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Small and Stuffed (Giveaway Post)

Today, or rather, this afternoon, has been one of those that just needs to end. If I drop one more thing in the kitchen, I swear… ok, no more of that.

DINNER!

I got the idea for dinner tonight while looking over my post from the other day. I remembered that I had these micro-kabochas to cook up, and wanted to do something fun with them. Normally, kabochas are about the size of a small pumpkin. Mine are just larger than an apple

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I cut the tops off of them and scooped out the seeds. There was a huge ratio of seeds to edible squash in them, but whatever…I had tiny kabocha bowls at this point. I made a filling of 3 de-cased Italian sausages, 1 egg, 5 chopped mushrooms, and 1/2 c. sharp white cheddar cheese. This isn’t really a recipe, I guess, but a process. I filled the kabocha bowls to the top with the sausage mixture, and baked them at 325 for about an hour, until the squash was soft and the meat was done. The result? See for yourself:

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The squash was soft and sweet, the filling rich and spicy, and the combo together was downright dreamy. Just what I needed after an afternoon like today. Well, that and a super hot shower.

A question for today:

Do you buy organic anything? Have you seen the movie Food Inc.? I always feel like questions like these are so loaded. Yes, I saw Food, Inc. In all honesty, and call me heartless, it didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know, nor did it change the way I look at food or what I buy. I knew about factory farms, and I know about GMOs, but I did think that how some of the companies treat their farmers was atrocious. I do buy organic when I can, but usually just beef when it’s available, and I plan on buying organic milk once Adam and I start thinking about having a family. And, even more honestly, I don’t have a problem not buying organic. Sure, if we had unlimited funds and a nearby Whole Foods, I’d probably buy organic a lot more. Right now though, it’s just not in our budget to buy organic most of the time. I buy what’s cheap. I buy what I like. I know a lot of people may judge me for this, but at least we’re living within our means.

ANNNNND the giveaway! The lovely folks at Tropical Traditions (who are dead set on making sure I never go without coconut anything) sent me a jar of their organic coconut peanut butter to try. Something about coconut peanut butter seemed a bit odd, yet a bit intriguing, so I agreed… man was I surprised! This stuff is absolutely to DIE FOR! It’s creamy and dense, with a light coconut flavor that’s just screaming to be used in oatmeal. I would recommend it to any of you… but only ONE of you can win a jar!

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It’s simple to enter!
First and foremost, leave a comment on this post. Any comment at all, and you’ll be entered!
For additional entries:
  • Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and leave another comment letting me know you did.
  • Become a fan of What’s For Dinner? on Facebook and leave another comment that you did.
  • Tweet the giveaway! “I entered to win @troptraditions coconut peanut butter with @imadedinner and you can too! http://bit.ly/9Fqg8l” and leave a comment that you did

Easy as pie peanut butter!

Good luck, and winners will be announced on Friday, February 19.

Have a wonderful night. I’ll leave you with another cute Ozzy picture


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Shutter Shock

I got home to that 5 lb. package I mentioned yesterday… any guesses what was in it?

Well, some of you already knew, so I’ll just show ya :)

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Due to a surprise tax return, I was able to get this amazing camera I’ve been coveting for SUCH a long time! It’s a Canon EOS Rebel XSi, 12.2 MegaPixels, and it came with the lens shown. Bye bye point and shoot for now… hello lovely SLR! I know I’m late on the bandwagon with this one, but I’ve wanted a dSLR since my last photography class in high school in 1998! I can’t believe this is actually MINE!

While I waited for the battery to charge, Adam and I went out for a quick bite to eat at the local Mediterranean place. I got some hummus, and a variety of meats including lamb shwarma and kefta kabobs (seasoned ground beef patties). It was delicious, and since I had no camera with me, you’ll just have to take my word on it. After dinner, we went on a 30 minute walk at Woodfield Mall, and managed to not purchase anything! I was so eager to get home and play with the new camera.

Like any other happy pet mama, the first things I took pictures of were our animals… so bear with me! I’ll take food pictures tomorrow, I promise! For now, please enjoy our furbabies.

Here’s Raven:

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And Big, our lazy black cat. She hates the camera and wouldn’t sit still:

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And Ozzy, who someday will take over the world

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I’m so beyond thrilled with how simple it is to take great shots with this thing. If any of you have any SLR hints for me, feel free to share in the comments! Adam got me a fantastic case that has its very own poncho, so that’s taken care of. What else ya got for me??

