New BLOG

Have had a lot of troubles with this blog. Not getting rid of it, but have started over with a new one.  Check it out.

http://blairblogproject.blogspot.com/

See what you think.

Not Nearly Enough Time In A Day!

So, finally got around to noticing just how long it has been since I posted last.  Absolutely shameful.  In my defense though, it is kind of hard to keep up with posting a blog when keeping a newborn that doesn't sleep much.  However, I believe that after the first of the year, things will be a bit easier and I will be back to some king of organized chaos around here.  At least that is the plan.

Updates on the home front.  Where do I start?

I am now keeping my little grandson M every day. Well week days anyway, while his mom works.  It is a weird adjustment, but am really loving the blessing of have time with him.  Especially since I do not get to see my other grand sons but maybe once a year.

The master bedroom is finally painted and rearranged and I am loving it.  The only problem I have is that we have one of those foam mattress toppers and cannot seem to keep that bugger on the bed.  It slides all over the place.

I found this new website, well new to me anyway, called Pinterest.  It is totally amazing and can spend just hours there.  All kinds of crafts, recipes, just anything you can think of.  You can visit the site, but to join you have to request an invitation, which sends you a polite "you are on our waiting list" note in your email.  While I totally detest those kinds of set ups, this site looks like it will be worth it.  Just hope it doesn't take as long as it took me to get joined up to Ravelry.

On the home front, my organized menu plans have totally gone awry. It is on my list of things to do over the Christmas holidays, to get back on track with, and the goal is to start all my little projects and tasks on Jan. 1 so that I can at least start the new year off with some type of order.  I have come to the conclusion that I need to purge my life activities a bit and slim down the areas my mind wonders to as well.  With the time spent taking care of the grand baby I need to get it together so I can still put a decent meal on the table each night.

We have been eating way too much fast food this past couple of weeks, which has had dire effects on my glucose levels.  However, slow as it may be to come off, the weight is still slipping off a little at a time.  I just updated my weight ticker. Since August, I have lost 41 pounds and 5 inches from my waist.  I still have a lot to go, but I am moving forward.  Now, the short term goal is to now gain any weight over the holidays.

I also took an hour or so and removed all the blogs I follow from my reading list.  Most of which, like me, have not had the time to post on any type of regular basis.  Also, most of which are just not geared towards any of my interest at the moment.  Sadly, I did delete a few sights I didn't intend to, but will get them back soon.  I felt like it was time to just start over new.

Hubby has lunch ready, so I am off to eat.  Hope you stop back soon for a visit.

Where Has The Time Gone?

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted.  Life just gets crazy around here sometimes.  So...to catch up.

My youngest daughter J has been sick.  Guess it has been going on the whole time since I last posted.  Well, a little before that.  She first became ill on Aug. 23, has missed a lot of school, is in constant pain, has lost about 20 pounds and here we are still going through lab work.  Go figure.

We have been on a roller coaster ride with the youngest grand baby as well.  At first it looked like he would be having surgery, however thankfully that will not be the case.  The last set of test came back normal so the surgery will not be needed.  At three months old that would be just awful to watch.  I mean for your loved one you want to do anything needed to make them feel better, but I am just really relived that he won't need to go through that pain.

On another page, I have actually been sewing and crocheting.

This set is sold, will be delivering it soon.  I am a bit put off at how long it took me to actually get it made.  On the other hand, I have had a lot on my plate so to speak.  I am now taking care of the grand son daily so between taking care of him and Miss J, I am not sure if I am coming or going.  I had tossed around the idea of making some baby items and selling them online, but am going to take a few days to figure out how to get things done with a baby in the house.  Now, I don't mind one bit taking care of him, in fact I am thrilled to be able to spend the time with him.  I just need to get myself a little more organized.

Last night, by the time he was picked up and then I visited with my son and daughter-in-law for a while (which rarely happens) I was a little late getting the meal started.  In fact, it was like 9 before we ate.  I can't win for loosing, hubby voiced his opinion on my making chicken too much (okay so we had it literally once a week for two weeks) and then he had a few things to say about my making dinner so late.  I just gave him that look I am good at giving, grabbed the keys and left.  Actually I needed to hit the grocery store and had not wanted to go earlier with the baby so used it as a reason to leave.  I just didn't tell him that.

