Quick Check In

I hope to write a real post soon, but in case this week swallows me alive I wanted to at least say good-bye :)  In all seriousness, work has been crazy busy and we are working on a big project at home. I won't be able to discuss details on this blog for confidentiality reasons, but my husband and I are in the final phase of becoming licensed foster parents. We have taken classes, had background checks and filled out stacks and stacks of paperwork on every subject imaginable. Our final home inspection is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. My craft room is becoming a child's (or two) room. Remember how happy I was about setting it up last summer? That didn't last long :)  We are excited and nervous as we move forward on this adventure.

In the meantime, I am still working on my weight loss. This week I am happy to report a 1.6 pound loss. I have also continued to track my food and post pictures of what I am eating on the Food Log page.

Better get back to it.....

First, Walk A Mile in Her Pants

Finally!  I finally got myself out for a walk. It was a gorgeous spring day. It was my first opportunity to try out my new pants. The pants were a gift from one of our Lovely Ladies, Christina. She blogs at Love Yourself Healthy.  She is actually on a little blogging hiatus at the moment, but I would still encourage you to visit her blog and read some of her older posts. There is a ton of good stuff in there that has resonated with me. Back to the pants. Christina has done so great - lost about 60 pounds and "shrunk" out of a bunch of her workout wear. She offered several items to our group and then mailed packages to ladies across the country. I received these fun crop pants and a pair of long black pants. I love them! I would probably have not picked out this pair - I am pretty conservative. However, they felt great and were super fun to wear. I will definitely be expanding my horizons. Thank you, Christina!!!

I had to make my walk quick before making dinner. I walked a not so fast mile, enjoying the signs of spring.

I have to do something about the mole problem at our house. They eat any bulbs I plant. I loved this cute little flower bed.

 This poor tree was eliminated from its yard :(

 Forsythia is always among the first to bloom in this area. Such a brilliant yellow!

I can't support having a sweet gum tree in my yard no matter how pretty the actually tree is. These gumballs are such a pain to get rid of...and beware in bare feet. Those suckers are like stepping on LEGOs!

Magnolias are also among the first to bloom. They are so pretty, but one cold night and all those beautiful pink flowers will be an icky brown.

I can't believe how green this lawn is already...I want it in my yard pronto! I did noticed our yard is going to need to be mowed soon...my poor husband.

 Looks like someone had a little accident.

 Poor football.

While out on my walk I ran into my sister on her way home. She invited me over to get some BBQ pork and naan bread to make a BBQ pork pizza.  Her family had enjoyed them the night before. I added a couple more ingredients to get a serving of veggies in. I spread the naan bread with a think layer of BBQ sauce, then layered thinly sliced zucchini, pork, peppers, red onion and cheese. And of course, a sprinkling of cilantro.

 As always, I did his and hers - my husband skipped the zucchini and added tons of jalapeno.

It was quick (especially with the donation from my sister) and super yummy. I will have to keep this in mind the next time we have leftover pork.

Yesterday was another big event at work. It was basically the same as our event last week, except this one was for high school students. I wore one of my new tops from last weekend's shopping spree. It was perfect - long sleeves but light, super comfortable and cute.

I have been doing great on tracking meals and staying in my calorie range for almost all my meals. However, I was stressing a bit about this lunch. We ordered Domino's pizza and bought this cartload of not so healthy foods. Domino's is not my favorite, but as the only option I knew I would eat a couple of pieces. The soda is not a problem, but I do love some chips and cookies.

The day before I looked up calories and made a plan. I would have 2 pieces of pizza and three cookies...and no more!  Yes, I did consider taking my own lunch, but I was a little self-conscious because I had to eat with everyone else. Next year, I think I might say "whatever" and do my own thing.

There were lots leftovers...but I resisted...even when there were just a couple of cookies and chips at the end of the day. And yes, I was a little bit proud of myself...those golden Oreos are SO good.

We assign states to each of our teams in order to post the scores confidentially. Just for fun, I assigned the home states of some of our Lovely Ladies.

 Congrats Mary and Meg...enjoy your virtual trophies and ribbons :)

While tracking my meals on my "Food Log" page, I had pizza meals two days in a row and they were almost exactly the same number of calories.

Wednesday dinner - BBQ pork pizza - 673 calories

 Thursday lunch - Dominos's mushroom pizza and cookies - 670 calories

I guarantee you the homemade pizza meal was infinitely more satisfying...even without the cookies!

I am hoping this weekend is nice enough I can get out and work on the yard. I am ready to plant spinach, lettuce and radishes...and maybe potatoes. What are your weekend plans?

Love the Veggies & A Weigh In

I admit it, the number wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. After losing 5 pounds last week, I am down another .6 pounds. I know a loss is a loss. However, when you have as much to lose as I do, you want bigger numbers each week. I have a number in mind I am hoping to hit by the end of March. I can still get there if I stay on track...which is exactly what I intend to do.

I was home a little earlier than normal and decided I needed to get that leftover Korean Chicken used up. My sister-in-law sent me these rice paper wrappers. I had plenty of veggies. Everything came together to make Summer Rolls. I julienned all the veggies.

I found a dipping sauce recipe online that seemed to be very similar to the ones that my sister-in-law has made. I had all the ingredients on hand. I even have my very own rather large bottle of fish sauce which has very pungent odor (in other words it stinks), but when used with other ingredients adds another dimension (in a good way). I bought that bottle for my Cambodian egg roll recipe and it lasts forever. Fish sauce is usually made from anchovies and salt and allowed to ferment for a year or so. It is an essential ingredient in Southeast Asian cooking.

