Rss Feed

Posts Tagged ‘Food’

  1. Eating Right

    May 23, 2010 by Leanne

    My travel life has definitely picked up in the past few weeks which has delayed me from my blogging duties.

    After my annual physical earlier this month and meeting with the dietitian I’ve made a commitment to eating healthier.  And this comes after I thought I already WAS eating healthy.  With the exception of my monthly indulgence in calamari with Mike, I rarely ever eat anything fried. I seldom ever touch pizza or any kind of pasta. I eat brown rice, not white rice (rare exception of the sushi encounter).  Whole wheat bread never white bread.

    The new changes in my routine will be to eat more organic in my food selections and to cut back on red meats and pork, use natural sweeteners over artificial ones, eliminate caffeine, and start eating more fruits and vegetables – organic, of course and to eat more foods rich in antioxidants.

    The first step I took may seem trivial but was a major ordeal for me – giving up my morning Diet Dr. Pepper.  I did this not only because of the dietitian, but because my dentist also advised the same thing.  The dentist believes that the soda was ruining my gums.  So, it’s been 21 days since my last Diet Dr. Pepper.  I know I’ll have one again soon, but I won’t be going back to a daily routine of 2-3 day. I think God will forgive me if I have one a month.

    Eating organic is definitely more expensive and harder to stick to but I’m going to give it my all.

    Any of you live the organic life?  How has it impacted you?

    Category Daily Life | Tags: ,, | 1 Comment

  2. My ESP Wacky Moment

    February 24, 2010 by Leanne

    This morning I woke up at 3:00am and had trouble falling back to sleep.
    doughnuts

    While I was tossing and turning one of the bizarre thoughts that entered my mind was hoping I would find some of my family recipes that I’ve lost over the years. Two in particular came to mind – my grandma’s “Fudgies” and my Aunt Theona’s doughnuts. I had the recipes for many years on note cards I kept in a small green plastic container – which is nowhere to be found. I was really thinking this morning about Aunt Theona’s doughnuts. I wondered how many people in this world have probably never experienced the pleasure of eating a homemade doughnut. Doughnuts are so readily available and pretty cheap, why would you go to the trouble of making them at home? Once you’ve tasted one, you’d understand. My aunt’s doughnuts were so darn delicious!
    The whole point of this story is – I was up at 3am thinking about how people don’t eat homemade doughnuts and then the wackiest thing happened when I opened today’s paper.  Look at what was on the front page of today’s Orlando Sentinel:

    OrlSen 022410

    You  have got to admit this is WEIRD!!

    Maybe now I’ll find that recipe.  Really weird!

    Category Life | Tags: ,,,,, | 3 Comments

  3. 2010 is here!

    January 1, 2010 by Leanne

    Who was it that said “the dawn of a new decade?”  I think most of the world was eager to ring in 2010 and say good-bye to 2009. I’m  not going to rehash how difficult a year it was this past year – on many fronts. I’m just like everyone else though and very excited to see what is in store for all of us this new year.

    Castle FireworksI spent part of the day yesterday (New Year’s Eve) at the Magic Kingdom working a Cross-U shift. For those not familiar with this every so often, usually during peak periods, salaried cast members will be asked to work a shift in the parks to help out.  The exciting and sometimes intimidating part of this is that we have no idea what job we’ll be assigned until we show up for our shift. My assignment this year:  Popcorn stand at the Castle hub in the Magic Kingdom. I was in charge of filling the popcorn orders as they came in. It was pretty easy because there were only two size options – a small box or a souvenir bucket. Once our team got a flow going we were rockin!  I’m positive we were the best and most efficient popcorn stand in all the parks yesterday.

    It was so much fun to see everyone at the parks having such a good time. At 4pm the cast started handing out the New Year’s Eve hats and horn blowers which quickly added to the buzz along Main Street.  If I had anyone to hang out with I might have just stayed at the park for the rest of the night to ring in the year. It seemed everyone was having a great time.

    I feel very blessed going into 2010.  While I have few tight personal friendships, those that I have I cherish.  I am also grateful for the many wonderful people I work with and for those amazing people that I met through work (read: Moms Panelists and bloggers). Your support and encouragement means so much to me.  I appreciate everyone so much and wish you all the very best in the coming year.

    For those that have asked – Jefferson is doing fine.  He cooperated so quickly I am actually stunned.  The boxer shorts lasted less than 24-hours.

    JeffersonBoxersJeffersonSurgeryHere’s where the lump was removed from his right hind leg.

    Happy New Year to all!

