November in Review, Part I: SICKNESS, CHICKEN, AND PIE

Rabbit, rabbit! Today is December 1!

Wait, wasn't it just November 1?

Seriously, um...what??? For me much of the last 30 days has been a manic blur...All apologies to my followers who've missed reading my posts.  (Yes, to the one or two of you who noticed my silence, I'm so sorry! And by the way, it was so nice of you to notice!)

Obviously, I overdramatize, but in all seriousness, this budding blogger is supposed to be posting at least once a week (preferably twice). That is my commitment to myself...something that is necessary to build my audience. But in November...I blew it!

For the most part, November 2010 was a month filled with sickness (of the common cold variety) and my own crazy pursuits (which did not include blogging).

Yes, blogging regularly became a distant goal in the face of a sick Bear, who got me sick, and then the Husband...and then me again! Last week, during Cold #2  I slept three nights on the pull-out couch in the basement just so the Husband could sleep peacefully while I tossed and turned amidst hacking  coughs and repeated nose-blowing misery. Thankfully, the Doodles was there, a warm ball of snoring fur, who was so pleased to have a napping companion that she did not seem to mind all the common cold commotion.

I think -- and I say this ever fearful of the possibility that I could jinx us all -- but I think we are all better now. And hopefully, we will stay healthy into the new year.

Common cold be damned, because, as I reflect on November, I realize that I did a lot -- despite the cold.  The Husband and I celebrated our "anniversary" (more on that later) and then the Husband's "double three" birthday. Also, in between Cold #1 and Cold #2 this home cook threw her own little "Chicken Fest" which entailed roasting a whole chicken, preparing homemade chicken stock, and using leftover chicken to make other meals. (And yes, I intend to post on Chicken Fest in the near future!)

I suppose I cannot mention Chicken Fest without also telling this funny (albeit embarrassing) story: Chicken Fest really only happened because I was at Whole Foods early one Monday hoping to pick up a roaster chicken ($5.99 special on Mondays). Little did I know, the chickens don't come out of the oven until 10:30. Who knew? Not wanting to wait, I decided to roast a chicken myself. Fortuitously, I had the iPad with me so I looked up the Barefoot Contessa's roasted chicken recipe, picked up the ingredients and got to work. Little did I know, by the time Whole Food's chickens were out of the oven, I was back at the store, telling the customer service desk: "Yes, I'm the idiot who left her iPad in a shopping cart in the parking lot..."

And then there was "Pie Fest"! I made an apple pie for the Husband's birthday (one of his favorites) and the week of Thanksgiving I made three pumpkin pies, one squash pie, and one sorghum pecan pie. That's six pies for those of you keeping track at home. And I have one more crust in the freezer! Pie Fest started sometime after Cold #1 but continued into Cold #2. Consequently, Pie Fest involved a lot of OCD-style hand washing. I also baked with a drywall mask over my mouth and nose (until the Vick's Vapor Rub I'd applied on my upper lip started burning my eyes). On Thanksgiving Day I told the fam that although I'd practiced the best ever kitchen hygiene, they wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit if they opted to pass on the pies. (After all, that would just leave more pie for me!)

I suppose it's a good thing I started a fitness program just a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure exactly what motivated me to do so -- the friend who suspected (incorrectly) that I was pregnant, or perhaps my own sense that I'd be eating a lot of pie in the near future. I was standing in line at the supermarket when I saw one of those Prevention booklets with this headline: "Walk Off 10 Pounds in Four Weeks." On impulse I bought it, knowing that I would have to stick to it for at least a month (or else face ridicule from the Husband for blowing $4 on an impulse buy that was later tossed into the recycle bin).

Right now I'm in week three of the plan. Truth be told, Cold #1 and Cold #2, combined with the flurry of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday have prevented me from sticking to the plan as faithfully as I'd hoped. I'm not even sure I've lost a single pound, but at this point I don't really care because I've had so much more energy during these last three weeks that I actually look forward to my nightly date with the treadmill. Also, on Black Friday I bought a pair of Ann Taylor Loft cords in a size I hadn't purchased since before becoming pregnant with the Bear. So...considering the volume of pie crust I've consumed in the last week (both raw and cooked), even though the number on the scale hasn't changed all that much, this walking program is looking like a success...

