Those of you who know me, know that I love to cook. It's a love that I developed way back in high school. At one point in my life I actually thought I wanted to be a chef, although in the past year or so I've realized that cooking is a passion that I wouldn't want combined with my professional life. Anyways - I love cooking.
When Chris first died - I cooked a lot. I was struggling to hold onto my identity (since my identity as Chris' girlfriend was no longer there) - and cooking was one of those things that is intrensically me. So for a period of a couple of months - I was a cooking foo. Then when the deep depression kicked it - it stopped. More or less everything stopped - but that was one of the noticeable things.
My kitchen is kinda like a garden in that it is constantly getting new things and there is an order to it all. Sometimes that order has to be shaken up. But while I was really depressed - I kinda let it all go - like an abandoned garden. I hated even going in there. And right now I am currently reclaiming it from all the wild weeds.
And its been rejuvinating. The key to it has really been the whole shiny sink from FLYlady. It's just a lot easier to cook something if you know that everything you'll need is washed and ready to go - and you can actually use your counter for prep because it isn't covered in dirty dishes or items that just haven't made it to the pantry. I don't have a dishwasher - so washing the dishes is a real chore - but I'm now finding that its taking me a lot less longer to do it all.
But the truth is - I let my dishes back up. You guys are probably saying, "Gross - TMI", but its the truth - and I don't hide from the truth here. While I'm sure I could have finished washing all the backed up dishes in a day - it would have been long and tedious and I probably would have given up half way through. Instead - I've been setting my timer for 15-20 minutes, making the dishes I dirtied the priority, and any time I have left I use to tackle my backup.
Well, last night I did it. I finished cleaning the backed up dishes. It felt great to dry and put away that last dish. And one of the best parts about it - I was able to say to myself that by keeping up with my routine of doing my dishes every night - I will never have a nasty dish backup like that again.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
My Current Faves
So I figure that I will make today's entry easy and just list some of my current favorites.
1) Lucini Cherry Balsamic & Rosemary Vinagrette - A couple of months ago I was all gaga about this weight loss program called "The Game." While my enthusiasm for that has decreased, one of the things I discovered was this salad dressing. Part of the Game is to eliminate all sugar products - including sweetners - out of your diet. You can eat natural sweetners from fruit - but that's about it. So when I was serious about doing it - I had to find something yummy to put on my salads. I thought I would be ok using salad spritzers (0 points in the WW world), but when I looked at the label I noticed that sugar/high fructose corn syrup was the #1 ingredient. Whaa?? So one weekend I went looking for a sugar free salad dressing. In general - they are difficult to find. But the Lucini Balsamic & Rosemary Vinagrette is only sweetened with cherry juice. And it is a luscious salad dressing. Seriously. And you don't need a full serving to get the full effect. A serving is 2 Tbspoons - so I half that and add in 1 teaspoon of olive oil (I need 2 tsp of oil a day for WW). I really like it on a salad with just greens, pears, and parmesan.
2) Fruit slicer - Anyone who has braces can tell you that eating fruit like apples and pears whole is not good for your teeth - or at least not when you have braces. I of course had braces way back in the day - and ever since then I have really detested eating fruit whole. I know fruit is good for me, and when I chose to eat apples and pears, I would chop it up so I didn't have to eat it whole - but frankly that is a pain to do all the time. For Christmas my mom gave me a fruit slicer in my stocking - which makes slicing and coring my fruit a breeze. I love it. Since getting my slicer - I think there has only been 1 or 2 days where I haven't sliced up an apple or pear - and that's because I ran out and didn't want to go to the grocery store just before I visited my mom. I totally heart my fruit slicer.
3) Trident Layers Sugar-Free Gum - I've tried the Strawberry/Tangy Citrus and the Sour Apple/Pineapple. Awesome gum. Keeps its flavor and texture for hours. And the package is totally sturdy so the gum doesn't escape and get chewed up by my purse.
4) Glad Mini Containers - These little containers can contain up to 1/2 cup of anything. I like them because it allows me to bring my salad dressing to work separate from the salad (preventing soggy greens). It also great for storing already sliced onions and tomatoes. And because they are mini - They take up very little room in my cupboards and in my bag.
5)My Isaac H. Evans water bottle - There are a millions of waterbottles - and I've tried many, but this is the first one that I've managed to routinely use. I like that a) it's red - my favorite color b) it has a really clear liquid level tracker on the side of the bottle c) a wide mouth so that I could put ice in there if I wanted to and finally d) the strap that connects the lid to the bottle ain't some skinny old thing that will break at any moment. This is a hardy bottle. It also doesn't hurt that it reminds me of the awesome trip I had on the IHE last year.
6) Vinegar - Not only does vinegar give red velvet cake its yummy tang - it is an awsome cleaner. I've been pouring about a cap full into my dish water every night because it helps to eliminate odor from any dishes (specifically plastic dishes) that absorb odor. I also have a spray bottle of vinegar in my shower. I spray some on the side of the shower and it prevents gross buildup on its walls. You can also get soft hair by once a week rinsing your hair with vinegar. Vinegar strips your hair of the mineral buildup that water and conditioner leaves. But just make sure that you rinse your hair with water afterwards - otherwise your hair may smell a little like pickles until you wash it again.
and finally
7) Flax Seed Oil Caplets - I bought these thinking that I could count it toward my oil consumption in WW. Unfortunately no, however since I've been taking them - my hair has become super soft and shiny. It takes a little longer to work than vinegar (see above) but you avoid the sour pickle smell.
