30 Days of Living Strong

Over 6 weeks ago, I began a post about my frustrations with food allergies and meal planning. I was tired and frustrated. Before I finished it, my sister suggested that I need to keep track of what I eat and then decide what to do.

A month ago, I set out to find a computer program that could help keep track when I came across Live Strong's Daily Plate. Not only can it let me keep track of what I eat but also my daily fitness (as required by my physiotherapist and chiropractor). I enter in foods I eat and the activities I complete everyday. I can then view my "Food Diary" and see all my entries for the month. Here is the entry from today:


A by-product of tracking my foods, I've been learning a lot about portion sizes, calories and daily recommended intake. For one thing, I don't consider myself to be a big meat eater but I still consume more protein than needed


I'm not content with simply filling my stomach. I want to give my body what it needs to function properly. I'm considering getting a paid account so I can track nutrients as well as calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, sugars, fiber and protein.

In short, YAY me for keeping with it for a month!

My food goals for myself

• reduce my intake of refined sugars


• eat more fruit and vegetables


• eat more food made from scratch


• return to a more carefully planned rotation diet

My fitness goals for myself

• reduce my resting heart rate


• strengthen the muscles of my left hip


• strengthen the muscles of my left shoulder girdle


• be "at level" in my Pilates classes (Reason: see previous 2 points)


• reduce the need for chiropractic and massage therapy appointments

Let's hope that I can keep with it and meet my goals.

Sweet, Delicious Nitrates (a haiku)

"Have bacon for lunch"
Beyond doubt, I have no choice
Scrabble foretold it


Current Scrabble game between myself and May-B.

Seeing What All the Fuss is About

Now that I have your attention (or lost it), this is the best cupcake I have ever eaten in my entire life. Called Bliss for a good reason, it is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate butter cream frosting, dipped in chocolate ganache. Stop licking the screen May-B, you have to go to Fuss Cupcakes in Edmonton to taste it.

Feed the Masses or Just Me

Last school year I spent way too much money buying meals at the university. I convinced myself that I'd make a lunch everyday to take but that rarely happened. When I was teaching, I'd cook massive amounts of food the freeze it. I think I set a personal record today for most amount of food cooked in one day but not consumed:
- 9 servings of pasta and sauce
- 9 servings of chili
- 5 servings of tofu stir fry
Please note that all of this food was made from scratch (except the pasta and the tofu). Even if I have nothing else but these three things for weekday lunches, this food would last me until Thanksgiving weekend. I need a little more variety so I want to make soup sometime this week before things get too busy at school.

Culinary Tact

How do you politely tell someone that the thought of cream of broccoli & clam soup makes you want to vomit?

I'm Pretty Sure it Raised My Cholesterol Just Looking at It...

Behold, the Internet sensation Bacon Explosion:


Bacon surrounded by two pounds of Italian sausage wrapped with two pounds of bacon. Looks like a good idea at the time but something you'd regret much later like KFC or deep fried cheese.

Brussel Sprouts

Am I the only one that didn't know that brussel sprouts grow on stalks? I always thought that they were like baby cabbages or something.

Bacon Quote of the Day

"Bacon is the key ingredient in the fall of communism." - Andrew D'Ambrosi (via Twitter)

Day 8: Ok, I cheated a bit

I bought some ketchup chips long before I decided to go off refined sugar. Last night I ate some of them. I don't feel guilty since I haven't had any refined sugar since last Sunday when I was on my way home from a wedding out of town. Last weekend my only refined sugar was from some condiments, a serving desert at the wedding and a snack on the way home. I think I'm doing pretty good for myself but it made me realize I need a plan for when I'm going away from home for long periods of time.

I sort of had a crummy day at school on Thursday and I really wanted some chocolate or something sweet. I still had to be at school for a couple more hours so I bought a fruit bowl that had different kinds of melons and strawberries. Fruit and fruit juices have helped me a lot whenever I've wanted to eat something sweet. We have a natural desire to want to eat sweet things but what you eat is what makes the difference.

Day 3: Starting from Scratch

Mom and I went grocery shopping today. I did not find any of the sweeteners I wanted to try out so I'll be using honey and fruit juice in the meantime.

Today I made ketchup from scratch with tomatoes, onions, garlic, honey, soya sauce, apple cider vinegar and various herbs. Turned out pretty well though tastes nothing like any ketchup I've ever had. I had to chop up two whole onions and half a head of garlic -- my hands still smells like onions. Interesting fact: though more appealing, the smell of celery last longer than onions.

Tomorrow I head to a wedding out town so I'm not sure what this will mean for my diet. I'll just have to try the best I can to avoid refined sugar and get back to reality on Sunday.

Would You Like a Side of Beef with your Beef?

I went to potluck dinner today where there was no organization at all as to who brought what. This is what dishes resulted:
- slow cooker roast beef
- 3 lasagna dishes (with beef)
- tuna casserole
- BBQ beef pull
- Swedish meatballs
- chicken drumsticks
The only non-meat dishes were desserts.

Update: My tummy does not like me for eating so much meat. Two days have past and I still feel gross.

Norwegian Delight

My mama and I made krum kaga yesterday (also sometimes know as krumkake). I got her an iron for Christmas. It took FOREVER! No wonder my grandma only makes it once a year. Here are our amatuer results:

Not too shabby.

Stories from the week

I am so proud of myself. This week I went out for sushi with friends and I did not feel like a fraud. I can use chopsticks well enough that I had no problems at all. Yeah me! I ate so much. It was all you can eat and for the price you better believe I was going to eat all I could.

