Hunger Knows No Season

Hunger knows no season. It doesn't know that food pantry supplies tend to dwindle down in the summer months. Stomachs are still in need of food and nutrition whether it is a Saturday morning or a Thursday night, June or December. In my area, two well known food banks are working hard to replenish supplies and stock local food banks. I am so happy to be apart of this event! On Saturday morning I will be stationed at the front door of a local grocery store with a cart and handouts about hunger. My hope is that people will find it in their hearts to donate non-perishable food items and/or monetary funds so we can help stock the area food supply. All over the area local grocery stores are participating in this event, coined "Saturday Jubliee". If you can, buy a few extra items next time you are at the store and donate it to a local pantry. Some much needed items include:

peanut butter
jelly
tuna fish
canned fruits of all varieties
canned vegetables of all kinds
applesauce
beans, canned and dry
broth, all varieties
powdered milk
instant potatoes
boxed meals
pancake mix
cereal
oatmeal
pasta
pasta sauce
canned meat
powdered drink mixes
soup
bottled water

Recipe: BBQ Chopped Salad

My sister in law works for a restaurant called California Pizza Kitchen. They serve a salad that I am madly in love with!! I believe it is called the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad. You would think I would know the full name of this dish, but when I go visit her at work, she knows my order so I don't even look at the menu!

Due to my work schedule, I do not visit CPK as often as I would like which means I crave that salad more than often. I finally called her and asked exactly what they put in their salad so I could make some at home. I did not measure a darn thing, I just threw it all together and enjoyed my salad. It is such a filling, tasty salad especially in the summer when I can get some of the ingredients straight from my garden!

Ingredients
chopped Romaine and Iceberg Lettuce
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
black beans
white corn kernnels
fresh chopped basil
fresh chopped cilantro
BBQ sauce
ranch dressing (I make homemade buttermilk ranch)
diced tomato
diced jicama
chunks of avocado
grilled chicken breast
lime

First, we grill the chicken breast and then dice it up. I do not eat the chicken, but my husband loves it. He usually bastes the chicken in the BBQ sauce for added flavor. In a big bowl I add the lettuces, cilantro, basil and jicama. I don't add anything else simply because if there are leftovers, I don't want anything ruined. In my own bowl I add in the lettuce mixture, then I add corn, tomato, beans, cheese, avocado, fresh squeezed lime juice, BBQ sauce and ranch and then I toss it all up. It is that easy! The real recipe calls for tortilla strips, but I don't care for those. If I take the time to make it all nice and fancy like CPK, it looks something like this (the hubs enjoys his salad with all the fixings, minus the strips):

Recipe: Key Lime Pie

Tonight I made my first key lime pie! Well, it isn't really key lime as I couldn't find a single key lime in the three stores I went to so I guess it is just a lime pie, but still, I can't wait to try it! Tomorrow is Easter. My dear, sweet aunt is battling a very hard journey with cancer and in an effort to help her gain some weight, I am making this light, refreshing pie in hopes it will settle well on her stomach and help fatten her up. This was quite honestly the easiest dessert I've ever made. I read no less than 20 different recipes on-line and in recipe books before deciding to just throw them all together and make my own version. I have yet to taste this pie, but so far it looks nice and it smells darn good. Tomorrow will be the true test!

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
14oz sweetened condensed milk
graham cracker pie crust

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate eggs into two clean glass bowls.

2. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. I whisked by hand and it took about 5-6 minutes to start to see the peaks. Once the peaks form, set it aside.

3. Beat the yolks well. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and lime zest. Mix all of this well.

4. Slowly mix the lime mixture into the egg whites and then pour the entire mixture into the pie crust.

5. Bake the pie on 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on counter. Chill in fridge until served.

I'm going to garnish this with a dollop of whipped cream.

The little flecks in the pie is lime zest. If I had time I would have made a homemade pie crust, but we were also dying Easter eggs while I baked this! Maybe next time...

Butterfly House

Despite the fact that it is technically spring, winter has decided to set up shop and stay in town a bit longer. I am so sick and tired of cold weather!! It is about 20 degrees today, gag. I am longing for warm weather and sunshiny days. I decided we needed a trip to the tropics so after donning our winter coats, we headed out to the Butterfly House where we could pretend we were somewhere toasty and beautiful, even if it were only temporary.

