yummy treats......

o.k. as you may have noticed i like food, cooking it, eating it, smelling it....... it's all good. Well i did a whole lot of talking about yummy healthy food not too long ago and it is time that i start eating, finding, and sharing some of this healthy food i was talking about. I have done a whole lot of eating of bad for you treats over the past week or so and now is the time i start a turn around with my food choices.

Hear is one yummy snack that i have always enjoyed and it is pretty good for you. It has protein, fiber, vitamins, low in sodium and calories.

green apples with peanut butter dip

peanut butter
cream cheese ( you can use reduced fat if you want fewer calories)
brown sugar

mix together equal parts of peanut butter and cream cheese;
mix in a tea spoon of brown sugar for every cup of dip you make; you can put more or less to adjust the sweetness of the dip, i tend to put less.

slice up your apples ( with the skin on is better ) This goes really well with green apples but you can use any variety of apple that you like they all taste good.

I think that i will be sharing this treat with my friends!!

I am planning on putting up more recipes for different things as i find them. It won't be just snacks i will put up other types of recipes too.

Happy eating!!

christmas is here and almost over

hi,



well today is Christmas it was a good day. I spent time with my family, we had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts. I am definitely a little spoiled when it comes to Christmas. My mom always goes over board, it is not unusual for me to get at least 8 or 9 gifts just from my mom. here are a few of my favorites.

This is a new mason-Dixon knitting book with several projects that i want to try out when i get a chance. I would also like to get the original book which i have been eyeing for awhile now.

any time you get something from the yarn harlot collection that is a good thing. ( i think i just channeled Martha Stewart for a second)I only have one of her books but i am a fan and check her blog on occasion.

My mom also gave me some knitting gadgets. She always finds some obscure tool that she thinks i would like. Some of the past i have used while others i have just looked at with awe partly because i don't know if i would ever have the skills to use it or i can't figure out what it is for. This year two of the tools she got me ( cable needles and bobbins) with both be very useful. She also got me a very cool looking Norwegian thimble. This is a tool that you put on your finger while knitting and you us it when you are knitting a pattern with two colors of yarn. it has two loops that you run the two different yarns through to help keep them from getting tangled. it looks very cool i will have to find a pattern that i can use it on!

I of course got several non knitting gifts too.

She gave me this really cute shoulder bad that will be great in the spring and summer. It has a lot of pockets and the straps are long enough to put over my shoulder. I love anything with turtles and this turtle shape puzzle looks like it will be really fun. I have never been a big puzzle person but if i have someone to do it with i do find it to be enjoyable. My mom loves puzzles and she said she would work on it with me!

I also got a couple of sweaters and the standard socks and underwear plus some really soft flannel sheets! I told you i was spoiled by my mom at Christmas ;)

so all in all it was a very nice holiday!

tomato soup

i made the best tomato soup ever about a week ago. I think it may have been the best batch i have ever made! I decided to share the recipe with all of you:

1 12.oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 12.oz can of chicken or vegetable broth
a couple of pinches of oregano or a couple of whole bay leaves
salt and pepper

put the tomatoes and broth in a pot with the spices; bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 to 30 minuets; if you used bay leaves remove them now; let the soup cool down a little and then put in the blender ( in batch's if you have a lot ) and blend until smooth. I have a hand held immersion blender this make it easier because i can blend it right in the pot, if you don't feel like blending it you can leave it chunky it is good that way too.

This makes about 2 or 3 servings you can make a bigger batch if you want as long as you have equal parts tomato and broth just get a bigger can of each.

well that is my soup it is pretty easy to make and really hard to ruin.

why do we put up with it?

I was watching a show about a battered woman the other day, it was pretty bad. i just kept asking myself why do women put up with this kind of treatment? we deserve better. we are strong beautiful smart independent women and we still for some reason put up with crap from men. is it because we don't want to be alone? are we afraid that we will never find anybody better? perhaps we often choose the devil we know instead of the devil we don't know? I will never understand what makes us put up with this type of treatment. I know it is not fun being alone it can be very hard at times especially as we get older but I have decided that being alone is better than being abused.

i want to scream.........

well lets see work kind of sucks right now. why is it that the people who are reasonable, non judgemental, flexible always seem to get all the crap thrown at them. I also hate that when someone else makes a stupid decision other people ( ME ) get stuck living with the bad consequences.

