Girl in the mirror???

Over the last year as I have watched my body change, and my health improve I have had several moments of catching a glimpse of my self in a mirror and not recognising "me".  The last couple of weeks I have been slightly frustrated cause the scale just won't move.   I was starting to despair that this was "it". That this was who i was always going to be.   Tonight I went to the community college with Berrett as he had to work and I wanted to be with him.  I was in the ladies room, washing my hands and looked up into the mirror and for a moment saw the old me and the new me.  I didn't recognise the new me.  I suddenly realised that I have curves, that my body IS Slimmer.  And that I have made some incredible advances in the last year. Instead of despairing over how much more I should lose, I intend to focus on what I have already lost!! In Fact I should say "gained" I have gained back my health, my life and my marriage.  For all these things I am incredibly Thankful.  I like the new me!!

Sunday, sunday

Well, we had snow yesterday and this morning, sun!!  I woke up about 8 am and need to read through my lesson one more time.  My lesson today is about the saints going to winter quarters and about serving one another. I hope I do the lesson justice!!  I made my own sugar free pumpkin pie pudding last night.  I have been craving pumpkin pie, and since the real thing would not be a good idea, I am trying to figure out a sugar free version that I can eat on occasion.  Heres my recipe..
Pumpkin pie parfait
1 box of french vanilla sugar free instant pudding
1 box of butterscotch sugar free instant pudding
3 1/2 cups of soy milk
1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
sugar free cool whip
sugar free cookies- ginger snaps- or vanilla wafers- {optional}

combine all ingredients except cookies and cool whip.  beat with electric mixer until well combined.
chill and serve topped with crushed cookies and cool whip

When you use soy milk with pudding mix, it will not be as thick as pudding made with milk.  Because of my gastric bypass surgery I am now Lactose intolerant, so soy milk is my only option.  Cool whip is lactose free so I have no problems there.  If you chill the pudding and use slightly less soy milk, it seems to work.  That is why I use 3 1/2 cups instead of 4 cups as usual in making the pudding.

Soups on!!

Well here I am beginning my journey into the world of Blog. My Inpiration?? My Friend Dee.
She has some cute blogs about cooking, her family, etc and I thought "I could do that"!! So here I am.
My passion this week is Crock pot soup!! I made a home made vegetable Meatball soup at the beginning of the week, and tonight a Golden Creamy chicken and Vegetable soup. My sweet hubby seems to be a fan of my soups, although he thought the meatballs I chose at the beginning of the week were too "Italian".
Well if any of you are interested, here are my own recipes for Crock pot Soup!!

Vegaball soup [vegetable meatball soup]
Ingredients
46 fl oz of V8 juice
1 large carton of beef stock
1 large onion- diced
3 cloves of garlic- minced
6 stalks of celery -chopped
4 to 6 carrots- chopped [I used baby carrots, about 1/2 a bag]
6 to 8 red potatoes-quartered [ I leave the skins on]
1 can of green beans
1 bag of Italian style meatballs
salt and pepper to taste
Greek Seasoning to taste

I combined all the ingredients and cooked on low 8 to 10 hours.
Servings- about 10 -1 1/2 cups
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"California Dreaming Chicken soup'

2 large cartons of chicken broth
2 cans of golden mushroom soup
1 envelope of Lipton onion cup of soup mix
1 large onion diced
6 cloves of garlic chopped [we love garlic]
4 stalks of celery chopped
4 to 6 carrots chopped
6 to 8 red potatoes- quartered
4 to 6 chicken breasts -cut into bite size pieces
Greek seasoning to taste [ I crushed about 2 1/4 tablespoons in my palm]
1 cup of frozen peas

I combined all the ingredients except the peas, and cooked for 2 hours on high, and then 8 hours on low.
Add frozen peas about 30 minutes before serving