First Time For Everything

Hey y'all. Happy Summer! It has felt like summer in Alabama for a few weeks at least but I guess today it is officially summer. I came across this Tweet from 7 years ago this past weekend. It was the first week I was on Weight Watchers. I was taken aback that it had been that long. I remember the momentum I had when I first started and it occurred to me that then, there were no gimmicks, just plain ol eating less. I had a renewed energy thinking about those years when I did so well and for the first time in a VERY long time, I had a successful weekend. I was feeling down after a couple light bingeing sessions in the beginning of the week and something changed Thursday night. Friday, I was ready to have a more positive outlook and it carried me through the weekend. I am hoping this motivation continues. I even went out with friends and had fun without having to feel guilty at the end of the night. Another thing I remembered was that planning ahead was critical. If I knew I would be going out or traveling, I would sacrifice in some areas to splurge in others. I am going to New Orleans this weekend and weighing on Friday before I go. I am only going to use the weigh-ins to see if I need to adjust my calorie intake. I don't want them to be a badge of failure anymore. Anyway, I am proud of this weekend and I hope to keep it up.

In my effort to have a more positive relationship with food lately, I have been doing things I've never done in the kitchen. For the first time, I had my family over for Sunday dinner and I made a homemade pie from scratch. I also served appetizers that snuck in the picture as well. A derby pie is kind of like a combination of a pecan pie and a chess bar with chocolate chips. I had it for the first time in Kentucky, where it's pretty popular. I followed instructions on the pie crust and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I have always been super intimidated by pie crust but I nailed it. I doubt I'll make it again anytime soon though. Having pie in my house is a temptation I don't need.

That same night, I also made bread from scratch for the first time.  I was lucky enough to get a Kitchen-Aid from my parents on Christmas and I've been itching to use it. I found a recipe that allowed the mixer to do all the work for me. Walking in the kitchen and seeing that my dough had actually risen was a proud moment for me. The bread was yummy! For both the pie and the bread, all I did was search for "Pie Crust" and "Kitchen-Aid Bread" in Pinterest. I had nothing to do with these recipes because as far as I've come as a cook in the kitchen, I haven't quite mastered the art of baking creativity just yet.

I am someone who LOVES runny egg yolks. Having avocado toast with a runny egg on top is something that I actually consider decadent. Having said that, I've only recently started ordering poached eggs at restaurants and I had never made one before...until last week. Once again, it was something that I thought would be much more difficult but turned out pretty easy. My mom told met there was a way to do it in the microwave which I'll try next but it ended up being pretty easy. All I did was bring water to a boil, drop an egg in the boiling water (with the shell) for ten seconds, take it out, crack it and after you swirl the water around in the pot, drop the egg into the middle of the swirl. When it's white all around, take it out with a slotted spoon. Bam. I loved it with toast.

Finally, I have a terrible time with plants. I have like a reverse green thumb. I am trying to change this. Currently, I have a big pot of annuals in my front flower bed that I have kept alive for a few months and I'm really proud of that. When I planted those, I also decided to try and grow a squash plant in the back yard. I put two seeds in a pot which was my first mistake. I should have only put one because they need room to grow. I will say that seeing that tiny green plant sprout out of the dirt from a seed was a BIG deal for me. Sadly, I had to remove one of the plants because they weren't growing and now my remaining squash plant is hanging on by a thread. The yellow flowers that grow on it keep dying. I will say that I'm still proud of it, though. One day I'll get there.

I want to give a shout out to my friend Nichole! She is getting married on Saturday in Louisiana and I can't wait for Jordan and I to go and see it. I'm so happy for you!

I hope you all have a great week!

Until next time...

:)