Nope, this ain't easy.

It's Halloween weekend. I'm sure many of you have parties to attend, kids to get ready and candy to hand out. It's not easy juggling so many things with temptations in the house...not to mention I made this challenge longer than usual. I did this on purpose. This is just a taste of the challenges that are ahead with Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Many of you may have had a few slip ups already. I have. The important thing is to not stop. Everyday is a new day and a new opportunity to make better choices. More better days than bad, that's a realistic goal.

So I have two things to tell you. FIRST: Don't stop working at this challenge. Everyone who post their post their points at the end of the session will be put into a drawing for the fabulous gift Melissa has offered. Of course, not the person who wins the bling, sorry who ever the lucky one is.

SECOND: Challenge #2 is to tell everyone what your successes were this weekend. It's not perfection. Small successes help each of us grow. I can't wait to hear all about it!

Bitter

Ever have a day (or a week...) where things just don't taste right? And as a result you under eat (gasp!) your range? Well, that's me this past week. So, perversely, I'm not even getting my range points. Frankly, that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Orange is in Vogue

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a lunch for some of my friends to celebrate fall and a birthday. There were three orange soups. But, none of them were the same. Although I love my Sweet Potato Leek Soup I made something new and it included a new veggie I had never used before: The Turnip. It was delicious and I'll make it again.

Turnip and Carrot Soup with Parmesan (Flat Belly Diet Book)
1 pound white turnips, peeled and quartered
4 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 large red or white new potatoes, quartered
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, smashed
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp. dried
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, or 1/2 tsp. dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, combine the turnips, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, broth, water thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender.

2. In batches blend, or with a hand wand puree the veggies until smooth. When all the soup has been pureed, stir in the milk. Cook over low heat just until heated through (do not boil). Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan. Ladle into bowls and top each with 2 Tablespoons of the pine nuts.

This makes 8 servings. 261 calories per serving, 9 g. protein 5g. fiber.

I left the Parmesan on the side and sprinkled it on top. It's good either way!!!!

Try it, you'll like it!

Are You Ready!!

Are you ready?? It's coming. The Holidays are before us and Halloween is the kick off to lots of celebration (and yummy food). I don't know about you, but I love this time of year. But, I also know that I have to figure out a plan of attack. What to do with all that candy? I know I don't need it, and my kids certainly don't need it. In years past we eat it, usually not taking long to finish it off. But this year has got to be different. Check out this website:

http://www.freebies2deals.com/2010/10/let-dentists-buy-back-your-halloween.html

Have you ever done it before? I haven't, but I'm thinking about it.

Trainer Momma did some great posts last year. One was Wednesday October 28, 2009. Sorry don't know how to link a site.

I need ideas!!

Try it. You might like it.

The reasons I love sushi are simple.

It's tasty.
It's pretty.
It's healthy.

. . . and most important of all . . .

I get to use chopsticks.

If you think you're sushi-averse, start small. Try the California Roll first (no raw fish there, only cooked imitation crab).

P.S. Sushi also makes me think of my little brother, also known as Audrey's husband.

edible acorns

Today at Wegmans I picked up something new. It's an acorn squash, and I have never eaten one before. Last week in the Washington Post they had a side column on different varieties of squash and how to cook them. I quickly ripped out the article to save, since there were a few on that list that I have never tasted. Spaghetti squash was another one that I wanted to try, so it also made it into my shopping cart.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I will substitute the couscous for brown rice or quinoa to make it gluten free. I'm making it for dinner tomorrow, so I will let you know how it goes. My husband and I will be having a nice dinner with just the two of us after everyone is in bed...(only because I only bought two acorn squash.)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 cup uncooked couscous

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Arrange squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture, and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, celery, and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Mix in the garbanzo beans and raisins. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.
4. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet, and mix in the couscous. Cover skillet, and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 5 minutes. Stuff squash halves with the skillet mixture to serve.

Scary

New food in my house is considered scary. If the kids find out I'm tying a new recipe or new food, they've been know to cry before even seeing their dinner plates. They even think the word "recipe" is scary because it implies more than one ingredient. My attempt to console them is this: I usually alway have a couple items on their plate that are no-brainers when I'm trying something new. It should also be said that there are PLENTY of recipes I don't try, though I'd like to, because of the picky eaters around here. In other words, I'm already working behind the scenes to reduce food fear.

