Menu Monday #19

Well, it isn't Monday anymore, but I am finally getting back on track! We spent the day on the road yesterday, which is not a pleasant thing these days with a certain fussy 14-month-old. :/ We had an amazing weekend with friends and family though, and I will hopefully be posting about all of that soon!

On Friday, we made our way to Ohio, so we had dinner on the road. Upon arriving at my sister's house, we were greeted with the wonderful aroma of pumpkin crunch baking in the oven. Yum! The following morning, we had a feast of pancakes, sausage and eggs for brunch. That evening we gorged ourselves on some absolutely fabulous Indian food at my friend Sheela's wedding. Now I can't stop thinking about it. I need more!!

On Sunday morning, we fueled up with some oatmeal before making our way to the Cincinnati Zoo for the day. We were excited to get some LaRosa's Pizza and Skyline Chili for lunch while we were there. After snacking on some UDF ice cream, another Ohio favorite, we decided we needed to round out the day with just one more...Montgomery Inn. The Boathouse location is settled right on the river, with an excellent view of the Kentucky riverfront. One of our favorite BBQ restaurants, it's also where hubby and I celebrated our 6-month anniversary when we started dating nearly 12.5 years ago! Ok, now I feel old!

Sunday: Montgomery Inn

We started with some saratoga chips and onion straws, accompanied by their signature BBQ sauce. For my entree, I chose the ribs & chicken with a baked sweet potato. Coated in my favorite BBQ sauce, the meat was so delicious! I wish I had had room for dessert, but I was stuffed!

Monday: Mini Caprese frittatas, whole wheat drop biscuits

We arrived home last night just in time to start preparing dinner. I had not been to the store yet, so I had nothing planned. Fortunately, my sister had sent us home with tomatoes from her garden, so I picked some basil and threw both of those in with some cheese and eggs to make mini frittatas, the same way I did in the above link, but with different ingredients/toppings. I had what I needed on hand to whip up some biscuits, and I subbed some whole wheat flour for part of the white flour. They were delicious.

Tuesday: Blackened salmon over brown rice, oven roasted asparagus

We skipped this one last week, so I was craving salmon when I put my menu together! :)

Wednesday: Tex-Mex slow cooker chicken served in whole wheat tortillas

I need a quick meal tomorrow night because I am escaping for a Mom's Night Out with my mom friends! Yay! :) So, I'm trying this new meal. It is similar to my slow cooker salsa chicken, but includes lots of beans and corn. I can stick it in the Crock Pot and it will be ready to eat as soon as hubby arrives home. Perfect.

Thursday: Grilled pork chops, roasted sweet potatoes with honey and rosemary

The weather is still good for grilling, so we'll enjoy it while we can. The potatoes continue to be a hit with the boys, so I'll continue to make them! :)

Friday: Margherita pizza

Simple and easy, it's one of my favorites.

Saturday: Picnic at the park

We are planning to have a picnic dinner at a local park with a few other families. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

Happy meal planning to you this week!

Menu Monday #18

Whew, I am a little late today! We have had a very busy day with Ethan starting speech therapy at a new location this morning, then we hosted a last minute playdate at our house this afternoon. Nine kids under 5. Yeah, it was kind of a zoo for a couple hours! Haha!

We enjoyed another relaxing weekend at home this weekend. It was wonderful. On Friday night, we decided to head out for dinner instead of making pizza. Last week was 'kids eat free week' at Olive Garden, so we took advantage of that to score the kids some free dinner! :) The next morning, I decided to make something we hadn't had in a long time...French Toast! I don't know why I hadn't made it in so long, but I had plenty of bread and eggs and it sounded good. We topped it with fresh strawberries and cream. Yum! Later on, we headed out to do some shopping, but fueled up with some Panera Bread first. Ethan loves "sitting outside to eat," and it was the perfect day for it. A gentle, cool breeze countered the bright sunshine and made for perfect temperatures outside. Love it! I was excited to score some awesome fall decorations at 50% off at Michaels. Now my mantle is ready for fall and so am I! :) On Saturday night, we stayed in to watch football and make pizza. Hubby and I watched Contagion after putting the kids to bed. I really enjoyed it, but then I am a health nerd that is really into stuff about diseases and how they spread. ;) It has an all-star cast, too! On Sunday morning, the hubby and boys treated me to breakfast. Scrambled eggs and Cream of Wheat! The perfect treat for a cool morning and something nice and easy that the boys could handle. :)

Sunday: Lasagna Cups and Meatballs on a Stick

I hadn't made these in awhile and when hubby requested lasagna for the week, I thought these would be nice. Much quicker and easier than a pan of lasagna and they also yielded leftovers. Awesome.

Monday: Melt In Your Mouth Baked Chicken, whole wheat pasta, roasted asparagus

Another meal we hadn't had in awhile, but a good one for a rainy day! Everyone loves it and I made extra for leftovers.

Tuesday: Cubed steak with mushroom soup over rice, pan fried parmesan green beans

I haven't made this meal in ages...over a year ago, in fact! It was another request of hubby's and should be perfect for a cooler, rainy day! It's super easy because you just throw the meat and soup in a slow cooker and let it cook all day. It was a meal we ate a lot when I was growing up, so it always reminds me of home. :)

Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato bisque soup

The forecasted high for the day is in the upper 60s, so this meal will be great to warm us up! I will use provolone cheese and bake my own French bread in the bread machine for the sandwiches. I found an organic soup to try, so I hope we like it! I may doctor it up with additional spices if needed.

Thursday: Grilled Italian sausage with onions, bell peppers & mushrooms, baked sweet potato fries

We're expected to have nice weather this day, so we'll grill out once for the week! I like to marinate the veggies in Zesty Italian dressing for the day to give them some nice added flavor.

Friday: Trip to Ohio

We're headed north once again, so I'll get a break from the kitchen!

Saturday: Wedding

I am super excited about attending the wedding of one of my best friends from college this weekend. I am sure dinner will be fabulous and it will be wonderful to see old friends from college!

Happy meal planning to you this week! Enjoy these cooler temps! :)

School Fundraisers...Take Out a Loan Now!

And so it begins...

I thought I had this child-rearing thing all figured out. After all, I'm now a mom to 3- and 1-year-old boys. You would think I've seen pretty much everything by this point. While I may be a pro surviving now when it comes to the toddler world, preschool, on the other hand, is a new, eye-opening experience!

Photographs courtesy of Teddy Bear Portraits

In just one month's time in this new surrounding, I think I've learned more than my little preschooler! For instance, did you know that cute, little 3-year-old girls don't have cooties?!? I thought I'd have at least 10 years before I had to worry about crushes and love triangles. Darn! I may have to re-think this whole wanting a girl thing. I'm not sure I'd survive the preschool years with her, much less the teenage ones (if she'd be anything like me)!

Another thing I have quickly learned is that fund-raising starts early! Very early. In just one short month there have already been multiple opportunities to raise money for his preschool. First up, school pictures! I don't know that this was the case nearly 30 years ago when I made my way into the preschool world for the first time, but today they take photos of your kids with portions of the sales returning to the school. Smart thinking photography companies! I mean, what parent is going to pass on buying pics of their kids if it benefits the school? Surely not this mama. Yep, that's my cute little preschooler you see in the above photos! I know, could he look any more ornery than he does in those pics? Nope, I don't think so either! So yeah, they suckered me into buying some, even though we just had professional ones done in June, and we'll be doing more in October (with the fabulous Kristy Vest Photography - she took the pics you see in my blog header). I couldn't miss out on his first school pics!! Of course they don't tell you any of their prices up front though. They bombard you with it when you come in to view the already printed ones, so you feel bad not buying the 20 sheets of pics of your kid that they already spent time and money creating for you. Sigh. Of course it was just me there checking out all of the adorable photos, while hubby, my voice of reason, was far away at work. Could I resist buying the entire outrageous collection? Hubby would be proud. I managed to escape with just one 8x10 of each of the three poses they had of him. Go me! I wouldn't let them sucker me into buying their "keepsake collage." I came home and made this one myself! :) I like it better than theirs anyway, and love it knowing I didn't donate one of my arms to get it. I'm all for supporting the school, but come on people.

