Liquid Diets Work (Disneyland Update)

Photo above: My kids give me love even when I have a headache-eye-cover wrapped around my chin!

I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday. It was much less painful than I anticipated but the soreness is taking a while to go away. I can get away without pain medicine through the night now but, then, I'm even MORE sore when I wake up. I also look like a chipmunk. These are the negatives. 

On the positive side I am down another pound thanks to my liquid/semi-liquid diet. Hahahahaha. So, it got me thinking that this is essentially what Tracy Anderson wants you to do every other week of her metamorphasis. MAN! I don't think there is any way I could do this without the motivation of not actually being able to chew. Granted, the liquids on her diet are actually highly nutritional. Just everything is either baby food consistency, a soup, or juiced. 

Since my inadvertent foray into liquid diets I might actually get out some of her recipes and incorporate them into my diet. I can assure you though, that as soon as I can chew I'm gonna want to CRUNCH on something. For now, however, I'm pretty happy with my applesauce! 

Did you have your wisdom teeth out at a NORMAL age (say 20 years ago) like everyone else or are you a holdout like me? Have you ever done a liquid/semi-liquid diet for more than say an hour hahahahahaha and liked it? 

Lara Bar Love

When I tried Lara Bars many years ago I thought they were gross. That was before I did Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure and learned to live with less sugar in my life. I totally credit his diet with teaching me that fruit really IS sweet and is also in the category of desserts as far as how much we should have. So, when I tried Lara Bars again recently as I began to explore the 100 Days of Real Food blog I thought they were FAN-tastic.

Then I thought, I bet I can make these myself. (Which is very Eric of me!) I started with this post which I found on Pinterest which has lots of great variations and recipes. However, following her instructions exactly left me with kind of a dry crumbly bar.

I decided to venture out on my own. After all, it's TWO ingredients. I could hardly mess it up too bad :D

Here is the way I did it. Eric declared that my Lara Bars were 'spot on'. It's so easy. I hope you will give it a try. The two ingredients you will need are pitted whole dates and cashews. (This is the basic bar, see the Pinterest post for ideas on how to change it up)

First put the cashews in the food processor and process until MOST of the nuts are very very fine and just a few are less than pea size. Kind of just before all of it is nut flour. I then emptied the nuts right back into the container and without washing the processor added the dates.

With the dates in the food processor (I dumped in the whole bag) process while gradually streaming in 1 to 2 Tablespoons of water. Process until the dates begin to clump up on the side and have a very thick brownie batter consistency.

I added all the dates I had processed into another bowl and gradually added the nuts, mixing with my fingers till I felt the dates had accepted the right amount of nuts. (I did NOT end up using all the nuts)

I lined a 9x9 pan with wax paper and pressed the mixture out flat and relatively smooth (these ARE homemade after all hehehehehe) then I popped them in the fridge.

I left them overnight to chill and then I unwrapped them and cut them up. I get 10 bars from this method. I'm thinking I ended up with at LEAST 4 extra bars for the same cost with this method (and I still have some nuts left for next time).

I was really pleased with the texture this time and I think that pulsing the nuts a bit more than last time and adding the water was the key to this.

To store the bars I just wrapped them back up in the same wax paper. Wrapping each bar semi-individually so the wouldn't stick together and put them in a smaller container for the fridge (I put the lid on after I took this pic). You could also store them in snack size ziplocks to pack in lunches.

Enjoy them. They are DE-licious and so so so easy!

Trash to Treasure

Here are some things you need to know about me:

I resale shop

I garage sale shop

I will even 'free-cycle' (this is just fancy for pull over and take something out of your trash)

Here is today's find- outdoor chairs! Yes, they were dirty, sun damaged, and had that powdery feel as a result but, otherwise, they were in great shape. No cracks or structural fatigue. BINGO!

 I went right over to Ace Hardware and picked up some of this Krylon Fusion spray for plastics that's all over the pinterest/blog scene. I liked that it said "No sanding or priming". I chose a soft buttery yellow since they didn't have turquoise (my first choice).

 But, first, a cleaning was in order. Pulled out the 'Jet' setting on the old hose and gave them the once over.

 The Krylon did turn the chair yellow. But, it was kinda a matte/satin and a bit TOO pale. Now it just looked like the sun had turned the chairs a nasty powdery yellow (see below- left). NOT what I was going for. I headed over to HD and tried another brand. This time Rust-Oleum and chose a warm yellow in glossy (chair below- right, half finished so you can actually see the original dirty white on the seat also).

