Bread Queen Unseated

HELP! I have been the crowned bread queen around here forever. Who thinks they can just swoop in here and take it? How did this happen? Well, I will tell you! It's Jorge's fault!

Photo credit here

 My journey began about 2 years ago when I found Jorge Cruise's book and Amber's website. She chronicles her experience following the Belly Fat Cure. It was great! She had little how-to videos and food lists and lots of product reviews. She had done a great job of slow and steady weight loss and I felt after reading the book that this diet was FOR REAL!

I lost 20 pounds and kept all but 5 of that off over the 2 years. Jorge recommends low sugar and low carbs. It's actually pretty straightforward. The thing this really did was open my eyes to all the hidden sugar in our diet that I honestly had not considered or noticed. I changed over to alot of salty rather than sugary snacks and found that the kids actually felt/behaved better and they weren't missing a thing.

I, however, was struggling, not with the sugar, but the carbs. If I filled my house with healthy foods I didn't crave a cookie. I wanted toast! :) But, regardless of that I had made so many EASY and SIMPLE changes that the weight still came off if I stuck with it - which I did!

Photo credit here

Building on this theme I picked up a book by Jeff O'Connell. He has diabetes and he explores what diabetics should be eating (less or NO sugar and carbs) versus what all our doctors and health associations are telling them to eat (fruit, oats, whole grains) and why what is recommended just isn't working because it is the wrong information. We have ended up not only with poorly controlled diabetic all over the world but also with more and more total diabetics by following all of the 'healthy diet' recommendations our county endorses. It was an interesting read but I had already cut alot of sugar from my diet and that was not the struggle, it's those darn carbs!

Photo credit here

Which brings me to this book. A book I KNOW is the next step for me. It's a step I do NOT want to take. I love love love my carbs. I have cut them back, I have changed to 'better' ones (this will make more sense to you when you read in this book that there really AREN'T any 'better' ones). But I have resisted the work that needs to be done for me to continue on my healthy weight loss. That is to eliminate the gluten and replace it with vegetables and NON blood sugar raising carbs.

 *please hold while I let out a cry of pain at the thought* Alright, I am ok now.

Basically. I need to live like a diabetic celiac. Bummer! Now, I'm not actually sensitive in the sense that I have celiac (like my brother-in-law) so I can actually not worry about the whole contamination and 'getting a little bit here and there' thing. But we are still talking about a GIANT step for Tracie-kind here.

Photo credit here

The irony is that I have actually simply circled back to Jorge's amended or what I call 'step 2' Belly Fat Cure. See, he came out with this 'BFC Fast Track' just as I was stalling out on the weight loss and I didn't want to do it. Get ALL your carbs without grains?? I wanted to find another way. But, alas, my research has led me back where I started. It's what my mother always said: 'Eat your veggies'. I guess I have some salads to eat and some cooking to learn.

Have you read any of these books? Have you even heard of them? Are you gluten free? I'd love any pointers or recipes you love. And here's the big question---Is anyone going to join me? Besides Eric, of course! (Eric got suspicious when he saw the wheat belly book and said 'Uh oh, what are we doing NOW?)

Chronicle of a Valentine's Day

Photo credit here

I had a REAL fear that this movie was going to be disturbing and scary and leave me with nightmares. But Eric wanted to go and it got a good Rotten Tomatoes rating (which most true horror movies don't) so I was game. *No Spoilers in this*

What little we had heard before we went was true. It's kind of a concentrated version of Heros Season 1 with camera work done by the folks who did Blair Witch Project. Ok, it's not THAT bad (hahahahaha, I have motion sickness and couldn't even make it thru a half hour of blair witch and this didn't bother me at all). Eric tells me this video style is called 'found footage' if that helps you- just alot of unclean edits.
We agreed that the special effects could have really taken away from the movie, breaking the spell the movie was casting, but they REALLY did not. It was all very seamless. I think this movie poster really sums up the visual feel of the film- a bit desaturated.

Now, the soundtrack, I imagine, would lead you to believe that this WAS a horror movie, alot of really disturbing noise and anxiety producing sounds. But, it works within the movie and you don't really notice the background outright until the credits start to roll.

This movie is a great date movie as long as you can go to dinner or take a quiet ride home afterward and really get into the plot, the characters, and the messages in the movie. LOTS to discuss. It gave me the feel of having just finished a really good book and you don't just want to say to someone 'read this' you want to say to them 'CALL ME when you finish this so we can talk about it!'.

