Day 15 of my hCG diet protocol

Weigh in today, 233 pounds down 2.5 pounds from yesterday!

Feeling strong knowing that I am almost done with the low calories part!

Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 24 ounces coffee.

Lunch: Beef and cabbage soup, Apple, Diet coke.

Dinner: Pork and roasted peppers, over spouted wheat bread, small orange.

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Lemon Yogurt Cake When you have a little fan

For my youngest fan, JK, I know that your dreams will come true!

I hear it every so often.  "I read your blog."  "I love your blog."  "I really love your stories."  Its not every day, but its often enough that I feel reasonably reassured that out there, in the wide, wide world, I have a few fans.  Its especially reassuring considering that no one in my home reads my blog or enjoys my food.  My daily cooking is often met with groans, words like "Not THAT again" and "Why dont we ever eat out?"  My fans out there in cyber space are what keep my kitchen running like an old engine in need of an oil change.

However, my official tune-up to becoming a well-oiled old engine, came in the form of a 7-year-old daughter of a friend.  This young lady dreams of being a TV chef.  Her days are filled with visions of becoming a Food Network star, and she daily practices her TV cooking show.  Shes organized, methodical and an expert baker.  The craziest thing of all is that she counts me as one of her cooking idols.  I have a series of 4 cooking videos on Grokker, and she watches them repeatedly, often imitating the way I say a line, or asking rhetorical questions to my face on the screen that she knows will be answered soon after.  She is, truly, my biggest fan.  She asks her mom to make the recipes that I make and she begs her mom to watch me on Grokker.  She pulls up recipes from my blog to study and when she comes over, I see her shyly glancing my way, almost like one would with a star in the house.  She repeatedly asks her mom HOW we met (high school over 20 years ago) and how we are still friends after all this time.

So for you, JK,  my young apprentice from afar, I give you this recipe of lemon cake.  You tasted it, loved it and I told you it was the perfect recipe for you to make this weekend.  Its easy - no mixer required and all you need to do is have two bowls at the ready so that you can mix a bowl of wet ingredients and a bowl of dry ingredients.  It just so happens that your mom also likes it, so soon you can be the expert at making this lemon cake as well.

Hugs to you my young chef.  I know your star will come!

Lemon Yogurt Cake
(adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa At Home)
Makes 1 loaf, enough for 8 people

Ingredients for Cake
1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½  teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs
½  cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons, and you’ll use the juice later)
½  teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Whisk  together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another larger bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients,  making sure its all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

While cake is baking, make soaking syrup.

Ingredients for Syrup
? cup granulated sugar
? cup lemon juice (from the lemons zested)

Method
Cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

Printable recipe

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2014 The 5 Bite Diet Day 17

Yesterday was a good day. Lots of things going on at work. Lots of changes. It can be stressful at times. My stomach feels back to normal. Yesterday I rested a lot and did not want to get involved in anything but rest. I am feeling back to my old self and ready for what the day has to offer. It has just started to rain right now. We sure needed in these parts. I did get some hunger pangs today. I dont know why. I am able to control them, so I am not concerned about over eating. I will try to rest more today and I will post another post for today tonight.



Start/Current/Goal
 250/   244.8  /180

Day 01 250.0 lbs    Day 15 245.6 lbs
Day 02 249.0 lbs    Day 16 245.2 lbs
Day 03 248.8 lbs    Day 17 244.8
Day 04 248.2 lbs
Day 05 248.0 lbs
Day 06 247.6 lbs
Day 07 247.0 lbs
Day 08 246.8 lbs
Day 09 246.4 lbs
Day 10 246.2 lbs
Day 11 246.0 lbs
Day 12 246.0 lbs
Day 13 245.8 lbs
Day 14 245.6 lbs


Menu
B black coffee & water
L 3 oz bacon and egg
D 3 oz crumbled ground beef

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Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies Making room

Since children have begun their progress towards adulthood, it seems that the stuff of babyhood has fallen by the wayside, and by stuff, I actually mean THE PHYSICAL stuff that babies need.  Ive been fortunate to have two younger brothers on whom I can unload many of the trappings of babyhood like clothes, toys, furniture and books, and what has long been in storage in our random "spare room" has slowly, but surely, been taken to Brothers homes for use by their children.

The space where much of this stuff has been stored is slowly opening up.  It is a really random room in our house, originally designed to be some sort of open landing called a "library" but the previous owner decided to close it up and create an actual room.  I use the term room, quite loosely for it is a strangely shaped room,  much longer than it is wide and the kicker of it is that there is no heat in this room.  There is, however two beautiful windows, one which overlooks into our neighbors backyard, and the other which looks out onto the street.  

