Itty Bitty Hooves

Diet Aides

There are so many diet aides on the market today that it can get really confusing. You have to know the difference between fat blockers, carb blockers, metabolism boosters, and just plain old appetite surpressants. Metabolism boosters like 7 keto are the products most often turned to especially with woman my age since our bodies natural metabolism is slowing. A fast metabolism is important in burning the fat that is stored by our bodies. Knowing your BMR (basal metabolic rate) which is the amount of calories a day your body will burn even if you never get out of bed is vital. That is the number you need to use to calculate how much you can eat during a day and still lose weight. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to subtract 500 calories a day from your BMR. That gets tough as you age and your metabolism slows down. With products that boost your metabolism you can eat a balanced diet and still be under your BMR by 500 calories or more. Study the products you are interested in, and consult your doctor as you undertake any diet plan. Remember that changing your lifestyle and eating healthy and exercising are the only ways to permanently lose the weight, all the supplements can aide and assist you in getting there quicker.

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

Being a homestead rather than simply a ranch/farm we try to be as eco friendly as possible and buy eco products that suit the purpose while being good to the planet at the same time. My hubby would love to be totally ‘off-grid’ and holistic but I’m not sure I’m ready for that route. I like some of the convieniences. I’ve found it’s possible to really be sensible and buy things that are made in a responsible way so as to cause as little damage as possible while still enjoying the benefits of technology. I think there has to be middle ground. I do know of people that live ‘totally green’ but on the whole I don’t know that society is ready for such a complete backturn to our way of lives. What would I do without my computer?

What Do You Crave?

There’s an old saying that ‘an army travels on its stomach’. If that’s true I am like the Swiss Army. I travel on chocolate. There are a lot of people that really crave it all the time, but I mostly just need a chocolate fix once a month. Still, it’s been something I’ve avoided since starting my new lifestyle here. Yesterday I just needed it. I decided to look while I was at the store and see if I couldn’t come up with an alternative to the high calorie sugar packed chocolate foods. I’ve tried chocolate flavored Yoplait Whipped yogurts in the past. That doesn’t do it for me. I’m not fond of the super whipped type of yogurt (tastes too much like fluffy air to me) and the actual taste of chocolate in those just isn’t enough to satisfy my needs when I get hit with those cravings. Not too mention they are rather high in calories as yogurts go.

Of course, actual candy is out. Even if you only eat the very very small amount you might be able to squeeze into a daily calorie allowance it’s loaded with sugar. Same with cakes, cookies, and cereals that are chocolate flavored… so I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about this need for chocolate until I was picking up some of the sugar free jello I usually get. I make that a couple times a week as a desert and for ten calories a serving (you can eat the whole danged prepared package for only 40 calories if you really want) it’s a good no sugar snack that tastes just sinful enough to make a sweet tooth happy. Up until yesterday I really had’t looked at the puddings. I mean, puddings are just out, you know? But I happened to glance at them, longingly as I saw the chocolate box and realized the puddings too have a fat free/sugar free offering. Hum.. maybe.

I read the back and made a quick consideration. One serving (4 to a box) of the generic is about 80 calories prepared with skim milk. Hey, that’s not too bad. Really, it’s even less than most light yogurts and it’s CHOCOLATE. (Name brand Jello fat free/sugar free probably tastes even better but is about 10 calories more per serving, and slightly, but not much, more expensive.)

Okay, I decided to pick up two boxes. When I got home, after having a nice dinner of steamed Tilipia (not sure if I spelled that right, but it’s a DECLICOUS fish) and asparagus, I opened the package of pudding. I went to get the milk out of the fridge and as I stood there contemplating the idea of 80 calories for about a 1/2 cup of pudding I started to think (always dangerous I admit that)… if I made the pudding with water instead of milk it would only be 25 calories for the same amount (according to the package, unprepared chocolate pudding is 25 calories per serving).

I put the milk back and decided to give the idea a try. What could happen? It would suck and I had wasted an 85 cent package of pudding. I still had one package left to make it the right way.

I poured 2 cups of cold water into a bowl and mixed in the pudding.

Okay, it’s NOT pudding. It gets a degree of thick, but it’s more like soupy chocolate. It works for me! LOL It still tastes fine. Not as creamy, true, but it tastes like CHOCOLATE, and it’s only 25 calories. I could eat two servings and still only be eating 50 calories and have a really really nice satisfying way to curb that chocolate craving when I need it. Heck I could really splurge and eat the whole thing for only 100 calories (the same as a light yoplait). I didn’t though. I split the box (50 calories) and gave the other half to my son.

I am even thinking now of trying it using double the water for a chocolate drink next time. Sort of like the old ‘yoohoo’ you could buy (basically chocolate water) but much less calories per glass.

So if you really crave chocolate and don’t want a whole lot of calories, and better yet, no fat or sugar… give it a try. I am really happy with my little discovery.

Fight It Out

You know there are a lot of things that are different when you own your own businesses, but being a small time independant owner and having a huge corporation are completely different animals altogether. When you have a big empire you have to worry about everyone under you and how it all comes together. You also have to keep it from falling apart when someone leaves for whatever reason. You have to have a succession plan. The only thing I have to worry about succession wise is who gets the farm when hubby and I are gone. Both kids want it. I’m not leaving a plan. It’s my final ‘haha’ to them, they can fight it out.

Excuse me, do you have some Grey Poupon?

I have long been a fan of Grey Poupon’s traditional mustard and usually have it in my fridge, so I don’t have to search for random limos to ask for it. Grey Poupon has a richer, heartier flavor that regular yellow mustard. Recently I was sent two jars of Grey Poupon’s new mustards to try and asked to give an honest review of the products.

