Say cheese....

Or rather, please do NOT say cheese!!!!! That's right, my October outlaw is....wait for it......cheese! I am rather stubborn so I think I'll be able to do it but this is going to be hard!

Last month I gave up desserts/sweets. That is still in effect and I will have 2 cheats. This month is cheese but I'm giving myself 4 cheats (though I might try not to use them all) It's already been harder than I thought and it's the second day of October! I am a cheese fiend! I eat cheese in almost every meal of every day....and that is the problem!

Yesterday I decided to have some tomato soup for lunch since it was feeling quite 'fall-y' outside. What goes perfect with tomato soup?? Grilled cheese, of course! Nope. Second best pairing with tomato soup? Tuna Melt, of course! Nope. Bummer. So I made up some tuna salad and ate that with some Saltines and my tomato soup. It was actually quite tasty. I know I can do this, it's just going to be hard!

But something that is helping me keep it up is that Todd has joined on this crazy plan. Like I posted before, last month he gave up French Fries. This month he has gone crazy! French fries are still in effect (a little more strict than last month, now homemade chips are included) plus he is no longer ordering soda at restaurants. The soda thing is more of a monetary sacrifice to see how much of a difference it makes. But not only french fries and restaurant sodas, he is also giving up fried chicken!!!! No chicken nuggets for Todd during October??!!? Crazy.

Also, I was telling some of my friends about this plan of ours and I got a text the other day saying that one girl is giving up Ranch for October. I am actually inspiring people!!!! Which is inspiring me to stay strong! If you decide to give something up for October too, let me know!

I'll be bathing suit ready just in time for turtleneck season!

September sacrifice

Since having Molly, I have been on a quest to get back into shape. Not just back into pre-pregnancy shape, but pre-pre-pregnancy shape. I was doing alright and the numbers were dropping, sssssllllloooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyyy. I'm good with the exercise but the eating right is not really my think. I have a sweet tooth. If it's not in front of me, I'm good. I don't typically order desserts at restaurant, or even bake them often at home. The problem is, when I do bake them, I don't just have a slice, I eat the whole darn cake! And I can't just eat one twizzler (I don't know anyone who can!) But I can eat the whole bag in 20 minutes! I think moderation is the key and that is just not my strength.

So, I decided to give up desserts for September but it actually turned into sweets in general. I was going to allow myself 2 cheats for the 2 weddings we were going to. And let me say, I impressed myself. Of course, in the beginning, all I could think about were sweets! The first wedding we went to was early in September and we ended up having to leave the reception before they cut the cake so Molly could take a nap!!!! Not cool! I had my mom bring over some homemade peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to make up for it (and they were delicious!)

I will admit, I cheated once when my friend and I went to the Greek Festival and I don't regret it one bit! I mean, really, who can pass up Loukoumades?!?! Next year I plan to have a Baklava Sundae!

In support of my sacrifice, Todd decided to give up french fries for September. He did a great job though did allow homemade chips to be permissable.

October I've decided to give up something new. But I'm also going to keep the dessert thing going, with 2 cheats again. Todd is also keeping the french fry ban but including homemade chips. He has also added something new. I will post about October outlaw soon!

Another meatless meal?!?!

This spring my mother-in-law bought some chickens on a whim. Who does that?!?! Oh yeah, I have done that too. Whereas my chicken turned out to be a rooster (I miss you, Myrtle!) Page's chickens turned out to actually be beautiful egg-laying chickens. So when she came to visit recently she brought me some fresh-out-of-the-coop eggs! Truly organic!



I decided to make a yummy meatless dish. I forgot to take a picture of the veggies I used but in this dish I have caramelized onions, orange peppers, and possibly squash, I can't really remember cause it was last week. I laid the veggies in my greased baking dish and then covered them with some shredded cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, straight from Wisconsin! (thanks Dad!)
I beat the eggs (though I don't think I beat them enough) and then covered the veggies and cheeses with the eggs.
As you can see, the yolk and egg whites seemed to separate and I wasn't expecting this.
But it tasted oh so delicious! I probably should have used a different color plate but oh well! It was perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
As always, my meatless meal was inspired by my sister, Katherine.

me?!?! meatless?!?!

This dish was inspired by my sister, Katherine. If you haven't checked out her blog then you MUST. She is so talented and creative. She has been writing a series on Meatless Mondays and it really gives you food for thought. :-D Anyway, I have decided to try to incorporate some meatless meals into my menu. This is not easy for me. I, for some unknown reason, feel that I must add chicken or ground beef or any other kind of meat to a meal to make it filling. When Katherine first posted her one-meatless-night-a-week challenge I was very skeptical. But I am seeing the errors of my ways!

