Coming soon!

There will be many updates coming soon... things are really coming along in the kitchen, so I've been a cooking fool lately. I'm planning to post a quiche recipe as well as an incredibly simple recipe for biscuits and sausage gravy.

The kitchen is looking fantastic with the new countertops. I think that we did an incredible job considering that we were working with second-hand cabinets and sink. We're in the process of deciding what to do with the old chimney that's been covered with drywall (although it's unfinished drywall). Leaning towards tiling the chimney with a smaller tile or even glass mosaic.

For now, here are some photos from the past few weeks

I can't get this photo to post correctly and it's driving me nuts!

Look for more photos and updates soon. :)

Getting back on the fitness wagon

I work out!

I began thinking last week that I wasn’t exactly sure why I fell off the wagon to begin with. Ironically, I fell off the wagon the week before I started my new job. I got two hours of my life back with my new commute, yet somehow I couldn’t find the time to exercise.

I could blame it on having all of that free time and working on the house more… I could say that my exercise buddy was out of commission with a knee injury, so I couldn’t go… I could come up with any number of reasons that culminated in me not making the effort.

The real problem?

I did not make exercise my priority.

It was as simple as that!

I’m gradually easing myself back into a fitness regimen because an injury would really set me back. I got on the scale last Thursday and it read about what I thought it would. I’ve gained 8 pounds in the past 5 months of not going to the gym. You know what? It’s not such a big deal. I can gain that by taking in an extra 200 calories a day, or by not working out. That’s about one Blue Moon (which unfortunately, I LOVE to drink). Sure, it sucks that I lost my initial momentum, but in time I will lose what I gained. It could be worse – I’m still 2 pounds less than I was when I started getting serious about my fitness last November.

Slow and steady wins the race. I went to pilates last Tuesday, then got up early and did 25 minutes on the elliptical last Thursday. Friday evening I certainly consumed too many calories in the form of fried foods and adult beverages, but I did have a late night swim, plus the walk to the swimming places and back to my vehicle. So I walked for about 1.5 miles in addition to probably half an hour or so of doggie paddling and a few ungraceful dives. I think that counts as three days of working out.

I went to pilates last night, then got up early this morning and did another 25 minutes on the elliptical before work. I may get to the gym on Thursday, but we’ll see. Friday morning I’m planning to get up early again and do the elliptical before work.

My goal is to make it to the gym or be active three times a week, preferably for 45 minutes to an hour each time. Hopefully I will go more, but if I don’t, I’m not going to beat myself up over it. At least three times a week, the gym is my priority. Ideally, I will go early on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a few pilates or other classes once my fitness level starts to improve. I used to get my heart rate up in the 160 to 170 range, and now I can’t push myself much past 140-145.

I know how out of shape I am and I don’t want to push myself too hard right now and get discouraged, hence why I am only doing 25 minutes on the elliptical. I can push myself in a few weeks, but not now.

My main goal this go-around is to make physical activity a habit and to keep up with it. I want to be healthy, but I don’t want to become so focused on the weight loss aspect that I lose sight of the ultimate goal – being healthy. I’d like to get my BMI to within the normal range, and that is my main goal. If I lose more, that would be great.

I’m not going to obsess over the scale. The next time I’m planning to weigh myself will be September 23^rd. Hopefully by then, there will be a downward trend. I said before that I wasn't going to go crazy over tracking my food and exercise, but I changed my mind. I had a lot of success last time using Lose It, so I think it will be a helpful tool to keep me on track. It's also nice to have a good idea of how many calories are in whatever I'm about to shove down my gullet. Some foods can be deceivingly filled with sugar or fat. I'll be getting an iPhone soon as well (so happy about that, my BlackBerry is literally taped together and no one makes apps for it anymore), so it will be nice to have the Lose It application on my phone.

That's it for now. I'm hoping to get some photos posted of our work in the kitchen this weekend!

Our kitchen is coming along!

