SISTER WISDOM : build a better life

Hey, you can even have a better salad for breakfast during your better morning.

I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly.  Tunafish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock. ~Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Smart Moves for Morning

1. Get into a breakfast routine. It's okay to eat the same thing every day for breakfast, and it will help you be prepared and be sure you're eating something. Switch out week to week if you get bored.
2. Do some prep the night before: get the coffee ready to go, put out breakfast plates, go ahead and unload the dishwasher so it's not waiting for you.
3. Come in to a clean kitchen. At the minimum: put away food, wipe down counters, and put dirty dishes into hot, soapy water to soak. A step above: wash the dishes or load in the dishwasher. Leave only the dirtiest pots/pans soaking overnight. Read the rest of this entry »

I'm linked up with OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.

A few food thoughts for today...

- Be wary of any miracle food. Olive oil, fish, leafy greens, apples, whatever. Doesn't mean the food isn't good and good for you, but no one food is the miracle cure or diet key.

- All things in moderation.

- There is no perfect "diet."

- Think about food on a "real food scale" according to the processing/prep needed to make something edible. On this scale, the "most real" food would be fruits and vegetables (requiring the least preparation) and then fresh milk, dairy products, and meats and grains kind of on an even keel. You could get really technical by breaking down cooking time etc., but that's not the point. The point is just think of how fresh and "natural" a thing is when you eat it, and go for those on the fresher end most often.

- There is more to life than what you eat.

- Be simple.

- Be fresh.

- Enjoy your food.

- Stay close to the earth and close to home.

- Consider nutrients, genetics, and a changed environment. A tomato today isn't the same as a tomato 50 years ago.

- Consider your cooking style, region, background, budget, time, and energy when planning your food and menu and eating lifestyle.

- I hate diets.

- I love food.

- Routines help when you're short on time and/or willpower. Same thing for breakfast, same thing for snack...

- Drink more water.

- Emotional, mental, spiritual state and lifestyle are part of your "diet." They affect you physically.

- Nobody in the past had it perfect, either. We can learn from our ancestors, but we shouldn't just copy them blindly.

- Any diet requiring elaborate preparation, special tools, or expensive ingredients is not going to happen in my life.

- I refuse to feel guilty about food.

- Availability does not mean a food is worthwhile.

(I'm no food or nutrition or diet expert. I just love food and I love being healthy.)

Here's my menu for this week:

• chicken stir fry (boneless, skinless chicken breasts, loads of fresh broccoli, onion, green pepper, and homemade sweet & sour sauce with fresh chopped pineapple. All over white rice.)
• broccoli cheese soup a la bread co (carry over) (if I get it right, I'll post the recipe!)
• beef fajitas (thin sliced lean beef sauteed with green pepper and onion, served with shredded lettuce, homemade mango salsa, and roasted garlic)
• winter squash curry and rice (I've been craving curry. Can't wait for this: chunks of acorn squash in a rich coconut-milk curry sauce with lots of garlic and onion, topped with raisins and peanuts and fresh diced cilantro.)
• roasted tomato soup and whole-wheat gnocchi (still deciding if I'm going to put the gnocchi in the soup or serve it, buttered, on the side.)
• garlic-citrus tilapia filets, sauteed mushrooms, and kale. (i have no idea what to do with the kale...)

Routine Meals:

• breakfast (for me) - grape nuts, a banana, and milk. oh, yes, and let's not forget the coffee.
• breakfast (for the kids) -  granola/cereal bar or a mini bagel, banana, and milk. Zeke gets mushed banana, a bottle of raw milk, and a mini bagel. He eats a lot.
• breakfast (for Joe) - raisin bran
• (yes we have exciting breakfast around here!)
• lunch (for me and Joe) - salad with grilled chicken or a boiled egg, leftovers
• lunch (for the kids) - almost always a combo of fruit or veg (apple, baby carrots), a few carbs (crackers), and protein (cheese, peanut butter, leftover meat). It's enough for them and is easy for me. Zeke eats the pureed version of veg, fruit and/or protein and a few crackers.

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating

I'm linked up with OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday. You should be,too.

