Friday, October 22, 2010

Where have I been and what have I been doing you may (or may not?) be asking? Well, I've been:
  • winterizing the yard
  • going to a little place I like to call...work. ew.
  • hanging out with my favorite little people
  • talking on the phone with the school counselor. ugh. She's really sweet though.
  • going on hot dates with a handsome 8 (almost 9!) year old
  • sharing a small pumpkin pie blizzard with my date
  • feeling extremely guilty about that pumpkin pie blizzard afterwards
  • experiencing an awkward ultrasound appointment with a hot ultrasound guy, complete with jazz music.
  • living a (mostly) vegan lifestyle...just for fun
  • eating mashed sweet potatoes. Oh, yum.
  • making plans for Cole's upcoming birthday. 9 already? sniff.
  • enjoying a night out with friends
  • picking on Amanda. poor girl. She deserves better.
  • cracking up at my husband's talented dance moves at the nightclub
  • trying out new recipes
  • discovering tofutti sour cream. who knew?
  • worrying about my mom
  • trying to figure out 3rd grade math. Really, I thought I was smarter than this.
  • making lists of all the crap that needs to be done around the house. paint, paint, paint!
  • taking Gracie to get her hair cut. SO cute!
  • thinking about Kelly and Brian, they're getting married next week!
  • forgetting to return a "crucial" piece of paper to school so my kids could get a tiny rubber duck. Please.
  • making smoothies for my co-workers. Cause I'm the nurturing type.
  • sewing patches galore
  • longing to get back to the gym, missing yoga and the elliptical.
  • counting down the days (16!) until my trip to Virginia to see the newlyweds. Love them so much.
That about sums it up for the past week or so! Aren't I soooooo exciting? You're jealous.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

This girl rocks!

Today, Gracie went with her Daddy and brother to Trailblazer Days at Camp Cowles on Diamond lake. Look who caught the biggest fish of the day, on a little pink Barbie fishing pole!!
I know, I know, this girl is amazing.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Creamy corn chowder

I threw this in the slow cooker this morning for us to enjoy for dinner tonight. It was fantastic!! It is vegetarian/vegan friendly and so tasty!

Creamy Corn Chowder
*taken from "125 best vegetarian slow cooker recipes" by Judith Finlayson

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 onions, finely chopped (*I used one onion, and one leek. I used the white part of the leek and sliced it thinly)
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves or poultry seasoning (*I used thyme)
1 tsp salt (*I used unrefined sea salt)
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock (*I used 4 cups)
2 large potatoes, peeled and grated
2 cans cream-style corn
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (*I used a red pepper)
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped, optional (I omitted it)
1/2 tsp ground cumin

In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, leek, celery and carrots to pan and cook, stirring, for 7 minutes, until softened. Add thyme, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Stir in potatoes.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours, until vegetables are tender. Add corn, pepper, jalapeno, if using, and cumin. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Tired

Friends, I am worn out. Pooped. Exhausted. I just came off an 8 day work stretch preparing for inventory. All went well but I am SO glad its over. Now I just have to figure out how to catch up on everything else at home!

On a completely seperate and unrelated note...I tried these tonight:
YUM. YUM. YUM. No, it doesn't taste as good as "real" ice cream, but I'm willing to sacrifice for my health. Try them!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ravioli

Tonight I made this spinach florentine ravioli for dinner for Gracie and I (Cole refuses to touch any form of pasta).

I made a marinara sauce, doctored up with garlic, onion, chunks of tomatoes, and lots of marsala and mushrooms.

It. was. fantastic. Soooo good! The ravioli is vegan, and you would never know the difference in taste. It's made with soy ricotta. I saved a few bites for Paco to try but made him some regular ravioli on the side. Turns out he preferred the rising moon ravioli over the other stuff! SWEET!

I also checked this book out from the library...

WOW. Fantastic book and I'm not even through the first chapter!!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Veganism

Last week my sister mentioned that she was going to try out a vegan lifestyle. She has been a vegetarian for several years, and even inspired me to go vegetarian myself nearly a year ago. I must admit, I feel so much better. However, I have always been skeptical about veganism...mainly because it seems so "over-the-top", and a whole heck of alot of work.

