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12 Dec 2014

16 Comments

What now?

Pop Quiz:

What do all these three icons have in common?
the Pillsbury Doughboy and the StayPuff marshmallow man..

the Michelin Tire guy

and that insatiable cat… Garfield?

Give up?

Me!

I have turned into a frickin’ porker! A pig. An oinker. A fat-belly-jelly-belly!

Folks, I put on ten pounds since that post this summer bragging about buckling my belt a hole further; from running and biking and StairClimbing? When I felt so good I celebrated by eating two breakfasts one breakfast? I can barely even buckle my belt anymore!

Well no more! This fall I have become sloth-like. Saturday was always my gym day but College Football and ESPN’s College Game Day seduced me from the gym. I hadn’t gone in over a month. I suck.

So I finally went to the gym last week when I was off. I had gained 10 frickin’ pounds! So I ran 30 minutes two days in a row (I am also woefully out of shape now). The third day I spent about 5 hours doing landscaping work around our yard. So the next Saturday, you know what?

I gained an extra pound!!

People! This is sad! I was never going to be this heavy and this out of shape. Right before the holidays? Are you kidding me?

So I made a pact with myself. No more! And ten pounds over weight calls for some drastic measures!

Like no more finishing the kid’s dinner plates!

And also, no more of this…

and this

and especially

I am such a Glutton!

And ALSO (sniff, sniff)

No more Happy-celebatory-goodnews-at-the-doctor-after-a-checkup rewards…

This is going to be so hard, to lose that weight. The sacrifices. The will power (which I lost)

Did I tell you I am the official ‘taste tester‘ in our location of all new snack items that our company produces? As well as the official checker for freshness on all Chocolate covered Christmas pretzels, Christmas cookies, Chocolate drizzled popcorn and fancy tortilla chips there too? It’s a tough job sometimes! Who is going to take care of all these extras now?

Extras we got in at work this month like:

and white chocolate covered pretzel cookies

as well as weekend chips and dips like..

I don’t know how I will ever survive!

Even as I sit here and type this post I have 3 York Peppermint Patty wrappers in front of me.

Soon to join the 3 Reese’s Peanut butter cup wrappers that are in the trash can.

So you see that last post / reblog of mine was no accident. Its time for me to start running and toning up and believing I’m a 12th grader again.

Every year about this time I sign up for a local half-marathon that takes place in February.

The reasoning is simple. The training it takes to compete in a half marathon should work off all the calories of ~~junk~~ holiday food that I ~~inhale~~ enjoy over the holidays. Then I get an extra month of 45-60 minute runs to burn off the excess and slim down .

It makes sense, doesn’t it?

Running for 60 minutes at 900 calorie workouts should do the trick, right? Right. …as soon as I knock off the late night beers and the rationalizing at the cookie jar , “Its ok, have another. You’ll run it off” mentality.

What do you think?

Do you have any great tips to help one slim down and drop 10 pounds real quick?

Did I mention I love eating? I am not so much a ‘foodie’ as I just enjoy tasting great tasting things from my restaurant days.

I guess I need to quit it.

Does anybody have any other suggestions? Anybody want to challenge this Biggest Gainer? Or run with me in the half marathon? (sign up Here)

Last year I did the race on a dare of a good friend as a way to reclaim my life after my cancer treatment. But it was February. It was cold; and it rained. The win blew. I finished the race but I swore I would never do the race again!

I didn’t know I was going to become such a porker!

I run like a Stalker don’t I?

So, if you can, show me a little love, some encouragement, are a flat-out dare to help me get that belt notch back from this summer. Join me! Because the next three weeks this little Christmas song is going to pound in the back of my head.

Thanks for your time everyone!

Speaking of Christmas songs, what’s your favorite?

Care to share by Commenting on it or adding a link below? … along with your words of encouragement? Yes?

Merry Christmas everyone. Prepare your hearts for the season.

I’ll try to do better the next time…

Posted in Archives and tagged breakfasts, College Football, college game day, dessert, doughnuts, Imma Glutton, Imma Pig, Pillsbury Doughboy, run your ass off and your gut, Save the Light, stay hungry

04 Dec 2014

10 Comments

Signs of the times…

Happy December Everyone!

I hope all my American friends and family had a nice Thanksgiving. On with the Holidays, right?

So I hoped to capture a glimpse of our home and kids over the extended weekend for family and friends; signs and illustrations of the shenanigans that took place here.

An overwhelming reader response was the question:

(OK it was just one person)

Well the Baked French Toast turned out well, although not what I expected.

Here is what the prep for the apple stuffed french toast looked like going in the oven…

Different, huh?

And, of course, a perk of being the chef is cleaning up the bowls…

Caramel tossed apples, YUM!

I did the Butter Pecan Maple syrup too, but that did caramelize a bit more than I expected.

