130.4 - Frugal Friday - Ideal No Cal Sweetener (FREE SAMPLE!)

Hey folks! Notice the bump in weight? Nice, right? Ah the joys of being a female.

Anyways, onto the free sample...

Just click the link and fill out the form. :)

From Ideal's website:

Ideal™ no calorie sweetener is the ideal replacement for your sugar bowl! Ideal™ is more than 99% natural, and it keeps its sweetness, volume and texture in baking as well as dissolves quickly and completely in hot or cold drinks. It measures cup for cup like sugar, and you can use it straight from your sugar bowl to sweeten in a natural way with no calories. Ideal™ is delicious for sweetening fresh fruit or cereal to satisfy that sweet tooth in the morning. Ideal™ is also the perfect ingredient for sweet treats, like cold smoothies or cookies any time of the day!

I totally jacked this post idea from A Thrifty Mom. Gotta give credit where credit is due! but I knew my fitness friends would like this freebie as much as I do! :)

P.S. I don't know if Freebie Friday will be a recurring theme, but it has a nice ring to it, eh?

EDIT: I totally just changed my Friday theme to Frugal Friday. At least now I have a few more posting options... frugal recipes, free stuff, etc. WOO!

129.8 - Thirsty Thursday - Sugar Free Margaritas!

It's Thirsty Thursday! WOO HOO! I want to share with you my favorite "diet" alcoholic beverage. Of course, these can be made non-alcoholic as well and are mighty mighty tasty! Introducing *drumroll please* Sugar Free Margaritas by Baja Bob's! Just add booze (optional), water, and ice and you have a delicious, festive beverage without all the guilt! I plan on indulging in one or two (non-alcoholic) this weekend! You know I add my tequila in the off season, though. ;)

My favorites are:

Wild Strawberry Daiquiri & Margarita Mix (Packet)

Bob's Wild Strawberry Daiquiri & Margarita Mix is so berrylicious he couldn't risk getting stuck without his own personal stash when traveling. This 60 gram powdered packet makes 1/2 gallon (64 oz.) of mix.

Simply mix with water and then add Rum for a delicious Strawberry Daquiri or with your favorite Tequila for a Strawberry Margarita.

ZERO calories and ZERO sugar per 4 oz. serving! *

Makes TWICE the amount of mix for the same cost as other brands.

Sweetened with Splenda. Other sugar free mixes are made with erythritol or aspartame, which have an aftertaste and can have a laxative effect. Bob says: "That's just not right."

Mango Margarita Mix - Singles

Baja Bob listened to all of your requests and created these portable packets that you can take wherever you go! Each box comes packed with 10 single-serve packets. Use one at a time or all 10 to make a batch for your guests. Simply...add water and tequila. Try substituting club soda for a refreshing non-alcoholic calorie and sugar-free mango soda. Either pour into glass filled with ice or blend with lots of ice to make slushy. Just $4.49 per box!

Let Bob break it down for you: ZERO calories per serving! * That's right, ZERO! The average sugar-loaded margarita mix can run over 250 calories per serving!

Definitely check them out! They are SO good!

FITNESS

This morning I checked my ego at the door... or shall I say the foot of my bed, since I did cardio in my basement. The plan was to pick up the Spark your way to a 10k program over at SparkPeople (LOVE THIS SITE!). Anyways, my legs were like lead this morning and tonight is legs day! No way was I running 3 miles! This program is designed for someone who can easily run 3 miles. I, on the other hand, am enduranced-challenged. I decided to back on down to the Spark your way to a 5k program. It was a great call. I warmed up with a brisk 10:00 walk, then ran my half a mile, and finished up with incline walking. I actually felt GREAT! not tired. I am now energized and my legs are feeling like they had a wonderful pick-me-up this morning. So YAY!

As you can see, the scale bumped up a smidge. Have no fear! 'Tis a bit of hormonal bloat. I can definitely deal with the .4 pound increase. ;) Not too shabby.

FOOD

The diet was a struggle yesterday. Hunger was a'raging, but I pulled through. I had nagging cravings for chocolate, icing, ya know, the sweet stuff! the STRONG sweet stuff. LOL! But, we all have days like that. Sometimes you just have to suck it up! although sometimes this seems impossible ;)

Also, I know that many of you have requested my blueberry muffin recipe... It is STILL in the works, but I'm hoping to make some minor tweaks this weekend for the BIG REVEAL for next week's Tasty Tuesday. I'll be making these muffins every weekend until I get it right! LOL! I'm determined to get this recipe to you all. ;)

FUN

I finally have hubby excited about fixing up the house! WOO HOO! I've done some minor home improvement DIY type things (the main bathroom is a work in progress, and I installed a digital programmable thermometer), but I haven't done much. Seth is very frugal (thankfully!), so I always feel a little guilty fixing things up. These things aren't that cheap. Now we will start budgeting for it. I am so SO excited!! Of course, I'm going to scope out the deals and try to do as little financial damage as possible!

Here's an item we have on the way... A new chandelier for the eat in kitchen area. Our old (and ugly) hanging light broke (yay!), so this is a forced upgrade. This area of the house has a warm goldeny paint job (not our doing, but I have grown to love it!), as well as a very rustic feel. I think it will look fantastic!

I would like to paint or get a new chandelier for the formal dining area as well, but that will just have to wait.

I'll be sure to post upgrade pictures as they occur or upon completion. :)

MAKE TODAY COUNT!

129.4 - Wordless Wednesday - Felicia Romero (Motivational Pic!)

130.4 - Tasty Tuesday - Easy Fruit Dip and More Vacay Pics!

Ingredients
2oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese (it doesn't necessarily have to be fat free) 15g (1T) fig preserves

Instructions

Mix

Seriously. That is all. This is even great on Ezekiel toast (especially cinnamon raisin). Mmmmm!

Check out more Tasty Tuesday recipes and meal ideas at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

FITNESS

Well, I did it. I woke up and actually ran… at a snail’s pace, but I did it! And it actually felt kinda sorta good. ;) I ran 2 miles. Now, I know that doesn’t sound like much, but we all gotta start somewhere, right? I first wanted to do the Couch to 5k plan on Cool Running, but, honestly, I have started that damn program a handful of times, and I never ever finish it. I get B O R E D. So, I hopped on over to SparkPeople, took a gander at some of their running programs I had saved from 2007 (no joke! LOL!), and then opted to do their 10k running plan. I originally thought I would do the 5k running plan, but I didn’t want to start with a ½ mile run. There are also walk/run programs on pages linked. Fun stuff!

ALSO, wooty woo, I managed to crank out some 60# DB bench presses yesterday. That is 60# per arm, so a total of 120… 120 on a BB is old news for me, but I’ve never tried to bench that heavy with dumbbells. YAY!

MORE FLORIDA FUN - DAY 2

WARNING: To say we got a little intoxicated this day would be an understatement. Early morning storms led us to the bar before noon. We are rebels, I tell ya!

Innocently, we started off at a car show.