Vacaaaation!!!

I am a blogging slacker... it's official... oh well :)

It has been the same old same old, besides being absolutely stressed out about anything and everything! I leave for vacation on Thanksgiving though, so hopefully I can relax!

The boyfriend and I (along with my sister and her wifey) are going on a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Belize and Cozumel. We fly to Florida on Thursday and our cruise embarks on Saturday. I am so excited! In Belize we are going on a Rum Runner River Tour. It is a rum tasting tour as well as a wildlife tour. In Cozumel we are going on a horseback ride through the Mayan ruins. Before gastric bypass, I would never have gone horseback riding. Besides being over the weight limit for this particular excursion, I would have felt bad for the horse. Ask my boyfriend, he tried to get me to go horseback riding on many occasions. It wasn't happen

ing, and now it is!

On Sunday, the boyfriend and I went to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. It was amazing! This is my third show and I can't wait for next year. I love them! Oh, and we were 7 rows from the stage...

I also have a huge crush on Chris Caffery...

I love him... ::sigh:: haha

Time to watch Modern Family, take a melatonin (I would NOT survive without them!), and take a nice snooze in my comfy bed...

Nighty night everyone!

Miss Pink

I've Gone Missing!

Life has been crazy busy! Therefore, I haven't been faithfully blogging for the past few weeks. What's been going on you ask? Well...

- I celebrated my 25th birthday on October 27th.

- I was supposed to go out for my 25th birthday on the 29th, but celebrated instead with an October Nor'easter.

- I was without power from Saturday night til Thursday night... fun times! Luckily we have a generator, but it's not the same!

On Sunday night, my sister, her wife, and their dog spent the night in our livingroom since they didn't have power either. So, 7 adults and 2 dogs (that rarely get along) all in a 3 bedroom ranch. It was cozy :)

That pretty much sums up my last few weeks. I also did some baking during the outage, but didn't have the common sense to take pictures. I made a "Almost No Sugar Added Apple Crisp", which is sooo delicious that I will have to post the recipe. I also made Protein Pumpkin Bars, which I will be making again. I will post that one with pics and the recipe as well!

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In other news, my favorite blogger, Eggface, is hosting an amazing giveaway! You should check it out! It includes some yummy Celebrate Vitamins protein powder, a shaker bottle, and SF pumpkin pie torani! I am crossing my fingers for this one!

Have a great Friday everyone! This weekend I am hoping to go to a Christmas Expo in Boston!

My Weekend & A Giveaway!

Happy Sunday Evening everyone!

Well- maybe not so happy since Sunday evening means work tomorrow morning for most. Oh well... make the most of it while you can!

This weekend was great after the week of sickness that I had. Luckily I think it was just a stomach bug and nothing to do with my weight loss surgery. It's definitely scary the first time you get sick after surgery since you don't know which of the two it is.

Anyways- on Saturday Kevin (the BF) and I took Olivia to the Humane Society Walktoberfest. It was a rainy dreary day, but we waited at Kevin's for the rain to subside a little bit then we were on our way! It was fun, there were free doggie goodies and raffles (I won a Trader Joes bag of goodies that I am picking up this week! Go me!)


Here we are chillin and waiting for the rain to stop. Also, I don't want to toot my own horn, but my side belly looks damn good haha (wls win!!) After the walk we just hung out at Kevin's. Olivia was OBSESSED with the upstairs of his house. All she wanted to do was go up and down (and this is a dog who doesn't like stairs!)

Today (Sunday) we got up super early and headed out the the American Cancer Society Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk in Nashua, NH. it was 3.5 miles and I raised $200! I walked with Katrina, Judy, and Kevin and it was a great time. I also entered some raffles for some great items there!

After the walk, I grabbed a protein bar for lunch and headed out to Brookdale Fruit Farm in Hollis, NH for some more apple picking. I am making my applesauce as I type. Yum!
This is my haul from this time around. I think it will be the last time this season... I think... I see no sugar added desserts in my near future!

