Just Call Me Martha!

By now, unless you live under rock, you know I am into all things domestic. I love to cook, bake, sew, and yes even clean. (Okay so I don't love to clean but I love a clean house). And apart from crazy organized linen closets, I have a lot in common with Martha Stewart.

And while I find Martha to be quite brilliant in her domesticity, she drives me absolutely crazy! If you've ever had the pleasure of watching her show(s), you'll know what I mean. She thinks she is the all-knowing queen of crafty undertakings. She is so arrogant, self righteous and condescending to her guests. God forbid anyone else know how to bake, decorate or clean. And those guests who admit they don't possess her talents, she still tries to "teach" them as if they really care. I'm guessing, Ted Danson could care less how so spraypaint pinecones and make them into a wreath. Just sayin'. You woulda though a five month stint in the pokey would have humbled her a bit but she came back stronger than ever.

Yet as much as she drives me nut she is a go to gal for all things crafty and domestic. And so in my quest to find the perfect homemade granola bar recipe I went to her. I should preface, that I have been on the search for some time. I find store bought granola bars to be to sweet and sugary and revolving around chocolate and or peanut butter resembling something more like a candy bar. And having been eating very healthfully for some time, I notice how processed things are tasting. I should not be tasting anything chemical in my food(don't even get me started on Twinkies and ICEES). I can't even say how many recipes I've tried and I find most of them have their fair share of sugar or chocolate or they have so much butter or oil in them making them not very healthy.

Then last year, I cleaned out my pantry and made the absolute best granola bars of my life. But in my quest to eat less calories at the time, I had one and sent them to work with Jeff never to see them again(They were a success there too and had a couple requests for the recipe). The sad thing, I didn't have a recipe. I had half a jar of coconut butter, agave syrup, sunflower seeds, flax, sesame seeds, maybe some cherries and half a dozen other things. I just mixed and added until the texture seemed right to bake up into a bar. So I'm off on the search again. ANd thanks to Martha I found a pretty darn good recipe that won't cost you an arm and a leg at the health food store.

NOTES ON RECIPE:The bars can be made with peanut butter, but for me, peanut butter overwhelms everything else. If I want peanut butter bars I would've used that, but I want granola bars, so I used almond butter I had sitting around. I used a whole package (small package) of almonds because I didn't want a few almonds sitting around. I ended up also using about a quarter cup more of oats because that was all that was left in the containter. I suggest you could get by with less oil if you wanted it. I used a 9 X 9 inch pan because thats all I had and used aluminum foil instead of parchment paper. These are quite deliscious made as I did. The almond butter is a much subtler flavor allowing for the almonds, oats, and cranberries to stand through. And as I cooked them for about 20 minutes they came out nice chewy as I like them. If it were up to Jeff, he'd had me cook them longer and make them crispier.

Really good, but not perfect. My quest will go on.

Recipe Courtesty Of Martha Stewart.com
Ingredients
1 large egg white
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup natural peanut butter or almond butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 crisscrossed rectangles of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang at 2 opposite ends. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds and cranberries.
2.In a small saucepan, whisk together oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon, salt and 1 tablespoon water over low heat until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly; whisk in egg white. Pour over at mixture; stir until moistened. Spread evenly in bottom of pan; smooth top.
3.Bake until top is firm, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Lift out of pan, using paper as handles. Let cool completely, cut into bars with serrated knife.

The Good Stuff

I'm not really sure what changed but I've just been feeling good about life in general. I spent the better part of the beginning of 2011 being stressed out. I think it mainly had to do with my weight loss efforts as I've chronicled in the past. I think it helps that my next appointment with my dietician is a month away. I hate going in their and failing. And failing in front of someone else is that much more worse. I also indulged a litle bit this last weekend, and while I do have enough guilt so that I don't go overboard, it wasn't the usual all consuming guilt that I usually have. Ask me in a couple weeks if I feel the same and I'll probably be different but for now its okay.

The weather we had about a week ago doesn't hurt either. Sadly the cold and some snow was back but by Thursday this week we should be up into the 60's. Being outside and light out past 6PM certainly makes everyone in the Hughs House a lot more content. My tulips are coming up, Avalon and I are playing at the park and going on walks. And this week, Jeff is getting our bikes out and aired up so we can start riding bikes.