We are getting close on the kitchen. The hand-me-down cabinets from Airslie have been installed, and things look a bit hodge-podge at the moment. We had to install the cabinets wherever they fit, since they were originally in someone else's kitchen. There are two different cabinet variations, but I think it will end up looking okay, as they are a pretty close color match. As time goes on, we may refinish the doors and cabinet fronts for a more uniform look.

Originally, we planned to use tile over plywood for our countertops. We debated the merits of using smaller tiles (mosaic to 4") or using 12" square tiles. Then we considered butcher block countertops... we have a friend who has a great connection in Baltimore for inexpensive butcher block. Then Jay talked to one of his DCFD buddies. It turns out that said friend used to install laminate countertops, and that it is quite simple. This new stuff ain't your grandma's laminate. Gone are the old blah plasticky countertops with sparkles and weirdness on them.

I give you Formica's Golden Mascarello!

Once you touch it, I'm certain you're going to know that it's plastic. However, it's durable, stain-resistant, looks great and best of all it is CHEAP! Golden Mascarello is the color that we ordered.

We estimate that we'll spend about $400 on the countertops including all of the materials we need. I'm not sure how many square feet that will end up being, but I know that it is far less per square foot than granite would cost! One day we will have a dream kitchen with granite countertops and cabinets designed specifically for our kitchen. For now, I will be thrilled to have a functioning kitchen! I don't need a designer kitchen to bake bread or make other delicious creations.

Hopefully all will go well with the installation and we will have a finished kitchen by next week.

After that, it's on to cleaning out my dad's old workroom, then getting the drywall up in there and get that room completed with flooring and whatnot. I placed an ad on Craigslist in hopes that someone would come clean it out for me, but haven't had any takers yet.

Of course there are lots of other projects that need to be completed, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Oblong eggs, rowdy roos and getting fit

I’m sure that this one wasn’t much fun to lay!

In other news, I found a new home for Dresden. Last week, I contacted the people at Cedar Run Cattle to place an order for the meat for our party in October. On a whim, I asked if they knew anyone in the area who might be interested in a rooster. Their response:  “We will be happy to take your rooster, we have done this for others who could not keep a rooster & wanted a good home.”

Woohoo! So that problem was solved. It’s a win-win and I'm so happy that I asked them. I’m buying meat from a local farmer who raises happy and healthy animals without antibiotics and steroids, and Dresden gets a happy home full of new hens to chase. 

It was all just going entirely too well. When I got home from work yesterday, I quickly changed into my workout clothes for my Pilates date with HotFrugal Angela at the Y. I ran out to the coop to check for eggs (where I found the behemoth egg that begins this post). I’d just gathered all of the eggs when Dresden ran up to me. His head was COVERED in blood. Great. After some panicked moments, I hunted down Mouse, whose head was also covered in blood. Well, at least I figured out that they were fighting with each other instead of being attacked by another animal.

When I got back from the gym, I got a better look at both of them. Their wounds looked to be just from their combs and wattles… apparently those bleed a lot, so the blood made things look worse than they really were. But seriously, what are the people at Cedar Run going to think when I bring them a bloody rooster? One of my girlfriends already joked about me running a cockfighting ring in Hobbs. :-P 

So now I’m likely going to have to give Dresden yet another bath before we take him to his new home. I’m hoping that some peroxide will work for getting the blood out (I poured tonic water over their heads last night, but it just got them wet and pissed them off). It wouldn’t be so bad except that he’s white and has those furry feathers, so it looks really gross.

My next planned post will be about meeting our dinner (tomorrow night when we drop off Dresden). We’re ordering beef, pork and chicken from Cedar Run, and I get to meet some of their animals tomorrow. I don’t want to feel as disconnected from my food… meat doesn’t come from the grocery store, it comes from real animals. If I’m going to be eating them, I should at least have the courage to meet my dinner and say, “Yup, you’re cute, but you’re also delicious.” I want to see that they’re being treated humanely and not living in cramped quarters. I want them to have access to plenty of fresh air and pasture with room to run. When I talked to the owner, they said that they’re thinking of adding some ducks to the mix. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they do! I’ve wanted to find a good source of fresh duck for about a year now.

