Oreo. Truffle. Balls.

Tis the Season! I'm not sure about you, but for me that means excess eating binges, holiday music, drinking hot totties and family! This year my mom held a cookie exchange with about 16 women and we had to bring 13 dozen... yes, you read that correctly.... 13 DOZEN cookies! I decided this year to make Oreo truffle balls, a fabulous recipe I learned from my husbands family. Just try not to eat them all! :)

                                                                        You will need:

Place all oreos in a ziplock bag and crush with a hammer. You can also use a slap chop. Dump this into a large bowl and fold in cream cheese by hand. You should have a big cookie blob like this one... 

Proceed to take pieces off the cookie blob and roll into 1" balls. Then place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. These must go in the refrigerator for a couple hours to set. 

Once the balls have chilled, melt the white chocolate over double boiler. (I also added a bag of Wiltons chocolate melts which made it SOOO much easier to cover the balls! I highly suggest!) 

Cover the balls in chocolate and place back on wax paper. Once they are all covered put back in the fridge to harden. I then used Wilton's red and green chocolate, put in plastic bag, and swirled over the top for some extra holiday cheer! 

Hope you enjoy these little treats as much as my family and I do! 

Merry Christmas!! 

Sorry I neglected you Blog...

well.... my life finally caught up to me and with the Holidays here I have TOTALLY neglected my little blog. Sorry! Maybe it will be my new years resolution to try and write on here more often! (better than the weight loss thing right?) Speaking of that... I never finished telling you about my 30 day cleanse!

Paleo lifestyle has TOTALLY changed me... for the better! I am down to 144.5 as of today and my goal is now to reach 140. For those of you that are following.. thats about 13lbs! 4.5 more to go! I am on month 5 of eating this way and feel like I have a whole new outlook on food.

So, what's new you ask? I started spending time on my photography page and had so much interest that it has become a bit of a side job! I am loving every second of it! Here is the link if you want to check it out...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Spiller-Photography/163598517040490

Here are a couple of my favorites from the past month...

I have more people signed up for January and I can't wait to share! 

Crayon Project from Pinterest!

I recently discovered a website called Pinterest... anyone heard of it? I am OBSESSED!! I did this little art project off there and wanted to share! It was super easy.. cheap... and cute! 

Start with a blank canvas...

Hot glue Crayons symmetrically across the top of the canvas. Double up on the colors you want to see more of in your final project... 

My crayons :) 

 Tape the edges of the canvas with blue painters tape to avoid splashing on the sides. Tilt the canvas slightly back and aim the blow dryer (on highest heat) downward onto the crayons. 

The longer you hold the blow dryer in one spot the farther the wax will drip... 

TA-DA!! Custom art work for my daughters playroom! The best part? It only cost me $6.40!

End of week 1... Paleo challenge and a little LuLu

   Ok... Daily blogging is a little exhausting... so I think I will just update once a week about this Paleo challenge. I started tuesday and tomorrow will make the end of week #1. So far I am down 4lbs... which is a HUGE accomplishment for me!
   We had a baby shower this weekend and it took every last ounce of my will power to not devour the rice crispy treats... chocolate cupcakes... or chocolate ghramcrakers with chocolate chip frosting (are you kidding me!? Dream come true.) I am really proud of myself for staying strong!
   I already feel like I have more energy through the day, and I haven't felt fatigued at all. I still use my chocolate almond milk as a crutch... hopefully I can kick the addiction soon. HAHA! However, I have moved up a little and am now having fruit as a dessert. (who thought THAT would EVER be satisfying... but you know what? It IS!)
   Look out 30 day challenge... i'm taking you on!


OK now about LuLu! Everyone keeps telling me she is a toddler.. I refuse to acknowledge that since she is still my little baby!

We went to Bucks Lake the last weekend in July, secretly keeping our fingers crossed that she may like the lake more than the ocean. We started with no luck... but by the second day she started to get a little more adventurous. She loved throwing little rocks into the lake, and even getting her toes wet! We are making big strides here people! :) 

We bring this portable high chair with us EVERYWHERE. It's so awesome because it attaches to any chair and the tray comes off and it becomes a booster seat. (who can beat it for $10!?) She is getting SO big that the tray is too low now, and I am finding I use it more for a booster seat than a high chair. (Wahhhhhahahahahhhhhh *tear*)

Her new favorite thing (15mos old) is to eat a banana "all by myself". She gets so excited when I show her a banana, and loves to gobble the entire thing down as quickly as possible. I now have to break it in half so she doesn't eat it so fast! haha! 