We have a planned a trip for the first part of May. As one of my goals/resolutions for the new year was to go on a trip, I will be able to cross this off my list. Unfortunately, Hawaii was just not affordable for us this year so we instead planned a trip for the Oregon Coast. Jeff and I last did this when I was pregnant with Avalon. We had such a good time last time that we swore we'd do it again. And since its so low key and laid back, we figured this would be a good first trip to take Avalon. (Not to say that Hawaii wouldn't have been fun but at nearly $900 a ticket, it was nearly 3K to just fly there. Flying to Oregon, renting a car, and staying in beach front hotels for 6 nights is about $1800. Hawaii another time.) We are SO looking forward to some time off to play at the beach, fly kites, eat out, etc. Jeff wants to plan a three day weekend to Yellowstone but I am letting him do it because the Oregon trip planning was exhausting. We bought our tickets through hotwire so I had to check lots of dates to actually get good rates but it did make our weeklong car rental only about $100. And we are meeting up with one of Jeff's friends as well.

Things are just going along swimmingly in general. I think Jeff's raise did a little in relieving my stress but it's not everything. But we've also spent the last 18 months ridding ourselves of all unessential debt like a credit card, and a couple student loans. Jeff has always made fun by calling me "the saving nazi." But hey, it pays off. And it lets us have fun now guilt free. Still been working on getting Avalon into dance. Watching her dance and sing(she knows every word to nearly all the songs on Bruno Mars CD) I know that we need to encourage that side of her. But everytime I broach the subject with her and describe what would happen, she only wants to do it if dance with her(Yeah, not gonna happen) In trying to encourage her independence, I asked if she wanted to do the "Rock Tumble and Roll" class at the Y again and she asked if I would do it with her like last time(We did the Mommy and Me class when she was 2) I told her that I would leave her there and pick her back up when she was done just like preschool. Still she wasn't having any of it unless I did it with her. I'm not sure if maybe I should just push her into but my instincts say no. And unfortunately for me, my instincts are hit or miss. I think though once preschool is over for the year, I am going to start her in gymnastics. I would go with her and watch but not actually do it along side her and see if that will help her be a little more independent from me.

ANd with spring approaching and then summer, I just sense the best is yet to come for 2011.

3.23.11

I've got the best kid and hubby ever. My life totally rocks. Thought you should know.

Just recovering from a whirlwind weekend of sorts. Avalon had a birthday party on Saturday and then we had plans to go to Bozeman to meet up with Joelene and Pat and then to celebrate Joelene's parents 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday in Livingston. Then we made our way home yesterday afternoon. A good weekend albeit a very busy one.

We did begin our weekend with a trip to the Toyota dealership. After five hours we walked out with a brand spanking new 2011 4Runner, replacing our 2002 4Runner. And although the purchase seemed a bit sudden, let me assure you that it was anything but. Jeff has wanted a new car for quite some time. I on the other hand LOVED our old 4Runner. Over the last few months, Jeff has had me testdrive a new Honda CRV(too small and too slow), a Nissan Murano(too fast and too many blindspots), A Toyota Highlander(nice but felt like settling or a lateral move). We looked at new Subarus but driving a wagon would be like Jeff having to drive a minivan: not gonna happen. I just wasn't willing to get rid of my 4Runner so replacing it with another was about the only option. And Jeff was right, if we drove our car much longer, we'd probably have to put some money into it as it had 121,000 miles and we haven't put a dime into it. If we sold/traded now, it would still be worth something. Still I kept dragging my feet, because face it, no car payment is kind of a nice feeling.

I joked with Jeff that he could get a new car if he got a raise. (Money not being the issue, I was just dragging my feet. Then last week he came home Tuesday having gotten a raise. I knew, then, a car was in the future. Then Wednesday, he came home having gotten a second raise. Then, I knew a car was really in our immediate future. (On a side note, I am really glad/proud that his bosses/employer has recognized all of his time, effort and hard work). And after 5 long somewhat annoying hours at the Toyota dealership we got a new car. (It sucks in some respects to be a daughter of a carsalesman. You know there is some level of being had. At one point I was positive we were walking out of there without a new car but they finally agreed to our terms)

And I'm really glad Jeff isn't quite as emotionally attached to our car like I am and convinced me that now was a good time to get a new car. I only say this once in a blue moon, but Jeff is right. It turned out to be a good move for so many reasons with one of the top ones being that this 4Runner rocks even more than my old one. Who knew that was even possible.

