A Pound of...

Sometimes, it's depressing when I find out I'm only losing about a pound of fat every week since beginning this healthier style of eating.

15 lbs doesn't seem like much when B tells be he's coming up on 35 lbs lost in the same amount of time. And he eats way more than I do!

My doctor tells me a man will always lose weight faster than a woman. I should not be concerned. As long as I continue to lose a pound a week, I will be more successful in keeping it off.

So, to motivate me a little more... This is a photo of what a pound of fat looks like!

Losing THAT each week is awesome! 

Just Sitting Here, Waiting

I cannot start the lawnmower.

It's time for a new one, has been that time for about 4 summers.

B is strong enough to start it, I am not. Once it starts, it works fine so we keep putting it off.

Today is a nice day, the weekend is expected to be "Hazy, Hot & Humid" so I need to get this big chore done today! Hopefully, B will be home early today. I asked him earlier in the week to be home early. Hope he remembered.

In the meantime, my other chores are done so, I've been looking up some new recipes for salads. I like lettuces, but it can get boring as a side dish with every dinner.

This salad recipe looks promising & I love avocados. 

B does not like avocados, so I will have to try this recipe when he's out of town.

Avocado Onion Salad w/Balsamic vinegar & olive oil. 

It's from Cuba where fresh, leafy greens are not as plentiful as they are here in the States.

1 peeled, chunked avocado

1 small sweet onion, halved & thinly sliced

1 tomato, chunked (optional)

1T balsamic vinegar

drizzle of olive oil

There are other variations of a dressing to use, including one with lemon juice.

Now, finding ripe avocados may be a problem. The ones @ the grocery store today were too green & hard as a rock. I bought some & hope they ripen.

Oh, Uncle L! LOL!

Sometimes, I get humorous emails from Uncle L who resides in Hawaii. The latest one he sent made me groan, but groaning in a good way! 

I thought I would pass on the chuckles from him,  in honor of the next heat wave coming this weekend!

The Goldberg Brothers - The Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner.

 

Here's a little factoid for automotive buffs or just to dazzle your friends.

 

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Maxwell, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner.. On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees.

 

The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the  electric starter. Henry was curious and invited them into his office.  They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car.  They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees. He turned on the air conditioner and cooled the car off immediately.

 

The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.  The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, 'The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,' on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.

 

Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti - Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on two million Fords.  They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown.  And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.

 

I can hear your groans from here ! 

I told you he is a funny guy!

Mmmm! Scallops!

I'm getting better at pan-searing scallops!

I love living close enough to the ocean where the scallops are fresh!

I've learned the difference between "WET" or "DRY" scallops, so now, I get a better "sear".

I wish they weren't so expensive. They cook fast & taste so good, I'd LOVE to eat them more often.

C & G were home for what is turning out to be a regular Tuesday night dinner. 

I don't mind. 

He eats anything I make, compliments my cooking & helps clean up afterwards! 

After the dishes, he even watches silly TV shows with C. 

You can't tell me he actually LIKES watching "Pretty Little Liars"! He's a good sport.

I got a text from T this afternoon. Carlotta was in the back seat singing a made-up song about me.

"Nonie has chickens. She has cats at her house." etc, etc, etc

I may have lots of things at my house, but I don't have a Carlotta here. I wish I did!! 

I checked plane tickets & it may be a while before I can get them back up this way! 

She is too old to fly for free now. Argh! 

I miss the little girl!

Down to a Few...

The flock has returned to my deck for food after being absent for 3 days.

Was it the heat (90 ++ degrees) or humidity or the fox which kept them away?

Sadly, there is only the rooster with 4 hens (though, another 1 showed up later on)

You may not see her in the video, but Zee is in the corner of her screen house, trying to intimidate the hens, to no avail! They hardly noticed her!

I discovered today, these chickens do not care for chocolate chip cookies or bird seed.

Ahhhhhh! Brain Freeze!

A few weeks ago, our local 7-11 store began serving mango/peach SUGAR-FREE SLURPEE'S!

I LOOOOVE SLURPEE'S! 

They've promised to have a new, sugar free flavor every month for the summer & if they sell well, they will continue to carry them.

Twenty six years ago, I had my first Slurpee & was hooked, instantly! 

From then on, I could hardly pass by a 7-11 w/o getting a Slurpee!

