Monthly Archives: November 2011

Mirrors and Working Out

You would think, wouldn’t you? But how about reflecting a selected part of your body as you work out. Perhaps the legs on the treadmill. I thought I was really hoofing it, only to glance over and see my legs in the mirror that conveniently leaves out the top-heavy part of my body and reveals only my fairly toned legs. Yes, it is a good mirror, and I shall keep it forever. Anyway, what I thought was a pretty fast pace appeared to be about as swift as an old lady pushing her shopping cart. I experimented with my pace until I found a clip that looked like my legs were actually running, and just under the speed that would have rendered me unconscious. I had a great workout. Thanks to Decode from Paramore, I was able to finish my run/walk inspired. I am going to go puke now. Love, V1ck3

Cooking for Teenagers

Sometimes I feel so uninspired…(isn’t that a song from the 70s?) when I’m in the kitchen. The countdown to DH’s return from work was on. We had IQF chicken breasts and carrots. (IQF=individually quick frozen) so I defrosted the chicken and chopped the carrots. I had a mental picture of my mom’s delicious chicken and noodles recipe in my head, but I knew I didn’t want to make the noodles; trying to be good and avoid gluten most of the time. As the chicken and carrots simmered in a little water, I seasoned it with sage, (Mom, it smells like Thanksgiving!) and fresh ground pepper and garlic salt. The meal just didn’t excite me.

Enter the can of cream of chicken soup. I thought saucy chicken over rice would taste really good; I love rice. DH, however, detests it. He’s never said that in so many words, but when he when leaves most of it on his plate, I can tell. So I surrendered and made rotini noodles instead.

First of all, “Bob” had two helpings. This is the kid who turns his nose up at virtually every single meal I prepare. Second, “Dale” came in late to dinner. He started eating, and then expostulated, “Mom, you went ham on this chicken.”

?

I hate having to ask what my kids mean when they talk, but they do attend school in a hotbed of slang vernacular. “What on earth does that mean?” (The chicken doesn’t really taste like ham to me…)

He said, “It means it’s really good.” Then Bob agreed with him. “It means it’s fantastic.”

I would like to bow to the gods of creamed soups now.

Newest Recipe

More of the same with a slight twist.

I added more water to this morning’s smoothie, more spinach, more peas, plain yogurt and a generous tablespoon of strawberry jelly. I could have added more, but I was worried about it being too sweet. It would have been okay to add more, but it was still pretty good. I think part of the attraction to these drinks is knowing the healthful benefits. Still no illness! Have a good day.

Treadmill Strategies

First of all, tried a new smoothie recipe. Yes, we have no bananas. Still. So I went to my food storage room, (yes, a small room in the basement devoted to food storage. Yes, it is pretty awesome.) and got a can of mandarin oranges. Two cups of spinach, and three big swiss chard leaves. Wow. It was pretty awful. It’s the swiss chard, it has such a powerful green flavor. The super-sweetness of the mandarin oranges did counteract it, but still…I just keep telling myself that I haven’t been sick and I don’t want to get sick.

On to the strategies. I feel so silly for not figuring this out sooner; I now get dressed in my workout clothes before I get ‘Tori’ out of bed to get her ready for school. Then I’m ready to go. I can’t find my mp3 player, so I’ve been listening to Pandora and found some fun new tunes. Cinema by Skrillex cracks me up, but I like it. I have a strained groin muscle, so I take it easy on the treadmill. The slower but intense bass beats of some ‘dub step’ type music is ideal. Here I go again!

Treadmill 5: Me 0

Okay, maybe not really, but still. When your face starts pulsing with your heartbeat, you might be overdoing it. I take quick water breaks, and yes, today I stopped 1:45 minutes before I was supposed to. Ugh. Remember all the moaning and complaining I did last year around this time? Now I’m wishing I was back at that place in my life, where I was devotedly working out daily. Humans are never happy with the status quo. You should know however, that I did start writing again. I want to get to a point in my life where there are a handful of things that I just do every day because I need it. I have been praying on my knees daily for so long that I don’t remember when I started. Check. I have been drinking green smoothies every week day for like, over a month? Check. I have been reading my scriptures every morning for a while now too. So I am trying to add things as I am able. Writing every day and exercising every day need to be one of my daily No Matter What activities. In this way, I know I will achieve balance in my life. I should add that smooching Farley’s cheeks is another one of those No Matter What activities. And making ‘Tori’ laugh.

On a different note, I found a great post about working out at home. It fits right in with my spend no money philosophy regarding working out.

http://athletic-therapy.com/2011/10/25/3-must-haves-if-you-must-work-out-at-home/

Carry on. I am about to blend up something green.

Big Lots Grocery Trip

Nice surprise while wandering down the pasta aisle in Big Lots. A gluten-free section! My new favorite lunch is rice noodles, the lemon-chile flavor. Farley likes it too, and we eat a lot. They have gluten free shortbread mix, pancake mix, brownie mix, pizza crust mix and even gluten free all purpose flour. The thing is, I’ve tried gluten free pizza crust, and it’s pretty horrible. So I haven’t bought any of the mixes, but it’s nice to know it’s there.

Parsley Smoothie

I inherited a large bunch of parsley, and you know exactly where it was headed. I put a generous handful in my spinach shake this morning. Oopsie! You don’t think of parsley as having a strong flavor, because you usually get a tiny pinch of it as garnish on your fish. Most people don’t eat it, but I like to, because it’s green, and it has a little nip to it, and it’s supposed to cleanse the palate. Found out this morning there is a reason you only get a little pinch of it on your plate. Wowza. So my parsley flavored shake went down, but not without a grimace or two. Consider my palate cleansed.

The Crunchy Smoothie

I was in the mood for a really fruity one this morning; 1 cup water, 3 large frozen strawberries, 1.5 cups spinach, 1 banana. Added a handful of flax seed for good measure. It tasted super fruity and nutty, but there is that distinctive crunch. I always think flax seeds look like little bugs. I dare you to try one. (A smoothie, not a bug.)