Trinity of despair

Sick kids, broken and flooding washing machine, dog died.  All in the span of 24 hours.  Talk about taking the wind out of someone's sails.

What's for Dinner tonight?

Campbell's has some exciting new prepared stuff that make life a bit easier for those of us with little weeknight time.

Check out the soup aisle, but look high and low for some of their bagged "Skillet Sauce" mixes.  They are so simple. You need the product itself, a pound of meat (specified on the bag) and then whatever sides you choose. Visit their website to snag a coupon.

I highly recommend the green curry chicken mix. We have also tried a Chicken Marsala and tonight's selection is Toasted Sesame (chicken).

You seriously just chop the meat according to package directions, brown it, add sauce, warm and serve over pasta or rice.  Waaaay too easy.  And also well within dietary limitations for point watchers.

Some are a teeny bit too sweet, and I prefer homemade Marsala, but I plan to keep this in the pantry because it is too easy to brown chicken and steam rice!  It gives me a lot more time to play with this girl: 

Iced Coffee

There are so many differing opinions out there about what makes a good cup of coffee, and what specifically, makes a good cup of iced coffee.

Iced coffee, for me, is pretty addictive.  I love it.  And living in Austin in the summertime, one needs to have a constantly available array of cool beverages from which to imbibe.

I grew up drinking both coffee and tea.  My parents didn't withhold coffee from us, and we drank "coffee-milk" as children.  It was a treat.  We drank a ton of iced tea, unsweet, sometimes with mint or lemon and sometimes without.  My mother always bought Lipton Decaffeinated tea bags, and this is my preference for iced tea today.

(You may be thinking that a southern gal drinking unsweet tea feels a bit blasphemous, but I grew up in the home of a dietitian, so just stay with me.)

Iced coffee came along in our home later in childhood, perhaps around my teen years when my mother began making a shaken iced coffee beverage with milk, sweetener and instant coffee.  This luckily, has been replaced in both her home and pretty much everywhere with freshly brewed coffees.

I'm very partial to a cool cup of espresso, and will frequently stop for an iced cup of java while out and about, but for my own kitchen, I love cold brew iced coffee.

For a while, I thought it might be silly to have another kitchen accoutrement just for the purpose of making cold brew coffee, but once my parents bought one of these, I couldn't help myself and had to buy one!

I use my Toddy weekly in the summertime.  It is pretty easy.  You wet the filter and add seven cups of cold water and a pound of coffee grounds (alternating) to the plastic brewing container, let it sit overnight on the counter, then drain and store in your fridge for up to two weeks. My only complaint is that the Toddy carafe is more like a laboratory beaker and is pretty thin glass.

This cold brew coffee is lower acid, and unfortunately begs to be used up way too quickly!  I like to use flavored coffees, too, which I don't normally drink.  And this summer while nursing V2.0, I've switched to decaf cold brew, so that my wee one isn't overly caffeinated throughout her day.

Yum!

Roasted broccoli

I've always been a broccoli eater, but as an adult - and especially while I was a pregnant adult - I found and find it difficult to eat the same old, steamed broccoli once or twice each week.

It is SO good for me.  High in iron, high in fiber, a seriously positive food for nourishing our bodies. . but sometimes boring. 

I'm all for a cheesy or creamy vegetable side dish from time to time, but you sort of negate the purpose of healthy eating when you add cheese. (Do you hear me, San Antonio Squash Casserole?  Or Fried Cabbage?  Or all of you Brussels Sprouts recipes that call for extreme amounts of bacon???)

I love all of these, but trying to eat healthy is a marathon, not a sprint, and one more easily done with lighter foods in one's tummy.

So, caramelized, roasted broccoli.  This is a recipe that is all over the internet, so it cannot really be credited to any one source.

Caramelized Roasted Broccoli

One head of broccoli, washed, dried and cut or torn into small, bite-sized florets
Cooking Spray
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
One lemon

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees. 
2.  Place broccoli in a large bowl or zipper bag and spray well with cooking spray.  (I like to use my Misto oil sprayer that pumps and allows for refills and therefore use olive oil without any chemical propellant.)  Toss broccoli in oil and spray again, if necessary, until you can see that the broccoli has at least a visible coat in some places.
3.  Combine salt and sugar and sprinkle over the broccoli, tossing well.
4.  Place broccoli on a cookie sheet in a single layer and place in oven for ten minutes.  Watch carefully.  You are looking for browned spots, but the broccoli should not be burned or blackened.  Serve warm, sprinkled with lemon juice, if desired.