The hotter the weather, the bigger the Slurpee.

Until 2005, that is.

A Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis made me go cold turkey on enjoying a Slurpee. 

The Slurpee had way too many carbs/sugars. 

If I had indulged in a Slurpee, I wouldn't have had any carbs left in my day for FOOD!

Now, thanks to Splenda, I can enjoy a Slurpee again!

Oh, it's not totally calorie free and there are a few carbs, so I cannot have one as often as I'd like, but yesterday, in the near 100 degree weather... 

I enjoyed every last drop of its mango/peach, icy deliciousness!

Today, I got a picture of Carlotta enjoying her 1st Slurpee as a reward for making it through another sweltering day in Virginia! I'll get it posted later, as I forgot to upload it from my phone.

A boring post, I know. But in 100 degree weather, what did you expect?

Drink it slow!

Carlotta's Future?

In the above video:

Perhaps Carlotta & her friends will re-start the band... "Josie & the Pussycats!" 

She has the back up "hummmm" down pretty good!

In this video, I couldn't figure out if she is a future tennis player, soccer mid fielder or a third baseman. She does seem to have the "Lambert Lope" so track star is out!

Nonie's Rooster Story (first draft)

Once upon a time, there was a small flock of chickens. There were 2 black speckled hens, 2 red hens, 2 black hens & 1 blond hen. They were led & protected by a very handsome red rooster. Every morning, the rooster would crow loudly to wake up his flock. He would crow again & again until all of them were awake & ready to go out into the neighborhood to forage for food.

When his owners opened the coop, he led his flock across a narrow stretch of woods into the neighbors yard. This neighbor lived in a brown house with green trim. There were 2 good sized cats living here, but the rooster knew the cats were inside the house or in a screen tent & couldn't hurt his hens.
The lady of the house would come out of the house with stale bread, cereal or crackers & feed them to the rooster & his hens. Sometimes, the bread wasn't stale! The rooster & his flock thought this was the best yard to visit every day... except during bad weather. The rooster & his flock didn't leave the coop in bad weather. There were so many bugs & slugs to peck for in this yard as well as several piles of leaves to scratch around for worms. There was also a perfectly nice shady spot right next to the chimney to dig cooling holes & she didn't seem to mind!

Sometimes, the rooster would be in a bad mood & chase the older lady of the house! He really liked to bother the younger lady too! She screamed a lot & sometimes shooed the rooster away with a broom. Once in a while, a large man would come out of the house & have a stand off with the rooster. Oh, the rooster put up a fight sometimes, but would back off eventually.

The rooster did his best to protect all the hens of his flock. He'd cackle at them or chase them back to the group if one wandered a bit too far. He wanted the bread & crackers from the lady too, but would wait until all of the hens had some before he ate the food. He was so protective, he would chase the lady while she was mowing the lawn! Then he discovered that by following her & the mower, bugs were easier to find in the shorter grass!

Sometimes, his flock would be hungry & the lady didn't come outside right away. The rooster would go from window to window, crowing loudly, until she or someone else came out of the house to feed them! Several times he was bold enough to go right up to the front door & peck at it as if he were knocking!

It was hard to be the sole protector of a flock! One day, the neighbor lady noticed the blond hen wasn't coming around anymore. The rooster couldn't speak her language to tell her what happened. The lady was sad. She continued feed the flock anyway.

One morning, the rooster began crowing at the windows of the neighbors house. Out from the woods came a fox! The rooster did his best to fight off the fox & protect his hens! Sadly, he was unable to defend them all. He herded his remaining hens back to the safety of the coop.
The lady next door was sad. She could hear the cries of the captured hen & couldn't help. Sometimes, nature is cruel.

Later on, the flock came back, but the fox was still around! It chased the flock around, but the fox didn't catch any hens this time! PHEW! The neighbor lady thought the fox was adorable as far as chicken killers can be! She misses the rooster though. Her yard is full of black & white spotted feathers.

Perhaps, later on or maybe even tomorrow, the flock will visit the neighbors yard again & show her that the fox didn't get all of them! The rooster is quiet, for now.

Intention, Procrastination, Temptation

I put it off long enough! After the 2nd coat of primer, perhaps I waited TOO LONG! 

This painting project is taking too long. 

In 2006, just before T graduated high school, I painted the kitchen walls, cabinets & ceiling in preparation for her graduation gathering w/friends & relatives & an exchange student from France. 

