Author: nadia

Handy-dandy Travelling Kitchen Kit

Travelling as a family of 7 is never easy, but Brent and I agree that it is a good idea to expose the kids to travel as much as possible. There is nothing better than the ear-to-ear grins and the contagious excitement that literally flows out of them as they come spinning down the waterslides here at Wisconsin Dells Wilderness Lodge.

I chose this place for the condo-type accommodations. I firmly believe that even after 2 or 3 days of vacations, we all need some space from each other. The standard hotel-room setup just won’t work for so many reasons, the main one being food.

I love the idea of having a kitchen where I can prepare meals for the kids. Dining out as a family just is not a sustainable option for a week long vacation. Besides the obvious price impact (I can healthily feed our team on a budget of $300-$400 per week, where trying to get 21 meals in restaurants would cost at least twice that!) it is really difficult to get everyone to sit still long enough to not cause tears, yelling, broken furniture and wasted food.

I must say, this kitchen setup, while good in concept, came rather understocked. So, I decided to make myself a travelling kitchen kit, filled with my essentials.

Knives

There is nothing – and I mean *nothing* – more frustrating than trying to cut with a dull or improper knife. Our family loves when I make the chopped salsa which means that I have to cut tomatoes, peppers, avocados, garlic and onion. Try doing that with a sucky knife. I bought these two and a cutting board and my happiness level increased dramatically.

Oven mitt

Don’t you think it’s just awesome when you the timer on your hotel oven dings and the frantic search for a proper oven mitt ensues? No, me either. Grabbed these, and saved myself the “do you think I should try to use a bath towel to get the chicken out” debate.

Measuring cups

Let’s just say things taste much better when they have the right quantity of ingredients in them. I’m not one of those eyeball each recipe and it always just works out sort of cooks. My food tastes great because I measure out everything and get it right.

Spatula

Go ahead, try to get overeasy eggs off the hotel-provided pan without a spatula. If you love cleaning egg goo out of stove elements as much as I do, you’re going to want to make sure you have a heat-resistant spatula on hand.

Corkscrew

I’m travelling with 5 children. Do I need to explain this one any further?

Sponges

Since hotels don’t always leave everything as clean as I would like it, scrubbing sponges are a must.

Tote
Everything fits nicely into my stacking “Snapware” tote. Throw it in the back of the van, and we’re in business. My idea is that I’m going to leave it packed at all times and store it with the suitcases so it is ready to go at a moments notice. (self back pat) 🙂

Camryn – 1, School – 0

Camryn’s father and stepfather often get frustrated with her, but I get the kid. Primarily because she is the former version of myself. I remember being 7 years old, being completely right about something, and being overruled by my parents “because I said so.”

I rarely have any issues with her, and let’s face it, the kid is darn cute. Every so often, she does something hilariously noteworthy, and yesterday was one of those “Where *IS* that handbook, and what is the right answer here” moments.

Sitting at breakfast with her father, she announces that she forgot her agenda book at school on Friday* however, all the students that arrived Monday with a parent’s signature in their book got a treat so “I just signed it for you, Dad.”

Below is Mike’s *actual signature* from Thursday of last week:

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And this is the one she produced for her teacher on Monday after hearing about the treat:

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I could barely contain myself. I’m not sure if the full impact of my “Identity theft and document forgery is wrong” conversation was felt since it was delivered through choked laughter.

* Camryn frequently forgets items such as agenda book, lunch pail, jacket, hats, snowpants in various locations like the school coat room, the bus, my car, the church parking lot. Not at all unusual that she forgot her agenda book at school.

All Things Book

I have no idea what this blog is really about. The other day someone said “oh! I read your blog. So, what is your blog theme anyway?”

I returned a blank stare.

I guess this blog is about….me….and all parts of me? I have no idea. I have often thought about sticking with one theme or another, but I’m really not *that well versed* in much of anything. So I guess this blog is really about anything.

I haven’t really given poor blog a lot of attention these days, primarily because I have so many things on the go right now and different projects scattered about my life. Today was a rather overwhelming day, pretty much from the time I got up until about 30 minutes ago. Today I decided that I will try to streamline “the nadia mode” a bit, and start to actually focus on something. What that something is remains to be seen.

What most of you don’t know about me is that I am a HUGE book reader. I love reading all sorts of books, from Douglas Adams (side note, Brent casually suggested that we watch the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie the other day, and I actually got chest pains) to Jodi Piccult, to Stephen King to John Grisham to Margaret Atwood to A.J. Jacobs to Craig Groschel. I read fiction, non-fiction, biographies, fantasy, true crime, anything. However, I have felt a bit out of touch with books these days due to lack of time and the overwhelming “what to read next” dilemma. Combine this with my scattered life, I decided to focus my reading on calming myself down and getting happy again.

