Saturday November 26th

Good morning everybody!  I hope everyone had a really nice Thanksgiving!  Here is a little picture of my family as we sat down to dinner.  As you can see someone put a roll on my plate as a joke (they know I stay away from carbs), I passed it to my son after I sat down!  Those are most of my boys on the right and on the left is my brother and his wife and daughter.  You can't see my parents and husband at the other end of the table.  I was very happy to have everyone over.  My parents stayed the night so that my dad could do a little black friday shopping with my husband.  Jack went out at 5:00 in the morning and then came back, had breakfest and took my Dad out about 11:00 in the morning.  To be honest there was nothing out there that I felt the need to get up early and stand in line to get.  I didn't see any great deals.  My husband came home with some gadgets from Home Depot (his home away from home) and also fourteen of the 98 cent poinsettas!  I guess it's time to start decorating for Christmas.  I liked seeing my parents but they can sometimes be VERY draining!  I was actually pretty happy to see them off at about 4:00 on Friday! 

I thought I did pretty well for the holiday.  I didn't even get any of the stuffing that I was planning on having a couple spoonfuls of, but I guess that was better for me.  I ended up eating only turkey, brussel sprouts, green beans with almonds, and cauliflower gratin.  One thing I did overdo was the red wine.  I had more than the two glasses that we are allowed!   I finally weighed myself this morning and was up 1 lb.   That happens sometimes anyway so I don't think it's going to be a big problem. 

I did want to mention that I made Diana's Pumpkin Cheesecake that she had posted and it came out great!  My husband LOVED it and my boys have been into it a lot also (after the regular pumpkin, and pecan pies were gone of course).  It is very light and fluffy and not too sweet from the Truvia.

It's been such a hectic, busy week that today I'm kicking back, catching up and relaxing a bit before I start getting into Christmas mode!  Hope you all have a very nice weekend!  I'm off to read blogs!

Monday November 21

Good Morning!  Thanksgiving week has arrived.  It is a rainy, foggy day here in Maryland but the temperature is up to about 57 degrees.  I am off today to the grocery store to buy all my ingredients for Thanksgiving Day.  I have my turkey thawing out in the refrigerator already but wanted to wait to get fresh vegetables.  Tomorrow is pie making day.  I'm making a regular pumpkin pie, a chocolate pecan pie, and a BFC friendly pumpkin cheesecake.  I think that should keep everyone happy.  In the late morning of  "pie making day" I have to pick my son up from college and bring him home.  Wednesday I will clean the house and get everything ready for overnight guests.  Unfortunately my husband has still not finished the window install project.  He is down to sanding down the drywall mud (yeah, dust everywhere!!) and then painting.  Nothing like adding just a hint of stress to the holidays.

Over the weekend three of my sons and I went to a train expo at our local agricultural center.  I LOVE minature train sets and so do they!  The expo had a few train gardens set up but mainly they just had train enthusiasts buying and selling trains, parts and accessories.   I always set up a train under our Christmas tree complete with a little Christmas village.  Last year our train engine was having trouble so we were looking to find a replacement.  I am telling you that the people that are really collectors and train enthusiasts must have a lot of money, because the stuff was expensive!  We had fun going through all the rooms and looking at the vintage pieces, but we did not find a replacement.   My one son said that the train expo had the most old men he has every seen gathered together in one location!  I think I was one of the only females walking around in there.  It was still a fun day!

I wanted to tell everyone that I tried Jeri's recipes for the orange pound cake and for the spicy almond crackers, found here Orange Pound Cake Muffins and here Spicy Almond Crackers. Both of these recipes are really good!  I didn't have any orange extract or real oranges so I made my muffins with maple extract and a little more truvia than in her recipe. They were the best muffins yet in my opinion.  Tasted like the real deal!  The spice almond crackers were also delicious and make a very nice snack.  I broke mine up and put them in a little tupperware container and they lasted about a week.  I think I might make a batch as a BFC friendly snack for Thanksgiving, and maybe sprinkle some shelled pumpkin seeds on top.

I've gotten some really good ideas and recipes from these blogs!  It has been really helpful in keeping this diet interesting!  Hope everyone has a great week!

Sunday November 6

Thank you all for sharing where you are from!  I really enjoyed seeing how spread out we are across the country!  A nice little concentration up in the North West.  I've never been that far across the country and find it so interesting to hear about what its like there and everywhere else!

So it sounds like this week everyone is getting a bit down.  I think it might have something to do with the upcoming holidays.  It's that time of the year where we eat, drink and be merry and here we all are on a "no sugar - low carb" diet (or some variation)!  It sort of puts a damper on the festivities and the joy of eating to our hearts content!   My husband just told me that he would like to drop another five pounds before Thanksgiving so that he could put it back on over the holiday!   No!  We shouldn't be thinking that way!  We should be thinking about what delicious dishes we can serve and eat that will enable us to enjoy the holidays and not feel deprived!  I've been working on my menu keeping in mind that while my husband and I are doing the BFC plan no one else coming will want to be "restricted".  My menu is still a work in progress but so far I've come up with this:

Turkey with fresh herb butter basted under its skin
Traditional bread stuffing (that I will try to stay away from,but I have to have or my father probably wouldn't come, lol!)
Spinach salad
Mashed potatoes and gray (for guests)
Corn pudding (my mom's recipe - for guests)
Roasted brussel sprouts(my new favorite veggie - they taste so good roasted with bit of parm cheese & olive oil!)
Green beans w/ almonds or the cheesy baked cauliflower that Pattie had on her blog way back when.

Desert:
Traditional Pumpkin Pie
Traditional Apple Pie
BFC Pumpkin pie with an almond crust
Real Whipped Cream sweetened with stevia for all!

See, this will give me and my husband a plate of herb roasted turkey, brussel sprouts, green beans (or cauliflower), & spinach salad!  Plus a nice piece of bfc friendly pie and whipped cream for desert!  See no feeling deprived over here!

Now Christmas will be another matter!  To quote Scarlett, "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow"