Bento: Blueberry Breakfast in a Box + Bonus!

I'm back with two more bentos--not much else, so let's get to it! I want to save my favorite for last, so we'll start with the bonus. I have what I call a "redneck" bento: slow-cooked country style pork rib, purple cauliflower, and whole wheat garlic bread. He's really lucky that this rib made it into the box. I wanted to eat all of the leftovers myself. It may look a little sloppy, but these ribs are moist and melt-in-your-mouth tender.

And next, the main feature. You may be thinking, "Hey! I don't see in blueberries in there!" So I may have exaggerated a little for the sake of alliteration in the title, but they are in there. They are part of a Van's gluten free blueberry waffle. The protein in this one is two mini sausage and egg casseroles with cheddar cheese. I "baked" these in my microwave muffin pan, which I inherited from my grandma. I've never tried it for muffins, but it sure works well for eggs! Also included are white (green) grapes and a little jar of maple praline syrup for the waffle.

Bento: Tastes of Summer

I am well aware that I haven't posted a bento since April. I think that is what some of my readers were most interested in, and I am incredibly sorry. I hope that I haven't lost you! I have since taken a work-at-home job that allows me lots more free time, and I am now committed to packing Nate a lunch as often as I can.

This one combines two of the signature tastes of summer: sweet corn and apples. I guess apples are more fall, but it's late summer, right? The entree is a baked potato topped with shredded colby-jack cheese and crumbled bacon. Mmm. The best part about putting this one together is that I learned that corn on the cob can be microwaved! All I did was wrap it in plastic wrap and nuke it for 90 seconds. Then I cut off the rather sad-looking ends and presto! A fully-cooked, perfectly-sized ear of corn. I'll be using this technique again.

Coming full circle

After seeing how drastically jury duty affected me, my husband vowed that if he were called, he would serve to the best of his ability. He thoroughly researched the deliberation process, developing strategies to ensure its fairness and impartiality, should he ever be called. Little did he know that he would need the knowledge so soon. Just two months after I served, he received a summons.

He showed up to selection, and sure enough, he was chosen. The cases we heard were alarmingly similar. A few of the circumstances differed, but the victims were about the same age, the charges were similar, and the evidence was equally lacking. Despite some of the other jurors' doubts, he convinced them to make him foreman and to agree to a few basic procedures, based upon the military court martial system. I believe that these proceedures made the difference between his trial and mine--between a fair trial and a witch hunt. I share them here in hope that someone will use these principles as a guide. Perhaps they will save some mild-mannered juror a lifetime of regret. More importantly, they may prevent an innocent person (from a legal standpoint) from being convicted.

1. Parliamentary procedure for discussion. The jury's discussion proceeded around the table, and each person was allotted five minutes to speak at a time. No one was required to speak for that long--or at all, for that matter. However, the time was available if they wanted it, allowing each juror a fair chance to voice an opinion.
2. Evidence-based instead of verdict-based deliberation. Instead of discussing whether the defendant was guilty or not guilty, the jury began by carefully considering all of the evidence presented in the case. Their opinions may have been apparent because of their reactions to the evidence, but this procedure placed the focus where it needed to be--on the facts--instead of on getting justice for the victim.
   
3. Voting by secret ballot. After everyone had been given ample time to share their opinions of the evidence, they submitted their verdicts via paper ballot. Those who wanted to share their vote could, but this method ensured that more timid types did not simply "go along to get along."
   

The procedures worked well. After about an hour and a half of discussion, the jury voted by secret ballot and came to a unanimous decision.

The whole experience reminds me why I fell in love with this man. He has a rare form of integrity, and he stands for what he believes, no matter how unpopular his opinion might be. Largely because of him, liberty won out that day. As a citizen, I am grateful. As a wife, I am proud.

My civic duty

May 16. Wow! Has it really been over a month since I updated? I don't know how I got here from blogging every day for almost an entire month, but here I am. The day after I posted the last entry, my life was forever changed. That was the day I was chosen for jury duty. I know it sounds a bit melodramatic, but when you come face to face with other people's destinies, you can't help but come out of it with a different outlook on life.

I wish I had tried harder to get out of the experience. I probably could have called ahead and gotten a one-year deferral, since I have three very young children, one of whom is still nursing. I could have mentioned how, as a reference librarian, I am surrounded by newspapers and other media. Being considerably less eloquent orally than I am in writing, none of those options occurred to me at the time, and I was selected to serve on the jury.

The charges in question included several counts of child molestation. Yes, the testimony was heart-wrenching, but what really affected me was the deliberation process. Here's how ours worked: twelve people were locked in a room for eight hours, only allowed to leave for restroom breaks. Even our meals were brought in. During those hours, we engaged in emotionally-charged discussion. There were certain stronger personalities in the group who spent most of the time trying to wear down their dissenters--and for the most part, it worked. I am fairly certain that the decision I reached was my own, but I guess I will never fully know. I left that evening, tired, engorged with milk, and emotionally spent. It had taken me hours to reach a guilty verdict, and while it may have been beyond reasonable, there was a doubt nonetheless. That doubt haunted me for nearly two weeks before I was able to come to terms with it. It interrupted my sleep and impacted my emotions. I lost sense of time and gained back almost half of the pounds I had lost in the previous four months. Also, because of spending time at daycare, my kids brought home a horrible respiratory bug that kept knocked the while family flat for an entire week after the trial.

Some have asked me how I could stand to even look at the type of scum who molests a child, and I am at a loss for words, because it is no longer so clear cut for me. Guilty or not, it is an enormous burden to send a man to prison for the rest of his life. He is a person--someone's son--who, until three days prior, was considered innocent. If, on the off chance, we were wrong, he still may never escape the stigma. And what if we had found him innocent, and wrongfully so? Then we would release a monster on to the street, and a young girl would be disheartened and invalidated. Either way, no one wins in a case like this.

One thing I do know without any doubt is that I will never convict another person as long as I live.

Bad karma

I'm not entirely sure what I've done lately, but apparently the universe has decided that I deserve retribution. Today started with one of the more frightening moments of my life (in retrospect it was nothing but at the time, it nearly induced a heart attack). Around 3 a.m. I was up laying out the design for Levi's birthday cake when someone rang my doorbell. Now, we have the actual bell disconnected, because it wakes the kids, but this place is big enough that the previous owners installed a second buzzer in the room where I just happened to be--the kitchen. This is no pleasant tinkle, either. It makes the most god-awful buzz you've ever heard, and it's especially disturbing at 3 in the morning. Since I was too much of a wuss to answer, with what feeling I had left in my legs, I went up to the bedroom and, once my mouth could form words, dragged Nate out of bed. As it turns out, it was the next door neighbor, who I informed us that the rear passenger-side window of our car had been busted with a pellet gun. No, it was not high crime, but still expensive and annoying, and I got even less sleep than usual.

Today was supposed to be work day at home, and with the late night, we needed a boost. Nate supplied this in the form of 44 ounce Diet Coke. Once Naomi was contently playing on her own, I left her with Nate and went to work in the kitchen. I had scarcely filled the dish drainer when I heard a commotion in the living room. I soon learned that Isaac had dumped most of my drink onto my laptop. Yes, it's fried. Reparable? Perhaps. For a reasonable price? Doubtfully. I may be moving to a PC for a few years, at least until i'm done raising toddlers. Things like this make me think that may be sooner than originally planned. For now, I'll be blogging from my iPod.

Biggest Loser, Part 2

Ugh. Well after one day of blogging in May, I lost my Internet connection last night. I won't qualify for NaBloPoMo (once again), but I'm going to try to keep it up for the rest of the month anyway. The habit will help when I try again in June.

