1 carb choice
190 calories
9g fat
10g protein
THESE DO CONTAIN NUTS!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Fiber One Meal Bars
I got to try these delicious meal bars complementary of Bzz Agent. I have tried all 3 flavor: Dark Chocolate Almond, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Strawberry Greek Yogurt. All three are great but my favorite has been the dark chocolate! These are great for when you are on the go and they do keep you filled! These would have been great for my gestational diabetes so I will use them the next time!
Seriously, you need to try them! And let me know what you think.
1 carb choice
190 calories
9g fat
10g protein
THESE DO CONTAIN NUTS!
1 carb choice
190 calories
9g fat
10g protein
THESE DO CONTAIN NUTS!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Trying to be healthy
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Fixin my blue jeans
So I have had two pair of jeans from before I was pregnant. I hate jeans. Hate them! They still do not fit perfectly but I am making due. Now these jeans that fit so well years ago had those wonderful fashionable holes in them. Yeah, lets pay more for jeans with holes in them...while it is perfectly okay to wear jeans in Academic research jobs, I did want to patch the holes closed. Seeing thigh skin is just not proper for any job...or any occasion in my view (unless you are at the beach or pool).
I ran up to Walmart and found a small package of iron on jean patches. There are a few colors to choose from but they most likely will not match perfectly. So, I think these are supposed to be patched on the outside of your jeans, but that is not what I want. I turned my jeans inside out and ironed the patches to the underside with the glue part towards the outside of the jeans. This worked well especially since that side is lighter in color., it matched very well. These holes also had the white strands of jean going across, so it was not just a huge hole.
These lasted for a few years, and I do not wash my jeans after every time I wear them. So if you like to wash after every time you wear them, then I bet you will have to replace the patches sooner. They began to come off and knew that a fix was in need. I remember seeing a pin on Pinterest where someone sewed a piece of cute yellow fabric and used some yellow thread to make stars around it. I have cute yellow fabric, but that would really make these jeans a more dressed down style. I would be limited to what tops I could wear with them. Then I found posts on putting lace under the holes. PERFECT!
Once again, I ran up to Walmart (we RARELY shop there, there was just a toy I wanted to look at). My Walmart just added a small fabric section back in (most fabric sections had been cut out of stores for awhile in our location). They had a few choices of lace but I found a prepackaged one and figured that would work.
Sorry these are sideways. I am using a PC and windows 8, neither that I approve of...I want to toss this at the wall. I also do not have a mouse and hate the mousepads on laptops. This is the package of lace and leftover jean patches. It is a sheet and you just cut out the size you need.
I choose to use large pieces. This is the jeans inside out. Lace first and then the sticky or gluey side of the patch. I ironed on the cotton setting dry. I no longer had the directions, so I left the iron on for 10-20 seconds and tested the edges of the patch.
Here are the front legs of my jeans. I am happy with the results!
I ran up to Walmart and found a small package of iron on jean patches. There are a few colors to choose from but they most likely will not match perfectly. So, I think these are supposed to be patched on the outside of your jeans, but that is not what I want. I turned my jeans inside out and ironed the patches to the underside with the glue part towards the outside of the jeans. This worked well especially since that side is lighter in color., it matched very well. These holes also had the white strands of jean going across, so it was not just a huge hole.
These lasted for a few years, and I do not wash my jeans after every time I wear them. So if you like to wash after every time you wear them, then I bet you will have to replace the patches sooner. They began to come off and knew that a fix was in need. I remember seeing a pin on Pinterest where someone sewed a piece of cute yellow fabric and used some yellow thread to make stars around it. I have cute yellow fabric, but that would really make these jeans a more dressed down style. I would be limited to what tops I could wear with them. Then I found posts on putting lace under the holes. PERFECT!
Once again, I ran up to Walmart (we RARELY shop there, there was just a toy I wanted to look at). My Walmart just added a small fabric section back in (most fabric sections had been cut out of stores for awhile in our location). They had a few choices of lace but I found a prepackaged one and figured that would work.
