Chocolate Waffles. (Yes, Please)

 Everyone knows that dark chocolate is good for you, and the last time I looked Hershey's chocolate syrup was pretty dark. Ergo, Hershey's chocolate syrup is good for us! See the logic? I thought you might. I don't actually eat much sugar and I've mentioned it before. I'm not diabetic or even pre-diabetic, but many of my friends and family members are, so I think it's just a good practice as well as a way to show my support for them in their life struggles. If we can, we should be empathic and try to be as compassionate as possible. That's my take on it anyway.

    Today, because I can, I decided to make waffles for breakfast.  I didn't even need to Pinterest it. I know exactly what to do! I don't make the batter by hand because the store-bought box brand is literally amazing! I think it's still cheap enough to buy without shaking my head twice, and I love the fact that I know exactly how much of it to pour into the bowl to mix it so I don't have to measure anything. I don't know if you know this about me, but I don't like to measure much. I just wing it; which can lead to a lot of issues but so far I've been spared the really scary ones. My friend(s) hate it when I don't measure if I'm cooking for them, but I like to remind them at that point that I'm actually doing the cooking. I say this just before I swat one or the other of them with my wooden spoon. Yes, I am that cook! Stay out of my kitchen!

    Waffles for breakfast is a usual meal; no one would or could disagree with that statement. I am actually eating my breakfast a 11:45 a.m. this Sunday morning, which could be considered an early lunch or "brunch" as it is called by some. I don't typically eat early, I try to do the whole intermittent fasting when I can. I stop eating around 6:45 p.m. and I don't pick it back up again until after 10:30 a.m. usually. I'm working these days, so breakfast consists of a great breakfast bar (Usually Clif brand) or I bring a Slim Jim to work and call that breakfast, but either way, it's around 10:30 a.m.  I think it's working, but who knows? I'm not weighing myself these days, just wearing the trousers and tops that I think should fit and if they do that's how I know!

    Today, again, as I said before because I can, I decided on the chocolate waffles. I use a waffle maker for convenience. I plug it in, heat it up, spray it with cooking oil and mix my batter. I always, if having chocolate waffles, add chocolate chips to the mix, and why not? I'm living on the edge! Do it! Spoil thyself!  For grins and giggles I leave the waffler's top up for a while, not closing it, this is a trick I learned over time. If you leave it up for a minute the edges cook and aren't squeezed out allowing the batter to run all over the sides! Yes! See, even old dogs can be trained. It just takes a minute!

    So speaking of dogs, my dog Ginger sat beside me during the entire process. I think she thinks that if I drop something she'll be diligent and pick it up for me. I have never really expected less from her, but I usually let her keep anything she finds on the floor. We have a two-second rule in our house when it comes to food, and after that, the dog is the owner.  However, in most cases, there isn't enough time for the two-second rule; those dogs are there and on the job! Unfortunately for Ginger, I didn't spill or drop anything, and dogs can't have chocolate anyway. I told her! I was literally telling her the entire time that she couldn't have it even if I did drop it, but yeah, she wasn't listening. I then, because I should, purposedly found something on the cabinet I could drop. I think it was a Cheez-it. So yeah, I had to open the cabinet first, then find the box, then open that, and pull a few out so I could drop them, but dogs deserve a little respect just for sitting patiently beside their people.

    After the masterpiece was created, I further enhanced it with several dabs of creamy smooth Irish butter before covering it in the aforementioned Hershey's chocolate syrup.  Done! I only need one. I'm truly satisfied with just one waffle when it's done correctly.  I do actually often eat waffles with bananas and chocolate, or strawberries and chocolate. There was this one time that I ate it with regular maple syrup and you would have thought my kids had seen me twerk on top of the countertop! Their faces! They just stared at me and slowly dropped their jaws. (Mom is not putting chocolate on her waffle, is she OK?)  We were out of chocolate that day. It was a sad day to be sure, but I was able to at least show them, and give them an example, of what it is to be tolerant and inclusive. It was a teaching moment.