Today is the first day of The Biggest Loser, part two. If I am to meet my personal goal--30 pounds by August--I will need to lose 2.3 pounds per week, which is a pretty tall order. That keeps me on a 1300 calorie diet. For motivation, I am going to visualize my second daughter, who I hope to have after I get healthy. Will I have another girl? Maybe not, but one study shows that beautiful parents have more daughters. And 30 pounds lighter, I'll probably be better looking. :) I don't really need to say that I would be just as happy with a girl, I just want Naomi to have a sister.

Today I also start working toward getting us on a household schedule. Notice I said "work toward." We tried to go to bed early last night so I could get up at 5:30 with Nate. Too bad Isaac had different plans. I'm going to have a room per day to clean so I can spread it over the week rather than having to take up our valuable weekend time. That being said, it's time to get up and get to work.

I jumped the gun

I was so excited about returning to regular blogging that I accidentally posted too early. Blogger runs on Pacific time, and I've not yet figured out how to change it, so I'd better log an entry for May 1!

It's been a busy weekend. Levi started t-ball today in a one-month program for 3-5 year olds. Out of about 25 preschoolers, he was the one that resisted every. single. activity. The coach asked the kids to sit down; he wanted to get my purse and leave. They were supposed to run to third base; he picked up the base and handed it to a parent, who he thought had dropped it. He didn't really throw a fit or anything, but I did have to shadow him to keep him on track. He just seemed to be mostly in a world of his own (in which I was an honored guest), except when he saw a boy wearing a University of Michigan hat with its "M" logo and mistook him for Mario. Today's experience left me thinking, a la Charlie Brown, "Why can't I have a normal [son] like everybody else?" Of course, I say that affectionately. Despite any of the challenges of raising him, I wouldn't trade my quirky, imaginative little boy for anyone or anything. Every day with him is an adventure.

Look up!

Today begins a new month of blogging, during which I am going to try extra hard to make NaBloPoMo. For those doing NaNoWriMo, where you write an entire novel in a month, this must seem like nothing, but I guess I'm just trying to get into the habit of writing daily. Then I can work on quantity. Also, if you skip a day of NaNoWriMo, you can spread out that word count over the next few days. If you skip a day of NaBloPoMo, it's all over. I did find a way to blog by e-mail, so I will be able to send in at least a sentence from my phone if I get into a bind, such as losing electricity or something weird).

The theme is "look up" and it couldn't be more timely. My lack of blogging lately has stemmed largely from a pretty nasty bout of depression--another interesting interpretation of my blog title. No, I haven't been diagnosed, and I probably won't be, since being overwhelmed is the chief trigger, and seeing a professional is just another time commitment that I can't afford. Fortunately, I'm able to deal with it. Having three little people who depend on me for everything forces me to get up and at least take care of their needs, but I have been neglecting mine a bit, and probably the hubby's as well. So, when I read this month's blogging theme, it felt like a much-needed pat on the back.

The rest of this year could be a pretty amazing. Biggest Loser Part 2 starts Monday at work. I have about 30 pounds to lose by fall--preferably by August. That's when I go in for my yearly checkup, and I want to be so fit that the midwives don't recognize me! I fell embarrassingly short of my goal in the last competition, and I really want to make it this time. I have written up a household schedule, and I'm going to try hard to stick to my guns. Am I really going to lose weight and get organized? All in one summer? I'm certainly going to try. I'm going to look up and take hold of the possibilities and see where it goes.

A bounty of bentos!

So I haven't posted in forever. I'm going to try NaBloPoMo again in May, so I thought I'd get back into the habit. To (sort of) make up for my neglect, I'm going to share not one, not two, but three bentos!

Bento number one incorporates a leftover piece of Culver's fried chicken, cottage cheese, carrot and celery sticks, a Mini Babybel gouda cheese and Back to Nature cream cookies (like Oreos). There is a lot of protein in this one, what with two kinds of cheese and meat, but that's what guys need, right?

Bento number two makes up for the protein overload in the first one: it's completely meatless! The entree is baked whole wheat rotini with creamy vodka pasta sauce, shredded mozarella, and grated parmesan-romano cheese. It also includes purple cauliflower, radishes, and yellow mini cupcakes with buttercream and strawberries. Yes, those cupcakes are leftovers from his birthday two weeks ago, but the buttercream pretty much disguises the fact that they are stale. ;)

Bento number three is an example of how a ton of food can be packed into these little boxes. At first glance, you would think I'm starving the poor guy, but empty all of this out onto a plate and it's a pretty big lunch. This one contains a sloppy Joe on whole grain white bun; carrots, celery, and radishes; a tangelo; and waffle pretzel and Nutella sandwiches. I had to remove all but one compartment to make this work. Hopefully the fruit and veggies are dry enough that the sandwich doesn't go soggy. It helps that the filling was refrigerated prior to making the sandwich, so it's pretty solid.

That's all for now. Bonus points for anyone who can tell me which picture was taken at night under crappy compact fluorescent lights.

Bento: the world's smallest Boston Cream Pie!

I mentioned during last weekend's rant that I needed to make Nate's birthday cupcakes. What I made was a version of Boston Cream Pie Minis from Kraft Foods. As usual, I altered the recipe a bit. I sent Nate to the store for the ingredients (yes, for his own cake; I'm a slave driver), and when he saw Cool Whip on the list, he requested real whipped cream instead. I figured it would work. When he got home, I realized that he'd forgotten the cake mix, so I decided to make that from scratch, too. The only thing that wasn't from scratch was the instant pudding. The other alteration I made was to substitute the vanilla pudding for pistachio in half of the cakes and chocolate fudge in the other half. Having only one standard muffin pan, and not enough time for 2 bakings, I put half of the batter into a mini muffin pan. Thus, the world's smallest Boston Cream Pies were born. The cool thing is, two of these fit perfectly into one of the compartments of our rectangle Lock & Lock. I threw them into today's lunch, along with a sandwich of old fashioned loaf, cut in strips and rolled up and some baby carrots.

Overwhelmed

My posts have had an unusually optimistic cast lately (or maybe it's just optimistic relative to my usual outlook). Today, you're in for a real treat. I am going to let it all hang out, because quite frankly, I am too discouraged to care what anyone thinks. You may have noticed that I went from posting daily to not posting at all. I flubbed up NaBloPoMo in March and was fully intending to do April, but didn't think about it until April 2nd. After that, I gave up for a while.

It's weird how my posting habits tend to reflect everything else in my life. I haven't lost any weight since the last post, and I am starting to think that I won't lose any more, either. The working, housekeeping, and chasing after the kids is becoming too much. I don't understand how. I only average 13 hours per week, and I'm a miserable failure at housekeeping, so what is consuming all this time? (Don't say blogging. That takes maybe 15 minutes a day when I do it regularly, and I'm usually nursing at the keyboard.) Some women work full time and still hold it together. Could it be because their kids are at daycare and not home trashing the house all day? I don't know, but I'll hold on to that as my excuse.

I've given up on ever having anything nice. I don't have expensive tastes--by nice I mean neat, visually pleasing, and well-maintained. Nope. Not for me. I am destined to live in a dump because neither my kids nor my husband respect me, and I'm the only one who cares about how things look.

And what about homeschooling? As it stands, other homeschoolers will hate me because my kids will be some of the few who actually reinforce the "unsocialized" stereotype. How the heck are we supposed to network if we can't have anyone over?

