Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

So I found myself at home tonight waiting for Brad to get home from the gym (don't worry I went too, just earlier in the day) and I came across a show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I have read about what Jamie did in England re: the school lunch program, and was fascinated to see what he was going to try and do here in America. Lately, I have found myself more and more disillusioned by my country, and the show I was about to embark on did nothing to help. Already I was aware that the USDA in our country is ruled by lobbyists and special interest groups from the corn industry among others.

And then I started watching Jamie's show. I was mesmerized by what I saw and heard. It was incredibly sad to me to see the attitude of some in the school, especially the school administration. The fact that the bottom line and doing as little work as possible matters so much more to these people (yes I'm talking about the "cooks" here too!) than the health and well being of the children they are there to protect and nurture was seriously physically painful. And then to hear that the children are only given a spoon or their fingers to eat with, fed pizza for breakfast, and how those chicken nuggets were made. Not to mention the fact that none of the kids knew what any of those vegetables were was just.....horrible. I don't even have words for most of this. Hubs and I both sat here spellbound, watching this.

I think it really hit home for me, because of all of the changes I am trying to make in my own life. I am fairly sure that school lunch for me at that age, 20 years ago, was not any better. Wasn't it President Reagan that said ketchup could count as a vegetable in school lunch? That was about the time I was in elementary school, maybe a bit before. I used to be guilty of buying processed food, frozen pizza, frying things (although I have NEVER owned any sort of deep fryer, ew!), sugary food, and there was even a time, and I am SO ashamed to admit this, that I bought a 24 pack of Pepsi for hubs and I every 2 weeks at the grocery store. That was several years ago, we haven't bought any pop at all to keep in the house in probably 4 years, but still. The things we were, up until recently, putting into our bodies made me sick to my stomach and so sad. I find it ridiculous that in this technologically advanced world of infinite knowledge, we are abusing our bodies and our children's bodies so badly.

The reason these children are overweight, with diabetes in elementary school, is because their parents haven't been given the knowledge and power to feed them well. It is cheaper and easier to go to the grocery store and buy over processed, salty, sweet, fattening, calorie laden food than it is to buy fresh lean meats, whole grains, and vegetables and prepare dinner for your family. The one thing this show has done for me though, is convince me even more that I am absolutely doing the right thing for myself and for the hubs by changing things in our house. I am even more committed than ever to changing things for good. I used to joke about it being a lifestyle change and not a diet, but that is true. It would absolutely devastate me to have a child that I was sending to school only to be allowed to put this poison in his or her body. I think our country should be ashamed of itself for allowing the problem to escalate this far, and I think it's even more shameful that a man as amazing as Jamie Oliver who DOESNT EVEN LIVE ON THIS CONTINENT had to come here to show us the way. The fact that the USDA has been able to get away with these kind of guidelines in our school is criminal and nothing else.

To compound my frustration and sadness, I asked the hubs if he had learned anything from watching this. He stared at me blankly. I then asked him if he would eat chicken nuggets anymore and he looked at me like I had grown another head and said "of course". And I swear to God, the part of my heart KU didn't break last week hubs broke this week. I tried to explain to him what Jamie had talked about, but he didn't want to hear it. I don't want to guilt him, but I want him to understand how important it is to me that we BOTH be healthy and do as much as we can to live long and happy lives. I know I can't control everything, but I wish I could convince the hubs that this is important. All the things about nutrition he learned as he was growing up are WRONG, and I only wish I could help him re-learn. I of all people know it is hard to re-learn, but it has to be done. How can we expect to teach our (for now nonexistent) children good health and nutrition if we don't practice it ourselves. I can only hope that he will have an open mind and allow me to show him the things I have been learning.

