Sunday, January 31, 2010

All over but the . . .

. . . melting : ) The snow seemed to be over today and everything started to thaw. Major roads were open and hubby got the driveway cleaned out. The kids used the day for one last hurrah! LOL

Middle dd snapped this pic of bird tracks, which suspiciously were joined by cat tracks. Hmmmmm . . . LOL

I know this is blurry, but it caught oldest son doing what he does best, even out in the snow!


The twins building their own snowman.


Finished product




Here is oldest son's master piece, he was the talk of the neighborhood!
Blessings, Beth Ann




Saturday, January 30, 2010

Winter wonderland menu's 1/30 - 2/5

Greetings from the frozen tundra formally know as the south - LOL Actually this unusual weather is a nice change and the kids made a new friend (literal), see pic at left : ) I crack myself up!

Any who, time to post this weeks leptin and lo-carb friendly menus. Here's a look at what my family is having for dinner:

Saturday: Spaghetti squash casserole w/ steamed cabbage

Sunday: Crock pot Swiss steak w/ mixed green beans

Monday: Tex-Mex fish w/broccoli and brown rice

Tuesday: Crock pot beef sirloin & beans casserole w/ Brussels sprouts

Wednesday: Dinner at Church w/bible study ~ this week the guys are grilling out!

Thursday: Baked chicken w/ green beans

Friday: Crock pot meatloaf w/ broccoli*

*Note: With the Leptin diet we eat predominately dark green veggies such as broccoli, green beans and Brussels sprouts. And remember, if eating rice count it as your carb and only eat about 1/4 cup!

I also wanted to share a recipe we tried last night and gave 5 stars, yes it's lo-carb : )

Shrimp and Broccoli Casserole

1lb. frozen broccoli
1lb. cooked shrimp
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
3 TBS. butter
3/4 c. half n' half
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 TBS. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 TBS. fresh lemon juice
TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 tsp. protein powder
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 c. jack cheese, shredded
1 TBS. butter

1. Zap broccoli in microwave for about 5 minutes, then set aside to cool.
2. Grease a large casserole dish with butter and add the shrimp.
3. In small saute pan cook onion and garlic in butter until golden.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining casserole ingredients. Stir in cooled onions and mix the sauce well. Pour over shrimp and add in broccoli to the baking dish. Mix well.
5. In a small dish, combine the protein and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the shrimp and broccoli. spread the jack cheese evenly oer the top of the casserole. Dot the top with the butter.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 350, uncovered or until the top is beginning to golden brown and cheese is thoroughly melted. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before serving. YUMMY

Serves 6
5g. carbs. - 20g. protein

Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, January 29, 2010

Snowing ~ again

So, OK, I have a guest photographer again and then some : ) As soon as the snow hit my middle dd ran outside with the camera. Then hubby took some pic's of the kids. Seems like snow is the great equalizer of kids and adults alike when it comes to fun. This is the most snow I have ever seen in the 8 years we have lived in middle TN. The kids love it!

Here is B with here annual snowball . . .

She is on her way inside to turn her snowball blue (shurg . . . I don't know why either).

B made this snow angel with in an hour of the snow starting. Looks like we are going to get some accumulation this time.


Here is a view of the road in front of our house (believe it or not there is a farm at the end of this road ~ can we say 'rural'?)


The bush across the street (I just report here)



Um, our neighbors house with his cat, Buddha-kitty, on the front porch. His other cat, Fat-face, is hiding under the chair.




Bird feeder outside my kitchen window. Can you see the snow falling?



Our screened in back deck looking out into the backyard




Pool cover is now full of . . . sludge?




The playground in our backyard




Hubby's camero. He took my Durango to work as the Sheriff Dept. is advising that only vehicles with 4x4 be out on the roads.




All four kids making a snow fort.
Blessings, Beth Ann












Kids, Knitting and pup

Our local library is on a card promotion and placing ad's in the paper and on-line. They took my kids picture to use in their campaign, here is the pic that appeared in the on-line paper : )





I finished another one of my eyelash scarves. I cannot believe how many people want one of these! My oldest son got this one : )


Here is the yarn, cool colors?


