tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37980695935222284902024-02-07T21:22:40.529-08:00Inspired Resourceful CreativeLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.comBlogger254125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-4520469051966093892018-07-21T16:47:00.002-07:002019-05-08T03:02:59.227-07:00The Best Roast Beef Hash RecipeI don't want to lose this recipe. It's very hard to find. It's so good that having it in multiple places helps me to not misplace it.<br />
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I got the recipe from the Parade section of the Sunday paper in 2007. There's no eggs over easy, no celery, no leftover gravy, precooked potatoes, no extraneous fresh herbs. What makes this delicious for me is the red and green peppers; hence, it's name Confetti Roast Beef Hash.<br />
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Sometimes I like to use a purple onion to really bump up the color.<br />
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Confetti Roast Beef Hash<br />
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice<br />
1/2 pound leftover roast beef, cut into 1/4-inch dice<br />
1/4 pound thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice<br />
1 onion, chopped<br />
1 each red and green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice<br />
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg<br />
Salt and pepper, to taste<br />
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1. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, 8 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl with the beef.<br />
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2. Cook the bacon over medium heat to render the fat, 5 minutes. Add the onion and bell peppers; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the potatoes and roast beef, along with the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Toss.<br />
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3. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet, then spread the hash mixture evenly in the skillet and weight it down with something heavy, like a smaller skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn the hash over with a spatula and cook until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Spoon the hash onto six plates. Serve immediately.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-49565912765742319422018-07-16T08:25:00.000-07:002018-07-16T08:25:14.168-07:00Micro Blogging is a Wonderful ThingYou don't see me much here. It's not that I'm not doing anything or not on the internet. I've fallen in love with Instagram. Send a quick picture with a quick thought and one is done.<br />
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This love began when my iPhone quit sending photos to my computer. Randomly out of the blue that lovely feature stop working. I use to go to my computer and all the photos I had taken were available on my computer making it easy to blog. Without the photos I find blogs boring.<br />
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Come check out my <a href="https://www.instagram.com/qoekc/">Instagram account</a>. Lots of beautiful pictures and fun stuff going on.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-79184405317564644352017-04-28T17:52:00.000-07:002017-04-28T17:52:00.035-07:00Crochet Frame of MindGot caught up on a project I've wanted to do for 2 years. BABY GROOT! It's a free pattern over at <a href="http://blog.twinkiechan.com/2014/08/13/baby-groot/">Twinkie Chan's blog</a>. It turned out SO cute. I'm in love with it. It's in my living room pretending to be a real plant.<br />
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Next project was an April Fools Joke I played on my daughter. Yes, inappropriate, but aren't those the best jokes. My daughter particularly hates an item sometimes seen hanging off the back of pickup trucks... truck nuts. hahahaha. Yep she says when she see some they are so disgusting she just wants to get out of her car and go kick them. Again, hahahahaha. I saw a pattern on Ravelry and I just couldn't resist. They resemble truck nuts, but in an adorably cute way. Its Julie King's pattern called <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nut-sacks">Nut Sacks</a>. The picture made me giggle and I knew a joke was on the horizon. They were super easy to crochet up. Yes, I made the bag what the hell. They turned out so cute I almost didn't want to play the trick. To complete the look I chained a string to hold them together.<br />
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I waited until my daughter's car was unattended and hooked them to the trailer hitch. As my daughter walked to her car I knew she'd see them. Nope too focused on her phone. All the better for ME! She got in her car and drove off with the cute little acorns swing back and forth behind her car. It was all worth it at just that moment. I thought I'd choke I laughed so hard. Around midnight she came home and I was heading off to bed. I hear, "MOM!!" She begins to pretend pummeling with little punches to the gut. I asked how she knew it was me? She said, "She wondered what was on her car. As she got close she saw truck nuts! Then she got real close and noticed they were knitted and yelled, "MOM!" She had to explain to her friend what truck nuts were. I laughed some more. Next morning I'm awoken to my daughter leaping on me rolling back and forth on me throwing a couple more pretend punches. I laughed some more. Best joke ever!<br />
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Now though I have to check my car every time I go out for truck nuts attached to my car. LOL!<br />
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Last but not least is my CBN (crochet by numbers) project. I started this about 2 years ago. I did about 8 rows and could see the my pallet was not what I wanted it to be. I finally got the bug to finish it this year. With the help of fellow crocheters I was able to find a lot of grey yarns. I made a couple swatches and that made a world of difference. I could see the colors together and in day light and night light. I could see the hues and how they looked together. Got a pallet that will make my project hopefully as beautiful as I think it will. I'll probably work on this all summer.</div>
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Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-72579774052254402262017-01-02T13:58:00.001-08:002017-07-31T14:27:28.701-07:00The Loss of a PetIt's a strange limbo land to be in...mourning the death of pet. A great sadness descends over you that will not lift until it's run it's course. You know there are more important things going on in the world; perhaps, more important deaths to mourn. Right now this is my personal journey. I'm finding my husband and I are more sad at different times. I'm super sad in the morning. I woke up every day with this little ball of sunshine. I started my day with a fuzzy nose demanding attention. She and I knew what this love and attention was about, but she gave it to me. It was the wake up and prepare me breakfast dance. It started with a quick snuggle in the bed. Then moved to a charge down the hallway. Now the peek back around the corner to make sure I was actually coming down the hallway. As I turned the corner saying, "I'm coming, I'm coming," she would do a jump and full length body twirl right in front of the kitchen door. As if she were saying, "The kitchen is right here and I'm so cute how can you resist me." Well, I couldn't. She got what we called the full treatment for breakfast. It consisted of 1/3 cup of dry dog food, a sprinkle of canned green beans, a pinch of chicken or tuna and a squirt of fish oil. She loved this meal. Why so intricate? Well, she nearly died 5 years ago when her liver almost quit working. After 6 months of life saving Veterinarian measures this was the meal she liked and kept her alive. Why change it.<br />
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Now my mornings are very quiet and not cute. On a plus side I'm suddenly arriving at all morning appointments on time and even a little early. Often my poodle would say as I was trying to get out the door... "I know I've been out twice, but I need one more before you leave." How does one say no to an emergency potty break? I never could.<br />
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Often during my morning meetings I'd keep track of the time. I needed to be home by lunch or close to it. Yes, I fed my pup lunch. Again, when she got sick 5 years ago she needed food in her stomach to take her life saving medications. We began giving her lunch and when she got better she decided she liked having lunch. When someone you love nearly dies and they are alive and well and they want lunch well you give it to them. My schedule could accommodate it. She was spoiled. <br />
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I did have my detours being a woman of a certain age. I now needed to go to the bathroom first. The "good morning" pee as I named it when I was potty training my 2nd child, who didn't want to use the bathroom first thing. Give it a fun happy name and then they want to do it. I had trained my poodle to "take me to the potty." We'd get out of bed and then if I'd forget and start to head down the hall she'd funnel me to the bathroom. I'd thank her immensely and that was her reward. She always loved a "potty pet." That's when she'd slowly walk past my seated legs and I'd pet her coming in and she'd slowly turn and get another good back scratch going out. Now that I had my "good morning pee" I could feed my poodle with out the danger of wetting myself.<br />
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I wrote the above shortly after my pet passed. I couldn't spell check it or even reread it without crying. Now I can get through it. It's been 6 months. 6 long months. We had decided not to get a new dog till after the holidays and after our fence was repaired. It's January 2nd and we have fence estimates. With the anticipation of new fuzzy love in my house our hearts are healing. Never forgetting. Its time to move on and enjoy life the way we like it... with a dog in the house.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-30910270279787388562017-01-02T13:49:00.001-08:002017-01-02T13:49:23.126-08:00Pilates ExperimentI started Pilates in September after a massage therapist upon hearing about all my physical aches and pains suggested it. He asked, "Why are you beating yourself up with bootcamp? Why aren't you doing pilates?" Well, I didn't really know what pilates was. Wasn't even on my radar. My gym has a pilates class, which they do on a mat. I knew very little about pilates, but I did know it was done on a contraption I later found out is called the reformer.<br />
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I came home did research on where pilates studies were in my area. I have 5. Picked the closest one and signed up for a personal one on one. I do this because I have NO idea what to do. I want a pro to instruct me. This helps me with my shy, don't like to make mistakes, frighten of new things part of my personality. I pay for this block of time from a pro to receive instruction, ask questions, make mistakes usually in a very friendly environment.<br />
