Exercise Week 2

Well this was the first day of my second week of exercise. If you read my previous post, you will know that I have not felt well enough to do much of anything. I made a goal last week to go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am. Although not perfect, I was able to get to bed before 11pm most nights and was able to get myself downstairs in front of the TV for my workouts by 6:15am. As this is week number two, I have set a new goal for myself. I'm trying to be more careful about my food choices. So for breakfast, I had vanilla yogurt with a Tbsp of cocoa to help curb the chocolate cravings. I took a mug of tea to work with me and was able to get by on only 1/2 Tbsp of sugar (this is an accomplishment, I will have you know). When I got home, I had an orange for a snack. Lunch was a healthy heaping plate of spinach with a wonderful mango dressing (it's only 30 calories for 2 Tbsp). I was doing so well that I celebrated with the last of the cookie dough brownies (not so good). I had a small serving of juice while cooking dinner. For dinner we had pecan crusted salmon (200 calories, approx), spinach salad (30 calories), and spanikopita (because I was trying to get rid of it, and 340 calories, but only because I ate 2 servings, YIKES!). Not a bad first day. . . At least it leaves me a lot of room for improvement tomorrow. Did I mentionthat I'm researching desserts for a baby shower this weekend. Will power!

Healthy Again

We spent several weeks in March sick. Mark found out that he had a sinus infection, since November! Yikes. We are finally feeling better and working on keeping ourselves healthy. The short bouts of sunshine have allowed us to spend time outdoors. Mark has started work on preparing the garden and I have started some plants indoors. I went to Fred Meyer's fushia sale and got some flowers and free potting soil. Mark also recently took a cholesterol test with exciting results. He was considered to have high blood pressure, but with some better food choices and taking a vitamin supplement called GBG, he has been able to lower his blood pressure to normal levels, approx 20 points lower! We had a three day weekend from school, so we invited one of Isabella's friends for a play date. They played games, put together puzzles, colored, and watched Tangled. We also made some decadent brownies. We made a boxed fudge brownie batter. Let it cool and then added "cookie dough". It was made without eggs so that it would be edible without baking. Once the cookie dough was layered onto the brownies, it was put in the refrigerator to chill. I finished dinner while I was melting chocolate chips with milk to make a ganache/glaze. That was layered onto the "cookie dough" and place back in the refrigerator. So yummy! Cookie Dough 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup milk 2 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1/2 cup chocolate chips, mini are best Cream the first 5 ingredients. Add flour until combined and then add chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto brownies. (The cookie dough will pull off the top layer of brownie if you don't smooth it out carefully) Chill completely before topping with chocolate layer.

Whew!

What a roller coaster, whirlwind, soap opera...life can be. I started blogging in the summer with every intention of being more consistent. Then life happened. Lice, hunting season and then Mark was seriously injured Labor day weekend. It feels like we have been playing catch up ever since. His arm is on the mend and it looks like we are past the critical stage when it looked like he might need a bone graft to correct the breaks.

This post finds me recuperating from one of the most vicious sore throats I can ever remember. Still feeling a little weak, but thankful that I can once again swallow small, soft items and breath without pain.

Isabella ran the jog-a-thon at her school last friday. Daddy told her that in addition to her pledges, he would take her to get a doughnut if she ran 25 laps. Unfortunately, the person recording her laps was a little sloppy with the tally marks. Isabella thought that she had reached the goal, but was actually 10 laps away. So, I dutifully got out there and jogged/walked with her to help keep her motivated.

Now that we are somewhat caught up, I thought I would share my menu for the week. More of just a log for me.

Monday 3/14 ~ Soup, Spinach Salad and Sour Dough
Today's soup was Beef and Barley. I like to submerge my sour dough roll, broken in pieces, in my soup. It seems to heighten my awareness of the sour flavor. My kids like to eat it by itself and Mark is somewhere inbetween.