I'm also hoping to blog more about getting back into an exercise routine. I slacked off after I started the new job, but I'm getting back to it. Although getting through Pilates yesterday was brutal, I felt great afterwards. I also felt great this morning. My plan is to get to the gym tomorrow morning before work. We'll see if I can drag my sorry ass out of bed at 6 a.m. I have no excuses now - somehow I managed to get to the gym 3-6 times a week when I worked in Baltimore. Now that I'm local, I get two hours of my day back. I can use the Y in Easton (in walking distance of the hospital) or I can use the Y in Denton. No more excuses not to be fit and healthy.

This time I'm going to get in shape without obsessing over the scale or tracking my exercise and calorie intake. The best shape I've been in over the past ten years was when Jay and I first started dating. I didn't even watch what I was eating all that much. I exercised nearly every day. Back then I was running, but I don't know if I really want to get back into it. I found that I was more likely to hurt myself, plus I don't have the great trails like I had when I lived in Piney Orchard. For the first year that Jay and I were dating, both of us lived in the city and we walked everywhere. I figure that I'll walk a few times a week at work, take some classes at the gym and use the elliptical machines. I am also not going to weigh myself more than once a month (if at all). The scale is going to fluctuate every day, sometimes by multiple pounds up or down. Getting on the scale makes me crazy and discouraged. I'm not going to do it.

That's it for now. Hopefully when I get home, the blood will have mysteriously vanished and I'll have a coop full of normal sized eggs.

More photos from this summer

Here are some more photos from this summer

 Peeps on the way out to their coop. I can't get over how tiny they were... I could probably only fit one or two chickens in the same tub now

Out in the coop for the first time

Proof that I actually have done work on the house... I'm putting in laminate flooring

Alpaca from our outing... I think this one looks like an Ewok

My sister in law Colleen, Jay & me at the Southern Summer Cocktail party 

Staining the foyer floor

Foyer floor staining project

Inaugural High Heel Race

Jay never actually got to race :(

More high heel race

Installing the siding

Tiling the kitchen, take two

Winery stop the day before Ben & Caroline's wedding - the one I hauled kegs for :-P

Even though it was a lot of work for the wedding party and their spouses, the setting was gorgeous

Sheehan and Priscilla before the ceremony

We spent the day with Laura, Jared & munchkin Lincoln on their boat a few weekends ago... Jay tried waterskiing for the first time. I was too much of a wuss to try

This was us at Jay's cousin's wedding in the Berkshires

Another photo of us at the wedding

Siding 95% complete... we still have to get the dormers done, but apart from that, it's done! :)

Mouse and Ginger

Took some photos with a real camera today instead of my cell phone... I downloaded a ton of photos from this spring and summer that I'm hoping to update my blog with sometime this week.

I love the way that Mouse's comb falls to the side

A handsome boy

 Oh hai

Ginger, our first layer

Mouse running off to check on his girls

I finally mounted the shutters and window box on the coop. I think it's freaking adorable... just wish that the petunias were doing better

Mouse is a big chicken, bad hens, more eggs, and happy birthday to Julia!

For starters, we are finally getting the egg production ramped up, hurray!

We got 4 eggs on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, and yesterday we had 2 eggs. I've heard that production can be a little spotty until it gets going. So far, everyone has been laying in the boxes, except for one sans-shell egg that I found outside. It's kinda gross, but I have to show you what it looks like:

It looks like it's actually two eggs, one with a yolk and one with just the egg white. Pretty nasty. Hopefully that will be the only one!

This was the collection from Tuesday. It looks like one of the girls (I think it's the black stars) is laying an egg that is almost a pinkish hue. That is going to be awesome once I get some Easter Eggers (Americauna or Araucana chickens)... I will have quite the lovely assortment of eggs. The other eggs are a light, creamy brown color. Ginger's eggs continue to get larger. They're about medium sized now. She's continued to lay almost every day since she began. I think she's only missed a few days. 

