Thoughts at the Start of the Week

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WOW! Last week I was still checking to see if we would have a freeze overnight and needed to cover up my plants. Today our high will be 90 degrees F. ! Mother Nature is anything but subtle. We ran the a/c last night for the first time. We woke up freezing early this morning and turned off the system and snuggled in while it warmed up. Now I’m turning on the ceiling fan here in the office. We have the doors open, but may need to close up and turn on the a/c downstairs this afternoon. Mother Nature’s middle name is ‘Abrupt.’

Spoon University

I’m inching toward my next incremental goal in weight loss. I’m trying to only look at 5 pounds at a time. That’s a “doable chunk” as my friend Maria encouraged me to do. It’s wise advise, particularly when the whole goal is super intimidating. Two more pounds and I can toast my efforts with a glass of water and a dance around the living room. :0)

I tried a new recipe for bread, sent to me by my friend, Susy. It’s called, “Bagels with Fathead Dough (Keto and Gluten-Free) by Maya at Wholesomeyum.com. My friend Susy said she baked them as ‘rolls’ rather than bagels, and I did the same, doubling the recipe. Maya made this quite simple. I just changed ‘6’ to ’12’ and the quantities of the ingredients magically changed on the recipe page. NICE! I found them quite interesting. Nice and chewy, satisfying to eat. I sliced one in half, eating the half, rather than the whole thing last night, cutting down on the number of carbs to stay under my limit. I’m a happy camper.

I have a complication on eating keto. I had to have my gallbladder removed several years ago and that changes digestion. Thankfully, the keto people are addressing this issue, so I’m working now to follow their suggestions, hoping they work for me.

We have no exciting plans for the day. I’m still working on re-organizing our medicines in the panty.

I hope this is a safe, happy day for you.

In For the Day Now

Sylvester and Tweetie Pie

We changed our mailbox decoration and got our mail as we left the house to go to Lunch Bunch. This decoration makes me smile. I had forgotten how hard we worked to get Sylvester’s whiskers and Tweetie Pie’s hair welded on. Everyone seemed pleased with the bags of lettuce from our garden. We had a nice time catching up.

Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery. We just finished putting everything away.

I think the weather people were optimistic when they said the high would be 71 today. It’s almost 1pm and it’s still only 58 and overcast. It’ll have to hurry if it makes it. So I’ll wait until tomorrow, when it hopefully warms up some, before I spend more time in the yard.

I’m going to enjoy a cup of coffee and rest a little and then I’ll go put together the sausage, egg and cheese bake for our dinner tonight.

Adding Keto-Friendly Fiber

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I’m making a new grocery list in order to stock up on ways to add more fiber to my diet. I lucked out, using the search term “keto-friendly fiber” and now have several good ideas on how I can add more fiber without going above my carb limit for the day.

The ones above are only a partial list. There is also

• asparagus
• pecans
• cauliflower
• spinach
• collard greens
• mustard greens
• kale
• brussels sprouts
• artichoke hearts

and more – but you get the idea. There are lots of things I can eat to try to get to the suggested 25 grams of fiber per day.

Husband Choice Night

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My husband asked if we could have pot roast on the low-carb eating plan. I told him, “yes!” and we bought one yesterday. We haven’t bought one since inflation hit, so my eyeballs popped when I saw the price, but I should be able to stretch things out, getting several meals from it.

I’ll get it in the crock pot later this morning. We’ll have green beans and a low-carb biscuit with it for dinner tonight.

Keto Biscuits

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I found a recipe lately for “Tender and Fluffy Keto Almond Flour Biscuits” by healthyrecipesblogs.com. The author is Vered DeLeeuw.

I just made it for the second time yesterday. It doesn’t use a lot of ingredients, is easy to make, and it’s easy to double the recipe.

I have ‘bread’ once a day with dinner. It’s a comfort thing, so I was so happy to find a recipe I like that allows me to NOT feel deprived. I even used one when I was feeling under the weather lately, making a tiny ‘sandwich’ with one, filled with ham and cheese.

If you’re looking for a nice keto biscuit, I recommend this one highly.

Eating, Not Eating…

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I’m word playing off the title of the Demi Lovato song, “Sorry, Not Sorry” in the title of this because I’m “eating, not eating,” a lot of what I used to eat. Some I’m just giving up until further notice, if not forever. I’m substituting ‘acceptable foods’ for other things I don’t want to give up completely in my quest to get and stay healthier.

An example of this is that I now make spaghetti sauce for both of us as usual, the only change being that I look for the one with the lowest carbs I can find. I make macaroni for my husband (he likes that better than actual spaghetti) and make ‘zoodles’ (spaghetti substitute make from zucchini) for mine. This is okay because I really like meals with pasta and will go for a lot of things that are supposed to pass for spaghetti, noodles, and rice. I also use spaghetti squash and plan to make more of the spaghetti squash and zoodles soon and keep individual portions in the freezer. I’m not as fond of ‘cauli-rice,’ (a substitute for rice.) I’m TRYING to convince myself I like it.

