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Breakfast is overrated.

I hate breakfast foods. Really, I do. I’m allergic to eggs, don’t like pancakes or sausage, can’t stand oatmeal or cold cereal, don’t eat bacon. I mean, what’s left after that? Hashbrowns? Who wants to eat hashbrowns every. single. day. Not me.

Waffles are okay – I like them, but as a mom of 4 children, who has time (or energy) to make waffles before school? I sure don’t. I already get up at 6:00am insanely early (for me, anyway, being a nightowl) and I refuse to get up any earlier just to cook. LOL

Okay then, what does one eat for breakfast?

Nothing.

Yes -I know, I know – everyone says it’s imperative to eat *something* for breakfast when you’re loosing weight. And yet, I usually just can’t. Nothing is appetizing at 6:00am.

But 10:00am? My stomach is ready for food at 10. Maybe it’s because it was conditioned to eat at 10 because that was our scheduled “lunch” time all during high school. I can eat lunch at 10 am. Or, I mean, breakfast.

Then again, maybe it has to do with that nightowl thing. I mean, if you get up 9 or 9:30, then 10 is the perfect time for breakfast.

And who says you have to breakfast food for breakfast? Is that a rule somewhere? I thought food was . . . well, food. You eat it, right? Who cares then?

Fruit is good. Ham sandwiches are good. Toast with almond butter is good. And smoothies. I can do smoothies. Or granola with a little warm hemp milk.

If you’re not a breakfast person (or even if you are), what do you try to eat for breakfast? And when? Early or later, like me?

I’m curious to know how you all handle the breakfast thing.

If it were up to me, there would not even be a thing called breakfast. LOL We’d skip right to lunch about noon or so and go on from there.

So, there’s my rant for today! Please . . . share your thoughts with me in the comments.

Until later -

Be blessed,

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I thought the blood pressure medicine I take was causing me to gain weight. Since we don’t have a scale at home, I had no idea really how much. But I knew that my clothes just didn’t fit right and I felt different.

Well, last week was my doctors appointment to check how the blood pressure is doing on the meds and see if anything needs to be adjusted. I told the doctor about my suspicions (that the meds were causing weight gain) and at first, he thought I was just being overly sensitive. That is, until he actually went back through my records and realized I was right!

Between May when I began taking the prescription and August, I gained 11 pounds. And between August and now, I gained 13! And the meds were the only change I had made. Everything else is the same – food, exercise, etc didn’t change. Just the stupid medications!

So, he changed the medication and hopefully it will be better. I do feel a little different on these but I’ve only been taking them for 3 days so it’ll be a while before I notice any major changes. With any luck, the weight gain will reverse itself!

Let me just take a moment – again – to implore you to keep on top of your health. You owe your health to your family, especially if you have little kids. Health is not something to be taken lightly. Do your best to keep healthy. I generally don’t condone going to the doctor and using medications – I don’t think they are the “cure” – just a stepping stone, maybe, to get well enough to get off them if possible.

Obviously, there are some things that need constant medication like some forms of diabetes and what-not and I’m certainly not saying to never use prescription drugs. Just do your homework, ask questions, be informed and use your best judgment. And of course, I am not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet, either. I’m just a mom, a writer and a graphic designer who has a few health issues. Take it or leave it but don’t substitute it for real advice.

Hope you had a great weekend! And thanks for all the birthday wishes! You all are awesome.

Be blessed,

Way back in the Spring of 2009, I found out I have high blood pressure. Not something I’d ever had problems with – even throughout 4 pregnancies (I’ve also never had heartburn) – and it came on pretty suddenly. My doctor still isn’t very sure why. I did have high cholesterol at one time (not anymore) several years ago but he doesn’t think that was a contributing factor.

In any case, I began taking some prescription medications for it and although they work quite well, they’ve caused me to gain weight. Weight that I had been LOSING up to that point. This does not make me very happy. In fact, I’m quite peeved about it – especially since 1) the doctor knew I had been losing weight pretty steadily and 2) he knew full well that weight GAIN was a side effect of this particular medication.

At the time I began the medications, I only had about 20 pounds to go until I was at a weight that is within the normal range for my height and body type. Now, I’ve gained enough back that not only is it frustrating but it’s also causing additional blood pressure issues and it’s quite possible he’ll want to raise the dosage.

Well, it ain’t gonna happen! In fact, on my next appointment to check the dosage levels and what-not, I’m going to talk his ear off about the weight gain issue and let him know that I’m not happy about it. Hopefully, there is another medication that can help just as well without the side effects this one causes.