Guess I better hit the bed, I get up pretty early to take Miss J to school and then go pick up the baby.  It may be a lot of work, a lot of changes to make, but so very worth it.

Learning curve.

I am learning all about low carb eating.  As I posted earlier, the reading of nutrition labels continues to be an education.  Also, am very put off that apparently if the store makes it in house they only have to list the ingredients, not the values.  Albertson's grocery store makes a wonderful yogurt parfait, but it is large and there is no way to know how many carbs are in it.  I would reason that it is similar to the large yogurt parfait from McDonald's, but have not investigated the weights to see how close they are.  The 5.3 oz. size carries 31 carbs.


I now have the finger pricking and blood testing down.  So much so that I am pretty sure I can stop logging my results each time since I can pull that info up on my glucose meter.  I am doing pretty good with the carb counting as well.  In fact, I am quite proud of myself.  I made this recipe last night for a pork chop dish in the slow cooker. It was pretty good with the stuffing cooked with the meat.  I added some green beans for an extra vegetable.  The pork chops were so moist and tender.  The stuffing however was a little hit or miss.  Great flavor with the apples and dried cherries, but the edges seemed to be cooking hard and dry so I added a little more liquid, which in turn made the layer on the bottom kind of mushy. The recipe is from the Sparkpeople website.  GREAT site for information, support, and tracker for weight loss. Anyone that is trying to loose weight or just change to a healthier life style should really check it out. However, in my brilliant half thinking mind mode, I did not catch that there was a corrected version of the Pork chop recipe which had about 9 more grams of carb.  Not a lot, but I was calculating based on the wrong information so ended up eating too much and my glucose level went a little higher than I like, but still with in my doctor's guidelines.


To me it just proved that my slow cooker is cooking way to hot, especially to be on low.  I may have to check in to purchasing a new one.  I also want a panini grill.  Which by the way, Hungry Girl has come out with a line of flat breads for sandwiches and sliders that are lower in carbs, fat, and calories.  If you are trying to loose weight, you really should check her out.  She has a show on the Food Network channel where she takes the everyday things we like to eat and gives you a healthier version.  If you go to her website, you can watch episodes online if you don't have access to the Food Network, which I think you can watch the episodes on their site as well.  While she does lighten the counts a bit, as far as calorie and fats, some times the lighter version is still a little heavy in the carbs for my restrictions.  I went to the Goodwill store and on Amazon (got to love that place) and purchased some books related to all the changes I am making.  Sadly, several of the books I bought at the Goodwill store were published before the new changes.  It is a bit interesting however to see how the medical community has changed the thinking on their dietary guidelines over the years.  Back in the early 1900's a diabetic was treated with a starvation diet of whiskey and coffee...only.  The whiskey offers about 800 calories and seemed to make the patient a little more comfortable while being starved. The last few years has seen a change from a high carb, high starch, no sugar diet tracked by and exchange system to just simply counting the carbs.  I like this system, it is much easier and don't have to formulate any numbers.  I have also purchased the newest version of MasterCook software for my computer.  I love this program, you can enter any recipe you have and it will automatically figure the nutritional and cost analysis for the dish.  Some other things you can do with the program: calculate changes in recipe for servings (go from a recipe for 2 servings to make it for 6 servings and vice verse), plan menus, generate shopping list, pantry and freezer inventory, has technique tips and videos as well.  You can purchase it from the publisher website, or from Amazon and such.


Which takes me to the next point of my learning curve.  One problem with learning and focusing on the carb count, I am not taking in enough calories.  Need to figure that one out because when you don't take in enough calories, your body reads it as starvation mode and tends to hold on to fat more.  


Due some health issues, family members not just mine, I have been unable to get to the gym this week so far, but am not giving up.


So, goals for the week end and coming week:
Clean house (so grand baby can come over)
Do ALL the laundry
Clean/organize/defrost deep freeze.
Get to gym
Clean up my work room so I can actually do some sewing once again.
Make menu plans for September.


Now that I have wasted way too much time on the computer this morning, I need to get a couple of errands done.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.