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I've been so lucky in my fitness journey. First I found Michelle, who got me started and helped me learn the ropes at the gym. She gently steered me toward clean eating and building muscle. Now I have Jenn a knowledgeable Pilates instructor. One week for her and my chronic painful shoulders felt so much better. 2 years of babying them at the gym was cured with one week of pilates. Proper positioning and no weight lifting. I was all in.<br />
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This though created a lot of stress in that when doing pilates I feel like I'm doing nothing. Literally nothing. I didn't want to be insulting, because my shoulders were happy, but my legs and arms were starving for strenuous activity. I decided to just relax into it. Nothing will be done that I couldn't undo with returning to the gym. <br />
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I wanted to come to pilates and have the instructors give me the "Pilates way of life." This is how we eat. This is how we work out. This is how we live. Got none of that. Despite my questioning and sharing of my feelings. I continue to get great workouts that focus on proper body mechanics. My shoulders say we are where we need to be.<br />
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My ever increasing butt size though says I need more. I put on 15 pounds in 2016. Nobodies fault but my own. I've changed my whole way of exercising, but I didn't change the way I ate. Pilates burns easily half the calories I did at the gym AND its not aerobic. I'm not getting that zone 2 45 minute burn I need to burn more calories while at rest for 24 hours.<br />
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Surprisingly, I still fit in my clothes, but they are tight. I refuse to buy more clothes. This is the vow I made to myself as I got fitter and cleaned out my closet over the years. No more fat clothes. No more gain 50 pounds or more and THEN do something about it. Honestly, I've let myself go further than I wanted this time, BUT I'm in transition. I deserve some grace and understanding. I also deserve some structure and portion control.<br />
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MFP can be my friend. It really helped me years ago to pinpoint bad habits and create good ones. Hydration has been a real problem last few months. I don't start my day with a quart of water that I drink at the gym. I always feel a quart low and I never feel like drinking water. New habit drink water. Make it a habit not a necessity. Don't wait till I have 2 tsps of water in my system to drink. I have a app that sends me reminders. I need to drink 12 cups minimum. Alarms set accordingly. I need more movement in my week. I talked to a trainer, who specializes in active old ladies. HA! Not even kidding. She said low impact aerobics perfect pairing with pilates, walking, biking, swimming etc. I want to walk more, but my plantar fasciitis really gets me. I found the past few months when I do walking in my street shoes that have good arch support my feet feel better than when I do walking in my walking shoes with arch supports. SO going to experiment with stiffer arch supports in my walking shoes.<br />
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Plans plans plans need to be executed not just talked about it. My health and well being and size 10 butt that I enjoy so much depend on it. I'm a gadget girl. Fitbit on. Apps ready. Great attitude loaded.<br />
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<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-35059389877311433022016-08-01T12:16:00.000-07:002016-08-01T12:16:04.974-07:00Yes But You Love to CookThat's what people say to me in reference to my "health kick." My 5 year long health kick is my life style. I eat healthy and I exercise. It's not a kick, a fad, a gimmick it's the way I live. As for loving to cook I don't mind it. If I had the choice of having someone cook for me I'd love it. I cook, because I love to eat what I want to eat. No package and few restaurants provide me with the fresh healthy food I want to put into my body. So I cook.<br />
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This weekend I made Ratatouille with veggies from my garden. Not only does it taste fabulous, but its full of all the things I want my body to have. I like to cook a lot of food, so it can be eaten for lunches and maybe even another dinner. Sometimes if I'm not feeling like eating it again right away I'll freeze it for future eating. I love those evenings when all I have to do is warm up some healthy food.<br />
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Am I considered a food snob? Maybe, but don't I get to choose what I want to eat? I use to tell the hubs I can't eat that. Now I say I won't eat that. He loves to eat out and he does. Am I preparing nuts and twigs at home. Absolutely not. I make things that even a restaurant loving hubby thinks it's good. Only thing he does sometimes is warm up a piece or two of his frozen naan. I also keep tortillas stocked so if he wants to make a burrito he can. I'll also start the rice cooker or boil him some pasta. I would love for him to eat healthier and he does for the most part. Like me though he gets to choose what he likes to eat. I think we do a great job of combining our eating styles and each of us being happy with what we're eating.<br />
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So do I love to cook? Not really. It's a means to getting what I want. Do I love getting what I want? Absolutely!Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-58096052678997698542016-01-24T00:51:00.000-08:002016-02-15T14:07:02.234-08:00I Am Whole30!That's what the<a href="http://whole30.bigcartel.com/"> t-shirt </a>says and that's what I have been doing. My trainer brought <a href="http://whole30.com/">Whole30</a> back to the front of my thinking last fall. I had seen it in the past and thought "No way am I ready for that." She had bought the<a href="http://whole30.com/whole30book/"> Whole30 book</a> and started experimenting with the recipes. I decided to get the book myself and saw there were two books. I bought them both. I read "<a href="http://whole30.com/itstartswithfood/">It Starts With Food</a>" first and thought I might be ready to give this a try now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exercise doesn't stop not even for the Whole30.</td></tr>
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Why? I had 4 years of eating healthy and exercising under my belt. I had lost and kept off 86 pounds. I had been slowly making changes to my way of thinking about food and how it effects my body for 4 solid years. I never could have done this program at the beginning of my "health kick." My psyche was too damaged from years of not eating properly. From years of giving into my every food whim. I refer to that way of thinking as my inner toddler. She still raises her head every now and then. As a good parent I put her in timeout. What are we up to now... a 55 minute time out?! <a href="http://www.babycenter.com/0_time-outs-how-to-make-them-work-ages-3-and-4_65535.bc">That's according to the rules of timeouts</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whole30 recipes</td></tr>
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I had been slowly over the course of those 4 years working with <a href="http://www.toscareno.com/">Tosca Reno's plan of Clean Eating</a>. That plan was perfect for me when I started. It really brought me back to my roots so to speak. Made me eat real food again. Not just part of the time, but all of the time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90gdOoLgVyjkpge_bMLoPcxh_vVIcmfWJpBfcFDcxfslcMI9pavK-pKZIG6qjAWK9rUIfawIav7kt63UefR4Z_2NIQsApvMyrB4_8W_Rso8cDUy30n-qaU0E3Vi459aB3IENE3LG58-s/s1600/IMG_8645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90gdOoLgVyjkpge_bMLoPcxh_vVIcmfWJpBfcFDcxfslcMI9pavK-pKZIG6qjAWK9rUIfawIav7kt63UefR4Z_2NIQsApvMyrB4_8W_Rso8cDUy30n-qaU0E3Vi459aB3IENE3LG58-s/s400/IMG_8645.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like to make my own ghee.</td></tr>
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I finally felt like I could do a restrictive plan, because I was almost there. I especially wanted to do it since the Whole30 said it could provide me with so many incredible health benefits. Here's where the practical side of me came in. I really didn't think anything incredible was going to happen to me as a lot of what was offered by the Whole30 had already happened to me. I did want to see what else could be accomplished. If it was just a few more pounds lost that was fine, but what if? What if something I was eating was causing me problems and I didn't know. So, in October I began my first Whole30.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grocery list looking just right for the Whole30.</td></tr>
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The one problem I have that controls me day in and day out is my digestion issues. I'm never sure what it is exactly. Doctor hasn't really said much more than "take this." I often refer to it as "old lady stomach." I don't seem to digest certain foods well. Lots of acid splashing around. Acid reflux occasionally at night. It really is something that I didn't know was such a problem and really controlling my life until I did the Whole30. It was so controlling that I wasn't sure I could do the Whole30 properly. I lived on Tums and papaya enzymes daily. Both of which have sugar, so not Whole30 approved. I was a bit panicky when I thought I'd need to go a whole month without them. I quite frankly didn't think I could, but I was going to try. <br />
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About 3 days into my Whole30 my stomach was doing better than it had in years. I had gotten some Kombucha to drink every day in hopes that it could also help replace my Tums. On went the Whole30 and then I was in the reintroduction phase. I did well with the first few add ins and then I hit dairy. I was doing the 3 day reintroduction and when I hit dairy I never really recovered when I began gluten. Plus a lot of my gluten items have dairy in them. My stomach was back to exactly the way it was before the Whole30. It was now Thanksgiving and Christmas and the food started flying at me faster than Santa on Christmas Eve. I was miserable with stomach issues again. I knew as soon as January hit I was going right back on Whole30. I wanted to calm my stomach down and redo the introduction of dairy and gluten.<br />
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What I got out of my first Whole30 was better digestion. Going a month without a stomach ache of some kind was huge in my world. I also had dramatically lower craving for sweets. I kicked artifical sweeteners out of my life 4 years ago and it lower my sugar craving. Who knew kicking actual sugar out of my life would also lower those cravings. Again a huge life change not pacing around the kitchen, because I need something sweet. I also lost 6 pounds, which is also nice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nomnompaleos Braised Mexican beef</td></tr>
