I'm taking a blogging break

Hey, ladies :) As the title of this post says, I'm going to take a break from the blog for a while. Not sure how long, but at least a month or two. I know I haven't been consistent, anyway, so maybe it won't be much of a change :) Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know so I don't just disappear! Everyone have a wonderful New Year and I know we'll talk soon!

Cheers,
Ellen :)

on the first day of Christmas

wait, why are there more then one days of XMAS???

anyways, being Jewish and all, the most Christmasesie thing I did was make butter cookies, and they were good...so I have been doing great on the treadmill/exercise video plan...worked out today, which is Thursday and then on Wed, and Tues, not on Mon or Sun, but yes on Fri and Sat, and quite a few other days last week....so ya! happy about that, pants are a little loser, but there are still some , or rather lots, but lets speak positive, some, where I would rather them not....how is everyone else doing??

see you next week!!
xoxo
Dawn

haha!

I just accidentaly posted this on my classroom blog! I'm glad I noticed right away. That would have been embarrassing :)

Thank you Ellen for posting that recipe! It looks super yummy. I am definitely going to try it out over the holiday break. Dawn, we will definitely work out while you are here!  West Cliff sounds nice right now, but cold! As of now, it looks like I'll be going to Santa Barbara on the 28th-ish, for a few days, but that is still negotiable. Dawn, how long you do you plan to be here? I don't go back till the 12th (suckers!) . 

I am enjoying our blogging lately, though you are all much more on top of it than I. It's nice to have this place to use as we see fit, whether it's just to vent or to post food intake or whatever. By the way, where is Rosie? 

Tuesday and tired

HI Ladies

First, I want to say, being isolated in the country, hanging out with my dogs and parents A LOT..tonight it was really nice to read everyones blogs, and what not...aLSO, Alyssa and Caitlin after Santa Clause leaves I will be coming to town..and I know you both have the student/teacher schduele...so guess what??? WE ARE GOING TO DO WEST CLIFF DRIVE, as much as we can (weather permitting), or workout tapes, did I hear sweating with the oldies?? or maybe Alyssa, Cait and I can buy a week pass at your gym??

Either way, I have been doing really good, worked out on treadmill on Thursday, Saturday, Monday..and I think as seen in blog Wed, Tues, Mon...and really happy about my record thus far..I think the thing with me and working out, is it is not the calories I burn, though those are good, but the fact that I am proud of myself for working out...

Consequently I am looking forward to seeing you all, and am worried I will fall off the wagon in the cruz...thus, help me out and work out with me..plus it's kinda free...except for a membership of course..but ya know...

so I am really tired today, stayed up late last night watching Time to Kill, love that movie, but will workout the rest of the work week...xoxo

Recipe: Turkey/Vegetable Lasagna

Ok, so I don't have amounts really squared away, but here is the lasagna I made, which actually was enough ingredients for 2 giant pans of lasagna with lots of sauce leftover.

Ingredients
2-1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 large yellow onions - diced
2 large green bell peppers - chopped well
2 bags packaged pre-sliced, washed white button mushrooms - chopped coarsely
6 small/medium zucchini, chopped coarsely into bite-size pieces
2 jars plain marinara sauce
4 cans diced tomatoes in juice (regular sized cans, not jumbo or mini)
8-10 cups chopped (about 1/2 of a jumbo box) fresh baby spinach
4-5 cloves crushed garlic
10-15 large fresh leaves diced/chopped basil
2 Large containers Reduced Fat Ricotta
4 Eggs (or egg substitute)
2 boxes Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles
Parmesan Cheese
Italian seasoning
Salt
Black pepper

Directions
1. In the largest saucepan/frying pan you have, sautee the onions, green bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and garlic until almost done.
2. Transfer to a big stockpot on the stove and add the diced canned tomatoes (with juice) and the marinara. Stir well and turn heat to low.
3. Back in the pan, brown and break apart the ground turkey until well done. Drain off the fat then add to the sauce stockpot. Stir well.
4. Add the chopped spinach and a generous amount of italian seasoning, salt and ground black pepper. Stir well and keep heat on low or low-medium.
5. While the turkey/veggie sauce simmers, prepare the Ricotta mixture by beating the four eggs together and them mixing them with the two containers of ricotta. Add the chopped basil and some salt and pepper. Mix well.
6. To assemble the lasagna, ladle a small amount of the liquid from the sauce into the bottom of each pan. You want to cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer of the tomato liquid. Then, add layers of the following, one after another: Uncooked lasagna noodles (cover the entire surface, but try not to overlap), then a thin layer of the ricotta mixture, then a layer of the sauce, then the noodles, ricotta, sauce.
7. For the top layer, finish with noodles then sauce. So, in a deep pan it might be:
sauce (liquid only)
noodles
ricotta
sauce
noodles
ricotta
sauce
noodles
sauce
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour. Uncover after 45 minutes and use a fork to stab through and see if the noodles are cooked. There should be no resistance.
9. Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese (whatever amount you want), leave the lasagna uncovered and bake another 10-15 minutes.

[ gɝ:]

(sorry my head is wrapped up in phonetic nerdiness- that is me growling "Grrr")
The posts on motivation made me realize that if the scale was from 1-10 I am at about a level 1, no go-get-em attitude today... I need the motivation fairy to visit me. No, maybe the kick in the butt fairy. I am feeling lazy and frustrated! Since Thanksgiving I have gained a ten pounds, I hate to write that out but I need to. I don't think I have moved more than once a week in any calorie burning way and I am hating the consequences. gripe-grumble-gripe!! Oh, and what do I want to do about this? why, eat of course! Thankfully the food that I have been fantasizing about is way out of my price range during this gift giving time and I was sure to stock up on healthy, simple, and easy items for the house. So I will survive...grrr.

yummy

Ellen, your lasagna sounds delicious! Can you post a recipe? 

