The Kinky FREEDOM Band Rocks Big Time!

Today has been great and then it became totally awesome this afternoon when Tony told me about Chet O'Keefe playing in a new band—the Kinky Freedom Band! Yes, freedom—not Friedman.

So I immediately went on YouTube to watch the Kinky Freedom Band and I was so thrilled to see our dear friend Chet O'Keefe playing some fabulous music with our other dear musician friends Jeff Haislip and Marc Utter and their band members Scott Walker and Scott McClanahan.

Please click here to watch the Kinky Freedom Band playing the song that Jeff and Marc wrote "Living The Dream," at the SOTOL FEST, in Terlingua. And then please help Chet and the band get the word out about there incredibly great sound by sharing this link on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

And be sure to watch the entire video, because Willie, Chet's beautiful dog also makes a stage appearance! Which didn't surprise me because Willie is a ham and a great entertainer, too.

And as I am finishing writing this, Tony comes back into the big room and says, "Liz (Chet's beautiful sweetheart) also posted a video of the Kinky Freedom band. It's awesome!"

So, I immediately went to Liz's page and watched her video of the Kinky Freedom Band performing at the famous Starlight Theatre, in Terlingua!

And as you can tell I am all excited about this great band and I am so happy for all of our friends. So Life is Good here and in Terlingua, too. Viva Terlingua!

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

No Regrets!

Yesterday Tony and I went to the Cracker Barrel, in Kerrville, to eat lunch with our dear friends: Kris & Jim and Denise & Les. But I have a confession to make, but I will tell you about it later.

For Tony and me it was Day 16 of us mainly eating a plant based, whole foods diet. Since starting this healthy lifestyle change we have totally excluded: beef, pork, chicken, lamb, fish all dairy, etc. and Tony has lost 12 pounds and let's just say that my weight is coming off much slower than his.

Tony and I have not missed eating meat, fowl, fish and dairy, because when we decided to eat healthier we decided not to give up everything that we love to eat.

We decided to keep on drinking our two morning coffees with the delicious Coffee Mate French Vanilla. Which I know is non-dairy, but is full of chemicals. And we also decided to allow ourselves to cheat once a month if we are really craving something—as long as we would jump back on the wagon and continue to eat mainly vegetables and fruits.

We decided to cheat once a month after Drew & Ellie came to visit us. They are vegans and health fanatics and they are extremely healthy and intelligent.

When Ellie told us, while eating one of my black bean brownies, that she has been a vegan since age 15 she gave us some much needed advice. "It is okay to cheat every once in a while and then get back to eating healthy the next day, because if you don't you will simply quit and give up. And then go back to making poor food choices that can wreck your health." And we decided that those were words for us to live by. And it works.

So yesterday, while enjoying a fun time with our good friends, I was munching on small servings of green beans, pinto beans, coleslaw and carrots, while Tony enjoyed "His Cheat Day" eating fried catfish with green beans, pinto beans and along with a buttermilk biscuit.

Near the end of our lunch, one of the girls started talking about dessert and they showed me this picture of this beautiful, banana pudding with vanilla wafers and topped off with whipped cream, just as I was eating my last bite of coleslaw.

When the friendly waitress came to our table to ask if any of us wanted desserts—Denise and Kris ordered the banana pudding deal and I must confess that I ordered it, too.

It was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed eating it without feeling any guilt, because yesterday became my once a month Cheat Day. And I have no regrets.

After our fun lunch with friends Tony and I went to the big H-E-B to pick up a few more groceries and this time I put in my cart: some frozen dark, sweet cherries, veggie burgers, bananas, almond milk, vanilla extract and walnuts.

FYI: I know that veggie burgers aren't made with only vegetables, but we are fine with that, because Tony and I have decided to just be vegans and just eat healthier.

We are still going to avoid eating anything that has eyes (or shells-eggs), avoid sugar, white flour, bread, pasta, etc., because we know that we can live with that.

Today, Day 17, for our healthy lunch I water-sautéed mushrooms, onion, garlic, red and green bell peppers and I served them over a veggie burger—topped with avocado with sliced tomatoes and bowls of beans. And for our dessert I made us delicious Banana Walnut Ice Cream, a fabulous recipe from my Eat To Live Cookbook, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. And it takes less than 5 minutes to make.

And I only used these four ingredients: frozen bananas, almond milk, walnuts and vanilla extract. Tony and I plan to eat this regularly for dessert and tomorrow I am making the book's Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream recipe! Life is good.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

So Good!

Today has been great and so has this past week. We've been busy working next door and over here.  And I've been doing a lot of writing. Everyday I have been trying new healthy recipes and so far—so good.

