That Swagger...

Wow, we've already finished a whole month of 2013!  It seems like time has just flown by!  I am honestly excited for this year.  I have so many plans and big dreams for this year.  It pumps me up to see what the rest of the year holds in store.

Today I noticed something as I was walking out of the gym.  I walk differently.  No, it's not because my legs feel like jelly (even though they do half the time.)  It's a swagger.  

I very rarely have a swagger.  It's completely an "I'm-awesome-and-I-bet-you-can't-do-what-I-just-did" confident swagger.  It feels great to have visible confidence.  I'm the girl that normally walks with her head down, doesn't make eye contact and rarely starts a conversation with a stranger.

But, after the gym, I'm a big dog (in my own head.)  I will answer any question, and look you dead in the eye.  The best thing that comes with my swagger??  I feel damn sexy.

You want to know what makes me feel not sexy after a workout?  The reason I have a waddle rather than a swagger?  Waffles.  Yes, waffles.  Syrup is my major kryptonite.  I love it.  Honestly, I put it on everything.  It sweetens my morning oatmeal.  Before I discovered Stevia I used syrup to sweeten my coffee.  Half the reason I make breakfast for dinner is because of syrup. 

I made 4 different kinds of waffles tonite.  Plain, pumpkin, blueberry, peanut butter, and chocolate chip.  All of them were fat free and they were all delicious.  The girls know that I will always make them 1...just 1 chocolate chip waffle (or pancake.)  That's all I will ever make.

I adapted this recipe from  Vegan Waffle Party
If you want to make it a bit healthier then switch some of the white flour for whole wheat.  You can make it a 50/50 split if you'd like 2 1/2 whole wheat and 2 1/2 white flour.

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 cups white flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 c vanilla yogurt
• 4 1/2 cups fat free soy milk
• 6 T sugar free maple syrup

Directions

1. Mix whole wheat flour, white flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl mix yogurt, soy milk, and syrup
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
4. Heat your waffle iron, spray with pan spray and cook waffles according to manufacturers directions.

Variations

Pumpkin

Measure out about 1 cup of batter and stir in 1/4 cup of pureed pumpkin, a dash of pumpkin pie spice and a tablespoon of syrup

Chocolate chip

Sprinkle a small handful of chocolate chips onto the batter when you get it in waffle iron.

Blueberry

Mix in 1/4 cup of blueberries per 1 cup of batter

Peanut butter

Measure out 1/2 cup of batter and stir in one tablespoon of PB2.

Each plain waffle has about 175 calories.  Not bad unless you're like me and eat 3.5 in one sitting!! 

What do you like to add to your waffles? 

Mantha Birthday Recap

Her favorite gift from Kaylee.  A ToothTune!

Special dessert after dinner.  A Publix mini sampler

The Cake!!

 If I had been a bit more ambitious and had more time I would have made this cake 100% from scratch.  The cake, the ice cream, everything would have been homemade.  This cake COULD have been fat free but, it's Mantha's birthday so I decided to go a little crazy.  The ice cream is Low-Fat Moosetracks Frozen Yogurt from Publix and the frosting is made with fat free cool whip and fat free sugar free pudding and skim milk.  Next time I make this I will do step-by-step photos. 

Ice Cream Cake

1 box cake mix (and all the ingredients to make it)
1/2 gallon container of your favorite ice cream, softened
Frosting of your choice (ideas with recipes follow)
Decorating frosting (optional)

Directions
1)  Bake cake according to box directions (I suggest making it an 8 or 9 inch round) and cool.
2)  Slice one layer in half horizontally
3)  In a springform pan a bit larger than your cake layers, put a thick layer of ice cream (I used 2.5 cups per layer but next time I will use 3 or 3.5 per layer) then top layer of the sliced cake, another layer of ice cream, then the bottom layer of cake (flat side up)
4)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours atleast)
5)  Get your cake out of the pan by turning it upside down (bottom of frozen cake) under a SLOW stream of warm water.
6)  Set the cake on a cake board or plate (I used a larger springform pan bottom) and take the springform pan off. (it will be a bit melty and that's okay)
6)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours)
7)  Mix your frosting while the cake is freezing
8)  Frost the cake
9)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours)
10)  Decorate
11)  Freeze again

Take it out 15-30 minutes before you plan  to serve it so it thaws a bit or you won't be able to cut it!