1) Lucini Cherry Balsamic & Rosemary Vinagrette - A couple of months ago I was all gaga about this weight loss program called "The Game." While my enthusiasm for that has decreased, one of the things I discovered was this salad dressing. Part of the Game is to eliminate all sugar products - including sweetners - out of your diet. You can eat natural sweetners from fruit - but that's about it. So when I was serious about doing it - I had to find something yummy to put on my salads. I thought I would be ok using salad spritzers (0 points in the WW world), but when I looked at the label I noticed that sugar/high fructose corn syrup was the #1 ingredient. Whaa?? So one weekend I went looking for a sugar free salad dressing. In general - they are difficult to find. But the Lucini Balsamic & Rosemary Vinagrette is only sweetened with cherry juice. And it is a luscious salad dressing. Seriously. And you don't need a full serving to get the full effect. A serving is 2 Tbspoons - so I half that and add in 1 teaspoon of olive oil (I need 2 tsp of oil a day for WW). I really like it on a salad with just greens, pears, and parmesan.
2) Fruit slicer - Anyone who has braces can tell you that eating fruit like apples and pears whole is not good for your teeth - or at least not when you have braces. I of course had braces way back in the day - and ever since then I have really detested eating fruit whole. I know fruit is good for me, and when I chose to eat apples and pears, I would chop it up so I didn't have to eat it whole - but frankly that is a pain to do all the time. For Christmas my mom gave me a fruit slicer in my stocking - which makes slicing and coring my fruit a breeze. I love it. Since getting my slicer - I think there has only been 1 or 2 days where I haven't sliced up an apple or pear - and that's because I ran out and didn't want to go to the grocery store just before I visited my mom. I totally heart my fruit slicer.
3) Trident Layers Sugar-Free Gum - I've tried the Strawberry/Tangy Citrus and the Sour Apple/Pineapple. Awesome gum. Keeps its flavor and texture for hours. And the package is totally sturdy so the gum doesn't escape and get chewed up by my purse.
4) Glad Mini Containers - These little containers can contain up to 1/2 cup of anything. I like them because it allows me to bring my salad dressing to work separate from the salad (preventing soggy greens). It also great for storing already sliced onions and tomatoes. And because they are mini - They take up very little room in my cupboards and in my bag.
5)My Isaac H. Evans water bottle - There are a millions of waterbottles - and I've tried many, but this is the first one that I've managed to routinely use. I like that a) it's red - my favorite color b) it has a really clear liquid level tracker on the side of the bottle c) a wide mouth so that I could put ice in there if I wanted to and finally d) the strap that connects the lid to the bottle ain't some skinny old thing that will break at any moment. This is a hardy bottle. It also doesn't hurt that it reminds me of the awesome trip I had on the IHE last year.
6) Vinegar - Not only does vinegar give red velvet cake its yummy tang - it is an awsome cleaner. I've been pouring about a cap full into my dish water every night because it helps to eliminate odor from any dishes (specifically plastic dishes) that absorb odor. I also have a spray bottle of vinegar in my shower. I spray some on the side of the shower and it prevents gross buildup on its walls. You can also get soft hair by once a week rinsing your hair with vinegar. Vinegar strips your hair of the mineral buildup that water and conditioner leaves. But just make sure that you rinse your hair with water afterwards - otherwise your hair may smell a little like pickles until you wash it again.
and finally
7) Flax Seed Oil Caplets - I bought these thinking that I could count it toward my oil consumption in WW. Unfortunately no, however since I've been taking them - my hair has become super soft and shiny. It takes a little longer to work than vinegar (see above) but you avoid the sour pickle smell.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Weigh In number 3
This Saturday I had my third weigh in - the second one that would actually measure progress. I had decided to go to my mom's for the long weekend, but since I didn't want to interrupt my new Saturday routine - I left for her house from my meeting.
Anyways - this week I took off 2.4 pounds - for a total of 7 pounds lost. The first time I did WW - it took me a couple of weeks just to take off a pound, probably close to 10 weeks to take off 7 pounds. This time it has just been easier.
I think part of the reason is that I've seen how it works. I've seen how I do better when I track vs. not tracking. I've also seen the benefit of drinking the 2+ liters of water that is required.
I think working on the FLYlady program has also benefitted this process. For the past 18 days - my sink has been empty of dishes when I go to bed. This means that I not only have room to prepare food during the day but that I know where everything is when I need it to prepare something. I even shined my mom's sink when I was there - and my mom noticed what a difference it makes. And because I'm cooking - I'm buying fresher food that I can use in cooking and that tastes better. I'm not having any feelings of food deprevation that I got when I ate at the cafeteria.
This week did have some tough spots. I had brunch at a friends (I drank to much), I had my first cooking club (probably ate too much), and I had happy hour with work people (ate too much fried food). I managed to scrape by the week using all my weekly points. I probably could have done better if I had done more planning and also stood by my ground and not drink/eat what everybody else did.
