For the crafty gardeners out there, I’ve scanned and posted two pages from my old Origami-A-Day calendar that feature instructions on how to fold your own origami seed packets. Way cooler than your typical cut and glue versions, and a nice way to while away a LOT of time if you want to make these for wedding favor seed packets.

Enjoy!

(Click the thumbnails to load up the full-size pics.)

I’ve rediscovered my love of Adobe Illustrator and have made some more cut-and-glue seed packet envelope patterns for the heck of it.

Here’s a shot of the small flower printed envelopes:

More previews are available here: http://maggiewang.com/photos/Gardening-Projects

• Seed envelopes, small, blank 6 envelopes per 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper, blank so you can add your own labels or stickers
• Seed envelopes, small, flower design 6 envelopes per sheet, colorful flower designs and label space on front of packet with planting information lines on the back and sealing flap
• Seed envelopes, small, simple label 6 envelopes per sheet, blank except for basic printed label space
• Seed envelopes, small, planting info 6 envelopes per sheet, name label area plus printed lines for planting information on front and back
• Seed envelopes, large, blank 3 large envelopes per sheet, blank so you can add your own labels or stickers
• Seed envelopes, large, color flower design 3 large envelopes per sheet, colorful flower border design and label space on front of packet with planting information lines on the back and sealing flap
• Seed envelopes, large, planting info 3 large envelopes per sheet, name label area plus printed lines for planting information on front and back
• Seed envelopes, large, label 3 large envelopes per sheet, blank except for basic printed label space

Also check out two no-cutting-required origami seed packets I posted at Yougrowgirl.com’s forums.

Well, it’s been a fun two months of home workouts, but I must sadly report that my time as a homie has ended. This morning I drove 35 minutes to my Dad’s house and motored over to the Winter Park Bally Total Fitness to sign up as a family member on his account.

$16.50 a month for a year was the quoted price. Not too shabby at all, considering that I’d be getting the Premier membership with access to all clubs in North America.

Whee!

I was paying $34/month at Gold’s for membership at just the Dr. Phillips location. Hrmph.

Gold’s was MTV posh, but for less than half the Gold’s membership fee I will be getting what’s really important: lots of cardio machines, multiple locations, plenty of free weights and a squat rack. My morning cardio at Bally was very good, too, thanks to an overdose of full-blown, high carb, unplanned Mueller’s spaghetti at dinner last night. I do love me some pasta!

I am still in the grips of my gardening mania. I printed, cut out, and glued together two dozen do-it-yourself seed packet envelopes last night so I can send some of my excess bounty of seeds to some friends in California and calculated my sowing and set out dates for my spring crop. I had to chuck out six of my seed starting cell units, though. Apparently soybeans do not like the bottom watering set up in my Bio Dome, because all six of the soy seeds I planted had rotted away into smelly mush.

===========
Nutrition: Non-Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: 1/3 c. oatmeal, 1 T. raisins, 1 T. wheat bran, 1 scoop chocolate whey powder
2: 3×1 spinach omelette with pumpkin raisin muffin
3: Asian pear, 3 oz. tuna
4: 1 c. FF yogurt, 1/2 c. crushed pineapple
5: SGX meal
6: SGX meal

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter

Water: 16 cups minimum

===========
Workout:
8:00 AM HIIT run (4.5-9 mph / 0% incline / 15 minutes)
8:30 AM LISS walk (4.0 mph / 10% incline / 30 minutes)

===========
The Awful Truth:
1. Had lots of pasta last night. It was quite good. Not planned or necessarily authorized, but good nevertheless. My food guilt gene is definitely stunted, haha. :whistle:

===========
Brownie Points:
1. Did the laundry.
2. Signed up for Bally gym membership.
3. Drove all the way across town to meet Dad and do the above gym sign up.
4. Made a whole stack of paper seed envelopes so I can send some potential plants out to friends in Cali.
5. Calculated seed starting and seedling set out dates for all of my veggie seeds.