She loves her little buddies, and gives ALL little kids hugs. It's the cutest thing ever and melts my heart to see my baby being such a sweet little girl. 

We still have "Bun-Bun" as a front runner for all naps. She would take him everywhere if she could. I guess it's better than a blanket since it's too small to drag on the ground. Her auntie S just found her a "PINK Bun-Bun" so we are now trying to get her to use both in case (God forbid) we ever lose the real Bun Bun. 

I think thats a pretty good update... for now! :) 

XOXO 

ANG

Paleo 30 Day Challenge: Day 3

I actually didn't go to bed starving! Looks like I needed to just increase the amounts of food I was already eating. Don't get me wrong, i'm still no Paleo lover just yet... in fact, I don't think I have ever wanted chocolate chip pancakes, ice-cream, popcorn etc. more than I do now! ha ha ha! 


This is what I ate... 


Day 3


Weight: 153! (down 3 1/2 lbs...no joke!)


Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1C iced black (yes black) coffee 


Snack: avocado with lime juice 


Lunch: Organic tomato basil chicken sausage, green salad, grilled eggplant and zucchini 


Snack: smoothie: berries, almond butter, banana, coconut milk


Dinner: 2 scrambled eggs, left over sausage, avocado and salsa




Let's see if I can actually make it 30 days... wish me luck!! 

Paleo 30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Ok.... I am not going to lie... I went to bed kind of starving last night. 


I think I need to increase my quantities of each food during each meal. I am so used to just having a granola bar, or cereal, or mini bag of popcorn, or ANY carb that helps fill me up. This is proving to be more of a challenge then I expected. 
Day 2 I am going to eat way more and see how I do... 


Weight: (1lb down) 155 


Breakfast: 3 Eggs, 1 Zucchini, 2 Shitake Mushrooms, 1 Sundried tomato chicken sausage, (all sauteed and made into a scramble) topped with 1/4 fresh salsa and some tapatio sauce. 
           1 (ok I had 2) 8oz cup black coffee with a splash of almond milk. (I am not prepared to have no "cream" in my coffee just yet) 


Snack: grapefruit 


Lunch:  Mixed green salad, tuna fish, celery, tomatoes and oil/vinegar dressing
        8oz water 


Snack: Almonds 


Dinner: cod fish with papaya mango salsa, and side green salad with oil/vinegar dressing 
        8oz lime carbonated water


Snack/ Dessert: 1C chocolate almond milk. 
                 *heres the thing... I'm not sure if paleo allows that.. but cutting out sweets cold turkey has not been easy. I need a little something to help me along... and if thats the worst thing I had all day... is that so bad? 




                             XOXO! 
                                 Ang

                  Day 1: Paleo Diet 30 Day Cleanse 
                       Have you heard of this? 




   I think I have officially lost my mind, but here goes nothing. Two very good friends of mine swear by this "eating lifestyle"(lets be honest- "diet" is the more appropriate word) I figured it's only 30 days, and who knows, I may end up liking it. 
   From what I understand so far its pretty much eating like our ancestors. High in meat, fish, fruits, veggies, nuts and potatoes. No grains, oats, sugar, or dairy. (which I am pretty sure is my entire diet right now..) Above is a photo of my grilled fish filet with spices and dill, and sauteed veggies in olive oil. I am going to try and blog about this for the next 30 days, (the good, the bad and of course.. the ugly.) 
let's see how it goes! 


8/2/11


Weight: (ugh)156.4lbs


Breakfast: 3/4c Almond Milk, 1c water, 1C mixed Berries,1 banana, and ice blended. 


Snack: 1/2C Macadamia nuts


Lunch: White Cod fish with papaya mango salsa and olive oil. 
       Mixed green salad with oil/vinegar dressing 
       Water with lime juice/garnish 


Snack: Banana


Dinner: Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini and Squash. Small bowl of Sweet potato soup


Dessert?... haha! I wish! 

XOXO 

Ang