Mom had to perform emergency surgery on my pup. He got a big hole in his head. I can not imagine how that could have happened. It is a good thing he made it, because he is my sleep buddy and I love ❤️ him. Em #em#emyorkie #yorkies #yorkshireterrier#thebellyoftheem
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As usual I forgot to take photos during the entire process.  I will detial the process here though.

1. Bake a box cake as directed. 
2. One the cakes have been baked and completely cooled, in a large bowl, crumb them into fine crumbs.  
3. Add canned frosting a table spoon at a time until the cake can be made into small balls.  Caution on this step, don't use to much frosting, I think I used 2 1/2 tablespoons maybe less.  If you get to much frosting the pops will not stay on the sticks and will not taste very good.
4. Chill the cake balls for abut 30 minutes, just long enough for them to set up a bit.  Now the fun begins.
5. Coat one piece on about half way down and then stick on top of pop to form and ear, then do the same with a second candy and place it in line but a little distance from the second on to form the second ear. (I used white coated candy buttons to make the ears and snout.)
6. Dip another candy in chocolate on the back and place in down from the ears but equal distance apart from the ears.  This will be the snout.
7. Take a lollie pop stick and stick the end in melted chocolate and place this in between the ears. 

A tip on the chocolate for these steps don't thin the chocolate.  It will be a little thick but this helps these items to stay in place.  

8.  Let all the pops sit a few minutes to set the chocolate so that the stick don't fall out and ears and         snout do't fall off as you dip them.
9.  Now you can thin the chocolate with Paramount Crystals ( I thinned my quite a bit as I wanted             the chocolate to run easily.
10. Dip each pop in the chocolate and let excessive chocolate drip off.  If you don't like the coverage        or it seems a little thin let the chocolate drip a minute or two and then re-dip. 
11.  After the pop has finished dripping, set the pop on parchment paper on a tray and let dry. 

12.  Once these have dried, you can add eyes and the end of the snout. 
For the eyes I used a bamboo skewer and dipped the blunt end into some milk chocolate and placed for one eye.  I re-dipped for each eye. 
For the snout, I used the same bamboo stick and made swirling motion almost forming a heart.   
​I did originally try pipping it on but it was to gloppy so I didn't do that for others. 

You can see some of the pops did crack.  I am not sure why that was as I didn't freeze or chill after the initial chill to set the balls.  There were only a few that cracked so I will set those aside and not display those just have as extra's (don't worry they will taste just as good).

13.  Next I added the snowflakes and bows.  For this I poured chocolate on parchment paper right on        the counter.  I dipped each bow or snowflake into the chocolate and placed it on the pop. 
14.  You will want to hold it for just a few seconds to set it in place.  By this time you chocolate is                 starting to dry do it doesn't take very long. 

15.  The last thing to do, after they have dried completely, is to wrap and tie bows on the wrap. 

​This wasn't very hard but it was time consuming.  Make sure you have plenty of time to do this.  The results are worth it as they are so cute.

Mom and I are wrapped up on the couch watching Hallmark Christmas movies. What a great day. Em #em#emyorkie #yorkies #yorkshireterrier#thebellyoftheem
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As you can see I have cornered my cat, Tori, under the Christmas tree. The tables have turned, it is her turn to be afraid of me. Em #em#emyorkie #yorkies #yorkshireterrier#thebellyoftheem
Don’t forget to sign up to get my posts in your in box. Go to my web site to sign up www.thebellyoftheem.com

I have to tell you about the great product I found.  It is the best thing I have ever tried for my hair.  It detangles and protects hair against heat damage and pool damage.  I have very colored treated hair and trying to comb through my hair when it is wet is terrible.  This product makes it so easy.  My comb goes right through my hair like it was nothing.  No tangles, snarles or pulling. The bottle is small but you only use about 2 small pumps and massage it through the hair.  My hair feels soft and smooth and is so much easier to dry and style since using this product.  I highly recommend this to everyone.  

