X's and O's

Hi blog! Hi World!

Jackson and Lanie Lou

Apple Nose Blake

Lane is now jumping in her johnny jump-up!!

Chase didn't want to show his face, instead he shows you an apple

This weekend we had a great visit from family and now I'm doing a TON of introspective thinking (the two are not related, they just happened to be occurring at the same time). So anyway, I had my Operation Baby Weight post in the works, my garden post in the works - but to be honest - I'm doing a lot of journaling, writing, talking, and resting. So me thinks I may take off this week from 'le bloggy blog' world. I know, you are all shedding tears of sadness, but I will return next Monday with a fresh new weight loss post. Until then.....

you must check out this blog, it made my day especially if you have boys :0)

funny chalkboard post  (if you click on link Wed and Thurs, if it doesn't work, it is because the website is under maintenance - but come back to click on it - it is worth it! Trust me)

Tomatillo Recipes

this year one of my new growing adventures involves growing tomatillo peppers. If you want to know what a tomatillo is - tomatillos grow in papery husks, which can peel off easily to reveal what looks like a small green tomato. They have a tart lemony flavor and must be cooked before eating; a brief stewing will mellow the flavor but leave a tang.
So here are a few recipes that I really enjoy using tomatillos for:

Tequila Pork Chile Verde


2 tsp. canola oil
3 tbsp. yellow cornmeal
1 tbsp. ancho chile powder
1-2 lbs. pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into ¾ inch pieces
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh tomatillos (about 12 oz)
1 (14-oz) can fat-free chicken broth
1 (4.5-oz) can chopped mild green chiles, drained
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
½ c. thinly sliced green onions
¼ c. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. tequila
¼ tsp. salt


1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Combine cornmeal and chile powder in a medium bowl. Add pork, tossing to coat. Remove pork from bowl, reserving any remaining cornmeal mixture. Add pork to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in remaining cornmeal mixture; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatillos, broth, chiles, and jalapenos; bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook 8 minutes or until tomatillos are tender. Stir in onions and remaining ingredients; simmer 1 minute.



Serving Size: 1 ¼ c. ; 245 calories, 7.4 g FAT, 26.5 g PROTEIN,


Tomatillo Salsa Verde
from Food in Jars

1 pint tomatillos, de-husked, washed and halved
1 onion, cut into chunks
5-6 garlic cloves
1-2 jalapenos
a handful of cilantro
1 lime

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.

Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and lay out the tomatillos and half the garlic and onions on it. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes.

When it’s roasted and cooled down enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of their skins and pour the whole roasted mess (tomatillos, garlic and onions) into a blender. Add the rest of the raw garlic, the other half of the onion, a handful of cilantro, a pinch of salt, some jalapeno and a bit of lime juice. Blend until it’s all combined and taste. It might need a pinch of sugar to balance the tartness.
Delicious (and it just gets better after it sits for a little while) on burritos or chips.


Enjoy!!!

Linking to Tuesday Garden Party because Jami has wanted tomatillo recipes for-eva!



We were featured in our local paper!

Our backyard garden made the news! check out link below :)

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109220327

Operation Lose Baby Weight Week 7

Date 9/13/10


Week 6 Check-In

Weight: 151 – 2 lbs lost in 2 weeks!

Measurements:
Waist – START: 37”; TODAY: 34” NO CHANGE from last week Goal: 27”

Hips – START: 39”; TODAY: 38 ½ ” LAST WEEK: 38 ¾” LOST: ¼” Goal: 36”

Thighs- START: 22 ½”; TODAY: 22 NO CHANGE from last week Goal: 20”

Chest – START: 39”; TODAY: 37” LAST WEEK: 38 ¼” LOST: 1 ¼” Goal: 36”

Lost 1 ½ inches -





Last Week’s Workouts
SUNDAY – 20 min Crossfit with run alternates

MONDAY –10 min. heavy stroller walk; 4 mile bike ride with 20 min Crossfit

TUESDAY – 30 min. Crossfit with running alternates

WEDNESDAY – High intensity bike ride (3 miles) with air squats between each lap – so 9 miles total – KILLER DAY!

