Food Challenge

The entire past six months have been a whirlwind. Between the emotional drain of selling and moving out of our first house, the anxiety associated with "home" hopping from apartments to family homes, and the stress of shifting work hours I've felt like I was a mess. I've professed it many times before on this blog, but I'll repeat it again - I am an emotional eater. The roller coaster of our life saw me eating all the time. Sometimes I felt like I was eating just because food was something familiar in the midst of so much upheaval. It is an absolute miracle that I did not really gain weight during all this craziness - I basically fluctuated up and down the same 5-10 pounds.

About a month ago (just as I was pushing through my final preparations for bug's 5th birthday celebration), I decided something had to change. I was drinking 4+ cups of coffee per day, struggling to prepare meals, forgetting to pack my lunch for work (and eating junk), getting cranky with my kids, not making any time to exercise, and feeling really down on myself.

Then, inspiration came in the form of a pack of vitamin supplements from Trader Joe's. The box advertised a two week "Total Body Cleanse", but I think that gives the wrong impression. Most cleanses you read about suggest you do strange things like drink massive quantities of water or only eat one specific food or take supplements that make you go to the bathroom a million times a day to "clean out" your colon. This wasn't at all like that. The suggestions on the box were to "drink plenty of water", "reduce your intake of processed foods, simple carbohydrates, beef, pork, dairy, wheat and soy products", and "avoid caffeine, alcohol, sugar, potatoes, saturated fats, trans fats, and artificial sweeteners."

I'm not a nutrition expert, but I'm a smart girl. And I know all those suggestions are pretty basic thoughts on eating a well rounded diet. I decided I was done pretending I was eating well by following these rules 75% of the day and then eating junk the other 25%. I was actually going to do it. I was in all the way. I was going to get it all out of my system (sugar, caffeine, gluten, alcohol, processed foods, etc!), keep it out of my system, and see how I felt about things when the two weeks were up.

For 14 days I took the supplements from Trader Joe's. I didn't feel any side effects or really any effects at all from these. Maybe they helped, maybe not. I completely eliminated caffeine, alcohol, refined sugar, processed foods, and gluten from my diet. I decreased my consumption of animal protein significantly. I stopped eating all dairy the first week and started having yogurt again the second week.

If you are interested in replicating my plan and want to know what I was eating, I'd advise you to refer back to the blog posts I made while I was doing the cleanse because I kept a complete food diary including meals, snacks, and drinks.
Days 1-4
Days 5-7
Days 8-10
Days 11-14

Today I'm going to share my general comments, conclusions, and results.

• The first few days of the cleanse SUCKED. After reading Wheat Belly (more on this book in another post) I am pretty certain everything I was going through was wheat withdrawal. I had headaches, body aches, extreme fatigue, and zero exercise tolerance. The best way I can describe it was a vague, generalized yuckiness like I was coming down with the flu (without any runny nose or cough). 
• After the third day, I started to feel normal again. Except it wasn't my usual "normal", it was BETTER. 
• I had energy and didn't need coffee to start my day. 
• I didn't wake up starving like usual - in fact, I often didn't even eat anything until a few hours after I was up because my stomach wasn't grumbling and empty. 
• I was nervous that eating vegetables, eggs, fruits, and nuts would leave me starving a few hours later. I soon found I was actually LESS hungry than if I ate toast, cereal, or another typical "breakfast" food.
• I found myself feeling more satisfied after eating smaller nutrient dense meals than I would after eating a huge portion of spaghetti and meatballs with Italian bread and butter - one of my favorite meals previously. 
• Obviously I was eating more vegetables, but I also started eating a lot more fresh herbs and using more spices to give flavor to my food naturally. 
• Everything tasted better because I was paying attention to my food, not shoveling it in my face because my blood sugars were crashing.
• The money I was "saving" by not hitting up fast food, coffee shops, or takeout I could funnel into higher quality meats and produce.
• After the initial decrease in exercise tolerance, I had a huge burst of motivation to start working out more often. I think a huge part of this was that I was no longer having crazy oscillations in my blood sugars from eating too much wheat and sugar which would leave me feeling too "sick" to exercise.
• Prior to this change I never was able to work out after eating because I was always too full and felt like I would throw up. This severely limited the times that I could exercise due to my busy schedule and kept me from getting the workouts I wanted and needed.
• I didn't get a single headache or stomachache after the first three days. I always considered it a "minor inconvenience", but prior to making these changes mild stomach aches and discomfort were a normal part of my day

All the things I described above are AWESOME and proof that making healthy changes can have a huge impact, but they were all internal mind shifts. I am sure everyone is wondering what the actual physical changes were, so here they are:

• Multiple people (aware or not of the diet changes I was making) commented that my skin looked great and asked if I was using new cosmetics.
• I always considered that I was an "unlucky person" with mild adult acne, but I haven't had a single pimple since changing my diet.
• I didn't take a waist or thigh measurement (I wish now that I did), but I dropped 1-2 pant sizes depending on the cut and store.
• My stomach feels and looks noticeably slimmer. Unfortunately,I have a lot more ab work to do now to tighten up post-baby belly because the fat "filling it out" is gone.
• The final verdict was a weight loss of 9 pounds over the two week period.

Since finishing the cleanse I have definitely liberalized some of the restrictions, but really have no desire to go back to the way I was before. I feel better about my relationship with food than I ever have in my whole life and it's pretty amazing. I'll be posting a full update soon, so please check back if you want to hear more!

The Home Stretch

Just a few more hours to go before my "cleanse" is over and I'm really excited. Not excited so I can indulge and go back to my old ways, but because I feel great and have learned a lot about my body. It's a really wonderful feeling.

As I recap the last few days, let me remind you what the goals of my cleanse were:

• Daily Trader Joe's Total Body Cleanse supplements
• No caffeine
• No alcohol
• No refined sugar
• No gluten
• No processed or pre-packaged foods
• Try to eat at least 50% of my diet as raw foods

Day 11 - 5/8

Today was a rough emotional day for me. A little over a year ago my practice was absorbed into a larger health care system. A few (huge) benefits of this were a brand new, larger office space and the hire of my new nurse. My nurse couldn't be any more perfect of a fit for me (she loves Phish, shops at Trader Joe's and the local co-op, and is incredibly sweet to our patients) and I am so happy with my new office. The downside is dealing with layers and layers of corporate administration whenever something is wrong. Unfortunately for me, the thing that has been wrong multiple times is my pay. I discovered another error on Thursday and (as usual) was unable to reach the person I needed to talk to. I felt really powerless and frustrated. Normally an afternoon like this would end with me sitting in a pile of candy and Taco Bell wrappers hyped up on caffeine from a sweeter-than-I-usually-drink coffee from Starbucks feeling horrible. But it didn't this time. It didn't even enter my mind. Wow.

