Zucchini is disgusting. Period.

Hello internet world! Ok, fine. Hello Tanya, my only reader.
I must be accountable for last week's food challenge in which the ingredient was zucchini. Let me tell you how that went.
I have had zucchini several times in my life, prepared all different ways, BUT it had been several years since then and Jon hadn't ever really eaten it so I decided it qualified. I want to like it, it seems like everyone in my family grows it all Summer and ends up with way too much and then they can't give it away, and so since I know I'd have a bunch of sources of it all Summer now was a good time to give it another try, so I did.
I made a pesto dish, because quite frankly... I freaking LOVE LOVE LOVE pesto and I didn't think there was anything this creamy green deliciousness couldn't turn into a scrumpdiddlyumptious dish. And then in came zucchini. The texture kind of made me want to puke. I hated it. It was awful. I found myself scraping the pesto sauce off of it and eating just that. Jon liked the Zucchini, though.
So, I only made one zucchini dish this week. The challenge was to make two, but to be honest... I still dub it a success because I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to this food to make it taste good to me. There wasn't a flavor profile issue. (again pesto= crack) there was just something about it that made my taste buds want to die. I'm not making it again. Ever.
I think this week's ingredient is going to be butternut squash. I'm having a hard time keeping up with making new things because if I don't like them, then Jon ends up with a TON of left overs for lunches, and that's no fun. I hate wasting food. Jon is a garbage disposal and will eat anything. Seriously. Anything. Me..... not so much.
I feel like this is turning into a food blog. It's not supposed to be a food blog!I should start posting about dogs again. Or something.

Eggy McEggplant

OK. The first week of March came and went. We made it through this week of the challenge, but also made some discoveries on how we want to structure future challenges. More on that later.

Our food this week? Eggplant.
I know, super common, but somehow... not only had I never had it, but I'd never MADE it, and neither had Jon. It started with about two hours of googling eggplant recipes. Armed with my ingredient lists, we went off to Sprouts! There, I gathered everything I needed, then stood in front of an array of eggplant while googling "how to pick a good eggplant" and reading page after page of eggplant-picking wisdom. So, there I stood, smart phone in hand, reading about this mysterious purple fruit. Color, density, size, shape... all components of finding the perfect plant. I picked them up, tapped them, checked for soft spots, looked for blemishes. 45 minutes later, I walked out feeling particularly pleased with myself and confident that I got the best eggplant in the store. (OK, so I wasn't confident at all, but details schmetails.)

The two eggplant recipes we tried were the following:
Baked Eggplant
Eggplant Pizza

The verdict: we liked it. I really have google to thank, as I read pages on proper salting, draining, and pressing the flesh of this fruit prior to frying and baking. We quite enjoyed both dishes though. I think both will be thrown into the cycle of repeat dishes in our house.

Now, while we stuck to all the rules of our challenge, there's a few things that I'm going to change. It allows too much wiggle room, we've gone out too much and I don't FEEL as good. The whole point of these challenges is to make making healthier choices FUN. I like to set goals, and I like meeting them even more.

March Food Challenge

I'm late posting this, but quite frankly I only have one reader I'm aware of (hi, Tanya!) and I make the rules around this here blog.
Really, posting is more about keeping us accountable for the goals we set.

There is no budget this month. None. At all. We want to get a feel for what our food budget is on a month to month basis without being overly conscious of it. I really want to see just HOW much money we are wasting, and how much of it goes to undesirable food products. I'm honestly a little afraid of the results. Especially knowing that we CAN go on so little each month, I'm afraid I will literally be ashamed to find out what the typical tab is.
BUT, there has to be some kind of challenge, right? Right.

March Food Challenge

• Each week (Monday- Sunday) we must try a new food item.
• This can be something we've tasted before, but nothing that has been a regular part of our diet for any length of our married life. Neither of us can have prepared it previously. See, I haven't tried many different things. I kind of grew up eating the same things frequently (as I think most families do) so there's a LOT of really common things I have never tried. Like eggplant. and brussel sprouts. and leeks. Now, I'm not about to go making a eggplant/sprout/leek casserole any time soon. (well, I'm not making ANY casserole any time soon. Perhaps one day I will blog about my true feelings on casserole.) 
• The new food MUST be a fruit or vegetable. 
• Must try each of the new foods prepared in two different ways. The idea is to hopefully find NEW healthy dishes that we can throw in our little rotation of dinners that will replace some of the processed stuff we used to eat and give variety. 

So, that's it. That's the challenge. I think I'm going to do some kind of weird grocery/ food thing every month this year. Perhaps we will go vegetarian for a month. What I can say is this week we ate out WAY too much. It just kind of happened. Chuck was in town, so we went out, and then we went out with my mom, and then we went on a double date, and then tonight we were both up north at the same time. That's 4 times in a week. I can honestly say... I feel it. I feel kinda gross. I credit several factors for my weight loss, but I credit how I FEEL completely to the positive food choices we've been making and since falling off the bandwagon this week, my body is feeling the difference. Convenience foods are such a huge issue. It's time to get back in gear and make those good choices again. My body will thank me for it.

