man, so I assume he's referring to one of the techs. I follow him and it takes him a second to find the lady that was working on him. We're kind of weaving in and out of the few hallways in the building and popping our heads in here and there. Finally, he sees her. You will never guess what the problem was. His wires were missing on both of his top and bottom teeth. What? Seriously? Let me look in there. Yes, no wires. Just brackets on each tooth with no wires connecting anything. To make matters worse, Mr.P tells me, in front of the tech, "I told you that they came out." At this point, my mouth kind of drops and I reply with an adamant, "No you didn't!" Don't you hate when kids do that to you? Little ones can be very honest, most of the time....well, when they aren't going to get in trouble for being dishonest by not just admitting that the wire came out and they didn't bother to tell anyone because, hey, who the heck is going to notice. Anyway, they can be quite honest, so at this point it was his word against mine, and of course, I'm babbling like an idiot about reasons why I didn't know, such as, why would we pay all of this money for you to have braces and not make a call to have a wire replaced? Otherwise, having brackets cemented on each tooth isn't doing a bit of good. Lucky for me, the little rat tried to take his dad down too, which gave me a little more leverage on my side of the story because listen to this. "I told Daddy and he just gave me a magnet to put on the floor and try to find it." Uh....yeeeeeaaaahhh. I actually do remember Jeremy giving him a magnet to find something on the floor once, but I doubt he knew it was a wire out of Mr.P's mouth. lol At this point, with all of the explaining and story tripping he was doing, he started to get tears in his eyes. The tech was very sweet to him and gently, but firmly, told him of the importance of letting us know when things aren't quite right with his braces. She got him all fixed up and he was feeling much better when we left. On the ride home, I asked enough questions to estimate that it was around Thanksgiving when the wire problems happened. Awesome. That's a lot of time lost. He doesn't realize that it's so much better to go through the annoying braces now than to deal with jacked up teeth later. I'm glad I went through it!
Mr.P had an orthodontist appointment today. There are a few points that I want to cover about this appointment with the first one being that I was early. Not a huge deal, as I'm very rarely late to appointments at offices, but I thought it was newsworthy all the same. After all, it IS the first time I got to try out my On Time resolution, so, yay me. Now...let's move on to something more interesting.
This appointment was set for 11:00. We showed up and signed in at 10:55. Guess what time he was called back. 11:38!!! Whaaaat? They had sent an email the day before letting us know that things would most likely be running late at the office with the regular appointments and especially if there were any emergency bracket problems, but almost a 40 minute wait? That's crazy. I was telling Jeremy that if I had shown up that late for an appointment that they scheduled, I would be immediately REscheduled and a 20.00 no-show fee would be tacked on to my bill. Lucky for them, everyone still seemed to be floating on a holiday high, myself included, and no one seemed to be too bothered. I bet if we collected the phones and took a peek into all of our social media outlets, they would be plastered with grumbling posts on the lateness of the office and negative hashtags. lol #earlyforappointmentlateforwork #orthoslomo #waitinggame
So he finally makes it in and I sit in the waiting room, playing with my phone and wondering if the appointment will be a short or long one. It seems like 10 or so minutes go by and Mr.P pops in and tells me that 'she' needs me. The doc is a man, so I assume he's referring to one of the techs. I follow him and it takes him a second to find the lady that was working on him. We're kind of weaving in and out of the few hallways in the building and popping our heads in here and there. Finally, he sees her. You will never guess what the problem was. His wires were missing on both of his top and bottom teeth. What? Seriously? Let me look in there. Yes, no wires. Just brackets on each tooth with no wires connecting anything. To make matters worse, Mr.P tells me, in front of the tech, "I told you that they came out." At this point, my mouth kind of drops and I reply with an adamant, "No you didn't!" Don't you hate when kids do that to you? Little ones can be very honest, most of the time....well, when they aren't going to get in trouble for being dishonest by not just admitting that the wire came out and they didn't bother to tell anyone because, hey, who the heck is going to notice. Anyway, they can be quite honest, so at this point it was his word against mine, and of course, I'm babbling like an idiot about reasons why I didn't know, such as, why would we pay all of this money for you to have braces and not make a call to have a wire replaced? Otherwise, having brackets cemented on each tooth isn't doing a bit of good. Lucky for me, the little rat tried to take his dad down too, which gave me a little more leverage on my side of the story because listen to this. "I told Daddy and he just gave me a magnet to put on the floor and try to find it." Uh....yeeeeeaaaahhh. I actually do remember Jeremy giving him a magnet to find something on the floor once, but I doubt he knew it was a wire out of Mr.P's mouth. lol At this point, with all of the explaining and story tripping he was doing, he started to get tears in his eyes. The tech was very sweet to him and gently, but firmly, told him of the importance of letting us know when things aren't quite right with his braces. She got him all fixed up and he was feeling much better when we left. On the ride home, I asked enough questions to estimate that it was around Thanksgiving when the wire problems happened. Awesome. That's a lot of time lost. He doesn't realize that it's so much better to go through the annoying braces now than to deal with jacked up teeth later. I'm glad I went through it!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Revival...again.
