books about food

I'm not really sure why I'm writing this post, except that I really enjoyed these books and wanted to let my blog-friends know it! :)

In the past 2 or 3 months, I read 2 books about food. Both by Michael Pollan. The first one I read was called In Defense of Food. The second was called The Omnivore's Dilemma. He wrote In Defense of Food second, but it really doesn't matter the order you read them in since they're non-fiction.

I really enjoyed both books. Especially In Defense of Food. The Omnivore's Dilemma is split into three parts. The first part is about corn, and it was really interesting, but really boring. The last two parts were a lot more fun to read. They really made me stop and think about what I'm eating, and allowing my child to eat. Since reading them, I've tried to make an extra effort to eat better. I buy mostly produce, and I look at the ingredients in everything I purchase. If I don't know what an ingredient is, I don't buy it. I've had to look at a lot of different kinds of bread before picking one. Yogurt, too. But I'm feeling better. Not only physically, but it makes me feel good knowing that I'm going to teach my kids how to eat the right way. I've stopped buying my child snacks like goldfish and teddy grahams, and instead I offer her apples, grapes, and plain rice cakes (which has only two ingredients: brown rice and salt). We've switched to eating natural peanut butter, which is actually quite delicious!

Don't get me wrong, we still eat some things that aren't that great for us. Namely cupcakes. I'm still making cupcakes with whatever crazy ingredients I want to. Plus I've been sick for awhile, and I've been drinking a lot of soda and eating my favorite sick food - shaped macaroni (my favorite is Spiderman!). But on the whole, we're doing our best to eat better.

I've been gathering a lot of good recipes that use better ingredients, and I've loved experimenting with new meals. It's a nice change from always eating the same old things.

Anyway, basically what I'm trying to say is, if you want a wake up call about what you're eating, read these books. Or at least In Defense of Food. They're really great books. And even if they don't make you change your eating habits, they're still an interesting read.

yearly post?

It seems that I'm not very motivated to blog anymore. The only reason I'm writing now is because I just did a two-year catch up journal entry and I'm feeling write-y. That's an awesome word. Let's start using it more. Write-y.

Since this is going to be a LONG catch up post, please feel free to just scroll down and look at the pictures. Or skip the whole thing. I won't be offended. Promise. Except at least read the next paragraph. And then skip everything else if you want. Thanks!

I've decided that since Baby isn't really a baby anymore, I need a blog name for her. Please comment with suggestions (especially those who know her personality!). I've been thinking about Hiccup, since she hiccups so much.

So, what's happened since July? I'm not even really that sure...

Mr. Webb's little sister got married, and I made the cupcakes for her reception. 700 mini cupcakes. Never. Again. I baked them all and made the frosting the day before the wedding. The wedding was about an hour and a half away, and then the reception was back in our hometown again. Then there were family pictures to be in. So I had just a few hours before the reception to frost and decorate 3 flavors of cupcakes. I couldn't have done it without the help of my dear friend, SH, who not only helped for free, but was excited about it! She had just arrived home from a week long Young Women's camp if I remember right. I owe her big time!

Anyway, during the summer and fall, Baby and I spent our afternoons outside playing with the downstairs neighbor girl who is 2 weeks younger than Baby. They had so much fun together! The older neighbor girls adore them and came over to play with them a lot.

In September I went back to work in the mornings while Mr. Webb is home (he works evenings). I'm working at the same elementary school I worked at before having a baby. They were so nice to take me back. It's been fun going back, but I really miss my girl while I'm gone! The first day I went back to work, I came home to a very clean house and my cute girl in an awesome blanket fort!

In October I got to make a Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake cake for someone in my ward. I was probably more proud of it than I should have been. I loved how it turned out! Baby had her second Halloween, and the first that was actually fun for her! We dressed her up as a lady bug (my mother-in-law already had the costume), and she went to my parents' trunk-or-treat. She caught on to the concept really fast, and would walk up to the next car and say, "Treat?" then reach out her hand for candy.

