Like Jean, I had the book and used it pretty heavily--no hotdog activities in my very old copy. (One thought: Book titles aren't copywriteable--maybe there is another book with the same/similar title?)

Yesterday's menu: Breakfast: Hot Barley Cereal with dried fruits and nuts Lunch: Lentil Soup and Dakos (Open-faced sandwich of homemade sourdough, roasted tomatoes, feta, oregano, and EVOO), Dried Apricot, White wine Dinner: Bar Pizza (flour tortilla topped with sauce, veggies, small amount of cheese). Note: Low on fresh produce because.....Covid. A friend will be shopping for us today! Weight slowly trending down....

I don't know if I should say "Thank you!" or "How could you?!" Another 10 minutes gone..... 🙂

Yup! I played lots of Mastermind with the kids when they were growing up. 🙂

I've found it worthwhile to enter a word using the correct letters in incorrect spaces just for the sake of testing out other letters that may be in the word. Sometimes when you get just one more letter, the brain cooperates and gives you the word.

I've been playing for two weeks now. A little daily treat for this word-game lover! Best strategy is to nail down the vowels, remember that Y is also sometimes a vowel, and that letters can be repeated.

I'd use olive oil for the veggies. Another source of fat and protein is cheese--you don't need lots, just an ounce with your veggies. And, if you are interested in eating veggies-as-a-main meal, check out the Olive Tomato site which outlines an authentic, vegetable-laden Mediterranean diet. She's currently doing a 30-day "Get started" email series--if you start now, you can still check out the earlier suggestions as they're listed on her site. (which, admittedly, is not the easiest to navigate, but definitely worthwhile).

How much is a week of camp by you? A week = 7 days. Are you by chance a French Revolutionary time-traveller? If so, welcome, and remember that a week is SEVEN days, not TEN.

I did this, but only after being married 3 years at the time. I felt SO guilty and worried that it *meant* something. (It didn't. We celebrate our 40th(!) next month. 🙂)

Since we can't go shopping, we are eating up the produce and from the pantry/freezer. B: Homemade sourdough toast with pb and homemade peach butter (Hubby ate lots, I ate a small amount) + leftover salads for me (I like savory breakfasts). Apple wedges. L: Chicken stir-fry (with onions, red pepper, summer squash, carrots, mushrooms, and Thai sauce), yellow rice, oranges for dessert. Supper: l/o Sweet Potato&Feta Phyllo Tart (from Olive Tomato Website).

Just finished The Rose Code and I give it 4.5 stars. Well-written, good characterization, good story with a fair amount of history woven in regarding Bletchley Park and the WWII work done there. Currently reading a title from The Gourmet Detective series (I can't remember exact title off the top of my head)--totally fluff, perfect for this recovering-from-Covid week.

Well, we just finished up Christmas Week (Jan 7th is Orthodox Christmas) and I think we were mindful. Enjoyed our treats as treats, never over-stuffed, kept to a pretty normal meal schedule, so I'm calling it a win. The fact the scale went down 1kg isn't meaningful in terms of weightloss, but it does underscore how being mindful makes a difference. This week will be all about eating from the pantry as Omicron has snuck into our household, probably via husband's work. I keep a pretty extensive pantry so we are set for a bit. May need some eggs and milk by the end of the week. So, goals are to continue eating mindfully--noting portion size, eating slowly enough to appreciate the good food I'm eating, keeping up on fruits and veggies, even if I have to pull them from the freezer.

Tested positive today, full vaxxed and bolstered (2 doses of Astro Zeneca + Pfizer booster). Symptoms are like a cold for the past two days. No idea how I got it because I've been cautious. Assumed it might be via hubby who is out much more (work) but he tested negative. Which seems very unfair.

B: Homemade Whole wheat toast with PB, sliced apples, coffee L: Mediterranean Pasta (tomato-based with olives and capers), broccoli with a squeeze of lemon, mandarins, white wine. 🙂 (Our main meal!) 😧 tbd--probably leftover thai beef for me, husband whatever he scrounges up.

