Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to.....me! Haha, well today I am officially 25. I can't believe time has gone by this fast. Sometimes I still feel like that giggly middle schooler getting in trouble for talking too much in band (love you Trina Martinez, happy birthday sister!). But the years fly by and I have done many of the things I have always wanted to do by this age, though many more are to come.

In high school a palm reader (disclaimer here, I did NOT want my palm to be read!) told me among other things that I would want to go to college, but I wouldn't be able to. I now have a bachelor's degree and I *hope* to be done with my master's degree this coming May. I've gotten to travel the world, a bit, and plan to travel much much more. I've tried things that I wanted to do but wasn't sure if I would be able to do it....and surprised myself. The same message that I've learned is one I want to reiterate again and again to the children and teenagers I work with. That, often times well meaning and well-intentioned voices will tell you things like "can't", "won't", "not able to", or warn you that its difficult or too hard, but so what? If you want it, go after it and enjoy accomplishing something worthwhile.

This kind of sets the pace for the next 25 years. This morning I thanked God for these 25 years of my life so far, how wonderful they have been, and I prayed that God would use the next 25 years, and the 25 years after that, as a gift for others. I wish I had a cool scripture in mind to insert here but ohhh well....

Anywho, to business. Well, I finally did get that one weight watchers book, and Mrs.-I-am-getting-my-masters should have really taken a closer look because its not really about the point system at all. Whoops. At least it was only 30 cents, so not much regret there. Actually, I'm kinda OK with it. Since I've been thinking about losing weight and being healthier, I've been making more of an effort to add in fruits and veggies and really think about getting dessert or whatever. Do I really want it, or is it just out of habit? I have also joined a new fitness craze and I LOVE IT! Have you tried ZUMBA? I look forward to it all week, its the best workout for me. It combines all sorts of dance and some kickboxing....mostly its just really fun b/c you get to shake your hips and its a workout (ACU people, don't freak out....j/k) Most of the moves are pretty simple and are things I learned in colorguard and baton (a million years ago, but your body still remembers some stuff). Greg and I have also been riding our bikes every chance we get when Texas gives us a weird warm day and I love it!

I am anxious to get my garden started, but I must wait until the frost ends. I plan to start in April, and Greg is going to get me some railroad ties to section off my garden. Last year (see picture up top) I planted quite a bit in quite a small box. I tried corn, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, and some herbs. Things got nice and green at first then everything just got wayy too crowded and the pumkpins took over. So, this year, we are utilizing the vast empty space of our backyard (minus the willowtree we planted, which we are not sure if its survived yet) and trying again!! I am so excited, I am not sure what I want to plant yet, but I know that pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, and watermelon are all one the list. I'm going to use the box the Greg built for me last year for wildflowers, lavender, and herbs. I also want to plant a peach tree and a grapefruit tree someday, but as I've learned, trees can get a little pricey. Still excited though, any gardening tips for a novice? Advice welcome!

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Dinner tonight: Sweet and Sour Shrimp w/ brown rice.

The verdict: Yum-O! This was my first time to cook shrimp and while I was a bit nervous about buying fresh shrimp and cooking it, it was actually really really easy! Thanks HEB for having an excellent fresh seafood department.

Positives: delicious, only 3 points (plus however many for the rice), very filling, surprisingly easy to make, not too many ingredients, cooks up very quickly

Not-so-positives: makes quite a few dishes- skillet, rice maker, mixing bowl, cutting board, fresh shrimp is a bit pricey ($5.30 for 3/4 lbs) but overall not too expensive since it did make 4 servings, also shrimp is high in cholesteral so not a dish for those who have doctor's order to watch their LDL levels.

Soo, definitely going to make again, a winner! It's nice to know whats going into my food and how its prepared. I generally don't worry too much, but now that I'm thinking a bit more about health its nice to be aware of whats going into my body and what kind of effects it has. For instance, I used to think taco beuno was not too unhealthy. Beans are good for you right? Then I did a bit of research, and...their beans are jam packed with calories and fat! I guess refried beans should have been my first clue, but I really thought that they were a good choice when in actuality, a taco seems to be a better choice. Or better yet, the taco soup, which is quite tasty.

So, first steps in this long journey...learning to make good choices! Allow me to tell you a bit about some not so healthy choices this week, which seemed like good ideas at the time b/c I was hungry and tired! Monday, had a meeting with a professor and got out at 3, and was pretty hungry when I got out. I stopped at wallyworld to get some gas (first time I've pumped my own gas in my honda, btw) and lo' and behold, taco casa with 69 cent tacos! I got a taco and a burrito for just $1.50, which filled me up but was literally dripping in grease. I can't believe I've forgotten that taco casa is a greasy spoon, was high school really that long ago? Anywho, felt pretty blah after that. Today was more of the same. I felt lazy and pretty unmotivated to fix anything and hey! Fried chicken sounds great. So got a snack pack at Chicken X and again with the selective memory. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day :)

3 stars for sausage and bean soup

We tried out a recipe from my new 5 ingredient weight watcher book today called "Sausage and Black Bean Soup". Heres how it goes...