As I began the insane process of sorting through clothes, organizing books, and folding bedding, it became clear to me that this space DESERVED to be used for something more than random storage.  In a lightbulb moment, I decided that this space should be an office for Husband, that the natural light and space would be a welcome, cozy (albeit cold), space for Husband to spread out and do his manly things like work.  Suddenly in a fit of activity, with Daughters help, we began the process of super organization and I soon could envision this wonderful room for Husband.

When Husband heard of my plan on the phone, he didnt seem all that happy.  His exact words were, "You hole yourself in your office all the time and now you want me to hole myself up in a separate space?"  I tried to explain to him the importance of his space, with his files, and his stuff, and how awesome it would be for him to have a room where he could snack by the computer (I hate the snacking he does in bed as he works) and maybe we could put up a flat screen TV in the new office that only he could watch.  Husband continued to protest that he didnt need his own space, and that in fact, hed much prefer to be with me in my office, if that is where I would hole myself up at the end of the day.

Truthfully, I love my messy office/classroom.  Its messy with the activity of students; my desk is always covered with some sort of something that Im working on and there are books everywhere. However, my comfy office chair and this chaotic space is where I like to be.  At the end of the day, after pushing and fighting and teaching and mothering and cooking, I like my own private space.  I like to be alone. I like to stare into the computer and just be solitary.  I like to unwind here.  But upon hearing Husbands protests of not needing his own space, I realize that maybe I just need to make room for him in my space.  I shouldnt be in a hurry to enclose him in a separate space just so I can have my own (which by the way, was not my original intent) and instead, I should find a small corner, in my already too crowded office for him to have space.  I need to learn to make room.

If you think youve had every single cookie recipe that there is to have, I beg to differ.  Make room.  This cookie deserves a spot in your rotation.  The texture is something unique and different and the flavor - its a bit of retro with the caramel and the apple.  

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup rice crispies (I like Trader Joe’s brand)

1 ¼ cups chopped dried apples

1 ¼ cups caramel bits (Kraft brand)

Method

Combine the butter and both sugars in the bowl  (either in a stand mixer or in a bowl where you can use a hand mixer) and cream on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes.   Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat until all ingredients are mixed together, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Beat until just mixed, about 1 minute.

Add oats, crispies, apples, and caramel bits and mix until just blended.  

At this point, you can simply wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until need.  OR you can go ahead and bake them off.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop tablespoon scoops and lay them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden and firmed up.

Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before removing them to a cooling rack.  Enjoy.  

Printable recipe

Im making room in lots of different ways.

I bought mine at Target.  One bag was 96 cents.  This is WAY MORE expensive.

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Chicken Dumpling Soup

Happy Monday friends!

Welcome to the new work out week. Hope that first day back went well for you.

Tonight I decided to make the family some chicken dumpling soup...something that theyve never had before. Ha! I heard this from the six year old, "Whats a dumpling?" and then shortly after a teeny, tiny bite..."I dont like dumplings! Theyre icky!"

Well, she did NOT know what she was talking about because they were absolutely wonderful!!

Daddy Rainmaker had some, I had some...and my husband is taking some to work for lunch tomorrow... And the kids who copied her...the 4 and 2 year-old...well, that just left more dumplings for the rest of us to eat. Dumplings will not be going to waste at this house!

Heres a nice little close-up...

I simply dont know why I didnt make dumplings sooner...
Heres my big batch soup recipe that I use:
ten cups of water
10 teaspoons of chicken bouillon (or 3 T and 1 t)
1 cup of onions
2 cups of celery
2 cups of carrots
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
after I put the water and bullion in, I turn it on high and begin cutting everything up. Once it starts to boil, I turn it down to medium until Ive put all the chopped stuff in the pot. Then, while its on medium, I mix up the dumpling mixture:
2 cups of whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
3 T of parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of thyme

I mix that well and then:
I mixed 1/4 cup of olive oil (or oil of your choice or less oil)
and 3/4 cup of milk (you could probably get away with no milk and just water)

Oh, then I add three cups of cooked chicken
(now, if you dont want to add meat...maybe try a favorite bean?)

Then, I turn it up to high..
Once it starts boiling, I use a Tablespoon and spoon the dumpling mixture into the soup. After its all in, I put a top on the soup and turn it down to between low and medium and let simmer for about 12 minutes.

After that, it was ready to eat.

