What to do with all of those apples?

I love fall! As a native Floridian I always anticipate the changing of seasons here in South Carolina. Fall is a favorite of mine. The temperature drops a few degrees, chunky sweaters and peacoat jackets come out of the closet; and you can catch a waft of nutmeg, pumpkin and apple coming from the kitchen. Sounds enticing and cozy, doesn't it? Well a few weeks ago, Houston and I went up to North Carolina to my family's mountain house. We bought some bushels of apples, and it was way more than I actually needed. So, here we arrive at the topic of my post. What to do with all of those apples? I gave some away to very happy recipients, but I still had a bushel to myself. I've been quite regular, to say the least. : ) Since one of my new hobbies is baking, I thought I'd marry the two to come up with these fabulous muffins. I woke up around 7 a.m. to bake them for breakfast, and it made the house smell delightful. I took one to Houston in bed and he was quick to reciprocate with a groggy "mmmmmm." Of course, I substitute everything that calls for sugar or brown sugar with Splenda and you can't tell a bit of difference. Since the muffins turned out so nicely, I think I'll make another batch and take them to work with me tomorrow.

Yee-Haw

Every year, Houston's Granny throws a barn party the weekend after Labor Day weekend. Well, this year it was postponed because Granny is a hairdresser and had to go to a hair show. She is sooo precious! She's spry, as Houston puts it. Today is my cheat day for my diet, and the barn party made cheating easy. Granny is an awesome cook and there were TONS of delicious desserts. I didn't have my camera on me today, but I have some cute shots from last year.

Here's Granny with John Paul. She's a wild one. Look at her on that motorcycle!! Love it!

John Paul's sister, Lydia. She's so shy. I'm surprised I could actually get close enough to take a picture. : )

The barn party entails a good cookout and a good bluegrass band. Nothing beats a bunch of country men jamming out. I'll let this be my parting shot.

XOXO Kat

Budgets

Since I've been married, one thing I've learned in great detail about is learning how to make a budget. I pride myself on the fact that I lived for nearly two years on my own before I married. I was the first woman in my family to not get married while still in college. Without much money I made things work. I even invested in a 401k my first year. So, in a sense, I had money to spare. I never actually wrote/typed out a budget; I just knew when I could and could not spend money. Today I have to run to Greenville to pick up our sugar bowl for our everyday China that I ordered. Naturally I want to indulge and buy something for myself. Houston has made out the budget, and we have no money for indulgences. : ( Luckily, I remembered I have a gift card for Dillards!! I say all of this to make a point. Yes, weight loss comes down to one simple factor - calories in, calories out. It's kind of like making a day-to-day budget for our body, no? Well, there are some events coming up for the month of October and I know I want to save up for those. It's nice to go to an event and have a glass of champagne or eat a piece of cake. It's fine and it's perfectly OK to do that. I think we should allow ourselves to indulge from time to time. So, I'm being really good and eating properly until then. By that time, I will have worked so hard that I'll be less inclined to really blow it and binge. I think it's healthy to practice delayed gratification. Everything comes so fast these days! Let's delay our pleasure and really appreciate the things we work for when we genuinely earn them.

The Verdict

I have never made a cheesecake before and the whole time I was concerned if I was doing things properly and if it was going to turn out OK. I also didn't realize how long a cheesecake had to bake! Well, I put the cheesecake in the oven around 8 p.m. and let it cook for an hour. After an hour, it still wasn't done, so I let it bake for another 30 minutes. It was perfect! But sadly it didn't look like my sweet tooth was going to be satiated last night. It had to completely chill. Boo! No worries though, I woke my happy butt up this morning and had myself a piece. It was a great start to my day. : )

Low-carb cheesecake

I've been trying to watch my carbs, but I have a BIG sweet tooth! So, I've been forced to be creative in my cooking. I found this recipe for a low-carb cheesecake and I'm gonna try it. It calls for almond meal for the crust. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any at the store. So, I'm going to try to make it with whole ground flax seed meal. Cross your fingers people because I need something sweet tonight. If you want to try it for yourself, you can find the recipe here. Let me know how it turns out if you do end up making one too.

Fat Suit

No, this isn't some post about how I know there's a skinny girl crying inside just waiting to get out! It's reported the Renee Zellweger will wear a fat suit to play Bridget Jones in the new movie. Smart idea. I hear yo-yo dieting is really bad for you. I think she looks good both ways though. She has killer legs!!

First Post-past and present

So, here's the deal....

I'm starting a blog (obvious) and it's going to be all about changes in the past, present and future. So where did this idea come from? Glad you asked! Firstly, I need to give a shout out to friend and awesome photographer, Helen Joy George. In search of doing something creative, she suggested a blog. Another reason this blog got started was because of the summer of 2005. It was the summer after my sophomore year of college, and I was going crazy. CRAZY I TELL YOU!! : ) Where do all kids go when they're hurt and feeling a little defeated? Running home to mommy. I have no shame in admitting this. But in my defense, I needed someplace solid for the changes which were about to spring forth. I had gained sooo much weight. I was depressed, and I just did not know what to do with myself. So, here I am. A fat college student who has run home to mommy for answers and consoling. What I was about to find out was that I had the ability to change all along. I became a secretary at a funeral home for the summer (funny stories to follow in later posts) and I also took up jogging and swimming. The folks reside in Florida, so swimming was my treat after jogging. Well, the pounds started to shed my friends. It was wonderful. I mean my confidence was insanely high. I also started eating a tad more healthily. No more late night binges of Lou and Perry's, only the best truck stop in the world, with the greasiest food. If your ticket doesn't have grease on it, then you don't have to pay - your ticket will always have grease on it, trust me. So, flash forward about four years. I'm around 50 pounds lighter. Big problemo though....I've hit the ever dreaded plateau. Ahhhhh!!!!!! Can't drop a pound even if I cut off an arm. So, I'm going to start this blog to keep myself in check. If I know you're reading it then I might feel some sort of accountability at trying to lose the weight and trying to keep it all off. I'm going to have my first weigh in tomorrow morning. I won't tell everyone how much I weigh, just the amount that I've lost. So, here's my conviction for those of you reading. Ask me how I'm doing. Encourage me. Pray for me. Give me tips!!! OK, more to come. The hubby wants me to bed. Get out of the gutter already!!

XOXO Kat