But in the end we had a special, new and unique breakfast for the whole family to sample…

As the picture alludes to the, baked french toast came out piping hott. The unexpected thing was the consistency of the french toast was more of a bread pudding than french toast. It caught me by surprise but not a bad thing in the end. The baked apples were great atop the french toast! And we enjoyed a variety of condiments, or a combination of them as we saw fit to garnish. Yum!

A bit of a sad note this Thanksgiving was the fact that the woods and the land behind our house were sold for development. Every year the leaves are actually changing their colors here over Thanksgiving, totally adding to the nature of the holiday.

We found out last week that 102 houses were now going to be built behind and around our house. So I had to stop and pause to realize this may be the last Thanksgiving we have here with the bold fall colors.

It was sad.

But we can’t stay in the past too long. On Cyber Monday we all went out to a favorite restaurant offering one of those Gift Card deals, buy so many, get some free. So we decided to scoop up some Christmas presents that way via dinner Monday night.

Unbeknownst to us was it was kids night at this restaurant, complete with the best balloon sculptor in the world!

~ OK, sometimes I DO exaggerate. But she was good.

Young Skyler got herself a Princess Ariel balloon

She liked it a little bit…

Then Dylan got a little crazy and ordered herself a Santa Clause hat…

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth

Kinda crazy, huh?

The girls loved it. We all got stuffed, again and so the evolution of the Holiday season continued!

On with the building of the Tree and the train village below…Ladies and gentleman, this is no easy feat!

The decking of the tree is only part of the battle. There is a lot of time and precision that goes into setting up and antique train, the train village buildings and figures, snow and so forth. It took most of my Monday (shhh I hooked off from work)

Monday night ended up with a hectic Holiday scene with busy shoppers and town’s folk around the Dickens village.

Busy night in front of VS's complete with a man and is five golden rings

Busy night in front of VS’s complete with a man and his Five Golden Rings (click and see)

Then I had to keep watching the crazy lady carrying her baby that kept on venturing out from the Christmas Carolers but got dangerously close to the train and its locomotive. What a Christmas disaster that might have been!

And try getting the Christmas Carolers out on a cold night by the train with a lady holding her baby ..

All that time was time well spent however.. and our home is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And besides, you have to take your time or else you could end up with one of these natural disasters for the Holidays….

I’m calling TIMBER! Its falling down….

This Christmas Tree evidently fell victim to the Winter Warlock for trying to cross his mountain at a friend’s house. Can you imagine what kind of precious, irreplaceable ornaments may have been lost?

In the end, Thanksgiving weekend was a great time for great food, great abundance, introduction to the Christmas season, family, friends, bonding and closeness.

And shouldn’t that be what the weekend is all about?

the girls with their Great Aunt Sue

Enjoy your Holidays everyone!

Thanks for being part of mine!

Posted in Archives and tagged baked Stuffed French toast, dickens Village, french toast, I got stuffed!, Thanksgiving, TIMBER!

28 Nov 2014

2 Comments

A Million and One Things To Do With Leftover Pumpkin

What? You want more pumpkin? Here are some ideas for your leftover pumpkin from the creative and always amusing BreezyK. From Pumpkin Pie Smoothies to pumpkin facials, Breezy has you covered to get the most out of your great pumpkin!

Thanks Briana for a fun read as i stuff down one more slice of pie.

~Enjoy!

Posted in Archives

27 Nov 2014

14 Comments

Anyone hungry?

Is anyone hungry?

Can you believe the holidays are upon us already?

Everyone raise your hands if you are entertaining for one or more of the holidays?

I enjoy entertaining and putting on a good show and smiles on my guests. Every year we entertain my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas ( can I still say the word Christmas or has the government outlawed it on blogs too?). And, as I was thinking about this weekend coming up, it led me to our grand family traditions over Christmas.

One of our family Christmas traditions is a great egg nog french toast Christmas morning. The left over egg nog from Christmas eve makes thee perfect thick french toast batter. Think about it. Its one of my signature dishes, if I may be so bold, here at hour home Christmas week.

And so I thought, “I wonder if there was a French Toast synonymous with Thanksgiving?”

You know what? There are!

And so as I researched and Googled Thanksgiving French toast. I found they all had something in common.

Guess what it is?

No, its not pumpkin, although that is the norm. It is that all the recipes have you prep the french toast the night before , a la casserole style, then pop the casserole dish in the oven the next morning and let the smell slowly wake everyone up.

It really sounds easy!

Yes you blend all the ingredients the night before. Chop up some hearty bread if you wish or leave it in slices. Then place all the bread in a casserole dish and soak with the french toast batter. Cover and refrigerate!

Sound easy?

The marinating over night allows the french toast goodness to soak through out the bread. Then the next morning turn on the oven, pop in the dish and take your time waking up. Tell everyone else how early you had to get up that morning to make such a sumptuous breakfast!