Each week my new regimen of low-carb eating and a lot more exercise gets a bit easier. I now write out what exercises I’ll do each day for the week on my desk calendar. I give myself a star for each part. :0) For example, I consider the videos I’m doing daily (warm up, stretches, and one of two weight videos) as one star. A second star is bestowed when I do my elliptical or 30-minute video workout on alternating days. A third is earned when I do my 30 minutes of stretching yoga. It feels good to see all the sparkly stars on my calendar. :0)

Cooking to Lose Weight

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I now have enough cooked and frozen into individual serving containers that we can happily switch between them without my having to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen. That really helps me avoid too much of my cooking ending up inside me. :0)

Lately, I’ve cooked –

• “Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Bake” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
• “Bacon-wrapped Cheesy Chicken” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
• “Bacon-Wrapped Hamburger Patties” – homemade
• “Simply Keto Chili” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
• “Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bowl” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
• “Tender and Fluffy Almond Flour Biscuits” – Healthy Recipes

Each time I either doubled the recipes or made as much as the pan would hold so that I had leftovers. Now our freezer is nicely stocked with individual portions I can pull and simply heat in the microwave. This frees me up to spend more time outside, or take time doing whatever I need or want to do without worrying overmuch about dinner and staying on my new regimen.

Since my husband is almost at his goal, we’re also free for him to eat a dinner from Real Food or Stu’s Clean Cookin’, both places which provide good food at reasonable prices. They are both too high in carbs for me right now, but he can eat one of those while I choose from the other homemade dinners. Easy-peesy. :0)

Yesterday I told you I finally got back down to my pre-pandemic weight. Balloons flew, bands played, and confetti was thrown in celebration. I was hoping that I would break through to new territory this morning, but I just held where I was yesterday. That’s okay. It will come.

I’m hoping that the regimen of low carb eating and exercise will result in some good changes by the end of the month. And if not, by the end of May. We’ll see. One day at a time.

Thoughts on a Saturday 4-16-2022

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I’m having a busy day and about half of it is already gone!

The sun came out about 10:30 this morning and the rain stopped (for awhile) so I went out and uncovered my veggie plants. They seem to have come through the trauma of the storms, hail, and heavy, wet sheets fine. I wheel-barrowed the wet sheets back to the house and am washing and drying them, 2 at a time. One more load to go in the washer. Then I’ll fold and put them in the trash bag and take them out to the shop for next time.

I just took a new (double) recipe for “Tender and Fluffy Keto Almond Flour Biscuits” out of the oven to serve with dinner later. The recipe is from Healthy Recipes Blog. The author is Vered DeLeeuw. They are gluten free. The serving size is 2 biscuits, but I’m going to try to be happy with one. My husband will weigh in, also. I’ll check out more of the recipes there. Next up will be a recipe for low carb bagels from my friend, Susy.

I’m about to start my exercising for the day – 3 short exercise videos and yoga.

Hope you’re having a nice Saturday.

End of Week 2 of New Regimen

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I can’t shout it to the rooftops or anything, but I AM making steady progress in my newest effort at lifestyle change and the goal of being healthier.

This is the end of WEEK 2.

I lost 3.4 lbs last week and 1.6 lbs this week, so I’m 5 lbs down in this latest effort.

Down a total 28.4 lbs since my heaviest. Down 28.7 inches since my heaviest. (I’m HOPING for a change in measurement by the end of the month. We’ll see.)

I found Mike, from More Life Help Seniors online. I’m doing two of his short exercise-with-weights videos, switching from one to the other each day. I like them so much I went to his website and downloaded his 4 week exercise program. It’s free. All you need is a chair, weights, and MAYBE a resistance band. I’ll start it tomorrow, and I’ll report back on how it goes.

Besides the weights exercises, I’m doing a 30 minute or so session daily of stretching yoga. I’m doing this late in the afternoon, after I’ve finished the yard work I’m going to do, the weights exercise, and any other more physically active stuff for the day so I can really relax and stretch. I also have a heat pad in my recliner that I can switch on if I need a bit of extra pampering.

The effort to eat low-carb is going well, too. I’ve finally gotten the scales to stop the laughing – though not the smirking – at me. It is noticing my efforts. :0)

Yesterday I made spaghetti sauce using Rao’s Marinara Sauce. It’s the lowest carb sauce I can find. I paired that with macaroni for my husband. (He prefers that to spaghetti) and I prepared 4 medium zucchini with my spiralizer. (one medium zucchini is a serving.) I used one serving and saved the rest. When we finished eating, I was able to make 3 additional meals for each of us to go in the freezer (labeled “H” and “L”) so we know which has macaroni and which has ‘zoodles’ (zucchini noodles.)

MyFitnessPal.com is a lifesaver for me. Each morning I list what I plan to eat for the day. I can readily see if I’m making a mistake or staying under my goals for carbs, sugar, fat, protein, and calories for the day. I can rethink and adjust or be confident then. I then add the exercise for the day. (This program makes adjustments based on how active you are). Sometimes that causes ME to adjust my eating, but not often. Just nice to know and a good record.

Things are going well so far. My friend Susy sent me a low-carb recipe for keto/gluten free bagels that I’ll try as soon as I get low on the rolls I made for the week.

Onward to WEEK 3

Fun, Freezing Friday

The Humane Society of Greenwood

I just learned we’re supposed to have a freeze tonight. UGH. I’m hard-headed, so after Lunch Bunch, I’m going to check for head lettuce and zucchini plants to put in the garden, anyway. When we get home, if I’m successful finding them, I’ll plant them, weed the raised garden boxes, and then cover them with sheets tonight.

