Out From Under That Rock

For MONTHS, Facebook has been nagging me.  It tells me at least once a week that I haven’t post in XXX number of days.  Too many days actually.  I have felt that empty space in my routine, I didn’t need Facebook to tell me about it.  I’ve decided to come out from under that rock.

I’m doing this post by the seat of my pants…was I ever actually organized about this?!  I need to get back to it and to all of the terrific people I have met over the years doing here.  I hope I remember how!

I haven’t figured out a routine yet, but I’m excited about one thing in particular that I wanted to share.  After many years away, I have decided to work for Weight Watchers again.  I have had two training sessions with six more to come.  Things have changed, but much of it has remained the same.

I’ve been out to several meetings observing other leaders, that’s one of the requirements of the training.  At each meeting I observe I get up and give a self disclosure telling the members at that meeting about my journey on the Weight Watchers program.  The old saying “just like riding a bike” comes to mind.  I get up in front of the meeting room and I know that I’m home.  There were a few issues at first mostly the excessive use of hands.  I looked (and felt!) a little like a windmill.  But when I spoke at a meeting this morning I felt that I’m starting to get it under control.

I have no idea when I’ll get an actual meeting of my own again.  I hear that there is a need for quite a few leaders in my area right now so I’d say I’ve picked the right time to come back.

Many other things are happening in our lives and as I get back into my rhythm and routine here, I’ll share more of them.  I am very excited to be back with Weight Watchers and VERY happy to be back sharing with all of you here at Broken Cookies Don’t Count.  I hope you all remember how to navigate back here.  I’ve missed this and I’ve missed all of you.  Let’s get back to this Adventure!!

Happy Thursday!

Week In Review~10/26/15

Another Week…Another Week in Review hostessed by the lovely Meg at Clean Eats, Fast Feets.  I was all organized last week and had things planned out for my review.  This week I’m flying by the seat of my pants trying to remember what the Heck I did with SEVEN DAYS!  Guess we’ll Both find out!!

1. My Gym time was cut short this week.  I worked out 3 times as opposed to 5 last week.  As much as I enjoy the gym and I know the benefits I get from it, some days life gets in the way and I just don’t get there.  Next week will be tricky too because we’re going to be away, but I’m going to try to do my best to get activity in even though I’m not at the gym.  I’m in control of my activity level and I need to make the most of it.  A friend of mine started a FitBit challenge last week and it’s great to be competing against others.  It makes you keep going.  I’m going to suggest we do it again this week!

2. For many years I’ve been collecting antique dresses.  I haven’t done much with them over the last 10 or 15 years.  They sat in storage boxes.  About a year ago I had contacted someone who buys and sells antique clothing.  I wasn’t ready to get rid of them at the time but this week, I decided it was time.

I took photos of all of them (believe me, this is just a few!) and sent the info to the lady interested in buying them.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have them all packed up and shipped off to her.  As I said on Instagram, it’s like parting with an important piece of my youth.  But I’m doing this to raise money for our move to New Mexico.  To me it’s worth it.  I’m trying to sell anything I can.  Next is my pottery collection!

3. I’ve been doing a lot of reading.  Started and finished Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter.

Really enjoyed this.  It was one of those books that starts slowly but once you’re into it you can’t put it down.  I like that.  I’ve enjoyed all of her books.  Only problem is that since the beginning of the year I’ve read ALL of her books.  This is her newest one and now I’m finished.  She better get writing so that I have something to read!

4.  I thought I was doing a good job on Weight Watchers this week but I had a gain anyway.  At this point in my life I don’t really worry (well not TOO much) if I have a gain.  I’m 14 pounds under my Weight Watchers goal and I pretty much stay there regardless of what I do.  I’m pretty good at writing down all of my foods and staying on track.  It’s just frustrating and I guess it always will be when I have a gain and I can’t pinpoint the reason.

That’s my week.  Not very interesting but that’s the way it is sometimes.  I’ll try to make next week more Exciting.

Don’t forget to check out all of the other listers over at Clean Eats, Fast Feets.  It’s always a lot of fun!

Happy Monday!

WIAW~ October 21, 2015

It’s that Happy time of week when we get together over at Peas & Crayons and talk about what we’ve been eating all week.  It’s What I Ate Wednesday!  When you’re finished here, be sure to stop over there to see what everyone’s been munching on all week long!

