We had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday...unfortunately their stove went off sometime after they put the turkey in, so they didn't know how long it had cooked but knew it definitely wasn't done. I've had that happen so know how one feels! So it took longer but when it was done, it was SO good. Well worth the wait. She used salt, pepper, garlic, onion and lemon pepper seasonings in melted butter to baste it with. She made a stuffing I have never heard of with black beans in it. It was really yummy! She makes the best mashed potatoes too. There was a lot of food, so I chose smallish portions of my favorites and things I rarely get to eat. I did eat too much though and left feeling very full. My mistake was going back for a few items, once for turkey and potatoes, gravy and even more for my sweet potato souffle. It turned out better using sweet potatoes than how I used to make it with yams! My son's gf said if I poured it into a pie crust it would make a great pie, and I think she's right!
I gained another pound so I am at my highest I've been in many years now.
Last night I was thinking how I could have handled the meal better and looking at pictures of my dd and her mil (who is very slim and attractive), I felt very motivated to change my ways. Hope it holds.
Nothing planned for today...it is cold and I'm sure the stores are packed. We slept in.
Carol - GFY on not eating pie. I only ate one small piece but then I had so much of other things and the sweet potato souffle may have been as much or more calories as the pie. Oh well it's done and I enjoyed it. Now to get back to regular eating and being more careful. I like the way you describe your clothes. I can't wear dresses but I do have two right now that I like but not sure look good on me. I mostly wear stretchy pants and casual or more dressy tops depending on the event. I have several skirts that I wear now and then too. It is easier for me to wear skirts than dresses at least.
I also like jackets and usually wear them instead of coats until it is just too cold. I only have one dressy jacket right now that fits (black) but have a couple denim jackets.
Mary your way of dressing sounds like mine. I found some pretty and dressy fleece tops that felt good in the air conditioning yesterday at the Church Supper. Friend with a camera was recording lots to put on the web site for the church. We got to meet delightful folks we didn't know before, but turned out they were all related but only one goes to that church. One nephew is a fisherman and Jeff and my husband had an instant conversation that went on till we walked out of the vent together. He lives in another state but was visiting his mom and Dad.
I also know how if feels to have company and the oven didn't cook - once, I forgot to turn it on!!!! The woman visiting was real crude about it and criticized so many ways at our home, that I never invited any of her family back. She was so rude, never entertained some one that bad in all my life.
Sounds as if you all did far better actions. Sweet potato souffle sounds fantastic. Could you share your recipe?
Carol The clothes I wore at the office were casual. An Engineering office that required shirts with collars bot accepted jeans that were not stained or worn out. I was only full time woman, and DIL was there some days a week. SHe weighs under 100 pounds and wears expensive clothes and looks fantastic even if she is gardening. I've always had the minimum of clothes, 2 outfits for summer Church, 2 for winter Church, and sometimes one rather dressy jacket. Now I have the most in my life but DH is retired and insists that I let go those horrible tops and pants that "aren't decent for rags."
Guess I waited too long to go shopping. Now he takes me and insists I get decent things. I do feel better even tho I'm afraid I'll lose weight and not be able to wear them. He said, "we'll go get some that fit, don't worry." (But I do worry) I am enjoying dressing better even when I'm at home.
Last edited by love2garden; 11-27-2015 at 08:04 PM.
Good morning,
Hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving who hasn't posted yet. Right now I'm in the Christmas present purchasing phase and only need to get three more things and I'm done. My GD & significant other just purchased a new home so I'm going to get them a Gift Certificate from Home Depot as I know they want to do a lot of painting in their new home and this way they can purchase paint or whatever else they need. I'm giving cash to my GS as he doesn't have room for presents in his luggage as he is flying in from Alberta next weekend. It looks like I'm going to have to take my computer in to Best Buy for repairs. My computer is freezing all the time and I have done my best to alleviate the problem by deleting a bunch of programs to make more ram room but that doesn't help.
Sandy - No, I none of the family has met my GS's girlfriend so it should be interesting. I hope she is a sporty type person as my GS loves all his sports and is very active. I too, have purchased 2 new bra's and like you have found that they are way too expensive for what you get.
Mary - To a certain extent decluttering is fun and you usually free up a lot of new space (at least that is what I have found). I'm glad I'm not the only one who is not losing weight. By the way, what is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam??? LOL.
