Sprout your own sprouts. Or is that redundant?

 We love sprouts.  We put them on salads, sandwiches, hot veggies, whatever.  And they're so so good for you.  Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals that can protect us against disease.  Canavanine, found in alfalfa, has demonstrated benefit for pancreatic, colon and leukemia cancers. Plant estrogens are also abundant in sprouts. They increase bone formation and density and prevent bone breakdown or osteoporosis. They are also helpful in controlling hot flashes, menopause, PMS and fibrocystic breasts tumors.  (Ladies- down some sprouts with your chocolate when Aunt Flo is near)

Alfalfa sprouts also have saponins.  Saponins lower the bad cholesterol, but not the good HDL fats.  Saponins also stimulate the immune system by increasing the activity of natural killer cells such as T- lymphocytes and interferon.


You can find sprouts in the produce section where the pre sliced/packaged veggies are.  Don't buy those.

Instead- Sprout your own!  (And save a butt load of money)

1.  Purchase a packet of alfalfa sprouting seeds at an organic market, farmers market or health food store.  I bought mine online.

2.  Place approximately 1 tsp. to 1.5 tsp. alfalfa seeds into a glass mason jar. Pour two or three inches of water directly over the seeds before covering the glass jar with a piece of cheesecloth. (I got the mason jar that came with the mesh netting) Secure the cheesecloth with a rubber band. Place the mason jar in a cool, dry location away from any direct sun. Ideally, the temperature should be 65 to 75 degrees.

3.  Allow the alfalfa seeds to soak overnight. The next day pour out the all of the water through the cheesecloth. Remove the cheesecloth and use a butter knife to gently stir the damp seeds in the jar. Fill the jar with clean water and swish the seeds around, drain.  Rotate jar around until seeds are dispersed evenly.  Set near a window with warm sunshine.

4.  Repeat this process of over four to six days. The seeds should begin sprouting within two to three days. You may notice small patches of seeds that have failed to sprout. Simply remove and discard them. By the fifth day place the mason jar in a sunny location for about 20 minutes. Doing so helps encourage the enzymes that make the sprouts nice and green.

Look!  It's like spermies!

(Ewwwwww)

5.  Harvest your sprouts on the fifth or sixth day. Remove the sprouts from the jar and place them in a clean glass or plastic container with a lid and refrigerate. Use the sprouts that you've grown in the next 24 to 36 hours. Discard any uneaten sprouts after that time.

Now put the little sprout spermies on your sandwich and enjoy!

Now...the winner of my Starbucks Giftcard Giveaway PLUS a cool eco cozy goes to..........

Number 18- Micah!  It's a boy!  

Micah, send me your addy and I'll send this to you.  

Wordless Wednesday..

(Taken by 6 yr old)

Holy Cannoli and Good Night

I'm tired. 

Was at a birth all night.  

Was totally worth the lack of sleep though.

It was a redemptive, powerful birth.

Got a mocha on my way home.

Left it on my bed side table untouched.

Fell asleep for 3 hours.

God bless babysitters.

I once started a business when I was 11 babysitting.

It was cutting edge.

With flyers and everything.   

It was called the Babysitter's Club.

It was totally original. 

With a star at the beginning and a heart at the end.

Had a cannoli.

A Holy Cannoli.

It was rolly.

Cause cannolis are rolly. 

Like, literally.  

Now I'm in bed with my girl.  

Damp head of hair laying on me.  

Smells like clean.

And spongebob toothpaste.

And feels just right.

Good night. 

Fit Whattin?

Fitbloggin'.

Yes.  Because every time you add an in' to a verb- it makes it nonassumming, fun, casual and cool as a cucumber.   Just like bloggin'.

"Hey honey!  What am I doin'? Oh, nothin'.  Just bloggin.'"

Right?

Anyway...

I really really want to go to the Fitbloggin 11'.  Like, really.  Not only because I blog about fitness (but mostly about the deep meaning of life mixed with coffee and an occasional fart joke).  No- I'm more motivated to  meet the sweet faces of so many fit bloggers I've come to know.  Or stalk.  Whatever, it's cool. They are cool.  They are funny.  And they are fit.

AND...if that weren't motivation enough- you can enter to win a ticket here. 

There's my plug.

Propelling Forward

"When a woman is too far gone from home, she is less and less able to propel herself forward in life."- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With Wolves

For me, Home is being kind to myself.

Kindness.

It's the spark before hope.

It's the bark before soap.

