Wine With Hope

I have always been a wine drinker; however, I have never been a fan of the red wines. Oh, I've tried to like reds...believe me, I've tried...but I've never found any I liked.

Monday, I stopped by our local wine shop and one of the women working came up and began to chat with me. We discussed some wines (I'm a Pinot Grigio fan) and I told her my feelings toward the reds. She felt the same way. She said she rarely drank red wine because she didn't much like it either. Still, she steered me toward a bottle that she said she'd tried and recalled liking. I had never heard of it before.

This amazing woman introduced me to Bully Hill Vineyards. She pulled out a bottle of Barnyard Red, and said she had liked it. I liked the label! I know it is not easy to see here, but it is a colorful and fun label, so I was immediately drawn to it. The back of the label claims it is a drier than sweet wine, but if you ask me, it is PERFECT! Mom was visiting Monday night and we went through the bottle rather quickly! It is a flavorful wine and easy to drink. I would definitely recommend it and have since gone back to (1) purchase more, and (2) thank the woman who recommended it!

So, the interesting thing about this wine was that when I opened it, the cork read "WINE WITH HOPE." I have read the vineyard website and don't see any place that explains why that is on the cork. I *did* see some other short comments on the site that began "Wine with..." so maybe that's just their thing? I don't know. It is the only bottle I've opened so far, so I don't know if the other bottles have other messages on their corks...but you can bet I'll find out!

Anyway, I highly recommend the wine. I also bought a bottle of their blush, I think. Haven't tried it yet, but I do expect greatness!

Bottoms up!

Groceries

I want to start this post with a disclaimer - which is code for "someone is going to be offended." It is not my intention to offend, but nonetheless, it will happen. In advance, I apologize to anyone I upset.

Now, I am not a small gal, by anyone's standards. In fact, if you were to classify me medically, you'd have to call me overweight. I was, for a time, obese, but I have lost about 20 lbs. To be classified as "normal," I'd have to drop another 20 lbs, and I just don't see that happening any time soon!

One of the ways I ended up losing weight was through diet (because it certainly was not from exercise) but not diet in the sense that I went "on a diet." I simply changed what I ate. I wrote about our change in diet here. It has been over a year and it has been a good change. Part of our diet is that we do what is called perimeter shopping, which means the majority of the foods we purchase can be found on the perimeter of the store. I rarely go down the aisles unless I need something specific. Nuts, detergent, dried fruits, and health & beauty items are some of the reasons I venture off the perimeter of the store.

The other day, I went to the grocery. I noticed a rather large woman with her large young son. For whatever reason, I immediately noticed the woman's cart. It was *filled* with soft drinks, processed foods, snacks, and the such. (And here is where people can and will get offended...) I had to ask myself if this woman realized what she was doing. I'm no saint. I love a sweet treat now and again, and, truth be told, ice cream is my big splurge. I justify it by buying all natural ice cream and convince myself it's not that bad for me. Hey - it's my denial here, so go with me!

Anyway, I know not all heavy people make poor food chioces and that there are, in fact, as many reasons to be heavy as there are heavy people. That being said, it saddens me to see people (regardless of size) put such unhealthy foods in their bodies and their kids' bodies. Actually, if you want to eat it, that is fine, but to give it to your kids who have no choice, well, I guess that is what really upsets me.

I'm sure I can go on and on about this (and piss off a WHOLE lot of people) so I won't. I will stop. I don't really have a point here, but it's my blog, so I don't have to have one!

A Riddle

What do you get when you cross two kids and a huge apple tree?

You get apples, of course. LOTS of apples. 5+ gallons of apples, to be exact!

What the heck can I possibly do with that many apples? There is no way we could eat them all (and, truth be told, many have bruises and such from falling off the tree while the kids were picking).

I decided to try my hand at making applesauce.

And, here is where, if I was good, I'd have taken photos all along the way to show the process. I even thought about doing it before making the last batch...but I didn't. Get over it!

I am currently making the last batch (because I'm *that* multi-talented)! I was amazed at how simple it is and more impressed by how YUMMY it is!

