Tuesday In Texas: The Journey Toward New Jeans

The conversations that Tracey and I have with one another are definitely true to our blog title.  We spend a great deal of time talking about photography and food and laughing with each other.  Yes, admittedly sometimes the laughing is at our own photo and kitchen mishaps.  One of the best things about having a really good friend is that you can share stories about how an entire photo shoot went bad because you forgot to reset your camera settings from the previous day; or, about a recipe flop that you can’t even begin to explain but makes you wonder why you think that you have any credibility with which to write a food blog.  You can also talk with one another about the tough things, like the bright red number staring up at you from the ruthless bathroom scale.

Lately our food conversations have turned more serious because we have both gotten to a place where we are unhappy with our respective weights.  We have talked about how we got to this place of dissatisfaction, as well as about past weight loss successes, weight loss obstacles, and our shared genuine desire to get serious and remedy the situation.

I have been a member of Weight Watchers for many years and when I am faithful to the program, it has worked for me.  Before Tracey and I shared our similar plight of the pounds with one another, I had decided that I would once again start counting and logging those Weight Watchers points.  As I did this, I realized that the whole program has changed since I last was “serious” about it and I found it less inspiring and more difficult to follow.  Tracey shared that she is using an app called Spark People that has you count calories instead of points, gives you more concrete nutritional information, and is free!  So, I have cancelled my Weight Watchers membership and have switched my food logging to the Spark People app.  It is not, however, a program or an app that will most help me on this journey to shed the pounds.  The key to success is having a supportive and empathetic friend by my side.  A friend who understands when I say my jeans are too tight, but I refuse to buy a bigger size.  A friend with whom I am not embarrassed to share my actual weight or waist measurement.  A friend who will be there to share the small but meaningful milestones along the way and will also be there for encouragement when I encounter those inevitable setbacks.

We are sharing our journey with all of you here because our recipes over the next few months will reflect our efforts to make healthy lower calorie, but still tasty, food choices. 

In some ways it seems kind of strange for us to share such a personal struggle with someone we have never met face to face, yet it feels perfectly natural and comfortable.  We have been talking about setting realistic goals, knowing full well that it is going to take time to achieve our ultimate weight loss goals.  Yet we keep coming back to the fact that neither of us wants to buy new jeans unless we are buying them a size or two smaller!  That was the carrot that we were dangling in front of ourselves.  Then I thought, that perhaps a better carrot might be that once we both achieve our personal goals, we should plan an actual face to face meeting and go shopping for those new jeans together!

Food Friday - Say Cheese!

from Kris B.

This week's post is less about the recipe and more about what the recipe's say about us.  I suspect that grilled cheese in some form or another is a favorite of all of us.  And if it is not a current favorite, I bet thinking about a grilled cheese sandwich conjures of some fond memories of another time.  Grilled cheese sandwiches have always been a favorite of mine.  When I was a child, my mom made them with good old store brand white bread, American cheese, and a healthy slathering of butter, and then tossed in the skillet and browned on both sides.   Simple, and oh so good!  I still like this "recipe" from my childhood, and though my current method and ingredients for making grilled cheese sandwiches has evolved a bit over the years, the effect is still the same...classic comfort food.

It probably doesn't surprise you that Tracey and I talk a lot about food.  However, what we say about it in our regular conversations with one another is rather humorous.  At least once a week one of us will say, "Well, I've got my Friday post recipe under control, but I have no idea what we are having for dinner tonight."  Or, "I got my recipe made and photos taken and now I'm too tired to cook."  Those comments are often followed by, "I guess I'll just make grilled cheese sandwiches.  And if I have any, I might even pop open a can of soup."  Yes, we both enjoy cooking, but like anything, sometimes you just need a break!  So this week we decided to share our favorite grilled cheese sandwiches.

Though I am a carbohydrate addict, when it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, it is much less about the bread and all about the cheese for me. Smoked Gouda is my all-time favorite cheese.  Thus it, mixed with extra sharp cheddar, are the preferred stars of my sandwich.  And, for reasons that I cannot explain, I always grate the cheddar and slice the Gouda when I make my sandwiches.  I can't even remember when or why I started that.  I'm sure it has a dramatic effect on the satisfaction level of the sandwich, though.  LOL!

