Updates

Well. Tis the season ... Of busy-ness. Time to reflect ...

The diet is going pretty well. I am down 6.4 lbs.  And I will be continuing on with the shakes. Because it really is so easy ... and they do fill me up.  I've had a few slips -- dinner out, Christmas cookies, work holiday party, a cocktail now and then -- but they're not derailing me.  I have decided that making the shakes with 1% milk and NO ice is the best way, for me, at least.  In the morning, I might throw in a flavor-mix in, some frozen berries, or a half a banana.  Also, since Donna gave me a shaker-bottle, I can put 8 ounces of milk in it, throw two scoops of powder into a baggie, and there's lunch.  Super easy.  My favorite shake so far was a riff on a pina colada I came up with.  I had a pineapple sitting in the fridge left over from an experiment at school, so I threw a few pieces in the blender with 2 scoops of mix, 8 oz of milk, and a tablespoon of shredded coconut.  The coconut DOES add some fat ... but, remember, HUNGRY GIRL, so it's more filling.  And so delicious.  The next I will try is an apple pie style ... with a few spoonfulls of applesauce and some cinnamon & nutmeg.

But I still eat (and love) food ... and I crave warm, mushy, savory risotto-ish stuff, especially in the winter, so I decided to experiment with quinoa. I've had it before and it was fine but not great. But this....WOW. Ate some for dinner last night and brought some to work for lunch today. Googled quinoa recipes and got a few ideas and played with them depending on what I had in the house... Here's the recipe ...

Quinoa Risotto
Boil 2 cups of water
Add 1 cup quinoa
Add a splash of olive oil
Add 3 coarsely chopped dates
Turn burner to low
Saute a little green pepper and three chopped mushrooms in olive oil, then add to quinoa
Add cooked peas to quinoa
Grate some parm into quinoa
When its almost done, crack an egg into quinoa
Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, sage, parsley
Stir
Serve hot ... about 20-30 min

I'm really, really happy with how it came out.  It's insane that I didn't have fresh garlic to chop & add, or even one onion ... I'm sure that would have really enhanced it.  The peas just happenned to be left over from dinner the night before and were a lovely fresh pop of vegetable ... I could see adding nuts, or more mushrooms.

So, like, for today ... I had coffee and a shake with a half a banana for breakfast
lunch - quinoa, celery sticks & peanut butter
snacks - 3 walnuts, a few wheat pretzel sticks, 3 hershey kisses, one clementine
dinner (about to "eat") - a shake with milk

Good day, and happy with my progress ... it's tough this time of year, but at least having lost some weight, I feel as if I can enjoy Christmas without fear of ballooning up.  Then we are DEFINITELY planning to get to the gym over break, a lot. I want to get back into a routine and as cliche as it is, New Years is a great time to do that.  We've both been sick for the past few weeks -- and work has been mega-stressful -- so gym-ing it has been near-impossible.  I can only imagine how the weight will pour off as I start to work out. :)

In other news, I am making 3 lb of linguine with a white clam sauce for Christmas Eve feast of 7 fishes. Kind of excited to cook a big dish like that. Feel all grown up, lol.  I'm using what I know about my mom and Noni's and also an Anne Burrel recipe online.  But no butter because Jamison is allergic to milk.  So,yeah ... I'll be posting about how that goes. 

The chickens are getting huge and John is taking great care of "the girls", as he calls them.  It's so funny. City-guy to backyard-chicken-keeper. It's so cold in the morning, and I'm always rushing... and then by the time I get home from work it is dark so I hardly see them. Thank God for my awesome boyfriend! No eggs yet, but I read online that they may wait until after winter due to temp and daylight hours. Will post pics for sure when they arrive!!

That's about it for now.

A Hungry Girl takes a Challenge

So I am really wanting to lose weight. I have been trying - sometimes half-heartedly, and other times, with quasi-OCD gusto - for several years now. I lose 5-10 pounds, get in a good rhythm going to the gym, and then gain it all back, with a vengeance.  Something happens, always, to derail me.  I'm a hungry girl. I like to cook. My boyfriend is an AMAZING cook. I love to eat. Stress at work is issue number one .. healthier foods are generally more expensive, and, well .. I'm a teacher. :) I get sick and splurge a bit to feel better. I have PMS and crave chocolate.  And then it's Sunday and someone baked a pie at Mom's. It's ALWAYS something. Like evil trolls trying to keep me plump. This shit has to stop.

