Movie Review: Precious

John & I watched Precious on Sunday night. I really liked it. It's definitely a hard one to watch, but worth it in my opinion. And let me add this, Mo'Nique earned that Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. It's worth watching for her appearance alone.

Apparently a lot of people are hesitant to watch this movie for whatever reason. I'm not going to lie, it's tough, but it's not all bad. There are aspects of the film that are hopeful & uplifting. I found myself cheering for Precious in the end, not crying.

Speaking of Precious, Gabourey Sidibe (Gabby) does an amazing job, especially considering she isn't a trained actress. I wanted to know how they cast her, so I watched the Special Features on the DVD & found out apparently they cast her, then taught her the role. When you see her & hear her speak in real life, it's incredible how much she transformed herself for this role.

Everyone I've talked to about this movie has said the same thing, "You watched it? How was it? I want to see it, but I don't know." I don't get it. I had zero hesitation in watching this. I guess people feel it's sadder than they can handle. Maybe they're scared their heart will explode. I don't know. I loved it & I highly recommend it.

Tuna Panini

I'm really into panini sandwiches so I registered for a panini press for our wedding & got one (thanks, Jessica & Brian!). Well, sad to say it's spent the past year & a half unused. Until tonight.

Tuna Panini

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 4

2 tbsp finely chopped red onion

3 tbsp Kraft mayo with olive oil

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 slices center-cut bacon, cooked & crumbled

2 (5 ounce) cans albacore tuna in water; drained & flaked

8 slices bread

4 slices provolone cheese

1. Combine 1st 6 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well to coat. Place 4 bread slices on a flat surface; top each bread slice with 1 cheese slice (we used butter, too). Divide tuna mixture evenly among bread slices; top each serving with 1 remaining bread slice.

2. Heat a large skillet (or panini press) over medium heat. Lightly coat sandwiches with cooking spray. Place sandwiches in pan; top with another heavy skillet. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned (leave skillet on sandwiches as they cook).

The recipe called for sourdough bread, but we used Trader Joe's Country White & it was fine. I only used 2 tbsp red onion, the recipe called for 3. I don't love onion. The recipe also called for 1/4 tsp fennel seeds, crushed. I don't even know what those are, so I left those out. Cooking Light recommends serving this sandwich with fresh apple slices or a tossed green salad, but we used Ore-Ida Zesties because that's how we roll.

This sandwich was really good. Even John liked it. I'm definitely going to start using that panini press more often. I think I even have a panini cookbook. I should find that....

Bon appetit!

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday Night:
MK came over & we watched The September Issue (see review in prior post), which we both loved!

Saturday:
Ran 3 miles around the 'hood, went to The Farmers' Market, Trader Joe's, Publix, etc. Went to Sweet CeCe's for the first time. OMG. Why have I waited so long to go in there! So good! Funny side story, (I was the oldest person in there) the teenage kid in line behind me had flowers & no yogurt, which I didn't understand until I paid & turned around to leave & heard him ask the teenage cashier to go to prom with him. She squealed, clapped, ran around the counter & hugged him while all her fellow teenage co-workers were snapping pictures with their camera phones. It was pretty funny. Ahh, young Belle Meade love......

Saturday Night:
Sewing Night! Carolyn hosted a sewing night at her house to attempt to domesticate those among us who never learned to sew. Good food (I made this), good friends, good pillows. Full photostream here.

Sunday:
Went to brunch at South Street to see our friend Ken off, as he's moving to Austin, TX next week with his girlfriend, Allison. Made $193 at McKay's by getting rid of a shit-ton of books, CDs & DVDs that I didn't want anymore. Had planned on making this for dinner, but didn't read the directions until it was too late. Had I made it, we wouldn't have eaten until midnight. So we had Thai instead. We came back home & watched Precious. So good! Official review forthcoming.

Spring Has Sprung

Full photostream here.

Movie Review: The September Issue

Last night, Mary Katherine came over & we watched The September Issue. I loved, loved, loved this movie! Well, technically it's a documentary, but whatever. I loved it. It's an hour & a half look into the world of Anna Wintour & what it takes to put out the September issue of Vogue.

This isn't The Devil Wears Prada. Although there are definitely scenes where she is unapologetically rude & curt, that's not the point of this film. The point is to show how powerful she is in the fashion world & how much work goes into this behemoth once a year issue.

It's also very much about Grace Coddington, the creative director for Vogue. She & Anna both started at American Vogue on the same day & have spent the subsequent 20 years working side by side. They bicker a lot, but they both clearly respect each other & ultimately prove to be a good team. Unexpectedly, the movie is as much about Grace, as it is about Anna. Grace is kind of my new hero, although I did spend the entire hour & a half wanting to do a hot oil treatment on her hair.

