LADIES ~ I do all my shopping from our one local grocery store and one department bargain store (half the first floor is food & produce). The only thing I had to add was Vitamins & oil capsules which I buy in bulk, as I have had a lifelong Vitamin & Mineral deficiency. I watch for all the sales and get them first; for instance, when sirloin steak or whole chickens are on sale, I buy a few & put them in my freezer.

I am doing a balanced, calorie-portion plan, with whole foods such as complex grain carbs & lots of veggies, lean meats, fruits, some dairy, and good fats mostly; and volumetrics tips to keep full. I made the plan up out of many; it had to be simple and affordable as we are on a limited budget like many people today, but we eat very well and want for nothing.

For breakfast, we have any whole grain, bran or oat cereal; OR egg omelette or egg-muffinwich; OR cinnamon French toast; OR toast with natural peanut butter or cheese. For lunch, we have homemade soups with wg bread/bun; OR dinner leftovers; OR fish or chicken burger (no bun) with salad; OR a wg bunwich & cupasoup, etc. Our dinner is usually any lean meat with loads of veggies and/or salad; new or sweet potatoes (small for me) or brown rice. I eat fresh or baked fruit/yogurt/diet pudding or nuts for snacks. The odd oat bar or a bran muffin for a quick BF or snack on the fly.

I learned to make healthy versions of all our favorite foods so we love our food still, ie pita pizzas or baked fish & sweet potato fries. If you look over our previous threads, you will see that I often tell you what we eat for dinner. Since this is a lifelong journey for us, the food has to taste good and be healthy too; plus I got my blood sugars back to normal and am off meds now -- PTL!

We still have healthy versions of pizza, steak & mushrooms; BBQ spit Chicken or roast beef, chicken, turkey, ham, pork chops, etc; plus shepherd's pie, cabbage rolls, pasta dishes, fish, family favorites, lean burgers & super chicken dogs; and homemade soups & stews, etc. I cut down the sugar, white flour, and salt; making everything lean & healthy.

Started off with small changes; cut my portions in half, increasing my veggies to half my plate. I love lots of roasted or steamed veggies; trying new ones all the time -- newest one is spagetti squash cooked in microwave for only 10 minutes. I buy berries on sale; bananas, cherries, apples; but blueberries & rhubarb we pick and bake them in different ways.

We had lovely sirloin roast beef (on sale) with yellow & green beans, baby carrots (all came in one frozen bag); with onions & celery with new potatoes for dinner tonight. For lunch we hand a sandwich & soup. I had an eggmuffinwich for BF + 1/4 cup Rhubarb-blueberry-apple fool for a snack this AM. Missed my afternoon snack as we had to take our car to get fixed again.


BTW, GOOD NEWS REPORT ~ we have finally, and I mean finally, got our car fixed; for real, this time -- PTL! We took it to a THIRD garage; and DH helped the two young mechanics find the REAL problem. The other day on the way home from our lot, NIKO & I got ill :barf: from horrible fumes in the car; so we had to pull over and open all the windows & vents in order to get home.

Turns out that a clamp on our EXHAUST PIPE under the back seat was missing, so all the gas & exhaust fumes was coming inside the car -- what a dangerous situation for us. Gee, and I won't get into all the other times & money we spent on things that were not the cause; and the work other mechanics wanted to do that we refused (two inspections could find nothing wrong with our gas lines or tank).

Anyways, it only cost us $10.61 ... can you believe that? They didn't charge for the inspection of the car; just the time and replacement of the new clamp (10 whole minutes). :lol: What a relief for us, as we wanted this fixed before our holiday in September. So thanks to all of you who have been praying for our car over the last year or so -- now hopefully, this ends the saga of our mysterious car woes!!! THANK YOU, GOD!!! :D

Rosebud, great shopping and meal ,planning tips. Thanks ! Great news about the car, glad it is fixed,

:welcome: MICKEY ~ Oh, I so remember being your age and all the angst around guys & dating & not knowing my future. Like you, I always believed in GOD & JESUS & went to church as a child; but then after some searching in my late teens, I re-dedicated my life to the LORD when I was 19 years old. I saw my friends make bad choices that brought nothing but trouble into their lives, so I walked away from them and never looked back.

There are some questions you need to ask, like is this fella a believer? Would he go to church with you? How do you want to raise your kids? As believers? Do you love this man? Can you see a good future with him?

