Welcome back to my kitchen!

Before getting diagnosed, my hobbies were cooking, baking, entertaining and reading. Reading went off the rails when my eyesight failed for awhile. As you know, I wanted nothing to do with my kitchen for the first four months after diagnosis. I had slim options—no pun intended. I could spend my day working, walking, working, walking, working, walking. Repeat.


Hobbies improve your health, well-being and lower your stress levels. Hobbies help to calm your mind. Hobbies can bring fun and a sense of freedom. And, they can bring healing energy. My other hobby was working. Probably not the best option—HA!

The Hubs has no problem with spending time mastering his hobbies: resting, golfing, working out, watching tv, drinking beer, and socializing. He could spend his whole day relaxing with a little bit of work and he’d be a happy camper.

The Folks, also, are stellar at finding new hobbies—they call it ‘working the Senior Citizen mind.’ From playing a daily game of Kings Cribbage to making craft projects to playing shuffleboard or bocce, they, as avid readers, have three books going at the same time. They, since the quarantine. now are even first-time gardeners. They laugh, it is their type of farming because they do crop rotation—moving their patio pots around for best growth. They enjoy trying new recipes with their fresh cut basil. They routinely tell me they don’t have more than an hour to grocery shop for the week. I’ve never understood that one—I think they forget they are retired.

Not working and devoting time to a hobby is tough for a work-from-home workerbee. I had to find simple joy again back in my life. I was desperate to find what made me smile—gave me fun and that sense of freedom. Guess where I found it?

Give up?

Garage sales. Yard sales. Tag sales. Treasures-N-Trash.

Whatever you call it—I absolutely love the thrill of scoring a great bargain, trendy item and reusing it or gifting it for others to gain that same joy. Soon, we’ll be able to hit garage sales again. I go every Saturday morning with a set budget and no particular agenda—what I find, is what I find. They are treasures to me in more ways than one. It was important and imperative for my overall health that I found a new hobby—a enjoyment that I could do by myself. It was healing for my soul and continues to be.

Do it for you. Don’t let others suffocate your joy, your hobby or what you need. Be you. Just be you. Happiness is a mighty wonderful healer (oh man, The Folks are rubbing off on me—I just wrote ‘wonderful’ without even missing a beat!)

The Folks have some odd hobbies. One of them is watching QVC’s ‘Cooking with David’ every week—they don’t miss an episode and yet they’d never order anything from tv network or online shopping. Yea, I know—S-T-R-A-N-G-E. But they love David–I think they consider him to be their “friend.”

This week David shared a recipe for a Danish dough made from cream cheese. The Folks said, “Make it for No Sugar Baker—everyone will think it’s ‘wonderful.’ David is just wonderful.”

We’re on a roll. Life is sweet.

All this made with LOVE,
Jayne (aka The No Sugar Baker!)

No Sugar Baker’s Raspberry Cream Cheese Rolls

Ingredients:

For Dough:
1 C. Butter
8 Ounces Cream Cheese
2 C. Almond Flour

For Filling:
1 C. Fresh Raspberries
1/4 C. Swerve Granular
¼ C. Water
¼ C. Cornstarch
½ C. Sliced Almonds
½ C. Cream Cheese (I used Whipped Cream Cheese)

For Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 Ounces Cream Cheese
½ t. Vanilla
½ C. Swerve Confectioners
1 T. Heavy Whipping Cream

Easy Directions:

In mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Add in flour and mix. Dough will result and you should form into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour. While dough is chilling move onto the filling. Place raspberries, water and Swerve into a saucepan. Bring to boil and stir for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, add in cornstarch. Stir until smooth, set aside and let cool. When cooled, stir in cream cheese and combine.

Roll out dough into rectangle with floured rolling pin. Spread the raspberry filling down the center of the dough, sprinkle sliced almonds on top. You will want to leave a ½” border. Tightly roll the dough lengthwise. Cut the dough into 15-20 slices. Place slices cut-side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 16 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let the rolls cool. You can add a cream cheese frosting to add some spark. Combine all ingredients and mix until the frosting is formed. For added presentation you can sprinkle a few almond slices!

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