It never fails.....

Just when you think you have everything in place.
When you think you have a routine set in stone, everything going according to plan-
WHAM! You are thrown off whack.

Ok, so needless to say my weight loss goal has been put back a few pounds...again.
I had been doing rather well- but those damn carbs sneak their way in and take hold of me!

So, lol, I will share my latest find...which I still plan on making. I will just have to work out all that much more before and after having this homestyle dish:


Country Breakfast Casserole
(Courtesy of All Recipes)

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package breakfast sausage
1 chopped green onion
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 (2.64 ounce) package country gravy mix
6 slices bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons melted butter (optional)
paprika to taste (optional)


Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 11x8 inch baking dish.

2.Brown sausage in a large skillet; drain fat.
3.Combine sausage with green onion and spread evenly across the bottom of the baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Whisk together eggs, water, milk, and gravy mix; add mixture to baking dish. Arrange bread squares evenly on top. If desired, drizzle melted butter over bread, and sprinkle with paprika.
4.Bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside 10 minutes before serving.
  ~ I plan on making this, but going along with one of the reviews instead.
     I will not be using the bread.
     I will add shredded hashbrowns, use the sage flavored sausage, a whole sweet onion (chopped) and instead of  the cheddar cheese- I will most likely toss in colby/monterey jack with feta cheese sprinkled throughout.
Sounds like a very filling breakfast.... definitely not one to have while dieting... but you are allowed to splurge every now and then,lol.

So in the effort to keep myself focused- I have updated my tracker... I have it set for a loss of 12.2lbs as my weight loss goal for now...and will re-evaluate once I have achieved that to see if anything more needs to be lost.

Here is a Protein Shake Recipe for those that enjoy them:

PUMPKIN PROTEIN SHAKE

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup skim milk or soymilk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (such as Matrix Simply Vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 t. cinnamon, 1/8 t. cloves, 1/8 t. ginger)
2 tablespoons Splenda Granular
1/4 cup Cool Whip or NSA Vanilla yogurt
1 cup ice cubes


Place pumpkin, milk, protein powder, spices, Splenda, cool whip or yogurt, and ice cubes in blender container; process until slushy. Makes one meal replacement serving.


(Per Serving: 230 Cal; 28 g Protein; 5 g Tot Fat; 13 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 2 g Sugar; 115 mg Sodium)

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Today marks Day #4 post hatch!

This is where is starts to get tricky according to research-
the transition from larvae to fry.
Crucial time- let's hope the little guys can make it!

I am maintaining the greenwater throughout the entire metamorphosis stage- this way it will help ease them into transformation- with less stress to deal with.
So far....so good. Things are going......., well, swimmingly!
Hahaha, had to throw that in there!

The brood pair is also doing well -
getting ready for their next clutch of eggs to be laid.
The cycle has begun! And it will continue for a very long time.
Hopefully I can keep up with the pair!

Today also is the last day for the It Works! Wrap contest - be sure to follow to be entered for your chance to win! Good Luck!

Clownfish Journal Entry....

Culturing microscopic food to feed to barely visible fish...... on less than a few hours of sleep...lol, I am surprised I can see anything at all! The first hatch started at 12:20am on August 21, 2010-
with the last of the larvae hatching out at 7am. No sleep that night!

The second hatch was not as successful- falling prey to a snooping turbo snail.

So the 21 that we have so far are survivors. Doing well.... only time will tell as to how many survive through metamorphosis. I am on several forums, and one member in particular, Tal Sweet,  has a site that has been very informative: FishTal Propagations . If you are interested, in breeding clownfish- I suggest you take a look at his site - or even Breeding Clownfish .
You will get a general idea of what to look for....and what you are getting yourself into! It definitely requires time and effort.... and alot of research.

So for now, the larvae are swimming and be-bopping along.
As each day goes by, I am hoping they all will make it through the metamorphosis stage, and transform into the clumsy little Nemo look-alikes that are so adorable!

21 Babies and Counting!

Well, larvae actually....until they go through metamorphosis.
But 21 zig zagging little babies were hatched during the night.
They are set up in a separate holding tank, and are doing well so far.

There are still more to hatch tonight....so not sure yet how many to expect.

But very happy nonetheless!

3 mm............ do you know how big that is?
Well, according to a Google search- 3 mm is equivalent to 3 grains of sugar. About 1/8 of an inch. Sounds really small right? Do you think you could find something that was 1/8" in size? In total darkness? In the water no less? Hahaha, well that is what I will be attempting this evening (or next) in the hopes of catching and transferring my clownfish larvae as they hatch from their eggs.

