Friday hodgepodge

“Can you see the difference in yourself?”

That’s one of the questions I’ve gotten the most since I started losing weight. My answer was always the same, “Not really. I mean, my clothes are looser, but I can’t really see it.”\\

I think I have a new answer.

Posting the blog the other day and seeing the picture was eye-opening for me. It was the very first time I could see the difference. In fact, I was more focused on how terrible my hair was than how many chins I had. That’s a change. In case you’re worried, I have alerted my hairdresser with a big S.O.S.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had as much time as I would have liked to try some of the recipes you have sent me. But last night, I tried a simple recipe for a grilled chicken salad with mango and avocado sent to me by Ashley Hauserman from the CICU.

It was a perfect light meal for summer. I just threw together some Romaine, spinach and grilled chicken and then cut up some mango and avocado. I tossed it all together with balsamic vinegar and olive oil along with some kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. So. Good. I’m kind of dreaming about it today. The flavor of the mango and avocado was especially satisfying together. I think this might become a staple in my house.

I also baked some panko-crusted eggplant. That was just OK. I still want to try a few of the eggplant recipes you guys sent. Next time. In the meantime, I’ll keep asking for recipes, so be ready!

I’m substituting at the Ronald this weekend. I’m really hoping for a good weekend, especially after the disaster that was last time. As usual, I’ll give you guys all the gritty details Monday.

Finally, I want to send a big “Go girls!” to my Children’s friends who are participating in the Iron Girl this weekend. I think all of you are such rock stars. If I could swim properly and if it hadn’t been about 20 years since I’ve been on a bike, I might be joining you. Perhaps I’ll take some crash courses for next year. Anyway, I’m rooting for you guys. I can’t wait to hear how well you do You girls are my heroes!

With that, have a wonderful weekend, friends.

P.S. A few of you (especially from Children’s) have let me know that you’re having trouble posting comments. Please keep trying. Sometimes it helps to refresh the comments page a few times. If you can, e-mail me and let me know the error message you're getting.