Blurb Column

Finally!

2012-02-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

After my weekend classes a couple weeks ago I was feeling pretty darn wiped out. There was lots of going to bed early to try and recover. When I wasn't going to bed early I was doing homework and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy with my house/home routine. Today, for the first time I actually felt like I had energy this afternoon when I got home from school. Instead of wanting to lay down and take a nap I was ready to clean up the kitchen, start some laundry and play with the kitty.

Speaking of the kitty, we haven't talked much about her (or anything else) lately. She is a HOOLIGAN! She is about 4+ months old now, growing a lot and getting into all kinds of mischief! Like this:

Yes, that is a huge tree in my back yard. And, if you look closely, you can see the hooligan waaaay up in the top of the tree on the right. It's probably about 25' or so off the ground. She is crazy.

Oh, how did she get down, you ask? She fell. Yah. She is young and not so strong as she might think, and a little clumsy, too. She climbed down about 5 feet and then lost it and fell the rest of the way down. So crazy! Here she comes crashing down, amid a bunch of tree debris and lands feet first on the ground.

She is fine. Crazy, but fine.

I don't let my cats roam around outside unattended. There are too many other cats and things they could get into, so I monitor them. She has been outside with me or Chris almost every day since Saturday. She loves it! Ever since she discovered the tree, though, we have had to really keep her away from it. She almost got away from me today...she made it about six feet up before I got ahold on her and yarded her back down. She is a hoodlum!

But she's cute.

What else is going on? Well, my cousin Marcela had her baby girl, Paloma Evangeline Cary, yesterday. Marcela had a miscarriage last year that was really emotionally devastating. She has two boys already, Tomas and Alejandro. I was really excited for her when she found out she was pregnant again, and that she was having a little girl. Both mom and baby are well and happy.

This is my new favorite breakfast:

Oatmeal, peanut butter, banana, cinnamon and cranberries. SO delicious!

We also have planted some of our peppers and tomatoes for the garden. They are inside and we are hoping to have some decent size plants to plant by mid-May when we are past the danger of frost. Last year the seeds took too long to get going, and the starts we started got a little shocked when we moved them. We are hoping for better results this year. In the meantime, our guest room is serving as a temporary greenhouse as well as guest room.

Speaking of guests, we had an awesome Super Bowl Sunday! My brother and his friend came down to visit and hang out with us. The sun was shining, it was warm and we had lots of yummy snacks. He brought a delicious chili and Chris smoked a brisket. We had chips and veggies and whatnot, too. We also tried some of our homemade limoncello....TASTY! Potent, but tasty! Plus the Giants won in the last minutes of the game, which was awesome!

Also, I thought Madonna did an awesome job, and I thought that her "special guests" were really superfluous to the whole thing. She totally carried the whole thing herself. It was awesome.

I thought the commercials sucked. They weren't even funny or interesting. Mostly we sat there asking WTH? Stupid.

Chris made dinner the other night. I can't give you a recipe because he just threw a bunch of stuff together, but I will tell you that it was delicious! A tiny bit spicy from the spicy mexican style carrots, but really yummy!

And to wrap things up on a totally random note: I bought these Christmas decorations for .50 cents! That, my friends, is my kind of bargain!

Have an awesome Thursday! I have to study for two mid-terms, grade papers for the class I TA for, read a bunch of stuff. respond to an on line discussion, and uhm...oH yah...write 10 annotations of academic articles/papers about mediation and conflict management. Color you jealous!!

January 31, 2012

2012-01-31T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Again! It feels like forever since I posted.

The big news is that I survived my two weekend class and can now return to a regularly scheduled schedule. I have a $%&*-ton of homework to accomplish, but I will just take it one step at a time.

(I should really be doing homework right now, but hey, I needed to check in here!)

Okay, I have a couple of things to say. First of all I want to tell you about an experience I had at school. I am taking a business class and one of the things that keeps coming up is ethics. I have a pretty darn strong ethical compass. In fact, my ethics are what caused me to leave two different jobs in the past. I just have to say that I am *appalled* at the lack of ethics and the, shall we say, moral flexibility that many of my (typically younger) fellow students have. They attempt to justify everything! I actually inquired of my teacher if I was totally out of line with the general thinking of the class and she said that I certainly had a different thought process, likely due to generation differences and work experience. This lack of ethics really concerns me. I mean, do these kids understand that lack of ethics is what led to Enron's collapse? Bear Sterns? The Gulf Oil spill? The current economic recession where thousands of people have lost their jobs and homes? Unethical behavior is a cancer in our business world and I have a great fear that it is only going to get worse.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Respond in the comments if you like.

Today is the last day of January so I thought I would check in on my goals.

I have to say that my school schedule this month, as I suspected it might, really got in the way of my goal achievement. It is mostly because after 8 straight hours of class I am exhausted. I still had to do all the regular life stuff and homework stuff, so I really didn't have the energy to do anything else.

I exercised 10 days of the month. Not that great, but I was expecting that a little bit.

I did start training for the half marathon on some of those days and completed walk/jogs several times, increasing both my distance (longest was 4.61 miles jog/walk) and time jogging (1 min walk/jog intervals for over 3 miles). So that is progress and I fully intend to get back to training this week!

I didn't exercise every other day so I am a little behind on my goal of exercising half the days of the year, but I can catch up.

This means I am also a little behind on my goal of exercise minutes for the year, but as my friend Jenn pointed out, half marathon training should get me a lot of those minutes.

I am still going to school, surviving it and doing well ( I think) so am still working on the overall goal of finishing this year. We shall see!

So, I didn't hit all the numbers for January, but I didn't think I would either.

February starts tomorrow! Short month, and time for some short term goals.

Biggest goal is to get back to half marathon training by hitting the pavement two-three times per week for walk/jog intervals of increasing time and distance. I hope to improve during the month and perhaps be able to double my jog time and add at least another mile and a half to my distance.

That's the biggest plan! One step at a time, right?

Thanks for hanging in here as I have coped with a crazy schedule! I plan to be here more now that I am back to regular class schedule!

Where have you been?

2012-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

Or rather, where have I been?

Honestly, all, I don't even know what day it is...I have had to keep reminding myself all day that today is Thursday, not Friday.

I don't know if you recall, but I am in the midst of a crazy couple of weeks of school. I did it to myself, but truly, it is taking all of my energy to keep up with the absolute basics.

I go to class, I am packing my foods, I prepare meals, and I do homework. I try to fit kitty play time and actually interacting with my husband in there somewhere, too. In the midst of that, I am still trying to take care of the usual household stuff like groceries, getting gas in the car, dishes and laundry. Not to mention getting the taxes organized and paying the bills.

I may have gone 'round the bend crazy.

Thank the heavens my instructor for today had a conference in Dallas and I got a slight reprieve: no class. Woohoo! This didn't mean no school work, but it meant I didn't have to get up, get ready and be somewhere. I spent a good portion of the day in my sweats on the futon with my school work and my kitty.

My exercise routine, which I thought I might be able to manage a couple days a week has completely fallen by the wayside. I fully intend to pick back up, but these two weekend classes have totally zapped my energy.

I am not a super high energy person to begin with, but when stress and anxiety are added into the mix, I seriously struggle to get all the things done I absolutely MUST get done without adding any more stress to the mix. Right now, the not exercising is good and bad. Good because it is one more thing that I could beat myself up over or stress about getting accomplished, and bad because it would probably help manage my anxiety a bit better.

Speaking of, I headed to the doctor today. My anxiety (or panic-whatever) has reared its ugly head again in my life. I thought perhaps that I had learned enough techniques to manage it, but the last few years have been pretty emotionally overwhelming. I think that all of the stuff that has happened (Kendra, moving, mom), and the ongoing stress of a single income, not having a job, going to school, and an unknown future are all starting to get to me. The compounding nature of things has increased my stress levels to the point where I am not managing them. They are managing me.

Many years ago I waited to long to get help for my anxiety/panic and was seriously debilitated by it. I don't want that to happen again. Yesterday I had an anxiety/panic attack for no reason in the middle of a movie at school (not my first panic attack at school this term-super fun!). It is massively horrible to feel stuck someplace and be panicking. I didn't want to get my anxiety meds out of my purse because I was in a theater and didn't want to make a bunch of noise. This adds more panic. It is a yucky catch 22 roller coaster feeling. So I tried to breathe. And wiggle. Wiggling helps burn off the adrenaline feelings. Eventually it subsided and I congratulated myself on another successful survival without freakout. Yay me!

Today I saw my doc and we added a daily med for anxiety to my "as needed for panic" med. I am so grateful to have this available to me. I hope it helps and I can start to feel calmer in the days ahead. Though we have made great strides in this arena, there is still a TON of stigma associated with anxiety/panic and other mental disorders. Having grown up in a family with some pretty significant mental disorders, I try to be an advocate for people getting help. It is not your fault! There is help available! There is no reason to suffer needlessly through depression, anxiety, panic, mania or other The meds DO help!

I know that often, in the midst of the fog of the crazy, it can be hard to think rationally and functionally. Try. Try to get help if you need it.

So that is my post for today. I am hoping the meds kick in over the next week or so and I start to get some relief. School should calm down a bit after this next week, too, and that will help.

I have more to do, so better get to it! Have a great Thursday or Tuesday or whatever day it is!

Have I Mentioned Prep Work?

2012-01-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I realized yesterday that starting THIS Saturday I will have school for 13 days straight. 9 of those days I will have to be at school by 8 or 8:30 in the morning and stay until at least 3:30, and 5 of those days until 5pm. Uhm...I haven't had a "work" 9-5 type of schedule since, uhm...October 16th 2009.

I have a distinct feeling that I am going to be pretty wiped out! Because, not only will I have to be in school all that time, but I will still have tons of school reading and homework to accomplish outside of those hours, plus my regular life. Things like exercising, preparing meals, grocery shopping, playing with the kitten, speaking to my husband. You know..the usual!!

I know that lots and lots of people are much busier than this all the time, and I salute you! I used to have a regular J-O-B and will again in the future, but I haven't for a while now and this is going to be an adjustment.

You know what is going to save my ass? Prep.

Seriously. I am prepping in as many ways as I can. I am reading as far ahead as I have time for this week in all of my classes. Reading a chapter in a text book can take an hour or more, and that is a pretty cursory read. So I am doing lots of prep-reading.

Meal prep is critical! I know I have said this before, and I will again. CRITICAL!! So that is what I did tonight. I did a bunch of prep work.

*peeled and sliced carrots
*sliced cucumbers
*peeled and sliced jicama
*sliced cucumber
*sliced red and yellow peppers
*chopped onion
*cooked 2 cups of brown rice
*washed and chopped two heads of lettuce
*got the coffee pot ready for the morning, all I have to do is push start
*made and packaged lunches for tomorrow, all I have to do is throw them in appropriate lunch box/bag (using my new and totally awesome reusable lunch and snack bags!!)
*pulled chicken out of the freezer for tomorrow nights dinner
*made an executive decision to make what I was going to make tomorrow on Thursday when I have more time (hence the need for the chicken). Thursday's meal is a crockpot meal that should leave us with left-overs. Left-overs are an awesome prep tool!
*washed and prepped snow peas

The dishwasher is going and I'm going to go throw a load of clothes in the laundry, because I won't have time for all day laundry projects.

Chris did a bunch of playing and chasing with the kitten tonight (she loves to be chased around the house-she chases us back! It is hilarious!)

Here is what all that veggie prep work will do for me: I can eat the veggies raw. If I want to add them to a meal (like the peppers tomorrow night) they are already cleaned and sliced and just have to be thrown in the pan. The onion is chopped so I can just scoop out how much I need. I can reheat the brown rice and have it with dinner tomorrow, and I can add some to my leftover butternut squash tomatillo "bisque" that I made a big ole pot of last night. I am taking that for my lunch tomorrow.

If I want I can add some rinsed and drained canned beans (pinto, kidney, black) to the brown rice with some seasonings for a tasty and filling lunch.

A salad is literally moments from being ready with everything washed, sliced and chopped.

I did most of this while I was making dinner tonight. Yes it took a bit of time, but it will be time very well spent as things get hectic. Yes, I will have to do more prep work in the next couple of weeks, but it too will be time well spent to help keep me sane.

And on the note of leftovers, I have bean soup, turkey and rice soup, and chicken pot pie in my freezer in ready to eat portions from meals I have already made. This Friday I will probably make another crockpot meal or two (or three-remember I now have the triple crocker!) and stick those in the freezer, too. This is a huge time saver and sanity saver when I am exhausted and it's time to make dinner. Plus, those meals can be such life savers with Chris' schedule. If he gets a call and has to go to work at oddball times, making a whole dinner is not worth it, but having good food to eat after a warm up in the microwave is always worth it.

Oh, and just a little update: Yesterday I did a 3.34 mile walk/jog in 49 minutes, with 1 minute walk/jog intervals. I felt pretty darn good and today am not sore. I feel like that was a really great "benchmark" workout. It showed me where I am really at currently with distance and jogging ability. I now feel like I really have a place to start training from. Over the next few weeks the goal is to get out on the pavement at least twice a week (three times would be better!) and work on increasing both mileage and walk/jog interval times.

Do you do prep work? What do you think is critical for your sanity in crazy times??

Why Southern Oregon Is Awesome

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Do you want to know why living in Southern Oregon is AWESOME (most of the time)??

Here are some examples:

These pictures were taken January 10th, 2012 around 3:30 in the afternoon. Chris and I went for a 3.37 mile walk in 50 minutes over near the Medford Airport. There is a paved walking path all round one side of the airport, and then another part that is all gravel.

The views are amazing. The airplanes taking off and landing is fun and different.

The sun was shining, and it was cool, but not as cold as it was over the weekend. We actually had a great walk and the sun was just dipping behind the mountains as we finished up.

I only got 3 days of exercise in this week, Sunday, Tuesday and Friday, but Friday was a 4.61 mile wog in 1:11:46. And I was going to exercise Saturday...but I couldn't move my legs.

Seriously, my thighs were killing me. The wog + distance increase may have been a little much, but I felt good at the time. Today I am exercising no matter what and Monday I don't have school so that will help, too.

I actually felt really good about my run on Friday! I just thought I would go out and see what I could do and how I felt. I picked a mostly flat area of low traffic neighborhood and just walked and jogged and walked and jogged and then walked. The jogging wasn't easy, but it also wasn't has difficult as I thought it might be, and I managed to go as far as I *wanted* (meaning I said I want to run down one side of this whole block) and I did.

Food, always my weakness, has been good and not so good, but I'm working on it.

I need to work on some goals for this week and post those for accountability. Happy Sunday!!

The Friday (saturday) Five # 6

2012-01-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

I know it's Saturday (night!), but I am going to do a Friday Five post anyway. As you can see by how quiet it has been around here this week, I am back in school. I have taken pictures and thought about stuff to blog, but I am still getting adjusted to my schedule. Hopefully I will be able to work it out and get back to daily or every other day blogging quickly!

1. What I'm Reading:

Still working on Carson McCullers The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. So far it is a little weird and, uhm, not that engaging. But mostly what I've been reading are these:

So far I have read at least one chapter in each of those except Mass Media and Society, and I have read two chapters in Small Group, Mediation Theory, and Management. At least it is interesting and they all tie in together in various ways.

2. What I'm Listening To:

This exact second? Chris making a helluva ruckus in the garage. I think he is working on changing out a clutch, but good grief! I think every power tool we own in in operation out there. Very distracting.

Also, I downloaded the Pandora App for my phone and listened to my Justin Timberlake station on my wog yesterday (4.61 miles in 1:11:46 tyvm!). It was okay. The music wasn't quick enough. I may try the Lady Gaga station that everyone raves about.

3. What I'm Watching:

The best thing I watched this week was Wag the Dog with Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche, William H. Macy, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, Woody Harrleson, and Kirsten Dunst. It was for my Media Across Cultures class and it was SO good! I laughed so much. It is a story about the President of the United states sleeping with a teenager and it comes out in the press 11 days before his re-election. DeNiro, Heche and Hoffman are the key players in "distracting" the media from this story. It is a hilarious, and sadly probably very accurate, depiction of how the media is very manipulateable. I'm not sure if that's a word, but I like it. I highly recommend seeing it!

4. What I'm Eating:

SO DELICIOUS Dairy Free Coconut CHOCOLATE milk. 100 Calories per 1 cup serving. Tasty. Thick. Chocolatey. Today I poured myself a serving, adding some coffee and a splash of creme de menthe. Tasty afternoon warm me up treat that was both chocolate craving satisfying and warm satisfying and isn't going to ruin the diet satisfying. WIN-WIN-WIN! I have also tried their plain coconut refrigerator milk and I like that, too. Thicker than 2% but without the nasty flavor of cow milk.

5. What I'm ~~Pinning~~ Thinking:

THESE THINGS ARE AWESOME!!

Sack Savers on Etsy - snack size

Bloomingdeals on Etsy- bigger than sandwich, sandwich and snack size.

Inside snack size

Thanks to Cassie over at Back To Her Roots, I went to Etsy and found these reusable snack and sandwich bags. I really hate using the plastic bags because I go through 2 or 3 (or more) a day! I make Chris' lunch almost every day and his lunch box isn't big enough for plastic reusable tupperware-style containers, so I am always using plastic bags. Sometimes I can re-use them, but often they have yucky mess on the inside and have to be thrown away. My lunch bag is big enough for containers, so I use those more, but these bags are a perfect option for both of us!

These are dishwasher or washing machine safe, or they can be handwashed and air dried. They have a liner on the inside that is easy to wipe clean and a full velcro closure. They hold a substantial amount of snacks, and the sandwich bags easily hold good size sandwiches. I am SO thrilled with these!

If you are crafty you can make them yourself. Cassie has a tutorial on her site. I am not crafty, nor do I own a sewing machine, and even if I did...oh my gosh...just ask my mother about my "sewing" attempts. Yah. I will happily pay the $ for someone else to do the work.

I am actually thinking of going and seeing if they have cloth napkins, too. I use cloth napkins in our lunches already, but I would like to have a few more so we aren't using the same ones over and over.

BONUS #6. Mandatory cute kitty picture:

Okay, it's not the best picture and she looks a little deranged, but she LOVES this feather thing. In fact, she LOVES it so much she will NOT let go of it once she gets it in her mouth and she starts growling if you try to take it from her. It's cute but not, if you know what I mean. I was holding her trying to get it away from her and she was growling so Chris snapped this pic. She was none too happy about the whole thing. HA! Crazy kitty!!

Happy Saturday Night!

I know ya'll will be rooting for the Packers with me tomorrow, right??

First Day of School Recap

2012-01-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I survived day one back to school...whew!

The highlights (because I have a very lonely baby kitty waiting for playtime):

Early morning class: Media Across Cultures, we watched a movie called Shadows of Hate and saw video of actual dead bodies hanging from trees with people celebrating underneath. Not cool. Good thing I didn't eat too much breakfast this morning.

Mid-morning class: During attendance the name of one of my cousins was called out. I turned around "Hey! You're my cousin!" I knew he attended school there, but we aren't close (obvi) and I wasn't really a part of that side of the family growing up, AND since I'm 35 and he is in college at the age where you are supposed to go to college..well you can see how we might not have recognized each other visually. Funny! Small world. Class lasted about a half hour and Wednesday's class is only a half hour. This annoys me. Class is Small Group Communication.

This left with me 2.5 hours to kill with no laptop.

sigh.

I hunkered down in the Student Union, ate my lunch and perused the web on my phone.

Afternoon class is a Conflict Resolution class that I am taking as a practicum requirement as the Teaching Assistant. <--- yes I capitalized that. ;-) Should be interesting! I took the same class as a student last term.

Now I am home, was starving so quickly ate a piece of cheese, a granola bar thing and some leftovers from dinner last night. Now I need to go play with my kitty before she decides that the drapes are a better choice!

