Weekly Menu

146.4
I ate way fewer grains but still didn't exercise.
Took vitamins twice.
Inflammation and bad joint pain.
A lot of stress.
Slept poorly.
It was a busy week and next week will be a bit calmer but I have still have way too much going on to do much cooking this week so I am going super simple.

Meals:

Spaghetti
Ethiopian food to celebrate ALMI DAY! -- OUR FIRST YEAR TOGETHER!
Sweet and Saucy Chicken
leftovers
Tomato soup and tuna melts

Sweet and Saucy Chicken (from the Moms Who Think website)

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups salsa
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons honey dijon mustard

>Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine all ingredients and place in 13x9" pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Next week I will do 30 Day Shred!!
Have a great week!

How Do You Break This Habit?

Bubbly Sudsy Fun

One of her favorite times of day.. bathtime!!

C'mon Mama!

Mommy, here's your DVD.

Here, let me open it for you.

Whoa! This is tricky! Is this why you haven't started yet?

What? Give it to you to open?! You crack me up!

The Date

I know you've been waiting with baited breath, LOL. so here's the lowdown on my date with M.

He offered to pick me up but I chose to drive and meet him downtown. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 but because it was so beautiful out (it was in the 70's--perfect weather for a Friday night date), everyone was out and the traffic was crazy. It was close to 7:00 when I finally turned the corner to the street the restaurant was on. I realized that parking in a garage would be my best option as I was running so late and didn't have the time to look for a parking space, but it was also at that same moment that I realized I left my wallet in my other purse. So, I said a thank you to the Universe for the parking space right in front of the restaurant and low and behold as I pulled up, someone was pulling out. That law of attraction stuff works, I tell you! :-)

So, the date. I feel like I can't give too many details because he flat out asked me, "Did you tell anyone about our date?" Um, not yet but hundreds are about to read about it on the internet. And what if in fact I do end up with him?

Not that there's anything monumental to tell. I met him at a bar downtown. I gave him a hug when I saw him because after talking for 2 months I kind of felt like I knew him. We chatted for a bit, he ordered me a glass of wine and then left to check on our reservation at the restaurant next door. While he was gone I got to reflect on my first impression.

Tall.
Attractive.
Nice Smile.
Pleasant.
Good eye contact.
Made a couple of good jokes.
Engaging.
But athletic and toned like he checked in his profile? Uh, no.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no super model and I don't have a body like Jillian Michaels, but come on. I think needing to lose 40 pounds takes you out of the athletic and toned category, don't you?

But aside from that I think he is who he says he is. I found him interesting and smart and funny. He's well traveled. He has lived overseas. He's an entrepreneur. He said he hopes to retire at 45. He was generous. He wants children. Yeah, he occasionally smokes cigars and gambles and eats too much bad restaurant food but all that would change when he gets with me, right? ;-)

We ate dinner. We laughed. We talked. We went and listened to some music somewhere else. He suggested prolonging the evening even further (it was after 1) but this single mama was tired and couldn't hang anymore. He asked me how I thought the date was, what I was looking for and I let him know I thought he was cool. I do. I like him. We hugged good-bye and that was it.

We've talked a few times since Friday, and he's still distracted on the phone but, if he asks, I'll go out with him again.

It's Gotta Go!

I have too much stuff. My problem is three fold:

1. I buy stuff (stockpile) when things are on sale to save money. Toothpaste on sale? I buy three tubes. Art supplies on sale? Can't have too many of those. Great book recommendation? Awesome! Amazon makes it so easy to ship it directly to my house. See a great gift for someone? Purchase it months before Christmas or their birthday.

2. I am sentimental so I save things like old photographs, greeting cards, old love letters, skinny jeans, artwork from students and tickets to Broadway shows.

3. I have a home with space for it to pile up

Well, enough is enough. I am committed to clearing it out! I am convinced that a cluttered home is the cause of so many problems in life. You get stressed looking at all the stuff everywhere, you lose money when you can't find things, you waste time looking for things, you get injuries tripping over stuff, you spend too time trying to organize it all, etc.

But a home devoid of clutter and excess stuff would mean not only the above issues would be eliminated but also that I could spend my time doing what I want to do in a relaxing, Zen environment. Ahh.. the thought of it even kind of relaxes me.

