Fat Tuesday - On Track

So things are going well I think. I have been staying under 1400 calories a day or less and trying to get in a lot of walking. Today I did two walks, 1 was a mile pushing Lily in her stroller on gravel (extra bonus effort there) and I walked to King Soopers which is about 15 minutes one way. So that's going well and I haven't felt really good about how I've been eating. I just need those pounds to start dropping now. I've maybe lost 2 pounds.

So, an update on the TOPS thing. I don't think I'm going to go. I got an email from the gal who runs our area and it sounds like kids are welcome, but not at the same time. She urged me to start up a moms only TOPS group, but I just don't have the time for that right now. So I guess we'll see what happens. I might try to find another group or something of the sort.

I did want to share this great lunch idea. I had a version of these at a Moms club thing last week and thought; hey I could do this low fat and would be great for lunch.


Pastrami Tortilla Stack

2 low carb/low fat small La Tortilla Factory tortillas
2 tablespoons light cream cheese
1 chopped green onion
1 oz lean pastrami lunch meat (thin)

Spread cream cheese on 1 side of each tortilla. Sprinkle with green onions and pastrami. Set one on top of the other. Cut in 1/2. Then cut those in 1/2. Take 1 of the quarter pieces and place on top of another. Do the same with the other 2. Cut each of those in 1/2. This will end up with many layers stacked up.

cal - 258 fat - 12g carbs - 27g fiber - 16g protein - 26g

Mommy Monday - Potty Chair

This girl is such a mimic. I was using the bathroom today and she just about came in a pushed me off the toilet. So I told her to go get her potty chair and there we sat! She didn't do anything but sit there. I think this route may work with her. Last week her Dr. said to get it out and let her check it out, play with it. Then start taking her with me to the bathroom and having her sit on her potty chair. I don't really have any big expectations that this will happen super quick. I think it will take months on end. But at least maybe there is a small speck of light at the end of the diaper tunnel huh? I just can't get over how much she's acting and looking like a little girl now. She seams so far from a baby these days. But she'll always be my little baby Lily!

Cool Mom Picks Feature

I forgot to mention a little blip about my www.coolmompicks.com feature this last week. I was featured on Friday and the views on my items are climbing every day. I haven't had a purchase yet, but I know with many people checking things out it will be soon!

http://www.coolmompicks.com/2007/09/hey_bud_lets_party.php

This Week's Recipe - Coconut Cream Pie

So this is a bit late this week. Friday was Trevor's birthday and Saturday we spent the day in Denver. We went to the Museum of Nature and Science and enjoyed the Titanic exhibit.

This week’s recipe is Coconut Cream Pie - Trevor's very favorite. I make this for him on special occasions. Anytime I've made this for a party, I get rave reviews. It's not the easiest thing to make but it's sure worth the time and efforts.

A couple tips before I write out the recipe. I use a pre made pie crust. Be very careful to not burn the filling, stir constantly and don't use high heat. I use a wire whisk to stir, but be sure to use a spoon to get the corner of the pan after you mix in the milk to get out any flour stuck there. A Kitchen Aid mixer is a god send for meringue! I've never had meringue turn out better!

This is the pie I made last weekend for a Labor Day BBQ-



Coconut Cream Pie

From Better Homes and Garden Complete Step-by-step Cook Book 1978
(This cook book is one of my very favorites, my mom's too. I found this vintage copy at an antique store locally)

Filling
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
4 slightly beaten egg yolks
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Meringue
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Prepare crust by baking according to pre-made box directions or from scratch recipe. Bake in a 9 inch pie pan and cool.

In a medium saucepan combine the 1 cup sugar, the flour, and salt; gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove saucepan from heat.

Stir 1 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks; immediately return all mixture to the hot mixture in the saucepan. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and the 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Stir in 1 cup of the coconut. Poor into cooled baked pastry shell.

To make meringue, beat egg whites with the 1 teaspoon vanilla and the cream of tartar till soft peaks form. Gradually add the 1/2 cup sugar, beating to stiff peaks. Spread over hot filling, sealing to edges. Sprinkle meringue with the remaining coconut. Bake in 350 oven for 12 to 15 minutes or till meringue is golden brown. Cool; chill.

When cutting a meringue pie, dip the knife in water before cutting. The meringue does not stick to the wet knife as it would to a dry one.

I can't say I have ever cut this pie and scooped out a piece where it looked nice. It always seams to just pile up. But, like I say, it may not look pretty, but it tastes great!

Happy 4th Anniversary to Us!

So today is my 4 year wedding anniversary to my hubby Trevor! It really does seem like ages ago. He was so sweet and brought me 4 red roses home after work, one for each year.

The only other thing I wanted to mention real quick was I wasn’t featured today, so I hope tomorrow will be my big day. Suppose we'll see huh? Have a nice evening!

Etsy Wednesday - New Items and Cool Mom Picks Feature

So here's what's new at Lily Beans -

I've been really working hard to revamp my profile, descriptions and other info in the shop. I am going to be featured tomorrow (as far as I know) on http://www.coolmompicks.com/ So I wanted every thing in order. I added a couple Halloween banners I made this evening. I think they turned out cute The photos don't do them justice. I need to work on photography skills next!

I am also going to be adding custom pet shirts for Babies and Toddlers. Those will have a digitally altered photo of your pet (or anything really) on the front of a t-shirt. This shirt is a photo of Blaze the doggie next door.

