Good Wednesday Morning to you friends! I hope this morning finds you well and happy to take on this day with joy! I’m sharing my eats for one day last week in the midst of holiday baking and all! I’ve been finding it a challenge to make and bake all I want to healthfully and successfully and providing it here on my blog, but I’m doing it one day at a time. When I began thinking about my mission here on my blog and more importantly in my life as a mother, wife and woman, I thought I’d share those very thoughts with you today. Maybe you’re new around here and just simply starting to lead a sugar-free way of life. I’m here to share with you what I do and why I do it.

For starters you can read more about my early battles with food and sugar here in my personal story, but I shall start at the beginning on this blog in October of 2011.

After I conquered my cravings for sugar and really starting working on recipes at home that helped me and my family, this passion grew. Receiving emails from friends needing/wanting recipes was really how it all began and my youngest brother mentioned a blog to collect recipes in one place for others to come which would release me from messaging each friend. Viola! On October 21, 2011 Sugar-Free Mom was born.

What is my mission as a mother?

I want my children to not experience the struggle I had with sugar cravings. I want them to be able to enjoy foods in moderation without overeating on sugary junk food. I make them meals and snacks without refined sugars. I make desserts for them that use only natural sweeteners such as fruits, honey, molasses and coconut sugar. I feel the less refined products such as those provide more benefits retaining their nutrients then highly refined and already added products with sugar in the mix. I try to make as much as I can at home. It’s also something I HAVE to do as my youngest has a tree nut allergy and my oldest has a soy and peanut allergy.  I can not use almond flour in recipes because of this. My earlier recipes contain whole wheat flours simply because my children do not need to be gluten free and I believe whole grains are good for them.

What is my mission as a woman trying to maintain weight loss, lead a sugar-free life and share recipes on this blog?

To find a way to enjoy the foods I love without the sugar! I strive to make sugar-free recipes using stevia and erythritol and develop recipes that both my family and I can enjoy together. Yes I must limit the honey and natural sweeteners like coconut sugar and even fruits, but I am still able to enjoy them on occasion. Like I said above, mostly those recipes are for my children. Now that I’ve discovered over the last 6 months or so that gluten/wheat is something my body doesn’t like I am experimenting more and more with gluten free recipes. Difficult again as I can’t use almond flour because of my son. Many of my recipes are completely sugar-free or with very little natural sugars. This works for me and my family and I happily share these recipes with you on this blog. Some commentators have mentioned all my recipes are not low carb even though they are sugar-free. This is very true. Again I refer back to my mission above for my children, to reduce the added sugars and use natural sugars as much as possible with them. When recipes are made with natural fruits, the carbs will be higher. My recipes were never intended for the diabetic yet some recipes are surely diabetic friendly. Some recipes are low carb and purposely so, but that is not my mission here nor will it ever be. My recipes reduce added sugars, remove refined sugars, use natural sugars and sugar-free recipes natural substitutes. That is what you’ll find here. 🙂

I hope this clears up some questions you may have had while browsing recipes on the Recipe Index.

Now here’s what I ate recently on the weekend:

Breakfast: 

Banana bread muffin, (gluten free and low fat) just one and coffee of course!

 Lunch:

I made chicken and veggies quesadilla’s for the family but topped mine over some fresh baby spinach instead.

 Afternoon Snack:

Fresh Blackberries with homemade dairy free whipped cream!

Dinner:

I had left over chicken and decided to make my Easy Chicken Enchilada Bake because I was busy baking all day for Christmas! Throw it all together and bake, done and ready in 30 minutes!

After Dinner Snack:

These are a picture of my almost finished Peanut Butter Cups, I just had to top with more chocolate and then let them harden. Only made 12 and it was a good thing as I ate 2 before I froze them. Sugar and Gluten Free!

That’s all for this week !! What are you making for Christmas? Are you trying to bake healthier or just making traditional things and not worrying about it?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #55 & The Mission of Sugar-Free Mom Recipes appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Today as I write this food journal I’m reflecting how on much we learn about ourselves as we age and push forward to be a better person in all areas of our lives. For me the recognition 9 years ago that I had a problem with sugar and needed to rid it from my life was the start of something wonderful! But over these years and even being free from sugar addiction I sit here and realize that it’s not a “be all and fix all” for the problem of discipline in my life and overeating. Overeating is a much bigger issue than I realized. I thought removing the sugar addiction would remove the cravings and it did. I truly don’t care or want the white sugar filled treats. There is nothing that calls my name for me to give in and eat that sugary thing. BUT that has not taken away my desire for MORE, more of really anything at the moment I might be enjoying. Even healthy foods I can over consume. So this process of becoming sugar free and leading a sugar free life has brought me through many interesting “light bulb” moments. Today is one of them.