I’m getting to the end of WEEK 2 on my eating low-carb and ‘moving-more’ efforts. I’m gradually changing my eating habits, relying on MyFitnessPal.com to plan what I’ll eat for the day to make sure I’m under my calorie and carb limits.

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Though I told my husband he can eat what he wants (within reason, since he’s Type II diabetic), he says, “I’ll eat what you eat.” So today at Lunch Bunch, instead of the breaded, fried chicken tenders with honey mustard we have been eating forever, we’ll have a hamburger patty, side salad with blue cheese dressing on the side. Tomorrow I’m making low carb spaghetti. I’ll fix macaroni for my husband and Zucchini ‘noodles’ for me (Zoodles). Please see pic above.

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I’m also doing well on my ‘moving-more’ efforts. I’m doing my yoga stretches every afternoon after my other strenuous activities are finished. I’m doing weights exercises with a video for seniors I found online. (I also found several other videos he has done, and hope to incorporate them into my day soon.) Finally, I’m working outside every day the weather is cooperative. Today, for example, when we’re back from Lunch Bunch and errands today, I’ll use the wheelbarrow to move four or five 40-lb bags of potting soil out to the tomato planters I weeded yesterday, prepping them for the coming tomato plants. I’m going to try to find zucchini and head lettuce plants while we’re out today. I’ll plant what I can find, then weed the planters, then plan to cover them up tonight to protect them as much as possible from the freeze.

The Senior Alliance

I wish I could show you a pic of my friends at Lunch Bunch, but I’m respecting their wishes and their privacy. Today is a special Lunch Bunch. It’s our waitress’s birthday, so we’re bringing her gifts to celebrate. She’ll be surprised, and she’ll be reminded how special she is.

Enjoy your Friday.

Approval

My husband came out to the shop while I was working on the Wonder Wart-Hog mailbox decoration.

After looking at it for some time, he said, “Pretty good.” (high praise from him. )

So I’ll let it dry the rest of the day, then turn it over tomorrow to start side 2.

Whew!

Good Start to the Day

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(The above is NOT what I’m making for my friends, but the picture make me smile. What FUN this child has had, thinking of something and trying to make it come to life.)

Since our heat index here in Arkansas is forecast to be 110+F. this afternoon, , I decided to get my body moving earlier than usual this morning and get out to the shop to continue work on the refurbishment of the dragonfly plus working on my Christmas presents for friends.

I’m working on the eyes of the dragonfly now. I cut a black rubber ball with knobs on it in half and glued them on the dragonfly. Now I am using glitter glue paint to try to make the ‘eyes’ sparkle. I finished the main part of the work on the 6 Christmas presents out there. As soon as they dry, I’ll work on the accents and finishing touches. Upstairs in my art room, I think I’ll finish the 3 other Christmas presents I’m working on up there today. I love it when I figure out what I want to try to do early and have lots of time to work without feeling rushed. I find myself remembering lots of happy times with each of the people I’m making a present for, hoping they’ll enjoy the gift. :0)

Since today is the first day of September, and kids are in school here now, we will change the mailbox decoration, hoping to make the bus riders smile as they pass our driveway. Here is the decoration we’re putting out today –

Godzilla

Have a happy first day of September!

Exercise

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I am counting the work I’m doing in the yard each day, trying to clean up from the storm, as my elliptical/cardio exercise for each day. Yesterday I spent a total of 2 hours out in the hot sun blowing leaves and picking up branches.  I gave myself a gold star for each hour. I drank water like a camel preparing for a stroll across the Sahara, and that led to a lot of exercise getting up to pee!  I had a nice shower and did a very abbreviated set of yoga stretches to try to keep myself from feeling sore.

I plan to do more of the same today, since everything is still covered in branches and leaves. I will do short sessions, drinking lots of water and resting in-between.

Tonight is a DIY (do-it-yourself) meal on our South Beach plan. Thanks to Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto, I have a recipe for bacon-wrapped chicken breasts that is to die for. My husband’s reaction when I told him what I planned to cook was, “Oh, GOOD!”

I am PLANNING to get up to my art room to work on the newest earring painting.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

 

Happy August 2020

August-Kane and Uki

Thanks to the Australian Firefighters’ fundraising calendar, we can welcome August with a big smile.

We trapped raccoon #9 in our humane trap overnight, and just returned from driving out to relocate him farther out in the country. This has been a bumper spring and summer season for raccoons. Last night’s raccoon tore up the cage, so had to do some repair work. We filled up the feeder this morning, so the birds and squirrels will have at least a day to eat all they would like until ‘someone’ cleans out the feeder again. We are HOPING this is the last of the bunch. We will see if the feeder is empty again tomorrow. We have been lucky that none of the critters have damaged or ruined the feeder.

On our keto diet, we are almost out of the prepared stuff from South Beach. We got confirmation of our order, but no notification of shipping yet. They said it would be 1 – 10 days. It was even longer last time, due to their holding our orders, doing their best to fill most of our choices before substituting. I hope they can ship ours this time ASAP. I’m doing more and more DIY as we run out of things. We have one more breakfast, and are down to candy bars and a few shakes for entrees for lunch, dinner, and snacks. I will cook a recipe from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto, today for bacon-wrapped chicken breasts. This will be enough for several meals, thank goodness.

