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Healthy Habits: March

So, February was a good warm-up month in our journey to living healthier. I stuck to my goals at least 90 percent of the time, and I call that a victory. (This is a new mentality I'm trying on. Previously, if I didn't meet a goal 100%, I'd feel like a failure and feel like giving up. But I'm now embracing that 90% success, or even 75% depending on the goal, is absolutely worth celebrating.)

Also worth celebrating? I lost 4 pounds. And for me, that's huge. Now keep in mind that my February goals are not responsible for ALL of that. On top of the specific goals I'm trying to achieve, I'm also just generally trying to live all the healthy living principles that I know in my heart but don't always have the discipline to follow, such as: eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, eating at home more often, avoiding refined carbohydrates and fried foods, exercising regularly, limiting the between-meal snacking, etc.

And with that, here are our March goals, gloriously printed out and posted to the refrigerator, since my printer wasn't broken* after all.

 

 

*Almost rivalling the time I called my husband and asked for his tech support assistance for about 45 minutes because the computer turned off and simply would not turn back on (because, it turns out, our power had gone out), our printer was never broken. Instead, Keira had turned off the power strip that the printer was plugged into. So, effectively, it had just been unplugged for a few weeks while I was reluctantly researching new printer options. 

Healthy Habits: My Plan

Now, despite what I may have alluded to yesterday, there's nothing revolutionary here. (Which is actually the whole point.) I simply ran out of steam to fit everything I wanted to say in one post!

Let me start by saying that discipline is not my strong suit.

When it comes to diet and exercise, I firmly believe that strategy is better than discipline anyway. (I did not invent this concept, and I can't remember where I heard it, but I love it!) The problem is, lately I've lacked the discipline to implement and stick to a strategy!

It's a vicious cycle of staying up too late, getting too little sleep, waiting until I'm already starving to plan or prepare meals, and generally being reactionary about my eating and exercise. 

But as I've been listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Nutrition Diva: Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous, several ephinanies crashed together all at once.

1. I listened to one podcast about Weight Loss Myths, and here's the bit that hit me between the eyes: 

"Losing weight [too] quickly virtually guarantees failure. Rapid weight loss creates long-term hormonal and metabolic changes in your body that make it extremely difficult for you to maintain that hard-won weight loss.

Let’s say, for example, that Mary and Sue both weigh 130 pounds. Mary has been about the same weight since college. Sue, on the other hand, has just lost 50 pounds on a crash diet. Both women are now maintaining their current weight—but, in order to do that, Sue has to exercise twice as much and eat 15% less than Mary for the rest of her life. It’s horridly unfair but true.

If you want spend the rest of your life battling your weight, be sure to lose weight as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I suggest losing it as slowly as possible."

Whew. Rapid weight loss has NEVER been a problem for me. Maybe I can be grateful that my pounds melt off slowly, if at all. Maybe.

2. Then I listened to a podcast about sticking to New Year's Resolutions. The ideas that stood out to me from this podcast were:

 A. Be Specific. Rather than making a goal that says "eat more vegetables," make your goal ridiculously specific, as in "eat three servings of vegetables by 3 p.m. every day."

B. Stay Focused on Your Actions not Your Results. Aha! This one is for me. If I focus on a result of a certain weight on a scale, I feel discouraged all along the way. But if I focus on an action that isn't tied up in a result, then I stay more motivated. Like in 2002, when I did lose 22 pounds, it was because I was focused on an action (healthful eating and 5 hours of stringent exercise a week) rather than a specific outcome.

C. Make Your Goals Positive. Rather than making the goal "stop eating sugary cereals," make the goal something like, "choose cereals that have at least 5 grams of fiber and less than 5 grams of sugar." (Another of Nutrition Diva's tips.)

C. Go On Record. The Diva says, "To give your resolution a little extra staying power, share it with others. There's something about making your resolution public that makes it just a little harder to abandon."

These recent thoughts have been swimming around in my head, along with all of the information I've absorbed (but not implemented) about healthy eating over the years. Below is a simple strategy I'm going to try in order to get myself started on a healthier trajectory again, and break the bad habits that have kept me stalled for the last 2 years.

