Summer Coffee

Let's talk about coffee, one of my favorite topics!

 

I wanted to share about my favorite way to make coffee in the summertime ... trust me you will NOT need to go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts when you can make it so good at home for a fraction of the cost!

 

My two favorite summer coffee flavors are Wild Mountain Blueberry and Island Coconut - both of these delicious flavors just scream summer to me. It's like summer in a cup! My favorite brand of coffee is Green Mountain, I've been a fan of theirs for many years and in the most recent years I've had a Keurig machine, so I buy their K-cups.

 

I know some people don't care for the Keurig machine but I personally LOVE mine - so easy to use, so quick and fresh anytime you want a cup.

 

 

Another favorite of mine is CoffeeMate creamers - I have been using them for YEARS and have tried just about every flavor they make. But recently a friend was challenging me to think about the ingredients in the creamer and asked me to think about using something with a little less fake junk. I agreed with her and AM trying to cut the extra 'stuff' out of my diet as much as possible - so I tried a couple different things and just found I was still missing the sweet, creaminess of my Coffeemate ... that's when I found this alternative - still creamy and sweet, still made by Coffeemate, but it's only got 3-4 ingredients! And they're things you can pronounce like sugar, cream and milk! Isn't that the best news?!?!

 

 

So, I think we've established that I LOVE my coffee and most of the year I brew and drink it HOT ... but come summertime I just can't bear to drink something hot when it's already so hot outside. So I switch to drinking ICED COFFEE for the summer months.

 

Here is my easy-peasy way to make a fantastic cup of iced coffee at home...

 

I use one of these large plastic tumblers that they seem to be selling EVERYWHERE lately! You can find them at Bed, Bath and Beyond, the Christmastree Shop, Home Goods, AC Moore - seriously, they're everywhere and usually less than $5.

 

So first I fill the cup to the top with ice. Then I add a packet of Truvia {my personal choice for sweetener but you could use sugar or skip it altogether}, then I choose a k-cup and brew it on the SMALLEST brew setting right over the ice ... brewing it on the small setting will give you a stronger cup of coffee which, when melting over the ice will make a perfect cup without melting the ice too much. Then I add as much creamer as I want to the top and stir it up ... perfection every time!

 

 

 

My favorite combos right now are the Blueberry Coffee with the Vanilla creamer

or the Island Coconut Coffee with the Sweet Cream creamer - YUM!!

 

Now, if you want to kick it up a notch with something a little yummier - try adding caramel or chocolate syrup or some whipped cream on top - tastes delicious - who needs Starbucks?!

 

 

Show Us Your Life - Favorite Soups

Ahhhhh ... soup, a favorite topic of mine! I absolutely LOVE so many different soups and love that it's so easy to copy restaurant quality soups at home in a very easy way. I also personally love having a soup, salad and bread night for dinner - I could probably substitute this type of dinner for meat and potatoes at least half of the nights of the week. Unfortunately my husband doesn't really consider soup a MAIN dish, so we don't do this too often. =)

 

Anyway, I have a lot of favorites but THIS one has got to top my list. I'm just gonna warn you that it is NOT healthy ... but it is delicious. So maybe just make it for an every-once-in-a-while treat.

 

CROCK POT BROCCOLI-CHEDDAR SOUP

 

{image credit: Food Network}

 

8 oz brick of Velveeta - cut up into chunks

1 pint half and half

[2] 10 oz cans of Cream of celery soup

1/2 pint sour cream

[2] 10 oz packages of frozen, chopped broccoli

salt and pepper to taste

 

{optional: shredded cheese or croutons to sprinkle on top when serving}

 

Spray your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray {DO NOT skip this step!} Place all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low about 3-4 hours - stir frequently as the ingredients begin to melt and come together. It's a very thick and filling soup. This is awesome served with fresh bread or in bread bowls like pictured above.

 

ENJOY!!!!

 

Please check out Kelly's Korner for LOTS and LOTS more Soup recipes!  

The BEST Pumpkin Bread ... Bless your neighbors!

 

Happy Columbus Day to my American family and friends and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian family and friends!!

 

Ahhhh ... fall, pumpkins, cool breezes, bright orange colors ... I love it ALL! And I love how these beauties can so simply be made into a yummy and lovely treat to enjoy and share with others.

 

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

 

 

A 15 or 16 oz can of pumpkin {I bought the big can because I made a double recipe}

3 cups of sugar

1 cup oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 & 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 & 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

 

*Optional* add in chocolate chips or nuts if you choose

 

This makes 2 large loaves {9x5} or 5 Mini loaves. I have also made it in a bundt pan {plus 2 mini loaves as it doesn't all fit in the bundt pan}.

