Ahhh finally a chance to sit down and blog

Hello everyone, the move is DONE, the apt is cleaned and now we need to unpack and settle in. We won't have interent until Tuesday right now we are at the folks watching the BYU WSU game...college football is here, bring on the madness.

Today I ate my last low carb tortilla for breakfast, I put 1/2 of the black bean chipotle burger, scrambled eggs and pepper jack cheese for a yummy breakfast burrito. It was delicious and kept be full until lunch time.

I have been craving something sweet and finding it hard to stay away from the bite size candy bars in the candy drawer at work. I decided that I would make some chocolate almond cookies but this morning I couldn't find the almond flour so I made coconut pumpkin muffins instead, wouldn't you know when I was cleaning up after the pumpkin muffins I found the almond flour. I've put most of the kitchen away now I just need to remember where I put things.

I bought some new stevia yesterday since I discovered that truvia is not a very good source of stevia, has anyone else used this brand? Any thoughts? My pumpkin muffins turned out great and I know I will be making lots of them now that fall is right around the corner. Well I guess that's all for now I hope everyone is doing great. I will blog more once we have internet at the house.

Good News :)

Hello everyone, another busy day at least roto rooter came and the sink is back to normal, no more washing dishes in the bathroom sink :) More good news WE ARE MOVING INTO OUR FIRST HOUSE TOMORROW!!!! It's been a loooong road we put an offer in Super Bowl Sunday and the reason it took so freakin long is because the house was in short sale. I have been trying to take a play out of Rosalie's play book and I've been trying hard not to eat bad because I've been stressed with all that had to be done. That's probably why we have been eating a lot of smart and delicious low carb wraps the past several weeks. I have made some delicious breakfast burritos and wraps for lunch and dinner.

This afternoon while packing I was craving something sweet big time cookies, cake or ice cream I went to the store and got sugar free mini peanut butter cups instead I felt much better and a sugar crisis was averted. The sugar free peanut butter cups are not something I would consume frequently because they contain sucralose but I think once in a blue moon is ok.

So in a nutshell that's what is going on over here. One last bit of good news I have been taking a body conditioning group class at the YMCA for a couple of months now the Monday Wednesday instructor is super into arms, all the emphasis on arms is paying off while packing I noticed I have a set of guns now :) I feel encouraged to keep working at the other areas that are hard for me such as abs and not cheating at work or enjoying too much wine and telling myself it's ok. I have to remind myself that I have to be consistent and diligent in doing the work to see the results. Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Hello everyone, things are good and a little crazy over here. Our kitchen sink has a major clog somewhere in the main pipe. Our sink went from being slow to drain, to being clogged with water even after washing only a few dishes, someone from roto rooter comes tomorrow. We have been eating a lot of low carb tortillas as wraps and breakfast burritos as an simple solution to avoid too many dishes.

I have heard some good things lately, first of all our cells retain water when they are dehydrated which is even more inspiration to stay well hydrated. Another is to say "I don't eat ___" instead of
I can't eat___". When you say you don't it helps you to stick to your guns and not to cheat. This makes perfect sense to me and is something I will be trying out at parties and gatherings in the future.

Well, I guess that's all for now it has been a long week at work and I am ready for bed, I just wanted to check in and say HI :)

Stressed? Try Easy Now tea

Good Morning everyone!!! It is a beautiful Sunday, the weather has been hot and wonderful. When people complain about the heat I always say don't wish it away it will be gone soon enough. A co-worker from Connecticut said that the weather up here is very similar to New England except the summers are shorter over here.

Anyway,  yesterday we had make-your-own sandwiches for lunch at the in-laws, there was white bread and whole wheat to chose from. The whole wheat had 4g of sugar per slice which is pretty typical of many breads, so I made my sandwich with one slice of bread. We have also been eating a lot of the low carb tortillas as wraps for lunch or breakfast burritos.

Another thing that I have been wanting to share
I have been drinking a lot of traditional medicinals easy now tea, and I find it very helpful. One of the ingredients is lavender which makes a very calming and relaxing tea. Two years ago when we were in the process of moving back home after hubby got out of the military I felt stressed and wound up all the time. In the process of saying good-bye to beautiful San Diego we stopped at a coffee tea and wine house that was on the list of places to try. They had all sorts of beautiful teas on display in beautiful glass jars. When they asked what I wanted I told them I was moving and feeling very stressed, and they recommended lavender tea.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week :)

Hello everyone, we had a wonderful time camping!!! It felt so wonderful to be able to hang out with the family and relax. I guess I will start with run down of the bfc friendly food I brought.