Funny thing is that I really DO know how to do it ... I know how to work out, I know about portion sizes and glycemic index and not eating at night.  I never eat fast food and rarely eat white flour products. I have a great veggie garden, shop at a local farm during the spring-summer-fall. We keep absolutely no junk food of any description in our house. (Except some stuff for John's son's school lunches and I am good about not dipping into that. Usually.)  Long gone are the days of midriff baring tops and skinny jeans.  I'm not 22 anymore.. bouncing around all night to house music and burning God-knows how many calories. Then spending half my free-time in the gym because (A) My job required no work coming home with me and (B)That's what all those pretty-people in the clubs DO .. gym, tan, club, sleep(maybe) .... repeat. I never expect to be a size 2... with my hips, I'd have to be emaciated. But I want to feel pretty again.  Is that vain? I would like to wear jeans that aren't double-digit size. Like an 8 ... Oh, I was so hot when I wore an 8.  In fact, to be totally honest, I'd like to wear jeans. Period. Because I don't. I'd like to hike in the woods and not get tired and then have to deal later with an aching knee. And back. Recently, my back has started these spasms and that scared the shit out of me. I'm only 33. What is this crap? I want to be a mom ... soon-ish ... and I want to go into that journey healthier.  I don't want to add baby-weight to this weight.  Breast cancer runs in my family and I know being overweight is a risk-factor.  I hate how my arms and chin look in pictures.  I miss seeing the sleek line of my oblique muscles. Diabetes runs in my family ...

Something's gotta give ... so my mom's friend Donna is selling these diet shakes(Body by Vi) and I decided to give it a whirl.   And I'm blogging about it to stay motivated and for some accountability.  Even if nobody reads these posts, I still feel some sort of pressure to keep at it.  I'm not a fad diet kind of person but I need a little jump start.  And they're no magic diet pill ... just protein and fiber and nutrients my body needs anyway. If I can lose 10 pounds by Christmas, I'll be ecstatic.  That might be a crazy goal but I'm going to really do this thing. Donna dropped off the shakes Friday morning, 30 servings, and I can replace one or two meals a day with them.  The basic flavor is sweet cream and you can add what you like to enhance.  She gave me several of these little packets to mix in.  I promised her I would keep some notes about the shakes and how I feel. (Reason #2 for the blog.)

Day #1 - Saturday 12/2/11 ... Beginning weight: XX1.8  I am so embarrassed by the first two numbers that I am not including them.  Sorry. You get the 1 and the 8.  I'm not THAT open and honest. ;) I made a shake with water and 3 ice cubes and the banana-energy mix in.  It tasted fine and certainly gave me energy.  But I wasn't wild about the clumpiness in some spots and watery-ness in other spots.  I also do not love cold breakfasts on cold mornings.  So my coffee will have to warm me up.  I was planning to meet some students at the zoo for science fair projects, but, alas, as teenagers will do, they changed their minds and decided not to come when I was already there waiting.  I had packed one of the oatmeal-raisin nutra-cookies that Donna gave me and a water so I wouldn't be tempted to buy a burger at the zoo.  So, I ate it in the car, since I was famished. (About 3 hours after the shake.) I was not crazy about the cookie.  It tasted like a protein cookie.  Kind of dry and really BIG.  But here's the plus ... it really filled me up. And I didn't even finish it.  I was not able to eat dinner for about four hours after the cookie and I was only beginning to feel hungry maybe three-hours post-cookie. That's great for me - remember: HUNGRY GIRL. For dinner I ate a serving of a play on Puttanecsa that I make. Low-Carb angel hair, a few canned plum tomatoes, a can of salmon, a can of clam bellies, onion, garlic, olives, capers, red hot peppers, marinated eggplant, olive oil, splash of sherry, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, dusting of fresh Parmesan ... getting those healthy-Mediterranean foods and cold water fish.  Spicy, tangy, salty ... It was super yumma. So that was all I ate yesterday ... oh, and then a vodka-soda-splash-cran.  And a margarita.