I'm sorry, I had to write that. It rhymed and it just kept begging me to write it out. I've deleted it twice, but it makes me happy to take a serious thought and smash it up with dorkiness.

Blame my father.  In my family, you are praised for fart jokes.

Okay, okay, where was I?

Oh yeah.

Kindness.

It's the .... *sigh*..."Okay.  I'm okay."

It's the safety net of relief below the tight rope walk of tension and doubt.

It arrives in the 11th hour.
 
And it's the sweetest gift you could ever bestow on yourself.

How you treat yourself colors everything you do, think, feel.  If you're hard on yourself, you will be hard on everyone around you.  It will paralyze you.  You will be a lawyer with no one to blame.  When you choose to treat yourself with kindness (and it is a choice), it's like a dose of morphine to an ailing body.  The complicated sharp edges of life melt away into a smooth, quiet river. "Peace like a river"- the Bible says.  And right before a unicorn comes galloping around the corner, you get hit with something.  The edges start to turn sharp and jagged again.  Something rocks you and a new lesson is to be learned.  You're swimming in new waters, but you trust your ability to swim.  And so life's never ending wave pool rolls on.

I used to believe that life would eventually settle.  I would arrive at that magical destination place where things would be figured out, Challenge would be a thing of the past, marriage would be perfect, diapers would be changed, kids would not turn into humans that will bear broken hearts, people would be reconciled, stories would be told, I'd morph into Gwyneth Paltrow and Ed would morph into Al Pacino (Godfather 1),  laundry would forever be caught up and a mocha would be on my bedside table each morning (*handed to me by Edward Cullen since he doesn't sleep and would have been up all night watching me sleep because he's THAT in love).

I've got another good 50 years to live (God willing) and I'm pretty sure I'll have some "Why?!!" questions for God when my time is up.  And He can handle them.  But in the mean time I've gotta find beauty in the small, hard things.  The mundane.  The brokenness.  The average.  The overlooked and neglected.  The UNbeautiful.  The last, but not least.  The cobb-weby, dust bunny corners.  Cause folks, if we wait around for that rainbow- we'll spend our lives waiting.

When you love something, you nurture it.  You treat it kindly.  When you love yourself, you treat yourself kindly.  You have a bad day and know "kindness" isn't a tub of ice-cream.  Maybe it's a glass of wine and a bath.  Maybe it's cooking a nice meal after the kids go to bed and savoring it.  Maybe it's a nice 2 mile run.  Maybe it's just *gasp* a walk.  Maybe it's something other than mistreatment.  And maybe you don't have to eat your feelings or hate yourself.  Maybe you're allowed to have a bad day.  And maybe you're okay.  Because this is life and we're all human.  

What you do day in and day out is what you're doing with your life.  Don't spend your life in tension.  Don't spend your life striving to be important.  Don't spend your life being friends with the right people.  Or buying the big house.  Or being the right size.

Think on your death bed- what will you savor?  What will you regret?

Today:  Do what you're doing with your life.  And stop waiting.

*My husband is not jealous of my Edward fantasies.  He thinks it's "cute."  Plus, his name is Edward too, so if I call out "Edward," it's all good.  

Act Your Way Into Feeling

You can act your way into feeling.  

But you cannot feel your way into acting.

Sometimes you have to fake til you make it.  When the cycle of out of control eating, thinking, spending takes over, and you feel stuck in it and unable to get out- it's time to reframe.  It's time to be the skinny person.  To be the active. To be the calm person.  To be the person in control of their finances.  The person that's in there, but stuck in the tornado.  

Beating yourself sometimes feels good.  Feels like you're paying the price.  Feels like you're punishing your way into better being.  But it's never works.  It only produces more of the same thing.

Act your way into feeing.  Into feeling like you don't want to binge.  Or  don't want to get lost in anxiety.  Or don't need to spend.  Compulsion is escape.  And there's nothing you have to escape from.  The greatest fear is in the anticipation.

Waiting until you feel like making better choices won't work.  Waiting until you feel like a skinny person will not make you skinny.  Waiting until you feel like running will not make you active. Waiting until you feel like you're content will not breed contentment.

Act.  Act.  Act.  Feelings, like the encore of your favorite band, will follow and blow you away.


Fake it til you make it baby!

Tummy Tuck: 1 Year Anniversary Pics!

Actually the anniversary was Aug 22nd, but I forgot to post updated pics.  Ruh Roh.  

