Ziplock Steamer Bags

I wish I could say I loved vegetables.  But I can't.  I don't mind most vegetables, and usually try to eat some with at least 1-2 meals a day, but eating vegetables is rarely something that I get really excited about.  Fruit, on the other hand, is another story.  I am completely content to have fruit with every meal of the day.  Anyway, I always have good intentions when I go to the store and buy vegetables (or when I get vegetables in my bountiful basket) and usually end up getting more than I can eat before it goes bad, thus I always end up throwing away food.  That's why I've been trying to prepare vegetables different ways.  I've found that just preparing them a little differently than I typically do makes eating the vegetables more exciting.  For example:

• grilling vegetables
• trying them in a new recipe
• roasting them (Have you tried roasted broccoli?  Just toss with olive oil, top with a little shredded Parmesan cheese and bake in foil lined baking dish for 15-20 minutes at 425!)

Steaming vegetables is another healthy way to eat them, but I never seem to think of this and when I do it doesn't really sound that appealing to me.  Enter Ziplock Steamer Bags.  I love them.  I think they are one of the most wonderful inventions.  You can put almost anything in these bags, plop them in the microwave, and you get perfectly steamed food.  Not too soggy or overcooked.  The food is always steamed just right.  You can even sprinkle any seasonings directly into the bag before steaming.  No need to add any water - these bags are magic.  I've discovered that steaming spinach is one of my favorites.  I always seem to buy those giant plastic containers of spinach with the best of intentions of eating spinach salads, only for the spinach to get slimy before I even open the container... Using these nifty steamer bags, I can just put a couple handfuls of that spinach in the bag, put it in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, and then just add a little lemon juice and eat. Very tasty if you ask me.  I know that steamed spinach doesn't sound like the most delicious thing, but don't knock it if you haven't tried it in one of these bags.  I swear, they make everything steamed taste good :-)

I'm almost out of these bags.  It seems like I bought them a long time ago.  I'm hoping my Albertsons carries them, because I will need to get more soon!

I Miss Them Already

I think I have taken for granted the fact that my sister Mandi and her family lived in Boise for the last couple years.  It was just a normal thing for me to see them when we got together for family dinners at mom and dad's house.  They left for Michigan on Tuesday, where TJ will start a three year residency program.  I am happy for them, but am realizing that I am really sad for me.  I didn't get a chance to go to the impromptu family goodbye dinner Monday night (I had a Boise Rec Fest meeting followed by a birthday party), so thought I would say goodbye Tuesday morning before I went to work.  I called Mandi on my way over, but the entire family was still asleep (I felt bad that I woke Mandi up with my phone call).  I just said goodbye on the phone, but as soon as I hung up, my emotions overtook me and I started crying.  Really crying.  I didn't realize that I cared so much that they were leaving, and I immediately felt this need to see them one more time before they left.  I had put together some goody bags for Tanner and Hailey to take with them in the car, so I waited until they woke up just after 8 and stopped by their apartment for one last goodbye before their cross-country move.  I got my hugs and that was that.  I said goodbye and went to work, and they began their long drive to their new home.

I miss them already.

Hailey & Tanner

I am starting to wish I had taken better advantage of the two years they were here... visiting them more often, babysitting my sweet niece and nephew... but it is what it is, I guess.  It just makes me realize that maybe I need to take a slower pace in life.  I feel like I am always rushing from one thing to the next.  My calendar is packed with at least one to two commitments every night of the week.  I feel like I need to schedule vacation from work in order to clean my house or do some yard work.  I like to stay busy.  I like to feel productive.  It fits my personality.  But maybe I need to remember what's most important in my life and do a little re-prioritization.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm booked pretty much every night through June with things I've already committed to.  Think I'll start in July!

Hello Spring!

Hello Spring... I've missed you.  Better late than never!

Grilling Season

I love when it gets warm enough for me to venture out on my back deck and use my barbecue!  I know that technically I can barbecue year round, but it sure is much more enjoyable for me to grill when I don't have to put on a winter coat to cook my food.

