Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday my Spice-y friends!
Every Monday, my goal is to post a picture of what my menu plan looks like for the week for you.  If I have any links to already published recipes (either on my page or someone else's), I will post the links as well.
Just an FYI, I usually only plan 4 meals for the week.  I find it gives me a little more flexibility to change things up if needed without having an entire freezer and pantry filled with random ingredients for meals I ended up not cooking.
This week, is pretty lame for y'all, sorry!  I am going to play around with a few old family favorites to re-vamp them into some keto/low carb deliciousness, so no recipes yet.
As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment or drop me a line by email or on Facebook.  Have an AHHHH-mazing week - xoxo

Tap, tap, tap....

Tap, tap, tap...
Is this thing on?
Isn't that how to figure out if people are still listening as they try to figure out a pithy way to say “hi” again and reconnect with their slice of the blog-o-spehere?  The fact that I have just rewrote 9 sentences to try to transition into this all important conversation, when really, all of my inner dialogue just wants to get to it.  No muss, no fuss.  So, because I am drawing a blank for a sassy and smart transition, and because I can...let's do this interview style, shall we?

Q:  I am new here, who the heck are you?
A:  My name is Sig, aka – Siggy Spice.  I started this blog many MANY moons ago as a sort of therapy.  You can read all about that crazy story HERE.  I have made some AMAZING friends here along the way.   A little more about me, I am a 40-ish year old Mama of 4, living the suburban dream.  Even though I don't fit the Stepford wife, crazy micro-managing PTA Mom type you will find in the ‘burbs, I am comfortable here dodging the drama, even if that makes me seem unsocial at times.    I love my family.  Man, do I love my family.  In fact, truth be told, I think I love my kids and husband more than any person has ever loved theirs.  Yup, I said it.  I love to cook, hate to do dishes and clean up after myself.  I despise laundry.  I have recently discovered I am a pretty good home decorator and have a creative side I am continually exploring and pushing the boundaries of.  I am a make-up junkie.  I have 3 dogs and 1 cat.  I have serious carpool rage.  I change my hair color a LOT.  I have a woo-woo side....I am very intuitive and firmly believe in signs, mind/body/spirit connection, and all things woo.  While I like to say I am a hippie, I am not crunchy...I like Sephora and Target too much.  

Q:  Um….where the heck have you been for the last 3+ years???  Why are you back?

A:  3+ years.  Wow.  That doesn’t even seem possible.  I started this blog during such a hard time of my life and used it as a sort of a way to crawl out from under my self-imposed rock.  I used it as a platform to try new recipes.  I used it as a way to connect with people since we had just moved across the country.  Another cross-country move and we are still in Austin.  Totally enjoying the AMAZING culinary scene here.  I have grown as a person, as a Mom, as a wife, as a cook. 

I have also lost over 100 pounds. 

Yup, you read that right.   Over 100 pounds. 

I had been somewhat over-weight most of my life.  After college, marriage, babies, stress of life, etc., my weight ballooned to the point it was having a direct effect on my health.  About 2-3  years ago, I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic.  I was put on Metformin and told to watch what I ate.  I watched, and did great for about 4 months.  Then, like so many times before, I had a bad meal, which turned into a bad day, week, month, and year.  In November of 2015, I was diagnosed with a 5cm "multi-septated complex" Ovarian cyst, not known if it was cancerous.   As I was sitting in the Gynecological Oncologist office and he was explaining how fat traps Estrogen, therefore, all this Estrogen was trapped in my body causing this, I knew that this was an unintended consequence of my choices I had made.  We decided that since I was no longer in the baby game, and my risk for gynecological cancers were high, that we would do a full hysterectomy even if the mass proved to be benign.  So, that is what we did. 

12 days later, my Gallbladder decided it wanted to break up with me too.  

As I was sitting in the ER being poked over and over again because they couldn’t find a vein, I had my A-HA moment.  I knew if I didn’t make a drastic change this was going to be my life.  I had a vision of me in and out of ER’s and Dr. offices waiting on the next diagnoses, putting out fires left and right.  Having gallbladder surgery after a complete hysterectomy was a lot for any body to handle.  For a “normal” weight person, it may not have been so long.  For me, it was long.  My body was overworked.  My body was tired.  During my recovery period, my blood pressure rose to the point I had to be put on blood pressure medication.  Unfortunately, my PCP dosed me too high too fast and caused some heart freak out.  Yet another ER visit.  Another reminder of what needed to be done. 

