B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I can't spell "bananas" without singing that Gwen Stefani song! 

Anyways I'm a huge fan of bananas! They are an excellent source of potassium to help heal sore muscles. And they are super cheap! Also bananas freeze well so whenever ours get too ripe I peel them and place them in a ziploc. I use our frozen bananas for smoothies, thaw for banana bread or our favorite "Banana Swirl!" 

A kid show "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" has a short clip on how to make banana swirl so we tried it and loved it! It is super easy and a healthy alternative to ice cream. It still has the texture of ice cream but not the calories! 

Ingredients:

2 peeled frozen bananas 

1/4 cup milk 

Optional:

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tbsp peanut butter 

Cinnamon 

Toppings 

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Wait about 5-10 mins to allow bananas to thaw a little bit

2. Blend!! You may have to help mix it or add more milk to get it moving. Blend until all mixed and smooth. 

3. Eat!

Banana swirl 

We topped ours today with chocolate chip morsels and peanuts! It was delicious!! 

Parker sharing 

Happy summer! 

Real Kid Lunches (part 2)

In honor of school in full swing and having to pack a kid lunch 2 days a week...sometimes I'm in need of inspiration! That being said I know others may need a little inspiration too!  Here are four lunches I have made for my kid.

Real preschool lunches:

1. Toothpick kabobs: cucumber, lunch meat and grape! Mini saltine crackers, string cheese and a personalized clementine

2. Grapes, goldfish, candy (violet asked "who's name is on my candy?!"), applesauce pouch and mini burritos (leftover from dinner)

3. Homemade tuna slider, pickle, fruit loops and apple slices 

4. Fruit loops, plums and oranges, cream cheese and jelly sandwiches and meat roll ups

Hope these help give you ideas for your kids lunches! 

Real Kid Lunches

I'm always interested on blogs and Pinterest what people are feeding their kids. I often ask my friends what their kids eat too! I ask myself a lot  "what do I feed my kids today?" A lot of the times for lunch it's left overs from dinner or something fast and easy. I'm thankful my kids aren't picky eaters, so they eat what I make for dinner. Violet is old enough to tell me what she wants to eat, so I make up two options and let her choose.  I'm not opposed to chicken nuggets or fish sticks! Let's face it kids eat them and they are easy. (but I feel guilty sometimes about them.) I always try to make their meal healthy. Whether that's adding fresh fruit and veggies, or homemade food. 

Here are real kid lunches I made for my 3 year old:

Ice cube tray: fish sticks w/ketchup, pretzels,cucumber, strawberries, black beans, edamame and almonds

Tray lunch: Spinach w/tomatoes, red bell peppers, homemade crunchy onion baked chicken, grapes and oranges  

Leftover dinner: Spinach Salad w/tomatoes and avacado, carrots, corn on the cob and mini meatloaves 

Easy lunch: Watermelon, plum, homemade sweet potatoes fries, tomatoes and ham lunch meat rolls

Tray lunch: strawberries, salad (again! Violet loves them), fish sticks, cucumber and carrots

Hope this helps anyone out there looking for quick and easy lunch ideas for their kids. 

Recent Recipes

I love Pinterest mostly for their recipes. I have a board where I pin "things I've made" and it's easy to look back at the review I made of the recipe and make a quick meal plan for the week. Feel free to check out my review on Pinterest or follow the link to the original recipe. (Sorry for the long web address my laptop is ancient and I'm having to use the iPad and can't figure it out...)

Lately all I've been cooking is new recipes from Pinterest. Here are a few of my recent food finds: 

Nutella Chocolate Pie- this was amazing! And the "secret ingredient" surprised everyone! I made this when my inlaws were visiting and they thought I was playing a joke on them when I told them what was in it! They said it tasted so good and well the pie didn't even last 24 hours! You can find more about the recipe here: <a href="http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2010/05/nutella-pie-with-strawberries.html"> Neverhomemaker </a>

Clean Baked Spaghetti- honestly it's not the "clean" version, because I already had the regular food ingredients.  Nonetheless it was delicious and a good change on one of my favorite foods! http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-spaghetti-pie/

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies- sure they say healthy but thank The Lord they still taste good! Violet ate 4 today...I won't tell you how many I've had :) http://www.theskinnyfork.com/blog/2013/3/18/healthy-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies

Quinoa Pizza Bites- I love quinoa! This was a really good recipe! The kids loved the bite size pieces and well I liked thinking I was eating a healthy pizza! http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2012/10/quinoa-pizza-bites.html

French Onion Pork Chops- I have a tendency when baking chicken or pork to have it be really dry. Even when I follow the directions. This was amazing!! It was moist, flavorful and everyone asked for more! 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/french_onion_pork_chops/

What new recipes have you tried lately? 

