Things- Day 2 + Menu Plan Monday

Continuing in the Things Week, today is Things I never get tired of eating. And since it's Monday, I'll throw this week's menu plan in, too. Now I just have to go make it...

Things I never get tired of eating and/or baking:
- Christmas Crack
- hot cocoa
- twizzlers
- pizza
- lasagna
- chocolate
- Matt's chocolate chip cookies
- Pad Thai
- Surinamese food =)
- McDonald's french fries
- donuts from Country donuts

And, since I've not gotten around to it, there's no menu plan yet. Oh well.

Things- Day 1

The other day I was washing dishes (or something like that) and thinking about various and sundry things, and I decided that I wanted to try and do a whole week of posts about "things." Today's is:

THINGS I LIKE TO READ
I love to read. My mom did a great job fostering a love of reading in both me and my 2 brothers. My parents modeled reading in their downtime in front of us, my mom read out loud to us pretty much every day while we were growing up, and they read us good stuff.
Lately I haven't had much of a chance to read. I figured out when it was still just Max and us that trying to pick up a book while there's a baby moving around isn't the easiest thing. I'd have just found my place only to have to put my book down and stop her from doing something or other. I do still use the computer because it's a lot easier to pick up and put down. =) I was also reading before going to sleep at night, but now I'm so tired by the time I can even GET in bed that I go right to sleep. Like, seriously, pass out.

But anyway, here are some things I like to read:
- the Bible. I'm not as good about it as I should be, but I do try.
- mysteries. Lee Child ROCKS, as does F. Paul Wilson, Tess Gerritson, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, and a slew of others.
- humor. Patrick McManus-good, clean fun. Comics like Baby Blues (a bit close to home...), Zits, Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot. I suppose Janet Evanovich falls into this category, as well.
- various magazines.
- non-fiction baby books. Take the Baby Whisperer, for example. She's awesome. Seriously. Oooohhh that reminds me that I meant to pick up a book at the library called "Things to Do with Toddlers and Twos." I checked it out sometime last summer/fall, and really liked the ideas it had, but need to check into it again.
- historical fiction and non-fiction. I think I've read the majority of books out there about the Holocaust.
- cookbooks and such. Yeah, I'm a dork.

I'm sure there are more, but it's time to take a shower and go to bed. And if I get up NOW I might have time to read!! =)

No, no, no

So, like I said in yesterday's post, I missed last week's BAB post. But I'm here now. Hopefully. I'm misspelling a TON of words, so... we'll see.

Last week's BAB question was "What is your favorite part of your workout?" (Or something along those lines... it was my question, which I'm totally stoked about!)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE kicking and bicycle crunches. Am I weird? Probably. I save those for last because I look forward to them.

This week's question: Why do you want to lose weight and/or get healthier? What is your motivation?
Well, mainly because I HATE the way I look with this much extra weight on me. I know what I look like *normally* and this ain't it. I also want to fit into my regular clothes again. I don't want to have to buy new clothes in a larger size. I don't want to keep having to wear my size small maternity clothes.
Get healthier? Probably a good idea....

Kerplunk, sort of

I didn't do a Body after Baby post last week. You may or may not have noticed. Mainly because I went a bit overboard over that previous weekend in the eating crap department. And in the not exercising department. Sigh. So I was feeling like I had fallen off the wagon.
And I'm having a hard time getting back on said wagon. Too much to do, not enough time. And so I missed last week's Body after Baby challenge link up, which is sad because her question for everyone was the question I had submitted!!! Grrrr.... silly me. I also didn't weigh myself last week or this week. I keep meaning to, but things get in the way, and I don't.

In other news... menh, same old, same old. Although I did get the GroBaby kit that I won from a giveaway in the mail today. Yippeee!! And Leg Huggers, too. =)

Food food food! Or, Menu Plan Monday.

I did it again! I made a menu plan, and it feels good! LOL. And we actually DID last week's menu, so YAY!! Both the recipes I tried from that Asian cookbook turned out marvelously, and I'm trying the Phad Thai from it this evening.

Monday- Vegetarian Phad Thai (minus the tofu. Tofu is gross.), salad

Tuesday- Spaghetti with Italian sausage, carrots, bread (if I get around to making it.)