I'm sorry for the rant, if you got this far you deserve a medal for sure! But seriously, please check out Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution at www.jamieoliver.com. Please also check out this blog http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com, this blog about a 12 year old McDonald's cheeseburger http://boingboing.net/2008/09/25/immortal-mchorror-bu.html, and this blog about the real ingredients in a chicken mcnugget http://www.oodora.com/health-and-food/nutrition/mcdonalds-chicken-mcnuggets-are-not-what-they-seem.html

And please let me know how I can get through to the hubs, he's going down a road that scares me, floating in a river of high fructose corn syrup laden soad on a road lined with fat and preservatives that I'm scared to death will abruptly dead end. :(

Random Musings

So these are just some random things that popped into my head while I was sitting here thinking about what to blog about today. None of them warrant their won blog post, so they are all mushed together.

Last Saturday my crimson and blue heart broke a little bit when KU lost in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. I can't really explain why I feel like I do about this. I didn't go to KU for college, I went to a small college in Iowa. But from birth I was raised to be a KU fan, mostly from my daddy. My daddy is seriously a HUGE KU fan. So is the brother in Greece. So is lulu my little sister. I can't explain it, it just is the way it is. I think KU has some of the best fans in the country, and I know only other die hard KU fans like myself understand how and why I am feeling this way, almost a week later. This is the first time I have "talked" about the loss since it happened, and from what other KU fans have said, they are the same way. What is there to say? It's SO HARD to watch those young men, all of which I have an enormous respect for, go out there and play their heart and soul out and have them broken on national television.

I know some people don't get it. The hubs, KU fan that he is since my family turned him into one, doesn't get it. Thankfully the brother in Greece gets it, and was happy to commiserate with me about it over Skype on Tuesday. Of course, he was 12+ sheets to the wind, but still. He knew where I was coming from when I said I hadn't talked about it, read about it, watched about it or listened to anything about it. I just can't. It's crazy to think an orange ball going through a metal hoop can cause all this, but it can.

That being said, I am SO HAPPY for my K State friends who are enjoying what us KU fans apparently took so much for granted, and that is an exciting and joyous march through the NCAA tournament. Although other Big 12 fans love to hate on KU, with the exception of Mizzou, I have nothing but love for the other schools. It hurt to have "friends" rub the loss into our faces, as I don't think I would do that to a friend (unless I was really drunk, there I said it), but I am happy to cheer for K State and watch them march on to the Elite 8.

Last night hubs and I were laying in bed talking, and he "wrote" a word on my arm. We do this a lot, it's not that weird. Usually it happens on Sunday mornings and the word is "brunch". But this was a Thursday night. He then asks me if I knew what he wrote. I confess that i was about 3/4 of the way asleep and told him I didn't even know he was writing. He said it started with a "q" and I immediately guessed queso. He said no, I'm not talking about cheese. I told him he could be b/c sometimes he smells bad like cheese. Then we went through all the ways he could be like cheese. There was a pause and I triumphantly announced "And you're a hunk!" I thought it was a REALLY good one. He kind of guffawed and I told him that was a good one! He said, yes honey, that was a good one. Then he really gave it some thought and laughed his ass off for about 10 minutes. So if you know my hubs in real life, make sure you tell him he's a hunk. Oh, and I also told him "at least I didn't call you a wheel". Yeah, not as good. But man, I really thought I hit the highest degree of pun with my hunk comment.

Tonight for dinner I will be making turkey and spinach lasagna roll ups, so stay tuned for a new recipe. And tomorrow I will attending a fun concert with my wonderfully talented bestie Ashley! We will be two SERIOUSLY hot ladies in cowgirl boots, so look for us at the birthday bash. Bye loves!

Mmmmm Stir Fry!

Back in not so reformed fattie days, I LOVED to cook. And I was very willy nilly about what I would cook. If I found a recipe for it and it sounded good, I cooked it. I think I developed this love of cooking right around the time hubs and I moved into our house, about 5 years ago. Until very recently, I wasn't giving much thought to what I was cooking. I know that pretty much anything you cook at home is going to be healthier than eating out, but there were still many improvements I found I could make. We used to eat a lot of red meat, processed white flour, refined sugar and starchy sides. Vegetables were there as accompaniments, not as a main part of the meal. Now that the GI Diet has taught me that half of my meal should be fruits and veggies, the focus on meat and starch has diminished tremendously. I no longer cook potatoes with each meal.

