I have a lot to say but since I'm going out of time in just a few short minutes, not a lot of time to say it in. Today marks 10 years since Stan and I started dating. 20 year old me couldn't have imagined a better 10 years than 30 year old me has had the priviledge of experiencing. It's hard to even think back on all that 10 years has brought us. I am so grateful. I am so blessed. Best of all I am still so in love. I think each new stage has grown my love to a new level. Past heart beating fast, stars in my eyes. To watching him grow a passion for people that need to know the love of Christ. To him being the best father to three adoring boys. And even though the stars aren't there every moment of the day, they aren't gone. Sometimes just over shadowed by dirty diapers, discipline issues and weariness of cross culture living.
Stan, I love you and I'm thankful for each moment of our 10 years, the good, the bad and the poopy.
And now to celebrate I'm headed off to the hardest language class I've yet to face. Postponing our real celebration till next week. I'm looking so forward to 10...20...50+ more!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
second week of personal challenge
Last week went really well. Dropped 4.5 pounds well. So it was definitely the water and the need for just some better choices. I still enjoyed pizza night on Friday but stayed away from a dessert treat all together (meaning so did the guys cause I can't look dessert in the eye and not have some). Since I did so well with sticking to just coffee and water each day I'm rewarding myself with an 80 calorie spiced apple cider tonight. But then I'm right back to sticking to just the coffee and water. Next week I'll be leaving on Wednesday for a special language class in KM. I will be gone 4 days and I know I will have opportunities for some yummy food, so I've decided to extend my two weeks hard core through Tuesday and then take my time away for my more relaxed eating. Although when I say more relaxed I really just mean giving myself back those 100 calories each day and maybe having one splurge meal and dessert. Mom and Larry are coming for the week between Christmas and New Years and I am determined to be as low as possible. Two main reasons, 1) so I can enjoy that week and cook with my mom without being feeling bad and 2) who wants to sit and calculate calories when your parents are visiting after not seeing them for almost 18 months?
Anyway, this week's meals were already planned out for me in many ways cause Tuesday nights we eat out, Wednesday night we are having a goodbye dinner for M and Thrusday we are going to my big sister's house to celebrate her oldest grandsons first birthday (by the lunar calendar, he was actually born on Oct. 31). So tonight I really wanted to make something good but wanted to use what I already had on hand as much as possible. I remembered the tilapia felets in the freezer and decided that was just what I was in the mood for. Stan wanted grits as the side and I did some easy green beans. If you are like me and grew up with a severe deversion to fish--it was a bone thing, I was deathly afraid of swallowing a bone, and fish is, well, fishy--I dare you to challenge your grown up taste buds and go for some fish. Tilapia is a really mild, non fishy, fish. Plus the recipe I'm gonna give you will make your mouth and tummy so happy. For low calories. Also, becuase I didn't want to just do plain grits I made these Pumkin Cheese Grits, which may sound questionable, but were really good. Adding in a little bonus veg. and the flavor wasn't incredibly strong so it went really well with my fav tilapia....
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. butter, softened (I use non-butter, butter spread)
1 1/2 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. lemon juice (I usually end up using white vinegar cause lemons aren't always available to me)
1/8 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1 pound tilapia fellets
1. Mix topping ingredients.
2. Broil fish 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Cover with mixture and broil 2 more minutes--it is done with topping has slightly browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serves 4.
I'm hoping for another great week. Maybe I'll try to blog more than just once a week. I really want to post and update about the boys on the Angel's blog--the last thing I wrote was over 6 weeks ago--so I'm gonna get right on that. Maybe. I have a lot of studying to do before next week. Enjoy the fish. You will absolutely be glad you made it.
Anyway, this week's meals were already planned out for me in many ways cause Tuesday nights we eat out, Wednesday night we are having a goodbye dinner for M and Thrusday we are going to my big sister's house to celebrate her oldest grandsons first birthday (by the lunar calendar, he was actually born on Oct. 31). So tonight I really wanted to make something good but wanted to use what I already had on hand as much as possible. I remembered the tilapia felets in the freezer and decided that was just what I was in the mood for. Stan wanted grits as the side and I did some easy green beans. If you are like me and grew up with a severe deversion to fish--it was a bone thing, I was deathly afraid of swallowing a bone, and fish is, well, fishy--I dare you to challenge your grown up taste buds and go for some fish. Tilapia is a really mild, non fishy, fish. Plus the recipe I'm gonna give you will make your mouth and tummy so happy. For low calories. Also, becuase I didn't want to just do plain grits I made these Pumkin Cheese Grits, which may sound questionable, but were really good. Adding in a little bonus veg. and the flavor wasn't incredibly strong so it went really well with my fav tilapia....
