Thanks to Mom Fuse and Ideal, I was given the opportunity to make these tasty cookies using Ideal No Calorie Sweetener.

I was sent some Ideal No Calorie Sweetener to try out.  I drink a cup or two of coffee a day with sugar and we also cook and bake a lot which means we use a lot of sugar.  I haven’t been as concerned with my sugar intake since I have been pregnant but just prior, when I was losing all the weight, I was cutting out a lot of sugar.  After this baby, I will be back on the healthy eating kick and will be happy to have found a great substitute for sugar. 

Today in America sugar consumption is the highest it’s ever been which leads to health problems such as obesity and tooth decay.  Ideal contains Xylitol which is found in fruits and vegetables.  It tastes like sugar and is a great alternative.

So, I thought I would put it to the test and I made some sugar cookies this afternoon.  Now here was the only problem I ran in to with the recipe.  It says it was supposed to make 48 cookies and I was only able to get 18.  With 48 cookies the calories were only supposed to be 33 but since I o nly made 1/3 then each cookie came out to be around 76 calories.  The problem is we need to find a low calorie butter.  I know they have some like “I can’t believe it’s not butter” and I have baked with it before but it’s just not the same. 

So anyways here is the recipe:

1 cup Ideal No Calorie Sweetener
1/2 cup butter softened
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and Ideal No Calorie Sweetener; beat in egg and vanilla

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt and add to butter mixture.  Blend well until ball is formed. 

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hrs or until firm. 

Shape dough in to small balls about 3/4 inches in diameter.

Set cookies on lightly greased baking sheet; press cookie until 1/4 inch thick

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown

Nutrition information (if you can get 48 cookies):  33 calories; 1g Protein; 2g total Fat; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 7 mg Calcium; 0g Iron; 38mg Sodium; 9mg Cholesterol 

I have already tried a cookie and I must say they are delicious.  Tony also used the sweetener in the corn muffins he made for dinner, those were also tasty. 

I am really excited that I was able to try Ideal No Calorie Sweetener out, I will say, it tastes just like sugar without the calories. 

Now for the greatest part, THE GIVEAWAY!  Ideal would like to offer 3 of my readers a chance to win Ideal No Calorie Sweetener.  Each winner will receive a 10.6 ounce baking bag of Ideal and a 50 count box of Ideal packets, PLUS coupons!  YIPPEE!!!!

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment telling me why it is important you incorporate No Calorie Sweeteners in yours and/or your family’s diet.   

This giveaway will end July 27 at midnight EST.

Thanks again Mom Fuse and Ideal No Calorie Sweetener!

When you think of Florida, you think sunny, warm, beautiful, palm trees, beaches but that’s not how it looks or how it really is when you get there.  Unless you live in Miami or somewhere like it.  It is REALLY beautiful there but from living in South Florida and hearing about all the crime….I would never want to live there. 

For many reasons I am glad we no longer live there.  I am happy that we can now think of Florida as a vacation spot.  With Tony working 40 hrs a week, getting vacation time and 2 days off a week we will be more likely to be able to plan a family vacation.  My 2 lil ones birthday is this month. Lil Tony will be 2 and Isabel will be 1.  WOW time flies.  Anyways, I want to take them to Disney.  Maybe next year they will be 2 and 3, we can check out some Orlando vacations and see what kind of great package deals they have. 

I am really excited to take family trips and act more like a family.  With Tony working as much as he used to there was never time for stuff like that. 

I really love the place he works for.  They are building new stores often.  After about 6 months he can apply for a department manager position.  I hate to say it but it is still way less stress than his old job gave him and he would get about $6 more an hour. 

I am happy we moved and get more family time, a vacation will be well deserved.

Wow 3 pregnancies back to back, what was I thinking!  My hormones are so out of whack I have not had time to recover.  My pregnancy with Lil Tony was just rough because I felt so crappy I just wanted to curl up in a ball and die….lol

Isabel was a bit better but I still got morning sickness and just overall wanted to get the pregnancy over with as soon as possible.  Now my most recent one, I love my kids, I just don’t at all like being pregnant.  My cousin, Jenna, posted a little while back about how you should have to sign a waiver when you decide to get pregnant.  LOL!  She listed 10 things that most women experience all or some of during and after pregnancy.  I say most women because with Nicki, I don’t think other than mild nausea I had nothing bad during or after the pregnancy. 

