Yesterday I celebrated my daughter's birthday by taking her to lunch and shopping a bit in the afternoon. Yesterday evening, one of my sons returned from a few day cruise so we went out to dinner late last night. Even though I ate out twice yesterday, it was easy to stay low carb. I had a grilled burger topped with cheddar and bacon for lunch along with a small side salad with oil and vinegar. For dinner I had a grilled chicken breast with roasted veggies and slaw made with cabbage, feta cheese and Greek dressing.
I am currently half way through my 3rd year of eating wheat and grain free (with low sugar). Unlike most other plans I've tried over the years, this low carb plan actually gets easier with time and becomes second nature. For those of you that are just beginning your low carb journeys or are about to begin your journey with the coming new year...you are about to begin one of the BEST journeys of your life. Whether or not you have any weight to lose or not, you will find that getting away from a steady diet of processed foods and back to "real food" will be one of the best gifts you give yourself. You will no longer be a slave to the yo-yo effects of sugar and grains and will find a real sense of calm come over you with regards to food. You will be the one in control of your appetite; it won't control you, driving you to eat more and more of the things that are detrimental to your health and well being. I hope you enjoy following this low carb, grain and gluten-free journey with me as I regularly post my meals, recipes and ideas for you almost daily.
Lastly, I'd like to ask what do you guys think of the lighter/brighter new look for my blog? Do you like it, hate it, or just aren't sure yet? I thought I'd give it a new look for the new year. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
37 comments:
I like the brighter look of your blog! Thanks for all you do and for sharing your delicious recipes!
Thanks Rhonda! You are very welcome. Happy New Year! :-)
I like the brighter color. My only suggestion would be some more color at the top. A border or a piece of clip art at top. Just seems to need more bling of some kind. But thats just me saying. Anyways, Love all you do and love telling others about your blog. Love it!! Love it!! Love it!! Your blog is one of my go to blogs for recipes. I have 3 children(13,10,7) that I am constantly trying new recipes on to get them a bit more on board with the no wheat idea.
Hi GG. I love the brighter look of your blog. Much easier on the eyes. And the font is dark enough for my poor old eyes (so many sites use a white background and and light blue font so it's almost impossible for me to read!)
Happy New Year!
I noticed the change of blog theme last night and loved it! Much easier on the eyes. I made your eggplant lasagna last night....so yummy! I noticed that when I did a search for the recipe, I went to one of the most recent posts when you made it. Within that post, you usually hyperlink to the original post with the actual recipe, but the hyperlinks weren't highlighted or linked. You might want to check that.
I like the new brighter look!
Hi Dawn,
Thanks so much. So happy you are enjoying my recipes and good for you for trying to help your children transition. My 3 kids are grown now and it's not so easy! Thanks for the tip/suggestions about my blog. I wondered if it wasn't too plain. I'm still playing around a bit with the look. Happy New Year to you and your family! :-)
Hi Peg,
Thanks so much. Glad it doesn't strain your eyes! Happy New Year! :-)
Hi Kathleen,
Yum...I need to make the eggplant lasagna again, too. Not all my kids are crazy about eggplant (2 out of 3 of them)...so I usually make it during the week when they aren't around. I'll check on linking the post to the original recipe. Thanks for letting me know. Happy New Year! :-)
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for the comment! Glad you like the brighter look! Happy New Year! :-)
Absolutely do not like the ordinary white pages. Now it is (Pardon me) Walmart here before it was Neiman Marcus ! The white hurts the eyes where as the rich former color was soothing. The site looks like all the others!
Why mess with success?
Happy New Year Ayla and thank you for all the good recipes.
Much much easier to read - thank you! I have soooo fallen off the LC wagon. Your words in today's post remind me of exactly why I need to get back on. Food has such ridiculous power over me when I eat sugar and grains. They are not my friends!
Hi GGC,
Love the new look ... but then again, I loved the "old" look, too. What I *really* love is your awesome snowman mugs! :-)
Happy New Year!
I guess I'm the only nay-sayer, but I HATE having to wade thru all the advertising even tho I understand the reason for it. I really appreciate your recipes, especially the bread recipes. I've been reading your blog for several years now and you have made things so much easier for me to stay wheat-free!
Hi Rosy,
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoy the bread recipes and happy to hear they have made things a bit easier for you to stay wheat free. Happy New Year! :-)
Hi CyberSis,
Thanks. Glad you like it. I'm still torn...but trying the look on for a bit to see if it grows on me. Too funny about the snowman mugs. I believe I got those a few years ago from Kohls. They usually have lots of cute snowman stuff...and I am a total snowman freak!
Happy New Year! :-)
Hi Shannon,
Glad you like it. Well, it's never too late to hop back on the low carb wagon...that's the good thing!
It really is interesting to see the difference for yourself about how sugar and grains control us isn't it? I know they definitely do for me.
Welcome back to the 2015 low carb wagon! Happy New Year! :-)
Hi Barbara!
It's SO nice to hear from you again. Well, it seems you feel the same way about the new look as my mother does! LOL
I am just trying it out to see if it makes things cleaner and easier to read for most everyone.
I wasn't sure that you still followed me or even if you were okay. I am so happy to know that you are okay and hope that you are doing well.
I do appreciate your honesty and will take that into consideration. I will probably be testing the blog's new look the most to get a feel for it considering how many hours I spend on my blog every day.
I am so happy you commented because I've been thinking about you lately and wondering if and hoping you were okay. Happy New Year! I hope it's a happy and healthy one for you. :-)
Happy New year Ayla !
