What I'm Reading...

Why Is Simple Organized Living So Hard To Achieve?  It is definitely a constant process rather than a one-time thing. (Simple Organized Living)

The Benefits And Frugality Of The World's Largest Herb (The Banana).  Lots of info on one of our favorite fruits (herbs?). (Don't Waste The Crumbs)

Fewer Decisions Create More Focus.  For us, having routines in place makes life so much easier, because you don't have to decide what to do when. (The Minimalist Mom)

How I Earn Free Coke Rewards And Get Some Exercise Too.  I would regularly grab the 12-pack packages from the dumpster at our last place to get the points codes. (Money Saving Mom)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Have We Missed The Point?  We've started recycling, but there is a lot more we could be doing. (Simple Homemade)

Four Fuss-Free Meal Planning Hacks You'll Love.  I can't imagine planning my menu for 10 weeks at a time like one person in the post, but menu planning is definitely a big help, even if it is a momentary pain in the rear. (Food Your Way)

Choosing Organic Over An iPhone.  This is a really interesting perspective on priorities. (The Minimalist Mom)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 30

Day 30: Bagels from Tandem Bagels downtown.

That's it!  Thanks for coming along on our Think Outside The Box Challenge!  Look for some final thoughts tomorrow...

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 29

Day 29: Leftover Cinnamon Roll Muffins from yesterday.  The parts where the frosting soaked in were delicious.  The rest of them was still pretty dry though.  Oh well.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 28

Day 28: Cinnamon Roll Muffins.  I didn't make these ahead of time, and I almost gave up and just said, "Let's eat cereal," but we're so close to the end of the month and doing really well, so the boys helped me mix these up quick this morning.  Ours didn't turn out as pretty as the original poster's, but they were still okay.  They did seem a little dry to me.  Still, I like the idea, so I might play with the recipe some more...

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 27

Day 27: Today we had more Chocolate Oatmeal, thanks to the magic of melting chocolate chips.  We are in the home stretch, now, which is good, because our cupboards and fridge are getting bare, and remembering to post every morning is getting tricky (hence the lack of photos lately).  Still, this has been a good challenge, and I'll be wrapping it up with some final thoughts once we're all finished.  Stay tuned!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 26

We had Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins left over from yesterday.  Apparently all of my plans for having eggs this month are just a big fail, because I think we've had eggs twice.  I didn't end up making the English Muffin Bread yesterday as planned, and we still had plenty of muffins, so we just went with it. 

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 25

Day 25: More Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins.  We really like these!

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfasts:
Monday: Smoothies, Toast, Fruit
Tuesday: Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Wednesday: Eggs, English Muffin Bread
Thursday: Freezer Friendly Baked Oatmeal "Muffins"
Friday: Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Saturday: Pancake & Sausage Muffins
Sunday: Scrambled Eggs & Toast

Lunches:

• PB&J/Soups x2
• Turkey Sandwiches x2
• Subway
• Hot Dogs for the kids, Twins game for us
• Turkey Wraps

Dinners:
Monday/Tuesday: Slow Cooker Black Bean & Sausage Soup
Wednesday: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
Thursday: Dollar Dinner at the Beacon
Friday: Pizza - Sausage, Mushroom, and Black Olive
Saturday: Chicken Sandwiches
Sunday: Cornbread Taco Bake

Snacks & Extras:

• Extra muffins from a couple of the breakfasts
• Leftover fruit from Jonah's birthday party
• Veggie broth in the crockpot after chopping up the veggies

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 24 and Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Day 24: Strawberry Banana Smoothie and Peanut Butter Toast

Strawberry Banana Smoothie (makes about 24 oz.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberry pieces, frozen (using frozen fruit means you don't have to use ice and water down the flavor of the smoothie)
• 1 banana, sliced
• 6 oz. container of strawberry yogurt
• 1 cup milk

Directions:
Pulse a few times and blend on the "Liquify" setting on your blender for about 20-30 seconds, until it reaches your desired consistency.

What I'm Reading...

