Being "still'.

What a crazy, mixed up, emotional roller coaster of a week.

Little Johnny has been gone all week at Science Camp... and my Mama has been in the hospital... my house is a mess, I haven't been cooking much, and I hate worrying...

SOOOOO... I decided to just let go... and let God.  Whew... that feels soooo much better.... Now if I can just keep from taking it back from Him... I'll be great!

I learned a lot this week.   Not that I didn't know this before... but I'm an emotional eater... THE OPPOSITE kind... I don't eat AT ALL... when I'm stressed, worried or in a hurry... quite the contrary... I have no appetite at all, and FORGET to eat... imagine that!  ME... forgetting to eat!!!

So... I now know why I've gained all this weight... I'VE BEEN TO DANG HAPPY!  LOL!  No... just kidding...

I am very, very, very well taken care of by my husband... which allows me to the opportunity to totally focus my energies on raising our sons, and being their Mama full time... and taking care of business on the home front...
Sounds great huh?  Well.... you'd think...

BUT... that led me to put MYSELF on the back burner for a little too long... I was taking care of them, and NOT taking care of myself... THAT'S no way to be a good role model.  To truly love others... one must first love herself... enough to take care of herself and make sure she is around for a long time... to see the fruits of her labor...  I finally figured out... the hard way... that it does no good to raise good men... if I can't be with them when they ARE men... to enjoy the spoils of Motherhood and to one day enjoy grandchildren...

While my Mama was laying in her hospital bed, and I was able to be there with her all day, every day... I started to cry... Why? Because I was overwhelmed by the fact that I got the PRIVILEGE of being able to be with her, with no strings to pull me away like a job or little children who needed me... and I was overwhelmed with the gift I was given.  Don't get me wrong... we do not live in a huge house, or drive brand new cars every other year, nor do we buy things on time,  but we live within our means with no debt at all, and I got so emotional and weepy at the fact that I've been so taken care of by God and my husband...that I didn't honor those gifts by taking care of myself...

I am so happy to have finally pulled my head out of my proverbial butt!

God whispers things to us, and we have to be still to listen... and if we are running around, taking care of things, putting out fires, helping others all the time, and not helping ourselves a little too... he starts to SCREAM... and the screams can come in ways that MAKE us stop and reflect and just "be", so we can HEAR what's being said.

So this week... among the beeps, and whirring, and IV drips, and my Mama's gentle sleep, I heard the whispers...and the convictions, and the gratitude, and the overwhelming feeling of peace that I have so desperately been looking for this week.

It will all be okay.  Mama will heal.  She will be better than before.  Johnny will come home safely, my new business will thrive. My sons will grow up to be great men...  People that have hurt and wronged me... will get what they deserve... and I will lose the rest of this weight...forever...

It just took being still... for a little while.  Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in ... breathe out... Close your eyes...
and just 'BE'. 
It's a gift... take it.

I'll be back.

Sorry everyone... I'm here... my Mama is in the hospital, knee replacement surgery... with a little bit of complications... kind of a roller coaster... one day she's great the next hour she's not...

I'll write when I get her all settled and home...

Until then... please hang with me... and maybe now you can get caught up on some archives you've missed...

Love to all

S

Calling the "fat" out...

Last night on Dancing with the Stars... I was dismayed.  Niecy Nash... a lovely, voluptuous woman, by NO means morbidly obese, was the butt of a few fat jokes during the program...

Let me just say this... to all the people that think it's okay to tease someone about ANYthing that may be "wrong" with them,

"SHUT UP!"
Ahem...

I have news for Len, Chad and her partner Louie...SHE can make fun of her weight... YOU  can't... It's just the way it is!!!

She handled it with grace and aplomb...and didn't seem to take offense to any of it... but inside... I know EXACTLY what she was feeling... EXACTLY...

When Len said... "Look, it's no secret you are an enthusiastic eater." and when Chad said his "food" comment, and when Louie mentioned he "Knows what Niecy must feel like" when someone tries to take her food away...
I CRINGED!  Do they not hear themselves?  The worse part??? MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of people were watching!!!

My Mama underwent knee replacement surgery early this morning... and I'm in the waiting room writing this... and when my Mama was being wheeled into the OR, a man, with the most visibly horrific warts and bumps all over his face and body was wheeled in her place, it was difficult to watch, but more difficult to turn away.  That poor man... covered in huge, quarter sized warts from head to toe...I'm sure has heard some doozies in his time...
and I'm not trying to compare being overweight and dealing with unthinking, crude people, to being covered in warts and growths and being ridiculed... no... no comparison needed... the growths are much less the "norm"...
But what I'm getting at is... Does that poor man need to be REMINDED that he has those things?  What does it do for the person speaking, to state the obvious?  Does it elevate the speaker in any way?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I have mirrors.  I KNOW.. all too well what my reflection is.  I don't need reminders... from anyone.  When I make jokes and commentary about my weight... I'M ALLOWED... YOU  are not. Plain and simple.

