Striving for a simple way to use everyday cosmetic staples to achieve your best naughty or nice look?

Check out my guide to achieving the siren vs. ingenue contrast:
http://sheknows.com/about/look/8346.htm

I find myself mildly obsessed with the new Raspberry Mocha at Starbucks. What started as a gentle glance became an intense stare, and finally, complete submersion, with no regard to will power.

Following some sage friend advice, I have been avoiding researching exactly what this delectable treat was doing to me (and my thus-far slight figure). Apparently, it was the wise idea. This syrup of the gods features raspberries, chocolate and a mix of Latin American coffees, all blended up, smothered in whipped cream and drizzled with raspberry syrup.

Yes, sinful, indeed. Sinful to the tune of 390 calories and 15 grams of fat for a grande. Thank god I had the fortitude to thus far be drinking the lightened-up version, which clocks at 160 calories and is low-fat. Still, unless as a rare treat, these add up. So, I was excited to see today’s Hungry-Girl newsletter, where they provide their own version of my new obsession….at a nutritional value that may leave still me able to zip up my jeans…

Ingredients:
4 oz. Almond Breeze, Unsweetened Chocolate
2 oz. Torani Sugar Free Raspberry Syrup
1 1/2 tsp. instant coffee
1 tsp. Fat Free French Vanilla Coffee-mate powder
1 tsp. unsweetened coc oa
3 packets Splenda
1 1/2 cups crushed ice OR 8-10 ice cubes
2 tbsp. Fat Free Reddi-wip (a one-serving squirt)
Directions:
Place coffee, cocoa, Splenda and Coffee-mate in a glass. Add 1 oz. hot water to glass, and stir to dissolve ingredients. Next add Almond Breeze and Torani syrup and stir briefly. Now place contents of glass in a blender. Add ice and blend on high speed until well blended. Pour into a tall glass, and finish off with whipped cream. Enjoy!
Serving Size: entire recipe (approx. 16 ounces)
Calories: 63
Fat: 2g

Is this a swapperific swap? Try the comparison, tell me what you think!

Feeling some pent-up frustration today?

http://www.simonpanrucker.com/beans.html

Don’t be a hater. You’ll feel better too.

Me, Simpsonized….

Reinvent yourself at simpsonizeme.com 

I spend a lot of time collecting photos and videos of events important to me (especially since getting my favorite new gadget). I’ve had a hard time finding good ways to share the results though, and that takes a lot of the fun out of the process.

Until now. I have recently become a member of One True Media, an awesome new sharing site that lets you create and share stylish “home movies” with friends—sending your video montages direct from your computer to their living rooms for viewing on their TVs! The site helps you create and edit photo/video montages (complete with music and all sorts of optional special effects). Then and, in addition being able to e-mail them or turn them into DVDs, you can invite friends and family to check out your results with a TiVo Series 2 or Series 3 DVR to subscribe to his “Home Movies” Channel where the montages will appear in their “now playing” list! For the less technologically inclined, post your video creations on your blog or favorite social networking or video sharing site, including places like MySpace and YouTube.

Anyone can join One True Media for free, and have a basic membership that includes storage of 200 photos and 15 minutes of video. But, for a very affordable subscription fee (or if you win the contest below!), you can get a premium membership that allows unlimited storage and song montages, 5 monthly Tivo shares, download to your iPod or PC/Mac, and a free pro-quality DVD of one of the creations you make.

Best part? One True Media does all the work, and you get all the credit for being so creative and skillful! I’ve just played around with a few photo montages to try it out, check out the puppy montage below!

Puppy Love!

Even more exciting? We’re giving away TWENTY premium memberships to One True Media! Comment below, tell me why one should go to you. (And give me a suggestion for the next montage I should create!) Deadline for entries is Friday at 6 p.m.

Swallow This: 75% of the world’s population suffers from chronic dehydration.

I’m ingesting my 8 glasses a day whenever possible, but sometimes it is easy to lose track, forget, or just be lazy.

(Yes, one can be too lazy to drink water.)

Supposedly, the right fitness water is an important component in overall wellness, and for the last week, I’ve been attached to H2Ultra™, a water that has been clinically proven to hydrate your body faster and more efficiently than other waters. They use a complex filtering process and add essential minerals, which make it taste better, and hydrate you faster.

