Oma's Stuffing

Those of you who know my husband know that I have one picky eater to satisfy. Thankfully, he has lately opened up to the thought of trying new things. As we sat down to family dinner the other night, he was hesitant to try the stuffing my mom had made (using my grandmother's recipe). He was surprised that he liked it! I knew immediately I had to figure out an exact recipe to share with you all, so that's what I did today!

Oma's Stuffing

1lb sage pork sausage

1/2 onion, chopped

2 chopped apples

4 chopped celery ribs

2 eggs, lightly beaten (I forgot these and it was just as yummy)

1 6oz box of cornbread stuffing

2 cups of chicken broth

1. brown the sausage with the onion, then reduce heat to medium/low
2. add apple and celery and cook for 2 minutes
3. lightly beat and add the eggs (unless you forget like I did)
4. add stuffing and chicken broth stir until the bread has all the juices (my skillet was small so I transferred the meat mixture to a baking dish then combined the stuffing and broth in the skillet)
5. bake covered at 350 for 45-60 minutes (we baked ours in a rectangle baking dish, you could also loosely stuff a bird)

NOTE: if you like more stuffing you can add a 2nd box and 2 more cups of broth. But we like ours chunky like this.

 

Hummus

I have been asked to post some of my favorite recipes on here, so over the next couple months I will try to post a bunch of my favorites.

This is what I use for homemade hummus:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cannellini-Bean-Hummus

I use extra garlic and omit the parsley. You can find the Tahini at Whole Foods. Delish! Especially since I strongly believe everything is better homemade!

Its Been Awhile

This is a brief catch up post, I wish it was of more substance, but I haven't been here in more then a week. The biggest news is that I have started school again. I am working on getting a certificate in Library Technical Assistance. What better place for a literature major to be then a library? I am only allowed to take two classes my first semester, which still leaves me with far too much free time. So I am taking the Intro course and a work skills course. I need to decide how many summer classes I want to take. They are offering two classes, but I want to see how I feel towards the end of this semester. I just applied for a part time job, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Speaking of summer, Joe and I are planning our California trip for June. I can't wait until I can start booking flights, hotels, baseball games and our AFSP volunteering. We are planning a nine day trip which will include LA and San Francisco, as well as day trip to the Redwoods.

The diet isn't going 100% perfectly. But I definitely use the tools I learned and am eating far more balanced meals and a ton more produce. I was even able to drop a pant size! I plan on keeping up with the good habits and continue dropping the bad ones.

And now, because I am sick, I am going to go rest and work on reading my one book a month. This month's book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I Couldn't Make This Up If I Tried

My cats are a never ending source of entertainment. They are absolutely hilarious, and make up in cuteness what they lack in being a good roommate.

Tiger

• Tiger is a little rascal. When we come home he meets us at the back door. You'd think its because he wants his next meal, but all that little guy wants to do is run down the stairs and scare his mommy by trying to eat a poinsettia plant.
• Someone (*cough* Joe *cough*) brought him down stairs while he was doing laundry. Tiger now thinks that every laundry trip includes him.
• Tiger likes lotion. And by that I mean he likes to eat it. Because I have eczema, I have a bottle of lotion in every room. The lotion on my night stand, however, must be kept in a drawer, because that's the single bottle Tiger decided tastes good.
• After the hubs gave me an iPhone for my birthday I woke up to my headphones in pieces...I wasn't sure who to blame. A few moments later Tiger was playing with them. Mystery solved.
• He isn't very good at hiding...but it doesn't stop him from trying.
• He thinks my laptop is his heating pad. And that this is not a negotiable topic.
• He likes string cheese. But not other cheese. And turkey. It's hard to make a lunch alone in this house.
• He likes to clean his mommy. He will sit behind me and knead me and "clean" my hair. I know he does it to show he cares...but a gift would be nicer then cat licked hair.
• He thinks that if he's afraid of people he should go closer to them.
• One day he wanted to help me design a book cover...by pawing at my screen continuously.

November

• November is a much more "normal" cat. She hides and sleeps...usually in the middle of my bed.
• She only snuggles her mom. She usually sleeps at the foot on my side of the bed at night, but every now and then she'll come up and snuggle me.
• Vem thinks that biting me is the appropriate way to ask for food. She's not shy about it either. I could be sleeping and if she's hungry and out of food (or out of the food she WANTS to eat) she'll bite me until I fix it.
• Today she turned off a light switch. I'm sure she had good reason for it being off, so I watched TV without the light on.
• She likes to play soccer. With my stuff. On my table. Once she knocked over an $8 brand new bottle of nail polish so it could break all over my floor. My Nativity Scene animals or my beverage also make good soccer balls.
• She's curious about water. Whenever we get out of the shower, she has to jump in there and hang out with the water droplets.
• She LOVES LOVES LOVES her cat nip. I regularly use it to bribe her.
• She likes giving me a heart attack...by going on our balcony and walking along the edge outside the railing.
• Vem thinks boxes, suitcases, etc are meant for her to sit in.
• Window ledges are her perch. She likes the feeling of the out doors.