 

Grease and flour the pans, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl blend the first 5 ingredients. Beat 1 min at medium speed.

Add remaining ingredients, blend at a low speed until moistened. Beat 1 min at medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 deg for 60-75 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, remove from pans. Mini loaves may take a little less time so be sure to check it around 55 minutes.

 

 In this picture it was served with homemade pumpkin caramel butter ... I do believe there is no such thing as pumpkin overload! LOL

 

And, usually when I bake, I like to bake for a reason ... not just for our family, but also as a way to bless others. So many times I'll make the mini loaves so we can enjoy some and then we'll share some loaves with our neighbors too.

 

 

ENJOY!!

 

 

Melt in your mouth Pot Roast

Hey all! We are having a fantastic Columbus day weekend around here. We've done a whole bunch of 'fallish' things already and still have all day tomorrow to enjoy! I sure love a 3-day weekend!

Tonight we wanted to have a meal that just says fall and comfort food to me. So I'd like to introduce you to Melt in your mouth pot roast ... and I promise this is literally a no fail recipe!

 

{image credit: wegmans.com}

Buy a Chuck Roast ... MAKE SURE you get one that says Chuck Roast! For years I bought other, more expensive cuts of meat but they always came out so dry. This cut of meat is CRUCIAL in the taste!

I bought a 3 lb roast and there are 4 people in my family. We had enough for dinner with a little leftover for later. You can use a larger roast if you need to.
Put your chuck roast in a crock pot {I even put mine in totally frozen this morning because I forget to take it out of the freezer and it still turned out perfect.}
Add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup,
1 Package of dry onion soup mix,
And 1 and 1/4 cups of water.
Cook on low for 8 hours.

The meat comes out SO tender you don't even need a knife.

We serve this with a side of roasted potatoes and carrots and some fresh, hot biscuits. There was PLENTY of yummy 'gravy' left in the crock pot to use over your potatoes and biscuits if you like. Sorry I didn't get a picture, we all ate it up so fast I forget to take one!

And there you have it! Simple and delicious! Hope you enjoy this, be sure to let me know if you decide to give it a try.

{Many thanks to my sis in law who introduced me to this recipe last year.}

A Baking & Organizing Day

Part of trying to eat healthy is just simply being organized and having the right foods on hand. Most weeks I order my groceries online on Sunday night, and pick up curbside on Monday morning. It's great to start the week off with a full fridge and lots of fresh foods.

Today I decided it was also a good day to prep a bunch of things so not only is the healthy stuff 'in house', but it's also prepped and ready to go during those busy times. I mean a bag of Romaine lettuce is no good to me if when I'm totally starving it's still in the bag and not ready to eat yet!

I also wanted to tap into my Pinterest finds and make some of the things I've been pinning for months.

So here we go, first off I made some Taco Seasoning, this is something we use ALL the time and love so I actually quadrupled the batch.

Then I made a batch of my favorite Banana bread. This was actually my Grandma's recipe and it's always a hit. I will include the recipe at the bottom of the post. {It makes one large loaf or 3 of these mini loaves.} We ate one mini loaf for a snack this afternoon and froze the other two to use another day.

Then I cut my lettuce, washed it in the salad spinner and chopped up my veggies.  I keep the salad in the large bowl of the spinner in my fridge so I can have fresh salad whenever I want.

I made a batch of Crystal Light Pink Lemonade {my hubby and kids love it} and a pitcher of Green Tea with lemon {which is my fave drink of choice most days}.

Then I did homemade Whole Wheat Waffles. I would so much rather make these than buy Eggos! This batch made 8 LARGE waffles which I froze so the girls can have them for breakfast by simply reheating.

Then I *tried* to make homemade Almond Butter. Mine didn't come out so great but I don't have a food processor so I'm wondering if that is why? It still tastes pretty good, just isn't very creamy. I need to invest in a food processor!

I also tried the to make the Chocolate - Coconut Mousse from Pinterest but it also didn't come out quite right. Maybe I need to learn to follow directions better?! =) Mine was too runny and never really got thick and fluffy. So then I decided to freeze it and just eat it like frozen yogurt and that was pretty good. My girls didn't love it, but they don't really care for coconut and you can definitely taste the coconut flavor!

I hard boiled a dozen eggs so that we can use them on salads or make egg salad for lunches.