And today when I went to insure it, it only upped our insurance $27 every 6 months due mainly because of all its safety ratings. Win! I love that in the car as well as the old one, that it is very safe and if I get into a wreck, I'm probably going to get the better end of the deal. Even more than my last car, this one is a tank.

Also, I've never beena huge cell phone person. I have one because we don't have a landline, but I'm not a crazy texter and half the time I leave my phone places other than where I am. But I have bluetooth through my car radio. (Yeah yeah, i know every other person in the world has this but it still seems cool to me). And the free trial of XM Radio might be a bad thing. I'm gonna get hooked on it and then have to pay for it.

Speaking of "winning," it has taken on entire new meaning since Charlie Sheen has been "Winning."

Since the installation of the sticker chart, Avalon's behavior is on a whole new level. She has to get 100 hundred stickers for a trip to Chucky Cheese(oh joy). But is getting small rewards at 25, 50 and 75. At 25 stickers she picked out a Polly Pocket. Since its inception several weeks ago, she consistenly uses her manners saying, please, thank you. She is courteous and polite, volunteering to help out whether it is cleaning up her own messes or helping to up someone elses. When she gets herself a snack or treat, she offers to get me one as well. We still catch her using not nice words but she that she is using them incorrectly. But we have a talk about using nice words rather than not nice and she is now asking when she is unsure of what she is saying to see if it is good or bad. The other day she made me really proud when she corrected herself doing her feet exercises and said, "No cheating, that's wrong." It lets me know that she is learning the difference between right and wrong and that I am making an impression and set an example, and good ones at that. She is such a good kid. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve a kid and hubby like the ones I've got.

Then i also wonder what I did to get a dog like Murph. He has definitely kept me on toes. He has been eating everything including Avalon's Moon Dough. He ate open a box of spaghetti and proceeded to eat the dry noodles before I caught him. And his barking! Oh his barking is driving me nuts. I put him outside a lot especially during Avalon's meal times because he eats/steals her food. He knows that when he barks I will go outside to yell at him or bring him. Now he scratches the window incessantly looking at me an I tell him through the window to go lay down. Instead he goes to the end of the deck at barks at nothing in particular just to see if I will come get him. In this weather, it won't hurt him one bit to be outside.

With this recent good weather, it has been so nice to be outside. Last week we went to the park nearly everyday and Avalon rode her bike in the driveway every single day. Everybody is in such a better mood when we get to get out and stretch our legs.

Spring and daylight savings has vastly improved my mood these days. I can't wait for summer!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies

I have to admit I haven't been baking as much as I usually do for a couple of reasons. One I've been cooking new things for dinner and that kind of fulfills my need to try new things. I didn't, however, remember to take any pictures. But in short, buffalo chicken sandwiches, korean beef and rice noodles, and homemade fettucine alfredo, all courtesy of Cooking Light were awesome and will definitely be made again. So there will be further opportunities to blog about them.

I also haven't been baking as much because now that I'm not depriving myself, my hunger signals and cravings are coming back. And since it's been such a struggle to lose weight, I didn't want tempt myself. So I'm making these, eating one. and sending the rest to work or the inlaws.

I saw these cookies a while back on the cooking blog, Picky Palate. And I don't know an instance when you combine chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallows and don't get a tasty experience. And upon completion, they are deliscious. When the marshmallows melt to the cookie sheet, they are golden and toffee like. I still argue though that cookies are best in the dough form.

The recipe is as follows:


2 sticks softened butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 oz box instant chocolate pudding mix

10 oz bag peanut butter chips

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheets with non stick spray or parchment paper

2. In a stand or electric mixer, beat butter, pudding mix and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

3. Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with peanut butter chips and marshmallows. Mix until just combined. With a medium cookie scoop, place onto baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring.

