Leaner for the Body, and Utilities.

ONE TEASPOON of FAT = about FOUR GRAMS of FAT! 

So if you are trying to lose weight, cutting down on fat is one way to help.

Here is a chart of how many teaspoons of fat there are in certain foods: http://www.cag.uconn.edu/nutsci/nutsci/outrch/pdf/HowMuchFat.pdf

“To lower your risk of diseases like cancer and heart disease, less than 30% of the calories in your diet should come from fat.

Since the number of calories you need each day depends on your age, weight and whether you are male or female, the amount of fat you can eat does too. Younger people can eat more fat than older people, and men are allowed more fat in their diets than women.

On the average, women should try to eat no more than 60 to 80 grams of fat
per day, or 15 to 20 teaspoons of fat.”


(I think that if you print out that chart, and hang it in your kitchen, you will think twice about what you eat!)
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How many calories am I eating?
http://www.howmanycaloriesin.com/

How many calories am I burning?
http://k2.kirtland.cc.mi.us/~balbachl/calorie.htm

Cardio Equipment and Calories Burned
”Just a word of warning regarding cardio equipment and calories burned. Many cardio machines don't ask for your weight and tell you that you're burning X number of calories. The number displayed is for a person of average weight (usually average is 150 pounds). For many people, the number of calories is overstated. So, if the machine doesn't have you input your weight, don't believe the number of calories displayed.”

Of course, one way to lose weight is to hide the remote, and do it yourself!!  But I don’t think we will go that far.
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STOP USING YOUR OVEN.

The Green Kitchen: No-Cost Ways to Reduce Waste

By Jessica Hulett
“Being environmentally conscious isn't just a good way to help save the planet. When we use less, we waste less, and in the process, often save ourselves money. Thirty percent of our household energy use comes from appliances, and those in the kitchen are the biggest culprits. Kate Heyhoe, author of Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen the New Green Basics Way, shares her no-cost tips for reducing your "cookprint" -- the entire chain of resources used to prepare meals, and the waste produced in the process.

The Hot Zone: Your Oven
Stop using your oven
"Ovens waste up to 95 percent of the fuel that they consume," explains Heyhoe. Whenever possible, prepare food on your stove top, in your microwave oven, in a toaster oven, in an electric frying pan, or in a slow-cooker, all more energy-efficient methods.

Cook smarter
If you have to use your oven, try to cook multiple items at the same time. If you're cooking a casserole, divide it between two pans so it will cook faster, and turn off the oven 10 to 15 minutes early -- you'll maintain enough heat to finish the job.

The Cold Zone: Your Refrigerator and Freezer
Set your fridge to the right temperature.
The optimal temperature for your refrigerator is 37 to 40 degrees. This will keep food cool enough without wasting electricity.
Fill it up.
"A full freezer or refrigerator is more efficient than one that's empty," says Heyhoe. Fill up jugs of water and keep them in the fridge. Put extra freezer packs in the freezer to fill space.

The Wet Zone: Your Sinks, Dishwashers and Garbage Disposals
Wash the dishes right.
"Dishwashers are wonderfully efficient these days," explains Heyhoe. "Most use only 6 to 7 gallons of water per cycle, which is less than the equivalent of washing a full load of dishes in the sink." Scrape plates instead of rinsing to conserve even more water, and run the dishwasher outside the peak hours of 4 to 8 PM.

Forget the disposal.
If you have a garbage disposal, don't use it. They waste water and electricity (and fuel, too, during back and forth trips to the landfill. Compost if you can, and if you can't, toss food scraps in with the regular trash. (Now, that tip doesn't make sense to me. Food scraps in the regular garbage are going to attract flies and therefore cause maggots.  If you put it in the regular garbage it is going to take up more room at the landfill!)

Waste not.
Rinsing off vegetables? Do it in a tub, instead of over the drain, and use the water you collect to water plants. (Or for flushing.  Actually you are better rinsing them in a bowl, so that you can put a dab of vinegar in there, to make sure they are clean)

Keeping the Zones Clean
Not all bacteria are bad.
"We've become germophobic," says Heyhoe. "We keep using antibacterial soap, and generation by generation, the bacteria are becoming immune to things that kill them." Stick with soap and water, or:
Make your own green cleansers.
Mix 1 part vinegar with 1 part water and use the solution to clean countertops, ovens, refrigerators and freezers.”
For more tips on keeping your kitchen and cooking green, visit NewGreenBasics.com.
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This morning Ray and I rushed around before the rains came.  It was time to Weed-N-Feed the grass.  I didn’t say lawn, as it is just old wild TX grass.  If we don’t weed and feed it, the weeds that make cockle burrs will start getting in the animals fur and feet.  We removed some dandelions to transplant for Jay’s tortoise.  The rain came on cue, and watered it in for us.

Then we finished putting the newly Formica-ed counter top in.  It looks great.  As we haven’t made the back board for it yet, Ray caulked around where it meets the wall so crumbs etc, won’t fall down back there.  While he was at it, he re-caulked the mess the contractors had done on the sink side, between the counter and the back board.

My hand and fingers are still all swollen, and now it is starting to swell on my wrist.  I am able to use it a bit more than I could.  I am just not used to mean cats!

Tomorrow morning I go to the doctor, as he couldn’t see me today.