And for those of you who are slow to wake up (I usually eat a bowl of cereal while I make big breakfasts cause it takes so long) this idea is a lifesaver!

This is one such recipe I saved come from the Minimalist Baker blog for this weekend’s Thanksgiving french toast.

Whaddya think?

Ingredients

5 1/2 – 7 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes (depending on type of bread)*
7 large eggs
2 cups milk (any kind)*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup pumpkin BUTTER (or 1/2 cup pumpkin puree)*
3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
nuts, like pecan or walnuts (optional ~ hmmm hold that thought!)

Instructions

Cut any kind of bread into 1-inch cubes – I recommend a crusty, whole grain variety, but sandwich bread will work, too. Just use enough slice to fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it’s all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet.
Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar.

I might add a nice bottle of ‘breakfast wine’ to the list of ingredients. It is a holiday, or the weekend after all.

Now when some of you hear the word ‘casserole’ I know a light kinda goes off. Those with a creative cooking flare might experiment with about anything in a ‘casserole’.

We are not real ‘pumpkin people’ at our house. The truth is only a small percentage of us like pumpkin pie. So we enjoy a pumpkin and an apple pie at our Thanksgiving table.

Hmmm, apple?

So with the above Thanksgiving French toast recipe, I scratched the pumpkin flavoring and decided I would add some diced apples instead. Yes! Think of something like a IHOP Stuffed French Toast. I will let the apples bake on top and in with the french toast cubes. ~ and besides…. where does one find pumpkin butter?

or maybe add Caramel Apples?

But wait! There’s more…

If you order now..

Oh. Sorry…

One of my friends growing up had an old-world Italian mother and she made us breakfast one Saturday. Not only did she warm up the maple syrup on the stove, she added a good chunk of butter to melt in with it too. Result? The best tasting, most memorable syrup, EVER! Have you ever had this? Caramelized maple syrup! OMG!

So every time I entertain with my french toast I make a nice helping of warm buttery syrup with it. Yum! Sometimes I’ll add some blueberries.

But not this time!

We have a yummy bag of fresh pecans at our house right now, since its fall. Why not, chop up some pecans and let them marinate in the warm buttery syrup and serve a top the french toast? Apple stuffed french toast with butter pecan syrup and whipped creme on top! Welcome to my B&B!

Does that sound as good to you as it does to me?

Leave the turkey leftovers… save room for breakfast!

And its so simple to make. Plus you can make most of it the night before.

Are you hungry yet?

I hope everyone reading this has a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American family and friends!

I am Thankful for YOU reading this blog right now.

If you end up trying this please let me, or the Minimalist Baker know how you liked it.

And to all my friends who really know / knew me over the years, HELP!

Its come to this…

writing recipes in blogs…lol

Save me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Posted in Archives and tagged eating my weight in french toast, I'm sooo lucky, Thanks to everyone!, thanks to YOU!, Thanksgiving, try it you'll like it

14 Nov 2014

4 Comments

The Latest Fad

Hey everyone! Want to be let in on the latest fad?

Want to see what is sweeping our area; that all of my friends and family are looking at?

It is a crazy, fun, generous fad that all the cool, hip people are doing. Wanna see?

But first, here is a commercial that Dylan did for YOU to tell you about it….

(you don’t want to miss this)

Yes, I am pimping this blog once again to encourage one of our kids. But hey, the kids get little rewards for the more pledges they bring in! After her very first night of receiving a few $1 and $2 pledges she received a Fun Run lunch bag, cool water bottle, and a trendy bracelet for her rewards.

Now, after a few more pledges, she only needs one more pledge to win a pair of Fun Run sneakers. Three more pledges allows her (and her class) to participate in “No Shoes Day” where they can take off their shoes at school and just wear their socks in her classroom for the day. How cool is that?

Dylan actually has more dollars per lap donated than all the rest of her class combined. She is a Leader!

And if she gets another pledge like she did from my buddy Jay she may just have her name broadcast across the morning announcements. Gosh I would hate for that to happen 🙂

The goal of the Fun Run, besides raising money for their school is for the individuals to develop some interest in Fitness, Leadership, and build some Character. Not bad ideas for our young people these days.

If you would like to participate in this fast growing fad, here is a link to Dylan’s homepage at school for the event where you can look around and find out more. If you care to make a pledge to support Dylan in her Fun there is a pledge tab to jump on.

To my friends in Canada, or Switzerland, or Mexico or else where and abroad if you want to participate in this X-tremely fun (and rewarding) trend email me or let me know in a comment. Hopefully we can work something out. 🙂

Thanks for considering Dylan’s Fun Run drive!

Its for a good cause and brings smiles to lots of kids faces.

(like mine)

Isn’t that infectious smile in the video worth a dollar a lap in itself?

Yes, they grow up so fast!