Sunday, January 31, 2010

Washing

is started...I am not sure how many days it will take though! It seems odd to me that there is so many articles for only two people. Mind you, we were gone for two weeks plus we have been home for a week...guess that is what happens when you don't listen to Flylady and do one load a day! No chance of that when I was Linderella at the ball!

I am still cruising the web looking for new adventures. I will come down to earth sooner or later...a trip up north might just do it! How much earthier can you get?

The house is lonely today...no Rick. But, I do have the telephone at the ready, and I have spent a fair amount of time yakking.

I am also happy to report that six pounds of vacation weight has left the building. Whew. Now I just have to work on the last two and a bit. Not bad when they say the average person gains two pounds a day on a cruise! We had assigned dinner times, and we all hate buffets, so that was a help. I think the people that gain must go on cruises where they always have to make do with a buffet. The dining on the Equinox was absolutely gourmet. They would give me a gander at the next night's menu so I could choose something that would suit my gluten free needs. For the first time ever, I had Pot au Creme...basically it is melted Belgian chocolate, cream and egg yolks. Yeah. Not fattening at all! The other times, I stuck to a humble bowl of berries, and once I had a cheese plate. The only thing they didn't have was pickles. I am addicted to Vlasic pickles, and the ones they had were not as good. It was funny...you could order up caviar and champagne, but not pickles and popcorn! The best things in life are not always expensive!

Breakfast: two poached eggs, GF muffin with butter, skim milk.

Lupper: 1/4 cup of red salmon, 1 cup of baked beans, one can of diet pop'

Snack: 22 Tortilla chips with two ounces of cheese and salsa.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Back to the real world....





And I would really rather not be! I am telling you, a person could get used to the treatment we received on board Celebrity! What a ship! Gorgeous to the nth degree.

We had cooler weather than normal in Ft. Lauderdale, which worked to our favour. It is hard on old people to go from freezing to boiling too quickly. By the time we hit the islands, we were able to walk around in the searing heat. We shopped a little on each island, but our favourite was Dominica. Friendly, happy place. Didn't seem to be as mad a rush as it was on St. Thomas, St. Maartens or St. Kitts. I forget the other islands...they all sort of run together after awhile! The thing to do there, it seems, is to buy jewellery. Well, who am I to argue? I came home poorer for it, but whatever! My most useful purchase was a Philip Stein watch. It has some sort of gizmo in it that really helps a body...literally. Can't explain it, but it works. I thought it was hocus pocus until I tried it. Now I am a convert! My only regret is that I bought a large white one, perfect for vacations. What was I thinking? I should have sprung for a dressier version. Ah, well. Next time! And there will be a next time. The one thing I learned was that it is well worth the extra cash to stay in a better room on the ship. We had little privileges that made life so much easier. Room service through the night, champagne, fresh flowers, Frette bathrobes ( a really good quality cotton...if it would have been big enough!) attention above and beyond the norm. Early embarkation and disembarkation. We ate at 8:45 every evening and we all enjoyed the formal night.


I also tried a new type of shoe,

thanks to Heather. She had these cutey patooty shoes on that I just loved, and she said she put them on and they were the best walking shoes ever. I was hesitant to try them, but WOW. by poor old feet carried me many kilometers completely without back pain! Can you believe it? I want to throw out every shoe I own and just wear my ShapeUps! They have thick "rocker" style soles that are quite amazing. Isn't this world we live in amazing? Comfortable feet. At last! I wore my other new shoes, but not with the glee that I wore these. Made my holiday very enjoyable, for sure. Rick bought some too, and the three of us looked like the Munsters from the ankle down, but only in a very cute way!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Mama saw a nine!

Broke that barrier, so now I am down into working off the next ten pounds. Sure hope it doesn't take as long as the previous ten pounds though. I expect to come home from the cruise totally swollen and full of water from the long flight, so I am not going to weigh myself for the first while at home...just keep working the program, and try to keep to this next ten pounds to lose in focus.

Breakfast: three pieces of bacon, toasted English muffin, two eggs, cup of skim milk
Lunch:
Supper:
Snack:


Today is the dreaded packing day. The day I have to decide exactly what is going into the suitcase. What a job! I think the best plan of attack is to take my dresses...then, I am assured of comfort, at least. I am taking shorts, capri's and t-shirts for day time, of course. But for the evenings? I think I will be most comfortable in dresses. The bonus is that once I wear a dress to supper? I will be able to wear it during the day. Nothing is cooler or more comfy than a sundress.

So, off I go to agonize, select, and pack. This is the last post before take-off! Whooo HOOO!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Two more sleeps!

And we will be on our way. So little time to do so much! Today I am going for my pedicure, and will spend the evening ironing and deciding what exactly to take. The recent changes in aircraft luggage rules really spoiled all of my plan of taking just one carry on bag. Ah well. The best laid plans of mice and men....

