Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Calligraphy, Cooking and the 3 Rs

Hello!  I'm learning to cook low carb and this is the meal I made for myself last night when the rest of the family were having something that was not allowed on my regimen.  I went to White's Meat Market yesterday after taking Dayle to his 2 week check-up (he's healing well!) and bought some little beef tenderloins and some other meat to cook.  I heated up my grill pan on the stove and grilled the steak, asparagus and a big sliced fresh mushroom.  YUM!  It was good!  I'm down 15 lbs. now!


I found some inexpensive calligraphy pens on Amazon, you can get one for as little as $7.50 and the whole collection of 4 nib sizes for $23.00 or so.  They work really well!  As you can see I did some practice today.. and Caleb really is starting piano lessons today!  Hayden is learning to play the violin at school, so now both boys will be getting music instruction.  This grandmother envisions future evenings singing along with my two grandsons playing piano and violin together.  :-)


I was reading my favorite blogs yesterday and Barbara at Coastal Ripples blog was saying how she plans to cut way back on plastics consumption this new year and I am with her on this.  When at the meat shop I turned down a plastic bag for a paper one and usually use my re-usable bags.  I vow to do my part in not using disposable water bottles (we use our own stainless steel re-usable ones) and we do NOT use those disposable Keurig style coffee pods.  I hope you join us to say NO to plastics!  Remember the 3 Rs, REDUCE, RE-USE & RECYCLE!! 

I need to go shine up the piano, pack my swim bag and figure out something fast for lunch.. eek.  How is the new year treating you?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

17 comments:

  1. Well said Teresa, I am with you all the way re plastics, it's such a huge problem, well done for taking a stand. Love your calligraphy, it's something I want to try and keep going with, even just a tiny bit, I do love it. Your meal looks delicious, it's not easy when you have to make yourself something separate, but good that you found something really nice for yourself as well. Glad to hear that Dayle is healing well. CJ xx

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  2. Your new pen writes beautifully. I wish it was as easy as just buying a pen. I have always wanted to learn to do calligraphy and have just never done it. How fun to have both boys playing a musical instrument. I hope your wish in singing along with them comes true. Your lunch looks delicious. 15 pounds! That’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you. And yay for Dayle doing well too. We will continue to keep him in our prayers. Have a lovely afternoon Teresa.
    Blessings, Betsy

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  3. Yes we re use here and sure have lots of bags (cloth/string) for our shopping ☺
    So much fun with the boys learning violin and piano....I have a violin but play badly lol Yay for Dayle on the mend xoxo

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  4. We noticed a big up-tick in packages this season as Amazon shoppers were treated to one large box to hold one little thing. Amazon does not do well at bundling items into one box. Lots of waste in packaging materials. Just sayin'. I think this one thing (besides the 1am amazon christmas start times) made me stop amazon prime. I still put things into my amazon cart but I often find them elsewhere for cheaper with companies who will ship the entire order together. Thank you for re-thinking your plastic usage.

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  5. Cleaning up the way we eat is always a good thing, but carbs get a bad rap. You really need them for good brain function and as fuel for your body. Fruits and grains are filled with good carbs that our body needs. I'm with you on limiting plastic. My husband unfortunately doesn't get it and keeps bringing it home and immediately puts it in the garbage which makes me crazy. Why do we continue to get plastic bags that we use for 15 minutes just to throw away? I don't get it. This country is filled with so much garbage and it is just getting worse and worse. My Colorado boy says plastic is the devil. I would definitely agree that the corporate world has created this horrendous problem and they should be the ones stepping up to help clean it up. All these big companies making money off quick packaging should be the ones providing recycling options. It's abominable that they continue to profit while the environment suffers.

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  6. Thanks for the lovely mention Teresa, every little helps as they say. Gorgeous looking meal and very well done with losing 15lbs :). You are so clever with your calligraphy. B x

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  7. Well done for sticking to your low carb plan - your lunch is looking delicious (I had a bowl of porridge with apple, far less appetising). I am glad to hear Dayle is healing well. I hate to use plastic and avoid it when I can. The worst for us to recycle is the plastic fruit containers and yogurt pots, our local authority doesn't collect this. We have used a not for profit company that has recycled all our plastics (for a fee) but they have unfortunately gone into administration because not enough people were prepared to pay for a healthier environment. I avoid non recyclable plastic whenever possible, never drink water from bottles and always bring our own bags to the shops. Some shops now sell fruit in cardboard boxes, which can be recycled. Hurray for progress. x

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  8. I love your idea about the plastic. I may have to follow suit intentionally. I'm guilty of a lot of Amazon shopping and that's fine but they package to the hilt. We recycle the boxes. BUt, their puff plastic cannot be good for the future. I wish they used paper products more.

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  9. My,you are doing so well with your new regime,lovely grub ( food ) as we say in the UK.So glad your lovely husband is healing well.Liking the Calligraphy too.xx

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  10. You are doing beautifully with your new ink, pens and notebooks...and your low carb cooking! I am making some mushroom soup today. :) xx

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  11. One of the things I have noted here in this part of CA is that they can recycle more for weekly pickup than we can in OR...at any rate I want to do better in using less plastic, too!

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  12. So much good news !
    It's so great.
    Keep going all in your good way : piano, violin, calligraphy, Dayle healing well, swiming, eating well with good tastes, NO to plastics etc.
    Thank you (and all of us) for our beautiful planet !
    XX

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  13. Happy New Year!!
    May this New Year be special in every way ... bringing you the gift of love and excitement.
    I will introduce Japanese New Year's customs.
    In Japan, there is a New Year holiday where family and relatives get together.
    On New Year, Japanese children receive gifts of money known as "Otoshidama".
    Otoshidama is given to children by adult relatives such as uncles, aunts and grandparents.
    The amount of Otoshidama grows as the child older, for example, 1000 yen for children under 10, and 3000 yen for children over 10.
    Otoshidama is one of the exciting traditions of New Year, which children look forward to very much.
    Ryoma.

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  14. Hi Teresa, I'm a fairly new follower and have enjoyed reading and seeing your beautiful area-I'm not too far away in Vancouver WA. We have many of the same interests and it's fun to see how you are pursuing your hobbies as well! I've done calligraphy since my jr. high days and recently I've been trying to change my style a little and learn the newer more casual style-it's hard to relearn! Good job at sticking with the low-carb, I don't know if I would be so dedicated to fix my seperate meal especially when mac & cheese is involved. My husband and I have done Whole 30, but we've let the not-so-healthy snacks creep back in and so we need to get with a plan. Do you use a certain program/plan?
    I have a blog at onelittlesquare.blogspot.com but I haven't updated in quite awhile, I mostly use Instagram these days, that's something I would like to get back to.
    Love your pictures of the Vista house, we need to take a drive through the Gorge, I haven't seen it since the fire-only from the Washington side.
    Best wishes to you and your family, Rebecca

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  15. I have been trying to reduce plastic use and am making headway slowly. Love your new pens. Well done on the 15 pounds, that is really wonderful. I am so proud of you. I know you can keep it up! Have a wonderful day my friend.

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  16. Happy New Year (Belatedly!!) Last year we also started making an effort to cut down on plastic consumption. By taking reusable shopping bags in the car with us and reusing drink bottles. It's funny because I always used plastic shopping bags as bin liners, and now I don't have any left!

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