Rum Butter Sauce

Rum Butter Sauce

Melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine

and 1 cup white sugar until sugar is dissolved

Stir constantly so as not to burn your mixture

Once melted and mixed add 1/4 cup of your favourite dark rum

 

 

Add 1/2 cup whipping cream or lactose free whipping cream 

and 1 tsp vanilla

That's it! Simple and absolutely the best rum sauce! 

Give it as a gift by putting it in canning jars and hang a recipe card off the lid...

your friends will love it!

A few days

Well, more than a few days has past and I do apologize for that. It suddenly occurred to me that Christmas we much closer than I originally thought... hahahah I have been either at work helping customers bottle last minuted wine or in my studio sewing. I am almost completed a final project for my mother in law which I am really thrilled about. It is really difficult when you are making everything by hand.

I have an idea in store for next year and I am diligently working on it but it will take some time to get it right. I will tell you that it is a cookbook and something I think to look forward to!

This Monday is my baking day so I will take photos while I bake and get some recipes and fun stuff for you to look at up here and see if I can't get back into this! Thanks for being so patient!

Merry Christmas
Michele

Successful move ~ I'm back in the game!

Hello Everyone

I am finally back! We are settling in to our new home, Christmas things are being made in the new Seraphim Bears Studio and a new eating plan is now in full swing! I know... right before the holidays! I am still going to put my two cents in when the deadline comes for the Off Your Broom Challenge although I am sure I am now way behind in my achievements but at least I am now on my way!

I just wanted to put a quick post in so you would know that I will be back in the swing of things! I will post a Christmas recipe in a few days tops so please check in soon to see what's up! Thanks so much for being so patient! It's nice to be back!

Crunchy Wrists and Chocolate Brownies

Hello Everyone:

Sorry my post is so late today... we had three house showings today and I am just getting back home now!

I have done several recipe Swap It's so I thought today I would show you an exercise option.

Drop It:

Swap It:

If you can do these then you're all set. But if you need a little help starting off you can try these instead:

 

And if these are still too difficult...

A wall press is a great option!

I have very weak wrists, always have, even when I was a gymnast I had to wear wrist guards. Now as I have aged my wrists crunch causing me severe pain. This makes it very hard for me to do push ups. As a matter of fact... I just cannot do them.

Swap It:

If you also find the dreaded push up a problem due to weak wrists or carpal tunnel syndrome the way to get your pecks in great shape is a good old chest press!

Keeping your knees bent helps to support you back and gravity helps your wrist situation! Doing the chest press as an alternative actually allows you to wear a wrist brace if you need to also.

However... a doctor once told me that if you need to wear a brace the weight is too heavy so lighten the weight and get rid of the brace. This is advice I have done my best to live by.

Just another little bit of information in relation to the Get Off Your Broom Challenge... 

I am still trying! I have not weighed myself for fear of disappointment and therefore fear of giving up! 

Instead I have avoided the scale and implemented a very relaxed schedule of sweating for 20 to 30 minutes for at least 4 times a week. I do every other day and I either dance or strength train using my own body weight. I usually just pick a TV show and while watching it instead of sitting on the couch I get up and move. I either run on the spot. do jumping jacks, squats, lunges, kicks and punches or I do a combination of that and sit-ups and plank holds for my abs and arms. I dance and twist and do whatever else I can think of to get me to the end of the show. The time goes by and I don't much notice it. I am breathing hard, my heart rate is up and I am sweating! I make sure to have on a good sports bra and have a large glass of water at hand at all times. Having a towel handy is a good idea too!

Tuesday nights I use the BIGGEST LOOSER show as my chosen inspirational show and I workout until I the show is over.

Lately my husband has been helping me out also. He gets his Ipod out while we are working on Saturday and he DJs fab rockin oldies and mixes it up with everything from the Beatles to wrap. I dance and do anything else to keep movin for the whole 25 to 30 minutes and he jumps in with crazy 80's dance moves to keep me laughin! What a guy huh? It's really fun and has become 30 minutes of my Saturday that I really look forward to.

Now as for my eating... not so great! I don't know why I am having such a hard time with this but I am thinking it is just the simple fact that my schedule is all thrown off with this trying to sell our house and packing to move thing. Plus I have two Christmas shows I am desperately trying to get ready for. I am still trying but my Mother In Law bringing in Brownies to work and frozen yogourt in our freezer etc is not helping. It's absolutely not anyone's fault except my own... I have a weakness for sweets. Who doesn't right?

But at least I am moving and the food will fall into place soon. It always does. You see, when you spend all that time and effort working so hard that you are sweatin it out... you begin to not want that sweet stuff. So I am just trying to keep it going and I am not giving up! I just wanted to let you all know because I did not make a post about my efforts last week!

Keep up your efforts also and I will be back next Sunday!

Have a great week everyone!

Give me my egg and keep your croissant! Drop it Swap it!