Supermodels think they have stuff wrong with them.  When they bring it up...it's a way of coping or dealing with the issue... when someone else does.. they get offended... it's just the way it is!

Whether fat, skinny, short, tall, warted, hairless, whatever... rest assured... that person KNOWS it.

I have a relative, that everytime she see's me she says... "You look the same Sandra!"... After a while... I got hip to the jive... at first I thought she was telling me I still looked young.. I don't see her very often... but a couple of years ago, she made that same comment, and turned around and mentioned that it "would take a miracle" to get me slim down.  It hurt.  It hurt because... 1. she has NO place to talk...not being thin herself... 2. She didn't ever see "me" she saw my "weight".  She hasn't seen me since before I lost this 80 lbs... so the next time I see her, it'll be interesting... but words hurt...

I know it sounds like I'm being ultra sensitive... and maybe I am... but I believe EVERYONE can understand where I'm coming from... because we've all had things said to our faces that we just can't believe someone could say!!!  I'm talking about grown ups... not kid speak... that different...

Making jokes about someone IS NOT the way to deliver care and concern about someone... its hurtful, rude and crass.  Calling someone an "enthusiastic eater" SOUNDS like a nice way of saying "PIG"... but it's not.

Len... I give you a "1" as your score... Chad, I really liked you... until last night... you get a big, FAT "0" as your score...and Louie... well... you are just plain, well... I THINK you meant well... so you get a "4".

Class up... Dancing with the Stars... Carrianne and Bruno are no gems... but I'm surprised at Len... I hope they all apologize tonight...

Let's be kind to each other... let it be...

Stock...Chicken, Beef or Veggie... 101

This is the food of the week... HOMEMADE STOCK.

Yes... you CAN make it yourself.. I promise.  It'll taste better, look better and feed  you better than anything from a can or box... I PROMISE!!!

The great thing about homemade stock is the control of salt, and all the vitamins and minerals that you DRINK from all the veggies you cook in it..

I like to make stock fresh each week... with whatever I have on hand... veggies, beef bones, chicken bones... fish bones... what ever you have...

Also, I like to use REMNANTS of veggies, and not waste an entire, good, perfect veggie I could eat whole, if the ends and peels will do just fine anyway...

What I mean is... when I do my prep each week... I will not discard the tops and bottoms of the onions, or zucchini, or the outer leaves of cabbage... I will wash them up and add them to my stock to boil down until it is no longer recognizable.

Here's how I make Stock...

NUMBER ONE RULE...

DO NOT PUT SALT IN YOUR STOCK...AT ALL...

Salt comes in when you USE the stock in a recipe, so you have total control.

8-10 quart stock pot

fresh water

carrot tops, or 4 carrots chopped into 2 inch pieces

5 stalks celery, the leaves are perfect for stock

1 quartered onion or the peels and tops of onions

10 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

Any veggies you have that are on their way out... or that you love...

 (except eggplant, it does NOT make for good stock when boiled... trust me)

***

Now.. the above is veggie stock... if  you want beef stock, add a nice beef bone or a few small bones, same for chicken, or fish... just add the bones.

***

COOK THAT SUCKER FOR HOURS AND HOURS with the lid on... until all the veggies are soft and have nothing left to give..

Cool it, strain it, and place it in an airtight container in your fridge for a week... use it for soups, cous cous, water for rice, anything!!!

Add salt when making the recipes it is used in...

ENJOY!!!

And the winner is...

Okay....

DRUMROLL PLEEEEASE!!!!

After writing all the names...

And cutting them into strips....

and placing them into a bag... and having my son (who did not want to be photographed choosing)

Picked a name out of the bag...

THE WINNER IS!!!

Yeah!!!! BIG round of applause!!!

Leslie...

email me and tell me your choice of store...

Bed Bath & Beyond,

World Market...

or Target...

oh!!! the shade of Bare Minerals foundation

you think you might wear...

med, light, tan...

CONGRATULATIONS

Thank you EVERYONE that played...

I am sooo honored you read me!!!

It still baffles me that people actually read something I write...

Love to all of you!!!

Eat well... Love much...Laugh often!!!

Giveaway and request...

NEW POSTS FOR THE WEEK... WILL BE UNDER THIS POST UNTIL APRIL 25, THE DRAWING... JUST SO YA KNOW!!!  SO JUST SCROLL DOWN TO SEE IF THERE IS ANYTHING NEW... THX!  LOVE YA!

Hi all...

I have a request...

