Brie Fit

You know, one thing I didn’t really think about until recently is how this stress is affecting me physically.

But it definitely is. 

I’ve always been a champion sleeper…except now, I’ve been a total insomniac a few nights a week.  My hair is falling out at an unusually high rate, and my workouts have not been strong.

Either way, it’s annoying.

Lunchtime—carrots and hummus, toasted homemade pretzel roll, Greek yogurt, and a giant effing banana.

Seriously, the banana was so big I couldn’t eat it all.

(pauses for inappropriate comments)

Anyway, I had one of the aforementioned shitty workouts after work.  I swam, and it was just bleh and I called it quits after 700m.  Womp womp.

Dinner was also not-so-great.

I made this wagon wheel taco pasta salad, which I LOVE, except we were missing several of the crucial ingredients, and I added way too much spice to compensate.  And then I made green beans on the side, and they were horribly tough, and the chicken I grilled was bleh…yeah.  Unremarkable.

Anyway, I’ll be up at the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow to hop a plane to LA.  I predict that by noon tomorrow, I am in my bikini, poolside, with a book and a Diet Coke the size of my head.  Good lord, I need this.

Discuss: which television show, living or dead, has the hottest cast?  I am torn between Gilmore Girls and Friday Night Lights, though vintage ER makes a strong showing as well.

Today I am focusing on the good things.   And it helps.

Like having a day off with my husband. 

And being able to do a killer workout in my nice, cool guest room rather than setting foot out in the humid, swampy weather, and the resulting endorphins.

And fuzzy, though mostly disagreeable, cats.

And packing for a trip.  (Roll, don’t fold!)

Five days in California—leaving bright and early Wednesday.  It’s for work,  but there will be plenty of free time.  Me and my SPF 50 will be soaking up some Vitamin D by the pool quite a bit, I think.

And a good DIY mani-pedi.

Toes: Lollipop by Essie, fingers: Planks a Lot by OPI

And Memorial Day burgers on the grill and oven fries.

And brown butter blondies, inspired by these. 

Recipe:

• 1 c. butter, browned
• 1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt
• 2 c. flour
• 2/3 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Brown the butter by cooking over medium-high heat until it turns brown and smells like heaven.   Whisk butter together with both sugars in mixing bowl.  Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until glossy.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake in a 9 X 13 glass dish for 28-30 minutes.  Forget that you were ever sad.

Also, three more tiny things:

We might be fostering a tiny trio of kittens through the cat rescue who helped us out with Bubbles.  It’s still in the works, but if they can’t find anyone else to take them, they may be pattering around our guest room until they get adopted later this week.

If I can’t have a baby right now, at least I can clutch some tiny kittens to my bosom and spew my dormant motherly instinct all over them, right? 

Also, the registry for the Joplin Humane Society has continued to explode.  I can no longer count high enough to calculate, but we are OVER $22,000 in donations.  I predict the poor UPS man will be sore on Wednesday from unloading all those packages from the truck tomorrow!

If you haven’t donated yet, please consider it—their most urgent need right now is Frontline Plus flea and tick control.  As you can imagine, those sorts of things spread quickly in close quarters.

Anyway.  Breathing.  One day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.  This, too, shall pass.  And all that jazz.

What little things have you enjoyed today?

So I’ve kind of been a failure as a healthy living blogger these last few days.  No food photography, no exercising, COPIOUS amounts of alcohol and drunk tweeting.  I spent a good chunk of Saturday under the covers in bed.  There was ice cream shoveled straight out of the carton into my mouth, and crying in church. 

I haven’t blogged because I didn’t really know what to say without dissolving into a complete emo trainwreck.

In my New Year’s post, I talked about how 2011 could go a lot of  ways.   It does not appear to be going the way either of us had hoped.  And it kills me. 

It seems like every step we take, we get kicked in the teeth.  The more I work, the harder I pray, the better person I try to be…the more challenges God puts in front of me.  We have tough choices to make and it makes me sick to my stomach.  I go through brief periods where everything seems okay, and then I remember that it’s not and anger, fear, and worry take over again.  It takes my breath away.

I know we just have to take things one day at a time, one day in front of the other.  I know we are blessed in many ways.  But it’s getting harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

I hate to be vague, because I know how frustrating it is, but it’s what’s best right now.

