Coping With Type 1 Diabetes

As most of you know I am type I diabetic.  Much different than type two, which is the one you almost always hear about in the news.  I can not cure myself.  I will have this for the rest of my life.    For those of you who are new here I was diagnosed at seven years old and I am now 27.  You can read about my diagnosis story here.  I was very blessed to be able to have 2 healthy boys and I continue on a daily basis to try and maintain the best control possible, because it is so important for me to be healthy for my family. I want to live a long healthy life and I do not want diabetes to hold me back or hinder any of my goals or aspirations ever.  I am very strict with what I eat and I exercise daily, not because I am vain (well I am a little vain haha) but because it is so important for my blood sugar control.

I receive such a wonderful outpouring of e-mails on a daily basis from other type 1 diabetics wanting to know what I do, where I wear I pump and wanting words of encouragement because they may be struggling with this disease, which can sometimes leave you feeling like you are all alone.  Being a mom of two crazy little boys sometimes makes it impossible to respond to everyone and I am SO sorry if I have not gotten back to you but it does not mean I did not read your e-mail and was not thinking about you. 

So today I wanted to reach out to everyone, type 1 diabetic or not and let you ask me whatever questions you may have, right here in the comment section.  I will respond to every question in a follow up post. 

Delighted Momma Turns Two!

 Source

Today marks the second birthday of Delighted Momma.  Two whole years.  I've actually shocked myself ha!

When I first started blogging I made a commitment that I would always stay true to me and my writing style no matter who or how many people started reading my blog.  I have been tempted at times to use words like "lovely" and "ambrosial" and it just felt weird.  So I have stuck with who I am, which is a gal (felt strange to type girl) who loves to talk about wine and overuses the word awesome.  I have learned over this past year that you can not take yourself too seriously, especially when it comes to blogging.  When you start taking yourself too seriously you ultimately stop having fun.  If you are not having fun why continue doing something right?  I have realized that the world is not going to end if I can not get up a certain amount of posts and being a little more relaxed with my blog has made it such a joy to continue.

I have loved sharing my sometimes crazy journey of motherhood, my adventures in the kitchen, little life snippets and more throughout the life of my blog.  I can not thank you all enough for coming back to read, leaving sweet comments, kind e-mails and encouraging me to keep on choo-chooing.  

The Two Minute Paleo Blueberry Muffin

I am usually am not a huge breakfast person.  My morning breakfast routine almost always consists of a a cup of coffee and a green smoothie, but the other morning I woke up craving a blueberry muffin like nobodies business.  Morning time is crazy time around my house and there was no way I had time (or felt like) making a big ole batch of muffins.  I wanted just one.  I did a little experimenting and used my mug cake recipe as a base and WOW!  Is it weird to say I blew myself away with this recipe?...Ya probably.

What you need:

• 3 tbs of almond meal
• 1 tbs of honey
• 2 tbs of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 3 tbs of bluberries
• a dash of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Directions:
Mix everything up together in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Enjoy!

*For those of you who are going to say you hate the microwave (there is a whole clan of microwave haters) you can try baking this for 15-20 minutes.

*If you are allergic to almond meal you can use coconut flour.  Keep in mind the consistently will be slightly different.

This totally hits the spot.  It was good...so so good.

Please come back and let me know how you like this if you make it.

The carb count for this is approx 22 grams.

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Woa that's some crazy hair!  My husband and I did a mud run last weekend called a "Love Mud Run."  It was intense but such a blast!  At the end you got sud-ified with a bunch of soap and then sprayed down by firefighters.  Not a bad way to end the event :)

Roasted Coconut Chips from Traders Joe's.  I ate the whole bag in a day. 

What a typical  morning looks like... Ronin in my bed, baby toys everywhere, and all of Max's stuffed animals next to me and I do not mind one bit.  I am still trying to get Ronin to sleep through the night, but he still refuses even with all my effort.  I have dreams about what it is like to actually get a full 6 (that's all I'm asking for) hours of uninterrupted sleep.  One day. 

