Lone Black Spider

Yes, I must admit, I have been thinking about Thanksgiving, and Christmas, a lot these days. I love Turkey and all the sides that go with it! I could eat a meal like that every day I swear! However, I am doing very well on my diet since Monday, so I dont want to blow it. I have been searching my WeightWatchers website for low cal Turkey foods and they have a lot of tastey dishes (see prev post for one of them).
As for Christmas, this year will be tight. I would love to get Gift Cards for Grocery stores and some for Gas. I dont really need sports gifts, but my son has been wanting Ice Skates . . .
I guess if we just stay happy as a family (and friends!), stay healthy and keep our jobs, things will be just perfect for me; cant really ask for anything more than that!

I seem to be into tasty receipes these days. I do love Brussel Sprouts and this one sounds very good! 3 WW points per serving (aka 150 calories)

1 1/2 pound(s) Brussels sprouts, tough outer leaves trimmed, cut in half lengthwise
4 slice(s) uncooked turkey bacon
1 tbsp butter, divided
3 medium leek(s), thinly sliced (white and light green parts only; about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup(s) water, divided
1/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
8 oz roasted european chestnuts, peeled, quartered (fresh or jarred)

Steam Brussels sprouts until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes; place on paper towels to drain.
Melt 2 teaspoons of butter in same skillet. Add leeks and 3 tablespoons of water; toss to coat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, crumble bacon or cut into strips.
Add remaining teaspoon of butter to skillet; stir until melted. Add Brussels sprouts, remaining 1 tablespoon of water, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until Brussels sprouts are hot and coated, about 3 minutes.
Stir in syrup and vinegar; toss to coat. Add chestnuts and bacon; toss over low heat until well-mixed and heated through. Spoon into a serving bowl. Yields about 3/4 cup per serving.

Well I dug out my winter shoes yesterday and have decided that I could use some more, heeheehee. I really love shoes and love shoe shopping. It’s about the only shopping that I really like to do. I did purchase a pair of winter boots a couple weeks ago, however, they have a 3.5 inch heel and after wearing them all day Wednesday I have decided they are a bit to high for winter boots. I could use some work boots cuz when I shoveled snow the other day, my feet got all wet. WorkBootsUsa.com has lots of boots there and of course, I love shopping for shoes and looking at boot pictures on line too. Gotta get in the spirit of Winter!

Oh. My.Gosh. I am rolling on the floor laughing over here! I just get this email from a friend that kinda vanished. She has a daughter that was a very good friend of my son, in turn we bacame friends. Anyways, she moved to Seattle w/some guy she met online and I guess they all very happy now.
The funny part is that her soon-to-be-X was a good friend of my last boyfriend. So this is how the story goes:
My old boyfriends good friend from Texas, John, spilts from his girlfriend.
Next, me and my boyfriend split up.
Next, his other friend here in SLC (cannot remember his name) has his wife leave him!
So, to make a long story short, my old boyfriend and his surrounding close male friends, cannot seem to hang on to us good women. It is SO funny! Okay, I guess you have to ‘be there’, but it is still a hoot ! ! ! ha !

Well as you can see, I totally forgot one of my plants! and this was a nice one too. Beautiful purple blooms, nice green leaves; dang, I wanted to take this one in for the winter and see if it would come back in Spring. Ah Well, will have to see what happens in a few days when the snow melts. I wonder if there is such a thing as an outside kind of keylogger spywear, ya know, to keep an eye on things outside and then route it to my desktop so that I dont forget stuff like this! ugh.

Oh Dear. It was a hard week for me last week. The strange thing is that I dont really seem to mind! I swear my brain must be demented or something, cuz I really should care. Ah well, It snowed today and I am happy, so there!
Actually, I already lost 3 of the 4 I gained. I have turned back into a rabbit and only eat rabbit food now. Lets hope I will stay a rabbit ’till at least Thanksgiving. I love Turkey! !

Congrats to Clara for being this week’s biggest loser of 2.6 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 4 GAIN
Tammy - 0.5 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 0.2 LOSS
Leigh - STARTING OVER!
Clara - 2.6 LOSS
Julie - 1.2 LOSS
Cheryl - no report
Audrey - no report
Christy - 2.2 LOSS
Tina - no report
Danielle - no change
Jessie - no report
Steph - no report
CYN - no change

This week’s total - 2.7 LOSS

I do believe I am going to make this for my dinner tonight! It is a WeightWatchers Recipe, serves 6 and is 3 points per serving (aka 150 calories). If I have this for my main course, I can swap food for those weight loss pills and have something very tastey, and nutritious!

2 1/2 pound(s) butternut squash
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp apple juice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp red onion(s), chopped
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil.
Cut squash in half crosswise where it starts to widen (where the round “bulb” meets the “neck”). Place both pieces of squash cut side down in prepared pan. Bake until bottom half of squash is just tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 to 25 minutes; remove bottom half from oven and set aside. Bake top half of squash until just tender, about 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Peel and seed cooled squash; cut into 3/4–inch cubes. Place in a serving bowl and toss with dressing. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving

Tuesday late morning and I am stuck at work eating raw turnips. They are last of my organic veggies from our CSA this summer. and wow, they are sooo sweet! I never really had a raw turnip before this year, but I hope they give us some more next season. Next summer we (my sis and I) are going to do the CSA again. They are a local organic farmer and have thee best stuff! next year we are doing the Veggies, Cheese and Fruits; all local all organic. yum !
ah well, better get back to work. There is a Town Hall again today; I hope they will NOT announce anymore lay offs, eek !