My finger- My Purpose

I've discovered something really interesting the last few days. 

We know that our bodies are made up of parts...big parts, small parts...too much cellulite parts, parts that are flabby and parts that are thin. So many parts make up the human body. 

I'm learning that I enjoy my fingers....I know it sounds weird..but I enjoy my fingers.

I use my fingers to type, I use them to play piano, to pick my nose, to button my pants. I use them for quite a few things. I think it's pretty common knowledge that fingers are important. However, did you know how important the SIDE of your finger is? 

Yeah, I didn't either until I did this........

YEP, OUCH

Took a big chunk of skin right off the side of my finger. It bled like a beast and didn't feel great either. But no big deal right? It's the side of my finger after all, it's kinda useless.

WRONG!!

It has been truly amazing to realize how much I actually use this side of my finger. I use it ALOT! In fact, I've been bumping it more times than my pain reactors can handle and it's NO bueno.

Ok, so you're probably wondering why on earth I'm talking about fingers and showing you icky pictures of my flesh gouged hand. You may be confused and a little grossed out, but I have a purpose so hang tight.

My incident with my finger this week reminded me of a very important lesson.

Are you ready?

Here it is..

EVERYONE, whether great or small, has purpose!!!

HOORAY! Life changing epiphany moment!!

Ok probably not. :)

I know for me, as a stay at home mom and wife my life can start to feel pretty mundane, boring or insignificant. The never ending lists of dishes, groceries, dinners, laundry, picking up, and taking care of the kids can just feel down right BLAH some days.

But it's not just a stay at home mommy problem. 

You may be a wife or a single woman in the work field and you still feel insignificant in your role. Sure you may like what you're doing, but there are times when you just don't feel like you're accomplishing what (insert name of an amazingly accomplished person) is accomplishing in life.

You may be a member of your local church body and feel insignificant. I mean sure, you're talented at hospitality, so you greet people at the door from time to time but that's not like the REALLY talented people who are on the worship team or leading a ministry group.

Or maybe you just help out in the nursery once a month. No big deal, changing stinky diapers and wiping away baby drool is less than glamorous when it's your OWN kid, much less someone else's. :)

When you start to feel insignificant, you start to feel replaceable, looked over, or worthless.

But you're not!! 

I've had many roles in my life. Some have had more "spotlight" and glamour than others. I've had these roles in all different seasons too.... Single, Working, Married, Mother......

What I've found, is it doesn't really matter what season, or what your circumstances are, the enemy is going to bring lies to your mind to make you feel insignificant in your role.

Ephesians 2:10 says, "For you are Gods Masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus, to do the good works that God intended in advance for you."

Did you catch that last part?

You were created, to do the good works that GOD himself planned in advance for YOU TO DO!

If you are a single business woman in the work place...God has a plan to use you there.

If you are a young lady in college....God has good works for you to do there.

If you stay at home with kids....God has intentions for you right there.

Right there in the midst of toys and messy highchairs.

In the middle of piles of paperwork and a egocentric boss who mistreats you.

He has plans, when you're on stage with a microphone, or just another face in the crowd.

EVERYONE HAS PURPOSE no matter how GREAT or how small.

1Corinthians 12-14-26

 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

I love verse 23. and 24.."And the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor."

"But God put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it."

That's good news for those of us who feel insignificant in our roles!!

No one may see, the way you tenderly caress and sick baby's brow.

Or the way you calming handle an irate customer at work.

No one may notice how you run your home to honor God

Or that you vacuum the sanctuary during the week.

But, GOD sees. And he will give special honor to those who lack honor.

You may not be honored by a single soul on this earth for the amazing woman you are...but you will be honored by God.

With the right attitude about our God given roles, we can find great fulfillment in 'doing the good works that God intended for us in advance to do'.

I pray that wherever you find yourself in life today that you will see your roles as important. That you will look on the mundane tasks with purpose and remember that even the things that seem so small are still VERY important.

Don't let the enemy define your contentment in your role as a wife, a mom and woman. But let the truth of God overwhelm your messy places and ignite your purpose in your heart!

Just like the seemingly insignificant side of my finger has usefulness and purpose so do you!

YOU are an amazing woman!!!

and

YOU have amazing purpose!!!

Be Blessed today. :) 

Messy Mommy- Danger Zone

I just had a very scary mommy moment! 

Often times I spend the afternoon getting some work done in the office while my two kids watch tv and play in the living room.

