Sunday, October 2, 2016

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls Recipe




One year I made these pumpkin dinner rolls for Thanksgiving. I based it off of the of Averie Cooks recipe. They turned out really well and was a nice change from the rolls we normally have.

I chose to remove the pumpkin pie spices and try to keep the rolls more savory. This seemed to work well with the turkey gravy.

I went off of this recipe with some changes: http://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/honey-butter-pumpkin-dinner-rolls.html

The recipe:
1/3 cup warm water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg to coat buns

1. ) Mix warm water, sugar, powder milk and yeast together. Let sit till foamy. Melt butter in microwave.

2.)  In mixing bowl combine yeast mixture, melted butter, egg, salt and pumpkin puree. Mix together till smooth.

3.) Slowly add in flour till a smooth ball is formed. Knead with for 5 - 8 minutes by hand or with dough hook on your stand mixer.

4.) Place mixture in warm place (turned off oven with oven light on works too) for 60 minutes till doubled in size.

5.) Separate dough into 10 rolls, place on a baking sheet. Let rise for another 60 minutes.

6.) Preheat oven to 375 F. Brush rolls with beaten egg.

7.) Bake for 15 - 20 minutes till golden.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Craft Projects

I have craft project ADD, I'll start a project then get distracted when another shiny craft project comes along.  I figure if I put all the craft projects in a list hopefully it will force me to get them finished! Wish me luck!

The craft projects on this page will change status of completion as I work on them.  Each project will have a brief description of the craft project and how far along I am on it.  Links to the completed craft projects will be found below in the "Completed Craft Projects" section.

Sewing Projects

  • Create skirts for office wear - Using material I've found at thrift stores I'll be making more skirts to wear to work.  Current Status: Materials for project are ready.
  • Create cute apron -I want a cutesy apron for when i'm

Crochet Projects

  • Scarves! - My rescue yarn is taking over my craft closet.  I need to sort out the color combos and  get the scarves made up to be used for presents and maybe my etsy/ebay(?) store.
  • Finish blue crochet blanket - The second blanket in my closet.  This one was almost finished, just had a panel left to sew on.  Then my cat ate two of the squares. Grrrr! Current Status: Done!

Loom Knitting Projects

  • Learn how to do cables on a loom - A while ago I was drooling over some beautiful cable scarves and was surprised to find out they were done on the loom.  MUST LEARN!  Current Status: I've gathered all the supplies I'll need.

Knitting Projects

  • Learn how to knit - So far I've made gauge squares then unravel them. Next up will be making a scarf.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Current Weight 1-27-16

Okay I've been horrible at updating. I got lost in a video game I've been playing -_-;; Anyways I barely wrote down what I've been eating. I had a nacho potluck at work somewhere in there and lots of leftover junk food in the office from that but I can say I still lost weight in the two weeks I was gone!

Weight on the 17th: 156.4 lbs

Weight on 27th: 154.6 lbs

Not too bad?

I wish I would of tracked my calories better so I could of seen how I had lost that weight but at the same time I'm glad I was able to lose the weight without being overly mindful of it.


Saturday, January 9, 2016

Friday 01-07-16 Meals

Didn't have to work today so I had a bit of a lazy day. I did weigh myself today to find I was at 157.6. Yay! Blood was back! Worked on a few things around the house.  I forgot to take pictures again :( I will have to keep that in mind tomorrow.