THURSDAY – OFF

FRIDAY – Run 1.5 miles with air squats between each 800 meter lap

SATURDAY – Bike 5 miles intense course with gymnastic ring push-ups, air squats, and full length sit-ups



Last Week’s NSS (Non-Scale Success)
• Continuing the killer bike ride course. It is close to 9 miles and it includes steep and gradual hills along with some flats and downhill. Each lap is 3 miles and we usually do 3 laps. It takes about 10-14 minutes per lap. It kicks my butt – I am so sweaty and out of breath when we finish, but I feel like I completed a high intensity spin class. I’m really proud that I can do this consistently and I know it is increasing my body’s endurance cardio levels and overall athleticism.

Things I found useful (TIPS)
• Finding my metabolic rate. You can google this or calculate it using this formula. I found it pretty useful to making a baseline amount for what my body burns. I’ll talk more about this next week – but it was useful to know

How I feel about myself and my body this week
• This last week was tough. Even though I was pigging out like the previous week, I still did not food journal and allowed myself a few days of chocolate chip eating and wine drinking. It was “that time of the month”. Although I felt bad about not being the most “perfect” eater, it was good to get it out of my system and ready to start the next week with better eating habits and meal choices. I thought I have been pretty lazy because I haven’t been running at all (still trying to rehab my ankle and knee injury), thus the bike riding, but when I look at my exercise chart I see that I really did have a very intensive week. I want to lose more weight!! So I guess my eating is the ticket because I’m certainly putting in the sweat equity.

Goals for Next Week
• Start food journaling again

• NO overnight snacking (I wake up in the middle of the night starving because I’m weight training so much these days and half-conscious, I will go into the kitchen and eat a slice of bread or something. I WANT to stop doing this!!!)

• Keep to my calorie allowances – figure out alternatives to stress eating – I think I almost have this one figured out – I’ll talk about it next week.



Overall, the last two weeks have been hard because my weight loss has been TOO SLOW and my kids have been PRETTY LOUD AND DEMANDING and in frustration I have sabotaged myself over and over. However, I had a re-grouping with myself this weekend and I feel ready and empowered to get back on the wagon. Here’s to weighing in at 145 and finally getting out of the size 8-10 range I’ve been in and being well on my way to my goals!!


Check out last week's progress and click links on those page for previous progress reportsWeek 6 check-in

A reminder about my goals and the program I set for myself

MY PROGRAM

*Modified 8/16/2010*

• Exercise 5-6 days a week. Include cardio/weight and circuit training. Training must be at least 30 minutes. Running 30 minutes daily.

• Eat 1400-1500 calories a day. I try to break it up like this:

• 3-400 calorie meals

• 2-100 calorie snacks

• OR 1- 200 calorie snack

•

• Have rest days to recover physically - at least one a week, if not two

• try to have only one cheat meal. Until I see good results, I can only afford one cheat a week. Once I am seeing that I’m consistent in the eating department I will let myself have two cheat meals a week - this is recommended by Jillian Michaels - you can't have cheat DAYS, but two cheat meals makes you feel satisfied and helps you stay on your program.

• Get 7-8 hours of sleep at night - very crucial for weight loss. I wake up very early in the morning, so in order to get that sleep, I have to be in bed by 9pm every night (YIKES!)

MY GOAL

I’m 5’4” and I would like to be 125-130 lbs.

Lose 25-30 lbs

Lose 10 inches off waist - goal 27"

Lose 3 inches off hips - goal 35-36"

Lose 2 inches off thighs - goal 20"

Lose 3 inches off chest - goal 36"

All of these hopefully by my birthday - March 27, 2011 but for sure by Lane's first birthday in June.

12 NEW things Challenge

I read about this on Gina's blog - and clicked over to several other people who are trying this challenge - extended by A Warm cup of Coffee.

