Thursday, March 24, 2016

Bodacious

I launched my first Kawaiian Island t-shirt this week to see how well it would do on Teespring.com.  If I sell enough, I know that it is something to invest in and move forward with ordering.  Here is a link to the shirt if you are interested in checking it out.  It is a youth boys shirt.  I have more designs to sell but really just wanted to get a feel for the concept.

https://teespring.com/bodacious-surfer-penguin 

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Another Keto Dinner 3/18/2016

Here is another dinner I pulled together this last week -

Cheesy Scallop Pasta with Mushrooms and Peas and Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppers

 
The Cheesy Scallops, Mushrooms, and Peas was a frozen bag thing that I found at Trader Joes a couple of weeks ago while in Kansas City.  I heated it up on the stove and then added a bag of Miracle noodles.  If you've never heard of miracle noodles (or shirataki noodles), they are essentially tofu noodles, low carb.  You can usually find these in the health refrigerated section of the grocery store near the soy milks and fake cheese. They don't have a lot of flavor but definitely simulate the feeling of eating pasta when you are craving it.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Preteen Room Makeover

 
Since we moved into our house four years ago, I have really wanted to paint the girls rooms.  We've had plans to do a purple accent wall in Tori's room for awhile now and this weekend, I felt like getting it done.  While I was at it, I also pulled together a new bedding set as I realized her old one was pretty faded and she was due for some updating with going to middle school next year.  I spent the day painting, organizing (& tossing a bunch of stuff too!), and putting the room back together.  I have plans still to do an iridescent stencil on the wall but need to make up my mind on the design and get it ordered. I hope you enjoy the photos of the updated room.  We still need to fix the chandelier because the chain and cord are too long.  Hopefully the husband will make it a priority soon!




Sunday, March 20, 2016

40 Bags Declutter Update 3

So you may be wondering with all my travel, have I completely fallen off the wagon on my decluttering initiative?  Certainly not.  In fact, I kept Ebay sales going while I was gone with help of my husband and have made good use of my weekend time.

Accomplishments this last week -

Clean out of the oldest child's closet and dresser.  She's a get it over with kind of kid so we knocked out clothing and shoes.  And unfortunately, she fits in very little from last Spring or Summer.  Sigh.

Started clean out of youngest child's dresser and tried on hand me downs from older sister.  Unfortunately some of the hand me downs are too small already.  She's a kid who needs to progress in stages.  10 minutes work for 10 hours of leisure.  We may get through her stuff in a year.

Clean out of youngest daughters desk.  This was a nightmare area because she is the Artist in the family and needs lots of supplies and keeps lots of her art.  Oldest daughter is naturally a neater human being so we will not have to do the same with her desk.

Clean out of shoe closet.  This is where we all dump our shoes on the main floor.  Very little was kept and you can now see the carpet in the closet floor.

I have sold 47 items on Ebay thus far earning $329.00 since January.  Not too shabby.  Little girls dresses that were hardly worn have sold the best.  Josh has sold a few older computers as well not included in this total.

Upcoming Declutter Plans -

More clean out of my closet.  This is mostly now due to the fact that clothes that fit two months ago are now too big and I do not want to keep them.

Garage.  My husband has no clue this is on the agenda but it's coming up real soon.


Saturday, March 19, 2016

Vacation Plans

We have been working on getting our vacation plans nailed down for the summer and I'm really looking forward to our travels.  Due to the way vacation falls and priorities Josh & I have at work, it just so worked out that we will be taking two trips this summer.  One of them is a surprise so if you know me in real life, please don't mention it to my children! 

We are first headed to Orlando to do Universal Studios for a few days.  We were able to score nearly free tickets on Southwest from credit card points. Universal is running a special where you buy a two-day ticket and you get the third day free.  This trip turned out to be pretty economical all things considered.  We also plan to spend some time at the beach in Daytona and explore some of my old favorites from when I used to live in Florida.  This is the surprise trip.

Our next trip is to Guanacaste, Costa Rica.  We are headed to an all-inclusive RIU on the beach that backs up to a tropical rain forest.  Costa Rica has so many neat things to offer that we've yet to experience including all the wildlife (sloths!) and volcanoes.  We will be near Nicaragua while we are there so we may do a day trip just to check our where all the Americans are retiring.  We will certainly snorkel because my family loves to despite my snorkel challenges.  We will do a volcano tour as well.  Costa Rica looks beautiful and if it is anything like Honduras we should love it.  If you are interested check out this site:  http://www.savetheamericans.org/

Friday, March 18, 2016

Keto Menu

A few people have requested that I pull together a Keto Menu to help with meal planning.  I have to admit, I plan like two big things a week and then fill in the gaps with easy stuff.   When I say easy, I mean super easy.  I don't like to spend my evenings in the kitchen so if I am making something with effort, that is usually on a weekend.  I am also a fan of making something big and then putting it into serving contains to take with me.  I am going go ahead and share my breakfast most days now because it is a repeat each day and then I'll break up my lunches and dinners.  For the sake of providing as much info as possible, I have listed different things each day but honestly, I will eat the same thing day after day.  I will also admit, I eat out quite a bit.  Subway salads have moved into my weekly rotation.

