Aha Moment

This morning, while paging through my food journal, I decided to research some of my favorite restaurants, looking specifically at the nutritional values of certain meals, and more specifically at calories and grams of fat.

Whoa.

Appalled, disgusted and shocked just begin to describe the feelings elicited by this experience.  Having never cared enough to look before (which really is a blog entry in and of itself) I had no idea how unbelievably high some of the values were...many in fact, would account for my entire days calorie/fat intake in one sitting (some even more than that).  I haven't been living under a rock.  I had a general idea of what would most likely be the best choice when looking at a menu, but even some of the "best choices" were alarmingly high in calories/fat.  One thing I discovered...salad which is traditionally touted as being a "healthy" option, might not be.  In fact one restaurant offered a side salad (a smaller portion than the meal salad) which was so high in calories/fat that I would have had to eliminate all of the "good parts"  (which are apparently the "bad parts") to even be able to eat it!

While doing this research, I decided to make a "cheat sheet" listing some of my favorite restaurants and some of the "safe" meals I could eat should I dine out.  I found some restaurants that I will never (or very infrequently) eat at again due to their lack of health(ier) options,  their lack of available nutritional information, or lack of enough nutritional information (for example saying that an entree was considered lower fat but not providing the details like exactly how much fat or calories).  I found a couple of restaurants that had a surprisingly good selection of possible choices with very detailed information about each option.  Some restaurants also had a customizable option (taking away or adding ingredients to the entree) which I was very impressed with.

Needless to say, this was quite the wake up call.  The next time I visit one of my favorite restaurants, I will be armed and ready with my cheat sheet of available menu choices, complete with a calorie and fat count.

In the never ending quest...

...for self improvement, I did the following things today:

-joined a gym for the first time in my life. The last time I got regular exercise (except for spots here in there for a week or two at a time) was probably high school gym class. That was 17 years ago. It's pathetic and shameful to even admit that but if I am not 100% honest and upfront about this I'll never break through whatever it is that has been holding me back. Besides the obvious physical benefits of exercise, I am almost just as much looking forward to the mental benefits. There is no doubt that a little boost of self confidence and faith in myself, both of which I have always lacked, will be a good thing.

-took out of the cabinet the 31 (yes 31) recipe/cookbooks that I have and haven't used in God knows how long so I can page through them, pick out recipes that I will use and compile them in to one spot (perhaps a binder with dividers). I really need to put more effort and more variety in to what I cook around here. The fact that I cook 95% of what we eat (as opposed to eating out or ordering in) is good but I could certainly be healthier about it than I am.

I have no idea what has taken me so long but, over the past couple of days, I have come to a lot of conclusions. The biggest and most important one? I need to do a hell of a lot better job taking care of myself than I do. Yes I am only 35, but at the same, time...I am 35. This is only going to get harder the older I get. I also can't help but think about how fast time passes. Do I really want to look, and more importantly feel this way for the next 35 years? I can't keep doing this to myself...or to my kids. I have so much more to offer them, but besides that, I want to be a good example. There are some parts of my life in which I do set a good example. In the area of self care, good examples for the kids are lacking...severely. I want them to grow up being confident, independent women. It's partly up to me to show them how to do that.

All of this is certainly motivation. The real motivation though is that I know, deep in my core, that I was given this life to serve a greater purpose. I don't feel like I am living up to what I know is my fullest potential and that is both physically and mentally painful. If I don't push through this and push on, I will never get to experience whatever this greater calling is (and I just know there is one). Knowing is half the battle...now it is time for action.

So as the saying goes: Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I am done looking back. It's only forward motion from here.

