You’re Fabulous.

Brilliant Quote:

“Absolutely Fabulous” is only a thought away. 

It’s true! If you begin your day thinking, gads, I gotta do this today, I gotta do that today, I can’t get ahead, I have too much going on……yadda yadda yadda  You’re likely to have talked yourself right out of having  a good day. At the end of the day you’ll feel more like throwing your head back and screaming “WIIILLLSSOOONNN!” LOL

I’m guilty of this alot of the time.  I have learned that if I give myself a pep talk I end up having a much better outlook and thus a must better day.  “There are so many ways to do things for yourself that make you feel better about YOU and about everything else.  Here are 7 little tricks that I do:

1)        I put a wallpaper on my phone that simply says: “You’ll be okay”.  Amazing how each time i look at that screen I remember that all in all…I’m going to be OK.  Whatever my situation is, at the end of the day I will be OK. 

2)        I tell myself while I am getting ready for work that I will be awesome today. 

3)       I have signed up for various “positive” newsletters in my email so I know each and every morning that there will be something good there. 

4)       Send nice notes by email to yourself. DO IT.  Say something nice to yourself and make it sound like its from someone else.  Put what day you want to open the email in the subject line, like “Happy Monday!”, “Wonderful Wednesday!”, “Friday is YOURS!” then send yourself a nice note like, ” I know you will shine today, love!  Show them how amazing you are by keeping on smiling no matter what they throw at you.  You’re a STRONG woman and there is nothing NOTHING you cannot do.”  (I promise you, you’ll feel BETTER right then)

5)      Allow myself a treat.  I have several sugar free recipes listed here, my favorite being CINNAMON TOAST.  I have my special cinnamon toast each day as a treat.

6)      Meditate!  I have to do this in the evenings as there is no time in the mornings with my schedule.  When I meditate, I use some meditation or soothing music to download from itunes or some other place online and upload onto my iphone  so I can take it on my walk.  You don’t always have to be sitting or lying to meditate.  If you can just “get away” for a few minutes and focus on the voice of a guided meditation (using visualization helps) can really help you relax and ground.  Put the day behind you.  You’re HOME.

7)      Go walking. Even if you don’t use an ipod or a meditation download, get out and walk.  Notice things, take it all in.  You’ll find change (seriously, i found 27 cents last week! Just for walking!    Look at the changing leaves and breathe in deeply as you go along. 

You’ll see soon if you give these things a try in your daily life how much better you’ll feel and ultimately DO at your job and as a parent or a friend. 

Breathe……

Sheri

 

Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Note from Sheri: I would use Stevia brown sugar here and omit the white sugar (for which I would use Truvia if I didn’t omit!) and some faux butter (Best Life brand spray butter is good, but I don’t fool with spraying it.  Get that top off and POUR that tbsp of butter in. You CAN use sugar free chocolate pieces instead you know….  wonder if they would still taste good? I’m CERTAIN they would.  If you’re a diabetic, please remember that some things that say “sugar free” are not totally sugar free. 

(gluten-free!)

These are inspired by my Chocolate-Chip Banana Bites.

• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 T brown sugar (don’t sub!)
• 1 T plus 2 tsp white sugar (If you have no sweet tooth, like me, you can omit)
• 2 T chocolate chips
• 1 T oil or pre-melted margarine
• 1-2 T nondairy milk (start with 1)

Blend first 5 ingredients together. (I use a Magic Bullet.) Mix with other ingredients, form into cookie shapes, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cook 6 minutes at 375 F.

Yes, chocolate-chip cookies can talk.

And warm chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven, can scream.

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/08/30/flourless-chocolate-chip-cookies/

 

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 softball-sized onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons steak sauce

1 cup beef stock

Salt and ground black pepper

4 dinner rolls

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

 1 cup milk

1 cup provolone, shredded

 In large skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and then brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes. Split open rolls and remove most of the soft insides, leaving a bed to hold the meat mixture. Toast the rolls and set aside. While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir the cheese. To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

FOUND @:    tasteofhomecooking.blogspot.com

 

Sunrise Sherbet Bombe

Note from Sheri: You know me! I’ll be using sugar free sorbets or sherbets! Gosh, I hope I can find sugar free chocolate wafers. This is INCREDIBLY easy and a must for a quick little something if you’re having ppl over.