Ahhhh, the New Year Blog Revival. I can't tell you how often this has taunted me, but I'm telling you one year it will stick! When I hear of people who are just starting a blog, I always cheer them on but I also warn them that it is easier said than done. It takes much discipline to drop everything and write, even once a week. I envy those who are able to do it. Even writing a few excerpts can be rewarding, though. It's such a sense of accomplishment, especially when months, even years, pass and you are able to reread events and thoughts from long ago. I look back on those pictures of Mr.P and Sabrina drinking milk from coconut shells (one of my very early posts) and smile because I captured a moment in time that was our everyday life, not necessarily a big holiday that would normally be caught in pictures and social media posts. So here I am again, hoping to be more diligent than I have been in the past few years. This time, I've told myself that there is no need for a long, drawn out story...short and sweet will do just fine, so we'll see if that changes the game for me at all.
New Years was a good time, as usual. It wasn't a huge bash but just the right amount of people to make it laid back and fun. I spent midnight surrounded by my sweet, the kids (except for Social Sabrina, of course, who spent the night at a friends house) and very good friends. To be fair (because I know Vanessa will read this and complain), she and one of her friends came home early from a party that they were invited to because it turned out to be...lame. lol My parents popped in around 12:30, just for half an hour or so. They had went to a New Years party at their church that they joined. More on their move and settling in another blog on another day.
Jeremy and I are all partied out. Most of you realize how much work is involved with all of the preplanning and cleaning before a party. It's enough to wear you out before the actual party even happens! After the kids' class parties (yes, I'm room mommy for both Sabrina and Mr.P), hosting Thanksgiving, throwing my sister's bridal shower, our Christmas party, planning Christmas itself and our New Years party, we are exhausted with parties. We spent today, New Years, being lazy ALL DAY. I was surprised and relieved when Jeremy made breakfast and dinner, in his jammies, but hey, he did it and that was more energy than I had. lol It was actually really nice to do nothing for a whole day and have my husband do nothing as well. If you know him at all, you know that he normally can't spend the entire day doing nothing, and when I write 'can't', I mean it. He gets this itch that can't be relieved unless he does something like cleans the garage or works in the yard or some other labor that does nothing more for me than leave me feeling guilty until I get up and do something too. But today? Laziness won and I'm all smiles.
I've been thinking about resolutions for the past week or so. I make them more out of fun because so many times I just can't stick to them or I've set my goals too high. Here are some that I've come up with.
New Years was a good time, as usual. It wasn't a huge bash but just the right amount of people to make it laid back and fun. I spent midnight surrounded by my sweet, the kids (except for Social Sabrina, of course, who spent the night at a friends house) and very good friends. To be fair (because I know Vanessa will read this and complain), she and one of her friends came home early from a party that they were invited to because it turned out to be...lame. lol My parents popped in around 12:30, just for half an hour or so. They had went to a New Years party at their church that they joined. More on their move and settling in another blog on another day.
Jeremy and I are all partied out. Most of you realize how much work is involved with all of the preplanning and cleaning before a party. It's enough to wear you out before the actual party even happens! After the kids' class parties (yes, I'm room mommy for both Sabrina and Mr.P), hosting Thanksgiving, throwing my sister's bridal shower, our Christmas party, planning Christmas itself and our New Years party, we are exhausted with parties. We spent today, New Years, being lazy ALL DAY. I was surprised and relieved when Jeremy made breakfast and dinner, in his jammies, but hey, he did it and that was more energy than I had. lol It was actually really nice to do nothing for a whole day and have my husband do nothing as well. If you know him at all, you know that he normally can't spend the entire day doing nothing, and when I write 'can't', I mean it. He gets this itch that can't be relieved unless he does something like cleans the garage or works in the yard or some other labor that does nothing more for me than leave me feeling guilty until I get up and do something too. But today? Laziness won and I'm all smiles.
