Monthly Archives: July 2018

Sweet Potato Fries Salad

July 17, 2018Main Dishes, Salad, Tasty Tuesday, VeggiesLife of Joy

I’ve found a love for sweet potatoes since starting Trim Healthy Mama. I never found them very sweet before but now I think they are pretty sweet without anything on them. I used to like them candied with brown sugar and now I’m good with them plain. My family likes to add syrup to theirs though.

One of the ways I like them is made into fries. Tiffany and I have had them with chocolate “shakes” or frappes. So reminiscent of fries and a milk shake–one of my favorite treats long ago.

So, on to how to make it . . .

Cut the the sweet potato into “fries.”

Cut them a bit thinner to get done quicker.

When I finished cutting this one potato it was enough for two people.

I used my air fryer but you could bake them in the oven with just a light spray of oil and a sprinkling of salt. If you are baking in the oven be sure to put them on either a silpat, foil, or parchment paper.

My air fryer is also a toaster oven, so I have a rather large “basket.”

This day Tiffany and I used these in a huge salad.

I added low-fat ham lunch meat for protein and tomatoes for moisture.

It was delicious!

Bake the sweet potato fries for about 15-20 minutes on about 400º, turning as they brown on one side.

I hope you enjoy this “recipe.”

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Little Things Given and Received

July 16, 2018Marriage MondayLife of Joy

I have committed to the Trim Healthy Mama eating lifestyle. It is how I intend to eat for the rest of my life. Now that does not mean that I’ll never have certain foods, it just means that as a general rule I won’t, especially while I’m trying to lose weight.

Recently Michael and I dined at Red Lobster to celebrate our 31st anniversary. It’s amazing that I have been with him longer than I was without him. Don’t misunderstand me, there were some tough times, and still are frustrating times, but I love him incredibly and would marry him all over again.

Any way, at Red Lobster he wanted to get the Seafood-Stuffed Mushrooms for an appetizer. We hardly ever get an appetizer . . . like I can count on my hands, or maybe even one hand, the number of times we have gotten an appetizer since I’ve known him. I asked the waitress and she did find that they did have some wheat in them but knowing it was mostly seafood and it was our 31st anniversary dinner, I decided I could splurge on it. This added another memory and made it a bit more special. The mushrooms were delicious, by the way. I proceeded to stay on plan with the remainder of my meal, with the exception of tasting one of Michael’s breaded shrimp.

The last time I ate something off-plan was in October of last year and it was for a similar reason. I was eating lunch with some friends and new acquaintances at a Mexican restaurant. At the end of the meal tres leche was ordered for us to all share together, in part because I and another person had never tried it before. That day I took two bites and then that was all–it was delicious and I need to find a low carb way recipe for it.

I could have been a party pooper and stayed strictly to my “diet” but I determined that these two situations were important enough and memorable enough that I should make the exception.

My hubby is wonderful to me most of the time. He makes me tea every morning, ensuring that it is the proper level of sweet for my liking. He even increased the amount he makes for me when I told him I wished I had more and found a creative solution to keeping it hot for me. He prepares a bottle of water for me on Sunday mornings and even fills my bottle with cold water rather than room temperature water, because he know it is my preference. He drops me off at the door on a rainy Sunday morning, even though I did make us late and he dislikes walking in after service has started.

There are many more ways that he spoils me but that is enough for today. Love is shown in so many ways and can be easily overlooked. I hope this will remind you to take time to do the little things for your spouse and to acknowledge the ways he shows his love to you. Love isn’t all flowers and chocolate, jewelry and public displays of affection–it can also be in the little things.

I encourage you today to look for the little ways you can show your love and acknowledge some of the little ways he shows his love to you.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Family and Friends OKC Zoo Day

July 13, 2018Finally FridayFamily Fun, friends, fun, zooLife of Joy

I mentioned last week that our long-time friends came out for a visit and that we also went to OKC with them. I shared last week about our visit to the Science Museum Oklahoma. Today I want to share our visit to the OKC Zoo.

We made sandwiches before leaving the hotel. I’d brought sandwich fixings and snacks so that we could be frugal AND stay on plan more readily.

My oldest son, Brian, and his family live nearby and were able to join us at the zoo. Yay! Some grandson time!!! Okay, I didn’t get a lot but you cannot be but so pushy on children or they push you completely away.