Most days, this is no problem. They play and I can hear them and glance into the living room to check on them from time to time.

This day was different.

As I was sitting in the office getting some work done, I hear this big THUG upstairs. I listen for a second to see if anyone is crying. Usually that's how I can tell if all is well in the world...If you don't hear crying after a big THUG, things are probably ok. :)

I assumed my daughter was being her usual noisy self and getting into something she's not supposed to. :)

I quickly realized that the sounds I was hearing in the living room were from my daughter!!!

I walk out there, and she's sitting quietly on the couch watching tv.

Panic quickly flooded me as I realized Parker, my one year old, was NOT in the living room.

WHERE'S PARKER?!?!?! I not so quietly ask!

One glance at the stairs I realize what has happened.

That adventurous little boy had ventured passed his typical first step exploration and gone ALL THE WAY UP...and NOT JUST UP, but through the hall way and into his room!

Puzzles falling from his shelf in his room was the loud THUG I had heard!!

{his grandparents reading this are shaking their heads right now.....sorry grammy and grandma. ..my bad}

Relieved that he's ok, I scoop him up and start walking back down the stairs. It's then that I realize all the disaster he (somewhat) avoided.  Besides the obvious dangers of a 1 yr old on the stairs, he had crawled past the bins of stuff sitting on the higher steps waiting to be taken up. Things like; my craft scissors, markers, paint pens, a bottle of craft paint. EEKK!!

Then at the top of the stairs I see many crayons that he stole from sissy's room and decided to snack on. Thankfully, he managed to avoid the open door to the very exposed bathroom, on his way to his room.

In my defense- He has NEVER ventured past the first step before. He usually avoids the stairs all together. Not to mention when we are upstairs..sissy's room is OFF limits due to the many small items that could be swallowed or lodged in places that would warrant a trip to the ER.

I guess it's time for me to get a good gate for the stairs.

Parker is NOT going to like having a gate on the stairs but as we can probably all agree it's the best thing for him to avoid some dreaded DANGER ZONES.

After my heart rate returned to normal speed, I got to thinking about sin and how it correlates to my messy mommy moment with the stairs.

Sin is a lot like those stairs. At first glance, they seem so harmless. To a baby, they seem exciting and adventurous. They seem like they will take us places we want to go, places we've never been.

We start up the path completely unaware of the dangers that await. The scissors that could stab us, the paint that could poison us..and there we are sitting on the edge of a step unaware that at any moment the wrong move could send us toppling to the bottom. 

As I said before, Parker had never ventured passed the first step. He certainly didn't understand the dangers that awaited him.

When we allow sin into our lives, it seems so innocent. It can seem like no big deal. But eventually, we want to venture off that first step, we want more. Before we know it, we're at the top and we may not even know how we got so far from that first step.

Just as the stairs represent a DANGER ZONE for my one year old. So does sin represent DANGER for us.

Sin is always dangerous, no matter how "innocent" it may seem at the time. Despite any rationalizations we may make, or clever arguments we may concoct. 

SIN LEADS TO DESTRUCTION.

Destruction of your family, of your marriage, of your relationships, your body, your mind and your eternity.

Putting a gate up for Parker is not to punish him. But to protect him from danger. To keep him from being injured.

The Word of GOD is our spiritual gate. If we allow it, it will keep us from harm, from 'accidentally falling off the steps into danger'.

The Bible talks a lot about sin. 

Romans 6:23 says;

"For the wages of Sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Here's the deal, We are all sinners, the Bible says so in Romans 3:10.

But we do not have to LIVE sin filled lives.

Romans 12:2 says

"Do not be conformed to the ways of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds."

So many people view the Bible as a list of rules and regulations intended to take away our fun. To put us in a pious little box of self-righteousness. But that's the opposite of what the Bible does for us.

I put up a gate on the stairs, because I love my son and don't want to see him injured. As his mom I am less concerned about his constant happiness as I am about him being protected.

God gives us guidelines to live by because he knows what is good for us.

He knows what we need and what will bring destruction to our lives.

He knows what will ruin our marriages, ruin our bodies, ruin our relationships, our finances, and ultimately separate us from his Holy presence and he doesn't want that for us.

God gives us guidelines because he is less concerned about us constantly fulfilling our human desires and more concerned about our spiritual condition. Because he desires to spend eternity with us. And trust me...once you get past your life on earth, you'll WANT to spend eternity with Him too!!

