My Dog is Fat

This is my dog, Chopper.  He'll be 4 years old this month.  When I first brought him home two years ago, he weighed 36 pounds.  I weighed him this morning and he weighs 51 pounds!  You know what they say about fat dogs; it's true.  I need to lose weight myself.

Today after work I took him for a walk.  We walked down to the end of the street and back.  Honestly, I wasn't sure that he was going to make it.  But he needs more exercise and so do I.  I've decided that he can't have any more dog biscuits or cream cheese until he loses weight; oh, and no more chex mix or captain crunch.

Now I have to decide what I'm going to cut back on.  A couple of days ago, I was talking to my friend, Mike, about fasting.  He describes fasting as giving up anything that you really like for a given period of time.  Where do I start?  I really like diet soda and popcorn and ice cream.  Actually, I just like to eat and one of my biggest problems is mindless eating while I'm watching TV or doing something on my computer.  I am not disciplined (that's a whole nother blog).  Maybe, I can approach it the same way as my dog Chopper.  I only have to make it to the end of the street and back.  I only have to make one conscious decision not to put something in my mouth.  Then tomorrow, I can make the same decision and before I know it, who knows?  I'm gonna try it and see what happens.

More Free Fun in Florida

Like a lot of people, I had last Monday off.  So did my sister.  It's rare that my sister and I have the same days off; she usually works weekends and I work Monday through Friday.  One of the things that we enjoy doing is hiking.  The great thing is that there are so many places to hike in Florida and they're free and open to the public.  We generally try to find places to hike that we haven't been before.

So I told my sister on Sunday that we were going on an adventure.  I didn't tell her where we were going, only that she needed to dress comfortably and bring water.  Our destination was the Pumpkin Hill Preserve and Yellow Bluff Fort located on the northside of Jacksonville.  On our way, we discovered another park just north of Pumpkin Hill Preserve, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve.  Pumpkin Hill Preserve was one of the fifty things that I wanted to do for my birthday in September.

Betz-Tiger Point Preserve, http://www.coj.net/Departments/Recreation-and-Community-Services/Waterfront-Management-and-Programming/Preservation-Project/Betz-Tiger-Point-Preserve.aspx, is located at 12100 Pumpkin Hill Road.  It's a 548 acre park with 3 miles of hiking trails, surrounded by salt marshes.

When you're there, you can forget that you're in a metropolitan area, because it's so quiet and peaceful.

Pumpkin Hill Preserve, http://www.floridastateparks.org/pumpkinhill/default.cfm is one of the largest contiguous areas of coastal uplands in Duval County, encompassing 4,000 acres.  The park borders tidal marshlands.  There are five trails, ranging in length from 0.75 miles to 3.7 miles.

Yellow Bluff Fort, http://www.floridastateparks.org/yellowbluff/default.cfm, is located on New Berlin Road.  It was never actually a fort.  It was an earthen fortification built by the Confederacy in 1862 to prevent the Union gun boats from attacking Jacksonville.  The park is 1.3 acres. 

It was a beautiful day and we had a really great time, exploring and hiking.  I can't wait until the next time!  What's a favorite free activity that you enjoy?

Coffee Cup Toilet Paper Cover

When I saw this cute toilet paper cover, I just had to make it - http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Bath-Crochet-Patterns/Cup-O-Coffee-TP-Roll-Cover.

Here's how mine looks:

roll of toilet paper and toilet paper cover

side view of toilet paper cover

I slightly modified the way I put mine together, so that's why it looks different, but I'm still happy with the way that it turned out.  My sister loves it and it now sits proudly in her bathroom.

Fried Cabbage & Noodles

This is one of my family's favorite recipes.  It only has a few ingredients and it's easy to make.

Fried Cabbage and Noodles

1 head of cabbage, sliced
5 slices of bacon
1/4 cup onion
soy sauce
egg noodles

The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it to suit your own tastes.  If you want to add more bacon or onion, you can.

Fry the bacon until it is crispy.  I usually fry the onions at the same time that I fry the bacon, but fry them separately if you'd like.

Remove the bacon from the pan.  Add the cabbage.

Crumble the bacon and add to the cabbage.  Add soy sauce to taste.  Cover and let cabbage cook down.  While the cabbage is cooking, boil the egg noodles until done.  I used three handfuls of noodles.  Drain noodles.

Mix everything together and serve.

Orange Chicken

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest; one of my friends that I follow had pinned it and it looked so good that I re-pinned it.  Here's the recipe.

1 lb. of boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 tbs. of salt
1 tsp. of balsamic vinegar
3 tbs. of ketchup
6 oz. of frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw)*
4 tbs. of brown sugar

* I used fresh orange juice -  from my oranges on my tree in the back yard

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Put the flour in a gallon bag and add the chicken.  Shake until the chicken is coated.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the chicken.  The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked.

After cooking the chicken, put it in a crock pot and cover with the sauce mixture.

Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours or on high for 2 - 3 hours.  Serve over rice.

Very easy and very yummy!

I Love Books

I love books.  I love the smell of a new book, I love how the pages feel.  I have an E-Reader, but it's just not the same.  There's something about sitting curled up in a chair with a blanket over your lap, and a good book in your hand that you can't get from an E-Reader.

For Christmas, I received the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, and the Autumn series by David Moody.  I have to admit - I love zombies!  World War Z by Max Brooks is one of my favorite books.

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to read.  The first book that my mom gave me was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I think that I still have that book lying around someplace.  I have a tattered collection of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit.  I have a set of  Zane Grey books from my dad.  I'm a huge fan of John D. MacDonald and I hope to one day have copies of all his books.  I have books piled around my bedroom just waiting to be read.  I love books! 

Another Crocheted Scarf

I'm still on my scarf kick.  I've started crocheting a hooded scarf in lavender.  Purple is one of my favorite colors.  The pattern is very easy but it's taking me longer to finish because I started back to work full time this week - almost 2 months after my car accident.  I start to poop out around 2:00 pm and by the time I get home a little after 4:00, I pretty much just want to rest.  I am hoping that my strength and stamina return soon.  As soon as I finish the scarf, I will post directions and a picture.