Now granted this is how I interpreted the challenge - but it is a wonderful catalyst I needed to continue my self growth. I extended this challenge to mean that I learn a new skill every month or try to do something I've been meaning to do. This challenge isn't about finishing "PROJECTS". It's about growing and extending yourself.

So I've thought about this for a few weeks and this is what I've come up with.

Drum roll please.......

AUGUST - learn how to can --completed --    (next up, pressure canning)
SEPTEMBER - make my own non-toxic cleaning kits for each living area (bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms)
OCTOBER- Relaxation/De Stress Habits.  1)Make a habit of having a day of rest (make the Sabbath holy) God rested on the 7th day, I need to as well!  2)I am also going to add one more thing to thing to this month's challenge. I'm going to create a 2-3 MINUTE yoga stretch/meditation routine and do it daily!! Especially when I am really really stressed at moments during the day.
NOVEMBER - Create the ART DOCENT program for our school and have one session completed before winter break.
DECEMBER- buy a new sewing machine, take a sewing class, and learn how to correctly hem and alter clothing.
JANUARY - learn how to use/cook quinoa
FEBRUARY - learn how to change a tire
MARCH - Make a real food Grocery Challenge post and find one new way to make the grocery dollar extend further and buying whole foods in the winter.
APRIL - Buy a Greenhouse and learn how to use it to begin/extend my growing season.
MAY - run a 1/2 marathon (hopefully my two neighbors will join me)
JUNE - Participate in one local cultural event - like Salem 1st Wednesday Art Night or an exhibit opening or cultural festival.
JULY - have a party in my garden (I don't like throwing parties at all!! so this will be a big challenge)

The official challenge has a check-in on the last Thursday of every month. I'll try to make those deadlines as best as I am able to!

Until then......

do you mind saying a quick prayer/shout out to me as I am trying to effectively parent my 2 yr old? Every day is getting more and more and more difficult with him and I need to find good resources to try to get this handled because I am so not enjoying him right at this moment. Thanks!

Rebel

I don't know why, but for some insane reason I feel like I need to be doing something productive in every waking minute. this often means I have to multi-task the heck out of my day. By the end of the day, I'm tired and weary, the children are tired and cranky (and I think it is mostly because of me), and the whole house feels rather blah, blah, blah.

So today I tried to make it simple. I tried to make it easy. But of course I just had to can about twenty jars of whatever from the garden and I think I drove my poor two year old into a screaming mess of frustration from lack of attention from me.

Tonight my kitchen is an absolute mess. Dishes are everywhere. The boys didn't finish their jobs. I have a headache. And you know what? Instead of trying to make it all look beautiful before I go to bed tonight - I'm going to let the kitchen go to bed DIRTY.

What a rebel I am.

Serious Tomato Love

yes, I AM this talented of a gardener. I can grow heart-shaped tomatoes.

No, but really, check out the size of our tomatoes. This is a 'Big Beef' variety that is the size of my 2 yr old's head.

All of us in Oregon have been lamented the fact that it is MID-SEPTEMBER!!! and we are just now getting our tomato harvests (don't even get me started about the pepper situation). But I'm not going to complain. My nine tomato plants are finally producing. Finally!

This morning's harvest - green and purple beans, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, thyme, spinach( I'm soaking it in diluted vinegar water to get rid of the bugs), tomatillos, and a few zukes. Can you imagine what this organic bounty would cost at the Farmer's Market?

Anyway, I have a few tomato questions. I really really really want to can some tomatoes instead of freezing them - so that way I am able to pull them off the shelf and open and pour into recipes instead of taking the time to defrost (we don't have a microwave right now - that is a whole nother post for a whole nother day!)

How does ONE can tomatoes when they are at different levels of ripeness?

I don't own a food mill - all I have is a blender - so can I still make tomato sauce to can it?

Isn't my Cherokee Purple beautiful?

Anything else you'd like to tell me as I embark of my first ever tomato canning adventure? I've been pouring over books and such, but I'm feeling nervous. that's weird.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

And in honor of my Alma mater - Go HUSKIES!! We are eating pureed purple and gold cauliflower in honor of you. Keep on winning!

