Blogging the Menu: Day 64

Oh Polar Vortex, you are a whore.  You look so pretty on the outside, all sunshine and sparkles, but inside you are cold and dead.  That's the last I'm going to say about cold weather.  If I pretend it isn't happening, maybe it will go away.

Today was the last day to weigh in for our 2015 (yep, that's not a typo) wellness credit.  If you're a healthy weight, you get the credit.  If you're not, you get to pick a strategy to improve your health and report back in August.  If you've made an improvement, you get the credit.  I don't deny that being at a healthy weight improves the odds that you're in decent health.  These days I ride the high side of a "healthy weight".  Now I'm a big gal.  I stand almost 5'10" and I'm built to breed.  So my 168lbs put me at a BMI of 24ish.  So "healthy" but only just.  I'm up 3lbs from last year, which doesn't upset me-I mean what the fuck is 3lbs?  A bag of broccoli?  Who cares.  But, I'm a former fat girl.  Getting on a scale in front of someone still makes me feel like I've just eaten a bowl of rocks.  It's stupid, but it's a behavioral response that's been reinforced for a long time.  Part of me wants to shout that no number is large enough to encompass my screaming hotness.  Part of me wants to hide under the table.  I tell people my weight all the time.  My age, too.  I feel as though repeating them takes the sting out.  By owning it out loud I am teaching myself to accept it, and maybe making others less afraid to own their own reality.

I AM 36 YEARS OLD AND I WEIGH 168 POUNDS.

Suck on that, establishment.

On to the menu!
After standing in line for an hour to stand on a scale for a nanosecond I was ravenous so I went to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast.  The fruit was a little picked over, but these grapes were lovely and made me crave more later, which I didn't have.

I ate all the bacon.  Takes a lot of fuel to maintain 168lbs

I brought a snack.  Band fruit grapefruit.  It was...not awesome.  Not bad, but less delicious than it's perfect color would seem to indicate.  Nobody likes a tease.

Seriously.  It's like a stuffed bra.  Full of disappointment.

I ran some errands at lunch and then finished up the leftover chorizo meatballs and some mooshed cauliflower.  

This was a big lunch.  Was.

I had an RxBar in the afternoon because I was bored.  I have no other reason.  Then I got home with the kids, made their dinner and looked at the leftovers in the fridge for myself and realized I wasn't hungry.  Not at all.  Not even a little bit.  So here is my dinner.

Shut. the. fuck. up.

The Open starts tonight.  I always watch the live announcement and tonight will be no exception.  I'm going to have to do the WOD on Sunday, as we're leaving town tomorrow for the Point Bock Run on Saturday.  I'm still excited to see it!

Most of my local friends already know, but I'm going back to the hospital (to work-I'm not sick or anything) effective 3/24.  I'll be working the third shift 7 days on/ 7 days off.  I am excited to be going "home" again.  I had 5 great years there and I've missed the immediacy of the hospital.  I've also missed days off during the week!  The night shift gets a bad rap.  I worked thirds for an extended period of time and I really liked it.  I can't wait to spend time with my husband, run and go to CrossFit whenever I want, and finally put a garden in.  I'll miss my current co-workers, but I realized that I'm a hospital pharmacist.  It's where I belong.  

Blogging the Menu: Day 63

I'm keeping this short and sweet today.  I have a lot of stuff whirling around in my head, but I'm not sure how to put it into words without sounding like some kind of fucked up born-again and I hate that shit.

No worries.  I didn't find Jesus or anything.  Not that Jesus was a bad guy, that's just not how I roll.

On to the menu!

I had some clementines pre-WOD.  These work pretty well for me as a pre-workout food.  No GI distress.  I was a little flatulent at the gym this morning (sorry ladies), but I did not pee myself in spite of much jump roping.  It's the little things.

Like little balls of sunshine in a bag.

Breakfast was a lazy bowl of banana walnut pudding and a coconut milk latte.

I bet this would rule with chocolate syrup.

We went out lunch for a co-worker's birthday.  I had a nice little tenderloin and some sweet potato fries.  Holy shit I love sweet potato fries.

Also I likey the pickle (that is what she said).

I was pretty full, so aside from a handful of trail mix this afternoon I waited until dinner.  It was meatza night-cleaning up the last of the beef from last year to make way for 682lbs of locally sourced, grass fed, hormone free cow carcass.  The freezer is full again!  Huzzah!

I can't go a day without broccoli.

