Hello Readers,
I'm going to the Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale this spring! So I'm cleaning out my closet so that I can afford to buy something when I go. I've got a lot, 26, items listed for sale on eBay right now and the auctions end on Saturday afternoon! If you like my OOTDs you may want to go over to my seller page and look at what I have. Most of the items are size 8 thru 10 medium to large. I've got some things by Lilly Pulitzer, Elizabeth McKay, Vineyard Vines, and Kayce Hughes (who is Lilly's niece and makes dresses kind of like Lilly's). Here's a link: http://www.ebay.com/usr/ilovjedi
Thank you,
eHa
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
A Trip Home: Part 2
As I was going to sleep on Thursday night/very early Friday morning I realized I had completely forgotten to blog! I had been planning on posting my packing post that day but I completely forgot! This was a first for my blog--the first time I completely forgot to have a post ready to go on a Tuesday or Thursday (I usually try to have my posts ready by or scheduled for noon in what ever time zone I am in and I've had some "late" posts in the past). So I apologize to my readers.
Friday was exciting! My mom and I headed into the City after work and met my college friends and their mother/mother-in-law at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was warm! And by that I mean it was above freezing. The cold weather bears (like the polar bear) were inside when we arrived. You'd think the polar bear would love Chi-beria this time of year but apparently not. The flamingos were out for part of the day thought.
If you recall from my T-Give trip home, Hubs and I went to this same Zoo with the same college friends. So, I was kind of underwhelmed because I had seen the same animals a few months ago. I'm also not terribly excited by animals. But it was good to spend time with friends and we went some place I had never gone before--the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Prepare for so many pictures of plants!
My dad joined us for dinner at my friends' apartment. Their mother/mother-in-law is a wonderful cook, as is our male friend. They were in charge of dinner and it was delicious.
Saturday was a taxing. My dad owned my car.* We were going to assign the title to me while I was home so that I would own the car and so that I could register it in Maine (my dad had forgotten to reregister the car in Illinois in 2012 and I didn't notice until I took the car in for repairs and the repair person looked at the registration). I had forgotten to record the exact milage on the car before I left it and I could not figure out how to transfer title from an Illinois resident to an out of state resident! So I was grumpy and snappy at my parents because they just wanted me to estimate the milage even thought the title assignment form required "exact milage." I gave up and let my dad take me to the currency exchange, the lady who works there is an expert on these things.
But before we did that we went to lunch at my mom's favorite hibachi restaurant, Kegon, on the way there my parents grilled me about my small business plans. They want to fund my law office. I just want to be a grown up who doesn't get hand outs and bail outs from Mom & Dad anymore. (I will totally still accept help paying off my student loans from them though since school seems like a fair thing to get help with.)
They also don't understand the practice of law so they suggested that I do several things that may or may not violate the rules of professional responsibility. For example, they were like "so what if you are disciplined by the board of overseers of the bar." So what? My name shows up as a disciplined attorney on their website which would likely show up if people googled my name. Would you want an attorney who was disciplined by the bar even if it was just for something kind of negligent instead of fraudulent?
I love them and I know they just want to help me but they can be so frustrating because I feel like they're ignoring what I am saying and then keep suggesting the same things that stress me out. I try to tell them clearly how I feel and how what they say makes me feel but it seems like they just keep saying the same things to me over and over again. Plus this trip was already stressful, see my previous post.
Saturday night I hung out with my high school friends. We hit Steak n Shake. I had the most delicious garlic cheese burger and their fries are delicious! I am sad there are none in Maine. We wandered around Target and then went to Menchies for froyo where wee played Uno with very dirty sticky looking Uno cards. I am so grateful to have such dependable friends. When I get together with them it's like we're in high school again, less the drama.
On Sunday, I had lunch with my high school friends at a Thai restaurant and afterwards we went to a local aquarium supply store where they had tons of fish! Including two in a small pond that would swim up to you and beg for food, hop out of the water a bit, and spit at you. I should have gotten pictures.
Then I had dinner with my parents at a delightful little French restaurant in Etown, Bistro Bordeaux. My mom and I shared a cheese plate my dad doesn't eat cheese because he doesn't eat added salt and cheese is usually pretty salty. I had the Salade de Betterave, the Steak Pommes Frites Bistro Bordeaux, and the Crème Brulée du Jour. So good! I love beets! I love french fries (they severe them with mayonnaise and I ate them with a fork but no mayo)! The crème brûlée was delicious as well. So if you want to blow half of this month's food budget in one go, I'd recommend it. I hope that maybe my mom will take me there for their Sunday Brunch next time I'm home.
