My Blog? Wait, What's That?

I haven't blogged in ages and while I feel like most people won't care, I know at least a few people who are mildly intrigued by my little existence.

It's almost Christmas. It's practically here. The tree is up, there are a few presents under the tree. It looks marvelous, apart from the two different kinds of lights we have on the tree... we somehow didn't have enough lights this year (it all worked out last year! I don't get it) and so I went to buy another string of lights, but they didn't have the same kind... so I got the closest ones I could, but they're LED and much whiter than the other lights... the older ones are much softer. It makes my OCD-ness tingle.

I have been doing awful trying to lose weight. I am only down about 9 pounds since I started way back in October... at least I haven't been gaining, but I do wish it was going a bit better. I use food to cope, though, and my dad's helping me change that by fasting maybe once a week for just 5 hours or so, and using that time to pray and read the Bible, asking God to help me use Him as a coping mechanism and not food. It's been good, but hard. Food is such a big deal to me. Only by God's grace cam I overcome this, and I know He'll help me, because I know He wants me to turn to Him and not food. Hopefully things will improve as I learn to rely more on God than on sugar.

I think after Christmas, when Christmas-y fabric goes on sale, I'm going to buy some cute stuff and make a cute ...what's the word? I can't think of it... tree rug ring cover-up thingy... TREE SKIRT. That's the word. Yes. One of those, with the awesome sewing machine my husband bought for me at Goodwill for only $30. I don't have any idea how I'm going to do it yet, but I want to do a tutorial on it, so I'll make a post for it.

What else is there to talk about? Liam is doing excellent. Unfortunately, he has really bad reflux and was getting sick every time he ate, so he is now on formula and they gave him some antacid medicine and he is doing so much better! He's getting big already. I think Julie said he was over 11 pounds now. at 6 week old.

What's new with all of you? We got 13 inches of snow last Sunday and today it's raining... Gotta love Wisconsin.

I hope your Christmas lights stay lit this holiday season!

The King of All Banana Bread Recipes

Please tell me you NEVER throw away your browning bananas. Those babies are worth their weight in gold.

Let 'em get good and brown. Leave 'em there for a few days, as long as you don't have fruit flies (like we do; long story). Then, when they're nice and dark, make that 'nana bread. Of course, if you don't have the time right now, you can always freeze them and save them for next week. Or month. But you really don't want to wait that long. And be sure to pin or bookmark this recipe so you can find it later.

Forgive the horrid pictures.

This is my mom's tried and true recipe. I hope she doesn't mind me posting it here, because you're all going to steal it and pass it down to your children, and your children's children, and you'll take all the credit for it, because it's that good.

 Oh, and don't feel bad if you taste the batter before it's even in the pan and you can hardly stop. It's just so yummy! But beware, if you eat a lot it will expand in your stomach and you'll be so bloated you'll just want to die.  But you'll have to balance that knowledge with knowing if you don't eat it now, you might die anyway...

1 C white Sugar
2 C (2 medium) mashed bananas
1/2 C  butter, soft
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (substitute 1/4 C plain applesauce per egg... just do it.)
2 C flour
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional--but I never use them)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a bread pan. Blend the first 6 ingredients (sugar, banana, butter, milk, vanilla and eggs or applesauce), beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until moistened. Batter will be thick, almost doughy. Pour into bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan; cool on cooling rack.

I really suck at taking pictures.

Variations:
I can't have egg, so I use applesauce instead (in banana bread). The bread is super moist and has excellent flavor. 
Add chocolate chips.
Put oats and brown sugar on top before you bake it.
Use apples instead of bananas. If you use apples, add a little oil and cinnamon to the batter, and put brown sugar and oats or raisins on top.
Use oat or half white/half wheat flour instead of plain white for a healthier alternative.

Small Victories

Just a quick report on a few small victories for me. Today Jon and I went on a drive, and we stopped at a gas station for me to pee (like usual). I saw a pack of doughnuts, and I was like, *Gasp* "I want doughnuts!" *to Jon* "Do you want doughnuts? I want doughnuts. We should get some doughnuts." So we walked over to the bakery section and looked at the doughnuts. They had a cinnamon doughnut that looked AMAZING. I looked at it, turned around, and walked away. Didn't buy it. Score!

Then, my sister and I decided to go out Christmas shopping, since it's almost Christmastime already. We had a very unsuccessful trip, but we were thinking of stopping at the food court for dinner. I decided not to, and ate before I left: homemade chili in soaked/sprouted rice. It was delectable. I saved money and ate healthy. Huzzah!

Finally, at the mall, my sister (who had not eaten dinner) got hungry, so we stopped and got fruit smoothies. Mine was very disappointing. I wanted a churro. So Katie said that if I still wanted a churro when we left, we could stop and get one. I agreed. We went shopping, and I had to get a belt because my pants keep falling down. We were leaving, and I tell Katie we can skip the churro, because I just had to buy a belt longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. Victory!

Plus, I weighed myself this morning, and I have gotten rid of two and a half pounds. Super encouraging. Totally going to keep it up!!

Also, Liam is adorable. To read his birth story check out Julie's blog Ramblings.