School pics still hotly in hand, the next opportunity to support the school presented itself...Scholastic book sales! They sent the brightly-colored flyer home in his backpack, packed full of fun, awesome books for sale. How exciting, our first book sale! I can remember when I was younger going to the book fairs they set up in the school gymnasium. That was always a highlight of the year for a little book worm like myself. I searched through the flyer several times and finally decided on a couple selections. A package of classics (you can't beat 10 books for ~$15, right?) and a pair of Berenstain Bears books (a favorite of both mine and hubby's from our early years). Being the first-time preschool mama that I am, I didn't want to be the only parent not buying any books, especially since it would benefit the preschool...and then he brought home another Scholastic flyer yesterday, and this mama quickly realized that the book sales are a monthly ordeal. Wow. Who knew we were going to go broke while our first-born is still in preschool?

Still reeling from the idea of buying new books every month, yet another opportunity surfaced. A "yard sale" of sorts is being organized for next month. Now we can donate anything we no longer need want for the preschool to sell to members of the church and surrounding community. And of course we can donate our time, talents and second-born child, if we see fit. ;) Don't get me wrong, I am all for supporting the preschool that we decided to send our child to, but I thought when we paid all of those fees up front that our financial commitment for the year would be covered. Boy was I wrong. I didn't realize we should have planned on taking out a small loan for preschool, much like one would expect for the college years. Where were my fellow mamas to warn me of this?? Yes, I'm looking at you, dear sister! ;) No really, no one talks about this aspect of school. Beware moms of toddlers...your time is coming! Start saving now so you don't find yourself halfway through the school year with your pockets empty.

What fundraisers have your children's schools done so far this year?

Menu Monday #17

It was great enjoying a nice, relaxing weekend at home this weekend. We enjoyed our time together as a family and made some great memories too. On Friday evening, we went out for some sushi for dinner at my favorite local Asian restaurant, then on to our local "First Friday" event which coincided with the local children's museum's 25th birthday bash. They offered free admission and hosted a "Touch a Truck" event! Awesome! Ethan was in heaven as he was able to climb into all kinds of vehicles and big trucks. Every little boy's dream!

Am I really allowed in here, Dad??

The museum was filled with lots of fun activities, so I think we'll be getting a family membership so we can check it out more often! We capped off the evening by enjoying some DQ blizzards. It was the perfect late summer evening.

On Saturday morning, I tried out a new recipe for Whole Wheat Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes. While I enjoyed them (they tasted like sweet cornbread), Josh wasn't a big fan of them for breakfast, so I guess I won't be making them again. :( After breakfast, Josh and Ethan enjoyed some bonding time by shopping all morning and most of the afternoon together, including a lunch on Panera Bread's patio. Ethan loved his alone time with Daddy. It's definitely harder for him to get that now that Noah is in the picture too, so we're trying to do our best to make sure they each get "dates" with us. :) It poured here later that day, so I was glad I had food to prepare for dinner - the pizza that I didn't make Friday night!

On Sunday morning, I decided to try making Mini Frittatas by using a muffin tin. It was super easy. Spray the tin generously with cooking spray or use foil liners. Then you just place one egg in each opening (eggs on right), scramble them with a fork a little bit (eggs in middle), then add a splash of milk (eggs on left).

Then you add the extra items you want. I used the extra onion and bacon I had from the pizza I had made the previous night (eggs on right), a pinch of mozzarella cheese (eggs in middle), then cheddar cheese, cilantro, and a quick grind from the salt and pepper shakers (eggs on left).