Monday, I was heading home. My mom and I went to Eggsperience for breakfast. I don't like it quite as much as Walker Bros. but they do eggs better which made my mom happy. After lunch we walked around the Glen because it was so warm. We hadn't changed our clocks for daylight savings time so we thought all the shops were closed. They were actually open so we could have looked for some new shoes in my favorite department store--Von Maur. We stopped at Jewel on the way home. I wanted to get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts to bring home with me as an "I'm sorry your dog died here are some doughnuts to help you forget" for Hubs and his family. There are no Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Maine and they are so good.
My dad took me to the airport and we stopped at every Dunkin in between my house and O'Hare looking for a Chicago runs on Dunkin mug. I didn't find one. But my dad checked all the Dunkins in between O'Hare and his office and he found two on Touhy and sent them to me. (I love my parents but this is a great example of how they listen to me but don't: I said they had them on line but I didn't want to pay shipping so I said they should keep an eye out for one and leave it in my bedroom and I said Hubs didn't need one but I ended up with two delivered to my door.) I do in fact have the best parents!
My flight to Boston was uneventful but I was so fortunate! I needed to catch the bus from Logan to Maine. The bus comes pretty much every hour at 35 after the hour. We were scheduled to land at 6:35. We got in about ten minutes early. Our gate was close to the baggage claim. I busted out of the plane and the airport so fast! I got to the bus stop at 6:34 and the bus came at 6:38. I am so glad that I didn't have to wait for the 7:35 bus. It meant that I got home around 9:30, a pretty reasonable time, instead of 10:30.
That trip and the lead up to it was so incredibly exhausting! I am so happy to be back and I've almost caught up with reading other people's blogs and responding to comments on this one! I am also working on building up a reserve of draft posts so that I don't accidentally forget to blog again.
*I'm a spoiled brat. My parents bought me a little VW Cabrio when I turned 16 so that I could drive my sisters to swim practice and take E2 to and from school with me in the mornings after I got a parking space as a senior. I took the car with me to college and E2 got a car. When I started law school my mom was so worried about me driving my tiny Cabrio on Maine highways in the snowy winter so my dad bought a AWD Ford Escape for me. I am grateful for their concern because the Escape is perfect for driving in the snow whereas the Cabrio couldn't drive up hills in the snow because it was so light it would just start sliding back down them.
 |
| The flamingos in the snow. |
Friday was exciting! My mom and I headed into the City after work and met my college friends and their mother/mother-in-law at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was warm! And by that I mean it was above freezing. The cold weather bears (like the polar bear) were inside when we arrived. You'd think the polar bear would love Chi-beria this time of year but apparently not. The flamingos were out for part of the day thought.
If you recall from my T-Give trip home, Hubs and I went to this same Zoo with the same college friends. So, I was kind of underwhelmed because I had seen the same animals a few months ago. I'm also not terribly excited by animals. But it was good to spend time with friends and we went some place I had never gone before--the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Prepare for so many pictures of plants!
My dad joined us for dinner at my friends' apartment. Their mother/mother-in-law is a wonderful cook, as is our male friend. They were in charge of dinner and it was delicious.
Saturday was a taxing. My dad owned my car.* We were going to assign the title to me while I was home so that I would own the car and so that I could register it in Maine (my dad had forgotten to reregister the car in Illinois in 2012 and I didn't notice until I took the car in for repairs and the repair person looked at the registration). I had forgotten to record the exact milage on the car before I left it and I could not figure out how to transfer title from an Illinois resident to an out of state resident! So I was grumpy and snappy at my parents because they just wanted me to estimate the milage even thought the title assignment form required "exact milage." I gave up and let my dad take me to the currency exchange, the lady who works there is an expert on these things.
 |
| A photo of ice on the Lake to break up the text. |
They also don't understand the practice of law so they suggested that I do several things that may or may not violate the rules of professional responsibility. For example, they were like "so what if you are disciplined by the board of overseers of the bar." So what? My name shows up as a disciplined attorney on their website which would likely show up if people googled my name. Would you want an attorney who was disciplined by the bar even if it was just for something kind of negligent instead of fraudulent?
