Keto-friendly Supplements by Mansports

I've recently started taking some supplements to help with burning fat and insuring that I am getting enough water each day. I have come across a brand, Mansports,  which is keto-friendly and has great products that I have started using throughout the day. Since I get a keto-audience on this blog, I thought it might be valuable to those readers. 

**I have no relationship with Mansports other than the purchases I have made with my own money.

Mansports products are made with zero or at max, a low sugar content.  All the products I have been using are zero sugar and have not negatively impacted me staying in ketosis in any way.  I have not tried all the products available but have three great products so far that have become part of my normal routine.

• Mansports Iso-Amino.  You add a scoop of this to a tall glass of ice water and it has a similar effect as adding Crystal Light to your water but the flavors are over the top good, just like candy.  So far I have tried grape bubble gum which legit tastes like grape gum and Rainbow sherbet which I think tastes most like Fruity Pebble Cereal which I still really enjoy.  Both help me drink a ton more water and stay hydrated which is also helping with my weight loss.  Other flavors that they have and that I am anxious to try are: Pineapple Express, Fruit Smash, Dorks (Nerds-candy flavor), Green Apple and so many other flavors.

• Mansports L-Carnitine.  L-Carnitine is a fat burning booster. I keep this in my refrigerator and take a shot each morning to help me burn more fat throughout the day.  L-Carnitine comes in Lemon Drop, Rainbow Sherbet, Blue Razz, and Mango.

• Mansports Iso-Protein.  Proteins are heavily used by the keto community because they can be used to replace flours in baked goods such as cakes and cookies.  Mansports has an array of awesome flavors which can be mixed as a shake or are great to use in keto-baking.  I recently tried using the Confetti Cake Protein to make pancakes and they are my favorite yet.  So good.  Other flavors of protein available are Sprinkled Donut, Loopy Fruit (Fruit Loops), Blueberry Muffin, Peanut Butter Bits, and the list goes on....

Since buying these supplements, I have noticed a couple of things:

• I am losing weight again.  Although I have been back on keto since January my loss has been a lot slower than the past.  Once I incorporated these products in, I have started seeing results faster.

• My sweet tooth is gone.  I am not craving sugary-flavored things because my body thinks it is getting this because of the candy and baked good flavors.  

You can buy Mansports products on their website and they frequently run specials like 20-30% off.  This is good because some items can be pricey.  Amazon also has a selection of Mansports products but you won't find the variety offered on their website.  

Hawaii in the Spring

We booked our next adventure to Oahu, Hawaii this spring.  Josh and I were trying to think of summer destinations for our family vacation and I joked, we could go to Hawaii.  This has been a joke in our house because every time I go looking at flights to Hawaii (any island) from the Midwest, it is always $1200+ per person just for the flights!  On a lark, I checked again and I saw that flights were down in price this spring.  I have many sites and tools that I use for travel hacking so I started to get excited, maybe... just maybe it was possible.

Success!  I found round trip tickets for $550 a person.  And just like that, we are headed to Hawaii.  I also managed to have saved up 2 nights on Hotels.com over the last year of free stay, so we are also getting a nice deal on our hotel in Waikiki for the week.

We are looking forward to hanging out at the beach and exploring the island but I would lying if I didn't mention that this trip is also feeding my family's kawaii and Japanese-culture addiction. My girls are already talking about eating bento boxes for lunch each day and perusing all the Sanrio and San-X goods they can find.

I'm looking forward to our trip and can't wait to share our adventure with you.

Final Girls: A Novel by Riley Sager Book Review

Each year, I set a goal for how many books I want to read using the Goodreads App on my phone.  I usually come up short of meeting my goal  but I find that it keeps me motivated to read throughout the year which is something I want to do, love to do, but can sometimes lose sight of with all the competition of TV shows, crafts, Internet browsing, and plenty of other unproductive activities.  Reading isn't unproductive to me, though. It feels like one of the most productive things that I can do.

I also love that I can listen to audio books on the Audible App and multi-task. My favorite thing to do is listen to a book while working on cross-stitch projects.  I'm pretty much obsessed with cross-stitch these days spending hours each evening listening to books and stitching away.  It is my happy place.

I came across the book Final Girls by Riley Sager on Audible while on-sale during the holidays and had been waiting to finish to other book, The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (not a favorite),  that I was reading before starting Final Girls.  To be honest, I usually have about 4-5 books going at once because my taste changes each day and the platform with which I want to read as well changes.  It isn't unusual for me to have a book going on my Kindle, an audio book, a paperback or hardback book on my nightstand, a professional book for work in some medium, and another book on the Kindle app on my phone.  I know it is strange to read two separate books between the Kindle App and the Kindle itself but that's apparently how I do things....