Breakfast - Atkins Shake or Bulletproof Coffee or Fitmiss Delight Shake made with water.  99% of the time it is an Atkins Shake because they taste really good, especially the Caramel one

Monday

Lunch - Flavored Tuna Pack, 1 Tbs. Mayo, String Cheese, Pickle Spears

Dinner - Meatballs (frozen bag kind), Mozzarella Cheese, Low carb spaghetti or pizza sauce all heated together in the microwave, Brussell sprouts roasted in the oven with garlic and bacon

Snacks - Quest Bar, Slim Jim

Tuesday

Lunch - Low Carb Zuppa Toscana (see blog for recipe, make ahead and just reheat for lunch), Laughing Cow cheese 2 pieces

Dinner - Buffalo chicken (precooked Tyson chicken, Sweet Baby Rays Buffalo sauce, Cream Cheese, and Ranch dressing all mixed into a bowl and heated in the microwave. Think of it as a chunky buffalo chicken dip).

Snacks - Flourless Chocolate Mug Cake (I need to post this recipe soon but you can find them easily online), 1 Tbs. Almond Butter

Wednesday

Lunch - Southwest Chicken Salad (canned chicken, green chilies diced, cheddar cheese, mayo mixed together and eaten with a fork), Black olives

Dinner - Omelet ( 3 eggs, cheese, real bacon bits from Costco fried in Kerrygold butter)

Snacks - Atkins Bar of some sort, string cheese

Thursday

Lunch - Chili Cheese Dogs (hot dogs covered with Castlebury canned chili and cheddar cheese + mustard), veggies and ranch dip

Dinner - Low Carb Tortilla Pizza (low carb sauce, pepperoni, sausage, cheese, etc. baked in the oven until crisp and melted)

Snack - Pork Rinds w/ butter, cinnamon & sugar substitute

Friday

Lunch - Frozen Atkins Meal of some sort

Dinner - Spinach & Artichoke Chicken (Mix up or buy spinach and artichoke dip and spread over raw chicken in casserole dish. Smother with cheese and bake in over until chicken is done), Goat cheese stuffed sweet peppers

Snack - Lily's Chocolate Bar 1/2

Saturday

Breakfast - Carbquick Waffle, Sausage Links, Sugar free syrup

Lunch - Burger w/o bun and all toppings, sugar free ketchup, Pork Rinds

Dinner - Kielbasa fried in skillet w/ cabbage

Snack - Almonds

Sunday

Lunch -  Turkey and Cheese wrap in low carb tortilla with mayo, Pork Rinds and bacon/cheese dip

Dinner - Taco salad w/o shell - taco meat, lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream, guac, olives

Snack - Cheese "chips" made with smoked gouda, 1 Tbs. natural peanut butter


Thursday, March 17, 2016

Blood Sugar Validation

Sometimes when I am on Keto, I worry that I may have been knocked out of ketosis by accidentally eating something that had more carbs than I realized. Keto strips no longer work for me because I have been on keto so long. The only way to really test this is by doing a blood test.  This last week I was able to test my blood sugar with a Glucometer to check my blood sugar. If my blood sugar was on the low end then I would know that my body is burning fat instead of sugar.  Now I had only eaten a package of jalapeno tuna for lunch and I tested myself after 5 PM so I expected it to be lower than normal but I wasn't prepared for a blood sugar reading of 60.  60 is pretty low, in fact it could be dangerously low.  So I promptly ate something to help.  But I also felt good that the actions I have been taking, including eating out while traveling, are still impacting my body the way I want them to be.  I have so many family members who have battled or still battle Diabetes, I never ever want to put myself in that situation and knowing that I can control is by diet is a nice feeling. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Airport Find

Sorry for the lack of posts guys. I have been back traveling again and haven't had time. I did find something cool that I want to share while hanging out at the airport in Minneapolis.

I present to you the Cheesewich. Made only of meat and cheese. The Cheesewich is cheese slices pressed together with a seal around the edge to secure the thick slice of salami inside. This has great Keto macros and tasted great.

Now I just got to find where these are sold locally...