Check out Tuesday Garden Party for more fabulous Gardens!

***Post-EDIT- I've since consulted my Ball Blue Book and Ball Complete Book of Preservation and Food in Jars. I think I'm going to attempt these things today and tomorrow: (click on title for links).

Jami's Salsa which happens to be in the Ball Complete Book of Preservation (Fresh Vegetable Salsa)

Food in Jars Tomato Butter

Ball Book Crushed Tomatoes (because you don't have to run through food mill)

Everything else tomato I'm going to either roast or dry and freeze. Thanks for your help!



Operation Lose Baby Weight Week 6

Date 9/13/10


Week 6 Check-In

Weight: didn’t weigh in this week – although peole are saying I look thinner in the face

Measurements:

Waist – START: 37”; TODAY: 34” NO CHANGE: Goal: 27”

Hips – START: 39”; TODAY: 38 ¾” NO CHANGE: Goal: 36”

Thighs- START: 22 ½”; TODAY: 22 NO CHANGE: Goal: 20”

Chest – START: 39”; TODAY: 38 ¼” LAST WEEK: 38 CHANGE: + ¼” Goal: 36”

Gained ¼” this last week in chest





Last Week’s Workouts

SUNDAY – 20 min run YIKES injury during run

MONDAY – OFF (try to recover from injury)

TUESDAY – 1.5 hr powerwalk; 20 min intense Xfit

WEDNESDAY – 45 min. interval hills/flat bike ride (9 mile total); 20 min Xfit

THURSDAY – 45 min. interval hills/flat walk pushing 75 lb stroller

FRIDAY - 45 min. interval hills/flat bike ride (9 mile total); 30 min killer Xfit

SATURDAY – OFF (very sick baby at home)



Last Week’s NSS (Non-Scale Success)
• My husband and I just started bike riding and I love it! The workout we do is a high intensity hill/flat interval course pedaling fast. It is an outdoor spin class and it kicks our butt.

• Repeated deadlifts – 30 reps (10X3) at 140 lbs!!! I am getting so strong.


Things I found useful (TIPS)
• Continuing to drink water – Three times a day (when cleaning morning kitchen, making afternoon lunch, and around afternoon snacktime before I drink my coffee) I will fill a 16 oz. glass with water and chug and do that twice so guaranteed I will have 96 oz. That isn’t even including what I drink during workouts and before bed.

• Listening to Jillian Michaels podcast on my ipod while working out and while doing housework



How I feel about myself and my body this week
Last week I didn’t keep a food journal. I got out of the habit because I was so so so done with the children being home and almost back to school. I was stress eating all over the place. I think I didn’t journal because I knew I was overindulging and I was eating to deal with the stress of being home with the children and dealing with injury. I haven’t lost any inches but I think it is because my eating is a little out of control so that makes me feel upset.

Goals for Next Week
• Start food journaling again

• Continue to eat out of the garden daily

• Keep to my calorie allowances – figure out alternatives to stress eating

Read about my Operation Baby Weight journey
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Five


A reminder about my goals and the program I set for myself

MY PROGRAM

*Modified 8/16/2010*

• Exercise 5-6 days a week. Include cardio/weight and circuit training. Training must be at least 30 minutes. Running 30 minutes daily.

• Eat 1400-1500 calories a day. As a busy mom I can't keep track of everything that goes in my mouth i.e. through a food journal, so I'm going to break it down like this. Shannan's patented 3-2-1 eating program

• 3-400 calorie meals

• 2-100 calorie snacks

• OR 1- 200 calorie snack

• Have rest days to recover physically - at least one a week, if not two try to have only one cheat meal. Until I see good results, I can only afford one cheat a week.

• Have two cheat meals a week - this is recommended by Jillian Michaels - you can't have cheat DAYS, but two cheat meals makes you feel satisfied and helps you stay on your program.

• Get 7-8 hours of sleep at night - very crucial for weight loss. I wake up very early in the morning, so in order to get that sleep, I have to be in bed by 9pm every night (YIKES!)