How do you deal?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead

If you’d like to break that into more fun numbers, that includes:

• 60 Kongs
• 400 towels
• 103 blankets
• 2 digital cameras
• 90 jars of peanut butter
• 1,266 pounds of cat litter
• 60 food dishes
• 148 sparkle balls
• 5,400 trash bags
• …and a whole lot more.

Also, 120 reunions and counting.  This is what makes it all worth it, folks.

(Photos from the JHS Facebook Page.)

Fan-freaking-tastic.  This thing is so much bigger than I ever imagined and you all are incredible.  Keep spreading the word!  Now that things are more organized, I’m getting specific requests from the shelter that need to be fulfilled, and the first shipments have already started rolling in!

Keep sharing the registry link!  http://tinyurl.com/blogs4dogs

Oh!  And…for those of you who are missing actual blogs from me…you haven’t missed much.  On Wednesday, I did a Jillian Michaels DVD at home, and yesterday I ran an easy 5K on some nice rolling hills in perfect weather.  Today, I skipped the gym in favor of pizza.  However, the vet cleared Southie (yay!) for her dental next week, which we’re hoping will be the final step in her recovery.  (I hope, I hope, I hope.)  Regular blogging will resume soon.

(!!!!!!!)

Total value of all the merchandise purchased from the Blogs for Dogs Amazon Registry.

Simply unreal, you guys.  This thing has taken off like wildfire and the donations should hopefully start arriving by Saturday at the latest.

The shelter has definitely taken notice.

Their director asked for my contact information, and will be sending me updates via e-mail of things she’d like to add to the registry. 

As you can see, they have a massive operation going on and will need every last bit of what you’re sending.  Whatever the shelter doesn’t use is going into a food bank, of sorts, for people who still have their pets but have lost everything else.

This kind of thing makes it all worth it:

Or, to put a picture to it:

The caption says: “Sammy has been found and reunited.  Thank you so much whoever found him…on behalf of our family and from the bottom of our hearts thank you!”

Unreal.

Keep the donations coming here.   It will all be put to good use.  And tweet, Facebook, e-mail…whatever you’ve got.

And thank you, thank you, thank you.

You.  Guys.

That is the total value of the donations made to the Joplin Humane Society today through the Blogs for Dogs Amazon Registry.

$3,645.08. 

In 12 hours.

That’s roughly $303 an hour, if you’re keeping track.

(Assuming our math is roughly correct.  We’re lawyers, people, not mathematicians.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

For your donations, for your tweets, for your blog posts and links and e-mails.  Every bit helps and I’m truly floored.

I am doing my best to keep the registry updated with the needs the JHS is expressing via their Facebook page.  They just communicated that they are doing well for the time being on food and crates, but desperately need the following “un-sexy” items:

• paper towels
• toilet paper
• pens
• Sharpies
• copy paper
• trash bags

And earlier today, I also saw requests for less fun items like bleach for cleaning, towels, blankets, extension cords, fans, hand trucks and dollies.

So, you can now find all these items on the registry.  I know they aren’t the most fun, but these things WILL get used to benefit animals in need.  (I’ve also added a little bit more fun stuff.  Because, as all good spoiled pets know, you can never have too many toys.)

I’m doing my best to keep up with the changes as fast as they are coming at me, but this is getting WAY bigger than I expected.  So, please be patient!  I’m no expert, just an animal rescue supporter and volunteer with a dream.

Please check out the Joplin Humane Society’s webpage if you’d like to see all the animals benefiting from your help.  Lots and lots of pets are without their owners right now, and they will be a little bit cozier, and fuller, and happier because of your donations.

It’s been a crazy day.  I spent a very scary hour in a tornado shelter in the basement unable to get a hold of Tim, so my nerves are a little frayed.  Thankfully, he, and all of our pets, are fine.

You guys are incredible.

Keep sharing.  http://tinyurl.com/blogs4dogs is the place to go.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the terrible destruction caused by the recent tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

We’re about three hours away, so thankfully, we’re all safe.  However, the sad stories keep rolling in, and I feel more and more helpless.  In summer 2008, Tim and I were shelter volunteers during the Iowa floods and it is a scary, scary place to be.

I will never forget the people who lost absolutely everything, and were staying in a converted cafeteria, and how knowing that their pets were being fed and cared for meant the world to them.  When you have lost everything, having the unconditional love of an animal can make a world of difference.

