2 month Ketoversary!! Diet Comparison, and update on projects and life in general.

Happy Saturday Lovlies! I almost didn't get to post this week, but here I am! Today is my 2 month Ketogenic diet anniversary. Guess what! 35 pounds down! I have been looking at my results from Ketogenic dieting, vs. my Weight Watchers days. When I did Weight Watchers, I started on March 16th, 2011. I was a little over 1 year post partum from my middle child. This year I started eating Keto on my son's one year birthday. So the difference between Weight Watchers has been this; I don't feel hungry all the time, and I have lost significantly more. I don't graze all day long like I did on WW. I lost a good amount of weight the 6 months I was doing the program, BUT there were no restrictions! I could eat anything I wanted if it was in my points. Thus the addiction to sugar and junk foods was not broken. I still ate snack cakes, and candy bars and ice cream. Don't get me wrong, I don't deprive myself now, I have frozen whipped cream mixed beat with sugar free jello and that sates my cravings. I eat whole foods, no more boxed foods for me. I make my own crackers and breads, and I know what goes into everything I eat.
 Now, I will say this, last Saturday I had a slip up. I deliberately ate popcorn at the movies with my hubby last Saturday. Then I ate pizza for dinner. Not my pizza... Little Caeser's.  I could not believe I did it, but I was starving. The card readers in the area where we were, were down. So we had to rely on our cash.. We had a whole whopping $5.50 between the two of us. So Pizza it was. It wasn't even that great. I mean I remember loving the flavor, and yeah it was good, but it wasn't really something I'd come to miss.  I paid for it Sunday though. I was in so much gastric distress. My hands and feet swelled up within an hour of eating it. I hurt, I was nauseated to the point I couldn't move without wanting to throw up. I was so bad, that we missed church because of the hangover feeling I had.
  I eat pizza now, and I get the thin and crispy crust that I prefer, all from making a skillet pizza. I just put about half a cup of shredded cheese in a frying pan sprayed with Pam, and shape it into a round shape as it starts to melt. Then while it's still gooey, I put on my toppings. Pepperonis, olives, mushrooms... Whatever you like! Then wait till the bottom starts to turn brown, you'll see it around the edges. When all of the cheese is good and melted and the toppings are fully "attached" use a spatula to help unstick any portions of the pizza from the pan, and slide out onto a plate. As the pizza cools it will solidify, and the bottom will turn into a cracker crisp crust, that in my opinion rivals that of Domino's thin crust. Now you can add tomato or pizza sauce, but I've never really cared for that much sauce on pizza so I don't miss it. Depending on the type of cheese you use, your total carbs is only like 2 for a whole personal pizza.

Now on to the mermaid afghan I'm working on. The pattern I shared in my other post, I'm just still following the established shell pattern. It says to work for 50 rows. I'm about 15 into it. I know I'm working slow, but my 1 year old gets jealous of anything else in my lap besides him. ;) So I only get to work on it in the van, or when he's asleep. Usually when he's asleep is when I journal craft, after I do some laundry or other household chores. 
Speaking of crafting. I'm doing a journal swap with the wonderful Marge who sent me that giant envelope of ephemera! I can't wait till it's done, and we've swapped so that I can show you guys the beautiful journal I've made, and to show you the one that she has lovingly made for me!

I also had a sale in my Etsy store of one of my journals. My favorite journal, the Butterfly Journal. I screwed up and only charged 8 dollars shipping. The buyer is from Australia. It's going to cost me 22.75 to ship it. The journal was only 30 total with shipping. Gah! Oh well lesson learned! lol

So that has been my week guys! I hope you all have a great week. Keep crafting, and leave me some feedback about what you want to read about. Do you have a new craft technique you want to learn about, but don't want to try it until someone else does? Let me know. I'll see if I can do a review. I'm up for anything!
Take care lovelies! Bye!

Gifted Ephemera!

Hi lovelies! Yes, yes, I missed last week. I'm horrible lately. It's like I just can't get it together and I'm side tracked by everything.  I'm still doing the low carb way of eating. I'm down 30 pounds now. I have a lot left to lose, but you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm working on a healthier me. Unhealthy me didn't wake up one morning fat, I surely won't wake up skinny. ;)

Now on to my lovely gift from my new friend from the Junk Journal Junkies group. She's a totally sweet woman, awesomely devoted grandma, and super generous to boot!  Thank you Marge for sharing your treasures with me! I am so blessed by you!