This is the base soup recipe I use for all of my soups. If its not dumplings I add, its home made egg noodles, or rice, or lentils, or garbanzo beans, or corn, barley...you can add just about anything. And then, what I do is stick the leftovers in a crock pot. Then, a few hours before lunch the next day, I turn the crock pot on, and soup is ready for lunch.
(however, I dont put a top on the soup if I put other things in it)

I did want to add that, I generally dont eat this soup because of the chicken bouillon in it. I see it as being a processed food. However, until I can find a different way of making it, I cook it this way.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Well, I made it to the gym tonight running against a northerly wind and in freshly fallen snow that felt like a run at the beach. Hm..Hey Sunshine, see I can imagine Im some place warm too. Ha!

Got in a terrific 60 minute leg work-out. It felt great! Got in some abs and then some push-ups. two sets of 15 girl style and two sets of 15 boy style.

My weight fluctuated up again to 6.8 pounds loss in four weeks.

I think Ive been eating more than I probably should. I made some more carob peanut butter bars. But I notice that with the additional calories, I get more breastmilk. I want to make sure I get in enough calories for Mr. Lovely so Im tending to err on the side of more rather than less. I think it is affecting my weight loss. So, perhaps after this week, I may look into getting some FenuGreek which helps to produce more milk flow.

However, Im still eating clean, with no sugar or white flour.

Well, I hope you all have a good one!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama

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Caramel Pretzel Cookies Whom do you thank during the holidays

When best friend CY began teaching, I pulled her aside, and told her, "When the holidays come, every single year, make sure you remember the custodian as well as the secretaries of your school. Your remembering them during the holidays is important.  Show them your appreciation."

This was a lesson I learned when I was teaching - the importance of appreciation those who help you all year long. And when the holidays come now, as I am a mother of three children, lets just say that the list of people to whom I have to present some sort of thank you to is an insane list and one that doesnt get smaller.   Perhaps next year it may shrink a little as Son and Daughters will hopefully be at the same school, but one can never be completely sure.

But with the lists so long, and money only able to go so far, I have to be economical while covering a wide base of gift recipients.  This year I opted to go with small boxes of homemade cookies and a $5 Starbucks card to all the teachers (more than 30 of them) who work with Son and Daughters in any sort of capacity.  I also thank the secretaries and office staff at both schools and I also remember the wonderful woman who is the office manager at the music school.  People dont forget your appreciation for their efforts.  I guarantee it.  In fact, when I handed the music school office manager my small token of appreciation this year, she said, "I wondered this morning, who might give me a present and I knew that you would."  She remembers that I appreciate her.

And I do.  To all the teachers who have touched my childs life, thank you.  Thank you to all those who serve them in the classroom, as their tutors, teachers, mentors, models - all the wonderful things you give to my children, from the bottom of my heart I truly thank you for your kind service and your work for them.  Even though my gift is not big, nor extravagant, nor expensive, know that I give it to you because I know, and appreciate all that you do.

This is my cookie of choice to give this year.  Im a little bit addicted to them.  I love the combination of salty and sweet and chewy and crispy.  Everyone that Ive given them to thus far say that they are delicious, and yes, I will be entering them in a contest in hopes that I WIN!  But winning aside, these are a deliciously scrumptious cookie and one, if you present them to the people who deserve it, will go very much appreciated.

Happy Holidays all!

Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 ? cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups caramel bits (or regular caramels, unwrapped and cut into bits)
2 cups mini pretzel twists, left whole

Method
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl  (either in a stand mixer or in a bowl where you can use a hand mixer) and cream on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes.   Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat until all ingredients are mixed together, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Beat until just mixed, about 1 minute.

Add oats and caramel, and mix until just blended.  Finally, add pretzels and allow them to be mixed in.  Do not over mix, or you will completely crush the pretzels.  (A few large chunks are rather nice.)

You can wrap the dough up, refrigerate and bake another day or bake immediately..

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop tablespoon scoops and lay them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden and firmed up.

Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before removing them to a cooling rack.  Enjoy.

Printable recipe

I bought my package for $2.54 and this is a set of 12 is cheaper than what I bought.  But youll be using these all up if you make these cookies several times.

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Korean Style Cold Bok Choy Why practice

For KY - you continually challenge me and make me try harder.

Ive been on a bit of a quest recently to improve the quality of practice, everywhere I have a chance.  Mostly this means that Daughters and Son are subjected to some strange experiments, but it also bleeds over into my work volunteering at schools and in Sunday School.  What is the goal?  Be more efficient in practice.

Ive been reading the book, Practice Perfect, and I havent even gotten that far in it (Rule 2 out of 42) but I keep going back to the one point daily.  The rule is to "Practice the 20" which according to the book is about deciphering and analyzing which 20 percent of the things that are most important are you going to practice 80 percent of the time.  In the books words, "...to become great, you should focus more on practicing the 20 percent of things that most create value than the other 80 percent of things you could plausibly spend time on" (29).  Now, this looks like a lot of things to a lot of people, so Ive been thinking and mulling over what it means for me and those with whom I have the most contact. (Children and students.)