Eating a clean, healthy, sugar-free life and limiting natural sugars has been the best decision I could have ever made. Has it stopped my struggle of overeating, nope. But I’m grateful for the freedom from craving. Recognition is start of something better and the hope that as this process makes me grow that each day will become easier and more of a habit. Some of you may easily be able to just lead a clean and healthy life and never struggle with sugar issues or overeating, but some of you are like me and can relate. Today my focus is not the 10 pounds I need to lose to get back to my happy weight, it’s the discipline I need to learn to say, ” this portion is enough for me, I don’t need an extra bite or helping or spoonful, this is enough” and push that plate away.

I find the time to exercise and get up way too early, but I do it. Making time for food planning is the only way I know to conquer the issue of discipline in my life. Otherwise whatever looks good as the day goes on is the surefire way I’m obviously consuming too much food in a day.

Today I’m putting my body into submission to what I want it to do, not the other way around. Get what I’m saying? So today I’ve planned out my meals and snacks and will have a successful day of being disciplined, how about you?

 BREAKFAST: Last week we went to New Hampshire with the children to go to Santa’s Village and the Polar Express. We stayed at a condo so there was a kitchen. I brought granola and we had no clean bowls so I grabbed a coffee mug. It was the perfect trick for me to enjoy a half cup then be able to go back for my other half cup and not feel deprived since the serving was just a cup. In a bowl it seems so small, but not in a mug!

LUNCH: This concoction is pea shoots I brought with me from Trader Joe’s for a new recipe I made and I added a sweet pepper and some turkey slices and dressed it with some ranch dressing.

With my lunch I toasted a brown rice tortilla again from Trader Joe’s and added a bit of shredded cheese!

Afternoon snack: Just a coffee from Dunkin Donuts while we went to a cute little country store in NH. I found this cute little sign and that is so me! I can’t function with coffee!

For DINNER we went to Harts Turkey Farm. This picture is with flash on my iphone because it was so dark in the restaurant. It was a turkey cutlet with Mediterranean toppings like feta, red onion, olives and tomatoes on a bed of lettuce and I had baked potato on the side. I loved it!

That’s it for this particular day! We watched Christmas movies at night and I tried not to snack with the family but  I did enjoy some popcorn on a few nights, not shown here. 🙂

Please share with me if you to struggle with overeating and discipline and how you deal with it.

The post What I Ate Wednesday # 54 & My Struggle with Discipline appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Today I’m sharing my eats for Sunday when we had a somewhat busy day but it was a great family day together nonetheless. I had worked on a new breakfast recipe the day before which needed to include eggs, a lot of them. Since I made it on Saturday I was thrilled to offer this to the hubby for breakfast and enjoy it myself before we left for church.

Mini frittata’s!! Added some salsa and sour cream and yum! Of course since it had some sweet peppers in there the kiddies were not interested in even trying them. Not a problem since I was happy to have left overs for myself!

After church we came home only for a short time to change clothes and head out again. This time about an hour drive to go to my hubby’s favorite store, Bass Pro Shops! I knew we would most likely be there all afternoon and probably get dinner out somewhere. I purposely chose to go light at lunch and just make myself this coconut veggie smoothie. It was amazingly good! I incorporated my Cleanse & Detox Smoothie with some canned coconut milk I had left over in my fridge and boy oh boy super creamy and filling!

Here’s my crew minus the hubby. This is how we entertain ourselves while we wait for him to browse and shop. He had about 2 years worth of birthday gift cards to spend as we don’t go often enough for him!

Super disappointing dinner at Applebee’s, boo. I usually like it there and price wise a great deal for a family of 5 and we had my hubby’s sister with us as well. They have 2 for $20 deals on selected meals. So I picked this fiesta chicken. Well not what it looked like in the menu at all. The rice was horrible, the chicken was smothered in cheese and the most fresh ingredients was a tiny portion of tomatoes or maybe that was supposed to be salsa. Anyway, boo. I ate half of it and stole some fries from my kids plate.