So even though I certainly do NOT earn mommy of the year award today for my messy stair encounter I can take a lesson from my crazy little one year old who avoided injury climbing up the treacherous stairs and embrace the Bible and the guidelines it provides for me.

If we follow Gods ways, it will lead to much better things than following our ways ever could. 

I pray that my heart will always see Gods guidelines as a tool for my benefit even if it feels restrictive in  a moment of human desire.

I will trust that GOD see's the bigger picture and knows best.

I hope you will too. :)

Weight Loss Wednesday- Skinny Pumpkin Spice Cake

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Cake

Fall is here and I'm so excited!! I love fall, I love the colors, the smells, the decorations, the cool crisp weather and I LOVE the fall goodies!!

It's sometimes difficult to find yummy tasting desserts that wont totally sabotage your weight loss efforts.

This is one of my favorite fall recipes, it's so good you wont even know it's low cal. :)

Here's what you'll need:

One box of Spice Cake Mix

One can of Pumpkin Puree

1 Cup of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Just add the can of pumpkin puree to the dry cake mix. If it's really hard to stir, you can add 1/4 cup of water to help ya out.

After mixed completely, fold in your chocolate chips.

Bake on 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Here is the finished product! So easy, So yummy!

If cut into 12 pieces. It's roughly 186 calories a piece 

or

4Points Plus

Not bad for a yummy fall treat!!

Happy Eating!!

Messy Spaces- Shelving Transformation

Hey ya'll. It's been a little while since I've posted. Mostly because we've been SOO busy and I've been working on some projects. I just completed one TODAY and wanted to share it with you all. :)

So, we have a really nice master bathroom. It's big, it's pretty. Except for one thing! We have a large area that has open shelving. I'm not a fan of open shelving mainly because it's difficult to keep it looking nice. Especially when it's an area shared by the whole family. This area holds, hair stuff, any and all bathroom stuff, medicines, heating pads, and all of my couponing stock pile. Needless to say, it's full and it's messy. :(

Here's what my messy bathroom shelving looked like.

I'm not a fan of clutter, so the sight of this makes me feel anxious!! It's basically a catch all for anything bathroom related. I've tried to sort and organize and it almost always end up like this!

So, I set out on a quest to find some sort of bins that would conceal our junk in a pretty and neat fashion.

Let me just say that bins and containers are EXPEN$IVE. I was having some serious trouble finding some that were decently priced and even a little bit cute. I didn't want to spend much on this project.

The cheapest I found was a basic white cloth bin at Walmart for about $5 a piece.

BUT THEN, I went to Dollar Tree

If you know me well, you know that I frequent the Dollar Tree!! I LOVE THE DOLLAR TREE! You just never know what kind of goodies you will find amongst the porcelain dolls and generic toilet cleaners. :)

I found some plastic storage bins that looked like they would meet our needs for storage in this space. Unfortunately they only came in bright colors that did not even remotely match my bathroom. :( 

What to do....

Well, I bought them anyways and decided to paint them in hopes that they would be the answer to my anxiety!

Here's what I bought

Bins with some Ocean Breeze Spray Paint

AND

Chalkboard Labels for the front

It was a little work, but they looked SO CUTE!!

But after spraying about half of them, I realized that this paint was NOT sticking very well. 

I quickly realized I needed a FUSION, Plastic Spray paint.

Only problem was they didn't have my OCEAN BREEZE COLOR. {SAD FACE}

So, I chose a nice tan color.

Here is the end result

Much nicer, Yes?!

I think so.

I know I will one day have to repaint the pretty lil blue ones, but I figured I let them live their life for a while as a beautifully BREEZY Sea Blue, and redo them later.

After crunching the numbers I spend less than $30 on the bins, the paint and the chalkboard labels.

Which is a whopping $40 cheaper than the plain white cloth bins from walmart. So, I'm pleased with my savings.

Now that I know to use PLASTIC FUSHION paint. A similar project will be much easier.

:)

Weight Loss Wednesday- Skinny Chinese Food

Well Howdy Friends,

I hope you've had a splendid week of weight loss success. 

I have done well this week, so HOORAY!

Every now and then I get a serious craving for chinese food!!

I LOVE chinese food. Panda Express and me are BFF'S which is possibly why I'm trying to lose weight. {ha}

Unfortunately for me and my chinese cravings, Chinese food is not weight loss friendly. So I decided to start trying to make some of my favorite dishes at home in hopes to not only save money but some calories. Or pts if you're a weight watcher.

