Mmmm dessert how I miss you?!

I am not sure what is worse when youre on your strict diet and you cant eat the dinner you want or when youre on a strict diet and you cant eat the dessert you want...or both!? Well here is a great recipe that wont give you the guilt. In fact it's what I like to call "below low fat". Not quite fat free but better than low fat!!! And once again it still tastes good which of course is the most important!

Sharyn's Slim Lite n Fluffy Angel Fruit n Cream Dessert

- Go to your local grocery store and buy the good ole store brand box of angel food cake to make! A great light and fluffy cake to use! Once baked (or bought) Cut into square pieces. and place throughout the bottom of a large serving bowl.
- Take fat free cool whip and low fat cream cheese and whip together. And one tbsp of confection sugar. pour this mixture on top of the cake.
- Take fresh strawberries and blueberries (or any desired fruit) and sprinkle on top.
- Then take the FF cool whip alone and add some more on top of the thick layer of fruit.
- Sprinkle a little more fruit

And Enjoy!
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Happy 4th now bring on the Nachos...and extra pounds!!??

Im not generally a huge nacho eater but when I was pregnant that's all I wanted! So of course I wanted to eat them without eating all those calories. So I came up with a work around for a great nacho dish without all of the guilt! And I promise they still taste great!

Sharyn's Slim Nacho Euphoria

- Whole Wheat Nacho Chips (heat them in the oven sprinkled with a little garlic and seasoned salt for extra flavor)
- Jalapeno peppers, red peppers, green peppers and onions (all cut up and mixed together)
- Fat Free refried beans with turkey meat (optional if you want to use the vegetarian option)
- Low Fat Shredded Cheddar & Mexican Mix cheeses
- Fat Free Sour Cream
- Mild Salsa (optional if you want it hotter)
After your Nacho Chips are heated place the refried turkey meat on top then the cheeses. Heat in the microwave until all is melted. Sprinkle the vegetables sour cream and salsa on top.

And Enjoy!

Bottles that all "cure" Colic?!

When you go into Babies R Us there are so many bottles to choose from WALLS of them! So really how are you supposed to know which one to choose? They all say the same thing, they cure colic!
Luckily, or unluckily however you look at it I got the chance to try just about all of them with my daughter due to her being a little colic. And basically to be honest NON of them cure colic, some are better with gas for sure but thats really the extent of it. And I know when you are going through the tough time of a colic child you desperately want to believe that there is in fact something out there that will "cure" the screaming! So they can get you with a cool $20 bottle that promises to be your dream come true.
"Solution": I will give my opinions of each of the bottles I used and see what you think!
- Born Free: I won these in a raffle bc these are very expensive for bottles. However I actually liked these bottles and they did work well, but there are the annoying extra pieces to wash each time.
- Dr. Brown: I like these as well. You never see the bubbles come up as the baby is sucking which shows that there is no gas in the bottle. However once again in the task of washing these there are so many pieces. But for colicy babies I would suggest either the Born Free or Dr. Brown, but I believe Dr. Brown are cheaper.
- Avent: These were ok but I found if you do not get the top on correctly right away they leak really bad, and when the baby is crying and really hungry and you are rushing this can be a problem.
- Playtex: These are good bottles however you need to keep up with buying the bags which can get very expensive!

Caffeine Drip Needed ASAP!!!

We all know that feeling when you wake up in the mornings after just having a baby and literally your eyes hurt! Even if you have a good baby it's never easy getting woken up in the middle of the night for days/ weeks/ months on end! Some people like coffee but might like it sweet (causing too many calories) OR iced (causing you to spend too much money at Dunkin!) Heres one coffee recipe I love and do especially now that it's hot out!

Sharyn's Slim Mocha Lite Iced Coffee

- Tall glass of ice
- Coffee, flavored optional (chilled, make a big pot on Monday morning and put it into a container in the fridge for the week, that way your ice doesnt water down your coffee and/or your Iced Coffee doesnt come out luke warm)
- Squirt of low sugar Hershey's Choc Syrup
- Fat Free Half & Half
- Sweetener (optional)

Also a suggestion if you do love iced coffees like me, spend the $10 or so up front for the cooler cup! If you start making your own iced coffees at home and using the cup everyday you'll prob save about $3-4 a day in the long run!

New Age Thank You Cards?!