So, I hit Chapters this evening, and picked up a few idea books and motivational starters. I settled on two authors: Gretchen Rubin and Keri Smith.

A few years back, I started – and did not finish – my own happiness project. So, I will certainly be picking that up again. The problem is that as soon as I get a little happier, I think “who needs a happiness project when you are already happy?” and out the window it goes.
I’ll try to stick with it a bit longer this time.

Keri Smith books are so awesome everyone should own one. I decided on “Wreck This Journal” which brings me to my “All things Book” topic of this blog entry. On page 1, Journal suggests “Crack the Spine.” I flipped the book to the middle, and bent it back. In return, I got the most satisfying spine crack, complete with new book smell. And I broke out into a wide grin 😀

Memories of my childhood flooded back to me. My mom bringing home books from work, my dad taking me to the library every week, and walking with him in the mall after leaving Cole’s bookstore as a young kid with my brother. We each had a good armload of books. I asked him “Dad, are you sure you don’t mind that you spent all that money on these books?” I will never forget the way he looked at me when he said “I *never* mind spending money on books for you guys. I’m the luckiest dad in the world because my kids love to read.”

It’s been sooooooo long since I actually read a book that isn’t through my kindle or via some audio podcast. I had been looking for some inspiration and I found it! So happy.

The Circular Effect of the Lack of Weight Loss

April 15, 2013
Current Weight: 161lbs
Goal: Something, anything!
C25K Progress: Week 6(ish)(again)(I suck)

So, I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock with running, working out and weight loss. A good swift kick in the butt is what I need. See, I get frustrated with the unfairness of it all.

If I took a snapshot of what I used to do, eat, and drink 2 years ago and compared it to today, there is no question that there is a bit of a mystery here when it comes to my scale. My all accounts, I should be wayyyyyy lighter. I eat healthy, Derek continually drives me through grueling workouts, I’m generally less stressed than I used to be, and I have cut out gluten, pop, alcohol and restaurant food. What else is there? The theories abound: I eat too much, I eat too little, I exercise wrong, not enough, too much, I eat too early, too late, too much fruit, not enough vegetables, wine is good, wine is bad, Calgon take me away.

The Circular Effect of the Lack of Weight Loss results in me participating in activities that do not promote weight loss. My self-proclaimed rationale is that if I’m not losing weight anyway, why don’t I just eat the {insert crappy food here}.

A few nights ago I was experiencing my occasional bout of insomnia, and it hit me: Isagenix. I was on Isagenix about 14 months ago, and it worked. I had lost about 18lbs (since recovered, safe and sound, and right back on my ass and gut where it used to be). So why am I fretting over whatever I put in my mouth if I have a solution in my cupboard? I decided to start the very next day.

And I did.

And it worked*.

I lost 4lbs last week! 🙂

* Side note – on Saturday I was scheduled to have a cleanse day. However, I forgot I had to babysit for Rhonda and Steve, and subsequently forgot to bring my cleanse juice to their house. So, instead I ordered a pizza. And then I ate the pizza. We’ll try again next week, stay tuned.

Mosquito’s Find Me Tasty!

Recently, I snuck away to Cancun with Brent. And boy, did we *sneak*. Only two people knew we were going before we left…best trip ever 🙂 We chilled, relaxed, did a little flyboarding, and slept in every day.

I’m noticing a trend with mosquitos – that is, I never see them, yet they manage to have a feast out of my flesh. Only mine, not Brent’s. My first experience with this anomaly is when we went to Thailand last year for Tara’s wedding. I woke up after the first day with my left leg, arm and shoulder covered in little bites. We determined that I must have kicked off the blankets while I slept, or, uncovering the buffet table as you will. They looked and acted just like normal mosquito bites – small, itchy red bumps with no other unique qualities – until our flight home reached crusing altitude. By this time, I had fully taken advantage of our Avion-points-extra-super-duper-first-class-seats complete with mini bar and my friend Drambuie, when all of a sudden, the mosquito bites quintupled in size, became burning hot to the touch, and broke my skin open.

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I paged the flight attendant and asked if they had Benadryl on board. She returned a few minutes later with a small baggy containing two unmarked yellow pills, smiled and handed them to me with my 4th Drambuie. Skeptical, I consumed both, and the Drambuie, and woke up what felt like a short time later on the ground in Paris. Brent tells me about 9 hours passed.

The flight from Paris was the one leg of our trip that was economy class. By the time we landed in Toronto, I was emotional, sore, my legs were on fire, bleeding and I was afraid that I was going to have to have them both amputated. I did the only logical thing that any well-adjusted professional would do. I burst into tears and called my mommy.