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My goal at the end of this Whole30 is to reintroduce gluten with a careful eye to anything that ALSO contains dairy. I need to avoid dairy to get a true reading on whether gluten is a problem for me. Then I may back my way into dairy. My first thought is do I really need to reintroduce it a 2nd time and test myself? Then I think about a life without cheese and ice cream and the answer is yes. If dairy is truly a problem I'll commit to a life with no cheese and almond milk ice cream on occasion. My stomach will thank me.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-70728549638181922922016-01-23T12:30:00.000-08:002016-01-23T23:39:44.524-08:00Biscotti, A Christmas TraditionMy dad loved my Hazelnut Biscotti. I've hit on a recipe with a couple tweaks that makes a delightful biscotti. Why hazelnut? My dad loves hazelnuts. As a young girl I decided I would crack open a bag of hazelnuts for my dad to eat every Christmas. You couldn't buy them shelled back then. I thought a fresh bag of shelled hazelnuts would be a nice treat for him. 45 years later I still do it, well, I can buy them shelled now. We also encountered a problem about 15 years ago. My dad ate the whole bag of shelled hazelnuts and got a stomachache from the beyond world. A 3 day stomachache. I had that same stomachache when I ate too many homemade macaroons. 3 to be exact. So coconutty that they sand papered my stomach lining for 3 days and I've never been so miserable. I didn't want my dad to ever have another stomachache at my expense.<br />
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I had nearly a year to decide what to do. Keep the tradition the same. He's a big boy and hopefully learned his lesson. Or try something different, but keep it along the same lines. I decided I'd make Hazelnut biscotti. I spread his hazelnuts out over a gallon sized bag of biscotti. If he ate all the biscotti in one sitting then there's just no help for that gluttony.<br />
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I've tried several recipes over the years. All good, but all not quite right till I found this one. It takes me about 2 hours to make a double batch. Fills 2 gallon sized ziploc bags. I put one bag in his freezer and wrap the other for Christmas day. Its never put under the tree as we all have dogs and you can guess what would happen. So, it sits up high on the mantel teasing my dad. He's a patient man.<br />
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When Christmas comes everyone wants a cup of coffee and a biscotti. My dad is pretty generous, but he keeps control of the bag and doles out one piece per person. My daughter joked today that he'd use the ole "toddler trick" if any one asked for 2. You are offered one biscotti and when you ask for two he'll turn his back snap it in two and turn around and give you "2."<br />
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This year we decided no gifts as my parents are pushing 80 and I really don't want them out shopping during cold and flu season. They really don't want to be out doing that either. I did however still make biscotti. My dad did say, "Hey, I thought no gifts?" I replied it's not a gift it's a Christmas tradition.<br />
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<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-84463668075731448052015-05-23T13:21:00.000-07:002015-05-23T13:21:42.969-07:00Tosca Reno's Sugar StrikeI tried to do Tosca Reno's<a href="http://www.toscareno.com/product-category/e-books/"> StrikeSugar program</a> last year and the timing just wasn't right with my surgery. I didn't want to ask my family to help me cook all this new food. Although I have a wonderful family and they would have done it. It's an<a href="http://www.toscareno.com/product-category/e-books/"> ebook</a> for sale on Tosca Reno's website.<br />
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Ironically, I had to have a scar revision from last years surgery and it hit right around when this years StrikeSugar challenge began. I was in the regaining my energy to exercise phase when it began. I was afraid I couldn't get my cardio up where it needed to be, but thought there is never a perfect time in my life to StrikeSugar. I love it too much. Don't get me wrong I've gotten a lot of sugar out of my life, but as you can see from my previous 3 posts it's not out completely not even close.<br />
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So, I joined the StrikeSugar challenge on FB. Still have my lesson plan all printed out and ready to go from last year. The first week was not too difficult since I already really watch my sugar and simple carb intake. Cutting it even lower didn't cause me headaches, or mood swings, but for a few in the group they were having such a hard time. They were cutting cold turkey. Brave brave women! I had to gradually get my diet worked around to Eating Clean then try the Strike Sugar program. It's been a 3 year learning lesson for me. The other gals a 4 week learning lesson. Now the Strike Sugar program didn't come up until last year. I could have done it at the 2 year mark if I'd have been healthy enough to do it. I am now.<br />
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Buckwheat porridge with mixed berries. I froze a couple servings of this. It was very good cooked with spices that really added a lot of flavor to the porridge. It is a bit gummy, so I eat it with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Perfection.</div>
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Protein pancakes with a quick blueberry reduction syrup. Again very good and again I froze some for future breakfasts. The protein comes from Almond meal. That I like.<br />
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I've eaten more eggs during the Strike Sugar Challenge than I probably all of last year. Not my favorite until I turn it into a frittata. That I love.<br />
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The recipe for the Roasted Tomato and Chickpea Soup is something I'll probably make forever. My hubs even loved it. The seed crackers were very good and for that reason I may never make them again. High in calories and good fats and something I want to pick at and eat all day long. When you know you can't control yourself why set yourself up for failure.<br />
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This is the Vegetable Chili con Carne (not!) and the flavors in this chili make one not miss meat. It called for a lot of fresh basil and I thought it would overwhelm the flavors, but it didn't. Again I froze some of this for feature lunches and dinners. I almost didn't have enough to freeze as my family was scarfing it down.<br />
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This was a strange one. Cauliflower pizza crust. My husband already love cauliflower mashed potatoes, so we were willing to try this. Do to several people saying their crust was very soggy I precooked my cauliflower and rolled it in a towel. No sogginess for me. No sure I'd go to this much trouble again I don't have a huge craving for pizza. It was good. I had enough for dinner that night and lunch the next day. Everyone ate it and liked it.<br />
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I think what's been fun about this Strike Sugar Program is seeing all of the creative ways to get simple sugars out of ones life. I've lost 8 pounds to boot.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-1959325548142375302014-12-31T23:52:00.000-08:002015-01-02T14:53:45.115-08:00Caramel Sauce... I'm cheating on my caramels!Found a new love and fun new experiment. I saw something on <a href="http://www.theyummylife.com/Slow_Cooker_Caramel_Sauce">pinterest</a> that aligned with an idea my daughter had proposed to me. Can we make a caramel sauce out of the <a href="http://kingscrown.blogspot.com/2014/12/caramels-my-new-love.html">caramel recipe</a>? My daughter said the caramels tasted just like the caramel sauce at our favorite ice cream parlor <a href="http://www.leatherbys.com/">Leatherby's</a>. My first thought was why couldn't we cook the caramel recipe less. Then I saw the <a href="http://www.theyummylife.com/Slow_Cooker_Caramel_Sauce">Slow Cooker Caramel Sauce</a> pin. The recipe was very similar to the caramel recipe. Only a couple things differed. 1/2 as much butter, white sugar and brown sugar and lemon juice.<br />
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I decided I wouldn't add the lemon juice. The reason given on the blog entry said it was so the caramel sauce sugar wouldn't crystallize after it was done. WELL I saw an <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/chefs/alton-brown/bio.html">Alton Brown</a> show about 5 years ago on this very subject. He was talking about the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/good-eats/7-series/fudge-factor.html">crystallization of sugar in fudge</a> (BTW the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/peanut-butter-fudge-recipe.html">peanut butter fudge</a> recipe from this episode is outstanding.) He acted out the whole science experiment explaining when fudge crystallizes and how to stop it. His solution was to add 1 T of corn syrup to confuse the sugar molecules and stop the crystallization. The caramel recipe calls for 1 full cup of corn syrup. So, I think we're covered for any crystallization problems.<br />
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I decided to use all brown sugar like my caramel recipe, but I decided to use the amount of butter called for in the caramel sauce recipe.<br />
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Finding a bowl to fit in my crockpot was the most difficult part of this whole process. I ended up using my daughter's newer model crockpot since it was bigger and could hold the right sized bowl.<br />
I followed the directions up to mixing the ingredients and putting them into the crockpot and there is where I diverged a little. I didn't want to mess with it. I wanted it to cook all night while I was asleep. 8 hours. The recipe said it HAD to be on high to properly cook. Since I was using my daughter's newer crockpot I knew the heat was already higher on low than mine is on low (the reason I love my old crockpot.) I figured it might do just fine on low for 8 hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sQ5OWT9gkf3-WXiBISGF8yMtGkMnzJHBI5TSFIreDMwvIvN8_Olypl8a_4k9z8yByRuy1QCUqzMz0XWeJaqGr0BOFU0eqOcvB0Xyn_vRp9Yi1RgaKVKOmfAKwiGnA2dTgLJHFY1J_9w/s1600/IMG_4322.JPG" height="200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before cooking.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sQ5OWT9gkf3-WXiBISGF8yMtGkMnzJHBI5TSFIreDMwvIvN8_Olypl8a_4k9z8yByRuy1QCUqzMz0XWeJaqGr0BOFU0eqOcvB0Xyn_vRp9Yi1RgaKVKOmfAKwiGnA2dTgLJHFY1J_9w/s1600/IMG_4322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFvw2sRpVWRc0ihaeZz5ptNwnKa42diHZ2jGkdsVs2pOmwasb6OnshKhULyC4H16QIExrwS_dAZwFyZYCMLiX2ecKcumwVTuHHfnoJ4ILu8lSUIKafo2C8Csal8wPxaAW7z2gW31pwBE/s1600/IMG_4323.JPG" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After 7 1/2 hours<br /></td></tr>
