Archives for September 2011

What’s RIGHT with this picture??

September 29, 2011 by ·

I mean, really, there is plenty to discuss over what is wrong with this picture…
like the lack of pants…
Or the yet-to-be-wiped-off chocolate on her mouth…
Or the fact that she is so enthralled with the TV that she won’t look at the camera…
Or even the fact that she is eating in the family room…

But wait… lets just get over the eating in the family room, and hone in on what she is eating in the family room…

Yes, it is upside down,
But did you get that??

She is eating…
FIBER.
Straight.
No added sugars, no candies hidden inside.
Just pure, unadulterated Fiber.
Of her own accord,
Straight from the pouch
(that she opened herself)

So, on this momentous day, where there were oh-so-many things wrong…
Let’s take just a tiny moment and witness a little miracle:

yes, there is something very RIGHT with this picture after all!

Filed Under: Motherhood, Random

Nutrition Nerds Unite!

September 27, 2011 by ·

Once a year
I get to board one of these

Say Goodbye to these:

Meet up with some of these:

And eat lots of these:

Oh yea, and attend lots of these:

Yep, once a year I get to spend 4 days with my fellow nutrition nerds
and learn the latest and greatest
in all that is food and nutrition

I always feel so re-energized
and remember why it is
that I love this field so much.
And am re-solved to spread the word
and the love

of all things FOOD!!

Filed Under: Featured Posts, Random

Potato Plus Soup

September 19, 2011 by ·

I absolutely love seasons. I used to think that I could live in a hot climate for the rest of my life and be truly happy, but this year, for some reason, (probably because I’m not yet neck deep in snow!) I am relishing the changing of the season.
I love waking up to a brisk, fall morning.
I love the colors.
I love the excitement of gearing up for another holiday season (yes, the kiddos already have their Halloween costumes… What can I say, I’m a wee bit obsessed with fall activities!).

I love starting the day with cocoa and toast.
I love coming in from the chilly day to the sight of hot soup on the stove.

So without further adieu… here is the recipe that is the current favorite at our house… adapted from a couple of recipes from my dear friend, Jolene, who made a version of this soup one Christmas Eve for dinner with some of us penniless residents, and then we had our kiddos combine together to put on the Christmas play – such tender memories! I think of that, and of her, every time I make this soup, and think of how lucky I am to be surrounded with such incredible friends in life!

Potato (plus) soup:

2-4 cups of diced potatoes (depending on how much you like potatoes. Being from Idaho… I load it up!)
1/2 cup minced onion
2 quarts water
4 tbsp chicken base (or 6 chicken bouillon cubes)
dash of minced garlic, parsley flakes, salt and pepper
Combine in big pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes

In another pan combine:
1/2-3/4 cups carrots (diced)
1 head broccoli, cut
1 1/2 cup water
cook for 15 minutes in small pot

In separate pan:
3/4-1 cup (depending on desired thickness) flour
3 cups milk (divided)
1 cup powdered milk
5 tbsp margarine
1 tsp salt
1 cup velveta cheese, diced
combine flour plus 1 1/2 cups milk, wisk until well blended. Add everything except velveta cheese and heat while stirring until bubbly and thickened.

Remove from heat and add cheese.

— Combine all pots together (pour everything into the potato pot),

and stir to mix.

Try to hold off the troops who are magically drawn to the warm, yummy smelling kitchen – maybe even using is as bait to get them to set the table in order to get a taste :).

(Tastes great when served in bread bowls, either purchased

or homemade…

either one tastes great!
(If you have a bread machine – I have a great recipe for easy rolls – I’ll post it soon!)

This soup freezes great (if there is any left over to freeze… )

Happy Souping!

Filed Under: Recipes

No one asks your shoe size…

September 13, 2011 by ·

I’m sitting here
writing this post
with numb feet.
Because I tried to tell myself that I still wear the same size of shoes that I have for the past decade.
And I ordered a super cute pair of black workout shoes (that I found on a killer sale!).
But after an hour of wearing them,
The sad truth
Is that I am just not the same size
that I was 10 years ago.
… which really bothers me
because I was never one with dainty feet to begin with.
(can you say size 10??! In 10th grade??! Yup… that’s me, miss amazon ape over here!)

But to make matters worse,
I ran across these beauties a few months ago
(In the clearance isle, of course!)

And looked at the size.
Which was not a 10…
it said the dreaded “11”
Which I know is just one size up…
but there is something about the size “11” section
that loses all cuteness
and any sense of style or fashion
… It’s as if the companies said, “whoa, if you are a size 11 you have a whole slew of issues to deal with, so we’ll make the shoe selection easy: flat slip on in brown or black. Take your pick.”

… So when I saw these red babies, I sat
and deliberated
I mean, although my feet have been killing in my ‘normal’ size shoes,
I hadn’t yet openly admitted that I was actually the beyond ginormous king-kong footed person my shoes where telling me I was.
But when the price is $6 (yes, that is $6.00!), I couldn’t resist.
I took them home and didn’t wear them for a while (have you ever done that, buy something, but give it some time, just in case you want to take them back??! strange quirk, I know!)
But finally broke them out.
And guess what, my feet rejoiced! I actually wore them the whole day (Without numbness!)
and not one person walked up to me and asked,
“Say, what size are those shoes??!”
In fact, it was just the opposite…
I started a lecture series to a group of youth, and the person introducing me said (she had never met me before, mind you), “Let’s get started, because we have a really fun speaker today!… she’s wearing red shoes, and anyone who wears red shoes is going to be a fun speaker!”
You can believe I strutted those shoes like a peacock showing their feathers!
I felt so great about it in fact, that I ran out and bought:

… yes, those are incredibly high heels (6 inches to be exact)
which, when paired with my 5’11” body length, amounts to what could be godzilla walking down the street.
But they are Blue! and size…
11
(and yes, on another clearance sale!)