Lastly, in my crock pot cooking all day I did BBQ Pulled Pork. I honestly didn't follow much of a recipe. I basically just put a large Pork Shoulder roast in the crock pot and dumped a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce over the top and let it cook all day on low. It turned out amazing!

And that was my day! It's not as time consuming as it seems, I actually had many things going on at the same time {which makes for a messy kitchen!} so it probably only took a couple hours for everything.

Here is the Banana Bread Recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup shortening {or butter}
2 med. ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
{Optional mix ins: chopped walnuts, mini choc chips, etc. Add 1/2 cup if you want but the bread is just as yummy without any extras.}

Mix everything together except your add ins. Stir those in by hand. Pour into a loaf pan that is greased or sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-75 min {for one large loaf} or 40-50 min {for smaller loaves} Bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

What have you been making lately?

Healthy Veggie Soup

Last night a friend at church handed me this slip of paper with a recipe written on it. She saw my post on FB about trying to eat healthier and had a great recipe to share. I'm telling you people this could be the EASIEST recipe you will ever try and if you're anything like me, you probably already have the items on hand.

Here goes:

1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1 bag baby spinach
1 onion chopped

Saute onion in olive oil. Add all ingredients and heat until spinach is cooked. Add salt, pepper, hot sauce or any other seasoning you wish.

I made a few modifications:

*I used the LARGE size can of crushed tomatoes,

*I didn't have canned corn, so I threw in some frozen corn which worked just fine,

*I did HALF the bag of spinach, but still didn't like it. :( I'm not a fan of cooked spinach and I knew it was a stretch that I would like it in this soup. Next time I might just eliminate it from the recipe.

*I added some frozen, chopped red & green peppers and some frozen, chopped celery,

*I added 2 can fulls of water,

*I did salt, pepper, 1 tsp of Tabasco, and 2 overflowing tsps of Pampered Chef Parmesan/Garlic seasoning, and 2 fresh garlic gloves {pressed through my garlic press}.

I let it sit and simmer for a while on the stove. It may a pretty big pot full. I had some for lunch and it was yummy.

Yummy, healthy and full of good-for-you veggies - what more could you ask for?

MYO Kettle Corn!

MYO Kettle Corn:

Use a large stock pot with a lid {preferably a clear one}

Put 2 TBSP of oil in the pot and turn the heat on high. Also put about 2-3 unpopped kernels in the pot, with the lid on.

While it's heating up measure out 1/4 cup of raw sugar and 1/2 cup of kernels.

When the kernels in the pot start to pop pour in the rest of the kernels and the sugar. Give it a couple shakes so the sugar doesn't burn right away.

The kernels will all start to pop - try to vent the lid just a bit by keeping a slight edge of it open to let the steam out. You can shake it a bit as the kernels are popping.

When the popping has just about stopped removed from heat and keep shaking it up until all the popping has stopped.

Remove lid and add salt to taste.


This was SO yummy and easy. We gave up microwave popcorn a while ago and I will never go back. Homemade is SO much yummier. Until today I had only ever made it with butter but the Kettle Corn was SO good and we all gobbled it up!


ENJOY!!!

Ate Eight Challenge

So I mentioned in my 'November' post that I'm doing a challenge with my mother in law where you have to eat these 8 super foods every day. At first I was a little intimidated and not totally sure I'd be able to squeeze all 8 in every day! But it's been 4 days now and I'm finding it's really not that tough, you just need a little creativity! I figured I'd post what I've had the the past 4 days and maybe it would encourage others who might want to take on this challenge but were nervous about it.

I will also say that I'm SURE I will really need to start mixing it up soon as I'm confident that I'll begin to get bored with the same 'ol stuff. But for now certain things are my go-to items and I have them every day. Also, I HAVE eaten some snacky kinda things that I SHOULDN'T have this week - I am SO not a perfect, healthy eater but I'm working on it. So please forgive those things when you see them. =)

Just to review, here are the items on the list {and their substitutions in brackets, you will notice I use MANY of the subs}

1. Spinach {kale, bok choy, romaine}
2. Yogurt {kefir, soy yogurt}
3. Tomatoes {tomato juice, watermelon, pink grapefruit, papaya, guava}
4. Carrots {sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash, yellow pepper, mango}
5. Blueberries {purple grapes, prunes, raisins, strawberries}
6. Black Beans {peas, lentils, pinto, kidney, fava, lima}
7. Walnuts {almonds, peanuts, pistachios, macadamia, hazelnuts}
8. Oats {quinoa, flax seed, wild rice}



