Super Bowl 50!

Super Bowl Sunday! I love Super Bowl Sundays! And even though I don't have a dog in this race I can still be excited about it because of the commercials and the food! But don't get me wrong, even though I am a Dallas Cowboy fan I do have a puppy in this race...Peyton Manning! I think he's pretty great and I hope that he has a great game today and most importantly I hope he wins!

So the commercials? Those are always fun. I remember many, many years ago when the movie The Exorcist came out. The hype for that movie was just crazy! It was supposed to be the scariest movie ever! So I went into the theater with expectations beyond what any movie could deliver and I was disappointed. I kept waiting for my heart to stop with fear and it just didn't happen.

My All-Time Favorite - Budweiser Frogs!

I think the same thing has happened to the Super Bowl commercials. When they first started doing outrageous commercials it was AMAZING! Something to talk about with friends and family for days! "Did you see when..." or "My favorite one was..."! But it's hard to keep the momentum going year after year and to keep topping the previous year.

But I still always enjoy them and look forward to them and give props to the marketing and promotion people that have to keep coming up with them!

I hear tell that Lady Gaga will be singing the National Anthem. Good, I know she will do a good job but I'm glad she's not the half time show, I am not a fan of Lady Gaga!

But the food...the food is probably my favorite part of the Super Bowl! We did our shopping for snacks and yummies yesterday. I myself will stick to my low carb/high fat (WOE) Way of Eating.

My son requested Dorito Chicken Casserole from The Blog Chef. I don't make this often because I'm sure the sodium level is sky high, but it is a special day and a special request, so getting ready to make this in a few minutes. (It is super delicous!)

Photo Credit - The Blog Chef

Luckily my daughter requested something that is actually low carb/high fat which I can eat. She wanted Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs. She will eat hers with a hot dog bun, but of course I will just omit the bun and it will be perfect for my WOE. Not the prettiest picture I've ever taken though!

I'm also planning some Jalapeno Poppers.

Some Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.

And something new that has been popping up on all the boards of the low carb groups I follow on Facebook....sugar free, zero carb gummies! I love gummy bears, worms, sweet gummies, sour gummies, all matter of gummies! I'm so happy to have found a recipe that works so I can have these little bits of deliciousness again!

I made these yesterday. The first batch I made I used an icecube tray that makes those mini little round cubes. They turned out great! And they taste so yummy! They are made with sugar-free Jell-o so they taste just like Jello!

After making these I decided I wanted to make some pretty ones in special molds for Super Bowl. I couldn't find any football molds at Michaels but I did find some seashell, flower and star molds.

Aren't they lovely? I can't wait to buy other flavors/colors of Sugar-Free Jell-o! They are so easy too!

1 - 3 ounce box of Sugar-Free Jell-0
1 Box Knox Gelatin - 4 pack
1/2 cup of cold water

Mix and mix and mix that all together, then I microwaved it for about 20 seconds and mixed and mixed some more then poured into molds and put in the fridge for about 20 minutes and they popped right out (after a little urging) of the molds!

Everyone in my low carb group on Facebook has been buying this Gummy Candy Maker, which is pretty cool and you can buy it on Amazon, but it is $28.66 plus shipping and just another gadget I have to find a place to store in my kitchen. So I think I will just continue making them the way I did it.

Amazon.com - Gummy Candy Maker

So that's it. I'm off to finish getting snacks and food ready and watch pre-game stuff with the talking heads. Happy Super Bowl and here's to Peyton Manning winning Super Bowl 50!


 

Good Deeds - Do you keep them to yourself or tell others?

I've always followed this bible verse when it comes to doing good deeds...

Pretty simple right? Don't sing your own praises. Don't look for your reward for your good deeds right now and here on earth, wait and your reward will come from your Father in Heaven.

But, the other day I saw a post on Facebook of a man, Bear Taliferro Jr., who was in a Wal-mart paying and he heard a woman in the next checkout line, telling her daughter that they couldn't afford to eat that night. More on that story and the photo posted HERE. He told the mother to grab what she wanted and he would pay for it.

He posted a picture of himself with the mother and child in the background. He earned much praise for being a good man even though he said he didn't post the picture to get "likes" on his post but to say, "GOD puts you where he needs you to be WHEN he needs you to be there."

Many people criticized him for various reasons such as posting a picture of the woman and child and including himself in the picture and some for what the bible verse above says, for singing his own praises for his good deed. Yet he did it to bring awareness to us all that we are where we are for a reason, try to find something good in being there.

I at times do good deeds, small things, things that just happen, times that I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I always kept it to myself because of the bible verse above.

However, Bear's message has given me thought. Should good deeds be kept to yourself or shared with others to inspire others to also do good deeds? Or shared with others to bring attention to certain causes?

It's something that I will have to ponder and I'm interested in knowing what you think?

 

The Smart One vs. The Instigator

Ya'll know how I've been following my new Way of Eating (WOE) faithfully right?

I've been eating low carb/high fat since July 7, 2015 and I've lost 28 pounds and dropped three dress sizes...YAY me!