Tonight was a total feast of deliciousness for me: a balsamic skillet pork chop (so easy, moist and super tasty), roasted butternut squash with fresh rosemary, sea salt and pepper (bonus points: old veggie made a new way!), Brussels sprouts cooked in chicken stock with lots of pepper and thyme and, last, applesauce.

For the kids, I added a little bowl of pine nuts (protein in case they were unwilling to try the chops). I did not even offer them the greens, so I had high hopes for the squash. But despite my insistence that the squash was a close cousin to the sweet potato--a food they enjoy--even my oldest, who scarfed down the chop and asked for seconds, was scared.



He did try one bite in the end. What this all comes down to is this: all three of them will request bread before bed tonight, my high carb whole wheat concession on nights when the food is excellent, but no one but me knows it. Now that's really scary.



And that I'm posting twice in one day. BOO!

Enjoying the view

We took a long fall walk this weekend. It was the perfect fall day, 72 degrees and sunny, with the golden leaves carpeting the forest floor. The first part of the walk involved climbing a long, endless-seeming set of stairs. We counted each and every stair up to the top: all 135 of them. And then we took out our water bottles and enjoyed the hilltop views.
The experience reminded me of our task here on HWHL. The hilltop or mountaintop moments are what we live for: finishing the race in record time, reaching our weight goal, making a really healthy and delicious meal that everyone loves. But we can't rest in that moment for long. Most of our lives are spent below, on the plains and even, sometimes, in the valleys. But don't forget, after all those steps, to enjoy the view and store it someplace you can return to in your heart and mind, again and again.

Stress Trigger and Release

This is what I wanted to do Friday night. I've recently become the cub scout committee chair for our ward. This basically means I need to be really organized and manage everyone's political agenda. The other thing is means is putting together a list of the awards for the upcoming pack meeting. This shouldn't be a hard thing but since it was recently decided to put everything on the computer program it was crazy.

Problems, not everyone has their stuff on the computer.
The computer that had all the old stuff crashed so I'm unsure of what everyone already has.
Some of the info came from emails and not the computer program.

So, after a wonderfully fun day of lunch, shoe shopping, visiting Samantha, Homecoming Parade and Football game I sat down thinking it would take about 45 minutes to pull things together to give our Cub Master, it was 10:30.

At 1:15 when I finally headed to bed I WANTED A DIET COKE! But I didn't have one to give into, so I went for the VitaWater Zero.

SO THE QUESTION IS: What have you replaced your stress trigger bad habit with? Is that when you give in and fall of the wagon for a bit or have you found things that are better choices and still help?

I see a pattern here. Sunday tends to become my confessions day, although I am learning a lot about myself.

Here's what I've learned.

...I have little self control when it comes to sweet treats that are gluten free.

...I tend to fall apart on the weekends.

So now, the trick is to figure out why that happens, and avoid it!

Here's the plan. I am not going to bake large amounts of gluten free carrot cake, unless there is a lot of people at my house who will help me eat it. I ended up finishing off the cake so I wouldn't be tempted any more, and so I could start the week fresh. (wink wink)

Mmmm, it was good.

Second, I am going to have to plan for healthy treats on the weekend, so I can still have a reward that won't sabotage my efforts. I think if I have the ingredients all together to make my healthy treat, I won't default to creating something that I won't be able to resist.

Third...Keep the really bad stuff out of my house. AKA gourmet chocolate and carrot cake. At least there was carrots in it!

Does anyone else struggle with portion control when it comes to dessert?

How To

I saw a lot of questions on how to make these, so I thought I'd do another post in case you don't get notified by e mail on comments.

I use a toothpick to make the sandwich on a stick. It's not as long as the picture shows, but I use a couple toothpicks and make a few sandwich sticks. My daughter is only 6 and doesn't have a huge appetite.
If you toast the bread, and then use food coloring, it works perfectly.

I use mozzarella cheese as the sail for the sailboats. I cut it like a sail and then stick it in a toothpick. Then I put the toothpick in the egg.

One Of My Favorite Things About Fall

The fall leaves falling from our tree.

Great family exercise.

