Hi everyone,

I had a busy day of shopping yesterday.  The traffic and the crowds were absolutely unbelievable.  I can tell you that the secret to marathon shopping sessions like that is to wear your most comfortable shoes.  If your feet are good then you can keep going indefinitely.  I wore my running shoes and put my winter boots in the trunk in case I hit the ditch.  I didn't want my feet to freeze if that happened.  I shopped for less than an hour at a big box store area because I wanted to return some tights that I had bought at Addition-Elle.  They're more expensive in plus size stores but I wasn't sure if the ones I bought in the regular stores would fit.  As it turned out they fit fine and they were cheaper so I took those ones back.  I had a quick lunch at a restaurant there and then went to the biggest mall in the city.  Holy smokes the crowds were insane.  They were having huge sales this weekend and the line-ups were unreal.  I did get some Christmas presents and I got more microfibre tights and a pair of shoes for $25 which was 40% off the price of shoes which were already on sale.  I really wanted to get to the big grocery store in the city and I was so happy with the seafood selection and some of the other good prices.  They had 40% on books and I bought 2 copies of the Canadian Living Vegetarian Collection cookbook.  One is for me but the other is for my new dil who doesn't really like meat.  I also bought the Better Homes & Gardens Ultimate Slow Cooker book but I'm a little disappointed in the recipes because they often use canned soups and other processed foods in them rather than cooking the beans, etc. from scratch.  Since this is a slow cooker book I don't really understand why they don't throw all the ingredients right in the pot but I'll adapt them and give it a try and if I'm not happy with it I'll pass it on to my kids to try since they eat more processed food than I do.  I'm going to try Seafood Paella today.  I have fresh salmon, jumbo shrimp, mussels on the half shell, and Nova Scotia scallops.  What I don't have is Saffron which is an essential spice for this recipe but apparently tumeric would be the closest substitute so I'll use that and cumin since I want it spicier anyway.  I've scoured my cookbooks and the internet looking for a good recipe for this seafood and it's either that or Cioppino and I've decided to try the Paella.  I also bought a bulb of fennel for the first time and I have some recipes marked to try.

and I bought a Poinsettia while I was at the large supermarket.  I wasn't going to get one because I'll be away from home for Christmas but I have four weeks to enjoy it so I decided to treat myself.



The last week has been good for food but I only walked once and apparently shoveling snow didn't do much because I was only down 0.2 lbs.  Maybe it was losing all the weight last week from the gain the week before.  This week I will continue trying to get exercise back into my days and I'm going to quit stressing out over losing these last pounds to onederland and just eat as well as I can, bump up the exercise and get enough sleep.  I'll be back at the end of the day for personals. 

Have a super Sunday everyone.

edited in:  Hi Karrie,  I cook 1/3 c oatmeal with 3/4 c of water in the microwave for 3 minutes on high and then I stir 1/2 c yogurt into it.  Then I sprinkle a lot of cinnamon on top and then I sprinkle 15 almonds on top and I get one almond per spoonful of oatmeal.  It makes a lovely, flavourful and filling breakfast.  I eat the banana separately and a cup of Green Mint Tea makes it a wonderful breakfast.  It's really my favourite meal of the day.  I don't add anything else - no salt, no sugar, no milk.

We CAN do this!

Cheryl

"No matter how long you have traveled in the wrong direction, you always have the choice to turn around. ~ Anonymous

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Last Edited By: sunny 70s girl Nov 29 10 12:59 AM. Edited 1 times.