It's not been easy but I can be my own best Dominatrix when I want to be!

The reason it's not always easy is that there are two parts to me when it comes to food. The Smart One and The Instigator. Let me give you an example of how these two parts of me work.

I love Cashews! Love, love, love them! And while they are not the lowest carb of the various nuts out there, they are still not terribly high in carbs and they have very healthy fats, not to mention that they are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are naturally cholesterol free and help to reduce blood pressure. They protect against cataracts and can help to prevent diabetes.

So the dominatrix in me allows me to have them once in a while. I usually buy those small 1.5 ounce bags and I know that buying them in bulk in larger cans would be cheaper, but I also know that if I have a can of cashews I will eat that whole can in one evening watching TV. You know the old Lay's Potato Chip commercial that said, "bet you can't eat just one"? Well I can't eat just one cashew, or even a handful...nope I have to devour the whole thing! And I know this about myself.

 The other day, I was stopped at a red light on a corner near my office and I spy a CVS Store across the street. CVS sells these cans of the jumbo cashews, like the ones in the picture above. They are so delicious! Meaty and crunchy and so buttery tasting...Yum!

So I think to myself, I'm going to stop and buy a can so I have something to snack on while I watch American Idol. That's when Smart One steps in and says, "Girl! You can't be buying a whole can of Cashews, you know you're going to eat them all in one sitting!"

Then the instigator comes in and says, "Don't listen to her, you can do it. Just stop, buy the can, eat 7 or 8 on the drive home and then when you're watching American Idol count out 8 more and put the can away and just do this until you finish the can."

Smart One pipes up again saying, "No, you know that you have the best intentions, but you can't do it. You can't just stop! Cashews are your kryptonite! Just drive on little lady, just drive on!"

Instigator chimes in, "But if you don't have any cashews, what are you going to snack on? You might be tempted to eat something you shouldn't just because you listened to Smart One and didn't stop to buy cashews!"

So Smart One again says, "Remember last time? Remember how you ate that whole can watching football? Remember how it upset your tummy and you swore that you would never buy a whole can of cashews again? Remember? Do you remember that?

And I remembered, and the light turned green and I headed home and didn't buy the cashews, because after all that is why the Smart One is the Smart One!

           

Conquering my Fears

This Saturday I conquered a fear that I have had for several years. It's a weird one, so brace yourself...my fear of escalators!

You didn't know about my fear of escalators? Well it exists and actually it's more a fear of the down escalator...I can handle the up one. I even invented a whole beautiful story about Princess Sciatica and her Castle of Escalators, you can read that HERE, pretty cute story even if I do say so myself!

See, I am Princess Sciatica and several years ago I got Sciatica pretty bad! I have to say that it's the worse pain I have ever been in. Sciatica is a pain that affects the back, hip and outer side of the leg and is caused by a compression of a spinal nerve root in the lower back. Sciatica causes the affected leg (in me it's my left leg) to feel numb and weak. It was this weakness in my left leg that scared me when it came to taking the down escalator. I just felt that it would give way and I would tumble down the escalator to my death!

Well this Saturday I returned to the scene of the crime...the Macy's Story in the Mall. Once again we had to travel beyond the first floor. Using the up escalator was no problem and I knew that there was an elevator and a service elevator so I wouldn't be trapped. We shopped and tried on dresses and then it was time to head down and we started towards the elevators, passing right by the down escalator.

I don't know what hit me, but all of a sudden I knew that I could do it! I knew that I could kick the down escalators butt! So I told Lisa I would meet her and mom down stairs and then I just did it! Lisa stood there staring at me in amazement and I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her...like a BOSS! I was so proud of myself!

I know that the reason I was able to do it is that I have been exercising and I can feel that I've strengthened my left leg (my right too but that one wasn't the problem). I've strengthened my core and my sense of balance as well and that all made it possible for me to go down the down escalator!

Today I was emailing back and forth with my sister when she mentioned how I had conquered my fear of the down escalator and it made me think of other fears I have. I don't like to have fears. I could only thing of three things:

1. The Down Escalator ...Conquered!

2. Eating Alone in a Restaurant

3. Driving on the Coronado Bridge in San Diego

I've always hated to eat alone, but I think with the love that we Americans have with our cell phones that no one would even notice if I were alone in a restaurant. In fact most of them would probably be alone themselves and on their phones! So that's an easy one conquer...but the Coronado Bridge?

Have you seen the Coronado Bridge?

Yeah, that is something that just scares me to death. I just know that the second I drive on to that bridge I am going to get vertigo and drive right off to my death! Just like I knew that Sciatica was going to make me fall all the way down the down escalator to my death!

But no matter how strong my core gets, or my legs or whatever...I know that I can't drive on that bridge and it kills me because like I said before, I hate to fear anything! I don't want to be a sissy-la-la that can't even drive on a little old bridge.

But maybe I'll try eating alone before I tackle the Coronado Bridge...don't you think?

What fears do you have? What fears have you overcome? What fears do you know are your "Coronado Bridge"?