If you read fashion magazines (namely Vogue); if you read/saw The Devil Wears Prada; & if you, like me, have always had a morbid fascination with Anna Wintour &/or the fashion magazine industry as a whole, then you should see this movie.

Book Review: Belong To Me

I just finished reading Belong To Me by Marisa De Los Santos. I loved this book! Last year, I read her first book, Love Walked In, & loved it, too. You don't necessarily have to read them in order, but if you're going to read both books, I recommend reading Love Walked In first.

Both books revolve around the main character, Cornelia. In the first book, Cornelia is a single girl in the city. In the second book, she's married, pregnant & in the suburbs. Cornelia is the kind of main character that everyone can identify with. She's quirky, smart, independent -you'll love her! In fact, you'll find yourself pretty attached to all the characters, even the ones you initially hate.

These books are definitely written for women, but I wouldn't call them 'chick lit.' They're deeper & smarter than that. They're also fairly long books, but I read both in about a week. I couldn't put them down.

Highly recommend both of these books.

Spaghetti with Sausage & Simple Tomato Sauce

Another winner from Cooking Light! Man, this subscription is really proving to be a worthwhile investment. This recipe is from the April 2010 issue. It's actually the cover recipe & it is DELICIOUS. The spice factor is perfection. Highly recommend this recipe.

Spaghetti with Sausage & Simple Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light

Makes 4 Servings

8 ounces sweet Italian sausage links

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti

1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup torn fresh basil

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Arrange sausage on broiler pan. Broil sausage 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pan from oven (do not turn broiler off). Cut sausage into 1/4" thick slices & broil 2 more minutes or until browned.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

4. Place tomatoes in a food processor; process until almost smooth. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add crushed red pepper & minced garlic; saute 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, & salt; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick. Add sausage & cooked pasta to pan; toss well. Top with fresh basil & shredded parmesan cheese.

Stir-Fried Pork & Snow Peas with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Stir-Fried Pork & Snow Peas with Sweet & Sour Sauce

From Cook's Illustrated The Best 30-Minute Recipe

Serves 4

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 red onion

6 ounces (1 cup) snow peas

1 (20 ounce) can diced pineapple, drained

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

MAKING THE MINUTES COUNT:

Prepare the sauce while the pork cooks. Mince the garlic & grate the ginger while the vegetables cook.

1. STIR-FRY PORK & PREPARE SAUCE: Toss pork with soy sauce. Heat 2 tsp of oil in 12" nonstick skillet (or wok) over medium high heat until just smoking. Add pork & cook, stirring occasionally & breaking up clumps, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. (While pork cooks, prepare sauce.) Transfer pork to clean bowl.

2. STIR-FRY VEGETABLES & PINEAPPLE: Add 1 more tbsp of oil to pan & return to high heat until shimmering. Add onion & snow peas & cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add pineapple & cook until warmed through.

3. COMBINE & SIMMER: Clear center of pan & add remaining 1 tsp oil, garlic, & ginger. Cook, mashing garlic mixture into pan with back of spatula until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cooked pork. Whisk sauce to recombine, add it to pan, & bring to simmer. Cook until sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

6 tbsp red wine vinegar

6 tbsp orange juice

6 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in medium bowl & use as directed in stir-fry recipe.

This was sooooo good! The combination of the pineapple & the sweet & sour sauce is delish. Definitely recommend this recipe.

Movie Review: Food, Inc.

I watched Food, Inc. on Friday night. I found it informative & similar to The Omnivore's Dilemma, yet I was surprised at the amount of information I didn't already know. Over the past few years, I've read books like Fast Food Nation & The Omnivore's Dilemma; I've watched Super Size Me & the recent Oprah episode with Michael Pollan & Alicia Silverstone; I've watched friends participate in local CSA programs; & I've watched lots of friends become vegetarians. I've certainly been aware. But I've also been a lot more ignorant than I realized.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I am perpetually trying to lose weight. In doing so, I've spent the past 10-ish years buying low-fat, low-carb foods, paying little attention to anything else. I am now realizing that I've been pumping my body full of a variety of foods & chemicals that aren't actually food, at least not in Michael Pollan's opinion. God knows what's in the 1,000,000 Lean Cuisines I've consumed in my 33 years. I'd probably bleed high fructose corn syrup if you cut me open.