Saute 6 oz. of sliced turkey sausage until browned, then saute 1 chopped bell pepper. Add one and a half cup chicken (I used beef) low sodium broth and bring to a boil. Lower temperate, add a 15 oz. can of black beans that have been drained and rinsed and 1/4 cup of salsa (I used rotel tomatoes and chiles, since thats what I had). Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, makes 4 one cup servings, 2 points each.

The Positives: low point value, easy to make, takes less than 15 minutes with little clean up, and is cheap.

The not-so-Positives: bland, it definitely needed some seasoning, or at the very least a jalepeno pepper. Also not very filling, I had a serving with half a grilled cheese sandwhich and an orange (7 points all together) and I felt hungry again soon after.

I don't know if I'll be making this again, unless I make some major modifications, like more seasoning and heat.

Also on the menu today: banana and coffee for breakfast, lunch above, flaxseed waffle w/ tbsp of peanut butter and nutella for after workout snack w/ skim milk, pizza rolls and baked cheetos for dinner, ww ice cream bar for dessert, and a bowl of peaches, mango, pineapple, stawberry, and blueberry for snack.

Overall, I think I did pretty well for the day, worked out, had 3 servings of fruit, and 1-2 servings of veggies (really good for me!). Still waiting on my ww book, I am hopeful it will come tomorrow!

Welcome 2011!!

I can't believe its already a new year, how exciting! Hope everyone enjoyed a (safe) and fun New Year's Eve. Greg and I had a great evening, relaxing and watching Psych on netflix.

We had lunch w/ Greg's family today (minus Chris, who was out of town), ate my black-eyed peas so I'll have a good year! Also had some great fresh pineapple and strawberries (w/ shortcake tehe) at lunch. Had taco beuno for dinner- a muchaco w/ some fresh avocado slices and a cheesecake chimichanga. We went and saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader- by far the best Narnia movie, absolutely love it! I can't actually remember much of the book, except it was my favorite when I read them several years ago. Maybe after grad school I'll read the series again.

Isn't fruit magnificant? I just ate an orange (instead of a biscotti, I might add) and I just marveled at how wonderful God's creation is. And yummy too.

Yesterday Greg and I braved the crowds and went grocery shopping at HEB. One of my new year's resolutions (among losing weight) is to cook healthy and budget friendly meals. I still haven't gotten my weight watcher book, but I have gotten two cookbooks so Greg and I perused them and picked out several recipes for this week. Heres whats on the menu....

1. Sweet and sour shrimp w/ rice (4 servings, so enough for leftovers since Greg doesn't eat shrimp, he'll substitute chicken)
2. Tex-mex pepper steak w/ rice
3. Tuscan chicken and beans w/ garlic bread (spaghetti on the side for Greg, the chicken dish is not very caloric)
4. Onion minestra w/ garlic bread (sloppy joe or leftovers on the side for Greg)
5. Sausage and black bean soup w/ quesadillas

I feel like we're going to be cooking two dinners on some nights, since some of the dishes aren't things that Greg likes or enough to fill him up. He is trying to gain one pound a week, and needs about 3000-3500 calories a day. Hopefully we can settle on a few dishes that suit both are needs, are cheap, and don't take a million ingredients or dishes to make. I like to get in and get out of the kitchen on most nights very quickly, though I do enjoy cooking a big fresh meal occasionally. I just want a simple menu that can be interchanged so that we can easily prepare meals w/o a lot of waste. Some recipes I try are not very practical. For instance, I love Rachel Ray and have two of her recipe books. But, a lot of her stuff calls for quite a bit of fresh ingredients, which I like, but it can be pricey and we can never finish it all so quite a bit goes to waste. I've given up on buying fresh herbs, and try to avoid recipes that call for condiments I don't typically use. I've also switched to buying frozen chicken, and defrosting it in the fridge as we need it. I also gave up on baking/buying desserts (I know, big surprise since I have such a sweet tooth!) b/c we never finish more than a quarter of it. I do keep our freezer fairly stocked w/ frozen treats though.

Speaking of frozen treats, I bought these weight watcher ice cream candy bars and they are delicious!!! They are 3 points, and taste better than a snickers! I had to exercise great control to only eat one yesterday by reminding myself that a "diet" dessert isn't "diet" when you eat 5!

List for tomorrow: weight training workout in the morning, church, lunch, tend to the yard, applications for professionals abroad, informed consent for IRB. Ready.....break!