Category Archives: It’s Delish

Good Morning Sunshine

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Every now and then, I get the urge to check out the sunrise.

Today just so happened to be one of those days.

So I took a little trip to Coronado Island and spent the early morning hours watching the sun come up.

A view of San Diego from the island.

Good Morning San Diego!  I love you!

Playing – that would be me and what I did best today.

Next stop, The beach! ~ The plaque next to me reads “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides” with a sweet ocean breeze.  In honor of Gordy and Betty Beaubien Don and Polly Valliere  From: Beaubien Family and Valliere Family. ~ Just beautiful, I love it!

The Beach!

One of my favorite places…

It truly was a fun place to chill…

Next stop ~ Seaport Village – To stroll and visit this area is sheer bliss.

Here’s where I stopped for breakfast.  It was such a beautiful place.

Seaport Village Resident – Love him!

A flag on the streets of Seaport Village.

The shoe fits!  And I’m totally getting into the Christmas spirit.

On that note, I’ll say I’ve had a blessed day.

Blessings – Debbie

On a Cool Wet Autumn Day

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Good evening!  What a crisp ~ cool ~ wet ~ autumn day it has been.  But it did not dampen my spirit.

  • Coffee was sipped while in my jammies early this morning
  • I enjoyed a wonderful lunch date with hubby
  • The house was cleaned
  • My laundry baskets are empty
  • The ironing pile is finished
  • I’m sipping on another cup of coffee this evening
  • Hubby is due to walk thru that door any moment for the weekend
  • Yes, indeed my spirits are pretty high about now

Lunch at Panera Bread: Chicken Noodle Soup + Chicken Salad Sandwich + Baguette = Goodness.

Cheers to a pretty Cool Happy Friday! ~ Photos taken from the backyard this morning.

Blessings – Debbie

Crisp Fogy Morning Walk

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Oh my oh me or is it – o me-o, my-o?  All I know is this one thing, my legs are still in pain from our hike this past Saturday.  Namely my claves are pretty much tight as ever.  As my feet hit the floor bright and early I could hardly put one foot in front of the other.  After a bit I was waddling and humored with my predicament.  It takes a while to go from neutral into first.  After awhile, my legs start to warm up and it’s not so bad.  Then is when I asked hubby if he thought it would do me good to get out and exercise.  He was all in favor, so long as I didn’t push too much.

So I promptly hit the pavement.

With my walking stick.  I left the other one at home.  It kinda felt good to have this in hand in the event I encounter a coyote, stray dog, snake or what-have-you.  Honestly, it was most helpful climbing nearly a 200′ hill, made me wish I had brought the other one today.

After climbing a few hills and 50 min later, I found myself in this spot for the next 15 or so min.

It’s nice not to be lying around.  But, I do hope these aches and pains wear off soon.

Hubby grilled extra chicken the other night such that I can have leftovers for lunch.  Served with fresh hunks of cucumber and cottage cheese, topped with lots of pepper.

It’s a great day.

Blessings – Debbie

New Is In ~ Old is Out

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It’s a big surprise to me that I’m a fan of Greek Yogurt.  Having tried it (plain) years ago, I knew we would never jive.

That is, until the Dietician encouraged me to give this guy a try.  So far, I’ve tried the pineapple, peach and raspberry.  I have no favorites, they’re all so good.

We’re getting along quite well.

Fiber One on top provides nice crunch.

 I can see a future for us!  It’s that good.

Continued from the other day regarding my coffee cream delemma…I can’t get away from the fact that the cream I love has trans fat in it.  It messed with my head and I haven’t been able to drink coffee since.

While food shopping this week, I stood in front of the cream selection for quite a while and nothing looked as good as my best friend (Creme Brulee Coffee Mate) there on the shelf.  Right then and there I talked myself out of drinking coffee.  I even poured the bottle (in my fridge) down the drain.  And just like that, I’m not a coffee drinker.

Honestly, I think I’m mourning my old cream, the aroma of coffee first thing in the morning, the feel of that nice warm cup in my hands, the sheer goodness of the coffee paired with my favorite cream.  It’s a sad day.  This too shall pass…

Perhaps I’ll find something in the future, but for now, I need to just let it go.

Blessings – Debbie

When Summer Turns To Fall

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There’s a great big part of me holding on to these last few cool summer days.  Tuna and pickles, I can’t think of a better way to enjoy this combo.  It spells summer in every way.

Mile high veggies topped with tuna, an all-time favorite summer lunch.

As summer fades to autumn, we’re prepared to turn a new leaf by uncluttering our life.  I put the camera to use taking shots of our dining room furniture.  The time has come for this to go.

Hubby filled my void for china and beautiful furnishings many years ago.  But the more we live with it…move…pack…unpack…and…The more we want to simplify life.  We/I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to let go of stuff.  The stuff that sits on a shelf and never gets used.