The coronavirus is wreaking havoc everywhere. I don’t know if the suppliers of South Beach are having problems, or if the company itself is, at this point. We are on a program where we choose what we would like for our order. I don’t think I’m exaggerating that at least half or more of the entrees for lunch and dinner were either unavailable or discontinued this time. Frustrating for everyone.

I have always liked the calendar on my computer, but now I will be relying on it even more. Last night I was able to input recurring reminders for changing the three parts of the new filter system on our aquarium.  The directions say to never change all three at one time. The charcoal filter is supposed to be changed monthly. The foam is changed once every two months, and the biomax pebbles once every three months.  The calendar makes it easy to input the information. I would never be able to keep up with it otherwise. I really hope this allows us to keep the fish water clean and sparkling for a MUCH longer time.

Since it’s August 1st, we have a list of first-of-the-month stuff to handle. I will finish bookkeeping records for July, and set up for August. I haven’t chosen a new ‘project-for-the-day’ yet.

It’s still muggy here, but not quite so hot, and for that I am grateful. We had the windows on the truck open when we relocated the raccoon, and it was a very pleasant drive.

Happy Saturday AND August 1st!

 

 

 

Muggy Monday

Attack of the Cute

My husband and I did a few errands this morning and then I got on my elliptical trainer for the first time in umpteen months. My trainer lives in the garage and it’s really hot out there. I managed 15 minutes this morning – better than nothing. I’ll try it again on Wednesday and see if I can do 20. I will, of course, do my 35+ minutes of yoga stretching and abdominal exercises this afternoon. (I gave myself a star for the elliptical and will earn another with the yoga this afternoon.) :0)

One of our errands this morning was refilling our sweet Molly’s prescriptions for antibiotics and pain/inflammation relief medicines. I’ve told you she has malignant cancer. It’s in one side of her jaw. She has quite a sizable, firm lump there that is growing. The vet and I talked frankly. Molly was 15 in February. We decided to try to keep her as comfortable as possible, giving her as many happy dog days as we can in the time she has left. She is still able to eat and drink, and enjoys demanding to go out, and then come in again – for a treat. I’m making sure we have PLENTY of the two treats she loves, and am VERY freely dispensing them. She has been with us since she was a small puppy. We are cherishing each day.

My husband is grinning because our grass is at the PERFECT stage, according to him – brown and crunchy! He wishes it would stay that way the rest of the summer. We are due for some rain this week, though, so he’ll have to enjoy it while he can. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday forecasts show a good chance of rain, plus a little bit of relief from the humidity.

I made Suzanne Ryan’s (Simply Keto) recipe for keto chili yesterday, and we ate a bowl last night. My husband sighed with pleasure. We will enjoy a bowl for the second DIY dinner, plus one of the DIY lunches this week.

I haven’t decided what my next clean up project will be. I’ll look around and decide priorities, planning on taking a donation to the Disabled Vets in Fort Smith by the end of NEXT week.

I hope that YOU are having a good day today.

 

Thoughts on a Saturday – June 20, 2020

Citizens State Bank

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent

The sun was out earlier here, but now it’s overcast. We have an 80% chance of storms today – the first day of summer. All people and animals are good today, and we’re hoping for a quiet weekend.

I pre-ordered the latest paperback “In Death” series book by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) awhile back. It comes out in July.  To celebrate this, I’m enjoying my dive into the world of Eve Dallas, Lieutenant in the NYPSD in the year 2058+.  I’m picking up details I missed the first time, as well as just enjoying inhabiting her world – so different from mine. I’m re-reading book # 23 right now (out of 50) and will be ready to add the newest book to my collection when it arrives. (I’ve also pre-ordered the paperback of #51 which will be out at the end of December.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are due for a rainy weekend. I’ve been working hard in the yard, trying to keep the weeds at bay. I see evidence that the ‘wild’ would simply take back the land we have enjoyed for over 30 years now if I lost my determination to win the war. The civilized part of our yard looks pretty good now. My next focus will be on weeding my veggie garden and my flower planters around the yard. I’ll enjoy it if I get a bit of a break from the work this weekend.

I heated up the leftover spaghetti with meat sauce I made this week for dinner last night. I used the spaghetti made from chickpeas (brand name Banza) that has half the carbs of regular pasta. It’s still a splurge, but I sure enjoyed it. I made garlic toast for my husband with hot dog buns, and used the keto bread I made for mine.)  My husband said, “This was delicious. Thank you!” :0)  We will have leftover pork chops tonight with a side salad.

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I will continue the longer, slower sessions of gentle yoga I started yesterday. I’m concentrating on relaxing – harder to do these days – and S_T_R_E_T_C_H_I_N _G everything I have slowly and thoroughly. I’m feeling better because of it.

I hope your first day of summer is a nice one, too. ENJOY.

 

 

 

 

 

Keto Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bowls

Suzanne Ryan – Simply Keto

I have just finished cooking this for tonight’s dinner (and tomorrow’s, with the leftovers). This is the second time I’ve cooked it, and my husband raved, even though he is not a huge fan of broccoli. Chicken Alfredo has always been a favorite of mine, crossed off my list when I started Keto because of the pasta. This recipe has no pasta and I don’t miss it!

When I told my husband earlier that I was going to fix it for tonight, his one word answer was “YUM!”

