Quit Smoking Tips and The Pickle Jar

It was about 4 years ago when I tried to quit smoking. I tried and I failed. Then a year or so later I tried to quit smoking again, and again I failed. I’ve even blogged about it. Over the past 4 years I’ve tried and failed at quitting many times. I’ve used the patch, I’ve chewed the gum, I’ve tried cold turkey, I tried and tried and tried and failed every time.

It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I wish I had listened to my father when he said “don’t ever start and you wont have to stop”

It is true, you have to want to quit and I remember someone saying that to me years ago after one of my failed attempts. It pissed me off. What did she know, she didn’t smoke, so she didn’t know how hard it is to quit. But, she was right. There is a lot of truth to what she said. You have to want it more than wanting to smoke. To the point that you are just really sick of smoking. Just sick and tired of the smoke, the smell and the expense (how stupid is that). Just flat out sick and tired of it! Every smoker I know “wants to quit” But it takes more than that because the pull is so strong, and the mind will play tricks on you, and the whole thing is a struggle. Look up side effects of quitting smoking, the shit is real and it’s not easy!

Anyway….. I got off on a little tangent there, sorry…. I had gotten to the point where I was enjoying lighting a cigarette and taking the first couple pulls and then it seemed like the cigarette smoked me. I had become sick of smoking. But it was the habit of smoking that was hard to quit. I honestly did not think my car would start without lighting a cigarette. Have a glass of wine, light a cigarette. Cooking hasn’t been the easiest either, because I timed my cooking around how long it took to smoke a cigarette. Put something in the oven, have a cigarette. Boil some pasta, have a cigarette. To my surprise my car did start without a smoke and now when I’m in the car I listen to books on cd to occupy the time. I use the kitchen timer a lot more now when I’m cooking, and I’ve put down the wine glass because my taste for it has changed since quitting. However, I do enjoy a ice cold Corona with lime now, but I’m watching my calories, so now I’m enjoying vodka and seltzer water with a squeeze of lime, 90 calories baby.

I honestly believe that I have kicked it this time. So, what’s different this time? The pickle jar is what’s different. See, I had this large empty pickle jar in my basement. I dusted it off and attached a weekly chart showing the amount of money I would save by not smoking. Each week I have been putting that money in the pickle jar. It is such a motivation for me to actually see that money saved. If I hadn’t started the pickle jar I know the money would’ve gotten absorbed into other spending and I wouldn’t actually “see” the money. I like money a lot more than I like smoking!

Sure, I still get a craving every now and then for a cigarette, but it passes quickly and when that happens I just say out loud “It’s Not An Option” The Z Man quit smoking too and we are both breathing fresh air and loving it.

Yes the pickle jar still smells a bit like pickles, but that’s better than smelling like cigarette smoke!

Till Next Time,

Lori

Realizing You’re Never Going To Be Perfect

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Resolutions anyone?

YUP!

Well, maybe not resolutions as much as trying to just be a bit better…

It seems like every January I have a “come clean” moment and decide I’m going to better myself in some way. It also seems like I’m always trying to quit something… cigarettes, sugar, carbs, and most recently even my beloved wine.

I KNOW, RIGHT!!! I have said many times in the past that I enjoy “my wine” way too much to ever give it up. Well, guess what? It’s time to face the music and realize that it’s getting out of hand.

No, I don’t have any horrible story to share about why I am choosing to cut back. Nothing bad happened like a DUI, injury or accident. I just came to realize that wine is just too easy for me to drink, and I’m consuming too much of it.

So in keeping with my January tradition, I’ve decided to take a break from wine. No, I’m not going to jump full in and say “quit” because I’m not vowing to never have another glass of wine, as I know in my heart that would be a lie. But, I’ve decided to abstain from wine for 30 days and then see where that leads.

You know the funny thing is that I knew I was drinking too much and by that I mean every day. But, I can honestly say that I didn’t realize until now that I haven’t been drinking wine (for the past 7 days) that around 4:00 in the afternoon, I get a twinge of excitement in thinking “I’ll be home soon to have a glass of wine, and oh, do I have any wine at the house, what kind?” But, in the past 7 days when that feeling would come, I would remind myself that I am not drinking wine now, and then if I’m being honest I get a little sad about it.

Issues?

Maybe.

Right now, all I can say is I’m taking a break.

And, well heck, in full disclosure, you know since it’s January and doesn’t everyone want to “come clean” in January?

The Z Man and I were not successful in quitting smoking either! There it’s out, I said it, I’ve come clean.

No we aren’t perfect, and we are never going to be perfect. But, there isn’t anything wrong with continuing to try to be better.

So, we will continue trying.

Love,

Lori

It’s About Time To Talk DIRT

I LOVE to cook. I love the entire process, the shopping, the chopping, the mixing, the cooking, the smelling, and the eating.

