Make Yourself at Home—Part 2

First it was a tour of my fridge and deep freeze.  Now, I invite you in to see my pantry (or pantries).  I don’t really have a pantry per se.  I’d kill to have a good sized pantry, but until we move I’ll just have to dream. (In my dream I also have an island in the kitchen, beautiful countertops, tile that does look dirty 5 minutes after I mop it, plush, cozy carpet, a big laundry room where I can actually do laundry, great, big walk-in closets, a huge, relaxing master bath, a bonus room for the boys play area, and a maid to clean it ALL. But I digress.)

So for now we have made this book self in the garage work for us.  It mainly is used to store our canned goods. We go through a significant amount of tomato sauce and paste, so we always stock up on that.  The boys like their fruit.  We’ve been buying a lot of fresh, but we like to keep some canned on hand in case we are out.  The ravioli is a quick, easy lunch when we are in a pinch.

Inside the house, I have a couple of sets of cabinets (Oh and a basket) I use for the rest of the pantry type foods. One set is above the microwave.  It has cereal, pop tarts, fiber one bars, oatmeal, & that kind of stuff in it. The Bisquick is now gone thanks to Elle the Heiress pigs in a blanket craving on Twitter the other night.  She had several of us craving them by the end of the night.

Another set of cabinets has our coffee, tea, jello, cake mixes, pastas, and such in them. Apparently I have Hamburger Helper.  I forgot that was even there. And it is almost cornbread weather! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE me some Jiffy corn muffin mix. I can’t make it better from scratch.

 

And we of course have a snack basket above our fridge. Don’t you to?  This is where we store the travel snacks.  You know?  The ones moms grab in case they need saving while running errands with the hellions monkeys children.  Goldfish crackers, animal crackers, graham crackers, regular crackers.  Are you seeing the theme here? We also keep our chips up in the basket too. Or sometimes they are beside the basket if it is overflowing, which it is right now.

That’s really it.  I think it’s pretty normal stuff that we have. Now let’s be nosey and see what Elle the Heiress and Katie over at Cleared for Takeoff  have in their pantries.  They are giving us a tour today too! But my real question is what’s in your pantry?  Care to show me around?

That’s What I Call Progress

Thought I’d write a weight loss update in case any of you are wondering how that’s going. Well, it’s going.  Slowly but surely.  Since I began trying to lose weight and get healthy back in May (I didn’t really hit it hard until the second week of August.), I have lost 12 pounds and am almost down one size.  But I am also building muscle—lifting weights, running.  I can see more of a difference than my scales portray. 

My arms are not nearly as flabby.  My waddle when I wave—you know what I am talking about—is smaller.  Now that it is getting cooler out, my arms are looking good for sleeveless shirts! I’m come to terms with the fact I will always have big thighs.  It’s something my family has passed on to me.  But I decided I would rather have big, muscular thighs than big, fat thighs.  The running has started making a HUGE difference in this already. 

I was surprised how quickly I was able to work up to running two miles.  I don’t do it very quickly and sometimes it isn’t pretty, but I can run just a little over 2 miles without stopping.  I don’t do this everyday.  Like today, I was lucky to get a mile in before I had to stop and walk for a bit.  I just wasn’t feeling it this morning.  Not sure whether it was the humidity or the constant multitasking between my run and my boys in the stroller.  Some runs are like that.  Then there are the mornings my husband (Who I am so thankful for.  He has been my biggest cheerleader through this process.) is home and I get to go for a run by myself.  Without kids. Without the monster stroller.  Now those are the mornings I really enjoy my run. Those are the mornings I can really push myself.

Now to really start focusing on my belly.  Oh my how that area of my body has been neglected.  I’ve always had a little pooch there and now, after two kids, Mamma Mia! I’ve been doing some Pilates and ab work, but I really think it’s time to kick it up a notch (or two or three).

So, yes, I have made progress. Quite a bit actually.  I have a ways to go yet, but this has been the best start on getting fit and healthy I’ve ever had. Wish me luck on the rest of this journey.

Fantastic Friday-9/3

I love this idea!  What a great way to look back at the week and remember the positive and be grateful. Thanks Cameron Crazy Mom and Elle the Heiress for turning me on to this FANTASTIC idea!