I’m always up for a breakfast at the diner.  My best friend Gail and I took our other best friend Alice and Gail’s brother, Ray to the airport for a flight to Florida.  No problem except that we had to leave at 4:30 am!!  Again, no problem, but we wanted to go to breakfast and contrary to what we thought, all of the local diners are Not open at 5 am! We went to one that had recently reopened after renovations.  It looked nice but this was 5 am.  There were only 2 other people in the diner and we had to wait almost 25 minutes for our food.  It wasn’t that great when we finally got it.

But it was better than some early diner breakfasts I’ve had.  We headed to the gym afterwards to work it off.

I got a better breakfast at home on another day.  I like trying unique things with omelettes.

Not the prettiest photo but very tasty.  Egg beaters and egg whites seasoned with Mrs. Dash and chipotle powder.  Inside chopped broccoli, 2% cheese and a quarter cup of black beans.  Topped with Cholula hot sauce, my new favorite.  The small addition of the quarter cup of black beans makes this extremely filling.  I add them in whenever I have the home-made beans in the fridge.

Sometimes I’ll take a little shortcut.  Ralph brought home a salad from a local convenience store labeled “super food” salad.  It was made with kale, slivered almonds and chopped apples.

I added some chopped spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, black beans, 2 % cheese and light balsamic vinaigrette.  It was delicious!  It’s nice to take a little help when you can.  I love doing that with store-bought salads.  I can always find a way to make them more substantial or add some protein.

One more salad.  Ralph and I went to one of our favorite restaurants on Monday afternoon.  In line with my continued efforts to get back on and stay on track with my food choices, I had already decided what I would have before we got there.  When the server brought the menu, I left it on the table and didn’t even look.  I didn’t want to be tempted to stray from my plan.

This restaurant has the best Greek Salad I’ve ever tried.  It looked better but I started to poke around at it.  I forgot that I’m blogging again and needed a nice photo!  Regardless, I think it’s beautiful and I know it was delicious.  I also asked for only one roll with it, that way I wouldn’t be tempted by an entire basket.  I keep trying!

That’s What I Ate Wednesday for me this week.  I need to get back to doing more cooking and coming up with some unique things.  We’ll see how I do.  Whatever I come up with, you can be sure I’ll be back here next Wednesday.  Be sure to stop over at Peas & Crayons to check out the other linkers!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

 

Week In Review~October 19, 2015

I have received a Welcome Home blogging gift.  Meghan at Clean Eats Fast Feets has reinstated Week In Review.  I’m really excited about this because for me WIR was always a good way to start the week and get things going both in my blogging life and real life.  Meghan’s contention is that we don’t give ourselves enough credit for what we do in the course of a day or a week.  This allows us to see what we’ve been doing with our time.  Meghan is a great list maker and I’m trying to emulate her.  My list making was a little hap hazard as I try to settle back in from three weeks in my happy place (New Mexico!) but I think I’ve done a decent job.

1. My first focus on my return had to be getting back on track with Weight Watchers.  There are no WW meetings in Silver City, the town where our house is in New Mexico.  The closest is an hour and a half away in Las Cruces.  When we move there I’m going to have to figure how I can get to a meeting there at least once a month.  I’ll work on it.

First thing I did was put in a pot of black beans to soak and go into the crock pot the next day.  Then I wanted to get everything I needed to make my WW veggie soup.  I never thought of this before, but I prepped the soup on Sunday night and was able to just plug in and turn on the crock pot when I got up Monday morning.  Believe me, I’ll be doing it that way from now on.

I had put on about a pound and a half while I was away.  I didn’t think that was too bad.  I wore the same clothes I’d worn the last time I weighed in so that any difference was weight, not clothes.  I weighed in Saturday morning and in spite of the fact that I was wearing jeans because it was too cold to wear capris, I lost 2.2 pounds!  I had worked really hard, journaled all of my foods and tried to stay focused.  That and the availability of the  veggie soup did the trick.

2. I went to the gym 5 times.  I know that those visits also helped with my weight loss and getting myself back on track.  Being in Silver City for such a short time, I didn’t try to sign up for a gym there.  Plus the 3000 miles of riding in the car didn’t help.  I started out pretty stiff the first two days but by mid-week I was feeling back in control.  Again, I was happy with my focus and dedication.  I feel much better now and I’m going to do my best to get there as often as I can this week.

