iPhone love

Just wanted to post some practice pictures I have taken with my new phone!

The Hunger Games

This series is one of those books that I've heard about over and over again, and kept putting off reading them. I finally got my sticky paws on the trilogy and read through it in a week. (Which, is impressive because I've done a lot of textbook reading and homework too, and usually if I do one I don't do the other). Regardless, it was a terrifying tale. One that leaves imprints of dread on my heart. I felt as though I knew the character, as if she was my friend, and she just experienced one of the worst things imaginable. Honestly, by the end of the third book I couldn't stop crying. I am glad I finally got the nerve to read it.

Memorable Quotes:

“For there to be betrayal, there would have had to been trust first.” Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“I’ll be able to wash the damage done by the tears from my face. But no tears come. I’m too tired or too numb to cry. The only thing I feel is a desire to be somewhere else.” Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.” Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“I can honestly say he’s never been attractive to me. Maybe he’s too pretty, or maybe he’s too easy to get, or maybe it’s really that he’d just be too easy to lose.”

Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever,”

(Peeta) Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

(Finnick) Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“...because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences.”

Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

 

“...collective thinking is usually short-lived. We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.”

Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

 

Failure

1. As a young adult, I experienced many different things. Some of these proved to be traumatic and left me damaged, mentally/emotionally. There came a point where I even recognized that I was in over my head with painful emotions and needed help. I went to the Doctor I had seen my entire life, and asked for recommendations on what I should do. I was prescribed an anti-depressant. After weeks of taking the medication, I hadn't felt much better and I was experiencing adverse effects. I was crawling in my own skin, I was uncomfortable. I explained these symptoms to my Doctor and said I no longer wanted to be on the medication and was looking for alternative solutions to my existing problems. My Doctor insisted that I did not know what I was talking about in regards to the adverse effects and said I should continue taking the medication. I told her that I know my body and was not going to and she gave me no other options. I walked out of the office no better than I was before. I turned to an age old medication, of alcohol, and realized if I drank enough I didn't have to feel anything, or even really think of anything. Before long, alcohol was my crutch, my best friend, my escape. Making my problem far worse than it had been before, and then some. My Doctor had failed me, the health system had failed me. My problem however minuet was ignored, and denied...and pushed me to another disease of alcoholism.
2. I read the news the other day. A local lady held up a gas station, one I had been to often. The first report of the incident was a recollection of events that made her appear as if she were evil and an assailant. With understanding, she did hold a cashier at hostage with a gun, this initial article was based off of stereotypical understanding of that situation. Later, another article was posted that stated with her gun she made suicidal remarks and asked the cashier to call the police. She held him at gun point and pointed a gun at the police. The police fired various rounds at the lady, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital. She was failed by us, our doctors, our medical system.
3. My heart breaks because any type of failure in mental health is detrimental to ones future. The lack of proper care of these problems causes more problems, causes irrational behavior, causes death. I am disappointed because as I look now with proper assistance from a certified counselor, I could have had further solutions. With less stigma, with doctors who cared about their clients and not making a buck from a prescription drug company, for more adequate screening tools and availability that lady's life could have been spared.
   I wish to dedicate my life to Mental Health Awareness. To change the way American's view our medical system. To save lives by making it okay to have a problem and okay to seek help and for Doctor's to actually do something that will help.
   
4. I feel like a dreamer.
   I have no idea if such a change could ever happen in a country like this.
   

On the Road

The title On the Road was bounced around a lot during my previous college years. I spent a lot of my time with art majors and literature majors, so I got to learn all sorts of interesting facts and titles of books. One that I have always found intriguing was On the Road, which although character names have been changed was a largely autobiographical work that outlines the road trips Jack Kerouac embarked on. I appreciate this type of work-- traveling memoirs I guess, because there is a gypsy trapped inside of me with so much wanderlust that it hurts. I don't tend to travel to places, I lack the budgeting skills and patience to be able to make a trip, so indulging in the tales of another helps me live vicariously. Due to this, my opinion of the book is biased to be in the like.

