Why Women Stayed Home Back in the Day

I cooked a great Eggplant Parmesan the other night with homemade tomato sauce.  Yes, homemade with 4 lbs of tomatoes!  I was so busy cooking that I didn't think about taking pictures. Then I was going to take a pic of the leftovers, but we shared with my neighbor and I totally forgot again and now it is all gone. Must have been pretty good--a whole 10x15 pan gone.  I like when grown ups enjoy my meals, but there is nothing better than watching a little one (17 months) really enjoy the food you are feeding them.

This fresh, healthy eating thing is time consuming.  The prep was fairly easy--not as easy as opening up a can.  Cutting and seeding the tomatoes took the longest and peeling the skin was easy; but the clean up!  Geez, I felt like I was in the kitchen all night cleaning!

No wonder women stayed home back in the day--fresh cooking is time consuming work.  I think we've been "sold a bill of goods".  This working and doing the cooking and the housework is a bad deal.  I enjoyed the process of making the meal, and next time the clean up will be easier.  In fact, the whole process will be easier next time. We do have some advantages that women long ago didn't have--like blenders and food processors.

Next time I am not seeding the tomatoes and I will puree them in a blender as well.  I need to find a way to reduce the amount of time fresh cooking takes and the clean up too.  I will also use more cutting boards.  I used way too many bowls for peeling and seeding the tomatoes.  Cutting boards are easier and faster to clean and dry.

I really enjoyed making the sauce, but I think to make it more of a habit than buying the sauce from the store, I will need to make larger batches when the prices of tomatoes are good and learn how to can.  I'll talk about canning soon.

Here is how to make homemade tomato sauce: Click here for a printable copy.

1 medium pot or stock pot
4 lbs of Tomatoes (I got the tomatoes that were on sale)
Boiling Water
Bowl of ice water (I hear you can use plain old cold water too)
4 T olive oil (or any other oil you prefer)
1 onion
2 carrots
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks of celery

Slice an X in bottom of the tomatoes (practically makes the tomatoes peel themselves).  Put tomatoes in water for 30 seconds to a minute (I split it in three portions).  Take the tomatoes out of the boiling water and put them into the ice bath.  Peel the skins from the tomatoes.

If you want to remove the seeds (I hear they can be bitter--but I am trying it without seeding next time) slice the tomatoes in half for oblong tomatoes and in quarters for round tomatoes.  Then pull out the seeds over a strainer and bowl to capture extra juice (I got between a half cup and 3/4 doing it that way). I also used a cutting board that had grooves around the edges to capture juices.

Heat the oil.

Puree the onion, celery, carrots and garlic (you can use half the seasonings that I did) and put them into the oil to saute for about 10 minutes. (You can also add other spices as you would a finished sauce, but I did it at the end. Next time I will use the sauce in my chili and will add some Jalapeno, Serrano and Habanero (1) peppers with the puree.)

Then add the pureed or sliced tomatoes and the salt.  (You can mash them with a masher in the pot too for a chunkier sauce.)

Cook for 45 minutes (could be as little as 30, but I cooked mine for an hour) over medium low heat.

Eat away!

Juice Fast Completed

I finished my juice fast and didn't cheat once!  I was even in Laughlin, NV and still stayed on the fast--I had two days left.  I broke my fast in Laughlin with a banana...and then Mickey D's.  It was the cheapest and I was on a budget.  I know that wasn't ideal, but I continued to juice and eat fruits and veggies.  Even made a tomato, kale and avocado croissant.  Yum!

Juicing isn't really this messy--it's a double exposure photo.

Back home, still working on juicing for morning and afternoon and veggies for dinner.  Made bean chili, my daughter made an incredible vegetable soup, and we have been doing stir fry.  I never thought an entire plate of veggies would be so delicious, but it is. The fast was successful in helping me change the way I eat. The fridge still looks like a farmers market and my portion sizes have gotten smaller.