My plan was to do these 26 projects. I blogged about it earlier in the year. This was the plan:


1. Stain all frames, furniture
2. Print out photos to hang on my walls
3. Hang said photos on walls (and one taken by professional photographer as well)
4. Make a headboard for my bed
5. Paint my bedroom
6. Decorate Almi's room
7. Hang curtains
8. Donate/sell books
9. Sell bookcases
10. Sell futon
11. Sell mirrored chest
12. Organize craft room
13. Move all harmful products up high
14. Hang the fire extinguisher
15. Sell shoe racks
16. Organize shelf in closet
17. Organize linen closet
18. Donate kitchen stuff
19. Create vision board
20. Move bookcases from Almi's room to the den
21. Make my bedroom a cozy sanctuary
22. Put felt on the bottom of the dining room chairs and create dining area
23. Donate Almi's highchair and give back crib
24. Donate/sell outgrown, outdated, not loved clothing (mine and hers)
25. Hang artwork in various rooms
26. Go through all boxes

I have accomplished a few items from the list. I started my vision board. I advertised the mirrored chest on Craigslist but the first two flakes interested buyers didn't show up. I Freecycled some kitchen stuff. The rest is in a box to take to Goodwill. I Freecycled a bunch of her clothes and a bunch of mine. But now I have a new plan. Get rid of most of our possessions. I'm not kidding. I can't take it anymore!

I have been reading minimalism blogs like Miss Minimalist, my current favorite, and blogs that inspire like this one where this couple sold everything they owned in preparation for a trip around the world. I'm inspired! I'm excited!! I'm on board! My plan is to get rid of one box or bag each day for the rest of the month.

It can go to the consignment shop.
Or to my porch for a Freecycler.
Or to Goodwill/Salvation Army/Thrift store.
Or be purchased by someone from Craigslist.
Or to my trash can out back.
Or any other way but each day one box or bag or piece of furniture must be removed from my home.

No time like the present!!! Today is February 22 so that gives me just one week of implementation and then I will reevaluate and decide what needs to be done come March.

Good-bye seven bags of stuff! Don't let the door hit ya on the way out!

Sweet Aromatic Chicken

I ditched the Chicken Marbella idea and decided to make this instead. Much less labor intensive. It sounded (and smelled!) really good but it was just ok. Naomi didn't like it at all but maybe that's because she really just wanted to eat bananas. Maybe it will be better tomorrow.



This is right before I turned on the Crock Pot. Man, I love that thing. I need to use it more.

Sourdough French Toast

Lately I've been reading about how fermented foods aid in health. We're trying to go grain-free but going cold turkey is hard and makes preparing lunches difficult so I decided sourdough would be okay. Yesterday, at Trader Joe's I found what I was looking for. I read it needs to be made with a sourdough starter. They had two types of sourdough but only one was made with a sourdough starter so that's the one I bought. I was never really a fan of sourdough but this was very tasty! It's great for french toast, too, because it really holds up well to the egg mixture.

This is how I made it. I cracked 4 eggs into a bowl and added ½ c. milk. Then I added 2T of maple syrup, ¼ t. of cinnamon, ½ t. of vanilla and a dash of salt. Let the bread soak up the egg mixture, about 5 min. or so, and then fry it up in some butter. Yum! Next time I will probably use coconut milk in the recipe and coconut oil in the pan. Mmmm.. I love all things coconut. I really liked it and Naomi thought it was great, too!

Weekly Menu

I am typing this is total silence. All I hear is the tap, tap, tap of my fingers hitting the keyboard and the wind whipping the trees around in my backyard. My daughter is at her teacher's house. Ms. E offered to keep her overnight and I jumped at the opportunity! It has been a much needed break for both of us. She gets to play with her teacher's 4 year old niece and I get to do my own thing.

And what was my own thing you ask? I had a date last night (details to come) and I relaxed in my pjs all day today, just blogging and chatting on the phone. So nice and so needed!!! But to not make the time off a total waste, I am going to head to grocery store to pick up some items and do some cleaning.

So on to the menu plan. Well, this past week was worse than the one before that and I have the headaches and joint pain and exhaustion to prove it. It started with Valentine's Day with all the chocolate and cupcakes and it didn't stop. And I feel terrible!!