By Wenderly | Published: September 19, 2011

 

You will never believe how easy it is to make such a stunning specimen.

This is what I did.

Placed my sherbet on the counter so that it could soften a bit.

I decided to use orange, strawberry and raspberry sherbet to match the stunning sunrise. You can use anything you wish, including ice cream or sorbet, in any combination.

Grab a box of chocolate wafers,

And give them a good pulse in a food processor. If you don’t happen to have a have a food processor, no worries, just put the cookies in a sealed plastic baggie, grab a heavy spoon & smash away.

Melt a stick and a half of butter and mix with smashed cookies until it forms a soft chocolatey mixture. Line a glass bowl with plastic wrap (allowing enough extra hanging over sides to cover the top before freezing) and with your fingers press the cookie/butter mixture onto the plastic wrap that is lining the sides of the bowl. This will become the outer crust.

Then begin spooning the softened sherbet into the cookie crust.

Add each additional flavor.

Smooth the last layer of sherbet and cover with the extra plastic wrap.

Pop the bowl into the freezer (on a flat surface) and let freeze for at least eight hours.

Once frozen, place a plate on top of bowl and gently turn over. (You may need to soak bowl in hot water for a few minutes to loosen.)

And “bada boom bada bing” …a bombe!

A stunning sweet sherbet sunrise to enjoy any day.

May all your days begin with splendor,

Wenderly

Sunrise Sherbet Bombe

Serves 8-10

What You’ll Need:

1- 9 ounce box of chocolate wafer cookies
1 1/2 sticks salted butter- melted
1 quart orange sherbet
1 quart strawberry sherbet
1 quart raspberry sherbet

What You’ll Do:

Place sherbet on counter to soften. Pulse cookies in a food processor (or pound with spoon in a sealed plastic baggie). Mix melted butter and ground cookies together until it becomes incorporated.  Grab a 3 quart glass container and line with plastic wrap (leave enough extra over the edge to cover top of bowl before freezing). With fingers, press cookie/butter mixture on top of the plastic wrap, around sides of bowl. Next spoon in softened sherbet. I used a little over 1/2 a quart of each flavor. Be careful not to overfill. Cover the top with extra plastic wrap. Place in freezer (on a flat surface) for at least 8 hours. Remove from freezer, place a plate on top of bowl, gently turn over to release bombay. You may need to soak bowl in hot water for a few minutes if bombaby seems stuck.

 

Perfect Iced Coffee

 A Visual Post.  Easy to follow and who knew the secret to great iced coffee…………There are tips at the end of this post that you will find helpful.

 (Note: I’ve totally adapted/tweaked coffee/water amounts to suit my own tastes. Experiment to find your own perfect ratio.)

 I start with a big ol’ container. I love these food storage containers, by the way. I got these at restaurant supply, but Sam’s Club had them last time I was there.You can use a big bowl, a large pitcher…even a really clean bucket will work if you’re going for a huge quantity. (Or you can halve the original quantity and use a pitcher.)

 Rip open a pound of ground coffee. Any kind will do; the stronger and richer the better.

Pour in the coffee.

Pour in 8 quarts (2 gallons) cold water.

 Give it a stir to make sure all the grounds make contact with the water…

 Then cover the container and go live your life as the coffee steeps for at least eight hours. (And you can go much longer if you’d like.)

When the time has passed, grab a separate container and place a fine mesh strainer over the top.

Place a couple of layers of cheesecloth inside the strainer…

 And slowly pour the steeped coffee through the strainer.It’ll take awhile for all the liquid to pass through.

Use a spoon to gently press/force the last of the liquid through. And note: I’ve tried the straining method without the cheesecloth, and stray grounds did make it through the mesh strainer. Definitely try to use cheesecloth (or even paper towels) to filter out the finer pieces.

 And there we have it. The dregs (left)…and the gold (right.)

 You can store the liquid in the same container, or you can transfer it to a pitcher or other dispenser. Though it’s difficult to wait, I refrigerate this gorgeous concoction before consuming it. It’s meant to be cold!

Note: this amount of coffee concentrate lasts me a good three weeks to a month if kept tightly covered in the fridge.

