Day 1 of My Low Carb Week

Pasta, bread, cookies, crackers, muffins, scones, are a no no this week! I have vowed to avoid carbohydrates for one week. I eased into the process by beginning to cut carbohydrates over the weekend. I immediately began to feel withdrawal like symptoms. I felt a little jittery. Other than that, I can put my nose on it, but I just didn't feel at my best. I am glad that I began weaning off of my addiction over the weekend. All of those ugly feelings have subsided for the most part and I am beginning to feel more clear headed and energized. We will see where I stand in a few days.

I do not think that I can be low carb forever, but I definitely think this is something that I can do every other week if all goes well. I have been on a weightloss plateau for a while now and going low carb may just be the solution. My day one meal plan is as follows:

Breakfast: Bannana, grapes and 1 tablespoon of almond butter
Snack: Wasabi flavored Almonds (Trader Joe's brand)
Lunch: 1 Mahi Mahi Filet, Orange-Glazed Carrots and a Babybel Cheese
Snack: More Wasabi flavored Almonds (Trader Joe's brand), Oranges and a Nectarine
Dinner: To Be Determined....

This week, I have also decided to also eliminate artificial sugars from my diet. I know, big changes?! I drink lots and lots of iced tea with Splenda as well as diet dark sodas on occasion. I have noticed that after ingesting artificial sweeteners, I have an insatiable appetite. Through my research, I believe that my articial sweetner intake is the culprit. I purchased Wholesome Sweeterners' Organic Blue Agave and raw honey from Costco. These two products will replace my Splenda/Sweet n' Low products from here on out. I will keep you all posted daily to share my experience going low carb as well as artifical sweetener free.

My Lunch: Mahi Mahi and Orange Glazed Carrots

Homemade Candies Are A Hit With Family and Friends

I love the idea of homemade things. They tend to be more than just an object, instead they convey emotion. Rightfully so, because they require more energy to produce. So why go the extra step to make goodies? They are a cost effective way to say "I love you"! Also, I believe that candy making has become a lost art. I'm not going to call myself the greatest cook or baker, but I am decent and know that I will continue to improve with time. In other words, if I can make it so can you!

I used the following recipes to make peanut brittle and English Toffee featured in the pictures below. The only thing that the recipes call for that you may have to go out and buy is a candy thermometer.

Hint: *You may want to pull your candy from the heat once it browns. I found that my candy thermometer did not hit the desired heat specified by the recipes. I pulled them out of the heat based on instinct and they came out perfectly! If I would have left them longer, they most likely would have burned.*

English Toffee Ingredients

• 4 sticks of Melted Butter
• 2 cups of Granulated Sugar
• 3 ounces, fluid Water
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract ( Can use immitation Vanilla flavor)
• 2 cups, weight Chopped Topping: Toasted Nuts, Candy Canes, Sea Salt, Etc.
• 3 cups of tempered Dark or Milk Chocolate For Coating, Melted ( I used milk and dark chocolate chips)

English Toffee Preparation Instructions

*Necessary Equipment: Candy Thermometer*
Mix butter, sugar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Cook over moderate heat, stirring gently, until candy thermometer registers 298 degrees.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla until well combined. (You can tell that this needs to be done as soon as the mixture turns to the color that you desire and is near the 298 mark.)
Pour the mixture onto a silicone baking mat or good parchment paper on top of a pan or heat resistant surface.(I used Costco's parchment paper and it worked great on top of a cookie sheet!) Use a heatproof rubber spatula or offset spatula to spread quickly (by quick I mean instantly) before the toffee sets. Spread thin.
Allow toffee to cool completely! Coat surface with half of the melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with topping.
When chocolate has totally set, carefully flip over (it's okay if it falls apart a bit) and coat other side with the rest of the chocolate. Sprinkle on topping.
Allow to set, then break into bite-size pieces.
Store in an airtight container. (I used Bell mason jars.)

Peanut Brittle Ingredients

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

• 1 cupwhite sugar
• 1/2 cuplight corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoonsalt
• 1/4 cupwater

• 1 cuppeanuts
• 2 tablespoonsbutter, softened
• 1 teaspoonbaking soda

1. In a metal saucepan (that is shallow enough for your candy thermometer to sit in), over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir frequently until the sugar dissolves. Next, stir in peanuts. Set your candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until the color reaches the desired shade of brown.
2. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.

 

 

 

 

P.S. Do not fret over how much sugar, butter, chocolate and nuts you will purchase....it all goes a long way! Plus, once you taste it, you will not regret your decision to buy it.

 

P.S.S. You can go to town decorating your candy mason jars. Take a look at what I made for this past Christmas!

Being Latina is complicated during the holidays and special events (especially with my huge family), but you still have to show them some love!

Brown boots...A fashion staple

Brown boots are a must for every woman's closet. I have found that calf-length boots are one of the most slimming articles in my outfit that I can wear. They also kick me up a notch on the glam scale when I am short on time. My favorite boots just died and went to shoe heaven aka the trash from wearing them so much! I naturally had to pick up another pair. So here are my new favorites. I love the zipper in the back; it adds just the right pop of color. I also want to showcase my little sister's boots. They are a little more funky and fun than something that I would typically pick out. Find out what brown boot is right for you by trying some on at Wet Seal. I never buy anything here besides my boots, so take my word on their selection being trendy and affordable. I love Nordie's (Nordstrom's), but they are just way too expensive. Since I like to keep up with new styles of boots, I opt for the knock offs that Wet Seal carries. Forty dollars goes way farther at Wet Seal compared to other stores, like Nordie's, Forever 21, and Charlotte Russe.

Denim on Denim

I never thought that I could pair two types of denim together. It wasn't until a magazine article that I stumbled upon, showed me that it was possible. In order to avoid the farmer look, do not wear similar shades of blue. Below, you can see an example of how I made a denim on denim outfit come together.