This definitely rubbed off on me. On the trip to my mom's - before I left I made a cheat sheet of my favorite foods at my favorite places to eat on my way down to her place (seeing that I was traveling during lunch and wasn't eating a big breakfast because of weigh in). I was really shocked seeing some of these points - so instead of stopping at those fast food places, I got apple slices and a fresh sandwich made to my specs at Wawa. That's progress.
Anyways - this week I took off 2.4 pounds - for a total of 7 pounds lost. The first time I did WW - it took me a couple of weeks just to take off a pound, probably close to 10 weeks to take off 7 pounds. This time it has just been easier.
I think part of the reason is that I've seen how it works. I've seen how I do better when I track vs. not tracking. I've also seen the benefit of drinking the 2+ liters of water that is required.
I think working on the FLYlady program has also benefitted this process. For the past 18 days - my sink has been empty of dishes when I go to bed. This means that I not only have room to prepare food during the day but that I know where everything is when I need it to prepare something. I even shined my mom's sink when I was there - and my mom noticed what a difference it makes. And because I'm cooking - I'm buying fresher food that I can use in cooking and that tastes better. I'm not having any feelings of food deprevation that I got when I ate at the cafeteria.
This week did have some tough spots. I had brunch at a friends (I drank to much), I had my first cooking club (probably ate too much), and I had happy hour with work people (ate too much fried food). I managed to scrape by the week using all my weekly points. I probably could have done better if I had done more planning and also stood by my ground and not drink/eat what everybody else did.
This definitely rubbed off on me. On the trip to my mom's - before I left I made a cheat sheet of my favorite foods at my favorite places to eat on my way down to her place (seeing that I was traveling during lunch and wasn't eating a big breakfast because of weigh in). I was really shocked seeing some of these points - so instead of stopping at those fast food places, I got apple slices and a fresh sandwich made to my specs at Wawa. That's progress.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Butternut & Spinach Lasagna
So I had some leftover Ricotta cheese from a recipe I made for new years, and since I am being a better me and cooking - I decided that I needed to make something that used it before it went bad in the refrigerator. So I plugged the word ricotta into a couple of recipe websites to see if I could find something that looked good. There were recipes for ricotta bread, ricotta cookies, ricotta cakes, ricotta cheesecakes. Not that these sounded bad, but seeing that I am back on track at WW and I am one of those people with a massive sweet tooth, I decided something savory would be better. Finally found some inspiration though. Someon had posted a recipe for a pumpkin & spinach lasagna (posting that recipe just in case anyone wants to reference it).
My mouth started to water as I read through the ingredient list, but it stopped until 2/3rds the way through. All of a sudden a tomato meat sauce had invaded the imaginary lasagna I had started to assemble in my mind - and my mind wasn't sure if it was going to like it. Too many flavors. I still continued reading through, and sure enough the only review posted commented that when they had made it - the combination of flavors had confused their tastebuds and it wasn't a pleasant experience. That was enough to convince me that this wasn't exactly the recipe I wanted - but that I could build something from here. Since I made pumpkin soup the week, I decided that I would make a lasgna using butternut squash instead.
Emily's Butternut & Spinach Lasagna
This lasgna has 4 main parts: 1)Butternut Squash (or anykind of squash) mash 2)Spinach Ricotta Mixture 3)Bechamel Sauce and 4)Lasagna noodles. I'll go through the recipe by parts. Also - since I am cooking for one - I made half the amount of lasagna compared to most traditional recipes (I actually fit it into a bread pan). Works fantastic for me - but if you are making this for more than 2 people, I would probably suggest doubling the recipe.
Part 1- Butternut Squash mash
Ingredients
- 1 pound butternut squash
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste (sea salt or kosher salt works)
Get 1 pound of butternut squash, either by buying a whole butternut squash (should actually weigh a little more than 1 pound) or by buying those precut chunks of butternut squash. You apparently can also buy mashed butternut squash in the freezer aisle - but I'm currently on a fresh ingredients kick. Heat oven to 400. If you have the whole squash, put a little olive oil on a paper towel and then rub it over the squash. Take a cooling rack (if you have one) and place it over a cake pan and put it in the oven. Place the squash on rack and then cook for about 1 hour - or until you can slice through the skin of the squash and the insides give no resistance to your knife. That means the squash has roasted and the insides are now mushy (in a good way considering you are mashing them anyways. [Since I bought the whole squash, I'm not sure how long you would need to roast butternut chunks. The recipe I based this on actually steamed their squashthem on top of the stove.] Remove squash from oven. Using a knife, split the butternut squash in half - becareful of steam. Scoop out the fleshy insides from the outside skin and put in a bowl - removing any seeds and strings when you find them. Using your favorite tool for mashing (food processor, potato masher, wooden spoon), start mashing the squash. Then add butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix together. Add some salt and pepper to season it. Everybody likes a different level of saltiness - so start with a tsp., then taste - and if you don't like it - put in a little more. Just remember though that you will also be seasoning the spinach and the bechamel sauce - so don't go hog wild - because then you will end up with a super salty loaf that not even the dog will eat (yes, this has happened to a meatloaf I made once in high school - consider lesson learned). Put squash mixture to the side.