A couple questions to be answered:

Hi Mara, i know that you’ve been doing WW and now the paleo eating plan , i was just wondering what your stats were? weight -wise. Where you started, where you currently are, what your goal is?
If this is too personal of a question, i apologize, i was just wondering since i was reading your ’shrinking’ self section.
Ok, here goes: I’m 5′4″ (on a tall day), and as of right now I weigh 228 lbs. My max EVER was 265 before WW, I lost about 15 before I started WW. To be honest though, I don’t know my true maximum weight because I was afraid of the scale. I was squeezing myself into size 22 jeans though… My ultimate goal is 150 lbs, but my short-term goal for now is to get back under 200. I hit 197 for a period of two weeks before my grandma got sick, and then I never saw it again. I’m just taking it one day, one meal, one hour at a time.


What is your most embarrasing moment? Aside from just sharing my weight stats on my blog? My most embarrassing moment had to be, well, its two times. First, summer before senior year of high school, my color guard team (yes, I was color guard captain) and I were driving down to color guard camp in a rental van with our coach. I must’ve eaten something bad, because upon stopping at the welcome center, I managed to gain the nickname “Ralph” for the rest of Senior year. Also, I was once walking downtown Chicago with my friend Bobby, and I managed to fall off my shoes in the middle of an intersection, and a cab honked at me! I had sprained my ankle, but what did the cabbie care??

There’s a giveaway tomorrow, so make sure you come back (I know you will!) I’m off to play with my new toy, and enjoy a square of dark chocolate before I hit the hay… have a great night!


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Skirting the Issue

¡Buenas noches!

I hope you all had a wonderful Monday, whether you worked today or not. I did not and had a thoroughly unproductive day off. I tend to do nothing on my days off and then feel guilty about it, but I have NO shame about being completely useless today. I did have a doctor’s appointment to meet my new doctor, then hit the grocery store. I found the CUTEST thing:

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Pocket kabocha! I thought of HEAB and Coco when I found them! I can’t wait to roast this and FINALLY try it! It was also an exciting evening because our new dishwasher was installed! A huge thanks goes out to LIzz’s dad, who took time out of his busy day to come out and put it in for us. I can’t wait to see how it works! It certainly looks nice:

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I insisted that Lizz’s dad stay for dinner, and I made a marinated skirt steak (now do you get the title?) and garlic steamed broccoli. I’d never made a skirt steak before, so I asked my mom for advice on what to do with it. Unfortunately, her suggestion included a bunch of stuff we didn’t have in the house, so I’m going to have to save it for another day. I went with a simple marinade:
  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1.5 Tbsp. dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp parsley flakes
  • Salt and pepper

I mixed up the marinade, set the steaks in, and let them sit for almost 2 hours. Then, I simply broiled them for a great result!

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Tomorrow’s a big day over here… a certain 5 lb shipment from Amazon is coming that I just can’t wait for! Some of you know what it is, and the rest of you will just have to wait! There are big things this week, maybe a giveaway, and definitely some shopping opportunities!

I have gotten a few questions to answer in the last couple of days:

Have any tips on substitutions for those of use who keep kosher?? My answer here depends wholly on how strict of a kosher house you keep! For the very strictest, I’m low on ideas, as I’m not sure of all the intricacies. However, if you’re a “no pork, no milk and meat together” kind of kosher-keeper, I do have a couple of ideas. Many of my pork dishes are easily recreated using chicken or turkey. All of the marinades taste great on chicken, and cooking time will need to be adjusted slightly. If there’s a milk/meat dish, I’d recommend subbing in either rice cheese or casein free soy cheese instead. Casein is a milk protein often found in some soy cheeses, so avoid those. Usually the vegan ones will work. Also: most foods that are marked as kosher (either a circled K or a circled U) will also be organic, and vice versa.

If you could change places with anyone for one day who would it be and why? This feels like an essay question on a state achievement test… but I kind of like it! I would have to say that honestly, I wouldn’t change myself at all, I’d just change my circumstances. I’d love to be me, still be married to Adam, still be a blogger, etc, but I’d love to have the house of my dreams, no financial worries, no weight problem… so I guess I’d like to change places with my ideal me, just to know what I’m striving for.

