Making the Most of a Rainy Day

When I can't get outside to dig around in the dirt I love to curl up on the couch and catch up on my favorite cooking shows or pour through cook books and magazines.  Although I rarely follow a recipe closely I am inspired by watching the shows or thumbing through the books and mags.  My new favorite book is a Cooking Light book named Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals.  The recipes are either 5 ingredients or 15 minute prep and cook time.  My favorite thing about this book is that each recipe has a full page color photo.  I am 10 times more likely to stop and read a recipe if there is a picture and these are big and beautiful.  For each main dish there is also a recipe for a simple side.  This book is a pleasure to read.  I ordered mine throught Oxmoor House and it is a hardback but I found this paperback version on Amazon.com in case anyone wants to check it out.   The best part of a rainy day is what happened yesterday about 4 pm... the sun returned!  :)  I know we need the rain but can we please just have it at night?  Wouldn't it be great to be able to listen to the rain on the roof while we slept and then wake up to a fresh sunny day?  What's wrong with that plan?


So this morning:  162.5 lbs and 97 glucose.  Sweet and sweet.  Glucose is fabulous - let's me know I am doing something right and the poundage is the lowest yet I believe.  While I have a lot lot lot to go... I've lost 8 pounds so far!  Yesterday Dave gave me a hug and noticed for the first time that I was thinner.  He said, "Wow... my fingertips can almost touch!"  :)  The man needs an ass whoopin!  Why do I love him?          

Last night for dinner I grilled some beef tenderloin.  Oh baby!  I was very proud of myself.  I am usually way more successful with my grill pan over a gas flame than on the grill outside but perhaps I am starting to get the hang of it.  I paired the tiny little steaks with a simple salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, yellow bell peppers cukes with goat cheese and pomegranate-balsamic vinaigrette .  The surprise was the blueberries I scattered on top.  I didn't know if it was going to work but it was really good.  We both thought so.  I love fresh or dried fruit in my salad but had never tried blueberries before.  I planted a couple of blueberry bushes about three years ago.  This year it looks like I will have more than three berries.  How exciting!

Well... now that Monday has arrived I can quit dreading it and start looking forward to the weekend.  :)  This week will be special though.  Tomorrow I am driving west and will have the company of my little  granddaughter Aubrey.  I'm delivering her to her other grandma for a visit.  I also get to visit my nephew Chris  and his fiancé Georgina and daughter Kiera from TN.  Yay!  Lots of things to look forward to this week!  On Friday we are renewing our passports.  Finally a new picture!  In the last picture I looked like... well... really not good!  :)  Every time I look at a camera it shudders apparently because I almost never take a good picture.  It's amazing because I just know I'm not that ugly!  How can the camera be wrong all the time?  :)

Here's to a great week!  Ciao!

Sunday! I have a love/hate relationship with Sunday

It is a day off!  But tomorrow is Monday :(  Oh man!  Really an unhealthy attitude to have about a day of the week.  I've suffered from Sunday depression most of my life.  I remember being a kid and being so sad to have to go to school the next day :)  And on top of that... rain rain rain.  :(  Bleh!  The real bummer is that when I woke up this morning the sky was blue!  Ok... enough of that.  On the positive side... I'm curled up  on the couch watching a show on the big screen about the Continental Divide trail.  Pretty stuff.  I'm getting ready to go make a tomato/fresh mozzarella/basil salad and just realized... I have no basil :(  I do have a bunch of dill in my garden though so I think I'll just substitute that.  But I don't want to go outside to get it.  :)

This morning the stats were 163.5 lbs and glucose 114.  Glucose is higher than it has been for the last week or so.  I ate two things yesterday that could have caused that and I ate them both at the same time.  I made burgers (yum!) and used those little whole grain thin buns.   They were quite good.  Dave liked them too.  They are only 100 calories and whole grain but still - bread!  And the other thing - and this is what I think was the real offender: a small piece of awesomely ripe papaya.  The papaya was a really big one too.  Larger than I usually see in the produce section.   I put half of it away and then sliced about 30% of the other half for me and gave Dave the large piece.  I know tropical fruit is on the high end of the glycemic index, that's why I had such a small piece.  Dave also threw a fresh pineapple in the cart.  That's going to do the same thing  :(  I let him eat the other half of the papaya all by himself today.  Next week I'll test the thin buns again with no fruit and see what it does.

Dang... still raining.  Guess I'll go fold laundry :)  Ciao!

Hi, I'm Kathy and I'm a Snackoholic...

Well first... 162.9 lbs and glucose 102.  So yay, a little progress.  But the late night snacking is killing me!  With the best of intentions I sat down to catch up on some of my cooking shows and Friends where Ross bleached his teeth... classic!  Anyway I crocheted for a while and then somehow I was drawn into the kitchen where I shoveled in spoon after spoonful of that nutty granola I made.  It really is good :)  Then I finished off the peanuts in the shell that remained in the bag... not too many... but then I sat with a small bowl of pistachios too.  Oh Dear God!  And that's not just an exclaimation... I'm pretty sure I need divine intervention... an excersion or something.  How bout if I get my lazy butt of the couch?  Habits are hard to change!  I love my lounge lizard time.  I thumb through my mags and books and... dream of food!  Big sigh... but what sweet dreams!