Part 2 - Spinach & Ricotta mixture
Ingredients
- 1 bag (6 - 10 oz.) of spinach
- 1 medium onion sliced thin'
- 1 container (16 oz.) of Ricotta cheese (reduced fat or fat free works if you want it)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (pre-minced garlic is awesome in my book)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tsp. thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Put your ricotta cheese in a bowl and mix in the sage and nutmeg. Put ricotta to the side. In a lare pan - heat the olive oil over medium heat. Then add in the onions and garlic. Cook the onions until soft - and mix in the thyme. Turn down the heat a bit and then pour in the bag of spinach. We want the spinach to wilt but the onions not to burn. Every 2-3 minutes check the pan and stir the spinach so that the spinach on top goes to the bottom and vice versa. In about 8-10 minutes, spinach should be wilted (dark green, but not black). Bring the spinach over to your ricotta, and pour it in. Then mix. The ricotta will begin to melt, but it won't get sticky. Put this to the side.
Part 3) Bechamel Sauce.
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp thyme
- 3 Bay leaves
- Salt & Pepper to taste
The original recipe had its own bechamel sauce (second group of ingredients if you read that recipe), but I wanted to do something lighter because of Weight Watchers. Thankfully my mom bought me for Christmas last year what is the equivalent to the Joy of Cooking for Weight Watchers. It has a Bechamel recipe that is only 3 points per serving (The lasgna calls for 2 servings altogether). I used that recipe. But because it is a WW recipe - I'm not sure I can post the exact ratio of Butter, Flour, & Milk because I don't want someone from the program to see that I posted the WW recipe and then sue me and get me kicked out of the program. So my recommendation is that you find a basic Bechamel recipe and use that as a base. I made 1 cup of sauce. In addition to your base Bechamel sauce, add in the nutmeg, thyme, and bayleaves as soon as you have poured in all the milk. Stir on low constantly until it gets thick and starts to boil. Your sauce is done then. Pour it into a liquid measureing cup - and you can choose to run the sauce through a small strainer at this point so that you remove any spice leaves, but I was lazy and left everything in. If you have issues finding a Bechamel recipe, let me know and I can help you find one.
Part 4- Lasagna Noodles
Ingredients
- 6 regular lasagna noodles
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- butternut squash mash
- spinach ricotta mixture
- bechamel sauce
I don't trust the no pre-cook lasgna noodles. I think that its hard to get find the right amount of sauce that will bake the no-cook lasagna and not overwhelm your dish. Often times the lasagnas end drier than you want. So boil water and then cook noodles according to directions. It is ok for them to be a little al dente because they will cook a little more in the lasagna.
Time for assembly. Preheat your oven to 350. Take a large bread pan and spray it with cooking spray so the pasta won't later stick. Lay two noodles side by side lengthwise. Then spoon in the butternut squash mixture. Even it out over the noodles. Then evenly pour 1/3 cup Bechamel sauce. Layer on two more noodles. Spoon out and spread evenly half the spinach ricotta mixture. Sprinkle evenly 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Evenly pour over that 1/3 cup Bechamel sauce. Spoon out and spread evenly the other half of the spinach ricotta mixture. Lay down the last two lasagna noodles. Evenly pour the remaining Becahmel sauce over the noodles. Then sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese. Stick that sucka in the oven for about 30 minutes. When the timer is up, turn off the oven but keep the lasagna in there for another 30 mintues. Remove and serve. Either immediately - or the next day for lunch in my case. It's very DELISH!
My mouth started to water as I read through the ingredient list, but it stopped until 2/3rds the way through. All of a sudden a tomato meat sauce had invaded the imaginary lasagna I had started to assemble in my mind - and my mind wasn't sure if it was going to like it. Too many flavors. I still continued reading through, and sure enough the only review posted commented that when they had made it - the combination of flavors had confused their tastebuds and it wasn't a pleasant experience. That was enough to convince me that this wasn't exactly the recipe I wanted - but that I could build something from here. Since I made pumpkin soup the week, I decided that I would make a lasgna using butternut squash instead.
Emily's Butternut & Spinach Lasagna
This lasgna has 4 main parts: 1)Butternut Squash (or anykind of squash) mash 2)Spinach Ricotta Mixture 3)Bechamel Sauce and 4)Lasagna noodles. I'll go through the recipe by parts. Also - since I am cooking for one - I made half the amount of lasagna compared to most traditional recipes (I actually fit it into a bread pan). Works fantastic for me - but if you are making this for more than 2 people, I would probably suggest doubling the recipe.
Part 1- Butternut Squash mash
Ingredients
- 1 pound butternut squash
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste (sea salt or kosher salt works)
Get 1 pound of butternut squash, either by buying a whole butternut squash (should actually weigh a little more than 1 pound) or by buying those precut chunks of butternut squash. You apparently can also buy mashed butternut squash in the freezer aisle - but I'm currently on a fresh ingredients kick. Heat oven to 400. If you have the whole squash, put a little olive oil on a paper towel and then rub it over the squash. Take a cooling rack (if you have one) and place it over a cake pan and put it in the oven. Place the squash on rack and then cook for about 1 hour - or until you can slice through the skin of the squash and the insides give no resistance to your knife. That means the squash has roasted and the insides are now mushy (in a good way considering you are mashing them anyways. [Since I bought the whole squash, I'm not sure how long you would need to roast butternut chunks. The recipe I based this on actually steamed their squashthem on top of the stove.] Remove squash from oven. Using a knife, split the butternut squash in half - becareful of steam. Scoop out the fleshy insides from the outside skin and put in a bowl - removing any seeds and strings when you find them. Using your favorite tool for mashing (food processor, potato masher, wooden spoon), start mashing the squash. Then add butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix together. Add some salt and pepper to season it. Everybody likes a different level of saltiness - so start with a tsp., then taste - and if you don't like it - put in a little more. Just remember though that you will also be seasoning the spinach and the bechamel sauce - so don't go hog wild - because then you will end up with a super salty loaf that not even the dog will eat (yes, this has happened to a meatloaf I made once in high school - consider lesson learned). Put squash mixture to the side.
