I heart Soy

I have received many positive words of encouragement as day 2 of my vegetarian challenge comes to a close. While I'm not exclusively removing dairy from my diet, I will be replacing regular milk with soy milk. Kevin will wrinkle his nose in disgust, but Soy Milk really isn't too bad and the protein is important to my training. Truth be told, I really like it. I've bought Silk Soy milk from time to time (usually when I have a coupon), so I am already accustomed to the taste. Lately, I've been substituting my morning coffee creamer with Chocolate Soy and I make a delicious strawberry/blackberry shake with the Vanilla Soy. The Silk Soy company offers soy 'light', so I'm not too concerned about calories. You can't beat only 80 calories/serving.

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Day 2

Breakfast - Bite-size spinach quiche
Snack - Almonds w/ dried cherries
Lunch - Yogurt w/ granola
Dinner - Roasted potatoes (leftovers) with melted Swiss

Exercise

30 minutes of lap swimming

Can I be a vegetarian for 30 days

The few blog followers I have know that I am participating in my first triathlon this coming May. With just three months left until I plunge into Smith Mountain Lake, I've decided to make some small changes to my diet. With all my swimming, biking and running, I needed to increase my protein intake. While I love a beautifully grilled steak (medium rare, please), I've decided to live the next thirty days as a vegetarian. I will be substituting my usual proteins with soy, peanuts, legumes and more leafy green veggies. My sister is a vegetarian and she makes it look so easy, so I've stepping up to her challenge. To help me keep to this challenge, I will be chronicling my daily diet.

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Day 1

Let me just say, the first step is always the hardest. It's even harder when you've spent the night before having a four course meal at Pelana in Washington, DC. This date night with my good friend Holly, her boyfriend Tony and Kevin was a superb gastronomical experience. The gnocchi (course #2) and the braised duck with pureed peas (course #4) made waking up to this change very difficult.

Breakfast - vegetarian link sausage, small coffee cake & peaches. Coffee w/ Chocolate Soy.
Lunch - Silken tofu with broccoli
Snack - Cup of Almonds & dried cherries
Dinner - Roasted potatoes, onions, and garlic.
Dessert - Sliced Apples

Since Kevin is not participating in this challenge, meals where we dine together will continue to include steak, chicken, seafood. I will just omit those items from my plate.

At the end of this challenge, I will be leaving for a girl's weekend in Disneyworld (FL) where I will be participating in my first spring 5k.

Merry Christmas

Tricks & Treats

This October found Spidey and Glenda the Good Witch at the Glasscock home. While neither child likes to put on a costume, they cooperated for mommy on Halloween. After a chocolate filled day at preschool, John & Kathryn walked the neighborhood gathering additional candy. We made it to four homes before they asked to return to sitting on the porch. We saw many creative costumes this season.

Please enjoy more pictures from this year's collection.

Is it October already?

What happened to September? The twins went back to school and now it's time to think about Halloween costumes. We had another month of busy - back to school night, lots of Silpada parties, Mommy being sick with whooping cough, a visit from Dee and the kids, and a weekend trip to Richmond. Wooph, we're tired....

John & Kathryn are thriving at school. Good marks all around. Kathryn is in her repeater mode - every word or sentence out of my mouth is repeated clearly and articulately out of hers. This goes for bad words, too (i.e. - the f-bomb). John is reading out loud his favorite book (Llama Llama Red Pajama). He likes to crawl into bed with me and tell me the story in his words.

I don't know what the twins will be for Halloween yet. Their costumes from last year still fit, I may just recycle the witch & dino one more year. Our neighborhood has seen an increase in families with kids. I expect candy distribution to be popular.

Kevin ends his eight week training program today. One word - YIPPEE!! These last eight weeks were important for his career development but not easy on any of us. I am very proud of this accomplishment, but look forward to some normalcy in October.

The leaves are changing, the crisp autumn morning air has arrived and the pumpkins are being picked. I love autumn.