Christmas is almost here 

 fala lala laaaa lala la la

It is by far my favorite time of the year! I love to see the decorated trees, lights, people happy, spend time making ornaments and cookies with my daughter.

I was preparing all the supplies and making samples for the kids before we started the Holiday Fundraising for my daughter's school (kids make ornaments and cards to sell so they can have Art Enrichment during the year); when I had a brilliant idea "what could be better than having Christmas from October to December" (that was before I realized how much time was going to take). I started making my own ornaments and decided to set up a booth on the local Craft Fair on November 29th.

I'm almost ready but wanted to share with you some of the things that I will be selling

 Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Mountain Spa Party

Mountain Spa Party

One of Bianca's best friends was moving away so I wanted to give them a really special last sleepover and first sleepover for another of her best friends.

 

 

I made bags for the girls with all the supplies you need for a spa/sleepover and 

a frame with their pictures and a t-shirt with their picture and signed by them.

 (cost about $12 per bag)

the party had a make over station and a manicure/pedicure station, we also had facials and relaxation (not so much LOL), dance time and movie :

It was a great night for all the little girls!

It's never too late.... to get back to what you love

It's never too late....to get back to what you love

 

Drawing was my therapy through my teen years and then life just got complicated and I didn't have time to practice or even enjoy what I used to love. About a month ago I started to draw again, trying to learn to paint (never really enjoyed it) but I'm really trying to learn to stop my life for at least 30 minutes a day and sit to draw or paint.

So here are some of my drawing and paintings:

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Mariana

It's that time of the year!!!!

swimming suit season

I started a little exercise routine and eating healthier diet. One of the worst things for me it's no diet soda, so I made a little drink that it's taking the cravings away.

make a really strong tea

3 tea bags of green tea

2 bags of ginger tea

lemon

2 or 3 packages of Stevia

mint leaves

Make the tea and let it sit for a while with the tea bags then put it in a container inside the fridge and, when you are about to eat something that you shouldn't get a long glass, put ice and fill 1/3 of the glass with tea and fill the rest of the glass with Club Soda or Sparkling Mineral Water. 

Now sit, drink and, ENJOY!!!!

 

Second problem: salads don't give you the crunch to satisfy the hunger. Solution: change the regular lettuce for Broccoli Slaw, add apple, and walnuts (mine had also chicken), for dressing a low calorie or just olive oil and vinegar, (i used oil and vinegar, dry mustard and a bit of stevia)

OK and last problem craving pizza:

 heat oven to 400 F

1 medium head of cauliflower 

5 egg whites or 3 eggs

2 table spoon of gluten free flower

basil

garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Grind the cauliflower small and mix all the ingredients. on a big flat oven tray spray some oil and, spread the mix on a thin layer of 3/4 inch. Put it in the oven for 35 minutes or until it's dry, then add your favorite "HEALTHY" toppings. I added low fat cheese and for my daughter "RICE CHEESE",  grilled onions, mushrooms, asparagus and a bit of low fat salami. Put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

 it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!

hope you can use these ideas!

Homemade Eclairs

Homemade Eclairs

Milk Free

One of my little chef is having a Paris birthday party so I decided to give as a gift a cooking class to learn how to make Eclairs. It was fun to make them and LOTS of work but the faces when they ate them "priceless". We got the recipes from:
www.marthastewart.com 
 http://www.marthastewart.com/907232/pastry-puffs
 http://www.marthastewart.com/317571/pastry-cream-for-eclairs
http://www.marthastewart.com/339804/eclairs

I changed the recipe for my daughter because she has allergy to milk.
Pastry Cream: I used Rice Milk and I added 1 TBS extra of cornstarch
Chocolate Glaze:  I didn't use the heavy cream, I just melted the chocolate "Enjoy Life" (dairy, soy and nut free) and added a TBS of butter or spread.
For all the recipes I used regular butter because she is not allergic but you could use any kind of margarine or spread that you normally use, I'm actually thinking to try is with Coconut Oil.

regular cream

Milk Free Cream

Mikayla mixing the dough

 Me making the Petite Eclairs 
 

Out of the Oven

Girls give the Thumb UP!!!!