3 weeks in

Down 10lbs, lost 1.5" off my bust, 2" off my waist, 2" off my abdomen, and .5" off my hips.

Suh-weet.

Dukan Single Serving Chocolate Cake

I made this up tonight - not too bad!!

2 tbsp oat bran
1 tbsp fat free cocoa powder
4 1g packets of Splenda
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high 45 seconds. Serve warm.

We interrupt your daily blogging

To bring you this awesome piece of news:

Six pounds lost in nine days.

Dukan Diet works!

Day 7 of Dukan Diet

Down five whole pounds and 3 inches after six straight days of Dukan!

Wait, that's not true - I did crumble over the weekend. On Saturday night I ate about 1/2 cup of pasta salad (made with oil & vinegar, not the creamy kind), as well as 4 1" pieces of bread. The bread. Was. AWESOME. In spite of my goof that night, I did manage to stay at the same weight, and didn't have any gain on the scale.

On Sunday I had 1/2 cup of Caesar salad as well as a piece of chocolate cake about 3"x3"x1". Not sure how it happened, but I was down another pound this morning, for a total weight loss of 5lbs. The last time I did my measurements, I had lost a total of 3 inches (half inch off the bust, 1" off the waist, 1" off the bellybutton, and a half inch off my hips.)

My biggest challenge has been finding and creating new ways to get the protein into my system. If it weren't for fat free cream cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt, I'd probably lose my mind.

Can't wait to see 10lbs lost - should happen in another couple of weeks. I have less than 20lbs to go to reach my all time ultimate goal, which is intimidating on one hand, but a huge relief on the other.

Dukan Oat Bran Omelette

Day 5 of the Dukan Diet, and I'm getting creative. I made this one up this morning. Great for the Attack phase - pure protein and includes your daily portion of oat bran.

1 egg white
1 egg, separated
3 tbsp fat free cottage cheese
2 tbsp finely diced onion
1 tsp diced garlic
1.5 tbsp oat bran
Freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp fat free sour cream

1. Combine both egg whites and beat till fluffy.
2. Mix remaining egg yolk until thick, then add cottage cheese, onion, garlic, oat bran, and pepper.
3. Fold into egg whites until combined.
4. In a non stick pan heat over low-medium heat until cooked through.
5. Top with fat free sour cream, more pepper or seasonings, and serve.

Yum! It's a Dukan version of a savory Pannenkoek!

PS: Down 4 pounds and 1.5 inches in five days! Woo!

Dear Pierre Dukan

Here, have a chocolate eclair. It's on me.

No, wait - it's OFF me. Booyah!

I started this diet hovering around 138. I did get as low as 136, but then I'd kind of bounce back up. I've been trying to lose 40ish lbs since Princess P was born in Feb 2011. I'm now 3.5 months postpartum and have lost a grand total of 36lbs - and three of those were in the past three days!

And it's because of this awesome notion, the Dukan Diet. I have been on the diet for 4 days (I'm on Day 4 now) and have lost a total of 3lbs and 1.5 inches. That was enough to take me down a full dress size (according to the Bill Levkoff size chart, which is just the yardstick I picked out to get an idea of how many pounds it takes to lose a size.)

To put this into perspective, when I got pg with Boy Wonder, I would have had to order a size 18. I lost a whack of weight, and when I got pg with Princess P I would have had to order a size 8. Now I would have to order a size 10.

I'm only one size away! Yeeeeeeee ha!

I weighed in yesterday at 134, and did again today - which prompted me to check my measurements. I am thrilled. I have another 2-3 days on the Attack phase, then I get to move into Cruise (alternating pure protein days with protein and veg days) for the month of June. I really seriously think that I'm going to hit goal weight of 125 long before my 30th birthday at the end of August. I'm so excited.

Thanks again, Pierre!

Dukan it out

I'm tackling the Dukan diet.

It's not going to be easy.

In fact, I'm doing it slightly modified - there is absolutely no way that I can live without my coffee in the morning. I'm a wreck if I don't get it, honestly. So I'm allowing it.

In the meantime, though, for the rest fo the week - from now until June 4th - it's going to be meaty beaty big and bouncy, baby.

The Dukan diet is the one that Kate Middleton followed to become so slim in time for her wedding. There are 4 phases - the Attack phase, the Cruise phase, the Consolidation phase, and the Stabilization phase.

My mom and stepfather are doing it right now, and have had significant success - like in the first DAY, my mom lost 2 lbs and my stepdad lost 6. SIX! If I lost six pounds I'd be well establishd in the 130s.

So I'm going to do it, too. Just for a week. I can only eat protein and oat bran for a week, so I'm poaching some chicken breasts, just had a few slices of deli meat, and I'll pick up the bran at the store today when I take Boy Wonder to his storytime class.