And this is what loathe about modern medicine – it never really addresses any underlying issues and only treats what’s on the surface. Sometimes to the detriment of other things. Instead of doing that, they just want to add another medicine to the list or up the dosage of the current one. It’s a catch-22.

Really, I would prefer a more homeopathic or naturopathic solution to the blood pressure problem but unfortunately, our insurance doesn’t cover that type of treatment. So, I’m stuck on that point. I’ll tell you what, though – if the doctor doesn’t address my concerns, I will fire him as my doctor and find one who WILL!

I don’t have time to play games with my health. Neither does my family. Especially not with a health issue that could – quite literally – kill me if not taken seriously. That just isn’t worth it.

In the meantime, though – I’m going to begin an experiment to help lose the weight the stupid medicine has made me pack on. We already eat a pretty decent diet around here since we have so many allergies to things like eggs, milk and the like. We also eat many meals that are vegetarian or vegan so it’s not going to take much doing on my part. The biggest factor is that I’m going to cut out everything but vegetables and fruits for the next 3 months. I’ve already stopped eating bread, rice and stuff like that. Now I’m just going to stop eating meat and and cheese.

My only concern is protein, though. My metabolism and such is that my body needs protein. I can always tell when I haven’t had enough. There are alternatives, of course, like protein powders. In fact, I actually do use a vegan brown rice powder quite often. The problem is that it’s like eating bread. So I’m not sure it’ll have the effect I’m hoping for.

We’ll see what happens, I guess. Maybe I can lower my weight AND my blood pressure by making that one change. That’s my plan, anyway.

If you have any experience with this sort of stuff, do you have any tips, thoughts or ideas you can share? I’d love to hear them! You can always email me privately if you don’t want to leave a comment. Just go here to send me a message.

Be blessed,

Even though I’m not one of those uber organized people, I would like to be exceptionally more organized than I am. And I used to be – way back before I had a house full of kids running around. Not so much anymore. I still try, though.

One of the things I do, is make forms for myself. It helps me keep things on track and pretty much eliminates missed or forgotten things. Plus, I like to write (who knew?). Anyway, I have 3 forms to share with you today that I use regularly and I thought you’d like them as well.

The Menu Planner. It’s fairly colorful, easy to use and simply designed. But anyone from a small child to an adult can follow along and see what food is planned for what meal any day of the week. Even my youngest has learned to tell which color block is which.

Student Assignment Sheet. Even though I no longer homeschool my kids, I kept this form for myself and it’s been nice to have on hand for my college courses. It’s a plain form – no color embellishments or anything here, but it’s still simple and easy to use for most grade levels if you need to keep track of assignments. It’s 2 pages long and has lots of room for all the details you’ll need to know what assignment is due and when.

Mini Character Sheet. This is a form I use for writing fiction stories. It’s a simple sheet where I can put all of the details about a character when I’m sketching out a storyline. It lets me get to know the character and help develop a background for them. There are 2 character sheets per page which I usually cut in half but sometimes, it’s nice to leave them together. Depends on how many characters I’m sketching out.

I hope you enjoy them!

And please, let me know if you use any of them and what you think. Also, if there’s a form you’d like to have, whether for business or school or home, let me know. I’ve made so many different forms, it’s likely I have something similar to what you want.

Be blessed,

{ write * design * blog }

Last week I was having a conversation on another blog with someone who kept trying to disprove my viewpoint. Instead, everything he said just proved my point even more. One of his “points” was that organic food was no better than the highly processed crap most manufacturers and the FDA try to pass off as “healthy” foods.

He asked me for resources which I didn’t name because, frankly, like I told him – go to google and do your own research. It’s not hard to find a variety of studies and other reliable data to support my opinion. (Additionally, I told him I wasn’t going to post any of them because I read SO many things, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of what I read and where I read it.)

So, today, I came across this one and I thought I’d share it. I think I will make a habit of listing these resources and what-not here so that next time some argumentative clown without a clue wants to nit-pick with me, I’ll know exactly where to send them – here!

The 7 Foods Experts Won’t Eat written by Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief of PREVENTION Magazine.

Liz’s article also has several links to other articles and resources with great info. If you’re at all interested in healthier eating (and living), I encourage you to check it out. Also, always do your due diligence when it comes to food and health. You owe it to yourself (and your family!) to understand the impact of your choices.

