Saturday, March 2, 2013

How many days before spring?

 

 

If folklore holds true, it’s going to be a wonderful end to the month, because March definitely came in like a lion!  We’re all dreaming of sunshine, warm days, daffodils and lilacs, instead it’s spitting snow, dreary, raw and grey.

How about a few links to take you to a warmer, happier place.  A little garden dreaming for such an icky day…

Burpee’s Gardening

Renee’s Heirloom Veggies and Fleurs

Fine Gardening

The Garden’s Eden, an Online Journal

Martha Stewart Gardening

The Garden Web, an Online Gardening Community

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wayne Newton, then and now...

 

Oh my, he must have had the same plastic surgeon as Kenny Rogers. Why do they do this to themselves??? He looks positively ridiculous!

Boy, isn't this the truth...

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What I've been up to...

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Let's see, I've been washing my hair with my Pantene Ice Shine Shampoo, rinsing with Pantene Conditioner, the bottle is almost gone and I couldn't figure out why my hair wasn't soft and tangled when it was wet.  Finally put on my glasses, and realized that I had been putting on Shampoo/Conditioner instead of  conditioner.  Well, it was white, it looked just like this bottle, but  no wonder it wasn't soft!  Jeesh.

Hubby fed Maggie her dinner tonight, I fed her again.  She wouldn't eat it.  Duh...

And I did something that really surprised myself.  I'm not self-conscious about my age, it doesn't bother me that I'm sixty-three, actually I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've made it this far, but…  I talk to Ronni, a customer service rep really often, it's a long story, but we've gotten to know each other and she asked me the other day how old I was.  Ya know, I felt really embarrassed telling her I was sixty-three.  What was that about????  I have no clue, but it bothers me that it bothered me.  Know what I mean, Vern?  Just when you think you know yourself, something like this happens.  Drats, just when I thought I had it together, too.

I did something else so stupid that I couldn't believe it.  And now I've forgotten what it was.

There is no hope, there is no hope...

Monday, February 25, 2013

Barbra Streisand, the million dollar Oscar makeover...

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The National Enquirer published an article that says Barbra Streisand had a million dollar makeover getting herself ready for the Oscars .  I'm thinking, "no way."

 

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And then I saw these pictures of her without makeup, and I'm thinking, maybe it's not such a stretch after all.  Amazing what money can do.  

Here's the click if you want to  read about it.

Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it!    

Meow…….

 

 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Want a laugh...

I'm working on a new header, it's not finished, but I got tired and quit for the evening. LC looked at how it was going, saw the picture of the two of us and said he liked it because I looked "submissive."

Me??? Submissive???? In his dreams! Trust me on this one, being submissive is not in my DNA. I swear, men say the stupidest things...

Friday, February 22, 2013

It's Friday night!!!

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Let's talk about Greek Yogurt, AGAIN!

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I know, you're thinking, here she goes again talking about that damn yogurt!  Okay, roll your eyes, but this stuff is seriously to die for!

It's been a year now since I started making Greek Yogurt.  In the beginning I made it with non-fat milk, several months passed and it wasn't working any longer.  I made it exactly the same way, but always ended up with just sour milk.  So I got discouraged and quit.  Then last fall I read an article about how your digital thermometers have to be recalibrated on a regular basis, and the light dawned.  My temperature was off, that's why it wasn't working!  

So I pitched the digital thermometer, went back to using a regular meat/utility thermometer and I was back in business.  And then I decided to try eating low-carb for the umpteenth time and read that I could eat whole milk yogurt.  I started making it, and oh my, it's absolutely decadent, wickedly delicious, there is no comparison between non-fat yogurt and whole milk yogurt.  It has 20+ grams of protein per cup and approximately 220 calories, but I never eat a cup, a half of a cup is sufficient.  I eat it with raspberries, blackberries, strawberries.  I mix a tablespoon of peanut butter in it, sometimes I use maple extract, sometimes lemon, but I always use a lot of Splenda.  It isn't that sour to begin with, not like Fage or Chobani Greek Yogurt you buy in the store, but it's so good sweetened, it's almost like ice cream.

I make it and give it away, and always get great feedback.  I make it every couple of days, a half gallon of milk makes a quart of yogurt.  I bit the bullet and invested in equipment, a YoGourmet Yogurt Incubator and that pricey Mafter Boullion Strainer, and it was worth every penny.  I've already paid back my investment many times over, since I get a gallon of milk for $1.79 at Aldi's, and a gallon makes two quarts of yogurt.  I know I'm repeating some of this information, but I've had so many people ask about this and some things are worth repeating.

I've read extensively about yogurt making, you don't have to buy any equipment.  Some people incubate theirs on a heating pad, I used to put mine in the oven with the light on, another way of incubating is to wrap it in a towel and put it in an insulated cooler along with a bowl of hot water.  There is a ton of information about yogurt making if you just Google it.  

When I tell people what I do to make it, the standard response is "that's too much trouble."  But once you do it a few times it's a no brainer and doesn't take that much effort.  I know exactly how long it takes to get to temperature in my microwave, I know that it takes 20-30 minutes for the temperature to fall to 100-110 degrees in an ice water bath, then I just put it in the YoGourmet, and in 6-8 hours I have yogurt.  

I always refrigerate mine for a few hours or overnight before I strain it, it just works better to refrigerate it first.  Then whisk, jar it and enjoy.

I've tried several different recipes, including adding dry milk and a lot more yogurt culture, which you don't need.  Yuck!  Paula's recipe is best by far, trust me on this one.

Okay, that's my last yogurt post for now, but I did want to update you one more time.  I'm going to give you some links to my original entry, but do yourself a favor and watch Paula's video.  I consider myself a serious yogurt maker these days, but Paula is the guru.  And yes, I know I've already put her video on here, but it's worth watching again.

Now go buy a gallon of whole milk, and make some yogurt, it's good for your bones and it's good for your gut and it tastes like no yogurt you've ever eaten.  And don't try and calculate calories from the milk jug, it doesn't work that way, because you drain off the whey which has carbs and calories in it.  And yes, I pour the whey on my houseplants and they love it.  And I'll quit posting about this for awhile, pinky swear I will.  Well, until I make frozen yogurt, but that's a whole other ballgame.  ;o)

~ Happy Yogurting - Jan

Click thru the following links for more information...

My original yogurt post from last year

Mafter 17360 Exoglass Boullion Strainer

YoGourmet Electric Yogurt Maker 

And one more viewing of Paula's Video, it's worth watching again...

 

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Happy Birthday, Deanna...

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Somebody in my family is going to have a wonderful birthday.  Our family loves birthdays, we celebrate for weeks!  Deanna's is today, John made her favorite, Hershey's Perfectly Perfect Chocolate Cake last night.

Want the recipe?  Here's the click.    It is the perfect cake!  I got the recipe from my buddy "V", made it for Deanna a few years ago and the rest is history, she requests it every year...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DEANNA♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸"

Mariska The Houdini Horse...

 

I'm such a sucker for a good horse story. Of course there is nothing better than Mr. Ed. What a treasure he was!

 

Such a sweet story...

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My friend,  Holly, sent me this today.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I  needed a smile on this gloomy day.  Enjoy ~ Jan

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Robin Roberts Returns to GMA

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Am I the only one that thinks this entire Robin Roberts saga  has gone way too far?  It's wonderful that she's beating cancer, she's a lovely woman, bright, driven, obviously very loved.  But as I watched the launch of what I dubbed "Queen Mary" this morning, it just didn't sit right with me.  I'm thinking how much is genuine, and how much is done for the ratings.  And if her doctors need to be there, monitoring her return, is she really ready?  

Sorry, but it just seems so wrong to chronicle her journey for the purpose of improving ABC's ratings on morning television.  I just don't think it's very ethical.  That is all...

Monday, February 18, 2013

The Senior Jitterbug


These people are SO good, makes you wonder what they were like when they were young(er).  I was watching, thinking, hey they're doing a pretty good job, and then they added a second lady to the mix, and I was like whoa!  ~ Enjoy...

Downton Abbey Finale

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I was so excited about this, and then they killed off Cousin Matthew.  They killed off Cousin Matthew!!!  What???  Boy, didn't see that coming!!!

First they killed off Lady Sybil and now Cousin Matthew.  This definitely has not been my favorite season.