Tuesday
Breakfast -
1. Oats cooked in the microwave with
2. Raisins,
3. Walnuts
and Blueberry Agave syrup

Snack -
4. Pumpkin smoothie made with ice, milk, sugar, spices, pumpkin &
5. yogurt

Lunch -
Margarita Grilled Chicken {at Chili's w/ family} with
6. Black beans

{5 mini swedish fish while waiting for dinner - it's HARD with all this Halloween candy in the house!}

Supper -
Baked Fresh fish {that hubby caught!}
Fries and a
7. Spinach salad with
8. Tomatoes

In the evening - a cup of tea

Wednesday
Breakfast -
1. Oats w/ Agave
2. Raisins &
3. Walnuts

Lunch -
4. Spinach salad w/
5. Garbanzo beans, apples, feta cheese
6. V8 juice

Snack -
7. Pumpkin smoothie w/ milk, ice, sugar &
8. Yogurt

{2 mini candy bars - one Almond Joy, one 3 Muskateers - I'm really trying hard to avoid the candy, most years I would be gobbling a TON of it up but this year I'm trying so hard to stay away from it, so a piece here or there I'm not gonna beat myself up over}

Supper -
{Chili's again! Crazy, I know, but it was Awana night and I went with friends!}
Grilled Chicken Tacos w/
Black beans {so double beans for the day!}

No snack in the evening

Thursday
Breakfast -
1. Oats {are you seeing a pattern here?!} w/ cinnamon sugar
2. raisins &
3. walnuts

Snack -
4. Pumpkin Smoothie {same ingredients as the other days} w/
5. Yogurt

2 Ritz crackers and a slice of Amer. cheese cause I was starving before I got home for lunch!

Lunch -
Sandwich made with 9 grain bread, ham, meunster cheese and
6. 1 cup spinach piled on the sandwich

Snack -
1 cup smart food popcorn
coffee

Supper-
7./8. Taco soup {beans and tomatoes}
Organic shredded cheddar cheese
bagel chips {needed something crunchy, should have just skipped these but oh well!}

Dessert-
Baked Pear dessert w/
Yogurt and {2nd serv. for the day}
Almonds {2nd serv of nuts for the day}

Friday
Breakfast-
1. Oats w/ Agave
2. Raisins
3. Walnuts

At our MOMS program-
2 mini lemon poppyseed muffins
cup of apple cider

Lunch-
4./5. Taco soup {tomatoes and beans}
Organic cheddar cheese

Snack-
Single serve pack of Lorna Doone cookies
coffee
2 pretzels {just had the terrible munchies this afternoon!!}
THEN, cause I still wasn't satisfied an hour later ...
Decided to make myself a
6. Pumpkin smoothie {cause at least if I'm gonna keep eating, it should be good for me!}
7. with yogurt in it
8. and I threw in a cup of spinach too cause I didn't feel like having salad today but that way I still got my spinach in. TRUST me, you could NOT even taste the spinach in the pumpkin smoothie.

And that's it ... we haven't had dinner yet today.
Sorry for those who find this incredibly BORING ... but I always like to hear what other people are eating to get ideas of how to be healthier. So I figured I'd share. Again, I am NOT a perfect eater by any means ... totally a work in progress here! The two big things I need to work on are choosing GOOD, healthy snacks when I'm hungry instead of useless stuff like cookies and pretzels ... AND kicking my sugar habit {I just can't seem to have my coffee, oatmeal or smoothies without sweetener in them - any advice on this??}

And if you actually read this whole post and are even remotely interested I will continue to post some of my daily meals ... if not, feel free to stop me by saying 'no one cares Kathy!' in the comments. =)

Have a great weekend!!!!!

"Baked" Bosc Pear Dessert

I made the yummiest "baked" pear dessert tonight so of course I have to share how to make it!

*Take one Bosc Pear and slice it up {leave the skin on}
*Put it in a microwave safe bowl
*Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar over the top
*Cook in the microwave for 2 minutes, take the bowl out carefully in case it's hot
*Spoon a little Vanilla Yogurt over the top
*Sprinkle a few slivered almonds over it

EAT! ENJOY!

Sugar Free Raspberry Green Tea

Lately I've been trying to drink a lot more Green Tea ... it has many health benefits and since I've always liked Iced Tea it was an easy switch for me to make from regular tea.

