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It's up! I started a blog for all my felt food items in my Etsy shop.
Go ahead and follow my felt food blog to keep up with my available items. Grab my button too!
New items and giveaways are just around the corner!

Low Calorie Alternatives

So, after my last dive into the Eat To Live program, I went on vacation out west to visit friends, then the Holidays hit and I pretty much gained all the weight back. I knew I would! Now Scott and I are doing the community Pound Plunge for 12 weeks with another couple from church.
We made a few concessions to the ETL program, like being able to use some very low calorie dairy. For example, I get pecorino (sheep) romano cheese from Sam's club to sprinkle on salad and we've used egg whites once in a while.
These are some really awesome ideas I have come across on the internet to help with my cravings.

Spaghetti Squash! I knew it before, but I had no idea how much better it was for you, than pasta. A cup of whole wheat pasta is about 175 calories, while the squash alternative is only 45 calories. Plus, it is much more nutrient dense so you get fuller faster! I use it with veggies and a tomato sauce or I made a nut-based cream sauce that has been in our family for years. It was SO good and it completely satisfied my cravings for pasta.

I just found this tip. Cauliflower! Now I've heard you can mash it like mashed potatoes, but I haven't tried it yet. On this diet you are allowed brown rice, in moderation, but this is a lower calorie alternative. You take a head of cauliflower, chop it up really fine like rice or couscous (food processor works great), then microwave it (NO water!) for about 3 minutes. You can use this instead of rice! I just tried it with stir fry and it was great. You don't want to use it in recipes that is supposed to soak liquid up though because it won't.

Fat free AND low calorie salad dressings. Yes, they aren't the same thing. I am getting salad dressings that are 40 calories or less a serving. Normal ranch dressing is about 13o I believe. Big difference. Also, watch for high fructose corn syrup. It's in many of the "free" dressings. Besides the health facts, HFCS is bad for weight loss. It is quickly converted to fat, addictive, and it does not register in our bodies that we are full, leading us to overeat.
These low calorie salad dressings can be used on other dishes too, to make them edible. My favorite is ranch on potatoes.

Sweetener. Okay, I can use pure maple syrup, honey, agave (really great), dates and fruit. But, as far as calories go, they are really high! If you use stevia (it is a plant and I have grown it!), it is calorie free. If you aren't familiar with stevia (you can buy liquid or powder forms), you can use the new Truvia sweetener. It isn't all stevia, it has some other natural extracts in it, but I know it's better for you. I know because every other sugar alternative makes me sick and gives me a nasty headache!

Dessert cravings..these are the worst! They make me want to dive into the peanut butter. I have found two things that keep it at bay. One, a banana with a TINY smearing of natural peanut butter. Still higher calories (175 maybe!?) so I came up with these.
Apple crisp, without the crisp. I just cut up some apples, put whatever spices I liked into it (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger), some stevia or Truvia, a few raisins or dates, and a couple of nuts (walnuts or pecans). Microwave or bake until the apples are soft. Voila! It is so good.
Next, out of desperation, I found that the light whipped cream (real cream, people!) only has 15 calories for two tablespoons. I'm not a cream person, so a little will go a long way! I grab a banana (blueberries, whatever you want) and cut it up with some whipped cream in a bowl. It reminded me of banana cream pie and was really good.

Hope these help someone else as much as they helped me!
I posted this on my recipe blog, along with the nut-based cream sauce recipe. It's creamy lemony goodness. And remember to focus on the veggies and salad for your main dish. Those should be your first defense against those hunger pains and cravings!

My Etsy Shop! Anyone Want to Host a Giveaway?

So, I have been off of the blogger grid lately, but I finally found something I really enjoy doing...that makes some money! Really, by accident, I found that I really enjoyed creating felt play food and that there is a demand for it. I decided to put some up on Etsy after a craft sale went bust and I was sold out in a day. I am working on developing patterns and inventory of what I can do. I have so many ideas to put into play! Right now I'm working on getting a good selection down and then I want to do some blog giveaways. Any of my established blog giveaway followers want to host one? If you do, just send me an email! I should be ready to hold one after the new year.
Here is my shop and how to find me:

• Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewhimsicalgourmet
• Blog - http://thewhimsicalgourmet.blogspot.com/
  
• Facebook Fan Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Whimsical-Gourmet/190628445963?ref=ts
• Twitter - @thefeltgourmet
  

My Favorite Food

VEGETARIAN SUSHI!