Drop it Swap it Sunday is here again:

Today I want to make this swap suggestion:

Drop It:

1 Croissant with a pat of butter = 270 calories

Swap It:

1 poached egg (make sure your egg is poached not fried), 1 slice of whole wheat toast with butter and 3 oz of ham = 270 calories!

Making better choices means not being hungry! And I have to say...the second choice in this situation looks like a very good swap in my opinion. I would rather have an egg and ham with toast any day over the croissant. I just might have this for breakfast myself today. And my calories will be a bit less as I don't like butter so...

If you are like me but need to add in your fat somewhere. If you don't like butter and prefer not to use artificial margarine either you have a few options. you can get a vegan margarine or my preference is to use Coconut butter instead. It is all natural and has no artificial anything in it! The flavor is mild and slightly sweet which is lovely on toast and your body breaks it down wonderfully!

About that poached egg... you could swap it for a boiled egg also. Or have scrambled with just cooking spray and it would work out to the same calories. 

I was given a fabulous gift by my husband last holiday and it gets used all the time. It is an egg cooker and it is so easy to use. It will do a boiled or several boiled eggs however you like them - from soft to hard or you can do poached and it is super easy. I highly recommend getting one of these little treasures for your kitchen!

This one is the one I have but there are many companies that make them...

My poached eggs come out with a nice diamond shape and they are perfectly done every time! Best gift ever!

Have a great week ladies and gents! Our house is still up for sale and there are showings almost daily. We also are moving into our new house in only a couple of weeks so the posts will get more frequent when we get settled with lots of great tips and recipes etc... just hang in there. I'll be back soon!

All Hallows Grim - Blog Party

Welcome to the All Hallows Grim blog party hosted by Pagan Culture
I had so much fun at Seraphim's Diner creating this blog post for you and I hope you all enjoy it as well... Happy Hallow's Grim everyone! mmmmmmwwaaaaaaa!

Drop it Swap it - coffee

Hi Everyone


Welcome to Drop it Swap it Sunday:

Today I want to talk a bit about coffee. A lot of us need that large morning coffee and we love to add our sugar and cream too don't we. There is a ton of calories that add up quickly in that cream and sugar... if you have three coffees a day you are looking at the equivalent to say...

FIVE BOWLS of All Bran Cereal to equal the total amount of fat in ONE large double double coffee or
THREE BOWLS to equal the total amount of sugar present in ONE large double double!

I know many of you think you cannot do BLACK coffee so here is a suggestion... By the way, I do not advocate the use of artificial sweeteners as most cause cancer! Stick with natural sugars like Agave or Turbinado, Demerara and others like them if you must use sugar in cooking etc.

But back to coffee. Try this instead of a regular black coffee, choose some French Vanilla beans or any other flavour that you enjoy. You will be amazed at the difference this makes to your morning brew and you won't need sugar or cream! The flavour really smooths out your coffee and you will be cutting your calorie intake by a ton!

Drop It

Double Double large coffee

Swap It

Flavoured gourmet bean black large

And if you absolutely must use something to sweeten your coffee use something natural as stated above and try the below coffee trick to help you along in your weight loss and healthier lifestyle!

The Coffee Trick

1st cup of coffee - no sugar at all. If you can do this and if not.. try what I said above and use this method until you can make it all day with just your flavoured black coffee

2nd cup of coffee - just half a teaspoon of sugar.

3rd cup of coffee - one full teaspoon of sugar.

Just cutting out that one sugar in 3 cups of coffee each day reduces the calorie intake by 336 calories each week with no real effort involved!


 Another little tip: Are you a candy bar a day person?

 Trust me... no one who eats a SNICKERS or any other chocolate bar a day ... unless they are 12 years old looks like this girl... but if you skip it and replace it... look out wicked witch of the west... Samantha is in town!


By skipping candy bar everyday and eating fresh fruits and nuts, you can save 1000 calories a week!

And if you absolutely cannot get off the bar cold turkey... Swap it for Weight Watchers bars or brownies. Far less calories and still a little treat! 

And if it must be chocolate: Swap you junky candy bar for organic chocolate and make it as dark as you can stand it. You will be amazed at how a very small piece of good quality chocolate fulfills your need for this treat! Instead of munchin down an entire chocolate bar that leaves you hangin and still wanting more... you can have one square of a good quality dark organic chocolate and be satiated!  Your body will also break it down in a completely different and better way than eating the bar filled with chemicals and fluff that you cannot even pronounce!

Now a days even your local Shoppers Drug Mart and many and maybe even most grocery stores have organic chocolate! Is it more expensive... YES.... it is supposed to be a treat! But also you don`t need to eat the entire chocolate bar so it lasts a VERY long time!

That`s another rule of mine... if you can not say it... you definitely should not eat it!
 
I`ll be back soon with more Drop it Swap it Sundays!