Generally, I prefer "brown" bread, but I still like my grilled cheese on white bread, another phenomenon that I cannot explain.  And not only do I like the white bread, I like it to be slathered, heavily slathered, with butter.  Yep.  This is why these sandwiches are comfort food.  All the things that I don't eat every day.  But, in case you think I am being totally unhealthy here, I do like my grilled cheese sandwiches with a couple slices of tomato.  There!  A vegetable, or, a fruit.  Ha.  The great tomato debate is one that has been going on for a long time.  In 1883, in the first of several cases on the matter presented before the U.S. Supreme Court, The tomato was ruled a vegetable.  Botanically speaking, of course, it is a fruit.  Whatever you want to call it, tomato is an excellent addition to my sandwich!  And, it makes it a tad bit healthy, doesn't it?

Though I do enjoy cooking very much, I am not a big kitchen gadget person.  My personal rule is to have nothing in my kitchen that only serves one purpose.  )We won't talk about the fact that I have three sets of measuring spoons.)  Though I am sometimes mildly impressed by the "one trick wonder" type gadgets, I don't have physical or mental space for them.  I can't function well with a lot of "stuff" around me and there is not room left in my cabinets or pantry.  At this point in my life, if I am going to add something new, something old is going to have to go.  That will be tough though, because all the old things that have made all the various purges thus far in my life are things that I find to be pretty darn useful!

The one thing that I made an exception for with regard to my one use rule is my waffle iron.  Only a waffle iron can make waffles; that's a given.  And a waffle iron can't do anything else, right?  Wrong.  At one point I thought I wanted a sandwich press...until I realized that I could press my sandwiches in the waffle iron...thus giving me "fancy" looking white bread.  LOL!  Seriously, the waffle iron makes a great sandwich press.  The key is to not actually press. :-)  If you push down on the sandwich like you would with a spatula when you make a grilled cheese sandwich in a skillet, you will push holes in the bread, creating a sandwich that can not be picked up because it is oozing cheese from all of its pores.   Just place your sandwich on the waffle iron and close it, adding no additional pressure. Using a wffle iron to cook things other than waffles is no an origional idea.  There are all kinds of recipes out there for creative ways that you can cook all kinds of things with your waffle iron.

So here are the down and dirty details of my favorite grilled cheese sandwich:

INGREDIENTS
My desired amounted of grated sharp cheddar cheese
My desired amount of sliced smoked Gouda
2 slices of "good" white bread
A couple slices of fresh tomato
Some melted butter
A sweet pickle...don't forget the pickle!

Preheat your waffle iron.

Brush one side of each slice of bread with melted butter.  Layer the un-buttered side of one slice with the smoked Gouda, then the tomato, and top with the grated cheddar cheese.  Top with the second slice of bread.  Place the sandwich on the waffle iron.  Resist the urge to make it a sandwich press!  Do not press down.  Cook until the bread reaches your desired level of brown. 

Here are a couple of my variations on this theme.  Add fresh spinach leaves and or bacon in the layer with the tomato.  This way, the cheese holds everything in place.  Another nice touch is to add a little bit of seasoning to the melted butter that you brush on the bread.  I usually use Italian seasoning,  Of course any herbs or spices that are personal favorites will certainly work just fine!

 Serve with a pickle and enjoy!




by Tracey G

When Kris mentioned doing grilled cheeses to my suggestion that I needed something simple and fast this week - I thought it was a great idea! Something a little different than our usual formula, this was more method and ingredients than full blown recipe kind of thing. A fun one to see how alike or different we are in what are our favorites! And from reading her post, I think we are once again, very much alike. We may have chosen different ingredients for this one, but I could have just as easily chosen what she used for hers! ;-)

To be  honest, I love a grilled cheese with just about any kind of cheese - but with a 6 1/2 year old around 99.9% of the time for the making of grilled cheeses, for speediness-sake vs. a debate/argument, I usually use the good old fashioned Kraft American singles and regular bread we always have around. And those are fine with me too - always a favorite and a classic. And with mine, I need a dill pickle - well, make that pickle slices that I put ON my sandwich, meaning between the bread slices with the melty cheese. Best way ever - well, to me anyway, lol. My child doesn't like pickles (some days I truly wonder if he wasn't switched at birth with another child born that day, his pickiness and not liking pickles is just wrong and so the opposite of myself! LOL), so not the "best way ever" to him, lol.

