Thanksgiving......

As the time nears for my family to arrive for dinner, I cannot help but think of what I am thankful for this year.

1. My family
2. My health
3. My dogs
4. My job
5. My home
6. My friends

We must remember no matter how bad things are in our life, someone....somewhere...has it worse than we do. Pray for those less fortunate than you are. Be grateful for what you have.

Tanya

Apple Cinnamon Protein Cake

Made this recipe I obtained from Eggface's blog tonight. Another yummy find!

This time, I put it in a 3 cup glass baking dish before I microwaved it. I had to microwave it for 4 mins to get the center done.

Here's the recipe:

Shelly's 5 Minute Sugar Free Apple Cinnamon Cake

1 Egg, beaten

3 Tablespoons Milk

2 Tablespoons Sugar Free Torani Syrup (I used SF Caramel)

2 Tablespoons No Sugar Added Applesauce

2 Tablespoons Canola Oil

3 Tablespoons Multigrain Pancake Mix

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Pecans, chopped

1 Tablespoon Raisins

1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Pinch salt

1 Measuring Cup or Microwave Safe Mug

In a measuring cup or microwave safe mug, Mix egg, milk, syrup, applesauce and oil and combine thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix pancake mix, cinnamon, nuts, raisins, protein powder and salt. Tip dry into wet and stir till combined. Nuke in microwave for 2 minutes. Let it sit for three or so minutes (it pulls away from the sides) before tipping the cake onto a plate. Yields 4-5 slices.

I topped it with Land O Lakes Sugar Free Whipped Cream, a drizzle of Smuckers Sugar Free Caramel Sauce and some chopped nuts.

You can catch this and other recipes on Eggface's blog at:

http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

Banana Caramel Nut Protein Cake

Okay, hats off to eggface again! I made this recipe I obtained from her blog today and it is YUMMY! You really MUST try it!

Shelly's 5 Minute Sugar Free Banana Caramel Nut Cake

1 Egg, beaten

3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar Free Torani Syrup (I used SF Caramel)

2 Tablespoons Banana, mashed

2 Tablespoons Canola Oil

3 Tablespoons Multigrain Pancake Mix (I used whole wheat)

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Tablespoon Pecans, chopped

1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Pinch salt

1 Measuring Cup or Microwave Safe Mug

In a measuring cup or microwave safe mug, Mix egg, milk, syrup, banana and oil and combine thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix pancake mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts, protein powder and salt. Tip dry into wet and stir till combined.

Nuke in microwave for 2 minutes*. Let it sit for three or so minutes (it pulls away from the sides) before tipping the cake onto a plate. Yields 4-5 slices.*Microwave wattage varies. Mine takes 2 minutes but start with 2 minutes and add 20 second increments if needed till no liquid is seen.

For a dessert I topped the cake with Land o Lakes Sugar Free Whipped Cream, Smucker's Sugar Free Caramel Sauce, sliced Banana and a sprinkle of chopped Pecans. Slices of this are great toasted for breakfast too. It's a total banana nut muffin fix.

OMG....This is soooo good! Thanks eggface!

You can catch her blog recipes at:
http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

Myrtle Beach.....Day 5

Well, today was a relaxin' day. My 2 friends went for some shopping at the outlets on 501 and I hung around the hotel. I did go out for some dunkin donuts coffee and to get Kali a souvenir. Then I came back, took myself out to the beach and lounged in the sun. I painted my toenails, listened to my MP3 player.....and chilled! It was soooo nice. Lookin' at the waves makes me wish I could do this 365 days a year. I took a small walk and took some random pics. There was a seagull family nearby with 3 baby seagulls. They were soooo cute!


We ended the night at the "Sea Captain" restaurant down on 30th avenue. I had a bowl of she-crab soup....which was AWESOME! I had 2 bites of scallops and oysters and I was full. It was all good. I loved the soup so much I ordered a bowl to go. If you ever want a good seafood restaurant to eat at in MB, eat here! It's right on the water.

