Cry Baby

Sometimes I hate kids. I mean, you've got to love their honesty and cuteness and all that, but sometimes, I just don't like them. Well, not the collective them. It's actually just one that I don't like. One that just gets my hackles up, whatever hackles are. When a kid does something that gets my fierce mother lioness side all hot and bothered. If you're a mom, you know what I mean. I don't think dads come programmed with this. Thankfully, they come with the "let's build something or blow something up" gene that is somewhat useful at times. But, I digress.

The incidents I'm thinking of didn't happen recently, but are forever burned in my mind and last night I saw the kid responsible for them. Oooh, kid, I still don't like you.

So, you know this kid. Everyone has one of these kids in their class. You know, the one who they now are labeling with "anger management issues". (Insert big eye roll here.) The one, who for reasons you don't know or reasons you really don't want to know, can't control himself. He's the one that has been raised wrong. He's broken and really, there is no hope for this kid. But, somehow he has more rights to an education than the rest of the rule-abiding children that surround him in class. But, once again, I digress. Back to the incidents.

In first grade, Young One was still very trusting. He was a cute kid who got on the bus with the big boy neighbors, wearing a backpack bigger than he was. Until the incident that became his first peek at how not nice human beings just can be to each other.

Anger Management Boy, who I believe at the time was maybe called Oppositional Defiance Disorder Boy or Hyperactive Attention Deficit Boy, just walked up to Young One and put him in a choke hold. It took several teachers to get him off my son. We were called. The Principal (insert Dun, Dun, Duhhhhhhh music here) was involved. A social worker chimed in. It was chaos.

Bottom line: my son had a red bruised neck for a week, his voice got raspy, and he was extremely traumatized (as was I) by the whole experience.

So, what's a mom to do? I called, trying to keep my mother lioness personality at bay the best that I could. I spoke with the teachers, the principal, and the social worker. I hear about Anger Management Boy's "issues", his "family environment". I hear about the "messy divorce." And what I discovered is that my child doesn't have the same right to an education (in a safe environment) that the child now known as Anger Management Boy does.

So, a couple of years go by, and for the most part, encounters with A.M. Boy are limited. I refuse to allow Young One to be in a class with him and so far, my requests have been honored. This year, however, A.M. Boy attacked Young One again. As the teacher put it, "It happened so fast, no one could react. We were all so shocked." Young One came off with a scratch and a swollen nose from a punch to the face. His glasses were bent and the lenses gouged. More traumatic to him was the trip to the Principal's office in which he was made to feel as if HE was also in trouble (not really by the school staff, just his own perception).

This time, I went to school, and took Young One home for a breather. He needed to recharge before going back to his class and Lord knows, his whole school didn't need to see him with a tear streaked face, red nose, and crooked glasses. A.M. Boy's parting words from the office to my son were, "Cry Baby." I've never spanked my child, but man, did I want to lay out this kid.

Once again, I call, I speak to anyone that will listen to me. And once again I ask, why does this child have more rights than mine? At what point, do we intervene and remove this child from the school? What does it take to actually get expelled these days? I'm told, again, that this is a child caught up in a very messy divorce ("The divorce is still taking place three years later?" I asked). He has "issues", he has a "personal behavior plan" in place. His blah blah blah blah blah, politically correct terms, blah blah blah blah, blathery blah blah. So, placate me and keep it quiet, and wait it out and pass this kid off to the middle school principal in a year. GRRRR.

So, Young One lays on my bed, we watch a few cartoons. I wait until some calmness comes over him and until his heart beat isn't thumping hard enough to flutter the front of his shirt. And I tell him that we're not going to let this boy keep him from his friends and HIS school. That we're going to get it together and go back. And that he should hold his head high, not let this boy defeat him. I explain to him as gently as I can that this boy is broken and most likely will never get better and that he needs to stay clear of him. I also told him that it is appropriate to protect himself in any way he needs to and to use his Tae Kwon Do moves if he needs to defend himself. (This was so hard for the pacifist in me, but Mother Lion had taken over somewhat here.)

