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Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Soup Season
I'm ready for fall. But in Texas fall doesn't really start to settle in till after Halloween. I like soup but I'm not willing to wait that long for it. So I decided to start making soup once a week to coerce fall to arrive.
Last week I made that pizza soup that I made before. I think I'll take a break from it for a while. I used less pasta this time but the leftovers were really greasy, probably from the Italian sausage. So I ended up throwing out a lot of it, something I really hate to do.
This week I made taco soup. I like this one a lot. It's really easy to throw together & it makes A LOT. So much that I decided to try my hand at freezing some of the leftovers for some time in the future. I guess we'll see how that turns out when I decide to use it.
Next week I want to make buffalo wing soup. I've been craving good hot wings in a bad way. No, I'm not pregnant. I just crave things on occasion. Jeremy has already promised me Wingstop this weekend. And I'm planning to make a buffalo chicken pizza tomorrow night. See, major craving!
If you have a good beef stew recipe, I'd love to have it. Stew is close enough to soup. But every time I've made it, it's always seemed to be missing something.
I'm gonna keep on looking for more soups to try & post the ones I really like.
Last week I made that pizza soup that I made before. I think I'll take a break from it for a while. I used less pasta this time but the leftovers were really greasy, probably from the Italian sausage. So I ended up throwing out a lot of it, something I really hate to do.
This week I made taco soup. I like this one a lot. It's really easy to throw together & it makes A LOT. So much that I decided to try my hand at freezing some of the leftovers for some time in the future. I guess we'll see how that turns out when I decide to use it.
Next week I want to make buffalo wing soup. I've been craving good hot wings in a bad way. No, I'm not pregnant. I just crave things on occasion. Jeremy has already promised me Wingstop this weekend. And I'm planning to make a buffalo chicken pizza tomorrow night. See, major craving!
If you have a good beef stew recipe, I'd love to have it. Stew is close enough to soup. But every time I've made it, it's always seemed to be missing something.
I'm gonna keep on looking for more soups to try & post the ones I really like.
Friday, September 10, 2010
3 Weeks To Go!
The marathon is only 3 weeks away. 3 weeks! Eeek!
Last week I finally took the plunge & signed up. It made it official. No turning back now.
One portion of the form asked what my estimated finish time will be. I put down 5:15:30 (5 hr. 15 min., 30 seconds). Based on some recent long runs that's about what's estimated. I would love to finish under 5 hours & it is possible. But if I don't meet that goal I'm ok with it. Just finishing is an accomplishment.
Tomorrow is my last real long run: 20 miles. I've attempted this twice so far, both on the treadmill due to the Texas heat. The first time didn't go so well & I only got 17 miles done. The 2nd time was much better & I got it all done but I didn't feel like it was the best training since I had to get off a few times for water refills which stopped the clock on the treadmill. In a race the clock doesn't stop for you.
So I'm excited to try this run tomorrow. It's been pretty humid here this week after all the rain from the tropical storm off the coast so I'm planning to get a very early start, like before the sun is even up. I'm also having to tackle this one alone. Normally Jeremy rides his bike with me, encouraging me to keep going & carrying my goodies (Gatorades, water, & energy beans). But he's out of town this weekend so I've got a 2-mile loop & a 1-mile loop in my in-laws' neighborhood that I'll do. I have to refuel every 3 miles so I'll do 2 miles, drink some water, then 1 mile & drink a gatorade, then the 2 miles again & so on till I complete all 20 miles. I hope I don't lose count! Being by myself will be closer to race conditions since Jeremy will only be able to meet me at a few mile markers along the race.
After this run I get to taper off, having shorter runs during the week & then my last 2 long runs are a 12-miler & then an 8-miler. And then it's 26.2 miles.
Oh, and I bought my singlet for the marathon today & will have something special put on the back of it. I can't wait to reveal it! There's also a super cute purple running skirt I have my eye on. I may feel terrible when it's over & be tired & sweaty, but I'm gonna look going doing it!
Last week I finally took the plunge & signed up. It made it official. No turning back now.
One portion of the form asked what my estimated finish time will be. I put down 5:15:30 (5 hr. 15 min., 30 seconds). Based on some recent long runs that's about what's estimated. I would love to finish under 5 hours & it is possible. But if I don't meet that goal I'm ok with it. Just finishing is an accomplishment.