We planted corn in Dave's garden yesterday afternoon - just before a nice downpour.  Today promises to be a beautiful day.  We are going to head out to town now (Saturday is shopping day) so we can be back to enjoy the afternoon here.  When we get back I'm going to plant some herb barrels and also the giant pumpkin seeds that I spent an hour looking for yesterday.  Makes me so mad... of course they were in front of my face the whole time!  And sunflowers.  Last year my sunflowers were awesome!  Dave will probably sit perched by the chicken coup and wait for magpies to come around.  :)

Sunflowers from last year :)

Ok... had a great day!  We are back with six beautiful hanging flower baskets and more garden plants.  Our little local garden center had baskets and plants at a great price.  I decided to do an assortment of herb starts rather than start them from seed at this point.  I also got an Anaheim Chili and Jalapeño.  Oh... and two spaghetti squash and two acorn squash plants.  Dave already hung the baskets and I want to take pics but the sun is in the wrong spot for that.  Maybe I can get on in the morning.  They are hanging between the post on our wrap around porch.  So pretty!  Now all I need is new patio furniture - and a bowl of chips :)  NOT!   I actually have to get busy!  I have so much stuff to plant.  I'm dreaming of tomatoes and basil from my garden!  

Tiny Miracles

It's raining again.  I'm not too sad about that today.  I planted several rows and hills in my garden yesterday. Blue Lake bush beans, yellow and green zucchini & English cucumbers.  I also planted the butterfly garden strips Dave brought home for me.  I don't know how they will do... I haven't used them before but they could be really pretty.  I thought it was so nice that he would think of bringing them to me!  Until he said it was a down payment for me getting the surveillance system from hell set up so that we can view it from our stupid phones.  We need to be able to see if anyone comes up here to rustle our cows or pet our dogs right?  I reminded him that it was a very tiny down payment since if I was able to stumble on the correct settings that he promised to build me a GREEN HOUSE!  :)  Still... I bet they will be pretty.  Anyway... I'm counting on the rain to moisten all those little seeds.  Now for the miracle part... thought I'd never get there huh?  :)  I'm always thrilled to find stuff I didn't plan this year in my garden.  It's amazing to me that I can till the ground over and over again and when things start growing I find little plants that have come back from last year.  I have two varieties of lettuce, lots of dill and even one tiny cilantro plant.  I was so excited about the dill that I took a picture of the little frond... and then while weeding  a rocky border surrounding the well found tons of dill plants.  Possibly more that I can use.  I may have to dry some.  Here are a few of pics of those tiny miracles...

So cute!

Dave roto-tilled his large garden area where he will plant corn and sunflowers... and this year I bought some of those gianormous pumpkin seeds, then ran out of space in my garden so they will go on the border of his.  If we ever get any heat they will do well!  If!

Well here are the stats... 163.3 EOC :) (every ounce counts)  and glucose 105.  I wondered if it would be a little higher actually.  I ate about 3/4 of a cup of multi grain spaghetti with some left over sauce.  I'm a pasta freak!  I would normally eat a huge plate full with sauce and then go back for a smaller plate of just pasta topped with butter and Parmesan cheese.  So 3/4 of a cup for me is like almost not eating it.  One conscious positive choice at a time I think will make the difference over the long haul.  I've switched to brown rice and multi grain or whole wheat pastas and I've almost got my family to quit fussing about it when they come to visit.  But hey - I'm the cook.  :)    Even those more healthy products have to be eaten in small amounts though if I want to loose weight and control my blood sugar levels.  

Yesterday for lunch I made a nice little tuna salad.  I added sun dried tomatoes to the mix and topped with pistachios.  It ended up being too much for just one salad so I put half of it away and then almost felt guilty when I rescued it from Dave.  He was about to inhale it as a before dinner snack.  Bad Dave!  :)  It was very tasty though.

                                         

Time to go to work.  It's Friday!  Even the rain can't make me sad on Friday.  Especially when the weather man predicts sunshine tomorrow.  He better not be lying!  Here's to a great weekend!

Ciao!