Day # 2 - Sunday. I wake with a killer headache and a bad mood.  Damn those two drinks. Am I really hung over from just two drinks? Or am I getting sick? Ugh. Then John is making pancakes and sausage. The smells fill our apartment.   He is even heating up the syrup with butter (and berries? not sure... I didn't get too close) over the stove. Are you serious. There is nothing I want more than to cuddle on the couch with him and those yummy syrupy buttery pancakes and have a lazy delicious Sunday morning, sipping coffee and watching tv. I'm super annoyed. Not his fault.  He isn't on a diet.  But DAMN. I make myself a shake, adding 5 cubes of ice because I remember yesterday's issue with the watery-ness. I also add a few frozen berries.  I turn on the blender while he is still apologizing. Very rude and childish and bitchy and un-called-for of me, I know.  BUT... PANCAKES! I ask him to save me one small one and I eat it alone in the kitchen. Cold. No butter. No syrup. Why bother. So, The Shake ... now it was almost TOO icy.  I forgot that cold foods in the morning are sort of depressing to me ... I think I need to change something up. No ice? The flavor was fine but I did not finish all of it because it was splashing me in the face as the clunk of icy-ness fell each time I took the cup away from my lips. I drink maybe 3/4 of it.  Shortly after, I have a bowl of turkey-veg soup w/ quinoa and lentils that I made with a big turkey leg left over from Thanksgiving.  (This was a late breakfast - almost 11. Weird to have soup I know but I wanted to be warmed up.) Shower-cold medicine-vitamins-nap.  I eat a serving of Puttanesca for a late lunch around 2. Still yumma. It's 4:30 now.  When I finish this blog, I am going to search for fun shake recipes and see if ice is required.  And have another shake, with a salad, for dinner. 

Today was a frustrating day. Not because of the diet or the shakes. I'm moody and tired and my head just started to feel better a little while ago. Maybe it's a cold. Or allergies. Perhaps I'm PMS-ing. In any case, I'm not giving in and eating anything worse than turkey soup or a low carb-pasta dish. I'm working through it. I'm committed. Oh, and I apologized to John. He gets my insanity, I think. We're good. I haven't succeeded in scaring him off, yet, THANK GOD. 

Japanese Knotweed!

Figured it out! That stupid crazy shrub taking over my garden and backyard is a notorious invasive weed named Japanese Knotweed. I'm at school right now, and while my six awesome GAIA kids are working on their newest bulletin board, I decided to do some research online and browse images of invasive shrubs and weeds. So excited to have found it, and it turns out it is a BIG problem all over the country...

Image Taken from: http://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/japanese-knotweed

There are all sorts of web resources-- and even companies -- committed to the removal of, control of, eradication of this annoying plant. Oh crap, I knew it was a problem. Blogs, E-How's, Forums,Websites, YouTube videos .. the list goes on. Apparently the plant has rhizomes deep under the soil and it spreads underground, sending new shoots up year after year. As an ornamental shrub, it has no natural predators on this continent and is a problem from coast to coast -- even Alaska. It chokes out all native plants...It is banned in several states and disposal is regulated by law in some places to prevent contamination. Burning it does not kill it, one source claims. You need to dig it up and pull out the rhizomes...some sites recommend with a backhoe...It can come through concrete, as I have seen in my backyard... Ugh, can I say.. WTF?

Good news.. its edible. It is extremely high in vitamin C and tastes somewhat like rhubarb, I've read. In some Asian traditional therapies, the tea is used as a mild laxative and there are claims that it has other medicinal properties including being antiarthritic, antirheumatic, analgesic, detoxicant, antitussive, expectorant, antibacterial, antiviral, and it contains the potent antioxidant Resveratrol. Apparently only red wine contains more Resveratrol, which is known for its anti-aging properties. Ok. So maybe I drink some tea with the stuff ... and substitute it for rhubarb in rhubarb pie (which I have never made..) to get some anti-aging goodness into my body rather than throw it into the old compost. But I don't see it replacing my beloved red wine any time soon. ;)

~MP~

Magenta Weeds, Compost & Peas

Great news ...