Sorry these are sideways. I am using a PC and windows 8, neither that I approve of...I want to toss this at the wall. I also do not have a mouse and hate the mousepads on laptops. This is the package of lace and leftover jean patches. It is a sheet and you just cut out the size you need.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
I recently received a complementary pair of Dr. Scholl's Active Series shoe inserts from Influenster. I was skeptical as I am with EVERYTHING, however they made my 8 year old shoes feel brand new! I like the hard
arch support. They make my morning walks and runs fantastic. My old pads just came right out and the inserts just slid right in.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
What's cooking?
Halloween is MY...FAVORITE...HOLIDAY...So for my little Halloween craft event I thought I would whip up a few treats. One was a yummy looking guacamole recipe I found on Pinterest. The Best Guacamole. It was pretty good, but I have had one before that was really good and I don't have the recipe for it. I did add jalapeno so I used gloves to cut half of one up. I have made the mistake of not wearing gloves and taking my contacts out later and being in pain and losing a pair of contacts. That only happens to you once. 3 of us did demolish it pretty quickly, my mom doesn't like guac...sad...
I also made Pumpkin Raisin cookies and Black Forest Brownies. Both of these were in my Taste of Home Baking Cookbook. Now, I am highly critical on food. I will begin with the cookies.
I LOVE Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. I look forward to Fall just so I can drink them. I LOVE pumpkin pie. I figure I will love everything pumpkin, but maybe not.
***Note***
This recipe does not call for an egg. I thought this was weird and looked up similar recipes online. They all used eggs. I decided to use 1 egg. All recipes seemed similar (i did not take time to look carefully), so I added the egg.
Carol Preston, Bloomington Indiana
Yield:about 3 dozen (mine must have been bigger because I didn't get many)
1/2cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt (what the hell is a dash? I added a few pinches)
Frosting: *I omitted the frost to save calories (like Im counting...)
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered)
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.In large mixing bowl or stand mixer, creme shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; then add to the creamed mixture. Fold in raisins (every time I read "fold in" I think of Sleeping Beauty when the Fairy folds in the whole eggs and smashes them).
2. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
3. For frosting, melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Frost over cooled cookies.
These are ok. Hold on, let me go eat one. Very soft. almost like muffins. Im going to have to freeze them because I'm dieting tomorrow.
Now for the Black Forest Brownies. I LOVE me some Black Forest Cake. Somewhere I have a recipe for it. Message me if you want me to post it. These brownies are also in this cookbook.
Toni Reeves, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Yield:About 3 dozen depending on how you cut them
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks unsalted)
1 cup baking cocoa (I used Hershey's)
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted because my sister is allergic)
1 cup chopped maraschino cherrys
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted because my sister is allergic, did she even eat any of these? I don't like nuts in my baking anyways)
ICING (I omitted to save calories (really so I could eat more brownies))
1/4cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 greased 12x9x2 baking dish-i used a glass one
1. First chop up all of your cherries*
2.Combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt butter, remove from heat and add in cocoa. I whisked until smooth.
4. Blend in sugar, eggs, and extracts.**
5. Stir in flour mixture, cherries, and nuts.
6. pour into a greased baking dish, bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
ICING: In a bowl, blend butter, vanilla, confectioners sugar, cocoa, and milt until smooth and spread over hot brownies. Sprinkle with nuts. Cool and cut into bars.
*I have read a lot of reviews and stuff on foods with added colorings and how other countries don't let this happen. There was also a recent report on Red#40 and ADHD or something. I heard it also made kids hyper. So I am now reading labels and not buying items with Red#40. We try to limit our processed food anyways. Sometimes we fail though. Anyhoo, while chopping my cherries, I noticed that my fingers and counter were being stained red. Of course I read the label and they added Red#40 in to the cherries. Next time I would get real pitted cherries or frozen ones (if there is no Red#40) and thaw them.
