A New Week

[lynda]

Hi there,
Well someone suggested a new start... so here it is.

I had a pretty good weekend.  I will be down at weigh in tonight. 

I bought fruit as I suddenly realised that because my plums had finished my fruit portions had vanished and it could well be why I have been a bit picky!!!  Isn't it amazing how we "forget" little things like that. Have been walking out picking plums as my fruit constantly since December and now its gone I forget to buy new fruit!!!  Granny smiths coming on well. Guess feijoas are but I just can't like them - have tried but with no luck.  I give most of them away.
So had some lovely bought fruit on the weekend which was great and I bet people get sick of seeing me sniff every bit of fruit before I buy it.  I think the birds have eaten our groups - AGAIN.  Made lemony date slice yesterday - double batch.  Have put some in the freezer at home and some here at work for my daytime afternoon tea or if I am feeling "snacky" - its better than wandering down to the petrol station downstairs for some of their non programme snacks. 

Made Potato and leek pie on Saturday and have frozen the remainder for lunches (oh after husband has some tonight for his dinner with sausages whilst I am at weigh in.  Paul just loves it!

Weather here in Albany is lovely right now, though it did rain earlier.  It got so humid again on the weekend. Thought I was going to melt doing the ironing yesterday morning - 3 hours - eek. I have been so slack over the last few weeks but all up to date again now.  I usually do it during Top Gear on Sunday night or Coro St.

Off to lunch. Having a chicken sandwich today - not normal for me. However I might just eat the chicken and have vegemite on toast with the bread, or I think I have a tomato there - wow, thanks for that girls, thats what I will have - chicken on its own and tomato on toast! You are great!! Oh yesterday, first time in ages I grilled some bread and had grilled cheese and tomato on toast.  The very first time I did a weight programme it was my nearly daily thing for lunch as we had an oven - its no hardship having two slices of bread grilled like that - what else do you think I should put on it (we don't have a grill here but I can use it on the weekend)  Must do my pita pizza in the toasted sandwich maker this week too.

Catchya later - no more slapping required.  Oh, didn't someone have a weigh in the other day - did you report back - was it you Pamela????

[Kiwismum]

No slapping for you today thats for sure. Glad we could help with your meal planning

My hubby just makes toast and then puts sliced tomato on it, I had never had it like that until I met him, but it can be a nice change from grilling the tomato onto the toast. I had vege soup and a lamb sandwich.

I have brown rice on in the rice cooker and will make the one pot curry in the KK cookbook.

Wasn't PB looking for a leak and potato pie recipe, maybe you could share your recipe with her.

[lynda]

  Hey there.  Good lunch KM - dinner sounds nice.  I'm the only one at my house that likes curry.  Mum makes me curried sausages and I am banned from eating dinner with the family (haha that is no hardship - I can eat in peace!!)  Last time she made them she put the whole batch intogether so I have a container of about 10 sausages in the freezer.  I think I am going to have to have them over a couple of days and give the remainder to the dog.  Oh well, such is life.  i will probably have to wash the curry sauce off for the fussy little thing!

Have had a frantic afternoon in the office so haven't had a chance for my date slice today, which is great.  Weigh in later.  shall report when I get in in the morning.
Have a great night all of you.  Still no pedometer....(thank goodness husband hasn't asked how many steps I've been doing!!)

[lynda]

Good morning. Good weigh last night - down 900 so am happy with that!!!

Had potato and leek pie when I got home for my dinner and have the last of it for my lunch today.

Its a beautiful day here.
A neighbour stopped and chatted to me at the car on the road this morning - we tried to fight the council together some time ago and I feel great as he said "You are looking fantastic!"  Oh, what a nice way to start teh day - a handsome man telling you that.      

Ok, so I've had a good start to my day - how about all of you!!!
Are any of you out there?????

[lynda]

Hey great news - I found my pedometer whilst at weighin last night - it was in my handbag amongst my little umbrella!!!!

I know you will all be pleased for me!!!