Those of you who know my husband know that Ragu is a staple in our home. I actually believe it is one of his main food groups. I don't like spaghetti when it is just sauce and noodles but it is one of his favorites! So I decided I would adapt. As you can see below, there is "More than a Full Serving of VEGGIES" in the sauce...I guess I decided that wasn't enough...
Sorry bout the angle of the picture below. Those of you who know me from childhood might not believe that I'm serious about all the veggies below. I was such a picky eater when I was a kid. My sweet mother would make a smaller dish of what she was cooking and leave out the onions or whatever else it was that I was refusing to eat. But I have grown in my palate! Below is a mixture of onions, zucchini, squash, yellow and orange peppers, and a mighty heaping of mushrooms! Really it's whatever veggies are leftover from other dishes. They are being sauteed in olive oil and minced garlic, with some oregano and a dash of cayenne pepper. I shock myself!
Then I add in the Ragu. I love this dish because there is no recipe! I just throw in whatever I feel like. And a secret ingredient? Throw in some brown sugar!!! Delicious!

A friend of mine makes Inside Out Lasagna so I've kind of adapted my recipe to be similar to hers. After putting the sauce over whatever kind of pasta you chose (last night it was Whole Wheat Penne) then you can add in a dollop of Ricotta or Cottage cheese and some grated Parmesan cheese. Mix it all together and Voila!I didn't include a picture of the final product cause I didn't want anyone to see how much cheese I used! But it was fabulous and I have leftovers for tomorrow. Happy meatless eating!

Going...going...gone!

the fun of 8 months!

Todd's job

Ok, I will finally post about Todd getting a job! As you can see in the image above, Todd got a job with Lowe's Home Improvement. He is working in their corporate office in Mooresville, NC as a Marketing Specialist!

When we first went down to Athens, Ga for Todd to go to business school, he thought he would probably go into real estate because that is what he was familiar with. But as time went on and he took more classes, Todd realized that marketing, more specifically product development, was just the thing he was looking for. When it came time to interview we decided that he would look into all aspects of business, be it marketing, finance, operations, etc because in today's job market we didn't know how picky we could be. We knew our ideal locations were Charlotte, Mooresville, or Winston but really we thought we'd end up somewhere like Atlanta. Finally, after many interviews, Todd kept being invited back to talk to more people at Lowe's and it looked like it was going to become our reality! I mean really, in this market, who would have thought we could have landed a Fortune 50 job in the small town that my parents live in!?!?! It seems that prayer actually works! :-D

So Todd started his job about 6 weeks ago. He lived in my parents' basement for the first couple of weeks until Molly and I moved up here and we moved into our apartment. We now live in Cornelius, NC and absolutely love it!!! Moving was an adventure (that blog will come later) but I'm so glad that we're here and getting settled in (still accepting offers to come help me organize this place!)

Hopefully in a year or two we will be ready to buy a house, probably in Mooresville. But in the mean time, I am loving staying at home with Molly and learning the area better. We are also starting to meet some new moms up here but I'll post about that later too!

It's been awhile!

For some reason I seem to think that the only things worth posting involve Molly (and I'm sure some of you agree!) Of course she has done post-worthy things which I, of course, have not yet posted about, but also so much has happened for our family. I really need to get on the ball with this thing! From now on I am going to try to get better at posting in a more timely manner. We'll see how that goes!

Ok, where to start?!!? Well, Molly is now a solid food eater! We were originally going to wait until after we moved (that blog will come at a later date) but I knew Todd wanted to be there for her first meal so we started on Father's Day! I had given Molly the spoon pictured below (our favorite, the Boon spoon!) a couple of weeks before we started food just to get her use to it. She loves chewing on it!
Here is Molly taking her first bite of rice cereal mixed with breast milk! Her Daddy got to feed her first since it was father's day. It's hard to tell by this face but she actually loved it! Since rice cereal, she has eaten oatmeal, avocado, banana, squash, and peaches. All went over well except for the peaches. I don't know if they are too tart or what but she makes the most awful face after each bite. The funny thing is, she continues to open her mouth for more. Silly girl!
We are taking a family trip into Charlotte tomorrow to the farmer's market there to get some fresh veggies so that I can make some more baby food for her for the upcoming weeks. I love being able to pick out the veggies and fruits and making her food by hand. I'm sure I will use canned food on occasion, already have some Earth's Best Organic Peas in the cupboard, but for now I'm enjoying making her food myself!