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| Cousins Calendar, May 2012 |
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| Cupcake Calendar, May 2012 (featuring my mother-in-law) |
5.15.2012
WORST. TIMEKEEPER. EVER.
Here's May. Now that it's almost June. Sorry. I suck.
4.09.2012
Before My Sister Disowns Me
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| Cupcake Calendar, April 2012 |
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| Cousins Calendar, April 2012 |
(Incidentally, if you'd like a good laugh and/or a "dear God I'm getting old" sort of come-to-Jesus moment, check the main blog in the next few days for pictures from Easter 2012, then compare-and-contrast with the 2011 Easter pictures.)
3.06.2012
Lions and Lambs
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| Cousins, March 2012 |
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| Cupcake, March 2012 |
I don't wish to alarm anyone, but it looks like grad school made SOMEONE lose track of time.
2.02.2012
Happy Groundhog Day!
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| Cupcake - February 2012 |
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| Cousins - February 2012 |
I'm late, but I didn't forget. School is kicking my ass.
1.26.2012
12W12S12: Fast Food
Lost another 3 pounds last week (as of Saturday), so I'm down 14 pounds since I re-started. And again I must ask: what the HELL was I doing? But I am not complaining, because it's been easy to fall right back into my old good habits. I mean, once you know how much a cup of cereal is and how many calories are in a bagel or what have you, it's pretty easy to get back into the routine.
The one big thing that has been different for the past week is school. I have classes two nights a week from 6-9pm, so I go right from work to campus. Traffic and "commuter lounge" microwave availability are always variables, so I have been eating out on class days. And I can't tell you enough how much I love that so many fast food restaurants make their nutrition information available online so I can plan ahead.
Yes, I know that fast food isn't "good for me," and it's definitely not something I am PROUD of doing two night a week, but as I mentioned -- there are variables. I never know if I'd be able to reheat something once I got to campus, so packing my dinner in advance is a crapshoot. And I eat lunch kind of late most days, between 2-2:30, so I'm not really in the mood for a "big meal" at 4:00 when I leave for school.
So, like I said, I've been using online menu and nutrition information to plan ahead. The two closest restaurants to my class building are Boston Market and Wendy's, so that's where I've eaten dinner so far. Comparing my meals there is like comparing apples and oranges, because they're just different kinds of cuisine, but I can say that their websites have been infinitely valuable to me, as far as meal planning goes.
It's also kind of nice to have myself on a plan where I can "treat" myself like that without having to feel guilty. Boston Market has a very nice array of meals for 550 calories or fewer, and their food is pretty delicious. (I'd actually like to find a recipe for their vegetable stuffing, because I could eat that stuff all day long.) Wendy's is a little trickier, because that's more "traditional" fast food, but they also have an online too that simplifies things.
Now that I have a better handle on the traffic situation from work, I'd like to try some different places and see what low-calorie (or at least "more sensible") options they have. Last night I saw a Panera Bread, an Arby's, a McDonald's, a Chinese place, a pizza shop, and an Outback Steakhouse. At least two of those places (Panera and Arby's) have calorie-counting tools on their websites (I just checked).
It's nice to live in the future, sometimes.
The one big thing that has been different for the past week is school. I have classes two nights a week from 6-9pm, so I go right from work to campus. Traffic and "commuter lounge" microwave availability are always variables, so I have been eating out on class days. And I can't tell you enough how much I love that so many fast food restaurants make their nutrition information available online so I can plan ahead.
Yes, I know that fast food isn't "good for me," and it's definitely not something I am PROUD of doing two night a week, but as I mentioned -- there are variables. I never know if I'd be able to reheat something once I got to campus, so packing my dinner in advance is a crapshoot. And I eat lunch kind of late most days, between 2-2:30, so I'm not really in the mood for a "big meal" at 4:00 when I leave for school.
So, like I said, I've been using online menu and nutrition information to plan ahead. The two closest restaurants to my class building are Boston Market and Wendy's, so that's where I've eaten dinner so far. Comparing my meals there is like comparing apples and oranges, because they're just different kinds of cuisine, but I can say that their websites have been infinitely valuable to me, as far as meal planning goes.
