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spiralizing!

spiralized zucchini

I love kitchen gadgets.  This is my first time writing about one of my acquired gadgets, but I am sure it won't be my last!

I got a spiralizer from Williams Sonoma just before Christmas.  I was super excited to use it but then of course we went out of town and I was trying to eat all of the perishable food in our fridge before we left and you need fresh veggies for spiralizing so I didn't get to do it last month.

Fast forward to January - hooray!  I got to spiralize.  It was actually fun to do and looks really cool!  It reminds me of my apple peeler, corer, slicer that I have but it comes with different plates that you can attach and make "noodles" of varying width/diameter.

spiralized yellow squash

To make these noodles I used the mid-sized plate and started with the zucchini.  Since the zucchini is generally more straight than the crooked neck yellow squash (hence the name), the zucchini was much easier to spiralize.  I had to hold the yellow squash more carefully and re-adjust it as it spiraled down.

Since I'm a huge food prep fan, I was actually spiralizing my veggies before I needed them during the week (I made it Monday night) on the weekend prior (spiralizing went down Sunday afternoon).  Of course they were placed into my awesome snapware Pyrex glass containers I got from Costco on sale (I don't get commission, but if I did, I would be raking it in!  I have recommended these containers to co-workers, friends and family and have 2 sets myself!  They are excellent and really keep the oxygen out which is what causes browning on lettuce and other food and causes it to go bad.)

I steamed my noodles the next night in pasta sauce with some meat + sausage (I always pre-cook my meats before mixing them into my dishes like chili or pasta/etc.) and threw a little mozzarella cheese on top when it was done.

Here's what we did:
1/2lb ground meat (we usually use venison but you can use any ground meat)
3 yellow squash
2 zucchini
1 12-16oz jar of pasta sauce
1/2 spicy sausage (optional)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1) Spiralize the squash and zucchini and place into a pot on low to medium, pour sauce over the top
2) Cut up the sausage into bite size pieces.  Cook ground meat and sausage in a pan, breaking up the ground meat into smaller pieces.  If there is any grease, remove it and pour the meat into the pot with the squash and zucchini.
3) Stir as needed and place a lid over the top to make sure the squash & zucchini are cooked through.  They should be soft, but not squishy.
4) Remove from heat, sprinkle a little of the cheese on top, serve and enjoy!

cooked spiralized zucchini + yellow squash

Both my husband and I liked the vegetable "noodles."  They had a little bit of a crunch to them, but actually tasted like pasta which is pretty cool since they are non-starchy/lower carbohydrate vegetables vs. pasta which has 15 grams of carbohydrate for just 1/3 of a cup cooked.  I definitely would recommend spiralizing for anyone who is trying to get more vegetables in, working on reducing excess carbohydrate or just likes fun food gadgets and trying new things.  Spiralizing is no longer just for football quarter backs throwing the ball.  It's healthy, fun and delicious!  :)

It's not really a word, but they definitely should add it to the dictionary: spiralize on friends!

- run for life

yoga pants

I heard on the radio that sales in jeans were going down.  Of course they made it a cliff hanger and said, ‘after this song we will tell you what is replacing them.’  During the whole song I was wondering, what in the world could be replacing jeans sales?  They came back on and said athletic pants were increasing in sales over the years and decreasing jeans sales.  Of course!  Yoga pants!  They are AMAZING.

You can ask anyone that knows me, I love yoga pants.  Comfort > fashion.  When asked about limited budgets, I told my campers “why buy clothes when you could buy food?”  Even during pregnancy, I didn’t buy many maternity clothes (and boy, are those things expensive!).  I got mostly clothes for work like sweaters, work pants and some shirts.  Honestly, I probably didn’t need to buy even that much.  I ended up wearing yoga pants anytime I wasn’t at work or church.  And really, who doesn’t love yoga pants!?

I just started wearing my normal jeans again this last weekend, not because I couldn’t fit them, but because maternity jeans are so stretchy and comfy (closer in comfort to my beloved yoga pants).  All through pregnancy I could still pull my normal jeans on all the way, but couldn’t button them.  My belly was just too big to zip them up comfortably.  So, I turned to maternity jeans.  They are so comfy and if you remember that episode of Friends when Phoebe calls her maternity/Santa pants her Thanksgiving pants: that’s how I felt about maternity pants.  They were so stretchy and regardless of the bump, I could wear them comfortably.  Even if I did decide to eat a lot during a holiday… they would still fit and I wouldn’t need to loosen my belt or undo a button!

I attribute being able to wear them so long and very shortly after delivery to walking so much during pregnancy.  Exercise is so important!  Even with my feet swelling like crazy my legs were normal size.  Toward the last month of pregnancy I ended up wearing Nathan’s flip flops because my feet were so swollen.  How swollen were they?  Well, I went to the doctor wearing Nathan’s flip flops and mentioned my feet were swollen.  She looked down at my feet and she said, “they don’t look too bad in those shoes.”  I must have made a face because she paused and said, “wait, those are your shoes aren’t they?”  I turned my foot to the side and his feet are at least an inch or two bigger than mine so the back was much longer than my foot but they were so swollen they looked like they fit me from the front.  She laughed at me and said, “okay, you’re feet are really swollen.”  Being the nerd I am, I poked them and exclaimed, “it looks like at least 2+ pitting edema!” when the poke mark stayed indented for a while before filling back out.  I’ve heard of women saying their feet stayed bigger after pregnancy, but luckily for me, my feet returned to normal size so I didn’t have to buy new shoes.

