HITTING RESET - Moving Content!

 

Good morning, everyone!

This post will be my last for this blog. Before you turn me off, let me explain.

I've done some serious soul searching the past six months while I've been unable to focus on writing. Why haven't I been writing consistently is the first thing I must address.

The reason finally came to me last weekend. I haven't been using my blog/ editorial boards or my planners since the end of February... when I started the reorganization of the studio/ office. 

I am a VERY visual person. Even during my days of selling Christmas Around the World, House of Lloyd and Undercover Wear whenever there was a promotion, I would buy a sheet of poster board and create a chart to track my progress towards a goal.

Saturday, I pulled out mynotepad and decided there were changes to be made.

1- Work only with blogs that bring me joy -  or an income.

I had six blogs. I made the definitive decision to close this one. the decision wasn't easy but I only have so many hours in the day and I have to treat my blogging - for the most part - as if it were a job. I can't continue to work six jobs!

I find being motivated hard on the blog when there are no responses to posts... and only a hand full of readers. I thought that through my journey I could inspire others. I've gotten to the point where my time is too valuable for something that is not having any affect on me or others. As of today, that blog will be closing by end of the month - with the last post being today, similar to this one.

With that said, I do recognize I have SOME  readers. I don't want to lose you. If you would like to keep up with what I'm doing, for the time being I am going to continue Fly Lady, food mostly pertaining to what I'm doing in the kitchen/ garden to my An Ozarks Journal blog. For now, that is a test to see if I keep it. I'm pretty sure I will but not be posting every day. Which brings me to the next point...

Still In Debate

I started the Ozarks Journal blog back when I first met the Polish Sinfonia and needed a place to post pictures from the grade school students so that the orchestra members could all go look at them. I still like the blog idea but I'm making a couple of changes.

I want to keep talking about prepping, my garden and household. I was talking 'household' on the weight loss blog, after all a clean house does make for a better self-journey but something in me decided I could keep the household with the Ozarks Journal. I mean, I LIVE in the Ozarks. LOL So OJ will be more about my corner of the Ozarks and our home here.

 3- Staying on Task

This required evaluating what I really want to do.

I want to write

I want the Etsy shop or some other sales form to destash my stuff and let it bring joy to others.

I want to continue to craft and make pretty things.

For that reason, I am putting a more solid YouTube stream in place, getting my shop open and writing books. My YouTube channel is under KellysCreativeDreams

4 - More time to craft and to write.

I still have book series I want/ need to write. I'm starting back to a regular writing schedule next week. Hopefully, by the time Bob comes home I will have a routine where even if I only take thirty minutes, the words will flow.

Overall Goals

To create beautiful things while destashing our home

To stay more on Task

To write more books

To have a financial plan in place that has the house paid off in two years.

I'm not saying these goals will be easy, but with visuals in place  I have a much better shot

I'm spending the rest of this week getting posts written/ scheduled, batch-recording videos and putting the office back together from company last week.

I hope you will join me at An Ozarks Journal.

I will keep this blog open until September 15th in case you want to go back and pull recipes.

until then...

Do what makes you happy!

Blessings

~Kelly

WEIGH IN 7-20-20

165/173/135

Good morning!

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm already over summer... well, the heat anyway. We've had a few days of a dry, hot wind which wasn't bad. I really don't care for the humidity. With the dry heat, I can work outside in spurts as long as there is that breeze. Even a hot breeze is better than none. But the humidity just knocks me out. I get maybe an hour in the early  morning (if I'm llucky) then a couple hours near almost dark in the evening. 

On the upside, staying in is letting me accomplish stuff in the house. 

I've been building up my creative YouTube channel and following. I'm celebrating over 200 subscribers this week. My goal is to  be at 500 by my birthday and 1000 by the end of the year. If you are a creative person or know someone who is, I hope you'll join me. You will find me at KellysCreativeDreams I have a giveaway this week. You have until Friday to enter.