Salmon is always my favorite food to grill.  First of all, I LOVE salmon.  Second of all, I love grilling my salmon outside because it doesn't make my house smell like fish!  Anyway, I decided I wanted salmon for dinner tonight.  I then dug through my produce drawers to see what I wanted to eat with my salmon (thanks to my Bountiful Basket, my produce drawer is always full!).  I found some romaine lettuce that I needed to use before it went bad, as well as some corn on the cob.  Perfect.

I had heard that you could grill lettuce, so I got to work googling different recipes.  I decided on this one from GrillinFools.com.  It was so tasty that I immediately became a "fan" of GrillinFools on facebook.  I took a look through some of their other grill recipes online and am excited to try more of them this summer!  I also grilled my corn on the cob - just husked the corn, wrapped the corn in foil, and grilled for about 15 minutes, turning the corn every 3-4 minutes.  Yum.

End result?  A delicious, healthy dinner.

Congrats Dr. Harris!

TJ and his proud family

My brother-in-law TJ graduated from medical school at the University of Washington today - what a happy day for him and his family!   We were all excited to be there to celebrate this great accomplishment with him.  He is now officially Dr. Harris!  The one selfish downside is that their family will be moving next week to Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It will be sad not to have them so close!

It was a quick trip for my family - my mom, dad, and I flew up yesterday... Beki and Bryce joined us this morning, and we flew home tonight.  We met up with my Aunt Kathy and her friend Loris, along with a lot of TJ's family for the weekend... But in addition to the graduation, a couple family celebration meals, and some shopping at the mall, we did get in quite a bit of Seattle sightseeing.

Hailey and me on the ferry to Bainbridge Island - it was a bit windy!

Carrying my nephew Tanner around the island

 

Tanner LOVED the tractors!

View of Seattle from the ferry on the way back from Bainbridge Island

The famous "gum wall" at Pike's Place Market.  Wish I could have brought home some of the fresh flowers at Pike's!

View from Gas Works Park - the location of our post-graduation picnic... we had GORGEOUS weather!

Beki and me at the top of the Space Needle

View from the top of the Space Needle - it was so clear we could see beautiful Mt. Rainier in the distance.

 

Running Update

I am happy to announce that I am 5/12 of the way toward my goal of running a 5k (3.1 miles) each week this year.  I was hoping to not miss a single week, but I was sick a couple weeks in March and didn't run the week I was in Ghana... I will count those weeks as exceptions.  I am not allowing myself to say I am "too busy" on any given week to run - on those weeks I have just forced myself to get up early and run before work.  Those who know me well know I am NOT a morning person, so to get up early AND run (something else I'm not totally fond of) is a BIG sacrifice for me :-)  Anyway, for the weeks I missed, I have more than made up for on the weeks I have run two or three times.

I've been tracking my running on mapmyrun.com - and for January through May I ran over 130 miles!  That's over 6 miles a week on average.  Not bad, right?  I know that the runners out there probably laugh at these 6 miles (my trainer Brandee has been running 40 miles a week!), but I am proud of what I have accomplished up to this point... that not only have I been able to keep a "New Years Resolution", but I don't know that I would still say I "hate" running (although I am definitely not to the "like" running stage).  Who knows, maybe one day I'll even consider myself a "runner".  Maybe.  Seven more months to go...

Another Workout Idea

Need a workout idea but don't have a gym membership or any workout equipment?  Here's a workout we did last Saturday... you can do it in the comfort of your own home.  Be warned: it isn't as easy as it looks!

Alternate between the two exercises.  Do each exercise for four minutes, then three minutes, then two minutes then one minute (i.e. four minutes of jumping jacks, four minutes of shoulder circles, three minutes of jumping jacks, three minutes of shoulder circles, etc).  Then proceed to the next set of exercises and repeat alternating exercises for 4-3-2-1- minutes:
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Jumping Jacks
Shoulder Circles (forward for the first half, backward for the second half)
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Pulsing Squats
Crunches
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Planks
Mountain Climbers
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You will end up doing each exercise for 10 minutes each, for a total of a 60 minute workout.