6 Month Alumni Check-in for Jan 24-30

Hi, I'm just home...no workout! :( Oh well.

Cendrine, I am sorry about DH cousin but glad you all got to see her over the holidays. Hope the family is coping okay. About the tortilla chips. I need to find another way to spread them (I hear there are offset spatulas which would help but I need to research what that is). Anyway, for the recipe I gave you, it works perfect on one sheet - just do everything you can do spread over the entire sheet and as even as possible. As I said before, I did much better the 2nd time than the first.

Rachel, I can't wait to hear about how you decorate the mud room! It is so fun to have a new project! And, like Kim said, we will want pictures!!! DH brought home this "thing" tonight that he got from one of his clients that is about 90. It's for my "decorate the house" project (more on that another time). Anyway, it looks like a guillotine for dolls, LOL! But, it's a cabbage/lettuce slicer! It's about 150 years old! Way to go on 40/20 improvement!

Oh Mary, I feel your frustration! I lost a big post recently and was beside myself! Good job on feeling the pain of Disc 11! Yes, I'm with you on having thought this time through would be easier! HAHAHA! NOT! I think it's every bit as hard because my form is better but what do I know? LOL!

Kim, oh my gosh! The drama...the betrayal...oh it's just another episode of TBL! I'm glad at the end to see the green girl has a better attitude when she's away from her mom! Scheesch! I'm not liking the red team very much either. But I think the purple girl is going to slowly show everyone up in her quiet unobtrusive way!

Okay, got to go get somethings done...I'm not even going to try to get a workout in tomorrow. If I can I can. I'm bummed about losing the last couple of days but like Rachel said it's good cause it's right up against my rest week!
 
Rachel, meant to also comment on the tortellini soup! Good GIRL for adding the kale! You get points for that! Here's something I made the other night (very fast and easy!).

Cut up 1 kale bunch
Cut up 1/2 red onion
Steam those together for 5 minutes. Then put in a bowl.

Added 1 tbsp olive oil
about 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Threw in a bunch of garlic (to taste)
Threw in about 3 or 4 tbsp pinenuts
cut up a few kalamato olives
cut up a few sun dried tomatoes
seasoned with italian seasoning

This is good as a salad or side dish.
 
Cendrine, I made this on Sunday. I initially made per recipe. My suggestion: Use 1/2 the lemon and lime juice and add more to taste. Mine turned out good but I think the lemon flavor was a tad too strong. However DH and SS thought it was perfect. Also, I doubled the celery and onion as I wanted it a little chunkier.

Macadamia cheese whiz.

1.5 c. raw macadamia nuts soaked for about 2 hours (I only soaked for an hour)
1/2 cup water give or take to make consistency you saw.
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c lime juice
1 large clove garlic
1.5 teas. turmeric
1/4 teas. smoky paprika
sea salt to taste ... aprox 1 teas.
1/3 c. med to fine chopped celery
1/3 c. red bell pepper
1 scallion white into the green a bit.

In a blender add all the ingredients except the water, celery and scallion.

Slowly drizzle in the water until you have a smooth creamy
consistency it could be close to slowly pouring, but not runny.

Remove from the blender and adjust the seasonings add in the celery,
and scallion.

You can use as cracker spread or dip. DH was dipping tortilla chips, SS was dipping carrots! Personally I think it's good vegetable tip.
 
Here is the modified Onion Bread recipe from a GF's mother (copied from an email):

Rawvolutions Famous Onion Bread

This recipe calls for 3 large onions,,,,, frankly I have never done this and cannot even imagine doing it as it seems crazy and excessive.

So here is my adjustment:

1 large fresh organic yellow or try vidalia or walla walla in summer

Cut this onion in half and slice thinly. set aside

3/4 c. flax seed ground in a high speed blender (you dont really want to see seeds)

3/4 c. raw sunflower seeds ground in a food processor (very well)

1/2 c. Nama Shoyu (raw soy sauce don't substitute)

1/3c. olive oil (your favorite) For the recipe you tasted Jo I used sesame oil as It seemed lighter and more neutral as I added 2 TBS caraway seeds.

Mix together the seeds, oil, Nama Shoyu, in a large mixer then mix in the caraway seeds. Finally mix in well the onions.

Spread this mixture using an offset spatula onto two trays lined with teflex sheets.
 
Last edited:
Forgive me for the none stop posting (just trying to catch up!).

