Comments From the Peanut Gallery

And I do mean peanut gallery.

Dont you think that would be a good name for your neighborhood bar? All bars have peanuts usually..or popcorn.

So...when youre someone like me...who happens to be jogging past one of these peanut galleries... ahem....or bars

In the middle of the afternoon...

Did I mention that it was 93 degrees with a heat index if 118?

And not that it matters...but this peanut gallery is painted pink...

With a very masculine military billboard on its side...

Strange contrast...but anyway...

And this is not the first time this has happened either..

But there is this railing from a side door that patrons of "the peanut gallery" like to hang out on and make comments to innocent passersby like myself....

enjoying a leisurely ...ok.... I admit...a very sweaty run..

So, there I am... running along...soaking up the sun...when I hear this dude hollering at me with something like..."Its really hot out there!!!"

I couldnt quite tell if he was scolding me, admiring me or well...lets be honest here...or maybe a little inebriated.

And when I glanced his way...yelling it once wasnt enough...so he hollered it out loud again...Again all I could catch was..."Its really hot out here."

So, I just shook my head and kept going.

Then, not two blocks later I am making my way across the street when I run abreast a young lady who comments to me,

"I wouldnt be running in weather like this!"

Hmmm....she was a nurse working at the local hospital and definitely not part of the peanut gallery crowd.

Hmm...maybe running in this weather is "comment worthy" after all.

But hey, I got my work-out in at the gym (a leg work-out), plus a run...and a funny story to share with you all.

Maybe I should take a picture of that pink bar. I guess I didnt realize it was pink until I looked at it on the way back home.

But anyway...on to my diet... I weighed myself again this morning. And the same thing that happened yesterday...happened again today. I breast fed Morning Glory and lost 6/10 a pound. At least I know hes getting plenty of the good stuff. I also feed him baby food three times a day. Different kinds of cereals, meat, vegetables, and fruit.

Well, I must be going now!

Hopefully this heat lets up soon.
Have a good one. Its Friday!!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama

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Mexican Rice Lessons learned from The Sound of Music

For Julie Andrews

One of Childrens Christmas presents this year was a beautiful boxed set of The Sound of Music.  I did not know how much they were going to love this movie, but they LOVE it.  Son learned all the words to the songs.  Daughters insist on watching with the subtitles so that they can learn the words, and both Daughters have picked out the melodies of many of the songs on the piano.  Ive seen the movie more times in 2013, than I have for my entire life. (Bear in mind, 2013 is only 1 month gone.)  Thats how much Children love it.

During my repeated viewings of this fantastic film, I decided to put my brain to good use and to glean important nuggets of wisdom from the movie and further inform my life.  Here are some things Ive learned.

1.  A doe is a deer, a female one specifically.

2.  You dont need a minivan to move around 7 children and 2 adults - a large sedan works.

3.  When looking particularly scruffy (or in traveling clothes) and youre questioned, just explain that youre in "costume."

4.  Curtains can be up-cycled to really great childrens playclothes.

5.  Nuns also have a dark side (and a mechanical one too).

6.  A man who blows his whistle at his children will ultimately become irresistibly attractive.  (Husband - can you get a whistle?)

7.  Boys who are 17,  going on 18, are decidedly untrustworthy.

8.  Women whom you have to address as "Baroness" are not to be trusted.

9.  A gazebo makes for a lovely rendezvous point.  (Install one in miniscule backyard pronto.)

10.  When in doubt, just sing what youre feeling!

In addition to the Sound of Music, the other thing that Children adore is Mexican style rice.  This version is better than anything you get in a box with its mild tomato flavor and fragrance of jasmine.  The only thing it requires is a bit of finesse in the cooking, as cooking on the stovetop can be slightly trickier than cooking in a rice cooker. Children love it so much, theyll eat it with whatever I have around, and eat it for snack, and eat it while watching...The Sound of Music.

Mexican Rice
Serves 8

Ingredients
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, diced fine
6 cloves of garlic, minced fine
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½  teaspoons oregano
3 cups jasmine rice, washed, rinsed, and drained (drier rice cooks better, so let it dry out a bit in a colander after rinsing)
3 ½ cups chicken stock
1 ½ cups tomato puree (I pulse fresh tomatoes - cherry, roma, campari - in my mini prep food processor until I have a smooth puree.  Ultimately the color of the rice will depend on the color of your tomatoes.)

Method
Heat a heavy saucepan with a tight fitting lid over medium heat.  Olive oil, onion, and garlic, cooking so that the onions become translucent, and soft, about 6 minutes.

Add salt, oregano, and rice, and stir, coating rice with olive oil onion mixture.  Cook rice mixture for about 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock and tomato puree all at once.  Stir rice and bring entire mixture to a boil.

 As soon as mixture begins boiling, give a final stir, cover pot with lid, reduce heat to low and allow rice to cook for 15 to 18 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Serve warm (with lots of delicious sides.)

Printable recipe

The hills are alive...with the scent of orange rice!

In case youve never seen the film and want to own it...

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21 Days from Right Now!

21 Days from Right Now!

The great thing about THE 3 WEEK DIET system is that you can actually begin the program in the next few minutes because I’ve made the entire system (all four manuals) available in PDF form, by Instant Download.

And because I don’t want price to stand in your way of losing up to 23 pounds of body fat in the next 21-days, I’ve cut your investment in The 3 Week Diet from $97 all the way down to the very low price of just $47!

Keep in mind that $47 is less than the price of most monthly gym memberships, or just one session with a personal trainer…and neither of them promise to give your money back if you don’t see results…

But I do!

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