So, here we go again. Trying this week to eat better and take better care of us this week. I am not going to buy any grains this time when I go to the store, except maybe some sourdough bread which I hear is good for you. No steel cut oats for breakfast this week. No rice cakes for her sandwiches. I really want to get us to eating meals that don't include grains as much as possible. Instead I am going to buy meat and fish and lots of fruits and veggies and try to prepare everything from scratch. I may prepare one or two healthy desserts but nothing processed, no sugar, no hydrogenated oils and no white flours.

This week we will be eating:

The Ethiopian food my student's mom made
Chicken Marbella and spinach
Pan-fried fish and cauliflower mashed potatoes
Sausages and braised kale (I just made that up as I typed..need to find recipe)
leftovers

Stats will remain blank for one more week. I haven't worked out, taken one single vitamin and I ate junk. I can't bear to look at the scale. But I will announce everything again next week!!

Chicken Marbella Recipe

* 2 chickens, 2 1/2 lbs each, quartered

* 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed

* 2 Tbsp dried oregano

* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* 1/2 cup pitted prunes

* 1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives

* 1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice

* 3 bay leaves

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 1/2 cup white wine

* 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

1 In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F.

3 Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

4 Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).

5 With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.

Serves 5.

***I don't have any prunes so I am going to substitute dates and instead of brown sugar I will use Sucanat.

And I might make this yummy dessert!

COCONUT BARK ALMOND JOY

•6 Tablespoons coconut oil, organic, virgin, expeller-pressed

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•1 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

•1/2 teaspoon stevia –OR– 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

•2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded or chopped coconut

•1/4 cup ounces almonds, raw, chopped

Measure the coconut oil (solid) and melt.

Whisk in vanilla, cocoa and sweetener until COMPLETELY dissolved.

Whisk in remaining ingredients until completely dissolved.

Pour mixture evenly into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper

Place pan in freezer and let sit 10 minutes

It will harden quickly and you simply snap off the desired amount to eat. Keep cold.

Have a great week of healthy eating!!

Binge Eating with Toddlers?

I am too tired and annoyed to write about this in detail but I wanted to share this: Naomi came home from daycare yesterday and refused to eat her dinner. Then, while sitting in her high chair, she threw up. I took her upstairs and gave her a bath and the next thing I knew she was asking to go to bed. It was 6:00! She has never done that before and I knew she wasn't feeling well so I put her to bed. Around 8 she started whimpering so I went in to check on her and she had thrown up again. Poor thing. I gave her another bath, changed her sheets and put her back down.

This is the thing. I am sure she did it because she overate at the Valentine's Day party. The sign up sheet for parent contributions was ridiculous! They wanted us to bring chips, cheez curlz, fruit cups, cookies, cupcakes and juice! I mean seriously, WHY were they serving them so much food?! I was horrified so I brought in a banana and asked them to serve it to her at the party. She loves bananas and it was my way of reminding them that I don't like her to be given massive amounts of junk food. Just add this to her plate instead of the cupcake or something so she eats less junk, I requested.

Well, not only did they not do that (her banana was still there at pick up) but they also didn't monitor her eating. She obviously ate and ate and ate herself sick. I am so frustrated! They had no business feeding them all that crap to begin with but then to let the kids eat as much as they want?

I realize they may not be mindful of my daughter's eating issues during a party. I mean, they know she can eat a lot but perhaps they were distracted or didn't care since it was a party. And to their defense, most kids will probably stop when full. But the fact of the matter is, sometimes they may not and in this situation they allowed a two year old to eat so much she threw up and that pisses me off.

Naomi's eating is beginning to concern me more and more. I have blogged about this before. Naomi eats a lot and she doesn't seem to know the feeling of being satiated. She will keep eating and eating and eating--more than me if I let her. People keep telling me she is a "growing girl" or not to worry but that she has a "healthy appetite" but my mother's intuition is making me think there is more to it. I haven't done much reading on the subject, but I do know that binge eating isn't uncommon for older children or children going through attachment issues. But does this happen with toddlers?

Maybe I am making too much out of it but I am still concerned. Does anyone have any experience with this? Can anyone suggest where I can go to get more information on this type of behavior? Or maybe there are some toddler experts out there who can explain to me about toddler eating habits and assure me that this is normal.

