Crock pot emergencies

Meet the newest member of my crock pot family. The Hamilton Beach Set n' Forget programmable slow cooker.



It does beg the question, "Do I really need three slow cookers?" Yes, yes I do. What if a life-or-death emergency came up where I had to prepare three slow cooked meals but I only had one crock pot? It's a scary thought and one that keeps me up at night.

Anyways, this one came home with me last night. For today at least, it's on sale at Canadian Tire. Currently, it's bubbling away at home with its inaugural recipe: Slow-Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken from Kraft Canada. I'll let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: First recipe was pretty successful. I overcooked the meal but not too badly. It's to be expected with new crock pots though. You never know if they're the "run hot" kind. Next time, I'll double the recipe and not cook it so long. Even still, it was great to come home from running in the pouring rain to a nummy warm dinner.

Thursday’s Thought

The brick walls are there for a reason ... to show us how badly we want something.” – Randy Pausch

A week without coffee

• It's been a week without coffee or tea.
• I have not killed anyone yet.
• No fauxcoffee either.
• A coworker noticed.
• I let her think it was money-related.
• I don't think she believed me.
• I wonder if the "p" word will be bandied about in hushed lunch room conversations.

Overweight on the inside

One of the things that I've learned since going on Maintenance, is that I'm still overweight on the inside. The outside has shrunk to a thin person. However, the inside, my mind, my being, is still a food addict. For awhile there, I thought that I had actually converted that voracious part of my soul into a dyed-in-the-wool health nut.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "inside me there's a skinny girl struggling to get out?" In my case, there's an overweight girl doing the fighting. She's a part of me and always will be. If I don't keep an eye on her, she's going to get out again. Like a gremlin after midnight, both hands in the refrigerator, up to no good.

For this reason, I will always have to watch what I eat, day in, day out, hour by hour, minute by minute, choice by choice. Does that sound depressing? It is.

However, I'm a firm believer in taking strength from knowing your enemy. If you know what you're likely to do, you can take steps to minimize it. Or forgive yourself more easily. Or find peace in knowing that it's just how you are.

I know my enemy. The enemy is inside me. Not inside the chips, the restaurant, the office cupcakes, or the bag of Oreos. Inside me and only me.

One of these days I may yet be a card-carrying member of the thin and healthy. But until that day comes, I have to keep tabs on the girl inside.

Update: for more thoughts on this post, read the follow-up piece, "Thin on the inside."

The Vivanno Experiment

Can "meal replacement" shakes keep you full? It was my devout hope that they would. Without regular lunch today, I cashed in my free-drink coupon at Starbucks and tried one of their new "Vivanno" shakes. Though they're not specifically described as a meal replacement, I went ahead with my experimental study anyways. What follows is an excerpt from my scientfically-controlled journal.

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12:19 p.m.
Chocolate Banana Vivanno in hand. Sipping experimentally. Tastes like cocoa and banana.

12:32 p.m.
Back at work. Yep. Definitely like cocoa and banana. Can't taste any whey powder. Pretty tasty.

12:40 p.m.
Finished. I wonder how long it'll last in my stomach. It feels very heavy.

12:53 p.m.
I'm burping up cocoa and banana.

12:59 p.m.
Still feeling kinda full. I drink some water to "top it up."

1:12 p.m.
Still burping up cocoa and banana but not as often.

1:23 p.m.
Feeling less full. I drink some water.

1:41 p.m.
First stirrings of hunger. I drink more water.

2:05 p.m.
Have to pee like a race horse.

2:13 p.m.
Distracted by work; running to washroom.

2:15 p.m.
Back from washroom. For some reason, it smelt like Salt & Vinegar chips in there.

3:21 p.m.
Distracted by work again; I can hear my stomach grumbling in earnest now.

3:24 p.m.
I really want Salt & Vinegar chips. I eat an apple instead and drink more water.

3:30 p.m.
I still want chips. I'm starting to count the hours until dinner.

3:45 p.m.
I google "baked salt & vinegar chips."
------------

The rest of the journal goes into further notes about "S&V" chips and are mostly irrelevant to this experiment.

From this data we can conclude:

1. A Vivanno shake can keep you full from one to three hours depending on water consumption and work load.
2. Never go into Salt & Vinegar scented bathrooms lest you get afflicted with cravings for the rest of the day.
3. Yahoo! Answers reports that the only way to get baked Salt & Vinegar chips is to "order online from a British Importer."

Additional experiments may be needed to determine the veracity of these findings.

The second time

The first time I did the 8k, my friends and I were followed by our very own police escort. Dead last, the runners long gone, a police car behind, and George Thorogood blaring through the constable's speakers as we crawled through the quiet residential streets.

The second time I did the 8k – a year later – I came in ninth for my age group. That means I was only six spots (and five minutes) away from finishing in the top three. I met my goal of coming in under fifty minutes. I also achieved a personal best for pace.

As proud as I am of the second time, the story I'm proudest of is the first time. I laugh about it. I tell it to anyone who'd listen. It's a great story and one I hope to tell my kids and their kids one day.

Who else can say they had their very own police escort? Not many people. I may've finished the second time faster, but the first time....the first time we finished in style.

Learning to Kayak

Today, I learned to kayak. It's amazing how much easier it is when you're in reasonably good shape and you aren't trying to steer it like a canoe. I took the course on my own and Mr. Trim came along to take photos. The guide who was teaching the class remarked that it was like having our very own paparazzi. Mr. Guide, welcome to my life.

Here are some of the highlights of the day :)

Learning to paddle on dry land. Air paddling is harder than it looks. That is, until the guide notices you're holding the paddle upside down. After that, things make a lot more sense.



Out in the water at last. I did not fall in. My boat was called the Solander.



It started to sprinkle while we were out. Such is West Coast weather. I'd also like to mention I'm wearing a size small lifejacket. Tee!



The water was surprisingly warm and a lovely deep green. I'm doing a canoe maneuver here. Note: it's not the way to turn your boat around as I soon learned.



Out in the bay. There were two seals that kept popping up around us. I also saw two ravens as well as a rabbit on the shoreline. The rabbit kept running around a bush like crazy while I was trying to listen to the instructor. Nature is fun.



Speaking of which, there were scads of jellyfish in the water. I kept trying not to hit them with my paddle. Mr. Trim amused himself by taking photos of them while I was out of camera range. Random fact: he took 178 pictures of jellyfish alone. At the very least, he's easy to keep amused!



Coming back to shore. Look! I didn't lose my paddle!



I'm backing up to get into a better position to dock. You can't tell, but I'm imagining my kayak is beeping while going in reverse.




All in all, a great day out. If I had the money and a place to store it, I'd buy a kayak today.