Tomorrow is my last real long run: 20 miles. I've attempted this twice so far, both on the treadmill due to the Texas heat. The first time didn't go so well & I only got 17 miles done. The 2nd time was much better & I got it all done but I didn't feel like it was the best training since I had to get off a few times for water refills which stopped the clock on the treadmill. In a race the clock doesn't stop for you.
So I'm excited to try this run tomorrow. It's been pretty humid here this week after all the rain from the tropical storm off the coast so I'm planning to get a very early start, like before the sun is even up. I'm also having to tackle this one alone. Normally Jeremy rides his bike with me, encouraging me to keep going & carrying my goodies (Gatorades, water, & energy beans). But he's out of town this weekend so I've got a 2-mile loop & a 1-mile loop in my in-laws' neighborhood that I'll do. I have to refuel every 3 miles so I'll do 2 miles, drink some water, then 1 mile & drink a gatorade, then the 2 miles again & so on till I complete all 20 miles. I hope I don't lose count! Being by myself will be closer to race conditions since Jeremy will only be able to meet me at a few mile markers along the race.
After this run I get to taper off, having shorter runs during the week & then my last 2 long runs are a 12-miler & then an 8-miler. And then it's 26.2 miles.
Oh, and I bought my singlet for the marathon today & will have something special put on the back of it. I can't wait to reveal it! There's also a super cute purple running skirt I have my eye on. I may feel terrible when it's over & be tired & sweaty, but I'm gonna look going doing it!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken
This was from the same site I've used before. It was also called "Candy Chicken". It is sweet but very yummy.
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (I used 7-Up)
2/3 cup vinegar
3 cloves smashed & chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 t black pepper
Put chicken in crockpot. Cover with brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, & pepper. Add vinegar & pour in the soda. Cover & cook on low for 6-9 hours.
My chicken thighs had bones & I left the skin on. I thought it was just fine. I also was out of garlic so I just used garlic powder. We ate it over white rice, adding broth to it. I LOVE white rice but Jeremy isn't a big fan of it so he'd prefer just the chicken. Other than that he liked it. He thought the house smelled like Chinese food when he came home.
This is definitely something I'll make again!
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (I used 7-Up)
2/3 cup vinegar
3 cloves smashed & chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 t black pepper
Put chicken in crockpot. Cover with brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, & pepper. Add vinegar & pour in the soda. Cover & cook on low for 6-9 hours.
My chicken thighs had bones & I left the skin on. I thought it was just fine. I also was out of garlic so I just used garlic powder. We ate it over white rice, adding broth to it. I LOVE white rice but Jeremy isn't a big fan of it so he'd prefer just the chicken. Other than that he liked it. He thought the house smelled like Chinese food when he came home.
This is definitely something I'll make again!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
7 Months Old
Even though I'm with her all day everyday I'm still amazed at how fast this little girl is growing.
- Shaylin hasn't made any more progress on crawling but that's ok. Sometimes she'll get one leg in the right position or get her bottom in the air like she's going to do it, but usually she just ends up pushing herself backwards.
- She's sitting on her own even better now.
- Shaylin can now sit in the grocery cart. I just put the cart cover in (because it's more comfortable & keeps her from touching a cart full of germs) & she's able to sit & look around. She's enjoying shopping much more now.
- When Shaylin's sitting on the floor I can take her hands & she'll pull herself up. Recently she attempted to pull herself up by pulling on Jeremy's hair.
- We've introduced a lot of foods to Shaylin. She loves bananas (but they don't love her), peaches, pears, peas, sweet potatoes, & carrots. The first time she had green beans she didn't like them but the following nights she changed her mind. She's so much fun to feed because she gets so excited for every bite & opens her mouth wide ready for more.
- We were back to teething again for a few days but now it seems to have stopped.
- She's still sleeping well at night, getting at least 10 hours each night but some nights close to 12 hours.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Praying for a Cold Front
We're in the middle of a long streak of temperatures over 100 degrees. So far all of August has been over 100. I think as of today we're at 17 straight days but I may have lost count. And it's still supposed to continue for another WEEK!
Because it's been so hot, I haven't been able to run outside in over 3 weeks. For one thing, it's ruining the great tan I was developing. I'm also developing a distaste for the treadmill. It's not so bad running for 5 miles on it. But 16 miles like I did this past Saturday gets old really fast. The marathon is creeping up on me & I've got to get some outside runs in so my body is ready for it.