My rant is over. Time to go finish Nate's birthday cupcakes.

22 pounds down!

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, since I've had a really bad couple of weeks with my diet. I got on the scale for my weigh-in this evening and somehow had dropped three pounds since my last weigh-in two weeks ago! This puts my total loss at 22 pounds. 20 pounds sounds like a huge milestone for some reason, but having lost the additional 2 also puts what I have left to lose at less than 30 pounds. It's an inspiring place to be because not only does that amount I've lost sound significant, but the amount left to lose seems doable. I am more energized than ever to push hard through the last month and achieve my goal for the competition. That's 10 pounds in 4 weeks. After that, there are just 18 to go. A little cleaning, a little decluttering, and I'll have met all of my requirements to start trying for our fourth (and what we plan to be our last) child. And then, I can also blog about something more interesting. :)

Flip Diaper Covers--When they say "one-size," they mean it!

I was upstairs and Isaac was almost asleep when he decided to tinker with his diaper and pull the tab off. I know it's lazy, but we didn't have any more diapers upstairs, and I didn't feel like going back downstairs, so I came up with a creative solution.

I haven't blogged much about it, but we put Naomi in cloth diapers sometimes. I probably should do them more often to get our money's worth, but one way I have tried to make them more economical is purchasing one-size-fits all covers. These snap into different configurations so that they grow with the baby, and can supposedly be used until potty training. You just need to buy new prefolds (the classic cloth diaper) to put inside the cover. I haven't been able to test this out, since Naomi obviously isn't at her largest diaper size yet.

I bet you can guess where this is going. I didn't want to waste Isaac's diaper, and I had an extra Flip diaper cover left, so I just unsnapped it to its largest size and tried it on. It fits! And Isaac is no ordinary-sized 2-year-old, either. He's about in the 98th percentile. So it looks like we will be getting our money's worth out of these covers.

Bento: Manly bentos and more

So the past two days I have packed bentos fit for a king--or at least a dude. I started out with just about the manliest thing I can think of: a big hunk of beef. Actually, it was a three-pound chuck roast from the quarter of freezer beef we bought late last summer. I cooked it up in the crock pot on Tuesday, then chopped it up and divided it in three. The first portion went to make beef and noodles (whole wheat egg noodles, since I'm on this health kick). This went into Nate's bento for today, layered over two mashed potatoes, and served with a side of corn. I gave him Rainbow Chips Deluxe for dessert.

For dinner tonight, we had more beef. I had a craving for French dip subs, but in my usual fashion, I didn't have all of the ingredients. I was missing crusty bread. Also characteristic of me, I thought, "No biggie! I'll just make some." I also had no yeast, so I Googled for "no yeast crusty bread" and ended up at this recipe for Irish Soda Bread. It seemed simple enough and I set to work. No sooner had I measured out four cups of flour than I realized that I also had no baking soda. Levi emptied the entire box last week thinking it was candy or something. Soda bread with no soda?! I decided to give it a go with baking powder (triple the amount). Somehow, the stuff turned out surprisingly well. It was dense and moist, with a nice, crispy crust. Now I can't wait to get started on Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day!

I made the bread in 2 loaves instead of a round so I could use it for sandwiches. I sliced the pieces in half and topped them with some of the roast and muenster cheese, then toasted them in the oven for about 5 minutes. I served it with bowls of leftover juices from the roast. The crispy bread absorbed the juices and om-nom-nom! Delicious is an understatement. It wasn't as bad as you'd think on the calories either. The bread has almost no fat in it, and the entire sandwich, including 1/3 pound of beef has only about 400 calories. Without the chips, this would have been fairly diet-friendly.

Nate really enjoyed his too, so I packed him another for tomorrow's lunch. I included the rest of the "jus" in one of Naomi's baby food cups. He also gets the familiar celery and carrots and some Rainbow Chips deluxe, and I threw in a bag of chips on the side. This lunch is so un-bento. It's full of processed, bad-for-you foods, but oh well. It's manly, it's tasty, and it won't embarrass my hubby.

Bento: No more hearts!

A while back, I defined my bento style by saying that I wouldn't make something so cutesy that a 30-year-old man would be embarrassed to take him to work. Apparently I have crossed the lines with the hearts and his co-workers are starting to talk, so it's serious, manly bentos from now on. Well, except for his birthday. I have interesting plans for that. ;)

So here is my last bento with a cute little heart cutout. It contains: Ham and mild cheddar on whole grain white bread; potato chips; red seedless grapes; carrot sticks; Hershey's miniatures.

And also, while I was making my own lunch, life threw me a little bonus, as if to make up for the cuteness I'll be missing in my bentos. I made us some cheddar melts with tomato, onion, and ranch dressing. When I cut into the onion, the inner rings were shaped like little hearts. It was so cute that I had to take a picture of the toasted melt before I placed the top slice of bread. Awww!

Temptation

Well, just a week from the end of NaBloPoMo, I have failed once again. After I totally spaced Saturday's posting, I got frustrated and skipped Sunday's as well. Now recently, I discovered you can change the posting date to something else, and I could change the dates of two posts to make it look like I kept up, but I won't cheat. It will mean more to me when I actually do this thing legitimately.

I also have fallen behind badly on my diet. I did fine at McDonald's Saturday, but then our day at the museum was a bit of a disaster and we were so exhausted on the way home, we decided to stop for dinner, too. And we stopped at Penn Station. I was full after eating half of the sandwich and was prepared to set the rest aside, but it was so darn good that I couldn't stop. That and it was comforting. I admit it. Food is a huge comfort for me, and the past few days have been the kind that made me want to drown my sorrows in caffeine, sugar, and rich chocolate cake. It was tempting not to record all of this at The Daily Plate because it's embarrassing how much I ate, and quite frankly, is a lot of work to enter all of that food! But I did it anyway, and the calorie totals were staggering. What's even more frightening is that I used to eat like that all the time! It's no wonder I gained about 40 pounds in five years. Actually, I can't believe I didn't gain more.

Today, it's back on the horse. Not much damage has been done. I can try NaBloPoMo next month, and tomorrow, I'm back to my normal calorie limit. Wednesday evening will find me chugging away at the Y. Before long, who knows? Maybe I'll even end up getting organized!

My "dieting" philosophy

Today we return to the topic of weight loss, since all the others have been exhausted. I'm hoping to hit the 20-pound mark next Monday, although I'm not sure if I'll make it or not. The past week or two have been abysmal. Well, actually, I have lost a little (less than a pound each week), so it hasn't been too bad, but I feel myself slipping off track a bit. Even so, my daily calorie totals haven't exceeded maintenance level more than once.

For me, I find that it helps to see calories much like currency. I give myself a daily allowance, and I am allowed to spend that in whatever way I chose. If I want to have a Hershey bar as an afternoon snack, I just have to eat less for lunch or dinner. This way, I never deny myself anything, so it doesn't feel like dieting. On the flip side, sometimes I opt for the more healthful option simply because I can eat more of it. I could have an apple, a string cheese stick, and five saltines for the same amount of calories as are in that Hershey bar. That's practically a mini meal! Tomorrow, we plan to travel out of town, and we are supposed to be eating fast food on the way. Hopefully I can find some good, filling choices.

On a side note, I found a new tasty item that is "economical," calorically anyway: the Pacific Shrimp Soft Taco at Taco Bell. They are zesty, flavorful, and two of them make a nice little meal for under 400 calories.

And with that, I will say good night before I pass out asleep on the keyboard.

Daylight freaking savings!

