Friday Night Photos

I apologize in advance because this is probably going to be the most boring Friday Night Photos post I've ever done. I almost considered skipping it altogether, but I don't have an alternate plan for a post, so I'm just going to post these pictures anyways.

Don't say I didn't warn you! Hahaha.

Yesterday, I made this Indian Lentil Soup that a blog reader sent to me a LONG time ago. I had forgotten just how good it is! I knew the kids wouldn't like it (or if they did, they wouldn't admit it--so annoying!). Jerry likes it, though. I have the recipe on my blog here. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in order to make it vegan.

I never take the time to really do my hair--I always just put it in a messy bun--and while I was watching TV one evening, I did a side dutch braid--and I loved how it turned out! Still messy (I like messy) but a little different than the usual.

Jerry and I never celebrate Valentine's Day, so I was surprised when he gave me a couple of gifts. I wasn't prepared at all! But thankfully, they were simple. This one is a really soft, squishy cat that looks like Duck :)

Duck was terrified of it at first. He wouldn't go anywhere near it, but he was watching it like a hawk. See him in the background?

I happen to love it!

The other thing he got was basically just a joke. Whenever I'm chewing ice and he notices my tumbler is empty, he jumps up and goes to get me more. It eventually became this "thing" between us, where sometimes he doesn't notice when my ice is empty and then I tell him that he's off his game. So I started slamming the tumbler down a little harder--just hard enough to catch his attention. Then he'd jump up and get more ice. (I'm not a demanding bitch, I swear! This was just a joke between us.) So, he bought me this bell for Valentine's Day--he said that when I need more ice, I can just ring the bell, hahaha.

Since Jerry and I have had to check the DietBet app several times to see what our goal was each month in order to win our bet, I just made a little chart for us to fill in. In the first column (next to the date), I write what my *official* weight is (these are a little more than my normal weigh-ins in the morning because the official weights are done with clothes on (and sometimes after I've eaten or drank water). Regardless, my weight under the "DietBet Goal" column is what I have to be on those dates (while wearing clothes). 

This meme is so appropriate for me! I'm SUCH an overthinker. It drives me absolutely crazy, because I know when I'm doing it, but I just can't help it.

This is the wrestling thing that Jerry and the kids went to last night. They've done it for the past few months in a row. Definitely not my thing, so I stayed home and enjoyed the quiet house. But they had a blast!

This picture is gross, but I just have to ask for some advice. This is what happens to my cuticles in the winter! My hands get SO GODDAMN DRY and there is nothing that I've tried that helps! My nails are paper thin and super flakey (I know that's from the gel polish, though--I have to give my nails a break between polishing for that reason). But it's embarrassing for anyone to see my hands! If you know of a good solution, please let me know!

I ended up calling it quits on my book yesterday. I was halfway through it and I just could not get interested! It moved so slowly and I couldn't really understand what the point of it was. This is what I was reading. (I've learned that I really don't care for Reese Witherspoon's book club selections. I don't think I've enjoyed any of them that I've read!)

Today, though, I started a new book and I'm already very interested. I read it on the treadmill and the time went by much more quickly than yesterday!

Ignore the marks on my pinkie--they're from a Sharpie!

And that's all I have for this week. Thanks for making it this far! ;)

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Glass City Relay Training (Return to Running Recap: Week 38)

(Yes, those are photos of myself taped over the treadmill display, hahaha. I hate seeing the display because it makes the time feel like it's crawling, so I taped photos that motivate me over it.)

I used to write my running recaps on Thursdays and then when everything got so stressful in December, I basically quit running. I only ran a handful of times since then. However, Jerry and I signed up for the Glass City Marathon Relay (in Toledo) which is April 24th. That's nine weeks away, so we need to train.

I wrote a beginner's 10K running plan recently and we are going to follow that for our training. The longest leg of the relay is 6.6 miles, so we should be ready to run any of the leg distances. The other people on our team are my sister Jeanie, our friend Audrey, and my younger brother, Nathan. There are five legs of the relay; these are the distances: 3.4, 4.9, 6.6, 5.3, and 6.1 miles.

My sister had a fun idea about choosing who runs which leg. We are not going to pick our legs until the morning of the race. We are all going to train enough to be able to do any leg, and then we'll draw names just before the race to decide who is running each leg. I'm hoping I don't get the 3.4 one, only because I'll be training enough to do any distance; but even if I do, I'll at least get it done first and my leg will be over for the duration of the race. (In relays, like the Ragnar, I liked being the first runner for some reason.)

