Category Archives: food

The Secret

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I have found the secret to weight loss.

People will be amazed with my results and will be amazed that they too can get the same results.

I lost 8 pounds this week!

First off, let me explain that I have stuck to healthy eating. Every once in awhile I might get off track but for the most part I have insured that calories in equals less than calories out. Eating bread only once a day has certainly been a catalyst for my weight loss.

In addition to the healthy eating, I have exercised 5 days a week. Sometimes each work out is only 30 minutes but it’s still something.

So there you have it. Healthy eating and exercise to lose 8 pounds in a week.

Well, I guess I should tell you one more thing that might be a tad pertinent…

….I switched scales.

But I’m sure that has nothing to do with it. I KNOW I lost 8 pounds…I’m just not ever going back to the old scale again to check.

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Alright, I should tell you I did go back to the original scale. Although I really wanted to believe the second scale at the new gym, I knew it wasn’t right.  Here’s my weight loss progress: week one (-1.9 lbs.), week two (+0.4 lbs.), week three (-2.2), week four (-1.8)   = total weight loss so far 5.5 lbs.

Weight a Minute…that Can’t be Right

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I like…chicken flautas, chips and queso, chocolate, ice cream, cake, pizza, … and sadly that’s what I’ve been eating for the last 10 weeks. I got extremely lackadaisical when it came to my eating. If I thought about it, I ate it. What, no veggie today? Who cares! Pizza for dinner! That’s got green peppers and onions, right? Bound to be the 6 daily servings I need.

Sadly, my carelessness and poor eating choices have gotten me into trouble. I weighed myself a few days ago at the gym and was so very disappointed to find out I weighed 12 lbs more than when I got pregnant. Two more lbs than 8 weeks ago. The initial deal I made with myself was to eat whatever for 2 weeks and give into the grief – eat, eat ,and eat. Well, 2 weeks turned into 3 weeks which turned into 4 weeks. Now that I’m on week 10 I’m ready to tackle this issue.

I have always been a physically fit person so this is not where I want to be right now. I have a few motivating factors although the biggest one is not fitting into my clothes.

So I’ve taken steps. For the past week I’ve altered my eating to be much more aware and conscious of it. Here are my rules: 1. drink more water,     2. eat bread (tortillas, sandwich bread, buns, biscuits, pretzels) only once a day,  3. exercise when I can (three times this week),     & 4. nothing to eat after dinner.

I wanted to give myself some leeway since going cold turkey on most foods would lead straight to cheating. For example, for Mother’s Day we ate at a Mexican restaurant where I ate chips and enchiladas (my only bread for the day).  The following day I ate ice cream when Andrew’s team celebrated a baseball win (I did not have dessert for 5 days leading up to this).

I’m posting this after one week and here’s my progress….

I have lost 1.9 pounds so far. While I would have liked to see a 12 pound loss (um, probably not) I’m happy with the progress.

Since I initially weighed in with my shoes on, I thought about giving myself a boost of confidence for the weigh in by only wearing my bra and underwear.  I finally nixed that idea since the scale is located in the middle of the weight room. Could be just a tad awkward for the other gym members.

Perhaps my tennis shoes really weigh 8 lbs & I haven’t dug myself quite as big of a hole as I think:)

Do you have any goals you’re working on?

Just Say No

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Never say yes to your children. Whatever it may be. Just say no.

I should have followed my own advice on Monday night.

Typically Mondays are crazy nights for us. We usually have several activities going on at the same time. Because of rain on Sunday night, our field activities were cancelled leaving about an hour of playtime we typically don’t have. The boys begged to go outside and ride bikes.

I looked at my watch, calculated there would be 45 minutes of bike time, 15 minutes for dinner, and then we would be off  to Andrew’s music class.

Before going out I placed frozen meatballs on a cookie sheet and some marinara sauce in a pot. Quick and easy meatball subs for dinner was the plan.

All 3 kids rode bikes up and down our street for 30 minutes.

Caroline and I were in the garage when Alex rode in.

“Mom, I need a styrofoam ball for school tomorrow.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re making the sun and I need to bring in the ball for my group.”

“How long have you known about this?” my voice getting loud

“Just today.”

“I don’t think so. A teacher’s not going to ask you to bring in a styrofoam ball with 1 days notice.”

“My group just decided today that we were going to make the sun.”

“What’s everyone else in the group bringing?” my voice getting louder

“Lucy is bringing paint pens and Hoyt is bringing a picture of the sun.”

“Why are you bringing the styrofoam ball? When did you plan on getting this? Why didn’t you tell me about this when you first came home from school.” my voice getting even louder

“I don’t know.”

I grab the phone and call my husband. In an extremely irritated voice I say, “Your son needs a styrofoam ball for school tomorrow. Can you go by the craft store on your way home? Here talk to him. I am so annoyed.”

They discuss the situation while I calm down.