That being said, I also like my tea sweet, or even flavored. One of my fave iced teas is the Iced Green Tea from Panera ... it's just sweet enough but also very light and refreshing. It has a bit of a fruity flavor that makes it SO delicious!

At home these are the only 2 things needed to make your own yummy tea. I buy the decaf tea bags so that I can drink it all day and afternoon without worrying about staying up all night. And I get the flavored sugar free syrup by Torani. The flavors in my local stores are pretty minimal, but I figured Raspberry would taste good in iced tea and I was right.

First heat up a pot full of water until boiling - I do a 2 quart pot so that it will fill my 2 quart pitcher. Then I put in 8 tea bags and let it steep for a few minutes.

Pour the tea into a pitcher and add as much or as little Raspberry syrup as you like. I would start with less and then add more if it's not sweet enough for you.

I put the pitcher in the fridge to cool and later bring it out and enjoy over a glass full of ice!




"More than a decade's worth of research about green tea's health benefits -- particularly its potential to fight cancer and heart disease -- has been more than intriguing, as have limited studies about green tea's role in lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and stroke, and staving off dementia."

If you're still not a believer in Green Tea google it and you'll find lots of great articles on all the health benefits of it.

FOUR ... count 'em ... FOUR Healthy Recipes!

Hey friends! As I've stated in the past I'm working towards healthier eating and also trying to eat more WHOLE foods, less processed. It's definitely a work in progress and probably always will be. But I thought I'd share a few recipes I've made recently in case any of you are interested in healthy/whole eating too.


PS. My friend Jessica is AWESOME at this, she has made homemade NutriGrain bars, homemade POPTARTS!, and even homemade Graham Crackers. She has done a lot of research about what is IN many of our convenience foods - and since most come up with HUGE lists of unknown items she finds ways or recipes to make them with whole foods. She inspires me! If you click on her name above you can check out her blog where she shares some great recipes.


In fact, this first recipe I'm going to share is one from Jessica! She calls it her Breakfast Cookie, so I've adopted that name as well. After all, who wouldn't want a cookie for breakfast??!!

BREAKFAST COOKIE

1/2 cup old fashioned oats {not cooked} 4g fiber, 140 calories, 2.5g protein
2 TBSP whipped Peanut butter or Natural PB {I have done both depending on what's in my pantry} 2g fiber, 150 calories, 6g prot
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP ground flax seed 2g fib, 30 cal, 1.5g prot
drizzle of honey {didn't look up nutritional info - I think it's about 70 cal per TBSP - sometimes I leave this out}

Mix it all together in a bowl - it won't totally come together like a 'cookie' so I just eat it with a spoon. I LOVE peanut butter so this is yummy for me. It is a bit on the dry side, so I had a half cup of skim milk with it {4g prot, 0g fib, 45 cal}.

Makes this breakfast 265 calories, 8g fiber, 14g of protein You could add a piece of fruit to this and still be under 400 calories for the morning. And with all that fiber and protein you are sure to stay full for awhile!

Next we have one of my FAVE lunch recipes ...

CHICKEN SALAD WRAPS

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts {which I cut into small strips and boil in a pot of water to cook} then dice them up into bite size pieces. (0grams fiber 220calories)
1/4 cup craisins (3grams fiber 130 calories)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (2grams fiber 190 calories)
1 cup chick peas (14grams fiber 220 calories)
1 red delish apple chopped up (3grams fiber 91 calories)
Mayo - 2 TBSP (0fiber 200 calories)
Some times I add a little diced up onion just for added flavor.
And of course you can add salt/pepper or whatever seasoning you like.
Chop the chicken and apples and onion and then mix everything together.

I spoon some into large pieces of lettuce, then wrap them up and eat it like a taco! Makes 4 servings - make it on Monday and have lunch ready for the next 4 days. 262 calories per serving and 5.5 grams of fiber per serving. {Sorry, when I figured out my nutritional info on this one I forgot to do the protein count - but trust me it's high with the chicken and the chick peas!}

And now, how about a yummy dessert?

CHOCOLATE/PEANUT BUTTER RICOTTA SHAKE

{before you cringe just TRY it!}
1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese {120 cal. 20!! grams protein 0 fiber}
1/2 cup Almond milk {30cal. .5g prot. .5 fiber}
1 TBSP peanut butter {90cal. 6g prot. 0 fib}
1 truvia packet
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup of ice
Blend all together and serve in a large 16 oz glass.

THIS TASTES YUMMY AND CREAMY, JUST LIKE AN ICE CREAM SHAKE! It's got a total of 240 calories, 26.5g protein and .5g fiber. You will feel FULL after drinking this!

