Healthy Thursday

Well, not too much to talk about.

Weight : 275.2 (down .2 lbs since last week)

I am okay with this since I have been sick most of this week and haven't been eating much, but also have only exercised twice. The cold is kicking my butt and I cannot miss any work.

For exercise this week I did day 1 of the Couch to 5K again on Sunday. It was harder this time, because my hip was sore from the first run and had only just begun to feel normal the day before that. So it was a lot of telling myself I could do it and not just head back inside. But I completed it again. Was proud of myself. Each time my hip is healing quicker. This week it's already pretty normal and last week it took until Saturday to feel like that. So it will get easier. Didn't do any more days because I have been too sick.

On Monday I pushed myself to do Jillian's Cardio Kickbox, which I wasn't aware of how sick I was at that time and felt horrible after I finished. My husband made me take my temperature and it was a little over 100. So yeah . . . unfortunately the slight fever stayed with me until Tuesday night.

No more fever now, just feel exhausted and congested. Having a bit of trouble with headaches/migraines still, but it's getting better each day. Hopefully this weekend will be nice enough that I can do Day 1 again.

Hope all of you are feeling better and not catching any of these colds that seem to be going around!

Magic Squares and Rays Potholder Test Knit

Yarn: Royale Fashion Crochet Yarn

Color: White and Sage

Content: 100% Mercerized Cotton

Care: Machine washing, block and air dry

Needles: US 1 - 16” circulars

Gauge Ratio: 1:1.1 (10sts per inch/11rows per inch)

Pattern: Magic Squares and Rays Potholder


Before blocking.


During blocking.


After blocking, each side . . . as you can see my camera wanted to focus on the floorboards, not the potholder!







Love how it all turned out. I will be making some more out of wool shortly! I very much recommend this pattern and the designer is wonderful and very helpful.

p.s. It did take about 2.5-3 hours of kitchener stitch to finish it, but I promise it was all worth it! :)

Sunday Inspirations

Recipes I’d like to try:

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork sounds pretty good! I have some roast in my freezer, so I may just try this!


Gluten-Free Flourless Pizza sound interesting, so does where she got the idea HERE, but they are just different enough that they might both be worth trying.


Gluten Free Homemade Oreos sound very interesting! These are definitely going to be something I try soon!

Food Friday - Gluten Free Shephard's Pot Pie

Gluten Free Shepard’s Pie was a recipe I knew I would have to try!

I made some changes though. I didn’t include the artichoke hearts as that’s not something the husband really cares for. I also did not include carrots, but that’s because we ran out and I didn’t feel like running to the store. I added frozen peas, frozen corn, mushrooms, and onion. For substitutions, I used real milk, I used real butter, I use the bullion powder and I used the King Arthur Flour instead of rice flour.
The cut veggies, ready to cook.


Cooked veggies and chicken with the seasonings.


Close-up.


The yummy gravy.


Instead of sprinkling some cheese on top of the finished pie, I chose to mix some cheese into the potatoes.


The filling all together.


The potatoes all mixed.


I don't own ramekins and didn't want to purchase any if this didn't work out. So I used the tin ones you can buy. Because of this my pans were bigger, I filled the pans a little too full in my estimation.


Lovely close-up. Next time I am thinking only half way . . . although I am hoping to buy some ramekins soon so that will make it easier.


With the lovely mash potatoes on top. Because my tins got wider at the top, instead of straight up like the ramekins, I didn't have quite enough mash potatoes to cover the filling completely.


After they baked.


Close-up of after it baked.


A picture with a couple bites taken so you can see how it looks inside.




I thought this was super delicious. It makes a lot of filling food, with a heap of veggies. Even the husband thought it was good. I will definitely make these again as I was a fan of pot pies and since I cannot have them anymore this is an even better substitute!

Healthy Thursday

Well start of with the weigh in, did pretty well this week, all things considered.

Weight: 275.4 (Down another 1.9 pounds since last week)

I ate much better this week, with pretty much no sweets. This was definitely my strong area this week.

I started the couch to 5K.

Couch to 5K :
DAY 1 ~ I went and got running shoes on Saturday. Sunday at noon I drove out to the park, which has a circle of pavement people run/walk/bike on and did my first day. Honestly, it was both harder and easier than I thought. It was easier, because my body realized that 60 seconds is not that long to run, which that thought is what kept me running each time it was time to run. However, it was harder because my body got sore quicker than I thought. I did the whole thing, which I am proud of. I felt great after it was done, but my left hip was killing me. On the positive side, my hip didn’t start hurting until the last run time though. When I got back to my car I stretched, which helped my hip some.

