The Saturday 7

1. In the past couple of weeks, Levi has really started getting interested in reading. He used to tolerate flipping through a book as long as it had lots of truck pictures. But he's actually been bringing me stacks of books and sitting through them (for the most part - haha). We went to the library on Wednesday, and he struck gold with a whole shelf of car/truck books. He kept bringing me more and more, exclaiming excitedly, "Mo![more]." He was pulling from the non-fiction shelf, so they're pretty dry reads. Haha. I've been paraphrasing generously about low-riders, hot rods, and fuel efficiency.

Double chin photo courtesy of Lena. #keepingitreal

2. I'm half way through season 3 of When Calls the Heart. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with it. I do love most of the characters and the town, but I've noticed some major anachronisms. Like the women's hairstyles. Way too modern. I also can't help but laugh anytime there's an "action" sequence. Shoot-outs and hand to hand combat are not Hallmark's forte. But the worst is the repetitive storylines. How many times is a woman going to fall in love with a con man only to realize the terrible secret he's keeping? Haha. It won't keep me from watching.

3. The diet is still going strong. I lost 4 pounds in the first week, so that's encouraging. I expected it to make me feel motivated to continue, but it's kind of had the opposite effect. I feel like, "Meh. I lost some weight. I can be a little more lax now." But I'm still trying. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights from the week:

- Roasted Veggies [Win]: I eat roasted brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and/or carrots pretty much every day - usually with bacon. I try to fill up on that before anything else. And I'm proud of myself for figuring out flavor combinations that I like (usually Italian, parmesan, lemon pepper, and/or seasoned salt) and not being neurotic about sticking to a recipe. I've also found some flavor combos I'm not a fan of. I tried garlic lime sweet potatoes last night. They were sick nasty. So sad I wasted all those sweet potatoes.

- Homemade Dressing [Mostly Fail]: I've tried two versions of ranch dressing and didn't like either. Nothing can replace Hidden Valley for me. But the copycat Olive Garden dressing I made was decent. Not as good as the real thing, but definitely better than homemade ranch! 

- Baked Goods [Meh]: After a week of eating healthy, I started to feel desperate for something sweet. We had a bunch of rotting bananas that I wanted to use up, so I scoured Pinterest for some kind of banana bread/muffin that didn't have added sugar and little in the way of grains. I also got the idea in my head that I wanted to add spinach. I had a bag that was starting to go bad and I've baked with spinach successfully before. I'm all about hiding veggies - even from myself. Haha. I ended up with this recipe. It just calls for oats, bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. (I know the chocolate chips are technically added sugar, but that doesn't count in my book. Lol.) I blended the oats, bananas, and peanut butter, then added spinach to that mixture. The end result was not pretty:

Lol.

But it tasted ok. Not as sweet as I would've liked (I used natural peanut butter), and a little on the dense side, but better than nothing.

- New Recipes [Win]: I got out of my comfort zone and tried a recipe my cousin recommended to me for Egg Roll in a Bowl. Confession time. I've never bought cabbage before and didn't know that bags labeled "coleslaw mix" are actually just shredded cabbage. Haha. Now I know. And once I bought all the weird ingredients I don't usually use (cabbage, sesame oil, ginger), it was pretty easy to make, and surprisingly delicious!

Ok, sorry. I'm sure you're all as ready for me to be done dieting as I am. Don't worry. I'm a quitter. I'm sure I'll be done soon.

4. I got some great bargains this week. Today was the dollar sale at Once Upon a Child. All clearance clothes and shoes were $1. My total before the sale was applied was $109. After the sale price, it went down to $20! Win!! (If you missed it today, the bag sale is next Saturday. Fill a grocery-sized bag with as many clearance items as you can stuff in it for $15!) Earlier this week, I hit the Christmas clearance at Meijer. Prices were marked down 90% and I found some steals!

Craft kits, napkins, cards, an ornament, matchbox car, lights, and a boxed set of Old Spice body wash/deodorant/body spray that apparently was marketed for Christmas and marked down to $1.09! I LOVE getting deals!

5. I only read one book this week (because I've been spending all my free time watching When Calls the Heart): Falling Like Snowflakes [affiliate link] by Denise Hunter. It was good! I immediately requested the 2 sequels from the library after finishing it.

6. I've been trying to get back into podcasts again. I don't really understand their popularity. My kids are always running around screaming like banshees. I can never hear a podcast. But one thing about this stupid diet is that it requires me to spend a lot of time in the stupid kitchen. Between chopping veggies, pureeing homemade dressing, and cleaning up after myself (over and over and over again), I spend a good portion of my day at the kitchen counter. And my kids generally leave me alone while I'm doing dishes, so I've been trying to listen to a podcast or two to make it more bearable. My favorite is Risen Motherhood. I listened to an old one this week featuring Ruth Chou Simons and she gave this quote: "You don't have to be blooming to be growing." I feel like I'm very much in the seed planting stage right now and not always seeing a lot for my efforts - both with my kids and in my own personal spiritual growth. It's an encouraging reminder that growth often happens without flashy/immediate results. It takes tiiiiiiiiime. And I'm a millenial in that I expect immediate change. (Which is why dieting has never worked for me in the past.)

7. Pictures

Snapchat fun with Lucy

Giggling in bed with me while she was supposed be reading her book. (It's like pulling teeth to get her to read. Drives me CRAZY!)

Sweet baby Nova wearing the hat Lucy made for her!

Levi loves his hat, too, and hates taking it off.

Showing off her finished Lego set.

Levi wanted to pose too. Lol.

When the doors are closed, Levi's not allowed to go in and bother Grandpa and Grandma. He likes to push the boundaries . . . (and Grandma can't tell him no . . .)

Sweet kids praying before lunch. (I snapped the picture a second too late as Levi opened his eyes and unfolded his hands.)