Net carbs are 7 grams per serving. This recipe is 4 servings.

I have truly never found a recipe book where we really like most of the recipes until this one. She uses down to earth ingredients so you are not having to hunt all over town or order a bunch of stuff online. They are also not labor-intensive recipes, a big plus in my book, since nowadays we are working outside a lot and I don’t want to go to a lot of trouble for something to eat.

This recipe is now one of our staples.

Start of the Summer Garden

Yesterday I planted three yellow crookneck squash plants and 4 zucchini plants in the garden after weeding and prepping since I pulled the spinach and lettuce plants out.  I gave the new plants LOTS of room because the vines of all of these spread out all over the planters. I want to give them all the room they need. I have developed a taste for both of these since I spiralize them to use in place of pasta and rice on my keto eating plan.

I can clean and use the spiralizer on them, put them in individual serving sandwich bags, and then put the bags into a gallon freezer bag. I can then pull out what I need and quickly microwave MY ‘pasta’ or ‘rice,’ and cook the regular stuff for my husband when I making spaghetti or one of my ‘sauce over pasta or rice dishes.

 

 

I listened to a video that taught me more about growing and storing onions. He said that the ones that grow tall and make a flower are not good for long-term (over the winter) storage. Those should be eaten whenever you’re ready, but should be eaten soon after pulling. The others are fine to try to dry for storage.  (You can see my onions in this picture.)

Here you can see that some have a ‘bulb’ on top. These are the ones the man was talking about that should be pulled and eaten soon after harvesting, rather than trying to prep for storage.

With all the rain we’ve had, the tomatoes got really big and bushy quickly. They do have some bright yellow blossoms, and if you look carefully, you can see a tiny green tomato.  At this point, I’m just going to prop them up the best way I can and hope for the best.

 

This is the ‘nook’ planter, where 4 plants have also exploded in growth. With three weeks or so of pretty steady, heavy rain, things got out of hand. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we actually get tomatoes, rather than just a whole lot of greenery.

Trying to Lose the Lard

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Actually, I’m feeling encouraged that I am back on track since yesterday.  I am planning what I will eat using MyFitnessPal.com, trying to get as close as possible to my macro percentages again today.

We came through another tornado warning last night with no damage that I have seen so far. I’m am truly thankful. This is one of the days that we are thankful we live on top of a hill because flash flooding is forecast. I will be glad when this mini-monsoon season we’ve been having is over.

To celebrate that, I’m planning to get on my elliptical trainer in the garage after lunch and do at LEAST 15 minutes. I’m hoping that I will be able to do my ‘regular’ 35 minutes;  but since I’ve been a slug lately, I don’t want to push it too hard. I also plan to do at least 30 minutes of my “Gentle Yoga” stretches before the afternoon is over.

I am again planning to bake a loaf of keto bread, plus a Twice-Baked Cauliflower Casserole” by Suzanne Ryan. My husband isn’t fond of cauliflower, but I’ll just serve him quietly and see what he says.  We will have a hamburger patty and a salad, so he should have plenty to enjoy even if he isn’t fond of the casserole. We’ll see.

It feels good to have a plan and feel in better control. Fingers crossed.

 

 

 

Denial

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I’m going to have to switch gears for the coming week, starting today – hopefully.

I’ve been working outside, whacking down weeds, cutting back trees, spraying weed killer and ant killer, etc., in an effort to keep Mother Nature from reclaiming the totally wild, wooded land we bought around 33 years ago now. (We built our home on top of this ridge line in 1987.) This is a full-time, never-ending job, and I have to say that we grow some really healthy, impressive weeds here. Some of them are taller than I am!

Last night, while my husband and I enjoyed a much-appreciated evening on the deck while grilling our dinner, we talked about the fact that the ‘weed trees’ were again encroaching on our view of the valley below. The slope of our land is impressive, too, and there are totally rocky places where it is treacherous to even think about walking. This is where the weed trees are. I am going to attempt to cut these down, a few at a time, over the coming weeks to try to reclaim our view.

This gives you an idea of what we can usually see.

 

That said, here is the 10 day forecast for our area –

 

Maybe I should be trying to built a raft or boat instead of thinking about weed whacking….

The end result of a forecast like this is I want to take a nap. I feel super lazy. I can’t even get excited about playing in my art room right now, though that could change once I’ve finished my coffee.

The only thing I PROMISE I will do today is make a ‘sausage-egg-and-cheese bake’ for our dinner tonight. This is a wonderful keto recipe from Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto.  My husband grinned and gave a happy thumbs up when I told him what I planned to make today.  Actually, I’ll promise another thing – I will do at least 35 minutes of gentle yoga stretches today.

Otherwise, I’ll have to fight my natural inclination to stretch out in my chair in the living room under my snuggly throw and take cat naps (with at least one, if not two, actual cats!) today.

I hope you have a happy Sunday.

Thoughts on a Friday 2-27-2020

Patrick van Bakkum Photography via Penny Yaffe Krakow

My heart simply melted when I saw this wonderful photo, so I had to share it.