Carol - TY for your kind words. I don't have many clothes that fit me anymore due to the increase in my weight and refuse to purchase a new wardrobe. I'm really going to try and get this weight down especially after Christmas when all the goodies are gone and out of my sight. GFY in not eating the pumpkin pie. I love my own recipe for pumpkin pie but not fussy on any other recipe for it.
Sandy - it always feels so good to get new clothes that fit you and good for your DH who is so understanding and supportive regardless of the size in wanting you to look good all the time.
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Mary, I couldn't wait to post this to you. There was a guy on TV making a sweet potato casserole. I don't know if it was same recipe you made, but he put brown sugar in the mixture. Then he said "I wasn't supposed to put that brown sugar in it, it was for the topping." So he just got more brown sugar for the topping. LOL It sounds just like what you did, and he is a professional cook, so don't you feel so bad about it. The recipe he had had mashed sweet potatoes, butter, eggs, canned milk and then he added the brown sugar. I don't remember what all was in the topping, but the brown sugar was supposed to be in the topping. He probably could have not told us that he made that mistake and we would have never known.
I ended up eating a piece of pumpkin pie yesterday, then DH ate the last piece, so now it's gone. I did a lot better on Thanksgiving than I did with the leftovers yesterday. Rusty got to eat a lot of turkey and this morning he was eating grass, so he might have had an upset stomach. He's fine now, and ate a little more turkey.
Sandy, when I worked at Medco, we were allowed to wear jeans, but they specified no ripped or torn clothing. There was this one woman who wore a pair of distressed jeans she bought and probably paid $100 for them. No one ever said anything to her about the fact that they had holes in them, probably because they were expensive and made that way, but I never thought it was right. I used to say to her, "You poor thing. You can't afford to buy new pants. You have to wear pants with holes in them." And she just laughed. Also, they could never make up their mind about sandals. First we weren't allowed to wear any open toes. The next year they allowed open toes if only 3 toes were showing, but not 4 or 5. The next year we were allowed to show as many toes as we wanted, but no slip-on shoes. They had to have a strap across the back to hold them on. It got very expensive to keep buying new shoes each year to keep up with their rules. LOL I wear a lot of slip on shoes, like clogs. When they said no to slip-on shoes was right around the time that I was leaving, so I didn't have to worry about it. I like to be able to just slip my shoes on and off. Very few tie shoes in my wardrobe.
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 11-28-2015 at 03:41 PM.
A semi-lazy day...it's very cold so we didn't want to go out. I'm catching up some on housework but don't stay with it very long at a time. I stop and go online or read/pray in between jobs. Today I got a present in the mail I'd bought for my dd. So now I have six gifts, all but one are just small things and I may add to them for the recipient. I like to spend about the same amount on each kid. We have 22 people to buy for this year.
I tried to eat a piece of pumpkin pie today, cut a small piece but could only eat 1/2. Strangely some sweets I can't eat anymore...they set my teeth on edge and make my head buzz. Others that seem to be just as sweet don't do that. It's been almost an hour now I think and I still don't feel so good after eating that little bit. The Costco pumpkin pie isn't that good anyway IMO, so I didn't mind skipping it. Think next year I'll make my own..maybe..
Carol - That's funny about the cook doing the same thing...at least I didn't put ALL the brown sugar into the sweet potato mixture. So I didn't add anymore brown sugar to the topping as I figured the dish would be sweet enough. Turned out wonderful and looks so pretty in the new baking dish dh bought me!
Your company sure were strict and well as indecisive (LOL)! Wouldn't like that. When I started my nursing job, I worked on the floor so had to wear a uniform, but in 1991 I was given a job of Resident Care Coordinator and I got to choose my hours and I also asked to wear civilian clothes. The DNS really wanted me to continue to wear a uniform but I assured her I would keep a lab jacket to pull on when I did the admitting assessments, so she agreed. I loved being able to wear regular clothes to work and at that time had quite a nice wardrobe. It's funny because I weighed about the same as I do now but now my belly seems much higher, larger and heavier and I don't think I could fit into those clothes. I guess our bodies just shifts over time. Between then and now I did lose 33 lbs and ended up giving those clothes away but now I've gained the weight back again and still don't feel I could wear them.
Karrine - How fun to have your gs and am I understanding correctly that his GF is coming too? That will be fun to meet her for the first time. She is perhaps a bit apprehensive too but hopefully it will work out fine. My understand is that yams are just a different kind of sweet potato but they are usually redder and maybe sweeter. The person who gave me the recipe said she always used yams so I did too, but I now like it better made with sweet potatoes.