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. butter, softened (I use non-butter, butter spread)
1 1/2 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. lemon juice (I usually end up using white vinegar cause lemons aren't always available to me)
1/8 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1 pound tilapia fellets
1. Mix topping ingredients.
2. Broil fish 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Cover with mixture and broil 2 more minutes--it is done with topping has slightly browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serves 4.
I'm hoping for another great week. Maybe I'll try to blog more than just once a week. I really want to post and update about the boys on the Angel's blog--the last thing I wrote was over 6 weeks ago--so I'm gonna get right on that. Maybe. I have a lot of studying to do before next week. Enjoy the fish. You will absolutely be glad you made it.
Monday, October 11, 2010
this week's plan
Last Friday morning when Stan walked in the door at 7 am after being gone practically 2 straight weeks (with the exception of a less than 20 hour stop in) I was over joyed and absolutely thrilled. I talked that poor man's head off. And although I do have another adult in the house with me most days during the week (my Big Sister was gone last Wed. and Thurs. having a big family thing in the village for her second born grandson..this time to the younger of her sons...which we sadly had to miss) she doesn't speak English. I thoroughly enjoy her company and we laugh and joke a lot. But it's not in English. So some days it hurts my brain to have fun. Anyway, like I was saying, Stan was home, the boys were thrilled and nothing more could be the order of the day than pizza and movie night. And I made a Jello No Bake cheese cake for dessert. With raspberry topping. And I ate the Reese's peanut butter cups Stan brought me from KM.
I tried really hard to eat well last week. And I exercised 5 days, just one less than my normal goal. But I've been stagnant at loosing weight. Boooo. I counted my calories and paid attention to what I was taking in, not always making the most fabulous choices but doing the best I could with the week that was given me. And after weighing my lowest right after returning from my wonderful ladies retreat, I found myself a kilo (which is 2.2 pounds for those of you who were like me and never learned the metric system...just you wait, if you move out of America you will be forced to do so) back up from that and holding tight. It made me sad. But not sad enough not to enjoy family night.
My resolve is that this week I just have to clean things up. Actually I'm going full on hard core for two weeks. I realized that I have been totally lazy in getting my water in. Anyone who has attempted weight loss knows drinking enough water each day is key. So for the next two weeks I will drink only water. No Coke Zero, no crystal light. I will drink coffee, cause lets face it, the goal here isn't to make myself go crazy. And I'm so addicted to that stuff that it would take years to detox. But I am definitely limiting myself to 2 cups. No sneaking in a third (or fourth) to get me through a hectic morning. My other goal is to drop down 100 calories per day. Not a big deal, but I'm hoping enough to boost me over this hump. Also, I'm gonna mix up the workouts. Change things up enough to work some new muscles and get MORE CARDIO!
My weight loss is usually a week delayed (is this normal for anyone else???). I see big drops the week after I really do well. I'm hoping that by the end of this week I will push through the next, even if I'm not getting those instant results that we all love. Water. Lower calories. Exercise. Let's Go!
I tried really hard to eat well last week. And I exercised 5 days, just one less than my normal goal. But I've been stagnant at loosing weight. Boooo. I counted my calories and paid attention to what I was taking in, not always making the most fabulous choices but doing the best I could with the week that was given me. And after weighing my lowest right after returning from my wonderful ladies retreat, I found myself a kilo (which is 2.2 pounds for those of you who were like me and never learned the metric system...just you wait, if you move out of America you will be forced to do so) back up from that and holding tight. It made me sad. But not sad enough not to enjoy family night.
My resolve is that this week I just have to clean things up. Actually I'm going full on hard core for two weeks. I realized that I have been totally lazy in getting my water in. Anyone who has attempted weight loss knows drinking enough water each day is key. So for the next two weeks I will drink only water. No Coke Zero, no crystal light. I will drink coffee, cause lets face it, the goal here isn't to make myself go crazy. And I'm so addicted to that stuff that it would take years to detox. But I am definitely limiting myself to 2 cups. No sneaking in a third (or fourth) to get me through a hectic morning. My other goal is to drop down 100 calories per day. Not a big deal, but I'm hoping enough to boost me over this hump. Also, I'm gonna mix up the workouts. Change things up enough to work some new muscles and get MORE CARDIO!