Breakfast - Plain bagel with cream cheese.
Bagels, plain, 1 bagel (3-1/2" dia)195Cream Cheese, 1.5 tbsp74
Breakfast Totals:270

Lunch  - I had two breakfast patties and a banana. 
Great Value Original Pork Sausage Pattie, 1 serving200Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long)72
Lunch Totals:272 

Dinner - We had the left over beef as french dip sandwiches.
Beef, round steak, 2 oz75Hard Rolls (includes kaiser), 1 roll (3-1/2" dia)167Beef broth, bouillon, consomme, 0.25 cup4Mayonnaise, regular (mayo), 2 tbsp180Provolone Cheese, 1 slice (1 oz)100
Dinner Totals:526 

Snack - After dinner I had two glasses of wine. Then pumpkin seeds and popcorn.
Pumpkin Seeds (whole seeds, roasted), 1 oz (85 seeds)126Red Wine, 12 fl oz300Popcorn, oil-popped, 2 cup110 
Snack Totals:536  

Total Calories:    1604

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Thursday 01-07-16 Meals

Woke up and could still tell I was recovering from donating blood. Not sure when I became such a wimp. Anyways, I checked the scale to find I was at 157.  Didn't know blood weighed so much. Drank a bunch of water and had breakfast. I didn't get any pictures for today since I was still feeling blah. I also am not working out for the next couple of days just to make sure I heal up okay.

Breakfast - Eggs over easy with homemade bread and a banana later in the morning.


Egg, fresh, whole, raw, 2 large144
Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long)72
Bread, wheat (including toast), 2 slice125
Breakfast TOTALS:341

Lunch - Same as dinner yesterday.


Ham, regular (11% fat), 69 grams126
Baked Potato, with skin, 1 medium (2-1/4" to 3-1/4" dia.)160
Cheddar Cheese, 1.3 oz148
Lunch TOTALS:434

Dinner - I made a chicken parm using chicken nuggets and had some wine since I was feeling normal again.


Barilla Rotini (cooked), 1 cup200
Newman's Own Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce, 0.25 cup45
Mozzarella Cheese, part skim milk, 2 oz144
Tyson Chicken Nuggets (5 Nugget Serving), 1 serving270
Red Wine, 12 fl oz300
Dinner TOTALS:959

Snack - I had cheese cake the moment I got home from work.


Cheesecake (commercially prepared), 1.5 oz137
Snack TOTALS:137

  Total Calories:    1871

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Wednesday 01-06-16 Meals

Woke up to find out I was at 157.8 lbs. I'm surprised in all honestly how quickly the weight has been dropping. I can only assume some of it is water weight. So we'll see in the coming days where my weight will be.

When I went to work I remembered they had a blood drive today so I donated. Haven't done it since I was 20 so I decided I should. I used to handle donating fine but maybe since I'm losing weight it didn't go so well for me because I almost passed out on my line. :/

In the end I ate a bunch of extra food which you will see in the break down of my food today. Body needed it and I'd rather gain weight than pass out. :-D

Random fact: It takes about 2 days and 650 calories to replenish the blood you donate.

Potato was part of dinner


Breakfast - Same as yesterday eggs over easy, toast and a banana.
Egg, fresh, whole, raw, 2 large 144
Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long) 72
Bread, wheat (including toast), 2 slice 125
Breakfast TOTALS: 341  
Lunch -  Had lunch after I almost passed out. Ate the ham, Squash, was provided avocado with garlic and tostitos. I might of had more than a serving but wasn't sure.  Also had lots of orange juice.
Ham, regular (11% fat), 69 grams 126
Squash, winter, acorn, cooked, baked, with salt, 1 cup, cubes 115
Avocados, California (Haas), 0.25 fruit without skin and seeds 72
Tostitos 100% White Corn Crispy Rounds, 1 serving 140
Orange Juice, 2.5 cup 274
Lunch TOTALS: 727
Dinner - Ate the leftover potato with ham and cheese on it.
Ham, regular (11% fat), 69 grams 126
Baked Potato, with skin, 1 medium (2-1/4" to 3-1/4" dia.) 160
Cheddar Cheese, 1.3 oz 148
Dinner TOTALS: 434
Snack - Had half an egg salad sandwich after donating along with a V8, and two cookies. Had the cheese cake when I got home. 