While doing some research, I came across this website, which lists 57 health benefits of going to a vegan lifestyle.  I HIGHLY recommend checking it out...what an eye opener! So, I decided to try a couple days myself and see what I thought. The first two days were so easy that I'm going for a week! I don't know that I will make a permanent switch, but could easily do it 3 days a week or so long term. To be honest, I am doing it solely for health reasons. I am also concerned about all the junk that my kids eat, and am really trying to limit the "garbage" that goes into their bodies. I've found that they like most of the healthier foods that I buy, and if I can get them headed in the right direction now, then healthy eating will be a habit for them later in life!!

 This list has been extremely helpful....I always thought it would be so hard to find things to eat that were dairy and "animal free". Here are few things I've tried over the past few days:

Good stuff....certainly doesn't taste as good as butter but a whole heck of a lot better for your heart!
I liked the wholesoy & co yogurt. My friend Amanda tried a bite of it and hated it. It does leave a bit of "beany" aftertaste, but that didn't really bother me. Last night I used the vanilla in a smoothie and couldn't tell a difference from regular yogurt...neither of my kids noticed either!
I was surprised by the Vegenaise. I had a veggie sandwich for dinner last night and used a bit of this in lieu of miracle whip light that I ususally use. Tasted great! I could easily slip this by my husband and kids without them noticing.
The Yves veggie dogs are pretty good....as long as you have them with ketchup, mustard and relish! I don't care for the taste of them plain...but I wouldn't usually eat a plain hot dog anyway.
So far, so good! I went to Huckleberry's last night and found alot of really yummy looking new stuff to try out.....I'll keep you posted on how it goes!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Love these bags!

A few years ago, I was invited to a Miche purse party, but wasn't able to attend. Now I see what all the fuss is about!! Oh how I LOVE them!! You get one bag, and choose from tons of extra "shells" (covers) that magnetically attach on to change the look of your bag in seconds! I HAD to have a party and look at the damage I've already done....(all pictures from the Miche website).

My smaller shells:



and my big bags....oh I LOVE these big bags!!!


and they even have MINI Miche's....so I could get Gracie a purse to match mine and we could be super-Matchy. And then I could borrow it from her. Ha! What a great idea....I'm SO glad I met my friend Becky who sells these. Of course I'm glad I met her anyway, but the fact that she sells sweet purses is simply a bonus!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Ropes course and ziplining

WOW!! Before I lost all this weight I never would have had the courage to climb up into the trees for a ropes course and ziplining. IT ROCKED!!

The rope ladder....the only way up to the ropes course. Tougher than it looks!
Harnessing up. Super comfy. NOT. Also a little awkward! HA!
Up, up, up I go!
They call this the "leap of faith". Took me a few minutes to work up the courage to jump, but I made it!
This was the toughest part of the whole course. My legs were shaking SO bad that I couldn't keep my balance.
                                                                             rope bridge
making my way to the zipline platform. We all took a few minutes to make this jump. There's something horrifying about jumping off a platform this high in the air! It was AMAZING FUN!
WHEEEEEE!!!!!
I DID IT!
Ziplining...check!! What's my next adventure?
 

Women's retreat

Okay, so the women's retreat was actually a couple weeks ago, but I'm a bit behind on life in general. It was a wonderful, relaxing girls' weekend that we plan on making a tradition. Lots of visiting, coffee, food, knitting, kayaking, archery, an evening of bunco, and....my favorite....a ropes course and ziplining!

This became our fav place to sit and relax...
Home sweet home...Silver Spur cabin in the Corral unit...it was especially great due to the brand new fancy bathrooms!
My bed. Seriously.
Okay, a little better after my housewarming. I actually slept fantastic on this bed!
This area is exactly like I remember it as a girl...
Good ole' Camp Sweyolakan
Amanda, Louisa and I.
I don't remember a coffee bar being here when I was little? SWEET.
Jenni kicking back
Louisa soaking up the rays
Time for our archery lesson
Well done, girls!
Kayaking!
My view of camp
We did ALOT of hiking! Just getting from our cabin to the lodge was a major hike. Great for the muscles though!
Ahhh...the bluebird camp brings back wonderful memories. This was where I stayed when I was little!

Happy campers!
Modeling the hat Amanda is knitting for me. Looks like it's gonna need to be just a bit longer!
hitching a free ride from Louisa. Seriously, I DID offer to row!
The meals were amazing! This was our farewell lunch.
Can't wait for next year!!!