I still haven't had Diet Coke...or any type of soda!  I wanted something other than water to drink yesterday so I made lemonade.  It was refreshing, but of course it is loaded with sugar, so I'll keep that to a minimum.

I don't have the stats for my weight when I finished the fast, but on Day 8 I had lost 8 lbs.  I am now 163.5.  Not bad--especially considering that I ate junk food and drank alcohol (including a delicious fresh pineapple/orange juice with Malibu rum yum!) for a couple days on my trip.

Here are the before and after (a week after completing the fast) stats:

In/Lb Lost 4/5/2012      4/23/2012 Weight:   9 172.5 163.5 Chest:  2.5 45.5 43 Waist:   3 43 40 Hips:   2 45 43 Arms:   1.75 12 10.25 Thigh:   2 21 19 Calf  0.25 15 14.75 Total Inches Lost 11.5

Observations on Day 5 of the Juice Fast

I've made it half way through the 10 days!

It is quite interesting to observe the cravings and also the lack of cravings.  For instance, I haven't craved Diet Coke.  I might have thought about it once or twice the first day, but until Marisa mentioned it on day 4, i hadn't even thought about it.

I did however have a craving for Egg Noodle Dinner.  I loved that dish!  I haven't seen it in stores in a very long time.  I can't even remember the last time I had it, but my senses could almost taste it the other day.  That and 7-11 nachos.  I've thought about those more than once.

I have had a craving for grilled zucchini--go figure--and I can't wait to use portabello mushrooms as a meat.

Seems that everyday Marisa and I will talk about some sort of food and that gets us going.  We don't go on for too long though.  We do talk about what we will want when we break our fast.  I want a big salad with croutons and ranch dressing, (restaurant ranch dressing--I haven't found any ranch dressing on the shelves that is as good as restaurant ranch) at least that is what I want today.

Still not sure if I will be continuing the fast after 10 days.  At the very least, I do know that I will continue with juicing 2 meals a day and eating one at least until I reach my goal weight.  My long term goal is to continue to have green juice on a regular basis just to get the nutrients I need from vegetables without having to eat ginormous portions.

I am looking forward to making pulp crackers, fruit leathers, and adding the pulp to meatballs and hamburgers.  Heck, I might even try to make my own veggie burgers. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I want to have more veggies in my meals than meats because of the health benefits.

Juice Fast Day Four

This just might get boring talking only about the juice cleanse because it is going very well. No weight loss yesterday, but I am an inch down in my chest, waist and hips.  Again, I need to remind myself that I am doing this for detoxing my body and the weight loss is just a benefit.  I know I shouldn't be using the scale as a gauge, but I think it is only natural to want to do this.  My skin does feel a little softer.

Easter Juice - Carrots, Oranges, Pineapple, Strawberries, Ginger

Day four was Easter.  It was a little tough driving by restaurants (especially Lawry's) and seeing families out dining together.  By the end of the day we were both a little grumpy.

It seemed like Marisa was about ready to give up yesterday, but she found a juice that satisfied her craving, and all was right with the world.  She is calling it Caprese Juice. Tomatoes, basil and garlic.  She added a splash of balsamic vinegar to hers, and I added a half a zucchini to mine.  

We decided to use fresh veggies and not just pulp for some of our broths.  I made one to get a similar flavor to three flavors sizzling rice soup (without the meat juices of course) and it is delicious!  Marisa made one using the pulp from the dinner juice and it tasted like meatball soup, also delicious.  Really felt satisfied.

By the end of the day I still had about 6 oz of my green juice left (started with 28) and after my small dinner juice (about 6 oz) I was pretty much full, so I waited till bedtime to have my broth.

Here are the vegetables I used for the broth (guesstimating on the amount of veggies:


Three Flavors Sizzling Rice Soup Broth
1.5 C Mushrooms
1 C Snow Peas
1/4 small yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
2 t crazy salt (sea salt is fine)
2 t pepper
2 t sesame seed oil

Saute vegetables in oil then add 8 cups of water and spices.  Bring to boil and then simmer for 2.5 hours.  Perfection!

