Deep Frying the Turkey

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. no splatter burns or fireballs in the sky

Once we decided to deep fry our turkey this Thanksgiving we started to have reservations. The warnings on the deep fryer were ominous. Improper use could lead to serious burns, fire, explosion and potential death.

K spent a good part of the day assembling the propane burner and pouring water over the turkey and then measuring it to see how much oil we would need to cover the bird. I think the final total was 18 litres. The oil cost more than the bird.

My daughter G and her husband B arrived early to watch over the operation. The week before B kept showing us Youtube videos of grease fires and explosions from turkey deep fryers. He was certain that K was going to make him lower the bird into the hot oil as payback but my brave husband did the deed.

Everyone took turns watching over the pot.

One hour later. Done to perfection.

The advantages to deep frying your turkey are:

1. The short cooking time – 1 hour instead of the normal 4 to 5 hours for a 16 pound bird.

2. Very crispy and flavourful skin if you’re not worried about the calories.

3. A very moist bird. It wasn’t at all dry.

4. The social aspect – everyone standing around watching the fryer.

5. A sure fire way to get your husband to cook the turkey.

I Got My 25 Year Pin Today

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..after 31 years of service

The day started out well. I ran 2.1 k with the kids this morning. My friend P, timed me today. It took me 19:29 minutes to run that distance. I know that it’s not fast but I didn’t stop to walk and I passed 3 students who started with me.

At lunch in the staffroom my principal called on me and one other teacher to stand before the staff where she presented us with our 25 year pins of service for the TDSB. The irony is that I’ve actually worked 31 years for this board. The days of honouring teachers with 25 years of service at a special dinner and a gold watch haven’t existed for a long time. In fact getting the dates right doesn’t seem to matter anymore either. Another teacher on staff who’s been with the board for 27 years hasn’t received her pin either.

In art today my first class finished up their colour wheels. The grade 3s created a their wheels using an outline of their hand and painting the 6 primary and secondary colours around their fingers. Then we had a quick lesson on ‘lines’ and the kids filled in the hand shape with a line design. I think they turned out remarkably well.

After school I had a great yoga session. My yoga partner told me that she thought I was wasting away (in a good way) and she couldn’t believe it when I told her that I’ve only lost one extra pound since starting back to school. Maybe the scale in the morning will show otherwise.

Tomorrow the school is having their Terry Fox run and I’m planning to actually run the course this year. I can’t believe how excited I am about running. I used to hate it.

Life is good. I look forward to each new day.

Up to Our Elbows in Tomatoes

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….that motorized food mill looks better all the time

After spending 12 hours with daughter number one on Saturday, I felt I had to extend the same courtesy to my second daughter, G.

I called G, early Sunday morning to see if she would be interested in making tomato sauce and learning how to use the pressure canner that she helped pay for. It was a Father’s Day gift for my husband who is becoming more and more conscious of the food we eat.

It took a bit of coaxing but G’s husband was away and she needed to do laundry. Being able to use my washing machine and having her father pick her up clinched the deal. G lives about 35 minutes from us, when the traffic is good. Luckily it was.

After putting a load of laundry into the machine we started the process of making our own sauce about 12 noon. A bushel of tomatoes is a lot of tomatoes. Until you start cutting them up and putting them through the hand operated food mill you don’t realize how big a job it’s going to be.

While one person fed the tomatoes into the food mill, another one turned the handle to grind them and the third person scraped the sauce from the screening and the slide into a shallow bowl. The advantage of using a food mill is that the skins and seeds are separated and deposited from a separate orifice and you can eliminate the blanching and peeling and straining steps.

This is only the beginning. We had tomatoes next to the food mill and there are more tomatoes hidden behind this pot.

We started to fill the large pot that you see behind the smaller one in the picture. After preparing one bushel of tomatoes we ended up filling that pot about 3/4 full with sauce.

Our fancy new food mill.

Once we were ready to start cooking the sauce we realized that we didn’t have enough propane for the new burner outside. I volunteered to head out to Costco to purchase a new tank and have it filled. Nobody said that making your own sauce is economical.

