Vacation update!

We had a great time on vacation.  It took us a couple of days to really get our feet underneath us.  What I can tell you is that we didn't really care for the main drag of Pigeon Forge or Gaitlinberg.  We made the mistake of going to the Hollywood Wax museum.  Huge disappointment; especially for the money we paid (about $62 for both) for a VIP pass.  The VIP pass was a joke.  The only benefit from it was the fact that admission to Hannah's Mirror maze was included in the price.  Really, though, we should have just paid for the maze and done that.  The maze was great fun!  It's geared for kids mainly, but we grown ups were having just as good a time.  Had we just done the maze, we would have paid about half what we paid to do the museum.  So Maze, yes, Museum, no.  The museum was okay, but not for what we paid.  In addition, while you're walking thru the museum, you get stopped by Time share folks.  I won't say it's sponsored by the museum, but they do have their own spot in the museum.  They stop folks who have the VIP pass (cause we must have more money ((eyeroll)).

The side streets are where you want to go for things like the antique stores, unique crafts, etc; You know, those things you wouldn't find in your back yard.  I even found an antique doll to work on! I'm teaching myself how to recondition/restore old composition dolls.  It's a work in progress.  She needs a lot of help.

 What we really enjoyed was the Great Smokey Mountain National park.  BEAUTIFUL!, and that was with the trees not in bloom yet!  The snow caps were gorgeous.

There's a part of the park called "Cade's Cove".  It's an 11 mile loop that includes some of the homes and other buildings of some of the original settlers to that area.  If you ever try this out, set aside 2.5-3 hours for the tour.  I am a huge fan of all things pioneering.  This was right up my alley.  The only drawback is it takes 45 minutes to get there from the visitor center because it's 24 miles away, and you can only drive about 25-30 miles per hour.  Weeeee should have packed a lunch.  Lol  We were starving when we left to find lunch.  Here's a shot from the cove to the mountains.

 Here's one of the homes built by the first settlers to the area, James Oliver

Speaking of starving...we really didn't.  That's the one thing we had no problem with....food.  I had all these plans of finding a Subway, Chic Fila, and Zaxby's when we got there.  We finally found a Subway on day 2, but by then the damage was done.  Lol.  We had no trouble finding good restaurants.  Mel's Diner I think was the best.  Big Daddy's pizza was a really close second.  In fact, not sure if they aren't tied.  Anyway, Our plans changed in that we decided to just have fun, and get back on track Thursday morning when we were on our way home.  So that's what we did.  Monday thru Weds were vacation days and we were back on track Thursday before we left Pigeon Forge.

So Sunday was our weigh in day and we were really surprised at how little was gained.  My Dh only gained .2 pounds.  I gained .8 pounds which is really good because my weight fluctuates, and should have been up a little anyway.  I was glad to see I hadn't gained all of the weight I'd lost over the 2 weeks before.

So all in all a good week.  The best part of our trip?  Just taking the time to be together.  That's what has kept us going for 25 years.  He's my best friend, and I'm his.

Mama's got her groove back.

I know it's been more than a week since last I posted.  I weighed in initially last week March 18th and was down .4 pounds.  Not too shabby after 3 great days only after 4 really bad days.  Those bad days were literally out of control days.  Crazy.  But once I went back to basics; things settled... a lot.  I would get to the end of the day; have had plenty to eat, and have calories left over!

I could've posted this then, but I wanted to get another weigh in under my belt before I declared victory.  So that's where I am now.  Funny thing is, I started this post last week.  This point in my post is being (or I should say was?) written on 3/18.  I did have my confidence back at that weigh in on 3/18, and knew I was on the right track.  But like I said, I wanted to be sure.

So today's (3/24)weigh in was a loss as well of another pound!

So what caused my dilemma of the past, oh, 3.5 months?  Breads, rice, and pasta..yes, but not in and of themselves.  Like I've said before, I have no problem with those things, and will still eat them on occasion.  The problem came because those things,which have more calories, and stayed with me for a shorter time, had increased in my diet over the last 3.5 months.  Then I was hungry and had no calories left to manage the hunger.  So I would throw the day away.

 Once I took those breads, etc. out of my diet again (for now), I regained control.

 I still get plenty of carbs from fruits, sugar sweetened coffee or tea, sugar sweetened whole milk dairy, or just dairy, etc.  In addition, because I'm now getting on average 7 fruits and veggies a day, my fiber intake is going way up.  I'm now meeting my fiber requirements for each day.  Sometimes I even surpass the fiber requirements.  Plus, my protein levels are way up.  Which is good because I have hypothyroidism, and so need a higher protein intake relative to my carb intake.  But I always, always, always meet strongly my carb requirements for the day.  They just don't come from breads, rice, or pasta most of the time.  Carbs are your friend.  Your brain actually needs them to function so..keep the carbs please.

Toward the end of this past week I did start adding a treat in the evening.  Not always, but some nights; if I have the calories, and have met my fiber requirements (25 gms a day), then I have allowed myself cookies (2 for 120 calories), or a smore ( Not for any reason except that's what I have on hand.  In summer, it'll probably be milkshakes or ice cream).  It's the end of the day, so no chance of foraging.  Plus since I haven't eaten a crazy amount of breads etc, I have plenty of calories and am very satisfied over all.  Know what else?  Even after the cookies, I still have calories left over.  It's crazy.

This upcoming week marks our 25th wedding anniversary.  Can't believe it, but here it is!  Happy Anniversary Babe!  Love you!

We've been planning and saving to take a trip to celebrate.  I was a little concerned, now that I'm back on track, that I would blow it all on vacation.  I think I'm going to be fine though.  The hotel we're staying at has a free hot breakfast so I can get eggs and fruit easy for a good start to the day.  And coffee.  We can't forget coffee.  Any other restaurants, I'll just make sure the bread etc isn't included on what I order.  We'll be near some national and state parks and so there will be plenty of trails to try.  We also plan on walking to our destinations most of the time.  I'm thinking I'll be active enough.  Next week will see how I did.

So while I've got you.  Here's a little something really good to try especially if you like chocolate covered cherries.

Partially defrost 5 oz of frozen cherries (I buy mine at Costco).  Top them with 1/2 TBS of chocolate syrup.  I've used as little as 6 gm of syrup and as much as a full TBS.  It depends on how bad I'm needing chocolate.  This is beyond good!

Back to Basics

Frustration had set in this week as I began to try and jump back on the wagon.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  I would start out great and by afternoon would be foraging for something to eat.

Nothing I was eating had artificial sweeteners; so that wasn't it

I was eating foods I've eaten many times before and never had a problem.

It was rainy and cold a few days and that's always frustrating, but I had problems on sunny days too.

What was it?

Then yesterday happened.  Once again I started out my morning recording my breakfast.  Never give up right!?  I'm always doing fine until afternoon, so likewise my day went fine up to the point of lunch as well.  I was recording what I had for lunch when I realized I hadn't had any kind of bread up to that point.  My plan was to have hamburgers last night for dinner, but up until then, no bread, rice, or pasta.  This gave me pause.  Hmmmm...

When I first started out on this journey, breads, rice, pasta were last on my list to eat.  I have nothing against them, and don't totally exclude them.  This isn't a low carb diet, but they're too many calories for the benefit I receive from them.  They were supposed to be a treat not a mainstay.  Over the past month, and even since the Holiday season, these items (including cookies, crackers, and anything else made with flour), had crept further and further into my diet.  This past month even more so because of the lack of grocery money.  Needless to say, I've been eating lots of bread products.  They had become a mainstay.

Here's the thing: 130 calories for a 2 oz hamburger bun that's mostly air; compared to 130 calories of nutrient dense foods like fruits, veggies, lean meat, etc.  Which do you think provides more food?  That same amount of calories would be in 4 oz of pork loin or chicken, 7.5 oz of cherries, 6 oz of whole milk vanilla yogurt.  Get my drift?   Well, I remembered too.  Immediately I removed the hamburger bun from my menu for the day, keeping everything else( the pork loin hamburger patties, the toppings, etc).  Because of that removal, instead of just a hamburger alone for dinner; I had my Bun-less burger on a bed of raw spinach (with all the toppings), and had baked carrot fries (very good) on the side.  Instead of cookies for dessert, I had my "Banana split" which is a sliced banana topped with 2 oz of vanilla whole milk yogurt and a drizzle of real (homemade) chocolate syrup).  So I went thru an entire day without breads, rice, or pasta.

 Know what?  I got to the end of my day feeling very full and satisfied.  Better yet, I was in range for calories, carbs, protein, fats, and fiber!  No munching!  No foraging!  No cheating!  No feeling deprived.  I mean, I look back over my day and I had 2 cups of coffee with milk and sugar!  I had buttered popcorn!  And I had my chocolate fix.  Still no diet foods, no artificial anything.  So guess what I'm doing today?  You betcha!  Same thing.  I already have my menu planned for the day!  Wanna see?