Plus, it comes in a really big bottle, which makes it easier to commit to drinking more.

What’s for dinner? We ask ourselves this on a daily basis, and for many with special food restrictions, this age-old question is often difficult to answer. It is especially challenging for the estimated 3 million Americans living with a form of gluten intolerance called celiac disease.

Thankfully, Carol Fenster — an authority on gluten-free cooking — is at it again with her latest cookbook, GLUTEN-FREE Quick & Easy: From Prep to Plate Without the Fuss — 200+ Recipes for People with Food Sensitivities. Gluten-intolerant for nearly 20 years, Carol offers hundreds of easy-to-prepare recipes and a collection of handy shortcuts, tips, and techniques for gluten-free cooking “the quick and easy way.”

“When I discovered my sensitivity to wheat in 1988, I didn’t know anyone who avoided wheat, a seemingly healthy grain,” says Carol. “Back then there was not much information on the topic, and I had very few options. As someone who lived to eat, I wanted everyone to enjoy food as much as I do — even if they’re gluten-free. So, I began writing cookbooks with a single mission in mind: I help people eat.”
The book includes recipes to get you through all your day’s meals and snacks, but our favorite, of course, is a spin on one of our guilty pleasures - chocolate cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Serves 10 (small slices)

This recipe demonstrates the quick and easy principle of maximizing your effort through the use of time-saving appliances such as a food processor. The nuts are ground in the food processor and the remaining ingredients are then added and mixed in the same food processor––saving tons of time and leaving only one bowl to wash. Serve this cake with a dollop of whipped cream and your favorite fresh berries, a shaving of dark chocolate, or a few (gluten-free) chocolate-covered espresso beans.

2 cups whole almonds (measure before grinding)

1 cup packed light brown sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup canola oil

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – Dutch process

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon table salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8-inch nonstick (gray, not black) springform pan. Line the bottom with wax paper or parchment paper and grease again; set aside.

2. Grind nuts in a food processor to a fine, mealy texture.

3. Add the brown sugar, eggs, oil, cocoa, vanilla extract, and almond extract and process 30 to 40 seconds. Scrape down the side of bowl and process 30 more seconds.

4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. (The cake rises as it bakes, then falls slightly as it cools.) Let cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Cut around the edge to loosen the cake from pan edges. Release the pan side; remove the paper liner.

CALORIES: 500 • FAT: 39g • PROTEIN: 13g • CARBOHYDRATES: 33g •

CHOLESTEROL: 94mg • SODIUM: 158mg • FIBER: 13g

Think you are eating smart when having fast food?

You may never enter those double arches again…

http://dwlz.com/restaurants.html

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with the latest innovation in nutritionists: the holistic health counselor.

Jena Wellness, the brain child of certified holistic health counselor and speaker Jena la Flamme, focuses on the message that sustainability is not something achieved by comfort food or dieting (nowhere on the premises will you see a calorie or carb count), but rather the notion that fulfillment resides within us already and is not based on attainment of external needs and wants.

As someone who is a big fan of structure of my intake (I read nutrition labels for sport), Jena and I were not necessarily meant to meet. We are, perhaps, the yin to each other’s yang. That said, maybe that makes us (quinoa) soul mates.

Jena and I discussed the relationship between the mind and body and food. My relationship is very much passion-based. I eat what I love, which, thankfully, happens to be good for me. I fear what I love that is bad for me. And often eat it anyway. Jena, though, suggests that we develop relationships with our food. We should feel it, appreciate it, know its background, and its purpose…all before letting it touch our lips.

I suppose this would have been a good time to tell her about my preoccupation with bananas, but I kept quiet.

We spoke about how implementing performance (energy enhancing) eating, as well as therapeutic eating (using food as medicine) can heal your body’s imbalances and create a surplus of everything from sexual energy to creativity.

I began to wonder if I was already doing that….when I need some therapeutic eating, I have dark chocolate. And I do believe it leads to sexual energy. As does alcohol. Perhaps my martini nights and dark chocolate cravings have been a higher message speaking to me all along…

This morning will be my second visit with Morgan (i.e. the crowned deity of laser hair removal). Think sexy hair-zapping thoughts for me!