Part 2 - Spinach & Ricotta mixture
Ingredients
- 1 bag (6 - 10 oz.) of spinach
- 1 medium onion sliced thin'
- 1 container (16 oz.) of Ricotta cheese (reduced fat or fat free works if you want it)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (pre-minced garlic is awesome in my book)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tsp. thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Put your ricotta cheese in a bowl and mix in the sage and nutmeg. Put ricotta to the side. In a lare pan - heat the olive oil over medium heat. Then add in the onions and garlic. Cook the onions until soft - and mix in the thyme. Turn down the heat a bit and then pour in the bag of spinach. We want the spinach to wilt but the onions not to burn. Every 2-3 minutes check the pan and stir the spinach so that the spinach on top goes to the bottom and vice versa. In about 8-10 minutes, spinach should be wilted (dark green, but not black). Bring the spinach over to your ricotta, and pour it in. Then mix. The ricotta will begin to melt, but it won't get sticky. Put this to the side.
Part 3) Bechamel Sauce.
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp thyme
- 3 Bay leaves
- Salt & Pepper to taste
The original recipe had its own bechamel sauce (second group of ingredients if you read that recipe), but I wanted to do something lighter because of Weight Watchers. Thankfully my mom bought me for Christmas last year what is the equivalent to the Joy of Cooking for Weight Watchers. It has a Bechamel recipe that is only 3 points per serving (The lasgna calls for 2 servings altogether). I used that recipe. But because it is a WW recipe - I'm not sure I can post the exact ratio of Butter, Flour, & Milk because I don't want someone from the program to see that I posted the WW recipe and then sue me and get me kicked out of the program. So my recommendation is that you find a basic Bechamel recipe and use that as a base. I made 1 cup of sauce. In addition to your base Bechamel sauce, add in the nutmeg, thyme, and bayleaves as soon as you have poured in all the milk. Stir on low constantly until it gets thick and starts to boil. Your sauce is done then. Pour it into a liquid measureing cup - and you can choose to run the sauce through a small strainer at this point so that you remove any spice leaves, but I was lazy and left everything in. If you have issues finding a Bechamel recipe, let me know and I can help you find one.
Part 4- Lasagna Noodles
Ingredients
- 6 regular lasagna noodles
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- butternut squash mash
- spinach ricotta mixture
- bechamel sauce
I don't trust the no pre-cook lasgna noodles. I think that its hard to get find the right amount of sauce that will bake the no-cook lasagna and not overwhelm your dish. Often times the lasagnas end drier than you want. So boil water and then cook noodles according to directions. It is ok for them to be a little al dente because they will cook a little more in the lasagna.
Time for assembly. Preheat your oven to 350. Take a large bread pan and spray it with cooking spray so the pasta won't later stick. Lay two noodles side by side lengthwise. Then spoon in the butternut squash mixture. Even it out over the noodles. Then evenly pour 1/3 cup Bechamel sauce. Layer on two more noodles. Spoon out and spread evenly half the spinach ricotta mixture. Sprinkle evenly 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Evenly pour over that 1/3 cup Bechamel sauce. Spoon out and spread evenly the other half of the spinach ricotta mixture. Lay down the last two lasagna noodles. Evenly pour the remaining Becahmel sauce over the noodles. Then sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese. Stick that sucka in the oven for about 30 minutes. When the timer is up, turn off the oven but keep the lasagna in there for another 30 mintues. Remove and serve. Either immediately - or the next day for lunch in my case. It's very DELISH!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Going Good so Far
So like I said in a previous post - I'm not really doing resolutions this year. However, I am trying to be a better me and re-energizing myself about Weight Watchers and also trying out this FLYlady program to help me with my organization. You are probably saying, "Emily you big goof, those are resolutions." My theory is, we all say we are going to resolve to do something more at the new year and then the expectation is that we will go at it for a month or so and then stop - and that's ok because no one ever keeps resolutions. I guess that is a big assumption - but I think most people expect to be breaking their resolutions at some point. But I don't want to break these things - and I think calling them resolutions would put too much pressure on doing them perfect. And I know I'm not going to do them perfect, so instead I am just going to do them better.
I did go back to my second meeting at the new WW location. Last week with bringing my breakfast and lunch all week as well as doubling (possibly tripling) my water intake - I lost 4.6 pounds. I imagine a lot of that is water weight though, but still nothing to sneeze at. However I may have put those 4.6 pounds back on though with brunch at a Super K's (her new name in my blog) and the inaguaral meeting of the Vixens in the Kitchen cooking club, however I made sure to track as well as I could and I still had some weekly points left at the end of Sunday to get me through rest of the week - so I'm hoping I did ok.