I'll admit my first batch was rather small. I used about 3/4 of the apples from the one gallon bucket. I was stunned by how good it was when I was finished. I was at my mom's house at the time of that first batch, and luckily for me, she has a food mill:

That guy made the process OH, so much easier! (Ignore the "click to enlarge" as it will do nothing!) When I came home, I brought the food mill with me...mostly because I brought a 5 gallon bucket of apples home too!

I did try my hand at making apple pie as well, and it was OK, but I did not add enough sugar, so it had to be eaten with vanilla ice cream!

Back to the applesauce! I will happily share the recipe I used, but I don't know what kind of apples I used! I found the recipe online but adapted it some. The recipe today was as follows:

2 gallon buckets full of apples
3 cups water
lemon juice (I did not measure...just pour some in)
cinnamon (again...no measuring)
nutmeg (still no measuring!)
sugar (as needed to taste...I had hoped not to use any, but my apples were not quite sweet enough)

Core and cut all apples. I did not bother to peel my apples, but you can if you want. While coring and cutting, I placed all pieces in ice water to help prevent browning. Put water in large pot and dump apples on top. Add lemon juice and stir. Add cinnamon and nutmeg and stir again. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 min, (or until apples turn to mush) stirring every 4 - 5 min or so.

Ladle mixture into food mill (OVER A BOWL!!!) and begin milling. Once finished, taste and add sugar as needed.

Voila! Applesauce!

Travelin' Turkey

Where to start? There has been so much going on…and much of it “blogworthy,” too, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of time.

Thanksgiving was nice. We went to The Mother-in-Law’s. Actually, that’s not entirely true. A while back, The Mother-in-Law’s husband was diagnosed with lymphoma. This was during the summer. Through some sort of miracle, he needed only two or three rounds of chemo. (He had been scheduled for six rounds but was given a clean bill of health after only two or three.) It was during those rounds of chemo that The Husband’s sister and I realized Thanksgiving would be too much for the Mother-in-Law. We decided to bring Thanksgiving to her. We knew we would still have it at her house – that was tradition – but we would bring all (or much) of the food to her. We decided who would cook what and all was set.

I might add here that this was planned back before I had a job!

I was supposed to cook the turkey, stuffing (although they all call it “dressing;” they have a right to be wrong), pumpkin pies, and homemade macaroni and cheese. The Husband’s sister was making all the other desserts, the salads, rolls, sweet potatoes, and beans. The Mother-in-Law made a ham and dumplings. (Have I mentioned this is country cooking?!)

About a week and a half ago, I called The Husband’s sister and told her that there was no way I could do the turkey. I have a job now and could not go out of town early to cook. What I did NOT know was that she would NOT make a turkey; she said it freaked her out to have to reach in there.

Remember I said this is country cooking? The Husband’s grandfather was a farmer. The Husband’s grandmother killed chickens on Sunday morning for Sunday dinner. They hunted. The Husband used to go hunting all the time. And yet, his sister is too squeamish to reach into a turkey to pull out the BAG of innards!

Long story short, the Mother-in-Law purchased the turkey and brought it to The Husband’s sister. The Husband’s sister thawed the turkey and brought it to me. I cooked the turkey and brought it BACK to the Mother-in-Law’s house. Bizarre? Yes. Tasty? Indeed.

Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend! I chose to stay OUT of the stores this weekend (except to buy groceries)!

National Guacamole Day

"NATIONAL GUACAMOLE DAY IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH!"

Did you KNOW that today is National Guacamole Day? Did you? Because I didn't. And I'm not sure how it could have happened that such a magnificent day could come upon me so unexpectedly!

What kind of GENIUS came up with the idea to dedicate a WHOLE DAY to guacamole? I know - someone BRILLIANT. Sadly, it was not me, but still...it was someone with a humongous brain! Because this? This is a wonderful thing!

Funny thing about guacamole (aside from it's bizarre, unappetizing color)...I never liked it. In fact, I spent the majority of my nearly 41 years shying away from such an amazing food. Heck, I wouldn't even eat an avocado! I know...Crazy! I mean, who knew they could be so good? Mash them up with some tomato, onion, cilantro, pepper...and voila. Instant magnificence!

