Happy Earth-day Birthday!

Good for us. Good for the earth!

Today we did just that. Walked our youngest to preschool. Walked home. Had a yummy pb and honey sandwich with apple slices for lunch (organic of course). Took our recycling in - the boys love hearing the glass smash in the bins. Went to the dentist... hmm... not exactly green but required. Made beef barley soup for supper. A great day.

I have friends who love soup (you know who you are :-) I love soup too. Below is a recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook that I've been making for a while and have adjusted to what our family likes.

10 oz boneless round steak, cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup pearl barley
6 cups water
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup mushrooms

Brown meat in skillet.
In large pot, bring water, pearl barley and meat to boil. Skim off any foam. Then add carrot, celery, onion, salk, fennel and pepper. Simmer covered for 1.5 hours. Add mushrooms at the end
and cook for 15 min. more. Enjoy.

My journey to regain the fitness level I had a year ago is well set out. I ate great today and I feel great today. For three years I followed my trainer without question and achieved 14% body fat - a well earned shopping spree followed. About 10 months ago I put my head in hole and ignored all that I'd learned and figured I could maintain without the work. Yes, I hear the moans and nodds of sympathetic agreement. My clothes just don't fit the same and to be bluntly honest, some don't fit. My JCrew pants mock me from the side of the closet every day. Well not for long, honey! I set my next training session and body composition (aka: the calipers from hell) for June 2nd. I will be well on my way and will look forward to charting my progress and enjoying the ride. Okay, maybe not enjoying but proudly working off the butt that doesn't currently fit in the super cute JCrew pants.