Thiin- I freeze evreything! I prepare homemade pasta sauses with fresh veggies and freese them. I make WW LAsagna or stuffed shells and freeze them, chicken and rice...

I buy fresh organic fruit and freeze them, even grapes. They make a great snack on their own, any I always have some frozen fruit in my protein shakes to add fiber.

Gosh, it is so hot and humid today. I feel like I am slowly melting away..lol. I am sorry I am still not able to do individual replies yet but I am definitely reading all the posts. Today is a busy day. I went to a daylilies farm this morning, not that I needed more daylilies now but dh wanted me to support the local daylilies farm plus this farm is run by our landscaper's mother. I went to get some more daylilies for the other side of the yard and no daylilies for me for a while :)

After lunch, Jess and I went to pick out some gifts for my next door neighbor whose birthday is tomorrow. We went to Bath and Body Works for some nice bath bath gel, shower gel, aromatherapy candle and some very wonderful smelling lotion. Hmmm...I wish I can keep all those because I am starting to like them...lol. Then, we went to Belk departmental store to get her a pair of earrings and lastly Publix to get her a birthday card. Gosh, it is hard to get presents for other people, I am just not good at it but hopefully I didn't do too bad.

I still have the bathrooms to clean, clothes to iron and later in the evening, I will have to plan the daylilies in the ground. They are just gorgeous! Fortunately, I do not have to cook today as I made a crockpot chicken (own experiment) last night and still have lots of leftovers to last for dinner. Tomorrow, the painter will come paint our house and it should lasts about 2 days. I am so excited to see the new paints. The Interior designer of Ethan Allen helped me picked out those colors and Jess will get her "new" room painted as well. We chose a nice lavender color for her room with an accent wall with darker shade lavender. She approved of the colors, so that is good...lol. After this weekend, dh and I will transition her to her new room on the other side of the house while her old room will be a nursery room for Junior. I am kind of sad so this is a transition for me as well :( I just realized that I have 2 months left before Jr arrives and who knows 1 1/2 months if he comes early. I have not done anything to get ready and I better get started.

My menu today :

Breakfast : Fried egg and cheese sandwich, 1 cup of soymilk and 1 small slice of cantelope.

Snack : None.

Lunch : Crockpot chicken with spices and veggies, basmati/wild rice pilaf and some green beans.

Snack : A small scoop of ice-cream in a small ice-cream cone. It was so hot so Jess and I decided to fix ourselves an ice-cream cone.

Dinner : Crockpot chicken, pasta and mixed green salad.

Snack : A cup of soymilk or if I am hungry, 1 sliced of ww bread with peanut butter.

Talitha, I am in Fayetteville, Fayette County. Glad to see you back!! The rest of the gang, have a good day!!

Julia

Hi gals,
Well, I've totally finished my afghan. I finished the last of the knotting of the fringe this afternoon and took a pix. of it so you could see it. I hope it shows up enough in the tiny picture that is attached. Monet, this picture is 49.5 kb!!! Just under the wire.

I walked this morning, like you did Monet. It was hot and humid, but I was determined to get those two miles in. I have to go to the grocery store and will get some more steps in. Didn't get too many just sitting and knotting.

Susan--I am so impressed with how you are doing. As I said earlier, you've last almost 30% toward your goal.

Monet--You won't be eating ANY grains? Just meat and veggies? Is that for forever? I thought whole grains, especially wheat, had some good oils in them.

I'll post more later and get in more replies.

Flying by again...just got in from picking the garden. Anyone want some cucumbers? I have TONS. I got a lot of cherry tomatoes, and noticed a few big tomatoes getting ripe! Woo hoo!

THIN: Berries can be frozen easily...you should not even wash them first. I have blueberry bushes, and I just pick them, pop them into zip lock bags and freeze them. When I go to use them, I wash them. If you don't wash them until go to use them, they freeze individually. I have always heard that buying frozen veggies is good, because they bring them in from the field, wash them, and freeze them, whereas, what you buy in the grocery store has been picked days, maybe even weeks, before you purchase it. That said, I know you can chop up tomatoes and freeze them, and bell peppers do very well chopped and frozen. You can just take out what you need to add to recipes. I will mix up several squash casseroles at a time and freeze what I don't need before I bake it. ( of course the squash is already cooked some...) My mother in law always had a spectacular garden (my father in law was a farmer!) and she froze all their veggies for the year. She would par boil them (basically put them into boiling water for a minute and take them out) and freeze them. She did lima beans, peas, green beans, tomatoes, and okra that way. She also froze collards, but usually cooked them almost done then put them into containers. Does that help? Another thing that would help you fix healthy meals quickly would be a pressure cooker. I can fix a stew beef to mouth melting tenderness in about 15 minutes. Meatballs in sauce take about 5 minutes. I fixed a 2 pound pork loin roast with rosemary and thyme yesterday in 15 minutes. Chicken breasts, boneless and frozen, cook in about 12 minutes. I highly recommend the Fagor Splendid line. They are very easy to use, totally safe, and I have had loads of fun with mine. I can fix refried beans from dry pintos to the table in less than an hour!