Sometimes, when it comes to food, the simplest is the best.

Let's talk about soup.

I love soup. Soup is my friend, except in summer when I'm in a state of perpetual sweatiness. Then the only soup I'm into is gazpacho, ice-cold, but during the other three blessed seasons of the year, me and soup, we're tight. We're buds. We're close.

I could happily eat soup every night, but I don't because 1) sometimes I'm lazy and I like just throwing chicken breasts in the baking dish and voila! dinner; and 2) my husband likes soup, but not quite as much as I do, so I try to be nice and make stuff besides soup too; and 3) a 3 1/2 year old and a 2 year old eating soup every night is too hard on my kitchen, and the cleanliness thereof. I don't like wiping soup off the floor every evening. (Did you catch that "sometimes I'm lazy" bit, above? That comes into play again here.) Read the rest of this entry »

It's been a month since I planned a menu. The last one was a two-week planning fest designed to carry us through Christmas without leaving a bunch of excess food in the fridge when we went out of town over New Year's. It worked pretty well, and then we were out of town, and then we were home and sick. We were supposed to start our diet the first week in January, and we did. That stomach bug really gave us a kickstart. Woohoo. The things some people will do to lose weight... But the tummy bug was not voluntary so I really shouldn't praise my own dedication to weight loss. In fact, if I'd had a choice I definitely would have declined. I despise being sick and I'm really bad at it, as in, whiny and unpleasant and grouchy.

Here I am, anyway, trying to keep us semi-aligned to our diet aspirations and on track for losing the rest of the weight. I actually lost 15 pounds over the holidays and the following two weeks of sickness, so I guess that's good however unpleasant it was for me and the rest of the family. Heh heh.

One thing I've learned about my menu planning is that detailed menu planning kind of throws me off. I work better when I plan 6 or 7 dinners and then just choose the night before what we'll have the next day. If I forget to think about it and  thus forget to pull meat out of the freezer, all the fish thaws in minutes so I can throw one of those meals together quickly if needed. I like having dinner prepped earlier in the day but it just doesn't always work that way.

Our diet criteria are also influencing how I plan menus these days. I'm trying to think more, eat better, and not just grab what is quick and easy. ( Read inspiration here.) We've never eaten a lot of red meat because it's expensive, but we used to eat a lot of pasta and good ole down-home Southern stuff: chicken and dumplings, homemade mac & cheese, meatloaf & mashed potatoes. I'm drooling. Stop, Annie, for the love of all that's thin and healthy!

So now we're doing a, um, very modified version of the Rosedale Diet. Basically lots of fish and lean poultry, salads and fresh vegetables, and not so much sugar and carb-laden food. I'm allowing us one pasta night per week & one beef night per week, and I'm aiming for eating fish at least twice a week and meatless twice a week.

I'm linked up with OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Dinners

Cranberry Chicken Melts on Low-Carb Buns
Beef Fajitas
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Salad, Sauteed Veggies
Broiled Salmon, Buttery Cauliflower, Salad
Crock Pot Chili Lime Chicken-Tostada-Salad (probably skip the tostada and just make it a salad)
Broccoli Cheese Soup, Homemade Crackers
Artichoke Pasta with Alfredo Sauce

Lunches

Tuna Salad
French Onion Soup
Salad with Grilled Turkey or Chicken
Leftovers

Breakfasts (which I'm trying to save, still)

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins (a friend's recipe I can't wait to try, these will be our breakfast "luxury" for the week)
Raisin Bran
Whole Wheat Bagels
Omelet & Turkey Sausage (if I get really industrious, or if I whine enough and get Joe to cook...heehee)

Images courtesy of mugley and floodllama.

First things first: today is my birthday. I am celebrating by 1) having another cup of coffee, 2) playing around instead of getting work done before the kids wake up, 3) spending time with my sister-in-law and niece today!, and 4) packing to go on VACATION to see my family! I cannot wait!

Since we will be leaving Tuesday, my menu plan consists of, well, not much:

• Monday: eat whatever is left in the fridge so it won't get icky while we're gone. Mmm. Since I didn't cook much over the weekend (I got in vacation mode a little too soon) it will probably be a slim meal. Oh well. We'll make up for it while we're down in MS.

