I Did It! ... Again

And by "it" I mean I finally signed up for Weight Watchers. For the past month or so I've been telling people (like my parents and my husband) that I was going to sign up for Weight Watchers On-Line. I was going to go big and commit to the six month membership. I finally did it tonight. I went with the 3-month membership instead of 6, but still, I registered. I paid my money, and they calculated my points target for me.

If I'm being totally honest I thought I'd be more motivated right now.

I thought I'd be excited, and ready to start doing all those things that I know I should be doing.

I thought I'd be hunting for recipes and putting together a meal plan and grocery list for the upcoming week.

But I'm not. I'm sitting on the couch trying to decide whether or not I should get into J's "secret" candy stash. And I'm leaning more towards should.



I could just pose with my hands on my hips every time someone wants to
take my picture... It's kind of slimming I guess... (Oct. 2013)

Did I just waste $85? I've done Weight Watchers before. Once I was even successful and lost a little over 25lbs. And I know that it works when you stick with it. But I also know how easy it is to get J to stop for pizza or donairs on his way home from work. And how easy it is to go to Darrell's Restaurant for a peanut butter burger instead of eating the healthy salad I packed for lunch. (Side note: peanut butter burgers are amazing, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.) And J says he's supportive - but he can still eat chips and candy and ice cream, so they'll still be in the house. I wouldn't want to deprive my husband afterall...

Are you on a weight loss journey? How do you stay motivated? Wish me luck!

xo,
Sara

Canadian Content

{ Food Network Canada }

 

I used to say I hated reality TV, but I'm starting to realize that there's some reality TV that I love. I love cooking competitions. Master Chef and Hell's Kitchen are two of my favourite shows. But out of all of the cooking shows we watch, my absolute favourite is Top Chef Canada.

A lot of Canadian versions of shows just don't compare to their American counterparts (though I can't deny my love for Ryan Malcolm, winner of the very first Canadian Idol) but for the most part you'd never know Top Chef Canada was Canadian. At the same time, in some ways it's uniquely Canadian. It also doesn't have all the "drama" that Hell's Kitchen has and as much as I love Gordon sometimes he's just too much of a jerk. The judges on Top Chef Canada give honest feedback without being too harsh. (Or at least that's the way it seems.)  I'm not even sure how we stumbled across the show initially, but I'm glad we did!

I think all the cooking shows we've been watching are part of the reason I've become interested in expanding my horizons a bit in the kitchen. Never in a million years will I be as talented as the chefs that make it on to these TV shows (including the kids on Master Chef Junior) but I'm actually excited about trying new dishes and working with new ingredients.

Any seasoned cooks out there have any tips for how I should start my culinary make-over?

xo,
Sara

Sausages with Potato, Kale & Apples

I've recently decided that I need to start branching out a little bit in my cooking. I tend to make the same boring meals over and over. I work for Sobeys (a Canadian grocery store chain) so I thought I'd try out some of the recipes from our website. One of the first recipes I tried was sausages with potato, kale and apples.

This was my first time cooking with (and eating for that matter...) kale. I ring an awful lot of it through at work, and have had numerous customers recommend it to me, but I had never tried it. I can't say I loved it, but I didn't hate it either.

I liked this recipe because it all cooked in one pan. I love that. I just find it easier for both the actual cooking and for cleaning up. I cooked this on my day off, but it was quick enough that it's something that I'd consider cooking it on a work day as well.

The recipe calls for apple cider but I didn't have any and didn't want to shell out the money for a whole bottle when I wasn't sure we'd even like the dish so I just used Graves apple juice. It worked, but I think if I was making it again I'd splurge and use cider. I also opted not to use fresh sage and thyme and just used the dried stuff I had in the cupboard already. Maybe it's because I don't have a lot of experience with fresh herbs, but I don't think it made a huge difference.

Do you cook with fresh herbs? Does it make a difference in a dish? Let me know if you try this recipe!

xo,
Sara

"Selfies"

I am not happy with my appearance right now.

I know, no one really is.

One of the first things I thought of when I decided I was going to start blogging again was that I needed to find a picture of myself that  I actually liked for my side bar. I couldn't find a single recent picture of myself that would do. Everything I liked was at least a year old.

So I decided to try and take a "selfie." I read some articles on how to take pictures of yourself. I looked at old pictures of myself I liked to see what I was wearing or how I was sitting/standing. I tried taking pictures with the cat and with the dog. I still don't really like the picture I used, but I was starting to feel pretty silly sitting in my living room taking pictures of myself. I'm hoping this will serve as some extra motivation to get my butt in gear and start eating properly and exercising more. We'll see what happens I guess!

xo,
Sara

So What...?

 

So what if...

 

- I just posted an hour ago. I'm trying to figure out a blogging routine, and I can see doing this every Wednesday.

 

- It's lunch time on my day off and I haven't done a single productive thing. (And I have a to-do list a mile long!)

 

- I didn't go to my great aunt's funeral this week. Funeral's and I don't get along at all and I hadn't seen her in years. She hasn't even recognized my dad (her nephew) in at least five years.

 

- I had McDonald's for lunch twice in the past week. I'm joing Weight Watchers this weekend so I need to get it out of my system...

 

Is there anything you're saying "so what" to this week?

 

xo,

Sara

Welcome!

Hi, welcome to the newest version of my blog.

I've been a blogger off and on (more off lately!) since I was in high school. I always start out strong and then things fizzle off. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it lately though, and I figure it's time to give it another go.

Who am I? I read a lot, I'm trying to teach myself to cook, and I'm about to join Weight Watchers. (Not for the first time...) My husband, Jonathan, and I are trying to have a baby and trying to renovate our house. I work as a Front End manager for a grocery store chain and I actually love my job. We have a beagle named Daisy, and a beautiful cat named Sydney both of whom we adopted from the SPCA.

I still don't know exactly what you'll find here... But I'm excited to get things rolling!

xo,
Sara