Unfortunately, this was as far as I got for a couple reason. My hip today is still sore, not horribly so, but not normal yet. Plus, we were cursed with snow on Tuesday night and during the day on Wednesday. It's been quite cold since. Overall, still positive thoughts on it though and will begin again as soon as it gets warm enough again. The hips pain/soreness also hindered other exercises.


Arm exercises w/ 8lbs, 2 sets of 15 reps: iii

20 minutes with the balance ball : ii

15 minutes of step aerobics : i

No walking home from work either since the weather seems to think it's still Winter. I am quite sick of this weather. I agree with many other, where is the lamb? We've already experienced the lion of March, so where is the lamb?

Potholder Progress

So close to being done with the test-knitted potholder. I love this pattern. I am ordering some yarn to be able to make up some in wool.

Here it is flat, only about 7 more rows to go.


This is how it'll look folded over.


The way the potholder will be constructed, just a few more rows till they meet.


The back-side of the potholder.


The inside, my tension is fairly good. I am knitting it inside out to help my tension on the sides.

Sunday Inspirations

I saw a mitered log cabin square on January One’s post and fell in love with it. It is the Mitered Crosses Blanket by Kay Gardiner. Through 2011 all proceeds go to relief efforts in Japan. I purchased mine immediately, now I just have to find time to knit it!


I know this isn’t new, but I am going to try the Couch to 5K Program. I also went to THIS page and downloaded the Christian Indie Tracks and the Robert Ullrey’s Podcast for music to go along. We shall see how it goes.


Spring is coming and a Worm Bin sounds like such a good idea. Might be something I try this year.


Recipes I’d like to try:

My husband loves Chicken Fried Steak, so this is definitely a recipe I want to try.


Leek Kale Cabbage Colcannon sounds interesting and delicious.


Love the sound of this African Stew. Going to have to try this soon!


Every time I see something made from scratch, I definitely want to try it. While I think this Ricotta Cheese from Scratch sounds nifty, not quite sure I’d go through the trouble. Bet the home-made is delicious though.

Food Friday - Orange Chicken

I wanted to make some Chinese food . . . why, because I miss it. A lot of Chinese sauces include Soy Sauce, which is almost always wheat. It's hard to eat safely at any Chinese food place. So I figured I would do it myself . . . THIS is the recipe I used.

I substituted in King Arthur Gluten Free Flour and San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce. The flour worked absolutely, wonderful, just look at how the chicken turned out!




The sauce was yummy, the husband thought it was a little too fruity for him.


Coated the chicken with sauce.


Here are the two containers that were the husband's lunch that he took to work.





Here was my bowl with everything thrown in together. Veggies were steamed cauliflower & broccoli . . . Roasted onions and peppers.




Overall, a good recipe. I would like to try again but tweak the sauce a little more so it is something more the husband would like. Need to look for some other Chinese sauces that would be good to try.

Healthy Thursday

This week I definitely did better. Did I do as well as my goals aimed for? No, but then I quickly found out that I am not quite in shape to do that video every day. Using the same muscles doing those moves, wore me out quicker than I expected, but it's good because that means my body is getting stronger for it.

For the weigh in : 277.3 (down 1.9lbs from last week)

I will admit that I was aiming for something more than that, but it is a good number for one week. It is a healthy weight loss number so I am happy with it.

For exercise this week:

Jillian’s Cardio Kickbox: 3 times

Arm exercises w/ 8lbs, 2 sets of 15 reps: 3 times

IntenSati : 1 time for 20 minutes

Walked home (3 miles) : 1time, it took 47 minutes, about 15.6 minutes per mile

For sweets/food:

I'll admit a some peanut M&Ms called my name, along with a couple peanut butter Dove candies. I did much better than last week though and next week will be even better. Ate salad every day for lunch at work.

For sleep:

This was my real struggle part, as I was trying to fit too much into each day and not getting enough sleep at all. Closer to 6 hours a night, not good.

Overall feeling:

I was happy with what I did this week, even though I know I can do better. Really happy, today was nice enough that I was able to walk home, which is an exercise I enjoy. Hope the weather stays on this positive momentum.

Goals for next week:

Sleep is my big goal, at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Winding down even more on the sweets and working out more.

Very little

Well, as I try to focus more on getting some Spring Cleaning done and focusing more on exercise this week, I am not accomplishing much in the knitting or crafting department! Hopefully it will pay off physically though!

Of Tragedies

No inspirations to post today. Today is a day of prayer for those in Japan dealing with devastation and tragedy. Being thankful for what we have and helping others.

Food Friday - Coleslaw

I used this recipe for Coleslaw. I love coleslaw, but am picky about how I like it. KFC coleslaw is some of the best coleslaw. Any who, I changed this recipe a bit. First I took out the onions, as the husband is not as much a fan of raw onions in food. I also left out the poppy seeds. Then I doubled the amount of Miracle Whip and vinegar. I also added raisins and my veggies were cut, not from a bag this time.