Here is the scarf, wish you could see the colors better. I am becoming known as the scarf lady : )

Finely, just wanted to include this pic of our new (maybe not so new now) pup, Levi. This was taken a couple months ago at the animal clinic before he came home. He's so cute isn't he? LOL
Blessings, Beth Ann




Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Spaghetti & Cocoa


Another blustery day here in middle TN. Did the library thing with the kids today, it's also a Tuesday thing too : ) Their doing a big library promotion for everyone in the county to get their cards. They took a promotional picture of my kids for the newspaper since we are regulars there.
I also went out for coffee with a friend this morning, that is aways a nice treat for a SAHM ~ adult company! LOL Same friend gifted me with a couple of spaghetti squash. We love these but they are a bit pricey for us, so was a nice surprise. I have them in the oven baking now and thought I would share my favorite spaghetti squash recipe with ya all:
SPAGHETTI SQUASH CASSEROLE
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. ground beef
1 TBS. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can ro=tel tomatoes
1tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
salt & pepper to taste
1 c. whole grain bread crumbs
Cut squash in half lengthwise.
Scoop out seeds.
Place halves cut side down in baking pan, adding 1 TBS. water to pan.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for and hour or until soft.
Brown meat.
Add oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until clear.
Add tomatoes and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid is gone.
Add seasonings.
Using fork, scoop out spaghetti strands from squash and add to meat.
Add bread crumbs.
Pour into casserole.
Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes.
Serves 4
*Make this your own, use sausage instead of beef and try adding some cheese to the top!
I also made some hot cocoa mix to keep in the pantry for the kids. This is great since it has been so brusque outside recently. Here is my recipe:
Pantry Hot Cocoa Mix
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Mix well and keep in airtight container ~ makes 16 one cup servings
To serve: Place 1 TBS. of the dry mix into the bottom of a nug. Slowly, while stirring, pour in about 1/2 cup of hot water. Stir it well to disperse lumps. Pour 1/4 cup half n' half into the mug: then finish filling the mug with hot water. YUM
Hope this brings some fun fabulous ideas to your winter week!
Blessings, Beth Ann

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Menu time


Menu time, menu time, open it up and see whats inside! LOL OK, I confess I got that from a kids TV show and it should read present time : ) Here is a look at this weeks leptin/lo-carb dinner menu for my family:
Saturday: Taco salad (didn't make yesterday)
Sunday: Ham & Swiss chicken breast with broccoli
Monday: Stuffed cabbage rolls w/brown rice
Tuesday: Grilled chicken breast w/green beans
Wednesday: Church potluck (I'm bringing a huge salad)
Thursday: Meat loaf w/mixed green & yellow beans
Friday: Shrimp and broccoli casserole
Yesterday we went into the 'city' for our shopping since it was a bi-weekly payday and I did find many deals on meat. I feel I was able to pick up just about all our needs for the next two weeks except for paper products and a few lunch items. I also got so good reduced deals here in town on some chicken breast and fruit :) Remember, fruit is a carb! I don't buy much and when I do, the kids help make sure it doesn't stick around very long. I found four marked down navel oranges yesterday for 79 cents! Just perfect for the kids lunch that day! However I was gifted with about 10lbs. of very ripe banana's yesterday as well : 0 We got them peeled and into one of the chest freezers, but still . . . guess we won't have to worry about banana bread or smoothies for a very long time!
Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, January 22, 2010

Knit fit


Here it is, a Friday again : ) I am blessed to say it has been a remarkably boring week ~ yeah! LOL The only excitement has been the weather around here. Pretty warm for this time of year, which has brought some torrential rain and caused flash flooding and even a tornado about 60 miles from us. Crazy since like a week or so a go we were in the single digits!
So . . . . took a break from building our ark (ran out of gopher wood anyway) and went into the 'city' this morning and picked up some of that fancy yarn I'm so in love with. I have been knitting bags and purses since I ran out of the fancy stuff last time. One of the ladies at church owns an antique mall and likes to feature local 'artist' at her store. She has asked me a couple of times now if I would bring some of my fancy scarves in to sell. I never seem to get a stockpile, and the price is a bit prohibitive but I am considering it. I have found a good whole sale site on-line to try, for getting the yarn cheaper. I am actually praying on this as I don't want to go into a home business type thing that does not glorify God and is not His will. I do many crafts, cross stitch, plastic canvas, knit, crochet, etc., but this is the one (knitting) that I am feeling led to at this time as a full time thing. Anyway, you should see some of the yarn I picked up today! The kids are all begging me to make them something from it. I only bought enough for one fancy scarf (have you seen the price of fancy yarn?!) but may have to go back soon and see if there is any left : ) I will keep you posted and I do take yarn donations! LOL
Blessings, Beth Ann