let me back tract for a moment. a year ago we interviewed a woman for a part time position in the room next to mine, My feeling was that she wasn't capable of doing the job and that if i had to spend more than 10 minuets alone with her i would rip all of my hair out. well the woman who would be working with her said she would be just fine in her room . so they hired her and she has proven to be incompetent. so, they MOVED HER TO MY ROOM!!!!!!!!!! i said no don't want her!!!! they encouraged me to give it a try ( they didn't give me a choice ) so it i talked to my other co-teacher and we decided to have an open mind she couldn't possibly be as bad as everybody was saying. the first two weeks weren't bad at all then it went down hill fast. She has significant limitations, he's forgetful, pessimistic, spacey, nosey, gossipy, doesn't know how to clean-up after lunch or play with the children no matter how many times i explain to her what she should do or examples of things to try just not capable. So because the idiot in the room next door has no judgement or standards for hiring i now have a crappy teacher in my room! I hate when other people's fuck-ups mess up my day!

yup, i'm talking about food again.....

this is the season of food! as I sit here writing this i can smell the turkey pot pie that my mom is making from scratch from the leftovers mmmmmmm

as you can tell i love good food. The challenge this year is to not over do it and to focus on eating things that aren't really bad for me and to not gorge myself with sweets. since i do enjoy eating healthy things it shouldn't be too hard to find stuff that is good for me when i go out, the problem is once i get a taste of something that is bad for me i want to eat all of it!

so this is my mission: to find recipes for yummy things that are either healthy or not bad for me ( low calories, fat, high nutrients ) there are a lot of really yummy things to be found if only we take the time to look and taste. Later today i plan on making tomato soup from scratch, mmmmmm oh how good that will taste with a nice piece of bread mmmmm o.k enough of that i should go before i go into a food comma!

who doesn't love a four day weekend

well this was a short work week for me. I guess i am one of the Lucky ones, i don't have to work on Friday and i do know that a lot of people do have to work that day. Today was an easy day, I only had 6 kids in my room and they all went home early. The last one left at 4:30 I don't get off until 5 so leaving a half hour early was nice! and the traffic wasn't bad at all! well even though this was an easy day i am feeling very tired tonight so i think i will take a nice hot shower, curl up with a hot cup of tea and go to bed early. I will wake up tomorrow to the aroma of a roasting turkey MMMMMMM.

food glorious food!!

ahhh, food oh how i love good food. I love thanksgiving because it is a holiday that is completely dedicated to cooking and eating food with friends and family MMMMMMMMMMM. Let me tell you my mom can put together a really yummy meal she is a very good cook.

speaking of eating with friends one of my friends invited me over to hang out tomorrow night and see their new place of course there will be food involved. My friend described to me over the phone what we would be having and i have been drooling for the past few days just thinking about it. my friend is going to cook a pepper jack chicken ranch sandwich on a toasted bulky roll with tater tots and sauteed green beans oh how yummy that sounds. I can't wait!

since i have been watching what i eat i have become obsessed with food eating good healthy food. food is the one common denominator for all people no matter what race you are or where you live we all eat food. well i seem to be yammering on a little here so i guess i will go now.

hmmmmmmm where to begin.....

let's see where should i start. well exactly one year ago this past Tuesday would have been the first date i went on with what is now my abusive ex boyfriend.... It was kind of a hard day. While i would never ever go back and i am glad to not be with him anymore when this relationship started it was very sweet and wonderful for like a month or so then it got bad......... well i made it through the day ( i had it off from work ) without any scars. yesterday the ass sent me a friend request on myspace i asked him why ( I know i shouldn't respond to him I just couldn't help it ) today he sent a message saying he wanted to be friends! he felt bad about how things ended! he wants to talk and fix it! he would feel better if we could reconcile how this ended and be friends! Umm how is this somehow about making him feel better? He abused me, he stole from me, he treated me bad, he tried to break me, these things can't be fixed. The fact that he thinks they can tells me that he just doesn't get it. IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HIM!