The plan that I wrote is an eight-week plan, but there are actually nine weeks until the race. Jerry and I decided to start our training a week early, just in case we should get sick or something (let's hope we don't get COVID!) and have to take some time off. The training plan is four days per week, with one day being very mild speed work and one day being a "long run" (which only goes up to six miles, so in this case, the word long is simply relative). I wanted to do a fairly low-key plan for this and not stress about it at all.

WEEK 1, RUN 1

The plan started Monday (although Mondays are rest days) so our first run was on Tuesday. It was speed work:

10 minutes at an easy pace
4 intervals of 1 minute hard, 2 minutes walking
5 minutes at an easy pace

I hadn't run since early January(!) so I was a little nervous about whether I could even do it. Thankfully, I didn't lose ALL of my fitness I'd picked up last year. I was able to finish the workout, although I had problems with it right away.

First, I forgot to turn the GPS off on my Garmin (I was running on the treadmill, so there is no need for GPS). What happens when you do that on the treadmill is that the watch thinks you're just barely moving, if at all, while the timer is going. There is no way to change it mid-run, so I just had to deal with that. I did the first 10 minutes at 5.0 mph.

When it came time for my first 1-minute hard interval, I decided to go for 7.0 mph. I knew it would be tough, but definitely not as tough as a few months ago when I accidentally did 8.0 mph (thinking I'd hit 7.0). Holy cow, the 7.0 this time was SO HARD. I felt like I was going to fly off the back of the treadmill! And the interval felt like it was never going to end.

I was waiting to hear the beep from my Garmin so I could slow to a walk; finally, I took a quick glance at it and saw that I'd been running for over a minute. So I must have set up the workout incorrectly.

I stepped off the treadmill for a couple of seconds to pull myself together, then I hopped back on and did my walking portions at 3.0 mph.

After that, I had to just watch the timer on the treadmill so I would know when to run and when to walk, since my Garmin played that nasty trick on me. (After the run, I saw that I'd accidentally put in four intervals of 1-MILE hard instead of 1-minute. Haha!)

The 7.0 mph felt too hard for my intervals, so I changed it to 6.5 for the last three and I think that was a good speed. I might bump it up to 6.8 mph for the next interval workout.

WEEK 1, RUN 2

My second run this week was today--just an easy two-miler (two miles at an easy pace). We've had freezing rain all day and there was no way I was going to do this one outside. They actually already canceled Eli's school for tomorrow because the roads are solid ice right now.

I managed to have the motivation and energy (and only mild pain) to run in the morning, too! I have no idea if it's the vegan diet I've been eating for a few weeks or if I just had a good day, but I haven't run in the morning in a long time. Usually, it hurts really badly to get out of bed and then I walk like a hunched-over old lady for about 90 minutes each day--mornings are the most painful time of day for my fibromyalgia/arthritis/whatever it is. I can't even bend over to put my pants or socks on!

I set up my book on the treadmill (I'm still trying to make my way through a book that I really should just quit reading because I can't get into it; but I'm more than halfway through, so I feel like I should finish.) Then I just set the treadmill at 5.0 mph and ran two miles until it was over. It felt so much longer! I'm going to try to finish reading this book as soon as possible (maybe I'll stay up late tonight) so that I can start a new one. When I'm into a good book, the treadmill runs go by much faster.

I'm not going to write much (if at all) about my heart rate during this training cycle. Since I'll be doing a lot of training on the treadmill, changing the speed up and down to target my heart rate is distracting and not much fun. I'm just going to run by feel--whatever pace feels good to me that day.

So, my Thursday recaps may be super short (not today, since I had issues with my first run) or they could be longer like today's. But I'll try not to get too crazy with the data ;)  This is the gist of my first two runs (Tuesday's pace included my walking--so even though it was speed work, the pace is slower). 

Jerry did his first two training runs, too. Interestingly, he actually ran the same exact speeds that I did for the speed work and for the easy run, even though I didn't tell him what my speed was. Hopefully next month the weather will be nice enough for us to run outside together. We had fun training for the Martian half marathon together in 2018. I think this relay will be a fun thing to train for; not stressful at all (nobody on the team is going to care what our pace is).

