Big snow

For about a week, weather forecasters have been talking about this "big snow" supposed to come through this week.

Originally the system was to strike on Wednesday night ... which became Thursday. We were told to expect six to eight inches of snow. 

Guess what we woke up to? Nothing.

I had to laugh. All last night, the local TV station teased that its morning show would have all sorts of storm coverage. And then there was nothing. Working at a newspaper, we're obviously in a bit of competition with the TV station, so I found this totally hilarious. Can you imagine what the anchors thought when they woke up and saw no snow? I imagine it was something like "Oh shit, now what are we going to talk about for two hours?"

In all fairness, the snow is now falling ... way later than expected. I only have a little over an hour of work left for the day, then I'm going home and curling up in my flannels!

A day with my mama (recipes included)

One advantage of having our hours at work cut to 32 a week is that I have more time during the week to do special things I may not otherwise be able to squeeze in to my schedule.
On Wednesday, I spent the day with my mama, being domestic :)
When I was a kid, I'd help her can all summer long — pickles, green beans, tomato juice and more. Well, my parents raise cattle and my mom would always can beef. In the past year or so, I've realized just how awesome it is to have that canned beef for a quick meal. One of mine and J's favorite meals is just to open a can, cook it in a little EVOO, and mix in with some seasoned rice. So this time, I helped mom can it.
And it was so EASY! Seriously. What we had only made about 16 pint-sized jars, which isn't a lot to split between two people. But mom has friends who just use roast from the store.
So here's my plan: whenever roast goes on sale for $1 to $1.50 a pound, I'll buy up 10 or so pounds and cut it up. Then I'll haul it up to my parents' (since I don't have a pressure cooker) and finish it up.
Here's the super-easy recipe, though:
- Cut beef into cubes (about one inch)
- Pack as tight as you can into canning jars (we use pints)
- Pour 1/2 tsp. canning salt on top
- Add about 1/4 cup water
- Put lids and rings on as directed
- Put in pressure cooker. The manual has directions on how much water to add to the cooker
- Turn on the stove and once the pressure cooker starts jiggling, just let it keep at it for 75 minutes. Then you're done!

While doing this, I also made my grandma's homemade meatballs for lunch, and mom taught me how to make gravy. Here's the meatball recipe:

Mix the following:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
- 2 slices bread, torn apart
- Chopped onion (optional)

Form into balls and roll in a flour/salt/pepper mixture. Brown in grease or oil (I use a cast-iron skillet.)
The meatballs can be served with spaghetti, gravy or as an appetizer. My mom likes a tomato gravy - you basically add flour to the leftover juice, then adds tomato juice instead of water and Kitchen Bouquet, then puts the meatballs back in. Delicious!

Beat

One of the bad things about working out?
It wears you out!
For the past couple weeks, I have been exhausted, pure and simple. The days that I'm able to sleep in, it's typically 10 a.m. before I get out of bed. And I'm not a night owl, either - lots of nights, I fall asleep on the couch during a commercial of the 9 p.m. show (and we all know I really don't want to miss CSI Miami, The Good Wife, the Mentalist, etc.)
After falling asleep before 8 p.m. last night, I decided this morning that enough is enough! I have to do something to get my energy back! So I went on a search for my vitamins.
I buy mine at GNC. I knew I had some when we moved, but had no idea where they ended up. After about 10 minutes of searching (and wasted energy) I finally found them. In my vanity. File that one under "what was I thinking?"
Anyhow, these are the vitamins I use. In the past, they've done an awesome job of keeping me on my toe s despite the extra exertion of energy.

According to the GNC web site, the four pills focus on: multivitamin support, mental sharpness, antioxident protection and energy enhancement.
These retail about 30 bucks, so approximately $1 a day.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Do you use anything to boost your energy when working out?

Menu Plan Monday: Jan. 24-30

It's Monday again! A cold snap is coming back through the area and I'm all about hearty but easy meals! So here goes:

Sunday: Stew w/leftover pork roast, biscuits

Monday: Chili dogs, French fries

Tuesday: Chicken enchiladas, black beans

Wednesday: Beef tips with seasoned rice

Thursday: Breaded chicken sandwiches, macaroni and cheese

Friday: Leftover enchiladas

Saturday: Dinner out. We're going to Strawberry's Barbecue!

Shapin' Up: Week Two

OK, so week two wasn't near as awesome as I'd hoped it would be. I'm going to blame a lot of it on my lack of self-control ... my friend had a hot tub party on Saturday night and while I kept the alcohol in check, I did not do so well with the eating ... especially when the chips and dip came out! And all that the night before weigh-in wasn't that great either. 

Still, I managed to have a small loss this week - once again, 0.8 pounds - so my total weight loss is 1.6 pounds. As long as I'm losing, I don't care how big or small :)

Plus, I can say that I know my body is changing more than just that pound and a half. When I look in the mirror after I get out of the shower, etc., I see that things are a lot tighter. Plus, I remind myself that I am still building muscle. 

One thing I'd like to do a lot better on is my extra cardio workouts. I only went to the gym one extra day last week - in fairness, though, I planned to go on Friday but forgot a T-shirt, of all things :) 

I plan to go today though, and made sure my T-shirt was packed in my workout bag. My goal is going to be three days a week, with an extra 30 to 45 minutes of cardio each day, in addition to The Shred. 

I'm also being a bit mean to myself to gain some extra motivation. 

It's been almost a year since I last had highlights and I'm hating how blah my hair looks. Well, I decided that I'm going to earn it, and won't schedule them until I've lost just over 10 pounds. I figure that will give me a good push to lose more weight. We'll see :)

I heart Express

Express is, without a doubt, one of my favorite stores.
The clothes are trendy but not just a one-season wonder. They're durable. And not that bad of a price!
Here in Southeast Missouri, there are no Express stores. So I didn't discover this little bit of heaven until my freshman year of college — when I also bought my first pair of Express jeans.
It only took me a couple of years to outgrow them. Sigh. But they remain in my closet.
When J visited me in CoMo, I introduced him to Express — which he, too, now loves. One time, the store was running an awesome sale, like buy two get one free, so he bought me another pair.
Lo and behold, my waistline got a bit too big for these. However, every now and then when I slim down, I can get into them again.
And this morning, I did just that :)
So I'm at work, feeling fabulous about my awesome self, wearing my Express jeans.
Yes, that's all it takes to make me happy.
Now if I can just slim down enough to wear the other pair ...

Rain, rain, go away

It's January, and we're under a tornado warning. How crazy is that?
It's been raining the last two days and I'm sick of it! The street in front of our office floods horribly, but I was lucky to find I left my rainboots in the car yesterday, thank goodness. I may have gotten some funny looks, but I don't care! At least my feet aren't wet and stinky!
Other than the rain, not much going on in my life. I've been working, working out and cleaning.
Wednesday I utilized the gym membership for the first time and did 35 minutes of cardio - 20 on the treadmill and 15 on a bike. We also did level two of The Shred ... so super sore today.
Here lately, I've been super tired.
No, I'm not pregnant :)
I think I'm just feeling a lot of work stress and the workouts are a lot on my body. So I may need to buy some vitamins ...


I'm making chili for supper tonight. That makes me happy.

Tomorrow is Friday ... which would make me happy, except I have to work Saturday morning. Boo.