Monthly Archives: January 2018

Mitten Tile

Wonder Wednesday, Zentangle

So this week there is still no new diva challenge, so I’m doing another festive tile. I chose the mitten string from Pattern-Collections, as my string.

The focus tangle on pattern-collections for today is 8 of Diamonds. I’d never drawn this tangle before and liked it even though I don’t do very well with tangles that require I do things evenly spaced.

I also checked out Square One’s Focus Tangle even though I wouldn’t be able to share it on the purely zentangle page because of my mitten string. Organic was their focus tangle and I don’t recall using this tangle before either but when I saw the step-out for it, it looked so really nice and easy to draw so I decided to use it for the cuff of my mitten. :)

I drew the string twice and each time part of the mitten went outside of the border. So I finally decided to just leave it there and I like how it turned out.

Here is the tile before shading.

Another holiday tile ~ Lifeofjoy.meI chose to fill in the diamonds. Then I debated on whether or not to fill in the eights. I was afraid there’d be too much black if I did that and I was pleased with how it looked so I left it unblackened.

Mitten Tile ~ Lifeofjoy.meI hope you’ve had happy holidays! Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Beginning Trim Healthy Mama

Tasty Tuesday, Tips

Healthy food ~ Lifeofjoy.meI’m writing this post, not as an authority in the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) community but more for those of my friends who are interested in beginning this eating lifestyle.

Here are my tips for beginning:

  • I recommend you get the Trim Helthy Mama Plan book either from the library system, new or used online or in a bookstore. You can just get the Trim Healthy Table cookbook which came out recently and has a summary of the plan in the first 3 chapters but for a better understanding, I recommend the plan book. If you cannot get that, here is an online resource you can use.
  • You want to eat your fats separate from your carbs. So although you can have brown rice or sweet potatoes you cannot have them with steak but you could have it with chicken breast. You want to have lean meats with your carbs. It is important to have all your meals anchored with protein; this doesn’t mean you need six ounces of protein but definitely some. Protein slows the rise of blood sugar from eating carbs.
  • You want to have three hours between eating. Don’t eat sooner, even if hungry. If you are hungry prior to 3 hours, note what you ate last and increase amounts next time or drink a sipper, cup of tea, or water. It is actually good to be hungry because that means the body has run through the fuel you gave it and is now ready for more (and should get it from your fat stores). You can change your fuel source after three hours, so you can have a meal with nice healthy fats and three hours later a meal with yummy sweet potatoes.
  • You will need lots of non-starchy vegetables. I suggest lettuce, onions, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and frozen okra. These are our basics.
  • Did I mention eggs? Yeah, we use lots of eggs. I really like eggs. I bake a lot with eggs.
  • Find a sugar alternative that you like. If you want to only get yours from a local store, I’d look for Swerve or Pyure (be sure it is only erythritol and stevia, they have some with extra ingredients that are not on plan). I also like stevia glycerite. But if you can order online, I recommend getting Gentle Sweet and Pure Stevia Extract Powder from THM. Here is my post on sugar alternatives.
  • You will also need a flour alternative, since on THM you do not use things made of regular flour. I highly recommend Baking Blend from THM.  I also like to have coconut flour, blanched almond flour, whey protein isolate powder, flax meal, and oat fiber on hand to make baked goods. I get coconut flour and blanched almond flour from my local Wal-mart. The flax meal from either Walmart or Sprouts. Whey protein isolate powder I get from Sprouts as well, from their bulk section. However the oat fiber must be ordered online. I prefer LifeSource 500 brand which I get from Netrition.com; I’d stocked up and have not yet tried the THM oat fiber. Nili’s Blend is a good alternative but you need collagen and I get my collagen from THM, so might as well buy the baking blend. However, having said that, I do keep this recipe on hand for if I run out THM Baking Blend.
  • Some items we have decided we love using are THM collagen, nutritional yeast, and sunflower lecithin. We also get sprouted wheat flour and/or spelt flour for making homemade bread for use in a carb meal.

Well, I think that is enough for today. If you have questions, let me know and I’ll see if I can help.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Marriage Thoughtfulness

Marriage Monday

New Year ~ Lifeofjoy.meI wish you all a happy new year! I’m looking forward to this new year. I know that I have to be intentional where my marriage is concerned. If I am not trying to improve myself and my marriage then I am probably stagnating or worse, declining in my own life and my relationship with my hubby.

Marriage is hard work; at least it is for me. It is easy to be a bit selfish and want things done for me but I have to be intentional about doing things for my love–not just the every day things but step it up and do more.

I hope to really foster more respect for my beloved. After all, that is what the Bible requires of me. It doesn’t tell me to respect him if he earns it. It says that wives are to respect their own husbands, not love them. Men are to love their wives.

If you’ve been around my Marriage Monday blog posts for any length of time, you probably already know that I struggle with what respect looks like. This is not an easy task but I intend to be intentional about showing my man respect (whatever that is ;) ) one little thing at a time. I intend to focus on this one little kindness at a time.

Lori Byerly mentioned something similar about it being the little things that build up your husband and marriage in this short read. Hop on over and give it a read.

I hope you will consider how you can bless your marriage this year, one little action or word at a time.

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº