Same day - different food experience

I did mention that I haven't posted in several days....right? OK, so I made meatloaf last night. That's cow twice in 1 week. Absolutely unheard of in our house!

I was thinking of my friend Patty James, from Shine the Light on America's Kids and her new book, "More Vegetables, Please" - how could I get lots of vegetables into my meatloaf? I don't have her book (still waiting), so I just went scavenging into the frig and pulled out all kinds of vegetables.

Long story short - I ended up using 10 different vegetables and fresh herbs. I started with organic, grass fed ground beef and a bit of extra lean ground chicken. I added homemade wholewheat bread crumbs, rolled oats, wheat germ, 2 eggs, and a bit of milk for moisture. I sauteed the vegetables and added them to the meat mixture. then, I flattened the meat, added chopped spinach on top with some grated pepper jack cheese and rolled it up. Into the loaf pan for an hour.

I quartered 4 red potatoes, added the olive oil, oregano, S & P, garlic and roasted them in a separate pan with the meatloaf.

Gotta say, it was darn good. AND, I never told Rich that it was beef - hahahaha.

I also made brown rice pudding and sprinkled some wheat germ on top. I confess - I ate almost all of it all by myself.

It's my weakness.

Rich is getting tired of having to wait until I take pictures of our dinner every night. Oh well. It beats mac n cheese.

Catching up

It's been a few days since I've written - mostly because I've been busy.

Dad has had a few really low days; but today, thank God, he was talkative (as much as he can be with mom and me in the room), ate a good lunch and was being whisked away for physical therapy when I left (about 1:30pm)

I've been in a cooking kind of mood with all of this rain. I made pot roast a couple of days ago, which was pretty good for a large piece of cow. I Cut up 2 potatoes, 2 carrots and half of a celery root (interesting new food for me). I actually cooked the meat and roasted the vegetables separately, which worked well (I can't stand soft & mushy vegetables). Set the oven to 250 and cooked it covered in the oven for 2 hours. Let it cool and put it in the fridge over night. Another good thing to do because the fat rises to the top and makes it easy to skim it off. Gak!

The following night, I added the roasted vegetables and put the pot in the oven until heated. I also cooked polenta (I cheated and bought those firm round logs of polenta - then sliced it about 1" thick) I used just enough flour to lightly coat the polenta circles and browned them in a hot frying pan with a bit of oil. Yes, it was olive oil. Is there any other kind?

I sprinkled the polenta with Parmesan cheese and served it next to the pot roast and vegetables.

Considering the fact that Rich and I don't eat red meet very often, I figured this was our cow for the month. I was wrong. Check out my next post to find out what I made last night.

Enough rain already

Yesterday was a great day to stay inside and study. I am also working on a new project - an organic garden for Adelante Dual Language Academy in San Jose. While setting up interviews for Patty James from Shine The Light on America's Kids, I was asked by the principal if I would be interested in helping the school with their small garden. It didn't take me more than 2 seconds to say yes!

I am thankful that I grew up on an apricot ranch and my parents always had a wonderful garden full of: tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, onions, garlic, cucumbers and those ugly horn worms. There is nothing better than picking fresh vegetables and eating them right off the vines.

Is this another distraction? Could be, but I will just have to time manage myself so that I can study and work on this project.

By the way, I made a very delicious soup the other day - leftover steamed broccoli and butternut squash with a coconut curry sauce. I added roasted squash and onions and some chicken stock, then blended until smooth. Topped it off with a bit of Greek yogurt, cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds. Yum!

Yes, it's still raining

I guess I shouldn't complain about the rain - we need it. As I look out my kitchen window, I can actually see the weeds growing before my eyes. It reminds me of a book I'm reading - Second Nature by Michael Pollen. He describes his experiences growing up, gardening and how the weeds take over the garden. And I thought I was the only one who noticed. By the way, Michael will be speaking at the Ferry Building in San Francisco on Saturday.

OK, so I can't go for a walk because it's pouring outside; however, I do have all those exercise videos and paraphernalia that I can use, OR I can get back to studying.

Stay focused, Sharon.

The goal is to finish my nutrition classes sooner rather than later. Today, I will be studying Pediatric Nutrition.

Success!

I survived! Up early and out of the house by 8:30am. It was raining, of course.

I lead the way, with Patty, Margaret, Patch & Wilma following in the RV. We arrived at Adelante Dual Language Academy, got set up in the library and awaited arrival of the children Patty would be interviewing. Day one of Shine the Light on America's Kids. We took group pictures and then Patty randomly selected 3 amazing first grade children to be interviewed.

I have to say that all of them were amazing and so excited to talk to Patty about health and nutrition.

After the interviews and pictures we said our good byes and off they went. Next stop - Santa Barbara.

Follow Patty on her cross-country journey http://www.shinethelightonkids.org/ and PLEASE, consider a donation to help Patty reach her goal.

Jammed all day

I had my day all planned, so I thought. As it turns out, Patty (my celebrity guest) called to say she would be arriving around 5pm. I hope she didn't hear my sigh of relief. I still had to clean the downstairs bathroom, iron a tablecloth for the dining room table, clean up the kitchen and make her bed. I had plenty of time - not.

Mom was having her first treatment today and my sister, Christine was going to be with her so I could prepare the house for company. Great - I have almost all day.

Once again - I plan and God laughs. The phone rings and I'm asked to stop by the nursing home to see how Dad is doing. Ok, I can run a couple of errands and check on Dad. I then run to get a bathroom rug and a few last minute items at the grocery store. Items are in the basket and, alas, another phone call. He's still laughing.