    Other uses for Hershey's chocolate syrup could and do include being used for chocolate milk of course, or as a topping on ice cream. I'll pour it over apples too. I am not above using it in my cake batters.  The one place it does not have a right to be is on my homemade biscuits. Nope, that is when I make chocolate gravy with my Hershey's cocoa powder. There is a difference, and if you don't know the difference you have no right to call yourself a cook! I don't know if you actually do consider yourself a cook, but you wouldn't be one if you didn't know the difference between Hershey's cocoa and Hershey's chocolate syrup.  Oh wait, there's another place it doesn't belong!  Hershey's chocolate syrup does not belong in my chocolate frosting either.  Now that I think about it, I could probably come up with any number of places it couldn't, shouldn't, or wouldn't be. However, (she grins) I do know a place in the house where you shouldn't or wouldn't take the powder cocoa but you can take the bottle of syrup - - for convenience as well as the texture I mean. Everything tastes better with a bit of chocolate, we can all agree on that - - I'll leave it there.

Photo Credit: Me

Healthy Body! Healthy Mind! Healthy Soul!

 Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? Just buy or make two cakes! Save one if you need to, but eat it sparingly, because too much of anything great could be a problem down the road.  Moderation!!  So, today, we are talking about how you may find that eating well, exercising, and meditating can equal all the things you really need for a good and sustainable body, mind, and soul. I would say you can't have one without the other, but really, it's possible to do that. You can be really fit, but really depressed. You can be depressed but have a desire to follow Christ. Do that. If you're finding yourself depressed, sad, angry, or anxious, just think about the ways Jesus has helped you in the past. He's still in the same place, doing the same things. He's a WAY maker. He makes you a WAY to be better!

    Today is the last official day that I am off from work because I start my new employment (I don't want to say JOB because it's so much more) and I will use the day to be the best I can be. My hips have been aching since I've been walking more. I knew it might happen, so I added more turmeric to my diet. I added garlic, I added ginger, and now, because I realized (duh!) that vitamin C is an amazing anti-inflammatory, I am adding more vitamin C to everything. It's not just for flu seasons you know. Vitamin C can do so very much, and you can get it from fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges, and blueberries, but you can also buy it over the counter (or online!)  That's exactly what I did! WOW!

    I ordered a bottle of vitamin C from Amazon, and even though I saw that it had 400 tablets in the bottle and that each tablet was 500 mg of C, I didn't think about how HUGE the bottle was going to be. I guess I just thought the tablets were smaller; they are not. I should say they were not.  I have crushed them! They are now in powder form and they are now one. I have one huge bottle of vitamin C and I take about a teaspoon of the powder every day and add it to my smoothie. These smoothies, I gotta tell you, are packed full of goodness and healthy stuff. They taste fantastic and super upper fantabulous too. I'm not just making that up, believe me. I drink one for lunch every day and have for the past how many ever weeks and months. I love it.

    The average and/or typical smoothie for me looks like this:  When it's all poured out its about 15 oz, but if I make more I just drink it from the canister I blended it in and then drink the smoothie in the glass or goblet that I just poured it into. I try to make it around 15 oz every day. What's in it? Well, I'm so glad you asked. Let's start with the ingredients.

• 1/2 cup of ice cream. I use no sugar added.
• 1/3 cup (or so) of frozen fruit. I like them all.
• 1/2 cup of milk (I use FairLife)
• 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup of water

and now for the powders:

• Collagen 1 scoop
• Protein (hemp or pea) 1 scoop
• Tumeric 1/2 teaspoon
• Vitamin C 1 teaspoon
• Kacip Fatmah  1/4 teaspoon
• BHB with Calcium 1/2 teaspoon
• Cranberry powder 1 tablespoon
• Papaya seed powder 1/2 teaspoon
• Hyaluronic acid 1/2 teaspoon
• Flax seed 1 teaspoon

The smoothies are typically around 400 calories or less, which isn't bad for lunch. A hamburger can have 1000 calories. It is thick and rich and really creamy, and with all the punch of a world-class boxer when it comes to heaving in the healthy stuff for my body! When my body is happy, my mind tends to be a bit more jovial as well. I can walk a mile or two after drinking my lunch, and that helps as well. I don't know that I'll ever get all the aches and pains out of my bones since they are sort of older, but I'm doing as much as I can, and so far it's been pretty good, pretty smooth sailin'.