My parents dog Sadie on the river

The river in the morning

• Everyone loved the chocolate almond protein bites, no one thought they were "weird, or too healthy tasting" my only complaint is that if they were left out of the cooler too long they made a mess. I will defiantly be making these again.

• The crust less mini quiches were perfect for snacks and breakfast. In mine I put frozen spinach, sauteed asparagus, turkey breakfast sausage and cheddar cheese. In my opinion they are good  served cold or hot.

• The lemon coconut bread was a perfect snack for us, when it was our turn to cook breakfast for the clan I served it along with rudi's English muffins, eggs, sausage and bacon...I didn't get much feedback so I don't think it was a big hit with the others, but no big deal it was worth bringing it because I think it helped me to stay away from other high sugar treats.

Sugar Free Marshmallows

• I also made two batches of marshmallows one sugar free and one regular. In my opinion it's not hard to make them, just time consuming. Regular marshmallows are basically sugar and corn syrup heated on the stove and then added to unflavored gelatin and beatten until white and fluffy (15 mins). I found a recipe for sugar free marshmallows on Lauren's Healthy Indulgences blog when I first started the bfc and I have been waiting for a  good occasion to try them out. Making sugar free marshmallows involved boiling xylitol and honey (I used natures hollow honey) and then adding the hot mixture to unflavored gelatin and beating until white and fluffy.

• I first tried making marshmallows two years ago for Christmas from a recipe from a book I was given for my wedding Autumn by Susan Branch. She says "roast 'em at a hayride, bonfire or melt them in hot chocolate" They are delicious in hot chocolate but I wanted to see if they roast up nicely over a fire....I was VERY disappointed that both my sugar free and regular marshmallows do not roast up nicely at all, in fact many fell into the fire and only several made it for smores.

I guess that's all for now. Have a wonderful day everyone :)

Goin Campin :)

Good morning everyone!!! Today we leave to go camping...yeehawww!!!! Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen making belly friendly goodies to take, last year I came home 4 lbs heavier, so I really put some thought into how this year can be better. I made: lemon coconut bread, almond protein bites, mini crust less quiches, and sugar free marshmallows that I have been wanting to try for a long time. I also made a batch of regular marshmallows for everyone else.

On Saturday we went to a bbq with our out of town friends and some other friends in town we don't see very often, I was a good girl no beer for me :) And surprisingly I felt great and I didn't feel left out at all. We had cheese burgers and kaboobs so there was plenty of things to eat, it was a good get together.

I love how I feel when I am good and I just have the discipline to stay away from belly bad foods. My jeans still don't fit the way I want :( but I know they will if I keep having more good food days, keep up going to my exercise classes and get in more cardio. Sometimes it's frustrating that I'm not just there now, but I know that some of my small cheats this summer, are the reason I'm not there.

Well, I guess that's all for now have a wonderful week everyone :)

Hello friends, Happy August!!! First of all things are moving forward with our house (for anyone who doesn't know we are in the process of buying a house that is in short sale) nothing official to share just yet but it's looking like it could be soon.

Yesterday hubby commented that my shorts are much loser than they were when I first put them on this summer...I said yes when they didn't fit it was a small crisis...he then said that when my clothes don't fit I don't treat it like a small crisis...LOL. SO TRUE. That reminded me that I have made some progress and I need to keep it up, because it's easy to make some progress then slack for a bit because I think I can. This weekend we have friends coming into town and we are hoping they will come over for dinner Friday if their schedules allow. Whenever we hang out with these friends we usually drink, I have been not drinking at all lately because my slim down goals are important to me and at this stage in the game I feel like alcohol throws me off my game. I have been giving myself pep talks all week about how I can totally hang out and have a good time and not have anything to drink.

Instead of having a cold beer I will have lots of water or iced tea. I am not just trying to lose a couple of pounds I am trying to work on my self-discipline which is a large part of the bigger picture. It's easy to think "I need to be skinny" but I am more concerned with being healthy. Eating right and getting enough exercise is sooo important, I hope that by taking good care of myself I can avoid some  health problems later on in life. :) Big hugs to everyone :)