My drug of choice

Sadly for me, today is the first day I've been able to get my exercise in since last week. But I'm so much more clear-headed and energy-filled and mood-enhanced, I feel like I'm taking drugs (I've had some experience with steroids for hives). Which got me thinking, not about what exercise does for my body, but what it does for my brain. And I was so amazed with what I found. Frankly, the human body amazes me pretty much every day. This study talks about how exercise can increase your brain acuity. In turn, that can affect other major outcomes in life: people who were fittest at 18 were more likely to achieve both higher educational and socioeconomic status later in life, according to results published in December 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I'm also following this line of research: molecular biologists and neurologists have begun to show that exercise may alter brain chemistry in much the same way that antidepressant drugs do — regulating the key neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine. Exercise is a free drug! We all have the prescription and it never runs out. We just have to remember to take it.

P.S. The picture is cool, but freaky too, I know.

Ms. Thunderbumper Challenge #1 Fall Veggies

It's fall which means there are a whole lot of new vegetables showing up in the grocery store. Are you using them or do you stick with the same old stand bys? Well it's time to try something new. Ok, it doesn't have to be something new but it needs to be something that you wouldn't eat during spring/summer.

For 5 points tell us about what you do with it. Main meal, soup, side?

Or for 10 points share a recipe. We are always looking for something yummy to eat!

Let your pallet entice us all!

Barbies

Look what I got in the mail today. A Barbie catalog. I love Barbies for what they are: a kitchy, fashion icon with sci-fi proportions. I do not want to look like Barbie, nor like the waif models who are still the dominant body type in fashion media today (by nature or by photoshop). But I still have my 13 year old moments, as described in this classic tune, where I tell myself the wrong story and believe it (Thanks for the spellbinding images, Ingmar Bergman). Thankfully, those moments are few and far between, the older I get.



On a related note, notice how my 4 year old daughter, Beatrix, has already put her mark on each Barbie? Hmmmm.

Hearty Sausage with Brussels Sprouts

Mmm, sausage. Thanks to Mindy I'm slowly becoming a fan of Brussels Sprouts. So, when I ran across this recipe in my Flat Belly Diet book I decided that I should try it.

PS. I have all sorts of healthy type books that I never use but always think, hey maybe this will be the one that makes it all fall into place. Well of course there is no miracle trick, but I've found several things that I like from this book.

Ok, so there are two ingredients that I had a hard time finding. Once I found them and paid $18 just for the spices I thought to myself....this better be really good. However, if you decide to try this I would recommend looking in your international section for both of these spices. They have them at a much cheaper price. Live and learn.

Hearty Sausage with Brussels Sprouts (4 servings)
1 pound low-fat Italian turkey sausage (garlic or mild)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
6 whole cardamom pods, cracked (I didn't put the shells in)
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1. Remove the sausage from the casings and discard the casings. Crumble the sausage mean with a fork.

2. Warm the oil in a 12" skillet over high heat. Add the sausage, almonds, cardamom, cloves, cumin, and pepper. Cooks, stirring, and breaking up the sausage for about 6 minutes, or until the sausage and almonds become golden in places.

3. Add the Brussels sprouts and broth. Stir to combine. Cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes, or until the sprouts are tender. Uncover and continue to cook for about 3 minutes, or until most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Divide evenly among 4 plates.

Serve on a bed of baby greens.

One serving 341 calories, or 356 if served on 2 cups of baby greens.

33 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber!!!!

When I gave this to Chris he asked if there was a dressing. I said no, and then we both ate. The flavors are very unique and yummy...if you're willing to try International type foods you'll love this.

I even ate the left overs and right now as I'm typing this before I go out to lunch my mouth is watering and I want to eat it.

Let me know if you try it!!!

AND, if you have a hard time finding the spices let me know. It's cheaper for me to mail them to you than to buy the full price kind!

The stories that get told

I just went to a Youth Ministry Seminar over the week-end and soaked in a lot of sound wisdom. A few tidbits I wanted to share with you:

Stuck: you know you're stuck when you start a sentence or thought by saying "I just..."

"No one can resist the relentless power of unconditional love."

"We live in the stories that get told about us."

"Intimacy bandwidth is limited to about 30 people. That is, the average person can be emotionally intimate with only about 30 people in her life at any given time."

