Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Frozen Fruit Treats with Protein and Omega 3's
This is a little treat I've been whipping up as a desert while we are juicing and I like it so much I'm even whipping it up on non-juicing days if I'm in the mood for a sweet treat.
I have a small 32 ounce blender and this will usually blend to exactly that amount for my hubby and I to share.
My basic recipe:
I have a small 32 ounce blender and this will usually blend to exactly that amount for my hubby and I to share.
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| Strawberry Banana |
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| Red Grape, Pineapple, Mango, Peach in a Scotch Glass |
Thursday, January 26, 2012
My Career in Powerpoint
I've been going through a series of interviews for a Senior Operations position here in Richmond and my next interview I must:
"prepare a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation on your education, certification, a work-history overview, major accomplishments and recognition received at each job, and a summary of your strengths and professional developmental needs"My neighbor has the same type of awesome humor I have and knowing I was working dutifully on this project tonight for my interview first thing tomorrow morning, he took the liberty of doing the presentation for me. It made me laugh so hard, I had to share:
Can you say..."Hero"?
Mr. Roger's is a Hero
I came across this article while randomly following links one day and felt compelled to share it. I don't think an article about Mr.Rogers could have been written better or provided a more heart warming look at the man I spent my mornings with as a child.
It is a long, but worthwhile heart-warming read
Here is the article:
By TOM JUNOD
I came across this article while randomly following links one day and felt compelled to share it. I don't think an article about Mr.Rogers could have been written better or provided a more heart warming look at the man I spent my mornings with as a child.
It is a long, but worthwhile heart-warming read
Here is the article:
Nov 1, 1998
ONCE UPON A TIME, a little boy loved a stuffed animal whose name was Old Rabbit. It was so old, in fact, that it was really an unstuffed animal; so old that even back then, with the little boy's brain still nice and fresh, he had no memory of it as "Young Rabbit," or even "Rabbit"; so old that Old Rabbit was barely' a rabbit at all but rather a greasy hunk of skin without eyes and ears, with a single red stitch where its tongue used to be. The little boy didn't know why he loved Old Rabbit he just did, and the night he threw it out the car window was the night he learned how to pray. He would grow up to become a great prayer, this little boy, but only intermittently, only fitfully, praying only when fear and desperation drove him to it, and the night he threw Old Rabbit into the darkness was the night that set the pattern, the night that taught him how. He prayed for Old Rabbit's safe return, and when, hours later, his mother and father came home with the filthy, precious strip of rabbity roadkill, he learned not only that prayers are sometimes answered but also the kind of severe effort they entail, the kind of endless frantic summoning. And so when he threw Old Rabbit out the car window the next time, it was gone for good.
ONCE UPON A TIME, a little boy loved a stuffed animal whose name was Old Rabbit. It was so old, in fact, that it was really an unstuffed animal; so old that even back then, with the little boy's brain still nice and fresh, he had no memory of it as "Young Rabbit," or even "Rabbit"; so old that Old Rabbit was barely' a rabbit at all but rather a greasy hunk of skin without eyes and ears, with a single red stitch where its tongue used to be. The little boy didn't know why he loved Old Rabbit he just did, and the night he threw it out the car window was the night he learned how to pray. He would grow up to become a great prayer, this little boy, but only intermittently, only fitfully, praying only when fear and desperation drove him to it, and the night he threw Old Rabbit into the darkness was the night that set the pattern, the night that taught him how. He prayed for Old Rabbit's safe return, and when, hours later, his mother and father came home with the filthy, precious strip of rabbity roadkill, he learned not only that prayers are sometimes answered but also the kind of severe effort they entail, the kind of endless frantic summoning. And so when he threw Old Rabbit out the car window the next time, it was gone for good.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I Got Into A Fight Today
I rear-ended a car
this morning.
So there we are
alongside the road and slowly the driver gets out of the car. . .
As it turns
out, he was a DWARF!
He storms over to my
car, looks up at me and says, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!'
So, I look down at
him and say, 'Well, then which one are you?'
. . . and that's when the fight started . .
Monday, January 23, 2012
Deck the Walls
Jerry and I were sitting around talking about what we should do about our blank walls and it occurred to us that we actually have some very nice pictures we have taken over the years. They are very far from professional and were just taken with my Canon PowerShot and even my iPhone, but they are something we will enjoy looking at.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
I'm Selfish and Insecure (I know. Shocking!)
