Caprese Stuffed Avocado

 Where are the avocado lovers at? 

I personally have a love hate relationship with them myself - when trying fresh ones they are either rock hard not ripe or rotten brown inside and that sweet soft pale green spot in between always eludes me 🤣 seriously …

However these Caprese Stuffed Avocados look so tasty presentation wise but I would likely use the frozen avocado chunks thawed and tossed right with the other ingredients cause it’s just easier than trying to time that sweet elusive ripe but no rotten state!

CAPRESE STUFFED AVOCADO ~ Sweet and juicy grape/cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella balls are tossed in basil pesto with a touch of garlic, then stuffed into avocado halves! Drizzle with a balsamic glaze.

RECIPE here

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

 

Keto Fudgecicle

I am so excited to get my Pampered Chef Quickcicle maker I just ordered so I can try this recipe from the amazing All Day I Dream About Food blog 

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup almond or cashew milkunsweetened
• ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener 
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or peppermint extract
• ¼ teaspoon xanthum gum

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together milk, cream, Swerve, and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil and cook one minute, stirring continuously.
2. Remove from heat and stir in peppermint extract. Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk briskly to combine. Let mixture cool at least 10 minutes and then pour into popsicle molds.
3. Freeze 1 hour, then push wooden sticks partway into popsicles and return to the freezer (wooden sticks are best for staying in the pops when you take them out of the molds). Freeze until solid, about 5 more hours.
4. To remove from molds, run under hot running water for 30 seconds or so.

Bon Appetite

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

Dutch Keto Chocolate Cupcakes!

 Is chocolate part of your self care routine?? 

I love these Keto chocolate cupcakes - they are perfect on their own or you. An dress them up with some Chocolate Buttercream icing for a more dessert feel. 

Grain free & Sugar free so all the mouth orgasm pleasure of chocolate flavour and none of the insulin spike! 

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal finely ground
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or 2 tsp more golden flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup unsalted grass-fed butter or 4 TBS coconut oil + 1 TBS coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream or coconut cream
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee (optional)
• 1/3-1/2 cup xylitol or coconut sugar if paleo
• 2 eggs eggs at room temperature

I personally add peppermint extract or hazelnut extract instead of the expresso suggestion cause I am not a big coffee flavour fan. I also used dark dutch style cocoa for that deep rich chocolate colour.

If you can get your hands on sugar free chocolate chips - we love the Lily’s white chocolate or dark chocolate or the salted caramel chocolate chips -  they are a nice addition to this recipe too! 

Instructions 

• Each batch of cake is good for one 8-inch layer of cake (or 6 cupcakes). 
• Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 350°F/180°C. Grease, dust with cocoa powder, and line an 8-inch cake pan, set aside. Or use 6 silicone cupcake liners.
• Add almond flour, flaxseed meal, coconut flour, baking powder and xanthan gum to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined, set aside. 
• Add butter, heavy cream (or coconut oil and cream), cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder (optional) to a large heatproof bowl. Melt over a water bath whisking constantly (or use the microwave in small bursts). Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly. 
• Add in the sweetener and one egg at a time, whisking well after each one until completely incorporated. The texture should appear smooth and thick, with all the sweetener dissolving into the mixture (if using erythritol, some granules may remain). Add the flour mixture, whisking vigorously until fully blended (about a minute). Pour batter into prepared pan or cupcake liners.
• Bake for 15-19 minutes, or until set and a toothpick inserted comes out just clean. Check often after minute 15 to ensure your cake doesn't dry out, and always keep in mind, however, that your cake will continue to cook while cooling! 
• Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the cake pan, before transferring to a rack. It'll be particularly fragile right out of the oven if you made it with xylitol or allulose, so you need to let it set. 

Bon Appetite!

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

Weekend Creativity Challenge #2

Happy FriYAY! 

Nurturing one’s creativity is SO key to helping to ensure a healthy mindset … human beings are all born with an instinct to express themselves through creativity but sometimes external factors impede peoples abilty to engage in creative expression and so their full healthy mindset is also impeded! We need to get back to ensuring that everyone has at least ONE creative outlet for expressing themselves. 

So here’s another instalment of the Weekend Creativity Challenge - each week I will post a photo prompt that you can use to get your creativity mojo going! 

Choose from the photos colours or imagery or just the general feeling/emotion that it brings to your heart! 

You can create with whatever medium speaks to you and inspires you! There are so many ways to nurture one’s creative soul! 

What’s your favorute way to nurture creativity?

Here are just a few of mine:

• Colouring 
• Mixed media / Painting
• Papercrafting
• Fun Nail designs
• Poetry/Short Story/Blog writing

Snap a photo of your creative work and share it in my Totallyawake4-life community group by the following Thursday night at midnight to get your name entered into the draw! 

