March 12, 2010

You know the old saying, “looks can be deceiving”?

This muffin almost looks tasty, doesn’t it?

In the close up, you can see all the yummy fruit. These were loaded with carrots, zucchini, raisins, and even some canned pumpkin with some coconut on top.

But these glompy, globs of fruit didn’t turn out quite the way I had planned.  They look more like a preschooler’s art project gone wrong! I decided to suck it up and show this photo. Aren’t they horrid?

Yesterday I was disappointed and pissed off, but today I just think it’s pretty funny. I wasted about two hours yesterday morning making these and cleaning up. I did try one and I’m not saying that they are inedible, but I won’t eat another one. Way, way too heavy and glompy, or as HayHay called them; groddy! (I don’t even think that’s a real word but it did describe them pretty well.) Each muffin weighed about the same as a hockey puck.

Hmmm. That just gave me an idea. I could probably let the kids down the street use these as hockey pucks. I haven’t thrown them out yet but I know that no one in this house is going to eat them! Not even HayHay, my 16 yr old garbage disposal. 🙂

I was trying so hard to come up with a really healthy breakfast muffin that I got a little overzealous and made too many changes. I could ramble on and on about what I did wrong, what I shouldn’t have substituted, and what I would do if I ever tried this recipe again, but it would just be a waste of time. I’m not going to try them again.

There are several reasons why I’m not a good baker and why I don’t enjoy baking BUT I’ve finally narrowed it down to only one reason.

• I don’t like to follow any recipe to the tee.
  
• Never.
  
• Ever.

That’s my problem and I can’t really ever see myself changing. I can’t do it. I love the creative part of cooking and not the precise measuring and science that is a requirement to be a good baker.

When I cook, if a recipe calls for one garlic clove, I’ll use three. Or if it calls for an onion, I’ll use shallots instead. Or maybe I’ll throw in capers or artichokes in a recipe just for a little something extra. Whatever. You just don’t have that freedom with baking unless you REALLY know what you’re doing.

I know that there are very experienced bakers out there that know exactly how to adapt a baking recipe. Some of my favorite blogs are written by some amazing bakers and I totally enjoy reading them and am always amazed at the talent it takes to be a good baker. I admire those of you that know “your stuff”! I really think you’ve either got it or you don’t. And, I don’t.

I’m not saying that I’m giving up forever, but I’m going to put myself out on a limb and say that, for now, I’m leaving the baking up to BigSis. And, I wish that someday we could get SisMama to do a guest post here on BigSisLilSis. Our Mom is an amazing baker and can whip up a cake, cookies or pie from scratch without even thinking twice or looking at a recipe. BigSis got lucky and got the baking gene from SisMama, not me.

Anybody know of a great healthy breakfast muffin that I can buy at the store? 🙂

~LilSis

March 11, 2010

LilSis has been talking about using more frugal beauty products, and I have one to tell you about.  How about a facial moisturizer that costs you $18 for 4 ounces?  Not bad, huh?  A while back, the folks at Skin MD sent LilSis and me a bottle of their Shielding Lotion.  I’ve been using it for a couple of months now, so I think I can give you a fair review of it.

What’s special about it?  The literature says this about Skin MD:

• It can replace traditional moisturizers which temporarily restore moisture to the skin.  It binds to the skin to create an invisible shield around the skin to maintain moisture and  protect it from environmental chemicals and pollution.

• It contains natural ingredients like aloe vera, arnica montana, chamomile, vitamin E, and a proprietary humectant ingredient that is supposed to be more effective than glycerin.

• It is non-greasy and non-comedogenic so it should not clog pores.

How did the product do?  Did it live up to the claims?

I can’t say if it shielded my skin from pollution and chemicals, but I liked that it was really lightweight and soaked into my skin quickly.  It created a nice smooth base for my foundation.  And, this is huge…it didn’t break my skin out!

Absolutely everything breaks me out, so I hold my breath when I try a new serum or moisturizing cream or lotion.  90% of the time, it does cause a breakout, even it it’s supposedly non-comedogenic.  So the fact that Skin MD didn’t cause a flare-up is pretty darn big.

So, Skin MD has earned two big gold stars from me:  for smooth texture and for not instigating a zit attack.  The big question though is whether my skin seemed hydrated.  I’m afraid I can’t give out a gold star for that.  This product just hasn’t been enough for me this winter, even when I applied it twice in the morning.  I’ve had some dry areas, and some little flakies here and there.

To be fair, this has been a super cold winter, plus my skin has been drier than usual because of a prescription I’m taking to help prevent hormonal breakouts.  Even so, most people are still drier than me.  Skin MD is recommended for body, hands and feet as well as face, but if it wasn’t enough for my face, it definitely wasn’t enough for the rest of me in the wintertime.