I FINALLY finished the initial yard work for the season this afternoon!  We have been battling true champion weeds – and LOTS of them, even though we spread weed killer in the yard. I finally finished pulling all the weeds out of the rock bed that goes around the base of our house. When things get back to normal in the world, we’ll get more bags of rocks and spread them. In the meantime, my husband did what HE calls spraying for weeds in the bed today. We’re due for rain tonight into tomorrow, but once we have a dry day, I plan to hose down the rocks with weed killer in a more serious fashion. I also trimmed the edges of the grass, weed whacked around the back yard, and then used the leaf blower to clean things up before our rain this evening.

I’m going to do a long, slow session of yoga stretches and then take a long, hot shower to try to get my body to quit yelling at me. I’m tired, but the main thing is that the back of my legs didn’t like all the getting down on my hands and knees to pull the weeds out of the rocks.

We called in for lunch, and my husband did the curbside pick up, and got our mail while he was out. I got a roast in the crock pot and we’ll have that, plus the leftovers from the squash casserole recipe I tried yesterday. It was really good.  If you’d like to try it, the name is, “Low Carb Yellow Squash Casserole” from  allrecipes.com.  My husband was kind of expecting the casserole his mom made years ago, even though he knows we are trying to eat low carb, low sugar, etc. He asked what the ‘crunchy stuff’ was. When I explained that this recipe substituted almonds for crackers, he decided he liked it a lot. :0)

I hope you had a good day and that you and your loved ones are staying safe.

 

 

Keto Cooking

“Keto Chili” from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto

My husband requests this chili regularly. We both love it. A nice comfort type food for cool, rainy days as we have been having.

 

myketokitchen.com

This keto bread has allowed me to stay on my eating plan without feeling deprived. I was REALLY missing bread. My husband, who is almost at the weight he should be, and who is only having to watch sugar, eats regular rolls, bagels, toast, etc.   I tried to be upbeat about it, but it was bothering me more and more. Sometimes I just gave in and had some of his bread, and then felt really guilty. The scales, of course, told me how bad this was.

I finally found this keto bread recipe. I wanted ONE recipe that could serve several purposes – I could butter a slice as if it were a roll with dinner,  I could put a slice in the toaster and eat it with bacon and eggs. I can even use it for a sandwich, though it’s a bit crumbly for that. It doesn’t rise as much as a regular loaf of bread, but I like it – a LOT.

Eating like this, plus doing my yoga daily (this is Day 3 of my restart) and planning to add back my elliptical trainer sessions starting tomorrow, will hopefully help me shed my excess poundage.

 

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

info@cj-caldwell.com

I tried a new recipe from Claudia J. Caldwell a couple of nights ago, and my husband and I think it’s a keeper and will enter our regular rotation of ‘good keto recipes’

I received an email from her, offering this recipe. You may need to go to her Facebook page and sign up to receive emails in order to get it. I’m really glad I did, and am trusting her more and more to give us recipes we will enjoy.

The recipe gives you 6 servings at 1 gram of net carbs per serving. We had a salad with it. I may tweak it a bit and include some spinach and mushrooms in there next time. Delicious!

A NICE Keto Bread!

MyKetoKitchen.com

 

I just finished my SEVENTH new recipe for keto bread. I have been trying to find one basic recipe that I could eat when my husband is eating dinner rolls from the deli/bakery,  that I could slice and toast for our dinner/breakfasts, and might be able to use for a sandwich. I know – that’s a lot to ask of one recipe, but I’m not one who loves to spend time in the kitchen. I want to be able to do something reasonably quickly that tastes good and has good texture.

I have to say I’m happy with this recipe. It’s called ‘Keto Bread’ and the source is MyKetoKitchen.com

This is the SEVENTH – and best – recipe I have found. I like the fact that it contains yeast and rises a bit. like actual bread. It has enough that you can smell and taste the yeast a bit, too, satisfying my hunger for REAL bread without containing no-no’s like white flour, regular sugar, etc.

I had all the ingredients on hand except for ‘inulin.’ I looked it up, finding it was a sugar alternative with pro-biotics. I have “Swerve,” and so used it instead. (I ordered the Inulin so that I can use that next time, just in case it does make a difference.)

My bread isn’t as pretty as the one shown above, but it sliced nicely, even though I really rushed it on giving it time to cool completely. (my husband loves warm bread and butter. )

 

This is mine.  The pic was taken after I sliced two pieces right out of the middle of the loaf when it was still hot.  The flavor and texture are nice! If you’re trying to eat keto friendly things, try MyKetoKitchen 

 

Preparing for Flying Hair Balls

Since high winds, heavy rain, hail, and possible tornadoes are predicted – starting in a couple of hours, I just spent 45 minutes using the industrial stapler to try to handle the loose or torn places on our greenhouse. There were LOTS of places that needed attention, mostly on both ends of the greenhouse. I think I have those under control now, although my hands really didn’t like the stapling, so I had to stop. I told my husband that, if the greenhouse makes it through, we need to try to shore up the door end, since it is starting to definitely lean in toward the center.

I’m resting a bit, and then I’ll go out and see what I can do to secure the things we have on our porch and deck.  Then, we hope for the best. The sleet forecast for tomorrow probably won’t be that big a deal since it has been quite spring-like lately and the roads are too warm for it to cause much havoc. Still, we bought groceries and are prepared to just stay in until further notice. It’s good to have a nice, warm, dry place to be.

As soon as I finish the deck, I’ll try the new keto bread recipe, and then I’m planning to enjoy playing in my art room.

