Diet is "DIE" with a T: Week 1

Oh, God, I started a diet again this week.

You will notice two things about that sentence: the general grumbliness, and my use of the word "again."

I am constantly on a diet. Sometimes they are "real" diets, with the express purpose of losing actual weight. Other times, they are "lifestyle" diets, where I am eating out of the cupboard and packing a lunch to save money or empty out the pantry.

This one is a combination of both: I am trying to drop some poundage while at the same time rack up some extra cash. Christmas is coming fast (as is the company holiday party). Once a week or so, I'll check in here with my successes, failures, ideas, and bitching.

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My biggest problem with diets is the 3:00 hour. I always get hungry at 3:00 or so -- I don't know if it's the after-lunch sugar crash, or a dip in my Circadian rhythms, or what. Since I'm going to be packing my lunch for a little while (at least until I get back into the swing and can better judge what I can and can't eat off the fast food dollar menus), I am trying to plan for that time of day strategically.

Goals for my afternoon snack: no longer be so hungry that anything and everything in the vending machine looks good, including that dusty pack of mixed nuts that has been there since approximately the dawn of time, and also to stay around or under 5 points. (Oh, yeah, I'm doing a sort of modified Weight Watchers, using online tools to calculate points, plus dragging some old guides out of the dingy heretofore uncharted recesses of my bookshelves.)

Here is what I am eating for my 3:00 snack today:

• Town House wheat crackers x5
• Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese x1 wedge
• Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh cracked pepper shaved turkey x3 slices
• Green seedless grapes x½ cup

I'm going to plate this up nicely and have it with some iced tea. A nice balance of carbs, fat, and protein to help me make it until dinnertime. That snack is 4 points. It's small, but surprisingly satisfying.

And because I am an amateur foodie, and also a nice person dammit, let me offer the following alternatives instead: red seedless grapes or ½ cup cantaloupe or honeydew cubes instead of green grapes; shaved ham (if you use a very low fat lunchmeat variety) instead of turkey; light garlic and herb or French onion cheese wedge (if you don't have an important client meeting) instead of the Swiss flavor; nine honey-wheat flavored Club Snack Sticks crackers instead of the Town House.

If you have points to spare and want to "bulk" this up, you can have 6 slices of turkey, or switch to a full-fat wedge of Laughing Cow original, or add a packet of Lipton Spring Vegetable cup-a-soup, for an extra point each. If you need to cut points, eliminate the cheese or the turkey for a 1-point savings.

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Disclosure: I am not being paid to advertise any products. I recommend these particular brands because I already have them in my cabinets, and I know the point values for them. If you like something else, or have a suggestion, let me know!

2010 Cupcake Calendar: June

Some pictures previously blogged here.

So, apparently I am a "grid" scrapper -- everything is pretty much squarish. I think I am okay with that. I keep trying to add more layers, more "stuff," but (especially for this application) it seems so busy if I have more than a couple of layers. I've decided that I want to focus on the pictures, not the fancy designing, when I am making the calendars.

Good think I learned how to work that camera.

EDITED @ 8:02 pm -- picture size.

EDITED 11/03/09: Compared to other months' pages, these pictures are too big. I'm going to be adjusting the sizing and reposting at a later date.

2010 Cupcake Calendar: July

Some pictures previously blogged here and here.

I got on some kind of roll last night, and ended up putting together two pages. (Like I might have said before: feast or famine, people.) I'm not quite as confident about this July page as I am about the August page, but then again, I like it in different ways and for different reasons. I'm at about 95% confidence, so I think I'm going to keep it, but I can be convinced otherwise if you think I should make changes.

2010 Cupcake Calendar: August

Some photos previously blogged here.

Since I started this digital scrapbooking experiment, I have started and abandoned way more projects than I ever finished -- I would guess that I begin at least four pages for every one that I actually complete. Sometimes, it's lack of inspiration, or maybe I can't get everything to turn out the way I pictured it, or perhaps I'm just not as good or as patient or as creative as I thought.

This page, though? This is what I had in mind when I took up this hobby. The pictures are a great foundation, I think -- and even though I bitched about it at the time, sort of, the Anniversary Camera turned out to be absolutely invaluable to me -- and once I found the background paper, this layout virtually assembled itself.

I hope I can manage to get the rest of the 2010 Cupcake Calendar pages to look this good. (And I have to get to work on the Combo Calendar ... oh my head.)

Manicotti Ravioli Lasagna

I made this ... thing ... for dinner yesterday and I'm still not sure what to call it. It was supposed to be a sort of rustic manicotti type thing, but it looked like more of a ravioli, and it totally tasted like a lasagna. In whatever case, it was good, and we'll be having leftovers for dinner. And since I hate leftovers and try to avoid them whenever possible, that is saying something.

