13 years ago
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
New Baby James
Hello all. We are excited to announce the arrival of our new little one, James Mark Hester. After an exciting 45 drive from Mountain Green to the Alta View Hospital on Tuesday night, James was born at 5:05 Wednesday morning. The labor progressed really well and he seemed quite ready to be born. James weighed 8 lbs and 10 oz and 21 inches long. . . thank you to Daddy's genes. He reminds me of Brayden a lot, but is just a little bigger. He is doing well and seems to have a big appetite.
Brayden is so excited to be a big brother and comes and gives baby James hugs all the time. When he first saw James at the hospital (pictures above, thank you Erin), Brayden kept saying, "I want to pet him." One time he was laying next to him and he said, "I love this baby."
We feel very happy and blessed the James is doing so well and I will repent of my ways and blog a little more.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Getting the Sugar Out
I know I'm not a big blogger person, but when you learn something great you can't help but share it. So please excuse my abnormal post breaking from the normal family news. . .
So I recently read a study about the effects of sugar in your body. It is very similar to any drug: the more you have in your system the more you want, it gives you a short high, and it is harmful to the body in large amounts (i.e. type II diabetes). Sounds like a drug to me. Now I'm not suggesting that we had refined sugar to the Word of Wisdom, but I wanted to try an experiment, to see if I could get rid of, or at least decrease, my sugar cravings. I am definitely not cold-turkey-no-sugar, but I'm working on ways to train my body to crave it less--like a drug. I have tried a couple things that have worked well:
- I water down my juice--majorly. I usually do 1 part juice to 3 part water. Not only is it less expensive, but I've noticed that regular juice is way too sweet for me now. It doesn't taste good to me at all. I do this for Brayden as well, and he doesn't even know a difference. It taste sweet to him.
- Get rid of soda. We hear this all time. Diet soda is way too sweet for me anyway, and it makes you crave more sweets.
- Use fruit as a dessert.
- I get plain non-fat Greek yogurt instead of sweetened yogurt, and then I sweeten it myself with honey and sliced fruit. I heard someone say that regular yogurt has as much sugar as soda, and light yogurt has as many chemicals as diet soda.
- I look for lower sugar or no sugar alternatives. But always read the ingredients. Sometimes they add in more fat or salt to compensate for flavor. I love my lower sugar jam. It has the same ingredients as regular jam but half the sugar.
- I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup whenever I can.
- I did some research on sugar replacements and found that not all substitutes are created equal. Aspartame can act like a carcinogen, and other artificial sweeteners are like a foreign language to the body and cannot be properly digested. As a result, artificial sweeteners can cause liver, urinary, and insulin problems in the body. I tried to find some great natural sweeteners that had more positive research: stevia, xylitol, and Splenda (sucralose). Stevia kind of had a weird after taste for me, and the jury is still out for the effects of sucralose. I tried xylitol and love it. Xylitol (I know the name sounds really unnatural and chemical) is extracted from fruits and tree bark, and is basically the chemical opposite to refined sugar. While sugar is acidic (causing tooth decay and high blood sugar levels), xylitol is basic. It is quite expensive, but the best price I found was $5/lb on xylitolnow.com.
Anyway, I'm sure there are plenty other things that I could do better with my diet because I'm definitely not perfect, but I've noticed more energy and a less overall craving for sweets. And when I do want a sweet, and found some great recipes that I tweeked a little bit.
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Brayden absolutely loves these)
1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
2 C whole wheat flour (you can also use half white and half wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 C butter
1/2 C (4 oz.) reduced fat or fat free cream cheese
2/3 C Natural Sugar replacement (I love Xylitol)
2/3 C Brown sugar (5 TB plus 1 tsp Splenda brown sugar)
1/2 C egg whites (this replaces 2 eggs)
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 T Agave nectar (depending on desired sweetness and moisture)
4-6 oz. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Measure oats into a blender and mix to make oat flour. In a large bowl wisk together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl cream together butter and cream cheese. Cream in sugar. Slowly add egg whites. Add in vanilla. Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Fold in agave nectar. Mix in chocolate chips.
Spray hands with cooking spray. Spoon out dough, roll in balls, and then slightly flatten. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 8-9 minutes at 350 degree oven. Makes 2 dozen.
