Funfetti Sandwich Cookies
I’ve been lamenting the amount of pre-packaged snacks that seem to make their way into my daughter’s lunch lately. Not only are they packed with high-fructose corn syrup and other additives, they are expensive! So I’m going to try my hand at making some of her lunch snacks.
I found this recipe in my handy-dandy Pilsbury Complete Cookbook, but you can find it here. Pilsbury my go-to cookie & cake book. Every recipe in here is dead easy and delicious, and really, you can’t go wrong with that crazy giggly guy. Also, I just so happened to have the cake mix required. Not exactly as “home made” as I intended, but good enough for the first time.
I ALWAYS bake cookies on parchment paper. They don’t stick, they don’t burn and clean up is a breeze.
I love setting cookies to cool on my granite counter. They cool in no time, and you don’t have to worry about funny little rack marks in the bottom.
The original recipe calls to ice the cookies, but I thought that would make them messier harder to transport. My mom said “Why don’t you make them sandwich cookies?” Yes? Why don’t I? (evil laugh) More cookies! I had a container of ready made icing in the pantry that I tinted blue (Em’s favourite colour), but it was way too much. I have tons of icing left over, next time I’ll make a double batch of cookies to even things out.
This made about 20 sandwiches, and they taste like crispy cake! Since the icing was still a little loose, the cookies were sliding a bit. I put them back on a cooled cookie sheet and wrapped them loosely with plastic wrap. I’ll put them in an airtight container later and Em’s will be able to have confetti cookies in her lunch this week.
No, I am NOT sniffing the bread…
I meant to be blogging this journey once a week, but the debilitating headaches lasted for TWO WEEKS and I had lots of fun stuff on the go.
So, I’ve lost a nice even 8 lbs since starting, and reduced my body fat percentage by 1%. Not “Biggest Loser” stats by any means, but I’m happy with it. I also know that the Body Fat % will go down further as I pick up more strength training, so I’m not feeling bad at all (unless I think about potato chips…..mmmmm….potato chips).
My husband, the prat, has lost somewhere in the vicinity of 20 lbs! But he’s not sure, because he isn’t weighing and measuring himself as compulsively precisely as I am. For the sake of my own sanity (and his safety), I am going to try and not be so concerned with his results, and I’m going to try and not be as neurotic about my own.
The disturbing part of this is how my 7 year old daughter is reacting to our lifestyle change. While the kid’s diets have altered somewhat because of what we’re eating, (more lean meats & vegetables) we’ve been supplementing them with additional side dishes that Hubs and I just don’t eat. My daughter, bless her heart and her eavesdropping ears, now asks us if everything has carbs in it before she eats it, she also asks if it has fat, and if it’s good fat or bad fat. Thankfully it hasn’t made her stop eating anything, but I am worried that this could develop into an unhealthy attitude for her. I think our best bet is to just equate things as healthy foods you can eat whenever you want, or unhealthier choices that should be saved for treats or eaten in moderation.
The whole point for Hubs and I doing this is to be healthier and more active for our family. Mostly I would like to teach our kids how to live healthy from the get go, so they are equipped for a healthy future themselves.
Next post should be good. I have a Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred video screaming motivating things at me from inside it’s cellophane wrapper. If I’m able to type, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Heeere carby carby carby…
Just before Lent, hubs had to go for some tests for what we all thought were some nasty gall stones. It turned out to be something
about his liver, prompting our family Doctor to urge my husband to go on a low carb diet (his actual words were “as in NO carbs”). I’d been on a low carb diet before, and I knew with the Lenten season approaching, it could pose some special issues for our family.
So here we are a few weeks post Lent, and after huffing and puffing my way upstairs to bed the other night, I did the unthinkable, I GOT ON THE SCALE.
It was terrifying.
But it did explain why I feel so sloth-like lately. I decided maybe we both should eat better for a while. I’ve dug out my low-carb cook books and this is our (mostly my) journey.
