It's been a while...

     I've returned! Life got very crazy - Nanerpuss and I got back together, I started a new job, I ended said job, and I've been trying to get back on track with Fable. All the craziness sent me off course on my sugar/artificial-free ways, and as a result I've been feeling pretty yucky again. I even woke up with sinus pain, which hasn't been an issue since I started taking my supplements and eating better. So, these things have reminded me that I need to get back on the horse and kick the sugary stuff! It's not always easy, especially when I'm with Nanerpuss. One of our favorite things to do together is eat, and we like to spoil each other by buying snacks or cheeseburgers, so you can imagine that eating healthy is not always easy to stick to. We both talk about wanting to eat better and lose weight, but then we decide that a McDonald's run at midnight is the best idea in the world. I think we have a bad influence on each other, but I'm determined to change that!!

     Today I decided to whip up a batch of sugar-free blueberry muffins. It was a recipe I've been wanting to try for a while, and since my days are free now, I decided to give it a try. They turned out pretty great! The texture is different from a regular muffin, but they taste really great and aren't as bad as some of those sugar-filled, cupcake-like muffins out there. They've passed the mom taste test, and hopefully will pass with Nanerpuss!

     I also made a delicious low-fat iced mocha which only has 46 calories per serving, and no sugar or artificial sweeteners (just agave) and it was AWESOME! I drank the whole thing before I could get a picture, but I'm definitely going to be making it again, so next time I might be patient enough to wait until I get a picture to drink it.

     Since I've quit my job I'm able to focus on the thing that really matter to me, and I've been happier than I've been in a very long time. I've been able to see Fable more, which is the biggest thing. I've also been able to cook and bake more, making it easier to eat healthier, plus it's a fun (and delicious) thing to do! I've been able to go swimming in the river, and just enjoy normal summer things! The only downside is the lack of money...but I can usually find a way around that. For now I'm just going to enjoy as much of life as I can!

A Finished Project

     Over a year ago we had to put down our sweet old poodle, Honey. She was 17 years old and her kidneys were failing. She was my very first dog and had been my best friend through the hardest times in my life, always licking away my tears. The day we had to put her down was horrible - she was so sick but was still tried to act like her usual, frisky self. I couldn't be in the room when she went, it was too hard, but my mom held her the entire time. Nanerpuss waited in the lobby with him, holding me tightly as I sobbed. I cried for days after that. When the crying started to slow down a few days later I decided I wanted to make something to remember her by. I started working on my project, but put it aside and didn't finish it - until today. I've been working on several projects and I thought that today was the day to complete her memorial.

     I think it turned out quite cute, almost as cute as she was. Now I can hang it in my room and think about all the silly things she did every time I look at it. She was a really silly little thing, not at all like a dog. We used to joke that she was part cat and part human. She never liked playing with toys, and she didn't like dog treats. She adored cheese and liked eating tomatoes. She was fiercely loyal to me and tried to be my protector, attacking anyone who made me scream, even if I was just being tickled. She really was my best friend for 17 years and it was hard to lose her, but I'm glad I was able to have her in my life for so long.

Rice Pudding!

     Today the weather decided to act more like winter. It was cold and rainy, the kind of weather where you just want to wrap up in a blanket and be lazy, so that's exactly what I did! I worked on a craft project (which will be revealed soon) and had a Cops and Bait Car marathon. In the early afternoon I started wanting something sweet, and for the last couple of weeks I had been craving rice pudding, so I hopped online and looked for recipes using stevia. I found one that seemed simple enough, so I got to work! When it came time to add the spices it called for a teaspoon, but after adding just 1/2 tsp. I thought a whole one would be far too much. Good thing I didn't add it all, it would have been waaayyy too much cinnamon and nutmeg. The end result was fairly good, but it made me realize that I don't like too much nutmeg. Only a little pinch will do for me!

     This whole no sugar/artificial sweeteners thing is pretty tough, and to be honest I've been cheating a little too much the last few days. I've given in to sugar a few times, and I even caved in and have had a Diet Coke or two. I've noticed that when I've had the Diet Cokes I've had pretty bad headaches after, so I'm going to try to get back on the wagon and keep away from sugar and artificial sweeteners again. I'm just going to have to find more delicious drinks to make with stevia!

Spring Is Here!

     Yesterday was the first day it felt like it was actually spring! I actually went outside and started working on my little garden planting peas and lettuce. I got 1/4 of the garden all dug up, cleaned out, and planted but there's a long way to go. It was great being able to sit out in the sunshine with Rigby, and true to form, Tinkerbell and Josie cats were right on top of me trying to help me dig in the dirt. After working for a couple of hours I was getting thirsty, so I decided to try out a recipe I found on one of my hunts for sugar free drinks. The process took a bit longer than I anticipated, so I just settled for drinking water while I started making this delicious lavender lemonade.

     When I saw that our lavender bush had flowers on it I was so excited! I've been waiting and watching just so I could try out this recipe. I was really intrigued by the idea of adding lavender to a drink, and the fact that it was sweetened with stevia meant I could drink it without cheating on my no sugar/artificial sweetener thing!

     Today I put the lavender tea together with the lemons and sparkling water and was able to enjoy a big, cold glass of it. It was DELICIOUS!! It has just the slightest floral hint and isn't overly sweet, and the bubbles just make it perfection and something I can (and will) drink all day long! It was still sunny and beautiful today, but a bit cooler than yesterday so I didn't bring the lemonade outside to enjoy, but it's going to be a regular summer staple from now on.

One of THOSE Days

     Today was one of those days where nothing seems to go right. Nothing really bad happened, mind you, but things just didn't want to work out the way I was hoping/expecting them to. The day itself wasn't terrible, it was just completely unproductive. No, the trouble started in the evening when I decided I wanted to do something crafty. I found a tutorial and template for making cute little envelopes and thought that was a pretty easy and fun way to spend my night. I printed out the template but for some reason the lines REFUSED to show up. I could have tried a little harder to make it work, but I decided to try something else.