It was finally a full week of spring (almost summer-like) weather so the garden is responding.

My compost pile is fixed! I added all those leaves(and worms) last week and it is heating up really nicely, the smell and sliminess is gone as well. Yesterday, I stirred it a bit ... and will turn it fully next weekend. Really excited to use the compost with my garden this year.

Last week when we were clearing the garden I was constantly pulling these magenta-plants. Ugh. They are everywhere in the yard and I have no idea what they are. Invasive weeds? Some exotic ornamental that was planted and refuses to stay in one spot? They are literally everywhere in the yard and I want them gone.

Big Magenta Weeds

Here they are when they are several WEEKS old. Huge, right?  What are these things? How do I get rid of them? Any ideas for online databases of annoying invasive plants??

Younger Magenta Weeds

MOST of my seedlings are responding really well to the warm weather. Everything except the eggplant is showing signs of sprouting now.  :)  I transplanted the peas into the garden yesterday, and sewed carrots directly next to them.

Newly Transplanted Pea Plant

I also sewed thyme directly into the garden, along the right hand border of the top terrace.  I envision it growing in a viney, sprawling, tangled fashion all along the brick border of the terrace.

All the baby mesclun lettuces were also ready to go out. :) I'll thin them out as needed this week once they take root and I can tell the strong from the weak.

Mesclun Lettuces

The beets and chard should be ready to transplant to the garden next weekend.  Maybe the parsley, cilantro, basil, and chives as well. I only see signs of a few cucumber, beans, and cantaloupe beginning to poke through the soil, so it looks like 2  more weeks for those plants. But I am most excited about those tomatoes!! Finally, finally, I see six glorious little seedlings pushing through the soil.  I can't wait to eat some delicious heirloom Italian tomatoes this year.  I'll keep saving the seeds and hopefully in the next few years as I get better at this gardening thing, I can can them and make fresh yummy sauce all year long! :)

A view of the garden

Considering how things have changed, I'm cautiously optimistic that by next weekend my eggplant, thyme, and carrots will be showing signs of life. :)

~MP~

The Three Sisters ...

This is one of the 3 sisters legends that I was thinking about yesterday.  When I was in Baja California, Mexico, the third sister was tomatoes instead of squash.  Since I have not started any corn yet this year, I can't recreate this, but I would definitely like to give it  a try next year.

The three sisters are Corn, Beans, and Squash. They are seen as the three beautiful sisters because they grow in the same mound in the garden. The Corn provides a ladder for the Bean Vine. They together give shade to the Squash. The Cherokee till the mound three times.
The Native American story of the Three Sisters vary from tribe to tribe. This story below is taken from an oral account by Lois Thomas of Cornwall Island, compiled by students at Centennial College and found in "Indian Legends of Eastern Canada."

The Three Sisters

A long time ago there were three sisters who lived together in a field. These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and way of dressing. The little sister was so young that she could only crawl at first, and she was dressed in green.
The second sister wore a bright yellow dress, and she had a way of running off by herself when the sun shone and the soft wind blew in her face.
The third was the eldest sister, standing always very straight and tall above the other sisters and trying to protect them. She wore a pale green shawl, and she had long, yellow hair that tossed about her head in the breeze.
There was one way the sisters were all alike, though. They loved each other dearly, and they always stayed together. This made them very strong.
One day a stranger came to the field of the Three Sisters - a Mohawk boy. He talked to the birds and other animals - this caught the attention of the three sisters.
Late that summer, the youngest and smallest sister disappeared. Her sisters were sad.
Again the Mohawk boy came to the field to gather reeds at the water's edge. The two sisters who were left watched his moccasin trail, and that night the second sister - the one in the yellow dress - disappeared as well.
Now the Elder Sister was the only one left.
She continued to stand tall in her field. When the Mohawk boy saw that she missed her sisters, he brought them all back together and they became stronger together, again.

The Iroquois Legend of the Three Sisters

Erney, Diana. 1996. Long live the Three Sisters. Organic Gardening. November. p. 37-40. The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America. Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three sacred plants—corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons, and later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people.


Taken from: http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm

Earth Day!