Part of what made this possible is this FLYlady process. It got me to take care of one specific corner of my apartment (my kitchen sink) and now its spreading to other areas of my apartment. And while my apartment is no where near where it should be, I feel like I am making strides every night. Keeping my sink shiny forces me not to procrastinate on doing the dishes, which in turn keeps my counters clear (and I don't have a lot of counter) which then allows me to cook both on the weekend or during the week, which means I have food ready to go to pack in my lunches for work, which saves me money. Having that little bit of organized space also helps to keep my mind organized. Now I'm doing things like setting my clothes out for the next day - which shortens prep time in the morning and allows me to do stuff like put on makeup before I leave in the morning. And I'm not overwhelmed when I get home in the evening. I know that I have stuff that I have to do (prep my lunch, 15 minutes declutter, run a cycle of laundry, shine my sink) and things I need to do (I limit to 1 every night), and things that I can do (if I have the time or energy). The one challenge is that the program seems like it is written by people who 1)Have families/partners who can lend help and 2)get to stay at home for the jobs (cause being a stay at home mom is a job in and of itself) which means that they may have more time at home to do things at the house than I do 3) have a dishwasher. I just have to work at really figuring out a routine that works for me.
And I think a key to this working is that I am sharing what I am doing with people. Not only have I been sharing stuff with this blog every day (and which everybody's comments have been appreciated), but I have been calling my mom every night and we share the good things that happened in our day. We talk for only 20 minutes (opposed to our 60-90 minute conversations that happen when I only call once a week). Its a good break - and she gives me awesome encouragement, and I think she feels the same.
So here is my progress for the new year. I imagine things can only go up from here.
I did go back to my second meeting at the new WW location. Last week with bringing my breakfast and lunch all week as well as doubling (possibly tripling) my water intake - I lost 4.6 pounds. I imagine a lot of that is water weight though, but still nothing to sneeze at. However I may have put those 4.6 pounds back on though with brunch at a Super K's (her new name in my blog) and the inaguaral meeting of the Vixens in the Kitchen cooking club, however I made sure to track as well as I could and I still had some weekly points left at the end of Sunday to get me through rest of the week - so I'm hoping I did ok.
Part of what made this possible is this FLYlady process. It got me to take care of one specific corner of my apartment (my kitchen sink) and now its spreading to other areas of my apartment. And while my apartment is no where near where it should be, I feel like I am making strides every night. Keeping my sink shiny forces me not to procrastinate on doing the dishes, which in turn keeps my counters clear (and I don't have a lot of counter) which then allows me to cook both on the weekend or during the week, which means I have food ready to go to pack in my lunches for work, which saves me money. Having that little bit of organized space also helps to keep my mind organized. Now I'm doing things like setting my clothes out for the next day - which shortens prep time in the morning and allows me to do stuff like put on makeup before I leave in the morning. And I'm not overwhelmed when I get home in the evening. I know that I have stuff that I have to do (prep my lunch, 15 minutes declutter, run a cycle of laundry, shine my sink) and things I need to do (I limit to 1 every night), and things that I can do (if I have the time or energy). The one challenge is that the program seems like it is written by people who 1)Have families/partners who can lend help and 2)get to stay at home for the jobs (cause being a stay at home mom is a job in and of itself) which means that they may have more time at home to do things at the house than I do 3) have a dishwasher. I just have to work at really figuring out a routine that works for me.
And I think a key to this working is that I am sharing what I am doing with people. Not only have I been sharing stuff with this blog every day (and which everybody's comments have been appreciated), but I have been calling my mom every night and we share the good things that happened in our day. We talk for only 20 minutes (opposed to our 60-90 minute conversations that happen when I only call once a week). Its a good break - and she gives me awesome encouragement, and I think she feels the same.
So here is my progress for the new year. I imagine things can only go up from here.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Age
In general, I don't like to think of myself as old. I'm 31 - about a month and a half from 32. Considering that we currently live in an age where people are having babies in their late 30's and beyond - I don't think that I can even biologically consider myself old. Fat, yes. Old, No.
And I have to say, I think I tend to carry myself as being younger than I am. Not saying this is a good or bad thing. But I regularly have people express their surprise when I tell them that I'm in my 30's. Just last year I had a teenager express her dismay to her mom that I was able to drink and she wasn't. She apparently thought that I was 19. In my book - that's pretty darn great (although I will take the Margarita, thank you very much).
This year is kinda different, in two ways.
1) I had always told myself that I would be married and have a child before I turned 32, which was the age my mom was when she had me. Of course when I had set this goal - I don't think fertility treatments were what they are today - and I was pretty convinced that I would have met and married Mr. Right by now. Considering I have a month and a week until I turn 32 - I'm guessing that won't happen. I'm more or less ok with not achieving this. One of the things I learned during my parents divorce is that part of the reason my parents got together was that they felt like they were passing the point where it wouldn't be practical to have children and that they thought each other would make good parents. Not necessarily good spouses. I want someone who is my partner when I have kids - cause from what I've seen - raising kids is a team sport (in most cases - some people have successfully made it an individual sport), and so team chemistry is a must. I also know that I'm still trying to find myself, and I don't know if I could do that if I had a child. I know that people say that you are never truly ready to have a child, but I would like to think that I was a little more prepared than I am now if I had one.