Tonight I knew I wanted to make something with those chicken boobs from last night, and got inspiration from www.cleaneatingonline.com. This is a FANTASTIC resource. I have found that clean eating, which is a new phenomenon to me, is very similar to the food plan I am working hard to follow. I decided a stir fry was in order, as I had stocked up on veggies last night at Hy Vee and had some little bitty bell peppers to use up as well. So, here's my chicken stir fry recipe. It rivals anything I have had at a Chinese food restaurant , with nothing fried and no msg. Enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice

1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed

2 T soy sauce

2 T olive oil

5 shakes hot sauce

2 tsp. garlic powder (you could also use fresh garlic minced, I just ran out of time to mince it all up)

1 tsp ground ginger (ditto on the fresh ginger, again I ran out of time)

1 head fresh broccoli florets

3 whole carrots cut into small pieces

8-10 mini bell peppers or 2 large bell peppers, any color, cut into thin strips

4 green onions finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced (or garlic powder)

1 small can water chestnuts, drained

1 T soy sauce

5 dashes hot sauce

2 or 3 shakes sesame oil

1 cup brown rice (not instant)

2 1/2 cups water

Place chicken breast cubed and next 5 ingredients in a large ziploc bag and marinate for at least an hour.

Place water and rice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for about 30-40 minutes.

While rice is cooking, chop up broccoli, carrots, peppers, green onions and garlic. Heat a large sautee pan or a wok on medium heat. Add in all the chopped vegetables and the garlic, along with about 1/4 cup of water. Place lid on pan and allow the veggies to steam to desired consistency. Don't let the get too mushy or you will lose some of the nutrients in them. When the veggies are almost done to your liking, add in the chicken pieces and the marinade from the bag, and the water chestnuts. Allow the chicken to cook with the vegetables, and the marinade to come to a boil and boil for at least 5-10 minutes. When almost done, add in the additional soy sauce, hot sauce and sesame oil to create more sauce. Serve hot over brown rice.

I pretty made up this recipe on my own, but I did take some hints (mostly for the marinade) from www.cleaneatingonline.com and more specifically the chicken and rice recipe. Enjoy!

Grocery Store...My Love!

I used to look SO forward to Wednesdays because that's the day my new Hy Vee (that's my local grocery store) ad came out. And god bless those people over at the Hy Vee, they put the thing online so I can peruse it at my leisure when I'm supposed to be doing boring things like filing bankruptcy cases and poring over tax returns. I would get all giddy with my lined legal pad and my pen and make a whole long list of all the yummy things I was going to buy on sale at the Hy Vee that week. Seriously, yes, I was a dork (well I still am, but just not in this fashion anymore).

So now that I have started this new "eating plan" (it's not a diet it's a lifestyle change dammit!), I don't so much look forward to the Hy Vee ad anymore. One, because most of the stuff I can and do buy for my house now isn't listed in there, and two because everything I WANT to buy for my house but can't is in there! Cake mixes, ice cream, butter, steak, bakery fresh bread, cupcakes, cookies, pizza, WINE, juice, anything Pillsbury that comes in a tube, and on and on and on. So, now on Wednesday I sheepishly log onto the Hy Vee's website and browse the health mart ad, and that's it. It's sad, I know. BUT IT'S WORTH IT! (I think)

So last night we ventured over to Sam's Club (blech, ew, evil Wal Mart!) because I found out at work last week that apparently I am entitled to a card there through my company. Some perk right? Screw life insurance or dental insurance, you can march your happy ass over to the Sam's Club. The hubs and I are loyal loyal loyal Costco peeps. We love that place. We plan our Sunday around going there. However, the closest one to us is about 30 minutes away in midtown. And the closest Sam's Club is like 3 minutes down the street. So while we will remain very loyal Costcoers, we will probably take advantage of the free Sam's Club card once in awhile. Oh, and they have a fantabulous booze department there. Yep. Mmmmmm. Booze............................. Sorry, got sidetracked.