Since I don't have a great menu plan, I will put up some recipe links of food I want to make soon. Maybe this will help inspire me when vacation is over and it's time to come home and start cooking again. Or maybe I'll cook some while I'm at my Dad's house. They have a nice big kitchen...

Recipes... and be sure to visit OrgJunkie for more menus, links, and recipes!

• Homemade Granola Bars (my recipe, good, and I need to make some again. Should make some to take with us for snacks on the road but that's probably not going to happen...).
• Thai Chicken Salad with Peanuts and Lime - sounds delicious. Love this site, too.
• Honey Wheat Bread... because I need to quit making all-white bread but I don't love completely whole wheat bread. This recipe sounds like a good compromise for me.
• Hummus and Tomato-Avocado-Mozzarella Salad and Hashbrown Quiche and Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins (with suggested tweaks, maybe add dried cranberries too?). Love this site; wonderful recipes and I love how she has a pic of each plus a little "Results" section at the bottom to summarize the recipe and how good it was or what needs changing. A new favorite on my Bookmarks list.
• Smoked Beef Ribs. Um, yes. Oh, yes. Goodness, yes. I am drooling. I love barbecued anything (okay, almost anything). I'm thinking I should institute a weekly "Joe-cooks-on-the-grill" night and I'm thinking this should be our first recipe.
• Jamaican Chicken. Yum. Yum. Yum.
• Snack Basket. Not exactly a recipe, I know, but this is a great idea for Moms. I think I will set one of these up when we get home next week.

Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography.

Over the weekend, Joe and I decided that the "taking family walks in the evening" plan wasn't working. Okay, actually, it was more like this:
Annie: "I'm melting! I'm melting! It's soo o ooo o ooo hot! I can't walk in this heat. I will die. I will surely die. and If I don't die, then I will kill you for making me come out in this horrible horrible weather."
Joe: "Um...okay...would you like to join the gym, maybe, inste-"
Annie: "YES! Air conditioning! YES! Gym! YES! I like! Oh, sorry, hon, were you saying something else?"

This morning I got up and went to the gym and worked out in the beautifully air-conditioned space. It's one of those 24/7, let yourself in deals. I was the only one there at 4:45am (weird, don't more people just love getting to the gym at 4:45 am? No?) and so it was like I had my own private air-conditioned gym. I still couldn't change the channels on the televisions, though...

Another lady got there while I was mid-way through my graceful cardio huffing-puffing-nearly-keeling-over-20-excruciating-minutes-on-the-elliptical-death-machine portion of my work-out. I didn't mind sharing my gym space by that time. I was just glad someone else was there to pour a little water on my face in case I fainted and fell off when the demon machine upped the resistance again.  Beauty is just so painful sometimes.

So, in unrelated news, here's my menu for the week.

• Monday: fish curry, brown rice, strawberries & pineapple. I'm a little nervous about this because our neighbors are coming over for dinner and Shema (the Mr.) is from Sri Lanka. He's Hindu, so he doesn't eat meat, which is no problem since we like fish anway. But 1) I've never made curry with fish before and 2) I'm cooking curry for a man who knows what REAL curry should be like and makes it and consumes it regularly. I have a strong suspicion that my Americanized version of curry is nothing like Shema's authentic curry... oh well. It's the thought, right...?
• Tuesday: Stuffed pitas + clean out veggies in fridge: corn on the cob, green beans, and salad. I'm not sure what I'll stuff the pitas with yet: maybe this or maybe something more substantial, though with ground beef or turkey instead of lamb. Don't have much lamb sitting in my freezer these days... weird.
• Wednesday: Joe's day off! Big brunch mid-morning (sausage or bacon, pancakes, eggs) then veggie stirfry and noodles for dinner.
• Thursday: Pasta carbonara...some kind of side...
• Friday: Broiled tilapia, oven fries, marinated carrots.
• Saturday: Zugu & meatballs (and pasta to eat it on, of course).
• Sunday: We're either doing fellowship lunch at church or birthday dinner at the in-laws; I'll grate some cheese to make quesadillas for supper in case we're home by then and hungry again.

