OK - ok... so it's time to get back to watching what I eat. I thought once Emmett was born, I wouldn't worry about things for a while. After being SO restricted while I was pregnant I even thought I'd let myself go a little nuts if that's what I wanted.. and OH... I wanted! Plus there were so many new baby things to think about, I didn't have time to focus on what I was putting into my mouth (that's what she said)... but now a YEAR and 8 pounds later, I guess it's time to get that focus back. I know things are going to be slow going. There just isn't enough time in the day to really get the exercise in that I need. For now I'll try to mainly focus on what I am eating.
I thought one of the best ways to do that was to join the weight watchers group at work. The thought of being so public about it sort of creeps me out, but if I am going to be real about it.. then I might as well not hide it. Having the weekly check-ins and a "plan" will hopefully give me the push I need to focus. I do well with projects, so for now my project is tracking what I eat. I forced Newlin to join me in this project. If I'm going public.. so is he! Maybe by the time we go to New York we will be looking all fancy in some new, smaller clothes.
The toughest part is going to be portions. Unless I am measuring everything out, I have a tough time guessing how much something is. How much salad dressing did I just pour on? How much peanut butter did I just use? I tend to think I don't put a lot on... but is that true? I can measure and weigh things at home, which is what I'll try to do... but what about work? Do I have a set of measuring cups and spoons here too? Do I want to be that crazy person?
Exercise is another tough one.. and I honestly don't know how I will fit much in. But my blood pressure is telling me I really need to find a way to fit it in. It's time to bring back the lunch time walks when we can. I'm also going to TRY to get in a couple week night walks with Emmett now that it is staying lighter later in the evenings. Maybe we'll plan a couple nights a week.. when we are eating leftovers so there is no cooking to worry about. Get Emmett fed and bathed.. then pack him up in the stroller and head out for a walk. If we are lucky he will fall asleep and all we have to do is chuck him in bed once we are home.
I suppose there is another element that I didn't really think of here. We are also turning forty. FORTY!!!!! How the hell did that happen? A couple health exams told me that it's not as easy to be in the all clear as is used to be. For the first time ever I've had high blood pressure. I had gestational diabetes. These things are warnings. I don't want to be one of those Moms who can't do things with their kid because their body can't handle it. There are too many things in life that we still need to do! We need to get out and see the world. All that time when we were younger and had jobs to focus on and money to try to make, kept us for getting out on adventures. It's time for adventures and I sure don't want health problems keeping me from doing the things we want to do.
So here we go.. Day one of the Fuck Forty Diet!
The weight watcher notes for this week said we should take some "before" photos. I believe we may need to take some good ones! Where's that lovely swimsuit I wore at the Madonna Inn?
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
DIY and Recipe Rehab
Curse you Dish Network! Free DIY.. just when my HGTV jones was going away. We spent the whole rainy weekend (and the past week's sick days) watching the "free" (remember that $20 access fee?) DIY network. While I think I've just about had my fill of yard/home/bath Crashers, what I can't get enough of is the Rehab Addict show. It has everything I like. Old homes, restored/updated while keeping the original feel of the history of the house, someone who puts in the hard work to do the work right (no crazy, cheap design choices and questionable work a la Flipper shows) plus it's all in MN/Minneapolis. I love getting little bits of recognition of where they are. All while dreaming of the life/house we might have had.. had we stayed in MN.
It's not that I regret moving to CA. Not at all. The show just feeds that side of the brain that wonders what our old life might have looked like. (shoveling snow and all) Plus to see those big, cool, old houses .. for those little prices!!! DAMMIT. You'd never find that here.
DIY is teasing me with this next season.. I know I'll never see the finished houses. GAHHH
Recipe tried this weekend.
It's not that I regret moving to CA. Not at all. The show just feeds that side of the brain that wonders what our old life might have looked like. (shoveling snow and all) Plus to see those big, cool, old houses .. for those little prices!!! DAMMIT. You'd never find that here.
DIY is teasing me with this next season.. I know I'll never see the finished houses. GAHHH
Recipe tried this weekend.
Sausage, Chard, and Lemon Lasagna (I used Kale in place of Chard)
Prep: 20 minutesTotal: 1 hour
Prep: 20 minutesTotal: 1 hour
A layer of refreshing lemon slices brightens every bite of this lasagna made of sweet Italian sausage and Swiss chard. Instead of tomato sauce, the dish is made with a creamy and cheesy white sauce. Ingredients Serves 4.