“I'm selfish,
impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at
times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as
hell don't deserve me at my best.”
I love this quote by Marilyn! I think it sums up how a lot of people feel.
For me, Jerry is the only person who deserves me at my best! He has had to deal with quite a bit in our first decade of marriage.
Our Weekend Munch Fest
I won 2 turkeys in a contest on FB last month so we popped one in the oven today! It smells heavenly. Just waiting for it to cool so we can carve that sucker up. Now, a 16 pound turkey is a bit much for the 2 of us so we will be eating turkey for awhile, even with freezing.
We are still juicing Mon-Fri, but we are eating solid food on the weekends. Our solid food consists of one "date night" out and one home cooked meal (turkey in this case or boneless, skinless chicken breast) with a spinach salad or steamed broccoli. We're not going crazy on the weekends because we don't want to undo all the hard work from the week.
We are still juicing Mon-Fri, but we are eating solid food on the weekends. Our solid food consists of one "date night" out and one home cooked meal (turkey in this case or boneless, skinless chicken breast) with a spinach salad or steamed broccoli. We're not going crazy on the weekends because we don't want to undo all the hard work from the week.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
ahhh, 2012, I've Been Expecting You...
Well here we are a few weeks into the new year and things are looking pretty darn good!
We finally made the move to Virginia in step 1 of our plan to totally shake up our lives and pretty much start all over again. Some may view this as a bad thing, but it has been awesome!
Driving in Richmond is completely different than driving in San Antonio. It took Jerry a couple of months to adjust to seeing trees instead of billboards along the highways. On more than one occasion he thought we had gone to far and were in the boondocks only to be surprised to find a mall hidden right behind the trees. Now that the leaves have fallen, we can really see behind the wooded areas that were lush when we moved here and it is surprising to see how much is there.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Today is my 7th Birthday (or Chemo-versary)... Happy Chemo Birthday to Me!!
Today marks 7 years of being cancer free and 5 years of being "Liver healthy".
Looking back on my battle with Advanced Hodgkin's Lymphoma, it almost seems like it didn't really happen. Of course I will always bear the physical reminders in the form of the many scars on my body, but other long term effects do make themselves known in my day to day life.
Quick update on juicing (without a juicer)...
Jerry has averaged a loss of .8 pounds per day
I have averaged .4 pounds a day
If we added exercise I imagine those numbers would double.
Jerry does not log everything he consumes, but I do. So my daily consumption is approx 1000-1200 calories.
I make sure my highest calories blended drink is breakfast and that it is at least 300 calories and I sip it for 1-2 hours (24 ounce cup with wide straw). Then I break out my lunch juice.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Just a Boy & his Trains
The horrified mother went in & told her son, "We don't use that kind of language in this house. Now I want you to go to your room & stay there for TWO HOURS. When you come out, you may play with your train, but I want you to use nice language."
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Jerry is my Otter
Of course this picture is totally adorable!
This picture also reminds me of Jerry because even after almost 15 years together, at night when I'm falling asleep, my hand is usually holding or at least touching his.
This picture also reminds me of Jerry because even after almost 15 years together, at night when I'm falling asleep, my hand is usually holding or at least touching his.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Frozen Juice - Mixing It Up!!
This particular blend is frozen pineapple, mango, strawberries and grapes with blueberry flavored kefir and acai/pomegranate coconut water.
My favorite is strawberry/banana.
Changed Juicers...
Since aren't using a juicer this cycle of the juice fast just to compare the differences between a fast with a juicer and one without, it seemed a good time to change juicers.
We initially bought the Big Boss Juicer. The juicer worked fairly well, but what I didn't like about it was that the way the spout was designed, when the juice fell into the glass it would splatter sometimes. That was a minor thing, but what caused even more mess was when juicing harder veggies like carrots, the machine would often shake. When the juicer shook the seams around the blade came loose and pulp and juice would splatter through them getting tiny bits of pulp and juice all over the counter and anything withing shooting range. The juice also came out very foamy.
We initially bought the Big Boss Juicer. The juicer worked fairly well, but what I didn't like about it was that the way the spout was designed, when the juice fell into the glass it would splatter sometimes. That was a minor thing, but what caused even more mess was when juicing harder veggies like carrots, the machine would often shake. When the juicer shook the seams around the blade came loose and pulp and juice would splatter through them getting tiny bits of pulp and juice all over the counter and anything withing shooting range. The juice also came out very foamy.