Two more things I needed to tell you all:

Today, on a quick break, I picked up my new FOOD PROCESSOR!!!!! I think I forgot to tell you all that I bought this on Saturday (as a presale) when I was on my whirlwind gift shopping! So, though I was planning to buy the high powered blender - what Cendrine has (and you too Rachel, right?), I went into Macys and found out the 14 cup Cuisinart food processor (I've been drooling over) was going on sale today. And, I had a 20% one day only coupon. So...I told the sales guy, if they would let me also use my 20% coupon I would buy it. (If not I was still going to hold out for the Blendtech.) So...they let me presale buy it Saturday with the 25% off plus another 20% with my rewards coupon. Based on that I'm a happy girl! It has 3 work bowls (14 cup, 11 cup and 4.5 cup), 3 different blades, a shredding disc and a slicing disc! I'm so excited!

Last thing...SS asked me to dehydrate cantelope so I have cantelope in the dehydrator right now (put it in right after I got home). This is the first fruit I've tried. When he asked me I was like "really...cantelope?" Apparently he's been buying it from the bulk bins for his hiking trips and really likes dehydrated cantelope...but...who knew?
 
Last edited:
One more post (I missed you guys today!)...I'm trying to go to bed but wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything else....

Rachel, do you have an overall theme/style for your house? I was trying to envision the castle type door and arched windows! There's some great tudor style houses in Seattle with what I think you might be talking about and they are beautiful! I was wondering if your house is anything like that! I love windows and doors with character!

Kim, how was Athletic Step? I'm really anxious to try it but looks like I'll have to wait now until after the weekend.

Okay...I'm off to bed! Have a great day tomorrow!
 
Jo, thanks so much for all the recipes! So are you saying you spread the whole batch of tortilla chip stuff on just one teflex sheet? That would explain why mine didn't turn out so great, mine turned out almost paper thin...

I'm gonna have to try your other recipes but I have quite a lot in the kitchen from the last few weekends and we need to finnish off all the goodies before making more otherwise they might go bad and we can't have that!

what a deal on your processor! You need to come with me next time I go shopping, maybe you can help me talk the sales people into deals like this! Nice work! I have a cuisinart processor as well. You are going to love the shredding and slicing disks, it will make chopping things for dehydrating much easier!

I'm going to have to try the dried cantaloupe, I've never seen that anywhere! Dh and the kids love cantaloupe so they might just go for it!

Well, I have another busy day ahead, so I'm not sure if I'll be back....LOL
 
Cendrine, NO, I booboo'd! I had the chips on 2 trays! But, the first time I did it, I had places that were paper thin and some not. This 2nd time, I worked really hard at trying to make sure it was more even and they were thicker, but I did still have a few paper thin spots. Do you know what that offset spatula is? GF mother said if I get one of those that will help spread evenly.

Do I still need the BlendTech if I have the food processor? I did make the Cheese Whiz in my Proctor Silex but that wasn't a heavy duty job! If I do, I'll have to wait a few months to get it. DH is already asking me what we're going to do with all my new toys as I'm taking over the counter. :) I have all these other mesh bins on the counter for all our fresh produce so I'm running out of space...
 
So sorry for the late check in...I guess now it is more like a check out right!
Well we had a few work errands to run today and then the rest of the day was spent checking prices all over town for windows...those are pricey little things and I want to make sure we are putting our money in the right place. Its funny Jo, but our house is not like that at all...So I am a little nervous about that but we will see how things turn out. Dh is the good invisioner, I am so not so I am leaning on that! Really on the inside it has a more cabiny feel and we are slowly changing the outside to match the inside. We go in spurts, like everyone else, when it is nice outside we work on the outside and when it's not all of our projects are on the inside.

Today was athletic step for me and I loved it. I can see how once I really got it down, I could do really well at it and get the old heart a goin'! Weights and Plates ...I am not sure if I will ever be able to do all the plate work just right! Who knows!

Before I forget , I do want to confess something. This week I have not eaten all that great!...Not really what I have eaten but there has been alot of extra snacking. I always sabotage everything when I am home all day. I need to really start chuggin the water but that is neither here nor there! But today while we were out DH wanted to go to his favorite restaurant...Cracker Barrel! I have no idea if yall have one of these near you but never go if you want to eat healthy because there is nothing healthy! And they have my favorite southern thing , chicken and dumplings! Yes I had a bowl of chicken and dumplings and a side of sweet potato casserole:eek: It was terrible and delicious all at the same time! Of course after that I felt like I had a solid dough ball in my belly and felt really bad. I think that is because I just don't eat stuff like that anymore! But I could not let the day go and not tell on my self! I felt so bad when all of you are doing so well!:eek:

Mary-Sorry about the post, that has happened to me a few times and it is so frustrating! I hope you keep us updated on the soup cook off!