Also: this is probably a bit "unusual" in the ingredient selection, but I was trying to make the filling with only two ingredients at first. It didn't work out quite like I had planned. Still turned out delicious with the adjustments, though. (You could probably use plain chopped spinach if you wanted to in this recipe.)

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MANICOTTI RAVIOLI LASAGNA
Makes 16 stuffed noodles (about 5 servings)
Prep time: 30 minutes. Cook time: 45 minutes.

8 lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
10 ounce package creamed spinach
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 egg
pasta sauce, to taste (will need at least ½ cup)

• Boil a large pot of salted water (add olive oil, if desired).
• Cook lasagna noodles until done.
• Drain and cool until they are able to be handled.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°F.
• Combine ricotta cheese, creamed spinach, ½ cup mozzarella, seasoning, and egg.
• Stir until well-combined.
• Cover the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish with ¼ cup pasta sauce and set aside.
• Cut noodles in half width-wise (to get two noodles about 5" long).
• Place a heaping tablespoon of ricotta mixture in the center of each noodle.
• Fold noodle to make an approximate "ravioli."
• Repeat to make 16 finished "ravioli."
  
• Arrange stuffed noodles in prepared pan -- if you put them in so the ruffled edges face the long way in the pan, you should be able to fit 16 finished "ravioli" in the pan with no overlaps and no gaps.
• Spread finished noodles with sauce (I used about 1 cup) and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Cover pan tightly with foil and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is browned.
• Let sit about 10 minutes before serving with salad and crusty bread.

Possible January Calendar Page

... but I just don't know. It looks ... amateur, no? I mean, the kids are adorable, but the crafting is ... not so much. At least I'm getting back into it, anyway.

Crafty Girls' Night Out 8/20: Bead Class

A group of us ladies at work go out from time to time and do some "art projects" -- we're trying different stuff, because everybody's got their something. Back in June we did a ceramics class, where I made my sister a tea-for-one set that I gave her as a shower gift. This time, we took a class on making beaded necklaces and bracelets at The Potomac Bead Company in Phoenixville.

I admit, I'm not much of a jewelry person, but I do like to work with my hands, and I do like pretty things. Going in, I knew I wasn't going to make anything for myself, but I was thinking about potential Christmas presents. It's always nice to keep your options open, you know? So I decided to start with a matching necklace and bracelet for Shae.

Funny thing: even when I'm not sure what I want to do, I still have ideas in my head. I was thinking about making a cute little rainbow bracelet, with different colored beads or crystals. Except that the materials don't come that way, which I didn't know when I walked through the door. (Research, dammit: look into it!) So I thought I would do something yellow, maybe with ladybugs, but I didn't really find anything that tickled my fancy (or my wallet -- lots of the beads the store had available were stunning, but I wanted to do something lower-end to start with, in case I turned out to be completely inept).

What I ended up with was this color pallette.

I know, I know -- pink. But there's green in there, too, and some cream and coral. My original raw materials for this project were:

• 8mm candy jade beads, 16" strand
  
• Czech glass beads (flat green ovals and pink diamond cubes), 8" strand each
  
• Pink calcite stars and butterflies, 3 each
• Chrysoprase stars and butterflies, 3 each
• 8mm copper beads, one bag of 20
• Small magnetic copper clasps (x2)

I can't really get into the ins-and-outs of the creative process, because there really isn't one -- basically, you lay the beads out on the little measuring board they give you, so you know everything will be long enough, and then you arrange everything, and then string 'em up -- but here is a (not very good) picture of the finished product.

The good news: Shae likes both pieces. She said the necklace makes her feel pretty. But the bad news is that the bracelet is too small and will need to be restrung. That's a blessing in disguise, though, because when the bracelet was originally tied, I wasn't sure how I felt about the lack of "symmetry" -- I think the butterflies and the stars should be alternating. Also, I want to add a clasp to the bracelet, to make it feel more "grown up."

Didn't use everything I originally picked up. The strand of pink beads was returned uncut, and I only used two pink stars and two green butterflies by the time I was done. Including the cost of the class ($12), the entire project cost $34. More than I would have liked to spend (I wanted to keep it under $25, for this first time, anyway), but not unreasonable, I don't think. And next time I am definitely going to make something in yellow, and possibly millefiori beads.

I have a couple of pictures of Shae modeling the necklace but I want to try again when she is in clothes and not pajamas, so hopefully I will have an update soon.