Here they are!  Still can't believe it.  Having big babies and 65 lb weight gains with each one just does a number on the ol' abs.   Best money I've ever spent on myself.  No regrets at all!  I actually see definition in my abs now that the skin is gone.  And I never have to think about wearing a fitted shirt again.  Spanx was my bff and I haven't seen her in a year.  Good riddance!  Bitch. 

Before:

After:

I'm working on a full tummy tuck progress page with all the gory pics you can imagine.  

And I'm also working on a new blog!

(Well, my genius boy programmer husband is)

With a new name.

But more on that soon......

Come Enter: Starbucks Giftcard Giveaway!

Okay, it's that time of the month again.  Not that time.  Giveaway time.  Though, I think maybe, kinda, sometimes I'm more inclined towards a mocha during that time of the month.  Which means that Starbucks and Menstruation could be forever synced for future generations of women.  Which is all the more reason you need to win this.

But here's the cool thing.

Not only do you get a $25 Starbucks giftcard.  You get this cool eco friend coffee sleeve or drink cozy made from fused recycled plastic bags:

 We use them at home and love them!  They're made by SoSheSews on Etsy.  Check out her stuff.  It's adorable on crack.

So, hold on Spider Monkey--you can enjoy your Pumpkin Latte this Fall with an eco friendly cozy to make it all better.  And no one will know the difference if you decide to add a little Irish Coffee to it.  (wink wink)

So- this giveaway is not complicated and straight forward to enter:

Leave a comment

And....if you're extra special and nice and hot: tweet or blog about this giveaway.  

But I won't hold you to it.

Winners will be drawn randomly next Wednesday.  

And the first one to catch the movie line I referenced-get's a double entry.  

:)

Get your coffee on!

More Exercise=More Hunger=More Ass Fat

Well, not your ass fat.  My ass fat.  And really, I'm ok with the ass fat.  Baby got back.  I just want Baby to have less thigh.  Baby got back, but lean thigh.

So I have a subscription to Fitness magazine.  I like to read it in the bathroom.  I'm not ashamed.  You do it too.  The bathroom is the only place us moms can justifiably lock ourselves in a room while our children scream and pound on the door and not have CPS called on us.  Plus, you get to read.  Score.

Anyway, while in the bathroom reading, there was an article about how working out can actually cause weight gain.  So should we stop working out?  A smarty pants at Harvard says no.

"No, but it's not a panacea for weightloss either, because it does increase your appetite.  The food- exercise equation is imbalanced.  It may take an hour to burn 500 calories but only five minutes to eat them back."-Kendrin Sonneville, R.D., a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health

Sorry fellow lazy asses-I was hoping for a get out of jail free card too. Actually, I'd still workout because I actually like it.  And I think it makes me sane.  Almost.

And then I read one thing that I've experienced over and over again.   Exercise suppresses the appetite.  Brilliant!  Burn calories and eat less.

"But later that day, your body's hunger hormones can surge, making you want to eat.  At the same time, your body's satiety hormones-the ones that signal that you're full-may decrease." -Barry Braun, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts. 

So that explains the Oh-My-God-I-Need-A-Paula-Dean-Meal break down about 3 hours after a long run.  And I can't stop eating.

Their advice?

On regular workout days:

• Take a few bites of an energy bar before or during workout

On intense workout days (more than 60 mins):

• Focus on carb rich foods (not garlic bread) the meals before.  So if you're running 10 miles at 7am tomorrow morning.  Eat some whole wheat pasta with chicken and a sweet potato and your body will use it to push through the run.  
• Bring along some electrolytes along for the post 60 mins.  Gatorade or Gummy chews.  

And if I'm running 10 miles and gaining 10 lbs- I'll be one very Grumpy Jen.  And you don't want a Grumpy Jen.

Sursly.

Recipe: Greek Feta Chicken and Curried Rice

I've made this recipe a couple times and my family likes it, so I think it'll be lumped into the rotation.  If I had a rotation.  Having a rotation makes it sound like I have a plan.  Which I don't.  But I did...today!

Greek Feta Chicken:

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts (3-4)

1 cup fat free greek yogurt

1 tbsp oregano

2 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper

feta cheese

Put chicken breasts in a ziploc bag. Throw yogurt, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper in the bag.  Get out as much air as possible.  Massage around until all of chicken is coated.  Put in frig.  Marinate for at least 30 mins.  Put chicken under broil for 6 mins.  Turn and sprinkle each breast with feta cheese.  Broil for 6 more mins. 

Curried Rice:

2 cups cooked brown rice

Olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup raisins

1 tsp of curry powder

salt and pepper

Saute onion, carrot and almonds until onions are clear.  Add rice, raisins and seasonings.  Stir fry for 10 mins.  Add some broth if it dries out. 