In other news, significant rainfall here resulted in rising groundwater at our house, which in turn resulted in a flooded basement. Whee. We spent all day Saturday & Sunday squeegeeing and sucking up water. Now it's under control, and we're able to go about 3 hours between sucking up water from the cold cellar. I am hoping and praying the groundwater slows down and finally stops. Send me your driest - and meatiest thoughts.

Kitchen style

Sorry for the delay in entries, kids - Blogger decided it didn't like me, and wouldn't confirm my email so I couldn't get in to enter! But you can all breathe a sigh of relief, because I'm back.

This week the kids decorated my new apron (with my help.) We got a white chef's apron and a package of fabric paints. I spread the apron out and prepped the paints (squirts of each color on a sheet of wax paper.)

Then I had the kids dip their feet in the paint.

Princess P needed some help, obviously.

Then the best part: stepping on the apron and making footprints! Boy Wonder got to do his hands, as well.

The finished product. I can't wait to wear this proudly for many years to come!

Bird porn

I saw some birds DOIN` IT.

Ooooooooooh yeah. Living where I do, we witness a fair bit of procreation of the avian kind, a.k.a. bird sex.

We`ve had a pair of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura, if you are a speaker of Latin) nesting in our yard for about 3 years now. They`re back this year, which is awesome for a bird nerd like me. I love their call - it sounds the way I think velvet feels. Or the way a malt tastes.

Anyways, this morning I was stripping the bedsheets for the laundry and glanced outside at the gravel driveway. And I witnessed a special moment between the doves.

A very special moment, indeed. I saw one crouched down on the ground, and the other clumsily climbing up on her back. I could draw only one conclusion - the birdy version of the beast with two backs.

I mulled it over as I shoveled sheets into the washing machine, and still as I waited for Boy Wonder to finish his Terrific Threes class at the rec centre. I finally had a spare minute today to research bird sex, and found this:

I also found this:

And in a moment of inspired weirdness, this porcelain statue by Meissen, which according to Christie`s is worth $25,000 to $35,000 USD. Which is insane.

ANYWAYS.

I saw mourning doves mating this morning. Most birds have a cloaca because birds in general don`t have external genitals. No weewees here. So they turn their cloacas inside out, poke out their cloaca pokey things, and touch them. This is called - and I kid you not - the cloacal kiss.

The kiss is how the male gets the sperm to the female, and you know the rest of the story.

I tried to find a pic of the cloacal kiss for you, but OMG, it`s gross. The only pic I found was a closeup of a bird`s bum. And really, you don`t need to see that. Also, apparently, there`s a band called Cloacal Kiss. Now that I know what a cloacal kiss is I can`t say I think that`s the best name they could have chosen.

ANYWAYS.

I`m going to keep watching this pair of doves. I like to think that somewhere in our yard they`re snuggled up together in domestic bliss, just a couple of young kids trying to make their way in the world. I`ll see if I can`t get some photos of the babies, if I ever manage to find the nest. But in the meantime, I`ll leave you with this photo of someone holding a pet dove chick. ADORABLE, in a bristly beaky sort of way. Enjoy! And remember to reflect on the appropriate-ness of Cloacal Kiss for a band name!

Jillylicious Pizza

I made up a pizza tonight that even Boy Wonder ate. As a result I'm going to share it with you:

Ingredients:
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (Franks, etc.)
salt & pepper
2 tbsp oil
1 cup chicken breast, diced (uncooked)
1/2 a red onion, sliced
1 thin crust pizza shell
1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Directions:
1. In a container with a tight fitting lid, mix oil, garlic, basil, hot pepper sauce, and salt & pepper. Shake to combine and set aside.
2. In a small skillet heat 2 tbsp oil and stir fry onions and diced chicken breast until golden and cooked through.
3. Drizzle oil and garlic mixture over pizza shell, then top with chicken and onions. Sprinkle artichoke hearts and tomatoes on next. Then top with goat cheese and mozarella.
4. Cook at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes, then an additional 5 minutes at 400 or until cheese is melted and golden. I recommend cooking on a pizza pan with holes and placing a baking sheet underneath to catch any spills.

Cats

GOD I hate cats. Not on principle. I see a kitten and I get as squishy and lovey dovey as the next person. I even pet cats. But right now, I HATE cats.

I especially hate Scruffy's cat, Oscar. I don't even have a picture of Oscar to share with you. I don't take pictures of Oscar. Because I can't stand him.

Oscar is a cat going through an identity crisis. In many ways, he is a cat. In other ways, he is a dog. I attribute this to the fact that when he was a kitten and we acquired him 7 years ago (and I picked him out - that was back when I liked cats, you see) Sasha used to pull him and his brother into bed with her and lick them for hours. We'd find them in the morning, wet with dog slobber. When the brother got hit by a car, Oscar's affections had nowhere to go but to the dogs, which resulted in him crouching for 10 minutes at a time while Roscoe humped him.