I’m here to announce we are on the threshold of letting go.  To begin to express just how good it feels, would fill the pages of a book.  So I’ll begin by saying, so long, may the next caretaker love you more, use you more and make a nice happy home where you will be appreciated much MUCH more.

The next dining room set will be minus a china cabinet and more suited to fit our needs.

Cheers to letting go!

Blessings – Debbie

August

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Today is the day to catch up on the blog.  It appears I’ve taken a very long unexpected break from blogging.

I’m thrilled to announce that hubby and I have been seeking a new healthy lifestyle since mid June.  We’re experiencing good results!

In the above pic, you’ll notice I’m using a “Weight Watchers” jug for my water.  To be clear, I’m not doing the Weight Watchers program.  I’m just eating healthy foods and counting my calories.  Back to the jug, I love it as it holds a whopping 32 oz of fluid.  There are many days I’ll easily drink over a gal of water.

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Have you ever taken pix of every single bite you had to eat in a day?  It was August 3rd that I got the notion to photograph my eats.

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with a generous portion of sautéed peppers and onion.  Topped with 80 calories worth of cheese and loads of black pepper.

Lunch:  After such a hearty breakfast, fruit was all I wanted.

Mid Afternoon Snack:  1 serving of craisins + 30 g of walnuts.

Dinner:  Tuna + Corn + a nice hunk of onion = goodness.  If you’re thinking yuck, you may or may not be interested to know that sardines is also one of my favorite evening meals.  Did you know the little sardine is a giant when it comes to foods?  It’s been dubbed an “Important Superfood”, King of Omega-3’s, Brain boosting, good for joints, High-Quality Protein, without the saturated fats, bone-boosting calcium and known as one of the healthiest fish around.

And that’s a wrap of my food intake for that particular day.  I can’t imagine being a food blogger and taking pix of everything, but I did enjoy the experiment.

August 8 – The day I dug deep into the closet to find an article of clothing to inspire me.

Oats and walnuts are a huge hit.  This is going to keep me on track to get back in that dress.

August 10 – Oh the places I went that morning.  Hubby flew out-of-town bright and early.  I didn’t plan on anything other than to get myself home as we were up at 4am.  But home was not what I wanted to do once I had my cup of coffee.  So I ventured and enjoyed some me time at the harbor and beach for just over 4 hours.  I already have a notion to return again soon…

Lunch on the day hubby left – Lettuce, peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, ground (Jennie O) turkey burger seasoned with taco seasoning, salsa for my dressing with a sprinkle of (80 calorie) cheese over the top.

August 11 – To say I enjoyed my “Spa Day” would be an understatement.  I’ve been on the hunt for a good hairstylist since we moved to San Diego (nearly two years ago).  Let’s just say “I’ll be back”!  I loved the whole experience.  Next time I plan to stay a while longer to get a chance to enjoy the resort.  I truly was not expecting such a treat…

August 12 – I was such a happy wifey ~ Hubby was on his way home ~ I was down a dress size ~ I was in a dress I haven’t worn since I don’t know when ~ It was such a great day!

August 15 – I was in the mood for a reward while doing my food shopping early that morning.  So I picked up this dandy Prevention mag and found a nice place on the patio to indulge.  I also had a not so pleasant thing happen.  I had my regular cleaning at the dentist and discovered I had a cavity.  The good news “it was small and on the surface” + more good news “no numbing or pain to have it filled”.  The bad news, I was sad, really sad as this makes the second filling in my life.  I guess I just wanted to keep my teeth healthy for life.  Oh well, the world didn’t come to an end.

August 16 – I started walking again.  Do you ever quit something because you have a good excuse and then allow excuses to fill in when it’s time to pick it back up?  Well that happened to me regarding my walking.  I didn’t post this experience on the blog but I did indeed have another fall.  No sooner did my hands heal from my fall (about 6 or so weeks ago) and here I up and fell again!  I don’t even want to talk about it but truth be told, that’s why I stopped walking but not a great excuse as to why I didn’t get right back at it.

August 17 – Cheers!  This brings us to today!  I’m pleased to announce I got my walk in before I so much as had a sip of coffee.  I’ll say that’s a pretty big deal but so worth it getting out there first thing.

With that, we should be pretty much all caught up with August and this makes me very happy!

Blessings – Debbie

A Craving and A Want

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A Craving – Last evening around 11 pm I got a craving for egg salad and coffee.  Crazy, right?  I knew the moment my feet hit the floor this morning that my craving for coffee had to be filled.  And I knew for lunch my egg salad craving would be filled.

Luckily the sun came out and warmed up enough to enjoy a nice patio lunch complete with BBQ popchips and my diet soda with lime in a goblet.  The fork on the side was for scooping up anything that fell out of my sandwich.

As you can see, some salad did fall out…

I made the most of it as I scooped it on my popchips.

A Want – Ever since we got our new phones, I’ve wanted a new purse such that my new phone will fit.  My old purse phone slot was just a tad small.