~ Jan, booing and hissing...

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Carrie Underwoods Lighted Grammy Dress, how did they do that?

 

Want to know how they did the visual effects on Carrie's Grammy Dress. Here's the scoop...

Tablescapes...

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I've been a fan of "tablescapes" my entire married life, decades before Sandra Lee invented the word on FoodTV.  I've always loved piling so much stuff on the dining room table that it's impossible to eat, much to the dismay of my family.  There is nothing better than decorating the kitchen and dining room, but I've gotten lazy lately and my French  Market Pig has sat on my table forever.  It's time to shake it up a bit!

But I have a little problem, all of my tubs of tablescape goodies are in the attic and poor hubby gets tired of dragging them up and down the attic stairs.  But it's almost spring, I'm thinking of Easter, bunnies and chicks, and all the wonderful things I have in storage.  I'm sure I have treasures up there that I have completely forgotten about.

Oh, poor LC, I feel several attic trips coming on… 

Daily Giggle...

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Could it be love?

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Let's hope not!  Abby does tell her mother that she likes this little Ryder.   They are at their pre-school Valentine's Party, and I'm thinking that Miss A doesn't seem particularly happy.

Grammie thinks he looks like trouble!

Oh Abby, it's only just begun...

Sitting on the Porch...

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Oh dear, I think I'm revisiting my childhood again.  I'm dreaming of sitting on the porch, and have been for a couple of months now.   I grew up on the "front porch" swing.  Even though it made me nauseous as heck, I would swing for hours.  I played with my dolls in the porch swing, watched the train across the field, grew up and sat with boyfriends on the porch swing, it was wonderful.

And now I want to sit on the porch again.   I do have a slight problem, though, no porch!  I do have that wonderful patio, but it's not the same thing as sitting on the porch.  So I'm going to improvise.

LC made me a little quasi courtyard in front of the condo a couple of years ago, it's just a small flagstone area by the front door,  and I fill it with pots in the summer, and I have a little bistro table and chairs and an umbrella.  Perfect, right, wrong!

Those chairs are so uncomfortable, and even if I put cushions on them, they sit upright and just aren't meant for relaxing on a spring morning, drinking coffee, watching Maggie scamper in the grass, checking out the horses in the pasture, and so  I'm on a quest.  I want a comfy chair to sit in.  Not as easy as you would think, though, because it has to look good.  I can't have a funky chair sitting in front of the condo.

So I'm looking thru the gardening books, getting ideas.  Should I do an Aidorondeck rocking chair with pretty cushions, or something in iron that swivels and rocks?  If anybody has any thoughts, please email me. I could use a little assistance as to what type of chair.

I'm still going to use my umbrella with it (small umbrella on a stand) and I'll surround it with lots of fleurs, so it will nestle in, but I'm pretty stumped at this point as to what type of chair it's going to be.

I could use some help, ladies.  

Now go, enjoy your Friday and think hard for me...

~ Jan

Note;  Hubby came up with this one from Sears.  Price is right, $200 - I could add cushions, repaint it if I don't like the color, it's a possibility.  Still wondering about that Aidorondeck rocker.  Would love suggestions...
 

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

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An amazing organizing site...

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One of my readers sent me a link to this Organizing Blog called I Heart Organizing.

This site is just wonderful.  Just click thru on the link below and see if you don't get inspired.

~ Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day… ~ Jan

I Heart Organizing

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

It's only a day away...

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good morning...

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Dreaming of spring on a dreary day...

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The temperatures are starting to warm, our days are in the 40-50's now, sunset is coming later, and it's a tease.  We're so anxious for spring, even the daffy's are starting to bloom, but in reality, we still have weeks before the days truly warm.

I always think of Mother in February.  She would snip branches of Pussy Willow, bring them inside and force the buds to open.  And as soon as the Forsythia started to bloom, she would always have a huge bouquet on her living room table.  There were tulips by her back door, crocuses in her yard, she always made the seasons come alive with nature.

She didn't buy bulbs at the garden center, she dug them, or traded with friends, she loved making a home and did so without spending money.  It's a trait to be admired, and the older I get, the more I appreciate what she was able to accomplish with so little.

