Went to India; had a taste of the Maharaja…

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Elizabeth

…I rather enjoyed it!
Even though it was ALL delicious I still prefer eating Indian food just a few times a year. The first time I ate Indian food was in New York City. Who knew goat meat could be so tasty (although those yummy spices would probably make squirrel* taste good).
At the end of the meal our waiter brought us warm, moist, ultra soft napkins rolled up and served on plates so we could wipe our hands (WAY classier than the moist Towelettes I receive at the places I normally frequent). My brother & I started to unroll ours and at the same time noticed our mom had picked hers up and was raising it up to her mouth. We both shouted, “NO!” at the same time before she had a chance to bite off a chunk of her napkin. She blinked in astonishment at us like WE were the crazy ones. “Mom…it’s a napkin…for your hands.” We all had a good laugh about it but in hindsight I had kinda wished that we’d let her go; see how long it would take to bite off a chunk of her chewy ‘burrito.’ In her defense it actually felt like a warm, smooth burrito shell but still…it was the start of our list of “Signs that it’s time for a nursing home.”
I like the ambiance & food at the Indian restaurant near us and I always get the buffet because I have no idea what the names of the dishes mean and the descriptions are kind of vague. I like variety and I can try a sample of all sorts of different dishes. This time before we left, #3 & I took a take-out menu and marked off what we liked from the buffet for next time. I asked the guy where the carrot looking stuff was listed because it was so incredibly delicious; I had a second helping for my dessert. “It’s Gajar Halwa, right here under Desserts.” No WONDER my body was in seventh heaven eating those sweet, coconutty** carrots. It was a DESSERT! Those tricksy** Indian people…I love their style! Thank heavens I had already drunk the Maharaja beer for my dessert before I found out. Two desserts! Win-win for me! In the background: Daughter #3 got brave and ordered the Mango Milk Shake (milk flavored with mango & rose water). Quite tasty!

So I have one Indian dinner under my belt for the new year and I’ve converted #3 over to some new taste experiences that she likes. Of all my kids, #3 was my pickiest eater. And when I say picky, I mean PICKY!!! She drove me ~~slightly crazy~~ insane when it came to eating. I’m still a little in shock at the turnaround she’s done and what she’s willing to try now. I’m so proud of my little pumpkin pie!
Disclaimer: *I’ve never eaten squirrel (although I’m sure someone that actually has will tell me they taste like chicken) but I detest them enough that if there was a Zombie Apocalypse I would definitely put them on the menu!
**Cool words that spell checker doesn’t know.
Surprisingly I have no Indian music on my Favorites List; this video seems to be a good compromise. Instead of ABCD, I saw the letters ACDC (a favorite band of mine) so that got me excited and #3 is good at & loves to dance like the people in this movie. Be forewarned though, it has scary clowns in it and you won’t get this kind of action at the restaurant we went to:

Sugar, Sugar…You Are My Candy Girl & You Got Me Wanting You

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Elizabeth

I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I can’t eat sugar…probably ever. I lose the weight…I start eating sugar & bread…I gain the weight back. I lose the weight (a little less each time)…I start eating sugar & bread…I gain the weight back…etc.,etc.,etc. I don’t even want to figure out how often I’ve fallen off my horse (she’s a really large Clydesdale named Teensy Weensy). She used to run off indefinitely. Now she waits patiently next to me until I can get the ladder out and climb back on. This time she was gone a long time; I think she was trying to teach me a lesson. Lesson learned! It took me a long time to write my resolutions post (1/05/13) because the 3 of us were trying to figure out a way to keep some foods ‘safe’ from the chopping block because they were considered healthy. Chocolate won by a landslide (Elizabeth has a way with words!).

