Author Archives: susanklement

May25

Menu, Week of 5/19 (A Retrospective)

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I started to plan ahead this week, but I didn’t really make it. I think we did pretty well on eating, though, so I want to document what we did eat for future reference.

Also, I broke out the measuring tape earlier in the week. Wow, was I surprised at the results! In two weeks, I went down in size in nearly every category, starting with a full inch in the waist! For some reason, I went up half an inch in the hips, which makes me think I must have done that measurement wrong to begin with, but overall I lost over 5 inches (bicep, forearm, thigh, calf, waist, neck and chest). Again, I have to say wow!

Oh, and I did a non-fasting cholesterol test at the end of last week–overall cholesterol is only 130, with triglycerides at 75. My HDL is a little low, but I am hoping to turn that around soon. I am amazed my numbers were so low after eating high fat and low carb for over two weeks, though! I ate bacon, eggs and cheese for breakfast about three hours before that blood draw, too.

I didn’t exactly follow my menu the week before because things got a little busy, but I did pretty well and I was happier with what I was eating. Tuesday I ate leftovers instead of cooking, and Wedesday I ended up with only 30 minutes at home before I had to run out the door, so I ended up eating hard salami and pickles, but overall the better planning really helped me this week. I found the food less boring, and I spent a little less money.

I have to say, the change I am having trouble adjusting to is keeping enough meet and especially eggs on hand! We have been eating a lot more eggs for breakfast, and it doesn’t take long to go through a dozen eggs with 3 people eating them. My monthly Costco run is going to look a bit different this time than it has in the past, although I have been getting more meat for a while now–it is just such a good deal to get meat there rather than the grocery store.

Sunday: I had the boy only after the Boy Scout camporee, so we went on a mother/son date at Bandana’s. I had beef and pork, with green beans and cole slaw.

Monday: Leeks, greens and goat cheese fritatta, topped with smoked salmon, salad, steamed broccoli

Tuesday: It was payday, so I ended up going out–NY strip steak, green and wax beans, asparagus soup and just a few pieces of sweet potato hash

Wednesday: sirloin steak, salmon, sauteed spinach, cauli-rice, sauteed mushrooms

Thursday: Last day of school, so we had to work around the end of year party. We ate some leftovers before heading to the party, then the boy went and had pizza with his friends (the girl was off with her dad), and I went out for a burger topped with shrimp and a cajun spice butter sauce with no bun and cole slaw on the side. I also had a few hot wings after we confirmed that there was no breading on the wings.

Friday: This time I had the girl and one of her friends while the boy was off at his dad’s. We went to a local Chinese buffet place that has crablegs on Friday nights, dipped in delicious butter. I had salmon, a bit of roast beef, green beans and butter mushrooms, too, along with a chicken skewer and one BBQ rib.

All in all, still a bit too much eating out, but I think it is getting better. The girl and I really liked the cauli-rice, but the boy was not impressed. I think it might be better for him as a base for other dishes, but he is just not a cauliflower fan.

The kids are both off to their dad’s now until Friday, when they will come home to help pack and get ready to head out on vacation on Saturday. I need to do some planning ahead for myself this week and for the food we are taking for the first part of the trip, which will be a couple of days of camping. I am thinking it might be good to head to Costco today, too.

May13

Menu, Week of 5/13

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I have to admit: the low-carb stuff is seeming a bit boring to me. I am tired of eggs and bacon for breakfast. I am a little bored with salads for lunch. I miss the variety of high-carb foods out there.

This week I am aiming to add more low-carb veggies to the mix to make things a bit more interesting. I am doing tuna salad stuffed tomatoes for lunch to have something different.Even though it is getting more summery here, I think I’ll add some soups to the mix, too.

Sunday: BBQ at my parents’ house

Monday: Cinnamon and Chicken Stew with artichoke hearts and spinach subbed for the chickpeas (maybe some mushrooms added, too, because I love them even if no one else does), quinoa for the family, fried cabbage and bacon

Image credit: http://www.wholeliving.com

Tuesday: Sausage and Eggplant Stew, cooked on the stovetop instead of the crockpot

Wednesday: Korean Beef (made with ground turkey, because that is what I have on hand, and probably Truvia instead of the brown sugar), cauli-rice, green beans

Thursday: bratwurst, broccoli, fries for the kids, sauteed mushrooms for me

Friday: Eggplant and Mushroom Curry, leftover cauli-rice, maybe some Indian spiced chicken

All I will need to buy this week is Italian sausage and maybe a bit of bacon and eggs and some green beans, so not a bad plan!