I wanted all the ceilings downstairs painted too. So, I put some stain blocker primer over some of the tough spots in the living room, with every intention of painting the whole thing as soon as I could!

SIX YEARS later, I have found the time & energy to finish the project! I was getting sick of looking at my spotty ceiling too! The weather is perfect for painting!

This morning, I stuck up the protective plastic drop cloths & covered the furniture & floors too. 

I began to paint.

Oops. 

The 6 yr old ceiling paint was NOT doing its job!

(the can I bought for this project was supposed to have a blue tint when wet, then when dry, it was supposed to be white)

Does unopened, never used paint go bad? 

I stirred for a good 30 minutes trying to combine the separated parts, but it still was not working right.

Back to the store for Kilz primer, new paint & an edger brush. 

SCORE! 

They were giving out FREE qts of flat wall paint in whatever color you wanted! 

I chose a maroon color. 

I INTEND to paint only 1 of the living room walls this color, then look at it a FEW DAYS ONLY to see if I like it. If I do, then the whole room will get painted!

I will not PROCRASTINATE on this project! I'm giving myself to the end of August to decide & take care of the project! Hopefully, it's not August 2018!

I'm only on the computer now to wait while the 2nd coat of primer dries completely. (45 minutes or so)

I will not be TEMPTED by the chocolate-y goodness of baking brownies that will be wafting through my house tonight!

C & G have a cooking date planned this evening! He's promised to bring the leftovers home w/him as not to drive me too crazy tonight!

Answer Me This...

Why, 

on the days where I hardly do anything physical, does my body easily fall to sleep at a decent hour?

 Then, 

on the days where I'm on my feet, moving, lifting, exercising, why do I find myself at the computer typing in a blog entry @ 1:30 in the morning?!?!?!

I am tired, but I cannot sleep. I am not sore or stressed or edgy. Just not sleeping.

My cats are getting upset, they want to sleep next to me, but I'm not in bed so they are confused. 

Maybe I should be a cat?

Randomness

I'm posting today! Not because I have important things to say or events to remember. but because I need to see something else on my blog than the brownie bites recipe! So, everyone... have a nice day!

Sweeet!

My impulse buying item is recipe magazines. I have many, some may say... TOO MANY!

Since going to a healthier diet 2 months ago, I have purchased less than ever & usually stick to ones that say "low-carb" or "diabetic recipes" on the cover.

Occasionally, I pick up an older magazine & thumb through it. After checking out this recipe, I'm glad I'm on a diet because I would have made these & eaten them, probably by myself!

But the recipe did look so good, I wanted to post it in case I'm asked to bring a sweet thing to an event.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bites

makes 36 brownie bites

What you need:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1-1/2 sticks of UNSALTED butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 36 Reese's MINI peanut butter cups (they are smaller than the miniatures)

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Spray a generous amount of cooking spray on a paper towel
• Wipe the towel over the tops of a 24 muffin & a 12 muffin baking pan.
• Line the pans with paper muffin liners
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa & salt
• In a large bowl, beat together, the sugars, butter & vanilla to combine.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time
• Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low until "just combined"
• Fiil the liners to no more than 2/3 full
• Press a peanut butter cup into the mixture until the top is level w/the batter
• Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
• Cool in pans for 5 minutes
• Transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Man, it was hard typing this in! I would LOVE this to eat right now!

Boo Is Mad

My cats, Gracie & Zee get an attitude whenever I do something different from the usual, like putting on Frontline or bringing them to the groomers. They snub me & avoid me for a few hours.

My white mollie, Boo, seems to have taken a similar approach when things go differently. She's always been happy to see me when I walk into the room (I swear she knows it's me & her tail thrashes back & forth) Then, she swims to the top of the tank for her food. If I don't feed her right away, she swims in the same spot until she catches my attention. She likes to follow the same red laser light the cats play with too.

Her tank had become cloudy of late & all my attempts to get it under control, failed. A complete water change & scrubbing of the gravel, plants & filter had to be done. This meant catching her in a net, putting her in a bowl of water, then putting her back into her tank when the cleaning was done.

Her tank is sparkling now, but when I enter the room now, she swims to a back corner, under the filter where she thinks she is safest! I put food in the tank & she won't eat it until I have walked away. I even gave her mushed peas, a favorite food of hers, and she ignored them!