Bonus entry if you share the creative prompt and your entry on your own social media in a public setting and tag my Totallyawake4-life & Nailin' it Together group and use the hashtag #TA4L002 in this case but I will change the number with each new prompt. 

I will be doing a monthly prize draw inside the group here from all the creative entry’s shared and that show up tagged outside the group (remember the settings needs to be public otherwise I cannot search the hashtag to see them)  … let’s help spread the joy and benefits of creativity together 💗

Need some inspiration to get you going? Here are a few butterfly mandalas from Pinterest to print off and colour of paint! 

Come join us for more Self care, motivation and clean living fun and tips as well! 

Happy Stampin’ 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Weekend Creativity Challenge

 Happy FRIYAY and a long weekend to boot!

I had done a poll up a while ago to try to come up with ideas to help improve engagement in the group for members by posting more meaningful and inspiring content to help with promoting health and wellness and one of the things was ways to help with supporting peoples creativity! 

Nurturing one’s creativity is SO key to helping to ensure a healthy mindset … human beings are all born with an instinct to express themselves through creativity but sometimes external factors impede peoples abilty to engage in creative expression and so their full healthy mindset is also impeded! We need to get back to ensuring that everyone has at least ONE creative outlet for expressing themselves. 

So introducing the new Weekend Creativity Challenge - each week I will post a photo prompt, like below, that you can use to get your creativity mojo going! 

Choose from the photos colours or imagery or just the general feeling that it brings to your heart! 

You can create with whatever medium speaks to you and inspires you! There are so many ways to nurture one’s creative soul! 

What’s your favorute way to nurture creativity?

Here are just a few of mine:

Colouring 

Mixed media / Painting

Papercrafting

Fun Nail designs

Poetry/Short Story/Blog writing

Snap a photo of your creative work and share it in our Facebook Community by the following Thursday night at midnight to get your name entered into the draw! 

Here is my creation using inspiration from the colours in the photo.

Bonus entry if you share the creative prompt image  and your own entry on your own social media in a public setting and tag my Totallyawake4-life & Nailin' it Together group and use the hashtag #TA4L001 in this case but I will change the number with each new prompt and have it in the prompt to help remember it. 

I will be doing a monthly prize draw inside the group here from all the creative entry’s shared and that show up tagged outside the group (remember the settings needs to be public otherwise I cannot search the hashtag to see them)  … let’s help spread the joy and benefits of creativity together 💗

Happy creating! 

Margaret

Love, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

*post contains affiliate links 

It’s National Vitamin C Day!

In the spirit of National Vitamin C Day here’s a tasty little dessert option to try! 

Keto Lemon Bars 

Recipe credit

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp. Vanilla 
1 cup powdered erythritol
3 medium lemons
3 large eggs

Instructions
Mix butter, 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup erythritol, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Press evenly into an 8x8" parchment paper-lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then, let cool for 10 minutes.

Into a bowl, zest one of the lemons, then juice all 3 lemons, add the eggs, 3/4 cup erythritol, 3/4 cup almond flour & pinch of salt. Combine to make filling.

Pour the filling onto the crust & bake for 25 minutes.

Serve with lemon slices and a sprinkle of powdered erythritol.

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life  

dōTERRA Mālama Blend

Celebrate Mother’s Day this year with our new dōTERRA Mālama Blend. 🤍

Like the breathtaking beauty and vibrant culture of the Hawaiian Islands, Mālama Nurturing blend is a sparkling combination of bright citrus, enchanting floral, and centering wood aromas. 🌿

Mālama means to care for, tend, preserve, and protect. Much like mother figures tend to us, we are committed to preserving Hawaii’s native trees. dōTERRA has partnered with the Kealakekua Mountain Reserve, home to the largest reforestation effort in Hawaii’s history and 238,000 native trees have been planted to date. 🤎

Join us in celebrating mother figures everywhere this month with the Mālama Nurturing Blend.

✨Shop for this new blend at the link below!

www.mydoterra.com/totallyawake4life 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Breakfast Pizza

 Happy FriYAY! 

Looking for a fun brunch item for the weekend? This breakfast/dessert pizza doesn’t disappoint! 

KETO FRUIT PIZZA 

CRUST::
•1 1/2 c Almond Flour
•2 TBS Sweetener
•1 stick Melted Butter
• Dash of Vanilla Extract

FROSTING::
•Full block of softened Cream Cheese
•2 TBS Heavy Whipping Cream
•2 TBS Almond Milk
•1/4 c Sweetener of choice
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract

• Epicure Summer Berry seasoning (optional)

TOPPINGS: 
•Blueberries
•Strawberries (quartered)
•Raspberries 
•Blackberries
DIRECTIONS:
• Preheat Oven to 350F
• Combine all CRUST ingredients well
• Bake for 6-7 minutes
• Let cool, begin mixing all FROSTING ingredients
• Spread frosting on top of cooked crust
• Top with berries of your choice
ENJOY!!!