Breakfast - Smoothie (blueberries, organic whole milk yogurt, banana, chia seeds, water to blend), hard boiled egg

Lunch - Leftover Asian Salad with honey lime dressing topped with raw cashews

Snack - Pear

Dinner - Homemade steak gyros (steak, cucumbers, tomatoes) on corn tortillas with homemade tzatziki sauce and corn on the cob

Snack - herbal tea, small bite of homemade energy bars (I'll post my recipe soon!)

Day 12 - 5/9

Today was a much better day. I never got an answer to my pay question, but at least got in touch with the right person to discuss the problem. This evening was my first challenge with eating out at a restaurant. My monthly book club met at an Italian restaurant (like hardest place to find food fitting my rules!). I was hoping for an entree salad, but there wasn't anything like that on the menu so I went for the best option I could and boxed up half of the meal to bring home to my husband. It was definitely the richest meal I've eaten since starting my cleanse (and I enjoyed every bite), but I wasn't tempted to overindulge on liquor or dessert.

Breakfast - Smoothie (blueberries, organic whole milk yogurt, banana, chia seeds, water to blend), homemade energy bar (dates, cashews, and sunflower seeds)

Snack - Herbal tea, raw cashews

Lunch - Chicken breast roasted with tomatoes, green vegetables in walnut pesto (purchased from the hot food bar at the Honest Weight Co-op and elderberry Kombucha

Snack - Pear

Dinner - Garden salad with house made Italian dressing on the side (it was delicious, but as I didn't know what was in it, I only used a very small amount) and chicken picatta with roasted potatoes and green beans

I went for a short 3/4 mile jog to my in-laws house to meet my husband and the girls.

Day 13 - 5/10

Today was supposed to be rainy, but turned out gorgeous! I went for a jog in the late morning (my best effort yet) and got to enjoy some real quality time with my family

Breakfast - Two egg omelette full of veggies (spinach, red peppers, and mushrooms) topped with chopped tomato (I shared with baby bear who LOVES tomatoes and apparently cooked spinach)

Snack - Pear

Lunch - Chopped lettuce, cucumbers, cabbage, and tomatoes with leftover tzatziki sauce

Snack - Homemade energy bar

Dinner - Baby spinach salad with red cabbage, sweet potatoes, and avocado

I went for my usual 1.8 mile walk/jog talking only a short walk break and jumping right back into it. I think on my next run I might make it the whole distance! I finished up with abs and arms as usual.

Day 14 - 5/11 Mother's Day!!
Today was a fabulous day with my family. My husband got up early and put the baby bear back to bed with me and he and the bug let me sleep. Bug even had Daddy make me a hard boiled egg for breakfast because she knows I like them, how sweet! We started our day off with breakfast, pictures, and tons of play at a gorgeous town park. Then, we came home and the girls relaxed a bit while I put the finishing touches on a few dishes to share at Mother's Day dinner. We spent the rest of the day at my in-law's house with our extended family. My mom is still in Florida so we only got to see her on Facetime, but it was better than nothing!Overall, it was a very relaxing day and I didn't spend a second worrying about food.

Breakfast - Hard boiled egg, homemade energy bar, and Starbucks iced coffee (this was my mother's day "cheat" and it was totally worth it!)
Lunch - Organic "power greens" mix and leftover chicken chili with avocado/organic yogurt mashed together
Snack - Blackberries
Dinner - Grilled chicken, grilled portabellas, salad greens, curried quinoa salad, moroccan carrot salad, and fruit salad (honeydew, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries)

The Middle

Something surprising is happening with this cleanse. After last week that started off rough (headaches, body aches, and extreme fatigue), I don't even feel like I'm on a "diet". I feel completely normal. Actually, BETTER than normal. I feel empowered - like I finally am winning a battle with food I've been losing my whole life. Food isn't my comfort when something goes wrong. Or my reward for accomplishing something. Or my enemy - sneaking it's way into my stomach and "making" me fat. Food is JUST food. I still enjoy eating immensely, but I'm slowly unfurling myself from the emotional connections I've wrapped myself up in over the years. It feels amazing.

This is the start of week two. I'm introducing yogurt back into my diet this week, but holding off on any other dairy. I don't think I have any issues tolerating moderate amounts of milk, cheese, and other dairy products in my diet, but I've been feeling so well that I don't want to tip the scales against me. Especially because I've lost the "I need it!" feeling I was having about cheese last week...

Day 8 - 5/5

Totally uneventful day. The weather was nice and I took a trip to the local co-op on my lunch break. I haven't been to the co-op since it moved (because I get nervous about trying to go places when I don't really know where they are because I get lost easily) and I was very impressed. Now that I know the extent of their bulk supplies (and how to get there) I will definitely be going there more often. Seeing so many healthful choices really motivated me further that I'm on the right path.

Breakfast - Smoothie (frozen blueberries, whole milk yogurt, banana, chia seeds, and water to blend), hard boiled egg

Snack - herbal tea

Lunch - Raw veggies (carrot, celery, cucumber, snap peas), raw mixed nuts, Ginger Kombucha

Snack - herbal tea

Dinner - Honey soy marinated salmon on a bed of diced cucumbers and chopped baby spinach

Snack - Apple

I went for a 1.8 mile walk/run. I finally settled into a decent pace with this run, but was interrupted by a page because I was on call. Afterwards, I repeated the arms and abs workouts.

Day 9 - 5/6

Today was very slow at the office which used to be dangerous, but I didn't feel the urge to snack at all. I used the down time to catch up on a few CME (Continuing Medical Education) articles and to read the new book I borrowed from the library, Wheat Belly. I was going to try and squeeze in another run, but had too much work to do preparing two batches of crockpot chicken taco chili and a big pan of Reese's brownies for teacher and nurse appreciation days.

Breakfast - Smoothie (frozen blueberries, avocado, whole milk yogurt, chia seeds, water to blend), hard boiled egg

Snack - herbal tea, raw mixed nuts

Lunch - Grape tomato, cucumber, basil salad with olive oil/balsamic vinegar

Dinner - Chipotle burrito bowl (brown rice, pinto beans, barbacoa, mild salsa, corn salsa, avocado) in lettuce wraps

Snack - spearmint tea, grapefruit

Day 10 - 5/7

Today was the first day I stepped on the scale and didn't see any weight loss since I started the cleanse. I'm holding off revealing numbers about my weight loss until the end, but I've been steadily losing weight since I started. I immediately felt discouraged, which scared me. In the past I have done great on "diets" as long as I was losing weight, but gave up immediately as soon as I plateaued. I had to remind myself that this isn't a diet. This is me taking control of food, and by extension, my life. I should not be continuing to lose weight this fast and it needs to slow down. And I feel amazing. Crisis over. 

