Hi Everybody! I can't believe how this week has flown by. Tomorrow is weigh-in day again! Other than more demolition on the kitchen, I haven't been getting my exercise. Actually, I should be doing my step aerobics right now, but here I am instead. The days are getting noticeably shorter, but the temperatures here are still warm. I guess we will be getting remnants of Ivan in the form of rain, rain, rain for the weekend. But I can't complain. My heart goes out to those affected more directly by the recent string of hurricanes. Well, I wore a pair of jeans today that I had not worn for a looong time. They fit, and were not tight. I know that the changes in my diet are really working. Yellowhair--I wonder if we will see Bunny Tracks here. I really love the Skinny Cow fudge bars. My DH is now eating them, too. You know, I have never had problems with my feet. But awhile back when I was trying to take long walks, I started having a problem with my big toe. It felt like it was sprained or something. It was very odd, but it just went away. DH has lots of trouble with his feet. I am sure it is just that we are getting older. Anyway, he has heel spurs, which are bony growths that kinda jab you from the inside. he has other things going on too, and has even been through physical therapy. He says they told him that whenever he is getting pain to quit whatever activity he is doing for awhile. In other words, if it hurts when you do that, don't do that! Kathy--When I first got into gardening and landscaping someone, who was a seasoned gardener, told me that a garden wasn't really yours until you had re-invented it about a million times. Well, they didn't say it quite like that, but that was the general meaning I took from it. I was fretting because the year before I had planted a shrub that I now thought would be in much better spot if I moved it just 4 feet. I wasn't sure it was worth it to go to the trouble. The advice I got was to go for it. I did, and I am still glad I did. And that is still my approach to gardening now. I am always seeing something that needs to be improved and gardening is all about the process. So it sounds like a change will be coming to your garden soon! DeeMarie--Talking about your commute reminded me of when I was doing that. Several years ago, I drove 50 miles one way to work. It took an hour and a half on most days with traffic and all. DH says I used to come home in the worst mood. It is interesting how we get ourselves into these things. I mean the trade-off for a job that you love vs. having more time for activities at home vs a nice paycheck vs whatever. I try not to regret the decisions that I make, but it sure seems that life is all about the trade-offs sometimes. On that note, I will wrap up this longwinded post. Eat healthy!!

Oh so right about adding coconut oil (liquid) to cold ingredients!!! Make sure your eggs are room temperature, and you may need to take the chill off of milk, yogurt, or other cold ingredients (few seconds in the microwave), otherwise you'll end up with chunks of solid coconut oil. The "solid nature of coconut oil is a PITA but will need to adjust to it" isn't a problem if you leave your coconut oil at room temperature, especially during warmer weather in an ambient temperature warmer than 70-degrees F. It gets harder the cooler the ambient temperature, but I've never stored coconut oil in the refrigerator - EVER. As part of the "Seven Survival Foods", I store enough coconut oil for 3-years (which I do of all the "Seven Survival Foods") and rotate it regularly and it's stored in a cool basement storage room until I move it to the kitchen. Several years ago I kept a cup of Nutiva Coconut Oil in our pantry for several years after the use-by date to see if it would go rancid. It never did and I finally went ahead and used it for homemade deodorant mixed with baking soda, cornstarch and essential oils. I mix coconut oil with homemade peanut butter or almond butter. You can purchase it already mixed, but it's a lot cheaper to do-it-yourself. I use several brands, and LouAna brand (I can get it at Wal-Mart and Dillons/Kroger) doesn't have any coconut flavor, and it's also the least expensive I can purchase locally, and use it when I don't want any coconut flavor. I like to use a brand that has the light coconut flavor in baked goods that has chocolate in it. It's my little "secret" flavoring ingredient in brownies. Coconut oil is also great in homemade yeast bread to help slow staling and mold. I also use coconut oil in many of my homemade "convenience" foods that call for shortening or butter - pancake mix, baking mix, Magic Mix (a mixture of powdered milk, cornstarch and coconut oil - used for making homemade Fudgsicles, pudding, cream of ______ condensed soup, Pesto Alfredo Sauce, etc.). There are all kinds of things you do with coconut oil (see link below). I always wipe any off a spoon and use it as hand lotion. I apply it to my face each morning and night. I often make a hot beverage mid-morning and add a dollop of coconut oil and a tablespoon of gelatin powder as a pick-me-up (I get up around 3 a.m. daily) and it keeps me from snacking. For bacon grease.... I purchase packages of bacon ends from a local meat packing company and will cook the entire package. Much cheaper than buying bacon and you can use it in nearly the same ways you would strips. I strain the bacon grease, put it in mini-muffin tins and make bacon grease "pucks" and freeze them in a vacuum-sealed container. I freeze the cooked bacon ends on a flat cookie sheet in a single layer, then portion them in snack-size plastic bags and vacuum-seal them in a FoodSaver bag. The bacon pieces work in egg dishes, topping a BLT (sandwich or salad), etc..... -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: 101 uses for coconut oil

Thanks for the information. I know mineral oil as a skin care ingredient that is harmful to the skin. The molecumolecular structure is too large to be absorbed so it sits on the skin and "tells" the skin to shut down its moisture-producing. Leaves skin drier than before so is a perpetual issue as a moisturizer. Soapstone is non-porous, so anything put on it will either sit and dry (mineral oil) or sit and harden (walnut oil, for example). Mineral oil is harmful to humans and the environment (it is a waste product of crude oil and is cheap emulsifier so used in a lot og skin care for spread-ability). To address another’s comment about USB mineral oil OK to injest, it coats your organs that’s why it helps with constapation but is terrible for our health. Amazes me that some doctors still recommend this. Please know that just because something is natural, does doesn’t mean it is safe. Baby Baby oil is mineral oil plus fragfragrance. A baby drank it and it coated the lungs/organs and the baby died. After this, baby oil was mandated to use perscription-type safety lids. For me, it makes sense not to coat my counters with it no matter how refined. I don’t want my grandkids eating food off of it. I don’t claim to know a lot but have been to medical lectures and got the gist of it. My thinking: be as safe as possible, find reasonable, healthy alternatives. Use an oil that will dry and harden. Walnut oil. Boiled linseed oil. After hours of research, Im ordering the Real Milkpaint Soapstone Sealer (although soapstone is non-porous so does’t need to be sealed) because it has walnut oil and wax. I’ve never used it before and am not endorsing it, but reviews seem to favor it. Wish me luck! 😊 All the best to you all.

You can buy both coco butter with and without the scent for soap making; if you don't want to scent the recipe then use the scented one. I have people that prefer different butters and oils. You can control some of the properties of the soap depending on which oils are used in the soap recipe and how much superfatting is being used as well. Generally, a combo of 2 or more oils (I usually use 5 oils in my recipes)are preferred; usually, olive/coconut, palm/olive, palm kernel/olive, etc. Pomace olive oil is cheap (or used to be), no need to use the good stuff(I save that for cooking).