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee with 1 tsp sugar and 2 tbs whole milk each
2 eggs cooked in 4 gms butter
140 grams (that's 5 oz) cherries topped with
2 oz of vanilla whole milk yogurt

Morning snack

140 grams strawberries topped with
2 oz vanilla whole milk yogurt
1 tsp choc syrup

Lunch

Chicken stir fry with
5 oz of broccoli
5 oz of cauliflower
4 oz cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
Plus all the spice, soy sauce etc
212 gms (7.5 oz) fresh cantaloupe

Afternoon snack

3 TBS popcorn
4 gms butter

Dinner

4 oz ground pork "Taco meat"
1 cup fresh spinach
.5 oz cheddar cheese
1 tbs sour cream
1/4 cup salsa

Dessert

Banana
2 oz Vanilla whole milk yogurt
1 tsp choc syrup

Total calories :  1365 out of the 1550 I'm allowed
Total carbs :  164 in range of 135- 235
Total fat:  42 in range of 27-56
Total protein:  92 in range of 60- 127
Total fiber: 25 in range of 25-35.

Tell me I don't have enough to eat!

Okay, all kidding aside

UGH!  up .4 lbs for the month.  That doesn't sound too bad except since before the holidays I've put on about 4 pounds over all.  When you combine the holidays with cookies, power outages, and lack of grocery money, it all adds up to a long time jump off the band wagon.  I think the only thing that saved me over the past few months has been the fact that I've continued to be active.  So full disclosure; here I go.

I now have received my grocery money for the month!  Yay!  I have been able to restock some stuff and got a great deal on the Chicken breast and pork loin.  During my Costco trip I bought 4- 6 lb bags of frozen Normandy Blend veggies.  The cashier asked if I had enough (tongue in cheek).  I made no apologies.  I told her these vegetables roasted are my favorite vegetable.  So I'm buying plenty for the month.  Seriously, I could eat these as a snack!  In addition, I also discovered that 4% (which is the full fat version) cottage cheese has more protein in it than eggs.  That's good news since my chickens aren't laying so much right now.  I actually had to buy eggs!  Another good thing about the cottage cheese is I get a lot of it to equal the same calories as the 2 eggs I would have had.  So this mornings breakfast was

Coffee with 1 tsp of sugar and 1 oz whole milk (of course)
130 grams green grapes
140 grams strawberries
3/4 cup of 4% cottage cheese.

300 calories total for this breakfast.  That's about what I shoot for; 300-350 calories.  Plus I get a whopping 20 gms of protein in this breakfast.  Best yet, I love cottage cheese.  May need to buy more (smile)..

So anyhoo, taking it one day at a time.  Today was a good day.  I stayed in range, got plenty of good for you stuff, did a workout (step tape+ housework), had cookies for dessert.  I was pretty impressed with myself since it was a cloudy dreary day.  Those days tend to be days where I want to munch.  But I stayed the course.  It's always a good thing to let the upward mobility of the scale be a good motivator.  It did, and I have.  Can't complain.  Now we see what tomorrow holds.

In the home stretch!

WHEW!  It has been a month!  I have three weeks under my belt and one week more until I get my official grocery money.  However, I was blessed enough in selling some things on my Etsy shop, and so I get to pick up a few items this week.  These are items which are on my ever growing grocery list for next week.  To be able to get these items at these prices is awesome!

Boneless pork loin-  $1.48 lb at a local store.  This store, since it is an independent store, will grind as well as slice meat.  For that reason I watch for pork loin to go on sale here first.  Plus when it does go on sale here; it's usually cheaper.  I get the center third sliced into chops about 3/4 inch thick and then the two end thirds ground.  I use the ground pork loin to make our breakfast sausage .  Plus, we have discovered that hamburgers made with ground pork are pretty awesome.  Way better than turkey and very low in fat and calories, yet high in protein.  In fact, the cheapest turkey I can buy here is $1.89 lb and it's only 85% lean.  This is way leaner and I can get it on sale for anywhere from $1.48- $1.69 lb.  I have used it in all sorts of recipes where ground beef is called for and have been extremely pleased with the results.  Hamburgers were my last experiment and the ground pork came thru with flying colors.  My freezer is getting bare, so I'm refilling it ahead of time because the sale will be gone after Tuesday.  I'm purchasing about 21 lbs.

Folgers coffee-  I try to keep 6 large containers of coffee on hand at all times.  When I open the 6th one, I add a coffee to my grocery list.  I haven't been able to do that for a couple of months.  I'm down to three.  The same local independent store has the 31 oz can of Folgers for $4.97.  Awesome price.  I'll get three and have that back to comfort level.