Monday, January 18, 2010

Cats & Kids

Not much going on today, warm and sunny here in middle TN. I always feel blessed to live here : ) So the girls have been having a good time using my new camera to take pic's around the house and their favorite subject always seems to be the cats. So here are their pic's and my way of clearing off my camera : )

I have titled all these cat pic's: The evil ones (note that the girls seem overly fond of the flash button - LOL)

Here is Tina, the evil white narcoleptic cat


Here is Joe, on the cupboard again


Tina and Pumpkin, the young and the old : )


Bubbles, the paraplegic cat



Bubbles and Howard (how did that doxin get in there?), the handicapped and the lame ; )




Bubbles out of her pac n' play and sunning her buns!





The twins. I threw this one in just because their so stinkin' cute! LOL
OK, are you tired of cats with glowing eyes yet? Me either! LOL And I'm always happy to have my daughters help with the photography.
Blessings, Beth Ann







Saturday, January 16, 2010

Menu time

Didn't get this posted yesterday, crazy day, but did get up early and did my shopping. Had just enough gas to drive into the 'city' to shop at Kroger, only because we had a gift card. No screaming deals there, but some of their American Value (store) brand items are good deals. We are thinking that with some of our tax return money we will stock up on these items. We have a chest freezer in the basement and in our garage, so we can fill these for nights that are just to busy to cook something or plan ahead.

A quick update with our living the Leptin way diet: first I hate to call it that since we plan to make this a permanent lifestyle change. Second, no this is not just lo-card and yes if it was I do understand that we would gain our weight back as soon as we stopped and went back to eating the 'normal' way. We're not going back! To date (8 weeks) both hubby and I have lost 26 pounds. We have more energy, his snoring has improved and my chronic headaches have all but disappeared! This diet seems to really help diabetics. I had mentioned before my friend who lost 70lbs., cut her insulin in half and had her vision clear up all in the first 5 months. I have another friend who started this a little over a week ago and has already lost 4lbs. and her sugar is half what it has ever been! I encourage all to check out 'The Mastering Leptin' book, for better health!

That said, here is a look at our high protein leptin menu:

Saturday: Shrimp Alfredo with stir-fry vegetables and brown rice

Sunday: DH b-day : ) Pot roast with root vegetables, cake and ice cream (teeny-tiny amount for us)

Monday: Slow cooker Italian chicken and vegetables (payed forward from last week)

Tuesday: Mexican beef and bean soup

Wednesday: Church dinner and bible study (if nothing we can eat, leftovers at home)

Thursday: Beef and broccoli stir-fry with brown rice

Friday: Taco salad

There you have it, oh and the horseradish chicken last week was alright. I would have liked it hotter, but the kids . . . We had chicken a lot last week, was on special : ) When ever there are leftovers I find it is good to take the meat off the bone when it is cooled. Then you can use it up during the week in a variety of ways, such as on top of salads or even rice with some salsa and sour cream!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Birthday Randomness : )

Today's blog really has no rhyme or reason, just that today is my oldest son's 17Th birthday. He was up before me this morning and wanted his gifts ASAP! His enthusiasm made me nostalgic for when he was little, but it did lighten my heart and put not only a smile on my face but the face of everyone else this morning as well : )
Here is the birthday boy wearing a new glow - in - dark tee-shirt (what won't they think of next?)

Here are the special cookies the birthday boy requested for his TAG (teen advisory group) meeting at the library today.




