Saturday. Srsly.

I feel like I am getting back onto the healthy lifestyle bandwagon, not that I ever totally got off, but I may have taken a small detour....

I'm finding with working out, it's all about the old "use it or lose it" motto. After a break around the holiday season, I am back into it full force and it just feels so good. Seriously. Or rather....

Makes me laugh! Every. single. time.

It feels good to get my heart rate up, my muscles are feeling more toned, and my clothes feel better. I know that it goes hand-in-hand with eating healthier. I hate it when those people are right.

This will be a short post, because I have a short window of opportunity to get out to the lake and get four miles in this morning. It's supposed to be warm this afternoon (around 50), but the wind is supposed to be 20-25 mph out of the northwest, preceding a cold front that will only let us get up to the mid 20's tomorrow.

So to keep me accountable - or "showing up", here are a few meals since earlier this week:

Breakfasts (and I apologize - I love breakfast, but I don't change it up too much):

Oatmeal with coconut-almond milk, PB, brown sugar. And coffee

PB toast, grapefruit sections, diet cranberry juice. And coffee

Oats in a jar - the PB in an almost-empty jar gets all melty and delicious. And I'm sure there was coffee on the side.

PB bagel thin, grapefruit sections. And coffee.

An impulse buy from the freezer section at SuperTarget

Surprisingly good. While I wouldn't want it every day, it was a nice change. With grapefruit sections. And coffee.

Lunches:

Green monster with frozen banana, coconut-almond milk, protein powder, greek yogurt, and spinach

Leftover edamame salad with fake crab for added protein. And Coke Zero.

Tuna, hard-boiled egg, capers, mayo on toast. And an apple.

Snacks:

Portion-controlled snacks are so helpful for me!

Dinners:

Edamame salad (edamame, sliced radishes, olive oil, rice vinegar, and cilantro), toast (with REAL BUTTER!), and a mushroom omelet

White chili, apple slices, and some Trader Joes's flax seed vegetable tortilla chips

Leftover white chili, roasted veggies, and milk.

So darn dull. Sometimes I bore even myself.

It's off to Zorinsky!

An avid slow jogger

Dwight gets all kinds of magazines at work, and he used to bring them home. I had to tell him to stop, because every physical ailment that was the illness of the month? I had all the symptoms. But he still brings the Web M.D. magazine home. There was an article on Mindy Kaling in the last issue, in which she describes herself as "an avid slow jogger". That is SO me. Or sometimes I am an "avid fast walker". You get the general idea of my pace.

After the half-marathon in October (did you know I finished one?!), I was totally planning on working on increasing my speed, strengthening my core, and continuing my healthy eating plan. I think I forgot all of the above.

With the nice weather lately, though, I've been fast walking / slow jogging outside. It's been great to follow my old paths through the 'hood, except that my favorite 4-mile loop still has ice on it. Thank you, City of Omaha. I did have some nice days outside last week, and then the combination of a chafing issue (forgot the Body Glide) and colder temperatures made it way nicer to stay wrapped in my fluffy bathrobe instead of working out. But this morning I was back on the treadmill. It's supposed to warm up this week - outdoors, here I come.

I had a pretty productive weekend, in that I accomplished one major thing. I've been meaning to paint Alex's old room for a few weeks, and finally did it. And I must be getting better - I only got paint on the ceiling once (previously my specialty), and when I removed the tape, most of the paint on the baseboards was from the last time I had painted that room. Small victories. That room is actually MY room now - it has a couch, a desk, and a bookcase. I painted it a nice warm mocha - it is so calm in there. It really helps that I got rid of all the crap that had accumulated. The bookcases in the girls' old rooms are next!

My genes must be calling on the millenia-old memory of my northern European heritage and storing fat for the winter. I have been so hungry lately - it it's not nailed down, it's fair game. I stepped on the scale this morning with my eyes closed, opened one v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, and I haven't gained an ounce. Go figure. I must be burning calories by shivering. But lest I get too smug, there is a mother-of-the-bride dress hanging in my closet that already necessitates at least one pair of Spanx. Gotta be careful.

