Haven't cooked in WEEKS!

God, can you believe how long it's been since I prepared a decent meal for myself? I sure can't and this week, that's all going to change. My recovery hasn't been as quick as I would like but it feels like I'm finally in a place where I can cook something other than the frozen dinners my mom cooked for me weeks ago. They've all been delicious but Sean and I are ready for something different. Today is going to be spent looking through some cookbooks and planning out a tentative menu for the week. I'm still under a "no lifting over 10lbs" restriction so grocery shopping is a challenge but I'm determined to get back to normal this week!

My meals lately have been:

(B) one or two eggs, fried in butter
one slice of all natural, nitrate-free bacon
a cup of tea

(L) sandwich and chips

(D) frozen meal like baked spaghetti, swedish meatballs, greek chicken
rice or potatoes (not with spaghetti!)
salad, green beans, brussel sprouts, or broccoli

Have you tried any dressings by Brianna? I'm totally addicted to Brianna's New American Dressing. If you can find it, try it. It's absolutely delicious.

My weight right now is hovering around 197 and I'd like to see a nice drop in that by the Fourth of July. Since my surgery, my waist size went up two inches and I need to ask my Doc if that's swelling or actual weight gain. Keep your fingers crossed that it's swelling! LOL

Please check back tomorrow night or Tuesday morning for the latest and greatest update. Two more weeks until I get the all-clear from my doctor! Yay!!!

Making Plans

Since I've been laid up recovering, I've taken the opportunity to look through some cookbooks. Some old, some new. Here are the three that I've been really into for the past few days:



It's been nice to have the luxury of lying around looking through cookbooks and as a result I've found many things that I'd like to make as soon as I'm feeling up to it.

The American Classics cookbook is full of recipes that are considered typical American fare but have been tested in a gazillion different variations in order to find the "best". From this cookbook, I'm going to try their recipe for Green Bean Casserole because out of all the non-chichi dishes in the world that one is my all time fave.

Baking is a book authored by Dorie Greenspan and was recommended on a website that I stalk called Culinary Concoctions b Peabody. So many scrumptious things get posted on Peabody's site so when she recommended this cookbook, I knew I had to have it. It arrived yesterday and I devoured every word I could. There are tons of recipes I want to try but most notably one titled, "Snickery Squares". Good grief, it just looks delicious!

In My French Kitchen my obsession with all things French is fed with tantalizing recipes galore. I think the one I'm going to try first from here is a side dish called, "Cabbage Galette". It's looks golden and delectable and I can't wait until I feel well enough to try this recipe.

On a different note, yesterday my husband walked in the door after work with SEVEN boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Seriously! Look!

You can see that we've already busted into two boxes...Oh! We also ordered cookies from a girl up the street so then we'll be swimming in cookies! Gluttony is an ugly thing. LOL

A recent discovery here has been prunes. They were recommended to me as a way to keep things moving post-surgery and as luck would have it, I discovered that they are actually very tasty. Healthy and tasty? Excellent!



Well, I'm hoping that by this weekend, I will be back to normal with cooking at least, even if I'm not allowed to load the dishwasher. Sean will just have to do that part. For now, I'm going to settle back on the sofa with my books and one of these:

Hey, a girl has to take advantage of the circumstances!

Slowly but surely making my way back

A week ago yesterday, I had a hysterectomy. The first few days were pretty rough but I'm starting to feel so much better and am feeling a little antsy about getting back to normal. For the last several days, my mother has been staying here and taking care of me and she's a phenomenal cook so we've been talking about food A LOT! :) It's really helped me get in the mindset of preparing meals and enjoying it at the same time. So while I continue to recover, I'm reading cookbooks and gearing up for the day when I can actually stand on my feet long enough to cook a meal. It can't happen soon enough for me.

Bon Appetit's March issue has some delicious looking things that I want to try, like brining my own Corned Beef. My husband's family are all Irish-American so Corned Beef is something I'd like to be able to cook well. My MIL's is delicious and, even though I cook one every year, mine are never as good as hers.

I've been tagged for a meme by Bridget at Bake at 350 and since meme's are fun and I don't have any food posts for you, here are my answers to the quiz. Well, first here are the rules:


1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

I'm going to break rules number 3 and 4 because at the moment, my fuzzy brain cannot think of five people to tag. However, if you read this post and would like to participate, PLEASE do and leave a note and link to your blog so we can come read all about you!!

Five Facts About ME

1. I'm a silly-minded person. My mental development lurched to a halt somewhere around 16 yrs old and so I still find silly things very funny. Just yesterday, my mom and I were sitting here and I was reading a cookbook for boys and girls from 1957. In it there is a description of the difference between wieners and frankfurters:

Wieners are -
short and skinny

Frankfurters are -
long and plump

Well, sue me! My mind went to it's dirty place and we laughed for several minutes about it. Needless to say I was sore afterwards but it was hilarious!!

2. On that note, I will confess that one of my dreams is to take a US Hot Dog tour. Hot dogs are my absolute favorite thing to eat. Foodies, calm down. I know it's not chichi or classy but they are damn good and it's one of my goals to one day explore the regional versions of my all-time fave.

