I am a foodie!

Good thing I didn't make a resolution about posting every day, as I would have already failed at it!

 That said, I was showing off some of the presents I made with my own hands, and now it is time to show off some of the wonderful gifts I received.

One thing you need to know about me is that I love food (and it shows on my waistline!) and people that love me are fully aware how to shower me with things I like.

My friend from Germany, send me a lot of pasta and sweet straight from Italy (where I come from)

My lovely students also love to show me their appreciation with food. Not pictured are Christmas crack, fudge and Italian panettone as they were gone (in my belly!) before I could take pictures. But I took pictures of the dark chocolate Lindt Lindor and a box of Italian treats that I am leaving for a special occasion

So, in case you are wondering what you get me for next year.....enjoy the next few posts full of ideas!

What did you get for Christmas?

Influenster J'Adore VoxBox

Right after valentine's day I got the Influenster J'Adore VoxBox and well, the day went away from me and I forgot to blog about it, so here I am now! 

There were some very neat things in this box and even tho I didn't take pictures of things as I unpacked them, I still want to show you some of the products. 

Of course, the first thing to attract my attention is always the food stuff like the Hershey kisses decorated for Valentine's day!  

I've been pretty busy at work and these puppies were really handy in my drawer when I needed a pick-me-up or to give to my students as a motivation for a job well done! The next thing I tried was the Crème Caramel Red Rose Tea:

  

I had 2 sample bags and it was the perfect treat to relax at the end of a busy day. I each little bag there was a coupon for $1.00 off and this mama is going to get herself a big box of it! I loved it because it tastes sweet as a cake but without the calorie. A simple indulgence that doesn't ruin my waist line! I still have a sample for the decaffeinated Lemon Chiffon that I haven't tried yet, but I will soon! Little by little I count on tasting each of these awesome flavors! 

Also included in the box there was a set of Kiss Lashes. I'm not a fan of fake lashes, so I can express my opinion about them. This is the second set I receive and I feel bad having just laying them around, knowing that I will not use them. Anyone interested? I'd be willing to send them anywhere in the State for free: the only thing I will ask in exchange is pictures and an honest opinion, along with permission to post it on my blog. Contact me in interested!

Also included in the box and not used yet, were the John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair spray 

 

and Boots Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask. Maybe now that I'm on Spring Break, I will have the chance to try both of them! 

Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's day last Friday. I surely did! The day began with sweet gifts: 

One of my student gifted me the rose, hubby gave me the chocolate red rose and the kids made the "Love" art at school. 

Me and my daughter enjoyed a Valentine dance at her school, it was fun! 

At night, me and hubby went to dinner, a real date without kids....YAY! 

Well, just because we had no children with us, it didn't mean that we couldn't act like it, right? 

What about you?

 

Happy Saint Patrick day!

 

Did you celebrate? Did you get drunk of green beer and buzz? 

Yeah, neither did I! 

 I guess with kids the word "celebration" has totally another meaning! 

But I did have the pleasure to be included in a wonderful collection that made the front page on Artfire yesterday and the daily email, so enjoy!! 

mint and chocolate by thebeadsofdreams

mint and chocolate

Curated By: thebeadsofdre...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Happy Valentine's day!

Not sure why this post didn't post as scheduled on the 14th. Hope you will enjoy it even a few days late!

This is the season of love and I hope you're celebrating surrounded by loved ones!

We have been busy eating chocolates and making Valentines!

We made little brown cards that say "You're so sweet!!!", trimmed the edges with a fancy scissor to make them look as cookies.

Then personalized with names and attached a little heart candy to the back. 

Looking good! 

Here a picture of the kids all intent in their work!

Shhhh! Don't disturb the geniuses LOL

Baking and cooking.

Christmas is around the corner and so the baking and cooking has started for me. 

For instance, the last day at work, I baked lasagnas for the teachers and personnel. 

But I didn't stop there, oh no! I baked a pumpkin pie (from scratch!) and brownies 

Made chocolate fudge for the first time!! Courtesy of a wonderful recipe that I found on pinterest HERE

 

YUM! Thumb print cookies! It took me 2 matches to make them right. Recipe HERE  

Chocolate oatmeal no bake cookies! Not as pretty as the one in this recipe but they sure are tasty! 

Chocolate dipped pretzels

And vanilla bark, happened actually by mistake but very good nonetheless!

Should I stop or keep going? 

What have you baked so far?? 

If nothing, tell me what you're eating will do! XO

I'm going banana!

Do you remember when I posted about The One race almost a month ago? 

As it was to be expected, I had lots of muscle pain in the days following the race. 

Anticipating this, I bought my self a lots of bananas as I've read that it benefit muscles especially when they hurt from exercise. 

What I didn't know is that hubby had exactly the same thought and the day after the race he came home with even more bananas for me. 

 That meant that I had more bananas that I ever thought possible! 

And I also have a secret to share with all of you: I hate bananas! 

I don't really care for the taste, I can't stand the soggy texture and I really don't like the smell either. 

 Don't give me wrong, I know they are healthy (even tho among all the fruits they are the ones with more sugar in it) and I do occasionally even crave them, they come in handy as you don't need a knife to peel them, but there were way too many bananas around me now and I couldn't possibly eat them all. 

But I wasn't going to waste them, so I had to come up with a way to use them up and that's when I found a couple of recipe that helped me achieve this goal and I thought to share those recipes on here for future references. 

My go-to recipe when I need to eat bananas but I don't feel like it, it's definitely the chocolate and banana muffins from Handle the Heat

 

Here is how the muffin baked by me look like

 

I love this recipe as she used whole wheat flour instead of white flour and applesauce instead of butter and 3 whole bananas for a dozen of muffins. 

The muffin are very well sized and only 100 calories each! Perfect for breakfast or for a snack that doesn't add to my waist line. 

 The other recipe I love is a drink that used peanut butter too, another thing that I don't really eat often unless I have an hormonal surge. 

I don't have a picture of the drinks I gorged down, but I found the recipe on the Chichita website: just click on the picture and make one for yourself!

  

 Very handy to use up those jars of peanut butter and have a breakfast on the go for those busy morning. 

Thanks to these 2 recipes, I was able to accomplish my mission to use up all the bananas before they turned bad and eat a healthy amount of them. 

Do you have any banana recipe to share with me?

YUM!

 

 What happens when it rain for 3 days and you're stuck home surfing facebook? 

You win yummy cupcakes like me!!! 

Thank you to Sweet Choice Bakery for the yummy price! 

If you live in Niceville and surroundings, you might wanna check out their facebook page! Every week they host a funny riddle and the person who solves it wins some yummy treats!! 

You don't wanna miss that!

Favorite snacks

I know that I started a journey of eating healthier and exercising everyday, but still, I have few weakness and I'd love to introduce my friends to it!
Ready? Set....GO!

First on the list: Chocolate Cheerios

I've never been a fan of cheerios, I usually prefer granola cereals, but when they came up with the chocolate ones??? Well, I had to try them and I loved them ever since.

Even better tho, the Dulce de Leche Cheerios: a hint of caramel and infinite goodness!!!

Kellogg's cereal also nailed when they came up with the Chocolate and Double chocolate Krave: like the name says, you will crave them!

Last but no least, chocolate animal crackers......Do I need to say more????

Enjoy these yummies :)