That’s why when I couldn’t cook a decent meal not too long ago in the early stages of stopping smoking, I’m not gonna lie, it really SUCKED! Not only was I not having fun, but everything I made tasted awful and ended up in the trash.

Well, fast forward a few weeks and I’m doing ok now. Disclaimer here… I’m not a trained chef, as a matter of fact I’ve only been trained in the school of my Mother, Food Network and Cooking Channel.

My Mother (I Love You!) taught me how to preserve food. As a child I remember many of the meals being from food we had “put up” from my Father’s (I Love You!) garden. (Working the garden back then, well that’s another post for another day, but what wonderful memories they are. I always thought my Father could plant a rock and get a tomato. I also was about 14 years old before I figured out my name wasn’t weed the beans!)

The ZMan is an excellent gardener too…

As you can see these are pictures of last years garden.

We have already started some of our seeds, just waiting for them to start popping up.

We “put up” a lot of the food from the gardens too, but there is no better taste than fresh from ZMan’s garden to my table.

Me and the ZMan have a very special date night when the potatoes are ready to dig.

The ZMan digs me some new potatoes from the garden and I make salt potatoes and grill steaks. We eat our dinner outside by the pool and when we take that first bite of our garden potatoes that are dripping with butter infused olive oil…. it’s… it’s just…. it’s just Mmmmmmmmm!!!! YUM!!!!

Hands down that is the best bite of food I have all year. It’s my favorite.

My mouth is watering right now.

We plant two decent size gardens with the usuals such as potatoes, several varieties of tomatoes, green beans, bell and jalapeno peppers, lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, yellow and green squash, watermelon, and a decent variety of herbs.

It’s supposed to be about 70 this Saturday, so I plan to play in the dirt a bit and get the herb beds and big planter pots ready for planting.

I can’t wait!!! It’s been a long hard winter and we are ready for Spring!!!

Hhhmmm, by the way… What DIRT did you think I was gonna talk about??? Ah Ha Ha, shame on you 🙂

We would love to know what your garden plans are. If you have any gardening questions for the ZMan, I might be able to get him to answer your questions in a post.

Y’all take care!

P.S. salt potatoes are just whole potatoes boiled in very salty water. The water should remind you of the ocean, that’s how salty it should be. (kosher salt, please)

Lori

Wednesday Waste

Since starting this blog a few weeks ago, I’ve become even more aware of what we have vs. what we need.

I check the fridge more often to make sure there aren’t expiration dates running out, or that I have veggies going bad in the bottom drawer.

It’s like I’m in a constant inventory mode at home making sure that we have what we need, and if we can use something else “in place” of what we don’t have.

I find myself thinking more about how I can reuse something instead of throwing it in the garbage.

No, I’m not turning into a hoarder, I’m just becoming more aware, and realizing that we really do have a lot of stuff.

For example. This week the rim of our cookie jar (you know, the one that holds the granola) got chipped. So, instead of throwing the jar out, I’m trying to think of a way I can fit some type of gasket around the top of the jar to protect our fingers from possible cuts and prevent the lid from further breaking the lip of the jar (being glass on glass).

I’ll come up with something. I don’t want to throw the jar away, that would be a waste.

And, since we are talking about waste, I’m proud to say that the only thing that got tossed this week was a bag of homemade croutons. But, they got tossed out into the yard to feed the birds, so I don’t feel bad about that at all. And, the birds have really enjoyed them with all the ice and snow we’ve had.

You might be wondering why we had croutons to toss out. Well, in our stopping smoking adventures you might recall that I mentioned in an earlier post that the ZMan and I have pulled through some testy times with short fuses and “even dodged the threat of croutons being thrown at each other” Remember?

We have noticed that our sense of taste (and smell) have really changed and from that the ZMan has decided that he doesn’t like croutons on his salads anymore.

NO CROUTONS FOR YOU ZMAN!!!!!

Yet, I still love wine… go figure. 🙂 🙂

OK, now back to Wednesday Waste…

This might look like waste…

But it’s not. I keep a gallon bag in the freezer and when I’m chopping celery, carrots or onions I throw the end pieces in the bag to use for stock. I also put chicken bones and trimmings in the bag, so when I need to make stock I just dump the bag into a pot and add water (salt and pepper corns) and cook it down.

I’ll admit that I used to buy chicken stock all the time. But not anymore. Why would I pay almost $3 for a box of stock when I can buy a whole chicken for about $4 and get all the meat for a meal or two and then make stock with the bones. I also don’t use a perfectly good onion, celery or carrot to make stock when the end pieces work beautifully. That’s just my 2¢ (that I’m saving).

How about you? Have you checked your fridge and pantry lately to see if you need to use something before it goes bad on you?

Y’all take care!

Lori