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Post by ann1953 on Jun 28, 2020 10:39:40 GMT
Good morning friends. Happy to say that after yesterday's bday celebration I am back on track. My day is planned...just need to track it. Yesterday I loaded the instant pot with frozen veggies low sodium beef broth a can of hot rotel and mild rotel and fire roasted tomatoes along with my spices and put it on before we went to bed. It's cooling now and later I shall put it in bowls in the fridge for the week.
IT rained on and off yesterday and was pretty decent walking as there was not hot sun we had to deal with. Not sure what it will be like today. Right now it's overcast.
Happy that we don't need anything so will be a day spent at home.
Waving....and will CBL
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Post by ann1953 on Jun 28, 2020 11:28:52 GMT
My bday celebration only added. 4. It may catch up with me tomorrow....so be it.
Time for ☕☕❤
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Post by suewms on Jun 28, 2020 14:04:06 GMT
Good Morning, WW Friends ~
Happy Sunday!! We stayed up and watched "An Officer & A Gentleman" last night which ran until 10:30, then we watched a bit of news, so it was another late night for me. I slept until almost 7 this morning, but had a very restless night as did DH. We both commented to each other throughout the night that it was "the longest night ever"!! I think it might have been a drastic change in our barometric pressure??
We have had our oatmeal with fresh blueberries for breakfast as we plan to go out for lunch later on. We have eaten Sunday lunch out for many, many years until this stay-at-home began. Of course, the restaurant where we have gone is now shuttered and perhaps for a good long time since DH's VBF passed. The kids are putting it up for sale, but it will take quite some time. Just recently another restauranteur well-known to us had to 'take back' a place he had sold and is reopening it. My DH did all his set-up work on his equipment the past couple of weeks. He decided that would be our new Sunday lunch place, and we plan to begin today. Some of the waitresses from our previous place will be working there and it will be good to see them after all this time (even if it is bittersweet).
Ann ~ I am so glad that you had an enjoyable birthday!! Please do tell me about putting your soup in your Instant Pot - like what setting? for how long? How does it come out? I love to have easy lunches on hand. I haven't read good things about using the slow cooker function on the IP, but would rather hear it first hand from someone I know, if you don't mind sharing?
DH and I went outside and sat on the porch for about an hour last night. The sun had gone behind the trees (on its way to setting) and there was quite a breeze - so it was very enjoyable! It gives us a chance to talk with each other without the distraction of the TV, etc.
So far this morning I have done one load of laundry, made our bed and hard-cooked half a dozen eggs in my IP. I have gotten where I just cannot be without them. DH loves them as well, so it is a win-win. It is rather cool right now but promises to heat up later. I may get in a walk before we go to eat - but after I shower and get dressed. Otherwise the rest of the day is wide open.
BBL. Make a great day!!
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Post by ann1953 on Jun 28, 2020 16:54:50 GMT
Back again. I forgot all about our carpet steaming guy coming tomorrow instead of Tuesday. While Carl was outside dealing with cutting back brush I decided to put my big girl panties on and house clean. Now, after Gillis and helper leave tomorrow...I can say 'this place is CLEAN' lol. I had sunny radio station on to keep me company and I jived from one task/room to the next. Now I'm all showered and ready to sit and relax. My steps today will be minimal. I'm now sitting on 4537 and should I get more it will be by chance not by choice. I'm tired  Sue I just dump all my frozen veggies in the pot with 2 cans of rotel one regular and one hot a can of fire roasted tomatoes some beans in a can....this time I used black beans and I always add corn for more 'color'  I set it on crockpot mode and normally I put it on 16 hours and if it's longer than that it goes on warm mode. Normally I'm up before that and I test it. It's always done to my liking as I am not fond of mushy veggies. Hope this helps. I know that I lot of people don't like the instant pot for a crockpot but honestly I have never had that problem. In fact, with the exception of one smaller crockpot I've donated all my other others as they were taking up too much space! yes it was awesome sitting out last night. Hopefully tonight will be the same deal. I loved that movie and glad you and DH enjoyed it. Oh I bet it will be nice seeing the waitresses but as you said bittersweet. Waving and will pop in later. |
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Post by sunshinep396 on Jun 28, 2020 16:56:28 GMT
Good morning friends!
