Scales, Exercise and I'd Rather Be Fat

OK, no I wouldn't rather be fat, but there is nothing more irksome than doing your best to become more active then stepping on the scale and finding that its gone up a few pounds.

Yeah.

Each day this week I've done over the 10,000 steps that Fitbit seems to think we should all do. I know that's not a lot, but I've actually been doing closer to 20,000 steps and one time I even went over 21,000.

When it hasn't been raining I've been taking at least a mile long walk after supper.

The scale could have been nice. It could have gone down a pound.

But no, that would bring me joy and I can't have that.

But I will plug on.

I am determined.

The 5 Kitchen Gadgets That Everyone Should Have

I watch a lot of shows on Food Network, much to my chagrin.

I have always said, I'd like to see some of these uppity cooks do their thing in a real kitchen

My kitchen is small and it has the added feature of having cabinets that are very low, which limits what I can have sitting on my counter space. Today Ree Drummond was making hashbrown waffles in the biggest waffle iron I have ever laid eyes on.

Uh I have a barely used Belgian waffle iron and a Nordicware cast iron, stove top iron.

I think there are about 5 gadgets that should be in every kitchen whether they are for cooking or prep.

1. A Crock Pot: The size depends on how many people you have in your household. I have a small 4 qt and a larger 5 qt. Because of space issues, I store mine in the basement when not in use, but it is definitely not a gadget that I could live without, even if I hate cleaning it.

2. A good mixer: Everyone should have at least a good quality hand mixer. (If you can find one with attachments the better) If you are a baker, having a Kitchenaid stand mixer is a must. They are pricey but well worth the investment. Plus there are so many attachments you can buy once you own one that you can do many many things from grounding your own meat to making pasta.

3. A Food Processor: This is a versatile gadget. I mean chopping nuts, making salsa, shredding cheese and veggies. I like this article on the Food Processor v/s The Blender. The blender is also an awesome gadget, but I've found that I've only used it a handful of times. I'm not a smoothie maker, but if you are, this is something you should add.

4. A toaster or toaster oven. No home should be without a toaster. (If you have a big enough kitchen, a toaster oven is so worth the investment. I wish I had the counter space for one, as they are great for brownies, open faced cheese sandwiches and small casseroles)

5. An egg slicer.  This is such a little gadget, but as I look at my huge collection of appliances and gadgets..its one that gets a lot of use. If you can find a really good one, it makes making egg salad so much easier, as you double slice the egg.

Some runner up things

1. A mandolin slicer, but for god sake use the guard. I love this for making scalloped potatoes, fried zucchini, or cucumber salad.

2. Pineapple peeler: If you like pineapple this is a great gadget and it really works like a charm.

New Mp3 Player Arrived!

Well my new device came today. Woo hoo! The Zen is still functioning but it isn't recognized on my computer or my nephew's.

So yeah, there is something wrong.

It is holding a charge though..so I'm going to keep it charged as long as I can.

I payed close to $200 for it 12 years ago..I don't want to toss it while it still has some juice left in it.

Ahh..all the Doctor Who and Torchwood I watched on that teeny tiny screen.

Tonight I will hook up my external hard drive and add some tunes to the new player. Woo hoo.

I'm hoping the new player has good or at least passable earbuds. (I could rant for days on how I hate earbuds)

This will be making my walking a little more tolerable. I've been walking about a mile each night at our walking path. So yay.

Any exercise is good exercise right?

And exercise with music is even better.

Walking Walking Walking

Well, after nearly two years at my new address, I finally started to utilize the walking path/dog park that is two blocks down from my house.

Can you say lazy?

I think you can.

Its a pain for me to go to the Y during the week, but I can sure as hell walk down the block. (Even though I live on a huge hill and those two blocks coming back up are pretty painful)

I've done at least a mile for the last two days, so that's a start.

Now if only my Zen Micro would stay alive.

Its partially charged again, after 2 days of usage.

I think it might be time for a new device.

My computer doesn't seem to recognize it when I plug it in to the USB port, but when I plug it into the wall, it does show that it is trying to charge.

Isn't it nice to know that things are built to last.

HA HA HA

I paid close to $200 bucks for the dang thing..I think it should last a good long time. (And walking sucks without music)

Lazarus Thy Name is Zen Micro

My ancient mp3 player, a Zen Micro that I bought...god, in 2005 maybe has come back from the dead.

I've been trying for months to get the battery to charge. If you look to youtube about changing the battery, you know that changing a $10.00 battery can actually kill the player because they didn't build this player to change the battery.

Yeah.

WTF would the company be that stupid.

I don't own, or ever even want an Iphone. My smartphone only has the bare minimum of apps on it. I even disabled Facebook, because Facebook is in fact, the devil.

Today I got to walk and listen to Keith Harkin, so all is good. Now I need to move some Justin Hayward to my player so I can have some more variety to my life.

Yay for my mp3 player being raised from the dead.

Trying new things

I've been making a lot of new recipes.

I found a recipe for overnight oats here  I've got that in a bowl in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. I had to make a few changes to the recipe. I only had french vanilla creamer and vanilla yogurt, but from what I could tell when I sampled the mixture, it is going to be delish.

The other thing I'm planning on making is a coconut-peach crisp that I found in a cookbook I have to review.

The cookbook is called Signs & Seasons; An Astrology cookbook.

Most of the recipes are a bit more involved and with pricey ingredients, but this one looked delicious. I wouldn't mind trying the frittata caprese which has relatively easy to find ingredients.

I'll keep you posted as to how they turned out.

My Intentions Are Good

I've wanted to get back to blogging regularly. Lord knows I've tried.

Things keep happening and well..I just don't know.

I think the thing is...my life is so boring now I have nothing to say anymore.

I don't watch much new tv. I don't get out to the movies ever. I haven't been to a concert in 7 years.

7 years!

I'm lucky if I can get to a coffee shop to relax once a month.

I will try to keep up the blog. Not that anyone reads it anymore.

How life changes.