Something to be said for the Real McCoy!

For years (like forever) I have always thought, if I was going to try to lose weight, I would need to be buying low fat, non fat, sugar free stuff.  I thought I would need that crutch since I was needing to cut my calories.  My vocabulary began to contain phrases like "tastes just like real" whatever it was I was replacing at the time.  I have to admit one of the things I did enjoy was Publix Sugar Free Orange Sherbet.  It tasted sooooo good.  Draw back?  It had so much fiber in it that if you ate more than the 1/2 cup serving in a day you would end up with a lot of......ahem...gas, and multiple trips to the bathroom.  That was the most benign issue to have with some of the foods I chose.  Should the food you choose to eat have a disclaimer?  Some foods actually do.  You know the famous Olestra ingredient in the low fat potato chips?  That's another one that gives you serious bathroom issues if you have more than one serving in a day.  Did ya know Aspartame was created by a guy trying to develop a new paint thinner?  Did you also know that skim milk was originally a waste product from milk processing?  It isn't even really white.  Yea, they add chalk to it to get that color.  Yum.  Which bring me to my next point.....

2) Eat real food!- I eat normal everyday foods.  With a few exceptions.  I mix our lemonade with Stevia.  I have two grown sons and they will go thru the lemonade.  To cut the sugar down I use half and half Stevia/Sugar,or just straight Stevia.  Our iced tea, however, is made with sugar.  I use 1/2 cup sugar for a gallon of tea.  Not Southern sweet tea, mind you, but it's how I like it.  It is the same tea I grew up drinking.  Turkey bacon is a staple at our house mainly due to cost.  It's much cheaper than the real thing,but my oldest son actually prefers it to real bacon.  I also make our sausage from ground turkey.  I don't care for the really lean ground turkey.  It's too dry.  I use the 85%.  I make our sausage this way due to cost as well.  With those few caveats we eat only the real thing; Butter, sugar, whole milk, whole milk yogurt, peanut butter, real cheese, etc.   I do count the calories. and I eat a smaller serving.  I even buy regular potato chips!  We just have a 3/4 oz serving compared to the 1 oz they recommend.   Remember the whole portion control thing?  Well here is where it's needed.  However, I must say I would rather have 3 oz of sugar sweetened whole milk french vanilla yogurt than 6 oz of the nonfat artificially sweetened stuff.  Like I stated in the last post, I use a free website called sparkpeople.com, but the internet is full of free diet/calorie counting websites. Just remember with great power comes great responsibility (totally stole that from the Spiderman movie).  Yes you can have any food,  but count the calories and in moderation.  Don't forget your fruits and veggies!  I try to balance something not so low cal with things very low calorie and nutritious.  For example, I stated before how I have eaten Chic Fila 3 piece chicken tenders a couple of times.  They are 350 calories for the serving.  Not so low in calories.  Not bad, but still pretty high.  However, I balanced that treat with fruit.  Fruits and veggies are great fillers to round out a meal when you are eating all this wonderful stuff  IN MODERATION.   I have discovered two things.  I absolutely love' frozen bananas and roasted carrots.  Not mixed together mind you. I love them so much so that I've started to buy 12 lbs of carrots at a time because I know that will be my go to veggie.  I buy about that in bananas.  My son informed me he was eating all of my frozen bananas, so I have to stay ahead of him.  DH told me if I ever serve him regular cooked carrots he will be disappointed.  Never fear!  I have a recipe!  Here's how!

Roasted Carrots:

1 lb bag carrots peeled and cut into chunks or sticks like fries
1 tsp oil.  I use very little, but you go by your taste.  This works for us.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the carrots in the oils til the oil is distributed on all the carrots pretty well.  Spread one layer on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until fry like consistency; kinda crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Frozen Bananas

Spread chunked ripe (don't use green ones they aren't as good.  Use the ones with a few spots) bananas in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Freeze.  Put some in a bowl and eat.  Reminds me of eating a ice cream Popsicle.