As I have made my way through the book, I have noticed a similarity in his writing style to the style of Emma Donoghue in ROOM. His thought processes are expressed as choppy and childish, similar to the five-year old narrator of ROOM. Now, don't get me wrong, Jack Kerouac has a way with words and his prose can be at times melodic and beautiful, it's paired a seemingly immature narrator. This book is recognized as part of the "Beat Generation"; inspired by the usage of drugs and promiscuity. Apparently this was an iconic time period for literature, which is understandable, his free-form style of writing is inspiring enough for myself that I can understand how huge the movement was for literature.

Part two on to the rest of the book it becomes more evident that the characters are neurotic from drug usage. The content is full of jibberish and I began losing my patience and attention to the book here. It was hard to follow. This must be what defined the Beat Generation. Drug usage, confused jumbled paragraphs that are just wild. The men just look for women to make it with, use and leave, while they scour the country looking for trouble. Stealing cars and leaving their bastard children behind. What a puke.

Good to know that men in the 1940s were just a piggist misogynists as they are now.

Pride and Prejudice

Here's the first of an upcoming trend of posts. I am trying to improve my vocabulary, as well as improve my reading and writing skills. I used to read/write often and now I do neither, except on rare occasion. Therefore, to practice vocabulary usage and writing I will be doing writing about stuff I have read, giving my opinion and whatever else I feel like it. Since no one reads this it doesn't really even matter.

I tried reading this because I have heard it mentioned several times, and in some of the literature classes I wish I had taken to be forced to read these stories (although I would have probably blown it off anyways), this one has been mentioned time and time again. Some of the women and girls in my life actually enjoy this story, so I thought let's give it a try.

What a bore!

TO have so much praise and recognition the plot line was egregious for my taste. To me, this is just portrays that the women of varying economical/social backgrounds had nothing better to do with their time than trying to pair off with rich men or their cousins so that they would be taken care of with "wealth" or their "family wealth". On top of that, instead of doing anything productive with their lives, they gossiped and gossiped some more. (Times have changed so much!!)
What a life that must have been!
Don't get me wrong, I realize this is a different country and a much different time, but I have always envisioned this time as so romantic. I, sometimes, wished that I could just experience the feeling of being "courted" and "wooed". I was mistaken, since this time was full of gold-digging. I wonder if the men felt as disgusted about "gold-digging women" as they do now, since we have Kanye singing about gold-diggers...Well maybe those women were just taking a lesson from pride and prejudice and looking for men that could give them money or keep their family wealth alive.

I did not finish the book, but for what I am guessing the idea is that there was a false pretension when the characters judged someone right off the bat as a jerk. I'm guessing that at the end, they realized their first impression of a prideful, selfish man was false and lesson learned. Or perhaps, to fit alone with the hours of snore reading, the end is just continued gossip and them finding out that he is just the way they perceived.

I guess I am happy that the main goal in my life is not whether or not I will be married off to someone, ANYONE, who will be able to provide for me. I am also happy to see that we are not in a culture that revolves around the "felicity" of men, and women making sure that is maintained... that would make me puke.

Thank god for the feminist revolution, so now we have different things to gossip about and our parents aren't consumed with who will marry our children, more hopefully my child will not end up "knocked up" before marriage and will find a job/education to sustain themselves... since now we just have high divorce rates, a lot of bastard children, and a lot of families who cannot sustain on their own but in fact need government subsidized everything...

I guess romance has truly always been nonexistent.

Jimmy Eat World- The Middle

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, 1915

R.I.P. Caylee Anthony

Hey Everyone,



If you are truly upset by what happened in court with Casey Anthony, channel this energy to a positive.



It is incredibly repulsive how many people have posted how disgusted they are that Casey did not get convicted of murder and how they want to get Caylee Anthony justice.



BE PROUD to know that in our justice system the verdict is not based on emotion or opinion. As it should, verdicts and convictions NEED to be based on FACT, and if you paid attention to the trial, there was absolutely, NO PROOF and NO FACTUAL EVIDENCE to prove without reasonable doubt Casey Anthony committed this crime. You should be happy to know that if you are being TRIED for anything that you won’t be put in jail because someone simply thinks you are guilty of whatever crime or someone is upset & you are the scapegoat for their emotional energy. (That being said, I am not PRO-CASEY ANTHONY, nor do I think she is necessarily NOT GUILTY, but I do believe it is our ethical and moral obligation to base accountability of a crime on fact).