Hopefully training will go well, and I'll just do a fairly brief recap on Thursdays. It actually feels kind of nice to be training for something, even though it's super low-key. I think the relay was the perfect choice!

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 38

Two steps forward, one step back. Didn't I just write about that last week?

That's exactly how my weight loss has been going for the past several months. It feels like I'm getting NOWHERE, but when I look at the overall trend, it's still going down. It's just very slow. I tend to move forward (losing weight) then stepping back (gaining back a small bit)... over and over. So, I'm making progress; it's just not as linear as it was in the past.

My diet hasn't been "perfect" like it was when I was losing 125 pounds a decade ago, though, either. I was meticulous about counting my calories (or Weight Watcher Points) and I lost weight every single week. I feel like I've gotten wiser since then and now I don't care so much about being "perfect". I have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, and the scale goes up and down as much as 5-6 pounds within a single week's time. (I'm not kidding!)

There were a couple of days this past week that I didn't weigh myself, but check out my weight for a week's timeframe the week before:

Wed: 152.4
Thu: 151.8
Fri: 152.2
Sat: 154
Sun: 157.2
Mon: 154.6
Tue: 153.6
Wed: 151.4

Isn't that crazy? I think it was Saturday when I made that tapenade, which has a lot of sodium, and that's probably why my weight jumped up so much. I know that I didn't binge or anything to cause the gain. As you can see, it dropped right back down over the next couple of days. Having recorded my weight for so many years, I can pretty much tell you before I step on the scale exactly what my weight will be based on what I ate the day before. I know how certain foods affect me.

This year, my Wednesday Weigh-Ins have gone like this: 

Jan 5: 157.6
Jan 12: 156.6
Jan 19: 153.6
Jan 26: 154.8
Feb 2: 152.4
Feb 9: 151.4

Down, down, up; down, down, and then today... it was up.

I was at 153.8, so that's up 2.4 pounds from last week. I don't think this was simply sodium--I definitely ate more than usual over the weekend. But it's usually easy to take off quickly if I don't continue to eat too much!

Two steps forward, one step back. Let's hope I can go two steps forward again! I was so close to being back in the 140s. I'm going to try to make this a great week.

---

Here is today's random fact of the day:

Now THAT is scary! I wonder how many guilty people were set free?

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Transformation Tuesday #59

I was so sure that today was Wednesday, I started the intro to my Wednesday Weigh-In... then I realized that it's only Tuesday, haha! Which is good, because I didn't actually weigh in today.

Anyway, today is Transformation Tuesday, one of my favorite series of posts. (Although the number of posts are dwindling down each week--I only have one this week!--so please send me some. I would love to see whatever transformations you have.

This one isn't really a "transformation", but it's significant to me, so I felt it was worth mentioning. Today is my one-year anniversary of being alcohol-free. You may remember I gave it up for a year in 2019 as a bit of an experiment, but then as you know, 2020 was a big old shit show. I thought I'd be able to have a small glass of wine on occasion, and that lasted all of a week.

First it was wine, and then companies all started making those hard seltzers (which basically taste like flavored sparkling water) and those tasted SO good after a long day of working on the drywall in the garage. It got out of hand, and I knew I needed to quit. (I've never written much about it here because it's such a vulnerable topic.)

I planned to quit in January 2021, but didn't actually start until February 15 (which also happens to be my brother Brian's birthday). I wish I could say that my entire life is different now, that I see all the sunshine and rainbows that people seem to see at this point... but my anxiety is still is a big problem. (I had hoped that quitting drinking would relieve my anxiety.) I had also hoped I'd sleep better, but that hasn't changed either.

As far as positives, though, I am sure I've saved a lot of money. I haven't had a single hangover. I've shown my kids that adults don't have to be raging alcoholics to quit drinking; you can choose not to drink for any reason you want to.

It hasn't been easy. AT ALL. In December, especially, when I was so stressed out about the cats and worried about Duck, I wanted to drown my sorrows in wine. Instead, I just cried--a lot! Hahahaha. 

Anyway, it's been one year. I don't look much different in these pics (today I tried to replicate the first photo). Actually, I have no idea what that first photo is from or why I took it! I can see that it's in my garage. But I felt it important to at least acknowledge the milestone today.

But enough about me! A reader (who is also named Katie) sent this before and after photo, which is stunning...