Anyone else doing low-carb? What do you do for breakfast and lunch. It has been all bacon and eggs for breakfast and big salads for lunch here. That sounded so exciting, especially with full fat salad dressing, but I am bored, bored, bored.


As always, there are a lot more menu-planning ideas over at orgjunkie.com!

May9

Low Carb Check-in

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I came home from work last night and did a load of laundry, complete with hanging and putting away, worked in the yard and cooked dinner. Oh, and I worked on sorting the pile of junk that has accumulated on my dining room table. I barely sat down until 8PM–and this is after I had hit 10k+ steps for the day before even leaving the office.

I lost 2.5 pounds in the first week. For a year now I have been working on upping my exercise and eating low fat and although I did go down a size, I didn’t lose anything. I gained a couple of pounds, in fact. I guess I put on muscle, but it is still crazy. I was hungry all the time, too, which probably explains the lack of weight loss. I had to replenish all the energy I used up with exercise. Now, I have energy to do things, my clothes are looser, and the scale is moving. I can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast and not even think about food again until lunch. I am also noticing I am more productive in general, at work and at home. I am getting more stuff done, with less distractedness, which is huge for me.

The results are so good, I am almost wondering if it is psychosomatic. It is too soon to tell if these are permanent effects, or just a honeymoon phase, but so far I am loving the effects of the low carbs. I just feel so much better. Also, my kids are thrilled with all the meat we are eating–they have always been big meat lovers.

The only bad thing I have noticed so far is the expense–meat is expensive. But it is worth it if I am healthier! Of course, if the weight loss keeps up, I am going to need to spend even more money on new clothes. I’ve had worse problems, but on the other hand, I don’t have a lot of disposable income for clothes at this point. And nothing makes clothes shopping more necessary and more fun than getting smaller, so this could be a minor budgeting problem.

May7

Menu, Week of 5/5

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Last Saturday, April 27, I made a menu, I made a grocery list and I went to the store and bought all the things I needed to make that food. Then I came home and started reading my new book, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It, by Gary Taubes, and I realized my menu plan was not going to work for me. I was surprised how much sense the information I was reading about low carb diets made to me–both from a scientific standpoint, and as a way of explaining what I was noticing in my own diet and weight loss results (or lack thereof).

I’ve been eating low carb ever since, and I think it is going well. I’ve lost 2.5 pounds in the last week, and I am less hungry and my clothes seem looser. I have more energy, too.

It is a bit of a menu-planning challenge, though. It is just so different from my usual way of planning. We are eating a lot more meat (much to the kids’ joy!), and meals are just different. I am not a fan of component type meals–a hunk of meat and side dishes–but I don’t have a lot of low carb casserole type dishes. It is taking a bit of time to adjust, which is all the more reason to plan ahead, right? I am still serving potatoes and other starchy sides for the kids as they are growing. I am a bit worried about their veggie intake, too, as most of the vegetables they like are the starchy ones, although they are big fans of broccoli, so that is good.

Sunday: Hamburgers at a friend’s house (I had mine with no bun and sliced avocado, tomato, onion, pickles and spicy mustard to dip), bell pepper strips

Monday: BBQ pork chop filets, broccoli, sauteed mushrooms for me, fries for the kids

Tuesday: Chicken with artichoke hearts and mushrooms, salad

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes, avocadoes, bell pepper strips, fries for the kids

Thursday: Salmon noodle casserole–because the boy really, really wants it!, salmon filet for me, green beans

Friday: Pizza made with garbanzo bean flour and Daiya cheese, which is still going to be a bit high in carbs, but much lower than traditional pizza (thinking about pepperoni and Italian sausage for toppings, plus mushrooms and red onions on my part), salad

Saturday: Having friends over for a BBQ–minted lamb burgers with feta and hummus, grilled cabbage and bacon, mushroom skewers (although I will probably just toss them in a grill basket), salad, steamed broccoli, maybe grilled artichokes, because the boy loves those, too