Catch All Update

Today was a very productive day. Perhaps the most exciting and eventful part of it? I would have to say it was when we took a series of steps to officially "evict" winter from the Ellis household. We started with packing away all of our winter gear; snow pants, heavy winter coats, hats, gloves, scarfs, gloves and snow boots. We moved on to cleaning up the yard a bit...sticks, leaves, pine cones etc. There is still quite a bit left to do but we made a dent anyway. Next the kids sorted and organized all of the spring toys; bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sports gear and things of that nature. Ryun came home and put down most of the screens, fixed the grill, filled the gas tank and cooked wings for dinner. To end the day, the girl were outside playing after dinner and noticed a random growth of daffodils in the middle of the woods between our yard and the neighbors. Seriously? Today was screaming spring around these parts.

I spent the night working. It's finally starting to get busy again and since I knew I would be occupied all day tomorrow, I wanted to get in what I could tonight. I have to say I managed to get quite a bit of editing done.

Tomorrow I will be spending the day at the polls. I will be sign holding for the override investment in our children and for Allin Frawley. I am hoping and praying that things go my way tomorrow (the investment passes and Allin wins). I honestly can't wait until tomorrow is over just to know one way or the other.

Cranberry Walnut Muffins

I made those last night with all three kids helping. Julia told Ryun her official job was the "dumper." That was the easiest part for her...letting her "dump" the pre-poured ingredients in to the bowl for mixing. Emily and Katherine helped with that too, and helped with the getting everything set up to bake (measuring cups, ingredients mixer, bowls etc). All three girls lined the cupcake pans with baking cups. Emily and I enjoyed them for breakfast this morning. They were delicious. Katherine doesn't like walnuts so she opted out, and Julia tried a bite and said, "Mom, I can't eat this because it has thingies in it." I assume the thingies were the walnuts, which she liked when I gave her a few while we were making the muffins. She seems to still have some level of difficulty with foods that contain "mixed textures." I am going to try and make a batch without walnuts so they can enjoy some too.

I need to look up my "cranberry Chicken" recipe so I can make that for dinner either tonight or Sunday. Even Ryun, who doesn't like cranberries likes that.

New to the list...

...of things that are so good, they should be illegal, we have...

Nilla Dippers
Spread 6 Nilla Wafers w/ 1 tsp of peanut butter, and top each with another wafer to make 6 cookie sandwiches.

2. Microwave 1 Baker's Semi Sweet Chocolate Square in microwaveable bowl on high for 30 seconds or until melted.

3. Dip each cookie halfway in to melted chocolate then place on waxed paper. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes until chocolate is set.

I made these today for the kids as an after school snack. So far, Emily and Julia are big fans. For Katherine, who oddly likes peanut butter and chocolate, just doesn't like them together (I know, what a weirdo huh?!?!?) I just dipped the wafers in chocolate, skipping the peanut butter altogether. She will be home shortly to try them out (1/2 day of school today).

Putting Two and Two Together

On Friday night of last week, we took the girls to Brigham's for dinner, after eye doctor appointments for Katherine and I. Katherine had cheese quesadillas and an ice cream for dessert. In the middle of the night, she was on the toilet, literally crying in pain (yes, I know TMI but it's essential to the story). This is not the first time that something like this has happened and after thinking about it for a while, I realized that it only happens when we go out to a restaurant for a meal. It might have happened occasionally after eating at home, but these times were so far and few between, it's not worth considering. After further thought, I realized that it only happens when she has had both dinner and dessert (we rarely have dessert at home and if we do, it's not always ice cream).Katherine is pretty predictable when it comes to ordering. She almost always gets a grilled cheese sandwich or cheese quesadillas and some sort of ice cream type dessert. The one time recently that I can remember her ordering something different it was a hamburger, and, of course ice cream dessert. This is the only time in recent memory that I can remember her not ending up in the bathroom when all was said and done.

So, the point? I think she might be (or still be) lactose intolerant. She always was as an infant, and although lower fat milk does not mean lactose free milk, she has never been able to properly digest whole milk. We drink skim, because Emily, who also had a lactose free formula, also can't handle the whole milk(in fact Julia, who was also on a lactose-free formula is the only one of my children who went to whole milk at 1 year).