The Plan

Starting now, I will set one eating goal and one exercise goal at the first of every month in 2013. These will be small, specific, positive goals that are focused on my actions and not on an imagined result. I will focus on just these two goals throughout the month, slowly making them a part of the fabric of my life, until they become automatic and long-lasting.

I will print these goals and magnet them to my refrigerator where I can see them daily. And I will post them on my blog, so I will feel more accountable to stick to them. 

I will take a "before" picture of myself. But I probably will not be willing to post it publicly unless there's a reasonably apparent difference in my "after" picture. (Wink.)

My husband will join me.

We will continue to build on the foundation we set, and see what we're motivated to tackle from here. In other words, I will not abandon February's goal in March. Instead, I'll continue to stick to that habit while layering a new healthy habit on top.

My February Habits:

Travis's February Habits:

Do these sound too easy?

Here's the thing: I've set goals that are too lofty too many times in the last two years. And I've tried to make too many changes at once too many times. With the number of current demands on my time, I don't have the available energy to overhaul too much of my life all at once. I want to be realistic about my goals, so I can build up the will and the confidence to tackle bigger and better things.

I've been trying for 2 years, ever since baby Keira arrived, to exercise more regularly. And every time I make a goal of "5 days a week," it fails. I tell myself that I've done 5 days a week before, so I should be able to do it again. But back when I've done it before, I didn't have a toddler while maintaining a demanding work schedule.

So that's it! We're going to make 22 healthy new habits in 2013. And if we lose some weight, I'd love it. But once again, I am not going to make a number on the scale my goal.

Feel free to join us!

Note: Calendars are from the Paislee Press 2013 Calendar Kit, available here. I would have posted a picture of them magneted to my fridge, but the printer is also the scanner and, as I mentioned yesterday, it has just kicked the bucket. 

Thankful For

My baby girl and her pigtails.

My new KitchenAid mixer that made these a snap to make for Thanksgiving!

Lovely place settings at my sister-in-law's house.

Grandma Lucas's famous mashed carrot potatoes and homemade turkey gravy.

Delectable sweet potato casserole (recipe here) and stuffing.

My contributions: buttery crescent rolls and this pear-gorgonzola-bacon-candied-pecan salad that is truly "salad crack" (as tipster Melissa Kaiserman aptly called it). I could eat it all day long.

My boys and my girl.

A roomy kitchen for the Thanksgiving meal. "Roomy" is not a word I've ever been able to apply to my own kitchen.

A baby who actually ate some of the items on her plate—just before throwing the rest on the floor. :)

This candid shot of the teenager who becomes more and more reluctant to be photographed as the years go by.

Pumpkin pie.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Adventures in Co-Gardening

Having discovered the joy of vegetable gardening two years ago (which was a HUGE surprise considering how I loathed working in my parents' garden as a child and teen), I desperately wanted to plant again this year.

But with a new baby, a busy husband who wouldn't be available to help, and a small business to run, I was sure I wouldn't have the time.

Enter Lisa, my friend and neighbor. She also had a new baby and the desire to have a garden. But her biggest roadblock? No dirt. Her entire yard is finished and landscaped. So we hatched up a plot to plant, weed, and harvest together, using my dirt! We have plenty of dirt at our house. (Incidentally, why is it that the word "soil" is so much more attractive than the word "dirt"?)

Theoretically, the babies would play quietly on a blanket under the apple tree while we tended the garden just a few feet away. And it actually worked some of the time! Most of the time, one or the other of us was rolling a baby back over or retrieving a binky or toy while the other one of us yanked weeds or planted seeds. But we'd usually get a good 10 minutes in before anyone started to fuss (including ourselves). And little Emmy loved this apple tree; she was mesmerized by the rustling leaves.

Here's Keira with her little friend, Emmy, back at the start of our co-gardening adventure in June. It's amazing how much they've both changed in 3 months. These two have sprouted even faster than our garden did!

