Food snob

Just wait - I do have quilting things to tell you about, but first I have to tell you my oatmeal story. I've become hooked on the Steel Cut Oats by Quaker - the one that you can cook in the microwave. I've perfected the technique and I was even able to cook it at my brother's house when I was away with no disasters in the microwave. A bit of almond milk and a banana and I'm a happy camper.

I didn't take a picture of the nutrition label, but there are 170 calories in a serving, 3 g of fat, no cholesterol, no sodium, 31 g of carbs, 6 g of protein and ZERO g of sugar.

I have a partial box of this instant oatmeal (also by Quaker) still in the cupboard and I thought I would try and use it up.

As a comparison, there are 110 calories in a serving, 1.5 g of fat, no cholesterol, but there are 140 MG of sodium, 23 g of carbs, 3 G of protein and 6 g of sugar.

Now if you were calorie counting or carb counting, you might want to pick the second one. But boy or boy - you need to taste them. The instant one is well - not worth eating in my opinion, especially after you have eaten the steel cut version. The steel cut version has a better texture, crunchier, the instant is like mush. Despite the fact that the instant is flavored and has sugar in it, it tastes flat. If this is your version of oatmeal and you don't like it, no wonder. Try the steel cut version - way superior product in taste and nutritional value.

I'm good with the extra calories - I need to find things to eat so I consume enough calories in a day and the taste is so much better. Thank you to Quaker for coming up with that. It's awesome. If you haven't tried it  - you should. Just remember that you need to cook it at a less than full power. Depends on the microwave, you may need to experiment. My microwave works at a power level of 5, my brother's (smaller microwave, a 6 or 7 worked better).

I know my kid is out there saying "I TOLD YOU TO READ the label".  Yes, food labels are important. It's not the calories or the carbs or the sugars of one product, it's the TOTAL intake of those products that you consume in one day. I'm still struggling to eat enough calories in a day and I'm not eating enough protein. My calories in the past were made up of the wrong foods. Once I got those wrong foods out of my system, the weight just fell off. And I'm keeping it off - that's the good news. I use My FitnessPal (phone app) to track my food and it's been an absolute MUST in order to make this weight go away and stay away. I still use it.

If you decide to use it, I would suggest that you start tracking your daily food BEFORE you start to change your diet. I think you'd be shocked at what you consume. The first couple of days are a bit of a hassle as you get the information in there, but once it's there - it's easy to log. I do the logging at the end of the day now as I have a pretty good idea of what I eat. Yes - I tend to eat the same kind of things every day. So what? And don't forget that you can add a food by scanning the label of the food so you get all the nutritional information. Super EASY!!!! Most restaurant food is also available to download (through the app) or I use something similar. It's not an exact science, but it gives you an idea of what you're eating and what's in what you're eating.

I have three pouches of that instant oatmeal left. Anyone want a taste test?? I'd be happy to serve you up a wee bit of eat so you can see the difference.

And now onto quilting stuff. If my phone would stop ringing! Oh god - I just got a duct cleaning call on my cell phone. ACK!!!!   And I've got a ton of e-mail that needs to be answered. Let's not panic!!!

It's time to get back to the quilting machine. I've got SIX quilts on the slate for this week. It's going to be tight, but two of them are mine so they can slide if need be. I got this one done yesterday.

Customer quilt - DONE

 I have one more exactly the same to do - that's a job for this afternoon.

I promised to show you those two small wall hangings that I had given to my Mom. The label on the back tells me that they were made in 2001. I know - only a crazy new quilter would make something like this. If my memory is correct, there are 76 pieces in that snowflake alone!!! Now how can I remember a detail like that when I can't remember where the extra fabric is for my Farmer's Wife quilt?

Winter Wallhanging

Spring Wallhanging

My Mom wasn't the best at taking care of quilts. I don't think she ever hung up the spring wall hanging. She put up the winter one and it hung FOREVER in the kitchen in DIRECT sunlight. Can you guess what happened to it? I happen to have some of the original fabric (OK - I have a HUGE chunk of that blue). Look at the difference.

What the sun will do to your fabric

I had told her to take it down and she did, but the damage had been done. And then the two of them got packed in a box, never to see the light of day until I unearthed them.

I'm going to make the other two. I might even remake this one because it drives me crazy to look at it. But then, I'm going to fix the hangers and buy a hanger and physically put it on their door so the quilts can be enjoyed.



I know that when you give a quilt away, that it's no longer yours. We can't sweat the fact that they may use it for the dog to sleep on, or you may find it like this. Can you find the quilt in the picture below??

Where's the quilt?

Yes - it's on top of the bottom box right beside that white box. That's a queen sized quilt all folded up and compressed under a whole bunch of other stuff. I rescued the quilt. Took off the label. My SIL washed the quilt (twice) and it's now at a new home.

There was one other quilt that I had made for my Dad and I found it (after they had moved out of the house on the farm). It was folded up and under a cover on a chair. That one was also donated last year. You see why I'm leery about those little ones?  Well - we'll see what happens.

At least they do have two quilts and they are using them on their recliner chairs, but the quilt tops are facing inward so you can't see the nice design on the front. Oh well. At least those ones are being used.

I guess that sums up today. So much more, but no more time. I've got a trip to make today. A short one, but it'll still take a couple of hours and in the car. Not like my errand trip yesterday where I walked to the bank, then the grocery store, Indigo (and Starbucks where I bought a blueberry square as a reward for my walk and I still have money on a Starbucks card that I'm trying to use up), then the mall (where they have set up a place in the center for people to walk the World Soccer) and the final stop was the library where I bought TWO books for the price of $1.00.  It was a gloriou day and just right for a walk.

On that note, I'm out of here to try and get a few more e-mails done.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!