My husband does not like the lemon juice, nor does V1.0, so I usually don't use it. 

Also, do not omit the sugar.  The amount is negligible, and it is needed to assist in the caramelization process. 

This is one of those recipes that is so easy and has been a go-to food for our family.  I snack on any leftovers while doing dishes.  Never thought I'd be a broccoli-snacker!

Emergency tacos

While on maternity leave, V1.0 has still been going to daycare.  That may be flameworthy to some, but it has given me the fantastic opportunity to bond equally with V2.0, and also to get some things done around the house.

I've found my kitchen again, and that's a good thing.   We are eating more at home, which is really great, for both our budget and our waistlines (both always a struggle for this mama).

The trouble is that we like to eat out.  It is so convenient and doesn't involve a clean up.  I just need to be better about keeping certain staples around.

So, this afternoon, when I was thinking about what might be for dinner, I realized that we had ZERO to feed this family.  What could be healthy for mama, feed V1.0 and interest the mister without heading to the grocery store?

Emergency tacos.

I realized that I had everything to improvise a quick taco dinner already at home!  The only thing missing were the crispy taco shells and taco seasoning.

The last time I needed ground beef for some recipe, I only needed half a pound.  Luckily, I had browned the entire pound with chopped onion and froze half.  So, I threw that in a skillet to warm up.

Then I added a few cubes of frozen chicken broth to help get some moisture back in the beef crumbles.  "Cubes?" you ask?   I use a ton of chicken broth around here.  But never the entire container.  I always pour leftovers in an ice cube tray to use later.  Just pop them out and throw in a freezer bag and keep going!

To make your own taco seasoning in a pinch, add equal parts of the following ingredients:

Cumin

Oregano

Onion powder

Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Then add chili powder, but two times the amount you did for everything else.   To clarify: if you used 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt, etc., then use half a teaspoon of chili powder. 

I have ancho chili powder on hand, so I did half ancho chili and half regular. The ancho is mild but a bit darker and I think it gives depth to anything calling for chili powder.

So, for my half pound of meat, I used a half teaspoon of everything and a teaspoon total of chili powders.

Throw that in the skillet and mix well into your ground beef/onion mixture. Give it a minute or two on low heat.

I hate to crumble lower fat ground meat when cooking. So, this is when I'm willing to dirty another dish. I throw the meat in the Kitchen-Aid, and using the whisk attachment on a medium speed, I walk away. :)

While that's happening, put everything down and cuddle this person:

Now, put her down and drag out everything else you're going to need:

Tortillas

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Carrots

Shredded cheese

Canned, refried beans

Chips

Salsa

Whatever else you think sounds good

I also have some Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Ranch dressing (have you tried this stuff?!?!?!), and canned chipotles in adobo.  Did you know that chipotles are just smoked jalapenos?  This is another thing you can freeze in ice cube trays.  No recipe EVER calls for the entire can.  One thing to consider, however, is that some chiles lose a bit of heat in the freezing process. 

So, I made our own chipotle ranch by combining two tablesoons of ranch dressing, and one ice cube of adobo with a chopped chipotle. And I had a salad. Sans chips or tortillas.

The mister ate a taco and a salad with beans on the side. 

V1.0 had a beef and cheese quesadilla with beans and tomatoes.

Yum.

Sugar Free Baked Blueberry Oatmeal. And a weigh-in day!

Weigh in.  Ran into the clinic and acted like I owned the place now that I know how to use their scale.  I'm down another four pounds.  I could get used to this!   My goal was a loss of five pounds before the end of maternity leave, but as long as I lose a half pound in the coming week, I will be down ten.  Could we see a total of fifteen before August 20?  That would be awesome.

Moving forward.

So, I've been searching for a hand-held, baked, oatmeal breakfast thing.

I've been searching for a couple of years.

I decided to try another one that would fit a couple of needs: as I mentioned, I need to be able to carry it. I also want copious oatmeal in it; anything else defeats purpose. It needs to taste good, and it must be enough to serve as the main staple for any breakfast. 

Oatmeal can get a little sponge-y when baked with too much moisture.  One thing to watch out for.

So I found a recipe.  I made substitutions based on diet.  It is a decent start. I imagine the original is pretty good as is. I love rhubarb.  I don't feel one can go wrong with that tarty goodness. You can find the original on over here.

So, my version contains blueberries, as you can see. I hit our grocery store and alas, rhubarb in neither a fresh nor frozen state was available.  I also used Splenda, instead of honey, as called for by the original recipe.  Let's digress for a second...