She simmered orange peelings on the stove, tucked bars of soap in her lingerie draw for sachet, she ironed her pillowcases, swept her porch every morning, washed her windows weekly and scrubbed her floors on her hands and knees.  Her pantry was always lined with jars of homemade food, and she fed anybody who came to her door.  There was always a pitcher of tea in the fridge, and her house always had wonderful smells, it's such nice memories.  

Heaven knows, we butted heads, my family is well aware of that, but now that she's gone, I remember her good traits, and there were many.  She was such a strong woman,  fiercely independent, a wonderful grandmother, she was an truly  an old fashioned homemaker,  and for that I admire her.

She will be gone seven years next month, I write about her often, and remember the good times. Regardless of how hold you are, there is no place like your mother's home, even if it's just in your memories...

Sunday, February 10, 2013

My life since last Tuesday

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It was last Tuesday morning that I realized I had to do something about a Valentine's Day header before the holiday was over.  And instead of just throwing up a new header, oh no, I decided to do a complete overhaul of The Dish.

So what's the big deal, it's not that different,  but figuring it out was a total nightmare.  I paced the floor, I stepped away, thought about it, went back to it, gave up in frustration, tried it again, and again, and again, and again.  I threw more than one hissy fit, I banged my head against the wall, literally, and paced some more.  Did it help, of course not, but it probably saved my sanity.

Bottom line, I don't know enough about css to code diddly squat.  There was no help to be had, I was out there hanging, and I finally got the header in place, but I couldn't get the background image inserted showing a white posting area.  And i could't  make the white posting area have a drop shadow around both edges.  Arrrrughhhhhhhh

I spent the entire weekend on this, I'm not kidding, poor hubby made  lunch today, cooked dinner tonight, but I persevered.  And finally, finally it's working.  Not built according to standard code, but it works!

And I don't even like the striped background, but switching it to something else now will be a walk in the park compared to what I've gone through.

Surely some of this concentration will help keep my brain cells from dying.  You would think!!!!

Sorry to bore all of you with this, but at this point I don't know if I'm venting or doing the happy dance here.  

And I need a serious redo on Jan CAN Cook, but not this week, my brain and my butt both need a rest, I'm practically glued to this chair!!!

Organizing my space...

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I really don't know whats happened to yours truly in the past couple of years, but I'm totally obsessed with organization.  Well, that's no surprise about the obsession, I always seem to have some kind of obsession going on in my life.  But I have to admit, this is one of my better ones.  

It all started a couple of years ago with  my big pantry reorganization.  This has worked phenomenally well, putting everything in baskets, its so easy to pull one out and grab what you need instead of pilfering through the pantry and knocking everything over.  Then it progressed to baskets in the fridge, which was a disaster, the family made such fun of me, but I've discovered the problem was I had too many baskets in the fridge, now I just have a few for pickles, condiments, and dairy items, and now it's working well.  Nothing gets hidden behind anything, I just pull out my basket and take out what I need.  And I've always been a fan of draw organizers, they just keep everything separated.  That was probably my first inkling to organization, a few years ago when I realized that the "secret" to organization is containment.

And last fall, when hubby added more shelves and drawer partitions to my closet, it has been one of the best things he's ever done.  I haven't had a messy closet since he redid it for me.  I have been meaning to take pictures and show you all how well it's working, I've got that on my "to do" list for this month.  Ditto with the jewelry drawers, I bought black felt partitioned organizers for my jewelry and now it's totally contained, totally straight.

I also redid my dresser drawers, they are now lined with plastic bins, so that I can separate socks, scarves, and yes, even Maggie's doggie duds are in bins.

The linen closet is my next effort, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with it yet.  And this morning I found these organizing tips on Martha Stewart's website, and I was intrigued not only with the hall closet pictured above, but also this linen closet.
 

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If you link here, Martha has 8 organizing videos, everything from organizing this linen closet above to your pantry, the woman even has a video on how to organize your family.  Now, it's Martha, so she does tend to go a bit overboard, but she has such wonderful ideas.  Let's 's face it, she's brilliant, and her attention to detail and work ethic are to be admired. 

This morning I subscribed to her daily "organizing" newsletter, so I'll probably be bombarding you with her good tips.  