Anyway, so at the Sam's Club last night I was very impressed to find boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.97 per pound. That's really cheap! The lowest Hy Vee ever goes is like $1.99, and Costco is always close to $3.00 per pound. So I scooped up a package. Of course, you can't just buy a pound or two you have to buy like 317 pounds or something. Actually, I think the package I got was about 6 lbs. So off home I go with my chicken boobs and my pears and my V's Spaghetti Sauce (yes I checked the label first, no high fructose shit). Oh, and then we stopped by the Hy Vee also b/c we did need some stuff there.

And I must say, grocery shopping now is MUCH easier. I get to avoid almost all of the "inner aisles". I go mostly for produce, meat, dairy, some frozen stuff and just a few things on the inner aisles, last night it was spices, rice and water chestnuts. I also find myself going grocery shopping around once a week instead of the 2 week huge load up trips I used to do. I am going once per week now because I am using a lot more fresh produce and fish that doesn't stay good forever or freeze well. We do buy a lot of produce at Costco, but things that we need small amounts of we get at the grocery store. I also buy some meat at Costco, but the majority at the grocery store. We don't yet have a deep freeze, so finding space for all that meat you get at Costco is kind of difficult. And while I may be spending more money now than I was when I was buying a lot of processed stuff that I thought was healthy, I feel SO much better, and am so much happier knowing I am truly cooking a healthy yummy dinner for my family.

A Funny Grandparents Story #1

So I mentioned in my first ever blog post (woohoo!!) that I have a couple of crazy grandparents. And I know most of you thought, yeah, my grandparents are loony too. No really, my grandparents are crazy. Not like senile crazy, like just nutty! We go to visit them out in Prairie Village every Sunday. It becomes tedious at times, but I know they appreciate the visits. And even though we grumble about it when we are so hungover we can't even see straight, we always have fun. My grandparents have done above and beyond for me and for the hubs. Seriously, hubs is like their favorite I swear! When my mom died my Grandma and I became even closer and I swear sometimes we are the same person.

Usually my brother comes over on Sundays (and a lot of other days too, he's still in college and has a much more flexible schedule, plus they feed him.). However, brother is in Greece this semester doing study abroad. He is having the time of his life, and hearing about his adventures is so fun! Well one cold Wednesday at the beginning of February the hubs, the g-parents and I all ventured out to the airport to see brother off to Athens. As we were waiting, grandma decided that brother hadn't packed enough crap, and she needed to buy him so more stuff. So off they went to the airport gift shop/bookstore/snack kiosk so she could buy him snacks and dramamine and kleenex and just about every other overpriced item imaginable.

As the g-parents and the hubs and I were sitting down to dinner after seeing off the world traveler, Grandma starts telling us about the stuff she bought him and Grandpa chimes in to tell us that on the drive up to the airport, Grandma couldn't help but inquire as to his opinion on the status of brothers virginity.

Yep, she really did. Oh, and that's not the first time she has inquired. A few months ago she and I were doing dishes after Sunday dinner and she sought my opinion on the subject as well. Now, my brother and I are pretty close, but never have we felt the need to discuss anything related to...well...that. So at that time I politely told her to mind her own business. Grandpa on the other hand told her that as brother is a healthy early 20's male, he would imagine she can answer that question herself. Yeah. So it only seemed natural for me to ask grandma at dinner after that airport visit if she bought brother any condoms at the airport gift shop/bookstore/snack kiosk. She looked at me thoughtfully for a minute and says

"No, but I should have! We don't need any Greek babies coming home!"

