Author: Stargrace

Just another gamer with too much time on her hands.

Meal Prep Sunday – Keto Edition

I’ve stalled out a bit with my weight loss, sitting at 191 (down from 248) and I still hope to get to 180 by January 29th so to kick start things I decided I’d try going back to keto temporarily. It’s usually a great way to get my body used to eating smaller meals, craving less carbs, and being nice and full from healthy fats.

Keto is not always the cheapest way for me to make and eat meals though, and I’m on a pretty strict budget so I had to come up with a meal plan that works for me for the week, and that sticks to my budget. Thankfully I have some ground beef and tuna so I don’t have to make a purchase there.

  • Breakfast: bacon & eggs. Add some hot sauce to spice up the eggs and I’ll be set.
  • Lunch: spicy salami stuffed with cream cheese, and tomato tuna bites. Basically you slice up a tomato, top it with tuna (a bit of mayo, salt, pepper), cover it with some cheese and pop it into the oven until it’s a melted mess. Sort of like an open face sandwich but without all the bread.
  • Dinner: spicy meatballs with a sauce, and cauliflower buffalo bites. Another really easy recipe. Simple meatballs cooked in a muffin tin with a tiny bit of sauce, and cheese melted over top. The cauliflower is just tossed with some melted butter and some hot sauce then baked.
  • Snacks: pickles and olives. You’ve gotta be a fan of these for it to work, but they work for me.

A simple week of foods that don’t have too much cooking. The total cost comes to about $40 CAD, with the most expensive item being the package of bacon – I plan on getting the good thick cut stuff. I wanted a break from chicken, I’ll probably go back to that staple next week.

We’ll see if this helps to kick start my weight loss again. In the past it has done wonders but we’ll have to see. I can’t do keto long term, it’s just not something I can ever stick with, but I do like how full I feel while on it and it does help me get back to eating smaller meals instead of trying to fill my plate with all the things.

Steam Autumn Sale

It’s that time of year, right around the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, sales. Sales all over the place. I look forward to steam sales (for the most part) and this new autumn sale that showed up yesterday was no exception. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many visual novel games were heavily discounted. I tend to keep a nice selection on my wishlist, games that I’m either interested in but don’t want to purchase at the moment for xyz reason, or games I really want that I just can’t afford. It’s rare that I purchase a game for full price unless it’s something I just really can’t live without. As time goes on, those games have become further and further apart, especially because I know a few months down the road I can usually get it for a better deal.

In a world of instant gratification having the patience to wait until something goes on sale to pick it up is a skill I’m still working on – but I’ll get there.

Have you picked any games up this sale? Holding off for something better? Let me know in comments!

Also a very happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends down in the states, and a happy Thursday to those of us who are just having another day!

Choosing a Pattern [Indie Design Gift-a-long]

I spent most of my free time yesterday evening on Ravelry, looking through the 300+ designers who are participating this year in the indie design gift-a-long and hunting for the perfect sock pattern. Eventually I stumbled onto ‘Forest Canopy Socks‘ by Cynthia Levy, a [pattern that looked beautiful due to the lace and ribbing, but not too complicated so that it would be beyond my skills. I’ve only been knitting for two years, and this sock really has a nice wow factor without being something that I think would confuse me too much.

I purchased the pattern using the indie design gift-a-long code (25% off!) and took a look at the pattern before bed. One thing that really impressed me and confirmed that I made the right choice is that this pattern is written beautifully. It’s charted with simple instructions between the charts, and I’m just so pleased I picked it.

I’ll be knitting it in my January Yarns Llama Sock yarn, which is a llama, merino, nylon blend. I’ve never knit with llama fiber before, and I’m really interested to see how it knits up.

We have until December 31st to complete our projects (you can craft as many as time allows) and if you manage to complete them and post them in the FO category you become eligible for prizes. I don’t have a whole lot of time to knit, but I am really hoping I can finish this pair of socks in time to enter them.

Honestly, I’m just so excited about this whole thing. If you’re participating let me know in comments! If you’re interested in seeing the designers and their patterns you can check it out in this thread.