WHAT KIND: PART II

My hubby just took this quiz for the husbands. I guess we are a good match. How did your hubby do?

143 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

WHAT KIND

What kind of wife am I?

Well, I'm about to take a test for the 1930's woman. I saw this on a cyber-friend's blog. Heh...I guess she's a bit too modern.

Then I saw it on another cyber-friend's blog and she scored better.

I wonder what kind of 1930s wife I am. I'll be right back....I promise not to lie. :)

107 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Not too shabby. I'm sure my points would have gone down if I smoked in bed and had cigarette stained fingers. LOL!!!!

And my reaction to "marital congress?" ROFLMBO!!!!

Take the test....leave a comment that you took it so I can check it out.

THE MATH OF WEIGHT LOSS

You wouldn't know it to look at me, but back in the day, I used to study nutrition. My hubby and I each lost about 20 pounds just by watching calories and fat. Of course, looking back, we didn't necessarily need to lose that weight...now, I need to lose twice that...but I digress.

The reason we chose to do it like we did was simple. It allowed us to eat WHATEVER we wanted, it made sense, and it worked. We aren't the kind to take pills or do any other drastic thing. We want to be sensible and practical, AND enjoy as little pain and discomfort as possible.

That being said, when I did all of my "book learnin'" I got the math behind it all...and that is just right up my alley. This isn't something that will fade out with the times. It is not a fad. It is something that can work with any cravings...Dr Pepper, chocolate, cheese...

The fact is this, you will lose weight if you cut fat and calories. Period. Add exercise and it just adds benefit. All you need for this is a notebook (small enough to carry around) and a pencil. If you are not "mathematically minded," you might want a calculator. And a nice calorie/fat list could help. There are books...TONS of books, but with easy internet access now, you can find it online. One example is here.

So, before we start with the math, let me give you a bit of info and the WHYs behind what I'm going to do.

First off, you HAVE to have fat. It's fat that helps your brain function. You can't have too much, nor can you have the wrong kind, otherwise you end up with heart issues....AND, what good is a high-functioning brain if you have heart failure?

Fat is worth 9 calories per gram. SO, if a serving has 10 fat grams, you will have 90 calories...90 FAT calories. You would be better off having those same calories in a carb or in fiber.

The math my hubby and I used (and that I'm going to use this time) is simple. If my fat allowance is 10% of my caloric intake. (Move your decimal once to the left.....if you don't "have" a decimal, it's at the end of the whole number.) SO, if you are allowed 1350 calories, then you are allowed 135 fat calories....how many fat grams is that? Divide by 9. 135 divided by 9 is: 15.

SO...how many calories and how many fat grams? Well, the formula I like is this:

First off, take your ideal weight and multiply by 10. That is how many calories you can take. (This is for a healthy, SLOW, weight loss...the kind you can maintain.) Then, multiply that by 10% - 15%. (That is what I'm choosing. Anything over 30% fat is considered a HIGH FAT consumption. 20% is a good maintenance. Below that, can help lose. 15% is a good DOable number for me.)

Let me just take you through MY OWN calculations. I think I need to be about 140 pounds.

140 pounds x 10 = 1400 calories per day.

1400 calories x 15% = 210 fat calories

210 fat calories / 9 = 23 fat grams

SO....that's that. I can have 1400 calories per day and 23 grams of fat. How does that help me? If I have a craving for a Snickers bar, I can have it....I just have to fit it into my fat and calorie allowance.

You have to read labels. When you do, remember that you need to figure out the "per serving" in the information. For example: a can of soup. If you look and see that it "only" has 150 calories and 5 grams of fat...but you eat the whole can....well, you may very well have consumed 300 calories and 10 grams of fat. You have to match the number of servings with what you actually consume. If you want the whole can...fine, just be sure to KNOW what you are consuming.

Also, know that labels can be deceptive. Unless they have changed the regulations, it used to be that a food could be labeled as "lite" or "light" if it was lighter in weight or color!

Pay attention to what you are eating, what it is worth and how big the servings are. Actually measure...don't try to eye-ball it. Americans have poor eyesight when it comes to that. One half cup is not as big as we are used to. It won't take long before you are able to look at a plate of food and know how many calories and how much fat is in it.

Finally, WRITE IT DOWN! These things add up....often without us knowing it. Just "one more bite" or only one muffin (after you already had a breakfast bagel with cream cheese, coffee and cream.....if you do that once or twice a day, that's 7-15 times a week! That is sabotaging your eating. Once you are disciplined, you don't have to be so diligent to write it down.

My notebook has the food I eat, the number of calories and the number of fat grams. I try to go light at the beginning of the day THEN when I have a chocolate craving, if I have enough left over, I eat my chocolate. I don't TRY to meet these numbers exactly. If I have a day that I'm not that hungry, or having "fat" cravings, then I don't consume them. I just don't let myself go over these numbers. I don't "average" for the week...it's too easy to lose control.