"I crocheted this blanket is for a friend who is expecting her fifth baby soon. I haven’t done one of these blankets in almost a year, because life is crazy and we moved twice. It was so fun to make one again. It took me a couple of weeks to combine two patterns and crochet the blanket."

- Katie

Katie, I am SUPER impressed! That is adorable, and as someone who used to do a lot of crocheting, I know just how much work went into that. What a special blanket! I'm sure your friend will love it. - Katie

Thank you so much, Katie, for sharing your transformation with us! And please, Friends, take some pictures of little things you transform somehow. To submit a transformation, just send a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of your transformation. Hope to see some soon! :)

And here is today's random fact of the day. This one didn't interest me at all, unfortunately, haha.

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Plant-Based Diet

I didn't want to mention this sooner, because I wasn't sure how it was going to go or even exactly what I wanted to do. As you know, I've been dealing with chronic pain for for several years now and it got to the point where it was unbearable. I started seeing a rheumatologist, who has tested me for everything you can possibly imagine.

The symptoms sound very much like rheumatoid arthritis, but there isn't a specific test for that, so it's more of process of elimination and looking at other tests to make a diagnosis. For now, she gave me the diagnosis of "fibromyalgia"--I really don't like that, because so many doctors don't think it's a "real thing" and don't take it seriously. It's basically a way of saying that I have pain for unknown reasons.

And the pain is so hard to describe. It travels around my body--I mostly feel it in my hands, neck, shoulders, hips, and back. My lower body isn't affected as much, which is probably why I can still run. Pain killers (even narcotics) don't help much (not that doctors prescribe them anymore anyways!).

During my last couple of appointments with her, she mentioned that a vegan or plant-based diet has showed promising results with autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (and even fibromyalgia). I'm not at all opposed to being a vegetarian (I've never been a big fan of meat anyway) but I thought it might be helpful to try a full-on vegan diet at least to see if it helps my symptoms.

My main goal was to eat "normal" foods that I already eat and just modify them a bit to eliminate animal-based products. I didn't want to start eating tofu or tempeh or things like that. That's too big of a change and it's overwhelming to me. (Also, the times I've tried it, I haven't like it.) I want to keep my diet as "normal" as possible so it won't feel like such a big change for me.

This was a few weeks ago, and so far, I've found it pretty easy. I still eat the same breakfast and lunch; I switched my milk to almond milk, and chocolate chips to vegan chocolate chips (which I found taste nearly identical), so that takes care of both of those meals. For my snack in the evening, I usually have almonds and dried cherries (or lately, tapenade on plain Triscuits).

Cooking dinner is a little more complicated, because I don't want to force the family to eat this way. So I've been making some things separately. Like yesterday, I made chili. I cooked the ground turkey for the boys and set it aside. Then I made a big pot of vegan chili (my regular recipe, only adding an extra can of beans). I took out my portion, then put the ground turkey into the pot for the boys. In my portion, I added TVP (texturized vegetable protein, which resembles ground meat). It wasn't necessary, but I wanted to try it because it's been years since I used it.

Vegan Chili

Fun Fact: I don't remember where I got this info from and I can't find it anymore; but do you remember those rectangle pizzas from elementary school? Well, I remember reading that the "meat" on them was actually TVP! I could be mistaken because I can't find this info again, but I remember being really interested in that.

And the day before that, I made Sesame Chicken over rice. I cooked the chicken for the boys, then set it aside. I made just the sauce in another pan (which is vegan). And then I drained a can of chick peas for my portion. So, I made my bowl with rice, then the chick peas, and then topped with the sauce. 

Sesame Chick Peas with Rice

Then I dumped the rest of the sauce in with the chicken for the boys. I don't feel like I missed out on anything; the chili was SO good!

When we did pizza one night, we each made our own mini pizzas and I just chose to make mine with hummus and olive tapenade. It was SO GOOD and I didn't feel like I was "giving up" pizza.

Hummus and Tapenade Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

I don't want to buy the vegan cheese and stuff like that (at least not now). Like I said, I just want to use my regular ingredients, to keep everything as "normal" as possible. I have a few vegan veggie burgers in the freezer in case I get in a pinch for dinner, but other than that (and the TVP and almond milk) I haven't had to buy anything "special".