On a side note, during one of my trips to Starbucks this week for my usual(larged ice coffee, skim milk, sugar free hazelnut) I saw that they are not offering some sweet treets in miniature sizes. One such treat is the ever popular 2010 trend of a cake balls/pops. Starbucks however is charging what I consider a fortune at $1.50 a pop! In case you're not aware, I can make about 60 cake pops for the price of cake, frosting and melting chips. That costs me about $4.50 total. So alas, I will never try Starbucks cake pops and perhaps I should start selling my own. I could make a small fortune!

Yay for Progress!

Here it is in short form

February 28: went to dietician, down .8 lbs over the last two weeks

Four days later...

March 4: Up two pounds from Febraury 28 having done exactly what dietician and doctor have asked me, completely devastated. Start a new medication to help with my efforts.

Notice an immediate drop but don't get my hopes up, I've been struggling and disappointed so long that I don't have any real hopes that medication will work for me.

Use the Wii to weight and every other day I am very disappointed with what it says.

March 16: weight with the wii, up a couple of pounds, very nervous and disappointed. Go to the Y and swim, weigh and am relieved.

Go to my appointment with the dietician and weigh exactly what the Y scale says which is 5 pounds down from when I lost saw her(down 7 from when I saw Dr. Mack)

Feeling a little better about things! Still not sure the medication is a miracle drug but lets give it another 2 weeks!

Doing those things I said I'd do

I took Avalon to In Good Glazes and we painted some coffee cups. Avalon really seemed to like it. I think once we pick up the fired pieces she'll really see how cool it is.


We still want to get her into dance but aren't sure if she would actually do it. She is very pro-mom right now and wants me by her side at all times. I love that she loves being around me but by the end if the day I am worn out. Jeff even volunteers to play with her and she still wants to be with me.


Today we got to play at the park for the first time since the snow first fell this last fall. It wad glorious to be outside! Avalon had the biggest smile!


We also had another physical therapy appointment today. It seems to Jeff and I that we are constantly telling her to walk on her heels and at this point she is even ignoring me. She hates doing the exercises with me. We have resorted to a prize bag that has prizes for when she does her exercises. The PT said that we are obviously doing as much as we can because we are annoying her. She also said she rather it be us than her who annoys Avalon so that she'll continue wanting to come so we can gauge her progress.


Speaking of progress. . . Since I am constantly harping on Avalon to walk flat I don't see the progress but the PT says that she isn't walking on her toes nearly as high as she was and when she walks flat that her gait is less awkward. Yay for steps in the right direction!


Avalon has learned lots of new word of late: some good, some not so good. In an effort to curb some of the not so favorable behavior we are starting a sticker chart . If she gets 100 stickers she gets to go to build a bear or Chuckie Cheese. And yes we find bribes to be a very effective parenting tool. Just kidding! But rewarding positive behavior seems to work for her better than punishment. Not to say she doesn't get her timeouts but when she has a goal she works really hard.


One of the funnier things she said this week was to address her Grandma as "Your Highnessy.". Your highness + your majesty! Cracks me up!


I had an especially rough week last week in regards to
My weight loss efforts. Monday at my appointment with the dietician I weighed and had lost .8 an two weeks. Friday when I went to my endocrinologist I had gained 2 lbs. I was in total disbelief!


I know that right now I am kinda obsessed with it all but this is exactly why. I work out a minimum of 210 minutes and usually hover around the 230-240 mark and eat 1600 calories. Bur I am still not losing.


I am sensing that my dietician is stumped and as Jeff and any one else who is around me, I am nit cheating. I am not letting there be any excuse why I am not losing. But I am tired and wore out. It's exhausting to be this consumed by my weight and diet.


My doc started me on a new med that should help my own efforts. It has some side effects that I have to watch but so far my most notable one is dry mouth. My doc only wants me on it for 6 months or less so it's not long term.


I did weigh on my wii and it said I was down 3 lbs but I don't have that much faith in the wii being accurate so I didn't get my hopes up. But the scale at the Y said the same thing. So maybe good news? I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch. In the very least I am feeling more upbeat about things.

What I figured out today

* Our house hunt is about as dismal as my weight loss efforts. Today I don't know what is depressing me more. At this point I could care less what kind of house we get as long as Avalon is not going to Ponderosa. Even worse than having her go to this ghetto school is imagining her having to start there or anywhere and then rip her out of her school and her friends.

