Awesome tofu recipe!

Okay, I know some of you are skeptic about tofu, but we have really fallen in love with it. It's a great source of protein and its cheap! So...

This is not the healthiest meal because of the sauce, but it's yummy!

1 pkg extra firm tofu (this is about enough for 4 people, unless you stretch the recipe by serving it over rice)
1 bottle Iron Chef garlic sesame glaze
bag of frozen stir fry veggies

the night before press the water out of the tofu. The best way to do this is to place it between a towel or paper towels and then put a plate on top. Use some cans on top for weight and change the towels at least once until most of the water is out.

cube the tofu and lightly coat with glaze. Let sit for 1/2 hour. The tofu won't absorb the glaze the way it does a marinade, but it will absorb some.

in one pan, sautee the veggies with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. In a separate pan, sautee the tofu in a little olive oil over med low heat. Turn as you cook until the glaze starts to caramelize on the tofu. Serve over veggies.

The Slacker Returns! and the ridiculous story I heard on the news...

Okay, I've been a total slacker and have no one to blame except my toddler. (That's a valid excuse right?) At any rate, Monday morning I was home with my sick daughter and watching Good Morning America. A story came on talking about a study that found "a slight correlation" between working mothers and overweight children. The story then profiled a few moms who have decided to stay home and be the uber-parent touted by the media all the time, only to be followed by an expert who stated that in today's economy most families can't afford to have one stay at home parent. The piece finished with advice on how to do your grocery shopping (yep, that same walk the perimeter speech).

I have a problem with the whole piece in general, but let's break some of it down:

1. the study only noted a correlation between working mothers and childhood obesity. I have to wonder what the statistics show for families in which the father stays home with the children.

2. Let's all pick on working mothers! We like to think that we've moved past the model womanhood that our society was founded on--women should be uneducated, unemployed, raise boys to be leaders and girls to get married, have children, and pass the domestic goddess torch on to the next generation. Sadly, pieces like this bring to light the fact that we haven't moved anywhere. Some of this, I think, stems from the notion that employment is the means to a monetary end alone. People used to get jobs to serve other people, or, (heaven forbid), because they liked it. Clearly a woman can't be working because she wants to work, she must be forced to because of a bad economy (which, incidentally, has been largely caused by male leaders).

but, let me take my feminist rant down a bit....

I work because I like to work. Librarians may not make a lot of money or be glamorous, but I love what I do and that's why I do it. I also know that it takes a special kind of woman to stay at home. I look up to those women, because I couldn't do it. It's just not me. I also work because we can't afford for me not to, but even if my husband was making a salary that would support us both, I'd still work. I was unemployed for 6 months and hated every minute of it.

3. The grocery story perimeter lecture -- Enough already!
A piece like this would seem to insinuate that working mothers don't have enough time to fix healthy meals for their children, or are too inept, stupid, brainwashed by advertising and toddler whining, to choose nutritious foods. Really? My husband and I both work and make meals that most of my coworkers envy. We make food choices with our daughter in mind and introduce her to as many different foods as possible. Does she like cookies and cheese curls? Yes, but she also loves tofu stir fry, greek yogurt, and carrots.

Long story short, give us a break. Kids are overweight for a lot of reasons, and many of them are more societal than parental (how many jobs out there require sitting in front of a computer or desk all day?). Quit making us feel guilty for that stressful day when you have a million errands to run and laundry to do and the only thing you can get your fussy eater to put in his mouth is chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese. Like our plates, it would be nice to see a more balanced piece in the morning.

7 things I always have in my fridge.

1. 5 dozen eggs -- we eat eggs for breakfast almost every day, so we go through quite a few each week.

2. Mushrooms -- I only started eating mushrooms a few years ago, and now their a staple. The are the perfect topping for almost any meat, a great side dish alone or with other veggies, and add some more substance to easy scrambled eggs. I also love to grill portabello mushroom caps to serve as a foundation for crabcakes and hamburgers.

3. String Cheese -- a perfect protein snack that satisfies a salty craving.

4. Greek Yogurt -- I love Chobani-it's the best out there. The plain or vanilla mixes well with a lot of different toppings.

5. Onions -- just a good staple food that is useful for so many recipes.

6. Water -- doesn't matter where it comes from to start, I just have bottles of it around at all times. If it's already cold, I'm much more likely to drink it.

7. Fat free cool whip -- okay, so this isn't exactly the healthiest item, but a little bit on sugar free pudding or jello makes you feel like you're eating something special.

Ran with CFAR for the first time

I started running this morning with a local group. logged 4 miles and felt fantastic the rest of the day. For those of you who think you could never run, just remember that it only takes a few minutes a day to start and you'll be doing more than you could have imagined before long.

Watch out for nuts!

Okay, so everyone knows you should read the labels on anything you are about to put into your body, but sometimes we don't because we think it should be healthy. I know I've read several places that almonds are a great snack. Lots of protein, crunchy and salty..etc. I've been eating an ounce of almonds every day, or just about every day. I decided to look at the bag yesterday, and I was so mad. That 1 oz of almonds has 15g of fat in them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 grams?!?!? Needless to say, I will be severely limiting my almond intake from now on.

So, watch out for nuts, because even though the fat is good fat, its still fat--and for some of us, that means it goes right to wherever we'd prefer it not go.

