Crafting for Cause

I have lots to update and talk about, but nothing has really felt right to post since the tragedy in Connecticut.  My prayers go out to all of the families affected by this horrible event.

Lindsay from The Life Muse has come up with a lovely way for fellow Etsy sellers to help those affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting.  This week, several Etsy shops will be donating a portion of their sales to 'United Way of Western Connecticut', the official relief fund of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Kimchi & Sweet Tea will be donating 100% of profits this week to help out.  You can find a list of other Etsy sellers willing to donate their proceeds here.

Spring Cleaning...

I don't know when it happened or if I have always been this way, but I think I am a bit of a hoarder.  And I am now way overdue for a major spring cleaning, especially in the wardrobe department!

One of my favorite rules is to get rid of any clothing that you haven't worn in a year.  Well, I haven't worn most of my clothes in a year... or two.  I have a very good reason though, I was pregnant / post pregnant / nursing.  Now I have no excuses!  The weight is off, nursing is almost over, and there is no preggo belly to squeeze into non-maternity clothes.

I have already started to get rid of a few things (maybe there was a dress and a tube top that still had tags??).  That was even hard to do.  Tube tops will come back in style, right?

I have given myself a timeline: get rid of everything that I don't / won't wear by the end of the month!

New Year's Resolutions

Maybe I'm just really late with my new year's resolutions, but let's say I'm just getting a 2 month head start.

The start of fall and the fact that my little one is pretty independent nowadays has made me want to get my butt in gear and start anew.  So, I may need some help / encouragement / a friendly reminder to stick with the following resolutions:

1. Start each Sunday with 'Meal Planning' for the week.  I hope to completely plan out, at least, 4 dinners and possibly cook them ahead of time.  
2. Exercise 2-3 times a week.  I get a lot of exercise chasing the little one around the house, but I need to schedule a few times a week to actually go on a run or hit the gym / workout video.  This seems to be a reoccurring resolution.
3. Thank 5 people in my life each week.  This means actually take the time to write out thank you notes to anyone from the Starbucks barista to a close friend... just because.  More about this resolution on Thursday.
4. Finally, I would love to actually take time each week to learn Korean.  My daughter will eventually learn the language and I don't want to have to rely on her to be my translator with my in-laws or worry that my kids are talking behind my back in Korean.

So there they are.  I wanted to keep the list small, so I wouldn't get overwhelmed.  After I get a few resolutions checked off, I'm sure I will have a few more to add (maybe in time for the real New Year). 

PS.  Don't be afraid to ask me about these every now and again.  I need somebody to hold me accountable. :)  Happy New Year!

I'd Like a Pizza... Hold the Cheese

A while back I made the 1% change commitment to cut out the processed cheese in my life. Everything has gone pretty smoothly and we even made some delicious pizza WITHOUT cheese. It was absolutely delicious!

Instead of cheese, we filled the pizza up with yummy veggies, deer meat (from a recent trip to PA with a friend), pepperoni, peppers, onions, spinach, and a little marinara sauce. After loading up the dough, I just popped it in the oven. Then, voila! The perfect cheese-less pizza!

1% Changes - Working Out

(Sigh) This seems like an endless cycle in my life. I get all excited about a workout video or a class and then I miss a couple of days and a couple of days turn into a few weeks. Suddenly, I am back on the couch in clothes that are meant to be worn in the gym. I am more determined than ever to end this cycle. Any advice?

I have already gained a Friday morning workout friend (one of the moms in Ellington's play group) and I am encouraged to get out more in the morning. I have found that the morning is the best time for me to workout because it isn't as hot and Ellington is more willing to enjoy the ride in the stroller.

Let's hope my brain is finally transformed (along with my body) and I become one of those people who really likes to workout. I want to be one of those people! :)

1% Changes - Review

After 6 whole weeks of sticking to these 1% changes, I thought I'd give myself a break and just re-exam all of the new changes in our lives.

Week #1 - NO EXTRA SALT. Just a minor change, but I am positive that this will be a good thing when it comes to my health. Surprisingly, no salt on my eggs has not been bothersome. No salt on grits & oatmeal is a different story... not recommended.

Week #2 - NO CHEESE! This one has been a bit more difficult, but I have found that the only time that I really miss cheese is on hamburgers and maybe on a sandwich. I am sure that I will be wanting to revisit this change went winter and warm potato soup comes around.

Week #3 - PORTION CONTROL. Okay, so this has been very very hard. Mainly because I have nobody hovering over me and say "Don't you dare eat one more cookie". I am having a bit of a hard time staying true to this change.

Week #4 - RED MEAT ONCE A WEEK. Not very hard. I just buy more chicken at the grocery store and eat red meat on our weekly date night.