*On the weight loss front I am ready to go back to my old ways prior to seeing a dietician. I know that eating 1000 calories or less is not healthy but it was way easier and I only had to worry that I wasn't losing weight. Now I am worrying about not losing weight and stressing over all the food I have to eat. This is consuming my life and I am so tired. I've invested 19 months of my life into this.

*I had an epiphany today reading more about Charlie Sheen's antics. Charlie Sheen and my biological father have SO much in common. They talk nonsense and in circles. You don't really know what they are saying but they are mildly amusing as long as you aren't the brunt of their tirades.

And so I leave you with some of Charlie's most memorable quotes this week:


On his tropical vacation with wife Brooke Mueller, a porn star, and a new mistress:
"Where there were four, there are now three. Good-bye, Brooke, and good luck in your travels; you're going to need it. Badly … She's not there now and we are and I don't know, winning, anyone? Rhymes with winning? Anyone? Yeah, that would be us. Sorry man, didn't make the rules. Oops."

On people who talk about him:
"Look what I'm dealing with, man. I'm dealing with fools and trolls. I'm dealing with soft targets, and it's just strafing runs in my underwear before my first cup of coffee … they lay down with their ugly wives and their ugly children and just look at their loser lives and then they look at me and say, 'I can't process it.' Well, no, and you never will! Stop trying! Just sit back and enjoy the show."

On Chuck Lorre's Sheen-tweaking vanity card:
"I didn't care for that vanity card … that was one of the few compliments that clown has paid me in almost a decade."

On Lorre himself:
"I'm tired of being told 'You can't talk about that, you can't talk about that.' Bull S-H-I-T. There's something this side of deplorable that a certain Chaim Levine — yeah, that's Chuck's real name — mistook this rock star for his own selfish exit strategy, bro. Check it, Alex: I embarrassed him in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that his unevolved mind cannot process. Last I checked, Chaim, I spent close to the last decade effortlessly and magically converting your tin cans into pure gold. And the gratitude I get is this charlatan chose not to do his job, which is to write. Clearly someone who believes he's above the law."

On his power:
"I'm sorry, man, but I've got magic. I've got poetry in my fingertips. Most of the time — and this includes naps — I'm an F-18, bro. And I will destroy you in the air. I will deploy my ordinance to the ground."

On Major League 3:
"It's being directed and written by a genius named David Ward who, I don't know, won the Academy Award at 23 for writing The Sting? [Ed. He was 29.] It was his pen and his vision that created the classic that we know today as Major League. In fact, a lot of people think the movie's called Wild Thing, as they should. Whatever … If they want me in it, it's a smash. If they don't, it's a turd that opens on a tugboat."

On why he should be feared:
"There's a new sheriff in town. And he has an army of assassins."

Wait, what?
"Guys, it's right there in the thing, duh! We work for the Pope, we murder people. We're Vatican assassins. How complicated can it be? What they're not ready for is guys like you and I and Nails and all the other gnarly gnarlingtons in my life, that we are high priests, Vatican assassin warlocks. Boom. Print that, people. See where that goes."

No, seriously: What?
"If you love with violence and you hate with violence, there's nothing that can be questioned. People say, 'Oh, you'd better work through your resentments.' Yeah, no. I'm gonna hang on to them, and they're gonna fuel my attack. And they're going to fuel the battle cry of my deadly and dangerous and secret and silent soldiers. Because they're all around you. Sorry, you thought you were just messing with one dude. Winning."

On Alcoholics Anonymous:
"It's the work of sissies. The only thing I'm addicted to is winning. This bootleg cult, arrogantly referred to as Alcoholics Anonymous, reports a 5 percent success rate. My success rate is 100 percent. Do the math … another one of their mottoes is 'Don't be special, be one of us.' Newsflash: I am special, and I will never be one of you! I have a disease? Bullshit! I cured it with my brain, with my mind. I cured it, I'm done … you don't look like you're having a lot of fun. I'm gonna hang out with these two smoking hotties and fly privately around the world. It might be lonely up here but I sure like the view, Alex!"

On ex-presidents:
"I'm not Thomas Jefferson. He was a pussy."