What are your absolute favorite blogs? You know, the ones you can’t miss a day reading? Name your top 5 faves. I check in on a ton of blogs every day, so many that I can’t even keep track… but yeah, there are a few that I HAVE to read every day. Many of them are bloggers I’ve met in person, and a few with whom I have a great phone and email relationship with. So, in no particular order, and since I can’t just pick 5:

I have over 200 blogs in my Google Reader that I read regularly, and most of them are on my Blogroll Page. Feel free to check that out!

What are you most looking forward to this summer? Warm weather, like I am? Haha ;) Warmth for sure. Camp as always, especially since Skylar (Lizz’s daughter) will be attending for the first time! Maybe a small vacation, going to the pool, and sunshine until after 8 p.m.

And on that warm note, I bid you good night… I can’t believe I’m looking forward to doing dishes!


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Locavore

It has been quite a long week, and I’m beyond thrilled that tomorrow is Friday! We have a no-students-present institute day, which are always fun. Not that I don’t love my students, but sometimes it’s nice to hang out with adults.

Sometimes, I’ll spend some time up in the main office at work and chat with our assistant principals about various issues with students, or sometimes we chat about nothing. And sometimes, we find out that we have a lot more in common than we originally thought! Yesterday, one assistant principal was in her office eating the most delicious-looking salad out of a recyclable paper box, much like the ones used at Whole Foods. I got very excited and asked her where exactly near school she’d gotten such a fantastic-looking salad. She informed me, quite giddily, that an old restaurant/bar had been bought out and converted from a typical pub into a local/sustainable and mostly organic restaurant! We then talked food and restaurants for quite some time, and she insisted that I try Duke’s Alehouse and Kitchen ASAP.

Luckily tonight, I had quite some time to kill! After school and a meeting, I had about 4 hours of free time before I got to be a judge at the regional spelling bee. I went to the DMV to get my name changed on my license, did the same at the bank, and then headed to Duke’s for an early dinner.

I was greeted by a friendly bartender who was more than happy to tell me about their menu, specials, and seemed very knowledgeable about why their menu was different than other places.

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I’d perused the menu online, and had made up my mind that I would be getting a tallgrass beef burger, without the bun, for my dinner. To say that it delighted me when Robert (I think that was his name?) the bartender informed me that their cheese choices were: 4-year aged cheddar, blue, gouda, mozzarella, feta, oh…and goat. Yes, goat cheese. Amazing fresh and soft local goat cheese. Oh, and organic broccolini (not local, as its a frozen tundra here right now.) Apparently, up in the county where my school is, there are dozens of small farms… some are more famous (Kinnickinnick and Saluté) but most I’d never heard of.

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The bottom of the menu reads “I want my farmer to be paid well, for the same reason I want my airline pilot to be.” I love it! I read that menu while I waited for my food, and loved the pride the place has in supporting local and organic farmers. So many restaurants like this are out of reach for Adam and I, as they’re downtown Chicago and price-prohibitive. This however, is the opposite! It’s relatively inexpensive (my burger was $10.50) and in the lovely suburb where my school is.

My food arrived quickly, and to say it was beautiful is an understatement:


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I think you need a closer up shot of this stuff… the beautiful baby broccoli was topped with some flavorful real butter:

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And the burger, on its soft pretzel bun with bibb lettuce, roma tomatoes, and soft fresh goat cheese… notice how that patty is uneven and not round. That means a PERSON actually made that patty, and stood there while it cooked:
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To say that it pained me to take that burger off that beautiful bun is an understatement as well. I can only imagine how phenomenal it tasted… it sure smelled good. I looked like a freak, sitting by myself at a bar table, sniffing a pretzel roll and tweeting about how excited I was to eat this burger. Oh, and taking pictures of everything while the locals were sitting there wondering why their kids’ Spanish teacher was photographing her food.

You know what this burger tasted like? It tasted like meat. It tasted the way, when you want a good burger, that a good burger should taste. So much of the ground beef that I buy is fairly tasteless on its own and needs loads of seasoning. I’m willing to bet that this burger had a sprinkle of salt and pepper and that’s it. Next time I go, I’m certainly trying the organic steak, as well as making sure that I have someone else to order a dessert so I can have a bite. Something about a “trio of artisanal brownies” and “build your own cupcake” are quite intriguing.