An adorable coffee cup cozy made by my friend.  I love it.

Max all set up in the Kelty Pack on our hike the other day.  This thing is awesome especially since most toddlers want to get carried anyway after hiking for about 20 minutes. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

The winner of the Sinless Cocktail Mixer is: Natalie W.  Please e-mail me Natalie at lindsay.kujawa@yahoo.com with where you would like your mixer shipped to.

Sinless Margarita + Win a Free Bottle of any Sinless Mixer

Who likes margaritas?  I do!  But I almost never order one because of all the sugar, artificial ingredients and calories that come along with it.  I am also not a big fan of low calorie mixers that use artificial sweeteners..blehh.  If I do make or order a cocktail, it is usually pretty boring to avoid all the crazy amounts of sugar.  

So when Sinless Cocktails recently sent me a few mixers to try I was floored with how good they were!  Nothing like I have ever tried before.  All of their mixers are made with completely natural ingredients and are sweetened with stevia.  You do not feel like you are drinking a fraud cocktail at all.  Plus they contain only 5 calories per serving.  Can I get a woop woop!  My husband, who is really critical when it comes to "low calorie" mixers and alcohol in general, loved it too!  He actually took a sip, paused, raised his eyebrows and said, "WOW I'm impressed."  I even caught him reading the ingredient label to see exactly what was in it, since it was so delicious.

So what makes Sinless mixers different from other low calorie cocktail mixers?  My favorite thing is that they do not add any artificial preservatives to keep their products shelf stable.  Instead, they opted to go with completely all natural ingredients, which is why their products must be chilled at all times.  I absolutely love that.

This is what we made: A Sinless Margarita

• 3 parts Sinless Margarita Mix
• 1 Part Tequila
• Pour Over Plenty of Ice 

*69 calories

And now the fun part for YOU...

Sinless Cocktails is giving away a bottle of whatever mixer you would like to one Delighted Momma reader. 

All you have to do is visit the  Sinless Cocktails mixer page and leave a comment below letting me know which mixer you would like to try.  For an extra entry (leave an extra comment) you can pin this recipe to one of your Pinterest boards.

I will pick a winner at random and announce it in my Friday's post, so make sure to check back on Friday to see if you won.

Flourless Strawberry Chocolate Cake

I mentioned this cake in my Friday's post and on Instagram.  Many of you wanted to hear the recipe so here ya go!  Let me start this post by saying I am pre-warning you.  If you have a self control problem when eating cake maybe you should just make a single serving chocolate mug cake.  This cake is moist and chocolaty and oh so good it's almost impossible to have just one slice.  I may or may not have stayed up after everyone had gone to bed on Valentine's Day and sliced myself a (few) pieces.  I sound so awesome I know.  This recipe was adapted from Paleo Effect.  I made a few tiny changes to make the consistency just a little bit more rich and it turned out perfect. This will definitely be a recipe regular come birthday or celebration time.  We had our cake with a side of this ice cream and it was so so good.

Oh and the really awesome part about this recipe is it is perfect if you are in a time crunch.  All you need to make this is a blender.  No fancy mixing tools needed other than that.

Flourless chocolate cake recipe:

• 1/2 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of unsalted ground cashews
• 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 and 1/2 tbs of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

* I topped the cake with sliced strawberries and I really recommend adding them on top.  The combination of everything is so delicious.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a smooth somewhat watery consistency.  You might wonder at this point how this will turn into cake but trust me it will. 
3. Grease an 8 inch cake baking dish with coconut oil and sprinkle a little cocoa powder on the bottom.  Pour your batter in.  
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

If you want to top it with chocolate (paleo) icing here is the recipe:

• 3/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1 tbs of vanilla
• 6 tbs of coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt

Directions:
Mix everything together in a blender.  Once the cake cools apply.

Enjoy! 