Generally speaking, I am not supportive of using sugar substitutes - particularly in baking. Some have a detectable and particular taste, others may have an aftertaste, and many are not widely appreciated by moms because of their chemical composition. My biggest argument against using a substitute is the outcome of your recipe.

Baking is more of a science. Heat, applied to certain materials, results in particular chemical reactions. The ingredients we use impact these reactions, as well. A substitution like Splenda (for sugar, for example) can make a baked item more brittle and dry.

I used the Splenda because I wanted to use up the giant box that lives in our pantry without feeding to the wee ones.  I bought it to make a dessert for my dad (diabetic) a while ago.  I hate throwing stuff out.  So I thought, "Hmm.  Probably can reduce the WW points in this with that box of yellow."  There you go.

I also omitted the almonds by accident. This lowered the calorie content, but seriously think about using almonds.  

Finally, if you're planning to use blueberries as I did, I would zest a lemon and add that - and also roll your berries in sweetener/sugar before throwing them in the pan.

Anyway, I cut this recipe into eight servings.  That's three points a piece.  Not too shabby. And an added bonus is that oat is a galactagogue, so while losing weight, I continue to support lactation in other ways through my diet.  And oats can help me lower my cholesterol.  So many bonuses.

In all, I'm going to keep working on this one.  I want to do the original with rhubarb. I don't even care about the strawberries.  Rhubarb without strawberries is equally fantastic.  I love rhubarb pie - not strawberry rhubarb. It is an undersung produce item.   I want the final product to be dry and crumbly, so I've got to work on that.  I want it to be awesome and we aren't there yet.  

If you find what I'm looking for, please share it!!!

I wouldn't eat it

The other day, while pondering what we could eat for dinner that would fit within my plan and also feed the mister, I discovered a half pound of ground turkey in the freezer.

Now, normally, I buy turkey and ground beef simultaneously and then combine in recipes to reduce my intake of red meat. 

I should have stuck with this plan.

Instead, I made a WW recipe, Southwestern Turkey Burgers. 

Ground turkey

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Onion

Baked tortilla chips crumbled into the mixture

Other ingredients that don't help

What a horrible idea. What I can say that was good about the recipe: the portion size of the patty was generous and filling. 

What I can say otherwise:  not funny, self. Not funny, at all.  No matter what, turkey is pretty dry. The recipe suggests that one add a quarter cup of salsa to the pound of turkey before forming patties to add moisture. I assure you, the moisture cooks out. Completely.

And, the burger patty by itself had absolutely no flavor. Not very satisfying for someone losing weight when every bite is being counted.

In the end, what made these salvageable was to add a quarter cup of canned, fat-free, refried black beans to the sandwich.  Give yourself a tablespoon of shredded cheese on there. Blacken a poblano pepper and add half of that. If you are feeling like you can afford it, throw a few crumbled and salty tortilla chips on there.  In salvaging the burgers, we simply masked anything else in there with this new stuff.  

Dinner saved. Whew!!!

Week One

Week one of Me, Revamped complete. 

I've eaten a lot of dairy. And plant matter.  I even squeezed in fast food - and it was delicious - and didn't violate the principles of my plan.

I'd love to do some fad diet that would help me consistently lose 6-8 pounds each week, but first and foremost, I am currently the sole source of nutrition for 2.0, and she comes first. Terribly rapid weight loss would tank my supply.  I also firmly believe that, for me, gradual weight loss of no greater than an average of 1-3 pounds in a week will have lasting results and help me to change my eating habits long term.

Did I ever mention that my mom is a dietitian?  

Or that I was actually put on a statin back in 2007 because my cholesterol peaked at 360? Crazy. (The cholesterol. Not my mom.) I don't ever want to be there again.

Our scale is wonky at home. I actually have to drive to my doctor's office to weigh myself!! I've lost 4.6 pounds this week. Go, me.

Today is a designated 'clean up day', meaning, I'm not letting myself start a new project until the house is picked up. And new projects are like carrots that are constantly dangling in front of me.

There's the 1x8x8 ruler growth chart. And the coat rack the Mister FINALLY agreed to let me hang. Only five years after we moved here.  And do not get me started on how I could peruse cookbooks for hours. Dangerous.

Picture wall.

This will be a photo tutorial comprised of crummy iPhone pictures! (Yay!!)

So, I wanted to redo the photo wall along our stairs.  Without breaking the bank.  I got all of my photos ready/printed and counted them by size - ex: three 4x6, one 8x10, etc.