You are young -- but obviously, GOD is speaking to you right now; and it may be that He has something much better in mind for your future. If you are not happy, that could be a kind of DIVINE DISCONTENT. I had that too, so I moved on, which was the right decision for me.

I ended up traveling and moving far away; and that is where I met my husband. I didn't get married until I was 30 years old, but I am so glad that my DH is a believer. We have both grown over the years; and now we pray together all the time, and that is very comforting to me. GOD is blessing us all the time. Will pray for you that the LORD will give you a clear direction in your life very soon. :hug:


THANKS, BARGOO ~ nice to hear from you ... hope all is well; still praying for you ... :hug:


KAREN ~ PTL -- such good news about your son & GF too; and that poem is so cute and true for sure ... :)

Rosebud how is your cars health? Last it was not so good....just wondering

Karen.thanks for the poem :) i really liked it :)

Mickey,I agree w/Bootsie..that's something you have to pray about seems like you are unsure about a lot of things and need some answers and the lord is the only one that can give them to you.I wish you all the best :)

Thank you for the link. I appreciate it!

BOOTSIE ~ ya, it's really, truly, finally fixed ... I mentioned it a couple of posts back in the GOOD NEWS REPORT. :lol: DH actually helped the young mechanics find the cause -- it was exhaust fumes; a connection had come undone and they clamped it for us. Haven't smelled anything since; we hope that will be the last of that. That was very dangerous for us and went on way too long. I mentioned to DH that I want that checked on a regular basis from now on, as NIKO and I got sick from it more than I care to recall.

THANKS for all your prayers; they were very needed and very appreciated too!!! :hug:

Just went to a BQ Party and it was really nice. Glad your car is well Rosebud.
Still having trouble walking but I am getting there. Seems worse at night and have way ok after I get going in the morning, just feel like I could use a grease job, on all my bone joints, in my right hip.

I went down stairs to listen to church this morning. They have stopped cowboy church on my radio , well the TV will not work! So I thought maybe I can find something on the internet , well came across this :

http://www.bigbendcowboychurch.com/m...?topicID=9284&

The church is located at Alpine Texas, just a hop from where my daughter has made her home.
Love it, and with my dial up it takes a while but loved the sermons.

That's great Bootsie,you are trying to walk :) stay w/it !!!!when i first started to walk,i could only go a block and would just walk circles in my drive way.But now I'm able to walk around the track :) It's so pleasant.I pray and talk to God while walking in the early morning.Just a very peaceful time.
I love to listen to sermons on the IE when i can't get to church.Most of all the big churches are on line now.I've had to bookmark this thread cause i keep losing it :D


Edit:when i had trouble walking, Dr. told me to take a Tylenol or aleve about 30 minutes before starting..saying it would help my joints :)

HI LADIES ~ :)

Angie is off at a yoga class right now, giving me time to catch up here :carrot: We went to church last night, knowing it was going to be a nice morning here we skipped our usual 8am service so we could walk at the beach and get breakfast at the beach cafe. The dogs really love the 4 mile walk too :) A lot of surfers out there this morning.

I am still working up in Beverly Hills....so blessed to have work but the 200+ mile commute does take it's toll on this old guy :D At least my brother in law and I share driving.

Angie starts back to school tomorrow, the students start back on Thursday. This makes my life much harder :D it is so nice when she is home on vacations because i don't have to do anything really...she takes care of everything. I do still jump in and vacuum and do my drywall laundry but she has the meals pretty well done. Well, except for Thursday...that is my day since she teaches yoga at church. During the school year I will have to cook at least 2 nights a week...I think I can handle that ;)

ONAMI ~ have you tried any of the "good" glucosamine/chondroitin products? I can't swear by them but when I was having some joint issues training for a marathon a while back it sure seemed to help...maybe a placebo thing for me :D

BOOTSIE ~ I listened to the cowboy church link for a while...good stuff. Our sermons are on Facebook...I re-watched most of last nights sermon today when we got home from our walk. My mind wanders sometimes during the sermon ;) there was something I needed to look up that Pastor said. See my above post to OnaMi on the glucosamine/chondroitin.