The Butterfly House is another wonderful local attraction in our city. It is literally a house full of butterflies, about 3,000 at any given time. As you enter the house you are greeted by not only warm and humid temps, but your senses are overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding you. Butterflies of all shapes and sizes and colors flutter around you. Tropical flowers adorn the entire facility and gentle waterfalls can be heard in the background. It is a truly magnificent experience. In addition to the actual butterfly house you can also view a variety of insects such as hissing cockroaches and millipedes and other creepy crawlies that freak me out, but totally entertain my boys. It is an afternoon well spent! Enjoy the beautiful pictures!

This is one of the 250 birthday cakes throughout the city in honor of our 250th birthday. 

Blue Morpho on a flower.

I don't know this species, but its markings were gorgeous.

Do you see the blue butterfly in flight?

Blue Morpho Butterfly

I love this little waterfall!

Another Blue Morpho Butterfly, I love her colors!

These are all Blue Morphos inside a little tree "cave". 

A Blue Morpho with his wings closed. 

Enjoying a lunch of rotting fruit, yum?!

See if you can click on this picture to make it bigger, the details on the wings are amazing.

Hibiscus Flower

No clue what this flower is, but it is so pretty!

Please do not copy or use my photos, thank you!

With a Chick Chick Here and a Chick Chick There

It's a girl! Times six! We are official chicken owners as of yesterday afternoon. If you had asked me 15 years ago what I would be doing with my life I can say with certainty that playing chicken farmer was NOT on that list! How things have changed.

Our friend, Greg, lives on three acres not too far from us. He enjoys wildlife and is a country boy at heart. He approached us a few weeks ago, asking if we'd like to get some baby chicks. We'll keep them in our home in a brooder until they are ready for the coop he is making (which is quite the coop!). We have six chicks here and our other family friends have six more chicks. Together we'll have 12 chickens to lay eggs. You know my stance on animals therefore none of these babies will ever been harmed or used for meat. They will live a long, happy life eating an all natural diet and will have access to sunlight and clean water and they'll be free to roam when they want and of course they have access to lots of love (hehe!). Yes, I realize how hippie that sounds, but if you have no idea of the horrid conditions chickens are exposed to in mass farming, please educate your self right away. The deplorable conditions are not only inhumane, but they pose a serious health concern to both the animal and the consumer.

Here are my sweet girls: Shelly, Sandy, Emily, Lola, Hippie Chick and Betty White. Aren't they precious?! They are so sweet and love to play with us. I have a feeling we'll miss these little darlings when they graduate to the coop, but luckily we are close enough that we can visit a few times a week.

Not Just a Snow Day

This winter we've been hit HARD with bad weather. I don't believe we've had this many snow days in quite sometime. Kids are restless, parents are scrambling to find sitters for their kids so they can go to work and schools are trying to figure out how to juggle a multitude of school related issues that are effected by these lost days. I bet many of you didn't realize that one of these school related issues is food. I'm not talking about food budget or what to plan for lunch, I am talking about the children who will go without a meal or two when school is not in session. For many students, school is the one place they will receive breakfast and lunch. School is the place where they are guaranteed access to milk, protein, grains, fruits and veggies. Sure school lunches may not be the best source of nutrition, but that food sure does feel good to a hungry belly. I was absolutely blown away when I popped on the computer tonight and read this article:

 http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/2014/02/17/school-lunches-st-louis-cold-weather/5567571/

Children should be playing in the snow or building forts out of blankets on their snow days, not walking the frozen streets in hopes of scoring a meal or money to buy food! Imagine this scenario: a child ate breakfast and lunch at school on Friday, February 14th. He was off school Saturday and Sunday and again on Monday for the holiday/snow day (many schools were going to use this holiday as a make up day). Who knows and what this child has eaten since Friday afternoon. His first real meal may very well be Tuesday morning when he walks through the school doors. No child should ever have to worry about when and what he will eat. No parent should ever have to wonder how they will put food on the table. Hunger is a social issue that not only pisses me off, but it saddens to the core. There has to be something we can do to help this innocent children. I give regularly to the local food pantry and I also hold several food drives in my preschool, but I can't help but wonder what else we can do to to help. The next time you are at the store, pick up some extra cans of food and donate it to the local food pantry, help make a difference!

Is It Worth It?