Both the husband and I liked it.

Not so Healthy Thursday

So this week was better, in that I actually exercised like 4 times this week, but it still wasn't a good week health wise. I ate crappy and slept crappy. I know, I know, I let myself get sucked into a lot of my old ways due to stress and just plain not taking care of myself. Which of course all of this made me feel crappier. Work was stressful and there were a couple moments where I thought I had chosen a job that was going to suck, but it worked itself out through the week and things are much better.

But we got good news from the husband's doctor and nothing is seriously wrong or anything. The think he's deficient on some of his vitamins, especially D, which makes sense since he works at night and sleeps during the day. Plus they recommend some better eating and such. So that takes takes some of the stress off.

I have been stressing myself out with a few bad test-knitting projects in a row. It's amazing how a designer can make the situation a joy or absolute torture.

I did weigh myself today : 279.2 . . . . which means over the last two weeks, I managed to gain back 4 of the pounds I lost. Huge disappointment, but all that more encouragement to not only get my butt back into gear, but to be more serious about it, especially the exercising.

So, goals for this week:
~Do Jillian's cardio kickboxing dvd every morning before work - it's only about 20-25 minutes long and I did it this morning so it is doable.

~No sweets, I do better when I just say no, period.


Goals for the rest of the month:
~No more test knitting for the month of March (to start with) after I finish up the two I am on, the potholder one is a lovely designer, so I'll be happy to end on a positive note.

Hopefully next Thursday will not only be much healthier, but I will feel better again. :) Do yourself a favor and take the time to take care of yourself this week.

Photo A Day - New Snack

My my new gluten-free snack. They taste very similar to regular pretzels and are very reasonable in price! Loving them!

Photo A Day - Hat Test Knitting

Having some gauge issues unfortunately, this was try #3 . . . hopefully #4 is the right one!

Food Friday - Eggplant Stacks

Remember this recipe I wanted to try for Eggplant Stacks? Well I tried them and I am so glad I did. Much better than lasagna simply because you can taste the eggplant better and they are not super mushy.

I was even able to find the gluten free “bread-crumbs” she recommended. Definitely yummy, kept their crisp and did not have that odd after taste some gluten free items do.

I recommend a little extra tomato mixture on the side when serving.




We ate them with the stuffed peppers! Very filling!




I will definitely be making these stacks again and encourage everyone to try them!

Distraction

Yes, I am distracting you with a pretty test-knitting because this week was hard due to some health issues with my husband. I only exercised once and don't care to look at my weight today or relive each day in this post, just a little too personal for the blog. :) Lots of worrying and focusing on him.

So, please be adequately distracting by the lovely geometry.

Magic Squares and Rays Potholder Test Knit
Yarn: Royale Fashion Crochet Yarn
Color: White and Sage
Content: 100% Mercerized Cotton
Care: Machine washing, block and air dry
Needles: US 1 - 16” circulars
Gauge Ratio: 1:1.1 (10sts per inch/11rows per inch)
Pattern: Magic Squares and Rays Potholder

I was only about one-fourth done at this point, I am now about a third. It's slow moving due to the cotton on such small needle is hard on my hands.





But I even like the way the back looks. My tension with the colorwork is pretty good on it. I am doing Continental/Picking with the white and English/Throwing with the green. It is definitely improving my English/Throwing technique as this is something I struggle with.




I will most definitely be knitting this pattern again, but in some pure wool!

Bakers Dozen - February

Yarn: Tofutsie
Color: Honestly, I am unsure and think it is the only ball band I cannot seem to find – I save them all.
Content: 50% Superwash Wool/ 25% SOYSILK brand fiber/ 22.5% Cotton/ 2.5% Chitin
Care: Machine wash and dry

Yarn: Wool Mill End
Color: Light Gray
Content: 100% Wool
Care: Since kind of wool is unknown, I recommend hand washing and lying flat to dry.

Hook: 2.75 mm
Pattern: Stitch #1 from 101 Stitches for Afghans by Jean Leinhauser

Before washing and blocking - Gray Os and Colorful Xs


Gray Xs and Colorful Os.


Soaked and blocking.


All pretty and blocked, Gray Os and Colorful Xs side.


And a close-up!


Gray Xs and Colorful Os side.


And a close-up.




I really enjoyed crocheting this square! Yes, unfortunately it didn't get mailed until today, unfortunately husband has been sick and I just haven't had a chance to get to the post office. It's kind of bittersweet as this is the last square in the Bakers Dozen . . . March is the last month and it is my month to receive squares.