I am feeling very optimistic about tomorrows feature. I think this site is viewed much more than the other feature I had done before. So, wish me luck and come by and check things out!

Fat Tuesday - Here we go again.....

So I have been motivated yet again to try and lose weight. I really can't count the times I've done this in my life. It's not like I need to drop over 100lbs. just about 30lbs. Which is still a lot. I ADORE food. So it's really easy for me to jump the tracks of a good eating pattern. So far it's been a week and that's good for me. I do feel like this time maybe I can keep my mind set (even though I've thought that countless times before) there seams to be something at ease with it this time.

I've started using an on line calorie counter http://www.thedailyplate.com/ and I do like it. It's free, so you can't beat that huh?

I also went out this morning to check out a TOPS Club. I had used TOPS 4 years ago before I got married. I happened to purchase a Maggie Sottero wedding gown
that had been discontinued and had to have it, even though it was a size 10 and I was not. So I went in to Weight Watchers, purchased all the program info and quit to go to TOPS Meetings. They are only $24 for the whole year rather than the $40 per month at WW.

So anyhow.... back to this morning. I went to check out a meeting that I thought would allow me to bring Lily with me since I can't leave her home with the dog. About 10 minutes after I got there, they pulled me aside and told me that the Friday meeting would be a better fit. Nothing against TOPS or any of the sweet people that directed me through all this, but I did feel a bit of annoyance at getting up at 6.30 this morning to get ready before Miss Lily awoke. I hate that feeling of "I could have slept for at least another 45 minutes!"

I don't feel discouraged from this though. I do have a couple other moms that might come with me Friday and that would help a ton. I think these types of things are so much easier to go into with someone you know by your side.

I also feel like I can stay on track this time. My game plan is usually this, low cal and careful during the day so I have plenty of calories left for dinner time!

So... ta for this week and I'll let you know next Tuesday how things went!

Mommy Monday - Ni-Night

I have never ever met anyone else whose 18 month old child begs for Ni-Night! She baffles me every time she does it.

We were out grocery shopping this morning and on the way to the next store I could see those little eyelids drooping. After we finished up and headed home I did every silly mommy thing I could think of to keep her awake till we got home so we could eat some lunch then take a nap (since through out both stores she kept motion the eat sign to her nose and saying her little short staccato “eat eat"). Once we get home I come around the car in the garage and open the door to "NI-NIGHT! NI-NIGHT!" I asked her "Don't you want to eat some lunch? Aren't you hungry?" Motion the eat sign to my nose too.... I for some reason mimic her little incorrect sign. "NI-NIGHT!"

So after all the silly "vroom!" around each corner and the "Don't you go to sleep!" chants on the way home, I should have just let her fall asleep! I pull off her little shoes and place her into her crib with binky and bear. She settles in right away for her 3 hour nap. Silly Silly Lily! I am so lucky to have her!

This Week's Recipe - Zucchini Bread

This is one of my most favorite recipes and most requested. Since home gardens growing zucchini should be flooding with the lovely green squashes (like my parents who accidentally planed more zucchini than they thought - though it was yellow squash). It's a great recipe for the beginning of fall. I like to shred up the zucchini and freeze it so I can make a fresh loaf in the middle of a snow storm. MMMM...... so yummy with Constant Comment Tea!

Zucchini Bread
Makes 2 Loaves

3 eggs
2.c sugar
1c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2c. grated zucchini squash
(or 1c. Zucchini and 1c. carrots)

3c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
Add nuts or chocolate chips if you’d like

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy, add sugar oil and vanilla. Mix well. In another bowl, mix flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves and nutmeg. Mix well with wire whisk. Alternately add flour mixture and zucchini. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips if using. Pour into 2 floured baking pans and bake at 325ْ for about 1 hour. (Pumpkin, Carrots, or Applesauce maybe be substituted for zucchini)

Hello World!

Well, here we go! Go, Dog, Go! I suppose I'll start where most things start, at the beginning. I am a stay at home mom of my daughter Lily who just turned 18 months. She is the light of my whole world. I have a wonderful husband who supports me in staying home and in my crafty endeavors. We also have Conrad, our America Eskimo/Beagle dog who was our first baby. We all run around our little ranch style house settled in the neighborhoods of Colorado Springs.

I really do love this town. It's big, but not to big. I come from a small town here in Colorado. Alamosa is where I grew up. We lived 10 miles out of town in a small community called Waverly. I do miss it sometimes.

So I suppose the next biggest thing in my life at the moment is my Etsy.com store. It's called Lily Beans after Lily of course. She's had that nick name since shortly after birth. I feature items mainly for kiddos. My big ticket item is the PARTY PACK! It is just like any birthday party pack you'd purchase but minus the crazy cartoons or cheesy bears. It's simple. It includes everything you'll need. Just add cake!

I wanted the main focus of Lily's first birthday to be Lily, to celebrate that amazing first year. So the first party pack was made. I did up all the invitations and made the decorations. I even tried my hand at cake decorating. Betty Crocker did me proud! It was delicious. I do have saying with some of my dishes I make - "it may not look pretty, but it tastes great!".

I am always tying to think up new ideas for my shop. I'd really love to make my dream a reality and be able to make an income on being creative and making things by hand. There really is something to be said about having that end product come into shape.

Well.... I think that will be all for now. Tune in tomorrow for another exciting chapter in.... just kidding!

Bye!