So far, we've collected nearly two dozen eggs in the past week. I hard boiled some last night and had them for breakfast today... they were delicious, but nearly impossible to peel. I've decided to put aside our pullet eggs to make deviled eggs for our party in October. I think they'll be a great conversation piece. And yes, they will still be good in October... eggs are good up to three months! The eggs that you buy in the grocery store are often already a month old. Older eggs are also better for boiling; they're easier to peel. 

Why are fresh eggs better?

Well, the naughty chickens that get into your garden and destroy your tomatoes! That is Queen Mab, perched on top of a tomato cage. We've probably lost a quarter of our crop to the chickens... not to mention that they've also eaten the tops off of the onions and garlic, destroyed the cucumbers and green beans and are now hard at work flattening my eggplant and zucchini. Naughty girls!!! I really need to find a way to keep them contained. We have a 4' high poultry fence AND we've clipped one of their wings. They can still fly. Ninja chickens.

I love them though... when I get home from work, they run up to greet me and they'll follow me around the yard. Of course, I always reward them with scratch or some kind of treat. They're oddly a lot like dogs, except that they don't sit and stay very well.

On to our handsome rooster Mouse... protector of the flock. We still have Dresden, but I can't wait for someone to respond to my ads. Dresden and Mouse both try to mate with the same hens at the same time, and I'm afraid my girls are going to get hurt. :(

He is definitely a gorgeous bird.

However, when it came to protecting the flock from a stray neighborhood kitten....

He was a big old CHICKEN!!!

This kitten was about 8 weeks old and a third of Mouse's size. First he puffed up and flapped his wings... then (above) he turned around and RAN! Of course the kitten gave chase, all he wanted to do was play with the feathery things! It was hysterical... I could not stop laughing. I wish that I'd had the chance to grab a real camera instead of using the camera on my cell phone.

And last but not least, I celebrated Julia Childs's 100th birthday by making Connecticut-Style Lobster Rolls for dinner. Simple and delicious!

Anytime I travel to CT or MA, I simply cannot leave until I've had a lobster roll... either Connecticut style (hot, with melted butter) or New England style (cold, mayo salad type).

Jay and I attended a wedding in the Berkshires last weekend, and I was determined to find a lobster roll while we were there. We arrived Friday night and by Sunday morning, I had resigned myself to not getting a lobster roll. So, thinking that it would at least be cheaper to buy lobster up there, we stopped at the local grocery store, first stopping at the deli counter to see if they sold cold lobster salad. They did not, so I proceeded to their seafood counter and bought 2 frozen whole lobsters (already cooked) for $20. Good deal accomplished. If I couldn't find the lobster rolls there, I would make them myself once I got home. We went over to the Great Barrington Bagel Co. for breakfast before we got on the road. I ordered an everything bagel with lox and red onion & chive cream cheese. We sat down to enjoy our bagels when I saw a huge sign:  LOBSTER ROLL SPECIAL.  You have got to be freaking KIDDING me. They sold them as a sandwich and also sold the filling by the pound. So I ordered a pound of New England lobster salad. 

I'm happy to report that all were delicious, although I think I'm going to have to give the edge to the CT style lobster roll. There is just something that makes me happy about hot buttered lobster, fresh, with nothing but chives and basic seasoning. Fresh food doesn't need a lot of other flavors to mask it... seasoning should enhance a dish, not overwhelm it.

To make 4 CT style lobster rolls, I did the following:

Clean meat out of two 1 1/4 lb lobsters, claw, knuckle, tail & whatever you can squeeze out of the legs

Roughly chop meat

Throw lobster in saucepan over low-medium heat (if cold - if hot lobster, melt butter first)

Butter 4 hot dog buns (I like using potato rolls) with 2-4T of butter

Lightly toast buttered buns under low broiler or in a toaster oven

Melt 4-6T butter in saucepan with lobster

Once heated through, toss with 1/2-1 T freshly snipped chives

Salt & pepper to taste

Throw it on a bun and ENJOY!