Breakfast - Hard boiled egg, peanut butter (I made these brownies for my nurses and consoled myself that I couldn't eat any by licking the PB off the spoon after adding it to the frosting)

Snack - Herbal tea, organic whole milk yogurt with blueberries, chia seeds, and raw cashews

Lunch - Baby spinach topped with chicken chili and a few blue corn tortilla chips

Snack - apple, raw cashews

Dinner - Asian salad (red cabbage, carrots, red pepper, red onion, cucumber, and black rice) with homemade honey lime dressing

Snack - herbal tea

I went for my usual 1.8 mile walk/jog. Each time I complete the loop I've been running a large portion of it as I build my endurance. I also ended the workout with abs and arms strength training.

The Journey Continues...

Three more days have passed and I've reached the middle of my cleanse. I'm going to try and hold back any major conclusions or discussion of pros and cons until the end of the two weeks, but I'm going to keep blogging my daily impressions and food and exercise plan.

Day 5 - 5/2

Today went smoothly. I didn't have any strong cravings for anything and just generally felt well. One of my co-workers commented that my skin looked great - compliments are always encouraging!

Breakfast - Banana, raw cashews

Snack - Herbal tea, grapefruit

Lunch - Green salad with asparagus and sprouts

Snack - Pear, herbal tea

Dinner - Baby spinach salad with tomatoes and avocado and Chia seed water

Day 6 - 5/3

This was my first day home while following the cleanse. In addition to turning down numerous bites of food my kids were eating, I also had to endure a kid's birthday party and a family get together at my in-laws' house. I really don't like having to explain diets to people and was stressed about making sure I could continue to follow my plan without dealing with awkward questions. Luckily the kid party was one of those parties where food is just provided for the kids so I didn't have to turn down pizza or cupcakes. At my in-laws we had a "make your own sandwich buffet" and everyone was watching a movie while we ate so I didn't have to explain my plate. I also made homemade hummus to bring so I was able to assure there was something I could eat.

Breakfast - Hard boiled egg, green apple

Snack - Raw cashews

Lunch - Leftover Quinoa Thai Salad

Snack - Cucumber slices

Dinner - Carrots, cucumbers, pea pods, and celery with homemade roasted red pepper hummus and "salad" with lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado

Snack - Banana and pear slices, organic peanut butter 

I went for a short jog/walk for 1.8 miles and repeated my arm and ab workout.

Day 7 - 5/4

Today was the first day on the cleanse without any plans or routine which was a little harder than I expected. The other hard part was being out doing my usual errands, but not taking my usual trip through the Starbucks drive-thru. Part of me feels empowered that I don't feel like I *need* caffeine anymore, but I really love the taste of coffee and will be glad to welcome it back into my diet next week. 

Breakfast - Poached egg over spinach and basil with grape tomatoes

Snack - Raw veggies with homemade hummus

Lunch - Leftover Quinoa Thai Salad

Dinner - Baby spinach salad with a small portion of pork "carnitas" with homemade pineapple salsa (pineapple, diced apple, cilantro, red onion, and lime juice)

Food Cleansing

I bet you expected my next post to be MORE party details, but I tricked you! Today I'm all about kick-starting my nutrition and exercise goals. I'm really using blog posting as more of a journal/motivational tool for myself, but you all can come along for the ride if you're interested.

I've been flirting with real food for awhile, but I've also been quick to stray back to old ways. I'll admit my overall diet today is still better than it was five years ago, but that really isn't saying all THAT much. In the past I relied far too heavily on fast food and processed food to get through my busy schedule. I think allowing myself to still have some of these foods on a daily basis was really sabotaging my efforts. I decided I really needed to "detox" from all the bad and give my body a chance to recover and reboot. Which brings me to...

My 14 Day Real Food/Raw Food Challenge
*This is based on so many different things I've read and watched, but does not follow one specific set of rules from any one source. This is 100% my challenge to myself - some of the ideas probably are evidence based, but I am not endorsing this in any type of medical way. This is just my journey (I hope!) to better nutrition.*

My plan is to cut out all processed foods, refined sugar, gluten, and alcohol and to cut down on dairy and animal protein. I'm intending to essentially eliminate dairy the first week and slowly introduce some back in next week. I'm also taking the Trader Joe's Total Body Cleanse vitamins to accompany my life changes.

Day 1 - 4/28
The first day was rough. I developed a horrible caffeine withdrawal headache mid-morning that continued to get worse as the day went on. By the time I got home I felt like I had a tight rubber band wrapped around my head. I also felt extremely exhausted, weak, and achy. I'm not sure if it was the change in diet, the headache, or the fact that I was so tired from bug's birthday party over the weekend but I could barely keep my eyes open driving home from work. I haven't felt that tired since residency! I went to bed before 8pm that night.

Food and Exercise Review
Breakfast - Banana and raw almonds
Snack - Red pepper slices and baby carrots with herbal tea
Lunch - Cucumber, tomato, avocado, parsley, and cilantro with lemon juice
Snack - Pear and herbal tea
Dinner - Sweet potato and avocado topped with tomato, cucumber, cilantro salsa and Chia strawberry lemon water

No exercise today! I was WAY too exhausted

Day 2 - 4/29
The second day wasn't perfect, but was much easier. I only had a mild headache during the day and didn't have any problem sticking to my food plan during the day. My first test came that evening when I picked up my very sick little bug from her grandparent's house and had to come home and cook dinner. The bug had a fever and was miserable and the little bear was her usual unruly dinnertime self (scream for food, shove as much food in her face as fast as she can, demand to get down from the table). I was very tempted to give up the attempt to cook, but took a few deep breaths, got everyone settled, and pushed through dinner prep. I was exhausted early again and started dozing off around 8:30. It was with extreme effort that I stayed up later to chat with my husband.

Food and Exercise Review
Breakfast - Green apple and raw cashews
Snack - Pear and herbal tea
Lunch - Zucchini hummus with celery and baby carrots
Snack - Herbal tea
Dinner - Cod, wilted spinach, roasted green beans, and black rice with Chia lemon water
Snack - Carrots, celery, and banana slices with organic peanut butter

No exercise again, still laying low and letting my body adjust.