I've started a deep clean on the pantry downstairs. I've been buying a few extra items every week to get us stocked up. We were looking pretty good down there but things were beginning to get jumbled and I wasn't sure of what we had or if we were using oldest stuff first. 

My main goal this week is to get all of my Stampin' Up! sets broken down and inventoried. I'm changing the way I store things a bit. Bob would really like to get to the dining room table when he gets home.  I get it. Just hope he'll still want to have coffee on the deck in the morning even though the table would be available. 

While I'm up a pound this week, I'm not concerned. I treated myself to seafood twice over the weekend. Friday I went to Poplar Bluff. CHIN's Chinese Buffet has been open a couple of weeks. I gave that to myself as a treat for accomplishing a major task here in the house.  Then Saturday while I was in West Plains, I saw a sign that had my attention - Crab Legs after 4 p.m.  Umm Yes please!

The portion was huge! 5 complete leg sections plus 2 sides for $30. That's almost #2 of crab legs!  I didn't have my scissors but I did okay. Joe's Fish Shack offeers crab legs the 1st and 3rd Saturday each month. They also offer catfish filets, walleye, clam strips, shrimp and a wide variety of sides. I recommend stopping in at the THE FISH SHACK

I'm not out and about so much this week. Lots to accomplish here. I'm cleaning out the freezer this morning, pitching old stuff and getting an idea of what leftovers I have that I could be eating. We will see what next Monday brings.

Be sure to pop back by tomorrow for FlyLady. While the main room on the schedule should be the office, I'm going to pair that up with the dining room table to finish the Stampin' Up! project. 

How do you feel about summer? Are you over it? Do you love the hot temps? How do you stay cool?

Let me hear from you!

Enjoy the Journey!

~Kelly

FLY LADY - The Laundry Room

If you follow  my blog, you know this is NOT the week I'm to be doing the laundry room. Sadly, I've gotten off track the past couple of months and am jumping back in where needed. While this should be the week for deep cleaning the bedroom, the laundry room had to take priority.

A couple of weeks ago during our monthly shopping trip to Menards (where we buy all of our pet supplies on the 11% rebate) I thought I'd try a new Arm & Hammer. The information on the box looked promising, was Arm & Hammer, after all, and was four dollars less expensive. Seemed like a win.  NOT!

The box says HARD CLUMPS for easy scooping. They are so wrong!

As soon as I went to scoop the clumps from the litter box, they immediately fell apart, dissolving through the slats in the scooper to fall back into the box!!  Seriously?

That was the first issue.  

The next problem I had was Eliminates Both Urine Odors and Feces Odors..

Okay, this part may be true - because all you can smell is AMONIA!

Silly us, bought two boxes because we're trying to stock up when we can.  Once we get them home, Bob divides the boxes up into jugs from previous litter purchases - only about 2/3rds full - so that I can handle them easier.  (yes, we've tried the lightweight but it's more expensive)

Our laundry room is open to the kitchen. The litter had to GO! 

We've dumped the remainder of the two boxes into a 5 gal bucket and will drop off at the Howell Co. Animal Shelter next trip Bob can go with me. I couldn't begin to lift the bucket.

So today has been about stripping out the laundry room, detailing the floor, wiping everything down with Pine-Sol water. I've scrubbed out the litter box (which is an under the bed storage box to accomodate three cats). Once everything is dry, I'll put down fresh rugs then fill the litter box with our preferred litter.  

Since we pour into mutliple jugs, we often mix the 24/7 with this one:

We are a Purina household from Cat food/ litter to Dog food.

If you have cats, I'd love to hear what you use. Have you tried either of these litters? One person also recommended Scoop Away but after the Arm & Hammer fiasco I think I'll stick with Tidy Cat. 

Are you cleaning your house or decluttering during this Stay At Home?  

Whatever your project...

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 7-13-20

165/172/135

Well, I managed to gain while Bob was home. Went back up to 175. I've lost three pounds since he left on Friday. 

I've gone back to lean meats (I've only eaten beef once) and lots of veggies.