I did a little comparison with Stewart's Choc. Peanut Butter Ice Cream - for 1/2 cup there is 200 calories, 14g fat, 0 fiber and only 4g protein. And it's ONLY a half cup! Which isn't much if you ask me! The shake has SO much protein that it's sure to make you feel full!

Lastly I have a homemade granola bar recipe that I just made this week ...

HOMEMADE CHEWY NO BAKE GRANOLA BARS {from the blog New Nostalgia}

■4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter {I used reg. butter}
■1/2 cup packed light brown sugar {I didn't even 'pack' it, just loosely filled the cup}
■1/4 cup honey
■2-1/2 cups oats or leftover granola {I used all oats}
■1/2 cup total of the following ingredients: wheat germ {about 1/4 cup}, ground flax seeds {about 2 tablespoons} and whole flax seeds {about 2 tablespoons}. Or substitute with more oatmeal, rice cereal, or nuts. {I did the whole amount of ground flax seed}
■1/2 cup Craisins
■1/2 cup chopped almonds (you could sub any nut or seed)
■1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I did 5 TBSP DARK choc chips)
■*I added 2 Tbls Chia seeds (I did not use)
I also added about a TBSP of cinnamon.

1.In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar with the honey and butter. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
2.Add the remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, to the saucepan and fold the ingredients to evenly coat with the sauce. Transfer the granola mixture to a 9-by-13-inch ungreased baking pan and press firmly to evenly fill. Gently press the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola. Let the granola mixture set in the fridge until firm, about 15 minutes, then cut into 2-1/4-by 3-inch bars. (I didn't measure, but cut mine into 12 'bars')
3.Store in the fridge.

I figured out the nutritional info on these and they came out to 242 calories per bar if you cut them into 12 pieces. Not a bad snack. If that seems like too many calories for a snack you could cut them in smaller pieces or you could adapt your ingredients.

So there you go friends ... a breakfast, a lunch, a snack and a dessert. Now I just need to work on building my healthy dinner options! If you have any you'd like to share I'd love to hear from you!

Healthy Snack - Parfaits!

I am on a quest to eat healthier. I sort of hate even writing that because it kind of puts some accountability on me. But honestly the older I get I am realizing that it's vitally important to my health to eat things that are better for me. It's a struggle every day to choose good things over bad and I'm still learning as I go. In fact, I would welcome ANY and ALL comments, ideas, recipes or suggestions for meals. I really need all the help I can get! LOL

Anyway, I wanted to share one of our fave snack ideas ... Parfaits! My Mom gave me these long stemmed glasses years ago, she had them for years before that but didn't use them anymore so she passed them on to me. I love using them to make things 'fancy' for the girls and they seem to love it too.

Parfaits can really be made in a million different ways. Basically you layer yogurt with fresh fruit, granola, cereal, flaxseed or any other crunchy item. The girls got 'lucky' today as they had some cookies and were begging me to add them to their parfaits - I figured it wasn't too bad if they eat had a half and the yogurt and fruit were still healthy ...
And here is mine - I prefer Greek yogurt so I used greek yogurt and layered it with fresh strawberries and ground flax seed. It was so delish and the perfect protein-filled pick-me-up for the middle of my morning.

Big, Soft, Buttery Pretzels

Yesterday the girls and I went to the mall and just as they always do when we go to the mall, the girls were begging me for those big, soft pretzels from Auntie Anne's. You know the ones, right? I admit, many times I give in because I love them almost as much as the girls do. But yesterday we were on a mission {and a BUDGET!} and it just wasn't in the cards to get pretzels while we were out. But I remembered that one day a long time ago I had found a recipe for the pretzels and had saved it. So I told the girls we would look it up and try to make them when we got back home.

Back at home I looked up the recipe and realized that, thankfully, I had ALL the ingredients we needed to make Big, Soft, Buttery pretzels. YAY! {recipe will be at the end}

Here are the girls rolling out and shaping their dough ...
You can shape them any way you wish, but I like mine in the standard pretzel shape.

Here is the first batch out of the oven, we could NOT wait to dig in to the warm, buttery goodness!

First tastings ...

Here is the next batch, the girls got creative with their pretzel designs!

The verdict: ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! The girls said they tasted JUST like Auntie Anne's! The recipe made 12 pretzels so we have some leftovers for today, yay!

Here is the recipe:

I've separated the ingredients based on the steps of making the recipe. Make sure to follow the steps in order.

STEP 1:

4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp white sugar

1 & 1/4 cups warm water

STEP 2:

5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 & 1/2 tsp salt

STEP 3:

1 TBSP veg oil

STEP 4

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup course salt for topping

STEP 5:

butter

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and the 1 tsp of sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 min.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, and salt. DO NOT add the baking soda to this. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Mix and form into a ball kneading the dough for about 7-8 min. If the mixture seems to dry, add 1 or 2 TBSP of water, just a little at a time until the dough comes together well.

3. Lightly oil a large bowl and put the ball of dough in it, turning it to coat it with oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for about an hour so it will rise. It will be about double in size when done.

4. When risen, turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and shape into your desired pretzel shapes. Dissolve the baking soda into the hot water in a medium sized bowl. Once the dough is all shaped you will give each pretzel shape a quick dip into the bowl of baking soda mix. After you have given them each a quick dip, place them on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

5. Bake for 8 min or until the tops are lightly browned. When you remove from the oven brush the tops with butter and serve warm.

ENJOY!!!

Rakin', Bakin' and Shakin'

We've been busy around here ... come take a look!

We did a BUNCH of rakin' this week - can you see the difference between the area inside the fence and the area outside the fence?
The inside area still has a TON of leaves, but we ran out of time to do them this week.

Oh and see how nice this area looks? Well guess what? It's TOTALLY and COMPLETELY covered in more leaves again! Yep, lots more rakin' in our future!

The area inside the fence is where the doggies run and play ...

This is looking towards the pool and house - kinda depressing to see the pool covered for the next 6-8 months! :(

We've been bakin' a lot too! These are Pumpkin Kiss cookies. The recipe is from my friend Kristi and can be found here. We took them to MOMS on Friday and they got rave revues - they were moist and delish!

I also tried a new recipe for dinner on Thursday night. You take chicken breast or boneless pork chops and dip them in egg, then coat with crunched up French's Fried Onions. Then bake at 400 deg for 20-30 min. I did boneless pork chops and used a baking stone and mine took about 28 min. The pork came out so juicy and yummy! We loved it!

On Friday we made cookies for Hope to bring to soccer on Saturday, and since hubby wasn't fond of the pumpkin flavored ones we decided to make his favorite. It's really very simple - you follow the choc chip cookie recipe on the back of the TollHouse bag, then I add about a cup of dry oats to the mixture. They turn out soft and yummy every time!

We enjoyed a bunch of them on Friday night when we had Family Movie night and watched Toy Story 3 together ... which I *may or may not have* cried at the end!

Today was Hope's last day of soccer for this season. They had a tournament and they played 3 games {with 1 hr and 15 min breaks between each game! Yes it was a LONG day!}

I have to say, we were SO blessed by the team she ended up on this year. She knew a couple of the kids already {one is one of her BFF's}, and the rest of the team was made up of really great kids from really great families. We also had a great husband and wife coaching team and they did a wonderful job with the kids. There were several other coaches who chose to yell and scream at their kids and were all about winning at all costs - but our coaches were quiet and calm and coached only with encouraging words and not negativity. Ironically we ended up being one of the best teams in the league and won all but one of our regular games and also 2 out of the 3 tourny games. It just goes to show that all the yelling and competitive craziness doesn't always produce the best team! The kids worked so well together, encouraged one another and passed the ball often. It wasn't at all about who was getting the glory. I hope and pray that we get another great team like this next year!

Here is Hope with her trophy!

And here are the 5 girls from our team - they were all such good friends by the end of the season and I know they will keep in touch and remain friends.

Oh and the shakin' thing .... Joy had her dance class today too. She is taking beginner Jazz/Hip Hop and is loving it! She is having a lot of fun with it and I'm so happy that she has found something that she really enjoys!

Another Non-Recipe Recipe

Today was Canadian Thanksgiving and since I grew up in Canada and still have many family members and friends that live there we decided we'd have a little celebration here today too.

Unfortunately a busy weekend meant I was pretty much unprepared so I had to pull together a last minute Thanksgiving dinner late this afternoon!

I really didn't have time to cook a turkey so I bought one of those fully cooked rotisserie chickens. I made stuffing and heated green beans. And of course we had to have our cranberry sauce. So even though we were missing a few items it was still a really yummy dinner!

Then, I wanted something pie-ish for dessert - but since I'm trying to eat healthy I didn't want to make anything too fancy. {Nor did I have the time.} Sooooo, I made these tonight and the girls and I GOBBLED them up ... they were SO SUPER DELISH and easy!

