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Watermelon Day: Healthy Glam Popsicles

Watermelon Day Healthy Snacks by Paper & Glam
Watermelon Day Healthy Snacks by Paper & Glam
Watermelon Day Healthy Snacks by Paper & Glam
Polka Dot Food Prep Prep Board: Kate Spade (only $25 and such a beautiful kitchen addition) | Food Grade Popsicle Sticks: Amazon | Hot Pink Knife: Pure Komachi

Happy Watermelon Day, girlfriends!

Today, as my seasonal sisters know, is Watermelon Day!

Here in sunny LA we have a very, humid and hot Thursday. It wasn't hard to convince me to create a cooling little watermelon snack. This one is the perfect thing if you want a quick, easy, and yet very festive healthy snack. I am bringing these beauties down to the pool with a book to end this Thursday with a little self care.

Here comes a quick tutorial:

Continue reading "Watermelon Day: Healthy Glam Popsicles" »


Glam Kitchen: Berry Muffins

Glam Kitchen - Gluten Free, Low Carb Berry Muffins by Paperandglam.com

If you’ve hung around Paper & Glam for any length of time, then you’ve run into my freebie seasonal living lists: 18 reasons to celebrate every month of the year and their matching planner kits. I love to mark time and celebrate each season of the year with festive traditions. The cyclical nature of our seasons is comforting and reassuring in a world that’s well, not. I remain convinced this is the most wholesome way to stop time for a few minutes, and refuse to allow another day, month, or season to rush by us.

Each monthly list includes a way to celebrate with a seasonal culinary creation, which often begs the question: How do we instill a deep sense of balance alongside celebration, in the way we feed ourselves— without a sense of deprivation or stifling regulation?

As usual, Shauna says it best:

The word that helps me these days is fasting, although I’ll plead permission to use it loosely. I’m using the word fasting these days as an opposite term to feasting — yin and yang, up and down, permission and discipline, necessary slides back and forth along the continuum of how we feed ourselves.

Maybe certain people can develop a food perspective that they maintain seamlessly twelve months a year. Good for them. Maybe that’s something I’ll be able to do when I’m all grown-up and filled with moderation and wisdom. Probably not, though. I think I just might be one of those people who will always need some guardrails along the way.

I love the feasting part of life. I don’t want Thanksgiving without stuffing or Christmas without cookies and champagne. I don’t want to give up our family traditions of [peach cobbler in August and apple pie in September]. But I’m learning that feasting can only exist healthfully — physically, spiritually, and emotionally — in a life that also includes fasting. — Savor, Feasting & Fasting

So how does this feasting and fasting work in my day to day life in LA, city of delights and beach bodies?

After I moved on July 10th, I transitioned to a low-carb lifestyle. What better way to begin a new lifestyle than a move, right? With some give and take, my routine is 5 days of low carb (very little, if any bread, pasta, etc.) and two days of treat yo’ self. Life lived well is a balance of treat yo’ self and summer is coming, amen?

In real-time, this usually works out to strict adherence to low-carb Monday through Wednesday, and widening of the guardrails for a fun dinner out Thursday night, Friday Happy Hour, a Saturday Sabbath, and family dinner on Sunday. It may seem like that’s a lot of lax without much room for progress, but I haven’t found that to be the case. The flexibility bred freedom; and progress came with it.

At the outset of low-carb, one thing was certain, the transition would not omit even one monthly celebration, the enjoyment of seasonal fruit fresh from the Farmer’s Market, Thursdays out on the town, or Sunday dinners with my mom.

In July, our list included “Make a berry treat,” and so my mission to make a low-carb berry treat was born! 

Meet the Glam Kitchen: Berry Muffins!

Gluten Free, Low Carb Berry Muffins by Paperandglam.com

Glam Kitchen - Berry Muffins

Yield: 18 muffins

Serving Size: 2 muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
2 tbsp Unsalted Butter or Coconut Oil, melted
5 tbsp Xyla <— I use this in everything from cooking to coffee!
1 teaspoon Vanilla Txtract
1/4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups Blanched Almond Flour <— This one is best!
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries, Blackberries, and/or Raspberries
(Frozen will do the job but there’s no comparison to the flavor of fresh!)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and line 8 muffin cups with parchment liners (or grease muffin cups very well).
  2. Add yogurt, butter, sweetener, vanilla and apple cider vinegar to a blender.
  3. Then add almond flour, baking soda, and salt on top. Blend on low for 10 to 15 seconds until combined.
  4. Add eggs and blend on low for another 15 to 20 seconds, then blend on hight for 20 to 30 seconds, until eggs are just incorporated into the batter.
  5. Add all but 2 tbsp of the frozen berries to blender and stir in by hand (do not blend!).
  6. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups and then place a few remaining berries in the top of each.
  7. Bake 18-20 minutes, until slightly golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Remove and let cool in pan for a few minutes. 

Glam Kitchen Notes: Hold half the berries back from the batter to press a few into the top of each muffin so they look berry bountiful. Pour the bulletproof coffee and you’ve got breakfast, or the ready-to-rock snack for glam kitchen on the go. Be sure to enjoy your muffins within 2-3 days, if they last that long!

*This recipe was adapted from Carolyn’s Grab-n-Go Pancake Muffins over at her blog, All Day I Dream About Food.

If you enjoyed this first installment of Glam Kitchen, I’m so glad!

I plan to make low-carb, gluten free versions of all of our monthly treats. While I missed creating a low-carb, gluten-free version of a peach cobbler (the full-sugar, full-fat version was delicious), I’ve already got the September’s apple recipe on lock!

Any low-carb seasonal recipes I need to add to the Glam Kitchen arsenal? I'd love to know in the comments!

Cheers, to feasting and fasting, and enjoying both without regret!
Lisamarie

Happiness is pleasure without regret. — Leo Tolstoy


Welcome to August!

Paper & Glam - August Planner Stickers

Ready to celebrate August? 

This month, with the launch of The Glam Planner, our monthly life lists will pop off the pages of your planner in full-color illustrations. 

Paper & Glam - August Life List 2015The Glam August Planner Sticker sheet holds fifteen original illustrations for each reason to celebrate in August. The top portion of the stickers sheet is designed for a perfect fit in your weekly Glam Planner boxes and the bottom portion is ready to take it's place in the monthly boxes. 

All illustrations coordinate with the Glam Planner color palate so whether you're planning a pool day this August or next June you'll create a uniform look.

Remember since these are printable sticker sheets you can print them as many times as you'd like, use them throughout the year, and even for years to come. 

How cute would that Breakfast at Tiffany's inspired sleep mask look on your sabbath days?! The flamingo pool float will look smashing on planned pool days all summer long. The planner and pen can remind you to plan for the upcoming week. The stack of books is an ideal marker for time set aside to turn some pages or get ready for book club. While this month the "glam cam" will help us celebrate World Photo Day, she's also ready to remind us to document life and snap some shots all year long.

Each monthly life list is inspired by seasonal events, holidays taking place that month, what fruit is in season, trends in home decor and fashion, plus celebrations around the world. 

While these are my fifteen August favorites, I encourage you to make your own list of monthly traditions and celebrations. The August Life List can be downloaded and edited in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

The heart behind a monthly life list is to celebrate the sacred in the ordinary. One of my favorite bible verses says, "teach me to number my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).  We can't let our days rush by without setting aside time to savor and reflect while celebrating simple, everyday moments.

With much August love,
Lisamarie