That was a light bulb moment for me. Carb addiction is no different than alcoholism, smoking or drug addiction. Well, there is one difference. Your body doesn’t need alcohol, cigarettes or drugs (& sugar, contrary to some people’s belief) to survive. Food, that’s a different story. You do have to eat. You have to make food choices every day! Try giving up junk food, sugar, bread or alcohol and find out how few of places there are that are safe. In no way am I trying to say one addiction is more difficult than another. What I am saying is that sugar IS an addiction. So when well-meaning friends tell me that it’s not good to totally give it up; to eat a small piece of something sweet and then not have any more, I started telling them, “Would you say that to an alcoholic?” I CAN’T EAT JUST ONE! It slowly (& sometimes not so slowly) snowballs into a feeding frenzy I can’t stop until I make myself sick. I’m envious of those of you that can eat sweets and stop after a few pieces or only eat some and decide you don’t want the rest. I can actually do that with alcohol. I enjoy beer, scotch & wine but I can either say no altogether or not finish a drink because my body just decides I don’t want it anymore; especially if I’m full from food.
About the same time I decided not to label myself a carb-addict, I realized that if I want to really be healthy long term I have to go against societies norm of ‘don’t deny yourself totally or you’ll want it even more.’ LOL, seriously? I want it more as soon as I start eating it! And pretty soon all I can think about is my next fix. This blog post came to me very last minute because I was reading an article that explains really well how some of us literally can’t eat just one. How many of you have a problem staying away from something you ache for but can’t have? Here’s the article (it won’t let me link it so you’ll have to copy & paste): http://athleanx.com/for-women/spike-crash-and-burn-how-even-a-little-sugar-could-be-sabotaging-your-weight-loss-and-workouts

My tongue has no feeling anymore…sweet!

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Elizabeth

I love spicy food. I’ve even converted some of the family over to the hot side of life although I’ve been accused of going overboard by some of them. That’s crazy talk! I try to be respectful of those people whose taste buds are much like the Princess & the Pea. A drop of hot sauce, a dab of wasabi or a teaspoon of red pepper in a stock pot of stew will send them scrambling to the sink to gulp water straight from the faucet; all the while cursing me for trying to kill them as they futilely continue trying to put out the fire from the red hot poker that is stuck in their throat. I’m usually at a loss because I ate the same thing they did and I can barely feel any kind of heat in my throat (and I’m not gonna lie, I’m always a little disappointed in that). Depending on the food, if your nose isn’t running…it’s not hot enough. On a few occasions I have surprised myself by not liking the spicy hot food, but only because the intensity of the burn overpowered any flavor the food might have had. I love food too much not to taste it!
Just off the top of my head these are foods that I (& the general public it seems) regularly add spicy seasonings to: a LOT of Main Dishes, Pizza (red pepper flakes), Chinese Food (I like hot mustard but only if I don’t have wasabi; the green paste that if you breath the vapors into your lungs you will die…or wish you would until your body stops hating you for what you just did. I almost died twice from wasabi…it is some serious shit!), Jalapeno Pickled Eggs, Eggs (not including salsa), Salsa, and Nuts.
And these are foods that I’ve found taste delicious with a healthy dose of Red Pepper sprinkled in that you might not think to add to: Peanut Butter, Chocolate/Brownies (probably any dessert known to woman or man), Ice Cream, Coffee, Applesauce, Hot Apple Cider, Pickles (I drain out the pickle juice and add juice from the jalapenos) & all the other Main Dishes not included in the first category.
I’d like to hear if anyone has tried something (especially out of the ordinary) with hot spices that they like (or would want me to try for them). Disclaimer: I found out that it’s actually possible to put too much red pepper in brownies. It didn’t stop me from eating them (they were chocolate after all!) but I wouldn’t put as much in next time. Okay, sometimes I do go overboard and my response to that…blah, blah, blah.

Twas the night AFTER Christmas…

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Elizabeth

I was hoping to post stuff throughout the excitement of our holiday adventure but there weren’t any quiet times. It was a continual blur of activity. All four girls & their guys along with our 5th pretend adopted daughter were here by 3 PM on Christmas Eve and started pitching in to help finish getting the house & the food ready & ornaments on the tree. Two of the kids had never seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation so that was a priority on my list. Of course the kids are still sort of kids (if you compare them to an 80 yr-old) so they wanted to open gifts and do Yankee Swap first.

From the front, she looked like a normal Christmas tree.

Anytime Christmas tree lights are added…it becomes magical, especially at night with Christmas music playing!

Dressed up in all her sparkling finery, it’s almost like she’s taking a bow to her admirers.

Our tree’s empty space is being ‘filled’ by a talking Santa & a large star I received as a gift. We envisioned a large disco ball there but, surprisingly, we don’t own one! Our living room screams for a disco ball.