Tomorrow I have to weigh in for our "healthy weight" credit.  I don't want to know.  Maybe I won't look and she can just record it or whatever.  

The CrossFit Open starts tomorrow with the first WOD announcement!!

And I'll try to condense what is flapping around in my brain for you:

We get one body.  One vessel in which to travel through life.

Fucking take care of it.

Blogging the Menu: Day 62

This winter can go fuck itself.  Another week of sub zero temperatures and more potential snow.  I could scream.  The Point Bock Run is Saturday, a race that is sometimes snowy but generally mild temperature-wise.  Saturday it is supposed to be 4 in Point.  FOUR.  And that's the high so I imagine it will be a fucking freezing 5 miles followed by too many people trying to push into the tent for beers after the race since being outside will be unbearable.  GAH!

I'm pretty much over any type of goal setting for the Bock Run.  There is no way in bloody hell I'm going to break 48 minutes.  I'll be lucky if I break 55 minutes, especially if the air is knives.  Sigh.  At least it's a pretty course.

I am so stir crazy right now that I'm actually twitching.  Every day I go outside and have my face peeled off by freezing wind.  My skin is so dry I want to rip it off.  I have no idea why I bother combing my hair, since any semblance of neatness is obliterated the moment I step outside by either demon wind or snow.  I would like to go for a walk without needing to wear every piece of knitwear I've ever made, and I would really like to get the kids ready for school without budgeting in 20 minutes for suiting up for Mars.

Ok.  Irrational rant over.  But everyone who doesn't believe in climate change can go outside and sit a spell.  Preferably naked in a snowbank.  It ain't just global warming.

On to the menu!
Breakfast for the kiddles this morning was strawberry pancakes (from scratch, bitches, I don't play Bisquick).  Why strawberry pancakes, you ask?  Because an adorable little man crawled into my bed this morning and asked ever so sweetly "Momma, can we have strawberry pancakes this morning?" and when I asked him how to make strawberry pancakes sat up straight in bed and complete with hand gestures gave me all the steps he perceived to be involved with the making of strawberry pancakes.  It was pretty fucking cute.  He also supervised while I made them.  They were a big hit.

Since I had the griddle out, I made myself some banana walnut pancakes and bacon.  Carbs, fat, and protein.  Balance, baby-I have it.

With schmear of ghee and an eeensy bit of honey.

A little office snack.

Yep.  Apple Cinnamon is my favorite.

Lunch was leftovers.  I'm getting kind of sick of broccoli.  I need to find new and different ways to prepare it.  Candied broccoli, anyone?

Carne Asada and broccoli.  Again.

We went on a field trip for GS today to a local fire station.  The girls had a good time and got to crawl around in the fire trucks.  It was nice of the guys to show us around.  Afterward we came home to pork chops on the grill, which is a great way to end any day. Also had some cauliflower with a little ghee and salt.  Simple and delicious.  I realize that I have consumed a lot of cruciferous vegetables today.  That may not bode well for tomorrow.  Sorry in advance, people I work with.

Again, I think "I should eat some veg."  I am not smart.

I'm pretty full right now, and yet still have the desire to eat.  That probably means I'll be hitting the tub o' dates later.  

Is it really only Tuesday?  Fuck me.

Blogging the Menu: Day 61

Ah, Monday.  I didn't make it to the box this morning.  I probably could have, but it's the husband's work day which means I'm working out under the gun.  It sounds stupid to say that I don't like to work out under a time crunch since I do CrossFit, but I hate feeling time pressured when I'm done.  Gotta get out by no later than 6:10am so I can make it home by 6:30 so husband can leave immediately for work and I can have kids dressed and breakfast on the table by 6:50 so I can get in the shower and get dressed for work and eat breakfast and have everyone in their snow clothes and out the door by 7:30 so girl child can get to school and boys can get to daycare and I can get to work by 8:00am.  Whew.  The Open starts this Friday and I'm already stressing out about how I'm going to get to the box for the WOD.

I like my workouts open-ended.  As in, I go to the box for 5:15 and since the husband is off I can get my full skill work, workout, core work, and stretch with a little time to shoot the breeze...home around 6:45...have a nice home cooked breakfast...hit the shower after...traipse off to work lalalalalalalaaaaa.  I feel the same way about going for a run.  I don't like time constraints.  I just want to go and know that whenever I get back is cool.