    

    Today when I was crushing the vitamin C into the fine powder that I need, the "fumes" were cascading up into the air and I inhaled about 1000 mg of it I'm sure. My makeshift funnel worked pretty well. I rolled up a piece of paper and stuck it into the bottle, waste not, want not!  All is good in the Stringfellow home for sure. If I can find a better way to do something, to make something work better than it has, or just different in a way to make life easier, I'm gonna do it. It's the ENTJ in me. I can't stop thinking of ways to improve whatever it is that I'm having to deal with. If I am the least bit inconvenienced I try to find a better way to address the issue. I've always been that way.  My rocking pony was a sight! At the age of 4, I told my mom it needed to be raised and the springs needed to be shorter and thicker so it would be able to hold me. It was about that time I got my first real horse.

    Best of both worlds!  I have smoothies for lunch, and only one dish to clean! I mean, yeah, I have to clean the canister that I make it in, but I don't use pots or pans and I don't have silverware or multiple dishes. Just the cup! LOVE IT. Now, the next part is the prayer part. Once I have my smoothie made, and  I've walked my one or two miles, I tend to sit in my big chair and read my Scots Bible. What's a Scots Bible you ask? Well, it's a regular Bible, but it's written in the Scots language or dialect. It's not Gaelic, it's Scots. I've been studying and reading both Scots and Scots Gaelic for a couple of years. I'm getting to the point now that I rarely have to search for what a word means, but since I read the Scots Bible with my English version, I am able to decipher pretty much all the weird and quirky things they say. To give you an example: the English word for gold is gold.  Scots word for gold is gowd. The English word for fool is fool, but in Scots it is ful.  Braw = good, bonnie = pretty or nice, auld = old. It's fun to learn. It's great to know that my ancestors spoke this language and they read their Bibles this way.

    

    Good mind. Good body. Good soul.  Good day!! I love it when I can say that I would rather be with Jesus, curled up in a chair reading fun and strange words that describe His life, than doing just about anything else on a sunny fun Friday afternoon.  It's about 2 p.m. and I have half of my walking in for the day. I'm averaging about 6 miles a day now. I post some of it, but sometimes I just don't. I like to walk the parking lots and the lake near my house. Soon the weather will be better (cooler) and I can put in a few more steps! YEA.  Be good, and be good to yourself. You deserve to be your best friend.

Photo Credit: Me

    

Blueberry Cobbler, Because I Can!

 You will never hear me say that I'm a gourmet chef, or that I can outcook anyone, but you will hear me say that I know my way around a kitchen and that I have absolutely failed my two daughters when it comes to doing that particular feat.  I guess what happened was, that maybe I threw the girls out of the kitchen when I was in it so I could get supper ready.  I know I had Reuben in there with me to handle the easy things so I could get things made. He's a cook. Maybe I was too busy being a mom to be a teacher and mentor when it came time to learn to cook. I think Caity picked up a few tips, but then there's Laura!  Laura still hangs out at the edge of the kitchen waiting for me to finish whatever it is that I'm doing. I could be washing a dish, but she'll stand outside of the room so as not to disturb me. Maybe she remembers me and the wooden spoon -- I don't know. I know she hasn't decided to take up cooking or baking. She is a pro at microwaving though. She'll never die of hunger, she just may never actually experience anything worth eating. I blame myself.

