Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

This is a breakfast I eat often, and I always like it, but I am also always tweaking it a bit. I have made a pumpkin version recently that I liked too. This one I made without using the packet of instant oatmeal, and it turned out tasting just as I hoped it would! Today’s Oatmeal Banana Pancake (4 PPV) 1/2 smashed banana2 egg whites1/3 C. Quick Cooking Oats 1 packet Truvia1/2 tsp vanilla1/2 tsp cinnamon Smash the banana, add all other ingredients, and mix well. Heat skillet on MEDIUM LOW. Spray with cooking spray. Pour mix onto skillet and heat about 3 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 2 minutes. I topped mine with 1 T. Better N Peanut Butter and the remainder of my banana. (1 PPV) Loved it! “love the life you live, live the life you love”

“Mishka & Tucker” Here they are…….on our walk this morning. Mishka is the brown dog. She’s 10, so really she’s 70. She can be such an Old Lady sometimes. I throw a ball, and she just looks at it, she picks at her food, she’s walking a little slower, you know, stopping to smell the roses and all, she sleeps a LOT, she never gets to close to the lake as to not get her pretty little feet wet, and she does this whole heavy sigh thing. I still like to talk to her like she’s a baby. She hates it and gives me the eye roll as if to say….in her Elizabeth Taylor voice…..”Please do stop with the “goochi…gooochi…goooochi! And the Rubyourbelly….rubyourbelly…rubyourbelly….I’m 70 years old and would really prefer you just rub my aching knees, or give me another one of those beggin strips. I do like those.” Tucker […]

I had an eye appt. this morning for a much needed check up, and honestly, was not feeling hungry at all. After I got the all clear of any scary eye diseases at the doc’s office, I headed to Starbucks for a “wake me up” beverage. I was hungry now. It was around 10:00 am, so I decided on Starbuck’s “Perfect Oatmeal”. I skipped the extra toppings this morning, but did ask them to make it with steamed skim milk instead of hot water. No problem! Then I topped it off with a Truvia and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I ordered a nonfat latte to accompany it! Oatmeal and Latte (6 PPV) Tasty! Lunch was string cheese and a few snacks of fruit throughout the afternoon. Blueberries, banana, grapes…..and this pear. I hadn’t tried one of these dark pears before. I do love me a pear! Fruit and string cheese […]

(Revised 01/01/2018 to reflect WWFreestyle and added corn to the recipe) My friend Betsy gave me a recipe some time ago for Zucchini Soup. I’ve adapted this just a bit, but I’m giving her the credit. Thanks Betsy! I have made this soup many times over the last few years and I love it! When you have a ton of zucchini, you don’t necessarily have to make zucchini bread! Give this soup a try the next time you have a pile of Zucchini on your counter. You will thank me, or you can thank Betsy! This taste great with Chips and Cheese! This also taste great right out of the soup pot!     “love the life you live, live the life you love”

“Frenemy” (alternately spelled “frienemy”) is a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy” that can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or someone who’s both a friend and a rival. (OR IN MY CASE……SALT!) I love salt, but I hate what it does to my body! Friday I took part in enjoying beer and Pizza. I may have over indulged a bit, but made great choices on Saturday and consumed ounces and ounces, and then some more ounces…….of water to fix what I had possibly broken. I then spent a better part of the day in the ladies room. At the end of the day I noticed my hands and feet were still a little swollen, but I felt I did the necessary things to regroup from Friday. Sunday was a full day of fun! The morning started off with all good intentions. I was out the door at […]

There is the cutest little mommy Robin in this tree sitting in her nest each morning. I am sure you can’t see her in this picture, but she’s our new morning friend. It is literally five feet from the deck. So each morning the dogs and I come out for coffee and a treat (coffee for me, treat for the dogs), and we all say/bark…..”Good Morning Mrs. “Robin”son! She gives us a little chirp and a tweet back (bird tweet, not Twitter tweet). Yesterday morning at 8:00 am I had been to “Boot Camp”, WalMart, put in a load of laundry, watered the flowers, then outside for some coffee on the deck. I had an hour to go before weigh in. I was really hoping for happy results. Hope this weight class didn’t bulk me up! 🙂 I had an awesome week. I always eat my EXTRA points, and this […]

Tess came home for a long weekend visit, and I was so happy to see her! She is in the picture above, in case you didn’t know that. She will graduate from Pitt State this December, and this is her last “college summer”. She found a paid internship in Joplin, Missouri, so isn’t coming home to live for the summer. 🙁 She has lots going on this weekend. She likes to keep busy, like her mother! Friday a haircut, then shopping with me for a shower gift for her sister-in-law to be, and my daughter-in-law to be! Happy hour later. She also likes a Happy Hour like her mother. She makes me so proud! Saturday to the pool in the late morning for some chill time together (lots of sunscreen for me and maybe even an umbrella! I had some skin cancer removed on Tuesday! Yikes!), then to the shower. […]

I have been blogging about attempting to eat less processed foods. I really like oatmeal and have been trying to eat it a few different ways, rather than just a bowl of oatmeal, and I would like to try to get away from the packets. I have been following this blog called Peanut Butter Fingers. She’s a cute little thing…..young, chipper, lives in Florida, and always has something interesting on her blog. Maybe a trip she took with her husband, or a hike she took with her husband and their dog (seriously, the dog is ADORABLE!), or a book she read (I think she has a book club?) or a simple meal she threw together. She likes to eat Overnight Oats. I always think the pictures of it look good, but you eat it cold, and I think it just sounds weird?? The recipe has 2 T. of Chia Seeds […]

I’ll just start with the accident. I was craving salmon. Mike is golfing tonight, so dinner is on my own. Mike isn’t really a salmon fan, so I knew the menu was easy. Grilled salmon, in a little olive oil, and fresh sautéed green beans. I made the green beans, they turned out great! But my salmon wasn’t cooking through at all. I love salmon, but only like a little or no pink, but not over cooked! That’s not good either. Usually I get it just right. Well, each time I checked it, a piece would break off a bit! Then more broke off, then more. I ended up with a skillet full of pan fried salmon, and IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! I am going to give a good hearty guess on the points for the olive oil. I didn’t measure it, and I know I had more than the 2 […]

I felt great this morning, and most of this afternoon, but tonight the pain is coming on! I can totally feel yesterdays weights in my legs! My next class is at 6:00 am tomorrow! Egads! I did cardio tonight, with one of my team members, Ashli. We walked to the middle school down the street, did our cardio on the track, walked back home. Duh, how else are we going to get back home? (Mike is watching swamp people. I really wanted to say…..”bro…..how else we gonna get back?” Sorry…got sidetracked. I am not a big fan of running, never have been. I have mastered getting my heart rate up on the treadmill using an incline, but it’s hard on a level surface. I knew in order to achieve what I wanted out of this cardio tonight, I needed to run, well, jog. Running, I mean jogging, the straights and […]