May 11 - kitchen

 

I took several photos around my kitchen. 

1. The whole kitchen (in it's glorious messy daily splendor) and then I was going to post a second photo of the clean kitchen that I prefer. 

2. I took a photo of my coffee maker. It's my second lover. I'm not sure I'm saving money by making my own coffee. I use 2 pods to make my espresso and drink 3 cups a day. Plus I find myself stopping at Starbucks for my daily mocha still.

3. I took a photo of my microwave. It's been broken for 3 years. And I don't miss it at all. Strange, right? We rarely eat leftovers and what I have can easily be heated on the stove.

4. Finally, I decided on a photo I took of dinner. With our hectic schedule sometimes I have to lay dinner out for my husband to make for 3 kids while I take the 4th kid to baseball. This particular night, the kids get off the bus at 3:30 and Mister C needed to be at baseball at 4pm followed by Miss M being at soccer at 7pm. I was able to have Marc make dinner for the 3 and then take Miss M to soccer and then Mister C and I ate when we got home at 7:30pm.

It was delicious. Beef stir fly with Black Bean Paste, baby corn, water chestnuts all over rice. The corn was put away for another night. I'm so happy that we have worked out a system to keep everyone eating at home despite the crazy sports and homework nights.

May 4 - fun!

 

Day 4 - and I'm still photographing.

When I started my day I couldn't picture anything fun on the agenda. I needed to work online for my brother, go to my friends and return messages to brides needing alterations, then head to the school to collect the Pennies for Patients boxes for the charity we are supporting this school year. So, I decided it was the kind of day to "make" fun happen. I got my Mr N off of the bus and bribed him with lunch if he would hang out while I returned phone calls. 

I let him pick lunch and he decided Subway. We split a foot long pizza sub. While sitting and eating our sandwich, we spent some time chatting and I realized that this moment was my FUN moment. He makes me laugh and smile. We had a great time and that made my whole day.

The Cook

Over the years, my husband has turned into the cook in our family. I still make the basics: cereal for breakfast, sandwiches and lunch bags for lunch, noodles or meat and veggies for dinner. But, Marc - he's a gourmet. Or he's trying to be. Want salsa verde? He buys the ingredients, spends 4 hours roasting and chopping and blending. Don't get me wrong, it's so delicious, but I would have bought a jar for $4. Done in 5 minutes.

He says it relaxes him to cook. I think I would be fine with all liquid or raw goods. I love to eat his cooking though.

It reminds me of my mom. I would come home from school and she would be snapping green beans or shredding chicken. A long time went into making those meals. Usually we were shooed out of the kitchen because we were underfoot. I find myself doing that with the kids. Plus, I'm a 30 minute cooker. Anything longer and I'm not making it.

Today, for lunch, I'm eating some delicious tomato soup Marc made with a dollop of his homemade pesto. It's so good and perfect on the sunny Fall day.

My baby turns 11

For her annual birthday dinner (our kids get to pick where they want to eat), Miss M chose Sichuanese in Redmond. How many 11 year old choose spicy food? She loves to eat the pea vine and drink hot tea. I love how my kids are willing to try most foods. We enjoyed a wonderful day with our eldest. Hard to believe that she has turned 11 already.

She spent the majority of her birthday at school. But, she had a wonderful day. Marc took her to breakfast where they shared some doughnuts at Frost. I brought her cookies for her teacher to pass out at lunch. We took her to Sichuanese Cuisine for dinner. We all came home for her to open her presents (books, of course, some Bayala figurines, more Harumika dolls, a littlest pet and 2 Harry Potter Lego sets). We finished the night with some cake and ice cream.

I think our kids are a little spoiled when it comes to birthdays. The have a friend party, their actual birthday with just us and a family birthday. Because I have 2 kids in June, I am so partied out by the end!! 

pea vine

Hot Chicken (Sichuan style)

Sliced Fish Delight (aka fuzzy fish)

Miss M telling me how much she loves the hot chicken

Pineapple Chiffon cake (her choice of dessert)

April Fool's Joke

We kid A LOT around our house. Miss M learned to peek around the corner when she was 18 months old to make sure I wasn't hiding on my hands and knees to say "Boo". We still hop into the kids rooms (when they are supposed to be asleep) and scare them. The kids have learned to hide and scare too.

The best was when Marc came home from work and the kids ran downstairs to hide in the dark. When he walked in from the garage they jumped out and he actually screamed. It was priceless. I chuckle thinking about it. Evil, I am.

Anyway, one year, while driving to California, my Dad and I were discussing a magazine article about food that fools you (sushi made out of candy). I came up with a whole meal to serve the kids.

I made meatloaf in a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and topped them with mashed potatoes dyed purple and green peas for sprinkles. I served them for dinner. The kids did not appreciate my talent to make dinner look like dessert. They were actually really good. I'm getting some inspiration of what dinner might be for tonight.

78/365

 

This is what 35 meals for 2 people look like. Marc and I are embarking on a new healthy eating plan. Let me tell you. We were so supersizing everything we ate. Even though I use the little plate, it was still so much more than we should be eating. That would explain why I haven't been able to lose any weight over the last year despite making many changes to my diet.

I've also found that I am a picker. I go into the kitchen and pick at something. Especially if that something was really tasty for dinner. Today, I cut out sugar in my coffee. I still use the creamer, but it is non fat. Baby steps. I used to use TEASPOONS of sugar (seriously, like 5 time 5 cups a day). I hope this helps. We are doing weekly weigh ins on Sunday's and I'm starting my transformation blog elsewhere. I will link to it once I get permission from my husband for all of you lovelies to peruse our gigantic effort to get healthy and happy.

(I am not endorsed or paid by NutriSystem. This was my choice of a diet plan to follow based on friends who have embarked on this road and had huge success. We bought the plan through Costco at a significant discount $259 per person instead of $299 for women and $309 for men).