I still have lots of Skin MD left, and my plan is to give it another try as a facial moisturizer in the summer when I typically need a lighter product under my foundation.  Overall, I liked it and thought it was a quality product; it just wasn’t quite enough for me during the winter.

Skin MD is available in my area at CVS and Walgreen’s drugstores, as well as Tom Thumb and Minyard’s grocery stores.

~BigSis

March 9, 2010

Last week I talked about the Origins Youthtopia eye cream that I bought recently to replace the “more expensive” brand that I’d been buying. As luck would have it, I ran out of my moisturizer at about the same time I ran out of the eye cream. So, while I was at the Origins counter searching for the eye cream, I took a peek at their choices in moisturizers.

After looking over several options, I decided to try the Have a Nice Day Super-Charged moisture lotion. This is Origins description of Have a Nice Day.

Your skin hasn’t a care in the world when stimulating Ginkgo Extract, firming Birch Extract and nourishing Soybean Oil fortify it with everything it needs to face the day in a positive way. Origins potent blend of UV protectors, including nature’s own Titanium Dioxide, defray the rays. Vitamin E stops environmental no-goodniks. Skin runs smoothly sun up to sun down. And one whiff of the gung-ho Grapefruit aroma gives you a sense of can-do optimism.

At first I wasn’t real crazy about the screw top lid on this container because I was used to having a pump, which just makes it a little quicker and easier to dispense, but now that I’ve gotten used to it, it’s not a big deal and I think that there’s probably going to be less waste. With a container like this, it’ll be a lot easier to get every last little drop out of the bottle, which is not the case with the bottles that have the pump. (I never could figure out how to hack into the Chanel bottle.)

There are a few things I love about this product. First, I love that it has an SPF 15 just like the other brand. Even though SPF is not a lot of sun protection, at least I know that when I put this on every morning, I’ve got some sun protection.  If I’m knowingly going to be out in the sun, I’ll put on a SPF 30 or 45 on top of this. I also love that when you apply this product, you get a whiff of the grapefruit aroma. I first fell in love with the grapefruit scent when I started using the Origins Gloom Away products. And, in my opinion, this product goes on just as smoothly and feels just as hydrating as the Chanel.

What I love most about Have a Nice Day is that it retails for $36.00 for a 1.7 oz. bottle versus the $86.00 that I was paying for the exact same size in the other brand. When you think about it, that’s $100 savings for every two bottles I buy. That’s huge!

Now if I could just find a more affordable “anti-cellulite” cream! 🙂

~LilSis

March 7, 2010

Thanks for the reminder about the healthy snacks, LilSis. I think it’s really smart to keep good things on hand in case of a snack attack, which is going to happen, sooner or later!

Remember me talking about P90X last weekend? I was all psyched up to start it. I did the fitness test, and was able to pass it, but the darn thing kicked my butt and made me realize how puny and weak my upper body is right now. Even though I wanted to jump in 100%, a voice of reason in my head told me I’d probably end up getting hurt, or getting so sore that I’d quit, or getting discouraged because I couldn’t do the whole workout. Those would all be bad outcomes that I don’t want.

So, for once, I decided that I should be smart and ease into the new workout.  In addition to my gym workouts five times a week, here’s what I’m doing.  If you’re chompin at the bit to whip yourself into swimsuit shape, but need to ease into a heinie-kickin’ workout like me, give these workouts a try!

• Inhale Yoga with Steve Ross – it comes on live here on the Oxygen cable channel at 5 am and 6 am.  I record it on DVR now, so I can do them whenever I want.  This is my favorite yoga.

• 30-Day Shred with Jillian Michaels – I talk about this all the time.  You get 3 levels of a 28-minute workout that is surprisingly effective.

• No More Trouble Zones with Jillian Michaels – this workout uses lots of weights and runs for close to an hour.

• Banish Fat Boost Metabolism with Jillian Michaels – this workout is also close to an hour long, and includes lots of cardio.

Amazon has the set of all three Jillian Michaels DVDs for $22.99.

After doing  a month of rotating these workouts, I think I’ll be ready to start P90X.  Yoga is great for building strength – both upper and lower body – and Jillian’s videos all incorporate excellent upper body exercises.  I’m hoping that doing a month of prep before embarking on P90X will decrease the probability that it will kill me!  What do you think?

~BigSis

March 6, 2010

We’ve had company since Monday so it’s been a CRAZY week! My top priority this week was to spend some quality time with Meem, TallGuy, and LittleOne so I ended up cutting myself a little slack on the extra workouts so we had more time to visit. 🙂

We had a few splurges but overall we managed to eat mostly healthy meals and went for some nice, long walks. (Pushing a stroller uphill with a 25 lb. toddler in it is great exercise that I’m not used to anymore!)