Maybe not what YOU are going to see for Valentine's Day....but it worked for us! :)

Big Love and a Big Question

When I first noticed Big Love I admit that my primary reason for picking it up was as guilty pleasure. I was intrigued. I have a love/hate relationship with Bill Paxton. He plays characters I don't really like. But, he infuses them with such passion that I am always getting caught up in them. The other thing it had going for it was that I have always liked Tom Cruise's wife from The Firm movie (I can NEVER remember her name) and I thought it was an interesting project for her to choose. I pretty much had no idea who the other two wives were played by (at the time) but as soon as I watched an episode or two I was hooked. Should have know Bill would suck me in :D 

What appealed to me, deep down, is that I have an obsession with odd behavior. Particularly behavior people feel they have to hide. I think I want to understand it. And I like to get it from the source-- I prefer a first person account. Eric turned to me at the end of an episode and with sincerity asked 'WHY do you want to watch this?' In an instant I knew I had heard this same question with the same deep level of sincere concern from my mother years ago. See, as a teen I used to read as many books on bulimia and anorexia as I could get my hands on. Again, first hand accounts. Much to the confusion of my mother. I think she thought I was actually doing research on how to do it and how to hide it! I wasn't!! But, I can totally see why she thought this and I can only imagine how her imagination must have been running away. 

So, while waiting for Big Love's Final Season to come to video, (I should mention here we don't have cable) I had a trial membership to Netflix (side note: LOVE Netflix instant streaming! LOVE it!) and my sister mentioned a show called Sister Wives to me. Now, HERE was a first person account. A TRUE version of Big Love. I didn't think that would ever happen except maybe on 20/20. WOW, I really can't believe they got them to agree to do this because, you know, it's illegal and they are on TV blatantly doing it. Crazy. 

So, to answer Eric's question: Firstly, to me bigamy is interesting to look at especially for the Christian. I mean it's all over the place in the Old Testament. I find it odd that we are SO opposed to it now like we can't imagine people would have EVER participated in it. It almost strikes me as if we are distancing ourselves from it. Like slavery, or Nazi Germany. I mean, granted that is WAY back compared to those events, but it's still a part of our history. It's in the BIBLE people.  

Secondly, it seems to me the marriage equivalent to Socialism. A beautiful theory that couldn't quite play out. It SHOULD work. It SHOULD be more efficient.The wife who wants to work can have children and go to her job knowing they are loved and cared for. The wife who wants to have alot of babies around her all the time can do just that. But, human emotions get in the way. For Socialism, it was greed and competitiveness. For bigamy, jealousy and self-doubt begin to creep in. 

I think it's interesting. I like to study it. I don't want to try it (so don't get any ideas Eric!). But, that's how my mind works. I like to play with ideas and then just move on. I truly believe that it's ok to look into something that may be dangerous or unhealthy. I am like a spelunker, tethering myself to the truth while I take my rope and venture into the unknown. But, I don't cut the rope and stay in the dark cave-- I follow my rope back out.  Not all who wander are lost. 

Let me know your thoughts. Do you watch these shows? Did you read about bulimia and anorexia as a kid and freak out your parents? Do you have deep social implication thoughts about what is supposed to be mindless escape tv? Or is that just me? :D 

Photo Credit here and here

One for the Money worth MY money

I get book recommendations from LOTS of great book friends (you know who you are) but the greatest influence on my love of reading HAS to be my mom. :)

I am so thankful that I can think of many moments growing up that I found both my parents' current reads laying around the house. I can recall seeing them excited to discover a new author or a new book by an author they already loved. I hope my kids see the same things in me. I have a hunch it's already happening.

Anyway, one day my mom told me about a fun book series that was making her laugh out loud (periodically scaring my dad half to death). She said the first book was One For The Money by Janet Evanovich. Well, I dove right in and became a fan. Before long I was constantly awaiting the newest in the series when.....what's this?.....they are gonna make a movie of the first book? OH YEAH! That is gonna be SO awesome! That's what I thought and then I saw the cast. Hmmmm....not what I was thinking...at...all (Don't you hate that feeling?)

Fast forward to last week: Thru a series of unfortunate events (another series reference...did you catch that?) my mom was here in Pearland with me AND we were free of children mid-day AND both in definite need of some escape from reality. To make the whole 'stars are aligned in our favor' thing MORE incredible, the movie was playing at my favorite theater in the next 30 minutes and would get us out in time to pick up the boy at MDO. WHAT???? YES!! You are not even gonna believe that on top of all this the price for the movie?.....wait for it....$3. I am SO not kidding.

Review: It was great! I even liked the cast! It was a perfectly silly, happy, fun movie experience. Which is exactly how I would describe the books by the way. These are not the books you pick up to solve a serious mystery. You pick them up to take a break and laugh at someone being worse at her job than you are at yours.

I don't know if you would feel the way I do about the the movie if you had NOT read the book. You tell me! Leave a comment with your own review of the books OR the movie.

Hello 2012 & Glazed Donut Muffins

Well HELLO!

 I don't know if anyone is still out there reading this little old blog but I am back. Where were you, Tracie? Well, I will confess...I have, let's say, a bit of trouble handling December due to my anxiety issues. Although, sadly, it took me a few YEARS to figure out what the root problem really was and get it under some sort of control. Each year is getting easier (at least in my opinion hahahahaha! I guess you would have to ask my husband and kids if it's really true). But, I feel that a year without overwhelming sadness, or an ER visit due to a migraine is progress and I will take it!

