Who can resist banana bread? Here’s a lower fat alternative to most recipes.

The Ingredients:

• 60 grams of low fat spread
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of mashed banana
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup of skim milk
• 1 cup of wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 cup of white self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts (optional, but recommended)

The Process:

First pre-heat your oven at 180 C (350 F), and then mix the low fat spread with brown sugar.

Add the eggs, banana, vanilla essence and milk to the mixture. Sift together the flours and bicarbonate and add it to the banana mixture.

Mix them well and add the walnuts while mixing.

Put a non-stick piece of paper in the bottom of an ovenproof baking tray, spoon the banana mixture into the tray and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or till the loaf dries and thickens.

Remove from the oven a let it cool before serving.

Makes 20 servings.

One of the areas on the “wheel of life” are relationships. Good relationships are essential to our own personal growth.

This week, let’s talk about your friendships. Are your relationships healthy, toxic, supportive or conditional?

Mother’s are excellent at making sure that our children have friendships that are fulfilling and validating. Often, as moms we don’t follow the same advice for ourselves to ensure that we have a community that mirrors the support we need. Many times, we build and keep relationships because they are convenient. Is this you?

Do your relationships need a tune up? Answer the following questions:

1. Do you find it difficult to share how you truly feel with your friends?
2. Are your friends your soft place to fall or do you always have to be the “tree trunk”?
3. Are your friends competitive and always trying to one up you?
4. Do your friends find it difficult to celebrate your success?
5. Or, are you always the friend who is accommodating (babysitting, picking up a car-pool etc..)?
6. Do you feel loved by your friends?

Did any of these resonate with you? If so, then it is time for a friendship tune up. Every so often, I recommend that we take some time and look at our friendships. There are tons of people in the world who want to love and support you, if you let them. Do you need to elevate your relationships?

I encourage you to Dream Big in regards to your relationships. You can have friendships that are loving, supportive and honest. Elevating our relationships begins with us making the decision to Raise our standards for our life. Create a wish list for the ideal relationship that you would like to have. Consider the following when making new friends:

1. What does good look in my relationships? i.e. Supportive, Friends who enjoy getting together, Friends that make me smile, Great listeners or talkers, Emotional Available etc..
2. What types of friends do I already have? What types of relationships do I still want?
3. What can I do to make a new friend? If you like to cook, perhaps you could exchange phone numbers with individuals in your cooking class on Tuesday night. Be creative.
4. What is possible when I expand my circle of friends? Who might you meet?
5. How can I be a better friend to myself?

Challenge - Fine tune your relationships. You deserve a life that is supportive and validating. Don’t you?Don’t settle, trust me you deserve it! And to get you started creating your own list of goals, I would like to invite you to claim your free access to my E-book “Eliminating Mommy Burn-Out”. Get free access at www.helpformomsreport.com

From Mia Redrick- Author, Time for mom-Me:5 Essential Strategies for A Mother’s Self-Care and Finding Definitions, the premier self-care community for mothers www.findingdefinitions.com

COMING IN SEPTEMBER 2008! Time for mom-Me Retreat

You’ve done it. You decided once and for all to put away all foods laced with fat and calories and replace them with a healthy diet plan. But how do you do it? What are the secrets that contribute to shedding those unwanted pounds? Here are a few tips to help you get started on your weight loss plan.

• Eat an apple one hour before meals. Eating a whole apple one hour before lunch or dinner will curb your appetite and you won’t eat as much at the table. Don’t try this “trick” with another fruit because it won’t work. An apple is the only fruit that has this effect.

• Drink plenty of water. You need lots of water to keep you hydrated throughout the day. If you are dehydrated, you will falsely believe you are hungry and will tend to eat more. Drinking plenty of water will also make you feel fuller.

• Don’t shop while hungry. You not only tend to buy more when you are hungry, you tend to buy more sweets and fat filled snacks. An occasional indulgence is okay, in fact, it is recommended. If you indulge in the sweeter things in life once a week or so, you are less likely to overeat.

• Don’t keep sugary, fatty snacks in the house. This will only tempt you to grab the junk food for a snack instead of a healthier alternative. Keep plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand. They make a great spur-of-the-moment snack and you won’t be sabotaging your diet.

• Don’t skip meals. You may think that skipping meals will help you lose weight faster. In fact, it will slow your weight loss down. It will confuse your metabolism and will make you more likely to overeat at your next meal or grab an unnecessary extra snack.

• Don’t starve yourself. This is another misconception about losing weight. Starving yourself will not speed up your weight loss. Your body will try to compensate by storing extra fat that can be used for nourishment when you don’t feed it. It will also weaken you, making it impossible to exercise or perform any of your daily tasks.

• Distract yourself. If you getting a craving for something sweet or just not on your list of accepted foods for your diet, do something to take your mind of your craving. Read a book, take a bath, go for a jog or do some other non-food related activity that you enjoy.

• Eat plenty of fiber. A high fiber diet not only helps in weight loss, it is also very good for many medical conditions such as digestive problems, constipation, cholesterol and more. Be sure you are getting plenty of fiber in your diet.

Dieting is not always easy. There will be many temptations along the way. Stay strong and don’t get discouraged. Simply think about your anticipated goal and know that if you just endure the necessary sacrifices, it will pay off in the end.

It’s a task that so many people avoid, but to answer the question, “Do I need a will?” – it’s very unlikely that you don’t.

There are three reasons you need a will: one- to appoint an executor for your estate, no matter low small; two- to name a guardian for any minor children; and three- to distribute your assets in the manner you want them allotted.

A spouse or partner can be your executor, unless you want to save them that additional stress. In making out your will, and for your executor’s use, you’ll need all legal documents relating to yourself, including birth certificate, marriage and/or divorce papers, plus personal information for each of your children and spouse/partner. That should be kept in a file with a complete record of your assets including bank accounts, investments, property in your name, etc.

A legal will can be made out by an individual using prepared kits (Order Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit or get the Free Suze Orman Will & Trust Kit online), as long as the instructions for signing and witnessing are carefully followed. Or, to be sure, you can consult a lawyer.