Between Sizes

This Saturday, Mr. W and I will be attending our friend's wedding.  Of course, that normally means I, like most other women I know, goes scrambling to find the perfect outfit to wear to such an occasion.

Here's a history of the sizes I've been.  I know, sizes are relevant and may vary by type of clothing and store brands/designers.  For the most part, I am a casual chick, I mostly buy my clothes from American Eagle, Forever 21 and Old Navy.  For most of my adult life, I wore 10 or 12 in pants from American Eagle or Old Navy.  I know Old Navy runs a bit large, but there was a time that I wore a size 14.  To make matters worse, when I got married in 2008, my wedding gown was a size 18.  Surely, I could have gone with a 16, as it was a corset laced back, but I didn't.  Now, the wedding dress sizes tend to vary from today's most casual wear due to is fitted nature, but still, I felt huge!

Fast forward to the current situation.  At the beginning of 2013, I weighed 193, wore size 14 jeans.  They were a little loose, but I didn't like my shape, and I really don't care to rock the muffin top, or love handles, if you will.  So, I wear them looser to avoid flesh from hanging over the waistband, and the legs are definitely loose fitting on me.  After months and months of watching what I ate, and regularly exercising (as best I could), I began feeling better about myself, and have lost some inches.  I am currently wearing size 12 jeans, but I have a couple pairs of size 10s on deck for when I am ready.  I think I could zip up the 10s, but just because they zip, it does not automatically mean they look good!

Friday before last, I decided to go shopping with a friend, we're about the same size now.  We decided it was time to try on some fun dresses, as well as one for the wedding, as pictured above.  These two dresses were size 10.  I had a hard time believing that they were!  It has been ages since I wore size 10.  Some of the dresses we tried were size 10 but they were too small.

My friend asked, "Where did you get those jeans?  What size are they?  They look big on you."  Of course I told her where they're from and size, but she suggested that I get smaller jeans.  I have some but I am not comfortable wearing them yet.  What's a girl to do?  Do I wear the smaller jeans because they will fit my legs better and risk muffin top, or do I wear the larger ones so it fits my waist better but are baggy around my legs?

If you were between sizes, which would you choose?  Larger and looser for comfort?  Or smaller to encourage you to keep on track so the clothing would fit better?

Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Today we are celebrating a friend's girlfriend's birthday.  Since I do not know here very well, I figured that a gift of a bottle of wine and a batch of home baked cookies is a fitting gift.  I've met her a couple times, she likes sweets and does enjoy a drink, so this should be perfect.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 12 ounce bag dark chocolate chip morsels (can use milk or semisweet if preferred)

Heat the oven to 350°F.  I use cookie sheets lined with parchment paper but you can use ungreased cookie sheets if you prefer.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; stir in oats in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer until smooth.  Add granulated sugar; mix until combined.  Repeat with brown sugar, eggs one at a time and vanilla.  Add dry ingredient mixture; mix just until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough onto cookie sheets.  Bake in preheated oven 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Remove cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.


Makes 30 to 34 large cookies or 60 to 72 small cookies.

Veggies Over Brown Rice and Quinoa

Veggies over Brown Rice and Quinoa

Yes, vegetarian meals happen in this household :-)  There's quinoa and black beans for protein in this meal.

Quinoa and Brown Rice:
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
3 cups water

Combine rice, quinoa and water in rice cooker container.  Cook until water is absorbed and rice is cooked through.


Veggies:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small white onion
1 poblano chile, stem, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
2 zucchini, sliced
2 yellow squash, sliced
4 plum tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
salt, pepper

Melt butter in large frying pan over medium high heat.  Fry onion and chile in butter until softened.  Add zucchini and squash; cook until tender.  Add tomatoes, beans and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat through.

Divide rice mixture between 4 plates; top with veggies.


Makes 4 servings

Poblano and Onion Frittata

Poblano and Onion Frittata

I haven't been to the grocery store, but I still have some fruits and veggies.  We are headed out somewhere later so I didn't have any time to thaw meat so this week's dishes are decidedly vegetarian.  This frittata is for breakfast.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small red onion, peeled, chopped
1 poblano chile, stem, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
1 bunch green onions, trimmed, sliced into 1/4" pieces
salt, pepper, to taste
1 plum tomato, chopped
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used a mixture of mild cheddar and Monterey Jack, you can use any shredded cheese you like)

Heat the oven to 375°F.  Spray a 9" glass pie dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

Melt butter in large frying pan over high heat.  Add red onion and chile; stir fry until softened.  Add green onion and tomato; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until all vegetables are softened.  Transfer veggie mixture to prepared pie dish.

Pour egg mixture over veggies.  Use a fork to move the veggies around a little so eggs reach the bottom of the dish.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake in heated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until eggs are set.  Let stand a couple minutes; cut into wedges to serve.


Makes 4 servings

Fancy Rice Crispy Squares

Fancy Rice Crispy Squares!

I made these to share with the my husband and his friends during a guys' afternoon in of card games and comedy on TV.  It was a last minute kind of thing, so I used what I had on hand.  The measurements are approximate as I was cleaning out the cabinet.

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 of a 10 ounce bag of mini marshmallows
2 large spoonfuls of dark chocolate peanut butter
5 cups high fiber cereal (one with flakes and nuggets)
3 cups puffed rice cereal
Lindt chocolate bar, chopped into chunks (I used a dark chocolate coconut bar)
A few handfuls of Pretzel M&Ms

I used a 10x15" baking sheet but in reality a 13x9" baking dish would be better suited for this, as my bars came out very thin.  I lined the pan with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray to make clean up easy.

Place butter and marshmallows in a large pot over medium heat.  Melt and stir butter and marshmallows together until mixture is smooth.  Stir in chocolate peanut butter.

Add cereals to marshmallow mixture; stir until cereal is coated in marshmallow mixture.  Turn mixture out onto prepared pan; press mixture to even layer on pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chunks and M&M's; press gently into cereal mixture before it sets.  Let stand until completely cooled.  I pull the entire treat off the pan with foil and cut into bars on cutting board with a sharp knife.  Makes 24 small or 12 large bars.