Day 3 - 4/30
By the third day I was over the caffeine withdrawal headaches and the exhaustion was getting better. I slept wrong and had a searing low backache all day which made everything more frustrating, but I stuck with my plan without too much difficulty. I did get hungry in the evening and needed to eat a bigger snack. This was really the first time I felt "hungry".

Food and Exercise Review
Breakfast - Green apple and hard boiled egg
Snack - Raw cashews, herbal tea
Lunch - Kale salad with red pepper, cucumber, avocado, and lemon juice
Snack - Pear, herbal tea
Dinner - Baked sweet potato and diced avocado topped with red cabbage, red pepper, cilantro, and scallion "slaw" with apple cider vinegar dressing and Chia lemon water
Snack - Frozen blueberries and organic peanut butter

The only exercise I did was household chores - up and down the stairs about a dozen times washing and folding laundry

Day 4 - 5/1 
Today I felt great when I woke up. I was up early to sign my bug up for the before/after-school program and had to round at the hospital. Being in the hospital brought out some STRONG cravings for coffee (literally 90% of the people that walked by me had a coffee cup in their hands), but I got through it by stopping at the store for a new box of herbal tea on my way to the office.

Food and Exercise Review
Breakfast - Green apple and raw cashews
Snack - Herbal tea
Lunch - Grapefruit
Snack - Pear and cherry tomatoes
Dinner - Chicken and Quinoa Thai Salad (modified dressing to remove anything processed) with Chia lime water

I finally felt like I had enough energy today to get back into the swing of things with exercise. I went for a short 1.6 mile walk/jog outside and followed it up with an arm workout and an ab workout.

Frozen Party: Making it happen

I wanted to dedicate a separate post to giving lots of tips on how I put together the details for my bug's 5th birthday party. I know Frozen parties are BIG right now and I hope my tips can help save other busy moms some time trying to figure out all the picky details on their own.

Finding Frozen merchandise is not for the weak of heart

Frozen merchandise is nearly impossible to find. I managed to get my bug the pictured Elsa doll/dress set during a random trip to Target. My best advice is to walk through the toy section of Target (I hate Walmart, but did try them too and never found anything) as often as you can. Doing this I managed to snag this gift set, a snow globe wand that plays "Let it Go", and a small Elsa figurine.

Turn portraits and paintings into party decor!

A simple way to decorate at home is to turn pictures that are already hanging into party decor. I covered a large painting that was over the fireplace with an inexpensive plastic tablecloth and paper snowflakes. The tablecloth can be saved and reused for a future party to reduce waste:-)

Hanging decor creates an impressive "centerpiece" when you don't have much room on your table

If you know your theme ahead of time, you can collect items on sale to save money. These lanterns, pom-poms, and hanging twirls were all purchased from Hobby Lobby on sale. The twirls were "Christmas clearance" at 90% off and the other decor were from the wedding section during a 50% off sale. These were hung using the easy to remove tabs from Command.

This falling snow creates a dramatic effect for a small cost

Using invisible thread I strung white pom poms (but you could easily use cotton balls!) and placed them at different heights to give the illusion of falling snow. The larger snowflakes were purchased from the wedding section at Hobby Lobby during a 50% off sale ($5 for 25 snowflakes). To save money, make paper snowflakes or find clearance items after the holidays.

Turn an easy cheese ball recipe into an impressive Olaf replica

The make ahead cheese ball recipe I created was incredibly simple:

1. Soften two 8oz bars of regular cream cheese and one 8oz bar of reduced fat cream cheese on the counter for a few hours.
2. Mix all of the softened cream cheese in a large bowl with one packet of ranch dip mix and 4oz of shredded sharp white cheddar. I shred my own cheese because I don't like the consistency of pre-shredded cheese because of the anti-caking agents they add.
3. Chill the mixture overnight or for several hours until firm.
4. Create two small balls for feet (I used a Pamper Chef 1 inch cookie scoop), a large and smaller ball for the body, and an oval for his head. I wrapped each piece separately in plastic wrap and then placed them all on a plate and covered again with plastic wrap. Freeze until the morning of your party. 
5. Right before the party, assemble Olaf. I am going to make a second one for bug's kid party and will post a separate tutorial on Olaf's assembly in a few weeks. 

These cute milk bottles play double duty as a dessert table decoration

I love the way fancy milk bottles look for parties, but hate the cost. I also hate how much milk gets wasted when the kids take them because they look cool, but only drink a few ounces of milk. For these reasons, I decided I wasn't going to make them. Then, I stumbled upon these bud vases on sale at Michael's. They only cost me 40 cents apiece and hold 3-4 oz of milk. Perfect! I cropped a photo of Olaf to just include his face, printed on a regular color printer, and then glued these onto paper straws (from the dollar bins at Target). I glued the black pom poms on with hot glue.

Fun way to display treats

I used this same cupcake stand last year (which my mom purchased from a craft store using a coupon) to display "wisps" for our Brave themed party. The treat this year was hot cocoa muddy buddy mix. Recipe can be found here.

Snowball and snowflake cookies complete a perfectly frosty dessert display

The vanilla meringues were purchased from Trader Joe's ($3.99 for a decent size container) and the cookies were homemade. I purchased snowflake cookie cutters on clearance after the holidays and used my mom's sugar cookie recipe. After reading many blogs for advice to prevent the cookies from spreading, I omitted all baking powder/baking soda from the recipe and made sure to chill the cut dough in the freezer for at least twenty minutes before baking.

I made the cookies ahead of time and stored them (un-frosted) in the freezer until the week of the party. Two days before the party I took the cookies out and used this small batch recipe for royal icing to outline and flood the cookies. The next day I made a second batch to pipe on the details. I kept them stored in an air-tight container until the party.

This impressive, but easy to assemble Frozen cake is a show stopper!

The first step in creating this cake is making all of the snowflakes to embellish the cake. I used a coupon to purchase a small package of Wilton white fondant at 40% off. I used the snowflake cookie cutters for the larger flakes and a set of flower fondant punches from Hobby Lobby for the smaller flakes. I left them out on a cooling rack for 24 hours to harden. I embellished the flakes with larger teal pearls, mini white pearls, and the same royal icing I used to decorate the sugar cookies.

Two days day before the party I used two box mixes (I know, I hate them too. I replaced the oil with melted butter for a more homemade flavor) to bake three layers of cake (6, 8, and 10 inch Wilton pans). They need to cool completely before you frost!

The day before the party I made 2 batches of this buttercream that I piped on using a Wilton 2D tip. Once all the frosting was piped I sprinkled the cake with white sanding sugar for sparkle and added my hardened fondant decorations and extra teal pearls.

I will have more details on Frozen party activities coming up in a few weeks after the bug's friend party, so check back then if you are hungry for more!

