Heaven on a Low Carb Diet!

So I've been going to the gym 5 days a week and doing a low carb diet, trying to get my butt back in shape. Isn't it so much more fun just to eat what you want when you want *sigh*. Anyway....as anyone knows going on a low carb diet means no more pasta....or bread....or potatoes.

Now I can do the mashed cauliflower potatoes just fine or cauliflower rice but boy have I missed pasta! So I did some heavy researching on that matter and found Miracle Noodles, -1 carb, 0 calories, 0 fat. WHAT you say?! YES.....I was just as excited!!!!

I love fettuccine alfredo so I just had to figure out a way to make this fit into my diet plan! So tonight I made my Miracle Noodles, added a bit of chicken broth, some swiss laughing cow cheese, cheddar cheese, turkey bacon and grilled chicken thighs, added a bit of garlic powder and salt and pepper and BAM! Just like that I had me some creamy, fettuccine alfredo.

The Recipe:
When you open the package of noodles it smells fishy (don't let this deter you)....just dump them in your colander and rinse really good in cool water. Then put them in boiling water and boil for a couple of minutes. Put them back in the colander and rinse. Then put them in your frying pan (no oil) and cook the water out of them (takes about 5-7 minutes or so). Add a little chicken broth, a couple wedges of swiss laughing cow cheese, a cut up grilled chicken thigh (breast whatever you like) about 4 pieces of cooked turkey bacon crumbled, 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese, some garlic powder, salt and pepper. I would've added mushrooms and green onions if I had them.
Makes 2 servings

*Angels singing*....................YUM!

*Approximately per serving*
250 calories
2 carbs
18 fat

Now for the bad part.......I read that the noodles are high in fiber.........so time will only tell how the winds will blow on that one! (See what I did there) LOL

For now.....I'm just going to enjoy the fact that I got my fettuccine and it tasted sooooo fattening aka good!

It's a busy month in the nannyhood!

It's been busy around the nannyhood. Seems like for the past month or so we've been going non-stop. I try to get in a couple of miles of fast walking/jogging on workday mornings so my days start at around 5:40 a.m. Add to that a full time job, so many hours of necessary training to keep up my professional license, end of month and end of fiscal year reports, grandkids out of school for the summer and wanting to spend some time at nanny's house, and full blown canning season. Oh and I forgot to mention we moved my mother-in-law in to a new house and she has a LOT of stuff! Whew! That made me tired just typing all that.

I've gotten on a canning kick lately and am trying to stock what seems like a years worth of food in a couple of months. I've canned dill pickles, spicy pickles, bread and butter pickles, sweet potatoes, peaches, peach jelly, stewed tomatoes, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and salsa Plus I put up quite a bit of squash and green beans in the freezer. I still want to try canning chili, stew and chicken pot pie filling to make those quick winter meals. But that will just have to wait until things slow down just a little bit.

Oh....I almost forgot.....we're in the middle of remodeling our bedroom too. So my brain is dancing all over the place. Check back for updates on the remodel. I can hardly wait to get it done. I'm still on the search for the perfect bathroom door. I'm kind of very opinionated that way.

If the zombies start heading this way at least  I know my family will have food for a little while. LOL

Home made spaghetti sauce....trust me it's amazing!

I've been doing a lot....and I mean a LOT of canning lately. Our tomatoes did nicely this year and I don't want even one to go to waste so I've searched all kinds of recipes to can tomatoes. I came across this recipe http://aquietlifeacademy.blogspot.com/2011/07/homemade-prego-spaghetti-sauce.html for home made spaghetti sauce and it hit the spot! It tastes like Prego but fresher! It's fairly easy to make. I made it with mostly cherry tomatoes 😲! You can freeze it or pressure can it for later use. It made 3 1/2 quarts. It's thick and full of flavor. So whether you're planning to make it for a get together or store it for later use....it's definitely worth it! And yes.....it does take 28 oz of tomato paste just like the recipe calls for. Try it out.....you won't be sorry!

Vandalism in the Nannyhood

This morning started off as normal. The hubby and I rushing around to get out the door on time for work, with the dog  my little sweet baby following me around from room to room. Now it has always just been an understanding that the last person out the door puts the "baby" in his kennel, and the last one out the door is usually the hubby.

Well.....the hubby forgot in all of his rushing this morning and left the "baby" out to roam around the house free and unsupervised. AND we had someone coming by to do some work inside the house for us today. AND the "baby" thinks he a 200 pound attack dog.