3.  My long hiatus from blogging came to an end.  I wrote and published 4 blog posts in the past week.  I do enjoy the link-ups like Week In Review.  I still haven’t decided if I’ll have a hard and fast schedule or if I’ll just go free style.  For now, I think I’ll see how I do and work from there.  It seems that my readers have not forgotten me and for that I am very grateful.

4. Here is where the whole list making idea is going to be helpful.  I really, Really want to get things on track with our move to New Mexico. I’ve started trying to list what I have to accomplish in order to make that happen.  I’m also trying to give myself alternatives so that if one thing doesn’t work, I have a back up plan.  Lots and lots to do regarding this.  This is important to me and I will be focusing on this.  Let the Listing Begin!

Be sure to stop over to Clean Eats, Fast Feets to check out what accomplishments are on everyone else’s lists.

Don’t Forget to…

Saturday Snapshot~October 17, 2015

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a Saturday Snapshot post, but I’m Very happy to be back.  This is the fun link-up Hostessed by West Metro Mommy and it allows us to share lots of photos.  They can be ours or a family member or a friend.  Just not something you downloaded from the internet.  Let’s go!

Ralph and I just returned from a visit to our home in Silver City, New Mexico.  Unfortunately, we don’t live there permanently yet, but we’ll get there.  It is a beautiful place and I miss it when I’m not there.

One of the highlights of our visits there for me are the sunrises and sunsets.  This visit was unique and not in a good way.  There were not nearly as many colorful sunrises and sunsets as I was used to.  I love it there regardless and I dutifully stood with my phone at the ready morning and evening to catch what I could.  There wasn’t much but here was one particularly pretty sunset.

This is a view from our side deck.  It seems that we can see forever from there.  The spot where our house is affords incredible views.  Wish I was capable of taking night-time photos.  You can actually see the Milky Way.  Not something I’ve ever seen in New Jersey!

Be sure to check out the others linking up at West Metro Mommy Reads.  It’s well worth the time.  Everybody have a Great Weekend!

 

Thinking Out Loud-October 15, 2015

I’m feeling pretty good about getting back into all of this blogging stuff.  I think one of the best ways to do that is to get back into some of the link-ups I used to enjoy before my excessive hiatus.  One of my favorites…

Yes…Thinking Out Loud, hostessed by the lovely Amanda at Running With Spoons.  Thinking Out Loud is for letting everyone know how you feel about things.  For Good or Bad…What do I Really Think?!?

~~I try not to make political statements but I Am so Very sick of politicians and everything they have to say.  Since when do we have to hear from them all so early either on the news programs or in debates.  I’m just tired of it, but I promise not to mention it again.

This quote sums up my feeling on this topic:

Think about it.

~~Just back from a three-week visit to New Mexico and yet I miss it already.  There is something special about the place.  I’m trying to make the best of the time I still have to spend in New Jersey, but some days are difficult.  I find it hard to wrap my head around being here and not on my mountain ridge where the days never seem to end and the skies go on forever.  The Autumn colors are helping but only a little.

~~I’m working hard on trying to get into a better routine than I had before we left.  I should probably actually write down my plans for each day.  Sometimes I’m not even sure if I missed doing something that I had intended.  At least if I made a list, I could check things off and then know what was done and what wasn’t.  I’m going to write one Tonight!

~~Getting back on track with food is also a challenge for me.  Trust me, I was not the best Weight Watchers member while on vacation.  I paid attention but I was Way too flexible.  I’m working hard to get back on track.

~~Boy did I miss going to the gym while I was away.  I could tell that I was getting very stiff and achy.  Now that I’m back to the gym, I feel so much better even though there’s plenty of achy going on with muscles that had to endure no exercise and a 3000 mile car ride.  But I fell better already and I’m feeling good getting back into that routine.

Enough of me rattling on.  If I talk too much for too long, they won’t let me back into Thinking Out Loud next week.  That’s all I have to say for this week. Stop over at Running With Spoons to see what everyone else has on their minds.  It’s a lot of fun!

Happy Thursday!

WIAW-The Green Chile Edition

It has been Oh So Very Long since I’ve participated in a What I Ate Wednesday party hostessed by the lovely Jenn at Peas & Crayons. I’m so excited to be back and to see what everyone is sharing today. Let’s see if I remember How!

