Loser Monday ~ Fruit recipe

Its Loser Monday and well you know what that means... A post from regi. Hah! I told Sharon a couple weeks back if it werent for Loser Mondays, my blog would get dusty and aint that the truth lately.

So... I gained .7 pounds according to the wii fit. The thing is grilling me now... it wanted to know why I had gained. LMAO... I was being sternly talked to by a machine. Sheesh. It also let me know I should weigh in at the same time of day (which I already knew mr smarty pants thank you very much!) and that if i checked in more then once a week with the wii, i would do better. *sigh* I know that too.


My recipe of the week is right out of my copy of YOU on a diet by Michael F Roizen and Mehmet C Oz. Sharon asked for fruit and so here is one that sounds yummy and simple.

Sliced Peaches with Raspberries blueberries and chocolate chips

2 small ripe peaches, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup (1 ounce) fresh raspberries
1/4 cup (1 ounch) fresh blueberries
1 1/2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips

Combine sliced peaches with cinnamon and nutmeg, transfer to 2 serving plates. Top peaches with raspberries, blueberries and chocolate chips.

2 servings, 46 cals per serving, total fat .4 g, sat fats .1 g, fiber 2.6g, carbs 11.5 g, sugar 8.9 g, protein 1 g

This book is outstanding... honestly it is. If you dont have it... run, dont walk to the nearest store and get yourself a copy. It explains so many things I had no idea of. Things like why our bodies need protein and carbs (healthy ones) and why excess sugar is so bad. Sure you hear from experts that lean protein is good... healthy carbs are best and excess sugar is bad... but why? What do these things do to your body ... how do they affect you chemically... and what is the result from eating the good ones as opposed to the bad ones besides gaining a few pounds. I am still reading the thing and once I finish it ... I am going to reread it again and again. I wish I could say i have lost a ton of weight and revamped my lifestyle since I started reading it but I havent and thats because A.) I am still reading it and B.) I wasnt following their advice and/or doing what I should. Isnt that truly the problem for many of us. We KNOW what we should be doing. We KNOW what we shouldnt be doing... but its easier to stick to old habits. Its so much easier to just continue on the way you are and promise yourself you will start tomorrow then it is to crawl out of that rut and make changes starting now. For the whole getting out of a rut I have discovered I needed an inspiration. Soo...

I have been thinking about my girls a lot lately... not the whole "damn it why cant you clean your room" or "call me more often" kind of stuff. I have been thinking about their graduations and possible weddings... and possible grandchildren, I have also been thinking about my mom a lot and how awful it was when she died the year I was set to turn 30.

My mom was a spunky lady, very caring and giving. My sister reminds me so much of her, I am more like our dad I think. Anyways... she died at the young age of 51. She was under a lot of stress and having "stomach pains" and "heartburn". My husband and I made her go see a doc... but we didnt go with her and express our concerns. So she walked out of the docs office with a prescription for heartburn meds. We assumed the doc did a full exam. We also assumed she told him everything that was going on .. but regardless... she died 3 days later of a sudden massive heart attack. That was in 1995 and there isnt a damn day that goes by that I dont miss that woman. She was truly my best friend as well as being my biggest supporter. I feel jipped... and my kids were too. So what is my damn excuse? Why in the hell would I want to put my girls through what I went through... The answer is I dont... I owe it to myself and my girls to make sure I am around a long time. Someday... a long time from now, I want to be peering over their shoulders, watching them diaper their children... and of course telling them they are doing it all wrong. *smiles*

So thats my inspiration... the thing that will help me out of my rut... the thing that will keep me going when my resolve is being whittled away by a chocolate brownie or a box of girl scout cookies. My mom and my girls...

~Regi

Snowy Monday

Maddy had a snow day today. Just cant imagine why?

We got just a little bit of snow...



I mean... how bad was it really... we could still see out the windows...



So... if they didnt want to run the busses... I can understand. I could have driven her in the car.



If I could find it that is!

We lost power several times last night... the longest we were without was 3-4 hours. We are lucky. The news says there are over 90,000 people without power as we speak... and that number is due to rise. Wet Heavy snow on branches and power lines are coming down. We are very lucky... the house has a gas stove that even if we lose power still heats the kitchen area. The blower doesnt function without the power, but we could pull our mattresses into the kitchen if it ever came down to it and stay nice and toasty.



I love living in Maine... just cant stand the cold and the ice... but for scenes like this... who wouldnt love it!



Mother nature in all her glory!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my Monday loser update... I lost another pound. I am very happy with that... and boy am i going to get some exercise today... shoveling.

Have a good day!