KENG: So, if we have a get together of all the Atlanta gals, are you going to come? We will wait until you are ready to venture out after junior arrives. AND, we can choose a place to the south, so it will be easier for you. Or maybe we ought to pick a place like that Malaysian restaurant on Buford Hwy! :s:

GATOR: The afghan is lovely. Doesn't it feel good to finish it? I started one about 27 years ago for my parents..it was granny squares using colors to match my mom's sofa. Both my parents, and the sofa are gone now...and I still have not finished it. In fact, I forgot how to do the granny squares. So I bought a book, and it helped some, but something is different in the way I am doing them now, and how I did the squares back 27 years ago..and its not just tension or size. :shrug: A friend of mine who crochets keeps promising to look at it and tell me what she thinks... In the meantime, I am knitting! (another thing I suck at! :lol3: ) After about ten rows, I finally got up the nerve to try to purl and figured it out! As for the Rosedale diet, you don't eat grains for at least the first three weeks. Protein is limited, as he says if you over eat it, you will burn it like sugar, and store what you don't need. The whole diet is supposed to help your messed up system learn to burn fat again. Its aimed at folks with metabolic problems..especially those who can't seem to lose like you and I. If it works for me, you will have to try it.

Laurie: Thanks for the nice words. I actually have a motto that I have to remind myself to remember. For every person that I'm envious of, there's at least one person out there that's envious of something I have. So, I just have to remember that. ;)

So, here's a picture of me and my kids at Seabreeze on the Bobsleds, which is a wooden wild mouse type roller coaster (for those of you that play Roller Coaster Tycoon)

We finished up dinner a bit ago, and I sat and talked with Laura as she ate. She came in as we were finishing. We had soft tacos, organic whole wheat tortillas from Harry's Whole Foods of course, with lettuce, fresh tomatoes, organic lf sour cream, lf cheese, and mashed pinto beans, aka refried beans! I only ate one tortilla, and had a little meat on some beans. I ate a lot of lettuce. I had a snack of a handful of cashews, and a brown rice cake with almond butter.

Laura went to South Carolina after work with one of the guys she works with. We are about 1.25 hours from the border. They went to the fireworks store there and she spent probably about $100 on fireworks. The display in our cul-de-sac will be phenomenol! One of the ones she got is a cube about ten inches square and cost $23! She says that is her finale'.

TECH: Your sister may have lots of $$, but just as Laurie said, $$ shouldn't be the basis of your self worth, or happiness. Your house is historic and cute. You have made it a home. Your kids are going to grow up knowing they are loved, and will be well adjusted. You are happy. You don't NEED those things.. If your sister is judgemental, that is HER problem! Thanks for posting the pic! Your kids are so cute! So are you! :)

BOB: <<hugs>> Yep, it just the love boat around here... ;)

OH! And the best thing about tonight? Tom put the last ballister up tonight..the deck is DONE! ( it only took about a year! ) :dance:

OOoooh, we're quiet on the weekends here.

We went over to the small village near our house and went to the farmer's market. I wanted to get some home grown tomatoes but even though we got there by 9 they had already sold out. Bummer. And the collossal shrimp at $10.95 were also all gone. Double bummer. I don't want to have to get up on Sat. mornings to get there by 8!! Now I'll have to run to Costco to get their gigantic shrimp 8 per pound at $14. We are going to a cook out on Monday and I said I'd bring the shrimp and grilled veggies. I also let them know that I'm watching what I'm eating so they (actually it's my sister and her DH) are fixing salads, fruit, chicken, etc. So I should be good to go!

I weighed this morning out of curiosity. I've done really well this week, keeping within the parameters I set for myself, except for Wednesday. Also, I've gotten a lot of steps in this week. But---I haven't lost any weight. It's too soon be be on a plateau! Plateaus aren't supposed to happen until you've lost 10 pounds, not 2! Bummer.

We walked all around the village and looked at all the big houses owned by the millionaires. I have over 9000 steps already. It was hot and I felt very draggy, but I hope to get the 10000 steps in today. Probably will work in the yard today, late afternoon when it cools off a little, and pull lots of weeds.

BOB--Hope you are doing well. Only 2 1/2 more months till the Mighty Gatory beat up on UT in Gainesville. LOL

Monet--Enjoy your new deck.

Talitha--Hope you are feeling better this weekend. I also hope you get to spend some time with Monet. She probably can give you some good advice re. other things that are happening in your life beyond Sugar Busters. She knows the Guy who wrote a really good book giving good life advice!

Afternoon all!
 

Got up and went to weigh in this morning--down .5. Ugh, I guess it is better than not losing at all, but I'm ready to get off this plateau!!!! I'm leaving my signature the same because it doesn're reflect .5 so it will show a whole lb gone and I don't want to show it until it is gone!