Today marks Day #8 .

For Amphiprion Ocellaris it is usually between 7 and 9 days.
So... I will be up late this evening, sitting in the dark,
after everything has been shut off....waiting....waiting...waiting...

Ok, I won't be doing that, haha - I will shut the tank & lights off around 10pm, and let the tank settle down. I will then go back periodically and check the status every 20minutes.

How do you check the status of a completely dark tank in a pitch black room?

A flashlight of course! This is a video someone posted when their eggs hatched. Watch carefully, those little zig zagging blips of light are the fish. The light reflects against larvae, so it is easier to find them.



Have been busy making sure I have enough food for these little guys once they hatch!

Come on baby clowns!!!

Here is a nice article detailing the metamorphosis that the clownfish go through from an orange ball when laid to the friendly face of Nemo we have all come to love! Lots of detail and photos!
(see how tiny they are!)

The Journey continues.......

Well, Momma & Pappa Clownfish are doing very well. Taking care of their clutch of eggs, and eating healthy! I am in the process of preparing the fry (baby fish) tank - making sure the water chemistry is just right. Then I will be adding some phyto and rotifers to the tank in order for them to multiply prior to adding the newly hatched fry. From what I have been told by a fellow reefer...the fry do not eat until about 8-12 hours after hatching- so they should have plenty of food by the time they wake up in the morning,lol!

Here is another video of my journal... parents still doing good, eggs look great:

Let's Get It On.................

Here is a video of my Mamma & Pappa clowns (A. Ocellaris), I will be doing a video journal on one of my reef keeping forums, and thought I would share here as well.... they are so cute.
The female is noticeably larger than the male, for those that don't know- and the male takes great pride in caring for the eggs...cleaning them , moving them, they are a perfect little couple!
The eggs were laid on Aug. 13th......so if all goes right, they should hatch around the 20th or 21st.
Hoping this batch will be successful..... not removing the eggs this time, will let them hatch right in the tank.... Good Luck 'Lil Nemos!!!

Be Sure To Pause The Mixpod

At The Top Right 

Of My Blog Before Playing This Video

(otherwise you will hear both playing at the same time!)

Happy Friday the 13th to all!!!

So what freakishly odd things have happened to you this week?

Me?........Oh, I was almost annihilated by Monti!

Lol, for those that know.... Monti is my green haddoni carpet anemone.

I was in the tank this week, trying to delicately pull out a blue mushroom

that had fallen into a cave below....when all of a sudden Monti decided to stretch out.

REALLY WIDE!!!

He caught contact with me, and that was that!

Haddoni's are very good at keeping what they catch, lol!

So he definitely put up a good little fight.

While I slowly and carefully tried to remove my hand,

he was quick to close in and wrap around my hand and wrist....

I eventually had to pull a bit more to get free...

Absolutely no harm done.....but whew!

He scared the ba-jeezes outta me!

Don't forget to click Follow to be entered into the Contest Sponsored by Kendra......IT Works!!! The Ultimate Body Wrap

Remeber you can find her here.

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My Newest Addition...........A Blue Magician!!!
Haha....only a fellow reefer would get excited about new additions, lol- but while in Orlando doing school shopping, we came across Aquarium Fanatics - where I picked up a baby Blue Magician.
Oh! The colors coming from this little guy are extremely bold! They just pop out at you. I have been trying to get a close enough shot, but have found this pic online at Reef2Reef  - mine is about the size of a regular M&M though....but still awesome! 

Photo Courtesy of : http://www.reef2reef.com/

Can't wait for this little guy to multiply!  

The Lucky winner

of the 12 pack Melting Tarts from SimplyMeltAway is.....
(drumroll).......
Lori Garcia.........a.k.a. Mommy Friend Lori .
She has won a wonderful 12pack of Melting Tarts, made with 100% Soy .....
such a nice prize for a mom of 2 with many things on her daily agenda.
Put one of these into a warmer.....fill a bubble bath.....
and Simply Melt Away into your own quiet paradise......letting the aroma of your scented tart whisk you away into mindless relaxation....
Ok- snap back into reality, lol, the quiet won't last long...the bubbles will soon dissolve.... but you will be left with a long lasting, long scented tart - so Enjoy!!
Special Thanks goes to Kandi Taxel @ Simply Melt Away for donating this month's contest prize.