3. My sister and I are married to brothers. Yes, it's a little weird but we're all such good friends that it's wonderful at the same time. My husband had to go out of town and leave me recovery from surgery on Sunday. My mom stayed with me until yesterday. Well, my Brother-in-law was sweet and offered to pickup a pizza for me and the boys since I'm not yet allowed to drive. When he got there with the pizza, I opened the door to let him in and he was standing there with the pizza AND a red rose for me. It was SO Sweet!!!!! I completely adore him. He felt sad because my hubby and I were spending Valentine's Day apart. Isn't that just nice??

4. I'm not a great cook. I think I do all right but I'm not going to be one of these people who create a bunch of fabulous recipes and end up with their own show on FoodTV . Although I do think I have a great personality for TV. Hey! FoodTV! You listening out there? Need anyone with a great personality but little training and talent for cooking? I'm your girl! Contact me at unschoolingwhimsigal@gmail.com for booking arrangements. LOL

5. I have tons of celebrity crushes, which actually brings us full circle to #1. The 16 year old in me is still boy crazy about stars. However, I don't go for the typical gorgeous guy. No, no, no. Funny is what gets me going. Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, just to name a few! I love funny guys!

Thanks Bridget for choosing me! I LOVE your blog!!!


Well, that's about all I can manage for today. Thanks for sticking with me and I hope to be posting some good eats AND trying to lose weight very very soon!

Love,

Evie

I had surgery but I will be back

I am recuperating from major surgery but plan to be back posting as soon as I can.



Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Evie

One Day Later

Ok, so I didn't make it to yesterday afternoon for a post after all but I'm here today! We just got back from a grand 5-day vacation in Disney World and we had a wonderful time. My stomach was a bit sick so I didn't get to indulge in the gluttonous portion of the vacation as I had planned and I actually lost 5 pounds because I barely ate at all. What I did eat, I enjoyed and here is a picture of my favorite meal there:



It's a Fruit and Cheese Platter at the Rose and Crown Pub in Epcot Sean wanted to stop and do a tasting of Scotch and he ordered this tray for us to share. It was divine! Candied walnuts, 2 types of cheese, a pastry filled with warm blue cheese, grapes, and sesame crackers served with chutney. It was perfect for two people and kept me full until dinner that night.

My trip was not filled with foodie delights, as I had hoped it would be. The selections at various restaurants in general left me wanting. One night I ordered prime rib and it was way too dry. Very disappointing. Our appetizers were good though. One thing I found myself thinking while we were there, "Hey, I could cook something better than this at home." It was interesting to be there and want to cook something for myself instead of eating out.

I'm getting ready to have surgery on Thursday (a hysterectomy) so I won't be doing a ton of cooking for myself for at least a week. But my mom has very kindly cooked a bunch of dinners for me to put in the freezer and just pop into the oven when we're hungry. Once I'm up and able, I'm ready to face my weght head-on and get this show back on track. I was doing so well and then fell off the wagon, so to speak. Now though, with my new bionic body (LOL not really) I'm feeling optimistic about exercise and eating right. I hope you will join me as I once again employ the tactics learned from reading Dr. Will Clower's books. Whole, unprocessed, healthy foods in the right portions. NO junk food anymore. Just can't keep eating McDonald's and expect to lose weight!

Thanks for sticking around! Come back tomorrow for another update!

POST LATER TODAY

I am going to post something later today. An update and a promise so be sure to check back later, probably this afternoon, to see what it is!

Evie

Yesterday's Eats

Began with a good breakfast. I had an egg "fried" in Pam Cooking Spray and an English Muffin topped with a lite garden vegetable cream cheese. Along with that I had a small glass of orange juice which provided me an unpleasant surprise - pulp. Ewwww. I really don't like a drink that has "stuff" in it. That really freaks me out for some reason! Anyway, it was a nice breakfast and it felt like a good start to the day.



For lunch, there was leftover mushroom soup in the fridge so I had a small bowl of that with a small salad, topped with a few green olives and some ranch dressing. Bacon bits finished that off and it, too was delicious!



In the afternoon, I hit a major bump in the road. My PMS was in maximum overdrive and I had a colossal meltdown. It was like the PMS perfect storm because certain events aligned and washed over me in a way that left me defenseless. Thankfully though, I just cried it out instead of eating my way through it. It was a rough time but it felt like a win because I didn't try to apply food as the salve to my emotional wounds. By the time dinner rolled around though, I was completely exhausted and just couldn't get off my duff and come up with a plan for dinner. Sean picked up something for me on his way home and, although it wasn't great, it could have been worse! I had a Chick-fil-a sandwich, fries, and an unsweetened tea. Not great, but not horrible.



It was a hard day in the end, and I was mentally spent, but I felt like the victor in the battle which was important. I'm having surgery in a couple of weeks and won't be able to work out or even clean house for up to 8 weeks and it's vital that I get a grip on emotional eating before that gets here. Otherwise my weight situation could be pretty bad by the time my recovery period is up. Keep your fingers crossed!