Using Habits To Simplify Your Life.  I know that I have some habits that are not so great. (The Minimalist Mom)

How Your View Can Change What You Do.  I definitely agree that how you view marriage in general goes hand in hand with how you view your own marriage. (Simple Mom)

Chopped From The Crumbs Kitchen: Hydrogenated Oils.  I have started researching oils a little bit, and I'm always interested to see what changes other people have made.  (Don't Waste The Crumbs)

Being "That" Family.  We're not "that" family, but we do have some instances where we're not normal.  (The Minimalist Mom)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 23

More leftover pancakes and waffles from the freezer.  (And there's still some left too!)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 22

Day 22: Leftover Chocolate Pancakes from Day 8 and Chocolate Chip Waffles from Day 1, both of which freeze well.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 21

Day 21: I'm still getting the menu back on track from our trip, but we had some bananas that needed to be baked into something, so we made Cinnamon Banana Bread Muffins, only normal-sized, not mini.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 20

We are back from my Grandma's funeral, but I haven't had time to go shopping yet, so today was oatmeal with chocolate chips.

And once you mix the chocolate chips in, you get chocolate oatmeal!  Jonah was very impressed by that trick.

We are two thirds of the way through the no-cereal month, and while we haven't done perfectly, we've done pretty well, and I've found several new breakfast ideas.

What I'm Reading...

Top 5 Outdoor Fall Activities For Kids.  These all sound fun to me too! (Simple Mom)

Conquering The Belongings That Formerly Overwhelmed Me.  There were parts of this post that I felt like I could have written myself.  (Offbeat Home)

CVS Coupon Policy Updates And Walmart Internal Coupon Policy Changes.  More coupon updates.... (Common Sense With Money)

5 Mistakes I Continue To Make In My Marriage.  I am pretty sure I am guilty of these as well.  (The Happiness Project)

Who Needs Dryer Sheets? I learned a few things from this post.  (Home Ec 101)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Brief Hiatus

My Grandma Winter passed away this morning.  She was an amazing woman, and she is the one behind a lot of the best recipes that I post on here.

We are heading to the funeral, and I have no idea what we will have for breakfast.  So you'll just have to stay tuned for the rest of the breakfast challenge when we get back...

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 16 and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

Day 16: The plan was Mini Egg Quiches.  But instead we had Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, because I had a partial can of pumpkin to use up.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 12 large muffins)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla 
• 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and oil.  Add dry ingredients, except for chocolate chips, and stir to combine.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Scoop into greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: Halfway done!  Today we had Pancake and Sausage Muffins.

I used my standard pancake and waffle recipe, minus the chocolate chips, and added about 4 oz. of cooked crumbled sausage.  I got a dozen regular size muffins.  I still had a little bit of extra batter, so I made 6 smaller chocolate chip pancake muffins as well.  These were pretty good, and easier to eat than a plate of pancakes and sausage, so I would guess we'll have these again.  Plus, like most of the breakfast ideas I've tried this month, you can make these ahead of time, and just reheat them.  Bonus!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 14

Day 14: Peanut Butter Cup Baked Oatmeal.  Dessert for breakfast?  Yes...

When I first thought about doing this challenge, this recipe was one of the first ones to come to mind that I wanted to try.  We got these foil star mini baking pans in our Seminary food donations, of all places, and Jonah thinks they are so much fun.  When I showed him the picture from the recipe, he said, "Cake!", so to top that idea off by baking them in these stars, he was pretty excited for breakfast.

Matthew was excited too.   He didn't care for pictures, though.  He just dug right in.

I wanted to like this.  I really did.  It just wasn't sweet enough for me.  Or maybe I was just expecting it to be sweet, and it wasn't.  There is an optional frosting in the post as well, and I think maybe that might have made it better.  I just didn't want to add the extra calories.  But both boys thought it was amazing, so maybe they just don't need as much sugar as their mama, which is fine by me.

This is definitely a treat breakfast, as each one of these stars is 235 calories (and 1 serving is technically 2 stars).  I tripled the recipe, in case you were wondering.  I didn't have any bananas, so I used some pureed pumpkin instead.  I think bananas would be even better though, because I think that would fit better with chocolate and peanut butter.  Here's the nutrition information breakdown (click to see larger):

I do have one star left, so maybe I'll try to put some frosting on it and see if that helps.  Or maybe I'll just dip it in sugar...(only half joking)...

CVS and Walgreens Coupon Shopping

Our first stop was CVS.  Jumbo pack of diapers: $7.99.  Used $4/1 CVS printable (expires today, but good coupon!) and $4ECB that I had = free!

Our second stop of the day was Walgreens.  Jumbo pack of diapers: $5.99.  Used $3RR that needed to be used = paid $2.99.  Some of the coupon bloggers have reported finding $1 off peelie coupons on these diapers, but no luck for me.  Oh well.

Yay diapers!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Oatmeal from Make-Ahead Packets, without the packets, again.

