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Guilt Free Pecan Sandies

Theodas March 5, 2025 2 Comments

One of my favorite things about my new found dietary regimen. Is that I get to eat sweets every day without worry about it making me gain weight. I found this recipe and I make cookies every week so I can have 2 every night! I’ve modified it and have tweaks to make all sorts of cookies I’ll share with you.

One of my favorite cookies from my childhood was Keebler Sandies (Pecan) or known as Pecan Sandies. Here’s how I make them:

Preheat Oven 325 Degrees

Recipe (in order of what I mix)

3/4 Cup Monk Fruit Blend Sweetener (just like sugar with no after taste)
2 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted)
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans
Optional (to make cookies more soft/chewy) 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Mix together thoroughly, then mix in:

2 Cups of Almond Flour

I make 15 equal balls on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Because the dough does not spread on it’s own, I flatten with a slightly damp fork. Similar to how traditional peanut butter cookies are done. If you use the almond milk, they will expand slightly.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. They make still look slightly under cooked but if you pull them out and let the pan rest on a cooling rack, they finish baking perfectly without over browning the bottoms of the cookies.

Absolute YUM!

These are Gluten Free, Keto and Diary Free!

Modified from The Big Mans World

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Chef Theo

Theodas February 26, 2025 No Comments

It’s been over 2 months since I last had time to sit down and write about what makes me geek out. I’ve just been seriously busy. I work 10-13 hour shifts. Something I must change in the near future. If I ever want to put time into my many projects and make them succeed. One such project is I am now fully into cooking and baking. My new lifestyle has always kept me feeling super healthy and keeping my weight down at 175 pounds.

It all started by omitting and cutting down on certain foods from my life. Buying things that were a healthier alternative to what I used to eat when I was 360 pounds. That worked and I lost the weight. Once I got my own home and my own kitchen, I started playing around at making healthier versions of the foods I’ve always loved. It turns out I find it to be easy and fun 🙂

In so much that I wish I had more normal hours to be able to cook every day! Currently I get up and rush off to work, just to come home and crash and do it again 5 days a week or more. When I do get a day off it’s running errands and doing laundry. I get to cook once and make my weekly cookies. (more on that soon). Then I have to indulge others by going out to eat and shopping.

I had to recently explain I’m tired of going out to eat and running all over. My job is long. I drive a lot already (I average 30,000 miles a year) and I really enjoy cooking and baking. So I would prefer to make meals at home. Also that I really don’t wish to shop all the time for things I don’t even need. My house has more than enough projects to keep me busy for years. On top of the fact I’m a neat freak and keep a clean, clutter-free home. I’m more of a minimalist and don’t like a ton of stuff all over my house.

What makes it even more exciting that I like to cook and bake, is that now I have a girlfriend. She recently had to change her lifestyle to gluten free and dairy free. At first I thought it was going to be difficult to do all three health changes. Turns out I’m very clever and have made all my dishes gluten free and dairy free while keeping the carbs to a minimum and in most cases, zero!!

This has led me to start thinking about adding to my future. I have grown bored with what I do for a living. I could seriously take my love of homemade healthy foods and fill the void I see in so many places for people like girlfriend and myself. To those who don’t have time or the disposition to make these dishes for themselves. If I could secure the capitol, I would gladly open a bakery/deli shop.

Soon I will share the recipes I’ve found and examples of the food I make. What I’ve done to make them even better and yummy!

Here’s a teaser of my recreation of one of my favorite cookies. Pecan Sandies!

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I Lied

Theodas December 7, 2024 No Comments

So I know I said I was done with relationships. Going my own way. MGTOW!

I really was. I had zero interest in going through the heartbreak again. I have a long list of failed relationships. From lies, infidelity to secrets that I wish I never found out.

I met Dori 3-ish years ago. Through an online dating site. Though we turned out to be good friends instead of dating. We talk frankly and openly about everything. I just didn’t see her as girlfriend material then. Lots of reasons I won’t go into.

About a year after I got my house, she came over and we watched movies and bullshit about life and experiences. Another month goes by and she came over again. I don’t know what made me decide to see what would happen, but I gave her a peck on the lips as she was leaving. She pecked me back and then went home.

A couple of days later I brought it up and asked why she returned the peck and didn’t knock me on my ass for doing it. Basically she had been waiting for me to change my mind about her. From there things grew. Currently I’m very happy with her. Hell I’m crazy about her!

I pray this is finally the one for me.

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Late Blooming Punk

Theodas November 13, 2024 No Comments

I’ve been all over the music spectrum since my youth. I started out in the 80’s with Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Moving to Hair Bands. Some New Wave.

In the 90’s it was Butt Rock (lol). But I always got bored of the music so quickly.

Repetitive lyrics and worn out, over played nonsense. Don’t get me started on stupidly long guitar solos. I started bouncing from station to station on the radio to try to find something that really caught my attention. It got to the point of I’d rather listen to nothing at all because of the regurgitated short playlists and commercials.

While I’ve always liked some diversity in my music. Some Jazz, Big Band and the like. I still like some Harry Connick Jr. on occasion. I felt lost otherwise not finding my place.

Then in the late 2010’s, the internet saved me. I could find music that wasn’t commercially pushed on me by the lack luster selection of radio stations. Pop-Punk. Sure you might hear the occasional Blink-182 or Sum 41 in the mix from a radio station. Mostly though the majority of bands weren’t played on any stations I had available in the Hampton Roads area of where I lived when I found them. Certainly not in the norther lower Michigan area I live in now. So Spotify became my best friend.

So many bands I stated finding. New Found Glory, Story Untold, First and Forever just to name a few of the hundreds I had discovered.

Then I wanted to know where it all started. Punk. I had a punk friend, but he and I didn’t always see eye to eye. He’d treat me like I’d never understand punk music. Also turned out he was rather racist. I cut ties with him and sought out movies to find out more. CBGB and Dinner in America are the two I started with. While I’m sure they aren’t historically accurate, it was a close dive. YouTube too.

Can’t say I’ll add more sub-genres to my repertoire, but I’d like to find more songs that aren’t all super hyper punk. Similar to Watermelon from Dinner in America. I seem to be more inspired by Garage Punk, Art Punk and perhaps the White Stripes.

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Notta Lotta

Theodas October 21, 2024 No Comments

Isn’t much exciting going on in life lately. No new games to play yet, but I have a few favorites I may try once winter drops in. Living in Michigan is way too cold for me. I’m here because of family. Otherwise I’d travel the country to find a warmer home. Plus find people more like myself. Up here, I’m in a class by myself it seems.

Things I’ve been working on is a new kick drum head. This is my rough draft:

Other than that, I’ve been doing things to my house to cut down on the insane electric bills I get in the winter from having such a dorky setup. The soon to be studio has not one but three sliding glass doors on it. Major heat escape. I’ve covered all the doors in insulation and the exterior doors have T1-11 composite siding on them. I’m not much of a handyman, but I think it turned out decent until I can have them removed and turned into true walls and the interior one replaced with a real door. Providing I can find a contractor that actually wants to freaking work! I find so many that tell me they’ll come out and I have the money to pay. But they never show up!