SO...there you have it.

Now, if you see some blaring mistake, please let me know. My sweet hubby let me go to bed about 8:30 last night. I woke up at 3:45 FAMISHED. Got up to eat some cereal and now it is 5:53 and I'm just finishing this. SO, this is early morning math...I'm not sure how great it is. LOL!!!

See y'all later.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

My cyber-friend, Lisa, and her sister, (and also my cyber-friend) Lana, host this blog carnival every Tuesday. It is a lot of fun! Bloggers get together and post recipes, tips, gadgets...anything kitchen related. Pop on over to see what everyone has to offer.

Don't forget to check back here on Mondays for Making a Happy Home Monday.

For today's recipe, I have decided to post:

CHICKEN COBBLER WITH CORNMEAL TOPPING

ingredients:

2 potatoes, cubed

3 carrots, sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

1 rib of celery, finely chopped

3 TBSP butter

2.5 ounces canned chicken

1-1/4 cans chicken broth

3 TBSP flour

1-1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup chopped pimento

1 TBSP chopped parsley

8 oz. corn muffin mix

1 egg

Cook potatoes and carrots until tender. Drain.

Saute celery and onion in small saucepan, with butter, until tender.

Gradually stir flour into onion mixture. Cook 1 minute.

Add broth and 1 cup milk (gradually) stirring constantly.

Add salt and thyme.

Bring to boil. Stir frequently until thick.

Remove from heat.

Stir in peas, pimento, parsley, potatoes, carrots and chicken (drained.)

Put into a 1-1/2 quart baking dish.

Combine muffin mix, pepper, 1 egg and 1/4 cup milk until moist.

Drop on chicken mixture.

Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes. (Until breading is done and golden, and inside is bubbly.)

Enjoy!

INTERVIEW ME

WOW...2 posts in one day! :D GO ME!

So, I got this idea from a blogger-buddie of mine. It's a pretty neat idea. She has emailed me 5 questions. I will answer those and then, if you want to join in, leave me a comment asking me to interview you. I will send you some questions for you to answer on your blog. Fun, huh? Don't all jump up at once....and be prepared....I might ask you to interview me right back. :D

1. Would you have another baby if you were guaranteed a girl or would a girl throw off the testosterone too much?

So many people think that I had a 4th child because the first 3 were boys. That is not the case. I have ALWAYS wanted 4 children, no matter what God gave me. Now, that being said, would I have another baby? Yes...in a heartbeat...except my donor is shooting blanks. :D (Possible adoption a few years down the road? Stay tuned. Maybe if God has a baby for us) Would it matter if I had a boy or a girl? Nope...honestly, I would secretly hope for a boy. I love the reaction I get to having only boys. It is totally cool. I believe that I am a great mom...a great BOY mom, to be more specific. I almost feel hives coming on when I hear of some "girl-ish" birthday parties. Princess? Diva? Yikes. Nope, I am happy to be the only queen of my castle. However, should I ever MIRACULOUSLY pop out a girl, I would be thrilled to my fingertips.

2. Since your DH is a pilot, are you a member of the mile high club?

My, my. What a question?! Let's see....how to answer this.....Technically? No.....I can't go into detail without utterly embarrassing myself. But, does and airport parking lot count? Heh.....my dad's gonna read this. :p

3. If you had to teach a subject other than math, what would you teach?

Probably science. I am actually certified to teach Language Arts, but honestly, I detest English. I can't imagine grading a bunch of essays and other literary "masterpieces." Nope...I'd rather blow something up. :D

4. How many grandchildren would you like to have?

At least 4. I can't imagine any of my boys going through life without a child. More ideally, I'd love for each of my kids to have a child who has a sibling so that pushes the number up to 8. Honestly, though...the more the better. :)

5. How do you take your coffee?

I don't take it at all. I hate coffee. Love the smell of it, though, and buy for my hubby any kind that I think he will love. Usually, I will drink sweet tea or more often, a Dr Pepper when most people would drink coffee.

OK....let me know. Do you want me to interview you?

MAKING A HAPPY HOME MONDAY

So I skipped last week's installment of Making a Happy Home Monday because I was just crazy busy and didn't have time for my normal stuff. BUT, I do want to start the new year off on a positive note, so I'm very happy to have worked on some stuff already. I hope you will join me.

I started this carnival awhile back with one hope in mind - to inspire and encourage women to make their homes happy. As women, we set the tone of our households. We can be positive...and everything else will fall positively into place. OR, we can be negative and things go sour. Kids are unhappy, hubby is unhappy, housework is not getting done and YOU, the mom, the wife, are unhappy.