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

A super soft 100% cotton tank c/o Wildlife Works.  Have you heard of this company before?  All of their products are fair trade organic and eco friendly, which I love! This company is awesome.  Every t-shirt that is sold goes directly to sustaining over 400 local Kenyan jobs with full heath benefits.  The company also helps preserve local forests and threatened wildlife.  You can check out their new spring line here. 

Signs of spring all along my street.

A much needed kid free ladies afternoon...and I promise all those wine glasses are not mine.

Our Valentine's Day treat that Max and I made.  A chocolate strawberry cake.  It was completely Paleo (flour and dairy free) and seriously delicious.

Stenciled baby leggins for Ronin, which makes for the perfect rainy day craft.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

That One Time I Sent a Candy Gram to Myself on Valentine's Day

Let me just start by saying I was not considered "cool" by any means in elementary school.  In fact elementary school was the worst.  I was tormented every day by this boy named Scott and I will never forget the day I got kicked out of the cool group at one point in the fifth grade.  Wait, how it that even possible you might be wondering?  Oh it's possible trust me.  I kid you not.  I wanted so bad to hang out with the popular girls and I had this girl, whose name I will remember forever come up to me one morning and say, "I'm so sorry, but we just don't want you to hang out with us anymore."  I remember walking away feeling like such a loser.  I was crushed and cried for days.  Looking back I wish I could tell my 10 year old self that one day you will laugh and those silly girls will mean nothing.  Same thing went with the boys,  I was just not one of those girls that got candy grams on Valentine's Day.  Do you remember those secret candy gram things that they used to have?  Or am I just getting old and no one knows what I am talking about?  Anyway, they were little grams that were from your friends or your "crush" that were hand delivered to you Valentine's Day morning.  It was a big deal to get one.  I remember waiting anxiously while every popular girl got one, hoping mine was the last to be handed out and every Valentine's Day I never got one.   So one year I sent one to myself.  YEP...I did :)  I addressed it from my "Secret Admirer." I felt pretty awesome that day.  Long story short, elementary school was not my favorite and my parents and I actually made the decision for me to go to a whole different middle school so I could start fresh.  Best decision ever.  Thank you parents.

Well you know what's so awesome about being a mom and wife?  There will never be a Valentine's Day where you will not get a card or Candy Gram again (hopefully).  And this year was the first year that I got a Valetine's Day card from Max (with the help of Nana) and it seriously is my favorite card to date.  I will save it forever.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, and if you are feeling a little blue....send yourself something!  I promise you will feel better :)

Paleo Irish Mint Patties

This is by far the fanciest dessert I have ever made.  In fact whenever I see a complicated looking dessert there is a high probability that I will never ever make it.  Take a rainbow cake for example.  That will never happen.  So when I spotted this recipe in Clean Eating magazine I simply glazed over it since I figured it looked way to complex to recreate myself.  Then I kept thinking about it.  So I went back and looked again.  Such a simple recipe!  I made a few little changes and this is so easy even a caveman can do it :)  The whole process to make these took me only about 20 minutes.  Now that is what I am talking about.

What you will need:

• 1 10 oz bag of gluten and dairy free chocolate chips.
• 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. 
• 6-8 fresh mint leaves + additional ones for topping as a garnish
• 2 tbs of maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract
• 3 tbs of hot water

Directions:

1. Line line a 12 count muffin tin with paper or silicone muffin liners. 
2. Melt your chocolate in the microwave or over stove for about 2 minutes or until it is fully melted.  Pour just enough chocolate into each liner so it just covers the bottom.  Place in the freezer for 20 minutes or until hardened. 
3. In a food processor, add the coconut, mint leaves, maple syrup, peppermint extract and hot water.  Process until all everything is well combined.
4. Remove chocolate from freezer and take out of liners.  Add a spoonful of the coconut mixture to a patty and place a second patty on top.  Top with a mint leave for garnish.
5. Enjoy! 