Sounds you are heading in the right direction! We don't eat only Med. area foods either--today was Thai Beef and Noodles, but I try to use the *priniciples*. Thus, for the two of us, I used a modest amount of noodles, made my own Thai Peanut sauce, stir-fried a large quantity of veggies and added about 3-4 oz of leftover steak. Previously, both beef and noodles would have been at double to what I fixed today, and the veggie amount smaller. I believe all these little changes add up. And, like you, I'm more "mediterranean" in my breakfast/evening (like lunch--small meal) meals than my husband. But to be fair, the more of the recipes I make, the more he tries, and the more often we have it because he finds he likes it, a lot! Just wanted to add how I'm incorporating some of the tips from the 30 day challenge even though I'm not using the recipes (yet). So, for today's Thai Beef--I drizzled with some fresh squeezed lemon juice (tip#1) (lime would have been better but I had lemon) and topped with a mix of chopped fresh cilantro and mint. (today's tip #2); neither of these were in the original base recipe.

I went ahead and ordered the paperback. I had been considering it awhile and didn't order a cookbook for myself yet this year (usually I do for Christmas). If you go to the Olive Tomato Facebook page, you can (until Jan 7th I believe) send proof of purchase (invoice, photo of book in your kitchen, the bar is set low....) and the author will email you a little bonus: 10 more recipes. I've already made two of them.....

Not a book recommendation but this baker at https://www.theperfectloaf.com has tons of informative articles AND answers questions.

B: Leftover Baked Oatmeal w/ Greek yogurt and quince compote L: (main meal) Turkish Poached Egg with Chili Oil and Yogurt sauce, l/o Greek Cabbage and Rice, Small piece of toast, Mandarins Din: Goat Cheese, Sourdough Crackers, Pears, Toasted almonds.

Just a quick check-in. Thank you, Robin, and all you ladies for keeping these threads going. I participated in the 52BinaY challenge for the past two years. The first one, I squeaked in with 52 books. 🙂 This year, 65!!! I'm hoping to participate more this year. 2021 was brutal between Covid, arrival and overseeing four unexpected interns (like--5 days notice--staying for the year!), my mother-in-law's fall, surgery (broken hip) and then subsequent passing, and more. Hoping to see some of my grown kids this year--all overseas--it has been a long two years. I don't follow any of the challenges--I get *most* of my books via digital library for which I'm extremely grateful as I'm over in Southeast Europe. Without the library, I'd be without any English-language books. Recently read and LOVED The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre. The history he writes of falls within my adult lifetime and explains the continual "Watch out for spy recruitment from foreign agents" briefings back from my early working days. 😉 The book is non-fiction but reads like a novel. Highly recommend. Also recently read and recommend Klara and the Sun, The Queen's Gambit, The Premonition, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, and Death Mask (a non-Brother Cadfael mystery) by Ellis Peter. Currently reading The Rose Code by Kate Quinn--it was a library suggestion. Didn't realize it *also* dwelt with intelligence. I started it, and while I am enjoying it very much, I'l take a break just because the genre is so similar to my previous read. Now I'll read a book my husband suggested--bit of a dark mystery. Not my usual genre (mystery, yes, noir, no) but I'll read it just so we can talk about it. 🙂

For anyone interested in exploring the Med. Diet, this The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners by the author of the Olive Tomato site is on sale for 1.99 (kindle version).

Just in case anyone is interested in exploring the Mediterranean WOE, there are a couple of resources out there for the start of the new year.Olive Tomato is starting a 30-Day "Challenge" which is more give hints, tips, explanations, and a recipe. The Author is Greek and her food is yummy, comforting, and family friendly. The Olive Tomato website is a great place to explore (and explore you must because it is rather haphazard in organization. I've been "visiting" it for two years and I'm *still* finding informative posts from the past.) Another excellent is site is The Mediterranean Dish. The Author is Egyptian and she presents dishes from all over the Mediterranean region. The recipes are definitely more upscale and more time consuming than the previous site I mentioned. But, she is putting together some "how to start" posts and I regularly visit for ideas. Anyway, I'm putting together my menu for the week (still holiday mode) but I'm keeping my Med-Principles in mind. Homemade Pizza (but with lots of veggies and a side salad!). Main meal is midday. Evening meal is mainly yummy veggies. Desserts are small portions.

Since we are still in "holiday" mode until mid-Jan, my goals all center around WOE habits: 1. Eat mindfully 2. No Seconds (one of 3 NoS principles) 3. No Snacking (another NoS principle---I do better with 3 distinct meals than a bunch of mini-meals)

Well, I'm still using YNAB4 (or classic--the one before it switched to the subscription model) and it'ss working great. YNAB recently upped its subscription price and a lot of people found other alternatives. I haven't used them but here's a list of some of the alternatives: Non Ynab budget programs. I think a lot of people went for Actual Budget....