Go - get off the computer and go out to lunch today. Find a place that serves good guacamole and get some! Of course, it's not likely you'll find any better than my friend Nichole's homemade stuff, but go on and give someone else a shot.

If you can't get out today, then click here and print yourself a coupon. This is some pretty good stuff!

Happy eating!

Fast-food fowl-ups

The kids had doctor appointments this morning...nothing is wrong, but they both needed check-ups and physicals. Of course, the doctor does not *do* check-ups after school. No. Those are done only during school hours. Whatever.

Both kids are very healthy. The doctor made a point of telling me it was his pleasure to say that because it is not often he gets to do so around here. Apparently, there are a lot of overweight kids around here. Mine are the furthest thing from overweight; on the contrary, The Girl, at almost 11-years-old, still does not weigh 70 lbs!

The Boy had to get 4 shots. He was pretty good about it, I must say. He tried so hard not to cry, but darn it, they hurt! I was proud of him. The Girl...well, that was another story. Once I finally wrestled her onto the table, I had to lie on her while two other nurses pinned her down! They gave her shots in the thigh because we all knew NOTHING was going in her arms!

After the doctor, I dropped the kids at school. I had almost exactly three hours before they'd be home. I had on high heels, I was hungry, and, if I didn't go to the grocery, we would have to go yet another day without eating. The problem with going to the grocery when you are hungry is that you buy more. I didn't want that. So, I decided to stop somewhere for a quick bite.

I should mention here that I do not like fast food. In fact, if I never visit the golden arches again in my life, that will be OK. Really. It's that bad. My dislike of fast food goes beyond those arches, though. I really don't like any of it. I will go with subs from time to time, but in general, I'm just not a fan.

Today, I was driving by Sonic. I decided I'd rather suffer through a mediocre sandwich than buy EVERYTHING in the grocery store. Remember...I'm wearing high heels. The quicker the grocery trip is, the happier my feet are! I pull into the drive through and order a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo and no tomato. Not one member of my family eats tomato. None of us are mayo fans either, but The Girl and I will both eat it if it is in something. I also order a mocha coffee shake thing. (A girl's gotta have her coffee drinks!) I get my sandwich and drive away. At the traffic light, I look at my sandwich. It is grilled chicken with LOTS of mayo and tomato. Really? REALLY? Ugh.

I cannot go to the grocery starving, so I turn around and head back to Sonic. I tell them of their error and drive around. I say "Let me check this" but I only do a cursory check to be sure there is no tomato or mayo. I pull out of the parking lot and onto the road. Only then do I discover that I now have a breaded chicken sandwich...and it's really two chicken tenders, some lettuce, and a bun. I resign myself to the fact that this is what I get for eating fast food, pull the tenders off the sandwich and eat them, and go on my merry way.

Reminds me of one of The Husband's favorite saying..."They fuck you at the drive thru!"

By the way...the grocery trip was relatively short, but my feet were killing me by the time I got home!

In the zone

No, I did not drop off the face of the earth. And, truth be told, I have so much to write about but almost NO time to write!!

Among the many changes in our lives right now, The Husband thought a new diet would be a great idea. He has been interested in the Zone diet for some time now. His interest peaked a bit when he began Crossfit. That was a few years ago. Now, he's headed off to a genuine Crossfit certification course. I don't know how it is going to play out, but somehow I foresee a great amount of physical pain in my future. Just giving a heads-up is all!

So, in order for one to be "Forging Elite Fitness," one must eat a certain way. Enter the Zone diet...or any paleo diet for that matter. Now I'm not big on exercise or any of that silliness, but The Husband is. I know "paleo" means ancient, though, and I have no interest in eating ancient food! Still, the result of this diet is that body fat will simply melt away...

Apparently, the cavemen and all weren't able to pop on down to Panera for some nice, hearty, crusty bread. Truth be known, they didn't eat bread. I'm thinking it is why they are no longer...survival of the fittest and all. I'm thinking the ones who thought up bread are the ones who are still here because bread? That's good stuff! But I digress...