Wednesday- Chicken Taco Soup, salad, and possibly cheese fondue

Thursday- Sweet and Sour Shrimp, rice, fruit

Friday- Beef or Turkey Tamale Bake, corn

The Witching Hour

Surely you've heard that phrase. Usually in reference to a certain time of day where all heck seems to break loose at once in your house. People with school age children tend to complain about that time right before dinner. For some, it's bathtime. For others, bedtime. I decided today that, for us, it's right before lunchtime. That 30-45 minutes before lunch is a nightmare. I realize that part of it is Max is hungry and tired. But take today for instance. 11:15 am. Jack is sleeping peacefully on the couch. Max is happily watching "Pat the Bunny Playdates." All of a sudden she decides she wants something she can't have. (If I remember correctly, that is...) So she starts screaming. Shrilly. Which wakes up and upsets her brother. So HE starts crying. Loudly. THEN they decide to have a contest to see who can cry/scream the loudest. I'm not even kidding. NOTHING calms either one down.

Now, I KNOW Max's main deal is that she's hungry and tired. But will she let me put her down to make something to eat? Not without screaming about it. And let's not forget the 2 1/2 month old who is ALSO still crying. After a fight I manage to strap Max into her seat, cut up some string cheese to mollify her, and hold her brother, while finishing getting something for her to eat. ARGH.

In case you're wondering, yes, I think I've learned my lesson. From now on I'll work on having something for her to eat before the hullabaloo begins.

Self-control- I haz it

(In case you're wondering, yes, I know how to spell. The "haz" is from LOLCats.)

Moving on.

Yes, I have been exhibiting self-control over the last couple of days. For the most part. We GAVE AWAY most of the 2nd batch of Christmas Crack. (And NO, Grammi T, I'm not telling to whom.) *pats self on back*

I've only been putting 2 teaspoons of sugar into my coffee, instead of, ummmmm..... more.

I did really well with hopping on the treadmill and such. Except I took Sunday off, and didn't have a chance on Monday. Or yesterday. We'll see what happens with the rest of today, but it's not looking good.

I DID, however, get to my goal weight for the week (taken on Tuesday), which was 157. Yay!

So SO happy that Samantha over at Mama Notes is hosting this!! It's really helping!

Wordless Wednesday #2

Then... at 3 days old...

And now (okay, last week)... at 2 months and 6 days old...

Yum!

The Stir-fry Chicken with cashews that I made on Monday turned out perfect!! It was ALMOST identical to one of our favorite dishes from an awesome Thai restaurant in Suriname. SO happy! It was a hit with everyone, including Max.

A menu plan, for a change!

It's been a while since I've done this... I'm going to blame it on Jack again. I always dread sitting down and making a menu for the week, but then once it's done I feel SO much better! I'm not wasting my time in the mornings going "what are we going to eat???" "what should I cook???" etc.

Two of this week's recipes are out of that new Asian cookbook I talked about yesterday. Every time I flip through it I find MORE recipes I'm excited about. But I figured it was best to limit myself to 2 out of there and see how it goes.

Monday: Stir-fry Chicken with cashews, rice, cucumber salad.

Tuesday: Beef with Black bean sauce, rice pilaf, salad.

Wednesday: Orange-Scented Carrot Soup, bread, fruit.

Thursday: Salisbury Steak with potatoes, salad.

Friday: Chef Salad

And now I have to go cut up chicken and check on those gluten free banana muffins in the oven.

So excited!

One of our newly discovered favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is hit up Barnes and Noble. Okay, it's a "newly discovered favorite thing" because up until it turned insanely cold, we'd go to parks and play. And then Jack came along, and we'd all take nice long afternoon naps. Well, Max and Jack still take naps, as do I, on occasion, but it's nice to get out of the house and go somewhere that Max can run around and play. We don't usually buy anything, just make a mess. I mean... nooooo we never make a mess. (I DO try to clean up after Hurricane Max...)

Today we discovered their after Christmas stuff. I remembered about the candy sale at CVS, and the sale at Kohl's, but somehow managed to forget about it everywhere else. But, back to B&N. They had tons of amazing stuff for basically dirt cheap. My most favorite finds were a "Wicked" calendar (based on the musical, which is based on the book) and an Asian cookbook. The cookbook has a recipe for what appears to be Ryan's favorite Javanese beef dish from Suriname, as well as several recipes of stuff we would order at our most favorite restaurant in the whole world- Garden of Eden. I'm SOOOO excited!!! (Hence the title of the post.) They have recipes for lots of dishes that I've had before and am looking forward to trying.

There are some things I WON'T be trying: Chilli Octopus Salad. Chargrilled Thai-Spiced baby Octopus. Peking Duck Pancakes. Salt and Pepper Squid. You get the idea.

Moving on. Also snagged a Crock Pot Made Simple cookbook and a Good-Housekeeping Best Loved Desserts cookbook. Yay!

Yesterday I made a double batch of Christmas Crack. AKA Magic Toffee Brittle. You get the idea. Kind of counterproductive, though... you know, to the treadmill and weight loss goals...