Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama (and I found it through my dear friend at Just Thinking. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

After being so dedicated to meal planning, I definitely did *not* whine about it every night. I certainly do *not* feel trapped by routine. Mark and our budget have definitely improved with this new plan of action, and I would *never* consider just throwing that out the window. I'm *not* a crazy lady.

Dr. Williams is back today from his vacation! I have *not* been slacking off and playing on facebook the entire time he was away. As a result, I did *not* have to bust my butt the last few days just show that I did something productive. I would *never* waste company time and money just because I'm bored.

This weekend was lots of fun! A surprise birthday party for Amanda was on Saturday, and I did *not* lie to her all day via text message to keep it a secret. I would *never* deceive my friends for a noble cause. Also, I did *not* have three friends barfing at the end of the night. I would *never* let guests over indulge in alcohol to the point of sickness.

Fathers day was nice! We went out to Landry's in Kemah for some great seafood. I did *not* have beer with lunch. I would *never* deviate from my eating plan. I have a figure to watch!

That's what I've *not* been doing, and I'm very proud to have acted so mature over the past week. ;)

Eating for two

Congratulations to me! I've been keeping up with our menu planning for two weeks now! Mark likes it, so even though it's a pain, it's here to stay. This week, I've made a this menu pool to choose from. Here it is...

Chicken with peppers and rice and steamed broccoli
Meatloaf with quinoa and baked cauliflower
Chicken with vegetables and pasta
Mahi Mahi fish tacos with black beans and pineapple salsa
Salsa verde pork with steamed spinach and rice

Leave a comment if you want me to post the recipe for any of these.

Dinner Time - All the Time

Don't know if it's just me, but everyday when I come home the first thing I start is Dinner. I have to think about what to cook, how long it will take, prepare the day before (or end up making a trip to the store), and it feels like it never stops haunting me. I get bored with the same types of food, so I'm quite frequently trying to think of new recipes and how to make them healthy. I guess it's like cleaning or laundry: it never ends.

But enough with the bitchin'. I've got my food in the oven right now as I type. What's that? Already in the oven? Yes, and pretty much done, too. I know last night's crab cakes didn't turn out as firm as I'd have liked, but I'm giving Rachel Ray another chance. It's a 30 min meal, hence the amazing finishing time, and I'm feelin' lazy. SO, don't do me wrong a second time, Miss Rachel. ;)

Shepherd's Pie!

4 potatoes
1 cup light sour cream
pot o' water

Cube the potatoes and boil for like 12 minutes. Drain them and mash with sour cream.

1 lb ground beef
2 carrots diced
1 onion diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Cook all this stuff together until it's done.

drizzle of olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

Medium heat, cook flour in olive oil for a couple of minutes (starts to turn golden brown) then whisk in broth and sauce. Cook until it looks like gravy.

Now - mix the meat and vegs with the gravy. Put in a casserole dish. Layer the potatoes on top. Bake at 250 for however long you feel like.

Go sit down, have a beer, and blog about something.

I LOVE LAZY COOKING.

Dinner Time!

In order to facilitate a healthier lifestyle, Mark and I have started Meal Planning! Grocery shopping will be more efficient, and we can be more careful about what we eat. This should make things much easier, right? Errr... Kind of. For some reason, I can come home and whip up dinner in a few moments without even thinking about it. When I start planning it out, I run dry on ideas.

Cookbooks are coming in handy now! Just scan through and pick a few. I have a couple of Rachel Ray cookbooks, but all her food seems to consist of some unhealthy main dish paired with some crazy salad. WTH, Rachel? You're not making this any better. What I've ended up doing is this: taking a couple of her recipes and making them healthy. For example, cutting out the extra butter, cheeses, and sauces she loves to top food with, and using whole grains and whole wheat instead of white breads and processed flour. Hmm... That's better!

So that I don't feel "blah" about meal planning, I've made a pool of recipes for the week. That way I can have a little bit of flexibility on what I feel like eating or cooking on a particular day. Planning out each day feels like a trap and makes me want to rebel. Instead, I just pick from a list and it's all good.

This week's recipe pool:
Crab cakes with quinoa and steamed spinach
MahiMahi fish tacos with black beans and pineapple salsa
Shepherd's Pie
Turkey Burgers
Spaghetti with chicken, mushroom, and onion, with tomato sauce

Tonight is Crab Cakes!

Another incentive to cook more and eat out less (saving lots of money!) is this great new Chef's Mat Mark purchased for me! It's filled with a wondrous gel that makes my feet feel cushy! I very sincerely believe that everyone should go to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchase your own. It takes the tired feeling away from your feet, knees, and hips while you slave over a hot stove.

And then it doesn't even feel like "slaving" anymore. ;)

Trolling is bad... so very bad

Trolling is never nice. Sometimes I do and don't mean to, and other times I'm just feeling bitchy and do it anyway. I've gotten into a couple of times on theknot.com's snarky bride board, and twice on facebook. The first time on facebook was an accident, but this second time (today) was definitely on purpose. I feel kinda bad, but I feel little better in a way.

Long story short, a friend said she was frustrated by someone trash talking her. Someone commented and said to kill them with kindness. I commented and said to quietly sabotage them. Then I get my ass jumped for giving bad advice. Original poster knew I was joking (any of my friends would), so I pointed that out... and then told her to un-wad her panties. Then the madness begun (apparently I dissed an "aunt")...

Rachel I want to beat this little girl that is talking shit.

