happy new year!! I am back. Just really tired. and a few pounds heavier. Will try to stop by tomorrow!

HI LADIES ~ not much going on around here today; very, very cold outside; but, once again, we were blessed with gorgeous sunshine for most of the day. Just did stuff around the house today, keeping it light as my feet and legs were a bit tired after doing a lot yesterday. Oh well, one day on and one day off, is a good balance for me.

HI VAL ~ HAPPY NEW YEAR to you too!It's so nice to see you back. Don't worry about a few pounds; once you get back to work, I'm sure they will fall off with how busy you are ...

HEY PURPLE ~ probably a good idea that you stayed home; as you wouldn't want to spread that cold around to others either. Wow, you stand on your vibrating machine for 30 minutes; that's pretty good, I'd say. I'd probably lose my balance after about 10 minutes or so.

Yah, I am going to bake some fruit-bran muffins tomorrow; enuff to put some in the freezer too. I have some ripe bananas that I want to use up. Will likely add some prunes in mine too, as I like the rich flavor they add too. I usually cut up one prune for each muffin. I really like to have muffins for a snack becuz I don't overeat them; I am quite satisfied with one with a cup of coffee or tea. I make them only medium in size and low-fat as well.

In our country, most people have top loading washing machines and the front-loading ones are mega-expensive here: the opposite of the UK. How odd is that? I find the top-loading ones better for me, as they are easier on my back (the bending up and down is hard on my back with Spina-Bifida). I only do two loads in one day to spread it out, and I have a large folding wooden rack that I hang undies and socks on and let them air dry. That preserves the elastic in them and saves on using the dryer too.

Our dryer drum is so large that it can hold two loads at once; so that saves in power as well. Most times, I only have to run it once; and I asked DH to arrange it so that the heat stays in the house, so now we get double-duty from the heat: it heats the clothes first, then the house too!

Well, that's all the news from here; take good care ladies ROSEBUD

Guess who . . .

The Twelve Days of Christmas brough me the same stupid, nasty gift everyday -- no Internet Connection. Eastlink Cable (my provider) did call and apologize a couple of times about the lengthy delay in getting things reconnected but they haven't yet offered a rebate for the time I was 'netless'.

We have had some really nasty storms over the last week and a half and there's another one coming tonight/tomorrow apparently. I'm just thanking my lucky stars that the only thing that I lost was my internet because there have been some real horror stories about people without power and heat for lengthy periods.

Anyway, I see that you got things going without me and I really hope I don't go missing again. Haven't had a chance to read up on the things I've missed yet, but hope to get to that tomorrow.

In the meantime, big for everybody and I'll see you all tomorrow.

HI MEOWEE ~ so glad you finally got back on the net and came back to join us again; we were starting to get very concerned as to what happened to you. I had done some research and found that your area had some bad storms; so figured that was the culprit again, at least we hoped that was the problem.

Hope you had a nice Christmas and New Years, despite all that happening. At least you got your hydro back on; I had heard some people had no hydro and no heat ... poor folks: winter is not the time you want to lose the power source that also runs your heat source.

HEY PURPLE ~ Sorry that your Dad has to go on insulin needles; but hopefully they will help him feel better and balance his sugars for him. I'm am so fortunate that the Metformin combined with healthier eating is keeping my sugar levels in check for me. Thank goodness that sweet stuff is not a big problem for me and I am able to eat most carbs in measured amounts now.

It probably also helps that I eat whole grain breads, buns, and crackers most of the time. When I make my muffins, I use mostly whole wheat flour and add some bran to that as well. My biggest problem has been snacking; tried really hard to limit that this year.

Went to town to pick up the weekly perishables; got some strawberries, pineapple, bananas, and oranges plus a bit of meat, veggies, and bread for DH. Got some walking in and my feet and legs can really feel it now; I always pay for it later, and of course, the cold temps don't help much either.

I made salisbury steak patties with mushrooms and onions; plus we had some leftover veggies and a measured amount of red potato (I had about 1/2 cup). I take more veggies and that fills me up. We had a mix of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, turnip, celery, corn, and onions (really mixed up two bunches of veggies and it all tasted great together). Just had some late dessert tonight I had some CHOCO-BANANA FREEZE; yummy! I measured about 1/4 cup per container, which was about one banana per serving. I will try making some plain banana freeze with ripe bananas for a change for the next batch, although I do love the chocolate one.

