The miracle of life-giving food continues to amaze me! The fact that my Mom and Dad always said “Eat your vegetables!” should have been enough for me but is it ever for young ones growing up? No. We think we are invincible! Now, I’m not talking about man adulterated food. I’m talking about vegetables, fruits, good meats. There is so much packed into vegetables for the low calories that are in them. Beans for instance, are high in protein but low in fat. They can be very filling when dieting and you also get the satisfaction of how they can lower your cholesterol, stabilize your blood sugar, combat cancer and even help you stay regular. A cup of cooked green beans is only 44 calories. Now I can understand why most nutritionists talk about certain foods having calories that are ‘empty’ calories. If and when you ever have to diet, you seriously have to think about making your calories count!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Thrifty Homemade Christmas Full of Christmas Spirit!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! With today's times and living on a fixed income, I had little or no money to buy Christmas this year. But I really wanted to do something. So with a head full of ideas and a heart full of the Christmas spirit, I got busy. I started just before Thanksgiving.
My granddaughters go to a Christian school and need to wear skirts,dresses, or skorts or culottes. I wrote down their measurements and got to work! I made three culottes for each girl with a matching reversible vest for two of the skirts. I searched all over the internet and found some patterns and crocheted matching hats for each. I did not stop there but went on to crochet and knit about five headbands and knit four washcloths for each child. Each washcloth was geared to each one. One was 'Thomas the train', another A,B,C's,then hearts,and still another 'sunbonnet sue'. I ended up crocheting several more hats for the girls. You might say I went hat crazy!
For the boys, ages 5 and 3, my daughters and I found some snap toys with plastic animals, dinasaurs, etc. from the D.A.V. for 3 bucks and found the neatest backpack at the One Dollar Store that zips down into a circle. So when you lay it out, the child can sit on it and play with the toys and then zip it back up and put over his shoulders to take home with him. We also bought two pillow inserts at the one dollar store and made those into two pillows with animal material I already had in my stash. My daughter personalized each pillow by gluing their initial on them.
Of course, the true reason is our Lord's birthday. But I truly wanted a Christmas spirit this year and the 'Holy Spirit' told me to make it about the celebration and preparation. Not so much what is in the presents under the tree. With this in mind, I played Christmas music as I worked on my treasures and when I cooked and baked.
My oldest daughter (their aunt) helped me in the wrapping of the presents. I wrapped and she decorated. We used ribbons,yarn, and even bias tape! I used old Christmas cards that I had punched holes in and crocheted around for their name tags. These can now be hung on the Christmas tree or used again next year for their own personal name tags. My daughter folded the washcloths into different shapes and put them on top of the presents.
I am happy to report even though they weren't able to come over till New Year's Day because the 3 yr. old was sick, they absolutely loved it. And I hope..no, I know this will be one of their fondest memories.
My granddaughters go to a Christian school and need to wear skirts,dresses, or skorts or culottes. I wrote down their measurements and got to work! I made three culottes for each girl with a matching reversible vest for two of the skirts. I searched all over the internet and found some patterns and crocheted matching hats for each. I did not stop there but went on to crochet and knit about five headbands and knit four washcloths for each child. Each washcloth was geared to each one. One was 'Thomas the train', another A,B,C's,then hearts,and still another 'sunbonnet sue'. I ended up crocheting several more hats for the girls. You might say I went hat crazy!
For the boys, ages 5 and 3, my daughters and I found some snap toys with plastic animals, dinasaurs, etc. from the D.A.V. for 3 bucks and found the neatest backpack at the One Dollar Store that zips down into a circle. So when you lay it out, the child can sit on it and play with the toys and then zip it back up and put over his shoulders to take home with him. We also bought two pillow inserts at the one dollar store and made those into two pillows with animal material I already had in my stash. My daughter personalized each pillow by gluing their initial on them.
Of course, the true reason is our Lord's birthday. But I truly wanted a Christmas spirit this year and the 'Holy Spirit' told me to make it about the celebration and preparation. Not so much what is in the presents under the tree. With this in mind, I played Christmas music as I worked on my treasures and when I cooked and baked.