These two new mustards by Grey Poupon are wonderful new additions to the tradition. The first, ‘Hearty Spicy Brown’ made with yellow onions is a mild, smooth, creamy mustard with a hint of onion that adds a very pleasant taste to sandwiches and I especially loved it on the two fish dishes I made last week. I used it first on Talapia that was steamed and then a light coat of the mustard spread on it, the second was Whitefish also steamed and lightly spread with the mustard. They were just delicious. The second mustard: ‘Harvest Coarse Ground’ is a much much sharper mustard that is best for me when used with stronger meats that can take the heavier flavor of this tangy mustard. It’s brilliant with corned beef, and steaks. I also mixed some of the Coarse Ground with a garden salad oil and it made a very vibrant addition to the steak dinner we enjoyed with this mustard.

Both of these new mustard flavors are terrific additions to the Grey Poupon line.

Building a Place To Build

My husband has always been really into woodworking. He’s driving me nuts right now re-doing our attached garage–that has never housed an automobile in all the years we’ve lived here–into a workshop. It’s been a dream of his for years. He’s got it all cleaned out shoving all of the junk that was in there to begin with into the old falling down back barn we don’t use anymore except that our one goose considers it his ‘home’. He’s put up shelving and a big workbench with a pegboard behind it to organize his hand tools and is now buying all kinds of Delta machinery and other big tools. They look a little intimidating to me but I can’t wait to see the projects he makes. He’s built a lot of things over the years like our bookshelves, a huge wine storage cabinet with a wineglass rack above it, and even a huge terrarium for our ten foot boa constrictor. The snake is no longer with us, but that cabinet terrarium is. He says someday he’s going to get another snake. I hope it takes him as long to do that as it did to start on the workshop project. I liked the snake, but I don’t miss it.

Scared One Day, Friendly the Next

So many friends from over on the homesteading boards are already in full swing with their goats having babies. Seeing all the newborn pictures is driving me insane with wanting to see our kids born. I have a whole month yet before anything even starts to happen here. I should have gotten them bred earlier but it seems like Mickey (our male) had other ideas. At least he got the job done so I’m happy for that, but I’m anxious to join in the look at the new babies fun. I was out there a little while ago to feed. Boy it’s freezing outside today and there is a sleet/rain/snow type of thing coming down. When it hits you it’s like getting stung by hundreds of little pinhead sized bullets. All the girls are in the barn and when I walked up the drive to feed they peeked out of the door instead of running up to the fence to greet me like ‘no way we’re coming out there, it’s FREEZING out’, and waited for me to get to them. They’re nice and warm though, and look like a bunch of expectant watermellons on legs. The two boer cross girls that are over on the barn side have gotten so friendly that they now jump up with their front feet on my chest to greet me. I know a lot of people hate that, but I love it. Sure it can ruin your clothes, but who wears good clothes out to the barn? To me it’s just wonderful considering how scared they were and how long it took to be able to even catch them not to mention pet them. Two of the four we got are still skiddish, but hopefully soon. It seemed to be a light-bulb type of effect on the two that are friendly. One day they were scared, the next they were all over me. Who knows what it takes to make that little bulb go on, but I’ll keep praying for it with the other two.

Space Heating The Cold Away

Burr with the winter chill really set in here, last weeks unseasonable warmth not withstanding, we use kerosene shop heaters designed for in house heating in some of the colder rooms of the house. Our family room is an addition that even though it was connected to the central heat, really doesn’t benefit from it. It’s cold. The space heater makes it comfortable and enjoyable even in the coldest of weather. Our basement is another area that doesn’t handle the cold well with just the central heater. I understand the family room’s problem better, built on a concrete slab, and attached to the house but in such a way that the venting from the CA doesn’t really cover it well. The basement seems like it should be able to use the available central air better but perhaps because it’s under ground, cement block construction with cement floors it just doesn’t. The space heater makes that very large area enjoyable again like it is in the summer months. Since my son often uses that as a big bedroom/living area apartment with it’s seperate entrance it is necessary for it to be warm. Thanks to the space heater it is.

Making Life Harder

I feel like ranting a little bit here. There are several things that are overall important to the health of farm breeding stock whether it’s horses, goats, sheep, whatever especially in certain parts of the country, like here, that are nearly impossible to get unless you go to the vet and pay a huge amount of money for it. Things like bo-se shots (vit b and selenium) and ephinepherine to guard against reactions to vaccinations. I just don’t understand the big deal about either of them although I have found a place to get the ephinepherine (it wasn’t easy either). Neither of these things are something people would use or misuse inappropriately for any reason so why they are so restricted and difficult to come by just makes me angry. I always manage to get it, but it would sure make life easier if it were something that could just be picked up at the farm store, or ordered online like I do the ephinepherine.

Great Way To Get New Glasses

This is a GREAT find. I have needed a new pair of glasses for a long time but the cost has been holding me back. Even with insurance like I finally have now that includes vision it is crazy expensive. I just came across this Great Discovry:$ 8 Prescription Glasses From Zenni Optical. It makes you wonder why frames and glasses are so extremely expensive at the optical stores. Some of those frames alone are in the several hundreds of dollars. I baulk at paying such high prices because I break mine so easily. With all the physical things I do with the animals I usually go through glasses at an alarming rate. The last pair I got were a ‘flex’ frame and that has saved them more times than I can count on one hand but it’s hard to find that type of frame anymore. If I’m going to get a pair of glasses that aren’t like that I can’t afford to spend a fortune on them just to have them get broken in a month.