CaliPoutine

My beans took a lot longer than 90 minutes!! Closer to 2 1/4 hours. I finally added a few pinches of baking soda at the 2 hr mark and that did the trick. I sweated some onion, garlic, carrot, dried oregano and celery in a little bit of evoo. I deglazed with some 2 buck chuck( although its 3 bucks in MI) and then added chicken stock I'd made from a rotisserie chicken. I also added some leftover canned cherry tomatoes( Splendido Brand from PC) and some leftover smooth salsa I had from Mexican food last week( brought back from Michigan) I threw in some zuchini and green beans and the borlotti beans. Its simmering on the stove now. I chopped up the sausage and added that too. I almost forgot about it. I've emailed Robin and asked her to bring home some frozen peas. We'll see if she actually does it. I'm going to cook up some tubetti pasta too.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never heard of agave sweetener. When I think agave, I think tequila. I will do a Google search & learn more. I plan on using a bottle of Absolut Vodka that was bought for guests & is now languishing in the back of a cupboard. It's 80 proof. This is going to be fun! pat w. ← I bought this6 pack over a year ago( I gave 1 bottle away) and I'm on my last bottle. Its great stuff. I found it very reasonably priced. Its great for diabetics too.

Lunch today. Leftover tuna stuffed in half a pita with leftover salad, some baked Lay's and a deit dr. pepper. I'm just getting around to eating lunch now( at almost 2pm). I know it was because I had that egg mcmuffin. I guess there is something to be said for having protein for breakfast.

I've started the borlotti beans using this method. Anyone know why some float up to the top? I need to find a minestrone recipe. I like to look at a recipes for guidance, although I'll probably be making some major substitutions based on what I have in my fridge.

It's only 42% juice. I like it call it Orange Juice, but I guess it really isnt. The ingredients are Filtered water, not from concentrate OJ, natural flavors, acesulfame potassium and sucralose( splenda). It has 50calories and 13g of carbs per 8oz.

Ha, don't I wish!! I've heard there are probably 7 lesbians in Exeter. Of course, I'm sure there are a few that aren't out yet. For a country that is so progressive ( translation: Gay Marriage) there are still a lot of backwards people here. Although, I admit I havent run into any predjudice( that I know of) in this town. I remember when I first moved here, my gaydar was constantly going off. I was wrong though!! I was reacting to very low maintence soccer mom's. I did move here from Long Beach, CA where 10% of the population is gay. I used to live very close to a neighborhood known as " The Gay Ghetto".

Oh yes I do!! Thats a running joke between Robin and I, we're always comparing our two countries.

So I did go out and get a Mcmuffin. Its not a problem for me to not order a value meal since I really dont care for the hashbrowns. I'd rather have grits!! According to Dottie's weight loss zone an egg mcmuffin as 6.5 points. I'll just round up to 7. I'm sure mine has more because I always get the folded egg instead of the egg it normally comes with. I can't eat any runny yolks or I burp!!( TMI I'm sure). I also had a serving of this reduced carb OJ, and look, it even has the WW points on the container( I bought this in Michigan). I drink it because it is reduced carbs and not because it's WW approved. President's Choice( Canadian brand) also makes a reduced carb OJ. I'm working at home today which is always a challenge foodwise. Its just too easy to snack. I think I'll make a minestrone soup today so I can use those borlotti beans and the sausage.

That depends on where I'm eating out. My first year on Byetta, I always took half of it home. I wasnt hungry at all. It also depends on how soon I eat after taking my shot. I find if I wait 15 minutes, I'm not as hungry When we were in Florida, I found the portions really large and I always took half of it home. Here, restaurants are not so generous with their portion sizes.

Good Morning, Robin surprised me this morning by actually going to work. I thought for sure she'd call in sick today. I had to rush this morning to get her snack box and lunch together since I didnt do it last night. She took the leftover canned salmon, a pita and a bowl of salad for lunch and of course her serving of chips. I'm feeling a bit hungry this morning so I'm going to look up the points for an egg mcmuffin and then decide if thats worth it or not. Catch ya later.