I threw some of the leftover rice into hollowed out bell peppers and put them in the broiler: 

It's an Orange Meal:

I love you, whoever you are

I'd like to take a minute and thank all of you who read my lil old blog.  It's nice to have a place to come and type.  And share.  Even if you don't leave any comments!


This year has been all about puzzles.  Taking puzzles a apart.  And putting them back together the right way.  And I'm thankful for what's come out of it.  Slowly but surely I've changed.  Inch by inch.  Thought by thought.  Prayer by prayer.  Like a giant Before/After picture of my brain, life, and heart.


It's cool.


And I like me.


I share too much.  


That's not always a bad thing.


I have 6 women I call friends.


Not acquaintances.

Deep, vulnerable, life giving, balanced friendships.

Good, bad and badder.

They have my back.

I never have to wonder.

Everyone deserves a least one real, REAL friend.

And I've got 6.

I'm blessed.

Spoiled rotten.


I have a marriage that is 100% "on" and I've never been prouder of us.

I couldn't have said that 2 years ago.

I'm in love with my husband today.

I want to grow old with him and watch "stories" with him.

I like that my children look like him.

Sometimes I fart on him to be funny.

You know you do it too.

I make impulsive decisions.

If I'm into something- you won't be able to shut me up about it.

Then it's something new next week.

I change my mind a lot.

I'm full of contradictions.

I make mistakes.

I pick myself back up and keep walking.

I hate my pinky toe.

I crack my neck 30 times a day.

I really, REALLY believe that a massage can change my life.

I'm spiritual, but not religious.

But I'm Jesusy spiritual.

But I'm not Baptisty Jesusy.

I've not been to church in months.

I'm seeing God in my life, mind and heart more than ever.

I have peace.

Like a freaking river.

 I like reality shows about dwarfs.

I know that they prefer being called little people.

But I like to feel like Snow White.

I have an obsession with my kid's toes.

I take pictures of my kid's toes.

And yet I hate my pinky toe?

A little too much.

I'm self conscious.

I put up a tough cover to hide my soft side.

But I'm all soft, squishy, weepy, and sentimental inside.

I am KNOWN.

I am LOVED.

This can change a woman.

I used to have a hard time saying I was sorry.

I say I'm sorry all the time now.

I've let go of a lot of bitterness.

I've reconciled with old friends.

I see a therapist once a week.

I've come a long way.

And I love you.

Whoever you are.

The Love of My Life

I'd like to introduce you to the new love of my life.  We have a hot, steamy relationship that will never go cold.  

My new espresso machine and milk frother:

One of the many perks of running a business out of your home.  It's a business write off!

And the best part:  you get cute little espresso pods:

You slip one of these bad boys in there (that's what she said) and it makes your espresso in 30 secs!

And the Frother...

You guys!

The Frother froths in 30 sec TOO! 

(Do I have a lisp?)

And the latte is seriously Hole-In-The-Wall-Cool-Coffee-Shop grade.

Add a little somethin' somethin'...

And behold!

Breakfast of champions:

Running is Hard

I'm waiting for running to become easy for me.  I won't hold my breath.  It's always been hard with splashes of that "runner's high" here and there.  And that's ONLY after I run 3 or 4 miles.  Around mile 6 or 7 I start feeling it.  But who the hell runs after 6 or 7 miles??!

Me

Ed

We dropped the kids off at Ed's parent's and headed out for our 7 miler.  I was dreading it.  It's hot.  It's hilly.  And I'm so so lazy.  But I know I love it after I'm done.  And I walk around in an endorphin haze for a couple hours after.  All giggly and peaceful and sore.

And so we did it!  And I will never run at noon again.  Ever.  Never ever.  So hot and I had to walk a lot more than I normally do because I was feeling the sickies.  But I did it.  And that counts for something, right?

Our new plan for long runs is to spend the night with Grandparents and run at 6 or 7am to beat the heat. 

In other news:

I have this pumpkin vine that I was this close to pulling out because I thought it was a weed.  But then it looked like a zucchini vine.  But then I realized I didn't plant zucchini under my front porch.  But I did throw out my old pumpkins from last Fall under my porch!  And so I've weaved the vine every which way along the white picket fence in my front yard.  It's like Charlie Brown's Pumpkin Patch.  Except smaller.  And realer.  And more fun.

My first pumpkin harvested:

A poor little rotten fella':

And a bebe pumpkin with squash blossom:

Linus reminds me of Shepherd and his blanket toting ways:

Have a good weekend!

