First Time Mom and Losing It

Wahoo Heart Rate Monitor - This is a bluetooth/wireless heart rate monitor that connects to your smartphone. I had one years ago that connected to a watch that you had to constantly look at. This one just connects to your smartphone and it tracks away. I love how the Wahoo HRM speaks to you so you don't even have to look at the phone if you don't want to. This has definitely motivated me to work harder during my workouts.



Coco Polo Chocolate - I discovered the Coco Polo Chocolate bars at my local Fairway Market. They are sweetened with erythritol and stevia. Since erythritol is a sugar alcohol you can subtract the grams from the carbohydrate total. A serving is half of a bar but I find that one or two squares is enough to kill my chocolate craving. They have a lot of flavors but my favorite is the hazelnut milk chocolate.



FéFit Exercise - If you follow my instagram you see my daily posts showing my workouts on FéFit. I love this exercise program! It's like I have a personal trainer that plans everything for me to do. It's important to do strength training on Keto so I love that this program covers my whole body. I can't do all of the exercises yet so I love that they always have one of the girls doing a modified version of the harder ones. Looking forward to completing the 90-Day program.



Moon Cheese - These are delicious little nuggets of cheese that replace my chip craving. I love that the only ingredient is cheese. The Gouda and Pepper Jack flavor are 0g of carbs so it's the perfect keto snack. They are so rich and tasty that just one small serving satisfies you.


Amaretto Sugar Free Davinci Syrup - I look forward to my morning coffee when I get to put my sugar free Davinci syrups inside. My favorite is the Amaretto flavor because it reminds me of my favorite almond cake restaurant dessert.

Starbucks Unsweetened Cold Brewed Coffee: I tried my first cup of Starbucks coffee a few months ago and it was so good! Then I found out that they use an already sweetened ice coffee base! Since I didn't want to chance my coffee being given to me with hidden sugars I stopped going to Starbucks all together. Then I discovered the Starbucks Unsweetened Cold Brewed coffee. It is so good and tastes just like getting a cup at the coffee store. The best part is that it is unsweetened so you can add your own sweeteners and syrups and know exactly how many carbs you are getting.


Oopsie Rolls: This is my husband and I's go to "bread" on keto. It is so simple to make and because it is made out of eggs and cream cheese we always have the ingredients on hand. I always make a batch of 12 and keep the leftovers in a ziplock bag in the fridge. The Oopsie rolls are perfect for breakfast sandwiches, with tuna fish and are the perfect hamburger buns. I have made them with poppy seeds, sesame seeds and an "everything bagel" seasoning mixture on top of the buns.


Muffin Top Pan: If you want successful and pretty looking oopsie rolls you have to use a muffin top pan. You can also find them by the name of whoopie pie pans. They make such a difference in the shape and thickness of your oopsie rolls by containing the batter and not letting it spread out. I bought my first pan from Amazon for $10.00. I got another similar pan from Michael's called a mini pie pan.At Michael's I used a 50% off coupon and ended up paying 5 dollars and change.


Cream Cheese Pancakes: The easiest and best way to knock out those pancake cravings. I was tired of eating bacon and eggs for breakfast so I was happy to find the cream cheese pancakes All you have to do is make a batter out of 2 ounces of cream cheese, 1 egg, sweetener and cinnamon in a mini blender. Then cook them like you would a regular pancake batter. I enjoy them with sugar-free syrup and sausage or bacon.


Keto Hot Cocoa: My husband and I were craving hot cocoa so this recipe fit the bill. We first tried it with coconut milk like the recipe listed but we didn't like the flavor too much so I substituted unsweetened almond milk the second time. I also boiled a tiny bit of water and dissolved the dry ingredients with it so that I wouldn't have a grainy texture in the final product. This cocoa is rich and chocolately and so warm and comforting that it is the perfect night time snack.


Pecans: This are one of the best nuts to have on keto because they are lower in carb count and are full of healthy fats. I bought a huge bag at Costco and love snacking on them when I feel hungry in between meals or just want something a little sweet. I always take a little ziplock bag of them with me when I go out.


What were your December favorites?

