Hey everyone!

Well, it’s been an awesome 9 days away visiting family but I’m happy to be back in my own space again now. As much as I love going to visit, its always great to get back to my own routine. I thought I would fill you in on the rest of my week away. It was much easier than the first part with all that food tempting me, but I still had a couple of setbacks. To top things off, my back was extremely bad while I was gone. I think I may have done a little too much "going" as we say here on the rock.

After my episode of sickness last Monday morning, due to me overloading my stomach on foods I haven’t eaten in months, I managed to get back on track somewhat.

Tuesday Sept 25th

I was up early that day and excited to spend some time with a dear friend and Nutracelle buddy. We met up and had a great morning and afternoon at her house. She made us both a delicious chocolate peanut butter smoothie and I gave her a new hairdo. That evening my sister-in-law cooked the Crispy Chicken Tenders that can be found in the More Than Smoothies cookbook. It’s great to have family who support you in your efforts to lose weight and eat healthier. I must say, we ate a lot of salads and veggies with all our meals. Delicious!

Wednesday Sept 26th

We were up and on the go early again that day. We headed out to the Gould’s to visit the newest family pet. A 26-year-old mare named Piper. What a lovely morning we had feeding her carrots and taking a few photos. We continued back to town to do a little shopping afterwards. All my days started with a Coffee infused vanilla smoothie for that extra boost of energy. Thankfully, Deb had some chocolate cream cheese protein treats on hand for those between meals snack attacks. I also made some chocolate chip "Slimbits" as well. They were a big hit! (Was there any doubt? Ha-ha not here!). My brother BBQed ribs that evening and we had veggies cooked in the Actifry and some turnip fries. So delicious!! We headed back out after supper to do a little more shopping and after an hour or so, my back was hurting so bad, we headed for home. I don’t know about you guys, but the fresh air knocks me out and I went to sleep early.

Thursday Sept 27th

I slept in that morning. I decided I would have a day at home to give my back a rest. I started my day with my usual smoothie and another for lunch. I soaked in an Epsom salt bath. Did my hair, cleaned up a little while my sister-in-law was out. My brother made hamburgers that evening for supper and of course I had brought along my own Nutracelle Cheesy Hamburger Buns. Once again, saved from eating too many carbs! I will admit to eating a small piece of my brother’s homemade chocolate cake though, without icing as he doesn’t like icing of any kind and thankfully, there wasn’t any ice cream handy either! I made another loaf of the country classic bread for Deb that evening as well. She has a loaf for her freezer now as well as the loaf I made earlier in my visit. The first loaf got quite a going over while I was there.

Friday Sept 28th

I was up early again and had my smoothie before packing up my things. I was excited to get back home and settle back in. We had a trip to Costco and then hit the highway. I picked up a bag of Parmesan Cheese Whisps for any snack attack that might occur when travelling. I remember times when I would stock up on chocolate and salty snacks and eat my way from point A to Point B. It seemed the thing to do. Looking back now, I can’t believe how incredibly unhealthy that was. It was late afternoon when we got home. I gave my brother the option of going out to eat or I could make hot wings in the Actifry. He opted for the wings. However, I didn’t have a veggie in the house to make a salad. Not even a potato! He wanted some potatoes from Mary Browns and some coleslaw. Yep, you guessed it. I caved again and ate what he was eating. Right after supper though, I asked him to take me grocery shopping and I stocked up on salad fixings and other fresh veggies to keep me on the straight and narrow from now on.

I was a little nervous this morning as I got on the scales for the first time in almost 2 weeks. I felt like I may have lost a few pounds, however, I’ve felt like that in the past, only to weigh myself and be up a pound or 2. Anyway, I pulled up my big girl panties and stepped on. It was what it was. Had I gained, I would have given myself a pep talk and started over but there was no need. Even with my few slip-ups, I managed to lose 2 more pounds! I was over the moon! My vacation ended, and my new week started out on a positive note. I have forgiven myself for my transgressions of the last couple of weeks and looking ahead to doing just as well in the next couple of weeks and beyond. I’m just 2 pounds shy now of a 30-pound weight loss. I think I’m good for 40 pounds off by Christmas. 50 gone by my birthday in early February. Those are my goals for the next few months. I think, no I KNOW, I can achieve them.

I promised you guys I would try a new recipe when I got home and today I made individual Beef Pot Pies. I used the Flaky Protein Pie Crust recipe as found on the website!

I doubled the recipe because I had purchased a small tart pan while I was away, and they are the perfect size to make pot pies and I’ll also use it to make the hamburger buns as well.

I had some stew beef in the freezer that I cut up with some onions, frozen peas and carrots and a little corn. I chopped some frozen broccoli as well. I didn’t have beef broth for the gravy, so I used vegetable broth and made a thickening of Natural Nutralean with some xanthum gum. I have to say, they turned out awesome. I’ll post some pictures for you all to see the process.

I had a little upset while making them today as a mouse decided to run across the kitchen while I was putting them in the oven! I almost died!!! I think he was after my stash of Nutracelle! Ha-ha! Enough about that, I’ll let you all know when I catch the little intruder. Hahaha...(not funny).

Thanks for stopping by again this week folks, and please drop in again next week for another post by yours truly! Have a great day everyone!!