Apparently, mom broke out with hives during her treatment and the doctor had to give her a mega dose of benedryl so she can't drive. Now we have to figure out how to get her home, get her car home and get me back to my car so I can get back to my cart full of items that I left in the middle of the aisle at Target (yes I did)

An hour later and I'm back on track. Oh, but wait! another call. Patty is an hour and a half early. So much for taking a shower and cleaning up.

We had a great time getting to know each other, cooking, talking about the farm that her sister Margaret has in Oregon and Patty's adventures. Margaret filmed Patty cooking (my kitchen is going to be famous).

More tomorrow.....stay tuned

So, Where's the rain?

The weather "people" warned us that we were about to get drenched with 5 consecutive storms. That was Friday. Today is Sunday, and so far - no rain. The rain Gods must be waiting for Monday, when everyone is driving to work.

I spent yesterday taking down the Christmas decorations - all but the tree. I just can't do it yet. Not to worry, we got past the romance of picking out a "real" tree several years ago when we were living in Texas. My house kind of looks schizophrenic - the living room still looks a bit like Christmas and my dining room is full blown Spring.

Today is my last day to get the house ready for our celebrity guest on Monday. A local natural chef and nutrition educator, Patty James, from Sebastopol is starting a year long journey around the United States interviewing children. Why, you may ask? Patty has created a non-profit organization called, Shine the Light on Kids. org, and she is interviewing children of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, asking them about health and nutrition. I invite you to check out the website and donate to a wonderful cause.

Long story short, I sent Patty an email, asking her about her cooking school. We've been exchanging emails for the past couple of weeks, and she asked me if I could help set up interviews in San Jose. I didn't hesitate to say yes. So, sometime tomorrow, I am expecting to see her drive up in her 22 foot RV with her sister, Margaret and her 2 dogs.

What's for dinner? We are cooking an Indian dinner together. Rich and I both enjoy cooking and we often cook something Indian; however, we cheat and use prepared simmer sauces. This will be a new experience - can't wait!

Update on mom and dad:
Dad is still in a nursing home. Still very weak and sleeps alot. Mom is starting therapy for Lymphoma tomorrow. I'm worried about both of them. God, please place your healing hands upon mom and dad and watch over them.

Contemplating a walk

I'm typically at my best in the mornings, but not sleeping at night takes any energy I have just to get up and get dressed.

We are expecting several rain storms over the next 4 or 5 days, so if I don't go for a walk today, I might as well wait until next week. Oh gee.

My father has been in a nursing home since the day before Thanksgiving and my mother is starting treatment for Lymphoma on Monday. It's a lot to deal with at the same time and I know stress is an issue since it causes the immune system to weaken. Stressed? Who me? HA!

I have plenty to do, considering I haven't taken down my Christmas decorations yet. Lazy? Not in this case. This holiday season was the worst ever. Dad has been so sick - in and out of the nursing home and hospitals.

This is an opportunity for me to concentrate on my nutrition classes. My goal is to complete my coursework by the end of February so I can get my certification as a Nutritional Consultant. I've got a full plate right now with classes, starting a new business, both of my parents needing support with health issues and carving out some time for myself.

I spent the first week of this year getting organized and setting priorities. Writing a blog wasn't on the list, so I will work on first things first.

Lesson one - prioritize and stay focused

I'm new to blogging, here goes

Although journaling is something I enjoy doing, I am new to publicly blogging and hope I don't make a fool of myself in the process.

So, where do I start? Certainly not at the beginning, that would be completely boring.

As a Gemini, I enjoy change and variety. I never really thought about it while growing up; however, as I have reached midlife, it is becoming increasingly more obvious to me that I may very well have ADD.

On the good side, I have always been able to "go with the flow" , which means that more times than not, I am able to re-invent myself when required to change jobs. As I have had the opportunity to reflect upon my life thus far, I wish I could have-would have, gone to college and gotten a degree in something....anything.

Why didn't I? I didn't have a burning desire to do or be anything when I graduated from high school. And then, I kept changing my mind. Dental Hygienist, Interior Designer, Travel Consultant, Realtor. Gotta wonder where I fell off the path to success and why. Whatever. It is what it is and now I finally found my passion and I'm doing something about it. Read on to find out. (unless you are already bored, and if that's the case, maybe this blogging thing is not for me)

While in my early 20's (seems like a lifetime ago), I became interested in nutrition. I've always eaten pretty healthy and have always been able to maintain a healthy weight. UNTIL........

Amazingly, I got through my childbearing years, including giving birth to 2 healthy babies, without having weight issues. I started out weighing 125, gained 25 pounds with each of them and was able to get back into shape fairly easily.

The magic number was 35. I had been diligent about exercising and got back down to 127 pounds. After 2 car accidents, I was unable to exercise due to back and neck pain. At that point, my metabolism was coming to a halt and no matter what I ate or didn't eat, the pounds just kept attaching themselves to my body. I hate to admit this, but I have now surpassed my birth-weight by 15 pounds. I hate how I look and feel - not to mention the fact that my husband has been encouraging me to lose weight.

So, I ask myself "what is it going to take to get me to do something about getting back in shape"?
Well, I have at least 20 exercise videos, whoops, weights, mats, bands, balls, bars, beans and a Total Gym. So what's my excuse? Honestly, I don't have any good ones - just lack of motivation.

Now in my mid 50's, I absolutely must lose 30 pounds. I am hoping by writing this blog, making my weight issues public, I will finally get off my rear end and take to the streets. All it takes is a good pair of tennis shoes (which I have) and a street. Not all that difficult, considering I learned to walk over 55 years ago.

Stay tuned.