Pesto Turkey Sandwiches dairy and egg free How to be like others

The other morning, I called out to Son, "Hey, Im packing you some soon tofu stew (??? ??) for your school lunch in your thermos."

Son ran over and hesitated for a moment as I madly put things into boxes.  "Mom.  What do I tell people it is?"

"What do you mean tell people?  Tell them its spicy tofu soup."  With that I assumed the conversation was over.

When he brought home the lunch, all of the soup was gone, and I casually asked, "Did you tell people what you ate?"

"Yes.  They asked.  I told them," he replied.  "But mom, do you think you can pack me some bread with something in it - you know, like a sandwich?  All my friends eat sandwiches."

Suddenly our conversation earlier made sense.  Son realizes he is different.  He notices and others notice that his food is not like the food of his classmates.  We hadnt run into this problem last year because lunch was not a part of his day, but since eating lunch at school, the differences between his food and his mates foods was noticeable.  He already feels set apart from his classmates as he isnt allowed to participate in many of the cooking activities (Friday challah baking for one).

However, packing sandwiches pose a few logistical problems for me.  Son is allergic to dairy and egg which is a staple in most breads.  He loves paninis, which I make with french bread, but french bread doesnt taste good cold on its own to him (must be in a hot panini) and I cannot pack him a hot sandwich.  The school he goes to is also kosher, so ham, bacon or salami, which are things that he enjoys, are not available to him.  I began considering a few options and none of them seemed to be feasible. I began to think that he was going to have to be different and just get used to it.

However, as I strolled through Costco the other day, I happened upon these torta rolls.

Curious I picked them up and squeezed them.  Hmmm.  They were soft.  They looked pretty tasty.  They looked like I could make a good sandwich with them.  I saw this organic (EXPENSIVE) turkey sandwich meat, which tasted good (love sample Friday at Costco) and thought, ah...why not.

I dont know about you, but a sandwich that has just has a slice of turkey in it doesnt sound good.  It actually sounds bad.  But I remembered my new discovery which is pesto with no nuts and cheese and it came to me - a bit of pesto with the turkey on bread would be tasty.

I did a run through this weekend, and VOILA!  Son likes it!  Son can feel like hes like the others.   Im sure there will be a point (very soon I hope) where he wants his Korean food in his thermos and he doesnt mind bringing the stinky food to his kosher classroom, but for now, as long as he tries and eats this sandwich and tries to enjoy it, Ill be happy.

As a side note, I did make an egg and cheese filled one as well, which ended up being a huge hit with Daughter #1.  Daughter #2 strangely preferred the version given to her brother.

Pesto Turkey Sandwiches (dairy and egg free)
Makes as many as you can until the pesto, turkey, or bread runs out

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

turkey deli meat (your choice - I used organic)
torta rolls (or if you can find bread of your choice)

Method
In a food processor or blender, blend together basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Set aside.  As a note, this pesto can be stored in a glass gar, with a nice layer of olive oil drizzled on top to help preserve the green.  Good for about 1 week.

Slice torta roll in half.  Smear a nice healthy tablespoon of pesto on one side of the bread.  Add turkey.  (and egg and cheese if desired and not allergy prohibited.)  Repeat sandwich making as necessary.

Serve.

Printable recipe

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Pretzel Toffee Cookies How much is too much

For JEL, HKL, SH - who have all been training me to say NO.

I think that when God designed me, He left me with a huge gap where the word "NO" should have been.  I have no problem saying the word NO to my children.  "No more sugar" or "No more books" or "No more play time" or "No more snacks" but the word NO when someone asks me for help is something that I still struggle with as a 40 year old (almost 41, gulp) woman.

If a friend, family member, or even an acquaintance asks me to do something - I find it extremely hard to say no. This is in light of the fact that Im raising three kids, work part time, write a food blog and serve at my church.  Requests for things come flying in and I cannot squeeze the word "NO" out.  This is a flaw that a great number of my friends and family have been berating me for for a long, long, long time, and one friend even went as far as writing me scripts so that I could practice telling someone "no."

But I HATE disappointing people.  I hate the look of "OH NO" on their faces when I tell them that I cant do something that they need me to do.  I dont like feeling that Im incapable of doing something that people are asking me to do.  I like feeling super capable, extra energetic, and extremely hardworking that I can handle it all.

On top of it all, I also cannot do anything halfway.  If you ask me to do something, I go all out.  As my friend SH says, "When you want something done, give it to a busy person" which is always her comment when she sees me taking on the next huge thing, whether it be offering to grade papers for a teacher or making a ton of food for a school event.  I keep saying yes, I keep going all out, and I just cant stop it.