So here's my plan:

Buy locally when I can

Buy only grass-fed, antibiotic-free meat

Buy cage-free eggs

Buy organic milk

Read all ingredients labels
Buy less processed foods
Be more aware of what produce is in season

John & I had a long talk about all of this over the weekend & he's on board. Of course, he'll still continue to eat a Wendy's combo meal for lunch every day, but that's neither here nor there. Actually, that raises a good point. I've decided to not be a nazi about this & to realize I can only control what I buy. For instance, on Sunday my mom cooked a roast. I didn't ask her if the roast came from a grass-fed, antibiotic free cow, I just ate it. And it was delicious.

My friend Kat forwarded me a good article that reiterates a lot the things I'm saying here, albeit better articulated. Highly recommend reading it. You can find the article here.

This is definitely a work in progress. This is also the first time I'm making an attempt to change my eating habits for reasons besides weight loss. I'm doing it because I'm kind of pissed off. I feel like I've been duped by the food companies, USDA, FDA, advertising, misinformation, mislabeling, etc. Food, Inc. raises a good point at the end about how we're all voters & every time we go into the grocery store & buy some chemically altered non-food, we're saying (voting) that it's okay to sell us this crap. I'm paraphrasing here, but basically, things won't change if we don't demand it.

If you haven't seen Food, Inc. & you're interested in these issues, I highly recommend it. On the other hand, if you don't want to know what's in your food or where Tyson & Purdue get their horribly disfigured chickens, stay away.

I give it two hooves up & a snap!

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday Night:

Stayed in, made pasta, opened a bottle of wine & watched Food Inc. Finally! I've been meaning to watch this movie since it came out. Review forthcoming...

Saturday:

Drove over to my old hood & ran 3 miles up & down Belmont Blvd. Felt really good to run with other runners. I've mapped out a 3 mile loop in my neighborhood, but it involves running down a super shady street & there's all these stray dogs that haven't chased me yet, but I fear it's inevitable.

Post-run, John & I headed over to the Farmer's Market for lunch & fresh produce. Then I did my usual weekend errands: Trader Joe's, Publix, Target, etc. I also spent a good part of the afternoon reading on the deck. Got to get that vitamin D in when I can!

Saturday Night:

With Carolyn & David in tow, we made the trek to M'boro for Lauren & Kelly's annual St. Patrick's Day party. We had a blast. I'm totally guessing here, but I think it's safe to say I had about 100 green beers & 200 shamrock cookies. Ballpark.

Apparently David's dad was quite the lady's man in college because Lauren's mom & all of her friends went batshit when they saw David & immediately realized who's son he is. It was hilarious. David was a celebrity. You've never seen such excitement. They all had their picture made with him, ha ha!

Sunday:

With the allure of homemade roast, John & I made our way to Smyrna for lunch & to see the twins, who are now a month old & still identical. My sister has taken to painting their tiny, little thumbnails to tell them apart. They're pretty cute, as evidenced above.

Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tacos

Tonight we tried a combination of these awesome shrimp tacos a friend made for us last Valentine's Day & a recipe I found on Closet Cooking. My friend made chipotle mayo & used real (read: corn) tortillas, which ultimately made hers better, but I was still pleased with how ours turned out. They were really fresh & I didn't feel guilty for eating them.

We started with this chipotle lime shrimp recipe on Closet Cooking. Then we added this recipe for jalapeno cole slaw, which I need to remember to cut in half next time. We heated up some La Tortilla wheat tortillas, black beans & voila, chipotle lime shrimp tacos!

Movie Review: The Cove

I watched The Cove earlier this week. Tiffany, who lived in Japan after college, recommended it to me. Recently, it won an Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. It's about the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't have watched it if Tiffany hadn't told me to. I just never had a lot of interest in dolphins. I think it's safe to say this movie changed that.

As a bleeding-heart liberal, I've always had a soft spot for those treated unfairly, human or animal. This place in Japan, Taiji, September through March of every year, captures tens of thousands of dolphins. People come from all over the world to buy these dolphins for things like swimming with dolphin programs at island resorts, Seaworld, etc. The dolphins who aren't chosen are taken around the corner to this cove where they are brutally slaughtered. Every day. September through March.

The movie follows a team of activists trying to capture on film what happens in this cove. They end up going at night & setting up hidden cameras & microphones everywhere. Eventually, they get the cove slaughter caught on film. It's possibly the most brutal thing I've ever seen. I got choked up & had to look away. I couldn't watch it. The entire cove actually turns red from the massive amount of blood. It will rip your heart out.