I've had a headache since yesterday before supper. I was at a conference all day yesterday and it started right after it finished. I have been pretty useless. I only worked about half a day. The headache is not gone but at least it has improved to the point I can be functional.

Adventures with Rare Well Done Beef Soup

I didn't manage to get to bed until around 3am and then had church in the morning. I punched my snooze button 3 times. For those of you who know her, my cousin Stephanie had to WAIT FOR ME to go to church. She is the queen of lateness.

For lunch on Sunday, I had my first quasi-successful attempt using chopsticks. The reason I even tried using chopsticks because I was scared people would judge me for not using them. I finished my meal albeit slower than my dinner companions. My shirt was covered with tiny little spots of soup. I had much better teachers than in the past.

As a result of my lack of sleep on Saturday night. I had a huge nap Sunday afternoon. I slept way too long and I could not get to sleep last night until late. On the upside, I'm a 1/3 of the way through the book I started yesterday.

I had a lonely day today. I did talk to my mom for a little while but that is not the same. I did not see anyone until prayer meeting at my church and that only last for little more than an hour. From there I went to the bookstore for work. I don't get to visit much with anyone there. I did not see my roommates at all today. The last time I had a hug was from my mom on Sunday. All this amounts to one sad Janny. I moved to Saskatoon because I was lonely. The irony is that I have less human contact now than when I lived alone in a northern community.

I hate this time of year. I think of money (and my lack there of) all the time. Plus I am lacking any sort of creativity for finding gifts.

The one good thing that happened today is I didn't have to stay too late at work. I was so tired and discouraged about life when I got there it is exactly what I needed. Prayer meeting ran a little late and with winter driving I did not get to work on time. Being late is not a big deal but the early I start the earlier I get done. When I got the the kids section (that always takes me the longest), it was in excellent condition. One of the ladies spent most of the evening restocking shelves. Last night that section took me over a half hour. Tonight it took me less than 10 minutes.

One strange thing about day is my hands smell like celery. I had to chop onions, garlic and celery for supper and yet my hands smell like celery. Not the outcome I was expecting. The last time I chopped garlic and onions the smell remained on my hands, in the kitchen and on the cutting board for days no matter how many times I cleaned them.

Some times cheaper is better

For all of those wannabe chefs on a budget:
Ever So Humble, Cast Iron Outshines the Fancy Pans - NY Times Online

I rule! (but you already knew that)

I made yogurt from scratch today. Our kitchen smells of cooked yogurt but it worked. I am going to put papayas in it tomorrow so beat that sister!

Work tonight I got a nose bleed a couple minutes after I arrived. That sucks. Work got better though. At first I thought it was going to a long night because the kid's section was a messy. The rest of the store was in good order. I was still done before midnight.

I noticed something this evening. Rosie the Riveter looks like Pat Benatar. Rosie came first so I guess Pat Benatar looks like Rosie. I've had "Love is a Battlefield" stuck in my head ever since.

Take a gander:

Summary of the weekend

* Helped a young man's coolness points go up by like 1000 points by visiting him at work. You know it's true!

* Almost crashed a wedding dressed as servers. If I had black pants with me I would have.

* Crashed a business conference. I have the name tag to prove it. I am Val Wolbert from Winnipeg. Nice to meet you.

* Stayed up waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too late watching Veronica Mars

* Was on the verge of yelling at a mother for poor parenting choices. I should have. Grrr.

* bought an off-white shrug sweater. I wonder what the Manolo thinks of the shrug?

* Met a man too short for his voice.

* Did not pay for parking downtown, yet.

* Partook in a Photographic Scavenger Hunt. Good times ensued. I will try to include pictures from it at a later date.

* A relative told me (after church) a story about a woman who was too busy to clean her house because she was "too busy becoming with child". What? I hope he meant being with child.

* Tutored for 2 hours.

* Tried a lox bagel with cream cheese for the first time.

I need to get to bed. I sub out of town tomorrow morning.

A terrible, no good day

I think I want to go to bed and forget this day. The whole day was not bad it was really the course of a couple hours.

First, I got tomato sauce all over my light pink shirt and I couldn't get it out. No amount of soaking helped.

Later, My roommate was having problems with her computer so she asked me to have a look at it. In the middle of the fix, the computer froze. When I tried to restart the computer the computer would not turn on. Oy. I was convinced that I had broke it.

I left the computer for awhile to deal with my laundry. I was running back upstairs to work on the computer again when my big feet tripped on a stair and I banged my knees hard. I went on my own computer to check so possible fixes for the other computer. I was sitting on my bed working for awhile. I felt something wet on the bottom of my foot which was on the floor. I realized my toe was bleeding all over the carpet (the carpet of my rented townhouse I may add). I rushed to clean the carpet while not spilling further blood. It cleaned up pretty well.

In tears, I called my Dad about the computer. He convinced me to call the manufacturer. I was hesitant because I did not know if it was still on warranty. It was and from my conversations with the tech and my roommate it sounds like it will be covered under the warranty. I am hoping it will be. I do not know where I would get the money if it wasn't.

For the sake of interest, my injured toe is on the same foot as the other two toes I injured. At least it wasn't one of them that already was injured. Those are stilled bruised (it takes toes forever to heal).

My new favorite drink: London Fog

London Fog
Brew 2 cups of milk (we use skim) with 2 earl grey tea bags on high in microwave for 2 minutes. (Depending on your microwave you may need to do it for longer)
Take out tea bags, stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar. (You can use vanilla syrup if you have it).
Serves 2.

This London Fog recipe is not to be confused by the alcoholic London Fog. I had a difficult time trying to find the recipe since most of the results were for the alcoholic one.