Confession: I Take Photos of my Food a Lot

Vaughn and I have eaten a Keto style diet way of eating for two years tomorrow. We started Jan. 3, 2018, me weighing more than 50 pounds more than now, and he about 30.

Rita was the one with the idea. We are now closer friends than ever, although she lives in Washington these days.

Most of the pictures I take are so Rita will know I found something yummy for her to try. And she does the same. It's very motivating and keeps our meals and treats new.

Here are just some of the foods Vaughn and I made and consumed during the month of December.

Waffles with butter and homemade syrup Vaughn makes.

I request these often.

On New Year's Day, we had collard greens with bacon and onions,

pork tenderloin slices and cranberry sauce made with our sweetener.

We eat pizza made with fathead pizza dough quite regularly. 

The crust is made with mostly mozzarella cheese and cream cheese.

Vaughn and I went to a Brazilian Steakhouse in OKC.

The staff just kept coming with more MEATS to enjoy.

(It was like Heaven for Keto lovers...so many things to say YES to!)

This was from the salad bar at the Brazilian Steakhouse.

I assure you, several full sized pieces of bacon were devoured.

I take my lunch every day to school. Vaughn makes it most days.

(I know, he's amazing.)

And on this particular day, he got some extra points.

We took this tray of cheese and pepperoni to a church breakfast.

On New Year's Eve, we had these little snackies,

plus a pig in a blanket made with a hot link and Fathead pizza dough,

but it wasn't that pretty. Thus, no photo.

Pumpkin bars, that way we didn't miss out on all the pumpkin yumminess at the holidays.

Big Mac Salad is like eating a Big Mac, except no bun.

It's a favorite, and so easy!

We make the Thousand Island dressing homemade

with sugar free ketchup, mustard, pickles and our sweetener.

Creamed eggs: Simmer heavy cream in a small skillet,

then add onions, meat, etc...like an omelet...

then drop one or two eggs in it.

The eggs fry on top. Oh my.

A delicious cheesy soup we had a week or so ago.

Reminds me of Santa Fe soup.

Our Keto way of eating has been a wonderful way for us to get healthy. We feel GREAT!

We basically shop the outside aisles at the grocery store. Produce, meats, cheeses, dairy. Real food. Nothing processed. But as you can see, that doesn't mean we aren't eating really well.

Birthdays

I remember as a child looking forward to my birthday like no other day of the year.

It could be a regular day of going to school or running errands or kicking around at home, but in the back of my mind, in the corner of my giddy heart, I knew it was MY day. 

I knew there was something special to come that day.

Presents!

My favorite meal!

Cake!

Besides all that, it was about the extra bit of attention I could anticipate on that day.

Oh, the year my parents had a Barbie cake made just for me. I was on top of the world!

This year, my 49th year for feeling giddy and special and important, Mom and Dad gathered as many of our local family together at their house (a little early this year...we celebrated on Mother's Day), prepared some of my favorite food, plus the richest banana pudding I love...

The candles wouldn't stand up in the larger bowl of pudding, so Mom made me my very own.

Look at my cute vintage cherry hat I was given for a birthday gift.

I received so many special gifts, carefully chosen for me. A cherry hat, lovely hankies, two small vintage prints of the cutest people, money for Tybee, a Kelly Rae Roberts wall plaque, a vintage girl with bird print.

And this morning, on my actual birthday, the day after school was out at Moss Elementary, two days before our 30th anniversary trip to Tybee Island, I'm feeling exactly as I did as a child.

Special. I'm feeling special because I'm not rushing to get ready for a regular day of school or just running, like normal.

Special. Because of the piles of cards in the mailbox yesterday.

And for so many special Facebook messages, texts and sing-songy birthday phone calls. 

Special food planned by Mom and Dad for lunch (new potatoes are a regular item for my birthday meal but they weren't ready on Mother's Day, so I invited myself out to their house today).

Another special meal planned by Vaughn for this evening.

And he's agreed to my request for a fire in the backyard bathtub this evening (weather permitting). One of my favorite, most special, activities in the world.

Thanksgiving Blessings

The class and I created Thanksgiving "Blessings Mix" at school on the last day before the Thanksgiving break. Get a VAT of some kind to put it in, because these are the ingredients necessary to make the mix.

Each ingredient represents something about Thanksgiving.

Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our nation's abundance.

Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by those who founded our country.

Candy corn: The sacrifices of the Pilgrims' first winter. Food was so scarce settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn a day.

Nuts or seeds: Promise of a future harvest, one we will reap only if seeds are planted and tended with diligence.

