Recovery & My Boring Goals

So, without going into too much detail, my gallbladder was ripped out by some guy called a surgeon. And I've been in bed for the last 5 days. And I feel crappy. I can't run (probably won't for a couple more weeks) and I've been living on crackers, water, and fresh fruit. I lost 8 pounds. (Yay?) I'm miserable. Can't you tell?

With all of that said...

I read your goals for this year while resting and I'm so inspired by you all! I wish you the best of luck and truly hope that you all find success in those goals.  From a healthy spiritual life, to a healthy physical life, and the desire to eat well, it sounds like everyone's minds are in the right place.  I'll be sending the Sunfood prizes to Juls, Hil'Lesha, Earth Momma Mer, and Racing with Babes. Just email me with your addresses and I'll get those out as soon as I (or husband) can drive to the Post Office.

With the insanity prior to surgery (mostly nerves), I didn't have much time to reflect on 2011 and refocus for 2012.  I just wanted to live through surgery (for real, I was that dramatic).  Nor did I even remotely speak to what my goals would be for this year on the last post, but bed rest gives you that time.  This what I've come up with:

1. Become a Certified Raw Chef: I don't eat 100% raw, nor do I plan on becoming 100%, but I'd like to expand my knowledge on how to prepare meals as close to the Earth as possible. I've run out of ideas, I'm making the same meals over and over again (which is fine for now, because I'm not sick of them yet, but I know there's more out there to be learned), and the class that I will be taking teaches me not only how to prepare those meals but also about different ingredients I've never heard of or used.  I'll also be certified to teach others to begin thinking about preparing these healthy raw meals and how to start. There are so many good foods that come from this good Earth and I haven't even skimmed the surface. Hopefully getting this certification will open me up to a whole realm of possibilities for preparing food.

2. Start our Garden: We're starting the plans for this now, but husband and I have a pretty decent sized yard (about 1/4 acre) and we're looking to use about a 25'x25' space to start gardening. The bigger the better (I love canning and anything extra can be donated to neighbors), so I'm in the process of doing research for that right now. This also ties in with Goal 1 as I'll be able to grow some fun vegetables that my grocery store/farmer's market may not sell and I'll have the knowledge on how to prepare them properly for meals!

3. Make 1 New Friend (in the area): Ha, easy, right? Hahahahaha. Since we moved to this area of Virginia 1 year and 5 months ago, we (husband and I) have made exactly ONE new friend. And that was by luck due to friends from PA coming to visit and already knowing this person. So I feel like I cheated the system. I didn't actually have to try to meet this person...he was a friend of a friend. How, in the world, do I live somewhere for 17 months and not make one friend?! It's really quite sad, and honestly, it makes me a bit depressed at times when all of the people I love most are scattered around the country.  I was always the person that made friends easily, and to this day am still quite outgoing.  But the initial interaction is what makes me nervous. No one tells you once you become grown just how difficult it is to actually instigate friendships. But this year, I'm going to make it happen. Not to mention, we don't have kids yet, so there's really no excuse.

4. Do Things: Vague, I know, but this ties in to #3. I think part of why Mike and I haven't made friends yet is because we don't get out enough. Starting August 2010, we feel like we've been doing nothing but going, going, going. Between moving. Starting new jobs. Getting married. House hunting. Now we've moved into our first home and are spending time trying to get it together.  We feel guilty at the very thought of wanting to "get out of the house" when we have a list "To Do's" to check off. Mike and I spoke yesterday about how time is going to keep flying and once kids come, it won't get any easier. So, I'm taking a stand now that we need to start doing the things we love. Using our canoe. Hiking. Gardening (and with that, hopefully I'll get hooked up with a local coop and meet people that way). Running more races. Mike just got involved with the local Jeep community.  We're off to a good start and I have high hopes that by staying involved with the things we love to do, we'll also be a happier couple. We won't have this longing desire to get out of the house and feel pinned down by "house stuff" (which is important, but will get done.) We don't need to spend every waking moment at home. I'm committed to doing something a week or every other week.

5. Get out of Debt: I'll keep this short, because finances are boring. We're not in that much debt. Seriously. Compared to most Americans, people would beg for the debt we've accrued. Most of it came about after moving.  Buying a house is expensive. But, for Christmas I asked for a Dave Ramsey packet. I've heard nothing but great things about the man, and for $49, it seemed worth it. A lot of people had success and I'm looking forward to picking the man's brain through his books. We've only been married a year, but it's a great way to set the building blocks for a marriage that has responsible finances.  I'm not looking to get rich. I'm looking to have my bills paid with some change on the side to the things we love (see #4) and to have ZERO credit cards (right now, we only have 2 and the one has no balance on it). That's all.

With that said...my goals are nothing new compared to most people. We all just want to be happy, healthy, financially secure, and surrounded by people who build us up and love us for who we are. I'm not asking for much, but I know I have some work to do.


