Apples2

Piano man? Could it be piano keys?

Hey Diva....any more clues???????

Scroll up to the top of the page and hit "Home". Once that page is up, scroll down to different groups. There's a teens and also a 20's group. Hoping you can pull yourself up soon and get back on track. Try something new for your workouts to get you interested again. Might help. Good luck.

The kind of cornmeal much we made was out of the yellow cornmeal like corn bread is made out of. I am sure there are more calories. Nutritional info says 1oz or 3 tbls unprepared have 100 cals.

Dried roasted edamame and soynuts, beef jerky, SF jello with FF cool whip, melon, strawberrries, pickles, 100 cal pkg popcorn. Hope this helps!

Janet...I only put the little extra water in it if I am going to freeze it. Chopped, dried dates are also very good in it. Some morning I throw a little dried cherries or cranberries. Also throw a little handful of Kasdhi crunch in sometimes. Merry Christmas to Janet and her newfound breakfast! I was force fed oatmeal as a kid...hated it. (Another reason to spit behind the frig). When we were in FL last year I felt I needed more fiber in my diet and DH has to watch his colesterol. This little cafe at our resorts offers the steel cut homemade with brown sugar and raisins. I tried some of DH's and the rest is history. Growing up we also had cornmeal mush and cooked bulgar for breakfast. Liked those and also cream of wheat and Malt-O-Meal. But, don't think those are as healthy.

My heart aches for you, Laura. Always good to hold out for some hope and now reality is slapping you in the face. I guess it is now onto this next phase for you and your family. This simply just sucks. Not much I can say to take your hurt away except for that I am thinking of you and what you and your family are facing. Sending hugs.:willy_nilly:

Yup!:willy_nilly:

Hey Julie..you just go right ahead and do that daycare without me. I do enjoy holding babies, etc., and, I admire ppl that do daycare but it just wouldn't be the thing for me. Loved being home with my little ones but now its....give me an hour to hold them and take them back!:willy_nilly:

Jessica...didn't your lapband doc fill you in on what he expected for pre-op and post-of diet? Every doc is different in their plans. No sense being upset. Call you doc's office and tell them you want info...A.S.A.P. You need to be well-informed and they should be providing you with info and what you are to expect. I think all of us here had different plans post-op (pre-op too). I had a 14 day clear liquid diet pre-op but was allowed mushies the day after surgery. Most important thing is to follow what YOUR doc wants you to do. Make that call! Calm down and try to have a nice day.

And.......always a pan of rich, gooey bars or homemade sweet rolls when we got home from school topped off with a bowl of ice cream or 3-4 peices of peanut butter toast.

Bruce Almighty. Hey Laura...thanks for the update on Dad. We grew up the same way as you, Laura. Three squares a day and always at the same time and the plates were clean at the end of each meal. I remember my dad made us eat the fat on our pork chops and the skin on the chicken. Ish...when I was a little one, I used to hold it in my cheek till the meal was finished and sneak and spit it behind the frig! No wonder I had a weight problem!

Phyll...sorry but I forgot to answer your earlier question on size of steel cut oats. I can usually fine a box in our local market that is not too big. Has about 4 cups of oats in the box. I cannot for the life of me remember the brand name though. They usually have it on the end-caps at the store...not with the other oats. Julie...I used my regular ginger cookie recipe (the one I make gingerbread cookies out of.) I think gingersnaps would be too hard. As far as the sw condensed milk...yep, this time of year I use it quite a bit. Other times...not so much. Movies...I am so picky. Don't want to waste a couple of hours on something I won't enjoy so I really check them out first. I am a movie collector and cannot tell you how many I now own. Right now watching (well not really..listening) to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou...silly, zaney but a good movie. George Clooney...he makes my heart pound out of my chest.

