Boredom can be scary

I was channel surfing today.

Toddlers and Tiara's is like a car crash.

It's awful, but you can't look away.

Wow...

Fickle much?

Yes, definitely.

A solid maybe.

No, I think probably is more appropriate.

Anyway, this is sort of about my last post. The one about Sparkpeople.com.

With my internship I am required to read a book called "Intuitive Eating..." (I didn't want to finish the title, so I didn't)

The book is about letting your body decide when you eat, what you eat, and how often you eat.

By doing this you will start to eat less, and thus your weight will be better controlled.

The focus is on feeling better, not on weight loss. If you exercise, you will feel better. Not, if you exercise you will burn calories.

The dieting mentality that is so permissive in our society needs to be cut out of your life forever. There are no "good" foods, and there are no "bad" foods. There is just food. And when you finally allow yourself to eat whatever you want freely (no guilt) you will begin to learn what you like and do not like.

Forbidden foods have an allure to them. They taste so good because you can't have them. Well, when you can have them anytime and in any quantity, whenever you like, you might learn that you really didn't like them anyway. In the least case, they won't be so seductive and your craving can be filled with just a few instead of a whole package because you know you can always have more.

The book is much better at explaining all of this, "Don't take my word for it..."
The local library should have a copy if you want to check it out. Not to mention, it is not that expensive either.

I am going to become an intuitive eater once more (I was one, and then I started dating my husband, became engaged, and got married). I'm taking back my natural hunger and I am going to feel good while doing it. My body will go back to what it wants.

Yay. The End.

SparkPeople.com

I just joined that site. I'm not looking to really lose weight (if it happens it happens, if not, oh well), but I am looking at maintaining.

Since I've been married I've gained some weight and I've taken on some of my husbands less wonderful eating habits- less veggies, more snacks.

Most of our food I cook from basically scratch, so why have I started eating like him? Simple, I want him to like my food.

He'll eat what I make, and he won't complain about it either. But I know he doesn't really like it. Ergo, I cook more to his liking.

Take into consideration- My love is 6'4", 155 pounds, and his genes are not likely to make that change as he gets older (his dad is tall and still skinny, he's in his mid-life; his mom is tall and skinny in her early 40's after 3 children). He doesn't really worry about his figure. He is often quoted, "I'm trying to keep my girl-ish figure" while eating a massive bowl of ice cream or other such snacks.

I'm 5'6.5" and bit over 155 pounds, I look good. I remind my husband every day how lucky he is to have such a sexy wife, and he knows it.

I was on a birth control pill that made me sick to my stomach for about 4 months. Those months were during summer when I would usually be running around playing frisbee with my husband. I couldn't run, I could hardly climb stairs without wanting to throw-up. When I changed to a new pill, it lessened a little, but winter had already struck, and I was set in my lethargic ways.

Now I am off any type of pill, and loving being myself again.

And that brings us back to Sparkpeople.

I am going to get back into my more healthy life-style, and this website is going to help me.

Noting my food intake, being accountable for exercise, and having so many resources at my disposal is going to get me back.

Yay me!

Shavin'

Shaving is such a thing of the past...I wish.

I hate shaving, it's just time consuming and annoying.

Not only that, but as soon as you finish shaving, the hair grows back...sometimes even while you shave (it's a sad tale, I won't recount it for the sake of the tenderhearted).
I know, you're saying to yourself, "Then why don't you wax, or do any of the other many hair removal processes."

My excuse, I'm poor. I'm newly-ish married and going to college.

Of course the real excuse is, I'm really don't hate shaving all that much...I'm apathetic.

One day though, my "poor" excuse (haha, didn't even plan on that pun...man I'm awesome) will be gone and then I will get over my apathy and do something about it.

Until then, I'll just shave and sigh.

I mean, would life really be life if we always got what we wanted?

YOGUE!

No, not Vogue, you read it right, Yogue.

I found a website that was all about slow cooking. It was her New Years resolution to use her slow cooker (crockpot) every day that year.