Tuesday 3/15 ~ Salmon, Broccoli, Spinach Salad, Twice Baked Fingerling Potatoes
I was watching Dinner Impossible while I was physically unable to swallow. I can't wait to try these. Salmon will be baked with garlic, lemon and dill.

Wednesday 3/16 ~ Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Home Canned Green Beans, Salad
(yes, probably spinach again)

Thursday 3/17 ~ Stuffed Green Pepper Wheelbarrows, Green Fruit Salad, Green Garden Salad, Broccoli
The wheelbarrows will be stuffed with a traditional beef and rice mixture, but will be fashioned to look like these from Noodle and Doodle. The fruit salad will be a combination of kiwi, green grapes, pear, and granny smith apples. The green salad will include lettuce, spinach, celery, and cucumber. (This is also my Bunco night, so the family will be eating this menu without me)

Friday 3/18 ~ Peanut Chicken, Brown Rice and Cauliflower
Again, another shortcut dinner. I would eventually like to find a recipe for Peanut Sauce that I can make myself.

Saturday 3/19 ~ Dinner with Friends: Braised Pot Roast, Carrots, and Potatoes, Dinner Rolls and Salad

Sunday 3/20 ~ Beef Stew and Salad
I have been moving away from a heavy meal on Sunday because we enjoy having popcorn while watching AFV.

Experi-mint-al Cheesecake

I made a yummy cake for Natalia's birthday. I covered it with a mint cream cheese frosting. The only trouble was that the recipe made an abundant amount of frosting. I was left with a very sweet minty cream cheese and not a lot of ideas of what to do with it. That is until I got my next sweets craving. I am a cheesecake girl. The more I thought about the cream cheese in the refrigerator, the more I wondered if I could turn it into a cheesecake. I couldn't come up with any other ideas so it was just going to go to waste. I decided that an egg was worth the sacrifice if the cheesecake didn't turn out.

I whisked in an egg. I had some mint dark chocolate that I broke up and mixed into my "batter". I filled my 4in springform pan. We have no cookies or graham crackers on hand, so I opted to not have a crust. I cooked the cheesecake at 350 for 15 min and then lowered it to 225 for 50 min. It is presently cooling on my counter and looks beautiful. I can't wait to try it. (Yes, that's a fingerprint in the middle, because I just couldn't resist)

Cream Cheese, Mint, Chocolate....Yumm!

My beautiful 3 year old will be 4 tomorrow. However, how many kids would come to a birthday party on Father's Day? Yeah, I didn't think anyone would, either. We had a little get together for her today with a butterfly theme. Our tradition is for the birthday girl (the little man isn't big enough yet) to help make and decorate her cake. Isabella has made castle cakes for the last two years. Natalia wanted a castle cake, but only because of all of the candies we use to make it. Thoroughly bored with castle cakes, I convinced her to do something else with candy. Mark suggested a chocolate mint cake. I think he was joking, but it sounded kind of good to me. I'm often trying to make something look spectacular and this was a chance to make something super tasty.
I had made cream cheese mints for my bible study group several weeks ago. It was my inspiration for her cake. Mint frosting on a chocolate cake would be good, but mint cream cheese frosting...I'm resisting the urge to go get some more. I almost immediately stumbled upon a promising recipe at Epicurious. I didn't want to bake a sheet cake though. My vision had been a round cake with soft green icing and candy butterflies. I really didn't want a square/rectangle cake. So I opted for my grandmother's chocolate scratch cake and added 1 tsp of peppermint extract. It smelled so wonderful baking. I then used Epicurious' recipe for the frosting along with a few drops of "neon" blue and green food coloring. The result was a luscious minty cream cheese frosting.
Spreading on the cake was another story. Not fun. The frosting was too soft and runny, even now, hours after resting in the refrigerator, it is still very soft. Oh well, how pretty can a cake decorated by a 3 almost 4 year old be anyway? I had cut up pieces of black licorice for the body and used Jordan almonds for the top wings and Dutch mints for the bottom wings. Outside of the saggy frosting, it was just what I had pictured in my head. Purple being her favorite color, the butterflies were predominately purple. A pink butterfly for sister and some white ones for balance.
Mark made a homemade chocolate ice cream that tasted like a frozen hot chocolate (or at least what I would imagine a hot chocolate, that had been frozen, to taste like) It was the perfect balance to all that mintiness. Such a sweet daddy. Happy birthday beautiful! It's been wonderful watching you grow these last 4 years. I wish I could stop the clock and hang on to my precious little girl. I suppose the only thing holding me back is the desire to see what amazing things you will do with your life.