Simply put, I hate rushing.  Rushing makes me feel...itchy.  For this reason I tend to be prepared for every contingency in a regimented kind of way.  If you are prepared for everything, then nothing is a surprise, and there is no need to rush or panic.  I think that because my professional life involves rushing on a fairly regular basis gottafillthatscriptgottamakethatbaggottagetthatorderout I don't want my personal life to be rushed at all.  Especially the things I do for recreation.  My workouts, my runs, my knitting, my reading.  This is also why I'm perpetually early for everything. When you leave the house with a shitload of time, you never have to rush.

Now that you've had a glimpse into my peculiar neuroses...

On to the menu!
Breakfast was a lazy one.

Omnomnomnomnom

Lunch was leftover spaghetti squash and sauce.  Pretty damn delicious the second time around.

I'll be making this again.

Picked up the kids and came home to the smell of magical meat in the form of Carne Asada.  This recipe is awesome because it boils down to "Coat meat with spices. Toss in slow cooker.  Turn on."  Hard to beat for simplicity.  It's also fucking delicious.  We usually make this with round steak, which is a pretty cheap cut, but slow cooking makes it incredible.  Today we were using up the last package of round steak and a couple of sirloins to make way for the new cow carcass.  We did a pretty awesome job of cleaning out the freezer.  And if eating a huge pile of magical meat is what I have to do to contribute, I'm willing to do it.

Also a fuckload of roasted broccoli.  Again.

Oh yeah.  I had one of these tasty bitches as well.

These things are really filling.

I'm definitely packing a few of those babies for Ragnar.  Breakfast in a bag.

If I'm feeling peckish later I might mow down a handful of macadamia nuts.  I bought a huge bag of them at Costco the other day.  They are extra awesome combined with the medjool dates I bought a huge container of at Costco the other day.

It's more likely that I won't be able to cram any more food into my gaping maw on top of all this broccoli.  

Now for a rousing game of Hello Kitty Rummikub with the kiddles.  I'm pretty excited about it.

Blogging the Menu: Day 60

Holy shit.  60 days!  I can't believe I've actually kept this up for 60 days.  I'm not great at follow-through.  I have about 6 knitting projects on the needles, I always have about 6 books in various states of being read, I haven't practiced my guitar in a really long time...but I've blogged for 60 days!  And I finished a couple of pairs of socks, which is huge for me.  I have second sock syndrome pretty bad.  I'm getting back on the half-marathon training wagon after a lackluster couple of months.  The Polar Vortex killed me.  I'm fine with the treadmill for the occasional short run or speed work, but I cannot face that thing every day.  I can't.  It sucks all the joy out of running for me.

I planned to hit 9 miles today.  If it hadn't been quite so windy or I hadn't been quite so wussy I could've hit it.  When I realized my water bottle was frozen solid I sort of bailed.  I got just shy of 8 and my pace wasn't terrible.  I caught my reflection in the mirror when I was done, and I was a little shocked by it.  I walk around with a picture of myself in my head.  It's probably pretty inaccurate, but I think we all do this.  Well, today I saw myself in three layers of clothes and thought "Holy shit, you can see definition in my legs!  And I'm sort of girl shaped and not as lumpy as I thought!"  It's kind of a cool feeling.  Also I fucking love this Nike shirt.  I love the in-your-face color, I love the zip up mock neck, I love the thumbholes, and it is warm as fuck.  For the record, the top and the pants are both a size large and they fit perfectly. An extra small I will never be. I'm a big woman and I'm not ashamed of it.

The phone matching my outfit is coincidental. 

My other fun discovery is that by eating nothing by real food for the last 2 months, my waist went down an inch.  That's pretty damn great.  My arms/chest measurements are a shade larger and my booty remains the same level of bodacious.  I'm fine with a big backside measurement, I'm just working on shifting the volume to the back.  Seriously, who doesn't like a big booty?  Ass moves mass and all that jazz.

On to the menu!

Breakfast was quick and easy.  I was not in a cooking mood.

Tell me this isn't beautiful.

I went out for my run around 9ish and was back a bit before 10:30.  I chugged a bottle of water and hit the shower.  The problem with running in seriously cold weather is that you feel warm for a while when you're done, and then become chilled to the bone once your heartreat recovers completely.  That's my cue to get in a boiling shower and put on a hoodie.  After my shower I was fucking starving, and yet still pretty lazy.  So, eggs.  Specifically a 3 egg Kai Jiao with 3ish cups of spinach, a shitload of mushrooms, and half a tomato.  Also blackberries.

That is some antioxidant rich shit right there.