Great things that happened to me this week:

1. Got to go have a girls night out and play bunco with my much missed teacher friends last night.

2. Weighed yesterday morning and I am officially down to my pre-baby weight.

3. Having a date night with hubs tonight.

4. Looking like we probably will get my oldest into the school district I’d love for him to be in. (After camping out overnight.)

5. My boys are playing more and more together. It’s so much fun to hear them laughing with each other.

6.  I got my fridge and deep freeze cleaned out and organized!

7. My oldest is getting better and better at learning the “basics” of soccer. The whole family played in our street one evening.

Okay, I know there is more. Next week I’ll keep track as the week goes. :)  What made your week so fantastic?

Parenthood Craziness

This is crazy. I am sitting in a long line full of other people to try to get my 3-year-old into a school for NEXT year.  Yes, that’s right. The 2010-2011 school year.  My oldest will be going into Pre-K.  The craziest part of this is that I have been in line—technically my chair as been—since 9:00 last night.  I have been in the back of the Explorer tweeting, eating ice cream & sleeping (for a whole hour) up until now.  I am number 86 on the unofficial list to get my kid in here.   But I’m number 27 on the Pre-K  list. The people at the front of this line have been here for a week. Yes, a week. They have pitched tents and barbequed food.  I drove by here Friday night, and there was a smoker going in the parking lot.  The superintendent of this district even provided port-a-potties.  Craziness, no?

We won’t know for sure until May whether we are in or not. I’ve been told by the other parents out here who have done this before that being 27rd we have a pretty good shot. I’ll try not to get my hopes up though. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed until then.

Make Yourself at Home

Welcome to my fridge! Are you hungry?  Feel free to whip up dinner while you are here.  When I first heard of this idea for a blog post courtesy of Elle the Heiress, who got the idea from Katie over at Cleared for Takeoff, I thought it was a little kooky. (Check out Cameron Crazy Mom too.) I believe my first  thought was, ‘I wouldn’t want to show my cluttered fridge and freezer to the world. Why just the other day I was thinking about how I need to clean it out.  And don’t even get me started on the deep freeze.  I should really clean it out too.  I have no idea what all is in there.  I bet I’m wasting a ton of money buying food we don’t need because it’s hidden in the black hole.’ Okay so it was a rambling thought, but that’s what popped in my head.  BUT the more I pondered this idea, the more I thought what great incentive to get this chore I hate to do done.  So, here we go.  Mi casa es su casa.

First up: the deep freeze.  WARNING: IF YOU ARE A VEGETARIAN YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS PART.  YOU WILL QUICKLY SEE WE LIKE OUR MEAT. We are the stock-up-while-it’s-on-sale kind of people. And you’ll see that when we stock up, we stock up.

Before the Clean-out :

After the Clean-out :

 

This is a collage if the goodies in the nooks and crannies. We have enough mozzarella cheese to make pizza for the entire neighborhood.  (This is why I need to do this little project.) We also have a ton of steak; it was on sale a couple of weeks ago. That deli cheese in the middle there on the left is THE BOMB. We get it at a place on the way to Branson.  We’ll stop to eat at Lamberts, and then we go buy cheese while we wait on our table. In the middle are the pre-made meals—some by me and some store bought. Some nights you just need something EASY, you know? With the buns and bread, I have banana breads and Amish Friendship breads I made and froze for later. My husband smokes the best ribs, so we have four racks of those. And the crown jewel of the deep freeze? The Blue and Gold Sausage.  This is made in Oklahoma and is BY FAR the best sausage around. In addition to all of this, we are stocked up on chicken, pork chops, and ground beef.  There are a couple of roasts in there and a pork roast too.  Should we not be able to leave our house for some reason, no one worry about us going hungry. I think we’ll be just fine. (as long as we don’t lose power.)

Next up let’s journey back into the house to the fridge.  I know there are all kinds of goodies in there.  Meet my fridge. (Sorry these pictures are the best.  I had to do this project quickly while my 1-year-old was sleeping, so I grabbed the first camera I could find, which was my iPhone and got moving.)

After I finished organizing the inside of the fridge, I cleaned the outside.  Here is the reality of what it looks like now. I think it’s a nice compromise of the above two pictures. Because, let’s face it, I gotta entertain the boys while a cook, and they love the magnet toys. Oh, and I have since found the M, so my boys will only have 3 letters they don’t know. The collection of magnets on the side of the fridge are from various places we have traveled.  The little measuring cup on the front is my lifesaver.  it contains all kinds off cooking helps. Substitutions, equivalent measures, those type of things.