So I present

 SKINNY SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN WITH CREAM CHEESE WON TONS

Here's what you'll need.

boneless, skinless chicken breasts(one per person depending on size)

brown rice

LA CHOY sweet and sour sauce

Won ton Wrappers (usually in the produce section)

Cream cheese ( I usually use low fat)

Broccoli

Fortune Cookies (opt)

First Cut up thawed chicken into small bit sized chunks. In a baking dish cover and coat with Sweet and sour sauce. Bake on 350 for 40ish minutes. or until cooked through.

Next take won ton wrappers and lay out on a cutting board with a small bowl of water.

Soften 1/2 a block of cream cheese(depending on how many you're making) and stir.

place 1/2tbsp of Cream cheese in the center of won ton wrapper, apply water to the edges of wrapper with finger and press it closed in a triangle shape.

Continue to do that til you have the desired won ton amount.

on a sprayed cookie sheet, BAKE on 350 for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Make your rice ( I use minute boil in a bag rice cause I'm all about easy..or as my daughter would say, Easy Peasey Lemon Squeezy) :)

I steamed some broccoli and VOILA! Chinese food!!

It's so yummy and satisfying, but it's also easy and lower in calories and pts than your local Chinese place.

Here's the breakdown

1/2 c rice

2 tbsp Sweet and sour sauce

4 oz chicken

1 cu broccoli

4 wrappers

2 tbsp low fat cream cheese

1 fortune cookie

517 Calories for the whole shebang!!! 

Or 14 PTs PLUS

14 pts may sound like a lot..and it is more than a typical dinner. BUT its less than going to a chinese restaurant for sure! So if you're craving chinese, this is the way to go. :)

Well there ya have it folks. A Yummy, EASY PEASEY way to make a Chinese favorite that wont wreck havoc on your weight loss efforts!

HAPPY EATING 

And may this week of weight loss be kind to us all! :)

Messy Mommy- Train Up A Child

As mommas we have an important job to do. We may never fully understand the weight and privilege  it truly is to train up our children.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a mommy of a beautiful 5 year old little girl(Mckenzie) and a sweet and spunky almost 1 year old boy(Parker), and they are my biggest blessings.

Even on my messiest mommy days, they are my biggest blessing, although I can't promise I would say so in the middle of that messy moment. :)

As I was changing my sons diaper after his after noon nap a few days ago, I started thinking about the differences in mommy seasons and what "taking care of the kids" really looks like.
When they are infants and babies like Parker is now, my primary role is meeting his basic needs. Taking care of him physically. Feeding, changing, bathing, clothing...and snuggling of course. :)

When you're on your first child that stage can seem endless. It seems tiring, mundane even at times.

But once they graduate from that stage of taking care of their basic needs you realize that your role is so much bigger. Mckenzie was about three when I truly started to see that I was not only responsible for making sure her basic needs were met, but I was responsible for shaping her to be a good human being.{With her dads help of course, :)}  To have respect and morals, to learn right and wrong and have faith in a God she can't see or comprehend. I think it's at THAT moment that the diapering and two am feedings seem much more doable. :)

It's no longer about hot dogs or cereal or shorts or sweatpants, it's about training a sinful human being to follow God.

THAT is a huge responsibility!!

"Train up a child in the way they will go, and when they are old they will not depart from it."Prov 22:6

Is an inspiring verse for parenthood, but it also carries much weight.

It can be completely overwhelming the thought of my children's eternal destination hinging on my teachings and example in these early years of their lives. SOOO OVERWHELMING

There are many days when I ask God "Am I completely screwing up my kids?" and after I see Mckenzie throw a monster tantrum and be stubborn and selfish in ALL the same ways I know I can do those things, I think....."YEP, I'm DEFINITELY screwing up my kids." haha

But I'm so thankful for a God who sees past all that.

I am an imperfect human being! I am an imperfect parent for SURE, so why on earth would God leave the training of my children up to ME?!?!

Here's what I've discovered. "God grace is sufficient for me and his strength his made perfect in my weakness." 2 Corin 12:9.

God knew I wouldn't be perfect, He knew I'd have a million failures and stresses and messy days when I scream and cry more than I love and nurture and he chose me anyway!! He CHOSE me and my amazing hubby to train up these children even though we are not perfect.