Its pretty pathetic.  I exhausted myself this past May and June with the sheer number of commitments I took on and was determined to finish.  I even found myself offering to do EXTRA things (WHY JOANNE WHY) just to prove that I could.  And the end result was that Husband and Children suffered immensely.  My own inability to take a stand, to set boundaries, to build walls to protect my sanity meant that Family suffered.  I yelled, I screeched, I demanded, and I was generally an extremely awful person to be around.  There wasnt enough of anything to keep me calm, and I took it out on Family.

These days Ive been put in more than a number of awkward positions with requests.  But I learned my lesson in May and June that it isnt my job to do everything for everyone.  I do have a commitment and an obligation to Family first, before I take on the rest of the world.  Its not that I dont want to be helpful, because I want to be helpful.  Its not that I dont want to be giving either, but I want to have a sense of space in my life that is whole and not constantly being chopped into little pieces because of the demands of the outside world.  

So heres to a few awkward moments as I learn to set boundaries.  Heres to having space that is not invaded by my incessant need to please others.  Heres to learning to say "No" and not feeling bad about it.  In a toast to my new hopefully found independence from saying "Yes" -I give you Pretzel Toffee Cookie.  Its pretty hard for me to say "NO" to this cookie, but I think its okay in this context.  The cookie doesnt take time from my family, nor does it threaten to put a storm cloud over my head.  It does threaten to put a few pounds on my hips, so maybe I should learn to say no to this as well.  

NO.

NO.  

NO.

Okay - maybe just one more.

Pretzel Toffee Cookies
Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 ? cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cups toffee chips (like Heath or Skor)
½ cup old-fashioned oats
2 cups mini pretzel twists, left whole

Method
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl (either in a stand mixer or in a bowl where you can use a hand mixer) and cream on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat until all ingredients are mixed together, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed, about 1 minute.

Add chocolate chips, toffee chips and oats, and mix until just blended. Finally, add pretzels and allow them to be mixed in. Do not over mix, or you will completely crush the pretzels. (A few large chunks are rather nice.)

Now the dough needs to rest. Take cookie dough, wrap it in saran wrap, place it in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerate. You can rest it for 8 hours, but 24 hours is usually better. You want the dough firm and cold.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop tablespoon scoops and lay them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden and firmed up.

Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before removing them to a cooling rack. Enjoy. These do make fabulous ice cream sandwiches for the record.

Printable recipe

No, no, no.  I just cant.  I cant eat these entire stack in one bite.

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Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting How sweet should life be

I love this quote by Michael Pollan (The Omnivores Dilemma and Food Rules);  he writes,“There is nothing wrong with special occasion foods, as long as every day is not a special occasion...Special occasion foods offer some of the great pleasures of life, so we shouldnt deprive ourselves of them, but the sense of occasion needs to be restored.”

I love being a baker, making cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and sweet treats.  However, I know that I cant make them all the time, nor can I just give them out at whim to any child.  Ive tried hard to model to Children that treats are actually treats, and we celebrate our family birthdays and special occasions with a small treat, but a treat is just that - something special that doesnt happen every single day.

If I ONLY baked for just the family birthdays, Id already bake five times a year.  Add the extended family who lives near us, Im already baking 11 times a year.  That averages out to about once a month.  With just the baking that I do for my family, Children will have access to a sweet treat once a month.  This is a treat that I really enjoy making, because I dont use a boxed cake mix, but try and source high quality, organic (if possible) ingredients, that I put together with my own two hands.

Add the baking that I do when I have guests over, which averages about once a month.  Thats now twice a month Children get a treat.  Add the additional invitation over to someones house where I offer to bring something and they request dessert.  Lets just call that on average, once a month.  Now were at three times a month, Children get a treat.

Thats a lot of treats already, and some with not necessarily the right sense of occasion.  There are invariably birthday parties where cake is served (usually store bought) and goody bags often filled with candy.  The treats, and special occasions keep adding up.  School treats, school occasions, birthday handouts, party handouts quickly add up, and suddenly, what was once or twice a month of treats becomes almost a thrice weekly thing.

Im not anti-treats.  Dont get me wrong.  Im anti-every-day-is-a-treat day.  Im also anti-other-people-giving-my-children treats.  Children get enough of treats, distributed by me, made by me, at home.  I dont offer them processed treats, and I make my own treats for them.  I also dont give out treats to other children, without the express permission of their parents, as their parent has the absolute right to monitor how much their child eats.

Im sure I dont have all the right answers.  I only claim to know what to do for my own kids.  I do know the United States leads the world in obesity, and if that statistic doesnt give you pause, Ill remind you that the burden of taking care of the unhealthy in this country is a collective one that falls on all of our shoulders.  As parents, we really need to revisit what is going into our childrens bodies.  If you ARE going to give a treat, one that is homemade is miles better than what you get in a store, which is why I do like to challenge people to try and make their own homemade cookies and treats.  If you refuse to buy processed packaged treats, and say that you will only make them, youd be surprised at how much money you save and how much fewer treats your children will actually consume.