Anyway, swelling feet don’t have much to do with my love of yoga pants other than the fact that yoga pants are awesome and comfy.  Depending on what kind of material and color, you can get away with wearing them with a nice shirt for dressier occasions!  For my yoga pants wearing friends, where do you wear your yoga pants?

For all of those moms-to-be or those who are thinking about getting pregnant, if you are worried about your pregnancy wardrobe or post-pregnancy wardrobe and have yoga pants – don’t.  Save some money and try wearing your athletic pants/yoga pants as long as you can instead of spending tons of money on maternity clothes.

For all of those who just want universal comfortable clothes - look into yoga pants!  You can go from grocery store to working out or running without changing.  Yes, it's true.  I'll say it again, I love yoga pants.

I leave you with this hilarious song: 

   

- - run for life

let it go!

super clean kitchen! (BK - before kid)

If you know me, you know I have a type A personality.  I like to get things done.  I’m pretty driven and focused.  I like to be organized and generally neat (my husband is says I’m not organized but that’s because he organizes differently than me).  I like having my house ready for company.  I like it when the dishes are put away and the floor is vacuumed with no dog hair and the laundry is all folded and neatly put away.

Everyone tells you your house will be messier when you have kids.  I’m here to tell you it’s true. 

These days there are often dishes in my beautiful deep kitchen sink we had redone when we moved into our house.  There is fur in the corner because I did not get to vacuum on an almost daily basis (seriously, if you knew Blitz you would understand!  It’s kind of ridiculous.  You can pet him and he will shed even in the winter.  We thought maybe it was just summer when it was hot.  No.  Year round shedding even when I “de-furminate” him a couple times a week.  I could really write an entire blog just about Blitz and his fur.)

As I wrote in my last post about laundry, I used to put it away right away and now I dump it on the bed and sometimes it lives there for a few days before I need something and dig through the pile and finish putting it away.

Sometimes I get annoyed with myself and think I’m getting lazy or I’m falling behind.  I beat myself up for not being organized.

Then I remember, in the end nobody cares!  No one who comes over cares that I have dishes in my sink.  My salvation does not depend on whether or not my laundry gets put away.  I can just shut the door on that room when I don’t want to see it myself.  What matters is that I spent time with my family and played with my daughter, went on a date with my husband.  It matters that I had those friends over and they enjoyed fellowship (and the homemade ice cream or homemade pizza or other homemade creation I made for dinner).  It matters that I got steps and made healthy choices and tried to be a good example to my family, friends and patients.

Norah helping with recycling

Regardless of whether you have kids or not, in the end, it really comes down to priorities.  There are 24 hours in a day for everyone.  Some people can get it all done from cleaning the entire house, sanitizing everything, cooking, exercising every day, volunteering at church, and hanging out with family.  Good for you!  (Maybe share your secret with me in the comments!)  But then there are newer moms like me that don’t have it all together.  I say “let it go!”  Like the Frozen song I often sing (and my daughter is only about 8 months old, I just like animated features myself ha!).  Obviously, I eventually have to get the dishes into the dishwasher and put the laundry away, but I don’t need to obsess over it or worry about it if my daughter needs something or I have people over.  Live in the moment… and remember it's okay to let it go sometimes!

- run for life

safety pins for pairing

Socks look kind of chaotic

One of my least favorite things to do is laundry.  Not because it’s hard, but it is pretty tedious for me.  BK (before kid) I always was on top of it and did our laundry and put it away right away!  Yay!  Now I often find myself dumping the laundry on our guest bed and sort them into piles for Nathan, Norah and myself and leave them there until I need something from one of the stacks…

That’s my confession of the day.  I definitely try to keep up with household chores and vacuuming since Blitz (our dog) sheds like a maniac.  I would prefer to hang out with my family instead of keeping the house super clean.  It’s generally clean since we have people over all the time.  If they stay downstairs they won’t see my giant pile of laundry sitting on the bed or know it’s there.

My laundry tips are pretty simple and perhaps I should not even be giving any tips since I obviously don’t always put it all away and “doing laundry” includes sorting it, throwing it into the machine as well as well as folding it and putting it away.  That second part is the part that is difficult for me.  L

So, here is my best advice for laundry:

Presort your colors vs. whites/towels (those hampers with separators are helpful for this!).

If you have a stain on something, put a clothespin on the item prior to putting it in the basket to help you remember to treat it when you are actually doing laundry (thanks to my co-worker for this tip).  Otherwise, treat it right away.  (Even though my husband tells me he got a spot on this or that shirt, the clothespin is way more helpful when you have a million things going on in your brain as we all do!)

Yay, Look at my cute matching socks!

Safety pins are glorious things.  I have never bought a safety pin, but if you run any sort of race that requires you to wear a bib they give you at least 4 safety pins!  I have hundreds and I use them all now to pin baby socks together.  That is probably the best tip I can give you.  I keep the socks pinned together when putting them into a drawer also.  For me, I find it helpful to be able to see how big and what color/design is on the socks when choosing socks for Norah to wear.  (I’m a dork and I like her to match!)  So the safety pins work well for that (keeping them in pairs & being able to see them) vs. rolling them into small balls.  I like to pin socks together when I throw them into the hamper or shortly after that to save time when actually doing the laundry.  You can use them for adult socks too if you'd like especially if you have a ton of socks and don't like spending time pairing them.

Safety pins to save the day!

I am not a fan of ironing so I like to layout shirts or hang up shirts and clothes that wrinkle easily so I don’t have to.  :)

Now that I have written this, I need to go put my laundry away!

-run for life