So much to say about this photo. First this is a bad photo of me because of the angle on my belly but it showed not being pushy. I hadn’t seen Liam, my grandson, in a few weeks and when we pulled up, the car scared him. He loves his Uncle Sean a lot (he’s a daddy’s boy right now, says Lauren, and I’m guessing Sean reminds him of his daddy ) and, as you’ll see, he liked hanging with him that day. Any way, Liam wasn’t being very receptive to me, so I just backed off and waited him out.

See that backpack I’m wearing? Michael got that for me about 25 years ago. Yep, 25 years ago! I knew I’d need some way to carry some water because the heat and I are not great friends. So I pulled this backpack out and used it for the first time. It also collapses down to just a small pocketbook/wallet and phone holder. It finally came in handy. )

I don’t recall ever seeing a swan in real life before. This was pretty.

Did you ever see Aristocats? This reminded me of a scene from that animated movie.

I know it’s not a goose but “bottoms up!”

Typically, I am too hot and my hands are too clammy such that Michael does not hold my hand. I don’t know what came over him this day, but I loved it. It was so nice to have the energy to set the pace and he was right there with me.

Usually I am at the back of the pack, meandering but it was too hot to move slowly. I needed to get from one shade spot to the next. ) Brian even called me out on it at one point in the day. It was all in fun!

Clearly this was at the start of our day because they still look good and fresh.

The flamingos were quite loud and scared Liam at first but we ended up back near them several times and even ate lunch across from their area, so he got a bit used to them. By the time we were done with lunch, he even walked over to their fence and was looking at them. We were around them so long we saw that a couple had lain eggs and watched as a few were building their mounds.

Liam is loaded up in the tula on Brian, not really ready to keep going but we want to see the giraffes and elephants before we leave.

This was an interesting sight! This white peacock spread its tail feathers out and walked about. I think it is an albino because I don’t see any thing but white on it.

They had some other peacocks too but this was so unique.

Brian and Lauren have been to the zoo frequently this year and said they hadn’t seen this regal lion before this day. He really was a sight to behold.

Around the corner, the lionesses were napping by the window, which was really neat.

I don’t recall when this was but it was cute and I had to share. Liam taking a quick rest in the shade with Grandpa and Uncle Sean.

Liam wasn’t in the stroller much but someone caught a picture when he was. It was HOT and he was tired but wouldn’t stay in the stroller long nor did he take a nap until on his way home, I believe.

We did have to take a few breaks. This was a vacation after all, not some race.

My pretty girls!

Michael and Paul resting while waiting on the potty break to end.

Stephani, me, and Tiffany resting too.

I’d never seen a red panda before. It kind of looks like a fox and raccoon mix. I didn’t expect it to be so long.

Watching the elephants was one of the highlights of the day. This was not a show, just them going about their day.One of them had just gotten an apple off the water surface and eaten it. The baby was cute and it went under water as well. There was another one by itself that we saw eating some straw/hay and rocking back and forth. We even saw it go to its little water area and spray itself down. It was neat to watch them moving around unlike most of the animals.

However, we caught the bears enjoying a watermelon snack break.

Well, we actually watched them eat the watermelons. I’m sure it was refreshing. I know I would’ve liked a cold watermelon slice about then.

I was a woman with a mission: I wanted to see the giraffes before we left. By the time we finally made it to them, it was the appointed time when you could pay to feed them. But really, you mean to tell me people actually pay $5 to give the giraffe a piece of romaine lettuce?!? It was enough for me to watch the zoo keepers feed them. There was the mama and the girl giraffe that was about 2 or 3 and the little guy who was just a year and a half or so.

The Okapi were near the giraffes. They are a very interesting animal. They look like they are part zebra, part donkey, and part anteater. At the end of the day, we were hot and tired but we’d made it! We all left, showered, and napped and then went to dinner together a couple hours later.

The OKC Zoo touts itself as being a botanical garden too. But I have to say, it was lame at this. Very few plants were labelled and nothing was really marked. There was a butterfly garden that had some interesting plants in it but they were not marked either nor did I see any butterflies. I did recognize sunflowers even though they were not in bloom yet thanks to the ones we’ve grown at home.

So, word to the wise, don’t expect much from the Botanical Gardens aspect of the OKC Zoo and you should enjoy it better.

Well, this has gotten long, so I’ll share more next week.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Preparing For a New School Year

July 12, 2018Thoughtful ThursdayLife of Joy

Here in OK the schools begin their new year in about mid-August. This was always very odd for me because when I was young school never started until AFTER Labor Day. The first couple of years that we lived here, it caught me off guard when they got out of school about the middle of MAY! That was a bit frustrating to me because they were already out of school and we homeschoolers were still plugging away. I quickly realized my error and did some schedule shifting the next year.