And that is why I love my grandparents. (the above statement is absolutely not meant to be derogatory against any wonderful Greek people out there)

Garlic Shrimp with Whole Wheat Pasta

Here is an AWESOME recipe from Living the GI Diet by Rick Gallop. It's the one I was talking about the other day. There aren't any pictures because I forgot to take any! And, I have no idea how to put a picture into a blog post. Anyone wanna help me out? Anyway, this recipe rocks my little ol world! It's like a lightened version of shrimp scampi. I use whole wheat angel hair, but any whole wheat pasta will work. Just make sure when you cook the pasta, you just cook it to al dente. Cooking it past that will boil out a lot of the nutrients in the pasta. I made this with steamed French (ooh lala) green beans and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette. If you have questions or whatever, let me know.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

From Living the GI Diet by Rick Gallop

1 T extra virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine, or low fat low sodium chicken broth

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (I just use some dried parsley at the end)

1 T nonhydrogenated margarine (you can use butter if you don't like to use margarine, or you can leave it out and you really won't notice)

6 oz per person of your favorite kind of whole wheat pasta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook just until the garlic starts to turn golden , about 1 minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley and margarine and cook until the margarine is melted.

3. Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the water and add the pasta to the shrimp mixture. Toss to coat with the sauce.

ENJOY!

Some Things Are Just Awesome!

So I was sitting here thinking about what I want to blog about tonight, and I thought...well, I think I will blog about my dogs. They are pretty awesome and sweet and give kisses and snuggles and stuff. Then, I was putting away our purchases from the Old Navy and I thought, well, maybe I will blog about the Old Navy. They are pretty cool over there too. Then, I grabbed a new library book to start while Brad finished up on the laptop so I could use it (because of course I'm not going to get off the couch to go into the office and blog on the desktop) and I thought, well, maybe I will blog about the library because I freaking love that place. So THEN I thought well...I think I will blog about all those things. They are all awesome and I love them all. So I'm going to blog about the 10 things I think are most awesome right now...

My Top 10 Most Awesomest Things Right Now!!

10. Costco! I freaking love this place. You can buy all sorts of things you never even knew you needed!!! Plus, keeping it totally real, they have awesome produce and doggie supplies at really good prices. And um, who can resist the hot dog and pop combo for $1.50. I know it's hard for the hubs and I to.

9. Kansas Basketball. Seriously, I was raised a KU fan, I'm married to a KU fan, my kids are going to be KU fans, my scottie dog is named Mario Chalmers for goodness sake. When I was little I used to cry when Kansas lost in the tournament, I was THAT into it. Probably one of my top 5 lifetime moments is when KU won the national championship in 2008. The hubs and I watched the game down at the Power & Light District and it was amazing. There was lots of hugging and kissing strangers (who were close friends by the end) when we won, lots of hand holding and squeezing at the end of regulation time when Memphis was missing all those free throws and I SWEAR my heart stopped when Mario Chalmers (the real one, not my misguided Scottie dog) made that 3 point shot with 2.1 seconds left to tie the game. When I'm having a really bad day at work I YouTube "Mario Chalmers" and watch those 6 seconds and always have a smile on my face by the end. Kansas Basketball is an institution, a legacy and a tradition that I am always so proud to be a part of.

8. Old Navy. I just love those people over at the Old Navy. They are always coming up with some super cute stuff that's not too horribly priced. Is it awesome quality like my beloved Nordstrom? No. But it's a place I can actually afford to shop at more than just once in awhile. We went there tonight because we had a 30% off friends and family coupon (it's good all weekend, let me know if you want me to email you one) and got awesome workout gear, 2 SUPER cute cardigans, some awesome dark skinny jeans, and an adorable knockoff SIG water bottle. Oh, and I may have snagged some adorable baby boy clothes for my bestie Megan who is expecting a boy in August. Plus, I think they are big proponents of vanity sizing because yay, I had to buy a smaller size in skinny jeans.

7. DVR. Yep, I love my DVR. We just recently invested our $6.95 per month in the DVR and I honestly don't know how we lived without it. Although I don't watch too much television, I love being able to watch the stuff I really want to see when it's convenient for me. With the addition of gym visits into our already too busy schedule, it's nice to know I can catch up when I have time.

