Day 3...Weeeeeeeeee!

Hi guys, I'm on day 3, and I'm getting in the groove. Today I did 45 min. kicking butt, cardio Zumba. Man, it's intense! It's so fun though. My favorite parts are Belly dancing & the Flamenco. It really is fun. If you think you have to be coordinated to do Zumba, you do. You can do it the wrong way, and it'll still work because you're moving and sweating. It's just so much more fun to follow along the right way. It only takes a few times to get the hang of it if you try hard. I heard that an hour of Zumba burns 1,000 calories! Yeah baby!

Happy Wed!
Lori :)

Day 2 and a protein snack..

It's day 2, and I'm on track. I did a mile yesterday and played the wii with the kids. Today, I did 2 miles and plan on going bike riding with them this afternoon. I may do 20 min. on the treadmill with my LoLo burn app. It's so cool. You get to use your own music and have a trainer tell you a workout routine. I love it.
Yesterday, while I was doing the Leslie Sansone walking workout, Dasiy Mae(our Jack Russell)was staring at me like "what are you doing, mommy?" It really cracked me up. She thinks she's a ballerina, and starts "dancing" whenever anybody plays with her. There we were, me exercising, and Daisy Mae dancing beside me. I'm sure it couldv'e been on AFV. This is her sleeping after her intense dance routine. :)
Here's something you'll love. My Mom gave me this recipe for Sesame/Peanut butter balls. They are so good and a really healthy snack. Here it is:
3/4 c peanut butter (I used Smucker's all natural creamy)
1/2 c honey
3/4 c non-fat, instant milk powder
1 c uncooked rolled oats
1 & 1/4 c toasted sesame seeds (3/4 c in mix, 3/4 c to roll them in)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. boiling water

Use an iron skillet to toast the sesame seeds. I used organic. It only takes a couple minutes to toast them. Stir constantly. Set aside. Mix together pnb, honey, powd. milk and then add the oats and 3/4 c of sesame seeds. Add boiling water, vanilla and mix thoroughly. Shape in 1" balls and roll in the remaining seeds. Chill in refrigerater or freeze. Makes 2.5 dozen.

These are such a great protein snack with no sugar! Sorry about there being no pictures. I actually took some while I was making these, but I'm pressed for time at the moment. I'll add the pics soon.

Have a very happy day!
Lori

I'm gonna do it!

Day 1~check it out here.
I have decided to do this and today is the first day! I'm excited because I already had my goal in mind to be met by Valentine's Day. It's so cool that this ends on that day and I didn't even know about it until now. So, who's with me? I plan on blogging here each day how it's going, and if I start losing (I mean when) I'll post pounds lost too. This will be open and honest. If I'm doing bad, I'll have to embarrass myself and say it here. So, maybe, that'll help me with my focus. I'm terrible at staying on track with these things, but I seem to be motivated this time more than usual. So, here goes! Cheer me on! I almost forgot, my goal is 20 lbs.

I hope your New Year's resolutions are working for you. We can do this!

Lori~xo

Happy New Year!!!

I know it's been forever since I posted here, but I really do hope to be better in the future. Happy New Year! A time for a great, new beginning. I love that. So here goes my attempt to keep up better. So far, so good...

I have written a ton of new year's resolutions. I really want to improve myself, my family and my business. I think goal setting is a great way to keep up with the things you want. Balancing a family and a business is tricky, but I know I can be better. There's always room for improvement, right? Life is surprising, and keeping up can be a challenge. One of my goals is to get super organized. I'm one of those people who really envy people who have that gift of organization. I try sincerely hard, but it does not come naturally to me. For those of you that are, consider yourself blessed. How about sharing your favorite organizing tip? I'm sure the class would love to hear...
On a completely off the subject side note, I just glanced at the tv and saw there is a city with my maiden name on the weather channel(I didn't even know it existed) -weird..
So, anyway, I think I'll go watch the ball drop and kiss and hug everyone. It's a great way to start a new year. Hope you've had a lovely year and a Happy New Year too.