I made these treats to celebrate a reunion with an old grad school friend and an old teaching colleague, both brilliant thinkers of education reform and thoughtful planners of educations future.  I made us all a lovely dinner, and each of our children got a single mini cupcake; the adults sat, savored our small treat and enjoyed the occasion of friendship.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 24 regular sized cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes

Yellow Cupcake
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups superfine sugar, or regular sugar that has been processed in a food processor and made fine
2 large eggs (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter)
3 large egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½  teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pans with liners.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  Mix together milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend softened butter and superfine sugar until thoroughly combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, add egg yolks, one at a time,and beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is well blended.

Add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined, and add half milk mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add remaining half of flour mixture, mix until just combined and then add remaining milk mixture.  Mix until just combined.again.  At this stage, the less you mix the better for your cake.  (too much mixing makes for a tough cake.)

Scoop batter into cupcake pan.  Bake for 18-20 minutes (minis) or 22-24 minutes (regular size) until tops spring back up when tapped.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Frost with icing once cupcakes are completely cooled.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
½  cup of butter (1 stick), softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform.  Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform.  Add 2 cups of sugar and cocoa powder to the mixture and mix.  Add milk and vanilla extract and mix again.  Add remaining 1 cup of confectioners sugar.   Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable.  Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise frost completely cooled cupcakes.

Printable recipe

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The 3 Week Diet How To Lose Weight Quickly

,If you have ever watched any of those health related TV shows like ‘Dr. Oz’ or ‘The Doctors’, you would get the impression that it’s extremely difficult to lose weight fast. They’ll tell you that it can take month after month to shed the pounds, and sometimes even years. But I’m here today to tell you that that is simple not true.

My name is Brian and I am the creator of The 3 Week Diet. I have spent years researching and working with nutritionists and dieticians to develop a diet system that is so advanced and effective that it is able to help you lose 1 lb of pure body fat every single day. Over the course of 3 weeks on the diet, you can lose more than 20 pounds of fat off your belly, butt, hips, and thighs and achieve the body of your dreams with little to no exercise involved. But how is this possible?

As you would know, the human body is highly adaptable. If you cut your finger, the body would heal itself in a matter of days – regenerating new cells as soon as the change is noticed. Well, if you make a big enough change to your diet, the body can adapt right away too by burning fat in your body at a rapid speed. But what you need to do to kick start this change? Is it exercise? Cutting certain foods out of your diet? Drinking a special tea? Eating certain berries? No, it is none of those things. In fact, it is much more simple than you’d think.

You see, the human metabolism is like a furnace for your body. It burns up every source of fuel inside your body – from food you have eaten, to fat that has been stored. But, one thing you have to know about the metabolism is that it will burn what was last eaten first, before it starts burning the fat on your body. As a result, by the end of the day, no matter what you have eaten, your body won’t have had time to start burning the fat from around your body. But what if you could change this? What if you could make it so your metabolism actually prefers to burn the fat in your body first, and then burns the food you have eaten?

Think about a campfire. What would happen if you poured a gallon of gasoline onto the fire? It would go up in flames and burn a thousand times more! Well, fat is a fuel source just like gasoline. If your metabolism gets that fat from your body and starts burning it, it makes the metabolism even stronger and more powerful, so it continues to burn even more fat in the process. You see, it is like a cyclic effect. The more fat your metabolism burns, the more fuel it will have to burn, and in turn it will burn even more fat! So what do you do to get this started?

To make the switch so that your metabolism starts burning body fat first, you need to include some very specific foods into your diet. This doesn’t mean you have to restrict yourself to eating certain types of foods like ‘low carb’ or ‘high protein’, but it just means you need to add some secret foods to your current diet. These foods are quite unknown, but they contain metabolism-shifting properties that initiate the fat burning process. You can get all these foods at your local supermarket and they won’t cost you any more than a candy bar. Plus, they don’t taste bad either!

I have made a list and plan of all these foods on my website at The 3 Week Diet. I explain how each of them works, and how much fat they are able to melt. Keep in mind, this is all based off years of scientific research and there is medical data to back this up. So, if you are looking to lose weight fast, The 3 Week Diet is the best way to do so. No other diet allows you to lose this much fat as quickly, and lets you keep it off for good.

Check out The 3 Week Diet today and start losing weight!

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OmieBox How to have your hot and cold food together!

The creator of the OmieBox and I met a few months back and I have to say that initially I was mostly skeptical before meeting her.  Could a lunch box do better than the system I had going now?  I had a way to deal with hot food, regular food, not hot food and it seemed to work pretty well.  I liked dividers, I liked the one box idea and I thought I had it pretty good the way I had things set up already.