You can't feel bad for a cat that doesn't even try to get away from the dog humping it. That's how messed up Oscar is. He just lies there and takes it.

When you pull into the driveway, Oscar runs out to greet you. Like a dog. (He is like a little Wal Mart greeter.)
He scratches at the door to come in the house. Like a dog.
He drools on your pant leg if you pet him too long. Like a dog.

Unfortunately, Oscar's transition into dogginess is not yet complete, which is evidenced by him pooping ALL OVER IN MY FLOWERBEDS.

This past week I've been digging and raking the soil, adding compost and prepping it for my flowers. I love to garden, and playing in the dirt is my happy place. Playing in cat turds is NOT. It's disgusting. I water and I can actually SMELL cat poop.

Shudder. The cat is supposed to live in the barn, where he has a nice warm bed, a litter box, and a bowl full of food. Scruffy pets him in the barn. In the barn, Oscar has a purpose, and a destiny. He catches mice.

After he catches the mice, he ingests them.

And after he ingests them, he barfs them back up. Usually on my front doorstep. So I open the door in the morning, and find a pile of bloody mouse guts puked up by the cat. This is another situation that is NOT my happy place (see turds, cat.)

I can't bring myself to do anything about the cat other than to glare at him when he goes by. Sometimes I call him names. He appears to be unaffected. I wish I could say the same for the flowerbeds, and for the front doorstep, too.

Ew.

Wind warning

Typically, a wind warning means that people in the affected areas need to be aware of dangerous weather conditions and prepare themselves accordingly in order to reduce damage and keep themselves safe.

For me, wind warning means GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY BECAUSE IT'S FREAKIN' WINDY AND I HATE IT WHEN IT'S WINDY AND I WILL CUT YOU.

So, pretty much the same. Prepare yourselves accordingly to reduce damage and keep yourself safe.

Today was windy. Really windy. It blew all day - from 8am until now, 8pm, and it hasn't really stopped - and it was gusting at 35 mph. Which is about 60km an hour. Which is about as fast as a greyhound can run. And when it blows like that, for 12 hours straight, I get crabby.

I took Boy Wonder and Princess P to the park today - Boy Wonder didn't want to hold the string on his kite because it was pulling too hard. Can't say I blame him. My hair and skin feel like sandpaper and are dried right out. The new perennials I planted yesterday have had the crap beaten out of them and now I will fret about their well being.

I just don't like it. It howls. It blows dust around. I feel grit in my teeth, on my skin, on my clothes. It takes Princess P's breath away and Boy Wonder is none too fond of it, either.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just being a baby, but check this out:

A Canadian Climate Centre study in 1981 found that migraines are most likely to happen on days with high humidity and high winds.

And also:

Wind affects the charge of ions in the atmosphere. Too many positive ions can throw your system out of whack - resulting in " various physical disorders, as well as mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, nervousness, irritability, emotional imbalance, listlessness and apathy" (taken from http://helpingpsychology.com/weather-rain-and-suns-influence-on-mood).

Makes sense to me. I feel owly, the kids are owly, and it is not supposed to end until sometime tomorrow night. Blah!

The working man

In spite of the drizzly spring weather we're having, Boy Wonder knew there was scooping and moving to be done. And he was just the man to do it.

We filled a couple of cookie sheets with popcorn kernels and some rice I found hanging around at the back of the cupboard. Then Boy Wonder got to work.

According to the theory of Montessori this exercise encourages development of a child's ...' "development of will". The child discovers that he can conduct his bodily movements through the direction of his will. When translated to a life skill, this gives the child confidence in facing challenging activities realizing that he can practically accomplish any task as long as he wills it.' (taken from http://www.fmployola.com/materials.htm).

Sounds good to me!

Also, it makes a mess, and when isn't that fun for a 3 year old?

Red Bull saves the day

So, it's been an ugly morning. Princess P is going through a growth spurt, so she's up a whole bunch in the night, and during the day alternates between ravenously feeding and wanting to be held. It's exhausting, especially because Scruffy is working extra hours due to the spring season and as a result leaves before the kids are up, and gets home after they've gone to bed. I'm pretty much flying solo.

I hit the wall this morning - Boy Wonder had a dental appointment and I was trying to get everybody out of the house and to the dentist on time. Princess P kept screaming every time I left the room, and I caught Boy Wonder driving his toy excavator through my seedlings and tearing them up.

I was on the brink of tears. I finally ended up shouting at Boy Wonder (which I HATE doing, and try to avoid at all costs) and sent him into his room with instructions to build a huge jump for his Hot Wheels. I finally managed to finish getting everyone dressed and clean, when I discovered a bunch of itchy spider bites on my chest.

Ew ew ew. I guess I had a sleepover with one last night - when the weather warms up I ALWAYS end up with bug bites. It doesn't help that I'm mildly allergic and end up wanting to scratch them with a wire brush. I've taken some allergy meds, but am still dying to itch. It looks and feels ucky.