It is true when they say you choose your hard.  Losing weight is hard.  Being overweight is hard.  You chose your hard.  I have to continually chose my hard, and believe me, it is hard.  Every day is a choice.  But here I am….a year and a half after choosing what hard road I will walk the rest of my life. 

Q:  What do you want this blog to do for you and what’s in it for me?
A:  This blog is still a form of therapy for me.  A place to say what I am doing and where I am at with things going on in my quirky brain.  I love to share things to help people on their journey, whether it be recipes, techniques, ideas, a new product, some insight, or just a chuckle.  I hope you find some gems here and there.  Everything I share might not be your bag, and that is totally cool.  Take what you want, leave the rest.   I will be sharing the recipes that I eat now.   They will be MY version of healthy.  Keto, low-carb, sugar free, but always delicious!  I do not eat only as a way to lose weight, but for my over all health and nourishment.  I am not going to erase my past not-so-healthy recipes.  Like my weight, it is part of my past.  You can bet there will be some re-vamping of old favorites!

So, long story short, I'm back!  Stay tuned for awesomeness, deliciousness, and all the other "ness's".  If there is anything else you are dying to know, drop me a line or find me on Facebook!

Hugs and sugar free kisses to you - xoxo

Oreo Truffle Brownie

Happy, happy 2014!
I hope you all created some amazing memories over the holiday!
Now that life has calmed down a bit, I am hoping to give the blog here a face-lift and start cranking out some more recipes to share with you....I have missed you all - xoxo
First up for the New Year, just in time to sabotage your resolutions before Girl Scout Cookies do, is the scrumptious love child of the infamous "Oreo Truffle" and the good-old perfect Brownie.  Seriously...amazeballs!

Oreo Truffle Brownie
Recipe by:  Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

For the brownies:
• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Oreo Truffle and Topping:
• 26 Oreo or other chocolate-sandwich cookies
• 8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened
• 4 ounces white chocolate or white almond bark

Directions

1. For the brownies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and remove from heat when the chocolate is fully melted. In the same pot, whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time. Add the flour and salt and stir until well combined. Pour the batter into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool completely.
2. For the Oreo truffle topping, crush the Oreo cookies and mix with the softened cream cheese until the mixture is well-combined. I find the best method is to lightly crush the Oreo cookies and then mix the cookies with the cream cheese in an electric stand mixer, food processor or with a handheld mixer. Lightly press the Oreo truffle mixture over the cooled brownies.
3. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate or almond bark on low power at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate into the corner of a ziploc bag. Carefully snip a small piece off the corner and drizzle the chocolate across the brownies. Alternately, you can cut the brownies into squares and then drizzle with the chocolate. Chill the brownies in the refrigerator until the chocolate is set (10-20 minutes). Cut into slices and serve.

Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello, my name is Siggy Spice, and I am a big-ol'-cheater. 
Do you cheat on your favorites?  Favorite recipe that is.  Do you still try to find a better version?  A grass is greener on the other side version?
I do.
My recipes can't expect monogamy.  What if a dash of this, or a pinch of that changes everything?
Well, can I tell you.  I pinched....and it was AH-mazing.  Life changing even.
On top of my pinch, I was lazy and wanted to try a shortcut.  And ohhhh, that shortcut.  It was oh-so-short.  Like, my dough was ready to go before the oven was even pre-heated, short.  That shortcut made me feel like a cheater on a whole new level.
My family is in on this as well.  They agree that they have never tasted anything as soft, chewy, and with a pop of wow like these little gems.
Try these.  Please.  Don't let me stew in my guilt alone.



Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe ever so slightly adapted by:  Six Sisters Stuff

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Sea Salt - just a sprinkle, not even a pinch for each cookie.  I used my Pink Himalayan Sea Salt grinder and just ground a wee-bit onto each cookie.