Cheesecake (commercially prepared), 1.5 oz 137
Homemade Egg Salad, 0.25 cup 55
Bread, wheat (including toast), 1 slice 62
V8 Vegetable Juice Cocktail (8 oz), 1 serving 50
cookie, vanilla cream filled, PC, 1 cookie, 1 serving 90
Keebler Chocolate Graham, 1 serving 144
Snack TOTALS: 538
 
  Total Calories:     2040

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Tuesday 01-06-16 Meals


Not much happened today to report. In the picture it shows a potato but I ended up not eating the potato.
Today's Lunch Minus Potato



Breakfast - Eggs over easy with homemade bread, no butter. Banana later in the morning.


Egg, fresh, whole, raw, 2 large 144
Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long) 72
Bread, wheat (including toast), 2 slice 125
Breakfast TOTALS: 341

 

Lunch - Ham and acorn squash.


Ham, regular (11% fat), 69 grams 126
Squash, winter, acorn, cooked, baked, with salt, 1 cup, cubes 115
Lunch TOTALS: 240

 

Dinner - Marinated chicken with green beans, garlic bread and red wine. Dessert was a small slice of cheese cake.


Chicken Breast (cooked), no skin, roasted, 3 ounces 103
Green Giant Cut Green Beans, can, 1 cup 40
Skyline Garlic Bread Half, 1 serving 200
Red Wine, 12 fl oz 300
NEW YORK STYLE CHEESE CAKE, 0.5 serving 125
Dinner TOTALS: 768

 

Snack - Some candies, homemade pumpkin seeds and popcorn as a later night snack.


Minis Mix (bite size Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Twix) 8.4g each, 1 serving 40
Lifesaver Candies (1 lifesaver=4g), 4 serving 60
Pumpkin Seeds (whole seeds, roasted), 1 oz (85 seeds) 126
Popcorn, oil-popped, 2 cup 110
Snack TOTALS: 336

  Total Calories:     1686

Monday, January 4, 2016

Monday 01-04-16 Meals

Started the day doing some light exercises like yesterday.  I've also begun adding a shot of apple cider vinegar to my water in the mornings. I honestly like the taste of it in my water and I feel a bit better starting my day with it.
Lunch Today
Normally I weigh myself everyday to sorta get a feel for how I'm doing.  It's interesting to me how slight changes to your diet can change your weight.  A great example was the increase in water for me. Sunday I was 159.6 but this morning I was 158.8. The only thing I could think that would of made that much of a difference was increasing my water.  Must of flushed out the extra water weight I was carrying.

Kinda curious what my weight will be at tomorrow since I've had some candy, cheese cake and homemade chocolate pretzels. Probably won't matter today since I am under for what I want for calories.

Anyways here is what I ate today.

Breakfast -  Eggs over easy with homemade bread, no butter. Banana later in the morning.

Egg, fresh, whole, raw, 2 large 144
Bread, wheat (including toast), 2 slice 125
Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long) 72
Breakfast TOTALS: 341

 

Lunch - Left over white rice from Sunday's meal prep portioning. Left over corn from a dinner and leftover chicken. Acorn squash was a later snack at work.


White Rice, long grain, cooked, 0.5 cup 103
Yellow Sweet Corn, Canned, 0.5 cup 66
Chicken Breast (cooked), no skin, roasted, 3 ounces 103
Squash, winter, acorn, cooked, baked, with salt, 1 cup, cubes 115
Lunch TOTALS: 387

 

Dinner - Leftover beef from Sunday's dinner, slow cooker potato, steamed cauliflower and gravy.


Baked Potato, with skin, 1 medium (2-1/4" to 3-1/4" dia.) 160
Beef, round steak, 2 oz 75
Cauliflower, cooked, 1 cup (1" pieces) 29
Beef Gravy, 0.5 cup 62
Dinner TOTALS: 408

 

Snack


Lifesaver Candies (1 lifesaver=4g), 4 serving 60
3 pretzel rods, 0.33 serving 36
Almond Bark , 0.2 oz 31
NEW YORK STYLE CHEESE CAKE, 0.5 serving 125
Snack TOTALS: 253

  Total Calories:     1306

Sunday, January 3, 2016

My Weight Loss Story 2015

In 2014 I was at my heaviest at 180 lbs. Stress, desk job and poor eating habits helped cause a lot of it. I knew I needed to change how I was living if I wanted to get down to a healthier weight.