After apple picking we went to Lull Farm (also in Hollis) to pick up some items and lo and behold, they had a traveling wood fire grilled pizza place set up outside! Kevin got a personal pizza (and I had a slice since it was thin crust). OMG it was soooo good!! Loaded with yummy bell peppers, cheese, and sauce. Delicious. We went back to hjs house to watch the Patriots game (yay, we won!! But my <3 Danny Woodhead got injured!). During my nap I got a call from a woman (she left a voice mail) telling me that she was from the Making Strides Committee and I had won not one, but TWO of the raffle prizes at the event. My Mom, a 5 year breast cancer survivor, and I are going to pick up my loot tomorrow morning.

I made out like a bandit this weekend. Maybe I should play the lottery!! Or... maybe I should enter my favorite blogger, Eggface's Celebrate Vitamins Giveaway! I know I will definitely do that, and you should too! It's loaded with all different Celebrate vitamins goodies, a blender bottle, and a vitamin holder! Go check it out!

Time to play Pottermore- yes I know, I'm a dork!

Love,
Miss Pink

Busy Busy Busy!

Long time, to type. I apologize! I have been super busy these past couple of weeks. Between working random hours every day, babysitting, and fun weekend activities, I've been go go go!

Here is the quick on what's been up!

Fall is my favorite season, especially since I live in lovely New England. So in honor of Autumn, I went apple picking in Hollis, NH last weekend. Where I pick there are 19 different varieties of apples and I had to get at least one of each. Yum! The problem with apples is, sometimes I can eat them raw and sometimes I can't. It depends on how the pouch is feeling on each individual day. Some days I make Shelly's Apple Pie Innards, and on days like today, I make apple sauce. It's super easy! Here's the recipe:

You will need:

A crock pot

Apples (however many you want as long as the crock pot closes!)

Water- for a 2.5 quart crock pot

filled with apples I used about 1/4c

Optional: Cinnamon & Splenda to taste

Directions:

Peel, core, and slice your apples

Place them all in a crock pot

Add water

Turn crock pot to low

Go get your nails done, do some shopping, hit the gym/spa/bed for 6 hours!

After 6 hours, turn your crock pot off

Mash your apples with a potato masher (I like my applesauce chunky so I don't mash it too much)

Stir in cinnamon and/or splenda to taste!

Serve warm or refrigerate to cool :)

Yummm!

I plan on going apple picking again this coming weekend so I can can some homemade applesauce.

Also this weekend, I will be attending the Walktoberfest. It's a lot of fun, I just haven't decided if I will be bringing my little Olivia because she has social anxiety... but she's so damn cute!

On Friday I watched my favorite child ever from work. We had so much fun in the hour she was awake. I don't think I've ever done so many different things in such a short period of time! Today I watched some strangers kids. They were super cute and the parents were so nice and down to earth.

This week will be busy. I started a "Hungry Heads" class with my WLS center. It doesn't really apply to me now because I can't eat a lot, but it will help when I am further along so I don't have a hungry head. I also have an appointment with my surgeon (The Jise, <3 him!!), a staff meeting, and something else that I am forgetting at the moment.

It's time for my to go make my yummy bento lunch for tomorrow. Gotta be at work for 7!

Nighty Night!

Miss Pink

Work & Food Groups

So, after 6 weeks of recovery from my gastric bypass surgery, I have returned to work. It is bittersweet to be back, honestly. The hours have changed. The pay has changed. The bosses I have worked for forever are gone. I miss me some K & J! My kids have obviously missed me, which I must say, is so heartwarming to me. I never thought I would get so many hugs and smiles from all of these kids. I really missed them, and I know they really missed me. It's one of the few things that make me smile at work. ::sigh:: It's just hard getting back into the "swing" of things because everything is different. It wouldn't be so hard if I had come back to the "same old same old." Oh well... what can you do?

Other than that, in the 44 days since my surgery, I have discovered a whole new food pyramid. On "Miss Pink's Food Pyramid" there are 5 food groups. They are: Meatballs, Greek yogurt, protein shakes, Wheat Thins Fiber Selects, and mini Luna bars. What a variety!

Tonight I tried steak. I know they say in all of the support and nutrition groups that steak isn't well tolerated, but I was hopeful. I was hopeful because for the first 3 months after my sisters surgery all she could eat was steak! Guess what? Steak is definitely NOT for me. Can you say frothing? Gross & painful. If you are not a WLS patient, google it. If you are a WLS patient, you probably know where I'm coming from, and if you don't, I envy you!! Does anyone else get really tired after a food doesn't agree with your pouch? I get so sleepy!

