I will sort of miss you ice cream pie.

Okay. I am totally serious about the no sugar thing now. For real. Only fruit as a dessert. Not forever, but at least until I lose some more weight. I do pack on baby pounds and this 3rd baby really tipped me over the edge. I have made great progress, but am at a stand still right now and need to get serious. So, goodbye Mr. Ice Cream Pie. I don't even like you anymore. You are sort of a bad friend anyway, you take and take and then leave me way too many messages asking for more. I've had enough. And hello to you Miss Valencia Orange, you are amazing. I love you. Or at least I like you a whole lot. Way more than that lame Pie Man over there. Don't even look at him, I don't want him to start acting up. This won't last long, Mariko, I promise.

-Beans!! Firstly, thanks so much for all the advice on homemade corn tortillas (I still need a press) and soaking beans. I have only soaked/cooked black beans (lentils and split peas don't count in this experiment, cause they are easy, you don't need to soak them) so that is all I can vouch for, but the defrosting went great. I just freeze the barely undercooked beans with a little liquid, (in glass containers or zip-locks depending on my hysteria) then to reheat, I run them under water to make them individual beans again not a unruly block of bean ice. Then I heat them up as if they were canned. Awesome. Firm, not mushy, and far superior. I'm going to try red beans and cannelli beans soon. I make 4 cups of brown rice on Sundays and freeze it too (in 1 cup serving sizes) so I will just add beans to the list.

Next up this week is to make a font of my own handwriting for a mere $9! (via How About Orange, she links to the coolest stuff.)

And I feel remiss, I realize that a meme went around, (a "you make my day" meme) and that several sweet people mentioned this in my comments. Thank you!!! I am the black hole of memes. I always think I will play along in some way, but then I sort of freeze, especially when it involves tagging others. Sorry to be a meme-lame-o.

And happy10 year anniversary honey! No cake for you!

Comments

[Amanda]

I don't even know what a meme is. Oh well, good luck on the no-sugar thing. My hubster and I do South Beach when we get fat(ter). It works great, but the first couple of weeks are hard. I did it while breastfeeding, and it was great. I think my milk was even more plentiful and more nutritious b/c I was eating so many veggies and lean meats and less empty calories (aka sugar). After a while, you don't crave it AS much...still a little bit (mostly the idea of it)...why am I writing a novel?

[Amanda]

Oh, and P.S.--somebody you may LOVE:

http://www.flickr.com/people/jasnajanekovic/

Oh, I see you're her contact already...her shop is amazing.

[LB]

O ma gawd! I've been wanting to make my own font for a million years! Thanks so much for the link!

And I'm all over the corn tortilla thing. Can't wait to hear how it works for you.

LB

[Kristin]

I am currently eating no white sugar. I find this easier than I expected. It took a attitude shift for me instead of looking at it as denial I looked at it as a choice. When challenged by say a piece of cake I think "I choose not to eat that" and sometimes I give myself reasons why not. Good luck!

[beki]

Oh boy, I so need to kick the sugar habit. I've been starting and stopping for weeks now. Bleh, I'm so weak!!

[Nanette]

Too bad for Mr. Pie. I love him too. Sigh. Miss Beans? Not so much. :-)

[Lasso the Moon]

I am so with you on the baby weight thing. With the last one, I gained 60 LBS! Then had a 10 lb baby, and only lost a total of 17 by my next appt!

Ouch. Keep up the good work. You're not alone.

[Robin]

I have done the Fontifier and it works great. For the best result, you should make sure your sample printed characters sit nicely on the baseline--Variance in baseline results in jumpy words.

[kris]

That's looks like an awful nice pie. Are you sure you can't make it low fat or low carb or something? It looks lonely all by itself! Good luck on the weightloss. I'm right there with ya trying to do that. Gotta get back on the wagon...

[Delilah]

OMG...it was son's 4th birthday yesterday and I ate 1 cupcake and 1 piece of cake...both had cheap vanilla frosting and I'm the one that had a off the hook reaction to it! I usually bake a cake and I felt horrible after eating the cheapies. I could not stop laughing for 2 hours straight and then I became cranky and fell asleep! I had a total sugar hangover. It's brown rice and kale for me, so yummy...for real! I didn't know you could freeze brown rice...how do you do it?

[froghair]

congrats on 10 years! that one is coming up for me in September... cheers!

