Breaking the 180 barrier (PHFR#10)

Monday morning was the first time I have weighed under 180 lbs. in a really long time.  I was kind of expecting to not keep the weight off, since Sunday was one of those weird food days when you end up accidentally missing a meal or two.  Amazingly, I'm still under 180 lbs, for which I'm really thankful. It also makes me

Happy

177.8 lbs.  This dress is actually a little loose, and only another 5 lbs until my next stitch fix box!

I'm also really happy that I'm doing well at sticking with the GAPS diet.  I tried another new recipe this past weekend, and am glad I did: Parsnip Fries.  Of course, after I made them, I realized that it actually wasn't GAPS legal, so I'm thinking of trying this with carrots instead of parsnips as some point. As an added bonus, you can actually buy carrot sticks already cut up, so the prep time would be way shorter!

They got a little brown...but the ones that aren't burnt tasted really good!

I followed the recipe, but the fries ended up burning.  I'm wondering if the size of my oven has something to do with that--I have an apartment size stove, so the half-sheet pictured is the largest cookie sheet that will fit in my oven (there is less than a half inch left of space all the way around).  I'm wondering if having the sides of the oven so close to your baking dish make the cooking go quicker.  Or, maybe it is just that my knife skills aren't uniform enough.

Yep, this is my oven. Cute, isn't it?

I've about come to the conclusion that I really need to take some cooking classes so that I can be better at the prep part of cooking.  I have a pretty good handle on what spices and flavors go together, although I tend to be a little boring in that department, but uniform cutting and presentation are not my strong suit.

I'll never compete for one of those cooking shows, but I would like to make the process of cooking less tedious, and I think knowing some of the prep skills would be helpful.

Pretty

So, the evening of the Parsnip Fries, we bought a rotisserie chicken for dinner, and added some leftover butternut squash.  I have to say that the picture of dinner is definitely close to food porn.  I don't think I've ever been that good at taking a picture of dinner before. Maybe it is because I'm actually using my camera instead of the camera on my phone.

See the steam rising from dinner?

One of the other things I'm currently working on is adding more liquids to my diet--my real problem is that I don't particularly like drinking plain water.  This is why I usually resort to drinking carbonated or mineral water most of the time.  However, I'm also trying to economize on my grocery bill, so I've been looking for ways to do so.  Here is my solution:

Cucumbers!

I'm liking the taste, and, since I have the reusable aluminum bottles from when I worked at UTEP, I didn't have to make any kind of investment to create this solution.  I just have to be careful, because, when I drink from them in class, I'm incredibly tempted to crunch on the cucumbers while I'm teaching!

Funny

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL this last week, and it is fun to watch everything bloom.  In an effort to lower utility bills, we have been opening windows and turning on ceiling fans in an effort to refrain from turning on the A/C just yet.  The dogs are taking it in stride, although they will sometimes peer through the windows of the screen doors.  

Even though it is getting warmer, they are still vying for who gets to snooze on the quilt I'm working on, though.  I'm going to have to start another quilt immediately after this one is done in order for them to continue to have a place to sleep!

Ha-Ha, Bubba.  It is my turn!

Real

One of the side-effects of moving to central TX and all of the wonderful, glorious green is that I'm really struggling with allergies.  I've been told by both my dr. and several friends that this area is notorious for being bad for people with allergies--we are in the middle of a valley, so pollen blows in, but it doesn't really blow out.  Since coming back from Christmas in the desert, I have had 2 rounds of antibiotics for bronchitis, and I'm currently on steroids.  I'm really hoping that the steroids help...otherwise, I may have to do antibiotics as well.  

I'm thinking that opening windows is not the best way to economize.

I'm also starting to realize that, when you don't like fish and you can't do dairy, figuring out what to eat for Fridays in lent is a struggle....I did curried lentil soup last week, and will be making meatless split peas this week, but I'm running out of ideas for what to eat.  I have a feeling that at least part of my weekend will be used to look for some interesting vegetarian recipes.

Split peas soaking so that I can throw them in the crock-pot tomorrow.

Lastly, one of the easiest breakfasts on the GAPS diet is eggs: fried eggs, scrambled eggs, veggie frittatas, etc.  I may become an egg if I eat very many more of them!  So, today, I had a bowl of fresh strawberries for breakfast.  They tasted really good, but they didn't stick with me for very long.  I was already feeling hungry again by the time I had been at work for 30 minutes.  So, I'm going to need to think of something else to have for breakfast, or at least think of some sort of supplement to fresh fruit.

Any ideas are welcome!

Breakfast this morning.  I love the contrast of the blue with the red of the strawberries.

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Plateaus (PHFR#9)

I have been hovering at around 181 lbs. of late.  I know that some of it is that I've been eating outside my house more, which means I have less control over what I'm eating.  I also know that some of it has been that I've found several REALLY good recipes for GAPS friendly desserts, and I've been going a bit overboard with them.  (Chocolate mousse is made with Avocado, so it's a healthy breakfast, right?!?!?).  I actually made another batch this past weekend, and ended up with like 15 servings--this time around ended up with more a consistency of pudding, though. I ran out of room in my food processor to add all of the cocoa powder that the recipe called for--a triple recipe is a little much, but I didn't want to have to throw out avocados. Well, that, and I kind of added about a 1/3 more coconut milk than the recipe called for.  It still tastes good, and that is what matters.

