Christmas is coming...Get busy

Christmas is just around the corner. I'm  still trying to put up my Halloween decorations. But I'm busy making 2 quilts and a lot of necklace and earring combinations for Christmas presents. I'm going to put a lot of the sets up on etsy. I always sell my necklace sets wholesale. So be sure and go and look at them under Pepper etc.. I would love to put some on here too but I need help to do it.

COOKING AND LOSING WEIGHT

My mother has come to live with me. I'm enjoying her being with me. She has some health issues and can't live alone. She can't have salt on her food so I'm trying to redo recipes for her. I'm also trying to lose weight but now I'm cooking for another person too. Scarey since I tend to over eat my own cooking but I have her support to help me.
 I have some wonderful recipes I want to share with you. My friends nick name me Paula Deene of the Hill Country. I hope I can keep up with the reputation of this wonderful, fantastic, cook I love so much. I'm changing a lot of my recipes to help with my weight lose and my mothers health. I am going to post recipes my friends like with a few changes, of which to me, the food still taste the same. If you can offer suggestions to better the recipe, please do. My mother can have no or very little salt, so I have reduced the salt intake to being sea salt if I think salt is defintely needed or no salt if we can do without it. So you may want to increase your salt to taste. I have also used fat free or reduced fat for some of my indgredients of which you can use regular if you want. And changed cooking oil and sometimes butter to extra virgin olive oil where needed.
This recipe below is one of my favorites. I hope you like it.

SHRIMP AND RICE CASSEROLE

2 lbs. Shrimp                                        
1 Tlbsp. lemon juice
3 Tlbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil                        

Peal and clean shrimp. Boil until pink. Drain and place in large mixing bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp and dribble Virgin Olive Oil over shrimp and mix well. Set aside.  Save 6 to 8 shrimp aside for garnish.

1 Cup of Rice cooked

Mix rice with your shrimp mixture.  Set aside.

In a skillet:    2 Tlbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil                 
                    mince 1/2 Cup green onions
                    1/2 Cup white or yellow onion chopped    
                    1/2 bell pepper chopped
Cook until transparent but not browned.

Place all of onions & peppers into your rice and shrimp mixture. Now stir below items into your mixture
                    1/2 tsp. sea salt (I left salt out)                    
                    1/2 tsp. black pepper
                    1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. mace (to taste)                  
                    1 Cup Sour Cream (I use reduced fat)
                    1/2 cup of sliced almonds
Mix all of this well.

Spray Pam onto your casserole dish for easy clean up.  Turn oven on to 350 degrees.  Place your mixture into casserole dish. Garnish with 1/4 Cup of almonds and your 6 or 8 shrimp. 

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until your mixture is bubbling. Will freeze well.  Have a busy day tomorrow or company coming? You can prepare recipe day before and slip into oven when needed. This also freezes well.

Makes approx. 8 servings.  This recipe can be doubled very easily. You may have to bake longer, approximaely 45 minutes, if all in the same casserole dish. I usually place mine into two separate casserole dishes and bake.

Let me know what you think.  I watch my rice intake on this recipe. I serve with a salad and no bread to balance calories.
                 

Day One~A Realization Of What To Do

It is so easy to say you're going to take control of your life but to do it is a horse of a different color.  I mean it's easy to tell other people what to do but when you have to tell yourself what to do you find all types of excuses. Like yesterday, I had a piece of cake, a hamburger, french fries, and PIZZA? Was I trying to sabbatoge my beginning? Maybe I need professional help? Gads, I'm acting like a little child standing and stomping my feet because I don't want to do something I know I need to do. Okay, so this morning I started off good. I had poached eggs and some Canadian Bacon which is allowed.  I don't drink coffee so I don't have to be afraid of a caffine high. And now I'm getting ready to go to the gym. So I need support from everyone.  I know I can do this. What is the saying? Practise something for 30 days and then it comes natually?  So I'm willing to give it my all. I will be writing a ton of posts when I get hungry so I don't eat junk food. I gave away as much of the junk as I could. I don't want any temtations around me until I get this in order. Have a beautiful day. It is very pretty here in South Texas.