Now, when you’re ready to make yourself an iced coffee, you can do two things. Start by filling a glass with ice.

Reach into the fridge and dispense enough of the coffee liquid to fill the glass half full (or maybe a little more).

 Splash in skim, 2%, or whole milk…or, if you’re a naughty, naughty bad girl like me: half-and-half.

Add enough sugar to achieve the level of sweetness you like, or you can drizzle in vanilla or hazelnut syrup if you have those kinds of things lying around.

 Stir it all up…

Stick in a straw…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VARIATION: VIETNAMESE ICED COFFEE

And now for something entirely different. Same…but different.

This is a variation on classic Vietnamese Iced Coffee (also recommended by Imbibe), which actually does begin with a hot brew…but I’m using the cold stuff.

Fill the glass with ice and coffee concentrate as we did before, then crack open a can of sweetened condensed milk. A glorious substance. One you should get to know better if you don’t already.

 Drizzle in at least 2 tablespoons for a big glass (I wound up adding three.)

On top of this, add a small splash of milk or half-and-half.

 Stir, take a small sip, and add a little more sweetened condensed milk if needed.

I’ve tried all combinations of milk, half-and-half, sugar, artificial sweeteners, flavored syrups, and sweetened condensed milk, and I will tell you that there is no more winning combo than the half-and-half/sweetened condensed milk mixture. It is out-of-this-world creamy and wonderful, and is worth at least a spot in your weekend rotation if you’re not willing to go there daily.

Either way, try this cold-brewed method of iced coffee sometime soon. The flavor, convenience (and cost savings) can not be underestimated.

Love,
Pioneer Woman

Here’s a link to the printable recipe:

Printable Recipe: Perfect Iced Coffee

Recipe: Perfect Iced Coffee

Prep Time: 8 Hours | Cook Time: | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 24

//
Print Recipe3″x5″ Cards4″x6″ CardsFull Page

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Coffee (good, Rich Roast)
• 8 quarts Cold Water
• Half-and-half (healthy Splash Per Serving)
• Sweetened Condensed Milk (2-3 Tablespoons Per Serving)
• Note: Can Use Skim Milk, 2% Milk, Whole Milk, Sugar, Artificial Sweeteners, Syrups…adapt To Your Liking!

Preparation Instructions

(Adapted from Imbibe Magazine)

In a large container, mix ground coffee with water. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature eight hours or overnight.

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth and set over a pitcher or other container. Pour coffee/water mixture through the strainer, allowing all liquid to run through. Discard grounds.

Place coffee liquid in the fridge and allow to cool. Use as needed.

To make iced coffee, pack a glass full of ice cubes. Fill glass 2/3 full with coffee liquid. Add healthy splash of half-and-half. Add 2-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (can use plain sugar instead) and stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or sweetened condensed milk as needed.

Posted by Ree on June 12 2011

TIPS:

FREEZE COFFEE CUBES AND KEEP THEM IN A BAGGIE IN THE FREEZER TO ADD TO YOUR ICED COFFEE SO YOUR DRINK DOESN’T GET WATERED DOWN.

AS ALWAYS, I RECOMMEND USING STEVIA INSTEAD OF SUGAR.

If you like frappuccinos, freeze some milk (I had some milk about to expire so I put a cup in a sandwich bag, froze flat on a cookie sheet, then put in a gallon freezer bag) thaw at 30% power for 30 seconds then put double strength coffee (add frozen cubes if you want it more frozen) in blender with milk.  I like mocha so I add chocolate syrup and a couple pkgs of stevia.  I know this is going to save me a lot of money since I now make frapps at home.

Throw all these ingrediants above in the blender with coffee ice cubes, chocolate and/or caramel syrup, whip up some cream and voila! At home frappuchinos

FREEZE LEMONADE CUBES TO ADD TO YOUR TEA IN THE SUMMERTIME.  ADDS A TWIST.  I RECOMMEND USING SWEETENER INSTEAD OF SUGARS …ALWAYS! BUT A PLANT BASED SWEETENER IS SAFER.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

 

Sassy Water

Found at: http://sitnoseckano.blogspot.com/2011/07/sassy-water.html

The idea for this lemonade came from a health/fitness/nutrition site, where it says that this drink helps maintaining flat belly. i don’t know about the flat belly, but i know that this lemonade is very refreshing, especially in a hot day like today.

it’s very easy to make: in 2 l water
add 1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced, 1 lemon, thinly
sliced, 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger and around 10 spearmint
leaves.
leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight and in the morning you’ll have a cold and really refreshing drink.