After dinner, we decided to head back over to broadway at the beach so my friends could go back in shops they wanted to pick up a few things at. Kathy spent forever in the Cat shop and still didn't get what she really wanted. I managed to find a starbucks...YUM and get some pics of the lit up Christmas tree. Very pretty I might ad! I sure will miss MB when I leave tomorrow....to go back to the read world.

Myrtle Beach....Day 4

Us girls had a discussion today as to why it is we always have problems when we go out together. We have come to the conclusion it is because our expectations are too high. We are professionals and we expect everyone else to act as professionals and when they don't, it ticks us off. Then we have to show ourselves. We are going to get shirts that say "High Expectations" on it to wear when we're together.

With that said, we spent the day shopping at the outlets in North Myrtle Beach and Barefoot Landing. We stopped by McDonalds across from Barefoot Landing to get some sweet tea and went thru the drive thru. When I placed my order, the girl said "pull around to the next window." Well, at the next window, there was no one there. I sat there a few mins and pulled up to the next window. A few mins later, she comes over. I gave her my money and asked her "Did you tell me to pull to the next window?" She just looks at me. I said "Oh, excuse me...did you hear me?" She said "Yes I heard you. I told you to pull around to this window." I just looked at her. All I can say is.....HIGH EXPECTATIONS.

Here's a pic I took today when the sun was going down....

Now this is Pecan PIE!

We spent the day in Charleston, SC. It was a beautiful old historic town! We did a tour of Boone Hall Plantation. It was absolutely gorgeous. It has been in several movies.....latest one was "The Notebook." I can't wait to get home and watch it.

We then went into Charleston and of course we had to visit Margaritaville. While we are in there, we overhear the staff talking about Jimmy Buffet being there yesterday. Said he rode his bicycle up, came in and signed some autographs. I'm always a day late and a dollar short. We ate lunch at Bubba Gumps and it was AWESOME! I had the stuffed shrimp.....YUM! The service was also excellent!
The rain ran us off about 4pm and we headed back to our hotel. We stopped on the way back at the Boone Hall Store on Rte 17N and did a little shoppig. I spotted the cake/pie counter. OH MY GOD. Those cakes and pies looked delicious! I had to have a piece of the pecan pie. The pecans are grown right here in S.C. at the Boone Plantation. Have you ever seen a piece of pecan pie that was this thick? I had a few bites and shared with my friends and it was to DIE FOR!

No problems having to lay anyone out today.....thank GOD!

Tanya

Myrtle Beach.....Day 2

Well, I warned ya. Something always happens to us girls. I ended up with a 24 hr GI bug and was up in the bathroom all night. (It has worked its way thru my entire family now....hubby called tonight and he has it.) When I finally got up at noon today, we headed out for some lunch at Margaritaville....at Broadway at the Beach....and a little shopping.

Our waiter came over to take our order and my friend Andrea ordered first. Right after she said her order, he turns around and starts talking to the girl who brought out the food to the table behind us. I just looked at my friend like "WTF???" I thought that was very rude. Then I gave my order and my other friend gave hers. Well, 2 of our dishes come out and my friend who ordered first looks at us and goes "I wonder where my food is?" The waiter comes back by and we ask where her food is and he goes "Oh I'm sorry....did you order something?" We just looked at each other. He goes to get her order and we are very irritated. Then my other friend asks him for some ranch dressing and he just looks at her. He doesn't acknowledge that he heard her or anything. A few mins later, he brings the ranch dressing. I then ask for some and he does me the same way.....

So, I'm very agitated now and I ask for the manager. I let her have an ear full and she gives my friend her shrimp for free and gives me and my other friend a discount on our meal. Needless to say, he did NOT get a tip!

Every year when we go somewhere, we have restaurant issues! I don't get it.

Tanya

Myrtle Beach.....Day 1

My 2 friends and I are at Myrtle Beach for a week....it's our yearly "girl" trip. We went to Liberty Steakhouse for our first night's dinner. It's at broadway at the beach. At the table across from us, a guy passes out. His 2 friends jump up and check him out. Come to find out, one of the guys with him is a neuro surgeon. The other one is a nurse. While he is lying on the floor, I look at my friend (who's also an ER nurse) and say "you gonna go over?" She's eating her seafood pasta and looks at me and says "I'm on vacation." She then looks at the men with him and asks "does he have a pulse?" They say "Yes".....and she continues to eat.

