So, the other update is as follows:
I am waiting for information on my work authorization/green card, and have since graduated from college. Never have I been without tasks for an extended period of time-- where filling my time becomes my task. How does one spend the days when they have little responsibility? The list of things that I have been doing so far:
1. I made a quilt. In total days: seven. Granted those were full-time days where the DH didn't even get dinner made for him.
2. I planned a remodel for the crib. It is still in planning stage.
3. Currently re-watching episodes of Gilmore Girls. They help me have humor and perspective. And goodness. And they're just awesome. Done.
4. Planted a garden. Watched the garden grow.
5. Watered my tomato plant.
6. Become a frequent library goer.
7. Read about... 16 books since the beginning of April.
8. Made beef jerky at home twice.
9. Doubled the amount of pins I have pinned on pinterest.
10. Found more names for my baby than the amount of babies I could possibly have in life.
... and other constructive things.
Invite me over if you need something. Like a quilt or a book recommendation.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
When The Moon Hits Your Eye
I figure that the few people who follow my blog are entitled to three things:
1. A New Post.
2. A Baby Update.
3. Some other sort of update.
and so without further ado, I will dutifully fulfill those responsibilities.
1. A New Post.
2. A Baby Update.
3. Some other sort of update.
and so without further ado, I will dutifully fulfill those responsibilities.
How Far Along: 21 weeks.
Size of Baby: 1 pound. I think.
Maternity Clothes: I have a few, and wear pretty much the same two dresses over and over until they are dirty. :) I think when the baby comes, it will be like having a whole closet of new clothes when I unpack my pre-pregnant clothes.
Gender: It's a boy! We found out yesterday, and I am still a little bit shocked.I don't know anything about boys!
Movement: A little. Mostly when I am lying down, or sitting still, as if the boy is telling me he still wants to be up and moving.
Sleep: Right now is pretty elusive. I have had terrible back pain, and the only position where it doesn't hurt is flat on my back, which you can't sleep that way when you're pregnant. I wake up all the time to change position, and am constantly tired from lack of sleep.
What I miss: Not being able to lay flat on my back for long. Being able to go running like I did before. And I miss doing interval cardio.
Cravings: Not so bad anymore, but in the 1st tri they were really bad-- and they were for really bad food. Things I usually never eat or buy: dill pickle chips, doritos, hamburgers, and toaster strudels were a few really bad ones. But it has tapered off. I still want potatoes all the time.
Aversions: in the first tri, I really couldn't stand eating meat, and the only thing I really wanted was potatoes. I also was averted to veggies, mostly because I used to eat green smoothies for breakfast, but after throwing them up a lot, I didn't want anything green and growing for a while. A few days ago, I made a slice of toast, took thee bites, and simply could not eat it anymore.
Symptoms: Just the back pain. Swimming really helps it to go away. I am thinking I will be in the pool a lot this summer. I also have really intense itching on the soles of my feet at night.
Best Moment: Finding out we were having a boy. It makes it more real that way. :)
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saving Money While Eating Healthy
The answer is actually simpler than you think.
The basic "pyramid" for healthy eating leaves the Standard American Diet (SAD) pyramid in the dust, wallowing in chronic disease and obesity.
The pyramid is as follows:
1. LEAFY GREENS
2. Colorful vegetables
3. Fruits and Starchy Vegetables
4. Legumes and Grains
5. Nuts and seeds
That's all there is folks.
Do the things that you can do to save yourself money (some of these things come easily):
1. Buy less meat. You don't need it, and after a while, you won't want it. BUT WAIT! you wonder "where do I get enough protein?"... the answer is: plants. Plants have plenty of protein, especially legumes (peas and lentils) and grains (wheat, buckwheat, quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH). And nuts have protein in spades.
2. Don't buy most canned or processed food. The exceptions to this, obviously, are things like canned tomatoes and other essentials that are great for things like FOOD STORAGE. Some canned things are great assets to those on low budgets, BUT! keep in mind that buying fresh or frozen is usually cheaper and is much better for you. Processed foods like microwave burritos, frozen pizza, ice-cream, and other non-essentials (and, I may argue, non-food substances-- really, what is a cheeto anyway?) are actually budget breakers. It is cheaper to make your own burritos with homemade tortillas and dry cooked beans than it is to buy those pre-packaged (and chemical filled) types of food.