My world just flows so much more smoothly when everything is in it's place, and by nature I am not that person, so it takes deliberate effort on my part to put things where they need to be.  But I've found that even this old(er) brain can be retrained, I actually stop and tell myself to put whatever I'm holding where it belongs.

It's not that my house looks messy, everything always looks good on the outside, it's when you go behind the scenes and open drawers and closets that it's cluttered, but no more!  And since I live with a totally neat freak husband, he is thrilled that I've finally, finally, after all these years  gotten my act together.  

But here's the $64,000 question, will it last?  Yes, I actually think it will, until the dementia sets in, anyway.  As Martha always says, "it's a good thing..."

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Dolly Parton and Alison Kraus

My daughters-in-law are huge fans of these women.  Deanna loves Dolly Parton with a passion, and Lindsay is a huge fan of Alison Kraus.  In fact, it was Lindsay who made me a fan of Alison Kraus.  She introduced me to her album with Robert Plant, Raising Sand, a few years ago and it has been a favorite ever since.  And Dolly, I’ve loved her all these years, and was lucky enough to see her a just few feet away from me on a float in Sevierville, Tn. during a parade for DollyWood.  Oh was she tiny,  she was positively mesmerizing.

And Kenny Rogers, oh my, I was such a fan back in the day.  I loved the look of the man, thought his music was the best, ever.  Hubby took me to a concert of his in the 80’s, and it was wonderful.  And then he had all that bad publicity with that 800 sex tape, got that awful eye job that made him look Asian, and I’m not so much a fan of him now.  I say that until I listen to his music, and am transported back to another time, and I forget all the bad stuff and just enjoy the songs.

So let’s enjoy a little music on a Saturday night, here’s a video I found of Alison Kraus and Dolly.

This one’s for you sweet daughters-in-law.  It’s so good…

 

And we might as well take a little trip down memory lane, this is my favorite Dolly and Kenny duet, Islands in the Stream.  Was there ever anything better than this?   Not for me, this was it!  

 

And here is one of our favorites from Raising Sand, Gone, Gone, Done Moved On…

 

An here is a recent interview with Kenny on CBS This Morning.  It’s very insightful. he’s surprisingly candid…

Must see tv for a certain family member of mine ;o)

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If I were young again...

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Watching all the footage of the big snowstorm on the East Coast this morning, I wistfullly thought that if I were young again and had a a big snowfall,  I would so make this happen.  Wouldn't it be wonderful, cross country skiing down a country lane, no noise, no people, nothing but the sound of my ski's whooshing through the snow, surrounded by nature, with a dog by my side, maybe a lab or a retriever.

But get real, Jan.  I would be huffing and puffing,  sweating from all the exertion, my face would be numb, my dog would run off  and I would have to pee.

So much for that dream... 

Friday, February 8, 2013

Abby and Ben

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Grandchildren, what a wonderful, wonderful thing these precious little souls are....

Maggie, snoozing...

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I put this in my Twitter feed, but it should be explained.  John bought Deanna this exact same throw last year and every time we go to their house, Maggie just loves it.  So I asked for it at Christmas, not thinking they could still find it, but they did!

Well, Miss Maggie Moo is one happy little Yorkie.  As you can see, she buries her face in it, and sleeps her life away.  I don't know how she breathes, but she manages..  

What would our lives be like without our sweet pets.  Maggie brightens my world every single day of my life...

Thursday, February 7, 2013

MAC Archie's Girls Collection

Oh my, I love it ALL!!!!!!!!  Want to see more, here's the link...

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Murphy Wet Disposable Soft Wipes

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I've got another great product for all of you.  You may know about this already, but it's new to me.  

My kitchen cabinets had a buildup around the knobs, after all we've been here for ten years now.  TEN YEARS!!! 

I clean them, but that gunk gets around the knob and it's hard to get off, and to be perfectly  honest I would much rather be doing other things than cleaning around those knobs with a toothbrush, so I didn't and I had buildup.  But they were looking pretty bad when I put my glasses on, so I sent LC to Wally World to pick up some Murphy's Oil Soap to clean them.  He called me from the store and asked if I knew about these wipes, but I didn't.  I Googled reviews, people loved them, so he brought them home.