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I was correct. When I took the lid off in the morning it had been 7 1/2 hours and the texture of the caramel sauce looked a little custard like. That did scare me at first. I plunged my wire whisk in and began stirring. Once it was stirred well it had the proper texture of caramel sauce. It smelled and tasted fantastic. I teased my daughter it was all I could do not to pinch my nose and do a cannonball right into it. It was that good.<br />
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Now that we've actually used it on ice cream our thoughts are it does need that 1/2 cup of butter. Though delicious and we'll eat every drop (reason why I've already given 1/2 of it away) it does need a more buttery taste to meet our idea of the perfect caramel sauce.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makes 4 cups. I had already filled a small mason jar to give as a gift.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apples or ice cream it really hits the spot.</td></tr>
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I will definitely make this again with 1 cup of butter, all brown sugar, and no lemon juice.<br />
<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-4766808423640099702014-12-25T23:46:00.000-08:002014-12-27T14:14:01.216-08:00Caramels, My New LoveWent to my December machine knitting meeting and Ellen gave us a cute container with caramels in it. I had one the minute I got to my car. It was so good and I knew my daughter would love one. I called her to tell her I had them, so I wouldn't eat them all before I got home. She too loved the buttery homemade taste of these caramels. I asked Ellen if I could have the recipe and she said, "Of course." I named the recipe after her. I do that when someone gives me a recipe that's going to be around for a while. That way I can think about the person who gave it to me when I make it.<br />
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Ellen’s Caramels<br />
1 cup butter<br />
1 pound (2 ¼ cups) brown sugar<br />
Dash of salt<br />
1 cup light corn syrup<br />
1 15-ounce can sweetened condensed milk<br />
1 teaspoon vanilla<br />
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Melt butter in heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add sugar, and salt; stir thoroughly. Stir in corn syrup; mix well. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over medium heat to firm ball stage (245 degrees), takes 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into buttered 9x9x2 inch pan. Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 2 ½ pounds.<br />
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Very easy recipe. One special piece of cooking equipment needed. A candy thermometer. My can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk was 14 oz. Typo or did they use to be 15 oz? 14 worked fine.<br />
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In 30 minutes anyone could have 2 1/2 pounds of caramels cooling in their kitchen. My aunt said they were commercial quality.<br />
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They were very easy to cut if I used the tip of my sharp knife and drew it straight toward side of pan. I cut mine into 64 pieces. I scored it evenly 8 across and cut each strip into 8 pieces. They were delightfully too big. It took me 3-4 bites to eat one. I think next time I'll try 9 or 10 across.<br />
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I wrapped each piece in wax paper that I cut to fit. Ellen wrapped hers in plastic wrap. Both worked out well. The caramels held their shape well in their wrappers. I made the mistake of cutting my caramels while in the middle of a 49ers games. I tried a bite resumed my game and when I came back an hour or so later they were spreading slowly. Not enough to make a mess other than with my portioning.<br />
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I've gotten equally rave reviews. Passed the recipe along. I seldom hear of anyone using a recipe I passed along. In this case 2 people have already made caramels. Lucky them!<br />
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<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-24235469713490841902014-12-09T22:34:00.000-08:002014-12-09T22:34:30.566-08:00There Are Still Cookies In My LifeGot the cookie bug this weekend. I have a party or two to go to and thought I should get to baking. I had spotted these snicker bites at the store. Thought they'd be great on my <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/recipes/detail.aspx?id=5191&name=Peanut-Butter-Blossoms&category=cookies">Peanut Butter Blossom recipe</a> instead of the Hershey's Kiss. Time to experiment.<br />
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Above cookies were straight out of the cookie scoop. Wasn't sure I liked the au naturel look.<br />
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So, for the next batch I rolled the cookies into ball. Gave a smoother look to the cookie.<br />
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In the end I think I liked the craggy look of the cookie. Bonus it's less work. Don't need to roll every cookie ball. I put a pinch of holiday sprinkles on each when they were melted. I don't think I liked the strange crunch they gave the cookie. Next time I'll leave them off. The cookie was very good. I liked the extra peanut taste of these cookies. For me the PB Blossoms with the Hershey's Kiss was too much. Too much chocolate. Plus once the kiss firms up on top of the cookie its a pretty firm bite. Do I put the whole cookie in my mouth? It's kind of big. If I bite it in two the kiss falls off the cookie. These cookies with the Snicker bite are soft and stay intact when bitten. Win Win for me!Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-74993356255798662952014-11-07T19:01:00.002-08:002014-11-07T19:02:20.981-08:00Looking Back At My 246 pound SelfWhy didn't I exercise? Why did I wait til I was so old to start? The usual reasons I'm sure. Exercise is hard. Extremely hard. Muscles get sore. Truly sore. One gets sweaty. Definitely sweaty. Like they say with drug addicts and alcoholics one has to hit rock bottom before they will affect real change in their life. I wouldn't say I had hit rock bottom, but I could see it coming. I could almost reach out and touch it. Using the lessons I was learning from those around me it was a matter of time before a major health problem would force me to make a change. Right then and there I was fairly healthy. No high blood pressure. No diabetes. No strokes. Just an absent gall bladder. I decided to exercise.<br />
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Yes it was hard. I told myself day in and day out I just had to do it like any other chore I didn't want to do. I didn't know why it seemed so difficult to get me to do it. After I had lost some weight my Dr. said wow great job. Bet you just love exercise now. I said, "No. I could quit today and it wouldn't bother me."<br />
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Yes, my muscles were sore. Every week my quads and triceps seems to be so sore I could barely operate my legs and arms properly. The first 8 months I asked a trainer weekly <br />
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when will this end? Will this ever end? I thought if this is what exercise means I just don't want to endure it the rest of my life.<br />
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Yes, I get sweaty. This I just had to get use too. I find it goes in waves. I'm sweatier at different times of the year. Most of the time just a regular amount of sweat. Some times I feel like and NFL linebacker at training camp. Soaked to the skin. Other times I barely break a sweat.<br />
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It's been nearly 3 years since I decided to exercise and I've kept it up. I now know I have to. I've found exercise is not physically difficult. It's more mentally difficult. Getting myself to just do it. First off I give myself no choice. It's on the calendar. I have my toys, ipod, heart rate monitor, Fitbit these items help to entertain my mind and get me through it. Most of the time I'm gung-ho to get it done. Times when I want to leave before a proper workout I make deals with myself. I'm very competitive even with myself. Things like "burn 500 calories and you can go home," "use this machine to the 15 minute mark and you can stop," "walk on the treadmill for 3 miles and you can call it quits."<br />
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I still get minorly sore, but rarely if ever so sore I can't operate my body properly. My trainer will work me hard and say "You'll be sore tomorrow." I'll see her a couple days later "Nope not sore." I'm finally in that good of shape. This I can endure for the rest of my life.<br />
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Sweaty, yes still a reality of being human. I make sure to wear clothes that absorb sweat. Some like to wear very little to stay cool. Me, I can't stand the feeling of dripping sweat. Of skin sticking to sweaty skin or skin sticking to a mat. I wear a t-shirt. It catches the drips. I can pick up the neck of my t-shirt when needed and wipe my face. I wear cotton capris. Shorts just don't catch the dripping sweat the way I like. I wear cotton underwear. Yes, TMI, but most necessary. I also remind myself I'm only going to be sweaty for about 90 minutes or so and a cool enjoyable shower is waiting for me at home. I have wonderful smelling shampoo and shower gel to bring me back to feeling great.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like hiking the coast with my honey</td></tr>
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I've found ways to get through it. Could I stop tomorrow and never go back? Mentally, I'd like to. Physically I just couldn't. I enjoy being in shape and able to do pretty much whatever I want in life.<br />
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<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-11542338459917122252014-08-04T13:08:00.000-07:002014-08-13T22:02:17.602-07:00Crocheting My Heart OutFinished a CBN (crochet by numbers) project. Been working on it a lot since June. It's a biggie. 15,688 stitches. <a href="http://totallee.net/mysterycal2.php">Mystery CAL#2</a> (crochet along) by Lee Mac a phenomenal CBN artist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totally, stole the idea of a picture of the real thing posted under the crochet item from <a href="http://totallee.net/">Totallee.net</a>. I love the comparison.</td></tr>
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I started this, because I thought it would be fun to reveal the mystery and as practice before I start some photo CBN projects. I've learned a lot.<br />
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Yarn shading choices: 2 of the browns I chose are a little two close in color. When I introduced the white (in the eyes) I changed from a bright white to a cream. BUT when I got to the top of wolf's background (between the ears) I think it would have looked better had I used the border color.<br />
