I'M NAAAAAAAAAAAKED!

My hair that is ;-)   It's been since October 2009 that I've colored my hair and it's finally the color that it is supposed to be! I think colored hair looks fantastic on a lot of men and women.. I've just been feeling very disconnected from myself in terms of how I look the past few years because of my colored hair (which by the way had not been my natural color since I was eleven), painted nails and the occasional tans. The point is that I was feeling like I was trying to look like someone I wasn't and there was nothing wrong with myself in the first place. Now, my hair is naked, my nails are naked and my skin has not seen artificial sunlight since 2009! And you know what? I'm feeling more beautiful and confident with my appearance than I ever have before!!

I haven’t yet let go of my make up entirely but that is next! or at least perhaps i can tone it down.... I’m slowly becoming human again and I love it!

Nothing wrong with fast food....

       but there is something seriously wrong with restaurants that serve up artery clogging foods that really have no nutritional value! What is worse is our conscious and frequent choices of eating this stuff! I completely understand the need and demand for fast meals on the go for families and individuals with jam packed lives (I've fallen weakness to the occasional McDonalds meals...), however, I feel like everyone needs at least a little bit of breathing room… If you are able to have some breathing room cooking in advance and freezing portion sized meals is the perfect solution to avoiding fast food restaurants altogether! My goal for this year is to keep my stock pile up so I'm well prepared to face any potential lazy cooking nights :-)

           Although I usually have plenty of time to cook there are nights where I am very busy and don’t have the time to make anything decently healthy. This week I’ve battled the need for fast food and pre-packaged meals by making a batch of mini quiches in wonton wrappers so I don’t have to cook up breakfast for myself when running out the door at 6:50 to babysit.

I cooked them fully so that they only have to be taken out of the freezer and nuked until warm. I only made 22 this time but because they turned out so nicely i plan on making about 100 in my next batch. These wontons have shallots, spinach and mushrooms. I put my filling in and then top it up with an egg cream mixture flavored with pepper, salt, parsley and a bit of paprika. I put just a few pieces of grated mozza on top.  I usually have these with a yogurt and granola and a piece of fruit. It makes for a whole breakfast with very little preparation time in the morning which is perfect for me at 6:00am or earlier!

I also made some mini meatloaf’s... also made in a muffin tins... I froze them on a tray and then bagged them for the freezer. We usually have them with frozen potato balls that I make from left over mashed potatoes... rolled in milk and then rolled in herb bread crumbs. I just pop both in the oven at 350 for an hour and heat up some veggies. It is the most effortless meal in the world and i make them in such large batches that we have it about once a week for a few months before replenishing our stash! Currently looking for more ways to use my muffin tins ;-)             

mmmmmm

I find winter can make my food selection quite boring. I find myself making way too many chicken or roast dinners and homemade soups. Not that I don't love my winter food choices...i just feel like the selection is bleak compared to what we would normally choose to make in the warmer months. This week I purchased avocados, asparagus, star fruit, steaks, and lots of summery fruits to make smoothies to temporarily beat my winter cooking blues!

I very much missed my Guacamole. Now I need to find some new things to do with avocados!

In stitches

The most memorable gift I received for Christmas was from the grandmother of a friend of mine here in Newfoundland. Her family is from PEI and was visiting her for Christmas and her grammy had given each family member a homemade pair of knit mittens. I had gotten to know her family quite well by spending Christmas day with them. A few weeks after they had gone home a package came in the mail to my friend from her Grammy which included a pair of mittens for me! Not only were they beautiful I couldn’t believe that someone who is not even my own family had taken the time to make me such a nice gift. She knew that I was a beginner knitter and sent the pattern along with the mittens. Although that was over one year ago I have finally finished my first "grammy joyce" Mitten!!!!! 

Oh the Joys of pregnancy!

 I am thrilled to be starting our family! Being pregnant although accompanied by a whole bunch of terrible symptoms and sickness is so much fun.  I am not afraid of nausea, heart burn, back ache, fatigue or the stretching and ripping that is going on in my belly. Quite frankly, it isn’t really as bad as it sounds and I’ve had most of those symptom’s on a fairly intense level. It really isn’t anything unmanageable or anything to fear. I am, however, as most first time mothers to be are, afraid of labor and delivery. I have no idea what to expect. I suppose the fact that is most comforting is that millions of people, women, have done this for thousands of years and many women have many children. If the pain wasn’t manageable why would they keep doing it ( Especially today, when birth control is so readily available!?) So I let that fact bring some comfort to my fears…

It really confuses and upsets me that so many mothers out there enjoy sharing horrifying birth jokes with first time expectant mothers. So many people make comments to me comparing birth to a basketball coming out of a straw or some other sort of foolishness. Personally I find these comments rude and offensive. It upsets me that some women make a mockery of such a natural process and enjoy instilling fear into others unnecessarily. I am not foolish and I comprehend that delivery is not a walk in the park and I welcome others to share their personal birth experiences with me. More times then not, when a mother is sincerely recalling delivery and labor she most often says that was not horrifying at all and much less painful than she expected it to be.

Because of these mean encounters I have with women who think they are being funny when they offer a “comical” comparison to labor, I sometimes wish I hadn’t shared my news of becoming pregnant with so many people…. although I suppose it would be nearly impossible in the 6^th month to hide my pregnany! This makes me hope that never in my life will ever find pleasure in purposefully scaring another human being. And if ever someone is reading this that remembers personally offering me one of these jokes, don’t be upset at me writing this. I likely won’t remember who said what as these jokes happen quite often! I also wouldn’t ever hold a grudge for something so trivial.

And that is my venting for tonight…