As a result my sugar (which had gotten dangerously high) was also down. I knew getting the weight in check would make that number better as well - mostly because of what I eat when I'm not cooking for Bob.

I'm pretty sure I've said before, Bob does not like vegetables. He will eat canned peas (ewww!), green beens and french style green beans with cheese sauce. 

Me, I eat just about any vegetable except parsnips/ rutebega. There are a couple of others. I only eat brussel sprouts the way my daughter fixes them. I've tried fixing them her way and they just don't turn out the same.

I'm happy with peppers/ onions/ broccoli/ rice cauliflower and the other veggies Bob will eat, though I prefer my green peas fresh or frozen. 

With him gone, I'm back in the office full-time. My wrist is telling me about it this  morning as I've written 9 blog posts. Tomorrow I'll see if I can knock out the rest for the week.

For now, a recliner and my kindle call my name. I have a book review due on Wednesday. 

Post will become more regular as I've mapped out the entire quarter. Cross your fingers nothing jumps in front of my productive train!

Whatever you're up to, remember to...

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 6-1-20

165/171/135

Bob has been gone two weeks (this Wednesday). When we did our weigh in, I was at 175. So technically, I am down four pounds! yowsers

I know a lot has to do with eating more vegetables. I get away from my stir-fry meals when he is home. He does not eat vegies unless it's green beans, canned peas or french style green beans with cheese sauce.  However, he does like chinese mixed vegetables. With that in mind, I'm going to include stir-fry as a dinner at least once a week when he is home.

Bob's challenge is portion control. He just has no concept, regardless as many times as I try to show him. 

My plan for this week is to get a handle on what we have in the two freezers and plan meals for when Bob comes home. I've decided instead of fixing meals and we filling our plates, I'm going to prepare meals according to  our plates. Maybe that will help Bob. We'll see.

Quick recap on last week. I've discovered I was one of thousands in MO that got that 'denied unemployment letter' Apparently, there was an issue in Unemployment database. That said, I still don't now all the details. I spent three hours on hold each of the four work-days last week without getting through. In fact, I would be kicked off exactly at the 3-hour mark.

I'm getting work out of the way then I'll focus on security while still trying to get through to them. 

Do you use LIfelock or something similar? If so, I'd love to hear your opinion/ recommendation.

How are you doing through this whole mess?

Whatever crosses your path, find something positive and as always...

Enjoy the Journey

~Kelly

GUARDING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Good morning!

This is a quick post written (Monday) as today is all about phone calls to Social Security. I'm not sure what has happened, nor am I going to speculate. I just know something isn't right. The only thing I can do is figure out the issue then move forward.

With that in mind, I'm not sure there will be any other posts this week. I'd planned to be back to work full force, though that  may not happen this week.

What I do want to point out is that I've done everything in my power to guardd my personal information. I don't do business on my phone, I don't bank on-line and I have one credit card to my name for business and hotel confirmations.

Sadly, the same precautions do not appear to have been take with the U. S. Government.

I have blog posts ready to roll... with a few changes in format for the remainder of the year. With the first half of the year winding down, this seemed like a good time to make those changes.

Hang with me - we'll get this straightened out!

Enjoy the Journey!

MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

TO THOSE WHO SERVE IN THE OUR ARMED FORCES

AND

THE FAMILIES WHO SACRIFICE SO MUCH

FOR OUR 

FREEDOM

WEIGH IN - 5-4-20

165/171/135

Good morning, Everyone!

While the office isn't anywhere near done (I'll explain in a moment), I am back to work this week.

I'm not going full-force this week as things are still a bit of a jumble here. 

Bob came home on Thursday and we just sort of chilled. Then his best friend since grade school arrived on Friday. We're not sure how long he is staying but that's okay. Kevin helped us move in almost 13 years ago and this is the first time he's been back. So most of my time has been spent cooking & doing dishes.. (okay, and doing a lot of nothing LOL)

Speaking of eating, remember Bob didn't think he'd lose any weight - in fact he thought he'd gain.

We each lost two pounds so we're splitting the $100 LOL $50 is better than nothing, right?