Well, that's all the news for now from here. NIKO is bugging to go outside right now. Hi to VAL and NUMPSTER: your work-weeks are almost half over now. Take good care ... ROSEBUD

Thanks for the support ladies! I joined a weight loss competition at work with a friend and our weigh in is tomorrow.

Purple - did your dad just 'decide' to go on insulin? I ask because my mother is type 2 diabetic... and she should be on insulin because the drug she is currently on is hard on her heart (she has family history of heart problems). but all I can do is mention to her that her insulin needles are smaller than my needles and I would really hope she would chose to go on the insulin to protect her life. I dont know what more I could do.

Rosebud what did your husband do to keep your dryer heat in your home? Did you two have to seal your windows for the winter to keep condensation at bay?

I am still trying to untangle myself from the financial black hole that is my brother. Because of his intense foot pain from working a standing job, he only works part time.. and he's getting used to the idea that i will take care of him so i let him know I will be paying myself and my own savings account first out of all my paycheques. I may be able tohelp him.. but he wont get the majority of my take home anymore.. its getting kind of ridiculous. I've been working this amazing job since october.. only to support him.

anyways. life goes on. my job is still awesome

HI LADIES ~ boy, I have been having trouble getting into this site; I kept getting a E-BULLETIN saying the server was too busy, try again later ... Well, I tried to post last night to ask someone something and got booted off with the same message and a couple of nights ago too; and lost both my posts.

Apparently, 3FC's Site was featured in a NEW YORK TIMES article and now the place is getting so many hits that the server can't keep up; this is the worst I have seen it. Anyways, I just was able to get in now, so better take advantage of it.

Poor MEOWEE loses her internet for 12 days and then just gets back and now we can't get in becuz the place is too busy; we just have to keep checking to see when the slow times are. I figured later at night would be best as many would be getting off to go to bed. I guess peak times are from 4 pm to 9 pm (after work hours).

HI VAL ~ TGIF nice to hear from you; glad you are taking some positive steps to help dear brother help himself. It's OK to help, but we shouldn't let someone bankrupt us; that isn't good for us or them. Good for you putting some money in savings each pay; you will never regret that decision. Pay all your bills pertaining to your house first, including mortgage & utilities (includes phone & internet); other necessary bills like car and house insurances; then savings; then food and the other household expenses like toiletries and cleaning supplies, gas for work, P/A (personal spending allowance), etc. Whatever is leftover after all that, can be put away for more savings for vacations and Christmas gifts. GOOD LUCK!

REGARDING THE DRYER ~ yes, we had a gaping hole around the vent pipe going under our house and the cold air pipe didn't have a special flap to stop intake of the outside cold air and it was making our kitchen very cold. I told DH that I could feel cold air coming in from around the washer & dryer and it turned out to be the dryer vent. So DH pulled it out; stuffed it with plastic bags and put a large piece of 1/4 plywood over it. Then we put a nylon stocking over the exhaust pipe at the bottom back of the dryer. Now about condensation: when I use the dryer now, we turn on our stove exhaust fan and the bathroom exhaust fan which is right next to our laundry center ~ this help take the excess moist air out of the house. We still get the heat, but the fans circulate it outside. Our furnace doesn't come on when the dryer is on now. We do have new windows in this house so condensation isn't a problem really.

HI PURPLE ~ SALSIBURY STEAK PATTIES are meat patties I make from X-tra lean hamburger; I put about a tbl of natural bran and 2 tbl ground oats in mine; and mix with a fork with some seasonings like garlic and onion powder, and a small amount of salt & pepper; OR 1 tbl onion soup mix which is really nice. Form into 2 oz patties: I like these better than the larger ones becuz they cook faster. My SM likes to put chopped onions in hers, but I always cook them with sliced onions (just happened to have some fresh mushrooms in the fridge so I tossed them in too); these are nice with sliced tomato and a new potato and coleslaw. One of my Dad's favorite things to eat, and DH loves them too becuz he has problems with his teeth. They only takes a few minutes to make so it's worth it to make them so happy; and hey, I love them too!