Well, Tracie, that's all fine, but, um......did you know it's February? Why, yes I did. Truth is, I need January to recover from December. Last year I needed till April to recover from December so I feel pretty good about only needing ONE month this year.

Now disclaimer here: You might wonder what the HECK goes on in December to mess me up so bad. You may think I have the family or the in-laws from HELL but let me assure you they are all the salt of the Earth and it just isn't so. What it boils down to is me. It wouldn't really matter WHAT happened to me in December. I just work myself up (not on purpose) and then FIND something to latch onto and freak out about. Some have suggested I get away from it all in December, skip Christmas, and just head for the islands. But, the truth is the problem with that plan is that my mind would still be there with me making me crazy over the weather, or the room, or a cocktail gone wrong or SOMETHING. I would FIND something. So, unless I can go away and leave ME here that plan won't work either :)

It's just the way I am. And I'm working on it. And that's all I can do. And of course blog about it. I can do THAT :D Hehehehehe. Aren't you glad I'm back?


MOVING ON :)

This post is supposed to be about my Glazed Donut Muffins. But, let me just clairify they are not MY Glazed Donut Muffins, they are from My Baking Addiction and I found them via Pinterest where they were MISlabeled 'Krispy Kreme Donut Muffins' (not by Ms. Baking Addiction, just by some random Pinterest-er).

My take: They ARE yummy! I followed Ms. Baking Addiction's instructions and they turned out just as she said they would all awesome and puffy! However, they are NOT like Krispy Kremes. They are like super fresh, moist, and tasty cake donuts with a glaze. I would definately make them for a breakfast or brunch. They are not too sweet but just sweet enough with the usual hearty and salty breakfast fare. (or in our case for a late night snack since I made them tonight for Sunday School class tomorrow).

I hope that if you NEVER wish to attempt making/frying up actual donuts at home (I have always thought 'WHY when there is Shipley's like EVERYWHERE??') then you will whip up a batch of THESE delightful muffins.

Pros: easy, no weird ingredients, feels like a dessert with being TOO sweet like a cupcake, and finally-- makes a  single 12 muffin batch so even if you go insane and eat them all the damage in minimized :)

Do you like my photo??? I am so pleased with it. This is the first time I have played around in Photoshop with one of my own photos and I really like it. (Please feel free to slather on the praise and encouragement)

I'll be seeing you soon...I mean I have like TWO months of stuff to talk about people!! :)

The Magic Cookie Recipe

The Magic Cookies Recipe

  

Last week some folks asked for our sugar cookie recipe and I am happy to share it as it was a generous gift to me and I love to keep good things passed along. This recipe was the gift of Cindy Crawford and Cristyn Moreno- a mother/daughter cooking team with tons of passion for both baking and God. Here is the recipe:

FABULOUS SUGAR COOKIES
Dry Team:
2 1/2 cups flour (1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat flour works well, using ALL whole wheat not so much)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Wet Team:
3/4 cup shortening (we get the butter flavor sticks from Crisco)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (we like experimenting with different extracts)

Whisk together the dry team in small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl combine wet team as follows: shortening and sugar, add in eggs, add in vanilla. Stir after each addition until fully combined. (if you are going to add food coloring this is a good time) Stir in dry team and mix until just combined.

Immediately dump out onto a floured surface (no need to chill) and finish combining the dough adding flour as needed to get to a nice roll out consistency. Continue to roll and cut cookies adding flour as needed to both the surface and the rolling pin. Add sprinkles before cooking or frost after cooled. (with very small children its easier (read less messy) to add the sprinkles right into the dough before you turn it out of the bowl)

Bake for 5 to 6 minutes at 400 degrees. MAX 6 minutes, 5 for the smaller or thinner cookies. Don't even THINK about leaving them in longer :) If they are too delicate to move to a cooling rack, allow to cool on the baking sheet 2-3 minutes before moving them.

Using a silpat (silicone baking liner) on your cookies sheets is the final tip to making these already awesome cookies absolutely fool-proof.

Happy Baking, Tracie & Everett Richeson

A Lesson In Appreciation

A few weeks ago we celebrated Labor Day. Well, if you are a coupon gal like me you know there were NO new coupons in the Sunday paper. I follow Grocery Game and on those weeks the list is lean if there is a shopping list at all.  

This time I decided to just let things go. We had been having a rash of not quite finishing things due to what were dubbed 'better choices' by the kiddos so I thought if they didn't have the choice they could just eat what we had. 

Let the whining commence. You should have heard these kids. "Mom, WHY aren't there any (pretzels, yogurt, fruits, milk, cheese sticks, lunchables, cookies). WHY don't you go to the store?" The next day- "You DIDN'T go to the store!" It was escalating now to outrage. It's not like there was NOTHING to eat mind you. Just no first, second or possibly third choices. We finally broke open that half box of graham crackers and finished off those nilla wafers. We even dug up some old candy from various birthday party pinatas. I thought it was fun. Clearly I was alone! The picture above is what the fridge looked like the day I finally went shopping a week later :) 

Ever try this at your house? Would you?