Sandy I will post the recipe for my Sweet Potato Souffle here. I it is NOT a diet recipe but if you like sweet potatoes and pecans, it is very tasty. I think I like it better than pumpkin pie now.
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 stick of melted butter
Mix ingredients and pour into 9x11 baking dish (I used a 7X11 and it was perfect), cover with topping. Mix topping ingredients thoroughly and spread over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 mins or until brown and heated through.
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Mary, I saved that recipe. My family might like it. I will cheat and mash up some canned yams. LOL
I heard that we really don't get real yams in the US. In our area the dark orange ones are called yams and the light yellow ones are called sweet potatoes. But when I see someone make a sweet potato casserole, it's usually the orange ones they use. If I order a baked sweet potato at Texas Roadhouse I get one that is dark orange. Confusing. One year I made scalloped sweet potatoes using the light yellow potatoes and no one liked them.
You sure have a lot of people to buy for. We just have DH's two kids and their spouses and 1 grandchild. I exchange a small gift with my friend from high school, too.
Well we have four children, two of their spouses, ten grandchildren, one blended in grandchild and a new gf with two children of her own and each other.
Hope you enjoy the sweet potato souffle as much as we do. I prefer to use the regular sweet potatoes rather than yams. This time I used the darker brown sugar because that's what I had. Whatever it was I think it was the best I've ever made it. I'm not sure how canned yams will work, might be ok, but sweet potatoes cook up quickly and mash easily so doesn't take much time really.
On the last page of the recipe area (of the age 50+ area - in the sticky note section) I had posted a recipe for a Thanksgiving pumpkin dessert. I don't especially care for pumpkin pie, but lone this dessert. I also posted a recipe for a casserole - it says chicken, but I use the turkey leftovers in it. My family likes it real well.
Hi Glynne, welcome back, I've missed you here! I'll check out your recipes, esp the pumpkin dessert. I love pumpkin pie if it's good...so many just aren't that good I think, but I think my sweet potato souffle has kinda taken it's place. We had only enough Thanksgiving leftovers for one lunch and that's the way I like it..I even shared mine with my son as I forgot to get any for him. He was going to his GF's for the weekend so I thought they'd get their own. It was ok, cause I get tired of turkey really fast.
Today we went to Costco in Portland as dh wanted to return our GPS and buy another one on sale. While there I looked at the vaccums. I've been loaning out my small Shark vac to some one without a vac...its the one I used on the kitchen floor (goes easily under cabinets) and for quick jobs on the carpet. It's getting kinda old and run down but still works well so thought maybe I could just give it to her and get a new small vac for me...I was hoping for a light upright with the ability to remove the cannister when using the attachments. My Dyson is great for vacuuming but very awkward with attachments and it's the same with the small vac I have.
So I bought a Shark Liftaway but I'm going to return it...suction was fine but same problem...awkward using the accessories. It also felt much heavier than the Shark I have now (the one I loan out), and it made my back hurt. So will still be looking some more..I may try a different model of Shark or some of the smaller/lightweight Dyson models. Some are on sale now but I'm hoping they may get cheaper closer to the holiday. Want a really good one but hate to spend too much as it's a want more than a need. I have my big Dyson and a Swiffer vac now. The Swiffer vac is not very expensive but it isn't very powerful either and has to be replaced about yearly. The one I have right now doesn't seem to work as well as my previous ones did too.
And I just don't like to use my big heavy Dyson for a quick job.
Putting all the pieces back into the box to return it was the hardest part..it always is! I finally got them all in but it took me a long time and I know they still aren't in like they came. Had that problem with something else one time and Costco told me, most people don't even bother to try to get them in right. Made me feel better.
It was REALLY cold today...temp was 32 when I got up and 38 when we were in the car but they said it felt like 26 and I'd agree. We have gotten used to such unusually warm weather that we can't take it now. I am curious to see how this winter will be. Last year I think we had a few weeks of really cold weather and then it was very mild the rest of winter and continued to be warm and dry from then on. Some people thing it's going to be an extra hard winter this time because of that....
I need to get the kids want lists and get started shopping more online to be assured of getting everything in case it is because I don't don't like to go out in the cold. Funny I'm rarely cold usually when everyone else is cold but when it gets that cold outside I'm a whimp.
Hope you all had a good day. It was a my weekly cleaning day but didn't happen except for vacuuming the family room.