~xo

Trash to Treasure Lamps

(the base isn't attached yet. I just have it sitting on my iron Eiffel tower for the pic)
I inherited these sad lamps from our neighbors while we helped them move. We were taking a load of stuff to Goodwill for them, and they offered for us to keep anything we could use. I really needed some more lighting in my living room, so I decided to take the lamps with the plan of buying new shades. There was nothing wrong with them except the shades. One was a floor lamp with an attached side table. Somehow, they had gotten too hot and the shade itself had shrunk. After several trips to Lowe's and other stores, I could never decide on what look I wanted. I really liked the handmade, boutique style shades I had just seen in Milton while shopping with Bill on our Anniversary. Only problem was, a.) they weren't exactly what I was looking for. They were close, but not quite there. And b.) expensive as all get out!...Fast forward to today, I'm sitting on my couch thinking about how necessity is indeed the mother of invention. I went and dug out my stash of vintage lace my Aunt gave me last year and some silk roses that could easily be replaced. Hmmmmm.... I see the wheels turning faster and faster....Where's my glue gun??!? ...........


What do you think? Should I paint the base? I don't know what color I'd want it though. Suggestions?

So, there you have it! I love them now!! Today was very satisfying. Not only did I get my "Boutique-quality" handmade shades, it didn't cost me a cent! Yep, I'm a happy girl.

hugs!
Lori

Pizza Post!

This is my all-time favorite pizza recipe. My Mom always wants this when they come over. I found it off my favorite "foodie" blog, Food Wishes. I love that guy! Everything he makes turns out fabulous and he does video classes making it so much easier. Now, on to the recipe...

Start with 1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. honey
3 cups all-purp. flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. evoo (olive oil)
1/2 cup very warm water

Step 1. Put yeast, honey and water(very warm) in a med. bowl and let it dissolve for 10 min.
Step 2. Add salt, olive oil, and another 1/2 cup of really warm water, and 1 cup flour.
Step 3. Stir, then add another cup of flour, stir, then add another cup of flour. (3 total)
Step 4. Turn onto floured board, will be slightly sticky, knead until smooth and fairly firm..
Step 5.Put a little olive oil in bowl, put dough in and cover with cloth. Turn the oven on 250, then TURN OFF, and put the bowl in the oven to rise for 30-40 min.
Step 6. Turn dough out on floured board, make 4 even quarters, and fold sides underneath itself until you have a smooth, round dough ball.
Step. 7 Put the four pizza dough balls on a lightly floured board and let rest, covered, for 20 min.
Step 8. Press with your fingers to flatten to the size you'd like, or use a rolling pin for very thin crust(my fav). This makes 4 small-med. size pizzas. (I usually double the recipe and have 4 large)
Step. 9. Lightly flour a pizza pan or stone with cornmeal,brush with olive oil, then add 2-3 tbsp. sauce and spread around. Add whatever ingredients you prefer.
Step 10. Preheat oven to 450. Place the first pizza on the bottom rack for 5 min. Then, move to top rack for 5 more minutes. I normally keep 2 pizzas cooking at the same time and keep rotating them.

My favorite toppings are kalamato olives, beef sauteed with garlic and italian seasoning, chopped tomatoes, mozzarella,parmesano/romano cheese, pepperoni, fresh basil,(added after it comes out of the oven) pineapple and pepperoni, chicken alfredo and spinach... What are some of your favorite combinations?

Hope you try this homemade pizza if you have never made it before. I promise, it's so much better than delivery, you'll want to make your own from now on. Not to mention all the options you have. We let each one of our kids create their own pizzas. It's a lot of fun in the kitchen together, and everybody gets their favorite.

Have fun and enjoy!

Sugarbelle's Boutique

My little sugar pie and I had a bright idea to start making our own boutique-style hair bows. After countless "where are your hair bows young lady!!???" I got fed up. I figured this is one business venture that will kill two birds with one stone. Not only can we make all the bows we want, we know where we can easily get more if they don't make it home! (not that I'm encouraging that, mind you) I think the straw for me was when I bought a gorgeous, black rose, linen headband, and she lost it the second time she wore it. If I didn't know better, I'd think there was a Bermuda triangle for bows that aimed for her head every time she left the house. So, here we are...Bow makers extraordinaire. Well, not really, but we are going to try some new looks in the near future. For now, we have sweet, little clippy type bows. We'd love it if you'd stop by the blog and drop us a quick note on what you think of them. There will be many more and several new styles soon. Also, we'll be having a giveaway to promote our new venture. Hope to see you there! Click here to jump to the blog.

Hugs~
Lori