CREOLE PATTIES ~ My grandmother (who was also Irish) made something called CREOLE PATTIES which are the same patties as above only with more oats and 1 egg (which I just omit now) and some ground sage with salt & pepper & 1 tsp garlic powder combined with the lean meat (12-16 oz) and formed into patties cooked with chopped onions; when browned, add a large tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer until patties are cooked through (about 30 mintues). This is really nice served with mash potatoes, corn and green beans and coleslaw. My mother passed this recipe down to us from her mother.

I really like the vanilla yogurt I picked up; it has no sugar or sweetener in it but the vanillas sure makes it takes like it does. How interesting to notice how much the smell of a food makes it seem sweeter. I mixed in some raspberries that I had thawed and sprinkled with a bit of sweetener as the berries were very tart.

I talked to NUMPSTER last night for awhile; she has been very busy as usual; and she has a high-maintenance hubby (I mean, for attention), but he is a real sweety though, so he's worth it ... a real nice guy. And, he spoils her a lot too; picking up dinner for her after work, so she doesn't have to cook and stuff like that. Anyways, they are doing very well ...

Well, we had baked fish and chips tonight with coleslaw and sliced cukes and tomatoes; I was good and only had 12 chips and gave the rest to DH. I am doing much better in that regard. When I fill up on lots of veggies and/or salad, I don't miss them.

We took down all our inside decos and our tree today; it's all finished. Well, I better get this posted, as I don't want to lose it (I copied it, just in case this time too). Take good care, your friend ROSEBUD

HI LADIES ~ we are having another gorgeous sunny day, but as you have probably guessed, it is still pretty cold out there (woke up to -20C) although that is better than -30C's. DH took the outside decos down today; we waited until the sun had melted the snow and ice off them. They are now thawing out in our back porch.

YES, PURPLE ~ you are so right; after we put everything a way, I told DH the same thing ... it looks so bare in here; too bad we couldn't have the tree up longer. So we have decided that next year, we are gonna put our tree up earlier, maybe in November. I heard a young lady say that one day while at the store, that now that she is married and on her own, she puts her decos and tree up in November becuz she loves Christmas so much. I heard of one lady that keeps them up year-round, but it's her hobby to find Christmas decos and she has turned her house into a museum and gives tours now ...

Glad you liked those recipes: yes, hamburger is ground beef; some call it ground chuck too. Yes, you could use ground turkey no problem with that recipe. I buy Xtra-lean ground beef here and don't use fat the fry them; a spray in a non-stick pan will do. The xtra-lean meat here costs more, but so does the ground turkey, so not much difference to use it. Does your ground turkey have less fat in it? Not sure about that here??? Would have to inquire about that ...

I'll bet your mom gets some healthy ideas when they come to stay at your house for awhile. Eventually, some will rub off on them. You have done so well finding ways to create meals that taste good but are healthier. And yes, I do put some natural bran and ground oats into all my meatballs and patties, and you cannot even tell that they are in there. Hehe ...

I like the idea of the egg white and omitting the egg yolk in some meat mixtures; often now, I just leave that out and they are fine. For my meatloaf, I often add some tomato soup (1/2 can in the loaf and 1/2 goes on top) or 1/4 cup skim milk to give it a bit of moisture. If you want meatloaf that slices, then the egg white will help bind it better.

I made my banana bran muffins with flax seed today; I added 1/4 cup flax seed to the recipe I use for 18 muffins. PURPLE ~ You didn't mention how much you add to your recipe for FLAX MUFFINS.

BANANA-BRAN & FLAX MUFFINS (makes 18 medium muffins)

2 small bananas, mashed
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cooking molasses
1 + 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 + 1/2 cups natural bran for baking
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking POWDER
1 tsp baking SODA
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup pure apple juice (or prune juice)
(xtra: 6 sliced dried & pitted prunes for my 6 muffins)

Combine and pour 1/4 cup into each prepared muffin tin (for 18); and bake at 400F for about 18-20 minutes. I add sliced prunes to my 6 muffins just before baking. These are very tastey and sweet but only use 1/2 sugar.

You may find ways to save on sugar or fat in this recipe, but it does make 18 medium muffins, so it is already low-fat and low-sugar. You could try cutting down to 1/4 cup sugar to see how they are; and 2 tbl oil, they just might not be as moist as these ones are. DH just loves them and so do I ...