 

 

 

Macros and Exercise

Trish’s Treasures

The short version is I have 5 pounds to re-lose before I’m on track again. An indulgence here, a bite there, and here I am. I would be disgusted, but I did it, knowing exactly what I was doing, and I enjoyed every bite of falling off the wagon.

Now that we’re officially into 2020, I’m starting to pay attention to my eating again and exercising.

Penn Fitness Warehouse

The weather is helping in my efforts to do my exercising. The highs are in the low 50’s now so I don’t freeze my parts while doing my 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the garage. I take my MP3 player and earphones out, turn on the trainer, start my music, hit ‘User 1’ and ‘Start’ and I’m in the zone for the duration. My husband says I do it ‘too slowly.’ (He doesn’t do it at ALL, so I’m ignoring his opinion.) I’m doing it every day (when I’m being good) and I’m doing it in a way that doesn’t cause my joints to complain or ache, so I’m declaring a win.

 

Mother Nature Network-Jaymi-Heimbuch

 

In the afternoons, I am trying to do half an hour or so of Gentle Yoga stretches. My husband gave me a mat that he got for camping out a million years ago. It’s much thicker than the normal yoga mat, and I love the extra cushioning. Oddly enough, the only area in our house that is large enough for me to fully stretch in all directions is our living room. I again ignore my husband’s ‘helpful suggestions,’ doing my own routine of slowly stretching everything in all directions, breathing into each position, based on the guidance I received from Cat Kabira in the “Gentle Yoga” DVDs. I can really feel a difference if I do this every day. I feel looser, able to stretch in all directions more and more over time, lessen aches and pains due to other activities. If I’m lucky, I can do my practice without the help of our animals, who tend to want to lie down on top of me.

Since even at 72, I’m a little kid at heart, I reward my efforts with actual gold star stickers I bought on the net, putting one for each exercise on my desk calendar. It’s a bit embarrassing that I do this, but not enough to stop. I will always be motivated by gold stars…

Pinterest

I am doing a combination of intermittent fasting (not eating after 9 in the evening until about 1:00 or 1:30 the next afternoon) and then following my macros in the keto plan. A great website called Cronometer.com is helping me record what I’m eating as it applies to what I’m SUPPOSED to be eating for the day. My biggest problem at this point is that I tend to eat too much protein and not enough fat. I have read that eating too much protein can throw me out of ketosis. I’m working on adding more fat. I’ve tried eating an avocado each day, but I really don’t like them, so I’m trying to find other alternatives. I’ll keep reading on the net and see what else I can eat to make my eating match my macro.

Once I re-lose my 5 holiday pounds, I can hopefully get into new territory on my weight loss efforts. My best thus far is losing 43 pounds and 45 inches. My goal is another 30 lbs or so (until the BMI charts are happy with me) and whatever inches go with that. My goal is to be as healthy as I can for whatever my current age is for as long as possible. My husband and I both have health issues that improve as we follow the keto plan, so I’m hoping that 2020 is a great year for us.

Trials and Tribulations of Keto Bread Making

Keto Bread Trial # 1

I have been trying to find a keto bread recipe I can use as a go-to, always-on-hand bread that I can use as a substitute for sandwich bread, toast, or in place of a roll. I’ve really been missing bread, so I have baked 4 recipes in 3 days, to varying degrees of success.

I used to use my bread machine a lot. I got great, reliable results, but bread flour is a no-no on my keto lifestyle. I had put it away, on a top shelf in our pantry. I got two books on keto bread making, one that was for bread machine recipes and the other for keto bread and pasta.

The loaf above was my first try. This was a recipe for the oven. I sliced two thin slices for my husband and I to try. My husband was not impressed. I thought it was okay. I went into the kitchen to wrap up the rest of the loaf, only to find it GONE. Amber, our 94-pound 2-1/2 year old yellow lab, had eaten the entire thing! (She gave it 2 thumbs up.)

Since my husband wasn’t delighted, I decided to try another recipe.

Keto Bread Trial # 2

This was Trial # 2 yesterday using the bread machine. The loaf was only about 3 inches high, when usually the bread machine’s top is held open by the loaf of bread. I was disappointed, to say the least, but I’m not sure that my bread machine and the recipe from the book were on the same page. This was so dense I could have used it as a murder weapon. I threw it out.

 

Keto Bread Trial # 3

Today I decided that I would use a recipe from my bread machine book, substituting the good keto ingredients for the ones in the bread machine recipe; for example, almond flour for bread flour. I didn’t even take a picture of this dismal failure. I simply threw it out.

 

Keto Bread – Trial #4

This was was trial # 4 – a recipe I found on the net using the oven again. We again tried a slice. My husband’s reaction was that it was okay, but he didn’t finish the slice. I thought it was the best yet. I MIGHT be able to use it for sandwiches or toast. The flavor isn’t anything to write home about, so I wrapped this one up (before the dog could sample it) and will continue to eat it.I’ll continue looking for a recipe that really tastes good, as well as meeting my needs, if such a thing exists.

In reading on the net, I think the reason for some of the complexity here is that almond bread has no gluten. Xanthan gum is apparently a thickener. Some of the recipes use yeast and some don’t. I don’t know enough about the science of bread making to decipher which ingredients do what in the recipes.

If persistence will turn the tide, I will find a recipe for a bread that TASTES good, slices well, and will hold together for toasting or to make sandwiches.

