Sunday, July 31, 2011

Green Thumb

So maybe "green thumb" is a bit of an exaggeration, but I am seriously so proud of the husband and myself for not killing our tomato plants!!! 

Here is proof that it is possible to grow things in pots on a hot deck in Chicago... now if only I had a yard!!!

Grape tomatoes (aren't they cute?) and little round tomatoes (they're cute too.)

So cool...a more artistic pic courtesy of that amazing husband of mine!

Bottom line...if we can grow tomatoes, so can you!!!  Just do it!

Friday, July 29, 2011

A Song...

There's a song...one that many people probably have never heard, but it's one that I love.  Motorcyle Drive-By by Third Eye Blind.

I love it for many reasons.  The first being that it reminds me of my best friend.  I can close my eyes and picture us in college, in her car, convertible top down, with this song blasting and us singing it at the top of our lungs.  I absolutely love that image.  At the time, it seemed like a perfect song...a break-up song with a wonderful sentence stating "I've never been so alone...and I've never been so alive!"

I love it because it is a song that I played for my mom shortly after her and my dad got divorced.  I guess for me, it sort of felt like an anthem.  I wanted her to hear those lyrics...that even though she may feel alone, she was still alive and full of life!  I blasted it for her, this time in my car with the windows rolled down.  I think she liked it.  :)

I also love it because it reminds me of my husband.  Not the lyrics, but the band.  We have so many things in common, but early on, we both discovered that we liked Third Eye Blind and this song.

Lastly, I love it now because it seems very appropriate to my life these days.  Sometimes I do feel very alone in all of this infertility stuff.  It's isolating and weird and most of the time...lonely...even though I am completely surrounded by people who love me.  While I do feel alone at times...it's also a time in my life where I have never been so alive!!!  Maybe that's cheesy, but it's true. 

I heard this song on my way home the other day and it made me grateful.  Grateful that I am alive, that I have these great memories and great people in my life.  Sometimes it just takes a song to remind us....

Check it out on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ8wVKPUN_g

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Drinkin' Your Calories

So, I am sitting on the "L" (or elevated train for those of you not familiar with Chicago's train system) on my way into work after an early morning trip to the doctor.  I had my sunglasses on, was daydreaming and trying to mind my own business.  (I've learned this is the best method for remaining inconspicuous on the train).

Ok, so I was trying to mind my own business, but I couldn't help but notice something.  A seat away was a young woman, probably 35 years old.  She was about 30-40 pounds overweight and in her hand was a Wendy's Wild Berry Lemonade, large size, already half consumed (it was only 7:45 in the morning).  Just an FYI:  this large beverage contains 480 calories, 124 grams carbohydrate and 115 grams of sugar! Oh my.

To give you a frame of reference, The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends "limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calories allowance. For most American women, that’s no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, it’s 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons."

This lady had more than met her discretionary calorie allowance for the day and the day had just begun!

The sad thing about this scenario is that it is far more common than not these days.  We are drinking these sugary, non-nutritious beverages in mass quantities.  Is this the reason for the increased number of people with diabetes, obesity and heart disease?  Maybe not solely, but I guarantee that it isn't helping our situation.


Not to get all on my nutrition soap box, but seriously people, do you really need 32 fluid ounces of sugar water? Nope, absolutely not.  Try plain, beautiful, fresh, clean water.  It's an amazingly refreshing and delicious way to stay hydrated.  Add a spritz of citrus and you'll be on your way to healthier, less sugary version of you.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cherry Crisp

I was at the Chicago Green City Market and stumbled upon a table advertising cracked cherries.  Being the inquisitive foodie that I am, I had to go and find out about it.  Turns out these cherries were cheaper than thier uncracked brothers and sisters simply because they were cracked and therefore considered not as attractive.  Oh, so sad!  I asked the guy working at the tent if they tasted any different and he reassured me that they were just as tasty. He explained that the only reason they were cracked was because they had gotten too much rain early in the season.  Of course I didn't hesitate to buy a bunch as I knew that in a cherry crisp, it wouldn't matter at all how they looked!

My beautiful cracked cherries.

I have to say, the guy was right.  My cherry crisp was amazing and I am glad I saved a dollar and bought my cracked cherries!

Try this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens and enjoy your cherries...cracked or uncracked!

Cherry Crisp

Ingredients:
5 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted tart red cherries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ginger or cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (I only used a couple of tablespoons)
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Method:
1. For fruit filling, thaw fruit if frozen.  Do not drain.  Place fruit in a 2-quart square baking dish.  Stir in the granulated sugar and first listed flour.
2. For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and nutmeg.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the nuts.  Sprinkle topping over fruit.