One of the reasons I wanted to take a vitamin in the mornings was to ensure I was getting at least vitamin B12--the only vitamin you must get from animal products--and I'd chosen a vegan multivitamin that focuses on the vitamins vegans tend to be deficient in. However, after looking at my food intake and checking out the vitamins there, I realized that I really don't need a multivitamin.

I definitely need B12, and I should take calcium, but between my fortified cereal and chia seeds (holy cow, chia seeds are full of everything good for you! Even a tablespoon a day, which is what I use) I'm getting enough of most things. So, I just ordered a vitamin that supplements the main vitamins/minerals I feel the need to supplement. I'm *really* hoping that it doesn't make me nauseous, like the multivitamin did, considering it doesn't have iron in it!

So far, all of this has been an easy transition. The hardest thing for me to give up is cheese; I used to eat vegetarian meals pretty frequently, but to get rid of the cheese is a little stifling. Regardless, I am willing to go all-in and give this a shot. The chronic pain over the last year or two has gotten to be so bad, and none of the arthritis medications I've tried were working, so I decided to give this a shot.

Since I was looking through the heritage recipes and there are VERY few that are vegan, I was tossing around the idea of trying out a new vegan recipe each week instead--maybe take one of my old recipes that I've made for a long time and making a few changes to remove animal products, then write about that (like the chili or the sesame chicken above). For these recipes, I'd be willing to try anything! Even tofu and nutritional yeast and jackfruit and all of that "weird" stuff ;)  (So, if you have a "must try" vegan recipe that you want me to try out on my blog, please email it to me and I might do that!)

So, I've been doing work-arounds like that for my meals. It's a little more work, but not bad at all. 

I am going to try to keep a food + pain journal to see if I notice any improvement over time with my pain levels. If this actually works, I will be so relieved!

---

Here is today's random fact of the day:

After reading this, I realized I know nothing about St. Valentine. So I did a quick google search and landed on Historydaily.org. It's actually a really interesting read! Here is the gist:

Valentine was an ancient Roman Catholic Bishop who had a soft-spot for love. He was secretly marrying Christian couples, which got him in trouble with Emperor Claudius. A married man could not be drafted into military service, so Claudius wasn't happy about the secret marriage ceremonies (because he needed his army). He gave Valentine a choice: renounce your faith or be executed (by being beaten with clubs and beheaded). Valentine chose to be a martyr for his beliefs and was executed on February 14th (the year is unclear, but it was between 269 and 280 BC).

And here is the info on the above fact of the day:

Source: History Daily

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A Super Bowl Baby

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to write today more about experimenting with a plant-based diet, but I think I'm going to hold off until tomorrow. I didn't realize the Super Bowl is today. Not that I actually watch it! I have never, ever enjoyed football.

Ironically, my mom went into labor with me on Super Bowl Sunday--which happened to be in Detroit that year!--and my poor dad spent the day taking her to the birthing center, then home due to false later, then back to the birthing center for *real* labor.

See how clearly happy my dad was to be there instead of watching the game? ;)  (That's Jeanie and Brian, my brother and sister, with my parents; the birthing center allowed them to be in the birthing room.)

This went on all evening until I made an appearance at 2:00-ish AM following the game.

Occasionally after that, my birthday would fall on Super Bowl Sunday. I remember specifically that my "Sweet 16" birthday was that day. I wish I enjoyed football--social life during football season would be easier if I did!--but I don't understand the game and I'm just not a fan.

This was my 16th birthday. My mom isn't a football fan either, so she bought me a birthday cake and tried to make my birthday more special than the football game!

Anyway, I'm not going to be watching the game, but Jerry and both of the boys are home tonight (which is kind of rare these days). They are going to watch the game, so I thought I'd at least sit in the living room with them and play Best Fiends or read a book or something. Not really "quality time" with them, but I am DEFINITELY looking forward to the halftime show.

I don't usually watch it, but I've been excited to see it this year! Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre?! Of course I would have picked Eminem if it was my choice (only because he's my favorite artist), but who could go better with him than Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre? Mary J. Blige will be fun, too. I feel like I'm going to be a teenager for a few moments again :)  (I honestly do not know who Kendrick Lamar is, who is also performing, but he must be good to be up there with the other four, so we'll see.)

Anyway, if you're watching the game tonight, I hope you enjoy and that your team wins (I don't even know who is playing or where it's located, haha!). And if you're like me and not a football fan, I hope you find something enjoyable to do!