I've been writing a lot about bento, so I'll give it a rest for a today. That, and I packed Nate tuna casserole for tomorrow and not only is it not photogenic, but he doesn't want it. I guess he doesn't want to heat stinky things in a public microwave. Whatever. I'll gripe about daylight saving time instead.

I know daylight savings is supposed to be a good thing. I am all about supporting businesses, and I honestly hope that it's helping their productivity, but it sure isn't helping our family's internal clocks.

In order to help the kids get tired, I thought I'd try physical exercise. Today, I took them outside for about an hour to enjoy the weather. Naomi was getting a little chilly by the end, so we snuggled up in my jacket and nursed for a while. The boys would have stayed out all day if I could have let them, but they can't stay out alone. They spent a lot of time in the sandbox and a little pushing around the bubble mower and poking a dead squirrel with a stick. Don't worry, I warned them not to touch it, hence the use of the stick.

The exercise worked, too. They took nice naps this evening and woke up right around 8 p.m. This made bedtime a little tricky. Finally, about midnight, I tried counting quietly to help Isaac relax. Little by little, he began settling down. By the time I reached 750, his breathing had deepened, and I thought he'd fallen asleep, so I stopped. About 30 seconds later, a little head popped up and he asked "What happened?" And so we made it to 1000.

Bento: Beef Manhattan

I felt really bad about packing Nate that mystery meat the other day. He ended up having a business lunch, so he didn't eat it until today. It turns out, the crackers had gone soft and the meat tasted a bit tinny. To make things worse, I found that he had comisserated about said mystery meat with a co-worker whose wife has been known to pack steak and lobster--in the same lunch! Oh, the shame.

I am hoping that tomorrow's lunch makes up for it. This may be one of the less attractive lunches I've put together thus far, but it promises to be tasty. The entree is packed in two separate compartments, the gravy in the top left, and the rest in the larger area at the right. The "rest" includes toasted whole grain white bread, layered with mashed potatoes and slices of beef chuck roast. The gravy is nicely congealed (is there such a thing?), so it should travel well. He'll just need to heat it and pour the gravy over the whole deal. With, it I packed the familiar side of carrot and celery sticks. I am also sending a cup of butterscotch pudding. This should be the last of the crappy phone camera pics, as I found my charger today. Yay!

Hurry scurry!

Yikes! I am barely going to make it in time for tonight's deadline. Thanks, Laura, for reminding me and keeping me on track. I don't have much news anyway. Let's see: I ironed something for the first time in about 3 years today, only to learn that I am not speaking in front of the library board until next month. Also, I only lost 0.6 pounds at this week's weight. Ah, well. At least the February-March "birthday season" is over in my family. We should be cake-free until Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and speaking of birthdays, I finally got my presents from Nate: a Legend of Zelda t-shirt (which I need to alter since it's a men's XL) and the book Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Both could provide for some interesting blogging. I guess I did have some news after all. :)

Bento: Sweet canned meat

You might think the title of this blog is oxymoronic, and you might be right. However, around our house, it's been a couple of weeks since we did major grocery shopping, so I have the fun of working from our pantry stash. Sometimes this helps me come up with creative dinner ideas. Other times, such as this time, I end up doing something silly like packing canned meat in my husband's lunch. This particular variety is supposed to be "corned beef," so I am thinking of doing some semblance of a Reuben for the kids and me tomorrow. Nate doesn't like Reubens, so I had to think of some way to make his corned beef-ish stuff more appealing. Of course! Everything is better cut into cute little heart shapes. So here is it. I have lost the battery charger to my camera again, so you'll have to settle for a crappy camera phone pic. This lunch includes: shortbread heart cookies; woven wheat crackers; tangelo sections; hard boiled eggs, "corned beef" from a can, cut into little heart shapes. Who knows? He might just like it!

Sweet celebration!

Today was pretty great. I woke up early to breakfast in bed, prepared by my husband. Because of daylight savings, the kids slept an hour late. This gave us time to finish preparing for my in-laws' visit. The house is now cleaner than it's been since we got everything moved in last July. Make no mistake, toddlers still live here, so it's not immaculate, but it's good enough for now. We made a giant leap this weekend and will be making baby steps until it's all done. Somehow, I think it's going to work this time.

After they arrived, we enjoyed a nice dinner of beef chuck roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet corn--a simple, hearty meal that is one of my favorites--topped off with birthday cake. I mentioned giving them a list, which included several types of chocolates as examples of what I like. It turns out, they got me all of them. I also got some nice herbal teas and a scented oil candle, which I will try out once I find a place high enough to set it that the boys can't reach. So far, despite having 10-foot ceilings, these places are few and far between.

Most of all, I ended up getting what I've wished for every holiday since I've had a home of my own: a clean(ish) house. If we can keep it that way, I am well on my way to having everything I've ever wanted.

The last birthday I plan to celebrate

No, I'm not thinking morbidly (although that's not altogether unlike me). Sure, I'll get older. I just don't know if celebrating it is worth the effort. I mentioned in passing that last Monday was my birthday, and it was rather uneventful. I had a nice dinner and some yummy strawberry cake with my parents on the previous Friday. Tomorrow, Nate's parents are coming to give me my gift. I invited them over, knowing full well that the house was a wreck, and thinking that would give us motivation to clean up a bit. Also, since they're already bringing me a gift, I felt it would be rude to invite myself over there.

Today, when I wasn't at Nina's baby shower (congrats, Nina!), was spent marathon cleaning our downstairs in preparation for their visit. There was also the task of finding something I want. Easy, right? Not really. First, she wants to get me something "for me." This is with the best of intentions, because I think she feels I'm being a martyr, but I truly prefer practical gifts. For example, I would love a panini press, but I'm not supposed to ask for that because cooking is something I have to do. I don't have time to go out shopping for myself, so I am resigned to asking for mostly food items (e.g. herbal teas, chocolates). I also put a couple of gift cards on the list, but I know those are also frowned upon. I really appreciate the gift, but the asking itself is exhausting.

So that's it. If you want to wish me a happy birthday, you had better have done it on my 27th. Next year, I think I'll just wake up and be 28 and let that be the end of it.

Power outage

I had forgotten how light it is in the city at night until I came home to find my electricity down. Apparently, my street is the dividing line for the outage, and my house just happens to be on the wrong side of it. Thanks, neighbors across the street, for leaving all your lights on so I could see to get into the house. The kids were pretty spooked at first, but I found that once I opened some of the doors to the bedrooms, there was a bluish glow coming from outside. It was enough to find my way around anyway. Also, Nate had his iPod to use as a flashlight, and of course we have light from the laptop screens, at least as long as the batteries hold out. Everyone is now tucked into bed. It's kind of peaceful, really. Should we still be out tomorrow, this house great natural lighting.

I am writing this in Text Edit, using what charge is left in my laptop battery, and hoping that power--and my Internet--will be restored in time to post for NaBloPoMo. Too bad the "citywide" wireless only works in about 8 select parking spaces scattered around town. As midnight approaches, I fear I will lose out over a silly technicality.

I made it! Apparently, Blogger is on Pacific time, so I'm actually even early. Yay!

Bento: Homemade chocolate pudding

I have seen these adorable mini puddings in several people's bentos and, since pudding is one of Nate's favorite desserts, I wanted to try them. Too bad they seem to be sold out everywhere online. Anyway, I decided to make my own version. The pudding is Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding made from scratch, which is super easy, but involves every bit of one's attention. Keeping little people from climbing onto my counters and emptying out my pantry distracted me from constantly stirring, which resulted in a lumpy pudding. Oh well. It was still tasty. I crumbled Oreos on top of one of my servings, and that camouflaged the texture nicely. I was planning to do this for Nate, but found that he had already polished off the Oreos the night before. So pffffttt to him.

