Weigh In 3

177 yesterday at the weigh in... then I ate like 65 points worth of my fabulous homemade mac and cheese and homemade doughnuts... Not good.

POOP!!!!!!!!

Last night, after an hour of "being in bed," Abby was crying and Janet opened the door of her room to find that Abby had pooped. She had taken off her diaper, her pj's and was smearing the poop from here to Kingdom Come. It was everywhere: on the floor, on the bed, on the toys, on herself. She put Abby in the tub and that's when I came out of my room to see what all the commotion was about. I went right back in my room and buried my head in my pillow and screamed. I was so angry. I came back out, barely.

I scrubbed down my daughter, I scrubbed down her carpet (going through a whole bottle of Resolve and several pairs of disposable gloves) and my mother-in-law took the bedding and toys and got them all clean. We put her back in bed. Abby knew she had done something wrong. She cried the whole time.

Two guesses as to what she did today during "nap time" and the first two don't count. Andy is on his way to the grocery store for more resolve and a steam cleaner ON THE SABBATH!

Suggestions?

Weigh In

Beginning Weight: 3-25-10  186 lbs

Current Weight: 4-5-10  179.5

We are well on our way to my goal weight of 130. OK, I know it sounds like a long way to go but if I can lose more than 2 lbs a week, we will be there at Christmas and that's my goal! It can happen...

JUST A MINUTE!!!

I have discovered that toddlers want everything to happen RIGHT NOW! Abby has learned the phrase "right now" and is using it after everything. "I'm hungry, right now." "I need to pee in th-potty, right now!" "Take a bath, right now?!" I used to say, "Just a minute," all the time but now it's ALL THE TIME!!! I find myself emphasizing every word trying to get her to understand that right now can't happen but it will happen in just a minute. Grrr...

I love my baby but I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with all the stuff that has to happen RIGHT NOW. There is a diaper to be changed or a training potty to be cleaned out. There is trash to go out and a dog to shut up. There are toys to be moved from room to room and meals to be cooked or a baby to be nursed. There is a screaming mouth open like a baby bird and a kid hanging on my leg begging to go for a walk RIGHT NOW! It's nuts. I'm totally tired. Every minute with them is a blessing but sometimes I wonder if I will make it.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

What you need: pitted dates, water, Chocolate Silk, Silken tofu, flax seed, vanilla, baking soda, cocoa powder, brown sugar, all purpose flour.

You begin by putting one cup of dates in half a cup of water in a small sauce pan or pot and just bringing them to a boil. Remove it from the heat and let it cool just a bit. Preheat your oven to 425.

Then blend up the whole concoction. Make sure you get it really smooth.

Then put it through a strainer to get rid of anything that would cause lumps or skins or whatever. You need half a cup of puree after its all said and done.






Now grind up flax seed and put two tablespoons into a large mixing bowl. Leftover flax seed should be kept in the fridge.

 Add to the flax seed one and a half cups all purpose flour.

Then add half a cup of brown sugar (or sugar in the raw if you want something less processed).

Now add 3/4 cup of cocoa powder.

And then 2 teaspoons baking soda.

Now mix it all together really good. Make sure any chunks of baking soda are broken up well.

Now add half a cup of the silken tofu to one cup of Chocolate Silk in a separate bowl. It's going to be kinda chunky. Side note: I had never tasted Chocolate Silk before this and I have to say, it's AMAZING (and this is coming from a non-vegan, non-vegetarian). I'm sure that at some point tonight, my mother-in-law will come into the kitchen and find me drinking it out of the carton while trying to hide behind the refrigerator door.

Add in the date puree and one teaspoon of vanilla.

These wet ingredients need to be mixed really well. Either use an electric mixer or put the whole sh-bang back in the blender and get it nice and smooth.

Now add the wet ingredients to the dry and make sure that they are not over mixed but well incorporated. Best thing about this batter is that it's VEGAN so you can lick out the bowl without the fear of getting salmonella or something...

Now fill up muffin tins (either with liners or well oiled or Pam-ed) 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes. Check to make sure they are baked all the way through by putting in a tooth pick. If it comes out clean, you are good to go! Sprinkle them with powdered sugar. (If you want to make this into a cake, bake it for 22-25 minutes. Be careful to let it sit for a while and cool without being disturbed to much because it will fall.)

Aren't they beautiful? And if you don't tell anyone they are vegan, I doubt they will guess it. Just serve them up (with a glass of the fabulous Chocolate Silk) and keep your healthy little secret to yourself until the plate is gone. Then come out and say, "Hey, you just ate vegan food and LIKED IT!"

Healthy Doesn't Have to Be Icky

My mother-in-law is here. She is a vegan. Needless to say, I'm not even a vegetarian but when she's here (especially when Mommy is preoccupied with the kiddos) she does alot of the cooking, cleaning and whatever. Now, whether she is doing the cooking or not, she has never made me feel like I have to be a vegan or cook vegan food for her but she is my guest and I feel a certain obligation to at least provide some of her normal foods so she doesn't waste away to nothing. I have discovered a few things about healthy/vegan living:
1. You don't know it's vegan if no one tells you. I make "vegan" fajitas and they are just that way. I didn't intend to make them that way. I just don't like to cook meat at home because I'm always worried about whether it's well done and I end up making chicken/beef/fish jerky all the time so I don't even bother. I don't really love vege-meat substitutes and they are dang expensive. I don't put cheese on fajitas because I can't taste it well and it brings up the Weight Watchers point value. The only non-vegan thing I may sometimes have on fajitas is sour cream.

2. When you fake it, people know. If you try to make vegan Mac and Cheese, you are going to fail. Mac and Cheese is a dairy based thing. You have to just make things that don't require dairy or that have very little dairy and you know you can hide the substitute. If you are making stew and it calls for chicken, just leave it out. If you are making a baked product and it calls for butter, use the sub and don't tell anyone. It's just easier not to try and make a tofurkey that is going to taste like sawdust and everyone knows you are faking it.

3. FRESH STUFF IS BEST! If you can get fresh avocado and make it into a spread and put it on your sandwich so it's not dry, you are really doing good. If you can get fruit and make a nice salad, no one is going to complain. Just know that it's going to be more expensive but you are going to live longer.

I am not going vegan. I'm not even going vegetarian but I know that when I am around people who are, it's not going to be a problem because I know how to cook stuff that will make us both happy. I just can't give up my twice a year steak. I am addicted but I do learn alot from those who are stronger than me.

Pooping Face and the Sling Cat Fight

I am amazed how much I can tell about my kids bodily functions by their faces. Cate is in that red, pinched face, watery eyes I'm-pooping phase. Abby still gets this face and I can always tell when I need to take her sitting on the potty seriously because after the red face comes a happy, sort of Shirley Temple "oh" face that tells me that she is about to start jumping up and down and letting drip of pee get everywhere because she "put pee IN THE POTTY!!!" This is major cause for celebration with dancing and chocolate.

I recently procured a sling for Cate from my sister. It really holds the baby in tight and she is at that point where her nails are to short to cut but to sharp to allow them anywhere near you. It's way hot with the sling on so I went ahead and wore a low cut tank and those nails were at my chest for an hour. When I finally relented to the sweat and the scratching, I took off Cate and found that I look like I have been in a cat fight! Therefore, I will not be wearing something low cut to church tomorrow, not that they like that anyway...