I have been on a Keto Diet for 16 weeks now and I have followed it easily and without cheats. When I first researched the Keto Diet I was really doubting myself on if I could do it or not. I am a huge sweets person so I thought I would miss my desserts too much. In preparing myself for this way of eating I researched and tried keto recipes and these are my favorites.

Low Carb No-Bake Cheesecake: This is the first dessert I created and enjoyed when I started the Keto Diet. It is so easy to make and so fast. There were a lot of times that my husband and I wanted something sweet to end the day and these were so easy to whip up. It tastes like cheesecake and the nut crumble at the bottom makes the perfect crust.


Low Carb Vanilla Coconut Milk "Shake": This shake is so thick and creamy and satisfying. The thick coconut milk in a can is the key to this milk shake and you won't even miss the ice cream. It's so quick and easy to whip up in the blender and it's so fun to drink with a cute straw.


Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombs: We always have a batch of these in the freezer. These are also easy and quick to make. Fat bombs are perfect when you need to eat some more fat at the end of the day and don't have room from extra protein or carbs. I use sunbutter instead of peanut or almond butter to help cut the carbs a little more. These freeze really well and melt in your mouth when you eat them. They are so decadent that you only need one to satisfy your sweet tooth.


Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake: I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit even with my non-keto family. The pecan crust was so much better than a regular graham cracker crust. The layers of pumpkin pie and cream cheese were so decadent and filling. I cut the cheesecake into 16 pieces and even though the slice looked small the flavor and richness really satisfied me the way a big piece of carb loaded pie would.


Keto Puppy Chow: This may sound a little weird when you find out that the main ingredient is pork rinds but it really does work. The pork rinds are coated with peanut butter and chocolate so you really forget you are eating pork rinds. It is so easy and fast to make and it's a yummy snack that is fun to eat.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FunSizeMerienda #CollectiveBias


One of my favorite memories growing up was the time of La Merienda with my mom. La Merienda is a time of day where you sit back and relax with family while you have a snack or a sweet treat, play a game together or just sit down and talk. Our La Merienda moment was always playing Loteria (Bingo!) We didn't play with money or prizes, we played with candy. It was a fun time for me because it gave my mom and I one on one time and we got to talk about our days together. My mom loves play Loteria because it reminds her of her childhood in Puerto Rico.

Since I had such a great childhood I always love to include my daughter in things my mom and I did when I was younger. I wanted her to have fun playing Loteria with my mom and I so I created Loteria Cards and Loteria Numbers that were big enough and easy enough for her to play with. I made up some Loteria cards with numbers that ranged from one to thirty and letters that ranged from A to C. Then I went to my local Walmart to get some cardstock, wooden circles, a bag of M&M'®s Fun Size Variety Mix for the Loteria markers, and a bag of Fun Size TWIX®, SNICKERS®, M&M’s® Milk Chocolate and M&M’s® Peanut for the bingo currency.


To make the toddler Loteria print out the following pages:

• Loteria Cards 1
• Loteria Cards 2
• Loteria Numbers

Cut out all of the Loteria cards and all of the Loteria numbers. I used a circle cutter to cut out the Loteria numbers. If you are going to be using the Loteria cards over and over I suggest you laminate them.


To make the Loteria numbers paint the wooden circles with a layer of modge podge. Place a Loteria number on top and then paint over with another layer of modge podge. Let it dry completely. Put all of the number circles in a little drawstring bag.


To play the game: Give each player 4 fun size bags of chocolate and 2 fun size bags of M&M's®. Have each player purchase and pick their cards using the bags of chocolate. Take turns calling out the numbers. Use the M&M's® to mark off any of your numbers that were called out. The first one to get Loteria across, diagonally or vertically yells Loteria and wins the candy in the pot.




What Sweet Moments do you have growing up that you have shared with your children? 

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for the SPLENDA® Brand. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. All opinions and reviews are my own.”



One of my favorite ways to exercise is to Zumba! It's so fun that you don't even feel like you are exercising and the music is pretty amazing. My sister and I have been Zumba-ing for a while now so we wanted to get our mom and my best friend involved with it too. My mom is pretty shy when it comes to dancing so she will usually do it when it's just me and her at her house. My best friend wanted to try it too so I decided to have them all over my house to get an hour of Zumba in and then relax with some incredible smoothies, fresh fruit and a little goodie box.