Oh, today is my rest day...I exercised 6 days in a row so I totally earned it!

More tomorrow!

Sunday Snippets

2012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday!

I am a horrible football fan...I have not watched any of the games in the last few weeks and now I see that the Broncos win over the STEELERS (!?!?) and the Falcons were absolutely shut OUT by the Giants. Those must have been some interesting games.

So it looks like the game to watch next week is DEFINITELY Packers/Giants. GO PACK! Seriously, if Green Bay doesn't make it to the Super Bowl I will be so disappointed. They better make it because I am already planning my Super Bowl snack menu.

Want to see the cutest thing in the world? Of course you do.

feets!

Heey...

Okay so I thought I'd do a little goal follow up being that it is Sunday.

So far this month I have exercised 7 of the 8 days for at least 25 minutes. So for goal # 4. Exercise at least 20 minutes 183 days of the year...I am doing very well!

Goal #5 is for 3960 exercise minutes and so far I have 333. Only 3627 more to go!

Goal #3 is to train for and complete the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 9th. I have been feet to pavement 3 days since the first of the year totalling ~187 minutes and ~11 miles. That is a good place to start.

Goal #1 progress starts tomorrow as I head back to school for Winter Term. Ugh...it is going to be a looooooong day.

Goal #2 is to lose lbs. I have been eating pretty well this week, along with exercising daily, so that goal is tracking pretty well, too.

My weekly goals starting Wednesday the 4th through Wednesday the 11th are the following:

1: no bread products *****

2: include fruit or veggie with every meal *****

3: plan for healthy and calorie appropriate snacks *****

4: log food & exercise daily *****

5: Exercise at least 5 times for at least 20 minutes *****

The asterisks mean that I have completed that goal for the day. Right on target!!

Tomorrow is a rest day, and thank goodness because my muscles are SORE.

Here is where I walked today with Chris.

It was sunny, but it was COLD! And yes, I have more than one sweatshirt, but this one is the warmest and has the best pocket for all my stuff.

We covered 2.79 miles in 47 minutes. It wasn't a fast walk, but it is better than sitting at home on the couch. We left that up to Roxie.

When we got home we decided it was time to harvest our lemons. This is our second year with the lemon tree/bush.

We got a total harvest of 12 lemons, one of which we already used and one we gave to my brother.

The remaining 10 we decided to make booze with.

What?

Don't look at me like that! We wanted to try and make some limoncello, which is an Italian after dinner liqueur.

It is a somewhat tedious process, being that all you use of the lemons is the rind, being very careful to remove as much of the white pith as possible. The rinds go into a seal able jar and get covered with Everclear. The lemon rind flavors the alcohol and then in a couple weeks a simple syrup is added and that sets together to blend. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks!

The rest of the lemons went through the juicer and we now have fresh lemon juice frozen into cubes in the freezer.

We had a smidge leftover so we mixed the juice with a bit of vodka, triple-sec, ice and sugar. SO fresh and tasty. Chris and I shared it, which really means I had a few sips. :-)

Dinner was an eggplant and pasta dish with a big ole salad on the side. I'd show you but my pictures suck and make it look yucky. It wasn't.

I have lunches and coffee all prepped for tomorrow, need to get my backpack put together, get showered and get to bed! I have to be up around 6 in the morning tomorrow and out the door by 7:45. Ugh. Have I ever mentioned that I am not a morning person? No? Well...*I* Am NOT A Morning Person. sigh. Oh well. I've done it before and I'm sure I'll be doing it again.

What did you do today? How are you holding up on your goals?? It's week two!!

Presents!

2012-01-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

It is 5:01pm on the west coast, which I think officially means two things: One I can start the post by saying "Good Evening!" and two, I can have a glass of wine or something. YAY!

Good Evening!

My day started out with breakfast. My pictures suck, as usual, but I'll show you anyway. I need to hire a professional photographer to live at my house and take pictures at will.

I made an egg breakfast thing. It was pretty tasty and very quick to put together thanks to all the prep work I did earlier in the week.

I had pre-chopped onions, red and yellow peppers, and had bought sliced mushrooms. I sauteed those in a little butter until they were nice and soft. (After eating it I would have added the eggs sooner and let all the cooking finish together, the onions got a bit more carmelized than I would have liked). Then I beat some eggs together and poured those over the top of the veggie mixture. I let that cook without touching it (I swirled the eggs around in the pan when I first dumped it all in there to cover the veggies) for a few minutes until the edges looked like they were just starting to set. I then took the whole pan and stuck it in a 350F oven for another few minutes until the top set up. I sprinkled a tiny bit of cheese on the top and let that melt.

It definitely needed more salt than what I added during cooking, but we topped it with chopped tomatoes, avocado and some homemade tomatillo salsa and called it breakfast! We also shared a delicious ruby red grapefruit. It is citrus season so NOW is the time to buy oranges and grapefruits with the best and sweetest flavor.

We went to Lowes after breakfast and picked up some supplies.

When lunch time rolled around I decided to try out a gift my grandma gave me for Christmas. It is called a TopChips chip maker.

It is pretty cool! There are three silicone trays.

You slice up a potato (or other vegetable) thinly using the provided baby mandolin.

Put them on the trays (after patting them dry with a paper towel) and stick them in the microwave for a few minutes. The instructions say 3 minutes, but they must have used a higher powered microwave than mine, because it took probably 6 minutes or so (30 second increments) for the potato slices to crisp up like chips!

I seasoned them with a bit of vinegar and salt. YUM! Quick, homemade, no oil/deepfried potato chips! Thanks Gram!

Chris spent the rest of the afternoon working on a little project for the kitty, while I puttered around in the house doing this and that.

NEW TOY FOR THE KITTY!

She loves it, but I didn't have my camera handy so I missed the opportunity to catch her climbing up the entire thing and loving it! She is such a good girl.

I am doing great on my goals this week. I have exercised 6 of the 7 days of the month. I have avoided bread products. I have eaten fruits or veggies with every meal. I have had appropriate snacks. I have logged my food and exercise. Woohoo! Today was a hard day for me to get my exercise in. The weather was blah and it made me feel blah, but I did some yoga this afternoon. Good enough for today.

Have a great Saturday evening everyone!

The Friday Five # 5

2012-01-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

1. What I'm Reading

I just finished reading a great book: lit by Mary Karr. I wrote a short review of it over on Goodreads, but basically Mary grew up with a crazy alcoholic mother, an alcoholic father and had a crappy childhood. Her relationships throughout her young adult life were strained, and she herself turned to booze to cope. This is a memoir about her experiences offered with honesty and truth. A book that reminds those of us who may have had challenging relationships or childhoods that we are not alone. The second half of the book, the later chapters, *really* offer a lot of insight and value. I thought this was a great book.

I also just started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I really know nothing about this book, but my 16 year old niece has had it assigned for one of her classes and I told her I would read it, too. That way we can talk about it and maybe it helps motivate her to read a book she otherwise may not have that much interest in. I downloaded it on my Kindle for PC app and have only gotten into the first few pages. I'll let you know what I think!

2. What I'm Listening To

Well at the grocery store today I listened to my MP3 player with a mix of Gaga, Katie Perry, Miley, Ke$ha, Brittney, JLo and more. In the car I have Adele's 21 playing on repeat. And here at home I have a satellite station called Soft Hits playing pretty much all the time. They have a nice mix of non-intrusive music and NO commercials or DJ's!! Best thing ever. The Christmas music is still in the CD player, but I'm DONE with that for another year.

3. What I'm Watching

I put my Winter break to good use!! I got completely caught up on BONES! Thank goodness!! I now have my DVR set to record NEW episodes. :-) I'm such a dork. LOVE Bones.

I am sad because The Closer is over until Summer, and Summer is the final season. I also watched Rizzoli and Isles (getting better).

Grimm I have still been watching, but it isn't growing on me.

I still BIG LOVE Once Upon A Time and can't wait for it to be back on!

I am intrigued by the new show The Finder. Not sure if I will watch it, but I might set the DVR to record a few episodes and see how it is.

Of course, very soon I will be watching the SUPERBOWL!!

4. What I'm Eating

Fruits and Veggies with every meal! I went grocery shopping today to stock up on fresh and frozen fruits and veggies. Lots of healthy stuff! Nuts, grains, greens, proteins. Oh, I tried Chobani Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt today. Not a fan, really. Everyone claims this stuff is so amazing? I'm just not feelin' it.

5. What I'm ~~Pinning~~ Thinking:

I am back to school on Monday morning....bright and early!! My first class starts at 8:30 AM. YIKES!! That will be an adjustment for sure. Taking 5 classes this term, 3 of them on M/W and one on T/Th and then one weekend class that goes for two full weekends the end of January. I will be BUSY.

Happy FRIDAY!!

What's your five??

January 5th Already?

2012-01-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe we are already 5 days into January. And it's Thursday.

January 5th!?!?

I have had a pretty good first few days of the year.

I have exercised between 50 and 80 minutes three of the last four days, and will exercise today, too.

After the New Years Day hill-hike, I went on Tuesday for an almost 4 mile walk. My race training officially started!

Yesterday I used my new body ball (Thank you Christopher!) and did a workout that I am feeling today! My back and the back of my thighs are sore!

I have done a pretty good job with my eating. The first couple days of the month were less good, but I have been tracking my calories and am reminded (again) how quickly those extra calories add up! It is good for me to see it in black and white and to keep that in mind.

Knowing how many calories I had eaten yesterday by the end of lunch time made it easier for me to skip my afternoon snack, drink water instead, and eat a healthy dinner with no after dinner dessert/snack. I stayed within my calorie range yesterday which made me happy.

Brown rice, black beans and seasonings heated, topped with grape tomatoes, 1/3 avocado and greens. Eaten with a spoon to slow me down. Side of my brothers homemade bread and butter pickles and an ounce of home-mixed (not store bought) nuts.

Yesterday I also worked on food prep. I have mentioned many times before, and will again, how critical food prep is for my success.

There are times when I love to get into the kitchen and cook, prep, prepare and create, but most of the time I just want to have something to eat and I don't want to take all dang day to make it. Having healthy food options ready to go is a life saver for me, and it makes lunch making in the morning that much simpler.

Yesterday I chopped carrots, celery, onion, red and yellow bell peppers, and jicama and put them in containers in the fridge. I also made a big batch of quinoa and stuck that in the fridge. I opened a can of black beans and rinsed them off and put them in the fridge, too.

I also used my new triple crock (LOVE IT!) to make my version of Pesto-Infused White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Stew from Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Roberston, and a leftover turkey and wild rice stoup/casserole.

2.5 quarts each, with individual temp settings.

The White Bean soup has diced frozen tomatoes from my garden, some fresh grape tomatoes, some dried tomatoes and some smoked tomatoes (all from my garden) in the slow cooker with white beans, onion, garlic, broth, fennel seeds, oregano, pepper and a chopped red bell pepper. I let that cook on high for about 5 or 6 hours and then tossed in four or five frozen ice cubes of homemade pesto. That all went into the fridge to cool and I will eat some of it this week/end and some of it will go into the freezer for future lunches.

The leftover turkey stoup/casserole was about 2 cups of cubed leftover turkey that we fried on New Years day, chopped fresh mushrooms, a cup of uncooked wild rice, onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, pepper, frozen green beans from my garden, chopped carrots, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and broth. All that went into the crock pot for about 5 or 6 hours and then it, too, got parceled out into containers. Those will also be available for a meal this week/end and will go into the freezer for future meals.

I used the third crock to heat the last of my homemade canned tomato sauce. I cooked the last spaghetti squash from our garden in the oven and for dinner we had spaghetti squash topped with the heated tomato sauce and a bit of leftover turkey for protein. Very tasty. (I was going to serve a side salad but I didn't like the looks of my lettuce).

In the midst of all that, of course, we had to have some play time.

And play makes us sleepy.

Today is off to a good start as well, with a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, topped with frozen fresh blueberries (bought locally at my farm stand last summer), and some dried cranberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon. YUM.

Yesterday on Facebook Jillian Michaels posted a challenge to remove one unhealthy thing from your life for a week, as a way to get started with decreasing or removing that habit from your life for longer.

I made the following goals for a week, starting yesterday, through 1/11/12.

1: no bread products
2: include fruit or veggie with every meal
3: plan for healthy and calorie appropriate snacks
4: log food & exercise daily
5: Exercise at least 5 times for at least 20 minutes

Having both short and long term goals is helpful for me in building a feeling of success and achievement.

Do you food prep? How are your goals holding up so far?

Goals for 2012

2012-01-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a day or two behind, but here are my goals, as promised, for 2012.

1. Complete my Bachelor of Science in Human Communication by the end of Fall Term 2012 (December), including a Certificate in Human Resources Management and a Certificate in Conflict Resolution.

I currently have 74 credits (of 90 required) completed and am taking 20 credits Winter Term 2012 putting me at 54 more required credits. To achieve my goal I will need to take 20 credits in Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 with an additional 14 credits in Summer 2012. Included in that process will be my required practicum project.

This is a very lofty goal. It will require a tremendous amount of dedication and time from me, in addition to a pretty significant amount of money, and a certain aligning of the stars and universe to make it all happen. I am going to do everything in my power to make this goal a reality, while still keeping in mind that I am subject to outside forces (like class schedules).

2. Lose 20 pounds.

See my previous post for my achievements and accomplishments in 2011. In 2012 I want to continue my healthy downward body size trend.

In order to achieve this goal I will need to monitor my food intake and increase my activity level back to 40-60 minutes of exercise 5-6 days a week.

3. Complete the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 9th, 2012 in Hillsboro, Oregon. 13.1 miles.

I have participated in the Helvetia event (completing the 10K) twice before, once in 2006 and once in 2009. I thought it would be appropriate to continue my every 3 year streak and up the ante by participating again in 2012 only this time completing the half.

In order to achieve this goal I will need to start training in earnest with my feet on the pavement. I will need to review Chi-Running and Marathoning for Mortals and set up a training plan that is appropriate and achievable. I will need to follow that training plan to safely increase my mileage over the next several months without injury.

I have one caveat with this goal. My PRIMARY goal for this year is to finish my degree (see #1) which may interfere with the level and time commitment of training required to appropriately train for the full half marathon. My PLAN and INTENTION is to complete the half (walking/wogging/jogging), but if my course load prevents me from an appropriate level of training, I will complete the 10K (6.2 miles) instead of the half.

4. Exercise at least 20 minutes 183 days of the year.

Last year I exercised for 151 days of the year. 183 days is half the number of the days of the year (rounded up).

In order to complete this goal I will need to exercise for at least 20 minutes averaging every other day.

5. Complete 3960 exercise minutes during the year.

This is 300 more minutes than goal # 4. I don't think they are mutually exclusive. One is more about the number of days I exercise, which creates consistency, whereas this one is about an amount of exercise.

In order to complete this goal I will need to have at least 30 exercise sessions lasting 10 minutes longer than my 20 minute minimum on 183 days.

There ya go! My 5 main goals for 2012.

They are SMART goals meaning they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and they all have a Timeline.

Now it's your turn! Did you set any goals or resolutions for 2012?

2011 Health and Fitness Recap

2012-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Before I post about my goals for 2012, I thought I would recap a little bit of my fitness achievements from 2011.

In order to get a big picture, I have to jump back to 2010. You may recall that my mom went into the hospital for 10 weeks the end of 2010. It was an emotionally overwhelming time for me. I am an emotional eater and during times of massive stress like that, not only does the increase in cortisol make it super duper easy for me to gain weight (easier than normal) I also mentally check out with giving a damn about what goes in my mouth. Food becomes soothing, rather than nourishing. I gained quite a bit of weight during the end of 2010 which meant that my 2011 started off with me feeling fat and unhappy.

In fact, when we went to Jamaica in December of 2010 I took almost zero pictures of myself because I looked horrible.

One of about 5 pictures. Just look at my face, I was still massively stressed out.

January 2011 I was heavier than I had been in a few years. My clothes didn't fit and I was miserable. I have had a decades long struggle with my weight and food, but this was the heaviest I had been in about 5 years. Sad panda. I can't find anywhere where I wrote down how much I weighed, but I know it was the high 170's. I think 178.

In the spring I did a cleanse and lost about 8 lbs. In mid-March I weighed 168. I continued to lose weight over the year and by late summer was in the low 150's. I think the lowest I saw, briefly, was 151 or 153.

This morning I weighed myself and I am noting it just to have a starting place recorded. 158.5. A month or so ago I weighed 153.5, so the holiday weight gain came to exactly 5 lbs. Not great, not horrible. I plan to start working on removing that and a few more in the coming weeks.

But, health and fitness and my journey are NOT all about what is on the scale. That is just one measurement, and not that great of a measurement, of fitness.

I have said before that I keep track of the days that I workout on my wall calendar by putting a sticker on it if I work out. I keep it really simple. If I exercise for more than 20 minutes (anything..lawn mowing, walking, weights, yoga, hiking, whatever) I get a sticker. I know some people have elaborate, color-coded systems, charts, graphs, etc., but for me keeping it simple, fun and very visible is a great motivator! I want my stickers!

I reviewed my stickers the other day and discovered that I exercised 151 days of the year. That is about 30 days shy of half the total number of days in the year. Honestly, I was both pretty impressed and a little disappointed with this. 151 days is pretty damn good, but with very little extra effort I could have achieved half of the days. Still, 151 days of exercise is better than no days of exercise, so I am pleased with that.

Best month: June with 27 days of exercise.

I also noted that there was only one month where there were zero stickers on the calendar. Now, I could have just been lazy and not put any stickers, but even if I didn't exercise at all that month (September) I still feel good about doing some type of exercise at least a few days every month of the year but one. That helps build overall consistency, and I like it.

Worst month: September with zero recorded days of exercise.

Also, my overall fitness level, though harder to track, improved significantly over the year. My recovery time has decreased. My form for squats and lunges has improved tremendously. My ability to climb the big hill or hike Roxy Ann has increased dramatically. So much so, that even without regular exercise over the last couple of months, when my friends and I hiked the big hill on New Years Day, I was feeling pretty good, wasn't horribly out of breath and was not sore the next day. Noticeable progress, with which I am pleased.

Christmas Day 2010

The other component in my healthy life is food. I would say that I was about 50/50 with food last year. About 50% of the time I was really diligent about what I ate, and the other 50% of the time I wasn't. This leaves me room for improvement on the healthy eating side of my fitness journey.

NYE 2011 (Man I look tired! Chris just looks silly, as usual.)

Looking back over 2011 has helped me to really see what I DID accomplish and areas where I could improve. It also has given me some food for thought as to what my fitness goals for 2012 are going to be.

Did you do a year-end health and fitness review? What kind of progress did you make? What kind of improvements are you looking for in 2012?

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

I know that lots of bloggers out there post every single day, even when they are celebrating holidays, have company, are traveling or whatnot, but you know what? When I am *living* my life, I like to be in the moment! Sometimes that means that blogging takes a back seat so that I can engage in my 3D life.

This is particularly important to me because even though we have lived in Medford for over 2 years now, all my friends still live hours away! When they take time to come and visit me I want to make sure I am taking time to BE with them.

In that spirit, I was thrilled to have my two besties, Kelsey and Heidi, come to celebrate New Years with us. They arrived Friday evening and we settled right in with catching up, gossiping, snacking on some veggies and cookies (all about balance, right?!).

Unfortunately, Chris had gotten called in to work at the beach late Friday afternoon, so he left for a 3 hour drive to the beach, worked for an hour or so, and then drove home. He got home pretty late. It was a bummer way for him to start his weekend, but that is part of what his job entails sometimes.