It's not about me, it's not about Tim, it's about GODS STRENGTH being made perfect in our times and areas of weakness and allowing GOD to train our children through us.

Let me just say, that takes a HUGE weight off. Just typing that I sighed a huge sigh of relief. :)

Gods grace is sufficient for me, it's sufficient for you! He chose YOU and ME to be the imperfect messy mommy's to our kiddos and he knew we would not be able to do it alone!

He knows what you need, He has wisdom for every area that you will face in raising up your kids to love and honor God.

All we must do is seek HIM! Seek GOD, Seek his wisdom.

Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek FIRST, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."


As we seek God and his righteousness, God can do an amazing work inside us as mommies. You are not in this alone, you have the creator of the universe helping you succeed. All he asks, is that we seek him first, and rely on his strength when we are at our messiest.

I don't know about you, but knowing that feels AH-MAZING!!

HIS GRACE is SUFFICIENT for us all!!!

Blessings and Peace to all my beautifully Messy Mommies today!!!

Messy Mommy- Toxic Thoughts

As a stay at home mom, I seem to have a lot of time to think throughout the day. Whether I'm feeding a baby food that he will soon sneeze out all over me, or feed to the dog. Or standing at the sink loading yet ANOTHER sink full of dishes. Folding Laundry, or watching my kids swing. My mind is always functioning. Maybe not always at a high, intelligent level..but functioning none the less.

No matter what, I seem to be doing my mind has the opportunity for thoughts to run through my brain.

Some good thoughts, Some bad thoughts, Some "I just gotta get this done" thoughts.

Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.....

I used to think that being alone with your thoughts was a good thing. But I'm not always so sure. Sure "thinking" is obviously an important part of our daily activity. It's essential for life...for most people anyways. :)

But what happens when you have thoughts you just want to get rid of? What happens when your thoughts are bringing you down, causing you pain, stirring up misery in your heart?

I'd be lying if I said I never had those types of thoughts. In fact I have them often. I feel them often, I hate them OFTEN!
Having negative thoughts is like living in a toxic wasteland. The toxic thoughts start to effect everything it comes into contact with. The thing that makes toxic thoughts so bad for us is that it effects our main operating system ...OUR MINDS, and then our toxic thoughts travel down to our heart and then out through our actions. And before long, our whole lives are toxic, and it's all because of those stupid toxic thoughts.

Can you relate? Have you been there? Are you there now?? I hope I'm not the only one who deals with this, I'm assuming I'm not.


As I was reading and studying for the Unglued Bible study I lead at church, I heard a statement that sort of stopped me in my tracks.

"Negative inside chatter is misguided thoughts that can easily turn into perceptions that then turn into dangerous realities."

The author went on to say,
"TOXIC thoughts, leave no room for truth to flourish. Where there is no truth- LIES REIGN"

Wow, did you catch that! Where there is no TRUTH, Lies Reign.

I can think of quite a few areas where lies have reigned in my life throughout the years.

Lies about my husband

Lies about my kids or my role as a mom

Lies about my body

 Lies about ME.....

It's miserable to live with lies. To be ruled by negativity. To only see the bad and never the good.

To allow your actions to be dictated by your ugly feelings towards your circumstances or people around you.

Yep, those Toxic thoughts have certainly caused me grief and I'm sure you've experienced it too.

I can be having a perfectly peaceful, happy day when a negative thought or memory will come out of left field and slap me in the face. Bringing up hurt feelings, regret, conversations that I wish I had or HADN'T had. Things from like 10 years ago..I mean hello...it's over with already, move on!! But the negative thoughts keep me stuck.

Where there is no TRUTH- Lies Reign

It seems to me that there is no shortage of lies in this world. Lies seem to come at us full speed ahead from every angle. What I don't see an abundance of is TRUTH!!

We need to know the truth about who we are! About our lives, circumstances and relationships.

The TRUTH is that our Heavenly Father sent his son to die to ransom us from our toxic mess! To save our souls, to redeem our mistakes, to make us whole, to remind us that we are CHERISHED.

I've been a Christian for the majority of my life, and I don't always feel whole. In fact I RARELY feel whole...and it's not because I didn't RSVP to the "GET WHOLENESS FROM JESUS PARTY" or because he is backing out on his promises.

 It's because I focus on the mess, on the toxic junk. I mull it over and over again in my mind and allow it to bring me down. Instead I should be thanking God for His truth and thinking on it daily!

