BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02555 Heading downstairs and Torrun was looking photo ready. Had to take a few because she just kept turning away. She is not that cooperative for photos.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02554 Back on Virta and finding different ways to enjoy things I enjoy that are not Virta approved, like pizza. The crust is what gets me and just eating the toppings off a pizza and tossing out the crusts is rather wasteful. I have been enjoying baking cheese. This is cheese that you can bake in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes and it tastes just like pizza cheese and so I've been making this with pepperoni and mushrooms to enjoy the kind of pizza I like with some sauce for dipping. Limiting the sauce a bit too because of the potential for sugar from the tomatoes but still enjoying a little of it at a time.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02553 I've been working on a 3D project this past week. I'm creating a Character box for role playing games. I created it to incorporate the Thundercats because there is a Thundercats RPG coming out soon. I backed the project on Kickstarter and so I am working on perfecting the box for playing the game. I like how the box came out but I want to make another one with some additions. Also refine it a bit more.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02552 Today was Allison's birthday. We celebrated by going to the Colonel Blackinton Inn for dinner. Dinner was taken care of by a Christmas gift card and another gift card that Allison received from school. We had an excellent meal. Andy got adventurous and then realized that they really did not like spinach. Allison got her favorite which was butternut squash ravioli. Eva went with chicken parm and I went with the Wedge salad and short ribs and asparagus. Both Allison and Andy also had French Onion soup. We were seated in one of the small rooms in the back and hard it mostly to ourselves. It was a lovely dinner with good conversation and a chance to celebrate Allison. When we came home we had some cake that was left over from Allison's birthday celebration last night with friend and also some cupcakes that Andy baked last night. It was a nice time.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02551 I've been back on the virta eating plan this past week and I've been seeing some ads for baking cheese. This is cheese that you bake in the oven or air fryer and cut to be like Mozzarella sticks. No carbs so this is great for me. I got a block o the cheese at the store today and baked it for andy and me to try tonight. I got some marinara sauce to go with it. It was really tasty stuff. I'd go for getting it again and next time cut it in half for myself and cover with pepperoni. It is like pizza without the crust.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02550 The other day Andy asked me to order them some glass bottles and some mica powder because they wanted to make potion bottles. Andy also has a wax stamping kit and has been using the two together to make potions. These will most likely be used as props for some D&D sessions that andy is going to have with friends.  Andy tends to have hyper focus on these types of projects and then moves on to the next things soon. However, Andy has been pretty dedicated to making fun things for their D&D campaign. I saw a great little notebook for D&D that keeps all the character information in one place. I bought 4 of them for Andy's campaign that they've been doing with their friends. If it makes the kid happy and is offline, doesn't hurt anyone then I'm going to go over the top to support their endeavors.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02549 I've been working on getting back on virta and eating as I had been prior to the holidays. I'd been indulging too much and it was being reflected in my numbers. Specifically my blood sugar numbers. so, this week I was back making eggs for breakfast instead of a granola bar and a special soup for lunch. It is really easy and very tasty, not to mention inexpensive. It start with frozen cooked shrimp. I put 6 of them in a bowl of water to thaw. Then when it comes time to chop them I also chop up green onion and mushroom. I add that with a bouillon cube to a pat of butter, heavy whipping cream, and a spoonful of chili crisp. I them put water into the container that I seal up for 10-30 minutes depending upon what I am doing. When I want the soup I pour it into a bowl and microwave it for 2 minutes. When I got to eat it I ad a handful of chili-lime peanuts to the soup for a little extra to chew on. In this one I some bacon as well. I don't do that often but...