NO MORE! Take control and do something to make your home a happy home. Some people are better at this than others. You just keep trucking. YOU, of all people, should be posting here to give the rest of us the much needed, and desired inspiration that we need. Please link up down below on Mr. Linky. Leave me a comment, too. Tell me how you like (or don't like) this. Tell me if there is something you would like me to try. Post pictures in your links. CHALLENGE OTHERS to be women of God and take care of our domains.

Find a place in your house. Make it happier by making it prettier or more functional. If it makes you happy by relieving a bit of stress then you have a happier state. GOOD JOB! Now share it with us.

For my Happy Home, I chose my refrigerator. There are 2 reasons. First...it was just getting gross. (I gross out easily when it comes to my fridge.) Secondly, my grocery store day is either Monday or Tuesday, so I really need my kitchen area ready to receive the items that I purchase. I have decided (as I'm working on my cleaning schedule) that Monday will be my "appliance" day.

The refrigerator should stay clean for several reasons...the least of which is the "EW Factor." Temperature aside, there are certain "yuckies" that can grow in your fridge. Clean out the leftovers. (Now leftovers are not a favorite here, but there are times when we have them. Generally, they sit in the fridge for about 4 days before I throw them out. I'm trying NOT to accumulate leftovers. If you do leftovers, clean them out regularly. Really, do you WANT to eat 7 day old chicken spaghetti? YUCK!) Somethings should only be opened and in use for 3-5 days. Pay attention to your dates...they are there for a reason.

Throw out those upside down salad dressing bottles. (Honestly, nothing in the fridge grosses me out more than the remnants that are allowed to drip down to the lid and pool in the cap. BLECH!!!!)

Empty the veggie bins. Clean them out. YES! THEY CAN BE COMPLETELY REMOVED AND WASHED! Line the bottom with paper towels. If the items in the veggie drawer feel soft or have fuzz, this is NOT a variety of said veggie, it is ROTTEN! Toss it.

If you don't remember when you opened the lunch meat, DON'T SMELL IT! Toss it.

Milk....to each his own, but if the date says January 5, 2009...well, I don't care if it's a full gallon, it got tossed YESTERDAY!

If it is crusty, remove it. If you have trouble getting stuck on gunk off the shelves, I suggest a soapy paper towel. Lay it on the spot for a few minutes, then wipe up. Disinfecting wipes are a favorite of mine in this.

Empty, clean, and reload the shelves.

Wipe out the grooves in the rubbery seal of your door. You'd be amazed what accumulates there.

You should pull out the fridge and vacuum the coils and clean out from under the fridge. Also, there is a pan under the fridge gets nasties in it. Pull it out and clean it. Now this is where I get help because this is just gross gross gross. I wait and bribe my honey to help. (Now he knows of one of his jobs during his vacation. :) )

So here we go.

Do you see that nasty stuff on the shelf? That is where my kids have been removing and replacing the milk jug and sloshing it out. (The cap is a pop on cap so it doesn't always stay on.)

Lots of leftovers that have to be discarded.

No more crusties.

Drawers removed and cleaned. Whole inside wiped down.

I'd love for you to join me! Have a Happy Home!

TKO

I've been beat up. And I deserved it.

I need to watch how I blog. It's hard to let true emotions and feeling come out online. Using caps, dots, exclamation points....all of that can be taken for excitement, anger, alarm...or it can just look cool to the author....like these dots, or ellipses.

Anyway, in my last blog, which I actually spent a bit of time on...with a lot of interruptions, loss of power (laptop, not house) and watching the Food Network, I came across as a bit snotty. AND for that, I need to publicly apologize.

My aggravation, during my blogging, was actually about my Facebook NON-friend, whom I did delete yesterday. That aggravation spilled over into my housekeeping section in which I made a snide remark about a friend....a REAL friend.

No, there is no need to go back to read it because I have deleted that part. I'm embarrassed that I stooped to that level, but more than that, I'm ashamed that I threw her under the bus like that...it was not my intent, it was my "mouth" getting me into trouble AGAIN!

The site that I had been referring to...well, I know she doesn't like it. I know why she doesn't like it and I totally understand that. If I were ever "attacked" in the vicious way this lady seems to attack this group of people.... I do agree with some of what this writer says, but NOT in how she does it. I have had talks with my friend about this very thing, and we worked through it. Anyway, knowing my friend didn't like this one site, I removed it from my blog roll. I didn't feel pushed into it. But, you know what? If I can't do that for a friend.....well, that's just sad.

Now I digress...only 2 of you even know what I'm talking about now.

SO....to my dear, childhood and lifelong friend, I apologize for that comment. It was uncalled for and I'm sorry it was put out there. That was pretty low of me.

*I still like my notebook, though. ;)