My trip to Costco was a nightmare. You would have thought it was Christmas. I searched the entire parking lot before finally finding a spot to park and the line-ups to pay for your purchases literally snaked halfway through the store. I wish I had taken a picture of that. The girl at the checkout said that it was just as crazy the day before.

By the time I got home it was almost 5:00 and G and my husband got tired of waiting for the propane so they started cooking the sauce on top of the stove. Now you might wonder why we didn’t do that in the first place but I think when you see the next picture you’ll see why cooking inside isn’t the most ideal place.

K standing on the ladder so that he can stir the tomato sauce.

As you can see from the picture, K literally has tomato sauce up to his elbow. Another purchase that we need to invest in is a much larger wooden spoon.

After cutting, grinding and simmering tomatoes for 7 hours we were too tired to cook dinner so we ordered in. After regaining our stamina we started the canning process. Having never used the pressure canner before we did a lot of checking on the internet and watching youtube videos to make sure we didn’t end up with tomato sauce erupting over the entire kitchen.

The process was relatively simple but time consuming. We only managed to process 7 jars last night. By 10:30 G packed up her dog, Lucy, her laundry and 3 large jars of sauce and I drove her home. By the time I got back it was going on midnight and I had no energy left to write about our experience.

“The fruit of our labour”, 20 jars minus the 3 our daughter took.

Today K processed 7 more jars and hopefully he’ll finish the rest tonight or we’ll be eating a lot of sauce this week. Is canning your own sauce economical? We figured it will take us years before we recoup what we spent on equipment but the time spent with family is priceless.

Will we do it again? Absolutely!

Cheers

P.S. By the way for those of you who are following my fitness journey, I got out this morning and ran 2.4 k with the kids at school. Feels good!

The Benefits of Losing Almost 30 Pounds

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…..looking better is only one small part of it

Today I ran with the kids who came out for cross country. I love running with them. Most of them are faster than me but when I do pass some of them they miraculously find the energy to pass me. Many of them sent me encouraging words along the route and I think many of the parents were surprised to see me out there running with their children.

After school I went to yoga class. It was my first time back since May. Why was it so much easier today? It turns out that a lot of the moves are much easier to do when your belly fat doesn’t get in the way. My balance had improved and I could actually do the archer pose, hug my legs and do the tree pose without falling over. Maybe I’ll go back to Bikram hot yoga and try it again. Many of the moves in this hot yoga are next to impossible to do when you weigh as much as I did.

It’s been a great day! Here are the benefits of losing almost 30 pounds:

1. I can run without feeling like a bowl of jello.

2. I can complete 3 k without looking like I’m about to die.

3. My stomach and thighs don’t get in the way of basic yoga moves.

4. My thighs don’t rub together when I run.

5. My wedding rings are looser.

6. I have less joint pain.

7. I sleep better.

8. I look better in my clothes.

9. I don’t have to buy plus size clothes.

10. I have more confidence and don’t worry about how other people see me.

There are a few more that are too personal to share.

Today’s activities have strengthened my resolve to continue on this weight loss journey. I’m excited about the positive benefits yet to come.

Cheers!

Down 2, 1 More to Go

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. to reach my goal of 30 pounds by tomorrow

I’m not sure I can reach my 30 pound goal by my birthday but I do know that 30 pounds is inevitable. It might be tomorrow or the next day or maybe not until next week but that’s okay.

The compliments I received today when I returned to school have made all the hard work worthwhile. This is only the beginning. I’ve been here before and I know how easy it is to put it all back on. I can’t afford to become complacent.

Today I spent a couple of hours at school but I didn’t get very much done. I spent a lot of time catching up with colleagues and helping others with ideas and approaches for the upcoming year.

At around noon my husband called me to remind me of my aunt’s doctor’s appointment. I hurried to my car, grabbed a coffee at the Tim Horton’s drive through and made my way to the hospital. Luckily I found parking on the street. K had already dropped my aunt off at the hospital and I looked in all the usual places before finally locating her in the blood lab waiting to have samples drawn from her arm.