(And if you read all of that, I'm sorry. This list really was written for me, mostly, as I haven't put our goals into written form yet. But, hopefully you've been inspired in some way, and if not...just give me a good old fashion "Good Luck". I'll need it.)

Sunfood Giveaway Winners

I am completely aware that this post is coming much later than you or I ever expected. Mike and I are in the middle of buying a house and we're just days away from closing. Have I mentioned how stressful buying a house is? If you're friends with me on Facebook, you probably saw this status yesterday: On a stress scale of 1 to 100, wedding planning put me at about a 6 and buying a house has put me at about a 92 so far. No joke.

So, with that said, I finally found a minute to breath this morning so I can let you guys know who won some goodies!

The four winners of the Sunfood samples:
Lindsday E.
DEM
The Boohers
Joe S.

And the grand-prize winner of the Sunfood samples & a copy of Eat to Live (Fuhrman) is...
STEPHANIE P!!!!!

Thank you all so much for entering. We still have 5 more Sunfood Sample packs to give away so keep an eye out for another giveaway.

Also, keep us posted on how those goals are working out for you. Don't give up!!

(Winners, please email me with an address where I can mail your goodies. Put Giveaway Address in the subject line, please.)

Keeping Lettuce Fresh & Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner for the giveaway of an awesome basket full of Very Berry Granola bars, homemade strawberry jam, and cinnamon apple chips. The winner is Adele from Little By Little.  Adele and I went to college together and lived on the same freshman floor.  She is a thrifty wife, preggers, and still finds time to make great healthy food and start her own garden! This was her comment*:

...As for health changes, Cam and I have slowly (i.e. as budget allows) made a bunch since getting married. Most recently, we're trying to incorporate only high-quality (local, free-range, organic) meats and dairy/meat products into our diet. We've noticed wonderful differences for sure and we're hooked! Also, we're growing our own garden this year and really making an effort to eat a majority of fruits and veggies in our diet. I'm also doing my best to go "homemade" for as much food as possible (including cheese and yogurt when I have time). AND, we're working on more vegetarian meals around here, which is hard with a meat-lovin' hubby and a bean-hatin' (ok, not quite, but almost!) wifey! Haha! But that's what we love your blog for -- great ideas in those areas!

Congratulations, Adele!! I'll be mailing out everything tomorrow as I'm making the granola bars and apple chips today, nice and fresh, for you and Cam.

*winner was chosen by a completely random drawing.

Now, onto our regularly scheduled blog post:
There's nothing like buying 3 beautiful heads of fresh lettuce from the farmer's market, only to have them go bad prior to eating them all.  The advantage to buying from the farmer's market is the lettuce is recently picked (fresh), not loaded with chemicals (yummy), and fully grown so it's loaded with nutrients (healthy--store bought veggies are picked prior to full development).  The downfall is they do tend to get bad a bit sooner.

How do we prevent this?

1.  Fill sink with cold water. Place your separated leaves of lettuce in and move them around until some of the dirt has come off.  This is just a pre-rinse.  Also, if your lettuce is soft or limp, let the lettuce sit in the water for 20 minutes and the fresh cold water will make them crisp again!

2. Drain the water & refill a clean sink up with cold water and add about 1 cup of vinegar (or read this post for some other fruit & veggie washes). Dunk in the leaves & gently rub off the dirt. Place in a colander and let dry or put them in your lettuce/washer/spinner thingy (yes, that's the technical name for it) and spin like crazy until your leaves are dry.

The lettuce/washer/spinny thingy.  I LOVE this. Buy one. Now. 

2. Clean out one of your refrigerator drawers really well. Place a layer of damp paper towels down.  Damp, not dripping wet.  Too much moisture could actually speed up rotting. You ever see how the puddle of water in the bottom of your lettuce bag always seems to leave a big brown rotten spot? Yeah, you don't want that to happen.  Just wet some paper towels, ring the excess water out and line the drawer.

3. Place your clean lettuce leaves in that drawer, but don't squish the leaves. Be gentle.  Fruits & veggies bruise, and when they do, it almost guarantees rotting.  No need to smash down your leaves to fit more veggies in the drawer. Gently place them in and give them room to breath.  This draw is just for your leaves.

4.  Place a damp paper towel on top of your leaf pile.

5.  Be sure your drawer is nice and cool (place on cool & crisp setting).

Look! Doesn't take up any extra shelf space. Conveniently
tucked away and ready to be eaten!

6. Enjoy!

What is so convenient about this is you now have a massive salad in your drawer and all you have to do it open it up and pull out some leaves to put on your plate.  No cutting off just a little from a head of lettuce and then having to wash.  No plastic bags and pooling water to deal with.  It's quick and easy to make your salad now! No excuses not to eat one.  And you're lettuce will be fresh, crisp, and last longer than in that plastic bag.

Here's to big salads and clean lettuce.
-Lacey