French Breakfast Muffin Recipe Re-do

In July, darling husband found out that he is diabetic.  That has made us change our eating habits as a family.  As a result, he has lost about 60 lbs and I have lost about 55.  It hasn't been easy!  The girls still like to have treats, so I am on a mission to find recipes that I can alter to make healthier and a little more desirable.

My first try was a French Breakfast Muffin.  Here is the recipe.  French Breakfast Muffins

My re-do was easy peasy!  Here is what I used:

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1/4 cup Splenda Blend
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 Kroger Carbmaster Vanilla Yogurt
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

Topping:
2 tablespoons Splenda Blend
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Of course, the Peanut was anxious to help!  Moms, how do you keep little fingers out of the bowl when your kids are helping you??  I need advice!

We combined all of the dry ingrediants, added a lightly beaten egg, the almond milk and yogurt, then mixed. 

Into the oven at 350 for about 14-16 minutes.  We didn't leave ours in quite long enough because, being the expert that she is, the Peanut convinced me that they were done. 

The orginal recipe called for butter in the topping.  We just mixed the Splenda Blend and Cinnamon and sprinkled a little bit on the warm muffins when they came out of the oven.

Boy, I didn't realize how bad my pan looks until I saw this!  Needless to say, I let the Peanut fill the muffin cups and she missed her target several times.  Anyway, ugly pan aside, they were YUMMY!!  They stuck to the liners a little bit, but I think a minute or two longer in the oven would solve that problem.

I  built the recipe in "My Fitness Pal" and according to that program, they have 125 Calories, 1.3 grams of Fat, 22.1 grams of Carbs, 3.7 grams of Protein, and 7.0 grams of sugar.  Not bad, I think.

The best review of all is that we made them on Saturday evening.  By Sunday afternoon they were long gone!  I think next time I might add some nuts. 

Until next time,

Frances

This post is part of Get Your Craft on Tuesdays at Today's Creative Blog  http://todayscreativeblog.net/

And Tutorials and Tips party at  Home Stories A 2 Z

Totally Tutorial Tuesdays

Let the Organizing Begin

This year I have made some real goals for myself.  One of the biggies is to get my house organized.  The truth is, I am lazy!  I work so many hours and travel so much, that I make excuses about why I don't have time to do things the way that they should be done.  I am going to stop that this year. 

My first project was my laundry room.  I love to read the blogs and look at pictures of how people have their laundry rooms organized and decorated.  Now, I may NEVER decorate my laundry room, but it definitely needed to be purged and re-organized!

This is where I started....

 Stuff everywhere.  The room became one of the places to shove things that didn't have a place to go.

 Sadly, a good part of that laundry was clean!

Shelves loaded with more junk and the cabinets had so much stuff I just had to start over. 

This transformation had to overflow to my big "junk" cabinet in the kitchen.

After...notice the serious lack of crap!

I even have a place to put my vases now.  I moved some of the appliances that we don't use often from the "junk" cabinet to the laundry room.  Since stepgirl has moved out, I was able to hang all of my table linens in her closet, rather than cram them on a laundry room shelf.  Oh... and I actually got around to putting shelf liners down.  I'm so proud.

My kitchen cabinet how has a place for all of our Shaklee supplements (you know I sell Shaklee, right??), a different basket for medicine and a place for paper plates and such.

Its all about baby steps for me and this was my first step.  I feel so good about it and have been able to keep it up.  I plan to work a little each day on a different room until I can feel good about my whole house.

I'll be back soon with my next project.

Until next time, 

Frances 

Grapevine...and more

Well, my trip to Grapevine was great.  Aside from work, I got to spend a little bit of time strolling through Downtown Grapevine.  It is a neat area with lots of great little shops and restuarants. 

 I snapped a few pictures of things that I think I might want to copy!  I love all of the "subway" art.

Sunday was a long day at work, with appointments all day long.  Yes, I really do have to work when I travel, I just don't take pictures of that part!  Traditionally, on Monday, at the major conferences that I go to, the lunch entertainment is sponsored by Broadway.  This year's show was great, featuring numbers from Sister Act, Mary Poppins, Ghost, Priscilla, and as seen below, Spiderman.

 The Peanut got to see the Texas Cousins one afternoon.  We met at LegoLand at Grapevine Mills.  The kids had a good time, but the adults agree that it was too pricey for what they have.  They have a couple of rides, a playland and a very cool room with lego sculptures of famous Dallas buildings. 

Probably the high point.... no DEFINITELY the high point of the trip was the event at Texas Stadium.  Yep, that is me with Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.  Not sure what he was trying to say with his hand, but it was pretty exciting to meet him.

