Leap Year

Today was a once every 4 years kinda day. 

Wyatt woke up with big smiles, and did some good practice crawling and playing.  I am starting to feel a little too lucky since he is really getting good at the alone time and can go for an hour with me just occasionally checking in with him or swapping out toys. 

We left the house and went to a picnic with the MOMS Club.  It was great talking to other adults (whoo hoo) and getting out of the house. 

Hunter got home on time from work.  We fed Wyatt his 3rd day of rice cereal. I found the trick towards the end of it...make it thicker.  He struggles with the soupy cereal, but wolfed down the thicker stuff.  We put him in the stroller and walked over to a vacant area of the condo to play catch.  No, no..not with Wyatt.  Hunter signed me and him up for a softball team so we had to get in some practice throws. Wyatt just sat happily in the stroller and watched us.  I'm sure we looked crazy to the retirees power walking through the condo.  I don't know how we are going to both play 2 games of softball on Monday's and feed a child and put him to bed and keep him happy and be awesome, but we are going to try.  One night of the week out of the routine can't hurt, riiiiiigggghhhhhtttt?

After catch, we celebrated leap year with some Mezican.  I have been feigning for some Tex-Mex so had to make my own.  We made our own fajita marinade (lime, chipotles in adobo, cilantro, garlic) since there is not an HEB nearby.  We also did homemade queso in the molcajete to keep it nice and warm.  If you like queso, you need a molcajete.  Guacamole too since we bought 6 avocados at CostCo.  I am already dreaming of leftover fajitas tomorrow. Nom nom! AND Hunter did dishes. 

Wyatt seemed to be in a fabulous mood all evening which is not the usual.  I usually have to stretch it to bathtime/bedtime.  Either he likes leap year or he likes full belly.  Here is hoping for lots of sleep tonight. Orale!!!

Meals For the Week

These are some of the meals I have cooked over the past few days that were surprisingly good.

Black Bean, Quinoa, and Citrus Salad - by EatLiveRun - This was my first time to have quinoa and I thought it was pretty good.

The Super Pancake - by EightyTwenty- This was guaranteed to keep you full unlike regular pancakes. It was definitely better than regular pancakes but didn't last until lunch time.  You sprinkle granola, pecans, and strawberries on top of the pancake and cover with a lid so you don't have to flip. 

Citrus Cake - by America's Test Kitchen. I substituted oranges for lemons. 

This week I am making:

Alton Brown's meatloaf
Beef Fajitas with Annie's Eats Queso Blanco
Salmon
Lemon Chicken (the Edmondsons love when I make lemon chicken wink,wink)

Rice Rice Baby

Today is Wyatt's 5.5 month birthday.  To celebrate, we gave him some rice cereal at dinner.  No messy face pictures because he didn't make it through more than 10 spoonfuls. He seemed to like it.

He is growing so fast, and is making good progress at crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth then dives forward. 

Sides

The Moms in our world (Judy and Kathleen) both excel at creating sides out of thin air to go with a meal.  I am not good at sides.  I love salads, but Hunter is tired of salads.  I like most vegetables. I like potatoes. I don't like having to get every pot / baking pan in the house dirty to make the sides.  I got 2 "one pot meals" cookbooks for Christmas that I need to spend some time looking at for ideas. 

I need some side help.

NASCAR - Daytona Beach

Zachry sponsors a truck in the NASCAR Truck Series.  Friday night, Hunter and Joe got to go to Daytona to watch the race.  The Zachry driver, David Starr, did not win. It appears that he spent the first race of the season training his pit crew. He even made a pit stop during the warm up lap before the pace car left the track taking him from 17th to 35th place.  At one point, he was in 4th place, but the following lap he took a pit stop.  Oh well, there is always next time.  

My Current Workout Plan

I have done a decent amount of running and walking since Wyatt was born, but have really struggled with core strength and an overall level of general fitness.  I will blame the C - Section instead of my lack of exercise during and after my pregnancy. :)

My true passion is running, but running doesn't feel great unless you have a reasonable amount of muscle tone and endurance.  This is a great article explaining how you should build up your muscle before working on your cardio.   You have to "strengthen the muscles the body needs to recruit for running".

I have started the Jamie Eason Live Fit 12 Week Trainer program, and I am really enjoying it so far.  It is a free, very detailed workout, that includes a nutrition plan if you were very serious about looking as good as Jamie Eason.  I am only following the workout plans.  I am in Phase 1, Week 3.  For Phase 1 of her program, you do not do any cardio.  You only work on building muscle.  If you have access to a gym with the basic machines and free weights, this workout is a great option for you.  There are videos you can watch for each exercise if you do not know the proper form.  I am able to do this workout in the gym at my condo with Wyatt in a stroller next to me.  Phase 1 has taken me about 30 to 45 minutes per workout. 

Wyatt stays happy so far for the entire workout.  Basically he spends one of his awake / play times in a stroller with toys.  I felt a little guilty at first, but he stays happy the whole time so I think it is good for both of us.  The challenge may start with Phase 2, where cardio plays into the workouts.  I don't think I can spend 2 of his awake / play times in a stroller.  We will have to get creative.  Hunter is doing the workouts too so maybe we can find a way to do the cardio together in the evenings.