    Today, because I could, I decided to make a blueberry cobbler. I actually decided on doing it yesterday, but I didn't have any all-purpose flour and I wasn't about to throw almond flour and coconut flour together for something as Southern as cobbler. I have my priorities. I can all but see my dear Granny up there in Heaven with her new eternal switch! I am not about to fail that woman. She and Aunt Wilma both would roll over in their respective graves, unzip the Earth and swat me hard if I ended up using anything less than real flour. They won't mind if I substitute the sugar for monk fruit, but there's no way I'm doing away with the butter, the buttermilk, or not putting cinnamon in the mix even if it doesn't call for it in the recipe. 

    Many families opt for going out and picking the blueberries fresh, but we didn't have that option today. I bought a bag of frozen blueberries because (believe it or not) the flavor is really good and they "pop", meaning they hold their own until they need to be eaten and they are firm enough and soft enough to make them really an ideal choice without pieces of twigs or dirt. Just saying.  Facts.

    If you're interested in the recipe it's really very simple. To prepare the oven and the pan I turn the oven on to 375 and let it get hot while I put all of the ingredients together.  

For the blueberries: (and yes, you can use other fruits) I spray a glass pan of either 8x8 or 9x9 inches. I then set the two separate bowls I'm going to need on the counter and add the blueberries to one (about 3 cups) and I add six tablespoons of monk fruit along with 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour to the blueberries and I mix it up.  I pour that mix into the sprayed pan and add about 6 slight spoonfuls of butter on top, splitting the butter up so it goes to all the corners and is evenly spaced.  

For the top of the cobbler part: In a separate bowl I add 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour with 6 tablespoons of monk fruit, and about 1 tsp of baking powder. I salt it, maybe 1/4 of a tsp, and blend that all together.  Then you add a stick of butter, or 3/4 of a stick if you want to, either way, is good, as long as your "dough" has pea-sized combined flour/butter when you're finished blending it. BLENDING IT is the important part. You use two knives to cut the butter into the mix. You don't heat the butter. You blend it or cut it, and when the mix appears to have pea-sized balls rolling around inside the bowl, you're ready to add the buttermilk. You can use half and half with milk if you prefer.  You pour the milk in slowly and stir so that the mix becomes gooey and has the consistency of biscuits. (You actually have just made sweet biscuits if you think about it.) 

    I add the cinnamon or all-spice to it and begin to drop it onto the blueberries in little biscuit-looking shapes. You don't have to be perfect, but you don't want to overdo one side. Make your droppings consistent.   Put it in the oven for 35-37 minutes and keep an eye on it to be sure you don't over-brown the top.  When it's finished the top will be a golden brown but and the blueberries will be bubbling. DO NOT EAT IT when it's that hot.  Bring it out of the oven and let it sit. You'll survive, it's not that long before you can eat it, but get yourself some ice cream and do it right! Some folks add sugar to the top while it's baking. You can if you want. I don't cook with sugar so I tend to just do what I need to.

    I was SHOCKED and utterly set beside myself today when my daughter told me she couldn't remember me ever making cobbler for her in the past. Did I really deprive my kids to that point or is she just being obnoxious? I don't want anyone coming by my place to take my Southern Mama card away, but it could be that she was really young the last time I made blueberry cobbler. I've made apple cobbler for her I know, but maybe she's right about the blueberries.  Wow. Just...yeah, Wow.

    There you go, if you want more info on that you'll just have to make one yourself and see how it all turns out. I wish you the best. I need to go to Braum's while the cobbler is cooking and get some vanilla bean ice cream (no sugar added) and do this the way it should be done! Yep! That's the plan. 

    

Photo Credit: Me.

Menu Me, Please! Thank You!

 ICYMI, I love Pinterest!  You can literally look up anything and everything on that site and you will find so many things you never knew you were even interested in looking at; so true.  You can start out with ideas such as "dinner" and then narrow it down to "beef dinner" or "chicken dinner" and the site will (as a great database will) pull up some really cool ideas as well as some funky ideas that leave you both excited and confused. I love it when that happens! 