DAY #1
Stevia is the devil. Who the hell thought of this stuff. They should be shot and suffocated with piles of the vile substance. I made the grave mistake of putting it in my coffee this morning. It’s as if someone coated my tongue in the taste “sweet” and asked me to drink my coffee around it. The day was much improved when I found 4 packages of splenda hanging around in an old shopping bag. Also found out that the pre-cooked chicken from Wal-Mart is pretty disgusting. I think it must be super processed, but I’ll just be grilling up my own chicken and freezing it in serving-sized packages. But the chicken did keep me from being hungry, too bad it was mostly nausea.
DAY #2
Day started off with a lovely headache (continued from the night before). I’m used to this, whenever I cut my carb intake I feel like hell hung-over for about 3 days. Once the majority of the sugar works its way out of my system I’m ok. Stuck to the plan all day. Drank more water. Peed every 30 minutes. It’s like being pregnant again without the free license to eat junk. Kidlets got to have grilled cheese sandwiches while hubs and I had salmon, so they think this is a great deal. Since it’s only been two days, I didn’t sniff the bread as I was making the sandwiches. Just give me time.
DAY #3
Woke up with the same headache. Determined not to let it get the better of me, I scoured the medicine cabinet and found a lone Sudafed. 20 minutes later: right as rain. Speaking of which, it’s been cool and rainy here for the last 3 days. It’s like the sunshine misses me eating carbs. Or perhaps I’m just getting hungry fanciful. Pre-cooked turkey from Wal-Mart is slightly less disgusting than the chicken, but not enough that I’ll buy it again. REAL FOOD IS ALWAYS BETTER. Except for crystal light. One of my mom’s friends from the States brought me up 2 boxes of Raspberry Lemonade last week, I threatened hubs with mutilation of he touched them. Just realised tomorrow is a potluck at work. I’m going to start praying now. Seriously. I wonder if they’ll catch on if I call in sick?
DAY #4
Day of the Baby Shower/Potluck. THERE ARE 5 DIFFERENT KINDS OF DESSERT. It was awful. I ate mostly meatballs and 2 kinds of dip with no dip-to-mouth conveyance. I lucked out with the fruit tray(melon and berries), so all told, I didn’t do too bad. Still have the headache. I’m thinking I should name it seeing as how we now seem to be roommates in my skull, if you have any suggestions you can leave them in the comments. Found out today that Hubs has gone through AN ENTIRE JAR of pickles in 4 days. Also he cheated and weighed himself today and he is down 10 lbs in 4 days. I HATE MEN.
DAY #5
Saturday. Ahhhhh….Saturday. Woke up stupid early because Em’s sleepover guest needed to be up for a food drive. My headache came with me. He is kind of an asshole. Today wasn’t too bad, eating well including take out (swiss chalet). Picked up Spence’s birthday cake and had to resist tripping with it in the parking lot just for the excuse to lick icing off my jacket. I really hope this headache makes an exit before the party tomorrow. 9 hyped up kids in a large play centre is formidable enough.
DAY #6
Spence’s party. Insanity on crack and wheels. While I managed to resist the pizza, pop and cupcakes, I should have remembered to bring something for Hubs and I to eat. Thankfully, eating less sugar/carbs has improved my hypoglycemia and I no longer physically fall to pieces if I don’t eat soon enough.
DAY #7
Down 3.8 lbs according to my fancy-pants scale that measures body fat and tells me if it’s a bad hair day. For a week that included a pot-luck & two birthday parties for Spence, not a bad total. I’m still battling the headaches, some quick googling research shows that it might take up to two weeks for my body to get used to the lack of carbs. The headache is apparently my brain telling me it would like some pasta please. That doesn’t make it any harder, no, NOT AT ALL. I’m holding off on starting a solid excercise program for a few days. The truth is, my head hurts so bad every time I move I feel like I might throw up, and I’m not that desperate to lose weight! So in a few days when the headaches ease up, I will start to move a little more. Hubs told me he is down almost 10 lbs. I just about junk-punched him when I heard that. I hate how much easier men seem to lose weight. I have to keep reminding my self that I vowed to honour and cherish him, but I’m fairly certain whoever wrote those vows was eating a nice challah or something.
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