Breakfast: GF English muffin, peanut butter on one half, two eggs over easy, skim milk

Lunch: woops! Forgot.

Supper: six little potatoes with a cup of cottage cheese and 2 tsp of butter, skim milk

Snack: a turtle

I heard a doctor on TV the other day say that hovering or being at a plateau with your weight is a good thing. Well, okay, but for how long? I noticed a slight drop in weight today, but not a significant one. I want to see the digits drop by tens - I ALMOST saw it this morning. Tomorrow morning Rick will wake up to the call of "SHOW MAMA A NINE!!!!" as I roll onto the scale! It really is like shooting craps, this weight loss business.

I am not anticipating a great weight gain from the cruise, since there will be lots of fruits and vegetables to snack on, and I have resolved not to drink ANYTHING other than water, and skim milk in the morning. It is far too easy to pack on the pounds without even noticing. They say the average person will gain two pounds per day of cruise. Well, twenty pounds? Yikes! I don't think so! This has been too long a road with minimum losses over maximum time, to risk gaining it over again! My game plan is to eat a good breakfast, eat bit for lunch and just nibble at supper. I am sure I will be able to walk off the lunch! The variety of foods on offer is mind boggling, and to not partake and enjoy is unthinkable, but here again, it is all about choices. Ah, the road to hell is paved with good intentions....

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Grrrr.....

I am getting that stupid cold back. Coughed through the night, and now I am getting a sore throat. Oh JOY!

Anyway, there was cause for real joy today ...we had our family home for the whole day today! The baby is turning into quite the young lady, and can really "bust a move"! Dances herself dizzy! We played "lets toss the contents of the Kleenex box all over the living room" which was a great hit. Watching this child wore me out! LOL I hate to admit it, but I think I am getting just a little older!

Breakfast: two scrambled eggs and ketchup, skim milk and a toasted English muffin with peanut butter.

Lunch: 1/2 cup of spaghetti and 1/3 cup tomatoe sauce. The appetite is gone.

Supper: 2 oz of lean steak, 1/4 cup of Caesar salad, if that - about five torn pieces to be exact and four slices of canned peaches.

Snack: Not interested in the least. I want to go to sleep!

Snack: 2 Turtles

Saturday, January 9, 2010

House is clean...

without my effort. The man is a wonder. Dusted, vacuumed, carted things thither and fro....while I refined things! I started a laundry basket with the "don't forget to pack" things, so once I think of something, I can toss it in, and let my brain rest. I am not looking forward to the plane changes. Looks like we will be at the airport for quite a long time with these new rules. Which also messed up my "pack one carry on" plan. Ah well. Now we have to take lots instead! A lot easier to figure out what to pack if you can toss it in and to heck with it!

So there was my exciting day.

Breakfast: two eggs, over easy, glass of skim milk and a toasted GF hotdog bun. You take what you can get.

Lunch: bowl of pea soup, laughing cow cheese wedge, rice pudding in a cup.

Supper: broccoli, carrots, fish in a soy lemon onion sauce sauce, and basmati rice.

Snack: Neo Citran!

MMMMM smells wonderful in here!

Just realized. I am back on track! LOL

Friday, January 8, 2010

Happy day!

I had a little visit with my granddaughter today...what a treat that was! They grow so fast, and she is showing her little personality AND a sporting a few curls to go with her toothy smile!

Breakfast: English muffin, three strips of bacon, two eggs, skim milk.

Lunch: orange, two glasses of water

Super: to be determined. Supper was shrimp and seafood sauce (that part isn't the bad part - wait for it...here it comes!) with sour cream dip and Lay's chips to finish. I know. I KNOW!!! But they were there....made myself totally ill, and had to go to bed early, like an unruly child being punished for getting into the cookie jar! Well, chip jar. It is so frustrating not being able to be bad! It wasn't the gluten, either. It was just my stomach saying "Where the heck is the real food????"

So, that is the news for the day. Still haven't finalized my packing list, or done all the things I should have done days ago. Ah well.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Starting to put my ducks in a row...

today. I cleaned the master bathroom, and sorted through the toiletries that I will be taking, and put them in a travel bag. I am astounded that there are so few items! I also have been buying "small" so it will be very easy to put all my stuff into that stupid plastic bag that is recquired!

It was "hair salon" day today. Or should I say "hair today, gone tomorrow?" Well, gone next Wednesday for sure!

Breakfast: since the oatmeal was not agreeing with me, I have gone back to eggs in the morning. More calories, for sure, but I was getting that sick, weak feeling again. It is starting to lift, so within a couple of days, I should be back to normal. Even gluten free oatmeal will have to be just an occassional treat I guess.

So, eggs, bacon, toasted English muffin and skim milk.

