What's For Lunch? My Secret Weapon For the Holidays

I haven't done a "What's For Lunch" post in awhile? 
I wanted to share my secrete weapon with you,
it's the 'F' word. 

No not that 'F' word, the other one, FIBER.  With all the holiday parties and running around its easy to over eat and pack on the pounds.  We all get so busy this time of year it's more tempting then ever to get caught in the DDT (Deadly Drive Thru) or sit and gorge on Holiday cookies and treats.  One way I combat over indulgence is loading up on fiber before I go out the door of my house.  All calories ARE NOT created equal.   Let's face it, I'm going to eat some fudge at a Christmas party and I'm slightly addicted to Pumpkin Lattes (Thank You Kristy) so making sure I eat enough fiber combats the weight gain.

Don't take my word for it read this from Web MD and see how fiber is our friend. 
Here's a handy Fiber Food List from Dr. Chilton's Inflammation Nation if you want more ideas.

Here's my fiberlicious lunch for today.
 I'm on my way out the door to coach volleyball and I like to fuel up before I go.
 A hungry Coach Shannon = cranky Coach Shannon!
 My kids and husband said I'd get voted off Survivor because I'm not "nice" when I'm hungry.

I started with some tasty Rosemary Apricot Chicken Salad from my friend Trader Joe's. 
I don't always have time to make my own chicken salad so Joe took care of it for me.
 (Don't tell my husband I have a crush on T. Joe.)

Some Spinach

Avocado

Start with some avocado on a corn tortilla.  I don't eat gluten, but if you do, you could make this on some whole grain bread.  I'm in a hurry and need to eat on the run so the to tortilla makes eating quick and easy, otherwise I could skip the tortilla all together and just eat this on a bed of spinach.

Next I added a little chicken salad.

I threw in some sugar snap peas for added crunch and more fiber.

A handful of spinach.

Eating while standing up is not advisable, but I need to eat and run today.

Here is another version with fresh tomatoes.

I start my day with my Green Smoothie and I try to add veggies, preferable raw, to all my meals.  I even have my husband drinking these every morning with me, he's addicted. 
My diet has evolved into a more plant based one.



Eating this is way has helped me maintain my weight. 
I'm three pounds off my high school weight and I'm having my 30th year reunion this summer. 
This has not always been the case.

I'm off to go coach and my tummy is happy! 
The fiber keeps me full and it keeps the "crankies" away.

Wishing You A Happy, Healthy New Year!

Thank you for checking it out.

Merry Christmas

I hope you and your family had a beautiful Christmas! 

We've been busy catching up with old friends and family.

I also wanted to show the last few pictures of my Christmas decor I have yet to post.

I added a little winter to the inside of my glass lamps. 

To see how I made these lamps go here.

I added some painted twigs, an owl, and a few Christmas bulbs.

My chandeliers got a little Holiday makeover with some greenery and more owls. 
Go here to see how I bling up my chandeliers for different seasons using jewelry magnets.

Even my three dimensional living framed twig art got a little Christmas. 
It kind of reminds me of a Charlie Brown Tree?

If you have followed my blog long you know I have an urn fetish.   

I found this picture on Pinterest via my friend Heather from Mrs. Jones Blog.  I follow her on Pinterest and she always pins the cutest stuff. 

Thank you Bring Restoration Blog for creatiing such a simple and beautiful vignette.

 

I liked it so much I was inspired to put this one together.

It sits in front of my fireplace in a basket I use to hold firewood.

This urn sits on the other side of the fireplace.

Here is the mantel before I added the stockings.



Here it is after I added my homemade stockings that I made some from two old sweaters I had.



The deer is a pen and Sharpie drawing I did on a piece of drop cloth. 
To see how I did it go here.



This is our front door. 

I already showed you my faux snow stenciled windows, but if you missed them go here.

I added the rest of my found branches over the front door.

A little greenery, some mercury glass ornaments, and a starfish.

We went on our annual family trip to the Hotel Del in Coronado and took pictures next to their Christmas tree.

Here's from a few years ago.

Here's this year.

It's a family tradition to take a photo in the Del's gazebo because my husband and I were married here over 16 years ago.

Here's this year's family photo.  I added the glasses and hat to my husband's picture because his job involves putting very bad people away in jail.  The bad people and their families aren't a fan of my husband so we keep him anonymous.  That's why I never put him on my blog.  Most of the time I edit him out of the pictures, but I thought this was fun for Christmas.

Can you tell we are all straining to hold my 5'6" eleven year old? 

She's getting big and heavy!

My oldest posted on facebook it was her best Christmas ever! 

I hope you and your family had the best Christmas ever too.

Merry Christmas!
Thank you for checking it out.



You might also enjoy

My Winterlicious Mantel
Winterlicious Glass Bubbles
My Buffet

Tis The Season For Painting Mirrors

I started painting my mirrors and windows last year and I'm doing it again for this Christmas. 

 It's an EASY, quick, and affordable way to bring in the Holiday cheer.

No artistic talent necessary, you just need some stencils, bought or homemade. 

This is the mirror outside in our front yard courtyard. 

 

This is what the mirror looks like the rest of the year.

It's an old mirror that I hot glued floral foam and moss to.  Then I wrapped chicken wire on top of it and stapled it to the wooden frame.  I grow Tillandsias on it because they don't require much water.

I made some homemade stencils out of computer paper for my template.  This is a one use stencil project.  Use stencil Mylar for repeated use.  I found the pictures on the Internet and I traced the picture of the deer right off my monitor because my printer is out of ink.

I used white and a little gray acrylic craft paint to block in the stencils.  I stuck in some pine cones around the moss frame and added some sticks to the front sides of the mirror to make it 3D. 

 I drug home the sticks from one of my walks.  The gardeners missed picking these up after trimming the trees. 

I still have leftovers for another project.

I freehand painted the mountains in the background, but it looked good without them too.  I shaded the bottom of the deer's belly and legs with a little gray paint to help define his body in the white snow.  Save the inside of the deer cutout and overlay it on top of the painted deer image to add the shading once the deer is dry. 

Here are some more stencil and paint mirror projects I did inside the house. 

The paint is easy to clean off the mirror after the Holidays.

Our family initial and snowflakes.

Last year I used these cardboard letters and faux snow to decorate the outside windows.

 



I used the same stencils this year for some indoor mirrors, but substituted the snow for acrylic paint.

It's snowing JOY

 

 Here are the outside windows for this year using the cardboard stencils and faux spray snow. 

These are EASY!

Wishing you and your family Hope, Peace, and Love this Christmas.

Thanks for checking it out.