DD Friendly: Cole Slaw

One big cabbage leaf (if your making it just for yourself; if not, you can use more).
About an inch of a carrot, shredded.
Drop of fat free mayo.
salt and pepper
Cilantro (lots of it if you love it)
Drop of vinegar

This was a quick snack. You can add other veggies and such. I used what I already had in the fridge. What is your go to snack when you find yourself hungry? Do you make your cole slaw differently? How so? I hope you enjoyed this. I did. Yummy in my tummy :)

Holiday Wreath

I hope your having a wonderful evening! It’s a busy busy day with last minute shopping and preparing and marinating. I managed to finish my wreath. All my materials came from unused things around the house. I hope you like it! I’d love to see your wreaths, post your links in the comments. 

I'm sorry its super dark. Maybe i'll add more greenery...

Here's some cuteness: 

Enjoy!

DD Friendly: Onion Mushroom Burger with Cheesy Tomato Sauce

This recipe is originally from Ella (The single woman’s kitchen).

Here is what you need:

Portabella mushrooms (cut into small cubes)

Onions

3 lb of 90% lean ground beef

3 TBSP grainy mustard

salt and pepper

For the sauce:

1 can tomato sauce

Oregano to taste

A handful of mozzarella cheese

Mix mushrooms, onions, beef, mustard, salt and pepper together. Form into balls and place in oven at 350F until it’s cooked through. While the meat is baking, heat the tomato sauce and add oregano and cheese. Once the meat is ready, spread sauce over it and enjoy! 

This picture does not do this burger justice.
Enjoy!

xoxo My Puddle of Smiles

I  the BOSS.

No, we is the BOSS.

We all the BOSS.

They are an adorable hug of cuddles XD
Insomniac, I know...spent the whole day feeling sick, this makes it better. Enjoy& Smile wide.

Bacon!

I am a big fan of bacon (& so is my sweetie). But since I’ve started DD, I’ve had to switch to turkey bacon. Yes, I know it’s not the same but I do get my bacon fix. This morning I made bacon and eggs in the oven. It was pretty simple. I used a cupcake pan and 2 pieces of bacon. One to go around and the second one I cut in half and did an x. I broke the egg and then placed the overlapping pieces over the egg. It was in the oven for about 15 min (I think, my mornings are slow so maybe it was less). I don’t like the eggs runny so I made sure they were cooked all the way by sticking a toothpick in it.  

This is with regular bacon (for him). 

Here are a few other bacon dishes from the past few months:

Jalapeno pepper wrapped in bacon (this was real bacon, the leanest we could find but you can substitute with turkey bacon) and cream cheese filling. Here is a link to the recipe from the Pioneer woman (love her recipes!). It’s perfect if you love spicy, crunchy and cheesy all together! Yum! 

Be careful with this bacon man log, it can give you a heart attack! Unless you substitute for turkey bacon and ground turkey instead of ground sausage. My sweetie found this and wanted me to make it for him. He enjoyed it! I found this recipe from Baked Bree,

here is the link. 

I hoped you've enjoyed this!

DD Friendly: Spicy BBQ Chicken Patties & Easy Sushi

Here is what was on my plate today:

Spicy BBQ Chicken Patties

These were pretty simple to make and super yummy!

Here is what I used:

1lb ground chicken

Bbq sauce

Chili garlic sauce

2 eggs

1/3 c cheese

I added everything together and dropped them into a pan. You can also bake them in the oven if you want.  After they were done, I just added some cheese. It would have been better with veggies but today was protein day for me. 

Easy Sushi

This was extremely easy!

You can use canned fish if you want; I used fresh fish (don’t remember what it was called but my sweetie caught it :D ). I took out the bones and forked the meat a little bit and heated it. Then I just placed it on the sea weed wrap and rolled it. That’s about it. You are welcome to add veggies, I just forgot. I used ginger and low sodium soy sauce. Enjoy!

Fall Deco Preview & My Plate

Here's whats on my plate today:

Oat bran w/ unsweetened cocoa and splenda for breakfast.

Ground turkey soup for lunch.

 Shiritaki noodles with steamed asparagus, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, garlic and chicken.

I was planning on making DD Friendly oreo cookies but didn't have enough time. I promise I'll make some soon!

Here is a preview of my fall table deco:

I cant wait to finish! What's was on your plate today? Do you have any fall decorations already set up? I'd love to see it! 

Christmas Button Earrings

No, I promise I have not forgotten about thanksgiving and fall. I will come back to it; I promise I have something planned. But these turned out way better and easier than I thought they would.

Here is what you need:

earrings

buttons

jewels 

glue gun (if you want a super strong hold, you can use E6000 )

 Glue the top and hold, glue bottom and hold.

 How simple was that?

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial :)

Featured: Ella @ The working woman's kitchen

The single working woman's kitchen has great DD friendly recipes like this no crust pizza (which is super yummy!).

Click on the picture for the recipe!


I haven't been posting as much as I would like but I have been working on a project. Here is my inspiration:

Your probably thinking: huh? Why would someone wanna make a cat castle? LOL You'll see once I'm done :)

Giveaway winner & a little about me

Today's winner is Lilia!!! I will email you with details  :) Thank you to everyone else who participated! You will get a chance to win :) Watch for another giveaway at the end of the week! XOXO

I can't believe it is November! Can you? It has gotten cold so fast, I'm surprised it hasn't rained a lot (so far); "Knocks on wood". 