My sister in law treated the kiddies to frozen yogurt at Pinkberry’s, but they don’t serve anything sugar free so I skipped it.

Have you ever had a terribly disappointing meal at a restaurant? Did you ask for something else or just eat it?

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Two days ago was my Blog’s 2nd Birthday!! I can’t believe how time has flown! I’ve loved every minute of all the hard work and time spent making this blog become what it is today and I’m so happy you’ve all joined me on this journey. I’m give away a DEHYDRATOR so be sure to check out that post to enter!!

The day I’m about to show you was a rough one. We needed to leave the  house at 9:15 to head to music classes and pick up a friends child along the way. I had my kids lunches ready the night before but neglected to pack my own of course. Waiting till the morning was a bad idea! My poor doggie Ruby was discovered to have a HUGE tic imbedded in her head. I wish I had taken a pic for you to see it but I was so frazzled in trying to remove it, the pic never happened. Of course we discovered the tic at 9am and my lunch wasn’t ready, I had no make up on and we needed to leave in 15 minutes! My awesome sister in law came to the rescue as I could not get that tic removed. She took a quick trip to vet and they got it out right away. Poor thing has a huge scab but she’s going to be fine.

I was able to get in some breakfast but it wasn’t my healthy smoothie or anything much and I was hungry since I had gone to the gym earlier in the morning. So….I ….resorted to…….BOXED GRANOLA! Not the greatest choice but it’s what we had in the cupboard and what the hubby likes to eat for breakfast. I snagged a bowl and we left at 9:20, not too shabby!

On the way to music classes and having to pick up my friends child, the highway ramp was CLOSED!!! YEP!!! Of all days right… since I was already late! Found another way to get there and we made it 5 minutes late to my son’s piano class. BUT at least I had my lunch otherwise I was going to be one angry momma!

I know it looks kinda messy but it was delicious! Cooked beets from our garden, avocado, chicken, cucumbers, and spinach!!

And some grapes and I was a happy girl! And then I made a trip to the coffee shop and got myself and iced coffee which was heavenly!

Afternoon snack!! Home for about 2 hours and then off again with karate class for my oldest.

Hubby made dinner! I had left him some brown rice and we had left over pork so he made his own version of a pork fried rice. Probably full of butter but hey I wasn’t complaining. I didn’t have to cook it!

Attempted a chocolate pudding but it was a fail even though it looks great, for the second time no less too…..BOO, hate when that happens! BUT I did enjoy it as  dessert even though it isn’t blog worthy yet!

Not the worst day but certainly not one of the better days. We all have them, just part of life right? It’s what we do after those crazy days that counts. Get what I’m saying?? Stuffing my face from stress wasn’t going to make my day get any better so I’m happy it all ended well with a not so perfect pudding but….that’s life.

The post What I Ate Wednesday #48 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

This food journal is on Friday last week before we head to home school co op. It’s a full day of five classes leaving the house at 8 and returning home at around 2ish. I enjoy the day and always try to pack a healthy lunch that will keep me full till we get home for a snack in the afternoon. If I don’t pack enough and I am so hungry when we get home, I am sure to eat everything in sight!

I was sure to make enough time in the morning to make this new smoothie in my blender and actually had time to finish it before we left the house. Otherwise it’s easy enough to blend and take in a to-go cup. This is 2 small carrots, some pumpkin and an orange!

I had made this crock pot beef stew the day before for dinner for the family and took some for lunch for co op but forgot to take a pic of it. Everyone in the teacher’s lounge was asking what that amazing smell was! So I was chatting away telling them about it and before I knew it, I ate it all before the picture could be snapped LOL! Anyway, I asked many of you on Facebook if you’d like the recipe even though I think it’s just so basic but to my surprise so many of you are interested. I will be sharing my recipe next week for sure.

I don’t usually buy full fat yogurts and actually bought this by accident. BUT boy was it creamy and delicious! It was like ice cream!

When we came home I enjoyed some yummy hummus and baby carrots. I can eat hummus every day and never tire of it!

My daughter and I had some girl time shopping  and eating dinner at Panera before we headed to meet the boys for a cub scout camping weekend. I got my favorite Cobb salad!