    I decided to make a month-long menu of dinners and then as time will show, my lunches become the leftovers from the previous night, or two nights, dinners. I can count on making about 25 meals a month as I don't ever cook on Thursdays. No one including myself knows why that is. It isn't something I picked up from my mom. It isn't something I started as a nine-year-old and thought I shouldn't stop now that I'm into my ancient years. I just don't cook on Thursdays. It's a me thing. So, since I don't cook on Thursdays, that leaves all the other days available for me to experiment in the kitchen. Let's do it.

    I went to www.pinterest.com  and I think I put in "Dinner" and "Ideas" separately, but the site knows what I mean, and it spits out about 139880 dinner ideas that are just out of this world. I had trouble narrowing it down, but thought to myself, "OK, I'm going to go to the store and buy all the ingredients for all of these meals. I don't want to spend money I don't have to. I don't want to waste money on foods I won't eat."  Since I'm not a big seafood fan, sorry Scottish friends, I decided to only add shrimp and cod as my fishy choices for the 25 meals I'm preparing during the month of September and now into October since I didn't get started at the top of the month. It's OK. Things will work out. I promise.

    Pinterest helped me narrow and then pick and choose so many things. I picked (and not in any order) beef dishes such as Beef Stroganoff, Beef and Broccoli, Beef Tips and Sauces with Rice, Hamburgers, Steak & Potatoes, Mince & Tatties, and Spaghetti with Meatballs! (You gotta have meatballs. I think I had meatloaf in there as well. I'm pretty sure of it.)  For the chicken meals, I went with all the basic food, the ones Laura will actually eat. I added a couple of surprises, but I don't tell her what I put into it even when she asks. She may or may not eat my food if I disclose too much, and it's not that she doesn't like it, but if she's not familiar with it she won't attempt it.

    For the chicken I went with Enchiladas, Chicken Tortellini Soup, Chicken Fingers with Chips (fries), Chicken con Carne, Marry Me Chicken, Chicken Pot Pie, Pulled Chicken BBQ sandwiches, Chicken Quesadilla, and Baked Chicken with good old American green beans and new potatoes.  Sometimes you just have to call it what it is, food for the belly!  If you haven't had Marry Me Chicken yet, you need to do that. It's just so amazing. I do the sun-dried tomatoes rather than the peppers, but you can do both actually.  Being from the Southwest, we use a bit more paprika so this is one of those recipes where you can use it and it not only makes the chicken so much better on the palette, but it looks pretty with hints of red sprinkles!

    If you're doing the math, you'll see that there are still a few dates left after the beef and chicken dinners. I added sausage, a veggie night (maybe two) and I have a night meal that I do often that I call the Greek Night Dinner. It's really not necessarily Greekian, as our family says, but it is European and it has grapes and hummus, so there you go.  I fill a plate up with things we normally have in the fridge such as summer sausage, olives, grapes, baby carrots, hummus, cheese, and more cheese, and maybe I'll throw in a hard-boiled egg or split one with someone. It's a light and easy meal, no cooking other than the egg, and it goes down nicely with a fizzy water for sure. 

    Once I made my list of 25 meals I placed the suggestions on the fridge and asked Laura to go through them to see what she wanted for dinner tonight. She picked the Beef Stroganoff, so that's the ticket!  I made it, and I love it. I took pictures. I added the broth from the meat from the slow cooker to make the gravy (with sour cream, flour, heavy cream, and a little milk) with spices and poured the cooked beef into it for another 20 minutes of simmering.  While you're cooking your beef tips in the slow cooker (4 hours) be sure and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the mix and 1 tsp of vinegar. This will soften the meat to the point of falling off the fork! GREAT stuff.