Saturday was a lovely day here. Lots of sun breaks and moderate weather. We enjoyed a lovely crepe and blackberries breakfast, got ourselves ready and hit the town. We stopped at See's Candies, a furniture store, Harry & David and an amazing little local boutique called Papillon Rouge. Kelsey and I convinced Heidi, after much hemming and hawing, to buy a very cool grey sheath dress with a cowel neck. She looked stunning! I'm SO glad she bought it!

We headed home to get ready for our New Years Eve Appetizer Extravaganza! We opted to just have apps and wine and chocolates for NYE.

We couldn't wait to start eating the guac....

We played Yahtzee! and turned on New Year's Rockin' Eve about 4 minutes before midnight to watch the ball drop.

We stayed up for another 20 minutes or so, but then it was bedtime!! Roxie was for sure ready for bed. It was a LONG day for her!

It was a perfect NYE. I love staying home and just having fun.

Sunday we had coffee and then us girls decided to go for a hill-climb walk. We walked just under 4 miles in just over an hour up a very steep hill. Surprisingly, I am not at all sore today!

After our walk I found out that Chris had been called in to work, again! This time it was only to Ashland, so only about a half an hour drive instead of 3, but what a bummer! The girls and I headed home and ate leftover appetizers for lunch. Then we just hung around the house visiting and listening to Heidi play angry birds.

For dinner we were making a fried Turkey, scalloped potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and a green salad. Chris got the turkey going after he got back from working for a couple hours. The really cool think about frying a turkey is it takes about 30-45 minutes for the whole bird to cook. Yup..that's it. Super quick! And, SO delicious! Moist, tender and very flavorful. So pretty, too!

We were all pretty tired from the weekend of fun, so we cleaned up the kitchen and then just relaxed. Roxie got lots of attention and play time from everyone all weekend.

It was a really great way to celebrate the start of 2012.

The girls headed back home this morning, after Chris got called in to work AGAIN! 3 times this weekend. I snuggled with Roxie and watched a little tv just to decompress a bit. Then I hopped up and started all the cleaning and de-Christmassing. I got it all accomplished and my house now feels clean and empty. I always like that feeling after Christmas.

We are finishing up the appetizers and leftovers in the next day or two and then the holidays will be done for another year.

I will be working on meal plans, goals and so forth over the next day or two and will be sure to post both my January and 2012 goals.

As always, I loved having my friends here. It makes me feel still connected to the life we left behind when we moved south. I always appreciate them coming and the fun and laughter, and sometimes tears, that we share together. Looking forward to the next time!

Happy New Year, Friends! Thank you for reading my blog and sharing some of your time in my little world. Blessings to each of you in the coming year.

Month of Giving Recap

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years Eve!!

First of all I want to thank each and every person who even glanced at the title post each day of this month to see the name of each of the charities I highlighted. Raising awareness is all I was trying to do, and if you glanced at the post title, then my goal was met!

I decided to post a daily charity highlight for the month of December because I wanted to do something to commemorate the holiday season and the feeling of giving brought about this time of year. I also wanted to use it as an opportunity to introduce people to charities they may not have heard of. And, I wanted to highlight charities that can use your help in other ways than just financial. Plus, the end of the month brings about our last opportunity for tax deductible charitable contributions, so I thought I would capitalize on that, too.

Plus, I didn't want to make 30 different batches of cookies that I would then have to eat.

I want to thank my good friend Jenn at Cats, Cooking and Compassion for her lovely guest post about no-kill shelters, and great tips and reminders about pets in general! Don't forget to check out her blog!

I also want to thank my friend Sabrina from College Dreams for her lovely guest post and sharing with us her personal story! Thank you Sabrina!

I also want to thank each and every person who suggested a favorite charity. Your suggestions were very helpful! Writing about 30 different charities was challenging, informative and really amazing. There are SO many awesome ways to help people or animals in need, pretty much no matter where your interest is. Food, water, clothing, hair, blood, housing and so much more.

I do want to remind you that these 30 charities are just the tip of a huge iceberg. There are thousands of charities. Church groups and other local organizations in your own community do great good, in addition to well-known national and international organizations.

Thanks for reading this month! Below is a recap of the 30 charities I highlighted each day of this month of December. Day 31 is dedicated to thanking each of you and this recap.

Happy New Year!!

American Red Cross
Donate Your Dress
Cell Phones For Soldiers
One Sight
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Heifer International
One Warm Coat
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Locks of Love
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Goodwill Industries International
St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital
Books for Soldiers
Feeding America or Your Local Food bank
Start Making A Reader Today
Doctors Without Borders
Make-A-Wish
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Marrow Donor Program
Your Local No-Kill Animal Shelter or Rescue Group
Toys for Tots
National Hospice Foundation
Meals on Wheels
Your Local Women's Shelter
Earth Birth
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
charity: water
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
College Dreams

One last public service announcement: Please don't drink and drive. Many AAA locations throughout the country and other local taxi and tow truck companies commit to helping New Years revelers get home safely each New Years Eve. It is typically free or low cost, and you don't have to be a member of AAA.

1-800-222-4357 AAA Tipsy Tow Hotline. In Portland Oregon after 8pm on New Years Eve Max and TRIMET will be free.

Before you head out for a night on the town, check into what is available in YOUR local area. Plug those phone numbers into your magic phone and if you do happen to ring in the new year with a little more than you should, PLEASE call someone to take you home.

Thanks for reading this year. I appreciate each and every one of you! Happy New 2012!

College Dreams

2011-12-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

College Dreams

This is it! The last of my charity highlights for the month of giving! Tomorrow will be a recap of the 30 charities I highlighted this month.

Today's post is a guest post by a college classmate of mine. You may recall back in November I posted that I competed in a speech contest for a $100 donation to my chosen charity. I had chosen the Oregon Food Bank. I didn't win. I came in second. The author of today's guest post, Sabrina Miller, was the winner. Sabrina spoke about an organization near and dear to her own heart, one that has helped her achieve and succeed in ways she at one time did not think would be possible. Sabrina not only was helped by College Dreams, but now works there as well. She is a real success story!

Please take a moment to read about College Dreams, and Sabrina's story.

College Dreams promotes healthy youth development,academic excellence, and college preparation for students, especially those whoface life challenges. The basic goals of College Dreams are to reduce schooldropout, delinquency, and substance abuse among youth. Our high level goals areto promote academic excellence, college preparation, and post-secondaryeducation or vocational training. Astudy of Dreamers and matched comparison students from the high school class of2005 demonstrated that Dreamers were arrested 74% less often by the end of 10thgrade, and dropped out of high school 62% less frequently by the end of 12thgrade. Dreamers were more than twice as likely to be a member of the NationalHonor Society, and to be fully prepared for college admission. Dreamersreceived four times the amount of scholarship awards at their high schoolsenior awards celebrations.

College Dreams told me I could, when the rest of theworld told me I couldn’t.

When I first became a College Dreamer in the sixth gradeI had no idea that my life was going to change so drastically. By the time Igraduated high school, I had already, moved twenty-three times. My days wereconstantly filled with drugs, alcohol, and abuse. But, no matter where I was inthe world or what circumstance my life was in, my College Dreams mentor Monetwas always there for me. My life was all over the map, and College Dreams gaveme a stable family to rely on. In 2008,I defied odds and graduated high school. It was a moment I had been waiting formy entire life. I also received $20,000 in scholarship awards, a part of thatbeing from College Dreams! College Dreams helped me to prepare for college, andfocus on my dreams. They taught me how to see past the trials in my life, andplan for my future. They truly have changed my life in a way I thought nobodycould. To me, College Dreams is more than a college incentive program that Iparticipated in, they are my family!

-Sabrina Miller, College Preparation Associate, CollegeDreams

Donation information available on our website.

Additional College Dreams information, updates, andpictures are available on our Web Site at www.collegedreams.org.

For any specific questions, please callJudie Drummond at 541-476-8146 or contact her by Email at jdrummond@collegedreams.org.

Thanks Sabrina! Congratulations on all your accomplishments!

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

2011-12-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Pancreatic Cancer isn't like Breast Cancer. It doesn't have the sexy lingo like "Save the Tata's!" or pink bracelets that say "I <3 Boobies". What Pancreatic Cancer does have is a very high mortality rate and less funding. It also has some pretty famous faces that have succumbed to the disease, including Randy Pausch former Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and famous "Last Lecture" speaker, Patrick Swayze and Steve Jobs.

According to Pancreatic Cancer Facts 2011, compiled by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Pancreatic Cancer is the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer, but the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

94% of all patients diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer do not survive past 5 years, and 74% die within ONE year of diagnosis.

Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis is INCREASING.

There are NO early detection methods.

Treatment options are limited, and 80% of patients that do qualify and receive surgery still die within 5 years of diagnosis.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is dedicated to helping people diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and their families. They offer support and services, education about the disease and resources.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network also works with the Federal Government to raise awareness and increase funding for Pancreatic Cancer research.

There are many ways you can help support the efforts of PanCan. There are several types of volunteer opportunities available throughout the country. There are various physical events such as walks and other races throughout the country each year. On their website you can donate cash, stocks, make arrangements to donate a vehicle or shop at their online store.

The PanCan store is FILLED with cool stuff. The color for PanCan is PURPLE! They have everything: clothing, luggage, bags, jewelry, coffee cups, water bottles, office supplies, accessories and tons more.

You can also buy flower bouquets through their website and 12% of your purchase goes to support PanCan.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network can use YOUR help to meet their goal of increasing the survival rate by 50% by the year 2020. Check out the website, maybe do a little shopping (I have a very cool PanCan purple daisy ribbon key chain and a PanCan travel coffee mug, but I see that they have cool water bottles now, too!) and see if PanCan is something you can support!

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

2011-12-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

Gorillas in the Mist...

The title of both a book and movie. The book, written by Dian Fossey, is about her own experiences in the Mountains of Africa observing the Mountain Gorillas. The movie, about Dian Fossey, portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, is incredible. Both are well worth your time.

Dian Fossey went to Africa and began studying the Gorillas in the 60's. In 1967 she started the Karisoke Research Center. The goal of the Karisoke Research Center, located in Rwanda, is to protect the highly endangered Mountain Gorilla, protect their habitat, study the Gorillas themselves and to provide services for the needy community as well.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has continued Dian's pioneering and important work after her death. There are fewer than 800 Mountain Gorillas left in the world, and other species of Gorilla are endangered as well. Their habitat is at risk due to wars and human expansion. Their lives are at risk from poaching.

Dian Fossey with her mountain gorillas - source

For as little as $40 you can "adopt" a gorilla through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Monies received go to continue the very important work began by Dian to protect the Gorillas, study them, rescue and rehabilitate them if needed, and to gain a greater understanding of our closest non-human relative.

Gorillas are amazing creatures and there are few of them left in our world. Please consider visiting The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International website to learn more.

mother and baby - source

charity: water

2011-12-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

charity: water

Did you hear about the little girl named Rachel who, instead of receiving birthday gifts for her 9th birthday, asked all her friends and family to donate to charity: water? She asked for donations of $9.

Her goal was to raise $300.

Rachel was appalled that many children in our world don't live past the age of 5 due to lack of access to clean water.

When her birthday came Rachel was a little disappointed because she had only raised $220.

And then, the unthinkable happened.

Rachel was critically injured in a car accident, and eventually she was removed from life support.

Read more about Rachel's story in this New York Times Article. Rachel's wish has raised over $1.2 million dollars to date.

charity:water is an organization that helps bring clean drinking water to people in places where clean water is not coming out of the kitchen faucet.

This short 3 minute video explains the need and the benefits of clean water.

Please take a moment to read Rachel's story, watch this video, and if you feel moved, donate to charity: water.

Just give $9. For Rachel.

Court Appointed Special Advocates

2011-12-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Court Appointed Special Advocates

For Children

**The month of giving continues with daily charity highlights. I was playing kitten-mom Monday and Tuesday, so failed to post a charity those days, so I am doubling up for the next couple of days. On Saturday I will do a re-cap of the 30 charities I highlighted each day in December. Thanks for reading!**

We have all heard the stories in the news about kids in foster care "slipping through the cracks". Foster care is necessary, but the "system" is over-filled with children, and the agencies, court-systems and child welfare workers are all over-burdened, understaffed and underfunded. Budget cuts at all levels of government have impacted the ability for child welfare workers to do their jobs and legitimately monitor the kids under their supervision.

Child welfare workers simply do not have the time or budget to do what they really should do, which is get to know the children, the parents, the other people involved in the situation and make well-informed decisions about what is in the best interest of the child.

This is where Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children step in to help.

From their WEBSITE:

CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence in their lives.

Independent research has demonstrated that children with a CASA volunteer are substantially less likely to spend time in long-term foster care and less likely to reenter care.

Judges appoint CASA volunteers to represent the best interests of children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. Each year, more than 700,000 children experience foster care in this country. Because there are not enough CASA volunteers to represent all of the children in care, judges typically assign CASA volunteers to their most difficult cases.

CASA is funded primarily through government grants and other partnerships. They do accept donations from the public in order to support their mission of advocating for abused and neglected children.

As we quickly approach year-end, and the clock is ticking on 2011 tax donations, consider investigating CASA and seeing if this organization is one you can support. They, of course, are always looking for qualified volunteers to BE an advocate, so if you have a place in your heart and time in your life, maybe CASA is a good fit for you.

Happy Hiatus!

2011-12-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

Happy in-between week!

I took a bit of a holiday hiatus from posting, mostly because of this:

This is Roxie. Roxie came to live with us Christmas Eve eve. But first we had to go on a several hour car ride, spend the night at grandmas and then drive 6+ hours back home. As you can see by the car pictures, she was (ahem) very stressed. HA!

She is the sweetest little kitty. SO friendly, laid back and playful.

She has the tiniest squeak of a meow and does not like to be by herself! She follows me all over the house and if I leave the room she cries. It is so cute!

She is a few months old and has settled right in to life here at casa Beebe. We have a routine:

Up at 6 am. It is time to play! EPIC energetic play session with lots of running, jumping and chasing followed by snacks and our early morning nap. Play lasts for 30-45 minutes.

Morning nap lasts until mid-morning. More snacks and then some investigating of the house, followed by playtime, some pets and purring, and then our long afternoon nap. Our afternoon nap can be several hours long.

Evening time is time for more EPIC energetic jumping, running and chasing playtime! We like the laser, the shiny/jingly toy, fuzzy feathers and to chase the balls. We also like cardboard, wrapping paper and rope with knots tied in it.

Roxie is excellent at using the potty box, listening when she is told no, eating her crunchies, drinking her water, scratching on her appropriate scratching items and has paid no attention to the Christmas tree whatsoever.

Roxie goes to bed with us at night and sleeps on the bed, but she doesn't want to be right on us. I think she gets hot. She wants some snuggles and pets around 3 or 4 in the morning, but then settles back down until about 6 when it is time to get up and PLAY!

Chris and I have left her home alone for a few hours and she just curls up and goes to sleep, so even though she doesn't like to be left alone, so far she hasn't shown any tendencies toward anxiety or being destructive while we are gone.

Roxie has filled a big hole in our hearts and home. She is just a darling little love kitty and likes to take turns sitting with me and with Chris.

We are super happy to have a new little kitty to love, especially one that is so sweet and well behaved.

Earth Birth

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Earth Birth

First of all: Merry CHRISTMAS DAY!!

I couldn't think of a better charity to highlight on Christmas Day, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, than Earth Birth.

Admittedly, I am not overly familiar with Earth Birth, having only been introduced to it recently by a classmate, but from what I saw I was impressed. Maybe you will be, too.

From their website:

Mission

Earth Birth is an International Women’s Health Collective run by midwives to foster a movement that encourages and promotes safe and peaceful birth as an act of social justice and community healing. We approach women’s health care through a methodology that is both community centered and internationally connected. We build clinics and community centers that are sustained by Traditional Birth Attendants and Educators. Our birthing centers are not only clinics but community sustained spaces for refuge, learning and the sharing of stories. Our goals include lowered maternal and infant mortality rates, lowered mother to child HIV transmission, access to supplies, access to trauma counseling, the ability to articulate ones story and the facilitation of positive and empowered childbirth experiences.

We view childbirth as an act of social change. Safe and peaceful birth experiences are necessary for generations that are to live without war.

We are a community of health care professionals, activists and academics. We stand in solidarity with women who have been victims of war, who have been silenced, abused, or shunned. We move with and support those who have dedicated their lives to peace and justice, to creation in the face of destruction, to fearless resilience.

Earth Birth health care professionals travel to places like Uganda, Sudan and Brazil. They build birthing huts where women have a private room in which to give birth. They offer medical care and counseling. With the help of Earth Birth, incidents of disease and death, both of mother and child, decrease significantly in these areas.

From their website:

Here is what your cash donation can do:
$10: a box of non-sterile gloves
$35: A fetuscope, stethoscope/blood pressure kit
$50: Fund the training of a Traditional Birth Attendant
$100: A complete model of pelvis, fetus, placenta, etc.
$150: Books and educational supplies for birth attendants
$260: 12 infant resucitators
$300: Midwife Pack” of instruments and materials
$500: Replenish clinic with gloves, sutures, sterile cleaning supplies
$700: Model of a pregnant woman’s torso to teach palpation, etc.
$3500: The whole suite of supplies and equipment for a site

Today, as we celebrate birth, it is a good time to think about those women in areas where giving birth is much more of a life and death situation. We can help these women have positive and healthy birth experiences.

Merry Christmas!

Your Local Women's Shelter

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've already posted about domestic violence statistics in the US, but it bears repeating.

One in Four people (not just women!) in the US will be a victim of Domestic Violence.

Women can be abusers, as well as be abused. However, it is more common for women to be on the receiving end of abuse.

Domestic Violence is not just physical assaults. It can include emotional, verbal and physical abuse, including partner rape.

Domestic Violence occurs across all socio-economic boundaries. You don't have to be poor to be on the receiving end of Domestic Violence.

Today is Christmas Eve, and it might seem like a depressing topic, but many people will be attacked by their partner, lover or spouse today. The holidays are a time of increased stress and, often, increased alcohol and drug use. These factors often trigger violent outbursts in abusers.

As you prepare to celebrate your holiday with your family and loved ones, I hope that you do so with safety and security.

But for those that may not have that same opportunity, I ask that you consider looking into making a donation to your local Domestic Violence shelter, often found under Women's Shelters. A quick Google search of "women's shelter" followed by your town or state name will bring up many great organizations. There are also several national and international women's advocacy groups that offer support to women trying to escape Domestic Violence.

As you are settling into the safety and security of your family this holiday, please take a moment and say a prayer for those who do not have that safety, and perhaps consider making a donation to your local women's shelter or women's safety organization.

Meals On Wheels

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Meals On Wheels

You all know by now that food and hunger are issues near and dear to my heart. The Meals on Wheels Association of America has a goal to end senior hunger in the United States by 2020.

They serve over 1 million meals to seniors in need EACH DAY!

These are people who may be in financial difficulty, be disabled or are just older and alone.

Meals on Wheels volunteers package up healthy and nutritious meals and deliver them to the seniors in their homes.

Please take a moment to watch the two minute video about Meals on Wheels and the need they serve.

No one should be hungry.

Just $35 can help provide meals for 5 seniors.

National Hospice Foundation

2011-12-22T13:22:00.000-08:00

National Hospice Foundation

Have you heard of Hospice? Do you know what Hospice is? I do. When my grandfather was dying of cancer Hospice care is what allowed him to die peacefully at home, rather than in a sterile and uninviting hospital room. Hospice care is what allowed my grandmother and great-grandmother to be able to support my grandfather and continue daily care for him at home as he progressively got worse. The Hospice care-givers would come to the house, monitor medications, check vital signs, monitor my grandfather's status, and very importantly, provide emotional care and support to my grandmother and great-grandmother. The Hospice care-givers were able to provide us with information about the stages of death and dying, things to look for, and they were able to provide us with the ability to say goodbye to Grandpa at home.