These will melt if left out so make sure you keep them in the fridge until ready to eat.

These are so tasty and the perfect little treat!  I will be making these again for St. Patty's day coming up, which we will be celebrating around here for sure.  Hello I have a Guisness lovin Irish man living with me. 

Each patty has only 83 calories and 7 grams of carb.

Happy Friday + My Neighbors Probably Think I'm Nuts

I snapped this picture of Ronin with my iPhone yesterday when I went to check on him during his "nap." Ya there was no nap.  It has definitely been one of those weeks where I am so thankful for wine.  Ahh wine, I love it.  I once had a reader comment that she knew I was pregnant because I stopped talking about wine so much in my post's. Ha!

A few things...Ronin stopped napping during the day.  What is up with that? How I am supposed to get anything done with a crazy non napping crawling all over the place, trying to pull himself up on everything baby?  I seriously can not let that little wiggle worm out of my sight for one second or it's a face plant.

Oh and why do my neighbors think I'm nuts?  Well because I did a lot of yelling yesterday.  I had always told myself I would not be a yeller but that was before I had a two and a half year old, who tests my patience almost daily.

Here's the story...

I brought Ronin's infant car seat into our room while I was getting ready for the day.  I strapped him in, tucked him all up in his favorite soft blankie and placed his favorite toys all around him.  Just before I was about to leave I remembered I had to change over the laundry (or you get stuck with yucky mildewy smelling towels).  I was literally gone for 30 seconds tops.  What could possibly happen? He was safe in his car seat after all.  Well as I was walking back to my room it was quiet.  Quiet in my house means trouble.  I entered my room and saw the red disaster.  Max had proceeded to open a bottle of bright red (oh why did it have to be red) nail polish and got it everywhere!  It was ALL over his hands, the carpet...and then I looked down at Ronin and it was as if Max was trying to get rid of the evidence.  There in Ronin's cute little chubby hands was the empty bottle of fire truck red nail polish which was also all over him and his car seat. AHHHH!  First panic and checking to make sure it was not in their mouth's and then yelling from me.  Yep Max got a serious dose of yelling...that lasted for a good while.  I explained how MAD I was and told him how he was NOT supposed to go in our (baby proofed) drawers.  When the yelling fiasco was over and I called the pediatrician to find out what to do.  Turns out all you have to do is soak them in tub and use basic soap until it kind of rubs off.

After I came to the sad realization that all of Ronin's toys and favorite blankie needed to be tossed I assessed the car seat.  Oh man the car seat got the worst of it and lets just say that his little seat has a whole new custom look.  Oh Max, you crazy little man thanks for keeping me on my toes.  Never a dull moment around here that's for sure.

Have a wonderful weekend!  My husband and I are going to an amazing charity event this weekend in honor of my 8 year old nephew Baden who is such a fighter and sweet little boy.  You can read all about him here.

How to Make an Instant Natural Energy Drink

Caffeinated tea is one of my favorite ways to get some energy, but 9 times out of 10 the whole process of brewing it, waiting for it to be ready (to be strong enough) and then adding ice to make it cold and sweetener to make it sweet just sounds like too much work, so I usually don't do it.

I recently discovered matcha green tea powder and it is awesome! There is no brewing, there is no waiting and if you do it just like I show below, it is a completely natural instant way to get some energy.  I have been drinking this throughout the day or right before I go for a run and I can tell a major difference as compared to when I drink coffee.  I don't feel jittery and cracked out of my mind. You coffee drinkers know what I am talking about.  I feel alert, focused and have a ton of energy to do whatever I need to do.

The benefits of matcha green tea powder:

• Boosts metabolism and burns calories.
• Does not raise insulin levels.  Being a type 1 diabetic I love this since coffee sometimes spikes my blood sugar for no reason at all. 
• Fights against viruses and bacteria.
• Enhances mood.
• Has more antioxidants than blueberries or pomegranates.
• Provides potent cancer fighting properties.
• Helps to safely cleanse and detoxify the body.
• I have personally noticed that it helps curb those annoying afternoon snack cravings. 
• Does not raise blood pressure or heart rate.  