Over the weekend I knew the meals planned for the scouts and since I don’t eat wheat/gluten the pizza planned for lunch was out for me. I bought this great salad at Trader Joes.

Have you tried any of these products from Trader Joe’s? What do you think?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #47 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

A day in my life is sometimes not exactly as balanced as I try. Some days are just like that. Some days I devote a lot of time into making new recipes and trying them so more often than not, I’m not taking time to “eat” a meal. Being a food blogger and a mom who home schools 3 kids is no joke. God somehow helps me do it and enjoy it as well. I love everything I do and don’t feel stressed from it thankfully! And thankfully I’m not cooking or baking 3 new recipes every day of the week, but some days I do and my eating is scattered. I said all that to say, being perfect is not required to be healthy. Choosing to make the best choices in any given situation is the key and what can keep you afloat so to speak. I’m not condoning not eating meals, but I am trying to make the point that perfection is a killer. Trying to be perfect every day of your life will most certainly cause you to fall flat on your face and condemning yourself doesn’t help. I’m not going there. So I give myself a break on the days I make a ton of new recipes and try to watch how many bites I’m making myself believe are needed to know whether the recipe is good or not LOL!

First new recipe for a single serving Peanut Butter Flax muffin! It is gluten free and low carb but it was dry so more experimenting needs to happen, although tasty so I did eat it!

Here’s left overs from another new recipe I will be sharing tomorrow, Baked Tomato cups! AND these are fantastic!

While my kids were gone for music classes I wanted to be productive so with my morning breakfast failing recipe I made a second time of these no bake pumpkin granola bars. I was so hopeful, yet they still did not hold ! Such a bummer, but they taste incredibly delicious! So I ate a FEW crumbly pieces.

Dinner was the last of my garden string beans and squash, some corn and salmon I made in an aluminum pouch in the oven. No mess! My dad always made it like this growing up and still does so I called him for the recipe and it was perfect. I shall post this one eventually when I get some more salmon. It’s kind of expensive to feed a family of 5 so I wait for it to go on sale!

My last little dessert after dinner had to do with coconut milk whipped up and then frozen. More to come on that soon but don’t they look heavenly? Little creamy, cold ice cream like bites!

Are you guilty of trying to be perfect? Can you relate to my thoughts? I hate being destructive and am working on getting rid of perfection in my life, what about you?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #43 & Not Being Perfect appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

In case you’re new around here, each Wednesday is a post all about the good and sometimes not so good eats for one day of my life. I try to give you weekends, weekdays, and holidays so you can see some variety! Todays eats just happen to be yesterday when the kids and I attend music classes and we pack a lunch and are pretty much gone for a good part of the day. Then it’s a rush to karate and dinner after that. I find if I pack well, I don’t come home too ravenous and eat everything in sight before dinner.

Here’s how the day began:

Ruby wants my cheese stick but she’s not getting it! So not my typical healthy well balanced breakfast but it is what it is sometimes!

My mid morning snack was some almonds.

I did redeem myself by packing a healthy lunch and snacks for the rest of the day at music school.

See? Not too shabby right? That’s a 100 calorie flat bread whole wheat flax wrap with peanut butter and jelly mixed inside. Some fresh cucumbers from my garden. Baby carrots and hummus and an orange for the afternoon.

Hubby cooked last night and made some flounder using cornmeal for coating and seasonings. Also some fresh tomatoes and green beans from out garden, yum! The garden was the best thing this summer ever! So very happy hubby finally built me a garden!

And I ate the entire bowl of popcorn and did not share…….some nights that’s how I roll!

What about you? Do you eat popcorn and not share? Or what’s your “won’t share it if you paid me” snack?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #42 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Happy Wednesday! Here’s what I’ve been eating lately! This edition of WIAW is part of a large group of fabulously fit and healthy bloggers sharing their eats over at Peas and Crayons!

I’m trying to reduce my carb intake in the evenings and at lunch too. Just feel it helps me feel less sluggish and I am trying to lose some weight I’ve gained over the last few months. Summer swimsuit season brings on my hustle bustle get this done attitude! I want to be a fit toned momma of 3. I refuse to be a flabby 41 year old frumpy momma! So that’s why I was at the gym at an ungodly hour, 5:15 am, for a spin class! Here’s my red sweaty proof pic!

So here’s one day last week although I can’t recall what day I took these pics, please forgive, but you get the idea!