The National Hospice Foundation is a National Organization that supports regional and local Hospice providers throughout the country. I thought there was just one "hospice" but it turns out that there are many different organizations that provide hospice care and education. The National Hospice Foundation is one of those organizations.

From their website:

Our Mission
NHF supports the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s quality and research initiatives; hospice/palliative care provider education activities; consumer engagement and caregiver services; and the FHSSA Impact Fund.

In partnership with NHPCO, we work to improve care at the end of life throughout the United States. We raise funds from individuals, foundations, and corporations to fund programs that make a difference in the lives of the patients and families served by NHPCO’s membership of more than 3,400 hospice and palliative care providers.

Through our support of Caring Connections, a program of NHPCO, NHF funds the development of resources, tools, and information to educate and empower individuals to access advance care planning, caregiving, hospice and grief services, and information.

Through the FHSSA Impact Fund, NHF raises funds to support the programs of FHSSA.

One of the very fascinating ways you can help the National Hospice Foundation is to join the Run to Remember. The Run to Remember is not a specific event, rather it is any running/walking event you choose. You register for your own event, and then sign up for the Run to Remember. You raise funds to donate, 50% of which go to your local hospice organization and 50% go to the National Hospice Foundation. There is no minimum fundraising amount. In addition, you will receive a high tech race shirt customized with your loved ones name(s) on it!

If you are already committed to running/walking/participating in a race event, consider also registering your existing event as a Run to Remember event, do a little fundraising, and support both your local and the national hospice organization.

The National Hospice Foundation also partners with sites like ProFlowers, Shari's Berries, Red Envelope and others. If you are planning on purchasing something from one of these online retailers, visit the National Hospice Foundation shopping page. If you click the ProFlowers link, for example, from that page, ProFlowers will donate $10 to the National Hospice Foundation. I love this!

Toys for Tots

2011-12-21T17:47:00.000-08:00

Toys for Tots

There is still time to donate to organizations like Toys for Tots! Toys for Tots is an organization that collects new, unwrapped toys and donates them to children in your community that would perhaps not otherwise have gifts for Christmas.

From their WEBSITE:

MISSION:The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

GOAL:The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.

Local toy collection campaigns begin in October and last until mid to late December. Toy distribution also takes place mid to late December. Membera of the community drop new, unwrapped toys in collection boxes positioned in local businesses. Coordinators pick up these toys and store them in central warehouses where the toys are sorted by age and gender. At Christmas, Coordinators, with the assistance of local social welfare agencies, church groups, and other local community agencies, distribute the toys to the less fortunate children of the community. Over the years, Marines have established close working relationships with social welfare agencies, churches and other local community agencies which are well qualified to identify the needy children in the community and play important roles in the distribution of the toys.

While Toys for Tots Coordinators organize, coordinate and manage the campaign, the ultimate success depends on the support of the local community and the generosity of the people who donate toys.

Not sure where or how to donate? The home page has a donation location drop down menu, or you can make cash donations online via Paypal. Toys for Tots primarily works with children up to age 12, although some communities accept donations up to age 14 or 16. Imagine what it would be like to wake up Christmas morning with no tree, no toys, no gifts, no food....Christmas is a time of plenty for many, but for many it is a day that is lacking. Help Toys for Tots this season by donating a new unwrapped toy or two and bring some happy to a child's life.

Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

2011-12-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

Things are gettin' hectic!

It's crunch time!

There are cookies everywhere! And fudge.

It can be hard to eat real meals, real food, this time of year. Who has the time or energy to make a big dinner when there are a gazillion cookies to make, frost (eat), presents to wrap, last-minute shopping, AND if you are traveling somewhere you have to do all that and get ready to go!

Craziness.

But it isn't *impossible* to eat a real meal.

On one of your last-minute trips to the grocery store pick up a rotisserie chicken, some mixed salad greens, a small can of coconut milk, and you can have a super quick, nutritious meal in minutes, literally.

The original recipe comes from Cooking Light April 2011. It is one of those recipes that you can use as a guide and add or subtract from based on what is available and ready.

(source)

I threw this together last night in about 10 minutes. I roast a chicken once a week or so just for purposes like this, so I had pre-cook chicken breasts in my fridge. I also had some mixed organic salad greens. I shredded a carrot and chopped up a celery stalk. I didn't have bean sprouts, so I left those out. I did have peanuts, so I chopped those up real quick with my Pampered Chef food chopper.

On the stove I heated a small can of coconut milk, some peanut butter, brown sugar, sprinkle of cayenne, some low sodium soy sauce, and a splash of lemon juice from the bottle. I didn't have fresh limes, so I just used what I had on hand. I've said before, recipes are a *suggestion* or a way to get started, but use what ya got! That's my philosophy anyway.

Now, these pictures are terrible...I don't know why...but the final product is delicious, and literally, 10 minutes to done.

Chris put more dressing on his salad than I did.

I made this dinner in the midst of finishing a batch of cookies. It really is quick and easy and delicious! Plus, it helps to combat the sugar overload from all those cookies I'm (not) eating.

Check out the recipe for Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing and give yourself the gift of a real, good meal in minutes this week! (Veggie friends: just leave out the chicken! Add some garbanzo beans instead!)

Are you on sugar overload? Have you given up food for treats this week?? Do you have a favorite super quick and healthy meal?

Emotional Growth Spurt

2011-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Do you sometimes feel like you are going through a growth spurt?

I don't mean physical growth like when you were a kid and your bones hurt from growing.

I mean a mental/emotional/understanding/awareness growth spurt?

I do not know why, but this holiday season I feel I am gaining clarity on so many things!

I asked a question on Facebook the other day to my Jewish friends about Christmas cards. Yes, I know that Hanukkah is the appropriate holiday for Jews, but my question, which I had never thought of before, was: If *I* celebrate Christmas and I am sending Christmas cards (because that is the holiday I celebrate) is it rude to send them to my Jewish friends? Is it considered rude? Should I go out and buy Hanukkah cards?

There was mixed response. Some people felt it was okay, as long as it was sent in the spirit of love and inclusion.

Others felt that while it wouldn't perhaps necessarily *offend*, it may be received with eye rolling for wishing someone to have a Merry holiday they don't celebrate.

I'm still on the fence about it, actually, but I feel like even asking the question or having the thought process creates growth and promotes understanding.

Personally, I can understand it both ways. I feel like if I am celebrating Christmas and I send out Christmas cards the MESSAGE I am sending is not necessarily about the specific holiday. To ME the cards represent a feeling of love and caring that I want to extend to the person receiving it. I am sending the card to tell that person that I love and care about them and that they hold a special place in my life.

If I were to receive a Happy Hanukkah card from a friend, I would be appreciative of them thinking of me and of including me in their celebration. I would be honored to know that they cared about me enough to include me in their holiday wishes, no matter what holiday that might be, including Festivus, Ramadan, Kwanzaa or any other holiday of which I am not aware.

I think this is part of what I find so interesting about people (particularly here in the US) beating the drum that they are going to say MERRY CHRISTMAS, damnit! And if *you* don't say Merry Christmas then you are some kind of jerk.

I have been out and about the past few days and when people have said Merry Christmas to me I have noticed that it is coming across in one of two ways.

One: it is said with some measure of defiance! Merry Christmas GrRRRR....!! Like they are just waiting to pounce should the person respond with something other than complete thankfulness at being wished Merry Christmas.

Two: it is said with some measure of weariness. Uhmmm MerryChristmas. Quietly, quickly. These people are afraid that they, too, will be pounced on for uttering the wrong words.

Really?

Are people really missing out on the point of the HOLIDAY season...??

The holidays, of which in the US Christmas is the one celebrated by the majority of people (not right or wrong, just current fact), are a time where we are supposed to remember that we are to love one another, be kind, be gentle, be grateful, and be accepting.

What difference does it make if the store clerk wishes you Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or Happy Kwanzaa? The appropriate response is "Thank you!" The store clerk certainly doesn't know if you are Jewish or Christian or Atheist just by looking at you. The INTENT of the message is not to offend or be bigoted, it is simply to pass on a blessing for happiness.

Another area of growth I have noticed is regarding religious beliefs in general. I am not what one would call religious. I have my belief system, but I do not participate in organized religion.

You know what? This belief of mine does not make it impossible for me to support and appreciate and congratulate those around me who DO participate in organized religion. I do not need to ignore Hanukkah because I am not Jewish. I do not need to ignore the excitement of a friend who has been baptized for one year today. This was obviously a big moment in her life. She is understandably excited to share. And I am happy for her!

Simply because her beliefs and my beliefs, or her level of participation and my level of participation are different, doesn't mean I cannot share in her happiness, and support it even. My support of her in no way diminishes my OWN beliefs or happiness.

I am in the midst of a growth spurt of clarity and enlightenment. It is amazing and freeing. I do not need to resent or ignore or have any negative feelings towards those who celebrate or pray in a different way than I do. I only need to maintain my faith and be respectful of theirs.

So, with that said....Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Ramadan! Happy Kwanzaa! And Happy Holidays! to each and every one of the people who come and read this blog. I appreciate you being here and I look forward to continuing to share my life with you.

Your Local No-Kill Animal Shelter or Rescue Group

2011-12-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Your Local No-Kill Animal Shelter or Rescue Group

My friend Jenn is the biggest animal lover I know. She used to be a vet tech, and then spent several years volunteering at her local shelter. She currently volunteers at her local Zoo, and in addition to caring for her own brood of 9 cats, continues to be a foster mom for kittens in need. Jenn loves animals and is very knowledgeable about what organizations out there are really helping the animals. I couldn't think of anyone better to ask to write a guest post about animal charity organizations than Jenn. Don't forget to check out Jenn's blog at Cats, Cooking and Compassion!

When Corrie asked me to write a guest post for her blog, my initial reaction was to say no. But then I decided to say yes. As a definite confirmed pet lover, I wanted to focus on a pet rescue group. However, I really had trouble finding a national charity that I wanted to profile, as there truly isn’t a national organization. Most of what you see really aren’t national organizations, despite having United States or American in their name.

Instead I am going to encourage you to donate your time or money to your local No-Kill Shelter. They do great work within the community.

Among the services no-kill shelters provide are:

*Adoption
*Rescue from animal control and open-door/kill shelters
*Low-cost spay/neuter services
*Trap/neuter/return of feral kittens
*Hay distribution four outside animals
*Educational programs for adults and children
*Obedience classes for dogs
*Off-site adoption centers
*Community events
*Medical services for the public
*Foster program
*Food bank distribution

Not every shelter provides all of these services, but many do, and some offer even more. Services will differ. It is important to note that no-kill shelters and rescue groups do not get government funding. They rely on grants and donations and rely heavily on their volunteers.

Have you seen those commercials on TV that show all the cute puppies and kittens being given as gifts? The recipients, usually children, are overjoyed at receiving this adorable gift. This is not reality.

You should never give a gift of a pet. The reasons are numerous, and I’ll discuss some below.

First, the decision to get a pet should never be entered into lightly. A pet is not disposable or returnable. A pet is a commitment and it is unfair to ask anyone to make that kind of commitment if they are not ready. Pets can live up to 20 years. That is a long time to ask someone to make adjustments to their lives.

Secondly, when a person is ready, truly ready, they should make the selection for themselves. A human/animal bond cannot be explained and it cannot be chosen by someone else.

A pet requires time, money and lifestyle changes that person has to be willing to make. Even if someone intends to get a pet, only they can decide when they are ready. Dogs needs walks and baths, and cats need litter boxes scooped. And even bunnies and guinea pigs needs their cages cleaned and exercise. And regardless of their reputation of independence, all pets need and crave attention and play in order to thrive.

Shelters are full of pets that have been returned because they were unwanted pets, leading to unnecessary euthanasia.

If an animal is not wanted, it could be ignored.

The holidays are usually a time of chaos and it is a really bad time to bring an animal into a home, where routines are broken and people are coming and going. To integrate an animal into a household, an animal needs to have a routine established.

It is important to consider the recipient. Is it a child who will get bored with the pet, and then the care defaults to the mother? Or is it for an elderly person who could conceivably pass on before the pet? What happens to the pet then? Or what happens if a couple decides to have a baby? These are all factors that we cannot, or should not, have to decide.

So if you want to help the animals this season, you can do one of the following things:

1. Give a gift certificate to the intended recipient and they can pick out their own companion when they are ready; or give a gift basket of supplies they will need

2. Give the shelter a donation to use for their programs, or for whichever program you feel is closest to your heart (spay/neuter, education, adoption, etc)

3. Volunteer your time

4. If it is a quiet holiday for you, foster and give an animal a break from a cage

5. Adopt your own

Thanks Jenn!

There are many thousands of no-kill shelters and rescue groups throughout the country. One website I found, No Kill Network, has a map to click on for a list of no-kill shelters in your state. Alternately, you can simply Google search for no-kill animal shelters in your local area. I was surprised at how many organizations there are in Oregon. I know many friends and family members who have adopted loving, lifetime family pets from no-kill shelters and rescues. If a pet isn't in your plans right now, that is totally okay! But maybe you want to help a no-kill shelter or have some time, money or space in your home to donate. Be sure to do your research about the organization you want to support. Many well-known organizations like the HSUS, ASPCA and PETA are NOT no-kill organizations.

And remember: spay or neuter your pet!

National Marrow Donor Program

2011-12-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

National Marrow Donor Program

Many of us have been touched by cancer, in one form or another. And many of us are familiar with the big cancer charity organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the American Cancer Society. Instead of highlighting those charities during my month of giving daily charity highlight, which have a great deal of public awareness around them already, and already raise millions of dollars each year, I thought I would use my little voice to bring awareness to another aspect of cancer donation.

So Shiny is a blog I read, written by the very funny Catherine Shaffer. Catherine's mother recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. On her blog, Catherine requested, as a way to help save lives, that her readers sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program.

I knew that there was such a thing, but I didn't really know anything about it, nor did I know how simple it was to sign up! I followed the link to the National Marrow Donor Program website and spent some time reading up on Bone Marrow Registry and donation. It is free to sign up. The questionnaire to see if you are a potentially eligible donor took about 2 minutes to complete.

Upon completion I was told that I am potentially eligible and will be sent a kit by mail that will have 4 cotton swabs in it. I will swab my cheek and send them back to be tissue typed.

There is no cost to me to sign up and register, though there is the opportunity to donate to help defray the costs associated with the tissue typing.

Maybe some day in the future I will be contacted about a potential match, and I may be able to donate some of my blood or marrow to help save a life. According to the National Marrow Donor Program website 10,000 people need marrow donations, but only half receive them in time.

It is very simple to sign up. Please consider doing so. You can follow the link above or click on the post title to take you to the registration page.

If you are uncomfortable with becoming a potential marrow donor, there are other ways you can help. The National Marrow Donor Program accepts donations. They also have a Be The Match store, where they sell all kinds of things! Apparel, accessories, bags, jewelry, coffee mugs, picture frames and more.

For my fitness minded friends, the NMDP also puts on a Be the Match Be the One Run in Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Long Beach, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland OR, Richmond, San Jose, St. Louis and Tampa. Portland's event is a 5k on July 15, 2012 at the World Trade Center Plaza downtown. You can raise funds to donate to the NMDP and run a quick downtown race.

Maybe a monetary donation isn't in your budget this year. But maybe you can take a few moments and see if you are a potentially eligible marrow donor. You could help save a life!

Goals Week 12/18/11

2011-12-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

I was reminded (again) why exercise is about more than just adjusting my BMI. I ~~suffer~~ struggle with anxiety issues that can be very debilitating. When I am not taking good care of my body, when I don't exercise, when I eat 5 or 6 cookies and then have an egg nog latte, and don't eat vegetables and am sad because my kitty is gone, the anxiety hits me hard.

And it kinda knocks some sense into me.

I know better than this.

I know I can't ignore my body and my physical activity and eat total garbage. Especially if I am already emotionally "heightened" like I am right now because of my kitty, Christmas, money, stress and blah blah blah.

Yesterday I ate crap. I didn't exercise. I sat around much of the day doing nothing. That was a mistake.

My anxiety kicked in last night and made for a super fun evening. <---sarcasm.

Today, I KNEW I had to pay attention to my body and take care of myself. (Sometimes I am so dense.)

So, what better way to kick myself into gear with taking care of both my physical and mental health than by setting some goals for the week?

NO better way!

MY goals are pretty simple:

Exercise at least 20 minutes a day Sunday through Thursday.

Drink water or tea, skip coffee, and only have alcohol at our holiday festivities on Friday.

Eat veggies or fruits with every meal.

Limit Christmas "treats" to two per day maximum prior to Friday. (I'm gonna have more than two treats on Friday because that is our "Christmas" celebration.)

That's it! Those are my goals for this week.

I started off the day on the right foot!

Banana and water for early breakfast, followed by 40 minutes of Firm Burn and Shape. Oatmeal and pb for late breakfast. More water. Clementine for snack. More water. Lunch was quinoa, black beans and cumin heated in the micro and topped with fresh tomato and avocado (SO GOOD) plus a hardboiled egg. Tea. Dinner was homemade chicken enchiladas. I had two. More tea. NO Christmas Treats, coffee or alcohol.

Success for day 1!

Incidentally, I'm feeling much more relaxed and less anxious and tense this evening. Coincidence? Unlikely.

What are your goals for the week? Are you throwing in the towel because of Christmas or hanging on my a thread??

National Alliance on Mental Illness

2011-12-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

National Alliance on Mental Illness

My life has been touched by mental illness in many ways. Many family members and friends have been diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses or mood disorders. Some of them suffer terribly with their illness, while others are less impacted. But, there is no doubt, that any type of mental illness or mood disorder affects day to day life for millions of people, and their loved ones.

Mental illness has a great deal of stigma associated with it. This frustrates me because unlike addictions to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes or food, mental illness is not something someone chooses. Having another drink is always a choice, but waking up every day with mental illness is not a choice. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is a group that helps increase knowldege and decrease stigma associated with mental illness.

From their website:

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raising awareness and building a community of hope for all of those in need.

From its inception in 1979, NAMI has been dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. Financial contributions allow NAMI to offer an array of programs, initiatives and activities in support of the NAMI mission.

Our work.

NAMI stays focused on educating America about mental illness. NAMI is the foundation for hundreds of NAMI State Organizations, NAMI Affiliates and volunteer leaders who work in local communities across the country to raise awareness and provide essential and free education, advocacy and support group programs for people living with mental illness and their loved ones. NAMI creates change and works tirelessly to advocate for an American health care system that ensures access to treatment to those in need.

NAMI focuses on support, education, research and advocacy to help individuals and families affected by mental illness. Learn more about awareness and support, NAMI's education programs and our advocacy efforts.

You can help NAMI with their great work by becoming a member, donating funds, contacting your legislators or participating in NAMI Walks. Nami Walks are available in 44 states. Click the link to see when/where the next Nami Walk is in your area. Oregonians: Mark your calendar for May 20th, 2012 for the next NAMI Walk 5k at the Eastbank Esplanade in Downtown Portland!

Make-A-Wish

2011-12-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Make-A-Wish

Most everyone has heard about the Make-A-Wish foundation. Make-A-Wish grants wishes for terminally ill children.

From their website:

Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. The Foundation's mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish^® experience has on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 after a little boy named Chris Greicius realized his heartfelt wish to become a police officer. Since its humble beginnings, the organization has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon, reaching more than 250,000 children around the world.

According to their website, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes. Many people, myself included, are under the impression that the wishes are huge, but if you look at the recent wishes page it is easy to see that some of the wishes are not huge, but are huge to the child making the wish.

One little girl has the wish for a pink playhouse.

One boy has a wish to go see Wheel of Fortune.

Another boy wants to see snow.