KAREN ~Great news on the kids finding work :carrot: I know you are a happy mom/grandma right now :hug:

BOOTS ~ Teaching...working for that PHD AND 3 kids under 5!!!? WOW!! I will pray for you :D

FRIDAYANGEL ~We are here to boost your efforts :)

GYPSYWOMAN and MATILDA ~ hello :)

ROSEBUD ~ :carrot: FINALLY :carrot: some good news on the car!! Let's all pray it runs forever now!! That is a really great post on your changes and menu...awesome :hug: I hope you get some more time out at the lot before it starts getting cold.

MICKEYPND ~ Welcome :) You have come to a place where we are not here to judge you but we will give advice if you ask. Some of the things you mention does not make you a bad person....however...without going into detail, you may be in a situation that God does not want you to be in...for your own benefit. God lays out His laws for us in His Word so that we can live lives that are good for us :) Some of what you are feeling may be his conviction. Some of what you mention sounds very familiar to my young adult years...I sure would do things different if I could go back...well, knowing me maybe I wouldn't ;):D I am a slow learner. I can only share with you some of my past living caused some very sad circumstances that God did not want to happen. He will work all of it through your life just as he did mine. He is there for you to turn to....and so are we :hug:

Thanks EZMoney for the info on the Glucosamine products :)I bought those drinks once for Walgreen's in the small bottles but i guess the tablets would be more effective.I figured i have to drink a lot of those drinks for me to notice a different and they are expensive.
Oh..time for DH to go back to work.well..hope you guys enjoyed each other while she was off.How long before she retires? everything will be fine :hug: you can wing it for 2 day :)
Sorry bout the long commute..man..Thank God you have some help driving.

Bootsie,glad the Aleve is working for you.:) wow.. first milk has Colostrum and can't be used,very interesting.Thanks for posting that.That's great you'll have fresh milk before long.:)

Oh............................I feel 85 % better this morning! My husband has been having problems with leg cramps too. I told him yesterday I did not want him to have anything with diet sugar in it and see if he or I have leg cramps during the night and I figured that stuff was interfering with my progress in getting better. Both of us drink about a 1/2 gallon or more of diet peach tea a day. Neither one of us had cramps in our legs last night, but he said he felt like walking dead this morning. He fell last Thursday and did not tell me because we had to go pick peaches, he has a big old bruise above his knee said he tripped over a pallet at the store. Could not get him to take any Aleve said it don't do a thing for him. Does me so far! Plus taking vitamins for my muscles I believe helps. I know I am going to gain but I just feel like I need to get me back to me before I even think of loosing ,plus look at the muscle strength, I will have to loose the added baggage I just don't need. If I could just hear from my cuz now and stop worrying about him, gonna call this morning around 11:30 and see if he is alright, he should be up and going by then.

thanks for all the kind words! I know I need to change, and I do believe God is giving me this sign!

I feel loads better.. this is going to be hard though, living on my own. I've always been dependent on someone in my life. But God doesn't give us more than we can handle, I just have to remember this.

Mickey,lean on Jesus.Take him as your everything.He's not gonna let his children go hungry.Step out on faith.:)
I live alone and am just as happy as i can be.Never married and my life is good.like i told you in the PM :)

What a day but i do feel better than I have and think I am on my way to recovery. I feel so bad my husband fell at the store last Thursday and did not tell me until last night. He said he did not want to tell me because I felt so bad but since I was feeling better he decided to show me his battle scar above his knee.

Chickens was somewhat easier to get in tonight, can't get over one of my 4 month old ones is laying. It is the one that looks like a black speckled road runner and they act like roadrunners too! The egg is no bigger than a bird egg but its an egg, she was in her box tonight trying to lay another one!

Mickey, will be praying for you. Please come back when you can.

:wave: We having :sunny: weather today with a nice breeze; good thing or it would be in the 90's like they forcasted. We were gonna go fishing & blueberry picking with some friends but that had to be postponed as the transmission went in their van.

Our car is running well, but we do have to put a new bearing on our fan belt mechanism (it is squeaking); DH wants to have that fixed before our trip and a mechanic friend (who is laid off right now) is gonna show him how to fix it. Our plywood plant is still shut down and only the maintenance staff have work right now. It is tuff times for a lot of people and some are thinking of moving away.

We may go up to our lot tomorrow to cut the grass if the weather is nice; it is supposed to be a bit cooler -- and that would be perfect for yard work. I am trying to get everything ready for our holidays this week, so that we can just hop in the car and go when my Dad & SM get back from out west.