After coming to these conclusions, I decided to read up a bit on food intolerances and allergies and it turns out? There is a ton of research/stories of children who have stopped bed wetting after eliminating the offending food from the diet. There is also research/stories of children whose asthma and chronic cough were eradicated by eliminating the offending food. So, since she has obvious symptoms of lactose intolerance it seems to me that it would make sense to try a dairy-free diet with her to see if it helps with the bed wetting/asthma/cough as well as the intestinal issues.

I need to look at this a little further and read up on what foods might be forbidden (besides the obvious milk, cheese etc) and decide what I want to do but it all seems to be pretty clear to me. If we go ahead with it, we'll have to see if it works but on the surface, before even trying it? It seems like it may be the key.

Julia: Why I Think She Is My Best Eater

Really? Because she had to be taught to eat. That sounds silly but it's true. There was a day when Julia would eat yogurt and toast and that was it. Occasionally, we could sneak in something of the same textures (like maybe pudding or a crunchy food of some sort), but mostly, yogurt and toast were her tried and true favorites. She had issues with textures and anything in between the yogurt and toast she would either swallow whole, or spit out.

After talking about this with Early Intervention(which she was already taking part in for PT and Speech), we added Occupational Therapy to the mix through EI, as well as at Health South, where she was receiving "extra PT" services.

I learned more about how to feed a child than I ever knew before. It was strange to me that eating (and the how to of it) was actually, in some cases, not something that a child would just know, or that would come as a natural part of being a living, breathing human being. I remember actually saying to her OT, "I actually have to teach her how to eat?"

So, we had to do all kinds of things. We brushed her tongue, the roof of her mouth and the side of her mouth with a Nuk brush. We played "mouth games" with her (such as tapping her mouth and having say ahhh, as well as massaging her cheeks). We fed her cold things, spicy things, and sour things before her normal meals to wake her senses up. We had to teach her to use her front teeth only for the initial bite of food, and then switch to the side. We also had to teach her not to "mouth stuff" which she used to do because it was the only way she could actually even "feel" the food in her mouth.

After all of this? It turns out that the kid who wouldn't eat anything? Will pretty much eat everything. I don't think she has met a food she doesn't like/won't eat. It's nice, and in comparison to the Emily and Katherine (who certainly are not the pickiest eaters I have ever seen but aren't exactly the best eaters)? Julia is a World Champion or something.

Food

Because I am anxiously awaiting a post from Jay on "eating cheap", I have been thinking a lot about food lately and how much we spend on it. It's a lot...too much I think.

On average I spend about $150 per week. In theory, this would be more, if I wasn't constantly buying what is on sale, or buying store brand if available. I also find the weeks in which I actually scan the circulars, noting what is on sale and comparing it with what I need, I save even more. Without doing all of that, the bill would more than likely run about $200-250 per week. (For those who may not know, and just for practical purposes to use as a baseline here, we are a family of five, two adults, and three girls, ages 11 (almost anyway), 8 and 3).

There are a couple of obvious things I know I could do to save money off the bat. One would be to actually spend some quality time cooking. Right now, I do only what I have to to get a hot meal on the table. Convenience and speed are key for me. This is not to say that we eat macaroni and cheese and tv dinners every night. I cook, I just don't spend a heck of a lot of time doing it. Things that take more than a half hour to prepare and eat, aren't my preference, unless, it involves a crock pot. Throwing something together in the morning and stirring it occasionally throughout the day? Now that is my kind of cooking. It would help of course, if I enjoyed the process a bit more. If I actually enjoyed cooking, I might spend a little more time with it, and with the general planning of it (like meal planning in advance, scanning for sales, experimenting with recipes etc.).

As mentioned before, I am not a person who has to buy name brand anything really. It basically all tastes the same to me and, whatever minor difference there may be, does not justify, in my opinion, the extra money to get the name brand. I don't see my self saving any money there. I think I am already doing what I can.