Jo-All Right on the food processor. Now there is no limit to what you are going to be able to do!!

Cendrine-I am sorry about dh's cousin! But I, like everyone else, is very glad that yall were able to see her at Christmas. I hate that business might block him from being able to attend the funeral!

Kim-I promise to post pics but there is no telling when it will be done! We are hoping to get the outside done but will take a while for the inside. I hope to have everything dried in in the next month!

Ok I better go and find something healthy to eat for dinner! I feel like abs were for nothing this morning!

Have a great night
Rachel
 
Oh Cendrine...I forgot to ask. My y brother is coming for dinner on Sunday and I was wanting to cook something healthy but also kid friendly...Maybe something like a roast, I need to do some recipe searching but do you have any sites you go to or any ideas?

Rachel


Or any one ?:rolleyes::p:D
 
Hi Again! Okay, we're leaving in the morning so I don't know if I'll be back on again or not before Sunday. I'm taking my laptop but know I'll be busy with family.

Rachel, you poor sweet wonderful naughty but don't worry about it girl!!!! You had to eat that way to remember how wonderful and painful it is all at the same time! LOL! We don't have Cracker Barrel here but always seem to end up at one when we go to DH family in Ohio and Tennessee. So yes, I know how BAD they are! LOL! Glad you liked Athletic Step, I can't wait to try it! I know what you mean about working on the house. When we bought this house we spent the first 4 years focused on the outside and then we completely remodeled the inside, which took another couple of years. Now outside is completely overgrown and a jungle and we need to start over!! LOL! But, besides landscaping, we redid and extended all the decks, etc. So lots and lots of work. But the projects were fun, and we're still married inspite of some disagreements! Oh, and my DH is like your DH, he would have a complete vision of something and I'd be "ok...I guess I trust you on this!"

Okay, I have to go pack. Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll check back with you when I can!
 
Oh...the dehydrated cantelope finished! They are wonderful! Cendrine, try them! Here's what I did:

Cut into bite size pieces about 1/8 to 1/4" thick. I dehydrated at about 100 degrees for 26 hours. I think some of my pieces were closer to the 1/8 size as I'm leary now of having things to thick.
 
Good Morning all!

I think I speak for everyone around here when I say Jo...we are gonna miss you!
Thanks for letting me off the hook and at least you have been to one and know what I mean:eek: When you get a salad, which I did not this time, it is a piece of lettuce (iceberg...yuck) and a tomato on a saucer , pretty much. So they are strictly against you in the health department. I did notice they had a low carb portion of the menu but most of that was slathered in cheese like we know all low carb is at restaurants.

OK today was the last workout of sts for meso 1 and so I tried my hardest to keep great form and push myself. I even went up in weight on some of the things. Mostly the dead lifts but also on some of the lunges. I am hoping I feel it is the morning. I did not really have any doms last week except a little in the hams , so I am hoping for some thut pain...;) Jo!
Today I have to preview circuit blast. It will be the last one aside from travel fit for me. So I am kind of excited to move forward with these because now I should just get better at them since most of them were a one time through for me and now I should know them a little better! I think all of yall feel the same way!

Well I better get on with the day, I have a lot to do ...Have a great day!
Rachel
 
So glad that mesocycle one is done and it's the weekend!!!:p Had a busy day today. Took ds to the dr's for his routine breathing test. He's been doing well with his asthma this winter so we're going to try him on just a new type of steroid inhaler that is supposed to be more focused on getting into the lungs then the old steroid inhalers which affected the whole body. The doctor is also trying him off the bronchodilator (so one new medicine instead of the 2 old) He's going to redo the breathing test in one month so fingers crossed that it goes okay. I'm going to do some research on the internet as I've never heard of this new drug. Hopefully it might allow him to grow a bit (the steroids slow down growth). If his breathing doesn't stay good then it's back to the old meds though.

The rest of the fun filled day was groceries, library (got some great books Jo), picked up wallpaper for dd's room, 5 loads of laundry, washed the floors and worked out. I often think I would rather be at work on Fridays then my day to work at home. But I guess all this stuff still would need to be done sometime.

Mary I was driving to work yesterday morning in the cold and dark, then on the radio came our song from Kid Rock about the summer. Sure lifted my spirits! How frustrating with your post! Hopefully you get another chance to visit with us over the weekend.