Here is today's random fact of the day:

I don't exactly have a "favorite" president, but Coolidge just shot up there from this little fact alone--a sense of humor is a must, and how fun is this little prank?!

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

While going through the heritage book to make something today, I was actually looking for something specific--something vegan. Yes, vegan! I'm not vegan, but I've recently started experimenting with a plant-based diet for a couple of reasons--I'll write about this tomorrow. For now, the reason I chose this was because 1) It sounded good, and 2) It doesn't contain any animal products.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Margaret Charlesworth. Margaret was born in 1924 and passed away at age 91 in 2016. She worked at the Rockwood Post Office until she married Robert in 1950 and became a "farm wife"--she cared for the cows, germinated seeds, and made sure Robert always knew the weather so he could predict how it would affect the crops. When they had children, she was a full-time homemaker and mother.

Margaret loved to sew and bake. She was actually known as "The Cookie Lady" in her town and was featured in the Monroe Evening News for her baking talent.

Her maiden name was Gay, and I knew I remembered writing about a couple (from a heritage recipe) who lived on a family farm with the last name Gay. After a search of my blog, I discovered that I shared a recipe for Devil's Food Cake from Betty Gay, who happened to be married to Margaret's brother, Samuel. So this recipe was submitted by Margaret, the sister-in-law of the woman who submitted the Devil's Food Cake recipe. (Like I said, Rockwood is a small town!)

I had high hopes for these pineapples bars, considering that they came from "The Cookie Lady!"

As always, I am writing this recipe here exactly as written in the cookbook; the "printer-friendly" version is rewritten by me to include any notes that may need to be in there for clarity. I always make these recipes exactly as they were submitted to the cookbook--no alterations or substitutions. Make sure you check my notes after the recipe.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

Mix in Bowl:
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 c. brown sugar

Add:
1/2 c. Crisco
1 c. oatmeal
2/3 drained crushed pineapple
1 T. pineapple juice

Mix by hand until well blended. Spread in greased 7x11-inch pan. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Frost with 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of pineapple juice. Cut into squares.

My Notes:

The ingredients are very straight forward. Nothing to mention there.

I mixed the first four ingredients (by hand) in the bowl first, then added the rest. It was kind of hard to mix in (it was thick and and there were big clumps of Crisco). I kept mixing though until the clumps of Crisco were gone. I actually thought it resembled canned tuna fish! (The stringiness of the pineapple and the color of the oats made it look that way.

It was kind of hard to spread around the pan because it was very sticky. It felt like a very sticky cookie dough. You may want to oil your hands a bit first to keep it from sticking to your hands while you spread it around the bottom of the pan.

Don't forget to reserve the juice (a minimum of 2 Tbsp.) when you drain the pineapple! I wasn't really sure how well to drain the pineapple--with something like tuna, I squeeze it very hard to get as much liquid out as possible. With this, I didn't want to go overboard, but I didn't want it to be very watery, either, so I just lightly pressed on the pineapple in the strainer before measuring out 2/3 cup of the fruit for the recipe.

I baked it for exactly 25 minutes, as specified, and it looked great when it came out of the oven!

While it was in the oven, I made the frosting. I just added a tablespoon of the pineapple juice to the powdered sugar to make a glaze-like frosting. At first, I couldn't get all of the powdered sugar mixed in with such little liquid. I added about 1/2 tsp more and it worked. This is the texture it made--thicker than I thought (it wasn't pourable--it was thick and needed to be spread around)

I set the timer for 20 minutes when I pulled it out of the oven, and after 20 minutes, I spread the frosting all over it. It was actually the perfect amount of frosting/glaze!

I started to cut into it but it was really sticking to my knife, Then I realized I should probably wait until it was completely cool. So I set it into the fridge to allow it to cool quickly.

A couple of hours later, it cut MUCH more easily. I cut it into 12 squares.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about them. I thought they were a bit bland--I didn't get a pineapple flavor at all. The texture was pretty dry and somewhat crumbly. I only took one bite and just left it alone after that. However, a few hours later, I took another bite, this time at room temperature--and I really liked it that time. The flavor is very subtle-and definitely not too sweet--so if you're looking for a light dessert, this may be a good choice. The texture is kind of a cross between cake and oatmeal cookies.

My family reported the same thing when they ate them; they the bars weren't anything to rave about, but they were okay. I don't think I'd make them again. But for an unintentionally vegan recipe, I was surprised at how well they turned out!