Bon Appetite  

Margaret
Live, Laugh, Love 
Be Totallyawake4-life 

Living with Chronic Illness

This is so very very true and sometimes we can pay dearly for that one day of “enduring for sake and benefit of some socialization” with days afterward of increased pain and decreased coping cause we used up all the resilience and energy we had in one go!

Sometimes I think of chronic illness as waking up with, let’s say 5, energy chips and I have to be reflective of which activities I will do to make it through the day without running out of chips  - and if something I am being asked to do is going to take 20 energy chips that means I am going to have to accept that for the next 3 days after I am likely gonna be useless for doing anything. And sometimes that’s ok one is willing to go into debt so to speak cause I really want to participate and other times something is offered to me that I really WANT to do but I have to decline because I already used up all my energy chips on something else and I am now in debt and I KNOW from past experience if I say yes and borrow any more energy chips from my tomorrows that my autoimmune system will start demanding significant interest on said debt in way of new symptoms to knock me back a peg! 

It is a delicate balance and sometimes someone with chronic illnesses can get into that spiral of borrowing more and more chips from tomorrow because they hate having to miss out on things and hate that their disease controls so much of their life that they end up hitting rock bottom again with a nasty flare that sets them back that peg or two  before remembering that unlike others they cannot gamble with their chips and hope that they will somehow win more of them and it will balance out in the end.

Just a little PSA that when someone says yes to one persons invite and the next day says no to another persons invite it’s often nothing to do with the INVITE and often much more to do with the timing and the same invitee just being out of energy chips to be able to say yes. Please don’t take it personally and KEEP inviting them out for the next times so that they can trust that it’s ok to say no to “this time” and do get into the spiral of borrowing energy chips from tomorrow out of FOMO in future.

We never know what someone else is going through which is why it’s important to act with empathy and kindness to all! 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Low Carb Raspberry Coconut bars

 

Recipe adapted from here: 

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut four 
• 1/3 cup sugar substitute
• 1 egg

Filling

• 1/2 cup sugar-free raspberry preserves (for test purposes I used Smucker's Sugar-Free Red Raspberry Preserves)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar substitute 
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8c8 square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an inch or more to hang over the edge for handles.
• Mix flour, butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl until mixture is crumbly. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and pulse ingredients until crumbly. Add egg and process a few times until egg is incorporated. 
• Press crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Meanwhile, add eggs to a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat with a whisk. Add sugar, almond extract, and coconut flakes to the bowl. Stir until incorporated.
• Remove crust from oven and spread raspberry filling evenly over crust. Top with the egg and coconut filling, spreading evenly over the raspberry layer. 
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Allow bars to cool completely then remove from pan and cut into 20 squares.

These freeze well - place parchment or wax  paper between layers in freezer safe container and remove desired serving and let defrost before serving. 

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Healthy Valentines Dessert

Low Carb Strawberry Fluff Cheesecake 

Recipe from Keto Mom 

Ingredients:
FILLING
2 - 8oz. packages of Cream Cheese
1 T SF Strawberry JELLO
1 1/2 cups HWC
1/3 cup diced strawberries
2 T Monk fruit 
Splash of Lemon Juice

CRUST
8 T Melted Butter
1 1/4 cup Almond Flour
2 T Monk Fruit 

Instructions:
For crust: Mix butter, flour and monk fruit together. Press into the bottom of a pie pan. Bake at 350 until crust is golden brown. 

For filling: Mix cream cheese ( room temp), strawberry Jell-O, swerve, HWC together until smooth. Add lemon juice and mix in. Lastly, fold in the diced strawberries. 
Once crust is completely cooled, add filling and refrigerate. Before serving make homemade whipped cream and top with sliced strawberries.

Enjoy!!

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life
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Ode to the Thyroid Gland

 Thyroid...

It's been a few years since you found out I'll be with you the rest of your life.

I'm very slippery, I don't always show up when you test.

People around you can't see or hear me, but your body does. I can attack you anywhere and any way you choose. For example tingling or hand pain.

Remember when you had a lot of energy and had a blast! Well, sometimes I participate in: your energy, and I left you exhausted. I took a little of your memory and part of your concentration.

I can make you sleep for many hours, or I can cause insomnia. Make you tremble and feel cold or hot but for everyone else the temperature is normal.

I can make your feet and hands swell, your face and eyelids swell... I can make you feel very anxious and give you panic attacks.

I'm very complicated...

Do you remember the sudden mood change ? Yes, thats me... I can make you cry for no reason ... and get pissed off for no reason yes that’s me again.

I can make your hair fall out and make it very thin , dry and fragile, I can cause severe acne, cause dry skin, I have no limits or borders.

I will make you gain weight no matter what or how much you eat. Your diet becomes impossible to lose weight yes I take credit for that too.