Yesterday at 8:07pm

·

Ashlie Book

turn the other cheek. kill her with kindness. that is the worst pain you could ever cause someone. that's what i say @ least ;)

Yesterday at 8:20pm

Linda
Good advice Ashlie. Kill her with kindness!

Yesterday at 8:39pm

Alicia Lolcat Anderson

I say quietly sabotage her. Teach her the meaning of irony.

5 hours ago ·

Linda
Alicia, THAT is NOT good advice. Revenge gets you nothing in the end. No one feels good. Just treat this person with kindness and rise above her pettiness. YOU be the better person.

5 hours ago

Alicia Lolcat Anderson

It's a good thing Rachel knows me, because that also means that she knows I'm kidding. Linda, you might need to go to restroom now and un-wad your panties. That must be so uncomfortable!

4 hours ago ·

Linda
Miss Attitude, I don't believe YOU are the sort of person MY NIECE needs to be associating with. I suggest YOU go to the restroom and relieve yourself of the **** you dish out. As nieve as Rachel is, I doubt if she realizes that YOU aren't the sort of person who should be providing advice to anyone JOKING or not.

4 hours ago

Alicia Lolcat Anderson

Linda, "Kill them with kindness." Why don't you try this: practice what you preach. Maybe as a hypocrite, you shouldn't be giving out advice either.

At least I can argue a point without sinking to "symbol" cursing and misspelling "naïve". Also, you're not her mama, so maybe you should cut the apron strings.

Rachel, you're an adult and can make smart decisions on your own. Here's my serious advice; take it if you like. If this a friend, you might consider just removing them from your life. A toxic friend will poison everyone around them. Take care, and this too shall pass. *hugs*

4 hours ago ·

Linda

Well, FINALLY some advice that would be worth considering. Toxic friends should be removed from one's life, as well as disrespectfully, immature people much, like Miss Attitude who was only correct in her spelling of "naive".
Rachel, you are a young adult who's sweetness need not be polluted by those who cause you grief of any kind. You've found a comfort in your present life and I wish you well. May your better judgement prevail. Love you!

about an hour ago

Alicia Lolcat Anderson

Linda, it's nice that you can say rude things about me and still agree with my advice. ;) I guess we both have good intentions in the end.

39 minutes ago ·


I really shouldn't have started anything and should have left well enough alone, but that lady was uppity and preachy and I felt like I needed to straighten her out or something. Not like it did any good. Sure, I could have continued to correct her grammar or spelling, or something equally asinine. In the end, I just looked like a jerk and made her look dumb. Neither one of us profited from that exchange. Sigh, why can't everyone just agree to disagree - respectfully, of course.

Oh, and it's Mrs. Attitude to you.

To Alcohol!

So... from my last blog post, I'm taking a good hard look at my eating habits. I had a talk and a boo-hoo whine with Mark late in to the night. Ha ha ha, I was never counting calories from all the alcohol I drink! A couple of beers here, a glass of wine there, and etc, really add up. While my eating habits are great, my drinking habits... not so much. ;) But I'm working on that.

I have a rough plan here. I can either cut out drinking (boo!) or drink less and exercise more. While I do hate exercising, I do love to drink. I'll cut out drinking for a little while, then try drinking lower calorie drinks and exercising a bit more. There's no point in working so hard and then sabotaging myself with alcoholic beverages. Tasty, tasty sabotage!

Also, my list of things to do before I have kids is still sitting there with nothing checked off. I swear I will finish that painting by tomorrow, even if it takes all night and a few pots of coffee. Pictures WILL be posted!!!

Health and Nutrition

Lookin' Good Ma'am! Well, it is a very flattering angle, and I am wearing a pretty dress... and lots of people in my life tell me I look great! I feel great too! But... after talking to my doctor, things aren't so great after all.

All I've ever done is fad dieting, and eating consciously in between crazy diets. The truth of the matter is it's not healthy. What I eat in between dieting is actually way better than the dieting itself. Have oatmeal with dried fruit in the morning, last night's dinner for lunch, low fat yogurt as a snack, and then another round of lean meat with vegetables for dinner. I don't use butter, sometimes a bit of EVOO, not a lot of salt, the carbs are whole grain... so why doesn't it work well? I lose more weight when dieting - which is really bad for my liver, apparently!

With eating right (I estimated about 1300 calories a day), I lose about 1/2 pound per month (with sporadic exercise). Hmmmm... at that rate my doc says it should take about 10 years to reach a healthy weight. Damn that's so totally lame. Doc wants me to get blood work to see if it's a thyroid issue, but I honestly think that is a total cop out. Seriously, fat people that say "I have thyroid problems" just sound lazy - like it totally justifies being fat. WHATEVER, 'cause it really doesn't. I don't want to be "thyroid issues fat chick" - that is so much lame sauce.

Anyway, I think I might be missing something here. So! Miss Kristin-pants at Just Thinking has inspired me to really take a look at what I eat and cook down to every ingredient and portion. The answer will be revealed. Ugh... but it's going to be a pain in my butt to measure and record everything. I have a feeling it will do me some good though.

And while I'm on the subject... dang Mark! I make a small adjustment to our eating habits and that fool loses weight and looks great like nobody's business. I will get him for this; I really really will. *shakes fist in air*

Ha ha, but seriously. I am going to really watch what I put into my body and start exercising with more regularity. Luckily, my gym offers free classes (like body bump) and my man likes some junk in the trunk.