Ah, Carmen, the suckerfish doesn't seem to mind the clean tank or the ignored food. 

She'll suck up the leftovers soon enough!

Well, at least the neighbors chickens don't get mad at me! Today, they followed me around as I was mowing the lawn. The bugs were easier to find in the shorter grass!

Vegetables

I love fresh vegetables! B does too!

We differ about canned or frozen though. He prefers the mushy canned varieties while I'll take the frozen!

In our new, never ending quest to eat healthier meals, vegetables have become a HUGE part of our meal plan, as they have very few carbs. Now that the growing season has started, it's been easier to find a large variety of fresh vegetables. Corn and potatoes are the only ones we try to have in moderation, if at all.

In honor of the lowly vegetable, here is a quick easy vegetable side dish recipe. We are having it tonight w/some Asian marinated Angus beef steaks.

5 Vegetable Mix   

serves 12 (1/2 cup each)  8 carbs per serving!

• 1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1-1/2" pcs
• 1 cup fresh snap peas
• 1 (small to medium) yellow summer squash, sliced
• 1 (small to medium) zucchini squash, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced

• Bring 2" of water to a rapid boil in a saucepan.
• Add the veggies
• Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium & simmer for 3-5 minutes (I find 5-7 minutes to be best)
• Don't overcook, unless you enjoy mushy vegetables!
• Drain well & place in serving dish
• Cover w/foil until ready to serve (this allows the veggies to steam a bit in their own juices, thus finishing the cooking process)

Oh yeah, and for some color & texture, add a cup of raw, grated carrots before serving! 
Of course, then this dish becomes a 6 Vegetable Mix!

What? Three Blog Entries in ONE DAY?!?!

I know, it's a bit much. Today was sunny every place I went except for in my neighborhood! It's raining! Even had a thundershower! My housework is done & I just finished cleaning up from dinner.

And it's tonights dinner that made me think of blogging, again! It was a successful attempt! An inexpensive,  chicken dish with spinach & shallots in a light sauce & only 16 carbs per serving! 

Of course, I must share it!

CHICKEN THIGHS with Spinach & Shallots   

16 carbs per serving          serves 3 (2 thighs each)

What you need:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs  (about 1-1/2 lbs.)
• 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt (such as Lawrey's)
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 tsp olive oil
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced (I believe a large, mild onion would work if shallots cannot be found)
• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lowfat sour cream
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
• 1 (10 ounce) bag of fresh spinach ( I used two 6 oz bags of baby spinach!)

What to do:

• Season both sides of the chicken thighs with the Seasoned Salt & pepper.
• Coat a large, non stick skillet w/cooking spray & heat over Med-High heat.
• Cook the chicken, 6-7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.
• Remove chicken from pan & cover w/a foil tent, to keep warm
• In the same skillet, add the olive oil.
• When oil is hot, saute the shallots until tender.
• Add the broth, salt & sour cream. 
• Bring to a boil & gently stir for 2-3 minutes until sauce slightly thickened.
• Add the spinach & cook, while tossing, until wilted. 
• Serve w/the chicken thighs.

Pictures & Words

A Slow Cooker Pot Roast

With temps fluctuating from freezing to boiling these past few weeks, I've found uses for my slow cooker to give me a warm meal on the cool days & keep my kitchen from getting too hot on the not so cool days!

Thanks to the lady I sit for now (she's my friend, S, little sister) I have a new recipe for pot roast.

MEXICAN POT ROAST   serves approx. 6-8

What you need:

• 3-4 lbs pot roast, fat trimmed off
• 2 cups of your favorite salsa (I used Old El Paso HOT this time, but I think I'm more of a MILD)
• 1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
• 1 envelope of your favorite taco seasonings (I use Original Old El Paso)
• 1/2 cup of water
• OPTIONAL: a very small can of green chilies

What to do:

• Mix the salsa, paste, taco seasonings & water (& optional green chilies) in a bowl. Mix well.
• Pour 1/2 this mixture in the 4-6 qt slow cooker
• Place the pot roast on top of the mixture.
• Pour the remaining sauce mixture over the roast.
• Cover & cook on LOW for 8-10 hrs.
• Remove the roast, shred or cut into bite sizes pieces & return meat to the slow cooker. Stir well.

