From Nutty to Wiped Out

Before and After of Kelly on Easter day in the dog's cage playing...No nap and a whole day of running around like a nut.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread & Muffins

Got this fabulous recipe from my friend Phoebe at work...So great.  We had 3 rotten bananas so I figured this would be a good idea and made it today with Rory while Kelly napped.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 medium bananas or 1 cup mashed
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (I didn't have a measurement for this but I did have an instruction so I guessed and it seemed to work out okay!)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts optional (I didn't include - not crazy about nuts in my baked goods)

1. Melt butter
2. In a mixer, blend sugar and butter
3. Mix in beaten eggs and mashed bananas, blending until smooth
4. Sift plan flour with salt and baking soda and then stir in whole wheat flour
5. Add flour mixture into wet ingredients, alternately with hot water
6. Stir in choc chips/nuts
7. Scoop into 6 muffins and turn rest into greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.
8. Bake bread at 325 for 1 hour, 10 minutes (as I type this I realize I did 350 which explains why the bread was toasty on top :)  ).  Muffins were in for 20 minutes.

Spring Day at Tball

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Birth of an X-Wing Fighter

After several false starts, Rory finally made it 14 days in a row without whining, complaining, stalling, and being an all out pain in the ass at dinner time.  He tried things on his plate and didn't take an hour to eat.  As a reward, I brought him to TRU to get a new Lego kit.  He selected the Star Wars X-Wing Fighter.  It took just 2 sittings and he finished it.  He did 90% of it by himself, with some help from me and Joe when he had some mistakes we had to backtrack to fix.  He loves these kits!

I'm happy to report that he's gotten SO much better at dinner.  Last night he actually started eating his pork chop without me saying a word.  He was anti-meat for awhile so I was thrilled to see him taking some initiative and digging right in.  There's something to be said for bribery.

Easter 2011

Easter was a lovely day.  The kids were thrilled with the Easter Baskets - some candy, a Leapster cartridge for the big kids, a guy for each kid (Star Wars R7 for Rory, Unicorn for Shelagh, Puppy for Kelly), and a book for each kid (Dino's for Rory, Eloise for Shelagh, Little Pookie for Kelly).  Shelagh took pictures of the bunny tracks in the house, while Kelly wiped the baby powder away and gave us a seriously skeptical face about the whole setup.  We lounged around for a bit, Joe and Shelagh went to church, and then we went to my brother/sister in law's for the rest of the day.  It was a beautiful day and the kids spent much of it outside.  I brought guacamole, which I tried to fill up on a bit.  Then my SIL served a lovely dinner - filet, ravioli, green beans, creamed spinach, and salad.  I had small portions of everything and it was heavenly to eat that filet!  Finished up with Key Lime Pie - so delicious. 

 

Operation DEYIAB Status

After 2 weeks of going vegan, with 2 days allowance for cheating b/c of eating out/holiday plans, I've lost 4 lbs and seem to have wrangled my out of control the snacking on crap problem.  I've managed to eat only 1 creme egg, 1 Peep, and 1 mini chocolate egg for all of Easter - which is a MAJOR MIRACLE.  Usually I start snacking on the candy pre-Easter and then pilfering out of the kids baskets post-Easter.  Anyway, my anal retentive personality has kicked in and I'm completely micro-managing my intake and journaling my food and exercise online.  Annoying over time, but good for right now until I reach my goal.

I've decided to make some modifications as the pure vegan way is not going to work for an extended period of time.  I just can't cook the veggies fast enough.  I'm now shifting things a bit:

• Still no butter, milk, cream cheese, egg yolk, and extraneous cheese (Still need a sprinkle of parmesan here and there).  I tried Soy Milk and it's totally fine for my coffee.  Not crazy about it in my cereal, but that's okay.  This is taking a lot of fat out of my diet which should help the cholesterol.  Making a physical appt for June still.
• Small portions of meat for dinner only.  I've done about 3-4oz chicken and pork the last couple of nights.  At least it's a lower carb protein.  The beans are good protein, but more carbs. 
• Minimal starchy carbs.  Pasta is a serious downfall for me.  I could eat more than half a box in a sitting if I'm hungry enough or I eat it fast enough.  I actually measured out my pasta last night and was surprisingly satisfied.  I ended up with 3-4 oz lean pork chop, 1/2 cup+ pasta with pesto, steamed green beans, and about a 1/2 cup of leftover shaved asparagus.
• No sweets.  This is big.  Joe and I both would have a sweet after the kids were in bed - ice cream, cookies, etc.  I'm managing to sit next to him and ignore him eating the sweets and have not buckled.  Also, no stash at work.  I usually have 1 - 3 Trader Joe's chocolate sweets in my desk drawer.  But, like an alcoholic, I can't stop at 1 and it's a fast spiral downward.

