hey guys, my name is mel, and all though ive been watching this comm for a while, this is my first post.
today i decided to make potato soup from stuff i had and it turned out pretty darn delicious! heres what i did:

-2 lbs baby red potatoes, cubed with the peel left on.
-2 cups baby carrots, sliced into rounds
-1 med red onion, chopped
-aprox. 15 garlic cloves crushed, then roughly chopped
-1 1/2 - 2 cups sliced mushrooms
-1 tsp salt
-3 cups chicken stock
*i boil a TB spoon of bacon grease in with the stock for extra flavor.

i combined all this with about an extra half cup of water and put on low for 7 hours (while at work).
afterwards i added:

-1 TB black pepper
-1 cup half and half
-about 1/3 cup instant potatoes (if you like it on the thicker side like me).
-1/2 cup milk

cook on low for about another 15mins, stir once.
then i added about 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese slowly stirring in as it melted.

i topped with sliced green onion and more shredded cheese.

i meant to take a picture, but everyone devoured their bowls before i got the camera out!

enjoy!!

I just made my favorite meal EVER in the crockpot. I want to eat it everyday for the rest of my life! I love it so much I kind of don't want to share the leftovers with my boyfriend tomorrow night because he eats like a wildebeest and that will leave less for me...

I work in a restaurant and we have a jalapeno cilantro sauce that I call "crack sauce". The chef refuses to give me the exact recipe because he knows I'm addicted and I think he likes to hear me beg. I have however somehow cajoled the ingredient list from him but he's still holding onto the measurement info. So I'm sorry if the recipe isn't very detailed- I don't know the exact amounts myself!

So I've got a couple turkey legs in the freezer, and am looking for a recipe for turkey leg soup. Anyone have one?

Also, I just realized that in about 12 days, there will probably be a ton more people looking for leftover turkey recipes... so if you guys know of anything brilliant and delicious to do with turkey leftovers in the crock pot... let me know!! I'm a beginner and love the ideas everyone here has...

Ok, so I never use my crock pot on high, but I didn't hear my alarm this morning and slept through when I was supposed to put in the pork roast to make pulled pork.
Recipe is for 12hrs on slow. Does that mean 6 hrs on high?

Please and thank yous all around!

Hi everybody! I want to say thanks to the Mods for letting me in!

So, my name is Shannon, I am 28 years old. I live in Massachusetts with my man, and two pups.
I am currently 241lbs. It took the last few years to get here from 267lbs. Its something, but a drop in the bucket, comparatively.

Progress then stopped. But I really turned up the volume this year. I work out with a personal trainer 3 days a week, I do extensive cardio on the other 4 days. I eat as impeccably as possible. I get my meals looked over and approved by a nutritionist every week.

I can't lose a pound. And I can't figure out why.

Next Tuesday is my annual physical, and although I find it very embarrassing to go in and seemingly whine about being fat and not being able to lose weight... I need to say something. I need an answer of what is going to work for me, because I am running out of patience.

So, I ask you guys... have you done this? Has anyone else gone to the doctor because they can't see any medical reason why they aren't losing weight? I'd like to hear your story!

In conclusion.. thanks for welcoming me...I can't wait to get to know you all!

So I did my first day of weight training in a while and I realized that I have no idea what I am doing. Setting up a cardio training routine is a breeze, but I can't seem to get anything remotely organized for weight training. Anyone have any suggestions for a weight training routine? I am baffled.

The Dreaded... Fooglies So I thought I'd take a picture of what I affectionately call the "fugly stage." You've started to put important bits on and it's starting to kind of have a personality, but it's anyone's guess how it's going to turn out. I figured that it would be encouraging (as long as I can make it come out cute in the end!) Baby dragon, too, was fugly at one point.

I decided to forge ahead bravely with the wool I already had. If I let myself always head out to get EXACTLY what I want on every single project I'll wind up spending $40 on every one even when I have an enormous wool stock pile. So here we go: Unicorn in Freestyle with no real plan. Let's watch.

And oh she's foogly at the moment. I have been taking pictures for the tutorial, but I thought I'd take one separately just as a stand alone. In the future I can use it to remind myself that everything will come out when I get performance anxiety. (Providing, of course, it DOES come out which I hope to god it does or my tutorial is going to look pretty silly.)

Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton and more under the cut!

( GOODIES )

Here is me at 260 earlier this year
and then here is me tonight at 225.
If you haven't taken any pics of yourself recently then do so;
it is such a nice feeling to look back and see your success.

My progress pic

xposted to my journal, organical & 100pounds2lose

So, a few days ago I posted about a big chinese dinner my Mom and I are doing together for the extended family, and got great advice. Well, the menu's been updated with the addition of wonton soup, so I thought I'd post my method of doing it.

( Wonton Soup )

This was my first time attempting a real meal in a crock. I'd used one earlier this year, throwing some chicken and broth and whatever I had in it just to try it out, and it kept turning off in the middle of the cooking process, and I returned the crock and never got a new one. Sad. However, my new roomie has a giant oval crock so last night at midnight I decided to have a roast extravaganza.

( recipe and pics )

I really wish I took photos when I began losing weight, 40 pounds ago. Here's me today at 229, in a terribly unflattering shirt that I wore specifically for these pics!


( Read more... )

Hello and welcome! Today I'm going to cover armature construction up to the "stick figure" phase. When we're done we'll have a woolen unicorn "skeleton" that can stand on its own power and has the rough shape of our final piece.

( Image Intensive. Please Click for Lesson 2 )

Brand new torrid shirt size 2 with tag
Blue and Purple Floral Mesh Gathered-Bust Top
It's made of lightweight breathable mesh and has a ruffled scoop neck and gathered empire bust. Ruched sides. Three-quarter sleeves.
machine wash
paid 39.00 asking best offer

Ugh :(

SW: 254
LW: 248
CW: 246.6

About two pounds down this week but I'm kind of disapointed because on Wed I hit 246, and then I cheated for the first time that night and went back to 248. So overall, I'm happy with the loss, but I'm kind of pissed at myself for cheating because I probably could of lost 3 or 4 sinceI had to re-lose 2 lbs.

Anyways, do you guys beat yourself up over cheating? How do you look at it?