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Tying off tension: I was tying so tightly that my knots were pulling themselves back through to the right side of project. What I did wrong for me was I laid the project down tail side up and knot it close to stitches. Now I lay it down tail side down. Then I knot with a little room close to the top of the worked stitches. This gives me some slack in my knotted tails to pull through for a nice finished look.<br />
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Pulling knots through at an appropriate time: First I found using a crochet hook 2 sizes smaller than the one I'm using for the project made it easier for me to pull the knots through. I used a G hook for the project and an E hook was perfect for pulling through the knots. The minute there is a row of knots on the right side pull them through. It's easier to crochet the piece. It's easier to pull one row of knots through when not tangled with other knots from previous rows. It doesn't leave a lot of work for latter when pulling through many rows of knots is VERY tedious.<br />
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Don't get lazy about counting stitches: When I got to the dark brown patch there were long stretches of one color. So, I would just count the yarn change stitches at the beginning and at the end. Well, some where and some how in the brown section I skipped a single crochet. I can see it now (I don't think anyone else would notice). I got about 14 rows away when I started counting the smaller section of brown and realized I was one stitch off. So, being a practice piece I increased one stitch in the brown section (again I don't think anyone else will see it) and continued on. Had this been a intricate photo piece I might have had to rip back 14 rows to keep the piece looking nice.<br />
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Don't get lazy about correcting mistakes: Do I have adult dyslexia? I would sometimes read the pattern Color 4 stitches 2, but when I got to my piece I'd crochet Color 2 stitches 4. Though each row changes as you go I found I can kind of see when things aren't looking right. Like why is this dark brown row starting right above this cream row. Then I'll double check the pattern. "Oh it's supposed to change here" OR "Oh no I've reversed my instructions." So, going back one row and correcting a mistake is way better than going back 14!<br />
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With my new gained knowledge I feel fully ready to move on to anything I want to do.<br />
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I have a silly cartoon dog pattern I'm going to do next. It was my free pattern when I signed up to learn <a href="http://www.crochetbynumbers.com/">CBN from Todd Paschall</a>. I have over half the colors to do the dog that's another reason I'm doing him next. I think I really only need a dark blue, but I'll double check the list before I start.<br />
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Random addition: Friends have seen this piece and one wants me to make her one. I know her well enough to say, "Yah, right!" I sat with her and discussed the amount of time I put in not counting the cost of yarn. I figured I'd paid myself $10 an hour just to make the math easy. I would have to sell this piece for at least $600.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-34867708850672693822014-05-31T18:43:00.003-07:002014-05-31T18:45:34.449-07:00Why I Sound Like Yoda When It Comes To My FitnessThis is what I feel like I sound like when someone asks me how I lost 83 pounds. First thing I say is you're not going to like what I have to say. Then they immediately crinkle up their nose and say, "exercise?" They say it with their face looking like they just ate a bad oyster. They say it with the look of "Well that's not going to happen." I reply, "Yep. Exercise." With a sad I'm so sorry to have to tell this look on my face. Then they say, "Well, that can't be all you did. You had to have altered your eating drastically too." I reply, "Nope. Just exercise and a gentle tweak here and there to my diet. I eat more. I make sure my protein is up. I make sure my fat grams are down. I don't ingest any artificial sweeteners. Yes, that includes stevia."<br />
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Personal preference on the Stevia. This is when they argue with me about how one can lose weight without exercise and with all natural stevia. I just smile a smile that says, "How's that been working for you? I know it didn't work for me." And this is when "exercise or do not exercise it's your choice to make" comes out of me. This is when I feel like I sound like Yoda's famous quote, "Do or do not... there is no try."</div>
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I know where they are coming from. No one... NO ONE didn't want to exercise more than me. I did it to prove that exercise wouldn't work for me. I wanted to knock that off my list of things I really tried when I talked to my doctor on what I could do next to lose weight. I even hired a trainer to tell me how exercise, so I'd have a witness to "she exercised so hard and it didn't work for her."</div>
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What I found out was exercise did work. It worked probably immediately. The first month I lost 2 pounds without changing my eating style. The 2nd month I lost 2 more pounds. I did this through Thanksgiving and Christmas. January came around and my trainer gently suggested I might want to stop drinking diet soda. This is when the weight loss really took off. I stopped diet soda originally just for a month. Liked the way I felt so much I never when back. I started adding healthy fats to my diet. My trainer suggested I make sure I was eating enough protein and I wasn't even close to eating enough until I started watching it. Even though I didn't add salt to my food there were things that were high in sodium. Salad dressings high in sodium. The Seasoned Rice Vinegar I used to replace salad dressings had a lot of sodium. My diet has evolved a lot over the past 2 1/2 years really with just little changes. I knew if I made big changes and big restrictions from my normal way of eating I'd never be able to stick to it.</div>
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Exercise is my baseline. I don't ever sway from doing it. It is what keeps my body and my eating on track. Who wants to mess up a good workout with bad food. I don't. So, as Yoda so profoundly said, ""Do or do not... there is no try." You decide for yourself how you want your future to look. Mine looks fit and trim.</div>
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Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-10346522531959889702014-05-31T16:38:00.000-07:002014-05-31T21:13:47.445-07:00Homemade Taco Seasoning... Why?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I originally started making my own taco seasoning, because store bought was too salty for me. I quit added salt when I was 17. I went to live with my Grandmother while going to college and she couldn't have salt due to high blood pressure. She was miserable and complaining about bland food quite a bit at the time. So, I thought this is my future. I may as well get use to no added salt now, so when I'm 60 I won't be so miserable. Fortunately for me I grew up with very little added salt, so making the switch wasn't too hard. Taking my added salt to nil really made store bought foods like canned soups and seasonings like taco seasoning seem overwhelmingly salty.<br />
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I tried a few recipes and found I liked this recipe and started making my own. For some reason I really like the minced onion in this one.<br />
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In addition to less salt I found I could also control the heat of the seasoning too. I tend to be a bit of a pansy with spicy foods. When I make this seasoning I found out adding no salt is really terrible tasting. It is really hard to recover from it too when seasoning the finished taco meat. On the other hand lessening the spiciness isn't a problem. Anyone wanting more heat just sprinkles on some Tapatio on their taco or burrito.<br />
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I like to mix up a batch and keep it in the pantry. First time I made it many years ago I put it in a sandwich bag and stuck it in the pantry. Next day when I opened my pantry I was slapped up side the head with a strong smell of taco seasoning and shelf liner. One would think it was delightful. No, it was overwhelming and not something I wanted to smell every time I entered the pantry. I placed the bag of taco seasoning in a jar with a lid and that keeps all the wonderful smell inside the jar. Now that I think about it why don't I just put the seasoning in a mason jar and save myself a baggie? Proof one can learn something new every day.<br />
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So, when making this experiment with the salt and the heat. I like to use 1 T of salt and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper for my perfect taco seasoning. I also never have ground oregano so I rub about 1 tablespoon of the oregano leaves between my hands to break it up a little for the 1 1/2 tsp of ground oregano.<br />
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3/4 cups all purpose flour<br />
1/4 cup chili powder<br />
1/4 cup paprika<br />
3 tablespoons salt, optional<br />
3 tablespoons dried minced onions<br />
2 tablespoons ground cumin<br />
1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper<br />
1 tablespoon garlic powder<br />
1 tablespoon sugar<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano<br />
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Mix together and store in a tightly cover container. Makes about 12 servings of mix. Add 3 T of mix to 1 pound of browned ground beef along with 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and cook, uncovered, 7 to 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally. Use seasoned meat in tacos, burritos, nachos, taco salads. Enjoy.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-83378269982751186772014-04-05T22:50:00.002-07:002014-04-05T22:50:33.626-07:00Crochet By Numbers-My First Rogue ProjectFascinated with this crocheting technique. It's really quite simple. What makes it difficult is creating your own graph. This is where the creativity comes in from the start. At your computer. Not only do you need to scan in what you want to do, but I feel there is some finesse to the photo. Correcting margins, defining the background don't even get me started on combining of 2 photos. I've seen it. <br />
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I signed up to learn the technique from Todd at Crochet by Numbers. Busy dude I think as I found it difficult to get emails back in a timely fashion. Ok should say in a Lynne "I'm learning a new craft" fashion. Last summer I decided to spend 3 months doing it. In that thought bubble above my head here's how I envisioned Todd's life (Family guy, full time job, kids, wife and takes commissions for CBN art pieces really a 2nd job.) Here's me (why can't you put your life on hold for some old lady across the country who wants to learn CBN pronto.) He does get back to you don't get me wrong, but I had a crochet hook and it needed work after I did the beginning work projects.<br />