When this month is over, this will probably become at least a once-a-week breakfast.  It's easy and yummy!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: We were going to have Eggs in Toast (or Hole in a Bucket - when you cut a hole in the piece of bread and cook the egg in the center), but I didn't feel like cooking those, so we had leftover muffins from yesterday instead.  This does mean I'll have to figure out something else for one of the meals in a couple weeks, because I was going to freeze the muffins for then.  That's okay by me!  I am definitely a fan of breakfasts I can prepare ahead of time.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: My birthday! Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins.

 These are really moist and tasty.  I will be adding this to my list of keepers.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: Leftover Egg Bake.  I didn't take a picture because it looks the same as yesterday.  Jesse felt bad for me and ate some too.  The boys just had cereal.

Menu Plan Monday

My chocolate birthday cake with peanut butter frosting.  Yum!  I made it a bit early because, well, I wanted to.

Breakfasts:
Monday: Egg Bake Leftovers
Tuesday: Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Wednesday: Eggs in Toast (Hole in a Bucket)
Thursday: Oatmeal from Make-Ahead Packets, only without the packets, like last week
Friday: Peanut Butter Cup Baked Oatmeal
Saturday: Pancake & Sausage Muffins
Sunday: Mini Egg Quiches

Lunches:

• Ham and Turkey Sandwiches x2
• Birthday Lunches (all the freebies I get for my birthday)
• PB&J for the kids/Soups for us x2
• Quesadillas
• Turkey Wraps

Dinners:
Monday/Tuesday: Ham & Bean Soup, Homemade Bread
Wednesday: Veggie Loaded Pasta Bake
Thursday: Dollar Dinner at the Beacon
Friday: Pizza - Sausage, Mushroom, and Black Olive
Saturday: Taco Beans & Rice
Sunday: Taco Salads

Snacks and Extras:

• Chicken Noodle Soup and Veggie Minestrone Soup for lunches for Jesse and me
• My birthday cake

What I'm Reading...

Three Signs To Help You Identify Your Financial Sinkholes.  One of mine used to be books.  Until I realized that I didn't read most of the ones on my shelf, and that I just had them for looks.  (Money Saving Mom)

Doing The Hard Things.  I have been tracking my calories and making purposeful decisions about what I eat.  In the past 3 months, I've lost 20 pounds.  And it has certainly not been easy, but it is getting easier. (Life Your Way)

10 Multi-Purpose Ingredients For A Homemade Household.  I don't make my own cleaners, but it is something I've read a little bit about, and this is a good list.  (Simple Homemade)

What's Wrong With Your Morning Cup Of Joe?  Is that cup of coffee bad for you? I don't think so. (Simple Mom)

Why Simple Is So Much Work.  For me, the "simplifying" comes and goes in phases.  (Home Your Way)

Dealing With Exhaustion (When You Can't Get More Sleep).  I figured by now we'd be getting regular sleep, but sadly, one or both of the boys still wake up at least once a night.  My favorite is #5: Give yourself something to look forward to.  Even if it's just a tiny little thing, it helps.  (Simple Organized Living)

Is My Desire To Recycle An Excuse To Keep Stuff?  This definitely used to be me.  I had stacks of magazines over 3 feet high because I was going to take them to the recycling place "one day".  Now we have a bin in the dining room that we take once a week.  Much better.  I still need to get better about dontating things in a timely manner though.  (Unclutterer)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 9 and Egg Bake Recipe

Day 9: Egg Bake.

Jesse doesn't like this egg bake, and Jonah decided he didn't either.  At least Matthew enjoyed it with me.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices bread, ripped into pieces
• 1 cup sausage, cooked
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, cooked
• handful spinach (frozen is fine)
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• pepper, garlic powder to taste (I did about 1/2 tsp. of each)

Directions:
Place ripped up bread in bottom of 13x9 pan.  Top with sausage, cheese, and veggies.  In separate bowl, mix eggs, milk and seasonings.  Pour over top of pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes until set in the middle.  This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, and then just reheated by the slice in the microwave the next morning.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: Whole Wheat Chocolate Pancakes.  This recipe made lots of extra, which I stuck in the freezer for later this month.

These are 100 calories per pancake, and they are delicious!

The boys loved these too - they each ate 2 and a half, and probably could have kept going!  They are definitely looking forward to when we eat these again.

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 7

Day 7: Breakfast Grilled Cheese.  I found the idea here, but modified it to be easier, because I'm not buying frozen French toast or whatever was in that recipe.