My oldest daughter (their aunt) helped me in the wrapping of the presents. I wrapped and she decorated. We used ribbons,yarn, and even bias tape! I used old Christmas cards that I had punched holes in and crocheted around for their name tags. These can now be hung on the Christmas tree or used again next year for their own personal name tags. My daughter folded the washcloths into different shapes and put them on top of the presents.
I am happy to report even though they weren't able to come over till New Year's Day because the 3 yr. old was sick, they absolutely loved it. And I hope..no, I know this will be one of their fondest memories.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Ever Heard of Drive Thru Buffet?
I ran with my daughter and her four kids last week. We had to come into town and take three of them to the dentist. After we were done, I suggested we go have a Subway sandwich, maybe a HEALTHY DESSERT, ha! low fat, etc. Ok Mom. First we stopped at Wendy's and got two of the kids chicken strips and fries. Then went next door and got bean burritos at Taco Gringos. Then we went back around and got ourselves our Subway sandwiches. My daughter jokingly said we were having "Drive Thru Buffet!" In my day, I had to eat what was put on the table, let alone go to several different places to eat and I come from a family of six! When you go into a lot of restaurants today,they have buffet all under one roof and everyone in the family can eat what they like from mexican to oriental to just plain old country cooking. Wonderful! I love getting small portions of particular foods just to try them and I fill up on it! There are some things you need to do or watch for...
3 things you should know about Eating Out and Restaurants
If you are going out to a chain restaurant, you can probably go to their website and check for their healthier menus or talk directly to someone at the restaurant for a menu of healthier choices. This also works if you have any food allergies.
Please remember... even when it's a buffet, your servers are still depending on your tips. If you haven't been to a restaurant lately or don't go very often the gratuity is around 18%.
If you're wanting to eat with a little more privacy,not so many people, plus possibly save some money,try eating earlier in the day Monday through Thursday. A lot of restaurants offer daily specials at these times.
3 things you should know about Eating Out and Restaurants
If you are going out to a chain restaurant, you can probably go to their website and check for their healthier menus or talk directly to someone at the restaurant for a menu of healthier choices. This also works if you have any food allergies.
Please remember... even when it's a buffet, your servers are still depending on your tips. If you haven't been to a restaurant lately or don't go very often the gratuity is around 18%.
If you're wanting to eat with a little more privacy,not so many people, plus possibly save some money,try eating earlier in the day Monday through Thursday. A lot of restaurants offer daily specials at these times.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Personal Christmas gifts
Ok, I know this is weird. But I made this video for my grandkids for Christmas. I wanted them to have this with my voice in it and yes, I did the drawings from Microsoft's 'paint'. I wanted something personal and I thought the simpler the drawings were, they could get into it more. Ok, maybe I just can't draw (tee hee) but it sounds good! I made this on Microsoft 'Photo Story 3' and converted it so I could put on a DVD and then I even made a cover for it! Pretty nifty huh? I thought so. I took the story from an old book I had and since I'm not selling it, I felt it would be ok to use it.
Years ago when my oldest daughter was little, I made a Barbie doll suitcase out of an empty tide box. Complete with drawers, hanger rod and hangers. It was a large box and since I knew what I was going to do with it, I cut the door out of the front and put the detergent in another container so the very top where the handle was at would still be in tact. Put contact paper over it, used extra cardboard and made drawers in the bottom of it as you opened the door, put a dowel rod across the top and also made some extra clothes for the doll. It was a Christmas gift, personally from me! For more ideas on making 'kids crafts' click here!
Years ago when my oldest daughter was little, I made a Barbie doll suitcase out of an empty tide box. Complete with drawers, hanger rod and hangers. It was a large box and since I knew what I was going to do with it, I cut the door out of the front and put the detergent in another container so the very top where the handle was at would still be in tact. Put contact paper over it, used extra cardboard and made drawers in the bottom of it as you opened the door, put a dowel rod across the top and also made some extra clothes for the doll. It was a Christmas gift, personally from me! For more ideas on making 'kids crafts' click here!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
And That's How It Went!
Two years later, I have started writing on Squidoo and now have another blog called Short Bible Lessons . I have to laugh because I just didn't know what it was all about or what to talk about! I'm not a talker but I am known to be a deep thinker. I think I'm going to steer this one in the direction of eating healthy. We'll see how it goes!
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