Cookin' It Up!

I don't know what happened?!?!?

Moving my blog . . .

Day 3 LBS Menu

Wednesday

Cottage cheese, omlet, string cheese, veggie stir-fry, salad, chili (no beans) w/ cheese, celery w/ chesse. I'm getting tired of the same foods, but I'm not quitting. I did not feel emotionally well all day, but by evening I was feeling much better and not tired. I think I finally made it to the top of the mountain!

Day 1 and 2 LBS Menu

Sorry it took so long to get this posted. Here is the breakdown of what I ate Monday and Tuesday and how I feel.

Monday:

Cottage cheese, Oat bran, celery w/ cream cheese, tuna steaks and salad, swiss cheese, celery w/ cream cheese, salad and Italian Casserole, swiss cheese. All these things included no flour, no sugars, and no fruit. I woke Monday morning with my normal headache and achy body. I got a really bad headach mis afternoon and had to go take a nap. I slept for an hour and slept hard, which is unusual for me. I went to bed fairly early too. I drank water all day and took a 1/2 mile walk.

Tuesday:

Cottage cheese, cooked oats, fresh broccoli, cauliflower, and bell pepper, chicken and dumplings, green tea, meatballs with stir fried green beans and mushrooms. I goofed with the chicken and dumplings at a restaurant. I didn't eat my bedtime snack because I was in bed by 7:30. Stomach felt yucky and I was very tired. By dinner time I couldn't sit up anymore.

This has been very hard, but I really want to feel better. I'm tired of living like this. I am pretty sure all the headaches and stomach issues are from sugar withdrawls. A few more days and I will hopefully be feeling a lot better.

Low Blood Sugar

Contest ends today!!

TV Dinners Were a Success

My TV Dinners

Well, I didn't get any fresh ideas, but here is what I came up with:

I cooked brown rice, cream soup with muchrooms, black eye peas, and chicken. I put the rice in the large compartment and the chicken on top of the rice. Then I covered the rice and chicken with the cream soup. In one small compartment I put the black eye peas and in the other small compartment I put frozen broccoli. I sealed each container up in a zip-loc bag and placed in freezer. We'll see how they do!

For meal #2 I put rice in one of the small compartments and chicken in the other small compartment. In the large compartment I placed frozen stir-fry mix with a teriyaki sauce. Zip-loced and froze.

We leave tomorrow for our trip so I will let you know how they did!

Home Made TV Dinners

I found these nifty tin tv dinner trays at a discount store and really want to freeze some meals in them for our upcoming RV trip. Any ideas????

It has three compartments: 1 large, 2 small. I have frozen meals before, so that doesn't worry me, but its the balance I am looking for. I need three things that will heat at the same tempeture and time. Here are the ideas I came up with:

Chicken and Rice, bread roll, and broccoli.

Lasagna, green beans, and bread roll.

Chicken pot pie, bread roll, and black eye peas.

????? What do you think?

My Stuggle With Hypoglycemia

Growing up I was quite skinny and I ate like it was going out of style. I ate unhealthy, but so did the rest of my generation. I remember my Senior year in high school my breakfast included a Dr. Pepper and a Reses Cup. MMM! Then for lunch a Dr. Pepper and a Reses Cup. And if I was lucky one of my friends would buy me a slice of pizza. Now, before you jump all over my parents for letting me eat as such, I lived in my own place my Senior year. Paying my bills took its place over feeding myself. I was responsible for myself which I obviously didn't do a good job. Anyway . . . fast forward 10+ years and add a husband and three kids.

After my first child I quickly returned to a size 3 (I know sickening). Again, now I was living on my own, but now having to support a child. I worked at a surgery center where we kept saltines, graham crackers and a soda fountain machine at all times. (Why the sodas? I don't know.) And on Friday's the center bought a catered meal for lunch. So I ate crackers all day every Monday through Friday and drank Dr. Pepper. Then on Fridays I would gorge myself on lunch. Everyone would save the leftovers in the fridge and I would take them home with me. That was my weekend meals. So needless to say, I have had a bad history of eating poorly.

First comes marriage and then comes baby number 2. My shape definately changed after my son and size 3 was no more, but I still only weighed 5 lbs heavier than before I was pregnant. And I started cooking . . . a lot. I started having lots of gastric problems and allergy problems. (Insert here: that I have always had headaches and migraines.. My mother would send Tylenol to school with me starting in 4th grade because of my chronic headaches. My mother had chronic headaches too so she didn't think anything more than a hereditary condition.) 

Cihld 3 came and now I wasn't able to shake the pounds. I was having more headaches, severe gastric problems, miserable allergies (I never got sick as a kid and now I felt like I was always sick), limbs going numb, blurring vision, dizziness, and many other symptoms. I started looking into grinding my own wheat because I loved bread and wanted to make fresh bread. I bought a wheat grinder and Bosch machine and recieved the cookbook Set for Life: Eat More, Weigh Less, Feel Terrific. I started following the principles in the book and suddenly I stopped having headaches, I started actually having to go to the bathroom (I know that is TMI, but during school I never used their restrooms. I went all day with no potty breaks and then went potty when I got home. But was still only having maybe one BM per week), and I had energy. Best of all I was happy. My husband didn't know what to do! He actually wanted to come home because his wife was actually smiling and didn't have roller coaster mood swings anymore.

