Snickerdoodles

I typed this recipe up for a friend on facebook today, so I figured I may as well share!  This is my mom's snickerdoodle recipe!  Doesn't that sound yummy?  Cinnamon-sugary goodness!  I might have to make some, although I think I'd divide the recipe in half.  It looks like it makes a lot.  I wonder if I have any cream of tarter...

Snickerdoodles

by Sherry Andersen

1 c. butter, softened

2 c. sugar

2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
cinnamon/sugar mixture (1/2-1 cup)

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in milk and vanilla. In separate bowl, stire dry ingredients together, then mix into butter/sugar/etc. a little at a time.

Form 1" balls. Roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet(s). Dip the bottom of a glass in the cinnamon/sugar mix and slightly flatten each ball.

Cook at 375°F for 8-10 mins.

Happy cooking!

So You Don't Get the Wrong Idea....

You know, I was thinking about that post, and I realized that I left out a key detail that makes my progress seem a LOT better than it actually is.

About 4 or 5 months after Ava was born, I'd lost all the pregnancy weight.  But I used the fact that I was breastfeeding exclusively as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted.  This was okay for the first 6 months, but once Ava started eating "solid" food and eating less milk, it was no longer okay.  So by the time Ava was about 10 months old, I'd gained 10 lbs back!  (Notice how I look thinner at 7.5 weeks than I do at 9 months!)

So when I say I've lost 13 lbs, I'm only 3 lbs under my post-Christmas early-pregnancy weight, or about 1 lb under my pre-pregnancy weight.  See?  Not as impressive.  But apparently the shoes are working, because I CAN fit into smaller pants.  I still nurse her twice (or thrice) a day... as she FREAKS OUT if she isn't nursed to sleep, so I'm top heavier than normal.... maybe that accounts for the weight/size differential.

Ava and I at the zoo today!

Not So Average Anymore!

If you know me, you know how appropriate it is that my first blog post of "Sara Sews" to have nothing whatsoever to do with sewing.  :)  What can I say?  I like to keep people on their toes.

So... I had a baby 14 months ago, and while I didn't have much trouble getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight (or my after-Christmas, very-early-pregnancy weight) just by breastfeeding, that weight is still about 25 lbs heavier than I'd like to be, and 35 lbs heavier than I was when I got married at 19.

Ava is a CUTIE, but wow!  I look at picture of my wedding pictures (of which I have none on my computer (apparently) or my walls, so this is only figurative looking) and wonder if that skinny person is still somewhere inside me, and if so, will I ever be able to dig her out?

 

(Left: Ava, 7.5 weeks — Right: Ava, 9 months)

A lot of times I'll go on a diet, but it gets scrapped before the week is out, you know?  But I've been serious about this getting healthy thing since we moved up here to Illinois (and since hubby has started talking about when we should start trying for kid #2)!  I've been taking Ava and the dogs on walks most days... And when I say "walk" I mean 2-3 miles at a brisk pace, wearing my Sketchers Shape-Ups Toners.  (I think they're working!)

Plus, I've been trying to make healthier food choices... especially since Ava has started to eat table food and wants to eat everything I'm eating.  Call me crazy, but I just don't feel right letting her nom on ramen noodles and root beer floats... Plus, now that I'm a 100% stay-at-home mom, I really have no excuse NOT to cook.  And if I'm going to cook, I may as well make something healthy.  

In my quest to lose weight, I've really been focusing on my HUGE portion size issues.  My brilliant idea was that if I want to be as skinny as my bean pole of a husband who is 7 inches taller than me, I shouldn't eat MORE than him.  I know, right?  Ava could've told me if she'd ever figure out how to say something other than mama, dada, kee (kitty), or dah (dog).

Eat Less & Healthier + Exercise More = Weight Loss

So far, it's worked pretty well.  I lost 11 lbs really quick.  I thought maybe it was a fluke, but the weight stayed off.  Woo!  Then I plateaued... for like 3 weeks.  SUPER frustrating!  But I started eating massive amounts of whole wheat toast with butter and lingonberry jam (IKEA)... Like 4 slices a day, and I've lost 2 more lbs.  Yep.  That's what I thought, too.  It's kinda making me think that high fructose corn syrup really IS of the devil.  I'd like to see you eat 4 slices of buttered and jammed toast with HFCS in it and see if you lose 2 lbs.  