6. www.pinupsforpitbulls.com. These people are awesome. They are out there spreading the word that discrimination against a whole breed of dog (be it bullies or whatever other breed) is WRONG! It's just wrong. It's not better than discriminating against humans for their race or religion or sexual orientation. But these awesome ladies are out there spreading the word in such a sexy way! I highly encourage you to check out their website or fan them on facebook. Sweet sweet bullies haven't done anything wrong except be taught horrible things by people that will burn in hell at some point. It's just too bad their poor bullies can't push them into the fires for what they have done to this breed.

5. The public library. So yeah, I'm a reading freak. I will read anything! When I was little I decided I wanted to read one day, so I started reading and that was that. I read everywhere. In bed, at work, in my car during lunch when it's nice out, in the bathtub, on the treadmill (not on the eliptical, that doesn't work so well), by the pool, on an airplane and on and on and on. Today I even finished the library book I had in my purse at the bar while I waited for my peeps to arrive for happy hour. And let me tell you, the public library seriously saves me some cash that is then used on other ventures, like happy hour and shopping and shoes and massages and all those really important things.

4. My dogs. They're crazy, they're terriers, they're rescue dogs and sometimes they smell! But they are sweet and cuddly and always up for a hug and a kiss. The hubs and I have 2 dogs. Ralph is our first baby....um, I mean dog. We got him from the Warsaw animal shelter in July, 2005. I wanted a dog SOOOO badly, and Brad made me wait until we had a house with a yard. Let me tell you the minute we signed those closing papers, I was on petfinder night and day. We headed down to Warsaw to check out a different dog, who ended up not being the dog for us. Then we saw Ralph. OMG he was (and still is) so cute. He looks just like Benji, but bigger. He's older and quirky and stubborn but he is all ours and we love him to death. He was a perfect first dog for us. Unfortunately, he knows how to open the gate on our yard and frequently takes himself to the church across the street from our house on Sunday mornings to visit the people. Yep, our dog goes to church more often than we do. OOps!

Our other dog is the aforementioned Mario Chalmers. Mario is .... special to say the least. He's a scottie schnauzer mix we got from a rescue group at Petco 2 years ago in April. We got him about 5 days after KU won that national championship, and had decided our next born would be named Mario Chalmers. So 2 years later, here he is. Mario is crazy and insane and has no concept of personal space. He has many nicknames including George (Curious George), Scottie, Scooter, Mama, Muffin, Yoyo, Genius, Little Man, Little Pup, Asshole, That F*&%^$g Dog, The Black Dog, and the archenemy of Ralph. I could go on and on about both of them, but I won't. They are both awesome and both adopted and saved from fates I don't even let myself think about. I won't preach here about rescue/adoption over pointless buying, but I think you get the drift.

3. My blog. I'm having so much fun "writing" down the things the hubs gets sick of listening to me prattle on about. Although, I think he's the only one who reads it so really he's probably having to listen to it anyway. Haha, sorry honey!

2. March Madness. Yep, it's that time of year again. It's supposed to be spring tomorrow, but of course we are forecasted to get 8 inches of snow. But that hasn't stopped me from watching listening to and reading about college basketball pretty much non-stop since Wednesday. The brackets, the perfectly reasonable excuses not to be working, the feel good stories of coaches and players, the Cinderella stories; it's all just so AWESOME. Give me college sports over pro sports any day. The heart and soul and pure true love of the game are so intense and heart breaking and uplifting all at the same time. I live for this time of the year.

1. My life. It's not perfect, obviously. But I think it's a great one anyway. I have my ups and downs, good and bad times. But I'm proud of the hubs and I and what we have made of our lives. And I'm proud that I value my life enough to be working hard to get healthy and make it an even better life. Sometimes I get frustrated with the hubs, or family, or friends, or the terriers, or work. But just as often each of those bring wonderful things into my life. I love working to make it better everyday.