What you need:

• An empty reusable water bottle.  *I used a glass bottle so you can actually see the green tea, but I usually put mine in a BPA free water bottle that I bring with me everywhere. 
• Matcha green tea powder.  You can find this at most health food stores, specialty Asian markets and online here.
• Liquid stevia.  Optional but I think it makes it taste amazing. 

Directions:

1. Fill your water bottle up to almost the very top.  
2. Add 1/4 tsp of matcha powder for every 8-20 ounces of water.  Add a few drops of liquid stevia.
3. Put the lid on and shake shake shake until everything has dissolved.  That's it! 
4.  Enjoy :) 

So easy right?  All you do is add and shake!  This is my new favorite thing to drink for energy.  It tastes light, refreshing and has the perfect amount of sweetness without any unnecessary calories.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Sometimes you gotta be put in check. And sometimes the truth can be a little hard to swallow.  The other night my husband and I were sitting on the couch after we had put both kids to bed and I immediately took out my phone and starting browsing around on a new social media app. It was this app where you upload live 6 second videos.  My sound was up on my phone and my husband asked me what I was doing since he could hear me "listening" to the lives of others.  I explained.  He said in the most genuine voice, "Babe I think you are an amazing mother and such a wonderful wife but I would love it if you deleted the app since all it is, is another unproductive distraction and it's taking time away from you and me right now." 

I got super defensive.  This is coming from a man who is anti-personal social media.  He has never had a Facebook and refuses to get an Instagram.  So I chalked it up to him just not getting it.  But as I sat there I realized he was right. It is completely unproductive.  I deleted it and we got back to snuggling and talking like married people should. 

Now before you start thinking I am a hypocrite, I think social media is amazing when it is used in the right way (I'm a blogger for cryin out loud) but I do think there is a line that can easily be crossed without knowing.

Being a present mom and wife has always been my priority.  So I am making it a priority to not let distractions interfere with the most important people who are right in front of me "live."  And maybe it's okay for only me to know what Max was wishing for out loud as he blew out the dandelion. 

How do you feel about the evolution of social media?  Do you feel like it's a blessing?  Getting too personal?  Or all about balance?

DIY Mint Polymer Clay Statement Necklace

New trends are always an interesting thing.  Take those new moon walker high top tennis shoes with Velcro that are popping up everywhere.  Hmmm.  I tried on a pair at Target just for kicks and I have come to the conclusion that I am just not cool enough for high top moon shoes.  If you have a pair of moon shoes, go you.  BUT I am loving all the mint that has been popping up for spring, that is a trend I am on board with for sure.  I wanted to make a new fun statement necklace that had a pop of color for spring so this is what I came up with.

What you will need:

• Mint polymer clay.  I actually made this color by combing equal parts light blue and emerald green. 
• Toothpick or bead maker tool if you want longer tube beads. 
• Razor
• Waxed leather or cotton cord

Here is what you do...

Condition your clay before starting.  Roll various sized peices into balls and then place them on a flat surface and roll them into tubes.  Pierce each tube with the toothpick.  If you want to make longer sized tube beads, use a long bead making tool or a wire hanger.

Roll out as many tubes as you want to put on your necklace, making each a little different in size. Place your tube beads on a designated polymer clay baking sheet and bake for ONLY 10 minutes.

Carefully remove each tube bead off of the baking sheet and slice off each end with the razor blade and discard.  Then use the razor and begin slicing up each tube to make different sized beads, or keep the same size and just remove the ends to make them flat.  Make sure you work quickly.  Place the beads back into the oven and bake for the remainder of the time according to your clay directions.

Place your beads onto the waxed cotton cord.  For the middle bead I used this technique.  Attach whatever closure you like and you are done!