There are several ways you can help support the work of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In addition to financial donations and volunteer efforts, you can donate frequent flier miles, building materials, electronic items or purchase goods from Ebay Community Sellers supporting Make-A-Wish. You can also shop at the Make-A-Wish Marketplace which has apparel, jewelry, office and promotional items and more. Please visit the Make-A-Wish webpage to learn more!

Hearty Poblano Corn Chowder

2011-12-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this recipe in September of last year. You can find the original post here.

I made this again last night and it was delicious! I still didn't take my own picture though.

source

The original recipe inspiration came from www.myrecipes.com and can be found HERE. I adapted the recipe a bit to suit my style.

When I originally made this recipe I used fresh everything. But last night I did a little "shopping" from my freezer! I totally love being able to head out to my freezer to go produce shopping from my garden harvest in the middle of December. So awesome!

I used about 6 or 7 small/medium size poblano peppers that we had roasted and then frozen this summer. I didn't peel them before we froze them which turned out to be okay because once they defrosted a bit the skins peeled off super easy! WAY easier than when they are freshly roasted.

I also used 3 cups of corn that I cut off the cob this summer and froze. That fresh, sweet corn flavor was perfectly preserved and gave the chowder super flavor.

I have made some minor alterations to this recipe based on having made it a couple more times. The recipe below includes these alterations. The original recipe is delicious, but these adjustments give it a bit more oomph.

Hearty Poblano Corn Chowder
Serves 4

4 medium and 4 small poblano peppers, roasted, seeded and diced (about 1 - 1.5 cups diced)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
3 cups (16 oz) corn (can be canned, frozen or fresh off the cob-if canned drain, if frozen defrost)
2 cups rice milk or fat free milk, divided
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup half and half
generous sprinkle of salt
generous sprinkle of pepper
4 Tablespoons sharp cheddar cheese, grated

blue corn chips or tortillas for garnish

Makes 4 servings approximately 1 cup per serving

1. (If using fresh) Roast poblano peppers in the oven or on a hot grill until they are charred well on all sides. Place in plastic zip top bag and let steam for 15 minutes to make removing the skin easier. Remove the skin, top and seeds of the poblanos. (If using frozen, defrost, skin and dice).

2. Dice the poblanos.

3. Add olive oil to medium hot skillet. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions are soft; add the diced poblanos and saute 2-3 minutes more to heat thorough.

4. Add 1 cup corn to pan and sauté/pan roast for 3-4 more minutes or until corn starts to soften and brown slightly.

5. Add 1 cup of milk to pan. Heat mixture to simmer; continue to simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

6. Take the remaining 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of corn and puree in a blender until smooth.

7. Add to corn and pepper mixture, along with butter and half and half. Stir to combine and heat through. Sprinkle with generous amount of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

8. Ladle into bowls and top with 1 tablespoon of grated cheddar per bowl. Garnish with blue corn chips or tortillas.

5, 6 or 7-Layer Bars, Your Choice

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

AKA...my once a year cookies. I *only* make these at Christmas time.

I may have mentioned here or there that I have no self control when it comes to cookies. That is true, and well-known. But, I especially have no self control when it comes to these cookies, or bars if you prefer.

They are decadent.

Rich.

Sweet.

Gooey (if you eat them when they are still slightly warm, and why wouldn't you, especially if you have no self control when it comes to cookies?)

Delicious.

I make them only once a year so as to do as little damage to my physique as possible.

5, 6 or 7-Layer Bars

Here's what ya need!

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2-1 cup shredded coconut
6-8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels
6-8 ounces butterscotch morsels
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/4-1 cup chopped nuts (your choice or a mixture)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Melt butter in 13 x 9 baking dish, ensuring to coat entire bottom of dish evenly.

3. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs (run them through the food processor and you will have crumbs in a minute!) over top of melted butter. Smooth evenly over bottom of dish and press into butter
slightly.

4. Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate morsels over the top of graham cracker base.

5. *optional* add sweetened, shredded coconut (I add it to half of my pan only)

6. Sprinkle butterscotch morsels.

7. Press down slightly.

8. Add sweetened condensed milk over top of mixture, pouring as evenly as possible over the entire pan.

9. *optional* top with chopped nuts, one type or a mixture of several. (Use your food processor to make quick work of the nut chopping, but don't pulverize them, you still want some chunks.) I put nuts on about half of my pan.

Mix of peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachio's.

10. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until the nuts (if using) are slightly toasted and browning, and the sweetened condensed milk is nice and toasty golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool (as much as you can stand to wait).

I have found the easiest way to cut these is with a good thin metal spatula. If you wait to cut them until they are completely cooled, they can be a bit difficult. Cool them well, but don't leave them overnight.

These are VERY rich, so small pieces go a long way. I usually cut them into small, two-bite pieces.

I have been making these (only at Christmastime) since I was a child. I don't know where the original recipe came from, but I know there are many versions and varieties out there. As always, experiment! I don't like coconut and nuts, but other people do, which is why I make the batch half-n-half this way. I'm sure these would be incredibly delicious with peanut butter morsels instead of butterscotch, if butterscotch isn't your thing.

These make a beautiful, tasty gift (that is a great way to get them out of your house so you don't eat them all in one day!).

If you try these out, they take all of about 10 minutes to prep, and 30 minutes to cook. Let me know if you love them!

Steak, Fennel and Arugula Sandwich

2011-12-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I read Cooking Light magazine, and end up making quite a few of their recipes. I think they do a really great job of balancing yummy food and lower calories. The magazine reminds us that no food is "off limits" and that things like steak and mayonnaise can be a part of a healthy diet, when eaten in moderation. I really enjoy that aspect of Cooking Light, because it is a belief system about food that I share.

I really dislike the idea of labeling when it comes to eating and diets. I think when we create labels about what we will or wont eat, we open ourselves up to a lot of attacks by other people if we don't live up to *their* standard of whatever food label we have chosen.

Here is what I believe about food: I need to eat food. Healthy and nutrient dense actual food. I need to limit fake, sugary, processed foods. I need to base my diet on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes and proteins. There needs to be room in my diet for periodic indulgences, but overall I need to eat FOOD and skip non-food and food-like products filled with unpronounceable ingredients, chemicals, fillers and red dye #7.

I do not believe in "diets", severe food restrictions, or labels of what type of eater I am (vegetarian/paleo/whatever). I am a human that needs to eat food. That's it.

This recipe is from Cooking Light, although I have never made my own mayonnaise. I just use store bought. I really love fennel, especially cooked like this, it is so flavorful. My only caution with this sandwich is don't use a bread that gets too hard/crunchy when it is toasted, or your mouth will get ripped up like you have been eating Cap'n Crunch cereal! I rarely follow recipes exactly, but this one is pretty close!

Here is the link to the original Cooking Light recipe.

Here is what I do:

Steak, Fennel and Arugula Sandwich
Serves 2

3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (I love fennel!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cumin (I love cumin)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
olive oil (divided-to roast fennel and then cook steak)
2 average fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 ~1lb new york loin steak, ~1 inch thick
2-3 tablespoons mayo (feel free to use the Cooking Light recipe and make your own)
4 slices of hearty bread
1 cup fresh arugula

1. Combine fennel seeds, salt, cumin and pepper in a small bowl.

2. Heat olive oil (enough to coat your pan) in a skillet over medium heat. Add half of seasoning mixture to pan and the sliced fennel. Saute for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring periodically, until the fennel is soft and starting to caramelize and brown.

3. Remove fennel from skillet and set aside. Add a bit more olive oil to pan. Coat all sides of steak with remaining seasoning mixture. Add steak to pan. Cook about 5 minutes per side, or until desired degree of doneness.

4. Let steak rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

5. Lightly toast your bread.
6. Thinly slice steak against the grain.
7. Assemble the sandwich. Spread mayo on each slice of bread, top with arugula, sliced steak and caramelized fennel.

EAT and ENJOY!!

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

2011-12-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

I think the thing that MOST impresses me about Doctors Without Borders is their adamant stance that they are neutral in regards to politics and armed conflict. They receive the majority of their funding from private sources and they try to be as transparent as possible with their accounting. Doctors Without Borders is an organization that goes to areas in peril, either due to natural disaster, poverty or armed conflict, and at their own risk, help people who are sick or injured. They also do tremendous other great works with regard to getting needed medicines to these places. Please consider watching the video and reading a bit more about Doctors Without Borders.

From their website:

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971.

Today, MSF provides independent, impartial assistance in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need. MSF also reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.

In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisis regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation.

MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas. Medical teams conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population's medical needs before opening programs, aiming to fill gaps that exist (rather than replicating services that are already offered) or reach communities that are not being assisted. The key to MSF’s ability to act independently in response to a crisis is its independent funding. Ninety percent of MSF's overall funding (and 100 percent of MSF-USA's funding) comes from private, non-govermental sources. In 2009, MSF had 3.8 million individual donors and private funders worldwide.

As an organization, MSF is neutral. It does not take sides in armed conflicts, provides care on the basis of need alone, and pushes for increased independent access to victims of conflict as required under international humanitarian law.

MSF's principles of action are described in the organization's 1971 founding charter, which established a framework for its activities.

Resuming Exercise Strategies

2011-12-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm no expert. I mean, I don't have a degree in fitness or nutrition or anything like that, BUT what I do have is years and years and years....AND YEARS of life experience. That has got to count for something, right?

I have been an on-again off-again exerciser my whole entire life. Literally. When I was a kid I would walk the track with my mom, or ride my bike, or walk home from school...sometimes. As a teen, I would work out with Jane Fonda. Hey, don't knock Jane Fonda...at least when it comes to fitness...babe's got it goin' on!

Then, as a young adult, I would work out at the gym for a while. Then stop. Then start a new gym, for a while. Then stop. Then a different gym, then stop, then start, then stop, then start, then stop. You see where this is going.

I will definitely say that in the last 4 or 5 years I have been *more* consistent in my exercise, overall, but I still have stops and starts. This year has been a good example. Very little exercise the first few months of the year. March, April, May, June, and July I worked out A LOT. Almost every day. August, well, not so much. Not so much in September or October, either. November was better. December, yah..not so much. (I know this because I track the days I exercise on my calendar. Every day that I exercise I put a sticker on my calendar. It is motivational AND an easy way to visually track my exercise!)

Here's the thing, though: I'm getting better! The time between stops and starts is getting shorter. That is progress, in my book, and progress is what life is all about.

So here are a couple of strategies I have come up with for getting started again after an exercise hiatus.

1. Start Small and Easy.

I think a huge mistake people make when getting back to exercise is jumping in with both feet in some misguided effort to make up for lost time. This is a bad idea. The days you didn't work out are done with, and you can't make up for it. You just need to start. If you jump in with both feet you are MUCH more likely to be SO sore the next three days that you wont exercise again for at least a week, if not two! It is much better to do something small and easy to get back in the groove.

Take a short walk. Do one of your easier exercise videos. Do some yoga. Hit up the treadmill or bike at the gym for a short 20 or 30 minute workout. Don't try to go all gung-ho during your first week back to exercise!

2. Pay Attention to Your Body

Even though I do not love exercise, my body does get to a point where it starts to remind me that IT likes to move. Pay attention to those cues. For me, exercise helps manage my anxiety, so if I start to notice that I am feeling more tense, stressed or anxious than normal, and I haven't been exercising, this is a good push for me to get out there and do something. Something Small and Easy. See #1.

Also, I start to notice little physical changes, like my belly gets more pouchy because I am not working those abdominal muscles. When I see that I know it is time to get back on the band wagon, because in no time at all that little extra pouchy will turn into big extra pouchy and I have worked way too hard for way too long to keep my pouchy a reasonable size to let that happen.

3. Set SMART Goals.

It is unlikely that you will bust out of the gate after an exercise hiatus and work out 6 days a week for 60-90 minutes. Nor should you (See #1). It is much more likley that if you set some short term, achieveable and measureable goals, you will be filled with feelings of success upon reaching those goals, and be ready to set bigger goals the next week.

Here is what I mean: If you haven't been exercising, set a goal for the week of something small, like 20 minutes of exercise 3 days of the week. If you do more, AWESOME! But, if like me, this can be a struggle when you are just getting back into it, well you will feel pretty darn good when you accomplish it! Keep track with fun stickers on your calendar. The next week set a slightly more ambitious goal, either longer time, like 30 or 40 minutes, or more days, or if you are feeling really good, both. My goals lately have been at least 20 minutes of exercise 5 days of the week, with at least 10 minutes of abdominal focus each of those sessions. This usually means I get 30 minutes because I do a 20 minute video and then another 10 minute ab video. Of course, I haven't done that in a few weeks...but hey, it's still my goal!

4. Re-Visit Your Past

When you have gotten out of the habit of regular exercise and want to get back into it, it can be very helpful to look back over your past. Look at pictures of yourself that are both less flattering than you would like, and pictures that you really like! Both will motivate you to get up off the couch.

If you have kept a food or exercise journal (you should be!), look over times of success, especially times when you were exercising A LOT and feeling really good. Re-reading those endorphin high emotions will give you a big boost!

Also, read over some old journals or posts about a time when you weren't feeling that great, or your reasons for wanting to exercise. These will also give you a boost of motivation and remind you WHY you want to exercise in the first place.

5. Seek Companionship

Virtual or 3D companionship will help tremendously! Many studies show that those who exercise with a friend are much more likely to maintain an exercise routine. Ask a friend to walk with you or meet you at the gym. Ask an online buddy to check in with you. Ask for accountability. Tell people what you are going to do. It is more difficult to blow off your workout if you just told all 200 of your Facebook friends that you are getting up off your duff to go do it.

6. Most Important - Don't Beat Yourself UP!

Don't spend time criticizing yourself over the days or week or months you have missed. Don't beat yourself up over lost levels of fitness or strength. Just don't do it. Instead, praise yourself for getting back to it! Give yourself some props for re-comitting over and over again. High-five your efforts at never giving up! Positive self-talk is so important.

These are some strategies that I have learned to employ over the years to help my transition back to regular exercise happen more easily, less painfully, and sooner.

Do you have some "getting back to it" strategies?

Portobello Mushroom & Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

2011-12-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

What is for dinner tonight, you ask? Well, I will tell you, happy readers!

Back in the spring, I created this recipe. It is delicious, healthy, nutritious and filling! It is also gluten free, and vegan. It comes together in a short time and smells delectable while cooking! Wins all around!

This is where some of that pre-cooked quinoa from yesterday's prep session will come in handy. A quick re-heat of the quinoa and it will be ready to go.

Now, if you have a big meat eater in your house, you can certainly grill up some chicken or steak, using the same marinade (separately from the veggies please! No cross-contamination needed here), and top the mixture with that instead, or in addition. Honestly, Chris likes meat more than I do, but he would tell you this salad doesn't need it. The portobello mushrooms are plenty meaty enough to satisfy him.

Try it out and let me know what you think! I think it is YUM and I am looking forward to dinner tonght. Too bad it's only 2:45 on the west coast....

Portobello Mushroom & Red Pepper Quinoa Salad
(Serves 2 + enough for leftovers if one of the people doesn’t eat it all!)

2 Large Sliced Portobello Mushroom Cap, gills removed
1 Large Red Pepper, sliced
¼ Red Onion, sliced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1-2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
½ Teaspoon Dried Parsley
1 Cup Quinoa
2 Cups Broth or Water
1 Cup Arugula, divided
1 Teaspoon Fresh Parsley, chopped (optional)
Drizzle Fresh Lemon Juice (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the broth or water to a boil. While the liquid is coming to a boil clean the mushrooms and peppers. Remove the gills from the mushrooms with a spoon. Thickly slice the mushroom caps, approximately ½ - ¾ inch slices. Core and seed the red pepper. Slice into thick slices. Thickly slice the red onion. Add mushrooms, pepper and onion to a large bowl.
In a separate bowl whisk together the marinade; olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic and parsley. Pour marinade over the mushroom mixture; toss to coat. Let mixture set for 5-10 minutes, tossing again to coat.

Pour the quinoa into the now boiling liquid. Cover. Reduce heat and low simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and it is ready to serve.
Place the mushroom mixture into the bottom half of a broiler pan or into a casserole style dish. Cook for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees or until onions and peppers are soft and mushrooms have started to darken.

Place ½ cup of arugula onto each plate. Top arugula with ¾ - 1 cup of quinoa. Place approximately half the mushroom mixture over the top of the quinoa. Place a sprinkle of the fresh parsley and a drizzle of lemon juice over the top of the entire plate and serve.

It will look something like this and taste wonderful! You *could* have leftovers, but you probably won’t!

Start Making A Reader Today

2011-12-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Start Making A Reader Today

As a reminder, I am celebrating the month of giving here on my blog by highlighting a different charity each day of the month. I am looking for a few more charities to round out the month. Do you have a favorite you would like to see highlighted? Let me know!

I like to read, and write, obviously. My friends often tease me because I can read pretty quickly. If I have a relatively short book (a few hundred pages) and a few uninterrupted hours, I can read an entire book. I have always been a reader, even from a young age. I like books and I enjoy the experience of curling up with a good book and forgetting the world for a while.

I can't imagine a life where I couldn't read. I read all day long, every day. I am on the web reading news, information, writing and reading blogs, plus reading recipes, ingredients and even for my bills!

Here in Oregon, the Start Making A Reader Today organization is in its 20th year of helping children gain confidence in reading.

From their website: If children don’t learn to read by third grade, they can’t read to learn.

SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) recruits thousands of volunteers to read one-on-one with PreK-3rd grade children in need of literacy support. Every week for seven months, volunteers read aloud with kids to help them gain confidence in their reading ability. Educators agree this helps reinforce reading and language skills learned in the classroom. An independent study by the Eugene Research Institute reveals that fifth graders who participated in SMART are 60 percent more likely to reach state reading benchmarks than are similar students who did not participate.*

SMART partners with more than 200 schools that have high populations of children from low income families, as studies show they are less likely to have books in the home. To encourage reading outside the classroom, SMART gives each child 14 new, take-home books—two per month during the course of the program.

Every school year SMART mobilizes up to 10,000 volunteers. A donation to SMART ensures the organization can recruit, train and manage its statewide network of volunteers, while getting books in the hands of kids who need them most. The vision of SMART is an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed.
***

There are several ways you can help. Cash donations are very valuable in both managing their volunteer needs, but also in purchasing the new books that are given to the children each month. If you are in Oregon, you can donate your time as a volunteer reader. There is also a gift store where you can buy SMART apparel and other items (these are not tax deductible).

If you are reading this blog, then you understand the importance of being able to read. Please consider acquainting yourself with SMART, and see if they are a good fit for you!

Goals #2

2011-12-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

First of all... I want to thank each and every person that stopped by the blog this week to offer their condolences on the loss of my furry friend. Your comments here, on facebook and in personal messages to me meant so much! I still miss her like crazy, and find myself doing things like trying not to trip over an imaginary cat in the middle of the night when I get up, or looking toward her food and water bowl to see if she needs more food or water. I'm sure these habits will fade with time, but I have been doing these things pretty much every day for the last 17 years, so it might take a while.

For those that asked, we likely will get another kitty someday. I have never went looking for a kitty...they have always found me, one way or another. So for now, we will adjust to having a quiet house and wait for the next furry friend to find us. Thank you all so much for your kind words.

Now: GOALS!

Before all this happened over the weekend, I had some ideas for posts about goals, goal setting, goal tracking, and getting ready for January and New Year's Resolutions. That kind of got waylaid with the loss of Ashley, which sent me into a "I don't want to do anything" tailspin for a few days. I decided, though, that I couldn't sit around and do nothing. I need to be responsible for my life and health, even in the midst of big sadness. Now, this didn't mean that I didn't say "screw it!" on Monday, because I did. I ate fudge, and flavored popcorn, and we went to dinner and I got dessert, too. I know that emotional eating doesn't help in the long run, but sometimes in the short run...well it kinda helps.