Me: Mooooooooooommmmmm!!!! IgotbitbymosquitosinthailandandnowmylegsareSORE! *sob*
Mom: Mm-hmm. Ok. Well, what time does your flight land?
Me: IDUNNO!*sniffsobsobsob*
Mom: I see. Alright. Well, how about I figure it all out and pick you up at the airport with some Benadryl?
Me: Ya
Mom: So, is Brent there with you?
Me: Ya, but he has no clue what to do with me.
Mom: No kidding.

Sometimes moms just know how to fix things. A few days, a hospital visit and some more tears later, they went away.

I had completely forgotten about them until Cancun. During an excursion to Chichen Itza
I looked down at my feet and saw this:

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I have no idea why this happens to me. About $115USD later I had some lovely drugs and a topical cream so that I could continue walking without wanting to claw the skin off my ankles.

I guess I’m just tasty.

The Sniffling-Sneezing-Stuffyhead-Sorethroat-Ifeellikedying

Uggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

I’m sick.

I hardly ever get sick.

Probably because God doesn’t like to inflict sick Nadia on my friends and family. I immediately turn into a clingy-whiny-needy brat. This started on Tuesday of last week when I completely lost all drive and energy and fell asleep sitting up at a church potluck at 6pm. Brent sent me home, where I immediately fell asleep again until 7am the next day. Now every time he leaves the room I text “Where are you!” and when he comes back we identify that I really didn’t *need* him for anything, just wanted him in the same room for….something…

Then, I lost my voice. Which, after you hear for the hundreth time “Oh wow, lucky Brent you have no voice har-dee-harhar” it gets old. And really, who came up with that joke anyway? Is my normal talking that terrible? Cause I tell ya, having to say everything twice when you have a sore throat aint fun.

Today I have sexy-raspy-voice. You know, the one where it sounds like you are a voice double for Marge Simpson’s sisters that smoke 8 packs a day. The one where you can’t quite yet have a coherent phone conversation.

And the exhaustion is probably the worst part. Poor Brent has been cleaning up after me all week. I get these bursts of energy, and think I can do normal things like prepare fancy dinners and bake. Then, about 3/4 of the way through I drift off to the bedroom, leaving him piles of dishes, baking supplies and various other messes to sort out.

And isn’t it also cool when you are sick you think that this is the opportune time to start experimenting with concoctions that you wouldn’t dream of consuming in normal life. Next to me on my desk, where my coffee usually sits is a witches brew of various kitchen spices including cayenne pepper because “the internet” insists that it will bring my voice back.

Yummy

Diet goes out the window as well. Forget working out, and what feels best on a sore throat? Why, ice cream of course! For dinner!

I have an idea…I think I’ll take a beach vacation…

Saturday Breakfast is the Best Ever

There really is nothing better than breakfast on what I call the “full kid” Saturday. Every second week, we have all 5 kidlets, and by Monday afternoon Logan is putting in his order for Saturday morning pancakes. When he is older, I’ll tell him that my pancake recipe is really, really healthy.

This past week, I gave up my healthy option and pulled out a loaf of this amazing cinnamon swirl bread that we picked up in the states last summer. I had it pre-sliced and ready for cinnamon french toast.

I’ve decided that my favorite kitchen item is my grill. I use it all the time. It’s almost not big enough to properly fit all the food I need to cook. In my mind I have a picture of my new house, with a grill built right into the counter, next to the stove. I’m sure this already exists, and it’s on my list of “absolute musts” for my new home.

Best kitchen device

Best kitchen device

The day before I got home, my mother in law stocked up my kitchen with groceries. (I’m certain she’s on the list to be sainted one day) so I was able to sort out a full breakfast with what I had in my kitchen. She bought me a bag of potatoes, so I fired up the trusty smitten kitchen page and found the most delicious hash brown recipe. I’m thinking I’ll never purchase frozen fries or hashbrowns again.

Hash browns from scratch, courtesy of smitten kitchen

Hash browns from scratch, courtesy of smitten kitchen

Finally, the bacon. The best decision this family has made this year is to purchase half a pig from our friends the Zavitzes. The meat is to die for, especially the bacon. It’s by far the best bacon I have ever had in my life. A bit of fruit, a drizzle of syrup and…..voila!

Presentation is just as important as taste :)

Presentation is just as important as taste 🙂

It’s as if the children can hear the spatula lifting the french toast on to the plate, because 4 minutes later….

I never get sick of looking at this face!

I never get sick of looking at this face!

🙂

Wahoo!

January 30, 2013
166.5lbs*
C25K Progress: Completed week 4, day 1 – Run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 minutes (yikes), walk 2.5 minutes, repeat.
Current Goal: try not to keep biting of more than I can chew, in every sense.