I like your theory on exercise. I think when we quit, even temporarily, we get down on ourselves and then its even harder to start back up. But if we just remember that it only needs to be temporary and that its ok to have some down time, its easier to start back up. 

This time of year is definitely difficult - rainy, cold, busy. My friend and I were talking today about going to the gym after work this week, and it was "I can go Wednesday, but not Tuesday" then "Oh I can't go Wednesday or Thursday" and then you realize that you won't be going at all this week! Too busy! 

Good Monday :)

Had a great weekend, how was everyone else's? I made some veggie/turkey lasagna with whole wheat noodles, lowfat ricotta, etc., last week which we ate for most of the week. It was good, but now we're pretty sick of it. Going to make something with eggplant soon, as we picked up a huge one from a lady at work (from her garden). We have healthy, delicious food in the house, so we are definitely eating better :) On the exercise front there has been a whole lot of nothing. I feel like I'm getting sucked into holiday inactivity, which is sometimes bothersome, but sometimes I don't care. Especially when it is raining. Turning on our indoor Christmas lights, Christmas tree, turning on the Christmas carols and wrapping presents or reading a good book with a cup of hot chocolate seems more appealing than getting in an exercise DVD or even dancing (which I love). Snuggling on the couch on a rainy night trumps crunches...

A friend of mine has a saying about exercise, or going to the gym. He says, "you go, you quit, you go, you quit, you go...." The idea being that for most of us we are not going to exercise 1 hour/day every single day for the rest of our lives. We are going to have periods where we stop going to the gym (or working out at home), then ramp back up again. The key, he thinks, is to never truly quit (give up) and to try to keep the "quit" intervals short. Find ways to quickly get back in the groove after getting off track. I can relate to that, but I think my "quit" interval has gotten a little out of hand.

Hi ladies

so, today I am probably going to try and run for 10 minutes, then walk 5, and then back again, evenutally I want to be up to 30 minutes straight, and if I was really cool, I would LOVE to do 6 miles in an hour, I think thats what Beyonce does, which would be really cool...but ya, that's something to look for..xoxo

so tired

I was roaming through Costco yesterday and they were selling gym memberships for 24hr fitness and it seemed like a good deal(did not read the fine print yet though). I am almost tempted to ask for one for Christmas but I'm not sure that I will be committed enough. I feel so zapped right now that raising my hand up to scratch my head is exhausting. I feel like a wimp :)
I'm just wallowing in my woes - next week I will have a new outlook...

hello

OK, ate a lot today in the morning, and woke up hungry last night, but I think it's cause I worked out, and then only had a salad with chicken on it, today ran for 30, well ran/walked, and did the pilates ab workout..ya!! how is everyone's holiday workouts going?

yowsers

OK, so Friday night, yes it was a Friday night, I put cocunut oil in my hair and did an 80s Kathi Smith workout..it was great...well not really, but proud of myself for working out, Saturday went to Portland, walked around, no workout, Sunday, got my treadmill! ya, at 7am, riding in the pickup truck with our farmer neighbor...and gnarly cramps! then, today I did 45 minutes on the treadmill...ya! gonna try and do that everyday...

how ya all doing??

today

Well recently my exercise has been limited to dragging around an incredibly heavy backpack and running with it as I seem to be continually almost late. I think that this has to count for something, though I am not fooling myself and counting it as a real exercise. Its more like an intense day of shopping.

I went for a 1 hour fast walk today and did a few reps with the weights for my arms. I need to keep them strong for that bag! I almost feel like it is time to get one of those wheelie briefcase/bags. Any one have experience with these?

My goal is to get in the pool by this time next week. I know this is a loose goal, but that's what Ive got at this point. (only two weeks left in the semester --cram time!)

EX-ERCISE EX-ERCISE

ok, that is supposed to sound like the extra extra! so, I have been doing good on working out at home, on Satuday and Sunday I did floor workouts, which I was sore from, nothing Monday, then Teusday did a pilates ab video. today I will do some more squats and floor workouts. I am still looking for a treadmill cause I know I will use it, plus there is lots of room up here and it would be good for my folks...

now food wise, been doing pretty good, been happy with what I am eating, though not seeing any results...gonna read the bob greene book again, it is really good. he is oprahs buddy...trying not to get to crazy again

love you all
Xoxo
ps WORK OUT

Happy December :)

Hey, Ladies! Had a great Thanksgiving weekend and am now back to the grind :) Thanksgiving Day and the day after both involved Thanksgiving dinners, which were great. We didn't go crazy, but we did enjoy the offerings of the meals. The weekend was spent with leftovers and more family time. Now it is December and time to get some real food in our house. We are surviving on things from the freezer and random bits these past few days! I am going shopping tomorrow night to get lots of veggies, lean proteins, etc. I'm planning to make a veggie/ground turkey lasagna soon, and probably some kind of whole grain stew/casserole. I'll let you know if I come up with anything good, as those would be two "one-dish" meals.

Turkey day recap

OK, so everything went OK, I don't feel like I ate to the point of getting made at myself. so ya! my mom was really sweet and made lots of things as healthy as possible, for example we used the light bread with chicken stock for the stuffing, and mixed butternut squash with the yams and califlower with the potatoes, this cut down on calories and starch..

anyways, past 2 days i have been doing squats, ab work and floor exercises, i am still looking for a treadmill but happy that today I feel sore from my self made workout.

how did everyone else do??

xoxo
Dawn