I love them and I know they just want to help me but they can be so frustrating because I feel like they're ignoring what I am saying and then keep suggesting the same things that stress me out. I try to tell them clearly how I feel and how what they say makes me feel but it seems like they just keep saying the same things to me over and over again. Plus this trip was already stressful, see my previous post.
 |
| A Belated Wedding Present from my Friend who was in Korea and couldn't make it my my wedding. |
Saturday night I hung out with my high school friends. We hit Steak n Shake. I had the most delicious garlic cheese burger and their fries are delicious! I am sad there are none in Maine. We wandered around Target and then went to Menchies for froyo where wee played Uno with very dirty sticky looking Uno cards. I am so grateful to have such dependable friends. When I get together with them it's like we're in high school again, less the drama.
On Sunday, I had lunch with my high school friends at a Thai restaurant and afterwards we went to a local aquarium supply store where they had tons of fish! Including two in a small pond that would swim up to you and beg for food, hop out of the water a bit, and spit at you. I should have gotten pictures.
 |
| The Crème Brûlée! |
Then I had dinner with my parents at a delightful little French restaurant in Etown, Bistro Bordeaux. My mom and I shared a cheese plate my dad doesn't eat cheese because he doesn't eat added salt and cheese is usually pretty salty. I had the Salade de Betterave, the Steak Pommes Frites Bistro Bordeaux, and the Crème Brulée du Jour. So good! I love beets! I love french fries (they severe them with mayonnaise and I ate them with a fork but no mayo)! The crème brûlée was delicious as well. So if you want to blow half of this month's food budget in one go, I'd recommend it. I hope that maybe my mom will take me there for their Sunday Brunch next time I'm home.
Monday, I was heading home. My mom and I went to Eggsperience for breakfast. I don't like it quite as much as Walker Bros. but they do eggs better which made my mom happy. After lunch we walked around the Glen because it was so warm. We hadn't changed our clocks for daylight savings time so we thought all the shops were closed. They were actually open so we could have looked for some new shoes in my favorite department store--Von Maur. We stopped at Jewel on the way home. I wanted to get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts to bring home with me as an "I'm sorry your dog died here are some doughnuts to help you forget" for Hubs and his family. There are no Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Maine and they are so good.
 |
| The mugs arrived yesterday and one was impressed into service this morning. |
My dad took me to the airport and we stopped at every Dunkin in between my house and O'Hare looking for a Chicago runs on Dunkin mug. I didn't find one. But my dad checked all the Dunkins in between O'Hare and his office and he found two on Touhy and sent them to me. (I love my parents but this is a great example of how they listen to me but don't: I said they had them on line but I didn't want to pay shipping so I said they should keep an eye out for one and leave it in my bedroom and I said Hubs didn't need one but I ended up with two delivered to my door.) I do in fact have the best parents!
My flight to Boston was uneventful but I was so fortunate! I needed to catch the bus from Logan to Maine. The bus comes pretty much every hour at 35 after the hour. We were scheduled to land at 6:35. We got in about ten minutes early. Our gate was close to the baggage claim. I busted out of the plane and the airport so fast! I got to the bus stop at 6:34 and the bus came at 6:38. I am so glad that I didn't have to wait for the 7:35 bus. It meant that I got home around 9:30, a pretty reasonable time, instead of 10:30.
That trip and the lead up to it was so incredibly exhausting! I am so happy to be back and I've almost caught up with reading other people's blogs and responding to comments on this one! I am also working on building up a reserve of draft posts so that I don't accidentally forget to blog again.
*I'm a spoiled brat. My parents bought me a little VW Cabrio when I turned 16 so that I could drive my sisters to swim practice and take E2 to and from school with me in the mornings after I got a parking space as a senior. I took the car with me to college and E2 got a car. When I started law school my mom was so worried about me driving my tiny Cabrio on Maine highways in the snowy winter so my dad bought a AWD Ford Escape for me. I am grateful for their concern because the Escape is perfect for driving in the snow whereas the Cabrio couldn't drive up hills in the snow because it was so light it would just start sliding back down them.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
A Trip Home
I hoped on the Bus tuesday morning to get to Logan to fly home! I wore my long down coat the whole way except for when I went thru security. I got great pictures of the ice on the lake. My mom got me at the airport. I got home and I chillaexed and finalized my plans with my friends. We waited forever for my dad to get home from work. And then we went to my favorite kitchy restaurant the Claim Company, the also have the best salad bar.