Later on I was jonesing for a treat, so I had-you guessed it-an RxBar.  I am enjoying experimenting with these.  I might grab a box of Apple Cinnamon ones for on-the-go eating.

You can really taste the figs, but I don't mind them.

I knit a sock for a bit, did a load of laundry, made a couple of hexipuffs, then watched my husband make dinner.  Kabob Koobideh with roasted tomatoes from Nom Nom Paleo.  This is designed to be skewered on the grill, but we failed at that so we broiled them instead.  The resulting meat tube (HA! MEAT TUBE!) looked for all the world like a turd.  I broke it up a bit for the picture.  It is a very simple flavor, but delicious, especially with the roasted herbed tomato.  Might go for some carmelized onions next time.

Not a turd.

Dessert was a couple of dates.

Costco. Rules.

Now I'm going to sit.  If I'm feeling ambitious I'll start reading my book on puppy training.  Or make a hexipuff.  The children require washing.  I might just stare at the wall.  

With all this veggie eating, and the aforementioned turdesque Kabob, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite scenes from Scrubs.  I sing it to myself almost daily, as I work in health care, and truthfully:

Everything comes down to poo

Blogging the Menu: Day 59

I could've been more productive today.  I did do a load of laundry and knit part of a sock and pick up Girl Scout cookies and make spaghetti sauce, but that's about it.  I kept the children alive.  That's got to count for something.

I had high hopes of sleeping until 7am, but it was not to be.  They boys wanted to "cuddle" which is code for "stand on your head and shout in your ear".  So we got up and started the day.  The husband spent the day at the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.  I plunged last year.  It was...interesting.  Kind of like getting hit in the gut.  Only colder.  The most memorable thing about this date for me is that 4 years ago today I went into pre-term labor with the twins.  I ignored it all day, since my husband was at the Polar Plunge that day, too and I didn't want to be alarmist.  That evening I was still contracting in spite of all the laying around and water drinking I'd done.  That night I learned what terbutaline feels like (heart explody), what betamethasone feels like (like being harpooned), what nifedipine feels like (low BP city), what Penicillin G feels like (kind of burny when it's going into your vein and kind of fuckingjesusmyarmisonfire when it extravasates), what about 10L of LR feels like (like 10 pounds heavier with cankles), and what not eating for almost 72 hours when pregnant with twins feels like (mystomachiseatingitself myesophagushasaholeinit bitchbringmeacracker).  It was a fun weekend.  I did not deliver that weekend and basically bullied my OB into letting me go home to sit.  I went home 5cm dilated with instructions to be still.  So I sat in a recliner and ate chili dogs and watched daytime TV for almost 3 weeks.  The good old days.  Anyone who would like to see what 237lbs of getthesebabiesthefuckoutofme looks like are welcome to view my FB photoalbums under "Pregnant Pictures".

On to the menu!
I had good intentions of making toaster waffles this morning, but then I said fuck it and made banana walnut pancakes instead.  So for the record this is protein, fats, and carbs.  And coffee, which is it's own food group.

Oddly, I really only eat walnuts if there are bananas involved.

I had a snack mid morning less because I was hungry and more because I wanted to taste the Apple Cinnamon RxBar.  It did not disappoint. 

Like a cookie, only less shitty.

Lunch was leftovers.  I know I said I wasn't going to eat a shitload of veggies today, but I accidentally ate about 4 cups of broccoli with lunch.  Oops.  Also bacon wrapped scallops are good reheated.  If you've never eaten bacon wrapped scallops you should go do it right now.  If the ocean and the land made sweet sweet love they would have bacon wrapped scallop babies.  

I need to visit Costco as I am now out of scallops.

This afternoon we went to get the GS cookies.  There are several boxes on the counter and I'm feeling very meh about them.  Cookies.  Meh.  Who am I?

Today was spaghetti and meat sauce night.  I had a recipe from Well Fed 2 that I wanted to try which called for cocoa and balsamic vinegar.  I also had a pound of Italian sausage in the fridge that was about to go over.  Winner, winner, spaghetti dinner.  I made the sauce at 2pm and slow simmered that shit for 2.5 hours.  It was lovely.  I love balsamic vinegar and it read in the sauce.  It was not spicy, but really flavorful with a balsamic zing that made my heart happy.  I of course had spaghetti squash and not pasta.  I think If I ate pasta right now I would explode.  So I did get 6 cups of veggies today.  Hopefully I won't explode tomorrow.

With a wee bit o' basil on top.

I might have a few dates later.  Depends on how wild and crazy I'm feeling.

