Some Food Stuffs ....

I have been trying to eat healthier lately, for several reasons. Reason #1 is because our wedding is now 56 days away (I know the day count thanks to our Macy's Registry countdown clock ... masochists) and I've been trying for six months to trim down. I've lost 10 pounds, which is really great -- but I've been plateau'd at the same weight for the last two months. After four weeks, I got horribly frustrated and ignored my diet, gaining and losing the same two pounds -- despite my better efforts -- for the next four weeks. Now that we're down to less than two months, I'm trying again with renewed effort. I'll be happy with another five pounds gone, but will of course accept more.

Reason #2 is because it's just a good idea in general. We're doing really well at eating healthy at home (not so great when we go out, but we have done well with cutting back the amount that we eat out), and that's given me the motivation to start trying new recipes. I want to start trying at least one vegetarian option every week, and tonight is the first attempt (to be reported on later). I made a vegetable barley casserole last week that I thought was an entree -- but then I read the recipe closer and realized it was a side dish. It was very tasty, though, and could easily become an entree if you add your favorite meat-of-choice.

It's about two cups of cooked barley, and I added fresh onion and green pepper, as well as frozen spinach and corn. It was REALLY good, and I can only imagine that it's better when all the veggies are fresh.

I'm rather excited that I have some sproutlings coming up, too!! These are my snapdragons:
Super tiny. We're supposed to get rain all through this week, so I'm hoping the weather stays warm enough that they don't freeze. I also have a couple of teeny tiny chives poking their heads up, and exactly one basil sprout. Hooray for home-grown herbs!! We'll get the garden ready in the next couple weeks, and I'm hoping to plant right around Mother's Day, when we are hopefully far and away from snow season in Colorado.

I have to admit, I'm loving springtime in Colorado. When it rains here, it actually smells like rain. It's delightfully refreshing and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I smelled it again. Springtime in Houston is a fleeting time of year, and when it rains it tends to smell like humidity and mildew. I much prefer the smell here.