Fingers crossed!

Thoughts on a Monday 12-30-2019

Neal Cooper – http://www.cnpsafaris.com via R J Bennett – LinkedIn

It’s hard to believe 2019 is almost behind us. For our family, it was a mixed year of good and bad. My husband had a stroke, our son spent 3 months here with us helping us get to the new normal, and my husband is almost completely recovered now. We lost old friends and gained some new ones. But most of all, I’m grateful for what we have now. I’m intent on wringing every drop of joy I can out of each day.

 

I don’t know if you read my post on baking some keto bread yesterday. I added an addendum later, describing our 94 lb yellow lab, Amber, helping herself to the entire remaining loaf when we were lax about shutting the baby gate between the living room and the kitchen/dining area. She greeted me with a smile and a burp. I am planning to try another keto bread recipe today…

I’m delighted to report that SOME nice someone visited my newest Etsy shop, EyecatchingEarrings yesterday and favorited my shop. The same or a different visitor is now an ‘admirer.’ :0)

We are having a quiet day today – other than a guy who came up in a truck to tell us he and some other people would be wandering around working on electrical poles today. No appointments. No errands. Ahhhhhh!

 

 

I’m looking forward to playing in my art room today.

I hope that YOU are having a wonderful day, too.

Saga of the Quest for Keto Bread – 1

Today I actively started my quest for Keto Bread. Specifically, I’m looking for something I can enjoy when my husband is eating freshly baked rolls from the local bakery/deli, and also a bread I can slice and use for sandwiches. I can do without sandwich bread mostly, but every once in a while, I want a turkey sandwich, or a grilled cheese and ham, or some toast.

I tried a recipe called, “Basic Keto Loaf” from Zara Elby, Keto Bread & Pasta.

My initial reaction is that this can be my go-to when my husband is eating rolls. It slices nicely when cooled. The flavor and texture are nice. This will not work as my sandwich bread because the consistency is more like cake. It might be okay as toast. I’ll try it for that soon, when I fix bacon and eggs for dinner.

This book is interesting. There are LOTS of nice recipes for bread, crackers and breadsticks, and pasta dough. It will keep me busy for a long time trying various things. The recipes are well written. It’s pretty easy to judge servings. For example, this loaf serves 8. I ignored that for this test and just sliced two slices out of the middle, rather than dividing it up into 8 sections. She gives clear nutritional information for the servings.

So far, I’m encouraged and will try another recipe soon.

*ADDENDUM – I just went in to wrap up the bread for storage and it was GONE!  I asked my husband if HE wrapped it up, and he said, ‘no.’ THEN, our dog, Amber (2-1/2 year old 94 pound yellow lab) came up to me and burped, smiling at me. I guess there are TWO members of this household who thought the bread was pretty good, but I won’t be able to see if it’s good for toast until I bake some more…

 

Busted!

Hillbilly Hijinx

I have been craving BREAD over the holidays. My husband gets freshly made rolls from the deli when we go grocery shopping. I can avoid the strawberry-dessert-cakes-and-ice-cream nightly, and I can avoid the bagels, but I’m REALLY missing rolls and sandwiches lately due to my keto diet. Because of this, I succumbed and ate turkey sandwiches at Thanksgiving and have been eating rolls. The result is I have gained 5 lbs from my lowest. UGH.

Alex Howitt

This isn’t EXACTLY what I saw this morning, but close. I’m disgusted with myself, but am now doing two things –

THING ONE – I ordered – and just received two KETO bread cookbooks!  One is Keto Bread and Pasta by Zara Elby, and the other is Keto Bread Machine Cookbook by Katie Simmons.  I will get busy trying recipes for rolls and sandwich type bread in both of these, hoping I can come up with something that solves my bread-craving problem.  I’ll share recipes with you if I find good ones.

Alex Howitt

THING TWO – I am back in the saddle again as far as doing 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer each day. I did my yoga stretches one day, but not yesterday, so I’m kind of HALF-WAY in the saddle again on the yoga.

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but I AM promising myself to get fully with the program again so I can re-lose the 5 and then lose about another 30. I would really like to get to my goal weight in 2020 and then STAY there.

 

 

Thoughts on a Saturday 11-2-2019

Amanda Alma-Feel Free

Today started out pretty cold – 33 degrees. I finally went out to the garage to do 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer when the temperature reached 50. Now it’s 58 and practically balmy!  The freeze killed all the flowers in the planters around the yard, so the next several days I’ll be trying to clear out my planters in preparation for topping them out with mulch for the winter.

My husband loves pulled pork. I found a recipe he really likes, so I put a pork loin in the crock pot this morning. When it is cooked, he helps me shred it, each of us using two forks, until it’s the right consistency. We’ll have that tonight for dinner and divide up the rest if it into meal portions for him and freeze them. Usually we get about 8 meals from one pork loin.

An online friend just made my day. He is serving in Afghanistan and we have been chatting. He told me today that he used the photo of my “Believe” plaque as wallpaper for his computer!

The rest of my day will be spent –

• cleaning out ONE planter outside
• doing my daily yoga stretches session
• working on the flat wooden Christmas ornaments in my art room

I hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday, too.

*If you are in one of the states that practices Daylight Savings Time, tonight before you go to bed, turn your clocks BACK one hour!