It's also kind of nice to have myself on a plan where I can "treat" myself like that without having to feel guilty. Boston Market has a very nice array of meals for 550 calories or fewer, and their food is pretty delicious. (I'd actually like to find a recipe for their vegetable stuffing, because I could eat that stuff all day long.) Wendy's is a little trickier, because that's more "traditional" fast food, but they also have an online too that simplifies things.
Now that I have a better handle on the traffic situation from work, I'd like to try some different places and see what low-calorie (or at least "more sensible") options they have. Last night I saw a Panera Bread, an Arby's, a McDonald's, a Chinese place, a pizza shop, and an Outback Steakhouse. At least two of those places (Panera and Arby's) have calorie-counting tools on their websites (I just checked).
It's nice to live in the future, sometimes.
1.18.2012
12W12S12: A Lunchbag Full Of Random
Lost another 3½ pounds (as of Saturday), for a total so far of 11 pounds. Whoo hoo! And again I wonder: if I was able to lose 11 pounds in two weeks by simply eating like a normal person, then what in the holy hell was I doing before? The mind, she boggles.
= = = = =
Today is my first day of grad school classes, and in packing my lunch this morning I realized something: I tend to pack the most random things in my lunch. Not "random" in the sense of "junky" or anything -- although we have plenty of that stuff in the house, whose siren songs I have thus far mostly been able to avoid succumbing to, thank goodness -- but just random. Weird. I like variety in my diet, so even though I tend to eat the same things in the same amounts repeatedly, I try as much as I can to not eat the same thing two days in a row.
Except Mini Babybel Light cheese. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.
But if you look at my lunch bag, you'd never guess that all the stuff in there was meant to be eaten by the same person in the same day: cereal and milk for breakfast; fruit cup for morning snack; Lean Cuisine for lunch; cheese and V8 for afternoon snack; a 90-calorie extra-fiber granola bar for evening snack-slash-dessert (because I have class tonight, and I know I'll need something sweet-ish to get me through). Doesn't that sound ... like a lot of strange stuff just thrown into a bag together?
OK, maybe it isn't that weird when I write it all out and explain it, but it seemed weird to me when I packed it this morning. Although I guess it shouldn't, because my daughter took a "lunch" to school today (actually, it was breakfast -- the school provides breakfast and lunch but I guess since she sees me packing a lunch she figures she needs to take one, too), and her lunch consisted of cereal, cheese, and a whole-fruit snack bar (the kind that is made from real apples and stuff, with no added sugar, and counts as a serving of fruit).
Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. At least since I changed my diet, she is picking up some good habits.
= = = = =
Today is my first day of grad school classes, and in packing my lunch this morning I realized something: I tend to pack the most random things in my lunch. Not "random" in the sense of "junky" or anything -- although we have plenty of that stuff in the house, whose siren songs I have thus far mostly been able to avoid succumbing to, thank goodness -- but just random. Weird. I like variety in my diet, so even though I tend to eat the same things in the same amounts repeatedly, I try as much as I can to not eat the same thing two days in a row.
Except Mini Babybel Light cheese. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.
But if you look at my lunch bag, you'd never guess that all the stuff in there was meant to be eaten by the same person in the same day: cereal and milk for breakfast; fruit cup for morning snack; Lean Cuisine for lunch; cheese and V8 for afternoon snack; a 90-calorie extra-fiber granola bar for evening snack-slash-dessert (because I have class tonight, and I know I'll need something sweet-ish to get me through). Doesn't that sound ... like a lot of strange stuff just thrown into a bag together?
OK, maybe it isn't that weird when I write it all out and explain it, but it seemed weird to me when I packed it this morning. Although I guess it shouldn't, because my daughter took a "lunch" to school today (actually, it was breakfast -- the school provides breakfast and lunch but I guess since she sees me packing a lunch she figures she needs to take one, too), and her lunch consisted of cereal, cheese, and a whole-fruit snack bar (the kind that is made from real apples and stuff, with no added sugar, and counts as a serving of fruit).
Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. At least since I changed my diet, she is picking up some good habits.
1.09.2012
12W12S12: Magic Diet Miracle Trick
I lost 7½ pounds this week, by following the one simple magic diet miracle trick of not eating pizza bites at every meal. Seriously, I know that is a HUGE loss for one week, and that it's an outlier, and that any weight loss going forward will be smaller and more consistent, but DAMN. What the hell have I been doing for the past six months, if just eating like a normal person for a week helps me drop 7½ pounds?
