I got My Mojo back!

Well, it's only been a week since I got totally serious about the no carb thing and I feel like a new person. I have some energy! Major improvement. I've been more active and this coming week I'm going to start my walking program. I decided that the best thing for me to do was go on a modified version of the atkins diet. I say modified but that's really not true. I'm eating nothing but meat, dairy (without the milk), and lots of green veggies. I make a huge plate of salad greens and pile the meat and cheese on and then I use that awesome vinegar I told ya'll about. Love it! it's not bad and I've already lost around 10 pounds. It will come off even faster once I start walking. Well, I'm off this week to see my kids, Tanner turns 1 on wednesday! The year has flown by and we are so excited to see him again. Here's a new pic or two of the little stinker. Can't wait to squeeze him! I added a little flickr badge of etsy related pictures on this blog. Click on it! Find out all about etsy, it's awesome!

Soap!

We have soap boys and girls! I finally got it together enough to make some awesome soy milk soap, some really pretty and creamy lye soap, some skunk smelling Goat Milk Soap (More on that in a moment) and some honey oh honey soap! YUMM!

Ok, I will admit that I nearly pitched the GM soap. It was truly disgusting for about 3 days and now it is a very nice, heady lavender patchouli blend. And everything they say about GM soap seems to be true. It is so moisturizing, my hands feel great! Tree said the bathroom smells like a head shop so I'm thinking I may have gone heavy on the Patchoulli but...oh well! Anything is better than skunk. I wish it had turned out a little bit lighter but them's the breaks!

The honey soap is at the request of the neatest lady I recently met. She is the honey lady of lakeview and she sells lots of honey. We are trading honey for soap! Good trade.

The soy milk soap is pretty cool. I made it with some kikkoman pearl soymilk called tropical delight and the milk itself contains 7 fruit and veggie juices so that's the double whammy of antioxidants. i scented with green apple fragrance oil. Very nice. I will make another batch of this.

Well, the GM soap was a new one on me and next time I am going to cook it at a lower temp to try to tame the brown a little. A lighter tan would be nice, I'll let you know how it goes!

My life on the D-list

Ok, it's a different list then the one Kathy Griffin is on...It's the diabetic list and I'm truly disappointed. I don't know why I thought I would be different then all of my other family members but I am not. We are predominently native american and that goes hand in hand with diabetes, and other health problems. And even tho I'm overweight and addicted to Coke, I thought I could dodge that particular bullet and I was wrong! So, I have spent hours online the last few days and I've revamped my kitchen. Wish me luck (and willpower)...a coke sounds really good about now...really cold, with lots of ice! UGH!!!





Here is what I made for dinner





Chicken on the rotisserie. It was beautiful outside on my little deck and I enjoyed being out there. Fall is definately in the air!


Mashed potatoes....I only had a very small portion of that thank you very much






Broccoli Salad. This was awesome and since I made it up, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 med or 2 small jonothan apples, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 sliced yellow or red onion (I used a sweet yellow onion)
Toss above with

1/3 cup mayo reduced fat
1 tblspoon lemongrass and terragon vinegar(yummo)
1 tsp. sugar


p.s. that vinegar is my new favorite thing. Infuse rice vinegar(in the asian cooking section) with fresh lemongrass and terragon from your herb garden. Perfect for salads, I don't even use oil or dressings now. so fresh!

Enjoy! I will keep you all posted on my diabetic adventures and share more recipes with you as I find them...or make them up! Please excuse the picture, my good digital camera quit working on my last week and I'm still slightly pissed! Ta Ta !

Still no Soap!

Ok, I know that I'm slipping now because I have gone 2 whole weeks without making a single bar of soap. I spent all last week getting ready for the hillbilly chili cookoff and made more jewelry than anything else. It was a great day! Not extremely successful with sells but I did ok and I also got to talk to alot of people. I shared a booth with my friend Cindy and it is always fun to spend the day with her. And of course, it also rained!!! for about an hour. We got pretty wet but it was still fun. I love that down home atmosphere of small town fairs and festivals.

Speaking of fairs, tonight was the start of the Baxter county fair and I have to say that I believe that Caleb has lost his innocense. He came home and announced that the fair was a waste of money because everything was so expensive. I guess when you have to cut grass and haul trash for fair money, you have a different perspective! I have to say tho, I reluctantly have to agree. 40.00 for 4 rides, a burger and two drinks seems somewhat steep to me. We should all be getting used to the rising cost of EVERYTHING! but somehow it is still disappointing and worrisome.

I spoke to Tanner today on the phone. His vocabulary now includes, ma ma, da da, ahh choo, a social cough and now Hey Hey Hey! He is, of course, without a doubt the cutest baby ever! At least until my new grandbaby gets here in January. It's a boy and his name is Cooper. At that point, Cooper and Tanner may have to share that title! I am truly blessed!