Dried fruits: Harvest gifts from our bountiful land.

M&Ms: Memories of those who came before us to lead us into a blessed future.

Hershey's Kiss: The love of family and friends that sweetens our lives.

What a yummy mix of salty and sweet with a wonderful message included. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

 

Day 3: Amsterdam to Basel on the SS Antoinette

Another interesting thing about Amsterdam. It gets dark around 10:15 p.m. AFTER I hit the hay on Day 2 for sure. Thank goodness for heavy drapes to block the sunlight.

No sunlight on Day 3. It was raining and maybe 60 degrees. We decided it was a good thing we both had rain jackets and Sue had an umbrella. 

Sue and I got up early to enjoy the breakfast buffet the Movenpick Hotel is famous for. Food was so beautifully presented. All kinds of breads and pastries, eggs to your liking, a whole spread of fresh fruits and veggies (raw), a large area with cheeses and deli-type meats, dried fruits and nuts galore, yogurts of all kinds and flavors, granolas and cereals, juices, sausage and bacon, even fish, and I can't even remember what else. It was the best variety I had ever seen, maybe due to the variety of nationalities and diets that visit Amsterdam. I ate toast, fruit, yogurt and granola, then Sue and I shared an omelet made especially for us.

All of our friends we had met at the Uniworld meeting the night before gathered at 9:00 a.m. for our first tour of Amsterdam. We loaded a bus and took a rainy tour through the streets of Amsterdam. What a charming, bustling city we were in! Narrow brick roads and cobblestone walks, right beside modern buildings and freeways. Passenger trains buzzing. Bicycles everywhere.

From the bus and through the rain, an old windmill was enchanting.

Life in Amsterdam on a rainy Saturday morning.

The bus took us to the location where our first tour, a canal cruise, would begin. Luckily the boat was glassed in on the top and sides, so we were out of the weather. It was a little difficult to see everything with all the condensation everywhere, but we got a fairly good glimpse of life in Amsterdam from the canal's point of view, which was neat. Roland met us after our canal ride and continued our tour by bus. He was really beginning to grow on us, this Roland. He was so knowledgeable about his city and the history of the area. I began to challenge myself to be more like Roland and ask myself questions about my home town and my country from time to time that a tour guide might get asked (and should know).

John and Sameera

This trip was going to change my life, I knew that, but who knew I would come back wanting to know so much more about my own neck of the woods? 

It was so wet and cool, we decided to eat soup and sandwiches for lunch at the hotel restaurant. Sue went with John and Sameera to the Van Gogh museum and I went with a Uniworld group on a walking tour of the secret gardens and other interesting sites. It's hard to explain how it is to see such ancient architecture in one place and what that means to someone who is from Oklahoma, where we might have a few 100 year old buildings, not 500-600 years old like we saw all day in Amsterdam. Roland took us through Jewish neighborhoods, religious areas, the flower market, then we were treated to Dutch Apple Pie at a local place. Yum on a cold and wet day!

A secret garden behind a private home/turned museum.

Bicycles have the right-of-way, no matter what.

Lovely, lush hydrangeas.

Flower Market

Some buildings lean due to foundation troubles.

Here's that pie I was talking about.

Pam and our tour guide, Roland. We had a sunshiny moment once or twice that day.

It was time for our tour to end, but we decided to visit the Anne Frank museum while downtown. Roland explained to us how to get back to the hotel and went home for the day.

What an experience at the Anne Frank museum. Stepping up and over a wall, through a swinging bookcase, up a skinny, dark stairway to the place where Anne's family was hiding for such a long time, the diary seemed to come to life. It was a self-driven, quiet tour. I really appreciated the respect all the visitors had for the story of Anne's life. I loved seeing what I thought was the real diary, but later was told the one in the special case was an exact replica and the original is in another location for safekeeping.

No cameras were allowed in the museum, but I found this photo online.

Read more about the museum at http://www.annefrank.org/.

About five of us ended the museum tour at the same time, so we decided to walk back toward the hotel and possibly get something to eat, maybe buzz through the Red Light District on the way. No sooner had Pam mentioned how she'd like to try Dutch Pancakes, did we see a sign and an inviting, local restaurant that was full. We took it as a sign that full meant good, and we weren't wrong. Dutch Pancakes are like thin pizzas or crepes. We ordered two for the group of us and split them. One was bacon and apple, the other was more like an omelet but I can't think of the exact ingredients. They were so delicious. Good company too. We had already met Jaap and Minnie, from South Africa, at the meeting the night before, but to sit and enjoy a meal with them was a real treat. Come to find out, Jaap retired from the military, but now has a cabinet shop. Minnie loves to JUNK. Hmm. Soul mates! We ended our meal with poffergies, tiny donut-like pancakes, with strawberries and chocolate. Wo.