Okay, I'm not sure if it's my FAVORITE, but it's way up there with pizza. As in, I can probably eat it every day and not get tired of it. Which, for me, is a really big thing.
I made it for dinner last night, then more for Scott to bring to work (I love making his co-workers jealous!), then more for myself for lunch today. Pixie is a fan of it too!
So good, and I made it myself for a fraction of what it is to buy it.
To find out how much I saved by making it and how I made it, go to my recipe blog:

My Weight and Health Journey

I have known about true nutrition and have gleaned many things from the studies of my parents on the subject. I know how the government recommended food pyramid is is way off on what our bodies really need and that the American view on health is completely wacked and backed by big food industries. Calcium? A good kind comes from green leafy veggies that don't have fat and cholesterol. Protein? You don't need as much as you think. There is more protein in broccoli than in steak, apparently. Protein might help muscle growth, but it means a shorter life span and other things. Think about what animals live the longest, the ones that eat diets rich in plant-based foods. I thought I knew a lot, but my eyes have been opened even wider after reading "Eat To Live" by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.. I know you've seen the ever-so-famous Dr. Oz on Oprah (love that guy) and he actually refers people to Dr. Fuhrman and is quoted in the book. Also, if you're familiar with "The China Study", the author T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D wrote the forward in Dr. Fuhrman's book on nutrition for children.

Your diet is directly linked to your health and eating processed foods, sugar, white flour, white pasta, and dairy in large quantities actually cause disease because your body doesn't get the nutrition to work like it should. Even eating diets rich in these things as a child can cause disease later in life, even cancer, because your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs. Wow. So, mainly I jumped into the 6 week diet plan for weight loss. It is a jump start and is really strict, but after that is the life plan. It allows you to eat the things you want, but only in small quantities, if at all. Once you get used to eating this way, you may not even want those things.

I had a leg up, I already try to eat healthy foods and do not think candy bars are tempting in the least. I threw all the dairy products into the bottom freezer drawer and gave away any open processed foods I had. I am 11 days into the 6 week plan and am finally getting over cravings. It's interesting. Hunger as we know it is just withdrawal symptoms. Really, think about it. He explains it really well and I found it to be true. Scott and I were heading to the grocery store to go shopping. I was talking about how I still felt full from lunch and then later I caught a whiff of a no-no food and my stomach growled. I was not hungry, but my stomach was going through withdrawals and is like a drug addict, addicted to the low nutrient food.
I have lost 6lbs so far and am excited to keep on seeing what happens. I am going to adopt this lifestyle wholeheartedly.
Right now my diet consists of oatmeal with fruit or just fruit in the morning. Not more than 1 cup of whole grain a day, not more than 1 cup of starchy vegetables. Salad first at lunch and dinner. Lots of fruit, veggies (cooked and raw), beans, tofu, sprouts, greens (kale, collards, spinach), <1 oz of raw nuts, and a small amount of avocado.
White breads and pastas are off limits, all dairy, little to no salt, no oil or fat, no sugar or any sweetener (besides fruit), and no fruit juices (unless used as dressing).
Like I said, this one is really strict, but I'm hoping it'll give me great weight loss results and let my body detox from the processed foods. The portions recommended are also bigger than anything I can eat. I am so stuffed on this diet! There are many people who have gone on this diet and have reduced or eliminated medication for all types of disease, within a matter of days to weeks! He recommends if you are taking medication (especially insulin) to tell your doctor about going on the diet because you might get over-dosed when you don't need the extra medication. After the 6 week diet, Dr. Fuhrman recommends eating a 90% plant-based diet, but he says even eating 60% will give you a 60% less chance of developing disease.

I have now moved on to reading his book for children. Pixie is already pretty good at eating healthy foods, she eats anything green, but she doesn't have the molars for lettuce yet. Although, she loves to crunch on the white parts of romaine and iceberg.
This is an excerpt from the book I'm currently reading:

"Humans suffer greatly from misunderstanding what our nutritional requirements are. We have evolved to a level of economic sophistication that allows us to eat ourselves to death. A diet centered on milk, cheese, pasta, bread, and sugar-filled snacks and drinks lays the groundwork for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune illnesses to develop later in life. It is not merely that sugar, other sweets, white flour, cheese, and butter are harmful; it is also what we are not eating that is causing the problem.
When you calculate all the calories consumed from the typical foods most children in America eat, you find that the calories coming from natural foods such as fresh fruit, vegetables, beans, raw nuts, and seeds is less than 5 percent of their total caloric intake. This is dangerously low intake of unrefined plant foods guarantees weakened immunity to disease, frequent illnesses, and a shorter lifespan." -Disease-Proof Your Child

His books are amazing and are based on scientific facts and research. I don't know that I'll follow it 90% after this, but I am for sure going to keep this a big part of our life. Maybe 80%.
Even if you don't plan on following this diet completely, I recommend reading the book "Eat To Live". It will change the way you look at what you put into your body and how you view nutrition. It will help you protect your children from nutrition related illnesses later in life (pretty much all of them) and make for healthier adults with no medical bills. Even childhood illnesses like colds, flus, excema, and ear infections can be cured by eating the right foods.
I'm on to something big here and want everyone to read what I have learned!
I'll update on my progress from time to time. The weight I have lost already was without exercise too. I only went to the gym once because I felt like I was coming down with a cold. But lo and behold, the cold passed me by! Coincidence? Maybe not!