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 18 minutes, or until set. They were perfect and super cute! The boys loved them and they worked well for making a sandwich with an English muffin if you cut one of them in half. :)

Sunday: Cheeseburgers, hot dogs, grilled corn on the cob, baked beans

Ethan wanted to eat outside and it was such a perfect, cooler evening, so we did! Daddy fired up the grill and we had a picnic on our deck with all of the boys' favorites! :)

Monday: Grilled salmon topped with basil pesto over brown rice, oven roasted asparagus

I will make some more basil pesto (and seriously try to post the recipe soon!) with the abundance of basil that we still have growing right now! :) It is very tasty with the salmon and I'll use the leftover for Tuesday's meal. Last week we used the pesto on the Caprese burger instead of basil leaves and it was excellent! We decided we both preferred it that way. :)

Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Alfredo

This was such a hit that we'll make it again. I marinate chicken tenders in Kraft's Zesty Italian dressing all day, then those are grilled. I make a batch of my homemade Alfredo sauce and combine it with the leftover basil pesto. Add in whole wheat pasta and chopped tomato and the meal is complete!

Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Rosemary

We use a little bit of Patti's dry seasoning on our pork chops to give them a nice flavor. The potatoes are super yummy and filling.

Thursday: Chicken Quesadillas and Spicy Cilantro Corn

I haven't made these in awhile and I like to have at least one dish that is made indoors in case I need to shuffle meals because of rain. I will cook the chicken, a diced red pepper and diced onion in a frying pan, then just toss them and some cheese on top of a tortilla in my quesadilla maker. Super easy. I'll serve them with Fresh Market's medium salsa because it's our favorite. The corn was yummy last week, so I'll make more of that.

Friday: Margherita Pizza

Simple and classic. This is one everyone loves with the fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and fresh garlic! Yum.

Saturday: Out to eat

Not sure what we'll be having, but it will be a break from the kitchen for me!

Happy meal planning to you this week! I think fall is finally starting to arrive here in Tennessee and I couldn't be happier!

Sweet & Spicy Sides

S, s, S. The popular ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book by Dr. Seuss is one of Ethan's favorites. They have the book at my allergist's office and every week when we are there for my shot, he likes reading it with me. He's very good at the "big S, little s, big S" thing. :)

This Sunday, I have some sweet and spicy sides to share! ;) First up, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Rosemary. I had been planning to make baked sweet potatoes for a side dish a couple of weeks ago, but instead, I decided I wanted to try to experiment with some ingredients instead. I am so glad that I did. The results were delicious and resulted in something I will be making many more times in the future.

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 Tbsp honey

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then dice into small 1/2- to 1-inch cubes. Spray a baking sheet with an olive oil spray, then place cubes onto the sheet. Drizzle the EVOO on top of the cubes. Season with the cinnamon, salt and rosemary. Drizzle 1 Tbsp of the honey on top of the cubes.

Stir the cubes around the sheet to make sure they are evenly coated. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the cubes around the sheet again. Drizzle with the rest of the honey. Place the sheet back in the oven and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cubes start to brown and caramelize. Enjoy!

This dish was super easy to make and sweet potatoes are loaded with great nutrients...Vitamin A, C, B6, manganese, potassium and iron. Plus they are a great source of fiber! The potatoes are nice and soft inside and crispy and caramelized on the outside. They are so delicious that you'll think you had dessert instead of dinner. ;)

Next up, Spicy Cilantro Corn. I had intended to just defrost some frozen sweet corn and season with some butter and cajun seasoning, but decided to change it up a bit. I had fresh cilantro in the fridge for another meal that I was making that week, so I thought it would be a nice addition to the corn, which would accompany my Salsa Chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bag frozen Silver Queen corn (or your favorite variety)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
• Dash of freshly ground sea salt, to taste
• Dash of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Directions:

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Place the corn, onion and butter in the skillet. Heat until warmed throughout and onion is translucent or golden. Season with the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and ground red pepper. Serve while warm.