My trip was going to be a challenging one. The past year has been so rough. My parents have been on and off again about getting a divorce and my dad has had his own separate apartment since last March. He bought his secretary a house. My dad is so incapable of having an affair but it looked like he was to my mom. My grandma has dementia and its keeps getting worse. My dad had tax trouble and the IRS threatened to seize the house to satisfy the tax debt, this issue has since been mostly resolved. Also my dad developed hand tremors and the brain scan suggests Parkinson's.
My mom has reacted to all this by drinking and E2, the med student, was concerned that she was either an alcoholic or about to become one. I noticed that I would talk to her and then she'd forget our whole entire conversation by the next day, presumably we talked while she was really drunk. E3 noticed some slurred words. So, when my mom asked if I'd come home for "spring break" I said yes so that E2 and I could talk with her about it. We decided on Wednesday evening.
It went better than expected. My mom knew she had a problem but thought it was a natural response to how miserable her past year has been (no argument there). She wants to sign a post-nup with my dad and knew that would be ready in the next couple of months so she said she'd start working on going back to drinking her normal amount after they signed that or after they decided that they couldn't sign that and go ahead with the divorce. So Mom knows we're worried about her and she has a plan to get better. We'll see how this goes.
I spent the evening, after the intervention, at ET's and BB's new apartment! ET is one of my oldest friends, her mom ran our girl scout troupe. JR also came! She had been teaching English in Korea forever and it's so wonderful to have her back. ET is a nutritionist so she and BB made us dinner and then we played Apples to Apples!
Hubs family dog was put to sleep while I was away. She had stopped standing up on her own the weekend before I left. And on Tuesday she stopped eating. The vet came to their house on Wednesday to put her too sleep. I was so worried for Hubs.
On Thursday I woke up early and headed into the City with my dad. I do not miss the morning rush hour. I hung out in a hotel room while he attend a meeting at the hotel and then we went to his office. My Aunt F has been helping my dad get reorganized after his secretary left. My mom also thinks Aunt F is trying to set my dad up with a new girlfriend/wife but I think that's just alcohol induced paranoia so. My aunt showed me around the office and introduced me to the people there. They're all really nice the hope is that do some work remotely to help out since while my dad is brilliant he's an absent minded professor type.
I was so tired. I have trouble sleeping without Hubs especially when I am worried about him. So my aunt and I didn't do much while hanging out. We went to this wonderful Brazilian restaurant run by a woman form Brazil for lunch named Sinhá. She was wonderful she chatted with my Aunt and me and chided me for not eating my greens--I gave them a try at least. It was legit the best food I have ever had! I had pulled pork and it was so incredibly delicious and the presentation was wonderful!
During lunch my Aunt told me all kinds of interesting things about growing up and encouraged me to ask my dad more about his childhood. Then I got to see my Aunt's office and then since I was to tired to do anything we headed over to E2's apartment because she was back from "school." OMG E2's apartment is so messy!
My aunt took us back to my dad's office and we went home, in rush hour traffic. I learned a little bit about my dad. I knew he was a trouble maker in high school but I learned that part of why he ended up going to college in the US instead of medical school in Nigeria is because he wanted to help some friends who were bad students so he let them copy his paper on an SAT like test. His results were thrown out so that changed his plans for a year, just long enough to think more about going to school in America.
My mom had got me gyros for dinner! Hard to find and incredibly delicious chicken gyros! I miss gyros so much while in Maine. I haven't been able to find real ones (sliced off a rotating spit) anywhere in Maine.
I'll continue detailing my adventures on Tuesday. I think I've shared enough text with you today. I got so behind on emails and everything when I was at my parents' house with their super slow internet!
-eHa
 |
| Ice on the Lake from the Air |
My trip was going to be a challenging one. The past year has been so rough. My parents have been on and off again about getting a divorce and my dad has had his own separate apartment since last March. He bought his secretary a house. My dad is so incapable of having an affair but it looked like he was to my mom. My grandma has dementia and its keeps getting worse. My dad had tax trouble and the IRS threatened to seize the house to satisfy the tax debt, this issue has since been mostly resolved. Also my dad developed hand tremors and the brain scan suggests Parkinson's.
My mom has reacted to all this by drinking and E2, the med student, was concerned that she was either an alcoholic or about to become one. I noticed that I would talk to her and then she'd forget our whole entire conversation by the next day, presumably we talked while she was really drunk. E3 noticed some slurred words. So, when my mom asked if I'd come home for "spring break" I said yes so that E2 and I could talk with her about it. We decided on Wednesday evening.