On that note, I am going to indulge in some mindless TV (Teen Mom) and go to bed.

Nighty night!

Love,

Miss Pink

Delicious Shakes & Doggie Baking

Today was busy! So busy in fact, that I know I didn't get in all of my fluids or protein yet and it's almost 6pm! This morning I had a delicious Berry Berry Protein Smoothie courtesy of The World According To Eggface.

The first picture is a booklet of Eggface's favorite shakes, which I made into a "cookbook" for myself. It is very handy! Do you like my photo instructions? 8oz milk, a scoop of vanilla protein, some berries, blend, drink. Easy. Delish.

NEXT! I made a doggie birthday cake for my co-worker's puppies today. It's a Banana Honey cake with Pineapple Blueberry cream cheese frosting. Very tropical, and it smelled yummy while it baked! I topped it with homemade doggie cookies. Recipes to follow!

I'm not going to post the pictures for the frosting & cookie mixing/baking because, frankly, that's just too many photos for a new blogger to try and post (especially since she doesn't really know what she's doing yet. Any pointers??) So here are the recipes!

Banana Honey Cake

2 Bananas

2 Cups water

1/8 tsp Vanilla

3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 Egg

2 Tablespoons Honey

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 2 ripe bananas in your stand mixer and mash. Add all wet ingredients to bananas and mix until combined. Add baking powder. Add flour gradually. Mix until combined. Pour into 9 inch round cake pan and bake for approx. 1 hour 15 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean). When it's done, put the cake on a cooling rack- it will take a while to cool. When it's cool, you can frost it using this recipe!

Pineapple Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz low fat whipped cream cheese

1 6oz container pineapple chobani (greek yogurt)

1/4 cup fresh (or frozen, thawed) blueberries-mashed (I used a food processor)

Combine all ingredients. If it's too watery, add a little flour or corn starch to thicken. Frost your cake :)

These are the ingredients for the Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies:

As you can see, I ran out of pumpkin, so I took a baby food pouch of sweet potato, pumpkin, apples, and blueberries (all things dogs LOVE). I had this left over from my pureed diet stage. I wasn't ever brave enough to try it myself, so the dogs are benefiting from my "loss" hehe. Onto the recipe!

2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Pumpkin (or baby food!)

2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Ginger

Water- as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheet in tin foil. Combine all ingredients, except water, in a mixer. Mix until combined. Add small amounts of water until a dough ball forms. Flour your work surface, knead dough, then roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes, put on cookie sheet, and bake for 30-40 minutes (or until golden brown and hard).

That's it for today. I suppose I should stop blogging and spend some time with the BF :)

Miss Pink

First Post, Second Blog

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my new blog. I plan (hopefully) to update this one regularly! Stay tuned for fun crafts, recipes, photos, and anything else I can think of. What would you like to see on this blog? I'm thinking of doing a "Preschoolers Say The Darndest Things Fridays." I feel like I will have a few cute ones every week seeing as I'm a preschool teacher! Tomorrow I'm baking a doggie birthday cake, so that will be my next post!

For now, a little about me. My name is Lisa and I will be 25 on Oct 27th (send gifts!). I'm a preschool teacher, photographer, aunt, girlfriend, sister, baker, cook, inventor, blogger (eek!), and facebook addict, among many other things.

I had gastric bypass surgery on August 1st 2011. I also (contrary to gossipers belief) had my gallbladder removed on August 1 2011. I know what you're thinking. "Gastric bypass is the easy way out." Well... if it's so easy, I would like you to try being on "the diet" (if you even know what it is- do a little research and you will find out it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change). I'm not complaining or ranting, I'm just saying that if you haven't had the procedure, you have NO IDEA what it's like, even if you "know someone who has gone through it." If you want to talk to me about it, or think you want to do it, I am always up for discussion. It was the best (and most drastic) decision I have ever made for MYSELF, ever. One of the major deciding factors was my PCOS.

I love shopping and probably do it a little too much. I am obsessed with my hair. My favorite color is pink, and I hate writing an "about me", so I'm done now.

Talk to ya later!

Miss Pink