Trying All Things Pinterest 

According to my Pinterest page I have over 2600 pins.  And while Emmy and her obsession with puppies in costumes, fancy cakes & Betsey Johnson is responsible for a lot of the pins- a bunch of them are on me so I figure it’s time to try some out.

1st- Getting Rid of Gunk in the sink.

The kids bathroom sink gets a little gross as they stink at rinsing after brushing their teeth.  I needed to clean it and looked to Pinterest for this solution.

http://askannamoseley.com/2011/07/unclog-sink-drains-remove-odors/
Have to say it worked like a charm.  Easy to do & did not need a hose or special equipment.

So now I only have about 2000+ more to check out so watch this space.

Paleo Without Pity: Gluten-Free High Protein Fudge Bites

I appear to be back.  With my recent downsizing I appear to have 5 free minutes on my hands so I thought I would dust off the old blog.   

I went to see a nutrionist a few weeks ago to help me lose weight and improve my performance at Cross-Fit, but if we are going to be totally honest, from my run times, to my pull up attempts, I would be a lot better at things if there was less of me to move around.  I am doing about 75-80% of her meal plan, and have been adopting the different components slowly to try and make them stick.  

I did the LuRong Challenge back in the fall, and I did lose weight but it was too much of a change from my regular eating patterns, too soon and too intense to be sustainable.

The two changes I seem to have gotten down is the veggie/protein/complex carb lunch, and the post workout recovery meal.  Post workout recovery food has always been a challenge because I am not a big fan of protein shakes.  Or to be more accurate, I do like protein shakes, but only when you doctor them to the point, where its a Frosty with Protein in it.

Once of my recovery options is to mix 4 oz of mashed sweet potato with 2 scoops of protein powder.  1st I made a fudgy-brownie thing with it, but then I thought I would pop it in muffin tins and bake it.  EUREKA!  This ends up being delicious, and since I use mini-muffin tins, its also easy to eat while I am cooling down or driving home from the 5:30am class.

This recipe gives me 24 mini-muffins, and I eat 4 as a post work out meal, so I get six days of post workout yummies from this.

Gluten-Free High Protein Fudge Bites:

12oz Mashed Sweet Potatoes

6 scoops UMP Chocolate Protein Powder

Water

Mix the sweet potatoes and protein powder together, adding enough water to make a thick brownie like batter

Spray mini muffin tins with coconut oil spray, drop batter into tins.

Cook on 425 for 10-12 minutes

Let cool and pop out.

I also think if you are really careful about mixing in the sweet potato you could feed these to a veggie hater and they would never know.

 

 

Paleo Without Pity- Pot Roast & Confessions

I decided to join the Lurong Paleo Challenge.  Why?  You could say because my sanity is in doubt, but really its because I am unhappy with how I look, despite the CrossFit, and I decided to step it up a bunch on the diet front.

And I like to be a Cheerful Carrie and not a Debbie Downer, but the past couple of days have been a real struggle for me.  I’ve been cranky, exhausted, and really fighting off the cravings.  The low point came this morning when I could not finish the WOD because I got dizzy.

I have been doing crossfit off and on for a year and a half and its the 2nd time I have not finished a WOD.  I usually don’t consider it as an option.

But thanks to my friends at the box for being supportive and Coach Carrie for making sure that I only saw one of her before I drove off, it was fine.

However, the morning was tough,  work was ultra stressful, and the little voice in my head said, “You know a nice calzone would fix everything.  Your headache would stop and you would be less tired, especially if you had a nice Coke Zero and a cookie with it.”

But I didn’t do it.  I felt like I would be letting myself down and my friends down, and I kept on thinking that if I make it through today, I will be fine, since this is the time I crashed and burned last time I went Very Low Carb.

So instead of the siren call of Calzone.  I had some pot roast I made in my crockpot on Monday.  I paired it with some grapefruit and avocado and all was right with the world.

Pot Roast

  •  2-3 lb chuck roast
  • salt and pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic,
  • 2 yellow onions, cut into rings
  • 6 carrots (use more- lots more) chopped into big mouth pieces
  • 1 Cup Beef Broth
  • Splash of Red Wine
  • Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
  • 8oz mushrooms

1. Season your roast with salt and pepper. Sear in a hot pan until browned on all sides. Add to a crock pot.

2. Add olive oil once around the pan, add onions, carrots and saute for 3 minutes, add garlic and saute for another minute, dump in crockpot.

