o_O Free Time Please???

The last three months have been INSANE! (Caps lock and bold doesn't even begin to cover it!) I have not been sick so many times in such a short span of time for ... I can't even remember a time that I got sick a lot! *Sigh* Every time I turn around, the dishes haunt me and the piles of laundry (dirty and clean) taunt me.

However! I am really enjoying life up here! The snow is a nice change of pace and everyone is far more relaxed! My favorite part of living in Cheney: I have windows in my house! Huge windows! On all sides of the house! In every room except for one! It's wonderful. :^)

As for my diet, I'm finally getting back to vegetarian. It's nice! I've had a lot of fun cooking veggies and looking up or making up new recipes. I'm also having to force myself to cut out dairy because my daughter is showing signs of having an intolerance to milk.

One of my newest projects is to type up my favorite recipes so I can access them easier. It's really nice! But free time is ... nonexistent. Like right now, I could and should be doing dishes or laundry or vacuuming or cleaning or gosh, who knows! But I needed a break! ;^D

I'm figuring out the best way for me to organize meals and grocery lists, and have made up a couple excel documents based off of forms I found on the internet!

Grocery List

Meal Planner

So That's what I've been up to lately! I'll update with recipes and other fun stuff!

Here's to tomorrow!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Hello! It's been so long! The last month has been INSANE! I kid you not! We moved at the end of September. The first week of October, Jairus got sick and I was about three days behind him. Then Juriah ended up with croup and spent two nights in the hospital and a week later, Jessenya was hospitalized for one night for croup. This last week we have been recuperating.

Okay, so that aside, I have joined a gym! Yay! It's right across the street and so far I've been able to go after the kids go to sleep. It's AWESOME! The first day I did some cardio and focused on my legs and today I did more cardio and focused on upper body. I'm having a lot of fun and really enjoying the time to myself.

As far as diet goes, I haven't been doing so well--when everyone's sick, you eat what is easy to get to. There's been a lot of fast-food chicken, pizza, and junk food in general. But I'm super excited because I made a fantastic vegan meal for Halloween! Butternut Squash & Pear soup, Cumin & Cayenne Mashed Potatoes, Citrus Collard Greens, and Chocolate-Pecan Pudding Pie. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo good! The left over pie makes it easier to pass up my brother-in-law's cheese cake! I have decided to go back to focusing on eating healthy first and vegetarian/vegan second. Thing are just now settling down so focusing on getting back to eating real food is more important right now.

I've been incredibly inspired by the show The Biggest Loser! I know I'm right on the edge of being obese (The last Dr appointment I had I weighed in around 195!) and watching people who have decided to change their lives made me realize that if they could do it, so could I! I'm super excited because I finally have the motivation to take care of myself and get healthy! Well, at least to the point that I'm doing something about it! I'm only going to be able to afford 2 months at the gym at $30 a month--our income is going to be going bye-bye soon--so I have to make them count. It's going to be fantastic though! And who knows, maybe I'll find a way to make some more money!

I really do have to thank my friend, Becca Sue! She's been working so hard to get healthy and has done such an amazing job! Knowing someone who has changed their own life so much has made it easier to believe that I can do the same for myself!

Oh! Also, I can now share who's getting married!!! My bestest friend in the whole world, Jillian Kellett, is getting married to her boyfriend, Jason Ackley, in August (the date changed when they made the engagement official). Woot!

Well, that's it for me today! Here's to tomorrow!

Thanks Grandma

Being a mom of two young kids is crazy busy! Also, I've been traveling so things are extra hectic! I continued juicing while I was away--thanks Grandma for letting me borrow your juicer! This morning, however, was the second time I haven't juiced! I was so tired this morning I opted to not worry about it. As far as my vegetarian diet went this weekend: I did so well, until we stopped at the dreaded Micky D's to let the kids run out their wiggles. Without a second thought, I ordered chicken. *Sigh* But that's it! Well, okay, I did allow for one day for sweets because there was an fabulous ladies party! I'm quite proud of myself! Well, I'll get back on the horse and let you know how it goes!

Here's to tomorrow!

Stats:
Eh, yea, I'll let you know later!

As for the Diet

I have a new recipe! Woot! I got it from Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton.

EASY PLEASIN' OAT BARS
Makes 10-14 bars (depending on how they're cut)
Brackets [] are mine

2 cups ground oats (can be made in a blender with whole oats)
1 cup quick oats
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup fruit sweetener or other thick honey alternative [I used Agave Nectar]
1/4 cup vanilla or plain non-dairy milk
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp canola oil [I used coconut oil! SOOOOO GOOD!]
[1- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract]
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
3) Add the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, stirring until well combined. [I think it would work better to mix all the wet ingredients separately and then mix them into the dry mixture--the dry tends to suck up the liquid really fast!]
4) Transfer the mixture to a lightly oiled 8"x8" or 8"x12" baking dish and press it down until evenly distributed.
5) Using a sharp knife, cut to mark out the bars before you bake them to make it easier to fully cut and remove the bars once baked. (I usually mark out 12 rectangular bars, but you can make whatever size you like.) [I cut them into tiny little bite size squares for Juriah!]
6) Bake for 19-21 minutes, then remove and let cool in the pan.7) Once cool, use a sharp knife to fully cut the bars, then remove with a spatula.