2) January 3rd was Chris birthday, and when he died - he was just 13 days away from turning 32. So as of the first week of February - I will have outsurvived him. I know technically I have currently lived 2 plus years with him gone, but this is different. I'll finally be achieving something that Chris will never have the opportunity to do - see 32. I have to confess that I kinda hope that when I hit the great beyond, I want to be reunited with him; and I fear that as I grow older - he won't recognize me. If you've read Twilight - you know that Bella doesn't like the fact that while she grows older, Edward is always going to be 17 and so she rather join him in vampire life younger than older. By no means am I saying that I want to join Chris now in heaven. I want to at least live long enough to see the last of the Harry Potter and Twilight movies, and preferribly much longer past that. But I do get where Bella is coming from. I don't know if I will always have this desire to be reunited - that may change if/when I meet someone new and/or if/when I have a child of my own, but right now I've been thinking about this. I also wonder if his sister thinks about it too. We're the same age, and so this happens to her this year too. But I don't think I'm going to ask her.
And while these two things are not exactly the happiest thoughts on earth, I still carry around hope. If I didn't, I wouldn't be trying to get my life in order this year. I wouldn't be putting myself through Weight Watcher's convinced that if I stick with the program - I will give myself a better quality of life. And I'm thinking that at 32 - I am just getting started.
And I have to say, I think I tend to carry myself as being younger than I am. Not saying this is a good or bad thing. But I regularly have people express their surprise when I tell them that I'm in my 30's. Just last year I had a teenager express her dismay to her mom that I was able to drink and she wasn't. She apparently thought that I was 19. In my book - that's pretty darn great (although I will take the Margarita, thank you very much).
This year is kinda different, in two ways.
1) I had always told myself that I would be married and have a child before I turned 32, which was the age my mom was when she had me. Of course when I had set this goal - I don't think fertility treatments were what they are today - and I was pretty convinced that I would have met and married Mr. Right by now. Considering I have a month and a week until I turn 32 - I'm guessing that won't happen. I'm more or less ok with not achieving this. One of the things I learned during my parents divorce is that part of the reason my parents got together was that they felt like they were passing the point where it wouldn't be practical to have children and that they thought each other would make good parents. Not necessarily good spouses. I want someone who is my partner when I have kids - cause from what I've seen - raising kids is a team sport (in most cases - some people have successfully made it an individual sport), and so team chemistry is a must. I also know that I'm still trying to find myself, and I don't know if I could do that if I had a child. I know that people say that you are never truly ready to have a child, but I would like to think that I was a little more prepared than I am now if I had one.
2) January 3rd was Chris birthday, and when he died - he was just 13 days away from turning 32. So as of the first week of February - I will have outsurvived him. I know technically I have currently lived 2 plus years with him gone, but this is different. I'll finally be achieving something that Chris will never have the opportunity to do - see 32. I have to confess that I kinda hope that when I hit the great beyond, I want to be reunited with him; and I fear that as I grow older - he won't recognize me. If you've read Twilight - you know that Bella doesn't like the fact that while she grows older, Edward is always going to be 17 and so she rather join him in vampire life younger than older. By no means am I saying that I want to join Chris now in heaven. I want to at least live long enough to see the last of the Harry Potter and Twilight movies, and preferribly much longer past that. But I do get where Bella is coming from. I don't know if I will always have this desire to be reunited - that may change if/when I meet someone new and/or if/when I have a child of my own, but right now I've been thinking about this. I also wonder if his sister thinks about it too. We're the same age, and so this happens to her this year too. But I don't think I'm going to ask her.
And while these two things are not exactly the happiest thoughts on earth, I still carry around hope. If I didn't, I wouldn't be trying to get my life in order this year. I wouldn't be putting myself through Weight Watcher's convinced that if I stick with the program - I will give myself a better quality of life. And I'm thinking that at 32 - I am just getting started.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Soda Pop Math
This week I have brought lunch and breakfast to work everyday and I have not spent any money at the cafeteria or the little snack shop. Last year, I normally bought my breakfast and lunch here at work - and in general I bought a 20 oz. soda each time I went down so that I was drinking about 40 oz. of diet soda just at work. We won't go into my home habits. This week I limited myself to one 12 oz. can of diet coke that I brought from home - other than that I use the watercooler and either drink water straight up or make tea. When I buy soda at work it's $1.50, whereas my soda from ranges between 33 cents to 42 cents a can - (depending on the case I got it from) - so lets say my soda is about 40 cents. So...last year I spent about $15 a week in soda at work, this year I have spent $2. I've saved $13 in soda. If I do this rest of the year - I can save $676 in soda alone. Nutso. I've never thought about it like this before.
I need to go drink some water.
I need to go drink some water.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A well deserved break
We are seven days into the new year and currently all systems are go. Both of my sinks are shining, I've pretty much stayed on plan in WW, and I'm checking things off on my work to-do list. So tonight I took a break because man, I'm tired. This means that I cracked opened my new Glee DVD (thanks Leanne), dragged out the home foot spa and painted my little piggies pink, and enjoyed my last half of cheesecake from Sunday (yum, red velvet cheesecake - this is why we have weekly allowances from WW).