I do want to say here that it has taken me many years of learning to get to the point where I can stop the emotional eating in a relatively short period of time. Monday was not a good food day, Tuesday wasn't much better, but it WAS better. Wednesday was better still. And, going through this process this week reminded me (AGAIN-not sure how many times I will need to be reminded of this) that part of being able to overcome emotional eating is having good food in the house and ready to eat. Because really, is it easier to eat a handful of crackers or is it easier to pull out the knife, cutting board, peeler, and carrots and then peel, and cut the carrots? Yah, crackers are way easier.

SO: my goal was to get some healthy food into the house ASAP, and do what I know works for me in getting back to healthy eating, which is getting food prepped so it is as easy, or easier, than crackers.

That goal started with this:

I can't get started on healthy eating without a meal plan and grocery list. Plus, having a list helps curb impulse purchases.

Then, of course, one must do this:

Healthy grocery shopping trip! I'm sorry for the picture quality, I do not know what my problem was yesterday with my picture taking skillz. Piled up there are tons of veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna, peanut butter, nuts and oats, and a few little treats like some So Delicious chocolate coconut milk. I can't wait to try it!

Once I got all that stuff put away (I really dislike grocery shopping!), it was time to get to work on the important part, which is getting some stuff prepped for easy grab and go eating. If my goal is to eat healthy, then I need to make that as simple as possible.

Cut up veggies...of course. Easy grab and eat, and healthy. The celery can be topped with pb, cream cheese or hummus, to give it a little more oomph.

Hard boiled eggs, shelled and ready to eat. Can be eaten plain, chopped and added to salads, or mixed with a bit of mustard and mayo for a sandwich topping. Great protein and only about 70 calories per egg. Easy!

Nuts are a healthy snack, with good fats and protein. They can be high in calories, so a little go a long way. I bought several varieties from the bulk bins and made my own mixed-nut snack. Almonds, raw and roasted cashews, shelled pistachio's and some peanuts. Easy to grab a small handful if I am wanting salty/crunchy snacking.

I also made a big batch of quinoa to have for the week. 2 cups homemade chicken broth and 2 cups of quinoa. Bring broth to a boil, add quinoa, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Cool and store in fridge for easy additions for lunch or dinner. One of my favorite easy lunches is a grain (like quinoa) with some drained and rinsed canned beans (kidney, black, or whatever) heated in the microwave, topped with some cumin and garlic powder, and tomatoes, avocado or greens. SO tasty. Try it! This is a big batch and will be available for me for quick lunches for the whole week, plus it will be used in at least one dinner. Now that is bang for my cooking time buck.

This delectable creation was inspired by Sarah over at The Smart Kitchen. She had the incredible idea to take some leftover acorn squash and add it to garbanzo beans to make a non-traditional hummus. (I have pretty much decided that anything you mix with garbanzo beans to make a dip with is a non-traditional hummus.) Well, I didn't have acorn, but I did have leftover cumin infused butternut squash. Into the food processor it went (abut a cup or so-cubed), with one can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, some olive oil, salt, more cumin, juice of one lemon and a smidge of water to thin it down a bit. Whirl it all up and you have a delicious, nutritious dip for all those cut-up veggies! This made probably about 2-2.5 cups worth, which will last for several days at our house, making for good snacking!

Okay, I did not make this fudge. It, and 8 other blocks of it (!!), were a gift from my brother. I don't make fudge, but I love fudge, especially peanut butter, which I cannot show you because I ate it all in my couch numbing episode on Monday. Anyway, I decided that my healthy eating goal and 9 blocks of fudge didn't exactly jive. I took this one block and cut it into small portions. The remaining blocks were individually wrapped in foil and stuck deep down in my deep freezer. At least I will have to think about it before I go and try to eat them. :-) Hey, it's cold out in my garage, where the deep freeze is, and I don't want to have to go out there and dig around in the freezer! It is a good strategy.

So, my goal for the week was to get out of my emotional eating slump, stop overindulging just because it's the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and be conscious of what I am eating. In order to do that, I needed to do some meal planning, grocery shopping and food prep. A few hours yesterday afternoon has now set me up for success with my goals, rather than setting me up for failure.

Do you have any goals for the week? How are you doing with them? Even though my goals got pushed back a few days, I'm still working on it, and in my opinion, working on it and being aware of what we are doing is the most important part!

Feeding America or Your Local Food Bank

2011-12-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

Feeding America

Your Local Food Bank

Back in November, I posted This post about hunger in Oregon, and the Oregon Food Bank. Since many of my readers are not from Oregon, I also linked that post to Feeding America, a national organization that collects food donations, and cash, and distributes those donations to a variety of food banks and pantry's.

Feeding America also has a page on their site where you can find YOUR local food bank or food pantry if you would prefer to donate food to a local organization.

One of the most valuable features of the Feeding America site is the statistics provided about food insecurity and hunger in each state. For example:

The food insecurity rate in Alabama is 17.8% of the population, but the CHILD food insecurity rate is 26.6%.

In California, a place many think of as fairly wealthy, the rates are similar at 16.7% and 27.3%.

North Carolina comes in at 18.2% and 27.3%, respectively.

What do those numbers mean? They mean that about 20% of the population is food insecure, meaning they do not know that they will have access to a meal, and may skip meals due to that lack of access. They may be required to use alternate methods to find food, including dumpster diving, food banks or theft.

Many of the children in our country receive food, often breakfast and lunch, through free or reduced cost lunch programs through their schools. In some cases, this is the only food the children have regular access to. Their families may not be able to provide them with dinner and snacks every day, too.

I mention this in particular, because many states are heading into Winter Break for schools. These children will no longer have access to these meals through the Winter Break. How fun are the holidays if you are hungry and miserable? Not that fun. Especially when you see everyone around you filling themselves up with cookies and egg nog. All the holiday commercials on TV show families having big feasts. This is not a fun time if there are no cookies and egg nog or a big family feast in your future.

HOW CAN YOU HELP??

$1 = 8 Meals through Feeding America.

$12 = Breakfast for a child for 3 months.

$45 = Meals for a family of four for one month.

$50 = Holiday meals for 100 families.

$80 = 800 pounds of fruits and vegetables.

$100 = Holiday meals for 200 families.

As you can see, your monetary donation to Feeding America, or other local food banks, goes a long way. Of course you can also donate non-perishable food items. Some of the most in-demand items are:

canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon)

canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese)

peanut butter and other nut butters

canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils)

pasta, rice, cereal

canned fruits and vegetables

100 percent fruit or vegetable juice (canned, plastic or boxed)

cooking oil

shelf-stable milk

consider donating healthy, low-fat and low-sugar products (source)

There are MANY ways to donate food or money to help feed the hungry, especially this time of year. There are donation sites at many grocery stores, churches and businesses. Food banks are always looking for volunteers to help sort and pack food. But also, keep in mind ways you can help throughout the year. Many food banks now have community gardens, where the produce grown is given to local families in need. These community gardens need gardeners to help plant, fertilize, water, weed, cultivate and harvest the veggies. Perhaps your local church has a food drive event, or if you are a business owner, perhaps you can organize a food fund drive.

I encourage you, especially if putting food on your table is not something you have to worry about each day, please consider making a donation to a food bank or food pantry.

A little goes a long way in fighting hunger.

Saying Goodbye...

2011-12-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a pretty crappy day at Casa Beebe.

Some of you know that my kitty has been having some problems over the last few weeks. We took her to the emergency vet on Sunday because she could hardly stand, and couldn't hold her head up, was hardly eating or drinking, and was just pathetically miserable.

They did blood work and told us she was in renal failure (kidney failure), among other things. They wanted about $1000 to keep her hospitalized and give her IV fluids and medicine to see if we could get her stabilized and feeling better. That was not in my budget.

I took her home and we went to our regular vet yesterday. After a lengthy consultation with my very compassionate vet, with a thorough breakdown of all of Ashley's current problems, including renal failure, low potassium, anemia, acidemia, diabetes, hormonal imbalance, hyperthyroidism and a heart-murmur (they suspect she was throwing blood clots due to the heart-murmur which was contributing to the inability to move properly), and a discussion on the likelihood of improvement after 3 days of hospitalization, and the ongoing intensive care she would require post-hospitalization, we came to realize that at 17 years old, Ashley had lived a good, long life.

It was an extremely hard and emotional decision, but we decided it was time to say goodbye to my sweet kitty. She was with us from the time she was a little tiny kitten, and has been a part of our life everyday for 17 years. I miss her tremendously, and my house is empty.

I had to keep reminding myself yesterday that I didn't have to get up to go check on her, find her or pester her.

I am beyond sad. I have a reputation for not being a cry-er, and being unemotional...well, I will tell you all that I was a big snotty mess yesterday at the vet's and afterward...it sucked.

I came home and numbed out on the couch.

Chris has been awesome. For a guy who told me for years he hated my cats, he was very sad, too. He told me the other day to stop posting pictures of him and the cat on facebook. :-) I am going to post these two because they make me smile.

This is the last picture of my sweet kitty. I took it outside the vets office, after our consultation and before we said our final goodbye. At first I thought it didn't turn out, but then I decided it was very appropriate...she looks like an angel.

I miss my sweet Ashley Marie...and am so sad about having to say goodbye.

Rest in peace my sweet kitty.

Books For Soldiers

2011-12-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Books For Soldiers

I stumbled upon this organization while researching for my charity posts this month. Books For Soldiers is a website where soldiers from all branches of our armed services request books (and other items) be shipped to them where they are deployed. You have to sign up to be able to see the requests, but I thought this is a great idea! Soldiers request books, toiletries, magazines and other miscellaneous care-package items, sometimes just a card or letter.

If you are someone who has a gazillion magazine subscriptions, or reads tons of books but don't know what to do with them all after you are finished, and don't have room on your already over-crowded bookshelves, Books For Soldiers may be a great way to "re-gift" your books and magazines.

From their website:

During the first Gulf War, several of my friends from school were in the reserves and were activated to fight the Iraqis. CNN reported that once the soldiers were deployed, they were faced with massive downtime and were restricted to their base due to the travel limitations set by the Saudi government.
I am a voracious reader and at the beginning of the Gulf War, I had a closet full of paperback books. Books that were not being used. So instead of selling them at the used book store, I packed them up in small care packages and sent them out to all the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen I had addresses for.

Within a few weeks, I ran out of books before I ran out of addresses. Friends and family members began donating their paperback books and in the end, over 1000 books were sent to the Gulf.
After the war, we received many thank-you notes from soldiers who got one of our books. Unless it was time for them to fly back home, mail-call days were one of the most anticipated events of deployment. Regardless of why the military is deployed, the men and women of our armed services are there for us. They deserve our support and if we can make their deployment easier, then all the better.

Currently, BFS is a non-profit corporation, operated as a ministry of the non-denominational, interfaith Order of the Red Grail church in North Carolina. You can download our IRS 501(c)(3) approval letter in PDF format

If you have recent magazines or gently used books that might be of interest to our deployed military, please consider visiting Books For Soldiers and sending these items to someone who would really love to have them, rather than to a recycling center or thrift store.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

2011-12-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

I have a hard enough time with my poor kitty being sick, I can't imagine what it is like for parents when their children get sick with cancer and other childhood diseases. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital NEVER turns a family away from treatment for a lack of ability to pay. Read on to find out more about this organization.

From their website:

Mission

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.

How do your donations help?

Thanks to donors, St. Jude families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance, and no child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay.
Your donations also help St. Jude cover other costs a family typically incurs while their child is being treated at the hospital, including travel, housing and food.
At St. Jude, donor dollars help fuel the groundbreaking research that leads to pioneering care and treatments for childhood cancer and other deadly diseases.

How is St. Jude making a difference for sick children?

Every child saved at St. Jude means children saved around the world—a direct result of cutting-edge research and treatment that set the standard in treating childhood cancers. And our discoveries are shared freely with doctors and scientists all over the world.
St. Jude developed protocols that have helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent, when the hospital opened in 1962, to 80 percent today.
St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.
St. Jude has embarked on an unprecedented effort to sequence the pediatric cancer genome and to identify the genetic changes that give rise to some of the world's deadliest childhood cancers. Read more.

How are donations used?

During the past five years, 81 cents of every dollar received has supported the research and treatment at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
It costs $1.7 million a day to operate St. Jude, and public donations provide more than 75 percent of our funding

St. Jude's has many ways you can help, including monetary donations, but also an online Gift Shop where you can purchase items priced as low as just a couple of dollars. They have a variety of items including clothing, watches, jewelry, handbags, tote bags and gifts for children. Please visit their website and see if St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a charity you would like to support. And keep them in mind for gift giving needs throughout the year.

Sad Kitty

2011-12-11T17:10:00.001-08:00

Well I *was* going to write another post today about goals...specifically my goals for this week.

Instead, I am going to write about this:

This is my kitty...Ashley. She is 17 years old. I have had her since she was a tiny kitty. She is a big giant fur ball pain-in-the-ass. But, she is my fluffy friend.

Her health is taking a turn for the worse. Today she looked like this:

She is unable to hold her head up or stand up properly. She can hardly walk, it looks like she is drunk. I took her to the ER vet. I have taken her to the regular vet 3 or 4 times in the last few weeks, and thought we were getting things under control. But I guess we weren't even treating the right stuff.

This is her at the vets office today. She is in the window, scratching to get out. She doesn't want to be there. It was funny, even though she was unhappy.

The diagnosis is kidney failure, potassium deficiency, too much acid in her system and anemia. The ER vet wanted about $1000 to run tests and keep her overnight for IV fluids. Yah. That's not in the budget.

I brought her home. She ate a little tiny bit, drank a little tiny bit, and is now resting on her blankie.

Tomorrow I will take her to her regular vet and see what we can do. I know that sometimes kitties can live for a long time with kidney problems, so that is what I'm hoping for.

If you have a furry friend, give them some extra love tonight. I know little Miss Ash is going to be getting lots of snuggles.

Goodwill Industries International

2011-12-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

Goodwill

If you are like me, several times a year you clean out a closet, drawer or cupboard and take the "stuff" you no longer need or want down to the Goodwill to donate. It works out...you get cleaner closets, maybe a tax write off, and the folks at Goodwill get more "stuff" to sell in their stores.

But did you know that Goodwill is much more than a store? Read on:

From their website:

Goodwill® inspires hope and self-confidence, helping people from all backgrounds and walks of life to feel successful, valuable and dignified.

We help people earn a living, improve their lives, and strengthen their families and their communities.

Our network of 165 independent, community-based Goodwills in the United States and Canada offers customized job training, employment placement and other services to people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges.

In 2010, Goodwill helped more than 2.4 million people train for careers in industries such as banking, IT and health care, to name a few — and get the supporting services they needed to be successful, such as English language training, additional education, or access to transportation and child care.

Every day, someone gets a good job, with help from Goodwill.

More than 170,000 people obtained meaningful employment in 2010 through their participation in Goodwill programs. These people went on to earn over $2.7 billion in salaries and wages, and contributed to their communities as productive, tax-paying citizens.

Goodwills meet the diverse needs of people, including youth, seniors, veterans, immigrants, and people with disabilities, criminal backgrounds and other specialized needs.

Christmas time might be a great time to do a little closet cleaning! You need to make room for all those awesome new toys Santa will bring you! Goodwill accepts donations of stuff, subject to some guidelines, in locations throughout the US and Canada. You can, of course, make financial contributions as well. Check out their website for more info!

S.M.A.R.T Goals

2011-12-10T19:29:00.001-08:00

I don't really like resolutions. I prefer goals.

Is it too early to be thinking about goal setting for 2012??

I don't think so!

Are you familiar with S.M.A.R.T goal setting?

(source)

S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for:

Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic or Relevant
Timely or Time-Bound or Tangible

According to TopAchievement.com Specific goals answer the "who, what, when, which, where, why" questions. Instead of just saying I want to "get in shape", you need to be specific with exactly HOW you are going to do that, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, etc. You may need to consider if other people will need to be involved in your goal, depending on what it is.

Measureable goals are ones that you can measure your progress or success. If it is a running goal for example you may say "I want to run a 10 minute mile". The measureable part of that is being able to time yourself over the course of your training to determine when you successfully achieve that time.

Attainable goals are goals that are actually possible, and that once you identify them you start an attitude shift to achieve them. It is unlikely that you will be able to attain a goal of becoming the Queen of England, so setting that as a goal is a bad idea. The idea here is not to set yourself up for failure by setting a goal that is not attainable.

Realistic or Relevant goals tie in closely with Attainable. It isn't helpful to set goals that are not realistic. If you have never jogged a day in your life then setting a goal to run a marathon in 2 weeks is simply not realistic or attainable. Relevant goals are smaller goals that are relevant to some bigger goal in your life.

Timely/Time-Bound or Tangible goals are those that either have a timeline, or deadline, or are complete with some tangible achievement.

If you set a goal, like I have, of wogging a half marathon in June 2012, that is a time-bound goal, and it is also realistic, attainable, measureable and tangible. I will receive a medal and a finishers t-shirt when I finish, along with a Helvetia burger! It is also a specific goal because I will be following a training plan to get my mileage up (from zero!-I have slacked off on the exercise again!) to 13.1 miles. I have just over 6 months to train. I will have to run 3 times a week, cross train, and eat properly to fuel those runs during the 6 month training period.

Specific: I have a goal to wog (walk/jog) the Helvetia Half Marathon in June 2012. I will have to begin following a training plan in January 2012 to start logging miles on my feet, outside. This will include walks(turning into jogs) at least 3 times a week, with cross training (cardio/weights/yoga) at least 2 days a week. I have no speed goal, my only goal is to train well and finish.

Measurable: 13.1 miles. The training plan I choose to follow will also have incremental weekly measureable mileage goals.

Attainable: Yes, absolutely. I am in decent enough shape now, and will fairly quickly increase my fitness level with proper training. 6 months is plenty of time to increase distance to be able to finish a 13.1 mile event. Plus, I have trained for and ran a half marathon before (Seafair Half in July 2006).

Realistic: Again, yes, absolutely. It is realistic for me to complete my training and finish the half marathon. It is also relevant to my overall lifestyle goal of healthy lifestyle and activity.

Time-bound and Tangible: Both! I have already signed up for the marathon (June 9th, 2012) and when I am done I will recieve a medal, t-shirt and Helvetia burger! Plus race swag, pictures and the knowledge that I did it!

There ya go! A S.M.A.R.T. goal for my half marathon training. I have other goals for the year, and will be talking a bit more about them over the next couple of weeks.

Do you have a goal for 2012? It is time to start thinking about it and get specific with how you are going to achieve it. Maybe using the S.M.A.R.T. system will help!

Ronald McDonald House Charities

2011-12-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ronald McDonald House Charities

I know what it is like to have a sick family member far away. When my mom was hospitalized last year I traveled 6 hours each way to see her, nearly every week, for ten weeks. The first night, I stayed in a hospital campus facility very similar to the Ronald McDonald House organization. It was much less expensive than local hotels. There was food to eat, it was secure, and I was close by in case something happened with my mom. I understand a family's need to be close and together if a child is ill and needs an extended hospital stay. So do the people at Ronald McDonald House.

Ronald McDonald House

Many families travel far from home to get treatment for their seriously ill or injured children. Often, it can be a long time to be away from home, or to divide a family. And, for children facing a serious medical crisis, nothing seems scarier than not having their mom and dad close by for love and support.

Our Ronald McDonald House program provides a “home-away-from-home” for families so they can stay close by their hospitalized child at little or no cost. Our Houses are built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on healing their child – not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal or where they will lay their head at night to rest.

Allow Families to Face the Weight of Illness Together

Families are stronger when they are together, which helps in the healing process. By staying at a Ronald McDonald House, parents also can better communicate with their child’s medical team and keep up with complicated treatment plans when needed. They can also focus on the health of their child, rather than grocery shopping, cleaning or cooking meals.