Ready for the oven!

3. Bake in a 375'F oven for 30-35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden. 


All baked and topped with frozen yogurt.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Reminder

Sometimes life gets busy and you are bound to forget certain things…like, “did I ever pick up that dry cleaning?” or “did I return that email?” or “did I really eat all of my secret chocolate stash without replacing it?”  Yes, even when I have every intention of remembering something, I can forget it.  (Even my trusty calendar has failed me…or maybe I have failed it?)
Anyway, I have forgotten something very important.  Something that my husband (did I mention how awesome he is?) had to remind me about and something that was ironically, a recent blogging topic of mine.  I have forgotten to just say “no.”  Oh my, I actually can’t believe it myself.  With the summer and all of the new amazing opportunities that have come about, I have totally over-committed myself.  The sad part is that I didn’t even realize it.  Nope, my husband had to tell me.
Here’s the deal, I love feeling needed and wanted.  Yup, and when people ask me to do stuff (now they’re asking me to do fun stuff…finally), I find it hard to turn them down.  Bad Sara!
My husband pointed out what should’ve been obvious to me, but wasn’t.  “You aren’t relaxing!”  I got defensive and tried to cut him off with an “I know! (said with a clippy, abrasive tone of course… geez, sometimes I am such a jerk).  After some good, calm, rational conversation I actually and honestly agreed with him.  Yes, I am doing it again…taking on too much. 
I guess I am trying to “fill” my days so that I am not constantly thinking about not being pregnant.  The more things I can cram into a day, the better.  It’s easier to not have to think about this baby journey when I am completely and utterly exhausted.  Plus, I have always come from a place (totally inflicted upon myself by myself) where I have felt that if I am not working (or working hard), I am not really “pulling my weight” so to speak. 
But see, that’s just the problem.  No one ever says that cramming your day full of events and working to exhaustion helps the baby-making process.  No, quite the opposite in fact.   As for work, it does not define who I am or need to validate me as a person.
So I am taking my husband’s gentle reminder to heart.  More yoga, more reading, perhaps back to acupuncture and maybe even a massage.  At the very least, no more pushing myself to the brink.  It’s time for me to realize that it’s my job now to take care of myself…perhaps I just need a reminder of that every once in awhile.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Looking for a Little Spice?

Sunday night was hot!  Not just the temperature, but also our dinner.  (That was so clever, right?)  There is something you should know before I go any further.  I adore Mexican food.  Absolutely love it!  It always sounds good and I always crave it.  Seems kind of funny considering I am just a good old Midwestern girl whose only Mexican food experience growing up was tacos and maybe the occasional fajita.

These days I am a little more experimental when it comes to my Mexican food choices.  I am a huge fan of Rick Bayless.  He's an amazing Chicago chef whose passion is Mexico and Mexican food.  He has a couple of really great restaurants here, including Xoco (pronounced show-co), which is a reasonably-priced place with amazing food.  If you ever visit Chicago and you like Mexican food, go there!

Speaking of Rick Bayless, he is the reason my Sunday night was so hot.  I made a recipe that I found in the July issue of Food and Wine Magazine written by him.  It turned out fantastic and I absolutely love that it made extra sauce! 

Shrimp with Spicy Chipotle-Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup Salsa Negra with Chipotle (recipe follow)
salt and pepper
1 1/4 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions
  1. In a blender, puree the diced tomatoes. In a medium saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the tomato puree and cook over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until very thick, about 7 minutes. Add the Salsa Negra and 1/3 cup of water and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the shrimp with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until lightly charred and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drizzle the shrimp with the sauce, sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Salsa Negra with Chipotle

Ingredients
3/4 cup chipotles in adobo sauce (from a 7-ounce can), stemmed and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon molasses, preferably unsulfured
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions
  1. In a blender, combine the chipotle chiles with the molasses, balsamic vinegar, dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup of the water. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
  2. Strain the sweet chipotle puree through a fine strainer into a small saucepan, pressing on the solids with a spatula to extract as much of the puree as possible.
  3. Simmer the chipotle sauce over moderately low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof rubber spatula, until it is very thick, pasty and reduced to 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Remove the salsa from the heat. Stir in the soy sauce and remaining 1/4 cup of water. Serve the salsa negra hot or at room temperature.