Juice Fast Day Three

Down 3.5 lbs!!  Woo Hoo!

Day three wasn't bad.  Seems that day 2 was the worst for me. If the first three days are the worst, then I'm cruising now.  I did have a mild headache off and off throughout the day.  I splurged on a Orange Mango juice from Jamba Juice. Not something I want to make a habit, but we were passing pizza shops (which smelled delicious) and other restaurants in Belmont Shores and I needed a pick me up (mentally and physically).

This isn't me--this body.  I struggled yesterday with my self image.  This is NEVER how I pictured myself.  I've battled with weight since my teens, but at this weight I feel so awful about myself.  My weight and my teeth.

Appearance.  Sure, people say it is the inside that counts, but when the outside is just so out of whack with the inside, the outside begins to overwhelm the inside.

Inside I am a confident, witty, outgoing (although a bit shy at first), and still a size 6.  Most days I think that girl is present, but days like yesterday, there is a voice or a force--the evil part of the mind--that reminds me what people are seeing is something very different.

This time around (weight wise) I have an added distraction--my teeth.  They are spreading apart and I am missing one in the front now.  Back when I had dental insurance my teeth needed serious work.  I didn't want 20 root canals and caps in my mouth and I couldn't find a dentist willing to give me dentures.  Now, that my teeth are in bad enough shape that dentists are willing to give me dentures (albeit reluctant), I can't afford the dental work.

So even when I forget that I am larger when I smile at people in public that evil reminder voice says, "hey, you are missing a tooth--don't smile," and then the contortions to hide the missing tooth begin.

Anyway, yesterday was a bad day for me in terms of how I felt emotionally about myself.  Perhaps it was the reality of the before pictures that I took on day one.  I will post them eventually, but not until I lose a little weight and can show some progress.  I never really understood people not posting before pictures, but I guess I can now.  A photo is very different than passing by a mirror.  Also, the clothes I chose to wear for the photo are very different than the clothes I would wear in public. Not that the clothes I wear in public hide the fact that I am larger, but they don't accentuate all the bumps and bulges.

Onto day four and feeling better about myself.

Juice Fast Day Two

Fast Juice

My daughter, Marisa, and I are doing the fast together and it is interesting to see the differences in how our bodies are responding to it.

The first day she was very tired and I had plenty of energy.  On day two though, the tables were turned--and worse!

I woke up with a headache, but nothing I couldn't handle.  We had planned to go the the farmer's market close to home, and run a few more errands.  I never made it out of the house--well not until about 9:30 pm to get toilet paper and movies.  She braved the real world and went to lunch at Chili's with a friend and took green juice as her lunch!  Not only did she chance going to a restaurant on day two, she also walked there.

My headache got progressively worse throughout the morning.  I tried to nap through it, put ice bags on my head, made it dark in the house, and then around 1pm I finally broke down and took some Excedrin because it was excruciating!  It didn't get rid of it completely, but it was tolerable and I could function again.

I read that sugar could make headaches worse, and the wonderful breakfast juice I made very possibly could have been the culprit.

Heavenly Pineapple Orange Strawberry Apple Juice
1/3 Pineapple
1 Sweet Apple (I used an Oh My Gosh Apple)
3 strawberries
1 Orange
1/2 inch ginger.

It was frothy and made about 18 ounces of juice. The rest of the day I drank 30oz of green juice and for dinner an 11oz salad in a glass that Marisa made.  I'll have to get the recipe from her.  It had beet, tomato, garlic, onion...and I'm not sure what else.

Juice Art by Marisa Zocco

I made another broth last night with yesterday's pulp.  I added a lot more spices this time.  My neighbor came over for a visit and she said, "if you guys are on a juice fast, why does it smell like hamburger helper in here." I don't eat Hamburger Helper much anymore (it's probably been at least a year if not two) but right now, the lasagna flavor sounds delicious.

