What NOT to do on a sugar detox

So I completed another round of a 21 day sugar detox right before Halloween. Being that tomorrow is Veteran's day, I wanted to bake something for our scheduled veterans coming into the office and may have gone a little overboard. I'm due to send a treat into EMX's work though so thankfully we won't be in a sugar coma.

So what is it all?

EMX emailed me a picture last week asking if I could duplicate a chocolate chip cookie with a smore inside. Duh. Challenge accepted.  I started with a double batch of my regular chocolate chip cookie dough.  If you want the secret family recipe,  you'll just have to Google the recipe because it's actually no secret. (Do you remember the episode of Friends where Pheobe realizes that her grandmother's cookie recipe was actually the recipe off the chocolate chip bag?)   I wasn't too keen on taking the time to make a million cookies originally so I decided to do a bar to start.  

I layered chocolate chip cookie dough on the bottom of a 9x9 pan.  Then did a layer of graham crackers,  followed by chocolate (some candy bar and some chocolate chips), mini marshmallows,  and then another "layer" of cookie dough.  I say "layer" in quotes because I enlisted R to help with this rather messy part and it didn't completely cover the marshmallows,  but we figured it would be just fine.

I threw that in the oven at 375 and started to assemble two large smore cookies.  Picture a layer of the cookie dough with a graham cracker,  more chocolate chips (because the chocolate bars were long gone), marshmallows, and then a topping of, you guessed it, more cookie dough. I was unsure of how long it would all take to bake, but monitored it all and the bars took about 35 minutes and the giant cookies took about 13 minutes. I was also worried about the middle of the cookies being too raw while the outsides became burnt but thankfully that didn't happen!

While we were waiting for the bars and giant cookies to bake,  I remembered something.  We have been so good lately about not buying packaged snack foods, except the occasional box of bunny crackers for the kids, but yesterday, we had a hankering for EMX's FAMOUS oreo cookie milkshakes. (The man can cook/make 4 things - pb&j, grilled cheese, pasta, and this milkshake.) Guess what we had left, just sitting there, oh so lonely in the pantry.  Oreos. Guess what happened next?

I set aside 3/4 of the dough left (about a single batch) for regular cookies and then mixed in oreo cookie pieces into the smaller portion of dough. Then we scooped out the remaining dough for baking.

I think EMX would have reproposed to me if the kids weren't hounding him for a bite of the oreo cookie. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me before today to try that combination before!  The smores giant cookie and cookie bar also appear to be hits.

As EMX says after too much sugar, "I can see the future."

Who is ready for another sugar detox?

WFL - what's for lunch 11/6/13

I'm working from home today and made a quick tasty salad for lunch today. I'm sure you are just DYING to know what is in it!

Organic romaine lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Celery
Salami
Provolone cheese
Banana peppers

All topped with olive oil and coconut vinegar with some salt and pepper.

Mmmmmm

Want to hear my 2 favorite things about working from home? 

1. The BRITA container is always full.

2.  I can listen to some background music. Not ashamed to admit right now I'm listening to Rockabye Baby TOOL. It's just enough background noise without the distraction of the real songs.

Breast Cancer Awareness

Before this October, though I donated money to Breast Cancer Research, I never (thankfully) felt a personal connection to the disease that claims so many lives. I've been struggling with sharing this because although I post a lot on social media, I don't usually get really personal if there isn't a funny story behind it. For some reason though today, as I'm baking some oatmeal toffee cookies, I decided to sit down and write just in case this could help someone.

 I had my annual ob/gyn appointment the end of September. During the breast exam, I noticed a tender spot that I mentioned to my Doctor. We both didn't really feel a lump, but there was definitely a spot that was tender. Because it was in the same area that I had a MAJOR blockage in during my last marathon mastitis episode, my Doctor ordered a mammogram and a follow-up ultrasound of the area. (I had an ultrasound when I had the mastitis last October.) They initially offered me an appointment with the radiologist the very next day, but the following week worked better for my schedule, so I waited until October 1 to go.