===========
Short-term Goals:
1. Update HandBase workout module.
2. Read two chapters from NASM book.
3. Bake new batch of carrot/pumpkin raisin bread.
4. Pack up most of my books, bookcases, desktop computer, peripherals, and computer desk for move this Saturday.
5. Bag, marinate, and freeze 8 lbs of chicken breast and 4 lbs of chicken legs.

Earlier this summer I was bitten by the container gardening bug. I pored over the online catalogs of Park, Johnny’s, and Burpee, and ordered a dozen packets of edible plant seeds that were designed for container gardens. I even picked up a dwarf Cavendish banana tree, a petite negra fig tree, and a mini blueberry bush.

At the moment I have all three of those plants plus two cherry tomatoes, two regular vine tomatoes, four bell peppers, three chile peppers, and two eggplants growing out on my balcony. I have spinach, basil, oregano, cayenne pepper, strawberries, and a few other odds and ends starting in my bio-dome seed tray on the living room windowsill, too. Because everything is in containers, my veggie garden requires more care and attention than my two cats, who only need to be watered every few days thanks to the self-feeders I bought a few years ago instead of every day, without fail.

My theoretical garden at the new house won’t be much bigger than my balcony. I think the plot of available dirt near the garage is only 8′x10′ in size.

So, what possessed me to bid on a lot of 25 mixed heirloom seed packets last month?

As of last night I am the proud new owner of 29 packets of brand new veggie and herb seeds from Roguelands Seed Company, who were kind enough to ship out a second batch of seeds with a few extras after I emailed them last week about my missing order. (Gotta love the USPS!)

It’s absolutely mad considering how many plants I already have going to even think about planting more, but…I really want to plant more. My grab bag of seeds includes such wonders as the long Oriental eggplant, two yellow watermelons, two pink tomatoes, a purple tomato, a white tomato, a giant red beefsteak tomato, four different kinds of squash, several types of herbs, three sweet peppers, two hot peppers including the super hot Caribbean red, carrots, three varieties of lettuce, corn, and two other fancy eggplants. I may have to look into some alternative methods of small space gardening soon, because I am determined to never pay for another bland, store-bought tomato again.

:prop:

===========
Nutrition: Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: 3×1 spinach omelette with pumpkin raisin muffin and one slice Wheat n’ Fiber WW bread
2: 4 oz. Cajun turkey breast, 1 c. mixed broccoli and carrots, 1/3 c. oatmeal, 1 T. raisins, 1 T. wheat bran, 1 t. brown sugar
3: 4 oz. Cajun turkey breast, 1 apple
4: SGX snack
5: 1 scoop dextrose, 1 scoop ATW chocolate, 1 t. GNC Creastack PWO shake
6: SGX PWO meal

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter

Water: 16 cups minimum

===========
Workout:
8:00 AM YF Cardio (45 minutes)
8:00 PM Lower body workout (45-50 minutes)

===========
The Awful Truth:
1. Have been playing too much Golden Sun 1 and 2 instead of cooking my meals for the week. :tongue:

===========
Brownie Points:
1. Sent in FSA claim for dental cleaning.
2. Balanced accounts in Money.
3. Catalogued my seed collection in Excel. May convert to HandBase format if really motivated.
4. Cooked turkey breast.
5. Baked batch of pumpkin raisin bread.

===========
Short-term Goals:
1. Update HandBase workout module.
2. Read two chapters from NASM book.
3. Create new profile in Dietpower.
4. Bake new batch of carrot/pumpkin raisin bread.
5. Look up turkey breast recipes.
6. Sign up for Bally membership.

I made a new bar today out of desperation. I’ve been craving a dessert-like treat like mad this week (I refuse to blame it on PMS, but let’s just say that I AM on the last week of active BC pills), and Publix had a special buy one get one free deal on Fiber One cereal, so I bent my rules a bit and picked some up for my first attempt at making a non-dairy homemade MRP bar.

I was pleased to discover that Fiber One, on top of its staggering fiber content (and who doesn’t need more fiber in their lives?), is much kinder to my pearly whites than Kashi and not actually that bad in the taste department. And when used in combination with the absolutely DIVINE All The Whey Chocolate Blend protein protein powder, it makes a mighty fine bar. If you are making a lot of your own protein bars and shakes, consider switching to ATW brand if you are still using EAS Myopro. Myopro makes very hard, epoxy-like bars unless you add too much water, in which case it becomes a very sticky, runny sludge. All The Whey, in contrast, blends into a lovely protein layer that holds together well but has a softer, less tacky texture that won’t break your teeth or lift off your expensive porcelain-covered crowns, not that I ever had this happen to me personally or anything. :whistle: (Okay, okay, so I DID have this happen to me a few weeks ago. A Myopro-based Cran Raisin breakfast crunch bar physically removed my pricey crown on tooth #31 from its cemented moorings and I am finally going in for a permanent replacement tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I was expressly forbidden to have anything remotely resembling gum, super-crunchy cereal/chips, or Fixodent-like protein bar concoctions.)

So here, for your lactose-intolerant, healthy snacking pleasure is the Fiber One Raisin Crispy Treat Bar. Because these bars don’t use dry milk, I believe they will keep better if you need to take them to school or work. I honestly can’t taste the difference between the dairy and non-dairy versions, and the lack of gastrointestinal distress following the consumption of one of these suckers is pretty nice.

And one bar takes care of 1/3 of your daily fiber needs, too, heh.

Fiber One Raisin Crispy Treat Bar (2 layer bar)

Yields 12 bars
Nutritional information per bar: 228.5 cals, 5.83 g fat (23%), 1.0 g sat fat, 30.0 g carb (38%), 8.17 g fiber, 22.2 g pro (39%)

Base Layer
• 10 scoops chocolate All The Whey Blend Protein powder
• 2 TBSP cocoa powder
• 6 TBSP natural peanut butter
• 1 c. raisins
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7-8 packets of splenda
• 2/3 - 1 cup water (less or more based on your protein powder)

Crispy Treat Layer
• 3 cups Fiber One cereal
• 12 large marshmallows
• 1 TBSP butter/margarine

Line large (7x 11 or 9 x 9) baking dish of loaf pan with wax paper (let the paper be over size on two opposite ends so that you can use them to pull out the bars after setting).

BASE layer: Combine dry ingredients for BASE layer in a medium bowl and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix - the mixture will be crumbly and dry. Add water & vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix everything until dough forms. The dough will be sticky. Spread dough into pan and press down using a sheet a wax paper and a spatula.

CRISPY layer: Stove: Over stove in non-stick pan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and sticky. Remove from heat and quickly stir in cereals to coat. Microwave: Melt butter in large bowl for 15 - 30 seconds. Add marshmallows and stir to coat. Microwave for an additional 30 sec - 1 minute until melted. Stir and quickly stir in cereal to coate.

Press mixture into pan on top of base layer using wax paper (or spray your spatula with cooking spray) to prevent sticking.

Refrigerate for overnight or freeze for 1 hour and cut into 12 bars. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or store in covered container between sheets of wax paper. Keep refrigerated.

===========
Nutrition: 1300-1500 calorie low zig zag day

1: Fiber One protein bar
2: 4×2 omelette, 1 c. mixed vegetables
3: 3/4 c. 1% cottage cheese, 3/4 c. raspberries/cherries, 2 T. oatmeal
4: Chinese chicken salad, apple
5: 1/2 c. rice, 3×1 spinach omelette
6: Fiber One protein bar

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter
Water: 16 cups minimum

===========
Workout:
12:00 PM HIIT Cardio - Treadmill (20 minutes)

===========
The Awful Truth:
1. Didn’t do the laundry.

