Eat the Rainbow (and I DON'T mean skittles!)

Shrimp and Vegetable Lo Mein

I see GREEN, ORANGE, RED, YELLOW and WHITE!  Lately I have been working at increasing my fruit and vegetable intake.  At first, I tried juicing.  Let me be the first person to say that fresh squeezed fruit juice in the morning is perfect!  Unfortunately it is loaded with calories.  So, I am currently trying to decrease the calories in my morning fruit drink.  I also tried juicing veggies.  Yuck.  Not for me.  Some people can do the v8-style thing, but am not one of those people.  I like the taste of most vegetables, but I just don't like them in a pile on the side of my plate.  I prefer them mixed into the entree.  Which leads me to tonight's Weight Watchers dish:  Shrimp and Vegetable Lo Mein.  Serving Size is 1-3/4 cup and worth 6 points plus.  I got this recipe off the WW website.


Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked spaghetti
• 8 oz uncooked shrimp, large, peeled and deveined
• 6 medium uncooked scallions, thinly cut
• 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp peanut oil (I substituted canola oil because of peanut allergies)
• 4 cloves (medium) garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp ginger root, minced
• 1 cup uncooked carrots, julienned
• 6 oz snow peas, chopped
• 1/2 medium sweet red pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup uncooked bamboo shoots, sliced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Two minutes before it's done, add shrimp.
2. Drain cooked spaghetti and shrimp in a colander with scallions in it.  Place mixture in large bowl and toss with sesame oil.  
3. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and set aside.
4. In the spaghetti pot, heat peanut oil over high heat.  Add garlic and ginger.  Cook, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
5. Add carrot, pea pods, pepper and bamboo shoots.  Cook, stirring frequently, until just tender.
6. Add sauce ingredients, stirring to mix.  Add cornstarch mixture and bring to boil.  
7. Toss vegetable mixture with spaghetti and serve immediately. 

Yoda's Corner

Do or do not.

There is no try.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

1. Darn wagon, I fell off on Saturday.  I had sugar.  The funny thing is, it didn't taste very good.  I gave the remaining portion of my candy bar to Mark.  However, I really DID love the pretzel salad that was loaded with sugar.
2. Today I am back on track with no sugar.
3. I have tracked points all day (WW).
4. I did a 30-minute rundown on the treadmill.
5. We cleaned the house, which makes it much easier for me to stay on track during our homeschool day.  If my environment is organized, then my thoughts are also organized.  
6. I am reading a great, but heavy book.  Reading is just for me, and I am glad that I took the time to do it over the weekend.  It is also a movie starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock.

May the force be with you.

A Day in the Life + Watercolor

Trevor almost made it to his drum lesson on Tuesday.  We literally were two houses away, when he said "I think I am going to throw up!"  That is every parent's nightmare.  Quick!  Pull over! Get out, get out, get out (of my car)!  He says "Why mom?  I don't want anyone to see me!"  Trevor, you CANNOT puke in my car!  So, he gets out, and does not do a thing.  Whew.  We head back home, and he takes the next two days off school.

Since Trevor was still feeling ill today, Nathan and I did school on our own.  He is a really great writer.  He is currently working on a persuasive essay which he entitled Electrify the Street.  It is about his stance of increasing the number of electric cars in use and decrease gas powered cars.  That took us a couple hours to get through, but it looks great for his first draft!  Math, Nathan's least favorite subject, has nothing interesting to report.

The most exciting part of the day was WATERCOLORS!  We painted using a masking fluid.  Rubber cement works. There are more expensive "official art supplies" that you can get that probably work even better.  Below are the pictures so far.  We hope to finish them sometime next week.

This one is mine.

Step 1:  Sketch a picture on watercolor paper.

Step 2:  "Paint" the masking fluid on the areas of your picture that you want to keep white (you can paint these areas later if you wish).

Step 3:  Let the fluid dry completely.  I directed a fan at ours until they were dry.  It took a couple hours.

Step 4:  Paint your picture using watercolors.  You can paint right over the masking fluid.  I did it here.  You can see the beading.  It will come off in step 6.

Step 5:  Let the paint dry completely.  This was much faster.  It took about 30-45 minutes with a fan.

Step 6:  Use a WHITE eraser (the pink eraser will leave color on the paper) and gently rub off the rubber cement.  See below: (excuse the sideways picture, blogger does not like my rotated one for some reason).

Nathan's is the one with rolling hills.

Step 7:  (YET TO BE COMPLETED)  Paint the white area and let dry!

We had a great time doing this.  Nathan and I chose a sunrise because it is a simple way to experiment with the masking technique.  If you are interested, search on you tube.  There are much more advanced uses to see there.

Yoda's Corner
Do or do not.
There is no try.

1. I still have not had any sugar!  Today is day 4!  Slight ice cream craving successfully avoided.
2. I went to karate class last night, and survived!
3. I got on the treadmill today, even when I REALLY did not want to do it. 
4. I practiced Chon-Ji Kata with Nathan.  He really loves it when we do karate together.  

May the force be with you.

Do or do not. There is no try. -Yoda

Yoda was onto something when he said "Do or do not.  There is no try."  Trying indicates possible failure.  I was recently listening to a podcast of Jillian Michaels.  She said she hated the word "try".  You either DO IT, or you DON'T.  So, to avoid vision of Jillian yelling at me, I DID several things today. 

1. I threw out all the left over sweets from the holidays and my birthday.  I had Mark hide the oreos and 100 calorie chocolate covered pretzels.  The No Sugar Mission has officially begun for the Ashby house.  I predict that Mark and Nathan will not struggle with this as much as Trevor and I.  Sugar is the dark side.  I will beat it with the force within me.  
2. Exercise.  I did my slow kicks for my karate class (snap and side), push-ups, crunches and leg raisers.  I also practiced my techniques.  
3. I did a 30 minutes "run-down" on the treadmill, as suggested by The Biggest Loser runner-up and ex-NFL champion Antone Davis.  It consisted of a 2-3 minute warm-up, then walk briskly for 1 minute, run for 1 minute, walk for 2 minutes, run for 2 minutes, walk for 3 minutes, run for 3 minutes, then repeat the sequence in reverse order.  Cool down and stretch.  
4. I went to lunch with my best friend.  I made a point to save 1/2 for dinner tonight.  We went to a movie, and I did NOT order anything to eat or drink.  

From now on, I will conclude my blog with Yoda Corner.  A place to list what I did that is actively working toward my personal goals of health, homeschool, fitness and family.

May the force be with you.