Cake Batter Ice Cream

To kick off summer we made Cake Batter Ice cream this weekend. We received a Cusinart ice cream maker for a wedding gift 5 years ago (thanks Angela and Ben!) and we use it pretty often! It is super easy to make!

I found the recipe on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/112519690662833683/ 

It was very simple! Instead of yellow cake mix I used Funfetti....because it's fun! 

Here is the mix churning! I let it churn for about 25 minutes:

It is the consistency of soft serve, so I placed it in a plastic container and let it freeze for a few hours.

Oh and Violet added extra sprinkles! 

We ate it after dinner and it was too good, so good that I may have had seconds :) next time I will use less sugar because it was very sweet. But it will be made again...soon, very soon! 

What did you eat today?

I think it is interesting what people eat. I'm always curious to know, mostly so I could have some fresh ideas in my own meals.

So to entertain myself and my blog readers I documented what I ate today.

Breakfast: Waffle and fruit
Lunch: tuna, pretzels, grapes, string cheese and carrots
Snack: yogurt and a banana muffin (not pictured)
Dinner: Beef stroganoff, veggies and toast
Dessert: Brownie

Oatmeal Obsession

If you have been a long time reader you may have read a few posts in my breakfast woes (read here.....). I feel like I'm getting a better grasp on planning a filling and satisfying breakfast these days. Just in time for baby #2 arrival when our schedule will be crazy for a little while :)

This week I have had an oatmeal obsession! Seriously I've eaten the same thing for breakfast all week! This never happens!!! It is filling, tasty and good!! I discovered overnight oats a few months ago and loved having them ready first thing in the morning. But the mushy-ness of the oats weirds me out sometimes. This week I've been making my oatmeal right when I wake up, put them in the fridge for about an hour and then eat them. This has worked perfect for me to drink a glass of water first, get myself or Violet ready, and actually be hungry in the morning. Because I only let the oats soak for an hour the consistency leaves the oats still a little crunchy and the extra milk reminds me of eating cereal. Anyways I still like my other recipe but glad I created this new one to mix up my taste buds.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup old fashion oatmeal
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup of milk
**your choice of fruit

-In a bowl mix all the ingredients together except the fruit
-Place in the fridge for 1 (or overnight)
-When ready to eat stir all together, top with fruit and enjoy!

mmmm goodness in a bowl

Dinner

I love to eat. I love to cook. I love blogging recipes (bc then I have a place to store them when I'm in a cooking rut(sp?)!) And I love simple but delicious recipes.  I made two new really easy dinners that I must make again! 1. Asian Spaghetti Squash w/ Edamame 2. Garlic Butter Tilapia

The Winner:  Garlic Butter Tilapia!  I had never cooked with it before and was a little nervous. I usually just bake salmon because its my favorite. But this tilapia may have stolen my taste buds.

Ingredients:
- 4 Tilapia fillets
-3 tbsp butter
-1 tbsp garlic or 2 cloves, minced
-1 tsp paprika
-1 tsp dill
-salt and pepper

Sides:
-1 bag of instant couscous
-steamed broccoli


1.  Pre-heat oven to 350. Spray baking pan with non-stick spray.  Rinse fish in cold water and place on pan.

2.  In a small bowl mix butter and seasonings, and place in microwave for 20 seconds. Or until butter is melted.  Pour over fish. (I made more of this sauce to season the couscous)

3. Bake in oven for 12-15 mins or until fish flakes easily.  Serve over couscous and Enjoy

Tasty Tilapia

So Good! I was a little sad Bryson took the leftovers for lunch (selfish, i know). But I guess I'll have to make it again...soon!