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So, I cruised through the CBN posts and groups on Ravelry. This lead me to another person doing phenomenal CBN work too. She makes her own patterns. I love that she's very protective of Todd and his Crochet by Numbers technique. This I think encourages his business and encourages one to get creative and do their own work.<br />
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I saw few practice projects on Lee Mac's website and one was a British Flag. She being Australian I can totally understand this fine project. Me, being lazy and from the United States decided that if I was going to put all this crochet work into a project I wanted it to be something that would be personal for me. Ever since 9/11 I've had a fascination with having United States flag represented some where in my life. I decided to give making my own chart of my flag a try. I could go all traditional the straight lines of the flag would lend themselves well to crocheting. I thought if I'm truly going to get some practice with this technique I needed to mix it up. I found a graphic of a waving flag that I liked.<br />
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Thinking it wouldn't be much more than 3 colors red, white and blue it should be pretty easy. After fiddling with the program I got it down to 11 colors! Oh yeah forgot about shading. Forgot if I want this piece to look good it will need shading. <br />
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As I sat working on this project I realized I'm having a major yarn problem. My yarn choices are not the same color name as the project sheet. I made up a chart of the names. Still having trouble. Yarn skeins rolling all over I decide to put them in a box. Now it's hard to read their names. I put down the crochet hook and got out a sheet of blank paper, scissors, a sharpie, tape and a hole punch. Voila! I now have the yarn organized in a manner that me and my short term memory problems can handle.<br />
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Another vblog of Lee's that put the idea of bordering the piece as you go. I've seen where a crocheted border is put on the piece after and I didn't like it. Not to say it's not perfectly fine, but for my projects I liked the pieces that were bordered as you go. I chose this gold color, because ultimately I want to turn this into a pillow for my living room. I think the color went well with the flag and well with my living room color scheme.<br />
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When the piece is flip flopping around in my lap it doesn't look like much. I took a photo to share with Lee and when I saw the piece I got giddy. It really does look like a waving flag. A simplistic waving flag, but that's what I'm going for. I wanted a fairly easy nice looking piece to practice on. Practice pattern making, crocheting and I think really most importantly picking out colors that go well together.<br />
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I've seen a few CBN pieces where there is one color that doesn't belong. It pops out at you and distracts one from the beauty of the art. Lee has even spoken about this very yarn color problem in a piece of hers. <br />
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When I chose my colors the red and white were easy. Then I needed a blue that would fit into the family of the red and the white. My next problem with color choices was the grays. I needed 4 colors of gray for the shading. I had to tear myself away from the idea that the label needs to say gray in order to get the colors I wanted. 2 of my grays are called silver heather and linen. I squinted my eyes to just get the hue of the color in my brain and see them blending together. I needed a shading pink. Again don't read the label it says orange, but the color is perfect for light coral.<br />
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I just love how the piece turned out. I got a lot of practice in pulling the knots through as I went. Lee again had a video on where to pull the knots through. Most helpful. I'll be turning this into a pillow for my couch.<br />
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If you'd like to look into doing this craft check out <a href="http://www.crochetbynumbers.com/">Todd Paschall's Crochet By Numbers website</a>. You can also get a lot of great tips from <a href="http://totallee.net/">Lee Mac's Totalee.net blog</a>.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-20882685965617867112014-04-05T22:38:00.001-07:002014-04-05T22:55:39.859-07:00The Proverbial Bucket ListI don't have a bucket list. I've thought about making one and never really know what to put on it. I do recognize when I do something that is on my imaginary bucket list. Then I'll say, "That was on my bucket list, check." Last Thursday I did something that's been on my "bucket list" for probably 25 years. First I was too scared to do it. Then I was too out of shape to do it. Finally, I made up my mind that I was definitely in shape to do it I just needed to grow a pair and do it. What was it... ski an intermediate slope. My daughter and I were just too good to keep skiing the bunny hill. When the lift operator says, "You again, that was fast." You know you are where you don't belong.<br />
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My daughter and I decided to take the intermediate free group lessons. Found out the lesson groups were numbered 1-5. I thought we had to be a 3. The instructor quizzed us about our skills and said, "You are a number 2." What?! Oh OK I'll take your word for it. Found out quickly we were definitely number 2 material. We learned so much in 2 hours. <br />
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First of all the intermediate lift is a lot faster than the beginner lift. It was almost terrifying the speed at which it went up the hill. It did, I found out as I got off, slows down for you to get off and then off it goes. As I skied down and around to our meeting place I psyched myself out. I saw how steep the hill was and started working out "plan B" in my head instead of paying attention to my skis. Next thing I knew my tips were crossed and I'm going down. It was a very soft lazy fall and with the assistance of a kind stranger I was up and back with my group. My head was back in the game.<br />
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When I rented my skis that day there was blue tape on each of them with the word "Courbage" on them. It was scratch up and first I thought they said "Garage." As I got my instructions on how to make a proper turn and traverse the hill I looked down at my skis and to me they suddenly said "Courage!" That lifted my spirits immensely. It reminded me I did have the tools to ski this hill. All I needed was practice. I talked my way all the way down the hill. "Shins against boots, prepare for turn, COURAGE, lean forward, look forward, COURAGE, hands out front, remember to breath, COURAGE! It was exhausting and exhilarating. The instructor said we were using way more muscles and effort, because we are new. He said with practice and confidence it will get easier.<br />
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It was the end of our lessons and we had been skiing for about 3 1/2 hours. Our plan was to only ski half a day so my daughter could get to her evening class. I asked my daughter if she wanted to make one more run even though I was exhausted, but she had fallen once on her way down too and had twisted her knee slightly. She said she'd rather have lunch now. I secretly thought "THANK GOODNESS!"<br />
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Even though I was ready to get off the hill that day. I'm very excited to start on the intermediate slope and practice my new found courage.<br />
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Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-44595925276796064092013-11-02T20:16:00.001-07:002013-11-02T20:16:28.272-07:00Decluttering and CleaningAs with taking care of myself taking care of my house has gone to the dogs as well over the years. My body is in a much better place now to work on the house. I keep a clean house, but I have piles of stuff that I never know where to put. Do I need this stuff? Spoken as a true hoarder... YES! Seems like the minute I get rid of something that I don't seem to need I need it the next week. I refer to it as Chaney luck. We have a streak of buying broken stuff. Losing things so much we refer to the need for certain items like scissors as saturation. I need to have 10 pairs of scissors, so I can find one pair. I need 6 pairs of reading glasses, so I can find one pair. If I can't find say my nippers that means I haven't reached saturation and I need to buy more. It's so sad I think some times. So, are the piles of things.<br />
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I've gotten rid of tons of clothes in the past 1 1/2 years. My closet is beginning to have room to put more things into it. Although my pairs of shoes are growing now I can wear real shoes due to the weight loss. My pantry is more cluttered due to eating healthier and just having more food around. I solved that problem with buying 4 tubs and labeling them, so I can put more stuff into tighter spaces.<br />
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I've read the decluttering websites and basically there is no easy fix. Just like my weight problem. I need to stop the whining, grow up and just do the work.<br />
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Today, DH got the hall closet back together now that the bathroom is fixed. I can now fill it back up, but will definitely do a lot of purging. I've had the kids go through the games and decided what they don't want any more. Half of them will go to Goodwill. Yay! More room for towels. Things that actually should be in a hall closet. Tomorrow I'll go through my table clothes. That will be hard as every time I look at them I need every blasted one of them and yet I don't use them hardly ever.<br />
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I caught up on the dishes today. A big bugger boo with me. I hate unloading the dishwasher and therefore there is never any room for the dirty dishes. I remind myself at times like this how good I have it. I HAVE a dish washer. I'm able bodied and can unload it. Again, stop your damn whining and just do it.<br />
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Turned the self clean on the oven today. Decided to get the mini vac out and really give it a good cleaning. I noticed around the outside edges of the inside of the oven was covered with dust? Spiderwebs? Dust and spiderwebs? I don't know how anything would have created that fuzzy gray line. It vacuumed away. Vacuumed the crumbs where they fell in the joint of the door. Really scrub again the dirty finger prints the repairman made earlier this summer. I really don't know how to get them off. Still gray color on my white handles.<br />