I made this new recipe last week, Dairy Free Sugar Free Vanilla Chia Pudding.  Had one as a snack and the other was staring at me at breakfast time the next day so there. Yep, why not have it for breakfast? It’s got milk, chia, full of fiber and protein too. And it was good!

An easy lunch of peppers, cucumbers, beets, and some grilled chicken and a side of fresh cherries!

Afternoon snack was a corn thin topped with light cream cheese and apple juice infused dried cherries I found at Whole Foods.

Coconut Curry Chicken with broccoli and brown rice was on the menu for the family but I opted to skip the brown rice. I’m trying to reduce the amount of carbs I have at night.

And of course I’m always making new recipes for my family. These are a take on a no bake cookie, but since my boys have nut allergies they can’t have peanut butter so it’s chocolate oatmeal and they are good! Thumbs up from the family as this was my second attempt at them. Recipe will be posted soon!

Oh but I didn’t eat the whole plate, I had like 2 or maybe 3 LOL!

 Do you try to avoid carbs at night or does it not really matter to you?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #33 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Happy Wednesday! This weeks food diary appears to be a bit better than last week but still not fabulously healthy. I think next week I will make sure you get to see a day I actually have to pack on lunch. You’ll see that when I do, how much better I eat, than when I’m just home with the kids. It seems most Wednesdays and Thursdays are my days to cook up new recipes. Then I’m taking my food journal pics either of those days and I try the food of course, so it isn’t always a balanced day. But nonetheless here is my day last Wednesday.

My new Pumpkin Protein Pancakes are fabulous so I made it again to get new pics for the post. They are super filling and high in protein without using protein powder. The pumpkin yogurt topping is soooooo good!

This here is my lunch. What is it you ask? It is failed oatmeal raisin cookie turned into baked apple crumble. And it was fabulous. No veggies in sight I know. But I was so full from breakfast and this was just easier than making a lunch since it was already cooked. I try not to let anything go to waste even when a recipe doesn’t work so I improvised here. 🙂

In the afternoon while I was working on a better oatmeal cookie 😉  I made this strawberry protein smoothie just adapting the fruit from this recipe. It held me over until dinner and I was busy with the kids so nothing else was eaten until dinner anyway.

Almost forgot to take a picture before the family ate this up. On the menu was my Spinach Potato Cheesy Frittata with a salad.

And by the end of the night I was able to eat two of these yummy, healthy, no sugar added cookies because this time I had recipe success! These babies will be posted tomorrow so stay tuned!

Head on over to Peas and Crayons to check out other foodies who love to share their own eats and recipes!

Until next week friends……….

The post What I Ate Wednesday #9 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Happy Wednesday!!!

Here’s another addition of my food diary for What I Ate Wednesday linky party hosted by Jen of Peas and Crayons!

Last weeks food journal was not so hot so this week I am afraid to say, not much better. 🙁

I did eat more, but kind of grazed at lunch and chose snacks throughout the day until dinner. But at least they were mostly fruits and veggies. 🙂

High fiber cereal with fresh pomegranate seeds on top from Trader Joe’s. Have you ever bought a fresh pomegranate?? I’ ve NOT! In fact, I’ve never wanted to because of the tedious task of the seeds! So this item from Trader Joe’s caught my attention immediately and I grabbed some. I also love mixing it in my plain Greek yogurt too!

I’ve no idea when I ate these but it may have been a late morning snack. Needless to say I love me some hummus!! I could eat hummus every day and never tire of it, never! I’ve made my own which is way better than store bought, but I always have some on hand in the fridge. I have a baby carrot munching habit that is only enabled by the constant supply of hummus in my fridge. I am not ashamed to say. 😉

Some time later I had forgotten in my fridge the fresh fennel I had cut into wedges the night before. So. I . Ate. It. Just. Like. That.

Nothing added, as is. I have a great fennel salad recipe as well as a fennel gratin recipe that is Ah-maaazzzing! But I love it fresh the most.

And you? Have you tried it?

No idea what time this little snack was either but probably early afternoon. Sweet orange and pistachios, YUM! I know that is WAY more pistachio portion for one person but I didn’t care. Cured my salty craving!