Lunch: banana

Supper: ten shrimp with seafood sauce and a toasted English muffin with "plastic" cheese...yes, again. I am on a kick of sorts here! Tonight I will have to have something healthy for a snack that involves fruits or veg.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wednesday again?

Breakfast: oatmeal, brown sugar, glass of skim milk
Snack: banana
Lunch: toasted English muffin, plastic cheese slices, glass of skim milk (only because hubby brought it to my desk. What a guy. Or maybe it was the guilt he had from eating two slices of leftover pizza he had last night!)
Supper: beef stew .
Love this recipe. No fail. You take a big casserole ( I use my Le Cruset oval roaster) and plop in:
a pound or more of stewing beef
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of flour (GF trial was today!)
top with a little can of pizza sauce.

I know, but stay with me!Add layers of veggies that you like cut into uniform pieces, to make cooking even.
I used
carrots
parsnips
rutabaga
celery
onions
potatoes

Pour over all:
1 1/2 cups of beef broth.

Place in a 350 - 375 oven and cook until meat is tender. Funny thing is, that you can cook it a long time or a short time! One of those never fail, doesn't matter recipes that are so simple and sooooo good! If you have it? You throw it in. If you don't? It will still turn out!

That is it. And it really is delish. I couldn't get over the lack of spices, herbs, etc, yet the flavour is really, really good. One of our family favourites, that is even better with light fluffy dumplings, but that is a thing of the past for me. Tried making gluten free ones once, and it was disgusting! LOL

Snack:

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Power breakfast

this morning was a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and a cup of skim milk.

Lunch: home made potato and onion soup, with ONION RINGS! I bought this onion ring mix (gluten free of course) which was supposed to make baked rings. Don't believe it! I put about 1/2 inch of oil in the fry pan, and did them up that way...calorie laden? For sure. But for someone who loves onion rings and hasn't had them since MAY 2009, it was well worth the extra calories. It makes me cringe to think how many calories there must be in real onion rings from A&W. I could never eat a whole order by myself, but I had no problem downing six of these! I am beginning to notice the way I feel after eating certain foods. If I feel good? It goes on the "list" - if I don't? Off it goes. If something doesn't make you feel good immediately after eating it, what are the chances it will be kind to your digestive tract? So, that being said, there are tons of good feel foods! It makes grocery shopping even easier, too. You just eliminate certain categories from your diet, and lean on the things that agree with you. I no longer have to travel the "bread" aisle at the grocery store. Crackers? Cookies? NO! That gets rid of an awful lot right there. Cereal section? Forget it! Even canned goods are rife with gluten. There are a few soups that are okay...thank goodness that Habitant Pea Soup is okay, because I LOVE it! Anyway, that pretty much leaves meat, veg and dairy. I honestly think I am happier eating this way, although last year at this time? I would have fought to the death to keep eating ciabatta! I do miss croutons in my salad though, but almonds make a nice crunchy addition. And dill pickles? Another favourite that is an easy substitute for a sweet ending to a meal. I have a tendency to eat sweets for the meal, rather than the "afters". Pancakes for supper anyone? I used to get so sick from them, and now I eat the gluten free ones? NO problem at all. Real maple syrup has an additional "cleaning " property when introduced to my system, too! So, bonus! LOL

Supper: Major problem here. It is now almost seven thirty and I have no interest in making a meal now. So, just to give myself a shot in the behind I think I will hmmmm do what? Ah of course. I have some perogies I wanted to try out. Hmmm....maybe a salad? Something meaty would be nice. Ah, to heck with it. Think I will crack a can of soup and call it a day. Yep. That is what I will do! So, eventually I did have something for supper. Two apples, an ounce and a half of farmer's cheese, and the lonely onions and piece of cauliflower that were left in the sweet mix pickle jar. not really WW article food, is it? LOL

Top Ten for the day: (I was never very good at math....)

1. Try out my new Clarisonic face brush - AND get out of my nightgown!
2. Clean master bedroom and bathroom, possibly get rid of a few things from the closet
3. make 0-1 point soup for lunch
4. clean out the refrigerator
5. whittle away at Mt. Washmore; do at least two loads start to finish, begin ironing for trip, while I am doing all the rest of this stuff.
6. give Rick a haircut
7. make appointments for next week..hair and toes.
8. dust, vacuum, really clean up the kitchen as in wash down the cupboards well.
9. sort through clothes for trip
10. polish shoes for trip
11. Con Rick into doing, er, ask, Rick to do the hard floors!
12. Clean off this messy desk!

Let the excitement begin!

A quiet day today. One load of laundry and quality naps throughout the day! Dreams of cruising dancing in my head! I am getting so excited I can't stand it!