Pregnancy Test Commercials--

Okay, I hate pregnancy test commercials--specifically the new ones for First Response which seems to be telling you without saying it outright, that they can determine whether or not you're fertile. It's bad enough that there are a lot of women out there who are fairly uneducated about the way the body works to prepare to get pregnant, but now we're adding fuel to the fire and telling them that a simple pee on a stick test can determine whether or not you can get pregnant. How about we start educating girls properly -- and earlier -- so that they know what their body is doing? I know a lot of people think that girls simply need to know about abstinence, but that solves nothing. I plan to tell my daughter how her body works...what a miracle conception is -- and all the various ways that families are created. I hope you will too. And while we're at it, lets make sure boys know what's going on too. Men are still often the last one tested when looking and fertility issues, and yet they're 50% of the equation.

My favorite thing to do with leftovers...

Okay, it doesn't work with everything, but I love to use those little bits of leftover veggies and meat to make omeletes for breakfast. Everything is already cooked, all you have to do is warm it a little and add to some eggs. My favorite is to use leftover filling for fajitas and top the eggs with a little sour cream. yummy!

It's okay to fail!

I know we hear this all the time, but it's so true. It's perfectly acceptable to not be 100% all the time. My husband and I have vowed to make sure that our daughter has healthy eating habits--healthier than the ones we grew up with, but the other night, she ate mostly french fries for dinner. I started to be upset, but then I thought, what would life be like without french fries? I gave myself some slack. She ate something, and it helped her sleep through the night and the next morning she had pancakes and bananas and turkey sausage. As long as we do healthy stuff msot of the time and encourage physical activity, then we're still one step ahead.

Recipe: Curried Beef Stew

This is a new recipe I sort of invented yesterday. It's a little spicy, so you can leave out the red pepper flakes or add as much or as little to make it as spicy as you want. And you can add more veggies if you want. I added chicken kielbasa to help up the protein count. hope you like it!

Ingredients:

4 red potatoes (diced)
1 large onion (sliced into rings)
2 tomatoes (diced)
1 container sliced mushrooms
1 lb lean stew meat
1 zucchini (sliced)
1 chicken kielbasa
1 tbs curry powder
1 cup beef broth
flour

Placed all the veggies and meat in a crock pot or casserole dish (if you are cooking in the oven).

melt 3 tbs butter in a medium saucepan. Add curry powder. Add enough flour to get a nice paste and stir continuously for a about a minute. Add beef broth and simmer for a few minutes. Pour into casserole dish or crock pot and add enough water to come just under the top layer of ingredients. Add as much red pepper flakes as you want. I used a pinch. Cook until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through. (at 350 degrees, probably about an hour or two.) I let mine sit in the crock pot for about 5 hours.

Weight Loss Stuff

Okay, a couple of people I know have asked for some tips on weight loss and recipes and stuff. I have lost 76 lbs since I gave birth about a year ago. The biggest change in my life was not so much my daughter, but the fact that my husband had gastric banding and we had to completely overhaul our diets. Not that we were eating a lot of junk before, but we've had to really clean up the few stragglers -- and that means carbs. I've done just about all of the different diets out there, with no success until now. There's a reason that people who have bariatric surgery lose so much weight, and it's not all to do with the decreased portion size. It's the high protein, low fat, minimal carb diet. Do you have to give up everything? Probably not, but the more you do, the more you'll probably lose. So, my first brand name recommendation is for bread....yep, i eat bread...but only 1 slice at a time and only about 2 - 3 times per week. We only buy Martins Whole Wheat Potato Bread. Best for calories (70 per slice), with lower carbs than other breads, and a good dose of protein (6g). I've tried the "diet" bread that's super low carb, and to be honest, you might as well be eating a piece of cardboard. This actually tastes great and has a good texture, plus whole grains. We like to have 1 slice with breakfast (usually with a little sugar free jelly -- my husband does eat regular jelly because he can't stand the taste of the sugar free kind) -- or we'll have a slice with peanut butter as a snack. (another brand name.... we only use Peter Pan whipped peanut butter).

I call my daughter Stinky Butt.

I'm not sure how or why I started calling her this, but I did and it stuck. Now it just comes right out of my mouth and I'm sure I get goofy looks from concerned parents who use traditional nicknames like Princess or Slugger or Kiddo. I think it all comes from my mom, who called us all McFly, and encouraged us to have insult contests in the car. We all have a pretty quick, if sometimes a bit dark, sense of humor and a good dose of self esteem. Personally, I like to think that I'm encouraging her to laugh at herself a little. I mean, I have to laugh every day at the stretch marks and dimples on my body!

An Introduction

Welcome to my blog! I think it only appropriate to start with an introduction of who I am and what I hope to accomplish here.

After 4 long years struggling with infertility, 3 IVFs, and 1 IUI with help from a generous donor, my husband and I welcomed our first child into our lives on August 17, 2009. About a month before she was born, my husband had lapband surgery and we vowed to change our lives to be healthier role models for our children. In light of our success, and the pestering of my wonderful mother, I decided to start a blog to chronicle our journey and offer some tips that just might help other people too.

Being healthier parents means not only making better choices about the food we eat and our level of physical activity, but also devoting ourselves to continued education, and being all around positive role models for our children.

So, off we go!