Meet Mr. Hoot

He lives on my front door.

Lately, I’ve started taking much more pride in the way our house looks (good thing, huh?!). One thing I have desparately been wanting is a winter wreath for the front door. I started collecting items to make a wreath, but then I met Mr. Hoot. My mom and I recently had the rare opportunity to spend an afternoon shopping together – not for clothes and such, but at a store much better – home decor/flower/ribbon distribution center, and better yet, all of their Christmas stuff was 50%. I knew about 30 seconds after walking in that I wouldn’t be leaving empty handed!!

Mr. Hoot is my winter wreath. Since he’s all red and white, I think I can fudge this wreath all the way through Christmas up until Valentine’s!!

(and if you don’t understand what Mr. Hoot means — look closely at that big white bloob sitting in the middle of the wreath. Sorry the picture isn’t bigger – I used my crackberry for this photo)

One of Mick’s favorite desserts is Chocolate Mousse.  I have not been a huge fan of mousse because I like having a crunch of some kind in my foods.  One way to solve this problem is to make a graham cracker crust and then the mousse and serve it as a pie. This recipe I am getting ready to share…I can tell you, it is almost as good as PW’s Chocolate Pie or Mocha Silk Pie….and this mousse is straight from Atkins.com. (And for Gayle, it does not use raw eggs!!)

I made this Sunday night because I thought I was going to kill something if I didn’t have something sweet to eat. Doing the Atkins diet can make this happen sometimes. I mean, I was about ready to throw in the towel and sit down with a container of Graeter’s Buckeye Blitz ice cream! I made mousse (without the pie crust for the time being)

Chocolate Mint Mousse per www.atkins.com

I made a couple of slight changes. I left out the mint extract (because I had none), and I used 2 Tablespoons of chocolate syrup because I have never heard of chocolate extract before. I know, I probably shouldn’t be eating chocolate syrup but 2 Tablespoons in this whole recipe, well….I can justify that.

Also, I buy some of those $.60 flavored instant cappacino packets (they are beside the International Delights in the store). I do this because I only use them in recipes and don’t drink the stuff enough to buy a $4 container of instant coffee.

Mick said this mousse was one of his favorite desserts I have ever fixed! It was good!! And I can’t wait to try it as a pie!!

I think that I may have just found a “keeper recipe” – we’ll see. I’m saying, I’m so excited about this recipe, that I had it in the crockpot about 15 minutes after I found it on allrecipes.com. Granted, I didn’t follow the recipe – just used it as a guide. Here is the recipe as found on www.recipes.com.

Now, this is my recipe:

1 package Hillsire Farms Turkey Sausage (those prepackaged sausages that are sold over by the bacon)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

thinly sliced purple onion

thinly sliced green pepper

1 (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, no salt added

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

sprinkle of sugar

garlic powder

In a jar, combine the broth and the cornstarch. Add to crockpot.  Slice the sausage into about 4-5 links. Add to crockpot. Add purple onion, green pepper, can of tomatoes (including liquid), and soy sauce. Sprinkle sugar over the top (this helps with the acidic flavor of the tomatoes) and then sprinkle garlic powder. Cover. Turn on low.

Serve over rice. Except for me. I’ll eat this with….I don’t know what. It’s cooking as I type. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. What I find great about this recipe is that I think you could use ANY meat – pork, beef, chicken, these sausages, whatever you have available. And being a crockpot recipe, you can use a cheaper cut of meat!!

Isn’t this painting pretty? It’s a Norman Rockwell “Spring Flowers” – lovely

Friday -

Bfast: egg salad, avacado; Lunch: salad: ingredients: mesclun mix, beets, avacado, cheese, about 5 oz tuna steak, oil & vinger; Dinner: 1 glass red wine, side salad w/ 3-4 croutons, oil & vinegar; 12 oz. steak, steamed asparagus

I had no snacks on Friday! I did have that glass of wine and a few croutons. Mick took the bread basket and put in the corner of the table by him so I wouldn’t be too tempted to eat any.

Saturday -

I weighed. The big moment of truth – I realize it’s only been a few days. Drum roll please……X – MINUS 2.5

ROCK ON.

Wonderful motivation going into a day when I was headed to a baby shower.

Saturday I did brunch thinking this would help out the situation. I made omelets and chicken meatballs. I have never been a fan of scambled eggs and the like, but I thought I’d give it another try. Guess what? I’m still not a fan. I’m sure if I like omelets, it would have been great. Mick said his was awesome.

I ate about half of my three egg omelet and I had 3 chicken meatballs dipped in mustard.

The baby shower: it was a wonderful time! We decorated onesies with iron-ons, we chatted, we watched my friend, Brooke open gifts, etc. I had ONE chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing and a glass of water. NOTHING ELSE. I was so proud of myself!! AND the only reason I had the cupcake: the host’s husband is a great cook and baker and he made the cupcakes and the icing from scratch – man should own a bakery. In  my humble opinion, they were better than any cupcake I’ve had from Polka-Dots – the best cupcake bakery in Charlotte! I savored every bite. If I close my eyes I can almost remember how much I loved the texture of the icing! I must get this recipe (for future reference only, of course).

Around 6, I had a snack of 2 pieces of hard cheese.

