Shoutin’ from the Rooftop

Quit chasing someone else’s dream or worrying about what other people are doing. YOU do YOU and run your own race!- Charlene Johnson

I saw this quote on Charlene Johnson’s facebook status this afternoon. See good things do come from facebook. lol.

I love this quote.  It is a good reminder for me. I am still learning to be comfortable in my own skin running the race of life as my own race.

Tags: quote

As I have mentioned before, I have been consistantly going to my strength and balance class at the YMCA since January. Originally I had a friend that roped me in to the class. I knew that I had to add some strength work in to my fitness routine and balance was a no-brainer. I have absolutely no balance. My lack of balance is why my girls are enrolled in dance class. Hopefully balance can be taught at an early age. ha.

The woman that teaches this class is amazing. My dream is to be as fit as she is. That dream is way off in the distance but it is out there floating around. She is hard on us (which I do secretly love even though I might give her dirty looks). She is one of the other reasons that I keep going to this class. She knows my name. She knows approximatelty where I live. YIKES. She is a friend of my mom’s. AND SHE COULD TAKE ME.

I have made this class a priority. I knew that it would be too easy not to go because the class is so stinkin’ hard. I mean HARD. Hard as in my friend and I groan almost the entire class. Before every class, we ask each other why we keep coming. Then we look at each other and say “results and the teacher”. 

Probably no one else can see the small biceps that I have “created”. I know that absolutely no one can see the definition I am seeing on my abs. Believe me, I will NOT be showing you that. There are other areas that are starting to finally cooperation and conform to the torture.

Recently I have caught myself flexing my biceps and checking them out. Ha. Funny seeing a 30-something mom flexing her muscles. So if you see me flexing my muscles in a moment of insanity, just look away and act like you didn’t just see that.

Tags: exercise

We have really been enjoying being a part of the CSA Farm that we joined earlier in the year. Every Wednesday the girls and I enjoy going to pick up our share of the harvest. It is always an adventure to see what we are going to get. I have been proud of the girls and their willingness to try new vegetables. It has been an interesting process trying  new vegetables and figuring out ways to prepare those veggies that I am unfamiliar with.

Prime example: Garlic Scapes

To be honest, I had never ever heard of garlic scapes before I picked up our harvest a few weeks ago.They were so nice and pretty. Such a brilliant shade of green.  I did a google search and still wasn’t too sure what I was dealing with. But since we only received four scapes that week, I wasn’t too concerned that they went unused. Shhhh don’t tell Chris, those first few scapes went in the garage after a few days. I was stumped.

So last week when I got TWO POUNDS of garlic scapes I knew I had to figure out something to do with those babies. Back to google I went.

Garlic scapes are the “flower stalks” of hardneck garlic plants, although they do not produce flowers. These stalks start to appear a month or so after the first leaves. They are usually cut off of the plant, since leaving them on only diverts the plants strength away from forming a plump bulb. If left on, they eventually form small bulbils that can be planted to grow more garlic, but it takes 2–3 years for them to form large bulbs. Many gardeners simply toss their scapes in the compost, but garlic scapes are both edible and delicious, as are the bulbils.

Thank you Google. So after more research, I decided I wasn’t going to these garlic scapes get the best of me. So I took one and cut it up in to one inch pieces. Then I used a teaspoon of sunflower oil in a skillet and heated it. Then I sauteed them until they were soft and caramelized.  Tasty. So I decided to get brave and fix more for dinner.  After they were tender, I sprinkled them with some fresh Asaigo cheese. They reminded Chris & me of either a roasted green bean or asparagus. I put about four on each of the girls’ plate. They loved them. Score one for the home team.

Sydney even proceeded to say “Mom, I love garlic scapes so much that I want to eat them tomorrow.” 

Garlic scapes, I am glad to have found you. I have been told that many farmers’ markets have garlic scapes. I think they would also be very tasty thrown in to some green beans while they are cooked.

Anyone tried garlic scapes?

Tags: vegetables

So sorry that I have been MIA. A week ago Sunday, my computer crashed. I got the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH as Chris refers to it. Ugh. We don’t own a desktop anymore. Just my laptop. So when my beloved laptop crashed, I was in trouble. Ugh.

We are now on day nine without my laptop. I am going in to serious withdrawal. My mom graciously lent me her laptop until mine is returned.

Tomorrow, our YMCA is offering free body composition evaluations. I hadn’t heard about it until today when I went for my strength and balance class. In a moment of weakness, I signed up for an evaluation tomorrow. I wish I would have had a baseline starting spot from a few months ago. But it is what it is. I know the news won’t be too good.