I must be on a smoothie kick. Here are some breakfasts:

Abs Diet banana split smoothie

I have to show you the Before picture so you can see how much spinach is in my green monster

And you can't even taste it! Also in the mix: a banana, half a cup of  Greek yogurt, a cup of almond-coconut milk, and a tablespoon of peanut butter

I found little cups of grapefruit sections at Sam's. I have loved grapefruit forever, but it is not very user-friendly.

This breakfast cookie was in my swag bag from the marathon. Pretty yummy. And filling.

While I know I eat lunch every day, I just haven't taken any pictures. Lunch is seriously my least favorite meal of the day. As a matter of fact, when Erin and I are playing Draw Something and her word is lunch, she just writes "least favorite meal of the day".

But I've had some good dinners. Aly sent me a link to a recipe that she and Alex made and loved, Mediterranean Cauliflower. She said it would find its way into our weekly rotation, and she is right. It is SO GOOD. (I added extra capers). Go get the ingredients and make it this week - let me know how you like it. It is seriously beyond delicious. I served it with South Beach Diet balsamic chicken, and what we call summer salad - baby cucumbers, grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Amy and Dennis gave us some different flavored oils and vinegars for Christmas - this salad was fabulous with basil olive oil.

The cauliflower was so good that we had it the next night with fish tacos. I heated up some black beans and mixed them with a few spoonfuls of Trader Joe's corn salsa.

And then tonight I made some South Beach Diet gingered chicken, which was only just okay. I gave half of mine to Dwight (give it to Dwight, he'll eat anything). Yes, that is Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice, and yes, I realize the irony of serving rice with a South Beach meal. What can I say? I love carbs. The salad was fairly delicious - mixed greens with sliced pears, kiwi, and baby tomatoes, and TJ's pear vinaigrette salad dressing.

Why yes, that is on a tray. Because we eat dinner in front of the TV. We're those people.

Now it's time for a bubble bath and some Sleepy Time tea...

The North Dakota waddle

You know what it is. You encounter a slippery patch of snow or ice, your arms go out at waist height to try to balance, you tighten your buns and your quads, and you take little teeny Chinese-lady-with-bound-feet steps. Kind of like a Wallenda, only far less graceful. And you fall more. (Note: I am totally qualified to talk about this, because except for a brief 19 months in northeast Ohio, I have spent all my life in North or South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska. We coined the phrase when in college at UND.)

So even though the last few days have been really nice, and I've been running walking outside, the patches of ice and snow at the end of driveways and street corners definitely affect my pace. But it is so nice to be outside! I did two miles yesterday and three today. The next two days are supposed to be warm (40's), and then it's supposed to RAIN on Thursday. That should take care of any pesky remaining ice.

I tried a new recipe last night, Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto from Iowa Girl Eats. It was pretty fabulous. And look how pretty it looks paired with a nice salad. The recipe serves two, and it was seriously filling.

A few lunches:

Rotisserie chicken sandwich, seaweed salad, and chocolate milk

More rotisserie chicken on a salad topped with Trader Joe's cilantro dressing. And check out my reading material!

Breakfast this morning was a sweet breakfast scramble from Carrots-n-Cake. I've made it before, and since I had a can of pumpkin sitting in my pantry just asking to be used, I made it again. Because of the egg and two egg whites in there, the protein kept me full all  morning.

Dwight has a meeting tonight, and I was planning on roasting some Brussels sprouts for dinner, but I was just so hungry after working out that I made this: Campbells crab and corn chowder, a grilled cheese, and carrots. It's a good thing I don't live alone, or more of my dinners would look like this.

Emily and I were talking yesterday, and while in our heads we thought that Erin and Tim's wedding was eight months off (August is the eighth month, right?), it's ONLY SEVEN!!! While there is still plenty of time, today has been Wedding Day for me - reserving chairs for the lakeside service (oh yeah - I went and sat in all of them), calling limo companies, and working on the guest list and budget. I know everyone out there who has thrown a wedding is going "Budget?! HAHAHA!!!" 

Time for a glass of wine and the BCS championship game. Tomorrow it's work and then the Creighton game with Debbie and Steve, preceded with dinner at Flemings, where they have 5 for 6 till 7: 5 appetizers, 5 cocktails, 5 entrees, each for $6, till 7:00. I can already hear the Kobe burger calling my name...

TTFN!

