It’s NOT a Diet!

 Slowly but surely I have been making the lifestyle changes I need to become a healthier me.  It started with the knocking out the wheat from my diet and I am happy to report my hands have pretty much cleared up and my back is on its way.  It hasn’t been easy, there is a lot of “planning ahead” which doesn’t come easy to a procrastinator like me but I am getting there. 

My journey has taken another turn.  I have started the Yoli Program which is a high protein/low carb diet.  I have been on it for almost a week and feel amazing.  I won’t go into the details of the meal plan, you can check out their website and read about it, basically I get to eat a lot of protein throughout the day, I’m not starving, feel energised and losing weight.  It works for me and I love it!    

I decided to start posting any yummy food recipes I find.  Tonight I am experimenting with the Facebook and Pinterest celebrity Oopsie Bread.  I have never made this before, it was super easy to make up and if it tastes good it will become a staple in my house!  At 85 calories, 6g carbs and 4g protein who wouldn’t! 

So, here is the recipe I followed/tweaked.  I did not use cream of tartar, did not have, but added ½ teaspoon of baking powder which was supposed to make it more bread like.  I added this to the cream cheese and yolk mixture.  Took not even 10 mins to whip together and 30 mins to bake.  I didn’t spray my pan, next time I will use parchment paper.  Tomorrow I will enjoy this with a nice big salmon burger, I am practically drooling now!!!!

 

Spare a thought for Hugo

I have 3 furbabies and one of them is a Pug.  He is a crazy sort of beast and I have a gazzilion stories about him.  He manages to get into all sorts of trouble ranging from eating an ant trap to licking a frozen metal door and getting his tongue stuck for a couple minutes.  I have the vet on speed dial. But it doesn’t matter what insanely crazy thing he does, I couldn’t imagine not having Hugo in my life.  There is never a dull moment.  And he is only a year and a half.  Everyone tells me he is a puppy and he will grow out of it.  I’m not so sure. 

A couple weeks ago I noticed Hugo’s eye was a little weepy and it looked like there was a small scratch on his eye.  If you know what a pug looks like you know their eyes stick out of their heads a bit and are prone to get scratched.   I called the vet and booked an appointment.  Sure enough there was an ulcer on his cornea and he was sent home with 2 sets of drops to be given 3 times a day for a week.  The scratch still didn’t heal and in fact it got larger.  So back to the vet, now we were up to 3 sets of drops, 4 times a day.  At this point all I had to do was pull the drops off the shelf and Hugo would instantly squeeze his eye shut.  Poor Bug.   After being on the new drops for 3 days I called the vet again, the ulcer was not healing and it was decided to flap his eye.  Meaning, his 3^rd eyelid has been sewn shut in hopes that his eye will repair itself.  The problem: if his ulcer ruptures he will loose his eye.  So I have until Friday, May 31^st when I take Mr. Hugo back to the vet and they will check his eye to see if there is any improvement.  If the ulcer has not gotten smaller then we are off to a canine eye specialist in the big City.  I am trying to be positive as I watch my furbaby wandering around with a cone on his head and one eye sewn shut.  I say over and over in my head that his eye will show signs of healing on Friday and that he will recover 100%.  I have asked my friends to send positive vibes his way and even have a very special lady saying a prayer for him.  Hugo’s eye will be better on Friday.  Please if you can, spare a moment and whisper a positive thought for Hugo the Pug.

If you happen to notice any scratches or anything unusual with your pets eyes please don’t hesitate to call your vet and check it out.  It is better to be safe than sorry.  For info I have found this website to help me through Hugo’s ordeal: http://www.raevonpugs.com/eye-ulcers.html

Eliminating the Bad Stuff!

Hello, my name is Leslee and I am a bread-a-holic, carb junkie and general lover of all things food! Lately my eczema has been flaring up a little more than normal and I am convinced that it is food related. Pre-packaged, genetically modified food. There are certain triggers that I am aware of such as tomatoes. If I eat too many my hands instantly flare up and are in pain for weeks on end. Normally it’s just my hands that are affected but for the last month or so my back, arms and legs have been flaring up. Yes, I have been watching what I have been eating but really it is nothing out of the ordinary so I have decided to try process of elimination. I am going to try going for a week without eating wheat products of any kind. A big task for someone who would gladly eat bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner! If I notice an improvement this may be the beginning of a lifestyle change. We will see! So on the menu for breaky: banana slices, orange wedges and a rice cake with a little good old fashioned peanut butter! I am a little excited about this as I have been reading up on the raw food diet. I am not quite ready to attempt that, still have a little more research and planning to do but this is a stepping stone. Have a happy Sunday everyone and stay tuned to see how this plays out!