MY GOAL

I’m 5’4” and I would like to be 125-130 lbs.

Lose 25-30 lbs

Lose 10 inches off waist - goal 27"

Lose 3 inches off hips - goal 35-36"

Lose 2 inches off thighs - goal 20"

Lose 3 inches off chest - goal 36"

All of these hopefully by my birthday - March 27, 2011 but for sure by Lane's first birthday

God grew tired of us

"I was angered for I had no shoes and then I met a man who had no feet" -Chinese proverb

(the quote above hangs in my office - I try to meditate on it every week or so - especially when I am pissed off at my children or anything in my life)

I really really like to watch documentaries. Especially ones about people who change a little part of the world. Because I relate to that. I know that I will never change a large part of the world (like the big 'O' Oprah), but I like to think that I could change or make an impact on a small portion - like my community. I'm still working on that part, watching and waiting until the opportunity comes. Until then, I watch stories of people who make dents. The past month I watch this movie (got the DVD through Netflix).

Here is a brief description of the movie - "God Grew Tired of Us is as much about America as it is about Africa. The moving documentary begins in war-torn Sudan with the mid-1980s exodus of 27,000 Christian boys, most between five and ten. After their arrival in Kenya, the UN steps in with aid. Directors Christopher Quinn and Tommy Walker pick up the story a decade later, narrowing their focus to Panther, John, and Daniel, three of 3,800 given the opportunity to resettle in the US. Quinn and Walker are with them when they land in the States, where everything is new and exciting--electricity, running water, pre-packaged foodstuffs--all the things Americans take for granted. Through the assistance of various relief organizations, their expenses are covered for the next few months. After that, the trio is expected to provide for themselves (they're older than the subjects in 2003's The Lost Boys of Sudan). Divided between Pittsburgh, PA and Syracuse, NY, the young men are thrilled with their suburban lives. Over the next year, however, joy turns to sorrow. They miss their families and have trouble making connections beyond their social group. The directors document another two years, by which point things are finally starting to look up."

Anyway, I made the children watch it with me and Jeremy as well. It impacted us enough that we each went to our respective areas (work for Jeremy and school for the children) and talked about the movie and what messages we each took from it. I invite you to do the same.

Also on another completely different side note, I also watched this documentary. It is about a common, middle class couple who collected modern art and amassed probably the largest collection of abstract modern art today. You can read more about them here, but also catch this doc on instant streaming from Netflix.

Normal everyday people making an impact on life. Love it.

Some tricks I learned this year regarding preserving food

As you may know, I am venturing into canning this year. One day when I was purchasing the lids for my newest canning adventure, I saw these - PLASTIC canning lids.

These are great lids for your jars once you have opened the vacuum seal and need to store in the fridge. I put it on the jam jars, the pickle jars, etc.

I've also discovered how much fun it is to use mason jars as storage containers for spices, baking ingredients, and other dry storage. You use these lids for covering them. Very useful.

Okay, now if you knew this already, good for you because I DIDN'T know this. How to remove the adhesive attaching labels to glass jars. I googled this one day because I was so frustrated trying to figure out how to remove labels. I didn't get a definitive answer. So I got out my CONTRACTOR'S SOLVENT....gasp.....to try to remove the labels and adhesive. Here I am, trying to de-chemical my world and I'm using freakin' solvent on the jars I'm going to store food in. Sigh.

Then, I had this idea - why not pour boiling water on the labels?

Duh...worked like a charm. I used a razor blade to scrape off any remnants and then a cloth to wipe off residue and voila. Clean, reusable jars. I can't BELIEVE I didn't know this. *side note: be sure it is boiling water. Also, you can see I used a bowl to soak the jar in the boiling water. It helps instead of pouring boiling water all over your hand as you are holding the jar. Not that I did that or anything.

have you ever bought frozen meat and fruit and it says 'Flash Frozen' on it but wondered that means? I admit, I didn't know what 'flash freezing' was. Flash freezing is when you place whatever you are trying to freeze whether it be berries, fruit, meats, etc individually on a cookie sheet - freeze it - and then picking up each individual frozen piece and putting it in a plastic storage bag or container. I highly highly recommend this method for everything - frozen beans, frozen zucchini sticks or circles, fruit, berries, etc. It is amazing that I didn't use this method more often, but there you go. Also, be sure to use parchment paper over the cookie sheet and under the fruit/vegetable. it makes it easy to pull up the frozen food.