Stuffed French Toast with Raspberry Syrup, Whipped Cream, and Fruit
8 slices whole grain bread
4 T fat free cream cheese
4 tsp low sugar strawberry jam
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of nutmeg
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C egg whites
1/4 C skim milk
Spread 4 slices of bread with cream cheese and the other 4 with jam. Combine to make 4 sandwiches.
Pour in vanilla into a shallow baking dish, add in nutmeg and cinnamon and mix together. (I love this trick. . . becuase then your seasoning is equally distributed throughout the egg mixture rather then just floating to the top.) Wisk is egg whites and milk. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture and cook 3-4 min. on sprayed skillet (just like regular french toast).
Raspberry Syrup (thank you to Crystal Godfrey, everydayfoodstorage.net)
2 C water, divided
2 T cornstarch
1/2 C sugar replacement
2 C fresh raspberries, frozen raspberries, or 1 1/2 C freeze dried raspberries
1 T lemon Juice
Measure out 2 C water, then pour 1/4 C into a small bowl. Mix in cornstarch. This prevents the cornstarch from making clumps. In a saucepan over medium heat dissolve sugar into remainder of water. Add in cornstarch mixture and mix until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In a blender add strawberries, lemon juice, and liquid mixture. Blend until smooth. If you want raspberry bits you can also pulse it in a food processor.
Mock Whipped Cream (this does have a little bit of sugar, but not very much)
1/2 C water
3/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 T cold water
1/2 C nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pour 1/2 C water and beaters into a mixing bowl and put in the freezer for 10-15 min.
Meanwhile mix gelatin with 1 T cold water. Place in a heatproof mug in simmering water for about 4 min.
Beat together ice water and milk powder. Slowly add gelatin. Beat for 3-4 min. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat 3-4 min. until stiff.
Layer stuffed french toast, whipped cream, and raspberry syrup. Then sprinkle with berries.
So I recently read a study about the effects of sugar in your body. It is very similar to any drug: the more you have in your system the more you want, it gives you a short high, and it is harmful to the body in large amounts (i.e. type II diabetes). Sounds like a drug to me. Now I'm not suggesting that we had refined sugar to the Word of Wisdom, but I wanted to try an experiment, to see if I could get rid of, or at least decrease, my sugar cravings. I am definitely not cold-turkey-no-sugar, but I'm working on ways to train my body to crave it less--like a drug. I have tried a couple things that have worked well:
- I water down my juice--majorly. I usually do 1 part juice to 3 part water. Not only is it less expensive, but I've noticed that regular juice is way too sweet for me now. It doesn't taste good to me at all. I do this for Brayden as well, and he doesn't even know a difference. It taste sweet to him.
- Get rid of soda. We hear this all time. Diet soda is way too sweet for me anyway, and it makes you crave more sweets.
- Use fruit as a dessert.
- I get plain non-fat Greek yogurt instead of sweetened yogurt, and then I sweeten it myself with honey and sliced fruit. I heard someone say that regular yogurt has as much sugar as soda, and light yogurt has as many chemicals as diet soda.
- I look for lower sugar or no sugar alternatives. But always read the ingredients. Sometimes they add in more fat or salt to compensate for flavor. I love my lower sugar jam. It has the same ingredients as regular jam but half the sugar.
- I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup whenever I can.
- I did some research on sugar replacements and found that not all substitutes are created equal. Aspartame can act like a carcinogen, and other artificial sweeteners are like a foreign language to the body and cannot be properly digested. As a result, artificial sweeteners can cause liver, urinary, and insulin problems in the body. I tried to find some great natural sweeteners that had more positive research: stevia, xylitol, and Splenda (sucralose). Stevia kind of had a weird after taste for me, and the jury is still out for the effects of sucralose. I tried xylitol and love it. Xylitol (I know the name sounds really unnatural and chemical) is extracted from fruits and tree bark, and is basically the chemical opposite to refined sugar. While sugar is acidic (causing tooth decay and high blood sugar levels), xylitol is basic. It is quite expensive, but the best price I found was $5/lb on xylitolnow.com.