WOAH, where's my hair?!

Every now and then I get ideas, and occasionally they are good ideas.
Actually, who am I kidding? My ideas are always awesome. Except that one time.
Anyway, so I'm like... sooooo close to my 100lb loss mark I can taste it. (much to my dismay, it doesn't taste like cheesecake.) I thought I deserved a little treat for myself. (nope, still not cheesecake.) For the four years I was fat, I quite frankly stopped caring about little things like... what I looked like. I'm really honestly not sure how I was lucky enough to snag Jon at my worst. Must have been my undeniable charm. Anyway, point is... while I'm still the ME I always have been, I care about those things again. Not to the point I'm completely vein, but you know... I shower and stuff. (that was a joke. I always showered.)
So, what was this non-cheesecakey treat for myself? A haircut.
Now, this may not sound like a big deal, and perhaps it's not for most people, but I've never actually been to a fancy schmancy salon before in my life, ever, and I don't think I've had a haircut that wasn't done in a kitchen (or back yard) for like... gosh... 10 years? Just about. And my hair was being all... well, hairy... and I was just ready for a change. SOOO... I hacked it all off. Well, technically I didn't do it, Becka at Aura Hair Salon in SLC did... and I AM SO HAPPY. The length she suggested wasn't a length I would have gone, but obviously I know nothing about hair or I wouldn't have had such a frizzy mess to begin with.

My first look at it was like... WOAH, where's my hair... (psst, Mom and Tanya, I know exactly how you read that line.) but you know, I like it. That's right, I LIKE MY HAIR. For the first time in 23 years, I like my hair. Not only that, but I learned how to take care of it better. Apparently this junk has been growing out of my scalp for my entire life and I'm just NOW learning what the heck to do with it. Oh well, better late than ever. 

Now I'm gonna go sleep on my face because I'm afraid I won't be able to ever get my hair to look like this again, and heaven forbid I smash it...

The end. 

To do list: Place 20 Puppies in homes (CHECK!) Next up: sell the house.

We made it through another successful round of Great Dane puppies. Well, technically two rounds.
All twenty puppies found great homes, and I will be sending the last puppy off to Chicago on Friday morning. I'm so blessed with how many amazing people my Danes have brought into my life.
Zailey will also be spayed and retired in April. It's so tough to make that call, but three runts in two litters, all with over bites, and out of different sires, I just feel like it's the right thing to do. Such a shame too because she's the most amazing mother ever. Seriously.
I have no litters planned until mid-late 2014, and so many things that need to happen between now and then!

In other Dane news, Timber's biopsy results came back and she does NOT have cancer. Her leg ("wrist"?) is just very swollen, and there's some infection in there... but IT'S NOT CANCER. I am so relieved. That was seriously the longest two week wait of my life. I was so worried about my pretty girl. A culture on the infection, the right antibiotics, and we will knock this thing out of the park. The whole waiting period really was a reminder of just how fragile life is, and to not take for granted anything. Regardless, reminder duly noted, and I'm glad she doesn't have cancer. She's only two years old. I plan on her being a part of our family for at LEAST another 10. At least.

From one project onto the next.

Now we are really working on getting our house sold and moving. I can't wait to finally move to the home that I can honestly see raising my family in. After experiencing our first home, we know exactly what things we can and can not compromise on. I hope it doesn't turn into too much of a nightmare.

I'm really hoping that once we're in the new house, we can start actively pursuing adoption again- assuming we're not pregnant by then, which at this point isn't looking very likely anyway. I feel so blessed for everything I have. Jon and I are healthy. We have stable income. He's so close to graduating college. We have a roof over our heads, and soon will have the house we really want for the long haul. We are surrounded by my family, and Jon's parents have BOTH talked about moving up here, too. We've got great friends. Velcro Danes is going so well. But, I'd be lying if I didn't say there's just... something... missing. Something that would make the whole picture complete. I hope 2013 is our year, I really do. But this is the third year in a row we've said that, so who knows!

We have some super fun Summer plans going on this year. Of course the family trip to Lake Powell, and then we're trying to work out a trip to Lake Mead as well... and we have a super fun trip to Disney World planned for after graduation. I. AM. SO. EXCITED. Is it May yet?

And, tomorrow... I'm cutting off all my hair. All of it. Gone. Done.

February Food Challenge Accountability!

Today was March 1st, which means our February Food Challenge has come to an end! We made it with spending less than $100 on groceries for the entire month, and cleaned out some of the pre packages processed type foods out of the pantry and freezer, most of which we will never buy again. The breakdown on where the money went is below:
**Disclaimer, prices do not reflect the 15% student discount we get at Sprouts Farmer's Market on Thursdays.