Showing up - kind of

I named this blog after Woody Allen's comment about how 80% of life is just showing up. While ideally I would like to post every day, my life just isn't exciting enough for that to happen. Realistically, I'd like to post four times a week; it looks like I'm falling short this week by only posting three times.

While not too exciting, here's what's been going on:  I am back on the workout wagon, and I have to say that it feels great. I told Dwight that when I complain about it, he needs to remind me how good I feel when I'm done. I got some endorphins on Friday; it's been awhile since I've felt that rush. I LOVE ENDORPHINS! I've been alternating running / walking with the stationary bike for cardio, and I am following the Abs Diet weight training regimen on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have found muscles that I forgot I had, but it feels really good. And the good news? It's going to be warm enough today that the sidewalks should just be wet instead of icy, so I can go outside for a run this afternoon! I tried it earlier this week, but there was too much shuffling across frozen driveways that it was just counter-productive. Dwight gave me an actual Garmin watch for Christmas, so now I can feel official.

[A bit of a bummer on the fitness front: I was psyched to register for the Lincoln Half. Registration opened on 12/21, and while I know it's limited to the first 10,000 runners, Emily had signed up a few weeks after registration opened last year with no problem. It was nuts here around Christmas, so when I finally sat down to register on 12/27 - you guessed it. Sold out. Sad face emoticon right here. Emily has been searching for other races, and the most promising is in Kenosha, Wisconsin on 5/4. The only drawback to that - other than the long drive, but we can stay with Jeanie and Tom (right, Jeanie?!?!?) - is that the race is on a Saturday, so that would necessitate Friday travel. The good part is that we wouldn't have to leave right after the race; we could recover for the afternoon and evening and drive home on Sunday. It's still a maybe, but I want to get a spring race scheduled to force me to get the long runs in. It's just too easy to slack off otherwise. Aly and Alex told me that would be the case, and I didn't know just how right they are.]

Onto the food front:

Friday nights are date nights for us, and by date nights, I mean I don't cook. It stems back to when the kids were little and in gymnastics class on Friday afternoons at 4:30 - we always had a family dinner out on Friday night, alternating who got to choose what restaurant. I really think that's how the kids developed such eclectic palates. It could be Thai, Indian, Chinese, Italian, or just plain good old comfort food. But I digress. This past Friday we decided to try a new-to-us restaurant, Amsterdam Falafel in the Dundee neighborhood. For those of you in Omaha, it's on 50th just south of Underwood. But don't blink or you'll miss it. There was seating for maybe 15 inside, although it does a brisk takeout business.

This was the menu:

I chose the falafel sandwich, and Dwight chose the kabob sandwich. While both were pretty yummy, I'd order the kabob next time - only I'd have the salad. The bread was a huge bun with all the insides scooped out so it was just a shell. We got a choice of sauces - I chose herb, while Dwight chose garlic and spicy. And those curry fries? For someone who's never met a french fry she didn't like, these were pretty close to heaven.

Dwight's kabob sandwich

My falafel sandwich

I made a Costco trip on Friday and just had to buy berries. I've been missing them, as they were a staple of my summer breakfasts. While I love apples, oranges, and pears, I just wanted berries. The blackberries didn't disappoint, but you can tell the blueberries were out of season. I ended up freezing most of them and will throw them in smoothies.

You know who likes Costco runs? That's right. Pete hid in the box and scared Ernie every time he walked by. (What?! A cat in a box?!) For 13-year-old cats, they can still play like kitties.

Looking innocent. Don't let him fool you.

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar. And coffee. Pure comfort food from my childhood.

PB bagel thin, fruit, cranberry juice, and coffee

2-egg scramble with leftover chopped asparagus and corn relish, fruit, and coffee

Lunches:

PBJ, carrots, and Special K crackers

Rotisserie chicken, seaweed salad, and some multigrain chips from Trader Joe's. And a Coke Zero.

Blackened chicken Caesar salad

Snacks:

These were an impulse buy at Trader Joe's. I was in the checkout line, it was 1:30, and I hadn't had lunch yet.

Leftover sweet potato wedges with 1 T PB

And dinner:

I took some of these...

...added to this (Christmas present from my sister-in-law)...