 Because I'm eating real food, my body knows exactly what to do with it and I'm satisfied.  That's the one thing that has amazed me the most!  Technically I'm eating less over all food, but I'm not getting hungry or light headed.  I don't feel like I'm not gonna make it to the next meal or that planning what I eat is an all encompassing task.  Many times I'll come in from outside not knowing what to fix for lunch.  Sometimes I will cook something, but often I just end up with a PB&J (see I do have bread), Apple w/Peanut butter, or Apple w/ Cheese stick.  One day I just measured out Chocolate Granola with a banana and some vanilla yogurt on top.  Be still my heart!  Good times.  I have a freedom never before allowed to myself.  There is nothing off limits as long as I count it.

I believe one of the reasons for my success is making sure my breakfast is high protein.  I have noticed if I have pancakes, coffee cake, or other bread for breakfast I will be hungrier than if I stick to Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Yogurt, or Turkey sausage with fruits and veggies.  I save the pastry breakfasts for weekends when we eat breakfast later,

I hope I'm not running on and on.  I have all this stuff in my head and putting it on paper can be a little daunting.  Especially since I'm so excited about it all.  I feel like I've struck gold, and I want to share. I've been waiting for almost 4 months and the flood gates are finally open!  Brace yourself!
More to follow!

Welcome to One-derland!

All my life I've fought with my weight.  Well at least the vast majority of it.  I went on my first diet around age 9.  That was almost fo..... ah er never mind.  It was the Weight Watcher program my mom was on.  Over the years I've dieted and gained back more weight than before.  So much so that I was loathe to diet ever again.  Statistics say that only 5% of the people that lose weight manage to maintain the loss.  How hopeful is that?  Over the last 4-5 years I've managed to maintain about half of the weight lost last time I dieted (which wasn't a lot), but have watched some creep back on this past holiday season. Yet I dug my heals in and would do nothing because I was not willing to face another loss then gain.  My frustration with weight loss comes from supposedly all this "help" in the form of special made foods, gyms, weight loss programs, etc and still I have the extra weight.  We're surrounded by low fat, fat free, sugar free everything,weight loss programs,weight loss pills, bariatric surgery, etc and yet, according to Bloomberg Business, obesity rates are up 90% since 1995 in 17 states..  Just 20 years. Why?  Well I think I now know.

 We are being trained to stay habitually dieting. 

 Take a look at the weight loss industry, and it is an industry, a  multi million dollar industry.  Photo shopped actresses and models show us what we should look like.  So in seeking that "normalcy"we turn to yet another diet, supplement, or workout program.  Eat bread, don't eat bread.  Carbs are good.  Carbs are bad... Low fat, No fat, good fat, etc.  Every year sees a multitude of new diet books on the shelf and  those same books are later found on the book shelves of thrift stores.  However, America as a whole gets bigger.  We're in a cycle that benefits the weight loss industry immensely, but us...not so much.  I understand the health benefits of a healthy weight.  I also know not all skinny people are healthy and not all fat people are sick.  I was considered obese by government standards, yet my blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse rate, A1C, etc were all normal.  I wanted to lose weight, but whatever changes needed to be permanent, healthy, and doable without adding to the weight loss industries coffers.

 I think I'm finding my way.  What am I saying?  I did find a way!  For the first time in 24 years I'm in "One-derland"!  In other words my weight now starts with a 1.  Now a lot of people can tout a weight loss, but will it last?  I believe this will for me and I'll tell you why.  There are no gimmicks.  It really is calories in, calories out, but it's real food.  It's portion control.  It's living my life.  For the first time in my life I'm losing weight without feeling like I'm holding on by my finger tips.  I've lost since Jan 30th 2016, 31 lbs.  It's been seemingly effortless!  I wanted to share these findings with you.  There's a way to lose weight without tasteless food, deprivation, boredom, feeling left out, etc.  While you might think my tips are anecdotal; I've found,for me,they work.  In fact this post has been a work in progress over the past few months.  I didn't want to say anything about tips or success until I knew this was working.  You may not want to use all of these tips.  That's okay. Take what you want, leave the rest.  Whatever tips I may pass on, the greatest one is to do what works best for you.  This is best for me.  Originally this was going to be in one post, but I know you have a life and don't need to be spending it in front of a computer reading all of this.  So I broke it up into separate posts.

 Welcome to part 1.