Or, if you don't want to make it yourself then send me an email and I'll custom make one for you and ship it.  (I'm totally serious.  Not joking)

Frosting recipes
1)  Fresh sweetened whipped cream
2)  Plain Cool Whip (any type, fat free, light, full fat, sugar free)

3)  Fat free Cool Whip Frosting
Ingredients
     1 container Fat Free Cool Whip
     1 package of Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding (any flavor you'd like)
     1/2 of the milk that's called for on the pudding package

If you use a large (or 2 normal) Cool Whip(s) then use a large package of pudding.  If you use 1 normal size container of Cool Whip then use the small package of pudding

Directions
1-- Mix pudding and mix
2-- Fold in Cool Whip

So, go out and make yourself one!  It's possible to make it fat free.  What's your favorite ice cream cake combination?

Mantha's Birthday

8 years ago I met an amazing little girl.  Her name was Mantha.  My only question is how did she go from this...

  

To this...

But however it happened.  I just wanted to wish her a  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a photo post from her birthday and instructions on how to make an ice cream cake!

Healthy Snack/Dessert For The Kids

Today was one of those days that had 40 bajillion things go wrong.  Actually it was only 3 but they were really annoying. I made myself some angel food cupcakes for Mantha's birthday (since I can't eat her cake.)  I expected a couple dozen cupcakes to come from the mix. NOPE!  It made 50!  REALLY??  I don't need 50 cupcakes for myself.  Then I ate one after dinner and the sugar content is too high and made me fuzzy.  I had mushroom stroganoff planned for dinner.  I decided I would make spaetzle to go under it.  I have made it before and it's worked just fine.  I made it tonite and instead of being noodles it was a gooey, yucky mush.  To top it all off the stroganoff was sub-par, and that killed me. 

BUT, today wasn't all bad.  I took the kids to the park.  We walked since Ken had the car at work.  2 miles round trip.  I was amazed that Sunny made it the whole way.  I found this recipe for Coconut Energy Bites on Sprout's website.  I altered the recipe a bit.  They kids loved them.  I took them to the park with us as a snack.  My one suggestion is that you make sure to keep them cold.  They start to get very soft when they warm up.   

Coconut Energy Bites

(adapted from  Sprout Online)

Makes 16

Nutrition: 106 calories, 4.8 grams of fat, 5.6 grams of sugar

1 1/4 cup plain oatmeal (I used quick cooking)
1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1/2 cup light maple syrup (you can also use honey)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1. In a food processor, grind oatmeal until fine
2. In separate bowl mix together peanut butter and syrup
3. Mix in oatmeal and coconut
4.  Using a spoon or small cookie scoop, scoop and roll into balls using your hands

Grillin' and Chillin'

Not many of the NaBloPoMo prompts have really "prompted" me this month but, today's came at the perfect time.  The prompt is "How long can you last in a power outage?"  I've just begun to start planning our summer vacation.  I know you're thinking "what does power outages have to do with vacations?"  Well, we are unplugging, boarding the dogs and going on a 4-5 nite camping trip this summer.  We actually love to camp.  We've been a few times but, something has always caused us to cut our trip short.  This time we're boarding the dogs and making sure we have all of the necessary stuff.  

I love to camp because it's a healthy activity.  I always come back a few pounds lighter (and with slightly more toned glutes.  Hiking boots are HEAVY!)  There's a whole slew of reasons why camping is healthy [a quick Google search will bring up a bunch of sites]  

1)  It's exercise that doesn't seem like exercise.
Think about it.  What do you do when you go camping?  You hike. EXERCISE. You swim. EXERCISE.  You fish.  EXERCISE.  You bike.  Yet again, EXERCISE.  You might even go horseback riding.  Hmmmm.....I think that's EXERCISE.  There are a number of other things you can do while you're camping.  None of it seems like exercise but it is.  