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A good start to reclaiming my house. The holidays are coming. Would love to let people in the back of my house instead of throwing all the piles from the front of the house into the back for the parties. Was listening to a decluttering podcast and the woman talked about locking the doors on rooms she didn't want people to look it. I SO get that and yet find that so sad to have to resort to that.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-72730659135016359682013-09-06T23:29:00.000-07:002013-09-07T20:33:29.853-07:00Cleaning Eating Tosca Reno says, "Pack a cooler."I was reminded today during my <a href="http://www.mamabootcampblog.blogspot.com/">Mama Bootcamp</a> class the importance of packing a cooler. That can be anything from a small lunch box to an actual cooler. What she means by pack a cooler is to bring your food with you. Don't wing it when you're running errands or even going to work. I find my fast food choices aren't healthy, convenient or even something I want to eat. I've packed sandwiches, salads, smoothies or just a simple piece of fruit, cut up veggies or my <a href="http://www.toscareno.com/2013/02/06/health-fats-kit-nutrition-and-recipe/#.UirOl8asjlM">Tosca Reno's Power balls</a>. In my lunch box or cooler they don't get hot in the car. Keep in mind that if you have something that might get dangerous if it's not refrigerated properly do some temperature checks and some experimenting before you leave it in the car all day.<br />
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A few years ago I bought myself my own lunch box. I'd occasionally use one of my kid's lunchbox when need be. Usually though they'd be dirty from them using them and not taking care of them. My kids were plenty old enough to clean their own lunch boxes. So, I thought I'm going to buy my own. Only I needed to get one that my kids wouldn't see as the only clean lunch box in the house to use. I bought a big honking pink lunch box. Not my favorite color, but DEFINITELY not either of my kid's either. Neither of them would be caught dead carrying my lunch box and that was my plan all along.<br />
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I was at the store today and right now is the perfect time to buy oneself a lunch box. Barring they don't have family member who'll want to use their lunch box. So, many fun choices to make Clean Eating a necessity rather than a chore.<br />
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Sorry for the crappy picture, but you get the idea. Many fun choices from which to pick. Star Wars, Spiderman, Hello Kitty, Mario Brothers and even Pink Disney Princesses if you need to keep your hubby and kids from borrowing your lunch box.</div>
Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-90697305267753210652013-08-26T16:44:00.001-07:002013-08-26T16:44:23.550-07:00Clean Eating at it's best - Greek Spinach & Feta Turkey MuffinsI had some ground turkey I needed to use, so went to <a href="http://pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a> to see what might be interesting. Found this recipe on <a href="http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-greek-spinach-feta-turkey-muffins/">Gracious Pantry</a>. Sounded really good. I did not have any Greek Herb Blend, but when I looked up a recipe for <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/greek-seasoning-mix-61579">Greek Seasoning</a> I had all the ingredients to make my own. I didn't have dried parsley as I abhor it. Left it out. Also cinnamon and nutmeg in savory dishes kind of overwhelms my taste buds. So, cut the amounts in half. That was just right for me. A hint of flavor that really added to the delight of these mini meatloaves. Other than being the shape of a muffin that's all they have in common with a muffin. I stuffed my muffin pan like the recipe said and got 12 not the 15 they listed. Really worked out for the best as I had one less muffin pan to clean. I didn't use muffin wrapper just a spray of vegetable oil. My turkey muffins were so moist and came right out of the pan. Mine were done in half the time. They weren't browned like the website, but that didn't matter. I was afraid if I cooked them longer they'd dry out. As they were they were perfect. A recipe that's already in my file for future use.<br />
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<br />
Greek Spinach & Feta Turkey Muffins<br />
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1 1/2 lbs. extra lean ground turkey<br />
3 egg whites<br />
2 T Greek herb blend (see below)<br />
1 T garlic powder<br />
6 oz. feta<br />
2 cups frozen spinach<br />
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In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, blending thoroughly by hand.<br />
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Fill your baking cups level to the top of the baking cup.<br />
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Bake at 350 F for approx. 20 - 25 minutes. Check these with a meat thermometer to be sure they are done. They should reach a minimum of 165 F. on the thermometer.<br />
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Allow to cool and store in the refrigerator. These freeze well and thaw quickly. Makes 12 muffins.<br />
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Makes 2 T of Greek Herb Blend: 1 tsp dried oregano,1 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp onion powder, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground nutmegLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-3829686936168790052013-07-22T00:04:00.002-07:002013-07-22T12:36:29.946-07:00Get Me On That Team!I have some cousins, who have recommended that hubby and I go out to Bolinas for the 4th of July for many years. They said it was a lot of fun to watch the parade and the tug of war between Bolinas and Stinson beach. They haul a rope across the opening to the Bolinas Lagoon between the 2 beaches. Then the two teams fight it out until the first 3 people on the losing team end up in the water. Finally, this year DH and I decided we go "watch." What DH didn't know was with my new found strength and health that if there was any way I could get on Bolinas' women's team I was going to do it.<br />
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I had no idea how this whole thing was organized. Do they only allow Bolinas residents? Did they just take volunteers from the crowd? Was there already a team in place that's been training for this friendly grudge match? My family has owned property in Bolinas for over 50 years, so we think of ourselves as residences. Since the town is blocked off to traffic on the 4th of July DH and I decided if the tug of war started at 9am, we'd start walking to town at 8am. We arrived at the beach at 8:30am.<br />
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Immediately, I saw a group of woman circling up. One gal had a clipboard with a full sign up list. She was calling roll. As she was calling I'd hear a "HEAR", but now and then there would be no answer. The head gal would say, "They knew what time to be here. If they are not here they are late. If they are late they've lost their spot on the team." She was a little lenient as gals ran down the beach yelling, "I'm here!!" I knew though this could possibly be my IN. I stood just outside the circle smiling in my 4th of July tye dye listening to all instructions just in case I could wheedle my way in. Finally, the head gal announced they were 4 short. I announce my willingness to join the team. They wrote my name down as a possible. I'm one step closer.<br />
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Now the head gal announces the team needs to warm up. I'm in the circle now. I'm warming up as if I'm going to be pulling... just in case. Wrist bands are being passed out to all on the official list. Again they are 4 short and the 4 wrist bands are up for grabs. Not looking at the list of possible people she begins passing out the extra wristbands. Rule abiding bites me in the butt a good deal of the time. Since they aren't going to call my name I jog over and grab the last wristband. As we are in the circle we are asked to call out a number to get a head count. Even though this is a fun activity there are rules and protocol to be followed for a fair win. It gets to me and I yell out, "Eleven!" It keeps going to 31. Oh no we are one too many. There can only be 30. One of us has to give up their wristband to the one gal who was on the sign up sheet and some how didn't get one. No one is jumping at the chance and the head gal says, "Hey if they were late that's the way it's going to be." But a gal in a very short mini lace dress says, "It's OK she can have my wristband." I don't think she'd have ripped her beautiful dress, but it would have definitely wiggled up around her waist during the tug of war. That's my guess.<br />
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Now we are at 30. DH is walking around watching and still doesn't know I'm serious about being on this team; until he sees me pull my workout gloves out of my pocket as we warm up. I'm strapping them on and suddenly it comes to him that this has been my plan from the start. OH yeah it was. It's the 4th of July, I'm in Bolinas and there is a tug of war going on. Where else would I be? I'm not letting the Bolinas women's team not have a full roster.<br />
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As we are warming up the rules are told to remind the past members and to let the new members know. NO sitting down. NO letting go of the rope. NO more than 30 pullers. All will disqualify us as a team. Then we get a pep talk. She says, "It's all legs lady." I think to myself, "I've got this!" My legs are very strong and my arms well they are getting there. "Ladies, we win because when there is a stalemate we don't give up. We dig in! They get tired and we pull them in. Don't stop pulling until we say to stop pulling," says the head gal.<br />
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Now we run over to the rope. Oddly they all line up on the left side of the rope. I started on the right side, but was the only one there. I switch over. I don't know why, but I don't want to be the screw up that loses the Bolinas tug of war. I figured I could pull well from either side. We are told to line up tallest in the front on back to the shortest. This is because of the slope of the beach. Today we don't have a lot of beach as it's nearly high tide, but we get spaced out on the rope nicely.<br />
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It begins. We pull and pull and it's coming our way quickly. I figure it must be tightening of the rope across the water. Now it's pretty difficult we are digging in and pulling. Our coaches are great telling us to pull. Encouraging us to hold tight. Moving people from the back forward as they lose beach. At one point I'm thinking damn this is WAY more strenuous than I thought it would be. I should have hydrated better! It's OK I'm strong and I'm not tiring yet. I can feel Stinson trying to pull us forward, but we dig in and pull harder. The crowd is so encouraging chanting, "PULL, PULL!!" Yelling, "DIG IN, DIG IN!!"<br />