The garden back in June. We planted corn, carrots, purple carrots, green beans, snow peas, onions, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, butternut squash, and pumpkins. And my husband planted a battery-operated electric fence, which deterred Jovie from digging up all our hard work. :)

And here's our jungle of a garden now—three months later. At some point in the summer, and we can't exactly say when, we really scaled back our weeding efforts. And yet, despite our recent lack of weeding, the garden* is still thriving, and we're enjoying a bounteous harvest.
*Apart from the snow peas and spinach, that is, which never thrived in the first place.

The sunflower row is one of my favorite features! And the bees love them, too, it seems.
Behold: our Sunday-afternoon harvest from last week. Much of this was consumed for dinner that very day, apart from the mystery vegetable in the upper-right corner.

Neither of us had ever planted watermelon before, and it was scrumptious! Everything (except for the mystery vegetable) tastes better when you plant it yourself.

Now to unveil the mystery vegetable. It is, allegedly, a canteloupe. That's what we planted. But as you can see, it is NOT. And there's another one ripening on the vine.

And (drumroll please) it turns out to be... a cuceloupe!

It looks like an elongated canteloupe inside, but it smells exactly like a cucumber, with a mildly cucumber-ish flavor. Apparently, our canteloupe and cucumber plants were being a bit naughty when we weren't looking, and they cross-bred. The funny thing is, there were plenty of closer plants to get busy with (zucchini, squash, and pumpkin), but the canteloupe must have had his sights set on the attractive young plant down the street.

Honestly, this is my favorite time of year. Every night for dinner, I round up a quick main dish (usually something grilled) and then head out to the garden to find a side dish or two. Some nights this summer, we've had four or more garden veggies on our plates come dinner time. And I'm dying to try a recipe from my sister that involves fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, quinoa, bleu cheese, and a few other ingredients. If it's amazing, you'll be the first to hear about it.

Oh, how I dread the arrival of the frost!

5 Inexpensive Essentials for Your Kitchen

#1 Toast Tongs

Whenever I'm visiting someone's house and making toast there (which, you know, I do a LOT), I wonder how they can stand NOT having some Toasty Toast Tongs at the ready!

Bread comes in oh so many different sizes, so no toaster can pop every piece of bread far enough out of the toaster for you to grab with your bare hands without getting burned. Enter the tongs, which are guaranteed not to cause electrocution if you stick them into your toaster. They slide right in and out with ease, grabbing bread, bagels, crumbly English muffins, and even Pop Tarts (which can somehow reach flesh-melting temperatures in mere minutes!). And there's a magnet on the back. Since my toaster is right next to my fridge, I have a safe and handy toast-removal tool within reach at all times. I'll toast to that!

 

#2 Gryptonite All-Purpose Wonder Blob

Believe it or not, I discovered this little gem at a crafting tradeshow. This little guy does EVERYTHING, and it's kind of a cute blobby shape too. Mine clings to the tile behind my stove, so it's handy if I need to peel garlic or an onion, use it as hotpad or trivet, or use it to open a jar! Apparently it also transforms into a funnel and can be used as a mat for a glue gun or soldering iron. I'm sure it does other things, too, like clean my kitchen while I'm asleep—I haven't quite tapped into its full potential yet.

 

#3 Magical Mitt

My mother-in-law, who is also responsible for the Toasty Toast Tongs, gave me some Dexas oven mitts (mine are red) and I'll never use another pot holder again. I have a 1958 kitchen with some of the original appliances, and my stove top is frustrating, to say the least. I can actually reposition a red-hot burner (which, yes, I have to do on occasion) with one of these things on my hand, and the heat doesn't reach my fingers! (Caution: do not then wipe your brow with the oven mitt, as I did once, because you know the outside DOES get hot. It just takes a while for the heat to tranfer through to the inside, if it ever does.) I'm half convinced I could pick up molten lava with one of these things. Do you dare me?

With all these tips to avoid getting burned, one might wonder if I'm catching myself on fire left and right. Really, I'm not. Because I have all this great gear!