Dinner

This past week I was all about incorporating new recipes into our dinner meals.  I think pinterest has helped in this, but also starting a new year makes me want to start with new, fresh meal ideas.  I was wanting easy, fresh, healthy meals for the week and came across a Salmon recipe. I LOVE Salmon.  I usually only cook it one way, but was willing to try this new recipe.

Roasted Salmon with Zucchini, Lemon and Dill

Ingredients:

• 3 medium zucchini, cut diagonally
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 1 tbsp dill weed seasoning
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 4 salmon fillets

1.  Heat broiler.  Combine zucchini, lemons and dill in a large baking pan.  Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat

2. Place salmon fillets between veggies and season with salt and pepper.  Broil about 15-20 mins or until veggies are tender and fish flakes easily with fork. 

Tabouli

I served it with a side of Tabouli, which is so tasty and a great alternative to our usual rice with salmon meal.  Any brand would work, just follow the directions on the back.

I will definitely be adding this Salmon recipe into our repertoire of meals.  It was absolutely delicious!

Green Mocha Smoothie

Santa gave us a new blender for Christmas!

Kitchen Aid awesome blender

We are soooo excited about this blender! Our old blender broke about a month ago and I've been craving a smoothie! So this morning I whipped together a new smoothie recipe I've been wanting to try: (measurements are not precise...sorry!)

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 handful (or 1 cup) of spinach
• 1 packet of instant coffee (i'm sure brewed coffee would work too)
• 1 spoonful cocoa powder
• 1 spoonful sugar
• 1 spoonful peanut butter
• a large handful of ice cubes

Mocha Smoothie

This was different from my usual Green Monster smoothie I make, but still very good!!  I liked that there was a lot of flavor! I could taste the peanut butter, banana and a hint of the coffee. Violet liked it too!  It was very yummy and I'm glad I got a helping of veggies without even trying.  Definetly making this again soon!

Almond Graham Squares

I was in charge of bringing the dessert for our Father's Day BBQ.  Thinking about that we were going to be eating a heavy steak, potatoes, corn, veggies dinner, I was trying to find something that was light and tasty. And this was a perfect treat!

Ingredients

-1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs

-1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

-1/4 tsp salt

-2 cups sliced Almonds

*optional-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8inch square baking pan with foil, coat with non-stick spray

2. In a medium bowl combine 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 can sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir until moistened. Stir in 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds *and chocolate chips

3. Spread mixture evenly in pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sliced almonds, patting down gently

4. Bake until golden, about 35-40 minutes. Cool completely. Remove from pant, peel off foil and cut into squares.

This dessert was really light and tasty.  My dad brewed some coffee and it was a perfect combo together.  Enjoy!

Green Monster

I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my admiring reader, friend since we were 12 years old, and fellow baby momma,  Kim Smullen for her inspiring words last night, "Um you haven't blogged lately", to get back into the swing of things :) 

A couple of months ago my Sister  posted about making a green smoothie.  I was instantly intrigued and a little grossed out. Who wants to taste spinach in a smoothie?  After reading a few more other blogs about green smoothies I thought I would give it a try myself.  Worst case scenario, I could throw it in the sink and go pick up a jamba juice or something.  Well it was better than expected and didn't even taste spinach!  I've made two this week already. You can add whatever fruit you desire, but make sure you add the spinach, trust me, it's good for you!

1 cup packed spinach
1 cup ice
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp yogurt
1/2 cup sliced cantaloupe
1/2 cup grapes

1. Start with the spinach first and put everything in a blender

2. Blend well

3. Pour into cup and enjoy!

Omelete Muffins

I follow a friend of a friend's Fitness Blog that is geared especially towards women. A few weeks ago she posted an easy breakfast recipe that I thought I would try. (I've made it twice and have changed up the ingredients each time, so make it according to your taste)  This was a very very easy recipe to follow (I added the 'saute' part for preference).  I liked the how basically it's an omelete but just a little different.  Also, it's packed with veggies, so it's a healthy way to start the day.  

