Culinary Self-Flagellation

I consider myself a decent cook.  While my cooking wouldn't necessarily be called gourmet, I think most of what I eat is enjoyable.
However, I will admit:  I do make some pretty amazing sugar cookies.  And some dang good cinnamon rolls.  And a pretty good pies, too, now that I think about it.

So let me change the subject.
Monday, I joined my Mom and brother on the carb-free train.  What I'm doing is not as strictly the Atkins (I eat vegetables, minus corn, carrots, peas, and potatoes), but it's still pretty strict.  When you get the munchies, there's not a whole lot that's munch-able, at least not in our house.  Seriously, Tuesday, my teeth were aching for something crunchy.  I'm not being totally fanatical about it - I had 3 Fritos to try to satisfy that need for crunchiness, and I had a bite of Paul's grilled pizza on Monday.
The reason I decided to try out this diet is because I've been feeling very bloated and fat. As we all know, after you have a baby, there's a certain amount of belly fat you can't do anything about.  But it was just a blah feeling all the time.  My mom said it would help with that, and it has helped.  And even though it's only my 4th day, my belly does feel (and maybe look?) less bloated.

Back to the original subject:
Once a month, Paul likes me to make treats for him to take to his shift at work.
Well, I promised them cinnamon rolls before I decided to do this diet.  This is where the subjects come together:  If there is one food/flavor I love, love, love, it is cinnamon.  You can't go wrong with cinnamon.  I even put in on ice cream occasionally.  But white bread, not to mention sugar, would definitely be a no-no on a carb-free diet.

He takes four 9x13s (1 dozen each) to work (I made two plain, one apple, and one chocolate chip).  Anything in the two rounds is the "ugly ends" from the dough roll, which I keep for our family.  But they turned out just as beautiful and fluffy as the others!  And this pic is even before I added the frosting!

Seriously.  It was total self-torture to make these.  And they were the most perfect batch I've ever made - go figure!  And I made apple cinnamon rolls, which I love.
I did sample one taste each of the apple and the chocolate when the boys were eating them last night.  And they are as definitely as good as they look!  It was hard to stop at one bite!  So, it's a total lesson in self-control for me to ignore the pan of cinnamon rolls on the counter.
Ah, the things we do for the ones we love. :)