When Nancy came to me and asked me to look at the box, immediately my thoughts shifted to Son, who has a number of food allergies which I think has contributed to his lack of curiosity when it comes to food.  He likes what he knows, doesnt really enjoy trying new things, and actually needs a HOT meal for most of his lunches.  These past few years havent been a problem because I feed him at home; however, come this school year, Son will be eating on his own, at school, and the challenges of feeding him loom large and clear in my head. Upon seeing the prototype for the OmieBox, I began imagining the flexibility of lunches I could pack for him - something hot (miso soup) with his rice rolls and his fruit.  He would be able to eat it easily and in the way that suited him and I became very interested in this idea.

After seeing the OmieBox, it stuck in my head because Daughters began complaining about the monotony of their lunches.  It was always "cold" and sometimes they wanted a hot lunch, but when I offered to pack the thermos with something, they complained that it made everything too bulky because they had to pack so much within.  I kept thinking about the OmieBox and how it would solve the problem and I could pack something warm with something cold in the SAME BOX.

Im excited to say that OmieBox is launching a kickstarter campaign in order to begin production of their boxes.  Im pretty sure that its going to sell out in the early stages (thats my gut instinct on this) so it will be to your benefit to join early and get one.  I think these boxes are a perfect solution to a lot of food and eating dilemmas out there, so please take a look at the kickstarter link and get ready to be a backer!

There is more information on the OmieBox, check out their website as well.

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Marshmallow Crispy Cookie How to Go on Vacation

I recently came back from a houseboating trip with other families and friends.  To decide to go on the trip took much consideration and time because I like to be in control.  The last trip with this same group was camping two years ago, and I came back home deciding that, ahem, that camping really wasnt for me, especially with three kids in tow.

However, friends patiently convinced me that this trip would be different, far less dusty, and far more fun and exciting for the kids.  It would be our family vacation and one filled with tons of fun and laughter.  I vacillated for a few weeks and then finally committed.

Ive always avoided vacations since Ive considered them times when youre not at home but working just as hard.  With three Children, it just cant feel like a vacation.  I figured that this would be no different.  Before the trip itself, I had to do a lot of grocery shopping, cookie dough preparation, chicken preparation, packing, laundry and a list of things to do.  By the time boarding the boat came about, I was exhausted, but getting ready to just do what needed to be done.  I got on the boat, made the beds, showed the kids the bathrooms, got everyone organized, and all in all, just began living the same life I live at home, only now I was on a boat, stuffed into a tiny bunk room.  I was thinking about schedules, about time, about bedtime routines, about making dinner, about all the TASKS that I saw before me.

Friend JEL pulled me aside and said, "Dude.  This is your vacation.  RELAX."

"I am relaxed.  This is me relaxed.  Dont you know?" I said while madly cleaning up the mess of Children and others in the kitchen.

"Youre not relaxed.  Just let go.  Seriously.  Come on."

And with that statement, I slowly began letting go.

I became less fussy about bedtimes, about meal times, about washing hands regularly.  I didnt worry about junk food, about what the kids were eating, or what they were drinking.  I let them have a vacation from their stressed-out-must-be-in-control-of-everything mommy, and let them have a tiny taste of the life that would be if they could ever get rid of me.  (In their minds, I think this life would be one filled with juice boxes, cheetos and dirty underwear.  But I digress.)

In a word, vacation.  I let go.  I relaxed.  I found peace in doing nothing.  I discovered that by floating on my back in the lake, I can completely surround myself in silence, with only the tune that runs in my brain.  There are no cries of mommy, Joanne, "Im hungry", or "Im bored."  Vacation.

At one point, I completely let go, grabbed friend JEL, and said, "Lets go on a sunset ride on the jetski.  Let someone else do the dishes."  (This is so unlike either of us.)  And we did.

Im back in the grind of things, back with Children who are back in school, so the vacation was extremely short-lived, but it was completely worth it.  But now that Im back in control, the captain of this family, Im back attacking those things that I want under my control.

In this case, the thing I want under control is a recipe.  I struggled with this recipe (4 different batches to be exact), to get the effect and look that I wanted.  Dont get me wrong, all the batches tasted good in my their own way, but the unruly marshmallow kept on throwing things off balance for me to the point that I decided that I WOULD control this cookie.  Finally, I got the little white fluffs of sugar under control, and I give you....

MARSHMALLOW CRISPY COOKIE!  The idea was to combine a chocolate chip cookie with the flavors of a rice krispy treat. This is the result - crispy, chewy, gooey, yummy.  I took these on the vacation (one of the versions) and the houseboat guests went in a frenzy over them.

Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups rice crispies
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 ¼ cups mini marshmallows

Method
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl (either in a stand mixer or in a bowl where you can use a hand mixer) and cream on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat until all ingredients are mixed together, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed, about 1 minute.

Add rice crispies, chocolate chips, and oats, and mix until just blended. Finally, add marshmallows and mix until marshmallows are well distributed.

Now the dough needs to rest. Take cookie dough, wrap it in saran wrap, place it in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerate. You can rest it for 8 hours, but 24 hours is usually better. You want the dough firm and cold.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop tablespoon scoops and lay them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden and firmed up.

Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before removing them to a cooling rack. Enjoy.

Printable recipe

I packed a few of these up for teachers at the start of school  They were very popular.

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My Diet Plan How to lose 10kg in One Week!

I really hate how am I right now because Im severely overweight.
Ive tried many ways to lose weight but I still went back to my formal self.
While surfing the internet for "rapid hardcore weight lost", I came across this website:
http://lovechloexoxo.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/my-diet-plan-how-to-lose-10kg-in-one-week/

I think that I would love this diet plan because it does not involve exercising because I hate to exercise. I hope this would work for me too and as stated in the blog, 
"this girl who actually tried this method, lost 11kg in just one week!" 
Imagine just a week of "starvation", I could be able to look better. No harm trying, well, not too much. (:

This is just a small amendment of the diet plan because my first day does not start on Monday and end on Sunday.

"Apparently the recipe is worked out by doctors and somehow it is permissible to practice such fasting days every month. They said It is 100% guaranteed to lose to 25Ibs (11.4kg) I guess a bit over 10kg in one week! However if you use this method next time you wont be guranteed to lose 10kg or more."

1st day (Wednesday): 1 bottle mineral water divide into 6 parts for drinking during the day.

2nd day (Thursday): 1 litre skim milk divide in to 6 parts for drinking during the day; 1 apple at 9 PM.

3rd day (Friday): 1 bottle mineral water divide in to 6 parts for drinking during the day.

4th day (Saturday): Vegetable day! Salad (about 0.9~1kg) fresh cabbage, carrot, any potherbs you like. Add vegetable oil 1 table spoon. Salad divide into 3 parts. You can drink 2 glasses of water.

- I would drink just water for the day.

5th day (Sunday): 1 liter milk divide in to 6 parts for drinking during the day; 1 apple at 9 PM.

6th day (Monday): Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, 1 cup of tea; Afternoon snack: 1 apple; Dinner: 1 apple

7th day (Tuesday): 2 glasses of skim milk, 1 cup of tea without sugar in the evening;

- I would just drink 2 glasses of skim milk and warm water in the evening. 

"So again, this diet is for people who have strong will power and is guaranteed to lose 11kg. (Hopefully this is true.)"

If I lost at least 5 kg, this would consider to be quite true to me.
Well, I will be starting my diet plan tomorrow, 22 August and end on 28 August.
My prelims would last from today, 21 August to 30 August so this diet should be alright. 

I wonder if this would affect my performance for prelims though.. Lets hope not kaee, (:
I would be updating at the end of each day of diet whether if I lost any weight, as little as 0.1kg.
Well, thats all from me today. Better get prepared to eat my last full meal before my diet starts!

See you soon. 

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How I Lost Fat Fast In 3 Weeks With This Weight Loss Diet

Are you looking to lose weight quickly? Are you sick of all the scams out there like diet pills and infomercial products that promise the world but don’t deliver? Then I have the solution for you!

Everybody says that weight loss is an extremely difficult task that takes months and sometimes years, and that you have to eat terribly boring foods to see any results. I know for a fact that this is not true because I lost over 20 pounds in only 21 days using a secret diet I found online.

I was in the exact same situation you are in now. I was overweight, lazy, and hated my body. I didn’t feel sexy, or slim, and I hated buying new clothes because I knew I always had to buy extra large size. I had tried all the diets out there – from the low carb diet, the sugar free diet, the cabbage soup diet, the mango diet, the acai berry diet, and frankly, none of them worked for me. I had tried going to the gym regularly to exercise but honestly, when you are a full-time mother with 3 kids, who has the energy to workout every day for hours on end? Then, I discovered The 3 Week Diet and my life changed.

I was doing some searching on Google one day for “extreme diets”. You know, not the types of diets that take months of slow, boring progress, but the “rapid” diets that work fast. I came across an article by a world class nutritionist who said he had tried a program called The 3 Week Diet and was able to lose 1 lb of body fat a day for 3 weeks by following it.

I could hardly believe it. 1lb of fat per day? I didn’t think it was possible. My goal that I had been trying for years to achieve was to lose 20 pounds. And this diet was promising that I could achieve that in only 20 days! All those years of feeling frustrated and disgusted by my body would be over in an instant. I visited The 3 Week Diet and watched the video where the doctor explained how he was able to create a scientific method to burn the fat fast, without using diet pills or exercise. I had never heard someone explain a diet like this before, but everything he said made 100% sense to me.

I quickly joined The 3 Week Diet and begun the process of losing weight quickly. Day 1 of following the diet, I lost half a pound of fat. Not bad. Day 2 on the diet and I lost a massive 2 lbs of fat! By the end of the first week I had lost near 10 lbs of pure body fat. My stomach was slimmer, my butt was firmer, and I could actually fit comfortably into a nice pair of jeans!