(All photos are of displaced animals from the JHS Facebook page.)

And then?  I think about our spoiled pets, and I think about how, were anything awful to happen, I would want to know they had absolutely everything they needed.

The Joplin Humane Society is, understandably, overrun and in great need.  Hundreds (if not thousands) of animals have been separated from their owners.  Many are hurt, or stressed, or sick.

So, taking a cue from Callie, and her awesome Blogger Baby Shower for Tuscaloosa, I have created the Blogs for Dogs Amazon Registry.

All items will be delivered directly to the Joplin Humane Society, which, thankfully, was spared despite the terrible damage to the city.  There are all price points on the registry, so you can give as little or as much as you can.

A few of the items may seem random (fans, extension cords, paper towels), but they have been requested.

If you cannot afford to donate anything—use social media to help these poor creatures out.  Tweet the registry link, share it on Facebook, post about it on your blog…every little bit helps.

It couldn’t be any easier.  Just share this link:

http://tinyurl.com/blogs4dogs

Please—if you are an animal lover, donate something in honor of your four-legged (or two-winged, or slithering) friend!

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that small actions add up!  Together, we can make a difference.

Quickie post.  I’ve got a big blog-related project a-brewin’ and it’s not this post.  Details in the morning (I hope).

I finally got to eat the delicious lunch I’d packed for Friday.

Protein pancakes with peanut butter topping!

They are so easy to make.  Blend up half a cup of cottage cheese until it’s smooth, then add three egg whites and half a cup of oatmeal and blend until it’s batter-y.  (I use my Magic Bullet.)  I also add a pinch of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla for flavor.  Cook like pancakes.

By my calculations: 280 calories, 30 grams of protein.  Also, delicious.

(Note: These aren’t cakey, like REAL pancakes, but they’re kind of like a pancake/crepe hybrid.)

There was also yogurt.

After work, I decided to do a speedy swim workout—namely, swim 1000 meters as fast as possible, and I did it in 29 minutes flat.

Dinner combined rules 2, 4, and 5 from this morning’s post on menu planning/easy weeknight cooking.

Crockpot salsa chicken with leftovers?  Yes please.

Off to do some top-secret work!

Pancakes or waffles? 

Kristen wrote:

You mentioned you cook dinner 6 nights a week, I’m impressed!! Can you give me some tips on how you work full time and cook that much, how do you plan your meals?  I love to cook and would like to start planning meals better but I don’t know how to go about it.  Can you share some tips, suggestions that you’ve found work best? 

I’ll admit: I am not really a menu planning guru.  BUT, we do manage to cook dinner 6 nights a week, and we both pack our lunches every single day for work.  (I’d say on average, we each eat lunch out maybe one or two times per month, if that.  More in the summer, less in the winter.)

I am also not a fantastic cook.  There is a reason that this is not a blog with gorgeous food photos taken on beautiful cloth napkin backdrops.  I don’t have the time, or patience for that.  I’m a decent cook, and I can follow a recipe, but on average, I don’t have the time or inclination to produce gorgeous meals every day.  But, we do eat at home a lot, on a budget, and it’s usually reasonably healthy and tasty.

Here are a few strategies I use to make sure we don’t wind up blowing our budget on take-out or pizza every week.

1.  Stock the pantry.

There are certain things I always have on hand, whether they’re on the menu or not.  Because sometimes, the meal plan says “enchiladas!” and my brain says “ewww, not tonight.” 

Some of my main pantry staples are canned black beans, jarred pasta sauce and whole grain pasta, box macaroni and cheese,  frozen veggies and rice (way quicker than the regular kind), and pancake mix.  (Okay, the pancake mix is only a pantry staple in a land in which my husband is not a freak who eschews breakfast for dinner.  But, it COULD be one.  For you.)

Anyway, when I have this stuff around, I can usually whip up something quick and easy given the contents of the freezer.  Our quick and easy favorites are usually things like grilled cheese and tomato soup, stir fry, beans and rice,  and whole grain pasta with some kind of protein thrown in.  If Tim isn’t around, I always default to scrambled eggs or other breakfast-for-dinner-type items.

2.  Sketch out a plan.

Here is how menu planning tends to go at our place.  Scene: Friday afternoon at work, via Gmail.

I ask Tim what he has a taste for.  He responds with helpful suggestions like chocolate chip cookies.