It's only an hour & a 1/2 long, so it's not a big time investment. I think it's something people should see. Report back.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday Night:

Girls night. Katie, Alexis, Libby, Courtney & Shelby came over for food & drink. We ate, drank & talked until well past midnight. We kept laughing at ourselves for 'The View' like topics we discussed, i.e. national health care, CoverTN, TennCare, cancer, babies, etc. Serious topics aside, it was a really fun night.

Saturday:

I went to a belated birthday brunch with my friend Jaime at Local Taco, then we went thrifting. Jaime scored these awesome twin-sized wicker headboards that she's going to paint & use as one king-size headboard in her new house. I got a really neat side/coffee table at Southern Thrift that needs some TLC, but I have high hopes for it.

This weekend was the year anniversary of us rescuing Linda McCartney. As such, she had a vet appointment to get her yearly shots. The routine heartworm test came back positive, but when I showed them that she tested negative a year ago & that she's been on Heartguard for the past year, they re-tested her. Positive again. They're now sending her bloodwork off to a lab. We'll hear back in a week.

The vet thinks she probably had them when we got her last year, but because they can take up to 6 months to show up on a test, she tested negative. She also said the Heartguard has helped her because Heartguard kills the new heartworms that the adult heartworms reproduce. The vet thinks she probably has 2-3 adult female heartworms, which she said is "low burden." She also said it's a good sign that Linda's healthy & doesn't show any of the symptoms associated with heartworms.

After the vet explained everything to me, I understood & I was okay, then all the vet techs started coming up to me, patting me on the arm & saying how sorry they were, like she was dying. That freaked me out. I quickly made it out to the car & completely lost it. I was crying so hard, I couldn't even tell John what happened. I cried all the way home & a good part of the afternoon. Even though I'm pretty sure she's going to be okay, the thought of her not being okay is just not something I can deal with. Regardless, we won't know anything for a week.

Saturday Night:

We met Mike & Chrissi down the street at Cinco for dinner. Fresh off my afternoon crying spell, I promptly ordered a big beer & the most fattening thing on the menu, fajitas be damned. Mike & Chrissi were the perfect dinner companions because they're both so funny. I was feeling 100% better by the time we got back home. Also, Linda had ceased being mad at me for the shots & let me pet her again.

Sunday:

The time change messed me up yesterday. I sat around for hours, clearing out my Tivo & playing on the computer. Now that I have my new MacBook, I decided to start using it. I made a house folder on my desktop & saved all my inspiration pictures to it, something I've been meaning to do for about a year now. John finally woke up & we did our usual Sunday stuff: lunch, grocery store, etc. Then we drove East to check on Carolyn & David's kitchen progress. I don't know how many of you have been following their kitchen reno online, but it's going to look amazing! Girls, we'll all see it on the 27th for sewing night. Everyone else, maybe they'll have a party soon to show it off.

We came back home & made a nutritious dinner of beer battered fish & baked mac & cheese. Yes, I easily gained 5 lbs this weekend. Whatever. I'm going to Spin today to burn off at least half of it.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Yeah, totally back down to my normal weight today. I don't know what in the hell happened yesterday. May you all sleep easier tonight knowing that I did not, in fact, gain 2 lbs this week.

Wednesday Weigh Day: Not So Much

Today sucks. I didn't sleep well. This morning I decided to try the yoga portion of My Fitness Coach & I didn't like it. It's about 60% yoga & 40% basic stretching. Also, she only gives the instructions once, then you go through it 2 or 3 more times sans instructions, which is problematic when you're doing warrior pose facing away from the TV. I had to keep turning around to see if it was time to change positions. Not very thought out. Anyway, I did 30 minutes & broke a sweat, so not a complete wash.

So I was already mildly annoyed when it was time to step on the scale. I've gained 2 lbs. To summarize, I've been stuck at the same weight for weeks, finally broke through last week & lost a pound & then gained 2 lbs this week. Awesome.

Weight gain theories:

1) I have PMS & am assuredly retaining water.

2) I consumed more carbs this week than I usually do & I've also had 1-2 glasses of wine with dinner for the past 3 nights.

3) My increase in exercise has led to an increase in muscle, thus throwing my weight on the scale.

All very plausible explanations, but I still feel like crap. Two lbs is a big deal when you're trying to lose upwards of 20 lbs. My clothes are still loose, so there's that, but overall, I'm pretty discouraged, which is undoubtedly compounded by my raging PMS. I'm going to weigh myself again tomorrow & see if there's any change. My weight fluctuates by 1-3 lbs a day, so maybe I'll be back at my normal weight tomorrow. I'll report back.

