Friday weigh in.

I have decided I will weigh in every Friday.

I have lost a pound from last week. This mean I have lost a total of 4 pounds in two weeks.

I went from a 47 inch waist measurement to a 43.
I went from a 54 inch Hip measurement to a 51.

I am proud of my progress.

I also joined a gym yesterday. I foresee a lot more weight loss ahead!

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Sewing machines

I have lived her just over a year. In said year I have not unpacked my sewing machines. horrible right?

I lost all desire to sew while pregnant with my toddler. Then after I had the desire to sew, I had a toddler needing all my attention and getting into everything.

Well I have help here and the toddler is learning the concept of no. So people there will be some sewing done in the very very near future!

Marashino Cherry Cheesecake

Hi, So, cheesecake!

I made cheesecake for my wonderful husband's birthday yesterday. He is now 32. old.....


I found a recipe for New York style cheesecake. You can find it HERE

I used the top one.

Ingredients
Crust:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling:

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eight ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease sides of a springform pan or use a 9-inch round pan, ungreased.
Crust Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into bottom of pan and freeze.
Filling Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.
2. Blend in cream. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg is added.
3. Mix in sour cream , flour and vanilla until smooth. Pour the filling batter over the crust.
4. Bake for one hour in preheated oven. Turn oven off and let cake cool in oven for about 5 hours.

5. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Only I modified this.

My modifications were to add Maraschino cherries and to use store bought graham cracker crusts.

OK let's start!

***

Here are my ingredients.

Add caption

SO, I placed the cream cheese and sugar int he mixer.

Then I placed a casserole dish of water in the oven. Cheesecakes come out better if they are baked in a moist environment.

I turned on the mixer and let it go for several minutes.

Then added the rest of the ingredients.

This recipe makes a lot of cheesecake. If I were using the springform pans I would probably make two cheesecakes. 

So I filled one of the crusts with cheesecake batter. I wanted one plain.

Then I added a bunch of cherries and the juice.

It turned a lovely shade of pink.

I filled the other crust and still had more so I took out a pie pan and used the remaining in there.

I did make a pretty design with cherries.

And here is the other one before it went into the oven.

And I placed them all in the oven.

They took a little longer than expected.

But came out nicely.

***

The verdict.

I hear they are amazing. I personally have not had any yet. I am trying to lose weight and I chose to not have any that day and have some the next day.

****
Update!

I just tried it. (it is the next day. Original post written 9/20/11)

So creamy. So smooth. So amazing. Totally worth the extra exercise and eating healthier for the rest of my meals.

Cheesy potato soup

Sounds great doesn't it?

I totally made this recipe up myself.

So here are the ingredients

You have Red potatoes, russet potatoes. butter, onions cheese bullion and cornstarch. I also used a little milk.

First you wash the potatoes.

Use cold water and a stiff brush.
I then peeled the russet potatoes.

Then sliced ALL the potatoes into chunks.

Then I chopped up the onion and placed it in a pan with a stick of butter.

Sauteed the onions till they look done.

Then add the potatoes cover with water and boil.

I added a spoonful of the bullion that I use.

It looks interesting but works well.

I also added come dried celery.

You can tell that the potatoes are don when they mush up.

I then use a potato masher to mash those potatoes. You don't have to do a lot some chunks are ok.

I then add the cornstarch.

A little tip on cornstarch. never add it to a hot liquid without first dissolving it in a cold liquid. If you fail to do this you will have lumps.

cornstarch

add milk

stir

This will thicken up the soup.

I then added cheese.

Those red bits are the red potato skins. Not bacon. I dislike bacon. However my family added bacon bits to theirs.

Here is my bowl.

garnished with cheese

***

The verdict. 

Was amazing. Seriously. Go make some.

I made a huge batch and there was nothing leftover. Nothing. I thought I had enough to freeze some. I was wrong.


***Update***

Question was asked int he comments about the types of potatoes used. I used the red and russet because that was what I had on hand. This will work well with any potato. Also spice with whatever seasonings you want. taste ans see what you think might be good.

Velveeta Cheesy Skillets

Did I spell skillet correctly?

Anyways, My lovely and beautiful mother went grocery shopping and bought those new Velveeta Cheesy Skillets. I mocked her for doing so just a little bit.

But I find myself writing about it here.

Because it is not a from scratch thing it is going to have a picture for the ingredients and directions

Yeah....

So I have a picture of all the ingredients. 

I did not picture the water. Because I thought that would be dumb.

So, I opened the box.

And found presents inside!

oooooohhhhh

Ok enough with the sarcasm. (I totally had to look that up as spellcheck thought I was trying to type scar face. )
I browned the hamburger. 

mmmm...raw meat.....ya know I had an ex who would eat raw hamburger....

Then I added the water and seasonings.

Then added the noodles after I stirred it.

Then cooked it covered until the water was mostly gone per the package directions.

Then added the cheese.

Here is my bowl.

*****

The verdict.

I thought it was going to be kinda bleh like hamburger helper. It was surprisingly good. Seriously. I was totally planning on mocking the hell out of this. But it was good.

Was way easy to prepare. I recommend using this to teach your teens to cook.

Also I would like it noted that everything was easy to open except the stupid cheese packet. Needed scissors for that. I found it amusing. Am probably the only one.

No bake cookies.

Hi all!

Anyone else hear Heidy ho ranger joe? is that from full house?

Anyways, I wanted to make no bake cookies. I suck hard at making no bake cookies. (still do) Normally I convince the dear husband to make them for me. He was at work. hmmmmm

I found a recipe on allrecipies. seemed ok. Here is the link. I thought I have made many beautifully delicious things from scratch before. I should be able to do this. Little hint I was wrong.

Anyways, here is the recipe and ingredient list.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened. 

***********

Let's see me fail!

Ok I got the ingredients together. 

First  I added the milk and sugar. 

Then the butter and cocoa. and Almond extract. (was out of vanilla)

I then brought to a boil and I timed it per the instructions.


It looked something like this. 

Then I added the peanut butter and the oats. I decided on a whim to add some coconut. 

I placed foil on the table because I do not have waxed or parchment paper. 

I then enlisted my handy-dandy 8 year old to plop the cookies down. 

****


The verdict. 


They tasted a little off. Probably because I was out of vanilla and substituted almond extract. They also did not harden until the next day.


I count them as a failure. 


Despite my failure status my family inhaled them.

Fugu?

Hi!

And no. I am not eating or preparing Fugu. A friend wrote a Blog post about some facts about Fugu. Thought it was important enough to share. So click on Amedeo.  It is way cool, and about food.

I promise actual blogs later today. I have about 4 to write. 

Been sick.

Sorry I have been quiet. I have been sick off and on the past weeks. So I am feeling better and promise to get more blogs out.

I would like to take this time and talk about fitness. I have been trying to lose weight since July. It is going slowly but good.  I have not really lost that much weight but I have been getting smaller. I would like to Start posting about my journey to losing weight on here as well. I would love to show how you can have a healthy relationship with food AND lose weight.

I am taking a page from my friend over at Shape of life and posting where I am at. I hope it becomes as inspirational to you as she is to me.

SO here it goes.

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Yes I need to lose 80 pounds. I currently weigh 244 as of this morning. So let's see where I go.