    We add salad to the side, and we usually have fruit. I'm a huge grape fan, so that's the go-to, but this meal can complement or be complemented by any side and/or fruit. I love it.  Check your calorie count on this one however, it's higher than most. You may need to spend a little extra time doing a bit more cardio to get rid of a few of those padded-on calories, but I think it's worth it. Season with salt and pepper as you like, and don't forget the prayer!! That's the most important part of the meal in my opinion. I'm truly grateful for so much and being able to cook and please the kid is just one of those things.  Do I spoil her? Yeah, I do, but it's all good. She's the middle child and they think they're put upon, so it works out fine.

    

Photo Credit: Me

    

OMG...WHATABURGER!

 In America, and I know in the Southwest, we have a chain of burger restaurants that can compete with any of the big names. One of the big names that we have here in Oklahoma, is Whataburger!  I've known about and eaten at Whataburger since I was a kid, but I haven't eaten there in over 40 years. I could go into the details, but it really has nothing to do with the restaurant, and more with the company I was with when I last went. I think the burger patty was undercooked and I made a comment about it.  That was a big enough mistake that it caused a mini-riot at the table. We were all escorted out of the place, and I just never went back!

    Needless to say, that was my fault.  It was 100% on me, and no one else. I can't begin to think that my actions were out of line, the burger was undercooked. I just feel that I should have had better friends then, and I'm certainly not hanging with those same people today.  I like my dining experiences to be rather dull, thank you. I prefer to be appreciated for my business; that's what old age and maturity will do for a gal.

    We have a few Whataburger "stores" as we call them, in our city. There is one literally less than a mile from my place, and though it really isn't all that easy to get to, it is seen all the time as I drive by it nearly every day of the week. If I go to Target it is across the street. If I go down the road I see it to my right or my left depending on which direction I'm going. (I almost said depending on the side of the road I'm driving on as if I really had a choice! I'm in America! We are on the right, you know. Or at least, we should be.)  If I'm going North I see it. If I'm going South I see it. I see this particular Whataburger all the time. That was my point.

    One of the reasons I don't stop in and pick up a burger (and fries) is because I am on a rather strict diet, but I do find myself stopping by Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy, so I could If I wanted to, switch it up and go to Whataburger now and again. Well, today was that day! Laura and I were out getting crickets, which is something we do a couple of times each week, and we decided that on our way back home we would stop at Whataburger! WHAT? That's right! We decided to live on the edge, do things a bit differently, and that is HUGE when you live with a Taurus! OMG...OMG...I was able to talk Laura (LAURA) into going to a different restaurant! WOW. Again, I say, WOW.  If you live with a Taurus, you may understand.

    Because I'm one of those "Go big or go home" types, I ordered the big fat juicy double bacon and bleu cheese burger. Yes, I did! It will be there tomorrow too, as I cut it in half. There was NO WAY I could eat that entire burger in one setting. If you think you've seen big burgers in American diners you may have because Americans like to over-serve, but Whataburger has an enormous burger in the Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger. Do it. I double dog dare you. It's amazing!!  They added just enough Bleu Cheese, not too overwhelming. I had the tomatoes removed, I'm not really a fan. I know, that's crazy since I love ketchup.  I will never really understand that. Laura ordered the simple Bacon Burger and both of us bought the meal which comes with fries and a drink. Unsweetened tea for me!! They do, however, have a Banana Pudding Shake! No, I'm not kidding. They do.

    I didn't see how big the burger was until I got home with it. I was eating my fries before they got cold when I reached into the bottom of my brown paper sack and almost couldn't lift the burger out of the bag! It was a good 3-4 inches thick and over seven inches across. This is a monster burger. Yeah, I cut it in half. There is a meal just waiting for me tomorrow. I can't do that with fries. I can't eat cold fries. Some people can. I am not one of those people. I also hate too much salt on my fries, and I'm told that in the UK I don't have to worry about that! Good. Here in the USA, we are over-salters....absolutely over-the-top over-salters. We have better ice here though. That's a gimme. We have that crunchy good chunky ice that you can just sit back and chew on. You don't even have to have a drink with it. Just ice. There are a few gagillion of us who do that.