In the meantime, I will continue to provide her healthy foods that won't upset me as much if she overeats... but come on. Even healthy foods need to be restricted at some point. She could eat an entire jar of applesauce or 4 bananas if I didn't stop her.

Valentine's Day

I ♡ Valentine's Day. It's my favorite holiday.

I guess because I am a huge sucker for romance. I love reading stories of how people met and fell in love. I love reading about creative proposals. I love reading about (and attending) weddings. I love thinking about how wonderful it must be to spend hours alone with the love of your life on a honeymoon in a gorgeous tropical location. I love diamond rings. And chocolate. And love letters. And bubble baths. Basically all things romantic.

So Valentine's Day, even when single, is still fun for me. What's not to love about a day focused on love?! I think it's great and when you teach Kindergarten it's even better! Valentine's Day in Kindergarten is a day of art projects and exchanging cards and parties. And my students and colleagues made it extra special. Look at these awesome things I came home with today (and this didn't include all the chocolate and cards!)





Since Naomi's daycare planned to exchange cards, it was the was the perfect opportunity to do a craft project together over the weekend. I thought she'd enjoy painting and I figured I could cut the paper into hearts for her classmates' cards. She had a ball and it cost me nothing to create them; I had all supplies on hand. Fun times. We will be painting again soon.






Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

After attending a fashion show with some friends, he meets me there for a laugh and a drink and then we head home. He is driving through the drizzle on cobblestone streets in a lovely Parisian neighborhood. He is holding my hand and serenading me the entire time.

We arrive back to his home, a lovely and quaint chateau nestled amongst some trees in the quiet countryside. Once inside, he hands me a glass of wine and a platter of nuts and cheese and we chat for a bit. Then he hands me what I think is a magazine article, a menu of 15 courses, each paired with a different French wine or spirit. The only two I can recall at the moment are the foie gras and a dish of calf livers or some other organ meats. I think to myself it's a bit too fancy for me until I realize upon reaching the bottom that this is the menu of our dinner that evening. After reading, I look up at him and he has removed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He informs me that he is looking forward to preparing me this gastronomic feast.

I blink for a moment, trying to take it all in. The lovely French kitchen we are standing in with it's large copper pots and picture windows where I look beyond him and see the rain running down the windowpanes. He is waiting for me, waiting for me to respond. It takes me a while for I can not believe my good fortune. He is drop dead gorgeous and he is in love with me. I inquire where all the cookbooks are for this meal he is about to prepare and he chuckles quietly and tells me not to worry but that he is more than capable of preparing the entire meal himself, from scratch.

The feeling of love for this man fills my heart and soul. I am blessed. I excuse myself to freshen up and all the while marvel at my incredible good fortune.

And then I wake up from my dream. Yes, y'all that was my dream last night.
Happy Valentine's Day. :)

Weekly Menu

It's easy this week. I only have to plan two dishes. Yay!!!

Monday - Navy Bean Bacon Chowder (already in the crock)
Tuesday - We are meeting a blog buddy for dinner
Wednesday - Chicken Ricotta dish from last week
Thursday - leftovers and salad
Friday - my date (and she will eat at her teacher's house)

For the Navy Bean Chowder I modified the recipe. I tasted it as it was cooking and it seems pretty good. I threw three carrots I chopped up, some greek vinagrette and vegetable broth into the crock. Then I added a can of drained black beans and a can of drained canelli beans. I cooked 5 pieces of bacon and added that topped it off with black pepper and garlic powder. I cooked it on high for about 2 hours and low for another 2. The recipe says to add a cup of milk before serving. I may try this with some of the soup (cause I don't want to ruin it) but use some of the cream that's left over from the cream of broccoli soup I made last week.

No junk food this week and I will break the seal on my Thirty Day Shred!!

Weekly Menu Overhaul

I have got to start doubling and tripling recipes and freezing them cause this weekly cooking is too much of a lifestyle change for me and I am losing steam. Why is eating healthy so much work?!