For two years I lived on my new eating plan. Then we moved to AL and healthy eating went out the window. Fast food on every corner and very, very few healthy restaurants. Nearest health food store is over an hour away. And all food is more expensive here than in Texas. So I started eating poorly again. All the old symptoms returned and more! We started do research and I have come to the conclusion that I am hypoglycemic. This is not a doctor's diagnosis, but just having a knowledge base in which to attack the problem is enough for me.

Now most diet plans for hypoglycemia consist of low-carb/high-protein. I'm not convinced that is the only solution. I'm going to attack this with whole grains, raw vegetables, and lean meats. I will be documenting my findings here on my blog, so if you are interested please check back. I will also continue to post recipes that I find are healthful and tasty. If you have read all this - wow - kudos to you! Thanks for reading.

Pay Per Post

As the newest Postie on PayPerPost, I would like to share it with my readers. This is a cool opportunity, especially for stay-at-home moms like myself. I signed up to bring a little income in with my habit of blogging. I love to blog, so why not get paid to do it! I have made so many friends blogging and read many funny stories about everyday life. Did I mention that I love this blogging thing?

PayPerPost makes this really easy. Everything is color-coded so I can quickly scan over the income opportunities and start earning right away! Now for all that money I'm gonna make doing what I love . . . I spend all my internet income on my homeschool materials. It's kind of been a deal with me and my husband. Whatever I can make online, I get to spend on homeschool materials. Anything left over I usually buy books for myself. I love books and anything to support my habit is awesome!

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

ä3 cups whole wheat flour

ä1 ½ to 2 ½ cups unbleached flour

ä2 T dry yeast

ä1 ¼ cups warm water

ä1/3 cup honey

ä2 eggs

ä1 ½ t salt

Mix whole wheat and yeast. Add water, oil, eggs and salt. Mix well. Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until dough cleans the side of the bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic. On oiled surface roll dough into a large thin rectangle. Spread filling over dough. Roll jelly roll style. Using dental floss, cut roll into slices. Place rolls on baking sheet. Let rise until double. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Glaze is optional.

Hint: I make these up the night before. We don't have a microwave anymore, so I stick them in the fridge covered overnight and bake in the morning. They are not quite as fluffy with this method. If you have a microwave, bake the night before and then refrigerate. Zap in the morning and they come out nice and fluffy.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

This is a very simple recipe. It is not like the fancy versions you might have had, but it does the job and is a family favorite!

1 pkg egg noodles

1 lb ground turkey

1 sm can mushroom

1 t beef bouillon

1 sm onion, chopped

2 cups plain yogurt

In skillet, brown meat with onion. Cook until no longer pink. Remove from heat.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

Add remaining ingredients to meat and stir.

Add meat mixture to noodles and stir to coat.

Enjoy!

Frontier Freedom Magazine Is Ready!

Boxcar Children

This lovely young lady is having a contest for a free copy of "The Boxcar Children: Blue Bay Mystery" by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  Her drawing will be on Saturday, September 8th Have fun!

 http://www.homesteadblogger.com/emilysblog/68040/I+am+having+a+drawing%21.html?#c103310

Come on you guys - I said FREE!

Y'all are making me look pitiful. I posted my first blog contest for a really nice book and I have only got two entries!!! Even if you don't want the book, enter so I can at least look like I have online friends! *(Partially kidding)* But really . . . enter my contest please!

No I am not going to cry, my life will not be ruined, and I will still continue to blog, but I would really like to see this blossom. It makes me feel good and I am excited to be able to give something away. There have been times in my life I wouldn't have been able to do this, so this is a statement for me. I can finally give back (even if it is only a book).

Hope to see your shining entries at http://felipsha.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-first-blog-contest.html!

My First Blog Contest!

I am hosting my first blog contest!

You have to go to http://felipsha.blogspot.com and relpy to the contest post. It is for a gift book. Go check it out!

My Famous Granola Recipe

I'm going to share my famous recipe with all of you. Anyone who has tried this recipe just loves it!

In 9x13 pan put:

5 cups oatmeal (I prefer old fashioned rolled oats)

1 cup unsweetened coconut

3/4 cup raw sunflower kernals

Bake at 300° for 20 min, stirring once. I like it best when the coconut starts to brown.

In med saucepan melt 1 stick of salted butter. Add:

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar or molasses

Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

Add 3 t vanilla to butter mixture and stir.

Pour butter mixture over oatmeal mixture and stir until all is coated. Bake at 350° for 5 min.

We like to serve our granola with vanilla yogurt. Yum!

We also will save 3-6 cups of granola to make granola bars.

Change is here!

Our 5th Wheel