MICKEY ~ sending up prayers for strength and direction ... :hug:

BOOTSIE ~ ya, that is young for a chicken to lay, but she may be a special one; not sure, but if I am recalling correctly, they did start laying by late summer & early fall (about six months). Glad to hear that you and David are on the mend ... :hug:

:wave: GARY ~ good to have someone to share the driving with! :)

ONAMI ~ my step-mother swears by the glucosamine products.


DH is having a ball zooming around on his electric bike; think this is his most favorite toy yet. One of his friends tried it out and is now going to buy one too. :lol: Have a great week everyone ... Rosebud :flow1:

Rosebud, is it time to plant tulips you think? Do I dig up last year tulips and separate them or just let them act on their own?

Everyone I know around here is falling or some accident is happening to them.
I guess we can all get together and talk about our akes and pains.
I been checking them bikes out and those 3 wheel dudes are so high! I might like the 2 wheel there is one at Walmart and see how I like it. Does he have the no flat tires for his bike? There is no use in me getting one if I cannot get that around here.

BOOTSIE ~ yes, you do plant the tulip bulbs in the fall; and they will come up in the spring. I don't think you have to separate them for a few years, as far as I know. It should tell you on the package when to plant the bulbs, but I think I planted mine last October. I did notice some extra bulbets in the bed when I was planting my other perennials, so and I just replanted them at the time. Maybe they will all come up in the spring, so we'll see what we get next year.

DH doesn't know if his bike has special tires or not; we will have to look at the manual, but we did notice that the tires seem extra thick compared to regular bike tires. From what we have learned so far, there are three electric bicycle styles: one is a folding, compact one (not the ones we have). DH's is in the middle range ($700.00 regular price) with two batteries; it goes a little slower but quick enuff for him. It can even go up our steepest hills in our area and that save his legs.

Then there is the higher priced one with three batteries that goes a bit faster; here it costs around $1000.00 regular price. All of these bikes come on sale 3 or 4 times throughout the season and again at the end; but DH bought his second-hand from a man who had bad health (knee & heart) so he couldn't use it anymore.


NOTE: I put a special request in the Prayer Warrior's thread; it is very urgent ... thanks!

The cheapest I came across is Walmart close to 400 for a two wheel and only one battery I believe. But the one I want cost close to 1800 dollars, which is a might steep for my pocket. I bet y'all have some steep hills in your part of the country, not many around here but a few, but nothing compared to where my daughter lives, just look straight up and you might see the top and made mainly of rock! But oh so beautiful, God really did some art there. I love it but hubbie likes central Texas, farm land.

BOOTSIE ~ then maybe get one in the middle range: around $750 - 1000.00. DH loves his and is quite happy with it even though it is not the most expensive one out there.


We had a nice :sunny: day and GOD's weather Angels brought in some clouds to keep it at a good temperature for us; it is cooling down quite a bit tonight though. I hope this stays as the weather people were predicting in the 90's this week: I really, really hope they are mistaken. I am sending up extra weather prayers this week just in case ... :lol:

Hope you are all having a good week for the last of August people; and do take good care ... and don't forget to PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME, OK??? :D

Hi gals!

hello, everyone!

today was such a wonderful day here. The sun was shinning and the weather was perfect. I love fall.
Although, the leaves are changing colors rather early this early, or have I never been as observant in previous years??
Either way what a great day today was.
:D

MICKEY ~ you are correct -- I just pointed that out to my DH yesterday while we were out for a drive. Some of the trees across the road from us are turning yellow already; and this does seem early to me too. I suppose it is possible that they do that every year; but it has been cooler here at night, and I can't help but think that might have something to do with it as well.

:wave: GARY ~ yeah, it's the weekend!!!

The cool weather is holding out today; we woke up to :rain: but that was needed here. We didn't get any blueberries this year becuz there just wasn't enuff rain this year overall. Our SIL checked in early August and there was none; and we checked a bit later thinking maybe they were just late, but no -- there was none to be had. I actually saw only 3 small berries on one bush and one on another. Maybe next year will be better; DH says it seems to go that way.

I like how we are having some cooler temps now; but for awhile there, it was so :hot: and dry for our area. My salad garden got fried one day; so I am not surprised that the heat and lack of water caused the lack of berries at our favorite spot. We went to check out a lake to take friends fishing but there is no public access anymore -- it has been taken over for a Ranger Camp and a Forest Research Center. It is getting harder to find any fish around here since they stopped stocking some years ago too. Guess we'll have to go hunting for some new places again; maybe we need a map ... :lol:

Made a pot of hardy vegetable-bean soup and added some dumplings for lunch today; DH loves them in the soup. Well, it's Friday fun night, so we'll likely have lean burgers or pita pizza, I guess (I have salad with mine). We had baked fish & sweet potato fries last night with salad & sliced tomatoes. We are trying to eat fish more often these days too.

