Change is Good

Where’d my hair go?!

I got about 6 inches cut off! What do you think?

Also, look up at your address bar. I am no longer spoonfulofsugarfree.wordpress.com, but spoonfulofsugarfree.com! Yay!

So what’s a girl to do with a domain of her own? Make business cards, of course!

My mom was a graphic designer, so she taught me how to use photoshop at a young age. I used to make business cards just for fun, and I made them all the time for homework and other business endeavors of mine. I always have her look over my work, and she gives her input so I can create the best business card I can!

Also, remember when I told you my Smacaroons sold at Katie’s Bake Sale for Japan for $96? Well I am sending a triple batch off today in an adorable little jar for the gracious bidder!

I sure do hope the Smacaroons arrive safely!

If you haven’t made them yet, I strongly encourage you to do so! They are sweet and salty, tropical yet comforting, and oh so healthy.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Are you comfortable with change? What do you think about it? Have you had any big or small changes in your life lately?

Honestly, I love changes. I think it gives me a fresh outlook on life, and it inspires me to have a little hop in my step 😉 When I was little, I used to share a room with my sister. Every few months we would totally rearrange our room. On that day-our stuff would be everywhere! Beds turned upside down, drawers emptied, knick-knacks  thrown all over the floor! SO MUCH FUN!

Use up that White Flour!

No, I am not suggesting you eat white flour. I am suggesting that you play with it!

 

Homemade Modeling Clay

~This is not like play dough, but this is the type of clay that dries into shapes. Keep leftovers in a air-tight plastic bag to keep from drying out.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • optional: food coloring or paint

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Feel free to adjust wet or dry amounts to create the desired consistency of a tough, yet workable clay.

 

Shape into anything you like! Make beads, animals, letters, shapes. Then, put in a dehydrator over night or until dry. If using an oven, turn on low temperature, preferably 200*, and bake for a few hours or until dry. The bigger the shape, the longer it has to cook and dry.

Beads!

Then, paint it if you wish!

Awwww! A teddy bear 🙂

This is a great way to use up all that yucky white flour, white salt, and gross vegetable oil you might have lurking in your cabinets. Then you can replace them with fun stuff like coconut flour, garbanzo bean flour, himalayan salt, olive oil, or coconut oil!

Did you see that I didn’t paint any of them yet? Well…..I’ll leave that up to you! What colors should I paint my new creations???

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Were you a big artsy kid growing up?

My mom is an artist, so I always had markers, paper, felt, fabric, beads, buttons, you name it! I loved craft time!

A Day in the Life of a Sugar Free Girl

By popular request, I am going to take you through a day in a life of me 🙂

Around 7:30 I wake up and wander into the kitchen to mix myself my morning drink:

Glutamine Power, Vitality C, Perfect Greens mixed in water

 

I get dressed for the day (or not, sometimes I spend the morning in pj’s), and spend about 30 minutes lifting weights (this is after a nice warm-up, of course. Never lift weights when your body is cold!)


Breakfast Time! Today’s breakfast was some grain-free bitter chocolate pancakes with thawed frozen strawberries.


And a cup of decaf hazelnut coffee to drink throughout the morning.

And my vitamins!

Vitamin D, Raw one Multivitamin for Women, and MAP (Master Amino Acid Pattern)

 

Then I sit down to the computer to work. Homework, blogging, blah, blah, blah…

My sweet doggy comes to say hello! So I give him some love…

My gosh he is getting some white whiskers! But look at that smile...

11:30 Lunch! Finally! I usually eat a veggie-protein stir-fry or leftovers from dinner the day before. Today happened to be a eggplant-tempeh mix with indian spices.

Then I’m off to tennis practice. I leave at 12:30 and arrive around 1:15. I spend the 45 minute car ride reading.

I'm reading Sense and Sensibility now. Have you read this before?

 

Tennis for 2 hours (This changes throughout the week. Sometimes I do 2 hours of tennis+1 hour speed and weight training. And sometimes I do just 4 hours of tennis.)

Me hitting a serve...

 

And 30 minutes of speed training with leg strengthening.

Post-workout snack:

A V8 and an Alex Bar (unpictured). Did you know that V8s have great levels of potassium?

 

4:30. My late afternoons and nights vary greatly from day to day. Sometimes I have to string a racquet, work on more homework, or whatever errands I need to do!

This is actually my brother's racquet...but you get the idea 😉

 

Shower and Dinner. After sweating so much throughout the day, I finally rinse off. Then I eat dinner. Something is usually waiting in the crockpot. Tonight’s diner was a big spinach salad with quinoa, tomatoes, chicken, avocado, heart of palms, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Monday night is choir night for me. From 6-8 I sing my heart out!

Here is a picture of me in my choir attire. This picture was taken last year in Los Angeles for a choir competition-that we won!

 

I’m hungry again, so I have a little dessert…

A Sugar-free 7-Layer Bar! OoOoOoOoOo...Recipe coming soon!

 

Then I settle down with a good book 🙂 And drink my nightly drink before bed:

Magnesium "Natural Calm," Glutamine powder, L Tryptophan, and probiotics.

 

10:00-Lights out! Night, night…Don’t let the bedbugs bite!

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you like to keep schedules?

I always like to schedule my day out the night before or else I get lost the next day and don’t know what to do! I find that I always get more done when I schedule everything out.



I Love Food!

And apparently, so does everyone else! Here is the long overdue Food Lovin’ Post!

Food Lovin’ Around the World:

Kelsey, from the Snacking Squirrel, loves her Starbuck’s coffee…

And her favorite egg salad sandwich from The Red Brick Cafe in Sidney B.C. (which is also one of her favorite cafes).

Lea from the Healthy Coconut loves her Coconut sticky rice with mango.

Krissie loves her homemade Nasi Goreng Pedas (Spicy Fried Rice).

Haley from Teen on a Mission loves the tamale and guacamole plate from “The Stand” in Laguna Beach, California.

Ann from Annie’s Simple Life loves her favorite summer sorbet, a mix of frozen bananas and blueberries. Click on picture for recipe.

Kathleen from Kat’s Health Corner loves her Pumpkin Cranberry Nutty Cookies. Click on Picture for recipe!

Carrie from Moves n’ Munchies loves her oatmeal. (Who could blame her? She makes the best bowls in town!)

Erika from FoodFitnessFun LOVES nut butters!

Dianna loves THESE kabocha squash scones.

Heather loves persimmons!

Maija loves roasted chestnuts…

…and fresh black mission figs!

Thanks to everyone who submitted pictures! It was so much fun to look at all of them. There are definitely a few more foods I want to try now 🙂

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

For those who didn’t get a chance to send a picture, what is your favorite food?