~Regi

Veggie Soup via Weight Watchers

WEIGHT WATCHERS ZERO POINTS GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP
Makes 9 cups

6 cups broth
Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic (from a jar or substitute four cloves minced garlic)
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don't skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large zucchini, diced

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender. Serve and enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Cup: 61 Cal (3% from Fat, 24% from Protein, 73% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 13 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb10; NetCarb10; 52 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 701 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol;

Happy Holidays

We had a nice Christmas eve and day... even though it was interrupted a bit by a power outage due to high winds. Instead of having the husband's parents come to our house we ended up going to theirs... heck without power we couldn't cook Christmas lunch, not to mention having water to not only to cook with, but to drink or flush toilets with. *smiles* we do have a reserve for such situations but we knew everyone would be more comfortable at their house then at our powerless one. When we got back around 5:30 or so the power was back which was very nice, as most of the girls presents were dependent on some form of electricity. I think Paul's mom liked the apron and matching potholder I made her... I thought they were pretty!

The holidays are over and I am really looking forward to the future. I am making all kinds of plans for this coming year... and am very excited about the prospect of new beginnings.

What kind of plans do you have for the next year? I want to finally get my weight under control... I am going to do this by eating healthy and adding exercise into my day. I want to get a job to bring in some extra money and hopefully to make more friends. I want to make all our gifts for next year so there will be lots of fun projects going on. I want to get some of my stories written up... and I want to participate and win nano again in November.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday... which ever holiday it is you might celebrate... and I wish you a wonderful new year.

~Wishing you peace and joy
Regi

The sewing machine is back...

I got the sewing machine part I have been waiting for, so quite a bit of yesterday I worked on part of my gift for my mother in law. Ouchie... I do not like the pattern I picked out. So freaking confusing! Honestly the pattern was probably fine... it was the user LOL. But... after many rip outs and start overs I got the thing done. It turned out nice and I am quite proud of it. It may need to be adjusted at the neck as the bib hangs low on me... but I am quite a bit shorter then my mother in law. Paul tried it on and he is a lot closer in height to his mom and the bib fell nicely... so if need be it can be fixed after the holidays, but I think its going to be ok. I also pieced a couple of blocks to make into pot holders. One of them I love but the other I need to rework... I wish I could find the part of my camera that allows me to upload pictures so I could show ya... but hopefully it will turn up one of these days.

I need to get the house organized a bit... Eileen is coming home tomorrow and I want every thing ready so that we can decorate the tree and put out the decorations, the minute she gets home... It just didnt feel right to do it without her. *smiles* I need to get the ingredients for homemade pizza ... and sugar cookies. Its been such a hard year... I want the holidays to be fun for us. Start our new year out with a bang!

We got all of the truck unloaded from the weekend... its stacked mile high in our shed but hey its off the truck and we can shut the doors so alls good! It feels very good to have it all done... a relief so once we get Ms Leen home we can actually start to relax and enjoy the holidays.

Guess thats all from this front...

~Regi

Tired and almost done...

We left the house around 9 am yesterday and arrived back home at 1 am. We picked up the moving van in farmindale... (supposedly there is a quilt shop some place near the rental shop so I will have to see if i can find it today) and then met my sister and her boys in augusta. We traveled down to south portland and then spent an inordinate amount of time winterizing the house... and moving all the stuff going to storage into the van. We then took a quick trip to the storage unit, took everyone out to dinner at IHOP and then back to the house to finish loading up the truck.

We are all tired and sore and yet all thats left to accomplish is to unload most of the stuff into our shed, take a couple of dressers and a dryer to my sisters house in Waterville, and then return the van and we are done. Completely irrevocably done with South Portland forever, house and school wise. We still have beloved neighbors there... and Leen has friends there but we are done.

It may sound silly but I cried when I hugged my tree good bye... I hope the next ppl who live in that house love it as much as I did. This is the only picture I have of it. I took it last spring after I put the pavers in and right before I planted some pretty hostas etc... =( Its not like its going anywhere. I know that my neighbors Linda and Maryanne will take pictures of it for me if i ask =)

treegarden, a photo by seeking epiphany on Flickr.

This year is almost over... and damn... I cant wait

Wouldn't you know...

So... you know the little plastic or metal thingy that covers your bobbin on your sewing machine? The thing that prevents the fabric from falling into the huge well right in front of your sewing machine needle? Mine is gone! Its not on the floor under the table, its not underneath the sewing machine, its not in the laundry room or with my other sewing equipment or supplies. I dont honestly remember the last place I saw the thing. *sigh* So after having torn apart the house... and not having found it, I am going to have to find a replacement part. Hopefully I can find it soon or my plans for the remainder of the gifts we are giving will have to be revised.

Wish me luck!