Cendrine Thanks for your vote of confidence on me ever losing these 10 lbs! Just reading your encouragement has steered me away from Friday night snacking. I find Fridays a hard night, as it feels like after a busy week that's its time to relax and enjoy. How's the homeschooling going? Is your ds still happy to be homeschooled?

Jo Have a safe and fun trip! Sounds like you got a great deal on the food processor!! You sound so excited to get it. Athletic Step doesn't seem to describe the workout very well. It's more dancy than athletic to me. But it's fun! I had done it once before we started the rotation and so I did well with most of the moves.

Rachael We all have times that we don't eat the best. No point worrying about it too much. we don't have cracker Barrel restaurants up here but I have heard of them. It doesn't sound like a place that you would recommend when we're down in the States? I did Plates and Weights abs today as I didn't have time on Wednesday, I found it very difficult. Hopefully I was just tired after 4 weeks of working out because I couldn't finish most of the exercises. I tried the heavy bag bonus using ds's "play" punching bag, it worked okay.
 
Evening ladies...
Thought I would just do a quick check in before off to bed...
I got to preview circuit blast and I can not wait until tomorrow. This looks like it is going to be good , hard fun. I am hoping I do well.

I am off to read...Kim, I will be keeping my fingers crossed on the new meds. I really hope this makes an improvement!
And no if you want to eat healthy...do not eat at cracker barrel...but if you want some good ole southern food...Do eat at cracker barrel..haha Oh it is such a catch 21!

Have a great night and I will see yall after circuit blast!

Rachel
 
I had a feeling I would be doing a double post today!:p
Yall are all so busy...Here I am , it's raining and I am just twidling my thumbs.

This morning it was circuit blast and I liked this one alot. I did not get putting it after a leg day though:eek: My legs were burning after some of those "drills".
I can not wait to improve on this one.

I saw a surprising post today on one of the forums that some one was disappointed with shock cardio. I was thinking about writing them and telling them they must be in impeccable shape. They were saying they did not feel challenged by a lot of the new work outs.
I think there are some that are easier but on those I do believe that there is a skill level that can be improved on. But we are all different so this girl or guy must be really needing more of a challenge I guess...

Any way the weather is gloomy here. I really don't see how yall do it up north when you might have weeks of this in a row. I feel for ya. We have had 3 days of clouds and I am starting to feel it. I think I am getting crabby:rolleyes:
I will try to be better.
I wanted to tell yall I made a great recipe off the eating well site. I think it was braised chicken in a garlic - vinegar sauce. It was really good. I also made a good side dish but I had to sub quinoa for couscous because whole wheat couscous down here is an enigma...

Oh well I have wasted time enough. I need to get motivated to do something.
Have a great day!

Rachel
 
Jo, I don't know what the offset spatula is, but I use a flat metal one that you typically use for spreading icing on a cake and it works very well for me. If you have one of those, you might try that one first before buying more toys...:p

You can't use the cuisinart for making smoothie, at least mine you can't because of the liquidness of it, it would leak. But if you do have a regular blender chances are you would be just fine. It's just nice to have the mercedes of blenders, nicer ride, but both cars will get you there, if you know what i mean. With the blendtec I have not had to dig into the blender to make the food move and get it unstuck or any such things, and you can make ice cream by throwing frozen icecube portions of the ice cream mix into the blender and blend it right up without an issue. You can also grind really well in the blendtec, but I guess you should try it in the regular blender first to see if it does the job, because if it does you don't need to get another one. You can grind nuts nicely in the cuisinart as well, I've done it many times. What are you thinking of doing in the Blendtec?
Dh was just telling me to dehydrate some frut next, so I will try your suggestions, cut the cantaloupes that way, I think my cuisinart blade cuts 1/8 thick, I'll have to check. Another thing I am going to try is make kettle corn flavored almonds.... I had done the recipe on corn with coconut oil and agave and seasalt and it was so good we had to make a second big batch very fast because the kids just devourd it. Now I think I want to try it on almonds, because I really like candied nuts, but this might be a healthier way of doing it and the dehydrater would dry it right up and make the almonds crunchy too.
Glad you and dh are still married after 6 yrs of remodeling....LOL that made me laugh!