So much has happened in the months since I’ve been away but most recently Ralph and I spent 3 weeks in New Mexico.  Was I happy to be there?  You better believe it!  I love being there in general, but the food is one of my favorite parts of our visits. Also another reason that I can’t wait to be there permanently.  Here Goes…

One of the best things about New Mexico especially in the fall is the presence of green chiles.  Everywhere you go they’re offered.  Trust me, I’m not complaining.  Here are some of my happy meetings with the ever-present green chile.

One of the wonderful things about New Mexico is that if you ask nicely they’ll turn a veggie burger into a green chile cheese burger.  This was a new restaurant we hadn’t tried before.  We Will go there again.

This was a green chile cheese quesadilla.  I asked to have grilled mushrooms added…Very Good Idea.

This is called a Build Your Own Omelette.  I added spinach, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and green chile.  So good!  You can’t see much of it in the photo, but this could possibly be the best biscuit I’ve ever eaten.  I’ve been to this restaurant for breakfast before but never thought to ask for a biscuit.  Believe me, I won’t make that mistake again.

Another breakfast was huevos rancheros.  These are so unique to New Mexico.  I always try to have them when I’m there.  You get the choice of either red or green chile, but of course I always pick the green!

This was a black bean and cheese quesadilla.  As I think about it, I probably should have requested green chile be added.  Missed opportunity but it was still delicious.  Also tasty was what they called guacamole salad. It was a fresh, crisp salad topped with guacamole.  Very good.

I realize that this sounds like a Lot of green chile.  I suppose some people might think it sounds boring to have the same thing so often.  There is a real variety of great food choices in Silver City.  I just never get the green chile anywhere else.  When we move there, maybe I’ll get tired of them, but for now I take my opportunities whenever I can.

Be sure to check out all of the other bloggers sharing their mouth-watering selections over at Peas & Crayons.  Get some ideas, leave some comments.  Join the party!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

 

The Return

It’s hard for me to believe but my last post was in December of 2014.  Do I have a good reason for being away this long?  Not really.  Life happens.  Frustrations happen.  The good news (for me and hopefully for all of You!) is that I’m back.

My fingers have been itching for many months to be back here typing away but I haven’t done it.  I am now and I’m very happy to be back.

I’ve got to come up with a plan for how I plan to handle my return.  It won’t be every day and in truth I don’t know how I did that when I started BCDC.  When I figure it out, I’ll share it.  In the meantime I’ll be poking around at various topics, plans and link-ups that I find interesting.  But it does feel good to be doing it again.

Life has been interesting lately.  Ralph and I just returned from a 3 1/2 week trip to New Mexico.  It was wonderful and awful all at the same time.  Wonderful because we were there, awful because we had to return to New Jersey.  I tried to come up with every excuse I could think of to be able to stay, but it didn’t work.  So I’m back in New Jersey.  It’s nice to see lower gas prices.  The prices we saw were all over the place, all much higher than NJ.  In fact the prices here were lower when we got back than they had been before we left.  It’s also a plus that we’re back when the leaves are starting to turn into fall.  I love that of course.

Coming East through Ohio and Pennsylvania the leaves started to share their beauty and it was worth it.

A safe return after an approximately 3000 mile round trip journey is a good thing.  It was a trip with its ups and downs but we were in New Mexico so it didn’t matter.  We got to see some parts of NM we hadn’t seen before and that was great.

As I get back into this whole process, I’ll be sharing more of what’s been going on.  I hope that I haven’t lost you all completely.  Please comment to let me know you’re still here.  I look forward to hearing from all of you.  I know I’m glad to be back.  It feels good.

Happy Tuesday!

Thinking Out Loud #8

This time last week most of us were getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I can’t believe that a week has really slipped by me since then.  It doesn’t feel like a week.  Maybe because there were three additional days of eating Thanksgiving leftovers! There are still some in the fridge, but they’re all turkey related so those are for Ralph.  But here I am again, ready to be part of Thinking Out Loud hostessed by Amanda at Running With Spoons. I’m not really sure what’s on my mind, but that never stops me, does it?!?

~This has not been my favorite week.  There’s been a lot of rain, which never makes me happy.  I’m much sunnier when the weather is sunnier. It’s one of the reasons why I need to NOT be in New Jersey, but that’s a topic for another day. The next couple of days are expected to be dry, if not sunny.  I can deal with that.  Just no rain please.  I try hard to work around it, but the weather can have very negative effects on me.  I suppose I should be grateful…my life is so much better than last year this time.  Ok…I’ll stop complaining.