I know that over a camp fire in early October i let go of most of the horrible things he did but hearing from him right as that one year mark came up just made me real angry for a moment. I think i should probable just ignore him but i don't know if i should or if i should respond? and tell him how it really is cuz he's got no clue. He wants to be friends he should be happy i didn't press charges.

good choices

well i have decided that i need to start making good choices about what i eat. i am in a few high risk groups for things like diabetes and heart Diseases. i have tried a couple of times over the past several months to be more mindful about my eating but i didn't do so well. I heard about a web site called http://www.calorieking.com/ and thought i would check it out. It is a really cool web site you type in what you have eaten for the day and it adds up all of the calories and nutrients for you, you set goals for yourself, keep track of exercise. there are forums, blogs, food databases, resources, you get daily tips and advice. They will even generate a bar graph of calories, minerals, and nutrients that you have consumed if you want. for the time being i am really have a good time looking up stuff and seeing what i am taking in using this site. They have a 7 day free trial and it only cost $50.00 dollars for the whole year. Unlike other diets this site doesn't tell you to omit certain food groups it is based on the food pyramid and it just guides you in the right direction. I am hopeful that i will be able to stick with this long enough to get in the swing of things.

Voting day

well as we all know today is voting day, and this is a historic one. I went to vote before work today and i stood in line for 1 and 1/2 hours! I have never seen such a long line to vote before. I had very contrasting feelings about this long line i was standing in. On the one hand i was aggravated because i had to stand in line and would be late for work but on the other hand it was really nice to see that this many people were coming out to vote. I have been on the edge of my seat all day in anticipation of what the outcome will be. I will continue to sit on the edge of my seat until we know who our new president will be.

Halloween

a booga booga booga.......... Halloween is one of the funnest holidays of all. I love getting dressed up in a costume that i made myself. Last year i was queen of the spiders... OOOOOOOOOH.... I made a crown of spiders and i had a wand with spiders on it that i could use to control my minions! I was an evil queen! This year i am going to be mother nature. There will be lots of green and i have a crown of flowers. I would like to be somewhat seductive as this character we will see how that works outs I tend to be better at portraying scary characters. I will be sure to post pictures of my costume when it is all put together.

Daddy

Here is a picture of me and my daddy in honor of the anniversary of his passing : October 16, 1994

cranky

Today i am feeling cranky!! i have been rather moody the last few days and i couldn't for the life of me figure out why? then last i was talking to my friends about how i was feeling moody. One jokingly said " you need medicine for that " That made me laugh :) then another one of my friends looked up and said " It's October" and a light went off in my head, October 16th will be the 14th anniversary of my dads death! That explains my moodiness HELLO how could that of slipped my mind.

Well today i have been really really cranky! It has been many many years since my Daddy pasted and each year it becomes easier to deal with, well easier is not the right word it is never really easy but it is less heavy. i guess this year it was at least light enough for me to forget it was coming ( that's a guilt trip waiting to happen ) or perhaps i just pushed out of my mind. who knows? I guess i am being a downer today, oh, here, i will share a happy memory of my daddy that will make me feel better:

let's see, hmmmmm, i know, i will list a few things i loved about him:
1. he gave the best hugs because he had a squishy belly
2.he used to laugh out loud while reading the Sunday comics
3.I was without a doubt a daddy's girl
4.Whenever he went out to the store he would bring me back something. when i was about 14 he started to not know what to get his teenage daughter so he bought me a fork, yup, that's right, a fork. It had a pretty handle and he thought i would like it. While it is an odd gift i have used it every day to eat dinner since. Actually it may be the perfect gift, It will last forever, i won't out grow it, It is useful, and i can pass it on if i ever have children.

well on that happy note i will go now

my time.....

let's see this has been a rather univentful day but pleasent just the same. True joy in life is found in the little things that occur each day. You don't need fireworks and pareads to experience joy. Joy can be found almost anywhere if you just slow down and open your eyes. Here ar some examples of where i find joy everyday..... a babies smile, a cool fall breeze, a nice hot cup of tea, hot shower, knitting with friends or by myself, finding a dollar in my pocket.................... I could go on and on but i won't.

The past few months have been particularly hard for my to find joy I have managed to find some it was just a lot harder than usual. There are several reasons why this has been hard let's see: job burnout, having an abusive boyfriend, dumping an abusive boyfriend, expensive things keep needing to be fixed on the house well those are the big ones i won't drag on.

So i have decided to try and focus on all of the little things that are wonderful and cherish every happy moment i have.