Because the new school year starts in August, July is school supplies month. I love school supplies. It reminds me of the line from You’ve Got Mail when he says he’d send her a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if he knew her name and address. Of course, I’d send sharpened colored pencils since they’d be prettier.

At any rate, now is the time to watch the sales and stock up on pencils, pens, paper, glue, and pocket portfolios. Years ago I got such a good deal on spiral notebooks, I think they were just 17¢ each, that I’m still working through my stockpile of them. But I need to go through my stash and see if there is anything I do need to purchase.

I bought some tracing paper today. Sadly, it was NOT on sale and there was only one brand. It wasn’t even in the school supplies aisle but in the coloring craft aisle. I even asked an employee working in the area if they had any and she didn’t know of any at all. I need it for working on some lettering styles. I supposed to place the tracing paper over the page in my book and practice that way because I can then see through the paper and work on forming my letters.

Some of the items I stock up on are the yellowish-orange disposable mechanical pencils, papermate colored pens, paper of different types, notebooks, tape, and glue. I used to stock up on index cards and sticky notes and sticky flags. But I use my bullet journal for that now. What do you stock up on?

Of course, looking over any new curricula you intend to use is a vital step in preparation. Sometimes they suggest using specific office type supplies. Be sure to take a look at those recommendations now while things are on sale and save yourself some money.

You might also think about what you can do to celebrate your first day back at “school.” (I’ll share some ideas in the coming weeks for first day ideas.) Will you jump in all subjects right away or ease back in slowly, one subject at a time?

Well, keep your eyes peeled for those wonderful deals.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Splat!

July 11, 2018Wonder Wednesday, ZentangleLife of Joy

I hope Laura Harms, the CZTDiva challenge gal, is doing better. I miss her challenges though. In her absence I’ve had to come up with my own ideas for what to draw. This week I checked out the Square One: Purely Zentangle focus tangle and was pleased that it was a tangle I had seen before and forgot I wanted to try my hand at.

I first saw Tangleflake by Suzanne Davis at the Tulsa Zentangle Group led by Pam Neumann. One of the other participants showed it to me and I loved it. It adds a lot of contrast to a tile. Here’s a video for it as well.

I didn’t think I’d want to do more than one tangleflake on my tile this go ’round and remembered Lily Moon’s tangle Caracole (video here). It is easy to do and produces good results generally. Although this time around it got really big, really quickly! But it turned out okay.

Tangleflake kind of has the shading built into it, so I completely forgot to take a preshaded scan. So here is my finished tile that I’m calling Splat! because tangleflake looks like something was spilt on it.

Here it is a bit smaller, which shows fewer imperfections.

And here is a photo I took of it because tiles just seem to look better photographed. Although I still scan them too for a project I’m working on.

I could have done some tangling in the large sections of caracole but really wanted to keep it clean and uncluttered.

I struggled with the white spots on Tangleflake, as it seemed to me that her ‘her light source’ was in the upper right corner but then when she did the drop shadow she did it on the same side, which seemed to me that it should have been on the opposite side. I tried to keep the light in the upper right corner but not sure I was successful. I will attempt tangleflake again in the future and do a bit more defined shadow for the extra orbs next time.

Oh! and watching Lily’s video of Caracole, I see that I should have kept my initial ‘points’ closer to the same height but that’s what I get for not paying attention to the stepout when I tangled. It was fun anyway. I think it could be a good candidate for some watercolor.

Well, I’ll run for now. Have a great day!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Breakfast THM-S Round-Up (not egg focused)

July 10, 2018Breakfasts, Tasty TuesdayLife of Joy

There are some people that either don’t like eggs or can’t eat eggs, which makes having a THM-S (healthy fats) for breakfast a bit more difficult, at least at first look. So, I thought I’d round up some of those yummy S breakfast ideas.

We like to cook up some sausage with onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Sometimes we add some egg but this is not necessary. You can also add other non-starchy veggies like zucchini, spinach, or even radish.
We love pancakes and make them many different ways for all fuel types. Now these usually have eggs or egg whites.
We also love Baked Bacon!!! Yum Yum! This can be enjoyed all by itself or you can add a muffin (remember to keep it a THM-S muffin, so you don’t have a crossover, unless that is what you are needing to have). You could also do turkey bacon, it just isn’t as yummy.