Little Liam is here!

Today we welcomed into our family a new member! Liam Anthony Petras was born at 12:22 (I think) on November 2nd.

He is 8 lbs, 1 oz; 20 inches long.

Born at 42 weeks, 2 days gestation.

Unfortunately, Julie did not get the birthing experience she was hoping for; after an ultrasound at 42 weeks, the doc said he wanted to induce immediately due to low amniotic fluid and Liam not moving around much. After 2 days of contractions with little progress, the doc recommended a C-Section and Julie and Damon agreed. This beautiful baby boy was born healthy and he and mama are doing great! Apparently, his head was caught on Julie's hip, and that's why labor wasn't progressing. But he's here now and we're all madly in love with the little guy. He's got black hair, one dimple on his right cheek, and big feet! So adorable!

I'm already his favorite aunt. I can tell by the way he squints his eyes and blinks when I hold him.

Congratulations to Julie and Damon on the birth of their perfect son. Welcome to our world, Liam! Love you all so much!

Randomness Update

Sometimes I'm okay...

And sometimes I just want a baby. Usually I do okay with it, but every once in a while I get an ache in my soul that can only be filled with my baby. My husband wants one more and more, too. These two things are warring with my desire to lose weight.

So, remember how I lost 10 pounds? Well, I gained 5 of it back after going off the diet, which isn't really surprising. I kind of expected to gain a bit back. But I haven't lost any in a while, I don't think. Sad day(s). I think I might look into doing the Full GAPS diet with soaked/fermented grains. My body doesn't react well to grains now. I love them, but after I eat them my head and legs feel funny and I don't feel satisfied but I feel like I can't eat anything for a long time. It's not a fun feeling. But we can't afford the "just meat and veggies" stuff. Maybe the soaked/fermented grains will be better tolerated.

On a completely different note, my sister is in the hospital this very night, getting induced! She had an ultrasound this morning and the amniotic fluid was low, and Liam only scored a 6 out of 8 on the ultrasound (apparently they grade them) so the doc said, "I am going to have you induced today. Not tomorrow, not Friday, today." We all got a laugh out of that. But there you have it. Julie is 42 weeks today according to her "unofficial due date" (the one she calculated herself is different than the one the midwives calculated). So hopefully Baby Liam will be here sometime tomorrow! Yay! 

What else is there to update you about? Sorry I haven't been posting much. I've been discouraged about losing weight. I can't think of anything else to tell you about... I haven't done much cooking lately (we were out of town)... So... I guess that's all, for now... sorry.

May your soda never go flat! (Unless that's how you like it, like me. I'm not a huge fan of carbonation, unless it's in Kombucha or Sparkling Juice...)  

GAPS Update: Day 13

*Sigh* How to start?

So, remember how I've been telling you all that I have been really overwhelmed lately? Well, it culminated today. I got home from work at 6 with nothing to prepare for dinner and no stamina to figure it out. I had a meltdown. With both of us working and having to plan meals days in advance to make sure we have everything (namely stock, thawed meat, etc.) I just can't keep doing it. My energy level just is too low. I can't do dishes or shower without my legs shaking. I can't cope with anything. It's just not working.

So. We have decided to not do the full intro diet right now. I'm going to take what I've learned from this experience and use it to continue to eat healthily. Soaking grains and nuts, minimizing sugar and processed food intake, and eating nutrient-dense food.

Another big factor in this decision is moo-lah. Dinero. You know, money. We bought 1/4 of a cow about a month ago, and we've already consumed probably 1/4 of the meat we bought (if you include the ground meat). We have to eat a lot of meat. We anticipated that it would last us a year or so and at this rate we'll be lucky if it lasts until February. Meat and fresh veggies are expensive; grains and beans really help to stretch the dollar.

I had a hard time making this decision. I feel like I'm failing; like now I won't lose the weight; like I'm just running from difficulty, like I usually do. But Jon helped make it okay. It's hard for me to reconcile myself to this, I keep thinking of it as "giving up." I can't think like that, though. I am just not able to function on this diet. Not every diet is for every person. I can still lose the weight. And Jon and I have not noticed huge benefits from the diet, anyway.

Please don't look down on me; don't judge me too harshly for this decision. I still will be working on losing 1.5 lbs a week. My goals haven't changed, just the means. *Sigh* I'm going to bed now, so I don't have to think about this any more.

GAPS Update: Day 12

This is going to be really short, because it's late and I'm tired. But I just wanted to let ya'll know that I lost 9.6 pounds in the 12 days since we started the diet. That's incredible. My family can't believe it. They say I look like I've lost 25 lbs and it's all in my stomach. So, I'm happy about that.

Also, we may have to modify the diet some because we go through a TON of meat and that is EXPENSIVE. According to the book, you're not supposed to introduce grains for a couple of years on average, but we may have to start them sooner (like this winter). We will see.

I made pumpkin soup based off this recipe from Yammie's Noshery with some slight variations to make it GAPS friendly. It tasted so good! Wasn't very pumpkin-y... but that's okay.

Okay. I'm off to bed. Goodnight, world!