Lots more menus available at orgjunkie.com

Apr16

Menu, Week of 4/14 (with a side of sadness)

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I am really struggling with grief here still. I really think it is a failing of our culture that people expect death and grief to only be a brief blip in your life–a week off to attend the funeral, be sad, then get back to normal. Everything is not normal. Even though my grandmother was very old and her death wasn’t entirely unexpected, I am really having a hard time getting back in the swing of things. (Hence, Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday…)

In a way, it is made worse by the fact that losing her was somewhat expected–we started spending more time with her, as much as we could. In one sense, this is awesome–I don’t have regrets, she knew we loved her, and she got to see me crocheting, which brought her a lot of happiness and satisfaction. But on the other hand, the change of her being gone is even more profound. Planning my week makes me sad, because it reminds me I don’t have to plan around our visits.

However, life goes on, as everyone knows. School activities keep on taking up our evenings, expenses keep coming up that make me want to limit our food budget (5th grade camp and new cheerleading uniform expenses are the big ones this month…), and those darn kids still want to eat every day. And, now that I wouldn’t mind leaning back on the occasional fast food meal, my kids suddenly have taken everything I have tried to teach them about eating  and nutrition to heart and they tell me they don’t want that, they want the healthy food I cook for them, ;) . I guess that is good, something is sticking. We all want to have some normalcy, too.

Sunday: We ate McDonald’s after coming back from a weekend trip (more on that later)

Monday: Shrimp and langostino risotto with asparagus and peas
I took my dog outside and discovered some asparagus growing in my garden! Hooray!

Tuesday: It is foursquare day, so I am meeting up with some local foursquare people at Urban Eats

Wednesday: Salmon noodle casserole, steamed broccoli
The kids love it and it is easy to make.

Thursday: Peanut Coconut Curry Chicken, brown rice/quinoa
I seem to be incapable of making plain rice or plain quinoa these days.

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: Out with a friend or leftovers

See a lot more menu ideas at orgjunkie.com

Mar6

Days ???: Comforting Myself

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Three weeks ago today, my grandmother died.

She was in the hospital for 6 days before that, and I spent a lot of time there with her and the extended family. If you have ever spent that kind of time in a hospital, you know it has a lot of down time. My cousins, my aunt, my mom, my brother, various friends and extended family–we all spent a lot of time in conversation, sharing our memories of my grandma, but there was still plenty of time to fill. And really, one of the things I like about crocheting is that I can do many projects while chatting with others. On top of that, crocheting seemed the perfect activity for comforting myself as we watched my grandmother die, since it is something I shared with her.

I made excellent progress on two blankets, including one that I have since finished and donated to the high school Parents Club auction that was held this past weekend. Here is a picture of the auction goodies in place:

auction stuffAfter I took this picture I noticed some ends that needed to be worked in and took care of that, but I think they mostly look good. The border on the blanket is one row of single crochet and one row of crab stitch. I really liked the effect of the crab stitch–it gave a definitely finished look without adding too much bulk. The lot did not sell for a very high amount, I don’t think, but there were multiple bids, and there were many items to bid on, so I am just happy to have contributed.

I have many other things that I worked on in the past month or so–I did not stop trying to make something every day for the most part, although the days of the visitation and funeral were pretty much a bust–but I am not going back to document everything. Almost everything I made was a work in progress, not counting a few new recipes I tried out, so a lot of the projects will come up in future posts.  Also, this focus on making things every day has really clarified my process for me–I don’t really like to complete something in one day. It is possible that at some future time I could come up with a specific project that involves concentrated making in one sitting, but for a lot of things I prefer the perspective I get from at least one night’s sleep during the process, if not several days when I am working on something else in between. So, I don’t plan to stop making time every day for creativity, but at this point I am expecting lots and lots of in progress days, and that is okay with me. I think it is very important to love the process anyway.

Jan31

Day 20: A Monster of a Blanket

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I found the Vintage Vertical Stripe blanket pattern at Bella Dia back when I was still a new crocheter, nearly a year ago. I loved it, and I couldn’t wait to start it. I don’t think I had made a single blanket completely at that point, so that is my excuse for starting such an enormous blanket. I had no idea how big 250 stitches done with an I hook would be!

