Beach in three days!

We are leaving for our weeks vacation in the Outer Banks, NC this Sunday.  Why is it that when I'm going on vacation I make so much work for myself the week before.  I wish I could just pick up and go and not do anything to get ready, but I guess than I'd be a man,or a kid, or rich,  lol!   The beginning of the week I snuck in a day at the lake with the boys and their girlfriends.  I'm starting to feel like a third wheel around them these days but oh well, I just did a little swimming and read my book - very relaxing.  The next day I went in to high gear shopping for groceries for vacation week.  Then yesterday I spent the day cooking most of the food I bought for make ahead beach meals.  I like to have a bunch of stuff ready and frozen so that during beach week I don't have to put too much effort into the meals - you know, anything I can do to be able to just relax while I'm there.  This vacation I'm feeding my four grown boys, one girlfriend, my husband and my parents. I made a big batch of homemade (sugar-free) spaghetti sauce and a big batch of meatballs.  I froze it and will just throw it in a pot one night and make a batch of WW pasta for those eating it.  (I'll just have the meatballs, sauce, cheese and a salad).  For another night I cut up a ton of chicken and made a marinade that I poured over top and then froze that as well.  This will be for kabobs on the grill with fresh veggies.  Our other meals are going to be steaks on the grill with veggies, and hamburgers on the grill with veggies. One night we'll cook shrimp on the grill, and one night take home pizza (one piece for me with a salad), and one night out to dinner. We bought one of those Coleman portable grills to take down with us and also to use when we go camping or go to the lake for the day.  It's pretty nice and runs on a propane canister.  I'm planning three meals around it!

I also made a big batch of regular cookies for the sugar eaters and a batch of protein bites for us sugar free people.  I froze both batches and hope they will stay solid in the cooler on the five hour trip down.
Today I spent the day washing clothes and cleaning up my house.  I'm weird in that I like to get the house all clean before I go on vacation so that when I come back with all my stuff to unpack at least the house looks welcoming.  I think I got that from my mother.  We are renting a house and I have to bring all the linens and towels and toiletries with us.  Tomorrow I'm gathering up all the sheets, towels, boogie boards, beach chairs, umbrellas and stuff to get ready to load in the car.  Plus I still have to pack all my clothes and bathroom stuff, and Saturday I will pack all the food.  Whew!  Vacations are a lot of work!! For all that work I should really be staying a month, not a week!   Hopefully it will all be worth it once we are down there.  The Outer Banks really are beautiful.  I heard a rumor that Guy Fiera from Food Network is supposed to be there this week.  If I run into him I'll let you know.  I don't know how that guy is still alive with what he eats!
Last year at this same time when I went down to the beach I weighed 172 lbs.  This year I weigh 159 lbs.  I am truly happy to be down in weight, but now that I'm thinking about it, it really is only 13 lbs down in one year.  I lost my first 25 lbs in the first 4 months on the diet. I've been eating this way for one year and almost 4 months!  That's truly the longest I've ever lasted on any diet.  I say it's slow going but at least it's going. I still have 9 more pounds to go to be at my goal of 150 lbs.  It's just hard to get the last pounds off.

So, I'm going to be good with my eating while I'm gone, but when I get back I'm really going to crack down and get these last 9 lbs off!!  I want to get to my goal, it's just taking forever, but like Scarlett, I will think about that tomorrow.  Today I'm thinking about this:

 Hope everyone has a great week while I'm gone, and I'll catch up when I get back!

Birthday Cake

Hi everyone!  Yesterday was my husband's 51st birthday.  He is three months younger than me so I always kid him about me being the "older" women in his life!  The boys and I took him out to The Outback Restaurant for his birthday dinner.  It was a nice time.  No girlfriends this time just us and our boys. That's nice every once in awhile, isn't it?  We met at the restaurant close to my oldest son's apartment so he would be able to join us after he got off work.  The only temptation at the Outback for me is that darn Blooming Onion!  I took a few sections of it and it really made me want the whole thing!  Luckily I was able to resist...but just barely! One good thing about having boys is they scarf everything down so quickly it gets rid of temptations!   Dinner was easy with the Ceasar salad and grilled shrimp on top.  Yum!
During the day I made my husband a sugar-free chocolate cake with chocolate icing!  It came out really nice and tasted great!   This is one of those "the secret is black beans" cakes, but you would NEVER know while eating it. Even though it's "healthy" I still only had one piece.

