The Basics

Trying to cut calories out of your meals can be as easy as substituting a couple ingredients. Here are a couple of the standard subs you'll find in my recipes:

In baked good (mostly breads, waffles etc)

Recipe calls for: whole eggs

Substitue: 2 egg white for each whole egg

Recipe calls for: Oil

Substitute: Unsweetened applesauce

**this is mainly for quick breads,...don't try this in cookies or you'll be sadly dissapointed

Recipe calls for: milk, cream cheese or sour cream

Substitue: Non-fat milk, non-fat or light cream cheese and non-fat sour cream

You'll find lots more substitutes as I post, but these are the stand-bys that I always use and they make a huge difference! Enjoy and play with the recipes to suite your taste!

My Affair (with food)

So, I have always had a love affair with food. For me, food is just more than fuel for the body, more than an enjoyable event. I love food. I love thinking about food. I love planning food. I love making food and most of all I love eating food.





And I don't just love great quality, fancy food. I love with a passion--cheap, highly processed, plastic-y, almost-not-food food. Wow. I love buffets, cheese in a can and anything fried. That's the first time I've admitted that! And admission is half the battle! :0)





This is part of the reason, why after just three years of marriage, I packed on 60+ lbs. My sweet, loving and encouraging husband thought it was delightful when we were dating that I could consume as much food as any guy, when most girls he knew ate like birds. He loved that I was not the "delicate flower" kind of girl (no one has ever blamed me of that!), and so my gateway to eating heaven was open with his permission.





Now I am not blaming him by any means--he just loved me no matter what and soon enough he got the "what" that followed, but he loved me through every size and phase.





Before the birth of our daughter (through whose pregnancy, I ate like there was no tomorrow--pizza and top ramen with velveeta being my constant companions), I was at my heaviest--272lbs. Not a proud moment for me.





In Jan 2010, I decided enough was enough. Through some general meal cut backs, I had been able to get down to 235lbs, but was in serious need of some guidance and structure to help me keep going. I found that in Herbalife. The "program" (if you want to call it that), is simple-- healthy lean protein and lots of it!, healthy fruits and veggies and not so much sugar. With some accountability, exercise and Jesus, I am now down to 175lbs--which is the least I have ever weighed in my adult life (even in high school!).





So this is my journey--in all it's ugly truths and new seasons. I am now in a new phase of life that I have never been in before--thinner, healthier and looking for the motivation and staying power nessesary to maintain.

Asian Coleslaw

I made this yumminess for the 4th of July. It's so easy and pretty darn good for you! There would be pictures, but we ate it so fast~next time I promise. Enjoy!

1 (16oz) coleslaw blend salad
½ bottle of prepared Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (approx ½ c.)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1(3 oz) pkg dry ramen noodles (without the salt seasoning)

Optional add in:
2 green onions sliced
1/4c dry roasted sunflower kernels
1/4c sliced almonds
Grilled chicken


Prepare Italian dressing mix according to the package with the “using less oil” directions. Use CANOLA oil for dressing, not olive oil. Stir in sugar and soy sauce.Break ramen noodles into little pieces. Add in coleslaw and dressing mix and any other add ins. Toss lightly and Enjoy! SO good!

Makes 4-1c servings.
Per Serving (without add ins): Calories-224.75, Carbs-21.97, Fat-14.25, Protien-5.50.