3. Shop sales and freeze what you can. If spinach is on sale for 80 cents a bag, buy five or six and freeze it! it still blends nicely in smoothie, or cooked well into a pasta sauce. If oranges are 20 cents a pound, buy a bunch, and peel them and freeze them to put in smoothies. If tomatoes are on sale, chop them up and freeze them to turn into pasta sauce or other delights later (this is good to do during the summer when produce is cheap. AND it helps you store food for times of disaster, and provides you with produce in December.
4. Soup and salad your way through life. When my husband and I are not eating soup, we are usually eating salad. Or stir-fry. Good "S" foods. These are FULL of plants. Almost anything can be turned into a salad. And, if it can't be a salad, then it can be a soup. Or a stir-fry. One of the reasons why people who try to eat more plants find it pricey is because they don't know what to do with the plants they buy and they rot in the fridge until someone throws them away.
5. Use cheap "get-full" foods. These are: whole grain brown rice (stir-fry), whole wheat pasta (buy the generic brand, it is better for you), lentils (seriously, the greatest thing ever... stay tuned for a recipe on lentil tacos), beans, almonds, sweet potatoes, and sunflower seeds. They all pair great with veggies and almost all have protein and carbs to keep you full.
6. Plan your weekly menu before you shop. If your meals consist of veggies pizza with whole wheat crust, whole wheat pasta with spinach and parmesan, stir-fry and rice, taco salad (my fave whole food salad ever!), burritos, and butternut squash soup, you will know what veggies to buy.
7. If you can, plant a garden and freeze the excess produce. You can have nutritious food in January for free!
Two notes: consider investing in a high power blender (400-600 dollars)-- seriously, it saves my life everyday (you can make everything with it). Not cheap from the get-go, but they last forever (seven year warranty on an appliance), and they will save you time and money in the kitchen. And, if you can, consider buying a small, cheap deep freeze (150-200 dollars). Blender first, freezer next.
And, price matching. If you have a Walmart, they will price match the prices of other stores. You may consider planning your menus on what produce they have on sale.
As a final aside, you will find that initially, your grocery bill may be more, and even continue to be a bit higher than it used to be. However, this is health insurance. There is nothing worth more than you and your family's health. And extra dollars for whole foods is nothing compared to the costs of cancer, high blood pressure, colitis, heart disease, and other ailments that almost entirely prevented by dietary choices.
To your health!
The basic "pyramid" for healthy eating leaves the Standard American Diet (SAD) pyramid in the dust, wallowing in chronic disease and obesity.
The pyramid is as follows:
1. LEAFY GREENS
2. Colorful vegetables
3. Fruits and Starchy Vegetables
4. Legumes and Grains
5. Nuts and seeds
That's all there is folks.
Do the things that you can do to save yourself money (some of these things come easily):
1. Buy less meat. You don't need it, and after a while, you won't want it. BUT WAIT! you wonder "where do I get enough protein?"... the answer is: plants. Plants have plenty of protein, especially legumes (peas and lentils) and grains (wheat, buckwheat, quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH). And nuts have protein in spades.
2. Don't buy most canned or processed food. The exceptions to this, obviously, are things like canned tomatoes and other essentials that are great for things like FOOD STORAGE. Some canned things are great assets to those on low budgets, BUT! keep in mind that buying fresh or frozen is usually cheaper and is much better for you. Processed foods like microwave burritos, frozen pizza, ice-cream, and other non-essentials (and, I may argue, non-food substances-- really, what is a cheeto anyway?) are actually budget breakers. It is cheaper to make your own burritos with homemade tortillas and dry cooked beans than it is to buy those pre-packaged (and chemical filled) types of food.
