Category: My Family

Without a family, one seldom thinks long term

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shhhh Jenny Craig Secrets revealed

Jenny Craig Meals
All this in one day on Jenny Craig and I still lose weight!

Laura and I went on Jenny Craig roughly 5 years ago. It took us about 7 or 8 months to lose around 85 lbs each and although my weight has been a little variable, Laura has stayed remarkably constant. The secret has been to use Jenny’s Maintenance Program to keep things in check.

It’s hard to believe that eating three meals like those above would actually help you lose weight… but it does for us. There is more food than the picture shows in our daily culinary feasting. First, besides the strawberries, blueberries and an entire banana in our breakfast cereal, we fill up these large bowls with non fat milk. Yes, I don’t measure my milk. Lunch consists of a large salad (cherry tomatoes, hearts of palm, tiny corn and mushrooms when I think of it) covered with Jenny’s Ranch Dressing and dinner is their chicken and beans along with a veggie plate ( sliced Maya onion, garlic cloves, Portabella mushrooms and thin beans). At 3pm, we have a homemade Biscotti (130- 199 calories depending how you make it) with our coffee.

So, let’s just say, we have tried the other programs, chewed on their bland, tasteless food covered in a chalky sauce… you really can’t live on it. Jenny isn’t perfect, but we know when we go on one of our planned extravagances … like the upcoming holidays, we know that Jenny will put us back on track.

When it comes to things that cost money… I want to make sure it works.

Roger

PS. We have cheesecake for dessert… is that over the top?

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when Facebook Censors

Too 'Racey' for Facebook?

There are a lot of reasonable things in the world to censor. I did review what my children were reading when they were young, but they did a good job of picking out what interested them. However, I do get concerned when entities — like Facebook — apparently, accidentally and ‘in error’ censor a political message. Mark Z. can love our President and that is his right, but allowing everyone to speak their mind makes for a good exchange of ideas, and ultimately, a better world. Facebook eventually apologized… but here is what the gutsy Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona wrote on her Facebook site about the issue:

“After I posted the following statement and photo yesterday, Facebook censored the post and removed it because the photo apparently violated their “Facebook Community Standards.” Before it was removed, it had received over 10,000 likes and comments.Regardless, I’m reposting the photo and statement. I think many of you will agree with me – – Obama’s backdoor amnesty plan violates American standards of following the rule of law and the US Constitution.

Please click “like” and share with your friends.

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The Obama administration cannot get its amnesty schemes through Congress, so now it has resorted to implementing its plans via executive fiat. There’s simply no other description for today’s announcement that the federal government will not pursue the deportation of individuals who are in the country illegally but meet certain criteria.

This plan amounts to backdoor amnesty for hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of illegal aliens. Especially disturbing is that it comes in the wake of the Obama administration sanctioning the sale of weapons to Mexican drug cartels – even as border states such as Arizona come under threat from those same illicit organizations. With this announcement, the President is encouraging more illegal immigration at the exact moment we need federal focus on border security.

Just last month in speaking to the National Council of La Raza, President Obama rejected the idea of bypassing Congress and imposing immigration reform. He said, “Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. And believe me, right now dealing with Congress, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting … But that’s not how our system works. That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written.”

President Obama got it right last month and got it really wrong today.

Over the next 15 months, I’m certain we’ll hear a lot of talk from the Obama administration about its concern for border security. Those of us who truly care about the rule of law will remember the President’s actions of today. We need to remind President Obama that we elected a president that serves beneath the law and did not anoint a king that is above the law.

 

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aging prime rib

The perfect 3 week aging of Prime Rib at the Arroyo Grande Meat Company

I have talked about the Arroyo Grande Meat Market before and I have been going there … like, forever!  However, I wanted to start putting aside something rather special for the holidays and I found it in a Prime Rib that they aged for me for 3 weeks.

Although I know my way around a meat counter, I am not quite ready to try my hand at aging beef. It’s kinda like being a Sushi chef preparing   Fugu.  As the Japanese folk song says, “I want to eat fugu, but I don’t want to die!” I guess I could test the results on a few friends… but then, I kinda like them. This is something, for the time being, I am leavng for those who have the experience and equipment to do it right.

HOW to age beef

So, one meal down for the holidays!

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Pecan Pie time!

CLICK on the picture for the recipe! Colonel Beauford really knew how to bake pies! (he kinda looks familiar)

Laura’s birthday is this month and I would really like to make her a Pecan Pie as it is her favorite… but she might have to satisfy herself with a “Birthday Pecan Torte” as we are both struggling removing the last pesky pounds…well, I have a lot  more peskiness than she has to remove.

Which reminds me of an old saying that ” a chef should only taste his work.” It means that a chef  – left to their own devices — will create something uniquely wonderful to their own tastes… and consequently be more likely to eat more of it… and we don’t want to have to use ‘apron extenders’ do we?

Yes, there is a lot of wonderful things in this pie… but you can diet another day!

The Recipe

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a home should be comfortable

a real home makes you feel comfortable right when you walk in!

The above picture comes from one of the Harry Potter movies , it is a scene set in the Weasley’s very eccentric but warm and comfortable home. I  wrote a blog  about how a home should reflect the owners personality — a couple of years ago — and I warned of the evils of  ‘feng shui’  that takes all life from a home and turns it into just a house!

In watching the back story of the movie “UP!”, some of the creative staff were joking about studying old people’s homes for authenticity. This sounded pretty funny until I realized that I sounded pretty much like one of the old people being studied! After thinking about it for a while, I began to understand that there is a difference between how people set up their homes. Some people are always thinking about selling their home ( maybe less today than in prior years) and their home always looks sterile and ‘feng shui.’ Some homes are sloppy, disorganized and the victim of some sort of hording maniac; however, this is not what I am talking about. My favorite home to live in or visit tells me about who lives there …  and something about their lives: it contains family drawings, stories and messages which are hung proudly; coat hooks are everywhere to grab the stray jacket or visitor’s scarf and cap; the kitchen reflects someone who actually knows how to cook with everything within reach; and drapes pulled open to let in nature’s beauty.

Only someone from a large family understands the naturalness of mismatched chairs at the family dining table.

One doesn’t build a masterpiece of hospitality like the Weasley’s home overnight , one creates its warmth over the stretch of a lifetime as we add to it one beautiful piece at a time … as we age, we are just the same, we add experiences, knowledge and love to our lives.