Living, Learning, Loving... Food

To any that know me, they know (and hopefully have been served) food that I love to cook- but preferably, bake. Martha Stewart? One of my closest best friends. Her dessert recipes, especially. They're dependable, flawless, and delicious. What's not to love??? Ah- the sugar.

Last year at this time, I was five months pregnant with Baby Jill. It's hard to see weight gain on a normal day, let alone the day you have to show up to the OB and get weighed and recorded. Perhaps my weekly intake of Ghirardelli brownies didn't help the cause. I asked a dear friend, who herself has had four children and looks healthier than she ever did, what her trick was. She, as only a tried-and-true friend would do, bought me the "Trim & Healthy Mama" book for my birthday. I started following the authors' nutritional guidelines in February and although it took a few months to get into the full swing, I'm happy to finally donate my 2014 'goal jeans' to the thrift store this January, and purchase new goal jeans for 2015:-) Goal jeans= tough love.

What I like about THM is that with exception of a few ingredients that are readily found online (or in a healthier-than-Wal-Mart store), it's doable.

For me, it hasn't been an easy battle being fuller than I'd like. I've battled weight since my teenage years. You can only suck in your abdomen so much. I've learned that I'd rather learn to balance my fats/carbs/protein and let my body do the rest of the work. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Below are some bloggers that are my new inspiration for daily menu items. Yes, I do still love Martha. I always will. But I just visit less with her nowadays;-)

http://www.trimhealthymama.com/

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/

http://mrscriddleskitchen.com/ (her lemon bars in her picture posted above)

http://www.gwens-nest.com/

http://www.thecoersfamily.com/