Mom Life in the PNW

Low Carb Style Italian Soda

If you’re following the low carb high fat way of life, then you’re in for a tasty treat! I thought for sure once I started this way of eating healthier that I would be giving up all desserts which is hard when you have a sweet tooth.

So I was at Costco the other day and I spotted a 24 pack of Kirkland Signature brand sparkling flavored water with zero calories, sugar and carbs (comparable to the ICE brand). It contains some vitamins, and is sweetened with Splenda, so if you’re not into that, stop reading now. The 24 pack was around $9.50 at my Costco which makes each bottle around .39. Not too bad if I do say so myself, but, I did find the ICE brand sparkling water on sale at Grocery Outlet for .50 per bottle. To me, the savings was worth getting the Kirkland Signature brand as it tastes pretty much the same anyways. BUT, any sparkling zero calorie water will do. It doesn’t have to be the ones mentioned above; it’s just what I used.

low carb

Directions:

  • Top a 16oz cup with ice
  • Take 2 TBSP of heavy whipping cream and pour into cup
  • Fill the rest with your choice of flavored sparkling water

 

Wa-la, it’s like heaven in your mouth! Okay, not really, but close, especially if you’ve been nothing but good with eating your veggies and meat on this low carb high fat way of eating. You could also substitute this for Diet A&W Rootbeer and have yourself a float. I prefer Diet A&W if I am going to get anything diet, because it doesn’t quite have that nasty aftertaste that I loathe.

Go ahead, give it a try!

The Veggetti is Amazing!

As I mentioned in my low carb coconut pancakes post, I am doing a low carb high fat way of eating. Although I am yoyo’ing since I’ve started, I have manage to make it to 6lbs lost in 2.5 weeks. Not a fast loss, but still a loss nonetheless. I think it may have something to do with me not really keeping track of how much of what I’m eating, which I need to start doing since I need like 5% carbs, 70% fat and the rest protein. I think I am eating more protein than fat lately which is causing me to gain. The thing is, you need to eat more fat than protein in this way of eating, otherwise it will just turn to glucose and be stored as fat. If you’d like to read more on this way of life, I suggest checking out DietDoctor.

The hardest part about this way of eating is not being able to have sugar, not just sugary sweet desserts, but fruits that are high in sugar as well. I love my fruits, so I sneak a bite here and there which is not going to hurt me.

Trying to put together meals though that doesn’t involve some type of salad has been challenging. I needed to come up with a way to eat something similar to that I loved, only in a healthier way which led me to the Veggetti. My sister had been mentioning this thing but never tried it out herself, so since I couldn’t find it in a store, I decided to order it on Amazon since I have prime 2 day shipping.

vegetti

Let me tell you, this thing is absolutely amazing! I was able to make zucchini noodles in 1 minute flat. Just stick your vegetable of choice in the thin or thicker grater side and gently twist the vegetable. It starts perfectly shredding your veggies into delicious noodles. I decided I was going to make some shrimp Alfredo with zucchini noodles since Alfredo sauce is high in fat. It was sooo good and so simple. My husband isn’t exactly following this with me since he doesn’t need to lose any weight, so having to cook 2 different meals is a pain in the rear. Having something quick and easy is a godsend and the veggetti is now my new best friend.

 

Redneck Beer Cake for Father’s Day

Normally I don’t do father’s day or mother’s day crap since I don’t need no stinkin’ holiday to love my parents, but I felt inclined this year since my step-dad chipped in towards my birthday patio set. So I set out to the store to buy his favorite beer in an 18pack. Yes, it’s this shitty Rolling Rock Piss beer I have decorated here. Then I took some ribbon string; tied it around the cans. Then I took the cardboard box the beer came in and cut it up to help with the stacking.

Then I ordered that super awesome Rednek Solo cup attached to a glass stem on Amazon. It was supposed to arrive Friday, so I’d have it in time for Sunday, but nope. FedEx decided to be slow assholes and so it arrived on Monday. A day late, but what can I do? I guess I could have went to the dollar store and got a glass candle stick and used one of my spare plastic solo cups and glued them together, but that would have been really really ghetto.

redneck beer cake

I was also going to put mini chocolate milky way bars on the top surrounding the cup but I forgot them before I went over to my sisters to set this up before he got home. Oh well, hubby will have to eat them or I’ll have to run over there again.