Cheese!-  Kroger has the 2 lb packages of their brand of cheese on sale for $4.99.  Plus I have a Kroger coupon for $1.50 off a $7 or more dairy purchase.  This will make the cheese around $2.35 lb, which is cheaper than Costco.  The sale will end on Tuesday.  So I will get 5 packages of different varieties now.

Strawberries-  It's strawberry season!  Woohoo!  While I grow strawberries, we didn't get many last year.  I'm hoping for a better outcome this year, but until then, Aldi has Strawberries for .99 lb!  I had them on my list to buy frozen at Costco, but this price is way cheaper and it gives us a few fresh ones to eat as well.  I'll buy 10 lbs.  I'll freeze 7 or 8 lbs, and keep 2 or 3 lbs in the fridge for fresh eating.

Fresh Spinach-  Will pick up at Aldi along with a few Bananas because we're out and need it to finish out the week.

So everything above was budgeted to fit the $82 I got from sales on Etsy (thank you Lord!).  I do have one thing I'm getting that isn't budgeted.  A local Amish store in my area has boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.29 lb for a 40 lb box.  That is a crazy good price.  Chicken breast is on my list for next week.  I made an executive decision to take money out of savings long enough to purchase a box on Monday.  This will be deducted from my grocery money allotment next week, and the money put back into savings.  I need chicken breast and, at that price, It was worth the call.

So there you have it.  I still have another week before official groceries, but things will be easing up this week.  Still have baking to do and things to figure out, but it should be all good.

  I'll be glad.  I have not eaten as well as I should.  I was very limited in what I had to choose from.  One thing I noticed is I ended up eating more carbs than normal.  That made me more likely to munch during the day.  I miss my lean meat and roasted veggies for lunch.  Ready to get back to it.

Not ta too shabby

The saga of black belt frugality continues....Once again this week I entered into the fray(kitchen) and made dog treats (they go thru these cause they are big girls), freezer biscuits,and bread.  This time I included hamburger buns.  In addition I cooked up that turkey.  You know the 24 pounder?  Not to shabby results I dare say.  We had it for dinner on Monday night.  It has made lunches for hubby and I all week.  I froze enough meat for 7-9 meals worth with leftovers.  I got a pint of turkey fat I will use in making yet more dog treats (probably tomorrow), and 11 pints of broth.  Not to mention, once the broth was made, I took all of the scraps out and gave them to the chickens.  Pretty good return on my investment of .57 a lb.  And, yes, chickens can eat turkey.  I looked it up.  Don't worry, I won't feed them chicken.  Chickens, FYI are omnivores, and a member of the buzzard family.  They eat meat.

All these little extra items are in addition to the meals and such I made from scratch; sausage, chili, pizza, chocolate chip cookies.  So the kitchen has been humming.

Sure I could have dipped into our savings and pulled out enough money for groceries, and just pay it back over time.  But there are a lot of advantages to doing this to myself.  "Doing this" as in no grocery money.  Just leave the savings alone.

1)  It forces me to use up what I have in my freezer.  My go to veggie, I confess, is roasted frozen veggies or roasted carrots.  If there are any frozen veggies in the freezer, I will go to them more often than not.  Last summer I put up many bags of yellow squash, and yet many times I over look it in favor of the roasted veggies.  Funny thing is, since I've been doing this I've found I really like the squash and it's creating a new habit in me to use it.  The same can be said for some pear sauce I canned (used since we're out of applesauce).  It's really quite good, especially with a little cinnamon added, but I didn't use it because I thought my son wouldn't eat it.  Well surprise, surprise he will, and does!

2) It stretches my creative juices when it comes to cooking.  Weather it's a new creative use for left overs or meal planning.  It definitely makes me think outside the box.  In fact we're not keeping leftovers.  They're getting finished off pretty quick.  I will usually have them for lunch the next day.

3)  It does give me an excuse to bake.  This is a double edged sword as baking leads to good stuff to eat and calories...yea, great, but I'm looking forward to having my chicken breast and roasted veggies.  That would be the one disadvantage in that I'm eating more carbs than I normally would.  Taste great, but more than likely will hang around a bit....on my hips.

4)  It eats down my freezer and fridge which will make putting groceries away (when I buy them) much easier.  I plan to defrost my freezer right before grocery day.

5)  It leaves my savings alone.  I would rather work a little more now and have my savings available for when I really need it.  When the ends can't meet because of a bill or repair that has to be done and I can't do it myself.

It's a challenge at this point.  2 weeks left.  Just two.  I'm halfway through.  Ohhh yay!