Oh!  I got some updates from our breeder!  We are for sure getting a little boy dog in April.  She sent a bunch of photo updates from the litter.  Here's one of the little boys (we don't know which one we'll be getting yet).  They are so fucking cute.  

Look at the baaaayyyybeeeeeeee!!!

I am hoping against hope that the wind settles down a bit.  The temperature and road conditions were perfect today.  The wind?  Not so much.  I do have a couple of protected routes that I can use if it's still windy tomorrow.  Fingers crossed I don't have to.

I need to update my playlist.  It's time to mix in a few newer songs.  I've been listening to Arctic Monkeys lately.  My other musical thought?  Katy Perry needs to shut the fuck up.  Is it me or is her new song basically "Hey, you there.  I'm a complete fucking crazy ass whore.  Still want to get up on this?  You've been warned.  I might kill you while you sleep.  Look at my tits."

I might be attributing too much depth to the lyrics.

Blogging the Menu: Day 58

Fridays are old school music days.  It starts at 5:15am at the gym and just goes all day.  I heard songs today I haven't heard in 15 years and it was awesome.

Tomorrow is the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics (at the Watering Hole on Velp-go donate) and also cookie pick up for Girl Scouts.  Saturday is cleaning and laundry as usual and Sunday I have my fingers and toes crossed for the sunny, 20 degree day that is forecasted because I have a 9 miler to do and I'd like to do it in non-shitty weather.  Mama needs some fucking solitude.

On to the menu!
I had a banana on the way to the gym.  Breakfast was eggs and bacon (I know, I know, no carbs...blah blah blah).

Tried and true.

A friend asked me about RxBars.  I told her we sold them at the gym, but I'd never had one, so I picked a few up for her and a few for me to try.  It's always good to have options, and these are a little more substantial than a Larabar.  Still packaged food, which I'm trying to eliminate, but certainly better than some other options.  This one was good.  Smelled like a blueberry muffin, nice soft texture, and fairly filling.  I shared part with a co-worker and part with my husband.  I still didn't finish the thing, but it was tasty.

Does your Larabar even lift, bro?

Went out for lunch because...well, we needed to get out of the office.  I had a buffalo burger and sweet potato fries which were pretty damn awesome.  I didn't finish them all.

Buns are for pansies.

I hit Costco yesterday and got a huuuuuuuuge container of blackberries for not very much money.  I had a few of them for a snack this afternoon.

Sweet, tart, and perfect.

Finished up at the office and headed home.  The kids get treated to McDonald's for on-call Friday nights.  I wasn't about to eat that shit and saw a recipe for bacon wrapped scallops from Against All Grain just before heading home.  I had scallops, I always have bacon, so I gave them a go.  They were fucking phenomenal.   I roasted some brussels sprouts with balsamic.  They got a little dark, but were pretty tasty.  I like roasted veggies-makes the flavor deeper.  

Bacon wrapped scallops are Jesus' favorite.

I was very, very full after this meal.  So I had a couple of glasses of probiotics.

I haven't had booze in a while.  Let's get silly on fermented tea.

I didn't hit 6 cups of veggies today.  I got about 3.  I'm having a hard time with 6 cups-it's causing me a fair amount of gastric distress.  I have a long run on Sunday, so I'm not going to eat a huge amount of veg tomorrow.  Why?  Have you ever been 5 miles from home and felt the gut drop that means you're about to shit your pants?  No?  Well, it's not fun and I'm not going to take that chance.  I'll make up for it after I'm done.  Running = jostling = gastric emergency.  No.

I got an email from our breeder!  Complete with 3 weeks of baby pictures.  Holy balls these puppies are cute.  Next update should be Monday, and our new addition will come home the first week of April. Hopefully some semblance of Spring will be making an appearance by then.  

It'll be early to bed for me tonight-still playing catch up from Wednesday.  Last night I was pretty well comatose by 9:15 and I slept the sleep of the exhausted until my alarm went off at 4:20.  At that point I came to thinking that noise means something...but...what?  What does it mean?  Fortunately, I remembered.

Oh baby youuuuuuuuuu, got what I neeeeeeeeeeeed.  But you say he's just a friend....

Blogging the Menu: Day 57

I don't do well on no sleep.  Last night we had a needy boy who kept sleep-crying every hour or so.  He wasn't exactly asleep and he wasn't exactly awake, but he sure was crying.  I missed my workout because I didn't fall asleep until about 4:15 and my alarm was set to go off at 4:30.  Sigh.  I'm going tomorrow come hell or high water, but it's gonna be ugly if I don't sleep tonight!