[erin]

Amy - I just gave up sugar for the whole month of January. It was way easier than I thought it would be - days 1-4 were easy, the next 5 days were killer and then I stopped thinking about it. I found that LARA bars are a great all fruit & nut snack for when I just had to have something sweet. And bonus, they didn't cause any additional cravings. Good luck to you.

[rachel]

No sugar! How daunting. Good luck!

[seven]

Good luck on the no-sugar thing... I just decided not to eat sugar for the month of March, figuring that I'd start out small.

[Sabina]

I had to laugh at your conversation with the pies!! I can really relate.

[Alicia P.]

I told Melissa yesterday about the new rice-pudding STORE at Bridgeport Village but I won't tell you . . . if you don't want me to.

[sally]

Happy Anniversary Amy + Pete!

[maya]

But how do you make brown rice that's not a mushy mess? I can't seem to do it and then I won't eat it and go back to jasmine.

[Hannah]

I'm still pregnant. How about a recipe for that pie?
hannah

[Stacey]

I'm with Hannah - I want that recipe!! ;o)

[Pam]

OMG! I am SOOOO excited about this make your own font thing! I remember seeing an ad to do this in an airline magazine a decade ago and thought it would be so cool, but it was prohibitively expensive. I can't wait to try this...thanks so much for the link!

[likely]

A hint from me (who is not a pro by any means). Tell yourself you can have ONE treat a week. Save it for something really really really good and worth the calories. You will last much longer this way. Especially when those special occasions come up like birthdays and holidays and parties.

If you tell yourself this it is easy to pass up all the junk-sugar for the really good stuff.

My mom and I both do this and we put a marble in a jar for every day we go without sugar. On the days we do eat our weekly treats we don't get a marble. and then continue the next day not eating it again and receiving the marble.

If you mess up and eat a handful of chocolate chips and you have already had your treat for the week BAM - you lose ALL of the marbles you have saved up.

Once you have a certain goal number of marbles you are rewarded - whatever reward you want. Hopefully not a hot fudge sundae though.

It takes some discipline and honesty with yourself but it works for me! And it is much more doable than just flat out saying I am NOT ever eating treats!

sorry so long.

[robiewankenobie]

the craziest don't need it, but love it kitchen appliance that we bought pre-kid was one of these: http://www.amazon.com/VillaWare-V5955-Grand-Tortilla-Flatbread/dp/B00005R85X/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

[Sarah]

thanks to you, I won't have soggy beans tonight for dinner! Last night I started soaking lentils in water because I thought they were like other beans, so they are at home as of right now still soaking, and are probably almost disintegrated!

Thanks for the bean tips!

[laurel Sauls]

I hear you! I just swore off refined sugars this morning. I had baby #3 in June. I did great for the first few months, but have hit a serious plateau. I even added in running 3x a week, and even that didn't do it...so it is time to tackle the diet again. i gain TONS of weight when I am pregnant, like 70 pounds. I mean, that is almost a Nicole Richie! I had a whole Nicole Richie to lose!! Sigh. 45 down, 30 to go. Here we go...

[forcryeye]

I am here for you. I gave up sweets for lent (a peanut butter granola bar doesn't count does it?)...it is crazy hard.

[Kelly]

When I'm trying to be good I console my chocolate loving self with bits of the Pralus 100% bar. It's crazy good; you'd swear it's a gorgeous bittersweet chocolate bar - but it's just conched so smoothly that you never miss the sugar (it's only 100% chocolate - nothing funky - and nothing like eating any other "unsweetened" or "baking" chocolate).

Here in town (Portland) you can get them at Cacao, or Alma Chocolates, or Whole Foods.

Really - they're amazing. You get the rush of chocolate, but none of the sugar blues.

[t]

Good luck with the sugar thing. I eat way more sugar than I should. I find it helps to avoid it if I let myself have one square of a dark chocolate bar after dinner. Get good quality dark chocolate and let the square melt in your mouth.

Other sweeet things without sugar: Stash Licorice tea, or Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice tea. My final sweet tip is to eat 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with one half of a cut-up banana mixed in, sprinkled with cinammon. It's like dessert! Add a bit of chopped walnuts, too, for extra crunch.

[caroline inckle]

Hi
I just wanted to give a little encouragement RE the no sugar thing.
Sugars a drug and once you've gone cold turkey and done without for a while, your tastes will change and you won't even consider it a food source anymore.
Mr Ice cream pie will mean nothing to you!
And you'll have so much more energy!
It's really worth it.