Forever

As in, it's been forever since I've posted something.
Really, my cop out is this. Remember how the desktop got that virus? Well, Scott fixed it and then the whole hard drive crashed two days after that. So, I haven't blogged because I like to blog with pictures and I haven't downloaded the software on the laptop yet.
Also, I am using a dinosaur of a laptop at this moment. Which is, I swear, the same exact laptop that Tom Hanks uses in the movie "You've Got Mail". It freezes up about every 20 minutes or so.
I have been able to use Scott's newer laptop for the past few days. This is because I have some good news! Scott found a second job! He is working in the same capacity as he is now (with mentally handicapped people), but with a different company. He has been working on call for them, then started full time this week. If all goes well in securing the two clients in a house, he'll be a house manager next month over his own home. So, his schedule is like this right now.

Monday- Thursday 7am-3pm
Thursday 6pm-7am (Friday morning)
Friday 7am-3pm
Friday 5pm-9am (Saturday morning)
Saturday 9pm-8am (Sunday morning)

Kinda crazy I know, but he really likes his job. Besides the fact that there aren't many jobs hiring right now, there is job security in this field. Health care seems to be one field that is growing, instead of downsizing.
We are hoping to be able to move soon. We were hoping to sell a business property that would give us a down payment right now to look for one, but that isn't happening. So, we'll have to save for one and hope that our dream home comes up for sale next year. We get pickier and pickier as we see all the good deals go by. My brother-in-law is a realtor and shows us how much house you can get for a cheaper price now. I sometimes avoid looking because I start pining.

We are without hot water and water to the washing machine right now. The water heater started leaking even more and the whole basement had water in it. I sucked most of it up last night and we bought a new water heater, but we need to find someone that can install it. We have a friend in church that can do it, but we're trying to figure out scheduling.

So, besides the stinky water heater issue, life is looking up! Scott has decent work, I have another Pampered Chef show coming up, I started a new eating plan for the next six weeks, and Scott has tomorrow night off so we can go camping at the church camp out!

Keeping the Sparkle in Your Marriage

There was a mini class I attended at a church Relief Society event about marriage. I came across this list I had kept from the class and thought I would share. Read it with your spouses and maybe you'll both get some ideas!

Keeping the Sparkle in Your Marriage

1. Express appreciation to your spouse for little things he/she does that you often overlook.
2. Say three nice things about your partner today- to your partner.
3. Touch your partner non-sexually three times today, just to show you care.
4. Try a little humor. Think of something funny, a joke or something cute about your kids.
5. Make his favorite dessert this week.
6. Buy her a few flowers on the way home from work.
7. When shopping, buy your spouse a 'treat', just so he/she knows you're thinking of him/her.
8. Ask her today one thing you could do that would make her happy.
9. Offer your services in helping with the children before bed time.
10. Open the car door for her.
11. Hold her hand.
12. Tell your spouse he/she looks nice today.
13. Call him/her from work just to say hello.
14. Go out on a date together once a week.
15. Leave town together (without the kids) every four months.
16. Leave town as a family for vacation twice a year.
17. Say thank-you for meals prepared.
18. Surprise your partner with a night out on the town, reservation at a local motel, or a birthday party.
19. Hug your partner twice a day.
20. Leave a little note that says thanks or expresses appreciation or love.
21. Develop a hobby or outdoor activity together.
22. Do something with or for your spouse, even if you don't want to.
23. Take a walk around the block with your partner daily.
24. Tell the kids how much you appreciate their mother or father.
25. Sneak a snack into your bedroom that the two of you can eat without giving it away to the kids.
26. Do a chore around the house, even if it's not your agreed upon responsibility or turn.
27. Give her an extra $20, just to spend on herself.
28. Take the phone off the hook so you can just be together.
29. Designate six hours of one day a week as spouse care time.
30. Tell your partner he/she still excites you.
31. Spend 20 minutes each evening reviewing the day and just chatting informally.
32. Watch a TV program together, side by side.
33. Say something decent when you first meet at the end of the work day.
34. Ask how you can assist with dinner and housework, instead of making demands.
35. Call your wife and tell her to forget dinner- you're taking her out to eat.
36. Tell your spouse you appreciate all that he/she does for you.