I decided to apply a little of the book to Daughters swim practices, because I am currently their teacher.  It makes for more flexible scheduling and allows me to take advantage of the pool when it is less busy.  Daughters have been doing tons of laps with me, over and over and over again, and in my mind, I figured, yes, this is practice.  But repeatedly I kept on seeing the girls not improve their stroke, but rather deteriorate in their stroke, and as I am not a swim teacher, I couldnt figure out HOW to help them.  I was good at getting them into the water and forcing them to swim their 800 to 1200 yards when we had a chance, but in terms of refining and perfecting their stroke, not so much.  I questioned, WHY ISNT IT GETTING BETTER!!!

The book challenged me to rethink what I was asking them to do.  I wanted them to get better at the complete strokes, the complete movement across the pool, but what I needed to do was to break down those strokes into small drills to force them to improve on tinier parts.  I had assumed that since Children "knew" how to swim, that they no longer needed to practice the smaller parts of each individual stroke since CLEARLY (not) they had already learned the stroke.  The problem I didnt realize was that knowing and MASTERY are two different things and I needed to move them towards mastery.  The way to mastery?  Practice 20 percent of the important things they need to do 80 percent of the time.  I wasnt clear what that was, but I challenged myself to rethink our 40 minutes in the water to make it more efficient.  What I came up with was it wasnt the distance that we did in 40 minutes, but it would be how we would use the 40 minutes to be better.  32 minutes of our 40 minutes would be spent on drills, which would essentially distort and focus individual swimming techniques and make Daughters strengthen specific areas.  8 minutes, I decided to just have them swim as they normally had, full complete strokes.

I researched a few drills and brought them to the water today.  I explained to the girls the math behind the practice - 80% spent on working on smaller parts of the stroke and 20% on practicing the full stroke itself.  What was so interesting is that as an experienced swimmer, there wasnt a significant difference in my doing drills versus the full stroke.  Of course I felt more stretched and pushed, but I didnt flail on the drills. Daughters however, despite having been proficient and good on whole strokes STRUGGLED through the drills.  In one, I asked them to swim on their side and kick  with their heads relaxed and one arm pointed straight up in the water and the other relaxed at their side and neither of them could swim straight across without swerving.  It took 5 lengths of that drill in order for them to figure out how to position their bodies and get their legs and arms long and balance on their side and still kick.  We ran through a few other drills and then I allowed them to swim the whole strokes.  After months of no improvement, I could clearly see improvement in their overall strokes.

Its a lot more work trying to figure out the smaller pieces to work the practice. but I can say that from this small experiment (and there have been many tiny little ones this week as well) that Im ready to alter how I view practice.  Encouraging and pushing mastery of the small fundamentals truly impacts the overall growth and improvement.  This totally also applies to cooking.  Mastery over smaller things - choosing the right produce, chopping, boiling, sauteeing, blanching, all work together to make a great meal.

Ive decided to focus on (drill) a particular Korean technique, a classic Korean technique for making many green vegetables - blanching and then squeezing out the excess liquid.  I love this method of cooking vegetables because it can be made ahead and then seasoned at the last minute.  Its the same technique I use to make the spinach side dish, ubiquitous at so many Korean restaurants.  I applied this technique to bok choy, with the idea that I could make a side dish that would have a similar feel as spinach, but just done with bok choy.  The results were great and Children and friends gobbled it down.  There is room on seasoning, by adding soy sauce or other things to make it fit the flavors youre looking for, but the technique of blanching and squeezing out the liquid is one worth learning.  

Korean Style Cold Bok Choy
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 lb bok choy
¼ teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed sesame seeds

Method
Fill a large pot with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil.

While water is boiling, prepare bok choy. Trim the base of the bokchoy, cutting off the stem, so that the bokchoy separates into individual leaves. Wash well.

Once water is boiling, add bok choy all at once and stir, mixing into the water, allowing to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain all the water.

Arrange bok choy in a ring in your colander,so as to promote cooling of the bok choy.

Once bok choy is cool enough to handle, take a handful, and squeeze, removing excess water from the bok choy. Repeat until all bok choy has been squeezed.

Lay bok choy out on a cutting board and cut into 1 inch sections. Bok choy can be chilled at this point and dressed before serving OR can be dressed and served immediately.

Over bok choy, sprinkle salt and toss well. Taste and add more salt if desired. Drizzle sesame oil and add sesame seeds and toss together again. Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

If youre interested in the book on practice.

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