Breakfast: 1/2 cup raw oatmeal, cooked,brown sugar and a glass of skim milk
Lunch: toasted hamburger bun with cheese and a bit of butter
Supper: 1/2 chicken breast, diet pop
Snack: two dill pickles, two laughing cow cheeses, garlic sausage - thank goodness that is done! I love the stuff, and it isn't the best protein choice, is it?
Snack: two portions of sour cream and onion chips

The shopping I did online is starting to arrive. We were home all day, and some of the items are now available for pickup at the post office. Why didn't they come to the door with it? Grrrrr.

So, tomorrow, I need to make appointments for hair and toes, since the salon was closed today, and I couldn't do it according to schedule. Washing and ironing is next on the list, to get all of our clothing ready to pack.

We need to give the place a good clean before we leave, and get the packing done well ahead of time. I hate last minute rushing, and since travel will take all of Wednesday, I want to go to bed very early on Tuesday night, knowing that everything is packed away and ready to go. Life is good!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy day today....

We were spontaneously invited to dinner tonight - that is what happens when you sit around over coffee long enough! ANYWAY the man of the house produced a meal fit for a queen...a couple of them, really! We had mashed potatoes, baby carrots, roast pork with GRAVY (gluten free just for me) and a lovely crisp salad...with shrimp to start. I must warn you, never put shrimp in front of me, without expecting me to be a total pig! (That is why I usually serve them portioned out, so I don't embarrass myself with the biggest pile of tails at the end of the appetizer course!) These were so delish that I just could not stop myself until every last one was gone. They are calorie bargains and there is just something about the taste that sends me to the moon! The conversation was lively and ran the usual gamut from soup(literally - my friend makes theeeee best low cal veggie soup in the world) to nuts...that is the guy she is married to! We actually tasted some sea salted almonds that were soooooo good!

So, today's food was:

Breakfast: Two GF hotdog buns, one with butter for my egg, and one with peanut butter for fun. By the time I finished breakfast, I was so full I couldn't move! And my usual glass of skim milk as well.

Lunch: banana and a bottle of water - I was on the move and didn't have the heart to eat lunch before we left, but had the foresight to carry this with me.

Supper: Shrimp for starters....I honestly lost count of these little beauties. With mandatory seafood sauce to dip them in. Two slices of very lean beautifully cooked pork loin roast, 2/3 cup of mashed potatoes with 2 tsp of butter, five baby carrots, 2/3 cup of oil and vinegar dressed salad, 1/3 cup of gravy (soooooo good!) A clemintine orange, and about 4 chunks of beet pickles 1/4 cup of beet pickle juice, served with style in a wine glass. Don't ask. It is a sickness. I love pickle juice, and I totally lucked out because the jar was emptied at supper time!

Snack: cup of hot chocolate made by hubby's loving hands - far too sweet to drink, so I had about three sips of it. Yutch. I do not really like chocolate, or that much sweet in a cup! I will save it to put some of it in my coffee in the morning.

Friday, January 1, 2010

I have not made a mistake all year...

Mind you, I just woke up! BUT like every January 1, don't we feel like THIS year will be different? Hope springs eternal.

Breakfast this morning was special. We shared an omelet made with three egg yolks and four whites...I always give hubby the lion's share, so I estimate my portion at maybe and egg and a half. Farmer's cheese was the treat on top and mushrooms and onions made a great filling, two slices of bacon cooked to a cinder added a salty niceness! To just round things out perfectly, I had my daily glass of skim milk and a gluten free English muffin, with butter AND Cheez Whiz.

Supper tonight will be roast chicken with parsnips, carrots and little baby potatoes roasted with it. Don't you just love the ease of cooking like that? I have my Aunt Mary's "roaster of death"....my mum inherited it when my aunt died, and I inherited it when my mum died, hence the name. It is an oval La Crueset roaster that is just the perfect size for a chicken, roast, cabbage rolls...makes everything taste so much better for some reason. It must be the steady heat of the cast iron pot. You just plop the ingredients in the roaster, and come back to the oven when the smell beacons! I could kick myself, because at Safeway they had a "poultry" mix of herbs, but as I was looking their way, my attention was distracted by a young man with a tray of shrimp. Would I like one? NO GIMME THE PLATTER SHRIMP BOY! It was so nice to have a sample of something I could actually eat!

So, there you have the menu plan for today.

We ended up at a dear friends last night to see the new year in...it slipped in while we were discussing our travel plans for the next year. We have hit a juncture in our lives where all I seem to care about is our next adventure, and our next batch of new clothes! Life is good when the kid leaves home and the dog dies.

Just a little note about our one pot supper. It was terrific! I added parsnips, carrots and little potatoes to the chicken in the pot for an absolutely no fuss meal. Bonus! There is enough left to make chicken pot pie one night next week. Now how on earth do I make something that is low calorie and gluten free to take the place of biscuits to top it with? Thinking cap? ON!