My first batch came out really dense! But that was because I kept having to add soy milk. Juriah and I absolutely love them and Jairus really enjoyed the taste but not the dense texture. I'm sure that would be fixed by mixing the liquid ingredients on their own and then to the dry ones! Burton (I love her last name--it always makes me think of snowboarding! Which is another reason I need to get in shape! We've got a trip planned for Dec!) mentions in a side note that 1/4 cup of dried fruits or toasted nuts can be added! I told Jairus about that and (being the Coast Guard chief that he is) he mentioned that I would want to soak the fruit in water for an hour or so to keep the bars from drying out! He said that it works wonders for oatmeal cookies! I'll have to let you know what I find out when I try it! I love this recipe because I can have maple syrup and agave! So it's a nice sweet treat without adding so much to my weight issue!

As for the diet, all is well! Okay, except for the break down I had at Home Depot today. It was the third errand today that took longer than I expected it to and Juriah was cranky because we skipped his nap--I know, I know, bad idea! Anyway, I've had my green lemonade--OH! and so did Juriah! I have a picture!

He even asked me for more! Well, that's it for today! Here's to tomorrow!

Stats:
Weight - Probably the same!
Green Lemonades - 16! Woot!

I LOVE Cheese!

I love the Farmer's Market. We watched Curt (curtshow.com) juggle--absolutely hilarious! We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. We bought two flowering maple trees and a little wheel of sheep cheese. A couple people are starting to recognize us--of course, today was the third week of us buying 12-14 heads of romaine and 5-6 bunches of kale. It's pretty hard to miss a young couple pushing a double stroller walking a rare breed of dog (Shiba Inu) and hauling 5 or 6 bags of greens! We didn't think through how much to buy--we're going out of town and we weren't going to take our juicer. But now it looks like I'll be packing up the juicer and produce!

As for the vegetarian transition, it's really easy to not eat chicken! Of course, that comes in part because I have done the vegetarian diet before. Because of this, I have decided that I'm going to cut out chicken and turkey! I'll reserve fish for twice a month (sushi is awesome!) I got the sheep cheese today because I think I'm going to start gearing up for the transition to veganism! My logic in that is this: I LOVE cheese! even though I don't eat it much right now, if it's available, I'm all over it! If I switch to goat and sheep cheese, it will be easier on my body and, hopefully I won't miss giving it up so much. Of course this may back fire on me. I'm head-over-heels for the sheep cheese I picked up today! *Deep sigh* If nothing else, at least I'm trying!

Here's to tomorrow!

Stats:
Weight - 183, bummer for the extra 2 pounds!
Green Lemonades - 13

My mind may be slippery, but it's awake!

My son drank Green Lemonade yesterday! And he liked it! Woohoo! I cannot fully express to you all how excited I am! He barely tolerates veggies and there he was yesterday, sipping on his grandma's Green Lemonade! Talk about awesome "whole food" baby vitamin!

Aside from that, the diet has been going well! Last Sunday was the only time I've had meat since the sushi incident and it was only turkey. I would have been able to make myself a veggie sandwich, but I waited too long to go make it. As for "sugar-free," I'm doing well with that also--it has been hard though! I keep forgetting what that I can't have things: soda, lattes, chai lattes, most chocolate--I'm even giving up stuff with evaporated cane juice in it! That limits things even more! Thankfully Jairus has been helping me keep an eye on things. Yesterday we went to Dutch Bros and I brought my own cup with some vanilla extract and agave nectar. Unfortunately, the gentleman making my order dumped dirty water in it and I had to have a plain iced latte instead--which it didn't taste too bad! He was incredibly sorry and gave us the drink for free and extra punches on our punch card! It could have been worse.

Overall, I'm feeling very empowered by this diet change--even if I'm only doing baby steps! I'm feeling more alive and ... functional? I feel like I'm actually interacting with my spouse and children! I'm enjoying the activities of day to day life! I'm taking a yoga class and I went out on my own to run an errand! I am healthy! There have been so many times in the last week where I could have given into the depression and I didn't! Every one of those opportunities, I have met head on with honesty and determination. I caught myself spiraling, took action and dealt with the real issue in a healthy manner. My mind may be slippery, but it's awake! Yesterday, I weighed myself and I have lost 4 pounds! I'm feeling more mobile and a tiny bit more trim! The results are fantastic and it's only the second week! I'm so excited!

Stats:
Weight - 181!
Green Lemonades - 9

An Unforseen Blessing

Jairus and I juiced our Green Lemonade again this morning! It had been sorely missed yesterday! Last night, as we were preparing the produce for this morning, I realized how nice it was to be doing this with my husband. It has become an activity that we enjoy together! We now have something besides TV to connect on! Jairus has tried to get me interested in juicing before, but I would only humor him and try his crazy drinks so I felt less guilty about not liking the idea in the slightest. It was a blessing that I didn't expect to come from this experiment. Deep down, I can feel the effects of this diet change already and it isn't necessarily from the food itself. Jairus and I are interacting over something that had interested him at one point and has now become a common interest! I feel healthy all over!

Stats:
Weight - I don't know what my deal is--I forgot to weigh myself again!
Green Lemonades - 7
Properly Combined Meals - 11