**My friend just posted on Pineterst about a women who experimented with cooking brownies different ways to figure which was the best. Here is the post. The Ultimate Brownie Guide. Long story short, she found that she liked beating the eggs and sugar together. Everyone is different with how they like their brownies, but I thought I would give it a go. I added the cooled butter and cocoa mix to it.
As you can see, we liked them...do brownies freeze well? Im going to have to try. This is only the second time I have made brownies from scratch. They were good. The first time was recently. They were Paleo brownies and were AWESOME! Lets see if I can find the recipe. Paleo Fudgy Brownies. These are a bit expensive to make but were probably the best brownies I have ever eaten. Maybe I should add cherries to that recipe.
Looking at some pictures now, here is a very quick recipe if you need some chocolate. Paleo almond bark. So my pinterest pin no longer shows this recipe, but here is a similar one. Paleo almond bark
Freeze it and get a bit when you need some chocolate. Okay, I gotta go now and hang with the family.
I also made Pumpkin Raisin cookies and Black Forest Brownies. Both of these were in my Taste of Home Baking Cookbook. Now, I am highly critical on food. I will begin with the cookies.
I LOVE Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. I look forward to Fall just so I can drink them. I LOVE pumpkin pie. I figure I will love everything pumpkin, but maybe not.
***Note***
This recipe does not call for an egg. I thought this was weird and looked up similar recipes online. They all used eggs. I decided to use 1 egg. All recipes seemed similar (i did not take time to look carefully), so I added the egg.
Carol Preston, Bloomington Indiana
Yield:about 3 dozen (mine must have been bigger because I didn't get many)
1/2cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt (what the hell is a dash? I added a few pinches)
Frosting: *I omitted the frost to save calories (like Im counting...)
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered)
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.In large mixing bowl or stand mixer, creme shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; then add to the creamed mixture. Fold in raisins (every time I read "fold in" I think of Sleeping Beauty when the Fairy folds in the whole eggs and smashes them).
2. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
3. For frosting, melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Frost over cooled cookies.
These are ok. Hold on, let me go eat one. Very soft. almost like muffins. Im going to have to freeze them because I'm dieting tomorrow.
Now for the Black Forest Brownies. I LOVE me some Black Forest Cake. Somewhere I have a recipe for it. Message me if you want me to post it. These brownies are also in this cookbook.
Toni Reeves, Medicine Hat, Alberta
Yield:About 3 dozen depending on how you cut them
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks unsalted)
1 cup baking cocoa (I used Hershey's)
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted because my sister is allergic)
1 cup chopped maraschino cherrys
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted because my sister is allergic, did she even eat any of these? I don't like nuts in my baking anyways)
ICING (I omitted to save calories (really so I could eat more brownies))
1/4cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 greased 12x9x2 baking dish-i used a glass one
1. First chop up all of your cherries*
2.Combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt butter, remove from heat and add in cocoa. I whisked until smooth.
4. Blend in sugar, eggs, and extracts.**
5. Stir in flour mixture, cherries, and nuts.
6. pour into a greased baking dish, bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
ICING: In a bowl, blend butter, vanilla, confectioners sugar, cocoa, and milt until smooth and spread over hot brownies. Sprinkle with nuts. Cool and cut into bars.
*I have read a lot of reviews and stuff on foods with added colorings and how other countries don't let this happen. There was also a recent report on Red#40 and ADHD or something. I heard it also made kids hyper. So I am now reading labels and not buying items with Red#40. We try to limit our processed food anyways. Sometimes we fail though. Anyhoo, while chopping my cherries, I noticed that my fingers and counter were being stained red. Of course I read the label and they added Red#40 in to the cherries. Next time I would get real pitted cherries or frozen ones (if there is no Red#40) and thaw them.
**My friend just posted on Pineterst about a women who experimented with cooking brownies different ways to figure which was the best. Here is the post. The Ultimate Brownie Guide. Long story short, she found that she liked beating the eggs and sugar together. Everyone is different with how they like their brownies, but I thought I would give it a go. I added the cooled butter and cocoa mix to it.
