My own recipe!

Stacy's Version of Potato Soup!
2 cup serving is 4 points

Ingredients:
12 medium potatoes
3 cups chopped carrots
4 cups chopped celery
2 packages sodium free chicken bullion
1 tablespoon garlic powder (more to taste)
1 tablespoon onion powder
salt substitute and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (not completely necessary if it's not in your cabinet already)
2 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth
Enough water to cover potatoes


Place potatoes in bottom of large crock pot and cover with chicken broth, water and bullion. There should be enough room in the crock pot to add carrots and celery later. Cook on low for 7 hours, or high for 4, until potatoes are softened. Add celery, carrots and remaining ingredients and cook on high for two more hours, or until carrots are softened. Remove vegetables from the broth to a large bowl, retaining the broth. Use mixer to "mash" vegetables, adding broth back to the mixture until it is the desired consistency.
*Note : This will be slightly orange from the carrots, and may be odd to look at, but it tastes great! Miah usually tries to lick the beaters when I'm done! You may want to play with the time a little bit, but my husband comes home late so when I make something in the crock pot I cook it very slowly. This is my personal recipe, and it's always under construction, so if you have input I'd greatly appreciate it!
Also, the kids love to add bacon bits to the top for garnish, and as few points as it is a little cheese won't kill anyone!

Old Idea, New Application

I was thinking in the car, waiting for the girls to get out of school, that I need a visual reminder of my weight loss journey. If I had something I could keep with me all the time that would remind me of my ultimate goal, it might be easier to stick to it. I got to thinking about other ways I had marked time, or achievements and thought I'd steal from one of my own favorite ideas. When Jay leaves for training or war (Said so casually now, how sad.) The girls and I make either pie charts out of paper plates marking the passage of months, or paper chains marking the days. I didn't want to start a chain mail sort of project to mark each pound lost because it wouldn't be wearable for a long while, so rather I thought to make a bracelet that I could mark each pound lost with a bead. So, above you have the start of my project. Every week (hopefully) I will be able to add another bead...I'm just not sure yet if I will draw from the same few beads, or if it will be a mishmash of many different kinds. Maybe for particularly hard weeks, or special goals met I'll find something special to add, like a charm, or elaborate silver bead. I'm just not sure yet. I used brass, copper and sterling silver metals together to give myself some versatility, the large round beads are those luscious garnet beads I love so much, and the dangles are pearl, and a mystery bead I have a strand of. I hate it when bead shops don't label things. I'll never remember what it is, and it would be so helpful to have the knowledge!
I have a couple of projects in the works, so I hope to get those posted soon.

Weight Watcher's Tuesday

I have been soooo good all week, yay me!! I walked a mile every day, come rain or freezing wind! Drum roll please.....



This week I lost__3___lbs!
for a total of ____6.5___lbs!!!



In other news, my Kindle arrived today, and I'm in love. I bought two books for myself, got a free sample for Laurel, and a book of kid's poetry for Miah. This thing is incredible!! Check out the specs here : http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1225236828&sr=8-1

Also, if you go here: http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081024_tows_kindle
you will see a special code that will allow you to get $50.00 off your purchase, which is of course what I did!!

I got a special treat when I noticed on the back, there is an imprint of one of my tattoos (the Eye of Horus) too cool!! Let me know if you decide to pick one up and we can compare notes. I'm off to finish making dinner!

The one where I got back on the wagon! OR Weight Watcher's Tuesday

Dear readers,
I did it! Last Tuesday I bit the bullet and went back to ...

I knew that I needed to go back for quite some time, but something always got in the way, or, I'd just plain forget! Being out of the habit of going every Tuesday really messed me up. I actually wanted to start on Saturdays so that Jay could go with when he comes home, but trying to remember that was even harder. So, I wrote the date in my book as if it were an appointment, and I made myself go through the ritual. I have a certian outfit I wear every week so that whatever fluctuations there are on the scale can only be blamed on me, and I stop eating and drinking before 9 am (the meeting starts at 11:30), so that the weigh in will be as accurate as possible. You have no idea how drinking a bottle of water then weighing in .9 lbs more than you should can effect your outlook on the rest of the day! It may sound silly, but consider the fact that there used to be a young lady who would strip down to her tank top and boxers to weigh...I'm not THAT batty (yet).
So, this week I went, secure in the knowledge that I was a perfect example of a weight watchers member, and lost a total of 3.5 lbs! Yay me!
Michelle (the ww leader) had a great idea to track our weight loss, and help us visualize our accomplishments. For every pound we lose, start then add to a paper clip chain. I particularly like this idea, because this is how we track the days of Jay's deployment, only we take off a paper chain a link for every day Jay has been gone. I am going to start this chain today, and clip it to my fridge to remind me of what I'm jeopardizing if I indulge too much. I think that, along with a skinny picture of myself, will help out. I just need to find the right picture in all of these piles of memorabilia.
So...look for this post every Tuesday...I commit to reporting every week, whether I've lost or not. Hopefully that will keep me even more honest than weighing in at the meeting does. My goal is to shed at least 80 lbs. I don't have a timeline, because that seems to just kill my momentum. So we will just say 80lbs no matter how long it takes!
Wish me willpower, not luck!
Stacy