Caroline
: )

[Jenn]

I'm into my third week of no sugar, natural sweeteners and even fruit. I'm so addicted that even the slightest bit will send me spiraling back into my all sugar, all the time habits. For me, it has to be all or nothing. The first few days were really hard, and I could think of nothing else, but after I got over the hump, I realized I feel so much better. I've also noticed real food tastes so much better now, and my appreciation of flavours is more refined.

Good luck!

[Abby]

ohhh I am curious now.... how do you freeze rice??

[ellen Crimi-Trent]

I keep saying the same thing every day but somehow manage to get a treat in. It is very hard to give up sugar!!!!

Ellen

[grace]

You are hilarious. My husband bought me your book for valentines day. I can't wait to dig into it. You must have red my mind. I was wishing my handwriting were on my computer the other day. I'm so on it.

[Jenny Pocknall]

Ahh yes... the last baby weight is always the hardest to lose. I think it gets harder with each one. Things get more wobbly.

I looked at 'How About Orange' yesterday and made my own font. It was fun.

[grace]

Happy 10th!

[Ula]

Awesome link (the handwriting font). Thanks!
I have done the sugar-free thing a few times, and I always feel so great after a few days. I don't know why I've never stuck to it, though. Maybe I should join you this time.

[leah]

i have been wanting to make my own font for ages! we should all do it then find a way to share them. thanks for the link.

[leah]

i have been wanting to make my own font for ages! we should all do it then find a way to share them. thanks for the link.

[goodgracie]

you've inspired me too. those last few kilos (pounds to you guys) seem to be staying put, after a promising start. no sugar til easter for me!

[Ariella]

your blog entries really crack me up sometimes. OH yeah, and thanks for all the popcorn inspiration...I'm totally into it!

[Ariella]

your blog entries really crack me up sometimes. OH yeah, and thanks for all the popcorn inspiration...I'm totally into it!

[nathalie]

i just decided to stop eating all together. eating is sooo overrated!!! just kidding.....but yeah i hear you about the baby pounds. i was expecting to have a 50 pound baby and she only weighed 7lbs 8oz. i have been cutting down on sugar too. i only eat honey...hey it's natural!!!!!!!! LOL!

[JENNY WILSON]

I have been having a very hard time trying to lose even 10lbs. I have cut back on my sugar by only using honey which I love and drinking white teas and red roobios tea which very benificial and full of health benifits. I must say I have lost 3lbs. in a month since I have been drinking the warm tea and honey with a splash of lowfat milk. It's yummy! Good luck with your efforts and I know it can be hard. Love your blog :)

[JENNY WILSON]

I have been having a very hard time trying to lose even 10lbs. I have cut back on my sugar by only using honey which I love and drinking white teas and red roobios tea which very benificial and full of health benifits. I must say I have lost 3lbs. in a month since I have been drinking the warm tea and honey with a splash of lowfat milk. It's yummy! Good luck with your efforts and I know it can be hard. Love your blog :)

[Fitzy]

Try making individual packets with your rice, they're great to reheat individually. Just plop your serving on some plastic wrap and fold up like a present. Reheat 2 minutes on one side, 2 on the other in the microwave. It comes out moist and delicious. We weigh them before we pop into the freezer and write the weight on them in permanent marker. Dh and I have both lost 20+ since Christmas.

[Trish]

Wow, a font based on one's handwriting could be SERIOUSLY abused by one's middle-school aged children. ;)

[joanie]

Thanks so much for the handwriting font link! I was just this morning discussing it with this friend

http://ninimakes.typepad.com/nini_makes/2007/05/scrummy_books.html

who is an amazing children's author & illustrator - he's been looking for a way to digitize his handwriting for a collaborative project. You've saved us the research, what a star :)

[Lei]

Oh geez. I really should say goodbye to sweets too. They are my downfall. *sigh*

[Joni]

Hmmm, I never soak my beans. They might take a little bit longer to cook, but I've cooked every kind of bean (and not-bean, hominy for example) with nary a soak.

[Jenny]

I know what you mean Angry Chick, I am now counting my points. It's been 7 months since my last little one was born and I need to get out of the maternity clothes (oh, but they DO have such a comfy waistband).

I am now a member of hungrygirl.com - she keeps me in line!

Darn pie man!