What do you love about fall? I adore cute boots!


Lets play an A-Z kind of game. I'd love to know more about you! Here's a little about me:

Age: 22

Bed Size: Twin

Chore that you hate: vacuuming with the old Kirby we have (only because it’s so heavy).

Dogs: They are ok but I prefer cats.

Essential start to your day: Chocolate in my oat bran (just a little :P) and caffeine.

Favorite color: Teal

Gold or silver: I like silver, gold is traditional and feels sacred.

Height: 5'3"

Instruments I play: None but back in the day I played the violin.

Job Title:  Stay at home daughter. LOL just kidding! I promise I’m looking!

Kids: None.

Live: Tacoma

Mother's name: Anna. I was named after her. Maybe they just ran out of names, idk.

Nicknames: None

Overnight hospital stays:  None. The only time I did have to be in the hospital was for an outpatient surgery (or whatever they call it).

Pet peeves: Smoking around me.

Quote from a movie:  This is not madness. This is SPARTA!

Righty or lefty: Right

Siblings: 7 brothers, 4 sisters. I know, I know…

Time you wake up: Around 8, even though I go to bed around 2 am. The sunlight hits my face and I just can’t go to sleep.

University attended: I went to TCC and I was going to go back but they recently had budget cuts so boohoo for me.

Vegetable you hate: Celery! Yuck!

What makes you run late: The kitties. They jump on my jeans and cling for life, thus making me late for anything and everything, well, sorta.

X-Rays you've had: On my leg when I broke it in the 1^st grade and on my chest in 12^th when my doctor made me get treated for TB (completely unnecessary ).

Yummy food you make: Vanilla cupcakes and DD friendly pho tai. mMm

Zoo animal favorite: Big cats.

Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, what are ten things your thankful for?

Here are mine:

1. My salvation
2. My parents.

3. My siblings.

4. My sweetie pie.

5. Fireplaces.
6. Knowing my future is in God’s hands.
7. My church.
8. Freedom in America.
9. Waking up to fuzz balls.
10. Comfy beds.

Luna made herself comfy in front of the fireplace :)

Sugar Free: Strawberry Crumb Pie

I have not been posting as much as I have been wanting to. I've just been a bit busy lately but I promise that this recipe is the best pie I've ever made. I hope you like it too!

Crumb crust:
1/3 c. brown sugar splenda
1/4 c. splenda or preffered sweetener
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 c. melted butter
1 1/3 c. all purpose flour or whole wheat


Strawberry filling:
1 lb frozen strawberries (you are welcome to add more)
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon unflavored gelatin (I preffer Knox, it is already measured to 1 tablespoon)
1 c. splenda/ sweetener
pinch salt


Quick Directions:

• In a bowl, combine lemon juice, water and gelatin. Stir a little until it dissolves and let sit for 5 minutes. 
• Cook strawberries on stove for a few minutes. Add splenda, gelatin mixture and salt. Let simmer for about 2 minutes. Once the two minutes are up, let cool for 30.
• Combine flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar. Add butter. The end result will be very crumbly.
• Scoop a few tablespoons of crust into cupcake pan or one pie pan. Press it down just a little bit (or a lot if you want a less crumbly crust). Add strawberries.
• Bake at 350F for 20-23 min or until crust is ready.
• Refrigerate for a few hours (2-4 or over night).

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know how it turns out.  

Past Creations and First Giveaway

Get ready for lots of pictures! This summer I made lots of mini projects and a big one. Enjoy!

I made this frame for my lovely niece for her birthday.

This is one of my favorites. It can be worn on a headband or necklace.

I made these for my sister, Liliya. I used buttons and fabric flower petals.

Love the color combo :)

The only picture I found of these. Why didn't I take more? :(   These coasters were
a gift to my someone special.

My Biggest Project

My inspiration 

 My creation

I'm sorry the quality of my pictures really suck. BOO

Anyway, if you want to enter my first GIVEAWAY, leave me a comment below and you could be the winner of this beauty:

or this one!

You choose!

Let's hope this first giveaway is a success :)

If you would like to see a tutorial on any of these, let me know!
*Winner will be announced Monday morning!

Sugar Free: Chocolate Fudge

I'm in love, with splenda. It doesn't have a weird aftertaste like other artificial sweeteners that I've tried. When a recipe calls for 1/4 c. sugar, 2 tablespoons is all you need to get that same amount of sweetness. This chocolate fudge, that I found at Fred Meyer, has splenda. If your not big on making chocolate fudge, this is definitively for you! The only sad part about this is that it is not DD friendly. BOO :(

F.Y.I. This product contains Maltitol, which may cause a laxative effect if you eat more than 100 grams. And also, it is not a low carb or low calorie food.

What do you think? I think this will be the last time I'll buy it, it didn't satisfy me even though it was chewy and fudgy...

I only had one tiny piece and I don't feel so great. 

:/  

DD Friendly: Dark Chocolate

Don't worry, they have milk chocolate too!

I don't know about you  but I need my chocolate! My brother found this at Trader Joe's. Just one bite curbs my craving and I don't feel the need to shove my face in chocolate cake.  Have you tried them? What do you think? Are they Dukan worthy? Hmm, I sure think so!