Anyway, back to the bento. You may recognize the little pudding cup from a couple weeks back. That is one of the 2 ounce screw-top containers I use to freeze and store baby food. The lid wouldn't fit inside the lunchbox, but the pudding was set enough to stay put. Also included are: strawberry shortbread cookies (a post-Valentine's Day sale item at Aldi), radishes, carrot and celery sticks, thin-sliced turkey and cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin.

Finally a TV birth worth watching!

Since we only get TV online (no cable or satellite here), I get much of my entertainment from Hulu.com. That's how I started watching The Office--it's not like I didn't like it before, but maybe I had a schedule conflict or something. Online, I can watch anytime. But I digress.

I have been following the show for a few months now, and I was excited to see Pam giving birth to her and Jim's baby. Still, I figured it wouldn't cover much new ground. The expectant parents would arrive at the hospital, and the wife would be wheeled to the delivery room in a wheelchair, where she would obediently hike up her legs in stirrups. Then she would crush her confused husband's hand as she screamed through a few contractions before delivering what appeared to be a 2-month-old baby. Afterwards, the baby would be whisked away to the nursery, where the awaiting family would look in adoringly through a window. I figured that I would watch like usual and grumble about the false image TV gives to childbirth.

Surprisingly I found that the show represented many natural parenting techniques, honestly and with good humor. One thing that was different was that they didn't show anything from the delivery room at all. Kelly mentioned epidurals in one of the "documentary" type shots, but that was anecdotal, and nothing was said about how Pam gave birth. You could hear her from outside, and from the way she was moaning, I assume that she went mostly natural. Still, it was a nice touch, I think, to leave that out and let viewers imagine what was happening.

I was also pleased to see that the baby roomed in and that the Halperts chose to breastfeed, even when it wasn't always easy. This introduced another very real issue: know-it-all nurses. Their nurse just wouldn't give up with the "Why don't you let me take her to the nursery and give her a bottle so you can rest?" talk, and even made smart aleck remarks about how bottles don't hurt babies. Maybe not, but why challenge the parents' authority to make decisions for their own child, especially when that decision is clearly the better choice from a medical standpoint? It's beyond me, but I know firsthand that it happens. Pam and Jim stood their ground so well, too. They didn't pretend that breastfeeding is all peaches and cream, but they did show how rewarding it can be. When Pam finally succeeded, I will admit, I teared up a little. I'd like to see how the show explores the issue once she goes back to work.

I don't mean this as a judgment on moms who made different choices, but it's sure nice to see a TV show giving exposure to natural parenting, hopefully helping these practices become more mainstream. I say "Bravo!" to The Office for producing one of the more honest, relatable, and touching birth episodes I've ever watched.

Whole wheat mini bagels: bento and beyond

The other night, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the kids and all, so Nate kicked me out of the house for a bit to unwind. I decided to go to Aldi--maybe it doesn't sound like much of a night out, but I had forgotten just how cool that place is!

They had great deals on a lot of things, including whole wheat mini bagels. As I lose more weight, my calorie limit drops lower and lower, so one thing I have done is substitute mini bagels for regular size. I figure I'm cutting calories at least in half. The other cool thing is that you get a whole truckload in a bag, so I've had a chance to try some different ways to eat them. Of course, there is the old breakfast standby, cream cheese and jam. But bagels are great for lunch, too! The minis fit perfectly in Nate's lunchbox, so I whipped him up some open-faced turkey melts. They're just thin sliced turkey and cheddar toasted for a few minutes in the oven. If I were making them for myself, I would have added tomato, Ranch dressing, and red onion, but we'll get to my lunch later. I also packed a tangelo, mini chocolate sandwich cookies, and licorice bites. He ate the whole thing.

For myself and the boys, I came up with another little treat. It's surprisingly filling for its size, and only has about 190 calories. Add a nice garden salad or some fresh fruit, and you have a low-cal, nutritious, and satisfying lunch.

Beefy Bagel Sandwich with Cucumbers

Ingredients:

• 1 whole wheat mini bagel
• 1 tablespoon Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese--it's not so bad in this small of a quantity)
• About 1/4 teaspoon of salt-free seasoning (I used a generic comparable to Mrs. Dash)
• Thin-sliced beef (e.g. Carl Buddig or Land O' Frost), about half of a 2 oz. package
  
• 4-5 thin cucumber slices
• Thinly sliced red onion to taste

Lightly toast the bagel. Spread Neufchatel cheese on the top half of the bagel, then sprinkle with salt-free seasoning. Arrange beef, cucumber slices, and red onion on the bottom half. Put the halves together and enjoy!

If dieting always tastes this good, I may just waste away to nothing.

Biggest Loser: Halfway there!

Today marks the halfway point for my workplace's Biggest Loser contest. As of this evening at 5, I had lost 18 pounds! I am now lighter than my high school weight (senior year at least), although there is still a long way to go. My goal is closer to my middle school weight.

I did convince Nate to take some progress pics (possibly out of guilt, because it's my birthday and he has yet to get me anything--even a card!), so I'll share them a little later this evening. and I'll share them now. Be warned, after 18 pounds, it still ain't pretty. I think my baby pooch sticks out even worse than before! Also, my back and butt look weird in the profile because I tucked my shirt in to try to capture my general outline. Apparently Nate didn't think to tell me this (or to focus the camera, for that matter). Don't get me started on him. That's an whole other post--nay, a whole other blog. Here are the pics (I included the previous pics side by side for comparison).

Mommy's little neat freak

I bragged on Levi several days ago, so I figure I should be fair and brag on the other two. The next in line, age-wise, is Isaac. He is a cute, cuddly, 34-pound 2-year-old with a real eye for detail. His strength is anything technical. Despite being younger, he usually figures out how toys work before Levi does. He has also figured out many of our electronics, such as the TV, which he nonchalantly turns off whenever someone is watching something he doesn't want to watch. Give him a piece of paper and a pencil (which he holds like a pro), and Ikey will be content to draw for hours--mostly helicopters. His drawings have an incredible amount of detail for his age. No, the outside observer might not recognize them as helicopters, but if you watch him draw, you can clearly see him form the body, tail, and blades. He fills entire papers with tiny drawings. Along the same lines, he seems to be pretty good at "math." With encouragement, he can count into the teens, and he gets especially excited about 20.

He is also a bit of a neat freak. Where he picked that up, I'll never know. He can't tolerate doors being left open, and when he spills, he immediately reaches for the nearest piece of fabric to clean it up (sometimes this is a t-shirt, but it's the thought that counts, right)?

And more than anything in the world, he loves his Mommy. I don't know if it's because he was slightly premature, or because we nursed forever or what, but we are joined at the hip. If I'm sitting, I can almost guarantee that he will crawl into my lap and cuddle or give me a big sloppy kiss.

That's my Ikey!

ETA: He drew a wonderful helicopter this morning, so I updated with a picture.

Instant gratification

In case you saw the first round of "weekly" weight loss progress pics, you way be wondering what happened to the other 7 weeks. The truth is, I never took them (or had Nate take them). I don't know why. Maybe there is a mental block because I am afraid that I won't look any different--or maybe I'm just lazy. Anyway, we are halfway through the contest now, so I really ought to be posting some by the beginning of next week.