Any moms have tips for balancing mom health and happiness with baby health and happiness? Sometimes I feel so guilty for wanting to get in a good workout and keeping Wyatt in the stroller.

Weather Alert

The weather on the way into the grocery store...

The weather on the way out of the grocery store...

Maybe I need to work on my hurricane survival kit...stat!

Flo - Rida

East coast Florida where we live has some nice beaches and beach parks.  Almost all of them have bathrooms, foot sprayers, nice parking lots, and even life guards.

They also have some tasty citrus. We bought a big bag of Honeybelle Tangelos and Honey Tangerines from a grove in the area.  I eat at least one a day.  Of course the citrus my dad grows is better but what can you do when you move out of state. He grew some Owari Satsuma Mandarins this year that are the best I have ever eaten. And I wouldn't even buy any grapefruit here because I know it won't be as good as my dad's.

A few things Florida does not have, at least in our part.

• Good drivers. I have been yelled at for doing normal things like sitting in the median to turn left.
• HEB grocery stores.  HEB I miss thee.  So far Publix and Winn Dixie can't compare.  Sadly, the Wal Mart comes closest to feeling like home.  We are liking Aldi (a discount grocery store) but they have a small selection
• Southern cooking.  Every restaurant that we try here that gets really good reviews is only good not great.  Our search continues, but we have tried Italian, Seafood, and BBQ.

We continue to give Florida a chance, but I leave you with a picture Hunter took on his commute to work. The sunshine is added to protect the innocent. Yes that says Duke's Bait & Tackle Shop & Funeral Parlor. 

Meals for the Week

I try to make about 3 new recipes a week and spend the rest of the week eating leftovers or attempting to use items I already have efficiently. This is not the way to have the cheapest grocery bill, but keeps life fun for me. 

New meals for this week:

• America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook - Skillet Roasted Chicken
• Antioxidant Agua by EightyTwenty
• Orange Peel Shrimp - PBS - via EatLiveRun
• America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook - Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

To find ideas I flip through one of my cookbooks, check out pinterest, or star items I find in my feed reader from one of the many food bloggers I follow.   If you would like to see my Pinterest idea board I have 2 categories.

1. Tried and True Recipes
2. Recipes to Try

If you are in need of more food bloggers to follow let me know and please share your favorites with me.

Weekend Updates

I know all of you are anxiously awaiting an update from the playdate / interview / social club meet up.  For just $20 a year, I can buy some friends! The playground meet up was a success.  There are plenty of other moms with small children that are as des per ate as me to get out of the house and interact with other adults. There were about 4 of us with kids under 1 year, and we all watched the moms with big kids and established play groups in awe. I am now a member of the International MOMS Club...they have an <sarcasm>awesome website </sarcasm>. Social events start next week.  I better stock up on deodorant. 

Other weekend excitement:

• Hunter fixed the water pump on my truck so I can now make exciting trips to the trash dump, recycle bins, or even Target if I get crazy.  
• We got Wyatt's room fixed up and all of the wall decorations up.  
• We got my desk set up in the office / gym / guest bedroom.  
• We tried a new grocery store,  Winn-Dixie, since the Publix seem very expensive.  They were a little cheaper, but did not have a great selection. 

Healthier Fudgy Brownies

Amanda and Mason raved about the America's Test Kitchen Brownies recipe that they had for Valentines Day.  I have been trying to cook several recipes from The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook and the book has a Makeover Spotlight for the Fudgy Brownies recipe.  The recipe reduced the amount of bittersweet chocolate and used dutch-processed cocoa along with a tablespoon of chocolate syrup.  They also replace 6 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of light sour cream, and eliminate one egg yolk.

Calories: Original=230, Healthy=110
Fat: Original=11g, Healthy=3.5g
Sat Fat: Original=7g, Healthy=2g
Cholesterol: Original=55mg, Healthy=20mg


The end result......drum rolll.......good but not amazing (3 out of 5 stars).  I had high hopes because America's Test Kitchen usually rocks.  Also a serving size is a 1"x1" brownie.  Who can eat something that small?!? I had two and felt ripped off. 

DES PER ATE

Since I know NOT A SOUL in our new town and Hunter is probably tired of me counting down the minutes until he comes home, I have decided this introvert needs to make a friend or three. After scouring the interwebs for social groups, I have found a few to try out.  My first tryout is today at 10:00 AM.  I am meeting some moms at a playground. I will report back with all the awkward moments later.  Here is hoping I make the cut!

Wyatt says he needs some friends too. And some pictures with better lighting.

Not Much Nappage Today

This is a picture taken from our patio in the condo.  This JLG Lift is being used to caulk cracks and repaint the 4 story condo.  This JLG Lift is parked directly by Wyatt's bedroom window.  The exhaust from this bee-yoo-ty caused our outdoor thermometer to read 105 degrees and the machine is constantly humming at 85 decibels...trust me..there is an app for that.  Good news is they maintain these condos.  Bad news is the sign says our building will be done within 30 days.