Jazzie and Tahlia

Simple twice baked potatoes

This recipe is so simple, but we love 'm (especially Tahlia!)...

Jazzie prefers noodles over potatoes (or anything else for that matter), so I only made three of them tonight. Start by piercing 3 small potatoes with a fork:

Bake them in the oven until soft. Cut them in half and scoop out the inside:

Add 1/4 cup fat free sour cream, 1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, 1 clove of garlic (pressed) and to make it extra creamy...

1 wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese (or two to make it even creamier!). 

Mix it all together and divide the mixture among the empty potato shells:

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and it's done. I don't eat potatoes very often, but these are so simple to make and at only 4 WW points for two halves, it's a great side dish.

Veggies, turkey and Shirataki noodles in peanut sauce

I love Asian inspired dishes! Growing up in the Netherlands we had a lot of Indonesian food and one of my favorite things to eat was noodles in peanut sauce. I've been making my own peanut sauce for years, but decided to lighten it up since starting my weightloss journey and being healthier.

This recipe makes 2 very generous portions (or do what I did and make two smaller portions and have the lefovers for lunch the next day), but it's very low in fat and calories and loaded with fiber and protein.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of extra lean ground turkey
• 1 small red pepper, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 bunch of baby broccoli, cut in small pieces
• ginger 
• garlic
• 1 bag Shirataki tofu noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 green onions, sliced

For the sauce:

• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup Better 'n Peanut Butter
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 Tbs dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbs low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbs chili garlic paste

Start out by seasoning the turkey with some salt and cooking it until no longer pink. Transfer to a plate and set aside. In the same pan, saute the vegetables with as much garlic and ginger as you like (I like a LOT!).

When the vegetables are just starting to get soft, add the cooked turkey and stir.

To make the sauce, add all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add to the pan with the turkey, veggies and cilantro and stir to combine. 

Divide the noodles among two bowls and top with the turkey/veggie mixture. Sprinkle with the green onions and enjoy.

A few things...

I like this peanut butter a lot. Eating it plain is okay, but using this for cooking is awesome. It only has 2 WW points per serving vs 5 for the regular kind. I've been making peanut sauce for years and I cannot tell the difference when I use this product instead of the real thing. You can buy it at Trader Joe's and I hear that Target sells it as well.

I'm telling ya, good stuff.

These "noodles" are awesome! Granted, they smell a bit strange (kind of fishy), but as long as you rinse and dry them very well and serve them with any kind of sauce, you will never know these are made from tofu. Even my girls eat them. You can find them in the refrigerated section by the other tofu. See, they look just like the real thing:

Behold my ginger-garlic paste. I got this idea from Aarti Party on Food Network (I love her and want to try everything she makes!). You simply take equal amounts of ginger and garlic and puree it all together in the food processor. This stuff will keep in the fridge for several weeks, but if you use ginger and garlic as much as I do, it won't last long! For this recipe I used about 2 Tbs of this stuff in the peanut sauce and another 2 generous Tbs in the veggie mixture.

Whenever I have something spicy like this, I like to eat it with a simple salad of thinly sliced cucumbers, onions, sugar and rice vinegar. Just like my tomato soup, this is something that reminds me of my grandmother since she used to make it a lot... 

Only four ingredients, so simple yet so delicious!

Playing cards storage solution

We play a lot of games in our family. Incidentally, this Monopoly Deal game is one of our favorites...

The bad thing about playing so many card games is that the box that the cards come in starts falling apart. I used to tape the box or simply put a rubber band around the cards, until I decided to put them in small storage boxes:

I simply cut the labels from the card boxes and taped them to the front of the plastic boxes. Each box holds the directions to the game and some paper and a pencil for keeping score:

The games our easy to find in our sea of other games, they are protected and everything we need to play is in the container. I got my containers at Ikea, but any small storage container will do!

I just love being organized. It's the little things ;-)

Proud

As I blogged before, Alex and his girlfriend Winnie are on a trip of a lifetime. They are currently in Vancouver, but are heading to Dubai, Hong Kong, China and ultimately grad school in London.

Alex has been sending out newsletters to friends and family documenting his thoughts and experiences along the way. Turns out he is quite the writer! I'm telling you, his newsletters could be turned into a book.

I just wanted to publicly put it out here how proud I am of him. I've always known that Alex was special, but after reading his last newsletter I can say that I think he is amazing. 

Nothing bothers me more than when someone is being given a privilege and then act like they are entitled or show no gratitude or appreciation for it. In his latest newsletter Alex' words moved me to tears. They were true words of appreciation; not just for this opportunity but also for his family and for Winnie.