My sister-in-law, DB, made Baby a very cute tutu, which she LOVES! She learned to say tutu very quickly, and her other aunt and uncle, D&B, taught her how to put her hand over her head and spin in a circle like a ballerina.

We also went to Pumpkin Land at a (plant) nursery near my work. Baby loved it, and we let her pick out a little pumpkin at the end.

November was so much fun! My sister, A, and her cute boy, L, came out to visit for a whole month (they live very far away). Baby loved her cousin, but was pretty jealous of him, too. They played in the leaves together, they played with grandma's play food, and Baby even helped him learn to walk! Apparently I was really bad at taking pictures this month (I think this is when my camera broke), so no pictures here, but we had a great Thanksgiving with family!

December - I know I have lots of Christmas pictures on our iPad, so I'll have to transfer them to the computer and put them up later. But Baby had a grand ol' time! She loved opening presents and didn't really even care what was in the wrapping. She just kept moving from present to present. Some of her favorite presents included a cupcake blanket with matching pillow from Grandma W, Minnie Mouse dishes from Grandma B, and play food from Santa. I received a sewing machine from my husband and mother-in-law, and I'm super excited to start learning! I also made a Brown Bear, Brown Bear quilt for Baby with help from my mother-in-law which turned out so cute! I'll have to take a picture of it.

And finally January. We've had tons of snow, and Baby has loved it! She helped me shovel one day, and the next spent a few hours helping Mr. Webb shovel and make a snowman. She cried when she had to come back inside.

Mr. Webb's brother and his wife welcomed a cute baby girl a couple of weeks ago. We took Baby to see them at the hospital. She only wanted to sit on the cool bed. :)

My little sister left on her mission about 3 weeks ago. She flew out to Georgia today! She's going to be an awesome missionary!

One of my goals for the new year is to read 2 books every month. January was a success! I read the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and the Hobbit by JRR Tolkein. I also finished up a book I started in December called James Potter and the Hall of the Elder's Crossing. It's a fan-fiction book about Harry Potter's kids going to Hogwarts. You can get it for free on goodreads.com. I enjoyed all three books. The James Potter book wasn't amazing, but was better than I expected. I've also finished my first book for February already (woo-hoo!). It was the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. It was fascinating. It's about how trends and epidemics become trends and epidemics. What their "tipping points" are. I enjoyed it a lot! I'm now reading the Story Girl by LM Montgomery. I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series last fall and loved them, so I'm excited to read this one.

Baby is making us laugh everyday with things she says and does. She's growing and learning so fast! I'll end with some things she's said/done recently that make us giggle!

• We sang her a song one morning, and at the end she clapped and said, "Very good, Mommy! Very good, Daddy!"
• Told us her toast was "de-shi-shous!"
• Counts to 5
• Says her Minnie Mouse plate is her "fave-it!"
• Ends her questions with "Pease, pease, pease?" (please, please, please in case you couldn't figure it out)
• Asks to watch "Dora train" every day. She loves trains, and there's an episode of Dora with a train in it that she absolutely loves!
• Asked me to paint her toenails, and picked out a lovely shade of blue-green for me.
• Loves to sing and dance. Yells "Wun, wun, wun!" when I tell her to run.

If you read this entire post, congratulations! This is the end. And you're a little bit crazy. :)

anti-blogger

I was told that after I had a baby, I would want to blog more. Well...that hasn't been true for me. And ever since my camera decided to tell me that my memory card was full even though it's empty, I can't take more than 5 pictures on the camera's internal memory. I hardly have any pictures of my baby recently, and I haven't been making cupcakes.

Next weekend I am making a huge batch of cupcakes for my sister-in-law's wedding. I'll be making chocolate strawberry, lemon raspberry, and orange cream cupcakes. They'll be miniature sized, and hopefully super awesome looking!

So anyway, maybe I'll start blogging more soon. Maybe not. We'll have to see.

Also, would anyone mind if I used my blog as a sort of weight-loss journal? Because I think that might help me reach my goals. But really, who knows?

Here are some of the most recent pictures I have taken. There's actually a lot more than I thought. :)

We went to see a balloon launch on the 4th. She loved it!