Allow Children to Get the Best Care

When your child is sick, you want the best care possible - even if it is hundreds or thousands of miles away. The Ronald McDonald House allows families to access specialized medical treatment by providing a place to stay at little or sometimes no cost.

There are countless ways to make a difficult day better for our families staying at a House. Read 100 small gestures that make a difference.

Services for Families

At every House, families can enjoy:

Home-cooked meals
Private bedrooms
Playrooms for children

Depending on the House, these services may also be available:

Special suites for children with suppressed immune systems
Accredited education programs
Recreational activities
Non-clinical support services
Sibling support services

The generosity of volunteers and donors make it all possible. In return, families either stay at no cost or are asked to make a donation up to $25 per day, depending on the house. The RMHC Global Policy is that families are never turned away; if its not possible to pay, the fee is waived.

Ronald McDonald House Charities are actually several charitable organizations fulfilling a variety of needs under one name. McDonalds Corporation pays many of the overhead and expenses, allowing the charities to put .88 cents of each dollar donated toward their causes. There are a variety of ways you can help support Ronald McDonald House or the other affiliated charities. Please visit their website to see ways, both financial and otherwise, that you can support RMHC.

Locks of Love

2011-12-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

Locks of Love

How would you feel if you woke up this morning and all of your hair had fallen out? Would you feel exposed? Depressed? As if part of your identity was missing? Think about that as you read a little bit about today's charity: Locks of Love.

From their website:

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Visit the photo gallery for before and after pictures of children who have received hair from Locks of Love.

Now, I know that not all of us have enough hair to donate, but that is just one option. You can also become a volunteer, or donate funds. If you, or someone you know, owns a salon, they can become a participating salon. You can post a "banner link" on your website or blog to raise awareness about Locks of Love. And, there are jewelry and other items for sale on the Locks of Love website.

As a woman, I know that my hair is a very important part of my identity. Imagine being a child and losing all of your hair. Children can be very hurtful to each other when someone looks different. Having a hair prostheses can help boost self-esteem in children who have lost their hair. Please visit the Locks of Love website for more info!

Big Brothers Big Sisters

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Big Brothers Big Sisters

46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs

27% less likely to begin using alcohol

52% less likely to skip school

37% less likely to skip a class

33% less likely to hit someone

*source*

What are these statistics? They are the results of a national study completed in 1994 and 1995 using the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring organization. These statistics represent the findings after 18 months of mentoring for young people through the program.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring program for children at risk.

From their website:

Big Brothers Big Sisters operates in almost 370 communities across the United States - large and small, urban and rural. Our local agencies work with their colleagues across the nation to design and develop programs that are tailored to the needs of their community.

Big Brothers Big Sisters partners with individual donors, foundations, corporations, governments, and others to build the critical network of support that funds and enables the work of carefully matching children with caring adult mentors and providing ongoing support to the child, volunteer mentor and child’s family.

Professionally trained Big Brothers Big Sisters staff members work with our partners in the education and juvenile justice communities to find children facing adversity and assess how our programs can have the greatest impact. Big Brothers Big Sisters targets the children who need us most, including those living in single parent homes, growing up in poverty and coping with parental incarceration.

How can you help?

Whether you get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a donor, potential Big Brother or Big Sister, partner, advocate, or family member, you have the power to Start Something for a child today.

We can all help a child in need. Perhaps you have an afternoon or two a month to spare for an at risk child, or maybe your charity dollars need a good place to go this year. I have seen the good work the Big Brothers Big Sisters program does, and I firmly believe that mentoring works!

One Warm Coat

2011-12-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

**As a reminder, during the month of December I am highlighting a different charity every day here on the blog. Click on the label "charities" on the right side of the screen to see a list of the previously highlighted charities. Have a favorite charity you would like highlighted? Drop me a note! Thanks for reading, and feel free to share!**

One Warm Coat

In my ongoing effort to post ways we can support charities with items instead of (or in addition to) cash, today I am highlighting One Warm Coat.

From their website:

One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that assists in the donation of coats. One Warm Coat helps individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country collect coats and deliver them to local agencies that distribute them free, to people in need.

The organization’s goal is to ensure that anyone who needs a coat has one. Providing this simple yet vital need helps people live productive lives year round.

Close to 3 million coats have been collected and distributed through One Warm Coat activities since 1992.

Health experts report that even a 2-degree drop in body temperature results in reduced heart rate, loss of coordination, and confusion. Adults cannot work effectively and children find it difficult to learn. For most, a warm coat solves the problem. But, for the now nearly 15% of Americans living in poverty, a warm winter coat is a budget “extra.”

Visit the website to find a donation location near you. Of course, you can donate funds, or hold your own coat drive, too.

Being cold is one of my least favorite things. I have heard being cold, and unable to get warm, as dehumanizing. I would agree. Look through your closet and see if you have a gently used, One Warm Coat that could be donated. All sizes and types are needed.

Heifer International

2011-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Heifer International

Have you ever considered giving someone a goat for Christmas? Or a water buffalo? Bees? A chicken? The folks at Heifer International gives these types of gifts, and many more, each year to families living in poverty.

Watch Alton's 60 second video to learn a bit more about Heifer International and their program that gives people a "hand up" and not a "hand out".

From their website:

Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.

By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.
With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

In their gift catalog, you can buy shares of an animal for as little at $10. You can give the gift of an entire flock of baby chicks, geese or ducks for $20. You can give the gift of honey bees for $30. There are also gifts of seeds, trees and other earth products.

What will your $20 gift of chicks do???

Chicks: A Good Choice

A flock of chicks can help families from Cameroon to the Caribbean add nourishing, life-sustaining eggs to their inadequate diets.

The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients' commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

In Tanzania, Omari and Kulwa were struggling to raise a family on just 50 cents a day. With the training and chicks they received from Heifer, egg sales have boosted their daily income to $2, so they can now buy food and still pay school fees. Now, through passing on the gift, all of the children in their village are going to school.

(source)

Check out Heifer International and see if their mission is something you want to support.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

2011-12-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Many of you may know that my family was exposed to domestic violence in a pretty public way a few years ago. Domestic violence prevention has a pretty special place in my heart. It is personal, for me, and for other members of my family.

The statistics about domestic violence in this country are staggering.

1 in 4 people (not just women) will be the victim of domestic violence in their lifetime. 1 in 4. ONE in FOUR. Think of that the next time you are in a room full of people. Next time you are sitting in the waiting room somewhere, or go to a class, or even are sitting in your office at work.

One in four people, men and women, will be a victim of domestic violence.

Another staggering statistic about domestic violence is that there are no parameters for who will be a victim. Domestic violence occurs at all economic levels, in all races, in all religions, in all genders, all sexual identity groups, and at all education levels. Domestic violence is not confined to low income, low education, socio-economic factors.

Another problem with domestic violence is that it often doesn't stay in the home. Friends, family and co-workers of domestic violence victims are often injured or killed by the abuser when they attempt to help the victim leave the relationship.

Signs of domestic violence include:

SIGNS THAT YOU’RE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Your Inner Thoughts and Feelings	Your Partner’s Belittling Behavior
Do you: feel afraid of your partner much of the time? avoid certain topics out of fear of angering your partner? feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner? believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated? wonder if you’re the one who is crazy? feel emotionally numb or helpless?	Does your partner: humiliate or yell at you? criticize you and put you down? treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see? ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments? blame you for their own abusive behavior? see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
Your Partner’s Violent Behavior or Threats	Your Partner’s Controlling Behavior
Does your partner: have a bad and unpredictable temper? hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you? threaten to take your children away or harm them? threaten to commit suicide if you leave? force you to have sex? destroy your belongings?	Does your partner: act excessively jealous and possessive? control where you go or what you do? keep you from seeing your friends or family? limit your access to money, the phone, or the car? constantly check up on you?

(source)

There are several ways that you can help the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence raise awareness about DV and help victims of DV. Visit their website for statistics, information and ways to help and volunteer.

NCADV accepts used cell phones, cars, cash donations and has a store where you can purchase t-shirts, jewelry, key chains, buttons, bumper stickers, posters, bracelets and more. Of course, if you want to be more personally involved, they and other organizations in your own community, are always looking for volunteers.

Please consider making a donation, or at the very least, educating yourself about domestic violence, signs to look for and ways you can help if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence.

I wish you all safety and peace in the new year.

One Sight

2011-12-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Do you have good vision? If so, you are blessed! There are literally millions of people globally who have poor vision, optical diseases, or little to no access to eye care. This is where global charity OneSight comes into play.

From their website: Each year, OneSight’s trained volunteers and doctors travel to countries worldwide to hand-deliver free primary vision care and eyewear to thousands of adults and children in need. Patients receive a thorough optical exam by licensed eye doctors and eyewear is dispensed. Sunglasses are dispensed to those not needing a prescription. To provide the best quality, complete care, we also partner with local ophthalmologists or international doctor outreach organizations to perform optical surgery for those patients referred from our Clinics.
Our trained volunteers distribute both recycled and new prescription eyewear and non-prescription sunglasses during Global Clinics.

Recycled eyewear is collected in Luxottica retail locations and Independent optometrist’s offices around the world. Trained volunteers then clean and prepare the eyewear for Clinics at one of 15 Global Eyewear Resource Centers in Australia, Italy and the United States. Two million pairs are needed annually to support our Clinics. Donate yours today at any LensCrafters, ILORI, Optical Shop of Aspen, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical or participating local practitioner. Find the donation location nearest you!
New eyewear is manufactured at Luxottica plants to help fill more complex prescriptions during Clinics.

In 2011, we will conduct 15 Clinics in 7 countries, including a first time visit to Gambia. To date, OneSight has completed close to 200 Clinics in 37 different countries, helping more than 3 million people.

Your gently used eyewear could make a world of difference to someone in need. Clear vision could enable a child to see clearly to learn in school. Clear vision could help an adult maintain a job and support their family.

I have been blessed in my life, thus far, and have never needed glasses, contacts or corrective vision surgery. I know many people that could not survive without their glasses, though! If you are someone who has old perscription glasses hanging around, or are considering vision correction for Christmas and will no longer need your glasses, please consider donating your used frames and lenses. Do you see that you can drop them off at many local optical centers, even Target and Sears?? Next time you head over to Tarzhay...take in your used perscription lenses!

Holiday Appetizers - Mom's Famous Cheeseball

2011-12-03T15:39:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year! Holiday parties! Pot-lucks! Get togethers! They all have one thing in common: snacks!

This recipe is a handed down tradition in our family. It is not holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter) without Mom's Famous Cheeseball gracing the table.

My mom started making this recipe when she was in Junior High. I probably started making this recipe around the same time...I have always loved it.

This recipe has an odd mix of ingredients, but trust me, they come together deliciously! In fact, over the past couple of years I have shared this recipe with some of my best girlfriends. It has been a hit! They have taken it to their own family gatherings and it is now being requested for holiday gatherings in their families!

Mom's Famous Cheeseball

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced green olives

1 teaspoon Lawry's Season Salt

2 cups chopped nuts, divided (I use cashews), 1 cup chopped fine, 1 cup chopped coarse

Place all ingredients, except the 1 cup coarse chopped nuts, into a bowl.

Using a potato masher, mash the ingredients together until well mixed.

Spread the coarse chopped nuts on a paper towel. Depending on how large you want your cheese ball (I usually use about 1/2 the mixture at a time), scoop out the cream cheese mixture with your hands (I use little sandwich bags to keep my hands from getting messy) and shape into a round-ish ball.

Take the ball and roll it around on the coarse chopped nuts. Use your hands to pat and shape the ball and ensure the entire surface is covered with nuts.

Forgive the chipping nail polish. Once you have the ball nicely shaped and covered in nuts, place it in the center of a pretty serving plate.

Add crackers. I like Wheat Thins, but you can use whatever you and your guests prefer! Voila! You now have a delicious cheese ball to serve as an appetizer or snack for your holiday gatherings!

You can make this ahead and refrigerate it (wait to add the exterior nuts to maintain best texture). The flavors tend to meld and come together even better after a few hours in the fridge. Plus, it only takes about 5 minutes to put it all together.

Are your December weekends packed with Holiday festivities and get togethers? Let me know if you take a cheeseball!

Cell Phones For Soldiers

2011-12-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

Cell Phones For Soldiers

From their website: Cell Phones for Soldiers is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing deployed and returning troops cost-free methods to communicate with family while serving in the United States military.

Since 2004, Cell Phones for Soldiers...

Raised more than $7 million and provided more than 114 million minutes of free talk time
Mails approximately 12,000 calling cards each week
Recycled more than 8.3 million cell phones, reducing the impact on landfills
Anticipates the launch of a new program, Helping Heroes Home, to provide returning troops with 30-days of free phone service following deployment.
Has remained a family-run, non-profit organization operated almost exclusively by Bob, Gail, Brittany, Robbie and Courtney Bergquist.

Since its inception in 2004, Cell Phones for Soldiers has worked to keep military families connected by providing FREE communication tools to those serving overseas in the United States military. In seven years, the registered 501(c)(3) has provided troops with more than 2 million pre-paid calling cards, equating to 114 million minutes of FREE talk time.

Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to continue its mission to provide troops with FREE calls home through generous monetary contributions and the recycling of used mobile phones. Used mobile phones from all service providers are accepted. Each $5 contribution, or donated device valued at $5, will provide troops with 2.5 hours of FREE talk time.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by Robbie and Brittany Bergquist of Norwell, Mass., at the ages of 12 and 13(!!). The organization has raised more than $7 million in donations and collected more than 8.3 million cellular devices.

Do you have an old cell phone, or two, or three sitting around your house? Or maybe Santa is bringing you a new mobile phone for Christmas? Instead of letting those old phones languish in that overfilled junk drawer, please consider visiting the Cell Phones for Soldiers website to print your free shipping label and donate your old phone.

Donate Your Dress

2011-12-02T19:30:00.001-08:00

Donate My Dress

One thing I want to remind people about, as I highlight these various charities, is that there are more ways to give than just giving money!

A few of the charities I will be highlighting will have a variety of ways that you can support them, and in so doing, help others.

Today's charity is donatemydress.org.

Many of you may have heard of the Cinderella Project, or various other prom dress projects. These organizations are fragmented throughout the country and not affiliated with each other. They often have names like "so and so's closet". They are located throughout the country, and also have locations in Canada and Europe. The goal of these organizations is to collect gently used special occasion dresses, like prom dresses, and either sell them at reduced prices or give them to girls who otherwise would not be able to afford them.

Donatemydress.org is "The first national network to bring together local dress drive organizations across the U.S., we help you find one in your area so that once you've had your dream night, you can give another girl hers!" (from their website)

Donatemydress.org facilitates the donation of prom and special occasion dresses to these various dress drive organizations.

Dress drive organizations hold "princess parties" at high schools throughout the country, or have various other dress try-on events for girls who would love to have the once in a lifetime experience of prom, but cannot financially afford the expense of dresses, jewelry, shoes and makeup.

The princess parties give these girls the opportunity to dress up and get ready for a magical and fun filled night.

Do you have a gently used special occasion dress hanging in your closet? Maybe one of those bridesmaid dresses, or another formal event dress? Perhaps even the Holiday dress you buy this year...if so, consider contacting Donatemydress.org to locate dress drive organization in your community.

The Friday Five #4

2011-12-02T08:49:00.001-08:00

The Friday Five was created by Laura Virginia...check out her blog here.

1. What I Am Reading:

I finished Wicked. I thought it was great...but so different than what I thought, and from the play. I had to re-read The Help for a paper for school, so I did that over the weekend. And now...? I don't have anything on my to-read pile, but I need to get something because I am almost done with school for Fall!! What about this? I don't know anything about it other than there is a ton of hype and people claim it is awesome. Thoughts? Do I pick it up? Is it worth the hype??

2. What I Am Listening To:

Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics

Chris bought this CD several years ago, and at first I was skeptical. Now, it has grown on me and I find the songs to be hilarious. They are religiously irreverant, funny and totally South Park.

3. What I Am Watching:

The Closer is back for a short winter season! I will be SO sad to see this show end next summer. I *am* looking forward to the spin-off show starring Mary McDonnell in her role as Capt. Raydor. This show is honestly one of my favorite "cop" shows. They don't take the easy way out on the story lines, the character dyanamics are awesome and I just find the whole thing to be engaging.

4. What I Am Eating:

Leftovers! Good grief we had/have a ton of leftovers! I am hoping to finish them off tonight for the most part because I want to make something different!

5. What I Am ~~Pinning~~ Thinking:

I am almost done with school for Fall! Somehow, though, I have a whole lot of homework to finish up before next week. I'm not sure how that happened exactly, but my weekend is going to consist of lots of studying.

I am also thinking about holiday baking, blog posts, charities to highlight and gift ideas! There is lots on my mind peoples!

What is your Friday Five? Link up your blog or post in the comments. Happy Friday!

The Month of Giving - American Red Cross

2011-12-01T16:39:00.001-08:00

Happy December Friends!

So many of us look forward to December all year long! It is the HOLIDAY season! The season of giving, and receiving. The season of cookies, parties, and egg nog! Even if you are not religious or a Christian or a Christmas celebrator, December is still a festive month, full of colored lights and good will towards each other.

This morning, as I was preparing to head to my last full day of classes for Fall term (I still have a couple of finals next week) it hit me what I wanted to do for the month of December on my blog.

For the months of October and November I was posting on my Inspire the Light Facebook page a daily gratitude. Something that I was thankful for. I did a pretty good job of keeping it up and posting almost daily. I was thankful for lots of little things and big things and funny things and sweet things.

For December I want to do something a little different. I am going to post information daily about charitable organizations that I think do good work. There will be a variety of organizations highlighted. I will provide some information about the organization and about the need they address. This is a way for me to "give" to these organizations by giving them a little free publicity. I will post a link in each blog post about the organization so you can find them easily if you are moved to donate. If you have a favorite charity you would like me to highlight please send me a message with some information about the organization. I will be highlighting local, national and international organizations. Some you may have heard of and hopefully some you have not.

Many folks give charitable contributions instead of gifts. Many folks are thinking about taxes and wanting to get some final tax deductions for 2011. Some folks just want to do something nice during the holiday season. If I highlight a charity that tugs at your heart strings, please consider making a donation. It is a tough time for many and if we all help just a little then the times will be a little less tough.

Merry Christmas!!

*******************************************************************************

The first organization I am going to highlight is the American Red Cross.

The American Red Cross offers assistance to displaced people after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, provides education about CPR and First Aid to groups, and coordinates blood donation drives.

Why you should donate to the American Red Cross (from their website):

Because the Red Cross provides warm blankets to cold disaster victims.
Because 11-year-old Allison Wengerd was able to save her 3-year-old sister's life using skills she learned in a Red Cross babysitter's course.
Because the Red Cross coordinated blood and platelet donations to help keep volunteer Bruce Bahr alive.

When a disaster strikes, Americans depend on the Red Cross. In fact, families, friends and neighbors right near you depend on the Red Cross 24/7!

More than 200 times a day, families who have lost everything need our help. Every 60 seconds, 250 people are helped by Red Cross volunteers. And none of this would be possible without your financial support.

Donate today, and your gift will allow us to continue to be there when the next person needs us most.

Many of you recall that my mom was hospitalized last year for 10 weeks. During that time she was given lots of blood. Blood that is available for hospitals and trauma centers to use based on donations from people like you. Maybe you don't have a lot of money this season, but perhaps you are eligible to give the gift of life. Hospitals and trauma centers use blood every single day. Platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days, which means that there needs to be a constant re-supply of blood platelets throughout the country. The American Red Cross hosts blood drives throughout the country and also takes appointments at your local American Red Cross chapter to donate blood.