Fast forward a few months and A.M. Boy is now stealing lunch money from kids on a field trip I was chaperoning. The money gets back to it's rightful owners, but really nothing but a wrist slap happens to him. He laughs on the bus ride back to school. "Next time, I won't get caught," I hear him brag. Oy.

So, last night is Young One's Summer Orchestra Concert and A.M. Boy is part of the orchestra (which is so surprising to me because as a general rule music kids are good to the core--it's probably part of his behavior management plan! HA!). I now just look at the kid and think, "What a little creep," and don't spend much more time thinking about him other than picturing his future in some Boot Camp for Bad Kids (I think this is a franchise!) or in jail.

The concert is lovely. What a great group of kids. With all of them playing, you don't hear the squeaks and ear bleed inducing squeals that can happen when you give a ten year old a string instrument and a bow. And they play a Jewish song that happens to be Young One's favorite song of the concert. And it reminds me of the last time he practiced that song for me. As he finished it, he got this funny look on his face and his eyes filled with tears. "It's just such a sad song, Mom. It just gets to me."

And I'm touched. And so proud of my Cry Baby. He may be the one that has tears again at school and just might hear that name calling again someday. But, he'll also be the one that will cry as he makes his wedding vows and when he sees his child for the first time.

Cry Baby.

That's okay with me.

I Bought Too Much at the Farmer's Market Stir Fry

Long before Barbara Kingsolver's book (which I just read and enjoyed immensely, see my review), I've been trying to shop and eat mostly local, especially in the summertime. My goal is to do this more and more with each week. Our community's Farmer's Market is so fabulous. It's so much fun to run into friends and neighbors and to chat with the growers. Last week, I got a little carried away and purchased a little too much. This stir fry is something I whip up on a moment's notice at least once a month. I make it with whatever I have on hand. It's former name is Oh Crap, I forgot to Plan Dinner Stir Fry, but I didn't think that was too appetizing a title for this post!

I Bought Too Much at the Farmer's Market Stir Fry

My version was 4 WW points. You MUST put your recipe in the recipe builder in order to figure out your recipe's point value!

This may seem like a no-brainer recipe, but I've been very surprised at the number of people who are intimidated by stir frying and who have told me that they just don't do it. I've cheated in this one using prepared teriyaki sauce, but you can make your own Asian inspired sauce. There are tons of recipes out there or if you'd like to try some of The Ginger People's stuff--feel free--they make great products too! The prep takes longer than the cooking, just hang in there!

Thinly sliced onions.

Thinly sliced peppers.

Chopped broccoli, thinly sliced on the diagonal carrots, pea pods, sliced mushrooms, zucchini-- Just chop to your heart's content! Clean out that fridge.

1 pound cubed or thinly sliced raw meat--whatever you have on hand: chicken, pork, beef, lamb. If you use shrimp, leave them whole.

Soy Vay Very Teriyaki I am never without this in the pantry. A little goes a long way.

You must make sure that everything is prepped and ready to go. So, prep like you're doing a cooking show. Heat a very large, nonstick skillet over high heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add meat and stir fry until done. Remove from pan and cover to hold heat in. Return pan to high heat and toss in veggies. Continually stir frying until vegetables are crisp tender. Return meat to pan and toss to combine. Add 1/2 cup of sauce--more to taste if desired. These sauces go a long way, so be sure to taste before adding more.

Serve with Jasmine or Brown Rice. And add the points value of the rice--I didn't include it in the recipe.

It's 90 Degrees Outside and I'm Turning On the Oven AGAIN

I've got a good excuse for turning on the oven. Yes, it's 90 degrees outside and humid as a laundromat. But, my grill is malfunctioning. So, the quick seared game hens that I had planned (butterfly them, season and grill) have now become Lemon Stuffed Game Hens with Northwoods Seasoning.

I must admit, I'm a little relieved not to have to stand over a 500 degree grill in this weather!

Lemon Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Northwoods Seasoning

3 WW Points for half of a skinless hen or 6 points for a whole, skinless hen

2 large Cornish Hens--I prefer buying mine locally from Chase Brook Natural Find your own local source if you can!