3. Shop sales and freeze what you can. If spinach is on sale for 80 cents a bag, buy five or six and freeze it! it still blends nicely in smoothie, or cooked well into a pasta sauce. If oranges are 20 cents a pound, buy a bunch, and peel them and freeze them to put in smoothies. If tomatoes are on sale, chop them up and freeze them to turn into pasta sauce or other delights later (this is good to do during the summer when produce is cheap. AND it helps you store food for times of disaster, and provides you with produce in December.
4. Soup and salad your way through life. When my husband and I are not eating soup, we are usually eating salad. Or stir-fry. Good "S" foods. These are FULL of plants. Almost anything can be turned into a salad. And, if it can't be a salad, then it can be a soup. Or a stir-fry. One of the reasons why people who try to eat more plants find it pricey is because they don't know what to do with the plants they buy and they rot in the fridge until someone throws them away.
5. Use cheap "get-full" foods. These are: whole grain brown rice (stir-fry), whole wheat pasta (buy the generic brand, it is better for you), lentils (seriously, the greatest thing ever... stay tuned for a recipe on lentil tacos), beans, almonds, sweet potatoes, and sunflower seeds. They all pair great with veggies and almost all have protein and carbs to keep you full.
6. Plan your weekly menu before you shop. If your meals consist of veggies pizza with whole wheat crust, whole wheat pasta with spinach and parmesan, stir-fry and rice, taco salad (my fave whole food salad ever!), burritos, and butternut squash soup, you will know what veggies to buy.
7. If you can, plant a garden and freeze the excess produce. You can have nutritious food in January for free!
Two notes: consider investing in a high power blender (400-600 dollars)-- seriously, it saves my life everyday (you can make everything with it). Not cheap from the get-go, but they last forever (seven year warranty on an appliance), and they will save you time and money in the kitchen. And, if you can, consider buying a small, cheap deep freeze (150-200 dollars). Blender first, freezer next.
And, price matching. If you have a Walmart, they will price match the prices of other stores. You may consider planning your menus on what produce they have on sale.
As a final aside, you will find that initially, your grocery bill may be more, and even continue to be a bit higher than it used to be. However, this is health insurance. There is nothing worth more than you and your family's health. And extra dollars for whole foods is nothing compared to the costs of cancer, high blood pressure, colitis, heart disease, and other ailments that almost entirely prevented by dietary choices.
To your health!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Reinventing the Wheel
I was going to write a nice long post about entry level habit changes you can make to move closer to whole foods, but somebody beat me to it.
http://madmim.com/what-i-learned-from-6-weeks-as-a-vegan-and-other-revelations/
It's fabulous, and right what I would suggest. I actually don't recommend being vegan or vegetarian forever, unless you LOVE it, and are committed, but having been both for exactly the same reason as this lady, it kind of forces you to learn how to use vegetables in new ways.
Happy reading.
http://madmim.com/what-i-learned-from-6-weeks-as-a-vegan-and-other-revelations/
It's fabulous, and right what I would suggest. I actually don't recommend being vegan or vegetarian forever, unless you LOVE it, and are committed, but having been both for exactly the same reason as this lady, it kind of forces you to learn how to use vegetables in new ways.
Happy reading.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
How To Cook Lentils
Okay, lentils are one of things that everyone should be eating because they cost so little, and can go in almost anything. I make tacos from lentils (just putting taco seasoning and some olive oil with the lentils, instead of using ground beef), I put them in soups to give them substance, and you can throw cooked lentils onto a salad to add some much needed fiber and protein. :) Yay lentils!
And, they are super easy to cook.
To make lentils:
Put 1 cup of dry lentils into a pot with 2 cups of water (this ratio is great for any amount of lentils).
DO NOT SALT THE WATER. The lentils won't get soft that way.
Bring the water and lentils to boil. Stir once or twice, and then turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. After about fifteen minutes, the lentils should be soft and the water absorbed. Lentils can be eaten at different levels of softness. Experiment with cooking them with a little less or more water to get different levels of softness. For soups, lentils should be very soft, because people usually don't like to chew their soup. :)
So, go eat some lentils!
And, they are super easy to cook.
To make lentils:
Put 1 cup of dry lentils into a pot with 2 cups of water (this ratio is great for any amount of lentils).
