Blogging on Hold

I'm afraid I will not be able to post too much until I resolve my carpal tunnel issues. Everything I enjoy doing involves some type of repetitive motion. My husband is helping me with some of the chores like chopping food, doing dishes, making the bed etc. All activities that appear to worsen my condition. Knitting, cooking, and working out are out of the question. I see a doctor on Wednesday and hope that I can resolve this quickly. It has been three weeks now that I have been experiencing pain from this condition. Just holding a book for too long is painful.
Last Tuesday was my son's birthday, next week it's my daughter's birthday. Next Saturday we will be attending a wine-tasting at PRP wines in Elk Grove, it should be fun.

Wednesday, March 3rd.

On Wednesday Zoe and I were supposed to meet my friend and her daughter at Lifetime fitness, but my carpel tunnel was acting up and so Zoe and I opted to go for lunch at McDonald's play place. My son had an appointment so he met us afterwards and we ate lunch together. It has been a challenge this week not to over-do. Most of my hobbies include using my hands, so I tried to do everything in stages.
My son is still looking for permanent work so I saw the kids a lot this week. On Sunday we went down to get their photo's taken for the LT Fitness memberships. Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday I was with the kids at least a few hours, so today I'm trying to rest. I will probably start going to LT next week with or without the kids as I'm getting squishy in the middle from not using the machines. I have been using my treadmill at home so I'm at least getting some exercise.

Knitting is out of the question right now, I owe my daughter a hat and scarf in gray Alpaca that I have been trying to finish since before Christmas and I have an ongoing blanket in a wool and acrylic blend that I can pick anytime although it is not portable due to it's size. That brings me to a little side note on my trip trip to Hawaii and my plan to visit a quilting and yarn store while I was there. It never got off the ground because we were just to busy with outdoor activities and I usually don't drive while I'm there. Next time I go, I want to drive so no-one has to tag along unless they want to.

Here is another photo of my husband and I in Hawaii.

Nutritional Information for Homemade Granola

Serving size 1/3 cup:

Carbs: 24 gr.
Fat: 12 gr.
Fiber: 5 gr.
Sugar: 6 gr.
Protein: 5 gr.
Sodium: 101

Making Homemade Granola

On Sunday, I decided it was time to make Granola. I usually make it at least once a month. I was tired of the high-sugar preservative laden choices for breakfast so I found a starter recipe online and adapted it to suit our taste and needs. My husband and I are both diabetics so I also substitute sweetener in place of some of the sugar but if you are not diabetic you can just use 6 Tbs more brown sugar. This is a one bowl recipe and you can use any type of dried fruit, I use cranberries because they are lower in sugar than some other fruits, but you could use anything you like. Nutritional information to follow at end of recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 275 Degrees
In a large bowl combine the following dry ingredients (except cranberries) thoroughly:
2 cups old-fashioned oats (use rolled oats not instant oatmeal)
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 Tbs. brown sugar (packed)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced skinned blanched Almonds
1/4 cup pecan pieces
6 packets of Splenda, Truvia or Equal (use what your prefer taste-wise)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (Set aside to add later)

In a mall saucepan combine the following wet ingredients over low heat until hot but not boiling:
3 Tbs canola or corn oil
1 Tb water
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
2 tsp. real vanilla flavoring

While liquids are heating, spray large sturdy cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray - set aside.
Pour liquids into dry ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon as mixture will still be hot.
Empty onto prepared cookie sheet and scrunch mixture with your hands to form clusters, distributing as evenly as possible, you can't over-do this step.
Bake for 30 minutes, then sprinkle evenly over mixture 1/4 cup cranberries and bake 15 minutes more or until medium to dark golden brown. Cool completely before touching granola, remove from cookie sheet and store in tight fitting container in refrigerator for up to a month. You can substitute any kind of nuts or dried ingredients you like.
ENJOY!

101 Dalmatians Stage Play

On Saturday Sara and I took Abby and Zoe to see the stage play "101 Dalmatian's" at the Cadillac Palace Theater, downtown Chicago. I wasn't able to get the photo's off my camera as my adapter is not compatible with Mac OS, so no photo posed on this outing. The girls slept over at my house the night before so that we could get an early start. Sara lives very close by, so we left at 11:00 a.m. and arrived in plenty of time to visit MacDonald's for lunch before the play. The girls enjoyed it very much, I think Abby enjoyed the whole thing and Zoe was good until the second half of the performance when her patience started to run out. The play was a true stage play and characters played dalmatians for the most part. The play was heavily advertised as having live dogs on stage, however, even though their bio's were featured in depth (they are all rescued dogs) they appeared very little throughout the play until the last scene where they performed a few minutes of tricks. That was the only criticism I have, otherwise we all had a great time. We even saw a working Poodle and her owner waiting for the elevator in the parking garage, where Abby remarked " Wouldn't it have been perfect if it had been a dalmatian instead of a poodle? "