Anyway, I'm sure there are plenty other things that I could do better with my diet because I'm definitely not perfect, but I've noticed more energy and a less overall craving for sweets. And when I do want a sweet, and found some great recipes that I tweeked a little bit.
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Brayden absolutely loves these)
1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
2 C whole wheat flour (you can also use half white and half wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 C butter
1/2 C (4 oz.) reduced fat or fat free cream cheese
2/3 C Natural Sugar replacement (I love Xylitol)
2/3 C Brown sugar (5 TB plus 1 tsp Splenda brown sugar)
1/2 C egg whites (this replaces 2 eggs)
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 T Agave nectar (depending on desired sweetness and moisture)
4-6 oz. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Measure oats into a blender and mix to make oat flour. In a large bowl wisk together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl cream together butter and cream cheese. Cream in sugar. Slowly add egg whites. Add in vanilla. Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Fold in agave nectar. Mix in chocolate chips.
Spray hands with cooking spray. Spoon out dough, roll in balls, and then slightly flatten. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 8-9 minutes at 350 degree oven. Makes 2 dozen.
Stuffed French Toast with Raspberry Syrup, Whipped Cream, and Fruit
8 slices whole grain bread
4 T fat free cream cheese
4 tsp low sugar strawberry jam
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of nutmeg
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C egg whites
1/4 C skim milk
Spread 4 slices of bread with cream cheese and the other 4 with jam. Combine to make 4 sandwiches.
Pour in vanilla into a shallow baking dish, add in nutmeg and cinnamon and mix together. (I love this trick. . . becuase then your seasoning is equally distributed throughout the egg mixture rather then just floating to the top.) Wisk is egg whites and milk. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture and cook 3-4 min. on sprayed skillet (just like regular french toast).
Raspberry Syrup (thank you to Crystal Godfrey, everydayfoodstorage.net)
2 C water, divided
2 T cornstarch
1/2 C sugar replacement
2 C fresh raspberries, frozen raspberries, or 1 1/2 C freeze dried raspberries
1 T lemon Juice
Measure out 2 C water, then pour 1/4 C into a small bowl. Mix in cornstarch. This prevents the cornstarch from making clumps. In a saucepan over medium heat dissolve sugar into remainder of water. Add in cornstarch mixture and mix until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In a blender add strawberries, lemon juice, and liquid mixture. Blend until smooth. If you want raspberry bits you can also pulse it in a food processor.
Mock Whipped Cream (this does have a little bit of sugar, but not very much)
1/2 C water
3/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 T cold water
1/2 C nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pour 1/2 C water and beaters into a mixing bowl and put in the freezer for 10-15 min.
Meanwhile mix gelatin with 1 T cold water. Place in a heatproof mug in simmering water for about 4 min.
Beat together ice water and milk powder. Slowly add gelatin. Beat for 3-4 min. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat 3-4 min. until stiff.
Layer stuffed french toast, whipped cream, and raspberry syrup. Then sprinkle with berries.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Brayden's Birthday
Brayden just recently celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a great day at the zoo. I wish we would have scheduled in a nap because toward the end he got a little cranky. He loved saying hello and goodbye to all the animals, but he especially loved riding the train, going down the big slide, and a cat? Yeah, with all the exotic animals he loved the cat.
We had a fun picnic and birthday cupcakes when we got home. Here are some other fun pictures from this past month.
Wearing uncle Jason's shoes
normal belly
Big Belly
Mama's lips
Monday, February 1, 2010
Wonderful Pictures
Erin took some amazing pictures of Brayden last Saturday. I can't believe how cute he is. What a perfect face! Thank you so much Erin.
Brayden is 21 1/2 months now and is talking up a storm. He is saying at least 50 words. He is also definitely showing some great athletic ability, as you can see with his great follow-thru on his basketball shot.
Brayden is 21 1/2 months now and is talking up a storm. He is saying at least 50 words. He is also definitely showing some great athletic ability, as you can see with his great follow-thru on his basketball shot.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Brayden's ABCs
We have been working with Brayden on his ABCs. He does pretty well with all the sounds. He even says Grandpa and Grandma. Brayden's speech is progressing so well; he can mimic (or try to mimic) everything we say.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Brayden in all his chunkiness
If you listen carefully you can hear his monster growls through the sliding glass door. . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