HI TO MEOWEE ~ hope that newest storm hasn't knocked off your hydro and internet again ...

HI TO VAL and NUMPSTER ~ yeah, it's FRIDAY and the weekends here again!!! However, I know how much you love your new job, VAL, and we're so glad for that!

I didn't do as well last year as I had hoped, so all I can do at this point; is look towards this new year and keep on going. My legs are really giving me problems, so I am trying to find different ways to burn more energy through other means. As soon as the snow melts, DH and I are going to go out to the lot where I can walk around better. Here, I am trying to do dancing and aerobics indoors; but I have to do them in the morning, as my legs and feet hurt too much later in the day now. We hope that by this spring, they will have recovered enuff, so that I can walk a bit better.

Well, that's all for now; take good care, your friend ROSEBUD

The latest storm was one of flickering lights . . . you know the kind of little power outages that last just long enough to make all the clocks start flashing at 12:00 It gave us a bit of everything in an ongoing cycle of snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by rain; then back to freezing rain and some more snow. Today has been sunny and calm, but very, very cold. Wonder what will come next?

Have a great evening everybody . . . hopefully we will get some degree of normalcy for all of us.

Good Morning . . .

Thanks for those recipes PURPLEORC. They sound good and I'm going to try a couple over the next few days.

According to the latest forecast, we are supposed to have a couple of days of mostly sunny weather with the next storm moving in tomorrow night sometime. The next one is going to bring some really cold weather with it though.

Have a great day, everybody.

THANKS PURPLE ~ those recipes look great, esp for someone who has to watch their sugar intake and wants to lower the fat too. Sadly, SPLENDA is very expensive here; over $8.00 for a bag or pouch of it. When my DH sees the price of some things like that and cereal, he gets quite upset now. One of my favorite cereals is BRAN BUDS but in the last month, they have jumped up to $7.00 for a small box.

So now, I just throw things in the basket and tell him to go for a walk, so he doesn't see it. Our LAMB here is very expensive too; always has been as is VEAL; and if we try to get BISON OR OSTRICH burgers here, they are very high too. Most people would find them too pricey; actually, all the food prices here have taken a huge jump recently, and no-one seems to know why. That isn't good, becuz it makes it hard on those with lower or fixed incomes like seniors.

People want to eat healthier, but the stores are counteracting by putting the prices up on the most healthy foods to capitalize on that. Our doctors often send people to the local dietician and she takes people right to the store and shows them what to buy and what to avoid. I heard her and some ladies having a discussion about the high prices of the leaner meats, and how to deal with that ~ she suggested they buy cheaper meats like LIVER and lean Pork to bring costs down, as well as to eat more MEATLESS meals with eggs, cheese, and/or beans ...

BTW ~ Flax meal and Flax seeds are different products in Canada: Flax Meal is GROUND UP Flax Seeds like a coarse flour. I see two of your recipes call for Flax Meal and don't include any flour in them. Without sugar and flour, they would be good for diabetics for sure; and Meowee would really appreciate them. I bought Flax Seed; might have trouble finding Flax Meal here now that we only have one grocery store now.

You are fortunate to have a Farmer's Market year round there; ours only runs from August to the end of October, and the stuff sells out so fast, it is unbelievable. They can hardly keep up demand on the fresh veggies and baked goodies. You need to make sure that you can be there as soon as it opens or you are outa luck ...

I also have a problem with snacking; I thought I'd have nuts for my snacks, but it is very difficult to stop eating them. A serving is a handful but next thing you know, you have downed half a small tin. I prefer to buy those small 100 gram or less bags of non-salted nuts from the grocery, and even them only on occasion. I am trying to halt all the munching this year, so that is on my tweaking list for 2009.

HI MEOWEE ~ glad you made it back in again; and aren't any worse for wear becuz of all the finicky weather you are getting out that way. I think you will really like those recipes that Purple posted as they hardly have any sugar or flour in them; let us know how they turn out.

HI TO VAL and NUMPSTER ~ hope you ladies are having a nice restful weekend ...

Well, we spend the morning dusting and vacuuming the floors and rugs, and putting away the outside Christmas decos; boy, that's good exercise for ya. Dh said he was working up a sweat; I swept the floors, and he did the vacuuming. He surely knows now how much work housechores are now.

Well, that's all from here for now; take good care ROSEBUD