 

Some beautiful things I saw today

These pumpkins are decorated with black thumb tacks.  Brilliant!http://gordongossip.blogspot.com/search/label/decorating

Argyle Pumpkins.  Elegant!

B-B-BUTTONS?

 

 

Paleo Fudgy Brownies

health-bent.comhttp://www.health-bent.com/treats/paleo-fudgy-brownies/comment-page-1#comment-12006

Bent | Paleo Fudgy Brownies#comment-12006

These brownies are seriously dangerous. They’re too good. I swear, neither one of us could tell the difference between these and “conventional” brownies–except for the fact these don’t make you feel like poo after you eat them. I made 2 batches in two days and….they’re all gone. Oops.

Besides the fact that these are completely gluten free; you could leave out the sugar in the brownies and be almost 100% Paleo. Try and find chocolate chips with the highest percentage of cocoa. The higher the percentage the less sugar in the chocolate. If you can’t find a good quality chocolate chip, you could always chop up a chocolate bar instead.

• 1 c almond butter
• 1/2 c canned coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/3 c cocoa powder
• 1/4 c sugar (optional or sweetener of choice)
• 1/3 c chocolate chips (use the highest % cocoa you can find, around 70% is good)
• 1/3 c chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish.

In a bowl whisk together the almond butter, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla extract and salt. Then add the cocoa powder, sugar,  and chocolate chips.

Pour into the prepared baking dish and top with chopped nuts.

Bake for approx. 18 minutes.

 

 

Paleo Butternut Squash Lasagna

Note from Sheri:  A commenter on this recipe says the squash didn’t get done in the 45 minutes like the recipe says, and had to cook it an hour and 35 minutes to get it done adn the top got pretty dark.  I’d say you should lower the cooking temp and cook it for longer.  If you think the top is getting too dark you can always cover it with foil.  Id love to try it pretty soon! I’ll have to find a low carb (low sugar) pizza sauce tho.  GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!

health-bent.comhttp://www.health-bent.com/beef/paleo-butternut-squash-lasagna

Bent | Paleo Butternut Squash Lasagna

I think we’ve all been there. We think we’re so incredibly clever for using spaghetti squash as a sub for spaghetti noodles. Then you realize it’s become a bit Paleo passé, a.k.a. boring. So, let’s start taking that idea further. We’ll sub butternut squash for lasagna noodles, and we can call is B.S. Lasagna. The squash around the edges of the pan does actually get crispy, crunchy like lasagna noodles do…and the flavor is definitely there. But other than that, I’m not going to lie and say, “WOW! It tastes exactly the same!” Though I can’t remember the last time I had S.A.D. lasagna, so I guess I couldn’t tell you if it did. Anyway…

What it is does taste like is a sweet, salty & tangy quasi lasgana. I’ll settle for that any day.

Ingredients

• 1 lb hot Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 15 oz can pizza sauce
• 1/2 c roasted red peppers
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• couples leaves of fresh basil (leave it out if you don’t have it, just freshens up the sauce a bit)
• 1 small butternut squash

Method

Get your oven to 400ºF. In a saute pan crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions & garlic. While that’s going, cut the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Split it into 1/4′s. What I mean by that is, right where the squash starts to turn bulbous, cut it in 1/2, width-wise. Split those two halves in half, lengthwise. This will make it much easier to cut into planks. Pull out the seeds. Don’t be anal about getting out all the strings, as you won’t even notice those when they’re cooked. Slice the squash into the aforementioned planks.

Make the sauce by pureeing the pizza sauce, red peppers, olive oil and basil. If you don’t a contraption that will puree (blender, food processor, immersion blender), chop up the red peppers and just whisk everything together.

Using a 9×9 oven safe baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up…trying to reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.

Bake for 45 minutes. You’re looking for a bubbly pan with a crispy, browned top. Right out of the oven, the lasagna may by liquidy, let it set for a good half hour before cutting into it, as it will solidify.

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