I've been thinking about resolutions for the past week or so. I make them more out of fun because so many times I just can't stick to them or I've set my goals too high. Here are some that I've come up with.
- TRY to learn a little bit of spanish. Spanish is hard!
- Make steps towards a life change. This has to do with me being ready for a change from the SAHM role that I've been blessed to lead. My kids are quite independent and self sufficient. Again, another blog for another day.
- Work on my spiritual growth...make it stronger. We all have peaks and valleys in our faith and I want to have an even stronger relationship with God than I do now. I'm going for a peakier peak :)
- Take more pictures! Boy did I get lazy with my SLR camera and I blame my cell phone. I'm going to try to be way better at using my SLR, learning about it, and maybe even taking a class on it. I've been told I have a knack a time or two. Maybe I do!
- Go greener! This one is driving Jeremy into the ground. lol I drive him crazy with my tree-hugging ways, BUT, unfortunately for him, I watched a documentary on plastic usage and its effect on our earth (I knew it wasn't looking good, but wow. You'd be shocked.), so back to things like bar soap we go! I have lots of changes in this area that we'll be implementing ;)
- Learn to make soap. You shouldn't be surprised after reading the above post. My friend, Jana, is going to help me make this happen. I'm excited!
- Learn to can. My sweet friend, Julie, is going to help me on this. She doesn't realize it yet.....unless she's reading this post.
- And yes, here it is, the ever-present body challenge. I'm not really that big into losing weight but I'm WAY into wanting a firmer self...beginning with tummy, booty and thighs, please. Did I just sing the song of every female who comes across this post?
- And one that I'm doing for my husband -- Being on time!! You have no idea how hard this one will be for me, but I'm going to really try. I know it probably drives Jeremy to constipation when I'm flying around at the last minute and we're late to our destination or even when I have something planned and I'm making adjustments at the last minute. I'm really going to try to work on this, for my husband.
So there you have it. That's quite a list! I'm sure I'll fall flat on my face with some but maybe I'll skyrocket with others and it will just become part of me. It never hurts to try!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Gluten Free Treat
Recently, one of my daughter's was diagnosed with having Morphia. It's a disease that can pop up here and there and it affects your skin. There's no cause behind it, but just to be on the safe and healthy side, and also because we just think it's a better way of eating, we decided to make her diet gluten free. This is just something we're trying to see if it will help. There's no documented evidence that it will, but I personally think that gluten is a root of many things that we don't realize yet.
I'm really not a fan of spending the extra money on gluten free boxed mixes, although I have been known to do that. It's all just so expensive! So just to add another card in your gluten free recipe rolodex, I came up with this.
Serving rice crispy treats in the nontraditional way is perfect for gluten free kids who would like to bring something comparable to cupcakes to a party without having to either, a) make gluten free cupcakes for all of the kids or b) bringing their own special cupcake while supplying the other kids with the regular kind.
All you need to do is make your favorite rice crispy treat recipe, put it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes so that they can be molded without melting down into a lump, butter those hands up, form balls that are big enough to fill the cupcake papers that you bought, and pop them in the papers. Voila! I think they're super cute and we get compliments on them every time we show up with them in hand. I mean, what nutso doesn't like rice crispy treats?! lol
I'm really not a fan of spending the extra money on gluten free boxed mixes, although I have been known to do that. It's all just so expensive! So just to add another card in your gluten free recipe rolodex, I came up with this.
Serving rice crispy treats in the nontraditional way is perfect for gluten free kids who would like to bring something comparable to cupcakes to a party without having to either, a) make gluten free cupcakes for all of the kids or b) bringing their own special cupcake while supplying the other kids with the regular kind.
All you need to do is make your favorite rice crispy treat recipe, put it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes so that they can be molded without melting down into a lump, butter those hands up, form balls that are big enough to fill the cupcake papers that you bought, and pop them in the papers. Voila! I think they're super cute and we get compliments on them every time we show up with them in hand. I mean, what nutso doesn't like rice crispy treats?! lol
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Black Bean Burger
So I scoured the internet for a good vegan black bean burger recipe & couldn't find one. I decided to experiment in the kitchen a little & this is what I came up with.
