No news......

..........is good news !!       Just to let you all know that we are still out here in blog land.    At this age, you just never know !    But, now that we are enjoying our plants, we plan to be around a bit longer.   I got my labs back the other day.    My lipids are better and heading in the right direction.  The scale is showing very positive results as well as my clothes.     AND, the golf ball is cooperating !

Jeff and Jennifer arrive tomorrow for a week.   It's always fun to have a bit of youth around "The Bubble".   We have tee times and excursions planned.

And now I must continue my eradication of geckos.....one managed to escape INTO the house.   I had a dream that it was on my pillow !  

Spring has sprung.......

So, we are giving golf one more chance to see if we really want to continue to beat up our egos.   I guess the key is playing more than once a month as the game seems to be coming back a bit.   But, at this age, it ain't going to come back very far......

 We had to pause while the residents of this  golf course strolled by on his way to someplace important.     Haven't seen too many wood storks before .....Welcome !!

The pool is finally warm and refreshing.   We are doing the spring clean up and power washing the winter dust off and also eradicating the tiny pesky anoles once again.    Another golf ball punched it's way thru the top of the screening again yesterday and bounced around making a lot of noise.   The Tee boxes are located past those palms but normally, we just get a few rolling into the yard.   The owner must have had an idea where it went as he did not drive over to look for it.    Because we live on a golf course, the law says it's just a hazard of living here and we have no recourse.....not that I would do anything anyhow.   But he could have said "Sorry " !!

Blog alert:    Time for my next lecture  on plant based eating for your learning pleasure.   

I am not a cook and fortunately live with the right man who isn't fussy.    Transitioning to this way of eating has been a challenge.   Some people try and duplicate familiar foods and that is not always successful.    I don't get the need to make fake meat or buy fake meat.     Initially, it might make the transition easier but the taste buds do change and the way you look at food changes and soon, you eat what looks and tastes good.     I'm spending a lot more time and effort to try and come up with healthy and tasty items.    I'm thankful for the web and Facebook groups and several cookbooks that I've studied.   Here are pictures of a couple of successes.  

 Corn bread.    Oil and sugar free.   It has  maple syrup for a touch of sweetness.  No eggs.   The cornmeal is kind of rustic and coarse which I like.    Great warm with honey.
 

 OK, so this is a copycat....called Fettucini alfredo but that's not what it tastes like so I wouldn't name it that.    It's whole wheat fettuccine , broccoli, and a sauce made with cauliflower.    No egg, cheese, dairy or oil.     Very good and even better the next day.

 Every day for lunch we have a delicious green smoothie.    Lots of kale, chard and spinach with an apple, banana and blueberries and cashew milk.   We top it with flax for our omega 3's.  

So then I made rice and beans.....and added corn.    It is delicious.    We eat it as a snack with corn tortilla chips that I bake.   Or add it to burritos made with refried beans, ww tortillas and sometimes onions and red peppers.  

We eat oatmeal every morning, lots of potatoes and veggies and beans and salads.    I made oatmeal, walnut raisin cookies that are a sweet treat ( again, no oil, no dairy, no eggs, no flour etc ).    We eat until we are satisfied.....no counting calories.    We are losing weight but the main thing is that we feel  SO MUCH BETTER....  I want to ask why everyone doesn't eat this way!!    I regret the way I ate for years altho I have never eaten or liked much meat.  
I encourage everyone to watch the CNN special that Dr Sanja Gupta did this fall called "The Last Heart attack".   It's available on youtube and should be required watching.  

OK, enough already........

BUT, if you want any info............................I'm available.  

Florida finally feels like Florida.........

 I'm sorry  all you Northerners but it really is nice down here these days.    In fact, it's a bit too warm for the morning walks and I'm doing some serious brow wiping.    But as the day winds down, sitting out  on the lanai is  delightful and relaxing.

 Lately, we have seen very large flocks of white pelicans.    This is the first year I have noticed them here at all.    Normally, they are over on the coasts, both the brown ones and the white ones.    But this year there are many many flocks.    Watching them come in for a landing, with their substantial wing span, it's hard not to imagine them as airplanes as they hover over the surface right before they settle gently into the water.   This picture does not capture the number of them on the pond.    And straight behind and across the golf course is our house....the one in the middle covered over by palm trees.   I wanted to get closer but couldn't walk on the course so just used the trusty phone from the side walk.  ( You definitely want to keep your golf ball  on this fairway as there is a lot of trouble if you don't ! )

 Today, I met my BFF at the big Mall in Orlando.    This is Susan from Montrose.....just a few doors down from us.    She sent me the snow pics and is my happy hour friend.     She's visiting her kids and I was thrilled that we could meet for lunch and catch up.    I'm getting excited to be heading back there later in April or early May.  ( Yes, I noticed the sign above our heads and it is not an indication of anything !!!!  )

Speaking of food.......this was dinner tonight.   I forgot to rotate the picture so just turn your head.  We  always have a large green salad with everything  imaginable on it .... well, not cucumbers,......Then I cut up these veggies, splashed them with some balsamic and ground pepper and roasted them in a hot oven.    The cauliflower and the brussel sprouts and the onion get very sweet.   There are sweet potato  and purple potatoes and sometimes I add chunks of red, yellow and orange peppers.   I  forgot to  take a picture after they were done.   I'm not a fan of roasted broccoli...prefer it steamed.   My Silpat mat doesn't quite fit the baking sheet.   

And because I can't quit my proselytizing , here's another view of plant based eating. 

We're enjoying the new season of House of Cards.   I want her hair..... 

WFPB

Whole Food Plant Based now describes ME !   A few years ago I thought I was but I was wrong.    I am not a Vegan or a Vegetarian.    I eat whole foods, not processed look- alike foods, but greens, nuts, seeds, beans, fruit, veggies, grains all put together in delicious combinations that result in allowing my body ( in these, my golden years .... ??... why golden? ) to be the best it can be.  
The only downside is that I wish I was smarter many years ago.   I have been wary of meat for a long time but I can't say that the rest of my diet was so healthy.    And the proof has been the growing out of clothes, the achy joints and the need for BP meds and statins ( I can't take them but should).  
We all assume that this is a natural part of growing older and there is always a drug that will manage the next condition.   I see changes in our family as they add on the years and friends who have debilitating chronic conditions and I want to get on the soapbox and share some tools and ideas that might just turn things around.    But I won't................Instead I'll just say that I feel great.    I am walking farther and faster every day.      I have no achy joints.   I sleep soundly.    I have more energy.   I'm happy.    And, in less than 6 weeks, I am down 11 pounds.    We eat very well.....we fill up fast on roasted veggies, delicious chili, huge salads filled with assorted veggies, seeds and nuts and green ( kale, chard, spinach ) smoothies sweetened with a banana, blueberries and an apple.     We use soy or cashew or almond milk.   We eat whole wheat breads and pastas.    We have hummus with flour free crackers or carrots.     One of us has an occasional bite of baked fish.     We are in the infancy stage of learning but it is energizing to see what our bodies will do at this age.    And, we drink wine.     What's not to like about all of this.  
I certainly don't expect my readers to jump on the bandwagon.   Depending on how and what you eat, it is a big change and a commitment but after a week or two, you'll look at food in an entirely different way.    And, by doing your own research, you will see the role of politics, drug companies,  the meat industry and the corn industry in manipulating what we eat.  
Yes, there is nothing worse than a convert..... sorry about that but maybe I've piqued your interest.