January 30

Each dawn is a new beginning.

Breakfast: small bowl of muesli and dried cranberries, milk
Snack: Energy Rx juice drink product whatchamajigger. Hey, it’s mango juice AND caffeine! I read the ingredients!
Lunch: Slimfast, granola bar, 1 piece string cheese (I hate how the cafeteria closes before I can even get there)
Dinner: Shrimp fried rice (veggies and egg also, leftovers for lunch tomorrow)
Workout: 25 minutes on recumbent bike at lunch

I didn’t work out yesterday at all – still too sore from my last session with the trainer. I did, however, get in and ride a recumbent bike today during my lunch hour. I was kind of stumped at the end of last week when I couldn’t remember if I’d worked out 3 times or 4 times, so I’ll try to keep better track. I’ve notice a very definite improvement in how I feel, and my general sense of well-being has returned after a very long absence (I haven’t felt like this in years, since the last time I went on a
fitness kick). Also: a few pounds have been lost, and I can actually look at my silhouette in the mirror without wincing and rolling my eyes. It helps to have bought some jeans recently that are the best fitting ones I’ve had in a long, long, LONG time. I actually enjoy wearing them, instead of feeling like I’m being throttled amidships. It helps that they have a generous helping of Lycra.

Stretch denim. What a wonderful invention. Why did I wait so long to try it?

It’s gotten cold, so after about a week of comments along the line of “Huh! It’s finally winter!” everyone in at work has switched from grousing about how mild the winter was and how there wasn’t enough snow, to grousing about how frigid and dry the air is, and how it’s snowing “again.” Remember, this is Chicagoland; even though the weather is not that terrible, it has to be more terrible and more dramatic than anywhere else. Even places that have been experiencing truly awful weather.

David and I have both been eating a lot better – more importantly, I now reach for a piece of fruit as a snack and make a point of eating SOMEthing before leaving the house in the morning. Still relying too much on “convenience” foods, but I’m trying to be aware of the ingredients before buying them.

We made some pretty awesome cheeseless lasagna last week, and on a whim, I decided to make a full recipe off the back of the box (jazzed up, of course). We had leftovers a couple of times for
lunch, and one other evening meal. Yes, the old standby, leftovers. What a concept. I remember when Mom, or moms in general, made the same thing for dinner for every night of the week. As in “Monday: Pork chops and applesauce. Tuesday: Pot roast. Wednesday: macaroni and cheese. Thursday: Beef Mac Apple Surprise.”

We’re not so much about the meal planning here, but have started to get the Big Idea about menu planning. Some things go really well together: nicely baked salmon filets with olive oil and a few herbs, some mushroom risotto, and salad. Now we’ll have to find something else to go with the lasagna, which was a spur of the moment thing that took 2 nights to actually get around to making.

Note to self, however – never use that Gia Russa Whole Wheat Lasagna, 9-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) stuff again. I think the box it came in would have more flavor.

Perhaps it would have tasted better if we had boiled it in spite of the package directions? Or perhaps if we boiled the box?

For the rest of it, I substituted 2 kinds of soy cheese (a grated mozzarella type, and a grated mix of “romano” and “parmesan”). Also substituted a small amount of silken tofu for the ricotta. However, we had ground beef and spinach in there too – the point was to make a lasagna that David could enjoy (he can’t eat cheese without problems, even with Lactaid). And danged if it didn’t taste very much like a “real” lasagna – the only difference being that the soy cheeses don’t melt right. The recipe from the
box called for less sauce than I used – I ended up using 2 cans of Contadina tomato sauce, plus a dab more sauce from another can. Next time: mix up some Contadina tomato paste in with the cans of sauce for more flavor. And if we make it with a ground meat again, definitely the seasoned ground turkey that Dom’s carries, and definitely chop up the spinach like I did, but add it AFTER all the meat is browned, but before spooning the “cheese” and meat into the pan. Nutmeg added to the spinach again, too
– I used maybe a quarter teaspoon. And also next time: boil up the noodles and lay them out right.