Talk about easy-peasy.  Wow, do these things do the job, fast!  He unscrewed the knobs. I held the wipe over the hole where the gunk was for a minute to loosen it, gave it a few wipes, and it was clean!  Fast, fast, fast!!!!!  I was cleaning them faster than he could unscrew and take them off.

The only negative review I read was from someone who said it left a film on her cabinets.  Well, it didn't leave one on mine!  And there always the naysayers, but if you do this, do a test area first to see if it leaves a film.

These things are awesome!  A big five stars for this great product!

 ~ Jan with clean cabinet fronts ;o)

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

I know just how Peppermint Patty Feels!

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More about low carb….

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I'm really reluctant to talk about dieting, because I jump on a bandwagon and fail, like most of the rest of the population, and I do it with regularity, just ask my friends.  Let's face it, we all love to eat!    And what do i love the most, carbs, bread, rice, white flour, sugar, pizza, McDonald's Filet-O-Fish, Donut Bank's Maple Glazed Pecan Rolls, any kind of lemon dessert, all things cherry, and did i mention bread? Oh and Cheez-It's, I adore any kind of cracker.

So this post isn't about losing weight, because I'm destined to fail once again, I know myself, I've done this so many times.  I do have a stopping point, though, that the rest of you don't have.  I can only gain so much and my legs get tight, so I  have to cut back.  And that's where I am now.

But anyway, this isn't about losing weight, this is about how I feel.  And, oh,  I feel absolutely marvelous, dahling!  It happens always, when I eat low carb, and then I go back to the pasta and the bread and all the other white stuff and forget how good I felt when I didn't eat carbs.  I was talking to my buddy Ang yesterday, who, because of allergies, has given up all things white, including dairy and lives the low carb lifestyle.  Same thing with her, she feels so much better, and she said that people don't realize what were talking about unless they've done it.

So how do I feel?  Let me explain...

Mental clarity, or as much as I can have in my old(er) age. My mind is clear, my  mood is extremely good, I have a ton more energy, I'm more even emotionally, it's hard to explain, but it's a wonderful thing.  It's hard the first week, detoxing from all things white, sometimes you have flu-like symptoms, headachy, no energy, but once you get past that week it is simply unreal how good you feel.  

I'm sticking to around 30-35 carbs a day, which is much more doable than Atkins 20 carbs, and there are so many websites now that have great recipes, it's not like all you eat is bacon eggs and butter like in the old days.  But I'm not trying to talk anyone into doing this, I'm on here just telling you how I feel, like I always do.

So that's what's working for me today.  Will I continue this, of course not, I never have stayed with it in the past, and I don't have any aspirations that I will do so in the future.  And even if I do lose weight, I'm old now,  and older people that lose very much weight look gawdawful.  It's much better to have a little meat on our bones at this age than to be skinny and stringy.  But my legs are fitting better, and the sun is shining again today, so life is pretty darn good.  

Cream Cheese Pancakes...

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These pancakes were absolutely WONDERFUL!  I found this on ibreatheimhungry.com, and I ate them so fast I didn't take time to snap a picture, so I snagged the picture from her site, but I'm linking directly for the recipe.  Not right if I just take their recipe and post this as my own.

This is a low carb recipe, but it would be yummy regardless of what diet or non-diet you are using.  The only thing I altered was I used 1 egg and 1 egg white instead of 2 eggs to cut the calories a bit.  They taste more like a cream cheese crepe than a pancake, but oh my, they're wonderful.  

Just had to share….

Now hop over to www.ibreatheimhungry.com and check out all of her recipes.  I'll be trying more, if the rest are half as good as my breakfast was, I'll be such a fan of this site.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ball Jars, what's old is new again...

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The interest in Ball Jars seems to have skyrocketed in the past couple of years.  It took me awhile to catch up with the hoopla, but ever since I started making Salar-in-a-Jar, I, too have jumped back on the bandwagon.