The reason I did not post is that my life has been upside down !It also is difficult to type as I have no more healthy joints! enough said as there are so many people with more serious health problems, besides it is depressing.
When I first discovered your site I was so impressed that I even pointed out your site to my husband. As I told you then, I never found another site that was so stunning in its coloration .
It was outstanding! In my case the new site is too stark and cold and hurts my eyes!
I am a researcher and after spending hours on *bright* sites it was so soothing to come to Ayla's site. One also sleeps better !
Maybe you could switch back for a day and see how people react.
Oh well, I have to go and bake a dessert. What is your personal favorite sans cranberries , lol.
How lucky you are to still have your mother, what a blessing! She is very smart too!
Wonderful and easy-to-read look. : )
Thanks Fox! ;-)
Hi Barbara,
Sorry to hear your joints are bothering you and it's difficult to type. I don't know how much typing you usually do, but if you do a fair amount, I believe there is a software program called Dragon where you speak and it types what you say. I don't know a lot about it but I once had a boss that didn't type that we got it for.
As far as a dessert goes, one of my favorite non-cranberry desserts is my pumpkin custard cups (basically pumpkin pie made with cream cheese). I prefer them without crust (and their easier to make) and are sort of a combination of pie and cheesecake. I also like chocolate chip cookies, too.
While I am very sorry it's now more difficult for you to type and your life has been upside down, I am truly happy to have heard from you and to know that you are otherwise okay. I hope that 2015 is much kinder to you than 2014. Know that I am thinking about you.
Ayla, thank you for your kindness, you have not changed!
I feel that I was too blunt with my critic of your new site.
It really was a little bit much. I guess I am totally bewildered by the observation by others that find the site easier to read!
I will keep quiet now (well I will try).
Bis bald, Barbara.
Hi GGC,
After considering this a bit more, I'm beginning to think that your mom and Barbara may have a point.
It was really nice to hear from Barbara, too ... wishing her all the best in 2015! :-) BTW, I will add my agreement to your suggestions ... for a simple to prepare but *very* yummy dessert, your chocolate chip cookies and your pumpkin custard cups just can't be beat!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks. No need to stay quiet -- you can make as much noise as you'd like here! Take care. ;-)
Hi CyberSis,
Thanks! I also thought of one more suggestion for Barbara and its easy. I like my no bake cheesecake as well (both with and without the crust). Of course, I like topping it with cranberries...but it can be eaten as is or with other berries, etc. :-)
Hi Cyber sis, thank you ! You are very kind. I would like to send you good wishes for the New Year as well!
Aila, You are very generous but I am aware that I do not like to beat around the bush! That is why I could never go into politics!
As I am typing this I am realizing that the white page is less harsh during daylight hours. It does not change my mind however.
A propos desserts, the crustless cheesecake is also my favourite, I throw everything into food processor and presto done.
For summer I would love to prepare a sugarless ice cream(hint, hint)! My husband can not be without it, he ingests way too much sugar.
Hi Barbara,
Maybe your husband and mine are related? Mine eats ice cream almost EVERY night...and he, too, eats too much sugar!
I have received the ice cream hint! I've dabbled with frozen yogurt but will deviate to full blown ice cream when the weather warms up a bit. Maybe then my husband will eat mine instead!
Oh, one more thing...maybe you are super observant and don't realize it...but there may be an explainable reason why the whiteness/brightness of my blog doesn't seem as harsh during the day...because right around the time you were posting, I was messing around with subtle color changes trying to soften it a bit. I've softened the gray tint around the actual posts so it isn't as stark and bright. Maybe you noticed that and didn't realize it was a little different. It's still a work in progress...I'd like to try and find something more in the "Macy's" range (than Walmart). LOL Take care! :-)
Posting here beats cleaning up the house!
Did you get complaints about your former page? I just am so puzzled why the change when the former one *stood out* from all the others. Another point is that one does not linger for a long time on this blog.
You see Ayla I can not let go! It seems as if I have no other problems, lol! Almost embarrassing.
Happy New Year. Love the new look.
Hi Barbara,
Too funny. I did not get many complaints about my previous blog but I did get several where people told me that with the dark background and white lettering that it was difficult to read. I personally didn't find that it was. I thought I'd try something lighter for a little bit to see if it grew on me and if others liked it better or worse.
Too funny though Barbara...it's okay; after all I did ask everyone what they thought about the new look. I am still not used to it but will give it a little more time. Hope you are having a good evening! :-)
Hi Amber,
Thanks. Happy New Year to you too. :-)
Hi GGC!
I really like the new lighter look as well. Very easy to read and see. Thank you again for all your great information and Happy New Year!
Hi Ken,
Thank you! Happy New Year! :-)
Hi and Happy New Year!
How funny that Barbara has recently "resurfaced". I was just wondering what had happened to her the other day! I always enjoy her comments.
I made your Pots de Creme recipe for NYEve dinner, along with some baked scallops/shrimp.Yummy! And your cranberry/apple crisp for NY Day. Thanks for that--I had really been missing apple crisp!
As for my 2 cents on your blog color, I found the dark very dark, and now the light color is really TOO light for me, so maybe somewhere in between? I do appreciate the large font, though!
Hi Darlene,
Wow, sounds like you've been cooking away. Glad you enjoyed the pots de creme and apple crisp.
Yes, it was great to hear from Barbara again. Thanks for your input on the blog. I am making note of the different comments and will probably be making some more tweaks in the upcoming weeks. Happy New Year! :-)
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