All of the symptoms I have experienced with my other children.  From stretch marks to swollen feet, fatness to pooping issues.  Are those are just naming a few.  My most hated issue is the back pains.  I am sure all the weight I have been gaining with the kids doesn’t help but hell it just hurts.  Its not fair, why is such a wonderful part of life supposed to cause so much pain and discomfort.  I mean it doesn’t matter how much I stretch my back or get a back rub it just doesn’t help.  Maybe I need to make a Westgate reservation to one of their resort and spa’s.  I just need to be pampered.  I love my family but I need a getaway! 

So woohoo, only 22 more weeks of this pregnancy, then I am done with kids.  We really wanted 5 but I am starting to be ok with the fact that doctors won’t or don’t like to perform more than 3 c-sections.  lol

Argh, I am only 17 weeks pregnant and I feel like I have been pregnant for ever!  Well I guess I have technically been pregnant for a while.  3 kids in 3 yrs didn’t give me any downtime.  LOL!  I am so worn out, I just want to sleep and eat.  I just can’t keep up with my lil ones.  Especially with Lil Tony going through his terrible twos!  He wants everything and he wants it NOW! 

Aside from feeling tired, I feel like I always want to eat.  I don’t eat a lot at a time and I think that is the problem.  I can’t eat enough to completely fill myself for any extended period of time.  I sometimes wish I could take a diet pill and kill my appetite. 

I guess at least with all the eating, since I am eating several small meals a day, I am not gaining any weight.  Unfortunately I gained a lot just before I got pregnant and the first month or so after getting pregnant so I am really hoping I don’t gain anymore.  I know I need to because the baby will grow but I hope it’s strictly the baby and not extra weight.  YIKES!

I will need to find somewhere else besides free online auctions to sell my Stampin’ UP! paper kits.  As a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator I am not allowed to sell them on an auction style website.  Auction style selling is really convenient to sell my paper kits and make a little money.  I am a stay at home mom and really don’t have any options to get a job outside the home, at least until my kids go to school.

Really, for the most part I am ok with that.  Up until I met Tony, I was working 3+ jobs at a time to support me and my daughter as a single parent.  I missed out on a lot when Nicki was growing up. 

Since I am still a newer demonstrator, I don’t really have any customers.  I was getting a pretty decent steady income coming in with my paper kits.  Online auctions are really cool because they usually sell a variety of things.  So if I ever came across anything I no longer needed I would just put it up for sale. 

I am proud to be a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator.  For a catalog or to place an order please feel free to contact me.  Either by clicking the “contact me” button on this website, my Stampin’ UP! website or leeanne@artfuldelight.com.  Or for some retired products or a wide variety of other items, check out some free online auctions.

I always hate when this happens because I always feel dirty, but I am confident we are not.  Nicki ended up with lice.  I feel EXTREMELY confident it came from the girls down the street.  She WAS playing with these girls down the street, the ones whose mom asked me to babysit and I don’t think they are the cleanest. 

They live a couple houses away and since we have moved in just over 2 weeks ago, there has been the same garbage PILE sitting on their porch.  They have an ass load of cats, not that they carry lice but still. 

So I saw some bugs in her hair last night an my first thought was “oh shit lice”.  It wasn’t until i got in there washing and combing her hair that I realized just how bad it was. 

We had this problem when I lived in Tampa.  It seemed to take about a month to get rid of it.  I would clean up her hair and send her to school and she would end up with it again. 

So last night I had Tony pull all of the blankets and pillows from her room and the living room.  I scrubbed her hair with RID lice shampoo and then spent about an hour combing through her hair.  The problem is she is susceptible to getting it because she washes her hair daily and lice like clean hair. 

After I combed through her hair, which was nasty, I put some gel in her hair and put it in a braid.  I am trying to keep her head under control.  I don’t wash my hair often and I usually have been keeping gel or mousse in my hair so I think I am safe and didn’t get it but I washed my hair with the shampoo as well.  Last time Nicki had it, I didn’t get it so I have my fingers crossed. 

I just feel so bad for her, she felt bad for making me have to do all that to her hair, spend all that time and money.  For the stuff last night I spent $40 and we have to wash again in 7-10 days.  I just really hope we took care of it last night.

I didn’t have very man people enter my 2 giveaways so I used a simple way to pick the winner….my daughter picked a number.

So for the Temporal Scanner she chose #4:

Leslie Says:
June 20th, 2009 at 9:35 am   edit

I’ve got 5 kids.

9, 7, 5, 3 and 9 months. I would love this for all of us!

And for Norman PhartEphant:

Mindy Says:
June 13th, 2009 at 2:31 pm   edit

Big Fun in Cleveland Ohio. It has everything! I submitted that to their site.

Thank you to everyone that entered!