Castle Cake, Take 2

No, I didn't make two castle cakes. Well, not in the same year. I asked Isabella what she wanted for her cake and she was adamant, "I want a castle cake". I tried and tried to convince her to do something else. Last year, we did a castle cake and this year we did a castle cake. Guess what! She wants to do a castle cake for next year. But, I have a plan. I don't think it's so much the castle, as it is all the candies that we decorate with. I'm going to come up with something else that can have just as much adornment. Otherwise, I think it will be time for a two-tiered castle...

I've started a tradition with my girls purely by accident. Both girls love to cook and I knew it would be more special if they got to help. You see, I'm what my cousin Beth would call a kitchen hog. Even more special, is the chance to cook with mom and not have to share with siblings. So, last year Isabella got to help decorate her own cake with no sibling interference. She was thrilled to get another go at it this year.

We baked the cake together Thursday after school. It cooled and was stored until we had time to decorate it. Friday was her birthday and it came and went faster than I imagined. Once the kids were in bed, I endeavored to make marshmallow fondant. I had been to a kid party and was served a wonderfully moist cake with a delicious fondant. I have always like the way fondant looks but the taste always left something to be desired. Which is why I was so excited to try this recipe. All the pretty tidiness of fondant and it tastes good! The process went smoothly, although I think I will try to incorporate less sugar next time. I dirty iced the cake and covered it with a thin layer of fondant so that it would be ready for Isabella the next morning.

So right after breakfast today, we got to sit down and decorate. Up went the cookie fortress walls, sugar cone turrets, wafer cookie draw bridge and sour strip flags. Perfectionist me took over 3/4 of the way, but I improved over last year. The cake looked great and is almost half gone, so it must not be too terrible, right? Pictures to come.

I Have A Purple Elephant For You

This is a common phrase in our house. Why? Because I was trying to teach my girls how to keep a secret. I knew that it's almost impossible for little kids to keep secrets. I also knew that trying to keep something to yourself is like trying not to scratch an itch. So I decided that the best solution was to give them a phrase that was super silly. I figured the ensuing laughter might help them get past the temptation to reveal the secret, whatever it may be. Guess what - it worked. Well most of the time. Isabella is great at it. Natalia, not so much, but she is getting better.

Of course, it only works so long as you want to keep a secret. Isabella seems to have gotten my impatience in this regard. I can remember trying to bribe my mom to have Christmas early just so I could give my presents to everyone. I would even try to convince my best friend in high school that we needed to exchange presents early because we would be too busy with family. I have even been known to declare birthday weeks, so that I can spread out the gift giving (Mark hates this, I don't know why).

Today, Isabella came home from school and wanted to give me the Mother's day gift she had constructed at school. I tried to convince her to wait. I told her I would be sad if I didn't have a present to open ON Mother's day, to which she erupted in tears. She desperately wanted me to open her gift immediately. Finally, she said that she wanted me to open it whenever I wanted to, today. Funny girl, I can totally sympathize. Mark stepped in and negotiations began. He finally convinced her to wait and they would give me the gift from the family instead.

I am now the proud owner of a new camera. Not the professional one I have dreamed of, but a good stand by until we can afford one with all the bells and whistles. The best thing is that I will be able to take decent pictures of Isabella's birthday and her party. Thank you to my wonderful family!