Not getting enough sleep makes me crave sweets.  I wanted a donut something horrible this morning. Donuts are my diet kryptonite.  The smell of a fresh donut makes me salivate like Pavlov's fucking dog. I studiously avoid grocery stores in the morning so I don't have to smell donuts baking.  Some days I'm strong. "Fuck donuts!" I think to myself, feeling very virtuous with my cart full of broccoli.  Some days I am weak "Maybe just one donut...or four...or JESUS H CHRIST GIMME A DONUT!!" Since I never know what kind of day it's going to be, I just avoid donuts.  Bread? Meh.  But a donut is magic bread.

I need a donut pan.  I know it's not really the spirit of clean eating, but if I could make paleo donuts here and there that would be awesome.  Actually, scratch that.  If I could make donuts I would eat donuts and I don't need to go down that rabbit hole.

On to the menu!
I made banana chia pudding last night.  I love this stuff.  Every time I make it I tweak the cinnamon/vanilla ratio.  I think I got it exactly right this time-it's light and every so slightly sweet with a delightful cinnamon smell.  A total winner.

Almost better than a donut.

I took my lunch break for a Costco run, and bought some more broccoli (I will be forever buying that stuff) and brussels sprouts and dates and blackberries.  And coffee.  I drink a lot of coffee.  I also found a bag of trail mix that doesn't involve peanuts or grain.  The cranberries are sweetened, which is a shame, but they are easily picked out.

I had a handful for a snack.

Lunch was leftovers.  

Even better the second day.

Dinner was a new experiment from Well Fed 2.  There's a whole section in that book with different spice/meat combinations for burgers and meatballs.  We tried out the chorizo meatballs and they were pretty fucking great.  We used a beef/pork mixture (because that's what we have) instead of straight pork, and the spice mix was great.  The kids ate the shit out of them and they often balk at spicy food.  Add to that a big pile of broccoli and you have dinner.

Next batch of roasted broccoli will be balsamic roasted.

So I made the goal today.  I ate six cups of broccoli.  I am so full right now that my pants don't fit right. I'm going to drink some enzymes in the form of kombucha later and then probably do a lot of farting.  I hope tomorrow's WOD isn't squat heavy, and if it is I apologize in advance to whoever is behind me.  That reminds me, all my favorite workout clothes are dirty.  Meh.  I'll wash 'em tomorrow.  I'm supposed to do 9 miles this weekend, but I may scale that back to 7 or 8.  My first half isn't until the first weekend in May.  We shall see what the weather brings and where my motivation takes me.

Girl Scout cookie pick up is on Saturday.  Don't tell anyone I said this, but those things are made of pure poison.  Ain't no food in that food.  I know people love them.  I ate them for years, but never again. So make a cash donation to the Girl Scout at your door, and eat some broccoli instead.  Her troop will benefit more from the direct donation and your colon will thank you.  You know how much broccoli you can get for $3.50?  About 6 cups.

Oh, and don't eat donuts.  Donuts are terrible people.

Blogging the Menu: Day 56

Well, sometime in the undetermined future I'll be making a 180 and continuing my career on the third shift.  As it turns out, you can go home again.  It seems weird to be excited about the graveyard shift, but I've had that gig before and I honestly like it quite a bit.  I'll see my family more than I do now, we won't need any additional daycare, and I'm looking forward to having weekdays off with my husband.  It's been ages since we've played a round of golf.  With the boys on the cusp of school age, I can sleep during school hours with no interruptions.  I'm also looking forward to having time to construct, plant, and harvest a garden!

Ummm, there may be some interruptions.  Looks like we'll be getting a little boy Vizsla in early April!  The deposit is sent and I'm anxiously awaiting baby pictures.  We had initially planned on a female, but in reality it doesn't matter much.  I got a vet recommendation, I'm looking into obedience classes, and we'll be gathering supplies!

On to the menu!

This morning the kids were in good spirits, which is rare enough, but everyone was so slooooooooow getting ready that I didn't have breakfast on the table until 7:05am, which is 15 minutes behind schedule and stresses me out.  As a result I didn't have time to cook my own breakfast, but since we leave the house a bit early on days that Daddy isn't home in the morning, I did have time to hit the hospital cafeteria for some chow.  Thank baby dolphins they take debit cards now!!

Yes, I totally ate all that bacon.