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 cups whole milk
* 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 5 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1 bunch)
* 1 pound sweet italian sausage, casings removed
* 1 lemon, very thinly sliced
* 6 no-boil lasagna noodles, preferably Barilla Directions
1. Melt butter in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in 3/4 cup cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in chard.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage in a skillet over high heat, breaking up pieces, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
3. Cover lemon slices with cold water by 3 inches in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon.
4. Spread 1/4 cup sauce in an 8-inch square nonreactive baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, half the sausage, and 1 cup sauce. Repeat. Top with a layer of lemons, 2 noodles, then remaining sauce and lemons. Bake, covered with parchment-lined foil, for 27 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Heat broiler. Uncover lasagna; top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Broil until bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes.
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 cups whole milk
* 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 5 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1 bunch)
* 1 pound sweet italian sausage, casings removed
* 1 lemon, very thinly sliced
* 6 no-boil lasagna noodles, preferably Barilla Directions
1. Melt butter in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in 3/4 cup cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in chard.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage in a skillet over high heat, breaking up pieces, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
3. Cover lemon slices with cold water by 3 inches in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon.
4. Spread 1/4 cup sauce in an 8-inch square nonreactive baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, half the sausage, and 1 cup sauce. Repeat. Top with a layer of lemons, 2 noodles, then remaining sauce and lemons. Bake, covered with parchment-lined foil, for 27 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Heat broiler. Uncover lasagna; top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Broil until bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes.
Verdict:
Maybe make again. I liked it. It was different and easy enough that it would be good for a dinner party. Not sure if it is one of those recipes that I will think about a lot and keep going back to.
For some reason I had it in my head that the recipe called for kale not chard. I think besides a slight texture difference, it wouldn't be much different with the chard. The lemon added a nice "bright" flavor. I cut them super thin and they sort of fell apart, but I'm not sure if I would have liked getting bigger chunks of lemon. I think I'd keep them thin like that.. with maybe a couple thicker slices on top if I wanted to make it look nice.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Science of (Lack of) Sleep
Month 9- The kid is on a new kick of waking up at least once in the night, crying almost inconsolably until Jen comes in and nurses him. We're sure it's a combo of his new teeth coming in plus the fact that he's decided that drinking from a bottle is B.S.
Where is the quiet little lump that used to fall asleep fuss free at 7:30 and sleep straight through till at least 6 am? It's actually not TOO bad, but man, as a guy who's accustomed to a nice night's sleep, it's a little rough. I never understood movies where the hero or heroine would go off on a full night adventure, never once feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. If it was me, the world would be doomed because I would try and catch a nap on the park bench while the villain read the Necronomicon down the block.
Where is the quiet little lump that used to fall asleep fuss free at 7:30 and sleep straight through till at least 6 am? It's actually not TOO bad, but man, as a guy who's accustomed to a nice night's sleep, it's a little rough. I never understood movies where the hero or heroine would go off on a full night adventure, never once feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. If it was me, the world would be doomed because I would try and catch a nap on the park bench while the villain read the Necronomicon down the block.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Verdict
So... we're going on 2 months now with no cable. I was expecting this to be a bit more dramatic, but what I found is I just don't really care. There isn't the time to watch much TV anyway. Sure there are times that I really do miss the other channels. Times when I am stuck nursing.. or playing in the living room with the baby (which usually means sitting with him to make sure he doesn't do any damage to himself or the house). Maybe when he's a bit older we can actually spend that time in a more productive way.. or play in a more of an interactive way by playing games or reading books. Right now, you pretty much sit and watch him roll around and then hand him things that are out of his reach. It would be nice to have something playing that wasn't an infomercial or This old house reruns .. but it's not that big of a deal. I don't feel like I am missing much. Our Winter, weekend routines have gotten to be pretty funny. Saturday night Dance party with a little of the old L Welk show mixed in there. How long that will last, I'm not sure.. but it will make for some pretty funny memories later on.
Do I feel all different and productive with the new free time? No. The baby is eating up all our time anyway so really it all just comes down to this...
Saving $50 a month =$600 a year on TV we aren't watching anyway.
perhaps we are even turning the tv off more.. saving a bit of change in the electricity bill..
In the big picture, that isn't a ton of money, it's not going to buy us a new house. If down the road we feel we want the cable back I'm not totally against it. We don't spend a lot of money on entertainment, so it's not about the money. I was hoping to feel a bit more freedom with the cable gone but that just hasn't happened, yet. Perhaps when the weather gets nicer.. and Emmett gets a bit older, we'll start to get a bit more adventurous with our time. Right now, it's still the weeknight routines of dinners, baths and bedtimes with little time after to do much of anything.