Tonight, I got curious about what I might look like after having reached my target weight. I had played around with My Virtual Model before when my mom and I were "trying on" clothes at L.L. Bean's website. It's a pretty helpful little tool. You enter a few details like your height, weight, and frame, then choose facial features, hair, and skin color. The last time I tried it, I came up with a model that vaguely resembled me. I found the site again, and now you can actually add your own face to the model. Now she looks a little more like me, except her face has a strange blue cast from my webcam. It was fun nonetheless. The site allows you to try on clothes from various retailers and see prices, etc. First I tried on a bunch of different outfits, which was so much fun--kind of like paper dolls. Then I dressed her up in something pretty similar to the clothes I usually wear and started playing with her weight. I'll post the three side-by-side for comparison. The first picture is at my beginning weight, the second is where I am now, and the third is my target weight.

I really hope that I actually have made as much of a difference as this shows. In that case, I'm not so afraid to post progress pics. Now if I can only get down to that "after" weight ...

She who cuts her own hair ...

... has a fool for a barber. I heard this saying from a friend at work, and based upon most of my home hair-cutting endeavors, I would say she was right. Knowledge of this doesn't stop me from trying. For one, I am a cheap-wad, and I flinch at paying even $20 for a haircut. Also, going to a salon simply takes too much time. I cut my own bangs in November and got compliments on the look, so I decided to tackle it. With a lot of help from this YouTube video (thanks, JayJay!), I was able to pull off a decent cut. Maybe I'm a fool, but this fool just got $20 richer!

Why "Blue Colored Glasses?"

So I looked at my post from yesterday, and according to the time stamp, I posted it on March 3. Maybe it counts from the time I opened the editor window. That means I'm still in the running for NaBloPoMo! Sweet! I don't have much else to blog about (no bento today since Nate is off tomorrow!), so I thought I would share a draft that I wrote several months ago. Orignally, this was from the time I decided to name my blog "Cornflower Cottage," before Googling it and learning that a blog by the same name already exists--a pretty cool blog, I might add. This explains the name of the blog and a little background about me and my family. When appropriate, I have added necessary updates in brackets.

I had to rethink my previous blog title (Spencerville, Population 4) for several reasons. The most obvious reason is that our family's population is now 5! As much as I love my boys, I am thankful for another female presence in the house. She hasn't changed our "routine" much, as she is a very calm baby.

Also, the name "Spencerville" implied an independent community, which we were when we lived in the country. Since my last posting, we have relocated to town. This puts us closer to both of our workplaces. We also somehow also have a nicer, bigger house and a cheaper mortgage. You really can't beat the cost of living here! The only thing we are giving up is our huge yard, but there are some advantages to that (i.e. mowing takes 20 minutes here).

So why "[Blue-Colored Glasses]?" That has to do with our new (old) home. It's sort of a Victorian cottage, although I don't know if I've ever seen one shaped exactly like this. We have great woodwork, an open staircase, high ceilings, and tall windows that give provide perfect natural light. The outside also has some great details, including half-round siding in the gables and a really cute, quirky paint color--[a blue that is almost neon, really]. This new house is the key to the life we have always wanted. We were able to leave a lot of our clutter behind and start afresh (we're still struggling with that, but it's getting better every day). Moving here also allowed us to save money on the mortgage and energy bills, which means I am able to work very part time and stay home with my kids during the day. Better yet, when the time comes, I will be able to homeschool. [Living in this old house has allowed me to see things in a more hopeful light--you might say, through "blue-colored" glasses.]

I am excited about building this new life, and my goal is to write about it here regularly. First and foremost, this blog is my outlet. If it happens to entertain or inspire someone, that's great. If not, I've still accomplished what I set out to do.

Failed NaBloPoMo ... again ...

Well, this is aggravating. I had really planned to stick with it this month. For me, it is still Wednesday (I almost always stay up until 1 or 2), but I think my time stamp will disagree. Oh well. Maybe next month.

Today, I am going to break tradition and actually post a bento for the second day in a row! I was a bit concerned that they were all starting to look alike. I don't have much creative license within Nate's likes and dislikes. Interestingly, it was one of his preferences that sparked me to do something different. It's been a couple weeks since my last Meijer expedition, so I asked him what he thought of peanut butter and jelly. Ha! Apparently, to him, that is a mere snack. He told me he would just take some pizza rolls. I gave him the pouty face and mentioned that pizza rolls aren't quite a well-rounded meal. We reached a compromise, wherein I was able to use my smallest Lock & Lock and pack him some sides and a dessert. I think it came out cute, and it's idea I may use more often. Again pardon the retro-creepy photo. This mini-bento includes: Carrot and celery sticks; mini Babybel cheese, unwrapped and cut in half; yellow cake topped with strawberries.

Ham & Swiss Quesadilla Bento

I thought it was was about time I posted another bento. Work schedules have been a little crazy in the past few days, but today, baby girl fell asleep in her high chair, giving me some much-needed time to scrub down the kitchen. A nice, clean kitchen inspired me to make Nate a bento.

I need to start making and photographing these earlier in the day. The poor lighting in the evening means I have to play with brightness and contrast, making the photos look really bizarre--like something out of a retro cookbook.

Today's bento includes: Rainbow Chips Deluxe; Mini Babybel cheese; carrot and celery sticks; red grapes; ham and swiss "quesadillas" on whole wheat tortillas. I tried to cut hearts in the tortillas, thinking the pink ham would show through and look cute. In retrospect, I would cut the hearts before assembling the quesadillas and arrange them so that whatever showed through was, in fact, attractive. Chances are, he won't even notice.

Mommy Tools Monday: Stay-Fresh Baby Food Containers

How much does a jar of baby food go for these days? I have heard around 75 cents, although I haven't priced it lately. Ouch! I honestly don't know how people afford to use it all the time. I have used it a handful of times and even have a jar or two stashed for an emergency. However, with the right tools, making homemade baby food is quick and easy, and holds several advantages over store bought:

• It's cheaper. A whole bag of frozen peas costs only $1. That will make about 16 ounces of puree--a huge savings!
• I know exactly what I'm putting into my baby's mouth. I can lightly steam the veggies and fruits, retaining more nutrients than if they were canned. I freeze my food, so it needs no additives or preservatives.
  
• It helps kids develop their palate. Often times, I can just mash or blend things the rest of the family is eating to feed to baby. This way, they are exposed to a wide range of tastes. Also, since it tastes so good, it gives babies a good first impression of veggies. To this day, my older two kids eat just about everything--except, in the case of my oldest, meat. Interestingly, I did not feed him much meat as a baby.
  

Now that I've sung the praises of home made baby food, I should get around to the tool I was supposed to be sharing: Stay-Fresh Baby Food Containers by One Step Ahead. I have made my own food for all three babies, and I wish I'd had these with my first two. I simply bake or steam whatever food I want to puree, run it through the blender, pour into these handy, two-ounce containers, and pop it into the freezer. They are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe. For those who are concerned about it, they are also BPA-free. The lids screw on (my mom commented how hard they were to remove before I informed her of this fact), and the containers attach to one another (kind of like Legos). Once I am through making baby food, they will be handy for all sorts of other uses--snacks, Nate's lunches, storing small items, etc. At $9.95 per dozen, you really can't beat the deal!