Here is my non-recipe:
*Peel one apple per person / slice it into thin slices
*Use one ramekin per person and throw the apple slices into each one. Make sense? One bowl per person - one sliced apple in each bowl.
*Add a tsp of butter or margerine to the top of the apples in each bowl.
*Add a tsp of cinnamon to each bowl.
*Add a tsp of brown sugar to each bowl {or sub white sugar if you have no br. sugar on hand}
*Pour a little apple juice or apple cider into the each bowl.
*If you so desire add any other yummy toppings such as - raisins, oats, nuts, etc.

Put all of the bowls on to a baking sheet and put the whole thing in the oven at 375 deg for about 40 min or until the apples are tender.

Serve warm with cool whip .... YUMMY!!

Hawaiian Chicken and Rice

Soooo, life has been so super busy lately and I'm trying to use my crock pot more and more so that at the end of the day I don't have to try and plan dinner.

Tonight we had Hawaiian Chicken and Rice and I had to share because it was so simple and yummy {and healthy!}.

Cut up chicken breast into bite sized pieces {you could also add the pieces whole and chop it after it's cooked, but I happen to like to chop ahead of time.}
I used about 4 large chicken breasts.


Add the chicken to the crock pot.
Cut up 1 med. sized green pepper into large chunks and throw them into the crock pot too.
Drain a large can of pineapple chunks, then toss the pineapple in the crock.
Add 1/2 cup of soy sauce.


Put the lid on and let cook for about 4 hours on low. If using frozen chicken you may need to add a little time. Keep an eye on it though because all crock pots cook at different rates and when you cut the chicken into bite sized pieces they tend to cook quicker.

When it's almost dinner time cook some brown rice according to package directions. Serve the rice with the chicken mixture over top {add some of the liquid too, it's yummy!}

I'm only a tiny fan of spicy things but I think this would also be great with a little crushed red pepper added to it.


PS. Some people don't like the taste of cooked pineapple {my daughters included}, but I would still add it for flavor and just let each person choose if they would rather not eat it.

Enjoy!
***hey - who wants to share some easy, healthy, crock pot recipes with me??!! Pretty, pretty please?????***

Lunch Time!

Recently my friend Shawna posted about how lunchtime can often be a nightmare with everyone trying to figure out what they want. And even though I'm a stay at home Mom who homeschools, I still feel like lunchtime is always a battle.

Taking Shawna's idea and running with it I decided to buy these cool ziploc containers to help inspire some creative lunches.

The first day we tried them out this is what the girls came up with ...

Shawna also gave me some awesome websites full of creative lunch ideas - You have to check these out!

Here is one of the coolest sites for lunch box ideas. After looking through this site I totally want to buy some cute cookie cutters and make every lunch this fun!

And here is another.

You know what else? I fully believe that kids will enjoy fruits and veggies more when they have them in this fun way!

I hope to share more of our fun lunches in the months to come ...

HomeMade Crockpot Applesauce

OK first you have to know that I don't have a real recipe for this ... but you'll see that it's soooo easy, you really don't even need instructions!

Go to a local orchard and pick fresh apples - this is the best part!

Peel and chop apples and dump them into your crockpot. It took about 10-14 apples to fill my crockpot - it all depends on how big your crock is and how big your apples are.


Then dump in about 1/2 cup to one cup of liquid {either water or apple juice}, and add about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a large TBSP of cinnamon.

Let it simmer in the pot for about 6-8 hours on low. You can stir periodically if you wish.

When your apples are all nice and mushy you can decide if you like your sauce chunky or smooth. If you like it chunky, simply spoon into jars as is. If you like it smooth pour it into a blender or food processor and pulse for a quick second or two, then pour into jars.

I DO NOT do the whole water bath canning method - although I have done it before - but honestly it's just too much work for me. I let the jars sit on the counter overnight and then put them in the freezer until we're ready to eat them.

And let me tell you it is Y U M M Y ! ! !

Muffins that taste like Donuts.

I kid you not.
I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on the Pioneer Woman blog and just KNEW I had to try it.

These things are the real deal friends. They really DO taste like those heavy, cake donuts that are covered in cinnamon sugar. The only downfall - shock of all shocks my kids did NOT like them! They each took a bite and said 'I don't like that kind of donut!' Guess what? More for Mama!

Click here to go to the recipe! Enjoy!!

PS. be sure to save some extra melted butter for drizzling over them just before eating ... mmmmmmmmm!