#4 Mini Colander

I picked up a little 6-inch colander like this one at Target (mine's light green), and I'm shocked how often I use it! It's perfect for holding one can of something, like black beans that you need to rinse, or corn or hominy that you need to drain. And it's great for rinsing tiny things, like lentils, since the holes are so small. I bet it would also make a great hat.

#5 Salad Spinner

Boy oh boy is this thing handy! It helps me thoroughly wash my lettuce (even my garden lettuce, which is often full of dirt and bugs) and spin all the dingy water right out. And salad stays fresher much longer when I store it in the basket within the bowl. (There's an interchangeable lid.) I also recommend an accompanying Lettuce Knife , which won't cause your lettuce to discolor. But don't ignore the "top-rack dishwasher safe only" warning, as I did, or the end of your lettuce knife will melt like a piece of taffy.

What about you? What are your inexpensive kitchen essentials? Tell me, because I'm in the mood for some new gadgets. :)

Why Grocery Shopping Sucks

1. You load up your cart with boxes, bags, and sundries, while hideous music plays overhead.
2. You unload everything at the checkout counter and always spend $50 more than you meant to.
3. Then if, heaven forbid, you use the self-checkout, you then have to load everything BACK into your cart yourself.
3. You then unload your cart (again) into the trunk of your car.
4. You then unload your trunk and carry everything into your kitchen.
5. And finally, you unload the individual bags into your cupboards (or pantry, for you lucky devils), only to repeat the process 7 days later.

Could anything be more inefficient?

I dream of the days when we can beam everything Star-Trek style directly into the refrigerator.

I do have a vegetable garden, which helps, but it's only useful 3 months of the year.

What are your thoughts on grocery shopping?

p.s. Is anyone clear on why the term "home farming" has caught on? What was wrong with "gardening"? Is it because gardening is something old people with funny hats do, while home farming is something young hipsters with $70 haircuts do? I was just wondering.

Halloween Scenes

Baby bug ladybug.

Spooky window decor.

Spooky window decor, in the dark.

Sweet treats and decorations.

Homegrown cinderella pumpkin (with baby in the background).

Dinner in a Pumpkin, a Lucas family tradition since 2005. (I've tried several recipes over the years, and this one is our favorite.) And we love sweet & salty pumpkin seeds, too.

Scrappy friends who come over for a mid-week potluck. (From left: Aly Dosdall and Faith, Wendy Smedley, Ali Monson holding Keira, Elisha Snow, Rachel Gainer and Shelby, Kelly Jeppson and Gabe.)

Fun party favors brought by Kelly Jeppson. (Don't you want to be the sort of person who always remembers to bring homemade treats to any gathering? That's Kelly for ya.)

One more shot of Keira bug because I simply couldn't resist.

Speaking of Halloween treats, you should know that Ella Publishing Co. is having a Halloween sale! Use code ELLAWEEN at checkout before midnight on October 31, 2010,  to receive 31 percent off of any (or all) of the following ten eBooks:

Vintage Hip Christmas Crafts

Design Workshop

Picture Perfect

Stretch Your Sketches

A Year in the Life

20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers

Special Effects for Digital Photos

40 Top Tips for Better Photos

Quick & Creative Quizzes

Text Tricks for Scrapbookers

Another Favorite Recipe: Stuffed French Toast

All I have to say about this one is, "Mmmmmmm......"

Stuffed French Toast with Fresh Blackberry Syrup

My favorite local grocery store, Harmon's, was sampling this delectable dish in the store one day and handing out recipes. It uses their artisan challah bread that's baked fresh on Fridays, but I've found that French bread works also.

(Pictured: leftover fresh blackberry syrup. I'm always too busy stuffing my face with toast to remember to take pictures of the actual dish, although I made it four times in four weeks for three different sets of company.)