I have a few photos on my phone for Recipe Wednesday blogposts. Not promising they'll get pulled for this week, but next week for sure. I need to try and focus on putting the office back together. For the time being we've been eating at the table either in the gazebo or the table on the front deck. Should the inclement weather continue, we will need the dining room table. That's my first focus for today.

Bob is awake and ready for coffee.

I'll try to get this on track this week but don't expect miracles as I work really hard to move stuff back into the office.

Be safe as you venture out.

Enjoy the Journey!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

I haven't even taken time to weigh in. Though Bob did tell me last night I'm probably going to win this round. He comes home Wednesday. He said there've been some good cooks via the deck hands this trip and plenty of down time. He said he's been eating out of boredom. Never a good thing. So we shall see. I will post a weigh in next Monday

As you can see from the picture, my living room is a disaster. My dining room looks the same way – like someone just unloaded a large U-Haul. This is only one of 5 areas of the living room/ dining room:

When we moved me into the studio four years ago, nothing went as planned. Bob was anxious to turn my old office into his man cave. That meant nothing got put away in the studio the way I wanted… more dumped wherever it would fit.

Since then I’ve also added more things – mostly planner and Mixed Media items – that I’ve had to find room for. Instead, those items just got added to the already disorganized mess.

I’ve been trying since January to get my office/ studio in order – all while trying to carry on with my daily work routine, write a book and keep the house presentable. I finally came to the conclusion that plan of attack wasn’t working.

First off, I have OCD. I can’t work on something unless everything is in order. Just makes my life more complicated.

Last week, after writing all my blog posts for the week, I emptied the studio into those two rooms. I’ve worked all weekend with the cleaning part. Washing windows, shampooing carpet, detailing furniture… you know what a deep clean entails.

This week I HAVE to get stuff back in place so that office work can resume as usual. Bob comes home on Wednesday. He’d really like to be able to sit at the dining room table in the morning with coffee or sit in his recliner in the evening to watch TV. To add insult to injury, his best friend is planning a visit for the coming weekend. Kevin helped us move in thirteen years ago. He hasn’t seen the house with the addition of my studio. So yeah…. This room HAS TO GET DONE.

With that, I’m taking this week off of all of my blogs, no book writing and only the 1 crafting deadline I have for Wednesday.

Blog post should resume next week – Monday May 4th or Tuesday May 5th. If Kevin shows up, I’ll have all weekend to hide in the studio and get ahead of the week. Otherwise, that’s what I’ll be doing on Monday. I always devote Bob’s first weekend home to him. He’s been gone for twenty-one days, after all.

I’m hoping with having the s

Thank you for your patience and I’ll see you next week!

WEIGH IN 4-20-20

169-171-135

After two days of stomach issues I left coffee off my morning routine for a couple of days. Tasted good on Saturday but I still only drank a half of a cup.

Is eliminating the coffee part of the reason for my loss? Who knows. I do know I'm going to try and avoid coffee through the week whenever possible and just enjoy the 'treat' on the weekends. I'm not saying that is going to happen.. jsut that I'm going to try. :-)

I ventured out on Friday to pay some bills and pick up a few things. While I was out I thought I'd swing by my favorite coffee hang-out to see if they were doing take-out orders. To my huge disappointment, I found them CLOSED... not just for the shut-down but 'number disconnected, boxes full of stuff around the room' closed! Oh no!!!

I know this shut-down is affecting a lot of small businesses. I never thought Higher Grounds in West Plains would be one of them. 

Felicia has always had a good flow through there. She has carried my books in her cafe. My first book, Somewhere Down the Line, was written in her establishment when it was Heroe's Coffee. I'd hoped to offer her hard copies of that book later this summer when I get my rights back. 

I know Felicia works with the Boys & Girls Club so when this whole #SIP is over with, I can track her down and find out what's what. 

Now, I've lied to Fox News.

A few weeks ago they posted on twitter what did we want to do when this whol thing was lifted. I posted I wanted to spend an entire day in my favorite coffee house and work on my book. 