Serve over rice or egg noodles (Too many carbs for me though) 

OR 

Use it as the meat for tacos! Using corn tortillas cuts down on the carb count!

OR

Boil up some baby potatoes, carrots & other veggies that could go w/a pot roast!

Gracie's Sister is Zee's Mother!

This is a quick video of Gracie's sister, Lightning (who happens to be Zee's mother!) and how she looks today! I don't get to see her often. I tried to capture Maxie, (the mom/grandmother), but she would have nothing to do with staying still long enough for me to snap a photo!

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger Salad!

Whoo Hoo! 

I'm about to post another low carb friendly recipe!

note: I've made this twice... got raves from my family each time & even a rave from C's date, GL!

CHEESEBURGER SALAD  

serves 6 (though 4 is more like it!)
271 calories per serving 

12 carbs per serving (30 carbs if you choose to use the croutons, but we don't!)

What you need:

• 1 lb. of ground beef (the leaner, the better)
• 1 small red onion (1/2 diced, the other 1/2, sliced thinly)
• 1/2 cup diced dill pickles (I find Claussen, from the fridge section, to be best tasting for this recipe)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 T yellow mustard
• 8 cups of Romaine lettuce (sliced thinly, though, I just buy 1 bag of precut Romaine hearts)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 chopped Roma tomatoes (or your favorite tomatoes, de-seeded)

How to put it all together:

• Brown the ground beef & drain well.
• Meanwhile, mix together in a bowl, the ketchup, mustard, DICED onion & diced pickles.
• Add the ground beef to this sauce & stir until well mixed. 
• (note: I found adding the sauce to the ground beef & heating through, improved the flavor since it heated the sauce!)
• Place some Romaine on the plate, 
• add 1/2 cup (give or take) of the sauce/meat mixture & top w/cheese & tomatoes & SLICED onions. 
• (I also added another diced dill pickle to use as a topper)

Hamburger Bun Croutons (I do not do this step as it adds too many carbs for my liking!)

• 4 hamburger buns, sliced into 1/4" strips

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Arrange strips in a single layer on a cookie sheet
• Toast for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown
• Remove from oven & let cool
• Serve with Cheeseburger Salad 

Agua!

The H2o in the fish tank where Boo, the white mollie & Carmen, the suckerfish live, was cloudy.

After changing the filter/carbon cartridges several days in a row, using a chemical that was supposed to clump all the particles together into several larger pieces for easy removal & getting nowhere with anything I tried, I chose to change out a little over 25% of their water & replace it w/clean H2O!

In this very short video, Zee decided to taste the new water.

Of course, the fish are nowhere to be seen! They were in hiding on the bottom, in some rock formations until I put the hood back on the aquarium!

Thanks, Zee!

As Time Goes By...

I was just reading some of my early posts on this blog. 

I started it in May 2009 as a way to chronicle my life with a cat named Gracie! 

I used it as a way to vent frustrations about my days spent with little kids & their behavior. 

Then, along came Zee, Gracies niece, so I changed the title of my blog. 

I still vented about things that bugged me. 

Memories of my life as well as my daughters lives keep finding their way into my blog too.

Recipes have become a fairly common blog entry subject. 

Now with B & I keepin our A1c counts as low as possible, the recipes seem to be getting a bit healthier. 

Successful projects I have done with the kids I watch also have made into my blog. 

As I learned more about my smart phone, videos & pictures of lots of the stuff I do, people I know & events I attend have been posted as well.

I chronicled the birth & passing of our granddaughter, Evergreen. I continue to update the growth & progress of her twin sister, Carlotta. 

I enjoy posting the Carlotta moments even more than posting about my cats!

I no longer care daily for the 3 kids I moaned about 3 years ago! They are older now. I sit for them occasionally & am happy to report they have turned into very kind, loving, smart children! They're loving towards each other! I see little fighting, tattling or other "bad" behavior that drove me nuts some days! 

I do miss them.

I care for another set of 3 kids now, part-time. While they too have given me days to complain about... 

 it's only part-time, so I have time to regroup & calm down... no need to vent as before. 

So, my blog may not be just about Gracie & Zee anymore, but I hope you'll find stories of events in my life or complaints about my life or my memories (good & bad) or my proudest moments & my photos/videos or my recipes or whatever I feel like posting... interesting, funny or informative.

Looking forward to the next 3 years of blogging! I wonder what the blog will morph into next?