And like I tell my kids – make GOOD choices!

Be blessed,

You know, I really feel sorry for people like that poor moron. He’s been so brainwashed by the system, he can’t think for himself. He’s become a “sheeple.” While it’s okay to be a follower, don’t be a blind follower and make sure the source you’re following is an accurate one.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

A few months ago, I finally got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I’ve been wanting one for a long time so I’m sure you can imagine I was so thrilled when I got it. And I love it as much as I thought I would but I haven’t used it as much I want to. I’m kind of getting ahead of myself here, though.

Today I went searching for some info on how to keep from getting that dome shape in the middle. See, my youngest daughter’s birthday was on Thanksgiving Day but since we had so many other desserts that day, I didn’t bake her cake until this weekend. And it ended up with quite a rounded top. Since I was making a layer cake, that’s less than desirable and it frustrated me a lot.

I usually only make single layer cakes because the dome doesn’t really matter so much. But I love baking and layered cakes always look so nice when the pros do them. Of course, I want mine to look that way too! Last week I finally got a couple of 9″ round cake pans and I’d been dying to try them out so I was really itching to make a layer cake.

I’m going about this story all upside down, aren’t I? LOL Well, it’s not the first time! I actually often do start from the end of things, much to my mother’s chagrin, I’m sure.

I can hear you all now . . . Gosh, Annie, get to the point!

The point is, I came across this great website/blog by the author of “The Cake Bible” and “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes,” Rose Levy Bernabaum, where I found TONS of great info. And apparently, there are these cool little silicone things, like a headband if you will, that you can put around your cake pan to help distribute the heat more evenly and thus help keep the dome effect down.

As you can see, I am quite excited about this. I also found out a few other tips one can use if there isn’t one of these handy dandy strips laying around the kitchen. So now I’m all excited to try baking more cakes in the coming weeks. Since there are a few more family birthdays soon and the kids will be out of school for Christmas break the end of next week, it’s the perfect time to test some of those theories out.

It looks like my fabulous mixer will be getting much more use very soon!

If I can keep from getting too many weird looks from my family, I may take a few pictures so you can see how things turn out.

In the meantime, do you have any favorite cake and/or frosting recipes you’d like to share? Also, what is your favorite kind of cake?

Be blessed,

If you like music, check out David Garrett. I just watched a PBS special with him in it and the music is wonderful! He’s a violinist but he doesn’t just play classical music and violin standards – he also plays things like Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and many more. Very good stuff!

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Vegan Strawberries & Cream Cake

Yesterday while I was browsing foodgawker.com, I came across an interesting recipe which lead me to a wonderful blog called The Hungry Mouse. And as I began perusing the archives there, I found this recipe for Strawberries & Cream Cake which looked so good, I decided to make it for breakfast this morning.

Yes, breakfast.

Of course, it turned out to be more brunch because I didn’t start it until 11am. And then it turned out to be vegan because, well, I had no eggs and no heavy cream. But luckily, I had strawberries – which is rare – as I’d intended them for something else.

So, without further musing, here’s my adaptation . . .

Strawberries & Cream Cake, Vegan Version

3/4 cup sugar
4 TBS butter, softened
1 egg, using ENR-G egg replacer
2 cups flour
3/4 cup vanilla hemp milk w/1 TBS Tofutti soy sour cream
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sliced strawberries

Butter bottom and sides of square cake pan
Preheat oven to 375

Put sugar in the bowl of stand mixer, slice butter and add to bowl. Add the egg replacer. Beat to combine well. This took about 20 seconds on medium speed.

In a small bowl, mix the 3/4 cup vanilla hemp milk and the tablespoon of soy sour cream until combined and the add to the mixing bowl. Beat to combine.

Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat on high to combine – just until it comes together like soft cookie dough. Again this took about 20 seconds. I scraped the sides of my bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again for about 10 seconds.

Toss in the strawberries, folding them in by hand. I used my rubber spatula for this as well. Be careful not to smash them.

Then scrape into your cake pan and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Since I used an 8×8 square pan, it actually took about 37 minutes. I assume this is because the pan is a bit smaller than a 9″ round cake pan, and thus the cake is a bit thicker.

Cool in the pan on a baking rack.

And then serve it with some soy vanilla ice cream or maybe some soy whipped topping! Yum!

In the arena,

My fellow Americans, enjoy your Independence Day! And please, say a prayer for our military members, our veterans and for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.