Final Girls is a mystery-thriller-horror; a genre that I have started reading more the last few years.  The novel is about a final girl named Quincy Carpenter who survived a massacre at a cabin where she and friends were staying and brutally attacked one night by an escapee from a mental institution.  Quincy is one of three final girls that have all survived similar horrific experiences and she hates the thought of being considered a final girl, constantly gawked at and treated like a rare gem.  She just wants a normal life and to forget the past, pushing the awful memories down deep.  When another final girl turns up dead, the story all three final girls intertwines, forcing Quincy to deal with the events that occurred the night of the massacre.  The story moves back and forth between present day and the past, the night that the massacre happened at the cabin.

I loved this book.  It was well written and so suspenseful I couldn't stop.  Situations and people aren't at all what they appear to be. While I had some speculation of the ending, my opinions changed over and over throughout the book leading toward the revealing explanation of what is really happening and happened in the past.  It is rare that I don't turn on the TV for a week but that is what happened this last week... I raced through this book, spending 2+ hours happily listening and stitching my evenings away.

I highly recommend if you are a reader who likes the suspense with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Fossil Sydney Satchel Crossbody Bag Strap Hack - Adding Strap Length

I am a Fossil bag girl.  I used to be interested in designer bags, although look has always mattered more than a brand-name, but function above look has begun to matter more as I have gotten older and have started to travel more.  Cross-body bags are great when traveling via back pack as they still manage to allow you to remain hands-free and do not compete with shoulder space against the backpack.  Last year when my family traveled to London & Paris via backpack, I did so with a Fossil Morgan Top Zip (no longer made but you can find them on Amazon and Ebay occasionally, link to the smaller Morgan here)as my small item and my Osprey Farpoint 40L as my backpack.  It was a great combination and I absolutely loved the bag, it was so comfortable and the perfect size for travel. Fossil bags also usually have a classic look that come in colors that tend to go with any outfit or season. I am partial to leather looks and love how they get better with age as the patina begins to develop. 

I had been eyeing the Fossil Sydney Satchel for some time.  I was initially interested because I had heard that it had a lot of room and was perfect for carrying small notebooks and planners.  I don't carry a small notebook for planner but having my Kindle Voyager with me at all times is a must and I tend to carry quite a bit in my bag as it is since I travel so much. I sometimes also carry my tablet with bluetooth keyboard and the bag could easily hold it as well.  The Sydney Satchel also is now one that sadly Fossil has stopped making.  Last week I found it on Amazon for a steal and grabbed one.  I had noticed in the pictures and descriptions that the strap seemed like it wasn't as long as the Morgan Top Zip but I had to try it out and see.  As soon as my package arrived, I tore it open and tried it on and it was... way to short. Like so short, I needed a couple of inches on each side to wear it where I prefer, low on waist.  Of course, it also had short straps to carry on my arm but I have no patience for that so it was either return it with disappointment or come up with some solution.  I tried putting the buckle of strap on the last hole, no luck.  I tried other purse straps I owned, none matched.  I looked online for straps I could order, no luck.  I then had the idea to add links to each end of the strap but had no luck finding anything online.  (The reason I am even making this post is to help others who may have encountered the same issue with this bag or any other bag that has a too-short strap or wants to turn a normal long strap bag into a cross-body).

This is when I started to get grouchy and complain-y to my husband who completely understands my neurotic nature when it comes towards bags.  He said he would see what he could come up with.  Low and behold, he came up with a great solution.  He stopped by Home Depot and picked up Everbilt Quick Links in 1/8 in (similar here).  I needed 6 total, 3 on each side.  He attached them and they look perfect, like the bag came that way.  To keep the locks on each link from opening and causing the strap to fail, he used Loctite to secure the threads.  The bag is now fully functional and I love it. 

The great thing about the bag is that it truly does hold a lot of stuff and it is all so accessible because of the side zips all the way down on each side.  The gusset on each side helps hold items in when the bag is open.  I may eventually return to my Fossil Morgan Top Zip because it truly is the best bag ever (I have in black and espresso colors) but I am going to enjoy the Sydney Satchel for now.  It is too bag that Fossil keeps discontinuing all their really great bags.  I keep up on what new bags they release and the new ones just don't seem as functional or comfortable these days.

KETO (Low Carb) Cheese French Souffle

Despite the temptation, I have managed to stay strict to Keto the entire month of January. Getting back on the wagon has been tougher this go around following the splurge of the holidays and traveling, it has felt like learning good behaviors all over again.  Last night I was grouchy because I couldn't eat all the things that I was craving and I was so tired of the foods I routinely eat.  I hadn't been to the grocery store as I was supposed to be in Minneapolis this last week but plane mechanical issues and a blizzard that crossed the Midwest kept me in Wichita.  Needless to say, I felt inspired to be creative with what I had on hand and my love of french food.  I had heard that a souffle could be made low-carb but had never attempted it on my own.  I'm actually really happy with the results and am definitely adding to my repertoire.  And of course contemplating why I haven't been making souffles for years?  Next time I'll have to give a chocolate souffle a try.

