Hello 2012!!!

We just completed our family card. What fun memories!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Taxes - DONE

Yeah! We just submitted our taxes. It's a great feeling to have that over with. Plus we got a little something back. :)

1 Week

This morning marks 1 week of being wheat, sugar, and dairy-free. Well kind of, Garrett and I went to dinner last night at a new restaurant and I forgot to ask about the dishes enough. So I ate flour in the appetizer, cream/butter in the entree and by the end of the movie I was so thirsty that I had to have a sip of Garrett's Sprite (so sugar!). What a crazy night, but I'm back on the wagon with my brown-rice (sugar-free) cereal with Almond milk. I hope I can last a few more days so I can figure out what my "go forward" diet will be.

I'm not sure how much sugar, wheat, and dairy to bring back into my life. Any ideas?

PS - I've lost 1 lb, so there is lots of support for me to continue this a while longer.

Day 5

I've successfully started my 5th day of no sugar, no wheat, and no dairy. It is still hard especially if I don't think a head about what to eat. Finding meals that don't have these ingredients isn't as hard as it would seem, but it does require thought and energy. I guess that's an important part of any diet or life change. Some day (maybe sooner than later) I will go back to these items but in more moderation.

So here are just a few things that I've eaten...dried pears (love them!), almonds (yep - started to eat nuts), many clementines, grilled chicken with vegetables and barley, gluten-free vegan pancakes with fruit, and warm chocolate soy milk. For lunch I'm going to make french fries (with olive oil and salt).

48 hours!

I'm happy to announce I've been 48 hours (2 days) dairy-free, wheat-free, and sugar-free. Natural sugars are okay. :) It's been a long journey of cleansing, so I thought I would share the food journey for anyone who is thinking about this. It may be foolish or very wise to start this around Valentine's Day, but I got enough support last week with ideas that I just had to start right away.

Last week I became aware of all the dairy, wheat and sugar in my life. Though I tried to just cut it out, that was not the correct way. I needed options before I went completely free. So Garrett and I went to Whole Foods and went crazy. All the milk substitutes and bread ideas. With plenty of options to eat, I started on Sunday.

It wasn't too bad on Sunday but I really wanted a cookie or hot chocolate. I did eat lots of almonds, clementines, gluten-free bread. For lunch I made a ham sandwich with soy-cheese. Rice cheese is not that good. Then we ate a lovely lamb and brussels sprouts with frozen fruit for dessert. I survived!

That gave me great motivation for my second day. Egg whites with spinach and mushrooms greeted me for breakfast. Then I had 2 gluten-free, soy-cheese, ham sandwiches (not a good thing for a second day). Handful of nuts. This did not help me since it was Valentine's day with tons of chocolate and cookies outside my door. I was so sad to not partake. I ended up getting a headache.

So to save me from going off this, I went to Whole Foods and found their naturally sweetened soda - yummy! Once there I found the perfect dinner - tomales. And I was inspired for tomorrow's lunch - sushi. The journey is tough but everyone says that in a couple of days I will feel fabulous and not miss all of these things. Fortunately this is not a complete life change but a cleansing diet. Wish me luck!

Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

Surprising but Garrett really loves Brussels Sprouts, so I've learned different ways to cook them. Our favorite is to lightly coat in olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in the oven for 30-40 min. After my cooking class I learned a twist to make it even better. Yeah and thank you Myra Kornfeld!

Title: Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

Ingredients:

1 lb Brussels Sprouts

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 Tablespoon mustard

1 Tablespoon butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

black pepper

1/2 C pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400F. Peel the outer leaves off the Brussels Sprouts. Trim the stems, leaving just enough on to keep the leaves intact. Cut the sprouts in half.

Toss the sprouts with the olive oil and salt in a medium bowl. Spread on baking sheet and roast in oven for 30 min (stirring a couple of times until tender and browned). While sprouts are cooking start on the glaze. Remove sprouts and place in shallow dish.

Glaze - add the maple syrup, mustard and butter/coconut oil to a small saucepan or skillet. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Continue cooking another 2 min or so until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Pour over the Brussels Sprouts and toss to combine. Sprinkle with black pepper and pecans.

Garlicky Braised Kale with Balsamic Vinegar and Capers

I went to my first cooking class with Myra Kornfeld. It was so much fun and I loved learning how to cook different vegetables. This is definitely in line with my goal to each more veggies that I started last year. :) This reminded me of southern greens, and I knew I had to make it for Garrett. So we had it for Sunday dinner tonight with Salmon - big hit!

Title: Garlicky Braised Kale with Balsamic Vinegar and Capers


Ingredients:
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon capers, drained
1 lb Kale (stemmed, washed and torn into 1-inch
pieces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C water
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Whack the garlic with the side of a heavy knife to
lightly crush each clove. Slice each smashed piece
in half.

Warm the olive oil in a medium (to large) pot over
medium heat with the garlic and saute, stirring until
the garlic starts to brown (2-3 min). Add the capers
and saute for another minute. Add the kale, salt,
pepper, and water. Toss the kale with tongs,
pushing the uncooked leaves to the bottom until all
the greens are wilted. Reduce the heat and simmer
covered until the kale is tender (10 min).

