Real Food?

I came across a website/blog this week that a mother wrote to tell her experiences of living with non processed foods for 100 days. Well, her 100 days is up and she is still going at it. Apparently, processed foods don't keep us full very long...duh! But they are so much more convenient and cheaper by far. However, I am intrigued.

Why am I intrigued you might ask? Because my blood sugars are crazy and my doctor has added two more pills to my daily routine. I know take 3 pills a day to control by blood sugar and they say my pancreas is rapidly losing function. So, I'm willing to try anything at this point. If it will make me feel full longer, I say "Why Not?!" I have lost 40 some odd pounds since November 2011. I walk around during work and afterwards more than most people. But diet and exercise aren't cutting it.


So, here is to TRYING this whole non processed food, AKA "Real Food" diet. I am going to take baby steps though because my family may not really like this approach. But with it being summer, I might get away with it!

I have looked through my cabinets and I need to really clean house, but I do not want to be wasteful. The author of "100 Days of Real Food" says to start out slow. I'm going to incorporate her menu plans but also try to use up what I do have in my house as well. I will plan not to buy anything that isn't considered a real food, but I have to use up what is left in my house at some point. We have changed our diets a LOT since my diabetes diagnosis, but there are still some interesting things in my cabinets.

So, how did I start our day? Well, Lisa Leake says to drink only "water, milk, tea, or coffee". Today, I started by using only MILK and HONEY in my coffee...different! I went out and bought half-and-half to try instead of milk...I will stick with the honey though for now. Just can't overdo it with my diabetes.

I will continue to update as we go along this summer. Should be interesting to try life with less processed foods. I'm kind of excited!

Birthday Invitation

My DS is having a birthday party very soon. He wanted to have a "cowboy" party, so we are going with it. A very good friend of mine gave him a cowboy hat for Christmas this past year and he already had his beloved boots. So, this will be so much fun!

I created the birthday invitation using the photo editing tools Picnic (before it shut down), Picasa, and Google Creative+. Between the three tools we are set to go. I had them printed at Walgreens and it saves me a ton of money! Who can beat invitations for less than $0.19 each and they aren't hand written?!?

Planting a garden...

I feel quite accomplished today. I got my tomatoes planted and a variety of pepper plants planted. Our radishes should be ready soon and I can't wait! I saw one of the women on Food Network roast radishes and carrots in the oven and they looked amazing! Never thought to do that before.

Spring has arrived!

So, it has been a while since I last blogged. But, life happens...

I'm very happy it is SPRING now, BUT my "touch of asthma" is NOT enjoying all the pollen. However, despite all the pollen, Grant and I have a cute little garden in our backyard just a growing. I plan to plant the BIG garden out at the farm this weekend if I can get some help! I NEED a BIG garden this year.

This summer I plan to can green beans, tomatoes, pears, and figs. I might try to get some corn growing and freeze that along with squash and zucchini. I wish there was a way to preserve lettuce...

We also have several fruit trees we planted last year and this year. I can't wait for my lemon trees to make fruit! They already have blooms! 

Day 3 of taking wallpaper down...

Well, 2 1/2 days technically I guess...

anyway....it's going slowly, but I have only messed one wall up by removing too much drywall...Grant messed the other wall up, so only 2 walls no harmed! HA! I have removed the front of the wallpaper and now I'm working on spraying Piranha Gel Wallpaper Remover. It's working like a charm! I love this stuff! What a great invention! The paper backing just peels right off.

And so it begins...

I began tearing the wallpaper off the bathroom walls this evening. I read that you should try to remove the top portion (or whatever will tear off) before trying to spray the walls with any solution. The paper is coming off some, but it will definitely need the solution to help dissolve the backing and paste.

No-Sew Fleece Doggie Bed

I loved this tutorial from Craftster! I pulled out my scrap fleece and started making a bed for my dog right away since she has destroyed her store-bought bed! She's a very rambunctious year old puppy. I did not do the round pattern as suggested, I decided to try and make a rectangular bed. However, after getting halfway through the cutting I realized that the bed would be smaller than anticipated. I continued however to make the bed since I do have a smaller 6 year old Chihuahua. Once completed with the knot tying, I decided to stuff it with a used pillow from our house. It worked out perfectly! However, the BIG PUPPY wants the bed! HAHAHA! I'm going to have to work on it and make it larger---probably 2 pillows wide.