One thing that this diet is forcing me to do is try out new recipes, and that makes me

Happy

I made some almond flour biscuits this weekend, too.

I was too busy working on my chocolate mousse to get these out before they got a little brown, but it is nice to have some sort of bread-type food available.  The biscuits are actually a bit sweet for my taste--I've always been a savory bread type of girl, and back when I could eat gluten, I would routinely half the amount of sugar asked for in a recipe.  I will likely do that the next time I make these, or maybe even eliminate it completely, since there is no yeast that needs feeding in these.  I also subbed apple cider vinegar for the lemon. 

Sunday was actually a huge baking day for me.  I also made some Cauliflower tortillas.  Based on what people said, and the amount of cauliflower I had (2 heads), I kind of modified this as well--it is somewhere between the above recipe and this one.  So, I used 6 eggs for the 2 heads, and added some Italian spices: garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil.  Next time I do this, I may try a mexican twist: cumin and cilantro, maybe.  Then I can make some tacos with it.

I brought the torillas for lunch. I plan to eat them with leftover spaghetti sauce, mostly because I need to find another subsitute for pasta than spaghetti squash.

I also made some chia seed pudding, in spite of the fact that I'm allergic to raw apples.  I just cooked the apples with the cinnamon and the coconut milk from the recipe, then mixed in the chia seeds, a little bit of honey (maybe a tablespoon for the whole batch), and some vanilla (1 tsp.).  I'm thinking that this would be good without the apples, or maybe with cooked pears instead.  I plan to do some experimenting to see what else tastes good.  

One serving of the chia seed pudding.  Next time, I peel the apples before cooking them.

On a side note, buying these little 4 ounce jars had to have been the best investment I've ever made. They make a perfect serving of sweet stuff.  They also make a perfect serving of fermented veggies for lunch at work.  

And, I especially bought some parsnips the last time I was at the store in order to try this recipe for parsnip fries.  I've been making fries out of green beans by baking them until crispy, but thought this might be a nice change.  I just haven't gotten around to it yet.  Maybe tomorrow as a celebration for the end of the week.

Funny

Lest you think that all I can think about is food, I have to share what happened this weekend when I turned on the sprinkler in my back yard for the first time ever.  

Take that, water spray!

I got you now!

Hey, get back here!!!

 Yep, Sassy decided that she needed to attack the water from the sprinkler. And, after she got tired, she would rest a bit and then go back and play some more.  I don't think I've ever seen a dog get so excited about a water sprinkler.

Ironically, it started raining the next day, so I could have dispensed from watering to begin with, but seeing how much Sassy loved the sprinkler was worth it.

My dogs are definitely spoiled: behold, their very own staircase.

I was getting concerned because Sassy is just short enough that she can't actually make it on my bed half the time she tries.  I cringe every time she tries and fails, because I'm worried that she will break or sprain a leg at some point.  Even so, I'd gotten a bit sick of picking her up every time she wants up at night (at ~25 lbs, she is also getting a bit heavy to lift when I'm already on the bed).  With my bed reaching waist height on me, it IS a pretty tall bed.  Now, Sassy just heads up the stairs when she wants to get on.  My back thanks her!!!

Pretty

So, I worked on two other projects this past weekend--getting some of the worst of the stains from the wood floors, and building a compost bin.

Before using goof-off in the entry-way

After.  I'm pretty impressed with the stuff, and will be buying more.

I just did a small part of the floor as a test, but really like how it got the old carpet glue up. I imagine it would get more of the paint up, if I were to scrub hard enough, too.  When I rent a sander and take off the old finishing later this month (I'm hoping to do so during spring break), it will mean having to use less sandpaper, since it won't be gummed up by the old glue.

What will become my compost bin...Now all I have to do is rake my front yard to fill it!

The bin isn't as pretty as I'd like, but it should be functional, and it will keep the dogs out of the compost, I hope.  I will post what it looks like once full. And, the actual compost will be nice to put around my 2 trees that survived to this point from November.  Unfortunately, Sassy dug up and tore up one of the 3 trees--the hazard of having over-active puppies!

Real

One of the things I love about living in central Texas is the variety of wildlife that isn't really around in the desert, where I have lived most of my life.  I have seen Blue Birds and Cardinals hanging out in the trees surrounding my property.  I've even thought about putting out a bird feeder, but have hesitated because of my fur-babies.  This is why:

I was able to help this little guy get out of the yard, but I'm not sure if I did so in time to save his life

This guy was on the ground on the inside of my back-yard fence, obviously injured.  Trying to keep the dogs away from him was virtually impossible--3 of our 4 dogs have at least a little bit of hunting or herding dog in them.  I was able to help him (her?) flutter over the fence away from the digdogs, and then I put out some sunflower seeds near him, but he had disappeared when I checked for him a couple of hours later.

While I really like my coloring picture a day calendar, I'm finding that leaving it at my office was maybe not the best idea I've ever had.  Because I have been trying to do all of my grading while at work instead of bringing it home, I'm finding that I have a whole lot less down time than I thought I would have.  Which means I've got a lot of pictures I really want to color laying around my office.

On the left, pictures I really like. On the right, pictures that don't do a whole lot for me, with Padre Pio looking over all of it.

If I can't color them myself, at least I can share the wealth.

So, I hit on a way to help keep my desk from getting too cluttered by pictures to color.  I'm letting students grab them to color themselves.  I wish I could color all of them, but it just isn't possible with all the other things I have to do.  

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