When it comes to a purse, I’m not picky about brand as I’m just dandy with my last purse from Wal-Mart.  But what I am picky about are a few details.

The handbag must have three separate compartments on the outside #1 – for a phone  #2 – built-in wallet #3 – a pocket for car keys – The strap on the outside must be adjustable – And I like a rather small purse.  Not too much to ask for right?

I’ve been shopping the local Wal-Marts and such for a while but couldn’t find anything to match just what I was looking for.  But today my friends, I had to make a trip to Macy’s to pick up some shirts for hubby.  I thought, why not check out the handbags while I’m here?  I’m so glad I did as I got this guy 40% off and it totally rocked all my qualifications for a handbag.

Here she is completely filled with all my stuff.   Would you like to have a look?

#1 – The zipper compartment in the front for my phone – it slips in and out easy peasy.

#2 – The built-in wallet in the front – I love the way this functions

#3 – That lovely compartment in the back for keys – perfect

And last – The purse is small – just how I like it and that strap can be adjusted.  This was well worth the wait, I’m so happy with it.

On the inside I have a comb, lipstick, mints, a pen or two, sunglasses, a little bottle of Purell hand sanitizer and well, I can’t really think of anything else.

Some of the joys in life are enjoying the little things – like cravings and picnics, sunshine and goblets and handbags that come just the way we like them.  Makes me happy…

Blessings – Debbie

Garden Party

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(Side note – Garden Party post and pics to follow after this paragraph)  Yes, I’m still here.  I’m just trying to learn to balance my time and new smart phone.  For the first week, I was totally engrossed with all the new free apps I downloaded.  The last few days I’m pretty disgusted with the amount of time I wasted on the thing.  Now I’m just trying to embrace the phone for what it is and not let the thing control me.  I’d say I’ve come full circle and it feels good.  A great big cheers to the fact that that smart thing is no longer controlling me!

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We had a garden party this past weekend.  It was a nice celebration with some of the families in hubby’s group (from work) for a job well done.  We had a lot of fun planning, shopping and getting everything in place.

Getting things set up…

The food table…

Margaritaville = Drink Station

The view from the pergola

It was such a good idea to rent a 6′ round table and chairs.  I love round tables for visiting with this size crowd.

The gates to the garden opened at 3 pm Saturday afternoon.

These guys found a great place for a pow wow with great views.

Father and son moment…

Grab a plate!

Smoked Brisket by Q!  Check out that smoke ring…It was so good.

My hubby was King of the grill.  His corn on the cobb, dogs (from the local butcher) and baked beans were delish!

Siblings – They were the only children at the party but they really enjoyed themselves.

Filling up on the good stuff…

Let’s eat!  We couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Bocce Ball – Made for lots of fun.

It was also fun to stand on the sidelines and watch…

the players.

True – the picture below is not worthy of posting.  However, it’s a reminder of how we topped off the evening hours outside.  Then we moved the party inside where pool and backgammon were the two favorite games indoors.  Homemade oatmeal choc chip cookies were put in the oven and served warm.  What a nice day/evening to remember.

And a hearty congratulations to the boys for a job well done!

I’m linking up to Between Naps on the Porch who is hosting Tablescape Thursday.

Blessings – Debbie

On The Chopping Block

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Veggies were on the chopping block this morning.  The mix included 6 little red potatoes, garlic, 2 zucchini, 3 stalks of celery, 6 carrots, fresh Parsley, a red onion and a huge red pepper.

Chickpeas, green beans and frozen corn were added along with some vegetable broth.

At the end of the day we have this!

Wildflowers were planted.

We’ll see what happens.

We had another gorgeous day.  It was too pretty to be inside so hubby and I visited out here a while.  Later I grabbed a couple of magazines and parked it here.

It was one of those nice restful days.

Till next time…

Blessings – Debbie

It's A Fiesta

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Why not get the party started.  In order to kick off hubby’s upcoming 3 day weekend I’m getting stuff done so we can party work!  Hubby mentioned something along the lines of taxes this weekend.

To help set the tone for a party I made an amazing Fiesta Dip.  Thank you Trish! Trish described this Fiesta Dip as a party in your mouth.  She’s not kidding let me tell ya…

Fiesta Dip

1 can (15 oz) Black Beans – drained and rinsed
1 can (15.5 oz) fiesta corn – drained
1 red onion – diced (i only used half of a large onion)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 packet (0.7 oz) Good Seasons Dry Italian dressing

3 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
2 avocados – peeled & diced
tabasco sauce or taco sauce to taste
salt & pepper to taste

Combine & mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl; cover, chill overnight.
(or make in the AM to serve in the PM) Before serving add tomatoes, avocados, Tabasco sauce, salt & pepper. Serve with tortilla chips! YUM!

This is still minus the avocados…

Lets Party!

Blessings – Debbie