Calendars: FINIS

Last two pages until we get to start this whole rodeo over again next year.

September 2011. From the day we went apple-picking. Which was actually October. But Shae was still wearing her bathing suit for much of September, and none of the pictures looked right. And there's actually only one actual picture of her with an apple. Whatever. Shut up. Don't you judge me.

June 2011. You might remember some of these elements and this exact color scheme from previous scrapping projects that I did last year. That's what super-nice about digital scrapbooking -- you can reuse these things if it turns out that your kid has an orange bathing suit two or more summers in a row.

Whee hoo! Now I can start drinking!

Calendars: But Wait! There's Even MORE!

Three more months done, two more left to go (June and September for the Cupcake Calendar -- and if anyone can tell me why in the hell I skipped those months but got others done in time, then I might have a job for you as my personal assistant-slash-live-my-lifer-because-I-DON'T-WANT-TO-BE-THIS-PERSON-ANYMORE!).

Alternate Caption: "Buncha Turkeys." Saving that one for next year, when there are THREE kids to incorporate into this calendar.

There is probably a reason why there is no word art on this page, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what that reason is. I like it anyway, so fuck it.

I did not intentionally decorate my tree to match this layout page -- I didn't even know I had these pieces anywhere -- but it turned out to be an awfully convenient coincidence. Score one for the Universe.

I'll put the rest up tomorrow when I have them done. Looks like I might actually make the Shutterfly cutoffs for B.O.G.O. and free shipping (for the Cousins Calendar, at least, so that's something), whee! Apparently I actually DO do good work under excruciatingly tight deadline pressure. (Passable work, anyway.)

Calendars: More!

Two more months done! One more month for the Cousins Calendar to go, and four for the Cupcake Calendar. It's GO TIME! If I can get these finished by midnight on 12/16 I can get free shipping PLUS buy-one-get-one-half-off at Shutterfly. And I need to order six calendars, which I going to end up costing me elebenty bajillion dollars. Or lira. I don't even know what currency they're using on the Intarwebs these days.

May 2011 - Inspired by "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," which I have never actually seen (sssh! don't tell anyone!)

March 2011 - Inspired by, I don't know, Conan O'Brien and Lucky Charms or something

Calendars: So Close and Yet So Far

I still have to do three months of the Cousins Calendar and four months of the Cupcake Calendar, but I managed to get two pages done last night and one last week but I forgot to put it up, so here are the latest:

Two Halloweens, one Christmahannukwanzaakah, and a partridge in a pear tree.

12W12SP2 Update: Skinny Lasagna

We felt like having lasagna for dinner yesterday, but I didn't want to starve the rest of the day, so I used what we had in the freezer and cupboards plus a couple of strategic additions to come up with this magical concoction that satisfied all our cravings and still didn't break the calorie bank. (This recipe is adapted from a basic meat lasagna recipe that I got off the back of a box of pasta about 200 years ago.)


Skinny Lasagna

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ pound ground turkey breast
• 1 small-to-medium zucchini, diced
• 1 small-to-medium yellow onion, diced
• Italian seasonings (or basil, oregano, and garlic powder), to taste
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 9 lasagna noodles (regular, not no-boil)
• 2 containers (15 ounces each) fat-free ricotta cheese
• 2 cups reduced fat (2%) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• ¼ cup (12 tablespoons) shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 egg
• 1 jar pasta sauce

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey, zucchini, onion, and Italian seasonings. Cook over medium-high head until turkey is cooked through and vegetables are soft. Add spinach and cook another 3-5 minutes or until spinach is thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle. Pat dry with paper towels.
3. Preheat oven to 375°F.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Add cooled turkey mixture. Stir to combine well. Check seasoning and add salt, pepper, and additional Italian seasonings if required. Add egg and stir to combine well.
5. Pour about ½ cup pasta sauce into the bottom of a large (13"x9") baking dish. Spread with the back of a spoon to cover the bottom of the pan. Arrange 3 cooked noodles. Add half of turkey-and-cheese mixture and spread evenly over noodles. Cover with ½ to 1 cup pasta sauce, spreading to cover filling. Sprinkle ⅓ cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce. Add 3 more noodles and repeat layers. when last 3 noodles have been added, cover well with sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheeses.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 375°F for 35-45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until top layer of cheese is browned. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Total cooking time is about 1½ hours. Makes 9-12 servings, depending on who's eating and how hungry they are. By my math, for 9 servings, each serving has about 350 calories (less if you use a lower-calorie sauce, but I just used regular old Ragú Mama's Special Garden Sauce, which is our favorite). Even better? Each slab of lasagna has about 2 servings of vegetables (from the sauce, the zucchini, the spinach, and the onion). You can add shredded carrots and/or chopped red bell peppers if you want. It's only two layers instead of the more traditional three, but there is no less filling, only slightly less pasta. And it really has something in there for everybody: meat for the guys, veggies for the gals, and plenty of oozy cheesy goodness for the kids. Pair with a side salad AND a nice slice of multigrain baguette, because you CAN. Reheats well, and my husband is taking leftovers for lunch voluntarily, so you have his seal of approval.