I thought week 3 was gonna be a doozy – welcome week 4 and all your glory. For the first time in the C25K program, the running time is longer than the walking time. I suppose I had subconsiously supressed this fact, because it should come as no suprise. It’s a “running” program, not a “walk just as much as you run” program. I mentally procrastinated this day, then tried the reverse “psych” up. You know, the running dialouge we all have in our heads:

“Nadia, you can nail this!”
“Nadia, you always think the next phase will be tough, and you are always wrong, get on the treadmill!”
“Nadia, put the second ginger cookie down. Like, right now.”

It was tough. I’ve heard chatter of people repeating weeks during the program, and going at a slower pace. I figure if there is going to be a week to repeat, it’s week 4. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

I have to be fair to myself. Since my last post, I have flown back across the country, unpacked, re-entered mommy-hood and tackled the mountain of work that was waiting for me – all while keeping up the running.

And let’s not forget the Derek factor. Derek has been my trainer since November, and enjoys putting me through his “metabolic” workouts consisting of hour long interval training sessions of excercises that I thank God I can’t see myself doing, because I assume I look ridiculous. I did my first one on Monday since getting back and barely made it into the shower today.

Derek was pleased to see that I introduced a new member to my workout family: Wahoo. Wahoo is my heart rate monitor. Wahoo syncs up to Digifit and gives Derek nifty little charts and stats on what the ticker is doing during the workout.

So little, yet so smart!

So little, yet so smart!

My days of faking hard workouts is long over. Derek busted me on the rower “relaxing” because Wahoo reported a serious drop in heart rate. *smacks forehead*

See right in the middle where my heart rate dips into the green zone? That was rower. Busted.

See right in the middle where my heart rate dips into the green zone? That was rower. Busted.

Yesterday I blurted out “I’m doing a Tough Mudder in 2014!” and immediately clapped my hand over my mouth. Did I actually say that *out loud?* What was I thinking? Now I’m stuck. Derek’s eyes lit up like he’d just won the lottery. I really have to stop saying stupid things. In reality though, I think if I work really hard, I might be able to pull it off…

*Seriously? One melt-in-your-mouth-gluten-free-ginger cookie and I might as well have just taped it to my ass. This is crap, and totally not fair (pouty face).

It’s not a fashion show….thank goodness.

January 19, 2013
165lbs*
C25K Progress: Week 3, Day 1 – Run 1.5 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes then run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, repeat twice, 5 minute warmup and cooldown – 28 minutes
Current goal: Get through this week of the C25K program because it looks like a doozy.

So, yesterday sucked.

First thing that happened is that I checked Appy**, and discovered that I only had one day of week 2 left, not 2. “Wahoo! I’m on the last day of this week!” I exclaimed out loud.

Then came the internal struggle – I *could* get away with not going for the run, finishing week 2 on Saturday…procrastination at it’s finest. Brent even called me on this. But, I didn’t ditch. I went to the gym and ran the 31 minutes. Because he was hungry, and wanted to get to Tapa Bar before the wait time got excessive, I hopped of the treadmill and did my cool down via the walk back to the apartment.

By the time I got to the door I had burning shinsplints and a noticeable limp in my right knee. And there might have been some swearing. And some crying. I solved this problem with an ice pack and three martinis. (Side note – worked like a charm!)

So this morning, I’m looking at Appy and wondering just how I’m going to get through week three. And Brent says “Ya know, it might be your shoes.” Gasp! I went into complete shock and denial. There was, in my mind, *no possible way* that my 4 (almost 5) year old Nike Zoom’s were letting me down. I reluctantly stomped off to the Running Room after breakfast.

The salesgirl there was totally wonderful. After asking if I needed help, Brent informed her that I was 1) drastically in need of new shoes for the running program I just started and 2) in denial of this fact. I did admit that my knees hurt, and handed her my runners.

“No kidding your knees hurt!” was the response.

I tried on nearly every pair of shoes on the wall, all of which, I might add, were some ridiculous colour. I put each pair on, and took a little sprint around the store. The best by a land slide were the Brooks Pure Connect. The only colour available? – NEON GREEN.

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After donating my Nikes, I went to the gym and knocked off Appy’s first day of week 3. 5 minute warm up, 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, then 3 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking, then repeated the sequence again. Cooled off, stretched and did an ab workout while I waited for Brent to finish. My legs feel like a dream. And now, I can be spotted a mile away with my bright green shoes.

* – OH YA BABY! Looks like this is working. (does little hip/butt wiggle, please imagine it as sexily as possible)
Some toes to scale

** – On a run the other day, I decided to name my C25K app. She has such a nice, motivational voice, and I thought she was worthy of a name, so I have settled on Appy.

So close…and yet so far

I’m so close. So, so close. 6 days, 2 assignments, and one kickbutt project and I’ll be Nadia La Russa, MBA. It’s been long, and yet it has flown by. It’s been tough, yet I’ve learned so much. I’ve met new people, and met a new me.

And I have absolutely no idea what I will do next.