And here's how it all fits together on HWHL:

I often say or think "I just..." but then I turn to HWHL to get unstuck because I can't resist the power of unconditional love on this blog and how we support each other in telling positive, uplifting, "can do" stories. As a whole, you are one of my 30.

If today was rough for you, remember, tomorrow is a new day, with a new story to be told!

Moving On...

Thanks for coming to my Pity Party the other night. That was fun, wasn't it?

In all seriousness, I really appreciate all of your kind comments and concern. It seems that we've all been there, haven't we?

And now I'm moving on, done wallowing and ready to be more proactive in my life. I'm starting by participating in this challenge. It's been awhile but I'm going to complete this one, no matter the score. And I'm setting a 30 point goal of only napping on Sunday afternoon. Sleep is not a good way to combat depression so I'm committing to only sleeping at night and getting more things done during the day.

I started this week by getting up at 6:00am to exercise. It's been quite awhile since I've done that. Since June I've just exercised outside, mostly running, because I enjoy being outside. But because I haven't been eating as well and completely abandoned any weight training, I've gotten a bit out of shape. That was made very clear to me after doing Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred yesterday and today. Dude, I'm sore! So I'm refocusing on my fitness and committing to include strength training and abs at least every other day.

What are you all doing for exercise now that the weather is turning cooler? I was made of tougher things this spring when I was willing to go run when it was below freezing early in the morning. I haven't been able to bring myself to run until about 10:00am when all the frost has melted off and the sun is shining brightly.

I Finally Have a Moment...

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but time hasn't been plentiful lately. Speaking of time, I've been having this debate in my head. With the kids being in school, I thought I would have more time, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I've been looking for a balance in my life. Looking for ways to eliminate so I can have more time for things I enjoy. One thought came to mind was cutting back on computer time. Slowing down on blogging. Between counting calories, keeping track of numbers, going to bed early, getting up early to exercise, keeping up on blogging, well, lets just say that some days I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. But, as I began to ponder about things that should be eliminated, I came to the conclusion that this needs to not be one of them. Being healthy is my time, something I am doing for me. Being a part of this blog is for me. And quite frankly, I don't think us moms allow ourselves to have enough me time. So here I am, committed to me, and this blog because we have a strong support system going on. Not just about weight loss, or being a healthier person, but about supporting each other through life. About truly caring about one another.

Sue, I have thought a lot about you the last couple days. About two years ago I was going through the exact same situation you were going through. It is so tough. I had one really good friend from high school that told me we couldn't be friends anymore and other friends that seemed to slip through the cracks. I felt lonely. Yes I had my husband and family, but there is just something about another woman friendship that we all crave. I get that. I understand you. Even though we are all spread out, we are the woman friendship you need. We are here for you!

A couple weeks ago I received a call from Audrey. Just a check up to make sure things were going okay. I can't even tell you how much that phone call meant to me. She completely brightened my day.

So, here I am, committed to you and this blog. I'm going to be selfish, and make this blog time my "me" time.

BTW, where is Mindy???

So to make a long story short, here's the post I was going to do last week:

I've started doing this little trick with me kids. I have a fruit bowl that hardly gets touched by my kids. It sits by the kitchen sink. I always offer them fruit, but it's often turned down. When they are hungry and looking for a snack, they rummage through the fridge. I started experimenting with the fruit bowl, and leaving it on the table. And like magic, the fruit started quickly disappearing.

Here are some healthy fun lunch ideas I've been doing for my kids. They get sick of plain old sandwiches everyday. I do let them pick hot lunch once a week. We do have an amazing school cook, who makes most things from scratch, but I still like to be in control of what my kids eat. My daughter loves sandwiches on a stick!

The painted sandwich, sometimes has a note on it!

They love sailboats. My son hates eggs, but magically they taste amazing when they look like a sailboat!

This has been a new favorite in our house. Banana and peanut butter sandwich.

And lastly, I am volunteering at the school for their Halloween Party. I am in charge of a healthy snack so here's what we are making. The teeth are made from slivered almonds, but I might try using dried banana chips. So fun.

What healthy things have you been packing for your kids lunch?

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations Jill!
You did a fabulous job staying strong....did you say something about running 14 miles? Are you training for a marathon?

It was a tight race and I can only anticipate that the same thing will happen this go around.
Keep up all the good work everyone!!!
Don't give into the holidays!