Rachel, don't feel so bad about the dinner, after all you know you are not doing that every day! I am sorry about you not feeling so good physically afterwards, though! I am very aware that my body has not had heavy stuff in a long time, so I keep trying to remind myself to not overdo when I am out because I don't want to feel sick... But I do think splurges are totally ok. Snacking is an issue when we have more time on our hands, isn't it? I always have a harder time on weekends.... By the way, I made the almondbutter and chocolate chip cookie on the last page of the CE Magazine, just this morning! We had one for snack... that is I had one for snack, ds had two and dh had three....;) They are really yummy, chewy and crubly at the same time. they won't be around for long!
the website I use a lot for recipes is www.whfood.org and you go to the link that takes you to 100 healthy recipes. I'm thinking kidfriendly could be anything with honey mustard sauce, but go look and see what catches your eye.

Kim, housework sure does take effort, doesn't it? I used a cleaning service for a while when I first started up with homeschooling and I went through three different ones and finally decided it was easier to just put in the effort than have someone else occupy your house and then when they leave you find all the areas that they didn't clean the way I would have... I'm a bit anal that way, I think...
I'm glad you were motivated about keeping up the weight loss journey. We'll get there even if it is not at the speed others do. I hope your ds's new medicine will work well for him! It would sure be nice to have him on only one and one that affects the rest of his body, particularly his growth less!
I really need to get to the library, too! There is a whole list of books I'm hoping they have that I'd like to read!
 
Nothing exciting here to report just lots of driving the kids around. Took them to the dentist and they both got
icon14.gif
icon14.gif
from the dentist so I guess my constant nagging to brush teeth is a good thing. We thought maybe ds would be ready for his braces (he's using a retainer right now) but she said not yet maybe in the fall. So my wallet is safe for another few months.
Then the rest of the day is dd's swimming and piano lessons while ds has a birthday party to attend and a hockey game. We divided up the driving (good thing we have 2 cars now!) and we're going to meet later at a restaurant for supper. Then tomorrow we have nothing to do, it all ended up on today's agenda.

I printed off my work cards for week 1/Meso 2. I really like the format of meso 2 so excited to get started. Will take a few days off and maybe start Thursday?

Rachael I thought the same thing about the circuit blast after a leg day. My legs were feeling it! Did you do just the cardio blast? Did you replace the heavy bag workout with something??
Do you ever go to videofitness.com, overall the reviews on Shock Cardio weren't that good. For the most part, people don't post negative things about Cathe's workouts on her website but they do on this website.

Cendrine The cookies sound yummy!
 
I don't know about you guys, but it sure bothers me when people have to be negative about stuff. I guess I don't have a problem with them not liking a certain product, but I do have a problem with them making the people of the product somehow seem like bad people because they did not manage to meet their expectations... This is probably coming from my childhood and growing up in a highly picky society. Around me everything was always critizised, nothing was ever good enough, and I got so sick of it. The way I see it, if they don't like something, they should move on to what they do like, but not keep dwelling on the place that disappointed them. Sorry if I'm overreacting, but the posts about Cathe's workouts have kind of brought that back up. I think she is so fun and I love what she does, and if I don't like something, I skip that, or I face it as a challenge to stretch myself to places I wouldn't normally, it's not her job to make me happy. Makes me want to post too, positive ones, just to make a statement. :rolleyes:
Stepping off the soap box...:D
 
I love all that you said Cendrine and totally agree...I do not think those particular people would like to be picked apart and analyzed and criticized! I really hate that too.
I think that for Cathe to come up with nine or 11 or however many workouts...that are different from what she has already and all at one time and for a great price. I just think she is very motivating and can't imagine how it must feel for someone to be negative about something that you have put some much work into. I just think it is so rude.
Like you said...I am not saying you have to like it...you can even critique it but you do not have to be so negative. Nothing ever gets accomplished from all that negativity!
I know how you feel about wanting to post positive things to negate the other comments...

Kim-It sounds like you were so busy today...I bet you are looking forward to nothing to do tomorrow. Are you going to totally take the week off until Thursday or are you going to do cardio?
I went ahead and did all of CB...It was tough though,but I know I can do better and therefore make it tougher. I did not do anything for the heavy bag ...I forgot about tacking that on. If I do do that I will probably try to wear wrist weights or something because I do not have a bag. I think that might up the intensity a bit though.

Well I am all bundled up in my warmest pj's...I have been freezing all day. Sad pj's before 7 on a Saturday...:D I hope yall are having a great night and are staying warm...

Oh yea Cendrine...those cookies looked like they would be crumbly and good. Right now since I am snacking alot it would not be a good idea to make them:eek: I will have to wait until we go back to work.

See yall tomorrow!

Rachel
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top