my newest try at eating better

Okay for the past few months I have been really trying to eat better, you know, no more of the "white foods" (sugar, flour, bread, anything white) Well I have been making smoothies everyday. Recently I have been adding different veges to them. I have become very adventuress at adding things I would never have added before. Like cauliflower, cucumber, squash, kale, cabbage and lettuce.

The next one I will be trying is green beans. How brave is that. I haven't become brave enough to add other things yet, but I'm working through that. But I just went to the Clean House yard sale this weekend and the only thing I bought was a book! I sure am excited to get this book. It is "Virgin Coconut Oil" by Brian and Marianita Shilhavy. I was very surprised that I had never heard of this book before, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was already doing most of what this book said. I have changed my vegetable oil to coconut oil now. I still use olive oil too. Has anyone read this book and found it to be beneficial for an ailment? I'm just curious how others use the coconut oil. Leave me a comment about how you use the oil, I would love to hear from you.

xoxo

ps... I found two new blogs I'm loving... alicias homemaking and happy foody. I found some really good ideas from them.
* * * * * Update* * * * *
I cut back on all my food intake for the past week and since I posted this I have lost 4 pounds. I have been trying to eat only raw foods. Well I still have a bit to go to get back into my size I have worn for the majority of my life! I still have a few lb's to get off these old thighs. But now I think that I can get there and stay that size.

Yard/Tag/Garage Sale Mapping

For quite some time now I have had a cork board with a city map glued to it, then on Friday I would take pushpins and put them in the map where each yard sale was. This made it pretty easy to find all the sales and be able to make a trail of where I wanted to go. It took me about an hour to get all the addresses and then push in the pins, then if a pin fell out I would have to figure out which sale it was. Also this is pretty bulky and cumbersome while driving or if I have someone with me they have to maneuver this board around and worry if they drop the pin box.
For a while now I have been looking online to find some app that I could use to do this a lot faster I found one but it only worked on the Penny Saver ads and there was no way to ad in extra addresses. But while I was on another blog today I think I found the best app ever! It's called Yard Sale Treasure Map.
I was testing it and it seems to work exactly like I would have created it. {if I was that smart} It is linked with your local Craigslist garage sale info {it includes the ad from Craigslist, so you'll know what items you might really want to look for} A super plus is you can add in other addresses from the local newspaper, or you can delete an address you don't want. It will map out your route and then you print it out. How cool is that!!!
There is also a How To @ About.com, so if you get confused or just need extra help go to that link.
This also works when you travel, all you do is put in the address you'll be starting from and it will map the rest. Now I can't wait for Friday to test this!
The next time I have a yard sale and I list it on Craigslist I will be putting the map and the How To links in my ad so that others will be able to use it too.

xoxo

Yo Yo's all around me!

Today I don't know what got into me {maybe it's the free time with NO ONE home today} Yeah!... I started making yo yo's. I have oodles of fabric from the quilt I made for my grand baby and the two other quilts I'm making for my friend who is having a baby {Girl}. So I must be out of my mind to think I have time to make anything else, BUT, I started making yo yo's for a couple of bibs I'll make to go along with the gift. They will at least match. Our local Joann store is having a great sale right now so I might pop over and get the terry cloth to make the bibs with.
Here's my great find for the week....

And now for my crafty and frugal friends, I was at Goodwill last week when they had a half price day and as I was digging through the bags of clothes and other misc items,  I found a bag of fabric. This fabric had the tags on it, they looked like someone had used them to go to different stores to show the new fabric for the next season. They were all fat quarters size or bigger. So after looking through and finding several I could use on the quilts I'm making I decided to get them all. {I ended up using 6 different fabrics from this great find} So up to the register I went and asked the price. The wonderful lady {who I'm sure does not sew} said $5, well I hemmed and hawed and offered her $4 and she said sure! Oh yeah I also got the bag too!

I know the gray looks glossy in the picture but it isn't, it is just a canvas bag, great for grocery shopping. I was so excited to get this deal!
So if there is anyone who sews and uses fat quarters, we all know that they cost at full price $1.99 and on sale $.99 plus tax (7.75%) I got 111 pieces of fabric. so even if I got them all for $.99 I saved $113 easy and if it was full price I would have saved over $200. Best thing is there is no sales tax at Goodwill.

xoxo

Cake Bites are done!

Okay now that the cake bites have frozen really hard, it's time to dip them
With a double boiler (or a pot with a metal pan on top) boil the water and melt your candy/almond bark.
I bought the Wilton's candy melts, available at pretty much any craft/baking store in lots of colors. I got white because I have some food color gels that I was trying to see if we could achieve the right fushia color we need. It didn't come out the right color but I will have to work on that. I used a fork and spatula to dip in and roll around.

At first the candy mix was going on the bites really nice, no drips, no mess, but then when the melted coating got too melted and hot it doesn't stay put on your pop as well, it got  gloppy and grainy. So I learned it's best to let it be a bit cooler. I also read the package and that was what it said. The cake even started to crumble off and go into the candy. Well here are the bad ones...

So the lesson here is to keep the candy at a constant heat and be quick about dipping. I didn't do any decorations.
Here is a site that will amaze you and possibly make you feel bad about yourself, be sure to check out Bakerella's blog.
Let them set up in the fridge.
Okay so as I'm now sitting here eating these watching my thighs expand, I was talking to my friend who wants to have these at her daughters baby shower and we decided to make cupcake pops. This blog makes them look sooooooo easy. I think I might have to practice before the shower! 

xoxo