Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

Revised 7/22/2018  I’ve been doing several meals lately with quinoa, and some of these dishes have really turned out yummy! When I first tasted Quinoa, I wasn’t too crazy about it, but after hearing the suggestion that I cook my quinoa in chicken broth, or vegetable broth, verses cooking it water, I did that and I thought that it made a huge difference! Now I like it to keep Quinoa cooked up and in the fridge. I’ve added it to my eggs, I’ve added it to salads, I’ve made breakfast bars with it after cooking it in water, and I have eaten quinoa in a similar way that you would eat oatmeal, but my favorite way to eat Quinoa, is cooking it in chicken broth, and eating it hot. I like to add a variety of cooked veggies to it, along with Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges. Often, I’ll throw in […]

ca·tas·tro·phe ca·tas·tro·phe kəˈtastrəfē/ noun   an event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster.   If you read my blog regularly, you know that along with battling how to maintain a healthy weight, and party like a 20 year old on occasion, I usually have a random story. Today is no different. Trying to get my dogs to poop in the rain is a real chore. Monday night, after a FULL day of rain and neither dog wanting to stay outside long enough to do their business, I put Tucker on a leash and literally walked in circles in the front yard while Mishka followed us. I was going around and around and around the tree, hoping to give each dog enough exercise to poop, and I was hoping the tree would shelter me a bit from the rain. After 10 minutes of walking in circles, and […]

I enjoyed a really relaxed Sunday yesterday. I had decided early in the day, that I would basically do a whole lot of….well…..absolutely nothing. So that’s pretty much what I did. Mike had a golf date and was out the door right after breakfast. I got caught up on the blog, emails, phone calls and text messages, all while curled up on the couch with a blanket and multiple cups of coffee. I didn’t get dressed until about 3:00 pm. I had decided to go to a Yoga class at 5:00, and I hadn’t ever done a class on a Sunday. It was the perfect way to end my relaxing day of doing absolutely nothing. Here’s what I ate during my nothing doing.   Frothy Coffee 1 PPV   Breakfast Biscuits and Gravy, Egg Whites 9 PPV Ingredients 1 C. of Frozen Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles Flour Skim Milk […]

I didn’t get a blog posted on Friday morning. Nope. I had other things going on. Let’s see…. Friday morning, at 5:00 am, Mike woke me up saying….”I think Tucker pooped in his kennel”. First of all, I’m not one of those people that gets out of the bed in the morning feeling elated and overjoyed. Never have been. My feet touch the floor, I sit on the side of the bed pondering…..”What day is this? Why did morning come so fast?”  I slowly walk to the bathroom. I brush my teeth, (not really, but I guess I should, right?) I go downstairs, I let the dogs out, and I start my coffee. By coffee time, I have realized what day it actually is, and I start to come alive. Hearing the words….”pooped in his kennel”….at 5:00 am, dreaming about more sleep, didn’t really help me come alive in a […]

(Revised 2-10-17. This recipe taste great made with 93% Lean Ground Turkey, or 93% Lean Ground Beef. It is approximately 6 Weight Watcher SmartPoints per serving made with either the Turkey, or the Beef.) I’ve always liked a pot of soup, or a stew, or a big pot of Chili simmering in the kitchen on a cold Fall day. I love making it, I love the way that it fills the house up with yummy smells, and I love the convenience of filling up a bowl and cuddling up on the couch in front of a Football game or a good movie whenever the mood, or the hunger pangs, hit! A few years ago, I tasted some chili that my friend, Renee, had made. I loved it. It wasn’t too salty, or too spicy, or too thick, or too thin. I loved everything about it. After getting the recipe from […]

Organizing I’ve been in some sort of crazy cleaning and organizing mood since the house got painted! I had been planning to paint our bedroom, and assumed that when the house got painted, I’d get the painting fever and paint the bedroom, and I did! Well, that made me want the whole room to feel fresh, so I cleaned out our closet. When I say cleaned, I mean I purged a whole bunch of stuff. I’ll probably regret that when the seasons change. Purging our closet made me want to move from room to room and clean out the closet’s in the two spare bedroom’s, which I have now done. Now, our empty nest is really empty! It does feel good to have everything so organized, but I’m not sure what this little nesting feeling is all about. I’m not pregnant, we are not adopting, and we are NOT getting another […]

I knew I had consumed too many points…calories….food…..beer, all of those, on Monday, so I wanted to have a great and successful Tuesday and keep the week on the right track. I walked EIGHT miles with a friend……   ……ate lots of fruits and veggies…..   ……drank extra water and stayed focused! I was home all day, and sometimes that can be a challenge, but I did every ounce of laundry that needed to be done, and I cleaned house, keeping myself busy. At the end of the day, I felt like I had conquered any food demons that were lingering in the back of my mind! Here are yesterday’s eats!   Breakfast Two Gluten Free Waffles 1 T. of Jiffy Whip’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Flavor Black Coffee 8 PPV   Lunch Mixed Greens, Salmon, Edamame, Avocado Balsamic Glaze 6 PPV   Snack Un-pictured Banana and Grapes Honeycrisp Apple and […]

Well, it was a good thing yesterday started off with a nice walk, because the rest of the day ended up being an unplanned pub crawl. Okay, it really wasn’t too bad, but we did go to three bars, and we did have three beers, but it definitely wasn’t a part of my plan for the week! Tess came in town to watch the Royals play on Sunday night, we spent Monday playing in the city, then I took her to the airport at 5:30 this morning! It’s been a crazy couple of days here! Yesterday, Tess and I had a productive morning that included a 4.5 mile walk. Later in the afternoon, we found ourselves downtown at Anton’s Tap Room, where I had a pumpkin ale, and we shared sliders and shrimp!   These little sliders were awesome!     The shrimp wasn’t too shabby either.   Our next […]

My daughter, Tess, lives in Dallas, and is a HUGE sports fan! She had decided that there was no way that she could NOT be in Kansas City watching the Royals play last night. So she hopped on a flight (yay for free flights!!) and came home! We met some friends up the street and cheered the Royals on to victory! It is seriously a great place to live, but especially right now! Since they won last night, they won’t be playing today, and that means that Tess and I have the entire day to play! We got our day started off right with a 4.5 mile walk this morning followed with coffee on the deck. It is a beautiful outside, and I’m really looking forward to spending the day with my girl!   My goal for the week is to eat no more than 30 points each day, and […]

This Week’s Food and Fitness Goals My plan for this week is to walk 20 miles, and keep my daily points for the rest of the week at 30 or less.   It’s been a really great two days. Friday started off with great results at the scale at my Weight Watchers meeting. I was down 4 pounds from last week! I knew that I had planned well, drank lots of water, and did a good job of tracking what I ate, and I didn’t do any mindless snacking. I had weighed each morning, so I knew it was going to be a good weigh in. I know I won’t lose 4 pounds a second week in a row, but here’s to another successful week! I had plans to spend the day and evening with a girlfriend, so I tried to eat low point options that would keep me full, […]