Looking at some pictures now, here is a very quick recipe if you need some chocolate. Paleo almond bark. So my pinterest pin no longer shows this recipe, but here is a similar one. Paleo almond bark
Freeze it and get a bit when you need some chocolate. Okay, I gotta go now and hang with the family.
Been a while...how about some driveway sealing!
So yeah...it's been a while since I have blogged...I have lots to post too. We always get little postcards in the mail on cheap driveway sealing. I always wanted to have it done since they are always quoting under $200. I looked up driveway sealers on Home Depot's website and read reviews on the latex-ite Ultra-Shield for $33. These were very good reviews. I actually got excited on doing the geometry to figure out how many buckets we needed. I came up with 1800 sq ft, and since it hasn't been done in a while I figured 1 bucket would cover 300 sq ft (300-400sq ft for unsealed, and 400-500sq ft for previously sealed). So I estimated that it would be about $200 to do it ourselves. So I bet the "professionals" would probably double that price (I also read some reviews where the quotes were a lot higher than their post cards they received in the mail.
***NOTE*** There are temperature requirements for this product. It should be above 55 degrees. It did get below 55 during the night but I am hoping we are fine (the postcard said "only 5 weeks left in the season", so if they are still doing it, I figured we could.
So after 4 years of living here we decided (okay, I decided) to seal our driveway so I spent a weeks worth of nap times pulling a billion weeds out of all the cracks in the driveway to ready it for sealing. Yes, a BILLION! I counted... Then, while I hosted a small Halloween themed craft event at our house (me being the only one with Halloween crafts), my DG (dearest gamer) and his GM (gamer friend) put on the sealer. That looked WAY more fun than pulling the weeds. I wanted to do it but needed a babysitter, and alas, there was no one...Here is a before the sealing pic, after I weeded. I would be embarrassed if you saw how bad I let the weeds get.
The second pic is when they are just about done. I will give you some facts about what we did. I looked up driveway sealers on Home Depot's website and read reviews on the latex-ite Ultra-Shield for $33. These were very good reviews. I actually got excited on doing the geometry to figure out how many buckets we needed. I came up with 1800 sq ft, and since it hasn't been done in a while I figured 1 bucket would cover 300 sq ft (300-400sq ft for unsealed, and 400-500sq ft for previously sealed).
Upon going to the store, we decided to purchase the $23 latex-ite Airport Grade to save on the $$$. It comes with a 4 year warranty and since I am (desperately?) hoping to move in less than 4 years, we went with this product. We purchased 6 buckets, 2 squeegees, the $5 drill attachment to stir the 5 gallon bucket found in the painter aisle (the men had to run back before starting because the attachment wouldnt fit into the drill, so they needed an attachment for the attachment, and then duck-taped it...i don't know), a cheap pack of gloves, and a bottle of white caulk (that's for another project).
Now, I had read a LOT of reviews from the Ultra Shield, and I decided not to fill any of our cracks or holes. However, if you want to be a good DIYer, those items were near the buckets. While weeding at the bottom of the driveway where the cars are always parked, I began pulling chunks of the old asphalt out. There is a large area that should be dug out and filled, however, since I want to move soon, not our problem. We purchased everything the day before and set the buckets upside down like other reviews said. But we mixed each buckets as we opened them.
I had a lot of people tell me how messy this was and they would ruin their shoes and such. It took 2 men about 2 hours to finish and they barely got messy. Maybe a small spot or two on the shoes. Worth the money and my time pulling weeds (never...again...)
***NOTE*** There are temperature requirements for this product. It should be above 55 degrees. It did get below 55 during the night but I am hoping we are fine (the postcard said "only 5 weeks left in the season", so if they are still doing it, I figured we could.