= = = = =
One of the things that is always helpful when you're on a diet is knowing how to cook. I don't mean "tear open a package of rice and heat it up in the microwave," either -- although of course we do our fair share of that too -- but more of the "look at what sorts of random things you have in the fridge/freezer/pantry and throw together something that tastes good" kind of cooking. I would never argue that I'm any kind of gourmet chef, but I hope I never take for granted how easy it is for me to take one thing from Column A and another from Column B and yet another from Column C, throw in some herbs and stock, and come up with a meal that is delicious and satisfying and totally diet-friendly. (Plus, we very rarely have leftovers that go to waste.) This is what I came up with yesterday for dinner (we're having leftovers tonight - as always, see notes below the recipe for particulars and substitutions).
Sausage, Bean, and Vegetable Soup
Heat oil in stockpot over medium-high heat. Cut sausage into smallish chunks. Add sausage, celery, onions, and shredded carrots to pan. Season with rosemary, oregano, and pepper to taste. Saute until sausage is cooked through and onions are translucent, about 10-12 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir well. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add beans and stock. Adjust heat as necessary. Cook for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Add frozen vegetables. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through. Serve.
NOTES: Use whatever kind of sausage you have on hand, obviously. We only ever buy turkey or chicken sausage these days except for special occasions. If you cut your own celery-onion-carrots, you want about ½ cup of each. You can use chicken broth instead of veggie, and we used whatever leftover previously-frozen veggies we had in the fridge from previous meals, so we ended up with a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and squash in there, plus a few random corns. Green beans (especially Italian ones) would be delicious -- perhaps with a can of dark red kidney beans substituted for one of the cans of cannellini beans. Almost a minestrone!
My math says there's about 200-225 calories per cup of soup, depending on how lean your sausage is and what's in the veggie blend you use. We served ours with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on each bowl, with a side of warm rosemary rolls. Delightful!
= = = = =
One of the things that is always helpful when you're on a diet is knowing how to cook. I don't mean "tear open a package of rice and heat it up in the microwave," either -- although of course we do our fair share of that too -- but more of the "look at what sorts of random things you have in the fridge/freezer/pantry and throw together something that tastes good" kind of cooking. I would never argue that I'm any kind of gourmet chef, but I hope I never take for granted how easy it is for me to take one thing from Column A and another from Column B and yet another from Column C, throw in some herbs and stock, and come up with a meal that is delicious and satisfying and totally diet-friendly. (Plus, we very rarely have leftovers that go to waste.) This is what I came up with yesterday for dinner (we're having leftovers tonight - as always, see notes below the recipe for particulars and substitutions).
Sausage, Bean, and Vegetable Soup
- 1 Tbsp. basting oil
- 1 lb. spinach and feta chicken sausage
- 8 oz. package chopped celery and onion
- 4 oz. shredded carrots
- Herbs: rosemary, oregano, and fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cans seasoned petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 qt. vegetable stock
- about 1 package assorted frozen vegetables
Heat oil in stockpot over medium-high heat. Cut sausage into smallish chunks. Add sausage, celery, onions, and shredded carrots to pan. Season with rosemary, oregano, and pepper to taste. Saute until sausage is cooked through and onions are translucent, about 10-12 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir well. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add beans and stock. Adjust heat as necessary. Cook for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Add frozen vegetables. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through. Serve.
NOTES: Use whatever kind of sausage you have on hand, obviously. We only ever buy turkey or chicken sausage these days except for special occasions. If you cut your own celery-onion-carrots, you want about ½ cup of each. You can use chicken broth instead of veggie, and we used whatever leftover previously-frozen veggies we had in the fridge from previous meals, so we ended up with a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and squash in there, plus a few random corns. Green beans (especially Italian ones) would be delicious -- perhaps with a can of dark red kidney beans substituted for one of the cans of cannellini beans. Almost a minestrone!
My math says there's about 200-225 calories per cup of soup, depending on how lean your sausage is and what's in the veggie blend you use. We served ours with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on each bowl, with a side of warm rosemary rolls. Delightful!
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