Category Archives family

Making things sweet with Splenda

Making things healthier for our family is a major goal in our house.  We do not bake sweets too often because of extra sugar in these items. In addition to this, my mother and TechyDad’s mother are diabetic. We try to watch things because we know diabetes is in our genes. I was recently asked by Mom Central to participate in a Splenda tour to receive a free sample of Granulated Splenda No Calorie Sweetner and the Splenda Tastebook. I agreed since it was a fabulous opporunity to have some recipes to try with my family and friends that are diabetic and/or trying to watch their sugar intake.

We had Splenda packets in the house before this, but had never really used it for anything beyond adding to drinks. Splenda recently teamed up with celebrity Mom chef, Katie Brown, to offer recipes and tips on how to use Splenda in more items than you can imagine. Brown offers recipes for cookies, cakes, breaks and even smoothies.

Our sample and cook book arrived just before Passover . We wanted to try something quick and easy that did not require baking. TechyDad mentioned that we had a lot of overly ripe bananas. I opened up the Splenda Tastebook and found the Banana Strawberry Shake. It was the perfect fit since we had strawberries in the freezer. Bananas, strawberries, Splenda and fat free milk was all we needed with our handy dandy blender.

Testing out Splenda recipe

If you are interested in the recipe you can find it here. One item that I especially liked was the nutritional information was included – big kuddos for that! As you an see below, both of my boys loved it. My little guy actually drank a lot and told us he now likes strawberries. We liked it SO much that TechyDad and the boys actually made three batches of this for the entire family for a snack. It was delicious!

Taste testers approve

When Passover is over, there are a bunch of other items that look really good including the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars. I will also be looking at other items to add to my online cookbook to make for my son’s party to bring special for the diabetic members of the family present. I know I have a lot of options with the online recipes and ones in my Tastebook thanks to Katie Brown who included not only drinks, desserts, but also side dishes, sauces, salads and salsas.

Have you used Splenda in any recipes that you liked? Please share, I would love to know.

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Splenda and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, a donation was made in my name to the Meals on Wheels organization to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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Pesach 2010 is here

Monday evening, Jewish people will be celebrating with their family and friends at the first Passover Seder. Right now, we are still putting the final touches on getting our house ready for Pesach. Not a lot to do, but time consuming along with other items in our regular day to day routine. As I head off to get things done, I wanted to share some of the items that NHL has made at Hebrew School recently. 

Crafts from Hebrew School

  • Bag to put the afikomen in.
  • Seder plate that includes a shank bone and roasted egg made out of Model Magic
  • Poems and items from Dayenu! A Passover Haggadah For Families and Children by Carol Boyd Leon 
  • Kippah that NHL made

We are basically finished shopping for Passover and only need to stop by and get some fresh produce at one point. To read more about past Passover celebrations, please check out some additional posts from past years:

Chag Sameach Pesach to all of my family and friends that celebrate.

TheAngelForever

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37 Years Together and Birthday Wishes

Today is a special day in our family for two very big reasons.

37 years ago my mother and father were married. They have stayed together in good times and some not so good. Together they have two children and now four grandchildren. They started the Disney loving family that now has grown to three generations strong.

Happy Anniversary Nana and Papa!!!!

Nana & Papa - 37 years and going strong

In addition to this, it is Uncle M’s birthday. It has been so much fun watching Uncle M interact with the kids. I have memories of Uncle M from my childhood, but seeing him skipper his boat with the boys and give piggy back rides has been a blast.

Happy Birthday Uncle M!!!!

Birthday wishes to Uncle M

The boys and I wish all of you much happiness, health and good wishes for many years to come. Love you all!

TheAngelForever

 

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Moments with Mimi

A week ago Friday, I received a phone call from my father. He was on his way to my grandmother’s house because she fell down over another person’s wheelchair. 911 had to be called because she could not get up and was in a great deal of pain. After many tests, they were able to rule out several things. After a CAT scan, they found a double pelvic fracture. Mimi was in the hospital until mid last week. At that point, she was doing well enough to be transferred to a facility for rehab. She actually ended up going to the same home that my grandfather had been in for many years.

Fun time with Mimi

On Friday, the boys and I went to the home to see Mimi. When we arrived in her room, JSL clammed up. He stopped talking, would not look at people and was shaking. He had never been there before. NHL had actually been in the same room with Poppy S, but he was so little he would not remember it.

We stayed for a short time and then left to let Mimi rest. The next day, it was beautiful and we met Mimi outside for some air. Once again, we noted that JSL did the same thing. When he was near the wheelchair and Mimi, he was skittish at best. When he walked with Aunt S to her car for something, he perked up. Then, as he came closer to us, he stopped again. We talked with him about how Mimi was there to help her get better. In two year old terms, we told him that Mimi fell down and had a boo-boo that needed to get better by staying there. NHL had done something similar with Poppy S when he was in his wheelchair when NHL was about this age.

When we decided to go back to visit Sunday afternoon, we took a bag of tricks with us. We figured if JSL had some toys, he may be more comfortable. Here are both of the kids wearing their animal backpacks in to visit Mimi.

Heading in to see Mimi

It worked like magic. JSL was so excited to show Mimi his items that he was not nervous. He ran around, sang and even danced with NHL. NHL was singing Michael Jackson songs from his concert a few weeks ago. Here are both of the boys and Crush having some fun:

Playing while visiting Mimi

Then, it was time to say goodbye to Mimi and do some Passover shopping. Here’s to wishing Mimi a speedy recovery. The boys are looking forward to playing at her apartment when she goes back home. 

TheAngelForever

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