From the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook there are:

Single Serve Recipes-

bring on da buttah pancakes pg 262
welcome back waffles pg 263
chocolate waffles with strawberries pg 265
french toast in a bowl pg 266
many muffin pg 275-279

Multi-Serve Recipes-

DONUTS pg 268-260
various muffins

From Trim Healthy Table there are:

Single Serve-

chocolate chip pancakes pg 341*
cinnamon sugar toast (special bread) pg 358
wwbb french toast pg 360

Family Serve-

no-bake breakfast cheesecakes pg 334
blender freezer waffles pg 336
cinnamon pecan baked pancakes pg 338*
sausage and cheese breakfast biscuits pg 360
various muffins and cakes
cinnamon butter bundt cake pg 380*
cini-minis pg 436
beauty blend cereal pg 509
can-do cereal pg 347
pint jar chia pg 352
cream of treat hot porridge pg 353

*favorite meals

If you can do it, there are a number of shakes that you could drink for breakfast. We are not ones that like to drink our breakfast.

I also LOVE leftovers, so any S dinner you had can be eaten for an S breakfast the next morning.

If you like yogurt, some Greek yogurt with some nuts, berries, and such would be good. If you need to be cautious about dairy, try no gurt (Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook pg 342-343)

If you like(d) to eat protein bars for breakfast, you could try:

Trim Healthy Table-

happy bites pg 427
chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars pg 429 (be sure to add some collagen to your coffee or tea for the extra protein you need)
chocolate berry boost bars pg 431

I hope this gives you enough ideas to give you some help with having nice healthy fats for breakfast.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Feeding My Man

July 9, 2018Marriage MondayLife of Joy

When our children were young Michael and I arranged a way for me to know when he was headed home since it varied daily being self-employed. When he texted that he was on his way, we stopped what we were doing and the kids tidied up while I began making dinner. He is always ready to eat when he arrives.

Years later when Brian went to Central Tech, he got home after Michael; it continued when Sean went there and then on into them getting jobs other than working with Michael. This threw a wrinkle in our eating schedule but because we have always eaten together as a family, at the dinner table, we changed our dinner time and I generally try to have it ready to put on the table when the last one arrives.

Recently when Michael arrives home a couple hours before Sean does, he is still ready to eat something and I’ve tried to have some kind of snack or snack suggestion ready for him. Some days Tiffany and I have just had our afternoon snack and will make him a portion as well. Some days I make him a shake, cut some fruit, or suggest something else.

In the early years, Michael didn’t really have breakfast except for coffee and maybe cereal or some kind of bread, toasted. Lunches he’d just grab quickly at some convenience store or fast food place. When we decided we needed to tighten up on our spending, I began making him breakfast at home and lunches to go. This saved on our budget and was way more nutritious for him. Today I make him breakfast, generally eggs of some kind, and pack him a lunch. I also try to include at least one snack for him to eat between lunch and heading home.

These things don’t take much time, saves us money, and let’s me love on him a bit.

If your hubby comes home hungry, I encourage you to plan ahead and have dinner ready when he gets home. On the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle of eating, that means that sometimes I have to have a fuel pull snack in the afternoon so that it won’t hinder my weight loss efforts if dinner is closer to snack time than 3 hours needed between meals.

I hope this post has given you some food for thought on considering your husband’s eating schedule.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Long Time Friends and the Science Museum Oklahoma

July 6, 2018Finally FridayLife of Joy

Michael and I have been friends with one couple since before we even got married. We can go for years without being together but then when we do get together once again, we just click and never have an awkward moment.

We were blessed to have them come for a visit this week. You see, they live have the country away so we don’t get to see each other very often.

In order to make this feel like a vacation for us as well, we decided to go to Oklahoma City for a couple days. Tiffany really wanted to swim too. We decided to go for a couple of days. The first day we went to the Science Museum Oklahoma. Even though it is geared for children we had fun. Plus it was a hundred degrees outside!!! Yep, the air conditioning was a welcome relief.

Michael and Paul did the arch activity.

Yeah, they figured out their mistake and started again.

We worked together to lift the block by the handle and place it on the stand and then moved it back to the ground.

We all enjoyed the mirror maze.

We also had fun with the blue screen. Stephanie’s shirt was blue so it became invisible on the screen.

I do have to say though that the main reason I wanted to go to the Science Museum Oklahoma was to see the planetarium. I hadn’t been to a planetarium since my college days. I was so looking forward to it . . . I love the stars.

