Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines, more famously know as Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, died of lung cancer at the age of 63.  She is survived by three children and husband Bruce Sudano.

Quite shocking to say the least! Even on Facebook and Twitter, the rich and famous were stunned as the cause of death – lung cancer. Stated best in a tweet by Harry Casey, lead singer in KC and the Sunshine Band, said, “I saw her several months ago at a performance, she looked great, she sang great, her performance was amazing. We got together backstage and had some good laughs and walked down memory lane. I’m just in shock. I had no idea anything was wrong.”

Donna, a five time Grammy Award winner, rose quickly to the top of the Disco charts in the ’70s.  Even if you are young and don’t know the name, you most likely heard of at least one of her famous songs; “Last Dance”, “Hot Stuff”, “I Feel Love,” and “Bad Girls.” Who can forget the controversial song that according to her had eventually defined her public persona “Love to Love You Baby”.   Her career continued into the 80′s with songs like “She Works Hard for Her Money”, “State of Independence” and even teaming with Barbara Streisand on “No More Tears (Enough is Enough).”

Donna’s talents seemed endless at the time; a singer, songwriter, artist, author, and legend, and doing this with the up-most class, and style.  She was sexy, confident, and gracious, which many female artists seem to be missing today. She was a true Diva by definition of the word since her vocal range was a mezzo-soprano according wikipedia.org 

The family release a statement, ”Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.”

May you rest eternally in peace, Donna Summer Sudano.                                       December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012

Credits: Wikipedia.org, and CBS19.TV (photo)

My four year old son has entered the “I don’t like kisses anymore” phase. At least I hope it is a phase. In all honesty, I knew this day or phase would come, though I expected it around the age of six. Now, I feel that I’m missing out on two years of kisses. As if this isn’t enough, my younger son, who I gave the nickname of CC for carbon copy) now doesn’t like kisses either. What is a mom to do?

Similar to other moms, I quickly think of ways to counter this behavior.  I tried telling them that all kids love kisses, he is too young to not like kisses, and moms just can’t help but give kisses to their kids. This last one seemed to work on my oldest son. For some reason he liked the idea that I “just couldn’t help” myself. I’m allowed to give him the faintest kiss which is quickly wiped away.

Good old reverse psychology seems to work best on my youngest. Once I figured this out, it was like a game that he enjoys initiating. “Mommy, you don’t like kisses, right?” He even tells me what kind of face to make when he kisses me. If I dare to make a different face, he then gets mad and tells me to do it he ways. It is really cute to see this side of his personality come out.

The up side is that it’s not just kisses from mommy – not daddy, Nonna, aunties, Grandma, etc. There is some comfort knowing that it is not personal.

Tell me this is a phase. Furthermore, tell me a way to end this phase quickly. What some phases that your children went through and more importantly how did you cope?

After a couple weeks using the Ultra Fitbit, I can confidently say it is love and not infatuation with a new ‘toy’.  This little device is a great motivator for me.  Often I find myself sync-ing it up to get real-time updates on my remaining calories for the day.

Since this syncs well with My Fitness Pal (MFP), I learned to work out a system between the MFP app and Fitbit.  After reading many posts in both Communities and seeing real results with a few pounds shed, it is safe to say that these work effectively together for me.

There is always room for improvement. Please leave a comment on what works for you or what keeps you motivated in your quest for fitness.

Let me tell you, I love cooking!  I’m an Italian-American, who was raised by amazing cooks, my mom and Nonna,  Yes, I learned a lot.  My mom could cook any cuisine well, except for beef stew, her kryptonite. The one thing that she couldn’t just get right.  Do we all have a cooking kryptonite?  I think we do even the most seasoned, studied chefs must since no one is perfect, right?

So, what is my kryptonite?  Well, there are a couple, though for this article it is pot roast.  Yes, a simple pot roast!  Yesterday, I received a free issue of Cuisine at Home Easy-to-Prepare Midweek Meals.  Low and behold there was a recipe for Classic Pot Roast with garlic-thyme gravy.  Even though the photo looked amazing, I was not moved to make it right away.  Well, until this morning when it was cold and raining.

It wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t some component of the recipe to be modified – not always by choice, sometimes I may not have the exact ingredient or I try to make it healthier.  In this case, because it was a last minute decision to make pot roast, I had to improvise a little bit here and there.  The market didn’t have boneless beef chuck so that was replaced with a boneless eye round.  It worked out just fine.  Other modifications were Julienne carrots instead of 2 inch pieces, rosemary instead of thyme, and homemade tomato sauce instead of tomato paste.  Despite these minor modifications, the rest was true to the recipe, well, almost.  Don’t worry, below I’ll post the exact recipe from Cuisine at Home.