We also had scrambled eggs to round out the meal.  I have to say, none of us were really impressed by this.  It mostly just tasted like bread, and every now and then you'd get a blueberry...Oh well!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: Oatmeal from Make-Ahead Packets. Except we didn't make them ahead of time.  I just measured the oatmeal and water out and made us each a bowl.  For add-ins, we had brown sugar, milk, blueberries, craisins, and flax seeds.  Yum!

Thomas The Tank Engine Party Invitations

Jonah's birthday is in a few weeks (he's turning 3!) and his current favorite is Thomas the Tank Engine.  So we are having a train party (you'll be seeing some more train party goodies over the next few weeks). 

For these invitations, I did a google search for "Thomas the tank engine face" and found a good picture to use.  I copied that onto gray cardstock, and cut them out.  I glued the faces, along with a bar of red cardstock, to a 3.5 x 5 piece of blue construction paper, and added some black Sharpie details.  On the back I did a print-out of all the party details. 

Overall, these only took me about an hour to do, and I had everything I needed in my craft supplies, which to me was a lot better than paying over $10 for some "actual" Thomas invitations.  I think they turned out great!  Jonah even asked if he could have one. :)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 5

The original plan for today was scrambled eggs and toast, but none of us really felt like making that.  So we decided to have the rest of the Zucchini Pumpkin Bread and fruit.  And then we started eating the bread and it tasted a bit off.  So we had fruit and peanut butter toast instead.  Oh well!  Tomorrow is another day...

Homemade Pepper Poppers

Friends of ours gave us a bunch of yummy things from their garden, including several peppers.  Since I'm the only one who really likes peppers, I decided to make some pepper poppers to enjoy for lunch. They turned out pretty good, and I am not ashamed to say I ate them all myself.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 slices of bread, pulsed through a blender or food processor to make bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• garlic, onion powder, red pepper flakes to taste
• small assorted peppers (obviously)

Directions:
Slice peppers open and take out all seeds.  For jalapenos, cutting in half is easiest.  For larger peppers, you can just cut a slit along one side so they form a curvy pocket for the filling.  Put them open side down and drizzle a bit of oil over the top.  Pop in the oven for a few minutes at about 375 degrees to get them to start softening.  Mine were in there for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your bread crumbs, and add the cheese and spices.

Take the peppers out of the oven, flip them over with tongs, and spoon filling into each one.  It's totally acceptable to make a mess on the pan to get them nice and full.  Pop them back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes, until everything is melty and toasty and yummy.

While not exactly like the store-bought poppers, these are quite delicious, and pretty simple to make.  Recipe experiment success!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 4

Day 4: Zucchini Pumpkin Bread from the freezer, with fresh fruit.

Here's a reminder of the nutrition information for the bread (which is calculated per slice):

A couple slices of bread and a banana and we were good to go!

Menu Plan Monday

We have our grocery shopping for the month pretty well done (which is a good thing, because I completely underestimated how much I was going to spend, and I only have about 25% of the entire thing left - so much for my grand ideas!).  Breakfasts and dinners are planned specific to the day, and lunches are planned a week at a time, but we can pick and choose from those.  

Breakfasts:
Monday: Peanut Butter Honey Nut Granola & Yogurt, Fruit
Tuesday: Zucchini Pumpkin Bread from the Freezer, Fruit
Wednesday: Scrambled Eggs & Toast
Thursday: Oatmeal from Make-Ahead Packets
Friday: Breakfast Grilled Cheese
Saturday: Whole Wheat Chocolate Pancakes
Sunday: Egg Bake

Lunches:

• Ham or Turkey Sandwiches x2
• PB&J for the kids, Soup for us x2
• Quesadillas
• Grilled Cheese
• Egg Salad for me, Muffin Tin Lunch for the kids

Dinners:
Monday/Tuesday: Slow Cooker Jamaican Red Bean Stew
Wednesday: Ham & Pea Pasta
Thursday: Dollar Dinner at the Beacon
Friday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Saturday: Veggie Stir Fry
Sunday: Hamburgers with Homemade Buns

Snacks and Extras:

• Leftover Granola from Monday's breakfast
• Leftover Zucchini Pumpkin Bread from Tuesday's breakfast
• Cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers from a friend's garden
• Making Easy Chili and Chicken Noodle Soup for lunches for Jesse and me

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 3 and Peanut Butter Honey Nut Granola Recipe

Day 3: Yogurt and Peanut Butter Honey Nut Granola (recipe below), with fresh fruit.

 

This was an amazingly delicious breakfast, and healthy too!  Unfortunately, I was the only one who ate it.  The boys all had cereal.  Oh well.  They'll still eat this for snack later.