Arlene...I don't line the pan for these. Just spray. I use the mini muffin pan. It's a 24 holer. Pampered Chef. Janet....I slowed down once....didn't like it

Arlene...I love that meatball recipe. It's in all the church cookbooks around here. Last night the meatballs were in the crockpot just plain. I thought that was a really good idea. Dipping sauce off to the side. Cheri...I've had those oreo balls and they are very good. Hope the kids cooperate and you are able ot have a house full for the dates that YOU chose. I never mind if my kids cannot make it on the day of Christmas....just so we are together at some point. It will be out in Atlanta this year with oldest DS flying in. Julie...got DH "warmed up" yet?????????????????? OK...made another batch of cookies this afternoon on the same order as the ones this morning. Made a batch of ginger cookies and was going to roll and decorate. Got interupted with having to go out and help DH. Decided after I got back in that I would take the easy way out. Rolled in small balls and threw them in the mini muffin pans again. Don't squish down...do it when they come out of the oven. I have a Pampered Chef wood stomper thing that fits perfectly for making little cups out of the rounded cookies. When cool, take out of pan. I use a knife to get them out and also spray good b/4 baking. In microwavable bowl: 1 can sweetened con milk 2 Tbls butter Let come to a boil in microwave and boil for 2 min. Add 1 bag white choc chips and 1 cup mini marshmallows. Add 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and stir. I use a small little scoop to put the filling in the cups. The kind with the little thingy that swipes across. Got that???? After filled sprinkle just a dusting of ground nutmeg. These keep well in frig.

Hey Laura...you tell Nels that his GBH turned out better than this old farm lady could do it. He did a nice, neat job! He has the cutest pretty-boy face. Squeeze his cheeks for me! Hi Great...missed your post b/4. I vote waiting till after Christmas on the dress. So many David Bridals around...bet you could get it for cheaper after also.

I was working around here and all of a sudden my ears started burning! Ran for the computer and saw why. I have considered a cookbook and DH is always after me to do it. I was going to do it as a money raiser for our local National Guard unit a year ago but didn't get it done. Actually, did other volunteer jobs for them so was able to give back a little of what I reaped from others when my son was deployed. I have a secret though....I really don't like sharing my recipes. I know, I'm bad. You guys have GOTTA be very special to me in order for me to share. In real life, I have ppl ask me for the recipe for something. I usually just end up changing the subject somehow or say later and never do. I don't know why I am "protective" that way. Maybe it would be freeing to share them. Maybe I should go see a therapist and try to figure this out??????????? LOL. Hey Phyll...funny thing about you seeing the 3xcrock. I have one. I use it quite a bit during harvest when I have to be outside a lot. It's also great for side dishes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, bday parties, etc. Janet...I cook my oats just as the box says with water. I like to add the raisins while they are cooking but DH likes his chewy so I just put them on the table. I put maple syrup on mine and DH does milk. I do add a little more water than the box says though...because the moisture seems to get soaked up when freezing. I grab this for a snack sometimes b/4 bed. Deb...sorry you are having fill troubles. Hope you get some relief. Like Janet said, we are all different and need different # of fills to get to our sweet spot. Mine happened with 2 fills and got to my sweet spot. Sometimes I think what happens is that somehow things will get irritated and you have to baby the band for a few days to a week...especially after getting stuck bad. Good luck and let us know how you turn out. Sure like having you join our group...like reading your posts. Eva...nice compliment on the cookbook....as you see above, I'm a little stinker when it comes to sharing. Hey Meredith....hang in there on the finals, NYC, everything you have to do. I find that overwhelming feeling gets tougher the older I get. I am one to ALWAYS tear off more than I can chew. I have learned a little over the years. DH just shakes his head and watches. I think I learned it from him though. Good goin' on only being 50lbs from goal. Way to go! Post when you can. Good to hear you are reading all about us anyway. Have fun in NY! Let us know all about it when you get back. And, toes and fingers are crossed on your house deal.