We went to Mass this morning, came back, had coffee and changed and DH went to the garden and I went off to meet Debbie and walk. We did 3 miles this morning and I am pooped. I am enjoying having someone to walk with some days. We will walk together tomorrow, but earlier. It was already 82 by the time we started our walk and oh so humid!
I am enjoying another cup of coffee and trying to decide what to have for brunch. Fresh figs will be part of it. Ours are getting ripe and DH kindly picked some for me. Dinner tonight is pizza and salad, so I will have to be careful. The scale was up a bit this morning, but that was expected since we had Chinese with shrimp last evening, both of which are sodium bombs.
Which WW Chili recipe is the best? I see a couple that are zero points on purple.
I will teach my first baptism seminars in months this afternoon. One in English at 2:30 and one in Spanish at 4:00. It's mostly just putting on the CDs or videos, as I certainly don't speak much Spanish. I will go over early and turn on the AC and try to set things up in a larger room, instead of the smaller classroom I usually use. That way, we can spread out and keep space between me and them.
Sue - The time with DH away from the distractions of tv, cell phone, iPad, etc. has been one of the best things about the pandemic. We do this pretty much every day from 4:00-5:00 and DH remarked that we are again talking like we did when we were dating. I wish I had noticed that An Officer and a Gentleman was on last night, as I really like that movie. I am also planning to watch Ryan's Daughter on Amazon, another good one.
Ann - My favorite WW leader used to say it takes at least 2 days for a weight gain from overeating, but sodium load is almost instant. I doubt the little bit of cake you had will make much of a difference. It's when the cake hangs around and piece after piece gets consumed that trouble develops.
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Post by suewms on Jun 28, 2020 17:00:14 GMT
Ann ~ Thanks so much for the add'l info about the IP soup. I have read all the reviews online from people who don't like it as a slow cooker, but they all were referring to cooking meat in it. That makes sense to me. What kind of vegetables do you use? Do you add any chicken or beef broth?? I think I would like to try that just for kicks.I have most of that in the house. Enjoy your laid back day (the day after a b'day should always be that way, doncha think??)
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Post by suewms on Jun 28, 2020 17:09:44 GMT
Pam ~ We were posting at the same time it would seem. You've been productive today - unlike me! The Weight Watchers Chili Recipe that I use says "Weight Watcher's Chili Recipe - DIY Candy" at the top of the page. I have made it before and LOVE it! It says it is for the pressure cooker OR crock pot, but I prefer it in the crock pot. In order for it to be zero on Blue I have to buy the EXTRA Lean ground turkey (99%). It makes quite a lot and I think I brought up my BIG crock pot last time and it almost filled it.
Yep, those evening chats outdoors in the peace and quiet are something really special! We also have spent much more time together during the pandemic, which we have both enjoyed.
Lunch was good ....I ordered chicken parmesan and our server brought me a to-go box with my dinner. It was a HUGE serving of spaghetti and two chicken patties so I put half in the box right off the top. Now I have another dinner, or probably lunch. I am full from the half that I ate, so I'm glad I packed the other half up to come home.