===========
Brownie Points:
1. Planted sweet pepper, hot pepper, eggplant, soybean, tomato, and cherry tomato seeds.
2. Made new bar.
3. Caught up with all bill paying and updated 2005 budget in MS Money.
4. Got haircut.

===========
Short-term Goals:
1. Keep working on P90X forms.
2. Clean bathroom and bedroom.
3. File paperwork.
4. Revise daily schedule based on new work hours.
5. Clean litter box.

This is a nice alternative from the In2nutrition recipe PDF to the usual cottage cheese and fruit combo. I made it this morning with leftover ricotta from last week’s turkey spinach lasagna.

Italian Custard with Pineapple

Ingredients
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbl oatmeal, uncooked
• 1¼ tsp oil, safflower or flaxseed
• 1 Tbl protein powder, vanilla
• 7 Tbls ricotta cheese, non-fat
• ¼ cup pineapple, chunks in juice
• 3 Tbls yogurt, nonfat-plain

Spices / Flavoring
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1 packet Splenda or Equal (optional)

Preparation:
Drain juice from pineapple.
Mix all ingredients together.
Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Serve immediately or chilled.

22 g carbs
23 g protein
5 g fat
0 g sat fat
2 g fiber
9 g sugar
225 calories

Perfect Days = 1/62 (Detailed breakdown posted to the Progress AND Perfection Challenge thread at JSF Forums)

One perfect day down…sixty-one more to go.

As usual last night, I got the urge to grab just one or two raisins from the fridge around 9:30 pm after my marathon workout series of cardio and Yoga X, but hey, what’s the point of doing a perfection challenge if you are going to blow it on a handful of raisins on the first night, right? I’m happy to report that I didn’t give into the passing craving, and what do you know? It went away after 10 minutes.

I’ve made it through a full week of Phase 1 P90X, and I can confidently declare that these are the toughest home workouts I’ve ever done. Chest and back (aka Push-and-Pull-Up-O-Rama) alone would qualify as the world’s most hideous workout since you are going to near failure in each set. I love the push-ups since I can already do more than the fellas on the screen :twisted:, but I am sucking wind on the pull-ups. I do 1-3 unassisted, and then I am a chairfrau all the way, just focusing on some nice slow negatives down.

I’m already noticing some visible improvements in my abs from the thrice-weekly Ab Ripper workout as well. It’s ridiculously unpleasant in a good way, if that makes any sense. I have a tendency to slack off a bit on my ab workouts when I’m doing them by myself, so this 20 minute workout is handy to have around. It doesn’t hurt that one of the demonstrators is a dancer/trainer guy with totally yummy abs for me to gawk at, either. :wig:

What I’ve noticed is that I have that spritely “post-PT” feeling I used to have after a really good PT session in the Army. Weight training and cardio get close, but there’s something different about the energy you get from a tough calisthenics-based muscle failure session. Or maybe it’s just the combination of the calisthenics and that dex/whey PWO shake I just had, haha.

One final observation about Phase 1 of P90X: Plyo, Kenpo, Yoga, and Legs/Back ALL hit your glutes in a major way. My bum hasn’t been this sore since Drill Sergeant Brock made us do 100 fire hydrants on each leg in AIT. At least the booty and leg stretches in the series are all uniformly excellent. My flexibility has already improved in just one week.

Plyo and extra cardio are up for tomorrow. Given the stress that plyo puts on my knees and legs, I don’t think I’m going to be doing any running for the 30 minute cardio session.

And for anyone looking for a quick and easy tuna recipe, I came up with one out of necessity (i.e. laziness) last night. I wolfed my concoction down so fast that I know it will be a staple meal for me from now on.

===========
Super-Cheapo Tuna Fried Rice

3 oz. canned tuna
1/2 c. rice (cooked)
1/4 large cucumber, sliced
1/2 medium tomato, diced
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 packet Splenda or Equal
Salt and black pepper to taste

Spray a nonstick pan or wok with cooking spray. Heat pan to medium/medium high, then toss in green onions and cucumbers. Stir fry until cucumbers become translucent. Add rice, tuna, and tomatoes and toss for approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 packet of sweetener over the mixture and stir fry some more. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Low sodium soy sauce may be used instead of salt.)

