When Life Revolves Around Food + #MyPostMonday - Sharing The Week's Best Original Content

 There are several times in a year that my quest for healthy eating and improved physical fitness are in the utmost danger. Those times are the trifecta holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) because they are all so close together and all of them involve food. Then later on in the Spring there is Easter because those Cadbury Eggs are simply irresistible! And finally in mid to late summer comes the zucchini harvest, at which time I make a whole lotta zucchini bread. It is mandatory that we grow one plant per season. That is when we give to neighbors, friends, relatives, and of course, we eat it as well. I love it with chocolate chips. I can't deny it, I plan on this like I plan on any other event in life when it revolves around food!

 

Just when I recover from one holiday and get the pounds under control, here comes the next holiday or event. It's a never-ending carousal that I don't care to get off any time soon. I've resigned myself to being an average height, average weight American woman, by American Standards, certainly not European and most definitely not Parisian standards. 

And rather than hate myself for enjoying the bountiful plenty that I have been afforded, I am so thankful for the food that I am so fortunate to enjoy. It's one of the greatest pleasures in life to taste a great desert or food that you love. 

But other than those several times in the year, I do try and eat well. I am very careful about not eating too much sugar and I never drink soft drinks or straight candy or even pastries. I think that if you can be reasonably good most of the time, you can afford to cheat some of the time. I won't ever be thin, but I will definitely be happy!!!

What is your relationship with food? Do you have a love/hate relationship or do you struggle with any aspect of food? What is your food philosophy?

Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of my picks of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)

CrEATe Introduces Organic Shaved Ice For Summer 2016 #BeUtahful

Are you from Utah, know someone in Utah, or plan on visiting Utah in the near future? Then listen up, there's this great little dessert place in Sandy, UT, below Alta Ski Resort, called CrEATe (get it, you Create your own dessert and then you EAT it!). It is based on a simple concept--choose your basic dessert and then design it with toppings, glazes and fillings of your choice. Only your imagination can limit you! The even greater part about this one-of-a-kind establishment is that owner, Ladonnia Jones has made sure that the ingredients are gluten free, additive-free, freshly made, and as wholesome as a sweet treat can be! It takes out some of the guilt one might typically feel when indulging a very unruly and hard to manage sugar addiction. I know I felt totally OK about eating these desserts!!!! When I eat the wonderful gelato, I know it is made with organic sugar, whole food ingredients and is gluten-free! But enough about me--

Disclosure: This review was not compensated. I did, however, receive samples of some products to facilitate the review!

Dessert Connoisseurs everywhere are raving about CrEATe because of the sheer variety and quality of their desserts and ingredients! Open less than 6 months, they already have an average 5-Star Rating on Yelp with 46 reviews! One great description I read is that it is a "Disneyland of Sweetness", which it truly is! As I toured the facility, I came upon this quote in the prep area, "Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it." You can definitely see that pure energy devoted to everything that is done at CrEATe! From the thoughtfully designed decor and cozy corners to the deliciousness that comes on a plate, bowl, or in a cup.

Cozy Corner at CrEATe

Another Cozy Corner

This month they are rolling out another great dessert option, just in time for summer---organic shaved ice! It is different than ordinary shaved ice because it is organic, gluten-free and vegan. There are no artificial flavors or colors in it and you can definitely taste the difference! A suggestion to try is a strawberry peppermint shaved ice. It is so refreshing and delicious! Or how about the root beer shaved ice with a dollop of vanilla gelato! It tastes exactly like a root beer float! Again, more chances to be creative and experiment until you CrEATe your own taste masterpiece! Hope to see you there! Come with a sweet tooth!

Owner, LaDonnia Jones

 Address: 9305 S. Village Shop Dr., Sandy, UT 84094, 801-790-2738

K Is For Kale, Kiwi, Kiefer---Anything But Cuties!

Today was the first day back to work after a wonderful Spring Break. During that time I must have hiked about 20 miles with my dog, blogged about 30 more hours, watched catch-up TV for 10 hours, had a wonderful Easter Dinner and generally had a great time! (I'm a lover of simple things)

Today the life-after-break avalanche that was waiting to happen let loose. I got buried by it . I left home at 7 am and returned 11 hours later, after work having done errands with son J, including getting his driving permit, shopping, and battling commute traffic back home. Just the everyday grind. But I love doing mom things, so this wasn't a bad thing.
Except for one item---my food choices.  I didn't plan well. I went too light in the early part of the day because I was rushed and didn't bring enough nutritious food. I skipped the vending machines because I was trying to be good. But 3 o'clock rolled around and I was a little starved (OK, a lot starved). When we went into the grocery store, I wigged out. If I had been smart I would have stuck with some great foods like:
Smoothie Made With Kiefer

Maybe a Kale & Kidney Bean Salad

Perhaps a few Kiwi's 

I would have been in great form having any of these great choices. And if I had planned right, I could have.  But by the time I got to the store, I was pretty ravenous. The thing that caught my eye was this box in the freezer section.

Cuties

Yeah, of all the things I could have picked, it was this. Notice that there are 8 per package. Each has 130 calories and 16 grams of sugar. Guess how many I ate? Just 7. That's all, just 7. Epic Fail for sure! Any of the K foods would have been so much better and better tasting too! But a person who is too hungry doesn't think reasonably. How silly of me! Cuties doesn't even start with K!

Lesson learned. It's one I've had to learn and re-learn many many times. When will it end? 

What is a crazy food choice you've made when you've been super hungry?