Book Review: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

I'm typically a fast reader, but it took me almost 2 months to finish Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. This book is long, a little over 500 pages, & it's a slow read. The author has a unique writing style that I found distracting. She makes up fake citations & puts them all throughout the writing, like 1-2 a paragraph. For 500 pages. I got used to it by the end, but it was a major distraction in the beginning.

The book is about a girl, Blue Van Meer, who's mother dies when she's 5 years old, so she's raised by her father. The story picks up when Blue is 16 & a senior in high school. She falls into a group she calls the "blue bloods", who hang out at a teacher's house every Sunday, eating, drinking, etc. A conspiracy theory of sorts develops about the teacher. Unfortunately, I can't go into it without giving away the ending, but it is an interesting ending. I liked the ending, it was the other other 400 pages I had trouble with. I didn't identify with any of the characters, nor was I ever anxious to pick the book up & find out what happens next.

It's similar to The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but not as good. I just recently read The Secret History, so maybe that's why I didn't like it. I don't know. Read the reviews on Amazon & decide for yourself. I'm not saying it was a bad book, especially since so many of my friends liked it, it just didn't do it for me.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday Night:
Stayed in & finished reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics (more on that later). Pretty lame Friday night, but what else is new.

Saturday:
7:30am 5K at Opry Mills. Pros: ran the entire 5K; shaved almost 5 minutes off my time; money went to Humane Society. Cons: bad shoes; bad course. We literally ran around Opry Mills via the parking lot. It was horrible. Plus, my running shoes were in my car in Smyrna, so I had to run in 2 year old shoes. My knees swelled up like melons. I had to ice them when I got home.

2:00pm book swap at MHG's in East Nasty. This is the book club I joined over the summer via MK. We meet once a month, eat, drink, & swap books. Everyone brings 1 or 2 books, explains why they like said book & then we all swap. It's pretty awesome.

Saturday Night:
Exhausted from getting up so early & drinking too much champagne at book swap, John & I walked next door to Korea House for dinner, then I promptly fell asleep on the couch.

Sunday:
I drove to Smyrna to pick up my car & see my sister & the twins for the first time in 2 weeks. All is well. The twins are doing great & as of today, everyone is over the stomach/ebola virus that plagued their house last week.

Wednesday Weigh-In: Thursday Edition

Finally, after 3 weeks at the same weight, this week I lost 0.5 lbs. Not much, but it's something. This brings my total weight loss to 9 lbs. In the beginning, I was working out sporadically, maybe 1-3 times a week. Most people find success with Weight Watchers sans exercise. I am not one of those people. I have to exercise to lose weight, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I do sincerely enjoy working out. I just don't have a lot of time for it this time of year.

For the past 3-4 weeks, I've been working out like a bandit. I've been riding the elliptical for 45 minutes in the morning, using My Fitness Coach on the Wii, & running outside or at the Y at least once a week.

I've also dramatically cut down on eating out. This time of year, I don't have much time in the mornings to make/pack a lunch, plus I have an intern who is more than willingly to run out & get me lunch every day. But I've been really good. I only go out for lunch on Fridays. And I've gotten better on the weekends, too. For the most part, I'm only eating out on Sat nights, opposed to Fri night, Sat lunch, Sat dinner, & Sun brunch. Huge difference!

So it's slow going, but it's definitely working. I'm running a 5K this Sat with my friend Jessica & I'm really looking forward to it because it's supposed to be warm this weekend. That'll be a nice change from the last 5K I did in the 20 degree snowy weather. My lungs hurt for days after that one.

My Poor Sister

A little perspective for anyone who thinks they're having a bad week. My sister is at home with a 4 year old, a 13 month old, & newborn twins. My sister, her husband & the 13 month old all have a debilitating stomach virus. Having just had a C-Section, my sister can't pick up her 13 month old, who is very sick & undoubtedly begging to be picked up. Having recently had this horrific stomach virus myself, I can't imagine how much worse it is having a freshly made incision in your lower abdomen. So far, the 4 year old & the twins haven't gotten sick. So far...

To add insult to injury, the online calendar that was set up to make sure she has food for these first 2 weeks at home is screwed up & she quit receiving food last Tuesday. Luckily I have awesome friends (Katie & Holly) who, in a favor to me, took food to her over the weekend. I've since tracked down some of her friends on Facebook & enlisted their help. I think at this point she should be good through spring thaw. Also, today is her birthday. I sent her flowers, at which point her poor, sick husband remembered it was her birthday & sent her a 'happy birthday' text from the bedroom he's been quarantined to since Sunday.

Seriously.