1 lemon cut in quarters--squeeze over hens and then stuff into cavities

Northwoods seasoning from Penzeys Spices Just generously sprinkle over the hens

Pop into a 350 degree oven and roast for about an hour or until 180 degrees measured with insta-read thermometer in hen's thigh.

Okay, I just had to snap a picture of the before as it went into the oven. Wanted to see how my new counter tops and back splash look in the pictures! Like my new Redwing utensil crock? I got it at the factory a couple of weeks back.
















The AFTER picture is so much more appetizing. This was delightful and left me with so many leftover points, we may just head out to the DQ before the storms strike.

Surprised by a Picture

I just reviewed a few pictures from a weekend getaway we took a couple of weeks ago. Now, I've been feeling pretty good about dropping 32 pounds and I've lost a ton of inches, but when I look at these pictures, I just want to cry. Who is that fat person?

Yes, it's inch by inch, day by day melting away and it's hard work sometimes, but I wonder, will I always feel like the fat girl? It took me a long time to realize that that's exactly what I had become. And, for a very long time, I had denied admitting it. You'd think that those feelings would go away when you start losing.

I've mentioned before that I was a skinny kid. I could eat anything. When I got married, I weighed less than 100 pounds (mostly because my future in laws had stressed me out so much over wedding planning.) I obviously dealt with stress a different way then and I was very busy in a very active life and job.

Looking back on how I got fat, it started during those skinny years. I ate anything I wanted. When I got married, I matched my husband plate for plate. And, while living in a slightly boring area of the country due to a military posting, we ate for fun. I had a baby, the baby weight never came off. And, I didn't work out. Heck, I didn't have to when I was skinny, why would I have to now? And God said, HA!

I'm trying to be more forgiving of myself, but sometimes it's so very hard. When I look back on the last few years, owning my own business and dealing with that stress along with the horrible emotional betrayal of a friend in the business' last days, well, I ate to cope and didn't move AT ALL. During the course of my business, I had lost my dad and lost my best friend. Well, I can't say I really lost her, I lost what I THOUGHT was her. Turns out, she wasn't at all what she led me to believe. So, really, I lost nothing--she is the one that lost out big time. I miss what I thought she was. I know that she had to come up with a reason to be mad at me to rationalize what she's done and is doing to me. That's OK. Cope the way you need to. It will come back to you and then some. That's another story for another day. But, suffice it to say, I've done nothing wrong and she knows she has and perhaps can't face me because of it. Maybe one day, it will mend. Who knows?

So, now, I sit here reviewing pictures. I've come a long way. Perhaps I haven't dealt with things very well in the past, but I'm learning. It took a big step to admit that I was the fat girl and an even bigger step to start doing something about it. Now, it's time to heal the wounds and move on. I will never again judge a current picture, unless I have another one from my past to compare it to. And I will never again be out of the picture, just because I don't want to see who I really am.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Being on Weight Watchers wasn't easy, at first. But, the minute I adopted it as my new lifestyle, it got to be pretty simple. I could now pretty much figure out the Point value of any food in the known universe. And, as I go through my day, I check off the healthy guidelines in my head. So, I don't even think of myself on Weight Watchers any more, but just that I live a healthier life. Somehow, it feels like admitting defeat when I admit to someone that I'm on Weight Watchers. It sounds so "diety" if that's a word. It's the way I plan to eat for the rest of my life and it's working.

Since I started this new life last October, I've come to love a few things that are extremely WW friendly. They're almost always in my house, so I thought I'd start a list here for those of you who are following along!