Of course, being at Texas Stadium was reason enough to take silly pictures.  I won't bore you with many, but this is one of the fun ones with my friends Amanda and Bennjin.

The last day of the conference had a lunch event sponsored by Nashville.  They brought in Phil Vassar who put on a fantastic show and made Nashville proud!

The final night was an Alice and Wonderland themed event.  We all dressed up as different characters.  I was the White Rabbit.  We had a great time at the event, but were ready to get home!

It was a great trip with lots of fun with friends and some time with family, and of course, some hard work.  As great as it is to go, nothing beats coming home!

Until next time,

Frances

What a Trip!!

It's been almost a year since I have blogged and I am committed to being more regular this year.  I think it is a great outlet for me to share my thoughts and feelings and document what I am doing with my time!  This year, I want to share my travels, projects, and weight loss.  Last year, I had a goal to lose 75lbs.  I successfully lost 50 and hope to lose another 75 this year.  I'll post tips, recipes and news about that.

This year has started off with a bang.  I am at my first convention of the year in Grapevine, Texas.  Since StepGirl lives here, I was able to bring the Peanut with me.

She was very excited about the flight and going to see what mom does when she travels.  I took her with me to the Convention Center on Saturday.

The Peanut had a great time hanging out and meeting with mom's friends.

It was a great time, showing my little one what the conferences I go to are like.  She is spending the rest of the week with StepGirl while I work.  More to come later.

Frances

Quick Valentine Treats

I saw a cute idea on a blog yesterday, so the Peanut and I decided it would be fun to do them for her classes... to accompany her Justin Bieber valentines, of course!

First we gather all of the materials for our chocolate dipped marshmellows.

 The Peanut started putting toothpicks in the strawberry marshmellows, so we could dip them in the chocolate.  She is clearly concentrating!

 Now begins the sequence... dip in chocolate, cover in sprinkles.... repeat.

 Don't they look yummy!!

 After the chocolate cooled, she took out the toothpicks and replaced them with these cute valentine picks.

 We also did some with a conversation heart stuck to the chocolate.

 The final package... with a couple of extra coversation hearts and ribbon.

 She is proud of her work and excited to go to school tomorrow!

After we were done, the door bell rang and these were delivered...

Hubby did good!  Love them.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day. 

Until next time,

Frances

It's Almost Valentine's Day!

Well, so much for blogging more often in 2011.  The year started and just got away from me.  Between travel, work and SNOW DAYS, I haven't been able to keep my head above water for the first 45 days of the year.  We have had a ridiculous amount of snow this winter, and remember, I live in the South.  My kids have only had 1 full week of school without any snow days all year!  This week, they went for 2 half days and were off the rest of the week.  That can really put a wrinkle in a mama's plans. 

So, here is a recap of the year so far, based on my goals from Jan 1.  We are eating somewhat better, but still have a long way to go.  It is so hard to eat and cook with healthier and organic foods, not to mention that it is very expensive, but we are doing better.  I am trying to plan meals in advance and buy only what we need, so we don't throw away so much food.  It is very easy for me to decide that we should just order pizza, but I am trying to get that under control.

I have had some health issues that I am working out before starting an exercise program.  Hopefully, I will be able to address that soon. 

The chores for the girls are a work in progress.  They are doing better, partly because we have had so much time at home.  I am going to keep on them, for my sanity and to continue to teach them responsibilities!

My biggest project has been to begin the craft room clean up/reorganization.  Here are the before pictures.... brace yourselves...

Now, don't misunderstand, this mess didn't happen overnight!  This space is shared with my kids and is 1/2 of the playroom.  So....while the kids were away one weekend, I went in and had my first run of the "re-do."  Here is the result...

There is still a lot of work that I want to do, but at least now I know where everything is. I'd like to build or buy some more shelving... and I need to have a "scrapbook yardsale." Honestly, I have more than I could every use. I'll get to that one day!

I also traveled in January to Philadelphia for a week.  It was a great trip and somewhere that I haven't been before.  One of the best parts of my job is that I have good friends to travel with...

With my BFF at the Liberty Bell

Independence Hall is getting a facelift.

Me and two of my best traveling girls!



YUM... Philly Cheesesteak on the grill.


Oh... I also made this

And this... still needs something to hang it with... but that will come soon.





 So... what's next??  Well, between now and the end of the month, I will go to Detroit and Atlanta, prepare for Valentine's Day, continue to make decisions about the future of my career, and hopefully find time to make something pretty! 

Until next time...



And a little reminder from Nature... God is never far away!