For dinner, we went over the sports bar (yay for no more smoking in NC restaurants!) and I had a small salad (NO croutons) with light ranch and three medium hot wings. The wings were pretty big in my opinion.

…and that’s all folks. I am very proud of my progress thus far and I know this is because I am starting to see results – no matter how small, I know that by vacation time, I will feel great about my body and enjoy wearing that bathing suit and sipping on a few dirty bananas.

Sunday’s goal:

bfast: fried eggs, chicken meatballs; lunch: tuna salad w/ devil-egg coleslaw (an Atkins recipe); dinner; Greek style chicken breast and ??…not sure what else we will have. I think I have some greens in the freezer from my parent’s garden, so I may have those and fix Mick something else.

Now:

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet my newest love:

the avacado

I have never liked avacado or guacamole until…..this past Thanksgiving. Mick’s mom made the most wonderful guacamole; it wasn’t the soupy green stuff that I have seen in restaurants; it was chunky with tomatoes and lots of flavor! I was hooked.

Now, I eat avacado and cheese as a snack; I like avacado in my salads; and I love guacamole – but only this homemade version with Donna’s recipe!

There is no strict recipe for her guacamole – it is made “to taste” – the general recipe:

4 somewhat soft – but not real soft avacados – not mashed; just sort of broken up into chunks

2 chopped tomatoes

chopped jalepeno

garlic powder

salt

lime juice

I guess you could  say that Thursday was the first big day of my Atkins diet.

Breakfast – 2 eggs made into egg salad; 1 slice avacado

no snack

Lunch – leftover asparagus & turnip fries; 1 can tuna mixed with a tiny bit of fat free mayo

snack – 1 slice avacado; about 1 oz. munster cheese

Dinner – salad: ingredients: musclen mix, beets, a tiny handful of pregrated 5 variety italian cheese, tuna steak (with a fab rub that I will be sharing later on – found on atkins.com), oil/vinegar dressing

….and here it comes….disaster….it was not a good day. I was hungry all day long so I chewed gum and drank lots of water. I even did 1/2 of a 5 hr energy (I didn’t really notice a difference in energy level). Last night, I just couldn’t force myself to go to bed hungry so ate….not 1…but 2….ORANGES. Fruit is a big no-no in Phase 1. My only justification is that it wasn’t 2 scoops of Graeter’s Ice Cream…

My next big hurdle will be tomorrow – I am attending a baby shower for a friend – temptation screams my name in the form of cupcakes, dips, and chips. I am going to try and eat a healthy lunch before going and stick to the veggie tray as much as possible tomorrow.

 Update: Just how bad is 1 orange during Induction?? One naval orange contains 12.1 net carbs. I had two, for a total of 24.2 net carbs – more than my entire daily allowance for net carbs! NOT GOOD.

Note to self: do not read “sweet” recipes when in Phase I of Atkins!!

For example:

Mocha Silk Pie by The Pioneer Woman

Anise Cookies by Planet M Files

Ricotta Muffins by Smitten Kitchen

Trust me, this is not wise during Phase I.

Let me not forget that these ingredients will still be around when I hit Phases 3 & 4.

Straight from www.atkins.com

Turnip Greens

Preheat oven to 425

4 turnips, trimmed & peeled

Olive oil

No-salt seasoning

cayenne pepper

Cut turnips into french fries. Place in a gallon size ziplock bag. Add a few swigs of olive oil, some no-salt seasoning, and a splash of cayenne. Shake to coat. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turning at 15 minutes to ensure even cooking.

These aren’t really crunchy like fries, but they will do while I am doing Atkins. I have never eaten turnips before. I did not like them growing up. Could have been the smell. Growing up, the only way I’ve known to make turnips was like mashed potatoes.

They do have a bit of a bitter taste, but the cayenne took care of that. I dipped them in mustard, not ketchup.

I will definitely be making these again. Not tomorrow, but probaby next week.

Well, as I mentioned, there isn’t much in the creativity department of my brain lately, and I’ve been super busy at work. I have noticed, that during stressful times, I tend to gain weight. I am a stress eater. I am also going on vacation in three months. Time to do something serious.

Enter The Atkins Diet. I have never been one to do “fad” diets, but Atkins has been around a while, and I do need a jumpstart. I also need a bit of accountability – if only to my blog audience of seven. So – here is what I am thinking. I will keep up with my progress (or lack thereof) on my blog. I will share recipes, what I am eating, and exercise, etc.

Today is my start, sort of. I really only decided this last night, so I needed to a bit of grocery shopping.

Weight: X

Breakfast – pack of cream cheese n chive crackers (oh yeah, that just screams Atkins)

Lunch – fried (I know, I know) chicken strip salad with fat free honey mustard

Dinner – roasted asparagus, turnip fries, a piece of baked chicken breast (now that’s more like it)

snacks – today, I recall having a two Hershey kiss hugs, and that’s it.

Goal for tomorrow:  Bfast – egg salad; lunch – roasted asparagus, tuna – the canned kind; Dinner – tuna steak musculun salad

In loving memory of

Annie G.

- January 18, 2010

Ms. Annie G. leaves behind a mommy, Gwen, and a sister, Gretel.

She will be greatly missed by all who knew (of) her!