The heat is also going to give us a killer of an electric bill. In June we received the largest bill we ever. Our previous house was brand new & had radiant barrier decking so our bills were very low despite having the a/c at 70 at night. But now we live in a much older house so keeping it cool isn't easy. In July we bumped up the a/c at night to 76 & that helped a lot on our bill. But I'm worried how the August bill will turn out when we have the thermostat set at 78 during the day which it can't cool down the house lower than 80 or even 81!
Our poor dogs need to be walked so bad. But when it's still 95 degrees just before the sun goes down, that's just too hot for anyone to be out there. I don't want to burn their big paws.
Shaylin seems to be very hot-natured. She gets sweaty very easily. And I think all her sweating how caused her to be a little dehydrated. Getting her to drink water & like it hasn't been easy.
So those are my biggest reasons on why I'm praying for a cold front. And I'm not even talking like weather in the 70s although I look forward to that. Just the mid-90s would feel better.
Because it's been so hot, I haven't been able to run outside in over 3 weeks. For one thing, it's ruining the great tan I was developing. I'm also developing a distaste for the treadmill. It's not so bad running for 5 miles on it. But 16 miles like I did this past Saturday gets old really fast. The marathon is creeping up on me & I've got to get some outside runs in so my body is ready for it.
The heat is also going to give us a killer of an electric bill. In June we received the largest bill we ever. Our previous house was brand new & had radiant barrier decking so our bills were very low despite having the a/c at 70 at night. But now we live in a much older house so keeping it cool isn't easy. In July we bumped up the a/c at night to 76 & that helped a lot on our bill. But I'm worried how the August bill will turn out when we have the thermostat set at 78 during the day which it can't cool down the house lower than 80 or even 81!
Our poor dogs need to be walked so bad. But when it's still 95 degrees just before the sun goes down, that's just too hot for anyone to be out there. I don't want to burn their big paws.
Shaylin seems to be very hot-natured. She gets sweaty very easily. And I think all her sweating how caused her to be a little dehydrated. Getting her to drink water & like it hasn't been easy.
So those are my biggest reasons on why I'm praying for a cold front. And I'm not even talking like weather in the 70s although I look forward to that. Just the mid-90s would feel better.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Addition Thoughts
Sometimes after I post a blog I later think of some other thoughts I meant to say. So I'm going to take the time to do that right now. I'm sure this won't be the last time I do this.
Cloth Diapers
When we were using disposable diapers, we would get so many blowouts. Out the legs, up her back, up her front. But since having Shaylin in cloth we have rarely had any leaks. If we have anything, it's from wet diapers, not dirty ones, & only if she's really wet.
Schedules
I failed to mention that I mop the kitchen & bathrooms on Tuesdays. I also wanted to clarify that the kitchen is something cleaned daily. I'm not 100% on top of the dishwasher but I try.
Crockpot Pizza Soup
Definitely do NOT add as much pasta as I did! The leftovers are more like a casserole than soup now because the pasta has soaked up most of the broth. The broth was so good but now it just doesn't taste the same.
The Ups & Downs of Breastfeeding
Someone recently told me that if a baby gets just 1 oz. of breast milk a day that gives them all the antibodies they need for the day. That has really helped me feel better about supplementing since the main problem time we have is the last feeding. She's definitely getting more than 1 oz. a day so I know I'm still doing good.
Cloth Diapers
When we were using disposable diapers, we would get so many blowouts. Out the legs, up her back, up her front. But since having Shaylin in cloth we have rarely had any leaks. If we have anything, it's from wet diapers, not dirty ones, & only if she's really wet.
Schedules
I failed to mention that I mop the kitchen & bathrooms on Tuesdays. I also wanted to clarify that the kitchen is something cleaned daily. I'm not 100% on top of the dishwasher but I try.
Crockpot Pizza Soup
Definitely do NOT add as much pasta as I did! The leftovers are more like a casserole than soup now because the pasta has soaked up most of the broth. The broth was so good but now it just doesn't taste the same.
The Ups & Downs of Breastfeeding
Someone recently told me that if a baby gets just 1 oz. of breast milk a day that gives them all the antibodies they need for the day. That has really helped me feel better about supplementing since the main problem time we have is the last feeding. She's definitely getting more than 1 oz. a day so I know I'm still doing good.
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