:wave: to all our friends & MIA's -- KAREN, WILMA, EVE, DEE, RONNI, BOOTSIE, ONAMI, MATILDA, FRIDAY, BOOTS, GYPSY, and others (sorry if I missed anyone). Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ... Rosebud :flow1:

HI GALS ~ :)

Hanging out here with the computer, nice and quiet here but in about 30 minutes I will take the mutts from their crates and send them in on Angie for her good morning wake-up :D...actually, I bet the dogs are awake in the gym and Angie is just laying in bed, she is up by 5 week-days now with school back on and gets the dogs out for 3 miles...so, Sunday I take it easy on her ;)

We will go to church this morning :carrot: Today we will stay after service to help organize the 911 Remembrance celebration we will have the week after next.

My brother hooked me up with 60,000+ songs from a friends "hard drive?"...anyway, I leave that up to Angie and him...but we went to Staples to get a new hard drive to load the songs onto....:carrot: Angie will do that today...hope it all works out. I have over 5,000 songs on my ipod but who can't use more music right? ;)

Work has been a blessing for the $$$ as usual but the drive of 220 miles each day wears me down...at least my brother in law can share. My poor brother, same company, is on a different project that is a little further away...however, our boss said he can get an apartment there if he wants to since he may be there over a year....easy for work but stinks not coming home too...(reminder that we are blessed! :))

I sent out a text to "my people" to see if they wanted an end of summer BBQ here next week-end and got about 10 responses YES in less than 5 minutes...so, we their kids we have over 20 already...and that is just my side of the family...Angie isn't sure yet if she wants to invite her side yet....we all get along fabulously as a combined family but...it is a lot of people all at once, so sometimes we split them up for our own peace of mind ;)

I was able to hire one of my guys back on last week for a few weeks...he brought me a giant bag of avocados...a little bit HEAVEN for Angie :)

I might be up a bit on Monday as we went to the local Italian place on Friday night where we can sit outside with the dogs...pizza for me....then last night we went to our favorite Mexican spot and I had cheese enchiladas with an add on taco....I brought 1 enchilada and 1/2 the rice and beans home for todays lunch....and of course a few beers....:dizzy:

Stay blessed :hug:

:wave: HI EVERYONE ~ we had a busy weekend -- and oh, the temps have soared -- as far up as in the mid-nineties ... :yikes: The last two days have been way too :hot: :hot: :hot: for me ...

We had a new part put on our car on Thursday afternoon to stop some squeaking; went hunting for blueberries & fish on Friday -- didn't find any, but we had a nice drive. Saturday night, we had company: friends came by for a visit.

We went up to visit my Dad and SM Sunday aft -- had a nice visit and dinner; and then we had a lovely bonfire outside! My Dad made a nice fire pit with stones all around it; looks really nice so we are gonna do one at our place too! We haven't had a bonfire since we lived at our last place; sure missed them. My Dad showed us this neat trick that if you toss a penny into the fire that the copper heats up and puts out blue & green flames ... very, very pretty ...

Am so glad that both my Dad & SM are feeling much better now; he had been so sick this summer, esp after his youngest brother passed away (Tom S). This year has been such a stressful one for them with lots of change. It is so nice to see them able to relax and rest; so that they can recupe their health again.


GARY ~ that fella bringing the avocados -- smart man: very nice of him too; I bet he was so very grateful to have work again too ... ;) That end of summer BBQ sounds like a fab idea; hope you all have a great time!

BOOTSIE ~ glad that you found something that you like; let us know how things go for you. May the Father shine great blessings upon you today too!


Hope you all have a wonderful week coming up; the kiddies should be going back to school here pretty soon too. Take good care and MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL RICHLY! Time for tea ... Rosebud :flow1:

BTW, I prayed for clouds this AM, and within the hour, GOD sent some our way; that happens a lot these days -- answered prayers, I mean ... PTL!

*****************************************

I started a new SEPTEMBER thread -- please join us there ...

Here's a link ...http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/fait...er-thread.html


*****************************************