This evening I had planned to write, but when Tony went outside to do some weed-eating I couldn't help myself, so I went outside and started trimming trees, shrubs, etc. and the time just got away from me. But I must brag that everything outside looks much better than it did.

Tonight I plan to do more editing on my novella. So, I promise to write something tomorrow night.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Instant Pot!

Today has been great and it has been so much fun, because Drew & Ellie, our dear world-traveling friends came to see us this morning.

The minute they arrived we started talking non-stop and we laughed so much my back is aching. I knew this would happen to my back, but seeing them is well worth it.

When they arrived we sat around in the big room drinking coffee. And I served them the delicious black bean brownies that I had made a few days ago and like us—they loved them, too. And Ellie even asked me for the recipe, so I printed one out for her.

When we were discussing eating whole food plant-based foods, because for several years they have been eating this way, we started trading recipes and they gave us some helpful tips to help keep us on track, etc.

At one point when Drew noticed that we have an Instant Pot, he told us that they have one and then he asked if he could cook lunch for us, because he wanted to show me how to cook this easy soup recipe. And of course our answer was yes.

Then Ellie went out to their RV and returned with all of the ingredients he needed to cook us soup: carrots, celery, rice, Edwards & Sons Not-Chick'n 4 bouillon cubes and a package of Quorn Meatless Pieces (chicken). And as Drew chopped up the vegetables I took these pictures of the packages.

Thirty minutes later after Drew had seasoned the soup with some salt and pepper, we enjoyed eating his incredibly delicious soup and Tony ate a second bowl of it, because he loved it so much. 

 A few hours later—Bottom  Line: We hated adios-ing these two special people, because we love them so much.

After they drove away I was feeling a little down because they had gone and I knew it could be months or even a year before we would see them again. 

Anyway after I had cleaned up the kitchen my mild depression didn't last very long, because we had to go to the Post Office, in Medina, so I could pick up my George Foreman 4 Serving Grill & Panini. Also we went to Medina, because Tony had to go the Medina Ace Hardware to buy some air compressor parts that he needed for a job.

 When we got back home I opened up the box. Omg, I love this grill and I cannot wait to grill us some delicious vegetables on it. And now I am wondering if I could grill pancakes on it since I no longer have a waffle maker.

And that is about it for this evening, because I plan to do some writing and editing.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Twice As Much!

Today has been great. This morning Tony walked into the kitchen and announced, "I've lost 11 pounds!" And he was so thrilled about it, he did notice the waffle maker, inside the trash can.

"I've lost 6 pounds," I said, as I covered up the waffle maker with a couple of paper towels. "And I know it is not water weight, because I'm drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day." Then Tony left to go to work next door for a few hours. And I tied up the trash bag and took it outside.

Feeling a little jealous, because Tony had lost almost twice the amount of weight than me I decided to get some exercise, so I finished drinking my cup of coffee and then I washed it down with two glasses of ice cold water. Then I went outside and started pushing the lawn mower around for a few hours. And I got everything mowed before Tony came home for lunch.

This afternoon Tony and I had to go to Kerrville to wash and dry a load of laundry, at the Country Clean Laundromat, and to buy more vegetables and fruits.

When Tony and I were walking up to the laundromat, a friendly voice opened the front door and Kinky greeted us, "Hi Nance and Tone!" So we had a fun visit with him, outside and before we adios-ed each other Kinky had invited Tony and me to eat lunch with him and Dylan, at 2:30. But we declined his invitation, because of bad timing and also because we had already made plans to go visit Sandy & Jon, at Wolfmueller's Books, while waiting for our laundry to dry.

While our laundry washed, at the Country Clean Laundromat, Tony and I went to the big H-E-B to get gas and to buy more whole plant based groceries . And after we returned to the laundromat we tossed our clothes, etc. into a big dryer and then we went to go visit Sandy & Jon for thirty minutes, because the dry was set for 42 minutes.

We had a wonderful visit with Jon & Sandy. We caught up on each others latest news and we also did a lot of laughing. And that is about it for now.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Rinse & Repeat! or Waffeling!

Today and the last few days have been great. We worked a lot, at Escondida Resort and when I wasn't working I spent most all of time writing or sleeping and I spent the other hours shopping for vegetables and fruits and preparing us delicious, healthy meals. So yes, Tony and I are still only eating vegetables and fruits and we really are loving this new lifestyle change. Plus the pounds are melting away. And it is not water weight, because we are daily drinking a ton of water and eating as much vegetables and fruits as we want.

The other evening, at Escondida, while we working in the kitchen, Rob grilled these beautiful, delicious vegetables outside and they were so tasty it inspired me to try to grill us some vegetables. So the other day I picked up some vegetables when we went to the big H-E-B. for groceries. Here is a picture that I took of Rob's grilled veggies that Escondido's guests raved about.