Frozen Party

My bug is five (FIVE!) years old now. I'll spare you a bunch of cheesy comments about "time flying" and feeling like it was "just yesterday that she was born". The truth is that some days being her mom have been amazing and others have been really, really hard. Even on our worst days, I love her with all of my heart. This year I had a blast planning a Frozen themed birthday party to celebrate what a special little girl she is to me.

Thanks to the internet and Pinterest I've been researching ideas for her party for months. I thought it would be fun this year to share "inspiration" versus "actual" photos of our party details. I'll fill in a few more details and post larger photos in a separate post later this week.

I really wanted to share these photos early, check back later this week for tutorials, recipes, etc! As always, I hope my work inspires someone else out there!

Happy Birthday Mom

My mom's birthday was actually last month. In the month prior to her birthday and the entire month after her birthday I've been trying to think of the perfect gift. In the past I've given her jewelry, photos of the girls, clothing, gift cards - all the usual "mom" gifts. And after living in her house for the past few months I could think of plenty of *stuff* to give her. But for some reason that really just doesn't feel like enough this year.

Why is it so hard? It's not something specific she did. Or something she said. Or really any one thing at all. It's that it just hit me. I'm a 31 year old woman living a parallel life to the one my mother must have lived 25 years ago. Sure, there are some obvious differences. I work out of the home, my mom babysat at home. My dad worked long hours and rarely helped with cooking or cleaning and left the majority of the parenting responsibilities to my mom. My husband neglects much (but not all) of the household work, but is 100% my full time partner in parenting. Money is slightly less of an issue for me than it was for my mom.

But if you throw out the details, the core of our everyday lives is too similar to ignore. Raising two little girls, trying to be a good wife, working hard, and going to bed exhausted. And the heartbreaking fact of it all - what I think has been keeping me up at night -  is that the vast majority of these earliest efforts at motherhood will go unremembered and without thanks.

Now that I am on the other side of the equation, I feel like the number of things I want to thank my mother for could fill volumes. The amount of gratitude I feel seems like it couldn't possibly be expressed through anything you'd find at the mall. So today I am presenting my mother with my genuine thanks for all those things she thought were forgotten.

To My Mom,

Thank you for getting up early, even when you wanted to sleep for two more hours.
Thank you for making me breakfast and talking me down from the edge when there wasn't any more of my favorite cereal left and I had to settle on something else.
Thank you for doing the laundry so I had clean clothes to wear every day. And thank you for biting your tongue when I put ridiculous outfits together.
Thank you for putting my toys away eight times a day as I left a trail of destruction behind me on my quest to have fun.
Thank you for listening with rapt attention to my long winded nursery school stories about nothing that I forgot the point of halfway through.
Thank you for not killing me when I threw a tantrum about nothing and wouldn't stop screaming for twenty minutes.
Thank you for grocery shopping with me and having to explain over and over again why we did need frozen vegetables and did not need frosted animal crackers.
Thank you for finding a way to make holidays magical even when you were tired, stressed, and couldn't really afford all the things you wanted me to have.
Thank you for spending hours decorating beautiful cakes for my birthday parties.
Thank you for making family vacations special. They might not have always been what you wanted, but were what we could afford and you made the best of it.
Thank you for playing silly games with me when you would rather have laid on the couch and gone to sleep.
Thank you for staying up all night when I was sick with painful ear infections.
Thank you for cooking me dinner every night, even when I told you it was gross and refused to eat it.
Thank you for reading me the same books over and over at bedtime even when you hated them.
Thank you for never getting a sound night's sleep because you were constantly on the alert for my nightmares, sleepwalking, and sleep talking.
Thank you for being willing to do it all over again so I could have a sister.

Thank you for all of this and so much more.

Let it Go

I can hardly believe this, but my bug's 5th birthday is just over a week away!! Which means right now is party planning crunch time! Things always become stressful around now because I get overenthusiastic and try to do too much. In addition to keeping up with the normal routine of being a full time pediatrician, raising two monsters beautiful children, preventing the destruction of my parents' house, stressing over the building of our new house, getting back to the gym (at last!), and feeding us all, squeezing in time to plan adorable goodie bags for 20+ kids with a quirky theme is challenging.

Obviously no one is holding a gun to my head to do anything. It's just that planning a party brings together theme-ing, crafting, decorating, food, and baking which are seriously some of my favorite things. I find it very hard to hold back sometimes because I get SO EXCITED when I find a fun idea. The problem with the internet and Pinterest is that I find too many fun ideas and then I get too busy and lose sight of what my goal really is - enjoying my hobbies and creating fun for my girls.

That is the inspiration for my post today - finding balance. I'm not going to throw it all out the window as some cheeky blogs are telling me I should. I think it's rude and judge-y to say what I'm doing is all fluff and doesn't matter just because it doesn't matter to you. Honestly, when you get right down to it, isn't that attitude really just more of the same? Instead of "I'm a better parent than you because I had a cupcake station at my kid's party", it's "I'm a better parent because I didn't have to make a cupcake station." For me, I'm letting go of the bad stuff and keeping the things that mean something to me. I hope I can inspire more overly stressed mamas out there to embrace what they love and let the rest go.

Today, I'm letting go of...

• Cooking myself into a frenzy
• Spending a fortune in time and money replicating every party blog detail just because I saw it when I don't love it
• Having to decorate everything! I'm focusing on my dessert table - because it's my favorite thing!
• Having too much to do the day of the party so I miss things
• Hating myself when I can't do it all - this applies to party planning, parenting, and LIFE

Frozen Day 4 - Tutu photo tutorial!

So when I started my "5 days of Frozen" I intended it to be five consecutive days. Seriously, I have no idea how I thought that was going to happen. Life is just too crazy for a working mama with two kids under the age of five to really expect enough free time FIVE DAYS IN A ROW to accomplish anything more than keeping everyone alive. In my defense, I did create the two pretty sweet Anna and Elsa tutus you're about to read all about. They are actually really easy to make and I finished each one with just a few hours of mindless work after the girls went to bed.

Without further ado, here is my photo tutorial...

Step 1: Measure the waist of your birthday girl/princess/monster child. I was ready to start my little one's tutu when she was napping, so I based her waist measurement on a pair of pants I knew fit her well. Whatever your measurement is, subtract 1-2 inches (1 for a smaller tutu, 2 for a bigger one) before cutting your elastic. You do this because the elastic gets stretched as you tie the tulle. Trust me. If you don't subtract some length, the tutu won't fit!

Step 2: Overlap the ends of your elastic by ~1 inch and sew. You can use a machine or do it by hand like I did. I like to fully secure the elastic ends by sewing a square.

