Join Me For Another 10 Weeks! This is the first week of ten weeks starting October 22, 2012

Hi folks! I'm at it again. I'm going for another 20 pound loss in ten weeks. I've recently had another baby, a little girl, she is now five months old and I'm ready to drop some weight.





Friday, April 16, 2010

Fantasy Food Friday...And My Love For Lemon Bars

Happy Friday everyone!

Welcome to the third edition of Fantasy Food Friday where I talk about food that I have fantasized about, but shouldn't necessarily eat. In this edition I chose to talk about a treat that our daughter wanted for her birthday tonight instead of cake.

This fit perfectly into my Fantasy Food Friday because this is a treat that I have always liked. I remember as a kid going to pot luck dinners hoping that some one had made lemon bars. And back than, I'm pretty sure the lemon bars were not made from a box but were home made. That was where my love for lemon bars was conceived, because I don't ever recall my mother making them.

Now this is the interesting part of my lemon bar history. I did not become an experienced cook until I become a stay-at-home mom seven years ago. Before that I was always going to school or working. And for those who don't know, there are not many bakeries that make lemon bars. Lemon bars are specifically a "pot luck" pastry. Meaning...mom's make them and bring them to pot luck dinners. So, if I wanted lemon bars as an adult, I either had to wait for a church pot luck to go to or make them myself.

So...what I would do was this. Instead of buying doughnuts for the office treat at the newspaper I worked at...I would buy the lemon bar box from the store, and make them from the box. I did this all the time...for five years that I worked at the newspaper. If Sunshine Mama was going to bring a treat, everyone knew it would be lemon bars.

When I finally did learn how to cook, I did make them from scratch at home.
So, our daughter wanted lemon bars for her birthday.
And, I'm not even sure where she developed the taste for them.
Could it have been from when I made them so long ago?
Because I definitely have not made them in several years.
She cooked them up herself (from the box.. Don't laugh).
We realized as they were cooking, though, that we had forgot to get the powdered sugar.
I know...how could a lemon bar lover ever forget powdered sugar?
But we had pink sprinkles,
so we used those instead.
So, that's my fantasy food.
What is your fantasy food?
Do you have a favorite pot luck treat that you look forward to?
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So, that was our daughter's "cake"
For her ice cream...
She chose, again, one of my old favorites...
Chocolate chip mint ice cream
Wow...she really must take after me in more ways than I realize.

And I really wish I could say this was the only scoop of ice cream I ate.

She requested her all-time favorite dish.
Chicken fried rice (with brown rice).
And actually that small scoop was all I ate of that.
She was in seventh heaven as was everyone else.
I was thinking for her 16th birthday next year,
we should have a Chinese food party and make up a bunch of egg rolls and egg drop soup.
Next year, she'll be 16 on the 16th.
And then to complement the whole meal,
Our seven year old contributed crinkly french fries that he had bought (with his own money) from the Schwan's man a few days ago.
Excellent fries I might add.
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Well, I wanted to thank you all for stopping by to visit and to thank you for your comments on yesterday's post.
I really do feel like I'm in a strange place with this whole eating thing and being pregnant.
Sunshine suggested that I try not to lose any weight and just eat sensibly. And I have thought of just taking the gain I've had and trying to eat healthy from here on out.
But this six pound gain has me breathing harder and not feeling good.
I was able to stick to my diet until about 3:30 today.
It seems like when I get up from my nap, I have a tendency to forsake my diet.
I feel like I didn't completely forsake it today after my nap. I did eat some more cereal.
It actually went down the tubes with dinner and the lemon bars.
And, quite honestly, as I was sticking to my diet throughout the morning,
I felt better and I felt like I was breathing easier.
So, I'm not giving up.
I think that maybe what I can do is to have my 3:00 snack pre-measured out so that all I have to do is heat it up. Maybe what I need, also, to do is to make that snack a bigger meal so that I am filled up and not wanting more afterward.
I really desire to come to a place where I am eating healthy, so that I, in turn, am fixing healthy snacks and meals for our family.
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Well, tomorrow is Saturday. Another opportunity to try again.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Sunshine Mama

8 comments:

  1. Hmmm...lemon bars...he types while drooling.

    We just had a potluck with the other park rangers this evening!

    I rarely discriminate on potlucks...hmm...little smokies in BBQ sauce... Velveeta cheese dip? yup...I'm a sicko.

    7 layer salads...where rarely is any of the layers lettuce.

    Oy vey.

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  2. Rather than focus on losing weight, why not focus on eating your best, your healthiest for your growing baby? You would only feed her/him the best once she's/he's born, so why wait?

    The birthday sounds fun and the lemon squares look divine.

    My fantasy food - steak with blue cheese. Pot Luck favourite - definitely the mini marshmellow salad, with mandarin oranges and coconut. I think it's called Five Cup Salad. YUM!

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  3. Would you believe I have never had a lemon bar? I don't know what they are. I am guessing a bar made with lemon! Haha! Rocket scientist here! They look very pretty though.

    Something caught my attention at the end of your post today. Sunshine Mama, you my friend, are too hard on yourself. Take a step back for a moment and look at yourself. Today you wrote "I really desire to come to a place where I am eating healthy, so that I, in turn, am fixing healthy snacks and meals for our family."

    Hold the phone! You are doing that! So you have slipped a few times and celebrated a big birthday for your daughter with ice cream. You CAN do that. Moderation - don't do it every night! And we all know you won't. You are cooking healthy for your family. Think about what you used to cook and think about the post with the oatmeal pancakes for dinner and the post about all the eggs! Stop being so hard on yourself and know that you are making a HUGE "lifestyle change." That does not happen instantly, but instead you keeping working hard (which you always do) and take things one day at a time.

    We are all proud of you!

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  4. I re-read what I wrote and it sounded like a lecture. That was not my intention, but we've been "talking" for so long now - you know what I mean = )

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  5. I am with you on the lemon bars and I look at them every time I am in the store. I have to be so good not to eat them though. I think you are being to hard on yourself right now. I think just trying to eat better sound like a good idea. Being prego always throes things off though huh.

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  6. I make those very same bars! (not the pretty pink ones, though...!).

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  7. I never ever heard of a lemon bar until visiting a college friend over a semester break. Her mom made those and those blondie/brownie treats with coconut (I know you know what I'm talking about).

    I love those, but chocolate chip mint is my absolute favorite ice cream. I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life.

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  8. all of that looks super delicious!! when do i get my supply-drop of deliciously yummy sunshine mama made (not-so) healthy foods? i'm gonna start coming over to your house on fridays! :)

    hope you are doing well - sorry i am behind but i did not have much time to read/blog/comment while in boston.

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