The First 43: My Life Now

 The second recipe I decided to tackle was my Nana's Special K Cookies.   I baked these a week ago but as life with sick children has it, I didn't get a chance to share until today. If you know, you know, the viruses with these kids this fall are strong and endless. These cookies are some of my favourite, both in taste and nostalgia.  My nana often made these cookies with me when I was a kid and she lived in her apartment at Richview.  They were easy for me to help with and quickly became my favourite. Just baking these brought me right back to her kitchen. It's amazing how certain smells can transport you back to another place and time and unlock memories.  I think that my love of baking is in part because of her. It was one thing we often did together.  Sam saw me prepping to make the cookies and wanted to help. It was a little extra messy baking with him but maybe, decades from now, he will make and smell these cookies baking and it will transport him back to our kitchen

 This week while sorting through our cupboards for my biannual "things" purge I came across my Nana's cookbook. Back in my 20s, after she passed away, I was given her cookbooks. One of them was really fading so I decided to type it up. My dad took that and turned it into a little mini cookbook.  There are both dessert and dinner recipes.  I've decided, starting this weekend, I am going to cook my way through one recipe at a time over the course of the next 6 months. See what works. Make notes on any adjustments.  I am really looking forward to making what she made and using the same recipes she used.  So today I tried my hand at her Banana Bread Muffins because I had some ripe bananas that needed to be used.  Delicious. I took some creative liberty and added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and swapped the shortening for butter. They also need 20-25 minutes in the oven, not the 15 minutes in the recipe - the knife did not come out clean at the 15 minute mark. They are flavo

First things first, how did the February challenge go?  Pretty well! I stuck to the daily fitness calendar which was great. I forgot how hard planks were. My whole body is trembling by the last 30 seconds of each plank we do.  With the food challenge, I would say that I am eating more vegetables overall but, I still struggle with getting vegetables into my breakfast each day.  I still take it as a win though, if I'm eating more veggies, that's a good thing, regardless of the time of day. I'm down a total of 13lbs since January 1! With all that said.... it's March which means March Fitness Challenge! It's my month in our fitness group to run a challenge and this month we are focusing on core exercise. Side Planks, Bicycle Crunches, Plank Jacks and Spidermans! You can check out the exercise calendar below. For our food challenge, we will be aiming to drink more water, half your body weight in oz to be exact!  I'm really excited about the challeng

The January challenge came to an end yesterday.  It was a tough 31 days.  Though I would say the first half of the month was far more challenging than the back half.  So, how did it go?  Surprisingly well.  Did the cravings stop? Yes and no. My general sugar cravings did stop and I didn't randomly just grab a piece of chocolate when I was looking for a sweet snack. That said, I never stopped wanting a bowl of ice cream or frozen yogurt. It's my food love. I don't think I can ever live without it. I will just live with less of it than before moving forward. One change that will stick is that I'm fine drinking coffee now without the sugar.  A splash of milk does the trick.  No alcohol -  I haven't h ad any since December 31. No dessert -  Didn't cheat. I thought this would be the thing to break me but, I lasted. Tonight, a scoop of frozen yogurt is on the menu! Cut added sugar/no artificial sweetener -  It turns out a lot of what we have in our cupboards

I've made it to the  half way point in the January Fitness Challenge! So far so good, I've actually stuck to my goals and followed through on everything I said I would. Here is a little recap on my goals for this month:  - Reduce Added Sugar (No alcohol, no sweets/dessert, no sugar in my coffee/tea or anything else, no artificial sweetener)  - Gym minimum 2x a week  - January Fitness Challenge Calendar  - Calorie counting for 31 days So how have I been doing? On Jan 1 I weighed myself. Bad news, those 5lbs I had lost packed themselves back on during the holidays. I was one part discouraged and one part motivated.  I was starting back from the beginning but, I was going to really focus and kick my own butt this time around. I've really stuck to it and haven't cheated on my goals.  As of Sunday, I've lost 7lbs.......7lbs in 15 days! I really can't believe it, and hardly believe it's possible. I've never lost that fast. Maybe it'

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  Last time I blogged, I talked about hoping to lose 15lbs by Christmas. Despite my best efforts, I only lost 5lbs.  Not awful, not great.  A much bigger challenge with a toddler! I will just keep forging ahead and hoping to drop the next 10 in the year year. With that in mind, my friend Krystale and I decided we wanted to do a January Fitness and Healthy Eating Challenge and we would love for you to join us. This isn't about a new years resolution or making this last every month, it's just to kick start a healthy lifestyle in one of the hardest months of the year to keep yourself on track.  We can do different challenges each month but, this is where we are starting. The challenge includes: - Calorie Counting (strictly!) for 31 days (MyFitnessPal, WeightWatchers, whichever method/app you use is fine. Whatever will make it easier for you to stick to it.) - No alcohol - No desserts/sweets - Squat and Push Up challenge (calendar in