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Fold in Bisquick baking mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Use 1" cookie scoop to form cookie balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Sprinkle or grind not even a pinch of Sea Salt onto each cookie.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Hump Day Confessional 6/12/13

 

So, I am sure most of you know, the reason for my lack of posts lately is because of "the move".  I say "the move" like that because I hear it with dramatic, scary music in the background.   So, I will start with the good:
I love, love, LOVE our new house....but the building process was like birthin' a baby.  I was on a total and complete emotional rollercoaster for 6 months.  But the end result?  LOVE IT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pretty much want to make out with my front door!!

 

 

 

I love, love, LOVE my new kitchen!

I also want to make out with the AMAZING hardwood floors!

But "the move"....OHHH "the move".  I thought it would be so much easier since we were only moving 3 miles up the road, and we would have 2 weeks from close until the end of our lease.  I thought we would be able to take our time and it would be a easy.  HAH!  It all started when our movers double booked, so they were only able to get the truck loaded (with the big stuff), then go do their other jobs, then come back at 6:00pm and unload, then go back and grab the rest of the stuff we couldn't get by ourselves.  This left an ass-load of stuff that I was moving by myself for a week after I dropped the kids off at school and before I picked them up.  Then I spent a week deep cleaning the old house.  UGH!  Moving a six-person household is not for the faint of heart. Now, I am in unpacking hell.  I say unpacking hell because the packing ended up being so disorganized, the unpacking is taking FOREVER! 

So, onto confessions:

~I have been eating every meal outside on our back patio.  There is nothing like listening to the birds chirping while enjoying some coffee in the morning.  Now dinner on the other hand...not so relaxing, lol!  We haven't purchased our new outdoor table yet, so there are 6 of us in camp chairs squeezed around a cheap IKEA outdoor table while listening to the the remains of construction and the construction workers.  Nothing like the sounds of Mariachi music with an entire crew singing along, interrupted by the POW, POW, POW of the nail gun.  Ahhh, good times!

~My sweet blue-eyed baby graduated from Kindergarten this year.  I could go on and on about how time flies and it seemed like yesterday that I was teaching him how to walk.  While I do feel all those things, I am most struck by how bad I sucked as a mom at the end of the school year this year.  Going back to the whole "moving" situation, I was lucky to have been able to find clean clothes (mostly) to put on him and me for graduation.  Ignore the fact that he went weeks without me signing his homework folder, reading aloud, packing his lunch (don't worry, he bought it at the cafeteria), NOT showing up to volunteer when I was supposed to, showing up in carpool lane looking like a crazy woman and smelling like a goat, and showing up to his graduation with no balloons and prizes and sporting 3 inch roots. 

~I coached my daughters Volleyball team this season...the Hulkettes.  At first I was petrified to do it because (1) these wee ladies pack a powerful punch.  In 6th grade, they are jump serving and basically kicking the ass of anyone I played Volleyball with in school.  I mean, what could I teach them?!  (2)  I didn't want to be the coach whom the parents looked at and thought "what the hell is she having my kid do that she can't do herself" (3) Middle school girl drama makes me want to hurl.
However, all that fear and trepidation was for NOTHING!  We had a fabulous time and only lost 2 games for the season.  The girls and parents were AMAZING and we definitely had the most FUN of any team in the league, hence the green tongues and the GRRR face for our team pic.

~I made quilts for my nieces whom are stationed in Germany.  It is the closest I have been able to give them a hug.  The above picture is the WONDERFUL housewarming present by brother and sister-in-law sent to us from an artist in Germany.  Funny thing is, it says "Welcome to our Home", but "Rouse" (our last name) basically means "get the hell out".
OH, the confession part of this is how sucky I am at going to the post office.  I started these quilts back in November...it took me until April to finish them...then, not until "the move" did I actually get my sorry ass to the post office.

Quilt for my new baby niece Harper <3

Quilt for my 8 year old niece Maddy, who loves Monster High and peace signs.

~Last but not least, I confess, that I feel like I have been eating like a ROCKSTAR the last few weeks (well, not the bloated, drunk, druggy type rock star)  Lots and lots of grilled meat, veggies, and salads.  Absolutely NO ice cream...yay!

Honey Lime Tilapia with Orange Cashew Rice

Hubs made homemade Beef Jerky

Cheater Migas with mushrooms

mmmm.....steak....

Oh well, yeah.  National Donut Day sucked me in.  But I only ate my 1 free donut, so yay for that :)

SO, how have you all been???