Doing activities like walking or doing other exercises is a massive effort and really strains your body and you will never get me out of your body, 

You now have to take medication for the rest of your life or I’ll kill you.

I can make your cholesterol high and give you blood pressure problems, that's me!

Heart failure? Me! Elevated liver enzymes? Me! Got dental problems? Me too!

You feel tired..., and your family and friends will be tired of hearing again and again how tired you are". Yep that’s me doing all this too!They don't know that I remove part of the energy your body and mind that’s needed daily to perform normal activities. They will not understand why, this disease attacks your body from the tip of the hair to the tip of your toes , and that every cell and organ of your body requires the appropriate amount of thyroid hormones 

With love ♥ ️...

Your Hypothyroidism

Credit Rachel Ducker 

Wanted to share because this has got to be one of the most accurate descriptions of life with under active thyroid challenges! Every single one of the things she covered I have struggled with over the past 20 plus years! Including the challenge of regular tests not indicating an issue because I was on the low end of “normal” so the Family Dr initially didn’t believe it was my thyroid that was the problem. 

It was my oncologist after my hysterectomy that had to send her a note saying it was clear the her that my normal didn’t align with what the thyroid testing benchmark of normal was and that she saw a body struggling to heal from surgery because the thyroid wasn’t doing it’s part and recommended starting thyroid medication to support my recovery. 

So now when I have loved ones and friends who exhibit symptoms like above I am a strong advocate to PUSH their family Dr to not use the standard test alone to really look and listen to what are going on in their body! 

Be Healthy!  

Margaret 

Live, Laugh. Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Baked Balsamic Chicken

Tik Tok for the win - adding this one to the menu this week! 

3 chicken breast - partially sliced across 

Mix together in bowl:

• 2 tsp olive oil 
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
• 1 tbsp swerve brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp oregano 
• 1/2 tsp basil 
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper to taste 
• 2 cloves garlic

Add chicken breast to marinate

Mixed following in baking dish 

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes 
• 1/2 Red onion sliced 
• 1 tbsp Oil and salt 

Mix together well

Layer chicken over top and drizzle with any remaining marinade 

Bake at 430F for 25 minutes 

Remove & Cover chicken

 with 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Return to over until cheese melted and bubbly.

Serve with a side salad 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Don’t get Rusty Waiting on the Gyms to reopen!

Who else is excited for the gyms to reopen?! 

Just over a week until the gyms can reopen I totally can’t wait to cannon ball into the pool I have missed it so much - in the meantime if you’re feeling the need to get moving at home here’s a few staples right from the comfort of your couch!! 

Keep moving! 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

Game Day appy’s

Sunday means GAME day over here - where the boys get to enjoy some football and afternoon appy’s! Recipe credit 

JALAPEÑO PUFFS

INGREDIENTS

4 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1 ½ c. Shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg, beaten 

1/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Jalapeno peppers finely chopped

6 Slices of bacon, cooked crispy, crumbled

1 tbsp Ranch seasoning

 

Instructions:

In a small mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth. 

Mix egg into almond flour until well combined. 

Add Shredded cheddar cheese, jalapenos and ranch seasoning to the cream cheese, mix well. 

Stir in almond flour egg mixture until fully incorporated.

Crumble the bacon pieces and place them on a plate.

Form a tablespoon of the jalapeno mixture into a ball, and roll it in the crumbled bacon.

Place on cookie sheet, refrigerate 30 mins. 

Preheat oven to 425.   Bake 10 minutes or until golden and puffed. 

Allow to cool a few minutes before eating.

These are SO tasty - next time I’m gonna double the recipe cause I let the boys wanting more! 

 

Bon Appetite

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

French Onion Meatloaf

Well my big sister shared a new recipe and so of course I had to have it too cause you know little sis needs to have everyone big sis has 🤣 

Recipe adapted from the lovely Carolyn over at All Day I Dream About Food

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 large sweet onion cut in half lengthwise and diced
• 3/4 teaspoon Freshly ground pepper 
• 2 lb ground beef
• 1 cup ground pork rinds
• 2 teaspoon Epicure French Onion seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon Ghost Pepper spice
• 1 large egg
• 4 ounces Gruyere cheese grated

Instructions

• In a large skillet over low heat, melt the butter. Once melted, add the diced onions and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. 
• Remove from heat and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350F. 
• In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, pork rinds (the Pampered Chef Chopper is amazing to create quick pork rind crumbs, Epicure French onion seasoning, pepper. Stir in the egg and half of the caramelized onions, then use your hands to thoroughly combine. 
• Transfer into a silicone baking or a loaf pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160F. 
• Top with the shredded cheese and the remaining onions and place back in the warm oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.
  The recipe turned out amazing! 
  
  Bon Appetite 
  Margaret Live, Laugh, LoveBe Totallyawake4-life