She looked relieved when I walked in because things were moving a lot faster today than in the past. After her blood work was completed we headed up the elevator to a floor we hadn’t been on before and were quickly ushered into another waiting room.

To make a long story short we were seen by four more people, including a new doctor that my aunt adores…. thank goodness…..and put through numerous interviews, questions and other tests. After two hours we were set free but not until we arranged for another appointment for a stress test that will take four hours to administer.

The next appointment is in four weeks unless we hear otherwise. After taking my aunt home she invited me inside where she made me a strong coffee and we had a nice visit for about 1 1/2 hours.

This entire time I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. When I got home I was starving. I heated up some leftover homemade curry which K and I enjoyed for dinner. I hope missing a meal doesn’t play havoc with my weight loss. I’m very full and will probably not eat again till tomorrow.

I’m about to head out the door for a nice long walk with Frances. If I see anything of interest I might add it to this post when I get back.

Cheers!

My official ‘before’ picture taken in March 2012 just before I started my weight loss journey.

Photo taken today, 29 pounds lighter, in the same blouse.

Back to Running

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. I love this poster. I’ll think about it every time I run laps.

Today I went running with my husband, K and our dog Frances. I did 6 laps of the rugby pitch and of those 6, I ran 5. K lapped me once but I’m proud of the fact that I did 2 laps without stopping and after that I walked about 50 m and then ran 1 full lap before walking again. Each lap is roughly 500 m.

It felt good to get out and run again. I hadn’t done it for about a week. I was thinking about how slowly I run as I was doing my laps but this poster has put a new perspective on it for me.

When we got home I got out into the garden and cut the grass in the front and back and then trimmed the edges and cut back the shrubs. I still have to cut the hedge. Maybe I’ll get a start on that after dinner.

The other thing that I started again today was drinking more water. I find that it really does help with my weight loss. Dinner tonight is a vegetarian dish, homemade chickpea curry. Yum!

I have 1 week to get to my goal of losing 30 pounds before my birthday. I need your positive energy sent across air waves. Wish me luck!

Cheers

My vegetarian chickpea curry with a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt. If there’s enough interest I’ll post the recipe.

Down 1/2 More but I’ve a Long Way to Go

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. stepped on the scale with my eyes shut this morning.

After 3 days at the cottage, with stops at Tim Horton’s for breakfast both ways, a birthday celebration, a spaghetti meal (my first in 4 months) and pancakes for breakfast not once but twice, I was terrified to see the number on the scale this morning. I literally had my hands over my eyes as I stepped onto the scale and then I carefully spread my fingers apart to face the music.

I was so surprised by the number that I got off the scale, reset it, and got on it again. It showed the same number. I am down another 1/2 pound. I was certain that I was going to see an increase.

I have a long way to go with my weight loss journey. That became abundantly clear when I saw pictures of myself in a bathing suit this weekend. Not a pretty sight! I was becoming complacent about how I looked because I felt good in my clothes. My old clothes were fitting much looser and new clothes that I purchased were smaller sizes. I can say that I am almost out of plus sizes (depending on the cut and the manufacturer).

I am more determined than ever to continue losing weight. I want to be able to say that I’m down 30 pounds before returning to school. My good friend L, asked me how I was going to continue losing weight once I started work again. One thing I want to do is help out with the cross country team again but this time I want to run with the kids and not just be in charge of the paperwork.

I know it will be a challenge. The stress of starting a new job, the labour unrest in the province with teachers and the constant temptation of snacks in the staffroom will haunt me. I’m not really worried about the food. Saying no to the snacks is the least of my worries.

When we went to Niagara Falls last week we packed a lunch, with lots of fruit and vegetables to snack on and water to drink. I just have to pack a picnic everyday when I go to school.

I would never have sat on this chair 27 1/2 pounds ago.

Getting a Workout at a Baseball Game

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. or how not to gain weight at a sedentary event

At the Rogers Centre in Toronto for the Blue Jays vs the Chicago White Sox game. Monday, August 13, 2012

Let’s face it, watching baseball is a very sedate activity. So how does one go about getting a workout at a game? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Park the car far enough away so that you have to walk at least 1.77 km to and from the stadium. You’ll also save money using street parking; $4.25 vs $10.00 in a lot.