Our new friends, Jaap and Minnie Steyn

We made our way back with the help of Jaap and a map, but first we snuck through the Red Light District of Amsterdam. I'll just say, you have to see it to believe it. That's all.

The clean version of the Red Light District.

We had left the hotel around 1:00 p.m. and didn't make it back until after dark, so you know how late that is in Amsterdam. (Well, the Red Light District isn't the same in the daytime, probably.) Sue said she was giving me till 11:00 to get back, then she was calling 911. She was already worrying about how mad Vaughn was going to be because she lost me.

Day 2: Amsterdam to Basel on the SS Antoinette

I forgot to mention I accidentally ate duck on the airplane from Detroit to Amsterdam. What I thought was the steward's mistake (a swap for my ordered pasta to the other option, pork tenderloin) ended up being the roast duck appetizer. I never intended to eat duck in my whole life. So there we were, Sue and I, munching on what we thought was pork tenderloin, when we were served the next course, her tenderloin and my pasta. Oops. Poor little duckie. I only ate a few bites.

We met up with Sue's lifelong friend, Sameera, and her husband and some other friends in customs at the airport in Amsterdam. Very unlikely in such a massive airport, but such a nice surprise for Sue and me because we were thinking we might be lost. But in fact, we were found by friends. Their flight from Dallas was on time, but our flight was a little early. And we were in the right line and everything.

Long story short, but Sue and I got a ride to the hotel by a driver sent by Uniworld, our river cruise line, but the others did not. We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 p.m., I think. Some sort of a mix-up caused our friends to be delayed by several hours. While we waited at the Movenpick for our hotel room to be prepared, we were welcomed to Amsterdam by Roland, who I am now convinced is the world's best travel guide. He invited us to a meeting that evening to discuss the featured and optional tours we would be taking in the next two days.

The very chic Movenpick Hotel, Amsterdam.

 By now it was around 3:00 p.m., and all we could think about was SLEEP, but we resisted the urge since Sue's son, Brad, had told us NOT to or we'd never get adjusted to their time. Instead, we stretched out on our beds and took in the beautiful surroundings. We had a lovely room and a gorgeous view of contemporary and historic buildings, a large canal that would later connect us to the Rhine, and a mega cruise ship that was docked right by our hotel. We got to watch it set sail for Belgium with some teachers on it (who we had met downstairs in the lobby). Teachers sometimes travel together, apparently. Ha.

This is the view from our hotel room in the Movenpick Hotel, Amsterdam.

I drank my first European Coca-Cola Light while NOT sleeping and wasn't impressed, but now I know that particular can was old or something. (I ended up enjoying quite a few more during the trip. Although not the same as American Diet Coke (think TAB), I so needed the caffeine and could once in awhile taste a little hint of a familiar flavor. Oh, and most of the time a very slender, glass bottle of soda was around 2 euros, 50, but once we paid 3 euros, 80 when a lack-of-caffeine headache made itself known. Wow! That's like $5. I'd have to kick the habit if I lived there.)

Tastes like Tab. I know, because I used to drink Tab. It definitely has a wang to it.

We freshened up and went to the meeting downstairs, where we met up with Sameera and our friends, but where we also were introduced to some very nice people from all over who would be staying in Amsterdam and then going on the river cruise with us. I loved listening to Dutch-speaking Roland speak English. (This ended up being one of my favorite things about the trip, enjoying people who speak several languages and how interesting English sounds when words are pronounced with the accent on a different syllable or two. I especially loved hearing the word asparagus pronounced uh-spar-a-goose by a French tour guide later in the week.) We made plans for Saturday, which would be a full day in Amsterdam. Roland also explained the procedure for the transfer from our hotel to the SS Antoinette on Sunday.

A group of us decided to go eat at a restaurant Roland suggested, which was near the hotel. What a lovely meal Sue and I enjoyed along with John and Sameera, Janelle and Pam. There we were, four jet-lagged Texans and two Oklahomans eating in Amsterdam, giddy for the days ahead.

This was taken in front of our hotel in Amsterdam. Note the green jacket. You'll see it in lots of photos.