Do I feel all different and productive with the new free time? No. The baby is eating up all our time anyway so really it all just comes down to this...
Saving $50 a month =$600 a year on TV we aren't watching anyway.
perhaps we are even turning the tv off more.. saving a bit of change in the electricity bill..
In the big picture, that isn't a ton of money, it's not going to buy us a new house. If down the road we feel we want the cable back I'm not totally against it. We don't spend a lot of money on entertainment, so it's not about the money. I was hoping to feel a bit more freedom with the cable gone but that just hasn't happened, yet. Perhaps when the weather gets nicer.. and Emmett gets a bit older, we'll start to get a bit more adventurous with our time. Right now, it's still the weeknight routines of dinners, baths and bedtimes with little time after to do much of anything.
Friday, February 11, 2011
My Rebuttal- OK, I kinda miss HGTV too
Yes, there are things I miss about cable. HGTV is one of them. But overall, I've been pretty happy with out it, and still convinced we could go all the way to an antenna, with maybe Hulu or Amazon on Demand to fill in the gaps. It's been nice to turn on just background stuff like Laurence Welk (hahah, don't you DARE judge us!) and turn our attention to entertaining Emmett.
However, I don't disagree with The Lady that the househunting bug has bit us. Recently a coworker (albeit one with a super lucky rich Google lawyer partner) purchased an AMAZING house with 3 acres in the Santa Cruz hills. It looks like a freakin Spanish manor.. with a guest house bigger than our house! Of course we can't afford that, but it sparked off another round of wishful thinking and looking at listings. I just want a bit more space for Emmett to roam and feel bad that his play area is a 5 foot square in the corner of the living room. Sigh, someday. For now, we can ask our friends what House Hunters has been up to.
However, I don't disagree with The Lady that the househunting bug has bit us. Recently a coworker (albeit one with a super lucky rich Google lawyer partner) purchased an AMAZING house with 3 acres in the Santa Cruz hills. It looks like a freakin Spanish manor.. with a guest house bigger than our house! Of course we can't afford that, but it sparked off another round of wishful thinking and looking at listings. I just want a bit more space for Emmett to roam and feel bad that his play area is a 5 foot square in the corner of the living room. Sigh, someday. For now, we can ask our friends what House Hunters has been up to.
The 4-5 week itch
It started.
Last night I had my first attack of missing HGTV. I blame Brian. He sent a house listing that had my imagination running. I started dreaming about kitchen renovations, family/movie rooms, landscaping and gardening, fruit trees (and what I would do with all that fruit), hot tubs, cozy patios, plus a guest cottage! My mind starts racing over all the things I would do to make that house ours. Not having the money to do any of this (let's not even think about the time) I started to think about HGTV as a way to see, not my own, but someone's projects completed. I love before and afters, I love to think about what I liked and what I might do differently.
People give HGTV a bad rap for convincing people that they have to be always remodeling, keeping things from being outdated... making them think that in order to buy a house.. or sell a house it has to have granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances! Let's all run out to Lowes because ... OMG, our bathroom has 1950's pink tile! Sure, some of that is true. But for me, there is something satisfying in seeing these project completed, to see inside of people's homes, to see how they live. Maybe imagine what our lives would look like .. there, in that house, in that town, in that country.
I'm still thinking about the latest house Brain sent.. and all the previous houses that have gotten my imagination going. I feel like I have all these ideas with no place to put them. HGTV was a way to temporarily scratch that itch.
Last night I had my first attack of missing HGTV. I blame Brian. He sent a house listing that had my imagination running. I started dreaming about kitchen renovations, family/movie rooms, landscaping and gardening, fruit trees (and what I would do with all that fruit), hot tubs, cozy patios, plus a guest cottage! My mind starts racing over all the things I would do to make that house ours. Not having the money to do any of this (let's not even think about the time) I started to think about HGTV as a way to see, not my own, but someone's projects completed. I love before and afters, I love to think about what I liked and what I might do differently.
People give HGTV a bad rap for convincing people that they have to be always remodeling, keeping things from being outdated... making them think that in order to buy a house.. or sell a house it has to have granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances! Let's all run out to Lowes because ... OMG, our bathroom has 1950's pink tile! Sure, some of that is true. But for me, there is something satisfying in seeing these project completed, to see inside of people's homes, to see how they live. Maybe imagine what our lives would look like .. there, in that house, in that town, in that country.
I'm still thinking about the latest house Brain sent.. and all the previous houses that have gotten my imagination going. I feel like I have all these ideas with no place to put them. HGTV was a way to temporarily scratch that itch.
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