Ingredients: (yields approx. 6 muffins)
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shredded cheese
*optional: pepper, hot sauce or other seasonings

1. Preheat oven to 350 and mist a muffin pan with non-stick spray

2. In a medium pan on high heat, add oil and chopped veggies; cook until slightly tender or 5 minutes

3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Scoop 1/2 cup of mixture into each muffin tin

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Let cool 1-2 minutes and then remove and EAT! 

If any leftovers place in fridge or in freeze and microwave in the morning for a quick breakfast :)

Same recipe, different ingredients: onion, spinach, green bell pepper, and tomatoes

Hot and Sour Soup

I love hot and sour soup! The Chinese take-out restaurant across the street (no, literally it takes 2 minutes to walk there from our front door) makes it so good!!  As we are recovering from eating really delicious food on the wonderful cruise we took, I thought I'd make us a light meal of soup and sides of fried tofu and steamed edamame.



-1 can chicken broth
-2 soup cans of water
-2 tbsp soy sauce
-1 pkg dried shiitake mushrooms or 1 can sliced mushrooms
-1 small can bamboo shoots
-1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
-2 tbsp cornstarch* (add more for a thicker consistency)
-2 tbsp vinegar
-1 egg, beaten
-2 green onions, chopped



1.(if you are using dried shiitake mushrooms, follow directions on back of package first) Combine chicken broth, water, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, cornstarch, soy sauce vinegar, and srirracha sauce.

2. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened.

3. Gradually pour egg into boiling soup, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in green onions and serve.


Easy-peasy!

Snack Time

Somewhere between lunch and dinner, I become a crazy hungry woman! And if I dont eat a snack asap, it gets even worse. So I have this snack just about every day: Yogurt + Grape Nuts + Chia seeds.  There's a good crunch with the added grape nuts and it keeps me sane until dinner time :)

I know you are probably thinking, "Activia?? Doesn't that make you...ummm you know...go!?" Why, yes, yes it does. If you know me, you know I'm pretty open and honest about my "business".  But it doesn't make you have diarrhea like I've had some think.  Activia helps "move along" your digestive system.  And having a healthy digestive system makes you and me a more happy and healthy person in the long run. Read more here 

Sweet Potato Taco

Cinco De Mayo meal #2 you have a spell on me...You might remember my Not-so-ordinary Tacos awhile back.  A vegetarian and healthy twist on tacos made in a crock pot.  While they were very tasty I took a chance and made something similar, but a little different.  Sweet Potatoes are SO good for you that I try to incorporate them in our meals whenever possible! This was REALLY REALLY good, better than the crockpot tacos.  Bryson was quite impressed with this meal and requested it again already!

Sweet Potato Taco

 Ingredients:
2 Sweet Potatoes
1lb. turkey/hamburger meat
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can black beans
1 Tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 Jalapeno

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Wash and then poke potatoes with a fork/knife all over. Set on cookie sheet and place in oven for 50 mins.

2.  Follow instructions on taco seasoning package to cook meat.

3. Open can of black beans and heat on stove or in microwave. 

4.  Once potatoes are finished, allow to cool for 5 minutes. Cut open and pile meat and fixings on top.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry! :)

Chicken Tostadas

In honor of Cinco De Mayo tomorrow, here's a yummy and easy recipe



Chicken Tostadas

Ingredients:

4-6 tostada shells

4 chicken breasts, cut into pieces

garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp oil

2 cans diced green chilies

*Your choice of fixings:

grated cheese

refried beans/black beans

diced tomatoes

lettuce

lime



1. Season diced chicken. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for about 5 mins, then add in the diced green chilies. Cook until chicken is done, set aside.

2. Heat oven to 350.  Place tostada shells on a pan and sprinkle with cheese and place in oven, bake for 5-10 mins until cheese is melted. Meanwhile prepare fixings.

3. When the tostada shells are ready start to layer the toppings (example: cheese, beans, lettuce, tomoatoes, etc.) 

We also topped off our tostadas with this hot sauce, which was really good, authentic tasting and spicy:

Enjoy!