Now, you have to know my friend to understand she's a trip. She would have gotten up had she needed to. I, on the other hand, was deeply disturbed that this man was lying out on the floor. Luckily, his friends stated that he had a pulse.....so we continued to watch and see what was going on. 911 was called and the guy passed out again while he was waiting on them. Turns out, he was diabetic. I lost my appetite and continued to watch this pitiful, pale man. You could look at them and tell they had been out golfing all day.

The point to my story is.....every year us girls go somewhere, something happens. We either end up in fights with waiters/waitresses at restaurants....or people fall out.

The story continues.....tomorrow.

Tanya

Field of.....CORN!

I went with my daughter Kali on her girlscout's field trip yesterday to a corn maize. How interesting.....I had never been to one. It was actually fun. We were given 10 questions to answer and depending on our answer, we either went left or right. Needless to say, we ran in circles a few times....but we eventually answered all 10 and found our way out. If you ever get the chance to go to a corn maize, you should try it!

This is a pic of the maze from the air.

Turkey Day....AT MY HOUSE!

Okay, have I bumped my head? I just announced I will be cooking at my house on Turkey Day. I must be crazy.
I called my dad to tell him the news......he goes "Who's gonna be cooking?" Ha! Very funny dad! "I'll be cooking!" Heck, he might not come now. I mean, I can cook.....if I have to. I plan on getting a sliced ham from "Heavenly ham" and have everyone bring a side dish. Should be a nice day....with the family. Gotta get polished up on some good recipes.....better start searching the net now....any suggestions? I need healthy recipes guys!

Tanya

Butt therapy....and BIOFREEZE!

A few weeks ago I had a workers comp injury. It involved a drunk 18yr old college student and me jerking the sheet that was under him to prevent him from aspirating on his vomit. Anywho.....I reported it to employee health like a good little nurse......and played it off thinking the back pain would go away.....it was probably a pulled muscle....etc, etc. Well, the pain STILL hasn't gone away.....thanks drunk college student!

I went to have it checked out last week and I was set up for a PT eval. I had that eval today. The therapist used some kind of warmed ultrasound machine on my back....which was heaven.....and then she put some Biofreeze on it. THAT STUFF IS THE BOMB! It has a numbing/tingling effect. I didn't even know I had a back until it wore off! It worked so well, I drove to Wyndhurst (10 miles away) to purchase a 4oz tube of it for $10. (The PT office did not sell it.) I had my husband rub some on my back a few mins ago before he went to bed and I'm in heaven again. I have found some on ebay.....a 32oz pump bottle for $40 (includes S&H). I don't know who invented this stuff but it really works.

As for the butt therapy.....well, the pain is going into my right butt cheek. So, the therapist pounded away on my lower back and my butt. Let's just say, it was VERY uncomfortable.....until she did the heat and biofreeze.

Let's just hope this pulled muscle/ligament heals soon!

As for the 18yr old drunk college student.....he has NO idea what I'm going through because I was trying to protect his airway and keep him from possibly becoming brain dead. And we are hardly EVER thanked for what we do..... The ER, gotta love it.

Tanya

Starbucks for RNY'ers

Okay, this post was copied from Obesityhelp.com a few months ago. For those of you who love Starbucks like I do, here's a list of RNY "friendlier" drinks.

Sugarfree Caramel/Hazelnut/Vanilla Frappucino Creme light
Sugarfree Hazelnut Frappucino light
Sugarfree Vanilla Frapucino light
Sugarfree Caramel Frappucino light
Espresso Frappucino light
Coffee Frappucino Light
Black Coffee (who wants this stuff when the others are available????)
Iced Coffee unsweetened
Iced Nonfat Coffee Con Leche unsweetened
Iced Soy Coffee Con Leche uwsweetened
Iced Green Tea unsweetened
Iced Black Tea unsweetened
Iced Passion Tea unsweetened
Iced/Hot Americano
Iced/Hot sugarfree caramel soy latte
Iced/Hot sugarfree caramel nonfat latte
Iced/Hot sugarfree vanilla soy latte
Iced/Hot sugarfree vanilla nonfat latte
Iced/Hot sugarfree hazelnut nonfat latte
Iced/Hot sugarfree hazelnut soy latte
Iced/Hot nonfat latte
Iced/Hot soy latte

Enjoy folks!