LC worked for Ball Corporation in the 70's, so to me canning jars, or  "fruit jars" as mother always called them, will always be "Ball Jars" in my house, regardless of the brand.. But I was a new bride in the 70's when LC worked for Ball, mother had always been an avid canner, and since I had to prove that I was my own "woman" heaven forbid if I ever did the things that mother did.  In retrospect, how silly that was.  And how I wish I could talk to her today and show her all the ways I use Ball jars.  She would be so thrilled.  And think of all the "goodies" I could have taken advantage of back in the day.  I think the only thing I ever got was a Ball Freezing and Canning Book.

In the picture above from Country Living's website, they drilled a hole in the top of a an old zinc lid, inserted a plunger and made a soap dispenser.  I've had a badzillion of these old lids, but they're long gone now.  I'm sure the antique stores must still have a supply, and of course, eBay.  If this interests you, you can access the entire article here.  
 

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My friend, Barb, told me last week about a deal on Decor Designs, which she missed, they were selling Ball jars with lids and straws. And it looks like some clever crafter has made them, the instructions are here.

And what is yours truly doing with Ball jars these days other than sealing them with salad in them?  Well, I make homemade salad dressing and for years I've used cruets to store it in, mainly those that you get with dry Wishbone Salad Dressing Mix.  But recently I had a flash of brightness and realized that it worked much better storing the salad dressing in a pint Ball jar.  It's easier to shake, easier to spoon out the dressing.  It just works!

And I store leftovers in them, all kinds of leftovers, my refrigerator is lined with these things.  And now that I'm making yogurt, they are invaluable.  I prefer the wide mouths, they're easier to use, and I have them in quarts, pints, half pints, and jelly jars.

NewImageLast week I ordered these plastic lids on Amazon Prime.  $5.74 for a package of 8 widemouth ones, no tax, free ship.  They had the same thing in our local Rural King for $4.50, but it's not worth the money or the hassle to truck over there to buy them, and you have to pay tax when you buy them locally.

To say these lids have changed my life is a bit much, but O.M.G. these things are wonderful.  It's taken my storage to a whole new level.  You can't can in these, or pressurize them, but once a can is open, these lids are perfect.  My fridge is already full of jars with these lids, I'm going to have to order more!  No more rings and lids, no more lids falling off the jars because Jan can't find a ring, plastic storage caps, where have you been all my life?

I hope I gave you some ideas on this gorgeous Tuesday afternoon.  It's 51 degrees, the sun is shining, Trisher and I have been out on the golf cart for-ever, just enjoying the day.

Now go order some plastic storage caps and see if it doesn't make your life a little easier.  It's those simple things, ladies...

Monday, February 4, 2013

Snoopy ALWAYS makes me smile, even on a gloomy Monday...

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The Carpenters, now that was music!

Yesterday I working on a new header for the blog, happily listening to my favorite Sirius Channel, Escape Radio (thanks John for setting it up on my Mac) and they played The Carpenter’s music all day.  Oh my, talk about a trip down memory lane.

I thought of that later in the evening when I watched Super Bowl Half Time, how wholesome music used to be.  They didn’t need all the special effects, they just sang and they were wonderful.  I am a Beyonce fan, I think she is lovely and has a wonderful voice, but last night just wasn’t pleasant.  Her act was saturated with sex, all she needed was a stripper pole.  All the bump and grind was just awful.  Little children watch this, when her Blue Ivy is older, is that how she wants her to see her mother???

And the Hardee’s commercial was total tv porn!  I just don’t think all of this should be on network television.  And it’s not because I’m old(er), you all know that I’m a pretty liberal thinker except for politics, but it’s just not right!  Our kids shouldn’t be seeing this stuff.

*sigh*

Here’s one of my very favorites from The Carpenters.  Turn up your speakers and just enjoy the experience…

 

And Karen does a wonderful job with this Beatles song, A Ticket To Ride,  it’s my little Monday gift to all of you.

 

 

2013 Budweiser Super Bowl Ad — The Clydesdales: "Brotherhood"

 

There have been some great Budweiser Super Bowl commercials over the years, but I think this year is the best ever.  And yes, I cried at the end… So touching…

My daughter-in-law, Deanna, posted several of these commercials on her blog last week.  And I agree with her, before I saw this one, the little colt pulling the wagon was my favorite as well.  Her favorites can be found here.

I’m not a football fan, but I do love the ads…

Happy Monday!!!  ~ Jan

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