If you're curious about the nutrition info: one square has 144 calories, 1 gram protein, 15.5 grams carbs, and 9 grams of fat.

I'm going to look through the book and see if there are any of her cookie recipes!

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Friday Night Photos

I'm probably going to be late getting this post up. Luke and Riley are staying the night and holy smokes, it's been non-stop busy since they got here. Luke will be FIVE next month--can you believe it's been five years since I became an aunt?!--and Riley turned three in August. Hanging out with a three- and five-year old is super fun (and totally exhausting).

Becky and Brian wanted a "date night", so I volunteered to keep the kids overnight at my house. I also wanted a chance to take Luke to buy flowers for Becky for Valentine's Day. Luke really wanted to buy her flowers, so I told him he could pick any flowers he wanted--that his mom is SO special and she deserves really pretty flowers.

It was funny; we went to the floral shop (which I knew was going to be expensive, but this was a special thing I wanted to do for both Becky and Luke) and Luke didn't really care for any of the floral arrangements they had there. They were all $100+, which I would have paid if he found one he really loved, but he said he wanted to go to the grocery store instead where he knew they had pretty flowers.

So, we went to the grocery store and he picked out two bouquets (purple and pink), a little balloon, and a vase. I didn't want to influence his decision in any way, so I just let him pick what he thought Becky would like. It was cute to see his choices!

Anyway, here are the flowers he picked...

Isn't that so sweet? The kids made Valentine's Day cards, too...

Since I had the Elmer's glue out, I decided to show them something I remember doing back in elementary school...

Anyone else remember rubbing Elmer's glue on your hand and letting it dry, then peeling it off like this? The kids were totally freaked out and didn't want to try it! Hahaha, they said it looks like it hurts.

Some other fun from today...

I played this game that Luke brought (called "Eye Found It!") and it was actually really fun! You know those games you have to suffer through when you're a parent (like Candyland) and you just play because it'll make your kids happy, but you'd rather be doing anything else? Yeah, this game isn't like that at all. I thought it was super fun. Becky said there are other versions of it, too, so I'm going to have to look that up when I'm not so exhausted.

I thought it was so cute the way Luke (Lucas) wrote his name on the chalkboard. I didn't even realize what he'd done until he pointed it out when he was done. I guess the clock hands got in his way, so he just improvised!

Jerry let the kids "steer" him by pulling on his ears. So if they wanted to turn right, they pulled on his right ear and left ear for turning left. They thought this was hilarious. And pulling both ears made him back up.

Then I told the kids to try to make Jerry laugh. They could do anything they wanted and he would try to sit stone-faced. They acted super silly and Jerry scared the bejeezus out of all of us when he suddenly burst out laughing SO HARD and loud. (Clearly doing it for their sake, but it was really funny. One of these days, I'll have to post a video of Jerry's "ridiculous laugh"--you can't help but laugh out loud with it.)

We ended the night how we always do... a movie night. Riley said this was her best sleepover ever. (She always says the cutest things that just warm your heart.)

Despite how it looks from the pictures, *I* actually do fun things with the kiddos, too! Jerry just never thinks to take a picture of a cute moment. (It's the same from when my kids were little--I wish I had more pics with them, but I was always the one taking the pictures!)

Other random photos from this week...

Jerry, Noah, and Eli all watch some Star Wars show once a week or so and I usually just go read in my bedroom. When I was walking in there, I stopped to take this picture because I love that they have this little tradition that they all really enjoy together.

I was eating some of my olive tapenade and Duck came up to me to check out what I was eating, like he always does. When he sniffed the tapenade, he went nuts! He grabbed onto my hand and was pulling it toward his mouth. I thought he'd be repulsed by it (it's mostly olives). I dabbed my finger into the tapenade and let him lick it and he was on a huge mission to get more. So I had to google it, and this is what I found...

I thought that was really interesting! I know a LOT about cats, but that's new to me. The sources I read said that it's safe for them to eat olives (just a couple per week, and unsalted plain green olives are best).

Speaking of Duck... this was a really difficult and awkward photo to try to take, but this is how he sleeps from about 2:30 AM to the time I get up (anywhere from 4:00 to 6:00). He lies on my pillow and drapes himself across my face. It seems like it would be totally uncomfortable, but his purring while pressed up to my ear like that is the most soothing feeling. I love it.