Hmmmm Sorry FoxNews... guess you can add me to the rest of the #FakeNews

I hope you are all safe and getting through this with a level head. 

Enjoy the Journey - this part can't last forever.

WEIGH IN 4-13-20

135/173/165

I've had an interesting week. Bob left last Tuesday and got zapped by the increased heat on Tuesday and Wesnesday. Wednesday we hit 97*! Today, we will only reach the lower 40s and the wind chill in the 30s.

My sugar number was the best it's been in several weeks. I hope I can keep that going in the right position.

While I don' t feel as if I'm moving more than I normally do, I did average 7100 steps a day last week. Wednesday with the gorgeous weather, I did hang several loads of laundry on the line. That task alone usually racks me close to 10k steps for the day. 

With only a couple weeks left to get stuff done around here before Bob gets home, I'm motivated to really pick up the pace in the next few days. 

One thing I'm doing this week is getting back into stretches. I don't think my body will benefit from jumping right into exercise until I loosen muscles up a bit. 

What do you do to stretch out?

I've always enjoyed my own form of pilates. Simple stretches. I'm not a yoga person. I've tried at various stages of my life and my body just doesn't want to cooperate. 

Here's a video to get you moving:

At this point, I have a problem with bending the knees. but I do loosen my knees (don't lock them!) and do the side bends. 

I've always been a strong believer in the saying:

A BODY IN MOTION - STAYS IN MOTION

Whatever you choose to do, remember....

Enjoy the Journey!

~Kelly

WEIGH IN 4-6-20

165/174/135

Well, the number is not pretty. But I have a plan in mind. With weather improving, I should be in the yard more. I'm also inspired by the dance videos I've been seeing on YouTube. Not sure why they came up in my suggestions to watch unless they were a result of the video I shared last week. 

Dancing I can do.  I'll never win a competition but I can move.

I thought I'd share one of them with you today.

In this time of quarantine, no gyms open, it's more important than every to KEEP MOVING - and most of all...

Enjoy the Journey!

I'M A PREPPER - Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper Too?

If we've learned anything from this Covid-19 ordeal  it is that we NEED to be PREPARED!

Some may wonder how this relates to a weight-loss journey.
When you think about the amount of stress people are under right now because their daily routine has changed, there are definitive health reprecussions. Stress can make us over eat, not eat much of anything, raise glucose levels, cause migraines... the list goes on.

But if you're prepared, as Bob and I have been, then you can ride out almost anything with very little impact on your day to day.

Whether that means having OTC meds on hand for the family or enough toilet paper to last at least a couple of months, there are things you can do to be prepared.

Now that doesn't mean you have to be set up for the SHTF (shit hits the fan) kind of thing, though this virus has come pretty close) but you should have enough basic supplies stocked up to ride through any crisis.

Do you remember this movie?

Over the next few weeks, I'll walk you through the basics. Start planning now so when you can get out and things begin to find a new normal you will know what you need to do when this or any type of natural disaster occurs.

Prepping is nothing new. People have been preparing since the beginning of time. From the first man killing/ preserving food for winter to the Cuban Missile Crisis and more recent. For generations people have planned for a 'rainy day'. They kept their food stock in root cellars in case of long winters when what they preserved might be all they had to hold them until Spring. How many families prepared for 'the big one' like our folks in Blast from the Past. Though the movie was meant to be a comedy, there was nothing light about the importance of how prepared they were to live below ground.

But over the past few years, 'Prepping' has taken on a new meaning. Some have extended the term into 'survivalist' - preparing for everything imaginable from a natural disaster like a tornado to Armageddon. Several months ago I found a book by Bernie Carr called - THE PREPPER'S POCKET GUIDE - 101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For A Disaster.

Bernie breaks prepping down in to 101 manageable tasks to having everything you need for any emergency that might arise. Disasters, like tornadoes, will knock you off your game if you are not prepared. My plan to kick-start this blog is to take you on my journey as I work my way through the booklet and prepare our home for an emergency and put our Prepper Plan into action.

