Pure Sugar

My poor husband is desperate for Target to drop a couple times in their toy clearance to 75 percent off. There’s something he really wants to stash away for the boys for Christmas and he’s waiting and waiting. You see, some people choose to do their Christmas shopping on Black Friday. My bargain-hunter hubby stalks the clearance all year long, then brings the items home, wraps them, and hides them immediately. The result of this is twofold: first, we are able to give our kids a pretty over-the-top Christmas for very little money. Second, the present stash can get a little out of hand. I think we’re going to need to start scaling back on the pre-buying because as the boys get older, they have more specific requests at the holidays. (It’s no longer just about toys Daddy thinks look cool.) Of course I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to find some Barbies to hide away for Laura, too

I have yet to take her monthly photo, but yes, my little Laura is nine months old. She really is such a peanut! Today was her check-up and she weighed in at 16.5 lbs and measured 23 inches long. But my amazing pediatrician said that she looks great, has fantastic muscle tone, and there’s nothing to worry about. Someone has to be small, like he said Our next visit will be in June for her one-year check-up. Crazy! A year ago I was making sure I was taking the best prenatal vitamin, and now she’s scooting all around the place. She’s not crawling yet, but don’t kid yourself; if Laura wants something, she finds a way to get it! None of her teeth have come through yet. They’re all right under the gums, the poor thing. I think she’ll have like five pop at once. She’s a good eater, though. She loves any kind of soup I happen to be eating and gets angry when the spoon goes into my mouth instead of hers. Such a cutie.

So, Noah has discovered the computer. With Jake, I was able to put it off until he was about 6, but Noah has obviously seen Jake using the computer and wants to use it too. At 6 a.m. he’s ready to go online and play games on the Hot Wheels Web site. A click here and a click there and he’s playing his favorite game. It’s OK, I guess but I try to limit the time he spends online. I’d much rather see him playing with his Legos and Playmobil. He’ll be glued to a computer monitor for school and work soon enough.

So I’ve made it through Day 4 of SB Phase 1. I actually cheated this afternoon, but aside from the lone snack cake I’ve been sticking with the program. I’m very cranky, but it hasn’t been that bad. I’m just being a baby about it. I guess on the upside, at least I don’t have to concern myself with lipozene side effects — just ignoring that box of granola bars in the cupboard I’ll finish out the two weeks, but it will be nice to have my morning toast back in my diet.

Earlier today I was going through my box of rick-rack for a sewing project I’m planning. The majority of it is Wrights brand, which takes me back to the summer of 1995 when I worked as a picker-packer (yes, that was my title) in their West Warren, Mass. mill. My department was Lace & Trim and the machines spun all sorts of rick-rack, bias trim, and decorative trim. It was quite the cast of characters and far more entertaining than any episode of “The Office.” We even had one of those signs with the number of days since any kind of accident. During the few months I worked there, I don’t recall any major injuries but I’m sure there were some. I have to imagine a few workers sought a disability appeal at some point, too. I had heard stories about the dye house; working there was more dangerous than my floor. I’d love to know what some of those men and women are doing now.

I was away all last week, totally overdoing the breads, pastas, and desserts. While I loved every minute of it, I now feel a little off considering I don’t usually eat like that on a normal basis. (And the scale tells me much the same — eek!). Since Drew wants to lose a few pounds, we decided to start South Beach Phase 1 on Monday. A few years ago I lost about 20 lbs. by following the program! This time I really just want to get rid of the sugar cravings and get myself back on track to healthy eating. I like to think of it as a pseudo cleanse (a carb cleanse that is — watch, now I’ll have all kinds of searches on colon cleanse reviews just because I typed the word “cleanse.”) At any rate, I know how hard it is to find South Beach menus, so I wanted to make a point of sharing mine. Breakfast is the most boring, but I’m going for simplicity. I’ll channel my creative energy into SB dinners. I remember that the first three days are hard, but they got easier after that. Having everything written down will no doubt help. So here we go, with Week 1.

Monday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with peanut butter
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Turkey pepperoni, sliced green pepper, string cheese
D: Baked chicken oreganata, salad, steamed broccoli & cauliflower, vanilla ricotta creme

Tuesday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Walnuts
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Cucumber slices with hummus
D: Turkey & bean chili, salad, cocoa ricotta creme

Wednesday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with neufchatel cheese
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Ham slice and wrapped around string cheese, dipped in mustard
D: Chopped steak smothered with LF cheese, onions, and mushrooms; salad; broccoli, vanilla ricotta creme

Thursday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Walnuts
L: Turkey & bean chili (leftover), salad, SF jello
S: Turkey pepperoni, pepper slices, string cheese
D: Turkey cutlets, sauteed squash & zucchini, salad, cocoa ricotta creme

Friday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with peanut butter
L: Vegetable soup, tuna fish “wraps” (use lettuce leaf), SF jello
S: Hummus and cucumbers
D: Lemon-herb tilapia or cod with herbs, sauteed squash and zucchini, cole slaw, vanilla ricotta creme

Saturday:
B: Western omelettes (ham, pepper, onion, tomato), low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Ham & cheese roll-ups with mustard
L: Southwestern chicken salad (greens, beans, jalepeno, onion, green pepper, grilled chicken, black olives) with fresh salsa and LF ranch dip (LF sour cream + Hidden Valley ranch mix), SF jello
S: Walnuts
D: Grilled filet mignon, steamed asparagus, steakhouse salad, mocha ricotta creme

Sunday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with neufchatel cheese
L: Cobb salad (greens, tomato, onion, hardboiled egg, grilled chicken, avacado, shredded cheddar, turkey bacon) w/ LF ranch dip, SF jello
S: Tomatoes and mozzarella with balsamic drizzle
D: Chicken curry over cauliflower “rice”, vanilla ricotta creme

I know I’ve been MIA all week. I just haven’t had the time for blogging this past week. I did, however, somehow find the time for having a really bad eating week and overindulging in lots of delicious food. So tomorrow Drew and I are going to start South Beach Phase 1 again as a kind of cleanse/carb detox. I haven’t tried many weight loss programs aside from SB, but it really worked great for me in the past. This time I am not doing it so much as a way to jump start weight loss, but I really need to curb the sugar and carb cravings. I’ve been drafting up ideas for snacks and meals and I’ve found that as long as I’m not scrambling for ideas, the plan is not hard for me to follow. Then I’ll start adding my good carbs back in and hopefully keep my sweet tooth at bay.

So today we’re going food shopping. I also plan on hitting up Target because they have the Shark steam mop on sale. Last summer I started researching steam mops and I’ve been holding off on buying one until there was a good price. The model on sale at Target is one below the model I really wanted, but I’ve decided that it’s good enough. Who thought a girl could be so excited to wash her tile floors?