And now on to the inside of this monster. Yes, this is going to be a long post.  Go grab a drink and some popcorn. Maybe take a potty break if you need to. And then come on back and settle in again. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you…

Okay, are you back?  Here’s the inside of this bad boy. And, yes, these are after I did a little cleaning and organizing.

Oh my.  The left side of that picture is way blurry.  No need to fret! I have some close ups! Let’s take a closer look at what my family is eating.

                  

We have two open bottles of ketchups and 2 open jars of mayo because we went on vacation and had to buy more.  Those then got brought home and added to our fridge. I have no idea why we have 3 bottles of open BBQ sauce. None. My 3-year-old would not survive this life without his strawberry milk.  We never run out of this. We are trying to eat healthier, which explains the many bottles of salad dressing.  Most of it is light. (A quick apology here to my Dad who works for Borden. Sorry about the milk.  The boys where in meltdown mode, and I wasn’t making another stop. I know you understand.) Of all of that yogurt, we have three left in the fridge as I type this. My boys eat at least one a day and usually more. Oh, and the homemade jarred stuff? Most of it is courtesy of my mother-in-law and my grandmother-in-law. Just wanted to give credit where it is due.

 

 

Almost finished.  Only have the freezer left. This is the one place that I really needed to throw some things out.  There was a lot hiding in there. This is what I pulled out of the freezer. Crazy huh?

And here it is all cleaned out and pretty: 

I was excited to see that we had more fish and seafood than I thought we did. Those Whips yogurts make great little low cal treats when frozen.  I found the pecans, almonds, and walnuts I thought had disappeared.

        

AND BONUS POINTS: RANDOM FIND

Now tell me how in the world that crayon got on the top self  in the door of the freezer.

And just as I was finishing all of the cleaning and organizing, my toddler woke up from his nap.  He helped me finish the job.

 

Your turn.  What’s in your fridge and freezer?

 

 

 

 

 

Will you help me?

I’m on a mission, and I need your help. PLEASE. PRETTY PLEASE. PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP. My mission is to be COMFORTABLE in my own skin for the first time in a LLLOOONNNGGG time.  We are talking since middle school maybe—20 some years ago. For as long as I can remember, my weight has always been an issue for me.  In middle and high school I think it was more of a negative self image thing than really being overweight, but that still prevented me from being comfortable in my own body.  So, here I am, entering my mid-30’s (Can’t believe I’m going to be 34 next month; I feel like I should still be 23.), married with 2 little kids, &  part of a family chalk full of diabetics.  It’s time to change things. NOW.  Here’s what I  want to do:

1.  Be comfortable in my own skin. I’m realistic. I am never going to be a supermodel.  I just want to be halfway comfortable in a bathing suit.

2. Not be diabetic.  My family is WONDERFUL and I have inherited their sense of humor, their love of family, and their boisterousness. I, however, do not wish to inherit their diabetes. No thanks!

3. Be able to play and run around with my boys and not be out of breath.  I want as much energy as they have. Okay, I’ll be realistic and say half as much energy as they have. There no way at my age I’ll have the energy level of them. They’re crazy! (You moms of boys know what I am talking about and are nodding your heads right now.)

That being said, now I need a plan.  This past week and a half  I have started implementing one (and am already feeling the difference).  Here’s what I have been doing:

1. Drinking WATER.  Yes, I know it is a novel concept, but I was drinking 64 ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper a day.  Now I know this is stupid, but I have a 32 ounces mug I got in the hospital when I had one of my boys and, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I will drink water out of it and not anything else. (I think it reminds me of how thirsty I was when I was breastfeeding.) I’m talking will GULP it down if water is in it.  So, that’s what I did. Got it out and started drinking up! Pretty sure in the past few days I have drank no less than 3 mugs full each day.  And I haven’t totally dropped the DDP, but I have limited it to one a day about every 2-3 days. (Drinking my first Sonic DDP in probably a month while I edit this post, and it is SOOOOO good. I’m sorry if you are reading this and don’t have Sonics where you live.  You really are missing out. But I digress.) 

