One Week Down

I made it through week one!! Once I got over my day two freak out, things have going rather smoothly. I am heading into week two with optimism :) 

Monday, Tuesday and probably Wednesday's lunch. I am enjoying my Corn Zucchini Pie. Even with my reductions to the butter and cheese, it still has a decadence to it. I will have to find a replacement for the cherries today, since this was my last serving :( 

Ask for a Star Wars glass and you shall receive a Star Wars glass. This is the only vintage one we have, but my husband has some newer pint style glasses. The vintage glasses are my nostalgia thing. Star Wars wasn't a big part of my youth, so I am not actively searching them out.  In the meantime, Lando says "hello" to a special lady :) 

Oh, and dinner was a turkey burger. I was kinda proud of this meal because we were both hungry and I didn't have a solid dinner plan - the most dangerous time for us to say "forget it, let's go out to eat." But I held firm and came up with this. I chose to do one slice of bread with lettuce as my other "slice." One of my memories of my grandma is that she always seemed to eat her sandwiches that way. Another one was her half a grapefruit for breakfast. I always thought it was cool to use her grapefruit spoons with the little teeth - even though I hated the grapefruit.

Enjoying my breakfast with a big ol' sunflower. I am out of blueberries, so I am going to have to come up with something else for breakfast...stay tuned. I usually boil eggs in advance, a half dozen at a time. Since I was making them right before breakfast I decided to do a soft-boiled egg. I really need to use these egg cups more before it seems like I don't need them and they get purged.

Unfortunately, the egg I pulled out early was already well past soft-boiled. Now that I have my cups out there will be a redo.

Late in afternoon  yesterday, I realized that I had mixed up the dates for Cookbook Club - 4th Tuesday snuck up on me! Now I need to find an excuse to make the Chinese Steamed Buns that I was planning to make next week.

Cookbook Club is a fun new discovery I made at a local library. Once a month they pick a cookbook or cuisine. Everyone brings a dish they have prepared from that book or theme. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late to shop and make something. I decided to go any way - thankfully, they didn't throw me out and we feasted on many homemade Chinese goodies. Ironically, my favorite was a shrimp dish that the lady said was in her Chinese cookbook, but she didn't really think it seemed "Chinese." Normally, I might frown on that a bit, but it was so good I didn't care :)  I am eager to see the recipe. The group leader sends out an email after each meeting with all the recipes. The next time I make Chinese food I am excited to try a tip for getting the restaurant meat texture I can never seem to replicate. Apparently, there is a marinating technique called "velveting" that makes the meat super tender. The lady who made a wonderful peppered beef said she found an even simpler method of soaking the meat in water with cornstarch. I will be checking into that. I've always been frustrated by dry or tough meat in my Chinese dishes.

To my knowledge, no one put Chinese takeout in their own container and brought it, However, if you had told me there was an impostor - with that velveting technique,the peppered beef would have been my chief suspect :)  I did weigh myself and I am up 1.2 pounds from yesterday...so, no takeout...everyone knows Chinese takeout causes an immediate 5 pound gain :) 

(Sorry about the yellowness of the picture. My cell phone hates the light in that room. Please let me know if you know any ways to correct that issue or at least minimize the yellow.) 

While I was off feasting, my husband was puppy-sitting this cutie. Copper is an almost six month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. He is named after the hound in The Fox and the Hound. I can't believe I still have not seen that movie...don't tell his mama. I am glad I had a little time to play with him before I left. I thought Millie would have fun with him, but she ended up being a bit of a snoot. Next time maybe we will set up a play date on his territory.

We are actually Copper's back-up "godparents" of sorts. If anything should happen to his mama and her sister is not able to care for him, we are ready to take him in. I think it is very smart of our friend to include this important decision in her legal affairs. Makes me think we should be doing the same for Millie. It isn't something you like to think about at this stage in life, but you honestly never know. 

On my way home from Cookbook Club this happened. I am not posting the actual picture for your own safety. I wouldn't want anyone to break an ankle tripping over themselves to get their own. It was delicious. I am a sucker for a warm dessert a la mode :)  

Now that I got my post weigh-in treat out of the way. I need to buckle down for the week. I feel like the second week is more of a true test. The first week is exciting with a hefty water weight loss and such.


I just saw these on a friend's Facebook. I can relate.

At least, I am not currently following Garfield's eating plan. However,I do look like him a bit here (except I am wearing pants). One step at a time, right?