I decided to start dinner so I gathered the kids and tell them to stay in the garage. “Get off your bikes and stand here. I just need to go in and put the tray of meatballs into the oven. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay mom.” Also known as,  “We haven’t heard a thing you’ve said. Nor do we care.”

I walked into the house, into the kitchen, grabbed the tray of meatballs, and put them in the oven. I was turning around to walk back outside, when Andrew came in running, “Mom, Caroline is crying and her chin is bleeding.”

In disbelief I say, “What? How did she get hurt?”

Alex (walking in calmly while his sister can be heard screaming in the background), “I was pushing her on her bike and she turned the handle bar quickly and fell off.”

I quickly think to myself – 1. she’s not supposed to be on a bike, and 2. you are not supposed to be pushing her!

I grab Caroline and inspect her chin. There is quit a bit of blood and I can see she’s got a gash. I quickly way the pros and cons of taking her to the hospital – on one hand the hospital visit will be expensive but on the other hand I don’t think she will especially enjoy looking like a turkey when she’s older.

I grab a bag of ice, throw everyone in the car,  and call Derek. “We’re on our way to the hospital, meet us there.”

After arriving at the hospital I must retell the story of how Caroline hurt her chin probably fifteen times. Each time I try to emphasize certain parts of the story to lessen the chances that CPS will make a visit to my house – I was inside the house when she fell off her bike BUT SHE HAD A HELMET ON. I don’t know if she hit her head on the concrete BUT SHE HAD A HELMET ON.

I think I managed to evade a home visit but just barely.

Turns out Caroline only needed a band aid on her chin. I can’t wait to get the bill for that band aid.

While waiting to be discharged Derek mentions he got a styrofoam ball. With his hands, he   demonstrates it’s about the size of a baseball.

I look at Alex. Alex looks at me then turns to Derek, “But it has to be bigger. It’s supposed to be the sun.”

Now it’s Derek’s turn for his voice to get louder. “You didn’t tell me it had to be big.”

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaad, it’s for the sun. The sun is huge,” whines Alex.

So after taking a post hospital trip to the craft store for a $15 styrofoam ball, we went home, ate cereal, and put the kids to bed.

Oh, and I threw the bikes in the trash.

At least I wanted to.

Lego Man Cake

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Alex had a Lego party for his 9th birthday. Derek suggested making a Lego brick for the cake but I quickly dismissed that suggestion since it did not seem like a challenge. Alex provided me with this figure as inspiration for the cake. So I went for it and think it turned out all right.

Step 1: You need: 2 boxed cake mixes, frosting dye, and 5 large containers of frosting. No, I don’t even consider making my own frosting.

Step 2 – Place both cakes side by side and then carve out the general Lego man shape. Follow up with an initial layer of frosting. Place the cake in the fridge – it’s easier to put the next layer of frosting if the first layer is more solid.

Step 3 – Create the bodysuit? armor? training clothes? with orange icing. I used clear icing bags and a basic frosting tip for the rest of the icing.

Step 4 – Use gray icing for the equipment and part of helmet. I started questioning my cake decorating abilities at about this point – hmmm… 2 hours till the party, I wonder if the grocery store could make a lego brick cake in such short notice?

Step 5 – Using a wider icing tip I created the white sections of the helmet

Step 6 – The first attempt at making “Lego skin” was too pink (very bad in the eyes of a 9 year old boy) so I tried again and got a brown color. Good enough.

Step 7 – I added the black icing sections.

Step 8 – I added the red sections and called it done.

There were certain parts of the cake I wasn’t thrilled with but Alex was excited with the cake and that’s all that counts in the long run.

The Grocery Game

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Last night I drove to the grocery store to get several important items for our family: milk, ice cream cones, peanut M&M’s, chapstick, allergy medicine, People magazine, and InStyle magazine. (You just wouldn’t believe how Andrew has been hounding me to get the latest InStyle issue.)

I imagined other people playing the grocery game as I passed them. The grocery game for me is making up stories about people based off of what’s in their cart.

When you see a guy with 10 cans of Spaghetti-o’s, a pack of beer, and a bag of donuts in his cart, certain assumptions can be made.

1. He’s not going home to anyone else.

2. He’s about to watch some sort of sporting event on TV.

3. Flannel shirts are probably a regular part of his wardrobe.

I wonder what assumptions flannel man would have made about my cart.

Slowly

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I’m slowly making it day by day.

I didn’t cry yesterday and I haven’t cried yet today.

I know it’s okay if I do and okay if I don’t.

There are a couple of things helping me get through this experience besides my husband, my family, and my friends. I could never find the right words to express what they have meant to me so I’ll talk about the other things for now.

Peanut M & M’s – seriously!

I am now on my 3rd bag of peanut M&M’s and I’m fine with it. I sit with a huge glass of milk and my bowl of chocolate goodness. I’m drinking skim milk with the M&M’s so it’s practically a healthy snack – thank goodness since I just happen to partake in this roughly 4 times a day.