I thought it was funny that Duck chose to sit right on top of my computer so I grabbed my phone to take a picture. The picture makes me crack up--he looks like a total emo cat! Jerry said it looks like a "please adopt me" shelter photo--a "before" picture, looking all depressed.

And finally, the random fact of the day...

I am totally guilty of this! Even in my blog posts I'll do it sometimes (I have to try REALLY hard not to put winky faces everywhere in my posts). I really think there needs to be a "sarcasm" font to really convey that you're being sarcastic! Because I am a shy introvert, people tend to think that I'm a very serious person; but I'm not at all. It's especially hard while blogging to show the "usual" side of me because sarcasm just can't be written!

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Tiny Pockets

I think I am going to skip writing a "real" post today. I spent the day cleaning the garage; I'm trying to get my "wood shop" stuff into a smaller area so it's not taking up (literally) two-thirds of the garage. I've been trying to reorganize everything to condense things down, and I'm not even close to being done! 

However, tonight I just want to relax and read a book and (hopefully) fall asleep early. Luke and Riley are coming over tomorrow and will spend the night--so I'm going to need all the energy I can get! ;)

Here is today's random fact:

 This is so interesting! I always thought those tiny pockets weren't really meant to be functional--just decorative.

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 37

First, just so we're clear, I am fully aware that I look like a sloppy mess in this photo! And that I look like I belong in a 90s workout video or something, haha.

That said, I feel about as bad as I look right now. I've been feeling like garbage all day--super nauseous and absolutely zero energy. (And no, I am absolutely not pregnant. If I ever mention nausea, someone always asks!)

I'm almost positive that it's because I took a multivitamin this morning. I've always had a stomach like a rock, but when it comes to multivitamins, my stomach just revolts. I was able to take children's Flintstones vitamins for a while, but only half at a time. And never without food! It's interesting--I have taken so many medications over the years for one thing or another and I never get nauseous. But a simple vitamin makes me feel incredibly sick.

With Jerry and I doing the six-month DietBet and starting training for the relay, we mentioned some health changes we wanted to make and one of them was to start taking a multivitamin every day. I took one this morning with breakfast, and about an hour later I felt super nauseous. I knew that I should have cut the vitamin in half! But it had been a while since I tried a "grown-up vitamin" and I guess I just hoped that I'd handle it like, well, a grown-up.

Not the case. I ended up lying on the couch all day in my sweats, wishing my body would just make me throw up so I'd feel better. Tomorrow, I'm going to try either cutting the vitamin in half and taking half with breakfast and half with dinner, or I'll take it shortly before bed (with a snack) so that if I get nauseous, at least it'll be while I'm sleeping.

Anyways, on to this week's Wednesday Weigh-In...

I was at 151.4 this morning, which is down a pound from last week (a total of 45.6 pounds in 37 weeks). It's slow-going now, but I'm getting there one small step at a time. (It's more like two steps forward, one step back when you look at my weigh-ins, haha.) I'm so close to the 140s--maybe next Wednesday.

I had a really good week overall, though! I feel like I'm eating healthier than I have in a very long time; by focusing on getting in the recommended amount of fiber every day, I've been choosing foods that are just naturally healthy (oats, beans, whole grains, fruit, seeds, nuts, etc.)  Since I started with the fiber, I've noticed that I hardly ever have cravings for sweets anymore (once in a while I do, but nothing like before).

I know I sound like a broken record, but I really need to work on drinking more water! I used to drink a gallon a day (or more) without a problem, but lately I struggle to even get in a quart. I know that it's because of the weather (it's always harder in winter) but I should make a conscious effort every day to drink more water--especially since I'm eating more fiber now.

Well, I'm happy with how it's going! Hoping I have another good week :)

Here is the random fact of the day:

I know it's always easy to say this in retrospect, but I can't even imagine anyone other than Tom Hanks playing Forrest Gump! Forrest Gump is my favorite movie of all time and Tom Hanks is my favorite actor of all time--they just naturally go together. I can't picture John Travolta playing Forrest at all--I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

Speaking of Forrest Gump, @carlostherunner (on Instagram) jazzed up my race photo for me (several years ago now) after he learned how much I love Forrest Gump. He makes a lot of fun photoshopped pics like this--isn't it awesome?

(I didn't notice until just now the RUN FORREST RUN signs in the background! How did I never see that before?)

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