Want to surprise your redneck family member with a redneck beer cake, then simply follow the picture. It’s easy peasy!

Happy Birthday To Me

I turned 32 today… unfortunately.

As you get older, birthdays become less important and more of a dreadful event, well, at least for me anyways. Who likes getting older? I still have so much to do and in so little time. Before I know it, I’ll be sitting in a nursing home having someone change my shitty diapers and giving me a sponge bath. Meh.

Yes, I am melancholy today, I think mostly because I’m just plain ol getting old, AND I haven’t had any success with having a baby yet. The older I get the more problems will arise, at least things that “I” think are problems. For instance, over the age of 35 increases your chances of having a baby with down syndrome. Not that I wouldn’t love it regardless, it would just be a difficult life for the child. The other is, what if we can’t ever have kids? When I was 20, I was told that I couldn’t have kids with really no explanation as to why. I cried. I felt defeated. But, I still have hope since doctors half the time don’t know shit from shit. Not one doctor after that has said anything of the sort, so I shrugged it off.

I guess all I can do is keep trying, I mean it’s really only been 4 months since we stopped using protection. Couples usually get pregnant in a year and a half. Hopefully.

anyways.. enough of that.

My husband decided to take me to Verizon so I could finally get my S5, and I am loving it! This coming from a first time smart phone user. The fingerprint identification is neat, so is the heart rate monitor and all of the other super awesome features. I am just glad to have a phone that has a nice camera so I can take great pictures, on the go, check email away from home, and use my coupon apps at the store. HELL YEAH!

After we get done at Verizon, my hubby asks if I want to go have a nice dinner, you know, other than our normal bar food. I am doing a low carb high fat way of eating so I couldn’t really think of any place that would suit my dietary needs. He mentioned Red Lobster, and I was like seriously.. you have to bring up Red Lobster, which immediately makes me think of their delicious cheddar bay biscuits. /drool. But I said okay, let’s do it as I’ll just have some seafood. And might I add, the garlic butter grilled shrimp was delicious and so was that skinny margarita. Yes, I cheated a little bit but it was worth it. AND I took one little bite of the biscuit, not as cheesy as I remember, but definitely garlic-y. mmm.

We get done with dinner and my parents, one of my sisters and her boyfriend are here moving boxes into the backyard. It’s the patio set I wanted! YAY. I’ve been wanting patio furniture forever so I can have a nice relaxing dinner with a table in the backyard. Now, I just need to find and buy an umbrella for it. Can’t wait to get it set up, but looks like we have rain in our future for a few days so it shall wait.

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Overall, my day was good.

Keep Good Going In Your Family

This post brought to you by New York Life. All opinions are 100% mine.

After watching this cute Keep Good Going video on YouTube about how this Stay-at-Home Super Dad gave up his career for a bigger, better job with higher benefits… made me sit back and realize that everyone makes sacrifices when it comes to our loved ones no matter the cost.

Go ahead, go watch it now and don’t tell me you didn’t at least smile once…

When I was 19, I was taking classes at a local college, and at the time, I lived with my grandparents to help them out since they had helped me out so much over the years. Needless to say, my grandparents needed me more than ever at that time, so college had to wait til a later date. It was a sacrfice I was willing to make in order to help be beneficial to my grandparents. I could go to college any time, which I did, but being there for loved ones when its needed was way more important to me.

Keep Good Going

Is about the idea of perpetuating the personal good that positively affects everyone in your life (your family). It’s the good you want to pass onto others you care about—in big or small ways—because you know how it can positively shape their life experiences.

The Keep Good Going Life Lessons are welcome nuggets of wisdom and insight that are derived from life experiences. They are often simple, but always profound because they touch on the truths that hold life together. They are personal (not social or community) good, about you and those close to you.

New York Life is celebrating and keeping tally of all of your special moments during Father’s Day. Have a special story to tell about your father? Go check out the “Celebrating Good” initiative and keep good going.

Learn more about how New York Life can help you and your family Keep Good Going

How do you keep good going in your family?

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