I am proud to be able to call him my stepson.

Comfort food

There isn't much more comforting to me than tomato soup and grilled cheese. However, my tomato soup is not your average red stuff from the can. My grandmother (or oma) used to make this amazing tomato soup with fresh tomatoes, meatballs, spaghetti noodles and TONS of dried thyme. It's more of a stew really and SO, SO good. As a child I watched her make it many times and over the years I've perfected my own version. There are certain elements to her recipe that I've omitted (like using bone marrow and fatty beef), but mine comes pretty close (and is healthier!), although it will never be 100% like oma used to make it :-)

I make my soup in a crock pot, since the base of the soup needs to cook slowly and long. This recipe serves about 6 people. Here is what you need for the base:

• 32 ounces of beef stock (I use the low sodium kind)
• 2 cups diced onions
• 8 ounces lean beef, cut in cubes
• 8 ounces lean ground beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled into small meatballs
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or more if you can stand it)
• And last but not least: 1/4 cup chopped lovage leaves. Now this is kind of a secret ingredient. Lovage is an herb that tastes like celery and looks like parsley. It's not an herb that is readily availble in stores and it's hard to find. However, it is a key ingredient and we have two large lovage plants growing in our garden. If you can't find it, you could use flat leaf parsley or celery leaves. It won't taste exactly like oma's soup, but it will still be good.

Cook the soup base on low for at least 6 hours. Then add 1 large 28 oz can of your favorite tomatoes. I like my soup chunky, so I use whole tomatoes and chop them roughly, but you could use crushed or diced tomatoes as well. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and simmer for another hour or so. Meanwhile, cook about 4 ounces of spaghetti or more if you like more paste (I use whole wheat) and add it to the soup. Stir and serve.

The way we used to eat it at oma's house was with some sambal oelek added. Sambal oelek is a hot chili paste and it gives the soup an amazing flavor. Of course, if you don't like things spicy you could leave it out, but for me... my soup has to have that kick!

I would be perfectly happy eating just a big bowl of this tomato-y goodness or maybe with a piece of nice crusty bread for dipping. But what goes better with tomato soup than a grilled cheese sandwich?

Tonight I made ours on my favorite low calorie bun with fat free cheese, onions, tomatoes and roasted garlic (Matt and I LOVE roasted garlic!)...

Just spread it on the bread before adding the cheese and the veggies...

For you WW people: I did the calculations and the Points Plus value for the entire meal (1 1/2 cups soup and 1 sandwich) was 11. For me, this comfort food from home is SO worth the Points :-)

Butternut squash muffins

I'm a bit obsessed with butternut squash. Have you tried it?  We grew a ton of it in our garden this year and my favorite way to preserve it is to bake the squash in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes until it's soft.

Scoop out the flesh and puree it in a food processor or simply mash it with a potato masher.

I then like to make individual zipper bags with a 1 or 2 cup serving. Freeze and they are ready to go when you are...

I've been wanting to make butternut squash muffins and I recently found a Weight Watcher recipe that looked good. I modified it slightly (I almost always up the amount of spices a recipe calls for, I used apple sauce instead of oil and added Greek yogurt. They turned out SO good!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butternut squash puree (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup applesauce (I used the cinnamon kind, but plain would work fine as well)
1/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt (or plain) 
3 Tbs molasses
1 egg 

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 12 muffin holes with cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
  
  
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.
  
  
• In another bowl, combine sugar, squash puree, apple sauce, yogurt, molasses and egg. With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes (or mix by hand). 
  
  
• Make a well in center of dry ingredients; pour in liquid mixture and gently fold to just combine (batter will be lumpy).
  
  
• Evenly pour batter into prepared muffin pan about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Yields 1 muffin per serving.

"Super powers"

I was explaining to Jazzie that since she lost her hearing, her other senses work better than most people. She is very good at those Hidden Picture puzzles (spies items before anyone else), she can taste flavors that are every so slight and her sense of smell is amazing.

After talking about it she turned to me and said: "Here's a secret, mom. I'd give up all those super powers if I could have my hearing".

Sigh...

Zucchini crusted pizza

This time of year we always have an abundance of zucchini. One of my favorite things to do with it is make a zucchini crusted pizza.

I saw the idea of a zucchini crust for pizza in a magazine several years ago, but played around with the recipe until it was to my liking... 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start out with 4 cups of grated zucchini (about 1 pound). 

It is imperative that you squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini. I weighed in down in a colander first with a few cans of tomatoes, then put it in a towel to squeeze out the rest of the water.