The Rust-Oleum is much brighter without being neon. Also, the glossy was still not a slick finish. I guess I'd have to put a clear top coat on or at least another coat of the paint to get there.

But, I'm happy with how they look now. Sunny, yellow, and brand new!

Stop, Collaborate, and Avenge

This is your mission:

1. STOP whatever you are doing- right now!

2. Grab a friend

3. Go see Avengers in 3D

So, last night we finally got to go out for our 15 year anniversary. A series of unfortunate events (excellent book series, FYI) conspired to prevent us from doing this as planned last weekend. We actually missed our free child care at the YMCA by not triple checking the date on the receipt and as a result had to pay a $10 fee for missing the free childcare. (yep, you read that right, we had to pay because we MISSED it). Our backup babysitter was out of town (who authorized THAT?!!?). So, we could see the fates, the gods, the stars all had something better in mind and we heeded this.

Good thing! Because, now, a week later, we know why. It was so we could see The Avengers in 3D and be witness to its AWESOMENESS!! This was my first 3D movie. How cool is it in 3D? I even liked watching the previews in 3D. I'm gonna see more movies in 3D! (Not, like, Titanic, but ya know, action movies. It's SO fun!)

In summary, you will laugh A LOT and you will have a great time. 

Two Thumbs Up! 

photo from here

Pump Up the Dragons

This weekend we were looking for a movie to watch and I was scanning through the Redbox selections. I had chosen 'The Muppet Movie' to watch again (Eric still hasn't seen it). It was unavailable so, then, I noticed 'How to Train Your Dragon' and recalled several people mentioning it was a good movie. I did a quick parent review search and it seemed OK for my 5 and 6 year old if you prepped them for some potentially scary scenes. So, I picked it up. 

We loved it! The kids fell in love with Toothless (Evie wants to have a Night Fury for a pet and Everett wants to BE a Night Fury). The next day they asked when we could watch it again. We haven't had this much excitement about a new movie since 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' 

Turns out Eric had already seen this movie at one of his work conferences (I know! He has a nice job huh?) but at the time our kids weren't ready for it. So, he was happy to see it again. I heard this comment about the movie and I thought it summed it up well: It has all the excitement and action of any big blockbuster movie. You almost forget it's animated.

I was happily listening to Christian Slater as the lead character voice the whole time reliving my 'Heathers' and 'Pump Up The Volume' days. Sadly, it turns out it is NOT Christian Slater but some young pup named Jay Baruchel. HMPH! Still sound like Christian to me (even on the repeat viewing).

BONUS: I am happy to relay to any 'How To Train Your Dragon' fans out there that 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' is in pre-production! So, be on the lookout for that soon!

Photo credits here and here

A Day Late and A Dollar Short (Disneyland Project Update)

So, the bronchitis kinda took awhile to clear up (just like the doc said!). I JUST finished the antibiotics and quit coughing this past weekend. This means I missed a LOT of workouts. But, I started back up again at 6am yesterday. Hello pain! It is SUCH a weird pain. I can't even describe it (but that won't stop me from trying hahahahaha). It's like a little ache deep deep deep in the muscles. Not intense enough that I want to take something for it. Just weird. NOTHING like pain from squats and lunges, NOTHING like that. Is it weird to say if feels good and bad?

That's obviously not me in the pic. That's my dear guru Tracy Anderson on the pink mat. But that IS the kind of work I'm doing-- LOTS LOTS LOTS of leg lifts. She really knows what she is doing. I am glad to be back doing the workouts and I am enjoying getting the work in before the day starts. I chug my soda (I'm just not a coffee girl) and eat 1/4 of my protein bar (Think Thin) before I start, another 1/4 halfway through, and the rest at the end. It has been working great to keep the dizzy/nausea away. THANKS girls for the tips and encouragement on that. I think I am going to love the first thing workout!

I am up a pound due to the break and the comfort foods I craved while I was sick. But, I already feel a bit slimmer after just two days back.

Have you had any setbacks lately? Why is it SO hard to get the momentum back? Do you find that, like me, you tend to get sick after you try to 'kick things up a notch'? It seems to happen to me every time.

Photo from here