Enter Goodwill. I hit three separate Goodwill locations around town, and purchased frames there.  I only bought frames that already had unbroken glass.

I assembled my tools:

Photos, frames, needle nose pliers, super glue (I like this Scotch brand kind)

Sawtooth hangers

sawtooth picture hangers

toothpaste (I promise), thumbtacks or push pins, scratch paper, a writing utensil, scissors, a hammer, small nails, and adhesive foam mounting squares:

I assembled all frames and photos. The needle nose pliers were particularly handy when it came to removing the "easel foot" (no idea what that's really called).

Your basic easel foot.

I then super glued sawtooth hangers to each frame.  These are so much easier to hang than the little metal loop/ hanger that sometimes appears on the back of frames. 

Your useless hanger thing.

While the glue is setting, I traced all frames on paper and cut these out.  I wrote a brief description on the paper of what appears in that photo/frame -example: "babies in pink".

Then I began to arrange the frames on the floor to determine the pseudo-layout.

Next, I tacked my paper cutouts to the wall, in a manner similar to the floor layout:

Next, I interrupted my project to do a bit of tummy time with V2.0:

Then, I began hanging frames.  

Here is where your toothpaste becomes handy.  On each sawtooth hanger, place a teeny dot of toothpaste, dead center.  

Now, hold that frame exactly where you want it and push gently in the vicinity of the hanger to ensure the toothpaste makes contact with the wall.

Pull the frame away from the wall, and voila! You know exactly where to place your nail!! 

I hammered the nails in exactly in the middle of the toothpaste or just below it. 

Hang away!

The foam squares will come in handy if you find the frames shift when the house shakes.

The wall turned out beautifully, with pictures of our minis, our furry love, places we love, us, and special items like our wedding invitation and the minis' birth announcements.  I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that my stairwell smells a bit minty, as well!!

Friday night dinner

These are good - really good (in the words of the great Nacho Libre).   Even the Mister will eat it.

I calculated the WW momentum points without a bun -  You're looking at 4-5 points per serving.  So go ahead and eat that pickle, bun, and side salad.

Almost Meatless Sloppy Joes - adapted from Cooking Light.  Makes six servings.

• 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces ground sirloin 
• 1/2 cup grated carrot (I used bagged, matchstick carrots, because, heck - no one was watching.) 
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can low-sodium red beans, rinsed, drained, and divided               

Preparation

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, begin browning ground sirloin.  After a couple of minutes, add onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, to pan; cook 5 minutes or until meat is browned and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally to crumble beef.
2. Add carrot, chili powder, sugar, oregano, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes or until thickened and carrot is tender, stirring occasionally.

Before the tomatoes

1. Partially mash 1 cup beans with a fork or potato masher (OR wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, and mash up the beans in your hands, taking out any aggression that may have built up today). Add mashed beans and remaining whole beans to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. 

After a delicious bite!!

Uh, so, it has been a while.

But, I'm back.  We will see how long this lasts.

Lots of projects happening around our house.

Our original wee one will be two in - GASP - two weeks.

Our freshest wee one will be two months on Sunday.

There's a birthday party in the works- Monsters, duh.

A picture wall over the stairs coming shortly.

A cardigan in the works for 1.0.

A cardigan in the works for 2.0.

Fabric purchased for more dresses for both 1.0 and 2.0.

Cabinets that need cleaning out.

Garage that needs cleaning out.

Can't wait for Bulky Garbage pickup! (for a variety of reasons. this is a post in and of itself.)

A daddy who tells me that I need to reel in the spending this month.  (I know I overspent, and it is even more difficult to not do so when home on maternity leave.)

 A nursing mama who is bound and determined to not only continue nursing this time, but also to drop some baby weight.

A hungry mama.  On weight watchers. 

A mama who is finally re-entering her kitchen after what feels like a three year hiatus.

A mama who isn't experiencing extreme postpartum depression this time.

Where the heck have I been????

I am going to be posting what we are eating and my weight loss story here, too - this is in no way a food or fitness blog, but just need a place to put it.  You gotta start somewhere.

mmmmmm.

I bake when I can't really quiet my brain. I have a lot going on internally right now - good stuff - and so, I've been in the kitchen quite a bit.

This weekend, we have burned through 1 and a half pounds of butter and a pound of flour. I'm so healthy. :)

There's pumpkin cake in the freezer, salted brown butter rice krispie treats on the counter, and cooling on a rack: homemade pop tarts. Fo' rlz. I really recommend the pop tart recipe, but I would like to do you this favor: Go ahead and double it. You'll regret it if you don't.