• Aldi frozen fruit bars or Edy's frozen fruit bars. Yum.
• No sugar added vanilla nonfat frozen yogurt. Not the kind with artificial sweetener. Read your labels.
• Werther's Original Hard Candy. Great for those craving times. You can have 3 for one point and it seems as if you had something much more decadent.
• Fresh fruit and veggies. So many of them are zero or very low points. Great for snacks and filling out meals. I serve at least 2 vegetables with dinner and always have fruit for snacks and desserts.
• Homemade pudding pops. Make fat free pudding and freeze in pops.
• Litehouse light salad dressings. The Blue Cheese and Ranch are my favorites.
• Salad spritzers, for those days when you don't even have enough points for salad dressing!
• Corn flakes. You can have a heck of a big bowl of cornflakes for breakfast or for a snack for very low points. Top them with honey if you've got the points. They also make a great breading for Tilapia or chicken, simply crush, dip, and bake.
• Crumpets. Oh, thank you to you delightful British inventors of this chewy, English muffin combined with pancake combined with yummy goodness breakfast treat. Top with your favorite no sugar added jam or splurge with some peanut butter. The fat free ones are only a point a piece!
• Kashi Multi Grain crackers.
• Laughing Cow Light Cheese. Great on the crackers (above) or tossed with pasta.
• Homemade pitas or in a pinch, purchased ones.
• WW bagels.
• 100 calorie pudding packs.
• Imitation crab sticks. Sometimes you just need a little protein and these fit the bill.
• Fat free hot dogs. Top with Monastery Mustard Divinely Original I order from Monastery Greetings at least twice a year. This mustard is fantastic. Spicy and gives fat free hot dogs the zing they need.
• Village Hearth Light Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns and 12 grain bread!
• Ronzoni pasta
• Couscous
• Brown Rice
• Wild Rice
• Vegetarian Baked Beans
• Canned black beans--toss with seasoned ground turkey for a great taco filling.
• Pickles: pickled beets, dills, etc.
• Low fat cottage cheese. Great protein packed snack plus dairy serving.
• PB2, powdered peanut butter available from Bell Plantation. Mix with water or oil for a VERY WW friendly peanut butter substitute. I've used it to bake with and love the results. While it doesn't quite fill my peanut butter craving when it's on a Code Red level, it is quite good. If you need to get an oil serving in, mix one of your oils with the powder. Seems kind of silly to do this, but it does taste great this way and it keeps you in charge of the oil content.
• Fat Free Cool Whip: One serving is zero points. Zero. I like to freeze a servings between two graham crackers for a low point "ice cream" sandwich.
• Salsa Lisa Salsa. Simply the best. Thanks Lisa. I love this company and am so glad I got to see it manufactured.
• PB Loco. A company housed in the same building as Salsa Lisa. These attorneys know how to make the peanut butter! It's great for a splurge, but small amounts of their gourmet peanut butters do go a long way, so I find it to be a very WW friendly food. Try their savory peanut butters. The curry one is excellent in Thai noodles.
• Hostess 100 calorie chocolate cupcakes. One point, fills the chocolate craving. I have to have these in my freezer (they are much better frozen!) at all times. I like to stock up on them at bakery thrift stores as they're kind of pricey at regular grocery stores.
• Thomas' Light English Muffins. I think they say they're multi grain. They're good. Village Hearth has a version too that is even more WW friendly than the Thomas' ones.
• Baked Tostitos Scoops with Salsa Lisa, of course!
• Kashi waffles. Yum.
• Fiber One Bars. Chocolate. Fix. Now.
• Egg Beaters of Better N Eggs
• Real Maple Syrup. If you're going to have pancakes or waffles, a little bit of the REAL thing is much better than a lot of sugar free, imitation crap that's out there. Plus, I don't do artificial sweeteners.
• Steel cut oats. I love Bob's Red Mill brand. Excellent. But, not so great on hot summer mornings.
• Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch. I know, definitely not a highly nutritious food and probably full of all kinds of things that are so not good for me, but sometimes I've got to have some crunch.
• Animal Crackers.
• Fruit leather.
• 100 calorie Home Style Microwave Popcorn

That's just a starter list, I plan to add to it from time to time and as the season changes. I made this list mostly for me, just to give me a record of favorite foods to fall back on when I get bored or uninspired. I make most of what we eat from scratch and have been able to find all kinds of WW friendly recipes either on their Website or on member websites. Experimenting with recipes and substituting more WW friendly ingredients has been highly successful.

Summer is an easy season to be watching what you eat. Our Farmer's Market abounds with fresh, healthy vegetables, fruits, meats, honey, maple syrup, and other great food finds. Winter can be more challenging, but I intend to freeze a lot of fresh produce this summer. As my garden harvests begin, I hope that I can put away food bit by bit.

