Friday check in 10/28/11

Hi!

It is Friday so we need to see how I did. I was really in gear this week. Walking 6 miles one day, swimming two hours another. Yeah.

Then Thursday hit. I stepped on that scale. I should not have. It said I was at 242. No change at all from last week. none. It made me sad. I ate like crap yesterday.

This morning I step back on the scale for my weigh in. 239.

So from my start I am down 5 whole pounds! This is nice. I am back where I was before my two weeks of icky.

So yeah.

I have a goal to be 20lb lighter by Thanksgiving. Let's see if I get there.

My Halloween costume!

Hi!

I actually have been sewing. I thought I would share what I have done.

First let's start with the base pattern used.

I made this for Halloween 2007 or so. It did not turn out as good as I expected. I don't have any pics of me wearing it that year, but rest assured it was not pretty.

So here I am a couple weeks ago when I threw it on with a corset that I bought for my honeymoon.

ooohhh...Back cleavage

My toddler has my lacing!

Please forgive the clutter!

And here it is halfway done.

And Here it is finished!

Does this make my butt look big?

I have no neck....

Beautiful?

I would like to thank my photographers, My husband for the first two sets, and my middle son Gareth for the last set.

Day Zero 10/22/11

Hey It's Saturday!

Time to talk about my day zero challenge .

You can find my list here! CLICKY

I have added more stuff. I still need to complete this list. Please feel free to contribute.  Leave me a note on things I should add in the comments section!

Friday Check in 10/21/11

Good Friday morning!

So this week I was again bad! I totally only worked out once this week. Life was getting int he way and that is a horrible excuse. I need to get myself back into gear.

So I have weighed in one pound heavier so am now at 242. My waist has not changed. 42 inches. But my hips got one inch smaller and is now at 50.

So nothing to really cry over. but if I want to get to my goals then I need to put in the effort. I want to be 20lb lighter by Thanksgiving. That goal is looking unobtainable right at the moment. I also want to be 40 lb lighter by new years.

Any encouragement will be appreciated.

Carrot Cake!

It's guest blogger time again. I have a wonderful friend that I met via the Knot. Her name is also Jess!

***

Hello there! My name is Jess, and I love baking! If I go a week without baking
something, it’s very unusual. I never really write about it, so this is a first for me.
My husbands birthday was the 14th, and he told me he wanted a carrot
cake....something I’ve never made before. I freaked out a little when I asked his mother
for the recipe because she told me “it’s kind of hard to make, are you sure you just don’t
want me to do it?”. Of course, I told her no, I was up to the challenge! So here we go!

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated carrots
1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 1/2 oz) can sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

Creme Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16oz) package powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanila

A couple notes -
I couldn’t find a can of sweetened flake coconut, so I bought a bag of it and just
measured it out. 3.5 oz comes out to be just about 1 cup.
I also bought whole walnuts and chopped them using my food processor. It was
cheaper than buying ones that were already chopped.
And, I forgot to get grated carrots, so I took baby carrots that I had at the house and
chopped those up in the food processor as well.

Obviously, you should make your cake first.
I find it helps to get all your ingredients out and set them in one place.

Preheat your oven to 350*
Grease&flour (or cheat and use bakers joy like I did) a 9x13 pan and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Set aside.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) beat the eggs. Then add in the sugar,
vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix well.
It should look like this when you’re done:

Add the flour mix, and beat at a low speed until it is well blended. Make sure to scrape
the sides of your bowl a few times to get it all mixed in.
It should look along these lines:

Fold in (with a spatula or wooden spoon) the carrots, pineapple, and coconut. Fold just
enough so that is all gets mixed in well.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan,

 and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, cover your pan loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil and then bake for
10-15 more minutes. (the foil prevents the top from browning too much).
Your cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool, then frost with the frosting!
Mine looked like this when it was all done:

To make the frosting, mix your butter&cream cheese together with a mixer (or in your
stand mixer) until it’s nice and creamy. (If you’re using a stand mixer, don’t use the wire
whisk attachment ... it just gets stuck in all the little slots and it’s annoying.)
Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until it’s all nice and smooth. (Be
careful after adding the powdered sugar not to turn your mixer on super high, or disaster
will strike!)
The icing should look along these lines when it’s all mixed together:

Ice your already baked&cooled carrot cake, and make it look pretty like this:

Cut and enjoy!

Verdict -
According to my husband, the cake was a “winner”. He wouldn’t say much other than “it
tastes good”. So take that as you will. I don’t like carrot cake, so I didn’t personally eat
any.
I had about a cup of icing leftover. You could probably cut out the extra 3oz of cream
cheese and cut back on your powdered sugar to make less, or just really pile on the
icing on your cake. I stored mine in a container and put it in the freezer.

The cake really was pretty easy to make. It took a little bit longer to bake than I thought
it would, but I took mine out a few minutes early so that it wouldn’t get dry. It’s a nice
alternative to a regular chocolate or yellow cake.
Try making it yourself and see what you think!

Porcupine Meatballs

Hi!

I am doing a crockpot meal today!

It is called porcupine meatballs. My mother made this for us when I was growing up and I love it. The ingredients are way simple.

2lb Hamburger
7oz minute rice
Worcestershire sauce
2 cans family size tomato soup.

Easy right?

Here is how you make it.

Place the hamburger in a large bowl.

Then pour a bunch of Worcestershire sauce on it.

Then mix. You have to do this part by hand and it is icky. I really hate touching raw meat. A lot. But I so it anyways. Just be sure you take off your rings.

Then pour in the rice!

Then mix.

It feels as weird as it looks.

Then you form little balls with it.

Isn't My apron beautiful?

Place them in circles in the crock pot.

Then I added more rice.

More rice is nice.

Then I added more Worcestershire sauce for fun.

Then set it in the fridge overnight.

First thing the next morning, pour in the soup! Do not add any water. The liquids of the meat will be just fine.

Family size!

After one can

After two cans.

Then place it on low for around 8 hours or so.

Enjoy!

Here is my bowl!.