Re-read my post...mini bars get pushed into cookie when right out of the oven...not b/4 baking. I was going to share how we make squash. I bake it for about 20 minutes on a cookie sheet. When cool, I cut into chunks and put into covered baking dish. I pour one can of Lite Carnation evaporated milk, a handful of Real Bacon (Hormel..yellow bag) and throw back into the oven for about 45 (longer depending how deep dish is). I use this same recipe for carrots and yams. Monin' Eva and Julie!

Good Morning Lovelys!!!! Beautiful morning here. 4 degrees but sunny. Just having the sunshine makes such a difference. The wind is what gets us here on the plains and makes it feel soooooooo much colder. Our Christmas party was nice. Visited with ppl I had not seen since that party last year. I ended up NOT wearing the outfit I had picked out. I dressed down a bit and glad I did. Most ppl were in jeans and sweaters. I wore a baby blue sweater with matching vest and matching jacket. Decided to layer up and not be cold. Threw on one of my new pair of Champion pants and good to go. It's funny how you can dress up a pair of yoga pants. Some lady asked me where I found a pair of "dress" pants that fit so well through the legs. Ummmmm... Great...I love those bacon wrapped chestnuts. The persons that hosted the party last night had a huge cooker full of them. I noticed they were the first thing to go. They are usually a staple at parties around here as are pickle/ham roll-ups, meat balls and cocktail sausages with BBQ sauce. The spread was very band-friendly. I just didn't feel right though all day yesterday. It started with just a creepy feeling with my skin and then every once in awhile a stomach cramp. Don't know if it was something I ate. Anyway, didn't have much of an appetite the last couple of days and carried into today. But, it's 10:30 am and already have adequate calories in for this time of the day. Great...(kind of got off track on what I was going to say to you)...good luck with all the wedding stuff coming up. Sounds to me that your DD most likely has a handle on it and it should go smoothly. Very nice to get a break on some of the expenses. Janet...all you guys are welcome to camp out on my door step and you would not have to worry about me force feeding you. I love to cook but one thing I do not do is be a food pusher. It's put on the table, dessert is put at each place setting, but, if it's not eaten, I'm not offended. Both DS and DH are very health conscious and I respect that and really worked hard to revamp recipes to LF and LS when I can. I figure during harvest and planting is when I can really have fun and load them up with goodies. They wear it off. All this talk about how my job involves so much food got me thinking of how I was able to handle being around it and at the same time work on losing. I think that I had it easier than most BECAUSE I work with food every day. I was cooking huge amounts of food just a couple of days after surgery and all during my weightloss phose b/4 surgery. I switched over to healthy. I would look at the hotdishes and desserts about six months into it all and was not even tempted and still not. I get adequate calories every day but I make such different choices than I used to. I eat a treat now and then (like this morning while baking cookies) but a half is good enough rather than half a dozen. It's like something clicked in me and I knew that part of my down-fall in gaining weight was so much temptations every day, that I had to get really strong and make my health #1. Make sense? What a ramble! My point...Jewel...your MIL may never change and may always have things around that will tempt you. Just stay strong. Make your OWN choices. Ask others to respect your new way of life. Tell them what you EXPECT and ask them to work with you on this. The junk food may always be there to tempt you. Just be very firm and let ppl know who you live with that you are turning the corner on how you eat and would appreciate if they could respect your new way of life. It's difficult at first but once you pass up the unhealthy choices for long enough, it really does become a way of life to think about what you are putting into your mouth. Phyll...I love dates. I put chopped dates into my steel cut oats. And, the sweet/salty taste is one of my favorite. My favorite holiday treat is a chocolate covered pretzel. Cheri...you are so close to goal. 8lbs away. Seems it was not ago that you started posting on this thread. (See Jewel....the time flys by..b/4 you know it, you will be posting that you are in the stage that Cheri is now). What a good GM to babysit. (Breathing deep)....I cannot wait for those days as I have said numerous times but just have to say it again. It's understandable why you would not want to go to the expense of FL when only for such a short time. Linda...so cool that you brought your cooler to the hospital with you. It has always amazed me the times I have been a patient that most of the meals served are really not healthy. Thick gravy on everything, desserts at every meal, etc. Good for you for thinking ahead. I'm a "carrier". I always have a green bag in my truck since banding. I carry enough to get me through a day or two. Your shrimp dip sounds good. I make one similar where the LF cream cheese is mixed with just a bit of FF sour cream and some dill, spread on a platter, topped with baby shrimp, green olives and cocktail sauce over the top. I usually make my own cocktail sauce. When I was 21, I managed a hotel restaurant. An editor from a Minneapolis newspaper stayed at the hotel for a week and urged me to enter my recipe in an annual contest the newspaper had in their Taste section. Our restaurant served it on the salad bar each night. It was served over chunks of boiled cod as an appetizer. It's so simple and could not believe when I won first place. I'll share: 1 cup plain ole' ketchup 1 or 2 drops of liquid smoke (careful as not to get too much in) 2 Tbls. horseradish 2 Tsp. lemon juice 2 Tbls. worcestershire sauce 1/2 Tsp. dry mustard 1 Tsp. tabasco sauce Whisk together...let sit in frig at least 24 hours. OK...now for the sweet treats I made this morning. Was paging through a magazine a couple of weeks ago to get new ideas on cookie baking. Some person was writing about how much they like to throw a little mint flavoring into their peanut cookie batter. At first I thought it sounded awful. Yesterday when I was in town I picked up two bags of mint flavored miniature 3 Musketeer bars. I made peanut butter dough this morning, rolled them into small balls and put into my mini muffin tins. Baked 8 minutes and stuck a mini candy bar in each. So easy. They were a hit with my men that were sitting in the house waiting till it got "warm" enough to go out and combine. Anyway, might be something some of want to try for your baking this holiday. So simple, but they look festive and like you really worked hard on them. OK...where's Meredith, Laura, Eva, Melissa. What are you up to this weekend? You all have a great Sunday. You guys down south...soak up some sun for me. The others...stay warm.

