Archive for March, 2010

Favorite Pasta Toss

March 19, 2010

favorite-combination
My absolute FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE pasta toss! I love the savory, bitter, sweet combination of these basic ingredients.

Turkey Sausage
Red Pepper
Kale
Garlic
Parmesan Cheese

Cook sausage, red pepper, and garlic together until turkey is cooked through. Add Kale until desired doneness (I like mine a little crunchy). Toss with cooked pasta of choice and sprinkle with cheese. This is a 15 minute dinner!

Spring Emerges

March 19, 2010

spring-emerges
Artist: Mama Buttercup
Medium: Acrylic paint on Canvas board with photo transfer on fabric
Title: Spring Emerges

Inspired by dreams of my spring garden.

Meet Gina

March 19, 2010

gina
Gina is adjusting nicely to her new home…which happens to be in the barn and out of my mudroom!

Fit by 40 - Expanded

March 16, 2010

different
Seeing myself in a whole new way, photo by and of Mama.

As I approach June 3, 2010, my 40th birthday, I find myself pushing far beyond my physical “Fit by 40″ goals. In addition to physically fit, I desire to be “FIT” as it relates to finances, familial relationships, future goals, friendships, spirituality and general well-being. Getting fit wholly requires hard work…the kind of work that requires thinking, talking, dreaming and changing. This work demands that I am able to separate my truths from the truths of others and to be able to step outside of “the” box. It requires that I am willing to see things differently in an effort to be true to myself.

Over the past few months I have been working on answering a list of questions leading into my Mid-Life journey. Sometimes, the process of facing the answers is painful, real, and scary. Most of the time I am finding the experience exciting and exhilarating. Finding the time for this type of FITNESS regime gives me the power and strength to make my Mid-Life journey a spring board to a happy, fulfilling, and wonderful life adventure instead of the opposite, a self inflicted and very common “Mid-life crisis”.

FIT BY 40 Questions

Where and when do I feel the happiest?
What life experiences do my family and I want to have?
Where and how will I make a difference?
What are my god given gifts and talents?
Are my choices serving my family and our values?
What hard choices am I willing to make for “financial freedom”?
What does it mean to me to be “financially free”?
What type of work makes me excited?
Needs vs. wants?
Scratching below the surface for what constitutes a “want”.
How do I clear the clutter that keeps me from being my best self?
How do I balance security and status quo against what I dream for my whole of my life experience?
How do “sameness” and “acceptance” of “what is” play a part in my life?
Where am I allocating my time and does it adhere to my values?
How do I give my children an education and life experience that will encourage “thinking” as opposed to “test taking”.
How important is it to give children a long stint of an address vs. living in other places?
How much risk can I handle?
How do I grow my relationship with God?
How does community fit into my family values?
How do I make family relationships as meaningful as possible?
What has GOTTA go in my life?
How can I become a better citizen of my country in the second part of my life?

Fit by 40 - Vege Pizza

March 8, 2010

Three weeks into my Fit by 40 program, I have lost a total of six pounds. Right on target for my goal of 1.5 pounds a week. As I develop my daily menus, I keep in mind the following: Calories, fiber, vegetable/fruit servings, flavor, and how full will I feel after the meal. About once or twice a week I have been making Vege Pizzas. The key to these pizzas are the whole grain tortillas, only 100 calories and five grams of fiber! The other key ingredient, a flavorful olive…I used Kalamata for this recipe.

Ingredients to make two Vege Pizza Tortillas