I'll be reading 220 pages of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.  

It's about a 12 yr old girl who wants to commit suicide.  

A real "feel good" book.

Oh and I'll run 8 miles.  Cause, you know, people do that when they train for half marathons.  

And there will be much coffee consumed.

Cheers!

Worm Catchers and The Cullens

So what happens when you need structure?  My personal belief is that if you trust yourself and your decisions- and still feel like an eating plan is right for you, then you should be at peace with that decision.  If you feel like you need to step back in order to be present- then that's the right thing.  Making a decision with a present, whole mind will result in a whole decision.  

I'm 147.0 lbs. Yes, I weighed myself.  Still down.  Just slowly, slowly down.

I won't lie- I wish it were 140.7 lbs.

But it's fine.  I've learned that the scale reveals a number.  And that's about it.

In Food News.....

After dabbling in vegan eating for TWO WHOLE WEEKS I've decided I feel better without sugar and dairy.  Verdict is still out on meat.  It's just so juicy and lovely and... dead.

So I went through some of my old weight watchers stuff and rediscovered The Core plan.

The


Core


Plan

Sounds funny to me.  So I'm doing a version of Core-minus a lot of the dairy.  Add a few glasses because....Duh.

In Fitness News....

In an effort to not go insane, bootcamp has now been divided into two groups: Worm Catchers (morning crew) and The Cullens (obviously better, night crew).  I'm in the night crew.  We're going to meet Mon and Wed at 7:30pm instead of 6am.  Brilliant!  I've been struggling with insomnia lately and the 6am wake up call was fanning the flame.  I'm a changer-uppper and it was time.  So changing it up!

Speaking of bootcamp-  we've entered into a bit of a biggest-loser-esk competition.  We have 6 weeks to lose weight.  Whoever loses the most percentage of body weight wins the pot.  Two.  Hundred.  Dollars.  That's, like, 2 months of Starbucks.

The competition ends October 15th.  I have no excuses.  I'm going to do this.  I'm not going to back out. I'm going to lose the weight and win it!  My goal is 1-2 lbs per week.  That should get me back into the 130's again where my jeans fit better and I don't stare at my thighs quite as much.

So, every week on Friday I'll post my weigh in.  I feel like I'm cheating on Geneen Roth by getting on my scale.  But, honest to God, I'm okay with it.  And I still love Geneen.

In other related news......

I scored a 102 point word on my game with my nemesis, Sheila.  She still beat me.   I love her so much.  But I hate her ass face.  (In my best Christopher Guest voice)

Nerd Alert

I was coaxed by a friend this weekend to go to the Dragon Con parade.  I immediately declined until I heard there would be real life Storm Troopers and Fischer would lose his friggen mind if he saw one.

And so we went.

This is the only picture I had of Fischer.  He and his friend wedged their way to the front and actually got to fight Real Life Storm Troopers with their lightsabers.  And I could not hold my iPhone high enough over the people in front of us to catch it.  

Who ya gonna call?

DeLorean....

Scary ass alien thing that apparently everyone in Nerd Fantasy Land "got."

Millie was alarmed.

And last, but not least....Chewy.

After the parade I laced up my running shoes and set out for 6 miles.  I had Ed drop me off 6 miles from home.  For some reason it feels shorter or easier or something to run towards something, instead of back tracking.  I did the first 3 miles fine.  Then I got jittery.  Low blood sugar.  Not cool.  I tried to keep my run 5 min/walk 1 min ratio going but I couldn't.  Got the shakes and felt queasy.  I should have a good protein/carb/fat combo beforehand.  Lesson learned.  I needed to get home- so I just kept walking/running until I got there.  Then I devoured some pretzels with chocolate peanut butter.  It took me about an hour to get back to normal.  I hate that feeling.  And I was bummed because it was such a pretty day and I was really excited about getting that 6 miles in.  Felt like a waste.  Oh well.  Fall is coming and there will be many more running days to come.

But.. I'm trying to figure out some good pre run snacks.  I don't like running on a full stomach because it makes me sick.  But I need a snack a hour before.  Any of you runners have some snack ideas??  

Sometimes you have to bake cookies

And you sometimes you have to buy Disney icing that resembles toothpaste simply because it has Princesses on it and not because it tastes better. 

And sometimes you have to let her put the entire jar of star sprinkles on one cookie top. 

And sometime you have if you let yourself. .....

Because sometimes making cookies can be just what you need.  

Even if you don't take a single bite.