I had a fair amount of stuff to clean up/process this morning, but it all went well and for the second day in a row I had nothing hanging at the end of the day.  It's like I'm living inside some kind of dream.  Snack was a couple of clementines.

These are called Halos.  Weird.

Lunch was last night's leftovers.  About 3 cups of roasted broccoli and some extremely phallic looking kielbasa.  Seriously, I'm going to get flagged for internet porn.  

Paging Anthony Wiener.

Went for a walk after lunch because it was a beautiful, beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be a giant clusterfuck of awful weather.  Had a little snack midafternoon.  I actually have quite a few of these left.  I'm a little proud of myself for not gobbling them all down in one sitting.

Granola-ish

The dinner menu this week was designed to be broccoli heavy, tonight was broccoli beef from Paleo Indulgences.  This is probably my favorite take-out dish and this recipe is so far and away better than take-out that I'm embarrassed for Chinese restaurants.  Holy balls this is good.  The best. Broccoli Beef. Evar.

Get in my belly.

I had a prune or two after dinner while I was making banana chia pudding for tomorrow's breakfast.  I also indulged in a glass of kombucha.  It's 1.5% alcohol by volume, but is a whole, raw food full of enzymes and probiotics and after all that fucking broccoli my gut can use all the help available.

Citrus kombucha is my fave.

I get to go to 5:15am for the next two days!  Yay!  With luck that means I'll beat the storm tomorrow morning.  I can't find my Nanos, which probably means I left them at the box.  I hope that's where they are, at any rate.  I don't know why I have such a hard time getting a goddamn gym bag together.  That's another habit I need to work on.  

Tonight is bath night.  I love the smell of squeaky clean children, but I really hate washing them.  

I wonder if I could kick up the alcohol content of kombucha if I made my own...

Blogging the Menu: Day 55

Something wonderful happened today.  I finished all my work.  Nothing left hanging.  Someone pinch me, because that never happens.  There's always something left over for the next day-a lab, a phone call, a new start.  Not today!  I even got my eval all emailed out and some catch up documentation done.  It's a St. Patrick's day miracle.  A little early.

On to the menu!
In my quest for 6 cups of veggies per day (and the instruction to eat more carbs at breakfast), I made "egg mess" which is what I call stuff fried in a pan with eggs poured over it.  It's what I make when I'm too lazy to pay attention to eggs enough to make an omelette. It's about 2 cups of spinach and mushrooms, and some strawberries for funsies.

Hmmm.  Blurry.  I must have been drunk.

I got to the office early since I had to drop the spawn at school and daycare respectively.  I made a pot of not-shitty coffee, but I was too full to eat my snack until almost 11am.

More veg.  Ok, technically legumes.  Shut up.

My fabulous husband left the leftovers from last night's dinner for me.  It's a good thing, too, because that shit was amazing and I would have been pretty hocked off if he'd kept them all for himself.  This is not me being selfish, he had two helpings last night to my one.  I was owed the leftovers.

My lunch is was much sexier than everyone else's.

Not a ton of veg there, but some.  I had my mid-afternoon cup of tea and a couple of clementines even though I wasn't exactly hungry.  I figured it was better to eat them then and not be starving at dinner.  Starving at dinner equals weird choices.  As it is I had to stop myself from just eating a whole kielbasa. Instead I ate half a kielbasa and 4 cups of roasted broccoli.  Now I'm so full I feel kind of ill. I'll be surprised if I eat anything else tonight.  If I do it's likely to be prunes, though that could be a deeply horrible idea.

6 cups of broccoli is a lot of fucking broccoli.  I was going to make kale chips tonight, but I'm sitting now and I don't want to get up.  I also need to make banana pudding.  It's really a shame the kitchen is so far away.

I exchanged a few emails with a Vizsla breeder in Fairchild today.  She has two male puppies that are not spoken for who will be ready to go home at the end of March.  The husband had indicated he'd rather a female, but males are much cheaper to neuter.  We shall see.  If we go that route we'd have our new family member on pretty much the same time table as originally planned.  

Now it's time to crawl into my sweats and cast on a new pair of socks.  90 minutes until bedtime.

Blogging the Menu: Day 54

Habits.  We all have them.  When and how we wake up, our "lucky" running outfit, oatmeal for breakfast every day for a goddamn year (Who did that, you ask?  Why, I did!), having a smoke and a Diet Coke every night after work (oops, that was me, too!).  Not all habits are weird or bad.  It's not all chewing off your fingernails and spitting them out the driver's side window (that's not me).