But, when I have the opportunity to have it my way - I jump at it! A local restaurant used to have my favorite lunch meal - they made a grilled cheese with 5 different cheeses and a lovely tomato bisque to go along with it. I don't get quite as extravagant with the cheese, as in using 5 different ones, but I will splurge on one or two good ones for my sandwich. Since this was all about favorites, I went with my favorite - and Harry's favorite too! - way to make my homemade-right-out-of-the-can tomato soup. I do use milk, but will replace a quarter of it with heavy cream if I happen to have some around. It's so much of Harry's favorite, that, every time I make tomato soup, he asks for it my "special creamy way", lol. 

These are my favorite ingredients. Too keep it simple, I stuck with one cheese, one of my favorite cheddar cheeses - and it melts so nicely too, lol. But as I said, I love a grilled cheese with just about any kind of cheese, I love a combo of sharp and mild cheddar as well. White cheddar is my favorite, so that's what I went with. I also like to use garlic in my butter for grilling. As for bread, my favorite bread is a rustic loaf, I do love a good Italian loaf, or Ciabatta. I do try to choose slices without large holes, they tend to let the cheese melt right through, lol.

My method is your typical grilling of the grilled cheese method, lol. I do, however, melt my butter when I am using a rustic bread, and brush it on prior to grilling - it also helps the garlic flavor blend through the butter. I brush one side of each of the slices of bread, place one buttered-side down on a preheated griddle or fry pan, top with cheese and then top with the other slice of bread, with the buttered side up. For my pickle-infused version, I start grilling mine so that the cheese just starts to melt, then I take the top slice of bread off and add my pickle slices, lol, and replace the top slice. Once the one side is nicely  browned, it's time to flip and brown the other side. That about sums it up, lol. Serve them up with your favorite soup - be it tomato or whatever! :-D 

Food Friday - Girls' Lunch

from Kris B.

So the lazy days of summer have truly set in and I am loving it!  This unscheduled and uncomplicated days are much needed and even more appreciated!  These feelings have made me think back to my summers as a kid.  Summer break is way different for me now, as it is also for kids.  How many of you remember disappearing in the morning to go play with your neighborhood friends knowing that at lunch time whomever's house was closest when hungry struck would be where everyone ate lunch?  That lucky mom would make a few simple sandwiches, grab some chips, apple, and maybe a few cookies and happily feed all the neighborhood kids, knowing that tomorrow it would be someone else's turn.  As an aside, we could eat chips and cookies because we were outside playing and burning those calories.  For many reasons, kids today don't have the luxury of this simple life.  They have "play dates" at commercial establishments specifically designed for them.  Kids' lives have to be planned way in advance, phone calls have to made, calendars have to be checked, outfits have to be chosen...it all seems so complicated.

Truthfully speaking, things are not much different for adults.  Most people don't extend hospitality from their homes as often as once was done.  We meet our friends for coffee, or for a quick burger, or maybe a nice sit-down dinner somewhere every now and then.  I think that one of the reasons that we don't gather in our homes as much anymore is because life has become too competitive - Thoughts like "I'm not as good a cook as so and so, my house is clean enough, my dishes aren't pretty enough, and so on" invade our thinking and we buy into all of that.  All of those things might be true, but are they what really matters?  If I chose my friends based on their culinary skills, I would probably eat a lot less.  If I chose them based on their taste or ability in decorating, I'm not sure how many I'd have.  Thankfully, I don't choose my friends on any of these things.  I choose them rather on things like their levels of compassion, trust,  integrity, sense of humor.  It doesn't matter whether we are eating hot dogs or a fancy multi-course meal, we always enjoy being together, because just being together is what is important.

I wonder what would happen if rather than meeting our friends at Starbuck's or the local burger joint, we invited them over for a sandwich, and chips, and maybe fruit and a cookie?  This week's recipe from me is a simple sandwich that might inspire you to give this a try.  It consists of only four ingredients - deli roast beef (or perhaps leftovers from last night's dinner roast), fresh spinach, tortillas, and prepared garlic and herb cream cheese.

Spread the cream cheese so that it covers the tortilla, layer in some meat and then some spinach.  The amounts are up to you.  Roll it up and cut it in half.  Simple and tasty!  Now enjoy lunch with your friends!

And here is a summer surprise!  Next weekend is the 4th of July. Crazy, right?  But that is not the surprise.  If you read my Tuesday post, you know that I indulged my creative block in a few phone apps.   They are fun; whether they have gotten me out of my slump is yet to be determined.  Because we believe in sharing the fun, next weekend, in honor of Independence Day, we are giving away a $20 gift card for either Apple or Google Play.  If you want to have some summer fun with phone photography, leave us a comment on any or all of the posts here between today and next Friday.  Let us know which type of gift card you would prefer should you be the lucky winner.  And, if you forward this information to a friend and they mention you in the comments, we will give you both an extra entry!  This is a great opportunity to get some of those apps that you have been wanting!



from Tracey G.