So, the Zone diet is made up of these blocks. You have to eat a certain number of blocks every day. I'm supposed to eat 11 blocks/day. The Husband is supposed to eat 25! This is not like weight watchers' points, though. This is a TON of food. A complete block is made up of one block of fat (1.5 g), one block of carbs (9 g), and one block of protein (7 g). The Husband is supposed to eat 5 complete blocks at each meal. OK - sounds simple enough.

The first night, all went well. We had an amazing grilled chicken salad. The Husband had 5 oz chicken, I had 3, and the kids each had 2. The grilled chicken was on a bed of 2 c lettuce, 1/4 cucumber, 1/4 bell pepper, and, for The Husband, 1/2 c black beans (1/4 c for me). We added avocado to the salad for the fat. (To be honest, I'm not 100% that was exactly what the measurements were, but they were VERY close to that.)

Breakfast was an ordeal. We decided on eggs, but in order to be sure everyone got the right amount of eggs, they had to be cooked separately. No more sleeping in till 6:15!! Up bright and early to cook breakfast. THEN, I can get showered, dressed, and leave for work. It took some cooperation, but we pulled it off. (The Husband cooked breakfast the second morning...oatmeal!)

Dinner the second night was, in a word, HYSTERICAL. We decided to have grilled chicken again. We were trying our hand at inventing our own meal. We had broccoli, so we decided to make it. Do you know how much broccoli is in ONE block of carbs? Do ya? Go ahead and guess. I'll wait.
...
...
...
Three. Yep. Three cups of cooked broccoli is ONE block of carbs. Remember how many blocks we're eating? There is not enough broccoli in this state for us to eat only broccoli as our carb; we added green beans as well. (We could eat "unfavorable carbs," such as pasta, potatoes, etc, but The Husband won't have it.) I filled The Husband's plate. He had to eat 3 cups cooked broccoli, 3 cups green beans, 5 oz chicken breast, 1 cup of pineapple, and 60 peanuts. I nearly died laughing when I saw the three cups of broccoli on his plate...till I realized we were all supposed to eat that much! I had cooked a full bag and a half of broccoli (it measured 12 c frozen) and it was not NEARLY enough! I think we ended up eating 2 cups each. Still - it was a TON of broccoli! I should have taken pictures but I didn't think of it till just now.

I don't think we'll be eating broccoli for the rest of the month.

Tonight we are trying another menu of our own, but there is no broccoli on it. We're going with turkey burgers, a large salad, and some fruit. Today, we're having some bread, too! I found these amazing little sandwich thins...they're from Arnold, which, to date, is the only bread we've found that does NOT contain High Fructose Corn Syrup!! Woohoo! These thins are only 100 cal each and have the same nutritional value as a whole slice of bread.

So if you notice I've been offline for a bit, smile knowing I'm wading through a sea of veggies - most likely broccoli - and I'll be back when I can find the computer!

New Foods

In our attempt to be healthier eaters, we are exploring new foods and learning more about the ones we already eat. One new food we read about some time ago is Quinoa. This is an interesting food.

"Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a grain that comes from the Andes Mountains of South America. Quinoa's origins are truly ancient. It was one of the three staple foods, along with corn and potatoes, of the Inca civilization. Quinoa was known then, and still is known, with respect, as the mother grain. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein."

We had quinoa with dinner the other night for the first time. The funniest thing about it, though, is that the cooking directions say "You will know that the quinoa is done when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated." What?! I had to laugh because how in the hell was I supposed to know what THAT meant?! You know what? When you cook it, you know. I can't explain it any better than they do on the package - but by golly, when I lifted the lid from my pot, I *knew* it was done! That "spiral-like germ" thingy was evident. It was not gross in any way, but it was definitely cool!

I bought the traditional quinoa and made the basic recipe. I used organic chicken broth rather than water. The quinoa has a nice, nutty flavor. The kids liked it, too, which is amazing...they don't like anything! I didn't think to snap a photo of the dish prior to our eating it! Oh well!

It is definitely something we will add to our diets with regularity. Next up, The Husband wants to try plantains. I don't know about that one!

Rewarding Honesty

So, today I have to brag about The Boy. He did two things this weekend worthy of bragging so I’m all over it.