Oh, and one more bonus tool: for tips on making and freezing baby food, visit http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Quick bento

I've decided to work out two nights a week and on Saturdays. At first, I thought it would cause more stress in an already-cramped schedule. Actually, though, the exercise gives me more energy to do things after I get home. Tonight, I felt like coming home, putting dishes away, and packing Nate a lunch (I have been neglecting him a little in the past week). It looked pretty cute in the box, so I thought I'd post. Unfortunately, I was working without any natural light and on a counter rather than my white deep freeze, so the lighting wasn't great. I had to mess with the brightness/contrast, so the colors look a little eerie. The lunch contains: garlic butter crescent rolls with ham and swiss cheese, broccoflower, butterscotch pudding cup. I wonder if it's enough. I learned today that he has been supplementing some of my lunches with food from a convenience store, so I need to work on beefing them up a bit--perhaps literally.

Goodbye, obesity!

Today, I learned that I am overweight--and there was much rejoicing! You normally wouldn't think being overweight was something to celebrate, but that's only if you were not, until recently, considered "obese." I don't know how much stock to put in the BMI, but I find that its numbers are fairly reasonable for me. This brings my total weight loss to 14.8 pounds--what the hey, let's call it 15!

I also worked out at to the Y for the first time tonight. I have to admit, I am a little unsure about what to do in a gym. I do know that after three babies in just over 3 years, my abs sure need some work, so I tried a torso rotation machine. The other machine I wanted to try was occupied by some chick on a cell phone. Seriously? What kind of workout are you getting if you can breathe enough to carry on a conversation? I finished up by walking a mile on the treadmill at 3.5-4 miles per hour. It wasn't much, but at least I was moving. That's more than I can say for most days. I'll work more on the strength training when I have time to really check out the machines.

Catching up

"Catching up" refers to more than blogging. I have also fallen behind in a lot of other things over the past week or two. I haven't lost any weight in the last 2 weeks, nor have I achieved much in the way of organization. I was able to wear my naughty librarian dress on our Valentine's date. It was still a little snug through the tummy, but I threw a jacket over top, and it looked just fine.

On our date, we bought 2 giant storage armoires for our middle room, which, once we dig it out from under our moving mess, will become our "multipurpose" room. It will be our playroom, office, and eventually, our "school" room. I allude to this in my profile blurb, but I'm going to come out and say it: we are planning to homeschool. Until recently, it has seemed like something that was years in the future. What really got me started thinking about it is that Levi has started reading! Since he was 6 months old, we have been using Starfall.com as entertainment. Yeah, I have heard all of the arguments about young kids and screen time, but it's better than a lot of the junk that's on TV. So in the process of entertaining him, we also gave him a pretty solid foundation in phonics. This has resulted in a kid who is obsessed with letters, much like others might be obsessed with Barney or Dora the Explorer. Give him a set of alphabet blocks and he will arrange them for hours on end, making "words." He has spelled several correctly, and gotten all of the correct letters for others, although they were out of order. The other day he actually read a whole sentence: "Zac has a pan." As a mom who loves reading and writing, I couldn't be more thrilled! I'm not going to push any formal instruction yet, but I am starting portfolios for both boys to highlight their learning milestones. If the next fifteen years are this exciting, I can't wait to get started!

A Hearty Lunch, or How Not to do Bento

Nate and I made a deal not to get each other anything for Valentine's day, although he reneged, and has already given me a teddy bear that looks like a little devil--something I totally didn't need, but it was a nice gesture, and definitely reminds me of him. Also, it came with yummy chocolates. What could be better? Before that, I had decided to do something cute with his lunch, since I'd be packing it anyway. You can see that it came out sort of cute when it was fresh. It includes: spaghetti with marinara and heart-shaped meatballs; apple and carrot hearts; layered gelatin heart with Valentine candy corn. I packed it all yesterday evening and sent it to work with Nate this morning.

Long story short, he ended up coming home for lunch and brought said lunch with him. He admitted that he wasn't a big fan of the marinara because it was "too sweet." It also looked a little icky because the candy corn had absored water from the Jell-o and become a hot pink mess. He only ate about half of the spaghetti, and being the hungry girl that I am, I took his leftovers (yeah, yeah, no wonder I didn't lose any weight last week). I didn't get very far because the spaghetti was hot pink in places and tasted like strawberry. Apparently part of the Jell-o had melted and gotten into the spaghetti compartment. Yuck. So my "gift" was a bit of a flop, and I learned that, if you're going to pack Jell-o in a bento, pack it alone and cover the compartment.

Weight Loss FAIL!

Well, week five sucked for me. Actually, I gained a little less than a pound. It's not much, but a little discouraging after losing three pounds a week for the last month. I wasn't surprised by the gain.The good news is, my goal was only 2 pounds per week, so I'm still on track. Also, the gain means I get an extra 6 calories a day!

Mommy Tools Monday: Kids' Greeting Cards

Now that I'm trying to commit to daily blogging, I thought it would fun to have theme days. So on Mondays, I'll be talking about what I call "mommy tools." These could be any sort of product or process that make my life easier, and that other mommies may find useful.

This week, I want to share a great online resource that I found. For me, it's unnatural to demand that my kids say "thank you!" Still, I want them to learn gratitude, so I like to get them involved in the process of sending out thank-you notes. Thanks to these fun coloring cards from Fisher Price, I can print out appropriate greetings and have the kids help by coloring them. The site also has holiday cards for some holidays (including Valentines, if you still need those), birthdays, get well, and "just because." Staples sells the perfect size envelopes (they were 9.99 for 100 locally), which makes the entire package less than 25 cents! That's cheaper than the dollar store, and much more meaningful. Here, you can see one that they colored for my Dad's birthday last week. I'm 90% certain that those spiraly-things are supposed to be helicopters.

My working definition of "bento"

I'm going to try to post some of the bento lunches I pack for my hubby. Keep in mind that he is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, so you won't see many of the foods traditionally associated with bento. When I say "bento," this is what I mean: The lunch is packed in a divided box that allows me to control portion size and pack a variety of items. I will attempt to pack a balanced meal within the constraints of his limited palate. I will try to make it somewhat presentable, but not so cute that a 30-year-old man would be embarrassed to take it to work (I may make an exception for special days :)). I realize that I'm playing fast and loose with the definition, but I am sick of using quotation marks, so I'm going to call it plain ole bento from now on. The one I made for today is a prime example:

Here we have leftover "gyros," which are pretty much small hamburgers seasoned with Greek-inspired spices and tucked into wheat pita pockets. He doesn't go for lettuce, tomato, onion, or tsatsiki, so I tucked a small piece of cheese into each pocket. Also included are a plain spinach salad and pumpkin mini muffins.

Recipe: Savory Pita Chips

So I missed a day of NaBloPoMo, which means I don't qualify this month. I'll try it again next month. After that, I didn't try too hard to keep up. To make up for it, I'm posting something extra special today. I came up with this idea while trying to answer the age-old question, "What do I do with a truckload of leftover tsatsiki?" I'm referring to that yummy cucumber sauce served with gyros. I made some for lunch the other day and still had well over a cup left. I also had three pitas left. I used one to pack leftover gyros for Nate's lunch and the other two to make these, which were pretty tasty by my family's standards.


Savory Pita Chips

• 2 pitas (I used wheat)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut each pita into pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Pull apart pieces if necessary (so that each chip has a "right" and a "wrong side"). Pour olive oil on to a cookie sheet with raised edges. Add chips and toss to coat. (I did it this way to save dishes, but if you don't have a pan with edges, you could toss them in a bowl and use a flat cookie sheet.) Lightly sprinkle with cumin, oregano, and salt. I guessed on the quantities of the spices--basically, follow your instincts and add just enough spice to give the chips some color. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with tsatsiki (I used a recipe similar to this one, except with no mint), hummus, or your favorite dip. Also, you could sub melted butter for olive oil and season with cinnamon sugar. How great would those be great with fruit salsa or ice cream?