Here is the birthday boy and his sister doing school work. Yes, much to their dismay, it was not declared a national holiday and there was still school work to do! LOL


Caught twin dd sitting on the grandma S stool and licking the cookie dough bowl clean : )



Twin dd took this pic of her cat (the handicapped one) Bubbles and include it.





And twin son wanted his picture taken too, so here he is: fresh from the backyard (56 today) and eating one of my world famous pineapple corn muffins!
There you have it, a pretty normal day even though I felt old remembering 17 years ago and 12 hours of labor! Saturday is DH b-day, so the party train just rolls on, and on, and on . . .
Blessings, Beth Ann






Tuesday, January 12, 2010

knitting

I spent a great deal of time today trying to photograph my knitting projects and failed miserably. I guess I won't quit my day job and give up my dreams of being a world famous photographer ; ) Anyway, I taught myself to knit about 4 months ago and here is what I have accomplished so far (minus a small scarf I crochet for twin son). Here is the best of my worst knitting pic's . . .

I made two eyelash scarfs, ice blue and a funky lavender with red and yellow 'eyelashes'.

I just finished a knitted bag, with 3 different stitches.


Wish you could see the detail of these scarves better. It is really interesting how the 'eyelashes' are part of the yarn. They are multicolored threads wrapped around the yarn and protrude like eyelashes when knitted, cool huh? They have a feathery feel about them.


One more shot of my bag, might make a few of these in different colors and use them instead of store bought gift bags.
My next project is going to be a couple more eyelash scarves for friends, then a crocheted (taught myself that too) baby afghan for new grand baby. Then the older kids found a knitting book for Harry Potter and want 'house' scarves in their fave colors. So will tackle that by next fall - LOL
Blessings, Beth Ann



Saturday, January 09, 2010

Menu and more


A little slow getting this weeks lo-carb/leptin menu posted but here it goes:
Saturday: Crocpot chicken in horseradish sauce w/ broccoli and brown rice* (payed forward as unused meal from last week)
Sunday: German unpotato soup w/salad
Monday: Italian chicken and vegetables
Tuesday: Southwest BBQ Beef w/green beans
Wednesday: Church dinner and bible study (if nothing I can eat, have leftover soup at home)
Thursday: Baked chicken with mixed vegetables
Friday: Camping chili w/salad
I did my weekly shopping today as well and was quit impressed with my total, $83.09 form my $100 budget! I was even going to include a pic of the receipts to prove what a savvy shopper I am - LOL That included a couple of extras such as cake mix,frosting and ice cream for two birthdays this week and some school supplies! I also picked up a couple of rolls of Christmas wrap for 30 cents each at our Dollar General Market. Then I realized I had forgotten about 5 things from my list - bummer : ( LOL Think God is telling me to watch that pride thing? Me too! Will let you know how the horseradish chicken turns out.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, January 08, 2010

Winter in TN.

Greetings from balmy middle TN. where the temp is hovering around 15 degrees : ) If this weather had hit about two weeks ago it would have made for a more traditional Christmas holiday around here. Now we are just sitting here freezing our yahoo's off! Our town has been snowed in for the past two days and that is such a joke for those of us from the north : ) But truly it's for the best since the roads are atrocious as there are so many hills,slopes. hallows and foothills. I believe our county only has one snow plow and that is reserved for the main roads. So with so many things in the south, we just try to enjoy ourselves in this slower paced life :)

Today I have a guest photographer for my blog. Middle dd wanted to take my Christmas camera and capture winter on our street. Being a great home school mom I said sure! Next thing you know she will want her own blog! LOL

Here she is, B and her cat Pumpkin, your guest photographer : )


The road in front of our house

Our front yard


Our front walkway out to the road




This is hard to figure out without some help, it's our pool cover : )




The playground in our backyard







The roof of our garage



B's other cat, Tina, waiting to be let in from the pool deck.
I'm sure you can tell from the photo's that it isn't a terrible amount of snow, especially if your from up north, but for us it's enough. Enough to remind us all of God's awesome goodness and his desire for us all to slow down and to rejoice in all his greatness, including snow.
Blessings, Beth Ann and dd Bre