In the meantime, I recommend you order Bernie's book and join me on this journey. If you are already a Prepper or know someone, link me to their sites. I'd love to share what others are doing

Enjoy the Journey!

THURSDAY INSPIRATION - Fit at 50!

I came across this lady earlier in the week. I'm linking the first video I found from Lisa. I invite you to check out her channel for more of her inspiring videos.

For me, Bob leaves on April 8th (as of right now) While I'm not jumping on her work-out videos, I am going to monitor her channel and set a 21-day regimen to see if I can get these pounds (and the sugar numbers) to drop.

Come join me! What will you do for 21 days?
Whatever you choose,
Enjoy the Journey!

FLY LADY - Basement

Okay, so I just realized what a HORRIBLE header picture that is. LOL I'll try to remedy that for next week.

In the mean time, we're talking basement this week. Ours is in sad need of clean-up, sort out. We have four main rooms in our basement.

1 - Bob's man cave. That's his domain LOL

2 - Furnace Room
There are things here that need pitched. I need to do a deep clean under the stair case but waiting for warmer weather. I also have 2 big stacks of magazines to go through. I'm not sure what is salvagable after I flooded that room a couple weeks ago. Bob gave most of this room a pass-over when he had to reconnect the heat duct as a result of my flooding said basement.

3 - The shower/ utility room
This is where we keep all of our 'pantry' supplies. I need to go through everything, reorganize and take stock of what I need to replenish once this whole covid-19 thing passes through.

4 - Extended Pantry/ storage
There are Christmas tubs that still need to go to the new holiday storage shed, my new weed eaters need tested then put in the shed. I'm working my way through fabric tubs for the Etsy shop. I also need to reorganize the pantry supplies in there.

We're to have a nice weekend so I'm hoping Saturday to at least relocate stuff to the holiday storage. That corner becomes the 'tornado shelter'. I'll be talking more about prepping and how I'm adjusting my supplies on Friday.

 What's your plan of attack this week?

If you feel as if you have no clue where to start, I encourage you to check out the Steph aka Secret Slob on YouTube. She takes you through the baby steps of Fly Lady and I just love her style.

Go check her out and I'll be back here on Thursday (No Recipe Wednesday this week) for a new Inspiration piece. Proving regardless of our age, anything is possible if we just mark out our Journey

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 3-30

156/173/135

I have to say that once Bob comes home, most thoughts of bloggling leave my head. 

Bob used to sleep til 8 or 8:30, giving me time to get a few office things done before hand.

Now, he's up pretty much the same time as I am. I barely have time to boot up the computer and say good morning to my sister on-line. 

From there Bob and I spend about 2-3 hours at the dining room table enjoying coffee, chatting, breakfast then a 2 out of 3 battle hands of Deal before parting ways to our respective things to do.

about 12:30 or 1 we meet back at the dining room table for lunch and another 2 out of 3. 

Repeat then back for dinner when we call our duties 'done' for the day, even if they aren't.

Here's the thing. I LOVE spending time with my husband. We are best friends. So this whole 'sheltering in place' really doesn't affect us... except that usually when Bob is home, he has cabin fever from being on the boat for 21 days so his time at home is all about GO GO GO. 

That is why I'm glad I don't have a job that requires me to have specific things done at a certain time other than things I am able to schedule. Being a writer and a creater so works for me. 

I try to be regular on the blogs but I don't get paid for any of them. When Bob is gone I hit them hard. When he's home, I do what I can. 

Time with our loved ones is the most important part of our life. We never know how long they are here for.

The last thing I want to remember is that I spent all of my time on this computer and not with the love of my life - my best friend. 

While you're sheltering in place, UNPLUG... play a game with your family, do silly stuff, create memories, but most important...

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 3-9

165/171/135

I do love that number! While I still have a long way to go, I'm getting closer to where I started last fall. 

Bob is giving me a run for my  money... literally. Because he isn't hungry when he first gets up at night, he's been taking a protein shake up to the wheel house with him to drink before he has his coffee. He has his eye on that $100.  Well, so do I. :-)

This week will be a challenge but I'm going to try and stay on course.