It went better than expected. My mom knew she had a problem but thought it was a natural response to how miserable her past year has been (no argument there). She wants to sign a post-nup with my dad and knew that would be ready in the next couple of months so she said she'd start working on going back to drinking her normal amount after they signed that or after they decided that they couldn't sign that and go ahead with the divorce. So Mom knows we're worried about her and she has a plan to get better. We'll see how this goes.
I spent the evening, after the intervention, at ET's and BB's new apartment! ET is one of my oldest friends, her mom ran our girl scout troupe. JR also came! She had been teaching English in Korea forever and it's so wonderful to have her back. ET is a nutritionist so she and BB made us dinner and then we played Apples to Apples!
 |
| The Marina Towers' Parking Levels |
Hubs family dog was put to sleep while I was away. She had stopped standing up on her own the weekend before I left. And on Tuesday she stopped eating. The vet came to their house on Wednesday to put her too sleep. I was so worried for Hubs.
On Thursday I woke up early and headed into the City with my dad. I do not miss the morning rush hour. I hung out in a hotel room while he attend a meeting at the hotel and then we went to his office. My Aunt F has been helping my dad get reorganized after his secretary left. My mom also thinks Aunt F is trying to set my dad up with a new girlfriend/wife but I think that's just alcohol induced paranoia so. My aunt showed me around the office and introduced me to the people there. They're all really nice the hope is that do some work remotely to help out since while my dad is brilliant he's an absent minded professor type.
 |
| Pulled Pork with Peppers, a Lovely Mango, Plantian, and Greens |
I was so tired. I have trouble sleeping without Hubs especially when I am worried about him. So my aunt and I didn't do much while hanging out. We went to this wonderful Brazilian restaurant run by a woman form Brazil for lunch named Sinhá. She was wonderful she chatted with my Aunt and me and chided me for not eating my greens--I gave them a try at least. It was legit the best food I have ever had! I had pulled pork and it was so incredibly delicious and the presentation was wonderful!
 |
| Red Velvet Cheese Cake |
During lunch my Aunt told me all kinds of interesting things about growing up and encouraged me to ask my dad more about his childhood. Then I got to see my Aunt's office and then since I was to tired to do anything we headed over to E2's apartment because she was back from "school." OMG E2's apartment is so messy!
 |
| They're open for Lunch now! |
My aunt took us back to my dad's office and we went home, in rush hour traffic. I learned a little bit about my dad. I knew he was a trouble maker in high school but I learned that part of why he ended up going to college in the US instead of medical school in Nigeria is because he wanted to help some friends who were bad students so he let them copy his paper on an SAT like test. His results were thrown out so that changed his plans for a year, just long enough to think more about going to school in America.
My mom had got me gyros for dinner! Hard to find and incredibly delicious chicken gyros! I miss gyros so much while in Maine. I haven't been able to find real ones (sliced off a rotating spit) anywhere in Maine.
I'll continue detailing my adventures on Tuesday. I think I've shared enough text with you today. I got so behind on emails and everything when I was at my parents' house with their super slow internet!
-eHa
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Packing
Yesterday I came back from visiting my parents! I'll post the details of my trip on Thursday. I thought I'd take today to write about my packing strategy. I'll start with this story...
Usually, I just fold my clothes and put them in my suitcase. If I'm traveling far away I have Eagle Pack-It Garment Folders that help me fold my clothes nicely and save space supposedly.
I refer my back pack as a carry on for most traveling. It's got a convent pocket for my laptop that makes it easy to take out when I go thru security. It's also easy so much more comfortable for me to have an even load on my shoulders when going thru the airport, especially if I have to make a connecting flight.
When I travel I try to wear my biggest clothes. So on my trip home to Chi-beria I wore my warmest coat and my Bean boots. Those would have taken up so much space in my suitcase so it made sense to wear them. I also always try to wear my easiest to take off shoes so I don't have to bother with suitcases when I'm in the security line. I also try to leave my bag of toiletries on top so that they're easy to get to too.
 |
| Instagrammed while Driving to Boston |
During my last semester of law school not yet Hubs and I went to Boston to visit with our college friends. I packed frantically for our weekend trip and when we got to my friend's apartment I realized I had contact lenses on my eyeballs but no case to put them in when it was time for bed and no contact lens solution to keep them from drying out overnight. I ended up buying over priced contact lens solution at a convenience store and using cups. I also realized I would have a problem later that summer. I was sitting for the Maine Bar Exam in Maine on Tuesday and Wednesday and then going down to Boston to sit for the Massachusetts Bar exam on Thursday. I was already stressed out thinking about the bar exam and I was so sure I'd forget something so I started making a packing check list with everything I need when I travel so I wouldn't ever forget anything I needed.