I do occasionally use coupons. Mostly, I use the ones that come and say "Spend $50 and get $10 off your entire order" as opposed to, "Buy 2 of these really overpriced, already expensive things and we'll give you one free." I think coupons have a way of suckering you in to buying the more expensive item to begin with, trying to make it look like you are saving money when actually, you probably aren't. At least not enough to make it worth the aggravation of cutting coupons and, you know, actually remembering to use them.

Thoughts? Do you have any money saving tips, outside of what has already been mentioned?

Don't you just love it when...

...you have a list of things you want, need or have to do and you do everything but?

Yeah, that would be me today.

I really need to write the PTA Fundraising Newsletter by Wednesday, but preferably by tomorrow so that I can copy it while Julia is at school and have it ready to go for Wednesday night. I also need to make a trip to the post office during that time to ship off some things I sold on Ebay (which I would typically do right from home but the size of the items will prevent that from happening).

Other things to be done include the usual laundry (which actually is pretty well caught up considering its usual state), dishes, and figuring out what to cook for dinner on one of those nights in which everyone is going in the opposite direction.

I also finished a book that will inspire an entry over at Confessions of a Stay At Home Mom sometime in the near future.

And, I am sure there is more (because there always is) but that ought to do for now.

The Biggest Loser

Bernie went home. Darn it...I really liked him.

Also, is anyone else living in a fog? I had NO IDEA how many calories were in some of the things they had to eat in last night's temptation. It was alarming.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately, as part of my "quest for total wellness." After last night's episode, I decided to see how many calories I would need to take in to lose weight. According to a couple of calculators, in order to maintain my current weight I should be eating only 1400 calories per day. Yikes. Based on what I saw last night, I am quite sure I am taking in more than that on a daily basis. That was even more alarming then seeing how many calories were in certain foods. So, it stands to reason that, in order to lose weight I would need to decrease my caloric intake from the maintain my weight number. Less than 1400 per day? What? That seems close to impossible. I know it's not but wow. Part of this could be reduced by burning calories off through exercise. To lose 1 pound per week, I would need to cut back on 500 calories. It could be a half and half thing...250 calories less through eating and burning 250 exercising.

The whole thing is quite overwhelming if I am being honest. I know I don't eat right and I know I should be making healthier choices for myself and my family but you know what? It's hard, and quite frankly, more expensive and time consuming. I mean grabbing a pre-made food (whether it be a snack or actual meal) is just easier than slicing a cucumber or even making a sandwich. As far as the money is concerned, it's disconcerting how much it costs to shop the "perimeter" of the store. ( which is where it is said the healthier foods lie). Let's not even mention if I decided to go all organic or, if I decided to try all of the diets out there that are supposed to help with things like ADHD (gluten and casein free are what come to mind). For someone like me who generally hates to cook, loves the quick and easy food prep (or better yet no food prep) and who isn't independently wealthy, going on a diet isn't as easy thing.

And besides, it's just one more thing to worry about. I have enough on my proverbial plate right now, enough that I am finding it hard to figure out prioritizing it all. I really need to elaborate further of course, which I will do in a not to distant future entry.

Tonight

Agenda:

Watch Superbowl.

Eat.

Watch Superbowl.

Eat.

Watch Patriots kick some New York ass.

Eat.

Eventually, sleep.

Menu:

Kielbasa cooked in brown sugar and mustard.

Homemade chili.

Pigs in a Blanket.


Yum.

Food, Cooking, Recipes Etc.

I have lamented on this blog before about how much I loathe cooking. Mostly, I do it because I have to. It's not like we could actually afford to order out every night, and, despite my hating to do it, I do usually do a pretty decent job of it. I suspect part of my hating to do it involves the lack of variety. I just get so sick of cooking the same things time and again, and, when I find a new recipe to try, the motivation to cook usually increases ten-fold.


One of my favorite places to get recipes is from Kraft Food and Family Magazine. Best of all? It's...100 % free! It's always full of recipes. I have cooked many delicious meals from recipes I have taken from it. It comes once each season.