"Rejoice Always, Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for THIS is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus." 1Thes 5:16-18

I forget to be thankful some days...ok A LOT of days. I get too focused on my messy circumstances, or my negative emotions.

Thankfulness breeds more thankfulness.

Focusing on what I AM, instead of what I am NOT. Helps me apply truth to the lies that reign in my perception of myself.

Phil 4:8-9 "Finally brothers and sisters, Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- If anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me. Put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."


It's HARD to do that some days. But it simply has to be done. It HAS TO!

Cleaning up your thought life is a lot like a smelly refrigerator!
When you open up that frig you realize right away if something in there is TOXIC. Do you close it back up and just hope that the toxic decaying food will evaporate??
NO of course you don't..ok maybe you do for a few days. But EVENTUALLY, you HAVE to clean it out. The good food will get all nasty stuck inside that air tight frig with decaying toxic nastiness.

So, to maintain the environment for healthy food, it must be discarded!

Same is true for your minds. Some times it's easier to let the toxic nastiness of our thoughts, sit and simmer...but it only gets worse, smells more and eventually will need to be cleaned out if we want to move on not smelling like STANK! :) Yep, I said STANK!

So I encourage you Messy Women to clean out your mind. Get rid of the junk and replace it with truth.

I don't know what lies are reigning in your mind about your life. But dig into Gods word and apply truth. Don't allow lies to reign any longer.

It's time to grab our big girl panties, a clothes pin for our nose, gloves for our hands and dig up that toxic mess that's causing pain in our thought life.

Let the word of God set you free!! Cause He who the SON(Jesus) sets free, is free indeed.


YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, YOU ARE LOVED, and YOU ARE WORTH THE EFFORT!!

Where there is no truth- Lies Reign.

So de-throne that sucker- and let TRUTH bring peace! :)

Weight Loss Wednesday- Sweet Tooth and Comfort Food

Well, Welcome to another Weight Loss Wednesday. I hope the last week of your weight loss journey has been a productive and successful one!

Mine has been.....eh...ok. :) I restarted again on Monday..........always Monday. But in my defense we were out of town for three days visiting friends sooooo, I gave myself a pass to indulge a little.

I've been doing excellent in my food tracking this week. In spite of Parker (my almost one year old) having croup and feeling yucky..go ahead you can say it......*AHHHHHHH* :)

He's on meds and doing ok.

Today I woke up and knew it was going to be "THAT" day. You know what day I'm referring to, many of you also know the feeling of "THAT" day arriving. Yep, Aunt Flow came a knockin.

A usual day of dread, laced with a little bit of relief that I am not pregnant again! HA 

Don't judge, just bein real. Pregnancy and me are NOT friends. I love babies, just not pregnancy. It's like my body is allergic to it or something. Not a fun 9 months either time I did it. And all my friends who had to endure me while I was pregnant said....AMEN!

But ANYWHOO...

So, Aunt flow is visiting and Parker is still sick. What other options do I have but to sit at home and EAT right?!?

Well, sort of. 

Today is a day I want comfort food as I'm sure many of you do to. So I've compiled a little list of goodies that will help me and you get through this day.

#1 CHOCOLATE- I can hear the hallelujah chorus already.

My first thought is to run to the gas station and stock up on king size Heath bars. BUUUT, That would NOT be productive for my weight loss efforts OR my stomach. So, here is what I do to get by.

Nestle Toll House Semi Sweet Mini's are delish. 

1Tablespoon is only 70 calories and 2Points Plus if you're a weight watcher.

It doesn't sound like much. But once you put a whole tablespoon of these mini's in your hand it's very satisfying.

If Chocolate alone doesn't entice you and you're more of a PEANUT BUTTER Fan.

This next goodie is literally a GO TO in my house

#2 Chocolate/ Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter and Company 

DARK CHOCOLATE DREAMS Peanut Butter Spread

HOLLA! This stuff is AH-mazing

1Tablespoon is 85 Calories or 2.5Point Plus Values.

This stuff is rich and creamy and sooo good.

You can put it on a banana or eat it right off the spoon!! :)

I will say though that this does require some willpower to NOT go back for more, cause it will add up quickly. And no I don't say that from experience...ok who am I kidding Of COURSE I say that from experience. 

So, consider yourself warned. :)

#3 Is an all American Favorite

ICE CREAM!!