On the menu for dinner was this awesome beef stew I made in the pressure cooker in under 30 minutes!! Yep, meat so tender and potatoes, carrots, and onions just perfect! Topped with fresh parsley and with a side of Whole Wheat Parmesan Popovers. The recipe is for plain but I added about 1/4 cup Parmesan to the batter before baking and the family loved them.

Dinner was early so I did have an evening snack of part-skim ricotta cheese mixed with a spoonful of canned pure pumpkin, some cinnamon and a dropper or two of vanilla stevia. Made a filling snack and it was quite good although it doesn’t look so appetizing in the picture.

Oh and in case you missed this exciting news I shared on Sunday…….drum roll please…….. I am a contributor in this awesome Trader Joe’s cookbook!! Super excited to have a recipe in print in a hard cover cookbook, so cool! You can read more about that and see pictures here if you’re interested. 🙂

So although it was a weird kind of day for me I feel I ate well because I only ate when  I was hungry and that’s all that matters don’t you think?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #8 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

It’s What I Ate Wednesday!!! My visual food journal for everyone to see, well at least one day anyway. 🙂 Thanks to our host Jen from Peas and Crayons for the WIAW linky party!

Hope you’ve had a great start to your week and are ready to enjoy the rest! I LOVE Wednesdays because it is one of the only days we aren’t running in a million directions.

Last week was hard for me as my hubby was gone on a business trip from Monday until Saturday. REALLY not easy without him and 3 kids but we got through it. I cooked simple things that the kiddies liked and were easy to make, also had left overs too from the weekend. Woot Woot to left overs!

Larger meals aren’t needed except when the hubby is home. 🙂

These are my new individual Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal recipe which thankfully I had left overs from since I made them on the weekend. Super easy to make and easy to heat up for busy mornings! Everyone is happy because you can add your own special topping prior to baking making them the perfect personalized breakfast for picky family members.

No snacks while we work all morning doing school so this was lunch. Pre-cooked quinoa mixed with sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and chicken with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt. On the side is some spinach hummus and carrots. I am a hummus lover for sure, I could eat it by the spoonfuls without anything else so I make sure to spoon amount some on my plate and put the container BACK in the fridge or I will surely continue to dip into it.

I totally needed a snack by the afternoon but I also needed caffeine. I had forgotten I had made these in my freezer and recently took them out and remembered oh yes!!

Coffee and cocoa on a stick!! Yep…… new posted recipe just this past week and it was in my freezer for a few weeks!  Oh and they have protein too!!!

Here’s the link: Low Carb Mocha Protein Popsicles!

I forgot to take a picture for dinner but it was left overs from this that the hubby had grilled on Sunday before he left on his trip on Monday to Oklahoma City. So I was happy to have these few left overs of pork chops, red potatoes and zucchini and squash.

I was craving something salty in the evening so I opted to mix up 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, no sugar added all natural kind, with plain nonfat Greek yogurt and threw on some toasted sunflower seeds too.

Hit.the.spot. I was content and called it a night!

Currently I am trying to limit the night snacks so I can lose about 5 pounds I’ve been struggling with recently, but every so often I allow myself some.  I try to watch the carbs because for me that just packs on pounds especially when I eat them at night.

Don’t get me wrong I do eat healthy carbs and am not carb free nor do I want to be, but for my body and years of experience, reducing and eliminating carbs helps me to lose the few pounds faster and even maintain the weight loss I’ve achieved through occasional carbs at night.

How about you? Do you find a difference when you limit carbs at night if you are trying to lose weight?

The post What I Ate Wednesday #6 & Thoughts On Carbs appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Have you seen the the acronym WIAW on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram and wondered what in the world it was all about?

Until recently I had no idea! But thanks to Sprint 2TheTable I found out about this new and fabulous tradition started by Peas and Crayons. I love the idea so I decided to join the bandwagon of fun!

Fun? Yes, Fun! Well at least I think so! It’s like a picture food diary for keeping accountable on making healthy food choices and showing the world wide web what exactly I’ve eaten in a day. My pictures are not necessarily from Wednesday as I needed to get them before posting today. So this one is from Saturday but nonetheless, a day in my life.

This is my first installment and I’d love my readers opinion. Are you interested in my food choices in a day or do you just prefer my recipes each weekday? Please comment and let me know your thoughts! All pics are taken with my iphone so they aren’t the best shots as you are used to seeing but they are the true pics of what I ate. 🙂

Breakfast

This is my new favorite way to get in egg whites and a healthy carb all in one shot!