It's been a long time since I've made this recipe, and I forgot how much I really like it, lol. Harry loved it - minus the frosting because it has crushed pineapple in it, lol. Go figure, my favorite part is the one he doesn't like - but that's ok because he scrapes it off and gives it to me, lol. It's a win-win ;-)

This is one of those recipes that couldn't be easier, which is a good thing, because things have been crazy it seems, lol. When Kris and I talked about what to make this week, she asked me if I had a sandwich recipe I'd want to use and I said "other than put some salami or turkey on bread, with mustard and eat - nope, I sure don't! But dessert recipes I have more than enough of..." So, she suggested a lunch theme and this was a dessert I thought I'd make for something like that. :-) Although, I'm sure I could find a lot in my recipe book that I'd like to make, this is one of those that jumped out at me because it's light (not light as in low-calorie, although I did swap out a few ingredients to help lighten the calories - like half the oil for some applesauce and Lite Cool Whip for the regular) and cool for a summer day. And honestly, can brighten a winter day as well, lol! :-)

Ingredients are simple, a yellow cake mix, a can of Mandarin oranges, a can of crushed pineapple, eggs, vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 4 oz. applesauce), a package of instant vanilla pudding and 8 oz. container of whipped topping. 

For the cake batter, in a mixer you combine the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil (or applesauce/vegetable oil combo) and the  Mandarin oranges with their juice.

Mix until well blended. 

You then pour the batter into a greased and floured 9x13" pan - I skip the flouring because I use the cake release stuff by Wilton, saves having to do that extra step. Bake at 350° F for about 35 minutes.

When the cake is completely cooled, make the frosting - combine the crushed pineapple with the juice, vanilla pudding and cool whip and stir until well mixed. Spread over the cooled cake. Serve! :-)

Mandarin Orange Cake

1 18.25 oz. yellow cake mix (I had a 15.25 oz cake mix and it worked out just fine)

4 eggs

1 11 oz. can Mandarin oranges - undrained

1 c vegetable oil

1 8 oz. container whipped topping

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple - undrained

1 3.4 oz. box instant vanilla pudding

1) Mix together the cake mix, eggs, oranges with juice and oil. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13" pan.

2) Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes. Cool completely.

3) Beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice and pudding mix until well mixed. Spread on cake.

And in case you missed it above, here's the giveaway information one more time!  

And here is a summer surprise!  Next weekend is the 4th of July. Crazy, right?  But that is not the surprise.  If you read my Tuesday post, you know that I indulged my creative block in a few phone apps.   They are fun; whether they have gotten me out of my slump is yet to be determined.  Because we believe in sharing the fun, next weekend, in honor of Independence Day, we are giving away a $20 gift card for either Apple or Google Play.  If you want to have some summer fun with phone photography, leave us a comment on any or all of the posts here between today and next Friday.  Let us know which type of gift card you would prefer should you be the lucky winner.  And, if you forward this information to a friend and they mention you in the comments, we will give you both an extra entry!  This is a great opportunity to get some of those apps that you have been wanting!

Tuesday in Texas - Qualities of Friendship

I admit that I am often sucked in by those emails and Facebook posts that are lists of things - "Ten Tasty Dinners", "Five Secret Vacation Spots", "The Million Things You Don't Know About Your iPhone", "A Thousand Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Life".  I suspect that I am drawn to these types of articles because I am a chronic list maker.  Lists make life doable and understandable for me.  This week it was a blog post entitled, "10 Qualities of A Best Friend" by Melanie Shankle that caught my attention.

In my fifty years of having friends, my personal notion of what should be included on such a list has changed and morphed and grown over time.  I suspect that is true for most of us.  In our elementary years our best friend was someone who would share their toys and maybe a cookie.  In our teen years it was someone who wouldn't laugh at you when you shared your latest crush with them.  In college your best friend was the one who, when your mom called on Saturday morning,  told her you had already left for the library.  In those years when we are establishing committed relationships, starting new jobs and careers, and raising children, many of us, understandably, have less time for our friends.  We are so consumed with being responsible adults - partners, parents, and employees - that little time exists for cultivating and sustaining a best friend relationship.  I am by no means saying that we don't have friends during those years.  I'm simply saying that our energy is focuse in other ways.  