I found the recipe over on Healthy Indulgences blog.  If anyone is interested you can find it here: http://www.healthyindulgences.net/2009/05/healthy-chocolate-cake-with-secret.html

We leave for the Outerbanks in a week.  This year we taking all the boys (of course), my oldest son's girlfriend, my older dog Marley, and the new puppy (Mabel) and as an added twist this year...my parents.  I love my parents but they are getting grumpy in their older age and bicker constantly with each other.  My brother and his family are also going down for the week like usual but they get a separate beach house.  My brother's wife and my mother have a hard time getting along, so I hope this whole trip will still be nice and relaxing for me and I won't have to the peacekeeper for everyone while we are there! That might be wishful thinking, fingers crossed!

Taking Mabel will also be a little bit of a trial.  I almost had her completely house trained and then she got a UTI (urinary tract infection).  She was peeing everywhere again and couldn't make it thru the night.  I had to get up at 3:00 in the morning to let her out of her crate.  Good grief!!  I took her to the vet and got antibiotics for her which seem to be doing the trick.  I also read that Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with a little plain yogurt also gets rid of the bacteria - so I've been giving her a dose of that once a day also.   Seems to be working.  Apparently this Apple Cider Vinegar (the one with "the mother" in it) is supposed to be great for ALL of us.  It's claimed to help with diabetes, high blood pressure, skin blemishes, digestion, bladder infections and tons more.  All you need is a tsp or two a day, which you can mix with water and a little stevia to get it down.  So many of you are so much more knowledgeable in nutrition than I am.  What do you think about ACV?  Do any of you take it?  Just wondering since it seems to be so good for you, I'm thinking about trying it myself to see if does anything wonderful for me. 

Well that's about it for this week.  All my boys are going tubing today in Harpers Ferry, and tonight we are all going to the fireworks that are displayed at our local Fireman's carnival.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

July!

We had such a wonderful time on our little two day excursion to
Lancaster/Hershey!  It was hot as blazes (about 100 degrees each day) but it didn't stop us from shopping at the little craft stores and farmers markets in the area.  On Wednesday night we went to Carrabbas for dinner and I had the chicken stuffed with smoked cheese and substituted the sauteed zucchini for the pasta.  So good!  We decided to go see a movie that night in downtown Lancaster and opted for "Snow White and the Huntsman".  It wasn't too bad, and was fun for a night out.   The next day we traveled up to Hershey and met my parents that had driven up from West Virginia.  We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and I got the chicken marsala with veggies.  Afterwards we went to the the theater and saw Mamma Mia.  If you guys get a chance to see it while it is touring  DO IT!   I thought it was fantastic!!  I've been singing all the ABBA songs ever since!

My mother and I before the show.  You can see Hershey amusement park in the background

So now we are back and getting ready for the 4th of July.  Turns out only my parents and one brother and his family are coming.   My other brother (that has five kids) had one of his kids call and leave a message that they won't be able to make it - no reason given.  Don't know why my brother or his wife couldn't call me themselves, but this is the way they are and I'm kind of used to it.   Brushing off the irritation and concentrating on having fun of the 4th.  I think we'll be having:

Deviled Eggs
Marinaded chicken kebobs
hamburgers
baked beans (for the non BFC'ers - which is everyone but me and husband)
Greek chopped salad
fresh veggies and dip

Desert:  I'll make the chocolate protein bars and regular brownies with red/white/blue sprinkles for sugar people

We bought some fireworks in Pennsylvania.  If you're from out of state you have to register with a State Trooper, photo copy your ID and sign a paper swearing you will not set off the fireworks in Pennsylvania.  Funny.  We just got some sparklers and a couple boxes of fireworks that go up about thirty feet and explode.  My husband wanted to buy everything in the store, but luckily I got him out before that happened.

What are you guys doing for the 4th?  What about your menus?  Always looking for great food ideas.  What ever it is I hope you all have a good one!