Find the pop tart recipe here! http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/homemade-pop-tarts/

On the eve of January 31.

I can't believe 2010 is already here, and we are 26 hours from February. It is cold outside, as it should be. There was absolutely nothing in this house with which to make our supper. . .until I started daydreaming. That course of thought turned into Chicken Picadillo Empanadas. They were truly outstanding. I will definitely make them again! It is great to find something you can make that takes a ton of ingredients, but all of those ingredients happen to be in your home, already.

Here is a photo of one recently completed knitted item. I have finished three pairs of these slippers, and I still have two more pairs to go. . . but I am taking a break for a while. I finished this small sweater for Jackson David Price, who joined the party just last week. (The sweater, an Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket, was finished in December. The slippers were finished in January).

Finally, here is a picture of little cousin Wynn, wearing the pink meathead I knitted for her birthday this summer. I finished the twins' hats during the major heatwave in July - when we had over forty days of triple digit weather, and all of the grass died. I was daydreaming about snow

Things I found on Monday.

OK, I am daydreaming about shopping and knitting for myself and others and found some lovely things online, waaaaayyy too close to Christmas to actually acquire them for myself, and way too close to Christmas to start and finish for others (if knitted) but I wanted to share photos.

Exhibit A: These handknit slippers are amazing! I plan to make about forty pairs in 2010 and give them to everyone I know until I burn out on them. I can't wait to knit a pair - I hear it takes no time, at all - and I'm planning on gifting a pair to a friend who is out of the country until after New Year's!

Exhibit B: Oh. My. Word. Have you seen this AMAZING knitted throw at anthropologie? It looks like a big, clean sheepie just laid down on your couch and you cuddled right up. I would luuuurrrve to own this darn thing. The photo doesn't do it justice. Hurrry! Go to the Anthro website and check it out for yourself in all of its glory. and PS: It is on sale right now. I am sad that it will never be in my home, but it wouldn't really go with our things here in Austin, Texas, anyway. We need a GIANT KNITTED SWEATER approximately one night each year.

And, since we are already discussing anthropologie, here is another item that I think is amazing: the anthro bird nest Christmas tree topper. Since we have a tree that is all silver and white, I think this would look so cool on top, but let us consider, for a moment, the SHOCKING price of this little whatzit: $389. I'm sorry. What? Is the cardboard made of recycled giant sequoias??? Is the tinsel platinum? ? ? ?Even with the price, I love it - but it is one of those things that you could probably make on your own - a variation of it, anyway. So here is a photo, to immortalize it - that way, years down the road, I can make one:

Finally: I love this stationery. I love all things french bulldog - to a ridonkulous level. I want kitchy frenchie stuff all over my home and I know I cannot do that because all of a sudden, I would turn into one of those people who wears t-shirts with glitter and a photo of my dog on the front. I get it. But I love this stationery, anyway. You can buy it at iomoi.com - which is a lovely place to purchase paper items. . . if you are not shopping at Hayden Avery, of course.

A Great Day.

Today was great. The Longhorns won, the weather was perfect, and I did something I really wanted to do: I took a class taught by Jared Flood - you can find a link to his blog on the right. It was fantastic. He is a great teacher, I learned so very much, and I really look forward to employing some new skills. The class was focused on lacemaking, and the project we worked on was a lace sampler, teaching a few different lace patterns combined with several general knitting tips.

This photo is seriously awful - the yarn is not really that dark, but in the evening light, it is hard to see it. I also haven't entirely completed the project. The main body of the knitting is complete, but I am searching for a lace edge pattern to add to it. Finally, I will need to block the knitted item to truly show all of the intricate stitching. Blocking involves wetting a knitted item in cold water, then pressing most of the water out of the item, and finally stretching the item. I will post a photo when it is entirely completed.
I am also working on a scarf for Steven's sister, seen here in burnt orange to the right. I love this yarn - alpaca and merino - and the color and pattern are also pretty great. This is my first exposure to knitting cables, and I love it. I will definitely be knitting something for myself in both this yarn and the cabled pattern sometime soon.

Finally: here is a photo of the photo provided to me graciously by Elizabeth, of the twins wrapped in their handknit merino baby blankets. I have been meaning to post this one for ages.

It really is winter.