110 N. Main St.
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

With a pleasantly full belly, I went to judge the spelling bee, and then headed home. I was greeted with a bubble-pack envelope with a Canadian customs label on it. I immediately knew what it was and tore right in! The amazing Marianne from the blog From French Fries To Flax Seeds had sent me an Olympic care package!! There was a pair of the official red Olympic mittens, and a pin that says “Eh!” from Lululemon! (please excuse the ratty nails and tired face).

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I love them!! Thank you SO much Marianne! You’ll be getting your Chicago care package as soon as I get off my butt and remember to send it…

What are you and Adam doing for V-Day? I think we’re staying in, drinking some wine, and I’m making cheese fondue… with bread. V-day is one holiday that I feel it necessary to splurge no matter what. And you know? That’s ok! ONE day of splurging and eating bread will not make me lose all the progress I’ve made!

Tomorrow evening, we are off to O’Hare to pick up my mom and stepdad from their trip to Mexico. We’ve been watching this adorable face all week… Stella the Goldendoodle!

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Have a wonderful Friday, and happy Olympic Day!!! I can’t WAIT to watch the opening ceremonies! What’s your favorite winter Olympic sport? Mine’s gotta be curling…


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Shoes & Answers

Didja miss me last night?? I know you did!

Apparently, Wednesdays are my “be really busy until really late, and have no time to blog at night” days! Last night, I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of a focus group talking about trends in one of my favorite things: shoes!

It went from 6p.m. to almost 8, but before I got there, I had the pleasure of eating one of my favorite non-fast quick foods: Chipotle! With my new eating plan focusing on using NO grains and healthy fats, I ordered a bowl with carnitas, veggies, extra salsa, guacamole and lettuce. The picture is stuck on my phone at the moment… I’ll add it later, I promise!

I got a few more questions to answer!

When is a good time? I didn’t know where to go with this one. A good time for what? If you meant “what do I think is a good time” as in a fun time, I’d say any time when I’m surrounded by good friends!

Do you make money off your blog? If so,  how much? I do make a small amount of money off my blog, but due to FoodBuzz’s confidentiality agreement, I’m not at liberty to discuss how much, but let’s just say that blogging does not put me in any sort of financial situation where I could say, quit my day job. I get just about enough to cover one grocery shopping trip, sometimes.

What’s your favorite part of every day? Why? **cheeseball alert** My very favorite part of any day is when I get home and am greeted by Adam with a hug. That’s when I really know I’m home and can relax.

If you could choose 6 things to bring with you and your hubby on a deserted island, what would those 6 items be? I’ve always been terrible at these deserted island questions, because I try to cheat. I’d say “a huge generator and my house with everything in it.” That’s not going to work. Ok, six things:

  1. My camera. I have to be able to take pictures of things!
  2. A small propane grill with extra canisters. I gotta be able to cook, and I can cook most anything on a grill.
  3. My favorite pillow. I can sleep just fine without a blanket, but without a good pillow, I just can’t get the right rest.
  4. Burt’s Bees lip balm. If you use it, you know why. If not, go get some! It’s the best!
  5. Our pets. Technically there are 3 of them, but they’re one entity. They’re like our children and I couldn’t bear to leave them!
  6. A first aid kit, for obvious reasons.

Keep the questions coming!

See you tonight for a fun restaurant post! I’m a judge in our regional spelling bee, so I get to go out for dinner! Or should that be D-I-N-N-E-R?

Stuff to do:

  • Check out Jenn’s ICBINB giveaway!  And speaking of Jenn, make sure to vote for her and Bobby in the Crate & Barrel Ultimate Wedding contest!
  • Are you going to this year’s Healthy Living Summit? It’s going to be in Chicago!! More details are going to be announced soon!
  • Email me your Cute Food Contest submissions! They must be cute food YOU’VE made, and the contest will start on February 25!

Have a great Thursday!

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Just Call Me Granny!

Yep, its 5 p.m. here.

And I’ve already eaten dinner.

You know those days when there’s something to look forward to the next day, and you just can’t sleep? Maybe Christmas, or the day before your birthday? Well, when a teacher is anticipating a snow day, every little noise sounds like it could be a phone call… and then when the call never comes, it makes for a very sleepy day! When it started snowing harder late this morning, our district administration canceled all after school activities for both teachers and students and we got to all leave at 2:15. Rather than making a trip to the grocery store for dinner in the increasing snow, and deal with people who think its going to be the Snowpocalypse 2010 of the Midwest, we opted for something more epic.