Simple searches on the Internet come up with countless recipes that claim to be healthy. You must enter the recipe into the recipe builder to get the correct Point count. It doesn't take long and you must do the work to really learn this new lifestyle.

Anticipation or A Watched Tomato Never Ripens

I've been staring down a few tomatoes in the garden for the last couple of weeks. The blossoms were lovely, the little baby tomatoes miraculous. And as they grew, so did my appetite. Those first tomatoes from the garden are the best of the season. Dreamed about all winter, they started with seed catalogues in January, seedlings in March, transplanted to the garden in May, and then the REAL waiting begins.

We're at that stage in my Minnesota garden where it's a waiting game. The potato plants are flowering in a burst of purple and gold. The Swiss Chard and broccoli, having survived the demon bunny attacks are coming back nicely (maybe I'll even get a harvest from them, I hope with fingers crossed--which is really difficult while typing, but I digress.). Zucchini flowers are in full, glorious bloom and I know it won't be long before they explode into producing more than even my neighborhood can eat. I thinned the radishes again and have a few out there that are going to be just lovely in a few days. The rutabagas, well, you might as well just plant them and forget them til fall!

But, it's the tomatoes that call to me. Those first few tomatoes, as I mentioned, are the best. I remember the first year of my garden, I mistakenly planted 12 tomato plants, not realizing that two adults (one who doesn't even like tomatoes) and a toddler would never consume the abundant harvest they produced. I shared with the neighbors, my family, the mail carrier. Pretty much anyone who crossed my yard, got a few tomatoes. I ate them fresh, I canned them, I froze them, I roasted them and sun dried them. I cooked with them all winter. But, nothing can compare to that sweet, juice on your chin enjoyment of the first harvest.

I think I'll go check on them again.

The Five

Sight

Duma Key by Stephen King
When you tell someone you're reading a Stephen King novel, you get one of two reactions. It's either, "Oh, I can't read his stuff. Why would you want to read that?" or "Cool. He freaks me out, but I can't stop. I love him!" I'm not a book snob or a music snob. I'll read or listen to just about anything. Which I think is the way to be. Some people stick to what they like and know and won't step out of their zone. Stephen gets me out of my zone. I can only read one or two of his books a year. He gets in my head and sometimes I can't get him out. But, I love it! This book focuses on a former construction company owner who moves from Minnesota to a small key in Florida. Since I love both Minnesota and Florida, I thought this would be a good read. And it was. Stephen didn't disappoint me and, in the five days that it took me to read this book, I didn't sleep very well. A little creepy, a little suspenseful, a real page turner. Thanks Stephen. I'll sit on this one for a while and revisit you again soon.

The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens
I think I read somewhere that this was Sharon's first novel. Well done, I say, in the best Irish accent I can summon. Set in Ireland, this novel reminded me so much of Maeve Binchy's work. Just the right kind of story to get Stephen King out of my head. I read this one almost in one setting. The story focuses on a tea house and it's owners and patrons. I'm not going to tell you much more than that. If you're a fan of Binchy's work and would like a nice little summer read where everything just works out the way it should, then pick this one up at the library.

Sound

Thunder. We need the rain and we needed a rainy day to stay home and have some friends over to play. There's something about a rainy day that brings out the imagination in a couple of young boys! (And me too!) This has been an old fashioned summer of playing with friends every day--and less scheduled activity. It's been a blast!

Scent

Hummingbird food coming to a boil on the stove. I better go shut that off! When it rains, the feeders get full of water and the food becomes too diluted to attract my little feathered friends. One part sugar to four parts water, bring to a boil, cool and fill your feeders. NO FOOD COLORING, they don't need it, nor are they attracted to it more if it's colored. Just get yourself a brightly colored feeder, I like the blown glass ones--I just picked up another one at a garage sale for a buck!

Taste

My afternoon treat of iced Kona coffee. It's a habit, I know I've talked about it before, but that's what I'm sipping on right now!

Touch

Tile samples. I think I finally found the tile for my kitchen. (insert Hallelujah Chorus here)