1) Choose your battles wisely - First of all, a Disclaimer*** I don't care how much they say you can lose weight without counting and measuring.  You will fail if you don't teach yourself portion control.  Weighing and measuring is the only way to teach yourself.  Accept that.  Now, that being said....

I LOVE COFFEE!  This is a weird statement for me because up until about 5-6 years ago, I never touched the stuff.  I loved the smell, but hated the taste.  Once I started drinking it I was hooked.  You know it's bad when you go to bed at night and the last thing you think of before sleep is "tomorrow I get coffee!".  I have to have cream and sugar in my coffee.  I've tried to learn to drink it black, but that ain't happening.  Artificial sweeteners and Stevia make it taste bitter.  I've had multiple false starts mainly due to the fact that, in order to have coffee, I had to count those calories.  This time around I asked myself " what foods did I want more? What foods can I live without.".  I knew, because of my Thyroid issues, I needed to keep my protein levels high normal and my carbs low normal.  Because of that I knew I needed to make sure I was getting protein at each meal and snack.  I also knew fruits and veggies are paramount for nutrients, fiber, etc.  I needed to make sure carbs came from those things first.  What food was last on my priority list?  The answer was bread, pasta, and/or rice.  Now don't get me wrong.  I haven't said "never" to those foods, but it is last on my list of important foods.  It's too many calories for the amount of enjoyment I get from it.  There are other foods that give way more enjoyment and or nutrition.  I still have plenty of carbs.  This is not a low carb diet.  I meet my range all the time according to Sparkpeople.  The Carbs come in the way of Fruits, Veggies, Coffee with cream and sugar, Homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (2 are 120 calories), whole milk vanilla yogurt, etc.  I find if I have a high amount of protein at breakfast I will stay satisfied much longer.   I have also noticed that if I eliminate bread, rice, etc during one meal, I may can save it for another where it would be more enjoyable.  Here is an example of one day of eating for me right now:

Breakfast

2 eggs, scrambled in a little(4 grams) butter, 2 oz of whole milk vanilla yogurt on a cup of whole strawberries with a tsp of sure nuff chocolate syrup drizzled on top.  PLUS COFFEE!  Yum!

Mid Morning Snack (around 10:30 ish.  I don't always have this, but when I do)

3/4 oz Mozzarella Cheese and an apple

Lunch

5 oz Chicken breast
4 oz roasted carrots (new favorite thing)
Maybe a baked potato with a little (4gms) butter if I am really hungry, but I'm usually not.

Snack

3 TBS microwaved popcorn made in one of those microwave popcorn poppers (again if I had a late lunch this might be skipped)

Dinner 

Taco Salad with ground beef or turkey, 1/2  ( that's half yall) oz real cheddar cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, and If I want to use the calories, on tortilla chips.  If I want to save calories for dessert I will forgo the chips and just have it on lettuce.

Dessert

Smores- 1 graham cracker, 1 large marshmallow, and 15 choc chips melted.

This is just an example of an average 1200-1500 calorie day, but I've had Papa Johns, Little Caesars (2 slices cheese pizza) Pizza, or Chic Fila (3 piece chicken tenders).  My husband and I went out to Texas Roadhouse for our anniversary and we had steak, house salad, and FRIES (we split his serving)!. I counted it!  We did make sure to tell the waitress we did not need the bread basket on the table.  Anyway, no food is off limits to me.  I had Dairy Queen ice cream cake for my birthday!  Well and the day after...cause...uh there were enough servings for each of us to have 2!  Knowing nothing is withheld from me is very freeing.  I just accept I have to have reasonable portions.  Know what?  I'm not hungry!  I don't feel left out!  There is a draw back.  You have to take the time to measure,count and record what you're eating. I use sparkpeople.com , but you can use whatever site works for you.  There are plenty to choose from.  You also have to make sure you are using plenty of fruits, veggies, and lean meats as your base.  The fun stuff is supposed to be ancillary. This is my and your responsibility.


