It's a Goode Life: The Goode, the bad and the ugly

Well I was going to do a cooking post tonight. One of my favorite Gooseberry Patch recipes... Salisbury Steak. It is a great low fat, easy homemade version.

But, unfortunately... I was distracted  by a very LOUD and hyper 2 year old who was bound and determined to prevent mommy from cooking and it quickly turned into my Salisbury Mistake...

It was BAD.

So bad that I won't even subject you to the pictures. It tasted ok, however...

(prepare to say "ewwww"... )  it was the consistency of cat food. We joked that we could have ate it through the straw.

It was UGLY.

So, since I can't--scratch that-- won't make you sit through a series of photos that led to disaster, I thought it might be good to share with you another Goode thing happening around here.

I have made a pledge to the pound for pound challenge. It is the Biggest Loser's campaign to donate a pound of food for every pound you pledge to lose. I have pledged to lose an additional 45 lbs. My friend Dusty told me about the challenge last year. I am so excited to be a part of it this year. It is a great way to stay on track and give back all at the same time.

I recently read that 1 in 10 Hoosiers are hungry. That is crazy and saddens me.

I love when Walmart does their in-store food drives where you just grab pre-bagged food to donate. I wish they would do it year-round.  Are you involved with any great organizations that help feed the hungry? I'd love to hear about it.

As for staying on track, some of you might recall that in Sept of 08 Puddie and I did our own little Biggest Loser challenge for 2 seasons. That was a life changing time for me. That is when healthy choices became a norm for me vs. all about willpower. I lost 40 lbs and have kept that weight off for almost a year now.

While I (sadly) wasn't my heaviest back in July of 08 at Addie's 1st Birthday... I was plenty unhealthy. And, in September of that year I was ready for change.

SIDE NOTE: Please forgive my really red face. It was uber hot that day and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Supermom complex and all.

It is amazing the difference a year makes. (Except for the fact that I can't keep my eyes open for a photograph!) What you see here is on the outside, yet what it represents to me is mostly about what is going on inside.

I can't wait to see what another year and 45lbs can look like: mentally, physically, spiritually...

And, what a better way to do it than to make it count twice. Once for me and my family and again for someone else's through the pound for pound challenge.

Let's just hope that NO ONE's family will be subjected to Salisbury Mistake any time soon.