My sister is coming up on Wednesday. We're going to spend four full days crafting and eating. LOL 

I have a menu plan and we're only eating out one day. The rest of the time we're all about crafting. I'm doing simple meals we can pick at and her only 'sweet' request is a sour cream raisin pie. something we both dearly love but seldom eat. I'm going to try making a partial recipe and do individual pies. I have the cutest little ceramic pie pans just perfect for this. 

I worked yesterday to get posts set up for the week so I wouldn't drop a day this week. I don't want to do anything but spend time with my sister and craft.  But if I do miss a day, know time with her is more important but that I will be back. 

Whatever you are doing...

Enjooy the Journey!

AIR FRYER FRIDAY - YouTube Fried Chicken

This week, I want to share a recipe from Youtube that I tried. Booger500us tried a recipe from another YouTuber. I will leave her video down below.  I'm also sharing a video I found after writing this post: check it out here:

First off, I didn't delineate from the original recipe except for two things. I left out a lot of the spices - using only Seasoning Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and a dash of Black Pepper. While Bob loves KFC Original Recipe, he is not a 'spice' fan.  The other thing is that instead of the traditional pot styled air fryer, I used my Emeril 360.

When it comes to 'air frying' in the Emeril, I've not been happy. That said, I'm not giving up. I'll keep playing.

I rolled, I dipped and I spritzed with non-stick spray for moisture.  As you'll see in one of the pictures below, I still had flour residue that didn't 'fry'.

Air Fryer basket. Note the flour spots still visible

don't let the color fool you. The skin never did get 'crisp'

From the baking sheet on BAKE. 

This is after we'd removed the pieces from the pan so you'r seeing the side that was down. Still almost soggy.

You can tell the difference from the pieces to the left/ bottom that came from the air fryer basket

and the ones more on top/ left from the baking sheet.

The other thing I wasn't happy with is the overall texture. 

The legs were tough. They were cooked through and reached a temp of 165* but I couldn't pull most of the meat from the bone with my fingers.  I fought my way through one, ate way too many carbs (and my sugar number showed the result the next morinng)

I'm planning to toss the rest into a pan with some low-carb BBQ sauce and that will be my Air Fryer Friday post on March 27th.  I'll be using the slow cooker setting. 

In the mean time, I'm going to be looking at some of the recipes I get in my email from Emeril and see what happens in April. 

Do you have an Emeril Oven? What's been your experience?  Please share you stories in the comments below. 

Enjoy the Journey!

THURSDAY - Exercise

Beginning this month I'm going to be alternating posts on Thursdays. We haven't quite hit the 'garden' time yet, though I will be showing a clean-up post next week. So every Thursday post will be something different... whatever comes down the 'garden' path of life.

This week, I saw an inspiring video on YouTube about a 73-year-old woman who has gotten into amazing shape. With the help and encouragement of her daughter she turned her life around. She went from someone who hated having her picture taken (who of us have ever hit that part of our life) to being okay with it now. Why? Because she realizes how much work she has put in to her body and is proud of the work she has done.

Short post this week. Just be inspired by this lady:

Enjoy the Journey!

FLY LADY - Laundry & Kitchen

A new month and another opportunity to reign in the chaos that is my living room/ kitchen area.

I spend a lot of time mopping the laundry room floor but I look forward to the deep clean the first of the month.

I have a tabby cat that I dearly love. Goddess is a rescue kitty who is now almost 12 years old. She's had bladder issues her entire life. For a long time she was back and forth with various antibiotics for UTI's. she would no sooner get off one then we'd have to put her back on another. $75 every three weeks was getting ridiculous.

Then I discovered two things. 1) Purina Urinary Tract and 2) cranberry juice.

All three of my cats now eat a blend of Urinary Tract and Hairball Treatment. Once a week I add a Tblspn of cranberry juice to the water bowl.  Goddess seems to stay on track.