Ingredients
1 loaf challah bread, cut thick (or French bread)
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pint blackberries
1 cup marscarpone cheese
6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1 lemon, zested
Butter or oil for pan

Directions

1. Take each piece of challah bread and cut a slit into each slice, creating a pocket in the bread, with three sides intact.
2. Mix together marscarpone cheese, confectioner's sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Cut off the corner of a small plastic bag and fill it with the mixture. Use this as a piping bag to fill the pocket in each slice of bread as much as possible without overflowing. (I skip the plastic bag step and just spoon it into the pockets.)
3. Whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet (or add oil, whichever you prefer) over medium heat, completely coating the pan.
4. Dip each piece of bread into the egg batter, coating both sides completely. Place the bread into the pan and cook until browned on both sides. Serve hot with the blackberries over the top.
5. Optional: If you want to make the blackberries into a sauce, then place them into a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in one cup of sugar and cook until bubbly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency (usually about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and serve over the toast.

One of My Favorite Recent Recipes

  (click image for larger view)

These pork tacos have been a big crowd pleaser!

There's one vital addition, however, and that is sliced avocado. And please do not skip squeezing fresh lime on each taco, because you will regret it. The combination of flavors is simply divine; it's light, fresh, and slightly sweet.

Substitutions:

• I only use one seeded jalapeno, because I can't handle too much heat. Also, I must be slightly allergic, because just the act of handling a raw jalapeno causes my throat to start constricting. Luckily, it doesn't last long. (The dish is wonderful, but I wouldn't risk death by asphyxiation for it.)
• I've used leaner pork roasts as well to cut down on the fat content, and they still work out great.
• When boneless pork shoulder is not available, bone-in works just fine. The meat practically melts away from the bone, and you can just pluck it out of the center of your roast and toss it (or give it to the dog).
• I also discovered that "pork shoulder" is interchangeable with "pork butt" at the butcher counter. But I'm sorry, I do NOT want to inquire after "pork butt," nor do I wish to cook it or eat it.

Thanks, RealSimple!

Green Things

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Green Thing #1

Here’s a layout I created about my recent girls’ weekend with my nieces (SO fun!). All the products are from the Quite Contrary line from My Mind’s Eye. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, this layout is wearing little bits of green. (I wouldn’t want it to get pinched!) Check out four more projects created with My Mind’s Eye’s beautiful products at The Daily Trumpet and the My Mind’s Eye blogs today.

Green Thing #2

This shall be our dinner tonight. Roasted corned beef brisket, colcannon (an Irish pototo-and-cabbage dish), and green jello with whipped cream. We also traditionally have green pancakes and green eggs for breakfast on St. Paddy’s Day! In case you’re wondering, I do have a bit of Irish blood running through my veins, but it’s equally mixed with Scottish, Welsh, and English. I am the United Kingdom, embodied. 

Note: Today, when my husband teased me once again about my “Irish temper,” I called him a “big dumb Viking,” which made both of us laugh heartily. His heritage is primarily Norwegian, and while his peoples briefly conquered my peoples in the 11th century, we’ve dominated ever since.

Green Thing #3

Have you ever wondered where the cliche “green with envy” came from? I’ve yet to see a jealous person turn green, although I have personally turned visibly green from seasickness (both while crossing the English Channel as a new college graduate and while attempting to sail out of Newport Bay, California, with my sister’s family).

I'm the one lying prone on the bow of the boat. I would have made a terrific Viking.

Anyway, according to The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers, here is the origin of the phrase "green with envy":

People who are unwell are often said to look pale or green; the “pale” is plain enough to the observer, but the “green” takes a little imagination. Someone who is deeply envious feels unwell mentally, and this is apparently why he is said to be green. “Green” is also a Scottish verb meaning “to yearn.” The notion of turning green with envy appears in Charles Read’s Hard Cash (1863): “The doctor was turning almost green with envy.”

Rogers should come sailing with me sometime if he thinks it takes imagination to detect a green pallor on a sick person’s face.

In a similar vein, the term “green-eyed monster” also refers to jealousy, but this one has its roots in Shakespeare’s Othello:
            O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
            It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock
            The meat it feeds on...

The Dictionary of Cliches explains: “The allusion is to cats and tigers and other green-eyed animals, which toy with their victims before eating them, just as a jealous lover may both love and hate his beloved if he believes a rival is gaining her affections.”

There you have it.

Go green!

~A