MapMyFitness

I have been using MapMyFitness for years, but have always been set to Friends Only view.  How am I supposed to push myself if no one can see my progress (or the lack thereof) and given I don't have any friends on MapMyFitness outside of my husband, no one knows what I am doing.  There is zero accountability to anyone except myself.  That just won't do.  I don't even hold myself accountable.

So...it is now set to public.  Please follow me, friend me, push me to do better!

If you are not already using MapMyFitness, take a look!

MapMyFitness



I'm listed as Heidi Snider and located in Clatskanie, Oregon if that helps.

If you end up friending me, please let me know via the comments section below so I can make a point to look you up!

Super excited to start this journey with more than just myself.  :)

I know...I know...

I know it has been an incredibly long time since I have even opened this blog, what was there from 2010 was a very small portion, but alas..it is open now.

I have come to the conclusion that there are too many things rolling around the inside of my head.  Too many things that I say I want to do, but do nothing about it.  Making it public will make it a requirement for me.  I don't want to look bad in front of my peeps.  All of two of them.  (Hi Mom!  Hi Grant!)

So here's how it goes.  Areas of focus.

1. My financial growth.  Am I growing?
2. My home is a mess!  My life is a mess!
3. Food. Yum.
      **I kind of sound like Homer Simpson with that one.**
4. Personal Progress
5. There is Beauty All Around
6. Food Storage (yes, I know it is on there twice)
7. My butt is way too big.

So there you have it.  Those are the areas of focus that you will see on this blog.  Humbling as it may be, it needs to be done.  So have fun diving into the life of boring chaos.  Is that an oxy moron?

Free Fruit? How About Some Rosemary?

In my pursuit to do anything but actual work today I came across a really nifty website.

http://neighborhoodfruit.com/home

This is a site that if you register, you can gain access to free produce across the nation. It's really quite simple. You enter the zip code of the area that you are in, and anything that is available for free--remember all those free walnuts when we were kids?--it is listed and is yours for the taking. If you have a large rosemary bush--a person can only use so much rosemary--list the bush and make it available for others to use.

One good thing is that it only lists items that are currently available.

Pasta at Last

After years of having the desire, we have finally made our own homemade pasta. The last time we did this I was pregnant with Elizabeth, and since she will be 11 next month, it has been quite awhile.


It was just the girls and I to start, but along comes Scott needing to prove his pasta making abilities. I'll give him the kudos. His pasta dough was better than mine. My dough was way too stiff.

Thanks mom for letting us use your pasta maker!

On the last season of "Next Food Network Star" Melissa D'Arabian, that season's winner, gave an amazing tip. She said that you can regrow you green onions.

Zoe and I tried this just to see if it would work. It did! We just put them in a canning jar of water on the window sill and there was noticeable growth everyday!!! Now I don't have to keep going to the store to get green onions because they stay fresh and they keep regenerating.

Yesterday, we took the two dogs (the two on the left) to go pick up Veronica and Zoe from the church. While we were there they got a bit wound up (thanks Marina!) and that was our cue to leave. Now that the scene is set, here is how it went.

Heidi: "Girls, do NOT roll down the windows."

Ammon (friend) walks up to the car and Elizabeth promptly rolls down the window. Schatzi starts barking and trying to get out of the car and in the process is digging her claws into Elizabeth's leg. So now we have a two barking dogs with one trying to get out the window and Elizabeth screaming.

Veronica being the always helpful child decides that the best solution is to roll up the window, just high enough that Schatzi's head gets stuck. Elizabeth is still screaming, both dogs are still barking, mom is now yelling at Veronica to stop it.

I then turn around to roll the window back down so that we can get Schatzi's head back in and get her off Elizabeth's lap, thus ending Elizabeth's relentless screaming.

In the short time it took for me to turn back around to help get Schatzi back in the car, Veronica being once again ever so helpful has proceeded to roll up the window AGAIN and once AGAIN Schatzi's head is stuck, dogs are still barking, Elizabeth is still screaming, Zoe's yelling at Veronica, Veronica's completely confused, and mom is completely embarassed because EVERYONE was watching at this point.

Heidi: "Veronica, do NOT roll up the window." (Sound a little familiar but in reverse?)

I grab Schatzi's leg, manage to roll down the window just enough to get her head back in, pull her off Elizabeth. Roll up the other two windows at this point, and hightail is out of there.

A Loaf of Focaccia Everyday

I found this great recipe on allrecipes.com for focaccia bread, modified it a bit to satisfy my lazy nature, and now make about a loaf a day. This is tonight's loaf that will be used for turkey sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. It is topped with Green Goddess seasoning from Penzeys and asiago cheese.

Focaccia Bread

1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
4 1/2 tsp yeast or 2 pkgs of yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
3-4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water until foamy. Add sugar and salt. Gradually add the flour until the dough has reached an almost not sticky consistency. Place a damp towel over the bowl and place in a warm location for about an hour. It should be about double in size.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Put the dough directly on the cookie sheet and put about 1 tbsp olive oil (or oil or your choice) on top and use the oil to help spread the dough until it is about 1 inch thick. Sprinkle with topping of choice (topping options listed below).

Let rise until double, and then place in a cold oven (do not preheat) and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the bottom is golden and the top is starting to turn golden.

Topping options that we have tried:

Olive oil and salt
Olive oil and asiago cheese
Olive oil, Green Goddess seasoning, asiago cheese (pictured above)
Olive oil, Mural of Flavor seasoning (also from Penzeys)
Canola oil, sugar, cinnamon (makes incredible pb&j sandwiches)

The best part about the recipe is that there isn't the floury mess left on your counter to clean up. Essentially the only clean up is the bowl, dough hook, measuring cups, and cookie sheet. See! Laziness in disguise.