How I Spent My Spring Vacation

I thought I'd blog several posts this week, being Spring Break and all, but it turned out I was busier than ever!

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My kids thought I'd turned into the Wicked Stepmother, because I had them scrubbing for 4 days straight. We worked from about 10am to 7pm every day, until my poor old back ached!

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But our house and yard are clean! Drawers cleaned out, closets reorganized, baseboards scrubbed, corners cobweb-free. It feels good!
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We took a break yesterday. Jacob and his friend Bryce went on an overnight Scout camp-out and hiked Tonto Trail near Globe, AZ. They'll be home this evening.

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Dylan spent the afternoon with friends while Sarah and I went to see a movie with our friend Gwen. We saw Knowing, a very intense movie with surprising religious overtones. The special effects were outstanding and the message was both chilling and thrilling. I really liked it.

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Then Gwen joined us for dinner, an Indiana Jones DVD, and games. We got very silly, laughed a lot, and had a great time.

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Today we slept very late and plan on a relaxing end to our break.

One of the great things about being at home is having time to be creative and prepare nutritious meals. When I'm working it's hard to come up with ideas for interesting low-carb lunches.

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Breakfast is easy. I love the versatility of eggs: fried; boiled; deviled; scrambled (plain, or with onions & chilies, or with chorizo); omelets with just about anything thrown in (my favorite add-ins are cheese & spinach leaves or homemade chunky guacamole with tomato, green onion, and chilies); even Egg McNuthin's (a sausage patty topped with a slice of cheese topped by fried eggs, but no bun).

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Dinners are an adventure. There must be protein and a nutrient-dense vegetable, so it can be as easy as grilled meat and a salad or as fun as a modified casserole minus the noodles/rice/potatoes.

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Even snacks aren't much of a challenge. There's sugar-free Jello, an ounce of Monterey jack cheese (or string cheese, if you prefer), a half-cup of cottage cheese (sometimes with diced veggies added in), a dozen olives, a handful of nuts, a few strawberries, celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese or natural peanut butter, a small pickle, an Atkins shake, sugar-free Popsicles, or even my beloved Ross dark chocolate bars. Atkins also has yummy candies like peanut butter cups.
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But lunch at school? Boring! Mostly leftovers or salads with protein added.

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It was fun to be creative this week. Here's a lunch I came up with that was quite good. Each stack is a half-ounce slice of Monterey jack, 2-3 spinach leaves, a thin slice of tomato, and 1.5 oz. of albacore tuna mixed with about a tsp of mayo, and paprika sprinkled on top.

The poundage did not drop off this week like I'd hoped, but I did lose 1 more pound, bringing me to 25.7 lbs. lost in 12 weeks. So I did meet my goal of hitting the 25-lb. mark!

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The best part is that I have more energy now. Three months ago I could not have spring-cleaned nonstop for 4 days in a row. And I'm willing to bet I added some nice muscle in the process!