My Blueberry Oat Pancakes topped with plain Greek yogurt.

Lunch

Even though I wasn’t necessarily needing a packed lunch for anything in particular, having one ready in the fridge helps me immensely. Mostly for the times I have waited too long to eat and am starving or got busy with my kids lunch and didn’t make anything for myself. Really feels like I won the lottery when I remember I packed it the night before! Especially helpful so I  don’t grab something I will regret eating later. This is a new recipe of mayo free chicken salad I hope to post next week stuffed in a red pepper.

Snack

My new favorite Low Fat No Sugar Added Blueberry Protein Smoothie! I can eat one of these every day and feel completely satisfied after a workout or just to curb my hunger till dinner!

Dinner

My hubby and oldest were away this past week and weren’t retuning until Sunday. I had planned to crash my parents on Saturday night with my two little kiddies for dinner. And then I found out they were going out themselves, oh well. We ended up going to the mall for shoes for my daughter and then Newport Creamery in the mall for lack of time and tiredness of shopping. Needless to say I was happy to enjoy my cobb salad as it was the best option on the menu.

So that was one day in a nutshell. If you have a blog and would like to participate in this check out Peas and Crayons for other bloggers who have linked up their WIAW posts. This is something I think can give you an idea for trying new foods you may not otherwise have ever wanted to try. Who knows, you may even see some new recipes that will inspire you to spice up your own menu. 🙂
If you join me on Instagram you will catch more of my daily eats and activities!

The post What I Ate Wednesday #1 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Here’s one day of my week. Overall I feel a whole lot better than the week before. I committed to have fewer carbs and now I don’t feel as sluggish and bloated as I did. I weighed in at weight watchers for my monthly check in and am maintaining which of course makes me happy.

Be encouraged friend! Work hard to stick to your food plan, exercise, drink water and find a way to make yourself laugh each day, its good medicine!

• Breakfast: 4 tbsp soy creamer, 1 single serving egg muffin
• Lunch: 1  whole wheat sandwich thin bread, 2 oz. chicken, 1 slice cheese, 1 c. fresh fennel with 1/2 c. greek dip, 1 c. strawberries
• Dinner: 1 Stuffed Turkey Burger, 1 serving Cucumber Feta Relish (recipes coming this week for both) 1 c. broccoli
• snacks: 1/4 c. toasted tamari almonds, 1 part- skim, mozzarella string cheese

Total Calories: 1165* Fat: 63* Carbs: 70* Protein: 97* PointsPlus: 26*

What you will see this week coming to your email or RSS feed if you are subscribed.

• Cucumber Feta Relish
• Stuffed Turkey Sliders
• Sugar Free Strawberry Whipped Cream (so sorry I didn’t get this to you this past week!)
• Heart Shaped Mini Calzones

I also hope to review this fabulous slow cooker recipe for Hummus I found on pinterest!

Have a great week friends!

Remember you can do anything for one day. Just focus on one day at a time and those days of not giving in to the temptations will build one upon the other. You will get stronger and stronger, not only physically ,but mentally as well. You may not be where you want to be, but I bet you are not where you used to be!

Did you stick to your food plans and committments this week? What is working for you and what is not that needs to change?

The post SugarFreeMom’s Food Journal & Upcoming Recipes 1/29/12 appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

I have committed to at least sharing one day in my life of eating so you can use it as a sample for yourself. Hopefully it will motivate you and encourage you to use food journaling for accountability. Some fabulous sites that have wonderful free calorie trackers that I  have used are Sparkpeople, Nutrition Data, and My Fitness Pal.

If you are in weight loss mode it really is the only way to really know and not guess how much you are eating.

I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish lately and I think it is because I have been overloading on carbs. So I am working on limiting the carbs this week which usually helps me get over that sluggish feeling.

My breakfasts will consist of egg muffins and smoothies which are both super simple. My lunches will consist of tuna or chicken with fresh veggies like tomato, cucumber, carrots. I will only be having a carb with dinners this week.

