Weigh-in. And So Much More!!!

Weight:  173.2

But wait!  There’s more!  Thank goodness, huh, because that’s not much to talk about.  It could have been worse, what with a week out of town and traveling, and then two days in a row of eating out this week.  Overall, I am happy with how I am able to go right back to eating well and making good food choices, and I am happy with my exercise level.  But that’s not gonna get it done evidently.  There has to be some diligence.  And maybe a little suffering (aka hunger.)

Okay, on to the more.   A couple of days ago I tried Lori’s socca bread idea, where the main ingredient is chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour, which I don’t like to think about, since garbanzo beans were one of my most hated foods as a child.)  Being highly adventurous, I decided to add italian seasonings to the bread.  So.  I”m not sure if it was the taste of the socca, or the taste of the spices, or the texture, or even that I thought it was a little too oily.  Either which way, I did not think it was worthy, and so discarded the leftovers.  But, I still have a bag of that chickpea flour, and Lori had mentioned that it might work in the sweet direction as well.  While I was walking I started daydreaming about how I could make a healthy decadent cookie using the chickpea flour.  I am convinced that using WAY less sugar in a cookie recipe is the key to breaking the ‘I must have another’ cycle.  If there is 1/2 cup or less of sugar in a recipe, I find that I am satisfied with one serving.  This is what Vicky does with the cookies she makes.  Anyway, I got home from the walk and remembered that I had bought a bag of Bob’s Redmill gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix!  Guess what was the first ingredient?  CHICKPEA FLOUR!  Score!  However, this being a mix, it still had the lethal combo of fat/salt/sugar that I am also convinced is difficult to keep under control.  These cookies were AWESOME!  They went straight into the freezer, and will probably make their  way to work with me.  A little too dangerous to keep around, I think.  But if you are looking for a gluten free cookie, these were  great.  And actually they were a good sized cookie for about 100 calories.  I think next week I will experiment with my ‘healthy cookie recipe, which will include the chickpea flour, oat bran, flaxseed meal, butter, unsweetened coconut, walnuts, chocolate chips, and ONE-HALF CUP OF SUGAR.

Next item.  I’ve been enjoying quilting this week.  Here are some shots of the quilt I quilted on  my BFF’s  longarm machine.  This is a big quilt–84X84 inches, which makes it difficult to quilt on a home machine.  After I got home, I just had to quilt the last border here at home, and then sewed on the binding and finished the binding by hand.  Its very unusual for me to keep working consistently on one project to completion.  It felt good to get it done.  And now its on my bed!

This picture shows the back flipped over so you can see the quilting.

The other day I stopped at a new thrift store on my way home, and there was a little gateleg table for only $57!  I have been looking for one of these for a couple of years, ever since my sewing table replaced my dining room table.  With my limited space, I thought that one of these little tables that fold up so small would work for me. It is very plain, so I had the idea to make a quilt to fit the top of it (imagine that…) and I used an idea I had been playing around with to finish the top yesterday!  I even have it sandwiched and basted all ready to quilt!  Very simple, but I really like this one.  I have been obsessed with squares and strips for a while.  I sew the squares together by hand in the evening.

Yesterday Noah got a lot of attention, in between all the quilting.   We took a four mile walk in the morning.  And in the late afternoon he finally got a bath!  Boy was that overdue.  Its hard to get a picture showing how pretty and fluffy he is.

Mr. Monk waiting patiently on the arm of the sofa while I work on the computer.

He doesn’t wait too long before making himself more comfortable.

I had all these pictures loaded and the Queen reminded me that I had not included her in the photos.  I don’t know why she sits this close to Noah, but it makes me happy and nervous at the same time.  You just never know when she might take offense at the way he looks at her…

When I go to the gym, I have been enjoying doing a circuit with the free weights, and recently I added in some mountain climbers, which really ups the cardio effect of the workout I think.  At any rate, it makes it a LOT HARDER!  But I like that .  However, I find that I am having a hard time going to the gym more than once every three days.  What with getting in two walks a day with the dogs, and making one of those a more vigorous and/or longer walk, I am tired and sore and achy.  So I guess it is what it is.  And I will give myself a break, which is what I advised good buddy Jill to do. Speaking of Jill, I tried a new yogurt combo that she recommended.  Probably everyone in the world knew how good this was besides me.  Plain (homemade) yogurt, honey and walnuts (pecans would probably be better, but you know what I keep on hand.)  De-li-cioso!

Speaking of things everyone in the world already knows,  HULU.COM???  Yes, I did know about it before.  But every time I tried, there were stops and starts and it drove me nuts.  Not worthy.  Well, I decided to try one more time.  Guess why I haven’t been blogging as much?  DANCING  WITH THE STARS AND BIGGEST LOSER marathons have been running non-stop this week.  Oh yes, it was a very good decision for me to give up tv a while ago.

And now, Noah and I are off to Canine Good Citizen classes.  His trainer recommended it for some of his, ummm, social behavioral issues.  “Don’t worry,” she said.  “We will just red flag him for the first couple of weeks.”  Poor guy.  He can’t help it that he lives with a reclusive spinster.