I have been blessed now with some of the most beautiful gifts for my children before and after having them. HOWEVER, I am HORRIBLE with snail mail. I dont mind buying the nice thank you cards, I love writing them out...but then I dread getting to the post and actually mailing them! One if you are working a 9-5 job the post office is so hard to get to, but lets face it when you're on maternity leave that "excuse" goes out the window! Two there is always the longest line at the post office, but really thats a small price to pay for someone getting you a gorgeous gift for your new child...so really what is it for me? The addresses!!! To me now a days knowing someone's address is like knowing someone's phone number by heart! I have heard rumblings that a beautiful Thank You ecard is "tacky"...true!!?? Honestly I'd rather have a huge dinner and cook for everyone to say thank you then track down everyone's addresses! I have come up with some ways to help myself get over this silly problem. But really I would love to know ARE internet based Thank You cards tacky, or inconsiderate...thoughts!?
Oh and to this I also have one thing that drives me crazy...handing me a thank you card, really you might as well just say thank you then! If I'm tracking your address down and getting the stamps and sending these puppies out, well then my thank you card better get the same royal treatment! ;)
"Solution": One thing I now do to help myself is as soon as I get the gift I take down the return address listed and put it into my bberry! BUT I have gotten alot of gifts this time around in person so there's obviously no return address stated, so maybe it's just a matter of asking "thanks could I have your address so I can send you a thank you in writing?" :)

Summer Cocktails n Post Baby Weight Doesn't Mix!

So of course if you have a baby in the spring/ summer time you (or maybe just me) says "It's so hard bc of all the good summer food and drinks" but the other day I realized who am I kidding when I had my daughter in the fall I said "It's so hard with all the holiday food and drinks"! Oy! Well you CAN enjoy those summer drinks! Just work around it!

Sharyn's Slim Long Island Tiny!
(folks I will not add in counts, I am not a "trained" chef/ bartender so use what's best, your own taste buds!)
- Citrus Vodka
- Crystal Light Lemonade
- Crystal Light Iced Tea
- Sparkling Water (optional)
- Fresh Cut Lemons
- Fresh Cut Oranges

Sharyn's Slim Passion Juice
- Barcardi Limon Rum
- Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
- Diet Sprite
- Mixed Frozen Fruit

And if you're beer drinkers I think the Miller Genuine Drafts 64 are great!! Plus I AM a margarita drinker! And I do love the Skinny Girl Margaritas! But lets face it at 15$ a bottle its not alot for your money...so I will follow up soon when I discover the mixture I love to make a great margarita in a low cal way!

To Swing Or Not to Swing?

Let me start by saying I know EXACTLY how hard it is to have a child that is colic. My daughter now 21 months old and a great toddler suffered from painful acid reflux. AND I was a single mom at the time. So needless to say I spent the first 4 months of her life with her sleeping on my chest and then the next 2 with her sleeping on a big pillow next to me right on my bed. So I will be honest with a colicy baby you try EVERYTHING, be it the swing, a baby carrier, hair drier (I ran up a hefty electric bill), the late night car rides so on and so forth! And you are so sleep deprived you do NOT care if any of this will faulter them from nicely transitioning to a crib bc well you are too tired to franky my dear give a damn! And if I will add they transition just fine and life does go on! :)
BUT now I have my son, 4 weeks this week. Mr. Cool I like to call him. Just a real easy baby. And has allowed me to enjoy these first few months. Something with my daughter, yes I am going to say this and its ok bc all moms of colicy babies will understand, I just didnt enjoy it with her. But recently my son has decided he HATES sleeping on his back...HATES it. You would think I would know, hey they all adapt eventually not to worry let him do this or that...but NOPE. I like every other mom was on google straight away..."sleeping in the swing all night ok??" haha You know we've all been there, I hate these decisions, I mean you would think we were helping him choose his college!
My husband being from Ireland a different culture than the American paranoids, says well just throw him in the middle of us. Or put him in the swing he loves that. Instantly I think, ok whats worse he gets used to being in between mom and dad OR the constant motion of the swing???? I stew and stress, I research and probably bc he is so good I think I cant "ruin" this great baby!!!
Then I wake up read some wonderful mom blogs (MUCH better than any books!!!) and realize what I knew all along, every baby is different and all parents are different. So I will end this post with letting you all know what we decided to do. Wrong....Correct??? Who knows! All I do know is that as long as your kids are healthy and make it to tomorrow well really you have done your job! :)
"Solution": My husband and I decided on a few things. During the day the baby will take one great nap in the swing so he can get that needed rest that he does need and want. Then we discovered he LOVES his vibrating music player so any further naps/ nighttime sleeping (before mom & dad go to sleep) this will be placed in his bassinet. Then at night IF he is fussy he WILL "co sleep" with us in the middle. However, since I know from the child psychology I majored in, in college (so at least I have some educational knowledge to back me up) children do not develop separation anxiety until 6 months old. So I will cut out the co sleeping by 4 months (usually when babies start coming into their own anyway). This will most likely avoid that struggle of transitioning him to his crib. Which might I add I did transition my daughter to her crib at 6 months after EVERYONE said she would never go in a crib bc she had co slept with me, and guess what she was...FINE! :)