    Category Disney | Tags: ,,,, | 1 Comment

  4. I’m Slowly Winning

    October 31, 2009 by Leanne

    It’s been a very hard fought battle but I can finally say I’m slowly inching ahead. Or should I say I’m slowly losing inches?

    feet-scale-tapemeasure-md

    My lifelong battle with my weight has been a war since high school. I am like most women – a yo-yo of weight gain and weight loss. It’s pretty much been consistently cyclical for me, too. I’ll be in fairly good shape for a year or two, then the pounds slowly pile back on – 5 pounds at a time.  Next thing you know, I’m 25 -30 pounds from my ideal weight.

    And that’s where I’ve been almost all of 2009, up 20 pounds from where I should be. It took a visit to my doctor for my yearly exam to knock me into reality.  His words cut through me like a knife in a chocolate cake. (had to do a food joke.)  I sat in his office and he said “Leanne, you’re fat.” Oh. I teared up. He called it “tough love”.

    I knew I had been gaining weight. None of my tailored clothes from my 2005 trip to Hong Kong even came close to fitting.  Shopping for pants had become a nightmare when I would see the size I was needing to buy. I would completely have to suck in my stomach to get my pants buttoned. There was no room in the legs for a pinch of material – every pair was skin tight. 

    I would avoid any glance of me in the mirror. I hated my fat self. And I think what was hardest to understand was how did it happen?  I don’t eat junk food. I don’t eat fast food. I avoid fried foods unless it’s a rare occasion. I hardly ever eat sweets – except Biscoff cookies when I’m on a plane. Yum.  Yes, I drink, but I don’t believe a glass or two of wine brought this on.

    The great news: Today, after 4 weeks of serious dieting and bringing back exercise into my life on a consistent basis – I’ve lost 16 pounds.  I wish I’d lost this before the camping trip but at least I’m getting in shape for the cruise.

    It hasn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination.  For me it boils down to calorie counting and carb control.  I scaled back my daily calorie count to between 1,000 – 1,200 each day. Some days even less than that.  I also cut out breads, potatoes, rice and pasta.  The hardest part there was bread. I love bread!  But to lose the weight I had to give it up.  The good news I can go back to it in moderation when I reach my goal.

    Exercise is also a top priority.  I walk no less than 2-miles at least 6-days a week.  On a good day I’ll even jog a bit.  And I got back in the groove of hitting the gym at least 3-days a week for weight training. I can already see a difference in my arms and waist.  My legs, not so much but they’re improving, too.

    I’m in my 40′s and believe me folks – losing the pounds as you get older is definitely harder to do. Cutting back to 1,000 calories a day is pretty drastic but it’s what did it for me.  In the beginning days I did feel faint at times but it wore off. And I do crave pretzels and chips with hummus. I will indulge  in those foods again – no doubt whatsoever.  And I’ll have stuffing with gravy on Thanksgiving, too. But I’ll be cautious and do so in moderation. 
    I’ve got to look good for this 7-day cruise in December!

    Pictures to come soon.

    Category Life | Tags: , | 5 Comments

  5. How Half & Half cost $64.46

    September 5, 2009 by Leanne

    I woke up this morning and remembered I was out of half & half.  With company here I had to take care of this before they woke up and poured their coffee.  So I grabbed the car keys and headed to Publix.  I should have only spent under $2.00. 

    As I’m walking in the store I remember I needed to grab some eggs. No problem, eggs and half & half.  Then as I pass the breakfast meats I see my favorite brand of Canadian bacon is on sale – $1.00 off the regular price. So I pick up bacon, too.  Then I look down the next aisle and remember we nearly finished the lime juice yesterday (it was tequila Friday) so I grab a new bottle of lime juice.  That made me remember I was on the last bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper so I’d better get a bottle while I’m here.  The dog food aisle was next and of course the babies were on their last bag of treats so that got added to the basket.  It so it went on and on as I continued to remember things like – we needed food for lunch today, snacks tonight, and Excedrin to help get through the tequila headache. 

    And as I was leaving the parking lot with my 4 bags of groceries totalling $33.96, it dawned on me I needed to fill up the gas tank before we head to my moms house tonight on the other side of town.  Add another $30.50 to the tally.

    That folks, is how a $1.50 carton of half & half ended up costing $64.46.

    Grocery

    Category Daily Life | Tags: ,,, | 5 Comments

  6. How to "NOT" Peel a Boiled Egg

    May 19, 2009 by Leanne

    Category Fun Stuff | Tags: | No Comments