Here's the calorie breakdown for breakfast (click on the photo to see it larger).  Just under 300 calories for a bowl of yummy goodness that hits almost all of the food groups? Yes please.

Peanut Butter Honey Nut Granola 
(makes about 9 cups, or 18 half cup servings)

This granola is pretty similar to my standard Homemade Granola recipe, but I love the addition of the peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cups chopped nuts (I used almonds)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

In large bowl, combine oats, nuts, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  In small, microwave-safe bowl, combine peanut butter and honey.  Microwave for 30-60 seconds, until melted and smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour over dry mixture and stir to coat.  Transfer to 2 cookie sheets, and bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring often.

What I'm Reading...

Toddlerhood: The Load and Tote Phase.  Jonah is mostly through this phase, but Matthew is just starting it.  The explanation in this post makes so much sense! (Creative With Kids)

My Prenatal Expectations Of Parenthood Caused Me To Lose Track Of My Marriage.  "Now, the only regular contact with adults I had was from my husband, so every little thing he did and said mattered that much more to me. His role in my life was and always will be a very large and important one, but it grew exponentially." While I wouldn't say I lost track of my marriage, this bit of the post absolutely resonated with me. (Offbeat Mama)

Hot Breakfast Ideas That Require Little Effort (Eat Well, Spend Less).  A lot of these ideas are similar to ones we'll be using this month. (Denver Bargains)

Common Blogging Terms (Blogging Basics For Beginners).  I know a lot of these, but some were new to me.  (Work Your Way)

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 2 and Fruit Salad Recipe

Day 2 of the Breakfast Challenge: Breakfast Sandwiches from the freezer and fruit.  We had these for dinner recently, and I froze the extras for an easy breakfast. (Only one of those breakfast sandwiches is mine).

This is a little bit higher calorie recipe, but easy to make ahead of time and freeze.

Fruit Salad Dressing:

• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Toss with several cups of fresh fruit to coat.  Or, you could do like me, and do 1 Tbsp. of yogurt and 1 tsp. of orange juice, plus a sprinkle of cinnamon, for a single bowl of fruit.  I got this recipe from a friend at the Seminary picnic last weekend, and it's delicious!

HyVee Coupon Shopping

Yesterday I went to HyVee to take advantage of a few catalina deals.  So I split my items into a few transactions.  After all was said and done, I only spent $21.29 out of pocket for everything pictured!

Transaction #1: 4 General Mills cereals, $2.88 each.  Used $4 instant savings coupon in ad = spent $7.52, got $4 catalina.

Even though we're doing the Think Outside The Box Challenge this month, we'll still have a few boxes of cereal for back-ups or for next month.  If I hadn't found these, I wasn't going to do this deal, because most of the cereals were over $4/box, which would have been way expensive.

Transaction #2: Buy 10 participating items, get $10 catalina.

• 2 Capri Sun 10 packs: $1.99 each.
• 2 Kraft Ranch Dressings: $1.99 each.  Used $1/2 printable = paid $1.49 each.
• 2 Kraft Singles Cheese: $1.99 each.  Used two $1/1 printables (no longer available) = paid $0.99 each.
• 3 Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Lunch Meats: $2.88 each.  Used three $1/1 printables (no longer available) = paid $1.88 each
• Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs: $1.59.
• Used $4 coupon from transaction #1 = paid $12.46, got $10 back!

Transaction #3:

• 2 Bags of Popcorn Kernals (4lbs. each): $3.39 each.
• 2 Packages Mushrooms: $1.99 each.
• Canteloupe: $0.99.
• Used $10 coupon from transaction #2, and got $0.15 off for my reusable bags = paid $1.60.

I wasn't originally planning on doing the Kraft deal, but there were enough items that we were going to buy anyway, so I decided to go ahead and buy those.  If I had been planning ahead, I would have been able to print even more coupons (for Capri Suns and hot dogs, or more for cheese), but they were all gone already.  Still a great deal for things we will use!

Think Outside The Box Challenge: Day 1

Day 1 of our Breakfast Challenge!  Today we're having waffles!  You can see my go-to recipe for waffles and pancakes here.  I made extras, which will go in the freezer for later on this month.  

I forgot to take a picture of the actual waffles themselves looking all pretty.  But I did take a few pictures of some mighty cute boys eating breakfast...

The waffles are not too bad for you either:

Per waffle, only 131 calories.  We chose not to have any syrup with ours this morning, but they do have chocolate chips in them, so they're still sweet.  Yum!