It is 11:11pm on a Saturday night. The house is silent and still. I sit here by the glow of the computer going through my paperwork, trying to place 77 preschool students into prospective classes for the upcoming school year. I have already physically worked a 40 hour work week in my early childhood program. As the teacher and director, I work a double load. After my kids go to bed each night I sit up answering emails, writing lessons, going over employee needs, all of the things I couldn't do while teaching. I am tired and wearing thin, yet I love my job. My sweet Alex claimed to have a bellyache earlier so he is sprawled out on the couch next to me. I look at his little face as he slumbers away and I wonder if this is all worth it. Sure, my salary double this year and I've been able to provide my boys with so much more. Yes, I have job security as far as I know. True, I work in a very positive, healthy environment as opposed to what I walked away from. I love my staff, my students, my families and the foundation of what has become in my program. I can say with 99% certainty that I "heart" my job. Yet, I cannot help but wonder if my kids are suffering. They are in school full time now so working makes sense. I miss a lot of special events like last Thursday when Brennan read a petition at the all school Mass. Or the days when they had a noon dismissal and I needed our college aged sitter to get them from school. Part of me thinks, "They love Danielle and had fun, it was ONLY three hours!" The other part of me thinks, "You should be the one they come running to each day, not a babysitter!" I look at Alex's sweet features and wonder if I am screwing up my kids. Is this job and all the work all worth it in the end? One day they will be all grown up and won't need me when they have a bellyache at 10:00pm. That really pulls at my ol' heart strings. How do I know if I am making the "right" choice for my family?

Recipe: Quiche

Around here we call quiche "breakfast pie" because it is just a kid-friendly word. I make this quiche at least one a month because the boys will gobble this up and it is so easy to make. I serve this easy meal with whole wheat blueberry muffins and fresh fruit.

Ingredients
Deep dish pie shell
5 eggs
1 cup half & half OR skim milk
3 sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped spinach
Bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use any breakfast meat, but the kids like bacon)
1 cup shredded cheese (we like cheddar, but you can use your favorite)
Salt, pepper, garlic, dry mustard (to your liking)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs well. Add in half & half (or milk), salt, pepper, garlic and dry mustard. Sometimes I even add in a few dashes of hot sauce (shhhh!).

3. Pour the egg mixture into the pie shell.

4. Add in bacon, onion and cheese.

5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until set.

When I make this I keep the green onion and the spinach on one side of the quiche and place all of the bacon on the opposite side, this pleases the vegetarian and the meat eaters alike! We never have any leftovers. You could add in any ingredients of your liking such as sliced tomatoes, diced ham, Swiss cheese, etc. I've served this for both breakfast and an easy weeknight dinner.

Recipe: Pot Pie

Our dear friends had their first baby a few weeks ago so I decided to make up some easy to freeze meals for them. When I had the boys the absolute best gifts were prepared dinners. I didn't have to worry about going to the store, cooking or cleaning up a big mess. It was so nice to just sit down and eat, especially when I was trying to juggle a newborn and a toddler. I decided to make double batches of the meals so we could have quick homemade dinners this week. Today I made stuff shell pasta, pot roast with carrots and potatoes and pot pie. I have to share this pot pie as it was so darn easy and it tastes pretty darn good! I didn't bake this pot pie, I just popped it straight into the freezer. Tomorrow night I will throw it in the oven and let it bake while I enjoy a clean kitchen! Note: I didn't measure much of anything, I just kinda threw a bunch of ingredients together based on what I thought sounded and looked good. Adjust as needed to fit your dietary needs.

Ingredients
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
Diced onion (I used about half of a small yellow onion)
Diced potato (I used four medium sized potatoes)
3.5 cups frozen veggie mix (I used green beans, sweet peas, carrots and corn medley, you can always use                                               fresh veggies, but I was strapped for time)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup low fat half and half
Chicken breast, cooked and diced (I boiled 3 large boneless skinless breasts & cubed them)
Pie crust (I used a Pillsbury pie crust because I was too darn busy to make one!)
Salt, pepper, minced garlic to your liking

Directions
1. Melt butter in a large, deep skillet or pan. Toss in onion, potato and veggies. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and minced garlic. Stir often so they do not burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. You'll want to cook this a good 15-20 minutes or until tender.

2. Sprinkle flour into veggies and mix well.

3. Slowly pour broth into the veggie mix. Slowly add in half & half. Mix often until mixture is thick and bubbly and heated all the way through. Then add in the chicken and heat all the way through.

4. Pour mixture in a large round casserole dish OR pour into two smaller dishes (I used two 8x8 pans).

5. Unroll pie crust and place on top of mixture. I used two 8x8 dishes and one crust fit perfectly on top (I fluted the edges). Cut a few slits on top so the steam can escape while baking.