History.....is made!

It's 11:08pm here in Virginia and I just turned the news on. It seems that Obama is the new President of the United States. History.....was just made folks. The first black president. I'm not saying who I voted for. Let's just say.....I hope Obama can turn things around for this economy. I hope he can be the one who stands up and does what he said he would do. What a wonderful country we live in that we can choose who we want to lead us. We have been given a wonderful ability.....I hope everyone took advantage of that right today....If not, you have no one to blame but yourself!

Tanya

Egg Nog Protein Drink

Here's a protein drink for the upcoming holidays.....

Egg Nog Protein Drink

2 oz Egg Nog SF DaVinci syrup
1 oz (2Tbsp) FF Half & Half
1/2 cup Ice Cubes - 3 or 4 "ice maker" cubes
1 oz water
1 scoop vanilla protein powder. I use Whey gourmet Vanilla purchased at walmart.

I mix this in the magic bullet. If you prefer a less thick version, exchange the ice for an additional 1/4 cup water and let stand after mixing to let the foam settle.

Enjoy!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Here's one of the first recipes I wore out after my RNY. It's high in protein and tastes great!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp flour

Mix all in blender or magic bullet. (I purchased a magic bullet. It's WELL worth the money!) Cook in frying pan using non stick spray. Cover with sugar free syrup. I add cinnamon as well.

Makes about 4 small pancakes. (I can only eat 2.) 21g protein total.

I voted!

They say this year is gonna be a record voter turnout. Okay.....tell us what you want America. Who do you think will change the way things are going and help us get back on track?

Me.....I voted for Jimmy Buffett. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!!!!!!! :)

If you like Starbucks, head on over there and tell them you voted....they'll give you a free cup of coffee! Check out the video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2J8KJDsqqY

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Ice Cream......

Okay. I'm officially in love with my ice cream maker. Oh, and eggface! I wonder if she'll come cook for me the rest of my/her life???? :)
I made the peanut butter cup protein ice cream tonight and I love this even more than the pistachio!!!!! It's WONDERFUL! My most 2 favorite things in the world....chocolate and peanut butter. I see a long and prosperous relationship between me and my ice cream maker.
For the recipe, I must give ALL props to eggface. Here's a link to her blog with the recipe.
http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2008/07/it-should-be-illegal.html

Thanks eggface, you're awesome!

Tanya

Pistachio Protein Ice Cream

Okay....I must rave about my new toy. I purchased a 1 1/2 qt ice cream maker on amazon.com and it arrived on halloween! I did this to make protein ice cream.....protein ice cream that I have been drooling over on eggface's page. For those of you who are wondering who "eggface" is, check out her blog....you WONT be sorry! She is awesome! http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-my-way-to-la.html

I tried the pistachio ice cream first since that was simple to make.....OH MY GOD! It's awesome! And full of protein! My hubby even likes it! Here's the link to all of the protein ice cream recipes that is posted by eggface. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2008/08/protein-ice-cream.html


So if you're RNY post op, and like ice cream.....all is not lost for you. You can enjoy ice cream again....and the healthy kind!

Tanya

Unruly kids.....

This is why I have no tolerance for kids.....

I was in Wally World earlier and it was WILD! Then I realized it was the first of the month and checks came out! But this is the killer.....Wild Kids were running around everywhere! GET YOUR KIDS UNDER CONTROL PEOPLE! Don't let them run around like idiots. Those of us who have NO tolerance for kids can't stand it! I had a kid lean over and smack me with a piece of paper.....from his cart! I just looked at the dad.....WTH? Then a kid across the way ran into the back of this guy's foot. Why are you letting your kids push a cart? The look on the man's face was priceless. I thought he was going to choke the crap outta the kid.

I probably would have helped him......