Well, its Earth Day/Holy Saturday! :) I've been off all week and had been hoping to get outside way more than I did since I came down with an annoying head cold that pretty much kicked my ass. But I have started some yard work, thanks mostly to John's muscles.  We have 3 terraced little squares, each maybe 6 feet by six feet-ish. He helped me to rake them out, turn the soil, eradicate these annoying magenta weeds.  My seedlings were started inside a few weeks ago and I am excited to see that some of them are actually sprouting.  It has been a miserably rainy spring so far. Hence the delay in the rest of them sprouting. (One can only hope...)  I'm seeing my mesclun mix, beets, beans, chard, cilantro, chives.... but no sign of the peas, cucumbers, cantaloupe, eggplant, basil, parsley, or tomatoes.  I am especially sad/worried about the tomatoes.  They are seeds of an Italian heirloom variety from a friend of John's. Why, o why, aren't they sprouting?? Is it too cold?? I usually end up buying some plants from Home Depot or Walmart but I was looking forward to starting a bunch from seed this year.  The compost is breaking down but I needed to add more brown/nitrogen to it yesterday. During the winter, our long, awful, snowy winter... I was not able to get to any browns so I just kept adding the kitchen waste, so its a little slimy and smelly and unusable right now.  So I added leaves and twigs in layers and hopefully in the next few weeks this starts to correct itself.  In the meantime, I did find a very cool article online about companion planting.  When I was in Baja two summers ago, I learned about the traditional three sisters of beans, corn, and tomatoes. (or squash..) So apparently there are lots of vegs that work well together and some that really don;t do well together.  Keeping this is mind, I have sketched out a plan for all the plants that I have growing this year, assuming that they all do sprout.  I'll take a pic of the space and my plans for what needs to grow next to what in the next few days ...

Hit & Run Hodgepodge Soup

This winter is killer. I'm a teacher and we've already had five snow days. These will be made up at the end of the year ... and then if we have more, from one of our breaks, probably April.  I'm home today, and not because of the weather.  Around 2 am Sunday morning, some probably drunken' idiot smashed into the rear driver side of my parked car and drove off.  No note, no knock on the door in the morning, nothing.  Insurance company, car rental places, and auto body repair shops are not open, so, alas, I am home today to take care of it all.  Irritating to say the least, especially since I really don't have the extra money for the costs this will incur. Such is life, I suppose. So, in light of being home and annoyed and feeling very financially challenged, I decided to cook.  When I was in college, there was a nearby diner that made the most amazing hearty yummy soup they called  hodgepodge soup. I decided to try my own version, using up some fresh veggies that are sure to go bad soon if they aren't cooked as well as a few healthy ingredients to punch up the nutritional content.  It was originally going to be vegetarian, but keeping my carnivore boyfriend in mind, I decided to add some meat.  We have several "someday" dreams ... one of which is a bed and breakfast with meals made by the both of us centering around my homegrown veggies and herbs as well as locally grown/raised produce and meats.  I can envision making versions of this soup with whatever we have in surplus, adjusting the spices to suit the veggies.  This one has a decidedly Mexican/Latin flair to it.... if anyone gives it a shot, or adjusts reflecting their own refrigerator contents, let me know how it comes out! I'll be trying  a bowl when I'm done writing.  My measurements are approximate, as always ...

• I started with some good olive oil and cooking down 1/4 shallot, 3 garlic cloves, 1/4 roughly chopped white onion, 2 tomatillos, 1/2 a tomato, 1/4 finely chopped jalapeno, and a nice big splash of bud light. 
• Added two thawed out hamburger patties, broken up into chunks with my hands
• About half a container of low sodium chicken broth, Stop & Shop's natural brand
• Can of Goya red beans and 2/3 cup green lentils
• Two big handfuls of baby carrots, chopped into thirds, some more white onion, 1/3 of a red pepper, roughly chopped
• Spices: fresh cilantro, Adobo, red pepper flakes, freshly grated ginger, cinnamon, cumin, fresh thyme, sea salt, black pepper, 3 bay leaves
• whole wheat penne - like 1/4 of a box
• rind from Parmesan cheese (saw this trick on Rachel Ray, I think...)
• added water to fill the pot, and adjusted seasonings to taste

We'll see how it comes out. My apartment smells amazing ...