Anyway, I finally got around to looking at my winter issue. I had been planning on food shopping last night and for once, actually gave some thought ahead of going to the store about what I wanted on the menu this week. I have found several new recipes that I plan on cooking this week. I went out last night and purchased all of the necessary ingredients. For your enjoyment, I have listed the recipes here, which you can then look up at the Kraft website linked above (hey, you never know who else may in a cooking "lull" and looking for inspiration).

Tangy Pork Chop Stuffing Bake
Slow Cooker Orange BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich
Double Cheese Chili
Bruschetta Chicken Skillet
Taco Bake
Nacho Chicken Bake

Note: I don't always use all of the "name brand" stuff they mention. Such differences usually don't bother me (for example store brand sour cream tastes the same to me as name brand) and, it keeps way down on the costs.

Anyway, I will post and let you know how they all come out as I make them.

How To Get My Kids To Eat Peas And Other Food Related Items

Snap peas. I bought a veggie lovers salad mix thingy a week or two ago and it had snap peas in it. I gave them each one (each being Katherine and Emily as Julia eats anything), didn't tell them what it was until they ate and loved it. So, I bought more (just the peas not the salad mix) and it has been the snack of choice since. They have never liked peas in any other way.

In other food related news, I am looking for suggestions on how to "spice" up regular boxed macaroni and cheese. I have made my own mac and cheese before but, in order to save time tonight (we need to eat dinner by 4:30 because the kids have their gymnastics class at 5) I am just going with the boxed version. I had ideas of adding garlic to the mix maybe some of the Pampered Chef Italian seasoning to it. Then I thought of adding a cup of salsa. That could be good too. There's always the option of adding ground beef but, alas I don't have any on hand.

So, does anyone out there have any other ideas?

Sugar Cookies: The Julia Edition

Early this afternoon, I decided to roll out the dough, and start the infamous "sugar cookie making extravaganza." Julia quickly took notice (the older two kids were out in the snow) and insisted that not only was I using playdough and not cookie dough, but, that she must help me immediately. I gave her some of the dough, a little flour, and a couple of the smaller cookie cutters I wasn't using. She pulled a chair up to the counter and started to play. She decided not long after to strip down to her underwear, apparently perturbed by the fact that her outfit was getting "messy."

Anyway, of course, I took some pictures, of both Julia and the cookies, in various stages of being done.

Here is the counter, all prepped and ready for some dough.

Julia, hard at work.

Obviously, she was having a great time.

...in the oven...

...cooling on the racks...

...and finally, frosted and ready to consume.
Yum.

Milk and Bread

Why are they the "staple" of everyone's household shopping list during a major storm? If you didn't have milk in the house and were unable to leave for a period of time, what's the worst that could happen? So your kid doesn't have milk for a few days...it's not like that's some sort of life threatening concern. And bread? Again if you ran out and couldn't leave, would it be the end of the world? There are other things to eat besides sandwiches and toast when a storm blows through.

I have just always found it odd that when there is a storm coming, everyone and their brother runs to the store for milk and bread (and sometimes eggs).

The Clean Your Plate Methodology

Do you subscribe to it? As in, do you "force" your kids to clean their plates, even if they may not like what is on it or may not be hungry? What about cooking separate meals for kids who are picky about what they eat?

I don't generally force anyone to eat anything they don't want and most of the time, believe that if kids are hungry they will eat. I try to do a fair amount of convincing that eating what they are served would be a good idea, and tell them that if they don't eat dinner, there will be no desert (if we happen to have any "deserty" type thing in the house which isn't the norm around here). I used to have to be a little more persuasive with Katherine who basically had to eat to avoid a hypoglycemic attack but, that hasn't happened in a long enough time for me to believe that she has outgrown it.