6. This is where I just placed my dishes into the freezer to eat one night this week. You can pop this right into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes. If you notice the edges of the crust getting too dark, you can wrap it in foil.

Serve this with a salad for a super tasty, easy dinner!

What?!

Last night I happily crawled into bed with a stack of magazines I had accumulated over the past two months (did I ever tell you that being a director AND teacher is time consuming?!) and started to read my way through them. My eyes fell on an article about losing two dress sizes so I instantly flipped right to that page in hopes of finding some profound weight loss/maintenance program. Instead I found a list of alternatives such as visit a dietitian, seek out help from a cognitive behavior therapist and consider weight loss surgery. What?! OK, I do agree seeking the help of a dietitian can be beneficial to everyone. And I also agree that enlisting the help of a therapist can be very helpful especially if there is a reason behind your situation (example: you are an emotional eater), but let's be really honest: most people do not have the time, money or resources to seek out this level of help. I was so disappointed in this article!

This past year I lost what I feel is a significant amount of weight. I'll be honest, I cannot say what the exact amount is as I really fluctuated on the scale. I do know that at my absolute heaviest (I want to say that was around March 2009) I was right at 160lbs. I am only 5'2 so that is truly overweight. Granted I had two babies within 2.5 years so I had pregnancy weight after pregnancy weight slapped together. But let's also say I didn't have a food enemy. I loved and welcomed every piece of cake, cookie, chip, cheeseburger, fry, soda and beer that crossed my path. I didn't watch my portions. I ate when I was pissed, happy or just because. I didn't like to sweat so I didn't exercise. But I also hated how I looked. In 2010 I had the worst teaching year on record. Some days I felt like giving up before even getting out of bed. I turned to alcohol and drank A LOT of it to get me through that hellish year. That was the summer I lost a little weight, but it was also the year that my IBS went through the roof. I'll never forget laying on the floor in pain, gasping for breath, as an IBS flair up rocked my body. I couldn't eat most days so that was my "thinnest" at 150lb, still overweight. The summer of 2012 I started walking with a co-worker and finally "dropped" to 147lbs. Then I fell and broke my foot and ripped the ligaments. I ballooned back up to about 154lbs. At Christmas 2012 I was in a size 14 pants and my shirts were large to extra-large. In 2013 my boot came off and I was officially signed off from physical therapy and that is when I said "NO MORE".

I started off slow because I knew myself all too well; if I went into this 110% I would fail. I started by watching portions. When I ate a salad I actually measured out a true serving of dressing and cheese, I just didn't blindly toss things into a bowl. I ate one scoop of potatoes instead of loading up. I waited a few minutes before going back for seconds, many times I found myself to be full. Next I cut out soda. That was hard! I subbed carbonated flavored water for the soda, same fizzy feel, but no calories and no artificial crap pulsing through my veins. I started drinking unsweet green tea. Then I cut out as much processed stuff as possible. We always plant a garden so soon I was able to eat tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and cucumbers from my backyard. I could see results! Last, I added in some mild exercise. I enjoy walking around my neighborhood so I started walking here and there. When the tornado hit in June many of our roads were blocked with trees, downed lines and debris so I stepped away from outdoor walking. I am still very cautious of my foot, even a year later, so walking on and around that scared me. I have not held exercise as a priority as I should and that is my 2014 lifestyle goal. I also made it a point to not snack unless I was truly hungry and to not eat after 8pm.

For breakfast I would have a cup of coffee and a protein drink with skim milk. Lunch was usually a big green salad with tea or I would make "fun" lunches like sliced tomatoes & basil from my garden with fresh mozzarella cheese. Dinner was usually grilled veggies, baked potato and fruit. We grill a lot in the summer so it wasn't uncommon to have grilled veggie kabobs, salad, grilled corn and watermelon. Snacks were foods like Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, cheese, etc. I am a vegetarian so obviously meat is absent from my meals, but I ate beans, eggs, veggie burgers, etc. to make sure I had protein. I can honestly say that this is the best I've felt in a very long time. By September I was down to 137lbs (still technically overweight) and I was in a size 8 pant and my tops are small to medium.

This holiday season I have been lax in my eating habits, but I have been pretty good. My size 8 pants still fit! I haven't weighed myself in literally weeks, I've discovered I do not need that scale. I know I am healthy because I look good and best of all, I feel good. If I can do this, so can you. I was the poster girl for every failed diet I could get my hands on. I tried starving myself (not smart!), Weight Watchers (I gained weight?!) and even OTC pills (stupid!), but it was finally a talk with a friend and a drive from within that got me going. My lifestyle goal (I refuse to say resolution) is to find a simple exercise routine and stick with it. I am happy with my weight, if I lose more that would be great, but if I don't, that is good too. I want to exercise for the health benefits. Here is to a healthy, happy 2014!