I followed the diet for the entire course of 3 weeks, and by the end of it, I had lost a staggering 25 pounds! That was more than I had expected! Friends and family were commenting how much weight I had lost, and I was getting looks from young men half my age! I had never felt healthier or happier in my entire life. I could now wear any outfit I wanted, I felt more confident. My husband was so pleased and excited. He loved my new body and our sex life improved dramatically! 

 

I owe it all to The 3 Week Diet. It changed my life and it allowed me to lose so much fat off my body without having to starve myself or do strenuous exercise. It was honestly so easy to follow and keep up with.

The 3 Week Diet is an extreme diet for rapid weight loss that shows you how you can lose over 20 pounds of pure body fat in just 3 weeks. Whether you want to lose weight off your belly, hips, butt, or thighs, The 3 Week Diet is fastest way to lose weight quickly without diet pills or exercise. Speed up your metabolism and discover the secret foods you need to eat to burn the fat off fast with this diet used by A list celebrities and professional athletes. Start shedding the pounds today by visiting The 3 Week Diet now!

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How To Lose Weight Fast Without Diet Pills Or Exercise!

I have always been what most would consider a “big girl”. In January 2014, I weighed 180 lbs (around 82 kilograms), which is quite overweight for a woman my height. I wasn’t always this weight though. In my teenage years, I weighed only 140 pounds and I felt much healthier and happier.

I strived desperately over the years to get back to this weight. But with a stressful and busy work life, I struggled to do so. Nothing seemed to work for me. I tried everything from diet pills to exercise machines I saw advertised on TV. I even tried crazy diets like the acai berry diet, and the green tea diet. They didn’t do anything for me. I was still overweight and considered myself ‘fat’.

That all changed in March 2014 though. I lost a staggering 23 pounds in only 21 days using an extreme diet I found online called The 3 Week Diet. I came across this diet after I read a news article about a famous Victoria Secret model who was using this exact same diet to lose loads of fat in preparation for photo shoots. If it worked for her I thought, shouldn’t it work for me?

I immediately started searching on Google and managed to find this website. There, I watched a video by a professional nutritionist who revealed step-by-step what was needed to lose weight quickly. I was shocked, because noone had ever told me this information before! I had visited personal trainers, dieticians, and doctors, and in all these years, noone had ever told me these dieting secrets!

The next day I began the program. At first I thought it would be really difficult and that I would have to starve myself to see any progress. Boy was I wrong! I pretty much ate whatever I was eating before, but I made sure to eat it at the specific times when my metabolism was burning a thousand times faster than usual. I also made sure to include the secret fat burning foods listed in The 3 Week Diet with every meal. These things combined made the fat literally melt right off my body! How did I know what times my metabolism was burning fat and what foods to include in my diet? Well, Brian from The 3 Week Diet had laid it all out for me as soon as I joined the website. It couldn’t have been easier!

On the first day alone, I lost 2 lbs (around 1 kilogram). The next day, I lost a massive 3 lbs! By the end of the first week I had lost around 10 lbs (4.5 kilograms)! That was much more than I had anticipated. I thought I would lose around 5 lbs max! But 10 lbs in only 7 days! That was life changing! I continued to follow the diet for the entire course of 21 days, and by the end of the diet I had lost an earth-shattering 30 lbs of 100% pure body fat!

My dreams had come true! I was now closer to my ideal body weight than ever before! I felt slimmer, sexier, and healthier! My belly fat had shrunk, my butt was firmer, my thighs were tighter, and my cheeks were no longer round and chubby! Some people barely recognized me! I loved my new body and it was all 100% thanks to The 3 Week Diet. It changed my life!

I am continuing to do The 3 Week Diet and the fat is still dropping off! Im aiming to get down to 140 lbs and I am probably going to get there in less than a couple weeks! This diet has been one of the best experiences of my entire life. I didn’t have to starve myself, I didn’t have to take any unhealthy diet pills, I didn’t have to work my butt off at the gym, and I didn’t have to eat bland boring food! The 3 Week Diet is really the only solution out there today if you are looking for a system which shows you how to lose weight fast. It worked for me, and I know it will work for you too.

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Ks Caramel Apple Pie How to be good at small talk

Ive been realizing in recent weeks that I do not excel at small talk.  In fact, I stink at it.  Im missing a little bit of the concentration level or the talent for engaging people in a conversation, especially when I dont know them well.  I love chit chatting with my close friends, and usually within 15 seconds Im off on some tangent that definitely doesnt qualify at all as small talk (usually education or the plight of curriculum in the state of CA) but to ask people questions about their daily life and to get to know them; I just am not good at.  Part of it is due to my own inherent introvert tendencies and the other part, I think is lack of practice.