My weight loss is usually a week delayed (is this normal for anyone else???). I see big drops the week after I really do well. I'm hoping that by the end of this week I will push through the next, even if I'm not getting those instant results that we all love. Water. Lower calories. Exercise. Let's Go!
Monday, October 4, 2010
i'm feelin' soupy
For whatever reason I am extremely tired today. It doesn't make since since I took a nap yesterday AND went to bed at about 9:00. And no, I'm not pregnant. I think the dreary, coldish weather is at fault. And the out of town husband. My very active boys have me slightly worn out too. I'm done whining now. Anyway, I plan to spend some time in the kitchen this afternoon. It's been a long time since I made granola, so I'm gonna do a batch of that. I think it will really add some yumminess to my morning oatmeal. Also we are in need of apple sauce, although the pears looked better and were cheaper so really I'm making pear sauce. And this weather definitely has me in the mood for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It's an easy thing to do while daddy is gone and is sure to please everyone. You may, or may not, know that we can not buy canned tomato soup in our town. We can get it in KM, but the space (and weight) of cans of soup is much better used by other things. Like cheese. I heart cheese. I am willing to pay a lot to get what is definitely one of my favorite foods. I'm even willing to use up calories and fat on my diet to eat the real stuff. I digress. I was really aiming to talk about tomato soup. I want to share my recipe for homemade tomato soup. I might just be on a soup kick this fall/winter. But this soup has convinced me, due to the fact that it is truly simple to make and so very delicious, that canned tomato soup is no longer needed. Ever. Make it and you just might agree with me.
Roasted Grape Tomato Soup
2.5-3 pounds grape tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
6 whole cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Basil
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the grape tomatoes, onion and whole cloves of garlic on a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil all over and sprinkle with basil. Place roasting pan in the hot oven. Let roast for 1-1.25 hours, stirring up veggies about every quarter of an hour. Once all is well roasted, place in a blender/food processor with chicken broth and bend until smooth (or at desired consistency). Place in a small soup pot and add milk. Add more chicken broth if needed. Salt and pepper to taste.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can totally change things up to your taste. I usually don't add extra salt because I find it salty enough for me and my men. Don't like onion or garlic? Leave it out--last time I forgot to buy onion so I just added a little extra garlic and it was still yummy. I do the olive oil and basil all by sight, but be exact if that's what you like. Change up the herbs. Whatever you and your family enjoy. This is the original recipe if you would rather use that as your guide. My one definite is to use grape tomatoes. One time when I made it I had larger tomatoes on hand and needed to use them. So I cut those things up and all the wonderful flavor was lost during the roasting process. Using grape tomatoes will give you lots of flavor and you will be forever grateful you followed my advice.
If you make it and declare canned tomato soup forever useless, I want to know!
Roasted Grape Tomato Soup
2.5-3 pounds grape tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
6 whole cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Basil
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the grape tomatoes, onion and whole cloves of garlic on a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil all over and sprinkle with basil. Place roasting pan in the hot oven. Let roast for 1-1.25 hours, stirring up veggies about every quarter of an hour. Once all is well roasted, place in a blender/food processor with chicken broth and bend until smooth (or at desired consistency). Place in a small soup pot and add milk. Add more chicken broth if needed. Salt and pepper to taste.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can totally change things up to your taste. I usually don't add extra salt because I find it salty enough for me and my men. Don't like onion or garlic? Leave it out--last time I forgot to buy onion so I just added a little extra garlic and it was still yummy. I do the olive oil and basil all by sight, but be exact if that's what you like. Change up the herbs. Whatever you and your family enjoy. This is the original recipe if you would rather use that as your guide. My one definite is to use grape tomatoes. One time when I made it I had larger tomatoes on hand and needed to use them. So I cut those things up and all the wonderful flavor was lost during the roasting process. Using grape tomatoes will give you lots of flavor and you will be forever grateful you followed my advice.
If you make it and declare canned tomato soup forever useless, I want to know!
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