Yesterday this is what I ate:

• Breakfast: 1 spinach, bacon, egg quiche , 4 tbsp creamer for coffee
• Lunch: Quinoa chicken cherry salad, 3 oz carrots with 2 tbsp. hummus, 1/4 c. roasted chickpeas
• Afternoon coffee: 4 tbsp soy creamer
• Dinner: 1 chicken thigh, no skin, 1 c. brown rice pasta, 1/2 c. tomato, olive, artichoke sauce (recipe coming this week) 1 c. fennel salad
• Snack: 1 Greek Yogurt

Calories: 1324 Fat: 47g Carbs: 149g Protein: 82g

PointsPlus:30

Upcoming Recipes this week:

• The crepes I fought and won!
• Bacon, Cheese, Broccoli Quiche
• Tomato, Olive, Artichoke Sauce
• Sugar Free Dairy Free Strawberry Whipped Cream

What’s the hardest thing about food journaling? Are you currently using a food tracker? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comments are welcomed and appreciated!

The post SugarFreeMom’s Food Journal & Upcoming Recipes (1/22/12) appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

First things first, you must know organization is not my strong suit! I really don’t have a knack for it. BUT I know how helpful it is to make a weekly menu and I am trying to get better about doing that on this HUGE gigantic whiteboard/calendar the hubby got me for Christmas. So the weekly menu is going on that board and so far since then I’ve almost, kind of stuck, to the dinner plans. I don’t have the whole lunch and breakfast thing down yet to be honest….I think its a good step in the right direction just get the dinners planned for the week.

 I am more of a “see this awesome recipe which sparks an idea to rework my own creation, must get ingredients, must make it TODAY” kind of person. Its a bad habit not conducive to homeschooling, daily chores, and all the other responsibilities of having 3 kiddies in activities. But just wanted you to understand who is behind Sugar-Free Mom so maybe you will have some empathy for my creative spirit and not fault me on the, not so organized, menu plan.

Maybe just maybe your enthusiasm will actually prompt and persuade me to make a weekly plan on Sundays so I don’t disappoint you all!

So I’m providing you one day of my life this week of my actual food journal.

See, I still must write my food down , course I only do this the night before. But I still must weigh and measure  or things get out of whack in my life. I become more interested in picking. All cupboard and fridge contents become a free for all, which is very bad for me. You see I have the problem of “more”. More of whatever is that’s good and yummy, even my love for broccoli, I could overeat on. But I am thinking that once a week to show you all my food for a day and then calculating the calories to keep me in check is a good thing. When I was on the weight loss plan I was consistent, but now maintaining its easy to get in a rut and I know pretty much what to eat to maintain so I don’t calculate much anymore. THIS.WILL.BE.GOOD.FOR.ME.

This is what I had yesterday:

1. Breakfast: 4 tbsp soy creamer for coffee, 1 serving baked oatmeal
2. Lunch: 1 c Quinoa salad, (recipe coming this week)1 Greek yogurt with 1/4 c. blueberries
3. Afternoon coffee with 4 tbsp soy creamer
4. Dinner: 3 oz. Beef Burgundy (recipe coming this week) over 1 cup brown rice, 1 c. broccoli
5. Before Bedtime Snack: 3 c. popcorn with kiddies

I use My Fitness Pal for the most part, but also use my Weight Watchers etools since I am a life time member checking in once a month and I get etools for free.

• My Nutrition Info:Calories: 1773* Fat: 60g*  Carbs: 232g* Protien: 69g*
• My Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 33 (although my target is 29)
  

If I were trying to lose weight my calorie range where I have seen weight loss was around 1200-1500 in addition to exercise five times a week. I am happily maintaining my weight and do not feel deprived at all.

Now I just had another brainstorming idea sparked since writing this post! How about a “This Week Recipes Coming from Sugarfreemom” so you know what to expect to see for the week AND it will keep me organized as well?!

BUT you must allow an occasional change in plan. I can not commit that the recipes will be set in stone and NEED the ability to be flexible because…hey I’m a mom and life happens right?

UPCOMING RECIPES

• Whole Wheat Popovers

• Quinoa Chicken Cherry Salad

• Crock Pot Beef Burgundy

• Spinach, Chicken, Clean Eating Crepes

Have you subscribed so that you won’t miss a new posted recipe!

Why not  subscribe via email or RSS feed , it’s Free!

What do you think? Is this something that interests you to get ideas for your own weight-loss/maintaining goals? Is it helpful to see a sample of my food plan? Would you like me to continue each week?

The post SugarFreeMom’s Food Journal (1/15/2012) & Upcoming Recipes appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.