However, this weekend, I watched a master of small talk take things to the next level and execute the act of getting to know someone to an art form.  He is a trained interrogator (being in law enforcement) and his years of asking questions and engaging criminals takes small talk to new heights.   He took someone he didnt know well at all (who happens to be my best friend) and proceeded to take her very complicated job as a top level manager and dissect her job into the smallest detail.  Afterwards Friend was quite shocked and said, "I dont think my husband even knows exactly what I do." Post interview, KK revealed that his number one tactic at getting people (and criminals and gangsters) to open up is to be interested in the details.  THE DETAILS.  By asking all sorts of minuscule questions (including one where he asked my friend to describe the position of the desks in her office) and being interested in the answer, people open up and say things that you just dont expect.  Bear in mind, that I listened in on this interview, and in almost 20 years of knowing this friend, I learned new things during this conversation that I would not have expected.

Now this is all somewhat foreign to me, as I realize that Im not good at focusing on the small details of a conversation.  Ive always prided myself on "cutting to the chase" as it will, but I also find myself shying away from situations where Im supposed to make small talk, mostly because I tell myself I dont like it.  Maybe I just dont try hard enough.  Maybe my level of interest at unwrapping someone isnt at the level it needs to be at.  Ill only say that watching KK peel away layers of my best friends job was interesting and fascinating to me and it made me want to be better at getting to know people.

In the end, Ive mostly filed away what KK did and Ill continue to mull on it and think about it.  But Ive been practicing the engaging of people I dont know well and trying to talk to them.  I spoke to our garbage man the other day, asking him why the truck didnt have the automatic arm and if he had plans for the rest of the week.  We spoke about 2 minutes, back and forth (this while I had groceries in my arm, and he was shouting across the street as he tossed the trashcans into the truck) and at the end of it, I discovered that the regular drives on my route complained about our area as having too much work, so he was called in to relieve some of that burden.  As he said, "Im not the lazy type to sit back and want someone else to do my work - I just get out there and do it" and I found myself respecting his work ethic, watching his smile, and appreciating the sense of duty to his job.

Im calling this pie after KK because it just so happens that his two daughters LOVED it. They gobbled it down as it were, and enjoyed every last bite.

Make the caramel first, so you can have it ready to go and set aside (even do it the day before), and then do the pie crusts.  I love this recipe for pie crust because it doesnt need to be chilled which means that your pie making time reduces.

Caramel Apple Pie
Makes 9 inch pie, serving 8 to 10 people

Caramel
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons (½ stick of butter)

Method
While cake is baking, make caramel.  Have both butter and cream, measured and ready to go.  In a heavy bottom sauce pan (bigger is better - go for a 2 or 3 quart saucepan) add sugar and heat over medium high heat.  The sugar will begin to melt and caramelize.  As this happens, slowly drag sugar to the center of the pan and swirl the pan around so as to not burn the sugar.  Allow all the sugar crystals to melt, using patience and diligence to watch and check the caramel.  As soon as the sugar is all melted and is dark amber in color (Dave Leibovitz says like the color of a dirty copper penny) add butter all at once and whisk vigorously incorporating it into the sugar syrup.    After butter is all melted remove from heat.  Add cream and whisk  until the caramel is a delicious mixture, all uniform in texture.  Transfer caramel to a jar.  (You’ll use a cup for the pie itself, and have about ½ cup remaining to drizzle over the pie after it’s done.)

Pastry (adapted from Williams-Sonoma)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
6 to 8 Tbs. ice water

Method
To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the flat beater, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, divide evenly into two, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Take one ball and lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick.  Lay crust into 9 inch pie pan.  leave overhang of pie crust on until later.

Set aside second ball until needed.

Apple Filling and Construction
Ingredients
4 lbs of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup of caramel sauce (recipe above)

1 egg white, beaten
2 tablespoons sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 400.

Using a mandoline slicer or a sharp knife and your very good knife skills, carefully slice the apple into thin slices, about ¼ inch thick.  The more evenly thinly sliced the apples, the better the overall texture as there will be no air pockets. Drizzle lemon juice, sprinkle flour and cinnamon, and evenly toss the entire mixture together.

Carefully lay apples, as close together, filling the pie dish.  The goal is to have few air pockets and a dense of apple layers.  Pour 1 cup of caramel sauce over apples once they are in the dish.  Roll out the second pie dough and place it over the top of the apples and the pie crust.  Trim overhang of pie crust edges with scissors or knife and pinch together dough in order to create a seal between top and bottom crusts.  Make slashes or cut outs in the top of pie in order for steam to escape and brush top pastry with egg white.  Sprinkle sugar all over top of pie.

Set pie dish on top of cookie sheet (you’ll thank me for this later when your pie doesn’t leak all over your oven) and place in center of oven.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until top of pie is golden and the juices are bubbly and delicious.

Set pie aside and allow to cool, juices to thicken, about 1 hour.  Serve with a scoop of ice cream, and additional caramel sauce to drizzle on top.

