Wow! Two times in one week! It must be a miracle! ;) So I promised that I would be sharing lots of information. And here it is. A peanut butter treat! Perfect for curbing that sweet tooth and empowering you to get your hand out of the Halloween candy!

Almond Butter Cookies

Adapted from: http://www.knowthecause.com/index.php/recipes/72-phase-one-eating/desserts/1455-almond-butter-cookies

 1 organic egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla, almond or maple extract 
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt, if you use salted almond butter omit the salt
1/3 cup xylitol
25 drops liquid stevia
1 cup almond butter or SunButter OR 1⁄2 cup almond butter and 1⁄2 cup SunButter 

**I only had peanut butter and a little bit of SunButter-so that is what I used. I also added a tablespoon of cocoa powder and a few extra drops of stevia. 
 
• Preheat the oven to 350°
• Using an electric mixer or food processor, beat the egg, extract (vanilla, almond or maple) salt,  stevia and xylitol. After these ingredients are    well incorporated add the almond butter and mix well.
• Form balls, about an inch (1 tablespoon of dough), and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork to make a crisscross design. These cookies will be small.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. This is the most important part – take the cookies out of the oven and do not touch them. They will fall apart. Let them cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. This makes them more chewy. These will keep for about a week, if they last that long! You can also make a double batch and freeze them, so you always have a sweet treat on hand. 

NOTES:
For a Nut-Free option use SunButter (sunflower seed butter) Different brands of almond butter affect the consistency of the cookie. Some brands make the cookie chewier and other brands sometimes make the cookies more crumbly. Try different brands if you don’t like the consistency the first time.

~Yum~

In the past year, I dropped a significant amount of weight. I was participating in a diet plan that was centered around low carbohydrate, low-fat/fat-free dairy and sugar substitutes, just to name a few things. I was able to follow the plan, and I did lose weight. It never was the way that I wanted to be changing my lifestyle, but it was what I thought I needed to do. And most importantly, the support system I had at the time. Fast forward to today-November 4th- and I have put on some of the weight that I had lost and feel horrible. Yuck. Partly because of the weight gain, but more importantly because my body never learned how to go without things like processed dairy and sugars, flours, etc.

I have learned a TON in the last few years about eating healthy and am looking forward to trying to figure out what will work for me. I did learn quite a bit about my body during the past year. I am VERY sensitive to sugars/carbohydrates. So needless to say, I have to make some changes. While I don't know exactly what I am doing, I am trying to learn!

My Goals:

1. Jump back on the workout wagon! (Combination of cardio and strength training)
2. No sugars (stevia, xylitol, honey, maple syrup)
3. Limited grains (not processed-eaten at Breakfast and Lunch)
4. Weekly meal planning
5. Forgive myself for mistakes and correct it THAT moment! 

Not huge goals, but small goals that will impact and make BIG CHANGE! I find that for me, number 6 is crucial! When I make a mistake, I throw out the whole day. It's a vicious cycle! So I am determined to correct my eating habits in the next moment!

I have included the meals that I will be preparing this week below. (Lucky me, I only have to cook 3 days this week :) I will include recipes in the next post! Happy Monday! :)

Balsamic Chicken and Ratatouille 

 

 

Potato Leek Crockpot Soup and Salad

 

 

Shephard's Pie (sorta)