[Kiwismum]

Yay Lynda, another great loss.

What a nice thing for your neighbour to say, you must be so pleased.

I am not getting on the scales right now - too scared and with corned beef for dinner tonight I don't think I will be any lighter. Too many cookies.

Poached egg this morning and will probably make a BLT for lunch, and of course the corned beef. I will weigh it all out though so that should help, and then we can have the corned beef hash for lunch tomorrow, miss fussy really likes that one.

Well the sun is shining for a short time so I will go and plant my peas in the garden.

[Pamela B]

Wow you lot have been busy little beavers.
Lynda congrats on the loss and the compliment. I got some on Friday and it has certainly spurred me on. Also thank you for passing the recipe on to Carolyn she has passed it to me. I must get filo next time I am in town.
I am being good and the scales are showing it. I had a 700g loss last time and when I jumped on the scales this morning I was another 500 down. My daughter turned up for a meal last night and came armed with choccy biscuits and easter eggs. Ahhh. But I have been strong and have just put them in hubbys office out of my sight.
Have the fire going and a pot of veg soup on the stove. Really cold here today got down to 1 degree last night winter is coming.

[Pamela B]

KM you have the most amazing garden.. what part of the country do you live. Wish we could grow half of that here.
Also I notice that you use the tickerfactory ticker. I used it once and now can't remember which part I cut and pasted...Help can you enlighten me.

[Kiwismum]

PB we are in northland, so it is still warm enough to grow most things here. We grow most of our own stuff and it gives me a real sense of satisfaction to sit down to a meal of not only home cooked, but home grown as well.

I only changed to tickerfactory after my full membership on KK expired so would have to go and look now, but I do know that once it is in place you just have up update your weight and it updates it. I went and had a look and I think it was the first code, at the top it says for message boards, if that one doesn't work then try the HTML one and see what happens.

I occured to me this morning that I may well have a wedding to go to sometime next year. I just might have to be more resistant to those cookies and get my eating under control before then. So with that in mind, I will weigh myself tomorrow morning and then I will go from there. Tomorrow I expect there will be a gain, but I will be looking for a loss every week after that until I get to goal.

Lynda I hope you have a nice strong slapping stick, cos I could well need alot of slapping.

Went out and checked the grapes and they are nice and ripe so we have grapes to add to the mix for a small amount of time, might have to make a nice fruit salad.

[lynda]

Hi ladies,

Wow Pamela ? great work on your losses.  That is totally awesome.  Keep up the great work.

Glad you got the recipe.  You can make it without the filo.  I do sometimes and double the potato or put serve of kumara in!!!  Filo?s such a waste of a carb in my view.  I often use it in recipes as it looks impressive but I don?t actually eat it so I can have a carb that I know I have had!!!  I split the potato/kumara in half and put one or the other on bottom and the rest on top ? its yum.  Will be making some more maybe tonight with my home grown leeks and apples.

Hey KM I don?t know if I commented on your great ?shopping from your garden? the other day.  Its time for us to plant some winter stuff.  We are still getting cucumbers ? the plant came alive with all the rain.  Beetroot is coming on but other than that not much. Wonder if I can plant another courgette.  Oh, can I just cut up some of the leeks and freeze to throw into my soup does anyone know???

I am trying a chicken/fish week again this week ? well trying, just have to make it to that other ?ty? on the scales ? after blowing it last time.  Think I am 600 away.  I can do it if I stay on programme and I am not at  that spot in my cycle!!!  Mind, that seems to be playing up now I am coming to ?that age?!!!

Hey Pamela, it is getting cold there. I hear we are going to get a cold blast up here too overnight!!!

[lynda]

Hey KM - didn't know you were into that "slapping stuff" haha..
Its only fair I return the favour and slap you back occasionally.

This time next week we will be saying "great work to you too KM on that terrific loss!"

Grapes - those damned birds at our house.... all gone again!!!