    So you know, the big thing about Whataburger is the fact that the burgers are cooked over an open broil flame. They are not heated in a machine or fried on a flat steel grill, they are subjected to flame and it makes a huge huge difference in the way they taste. I'm going to say it, and Braum's won't like me for saying it, but Whataburger is going to be my go-to for Cheat Days. I will stop by Braum's for ice cream, not gonna lie about that, but yeah, the burger is better at Whataburger. Why have I been denying myself this precious commodity for so long? Dummy. No words.

    Let's see if I can put the nutritional facts here for you so you can understand what you're subjecting yourself to if you come here and order a double Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger.  Hold on to your hats. These are approximate, and I'm getting the information from the website www.whataburger.com 

• Calories 1250
• Carbs   68
• Fats 37
• Sodium 1910
• Sat. Fat  13
• Sugar 12

So, all in all, not good for you. Just sayin'. I don't endorse this burger for a healthy lifestyle. It is, however, an amazing treat and you may deserve to give yourself a break if you're able to do so without harming your body or your diet. If you need to ask your doctor before you indulge in this sort of crazy, you should do that. Best of fun and food!  Enjoy! If you are from the UK and you come to this part of the world, I would say you owe it to yourself to do this.  My meal was $12 USD.

Photo Credit: Whataburger. 

The Latest "Snake Oil" in my Life.

 Recently, a friend (who shall not be named) accused me of falling for the latest snake oil, basically claiming my diet, exercise program, and workout ethic was enough for me, and that I didn't need t take the supplements, oils, and things I give to myself such as vinegar/baking soda baths, etc.  She stated that by me taking or using activated charcoal, I was wasting my time, effort, and money. She claimed burning my toast would be sufficient. This is the type of ignorance I would dismiss as folly and foolishness for the most part, but these words were coming from an educated woman who has by all means and ways, given up on herself.  She will purposely remind herself and others that age happens and that we should go with it. We shouldn't try to look or feel younger, we should embrace our oldness and deal with the way the chips fall! I guess she and I will have to agree to disagree!  She sees the glass half empty, so she pours out the rest and smashes the glass! I see it as half full, and top it off!

    My latest "Snake Oil" is an old one, it's a former one, I should say. About two years ago I found it, and I used it. It worked, it worked very well.  It worked so well that I overused it, I literally abused it, and it bit me squarely in the ass!  I wound up overdosing on what I know now is a real thing while using BHB salts! PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU DO IT.  BHB is the ingredient so many of these new distributors are using in their Shark-Tank-approved gummies or tablets.  They claim you plop it, the fizzy tab, into 4 ounces of water, and you drink it. Well, that's what BHB salt is, a dissolvable salt that when activated with water or liquid, becomes what it is, a great supplement to one's diet and exercise program. The ins and out of it can be Googled or researched of course, but the long and short of it is, that it suppresses your appetite while simultaneously boosting your metabolism. Win-Win, right? It is until you do what I did, which was to OVER do it. Don't be like me. THINK first.

    I thought it over and realized two things. I remembered that the BHB did work for me. I also remembered that I abused it. I know that if I use it again, I will not be an idiot, and in fact, I will cut back on even the daily recommended dosage until I see results and then I'll either adjust as needed or more likely, I will keep it where it is. I can lose weight slowly, I am not opposed to that.  Having a daily routine is key to your diet and exercise program. Having a supplement that helps and you know it works, is also a benefit. Kin to using too much of anything, using BHB as a weight loss assist, can be thought of like this: if you're into Keto you do Keto things such as dropping carbs and sugar. If you're into Paleo you eat meat and other proteins. If you're not into all that, but you want a good diet and exercise program that you know will work for you, only you can determine that.  I bought a pack on Amazon, just BHB and Calcium. I can control how much I use.