You know, perhaps, that Jiffy's headquarters is just down the road from The Common Grill? Maybe you could stop by the next time you're in the area and see if you could become their Canadian distributor. ← I know!! One day while I was making the muffins at the church, one of the church member's stopped by. She spotted the muffin mix and said " Omg, where did you get that". Turns out she is an expat from MI. She proclaimed " this is like gold here".

After a short nap, I started on dinner. This is turkey breast meat, some onion, garlic, mushrooms, peas,herbs de provance, a bit of ketchup, worcestershire sauce, flour and chicken broth. I steamed some fresh carrots and fresh green beans too Top with the leftover mashed potatoes. Its a very thin layer. It was tasty. We had salad too. I was going to bake 2 oatmeal cookies from Small Batch Baking, but frankly I'm a bit sick of cooking today. In other news, Robin came home from work with 2 snacks left( the balance bar and the cheese/crackers). She has a bit of a cold and thus isnt very hungry. Plus she said " she's so busy at work, she doesnt have time to eat". Hmmmm, must be nice!!

I have black valentine, rio zape, yellow indian woman, cranberry and borlotti.

I've also been trying to organize my thoughts regarding this issue. Honestly, though I never really thought about it much. I came out when I was 17 when I met my first partner. At that point, I probably had maybe 10lbs to lose. My ex never had a weight problem. We were together for a long time and I steadily put on weight. After years of therapy( I did live in California ya know) I figured out why I ate and gained weight in that relationship. After we broke up and I entered the dating world, I never had a problem finding a woman. I actually prefered to date "athletic" women who were normal weight. How hypocritical of me!!. Looking back, I think I was fat phobic. I did meet one gal who said to me after about 6 weeks of casual dating " If you were 50lbs thinner, I'd marry you in a minute". I was pretty shocked by that and looking back I should have said " But who says 'd want to marry you". I think that was the first time I actually thought about being overweight. I never really looked at myself in the mirror and though " Omg, I'm fat". I couldnt even say the word outloud. When I met Robin, that all changed. She was so refreshing in the fact that she was totally comfortable with who she is. She also grew up in an area that doesnt really give a crap what you look like or how you're dressed, etc. I think growing up in California had a lot to do with my views and feelings. I was concious of how I looked, how I dressed, etc but since I'm a "lipstick lesbian" I never really identified with the radical feminists or overweight butch lesbians. I also never cared if men found me attractive or not( it was always the black of hispanic men who came on to me, they like a little junk in the trunk). Anyway, now I'm off on a tangent and I should probably stop before this gets deleted.

That would be great, as long as your sure the baby won't come in the middle of Prince Albert Diner. I'll email you.

Ok, I need your help. I bought this smoked turkey sausage today and I'd like to make something with it tomorrow. I also have many bags of Rancho Gordo beans that I'd like to use too. I have a few varieties to chose from. Thoughts?

Thanks for the tips. It was me who mentioned estimating points for Mayo. I know I should probably use measuring spoons, its just shear laziness that keeps me from it. I do use light mayo though. I think thats 1 point per tbls. We're totally saving our flex points for this weekend. We've already discussed where we want to eat out on Saturday. We're aiming for Prince Albert Diner in London. They have wonderful veggie burger's( Yves) that will somewhat fit into the plan. THe majority of our points will be used on fries( and maybe some onion rings).

I was hoping someone would ask about the container. Its a lock and lock container that I bought on Clement Street in San Francisco. Target has a good selection of Lock and Lock's too and you might be able to find the divided container there. QVC also has a great selection, a lot of different items you wont find in the stores. I have a great set of 3 round bowls that nest that I like to use when I make salad for Robin. ← We love them too, especially for my daughter's lunches. We got ours at Target, but when I recently visited the Korean market here in Chicago, they had about 50 different sizes and shapes of Lock and Lock. Perhaps other Asian markets are the same? ← Hey Danielle, I think I first saw that divided container on your foodblog. So when I saw it in SF, I grabbed it up. I'm only sorry I didnt buy a few more.