We finally made it out of the house and had 5 minutes to spare. By this point I'd nearly cried three times (and it was only 10:30am) and could barely keep my eyes open. Enter my superhero: Red Bull.

Now. I'm well aware that Red Bull is at best a controversial beverage. But oh my goodness, does it ever help me. I was able to sit through Boy Wonder's dental cleaning (his first, and may I just point out that he did WONDERFULLY!) as well as survive taking both kids grocery shopping afterwards. I'm so on the ball now that I even have a bottle prepared and waiting for Princess P to wake up (she's still asleep in her carseat, so I'm doing a quick blog entry.)

So, given my lovin' on the Red Bull today, I'm going to share with you my secret (i.e. not secret at all) summertime Red Bull beverage. Drum roll please:

8oz Red Bull
4 oz Sprite or 7up
1-2 oz Bacardi Limon Rum

Yes, it's for grownups only. But it's light and summery and boozy, and after a day like this one, what else could a person ask for?

The mutts

We live in the country, so we have dogs.

This photo has always reminded me of the painting with the farmer and his daughter, holding a pitchfork in front of their house. You know? This one? American Gothic, by Grant Wood:

It's especially appropriate because the dog on the left is a girl, and the dog on the right is a boy. Aww.

ANYWAYS.

Sasha (left) and Roscoe P. Coltrane (right) are our farm dogs. Sasha is a labrador retriever/chow chow cross, and Roscoe is a Pomeranian/any dog under 30lbs cross. They are indeed the ultimate mutts.

Sasha's interests include swimming, riding in trucks, rolling in dead stuff, and naps. Roscoe's hobbies are begging for food, trying to make you give him food, stealing food from the kids, and running around barking (he is a lovely little animal.)

Sadly, though, the clock is ticking on our doggies. Sasha is a geriatric now. She was born in the fall of 1999, so this fall, she will be turning 12 years old. At 60+lbs, and given that she is a mix of larger breeds, she has started to decline due to age. The muscles in her hips have virtually atrophied, meaning that she struggles to go up stairs, get out of her bed, and walk. She eats frequently but is losing weight - the knobs on her back are visible and her skin sags everywhere. She sleeps a LOT. She often forgets "rules" - like no barking - and if we don't stop her, she'll bark for 20 minutes at a time.

It sucks.

Scruffy's owned Sasha her whole life. When she was a young pup she went to work with him in his truck. For the past 7 years she's lived with us on our acreage, with her sidekick Roscoe (the Robin to her Batman.) She's never been injured or hurt, with the exception of one summer when she slipped on the dock at the lake and bruised her butt (try seeing a happy dog who can't wag her tail - funny.)

The vet has checked her out and tells us that there's pretty much nothing we can do, and that's okay. We aren't going to extend this dog's life for years with expensive and possibly painful treatments. Death is a part of life. We knew from the first day that our dog would go, and when his time comes, Roscoe will go too. Animals die before people. And it sucks.

I'm not sure Sasha will see the end of 2011. She has had a long, happy life for a dog. She's been surrounded by love, and had many days of cruising through the pasture, trying to catch a gopher and rolling in cow poop. And for the past 6 years, she's had Roscoe to keep her company when we weren't around.

I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable. This morning she got up and couldn't make it across the floor. I had to help her with support under her belly and coax her across. It was awful.

Happily, Sasha's good days still outweigh her bad ones. But when we see that her bad days outweigh her good ones, well, then we'll know it's time. For today, though, she's going to nap on the deck in the sunshine, and Boy Wonder will give her a belly rub, and she'll go to sleep tonight knowing she is loved. And I guess that will have to be good enough.

Scruffy Salad

As part of our attempt to shed the winter weight, Scruff and I eat a LOT of salad. This one is his favorite.

Serves four, or two people trying to fill up on fibre so they don't snack on chips and garbage later on in the night. ;)

Cascadia Salad

4-5 cups mixed greens (I use the packaged ones, with mesclun, arugula and baby romaine)
4 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup dried cranberries
raspberry vinaigrette

In a small saucepan heat the pecans over low heat until fragrant. In a bowl toss with cheese, greens, and cranberries. Drizzle with vinaigrette to taste.

Awesome served with blackened chicken breasts or multigrain bread.

Since I'm a rush today this will be my only entry - promise more tomorrow!

I know you're sick of hearing about it

But they got him.

It took 10 years, but they got him.

Kinda crazy. To be honest I hadn't even thought about Osama Bin Laden for a long while. I sort of pictured him dying of kidney failure in a cave somewhere. That he died in a mansion sort of makes me shake my head.

It makes me remember where I was on that day. I remember vividly the images playing over and over of the planes flying into the towers, the billowing flames and black smoke, and the people wandering stunned in the streets.