I think in order for my new outlook on routine, I am going to have to work in set breaks for me - otherwise I'm going to burnout. So Thursday is going to be my pamper me night. Manis, Pedis, masks, and Grey's Anatomy will be on the agenda. I'm also going to allow myself Monday night from 8-9 off so I can watch Chuck. I'll just have to catch up on my other shows on the weekend.
The other thing I have to work on is the listing of my routines. The one thing that I've noticed about FLYlady is that her routines are built mostly around households with multiple family members. The default routine is very morning centric, which can be tricky for me because I am so not a morning person. I may have to move somethings around. But then I guess that is the beauty of the system - I can mix and match and make what works for me.
I think in order for my new outlook on routine, I am going to have to work in set breaks for me - otherwise I'm going to burnout. So Thursday is going to be my pamper me night. Manis, Pedis, masks, and Grey's Anatomy will be on the agenda. I'm also going to allow myself Monday night from 8-9 off so I can watch Chuck. I'll just have to catch up on my other shows on the weekend.
The other thing I have to work on is the listing of my routines. The one thing that I've noticed about FLYlady is that her routines are built mostly around households with multiple family members. The default routine is very morning centric, which can be tricky for me because I am so not a morning person. I may have to move somethings around. But then I guess that is the beauty of the system - I can mix and match and make what works for me.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Moms know best
I've been calling my mom every night to give her a WW and FLYlady update because it makes her happy. Anyways - I told her about the cupcake incident earlier in the day and that I can't find anyone to share my cupcakes with, which is when she threw out - just freeze them and bring them when you visit me in 2 weeks. I asked what to do about the frosting and she said just to leave them frosting free - essentially making them muffins. This is why I love my mom so much!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Cupcake Crisis
I've been trying to post after work, but something just happened that I had to write about.
I went to a New Years party on Friday and made these delicious cupcakes. And unfortunatley I had to make a double batch because I accidently bought the jumbo sized cupcake liners so the first batch only made 9 cupcakes - and you can't just bring 9 cupcakes to a party - you need to bring at least a dozen. Anyways -being that they are jumbo sized - I could only fit 12 with me - so I was left with the last 9. Here's my thinking - I can bring a couple to work and split them with the girls (who LOVE cupcakes, especially chocolate cupcakes rest of the year). I don't even want them to eat a whole cupcake - a quarter would be great.
Nobody is biting. And that is driving me CRAZY. I know - I should be understanding. But I have issues with people saying, "I ain't going to be eating no more sugar rest of the year because I was so bad this holiday." Meanwhile they are chugging starbuck lattes and eating regular sized candy canes like no tomorrow. Anyways - I finally cracked and said something snarky about the candy canes to a co-worker. I'm thinking we won't be eating lunch again for a while.
I get it - I really do. I probably would do the same thing. Actually, what I would do is say, "Maybe later." and then just conveniently not come by. Because I don't want to offend their feelings by not trying their creation. But maybe its because for me - cooking is so personal and I want people to love everything I make. So I'm taking it personally that they would rather eat a candy cane or starbucks and claim that they aren't eating any more sugar when in fact they are.
I at least am laying it out front. I'm eating my cupcakes, just in small doses. Very small doses. Problem is - its going to take a lot of little small doses to get rid of all these cupcakes. And since they are my creations that I poured lots of love into (I even cried when I wasn't sure if they were going to come out right because of their jumboness) - I can't just throw them away. My cupcakes are big and I'm big - and rejecting them because of their jumboness is like the people who look right through me because of my bigness. Oy.
Anybody want to help me, preferribly by eating cupcakes.
I went to a New Years party on Friday and made these delicious cupcakes. And unfortunatley I had to make a double batch because I accidently bought the jumbo sized cupcake liners so the first batch only made 9 cupcakes - and you can't just bring 9 cupcakes to a party - you need to bring at least a dozen. Anyways -being that they are jumbo sized - I could only fit 12 with me - so I was left with the last 9. Here's my thinking - I can bring a couple to work and split them with the girls (who LOVE cupcakes, especially chocolate cupcakes rest of the year). I don't even want them to eat a whole cupcake - a quarter would be great.
Nobody is biting. And that is driving me CRAZY. I know - I should be understanding. But I have issues with people saying, "I ain't going to be eating no more sugar rest of the year because I was so bad this holiday." Meanwhile they are chugging starbuck lattes and eating regular sized candy canes like no tomorrow. Anyways - I finally cracked and said something snarky about the candy canes to a co-worker. I'm thinking we won't be eating lunch again for a while.
I get it - I really do. I probably would do the same thing. Actually, what I would do is say, "Maybe later." and then just conveniently not come by. Because I don't want to offend their feelings by not trying their creation. But maybe its because for me - cooking is so personal and I want people to love everything I make. So I'm taking it personally that they would rather eat a candy cane or starbucks and claim that they aren't eating any more sugar when in fact they are.
I at least am laying it out front. I'm eating my cupcakes, just in small doses. Very small doses. Problem is - its going to take a lot of little small doses to get rid of all these cupcakes. And since they are my creations that I poured lots of love into (I even cried when I wasn't sure if they were going to come out right because of their jumboness) - I can't just throw them away. My cupcakes are big and I'm big - and rejecting them because of their jumboness is like the people who look right through me because of my bigness. Oy.
Anybody want to help me, preferribly by eating cupcakes.
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