My work is having a Summer Shape Up Challenge so I joined a team and am tracking my choices there too.  Having to document it all helps.  I'd like to lose about 5-9 more lbs, if possible.  Not sure it is b/c I don't see my exercise increasing more than the 2x/week I'm at now.  However, some friends from the pool are starting up with tennis so I'm going to try to do that.

Shaved Asparagus with Parmesean Vinaigrette

This month's Bon Appettit has a new editor and a new look and I like it!  I read it cover to cover in 2 sittings and was happy.  I made this recipe by the authors of Canal House Cooking which is a beautiful cookbook series that I get and enjoy (I'm just realizing that Molly Wizenburg from Orangette was no in there...I wonder if her column is gone???).  The asparagus was a pain in the ass because you have to shave the asparagus spear by spear.  That said, with a few modifications, it was delicious and refreshing and would be a lovely, do-ahead side veggie if you're having people over.  Here's what I changed...

• I blanched the asparagus.  I didn't really want a raw asparagus salad.  It seemed tough for that type of application.  Instead, I shaved the spears, dropped them into boiling, salted water for about 2 minutes and then into an ice bath to stop the cooking.  I returned to the empty blanching pot where I tossed them in the parmesean dressing.
• I used maybe a little more than 1/2 the dressing and it was still a little too much, I think.  It can most definitely be reused on some other veggie.  Also, I think there was too much oil in the dressing.  It could be nice and a little sharper with some melted down anchovy, perhaps?

Sirius Dead People/Animals Shows

On Sirius there are 2 shows about communicating with the dead - Animal Intuition and Angels on Call.  I'm serious.  People call in and ask for the host to communicate with their dead pet and ask about what kind of life/death they had and she seriously responds like she has just spoken on the phone with the cat.  I shit you not.  Who listens to this crap?????

Movie: The Kings Speech & 127 Hours

We watched The King's Speech this weekend.  We really liked the movie.  That said, I don't think it should have gotten Best Picture (note: I haven't seen all the Best Picture nominees yet).  I'm okay with it beating Social Network, Toy Story 3, Kids are All Right, The Fighter, and 127 Hours.  I think Inception and Winter's Bone were both better overall films though.  I still hope to see True Grit and Black Swam is on it's way via Netflix now. 

Colin Firth was really great and, I think, deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor.  In my mind, however, if James Franco had won for 127 Hours I wouldn't have been upset.  I really liked The Social Network, but I really don't think it's Best Picture or Best Actor material.  I've heard great things about Biutiful and True Grit, so I guess I should hold off on any final declarations.

Back to The King's Speech...I do not think Geoffery Rush or Helena Bonham Carter should have been nominated.  I enjoyed both of their performances, but not as best of the year.  I have seen all the Best Supporting Actor movies and Christian Bale was clearly the best choice.  For Best Supporting Actress, I thought Melissa Leo was good and should have beaten HBC and Amy Adams (whom I don't think warranted nomination).  Jacki Weaver was not prominant in Animal Kingdom, but in 2 scenes I thought she was serenely frightening and evil.  I guess I should see True Grit before I'm 100% on this one.

127 Hours was really amazing.  It must be so incredibly difficult to be in a movie essentially by yourself, a la Tom Hanks in Cast Away.  While I do think James Franco probably has similar personal qualities as Aron Ralston and there might be parts of the character that were not such a stretch, I was still really impressed by what it took him to pull this off.  The key scene was really tough to watch and actually I shut my eyes and didn't really watch it.  Ew.  I also would have loved some DVD extras on this, like an interview with the real Aron Ralston, a summary of where he is now (other than married with a child which was cool but not enough info!), what the girls he saw before he disappeared or his co-worker or family thought about while he was gone and when he returned, etc.

Looking forward to Black Swam coming on Netflix and both Kung Fu Panda 2 and Cars 2 coming to the theater soon!

Eggs on Top of Things

I love eggs.  But, I would like to go on record as not liking this trend of putting a poached egg on top of anything and everything - burger, pasta, polenta, soup, pizza, and on and on and on.  I'm just sayin'...

TV: What We're Watching

Still watching a variety of shows, but just haven't written about it in awhile.  We seem to be in a period-series kick right now...