 This is a marathon and not a sprint- Whatever method you use for your success needs to be something you can do for the long haul.  There will be days where you eat and don't count it, especially during the holidays.  Do it.  Give yourself that vacation from the plan with full knowledge and no guilt.  You are choosing to enjoy a family get together or party.  This doesn't mean you are derailed.  It means you control even then what you put in your mouth.  This also doesn't give you free reign to throw caution to the wind for the whole holiday season.  Pace yourself.  Resolve to get right back on track the following day.  Accept the consequences of your actions.  It's better to accept the small consequences of one day of vacation, than to allow that one day to derail everything you have worked on for months on end before you finally get control again.  This also works in emergencies.  Funny thing is that knowing I can have what I really want when I want it, has taken the power over me away from the food I eat and has put it into my hands.  I find most of the time a bite of something satisfies my desire to taste it and I can move on.

My next posts are ready to go and I will post them quickly so be on the look out.  I just wish I knew 20 years ago what I now know.

The Corn is UP the Gravel is DOWN

I know, sounds like a Sesame Street skit, but in my case it's true.  We had a few really good days of long steady rain and it was no time at all the corn was poking its little head out of the ground.  They're the babies of my garden nursery.

The toddlers, as it were, must have grown 2-3 inches over night.  Gardens like water, but they loooooooove rain water...and thunder and lightening; not so much hail though.  I'm thankful I had the presence of mind to leave out buckets to catch the rain water run off.  I now have four 5 gallon buckets, and two large plastic trash cans (the 55 gallon deals) full of rain water.  They're covered for now to keep mosquitoes out, but come Tuesday or Wednesday the water will be utilized for watering the garden between rains.  This saves on my water bill (Yay) and allows me to give them the kind of water they prefer.

As for the gravel, that's a project DH and I have been working on.  For the many years we've lived here, we've always had to turn around in the front yard off of the drive way.  Our drive way has enough room for two cars to park but not turn around, or one car to park and turn around.   This year we've received large amounts of rain, and when we do, that turn around becomes a potential snag for tires.  Since the grass in that unofficial turn around area was threadbare at best, we opted to kill it all off and put down gravel.  In order to avoid a delivery fee, we picked up three scoops of gravel with our little truck.  That took three trips to the store.  Not bad trips as the store is only 2 miles away; still it took time to unload each scoop.   Yesterday I went by the store to see how much the delivery fee would be for 4 more scoops.  We frequent that store often and they know us pretty well.  The manager said he wouldn't charge us a fee to go that short a distance.  So I bought 4 more scoops to finish out the turn around.  I should have asked him that from the get go.  Would have saved us time and a little gas.  Oh well, you live and learn.  Looking at the finished project I must say I am thrilled with how it turned out.

This will probably be our "big" undertaking for the summer; at least for now.  I still need to pressure wash the house but that won't use much money.  Just gas and water for the washer.  Feels good though to have something else checked off the list.

Well that's it for here.  What's going on with you?

Well that's it, the Garden is in....and out!

Yep!  I did it!  I met my goal of getting my entire garden in without the use of a tiller.

I'll post a better picture once everything is up and growing. It's a huge feeling of accomplishment for me at least.  Thursday was the last thing...corn.  I wasn't going to plant corn this year  The corn on the cobb takes up a lot of space in the freezer and my oldest son prefers it off the cobb.  In addition canning corn takes a looong time.  Since I still have some jars of canned corn I figured I would let it go this year.  That is until I saw hubby's sad face.  He loooooves corn on the cobb, especially during the summer when we grill.  We will grill the corn in the husk and then put butter, salt, pepper, paprika, and Parmesan cheese on it.  So,never one to disappoint my Knight in shining Armour, I planted corn.  The plan is to pick what we want to eat as it gets ready and then let the rest dry on the stalk to use to supplement the chicken feed.

Even better than the garden being in, is the stuff coming out of the garden.  I've picked lettuce, spinach. asparagus, strawberries,garlic,and Broccoli.   It has been great not having to buy this stuff at the store.  I can't afford to buy Asparagus at the store, but in all honesty I have never really liked it.  I planted it for Dh (man he's spoiled!).  The other evening I prepared the recent small harvest.  We will get a bigger harvest next year.  Here is what I did to prepare the Asparagus.

