Noom Elephant Dialogues—We JUST had lunch

🐘: I’M HUNGRY!

🏇🏼: But, we JUST had lunch!

🐘: So? I’m still hungry.

🕵️‍♂️: There is hunger

🏇🏼: I know, but we are losing weight, so we might be a little hungry sometimes. 

🐘: If we lose too much weight we’ll die. I don’t want to die. We should eat. 

🏇🏼: You’re trying to keep us safe, but I promise we won’t lose too much weight. We have a plan. 

🐘: I’d like the plan better if it was to eat more now. 

🏇🏼: We have a snack planned in a few hours.
🐘: I like snacks!  

Noom Elephant Dialogues--Night Hunger

🐘: I’M HUNGRY!
🕵️‍♂️: There is hunger
🏇🏼: it’s late. Let’s wait for breakfast.
🐘: BREAKFAST!? I may wither away and die by breakfast.
🕵️‍♂️: There is fear
🏇🏼: Are we safe
🕵️‍♂️: we are safe
🏇🏼: We have eaten well today and we are home
🐘: I’m still hungry
🏇🏼: You’re a good elephant. We’ll have a good day tomorrow. How about some stretching.
🐘: 🙆‍♀️

Noom Elephant Dialogues--Peanut Butter Pumpkins

🐘: I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃😋
🕵️‍♂️: There is craving
🏇: Remember we wanted to start eating healthy?
🐘: We eat healthy tomorrow. I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃😋
🕵️‍♂️: There is rationalization
🏇: How about we plan to have a Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin 🥜🍫🎃 on Halloween as a special treat? That will give us something to look forward to.
🐘: Is Halloween tomorrow? 🤔
🏇: Not quite. But we can get a nice healthful snack tonight. And maybe some stretching or a walk.
🐘: I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃 NOW!😦
🕵️‍♂️: There is frustration
🏇: I get that you are frustrated. That is real and valid. You like something that you aren't having right now. Can we take a deep breath and touch base with how are we feeling?
🐘: 🙏
🕵️‍♂️: There is calm
🐘: I still want it. 🙁
🏇: I know you do. Let's find something sweet that will also be filling. 🍓🍒🍇🍉🍌🍐
🐘: 🍓🍒🍇🍉🍌🍐I feel better now. 😊
‍🏇: What a good elephant. How about that walk now?
🐘: 🚶‍♀️

Caramel Popcorn

One more go at caramel popcorn. This time I stayed pretty close to the original recipe, except for adding slivered almonds to the caramel right before the pour. No chocolate. No bacon. Just wanted to get a simple baseline.

Hedgehogs

We had a potluck SCA event today. I wasn't sure what to bring, so I went with an old stand-by: hedgehogs!

Little pork sausage meatballs decorated with toasted sugared slivered almonds (for spines) and dried currants (for eyes).

I like them with currants much better than when I made this before with raisins cut in half (if I recall correctly). They were the perfect size and nice and firm and none of them popped out during the baking process.

Caramel Bacon Popcorn -- Second attempt

My second attempt at caramel bacon popcorn went better than the first. I again worked from the Grandma Paula caramel corn recipe. Except I cut the caramel sauce in half since I didn't think I was making enough popcorn. (In retrospect, I found this to be in error). 

Caramel Popcorn

I like caramel popcorn.
I like making caramel.

Hmm.

Time to make caramel popcorn.

My first attempt was not quite on target, but still tasty. I added bacon and spanish peanuts.

Winter Party Follow-up

Time to wrap up something from a couple months ago. I had all this lead up on this blog about getting ready for the winter party celebrating our house's centennial and then I never found that photos we had taken until just the other day. They were on "the other camera".

Strawberry Smoothie

 I have been making a lot of smoothies lately. They seem to make a nice afternoon pick-me-up. It all started when we were getting an every-other-weekly box of fruit from Organics to You in the late summer and through the fall. We have since stopped the delivery just because I don't like to feel forced to eat so much fruit just because it keeps showing up. Anyway, we kept the smoothie habit.

Recently I made a strawberry smoothie.

Ideas for a holiday party

Starting to plan for a holiday party. 
Here are some ideas Sharon found...

Hot spinach artichoke dip

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hot-spinach-artichoke-dip-recipe/index.html

Beef mole
http://theviewfromthegreatisland.blogspot.com/2012/11/beef-and-pumpkin-chili-mole.html

Whole menu
http://www.finecooking.com/menus/elegant-make-ahead-christmas-dinner-holiday-menu.aspx

Make-Ahead Christmas Recipes
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/make_ahead_christmas_recipes

Crispy Phyllo Spinach Tartlets -- done
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/crispy_phyllo_spinach_tartlets.html

Stuffed Chicken Thighs Braised in Tomato Sauce
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/stuffed_chicken_thighs.html
Tried this. Worked ok. Would be better served over something that could use the sauce. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables in Cheddar Crust
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_fall_vegetables_in_cheddar_crust.html

Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole
http://mavensprintablerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-ahead-sweet-potato-casserole.html

Apple Sausage Stuffing for Your Turkey
http://www.kitchenwitchmaven.com/2009/10/apple-sausage-stuffing-for-your-turkey.html
Tried this twice. Pay attention to not letting it burn on top (if cooking on the side).

Chocolate hazelnut snickerdoodles
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-hazelnut-snickerdoodle-cookies-recipe/index.html


Rainbow Tie-dye Christmas Wreath Bundt Cake
http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/rainbow-tie-dye-christmas-wreath-bundt-cake/

A Christmas Baking Tradition: Tree Breads -- done
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Colorful Swirl Cookies
http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/12/colorful-swirl-cookies.html

Festive Cabot Cheddar Tree
http://www.cabotcheese.coop/pages/recipes/recipe.php?id=194&catID=59

Reindeer Feed
http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2012/07/reindeer-food.html



Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-hazelnut-biscotti-recipe/index.html