I have to say, I was a little (a LOT) terrified of getting a mammogram. No one really wants to have their boob squished in between two metal plates. To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I had built it up in my head. The woman taking the images was really comforting and did her best to keep my mind off of the situation at hand.

 Next was the ultrasound. I was fortunate enough to have the same woman doing my ultrasound that did it last October during my mastitis. She had a baby since our last visit and we chatted during the exam. Unfortunately, I did keep peeking at the screen and could see a shape in the screen that did not look like the rest of the image. My heart definitely started beating a million miles a minute. She wrote up her report (and I could see the word MASS on the screen which did little to help my nerves). Then the radiologist came in to take another peek and give me the news. There was SOMETHING there. He really didn't go into much detail other than the fact that they wanted to biopsy it. The room seriously started spinning and I just basically nodded and tried to not cry. As soon as he left, the technician told me that 99.9% of these types of "things" were benign. Seeing as we just spent 20 minutes talking about our kids, she knew that the first thing I would worry about is being around for my kids. It calmed my nerves (a little) and I left and waited for the scheduler to contact me for my biopsy.

 During the next few days, I was a basket of nerves. Though I knew that 99.9% were nothing for me to worry about, what happens if I was that 0.01%? I tried my best to keep my mind off of it, but it was difficult to forget seeing that shape on the screen. It was 8 days until the biopsy was scheduled and during that time I had to wait, I began to worry about something new. A needle being stuck into my boob! Finally, it was the day of the biopsy. Again, I was fortunate to have two wonderful women taking care of me during the procedure. While confirming who I was, my date of birth and why I was there about 25 times, we cracked jokes about me skipping out on work to hang out and get my boob biopsied. Thankfully, they numbed me up pretty well so I barely could feel the actual needle, though the biopsy itself was a little painful. After it was over, I was a little nauseous and lightheaded though because I made myself look at the screen and watch the entire thing via ultrasound image. I just had to be sure that they biopsied the right "area" or I wouldn't be able to sleep. That probably, in retrospect, was not a wise decision as I am not the best when it comes to needles. I was able to resume normal activities within 24 hours, although I did get a bruise and felt like I got punched in the boob.

 I'm very happy to report that I do NOT have breast cancer. There IS something there that really isn't supposed to be, however, unless it starts to change, or really bother me, it can be left as is. I'll go back in 6 months for a followup ultrasound to make sure it hasn't changed in any way. To give a name to the "shape," it's called a fibroadenoma. Apparently, it's super common in young women (they all called me young so I'm going with it), although I never have heard of it.

 Today, I was fortunate enough to participate in a Kick for a Cure Event at RIT which featured 2 hours of Turbo Kick, Zumba and Bokwa taught by the wonderful Bounce Aerobics owners and other local instructors. Something about sweating it out with some awesome friends made me realize again how thankful I am that everything turned out OK for me. The reason that I struggled to share this, is because I haven't shared this with a lot of close friends and family. During the waiting game, I decided to not even share with my sisters (who I seriously share everything with - now that we are adults anyway) because I didn't want them to worry unnecessarily if it turned out to be nothing. I guess the reason that I opted to share today was because I want to remind women to do a breast exam every month. Before this month, I was not one to do it regularly, but you bet your butt that I'll be way more diligent now. I've been told that these fibroadenomas can develop in the other breast as well, though if I do encounter another lump or tender spot, I should not assume that it's the same thing and still get it checked! If you do notice a lump, or spot, call your doctor, schedule an appointment and get it checked out. Hopefully you will be able to have the same results that I did and maybe by sharing this story, you'll be a little less nervous!

(hash tag) pictures

Do you follow me on Instagram yet?