So I know it's been 2 weeks since last I posted.  I apologize.  I have been sewing (of course), baking (of course), and working on this!  Ta Daaa!  My chickens have moved up in the world.

Nothing that would merit a picture in better homes and gardens, but it does deserve an honorable mention in the red neck quarterly.  I will say that 95% of this was made from items I either already had on hand, or had been given.  I paid for zip ties ( bought enough they probably thought I was up to no good), some screws, Bird netting (to protect from chicken hawks), 2 4x4x8 posts, and hinges.  The door is a wooden pallet Dh and I took off for my mom.  I covered it in hard chicken wire that I already had on hand.  I need to add a latch (Hence the pole holding the door shut), and trim off some of the zip ties I forgot about, but you get the general idea.  This is the retirement home.  Here they will make compost (using the deep bedding method)and a few eggs, but they really aren't laying so much right now.  The rooster is old and cantankerous and headed for the stew pot come May.  Sorry if that offends, but...

 This is what used to be their run

A little 4 x 8 PVC number that will now go to the baby chicks so I can move them around my garden.  Then, when the baby chicks are old enough they will take over the laying and the roosters....well, they will grace our dinner table.  Hey but until then they will get lots of green grass, bugs, and one of them will stay to father new babies.  That's the plan anyway.

So there you have it, my goings on.  Not much in the way of weight loss, but my life none the less.  What have you been up to?

Recipes for what I made today. In case you're interested

Whole milk Yogurt

3.25 cups of whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 carton Fage 2% plain Greek yogurt (5.3 oz) for starter- put this out on the counter to warm a bit before you start.  I find if I put it out when I start the milk to heating, it's at a good temp for mixing when the time comes.

Turn on oven light.  In a 2 quart saucepan on medium, heat milk to 180 degrees.  Keep milk at 180 for 30 minutes.  You may have to adjust your heat to keep it at 180.  I have to turn my heat down to just above low.  Meanwhile, take quart mason jar or enough glass containers to hold 1 quarts of yogurt.  Place in a pot of water and bring to a boil.  Boil 15 minutes to sterilize jars.  Turn off heat, remove jars from pot and turn upside down in a clean towel to drain.  If you're using lids and rings, I like to put these temporarily in the now just hot water.  Then remove them and place on the towel.

Once 30 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and allow to cool in the pan til the temp reaches 110 degrees.  Once at 110 degrees, mix in the entire container of yogurt.  Mix well.  Wait a few minutes and then mix again to make sure it's well incorporated.  Pour into your glass containers and add lids. Place in the oven and leave he oven light on.  Let stand in the oven for 4 hours.  Check to see if it has started to thicken.   If it hasn't, leave a few hours longer.  Once you check it and the yogurt has started to thicken, remove from oven and place in fridge.   You can go further and place a pint of this yogurt in a strainer lined with cheese cloth.  Let it strain a few hours for a Greek style yogurt, or you can let it strain over night and make yogurt cheese.  This is much like cream cheese.  After straining to cheese, I'll add a little salt, pepper, basil or other fragrant herb of choice to make a very flavorful cheese you can spread on crackers, celery or wherever you would use a cream cheese spread.

Bulk taco seasoning mix

3/4 cup dried onion
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup salt
3 T garlic powder
3 T corn starch
3 T ground cumin
1 T - 3 T cayenne pepper-  I use 1T

Easy peasy, put all ingredients into a quart sz jar and shake to mix well.  Use 1/4 cup mix and 1/4 cup water to a lb of ground meat browned.  Voila!  Also make a great seasoning for a pot of chili.


Chocolate Syrup

1 cup cocoa powder
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla

In a 2 quart saucepan mix the sugar, cocoa, and salt.  Pour in the hot water and mix well.  Bring to a boil on medium heat.  Once boiling, turn off burner, but let pan remain on the burner to cool.  When cool, add the vanilla.  Use anywhere you would Hersheys syrup.  Store in fridge.


Dog Treats

2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry milk
1 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp garlic
1 egg
1/2 cup peanutbutter
6 T oil- or I use chicken or bacon fat.  They love this!
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.  In a medium size bowl mix all the dry ingredients.  Add the egg, oil, water and peanutbutter.  Mix as well as you can with a spoon.  Mix will be dry.  Add a little water if too dry.  In need to be like a really dense cookie dough.  Roll out and either cut into strips or use a cookie or biscuit cutter to make the treats.  I make mine big because I have big dogs.  Smaller dogs I would make them small like the milk bone treats.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Turn off oven and let them remain in the oven til the oven and the treats cool.  These should be hard.