Mary Our family, also has grown. Some years ago I let them know I'd stop Christmas gifts to those over 18. It helped. We would send big checks when they graduated from College or got married. Even that would be difficult now.
We will get little Anthony a present, I already have one here for him.
Yams vs Sweet Potatoes. Our newspaper agrees with Carol and says the markets have only Sweet Potatoes. Yams from my childhood were far lighter in color, and very dry. I didn't like them. We have Sweet Potatoes at least twice a week. thanks Mary for the recipe.
Karrine Hope your weekend was even better than you hoped.
Ours was so much fun!!! Our Grandson had his new Dining Room set up for all 10 of us and the noise of conversation was very high. I sat between him and our daughter-in-law with little Anthony across from me and beside our daughter Pat. DD#3 brought her boy friend so I made sure he was sitting near our son and DH. All were fishermen who had no trouble finding lots to talk about. I spent an hour with our granddaughter who was recovering from liver biopsy. (Keep her in your prayers, please)
Food was fantastic! Every one brought our best dishes that DGS made sure he told us what he valued. Then he cooked lots of veggies in unique ways, had good wine (doggone I was driving and couldn't try it).
After 3 Thanks givings I've been afraid of the scale.
Gayle Still need to find and copy your pumpkin pie
The men are here putting in our new door. So far it looks very nice from inside. I'm glad it's warmer today...52 right now. The men who are installing it are the same ones who installed our windows, so we have come to know them a bit.
I've been doing this and that cleaning through out the house. Not sticking to my agenda at all really but I'm already behind my schedule so anything helps a bit I guess. Ever since we returned from the coast there has been what looks like grease on my kitchen floor in front of the fridge...I have mopped it several times but could still see it. Today I used some Pine Sol and mopped it again. It looks a lot better although not sure it's completely gone. May need to do it again.
Need to shop for my newest gd who is coming in Jan. They have moved up her delivery date by a week and the baby shower is Sunday. I'm so lazy about going out!
Sandy - I have thought of cutting back on our family giving but actually have increased it instead. I love giving gifts and feel as long as we are traveling and giving to others, I should give to my kids too. I know that if dh goes before me, it will have to decrease or end though. And as great-grands come I can't keep upping the amounts! Our children who live nearby give to us too. At least I don't shop for all of them...all the kids 16 and above get cash and one who is 15 prefers gift cards, at least that's what his mom says. That leaves 16 to shop for...and occasionally dh and I skip a year of gift giving to each other.
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Mary, were the sweet potatoes you used the ones with the yellow flesh? I could use them. It's just that I already have a large can of canned yams in my pantry.
I missed the part of your story where the oven shut off for a short time. I got my new stove right before Thanksgiving a couple years ago. It is push button digital control and I wasn't used to that. I accidentally pushed the off button and didn't realize it, but it was only for a couple minutes before I realized it. I can just imagine if I didn't realize it. I normally look in the oven periodically so I would have know it then, but it would have put me an hour or two behind. I'm still not 100% used to it. I really would like to get rid of the stove and refrigerator and get new ones, but we spent a lot of money on them.
DH and i rarely give each other gifts. Any time there's something we want we buy it, so there's nothing we need. Wants are different, and most of our wants are out of our price range. LOL If someone asked what I wanted for Christmas I couldn't think of anything. I would like to have a new cover for my Nook. The elastic straps that hold it into the cover are all stretched out. That would cost $5 at Five Below. LOL Or someone could go to Barnes and Noble and really splurge and get me an official one especially made for the Nook.
We never exchanged gifts with our own brothers and sisters, but gave gifts to each other's children until they turned 18. Then when they got married we gave gifts to their children until they turned 18. Now those kids are in their 20s and none of them have children yet. We have one grandchild who is 7. We will not be getting anymore, and I doubt if we will live to see great-grandchildren, unfortunately. I enjy those who have big families and lots of kids around on the holidays. It sounds like so much fun, but it just didn't turn out that way. Our holidays are rather quiet.
We have been gone several days, so I haven't posted much. We just got back early this evening. There's no place like home ~ LOL.
We went to Disney World with Sara and Maddie. Maddie's brother Corbin got to go when he was about her age, so we wanted to help Maddie get to go. It was fun ~ a lot of planning work went into it ~ I can't take any of the credit for that ~ Steve is the traveling planner. It was lots of fun, but exhausting.