In an effort to make things easier I have to come up with a schedule. Something like certain nights for soup and salad, specific ethnic cuisines and leftovers and just keep to the schedule. I remember my sister used to do menu planning back in the day when I lived with her in St. Thomas. She did seafood pasta one night, homemade pizza one night, beans and rice one night and some other set dishes which she then repeated the next week with occasional variations. No one complained or thought twice because they were recipes we all enjoyed.

I need to do something similar so I am devising a plan. First of all, I am only planning five dinners a week. Next I need to figure out inexpensive, nutrient dense meals that freeze well. And third, they need to be prepped ahead of time or easy to prepare after a long day at work. Sundays will be relegated to shopping, chopping, prepping and baking bread and dessert.

Here are some thoughts:
One night of Asian food
One night of Italian food
One Mexican food
Two American

Or this:
Two nights of Crock Pot Soup recipes
One night of breakfast for dinner (like pancakes and bacon or omelettes and toast)
Chicken
Fish

Or this:
Prepare one or two soups or stews for the week and supplement each night with veggie, meat or homemade bread or rolls.

Here are my Crock Pot ideas for next week's menu. (page numbers are for me to find--will post recipe when I make the decision)


Beef Brisket Stew p.260
Hamburger Soup p.258
Navy Bean Bacon Chowder p.244
Vegetable Medley Soup p. 204
Wild Mushroom Beef Stew p.262
Beef Stew with Molasses and Raisins p.266
Chicken Fiesta Soup p.274


Last week started out right but then it all fell apart. There were many factors that led to my derailed healthy eating but just these two would bring anyone down: Thin Mints and the arrival of Aunt Flo. Who can compete with that double whammy?! And I guess I don't have to even mention that I did not even open 30 Day Shred... I'm not even going to post my stats and instead give myself a pass.

But no worries! Next week is going to be better. Here's to less food prep, healthy choices and working out! And an added incentive? I have my first date with M. next week.

Messy Moo

Post yogurt and smoothies.

Dating Update

Well, I followed your advice. I told D who I was. He claimed he had no idea. I told him ball was in his court on whether to proceed because, frankly, the more I thought about it, the less interested I became. He waited five days to respond and then called. We chatted. He had to run. And I haven't heard back. And I am totally fine with that. Next.

Now on to M. He and I have been chatting on the phone for the past few weeks. We have a date coming up soon. So far so good: Masters in IT, great job, well-traveled, articulate, calls when he says he will, attractive enough. The problem with him is he is so uber distracted on the phone. I used to date someone like this and it annoyed the heck out of me! I have having to always carry the conversation. Thing was, in person that guy was very attentive; still not a great conversationalist, but at least attentive. So, I will give M. the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's just not a phone person. Though it's pretty darn early to be distracted and inattentive on the phone. We'll see. Hopefully he's more interesting to talk to in person.

All I want to know is, 'Where are the men like Janet Jackson's man?!'
Have you seen him?
Hottie!
And he's a billionaire.
Which totally doesn't hurt.

(photo credit 365voice.com)
And did I mention how hot he is?
That's what I'm talkin' about!!

Injera!

I have an Ethiopian student in my class and every now and then her mother surprises me with some home cooked Ethiopian food. Last week she gave me some Tikil Gomen and some tibs and injera. I love not having to cook and it was really tasty! The food was really, really spicy though so Naomi is eating hers with some leftover chili. :)



And yeah, no, she' s not a natural with eating the injera (like I said in the video) but she is a natural at loving Ethiopian food. We had some again later in the week and she improved her injera food-scooping skills. I've been meaning to take her out to the Ethiopian restaurant downtown that serves a buffet on Tuesday nights for $10.00 per person. Maybe next week!

Recipes

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Egg Drop Soup


Spinach Ricotta Chicken Bake

1/2 lbs. chicken breast cut into strips

1 lb spinach, thawed frozen chopped

15 oz. ricotta cheese

3T parmesan, grated

2 egg whites

1/4 t. garlic powder

pinch nutmeg

1 1/2 c. marinara

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Coat an 8x8 baking dish with olive oil spray.

3. Cook the chicken in a skillet until it just starts to get brown.

4. Place the spinach in the middle of a clean dishtowel. Wring out water.

5. Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl. Add the ricotta, Parmesan, egg whites, garlic powder and nutmeg. Stir well.

7. Move spinach mixture to the prepared dish over top of the chicken. With the back of a spoon, spread it out to uniformly fill the dish.