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Post by ann1953 on Jun 28, 2020 19:03:47 GMT
Pam you have been very productive today. I don't blame you one bit for walking with your friend earlier in the a.m. before the heat/humidity has a chance of taking over. Here we have not sunshine which is a HUGE plus as it feels much cooler. It's thundering here now. We were lucky that we took miss LuLa down the end of the street to do her 'thing' when we did as it has also started to spit rain. We are in for severe weather...according to the weather station. So far all I hear is a bit of rolling thunder. the sky does look very dark, so there's that! We have not plans on venturing out today so we are fine with it. Yup, sodium does me in each and every time. I'm sure you'll have that 'bomb gone' in a day or so. Pizza is an all time favorite of ours as well. Just love it...especially with veggies on top. Not a fan of meat on pizza. Enjoy teaching the baptism seminar. I took 2 years of Spanish in school and 6 years of French and can bless myself in both and count to ten LOL......only know 'slang Italian' Sue I buy a bag of frozen mixed veggies and also use the diced cauliflower and or broccoli or the mixture of the two. I put in a box of the low sodium beef broth...not a fan of chicken broth at all and the rotel tomatoes and fire roasted tomatoes roasted garlic powder fennel seed oregano and cumin. I also add a can of corn or sometimes the Mexican corn and a can of beans or lentils if I have them already cooked. I don't bother to measure out the spices...I simply sprinkle as I go along I also will add the Trader Joe's 21 Salute spice which is sodium free. There is enough sodium in the tomatoes so I never add any salt! Funny, but when I use meat in the crock pot mode, I always brown it first and pressure cook it for a bit then will switch over to crock pot mode and never had a problem. I haven't done chicken in it...just beef and it comes out good. I think you really need to play with it to find out what works and what doesn't. At first I was VERY intimated to use it...but now I'm not as afraid to try different things. One thing that I've used instead of the beef in chili is Portobello mushrooms. They are beefy enough where you really don't miss the beef. That way it's still 0 points. You may want to give that a try. We like it both ways. Also need to say that I'll add myself to the list of enjoying quiet peaceful times with Carl and LuLa We spend a lot of time chatting about different things and then at times Carl will go off in the other room and do some leather work and I'll sit and read. So enjoyable either way. Sue I enjoy you your chicken parm. That is something that I have NOT mastered at home. It's okay...but not like when you get it out. Enjoy your second serving for another time. Judy I hope you are enjoying being at the Cape. Hope you are not experiencing 'weather' Going to read a bit. |
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Post by suewms on Jun 28, 2020 20:04:54 GMT
Ann ~ Thanks for the tips on making soup in the IP. I can definitely do that! My DH likes portabello mushrooms much more than I do. When I make my WW Chili that is 0 SP, I use the extra-lean (99% FF) ground turkey and season it and it cooks up quite wonderfully. I will be trying soup in the future.
DH did his Kroger (f/v) shopping for this week and also surprised me with a Patriotic Plantar of petunias for our front porch. He set it out and I noticed it through the den window right away! I have fed & watered it and the other petunias on the patio - and the former front porch plant which is now on the patio. We had some invasive vines growing into the trees across from our front porch, so DH got out his handy dandy saw today and cut the large roots going to them. When they are left to themselves, they take over the tree, and several years ago he cleaned a bunch of them out and a couple years ago a neighbor did some more clearing of it. The 'branches' from the previously cut roots are now just empty twigs, so today he did some more pruning and soon the new growth should be gone and free up the crab apple tree again.
We have already done our hour on the front porch. Even though the thermometer says it is 90 out there, it was quite pleasant as there is no direct sunshine right now and there is just enough of a breeze. At least it is not oppressively hot! We probably won't sit out again today as we plan to enjoy the A/C and watch some TV. He said there is a golf match on this afternoon and I may read while he watches it. I downloaded two more new books, so have quite a 'stash' now and need to start reading.
Supper tonight is planned for strawberry waffles and turkey sausage patties.
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Post by ann1953 on Jun 28, 2020 22:28:31 GMT
Sue I have used the 99@ lean ground turkey and it does come out good. Sometimes, though, it's hard to find up here...so I use the mushrooms instead. Awesome on the petunias. I bet they are very pretty.
Just came back from another quick walk. It's starting to sprinkle again. Oh well....it's been sunny/raining/cloudy all day long. Can't make up its mind LOL.
Our supper was good. Now I'm going to relax and read.
Sweet dreams all!
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I set it on crockpot mode and normally I put it on 16 hours and if it's longer than that it goes on warm mode. Normally I'm up before that and I test it. It's always done to my liking as I am not fond of mushy veggies. Hope this helps. I know that I lot of people don't like the instant pot for a crockpot but honestly I have never had that problem. In fact, with the exception of one smaller crockpot I've donated all my other others as they were taking up too much space! 