This was another easy side dish that offered a lot of flavor. It's a nice change from plain corn and was great as a Tex-Mex side.

What ingredients do you use to enhance common veggies?

Fun with Shapes!

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a playdate here at the house for some of the boys' new friends. My new friend, Amanda, had introduced me to the idea of a themed playdate, which is super fun! This was something new to us, but something she has been doing for years. She's such a fun mom! :) Following her lead, I decided to make shapes the theme of our playdate, as we had covered colors the week before, at her house.

For their activity, I prepared mini-books for the kids. I discovered a great pin awhile back with instructions for how to make the book from a single sheet of paper. You can find a bigger picture with the explanations here. I used cardstock to make the books a little sturdier since they were for the 3 and under crowd. :) I labeled each page with the name of a different shape. Next, I cut out the shapes from colored construction paper. The kids were then able to match the shapes to the labels (I coordinated the colors of the labels and shapes to help the younger kids) and glue each shape to the correct page in the book. When they were finished, they could decorate the books with markers or crayons if they wanted to color too. The books were super simple to make and it made for a fun, educational craft.

For their snack, I decided to make my own homemade wheat crackers. I was going to just make the dough and let the kids cut out the shapes, but I decided this would probably be too time-consuming to have to bake them after that also, so I went ahead and did it myself. I cut them into the various shapes that I used in the books (circles, squares, triangles, ovals, rectangles and diamonds).  I used the following recipe from the Finding Joy in My Kitchen blog.

Whole Wheat Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for pastry mat
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted/softened
• 2/3 cup milk (or water)
• Sea salt (for sprinkling)

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine the flours and salt. Then add the butter and milk (or water). Mix until the dough sticks together and is easy to handle. Once well-combined, knead the dough out on a pastry mat dusted with additional flour. Roll the dough out to a 1/8" thickness. Cut out the shapes that you want (I used a fondant cutter because it was super easy to roll it through the dough), then transfer them to a cookie sheet. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt, and press it into the dough. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crispy. Keep an eye on them to be sure they don't burn after 15 minutes.

Despite rolling the dough out very thin, the crackers really puffed up when I baked them! They were kind of crunchy on the outside, but hollow and still a bit soft/chewy on the inside. They were actually more like little mini-pitas than crackers, but they still tasted great! I stored these in an air-tight container, but they seemed to get more chewy, as opposed to crunchy, the next day.

To accompany the crackers, I decided to make my own hummus. It's something I have been wanting to do for awhile and for some reason never got around to doing it. I can't believe how simple it is to make! No more store-bought hummus for us. I turned to my favorite food blog for a recipe, Annie's Eats. I knew she wouldn't disappoint me, and sure enough, she didn't!

Restaurant-Style Hummus

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp lemon juice, from 1-2 lemons (I used ReaLemon juice)
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 Tbsp tahini (ground sesame seeds), stirred well
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 (14 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 small garlic cove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (I used 3 small cloves)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (I used ground red pepper)
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro or parsley (I omitted this ingredient)

Directions:

Combine the lemon juice and water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together the tahini and EVOO in a second small bowl or measuring cup.

Add the chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper to a food processor.

Combine until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the machine running, add the lemon juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the food tube. Scrape down the bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With the machine running, add the oil-tahini mixture in a steady stream through the food tube. Continue to process until the hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover and let stand until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes, or overnight, in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

The hummus was super yummy and the kids gobbled it up! :) I would love to try some different varieties in the future (like roasted garlic or roasted red pepper), but for now, this serves as a great basic recipe for this popular dip. I also made some homemade basil pesto to serve too, with the abundance of basil we have growing right now. It was delicious with the crackers/mini pitas!

The boys and I had lots of fun with the shapes playdate and our small group of friends. There are, of course, lots of other activities that could be added for a more structured playdate, but we just let the kids play for the duration of the morning. :) What is your best idea for a fun, themed playdate?