Visit the host of Menu Plan Monday!

Image Credit: jynmeyer on stock.xchng. Yeah, I'm not quite ready to put up a picture of myself, post-workout. Maybe someday...

Fresh corn and cheese quesadillas. Mmmm.
Sometimes (often, in fact) the best food is the simplest. Shear the corn kernels off the cob, grate some cheddar, sprinkle onto tortillas and cook about 4 minutes per side in a hot skillet (watch that they don't burn). Let cool for a couple of seconds, then slice with a pizza cutter into triangles. Eat them hot and melty with salsa and sour cream, or fresh mashed avocado, or diced cilantro, a squeeze of lime, or black bean salad, or all of the above...

The menu for this week:

(Ironic, isn't it, that cheese & corn quesadillas aren't even on here. But we'll probably have some for lunch. Yeah. And please note my amazing attempts at healthiness via the salad/fruit with every meal. Read the rest of this entry »

It's like they "expect" me to "feed" them dinner or something "every" night. Sheesh.

I've neglected this whole "menu planning" concept (picture Chris Farley, SNL) for "a few days" and "now" I realize that was  "bad idea" if you "know" what I mean... It's very "helpful" to have a "menu plan" in place at the "beginning" of the "week."

Okay. ("Okay.")

The menu plan -

• Monday: fried catfish (bought in pre-breaded at the grocery store, yahoo-easy for me), cole slaw, baked hushpuppies Read the rest of this entry »

After a sabbatical from menu planning, I'm back... and with a few changes in our family's food lifestyle. I am so ready to lose this baby weight and get back in shape. Joe's been wonderful; he's wanting to lose a few pounds too (though I don't see why. My husband is HOT) so we've been going on family walks in the evening when he gets home from work. And we've been going down to the Soulard Farmer's Market every week or so, stocking up on fruits and vegetables. All the fresh good produce helps me stick to one of our new food changes: a big green salad and fresh fruit or vegetables with dinner every night.

Deprive Yourself of Deprivation

See, I'm not good with deprivation. If I just focus on cutting out bad stuff (ice cream, say, or double stuff oreos, or pasta with cream sauce...) then I'll just feel deprived. I will last for about a week. I love food. I don't like feeling deprived of it. So instead of letting that be a weakness, I'm making it a strength: I love stuff that's bad for me, yes, but I also love stuff that's good for me. Fresh fruit: pineapple, raspberries, grapes, kiwi, apples, plums... (I'm addicted to frozen grapes right now. Amazing.) Fresh vegetables: mushrooms, spinach, crunchy carrots, artichokes, cauliflower.

Instead of focusing on cutting bad stuff out, I'm just focusing on getting more good stuff into what we eat. I don't feel deprived; quite the opposite, in fact. I love having a refrigerator full of good stuff to munch on or cook with. And if I want something that's "bad," well, I have some. Just some. I figure if the bulk of what I eat is fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other good stuff, then my body can handle that other stuff. Maybe that's simplistic, but I like simple.

The 16-Week No Soda Challenge

One exception: I'm joining my mother-in-law on a 16-week "NO SODA" pledge. Starts May 10... Ah, soda, goodbye... You've been no good for me. Anyone up for joining in the challenge? Pop in a comment below and we can start keeping each other accountable. I need it. I drink water, mostly, but I sure like a cold dr. pepper now and then... I'm thinking the first few weeks will be the most difficult.

In keeping with our new food/fitness goals, this is our week's menu:

Visit the host of Menu Plan Monday!

Monday: Ham, Mushroom, & Swiss Quiche; Salad; Green Beans; Kiwi & Grapes

Tuesday: Chicken Curry; Fresh Pineapple; Salad

Wednesday: (finger foods; we have a picnic-meal on Wednesday nights between work and church) Steak Sandwiches; Baked Corn Chips; Apples

Thursday: Citrus-Marinated Tilapia; Potato Salad; Fresh Spinach Salad

Friday: Chicken Caesar Salad; Lemon Garlic Pasta; whatever fruit we still have!

I don't have any recipes up yet; shoot me an email or leave a comment if there's one you want.