The Silence of Snow

I love the silence that snow brings with it.

The world halts for a while as God gives us, once again, something beautiful to look at.

We are having what the news stations are calling Thunder Snow. Like thunder storms but with snow instead of rain. I had never heard of it. Yet the sound woke me at 5:20-ish. In our Capital, Columbia, they had lightening with it. Freaky.

I have about 1-1.5 inches of snow and when I awoke to check it out, I heard freezing rain coming down on top of it.

I will add more pictures in another hour or so when my world lightens here in Ballentine, SC : )

Mannnn, that piece of end-bread is for the birds!

Literally!

I can't afford the excruciatingly high price of bird seed any longer and I refuse to buy the 'cheap stuff' because that's what it is, cheap; full of stems, sticks, and small stones I could use for gravel in my driveway! Plus, they won't eat it, I have proof LOL

So, for their treat when I run out of birdseed, (and it's going to snow tomorrow at some point anyway), I use the ends of the bread loaves that I don't like to eat. I let it stay out there for about 4 days if it's not gone sooner than that, and then I put out a fresh one in another clean bowl.

I spread a thin layer of peanut butter on the bread, cover it in raisins, craisins and walnuts, and anything else they would normally eat in nature, and press it all lightly into the spread.

I put the slice of bread in a small bowl and place it on top of my birdfeeding station, above the non-stocked birdseed holders, so they'll know exactly where to find it.

They LOVE it! See that brown bowl on top? Yep, that's it.

Don't forget to keep their water bowls or birdbaths in the sun where the warmth will keep it melted during the cold months. Keep it CLEAN and filled. You don't want to drink old nasty bathing water, do you? Neither do they.

HUGS!!

mmmMMMMMM!

What a title, eh?! : )

Well, here's why; mt fav snack-type of a quicky lunch is a grilled cheese... I know, right?!

BUT, I didn't have any tomato soup to compliment it, so I had a tablespoon of peanut butter to kick-start my tastebuds, and proceeded to make the sandwich anyway.

2 slices of whole wheat bread, 2 slices of American cheese and one fat pat of butter for grilling (yea, it's my cheat meal).

On the side I have a mug of hot green tea, one-half of a banana left over from yesterday morning's cereal, a half-packet of craisins (the birds got the other half - see next blog), and a small palm-full of walnuts (good brain food). Here's what it all looks like : )

YOUR goal for today: Look up why certain fruits have the look they do in relation to what body part they help! : ) ex: walnuts/the brain

HUGS!!

Today...

For breakfast I had oatmeal with honey, cinnamon and a pat of butter, coffee, and my vitamins, I always forget to mention those. (checkout sundownnaturals.com for coupons to use in your

local store. I was not paid to endorse them I happen to be using them right now).

Lunch is a small wheat tortilla, a tablespoon of Bertolli spag sauce, turkey pepperoni, oregano, and Mex Cheese mix. I started to put baby spinach on top, but will save that for my smoothie later. I toasted it in the toaster oven. It got a tad singed b/c I forgot to reduce the timer. I'm use to toasting bread, and this is much thinner. For my drink I had an "Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng".

Supper will be chicken strips, mac n cheese and some type of beans.

Call someone today you haven't talked to in a while, just to catch up : )

Enjoy your day!

My better-for-you foods for Wednesday

The picture of my lunch didn't turn out good at all so I'm skipping a photo today.

Breakfast was coffee and a piece of toasted wheat with honey.

Lunch is a large salad of washed & chopped iceberg lettuce, baby spinach and red cabbage. A little bit of white onion chopped, a small tomato peeled and chopped, feta and Greek Dressing. YUMMY!

Check the previous post for what my afternoon snack will be (nuts/fruits).

Supper will be fresh chicken breasts with spices (oregano, rosemary, seasoning salt, basil). It's been soaking in those and some olive oil overnight. I'll probably make a stir-fry out of it or maybe some brown rice on the side cooked in chicken broth. Not sure what else yet. I'll try to remember to take a pic and post it in here.

Have a healthy day!

It's amazing what an Apricot can do!

CHOCOLATE and APRICOTS and CRAVINGS and DR. OZ : )

So part of the Dr. Oz "rethink your diet" plan (my name for it) is to pick up items like dried apricots, slivered almonds and the like.

After eating two dried apricots, I no longer crave chocolate.

Now for those of you who actually know me, you're thinking, "NO WAY!?"

Yes way, I swear. The sweetness of them, combined with the tartness actually STOPS my craving for something chocolaty. Even thinking 'chocolate', and writing the word 'chocolate' does not make me want any, in the least, I swear!

So if you're ever in the NEED for chocolate (like right now, maybe), stop by the store and pick up a bag of Sun-Maid Mediterranean Apricots. (they did not ask me to endorse them, it just happens to be the ones I am eating! I would love some coupons, Sun-Maid! HINT HINT)

As soon as you get to the car, pop one in. Eat another a few moments later and "whammo". No more craving!!

Another thing I like to do is mix 1 TEASPOON of Golden Raisins with 1 TEASPOON of slivered almonds and 1 TEASPOON of walnuts broken up, and 1 TEASPOON chocolate chips. ("TEASPOON" = DO NOT USE MORE THAN A TEASPOON, DARN IT!)

This is a snack I like during the late afternoon or evening. It helps me from eating way too much at supper, or scrounging for a really bad-for-me dessert!

A huge glass of green tea or large mug of hot green tea (Melaleuca brand) before any meal also helps with filling up the tummy with GOOD stuff.

So, off to the store with ya. You're welcome ; )

Back to the new way of eating this week! (Dr Oz)

I started a Dr. Oz 'diet' a few weeks ago and was doing very well my first two weeks; I bought everything I needed for the new meals for two weeks, got some crappy food out of the house and was actually enjoying new flavors and a new way of cooking.

I got slack because of not having the right items in my house this last week. Plus my friend and her daughter came down for a few days so I didn't feel right 'making' them eat what I was suppose to be eating. So it got pushed to the side while all four of us ate some not-so-good-foods as well as stuff that was just not necessary.

So this morning, I got right back into the "diet" because I had bought a couple of little things over the last week so this week would be easier.

This morning I had ONE piece of wheat toast with 1 tsp of (healthy) peanut butter, and 1 whole red apple, cleaned and sliced.

Lunch is a toasted wheat English muffin with a Boca Veggie burger (I had a Boca chicken patty), 1 tsp marinara sauce, lettuce (I use baby spinach washed well), sliced tomato, red onion (I had white onion already cut up in the fridge), a little pepper, and a little oregano. YUMMY : )

I can't wait to pick a meal for tonight. It will involve fresh chicken. Maybe I will do strips pan-cooked in chili olive oil and some honey. That's always a hit.

Lunch:

The plate is now empty ; )

Would you like to see a daily posting with a pic from one of my meals? Comment!