Hello 2013!

What is a New Year’s Resolution?  According to my friend Wiki, it is a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming a habit, made in anticipation of the New Year.

Personally I think you can make a resolution at any time of the year.  Make a goal, set your mind to it and just do it.   But, a new year means new beginnings, new dreams, new goals, and new decisions.   It is a good starting point to do whatever it is you want to do!  Just remember to make your resolutions achievable.  No one likes to fail!  I mean we have all been there and made the “I want to get rich” or “I want to lose 100lbs” resolution.  Why not say I will work hard at what I do, save my money and invest smartly?  And yes, as for the poundage, who doesn’t want to take off a few pounds?  I know I do but I plan to focus on being healthy and making smart eating decisions to help become a better me!

2012 was a good year.  It took me home to B.C. to see family and friends, it saw me complete a few more classes for my ECE Certificate, my dad was finally able to leave B.C. and join my mom here on the flatlands, it brought me Hugo, and I shaved my head for a good cause (Terry Fox Run). Yes there were some bumps in the way, learning who I can trust, how to deal with disappointments and negativity but that has all helped me gain perspective and realize who I am and who I want to be.

I believe life is what we make it and you can’t depend on others to make your decisions for you.  If you want something, reach out and grab it, don’t be afraid to work your ass off for it either.  Because in the big scheme of things, YOU are responsible for you.

I resolve to make this an amazing year.  A year of adventures, of enjoying life, playing music, and laughing with friends.  I will look for the positive in every situation, not to ignore things but to accept and move on.

I wish you the very best for this New Year.  Hello 2013!  This is our Year! ❤

T’is the Season for some baking!

So it has been a lot of days since my last post and each time I remember I need to keep this up I rack my brain for something to write about.  Oh there has been a lot since Remembrance Day:  Girly Weekend in the city, seeing Celtic Thunder live which was one of the things on my bucket list, but never sat down to get it all out!

Now the festive season is here and life has been busy trying to get ready,  decorate the house, sing those Christmas Carols, Christmas concerts to attend, wrap pressies for under the tree, and baking, who can forget the baking!  Today’s post will be about a Cream Puff Pie that I came across on Pinterest.

It sounds heavenly and I hope it tastes just as good.  I am stepping out of my box here from my usual standby, Cheesecake!  Don’t worry there will be a few of those to make for friends and family.  I am even preparing to make a new one:  Chocolate Peanut Butter Binge but that will be another one to write about!  Now, bring on the Cream Puff Experience!!!

The Crust:

I have never made a puff pastry crust before, so when it says to boil the water, butter etc. I sorta freaked out but one step at a time right?  I boiled about 2 cups of water first since I figured if I boiled half a cup of h2o it would evaporate quite fast, so boiled it then measured my ½ cup then added everything else.  This worked out ok.  Adding the flour:  it mixed up quite fast, pulled away from sides as recipe said, added 1^st egg and it mixed in good, second egg had to be worked in a bit but I was using a spatula so that may have been my prob.  I sprayed my hand with cooking spray to spread in the pie plate and then popped it into the oven…so far no problems!

As it was cooking I started to think I might need a bigger pie plate, mine is 9 inches like the recipe calls.  It ended up shrinking away from the edges while cooking and for the final product it turned out ok, I think maybe a little deeper plate might work better, that way you can stuff more sweetened whipped cream over the cream puff filling!

Over all the crust was super easy to make, the hardest part was waiting for it to cool off so I could put the cream puff mix into it.  So I stuck the crust in the freezer for about 20 mins…I’m not a patient person!

The Cream Puff:

Super Easy!  Milk, Whipping Cream and Jell-O Instant White Chocolate Pudding.  Mix it with your hand blender and BAM!  You are done.  Pour into crust and put in fridge till ready to devour! And yes, yes I did lick the cream puff bowl…it was delicious!!!

I didn’t make the whipped topping until I was ready to serve it, I didn’t want it to separate and get yucky.  Also I got lazy and didn’t melt the chocolate as the recipe called.  Instead I just drizzled Smuckers Chocolate Syrup (the ice cream topping kind) over top.  And it worked great.

Finally, call your friends together and enjoy with a nice cuppa coffee!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas to you all!