A co-worker of mine has expressed admiration/disbelief that I have successfully avoided sugar for so long.  I told her honestly, it's become a habit.  I used to drink a lot of soda.  Seriously, a shitload of soda-sometimes 6-12 cans a day.  In college it was regular Mountain Dew, later it was Diet Coke.  It was a terrible, expensive habit.  I broke it almost 3 years ago.  I haven't had a single soda in 3 years.  I don't even think about it anymore. It's becoming that way with sugar.  Do I still want it, sometimes.  Certain times of the month are worse.  I had that near miss with the eggnog fudge the other day.  I'm not perfect, but I've become habituated to avoiding sugar.  A plate of cookies sat next to me all day on Friday and I didn't even flinch.  Tonight I made these for the kids.

Chocolate crackles.

This shit is not paleo.  It's not "clean". It's sugar and flour laden nirvana.  Or it would be if I ate this stuff, and I don't.  The recipe came along with my sock knitting club packet.  It's the Cookie A sock club (seriously, her name is Cookie) and you get 2 patterns and 2 recipes every other month.  Making these got me two things: The deep admiration of my children, and an entry into a drawing for a membership to next year's club.  The coolest thing?  I made these things from scratch.  I had to put my hands in the dough and form the balls and roll them in powdered sugar.  And I didn't taste a thing.  Not one tiny taste.  I simply didn't want to.  I was more concerned with getting done with them so I could work on my real focus for the evening.

Happiness is a hand knitted sock.

It's funny how things shift.  I've been eating a mostly paleo diet for just shy of 2 years.  I go on and off the wagon, and I am fond of saying "I'm paleo except for beer."  Paleo, Primal, Clean...whatever you want to call it-it's a habit I'm actively cultivating at this point in my life.  I am focusing on caring for my body by feeding it well, and I'm trying to learn to love my body for what it is.  It's the vehicle that carries me through life, and it is deserving of my respect.  I created 3 humans with this body.  I've run 2 marathons, something like 15 half marathons, completed a triathlon (that totally sucked, but I did it), and run 5 Ragnars.  Do I want to change the shape of my body?  Sure.  I want it to be stronger, to build up my lean muscle mass to protect my bones as I age.  I want to be fit and healthy, so I can remain active and youthful as long as possible.  What I need to remember is that I have to love myself at every stage.  There will be successes and setbacks.  That's life.  But the ultimate goal is the same:  Cultivate good habits, and pass them on to my kids. 

And with that, on to the menu!

In an effort to make 6 cups of veggies per day a habit, I made a Kai Jiao with spinach, tomato, and mushrooms this morning.  It was huge.  I ate it all.

And then I had to lie down.

Holy shit was that a lot of food.  An intimidating amount of food.  And I'm supposed to eat like this every day?!?  PS, I had a banana before going to the gym this morning.

Snack was pretty basic.

I didn't get my kale chips made in time.

Lunch was leftover Rogan Josh.  I forgot to photograph it before I started, and it looks a little cruddy all mixed together like this.  Sorry.

Still pretty fucking delicious, though.

Lunch checked in at around a cup of veggies, in the form of cauliflower rice, so I'm up to 2 cups of veggies at this point.  When at the grocery store yesterday I picked up some Pink Lady apples on the recommendation of a friend.  I'm very particular about my apples.  I pretty much only eat them in the fall when they're in season and then mostly Honeycrisp and SweeTango.  They are all that apples should be.  I will say, though, the Pink Lady was pretty damn good.

It might be a beauty school drop out.

Dinner was a new recipe tonight.  Vietnamese lettuce cups from Nom Nom Paleo.  They were really, really delicious.  Fantastic, in fact.  Per the husband they were also extremely simple to make.  Just a little chopping of herbs and veggies.  Two of my three kids even liked it.  That's a win.

So very pretty.

With dinner, I was up to around 3 cups of veggies.  So I failed at 6 cups today.  Part of it is the season.  In the summer/fall I eat raw veg like crazy.  I find it hard to eat raw veg in the winter, it just makes me feel cold.  I need to get some kale chips made and roast a shitload of broccoli tomorrow night so I have that stuff at the ready.  I need to reestablish the habit of eating lots of veg.  I also have some broccoli soup to make.  

I may have a few prunes later.  I know, I lead a crazy life.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and I'm pretty sure I'll be stiff as a board by tomorrow night.  I wasn't sore this morning at all, which is generally a bad sign.  Delayed onset muscle soreness...it's coming.

Would it be weird if I went to bed at 8?