I picked us up sandwiches from Baloneys with every intention of eating it later. Much later. But 4:30 rolled around and my stomach was rumbling, so I opted to eat dinner right then, and will probably have a snack later. I dissected this gorgeous reuben into a sauerkraut, corned beef, and swiss cheese salad… luckily I took a picture before I made it a disgusting-looking yet delicious-tasting mess:


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It’s kind of nice being done with dinner this early… I feel like I can now just relax, maybe work on perfecting my chocolate almond cookie recipe, and definitely watch Biggest Loser. But, before I go, I got a few more anonymous questions that I’d like to take a minute to answer. These are SO much fun!

What’s your top 5 favorite foods? If we’re talking generically, that’s easy: sushi, cheese, roast chicken, peanut butter, and chocolate. If we’re talking specifically, it’s a bit harder, but I can do it: harumaki roll from Daruma (spicy tuna w/2 kinds of sauce, scallions, and more spicy sauce), burrata cheese, my mom’s (or grandma’s) roast chicken, PB & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams PB, and any chocolate by Vosges.

Do you ever go through long periods of success with your weight loss and then fall off the wagon (rhetorical question)? I just did… :( What do you do to re-motivate yourself ? I was successful on Weight Watchers for a very long time. I quickly lost 50 lbs and then had a terrible year, and suddenly, losing weight lost priority. I lost most of my motivation to lose weight, and instead maintained for a LONG time (3-ish years). I’ve recently gained back 20 or so lbs, and honestly, the ONE thing that helped me get my motivation back was hearing about others’ success. A couple close friends are following a similar eating plan that I’ve recently started, and having great success…which has helped me keep going! My advice: find yourself a support system!!

I know you were on Weight Watchers, what plan are you following now or is just one you have come up with yourself? I loved your wedding photos…so beautiful! First of all, THANK YOU!!! I can’t believe the wedding was almost 3 months ago! I’m following, essentially, the Paleo Diet, as outlined on this site. I didn’t make it up, and as I mentioned here and above, having friends following it too have really helped!

What was your first date (ever) like? Let’s see… I didn’t even realize this WAS a date until years later. It was 6th grade, and this boy from my Hebrew school class liked me. His name was Micah and he wore Hypercolor shirts, and I thought he was SO COOL. He bought me a pen with roses on it for Hanukkah, and then one with my name engraved on it for Valentine’s day. At this point, he invited me to have dinner with his family. I accepted, got dressed up, and his mom made (mind you, this was 1991) veggie burgers and salads with alfalfa sprouts, and offered to teach me Sanskrit in exchange for some Hebrew we were learning. His dad ate his salad with his mouth open and sprouts were hanging out of his mouth like hair… and that’s all I remember!

Do you like turtles? YES! I like turtles :) I think they’re very cool animals, and have quite an affinity for Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo, dude.

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I’m off to be a granny and relax from now until I fall asleep… so probably about 7 p.m. :) Keep those questions coming!

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Simply Random

I had a big event after school today. I got to do something I haven’t done in a very long time… I went to Trader Joe’s! I got a pretty decent haul for a small amount of money, and proceeded to make a simple and random TJ’s dinner. After, of course, I spent some time packing up my secret bloggie Valentine gift! I just hope it doesn’t snow so much tomorrow that I can’t get to the post office!

Back to the random dinner:

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First, on the left, were some simply sauteed mushrooms and green peppers. Then, to the right of that were some TJ’s tomato basil chicken sausages (quite good I might add!) and above that, the star of the plate, some simple creamed spinach. My mom used to make this creamed spinach ALL the time, and it always surprised me because well, we didn’t eat creamed anything. When we went out for dinner on Saturday, she told me how to make it, and I had to try.

The process is simple: steam and drain a bunch of spinach. Stir in 1 Tbsp. cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. sour cream, and I added a sprinkle of garlic powder. You have to try it!!! It works with fat free dairy, or regular… I might have to make a second batch for when Adam gets home, as I might need to finish this batch!

I had a couple of questions over the weekend, some anonymous and some not… so I’ll get to it!

Lauren from Say What You Need To Say asked: IF you could have anyone in the world over to dinner, who would it be and what would you make? That’s a really tough question… it depends on the day, honestly! There are people I’d like to have over just so I could look at them, but somehow I doubt they’d eat much. If we’re talking living or dead, I’d say Julia Child and/or Eddie Izzard. I know, random! Julia Child would get a simple and standard Jewish meal of brisket, kugel, matzoh ball soup, and kishke. Eddie Izzard though, he’s a bit more difficult. I’d be tempted to cook something very “executive” (Eddie fans will get that) or something with Jam.

