The Visual Mom

So the one thing I haven't posted about here (mostly because I bitched and whined about it on FB) is that our heat pump is not working.  While I don't really know, or care to know, the intricacies of HVAC systems, I know enough to recognize when my furnace is having a hard time heating my house to 55 degrees -- and for all its trouble, my heating bill is TWICE what is should be.  We didn't budget for that!  Unfortunately, we didn't budget for replacing the heat pump (external unit) and the part of the furnace (inside unit) two weeks after Christmas either.  Ugh.  Suffice it to say, its been a long week here in the cold house. We woke the other morning and could see our breath in the bedroom.  It was getting to the point where instead of laughing at the commercials, I'm now seriously considering a Snuggie.  But I think, thanks to my little space heater, that I'll survive until the new parts are installed tomorrow.  It will be nice to be back at 6...

Its been one of those weeks...and getting to day three in the detox is really when I start freaking out about wanting a steak.  Day 5 is worse, but somehow by Day 6, I'm fine again.  Anyhow, today involved a little cheating for dinner, but I stayed fairly true to the plan... Detox Day 3 Breakfast: Fruit Smoothie - same as yesterday (my favorite mix) Someone on FB asked about flaxseed and protein powder in the smoothies.  For the detox, the purpose is to give the digestive track a break and give it a bit of a scrub with some much needed fiber.  So, for detox smoothies, they are just fruit.  Well, I also add a powdered greens supplement that has a lot of good healty stuff in it.  Here is the link to what I use.  I add water to make it easier to drink and blend, but other than that, just frozen & fresh fruit. If I make a smoothie not during detox, I will add ground flaxseed and sometime chopped, raw almonds.  They blend up nicely and gi...

This vegetarian chili recipe has been spiced up in a Mexican style by adding cocoa power to the mix. Although many people find this a surprising combination, it adds a unique richness to the sauce. Ingredients 1 cup green beans (fresh)  1 14oz can kidney beans (rinsed & drained) 15 button mushrooms (washed) 1 14 oz can sweet corn (drained) 1 chili (to taste) or add chili powder (to taste) 1 14 oz can tomatoes 4 Tbs tomato puree 1 1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar 2 cloves garlic 2 Tsp dry mixed herbs  (italian mix is ok) 1 1/2 Tbs cocoa powder Lemon Juice Directions Chop the the chili into small pieces and mix together with the tomatoes, tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, herbs, cocoa powder and crushed garlic.  Use a hand mixer, food processor or blender to make a thick sauce. Chop the green beans in half and lightly sautee them in lemon juice together with the sliced onion.  Add the mushrooms, kidney beans, and sweet corn.  Sautee for a few minutes l...

This is a continued idea from my facebook page.  This is day 2 of my fruit/veggie detox.  The idea here is to seriously increase the amount of fiber I'm taking in in order to help cleanse the digestive tract.  I love the saying:  The road to good health is paved with good intestines. ;) Breakfast:   Smoothie containing frozen raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blue berries, banana and mango. Very tasty.  Would have been better had the heat been working properly in the house and it were warmer than 55 degrees in here!  Ha! Lunch:   - 1 Spicy Blackbean Veggie Burger - 1/2 baked sweet potato * both the above had a small amount of blue cheese and A1 sauce.  Yum! - 1/2 cup lentil soup - 1 Swiss Miss sugar free hot cocoa Dinner: Black Bean Soup Salad

I originally titled this post "Unseasonably Cold" until I remembered that it is actually January.  Duh.  Its just the last year at this time, it was unseasonably warm.  We were hiking with just sweatshirts on in Brown County.  Today, I wouldn't have left the house if I hadn't had to go to the grocery store.  We pretty much ate all the food we had before leaving for the Christmas holiday.  And the last week, we've eaten everything we didn't think we had!  Of course, we still do have a freezer with 200+ lbs of beef and 20+ lbs of frozen salmon, but one can only eat burgers and salmon so many days in a row.  And actually, because of the cold weather, we haven't grilled since mid-December.  I admit, even as a Wisconsin girl, that 5* is just too chilly to be standing around the grill...even if it is out of the wind. So anyhow, a bunch of you have been asking about the recipes for things I've been mentioning on facebook.  I'll get them poste...

Well, its 2010 and I find that I haven't updated this blog in quite some time.  Just under 4 months to be exact.  I have a lot going on apparently.  Or at least, based on results, other things are more important.  And so anyhow, I am recommitting myself to this blog and keeping it updated -- even if no one reads it. :) Happy New Year! Amy