You should have let me know you were coming, I'dwould have loved to meet you for coffee. My MIL lives in Goderich and I work there too sometimes.

Today was our first meal that we served at Noon. We changed the time from 5:30 to Noon because of possible bad winter weather. We were "supposed" to have 45ppl. Only 32 showed. Kinda sucks because I planned for 45 and I bought groceries for 45. We had 2 sheppard's pies leftover. One was sold for 8.00 and my coordinator bought the other one to take home. We had TONS of salad left. I took home a huge bucket of it and it was divided among the other volunteers. I bought 20lbs of ground beef( .99lb). I only used 14lbs of it. I froze the rest. I used a recipe I found on Allrecipes. I followed some user comments and added brown gravy( reduced sodium) from a packet and worcestishire. The other ingredients are sauteed onion, ketchup, salt, pepper, thyme and flour. I used just regular frozen mixed veg on top. This pie is called Festive Fruits Pie. It came from a Taste of Home Country Pie cookbook. It called for 1 can of cherry pie filling, 1 can of pineapple tidbits, sugar, flour, 1 package of orange jello, sliced bananas and pecans( I omitted). They liked it, but It didnt really have enough time to set up in the fridge so I ended up scooping it out instead of slicing it. They had some whipped cream with it. Once again, they loved this meal. One guy said " The simplier the better". I guess thats going to be my new mantra. It was a pretty easy meal to make, but now that the meal is at noon, I have less time to cook. I didnt get to the church until 9am.

Oh Rona, you always make me laugh. Robin has a lot of willpower and she's very stubborn. She's also very competitive. She wants to lose more weight than me this week. I'm sure she will too. My metabolisim is so screwed up from too many years of dieting. To answer your last question, honestly I'm not sure. She's really improved her eating habits since we've been together. She hardly ever eats fast food, she cut way way back on alcohol and she also stopped eating red meat. She has a user ID here on Eg, maybe she'll weight( no pun intended) in.

I'm home from work and I can finally post. Before I left this morning, I fixed Robin's breakfast. I let it sit for awhile to soften up the museli. Btw, I used 2 servings of museli, because 1/4 just isnt enough for her. I also used half a cup of plain yogurt, a squeeze of agave syrup and some blackberries. Total for breakfast is 6 points. She drank coffee too. I packed her one of these in case she got really hungry later. I also had one today. 4 points. Pretty good for .67 My lunch. I worked for the Seniors today and I made Sheppard's pie. I don't eat red meat so I usually bring my own lunch. I bought this flavor in the states as I havent seen it here. They even put the WW points(5) on the box. I had a bowl of salad with it. Now, if you want to see what I cooked today, come on over to the Senior Dining Thread. I stopped at the turkey farm on my way home because I'm going to make us a sheppard's pie with ground turkey breast.

Robin's snack for tomorrow I gave her a piece of dark chocolate too( its under the cashews) Leftover tilapia and 1/2c of whole wheat couscous( with a pat of butter). She'll also take the leftover salad from tonight's dinner. I have to be at work at 8am so I won't be able to post until I get home. nighty night!!

So where did you end up going?

I was hoping someone would ask about the container. Its a lock and lock container that I bought on Clement Street in San Francisco. Target has a good selection of Lock and Lock's too and you might be able to find the divided container there. QVC also has a great selection, a lot of different items you wont find in the stores. I have a great set of 3 round bowls that nest that I like to use when I make salad for Robin. ← Hey Cali..are those the Starfrit ones? Your lunches look great by the way! ← Yep, those are the ones!! Thanks.