Now to show all you lovelies just what was in my darling package.

 

She took the time to gather everything up into groups and tied them all together with trims and such. So gorgeous. I was almost bursting from the excitement. I love "old" and "vintage" things, but Marge has me beat!

 

There were cards for journaling. I've NEVER seen these things, and both my Aunt and my Grandma have had antique shops and I have seen a lot of things, but never any of these.

Oh and a whole envelope of envelopes! I love them all. There were even some that were scented with perfume. It was all deliciously lovely.

She also sent me all of these receipts and time cards and registers! I LOVE them!

I homeschool my girls, and she set me all of these Dick and Jane and early reader pages, cards, flashcards and workbook pages. They're beautiful!

 



There were even some vintage cards included. One had a note expressing love and concern after the loss of the recipients loved one. I love to read these types of things.  The handwriting is beautiful, and the sentiment equally so.

 

And here are the lovely bits of ribbon and trims she wrapped my lovely gifts in, and some vintage buttons on cards!!  I almost just want to store all of these lovely things in a box just so when I'm having a bad day I could open it up and rifle through it.  Paper and books bring me peace.

So that's my share. My heartfelt thanks go out to Marge for this package. She has no idea how much this made my week!



 



Sorry for the long absence. Chocolate Hazelnut 90 Keto Cake recipe!

Hi lovelies!  Just an update. I'm still around, keeping on keeping on! I'm now down 26 lbs thanks to my Low Carb High Fat (Ketogenic) diet! I love it. For breakfast today I had two baked chicken thighs, for lunch I'm having 2 scrambled eggs mixed in with 1 cup of stir fried, shredded cabbage. I stir fried it in about half a teaspoon of sesame oil, and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Yes, I know coconut aminos are better for you but I'm allergic to coconut, so I stay away from anything derived from coconut. I could have used Tamari, but hey, I'm cheap and live in a rural area. Good luck finding that on a whim. Ha ha!  I did have a good week though. Last Monday was Memorial day. We spent that BBQing with family. The kids played with their cousins outside and in the pool all day. The guys played lawn games while us women folk relaxed with the babies.

Ooh and guess what CiCi's pizza has a low carb pizza! You go in and pay to eat the buffet, you put in your special request with one of the pizza chefs, and a few minutes later out comes a tinfoil pan with a HUGE amount of cheese and toppings. You can get ANY of their toppings made into a crustless pizza. I got mushrooms, olives, peppers, ham and pepperoni. They threw in some onions too, but that's cool I like onions. I went a bit over my daily allotment of calories (1500) and my carbs (20), BUT I didn't eat anything wheat or corn or rice. I didn't eat dessert either! I then went for a stroll around our local Wal-Mart Super Center for at least half an hour so I did get some extra walking in.

I also came up with a new 90 second bread "cake" Sorry no pictures, but it was so yummy! I will probably make this as my personal birthday cake for my birthday coming up at the end of the month.

Chocolate Hazelnut 90 second cake
1 Tbsp Almond flour
2 Tbsp Ground Golden Flaxseed
1 1/2  Tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar Free Hazelnut coffee syrup
1/2 tsp of baking powder.
1 Tbsp unsweeted cocoa powder
1 egg

Mix all together very, very well, pour into a mug, or small square container. I use a sandwich keeper for lunch boxes that looks like a bread slice.  Pour into oiled or sprayed container and microwave for 90 seconds. Some microwaves vary. If your "cake" is still runny in the middle microwave for 20 seconds more. I sprinkle mine with splenda over the top. like less than half a pack.
Nutrition Facts
Calories    372
Fat            31.75
Net Carbs  2g
Protein      16g

Not a bad treat in my opinion!



I haven't touched my mermaid afghan again... I need to get on it, but I had to finish my Butterfly Garden journal. You can check it out here (click the word here).  I'm fond of it. Not as fond of it as I am the Little Birdie journal, but I love how my butterfly tuck spots came out. Too cute!