Step 3: Measure and cut your tulle. I used 25 yard rolls of tulle in different colors from Hobby Lobby. The amount you will need depends on how full you want to make your tutu. For my older daughter I used two full rolls and about 1/2 of a roll of glitter tulle added as an accent. I measured by using a rigid mailing envelope to wrap a large amount of tulle around and then cut one end to create many strips with one cut. For the bigger tutu I wrapped the long way around the envelope and the opposite for the smaller one (I was making the smaller one in this tutorial).

Step 4: Start tying the tulle. Fold the tulle in half and create a loop. Place the loop behind the elastic. Pull the loose ends up and through the loop. Pull just until the loop is wrapped around the elastic with the loose ends pointing down. How tight you make the knot (and how close together you squeeze the pieces of tulle) will determine how full your tutu is at the end.

Step 5: Keep tying! Repeat step 4 until the entire elastic band is covered.

Step 6: Once the entire band is covered, you can add more tulle on top of the first row if you want to make it fuller. This was really hard to capture a photo of, but basically you just add another loop between pre-existing loops and don't pull it as tight allowing it to lay on top of your base layer of tulle. I also did this on my Elsa tutu with the glitter tulle that I added at the end.

Step 7: Add on any embellishments you want! I didn't add anything to the little bear's tutu because I didn't want her to be enticed to pull it apart, but I did sew on some snowflake ribbon I purchased after Christmas for my bug's tutu. Other add-on ideas include a big bow, ribbons, or sequins.

FYI: The shirts were made by a local small business RyleighRoo

Frozen Birthday Party Sneak Peek!

As per my usual routine I start hoarding birthday party supplies as soon as we decide on a theme. Although Maddie's birthday falls in the spring, I've had all winter to look for snowflakes and glittery icicle items. I was even able to get some great deals after Christmas and will be able to take advantage of my father-in-law's extensive Christmas lawn decoration collection to set the scene.

Here are the supplies I will be working with over the next month to put together a Frozen celebration worthy of a princess...

Can you guess what I'm doing with all these supplies? Or what items will never actually make it to the party?


Here's a sneak peek at my custom made invitation...

For the first time in forrrrrever (good luck getting it out of your head now...) we're planning a separate adult family party and a kid/school friends party. Double planning, double the fun? We will see!

Love is an open door

The sentiment of this song is actually really sweet and not too sappy, but it's still not what REAL love is all about. I will say in Disney's defense that it might be difficult to make "I love you even when you smell like baby vomit" melodically appealing though. After 15+ years of dating, 7 years of marriage, 2 cats, and 2 children here is what I think love is really all about.

Love is being there. You might not be showered or wearing "real clothes". You might be older or heavier than you were when you first met. You might be suffering from mental, physical, or emotional stress that has altered how you even see yourself. But when you really love someone you are still there. Day in and day out. By their side. Wrinkles, graying hair, ill-fitting pants and all.

Love is laughing together. In your younger days the laughter might have been over a comedy at the movies or while sharing stories of childhood adventures. Now it's often over who changes the most poopy diapers (me, hands down) or the latest ridiculous thing the four year old said ("Your private parts are nice, mommy" on walking in on me getting out of the shower this morning...). The point is, keep smiling, laughing, and finding joy in things together.

Love is growing together. We are all always changing. For most of us the changes are slow, subtle, and happen so indistinctly that we don't realize we've even changed until we look back at where we were and see how far we've come. Truly loving someone means making this journey with them rather than away from them.

Love is messy. It's not a fairy tale that starts at a ball and ends with happily ever after. It's ups and downs. Love can fill you with such happiness that you feel like you are literally about to burst. And sometimes love feels like the smallest flicker of light in the pit of your stomach on the brink of snuffing out completely. Even on those darkest days true love is there, part of you, just waiting for you to take a deep breath and feed the flame.

Love is accepting yourself as someone worth loving. You can have SO MUCH love for your partner, but if you don't value the role you play in the love relationship things will never be as good as they could be. This most crucial point is where I personally have struggled the most (and still struggle at times). Put simply, love yourself so others can too!

So there you have it, Disney. Love is getting old and frumpy, changing poopy diapers, fighting the darkness within, and a whole lot of self-reflection. Good luck turning that into a musical ballad...

In Summer

Usually this is the time of year when it finally starts warming up in Upstate NY and we can look forward to Spring. About now it really doesn't feel like it's ever going to happen. There is still more than a few inches of snow covering the ground and the local weather is calling for a possible 6 inches of snow later this week.

Bug loves the snow, but mommy is SO over it!

In addition to being just plain yucky, all this frigid cold is preventing our builder from making any progress on the construction of our new house. Total bummer all around.

Where we thought we would have at least part of a house at this point...

In an effort to be optimistic (like the hilarious Olaf) I'm jotting down all the things I'm looking forward to when it's finally summer...

• Taking nature walks and hikes
• Our house (hopefully) being built 
• My parents coming home from Florida
• Chasing lightening bugs
• Trips to the lake
• Going outside without six layers of insulated clothing
• Seeing my girls play with their cousins on Cape Cod
• Grilling season
• Sand on my toes
• Farmer's Markets
• Visiting all the local ice cream stands
• Seeing Phish in an outdoor venue
• Iced coffee on a hot afternoon
• Swimming with my girls
• Campfires
• Sitting in the grass
• Sandals
• Local produce
• Picnics at the park
• Gin and Tonic by the pool
• Sunshine!

Keep thinking warm thoughts everyone, we'll get to enjoy all these things "in summer" before we know it!

Five Days of Frozen

My family is officially Frozen obsessed. The movie crept into our lives before it even debuted on the big screen. Merchandise was prominently on display throughout the Disney Parks back in the beginning of November before the movie came out. We didn't stock up on toys (not knowing how in demand they would be in just a few short weeks), but my bug happened to fall in love with the Anna gown when we took her shopping for a princess dress in Downtown Disney.

"Princess pose" in Downtown Disney after buying her new dress

I was a bit skeptical about letting her buy the dress of an unknown princess from an unseen movie, but it fit all the major bug criteria - spin-y skirt, sparkles, and no itchy crinoline/tulle on her skin - so we went ahead and bought it. If only we knew how obsessed she would become, we probably would have splurged and bought her the Elsa dress too.

After her full princess makeover

Which brings me to the day we saw the movie. We I cried, laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. When we walked out of the theater my bug declared that she was having a Frozen themed birthday party. My husband downloaded the soundtrack as soon as we got home and it's been playing non-stop ever since. No joke, we've been living in a house of Frozen worship for over three months now. 