Half of a small yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
2 cans of black beans
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp pepper
Finely FINELY chop the onion & garlic. Put all ingredients into a bowl & squish it all together until you can form a patty. My best tools for this are my hands. Heat a good amount of oil in a pan on medium high heat. Cook the burger on each side until a nice crisp forms, NOT BURNT....crisp. Okay, slide that sucker onto some bread. I like Nature's Own Sandwich Rounds, but whatever works for you is good. Now hook it up with toppings! Voila!!
Monday, September 10, 2012
The Picky Vegan
My husband and I have almost always been well aware of our health and like most people, have struggled with good vs. evil when it comes to nutrition. I write "almost always" because there were those blissful years, before those thirties came along, when we could eat anything we wanted and not much stuck. Aaahh...those were the days. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and my metabolism is fading as well. Because of this, I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to diet or exercise. One of my favorites was last year's two week juice cleanse. I had nothing but juice from fruit and mostly vegetables for two weeks. TWO WEEKS!!! I felt great and my energy level was through the roof. Since then, I still juice a couple of times a week, not nearly as much as I'd like to, but I'm on to the next! lol
I actually went vegan in July. I have a friend who was looking for some people to go vegan with him for the month of July and I decided to do it. (By the way, if you're ever looking for a partner in anything that's not life threatening or illegal and most people think you're too crazy for even trying it, I'm your girl!) There are certain months that are probably not the best months to try something like this out...or maybe they are, depending on if your a half full or half empty kind of a person. I guess if you can make it through November or December being vegan, then you're pretty much set, right? So I consider July one of those months. First of all, the 4th of July brings picnics with grilled meats and all kinds of yummy side dishes full of creamy butters and cheeses, not to mention the platter of deviled eggs that always gets set out and desserts sure to have whipped cream or chocolate in them. Also, July is the month that I ALWAYS visit the town that I grew up in. That visit is chalk full of family and friends who almost always wind up sitting around a table with me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. So, yes, July was a difficult month to try this out in, but I made it!
I liked being vegan. I liked the way I felt and I liked my thoughts of how my body just had to be running smoother on cleaner fuel. Whether that's true or not, I have no idea, but it made me feel good. So here I am, two and a half months later and I'm still at it. No, I haven't lost weight. That's usually one of the first things people ask when it comes to the benefits. lol BUT, I notice different things about myself like my skin is smoother, I sleep better, I have more energy, etc. So we'll see where this takes me. Maybe I'll do it forever and maybe I'll get bored with it or as with other things, hear one day that it's bad for your health and then it's on to the next!
I named this post The Picky Vegan because a friend of mine told me that they were watching The Simpsons the other day and they panned a shot of the food court at the mall. He said he saw a restaurant named The Picky Vegan and he thought of me. This made me giggle. I just love my friends.
I actually went vegan in July. I have a friend who was looking for some people to go vegan with him for the month of July and I decided to do it. (By the way, if you're ever looking for a partner in anything that's not life threatening or illegal and most people think you're too crazy for even trying it, I'm your girl!) There are certain months that are probably not the best months to try something like this out...or maybe they are, depending on if your a half full or half empty kind of a person. I guess if you can make it through November or December being vegan, then you're pretty much set, right? So I consider July one of those months. First of all, the 4th of July brings picnics with grilled meats and all kinds of yummy side dishes full of creamy butters and cheeses, not to mention the platter of deviled eggs that always gets set out and desserts sure to have whipped cream or chocolate in them. Also, July is the month that I ALWAYS visit the town that I grew up in. That visit is chalk full of family and friends who almost always wind up sitting around a table with me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. So, yes, July was a difficult month to try this out in, but I made it!
I liked being vegan. I liked the way I felt and I liked my thoughts of how my body just had to be running smoother on cleaner fuel. Whether that's true or not, I have no idea, but it made me feel good. So here I am, two and a half months later and I'm still at it. No, I haven't lost weight. That's usually one of the first things people ask when it comes to the benefits. lol BUT, I notice different things about myself like my skin is smoother, I sleep better, I have more energy, etc. So we'll see where this takes me. Maybe I'll do it forever and maybe I'll get bored with it or as with other things, hear one day that it's bad for your health and then it's on to the next!
I named this post The Picky Vegan because a friend of mine told me that they were watching The Simpsons the other day and they panned a shot of the food court at the mall. He said he saw a restaurant named The Picky Vegan and he thought of me. This made me giggle. I just love my friends.
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