My sister and I were driving to the University. It was the 2nd day of classes in the Fall 2001 semester. We had the radio turned on as we sat waiting for a light to change when one of the announcers began to cry. Their shock and horror were clear, even through the shabby little radio in my 1991 Chevy Cavalier. My sister and I stared at each other, stunned and confused.

WHAT just happened!? Planes? Huh?

I dropped her at her building and parked the car. As I walked to class I still wasn't clear on what had actually happened - just that there had been some kind of plane crash in the States, that it had been horrific, and that they suspected some kind of attack.

When I walked into the building that housed my lecture hall that morning there were TVs on wheeled stands throughout the hallways. All of them were turned to CNN, and all of them were surrounded by students sitting silently in front of them.

I joined one group and we watched the planes crashing over... and over... and over. It was surreal. It looked like something out of a movie.

I'd never seen a building filled with 20something students so quiet. It was eerie. My boyfriend at the time called my cell, asking if I was okay (of course I was, why wouldn't I be?!) My professor in my next class lectured as though nothing had happened, and I can remember feeling totally shocked that he didn't even mention the attack.

The next professor warned us all that our world was about to change, that personal freedoms were going to be redefined, and to remember this moment. At the time I thought the fuzzy haired man with the Albert Einstein mustache was exaggerating, but he was spot on.

It hasn't been the same. I grieved for the thousands of people who lost their loved ones either in planes, or on the ground, or months afterward when they suffered from debilitating diseases caused by rescue efforts. I grieved for the soldiers who had rushed to Afghanistan and their families and friends left behind. I grieved for the prisoners in Guantanamo. I grieved for the innocent civilians blown up and injured in conflicts in Aghanistan.

There was so much heartache that came from those attacks. 9/11 filled the world with so much pain and sorrow for so many people, and for that reason I'm glad Osama is dead. I know it's not right to celebrate death or killing. I know that a new leader is going to take over Al Qaeda, and that heartache and sorrow have a good foothold and aren't going anywhere soon.

But I hope that this can end the chapter, sort of - 10 years later, many things in the world have changed because of Osama's actions. I wonder what things in the world will change now that he is dead.

I wonder what I will tell my children when they are old enough to ask me about 9/11 and Bin Laden. I remember asking my mom who Hitler was and feeling dissatisfied with her answer. I hope that since I was a young adult when 9/11 happened I'll be able to answer their questions to the best of my ability, but more than that, I hope to answer them in a way to impress upon them the most important fact of the whole thing - that there was so much pain and sadness caused by the conflict, and that's the worst part of all.

The winds of change are blowing, that's for sure.

Rock of ages

Or of garden, in my case.

It's April 30 - so, around here, about 3 weeks left to go until I can plant everything without fear of frost - and my seedlings indoors are doing GREAT. I've also got garden renovation part one nearly complete.

After Scruffy and I renovated our house - during which we realized we couldn't afford to put the garage on the front that we had originally planned - I was stuck with a great big area that was, in a word, ugly. It was just a big bare wall of tan siding and a couple of windows. And, it faced both the parking pad where I park when it's not freezing out, and the road. Something had to be done.

Last summer Scruffy and I built boxes about 2' all along the front of the house where the garage was supposed to go. So our deck covers one half, and the flower boxes cover the other half. I planted a few perennials, and then the summer budget was kaput, so we toughed it out.

Over the winter months I'd been agonizing (yes, agonizing, and don't call me melodramatic) about how to "fix" the boxes. I knew more could be done, but with 2 little kids and a limited income I had to get creative.

So: we took a couple of big driveway planters from a friend who was moving, which freed up the whiskey barrels we had sitting at the end of our driveway. I pored over photos of container gardens to get inspiration, did my research on what plants to grow, and we went ahead.

Scruffy used the bobcat to move the whiskey barrels around where I wanted them. Then I hauled a whack (and yes, that IS a technical term) of rocks around the yard from our gravel driveway to create a rock garden. Although this isn't TECHNICALLY a rock garden - more like a perennial garden with rock borders - it opens me up to a few more cheap, easy to grow plants. I don't want to be pouring money into something sensitive and delicate.

So here is what I have done so far:

You can see one of my 3D trellises in the whiskey barrel to the far left of the photo. This bad boy opens up like a Chinese finger puzzle and looks awesome. I'm looking for a fast growing climbing plant to fill this one up, possibly nasturtium or morning glories. I did see a gorgeous chocolate brown morning glory that really intrigued me!

The accordion trellises on either side, bordered with big rocks, I'm HOPING to fill with hops. I've had trouble locating hops in the past, so I might have to settle for clematis. We shall see.

If the snow can just hold off now, and the next 3 weeks fly by, I might actually have a garden growing before Canada Day!

The fort

We just ate breakfast in the fort.

Boy Wonder says we are exploring the caves. Then he finished his toast.

Love

147,000,000.

It's a big number, right?

It's the number of kids who are orphans in the world. Right now.

