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!