...and ended up with dinner

We had friends over for dinner last night but I didn't get a picture. I made an old stand-by that we had many times when the kids were growing up, mostly because it was easy and I could make it ahead of time and just bake. It was from my sister Jeanie's old parish cookbook, so you know it's good: place 4 chicken breasts in an oblong baking dish, top with sliced swiss cheese, mix 1/4 cup white wine with a can of cream of chicken soup and pour over the chicken and cheese, and top with 2 cups of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix. And then drizzle 1/4 cup butter over all and bake at 325 for an hour. Your tummy will be happy.

I served it with Cooking Light's balsamic browned butter asparagus: roast (thick) asparagus spears at 400-425 till done (about 12 minutes). In the meantime, melt 2 T butter, and cook three minutes until browned. Immediately add 2 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, pour over asparagus, and toss to combine.

Add a salad with pear and kiwi slices, pomegranate seeds, and Trader Joe's champagne pear vinaigrette, and you have a pretty good dinner. And dessert...oh yes...I had made a trip to Jones Bros. Cupcakes - we had cupcakes and macarons. So much for healthy eating. But if the healthy Cathy shows up 80% of the time, I'm not going to beat myself up.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

While not the healthiest, these girlfriend recipes are delicious

You know the kinds - the ones that you find in your grandma's church cookbook. The first is actually an appetizer recipe that my friend Polly brought to two separate gatherings this past fall / winter. Each time, I thought how good it would be over lettuce or pasta. I made it for New Year's Eve and served it on thinly sliced baguettes as the recipe called for, but it was lunch over lettuce yesterday.

Yesterday's lunch

I thought that it would be really healthy, what with it mostly being shrimp, but once I calculated the nutritional data (which may or may not be accurate!), I came up with 418 calories, 32 fat grams, 7 grams of carb, and 28 grams of protein. This is for a one-cup serving, or one-fourth of the recipe.

Here's how to make Polly's shrimp:

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp, cooked and very roughly chopped

1 lemon thinly sliced, peeled and chopped

1 medium red onion or one bunch green onions, chopped

1 cup pitted black olives (I used about a can and a half - the small ones - of sliced black olives)

2 T chopped pimientos

1/2 cup olive oil

2 minced garlic cloves

2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 T red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp cayenne

about 1/2 cup fresh parsley or 1/4 cup dried

1/4 cup capers

Mix the olive oil, garlic, dry mustard, salt, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, basil, and cayenne in a small bowl. Combine all the other ingredients and pour the dressing over. Mix well to combine. Refrigerate. Serve over thin baguette slices as an appetizer. (And it's delicious served over lettuce as a salad).

Do you see where the calories come from? That one-half cup olive oil is a killer. I think it could be lightened up by using a light lemon vinaigrette; maybe next time.

Another delicious recipe is Santa Fe Soup from Jeanette. It is embarrassingly easy to make, and is one of the best soups I have ever eaten. And again, I thought it was healthy since it is mainly beans and veggies. Oh, and a block of Velveeta.

Dinner last night, served with some roasted veggies / sweet potatoes

Jeanette's Santa Fe Soup

1 lb hamburger, browned and drained

1 can sweet corn with liquid

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 16 oz. jar medium salsa

1 1/2 lb Mexican style Velveeta

1 14-oz can chopped or diced tomatoes

2 11.5 oz cans of V8

Mix and simmer. (See - I said it was easy!)

It makes a ton - about 10 cups. I figured for a one-cup serving, there are 390 calories, 15 fat grams, 43 grams of carb, and 27 grams of protein.

Breakfast this morning was an old familiar: Mary Lu's protein waffles. You should really make them if you haven't:  3 egg whites, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 tsp almond extract. Whir it all in your Magic Bullet for a minute and either pour it into your waffle maker or make some pancakes. Mary Lu said that if you make pancakes, add about 1/8 tsp baking powder (or maybe it was baking soda?) to make them fluffy.

We had such a nice lazy New Year's Day. I got a good workout in - treadmill and weights. Have I mentioned how much I hate the treadmill? At least I got to watch the Rose Parade. We watched the Nebraska game (no joy in Mudville), I took a little nap, and then read some more of The Night Circus. And to top off a totally relaxing day, there was a new episode of Parenthood, one of the best dramas on TV. (Although I have to admit that I am hooked on Nashville - a nice guilty pleasure).