Annabel from Feed Me, I’m Cranky asked: I would like to know how you met your hubby! Adam and I actually met in college… but the story isn’t that simple! We met probably multiple times at multiple parties, but neither of us particularly remember, for various reasons. Then, in 2004, sick and tired of dating the “wrong” people, I signed up on JDate. I paid for 3 months, went on COUNTLESS bad dates (seriously, go read that guest post from Jessie’s blog, whose blogiversary is today!) and upon getting the “renew now!” email, I decided to cancel. I had 2 weeks left on my subscription when I got this message from this adorable guy saying “Hey, you went to Bradley and look really familiar. Here’s my IM, let’s chat sometime.” Turned out that this adorable guy was Adam, we had DOZENS of people and stories in common, and figured out quite a few times we’d met before.

Do you ever get scared that you’ll never get to where you want to be? I sometimes feel like I am on a hamster wheel and sometimes I feel like my life, my weight, everything is GREAT and then another week I feel like it is horrible. I wish sometimes I could just be….do you ever have those same fears? This is such a loaded question! There is part of me that wants to say “yes, I get terrified that I’m not really that good at my job, that I’ll be overweight forever, and really don’t want to stay ‘here’ for much longer.” Then, there’s another part of me saying that this, right now, is really the most wonderful things have ever been for me… While yes, sometimes things just suck, and sometimes I get scared, when I get that “hamster wheel” feeling, I make a conscious effort to just get off of it. Change something. Do something I’m scared of.

I’ve been on and off of Weight Watchers for years- and it works really well for me, when I’m that point-counting mode- which is hard to do every single day! How’s your new style of eating going? See any results yet? Can you tell us what you typically eat throughout the day? Thanks! UGH POINT COUNTING MODE!! I know that all too well! I get on the whole Point thing fairly easily, and fall off easily too! I just hate having to overanalyze everything that goes in my mouth. My new eating style is going very very well! According to my bathroom scale (which I get on maybe 2-3 times a week, but really only “take” my Saturday morning weight) I lost 4.5 lbs in my first week eating the way I do. A typical day for me on this plan is:
Breakfast: 2 eggs and 1 egg white scrambled with about 1 c. cooked spinach and 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms, 2 pieces bacon, coffee with half-and-half
Lunch: Usually leftovers from dinner, including additional vegetables. Today was about 2 sliced green peppers and some leftover Italian beef
Snack: Today was a handful of raw almonds. Some days its beef jerky (DYING to try those PrimeSnax that MizFit loves!), some days its avocado or vegetables.
Dinner: Most of you know my dinners already!

As a kid, what was your favorite family meal ? Mine was spag with meat sauce ;) That’s easy. My absolute favorite family meal that was a never-fail, smile on my face meal was when my mom roasted chicken, made garlic roasted potatoes, asparagus, and fillets. My grandma made a very similar meal too, and no matter who made it, I always loved it!

WOW I’m long-winded today… thanks for sticking with me, and don’t forget to Ask Me Anything! I’m LOVING answering all this stuff!

Have a fantastic evening! We’re supposed to get about 8 inches of snow… nothing like you East Coasters, but it still might be enough for a snow day. Keep your fingers crossed!


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A Classic, Deconstructed

Just going to be honest with you here… I have the Super Bowl on right now, but only to listen for commercial breaks! The commercials are all that my students will talk about tomorrow, and I have to be up on what was shown! Apparently, I already missed a couple…

Since we’re not having a Super Bowl party, or going to one, I wanted to use today to make something I can use throughout the week in lunches or various dinners, so I polled on Facebook and Twitter about what to make. I had it narrowed down to two possibilities: slow-cooker BBQ pork or slow-cooker Italian beef. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of the Italian beef, but my decision was made up for me by the recipes. The key to good BBQ flavor is a touch of sweetness…brought by brown sugar. This eating plan I’m following leaves little wiggle room for extra sugar, and since I’m doing so well so far, I didn’t want to risk it!

Italian Beef is a Chicago staple, slightly different from the more well-known French Dip sandwich. The beef has a very spiced broth it’s slow-cooked in, and the sandwiches are, to the purists, served “wet” with sweet green peppers and sometimes mozzarella cheese. It’s been a long time since I’ve had good Italian beef, even though we live down the street from one of the best: Portillo’s.