I salted and peppered the 4 lb. roast then seared it on all sides (always do this) in grape seed oil (recipe calls for veggie oil).  Removed roast and put it in the slow cooker while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. To the sauté pan I added 1/4 cup King Arthur White Wheat Flour (you can use all-purpose flour or cornstarch) and cooked for 1 minute. Added 2 tbsp tomato sauce (recipe calls for tomato paste) and cooked 1 more minute.  De-glazed the pan with 1/3 cup dry white wine until the liquid evaporated.  Added 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and let it simmer.  Pour the liquid over the roast in the slow cooker, then add the veggies and herbs…1 cup sliced onions (recipe calls for 2 cups), 1 cup carrots shredded (recipe calls for 6 medium peeled carrots cut into 2 inch pieces, 4 large celery ribs cut into 2 inch pieces, 2 cups cauliflower (it was use it or lose it so it went in the pot), 6 garlic cloves chopped, 1 Tbsp dried rosemary crumbled, and 2 bay leaves.  I choose the low setting and cooked it for 8 hours.  You can use a high setting for 4-5 hours.

The result – crushed my pot roast kryptonite.  The roast was fork-tender (just as I had hoped) and the  veggies were cooked perfect to my liking – not mushy and not with a bite.  The sauce was flavorful but on a mild side.  I think it could have used more salt/pepper and if I didn’t run out of thyme that might have helped out here as well.  Overall, it was the best pot roast that I have ever made…though there was room for improvement.   If you have a fool-proof pot roast recipe you would like to share, please post it in the comments. Yes, I have tried the onion soup mix and it didn’t come out the same as my mother-in-law’s.  So, please do share a fool-proof recipe as I’m always looking to improve or try different versions.

Actual Recipe: Cuisine at Home Classic Pot Roast with garlic-thyme gravy

Makes 6 servings; Prep: 20 mins; Cooking Time: 4-5 hrs (high heat) or 8-9 hrs (low heat)

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 boneless chuck roast, trimmed, seasoned w/ salt & pepper (3-4 lbs.)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups sliced onions

6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2 – 3 inch pieces

3 large celery ribs, cut into 2 – 3 inch pieces

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high. Sear roast on all sides, 10 minutes total. Transfer roast to 4 – 6 qt. slow cooker.

Stir flour into sauté pan; cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.

Deglaze sauté pan with wine, cooking until liquid evaporates. Stir in broth and Worcestershire; bring mixture to a simmer, scraping up any brown bits.

Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker; add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.  Cover and cook until meat is fork-tender, on high-heat setting for 4 – 5 hours or on low setting 8 – 9 hours.  Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves before serving.

Per serving (total 6 servings): 427 cal; 15g total fat (4 sat); 100mg chol; 251mg sodium; 15g carb; 2g fiber; 53g protein

Happy Mother’s Day!

Here is to the annual 24 hour event where moms receive recognition, praise, and extra hugs and kisses for the relentless work that goes with raising children.  Your work is never done and barely acknowledged – until your children have children themselves.

There are hundreds of ways to celebrate this day…breakfast in bed, spa time, homemade gifts from the kids (I love these), dinner out.  My favorite is getting lost in the car finding a beach to walk or a playground for the kids and finding a nice local restaurant.  What is your favorite way to send the day?

So, I say wholeheartedly to all mothers who bust their butts (and every other part of their bodies), enjoy your day to the fullest.

Ultra Fitbit Fitness Tracker

After a week of using the Ultra Fitbit with wireless upload, I’m still pondering if it is love or an infatuation for the moment. What’s to love, you ask?

First, it tracks more than just steps taken; stairs climbed (10 steps in a row is 1 floor), calories burned, stop watch, and a function to help track sleep patterns.

Second, the size is fantasticly compact and descreet if you want that.  The optional clip/holder is how I use mine insteand of putting it in my pocket.  It is a helpful reminder to check it throughout the day as this is what motivates me to either take an extra walk with the dog, or do some more stairs in my house before bed time.

Third, the website is amazingly user-friendly.  All things are nicely laid out, color coded and easy to find.

Lastly, there is an option to have fun sayings display on the device. This is great because it is not completely centered on fitness motivation.  There are some funny things that give you a chuckle

So, what is not to love; is it an infatuation?  For me, there are only a two things that may keep this at infatuation instead of the love of my fitness life.  The first is the food log database is limited in food choices and functionality.  This is where MyFitnessPal.com dominates with the most extensive database and functionality to enter your food log.   The second is that they do not have their own mobile app.  You can integrate Fitbit with many other apps though it would be best if they had their own.

Again, this is just the first week and I’m in the ‘love it’ phase.  We’ll have to see how long this lasts.  I hope it is at least until I hit my weight goal.

Welcome to Rhonda’s Realm!  A blog of my crazy, fun life.  You can expect posts of a wide range of topics – things that I experience or would like to experience.  Hope you will be part of my world.