Bug knows all the lyrics to "Let it Go" (amazing song), "Love is an Open Door" (fun song), and "Frozen Heart" (somewhat disturbing song to hear a four year old sing/chant). Baby bear dances and giggles as soon as she hears the opening bars of "Let it Go". I go to bed each night planning Frozen themed party treats and ways to make decorations that look like snow.

If there was a word stronger than OBSESSED, you could use it to describe us.

As it's always on my mind anyway, I've decided to spend the next week making Frozen themed posts. I might even give some sneak peaks into my party planning. 

Check back soon for more!

"I wish I was at the beach, too" Smoothie

One of my least favorite things in the world is to be cold. I hate it. I usually cope with the winter weather of the Northeast well enough through December and January because I find peace, beauty, and romance in the early snowfalls around the holidays. I also appreciate the giddiness that sledding and playing in the snow creates for my children so I tolerate it. February comes and I still try to be a good sport about the freezing cold winds and (what feel like) daily snow squalls. 

By this point in the season, I'm really just done. I'm done with wearing eight layers every time I leave the house. I'm done with closed windows and stuffy air. I'm done with coming up with indoor activities for the kids. I'm ready to get outside, see some sunshine, and warm up already!

Clearly many of my friends and family feel the same way because they are all taking tropical beach vacations to escape the deep freeze. My colleague is soaking up the sun in Hawaii, my parents are cruising around Mexico, and my in-laws are on a plane to Aruba as I type. I could be jealous of them all (OK, I secretly am...), or I can dig deep and find a way to bring some beach-y comfort to the eternal winter wonderland that is Upstate NY. 

So, that's what I did. 

Each morning this week I've been sipping one of these delicious pina colada like smoothies and pretending really hard that I've got sand between my toes, sun shining on my face, and gentle waves creating a musical backdrop for my morning.

Disadvantage to this approach? Reality hits pretty hard the second I walk out the door. Advantage? A few more months to get bathing suit ready. Speaking of bathing suits, did I mention this delicious and filling smoothie adds up to just 4 Weight Watchers points plus?? Not a bad way to start your morning...

The Recipe

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree. No need to add ice or anything extra, it will have a perfect consistency from the frozen pineapple. I have been using a very low power, but completely adequate Hamilton Beach single serve blender that is perfect for on the go.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Tips

Food is one of my favorite things in the world. I spend hours each day thinking about food. I think about breakfast as soon as I wake up. I carefully plan what I'm going to eat at work. I think about what to cook my family for dinner. I read Pinterest and Bon Appetit magazine looking for new recipes. It's an obsession.

Because I love food so much, the idea of wasting food drives me crazy. I hate when a recipe calls for just part of something because it raises the likelihood that the other part will end up in the trash. I can't think of any product this happens to more often than tomato paste! The stuff is great to thicken sauce or chili, but you rarely need more than 1-2 Tbsp. So what happens to the rest?

Do you just admit that you don't need it and throw it away? Do you put it in the fridge and pretend you're going to use it only to find it shoved in the back growing mold three weeks later? If either of these scenes sound familiar, this post is for you!

I can't remember where I originally saw this tip, but it's a great one! After you open a can of tomato paste prevent the rest from going to waste by following these simple steps...

1. Use a tablespoon to measure out level scoops of tomato paste.
2. Place tomato paste on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
3. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for at least one hour until solid
4. Remove the tomato paste scoops from the cookie sheet and store in a bag or freezer safe container.

After following these simple steps you'll save yourself from the guilt of throwing away your unused tomato paste AND have pre-measured portions of tomato paste at arm's length the next time you need it. Total win-win situation!

Weight Watchers and Real Food

For the record, I was awake for 10 whole minutes today before a kid woke up. I didn't even move, I just laid there listening to the silence. Somehow, the older one still sensed that I was awake. She shuffled into the room and I pulled back the covers for her without saying anything. Miraculously, she snuggled between daddy and I and WENT BACK TO SLEEP.

I enjoyed the snuggle for a few minutes before slipping out of bed to try for that forbidden peaceful cup of coffee again. Just as I was adding the milk I heard the baby yelling out for a "baba". She's 15 months old so I really need to wean her off of it...but today is not that day. Giving her a bottle bought me ten whole minutes of quiet. Sweet, blissful quiet with nothing to do other than sip my HOT coffee and read Pinterest. When she finished the bottle we just snuggled and were silly together for a half hour while everyone else slept. These are the moments we just don't get enough of. Today is going to be a good day.

Low natural lighting in the kitchen made these shots a little fuzzy, but I love them anyway

I thought I'd take a few minutes this morning to share some advice about following Weight Watchers and sticking to an unprocessed, real food diet. A little over a year ago I joined WW for the first time. As I had an exclusively breastfeeding newborn I was allotted 46 points plus per day. I have to be honest, between the diet and breastfeeding I was dropping weight like crazy even eating oreos and Dunkin Donuts wake-up wraps on a daily basis. I went from post-baby weight to pre-baby weight in about a month and from post-baby weight to my lowest adult weight since I was in college in less than 6 months.

Then, the seasons started to change and the stress of selling a house, building a house, the holidays, and moving set in. I wasn't get fresh food from the Farmer's Market. My Weight Watchers subscription was cancelled. I was not going to the gym. The baby was nursing less. I was eating more processed foods. Nearly every successfully lost pound crept back on.

A year after my initial success I decided to start back up again. As I no longer have gads of points each day I need to focus a lot more on choosing "good" foods. Foods that are high in nutrients, satisfying, and that I "feel good" about eating. Here are my tips on combining a typical lower point (26) Weight Watcher's plan with real food ideas:

1. Real the labels! A trap a lot people following WW fall into is buying everything low fat or fat free because the point calculation is lower. This is a horrible idea. To save yourself a few points you will be filling your body with chemicals, additives, and fillers. You can find *some* reduced fat products that are only made with real ingredients (most dairy products), but you need to be extremely discerning and real your labels.
2. Plan ahead. If you have kids, or a job, or both you need to have your meals planned out or you will find yourself struggling to stay on the plan. Check back later this week for some easy meal plans to get through the week days.
3. Always have fruits and veggies on hand. Making healthy foods available will make you much more likely to eat them. For busy times of the day, having your produce prepped ahead of time is key - cut melon, rinsed grapes, easy to peel clementines, bananas, rinsed salad greens, sliced peppers, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes. For calmer times I find having a fruit I need to "work on" for a snack makes it more satisfying - grapefruit, cherries, kiwi.
4. Care about the food, not the diet. If you spend your time thinking about how safe and whole the foods you are eating are instead of calculating points on all the foods you know you shouldn't have, you will naturally make good choices! If you read the ingredient label on that box of Cheez-its you won't care that you can get away with 1/2 a serving for 3 points. You'll realize there are so many things in there that you don't want in your body it will be easy to chose a tablespoon of fresh ground almond butter and banana slices instead.
5. Splurge for real. Instead of planning myself a mini splurge every day (one cookie, a handful of chocolate chips, etc) which just ended up reintroducing all the "bad stuff" back into my system I plan one real splurge on a high quality item - a good piece of dark chocolate (not Hershey kisses), a handmade baked good (not Dunkin Donuts), a chunk of good full fat cheese (never eat the fat free stuff!), a few slices of good quality bacon (not turkey bacon), etc. 

