172.2 Making Chicken Soup

It's a little cooler out here than usual so I decided to make some chicken soup. Now that I'm on maintenance, I've started cooking again. It's not that I made some grand decision not to cook while I was in the process of losing those 80 pounds, but it was just easier to eat very simply and stay out of the kitchen.

I've come up with a great way to serve butternut squash which is healthy and low calorie in its own right, meaning without the butter I added. But anyway, I bought the fresh, already cubed squash and cooked it in the microwave with about 1/4 cup of water added, for about 15 minutes. When it was done I mashed it by hand, added butter, salt and pepper and my secret ingredient, sugar free maple syrup! It is so yummy. I took it to our Thanksgiving gathering and it was a great hit as was my pumpkin pie. Follow the recipe on the can of pumpkin, but substitute Splenda or Stevia for the sugar, egg beaters or similar product for the eggs and use fat free evaporated milk instead of the usual! Another successful contribution to Thanksgiving provided by yours truly.

Now, while we were in San Francisco is where I did a little damage mainly because we ate all of our meals at restaurants. I've learned to always ask for sugar free maple syrup, but it was a little harder to not use the regular since in the two restaurants we went to for breakfast, the real thing was served warm. But, I did the 1/2 and 1/2 trick which I've adopted when I want a little of the real and a little of the more healthy version.

We had a great time seeing relatives, and the wedding was wonderful. We stayed right on Union Square so that even if we hadn't wanted to shop, the Black Friday crowds were everywhere. For this gal from the desert lands of north Scottsdale, it was really fun and exciting to see and be a part of the crowds! But, it's great to be back home where the sun is shining and the temperatures are finally rising!

Now we have two family birthdays and then Christmas. It is a busy time of year!