So after 4 years of living here we decided (okay, I decided) to seal our driveway so I spent a weeks worth of nap times pulling a billion weeds out of all the cracks in the driveway to ready it for sealing. Yes, a BILLION! I counted... Then, while I hosted a small Halloween themed craft event at our house (me being the only one with Halloween crafts), my DG (dearest gamer) and his GM (gamer friend) put on the sealer. That looked WAY more fun than pulling the weeds. I wanted to do it but needed a babysitter, and alas, there was no one...Here is a before the sealing pic, after I weeded. I would be embarrassed if you saw how bad I let the weeds get.
Upon going to the store, we decided to purchase the $23 latex-ite Airport Grade to save on the $$$. It comes with a 4 year warranty and since I am (desperately?) hoping to move in less than 4 years, we went with this product. We purchased 6 buckets, 2 squeegees, the $5 drill attachment to stir the 5 gallon bucket found in the painter aisle (the men had to run back before starting because the attachment wouldnt fit into the drill, so they needed an attachment for the attachment, and then duck-taped it...i don't know), a cheap pack of gloves, and a bottle of white caulk (that's for another project).
Now, I had read a LOT of reviews from the Ultra Shield, and I decided not to fill any of our cracks or holes. However, if you want to be a good DIYer, those items were near the buckets. While weeding at the bottom of the driveway where the cars are always parked, I began pulling chunks of the old asphalt out. There is a large area that should be dug out and filled, however, since I want to move soon, not our problem. We purchased everything the day before and set the buckets upside down like other reviews said. But we mixed each buckets as we opened them.
I had a lot of people tell me how messy this was and they would ruin their shoes and such. It took 2 men about 2 hours to finish and they barely got messy. Maybe a small spot or two on the shoes. Worth the money and my time pulling weeds (never...again...)
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Post pregnancy slump
A little more than a year has passed since having my first baby and I have had 3 women and 1 man ask if I was pregnant and my grandma said that I am much bigger than the last time she saw me. Well heck, I was just getting married the last I saw her, so yeah I was as thin as a stick to fit into my dress. Women should know better never to ask. If you have to ask, then don't...unless you see the baby coming out of the birth canal. I have been trying off and on to clean up my eating habits and try working out. You know, at that gym across the street from my house...where we have been members for the past 8 months...
Well, we just got back from a 2 week vacation (so glad to be home). So, who's idea was it to drive across the country and back? Oh, yeah, that girl who hates flying...me...I am determined to stop eating all of that crappy processed food, limit my grains (will eat whole if needed), and to get some exercise in. I was working on this 30 day ab challenge a month ago, but made it 2 weeks. It got hard. Crunches I can do, but sit ups are freaking hard! Sits ups, crunches, leg raises, and a plank. The numbers increase everyday. My plank got up to 1 minute...I will start it again I suppose. I have read up on some other ab work outs so I will start adding those in as well. Im not much of a runner. Tried. Cant do it. I sometimes wonder how long I could make it if someone was running after my trying to kill me. I also saw a post on Pinterest (my obsession) about a running soundtrack like zombies were chasing you. I have yet to listen to it, but that does give me some incentive to run.
Ok. Off to bed for now. Little squirt keeps waking up during the night and ruining my beauty sleep, and BOY do I need it!
Well, we just got back from a 2 week vacation (so glad to be home). So, who's idea was it to drive across the country and back? Oh, yeah, that girl who hates flying...me...I am determined to stop eating all of that crappy processed food, limit my grains (will eat whole if needed), and to get some exercise in. I was working on this 30 day ab challenge a month ago, but made it 2 weeks. It got hard. Crunches I can do, but sit ups are freaking hard! Sits ups, crunches, leg raises, and a plank. The numbers increase everyday. My plank got up to 1 minute...I will start it again I suppose. I have read up on some other ab work outs so I will start adding those in as well. Im not much of a runner. Tried. Cant do it. I sometimes wonder how long I could make it if someone was running after my trying to kill me. I also saw a post on Pinterest (my obsession) about a running soundtrack like zombies were chasing you. I have yet to listen to it, but that does give me some incentive to run.
Ok. Off to bed for now. Little squirt keeps waking up during the night and ruining my beauty sleep, and BOY do I need it!
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