DO NOT SALT THE WATER. The lentils won't get soft that way.
Bring the water and lentils to boil. Stir once or twice, and then turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. After about fifteen minutes, the lentils should be soft and the water absorbed. Lentils can be eaten at different levels of softness. Experiment with cooking them with a little less or more water to get different levels of softness. For soups, lentils should be very soft, because people usually don't like to chew their soup. :)
So, go eat some lentils!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Not Always As They Seem
As an introduction: Winter is lame.
Now, with that out of the way, I would like to share some thoughts that I have had recently. Life has been life as usual-- which is how I always see it. If I call home, there is nothing really "newsy" that I have to say.
I teach seventh grade. It's different everyday. And just because it is different everyday, it ends up being the same. Seventh graders are strange. Really.
They will ask you questions that they already know the answer to just to ask them-- I don't know what motivates that. maybe it is just to prove that they will no longer robotically accept what the teacher says as law.
They will comment on everything-- and tell you stories that have no logical beginning or conclusion. We could be talking about racism and they will raise their hands and say how their older brother really likes to listen to country music, and that they hate it. And all you can say is... huh? Oh cool. Now, about racism...
They are bouncy. Some are preppy-bouncy: high on life or friends. Some are sport-bouncy. Some are school-bouncy-- like nothing would thrill them more than to read and write and do math. Some are anxious-bouncy. Some are I-just-can't-ever-sit-still bouncy.
And back to questions-- if you do ANYTHING, expect it to be questioned. Why are you handing out this paper? Do we have to put our name on this? Is this for points? Can I work with a partner? Do we have to write this down? Wait, what are we supposed to be doing? (Usually all of these questions have already been answered-- three times).
I have a hard believing I was like that when I was twelve.
Now, with that out of the way, I would like to share some thoughts that I have had recently. Life has been life as usual-- which is how I always see it. If I call home, there is nothing really "newsy" that I have to say.
I teach seventh grade. It's different everyday. And just because it is different everyday, it ends up being the same. Seventh graders are strange. Really.
They will ask you questions that they already know the answer to just to ask them-- I don't know what motivates that. maybe it is just to prove that they will no longer robotically accept what the teacher says as law.
They will comment on everything-- and tell you stories that have no logical beginning or conclusion. We could be talking about racism and they will raise their hands and say how their older brother really likes to listen to country music, and that they hate it. And all you can say is... huh? Oh cool. Now, about racism...
They are bouncy. Some are preppy-bouncy: high on life or friends. Some are sport-bouncy. Some are school-bouncy-- like nothing would thrill them more than to read and write and do math. Some are anxious-bouncy. Some are I-just-can't-ever-sit-still bouncy.
And back to questions-- if you do ANYTHING, expect it to be questioned. Why are you handing out this paper? Do we have to put our name on this? Is this for points? Can I work with a partner? Do we have to write this down? Wait, what are we supposed to be doing? (Usually all of these questions have already been answered-- three times).
I have a hard believing I was like that when I was twelve.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Figgy Pudding
I have been reading a lot of Calvin and Hobbes lately.
Yeah. So he's simultaneously brilliant and ignorant. Unintelligent meets intelligent. It was about halfway through my third comic book when I realized that because Hobbes is only a stuffed animal, everything Hobbes says or does must also come out of Calvin's brain. Another sign of brilliance-- and perhaps instability.
But then Calvin does want a heat seeking ballistic missile for christmas-- and at six years old he knows what that is and what it does. He knows how to order pizza, knows how to comment on modern art, and yet still doesn't know the answer to 12 + 5.
And why am I commenting on this? Because I have never had the experience of feeling both smarter and stupider than a character.
What are my thoughts on Calvin and Hobbes?
But then Calvin does want a heat seeking ballistic missile for christmas-- and at six years old he knows what that is and what it does. He knows how to order pizza, knows how to comment on modern art, and yet still doesn't know the answer to 12 + 5.
And why am I commenting on this? Because I have never had the experience of feeling both smarter and stupider than a character.
What are my thoughts on Calvin and Hobbes?
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