Overnight Oats

If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know what a hard time I have with breakfast.  I've been trying to be a little more pro-active in thinking ahead to what to make in the mornings for myself. Often a bowl of cereal or a granola bar doesn't cut it for me and I'm hungry again in 2 hours. I've read a few recipes about making Overnight Oats. I modified the PBfingers recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats. These are so tasty! I'm use to only eating hot oatmeal, so I had to mentally prepare for the cold taste of oatmeal.

Here's the original recipe:
1/2 cup old fashion oatmeal
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup milk
1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp peanut butter

Stir together and set in fridge overnight! Ta-da! It's that easy folks! (I didn't add a final picture, but honestly it didn't look pretty, but it remind me of Cocoa Pebbles cereal! My childhood favorite! My parents would never buy because of how sweet it was....good thing our babysitter always had them at her house :)


**We doubled the recipe (which gave me and Bryson plenty to share and lasts about 2 days), used crunchy peanut butter (I liked the extra crunch for texture), regular milk (she used almond milk) and added about 2 tbsp sugar. And we put a few slices of banana with it!**

Give them a try! They kept me full until it was time for lunch too!

Breakfast is VERY important! What did YOU eat this morning?

I Love Lentils

Tonight was my first time cooking with Lentils! I've eaten them before, but had never come across a recipe/or thought to cook with them. I'm so glad I found this recipe for Protein Power Goddess Bowl. It was very very delicious and really filling!

I did make a few changes, mostly because I had them already or just changed it according to taste.

My changes:

-Did not use Brown Rice or Parsley

-Used 1 small Tomato

-Used 1 White Onion

-Used Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing instead of the Tahini

-Added 2 Bell Peppers (red and yellow)

-Added Broccoli

-Added 1 tbsp Chia Seeds...duh!

If you are looking for a healthy meal, this is it! It's packed with protein and really flavorful! We all really enjoyed it! I of course added a few drops of Sriracha to my helping for spice! We thought this would be a good side too if you were cooking chicken or steak...hmmm maybe next time :)

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Casserole

Thanks to friend/fellow blogger/super cute soon mom-to-be, Lauren ,helped me with my breakfast woes! She recommended ohsheglows to find some tasty recipes. Oh boy, I spent most of my Saturday morning on this website! All/most of the recipes are vegan, but you can substitute with regular ingredients that you have or skip some! ha! (I didn't have pecans for the casserole)  I'm always a fan of trying new recipes and this one was GREAT! There's definitely a natural sweetness to it along with the heartiness of oatmeal. If you know me I love a good sweet, so I had a little more brown sugar to my portion. After we had our fill for breakfast, I put the casserole in the fridge. Later in the afternoon for V's snack it had a great consistency to roll into little balls for her to eat.

Oatmeal Ingredients:

1/2 cup regular oats
2 cups organic soy milk (or milk of choice)
1 small sweet potato, peeled, chopped (made 2 cups raw or 1.5 cups cooked)
1 ripe large banana
1 tbsp chia seeds (if you omit, you may have to reduce the milk)
1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/8th tsp nutmeg + 1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Crunchy Pecan Topping:
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp Earth Balance (or butter)
2 tbsp flour (I used spelt flour)
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used Sucanat

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Bring several cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add in the peeled and chopped sweet potato. Cook over medium heat, for about 5 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Give the pot a quick rinse and then add in the oats, milk, and chia seeds. Whisk well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. With a potato masher, mash in the cooked sweet potato and the banana into the pot. I left some chunks for texture. Now stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, nutmeg, and salt to taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Cook on low for another few minutes.

4. Make the crunchy pecan topping by mixing together the pecans, flour, Earth Balance (or butter), and brown sugar with a fork. until very clumpy. Pour the oatmeal into a baker dish (I used a 4 cup/8 inch casserole dish) and spread out evenly. Now sprinkle on the pecan topping.

5. Transfer the oats to a casserole dish (8inch/4cup or whatever you have!) and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, at 350F. After 20 minutes, set oven to BROIL and broil on low for a couple minutes, watching very closely so you do not burn the topping. Remove from oven and serve. makes 3-4 servings.

Note: You can reheat the oatmeal by mixing in a bit of milk and heating in the microwave. However, it is also very good COLD, straight from the fridge with a splash of milk too! YUM!



I will definitely be making more recipes from her website! You should try some too!