Once I get my computer back and can load pictures, I have some product reviews and want to show off our latest harvest bounty.

Here is our first CSA veggie pick-up. The girls and I were so excited to get to the pick-up site on Wednesday. We rushed there hoping to beat the storms. Thankfully we got home before the weather turned bad.

Of course due to the cold wet spring, the first harvest is a little small. But it is early.

Wow. Was everything tasty. It is kind of hard to see the different items since most of them are green.

Here is a run down: Two different types of lettuce, radishes, broccoli, green onions, fresh herbs, and something in the bottom left corner that I cannot remember the name of. I thought it had garlic in the name.

I did learn some lessons when I went to pick-up. I need to take a piece of paper with me to write down what everything is so I don’t forget by the time I get home. And I need to take some ziploc bags with me and a marker so I can take advantage of all the fresh herbs.

The evening of pick-up, I ate all the radishes. Radishes bring back great memories of my Grandma & Grandpa Wenger. Funny how that is something I associate to them. The girls & my sister-in-law ate the broccoli.  We have enjoyed one of the lettuces and still have one head of lettuce left. Chris & the girls even said that the lettuce tasted fresh. It was so tasty.

The girls are just as excited for next weeks pick-up. Can’t wait to see what we get and hope that the weather shapes up so we can start enjoying even more vegetables.

Tags: CSA

Have you ever been struggling with your journey not because you aren’t motivated but because you are not seeing the results? Maybe there are changes going on but you just can’t see them. We are almost always our own worst critic.

For me the weight loss has been slow but thankfully the doctor figured out why it was non-existent before February. I think during that time, I was beyond frustrated. I was doing everything by the book and nothing was happening. Now that my body is back on track, the weight loss can still be painfully slow but others are seeing a change.

Friday on my way in to the Y for my cycling class, a friend complimented me on how I was looking. I thanked her and said that it was just so slow. She said “even though the scales may not be moving, I can tell how much more toned you are.” Well, thank you very much! Whohooooooo. So I guess all those time attending my torturous strength class are finally paying off.

Then yesterday at the previously mentioned torturous strength classes, a classmate who has been out of town for a month, complimented me on how much weight I had lost. Little did the classmate know but she made my day and I am still floating on that compliment almost 24 hours later.

I am going to tuck away those two compliments and bring them out on the days that I don’t want to go to the Y or that food is calling my name.

So what compliments have you received that motivated you even more?

Tags: compliments, motivation

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with CSA’s. CSA are community Supported Agriculture. I had heard about CSAs several years ago and had found one that wasn’t too far from us. This year I convinced my sweet husband that we should try it for a summer to see how we like it. Since he has a love of fresh local produce and its great taste, he was game.

In case you were wondering, here is a brief description of what a CSA is and how they work.

Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief…

Advantages for farmers:

• Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
• Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
• Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

• Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
• Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
• Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

It’s a simple enough idea, but its impact has been profound.

Needless to say, I am so excited. I don’t think there is anything better than a home grown tomato, green beans, corn etc. Wednesday will be our weekly pick-up date.

If you are interested in more information you can check out Local Harvest

Local Harvest is the site that I got the definition/description of CSAs and their site is where I found the CSA that we are using: Victory Acres CSA Farm.

In addition to our weekly crop, I just bought four tomato plants. In my opinion, I can never have enough fresh tomatoes. So I am going to attempt to make a raised “flower” bed for my tomato plants.

Our weekly crop delivery cannot come soon enough.

Tags: CSA

Sydney’s comment on Friday did motivate me.  Her encouragement to do my best was just the push that I needed. Friday I pushed out three mile run. It felt so good. After the past few days of moving furniture and boxes, it was nice to stretch my legs.

Saturday was so crammed full. Sydney had a dance competition and we didn’t get home until late Saturday night so I just made Saturday a rest day.

Yesterday morning, I got up earlier and after a trip to the grocery, I decided to go ahead and get in my run. WOW.SO.HARD. Not sure why I was so tired. The day before must have really caught up with me. I struggled to push out the three miles.

I wanted to figure out a way to track all of my work. After some internet research, I found Log Your Run. I love this site because you can log other exercise besides running. I just logged this morning’s spin class that I went to. There is also a place to log swimming, strength, weights etc. Check it out. It is totally free. I will say that I am a little obsessed about entering my data as soon as I am done. I love seeing that information.

I doubt that I will get up to the 500 miles that Sydney suggested but we will see how far I get.

Tags: run