I perused AllRecipes.comand myrecipes.com for various Italian beef recipes, and they ranged from super simple to quite complicated. I went with a variation on one of the simpler ones. Now, first is a picture of Adam’s Italian Beef, served more classically with no peppers, but plenty of juice, a crusty roll, and some mozzarella:


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And then, what I ate. I had a bed of cooked green peppers topped with the Italian beef, then a bit of cheese. Ok, more than a bit of cheese… I like cheese.

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It had all the classic flavor of the sandwich I wanted without any of the bread… Italian beef was a good choice! The recipe is simple:

Italian Beef

Ingredients

5 lb. beef roast, I used top round
3 c. water
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. red pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions
Add the beef to a large crock pot. Add water and remaining ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Pour over the beef, then cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Shred with two forks and serve.

I thoroughly enjoyed my deconstructed non-sandwich, and Adam loved his actual sandwich. I’m thinking this recipe is a keeper. That is, unless I get so sick of eating shredded Italian beef this week that I never want to see it again.

Don’t forget to click the “Save It” button above to save this recipe on your SpringPad! (You all have accounts now, right?)

I got one more anonymous question, as well as an un-needed apology. The girl who asked me the question I answered Friday about the pressure to look a certain way for my wedding thought that SHE was the one I was referring to when I mentioned the fat bride question. That wasn’t the case at all! I got a SEPARATE question asking “What was it like to be a fat bride?” and not the thoughtful one you asked. So, whoever you are, I’m not mad!! Your apology was very sweet, and definitely made me smile.

Hi! Do you want to have kids some day? Any timeline?
My mom will be very happy to read that YES we want to have kids some day! We’re thinking about maybe starting to try in about 2 years when Adam is done with grad school and has a steady job, and (knock on wood) I’m tenured at my current job. It’s definitely in the cards, just not right now.

Feel free to ask me anything!

I’m off to watch The Who perform at half time… I love that these guys are still performing!

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Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I got a whopping 3 anonymous questions today, so since dinner is far off, I’ll take tonight’s post to answer them! Just remember you can ask me anything on my “Ask Me” page… but if you’re going to ask me what it was like to be a fat bride, (yes someone asked) don’t bother. Anonymity brings the worst out in some people, as illustrated by this favorite (albeit a bit vulgar) cartoon of mine:

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So true, huh?

On to the questions:

How come you don’t do more giveaways, you could do healthy foods and cooking products.

To be completely honest, the reason I don’t do more healthy food giveaways and cooking products is because companies don’t send me the stuff. While I don’t mind occasionally giving away small things that I’m responsible for shipping, most giveaways I do involve the manufacturer or distributor sending you the prize. I’m merely a middle school Spanish teacher, and my blogging revenue does little more than assist in some of our grocery purchases. I’d love to be able to buy massive amounts of products simply to give away, it’s just not financially feasible right now. Also, I really suck at getting things out in the mail. Luckily Laura (who won my anniversary giveaway in NOVEMBER) is a friend of mine, and very patient.

As a bride, did you feel pressure to look a certain way? Did it affect your cooking/food choices at all?

ABSOLUTELY! I haven’t been what you would call “small” for a long time, but I did have this nagging little voice in the back of my head saying “you should get thin for the wedding, lose weight!” And then I went dress shopping. I found that there were dresses that looked amazing on my body at the size it was, which snapped me back to reality. That nagging feeling definitely stuck around for a while, but Adam and I joke that we were the only people to quit our diets BEFORE the wedding. Financially, as I mentioned yesterday, the $80 a month for the two of us to stay WW members wasn’t realistic anymore. We ate well on our own for a while, and then the stress of the wedding planning kicked in and it went to crap. I had less time and desire to cook, and more desire to eat what was easy, and I gained a little bit of weight. Do I wish I’d been in better shape for our wedding? Sure. But, did my size make the day any less fabulous and perfect? Absolutely not!

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You might have hit on this before, but I would love to know why you chose teaching? Was it something you always wanted to do or did you realize the desire to teach as you got older?