When things are crazy busy, the one thing that saves me from grabbing the cheese and crackers or the chips and dip is making sure that I have healthy snacks on hand. I’ve talked about these before, but I thought this might be a good time to recap my list of Top Ten Favorite Snacks.

• Mott’s Healthy Harvest Granny Smith Applesauce (mid-morning snack) (1 cup; 50 calories, 0 fat)

• Boiled or scrambled egg with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce  (mid-morning snack) (1 large egg, 70 calories, 4.5 g. fat)

• Trader Joe’s Multi-Grain Pretzel Nuggets with Sesame Seeds  (22 pretzel nuggets; 110 calories, 1 gram fat)

• The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Wedges or Cheese Bites  (1 wedge or 5 cheese bites; 35 calories, 2 grams fat)

• Weight Watchers Natural Light String Cheese (1 stick; 50 calories, 2.5 g. fat)

• Shelled Edamame (1/2 c. serving; 110 calories, 3.5 g. fat)

• Trader Joe’s Everything Pretzel Slims (23 slims; 110 calories, 1/2 g. fat)

• The Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Light (1 piece; 50 calories, 3 g. fat)

• Trader Joe’s Parmesan Garlic Pita Chips (1 oz.; 130 calories, 4 g. fat)

• Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Hummus (2 T.; 50 calories, 3.5 g. fat)

Next week is officially the last week of the Ten in 10 Healthy Challenge but since I was out of town for a week last month and had house guests this week that got me off track a little bit, I’m going to continue this challenge until the end of March. I probably won’t post another update until I reach my goal, which at that point, is going to be reason for a celebration.

Thanks again to Lori of The Recipe Girl for starting the Ten Weeks to Healthy in 2010 Challenge. It has really helped me stay motivated and focused on making 2010 a healthier year!

I hope everyone that started this Challenge on January 2, 2010 has managed to hang in there and stay motivated! Whether you’re still going strong or have had some stumbling blocks along the way, I’d love to hear how you’re doing!

~LilSis

March 5, 2010

Have you had a good week?  I hope so.  As we cruise into the weekend, I wanted to send you off with a little fun, a little cuteness and a little joy.  It’s an animal video, of course.

I loved this video when I saw it the first time, and just as much when I saw it again today.  I don’t know what makes me happier: the sweet relationship between these two, or the infectious joyful attitude of the orangutan.  See what you think.  Oh, and have a most excellent weekend!

~BigSis

March 3, 2010

The last time I ran out of my Chanel eye cream, I decided it was time to try to find something comparable at a more reasonable price. Not to get into too much detail about the depressed economy and the effect that it’s had on my personal spending, but these days, I think a lot of us are trying to trim the fat from the budget and $75.00 for eye cream is just too much of a splurge.

There was a time, not too long ago, when I would run out of all three of my favorite Chanel beauty products at the same time and I wouldn’t think twice about running to Macy’s to replace them.  Since I’m trying to be more “budget conscious”, I decided that there had to be something out there that’s just as good with a smaller price tag. You know BigSis and I both love Origins and since I already use several of their other skin care products, I thought I’d check out their eye creams.

After looking over several choices, I decided to try the Youthtopia Firming Eye Cream. This is how Origins describes the Youthtopia:

If aging signs are staring you in the face, but you worry about harsh, sci-fi sounding chemicals in some treatments, discover Origins revolutionary approach to aging skin around the eyes. Youthtopia™ Firming eye cream with Rhodiola, the legendary Siberian herb linked with longevity, visibly de-ages, reduces puffiness and helps empower fragile eye skin to rebound from damaging stress. Your eye area looks firmer and more youthful with none of the potential wrinkles.

I’ve been using this eye cream for a little over a month now and I’m really happy with it. At $39.50, this product is much kinder on the wallet and I like it as much as the more expensive brand. I have to be careful with some night time eye creams because they tend to make my eyes puffy in the morning, but I haven’t had that problem with the Youthtopia.

If you’ve got a favorite eye cream that’s reasonably priced and gives great results, I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

~LilSis

March 1, 2010

So what did you think about the conclusion of the Bachelor? Did you see the handwriting on the wall from the beginning of the episode?

• Did you think it was weird that Jake’s family changed their opinion of Vienna so easily?  His mom seemed to be pretty intuitive from the beginning, and Jake was totally defensive about it, and was freaking out that he might have given his family a negative first impression of Vienna.

