Its time to assess!

Time and again my family has told me that I overextend myself in my commitments. I have also found that I have a problem saying No to tasks or people at work. I've been to several "professional development" classes by now to know that experiment where the facilitator demonstrates how to put the big rocks in first & then throw in the sand i.e. know what you can hold. Often I see my DH making the time to rest - regardless of what else needs to be done - sure enough that does make my buzzers go wild!! There are certain things like exercise that are his priority & he makes the time to get that in come what may.
So taking a leaf each from several people's book of life I think I should enter a phase where I assess what I want to do and how much time I have to do it. Run a pilot! Pramod has a simple excel spreadsheet that gives him a high level plan about when to do what - that way he has a clear picture of what more or what less he has to do to achieve a balance. So I am going to use this home-grown tool & do a self-assessment in the next month.

In the meantime - menu for tomorrow - Hema's (my mother) Awesome Rajma Chawal, chapatis, raita & fruit rabdi!

Hema's Awesome Rajma Chawal
Ingredients: Cup size = 8 oz measuring cup
3 cups of dried kidney beans washed & soaked overnight
2 big bay leaves
3 inch stick (roll) of cinnamon
6 green cardomom
2 cups of chopped onions
1.5 cups of chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
0.5 tsp garam masala powder
1.5 tbsp ginger & garlic paste

Method:
Heat oil in a large vessel. Add bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Tap the cardomum on the counter in order to crack it open & add to the hot oil. Add the onions and saute till they get translucent, add the tomatoes & keep cooking for 3-4 minutes, add the ginger garlic paste & continue to fry it for another minute. Add the tumeric, red chilli and garam masala & stir it well. Add the soaked beans with the water its soaked in.
Put the entire mixture in a crock pot and cook till the beans are well done - soft & tender. Alternately you can pressure cook the entire mixture.

Fruit Rabdi: Saw this on a blogsite called bhaatukli and improvised it a bit. There wasn't a name used for it - but it reminded me of rabdi!
Ingredients:
1 can (14oz) condensed milk
1 can (12 oz) fat free evaporated milk
1 8 oz slab of cream cheese (1/3 fat)
1 can (15 oz) or so of tropical fruit
1 apple chopped
1 pear chopped
(Could add other fruits to experiment)

Blend the condensed & evaporated milk & cream cheese. Drain & rinse out the fruit & add to the blended mixture along with the chopped fruit. Pour into a baking pan (I used an 8 in round pan) and bake for about 40 mins at 350 degrees F. The top should look "done" as in solidified & together. Cool & refrigerate before eating.

Activities for tomorrow: Church, Violin & Piano classes for the kids, Kathak and Odyssey of the Mind practice for Rutha, catching up on office work for next week and of course the big self-assessment begins tomorrow!
Unbelievable its 1:07 am already! Goodnight!!

Inspired by my Dad

My Dad has inspired us yet again! At 71+ years of age he shows me how well he is managing his diabetes. He brought his HbA1c down from 9.1 to 6.4 in a matter of weeks. Long walks, diet, prayer and medicines. A couple of things he has always kept regimented are his prayer time - reading the bible and praying for all his loved ones by name - and raising his meds in prayer before swallowing them down. Small and big acts of faith.
Can't wait to start back on exercising again. Will give myself a couple more days before walking again. in the meantime will do some yoga without straining myself too much.
My doc (ung) was a surprised at my hb levels down to 8.3. Need to eat some iron rich foods which is a bit hard being mostly vegetarian. Did you know that eating vit c with iron or vit c rich foods with iron-ric foods helps in absorbing the iron. Coffee, soy protein and milk inhibit iron absorption. Can't give up the coffee though.
Department sent a yummy fruit bouquet from edible arrangements today!
Ru and ro were whining in French at the dinner table today and were amused that I didn't "get it" at first.

Check out this websitethat I found on NUpurs blog.

Www.indianfoodforever.com

Its mid february already!

On nutrition: Try to know where thy food comes from! I never could enjoy the boxed false foods - always preferred the wholesome goodness of natural food. We of course smother it with spices & oil - spices are all good though.
I have a hard time documenting what I eat - something that is touted as the tool for wt loss success. Just as a challenge for yourself try to write down everything that you eat in a day - literally everything that crosses those lips! Then try to figure out the calories, carbohydrate, fiber, protein and fat content & add them up. You will be so surprised!! There are many resources available to find out the nutrition contents in all kinds of food. www.thedailyplate.com is one such website that has this information and a neat way to track your daily caloric intake & exercise too.


On humility: An area of my life that I should pay close attention to.

Got to get Rohun to love reading. Did not have to worry about Rutha - her genes clicked - and we can't get her to stop reading or enjoying the feel of a book in her hand. Rohun on the other hand is an electronic junkie - computers, WII and the TV. He actually said to me "Mama whats the point of reading!" He brings home his "book bag" and takes it back to school unopened! Shame on us. Afraid that electronic mediums will desensitize kids of this generation. A saving grace though is his love for soccer and the piano and food including the preparation & presentation of it!

Knitting front: Currently knitting a cardigan for Rutha in cotton yarn. I should document the number of wip projects that I have too.

Cookie sales for Rutha's Junior Troop going strong. Waited in line for 2 hours & 10 mins - since they had problems with delivering cookies this week. First time this season... else it has been pretty smooth getting them from a cookie cupboard. An amazingly kind woman has them stocked in her garage and is very flexible on when I go pick them up.

Whats on my mind today?

Things at work, a sense of satisfaction coming from trying to get things done, a cardigan that I am knitting for my daughter, Rohun's excitement at correctly recalling the type of Girl Scout's cookies his teachers and others picked for us to give them - that he says "Mama I'm loving my brain today"!!! Ha, ha...

The other day he told me that a girl in class (Kayla C) said her mom says that she has eyes at the back of her head - to which he says he replied "Oh that must make her very dizzy"!

He says he didn't spend his entire evening with electronics he also did some "Civis" he meant Civics of course - he is happily learn from the citizenship test that my mother is preparing for!

Rutha did spectacularly well in her 2nd term report card! She is such a sweetheart - totally diligent & works with nearly no help from us in schoolwork.