Anybody want to help a doggie in need?
http://www.firstgiving.com/cowboy-aussie
Please cross-post and/or donate if you can! He’s such a sweet dogger!

Dear work – you suck. I’m glad I still have you and all that jazz what with the shit-ass economy but still. It’s Monday and I’m stiff and sore from Saturday and Sunday’s lifting routines (what made me think that have a leg day was a good idea? Oh, yeah. My effed up knee and hip that need help that I’m too cheap to get them and too afraid might need surgery….) so all I really want is a hot tub soak of about 2 hours, some time with my cross-stitch while watching movies on my comfy couch and then maybe a nap. And possibly to enjoy looking at my new ghetto bucket-fied garden (with cinder blocks!) – don’t worry, I’ll post pics tonight maybe!

Also – xangaians, I know that I haven’t posted a recipe for nigh onto two weeks. I’m a slacker. Last week I tried three recipes (2 were good one sucked) and this week I just didn’t WANT anything new so I made burrito pie again. Maybe with the ghetto garden pics I will post the recipes I liked? Who knows. New Year’s Resolutions are dumb anyway, right?

I wonder if you can actually be angry enough for lasers to shoot out of your eyes…

Because that’s about my level of angry/frustrated/irritated/pissy right now.

Holy fucking over reaction on my part right now but FUCK ME I don’t care. Kelly is going to become HULK Kelly now….

It is too early for me to think any real thoughts or to be doing anything worthwhile and yet I’m already at work.

So while my samples are defrosting on the cupboard, I am looking here. And being moderately horrified, slightly intrigued and not at all hungry…

Make sure you look at ALL the pages! There are some supremely astounding things in there…

Such as…

Gravy covered pizza
and
Deep fried cupcakes

Only it hasn’t got a name.
Because I just kinda made it up.
So, I’m taking suggestions!!

Here is what I used:
1lb of anasazi beans, rinsed and picked over for yucky beans
1 medium sized (~200g) yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 green pepper, cored and chopped
1/2lb of baby carrots, chopped
265g of red potatoes, chopped
3 stalks of celery copped
2 already cooked spicy jalapeno chicken sausages from Trader Joe’s
6T of chicken boullion
1 bay leaf
2t of cumin
2t of garlic powder

And here’s what I did:
Put the beans in ~12 cups of water and add the boullion. Bring to a boil while chopping all the other ingredients. Add everything except the onions and green peppers. While the beans and all the other stuff is bubbling away, sautee the onions and green peppers (I’m not sure if this actually does anything but I like how it smells in my house when I do it, so I did it – plus I like my onions slightly carmalized and with little bitty black bits on them – and sometimes just eat them straighth from the pan!). After you sautee the peppers and onions for around 10 minutes or so over a nice medium low heat, add those to the soup mixture bubbling away on the stove. Cover the pan and reduce heat to just above a simmer and allow to cook until the beans are as done as you like them and all the other veggies are cooked too — about 2 to 2.5 hours for me.

Some notes — if you don’t put in the jalapeno sausage, this shit is going to be BLAND. So, add some green chilis or something so it’s not just the most boring soup in the world.

Pictures!!!!!

Verdict:

I like it. I did need to add some salt and pepper at work when I ate it for lunch, but I still liked it. Nothing really stunning – but simple good and filling food. Some improvements might be using a fattier sausage to add a bit more flavor and fat to the mix (there were only 12 grams of fat in the entire pot) and possibly mixing in other beans? I’m not fully sold on the anasazi heirloom bean thing but they did cook fast and they are pretty – red and white!

Nutritional information:

This recipe made 8 very generous (350-400gram) servings:

Calories: 156
Fat: 1.5g
Fiber: 2.8g (note that I’m not 100% convinced that this fiber is accurate as the nutrition information on the bean bag was incorrect)
Wwpoints: 3pts (2.7)

Working in a lab has benefits. Not many but the ones it has are highly useful.

Like free testing for everything you can think of in terms of clinical tests – and instant results as soon as the machine is done…

I am also often used for tests that aren’t clinical or aren’t clinically available yet…I know much about my isoprostane level as well as my DNA damage levels – which means shit to most people but means I’m good with the oxidative stress.

This also includes free DEXA scans if you’re willing to be a guinea pig. So I keep decent tabs on my my bones – and will know well in advance if osteoporosis is coming (and it’s why I eat stupid icky yogurt and shoot for three servings of dairy a day). It also gives a body composition – in terms of % fat and % lean…though I’ve been reading some things that say it’s not as accurate as previously thought.

My BMD is up from September – which is when I started eating stupid yogurt.

My body fat percentage is down from a high of 46.6% in June of 2007. Of course, I’m still 37.6% fat which is horrifying to me. I am aiming for 25% fat or less personally….

Maybe someday I’ll splurge and do the ultra-accurate water float test thing…

Monthly Weigh-in and measurement

As of January 1st, 2009

Bust line – 41″
Waist (natural) – 39″
Hips – 44″
Thigh – 27″
Arm – 13″

Weight -166.4lbs

As of February 1st, 2009

Bust line – 40″
Waist (natural) – 37″
Hips – 42″
Thigh – 25.5″
Arm – 13″

Weight – 156.2lbs

As of March 1st, 2009

Bust line – 40″
Waist (natural) – 36.5″
Hips – 41.5
Thigh – 25.5″
Arm – 13″

Weight – 159.6lbs

Total lost since January-

6.5 inches, 6.8lbs

Hi! Remember me? I post here.
Sometimes.

This week’s recipe – and on Friday too!

Lemon and Herb Crockpot Chicken

Click the link for the recipe.
This one seemed simple and looked pretty to start with.
My only modifications were to use a sliced yellow onion (cuz I love me some onions) and to add a third and fourth lemon.

I checked the time on the microwave -

turned the crockpot on for 10 hours on low (as I was leaving the house for my birthday lunch of boneless buffalo wings and baby holding)

I returned to my crockpot at -

Just over eight hours on low.

Looks a little suspicious…

But I gave it the benefit of the doubt, as MOST crockpot food looks a little…iffy, if you will

So I pulled that puppy out — and it fell into a million billion pieces….

Even after skinning the chicken – look at all that fat!!

Verdict

I tried it and my husband tried it.

BLECH.

Too much lemon and almost no other taste – possibly because I used jarred garlic and dry rosemary?
AND — DRY. Overcooked, mealy YUCK.

Apparently, in my crockpot, 8 hours on low was just waaaaay too long.

So I slung all the meat bits back into the crockpot and put the lid on it. I unplugged it and I left it sit until the next day that wasn’t my birthday.

No nutritionals on this one because I refused to eat it. I just threw it away. Which is bad because I’ll eat almost anything!

Disappointed? I was. I will likely have to try this again – I really like rotisserie style chicken but don’t like the price tag or the added fat and sodium….

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on how to make it not suck?

Place Name                     
Ag Div/Tot  S No.   Time    Pace 

===== =========================
== ======== = ===== ======= =====

   38 KELLY ROWE               
29   7/7    F   410   31:45 10:13

Out of 78 runners, I was 38. So in the top 50% overall.
But I was last in my class!

Boogers.
I hate being last!

Oh well.

My pace isn’t bad – it’s just about 45 second per miles off of where I wanted it to be!

It was chilly (around 47 degrees Farenheit at the start) and hilly (and I haven’t run or trained on hills). So, if I’m going to actually be pushing for time – I need to speed train (in addition to endurance train) AND train over hills and in the actual weather (since I usually do climate controlled gym and prefer to run on the treadmill RIGHT in front of the fan!)