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Sweat has now squirted out every pore of my body even though it's probably about 65 degrees out. How long have we been pulling and digging in... 20, 30 minutes? Finally, the rope starts coming our way slowly, gradually, now slightly faster. My finger tips are burning. My workout gloves are fingerless. They are being sand papered away, but I'm going to pull until they are bloody if I have too. I am not the going to be the weakest link on this team! Note to self full length gloves next time. No sooner do I tell myself that and we hear the roar of the crowd that we've won! The Bolinas women's tug of war team has won, again!! We are all hugging, high five-ing, and knuckle bumping with each other and crowd. What a great feeling, but quickly our attention turns to the men's team lining up on the rope. I think it's going to be a lot of fun watching and knowing what these tuggers are feeling.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stinson Beach pulling with all their might.</td></tr>
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I have no idea where my husband is at this point. Shooting photos I'm sure, but right now I'm just a person from Bolinas rooting for my town. Wanting to know what's going on across the water I post myself close to the water's edge. I yell whatever the coaches are yelling. I don't want to give the tuggers any mixed messages. Where sweat just beaded up on me it is rolling, dripping and pouring off these men. Their turn is clearly longer than the women's. Just how much I don't know. They are exhausted. Some want to sit and dig in, but are reminded you can not sit. They are changing directions trying to find that last bit of energy and pulling strength. I see what they mean by having rules of no more than 30 tuggers as I have to resist with all my might not to jump on that rope and help. I'm sure the whole crowd felt that way. Finally, again after a long stalemate the rope starts pulling in Bolinas' direction. Another win! The men fall into a heap of sweaty exhaustion for a split second. Then get up to rejoice.<br />
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I find out later each bout was timed. The women's team won theirs in 4 minutes. The men's team won in 9 minutes. The head gal said she thought the men's bout was the longest lasting tug to date. 4 minutes!!! Really? It was one of the longest 4 minutes of my life. I can't even imagine having it go on to 9 minutes.<br />
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After their win we are told to come get our t-shirts. I had no idea. I'm proud to wear my "Winner" shirt all afternoon. It's covering up my red, white and blue tye dye, but I don't care. I feel so proud of my accomplishment. I got on the team and I helped pull it to victory. Through out the day I get compliments on the win from strangers in the 4th of July party crowd. I see fellow tuggers in their shirts and we high five or knuckle bump when we see each other.<br />
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I had a great day. It felt great to earn a shirt that says, "Winner!" Clearly a check on my bucket list. I hope some day my daughter can make it out here and give it a go. She'll have a blast.Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-71566302804150039762013-06-09T11:35:00.001-07:002013-06-09T11:48:20.784-07:00Molasses Cookie Baskets (with a minor tweek)In May I was asked to bring a dessert to a get together. It was already getting hot, so I wanted to bring something that would be good, refreshing and would use seasonal fruit. I like to treating my family to something wonderful even if it takes some time and effort to make. BUT I like things to be easy if they can be.<br />
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I found this recipe for Molasses Cookie Baskets served with Lemon Sorbet and Blueberries with a Ginger sauce. Not only did it sound good, but I knew it would just look impressive. Brown little baskets filled with yellow sorbet and bright blue berries.<br />
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The instructions for making the baskets in the oven sounded a bit precarious according to the comments. Getting them off the heated cookie sheet in one piece sounded pretty challenging. Draping them over a cup to shape them while still hot and hoping they didn't break. Not only would they not look impressive broken, but I wouldn't be good company if I spent an afternoon wrestling with them. I thought why not try the recipe on my <a href="http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/24507-waffle-cone-maker-mix.aspx">waffle cone maker</a>. It's pretty simple to use. I've had great success with it. I wouldn't have to heat up the big oven on a hot day either.<br />
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The batter made as the recipe says did not work in the waffle cone maker. It was more sugary and candy like. Where as a cone is crispy and more cookie like. That made me think I need to fix the batter so it more closely resembles waffle cone batter. I got out one of my waffle cone recipes and began adding flour and egg to firm up the batter when it's baking in the waffle cone maker, yet keeping the delicious molasses, ginger and lemon flavorings.<br />
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They turned out great and were very easy to create cups. I served mine with only blueberries as that's what's in season in May.<br />
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<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Molasses-Cookie-Baskets-with-Lemon-Sorbet-and-Gingered-Fruit-2399">Molasses Cookie Baskets</a><br />
(with Lemon Sorbet and Gingered Fruit )
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Syrup<br />
1 cup sugar<br />
1 cup water<br />
1/2 cup minced crystallized
ginger<br />
<br />
Cookies<br />
1/2 cup unsalted butter<br />
1/2 cup sugar<br />
1/2 cup
light unsulfured molasses<br />
1 tsp grated lemon peel<br />
1 tsp ground ginger<br />
2
tsp vanilla extract<br />
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, sifted<br />
1 large egg<br />
1
large egg white<br />
<br />
Fruit<br />
1 pint strawberries, hulled, quartered<br />
1
1/2-pints blueberries<br />
2 peaches, peeled, pitted, sliced<br />
2-4 pints
purchased lemon sorbet<br />
<br />
Syrup: Stir first 3 ingred. in small saucepan over
med. heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil 3 mins. Refrigerate
ginger syrup. (Syrup can be prepared 1 week ahead.)<br />
<br />
Cookies: Bring first
5 ingred. to simmer in small saucepan over med. heat, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla, then flour. Cool cookie mixture 10 minutes.
Then whisk in eggs.</div>
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<div>
Preheat Waffle Cone Maker. Spray lightly with
non-stick cooking spray. Wipe off excess. Drop mixture by level tablespoonfuls
on to preheated Waffle Cone maker. (1 T for small bowls. 2 T for large bowls
with ruffled edge.)</div>
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Working quickly, lift cookie from Waffle Cone
maker. Drape cookie over inverted 3/4-cup custard cup. Gently shape cookie with
another 3/4–cup custard cup on top; this will automatically crimp sides to form
fluted cup when doing the 2T amount. Repeat baking and molding process with
remaining batter. When one cookie is baking remove cookie from custard cup to
cool on storing plate. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUCVKThkL18EqhpArlco_-K3MV0B25furw9__L8cRdgIKKnVTgHuVtkjNcQQYmBEsErmIgHFaQ3VYW1F9e2lD8K_3HVchJe2eHzSD-lEuqz3IQxVT6Q66XoUehfAXUeoHqGsT3vwTb1c/s1600/IMG_0501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUCVKThkL18EqhpArlco_-K3MV0B25furw9__L8cRdgIKKnVTgHuVtkjNcQQYmBEsErmIgHFaQ3VYW1F9e2lD8K_3HVchJe2eHzSD-lEuqz3IQxVT6Q66XoUehfAXUeoHqGsT3vwTb1c/s400/IMG_0501.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is another custard cup under the cookie creating the cookie shape.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
To serve: Place 1 cookie on each plate. Fill
each with 3 small scoops of sorbet and spoon fruit and ginger syrup
over.</div>
<div>
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<div>
Bon Appétit | August 1992<br />
Yield: 32 small baskets or 16 large baskets</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaGBkLY5-HkhHoBjrCRRS3H64GBKHE-0Qo0ZFU5-L3DpvqrF_roPMJ_RfP_PziVJG6eLCUgOpeXCbkcQEld_bv7ygZptxLmzp_wWqa_OQRZ_Bui6QV2MOpzeuSBLX89Rn_R9IJE6x8Hg/s1600/IMG_0508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaGBkLY5-HkhHoBjrCRRS3H64GBKHE-0Qo0ZFU5-L3DpvqrF_roPMJ_RfP_PziVJG6eLCUgOpeXCbkcQEld_bv7ygZptxLmzp_wWqa_OQRZ_Bui6QV2MOpzeuSBLX89Rn_R9IJE6x8Hg/s400/IMG_0508.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And yes everyone was deliciously impressed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-70747289278631326522013-04-28T10:19:00.001-07:002013-04-28T10:20:43.075-07:00The Making of a Natural BeautyApparently is takes 25 bottles and 7 scrubbies to make 3 eighteen year old college room mates naturally beautiful. LOL! I stopped by to take my daughter out to lunch and on the way home I needed to use the bathroom before my drive. I walked in and thought this is crazy. My daughter said only one bottle of shampoo and one bottle of body wash was hers. She said it is crazy to get into the shower and kick over a few bottles. Then when there is shampoo in your eyes a few more bottles fall into the tub. She then said you have to shuffle your feet around until the soap is washed out of your eyes, so you don't fall. Then you can pick up the bottles. Oh the college years and all the strange memories that get added in that shape your future.<br />
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<br />Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798069593522228490.post-9762519192465705012013-03-31T19:00:00.000-07:002013-03-31T19:00:43.285-07:00Chalkboard Easter Eggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So easy and so much fun. I painted wooden goose egg sized eggs with Martha Stewart's Chalkboard paint. I bought the paint and the eggs at <a href="http://www.joann.com/martha-stewart-chalkboard-paint-6-ounces-4-colors/zprd_11671427a/">Joann's</a>. I thought about sanding them. I thought about putting a base coat on them. What I did was get out a 1" foam brush and just started painting them. I made 6. I put probably 5 or 6 coats on them. I knew I had put enough on them when they dried they had a nice shine still. Before that they would dry and be a flat color like the wood had absorbed the paint.<br />
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Then I primed them with chalk I had bought at Walgreens. It was $1 for a plastic box full of 12 large sticks of chalk. I figured when the kids were tired of drawing on their eggs they could draw on the sidewalk. That's exactly what they did.<br />
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I wrote their names on the eggs and hid them with a stick of chalk with the other Easter eggs. They had a lot of fun finding them. I had also made an egg for the oldest cousin who was 16. I didn't want her to feel left out even though I figured she was too old for such nonsense. I over heard her say as she sat and drew on her egg "This is so cool."Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686897360767582785noreply@blogger.com0