Yesterday morning around 7:00, when Tony and I were drinking coffee, before going to work—the electricity went out. So I stayed home and Tony went up to the top of the pass to phone in the outage. Then he went to Escondida to see if their electricity was out, too. And they too had no electricity. 

Then Tony came back home and told me that the Bandera Electric was aware of the outage and they were working on it. And we should be getting our electricity turned back on around 9:00.

Then Tony went back over to Escondida to work. I stayed home, because I did not want to leave our dogs  alone without electricity.

Around 8:45, knowing that we would have power soon and I needed to go to work, I jumped into the shower to wash my hair. And everything was fine until I had lathered up, because suddenly there was no more water, because the pump had no electricity.

So  there I stood in the shower covered in shampoo and soap with no way of rinsing it off. So I dried myself off with a towel and then I waited for the power to come back on, so I could do a do-over—like the shampoo bottle suggests—Rinse & Repeat. And the good news is the electricity finally came back on around 9:30 and I went next door to work for a few hours.

This morning while Tony was next door working I was cooking and preparing our dog's breakfast for tomorrow morning and I decided to multi-task and that can be very risky for someone my age.  

Anyway while the dog's brown rice was cooking in my Instant Pot, the first thing I did was mix up a batch of black bean brownies using dates (sugar substitute), raw almond butter, vanilla, natural non-alkalized cocoa powder and ground chia seeds. Then I tossed them into the 200 degree oven for them to bake for 90 minutes.

With so much time on my hands, I finished preparing our dog's breakfast and then I put it into the refrigerator. 

Then I decided to make us healthy (non-alcohol) Bloody Mary juice to drink with our lunch. Here are the ingredients that I juiced together: tomatoes, red bell peppers, celery, lemon juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper.

After I put the faux Bloody Mary juice inside the fridge to chill, I cleaned the juicer and put it back where it belongs, on the counter.

Then I decided to try to cook the squash and zucchini like Rob did the other night. But I did not want to grill it outside, so I went hunting for my small, pink, George Foreman (dorm-sized) Grill, but I could not find it anywhere.

I was really disappointed about not finding it, so I got creative. I pulled out my waffle maker machine and decided to try using it to grill the vegetables.

Because the brownies were still baking in the toaster oven, I knew it would take at least 5 minutes to cook two sliced veggies at a time, on the waffle maker, so I decided to water-sauté a few mushrooms, because we are suppose to eat mushrooms everyday. 

When Tony came home for lunch I had just pulled the cooked brownies out of the oven to cool.

 And I had also just finished grilling the last of the vegetable waffles. And yes I know they don't look as pretty as Rob's beautiful, grilled vegetables with the grill marks. But I'm fine with it, because I like the little, square dimples pressed into my grilled veggies.

When Tony saw my dented grilled vegetables he teased me about using the waffle maker instead of grilling them outside, while I sliced up a Roma tomato and then we ate lunch.

Our lunch was totally delicious and we also had a delicious brownie for dessert, because we had to, because we are supposed to eat at least one serving of beans everyday. Here are pictures of the healthy lunch that I prepared for us today.

P.S. I do not recommend using a waffle maker to "grill" vegetables, because I think mine is ruined, with stuck on burnt veggies. I tried heating it up and let it burn-off, but I can't get it clean enough to use again. So I guess next the time we have company I will be cooking them pancakes instead of Belgian waffles.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Day 4!

Today has been great. Tony and I worked this morning and tonight we will be working again, at Escondida Resort. So this is going to be a short post.

Well today is day 4 of our diet lifestyle change and Tony and I can already tell we are losing some weight, because our faces don't look fat. But then again, it could just be my poor eyesight.

For lunch today I really knocked it out of the ball park. I water-sautéed all of these vegetables:
purple cabbage, zucchini, onion, corn, black beans, cauliflower, garlic, carrots, mushrooms and I seasoned it with Bragg's Amino Protein. And it was so delicious, I was going to show you a picture of my plate, but it was not a pretty picture even though it was so tasty.

Never mind. Here is the picture anyway.

I made us smoothies using these ingredients: cabbage, kale, beet, blueberries and almond milk. And yes, it was delicious, too. (Note: That is Henry Standing Bear and Beau Bridges looking out the front window.)

Then for our afternoon snack I used our juicer and made us Pear Bear juice. For several years this has been one of our favorite juices and here is the recipe:

Cousin Nancy's Pear Bear Juice

2 Beets

1/2 Lemon

2 Carrots

1 Apple

1 Pear

1" of Ginger

Tomorrow after we work in the morning Tony and I are going to Kerrville to stock up on more vegetables and fruits. And since our dogs love the scrambled eggs with brown rice, kale and carrots so much—we'll up a couple of cartons of eggs for them. So Life is good.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!