1. Pillars of the Earth mini-series - I read the book a couple of years ago and loved it.  I thought they did a pretty good job adapting this to screen.  My only criticism was that they portrayed Philip as all good, whereas in the book he really corrupted much more towards the end.
2. Mildred Pierce mini-series - Both Joe and I enjoyed this.  I haven't seen the previous version nor read the book.  Kate Winslet is just heaven to watch.  Guy Pearce, whom I like, was fine.  Evan Rachel Wood played the spoiled brat child to perfection.  Enjoyed  Melissa Leo's performance as well - quite a departure from Mickey Ward's mom.  The costumes have got to win something.
3. Camelot - New series on Starz that I'm really enjoying.  Liking the story, costumes great, the woman playing Morgan, King Arthur's half-sister, is fantastic.  The guy playing King Arthur, however, is like a little waif-y blonde teenager.  What were they thinking???  It hasn't ruined the show for me but it's really distracting.  Also, Joseph Fiennes is over playing Merlin a bit. 
4. Game of Thrones - Saw the 1st episode of this new HBO show last  night and can't stop thinking about it.  I read a review on Pop Candy that it's really a lot of debauchery, not quite a show for the ladies, but I really liked it without considering the trashy parts.  You do have to pay attention to keep track of the families and how they inter-relate.  Looking forward to the next ep.
5. Regular Comedies:  Modern Family, Office, Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock - Office is still dull this year.  Don't really care about Michael Scott leaving.  Just not that funny anymore, but hanging in there.  Loving the other 3.
6. Top Chef Masters - Didn't watch last year, but enjoying this season.  Interesting watching the pro/seasoned chefs as compared to the newbies.  So glad Suvir didn't get sent home...I'm loving him and his style.
7. Lights Out - This is boring me and we've let episodes delete.  I love FX, but this is just not that good.  I'm waiting anxiously for Sons of Anarchy to return.
8. Friday Night Lights - Last season just started this past week and it's great to have Coach and the fam back!
9. Me Only: HIMYM, Greys - F*&^ing sweeps - no new episodes in so long.
10. On DVD: Big Bang Theory, Season 1 - Just started this a few weeks ago as back up if nothing is on.  Friend had recommended based on us having enjoyed Freaks & Geeks, and we're loving it.  Such a funny show.  Love nerd humor.

I really do a lot of other things...it just doesn't seem so when you look at the above list :)

Jumping for Pirates

The kids have been watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Rory has a Pirate ship with some cool pirate guys that they like to play with.  We also have been telling Kelly about her "private".  She's a little mixed up.

Operation DEYIAB Week 1 Complete

All in all, I'm so pleased with Week 1 of the plan.  It looks like I lost 3 lbs, but who knows...I weighed myself at the kids Dr office a week or so before I started.  I weighed myself yesterday AM at home, but I don't know if I trust my scale so much.  I think I'll make my annual exam appointment for June to give my cholesterol time to improve and to put a goal in place to stick with it until then.

After 6 days of completely sticking to the plan - no meat, no dairy - day 7 was a "cheat" day.  I was feeling mixed about Sunday, but we had brunch plans with friends yesterday morning and we had my MIL's surprise 70th party at a restaurant that is known for their steak/meat that I had been wanting to try for awhile.  So, I decided to go off plan for the day but try to keep things in moderation.  On one hand, I could have totally stuck to plan if I didn't have plans but certainly I was excited for both events and didn't want to be picking away at a salad while everyone else was feasting.  I think I did a pretty good job overall. 

Breakfast: Oatmeal made with water and a bit of maple syrup (better made w/ milk, but water is tolerable)
Lunch: small Slice of fritatta w/ roasted red pepper, few oven roasted potatoes, small piece of baked salmon, fruit salad, 1 mimosa, few spears of asparagus, 1 mini Reses peanut butter cup (I couldn't resist, but was thrilled I stopped at 1!!)
Dinner: 2 crackers w/ crab dip, salad w/ balsamic dressing, few slices of duck breast w/ some kind of sweet sauce and braised endive, 2 sauteed sea scallops w/ parsnip puree, small bit of asparagus, few bites of Joe's sirloin, 1 small onion ring, 2 bites of chocolate cake, 2 bites of Rory's chocolate chip cookie, 1 bite of Kelly's vanilla ice cream, and 2 glasses of Chardonnay. 

A mix-match of lots of stuff, but just a small bit of each.  This will probably be more of what I do after the vegan trial period is over.  Moderation.  Something I don't know much about. 