As for cooking separate meals, I admit to doing it for Julia a number of times, back when she was having actual issues with eating. There were a select few things that she would eat (toast and yogurt being the biggies). She had major sensitivities to most everything else and basically refused to eat. She was at the stage where not eating was basically not an option (she wasn't gaining weight and actually had to go for weight checks at the pediatrician). Other than that very specific situation, I basically never cook a separate meal at the request of my kids.

What about you?

Cranberries!

I have more than I know what to do with, between my mother's friend and Cousin Jeff (Cousin Jeff isn't really a cousin of ours, just a nickname for one of the Monday Night Poker guys)both giving us "fresh from the bog" berries. So far, I have made two cranberry breads (one that called for the usual orange juice and one that I had never tried before that had no OJ in it but had the interesting ingredient of cinnamon added to it), a cranberry/apple crisp and just a few minutes ago, a homemade cranberry sauce. I an anxious to try the cranberry sauce, having never attempted to make my own or ever having tried homemade, but, it has to cool for a while before that can happen. I plan on making a Grilled Cranberry Chicken (the recipe for which I have posted at some point but an too lazy to link).

I need some additional recipes though! I might try and make a cranberry/banana bread since I have bananas that will need to be used soon however, any other suggestions would be great! i would love to do something "appetizer-like" rather than the desert/bread type of things that are typically recommended for cranberry use, but I am open to anything.

Have at it!

Fish

One of the big things on the high blood pressure diet Ryun was given is fish. I don't know why exactly, but it seems to me, that lately, fish is being pushed as the be all end all of all bad things. I am not complaining, I love fish, I've just never cooked it. Ryun's idea of fish is a fish and chips dinner, which not only doesn't count as eating seafood in my book, but I am quite sure it is not the kind of fish the diet is talking about. He is open to trying it, if I am willing to cook it. Not only am I willing, but I have wanted to experiment with it for quite some time. So, what ideas do you have for cooking it? I was basically planning on buying haddock or cod (or some other kind of light type of fish), seasoning with bread crumbs, garlic and perhaps a few other seasonings and baking it in the oven. I am looking for advice on how to tell when it is done, seasoning ideas and any recipes you want to share. Thoughts?

Frosting

I set out tonight to make a butter cream frosting for a cake I made for tomorrow nights festivities(The 10th Annual Halloween Party), with the recipe calling for the usual ingredients...confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla extract and, of course butter. I went to get everything I needed out of the cabinets/refrigerator, only to discover that I had no vanilla extract. Knowing that the purpose of the extract was just to add flavoring, I decided to just use another "extract" I had on hand. I went with orange. Then to be all festive, I colored the frosting orange, and decorated the cake with candy corn. The end result? Frosting that tastes like an orange creamsicle! YUM!

I haven't tasted it mixed with the yellow cake and candy corn, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be sinfully good.

Further Commentary On Dinner

In the post before this one, I mentioned cooking a meal that yields not complaints being a feat of some sort. I suppose I should have prefaced that by saying that I am not a bad cook, I just have two picky kids, one in particular.

I've discovered that Julia, despite her troubles early on with food, will pretty much eat, or at least try anything that is put in front of her. She is a big meat eater, even if she does call every type of meat chicken. She always seems to want seconds when it comes to steak especially. Other than that, she really likes corn, and LOVES broccoli. It was kind of funny, when she was first learning the names of foods, she would identify them by their color ("Can I have some more green?" when referring to peas for example).

Emily is not too bad as far as being picky about what she eats, but she has definite dislikes, such as corn (unless it's on the cob) and peas. She prefers beef over poultry, but would probably prefer pork above all else.

Katherine? Last week she LOVED mashed potatoes. This week...she might just die if she has to eat them. "Carrots are my favorite vegetable Mom" turns in to, "I used to like these, but now I don't." Getting her to try something new is akin to asking her to cut her arm off, and enjoy it at that.

So tonight, when I made chicken quesadillas, oddly for the first time ever, and all parties involved were happy, I contemplated making them every night. Of course, making them every night would completely kill their appeal. It was nice to have a meal that involved no complaining though.