It is hypocritical for any person to complain consistently that they care for the death of Caylee Anthony when they only paid attention to this case because the media glorified and broadcasted the trial religiously for over a month. It is hypocritical to say; well I care because I watch the trial from day one. Had this trial not been advertised and covered by almost every form of media possible, would you had even known or cared? How many cases of child abuse/neglect and/or other children’s death have you read about, caught up on, and followed through until someone was tried in court? How truthful are you being about how much you care about the welfare and justice of children, when you only truly post anything or care because everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon of caring for ONE child vs the thousands of children that are facing similar tragic experiences.



We can create millions of candlelight vigils, host a mob to attack Casey Anthony, complain on facebook and join groups that show just how much you hate Casey Anthony, but let’s face it. We cannot bring Caylee back from the dead, and we can’t retry Casey for the death of her child. It is over. What is NOT over is the children suffering every day without a single media source covering the damage that is happening to them and not a single person caring THAT MUCH to personally involve themselves in ways to change the system. To fight for their rights since they are incapable of speaking up for themselves, and putting them first. Don’t wait until it’s too late to try and make a change for the children who still need YOUR HELP and YOUR VOICE. Read, research, find a way to make a difference, use Facebook as a tool to unite a group to save the children of our country, our world. Fight for the children to save their lives, don’t lazily write posts on facebook that will do nothing positive or make any change.



Think about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/caylees-law-petition-drive-missing-child-laws-change-234203533.html

http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2011/070711.asp

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/statistics/can.cfm

Grilled Porkchops with Chilled Bean and Tomato Salad

As found in Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine (May/June 2011 Volume 3 Issue 2)

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 (15 oz) cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
• 4 (1 inch thick) bone in center-cut pork chops (about 2 1/4 lbs)
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

1. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Gradually whisk on oil. Add beans, tomatoes, parsley, celery and celery leaves. Cover and chill 1 hour.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat; coat with nonstick nonflammable cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with remaining teaspoon of salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Add pork chops to pan; cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until desired degree of doneness, reducing heat to medium if necessary. Sprinkle pork with italian seasoning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
3. Stir bean sala. Spoon onto serving platter, and top with pork chops. Garnish with celery leaves, if desired.

Engagement Chicken and "Please a Crowd" Salad

As found in "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know"

For Chicken

• 1 whole chicken (approximately 4 pounds)

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 3 whole lemons—including 1 sliced for garnish
• 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Fresh herbs for garnish (4 rosemary sprigs, 4 sage sprigs, 8 thyme sprigs, and 1 bunch fl at-leaf parsley)

1. Position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the giblets from the chicken, wash the chicken inside and out with cold water, then let the chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander for 2 minutes.

2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken breast-side down in a medium roasting pan fi tted with a rack and pour the lemon juice all over the chicken, both inside and out. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper inside and out.

3. Prick 2 whole lemons three times each in three different places with a fork and place them deep inside the cavity. Chicken cavity size may vary, so if one lemon is partly sticking out, that’s fine. (Tip: If the lemons are stiff, roll them on the countertop with your palm before pricking to get the juices flowing.)

4. Put the chicken in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 350°F, and roast, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

5. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Using tongs or two wooden spoons, turn the chicken breast- side up. Insert a meat thermometer in the thigh, and return the chicken to the oven and roast for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 180°F and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a fork. Continue roasting if necessary. Keep in mind that cooking times in different ovens vary; roasting a chicken at 350°F takes approximately 18-20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes.

6. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. And here’s the secret: Pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the

For Salad

• 2 pints red or yellow cherry tomatoes
• olive oil for drizzling
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• leaves from 6 thyme sprigs
• 1 bag washed baby spinach
• 3 Belgian endives, thickly sliced
• 6 ounces blue cheese

Dressing

• 1/2 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup olive oil

1.) Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread tomatoes on rimmed baking sheet lined with foil, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and thyme toss tomatoes gently to coat
2.) Roast the tomatoes for 15 minutes, or until almost bursting. (Check carefully during the last 5 minutes to avoid bursting. If any do burst remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.) Remove from oven and let cool.
3.) While the tomatoes are roasting, prepare the dressing: in a small bowl, combine the shallot, mustard, and lemon juice, and add a little salt and pepper. Whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil in a slow, steady stream.
4.) In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, endives and roasted tomatoes. Crumble the cheese over the salad and add mustard-lemon dressing. Toss Gently.

NYC FOOD

So this past weekend I went to New York City to visit college roommates with my sister. The food was amazing. The walking of the city was fun. I visited Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx. I went to Bushwick, Williamsburg (which I plan on living in when I AM RICH), Union Square, Chinatown, Little Italy, and even Harlem (So sad to not have run into Bill Clinton). It was very excited & tiring, but I will update with some pictures of our eats.

Changing my sleep clock.

I think I have successfully trained my body to want to go to bed around 11pm. Usually I am tired or relaxing by that time and head to bed, which is great compared to my biological sleep clock wanting to go to bed 1-4am. Not cool, which made it so I had to sleep in til the afternoon.

Next step: Getting it so I am used to waking up earlier in the morning. Today I set my alarm for 9am. I am used to getting up around 10, so this change wasn't too drastic and I went to be at midnight so I got 9 hours of sleep. I would like to train my body to get up at 7 am. So a couple weeks at 9am. A couple weeks at 8am, and then up at 7am. Especially for the summer, so I can enjoy as much time outside as possible.

Let's see if it works!!

Endorphins.

Okay, so on a very positive note. I love when you can recognize the difference in your mentality when it comes to exercising almost everyday, and how your mental health decreases when you stop for a few.

I woke up this morning with no vigor to get out of bed. When I did get out of bed, I was sluggish and grumpy. I am not the most cheerful and happy go lucky person you will meet, I am pretty close to being the exact opposite even with exercise and a good mood. However, when I able to exercise, I am able to get out of bed without really needing to push myself, and I am able to have more control over my anger outbursts.

I think that this is amazing. You read about it in magazines but when you can actually feel the difference it's like being amidst your own psychology science experiment! Another reason to keep up with the exercise :)

Cabbage Soup Fail!

I was not able to finish out my diet this week! I know I know, I am admitting defeat to my long-lasting relationship with food. I am not sure how I feel about the whole "diet".
I am going to point out a few reasons as to why I felt I disagreed and admit I was weak and failed to fast for a week!

1. First and Foremost, I only call this a diet because that's what it is postmarked on the internet. I did this for effects of helping myself lose weight (since I hit a plateau) but mainly, I believe that cleansing diets are important for digestive health. I was once told that your body does not allow things to "get stuck" and you do not need cleanses to get healthy. I disagree with that considering valuable organs get clogged with fat and cholesterol all the time, there is no doubt in my mind that digestive organs wont get clogged or have fecal matter stuck in them. I think it's really important to keep up with the health of all your organs and in my mind a cleanse is for the health of your Poop making system!
2. I strongly disagree with the idea of starvation. I know that a lot of people cut calories to lose weight, but your body at resting state requires around 1200 to function without even adding in the extra of exercise. When you cut below that, your body has nothing to keep sustaining itself and it causes you to start storing things as fat, etc. I decided with the lack of serious calories.... I shouldn't exercise like crazy so my body wouldn't get confused and start storing things that it shouldn't as fat! So I lacked exercise which was not helping me out mentally.
3. It's very hard to do this diet when your partner in crime is very dramatic and feels like the lack of foods is causing them to die. Lack of food causes you to be already slightly moody and to have to deal with dramatics of someone constantly saying they are going to faint/have a headache/ can't go on.... not a fun time!
   

That's just my opinion. Overall, I thought it was great, and I also think I was able to to eat a lot of calories even if it was just fruits/vegetables... you just gotta make sure you keep eating. However, it is also supposed to be a mini fast. And like I said, I don't believe that has good effects on your body!

