No diet stuff here

Today's Favorite Things post is a simple one. When we go to a movie this is what I look forward to (sometimes more than the movie):

Nothings makes a great weekend better than a large tub of buttered popcorn and a large Coke at the movie theater! If you know me, you know that it isn't the diet stuff-it has to be the real deal.

It's a good thing we rarely go to movies or I'd balloon to a weight I never want to see!
YUMMY!

Best. Books. EVER!

Remember {this} from when I blogged about how I tend to obsess over the things I love?

Well,here's another:


I LOVE the Harry Potter series. I received this boxed set for Christmas a few years ago and I treasure it! I have the books 2-5 which have been read and re-read, but my boxed set sits untouched and unblemished in my bedroom, and this is why:


That is my copy of Order of the Phoenix!

If you ever want to talk Harry Potter, I'm your girl (unless you want to talk smack, then take it somewhere else).


Oh, and see this woman:



She is, in my opinion, (and this is MY blog after all,) the greatest author of our time. What she was able to do in those 7 books is amazing! In order to keep this post short, I'm stopping there.

That's why Harry Potter is today's must have of my "Favorite Things".

On a side note: Don't confuse my love for the books as a love for the movies. While I can enjoy them, they are far from perfection and some parts drive me CRAZY!

Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite book is!

It's Not Top Secret Now!

Despite my last entry being about losing weight, I still love an occasional sweet. I don't bake much any more because I don't want crappy foods around my house, but when I do, I make it worth the splurge!

Back when Jeff and I were dating he could make THE BEST chocolate chip cookies you ever tasted. He shared the recipe with me, but mine were never as good as his. Mine would turn into large flat pancakes that tasted like chocolate chip cookies. They often looked like this:


His were these beautiful thick pieces of heaven.

All through his mission I tried to replicate his cookies and send them his way, but they were never quite the same.

Skip ahead a few years later and one day I decided to actually watch him make his cookies. I had followed the recipe religiously and couldn't figure out why they never quite worked as well as his. I needed to see what he was doing any differently than me. Upon watching him I realized the difference-when measuring his DRY ingredients (excluding the salt), he NEVER leveled his scoops. From the flour to the baking soda they were all HEAPING scoops! EUREKA! Since then I have been able to make some pretty yummy cookies! (If I do say so myself!)

So today I'd like to share our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Truth be told, it's from the book "Top Secret Recipes" and it's Mrs. Field's recipe. Check out the link for some other yummy recipes. (My other favorite is the Wendy's chili.) And if you made it through this long post and you actually try making them, let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 twelve-ounce bags semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. With your fingers, place golf ball-sized dough portions 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 9-10 minutes or just until edges are light brown. *Don't over-cook!!!

Makes two dozen cookies.

I'm The Biggest Loser!

So here is a post I have been contemplating for 4 months now. I just haven't been brave enough to do it! Now I can finally do it-especially since things are on a roll and still going.

Something I can't live without right now is my BODYBUGG arm band.

If you watch The Biggest Loser then you might be familiar with it. If not, here is a description:

The revolutionary new bodybugg makes it easy to manage the calories you consume and burn so you always stay in control of your weight. Get started with a personal phone coach. Then manage your results daily on our user-friendly web based program.

• Uses specialized sensors to monitor calories burned with over 90% accuracy.
• Manages calorie consumption through a web-based program.
• Tracks steps with a built-in pedometer.
• Includes a free phone coaching session to help get you started.
• PC and Mac compatible.

I got mine for Christmas (I picked it out myself). Costco was running a great deal that I just couldn't pass up, and I'm glad I didn't. I've had it on since the start of the year and I'm so excited to share how well it's working. Not many people are brave enough to ask (although I'm willing to share) but I have now lost a total of 36 pounds-and still losing! Go me!

"Have you ever heard of Driveshaft? The band?"

I have a slightly obsessive personality. Unfortunately it doesn't apply much to scrubbing toilets or floors. Instead I have a couple of things that I love so much that I tend to obsess over them.

A lot.

One of them is about to end in a couple of weeks. May 23rd to be exact. Don't call or come over that day unless you'd like to hear about my obsession. In fact, I'd say that I'll need a couple of days to process things since my 6-year love affair is about to come to an end.

If you can tell me the significance of 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42...well, we may just be best friends. I have come to love Jack, Ben, Sawyer, Hurley, and Desmond a lot over the past few years.

It's hard to say goodbye.

*sniff, sniff*

Since today is Tuesday, and I just finished watching another episode, today's blog is dedicated to my favorite show:



If you share my love, leave a comment. I'd love to know who else has enjoyed this show till the end, and never gave up on it!


P.S. In case you are wondering what my other obsessions are, have no fear-I'm saving those for another post!

mmm, toasty!

On my list of favorite things is my RICE BAG WARMER. Every night I pop it in my microwave for 2 minutes, then I crawl into bed, tuck that bag of warmth around my feet, and before I know it I'm off to dreamland! It's also great for relieving other aches and pains, but mine gets most of it's use from my cold piggies.

They are super easy to make. I just used some fabric scratches I had and sewed a quick square, filled it about 1/2 way full of rice, then sewed it shut. Socks (especially wool ones) make even easier rice bags. And for those of you that don't sew, grab a sock, fill it with rice then close it with a zip-tie! It doesn't get much easier than that!

Oh, and my last tip-make one for your kiddos-my girls love falling asleep with one on their tummies. It really seems to help calm them down!

I'm back!

I've been such a slacker lately! I've even had a few things to post about, but no ambition to actually sit down and blog about them. I was even wondering if anyone even cares what I have to say. Then a few nights ago I had some friends let me know that they've missed my posts. It was so sweet and just what I needed.

So here I am. I'm back. I've even got an idea to keep me going for a while. For the entire month of May I plan to blog about my favorite things. I'll post one thing at a time, hopefully every couple of days. I'm talking about "things". I won't be posting about my kids, hubby, friends, or other such {wonderful} things...just ordinary things in my day to day life that I love!

Feel free to play along in your own blog!

One of my favorite things right now is this...


my George Foreman Grill!

I recently received one for Christmas and have been using it at least 3 or 4 times a week! It's great for indoor grilling. Jeff and I love to BBQ but now that we have [near] daily hurricane-force winds where we live, we've had to improvise! We are always grilling our meat but I also love that I can change out the plates and cook chicken nuggets, chicken wraps, zucchini and a few other things. It actually cooks faster than a BBQ because it is cooking from the top and bottom at the same time! It is now a permanent fixture in our kitchen, and I highly recommend it to everyone that loves to grill!