NEW YEAR, NEW WAY OF LIFE

For those of you who saw the movie Julie and Julia, I have decided to do something similiar. I  have taken a giant step in my life, I have joined a gym. Something I have never done before. I stopped smoking in early 2000 and began gaining weight.  In 2006 I had a by-pass for three clogged arteries and gained more weight. 2008 I had to have my hip replaced on the left side and then a couple months later I had to have a knee replacement. It took me until 2010 in the fall to finally get my energy back but during that time I gained more weight. I'm tired of being the fattest woman in the room when I go anywhere. If I keep gaining I will have to hire Abdulla the tent maker to make my clothes.  It's my time in life and I'm going to get myself back into shape. I need to lessen my weight for my other knee and hip. I hope to decrease the pain I'm having in my right knee and hopefully not have it replaced. If I keep on having metal replacing parts of my body I shall be the bionic woman. Day by day I shall try to write and give my progress, feelings, and emotions during this time. I've never kept a log of my weight or measurements. Maybe I can help someone else during the process. I'm even going list some of the menus I trying, what I ate for the day, and I'll try to be brave and perhaps list my weight as I go along.  Tomorrow will start the diary of an overweight woman with a skinny person trying to get out. My doctor gave me some wise advice today. He said to remember I am a living person with desires. And sometimes those desires will overtake the wise counciling. And it is okay. Just try to balance the good with the bad and to remember tomorrow is a new day. I wish all of you who are dieting to remember tomorrow IS a new day. And We Can Do This.

Finished Writing my Novel

I wonder how I can sit here so calm after several years of writing my latest suspense/romance novel. "The Red Headed Spy" is now ready to find a publisher and hopefully soon to be in some of my readers home.  I sent it to my editor the first of December before the holidays in 2010. It has been returned with a few corrections to be made. Those are finished and now my baby is sitting here at my elbow. I have frustrations of letting go of my book. Have any of you written a novel? Did you find yourself feeling the same way? Scared yet excited. Not wanting to let the book go yet wanting it to rush out to the waiting world. It's like the day you take your first child to pre-school and feel uncertain leaving them with the new teacher. I enjoyed writing this book but now am being called to finish my trilogy of 3 Texas school teachers finding intrique/romance in the Middle East. I sit here chastising myself to get the query letter ready for the finished novel and to send it to someone. Anyone, just send it. As all novelist I'm ready to sell my book. I have let a couple of friends proof and critique the pages. They seemed to enjoy the story. So here's to a new year, a new challenge finishing my trilogy, and a hopeful success of a finished novel.

PAINT, PAINT, PAINT

The holidays are rapidly forthcoming. I took time out to get the house clean, the presents wrapped, and am now awaiting my holiday company arrival.  My cousin is bringing my mother for the holidays. She will stay with us until after Christmas. We are looking forward to her visit. Us girls always have fun doing more shopping and all of the wonderful meals that will be produced. I have a comfortable chair all ready for my mother in my painting studio. We can visit while I paint or she can read her book while I'm painting. She used to be a talented ceramic painter and teacher. However, her hands won't allow her to paint any more without a tremendous amount of pain. I have some of her pieces displayed.  I guess I get my love of painting from her.

How deep is deep? How shallow is shallow?

I am trying to get ready for the holidays and for holiday company. I love having company for the holidays. However, I'm not having enough time to paint. I've got a new shipment of art canvases and am ready to fill them. I also want to start my art classes for children too. So much to do, too little time to do it in. And some time or some where I need to have an art show and get rid of some of these painted canvases.
I wonder if Santa will think I've been naughty or nice this year? I'll keep you posted when the big day arrives.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Americans everywhere. My kitchen will be smelling good when my mother gets here. She is a wonderful cook. My daughter inherited her cooking skills too. They both are great cooks. Me, well I cook and I love to eat my cooking but eating someone elses cooking is so much better.