As Tiffany put it, it was underwhelming. The speaker only pointed out about three constellations. Well to be truthful, he pointed out Cassiopeia by only circling the area, not connecting the individual stars. He did even less with the Big and Little Dippers and threw up pictures of big and little bears but not showing which stars or how they were connected. Then he went on to show Saturn and Pluto and three galaxies.

Considering the show was called, Tonight’s Sky, it would have been sooooo much better if he had actually shown the constellations visible that night in the area. And if he wanted to show planets, it would have been better if he would have shown the planets that were visible in the sky that night. Oh well, now I know. Maybe the Tulsa planetarium is better.

Well, I’ll share more next week.

Until then, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Praying for Your Children

July 5, 2018Thoughtful ThursdayLife of Joy

I think one of the best prayers you can pray for your children is that God would give them the friends HE wants them to have. I prayed this for my children and it seems that God was even more selective than I was.

Tiffany and I have joked about her being invisible in the past. To some extent it seems she still is. I think it was a protection of sorts so that she didn’t get caught up with the wrong kids. Of course, it was not easy for her. I tried a number of things to help her make connections with others–homeschool gatherings, church gatherings, youth specific activities– but in the end, she was pretty lonesome. I did my best to make up for the lack of friends her own age and today we are the best of friends, for which I am exceedingly grateful.

She has turned this around in her life today. She’s a mature young lady that goes out of her introverted comfort zone and seeks out others at church. Through it all, she has found she is much more comfortable talking with older people than with people her own age. So many of the older ladies just love her and remark over how sweet she is.

I guess my point is that she turned a difficult time, a time where she was really “invisible,” into something good. She now seeks out others who seem to be alone and talks to them, making them a bit less invisible too.

I was reminded of the whole invisibility thing when I saw this article posted by someone on facebook. It contained an interesting and a bit familiar story. I felt it was worth reading.

I hope that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you will remember to treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

New Art Supplies

July 4, 2018Wonder WednesdayLife of Joy

I’ve seen some really beautiful Zentangle tiles done in the last year that had some color added by Zen Linea on facebook. She uses some watercolor pencils to add the color. Thus I got the itch to try my hand at it too. The problem was that I didn’t have any.

I decided to go looking at either Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. Both have a weekly coupon, which is nice. Well I hit the jackpot.

I got some Faber Castell watercolor pencils for just $3.24 on clearance at Hobby Lobby! The regular price on them was $14.99. Awesome!!!

I used them on my tile last week and really liked them. But there’s a learning curve to using them in Zentangles (well, I guess it would technically be called a ZIA), at least there is for me.

I also got some metallic colored pencils. They were just $1.74 down from $6.99. The pearlescent watercolors were marked down from $4.99 to just $1.24. I used them to add a touch of sparkle to my tile last week.

Also in the Hobby Lobby loot was a package of planning stickers. These are like a nice heavy weight cardstock and were on clearance from $5.99 to $1.49. (I really don’t like ending sentences with a price because then you have a period and a decimal way too close together. ) The stickers are really pretty florals. Tiffany and I each got a set. It’s hard to turn down such good prices.

My big purchase was the watercolor set of 24 colors. It was regular price at $9.99 but I had a coupon and got it for like six or seven dollars. Awesome!

Then we went into Mardel, because it is right next door and we like to peruse their bargain books, where we frequently pick up books for a dollar each. Here’s the few things I picked up there.

One of the reasons I’d gone into Hobby Lobby was to get this Helix, circle maker. I’d seen a video by Dawn that showed how she used this neat little tool. I think it was $5 but . . . you guessed it, I had a coupon on their app and got 30% off.

I’d also been wanting to get some Bible stickers for my bullet journal. I wanted to add it when I write about things in the Bible but I only had a few, very old, ones and hadn’t been able to locate any yet. Well, Tiffany helped me find these in the education section of Mardel. I liked these because they have lots of different colors, so it won’t be boring to see the same sticker all the time. They were about two dollars and change.

The last thing on my spree was the fox squeeze toy. My wrist has been hurting me a bit and Michael said I should get a squeeze ball of some kind. Since this one is adorable and on clearance, I got it.

I had fun getting deals. I hope you enjoyed a look at my new supplies.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Life Of Joy

A Place of Encouragement

Monthly Archives: July 2018

Sweet Potato Fries Salad

Little Things Given and Received

Family and Friends OKC Zoo Day

Preparing For a New School Year

Splat!

Breakfast THM-S Round-Up (not egg focused)

Feeding My Man

Long Time Friends and the Science Museum Oklahoma

Praying for Your Children

New Art Supplies