When I walked through the door this afternoon and saw the "baby" roaming around free I knew the first thing to do was check on the guy doing the work....you know....to see if he had been attacked. Well turns out the "baby" only shows off when his parents are home. He had been perfectly fine all day with this guy until we got home then he decided he was that 200 pound attack dog and started barking at him like he'd never seen him before! Nice try baby, nice try.

Next thing to do was to look for my flip flops. For some reason he likes to chew the strap off of just one, and only if we're gone. Well I found my flip flops and sure enough.....one of the straps was chewed in half......and only on one of the shoes.

Guess I can't complain too much, there were other shoes that weren't touched and he did choose the cheapest thing in the house to chew up.

Good thing he's so cute!

Homemade Tomato Soup.....You'll never go back

We are getting an abundance of tomatoes around here right now and I love to can them for use in the winter months for chili, stew etc. I came across this recipe http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/2009/03/classic-tomato-soup.html for homemade tomato soup about a year ago and thought what the heck.....let's try it. Well let me tell you......it was so good it never made it to the winter months, we ate it all up.

So this year, I'm making enough soup to last through the winter (if I can keep my hubby  myself out of it). Once you try this soup there will be no other tomato soup that compares and the store bought stuff just won't cut it anymore.....just a fair warning.

It calls for butter and flour so if I make it that way I obviously don't can it, I freeze it instead. I have made this numerous times and haven't used the butter or flour. It's a little on the thin side when you do that but tastes amazing.

If you love tomato soup.....GO TRY IT.....what are you waiting for?! Your tummy will thank you!

Conversations with a 5 year old

The other day after work I went to pick up Miss Ellee to spend some one on one time with her because it's hard to get spoiled when there are 8 kids all fighting for attention. Shortly after we got home Papa decided that we all needed snow cones so Ellee and I decided we would go pick them up.

Ellee's parents just rented a new house and are getting ready to move so I asked her if she was excited about moving. You just have to know Ellee to know how dramatic she is about everything. So just picture this tiny little person with a huge personality talking with her hands and trying to sound so grown up.

Now that you have the mental picture of what she looks like while talking, our conversation went something like this:

Nanny: Are you excited about your new house?
Ellee: Oh my gosh YES! It is just perfect for our family. It has rooms and closets and a huge living room! The kitchen is kind of small, but that's okay.
Nanny: So do you think you'll like living there?
Ellee: Well....yes, but I'll kind of miss my old house a little bit. I know that's sounds silly but I really will miss it a little bit.
Nanny: That doesn't sound silly at all. Nanny has lived in the same house for a long long time and if I moved, I would miss my old house.
Ellee: You thought about  moving?
Nanny: Yes, I would like to live in the country.
Ellee: With Papa?
Nanny: Yes, if I move, I'll take Papa with me.
Ellee: Oh okay good.

Talking to this child is like talking to a mini adult. I used to love to get those conversations on video, but she got wiser and doesn't like me videoing while we're talking, so I'll just have to try to remember to write these conversations down and give the best mental picture I can. Moments to cherish are never short when spending time with her! 

When threenagers FaceTime

Tonight I was in the kitchen preparing and putting up a bounty of fresh squash and green beans from our garden when my phone rang so I asked my husband to answer it. It was a FaceTime call from our sweet little opinionated threenager.

She and her momma went to Texas to spend some time with daddy who is working out on the road and we miss her/them terribly. We're used to getting to see her at least 2 or 3 times a week since they live right down the road. I had called her earlier on my way home from work and the only thing she would say to me was "Nanny, I need you come cuddle me". This was a clue that she had gotten in trouble and wanted Nanny to come rescue her. Even though I knew she was just fine, it hurt my heart to tell her I couldn't because they are 8 hours away, and I knew she wouldn't understand why her Nanny couldn't come love on her like I normally do when she calls me and tells me she needs me to come cuddle her.

Anyway.....back to the story of this phone call. I fully expected to hide from "munsters" under a blankie with her on this FaceTime call as we normally do and we eventually did. But the first thing I heard when Papa answered the phone was a tiny little voice, ever so quietly telling him, "Papa, you need come get me, momma's scary". And then her momma in the background cracking up laughing and asking her what she said again. This little girl is full of attitude and comes up with the most random things to get you right in the heart! We figured out that she just didn't want to go to bed and wanted us to come "save" her.

We later hid from Papa's "munster" that looked like a "inja turtle" and the tickle bug and gave her kisses and off to bed she went with a sad face because we couldn't come "save" her from her "scary momma".