Yum, this is a great meal.  In fact, I didn't have shrimp (I thought I did...forgot to check and just assumed), so instead of grilling some shrimp, I sauteed some white fish and made this into fish tacos.  I served it with simmered black beans and fresh mango.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Just Go With the Flow

Have you ever gotten any really great advice when you weren't expecting it?  Usually, I am never that lucky.  I am typically on the receiving end of advice that I didn't really ask for or want...but I digress.

Let me set the scene for you.  I was on a business trip (yes, little old me on a business trip) and I had just landed in Charlotte, NC.  I had a second connecting flight to Jacksonville, NC (don't worry, I had never heard of it either) and manged to get on the plane without a hitch...or so I thought.

So the plane taxis out and we sit on the tarmack (in 90 degree weather without A/C) for at least 25 minutes.  The pilot says nothing and we are all wondering what the heck is going on.  Finally, we start moving...not towards a take-off, but back to the airport.  Our pilot, once we were back at the gate, lets us know that our flight has been cancelled due to weather.  Totally cancelled...not delayed...cancelled.

Great, now what?  So, we get directed to the Service Center (I use the word service very lightly here) and after 45 minutes of waiting in line, I get to the front desk.  Their best option...booking me on a flight that leaves at 10:50pm.  Just so you know, it was about 3:00 at that time.

Well, that wouldn't work for me, so basically, I went through a bunch of hassle and two hours later I was in a rental car driving to Jacksonville.  Out of complete ignorance, I totally trusted a guy in line who said that the drive was only 2.5 hours.  Nope, try 5 hours, with drenching rain and thunderstorms and a phone with low battery.  Awesome.

To top it off, I found out on my long, boring car ride, that I wasn't pregnant.  Seriously???  How much can one person take????

Well, apparently I could handle a little more because when I finally got to the hotel, they gave me their last room.  A real gem of a room, located on the first floor, right by the main entrance, breakfast area (which started at 5am) and elevator.  Yes, so I didn't get much sleep that night.

So, I called my mom and my husband...I cried, I was angry and was feeling very sorry for myself.  Throwing a VERY large pity party.

The next morning I woke up and had even more trouble with my rental car (trying to charge me for a different drop off location) and my flight (the computer was not showing my reservation).  Ugh!!!

What happened next was the best part of the trip.  As I was leaving the hotel, I was checking my Garmin (trying to figure out where I was going) and heard the guy who had just left as well say, "oh, you've got a navaigation system?  Is it helpful?"  I made some dumb comment like, "Yes, but I would really like a Garmin to help direct me through my life."  He smiled at me and said, "You know, sometimes you have to just go with the flow.  Life is much easier if you do that."

His comment really got me thinking.  I smiled and thanked him for such great and timely advice.  He waved me goodbye and wished me a good day.  (I sort of wanted to run over and hug him, but that would've been totally weird.) 

I am not in charge...I should know that by now.  As hard as I try to control situations, there are just some instances in life that can't be controlled.  It's much better to accept that, than to stress about it, which I am guessing was this man's point. Sometimes, life is just about living and going with the flow.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Running for Fun


One thing you may not know about me at this point is that I am an athlete.  No, not the professional kind that gets paid, but the kind that grew up playing sports and continues to be active in adulthood. 

It started in gradeschool with volleyball.  I was never the best, but I sure did try hard and always made the team.  In highschool I continued to play volleyball, but also took up tennis.  When I went to college, I decided to become a cyclist and joined the university's club team. 

I love sports.  I love to sweat (yes, indeed and I am quite good at it), I love the adrenaline and I love the sense of accomplishment. 

When I moved to Chicago, I found that it was way too hard to get on a bike and actually get anywhere.  No open roads around here.  So, I decided to take up a sport that I didn't love at first, but was virtually free and I could do it anywhere.  That sport was running.

Ok, so when I say running, I guess I mean "fast jogging," as I am no Jackie Joyner-Kersee.  Don't get me wrong, when challenged and well-trained I can do pretty well, but these days I am running for fun.  (Ha, running for fun, I never thought I would be the one saying that!)

In fact, running has become a great outlet for dealing with stress in my life.  Not only that, it's a hobby that I share with my wonderful husband.  When long work days are done, I actually look forward to our 4 milers in the evening because I know that we'll have time to talk and laugh and de-stress.  A total win-win as far as I am concerned.

I know that running isn't for everyone.  In fact, most of my family thinks it's crazy that I have done marathons and triathlons, but I run for me.  I run for the pure joy of being outside, for the amazement at what a miracle machine my body is, for the feeling of freedom and for the special time I get with my husband.

Thank you running for giving me an outlet like nothing else can.