2)  You reduce stress.  
Believe it or not stress takes a toll on your health.  When you're camping there's rarely a cell phone signal, there's no place to plug up a laptop, and people rarely bring a TV.  [Anyway, if you're going to bring all that stuff why not stay home??]  There's no one to bother you, it's just you and nature.  Plus seeing a billion stars at nite will relax anybody.  

3)  You sleep better
All the extra exercise makes you sleep better.  

4)  Kids are kids.
"According to the Be Out There campaign from the National Wildlife Federation, the average time a child spends in unstructured outdoor play has plummeted to 4-7 minutes a day, while childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed."  (KOA site cited below)  When you're camping kids get to run around and play for hours on end.  They get to do what kids do best...play!  I know we always bring a few balls and various outdoor toys for the girls to play with at the campsite.  

You also get to reconnect with nature and the people you're with.  I learn more about  the girls in the 3 days we're camping then I do in a month at home.  But you wanna know Ken's favorite  thing to do while we're camping?  GRILL!  

He actually could survive without a stove at all.  But grilling is actually a really healthy cooking method.  Why?  Well, let's find out:

1)  Less fat
When you grill animal products (beef, chicken, lamb, etc) the excess fat actually drips off.  You get rid of alot more of it then you do when you cook any other way.

2)  More vitamins and minerals
Grilling helps food hold onto it's vitamins and minerals.  Other methods of cooking cause foods to leach out the vitamins and minerals due to the water and temperature.

3)  Less bacteria.
E coli, Salmonella and other icky bacteria are killed by the high heat.

4)  Moisture locking 
When you grill the high heat cooks meat faster so it doesn't dry out.  This means that you don't need to add sauces, butter or anything that ups the calories and fat.

Super health food on a super healthy vacation.  What could be better?  Do you like healthy vacations or do you relax on your diet and exercise regimen on vacation?

Links:
Akron Ohio Moms: Benefits to Grilling
Botsford Hospital: 4 Health Benefits of Grilling
BenefitsOf.Net: Benefits of Grilling
Grilling With Rich: Health Benefits of Grilling For the General Population and Those with Chronic Intestinal Disease
Rhode Island Roads Magazine: Many Health Benefits to Camping
Yahoo Voices: Benefits to Camping
Readers Digest: Health Benefits to Camping
Buzzle: Benefits of Camping
Koa: 5 Reasons Camping is Good for You

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom rocks and today is her birthday.  I just wanted to wish her a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Skinny Rules: A Book Review

I love reading diet books.  Even though I don't need to lose weight I still read them from cover to cover.  Why?  For a number of reasons.

1) It's a subject that interests me
     It's the same reason my dad reads war novels or my sister reads science fiction

2) Validation that I'm doing things right.
     Don't you like it when the doctor tells you your health is good or the dentist says you have no cavities?

3) New ideas.
     I read cookbooks for new recipes.  Some people read style magazines to find a new look.  I read health and fitness books to get some new ideas to keep my weight off.

I finished the book, The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper (of The Biggest Loser) last nite.  This book is really great for someone who is just starting out.  It was also good for someone like me because it gives you a few new tips and tells you WHY you're doing some of the things you do (or should be doing.)

Bob lays it out in 20 simple, straightforward rules.  These are are meant to help you be successful on your health journey.  They range from "Don't drink your calories" (number 2) to "Go to bed hungry" (number 18).  [That one sounds alot worse then it really is]  Number 18 is actually about what time you eat in relation to the time you go to bed.

I would definitely recommend checking this book out of your local library if you don't want to buy it.  

Skinny Rules on Amazon 
Bob Harper's Official Page 

I mean seriously, if Bob Harper, a man who has helped 100's of people lose 1000's of pounds doesn't have a set of "rules" that work then there's not chance in Hell for anyone else.  Next on my list of books? Unlimited and Master Your Metabolism both by Jillian Michaels.