macaroni & cheese

I love macaroni & cheese. My mom used to make it from scratch. She made a huge bowl of it every Friday during lent. John used to put ketchup on his. Nancy & I copied him until I realized I didn't like ketchup.

When I was 14, I got my first taste of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. I loved it! It was much cheesier than mom's since she was trying to make hers go farther.

In college, I learned how to make this just using a hot pot. Freshman fifteen anyone?

The boys were just little when they introduced the single serving packets. Ryan ate it a lot until he turned about 2 and stopped eating anything but chicken nuggets, fries & cinnamon raisin bagels.

I started getting individual portions from Stouffer's. Oh those are good! But they are loaded with fat & calories and aren't cheap. Sorry but Lean Cuisine meals just don't cut it.



I was so happy when they came out with EatingWell's Comfort Foods Made Healthy: The Classic Makeovers Cookbook as I have blogged about it here. I made the mac & cheese right away. I decided that I prefer it without the spinach. I made it twice when my dad was down bit he never had any. As much as I love it, I don't want to eat it four meals in a row. So this time, I made 4 individual portions and stored them in 2 cup pyrex dishes. They can be frozen for up to 3 months.

[weigh-in wednesday] 5/9 the differences between men & women

This week, 1.4 pounds, total 41 pounds.

As if it wasn't bad enough that women only earn 76¢ for each dollar a man earns, women also have to work twice as hard to earn those pennies.

The same is true for weight loss. Men can reduce their calorie intake and lose weight. Women reduce their calories and their metabolism drops trying to hold onto every last fat cell. Sure there are exceptions but we don't care about them.

My brother would give up snacking during lent and lose 20 pounds in those 6 weeks. I give up chocolate for lent and turn into Ms Grumpikins and not lose a single ounce. Of course we can be happy that is a famine comes, our fat bodies will let us live longer then the men. But I really don't see a famine coming any time soon unless I want to move to Africa and I don't.

So we are stuck not only reducing our calories bit exercising as well. Maybe it's because we can handle 2 things at once and men can't?

off the wagon

I could say that I fell off the wagon. But the truth is that I gladly leapt off. I mentioned in my last post that I was distracted while Ryan watched sports. So I got up and made s'more granola bars.



First off, these really aren't granola bars. OK, they do have some rolled oats. But they mostly are sweet and yummy. I got the recipe here. I didn't vary from the recipe (I'm anal like that.) though I did use Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. I love dark chocolate. I didn't have that large of a baking sheet so I used two 13x9 pyrex dishes. I had to bake them for about 10 minutes before the marshmallows began to brown. I sprayed the baking dishes lightly sprayed with Pam but I think I would use parchment paper is I did this again. They were sticky as heck to get out of the pan. Hey! Aren't those messed up pieces that you used to get to the rest calorie free? The rest are about 96 calories. Not bad if you can control yourself and eat just one. I don't have that control. I had to give some to the neighbors before I ate all 36.

distracted

I love sports but would rather play than watch. Saturdays meant dad and John watching sports on TV. I occasionally watched with them but would get bored. My roommate, Danielle, loved watching baseball and hockey. I got away from watching/listening to sports on TV when I lived alone. The TV was on a lot but I preferred watching old movies or reruns.

Then Gail came along. He would turn on ESPN first thing in the morning. Football and hockey were Gail's favorite sports. He said he didn't like baseball but would watch it when there was no other sports to watch. I would sit with him but learned to tune it out for the most part.

After Gail died, we didn't watch sports. Well, except when dad came down for the winter. Over time, Ryan would complain and dad pretty much stopped watching TV all together.

Lately, Ryan has started watching TV. ESPN. Saturday morning comes and he turns on the TV. He watches ESPN while looking for other sports on the channel guide. His says favorite sports are baseball, football, basketball, racing and hockey. Though in reality, he prefers those sports with lots of actions and heavy scoring like basketball.