I have NO idea how many of you or who is reading my blog... and I was wondering if you could click "follow" and leave a comment when you visit... it only one word... like... "Oh" or "Really?" or maybe a couple of words like...

"You're nuts." or "Do you really eat that?".. ANYTHING... so I don't feel so alone... LOL!

How about... for every comment left, and every new follower clicked... I'll put your name each time into a drawing for...

Bare Escentuals foundation and baby buki brush

A Pampered Chef cookbook or two...

and a $10 $20 gift card to either Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, or World Market? 

How does that sound?

I know it's not much... but I have three kids in private school... all funds funnel there... LOL

I will announce the winner on April 25th, Sunday Evening... and when you win...

just private email me your home address... and I'll send it all out to ya!!!

Thanks again for reading...

and following...

OH!!! And if you are already a follower... I'll add you in the mix... just leave as many comments as you want to enter... and up your chances of winning!!!

Happy Eating!!! and Losing!!!

I love being a loser!!!

TO COMMENT... JUST CLICK ON THE "COMMENT" AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH POST... SOMETIMES A NUMBER WILL BE THERE... SOMETIMES IT WILL SAY "0" COMMENTS...
AND WRITE AWAY!!!

Preaching to the Choir...

A friend of mine and I were talking on the phone the other day.. like we do every morning... and, of course, the subject came around to food.

The night before, I had made a boat load of fresh breadsticks, three kinds, and I gave her some to try.  She has 5 young sons, so I thought they might love to gnaw on them during the baseball game...

She loved them... and informed me she and her husband didn't share at all with the kids... LOL... they kept them all themselves...

I was happy she enjoyed them.  I'm starting yet another business, a meal delivery one, for busy moms and anyone that wants wholesome homemade food, with no guilt, and no talking into a box while in the car... and she and her family are my "taste testers".

She mentioned to me... that she admits that she sometimes makes the kids boxed dinners, or orders fast food for dinner... and she felt ashamed to say it.  While I am proud of her for feeling ashamed... I did too, when I did it... it got me wondering how I come across to people... I didn't want her to feel like I was ever going to judge her or think she was less of a Mother because she does it.  (We ALL have... it's a fact, no use lying about it.)

So I asked her... "Do I make you feel badly, or do you feel like I preach to you?"... she emphatically said "NO!... I learn from you and you are rubbing off on me, and I am starting to see that we can eat better, and the kids can eat with us, and I can make the rules... not the kids."  Thank God.  The last thing I want to do is alienate people. (however... I feel like... after a while if you know what you are making or buying isn't good, and you do it all the time anyway... then... in my mind... I'm probably gonna judge you... and feel sorry for your kids... just sayin')

Truth be told... I only talk about the way I eat or how my family now eats... when I am asked.. or when I blog on here... otherwise... I don't just blurt things out... HOWEVER... I can see, now... how choosing a healthier lifestyle can make others feel diminished or, you know what I mean... on the defensive... because of how I perceived her statement.

So this got me thinking... on how all of us... on our roads to healthier eating, better health, or weight loss, can help others feel comfortable in their own skin... without sounding preachy or "elevated".

Inevitably, if you've lost some weight, people will comment and ask how you've done it.  A great way to say it... without delving into a dissertation on every morsel of food, every calorie counted, and every step taken... a quick, concise sentence will do...
"Thank you so much for noticing... I feel really great... I just decided it was time to eat well all the time, and to take care of myself, so I can take better care of others" 
If that prompts a "what diet are you on?" question... instead of saying... "Oh DIEt is so WRONG... it's LIFESTYLE CHANGE..."
say instead... "Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, lean meats, large meal at lunch, fruit for dinner... that kind of thing."

You never know... he/she may want to know more... and you can either direct to this blog, or to the Let's Do Lunch book or website or start a great conversation of questions and answers...

In the beginning of ANY change in life... whether it be quitting smoking, eating better, becoming a Born Again Christian, kicking any bad habit... can be like a new world opening up.   One just wants to preach to the world that 'this' way is the best way... and EVERYONE should do it... and one starts to sound like a Chihuahua on crack... talking incessantly, overdoing it... pushing the ideas on anyone with an ear.  I am so guilty of it.

As time goes on... and it becomes more of how we live and breathe, and not so new anymore... it becomes easier to talk about without sounding like an insurance salesman that needs to meet his quota in 5 minutes... or the bonus is out.

I learned we have to love people into this way of eating.  It is important though... very important to spread better eating to the masses... our very lives depend on it, but there is a way of doing it that will get better results... than just talking... it's also walking the walk... actually DOING what we say needs to be done...

It's true...actions do speak louder than words... and if we model good eating habits... our children, grandchildren, friends, parents, acquaintences, everyone will live longer, better, more healthy lives...

Peace.