• You knew it was trouble when all Jake could say to Tenley was I love your eyes, your smile, your positivity, blah blah blah.  That isn’t the way you talk to someone you’re in love with.

• How harsh/stupid/mean was it for Jake to say that he and Tenley didn’t have physical chemistry?  Was he placing the pure lust he seems to feel for Vienna, above the emotional connection that he seemed to have with Tenley?  Ouch.  I would have been hurt too.  We all know that the lust stuff can wear out, and then what do you have left if that was the whole basis of your relationship?  Eventually you have to stop rolling around in the mud, and join reality:  start doing dishes and cleaning out the garage and taking the kids to soccer practice.

Do you believe me now when I tell you I heard that Jake isn’t with the woman who got the last rose, and in fact they had already split by the time “After the Final Rose” was shot?  We’ll see.

~BigSis

February 28, 2010

I know LilSis and lots of the other Ten in 2010 participants have started off the new year with a new motivation, increased fitness and weight loss.  Not me though, I’ve been doing good to just maintain with my 5 gym workouts a week.  Since my priority the last several weeks has been to spend as much time as possible with Bry, I wasn’t getting in any additional workouts, which is perfectly fine. My priorities were clear to me.

But now that he’s off on his Navy adventure, it’s time for me to recommit to getting back into fighting shape.  I never know when I might have an unexpected scuffle with an ornery chick in the parking lot before work!  Yeah, there’s a story there, but I’ll save that for another day.

The truth is, a forty-plus body wants to get fat.  You have lower metabolism, more aches and pains, less energy, and wacked out hormones.  At least, that’s the state of the union in my world.  It takes more and more work to achieve results, and it’s very easy to get stuck on plateaus.  Plus, doing the same old stuff starts to lose its effectiveness.

All of that is no excuse though, and I’m not making any.  I don’t have a ton of weight to lose, but I do want to build some more muscle and lose those ding dang blobs of fat that insist on congregating and loitering on my rear view.  You know the ones I mean.

I had planned to go back to Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred, since she whipped me into decent shape last year with her program.  I’d been rotating the 30-Day Shred with a couple of her other heinie-kicking DVDs, and they really did work.

Bry and his dad have been big fans of P90X though, and Bry said I should give it a try, and swears I can do it.  Really?  Ok.  If you say so, Bry.  I know you care about your old aunt and you wouldn’t tell me that if you thought it would be the death of me.

I love a challenge, and with my all-or-nothing personality, P90X is right up my alley, at least theoretically.  One of the things that intrigues me about it is the idea of “Muscle Confusion”, which is said to bring greater results to your bored muscles.  So today, I’m going to do the fitness test to see if I’m up for the P90X challenge.  If not, I’ll do the 30-Day Shred for a couple of weeks, and then test again.  If I pass the test, I’m off and running.

I just have one question before I start…will P90X kill a forty-plus woman?  Do you know of any women who have done it and survived; other than Sheryl Crow and Pink?

~BigSis

February 27, 2010

I’ve just finished week eight in the Ten in 10 Healthy Challenge. I knew this was going to be a hard week, but it was even harder than I had anticipated. It was a weird week.

Since Bry left on Monday, I’ve been very preoccupied with thinking about him and wondering how everything is going for him. At the same time, I was trying to focus and finish up a couple of big projects that need to be done before Meem, TallGuy and LittleOne come to visit us next week. Since I didn’t make my weekly shopping trip on Sunday and was trying to utilize my time wisely during the work week while HayHay was at school, I slipped up on my meal planning.

So, unfortunately, this darn thing didn’t budge this week. I had a Dr.’s appointment. on Friday morning and, as usual, their scale was three pounds higher than mine, but I write that off as my shoes and clothes.

That being said, I refuse to obsess about it or get discouraged. I know where I slipped up and I’ll just have to do better next week.

My biggest problem this past week was not having a stocked frig. I didn’t have what I normally like to eat for lunch so I ended up not eating enough which caused me to end up hungry before dinner and that’s when I start in on the snacking.

I don’t know whether it was the salted peanut butter pretzels or the one night of indulgence in sharp cheddar cheese, the KFC night or possibly the night we split a bottle of champagne, but probably a combination of all of those things contributed to me not shedding an ounce this week.

Luckily, I still managed to get up early and get in a good workout every morning. If I hadn’t, I’m sure I would have gained a little.

Since we’re having company next week, it’s going to be a little tricky for me to not allow myself to be on “vacation rules”. I’m going to have to plan our meals ahead and make sure I have healthy choices for myself.

If you’re participating in this challenge or if you set some goals for yourself for a healthier 2010, I’d love to hear how you’re doing and how you’re staying motivated.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

~LilSis