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I am down another pound this week for a total of 22 pounds in 19 weeks. Feeling so good – with lots of energy! Not too bad for a 50 year-old woman with thyroid, adrenal and hormone issues. My husband is down 27 pounds. Such a way of life for us now I can’t imagine NOT doing this! Hope this finds you all wellm healthy and happy! Thanks for stopping by…….
breakfast • diet • healthy eating • recipes •
October 10, 2011
Cheesy Bacon-Egg Muffin
1 whole wheat English muffin
1 slice turkey bacon
1 low fat cheese wedge (Laughing Cow)
1/2 egg yolk
2 egg whites
1/2 apple
Cook eggs and bacon. Toast muffin. Add cheese wedge, eggs and bacon to muffin. Eat apple.
So yummy!!!! One of my favorite meals on this plan. Such a good combination. I like to experiment with different flavors of the Laughing Cow cheese wedges. Some of my favorites are swiss, blue cheese, and sun dried tomato and basil. This recipe comes from http://www.kristiapproved.com/ – Meal 1 Week 6 of Phase Two.
diet • exercise • healthy eating •
October 10, 2011
Week 6 Phase 2 Update
I FINALLY broke through my plateau!!!!! I lost a pound this last week and am at a total loss of 21 pounds. One of the things I find most interesting is that people don’t say, “Wow, you have lost a lot of weight!”, they are saying “You look pretty in that color.” or “You are looking so great right now.” – nothing about my weight loss. I am thinking that is a good thing! I think that overall, from about a year ago when my health bottomed out, that I am looking, and, best of all FEELING, so much better. I can’t imagine NOT getting up early and getting in my workout and cardio. My husband and I were both saying how surprised we are at how much strength we have gained through consistent workouts. We could NEVER have imagined doing some of the exercises we are doing now when we first started. In fact, since I have the books for all four phases, sometimes I will look ahead at the exercises and think – there is no way I can do that! BUT, here we are – kicking butt (our own)! Here’s to another great week!
decorating • home improvements • make-over •
October 4, 2011
| So, I had to do so something with this dresser. LOVE the detail to it, but lots of water rings, etc on the top and repair was required on the drawers too. I thought it would be fun to add a little punch of color. See the results below.
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| My kind of “before” pic of the dresser (minus a couple of drawers – I am so NOT good about doing the before pics – sorry) |
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| “After” pic of the dresser |
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| My “after” pic of the bathroom shelf – it used to be a bright red…… |
I started by lightly sanding all pieces and removing the drawer pulls. Then, I painted the shelf and dresser a bright turquoise blue and then put a stain over the top, and then wiped it off with a rag. The stain “moves” as you put on the top protective coat, so there is no point in knocking yourself out with getting it “just right” as it will not stay the same anyway. LOVE the look of these! Super easy and didn’t take too long to complete – just waiting for things to dry in between. Hope it inspires you to pick a piece of furniture in your own home! Good luck!
decorating • fall • Halloween • pumpkins •
October 4, 2011
Love Me Some Fall!
Below are the results of my pumpkin harvest from my very own garden…so excited!!!!
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| A portion of my garden harvest |
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| More of the big guys – love the slow bloomer that is still green! :)) |
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| I had 29 large pumpkins and 40 minis |
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| More of the minis in the garden cart |
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| Lots of the big ones |
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| My fall mantle |
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| My entry way table decor (doesn’t the P Buckley Moss winter scene go so nicely? – NOT!) |
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| More fall decor on the living room shelf |
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| Pumpkin added to a metal bench in my side yard |
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| Entry steps |
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| Pumpkin added to the granite bench out front |
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| paper lanterns and bats in the eating area |
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| Dining table decor |
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| Pumpkins on back porch – don’t you love the defective white one?! Wish I had more of those! |
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| Pumpkins on steps leading to deck |
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| Pumpkins leading to side yard |
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| More on the back deck – why not?! |
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| More pumpkins on the path leading to side yard – hard to see, but there are some on the bench too |
I have never grown pumpkins before and was beyond thrilled with the results of my first effort to do so. The vines were planted down on the bottom terrace among the fruit trees – little did I know they would take over above the terrace and even snake into my neighbors yard below. Several times I had to go down and cut vines from growing into their yard. It has been so fun to have so many to place here, there and everywhere in my yard. For decorating this year, I only had to purchase a few gourds for my dining room centerpiece. Will definitely be planting them again next year. Plan to add white minis – could not find them for this year. Did I mention that I LOVE me some FALL!!!!!