Enjoy!

12W12SP2 Update: 40 lbs. and Holding

If my scale is correct -- and while I think my scale is a vicious, evil monster incapable of being nice to anyone, I still have no reason to doubt its accuracy -- then I have officially been down 40 lbs. (unofficially somewhere around 60 lbs.) for the last two weeks. No major progress, no additional loss, but no gain, either -- and since I know how much I ate over Thanksgiving, I will count this as a solid tie and not fret too much about it.

Although, it's possible my scale could be wrong. My "skinny jeans" which are about 6 weeks old are getting baggy in the hips and butt, and are already baggy in the legs, so evidently something is going on south of the equator, as it were. Basically every single pair of pants I own is too big in some way and desperately unflattering (except the jeans, which still look good, for now anyway). I don't even want to talk about my tops; I have only bought two or three new ones, and I don't want to discuss how counterproductive it probably is to be wearing sweaters that are gigantic and boxy when I am actively dieting.

WHATEVER. This is me. I'll deal. And hopefully I will inch forward a little more, right myself, get re-energized.

I also have to get to work on the 2011 Cousins and Cupcake Calendars, because I have about 9 months left to do, and I'm getting close to deadline. And the new World of Warcraft expansion comes out in just FIVE DAYS, so I'll have to make time this weekend.

12W12S2P Update: Test Run

We had our annual Turkey Feast at work today, and I used it as a gauge to try to plan my "attack" for Thanksgiving day. This is what I ended up eating:

• 3 ounces white meat turkey
• 2 tablespoons gravy
• ½ cup mashed potatoes
• ½ cup stuffing
• ½ cup triple-squash soup
• 1 spinach roll (roll with spinach, onions, and cheese)
• ½ cup green beans
• 2 tablespoons light pumpkin dip*
• 2 Danish butter cookies
• 2 spice wafer cookies

All told, LoseIt says that's approximately 700 calories of food. That's kind of a lot, more than half my calories for the day, and I want to do better for Thanksgiving. I know that I will have more vegetable options on the Big Day -- there were not a lot of plain, unbecasseroled vegetables available today, since 50% of the covered dish contributions were desserts. Our family dinner always includes broccoli, and I have no qualms about helping myself to half a plate of broccoli. I may also make some veggies of my own, just to make sure there are enough, since I know I won't be the only person at the table who is trying to be careful.

Here is my plan so far: same amount of turkey and gravy, no mashed potatoes, same amount of stuffing (because my Uncle Quack makes some damn fine stuffing), half a dinner roll (although I will tell you right now that the spinach roll was worth the indulgence), way more vegetables (including V8, which is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for me to feel like I have had a complete Thanksgiving meal), and only a little bit of dessert. I am planning to make a lemon custard pie that is a Weight Watchers recipe that only has like 2 points per serving. Although I keep insisting that I am not doing a low-carb diet, per se, I will admit that cutting back on starchy foods does seem to be an easy way to stay on target.

The other accommodations I have made today? Small breakfast (oatmeal with raisins) and small dinner (probably a can of soup, and some whole-grain bread if I have enough calories). Lots of water and Diet Coke. And an early bedtime.

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For like the last three years I have been making pumpkin dip for our Turkey Feast, because it is DELICIOUS, but it's also sort of high in calories because it is basically a bowl of creamed sugar. So I made it a slightly different way today, made it "lighter," and it was just as good, maybe even better because the flavorings were a little richer. If you will be at my sister's baby shower, you'll be eating this recipe.

• 15 ounce can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• small package of sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• small package of sugar-free instant cheesecake-flavored pudding mix
• 1 teaspoon (or so) pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 16 ounces fat-free Cool Whip

In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, pudding mixes, spices, and vanilla with a hand mixer until well-blended, uniform in color, and fluffy. Add half the Cool Whip and beat on medium-high speed for two minutes. Add remaining Cool Whip and beat on high speed for another two minutes. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Turn out into a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with graham crackers, spice wafers, or cookies. (Or, if you are me, eat straight out of the bowl with a spoon.) Approximately 30 calories per 2 tablespoon serving.