I've got a quiet weekend planned. Which is fine since I will leave next weekend for NC and NYC. Still working on dejunking this house. For such a small house it is a really BIG job!


BOB--Sorry your week has been so rough. I hear you on the menapause stuff! They won't give me ANY hormones, so I've had to fight through. The first couple of weeks after my surgery I'd cry at the drop of a hat. Not fun--you have my sympathies. Changing meds is no fun--even when it might be better in the long run!

Gator--Sounds like you got a good walk in already this morning! I don't think Auburn plays either UF or UT this year. I think South Carolina has rotated into that spot this year.

Monet--Your dinner sounds delish! Keep everyone on the straight narrow at the Love Shack! So how is James' friend workin out?

Tech--What beautiful kiddies!!!!! Monet's advice is good--I don't think there is really anything I can add to that, so--what she said!:lol:

Keng--Ignore BOB. I'm not a nervous driver and I-75 terrifies me! :lol: That woman will get you into all kinds of trouble if you let her!

Talitha--I'm with you. I freeze everything too! I can only make spaghetti sauce by the stock pot full, so I make it a few times a year and freeze it in quart containers. Always handy because you can thaw it in the pot!

Thin--See my response to Talitha. Find what helps you to cook nutritious meals and not resort to the evil pizza!

Heart--glad to see the scale is on the way down!

Have a great OP day everyone!
Susan

BOB--Ya mean the BLUE skirt on the girl and the ORANGE (is that really orange?) shirt on the guy? Re Darth Visor, he has ALREADY made his mark on the conference. the UF -SC game should be interesting this year. We are going up to see it.

Fillise--No, we don't play y'all this year. But NEXT YEAR we get back into rotation with the Tigers. Think we have two years with AU. I always loved coming up to that game. We would stay at Callaway Gardens and drive up for the game. We always had to park in Timbuktu and never got a chance to appreciate the downtown of Auburn--except for that year we parked at your church, thanks to your generous offer. Hope we can meet you up there when we play at Auburn again.

We are going to New Orleans this year for the UF game in Baton Rouge against LSU. We are going on a Wednesday and will have a nice time in NO. One thing we are going to do is take a Segway tour of NO. The Segways are those people movers with two wheels that operate by gyroscopes. They are really fun to drive and ride and we are looking forward to that. I am already thinking ahead about resisting all the wonderful food in NO. I just love all that good stuff--jambalaya (white rice!), soft shelled crab (deep fried!), whatever etoufée (white flour and cheese), bread pudding with whiskey sauce (sugar, sugar, and sugar & white bread!!) and so on. If I am still on my plateau it will be easy to chuck it all!! No wonder Missy has problems with eating OP all the time.

We also are going up to SC to visit my DS and her DH the last week of July. My bil is the one who had the cancer. He is still having some problems--that cancer has affected him--and we want to go up to spend some time with them. We wil also drive up to the mts. for about 4 days to try to catch some cooler air. Then back to Greenville and then home. We will stay at an inn in the mts.--an inn that serves a candlelight dessert every night. Hmmm. Maybe if we have a late dinner at a restaurant somewhere we will get back too late for the dessert. Traveling is always a challenge to stay OP. Anyone have any good suggestions about how they handle traveling successfully?

Gotta go clean the kitchen.

Just finished dinner: meat balls on ww angel hair pasta ( I ate just a tiny bit..had no interest in the pasta for some reason...) stuffed eggplant slices (I posted the recipe a while back- they are yummy if you like eggplant!) salad and a diet coke.

James and his friend have gone to a movie, and Tom and I are going swimming.. ;) ;)

Laura is at work, as is her 'roommate' . Catch you all later!

GATOR: You are going to Greenville? How do you drive up there? Through Atlanta?

Monet--No, we go to Greenville up I95 and then over on I26. But just pray that the Mighty Gators get to the SEC championship game in Atlanta this year and we definitely will be up there. Then we can get together. We try to stay in the Virginia Highlands part of town at the Lamplighter Inn.

Food today:
Breakfast--1 scrambled egg, 1 WW toast with 1 tsp butter, 1 ugli fruit (eequivalent to a grapefruit)
Lunch--1 sandwich of lettuce, tomato and avocado (1/4 avocado) with lo cal mayo on 1/2 WW pita.
Dinner--4 oz. roasted chicken (breast only) with 1 very small lo carb potato roasted along with the chicken. 1 green salad, 15 cherries.

Monet--Is chicken or fish considered meat by Rosedale? Or is meat just beef and pork?

I roasted a bunch of veggies this afternoon--zucchini, yellow squash, red and orange peppers. Tomorrow I'll do eggplant and onion, and maybe carrot. I LOVE roasted veggies. We are taking them to a 4th cookout. Also bought 2 1/2 pounds of HUGE shrimp, about 7 per pound. They are like little lobsters. We'll grill them, too.

Have a nice evening, everyone.