My brother & I (and our spouses) took my dad
bowling for father's day. My mom was nice enough
to watch baby while we played. She loved the bowling balls!

Long road trip to visit my sister. My parents were nice enough
to go with (*cough* drive *cough*) me and baby there and back.

Beautiful waterfall we stopped to see on the way.

Baby wearing her super cute hat and her cousin's sweet sunglasses!

Her cousin bought this stool at a thrift store while we
were visiting, and baby coveted it. This was one of the
few times she snuck a seat on it before her cousin noticed.

First time in that cute swimsuit! She wasn't too sure about the water
(and hasn't ever let us put her in her kiddie pool we got for her).

At a park we stopped at for lunch on the way home.

the baby weight

It needs to come off.

I actually just wrote a novel length post about my past year of trying to lose weight unsuccessfully, and then I deleted it because it sounded whiny. This will probably be just as long, but hopefully less whiny. Sorry about the plethora of words and lack of fun pictures. I'll try to do some recent pictures of baby (in pigtails!) soon.


So what I really want to know is this:

Do you have any ideas, tips, etc, on how to lose weight? How to stick to a diet and exercise plan? How to stay motivated?

My biggest problem is exercising. My available work out times are when baby is sleeping. And when baby is sleeping I totally want to do other things. Not exercise. Yuck.


Here's what has helped me so far (food wise):

-I tend to eat when I'm bored. So what I've been trying instead of snacking all the time, is chewing gum. When I head to the kitchen between meals, I stop and think: "Am I really hungry, or am I just bored?" If it's the latter, I grab half a stick of gum and chew away!

-Drinking water. Lots of water. It helps me feel like I'm staying full. Because boy do I get grumpy when I'm hungry!

-NOT weighing myself everyday. I've been doing that for awhile, and it's very discouraging. I would see no improvement, then get frustrated and eat my frustration away. I know, like that helps. See, people? This is why I need help!

-Plan healthy meals ahead of time. If I have a plan, and the supplies to carry out that plan, then come meal time, there is no scrambling around for things. Because when that happens, I usually make pasta with a lot of cheese. AKA macaroni and cheese. Homemade mac and cheese. It's so yummy! Also, along the same lines, keep healthy snacks in the house. And don't buy unhealthy ones. If I buy them, I'm going to eat them. End of story.

-Talking. I realized that I had no system to keep me honest. It was just me, and I really didn't mind sneaking some chocolate now and then. Or some bread. Or pasta. Seriously? I've told a few more people (and now all 2 or 3 of you who read this), and now that THEY know, I feel like they'll be checking me out every time they see me to see if I've lost any weight.

these are a few of my favorite things

-cupcake tin: I love this tin because you can bake 24 cupcakes at a time instead of just 12. It goes so much faster. My fabulous parents got this for me.

-the Hiccupotamus: I got this book for my baby because she is a hiccup monster. She's had hiccups all the time since before she was born. Literally. This book is so funny, has a good rhythm to it, and the pictures are adorable!

-my new recipe box: this has been a huge motivator for me making dinner everyday. I love having all of my recipes organized in one place. Instead of a dozen or more recipe books and folders of printed of recipes, I copied all of my favorites into here, and add more as I find them.

-my sticky note goal sheet: I talked about this a few posts ago. It really helps me stay motivated. Those yellow sticky notes have been on there since it's creation. I obviously need to get them done. :)

-my weekly planner: I picked this up at an office supply store, and I have loved it! I put up my cleaning schedule, and write what's for dinner on the bottom. This has really helped me stay on top of my cleaning.

-these bobby pins: I have never had bobby pins that are so awesome. I've had to buy new bobby pins every few months because mine keep stretching out and get too loose to hold my hair or the little rubber ends fall off. These ones have been awesome! You can fit lots of hair in them and it doesn't bend them open. They just snap back. They don't fall out. I just love them. The best part is, I got a whole pound of them, so I'll never have to buy bobby pins again! :)

-sharpie pens: no explanation. Just love them!