diet • exercise • healthy eating •
October 3, 2011
Update Week 5 Phase Two
Holding steady this week. I lost the 2 pounds I gained, but nothing additional. I will not be lamenting however, just happy to be hanging in there. I am feeling great! My husband is down like 27 pounds now and we are continuing the daily morning routine of strength training and cardio. LOVE the fall season and looking forward to getting thru the upcoming holidays with NO weight gain – yes I am that confident in this program! :)) Clothes are fitting better all the time, so I think I am improving with my shape in spite of no further weight loss. Hope you have a great week!!!
Sour Cream Enchiladas
2 lbs hamburger (I like to substitute chicken)
1 large can enchilada sauce
Brown hamburger; add sauce. Fry 2 dozen corn tortillas 30 seconds each side. Put mixture in tortilla and roll. Place in 9X13″ pan (takes 2 pans). May add cheese. Pour sauce (recipe follows) over top.
Sauce:
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small carton sour cream
Spread additional cheese over the top and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. May add black olives, if desired.
Lazy Enchilada Casserole
12 corn tortillas
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
1-15 oz can tomato sauce
2 small cans enchilada sauce
1 lb longhorn cheese
Break tortillas into bite size pieces; brown meat and onions; add tortillas, sauces, and 2 cups grated cheese. Pour into casserole and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
This really is the lazy way to do enchiladas and tastes just the same!
home improvements • make-over •
September 30, 2011
Pantry Make-Over
So my OCD has been pretty acute lately and although I have longed for an organized, neat pantry – I have never been able to achieve that dream for lack of understanding how to attack it. Don’t get me wrong, I have cleaned and reorganized my pantry countless times over the years – it just never stays that way! So I was searching a bunch of blogs and ran across an idea that totally rocked my socks off! It was to use large lazy susans in the corner of the pantry so that you could not only expand your space, but actually see what you have! Totally fell in love with it and emailed the blogger to see if I could order some (her dad was making them). I got a response stating that he was not currently able to do them due to his real work demands. Not to be undaunted I immediately began to search the internet (really is there ANYthing that is not available there?). I found a website thru Hayneedle.com – lazysusans.com and ordered 5 of them. By the time they arrived I had already gone through and organized (the best that I could) my entire pantry. I was surprised at how many duplicate, partially used items I had – guess when something got “lost” in there I assumed I was out and bought it again (stupid). My husband was out of town and I was rather anxious, so I installed them myself – yes they really are that easy! I am so excited about the new look and ease of finding things I was beside myself! I labeled the containers and organized it them by the way we use things. Check out my results below. BTW – the other blog had everything really cutesy – I would love to go there someday, but for now just being able to find things and knowing what I have is wonderful! Paint etc will have to wait for another day, maybe even another year…… :))
BEFORE – does this look like yours?
BEFORE – you know you wish yours looked this good!
BEFORE – lovely, right?!
Check out these lazy susans!
They more than double my space!
Don’t you want some?
Bought the bins on the bottom from Target – they hold 25 pounds of flour, sugar, etc. Work much better than the old 5 gallon containers I was using. I LOVE to cook so having less than a 25 pound capacity is not an option for me.
The over the door spice rack is from Wal Mart – I can cook with ease now!
The red-lidded containers are from Wal Mart and they are super nice.
These are the best!
Again, here is a close-up of the large containers.
Hope this inspires you. Watch for my painting, etc to follow someday. Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately I cannot remember the original blog post, but I LOVE her for the idea!
home improvements • make-over •
September 30, 2011
Plantation Shutters At Last!
As a realtor, I see lots of homes in every price range and THE ONE thing that always sets a home apart is plantation shutters. The home could be a small bungalow and if it has plantation shutters I am sold! I have worked hard all year and saved like crazy so I could get them installed in my own home. Here is the happy result! (Hoping to get the upstairs done by early next year – there are a lot fewer windows and therefore not nearly as expensive).
Kitchen sink
Door to deck
Kitchen dining area
Family room
Entry way
Master bedroom
Living room
The best part for my neighbors is that I will now actually CLOSE my blinds at night so I am not “center stage” anymore. We live on a pretty steep hill and sit above most of our neighbors so when I say “STAGE” I am truly not exaggerating! :)) Pretty sure they are gonna love me for that!