     I was starting to get hungry by this time so I decided to try out a recipe that I've been excited to try for sugar-free cherry chocolate chip ice cream. I put everything together, pausing for a minute when I saw it called for 4 droppers of stevia. That seemed like a lot to me, but I decided to trust the recipe and just went for it. After it was all mixed I threw it in the ice cream maker and waited, rather impatiently. Finally it was time to taste. It. Was. Horrible. Way way WAAAY too much stevia!! I was pretty bummed and ended up having to toss the whole batch out, and since I had used all the cream there was no way to make a new batch. Sigh.

     Finally I decided to play it safe and make something easy - a chicken pot pie. The kind you can just throw in the microwave. I let that thing cool for about 10 minutes and when I broke the crust with my fork no steam came out so I brought a big fork full up to my mouth and burnt my tongue. The pot pie tricked me! I just sat there, feeling sorry for myself as I waited for my dinner to cool down when my mom came home. She had brought with her a bottle of grape juice from Navarro Vineyards. When I saw it I perked right up. I had heard great things about their grape juice and I was ready to make all the disappointments of the night vanish with a nice glass of Gewürztraminer grape juice. We couldn't find a corkscrew.

    So now I sit here on the sofa, looking longingly at the bottle of deliciousness on the counter, glad that this day is just about over. But it's never a good idea to go to bed with negative feelings, so I've decided to play around on photoshop and show off some of the pics I took on my trip to San Diego last month!

The beach was just a 2 minute walk from the B&B

One of the millions of seagulls I made friends with.

No photoshop needed on this one - these rocks were stunning!

     My trip to San Diego was amazing and I'm planning on going back as soon as possible, hopefully with Nanerpuss. And now I can go to bed with happy thoughts of the ocean instead of failed crafts and recipes.

Kitchen Experiments

(note: my pictures aren't exactly amazing quality. Since my dslr was stolen from out of my car I'm stuck using the camera on my phone. One of these days I'll be able to get a new camera, but for now you can just enjoy pictures from my awesome phone!)

     This evening I thought I would try making some sugar-free carob chip cookies. After finding a recipe, and making a few changes, I ended up with something that tastes like chocolate chip pancake balls. I was skeptical when they came out of the oven, but my mom and sister (and Rigby) have already wiped out half of the batch!

     The first change I actually planned on making was substituting gluten-free flour for the regular white flour since my sister is on a gluten-free diet. The recipe then called for agave nectar, which I don't use, so I had to try to substitute stevia. Now, the conversion I was working from said that 1 cup of agave was the same as 1/3 a cup of water + 1 1/2 tsp stevia. You might see the problem, but I didn't until I was trying to mix it and I had a glob of slightly wet flour. I decided to make it more of a cookie dough by adding almond milk until it looked right. Great, looks about right. Then I decided to taste it. Good thing I did because there was nowhere NEAR enough stevia in it. So I just added a teaspoon more, tasted. Nope. Add another teaspoon, taste. Nuh uh. So I grabbed the liquid vanilla flavored stevia and added a dropper-full and finally decided it was starting to taste less like plain flour and I could attempt to cook them.

     After 10 minutes I checked on them and they looked exactly like they did when I put them in. No spreading, no puffing, just little lumps. I checked again in 5 minutes and decided they were getting a little brown on top, but gave them 2 more minutes just to be sure. I cut one in half, gave it to my sister and waited for her reaction - SUCCESS! And the best part is carob chips taste like chocolate but are safe for dogs, so Rigby can have a little piece, too.

     I'll try this recipe again, this time making better notes on measurements for everything and 
if they turn out tasting the same as this time I'll post the recipe for anyone who wants to give these a try!

A Doggy Anniversary

      One year ago today I logged online to look at the dogs available for adoption in the animal shelter. I had been checking almost every day, looking for a dog that could possibly work for our family. A little over a month before we had to put our 17 year-old poodle down, and I just knew I couldn't be happy without a dog in my life. So every day I looked. I knew I wanted to adopt, but we had to find just the right one. This particular day I woke up and got ready to go to school. I hopped online as I ate my breakfast and checked to see if there were any new dogs listed for adoption. The very first picture was in fact a new dog, and the moment I saw his little face I just knew. This was the one. I couldn't risk the chance of someone else snatching him up, so I grabbed my purse and drove straight out to the shelter, skipping my biology lab that I was supposed to go to. When I arrived I went straight up to the receptionist and told her I was there to get a dog. She showed me where the door to the kennels was and I went in, walking straight to the back where this perfect little dog was. I took him into the meeting room where I could get to know him a little better. I brushed him and talked to him, and felt even stronger that this was the right dog for me. I took him out to the reception area and told them that I was going to take him. I had exactly $50 in my account and his adoption fee was $40. We left with a baggie full of treats. As we drove home I decided on his new name - Rigby - and we shared some french fries. I took him to meet my sister at her work, then out to meet my boyfriend.

     After bringing him home I looked through the papers that the shelter had given me. I discovered that he had been at a rescue the October before, adopted, then brought to the shelter a few months later. I don't know how he ended up in the rescue in the first place, and I don't know why his previous family didn't want him, but I know that he was meant to come and be a part of our family for the rest of his life.

     Now Rigby is a spoiled little boy with a box full of toys, 4 different collars, and doggy treats every day. He gets snuggles every day, has a kitty friend to play with, and even has special doggy cologne. Not a day goes by without him hearing "I love you" and being told at least 5 times how cute he is. My phone is filed with pictures of him, and I have never once regretted the decision to bring him home.