I described this in an earlier canning post, but it is so good I have to repeat it. I highly recommend putting dill in glass jars (see above about removing labels on glass jars), pouring boiling vinegar over it, letting it sit (either in the pantry and/or fridge) for a few days to a week, and then using this dill-infused vinegar as your vinegar portion of the dill recipe. It has changed our life in terms of consuming pickled goods.

Enjoy today!

Peaches. Peach Sauce. Peach Butter. Peaches Frozen

This weekend I decided to visit a local U-Pick Peach and Apple orchard. The Elberta yellow flesh variety was all picked out, so we were directed to the white flesh peaches (selling at .99/lb UPick!). Huge, huge diamond in the rough. The peaches were gorgeous, branch-ripened, and smelled amazing. Within a span of ten minutes, we had picked....hold your breath for a moment....50 pounds of peaches!!!

So after a bit of buyer's remorse, I decided that since we picked 'em, we better use 'em. I visited my most favorite canning blogs - Food in Jars - because I remembered a post recently about vanilla peach butter. I'm sooo not a food photographer and Marisa at food in jars makes the everything look so inviting, delicious, and a feast for the eyes. I decided to make peach sauce with 12 pounds, peach butter with 10 pounds, and then flash freeze the rest of them for winter cobblers & pies.

So the first thing to do when getting peaches ready to process is to blanch them. I cut each peach in half, then put it in boiling water (actually I have one of those pasta baskets that I can set inside my large Dutch oven.) So I filled up the basket and dunked them in the water. Boil (blanch) for 60 seconds and then remove and either put in cold water or run cold water over them. The peach skins literally slip off and I was able to skin about 40 pounds of peaches in 25 minutes using that techniques and working in batches.

For the peaches I wanted to flash freeze for pies and cobblers, I had to first treat them for discoloration. I sliced up the halves into slices and put them into large bowls filled with cool water and 1/4 c. lemon juice (I use organic bottled juice). This prevents them for turning brown.

Then I drained the peaches and placed them on parchment lined cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer. After they had frozen, I put 5 c. of frozen peaches in a freezer Ziploc gallon bag.

I forgot to take pictures of the next process, but basically I followed Food in Jar's recipe for Vanilla Peach Sauce substituting Kirkland Signature vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. The sauce turned out so gourmet and tasted like heaven. I couldn't believe how easy the process was and yet the end product was so divine. (See below for the recipe if you don't have time to click over to Food in Jars).

Last but not least, I reserved some peach sauce to put in my crock pot to make peach butter. I had it sit on 'warm' overnight, added cinnamon and sugar, and then processed the jars the next morning. (of course, adding lemon juice to each jar for safe processing).

Overall, my first foray into peach preserving was a success in my eyes. It took about 1 hour for picking peaches. 2-3 hours to get the peaches ready. Another 1-2 hours to process peaches into sauce and jars.

Not bad. I look forward to tasting summer via these gorgeous white flesh peaches in the middle of winter.

Recipe

White Peach Sauce

*Note: this recipe calls for sugar, but my peaches were so flavorful and sweet, that I used maybe 1/2 c. of sugar for the entire batch.

• 10 pounds of peaches, halved and peeled (I peel my peaches by cutting them in half and then blanching them in boiling water for 45-60 seconds. Once the peaches are cool enough to handle, the skin should just lift away)
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 10 tablespoons bottled lemon juice (this is 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

Cook the peaches down in a large, non-reactive pot, using a potato masher to help them break down and release their juice. Add the vanilla bean seeds and the pod so that the vanilla flavor will infuse all the peaches.