I just added several new recipes.  I wanted to highlight them because they look to good to be true when you see how easy and how few Weight Watcher points they have.  As you know I used another program for my recent weight loss but I do like Weight Watchers.  They teach you about portion control and it is great if you only have a few pounds to loose.  (Only because it takes longer than some other program)

Anyway, the reason these recipes are look to good to be true is because I use very little oil in cooking.  I use cooking spray but very sparingly.  You really need to be careful with this as it is so easy to use to much.  Just a very light spray is all that is needed just enough to just barely coat the pan.  I also use broth or water many times with a little lemon or lime juice.  This allows to you cook food and not have it stick to the pan as well.  You do not need much liquid and it will cook off so your dish is not soupy.  Also, where possible I bake rather than fry.  I almost never fry.  I also like to use the grill when possible.  the grill allows the grease to run off.  It should go without saying, but when cooking meats always, always, always drain the pan and wipe it out before using for the remainder of the recipe. I never want to keep any additional grease in my pan, this just adds calories that we don't need.  

Happy cooking

So it's a new year and with that comes all sorts of baggage.  One of my pieces of baggage is weight loss.  I never make new year resolutions because I don't want to lie to myself.  Come on now, many people make resolutions saying they are going to do something but after about a week or so they forget about.  Case in point, the gym.  The first couple of weeks of January the gym is pack and about now no so much.  

So my husband and I decided that we should drop a couple of pounds.  Now understand that we both just lost a lot of weight the past year (about 40 pounds each).  Usually I do a dry January each year.  It is just a way to get rid of the excesses from the holidays.  This year we went on a 7 day detox that really got rid of all the bad stuff.  No sugar, flour, alcohol, caffeine, or processed foods of any kind.   This is a serious detox.  I lost 9.5 pound on this and my husband lost 9.  Just cutting out these things made a big improvement in how we feel also.  So of course my husband was done with his weight loss plan but I still wanted to lose about 10 more.  Oh by the way, this is not an easy detox but it sure works and you are not in the bathroom all the time.  There is no purging on this detox.  So to lose the 40 pounds we both did a program called Weight Not it is a very intensive program and you lose .5 to 1 pound a day.  Seeing the wight come off keeps you motivated to continue on the program.  After almost 2 weeks I have lost an additional 7 pounds.  I have 3 - 5 pounds to go and haven't even completed the program duration.  This is the same program that we used to lose the 40 pounds.  

So for anyone wanting to lose some weight this year, I recommend the Weight Not program.  It will keep you motivated and you WILL see the pound come off.  They also have some great recipes that are really good.  I am going to put a couple on my recipe page because they are so good that even if you are not dieting you will love them.  

I love the holidays and prefer to keep my tree up as long as possible.  But I also love my home and don't want to take any chances with it.  Our tree was pretty dry and had stopped drinking water so it was time to take it down.   Some years ago my husband and I perfected this technique to take the tree down and not get needles all over the house.  It makes taking the tree down so easy that one person can even do it alone with no issues, even with a larger tree. Ours was fairly large this year (it was very wide).    

I start by putting old newspaper down (you can use plastic or whatever you want as long as it catches any needles that fall).  I then remove all the ornaments and lights (this part takes me the longest as I always try to organize them in some sort of order). Now the fun starts, I use a pruner and start to cut the limbs off at the truck.  Just start anywhere you can get into the trunk and start cutting branches off.  Once you get started it gets easier as you will make a hole in the branches and you can reach them easier. 

As I work I put the branches in garbage bags and keep cutting until I have all the branches off.  For the top I usually cut it off and throw that in the bag.  You will eventually be left with a big stick.  Just pick it up and take it outside.  You can cut this up into smaller pieces with a hand saw if you like.  Clean the stand up and you are basically done.  

I roll the paper up carefully and you can see what I am left with as far as needles, almost none.  Vacuum those up and you are done.  At this time, the tree as so light the bags weighs almost nothing so just carry them to the curb.  Easy!  

At  our house weekend meals are very casual.  Many times we don't even do a full meal everyone just grabs something and heats it up.  During the week, I like to make something that facilitates this.  Many times I will make a soup that is filling but that makes lots of leftovers for the weekend.  This week I made a delicious leek and potato soup.  this soup is super easy and makes more than enough for leftovers.  Serve with some crusty bread and you have a meal.  Check out my recipe here.