That's like everybody who lives in Russia... EVERYBODY... is a little child without a mommy or a daddy. All alone in the world. Nobody to love them or care for them. When they are sick, they lie alone with no one to rock them. When they are scared, they huddle with no one to protect them. When they are sad, they cry with no one to hug them.

I can't fix that.

I can't adopt one. I don't have the money, or in all honesty, the patience to be a mother to more than 2 kids (and I already have those.) I know my personal limitations are keeping me from saving one.

Fortunately there are better people than me out there and their personal limitations are NOT keeping them from saving one. They have also set up a number of organizations to allow people like me to make whatever contribution they can make.

Today I'm wearing my Project Hopeful t-shirt. It says 147 MILLION across the front, and CHOOSE 1 across the back. People have asked me what it means and I often stutter trying to explain it. It seems so far away from me and the people I meet in my every day life. But then I look at my kids and I realize that a baby crying or a child hurting shouldn't seem far away - it should tug at our hearts and make us tear up, too.

I know there's a lot of heartache in the world, and a lot of need. I know that we can't all support every charitable group or organization we encounter. But I do know that my $40 t-shirt makes me smile every time I wear it, because for that day I remember those kids, and my guilt for not doing more to help them is a little bit assuaged.

If you're seeking an opportunity to make a difference today, and you've got a couple of twenties in your pocket, please visit www.projecthopeful.org to make a donation and learn more.

Dear old clothes

I miss you.

I really, really do.

This morning we visited. I tried on a few pairs of you, old pants. Size 6, mostly. And you are just as cute as I remember, especially the denim capris, and the white ones, too.

I really wish you fit.

I am getting pretty sick of wearing the same 3 pairs of BIGGER pants. I am getting pretty sick of being in the 140s. I limit my calories to 1200-1300 per day. Most days I'm so busy with the kids that the clock shows 1pm before I have time to eat something.

We eat salad for dinner at least 3 nights a week (Scruffy is totally on board with me, which is awesome.) We don't have bad stuff in the house, even with a 3 yr old - I do pretty good resisting temptation.

I was 133lbs when I got pregnant with Princess P. And now, she's 10 and a half weeks old, and I'm STILL not even into the 130s. I was 142lbs this morning - still 9lbs to go.

It sucks.

I miss you, old clothes. I can't wait to see you again soon.

Prima Donna Quinoa Salad

Have you ever tried Summer Fresh Seven Grain Salad? It. Is. DELICIOUS. Unfortunately, it's also expensive. So in a moment of inspiration, I tried to duplicate it here at home (and, hopefully, make it a little bit healthier, too.)

If you've never cooked with quinoa before, don't be intimidated. It's similar in flavor to barley or couscous, and is really good for you! Unlike other grain products it is very high in protein AND fibre - making it an ideal diet food (your body takes longer to digest protein and fibre than, say, sugar or other carbohydrates.) I just followed the directions on the box when I prepared it and it was easy peasy.

So, here we go!

Prima Donna Quinoa Salad

Dressing:
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
lots and lots of freshly ground pepper

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a shake-able container and let stand. Meanwhile, prepare the following according to the package directions:

1/2 cup of couscous (cooked)
1/2 cup of quinoa (cooked)
1/2 cup of lentils (I used the canned ones to save on prep)

Combine in a bowl and add about 1/4 cup of chopped green onion. Drizzle dressing over top, stir, and refrigerate at least 1.5 hours. Check and adjust seasonings after this time - the longer it sits, the more mellow the flavors become, so you may want a little more vinegar.

Enjoy!

Gardening - brief but fun

So here in good old Alberta, winter is lingering like no one's business. It's April 21, only a few days before Easter, and there is still TONS of snow on the ground. Just last week I was still scraping my car's windows. It sucks.


It sucks, especially because in the past 2-3 years, my experimental gardening has turned into... real gardening. Yes, that's right - I plant things in the ground and they DON'T DIE. Stop the presses. As a result I have developed a huge addiction to gardening, and pore over seed catalogs and salivate in garden centers.


My lovely husband Scruffy has tolerated this new passion with a remarkable amount of patience. Now is the time when he's most patient - we are THIS CLOSE to finally being able to get outside and get dirty, and I've got our mini greenhouse going in our bedroom (we have big screen doors as well as a picture window in our room, so it gets loads of sunlight.) I have started out a whole bunch of seeds:

And I even got Boy Wonder in on the action with an herb garden (in the coco lined box in the back of the photo.)


For anyone wondering, my gardening details are as follows:

Zone 3a/3b (technically - I do have a real microclimate thing going on with my front flower beds beside the house, which face southeast and are up against tan colored siding that retains a lot of warmth - so I'd say those boxes are nearer to a 4a.)
Virtually everything is a sun garden - the house faces southeast, and all 3 flowerbeds are full sun for the bulk of the day.
I have a mix of perennials and annuals - my first year I babied the perennials and let them sleep in our room with us before I was absolutely certain the frost was done for the year, and I think that helped them, since now they are fat and happy (as much as a plant can be, anyhow.)