After approximately 20 minutes over medium heat, the peaches should be fairly well cooked down. Remove the vanilla bean from the pot (making sure to squeeze all the goodness from it). If you like your sauce chunky, leave as is. If you want a smoother consistency, puree with an immersion blender.

Taste and add sugar to achieve your desired sweetness. I found a happy, flavorful place at 3 cups, but depending on the innate sweetness in the peaches, you might be able to stop at 2 cups. Or you might need to add more. It’s up to you.

Pour peach sauce into pint jars, leaving a bit more than an inch of headspace. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar and stir in with a chopstick or plastic spoon. Wipe rims, apply lids and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

If you want to make butter from some of the sauce, reserve 6-8 cups of sauce and cook down in a slow cooker (making sure to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every two cups of sauce at the beginning of cooking).

Who says boys can't CAN?

Refrigerator Pickles - our new family favorite! Use pre-dilled vinegar (as described in my post here) and use Jami's recipe here.

Operation Lose Baby Weight Week 5

(programming note: I missed last week because I broke my keyboard and was out of commission for a few days and never caught up enough on my computer work in order to post Week 4.)

Date 9/6/10


Week 5 Check-In

Weight: didn’t weigh in this week

Measurements:

Waist – START: 37”; TODAY: 34” LAST WEEK: 35” CHANGE: -1” Goal: 27”

Hips – START: 39”; TODAY:38 ¾” LAST WEEK: 39” CHANGE: - ¼” Goal: 36”

Thighs- START: 22 ½”; TODAY:22” LAST WEEK: 22 ½” CHANGE: - ½” Goal: 20”

Chest – START: 39”; TODAY: 38” LAST WEEK: 38” NO CHANGE: Goal: 36”

Almost 2” inches lost these last two weeks!



Last Week’s Workouts

SUNDAY – 30 minute hills bike ride

MONDAY – OFF

TUESDAY – 30 min run – soft & hard terrain

WEDNESDAY – 30 min run – soft & hard; 1 hour walk

THURSDAY – 30 min run; 30 min Crossfit

FRIDAY – 35 min run;

SATURDAY- 30 min Crossfit

3.5 hours cardio; 1 hour of strength training – GREAT!!

Last Week’s NSS (Non-Scale Success)

• I successively weaned myself off artificial sweeteners and colors and feel a million times better!

• Harvested and purchased only organic foods and ate 5 servings fruits/veggies day. Feel great!

• Purchased our first order of grass-fed beef. I’m really proud that we are switching over to a leaner and healthier version of beef.

• I am really proud of my running. I increased my speed (12 minute mile to 10.5 minute pace)



How I feel about myself and my body this week

I won’t lie, I have felt really really discouraged since beginning the program. I’m doing such a good job tracking my calories through food journaling, saying No to treats (healthy treats, no less), running and working out extra hard and then I only lose ¼” or I haven’t dropped a jean size yet. I guess the moral of the story is that in order to make this change for myself, I need to accept the slower pace and understand that this method makes for a more permanent change in my body appearance rather than a fad diet or yo-yo dieting would. I do feel really really good when running however and I love that I’m getting so strong. I can deadlift 140 lbs!!

Goals for Next Week

• Keep up on the water.

• Keep up on the cardio and perhaps add another 15 minutes (so 45 min. total/day)

A reminder about my goals and the program I set for myself

MY PROGRAM

*Modified 8/16/2010*

• Exercise 5-6 days a week. Include cardio/weight and circuit training. Training must be at least 30 minutes. Running 30 minutes daily.

• Eat 1400-1500 calories a day. As a busy mom I can't keep track of everything that goes in my mouth i.e. through a food journal, so I'm going to break it down like this. Shannan's patented 3-2-1 eating program

• 3-400 calorie meals

• 2-100 calorie snacks

• OR 1- 200 calorie snack

• Have rest days to recover physically - at least one a week, if not two try to have only one cheat meal. Until I see good results, I can only afford one cheat a week.