Gary & the kids got the cool stuff they asked for but more importantly, let’s talk about what I got! I got my winter boots & Cuddleduds but can you believe Santa forgot to bring me snow pants?! I’ve wanted them since last winter and I cannot believe, with all his magic, that he forgot them. I guess he was too busy concentrating on the boots & long underwear. I also got a Tree of Friendship glass ball, a bunch of warm cuddly socks, lots & lots of headbands (I shouldn’t run out for…forever!), a huge bag of pecans, a jar of raw honey, a magnifying glass & along with some DVD’s from the family pile…Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure! (to go along with the classic Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special that we already own) Gifts from the kids include a big kickass LED TV from daughter #1 (now the lights won’t dim like they did when we turned on the big old ginormous one!), a gift certificate from the delicious Teavana store & a wine accessory kit secretly hidden from burglars inside a pretend wine bottle from #2 & her PoohBear, a Charoite stone & a gift certificate from a goddessey new-age store I adore from #3 & her OsoBear, #4 & her new sweetpea gave me a DVD & a 10 pk outdoor solar light set for when we get around to making the far-far back yard look pretty this summer (*crossing my fingers*). On Christmas day everyone slept in except me because I was determined to make breakfast recipes off my Pinterest boards; Apple Cider Pancakes & Bacon in the shape of hearts (don’t bake them crispy because they break REALLY easy!). They were obviously delicious! Our final adventure before all of the kids were gone for work or significant others’ family celebrations was sledding down the town’s snow hill. (This is where those snow pants would have come in handy) Elizabeth wasn’t too keen on going but Betsy & Tebazilena were already bundling into snow gear so she didn’t have a choice.

Snow Tube ‘Island’ Adventure! The trick is to make sure you hang on tight to another tube (as well as your own). We try putting the youngest in the back so they have a better survival rate in case there is a tubing mishap.

It was GREAT FUN!!! We assembled all the tubes into a mass island, hung on to each other’s handles & inched our way to the top of the hill and…….adults just need to do that at least ONCE in their lifetime. It really brings out the kid in you!

Sometimes the ‘island’ becomes a ‘peninsula!’ At least we’re all in the same general area. Looks like someone lost their mitten in the adventure!

It was a great Christmas! We should be relaxing now but #2 & #4 informed us that we need to have a New Year’s Eve party here. Why? Because THEY don’t have anything planned to celebrate. I guess we need to enjoy having the kids spend time back home while we’re all young.

Topsy Turvy SnowWoman ~ Topsy Turvy Apocalypse

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Elizabeth

Since seeing an upside down snowman on Facebook I’ve wanted one for my very own. It’s very difficult though when the ground is covered in brown frozen grass. So, I did what I do in most situations that seem somewhat futile…I wished! I wished a LOT for a lot of snow. I even talked about it to all the kids I encountered in school last week. First we talked about how to construct an upside down snowman and then on Wednesday I told them I wasn’t coming to school on Thursday because we would be having a snow day so I could make my upside down snowman (They totally believed me this time because the forecasters already predicted a huge dump of snow). And what happened because I believed & wished strongly for it? SNOW DAY! I had to wait until evening for enough snow to accumulate but it was sweet success! A lot of people have stopped to take pictures of her.

The only problem I was concerned about was The End of the World. It could make my sweet SnowWoman become a puddle of slush. The intensity of the apocalypse prediction was similar to my towering inferno hot flashes.

Since summer, I wanted to have a party to celebrate. The End of the World; Party like there’s no tomorrow! What an awesome reason to have a party! Sadly, there were too many things I had to do and I would’ve lost my mind if I’d added that to the mix. So daughter #3 surprised us with a mini party. She played R.E.M.’s song “It’s the End of the World as we Know it” when I walked in to the decorated dining room with candles lit for ambiance.

Try to imagine that the bag of Red Vines is filled with licorice instead of cinnamon sticks & pretend that I didn’t eat the Almond Joy bar that’s missing from the table.

By midnight Friday, all was calm, all was dark, and it was freaking cold…WTH? No End of the World? No Zombie Apocalypse? I’m a little disappointed after all the hype. Would it have killed the cosmos to throw us a bone of sorts, something nice & uplifting? Like maybe the top 10% of evil overlords are suddenly immune to gravity and float off the earth into space, never to be seen again? Nope, I guess not, so it’s back to ‘normal’ living…for now. (I still think something topsy turvy is in the works out there)