    For me, I get up in the morning and stretch.  I walk the dog, write in my journal, eat breakfast around 10:00 a.m. and I either work out at 10:30 or go for a stroll. I study or work, I make a good light lunch and use a protein shake as most of that lunch. I wait until 2:30 and eat another light meal, usually a sandwich or something. I do this small meal thing to keep my metabolism going. BHB does that too, and if I only use a little of it I think (and feel) that I will be OK. If I feel or think I'm not OK, I will be the first to toss the bag into the bin and move forward.  I take my vitamins before noon and my supplements after 2:00 p.m. Around 6:00 p.m. I eat dinner and walk another 3 miles either outside or on the treadmill. I take my poopy pills, fiber through psyllium husk, around 8:00 p.m. and I drink copious amounts of water all day! By copious, I mean I drink over 100 ounces of water every day, not including my coffee or tea. I drink a heck of a lot of water.

    Some of the supplements I use are multi-vitamins, papaya enzyme, B12, Zinc, and D3 separate from the multi, Dhea, probiotics (several on a rotation basis as was suggested by my doctor) raspberry ketones, activated charcoal, and collagen. LOVE me some collagen. I use it in liquid intake, powder, and oil for my face. I use a lot of collagen, and I think it works.  What do I think about all of the other supplements? My joints don't hurt much. I mean, my knee does, but the rest of me doesn't. I have more energy than the folks around me no matter what their age. I walk 6-8 miles a day, tend to wake up with a positive attitude, and I think the world is going to Hell but I don't have to because I have hope in the future here and in Heaven. It's more about the mind really, isn't it? Using liquid Ginseng is a great additive to my routine, and I do that as well as spiking my smoothies with things such as Kacip Fatimah, Googeberry, Cranberry powder, papaya seed, sesame seed, flax seed, and more collagen. Why not? If my body doesn't need it I think it will flush it. If it does need it, if it can be used, it will absorb it.

    The probiotics I take to balance my hormones. When we get older our bodies need manual adjustments that we can't receive from just eating well. The probiotics help adjust mood hormones as well as fat-storing hormones. I stay healthier, happier, and for the most part in a great mood. Why would I want to be less than the happy, healthy person I am? If I wanted to stew in my own old and decrypted mindset, I'd be the age I am.  I think I have proven to myself and anyone around me that I have the experience and maturity of my actual age, but not the body, not the mindset, not the attitude, and not the outlook.  Call it the Peter Pan syndrome, but it's not about not growing up, it's about not growing tired or useless. It's about not throwing in the towel, giving up, and accepting the consequences of time. No, you don't have to do that. You can become a new YOU just by changing the way you eat, the way you work out, the way you think, and the way you believe. 

    Giving up sugar wasn't hard for me, I found a better life after I did.  Giving up carbs isn't something I wanted to do, so I lessened them. It's a personal choice. My personal choice is to choose to be happy or at least if I can't do that, I can find joy in my life. I can be thankful for the things I do have and the things I hope to have rather than just accepting defeat and living amongst the scabs of my past. What didn't kill you makes you stronger, so let it go and live! I am giving up negativity in all of its forms. If that means finding new friends I'll find new friends. I won't be held down or held back by would-be nay-sayers who can't choose the brilliant bright life God has chosen for them. MOVE FORWARD not inward! Let God have the reins and be totally free!  I've said it before, and I'll continue saying it, to be bound to Christ is to be truly free.  

    My latest "Snake Oil" may or may not work. If it works it stays, if it doesn't it goes away. That can be said for literally everything, and everyone in my life who determines for themselves to be painstakingly contrary, dissenting, and colorless. Bland is not tolerated. SHINE! Choose to be bright. Choose to be bold. Choose to stand out and stand up for yourself. CHOOSE to be the YOU that only YOU can be. I will continue to be me, as I am the only me I could ever be.