2. South Beach eating.  I know, I know, some people thing this low-carb thing is from the devil, but let me tell you why this is right for me.  With me already being predisposed to diabetes, I decided to look at this diet a little closer because it focuses on leveling out your blood sugar.  And it makes sense to me.  The focus isn’t on NO carbs; it’s on GOOD carbs.  And the way your body processes the good carbs. In fact, my mom’s diabetic doctor told her this is the way everybody—especially those with diabetes—should be eating.  That all being said, I also believe the saying everything in moderation. (And confession here. I took a break from blogging to eat dinner and I ate WAY TOO MUCH tonight. I feel sick. I’m pretty sure the three pounds I lost in the past week and a half are back. Back on the horse tomorrow.)

3. Exercise. I’ve discovered I really like running.  When my husband and I where dating, he introduced me to running. (I had never been a runner—still wouldn’t consider myself a runner but working on it.)  I actually worked up to about 2 miles at that time.  We also started bike riding.  I’ll never forget the time he took me on a bike ride from our house to Yukon— a 30 mile round trip ride.  I had no idea it was that far and he acted like it was just a little jaunt down the road.  I almost killed him halfway through the ride. Then life happened, the kids came, and now here I am still needing to get my rear up and moving. I needed to quit using the kids and no time as an excuse not to exercise. So, this past week I picked up running again.  I ran one whole mile without stopping yesterday. Yay me!  And that being said, I promise I will go run as soon as my 1-year-old wakes up from his morning nap.

So, here’s the part where I tell you how you can help me if you’d be so kind.  I’d like you to just randomly ask me how it’s going.  If I’m drinking my water. If I’m eating right. If I’m running and riding my bike.  I tend to do better if I know people are going to be checking up on me. Because (Here comes the sarcasm.) believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve said I was going to lose weight and get healthy. BUT I really would LOOVVVEEEE it if it were the last. Will you help me along the way, please? Tell me your tricks? Send me a message on Twitter? Come back to this post and leave a comment every now and again?  That would really mean a lot to me. :)

The Best No-Name Dinner

I remember walking into our former babysitter’s house to pick my boys up on a few occasions and smelling the aroma of something wonderful for dinner.  Come to find out it was roast.  Now this wasn’t your typical potatoes and carrot roast.  It was roast—Mexican style.  You see her mother-in-law is Hispanic, and this was a recipe she taught to my sitter. So, based on the smell and the rave reviews she gave it, I had to make the roast. 

And that was what my family had for dinner tonight. The only word I can think of to describe it is PHENOMENAL. No exaggeration.  It was easily one of the best meals I have ever cooked.  And it gets even better. It is also one of the easiest meals I have ever cooked. Score!  The only downfall is it takes all day to cook, so you have to babysit it a little bit.  But if you are going to be home all day anyway, you might want to need HAVE to make this for dinner.

Note: I’m sorry I have no pictures of this.  I was too excited about making it and then way too excited about eating it to remember to take pictures. Next time I make it, I’ll add some shots to this post.

Here is how simple this is.  Get a roast ( I don’t think the type of roast really matters, but you might find one cut is better than another.  I don’t even know for sure what kind I used tonight; I think it was a rump roast.) Put the roast in a Dutch oven and cover it with water. Chop 4 or 5 or 6 garlic cloves and add to water along with a healthy amount salt and pepper.  Put the Dutch oven on a  burner set on medium-low-ish heat. You kind of, sort of cover the pot with a lid.  Don’t put the lid on all the way; put it on kind of crooked-like.  Leave it so that some of the steam is able to escape. Hope that makes sense.

Now you babysit it.  Let it simmer for 5-6 hours adding water to the pot every so often to keep the roast covered throughout the process.

Isn’t this difficult so far? (Hope you sense the sarcasm there.) Now here come the hardest part. Get ready. You might need a nap after this part. Here we go…

After the 5-6 hours (or when the roast is tender and done) take the roast out and shred it. Pour off some of the water. Put the shredded meat back into the pot. Slice up onion and bell pepper—as much as you like—and add it to the pot .  You should have just enough water to cover the meat and veggies.  Do the kind of cover the pot thing again and let it simmer for 1-2 hours longer.

Make sure you have a margarita while it is cooking because you know you have been slaving away over this meal all day.

When ready to eat, serve in tortillas (We liked the corn best.) with guacamole.  We had sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice with ours too. Yummy!  Go crazy and figure out what condiment-type things you like to serve this meal that doesn’t have a name with.  What should I call this meal???