After the zucchini is nice and dry, put it in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of egg subsitute (or two large eggs), 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 2 Tbs flour, 1/2 tsp dried oregano and some salt to taste.

Mix well and spread the mixture on a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray...

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until the crust is nice and brown):

Next comes the tomato sauce. You could easily use store bought pizza sauce or tomato sauce, but I like to make my own out of these four simple ingredients:

1 small red onion, chopped. 3 cloves of garlic, chopped. 12 basil leaves, chopped. One quart of tomatoes. I used tomatoes from our garden which we canned last year, but a 28 oz store bought can works fine as well. Sautee the onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes, basil and some salt and simmer until sauce thickens. When the sauce is done, spread it over the crust:

Now comes the fun part. Top this with whatever you like. Tonight I simply topped our pizza with sauteed baby portabella mushroom, jalapenos (we like it spicy!) and 8 ounces of fresh mozarella.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I usually turn the broiler on for a few minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy :-)

Serves 4.

For those of you counting Weight Watcher Points, I did the calculations and this comes out at 8 Points + per serving.

New start

I've been blogging since May 2006. Wow, that is over 5 years! I've blogged about adoption, cochlear implants, post adoption depression, weight loss, trips we've taken, etc. But mostly about Jazzie...

And Tahlia...

For a while now I've been wanting to take this blog in a different direction. I thought of doing a cooking blog, but decided I wanted it to be more than that. I do LOVE to cook, but I also love to organize and find fun and crafty things to do with the girls. So I thought I would focus more on those kind of things instead of just my daily life as a stay-at-home mom. Obviously being a mom is a big part of who I am and I will still blog about Jazzie and Tahlia and what is going on in our lives.

Since losing weight and getting healthy, I have gotten so many wonderful e-mails from people who were inspired by my story and I thank all of you who have written me this past year (you know who you are!). Many people wrote to ask me for recipes, meal ideas and tips, so that is the direction I will be going with this blog. I will be posting recipes, write about things that have helped me lose the weight (and keep it off), I will share some organizing ideas (being the neat freak that I am), all along with pictures and stories of our daily life, or our daily grind :-)

A few people have pointed out that Matt is not in the header. I do realize that he is missing, which is not to say that he is not at the top of my list of things that I love :-) 
I love a lot of things that are not represented in the header (my friends, my dog, my family, my grandson, Thai food, the color burgundy, shopping at Tarzhay, banana's, lip gloss, freesia's, autumn, butternut squash, just to name a few). The things I put in the header are things I will be focusing on here. First of all, there is me. I used to hide, but not anymore. So I am right there; at the top for everyone to see. Then we have Jazzie and Tahlia who are my life. This blog started out being about them and it will continue to be about them; just not all the time. Then there is my kitchen. I love to cook and I plan on posting some of my creations that I cook up in there. Then we have coffee. It's no secret how much I love it! There is something comforting about sipping a cup of coffee whether it's with friends or by myself, while I'm reading, while I'm blogging, while I'm shopping, pretty much any time! And then there is the picture of me running. This past year I've fallen in love with it. Never could I have imagined what running would do for my body, mind and soul. My days are not quite right if I don't get some kind of run in.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to this new beginning!

New

It's a new me, so I thought it was time to give this blog a new look and a new direction.

Changes coming soon :-)

Bon voyage, Alex and Winnie

Today, Alex and Winnie are starting their big travels. They are traveling to Vancouver, Canada first to see Winnie's parents. Then they are off to Hong Kong and China for about 6 months to see more of Winnie's family and to do some traveling. From there they will go to London, England to attend grad school. Architecture and Design for Winnie and Culinary Management for Alex.

Alex and Winnie: we enjoyed having you guys here for the past two weeks. We will miss you two SO much, but we are thrilled for you and the journey you are about to embark on. We wish you nothing but the best. We love you!!!

More fun with Alex and Winnie

Did I mention what a good time we had last week with Alex and Winnie?

There was lots of cooking:

Lots of playing:

Lots of good family time!

I give you some seriously talented musicians

Yesterday Alex took a bit of time to give the girls some music lessons in preparation for a concert they were going to put on a bit later...

And now I present to you the concert:

Jazzie

Jazzie comes up with some funny stuff at times. This evening Jazzie was sitting at the counter as I was putting the dishes away and out of the blue told me: "Mom, you know every boob has it's own twin".

Well, that's good to know. Just thought I'd share with you all. 

A yummy dinner

We've had so much fun with Alex and Winnie. I can't believe that tomorrow will be our last day together for a while. This evening, Alex made a wonderful dinner for us. It's nice to have a chef in the family!