Since I knew my downstairs neighbors where out of town, I took the opportunity to hold the Zumba class in my home. I ]popped the Zumba DVD into my player and we danced away. We all sweated like crazy while still having fun. Here are my girls posing right before class for their before shot. We plan on doing it at least once a week and take after pictures in a few months.


Since we didn't want to ruin all of the calories we burned while doing Zumba I decided to make some Sweet Swaps by replacing regular sugar with SPLENDA® in our smoothie. I went over to the Sweet Swaps website to find a smoothie recipe that we could all enjoy after a hard workout. I went with the Banana-Peanut Chocolate Smoothie to get the extra protein in from the peanut butter and the extra yumminess from the chocolate. Just swapping SPLENDA® for regular sugar can save you tons of calories! Click on the link to find the recipe for the Banana-Peanut Chocolate Smoothie Recipe.





The SPLENDA® Brand is helping everybody to make smart choices by giving recipes ideas at the SweetSwaps.com website. They want to give you great ideas, tips and tricks on swapping out full sugar for SPLENDA® Sweetener Products.


Head on over to the SweetSwaps.com website and tell me which recipe you would try. 

I love making my daughter a special breakfast on any holiday like my heart and love shaped pancakes. Since I got those silicone egg molds to make my DIY Kinder Surprise Eggs, I decided to put them to use again and make some pancakes out of them.


I wanted the eggs to be pink so I took about 3/4 cup of chopped fresh strawberries and placed it into my mini blender and blended away until I got a nice puree. I took some cheesecloth and placed it into a strainer and poured the puree through to catch all of the seeds and chunky bits.

Since I used a complete pancake mix I used two thirds of the strawberry puree and one third water for the liquid. My box instructions called for 3/4 cup of water so I added 1/2 cup of strawberry puree and 1/4 cup of water. Mix and let the pancake batter rest for at least 5 minutes.


Take the silicone mold and place onto a metal sheet pan. Spray the egg molds with some oil and pour the strawberry pancake batter in. Place in the oven at 350 degrees and cook until the pancakes are cooked through. Mine took about 25 minutes.


While the pancake eggs are cooking I melted about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. Place the melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut the tip of one of the corners. Take the pancake eggs out of the oven and let cool slightly for about 5 minutes. Pop out the egg pancakes out of the mold and place flat side down on a plate. Drizzle the chocolate on top to decorate the pancakes like an Easter egg. Add some Easter sprinkles and bunny and carrot candies. (optional)




Sprinkle some unsweetened coconut flakes to the bottom of the plate and place the eggs on top to serve.

Last week I shared my tutorial for my "You Are A "Bow"Tiful" Valentine. My daughter will be giving these out to her dance mates at her dance studio. I wanted to make something cute and delicious for her to give out too so I decided to make them little donuts.

I bought this cute little donut maker about a year ago to make healthier donuts and never got around to using it. I decided to make it simple by using some regular boxed cake mix for the doughnuts with a  vanilla glaze made from store bought frosting.


First I turned on the mini donut maker and let it heat up. Then I took the mix and prepared it following the instructions on the box. To make it less messy to fill the donut cups I placed the cake batter into a gallon sized zip top back and cut a little bit of one of the corners. I carefully filled each cup and closed it to let it cook.


About 3 minutes later the donuts are perfectly done. I took them out and cooled them completely.


To make the glaze I took 1/2 of the container of frosting and microwaved it for 30 seconds. Carefully remove from microwave and stir.


Then I dipped each doughnut into the glaze and sprinkled on some red and pink sprinkles. I waited for the glaze to completely harden and them placed 2 in each cupcake wrapper with a pick in the back.


To make the Valentine Mini Donuts (Printable Version)
Supplies:

• Mini Donut Maker (or donut pans and oven) 
• Cake mix (and ingredients to prepare cake)
• Vanilla Frosting
• Valentines Day sprinkles 
• Valentines Cupcake Picks
• Valentines Cupcake wrapper