And Some Mornings Are Really Worth Waking Up For :)

Woke up this morning to bright blue sky at 5:45 am.  That is the single most important ingredient necessary to make a fabulous day!  I made a little progress on the poundage side... yay!  163.8  again... every ounce counts :)  Glucose was 108.  A little higher than yesterday but not much.  Last night with dinner I toasted one piece of thick French bread with Munster cheese for Dave and sliced off a little corner for me.  I must have had oh... 20% of the slice.  I guess that could have been it... geeze!  Anyway... it was tasty :)  Still... I really want to get down to say 95 - 100 consistently.   I'm talking glucose not weight.  My dream weight would be 130.  Probably not going to happen while I'm still alive.  Maybe when I die and they fix me up they can suck the remaining fat out and Brenda can fix my hair up really pretty.  I want to rock that box!  But not until I'm about 90.  Wow... this took a turn for the worse!  :)

So...the only good things to come out of yesterday were a new little twist on a salad dressing and a side dish.  I added just a little pomegranate juice when I made up my balsamic vinaigrette.  It was really good!  And I wasn't sure what to do for a side last night so I just stir fried some cauliflower and sweet onions along with a few sun-dried tomatoes in a little oyster sauce and it turned out quite good.  Dave really liked it too.  Of course he will eat almost anything... :)

My sugar peas are poking out of the ground this morning.  I'm sure all that rain helped with the germination process.  I think I will plant some bush beans this evening.  Upon close examination of the wintered tomato plants it seems that the stalks are still alive and healthy.  I've cut all the withered leaves off and will leave them to grow for a few weeks and see what happens.  I can always jerk them up if they don't revive.  I also need to find some fennel starts.  I can never find fennel in my little Safeway store :(  Last year I started everything from seed.  I got a nice grow light for my birthday.  This year due to the trip to Europe in April I didn't get to start anything early indoors so I'm counting on finding starts at the nursery for many things.  I did sow lettuce, spinach and sugar peas directly into the ground and they are sprouting and growing now.  Yippy!  I love my garden.  I may have to fence it though... Lucy keeps trudging through it looking for sticks and the stupid chickens!  Speaking of... magpies keep getting in the hen-house breaking the eggs.  Really not cool.  Dave is now obsessed with solving this problem - and he has forbidden me to buy any eggs at the store - so he better figure it out really soon!

Ok... gotta go do my real job (insert big sigh here).  Ciao!  :)

Some Days Are Just Too Gross!

Today feels like one of those.  I almost didn't write anything.  There is no good news to report... then I remembered this really is about the challenge of learning to live with/control diabetes and not every day is a happy little success story.  I blame it on the rain!  :)  And too many nuts.  So today 165 lbs and 106 glucose.  Not too bad but seems like I'm a little stalled out.

After my glorious taco salad yesterday I decided to experiment big time.  I had some awesome spaghetti sauce in the fridge.  I wanted to pour it over the left over noodles but knew that would not be a great plan so I thought I might substitute some stir fried very firm tofu.  I actually like tofu and it might have worked out ok if not for the last minute addition of the shelled edamame.  It was so bad!  Dave would not even have eaten it!  I just gave it to the dogs and didn't even expect them to eat it (but they did - amazing).  So don't make that!  Well... that's about all there is to say about that.  MASSIVE FAILURE!  :)  Seriously gross!  What the heck was I thinking?

There is a silver lining to every cloud it seems and this morning I am amused by watching the cows in the pasture.   The baby girls are chasing each other back and forth.  We have a newly purchased little red angus yearling bull and he is following our very large red angus cow Ginger very closely.  She must be in heat... he's trying... but no cigar!  Maybe next year buddy!  :)  All right!  Moving along now... I'm yearning for some comfort food.  Big sigh!

Here's to a better day tomorrow!

The Morning After

This morning the numbers are 164.9 lbs and glucose 107.  The long weekend is over (boo hoo), my children have gone home and I am left with a fridge full of leftovers.  I won't have to cook for the rest of the week.  I'll just have to reinvent.  My numbers are up just a tad.  Bummer!  But with my family gone I can focus on my health needs.  And I didn't derail too bad overall.  I was feeling a little sorry for myself and craving chocolate something fierce so I bought some of those sugar free chocolate candies.  They are great if I limit myself to ONE but they are high in calories and last night I gobbled a bunch of them :(  (Pause to administer self flogging).

The plan for today will be a taco salad for lunch... gotta use up that taco meat in the fridge.  Finish up the Wasabi-Ginger Salmon with a salad for dinner and while I work, keep an eye on the hen house out my office window.  The magpies are flying in and breaking the eggs as quickly as the hens are laying.

Here's to a short working week :)  Ciao!

p.s.   Taco Salad was a great plan for lunch.  Next time I whine about not being able to eat all kinds of good food somebody please tell me to JUST SHUT UP!  It's not true!  I just had the best taco salad ever!  What made it so good?  Other than the fact that I was beginning to starve (bad idea!) it may have been the home grown beef.  Very lean and tasty.  Whole beans, beautiful baby spring greens.  I mixed a little sour creme and plain Greek style yogurt together for the dressing and sprinkled some cheddar on top.  And just to make sure it tasted like taco salad I took two... count em... two tortilla chips and crumbled them over the top.  I know I shouldn't chow down on a bunch of chips but I'm pretty sure I can get away with two :)  I think the kicker though was the fresh chives out of my garden.  Really gave it a nice fresh touch with just a tiny oniony bite.  Chives are not just for show.  And who can resist the pretty little purple chive flowers?  I know... all kinds of corny!  But now I'm ready to get back to work and collect some money!  So any Valley Supply customers who may be reading this (Riiiight!) Get out your checkbooks and show me the money!