Now, having raised my children and settled into a career where I Have my goal set on retirement rather than climbing some metaphorical ladder, I again have time and space to spend quality time with friends, and redefine, for this place and stage in my life, what are the most important qualities of friendship. 

I am blessed to have a small circle of people locally that I consider to be best friends.  And, I still keep in touch with my best friends from college.  (They know too much about those crazy college days so we need to remain on good terms so that all of those stories stay encapsulated in our 35 year old circle of friendship. :-)) And now, I consider Tracey to be one of my closest friends.

Since one of the themes of this blog is friendship, I thought it would be fun to look at the friendship that Tracey and I share in light of the "10 Qualities of a Best a Friend."

The author, Melanie Shankle, began her post by saying that over the past few decades we have been substituting the joy of real friendship with communities like Facebook, where an ongoing tally of our hundreds of friends is kept, and Twitter.  We also send cryptic text messages and "beautifully filtered photos" via Instagram and call that friendship.

Uh oh.  Tracey and I may be in trouble before we even get to the actual list!  We met through an online community.  And, we have never met face to face or even talked on the phone!  On the positive side, we have also never sent one another a Facebook message or a text message.  Our communication takes place entirely via email, sometimes several emails a day.

Because our lifestyles, as well as our time zones, are different, email works for us.  We can write and respond to one another according to our own schedules.  True, email is not the same as face to face, but it sure is better than nothing.  I would hate to think that I might have chosen not to have given us a chance at friendship because of the physical distance between us.

OK, so we're starting out with a mark against us.  Let's see if we can redeem ourselves with what is on the actual list.  

Here is Melanie Shankle's list, and a little commentary.

10 Qualities of a Best Friend 

1. She’ll let you borrow her favorite dress, shoes, jacket, or top when you need something cute to wear. Bonus points if she actually says in the dressing room, “I’ll buy this, and then we can both wear it!

Well, since we live nowhere close to one another, sharing clothes is not an option, but we have talked a lot about what we like to wear and what we don't.  I would happily share my jeans and t-shirts, but I'm not sure that would help in the "need something cute to wear" department.  

2. Your name is safe on her lips. She won’t tell your secrets or say anything behind your back that she wouldn’t say to your face.

True.

3. She won’t tell your embarrassing stories without your permission, and she is always laughing with you, not at you.

The embarrassing stories that have been shared between us are those that we have told on ourselves!  I think that one of the qualities of a good friendship is when you feel  comfortable enough to tell someone how much of a dork you really are and are confident that they will still want to be your friend!  And laughing...laughing is good; hence the LOL!  in our blog name.

4. She’ll wait at least six hours before gently telling you that the person you’re mad at may be right.

Yep!

5. When you ask, “Can you do me a huge favor?” she answers “YES”   before she even knows the rest of the sentence.

Any huge favor that we could accomplish for one another long distance, I fairly sure that we would.

6. She forgives you for your PMS moods and occasional general state of grouchiness.

Ha!  No more PMS for me!  But I promise to forgive Tracey because I still remember the misery of those days!

7. She’s there for you when it feels like the whole world has turned upside down and life will never be okay again.

Very true!!!  This is what got Tracey and me where we are today.  As I wrote in our very first post here, we bonded over tough times, though for different reasons, that we were both having.

8. Even though she loves Chinese food, she recognizes that you don’t and therefore never suggests it as a restaurant option when the two of you are together.

As we work to create the Food Friday posts, Tracey and I have learned that we like, and dislike, many of the same foods.  You will never get any fish recipes or baked goods with raisins from us.

9. It’s understood that if you’re on a trip together, you share a hotel room. How else are you going to stay up all night talking?

Hopefully someday we will get to put this one to the test!

10. On any given day, she’s your sister, therapist, confidante, mother, nurse, chauffeur, hair technician, clothing stylist, nutritionist, and self-help guru who proclaims that you are good enough, kind enough, and doggone it, people like you. Otherwise known as declaring, “Nobody’s cuter than you!”

Chauffeur and hair technician not so much, but even via email, we have served as therapist, confidante, and self- help guru who proclaims that you are good enough.  Since both of us are only children, I'm not sure what a sister relationship feels like, but based on the relationship that my girls have with one another, I think we could get to that point.

I think the most important quality of a best friend is simply someone who truly accepts you as who you are and where you are today...whatever and wherever that me be.

If you have a best friend, tell them how important they are in your life.