It is Sunday afternoon, it is fifty seven degrees and it is wet, wet, wet outside. In some parts of the world, this is summer. Here, it feels like winter!!!! Lucie is wearing her hoodie in the house. I have on jeans and a sweater. We have a fire going in our fireplace. It is lovely. I have found that our fireplace does not, in fact, put out much heat, at all, but I love it anyway. Because we cleaned out our backyard earlier in the summer, we had a ton of extra firewood. I believe we will probably have to bring in a bunch of wood to the garage to let it dry - if it really is a wet, cold winter, we are going to need some dry firewood.

All of this fantasizing about winter makes me crave soup. Again. But soup reminds me in general, of eating, and pretty much when I think about eating, I always crave a hamburger. I'm about to go spend a couple of hours at the gym to pre-burn off all of the calories I want to eat for dinner tonight. I want a burger and fries from someplace amazing. Now, how to convice Mr. Weller that this is what he wants, too?

I have lost just south of 17 pounds so far. I am starting to feel more like a girl and less like a combo sloth-hippopotamus.

Things we accomplished this weekend.

See friends, check. See family, check. Love dog, check. Eat soup, check. Obtain more soup, check.

That is a total of FOUR different kinds of homemade soup consumed in one week. This count doesn't include the Chicken Posole from Fete Accompli or the can of soup I ate one day at lunch last week. That is a land speed record for me on soup eating - I don't even like soup that much!

I started decorating our house for Halloween. It will be full throttle this year because we are hosting our dinner group in October! I am very excited - I always put out a few decorations but when you aren't hosting a party and you have no trick or treaters, no one gets to see your efforts but you and your mister.

I bought a pile of fabric remnants at Fanny's the other day - each piece was about fifty cents. I am embroidering them and adding borders and trim to make decorative tea towels for all of the holidays. . super cute! I will post a photo of the Halloween one when it is completed, hopefully tonight!

It is under seventy degrees. Pretend like it is winter!

It is so funny to me that we all run around, craving soup, wearing sweaters, etc. when it is like 65 degrees outside. I know we actually dipped into the fifties last night - with the rain and the cool temperatures, it actually does feel like Autumn. . . I also know that may not stick around too long so I am taking advantage of it, too.

I have been trying to be better about finishing leftovers in our fridge (not as a personal goal, but mostly this is about keeping the fridge cleaner. .) I peeked in there this morning and took note that there are THREE different kinds of soup in there! Last Friday, I went to lunch at Fete Accompli - and the smart shop girl asked me if I would like to sample their soup of the day - Chicken Posole. It was soooo delicious, I ordered a cup of soup with a half sandwich, and then left there with another generous quart container of the soup for us to eat over the weekend. There is a little left in the fridge.

There is also some (way too old) vegetable soup that needs to go, but I am a little fearful about pouring it out - I am thinking I will freeze it and then pop that ice block out in the yard for the deer. . . Finally, there is a two quart container of butternut squash soup that I made Tuesday night. I love butternut squash soup, but this is so very thick, I have a hard time with it. .. I will probably thin it with some skim milk for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow night, the Wellers will be attending a dinner at a friend's house that has a menu made up of 'soul food' options. The host actually said it was a 'slightly trashy' feast. I am taking a good old Texas sheet cake to complement the menu. mmmmm.

little victories!

I have lost a total of 14.6 pounds on Weight Watchers so far. I am so proud of myself. (flipping hair and spinning on my heels.)

And now, for something a little serious.

This is cheesy, sort of, but sometimes I am in total awe of God and nature. It is nice to be reminded about the natural world we live in. Examples: (a) the hummingbirds in our yard. They are so territorial about our feeder. I love sitting out on the deck and hearing the buzz of their insanely fast little wings as they dive bomb each other. . . and I now can recognize their little teeny peeping chirps in the trees. The amazing tiny-ness of them just entirely fascinates me. (b) rain!!!! The weather has changed so much in the last week. We have had quite a bit of rain compared to the rest of the summer and every time it even looks rainy, we are all being a little nicer. I think it is because we are happy for the break. The best part of rain, which I haven't seen in a long time. . . rainbows. It is a terrible photo which doesn't do it justice at all. . . but considering that I was actually driving at the time - not condoning that, by the way - it turned out okay. Huge double rainbow. sigh.

c) Owls. I was just telling my mom the other day that we hear a lot of owls in our neighborhood. . .but haven't heard them in quite some time. Then, Tuesday night, I went out on our front porch and there was this owl in the trees maybe 50 feet away. Assuming it was a 'he' - you could hear him hooting to another owl way off in the distance. That sound is occasionally a little eerie late at night when it is very still, but Tuesday, it was almost like it was reminder that we share our neighborhood with them.