But ANYWAY.... The whole reason I am writing:

Tonight, I was picking out an outfit to wear to the zoo tomorrow... It's going to be 80°F, so I want to wear some capris while I can!  I heard it snows here... (I'm a Texas girl.  I'm going to live in denial for as long as humanly possible.... which will probably be another 2 weeks before winter really hits...)  But my shorts and capris that I've been wearing are not only dirty, but keep getting stretched out really fast.  Like I wear them for 30 minutes and they're huge on me!  So I was like, "OOOOOHHHH!  I'm going to get out my box of clothes-I-swear-I'll-fit-into-again-someday and try some stuff on, then laugh at my ridiculous attempt to put tiny clothes on!

Well folks!  I've just reclaimed 2 pairs of my favorite jeans and a pair of adorable capris!  I'm a size 10 again!  (Hence the title of this blog... Size 12 being the average women's size in America.)  The jeans... Well, I probably wouldn't wear them in public unless I'd worn them around the house for an hour to loosen them up...  They don't look painted on, but they're pretty tight!  But whatever!  They totally fit AND snap!  I'm wearing the capris right now to loosen them up.  They are awesome!  I feel super skinny in them!  Now if only I could swim some laps (which I love) to work my arms, chest, and waist!

Anyway, it is nearly 3 am, and we're leaving for the zoo at 9:30!  EEK!

(Ava, 14 months)

Good night, world!

Sara

PS - I promise I'll write about sewing at some point!  I've made a couple things already and everything!

Purple Thumb

Did you ever see that movie A Troll in Central Park?  When I was thinking about writing this post, I thought of that movie.  From what I remember (I have a terrible memory), there's a good troll who has a green thumb and can make things grow left and right, and there's some sort of bad guy who killed stuff.  *googles*  It seems that the good guy is Stanley and the bad "guy" is Gnorga, an evil purple-thumbed troll queen who turns things to stone.  FUN!

Stanley vs Gnorga: Green vs Purple

It turns out I'm more of a Gnorga than a Stanley.  :(

I was so hopeful, too!  At the beginning of the summer, I got a couple little Buzzy Seeds "grow kits" from the dollar section at Target: one for parsley and one for itty-bitty tomatoes.  The pots were teeny... maybe 2 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches tall?  I followed the directions and in just a couple days, I had this:

Tomato plant sprouting.  Nothing from the parsley yet.

After a week or so, I had 4 or 5 little tomato sprouts (which I, apparently, did not take pictures of), and 3 little parsley sprouts.  In anticipation of having to replant the little guys when they reached 3 inches tall, I went out and bought a couple bigger pots and some potting soil...

But then the parsley started looking kinda sad.  :(  Too much water?  Was the plant food in the soil gone?  Was it not getting enough sun?  I tried moving them outside, but then bugs found them.  I tried putting them near a window, but nothing.  I think it might have been the over-watering issue.  The little stalks were getting emaciated-looking... all skinny and shriveled.  I pulled out the saddest guys and replanted with the extra seeds.  But to no avail...

The tomatoes were looking great though.  The stalks were thick and straight and healthy-looking... But then they stopped growing.  Maybe I should have gone ahead and replanted?  Maybe not enough sun?  Too much water?  I don't know.  Then the CAT ate the top of two of the plants (of five).  I don't remember which cat it was.  Samurai, I think.  So those two died... and eventually the other three just gave up.

So I ended up throwing them away...  :(  Jason's reaction: "Well, what did you expect from $1.00 seeds?"  :P Butt head.

I think I just have a purple thumb.

-Sara

EDIT:  I was just on the Buzzy Seeds website, and the woman just makes it look so easy!  Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't try again with my extra seeds, especially since I DID buy those pots and the soil...  What do you think?  Should I try to dye my thumb green again?