Perennials:

Feather Reed Grass, 'Karl Foerster'. I love my Karls. I'm going to get a couple more this year. They're up to 2-3' tall now.
Blue Fescue
Catmint - this stuff grows like a WEED. It's being moved this year to a bigger area. It also smells great.
Yarrow - I do NOT like yarrow and don't know why I bought it. However, yarrow loves me and my yarrow is now showing up 3.5' tall. It's getting moved as well, just because I paid good money for them, and I hate to waste them.
Mugo pine - it's having a hard time. I've had it for at least 5 years, and it might have grown 2" in that period. However I'm not a big mugo lover, so I'm just going to let it chill out where it is, and see what happens. If it lives, great. If it dies, oh well - it was cheap.
Tulips. Painless and easy (and the tips are up. Thank heavens, something is growing in this winter wasteland!)
Lilies - I have an Easter lily as well as a few stargazers. These are also painless and easy and won't complain if they're moved, which is nice. :)
Hosta - I have a hosta that's been living in my one shady spot in a whiskey barrel. It doubled in size in the past year. I'm moving the barrel to a new shady spot and REALLY hope it comes back. I love hostas.
Ground covers like sedum and creeping charlie. I have never even touched these once they were put in and they're enormous. I'm going to have to hack them back a bit this year. They are in full sun and well drained soil.


Annuals that I've had success with:

Mimulus, or Monkey Flower. I'd never done these before but had them in containers in part shade (on the deck) - they did great but overpowered the other stuff in the box. Lesson learned is that they like moist soil and lots of sun and seemed to spread quickly.
Wave petunias. Boring but pretty. Moist soil, lots of sun.
Basket stuffers like ivy - painless, so easy to grow.


I fertilize once every 2 weeks with bigger blooms fertilizer (the pink lid) mixed into a watering can. Yes it takes ages, but that way the kids can play outside and get lots of fresh air (and me too!) :)


Whenever I planted something big, like my Karls, I put a handful of bone meal into the hole dug for the plant. This year's plans include a weeping Caragana in a whiskey barrel, so I will definitely be doing the same for it.


Wow, just listing it all out makes it sound like I have an enormous garden. That is sort of true... but it could be bigger. :) Hopefully in a few more weeks I'll have pics of my changes for 2011 to share.

fancy fishie

I don't know about you, but I could get REALLY sick of salmon. Salmon is very popular. As a result salmon dishes abound. As another result, salmon farming and fishing is also a big industry and a lot of fishies are sacrificed for our plates. I'm not going to tell you not to eat salmon - it is VERY good for you, as well as a great source of omega 3s and DHA, both of which are needed for a healthy brain - but I will urge you to consider the source of your salmon. Farmed salmon is not what's best for the environment, since farmed fish tends to be more prone to infection and parasites, which in turn affect the environment and wild fauna around them. So if you're going to eat salmon, go for the wild caught kind.

Now, back to my original point about getting sick of salmon. If I have to eat ginger/maple/cedar planked salmon once more, I might just throw up. So in a moment of creativity, I came up with my Fancy Fishie Salmon recipe that I will now share with you here. This dish is quick and fancy enough to serve to company. It's also one of my 3 year old's favorite dishes, which is thrilling for me!

Fancy Fishie Salmon

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 1 package Highliner Frozen Wild Pacific Salmon Fillets (Individually Quick Frozen) - do NOT thaw

- 1 5oz log of goat cheese - either plain, or herbed (I prefer herbed)

- 12 sheets of phyllo pastry

- 2 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions:

** Stop here. A lot of people are turned off by phyllo because it seems like a sensitive item, what with the cool damp towel over top and blablabla. Now, I know that if you're a real talented cook, you follow the towel instructions. If I were making, say, spanakopita or something that involved a lot of handling and a lot of phyllo, I'd do it. But for this recipe, I'm going to be honest and tell you that I've never been a devout phyllo user, and never done the towel thing when I make this dish. Also, when I have thawed my phyllo and most of it is soft and bendy enough to work with - and I'm all done preparing - I have refrozen it with plenty of success. So, it's your call - you can either thaw your phyllo, do the towel thing, and throw away what you don't use, or you can do what I did here. Okay, carry on.

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. If you're using a package of frozen phyllo, pull it out of the cardboard box and leave it wrapped in the wax paper. Toss it in the microwave for 30 seconds, then pull it out and see if it's soft and bendy. If not, give it another 30 seconds until it is. Once your phyllo is nice and soft, go ahead to step 2.

2. In a small bowl, crumble the goat cheese into small pieces. Spread a piece of phyllo on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using a silicone brush, brush a little bit of melted butter over the phyllo and then lay a frozen salmon fillet on top. Sprinkle 1/4 of the goat cheese over the salmon.