8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until is hot throughout and the top begins to brown.

9. Let stand for five minutes to slightly cool

10. Heat up the sauce.

11. Spoon sauce over chicken bake.

12. EAT!

Don't ask me what is going on with my fonts on that recipe. I have no clue.


Baked Apples
Cut the core and seeds out but leave the base intact.
Place in a baking dish.
Inside each apple add:

1T butter
1/2t cinnamon
drizzle of maple syrup
raisins and/or almonds

Pour some water in the bottom of the pan (about 1/2 inch)
Bake at 400* for about 40 min or until soft.

Weekly Menu

GAPS
Specific Carbohydrate Diet
Weston A. Price
Paleo Diet
Nourishing Traditions
BED

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone out there? I'm telling you I have spent hours doing research on nutrition. Hours and hours and hours. I've been reading that the things we have been told to eat for weight loss/health (soy products, low fat dairy, butter substitutes, whole grains, canola oil for example) are actually things we should avoid. And the things we have been told to avoid for weight loss or because they are unhealthy (such as bacon, lard, full fat dairy products, eggs, coconut oil, butter) are actually good for us! Who knew?! Not me. Basically they all say that it's not saturated fats that are the link to heart disease, it's the over consumption of processed foods and grains.

It's exactly the opposite of what I have been told for years and it's certainly not what the US food pyramid reflects so it's hard to wrap my mind around it, but the one thing that is hard for me to ignore is they all embrace real food and home cooked meals which I know are better for us. I still have so much to learn about this, but I must say I feel better cooking my daughter's meals from scratch because I know exactly what she's eating and I like eating real foods, too. Doesn't hurt that I have read many, many testimonials that say that eating like they do has cured people of all sorts of ailments. And I know I feel more energetic and have been getting lots of compliments. At least three people have said I look younger!

I kind of chuckled to myself when my friend was over this weekend and I was preparing grain- free waffles. She said something to the effect of, 'You know you are teaching your daughter that you should cook and prepare all these goodies. You should be careful.' I was like, "That's exactly what I want to teach her! That things should be prepared at home from scratch because they are healthier." My goodies are typically grain-free and prepared with maple syrup or honey. They are tens times healthier than anything store bought and I am proud of that.

Anyway, on to this week's menus. From now on I am only planning five. Two days can either be leftovers or I will eat out when I have a sitter. I have decided we will have soup twice a week for the rest of the winter. It's economical and filling.

Monday- Spaghetti
We will eat jarred sauce from Trader Joe's (can't cook everything from scratch!) and serve it with rice noodles (yes, we are trying to eat fewer grains -- starting with wheat)

Tuesday - Roasted Chicken and Carrot Kugel.. still haven't made it!
Will pick up a roasted chicken from Whole Foods on the way home as well as some fish and lettuce. Chicken is on sale on Tuesday.

Wednesday - Broccoli Cheese Soup. I am hoping she will like broccoli this way.
Or maybe Egg Drop Soup.

Thursday - Spinach Ricotta Chicken Bake

Friday - Butternut Squash Soup (using the chicken bones to make the stock) and Green Salad

Other things I may make this week if I have the energy:

Bread.
Baked apples.
Pumpkin bars.

I'll post the recipes in a separate post.

And there you have it! Now on to the stats:

Weight - 147.6 My scale is acting kinda wonky and giving me totally different readings each time. This weight came up twice though so I went with it. Maybe it's time for a new battery? I need to edit last week's comment based on what I have learned this week. Nuts and fats are fattening, yes, but when you eat grain-free (which I was not) weight gain doesn't happen. I did eat better last week though, hence the weight loss... even though I ate Reese's Cups and pizza! Next week will be better. I have my cream cheese brownies to bring to work for my sugar cravings. ;-)
Vitamins - most days
Joint Pain - minimal
Exercise - none... but look what I bought:



Wish me luck!
Have a great week!

January Update

Eleven months.
Has it really been almost a year?!
What is most noticeable is I feel a shift within myself. I feel the old me coming back and she is so welcome. I missed her! I told myself in 2011 I would focus on balance and I can feel my balance slowly starting to return. And it feels good!

Now onto updates on the bambino...

