Weighty Subject

No, I'm not referring to the tree which by the way was light as a feather HAH!

No...I'm referring to my own weight.

I did something I've never done before while at the doctor's office last week but forgot

to mention it in yesterday's post.

The nurse wanted my height and weight.

Nothing unusual about that.

When I stepped on the scale I just looked at the ceiling.

YUP, never done that before. 

Usually I anxiously watch the scale and want to tell the nurse that my

clothing must weigh at least 10lbs so please deduct that from the overall total!!

But...I don't need to know my weight any more or obsess about it.

I don't care what I weigh. 

It took me awhile to find a photo of myself in my khaki hiking pants

but I finally did. Why?

These are my favourite pants of all time.

As long as they fit then my weight is perfect!

There have been times when the zipper is hard to do up so

I modify my diet a bit and/or exercise more.

But when I put them on last week for my jaunt through Kilally Meadows 

they slipped on and did up easily.

That's all I need to know.

I'm the perfect weight!

March Break Begins...

in two more days!!  And I am preparing a list of things I want to get accomplished. For example, I plan to strip the old caulking from around the bathtub and re-caulk it. I'm going to clean the grout between the tiles in the bathroom with bleach. My daughter got a printer with her mactop and has never been able to hook it up to work wirelessly so yes, I'm going to solve that problem (maybe). I MUST get rolling on listing items for sale on Kijiji - that's only been on my TO DO List for a few months... ETC. ETC. I won't be twiddling my thumbs! If I get bored I have these to keep me occupied:

 Right now I'm reading a book on my Kindle AND I'm almost finished "The Introvert Advantage" (you can see my bookmark sticking out.  And Michael wants me to get started on "The Soul of Money" which a friend sent to him on his birthday - he's finished it and is raving about it. I'm really looking forward to being able to sit for a couple of hours and just read :)

Happily I am back on my bike and pedaling like MAD!! Only 120km from Philly (and no, I haven't forgotten about you Sluggy! I have a stubborn 3 pounds to lose to get to my 10 Pound Challenge goal and have (once again) renewed my efforts....sigh... Speaking of losing weight (not) I have my daughter's fave recipe baking away in the oven - it's called No Peeking Chicken (kind of a play on words of Peking Chicken just in case you didn't catch the reference!) It's the easiest recipe in the world!! You put a bunch of skinless chicken in the bottom of a roasting pan - I'm using thighs this time but any parts will do, and cover it with a mixture of a can of cream of celery soup, a can of mushroom soup, a can of water, some sour cream if you have it but that's optional (well, not optional for ME) and a cup full of either wild rice or brown rice. I had some celery stalks that were getting a little floppy so I cut them up and tossed them in too. Mushrooms are nice in this recipe too. Then sprinkle some onion soup mix on top. Put a lid on it and bake 2 hours in a 350 oven - and NO PEEKING because the steam needs to stay in the pot! Yum yum yum!! Course I'm having some chicken but only a teeny weeny bit of rice. Yeah, right!

Last night I worked on income tax as Kazi printed off the tuition forms from her university. I juggled numbers and got us both a very juicy refund. Hers will pay almost half of next year's tuition!! Plus she's mailed forms away for a tuition rebate from last year's tuition that our very in-debt gov't is offering (though probably not for long!) Mine will be put towards my line of credit though I might allow myself a new spring top as it was a robust 15c today with lots of sunshine. One of those days that are such a gift in early spring. So, tonight I file my taxes online and should see the $$ next week! Yippee!!

And finally - Today's Inspirational Moment:

Michael bought these flowers on Valentine's day and has gradually been removing the dead ones as they wilted, dried out and fell onto the table. Yesterday I took this other picture:

this is all that remains after 3 weeks. Michael's been going through a bit of a yucky time and we were inspired by how beautiful these perky little remnants looked floating around in a dish or water. They have no stems anymore and the petals are curling up but there is still a bit of life and loveliness left. Here is what we came up with after having a good long heart to heart talk:

"Even in the midst of our mess we can salvage something good." 


Whenever we go through a tough time we can ALWAYS take away something good. Whether is be a lesson learned, an inner discovery of our own strength or simply the satisfaction of knowing we did our best in a difficult situation there is always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

Here endeth the lesson.

Quinoa - A Miracle Food for Meatless Monday

For the past month I've been following an eating plan (NOT A DIET, yeah right!) based on the Glycemic Index.  I'm including this link in case you'd like to check it out for yourself. In a nutshell, if you eat foods that are low on the glycemic index chart you will feel full longer because they digest more slowly. "Cool beans" as my daughter would say. As a comparison think of slow-cooked oatmeal (LOW G.I.) as opposed to Cornpops (HIGH G.I.), or dark chocolate (LOW G.I.) vs jelly beans (HIGH G.I.).

The proof is in the pudding so they say, or in this case the oatmeal - I've been eating oatmeal every morning at 6:30am and having NO problems making it til my lunch time (11:30am) without snacking. The chart is my bible. I've discovered things about food I never knew before.

For instance, apples are very low on the index, whereas watermelon is very high. Who knew? Not me! So guess who's eating an apple everyday for her after school snack?? YUP - me, that's who! I've been learning about complete proteins (meat, eggs and dairy) as opposed in incomplete proteins (grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes). If you're not eating meat, eggs or dairy every day you're not getting all of the essential  amino acids your body requires! Shame on you!  There are, however, two plant-based foods that are complete proteins: quinoa and soybeans. 

Since I've discovered quinoa I've been eating it almost every day! I add it to my homemade soup and put a couple of tablespoons on my salad. I really LOVE the chewy crunchiness of it and besides, it looks really CUTE!  Just look!

 Awwwww, it IS cute!!

So, it's possible to have a meatless meal (which is good for you AND the environment) and still have a complete protein! That's the good news. The great news is this link for one of my favourite quinoa recipes: Puy Lentil Quinoa. With this recipe not only do you get to enjoy quinoa, you also get another of my fave food - LENTILS!! Let's hear it for LENTILS -YAY!!  I have modified this recipe by adding any old veggies kicking around in the bin that need to be used up...like mushrooms.  So when you're browning up the onions add some diced mushrooms, broccoli or whatever. This recipe is DELICIOUS!! I kid you not.

Here's an extra benefit - quinoa and lentils keep in your pantry for a really long time. And they're CHEAP! Especially the lentils. The quinoa is costly until you look at the price spread over the length of time you have it in your pantry. I paid $17.00 for a bag of the red quinoa from the Bulk Barn back in September (the white is cheaper and there is NO difference in the quality) and I still have lots left! And NOT eating meat a couple of times a week will also save you money. Your body will thank you for it on a regular basis:)

So, quinoa is a complete protein, it tastes great, it keeps you full longer so you don't eat so much snack food, it's fairly frugal AND it's cute! What more could you ask in a food??