Printable recipe

Super lightweight and sharp Japanese Mandoline which I love (and makes great apple slices)


My choice of pie dish - looks beautiful and bakes up pies gorgeously
 

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How is Your Diet

How is your diet? Why do not we just get bored and give up the diet, but soon begins to diet will not be a miracle, and we will get rid of all the weight of our time. She could take the weight in time and in the same way, we will in time. First, lets not their hasty and not we ourselves stress during dieting. Stress causes us to enter our diet break the diet and thus ended in failure.

1. speed to lose weight dieting slows down

Month period that starts 4-5 kg diet (6-7 kg for beginners with high weight) given, decreasing your speed to lose weight in time. Sometimes you see that you can not lose weight even though you never diet and exercise as well.
Our metabolism has been created to be always directed to the experience. So to consume less food, your metabolism when you start dieting you k?tl?kt ye perceive this situation. As you reduce your calories than you adapt to it, to prevent you starve it by reducing their energy expenditure is not slow down your weight.
So rational targets begin to diet and lose weight puts every day will decrease your speed if you know you will not lose your motivation.

2. You start to feel hungry more often

When you first started the diet were not hungry at all. But to get hungry more than two months later and began to saturation with nutrients in the diet.
Insulin levels in the body while slimming and continued increases in this case, you start to get hungry more often. Talk to your dietitian. To increase the amount of snacks will keep them hungry.
vegetable

3. You can get bored from consuming the same food and diet

Diet is unique to the person and the persons wishes and meal plans should be adjusted accordingly. But every day, cake, pie, pizza eating high calorie foods for weight loss that we want each of your car in a dream.
Consult your dietician in case you feel that you too tired once or twice a week you can eat from the food you want. You may want to alternate your diet food list.
For example, eat fruit instead of constantly afternoon together half a bagel, fruit yogurt, whole wheat biscuits can put style options.

4. You can enter the psychologym constantly on a diet

Yes, it is a really long and difficult process to diet. You think that you are constantly dieting and psychological wear out after a while because you restricted. So youre not on a diet, you live healthy, you try to change your lifestyle.

5. disturbing comments of the people around you

Recognizing the change in the visible around you while you continue your diet you will comment saying you give a lot of weight. Face crashed dieting anymore, did you lose weight very quickly, I think, thats enough to give more you will hear many comments style. This will lead to reduced sentences after a while your motivation.
In this case, trust your dietitian, you should be few pounds, talk that should be followed in which your fat measurement range.
diyet

6. The idea that you go back to your old weight again by releasing the diet

Even your smallest loophole in this period to ensure that you get your body weight will show a tendency to store fat immediately. However, when you lose weight you need to be and he quit after 6-7 months of their stay and your metabolism to lose weight diet psychology results in such little getaway will find that you gain weight.

7. If you can not fit in a week diet may decrease your motivation

Of course, no ones life is not super. We are all in a certain period of sickness, work intensity, are experiencing periods, such as fatigue. This process could not fit into your diet, you may have received weight loss or weight gain. Anyone experiencing these types of problems. Anyone starting a diet is not a super way to keep your diet, you will be sure to light interferences.
The point to be noted here or result all or any form of thought. Once the diet should continue as if nothing happened exactly when you break the diet. But you must remember that too much after a while abducting the diet can lead to breakage. You have to do this very fine distinction.

8. You will find excuses to constantly dieting

Consult the diet process AnlArImdAn I listen to a variety of excuses. "I could not do sports, I was very busy this week, Im eating out of the office could not find what I eat, I do not consume my meals" like ...
You can find an excuse to do diyetdiyet but remember that these are just excuses ... What is important here, you face yourself and you really try to solve your dietitian diet you are doing and where you do not cause errors. Take steps to change your lifestyle to produce instead of excuses.
What you need to do to stop diet

Weight loss goals in a short time and little sheep. "For example, we started a diet of 100 kg, 2 kg, let 7-8 months, we set our goal of 92 pounds later" will increase your motivation to continue the form. Please note that higher targets reduce motivation. Short targets increases the motivation.
Try the new diet recipes. Continuing to consume the same grilled food diet reduces your motivation. You can eat your favorite foods in your diet dietician consultation lists together.

To break the diet is not the end of the world, continue to the same diet as if nothing happened when such a situation.
During the day you want to eat food that comes to mind, or not take them in what amount, consult your dietician eat instead of what to expect.
Try to find solutions instead of generating reasons, to confront your own, consult a psychologist if necessary.

You may not give you a week lose weight, do not let it get you down to.
Yourself small rewards to increase your motivation, but do not give them food. Treat yourself to be a nice little gift or coffee.
Continuous everywhere Do not mention that you give the diet and how many pounds is not a temporary exceptions do not forget the diet, you want to change your lifestyle.
Dietary recommendations have told you that your environment (there was no hot water in my diet, why not yours sentences, etc.) and just important that you yourself heed to comment on your body that you feel good.

Believe in yourself, no matter how many times left diet can rectify this situation and you can finish the diet.

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