WWW

Weight Watchers Wine

What the heck is going on here? I just heard about WWW and, well, I don’t know what to say really. This is pure craziness!

Let me just say, I’m a big proponent of the Weight Watchers program. If you do it right, it really works, and you don’t have to sacrifice the foods you love to eat. It’s all about meal planning, serving sizes, exercise, and being accountable. A few years back, I lost nearly 25lbs on the program and was feeling great. I think with any sort of weight-loss program, diet, whatever, if you don’t have a maintenance plan, you will inevitably go back to your old ways.

So here I am, needed to shed a few and trying to get back on WW. Two days in and I’m doing great. LOL

Anyway, my flubber is not what this is about though.. The point is, I can’t get over all these ploys! At first, some of the WW products were really great, and helpful. I’ve certainly enjoyed WW frozen meals, candy, granola bars, mini cakes, and ice creams. But now I go to the store and I see the most bazaar things (IMO) that are being branded by WW. Individual shredded cheese packets? Cream cheese? Sauces? Yogurt? Hamburger Buns? In most cases, these items don’t even have a lower point value than regular, low-fat, brands. I guess people pay for the packaging and will choose WW indorsed products over something the same, but less spendy. Not me! I’m too smart for that!! =P




And now WINE?!?! This info is taken from the WW website:
Everyone enjoys a glass of wine now and again, and when you're watching what you're eating it can be the hardest thing to give up! Well now with our fab range of Weight Watchers Wines you needn't worry any more. Choose from Fruity White, Refreshing Rose, Zinfandel, Purely Pink or Smooth Red. With a POINTS value of just 1 per 125ml glass you save a POINTS value of ½ per glass (or you save 3 if you count by the bottle!)





The thing is, wine is already a great WW choice if you want to drink. A standard pour is only 2 points (equivalent to a light beer, or cocktail with zero-calorie mixer). “Fruity White”? “Purely Pink”? I think I’ll pass.. Would people really sacrifice a good wine for one of these options?

Pertinent Information Here

This is a DIY post for anyone who has ever, or may ever…

Brew a small batch of Chocolate Cherry Stout
Let it ferment in the plastic Mr. Beer thingymajig
In the Man-Cave, on the rug, covered with a dark blanket to keep the sun off
And then find that it leaked everywhere
Soaked through almost the whole 5x8” rug, through the foam underliner, and onto the laminent floors
For lord knows how long
(Probably only that day since we smelled it, and felt it, obv.)

And now you’re sad because:

a) The beer is gone =(
b) And less importantly, the rug is stout-soaked and your floors are potentially ruined
c) Oh, and you had to deal with this at bedtime on a weeknight.

That does not, or will never apply to any of you? Oh, I guess this would only happen to me? Meh. Onward and upward.

Disclaimer: this is a true story. I did not make it up. And now I will show you how I tried to salvage the rug. Please don’t make fun of me. I’m only so smart ok…

Step 1: Move soaked rug outside and let it sit there, rolled up and wet, getting mildew-ey I’m sure, while you don’t want to deal with it.

Step 2: Wait for a nice weekend day and lay it out on your frass. This is a perfect situation for fake grass.. If you are having to follow these steps, I recommend Step 1 be – install frass.

Step 3: Rinse

Step 4: Come to the realization that the foam padding piece is unsalvageable

Step 5: Sprinkle rug with laundry detergent

Step 6: Hose it down again

Step 7: Scrub. I used the obvious choice, a car-wash broom I found laying around.

Step 8: Rinse. Rinse forever. Seriously…so much rinsing. Too much soap.

Step 9: Rinse the patio and move rug over to dry. But first, rinse from the bottom. Keep rinsing. You may never be at peace with your rinsing job.

Step 10: Leave out to dry at least (hmm..how many days has it been now? 2 Saturdays ago? So that’s 10 days now?) yes at least 10 days is necessary, probably more considering it’s still out there. But if you ask me, it’s clean! I call it “airing out”. One day we will get another liner and move it back and see if it stinks up the house.

HTH. The end.

Photo Friday

title does not imply this will be a regular thing. I just enjoyed this photo, obv ;)

Fun with Fondant

As a follow up to my beginning cake decorating marathon of classes I took last year, I wanted to try my hand at fondant. You know, fondant, that fancy stuff that makes cakes look seamlessly perfect but no one ever wants to eat it because it’s hard and chewy? Ya, that’s fondant. And actually, I tasted it fresh and it was really not that bad.

In any case, the class was SUPER helpful and I learned a lot from Linda Bills, the same instructor I had before at her shop Do It With Icing. The technique she showed us was something I would have never tried. And it was freakishly easy. If you would like me to show you sometime, I will charge a small fee ;)

We decorated Styrofoam “cakes” which made for a sturdy base. I can’t wait to try on a real cake! I think it’s pretty darn near close to perfect if I do say so myself…

Oh, I made that rose too out of fondant.

Mustache May

This post is in celebration of the beginning of June. Or rather, the end of May. THANK GOODNESS MAY IS OVER!

My handsome husband was forced to participate in “Mustache May” at the fire station. A little friendly competition where each shift is to grow their ‘staches for a month, and the shift with the most stached-members at the end of the month, wins. But they don’t even win anything!?! WTH?

So for the past month, Ian was growing this:

EW EW EW
(Notice how he was trying to grow it down the side of his mouth, but it didn’t work? LOL)

He’s totally creepy with his face dirt:

Even when he was smiling, I was embarrassed to be seen with him. People commented on it! They would tell him “nice mustache” but I’m sure they were being sarcastic.

But I’m happy now that he once again looks clean, like this:

And I could kiss him again.