KETO (Low-Carb) Cheese French Souffle

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. real butter (I use Kerrygold)
2 Tbs. Almond Flour
1 Tsp. Nutmeg.
1 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
4 eggs, separated
3/4 C. Grated nice cheese of your choosing (Gruyere, Parmesan, Vermont cheddar, etc.)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet heat butter till melted.  Add 1 Tbs. Almond Flour and mix with butter.  Lower heat and add heavy whipping cream.  Mix together and then add the other tbs. of almond flour and nutmeg allowing to slightly thicken.  Remove from heat.  In a medium size bowl mix together egg yolks and cheese.  Add grated cheese.   In another mixing bowl using a hand mixer, mix the egg whites with electric mixer until egg whites form stiff peaks.  Add the skillet mixture once mostly cooled into the yolk mixture and mix together.  Next fold in the egg whites.  Be careful not to over mix causing the the egg white mixture to loose it's airiness.  Place the mixture in ramekins (3) or a medium size round souffle dish.  Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.  Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes or it will cause the souffle to fall.

Souffles will rise quite a bit above the top of the ramekin or dish.  This is expected.  Mine were quite a bit higher but then fell a bit after cooling on the counter.

Tyminski - Southern Gothic

A couple of months ago I discovered Tyminski (Dan) and his album Southern Gothic. His songs are about all the dark, damp, ghostly, freakish things I love from the south.  The whole album is fantastic.  I'd love to catch him in concert in the future.

I have had the title song from the album, Southern Gothic, on repeat for months.  If you haven't heard it, I suggest you check it out.  The music video is also perfect full of eerie images and scenery.  I sure do love me some spanish moss and darkness...

Beautylish Lucky Bag 2018 Japanese Fukubukuro

I've posted about Lucky Bags before and my fascination with the Japanese Fukubukuro tradition at the new year to indulge in massive grab bags.  Last year, I discovered that there actually are a few ways to get a Lucky Bag in the United States.  One of those options is by a company called Beautylish. Beautylish is a high end makeup store that sells some exclusive brands that you can't easily find other places such as Charlotte Tilbury, Wayne Goss, Jeffree Star, and Natasha Denona.

Each year, Beautylish does two Lucky Bags, a small bag for $75 and a large bag for $150.  The value of the items in the bag should at least be the amount you pay but if you are lucky, it will be worth well over the value, with some up to three times the price of the bag.  It is necessary to sign up on the Beautylish website in advance of the sale, which typically occurs at the end of December to beginning of January.  The sale opens up early to people who are signed up and because the bags sell out, you have to move fast.  This year, I signed up well in advance but not soon enough to get a large bag.  Large bags were sold out before my time slot of 1 PM.  I sat my alarm on my phone for 1 and as soon soon as I could get in to shop, I purchased one.  It would be nice to not have to sit and wait to shop online but I suppose this recreates the mad dash for Lucky Bags as it happens in Japan....

My bag arrived this last week so I thought I would share what I received. 

The first thing to note is that it didn't actually come in a bag.  It was a cardboard box with cute wrapping paper celebrating the tradition of Fukubukuro. It had a tag that explained the tradition.

It came with a Jouer Powder Highlight Trio in the colors Citrine, Rose Quartz, and Topaz.  I have tried Jouer Cosmetics in the past and am a fan.  This set is priced at $39.

Next was a face mask from Sulwhasoo and #17 crease brush from Wayne Goss.  I've never heard of the Sulwhasoo brand before. The mask is priced at $12.  I've heard good things about Wayne Goss brushes but have yet to try them so am happy about this one.  The brush is priced at $28.

Next was an Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray.  This was a small bottle, travel sized and priced at $22.

The next several items I am very excited about.  A matte contour liquid lipstick by Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Lips.  The color is a great nude color for me called Charlotte Darling. The lipstick is priced at $34.

The Perfect Setting Powder in Translucent Light by Cover|FX priced at $35.

And last, a Natasha Denona eyeshadow palette 5  in #09 with colors Industrial, Indian Gold, Glam Green, Aluminum, and Antique Olive.  These are definitely shimmer colors so saved for a special occasion but I have been on the verge of buy a Natasha Denona palette for awhile so now I can give it a try. The pallet is priced at $48.

Overall I am pretty pleased with my purchase.  I didn't receive anything that I wouldn't try or was already interested in.  The value totaled up to be valued at $218 so about 3X the price I paid. Not bad, not bad at all.