I decided to move to a different part of the state like I had planned to for years.  I ended up finding a home in a small town with no delivery (yeah it's that small of a town) which made me do more cooking/planning at home. After the new year also came a new job. I decided I didn't want another desk job and found a job that require walking and lifting.

The new job was probably one of the best kick starts for my weight loss. It provided me with the exercise my body was lacking and kept me from snacking (no desk, no extra snacking). Doing this for 4 months I was down 12 pounds without any special dieting.

I during this I changed positions in the company, more walking but less heavy lifting. I was worried I'd start gaining the weight back without the lifting so I decided to work on maintaining the weight. Maintaining my current weight turned out to be fairly successful with only fluctuating 3 pounds.

Around the time I wanted to start working towards weight lost again the military diet was brought to my attention so I decided to try it.  The first week I follow the diet almost exactly and lost 8 pounds, gained back 3. Feeling pretty good about it I decided to continue the diet but with veggies added.

By the time I was finished with the Military Diet I had lost a total of 11 pounds and choose to use the rest of the year maintaining the weight loss.

Now that it's the New Year and I've kept off 23lbs for the last several months I have decided to start up on weight loss to try for another 20 lbs this year.

Sunday 01-03-16 Meals and Weight

Start Weight: 159.6

Today was the start of my goal to lose 20 lbs this year. Due to this I am going to try to eat between 1400-1800 calories a day. This should hopefully allow for a slower weight loss that will hopefully stay off and not make me hungry during it.
Roasted Winter Squash
I did work out a bit today. I did squats, crunches and arm exercises with 10 lb and 3 lb weights. Today is also the day worked on meal prep. I made up my lunch for work tomorrow and put a roast in the slow cooker for dinner tonight and this week. I also portioned out 200 cal portions of rice and roasted winter squash.
Beef Roast for Dinners this Week
For the most part I stayed on track for my calories through the website I'm using I'm showing 1751 calories for the day.  I also drank about 92 oz of water today. I didn't force it just my body really needed it after the last couple of weeks of alcohol consumption.


Lunch for Monday: Chicken, Corn, Rice

Below is what I ate today.

Breakfast - A scramble of two eggs and onions. One of my favorite breakfasts.


Egg, fresh, whole, raw, 2 large 144
Onions, raw, 0.5 cup, chopped 30
Canola Oil, 1 1tsp 40
Breakfast TOTALS: 214

 

Lunch - Started to feel a bit shaky with no carbs for breakfast so I had a cinnamon-raisin bagel for lunch.


Bagels, cinnamon-raisin, 1 bagel (4" dia) 244
Cream Cheese, 1.5 tbsp 74
Lunch TOTALS: 318

 

Dinner - Made the beef into a french dip sandwich was still a bit hungry so I had a banana too.


Hard Rolls (includes kaiser), 1 roll (3-1/2" dia) 167
Provolone Cheese, 1 slice (1 oz) 100
Beef, round steak, 2 oz 75
Mayonnaise, regular (mayo), 1 tbsp 90
Banana, fresh, 1 extra small (less than 6" long) 72
Dinner TOTALS: 504

 

Snack - Dinner took longer than we thought so we had cheese, pepperoni and crackers in between meals. Had a piece of cheese cake then popcorn as a nighttime snack.


Saltine Crackers (Saltines), 7 cracker 90
Cheddar Cheese, 1.3 oz 148
Pepperoni, 7 slice (1-3/8" dia x 1/8" thick) 179
NEW YORK STYLE CHEESE CAKE, 0.75 serving 188
Popcorn, oil-popped, 2 cup 110
Snack TOTALS: 715

  Total Calories:     1751