The Gilmore Girls

I’m not sure where I was during the 7 years this show was on. I had never seen an episode before a friend gave me all 7 seasons 2 weeks ago. I’m currently midway through season 2 and loving it. I’m not sure if it’s the witty dialogue of the main characters or just a way to escape for 40 minutes that has me hooked.

Driving

I have made small trips out of the house whether it be to the grocery store or to return movies. I’m really not ready to drive anywhere where I might see friends yet. I think I could still break out in tears when they ask, ”How are you doing?” So… I’m avoiding that for now. It’s been good to get out of the house though and my car has helped me make the first initial steps of getting back in touch with the world.

Well, I guess it’s time to to grab some M&M’s and go find out what’s happening in Stars Hollow this week.

No need to get back in touch with the world all in one day.

Homemade King Cake

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We love King Cake around here.

Every time we have king cake the boys mention to each other, “Mom got king cake at school every week when she was little.” I try to tell them it only occurred during Mardi Gras season but I can’t deter their thoughts of what a pitiful school experience they are having compared to me.

My mom sent us a Randazzo’s king cake for Derek’s birthday. It was devoured in 3 days. The only reason it wasn’t gone faster was because I wouldn’t let them have it for breakfast. Alex “got the baby” in the Randazzo king cake so he knew it was his turn to provide the next cake.

Occasionally, Alex would remind me it was his turn to buy the next king cake . Our neighborhood grocery store was the only place which came to mind for buying a king cake but frankly, they looked quite unappealing to me.

While browsing the magazine section one day in Lowe’s, I started flipping through a Sandra Lee magazine. Behind all of the Valentine treats she was featuring was a small section on Mardi Gras recipes. Gumbo, etouffee, and king cake were listed as well as dirty rice.

While reading I whispered, “Homemade king cake.” Alex was at my side in a second. “Oh, can we try? Can we make that tonight?” Seeing as it was already 4:45 I appeased him by buying the magazine and promising to make the dessert soon.

A few days later, after gathering the supplies, I decided the time was right to make the king cake. We were once again stuck in the house all day due to ice. I was desperate for an activity (and frankly, something sweet) so I told the boys we were celebrating Friday night dessert early because of the weather.

Here’s a picture of our ingredients: 3 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing (we didn’t use the extra one shown here), a plastic baby, and sprinkles. Our sprinkles are not the traditional gold, purple, and green since we used what was in the pantry.

ingredients for king cake1) First we buttered the baking sheet.

2) We unrolled the 3 cans and separated each cinnamon roll.

3) We then formed an oval shape with the rolls. Sandra Lee suggests using 5 cans of cinnamon rolls but I thought that would be a tad gluttonous for us.

4) We baked the cinnamon rolls / king cake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

5) We waited 15 minutes for it to cool (Next time we’ll try 5-10 minutes) , covered it with the cinnamon roll icing, and then covered with sprinkles.

The finished product!

Considering they each ate the king cake 3 times in 24 hours I’d say it was a big hit. (By the way, Andrew got the baby this time).

Men, Listen Up

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Men, listen up.

I’m about to tell you the way to a woman’s heart.

It’s not about the flowers.

It’s not about the chocolate (well, sometimes it is).

It’s not about the back rub (hmmm, that’s pretty good too).

It’s through this.

front of microwaveWhat? You say. A microwave. How can that be?

Consider this men –

It’s been months since the microwave has been cleaned.

Your wife placed a bowl of chili in there to heat up but instead it exploded.

She avoids the chili disaster by continuing to cook more food in there – for weeks.

Nothing is ever said about this situation.

It just goes on.

And then one day your wife comes home to this…

inside a clean microwaveCue the angels singing!

Flowers, chocolates, and back rubs have nothing on this.

This men, is the way to a woman’s heart.

What!

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We rarely eat fast food for dinner but I decided the other night was the exception. The boys had 3 activities we needed to be at, all around dinnertime. We drove through McDonald’s on the way to our 2nd and 3rd activities of the night. I decided Caroline and Andrew would eat once we arrived at Alex’s practice but he needed to eat in the car on the way.

Here was my order at the drive through:

I’d like a #13, a 20 piece chicken nugget (yes, all 3 kids polished this off with no leftovers), 3 milks, and 3 small fries.

After receiving the food,  I placed Alex’s food on a tray and handed it back to him.

Andrew immediately wanted to know, “When do Caroline and I get to eat?’

When we get to the lacrosse field I will give you your food.

“What’s my food?”

I got you some chicken nuggets, a small fry, and a milk.

“What!”

What do you mean what. I got you the food you asked for.

“What do you mean I got a small fry?”

I got you a small fry, Alex a small fry, and Caroline a small fry.

“What! That’s all I get for dinner?”

What are you talking about? You have this meal every time we come to McDonald’s. There will be more than enough food for you.

“Why do I only get one small french fry with my meal?”

Ohhhh. No, you get a small bag of fries. With many fries inside the bag.

“Good because I need more than just one fry. I thought you were only giving me one fry. I’m hungrier than that.”