One of the entries was making homemade yogurt in a crockpot.

Ok, yeah right. Right? Wrong!

It works, I did it. I made yogurt in my slow cooker.

I know, you are way excited too, so here is the website.

I used a 7 qt crockpot. (There are currently only two of us, I know it is large, but I plan on there being more. Not to mention it has worked pretty well thus far.)
I did it exactly like she said. Expect it was cold last night so I plopped the whole crockpot wrapped in a towel in my oven.

At first I thought it was just sour milk. It looked kinda curdled and separated.

But I am not one to let things die without playing with it for a while...until I lose interest and throw it out.

I looked around on the internet for some information about the texture of homemade yogurt and found this.

Phew, my mind was put to rest.

I didn't like the texture, so I did what a few of the comment on both sites have suggested- I strained it!

They say to use cheese cloth or muslin (not even sure what that is exactly, I mean, what makes it different than regular cotton fabric...yeah, just looked it up. It's just a loose weave cotton.)

Anyway, didn't have any of those around. So I used a tea towel (Which is probably pretty much muslin, just a little tighter.)

I love tea towels, they're so useful in many ways...

Back to yogurt.

I also strained a little at at time in coffee filters I bought just for that reason. It helps to be able to see the texture to know when to stop.

So it just made Greek yogurt instead of cheese. I'm sure the tea towel works just as well for that...but my only clean one was being used making cheese.

Here is where I found out exactly how to make yogurt cheese. Not to mention her awesome 101 ways to serve plain yogurt.

All-in-all, I'm way stoked! And I found a recipe for frozen yogurt without an ice cream machine. I think the author got her yogurt and water quantities mixed up. It's simple enough to mess with though.

I've eaten the yogurt with a little lime jello mix (it was before I strained it, so it was grainy...which it might be anyway, but I'm gonna try it again) and honey (yummy, didn't think it would be that great, but it really was).

P.S. I did the frozen yogurt thing...yeah, it ended up like a smoothie. But, I am in the sub artic, so I got some snow from outside and put my bowl in it. After mixing it around for a while, it became a little bit thicker. It is now in the freezer, and I'll take it out every once in a while and give it a little stir.

P.P.S. The yogurt thickens up and comes together after a few days. Very nicely, I might add.

What is that smell?

One of the worst smells in the world is raw chicken. It's just nasty.

I love chicken, hate it's smell.

One of the best creations in the world- garbage disposals. They are just wonderful.

Peeling potatoes. no worries, down they go.

Left over food you would rather not touch- turn on the water, rinse it out, disposal does the rest.

Wonderful, truly wonderful.

That said--Never put raw chicken skin down the garbage disposal...it doesn't dispose.

Instead, the chicken skin just goes for a ride around the blades.

"WHEEEEEEE! I love this ride. I'm never getting off! Even when I am old and stinky! NEVER!"

Word from the wise- unless you want the gentle smell of decomposing chicken wafting from your sink, don't put it down your disposal.

It's not like I've done it...multiple times...or anything.

P.S. Wise people are just stupid people who learn from their mistakes...eventually

Cooking and cleaning

I love cooking. I hate cleaning dishes.

You can see where I might run into a few problems.

I have decided that the only way for me to pursue my love of cooking and not have to clean anything is to open a restaurant. That way I will be able to cook and then I can pay someone to clean the kitchen.

Problem solved.

Almost a year...

It's been almost a year since my last post, and no, nothing really special has happened.

I definitely didn't get proposed to in the EPCOT parking lot.

Nor did I get married in the Orlando Temple.

And, since those things did not happen, I did not have to move to married housing. I am most certainly not loving having a home of my own with my awesome husband.

And, I also did not stay in Rexburg with an internship while my husband goes to school, and I do not look up articles and call places and read books for my mentor.

Nope. Nu-huh. None of that has happened. The year just went by slowly and uneventfully.

Thank goodness, I don't know if I could have handled all those changes.