The first thing happened Saturday night. He was playing at his friend’s house when he called to tell us he’d been invited for dinner. We allowed him to stay. During dinner, The Girl asked if she could have ice cream. We told her maybe later.

A little while after The Boy had come home, we told the kids they could have ice cream. The Boy told us he’d already had some at his friend’s house! The Husband and I were shocked. I *know* if it had been me, I’d have kept my mouth shut and had more ice cream. The Husband would have done the same. The Boy…he’s a good kid. He told us about the ice cream and sat politely while his sister ate her ice cream!

THEN…because that wasn’t enough…Sunday, I took the kids to Sunday School. Most of the time, I stay there. Another mom and I have become friends and we sit, chat, and pretend to grade papers while the kids do their lessons. Today, she was addressing envelopes for her daughter’s upcoming Bat Mitzvah and I was doing some prep work.

Anyway, the point (and I swear there is one) is that the kids broke for snack, as they always do. The snacks are usually sweets or whatever…cookies, snack-cakes, etc. We always tell the kids to bring healthy snacks. Today, The Boy had brought peanuts and The Girl had a Clif Bar. The snack was homemade brownies and carrot-cake muffins.

Despite the fit both kids threw about how the snacks at Sunday School were way better than what they brought, neither child snuck a brownie OR a muffin!

I should mention here that I’m not all that mean; the kids eat PLENTY of junk, which is why I’m so adamant about limiting what I can when I can! The fact remains that I am overweight and I do whatever I can to keep the kids active and their food choices good ones.

My secret addiction

Well, I guess it's not going to be a secret anymore! But...here it goes.

I LOVE the Food Network.

OK. I said it. Out loud. In public. (OK - this is as public as it gets so get over it.) I will watch it all day. I especially love Challenge. They do such cool stuff on that show. Of course I love Paula Deen and my all time favorite show is Good Eats with Alton Brown. The guy is a genius. OK - he's corny, sure, but he's fascinating.

The Husband. Well, he's not a big Food Network fan (big surprise). HOWEVER, it should be noted that he will watch Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. Of course, what guy wouldn't? Have you ever seen this show? OMG, every time the woman says the word "lemon" we all feel a little dirty!

So...there I was this afternoon, Food Network on, and I'm cooking dinner. Actually, it's tomorrow's dinner. I'm making lasagna and everyone knows that has to be made a day in advance for it to be any good! It takes me two TV shows to finish my ONE pan of lasagna. Nothing fancy...traditional lasagna (but I prefer to boil my pasta). It is almost embarrassing that on TV, these "quick meal" shows are on and in the time it takes me to make ONE meal...and not even a complete one at that because I've not made salad or anything else to go with the lasagna...the woman on TV made 4 different dinners!! Four. Dinners. in One. Half. Hour! I swear if I lived in TV time, my life would be easier too!

A trip to the Farmers' Market

There's something about going to a farmers' market that just makes you happy. I don't know if it is the fresh air or the knowledge that it's nice enough outside to BE outside or what it is, but I love going. There are several farmers' markets around here, in addition to the many roadside fruit & veggie stands. I say that but to be honest, I think it's one farmers' market that moves because I know it is in different locations on different days.

Yesterday, after I dropped The Boy at baseball camp, I stopped by the market next to the field. It was a small market but we did well. As you can see, we bought blueberries, strawberries, plums, peaches, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, and corn. We also bought a loaf of bread, not pictured. It was dill & onion bread (made from a sourdough base) and it was YUMMY! There was one vendor who had beautiful cut flowers. I wanted to buy some but I had to run by work and take care of other errands before going home and I didn't want them to wilt in the car. Maybe next time...

Last night, we ate the corn with dinner. It was VERY good. I'm not all that good at picking out corn without shucking it first, but I did OK and, as I said, the corn was sweet and good. The Husband took about half the strawberries to work today and is planning on making blueberry pancakes this weekend. The plums are really interesting...they're tiny and very sweet until you get to the pit and then they have a powerful sour punch. And...before you ask...the tomatoes are NOT for us! Mom and Dad are visiting so I bought the tomatoes for them!

If you are looking for a farmers' market near you or someplace to pick your own produce, try one of my favorite sites, http://pickyourown.org/. Happy shopping!