Week #5 - LIMIT THE SODA. At first, I missed the taste of Diet Coke. Now, I just miss the bubbles. I still order a DC when we are out to eat, but I have not bought any sodas to bring home yet. I hope I am well on my way to recovery.

Week #6 - NO SECONDS. Very easy for me, not so much for the hubby.

1% Changes - Week Six

This week is going to be a difficult one for my husband. NO SECONDS. It's so easy to gobble up a delicious meal and run back to the stove for more. Instead of doing that this week, we are going to try and plop the leftover into a container as soon as we serve ourselves. This way, we will have something ready to go for tomorrow's lunch and not be as tempted to load up the dinner plate agian.

Hopefully, this 1% change will lead to a heavier wallet and a slimmer waistline. In the words of Thomas the train, "I think I can! I think I can!"

1% Changes - Week Five

I am ashamed to say that I am an addict. For years I have been saying things like, "I can quit anytime I want" and "I don't need it. I just like how it tastes." I no longer have control over my addiction. Yes, I am one of many many people I know that is addicted to Diet Coke.

I knew I had a problem years ago when I would get headaches if I hadn't had my daily fix of Diet Coke. And then when I started to lie about how many sodas I had during the day, I knew that I could no longer control my addiction to this bubbly beverage.

Well, the time has come to quit Diet Coke. :( I am not happy about this 1% change, but I need to put on my big girl pants and my body will surely thank me.

Now, this change will have to happen slowly (you know, so I don't go through withdraw). For now, I am just not going to buy any soda at the grocery store. Sodas are now treats that I get to sip during a dinner out with the hubby.

1% Changes - Week Four

Cheese was a tough one, but I have pretty much cut out all of the nasty processed cheese out of my diet. I have only flubbed up a couple of times by ordering a cheeseburger while out at a restaurant. I wasn't even thinking about it until the first bite and only then did I realize my mistake. The funny thing was that I never once thought to myself "Gee, I wish I had some cheese to add some spunk to this meal."

Some changes (like no bad cheese) are extra easy, but this week's change will be a bit harder... Red meat ONLY once a week.

I'm not a big meat eater, but I do love my hamburgers and beef tacos and did I mention hamburgers? If you asked my husband, he would tell you that a hamburger (and ice cream) is the only thing that I craved while pregnant. Strange, right? We'll see how everything goes this week.

1% Changes - Week Three

Portion Control. I need to learn what a portion is and eat just that (not the entire tub of cookies). Hehe. Yes, I did eat an entire tub of delicious Trader Joe's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and I am not ashamed. I probably should be, but I'm not. Talk about being out of control. As I was eating them I thought about telling John to make me stop, but I didn't because I knew he would take them away from me and I really wanted to finish them off. :) Oh well, they're just calories.

So, this week I am going to focus on learning what one serving size actually looks like and then eating just ONE serving. I can't say that I am too happy about this 1% change. I prefer not to know that my favorite snack will cost me half my calories for the day or that I have actually been eating triple the amount of calories I should consume a day in snack alone. (gasp) This will be a difficult lesson to learn (& follow).

Hopefully, this change will stick & I will not go back to mindlessly eat cookies without at least looking down at the label first.

1% Changes - Week Two

So, the no salt thing worked out great. It was really easy to cut extra salt from my diet, but eating grits or oatmeal without salt is not something I would suggest. This week is another small change... NO CHEESE!

Cheese is not a staple in my diet and I will allow myself to occasionally eat the good stuff. I am basically cutting out all of that processed why-are-all-the-ingredients-chemicals cheese that I love so much. I will learn to like the good stuff eventually. A major challenge will be pizza. I. LOVE. PIZZA. It's one of those foods that I could eat everyday for the rest of my life. Why is all of the good stuff, so bad for you?

I am going to attempt a cheeseless pizza this weekend. Any recipe suggestions?

1% Changes - Week One

On my quest to get my body back, I have decided that I need to finally make a change in my diet for good (& because I do all of the grocery shopping, John's diet will change too). I have tried this in the past and failed miserably, so I am going to commit to one small change a week (1% change)

After reading the fantastic idea that Jessi over at Naptime Diaries had, I am excited and more optimistic about finally changing for good. I have even planned out what 'change' will occur for the next 8 weeks & more ideas are flooding in as I type this.

I am starting the lifestyle changes very small because I already have so many unhealthy things in the pantry/fridge & I just can't bring myself to throw food away before it's expiration date. Maybe I am just making excuses because I want a couple more weeks with my oh-so-yummy-but-oh-so-unhealthy foods.

This week's 1% change: NO EXTRA SALT! I almost slipped up this morning while fixing my eggs for breakfast. I reach over for the salt & pepper, but I resisted the urge to sprinkle the salt shaker.

PS. Who decided that we needed a heat wave? 94 degrees in Spring?! Really?!