If not, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you want to look at pictures of my two kids, my food, my wine glass, and other random objects?  
• Do you want to see my huge (small) muscles during #flexfriday?
• The biggest question is, do you want to guess/take bets whether my hair will be straight or curly in the next self picture?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, feel free to follow me on Instagram. @chelleybelly8  :)

WFD 6/8/2013

Marinaded flank steak and veggie skewers.

No picture of the steak because I thought I took a picture of it, but really my friend S did on her phone, lol.

G ate an entire veggie skewer and the steak.  Easy and delish!

WFD 6/6/2013

You may be wondering what the heck I'm talking about in my post title.  WFD?  What does that stand for?

Whales Fighting Dolphins?

Um, excuse me, can you please move over?

What Fun Dog?

why is this so funny?

Witches Flying Drunk?

for realz.

oooooor, None of the above.

The answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE.  Instead, it's a little acronym that I like to use for the ever popular.... wait for it.....

What's For Dinner?!?!?!?!  

(Did you read that and say it in your head like a game show host?  If you didn't, then please read it again and this time read it with the enthusiasm of a game show host.  Thanx.)

WFD is not to be confused with WFL (What's for lunch?) or WFB (What's for breakfast?  Though I suppose it could be "What's for Brunch" too?)

OK - now that we have an idea of what WFD means, here is what is for dinner in our house tonight.  Nothing very spectacular.  It's a dreary rainy day and I'm just trying to use up miscellaneous food items in the fridge.  

So, yeah.  Nothing fancy.  It's more food than it looks like.  Big plates will do that.   Zweigles hot dog, mustard, roasted broccoli, roasted baby carrots with cinnamon and a leftover salt potato.   Giselle ate an entire hot dog, broccoli, carrots, potato and string cheese, so I guess it was an OK meal for using up what was in the fridge.  :)

What did YOU have for dinner?

Fist Bump for the breast pump

I LOOOOOOOVE that Kristen Bell is most proud of her accessories - her high heels and her breast pump.

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to be asked to be in two weddings!    Giselle was still nursing, so my handy dandy breast pump came with me to 2 bachelorette parties, 2 showers, and 2 weddings.  I pumped in the back of a "limo" on a Prom Dress Wine Tour.  I pumped while riding in a car on the way to and from Boston.  I pumped in a spa in Geneva before getting a manicure.  I pumped in the car (EMX was driving) on the way home from a Dave Matthews Concert. I proudly carried that pump everywhere I went if G wasn't with me.  I totally related to Kristen Bell when I saw this article!

Nursing wasn't easy for us.  It was SEMI easier knowing that it would be difficult though.  When I had Reed, I had no idea how many tears would be shed, only to stop nursing after a week, and then exclusively pumping for 4 more.  Ultimately, I did stop pumping with Reed because my body was just not healing well from birth.  I wasn't enjoying my time home with him, and that was more important to me than getting a few ounces of breast milk here and there.  With Giselle, I made a promise to myself that I could make it 6 weeks.  And then 8 weeks.  And then, what's another 4 weeks?  With the help and support of a lactation consultant (Donna was seriously a Godsend) and my family, slowly I kept pushing my deadline out and ultimately, after 6.5 months of nursing, I did stop.  It definitely took a toll on my body - 3 bouts of mastitis (I've written about that here before), each one worse than the previous, an ER visit before hosting a birthday party, major hair breakage, vitamin D deficiency, and an emotional roller coaster with hormones all over the place.  But I don't regret one second of it.   I feel a very strong emotional bond with Giselle, which I'm thankful for, because with Reed, it felt like it took much longer to have that strong bond.  (Maybe it was the c-section drugs?)

Moral of the story:  I tell every expectant mom the following if the conversation about nursing comes up.  It's HARD.  If you want to stop, stop.  You will feel guilty.  But guess what, you will feel guilty for EVERY decision you make for the rest of your life.  Going back to work?  You'll feel guilty about leaving your child.  Staying home with your child?  You'll feel guilty about not "bringing home the bacon."  There is no right answer. Do what works for you and your family.  Everything will work out just fine.  :)