~Some household issues have been a huge pain.  They are ongoing and unresolved as I write this.  Everything is falling apart.  Gotta love living in a Very old house.  Things will work out eventually but for now they’re making me very cranky.

~I’m trying to get some Christmas spirit, but every time I take a step forward I seem to go back by one.  Little things like buying a present for someone and then finding out the person already has it.  Ugh!!  Have to put my thinking cap back on.  I’m just not good at this anymore.  I’ll get there though.  I keep trying and I guess that’s what matters.

~One thing that Is making me happy and feel good right now is exercise.  I mentioned a few weeks ago that I joined the gym.  I’m loving the whole process.  I go with my two best  friends most days but I will even go when they can’t go or if our schedules conflict.  I’ve been there three times this week and I think we’ll be going today.  I even thought about going on Thanksgiving morning but changed my mind. The surprising thing is…I thought about it!!  I also found out about something called #mileaday from my friend Kristen at ok,enjoy. She got it from another blogger.  The idea is that starting on Thanksgiving and throughout the Holidays, try to log one mile a day.  As she says in her post, it’s not a lot but it’s a start.  I think for so many of us we have No Idea how much activity we get or don’t get.  This is a start and for those of us who tend to over indulge during the Holidays and then say they need to start doing something after January 1, you’ll already be started.

 

I don’t use any of those fancy fitness trackers…well not at the moment anyway. I am thinking about one.  For now I just use my plain old pedometer and it works well.  It tracks my steps both regular and aerobic and gives me the mileage.  I’ve tracked a mile everyday even on my non-gym days so that makes me happy.  Some days I’ve had to resort to marching in place while watching TV but that’s ok, I still get it in.  I think that anything that makes you aware of what you’re doing or not doing is a good thing.  Besides, it’s fun and I have to keep thinking to find fun ways to post it on Instagram.  I can’t just always show my sneakers!

There you have Thinking Out Loud this week.  I started out a little cranky and grumbley but I turned it around. Be sure to check out Running With Spoons to see what everyone has on their minds.

Happy Thursday!

 

WIAW~Surviving Thanksgiving

Can’t believe it’s Wednesday already and time for What I Ate Wednesday, the fun and drool worthy link up hostessed by Jenn at Peas and Crayons.  But it is and here I am again going on and on about what I ate.  I love to see what everyone has been eating, especially after a Holiday.  Here’s my contribution!

Of course it was Thanksgiving.  So many people dread this Holiday, it seems.  Probably because more than any other Holiday, it revolves around food.  Other members at my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday were so worried about how to approach it.  That’s actually always seems to be the topic at WW on the week before Thanksgiving: How To Cope With Thanksgiving.

Believe me, I’ve been through many Thanksgivings where I was over the top, over indulged and over stuffed.  I know it’s an issue for a lot of people.  I felt in control and on track this year and I was proud of myself.

I started with a regular breakfast of an egg substitute omelette which always keeps me full for a while.  Dinner was planned for 1 pm so I knew I’d be Ok until then.

My sister Ele and I always work on the dinner together and we had a really good time.  One of my jobs is making the succotash.  It’s not something that everyone likes, but almost everyone in our group likes it.  Personally, I LOVE it!

I joked that this was mine and I didn’t know what anyone else would be eating. I probably could have eaten the entire thing if given the opportunity but I didn’t!

There were pies, yes, but I was restrained with them.

 

I had a piece of the apple, home-made by our friend, Jim and just a tiny sliver of the coconut custard.  Both were yummy.  There was also a pumpkin but I passed on that…had to pass on Something!

The main attraction…

 

Dinner:  mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy, green beans, Ele’s home-made cole slaw (From Grandmom’s recipe) and of course, Succotash!!  At the top is a piece of the cranberry orange jello mold I make every year.  Also a favorite.  It was all delicious and I have to confess that I did have seconds on mashed potatoes, second time around topped with Succotash!  I’m starting to think I should title this post “WIAW~Succotash!”

It was a great day and we had a lot of fun as we always do.  That’s my Thanksgiving, now let’s go see what everyone else had on their favorites list.  Be sure to check out Peas and Crayons to see what’s going on!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!