Please consider visiting the American Red Cross Website to find out more about cash donations, blood donation opportunities or volunteer opportunities in your community.

Leftover Turkey "Pot Pie"

2011-11-30T20:25:00.001-08:00

Many years ago, before I learned how to cook well, my mother, being the funny woman she is, gave me a cookbook.

The Absolute Beginner's Cookbook 2 OR Which Way Do I Fold Egg Whites?

Yes, funny mother, very funny.

One recipe that I have used many times over the years is the Leftover Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie with Biscuits.

You can see that 1) I didn't know what "stock" was when I first got this and 2) I have used this recipe enough that the pages are all stained. This is the sign of a good and well used recipe!

I am going to give you the original recipe and then give you some advice based on my own many years experience with this recipe. One thing I will say: it is a GREAT way to use up any of that leftover turkey you might still have hanging around!

Leftover Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie with Biscuits

From The Absolute Beginner's Cookbook 2

By Jackie Eddy and Eleanor Clark

2 cups chicken stock (broth), canned or homemade

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/2 cup green beans (can be frozen)

1/2 cup diced celery

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 cup peas (can be frozen)

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups cubed leftover chicken or turkey

biscuits (recipe to follow)

1. Put the chicken stock into a large pot. Add the parsley and all the vegetables except the peas.

2. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, until vegetables are tender.

3. Add the peas. Remove from heat.

4. Shake flour and water in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Stir into pot and return pot to heat.

5.Turn heat to high and stir until mixture thickens. (This will only take 2 or 3 minutes).

6. Add salt, pepper and chicken or turkey.

7. Empty into an 8 x 8 baking dish and top with biscuits (recipe follows).

8. Bake in a preheated 450F degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F degrees and continue to bake until the biscuits are done, another 8-10 minutes.

Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup shredded cheddar (or other) cheese

1. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. (If you don't have a sifter, shake through a sieve).

2. Combine the milk and oil and stir into the flour mixture with a fork until the dough forms a ball.

3. Knead 5-10 times

4. Roll or pat into a rectangle about a 1/4" thick, and sprinkle with cheese.

5. Roll up rectangle from the long side and slice into 9 pieces, roughly 1/2" thick.

6. Place on top of chicken mixture and bake (see step 7). The chicken mixture should be hot when the biscuits are placed on top (this is important).

Serves 4.

Some things I have learned over the years:

This amount of broth and vegetables called for in the original recipe do not make enough "pot pie". If you follow the recipe exactly you end up with a small pan of veggies topped with lots of biscuit. I have found that at least doubling the broth and veggies helps to bulk up this recipe. I make the same amount of biscuit dough. If you DO double the recipe you will need at least a 13 x 9 pan and it will be quite full. It doesn't really take any extra time to cook as the veggie mixture will still be hot and mostly cooked when it goes into the pan. You may need a little extra flour or corn starch to thicken the sauce.

I took some of the extra this time and filled four ramekins with the veggie mix and topped them with a single biscuit each. I am going to freeze them for leftovers! (Leftovers out of leftovers...love it!)

Also, in addition to this recipe being a great way to use up that leftover turkey, it is also a great way to use up those freezer burned peas and whatever other "needs to get used up TODAY" veggies you have hanging around in your crisper drawer. This time I added a bunch of mushrooms, and because I had fresh thyme and not fresh parsley, I used that instead. BE creative! Use what you have on hand. Don't like celery? Fine...add something else. Want some garlicky flavor? Cool, add some garlic or garlic powder. Use this recipe as a base and suggestion, but utilize what you have available.

This meal is flavorful, hearty and total comfort food. You could serve a salad alongside for even more veggie goodness.

Leftover Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie with Biscuits is a holiday leftover staple in our house. I have been making it for years and we look forward to this "leftover" meal as much as the main turkey dinner.

If you try it out, let me know what you think!

Faux Tree

2011-11-29T20:10:00.001-08:00

I like to stick with one holiday at a time. I know lots of people love Christmas music sooooo much that they start playing it as soon as the weather starts to cool off.

I am not one of these people. Christmas music is for Christmas time...which begins either Thanksgiving night or the Friday after and not one single moment before!

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to move on to full Christmas celebration mode!

The Christmas music is playing...Mannheim Steamroller, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Kenny G, Amy Grant, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and family, The Maldonado Family, Ray Coniff, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and of course, The Southpark Christmas album.

What? Southpark is a tradition!

I hauled out all the decorations and have spent the last few days putting up all the holiday trim. Chris helped with the outdoor lights and decorating the tree. It's starting to look and feel festive around here!

I also dug out my holiday coffee mugs.

The only things we need now are egg nog and cookies!

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T09:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday Friends!

I disappeared from the Internet last week because it was more important to me to spend time WITH my family fully, being present, than splitting my time between my family and the web.

I had a really great week! Aside from the fact that I came down with a cold on Sunday, which kinda dragged me down physically. I didn't exercise last week. I did everything in my power to get over my cold as quickly as possible, which meant tons of tea, water, cold-eze, neti pot, decongestants, Vick's vapo rub, Advil, water, tea, neti pot, and rest as much as possible.

Our celebration kicked off Tuesday evening with the arrival of my paternal grandparents who live in Southern California. They were passing through on their way to the BIG family Thanksgiving celebration in Corvallis. I heard there was over 60 in attendance this year!

But the bigger surprise? My brother showed up completely unexpectedly!! Chris was just getting ready to head to the airport to pick up my mom and maternal grandmother when the doorbell rang. He opened the door and there was my brother! YAY for an awesome surprise! It really made my day and week to have my brother here with us.

Paternal Grandparents, Ron and Nelma, and my brother!

Chris headed off to pick up mom and gram. My two grandma's haven't seen each other since probably 1997 (when I got married). My mom and my grandma Nelma (her ex-mother-in-law) have remained close over the years, even though they don't talk or see each other as often as they used to. It was very special for mom and grandma Nelma to get to visit this trip.

My mom (on the right) and her former mother in law.

We all went to dinner and had a nice visit. Thanks Grandpa Ron for dinner! Grandpa Ron and Grandma Nelma headed off and we all went home and went to bed. Wednesday was shaping up to be a busy food-prep day!

Wednesday morning I made a quiche for breakfast. We all visited and had coffee and orange juice. Chris had to go to work. KC, my brother, or Ken as he is called as an adult, had some Southern Oregon exploring he wanted to do, so he took off to do that. The ladies and I spent the rest of the day running a couple of errands and baking! We made two pies, a gravenstein apple and a blackberry. Mom and grandma made dough for cinnamon rolls. I had school in the afternoon, so they also got started on dinner while I was gone.

It was really great to spend time in the kitchen together and to have so many helping hands for all the food prep.

Thanksgiving morning arrived and we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Delicious! Unfortunately, mom wasn't feeling well and spent a good portion of the day resting in her room. :( She did come out after dinner and have some pie, though!

We took some pictures, watched some football, ate some snacks, cooked the meal and by early evening it was time to eat!

My brother and me.

Grandma Marge and me.

Grandma Marge and KC

My sweety and me.

Prime rib, homemade cranberry sauce, dressing, mashed potatoes, turkey, deviled eggs, gravy and home made green bean casserole. Oh yes. Everything was delicious!

We, of course, had more food than any five people needed, but it was so yummy!

Ah....what a great Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all of my family that came to visit, shared in the cooking and clean up, the laughter and the fun times!

And, Happy Birthday to my mom and my brother, who both celebrated birthday's this week, too!

I hope each and every one of you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Squash Tomatillo Bisque with Shrimp

2011-11-16T19:19:00.001-08:00

What was for dinner tonight, you ask? A delicious, slightly spicy squash bisque. I have been working on this recipe for a while. I have made it a few times but it always "needed" something. I have found what it needed.

This soup is filling and flavorful. It has chunks of shrimp throughout, and if you garnish with a bit of sour cream, it spreads throughout the soup, cutting the heat a bit and adding another creamy dimension. It has a nice smoky flavor and a bit of heat from the chipotle pepper. You could always decrease the amount of chipotle if you are not a fan of spicy.

You could easily increase the amount to serve a larger, say Thanksgiving, crowd by using a large butternut squash, or two, and increasing the amount of chicken broth, peppers and tomatillos.

Chris, who is not a fan of "just soup" for dinner ate one bowl and loved it! He thought he was going to need something more, but the soup filled him up and was delicious.

Now that is what I call dinner success.

Squash Tomatillo Bisque with Shrimp

serves 4

1 small butternut squash, peeled, cubed and roasted

2-3 anaheim peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded if desired

1 cup onion, diced

2 cups fresh tomatillos, halved or quartered depending on size

4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable, or water)

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

5 cloves garlic, minced, divided

1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 teaspoon chipotle pepper seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

juice of one lemon, divided

sour cream, corn chips, chives or ? for garnish

Heat oven to 375.

Place anaheim peppers on a cookie sheet and roast in oven until skins are blackened.

Meanwhile poke two holes in the butternut squash with a knife. Microwave for 5 minutes. Carefully remove and slice in half, lengthwise. Scoop out and discard seeds. Cut off bottom end so you have a flat surface. Peel the skin off with a knife or vegetable peeler. Cube squash in about 1 inch cubes. Place in large baking dish. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with chipotle powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Remove anaheim peppers from oven and place butternut squash into oven. Cook squash for about 35 minutes, or until mostly soft.

Skin and seed the peppers. Dice.

Slice jalapenos, remove seeds if desired.

When squash is nearly done, place 2 tablespoons of oil into a large stockpot. Heat over medium high. Add 4 garlic cloves and onion. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatillos and both kinds of peppers. Continue cooking until the tomatillos are releasing their juices and softening.

Remove squash from oven and add to tomatillo mixture. Add chicken broth. Bring mixture to a simmer, reduce heat if necessary. Simmer soup for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine and finish cooking squash, if necessary.

Meanwhile, peel and devein shrimp. Bring remaining oil to temperature in a separate skillet. Add remaining garlic clove and juice of half the lemon. Add the shrimp and cook until pink throughout.

Remove shrimp from pan. Dice shrimp into bite size pieces.

Puree squash mixe with an immersion blender, or by processing in food processor or blender in batches, until smooth. (I like to leave a few chunks).

Put pureed mixture back in stockpot. Add remaining lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to temperature if needed.

Place one quarter of the diced shrimp into bottom of serving bowl. Add bisque.

Garnish with sour cream, blue corn chips, chives, or whatever you like!

Non Perishable Food Item

2011-11-16T12:25:00.001-08:00

You all know that I have a passion for food.

What you may not know is that I also have a passion for feeding those who do not have access to food.

Recently I was asked to give a speech about a charity that was close to my heart in order to compete for a donation of $100.

I chose to speak about the Oregon Food Bank, a charity that helps feed the food insecure and hungry throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.

I worked hard, I spoke eloquently and energetically. I painted a picture with words about hunger. I shared statistics about who is hungry and what that means. Nearly a quarter of the population in Oregon is classified as "food insecure" or "hungry" according to a USDA report from 2009. Oregon is one of the top 5 hungriest states in the country, also according to the USDA report. I practiced my speech thoroughly and I delivered it flawlessly.

I did not win the donation.

I came in second.

I was very disappointed.

The charity that won was very deserving, and the donation will be well-utilized. The speaker was personally involved in the charity from the time she was in grade school. She spoke eloquently and energetically. She had an edge: her personal story.

I was still disappointed. I had hoped, very much, to win that donation for the Oregon Food Bank.

According to the OFB a $100 donation will feed a family of four 75 meals.

I know that I cannot feed my family of TWO 75 meals for $100.

Today I am going to ask each of you to think about hunger, what it really means to not know where your next meal is coming from. How that feeling would impact your ability to work, think, concentrate and learn. Think about not having breakfast, or lunch or dinner and not really being sure if tomorrow will be any different. Think about having to try and "fill up" on water from the drinking fountain to alleviate some of that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Just think about it.

Especially as we head into the holiday season, which for many of us is filled with the worry of overeating, and excesses of food, think about those who do not have that experience.

According to Feeding America, a non-profit organization that helps to feed the hungry throughout America, nearly 49 MILLION Americans don't know where their next meal will come from.

For a short time Feeding America will match donations made to help feed the hungry in America. Feeding America partners with food banks throughout the United States. On their website you can find your local food bank to make a donation locally, or make a donation to Feeding America directly. You can also see statistics about hunger in your own state.

I know that money is tight for many of us, me included. I know that for some of you, feeding your own family, or yourselves, may be barely within your budget. I also know that many of us spend frivolously on movie and music downloads, and other non-neccesities, like pumpkin spice lattes.

I am asking each of you: please consider making a donation, even just $5 (one latte, one week's worth of red-box movies, or a couple of downloaded songs) to YOUR local foodbank, or Feeding America. If 20 people donate just $5 we will have raised $100 to help feed the hungry. As I said before, that $100 can feed a family of four 75 meals, basically a months worth of food.

If you do choose to donate, please let me know in the comments or on Facebook. It would make my heart sing to know that I helped in some tiny way to help alleviate the hunger in America.

Lamb Stuffed Peppers

2011-11-12T15:28:00.001-08:00

Back in the beginning of October (seems so long ago...) I made a stuffed pepper recipe for dinner. It was really yummy. I posted a picture of it, but no recipe. I am going to share the recipe with you now. YAY!

We had some beautiful (GORGEOUS!) peppers from our garden this year, as opposed to last year when we didn't really get much of anything from our bell peppers. I loved putting them on sandwiches, making my Portobello Mushroom and Red Pepper Quinoa Salad, and eating them on salads.

Chris asked for stuffed peppers, though, so I went in search of a yummy stuffed pepper recipe.

I went to one of my favorite sites for recipes and did a search for stuffed peppers. I found a yummy looking recipe that called for lamb, feta and seasonings. Oh YUM, hello.

This recipe can be found HERE. It is from Cooking Light.

The recipe calls for mint, but I didn't have any and the store was out, so I skipped it. I'm not a huge fan of mint anyway, so it was no big loss to me.

This was a really delicious dinner, and it made quite a bit of stuffed peppers.

The peppers were soft and slightly browned, the lamb, seasonings and feta mix was creamy and salty and savory. The peppers added a bit of sweet to the overall experience. You could use brown rice (which I did), quinoa, red rice or another similar type grain if you don't want to use couscous. I don't think I had any couscous on had. Also, I made the brown rice and just added it to the cooked meat mixture, rather than adding it in. Feel free to experiment, because that is what recipes and cooking are all about!

A lovely and flavorful dinner! Try it, and let me know what you think.

Mediterranean Lamb and Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Do you like lamb? What is your favorite way to eat peppers?

Acorn Squash

2011-11-12T14:48:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had made a new recipe for acorn squash.

Typically, when we have acorn squash, I poke a hole in it with a knife, stick it in the microwave for a few minutes, cut it in half, discard the seeds and bake it in the oven, skin side down, with just a bit of water in the pan, until it is soft. Then I flip it over, add some butter and brown sugar, and stick it back in the oven until the butter and brown sugar are all melty.

A number of years ago, I found a recipe for a cranberry and apple stuffed acorn squash. Chris was not enthused about trying it. He basically said that the only way to cook acorn squash was with butter and brown sugar. So, I never made it.

The last time I was doing my cleanse, in the spring, we had acorn squash. Instead of having butter and brown sugar (no no's) on my half, I added a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a tiny drizzle of honey. It was really good. Even better the next morning for breakfast! (I don't even really *like* acorn squash!) Chris was still sticking with his butter and brown sugar.

Then I came across this recipe:

This is from the summer Special Interest issue of Better Homes and Gardens called garden fresh recipes.

Even Chris thought this looked delicious and that we should make it. And so we did!

It really was delicious. A great mix of flavors, with that fall comfort feeling included. The savory instead of sweet was a really nice change. We both ate it all up and are looking forward to making it again!

Acorn Squash with Sausage and Corn Bread Stuffing

By Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest 2011

(I made the full recipe for the stuffing, but only had one acorn squash-so two halves. I stuffed them, and then I took the rest of the stuffing and put it in little ramekins and baked it until the top was just browning. They made GREAT leftovers for lunch and dinner the next night!!)

Prep:50 minutes Bake: 1 Hour
Oven: 400F/350F Makes: 8 Servings

1 8.5-ounce package corn muffin mix
4 small acorn squash (12 to 16 ounces each), halved lengthwise and seeds removed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 ounces bulk pork sausage
1 cup coarsely chopped onion (1 large)
1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon snipped fresh sage or thyme
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare and bake muffin mix according to package directions for an 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Cool corn bread in pan. Cut into 3/4-inch cubes; set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Sprinkle cavities of the squash with salt and pepper. Arrange squash halves, cut side down, in prepared pan.

Bake squash halves, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Remove pan from oven. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully turn squash halves over.

Meanwhile, in an extra-large skillet cook sausage, onion, celery and garlic until sausage is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain off fat. Stir in sage (or thyme). Add corn bread cubes; toss gently to combine. Drizzle with broth and melted butter; toss gently to moisten. Spoon stuffing into squash cavities, mounding the stuffing.

Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until top of stuffing is golden brown and mixture is heated through.

Per serving 304 cal., 14 g total fat (3 g sat. fat), 44 mg chol., 578 mg sodium, 38 g carb., 3 g fiber, 9 g pro.

How do you eat your acorn squash? Are you a butter and brown sugar traditionalist, or are you an acorn expirementer? What's your favorite topping/stuffing? Let me know in the comments!

The Friday Five #3

2011-11-11T19:33:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy 11-11-11!

Happy Wedding Day to my friends Charlie and Juli!

Happy Day Off for Christopher!

Seems like a pretty good Friday, no?

The Friday Five

1. What I Am Reading:

You KNOW I LOVE this musical, right? I've seen it TWICE. I would have seen it three times, but one time we were planning on seeing it in Seattle didn't work out. :( But I have never read the book! I am reading it now. I am still in the early chapters, but so far it is pretty darn interesting! SO different from the musical. SO different from The Wizard of Oz. Dark. I am liking it so far!

2. What I Am Listening To:

I really love having satellite radio on my DirecTV. I have it play on a station called Soft Hits. It plays all kinds of music from many different generations. A really great and non-repetitive mix of good songs.

3. What I Am Watching:

Okay....I broke down. I DVR'd Once Upon a Time and GRIMM.

I have to tell you...I have fallen in LOVE with Once Upon a Time. The story, the writing, the acting, the imagery, the costumes...all of it! I LOVE IT! I do not have time to watch a show...but I think I may have to make time for this. It sucked me in from the first episode.

GRIMM on the other hand...well I like it. But, it has parts where it gets a little hokey. And dumb. And why does everyone drive a Volkswagen? Not everyone in Portland drives a Volkswagen. Anyway, I like the big bad wolf character actor. He is funny. He could steal the show. I don't love it, yet, and might not ever. But I will keep watching, as time permits, for a few more episodes. At least until episode 6 because my cousin Kendra trained the rats that they use in that episode! COOL.

4. What I Am Eating:

Cleansing, healthy foods! Typical fare: Oatmeal, salad, grain with legumes, fish, green vegs, fresh fruits, tea. Monday is the last day of my cleanse. Feeling good!

5. What I Am ~~Pinning~~ Thinking:

Gah!! Thanksgiving, which I am hosting for my mom and gma, is less than two weeks away. My house is a disaster. I haven't shopped or prepped. My cat had to go to the vet. I have lots of homework. Gah! It will be awesome, though. It always is, and it will be fun to have guests for Thanksgiving. Our first Thanksgiving in Medford my 3 best girlfriends came down and celebrated with us. It was lots of fun. Last year, our second in Medford, we were all alone, my mom was in the hospital, and it just wasn't a really festive Thanksgiving. This year will be much better.

That's The Friday Five! What are your five??