Happy Sunday and Happy Eating!

Baked Pancake Bites (WW friendly)

Weekends are not the same once you have kids. You don't get to sleep in. You don't get to wake up and gaze lovingly at your partner thinking about how great life is. You don't get to have a peaceful cup of coffee while you catch up on the news. You don't get to take a long, hot shower.

Nope, none of that. The reality of weekends with kids looks like this: You roll over at 6:15 and gaze at the clock amazed that no one has woken you up yet with nightmares, coughing fits, or vomit. You contemplate if you should stay in bed and try to catch a few more precious minutes of sleep or sneak out to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Before the 30 seconds it would take for your groggy brain to make that decision passes you hear..."Mommy? Mommy? Mooooooommy?!" You reluctantly get up and drag her into bed with you. You cling to the unrealistic hope that she might go back to sleep. After ten rounds of, "Is it morning yet?" You admit defeat and concede that it is indeed morning. Still fooling yourself, you think it might be possible to get up with kid number one and have a cup of coffee before kid number two wakes up. Just as the Keurig drips the last drop into your cup you hear it. Kid two is up because kid one is filling her crib with pillows to make a "fort"...

This scenario is pretty much what my house looks like every Saturday morning...sleepy parents trying (unsuccessfully) to match the insane enthusiasm of a preschooler and toddler excited at the prospect of a full two days at home with mommy and daddy. After playing along with whatever crazy scheme the nearly five year old comes up with for about thirty minutes it is inevitable that the following phrase will be uttered, "Mommy, I'm hungry!"

Anyone who routinely cooks for children knows that this is a dangerous time. Eggs might have been awesome yesterday, but today they will carpet the floor. The a
ct of pouring a bowl of Joe-Os might bring cheers whereas an hour long effort on stuffed French toast might be met with groans and wails of, "That's disgusting!" 

Today, I took a chance. My husband and older daughter have been into Nutella recently so I offered to make Nutella pancakes. They accepted the concept. The challenge was on.

Baked Pancake Bites with Nutella

As I usually do when I'm looking to try something new, I did a quick google search. I turned up this recipe for pancake balls and Nutella. I tweaked it and got to work. I had my doubts as the batter was very thin, but I persevered through the rest of the steps. 

As they were baking our kitchen was filled with a lovely sweet, spicy aroma. My daughter was enticed into the kitchen and started circling the oven waiting for them to come out. I held my breath as I popped them out of the pan and placed them on the table. To my surprise and delight everyone in the house loved them! My daughter even finished the leftovers for a snack later in the day and asked for more. I will definitely be making these again soon.

Added bonus, I played with the original recipe to make it healthier and these worked out to a very reasonable 1 point plus per muffin. I ate 5 mini muffins and a heaping serving of fruit salad for a very satisfying breakfast.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

1 egg

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose, unbleached flour

2 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp raw sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp nutella

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and use cooking spray (or paper liners) to coat wells of a 24 mini muffin tin.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine milk, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until well blended.
3. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend very well (The batter will be thin!).
5. Pour the batter into the muffin wells (I poured the batter from a large measuring cup to make this step easier). You might have a little excess batter
6. Put the Nutella into a small ziploc baggie and snip the corner. Drizzle a small ribbon of chocolate into each muffin.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes. 
8. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

*May be served with maple syrup for dipping, but totally unnecessary!

**Try these out with different fillings - jam, banana slices, fresh berries, bacon, sausage, etc!

Iced Coffee Cupcakes

No, I haven't given up on Weight Watchers already. It just so happens that January is an incredibly busy month for birthdays among my family, friends, and coworkers. Diet or no diet, cupcakes are kinda my thing when it comes to celebrating someone's birth. Don't worry, I ate light all day yesterday so I could test out the frosting and make sure I had the perfect blend of flavors:-)

The cupcakes I'm blogging today are for someone very special at my practice -  my office manager and good friend. She has really been my lifeline since I joined the group just over two years ago. There have been quite a few bumps along the way for me and she has been on top of them all helping me get in touch with the right people and getting answers in a timely manner. She's also a huge reason my practice has built so quickly - she actively works the phones to recruit patients to the office and then presents a happy, smiling face at the desk that welcomes families and makes them feel at home. Aside from business, I also genuinely really like her personally. She's a great mom to her own "big kids" and is always offering me encouragement through the rough times with my monsters. In short, she's pretty great. And really, making this fabulous lady a few cupcakes doesn't even begin to thank her for all she does. But I hope it's a start.

So without further ado, I present a cupcake many Pinterest articles came together to create...I call them Dunkin' Donut Iced Coffee Cupcakes.

My inspiration was my friend's daily morning brew from DD. I blended elements from a few different recipes and modeled the final "look" after two or three different images I came across when searching for "coffee cupcakes" on Pinterest. I assure you, they really are as good as they look.

If you want to try making your own, I got the cake recipe from here. I followed it exactly as written using her modifications in red. The frosting was my own recipe that you will find below. The "sprinkles" are actually just a dusting of organic raw sugar from Trader Joe's. I tried to mimic the DD look by using pink cupcake wrappers and garnishing with actual straws from the restaurant.

Milk and Coffee Buttercream Frosting

2 1/2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

3 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp whole milk

1 tbsp hot water + 2 tsp instant espresso (dissolve coffee in water)

1. Beat butter on medium speed in the bowl of a stand mixer until very soft and "white" in appearance.
2. Add 2 cups (240g)* confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract, and milk to the mixer and beat for at least two minutes until smooth and thick.
3. Remove 1 1/2 cups frosting from the mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Add 1 cup (120g) confectioner's sugar and the espresso/water mixture to the mixer bowl and beat for at least 2 minutes.
5. Decorate cupcakes by piping large circle of coffee buttercream first, then smaller circle of "milk" buttercream. Sprinkle with sugar and top with straw (if desired).

*I use a small food scale to measure the sugar and get more precision in my recipes.