I Do Like Asparagus! Asparagus:

1 lb of fresh Asparagus (fresh from the garden is best.)
2 Tbs Butter
3 cloves garlic minced (harvested this week too)
Salt and Pepper to taste

I would tell you to remove the woody ends of your Asparagus, and if you buy it at the store that is the case, but I didn't have to do that.  Melt the butter in a pan.  Add the minced garlic and some salt and pepper.   Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes, but not too long.  Add your asparagus spears and toss to coat.  Cover and cook on a low med heat about 10 min.  This will make them crisp tender.  If you want it more tender, then cook a little longer.

I love Asparagus this way!  Who knew!

I'm excited to see as well, the blueberries covering my bushes, and I actually have a few peaches this year on my one remaining peach tree.  I asked a local orchard how and when to spray my peach tree and was told every ten days and/or after it rains.  I am a woman on a mission.  I want to get peaches this year.  Still waiting for blooms on my blackberry bushes, but they tend to do well.  We will see.

So that's how my garden is doing.  How is yours!?

Moving day for the babies

Yesterday we finally were able to move the new baby chicks from their brooding box to their new (to them) coop.  This past week I worked on cleaning the coop, the nesting box, etc to get it prepared for their new adventure.  They have grown so much in the last 10 days.

So tiny when we first got them.  Really no bigger than the egg they came from.  This was not a problem for us even though our brooding box is actually a lighted seed starter box and really not very deep.  It didn't take long before we started to have issues due to their growth.  One afternoon, while in the living room, I began to hear a loud chirruping coming from the direction of the brooding box.  I went to investigate thinking one of them must be panicked about something.  She was.  This is what I found

The gap you see below her is much smaller than the picture portrays.  How she was able to get out of the box thru that gap is beyond me,  but she did.  After that I made sure there were no more gaps and everyone stayed where they were supposed to.  However, I set to work getting them in their new home before they got so big it was uncomfortable for them.  Now I can say they are in their home sweet home.

They seem to like this corner, even though there is a nesting box on the other side.  We put them in the nesting box and they still made their way over to here.  They look so small in the coop and I guess they think so too.

This is the rest of the space.  You can't see them.  They are behind the water bottle.  I would say they have plenty of room to grow.  It won't be long before they get brave and start to explore their surroundings.  So now that they are settled it's time for my next project!

Have  great day!

The benefits of Trench digging, Black plastic, and raised beds

Every year I analyze what went wrong and what went right with my garden.  I'm always tweaking it to see if I can get better results.  Although I can't really say production has been an issue, I do have problems with weeds (as I'm sure does everyone).  I also want to have my garden be as sustainable as possible without added chemicals and I want to do this with as little money as possible.

One of the things I've been using for weed prevention is Black plastic.  You can find it easily at any hardware store.  Last season I used it again, but more of it.  In other words the whole garden was covered at the end of the season.  It sat under the plastic for the whole fall and winter.  Once uncovered a miracle had happened.  Weeds were gone.  The plastic not only keeps the sunlight from reaching these pesky weed plants, but also heats the soil up to the extent any left over seeds quickly die.  Now don't get me wrong, the weeds can come back, but in limited number.  This makes things much more manageable;especially if I keep the black plastic in between my beds and rows.  If I keep this process up each year, I'm thinking the results will get better each year.  Another advantage of the plastic is the fact that the ground underneath is easily turned due to the weeds being gone and the garden being loose from last year.  This is a win win for me.  You see, like most gardeners, I normally use a tiller for turning under my garden.  So far this year I've been able to turn under my beds with a shovel.   That's right a shovel. Makes for a good workout I must say.  And not only my raised beds, but the part of my garden where rows still reign supreme are seeing this shovel phenomenon.  Maintenance in my raised beds has always been less than that of my rows.  Since they aren't walked on the soil stays looser, less water is used, and it's easier to work around.  I must say though the maintenance level between beds and rows has gotten closer since the advent of black plastic cover.

So how does this shovel phenomenon work you ask?  (I know you didn't ask,  but I'm a gonna tell ya any how).  Trench digging.  That's the real name of the shovel phenomenon.  I would like to say I invented it, but alas that would not be true. I just learned it for myself, but this process is old as the hills.  Contrary to popular belief, motorized tillers haven't always been around.  I know, I know.  I was just as shocked as you are.(smile).  So here goes.