So the first thing I do when getting ready for a trip is to print out my packing list (this is a link to the list I used uploaded to google drive), check the average weather for the area, and write down any special things I need. Like for the bar exam, I needed so many Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Gatorade Energy Chews. (Also, I needed not to lose my mind but that's not something you can pack.) For my trip home, I needed to remember to bring paperwork home for my dad to fill out.
 |
| The Planning Process |
I look at the average weather, think about how long we'll be there, and I think about what I'll be doing on the trip. Knowing all this informs my deliberations upon what to pack. I usually don't start packing things until a few days before but I try to check to be sure that I have enough clean underwear to pack and to be sure that anything I really want to bring with me is clean earlier so that I have enough time to clean things. Hubs just throws everything in his suitcase the morning of. He is not known for wonderful outfits.
As the time for the tip gets near I pull out everything and see how it goes together. I try to make sure all the colors go together so that I can remix my outfits on the go if need be and I try to stick to one color as my neutral color. I usually stick with #navyornothing but over Thanksgiving I went with black. Really thinking about what colors I'm packing helps me pack lighter and makes my travel wardrobe more wearable since I can mix and match what I've brought.
 |
| Folding Clothes |
Usually, I just fold my clothes and put them in my suitcase. If I'm traveling far away I have Eagle Pack-It Garment Folders that help me fold my clothes nicely and save space supposedly.
 |
| My Travel Sized Toiletries |
The night before and the morning of I start packing my toiletries as I use them for the last time. I empty out my purse of all my liquids and fill up my quart sized ziplock baggie. I keep a large gallon size bag full of travel sized toiletries and travel containers in my bathroom so that it's easy for me to find small containers to use in my travel size bag. I purchased a wonderful travel sized loose powder holder on eBay. I also love GoToobs for making my own travel sized containers of my favorite products. I try to refill them when I get home so that they're ready to go for my next trip.
 |
| Sometime You Have More then a Quart's Worth |
The morning of, I double check my packing check list to be sure I've got everything and I squeeze it into my suitcase. I am a germaphobe and I think feet and shoes are the most discuqting thing in the world so I wrap those in plastic bags before putting those in my suitcase. (I feel so grossed out when I see pictures of other people packing and they have their dirty discussing shoes on their nice clothes in their bag! Ewwwwww!)
 |
| My Suitcase All Packed Up |
My suitcase is carryon sized (22" long) but when I travel on smaller planes sometimes it needs to be checked at the gate so I try to make sure that there's nothing in my large suitcase that I would be afraid to check. I also like to make sure that everything is strapped down so that nothing falls out if my suitcase accidentally opens up.
 |
| My Law School Backpack and Favorite Travel Companion |
I refer my back pack as a carry on for most traveling. It's got a convent pocket for my laptop that makes it easy to take out when I go thru security. It's also easy so much more comfortable for me to have an even load on my shoulders when going thru the airport, especially if I have to make a connecting flight.
When I travel I try to wear my biggest clothes. So on my trip home to Chi-beria I wore my warmest coat and my Bean boots. Those would have taken up so much space in my suitcase so it made sense to wear them. I also always try to wear my easiest to take off shoes so I don't have to bother with suitcases when I'm in the security line. I also try to leave my bag of toiletries on top so that they're easy to get to too.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
I Made Grandma's Cookies "Healthy"
I've been trying to make a breakfast cookie so that I have something low fat and low sugar to snack on when I get a craving for something sweet so I fiddled with my Grandma's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to make something I could eat everyday that wouldn't raise my HDL and blood glucose levels to dangerously high amounts.
Ingredients
Heaping 1/2 c applesauce, unsweetened
1 1/4 c oatmeal (I use quick cook)
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 to 1/2 c light brown sugar (I think 1/3 c is best for my taste buds' preferences)
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda (in a box)
Scant 1/2 c (3 oz) Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Warm the apple sauce and mix with the oatmeal. Let sit for up to 10 min. to soften. Mix in sugar and liquid ingredients. Mix in flour, chocolate, and baking soda. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.
Instead of chips you can use nuts (pecans are my favorite). Use up to 1 c. nuts alone or 1/2 c chocolate chips and 1/2 c nuts. Feel free to try doubling the recipie, I halved it from my grandma's recipie while experimenting.
Hubs really loves these. I love them too. I'm so glad I gave this a try.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)