Look at those beautiful scallops!

As Alex was plating, Alex and Winnie just stood there watching, trying not to drool ;-)

I can't give Alex all the credit, as Winnie made a delicious salad.

A little sauce...

The final result:

Scallops in a pinot grigio cream sauce, stuffed pepper with chorizo and mushroom and fingerling potatoes. Wow... YUM!

Fun with Alex and Winnie

Alex and Winnie have been here with us since last week. They will be here for a few more days and then they are off on a big adventure. After they leave here, they are going to Vancouver to see Winnie's family. From there, they are going to travel to Hong Kong and China do some traveling and meeting up with some more of Winnie's family. They will be there for about 6 months and they they're off to London, England where both of them will be attending grad school. Winnie will be studying Design and Architecture and Alex will be studying culinary management. Needless to say we are thrilled for the two of them for this great opportunity, but we will miss them SO much!!! That is why we've been spending some good ole quality family time together...

Alex turned Jazzie on to his favorite game, Risk:

There has been some paper making:

We took Winnie to Skyline Chili - a Cincinnati instituion!

We weren't ashamed to wear bibs ;-)

Matt made blueberry pancakes for breakfast which he used to do every weekend when Alex was a kid. I think it brought back some memories :-)

Last night Winnie made us some traditional Chinese hot pot for dinner (with the help of Alex). It was seriously delicious!

We have 3 more days with Alex and Winnie and we're going to make the most of it!

"Seatbelts save lives"

After having a really fun day with the family yesterday, we were reminded of how precious life is and how quickly anything can change. I got a phone call from my very dear friend Pam last night. Pam and her husband Steve were on vacation in California visiting her sister when they got in a car accident. Pam's sister was killed instantly and Steve remains in a coma. Neither one of them was wearing their seatbelt.

Wear a seatbelt, people.

Family fun

Yesterday we had Matt's family over at our house for a belated birthday party for Jazzie and Tahlia and my mother-in-law...

"YEAH! 10 DOLLARS!"

Birthday girls:

Shucking corn

We are having a big family gathering here at our house tomorrow and to help me prepare for it, I gave Jazzie the job of shucking the corn...

I bought 24 ears of corn and I knew Jazzie would do a good job, being as thorough and meticulous as she is. It took her over an hour, but in the end I had 24 beautifully cleaned ears of corn, with not one single piece of silk. Told you my girl is meticulous ;-)

Laughter

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter".  ~e.e. cummings

Been thinking

After writing my post with before and after pictures of myself, I got the following comment:

"i think you're an amazing person and mom. 
but i hope the emphasis you put on being thinner = prettier and a better person does not affect your kids! you weren't uglier or a worse person before, but good for you that you are healthier now!"

This comment made me think and I would like to respond to it. I never meant to imply that I believe that a person can only be beautiful if they are thin. As a matter of fact, I never said those words. It is just that I was doing a lot of internal self loathing. Above everything, I felt and knew that I wasn't healthy. I couldn't walk up the stairs without being out of breath. I had very little energy. I was pre-diabetic and my blood pressure which is usually low, was getting higher and higher. I was not healthy, I was not happy and I didn't feel beautiful or pretty. I decided that I wanted to get healthier.

It is important to remember that it didn't matter to me what everyone else was saying. I didn't feel good about myself and nothing anyone would say could make me think differently. I had to change my internal thinking in order to change my external being. One quote that I once read and that spoke to me at the time (and still does) is this: "I stopped stuffing my face, when I started facing my stuff".

I started running and accomplished things I didn't think I could ever do. I lost weight and gained more energy. The self loathing disappeared. I now feel healthy and happy. I don't think that affects my girls in a negative way at all. In fact, I am now modeling a healthy lifestyle for them. Instead of sitting around the house eating sugary and salty snacks, they see me go out and exercise almost every single day. They see me buy, prepare and eat fresh and healthy meals and snacks.They see me make healthy choices and in turn, they are doing the same. So why I can appreciate the worry that I am putting too much emphasis on the fact that being thin equals being beautiful, I respectfully disagree.

Jazzie and Tahlia are built very differently. One is tall, lean and slender. The other is short and stocky. I think both of them are beautiful. My biggest hope for my girls is that they grow up to be kind, accepting and non-judgmental people. In just our family alone we have people of all different sizes, races, religions and abilities. My kids know that it doesn't matter what a person looks like on the outside. It is the inside that truly counts. And now that I am a healthier and happier me, I feel that I am a better mom, wife, friend, daughter, etc. And I know that that can only impact me and the people in my life in a positive way.