And ya know what?
Not one time has anyone asked what size they were.

So, why do you care about this at all??

Well, I find it ironic
that in the ‘diet crazed’ world in which we live…
we live and die by the numbers we see here:

When, in reality, not one person is going to walk up to you on the street
and casually say, “Hey, how are you doing? How much do you weigh?”

I have had so many clients put themselves into a tail spin
because they stepped on the scale,
possibly after they drank one extra glass of water…
and saw a .5 pound increase (I’m not kidding about that number, either!).
Yes,
Many-a-bag of oreos have been consumed in the aftermath of the dreaded
WEIGH IN day.

Does the scale help in weight loss?
Yes…
and no

What really helps in weight loss
Is knowing yourself.
If you know that the numbers on that scale send you into a bad place.
Throw your scale away. (I’m not kidding about that, either!)
(if it doesn’t send you to the double dipped chocolates, then by all means, keep it in place!)
There are SO MANY more indicators of health and and in-shape body –
Why do we put the ‘scale’ numbers on some sort of shrine??!
Wouldn’t you much rather take note by the way your clothes fit?
Case in point:
If you start a weight lifting program,
You are going to build muscle (a good thing!)…
which weighs more than fat.
… in other words, you could have the exact same weight on the scale, but if you are building more muscle and losing more fat, the body size is going to shrink (even if the numbers don’t!)
… I use models in class of a 5 pound glob of fat (pretty big) and a 5 pound slab of muscle (much smaller).
So if you are on a body-changing plan (notice I didn’t way weight loss plan!)…
pick up the weights
and (if it sends you to a bad place) throw away the scale 🙂

… then go buy some new shoes!
… from the clearance isle…
… in the right size!

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured Posts, Random

let dirty dishes lie… and other wive’s tales debunked!

September 9, 2011 by ·

At one of my bridal showers, some sweet, well-meaning woman gave me this advice, “Don’t ever go to bed angry! Talk and work things out.”
And we tried.
and tried.
and tried.
But it seemed that for us, with any argument that came up, regardless of how small it was, if we tried to stay up and iron it out,
the only thing that happened was
we got more tired
and more grouchy
and more fighty
After a few years of this (I said we tried and tried!) (or maybe it was that we just plain got too tired to stay up anymore!)…
We started to just go to sleep.
smoldering.
still angry.
but sleeping.
By morning time, 9 times out of 10, we both looked at each other and said, “I’m so sorry!” almost simultaneously. Sometimes we even wondered why we had gotten so bent out of shape over really small things.
For us, this method works. We have found that our energy levels are at their peak in the early morning hours, so those are the times that have morphed into our ‘deep thought’ moments.
I am fully aware that this doesn’t work for everyone.
But it works for us.
I just wished someone had told me that not ‘everyone’ stays up to duke it out at night many years earlier.

… in fact, this philosophy works across the board.
One question that I pose in my nutrition seminars is, “what is the best time of day to exercise?” I get many different responses, depending on what studies people have heard about exercise and health.
What we then discuss is the fact that this is a trick question.
The best time of day for you to exercise
Is the time of day that you WILL exercise.
In other words –
If you are not a morning person, DON’T set the alarm to ring at 4:00 am and expect to bounce out of bed and do a quick 5 mile run. That plan is going to last as long as it takes for you to reach over and find the ‘snooze’ button.
Find YOUR rhythm.
Know YOUR body.
We all have different peak energy levels at different points of the day. Don’t fight yours, learn how to utilize your peak hours, and give yourself a break on your ‘off’ hours.

… which brings me back to the dirty dishes.
Well, as with my marriage, I have found that my kitchen is another area that I can best work in the morning.
In many circles, it is often heard, “oh, I can’t go to bed with dirty dishes, it is such a mess to wake up to – I have to wake up to a clean kitchen.”
… and I have fallen victim to this thought pattern, thinking that if the ‘other moms’ do it, then it must be the way it should be done.
So I have spent many nights cleaning my kitchen.
Being very tired
and grumpy
and yelling
and not snuggling the kids
and not reading extra books
because I had to go to bed with a clean kitchen!

… but I have in recent years started applying this ‘go to bed’ scenario with my kitchen.
And guess what?
It works!
Not for everyone, mind you,
But for me…
Leaving this:

(don’t worry, I did put the hamburger in the fridge!)

right where it is,
and heading off to bed
is the best thing for me.

You see, when I get up in the morning, and I am once again greeted by this:

(only minus the hamburger, I just didn’t take another picture – deal with it 🙂 ).

I instantly have something tangibly productive that I can do.
And I dive in. It kind of becomes a rhythm
and me cleaning the kitchen,
lets the kids know that it’s working time,
and they start doing their chores.
and by the time we head off to school,
I get to feel so productive because my kitchen then looks like this:

(okay, maybe not ALL the time when we walk out the door, but I’m creating the mo-jo here, so just go with me!).

… and instantly I feel like the day has been a success.

So I invite you to site back,
Do a little introspection,
and if it works for you…

Let the dirty dishes sleep 🙂

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured Posts, Motherhood
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