However, she has a pump handle for a tail!

Pixabay Photo Courtesy

She has a reflex that when she begins to urinate, her tail rises up like a pump handle... letting her pee straight out behind her. TMI? Probably. But I wanted you to have a visual of where my almost daily cleaning comes into play.  At least once a week I'm pulling the rugs from under the litter box - which is a long under the bed storage box, by the way - mopping the floor, putting down fresh rugs and wiping down anything she may have hit.  If she would just remmber to stand lengthwise of the box, she'd be fine. But periodically, she has to face the wall - spraying out into the room. Ugh!

So while I've mopped the floor multiple times over the past month, the first Monday of every month is dedicated to stripping out the laundry room and giving the floor and surrounding area a detailed cleaning. I did this on Sunday this week since the day was gorgeous and I knew I could put stuff out on the deck out of my way and to air out. 

I'd love to strangle her but on the upside, I know she's healthy!

I love my pets, but there are days  LOL

Do you have a pet that falls into that category? Share your stories. 

On a side note, I'm still working on the office. I have a deadline. 

My sissy will be here on the 12th to spend 4 days with me. We will be playing in the craft room so I HAVE to get this room done in the next 10 days! So far I've moved most everything out that can be moved out. My plan for this week is to shampoo the carpet on thursday when I can open doors/ windows and let the air really do its thing. The weather is to be almost spring like. 

Speaking of - I am soooo ready for Spring! 

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 3-2-20

165/172/135

I have to say, losing that pound was not a fun journey. A bit of background

Image courtesy of Pixabay

To an extent I am lactose intolerant, but they come in flare-ups. 

When I was a teenager we received state commodoties. We were given #5 blocks of American cheese, large boxes of powdered milk among other things. I loved milk and went through a period about then when I drank A LOT.. sometimes consuming almost a gallon a day myself. As a result, I wound up in the hospital with what they termed a 'milk induced ulcer'. This was in the late 1970s. From that point on I had to regulate how much milk I drank. I limited myself to milk with my cereal and one carton at school. Slowly, the symptoms subsided.

Over the years, I'd have flare-ups. These came primarily with attempting to eat yogurt, when the yogurt/ health food craze began in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Milkshakes were something I rarely drank.  Then came my fluffy coffee.

I did fine for a very long time - years before flare-ups returned. The most recents began about three years ago. I recognized the symptoms but credited them to lactose intolerance. 

Here's the difference. Lactose intolerance doesn't cause burning of the stomach (as far as I've been able to find). That's the ulcer.

I haven't had issues in over a year, after giving up dairy for the most part.

Then this week I got hit in a big way. My stomach burned and became hard as a rock. Twice I went to bed with my herbal heat pack and a body pillow, begging the cat not to lay on top of me. What did I find?  

That if I left the dairy alone, I'm fine. yesterday was a mild case - because I'd eaten spinach quiche. I hate throwing out food and I thought I'd eat the piece I'd thawed out. I thought with the milk being cooked, I'd be okay. Not such a good idea.

These attacks really limit my productivity. I can't afford to have down time. I'm not stressed about what I need to get done (well, maybe with the book deadline hanging over my head). I can handle everything else. I take them one bite at a time. 

Yesterday I began a no-dairy policy. I'm eating stirfry meals as well as any protein that doesn't moo, cluck or oink. 

Thankfully, I can still have my fluffy. The mix is made with non-dairy creamer. I just can't add any Butter Pecan Boost, French Vanilla Creamer or Whipped topping. I'm okay with that as long as I'm able to get stuff done.

Sorry, I missed Air Fryer Friday last week. I had pictures on my phone. I was just focused on getting back into routine after Bob having left on Tuesday that I just spaced them until it was later in the day. If you'll check the panel to the right you'll see I'm going to be alternating weeks with some posts. Air Fryer Friday will alternate with somethng else.  This gives me time to build up a rotation of the air fryer recipes.

Is there anything you love that you've had to eliminate from your diet? Share your story.  Let's 

Enjoy the Journey -

together!