It did smell lovely in the house all day yesterday. Marisa made a tea with the pulp from the morning juice and it smelled like we were baking apple pie.  The tea was nice too.  More flavorful than the herbal teas we bought at the store.

I was hungrier than I was on the first day of the fast.....but I also sipped on my juices rather than sucking them down quickly which may have been a part of it, but it also may just be the nature of the fast.

I am a little concerned about day three, since the headache from day two was so severe and day three is when you are supposed to feel most miserable.  I did increase my water intake--hopefully this will help flush out toxins an make me feel less bad.

We ended the day by giving each other head and shoulder massages which got rid of the lingering headache I had.  Thank you Marisa!

Onto day three!

Juice Fast: Day One

The first day went pretty good. Felt fine overall.  I need to drink more water, and learned that taking a juice with me to run errands is a good idea.  So I bought some to-go drink cups for the juice.  Also bought some herbal teas for some warmth.

Started the first day with some pure fresh squeezed orange juice.

Then I made 2 more juices for the day; Mean Green juice and Dracula's Dream Juice.  For the Dracula juice, I only used a half a beet instead of two (and glad I did-very earthy--but the beet was very large), added an extra carrot, some ginger and a kiwi.

12 oz of the Dracula Dream and 20 oz of Mean green. I drank the green juice in two sittings and the second glass was a little tart--so I may adjust the amount of green apple I put in it.

The Kale (one of the most expensive and most used ingredients) is going fast and so is the spinach (but that is cheap).

For the evening I made a gazpacho juice--tomatoes, green onion, garlic and cilantro.  The recipe called for basil, but I had cilantro.

Stats:  Kind of scary, but kind of not.  It is what it is.  In the flesh it is obvious I am overweight, but on paper it is very revealing.

Weight:  172.5 (ugh that was my full term pregnancy weight)
Chest: 45.5
Waist:  43
Hips:  45
Arms:  12
Thigh:  21
Calf:  15

Can't get any more honest than that, huh.

Onto day 2!

Juice Fast. Ready, Set, Go!

I am sooooo excited!  Today is Day One of my 10 day juice fast. I may extend it beyond the 10, but I am committed to10 first.  I may get brave and post my stats and a revealing photo.  Here is a photo of the fridge filled with fruits and veggies.

I decided to do the juice fast after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  I'm nearly 50, sick of being fat and worrying about early death.  Although I am now also looking forward to the weight loss benefits, the main reason for me wanting to do the juice fast is for my health and for the possibility of retraining my taste buds.

I crave fried foods...and the potato chips...MMM mmm--especially after quitting smoking!  I could eat an entire large bag in a day with some green onion dip.  That is where a lot of the 20 lbs I gained came from after I quit.

With this 10 Day Juice Cleanse I am looking forward to:

• Retraining my taste buds so they crave fruits and veggies instead of fried chicken wings and french fries. 
• Detoxing from processed foods. 
• Changing my eating habits.
• Improved overall health (skin, rashes, arthritis type symptoms, cholesterol, and heart health)
• Weight loss (I feel so much better about myself when I am thinner).

I, like Joe and Phil from the documentary, have had a chronic rash for about a year now.  It comes and goes, and moves from place to place, but when it is flaring it lasts for months.  Yikes!  TMI?!  I m just trying to real here in the hopes that my honesty can help someone else.  

I just think that the rash and other symptoms, (arthritis like) are signs of an overloaded system and I am hoping to reset my system--a DO-OVER! 

It makes sense to me.  I could give details about why juice fasting is good for you, but Joe Cross already did that so well in his documentary, which I already mentioned above.  I highly recommend watching it!

I'll do my best to keep you updated on my juice cleanse progress.

Juicing sure makes for some pretty photos!  This is the cup that captured the beet juice I made this morning.

Photo by Marisa Zocco