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See how this thing hangs a bit over the back and folds over a bit at the back of the seat? It is folded in half, too! It is giant!

I really don’t know what I will do with this, it is probably going to be too big for my bed. I will have to find someone with a king bed to give it to maybe. Or maybe I will just keep it for snuggling with the kids–they are always yanking the blankets off of me if we try to share on the couch.

At any rate, I really felt that adding 5 rows to this thing was an accomplishment–that is 1,250 stitches, enough to feel productive, even if they do go fairly quickly. I love the colors, and it is a great way to use up some of my stash, something I definitely need to do more.

Anyone else making a VVS?

Jan29

Day 5: Comforting a Friend

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My friend Natalie lost her mother-in-law recently. All jokes about in-laws aside, she was very close to her mother-in-law, and I knew she was very sad.

The day before this happened, I had been chatting with Natalie online, and she was looking over some of my projects here. She told me that she liked the spiral scarves, and she loved bright colors, especially pink. Right away I knew I would make her one in Watermelon Caron Simply Soft, because it just seemed like the perfect color for Natalie. I didn’t know when I would get around to it, though, with all the projects I already had going.

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When I heard about her loss the very next day, I dropped everything and started this scarf. I felt so bad for her, and there was not much else I could do–Natalie lives in California, and I am in Missouri, so I couldn’t stop by with a hug or a home-cooked meal. This scarf is my way of sending a hug when I cannot be there.

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Natalie tells me that I did a good job picking the colors, it is just the kind of thing she likes, which makes me happy.

This is one of my favorite part of making things–that I can give a little of myself to a friend in need. Or not in need, too, but especially when I think they need a little extra support.

Jan22

Day 19: Getting Started in Collage

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When I was deciding to do a year long project focusing on making something every day, I came across Making Made. This project really spoke to me, because Jeanne didn’t decide on a unifying theme for her project (like an owl a day, or a robot a day, for instance), she just decided to make something every day. I didn’t feel that there was a specific theme I wanted to commit to doing daily, but I could get behind the idea of making sure creation is a daily occurrence in my life. I have been wanting to make more things for a long time, but daily life gets in the way so often, and I wanted a spur to daily action. Plus, I want to branch out, try more techniques, and make more of what I use in a global sense.

So, the whole blog was inspiring to me, but her Deer Chicago collage really stood out. Go look at it, it is awesome. I have been interested in collage anyway, but after seeing this, I realized how much opportunity there is to create something uniquely meaningful through collage. The deer in this picture is from a photograph Jeanne took on a hike, and the Chicago skyline is a vintage photo. I love the way the personal photo is juxtaposed with the vintage photo and the text making up the street.

I don’t actually have a collage (although I guess my Christmas art could be considered collage), but I did paint a background on a canvas this weekend that will be the basis for a mixed-media project.

collage canvas

Obviously, there will be actual collaging on top, but I am very pleased with this background. It is an abstract idea of grass and sky, and I love the color changes. Now, I just need to figure out how I want to do the rest, and get a block of time to work on it. I did some experimenting this weekend with attaching yarn to another canvas, because yarn will be involved here., but I am still thinking through the overall approach.

Do you make collages? What kind of materials and adhesives do you use?

Jan21

Menu, Week of 1/20

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I really do love menu planning. I didn’t follow my plan exactly last week, but it still made things go so much more smoothly, and I was able to cook at home even on the night I had to drive way out in the county to get the boy a scouting thing for his pack meeting Wednesday night. I got back at about 6:15, and the meeting was at 7:00, but we still had a healthy home-cooked meal. Go me!

Sunday: Salmon salad (bibb lettuce blend, mushrooms, avocado, slice almonds, dried cranberries, salmon burger chopped on top, homemade balsamic vinaigrette)

Monday: Red beans and rice, steamed veggies

Tuesday: Curried chicken and veggies, rice, pineapple

Wednesday: Salmon noodle casserole, steamed veggies

Thursday: Lentils and rice with caramelized onion tahini sauce, Italian sausages, steamed veggies

Friday: Sloppy joe pizza

Saturday: leftovers

As always, this post will be linked to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com–lots more ideas over there!