Geez, it sure is getting late! And I haven't even gotten into all my crazy pursuits. I will definitely have to get to all that later.

To be continued,

Jaelithe

Food Issues and Mika Brzezinski

This week I cannot stop thinking about Mika Brzezinski and food issues. 

Back story: I am hooked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. I love all the regulars, but Mika is probably my favorite. Before this week, I’ve never googled her or made any attempt to research her bio. Also, I have yet to read her book All Things at Once, which came out earlier this year...but I have wanted to read it and now I'm definitely going to add it to my queue...

I love Mika because she is smart, sexy, strong, and so eloquent in her speech. She stands up to those Morning Joe guys and looks great while doing it. She is an outspoken advocate for healthy eating, which has become a running joke on the show. (Those guys are always razzing her about it and she’s always telling them to eat better, exercise more and lose a few pounds. And I’m all...Yeah girl...Someone is finally on my side!) 

On Monday’s show (Aug. 30) Joe made a comment about all the hate and vitriol that erupted after New York Magazine posted a food journal that Mika kept for the magazine’s Grubstreet.com.

And so, of course, I had to google it later that day. Oh how my spirits sank when I read Mika’s food journal. You can take a look here if you’re interested. But let me just recount what I found to be the most disturbing day of her food blog (Keep in mind, she says she runs an average of 5 miles every day!):

Breakfast: coffee, two Kind granola bars, 4 mugs of hot water.

Lunch: arugula salad with strawberry dressing and some kind of broccoli rabe dish that includes white wine.

Dinner: omelette made from six egg whites, fresh spinach, and a “little bit of cheese -- probably swiss.”

My first reaction to this was: Mika...Seriously? I thought you were an advocate for a healthy diet, not a calorie restriction diet! How can such a vibrant woman run on so little fuel?

My second reaction was: Is this what eating less looks like? God, I hope not!

Ever since the conclusion of pregnancy and breastfeeding, I have been reluctantly confronting the fact that I eat too much. For the most part, I eat really healthy,  but I just need to eat less, (especially less carbs, sugar, and cheese). 

To eat less is one of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules and ever since I watched the documentary Food Inc. and skimmed a few of Pollan's books, I have been thinking about eating less. How would I actually do that? Would I even be able to?

I've never really had to diet to lose weight before. But I have never been as old as I am now (31, if you’re curious).  Lately, I am starting to accept that my only chance to drop the baby weight is to cut back on my food intake. I have about 10 more pounds to lose, but honestly some days I think peach cobbler, buttered toast, and pancakes with maple syrup just might be worth the extra pounds. After all, I am at a healthy weight.

That’s right...I said I’m at a healthy weight, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that our culture worships thin women, and I want to be one of those thin women. Does this make me vain? Probably. But I’m sure many of my female readers can relate.

I think my big takeaway from Mika’s food blog is the extent to which it reveals what a thin female celebrity has to endure in order to be a thin female celebrity. Small, low-calorie meals followed by a five-mile run. Boo!!!

I am not a nutritionist, but on this topic I am an expert at one thing: my body. I intend to explore this eat less idea, but only in a way that I believe is healthy for me. Mika’s diet might work for her, but I know it would never work for me. (For starters, I know I’d need a little bit more protein and a lot more whole grains. But remember, I am only an expert on my body, not Mika’s -- or anyone else’s for that matter).

I hope you’ll join me as I make my “food issues” public. If you’re interested, here is what I ate today. (Keep in mind, this is me trying to eat less!)

Breakfast: bowl of cheerios with soy milk, half a banana, coffee, (followed by a refill on the cheerios).

Later: three handfuls of slivered almonds

Lunch: tomato-based white bean soup (leftovers from last night’s dinner), whole wheat crackers with pesto (basil from my garden), and goat cheese, plus all the raspberries that were too mushy to feed the Bear, and water.

Later: More coffee 

Later: Pecans and raisins (probably about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup, total), glass of 2% milk

Dinner: Steamed broccoli, baked quesadilla on whole wheat tortilla with black beans, 1/8 cup cheddar cheese, minced onion, tomatillo salsa, and avocado, plus a couple small squares of dark chocolate (85% cocoa) and water.

Later: glass of white wine

Now it is almost midnight, and I’m starving! After this post, I will probably have a banana and a glass of milk, but hopefully that is all.

What did you eat today?

L@H