Enjoy in moderation. :)

Christmas in February

So Biggest Loser was a tie again this week. This is making it really easy to stay within the NaBloPoMo theme, but doesn't make for much interesting blogging. Since I've been writing about healthy eating, I'll show off my new toys instead!

Santa visited my house today, driving a brown truck and wearing a matching outfit. Technically I bought this stuff myself, but that doesn't make it any less exciting to be visited by the UPS guy! I got new lunch serving supplies for the whole family. Nate got new lunchboxes, in which I am going to start packing him bento lunches (or at least my version). They are Lock & Locks, which means they're totally airtight and microwaveable. They also have removable dividers so he can remove the parts that aren't microwaveable when he heats it. I packed his first "bento" about an hour and a half ago. In it are: ramen noodles (no seasoning packet) topped with taco meat and shredded, smoked cheddar; orange cauliflower; half of an apple; dark chocolate Raisinettes; and a strawberry bar. It's not the healthiest meal ever made, but it's a start.

I wanted to do something similar for the boys, but didn't see a need for a box since we eat at home. I found some divided trays that will work perfectly. I was surprised at how big they are, but it's nice that they will be able to use them for a while. Naomi wasn't left out of the fun, either. I found some great 2 ounce containers that I will use to freeze and serve home-made baby food. She also got this adorable divided food container that looks like a mini bento box. This will be great for taking food to Grandma & Grandpa's. It even has its own spoon! At the left, you can see a picture of the motherlode!

I'd better sign out for the night so I can get a blog in under today's time stamp. Good night, all!

One month of weight loss

When I signed up for the biggest loser contest a month ago, I set a goal of 2 pounds of weight loss per week. I lost 3.1 pounds this week, which adds up to 12.2 pounds (or almost 6%) overall! The thing about losing weight is, each week I am rewarded with another reduction in my calorie allowance. By the last few weeks, I'll be restricted on under 1300 calories! The good news is, once I'm in maintenance mode, it's back up to 2200. I may actually have trouble eating that many. That's a good problem to have.

What's different about this past month as opposed to other diets I've been on is that it's actually been a month. I think previously I may have stuck with a plan for 2 weeks or so. Supposedly, it takes about 21 days to form a habit. By now, I am starting to automatically think before I eat something. In fact, one day last week I forgot to log any foods at all at The Daily Plate, and I came in right around the target when I entered my foods later. Good eating habits are starting to become a habit. It also doesn't hurt having the motivation of not looking like a dang fool on weigh-in day. :)

I will learn my ranking on Wednesday after everyone has weighed in. There was no one biggest loser last week: it was a tie between about five of us.

NaBloPoMo

I was lurking around some homeschool forums and heard about National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. Essentially, it is an event where bloggers commit to posting one blog per day for an entire month. Oddly enough, I found it minutes before February 1, so I jumped on board. That's right. During the month of February, you will be putting up with my jabber every single day! NaBloPoMo gives an optional theme for each month--something bloggers can use to challenge themselves and open up new trains of thought. This months theme is "ties," so I am going to try to work that in somewhere each day.

What's really sad is that I haven't actually slept since my last post (technically, yesterday). I am suffering from insomnia, partially brought on by the fact that iTunes refuses to authorize my computer to play music I have purchased. Sure, it says "this computer is already authorized," but when I hit "play," it's a whole other story. I don't even particularly care about these songs. My favorites were downloaded for free. I just feel entitled to use a product I paid for. So for a good while, I've been farting around with iTunes, doing everything suggested on Apple's website and it still doesn't work. I started this post as I was waiting for a confirmation e-mail from Apple tech support, and it just showed up in my inbox. I am also starting to feel sleepy. Coincidence? I think there may be some ties between the two. :)

The old ball and chain

When I got married in September of 2003, my cousin, whose heart is bigger than his brain*, was in charge of decorating our car. What he wrote on my hood is not appropriate to post here, but he also drew a giant ball and chain on the trunk. Look closely and you will can see it in the picture at the right. It took a chemical cleaner to remove the window paint from the finish. And that is nothing compared to how the actual "ball and chain" is holding me back with my weight loss.

Let me be clear: I love my husband. He is a great father to our children. He watches them three nights a week so I can work part-time to pay my student loan debts, most of which I used to get useless degrees, and never bats an eye. However, when it comes to healthy eating, he is my biggest challenge. During that first couple of years of our marriage, we had busy, mismatched schedules, and we ate a ton of fast foods and convenience foods. He is a man who enjoys food, at least that within his limited range of likes. He worked fewer hours, so sometimes he would make me meals, which often included things like giant portions of deep-fried tater tots. At first I was shocked, but soon it became second nature. By our second anniversary, I had gained 30 or 40 pounds.

Fortunately, I peaked around that time after we started having kids. I lost about 10 pounds with each pregnancy (and gained it back after the first), but I can't be this lucky forever, and there is still a long way to go. That's what motivated me to join the Biggest Loser contest at work. Hubby is enjoying the weight loss, but he seems to have no desire to join me in healthful eating. Every weekend since the contest began, he has talked me into ordering pizza or picking up fast food. He has also brought home "treats," like donuts, potato chips, pop, and a sugar cream pie. Sure, I can eat small portions of these and stay within my calorie goals, but if I chose something less dense in calories, I could eat more and feel full. So I start with my moderate portion, and it tastes sooooo good that I can't resist going back for seconds. I asked him this week if he ever thinks about how what he's eating is affecting his health. He said he does, but that it tastes so good that he doesn't care. I have been managing to control it enough to average more than my goal, but I worry about him. I want a long life together, and I am scared that his habits will cut that short. I am also worried about the example being set for our children.

As in all dealings with men, I know that nagging will not work (although it never prevents me from trying). Instead, I opted for retail therapy: I bought him a couple of lunch boxes. I'm going to try to start packing his lunches, loosely following the bento approach. This concept originated in Japan, and it's all about controlling portions and eating a wide variety of tasty food. This might be a challenge, but maybe he will learn to like it.

*Oh, yes I did make a reference to Christmas Vacation!

My naughty librarian dress

Most of us have that one piece of clothing that we have been saving in the back of our closets, just in case we fit into it one day. For me, it's my naughty librarian dress. I came across this dress in the fall of 2006. I had just started on my master's and was driving to Indy every Friday for classes. Many times, I would drop by the Goodwill in Noblesville on my way back. (This is quite possibly the biggest, cleanest, best organized Goodwill ever!) During one of those visits, I happened to come across this dress on the rack. Though it had no tags--which indicated that it was probably handmade--it looked close to my size, so I decided to try it on. The dress didn't slip on easily, but once I wiggled into it, I was pleasantly surprised to see how the navy blue plaid hugged my curves. It was nicely tailored and had cute buttons and a little tie at the neck. The only problem was, it hugged my tummy pooch a little too much--just a little, but enough to discourage me from buying it. Disappointed, I placed it back on the rack.

The dress did not leave with me on that trip, but when I returned a few weeks later, it was still there. This time, the pull was too strong. I had to buy it. I justified the buy because I had given birth to my first child, Levi, about 4 months prior, and I still had baby weight to lose. Surely I could fit into the dress in a few months.

Three and a half years later, it still hangs in the back of my closet. My goal is to change that. This week, the dress is only slightly tight in the tummy. I could almost wear it in public without being embarrassed. Still, if I can lose just a few more pounds, I will be able to wear it proudly on my Valentine's date with the hubster. How's that for motivation? We'll see if I can do it.