Saturday, he watched TV most of the day. I found myself not being able to tune it out and concentrate on anything else. I finally got up baked some s'mores granola bars. (More on those later)

Ryan did stop watching long enough to ride his bike for 15 minutes. And he won't watch after 6:00 pm. That's his rule, not mine. Also, he doesn't sit and stare at the TV. He is up and playing with his cars or trains. But he won't leave the room except during commercials. He hasn't learned that commercial breaks last 2-3 minutes and he has plenty of time to go to the bathroom and wash his hands.

taking no chances in texas

even the bronze pigs are wearing masks

new shoes, the third

I love him but, he's costing me too much money! After Andy broke his birkenstocks in 2 short weeks, I ordered a pair of sandals from Lands' End. He likes them but they don't fit so well since he has high arches. So I went looking for another pair. I ordered the Chaco sandals from Shoebuy.com. Service was OK though it took a week for them to ship.

These Chaco Unaweep sandals are beefy! They are supposed to help correct pronating. And these are big. Men's size 9. They almost fit me. Andy seems to be OK with them but I think he would prefer slides.

[weigh-in wednesday] 4/29 budgets

This week I have lost 3.6 pounds. Accumulated total is 39.8 pounds. Except for my knee pain, I am feeling good.

Counting calories is a lot like keeping a budget for you money. Now I see why I am so fat. And broke.

That wasn't always the case. I knew how to save money when I had an allowance. At the beginning of each school year, mom would take us clothes shopping. She told us we had $100 to spend on new clothes. (Shoes were part of the deal unless we wanted something special.) I shopped and shopped and found good deals. Sometimes it took me several shopping trips to spend all the money. My sister, on the other hand, used her money for big rhings like cowboys boots and a cowboy hat. She would have to use her babysitting money or wait for Christmas for anything practical.

So what happened? I dunno. College, with the freedom to have more than one soda per day if I wanted? Credit cards issued to young adults who are sure they will get great jobs that pay lots of money? I think credit cards have been my downfall. Thinking I could spend today and pay it back later. Thinking I could eat know and work it off later. It's just too much of a temptation for me and I am paying for it now.

But it's time to take responsibility and clear the debt and clear the fat. So far the iPhone app Lose It! is really helping. Of course I wish I could lose the weight faster but it is keeping me making better choices. Last Friday, the bus driver aide gave the boys little bags of Chips Ahoy! They don't like them and I don't really like them either. In the past, I would still eat them. Heck, they are chocolate chip cookies! But I looked at the back and saw each little bag was 140 calories. One bag of popcorn is 150 and is so much better. I tossed the cookies.

mommy brigade

I went to Wiregrass yesterday to take photos of architectural details. At one point, I turned around and saw the mommy brigade round the corner. Several moms walking or jogging.

I could have used this kind of incentive when the boys were little. But then again, Wiregrass wasn't around then and our neighborhood sidewalks are too narrow for 2 strollers side by side.

Our Moms Club did occasionally meet at the mall but it was a casual stroll interjected with shopping and lunch.

too much to do

Well, heck! This week looks like, well, heck!

I was starting lunch and I heard my iPod beep. I wondered what it was altering me to. I checked and saw Ryan's dentist appointment on Tuesday. OK. I tell Ryan then Andy wants to know when his appointment is. (I can't take them on the same day, it's way too draining just taking one.) I look and see it is Wednesday. Oh crud. And Thursday is Andy's IEP meeting and there is no school on Friday.

Heck.

Just thinking of all of the exhausted me and I needed a big nap this afternoon.

buh bye facebook!

I can't remember when I signed up. Some blogging friends of mine did it first. Then I saw my nephew's followed closely by their ever-watchful mother. It seemed to really explode a few months ago. Today, I noticed I had 106 friends. Really?

Facebook has changed so much since I first joined. It's now like high school and twitter combined. Now I love my twitter but high school, not so much. I don't want to go looking for easter eggs or throw some flair. I waste too much time on the computer as it is. I was hoping I could keep in contact with my family but they don't update much. I did reconnect with my first boyfriend but once the initial "How have you been?" is over, there's not much left.

So yesterday I deactivated my account.