So, I present to you HEALTHY CHOICE GREEK FROZEN YOGURT.

I know, I know it's not the SAAAME as ice cream.

But your body will thank you later for training your taste buds to make the switch.

This stuff is really yummy. This is strawberry and very satisfying.

100 Calories for the container or 3PointsPlus Values.

Its cold, it's creamy, it's delightful!

ok and Last but not Least by far one of my FAVORITE Comfort Foods is....

Drum Roll Please....

#4. PIZZA

So, Pizza is also an american favorite. An Easy, Fast, Yummy Alternative to actually cooking dinner. :)

Of Course all of us Beautifully Messy Mommas cook dinner every night right? *Cough Cough*

This is my quick, low calorie alternative to running to the neighborhood pizza joint.

Ingredients

Flat out wraps ( I use Italian )

Pesto Sauce

Hunts, Pasta Sauce or Pizza Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Turkey Pepperoni

and Italian Seasoning

This is such a yummy and easy recipe.

Spread a thin layer of Pesto sauce on the flat out, cover with aprox 1/4 c of sauce.

Sprinkle on about 1/4c Cheese and spread out 17 Turkey Peperoni's

Sprinkle on Italian seasoning on top

and bake for about 15-20 minutes. 

Or until edges are brown and crispy.

*note, if you use too much sauce, it will be soggy in the center*

This is Aprox 400 Calories and Aprox 6 points plus values

FOR THE ENTIRE THING!! YEP, YOU GET TO EAT THE WHOLE THING!

Which always makes me excited. :)

AND it's very filling. You can pair it with a side salad if you still feel hungry.

It certainly satisfies the craving for pizza without the added calories and fat.

And it's actually quicker to make than getting in the car and driving to a pizza place.

I will be making these for dinner tonight! YUM! I'm excited.

Well, I hope these are helpful tips to indulging lightly in comfort foods on days when you just can't live without them!! May they assist you in your weight loss efforts this week!!

Happy Eating! 

Ibotta- Ways to Save

 Ibota- Ways to Save

I LOVE to shop! It's true, I can't help it..I love the thrill of bringing home something new and for a moment feeling pretty darn proud of myself.

Here's the catch. I HATE spending full price on anything. Seriously, whether it's shoes, kids clothes, milk, or banana's if I can save on an item I'm all about it!

Why spend full price when you can get just about anything on sale right?!?

RIGHT!

So, Today I want to share this new AP with you that I've recently been using. It has saved me a bundle and I want to share the love.

I love sharing deals with friends and since we are all friends here...well, this is the perfect opportunity.

It's called IBOTTA

And it's an Ap for smartphone users.

Here's the gist. 

They give you offers on things you may normally buy at the grocery store.

you select the offers you intend to purchase and when you're done scan your receipt and the item's barcode into the ap to receive your rebate.

When you're ready to redeem your rebates, Ibotta will transfer funds into a PayPal account of your choice!

It's that's easy.

Here are some great deals I got recently.

I am an avid price matcher, I price match AT LEAST two or three things every grocery trip.

So with the help of a friend who alerted me of some excellent price matching deals in our area {thank you Kristin}  I began my search for corresponding coupons.

I didn't use a ton of coupons, but I had a few to go with the Ibotta deals.

Ibotta was also offering bonus rebates for purchasing certain items.

So here's the breakdown. I price matched items to make them cheaper than normal. I used coupons when I could to make the price matched price even lower. THEN I received rebated for that item taking anywhere from .25-1.50 MORE off.

THEN, after purchasing several offers I received bonus money.

After price matching and coupons I got all of this{plus a package of pullups, not pictured} for $64.29

ok, so $64.29 isn't exactly a "STEEL" on all these items, but it was a decent savings.

Here's where it gets exciting.

After following the guidelines for the bonus. I am getting a total rebate of....

are you ready?......

$43.50!!!!

Making this whole purchase only $20.79!!

{Just the two packages of diapers would've cost that.}

That's aprox $1.20 per item. Which is pretty stinking amazing!!

As I type I have $43.50 in a paypal account ready for me to use again.

Now with these deals, you DO have to spend a little out of pocket up front, but I look at it as doubling my money. I used that money, got some great usable items AND get to use that money again.

In my book, it doesn't get much better where money saving is concerned.

So, Give it a try! Check out Ibotta, and start saving too.

http://ibotta.com/r/YouLpA