Day #2 of Cabbage Soup Diet!

Well, today is day two. I can eat as many raw, fresh, or cooked (with no additives) vegetables as I want as well as, as much cabbage soup.

I woke up at 10am, and drank my usual 2 cups of coffee with creamer and splenda. After this I chopped up some fresh Cauliflower and I've been munching on it for the past 30 minutes. I thought today would be easier, but I am not a professional at eating a lot of vegetables without additives, but I am also not complaining. Fresh/raw vegetables are great for you. I used to eat them straight out of the garden as a kid. I'm just not used to it today.

I did not focus on the meditation part of this diet yesterday and hope to do more of that today. In an hour or so I will eat my first bowl of cabbage soup.

As for the bathroom diaries, nothing crazy has happened at all, so this either means I eat enough fiber in a day normally or.... I don't know what else! More later.

Okay, So now it is 2:20pm. I haven't been as hungry for food today as I was yesterday but I've also been constantly sipping on my favorite tea, Tazo (Wild Sweet Orange) pictures to the left of this. Yummy! Still no crazy poop stories, which is leading me to believe that when we froze the soup it may have taken some of the qualities from it (The soup was made a week ago but because I had some many appointments and errands I didn't want to have to poop like crazy while I had these) or my digestive health is crazy tolerant of things that are supposed to make you go poo! Hahaha. I've so far eaten one bowl of soup and the cauliflower I mentioned earlier this post. So, I'm doing pretty well. I think I may eat a salad of spinach and cucumbers and peppers just because we bought a mass quantity of fresh vegetables and I don't want them to go to waste. I googled it and you're allowed to have 1 tablespoon oil and one tablespoon vinegar for the entire day. So I could break it up and do teaspoon and a half of each and eat two salads today and two tomorrow?? Oh and for dinner I get to look forward to a baked potato... AND MORE SOUP. Hahaha! The voyage continues.

Day #1 of Cabbage Soup Diet!

Okay, so despite efforts of people telling me the side effects of cabbage soup diet will not be worth it. I decided I am going to go forward with it even if it makes me poop like crazy. I want to focus on the cleansing/fasting effects rather than any of the negatives. I want to train myself to sustain on smaller amounts of food, and I want to feel good. This diet had an emphasis on some breath work which, if anyone has taken yoga, knows is pretty important especially with meditating.

Today the goal is to only eat fruit and cabbage soup. The new diet incorporates protein shakes.

So far I've eaten a fruit salad (which included some yogurt which wasn't part of the diet but it was nonfat/ vanilla and yogurt helps with digestive system so I DON'T SEE A PROBLEM ha!), a pear, 2 cups of coffee, and a bowl of cabbage soup. We'll see how the rest of the day treats me!

Okay, it is 2:45pm. I ate lunch and did some cleaning and read some of my book. Started feeling hungry so I went out to the kitchen munched on a couple strawberries and half a bowl of cabbage soup. I'm starting to feel like I'm wanting other foods other than fruits, so it's getting a little tough for me at this point however I am keeping my eye on the prize. Also, still no crazy pooping action, I am hoping to avoid that altogether since I maintain a pretty healthy fiber diet anyways! We shall see, dinner is in 2 more hours which will probably be another portion of fruit salad and a bowl of soup! Probably add some cayenne pepper this time :)

10:34pm: I ate dinner today which was a bowl of cabbage soup and a bowl of fruit salad. Went shopping, and returned home. I had another bowl of cabbage soup and 2 plums! While watching a movie and relaxing. So far, the only crazyness I've experienced is I've had to pee like a pregnant lady :)

Oh and I did a face mask: So that's my first day. Tomorrow is all veggies. Today I made it by, by eating a lot of soup. I wonder what tomorrow will be like? We shall see!

Cabbage Soup Diet

Okay, My sister introduced me to the Cabbage Soup Diet. I decided I am going to try it out and I think I'll document my experience in here. So here we go. Here is the recipe:

Cabbage Soup Recipe

• 6 large green onions
• 2 green peppers
• 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 3 Carrots
• 1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms
• 1 bunch of celery
• half a head of cabbage
• 1 package Lipton soup mix
• 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
• 1 48oz can V8 juice (optional)
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.