3. Using the wine and a little of the beef broth to loosen up the yummy meat and onion bits at the bottom of the pan and pour over roast.

4. Add remaining broth and the splash of wine and balsamic

5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  If you are going to eat right away, add mushrooms for last 30 minutes of cooking, otherwise, add them while you are letting the roast cool.

 

 

 

 

 

NaBloPoMo January 2013- Day 5: What is your favourite song that gives you energy?

I love music and I am especially enjoying myself now that I have Sirius XM Satelite Radio in my car to help take the edge off the hour plus commute each way that I have every day.  I usually enjoy 80’s on 8, 90’s on 9, the Broadway Channel and I will listen to Mike & Mike in the morning to keep me up to date on sports.

As a child of the 80’s I favor the bubbly electronic pop of the period.  Madonna, Duran Duran, The Police, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, and the other MTV regulars (back when music videos was the order of the day) all give me a little pep.

I am also waiting for data on the amount of calories you can burn while car dancing.

My two favorite pep songs are Toni Basil’s “Mickey” and the 90’s Classic, Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy”, and Ru Paul’s “You Better Work”.

I especially like to listed to the latter two prior to a job interview to give me some pep and perk.

So now I dare you to watch the videos and not bop around in your seat a little.

 

Mickey-Scroll ahead to 0:33

I’m too Sexy- I dare you not to dance!

Supermodel “You Better Work” -Love Ru Paul

 

Happy Monday Everyone!

NaBloPoMo January 2013- Day 4: At what time of day do you feel the most energetic and productive?

I have to admit, I am one of THOSE people.  A morning person.  I get up, grab that shower and I am ready to face the day and my to-do list.  I don’t need coffee or caffeine, just a nice shampoo and conditioner, (note to self, buy more shampoo) and I am good to go.Lush Happy Hippy Shower Gel Review 001

Heck 3 mornings a week I get up and am at the gym by 5am.  This does not make me awesome or fit, it’s just that If I am going to work out, it happens first thing in the morning or its not happening.

exercise

My brain wakes up almost as fast as I do, which makes those middle of the night bathroom runs challenging as I need to get out of bed, pee, wash hands and get back into bed before my brain fully engages.  If it does, I am screwed, because instead of falling back to sleep, I begin to think of all the things I need to do.  (note to self, update to-do list)

 

I am also a breakfast person.  Breakfast is a little more challenging now that I am trying to stay Paleo, but I am weaning myself onto the meat and veggie breakfast concept.  I have been eating roast chicken and fruit for breakfast a few days this week, and even tried some sashmi, so I am sure that I will be having pot roast in the am any day now.

breakfsat

However, the downside of being a morning person means that once I get to the drive home at 5pm, I am dragging and the day only goes from there.  I am trying to break my Coke Zero habit and I am down to one a day or less, but that one usually comes at 6:00pm when I have one with dinner, so I can stay awake long enough to get the kids through the evening and into bed, and then give my sweet husband some undivided attention.

But I always try to remember the following:

dreams

NaBloPoMo January 2013- Day 3: What is your favourite way to recharge when you feel drained of energy?

Today is about recharging.   For me I can feel myself getting tired so I usually try to grab a nap or go to bed.

However, apparently it is not great to go to bed at 7pm.  Its impossible since the kids don’t go to bed until at least 8:30 and I know if I go to bed at 7pm, chances are I will be wide awake at 3am, and get into an insomnia/sleep deprivation cycle.

I adore naps.  Sadly, naps are verboten at work, but sometimes I get tempted into a closed door ‘webinar’, where I lock my door and may or may not listen too.  (Don’t rest your face on the keyboard.  The oils from your fingers will make you break out).Woman Sleeping on Computer Keyboard

If a nap is not forthcoming, I grab some caffeine.  Since I’m not a coffee drinker-its Coke Zero time.  However, I am trying to cut back on my processed and artificial sugar, so I only use that when I am really dragging.

caffeine mom

 

I can usually tell I am running low on energy because I get cranky.  Things that usually do not bother me, begin to really get on my nerves.

crabby mom

Sadly as the mom, grabbing that nap is not as easy as it was when I was three.  In fact, when I am sitting around doing absolutely nothing my husband and kids circle me and look at me like they can’t believe that I am just sitting there.   Thankfully though, I do not have that total energy drain too often.

