Sunday, January 1, 2017

Reading in the New Year

I have decided to commit to reading more this year.  I thought I was going to do it last year, but Goodreads said I only made it to 12... not so successful.

This year I'm going to try something a little different, who will join me?

There are a bunch of book challenges out there... some of the choices I found



I've signed up for the Read Harder challenge myself.  Here's my list so far.

What will you read this year?


Good Bye 2016

2016 for the world was hard.  Just some examples of that are:

  • There are people hungry, hiding and fighting for their lives.
  • The US is emotionally divided over a difficult choice for president.
  • Great Britain is also divided over the choice to leave the European Union.
  • Samsung released exploding electronics: Note 7 & Washing Machines.
  • So many people who touched our lives passed away.

But we had some fun too:

Some of you also had good things happen in your lives, new babies, new marriages, families reunited, job offers and improved health.  

My New Years Eve wish is that there are more good things to remember in the new year than bad ones.  

In my new year I start school again, and made plans with a neighbor to work on getting stronger.  I'm going to challenge myself to reading more for fun and go forward with intention to find a reason to celebrate every single day.






Sunday, December 22, 2013

Falling Off

So I've fallen off of my diet efforts.  Started with a cough that lasted almost 2 months, and then the holidays came.  However in all of that I have still managed to lose about 20 pounds and we are planning to get starated again soon.

Things I have managed to accomplish however...
Finished a baby blanket. 

 
&  make a ton of baked yumminess for my team.
 
.
 
Moving to so-cal my group of coworkers expanded dramatically, and my team with it.  Before I worked in a team of 3, now I manage a team of 14.   That is a lot of people to buy gifts for.  So I decided to try something different last year.   I baked. They got browniese, blondies, meringues, mock toffee, & shortbread, all individually packaged and super cute. 
 
This year, I started baking a bit early and realized if I continued as planned the cookies would either be all eaten... or stale so I went at it a little differently.
 
The first batch I delivered contained the infamous "Nieman Marcus" cookie, shortbread cookies & candied orange peels.
 
My second round  had those same cookies again, plus Sweet Potato Fudge, Chocolate Haystacks, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin, Brownies, Mom's Butterscotch Chews, Spritzer Cookies & Melomakerona.
 
Today I discovered
 
The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

OMG I am super inspired and have already signed up to participate next year.  But that means I need a food blog, so today I start one...but it's going to be a brand new one.  Now I have three.

Here you will always find just me.
At Hoverbug Online you can discover the internet with me.
and at 4 Square Feet you'll find my new home for all things baking.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Wish Me Luck

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Stumbled on this recipe last week and have now made them twice.

As it is, its lovely, I made only 1 substitution, Pecans instead of Walnuts.

Having a chat with a friend at work today though, I think maybe some more changes are in store to maybe make it a vegan treat too. I'm pondering upping the pumpkin for egg, and using applesauce for butter. (She also wanted more pumpkin just because its yummy).

Great recipe and way to use up a some delicious Quinoa.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

WIC

We know some people who are both young, and un-experienced cooks. They are soon to have a baby and qualify for wic... but were a little concerned with their limitations from the WIC menu... time for my favorite thing to do... research

Here's some really great things I've found to make the tight budget not seem quite so unfriendly.

Military Wives Saving - Cooking with WIC Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

You don't have to give up the good stuff.

My husband is lactose intolerant, almost severely so. I love ice cream - but feel guilty buying the delicious treat for just myself.

Then I realized his grandma left us an ice cream maker... and cow's milk is no longer the only choice.

So I went on a hunt for Chocolate - Coconut Ice Cream. OMG! I am so glad that I did.

We tried a Gnowfglins recipe for our first try... sorry, I didn't take any photos of this experiment. I used 2/3 cup of cocoa powder and everything else to the recipe. A little bit of user/mechanical error caused it to freeze a little too hard - but the taste was perfect.

Some other recipes I discovered on my searches can be found at...

I also did a little bit of math... while I really enjoy Coconut Bliss ice cream from my local freezer section... it costs over $6 for 1 pint... Making my 2 quart batch... I spent just a little less than double that amount. (2 quarts = 4 pints)