[Kiwismum]

Ahhh there is value sometimes in being a lazy gardener. My grapes are so overgrown that the birds cannot find them, we have to play hunt the grape and then we get some.

Im not really into the slapping thing, but I can't afford to sign up for the full program right now, so I have to depend on you ladies to keep me on track.

Lynda I soo know what you mean about "that age", there was a time that I knew what to expect, but now I never know where in my cycle I am as it is all over the place. The past couple of weeks I have felt like I am blown up like a beach ball, but I am sure that that too will pass. It also use to be that any fluid I was carrying would pass at that time of the month, but that no longer seems to fit either.

As for the leeks, don't know how they freeze, but if it is just for soups then give it a go and see. I have never grown or bought leeks so I don't know much about them at all. I doubt that the fussies would even try them, so I don't bother with them. PB you should be able to grow good leeks down your way.

My cucumbers have started a new lease of life as well, as well as the other one I planted when I thought the first lot were coming to an end, so I imagine I will have lots of cucumbers as long as we don't get a frost in a hurry. I have a zucchini that is just going through its first flowering now and will probably start picking from next week, but generally I would thing that it might be a bit late to just start one now. Unless of course you have a glass house and then you should go for it.

Most of my winter veges are already in as they need to get some good growth before the cold weather hits, and I will be starting my winter lettuces in pots soon. the celery and silverbeet for the soup is all in, but too small to harvest any yet, and I have had spinach right through the year.

This morning I picked the rest of my baby bear pumpkins but the crown pumpkins are still on the vine.

You might have noticed that we don't have a lot of fish and chicken, that is because we don't grow enough chicken to have all year round and don't grow any fish. These are things that we have to buy so we don't have it so often. There was a time (before we moved here) that we ate chicken in some form almost everyday, isn't it amazing how many different way of chicken and veges you can come up with.

Any way Im off to mow the lawns before the rains come.

[lynda]

I am not the biggest red meat fan - I guess chicken is my favourite, mind you, with some of the "roast chickens" to cook that I buy lately I have to wonder what they do to it as the consistency is, um, well, not quite a I remember it!!!  Oh well, have to die some day. Its probably pumping with hormones or something that are making me fat - THATS WHAT IT IS!!!

I have fresh fish once a week as the boys like home made fish and chips but I quite like tinned salmon. Sometimes at the supermarket I will buy 100 grams of shelled king prawns - works out relatively cheap really.  As I dn't actually spend anything on lunches or going out for dinner etc I am happy to treat myself. As I have mentioned before I love the pasta and salmon dish tht Dylan likes too so we have it at least once a week. Hubby loves it too which is great. Only takes 10 minutes!!

Actually if I think about the meat "I really like" I'd have to say its all pretty blase!!

[Pamela B]

Thanks for that info on tickerfactory will try and try again eventually it must pop up.
I think I would try steaming the leeks first. Don't know why just would. But having said that I know that you can freeze chopped onion and its fine so can't see why leeks not.
Raining again here and blowing a gale. Glad of the fire and the soup. Had hail and all the trimmings yesterday evening.
My garden is virtually non-existant this year. With knee problems and stock in the section all the time I just haven't got inspired. Have had a few things in the glasshouse but they were not all that great this year so will look to try different things there next year.  
I also am consious that I may have a wedding or two coming up in the next year or so so am determined to get the weight under control. The joys of daughters getting serious with their men. Mother of the Bride will not be a big fat lump!!!!!!  

[Pamela B]

Lynda like you I seem to live on chicken and I love to have tins of salmon in the house. I never go out for evening meals have lunch out with the 'girls' once a week last week cost $5. I actually had salmon on my toast topped with salad today.
I keep forgetting that pasta recipe and I really liked it so must make it again. I have been looking at the recipes for something I can put inot the crockpot for the days I am in town and late home. Instant meal and lovely smells as you come in the door. I really want a chicken casserole. Will look at my ordinary recipes too. Plan to pick up some fresh fish if there is any on Thursday when I am in for book club.