Dougs Word Clocks
This guy has the most amazing clocks. You have to take a minute to look at his site Dougs Word Clocks
He takes orders and he has put together a kit that you can order to assemble your own if are technically inclined. He is also on Facebook and Maintains a blog.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Juice Fast - Cycle 2 - No juicer this time
Monday we are starting our 2nd Cycle of the juice fast. The first cycle we relied on the juicer, this cycle we are not going to use the juicer and instead rely on 100% prepared juices (Low Sodium V8, V8 Fusion, NOT V8 SPLASH!!) and a basic green juice prepared in the blender. Preparation time, cleanup time and cost will be reduced. Sam's case of V8 is only 50 cents a can for the 12oz cans.
For the basic green juice we will be using Spinach, Celery, Cucumber, Lemon and Lime. We will also be using the blender for Red Cabbage, Bananas, Apples, Strawberries and Pears. To help make the juice more liquid we will be using coconut water, kefir or V8 mixed with the greens in the blender depending on taste desired.
Utilizing the blender will make the juice have more texture depending on your blender settings and length of time run. Having the additional texture will be helpful to me in the morning and evening when I'm taking my medicine. Sometimes taking my pills with nothing in my stomach causes queasiness. Additionally, the thought is that having the extra fiber from the pulp will add to the feeling of fullness.
We are probably doing this in reverse. If I had thought about it before, it would likely be more logical to have started the fast with the thicker blender juices and worked to the thinner juices, but, hindsight is 20/20.
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| 24oz Tervis Insulated Tumbler |
Utilizing the blender will make the juice have more texture depending on your blender settings and length of time run. Having the additional texture will be helpful to me in the morning and evening when I'm taking my medicine. Sometimes taking my pills with nothing in my stomach causes queasiness. Additionally, the thought is that having the extra fiber from the pulp will add to the feeling of fullness.
We are probably doing this in reverse. If I had thought about it before, it would likely be more logical to have started the fast with the thicker blender juices and worked to the thinner juices, but, hindsight is 20/20.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cycle 1 of Juice Fast Completed (10 days)
Well we finished the first 10 days cycle of the juice fast. Now we are taking a 3 day break and will resume on Monday with another 10 days (Cycle 2).
Jerry ended up losing 11 pounds and I lost about half that. We did not exercise except for our weekend walks around the lake with the dogs,
My results should have been better, but I had too many smoothies made with high sugar fruits and not enough veggies. I ended up with my sugar too high and my sodium levels too low. Most people do not have to worry about their sodium levels, but I take an anti-convulsive that causes sodium levels to plummet, so I have to make sure I get enough sodium. I ended up having a little dizzy spell and took to eating crackers at night.
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| It took all of this to make 1 glass of juice |
My results should have been better, but I had too many smoothies made with high sugar fruits and not enough veggies. I ended up with my sugar too high and my sodium levels too low. Most people do not have to worry about their sodium levels, but I take an anti-convulsive that causes sodium levels to plummet, so I have to make sure I get enough sodium. I ended up having a little dizzy spell and took to eating crackers at night.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Juice Fast - Week 1 - Tips and Shopping List for First Timers
At the end of Week 1 of our Juice Fast, here is where we are:
Husband - down 8.5 pounds
Me - down 5.5 pounds (I had some cheese & crackers)
Going into this we really thought it would be harder than it turned out to be. Our first trip to the store for produce we kind of "winged" it and ended up with more than we needed which was a little overwhelming trying to fit everything into the fridge and cleaning.
I would highly recommend having a better strategy than we did on the first shopping trip. At the bottom of this post I have a shopping list that I think would be a good "first timers shopping list". After a few days, you will have a better idea of what you like and don't like to tweak your list.
Husband - down 8.5 pounds
Me - down 5.5 pounds (I had some cheese & crackers)
Going into this we really thought it would be harder than it turned out to be. Our first trip to the store for produce we kind of "winged" it and ended up with more than we needed which was a little overwhelming trying to fit everything into the fridge and cleaning.
I would highly recommend having a better strategy than we did on the first shopping trip. At the bottom of this post I have a shopping list that I think would be a good "first timers shopping list". After a few days, you will have a better idea of what you like and don't like to tweak your list.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The 100 Workout - No Equipment Needed