Veggies/Fruits/ Fresh Herbs- $10.53
Organic Celery, Organic Carrots, Fresh Parsely, Red Potatoes, Organic Cauliflower, Organic Roma Tomatoes

Meat & Eggs- $27.07
Fresh free-range chicken (never frozen), Grass-Fed Organic Ground Beef, organic eggs

Dairy- $44.49
Organic Raw Cheese, Organic Cottage Cheese, Organic Cream Cheese, European Style Organic Butter,  Raw [pasture-fed] Organic Milk, Yogurt

Other- $16.01
Egg Noodles, All Natural Salad Dressing, Buffalo Sauce, Pizza Sauce, Almond Butter, Smart Bagels (all natural version of Bagel thins)

Some observations: the total costs make it LOOK like we didn't get much fruits/ veggies, but really they are just not as pricey. We ate fresh foods every day. We are not believers in pasteurized dairy, and believe that dairy is one area that quality can not be compromised on. Based on personal experience, going from really really limited dairy and not really thinking that people should eat/drink dairy AT ALL... going to a diet pretty heavy in raw dairy products, including several glasses of raw milk a day, not only do I LOOK better, but I FEEL better. I won't ever drink pasteurized, homogenized milk again. Ever. Quality meats are worth paying for. We eat so little meat  that it's really not a big deal to spend more for quality, but I don't think I could go back to lesser quality meats for any reason.

Raw Milk Info

There's room for improvement for sure. We could knock out more of the processed stuff in favor for more fruits and veggies. We could cut back on breads and sugars. We could be better about eating the food rainbow. But really, considering we were completely trapped in a horrible fast food habit several months ago, it feels so good to be eating real foods.

Stay Tuned for March's Food Challenge!

More February Food

We are halfway done with our February Food Challenge. Unfortunately, we are 2/3 of the way through our budget. So, clearly, we are having to get a little crafty with our meals and make our food stretch a little further than we're used to. I'm proud of us, though. Making a goal and sticking to it makes me feel good. And honestly, the food hasn't been SO bad.
We've had tilapia. This is something I will obviously continue buying, mostly because we seem to eat it once a week and it's one of two fishes I even like, halibut being the other. I wish I could enjoy more seafood. I want to like it. Really, I do. But every bite I've ever had is like the ocean puked in my mouth. I hate fishy fish.
We've had grilled cheese. OK, not so healthy, but meh. We had all the stuff to make it, so I did. And we survived.
We're had chili cheese fries. Well, I had chili, Jon had fries, and we both had cheese. I think chili deserves it's own dedicated food group, personally.
We've had pesto chicken. I love home made pesto, but I had packet thingies that needed to be used up, so I rubbed it all over big bird and plopped it in the oven. DELISH.
We've had pizza bread. I had hot dog buns and pizza sauce that needed to be used up, so I got creative. It was actually really good. A little carb/starch heavy than what I generally prefer, but in a pinch... sure!
We're had cauliflower pizza. To make my [expensive] cheese last longer I ran it through a food processor with a bunch of spinach. Sure it made it bright green, but it was so yummy.
We've had fruit smoothies.
We've ha Mac & Cheese.
We've had rice-a-roni.
We snack on popcorn.

I think we've one pretty good. I mean, we're not eating the most healthy stuff in the world right now, but we're not wasting nearly the amount of food we once did. Plus, this is all a step towards a healthier lifestyle for us. Once all this junk foo is out of the house, not eating it is as simple as not buying it. We will have to get even more creative the next two weeks of this challenge. With a measly $30 left in the budget, and $7.10 of that already "spoken for" in milk... I see a lot of rice and soy sauce in our future.

In having this strict budget for the month, we've learned what foods we can an can not do without.
We absolutely can not compromise:

• Raw Milk. Pastureized, factory farmed dairy is some seriously scary stuff. I shutter to think of eating/ drinking it. Sure, it's $7.10 a gallon, and we plow through a gallon in about a week... we can't compromise this staple in our house for anything. Not even an insane grocery challenge. 
• Eggs. I eat eggs all the time. Daily, even. Yolks are incredibly nutritious and if I'm feeling a little "off" one day, my go-to picker upper is two egg yolks over easy and half a glass of milk. 
• Frozen Fruit. Smoothies satisfy my sweet tooth, and are just plain delicious. Especially with it being winter, we haven't had fresh fruit in the fridge as much as I'd like, so this is a nice compromise. 
• Tilapia. This is such a safe meal for me. I have digestive responses to stress, and ten to feel very sick when I'm overly stressed... an let's be real here. I have 20 puppies in my house. I'm ALWAYS stressed. It is for sure a staple meal in our house. I' love to fin a source of fresh wild caught tilapia and move away from factor farmed fish like we've done with chicken and beef... but for now, Kirkland will do. 
• Pasture-Raised, Organic Grass-Fed Beef. After tasting what beef is supposed to taste like, we could never ever go back to the ground yuck you see for $1/lb at the grocery store. 
• Pasture-raised, Organic chicken. Same as with beef, no matter how tight our budget is we just can't buy the cheap stuff and we can't skip chicken altogether. Yummy yum yum.

These are staples at our house now. 

We can do without: fast food, bread, and going out to eat.