I woke up early today to exercise - stationary bike this time. I am watching all the Sex and the City episodes on my iPad while on the bike; for some reason I can't watch on my iPad on the treadmill. (Probably watching the timer too closely!) Then it was Inventory Day at the shop, where we have to count every single item by hand. There were so many people that it only took about four hours. Jane entices everyone with promises of free pizza and pop - and it works! Lunch was a piece of veggie and a piece of sausage / pepperoni pizza. I'm not sure my ten miles on the bike offset much of that, but dinner is going to be grilled salmon Caesar salads, so I have a little wiggle room!

TTFN

Another year

I love the feeling of fresh starts and do-overs that comes with throwing away the old calendar and opening the page to a brand new January. Although I have to say, 2012 was a pretty wonderful year. I trained for and completed my first half marathon, Alex and Aly got married, Erin and Tim got engaged, and Tony moved from LA to Des Moines to be with Emily. Right now, at this point in time, all of our children are at such good points in their personal lives and careers, and that puts my heart at ease. You know that old saying, "You're only as happy as your saddest child"? SO TRUE. Any parent out there will agree. And I continue to marvel at the fact that my husband of over 31 years - and best friend of almost 36 - is still the person I most want to be with in the whole world. And more remarkable - he wants to be with me!

We celebrated New Year's Eve as we do every year, with our next-door-neighbors. We should have been taking pictures to see the changes over the years - weight, hair styles, hair colors, fashions. But the one constant? Best neighbors and friends ever!!! As Amy said, we're the family we chose. The night began with Dennis's new beer find:

Because we're that mature

After dinner, we had games and movies planned, but we ended up sitting in the front room (which Amy designed for us - stay tuned for a future post on that subject) and just talking. The topics were all over the board, but the highlight came when, during a discussion of whether we wanted to be buried or cremated (cremated) - I warned you we talked about everything - Dwight made the comment about the cottage industry that will take your ashes and turn them into a diamond. Amy was all over that!!!! Shiny things! Instead of proposing with Grandma's diamond, you could propose with Grandma! It was way funnier last night, but that could have been the booze. As intriguing as Dennis's IPA was, I was drinking pomegranate martinis (vodka, triple sec, and pomegranate juice). But just to be on the safe side, I took Advil before bed so I feel not too awful this morning. Although a nap is definitely in my future.

We went and saw Les Miz on Sunday. I think the studio assumed everyone had some familiarity with the story because nothing was explained. Neither Dwight nor I had ever seen the play and really didn't know anything about the story. I like to think we're pretty smart people, but we were just confused. So many questions! *spoiler alert* Why was Fantine fired? Why did Russell Crowe commit suicide? Why did Hugh Jackman die? Seriously, I went to Wikipedia when we got home to read the synopsis of the book - and thank you Wikipedia, I now know the answers to those questions. So here's my review of the movie: Lots of songs you don't know, Susan Boyle's song, more singing you don't know, then everybody dies.

I just finished reading We Band of Angels, a non-fiction book about the Army and Navy nurses trapped on Bataan and Corregidor and imprisoned by the Japanese. It was recommended after I mentioned that I had read The Pacific, and found it fascinating as I knew very little about the Pacific theater during WWII. It gave me a new appreciation for women in the military. After reading about the starvation diet that was imposed on them in POW camp, it was difficult to open my pantry and fridge and see all the food. (And then I ate another Christmas cookie).

After that book, I needed something lighter, so yesterday I started The Night Circus. (Thank you, Aly!) I'm just a few chapters in, but I can't wait to continue - stay tuned for my review.

Okay, I've been writing this blog for a year now, and one of my resolutions is to be better at posting, as I was in the first part of last year. I started it to keep me accountable for the choices I made so I could be cute at the wedding last August. And that's why I'm continuing it - to be cute at the wedding this coming August. Our children are helping to keep me on the health and fitness bandwagon! But seriously, when I photograph everything I eat, it forces me to be honest with myself. So get ready for lots of pictures like this:

Today's breakfast: PB bagel thin, 2 clementines, skim milk, coffee

And now, it's time to hit the treadmill. Happy New Year to all!

Hello old friends. Where have you been? In my closet all this time?