3. Wrap the phyllo sheet around the fillet and goat cheese. Then get a second piece of phyllo and lay it on top of the wrapped fillet, flip it over, and wrap the fillet in the second piece. Brush the seams with melted butter.

4. Take a third piece of phyllo, and fold in half lengthwise to make it a longer rectangle. Put the wrapped fillet at a narrow end and roll it up in the phyllo. Then brush it all over with melted butter.

5. Repeat with the other 3 fillets, and place seam side down on the cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork (yes, this means you will have to pierce the phyllo package to see if it's cooked.) Alternately, bake until the phyllo is a deep golden brown color.

Serve with a side of garlic roasted asparagus and herbed risotto. Yum!

love glue gunnin'

Given that her mother is an avowed diva, it should come as no surprise to you that Princess P's room is VERY girly. I've decorated it in a shabby chic sort of idea that involves a lot of flowers and sparkly stuff. Here I'll show you what I did along with instructions to make your own.

Gem & Flower Mobile

Materials you'll need:

- glue gun & glue sticks

- 6" (or bigger, if you like) foam wreath

- sheer ribbon in color you like - about 12' long by 2" wide

- artificial flowers - depending on the size, you'll need anywhere from 6 to 12

- gem beads

- fishing line

- sheer ribbon in another color - 1/2" wide. Just get the whole roll - every one is different and there are no hard & fast rules here on how much to use.

1. Wrap the 2" wide ribbon around the wreath to cover the green floral foam. You'll probably go around it a few times. I used 2 different colors on mine. Use your glue gun to fasten the ribbon.

2. Cut a 8" piece of the thin sheer ribbon and glue each end to the wreath opposite from each other. Then repeat with another 8" piece laid crosswise over it. Then repeat with a third piece of ribbon. To explain better, you want to glue two pieces of ribbon over the wreath to make what looks like a pie. This is how we'll hang the mobile.

3. Cut another piece of narrow ribbon, this one about 10" long. Glue each end to the wreath. This is where you'll hook your fishing line to hang it from the ceiling.

4. Now comes the hard part. Thread the gems onto ribbons cut different lengths - I had a couple of 8" pieces, a few 10" pieces, one big 12" piece, etc. I actually used a safety pin to feed the ribbon through the holes pierced in the gem. It's slow, finicky work, but worth it. Once you have the gems hung on the ribbons, tie knots at the end to keep them from sliding off. Try putting two or three gems on one ribbon for a pretty look, as well. Glue the ribbons to the wreath - put a few closer to the middle, a few closer to the outside. Space them evenly around the wreath. Tie a couple of the ribbons with the gems to the center of the wreath where the crossed ribbons meet as well.

5. Once the glue has hardened and all the ribbons are hung, glue your flowers on. Make sure to cover as much of the wreath as you can. Then get your big piece of ribbon on top and tie a knot in the middle (to create a loop.) Make the loop about 1" long. You can string gems on here as well if you like. Tie a length of fishing line to the loop but don't cut it - this is where you'll decide how high to hang your mobile. I used a white thumb tack in the ceiling to hang mine (this mobile will be quite light, as long as you didn't use a wooden wreath as your base) and just looped the fishing line where I wanted it hung. I trimmed off the extra line. Pretty!

Quick & dirty

When I'm feeding Boy Wonder and Scruffy, I'm often on a fairly tight schedule. Now that Princess P is in the picture, I have to make sure my night is on time and that everybody's needs are met in time for me to get the kids to bed on time. That's when I like my dinners quick and dirty (as opposed to weekend meals, when the bigger the mess, the better the dish.)

Boy Wonder LOVES rice, and everybody likes Chinese food, so I created a quick and dirty version of fried rice. No pictures this time - sorry, you'll have to trust your instincts.

Quick & Dirty Fried Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 package Uncle Ben's Bistro Express Plain Rice * I use the brown rice because it's better for you. They also make an Oriental type that I'm sure would be good, too.

1 cup frozen diced vegetables, or 1/2 each of frozen peas and frozen carrots

2 tbsp oil (I don't care what kind you use, but avoid olive oil because it's got a stronger flavor)

2 eggs

Soy sauce

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a 12" frying pan over medium-high heat. While it's warming, nuke the frozen veggies in the microwave with a drizzle of water for about a minute or just enough to warm.

2. Drain the veggies and add to the oil. You can throw in some jarred diced garlic or ginger at this point, if you feel like it.

3. Stir and let the veggies sizzle for a minute or so, then add the eggs and stir quickly (don't let them turn into one big fried egg.)

4. Add the rice and keep stirring to coat.

5. Drizzle with a bit of soy sauce, stir to coat.

Serve hot! Takes 5 minutes - seriously. Totally quick, totally dirty, totally something my 3 year old will eat. LOVE THAT.