EARLY

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

My very smart, beautiful-design-talented daughter-in-law got me started on this "word of the year" thing. She picks her word and makes beautiful reminders. I'm more likely to pick the word and plant it in my brain so you won't see it in a gorgeous thing here probably.
Anyway, every year now, thanks to Holly, I think about it. Last year, my word was COMMITMENT and I wrote about it last January..

This year, I have chosen EARLY for my word.

I was going to choose LARK. I need to stop thinking of myself as a night owl and sabotaging my life by going to bed late after doing very little because I'm tired.  I've done that since I was a teenager (much to my sister's annoyance, I'm sure) and it's time to get serious about stopping it.  Then I thought of other ways I am late, and I decided to expand my focus a little.

EARLY to bed (that means before midnight, not early morning.)

EARLY to rise (giving myself enough time to shower, eat a healthy breakfast, do daily devotional time, and get off to wherever I need to go without having to raise my blood pressure by hurrying.)

EARLY to classes, finding a good seat, being settled and organized when class starts.

EARLY to work, saving my job and eliminating stress, again being able to be settled and focused when I punch that time clock.

EARLY to get going on projects and get them done.

and EARLY to sign up for the gym when the new semester starts.  I pay for it with my student fees, and it's not an optional fee, and I need it, so why not use it?  I have to pay extra for a trainer, but I think I'll go that way for a while to increase commitment (still working on that!) and to get an exercise regime that won't make my foot hurt more from plantar fasciitis.

EARLY to find a new podiatrist who will help me get over that aching foot. I've got a recommendation but haven't made the call.

EARLY to be cheerful in the morning and kinder to my loving husband.

Last of all, EARLY to choose my word next year (unless I forget until Holly mentions it on Facebook which is what usually happens.)

I think I'll design myself a cute little worm to put on my desk or fridge to remind me of my word.  The EARLY bird gets the worm, right?  Or maybe I'll ask Holly to do it!  She's the design queen!

On the other hand, this little guy is cute, and free! And it has a butterfly, in keeping with my blog butterfly theme!

To find this and other cute clipart, go to AnimalClipart.net

DROP50

License plate seen on a car yesterday.  Is it a sports metaphor or a weight-loss motivation?  We see Sports stuff all the time around here; our University fans are quite enthusiastic about personalized license plates in the school colors.  But DROP50?  What does that mean?

Well, that's a good plan for the year. Drop 50.  A pound a week...well, I lost 2 pounds in 4 weeks, so I guess that's a start.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Carrot Bread

I made my favorite pumpkin bread for our church harvest party yesterday, and won third place in the bread category!

Third Place Winner

I label my bread, Gluten-free, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, and I'm afraid people will see that and think it's some kind of weird health food thing, but it flies off the plate anyway. I've had the same thing happen with corn bread, brownies and chili that I have taken. It's pretty awesome.

A couple of people asked me for the recipe, so I am posting it here.

Pumpkin Carrot Bread

Preheat oven to 350.

1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin*

2 cups sugar*

1.5 cups salad oil

4 eggs

4 cups GF flour*

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground allspice*

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground mace

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp orange peel*

1 tsp. rum flavoring

2 cups finely grated raw carrots*

1 cup nuts (optional)*

Combine flour and other dry ingredients in smaller bowl.

Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and eggs. Beat for 2 minutes. 

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Mix well.

Stir in rum flavor, carrots and nuts.

Bake

Muffins: 20 minutes

Small Loaves: 35 minutes

Large Breads 55-65 minutes.

*Make sure you get the pumpkin, not the pre-spiced pumpkin pie filling. If you use that, you can leave out the spices or cut them in half. It's not the same flavor, but it works. Or you can use 2 cups of home-cooked pumpkin if you wring it through a cheesecloth to get out all the extra moisture. 

*I used about 1 cup and a half of natural cane sugar, and a half cup of brown sugar because I ran out of the cane sugar.

*I used about 2 cups of Domata Living Flour, and about 2 cups of another brand, I think it's Better Batter. 

*If it's easier you can just throw in a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon. I like the mixture for flavor and because cinnamon is also on my food sensitivities list. 

*Orange peel is the dried kind in the jar, but I'm sure fresh would be good too. It adds a little zing. 

*I like baby carrots for their tenderness and sweetness, but regular carrots can be used, or even dried carrots if they are properly soaked first.

*I leave out the nuts for church parties for a certain little girl I know can't eat them. 

Bye-bye Chocolate! It was nice knowing you, but our relationship was just not healthy.