I’m one of the few people who have always known what they wanted to do when they “grew up.” I was lucky enough to have wonderful teachers almost every year that I was in school. I remember being asked in first grade what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said “a teacher.” I went through a brief phase in high school when I wanted to be a high school band director, but that passed quickly. The main reason I teach middle school though, is because of the amazing teachers I had in middle school. See, I wasn’t always as cool with the fact that I’m a geek as I am now. I’ve always been interested in technology, crafting, computers, and other things that weren’t “cool” in 1990-1994. There was a group of girls who decided that I was going to be their target for all things bitchy during that time. (A few of them have actually apologized in recent years, which is wonderful) My teachers saw what was happening, and took me, this skinny, short, geeky girl under their wing, and kept me busy after school so I could walk home after the girls had all left. I’m a Spanish teacher thanks to the love and support of my middle school Spanish teacher, with whom I just got reconnected. SO, in answer to your question, I’ve always known. :)

And, for part of Flashback Friday, I present you with my lovely 8th grade graduation portrait. Pre-boobs, pre-braces, pre-hair dye, complete with half-assed mall bangs, a floral bodysuit, and velvet choker. I am willing to bet there were zipper bottomed stone washed jeans French rolled with slouchy socks and velvet flats with this outfit too…

8th grade.tif

So with that, I leave you… come back tomorrow for a Super Bowl-themed Cute Food Saturday!

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Just Call Me HEAB…

Apparently, this is what happens. First come the combinations with the squash and coconut milk. Then come almond flour pancakes for breakfast, then comes this:

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What the heck is that? Apparently I’m taking after HEABy! Well, the toppings are obvious: homemade guacamole and sour cream. Under that, there’s some chili-lime chicken. Then, a little cheddar cheese. All of this is sitting on a warm spinach, mushroom, and tomato salsa. Where the heck did this idea come from??? Honestly, I have no idea. I really have no recipe for any of this stuff, but more of a procedure for each of the parts.

Part 1: Guacamole Mash 3-4 avocados in a bowl, add 1/4 c. chopped red onion, one chopped jalapeño, one chopped tomato, some cilantro (I used a bit of dried because the fresh stuff got gross), a little garlic powder, and the juice of two limes. Stir well, and add the pits of the avocados to prevent browning.

Part 2: Chili-Lime Chicken Chop 3 chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Add the juice of 3 limes, about 1 Tbsp. chili powder, a bit of garlic powder, and 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Then stir in one coarsely chopped jalapeño and allow to marinate about 20 minutes. Add chicken to a hot pan, lightly sear all sides, then add 1/2 c. water, lower the heat, and cover. Cook 10 minutes.

Part 3: Warm Mushroom Spinach Salsa Heat another frying pan. Add a bit of olive oil, then about 6 or 7 small white mushrooms, sliced. Cook a few minutes, then add 2 diced roma tomatoes. Cook a couple minutes until juices are released from the mushrooms. Add 2 big handfuls of spinach. Cook until wilted, then add hot sauce to your taste. Stir well and serve.

I liked the layering action happening in this bowl, but of course my favorite part was the guacamole. I could’ve eaten the entire 3-avocado bowl of it, but I want to try to save some for you know, another meal.

Thank you all so much for the compliments on the new ‘do! I’m loving it, and its definitely taking some getting used to. I actually walked past a mirror today and didn’t recognize myself.

I got another anonymous question today! Someone asked:

Are you still following Weight Watchers?

In a word: no. Last spring, I found myself getting obsessive about counting Points, far too emotionally attached to the number on the scale, and would end up crying most Saturday mornings after my meetings. I’d been stuck at the same weight for a long time (almost 3 years). In June or so, we decided to not re-up our Weight Watchers membership and save the $80 a month. Between then and now, I’ve gained back about 15 or 20 lbs depending on the day, and I’m not ok with it. This is why the eats have been looking a bit different.

With the support of my good friend at work as well as our favorite Almond Butter Lover, I’m following the plan touted by Mark’s Daily Apple and others known as the Paleo diet. It’s a higher protein, high vegetables, low-dairy, no-grain, and as-natural-as-possible eating plan. I’ve been following it for almost a week, and am feeling better than I have in quite some time! I’m hoping that eventually, I’ll actually start losing weight again. I always scoffed at the “low carb” eating plans, but I’m starting to think it may be a good thing for me. I’m less hungry now than I was when I was eating tons of grains and starches. Feeling good is almost enough… but I’d like to lose some weight again too without being obsessed about numbers in any way.

Who’s got another one for me??

Don’t forget to vote for Jenn and Bobby in the Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest!

Finally Friday tomorrow!!!!


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