Awwwww......I wish you guys were my neighbors, too. One of my best friends lives in Australia. We just clicked right away. It hurts that we only see each other occasionallly. I talk to her by phone a lot though. She is sooo cool. I just love her to peices. No problem with leftovers at this house. DS takes a lot of them home and I have befriended a lot of the little ladies that were in mom's apt. building. I stop by and distribute frozen small portion meals every few days. It's a way for me to stay in contact with them and see to it that they have a nutritious evening meal as most of them get Meal on Wheels at noon. It's fun visiting, it's rewarding and just that little gesture puts a smile on their cute little faces. Makes me smile right back at 'em! Funny...there's one that just grabs the meals and runs. She's in her 90's and she's a hoarder. So darned frustrated. I took photos for you guys of my outfit I am wearing tonight. For some odd reason photos will not download. Don't get it. Never have that problem. Oh well, you'll have to wait till I can figure it all out. Well, time to go beautify and put some good smellin' stuff on. Shower is done, hair is dryed. And....I'm NOT putting something white "under that thing"!

I have the Bose cranked up with as many CD's as I can get into the changer. Hi, Melissa! Hope you are having a great weekend. Charlene...wish I could throw those aches and pains out the window. Sorry, hon. I love Christmas movies also. A Christmas Story with Peter Billingsly is my favorite. Been going back and forth all day on what to wear to Christmas party tonight. Had it all decided until DH looked at it and kind of wrinkled his nose and said "You got something white to wear under that?". I had picked out a silver, black and grey blazer (some metalic in it with jewel cluster buttons) and under it a silver metalic shell. Slacks are a black, grey and silver mix. I think I will defy DH's wrinkled nose and go with it anyway. How many places can I wear metalic glitter tops? To the farm store? Nope! To the grocery store? Nope! Out to the bin site? Nope!