Now if you are a stickler for a straight bed, this is the point you would carefully mark off your area, stake it and tie string around the stakes to create the shape bed you desire.......I don't have the time or patience for that.  I eyeball the size and attempt to make it close to the size of the bed next to it.  It is not an exact science.  But you know what?  The dirt still works the same, and it gives my garden a rustic look (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).  So anyway, my first step is to dig a trench the depth and width of a shovel, and the length you desire,  As you dig you will remove the dirt to either a waiting wheelbarrow or tarp placed on the ground.  You will use this dirt later in your bed.

Once your first trench is done, you move over a little and begin digging another trench with your shovel edge slightly overlapping the side of the first trench.  As you dig this time, you will turn the dirt into the first trench, filling it as you go.  Now would be the time to break up any clumps of dirt with your shovel or cultivator.  Kinda hard to tell with this picture,but what you see below is the new trench to your left just getting started and the loose dirt in the first trench to your right.

 Disclaimer*** you will burn calories.   Keep digging trenches, filling the previous trench as you go til you get your bed the width you like.  I usually do about 4 trenches.  But wait!  Your last trench has no dirt!  Never fear!  That is what the dirt from your first trench is for!  Yay!  Problem solved!  What you see in the above picture is a bed I currently have in progress.  Below is an example of a bed I have finished.

Once I finish this last bed all I will need to do is cultivate three rows from last year and I will be ready to plant corn which is my last thing to get in the garden.  If I can do this, I will have put my garden in this year without the use of a tiller which means NO GAS USE!  I hope this post has been helpful.  Go dig up something!  Who needs a gym when you have a shovel!

I know you have been neglected of late.

And I have to say part of the problem is the "e" key on my computer.  It keeps sticking so keep that in mind as I attempt to write this.  I have to say though that the main problem is writers block.  What can I write to you that isn't already in the pages of past blog entries?  Always one to face a challenge ( Ahem...); I will attempt to impart something useful in today's post.

   For all you  Bread makers out there!  I know a lot of you may already know this, but I will spread the word to those of us newbies who are still in the learning process.  Slash your loaf!  By that I mean put a light cut front to back along the top of your loaves.  This keeps air bubbles from forming under your crust and messing up an otherwise perfect loaf.  I particularly hate it when the air bubbles aren't seen until after you slice the pretty loaf.   Drives m crazy!  I think I can safely say this one thing alone has been one of my greatest epiphanies.   Well at least one of my greatest Domestic Diva epiphanies.

   Yesterday was my scheduled grocery gettin day.  I haven't had a major grocery gettin day in a while.  I have been trying to combine trips to save on gas and as such I've just been grabbing sale items or what I had to have after dropping my son or now sons off for work.  Yesterday was a bit of a change.  I still dropped my oldest son off for work yesterday morning but this time I did some of my major grocery shopping.  I still have one trip to make to Sams and then I will be done for the month.  Well unless a great deal comes up.  I always hold back some money for deals or fresh items (fruit, veggies).  In preparation for the major haul, I defrosted my freezer and cleaned out the fridge.  This was easy because, after months of just getting what was one sale, both were about empty.  What items were in the freezer and fridge (mainly the fridge) were put to the front and used up.  I also did some other baking; bread, granola and cookies in order to have those things already on hand and in their place before I shopped.  This also keeps me from being tempted to buy breads and cereal when I'm at the store.  I mean let's face it.  Buying those things is easier, just not better for us anyway.

  The garden is just now starting to produce.  The cooler weather crops are starting to come in.  It's nice not having to add lettuce or spinach to my shopping list.  I've planted the rest of my seeds with the exception of corn.  I'm glad I held off putting my tomato and pepper plants in because we've had a late cold snap.  I should be able to put them in finally next week.

Looking forward to the upcoming season.  Our future holds more chicks (hens) for more eggs, and some much needed repairs and upgrades to our little piece of heaven.  So hopefully I can have more things to write about that might be more interesting that what I have written so far. I am also looking at some topic changes in the near future, but that is a work in progress.  Stay tuned.

So what great things are you lookin forward to?