The First Week of the New Year

I have some loose ends I'd like to tie up before furthering this blog. Have at 'em:

• I made it through the detox/cleanse. I'll be honest, there was one day I was ready to quit and jump to the 25 day plan. Thankfully, a dear friend (the one who introduced me to the Cinch! diet) was able to talk me into continuing. For the most I follow the diet, but there are two areas I struggle with; I do not always eat all four meals, or all of my meal. And I am not drinking as much water as I should. I am going to attempt to pay extra close attention to my water intake in the coming week.
• Appreciating Joe: I have told Joe many times that I appreciate him. Its actually getting silly. But, I never want him to doubt my gratefulness for all that he does for us.
• Pride and Prejudice. This is my book for January. I might be the only English major who has never read Jane Austen, and that just can't go on.
• I have registered for classes, I begin my LTA classes Thursday night. I also signed up for Derby.
• I've also decided to add a few goals to my resolutions: I want to be a better friend. Because of the circumstance of 2011, I have not been the friend I would like to be, I hope to bring that back this year. Also, from the Entertainment category, I am adding a White Sox game and a PW book signing (I am assuming she will do a book tour when her new cookbook comes out.)

Sorry for the disjointed post, having cleared this up, I'll be able to proceed in a couple days. Have a good one!

Day 4 of Cinch!...The Detox Continues

Yesterday was rough. Really rough. I was craving all sorts of  bad foods. I was considering stopping the detox and skipping to the 25 day plan. Thankfully, my friend, who introduced me to the diet, convinced me to continue. Today is better. Today I am almost done with the detox. Today I learned some very important things:

1. Frozen berries thawed are NOT equivalent. They are nasty mess of mush.
2. My blood sugar has stabilized. Now when I get hungry I don't get shakey and feel like I am going to pass out.
3. My body needs more variety in textures. I want myself a cracker.
4. I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL FRIDAY, WHEN I CAN HAVE SOME CHEESE!

Cinch! Day 3

Today the Cinch! diet became a struggle. I am craving all sorts of "bad" things: salt, butter, excessive amounts of cheese, fried and greasy foods. I'm beginning to doubt my ability to stay on this diet. Especially since I don't see any changes that this detox is supposed to provide. I am going to have to take this moment by moment and try to hang in there. I can eat cottage cheese as early as Friday. I can do this. I CAN do this.

Cinch! Day 1

For about the past two years, I have woken up in the middle night. At first it was because I was hungry, so naturally I would eat. But as time went on, I think it was just a habit that I picked up. Wake up, eat, sleep some more, repeat. The Cinch! diet obviously does not approve this habit. So my second challenge was getting through the night with out eating. (The first challenge was drinking water at midnight instead of champagne). I realize that this could cause discomfort for me, especially if I did wake up hungry. To compromise, each time I woke up (which was three times) I would eat a single raspberry and drink water. I later cut out three raspberries from my breakfast. The goal for tonight: only water.

Emotional eating: after reading the Cinch! book and committing to a meal plan, I have become very aware of unnecessary eating. For example, I have cookies and freeze dried apples to my left. After my first meal I wanted to eat them. Not because I was hungry, not because I was craving it, simply because it was there. My goal is to cut back on emotional eating. I know myself well enough to know that I will eat pizza and blackberry cobbler again and indulge in comfort food. But I want to be more aware of my hunger cues and minimize unnecessary eating. And then there is boredom eating, I will have to conquer that as well.

Meal 1: Scrambled egg, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup raspberries, 2 tablespoons almonds. I am definitely satisfied. But to be honest, I wasn't all that hungry when I sat down to eat.

Meal 2: Spinach salad with raspberries, almonds and a hard boiled egg, dressed in balsamic vinegar and lime juice.

Meal 3: Greek nonfat yogurt, raspberries and almonds.

Meal 4: Smoothie made from yogurt, raspberries and almond butter.
The third challenge: today Joe defrosted some PW Cinnamon Rolls to make room in our freezer. I'm willing to bet they will be gone before the 31st.

First Day Conclusion: I did alright. I feel content without feeling weighed down. I've eaten better/more regularly/normally then I have in a long time. Hope tomorrow goes just as well.