Happy Birthday to my daughter

It was my daughter birthday and we had a pool party for her. I decided that I did not want to fill the kids up with sugar for this party. So, I introduced to them to my reduced sugar world. I made reduced sugar cupcakes with reduced sugar icing. They are both made by Philisbury. I decorated them with colorful frosting colors ( thanks to my friend Kara who let me borrow her dyes). And... they were a hit. I had a few kids want seconds. They were a big hit with the adults too. I swear you can not tell the differnece.

Fun Night with My Family

It was so nice out yesterday the kids wanted to swim . So we took the long stroll into our backyard so they could do just that . Later that night after dinner, our nephews and my sister in law came over. It was very nice visiting and catching up with her. I think all the kids had a great time in the pool too. After our extended family left, my husband and I went on 1.5 mile jog. It was awesome. I felt so good afterwards, but did realize how out of shape I really am. Then I received an amazing call saying I did not have to go into work last night- yeah for me. I was really hoping I didn't have to go in because I started summer quarter today at school. Since I didn't have to go into work Justin and I watched a very good movie- Crazy Hearts with Jeff Bridges. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it. I even cried at the end, but I am a big baby at movies too. I decided to make a nice snack while watching the movie. It was cook and serve Jello sugar free chocolate pudding. Instead of using 2% milk I use half and half and water( not as many carbs). It is so yummy and warm. Plus I put Reddi whip on it to. I had such a great night with my family. cant wait until tomorrow- my daughter is turning 7!

Another Easy Dinner

worked my third night in a row last night. With working nights, I try to get in as much sleep the next day as I can. My kids were nice enough to let me sleep until 2:30 pm today. We were suppose to be having a nice going away cookout/pool party for my brother in law who leaves for the army tomorrow(that is him with me this past weekend in picture), but the weather did not want to cooperate with us. So, the pool party got cancelled. At the last minute I needed to come up with an easy dinner. Justin was working til 9pm - just me and the kids eating. Kids were wanting pizza rolls, and since I don't eat those(okay so I snuck 2 of them), I had to make my own dinner. I made 2 soy cutlets - which taste a lot like chicken. They are only 3 carbs per cutlet! I also topped them with a slice of cheese. I also roasted a bell pepper with evoo and seasoned salt. It was very yummy. I had a little sweet tooth after dinner so i enjoyed a spoonful of Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter. Perfect ending for my meal.

Pesto and Peanut Butter Cookies

Since I worked last night , tonight was an easy dinner. Two of my kids went to their grandmas so I made my two youngest some organic mac and cheese that I bought at whole foods. For Justin and I , I made whole grain pasta with organic pesto sauce. It was so yummy. Pesto does not have many carbs in either. For dessert, I made Flourless Peanut Butter cookies which I got from two blogs I read, Carrotncake and PeanutButterFingers. It is a very easy recipe ( which I altered just a little)

1 cup of peanut butter( I uses 1/2 cup cinnamon raisin pb and 1/2 regular pb)

1 cup splenda ( the original recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, but I don't eat sugar)

1 egg

mix and drop on ungreased cookie sheet

bake 350 for 10 mins.

makes about 10 or 12 cookies depending on how big you make them

If you try the cookie recipe out leave a comment and let me know what you think

I am back!!!

Okay I have been gone way to long. I have been so very busy with nursing school, work, and life in general that I have put blogging on the (way back) back burner. With nursing school out for the summer, I hope to blog at least three times a week. I have made that my summer goal. I have become even more passionate about healthy eating and living since my last post. I feel very inspired now more than ever to blog( thanks to some of my daily blogs that I myself read). Do you have any goals for the summer?

How I order my coffee

Okay so anyone who knows me knows I love coffee. I use to be the girl who would order the flavored lattes or blended coffee drinks, but that has changed. Now that I have cut sugar out of my diet, I have changed my usual order.

1. When I just have regular old coffee I just usually just add half and half to it. You may ask isn't that more fattening than a coffee with skim mil;k? It is but... half and half has less sugar in it than milk- any milk for that matter. Sometimes if I have it at home I will even use heavy whipping cream in my coffee- not whipped of course- just straight out of the container. Surprisingly, it has even less sugar in it. I usually can drink coffee without adding sweetness to it, but on occasion I will add a package of stevia to my coffee.
Stevia is a natural form of sugar but doesn't effect your blood sugar like sugar would.

2. On to lattes- if I do decide to splurge on a latte I will order it breve style( which means with steamed half and half). Sometimes, I want some added flavor, so if I do get syrup in it...it is always sugar fee syrup. Sugar free Hazelnut is probably my favorite.

3. But my new discovery is a cafe misto or cafe au luit(same drink just called different names at different coffee houses) Starbucks is the only one I know that calls it a cafe misto. Everywhere else it is call a cafe au lait. What is it you ask? It is half coffee and half steamed milk. Of course... I get it breve style. I get this drink most often because it is about half the price of a latte and tastes almost identical. Plus, depending on the type of coffee you chose- it may contain more caffeine in it than the espresso would. I like the steamed half and half better than pouring it from a container because it doesn't turn your drink cold. Plus, I love the frothy milk.

How do you like your coffee?

My first post

Hello to all,
This is my first blog post. I thought I would tell you a little about myself and what my blog will be about. I am a mom of 4 kids and have been married to the love of my life for 11 years. I work full time and I am also going to school to become a RN. I recently got into the blog world a few months ago. I am really into the nutrition blogs. I have recently have changed my eating habits as well. I have cut all sugar and white flour out of my diet. I feel so much better and I have lost weight from it. I hope to have pictures for you soon. I want this blog to give others ideas who are choosing the same life style. I hope to have new products to show you and recipes as well.