I have one for you, Janet. Always a hit with the crowed at the lake and they don't realize they are eating lite. 8 oz of low fat (1/3 fat of reg) cream cheese. Put entire block of cream cheese in a zip lock bag. In small bowl, mix 1/4 cup lite soy sauce, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder. Whisk with fork till well blended and pour into bag. Lay flat in frig for 24 hours, turning occasionally. Pour sesame seeds (about 4Tbls.) onto a paper plate. Take block of cream cheese from bag and turn onto plate. Roll until all is coated with cream cheese. Simple, different and can be spread on crackers or sliced cukes or sliced large carrots. :thumbup:

Janet...that was a little sarcasm on the joint issues. I do have sympathy for you guys deal with it. I just lucked out. 2 yrs ago I was SURE I was going to have to have my right knee replaced. Popping, grinding and painful. Who knows...down the road it could come back to haunt me with the damage done from being overweight. I wonder how smart I will be then????? Great...you will fit into those capris next summer. If some don't fit just give them to someone.

Happy Saturday, Everyone!!!! Life is good. Linda...you are amazing in how you are handling this hip replacement. Isn't it nice coming out of it not being as bad as you thought? What a nice Christmas gift. Take care, enjoy your new joint but be careful. Great...hope you get the same gift as above. Don't know too many ppl that would just buck up and get both knees done so close together. I'm feeling a little left out...I don't have anything to replace! Oh, I guess my attitude could be replaced...just would have to ask DH. Julie...no one here is a failure. Can't use that word here and you are far from a failure. You are going forward, right? Have a few little treats to get you through the season if that's what you feel you want to do. Make it up by going out for a brisk walk or cut back on cals some days. You are doing great to stay level if you have been a little naughty. (Not a good choice of words cuz there's really no naughty food). You gotta be able to slip a treat in once in awhile or you are going to feel deprived. Just got back from town. Left home at 7am...still dark. We have a store in town that has Columbia and Woolrich clothing and they were having a sale. Since I have lost my insulation, I need to layer. Had bought three sweaters with three vests to match a couple of months ago. Went back and got the hoodies that go with them. So cute. Now I will be warm...warm and spoiled...warm and spoiled rotten. I always feel that way when I buy clothes...for a few minutes anyway! Working around the house catching up cuz that most certainly did not happen this week. Also, relieving DH once in awhile out at the bins so he does not freeze to death. Have a Christmas party tonight at some friends home. Out for brunch in the morning and back at the combining tomorrow. Thinking Tues will be our last day. It's been a long haul and am always amazed that DH can stay so even throughout it all. I do really well for about 5 days and then I have to get out of here for a bit. Then I'm good for about another 5 days. Better get the table set for these dirty ole' farmers. They are getting grilled beef and cheese sandwiches made with homemade BBQ sauce, roasted potatoes and gingerbread tarts. Sorry...had to share. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Phyll...would have loved to hear and see that Marine Band concert. I would have sat there and bawled. When my boys got deployed, I stayed very strong...knew it was in God's hands. But, I could not listen to a patriotic song without having my shirt wet. It's still that way for me even though I love to listen. It triggers something in me that I believe will be in me for life. I got a top award at our State bowling tournament a few years ago. (Nope...not a very good bowler but I rocked at State). I had to go up to the front of the lanes to get my award. They were playing a patriotic song and I stood up there and just sobbed like a fool. Hundreds of women looking on thinking "My, she's happy with her award"! Forgot to wish you luck with your knee appt., Janet. DH just started to have trouble a year ago at the age of 54. He's in a world of hurt this year and is not taking the time to make an appt. for them. I think he just uses and abuses them but should have them checked out again. Knee caps pop over to one side if he does not have braces on. Weird. Well......................morning spent with a number of neighbor farmer guys having coffee and eating goodies. It WAS SO NICE. Why did I have to bitch and moan about it yesterday? Guess I was just in one of those moods and they had upset MY apple cart and plans I had made. All is right with the world again!