Menu Monday #16

Another busy weekend for us. So busy that this post isn't happening until Tuesday! Most of that is due to the holiday yesterday and the fact that we were on the road most of the day. We were making our way home from Ohio, where we spent the weekend with both of our families. On Friday, we headed to hubby's parents' house where we spent that evening and the next day with them. The boys love playing with their cousin, Braelynn, and they enjoyed their day! On Saturday, we dined at one of hubby's favorite places for lunch, Hickie's Hamburger Inn. I probably should have tried a burger, but opted for a chicken sandwich instead. It was pretty good for a fried chicken sandwich, something I don't normally eat anymore. The boys gobbled up their burger, hot dog and fries smothered in gravy! Surprise, surprise. Josh indulged in the Big Yogi that you see in the video link above and enjoyed every bite! ;) That evening, we celebrated my in-laws' birthdays with another Reese cake. Yum.

On Sunday morning, we made our way to my sister's house for my nephew's 5th birthday party! The way Ethan feels about cars is how he feels about pirates. So...Pirate of the Caribbean was the theme! :) The boys enjoyed more fun time with their three cousins and some of my nephew's friends too!

Hubby and I were pumped for the chance to get some Chipotle for lunch that day, which sadly has not made its way to eastern TN yet. :( We had a great time catching up with my family before heading to a local hotel for the night. Here we had our very first experience with "bed-sharing." We had one king bed and they were out of roll-away beds, so Ethan got to sleep in the middle for the night! Haha! I seriously don't know how some people do that every night!? Maybe not all kids move around as much at night as he does? LOL! I don't know. All I know is that when I woke up in the 4 o'clock hour, there was a leg/foot dangling over my shoulder. Oh yeah. Apparently his head was buried into hubby and he managed to take over his pillow before the end of the night too. Haha! So yeah, fortunately, it's not something we have to do every night as it was certainly an experience! Lucky Noah had the pack 'n play all to himself, but Daisy got to share in the fun too. ;) That was one full bed! On the plus side, the boys actually let us sleep in a few hours later that morning than they had the previous two mornings away from home, so I'm not complaining! On our trip back on Monday, we stopped at Penn Station in KY for lunch. Another favorite that we can't get around here, we enjoyed some hot subs before making our way back home.

Sunday: Birthday party!

We enjoyed pizza and cake at the birthday party.

Monday: Take out Italian food

By the time we arrived home and I purchased groceries for our bare refrigerator, it was too late to cook, so we ordered some take out. Unfortunately, it was not as good as I hoped it would be and they messed up my order. :( I don't think we'll be going back there!

Tuesday: Grilled salmon topped with basil pesto over brown rice, oven roasted asparagus

I will make some more basil pesto (and try to post the recipe soon!) with the abundance of basil that we have growing right now! :) It is very tasty with the salmon and makes plenty to use through the week as a dip for crackers.

Wednesday: Caprese burger, sweet potato fries

Our new favorite burger, it is so simple, fresh and delicious. Instead of topping it with leaves of basil, I may use some of the leftover basil pesto instead. Delicious! Everyone gobbles up the fries, and I'll serve them with my spicy ketchup.

Thursday: Salsa chicken served in whole wheat tortillas, cajun-buttered sweet corn

I haven't made this in awhile and I wanted at least one dish that is made indoors in case I need to shuffle meals this week because of rain from Tropical Storm Isaac! It's so yummy and makes lots of leftovers too!

Friday: Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Bacon Pizza

After consuming so much takeout pizza recently, I have been craving my favorite homemade variety. It truly is the best pizza you will ever make!

Saturday: Out to eat

Not sure what we'll be having, but it will be a break from the kitchen for me!

Happy meal planning to you this week! This year, we'll be missing my hometown's local street fair for the first time in the past few years. While I will miss the deep-fried Snickers, I know my waistline won't! I have really been slacking lately with the diet lifestyle change, and have started to head the wrong direction on the scale again. Ugh. I am getting back on track today, which means no more sweets for me for awhile! :(