Up early each morning to get ready, catch the free breakfast at the hotel then the shuttle bus from the hotel to the park at 9:30 am. We stayed all day had lunch and supper there then came home on the last bus of the day at 9:30 pm. And walked, and walked, and walked.
The hard part for me was standing in those lines. I brought a long a little stool to sit on while I waited, but they did not allow using those, so we ended up renting a wheel chair. That helped a lot. I didn't ride in it all the time. Mostly I used it like a walker ~ something to hold on to while walking to make me feel more secure. And loaded it up with our backpacks ~ lightening our loads. Then used it to sit in while waiting in the lines. We did the "Fast Pass" thing on some of the rides ~ making the wait time shorter. Then chose other things where the lines weren't so long. When I was pushing it, a lot of the time Maddie was the rider. She even fell asleep while riding along one evening . When Sara's feet were hurting badly (she brought what she thought would be her most comfortable shoes, but sadly the ones she left at home were probably the ones that would have been most comfortable), Sara rode. Steve rode sometimes too.
On the second day there, I lost my glasses. I was pretty sure I lost them while going into the dinning room at the hotel. I checked with the desk every day, but no one had found them and turned them in. Thankfully, I can see to get around, but not to read ~ when I had to read the park maps, I would have to get out a little magnifying glass (a credit card sized thing) and I could make out enough to find my way. From now on, I will carry along a spare pair of those Dollar store reading glasses just in case.
Steve lost his shoulder bag, but was luckier than I with my glasses. He left it on a ride and was able to call the lost and found the next day ~ it had been found and they will mail it to him free of charge. Thankfully there was nothing of value in it ~ it had sentimental value as it had been a gift from Sara.
So, our Thanksgiving was there at the Magic Kingdom. There was a restaurant that served ~ kind of family style ~ turkey slices, ham slices, pot roast, a nice salad, cornbread and rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Then a sort of pie with ice cream on top. It was delicious.
You can tell when I'm being lazy, I post more! LOL Glynne sounds like you had a trip. We should make another trip to Orlando before we are too old. We always enjoy it but even now I think the standing would be hard on dh. Since it's was just the two of us last time, we got a multi-day ticket and just took our time, going back to the hotel to nap in between visits to the parks. It was expensive (this was after we first retired I think), but I bet it's a lot more expensive now!
Our new door/entry is now in. It looks pretty, and for the most part I really like it. There are a couple things I was disappointed in though...1) they didn't stain the inside wood around the entry. I thought they were going to but when I look at the paper we signed it says they don't stain. Funny thing is that was one of the things we chose this company because the salesman told us they did all the inside stuff too...well, they did except for the staining. Shouldn't be too big a job though for dh, it's just that we paid a lot for this door/entry so thought they would do it all for us. But we signed the form so can't do anything about it. 2) I love that I can see clearly out the sidelight, but I was told those outside could only see inside fuzzy...not true, they can see me as well as I can see them. Those two complaints aside, it is nice to have a pretty new door, no light showing through on the top, and a nice new threshold. Our wood threshold had been cracked for years. And the glass is very pretty. It was the only company that would put the same design glass in our sidelight as the door and that was important to me. Now to start saving for exerior siding. So many things we need to do in our old house.
I was thinking tonight it would be good to get dh to some place warm for a week or so too. Like maybe Hawaii..wish I'd planned it sooner, but the cold spell kinda caught us by surprise...even though it IS winter.. If it stays cold maybe we can do that later on. We have put our trip to PI on hold as we need to be sure everything is ok with his teeth but I wouldn't be concerned going to Hawaii and he hates the cold, really affects him.
For dinner tonight I fixed a new recipe called Cowboy Dinner. It was sorta Mexican like...ground turkey and had usual seasonings plus corn (frozen), salsa and black beans, and cheese...with a cornbread topping. We all liked it.
Would have been good with a salad but I didn't have the fixings. Best of all my BS was great after it!!
Carol - I know you take one of the same meds I take, Amaryl. Do you take it before your meals? My doc told me to do that and it has really made a difference in my BS. I used to take it right after my meal but this way the insulin is there waiting for food and acts on it right away.
We have 22 people to buy for this year.
I guess our bodies just shifts over time. Between then and now I did lose 33 lbs and ended up giving those clothes away but now I've gained the weight back again and still don't feel I could wear them. 
. When Sara's feet were hurting badly (she brought what she thought would be her most comfortable shoes, but sadly the ones she left at home were probably the ones that would have been most comfortable), Sara rode. Steve rode sometimes too. 