Operation DEYIAB Day 5

Still hanging in there...Only problem was watching Joe eat fresh baked choc chip cookies and not picking off the kids Mac & Cheese!

Breakfast: 1/2 Eng Muffin w/ Apricot Jam
Lunch: Hummus, pita, 1/2 avocado, roasted orange peppers.
Dinner: Wheat angel hair, tomato sauce, roasted fennel, sauteed zucchini
Snacks: Rice crisps - found these yesterday - they were good!

Watched the kids eat pizza in front of me.  I did eat some crust, but not eating the cheese was really tough.

Shelagh's Art Show!

 

Shelagh's 1st grade art project was chosen for the school district Art Show.  Hers is the bear with the yellow t-shirt.  She was so proud, as were we - I finally met her art teacher who told me how much she enjoyed having Shelagh for a student.  I was so proud!  It's great to see her doing well at something that means so much to her.  They also had a room for making clay projects so the big kids were happy to partake.  Finally, we went to see the high school orchestra play in the auditorium and Kelly enjoyed this part of the evening the best as you can see below (I'm dizzy just watching her)!  She loves classical music, thank you Little Einsteins!

Operation DEYIAB Day 4

Definitely ate too much pasta the other night.   Funny after just a couple of days you feel your stomach shrink.  Anyhoo, ok day.  Probably too much chinese food rice too, but no cheating yet!

Breakfast: Eng Muffin w/ Jam, Tea
Lunch: big, big, big salad with lots of veggies, beans, and some honey mustard dressing, pita.
Dinner: Veg Fried Rice, sans egg; Some of Joe's broccoli from his Beef & Broccoli
Snacks: Dried Apricots, Hummus/Pita, Peanuts

Making it along ok so far...Thinking about my girls night out next week at a great chinese/sushi place and bummed I can't have salmon, but I'll load up on veggies and avocado rolls.

Operation DEYIAB Day 3

Okay, technically milk is the last ingredient in the wheat english muffins and some pasta has egg in it.  I'm sure there is some milk and/or egg in the pita and regular bread I will depend on for some bulk.  I also need to take a multi-vitamin I would think. 

Breakfast - whole wheat english muffin with jam, tea
Lunch - flax/oat pita, hummus, avocado, roasted peppers, cucumbers
Dinner - wheat angel hair pasta w/ tomato sauce, roasted veggies (torture watching the kids eat leftover spiral ham.  I LOVE HAM. well, pork products of any kind, really.  but, ham has always been my achilles heel - since i was a kid.  favorite meal if i got to choose?  ham, fettucini alfredo, and salad with ranch dressing.  seriously.)
Snacks - dried apricots

I need more variety in breakfast.  A friend at work just gave me oatmeal from Trader Joe's that only calls for water, not milk, that I will try tomorrow.  I am really particular about oatmeal...it needs to be thick and grainy like risotto...not packets for sure.  I will try it though.  My friend said it had nice texture...I'll go light with the water so it's thick at least and will add some maple syrup.

Operation DEYIAB - Part 2

Operation Don't Embarass Yourself in a Bathing Suit begain in a Gap fitting room.  Part 2 is me taking drastic measures to 1) Lose some lb's and 2) Drop my cholesterol from it's ridiculous number to something bordering on normal.  I'm taking a swing at going vegan for the next month and a half or so - Memorial Day weekend probably.  My friend just lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks doing this, so what the hell.  It's been 1 1/2 days.  It's hard.  I'm finding not having dairy being harder than not having meat.  I like tea, but I miss my coffee with milk (more like milk & sugar with a splash of coffee).  I spent mid-day today roasting a slew of veggies - carrots, parsnips, brussel sprouts, celery root, fennel.  Making a vat of brown rice now and cooking up some cabbage and zucchini as well.  Here's what I've eaten so far:

Monday
Breakfast - rye toast w/ jam, tea
Lunch - huge salad w/ tons of veggies and beans
Dinner - pizza w/out cheese - dough + pesto + mushrooms + broccoli
Snacks - breadsticks

Tuesday
Breakfast - english muffin w/ jam, tea
Lunch - Hummus, pita, avocado, cucumbers
Dinner - Rice, Veggies (add on chicken for kids & Joe)
Snacks - veggies while I was cooking them today

Still planning to do my Tues & Fri at the gym for 1 hour.  That's about all I can manage with my schedule and needed level of sleep.  Keeping track of everything on myfitnesspal.com.  We'll see how I do!