Then, roughly, in my head, I plan for a few things he wants and a few things I want.

So, this week’s menu, apropos of said conversation, is:

Sunday: stir-fry with beef, edamame, carrots, mushrooms, and brown ricce

Monday: chicken parmesan burgers with oven fries

Tuesday: Mexican chicken in the crockpot with rice

Wednesday: leftovers from Tuesday

Thursday: pasta with chicken, wilted spinach, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese

Friday: homemade pizza

(Friday is always pizza.  It’s tradition.)

We keep a whiteboard on our fridge so we can keep track of what the hell is in our freezer. 

3.  Portion and pack in bulk.

When I buy a package of chicken breasts at the store, it immediately gets broken up into enough for one dinner and frozen so we aren’t stuck with leftovers.

Also, on Sundays, I portion stuff for lunches and breakfasts all week so I can grab and go.  Like cereal:

I’ll also pre-cut and wash fruit and veggies, and portion stuff like hummus, yogurt, granola, and carrots, so making lunch throughout the week is a matter of grabbing containers and stuffing it into my lunch bag, rather than actual food preparation.

4.  For the love of God, get a crockpot.

Crockpots used to intimidate the crap out of me until I learned the basic rules.

1. Meat + liquid = delicious
2. It must be 2/3 to 3/4 full or it will burn.  If you have a giant crockpot like ours, you can set a smaller, oven-safe covered dish in the crockpot to reduce the cooking area.
3. Get one with a timer.  When we use a crockpot to cook dinner on a work night, we usually set it to cook for 4-5 hours, and then it automatically goes to the “keep warm” setting.

Really, they aren’t that hard.  I got comfortable with ours on weekends, so I could keep an eye on things, before I was okay with letting it work alone while we weren’t home.

We use ours at least once a week.  I’ll make the meal the night before in a smaller Corningware dish, and Tim will start it when he leaves for work after me in the morning.  Easy peasy. 

Our favorite crockpot meals are this awesome pulled pork, meatballs (ground beef + egg + Italian breadcrumbs + salt/pepper/oregano/garlic powder simmered in pasta sauce), chili,  and salsa chicken (chicken breasts + black beans + frozen or canned corn + jar of salsa + 1/3 brick fat free cream cheese). 

 5.  Plan for leftovers.

I try to make at least one dinner a week that will yield leftovers for another night’s dinner.  I recommend making a fancier Sunday dinner, and then rolling the leftovers into several more meals.

For example, roast a whole chicken for dinner on Sunday.  Then use the leftovers in tortilla or chicken noodle soup, make quesadillas or enchiladas, or throw it on a salad. 

What are your tips for quick weeknight cooking?

I did something stupid this morning.

I ran without eating anything beforehand.

I know some people swear by it, and I woke up not  hungry, so I said, hey, let’s give this a shot.  Hill repeats sound like fun!

It was an epic trainwreck and an altogether crappy run.  My energy was low, my stomach started growling, I felt lightheaded and terribly thirsty, and I was just not feeling it.

So, yeah, I won’t be doing that again.

I made up for skipping breakfast with an epic breakfast for lunch—yogurt bowl, pretzel roll, cheese and eggs.

I didn’t have much of an appetite all afternoon, but I did have a Click Mocha protein shake that really hit the spot.

I spent part of my afternoon doing something fun—using the Checkpoints app!

I found out about this while I was researching becoming a Travel Ninja, but just tried it out today.  And I’m pretty much obsessed.

Basically, you download the free app (available for iPhone or Android) to your phone and create an account.   Then you go to your local Target/Walmart/CVS/Walgreens and check in, and it presents you with a list of items to scan with the scanner in your phone.  (You don’t have to buy them!)  For every item you scan, you earn points, and when you accumulate points, you can get cool stuff like iTunes or Amazon gift cards or Delta SkyMiles!  It is sort of like a treasure hunt.  I may or may not have pretended I was on Supermarket Sweep.

If you have school-age kids, I think this would be a fun way to keep them occupied while grocery shopping, too!

Anyway, if you download it and register, enter my username (Brie2011) as the bonus code, and we’ll both get extra points to start with.   Good times.

For dinner, Tim requested a repeat of last week’s chicken parmesan burgers.  On the side, I made Annie’s Oven Fries.

On the low end of the calorie spectrum today.

What are your favorite apps for your phone?