* Height & Weight -- not exactly sure. She doesn't go to the doctor regularly because she's all caught up on vaccinations (and man, I wish I hadn't done all of them now but it's too late). I think kids only go once a year after the first year so I guess I will have to rely on the bathroom scale. According to my scale she is still about 33 pounds. She must be a little taller though because she is more comfortable in 3Ts, especially the shirts. Pants are often still too long but we roll them up because they fit more comfortably around her belly. :-D

* She is dry most nights. So often that I don't even send her to bed with a diaper anymore! Yay! I basically consider her completely potty trained. She will even dump the contents of the potty into the 'big potty' if she goes when I am not around. Such a big girl!

* Lately, I have discovered, she doesn't fall asleep easily in my bed unless I am there so we pretty much only use it for weekend naps. Otherwise she goes to bed in her crib. Fingers crossed, but going to bed at night continues to be relatively drama-free.

* She likes to clean. If she spills something often she will ask for a wipe to clean up her mess.

I am teaching her to put her toys and books back when she is done and she is learning where things go. (Now if I could only learn to do the same with my things!)

* Speech therapy. I got a letter from Early Intervention. Once I return the paperwork they are going to set up a formal evaluation. I have been requiring her to say 3+ utterances and she's doing really well at mealtime. She will stop and try it on her own when making requests for food because I have modeled that one a lot since we eat frequently. When it comes to other things, though, she isn't quite as successful and I have to have her repeat me. The interesting thing is she knows what I expect and she will really try to repeat me and claps when she can do it.

* Her new thing to do is scream. It's so relaxing. * rolls eyes * She will wake up and scream, "Mommy!!!" or just make loud screeching sounds. Not the best way to wake up from a peaceful sleep. This doesn't happen during the week because I am up before her. No, just on the weekends. Fun times. Oh, wait, and let's not forget the growling. This is especially sweet and endearing when she does it to strangers at the grocery store.

* She likes to be so independent. I used to be afraid for her to go down the steps because she would try to go down forward. I taught her to go down backwards and she loves being able to do it all by herself. I don't worry about her on the steps now.


* Babysitters! Yay! I can't stress enough the value, the importance, the necessity of babysitters to a single momma!! I went out twice in January, just like I planned, and it was great!!!!

* She still loves to take care of Neigh. She gives him haircuts.

And shots.

She really loves him. So sweet.

* Our special song. Sometimes my little one needs extra snuggles and reassurances and love so I take her in my arms and sing her our song and she calms right down: "Mommy loves her baby. You are Mommy's baby. Mommy loves her Pumpkin. You are Mommy's Pumpkin. Mommy loves Naomi. You are my Naomi. Mommy loves her Almi. You are Mommy's Almi"
and I repeat it a few times til her breathing becomes in sync with mine and relaxes into my embrace.

* She likes snow, especially how it tastes.

* She learned the word, "Ouch" and says it a lot. Though sometimes she uses it at funny times like when she walking in the snow: "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" lol

* She has learned about Daddies from somewhere. When reading books and there are men in them she will point to them and say either "man" or "Daddy."

* She has learned different emotion words. She will now talk about being happy, sad and scared. Someone gave her a plastic bug and she does not like it. She would see it and come running up to me and say, "Show me, bug!" (scare me bug) meaning the bug scared her.

* I never emphasized Santa because I wasn't sure what I wanted her to believe but she learned about him from daycare. But she asks about him all the time. "Santa coming?," she'll say and I will tell her, "no, not today" and she will get really sad. Sometimes she has me open the door to see if he is there. So now I have to say, "No, not today but he will be here next year on Christmas because Santa loves you very much" and then she is happy. So I guess we are believers of Santa in this household after all. Of course usually the next question from her is, "Cannee?" (candy?) She got some in her stocking so really I think she wants him to return to give her some more!

* She really hates brocolli. Like really. Like gags when she is trying to swallow it. She still loves spinach though so I will just serve that to her for awhile. (I also throw some in our morning smoothies). But in general she continues to be a really good eater. Healthy appetite!



* She has enough attention span that she can now sit and watch an entire video which is a life saver for me!! I can pop in Elmo and go prepare dinner and she will sit on the couch happily and not be underfoot.

We're doing great over here. Thanks for reading!