 That night I had halibut. Not my first time to eat halibut, but the way it was prepared was extra delicious. It was served with an oyster, which I decided not to consume (I mean, I'd already eaten DUCK.), but I managed to share a portion of Lemon Panna Cotta, which was new to me. It's an Italian dessert made by simmering cream, milk and sugar, then mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. The Panna Cotta was served with pomegranate seeds on top. That was my favorite. But then I managed to try a portion of some smooth and luscious chocolate mousse too. We walked back to the hotel in the cool air and I missed my half-a-world-away lovies, but sure felt blessed to be seeing such a lovely city with so much to show me before Sunday.

Banana Pudding. Never Too Rich.

People in my circle often say certain desserts are "too rich". As in, "Oh my" (pushing 1/2 of their yummy dessert away), "I can't eat all of it. It's just too rich!"

Hmmm. I wonder what's wrong with me?

Truth is, I lick my "too rich" dessert plate clean and secretly would like to have another helping.

Got up this morning and created this masterpiece for a little "Hey, it's Saturday and we're eating banana pudding" treat. Can't wait to lick my plate clean (then walk another lap around the park).

Creamy Banana Pudding

Serves: 12

1 can Eagle Brand
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 small instant vanilla pudding
2 cups whipped cream (I don't measure. Put the whole tub in.)
36 vanilla wafers
3 medium bananas sliced
ReaLemon lemon juice

In large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and water.  Add pudding mix; beat well.  Chill 5 minutes.  Fold in whipped cream.  Spoon 1 cup banana mixture into 2 1/2 quart glass serving bowl.  Top with one third each of the wafers, bananas and pudding.  Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding.  Chill.  Garnish as desired.  Refrigerate leftovers.

A Pretty-Much-Daily Yogurt Parfait

1/2 c. lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 c. frozen peach slices (or frozen berries) (or fresh pineapple)
1/4 c. Special K Granola

The granola isn't put on until the last minute before eating.

245 calories. And it tastes like lots more.

Yum.

Caramel Apple Sundae

  

Talk about yummy.

One pink lady apple. (The BEST.)

2 T. caramel dip. (Splurge.)

1/4 c. pawnee pecans. 

This snack was more like an event, it took so long to eat it. I loved it. When I'm dieting it sometimes seems like my food is gone before I'm actually finished. 

I'll do this again.

On Being Hungry

Okay, here's the thing.

When I have a snow day, something comes over me. Something so big I can hardly resist. I think it's just part of who I am and how I grew up and maybe it's the same for you too, but I feel the most gigantic urge to bake. And not just bake...we all know BAKE equals EAT.

I'm thinkin' something ooey and gooey. Chocolate, chewy goodness.

Why don't I crave low calorie food?

Maybe it's Grandmother Romberg's fault...she used to invite us over for fresh fried donuts on snow days. They were so yummy!

And when the boys were little, I made what Jake used to call "black cookies" (no-bake). They were cheap. And made the house smell delicious. (And I undoubtedly ate a bunch of them along with the kids.)

But there are no kids here. And if I fall victim to this desire to bake, I will not have a choice. I will have to eat it. And the diet goes to pot.

  

By the way, those are not my feet. Or my hairy legs.

I made it through the first snow day fine, eating blueberries, cereal, apples, a ground turkey burger, light Progresso soup, some home-grown-by-my-dad brussel sprouts, popcorn. I vacuumed the whole house. I drank 80 ounces of water (this is HUGE for me...learning to drink water). I walked my nearly 2 miles on the treadmill while reading a home decorating magazine. I went up and down the stairs a bunch of times (because upstairs was my haven of choice for movies and a blankie )...and the bathroom is downstairs.

But still. On this second snow day in a row, the desire won't go away. Bake something. Cook something.

Uh-oh. I'm caving. I'm heading to the kitchen.

Be with me, Will Power! Don't leave me now!

The Night Before Thanksgiving

It was the night before Thanksgiving. And we ate Italian style.

There would be plenty of time for that good ol' traditional food on Thanksgiving Day.

Shirley Harkey's Italian Stew
(I left out the sausages this time and doubled the tortellini.)
Serves: 8

1 pound bulk italian sausages
1 small chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
3 cups beef broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can stewed tomatoes cut up
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 medium carrots thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 9-ounce package refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 small sliced zucchini
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Grated parmesan cheese

In large stock pot cook sausage and onion over medium heat.  Shirley used italian sausage links and took the skin off.  Cook until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender.  Drain.  Add garlic, cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, sauce, carrot, basil and oregano.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Gently stir in tortellini, zucchini and green pepper and parsley.  Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until tortellini is tender.  Serve with parmesan cheese.  Makes 2 quarts.