Directions:

Slice green onions, put in a pot and start to saute with cooking spray.

Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.

Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.

Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.

Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.

If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.

You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings. These have all the salt and flavors you will need.

Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time - two hours works well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Here is what I need to do for the next 7 days:

Remember: This diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least two weeks in between.

Day One:
Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

Day Two:
Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.

Day Three:
Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.

Day Four:
Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.

Day Five:
Beef And Tomatos: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomtoes. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken instead of beef (but absolutely no skin-on chicken). If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef one one of the beef days (but not both).

Day Six:
Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart's content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven:
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.

Found Here

So, My mom made the soup I took a little cup full to try it out and it tastes pretty good. I read a blog post that someone else also liked the soup, at two bowls and then ended up pooping for an entire night! Ahh. I am going to freeze the soup, because I forgot about multiple appointments I have this week, and some of them would just not be comfortable or wise to be needing to poop during! So, I will start this up the following Saturday & we will mark the adventures here!

Superbowl Sunday

I am not including recipes this time, just because they are so basic and can be found on food.com.

They both turned out amazing though and I will say I think the trick to cooking pizza right is putting it in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes first before any toppings so it cooks and gets crispy.

SO YUMMY.

This is a picture of my very first Chicago style deep dish pizza. I love pizza in all its forms, and yes you will probably catch me grabbing for a thin sliced New York style pizza faster than this, but I cannot explain how amazing the deep dish is!! it's unique and tasty for sure!

To stay on track:

When I feel overwhelmed, I look to other sources for positivity. I am trying to remain on top of my a-game and am trying to stay positive even when negativity is kicking my teeth in. It is not easy. Here are some quotes that are helping me seek understanding.

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
— Mother Teresa

Some people in my life are having a tough time getting over my imperfections. They are constantly trying to drag me down and rub my face in my mistake. It's not helping me at all, and it makes sense that while they are doing this, judging me, they also do not have time to truly love me. It is not fair, but it is the way it is.

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not."
— André Gide

I suppose I must deal with people hating me for making my mistake. It is better for them to hate me for being a person with errors and imperfections, than being loved the way I was, unhappy and abusing alcohol to seek out happiness. When, now, with the realization that I was going down a dark and dangerous path, I can change and be happy and healthy. I'd rather be hated for making a mistake, then loved and continuing to hurt myself.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
— George Eliot

Just because things happen and you lose track, doesn't mean you can't ever get back on track. To err' is human. We can always be what we might have been. We can always be what we want to be.


"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bad things happen, it is up to us to move on and take each new day on with optimism and hope that things will get better. There is always a new day, and there is no reason to carry on with should have could have would haves of the past. The only thing we can change is now.


"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."
— Bill Cosby

For as long as I live people will withhold expectations for me. Sometimes, I will be able to meet them. Sometimes I will not. Sometimes people will not be able to accept me as I am. I will not progress if I let these people falter or ruin my steps and if I try to change myself to please their needs.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
— Robert Frost

Although at times we may wish that life could stop and we could go back. Life moves forward. No matter what, life goes on. It continues, the best you can do is to move with it and do the best you can to make the future brighter.


"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

People who treat those who are beneath them as they are crap, are not good people. People that treat those below them with respect and help them on their way, are good people.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

• 8 oz. dried medium noodles
• 16 oz package frozen whole or cut green beans
• 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups chopped red or green sweet pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 10.75 oz cans condensed cream of mushroom or celery soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded process Swiss or American cheese
• 2 9.25 oz cans of tuna drained and flaked

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook noodles according to package directions, adding the green beans the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, toss the bread crumbs with the 2 tablespoons melted butter; set aside.
1. In an extra large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms, sweet peppers, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender. Add soup milk, and cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Stir in tuna, cooked noodles, and green beans.
2. Spoon tuna mixture into a 3 quart casserole. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture around outside edge of casserole. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until baked through and bread crumbs are golden.