If only recharging was this easy.recharge

 

Cooking Without Drama- Roast Chicken With Root Vegetables and Chorizo

I got on a Nigella Lawson kick recently.  I felt I was in a rut with cooking and wanted to do some new things.  Also, Dave and I had recommitted to our Paleo eating, so I wanted to have some new, tasty meals that did not involve grains or pasta.

The Origianl Recipe which is Spanish Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Chorizo can be found here.  However, since the Dave and the kids are not fans of chicken thighs, and white potatoes are not Paleo;  (I don’t think Chorizo is either, but its really used as a condiment-so its not bad), adjustments had to be made.

So, here is Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables and Chorizo

Roast Chicken With Root Vegetables and Chorizo (Serves 4)

2 Bone in Chicken Breasts

2 links Chorizo

3 Cups Chopped Root Vegetables

1 big red onion, Chopped

2 T Oregano

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1. Heat oven to 425

2. Chop the root veggies into uniform sizes (I used turnips, sweet potatoes, new potatoes, and sunchokes) and place them in the bottom of a roasting pan so they will all be in one layer, add chopped chorizo.

3. Drizzle veggies with oil, salt, pepper, 1 Tablespoon Oregano, and toss so everything is coated

4. Place Chicken Breasts on top of veggies, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and remaining oregano

5. Cover with foil and bake on bottom rack for 30 minutes,

6. Uncover, stir veggies and cook on upper rack for another 30 minutes or until Chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender.

This made a little more than 4 servings since the kids are not a fan of roasted root veggies, although Alex liked the Chorizo.  However, I will add some red bell pepper to the leftover veggies and make home fries with them as an accompaniment to tomorrow’s pork chops.  I also had a little chicken left over, which I will stir fry or use to make quesidillas for the kids.

photo (38)

NaBloPoMo January 2013- Day 2: Which daily tasks take up the most of your energy?

Every day there is a lot to do.  Getting the kids up and out, commuting to work, working, commuting home, making dinner, supervising homework, showers, stories and bedtime.

Now I am fortunate that my husband shares in a bunch of the work with me, so I am not in charge of everything, but there is still a lot to be done.

The commute each day is pretty draining because I get sick of driving, but the most draining part of the day is the evening tasks.  Supervising my daughter’s bath and dealing with stories and bedtime is the biggest energy suck.  This is probably because it is the end of the day, and I want to go to bed myself, but I know that bedtime is still an hour or two away.

However, I know as my daughter gets older she will need less supervision at bedtime and I will get more relaxing time in the evening.

For those of you wondering what’s entailed here is a nice little video.

NaBloPoMo January 2013- Day 1: From Where Do You Draw Your Energy

Happy New Year Everyone!  I hope that 2013 is wonderful to you and that it does not take you too long to rememebr to write the correct year on your checks.  Of course if you are like me, and have almost everything on auto bill pay where you are at the point of writing maybe two checks a month, three if its a banner month, than it might take you even longer.

Trying to blog everyday for an entire month should be interesting, as I have never done it before.  After reviewing my WordPress Blogging Report for 2012 I realized that I need to blog more if I am to have a blog people read.  One of the biggest impediments to blogging can be the lack of ideas, so  having a month worth of daily prompts seems to be a great way to start.

The 1st Prompt is: From Where Do You Draw Your Energy?

I am lucking that I am normally pretty high energy.  I was one of those horrible children that gave up naps very early (and was rewarded with similar children) and I always seemed to just run and run.

How energetic am I?  I remember being in the OB’s office during my second trimester of pregnancy with my son Alex.  I remember sitting there with Dave bitterly complaining that I did not have the rebound of energy I was expecting in the second trimester.  Where was all this energy I was supposed to be having?  My lovely OB gave me a look and asked my husband about my activity level.  He then proceeded to describe my 40+ hour a week job with travel two weeks out of the month, full-time grad school schedule, and 3x a week workout.

My OB raised an eyebrow, laughed at me and explained that there was obviously nothing wrong with my energy level.

Now that I have two kids, several years of not sleeping through the night and I am a little older, I find that my energy level is not what it used to be. Now I need sleep, and after a really hard workout, that hour nap on the weekend is important.  Also, I find that cutting way back on the white carbs helps.  As much as I LOVE pasta or pizza, I have to admit that after a dinner of either that I am ready for a nap.

I’m not a big fan of caffeine, as I find it makes me feel all wired, but at times when I am under the weather, or just need a boost a Coke Zero will help, but since it makes me jumpy I really try not to indulge.  Consider it my gift to you all.

super tired