I started noticing that I would get a headache shortly after eating chocolate, so I decided to have a two-week no-chocolate trial. I just finished a grueling 5-day trip, attending a funeral and then spending time with several family members, often several at once. I loved the time and all the visits, but I get so tired!

This trip I went the whole time without taking a single headache pill. I did get a couple of headaches, from fatigue or hunger, but not so bad that a little time out didn't get rid of them. I don't know if it's all chocolate, or just that made with cocoa, but I think it's pretty much all chocolate.

So there goes another yummy food, but it's worth it to feel better.

One Man's Disgusting Food is Another Man's Delicacy

In a class I am taking, the instructor invited us to tell the most disgusting food we have ever eaten.  The responses were interesting and enlightening.  I've just got to share!

Dog Head Soup:  Do not Google images of this one if you have a delicate constitution or if you just love Fido.

Goat with the skin on: Ghana, Africa.  Does this include the hair?  There's a dish called "smiley" that is a roasted goat head, and the lips pull back into a smile.  "Hello, I'm so happy to be your dinner tonight."

Haggis (recipes linked to the captions)

 

Looks tasty like this--but this is not a true haggis! It's a vegetarian copy. 

Does not look so tasty like this 

Seal Meat (only legal in US if accidentally caught in fishing nets) It was quite greasy.

Cricket (She found it frozen in her garage. Sounds risky to me.)

Dinner, anyone? 

Guinea Pig (Guatemala? or maybe it was Guam?) It's a delicacy in the country she found it in.

Grad Student Gumbo--a combination of white rice, chicken noodle soup, and Ramen.  Might have gone down easier if they cooked them separately.

Anchovy Pizza.  He'd never had it before, and he got a little worried when he overheard the employees talk about how bad the anchovy smelled. 

Looks innocent enough...almost.  

Cajun Crawfish

This picture would not sell me on crawfish, but if you just have to have it, there are sources. 

Might not be so bad if you hide it in enough pasta.

Sheep's Feet. (Sort of like Pickled Pigs' Feet?) 

Want some to cook for dinner?  

They don't look much better cooked. 

Anything she had to cook for herself. I've made a few cooking mistakes, but I can safely say most of my food is not disgusting or even unusual. 

Spicy Italian Vegetable Dish.  May I suspect Okra as a culprit? 

Periwinkles. The snail, not the flower. 

The snail. 

The flower, also called Myrtle.

Pate. The French kind. Goose Liver.  

Swedish dish that is kind of like a fish aspic, from her description.  

This one is apparently Hungarian, but it fits the concept.

Undercooked hamburger, courtesy of an American fast food place.

Escargot--mostly tastes like butter and garlic. 

Venison Heart--a little chewy, but tasty!  Somehow just the idea that it was the heart bothered her.

Cow's Tongue--It's not the flavor, it's the texture. And the fact that you know it's the tongue.  In fact, I grew up eating cow tongue and deer tongue, and the way you cook them makes a big difference.  They boil out most of the flavor and get kind of mushy, but roasting them leaves them too tough. The answer:  use a pressure cooker.  And peel off the white outside skin before you bring it to the table. Then it looks much like a roast beef and is very tender.  Eat it hot, though; it's kind of greasy when it gets cold.

Deep Fried Rice Cakes--which might not have been so bad but she fried them after the entire high school wrestling team had deep-fried all the weird things they could think of.  She said it was terrible and made her not want to eat again for a while. 

But one lady said a weird food that turned out delicious was Maple Bacon Funnel Cakes. Sounds yummy to me! 

Unfortunately, there's no recipe at the site I found this...

 

AARP Q&A on Water

Q. Do I really need to drink eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy?  I just can't seem to drink that much water!

A. No. There's no scientific evidence to support this often repeated advice. The institute of Medicine's food and Nutrition Board, which develops dietary guidelines, concluded that most healthy people can meet their need for water by letting thirst be their guide. You can get fluids from a variety of sources, including fruits, vegetables, juice, milk, coffee, soda and even beer. But if you're over age 65, you exercise strenuously, you live in a hot climate or you find yourself sweltering in the middle of a heat wave, try to drink extra fluids. --Nissa Simon  (AARP Bulletin, June 203, Vol. 54 No. 5)

How did my friend lose 50 pounds in eight months and is this a real picture?

This is my friend's before and after picture. Yes, it's real. Admittedly she is posing and has her hair styled for the second picture, but it's still a striking difference.  I saw her at the halfway point and the difference was noticeable then.  She says now she is the same size she was in tenth grade!  Talk about inspiration!

Last summer I borrowed a little jacket for my son's wedding. She says she doesn't want it back because it no longer fits her.  So yea, I look more like her before picture.

This has been inspiring me all week!