Foos

I'm completely obsessed right now.  Foo Fighters documentary Back and Forth on Palladia in HD kicked ass; SNL appearance rocked - freakin' Taylor Hawkins is insanely good; Foo's on Stern this morning mesmerizing; new album out tomorrow.  If they don't post some East Coast tour dates soon I might implode.  I sat in my car for a 1/2 hour listening to the interview on Stern and will listen again at work at 11am on the replay.  I love Dave Grohl.  I love Dave Grohl.  I love Foo Fighters.  Must see them live soon.  Will pay anything for tickets at this point.  Considering flying to Germany if they don't post East Coast dates soon. 

Bored

"I sit through Swim, skating, skiing, Tball, soccer...man, do I ever get to do anything?????"

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Kids

Just a few recent shots of the kids...

Can you guess what they are doing?



"Just a little milky.  Just a little."



Laying in the Fort

Loving dress up

Handsome Haircut

Rorys 1st TBall

He went barreling out of the car and dashed onto the field for his first tball practice. I was worried about the pace for him where he gets bored and can lose focus. He's totally into it though. So unbelievably cute...he's proud to have his own team like Shelagh has with soccer.

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Kelly Belly

It's hard to look at this sweet little face and think anything other than a perfect little angel.  She has been such an easy kid.  Not fussy.  Sleeps mostly well - naps easily, if she gets up early in the AM she'll come into bed with us and go back to sleep.  Is empathetic...always checking in on everyone else.  Poor thing had a LONG week of strep.  Both she and Shelagh were diagnosed on Tuesday.  She took her antibiotics for 2 days and then decided that she'd had it with medicine of all kind - antibiotics and ibuprofen - thereby causing her fever to linger for days.  I tried everything I could think of including offering her ice cream for breakfast to hide the medicine (if you know me you have to know how desperate I was to sink to this level).  I also decided to just squirt it in her mouth and kind of force her to take it, which backfired when she puked all over me. 

Finally, I had the Dr change her prescription to chewable pills which I've been chopping up and disolving in her milk ever since.  Are we really not far enough in modern medicine to have invented a single shot or a very concentrated once a day for a couple of days dose of antibiotics?  Really?  She was still icky on Sunday and Monday was her first semi-normal day.  She is also getting 2 of her 2-year molars.  I am hoping that one of these 2 health drama's is what is causing her to be a complete and total pain in the ass.  Whining, screaming, clinging to me like glue, hijacking naps and bedtime, refusing anything to eat but toast, asking for help and then screaming when it's offered, insisting on sleeping with me with her arms wrapped incredibly tightly around my neck (ok, this was actually cute and I was in heaven staring at her super cute sleeping angel face even while Mildred Pierce Part 3 was on pause downstairs waiting for me to return).  Could this be terrible two's?  My other 2 had terrible 4's instead so I'm really not mentally prepared for terrible 2's.  Oy.

The List

Not that there was any doubt, but Shelagh is most definitely my kid.  See list below for this past Saturday.

List translation: Teth (Teeth), Dance close (clothes), Pack Mimi's, Pee, Dance, Skating, Mimi's, Eat, Bed, Snoring, Wack up (Wakeup), Eat brecfist (Eat Breakfast).  I don't know if my list would include Pee or Snoring, but to each their own!

Honey Ricotta Cheesecake

Made this Giada De Laurentiis Honey Ricotta Cheesecake recipe for Supper Club Saturday night.  It's part cream cheese, part ricotta with a ground biscotti crust.  It had a great consistency - I like the combination of the 2 cheeses.  I did use the whole container of ricotta which was 3 oz more than the recipe called for (which screwed up my stuffed mushrooms which needed those 3 oz!).  I don't think that did much other than maybe dilute the honey/orange zest flavor perhaps.  Hard to know.  I'll make it again and figure it out though.

Rest of Supper Club Menu:

Apps

- Mozz wrapped w/ Prosciutto baked in Marinara (from Mom)

- Mushrooms stuffed with Sausage, Spinach, Ricotta, Parm

Main

- Pork Roast with a garlic herb paste (with bones)

- Penne alla Vodka (Lidia Bastianich version)

- Sauteed Escarole in garlic

- Tomato Onion Arugula Salad (also from Mom)

I think all came out as I wanted.  Of course I bought/made too much and now have a plethora of cherry tomatoes, arugula, and escarole.  Bought too much Pork (9 lbs w/ bones), but realized before cooking and cut off part to save for another time.  Ended up with 1 slice left.  Yeah!