I don't remember my sister-in-law using the chili/garlic sauce in her dipping sauce, but I enjoyed it. I used the sauce right away tonight, but the flavor of the leftover will meld together even more.

Now it is time to work with the rice paper. The sheets are very hard and brittle. (I forgot to take a picture while I was making them. Since my phone was tethered to the computer I just brought in to take a picture...and you get a gratuitous bonus shot of the LEGOs.) 
Each sheet has to be dipped in warm water individually to make it pliable, but too long will turn it into gelatinous goo. I placed it directly on the counter.

All the julienned veggies and chicken are stacked on the softened rice paper. I also added rice vermicelli (you can see it on the bottom of the stack). It is basically a noodle that is cooked like spaghetti.

Then starts the rolling process tucking the ends in as you roll. You can see the rice paper is sticky.

A few more times through the process and you have this delicious dinner that more than finishes the requirement for a five veggies/fruits challenge :)  Maybe I sound like a little piggy, but I ate six of these rolls and sauce (calories from sugar) for a total of 471 calories.

I love how colorful they are. I would have added carrots, but didn't realize I was out. You can also see the noodles right by my thumb. The chicken worked very well with the veggies.

My husband had salsa verde chicken tostadas. I knew summer rolls would not be his thing. It worked out well because I already had leftover salsa verde chicken, so throwing together the tostadas was super quick  - leaving me more time to create my dinner :) Another advantage to advance meal prep.

I am trying to get some of the herbs my sister-in-law to root in water. Hopefully enough survives to get a start going for my garden. This herb was delicious in the summer rolls.

After dinner we watched tv for a few minutes. Well, my husband tried to watch, but his lap dog gets in the way :)

I have been very good about not getting into the candy at work, but today that tiny Twix would not be ignored.  It is tracked :)

I wore one of my new tops to work today. Please don't notice that it is pulling a bit more than I realized around that "tummy roll" area. Still photos always seem to catch things the eye doesn't. Anyway, it will look even better soon. I wasn't going to post the picture, but I think it will be good for comparison later.  I also wore a new pair of pants - next time I will remember the belt. As the day wore on they got a bit too relaxed :)

I can't believe I tried the top on at the store and got completely dressed this morning before I noticed this sleeve detail. I thought the seam had split. I am not sure I totally love that detail - it is a bit confusing.

Another recommitted week in the books. Overall, I am happy with the track I am on. I am determined to get a couple walks in this week...don't let me off the hook :)

Weekend This and That

That was an extra quick weekend...losing that hour and all :)  We finally got Millie to get a job. She has chosen to be an Uber driver. Unfortunately, the only one willing to ride with her doesn't pay very well.

Truth is. that scene played out when we stopped at the gas station on the way to the farm. Zommie was in a rush to get to "treat heaven" and Millie had a frisbee date with Buddy.

 So fun to watch these two chase frisbee after frisbee...tripping over their tongues as they go.

 Funky dirty tongues that is...

 Pretty much every frisbee was returned like this.

While we were at the farm we arranged to have this cabinet delivered. It once belonged to my husband's grandmother. I am working on turning it into my linen closet.  This little nook in the hallway is right outside the bathroom door and seems to be the perfect spot.

My mom has been visiting my brother's family in California for the last few weeks. She arrived home Saturday with these goodies from my sister-in-law. The lemons and avocado were grown in her friend's yard. The kumquats are from their yard (those are the biggest kumquats I have ever seen). She also sent several types of mints.

My sister-in-law is Cambodian and has introduced us to some delicious foods. I've tried to make a few, but never know which herbs she uses (or can't find them in my stores).  She sent me a couple to try growing in my garden.

My husband has recovered well from his oral surgery, thanks in large part to his mom's mashed potatoes I believe. After eating them plain for days, Sunday morning he asked me to make potato patties one of his all time favorite breakfasts (since he met me). I mix cilantro, jalapeno and cheese with leftover mashed potatoes.

I use the mixture to form the potatoes into patties and fry. I serve it with an over easy egg. He was so eager to eat them I didn't get a picture of the finished product.

Sunday afternoon I went shopping with a couple friends and my sister. In general, I am not a shopping person, but we had a good time. All the summer shoes are out. I was surprised to hear a saleslady refer to these as sandals...but they certainly aren't boots...

 Strappy seems to be this summer's theme.

 I found this display just a little too creepy.

We also did some clothes shopping. I am trying to think outside my box a little. I would have tried on this dress, but it was a size too small :(  I picked up a couple things for work. Overall, the clothes shopping wasn't too bad and I am almost looking forward to doing a little more. Maybe I will reward myself when I get back to my low.

 Star Wars is EVERYWHERE. I found these in the Build-a -Bear store.

And of course, I found this in the LEGO store.  I think my husband was a little disappointed it didn't come home with me.

I never thought I would drink so much vinegar. I enjoyed sampling a several balsamic vinegars - fig, pomegranate and summer peach were probably my favorites. I also sampled a couple olive oils. That just made me want to eat lots of bread and I really don't need bread dipped in olive oil :)

It is another super busy week at work. My goal is to get a walk or two. My eating is still mostly good. I did have have one day that was over my goal, but the tracking kept me from going crazy, Not to mention, one "over" day in two weeks is much better than 14 days in two weeks :)

What do you have planned this week.