Uncover and turn the heat to high and boil away the
remaining liquid stirring frequently until the liquid has
almost all evaporated. Remove from the heat and
stir in the vinegar. Serve immediately.

Number Of Servings:4

Preparation Time:30 min

Rome - My First Visit

Garrett is now in Rome, NY for the summer. He's working with AFRL on a research project, so I only get to see him on the weekends. :( But like my coworker stated - if you can't get quantity time then go for quality with the time. That's what we are going for. Every weekend will be full of memories and bonding time. Sounds like an okay summer.

So this is my first visit to Rome. We also went to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Comorah Pageant. It was so beautiful.

A beautiful lake at Rome

The Hill Comorah Pageant

Palmyra Temple

My Hero :)

You might not be able to see it but the Victory USA on the concrete block is made out of pennies.

Full Month

Our month has been VERY full so not much has been written. Garrett has been racking up the sky miles with all of his travel (Paris, California, Rome-NY, Utah). I was fortunate to be able to tag along for the Paris trip. Besides that both of us had interesting work stresses. However, in this very full month I am filled with more with gratitude and love. I have felt so much support that it is amazing. I know that Heavenly Father loves me and has a work for me to do. I'm just trying to stay open and focused for what that might be.

Now that Garrett is in Rome, NY...I will finally focus on getting pictures posted. We have had so much fun that I feel sad that it has not been shared.

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Now that he's older and wiser, here are a few thoughts from Garrett:

1) I like steak. (we went to BLT Steakhouse to celebrate and had some amazing food)

2) I love my wife. (maybe because I bought him the steak - j/k)

New York Library

Garrett and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to go to Bryant Park. Unfortunately it was being renovated and all the grass was torn up. But that didn't ruin the day - just the sitting on the grass part. We then had lunch and walked to the library to get our New York Library cards. The first books we checked out...an autobiography (A Backwards Glance) and a book on learning French.

Am I now a New Yorker?

I've now changed my name on almost all records/IDs except for my passport. Just this weekend, I received my driver's license for the State of New York. Does this make me an official New Yorker?

No more Utah driver's license (which I've had for my entire driving career). It's a mixed emotion day. It's cool to be Elizabeth Rose, but I'm starting to lose my Utah stuff. Now to get the passport!

Salmon Pinwheels

We had this dinner on Sunday and it was delicious! It was in EatingWell.

• 1/2 cup coarse dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat (Saltine Crackers also work)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped shallot
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon chopped rinsed capers
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 1/4 pounds center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut lengthwise into 4 strips
• 4 teaspoons low-fat mayonnaise

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Mix oil, mustard, shallot, lemon juice, capers and thyme in a small bowl until combined.
3. Working with one at a time, spread 1 teaspoon mayonnaise on a salmon strip. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the breadcrumb mixture over the mayonnaise. Starting at one end, roll the salmon up tightly, tucking in any loose filling as you go. Insert a toothpick though the end to keep the pinwheel from unrolling. Place in the prepared dish. Add breadcrumbs on top. Repeat with the remaining salmon strips.
4. Bake the pinwheels until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

7 Month Anniversary

It's our Seven Month Anniversary as well as the anniversary of our engagement. Yeah! In addition, our fabulous event was published in the Martinsville Bulletin. It looks beautiful!

http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=22755&back=accent

Visitors

My niece, Sarah, sent us a fun visitor to enjoy New York. He was so flat that he flew over via the US Postal Service. We also had friends from Australia visit. They had to fly via Delta. Here are a few pics from our fun weekend.

The Opera - La Fille du Régiment

Garrett and I went to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center. The opera was fantastic with an amazing tenor. We were all the way at the top, but it was still great. The average age of those around us was 55 (and that was including us). It was probably because we went to a matinee showing.

Blizzard in NYC - Feb 10th

It can't compare to DC, but we had plenty of snow to write messages in them. It did snow all day on Wednesday, so schools were cancelled (even Garrett's university). Most people didn't go into work, but I did! Garrett was sweet enough to walk me to work. Here are some memories of the day.

Celebration

For our anniversary and Valentine's Day, Garrett took me to a lovely restaurant called The Russian Tea Room. It was so amazing! Garrett had stroganoff which consisted of fillet mignon with an amazing sauce with mushrooms over noodles. It was a deconstructed meal - best ever. Our desserts were pretty cool too.

The art around the building was fabulous also. It was just a lovely evening. Thanks sweetie!

Crystal Bear that is an aquarium. So beautiful

Faberge Eggs hung from a gold tree.

6 Month Anniversary

Where were you 6 months ago? We were at the Manti, Utah Temple getting married. Yeah! It's fun to remember the beautiful day as the world is windy and cold around us.

Welcome Elizabeth Hales Rose

Well the long process of changing my name has begun. Who knew the complexities of the entire process, but it all began with the Social Security Card and hopefully will end by April with a passport.

I went to the Social Security Office near China Town and may have been the only person who did not speak fluent Chinese. It was great because it wasn't crowded. The 20-degree weather and time of day worked in my advantage and I only had to wait 10 minutes. Then I tried to change my driver's license or bank accounts, but everything needs to have a copy of the new Social Security card first.

However, when I start my new job on Monday, my office and telephone will say "Betsy Rose". Yeah!