2. Buy tickets for the upper deck so that you have to climb to the 5th level up the ramps and descend using the stairs. You’ll use 2 different sets of muscles and give your heart a good workout. Again you’ll save at least $30.00 per ticket by sitting in the “nose bleed” section.

3. Stand up and cheer every time the “Let’s make some noise!” sign appears on the jumbo screen. Just hang on to the rail so that you don’t fall over into the crowd below.

4. Eat a healthy dinner before you go so that you’re not tempted to buy the $8.00 hotdog and $10.00 beer. Again you’ll save yourself some money.

5. Throw caution to the wind and get up and dance when your team wins the game in overtime.

Did it help me with my weight loss journey?

Yup, I’m down another 1/2 pound for a total of 27 pounds.

Did I miss the beer, Cracker Jacks and hotdogs? Not one little bit.

My cousin P, his girlfriend M and me at the game. While we posed for this picture we missed a home run.

I Did What I Said I Would

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. running

After writing my blog this morning I set the table for my guests, put on my running shoes and headed out the door. The sun was shining but the clouds in the distance were ominous. I wish I had brought my camera with me.

Frances was nowhere in sight this morning so I headed out without her. I walked to the rugby pitch in a nice steady pace. When I arrived at the college grounds I saw that the rugby pitch was actually being used for rugby this morning. So instead of running around the pitch I stayed on the path and ran a different route.

I decided that I would run as far as I could before switching back to walking. I was surprised how long I was able to run. When I got back into to the neighbourhoods I walked for 3 blocks and then ran the remaining distance home.

I have admit that I was a little disappointed when I tracked the distance on the computer. I ran about 1.2 km without stopping and then another .8 km on the last stretch home. When I walked in the door I noticed that my guests were still sleeping and Frances finally emerged from her bed.

I buckled Frances into her harness and set out again. This time I walked to Rotary Park and added another 1.5 km for a total distance of 4.6 km of walking and running.

I stopped at my friend, M’s house for a chat and a coffee before heading home to check on P and M. While sitting on her front porch the clouds opened up and the rain fell again. This happened all day off and on. I was glad I got my run in when I did.

Looking forward to another run tomorrow.

Feels Like a Cottage Morning

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…even though I’m still in the city

I woke up early this morning to the sound of rain hitting the pavement. After all the heat and drought we’ve experienced this summer the rain is welcome relief. It’s one of those mornings where you want to stay in bed, read and write and contemplate life.

But alas I have company here and I need to get up and start the coffee and make breakfast.

My cousin and his girlfriend arrived last night after being on a bus for over 50 hours. It was our first encounter. What a lovely couple! We enjoyed a simple supper together here at the house and to our surprise they stayed up till midnight and shared stories of their adventures here in Canada. They’ve been here since last October but mostly out West.

I was hoping to get out for a run today with Frances. Even though it’s still raining I might brave it anyway. K left for the cottage early this morning (5:30) so that he could build the staircase. He’s usually my motivation for getting out to run.

My weight loss journey has slowed down considerably but I am down another 11/2 pounds for a total of 26 1/2 pounds. I’m not discouraged but I do feel that I have to re-exam my food intake. I love cheese and I think that’s my biggest downfall. Even though it’s acceptable on a low GI diet I think adding the gluten free crackers slows my metabolism and interferes with how fast I lose weight.

Obviously I’m burning more calories than I’m eating and that’s the main thing. I keep moving forward in a positive direction and there’s no looking back.

As I lie here and ‘contemplate life’ I feel that this weight loss journey is different from any I’ve ever been on and I’ve been on many. The difference this time is that I’m not thinking about when this diet will be over. I’m developing habits that will last me a lifetime and I honestly don’t feel deprived. I’m not thinking about going back to my old ways and looking forward to my next piece of cake.

Unlike this little chipmunk from the cottage I’m not constantly thinking about my next meal and scavenging for food 24/7.