Cinnamon Rolls!

Look, cinnamon rolls!

I made cinnamon rolls today! I made them for our ward activity today, but when I started mixing ingredients I realized that I didn't have any yeast. So, I had my roommate go and grab some, but I ended up being a little late for class and wondering if I had made the dough right. It expanded, and made a lot of cinnamon rolls. My roommates helped me to roll and cut them into the right shape. Cinnamon rolls use a lot of sugar!
We took them to the ward activity, and they were gone within minutes. Fortunately, we still had some dough left so there is a batch that remains for us to eat. It was fun, and they turned out pretty good.

The Twinkie Diet

Imagine, if you will, eating a Twinkie, or chocolate cupcake, or some similar type of sugary cake every three hours for two months, and that these snack foods make up two-thirds of everything you eat, the other meager one third  including protein shakes, multivitamins, and a few vegetables. Now imagine that you lost 27 pounds as a result. Sound impossible? Except it's not, because a nutrition professor in Kansas did this experiment to prove a point, and yes, he did lose 27 pounds, putting him from almost-obese to a normal weight.

Mark Haub wanted to prove that weight loss was only dependent upon caloric intake, rather than the nutritional value of what we eat. He strictly regulated how many calories he ate, up to 1,800 rather than the 2,600 calories he would usually consume. And the results are pretty astonishing, which is probably why when word got around about how he had lost weight eating basically all sweet cakes, it easily made international news

When my group for science had to write a paper on some kind of controversial health belief, we chose the "Twinkie Diet." I will mention that my group is unconvinced about how healthy this "diet" would be over the long term, though I think it is an interesting study to consider.Personally, I think it is a pretty funny story, though it is not the type of diet I would ever go on; I can only imagine how gross I would feel full of sugar and preservatives.

If you want to read the article about Mark Haub's diet, click here. Or you could simply type in "the twinkie diet" into Google, and I assure you that you will find plenty of information about it.

Grateful for Thanksgiving

I am so happy to be able to be home for Thanksgiving! I have been missing my family and looking forward to it for weeks. Pie Day was a lot of fun, Aunt Kim came and joined us this year, and we also ended up with about 30 pies total. I will write the count-up later of the pies we made.
For Thanksgiving this year, we had two new people join in the feast, my two older sisters' husband and soon-to-be husband. It was wonderful to have our whole family together for a few days, and I at least enjoyed myself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sushiiiiiiii!

I love sushi, and I love eating sushi with my dad and sister! I did both today, and I really enjoyed it! My favorite ingredients in Sushi is shrimp, crab, avocado, sweet potatoes, and this yummy sweet sauce they put on top. (I also like these things outside of Sushi too) Sushi is so pretty, and so tasty. It's one of the few foods I acutally will close my eyes while I eat it to focus more on the flavor. I've been craving it for weeks, and I finally got to eat some. Mmmmm, sushi.
Sorry Aunt Kim, I feel bad that you can't enjoy sushi at the moment because of allergies ( among other foods), so here's some digital sushi for your eyes to feast on. =)

I think there are many different types of love, like love for friends, love for books, the places we love, our favorite foods, love for our family, and love for that "special someone." I have found that with true love is always accompanied by gratitude. For example, I might think, "I love this sushi place. I'm so glad I could come with my sister and dad."
There are so many things and people to love! (It sounds cheesey, but it's true)
 It's sad that there are people out there who can't recognize the many wonders of life.
So, whether it's a favorite food or your spouse, be grateful for the love you have, and cherish it. I promise it will make you happier (though it's not good to become obbsessive - that's not actual love, and goes way beyond the mark).

Happy Easter Everyone!

Enjoying Pie Day

My family, as well as my aunt, some cousins, and some friends made pies for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun, and it has been a tradition for all us girls to enjoy cooking together every year the day before Thanksgiving. I think Thanksgiving is an important holiday to spend with those important to us, and be thankful for them. We ended up making 21 pies total! There were: 7 chocolate pudding pies, 6 pumpkin pies, 2 french apple crust pies, 3 apple pies, 1 lemon meringue, and 2 cherry pies.

My Cousin and her college roommate rolling out pie dough

My younger sister artistically decorating the chocolate pies

Me rolling out pie dough
My aunt and my little sister working on apple pie filling

Gratitude and "Thanksgiving"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day, with family and food! =)
So then, some things I'm grateful for:

• Family (I truly enjoy spending time with my wonderful family)
• A Home
• Good Friends
• An Education/School
• My Teachers ( I really do have great teachers)
• My Church
• The Scriptures
• The Temples
• Good Music
• Good Art
  
• A Cheerful Attitude (It takes effort, but I'm still grateful for it)
• Talents
• My Neighbors
• The Internet (there are so many things you can do for the good)
• This Beautiful Earth
• The Sky and Weather
  
• Good Health
• This Time I Live In (there will always be the good along with the bad)
  
• Having Time
• Generous people (to all those who give away time, money, and effort)
• Kind people (they make this world a better place)
• My Country
• Good Books
• My Mind and Body
• A Car (doesn't it make life so much easier?)
• Food (I also like to help cook)
• Clothing
• Clean Air
• Fun Games
  
• My Readers =)
  
• Emotions/Feelings
• Having Life
  

There are many other things I could list, these are just the things that come to mind, and that I feel would be okay to post online. There is a particular being that I feel especially grateful to, but perhaps this isn't the best place to write about it. =) I hope that each person has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and gives "thanksgiving" for the many blessings they have.

Fair Days

Today, there was a local celebration for the town. This morning at eleven there was parade, where loads of candy are thrown, enough to satisfy all the little kids and that could considerably fill a grocery bag. Then my family went down to the park, where different booths had been set up for the fair. It was pretty fun, but the best part about fairs are talking with friends and sharing the different foods. =D