• Have two cheat meals a week - this is recommended by Jillian Michaels - you can't have cheat DAYS, but two cheat meals makes you feel satisfied and helps you stay on your program.

• Get 7-8 hours of sleep at night - very crucial for weight loss. I wake up very early in the morning, so in order to get that sleep, I have to be in bed by 9pm every night (YIKES!)

MY GOAL

I’m 5’4” and I would like to be 125-130 lbs.

Lose 25-30 lbs

Lose 10 inches off waist - goal 27"

Lose 3 inches off hips - goal 35-36"

Lose 2 inches off thighs - goal 20"

Lose 3 inches off chest - goal 36"

All of these hopefully by my birthday - March 27, 2011 but for sure by Lane's first birthday

My kiddos

When you are just ready to pull your hair out (and you moms know EXACTLY what I mean), you just have to capture the moments that steal your heart.

Like when Chase insisted that he read one of his favorite books to his sister.
I ran and grabbed my camera and felt pretty lucky I had the opportunity to catch the moment on film.
I will miss these days.

PS - if you ever wonder why I don't get face shots of the older boys on this blog, it is because THEY DON'T LET ME! I don't mean to shout at you, but it's true. I can only steal shots of them here and there like last week's lawn mowing adventure. They just don't sit and pose for the camera anymore. So yes, they are still around and yes, I still love them just as much, they just don't ham it up for the camera like the two younger ones.

Preserving the Garden

My ventures into canning all began with this.

My kids wanted to plant 'pickling' cucumbers. Little did I know that it would ignite a new love of canning. My pickling cucumbers went CRAZY - producing like gangbusters. So I had cucumbers coming out of my ears and I thought there is no way I could eat all these and no way would I throw them away. Better learn how to CAN.

So I went to our Farmer's market and picked up organic dill (you better believe I'm going to grow my own next year).

Here is a little info on how I made pickles this year.

I get all the dill seed heads and put them in glass jars and  glass measuring cups. A tip from a fellow blogger - Holly from Tasty Travels - suggested that you can pour hot vinegar over dill heads and store them in the pantry at room temperature. This I did a few days in advance of the actually pickling process.

I also save the fringey part of the dill. Boy, it can be MESSY!

A few days or a week later, it's time to pickle!! For the week prior, I will pick cucumbers and store them in cold water IN THE FRIDGE until I get a nice big batch.

Here is the dill vinegar.

You can put one or two dill heads per mason jar, and then use the 'dilly' vinegar as the vinegar part of your own dill pickle recipe.

I canned these pickles in a boiling water canner with my Grandmother Annis's recipe.

But I had a few cucumbers leftover and decided to use Jami's recipe from An Oregon Cottage and HANDS DOWN my family prefers the refrigerator pickles over the soft canned variety I did. When you use the pre-dilled vinegar, the pickles are ready in less than a week and have a fantastic flavor. So thanks Jami for that recipe. (I store them in the fridge with plastic mason jar tops).

Another way to use all the dill and dilly vinegar is to make DILLY Beans! I went out and got a huge bowl from my garden one afternoon.

And managed to can five pints of my first batch of dilly beans (using a boiling water canner).

Last, but not least, it's blackberry season in the Pacific Northwest. Free free free bushes line every road, every street, every park, every school yard. But guess what I did? I loaded up my older kids and three of their friends into my van and went to a U-Pick farm and paid $.88/pound for Triple Crown Blackberries (the bushes dont' have thorns and that in itself is almost worth paying the money). With all the children picking buckets - I had lots and lots of blackberries for

amazing blackberry jam. FYI - I used Ball Blue book recipe which doesn't use pectin and actually has a lot less sugar than traditional recipes. The jam turned out pretty good and i recommend the recipe and method.

 I would tell you more, but my family is outside on the back on our patio enjoying the sun slip away (okay when did it start getting dark at 8pm?) and I keep hearing "SHANNAN! SHANNAN!" so I really should go join them in this beautiful setting. See, suburban living can feel a bit like country if you let it :)

Linking with Tuesday Garden Party