252 calories, 31.3 g carb, 23.2 g protein, 3 g fat

(Why add the dash of sweetener? A little known secret about Chinese restaurant fried rice is that the cooks always add sugar to it. That’s why the rice at a restaurant tastes so good, while the fried rice most people make at home tastes like crap.)

===========
Nutrition: 1700 calorie low zig zag day

1: Dex/Whey PWO shake w/1/2 t. GNC Creastack
2: 3×1 omelette, 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal, 1 T. raisins
3: 3.5 oz. sauteed pollock, 1 c. broccoli in oyster sauce, 3/4 c. rice
4: Cinnamon raisin oatmeal muffin
5: Tuna, tomato, and cucumber fried rice (2.5 oz. tuna, half tomato, 1/4 cucumber, 1/2 c. rice, cooked with Pam)
6: Oatmeal protein banana bread

Total: 1718 calories, 48.0% carb, 33.3% protein, 18.5% fat

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Water: 16 cups minimum

===========
Workout:
7:30 AM P90X Chest/Back/Abs

===========
The Awful Truth:
1. Nothing! Woo!

===========
Brownie Points:
1. Finished laundry.
2. Did the dishes (in the actual dishwasher)

===========
Short-term Goals:
1. Finish design for P90X HanDbase module
2. Work on paper doll project.
3. Do thumbnails for 5-6 new prints.
4. Put away pile of clothes requiring alterations until June.
5. Finish fairy girl print.
6. Pick up groceries.
7. Take challenge starting pics during lunch.

Thoughts: Okay, I just ate a disgusting quantity of cottage cheese with two packets of Equal and a teaspoon of cocoa as an emergency makeshift meal since my stock of SGX food on hand at work was depleted at 5:30 pm due to the inedible dinner provided by the catering company–cheesy scrambled eggs, potatoes, buttermilk biscuits, brownies, Caesar salad with the dressing already tossed in, and some kind of bacon quesadilla thing. I tried the eggs in the hopes that they were pure, unadulterated, unfertilized embryonic chicken goo, but alas, I detected the vile taint of CHEESE in the first bite and was forced to abandon the catered dinner in its entirety.

I polished off the last of my authorized meals instead, leaving me with only a few random fruits and a cup of Albertson’s cottage cheese (kept here for just such an emergency) to get me through meal 6.

Now regarding this cottage cheese…I thought I’d trained myself to enjoy it, but I am actively fighting a gag response right now. Apparently, I am trained to bolt down only 3/4 cup of CC, not a full cup, because I wanted to quit with 1/4 cup left to go and had to force the rest of it down.

On the positive side, I have no urge at all to dig into the carrot cake I stashed in the company freezer last night for my free day splurge Saturday. Thank goodness I took care of both planned workouts earlier today, because the thought of doing cardio with a stomach full of lumpy curds floating about in the 16 cups of water I’ve already drunk today does NOT appeal.

Nauseously yours,

Maggie

========
Nutrition: SGX Training Day eating pattern
(Details omitted by request)

Regular (Non-SGX) Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, flaxseed oil
Water for yesterday: 18 cups

========
Workout:
8:00 AM Steady-state treadmill (4 mph / 7% incline / 45 minutes)
12:00 PM Leg workout with squats

========
The Awful Truth:
1. Missed yesterday’s planned cardio in the evening. No more evening cardio attempts. I hate sweating at night.

========
Brownie Points:
1. Both planned workouts are done. Hurray!
2. Halfway through The Overspent American by Juliet Schor. I no longer have any desire to buy more stuff for at least a month.

========
Short-term Goals:
1. Clean out the fridge.
2. Cook some chicken.
3. Check out the Lotte Berk workout DVDs I got from the library.
4. Finish the Schor book.