Don't Eat That!

Happy Holidays! I've been in full vacation mode this week which means I have hardly left my house opting to stay indoors watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, spending some much desired and needed time with my boys and inhaling copious amounts of my new Keurig coffee! I want to tear up at the thought of going back to work, I just enjoy my time with my kids way too much. As I type it is late Saturday night. Alex is curled up next to me on the couch drifting off to sleep on his beloved Pillow Pet. Brennan is in bed reading one of his many new chapter books. Miles is snug in my bed and little Louie is happily munching away at his bone. I figured it was the perfect time to pop on the computer and play around. I had planned on checking email when I ended up clicking on a Yahoo story about food (what a surprise, right?). The article lists several popular foods, all processed foods, that deceive customers by insinuating it contains a particular food/ingredient when in reality the food item is totally void of the ingredient. You'll see a lot of hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup and dyes listed in these foods. I think the most surprising to me is the lack of blueberries in the blueberry cereal; I had expected dehydrated berries or freeze dried berries or even a sugary juice to be listed! Read the article for yourself at this link: http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/food-fake-out--products-with-misleading-names-and-images-214400945.html

Safe Trick or Treating

Tomorrow night is Halloween! Children of all ages will rush home to gobble up their dinner and then don their costumes. Soon the streets will be filled with children scuffling door to door in hopes of filling their bags with treats. Please consider getting some "safe" treats for kids with food allergies. Most chocolates like Kit-Kat bars, Snickers, Milky Way bars and even some non-chocolates like candy corn can either be made with nuts or in a facility with nuts deeming them unsafe for many children. Consider something like fruit snacks, Skittles, Smarties, pencils and tiny containers of Play-Doh to pass out.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Recipe: Overnight Blueberry French Toast

I am usually all about eating healthy, but sometimes you just need to indulge!! This recipe is almost like a dessert instead of a breakfast dish and it is worth every single calorie swallowed. My dear friend, Kathy, published a cookbook a few years ago with all of the proceeds going to a scholarship that is very near and dear to my heart. I happily purchased a cookbook and began searching for yummy recipes to make. Overnight blueberry french toast has become one of my absolute favorite recipes from this cookbook! I have made it many times for holidays, brunches and even a Sunday night breakfast dinner. We're actually having this evening along with bacon and scrambled eggs. I don't make this often as it is quite an indulgence, I don't even know how many calories is in one serving (not sure I want to know!).

The recipe calls for sliced french bread. Due to food allergies I cannot use just any french bread. Most bakery breads are made in the same facility as peanuts or tree nuts so I usually have to make my own which adds on prep and bake time. I recently discovered that the Jimmy John's in my area sells its day old loafs of bread for $.50 a piece. Two loaves of Jimmy John's bread is perfect for this recipe! Best of all, it is allergen safe for Brennan.

Ingredients
French baguette cut into one inch slices
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I like more)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
Lightly grease a casserole dish. Arrange bread slices in the dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour evenly over the bread. Turn the bread slices to coat evenly. Cover the bread and refrigerate overnight. Just before baking sprinkle the berries over the bread. Heat butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar in a saucepan until bubbly. Drizzle over the berries. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until set. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Pumpkin Bread

It is mid-October and pumpkin food is everywhere you turn. A friend made the comment that she was making pumpkin bread and from the moment I heard her say that I have been craving pumpkin bread. I've never made it so I searched around on my cell one day on my lunch break (well I don't get breaks so I searched while eating and teaching, bad confession!) and decided I'd make time to bake today. I am a busy lady, so busy that I felt the need to multi-task while attempting to bake and totally screwed up the recipe. It is baking now, smells so amazingly yummy, but it certainly is not what I set off making. I hope it tastes good otherwise I wasted all the ingredients and time on nothing! Lesson learned: take time to relax! If you can't even follow a recipe for bread you are doing too much and need to carve time for the simple things in life!

*Update: Dear Lord that bread was simply amazing!! I will make it the wrong way every single time I bake it! It is so moist and has a very subtle pumpkin flavor. Alex begged for pumpkin bread each morning for breakfast. A slice of this tasty bread with a cup of greek yogurt and a banana has been his breakfast of choice all week! We cleared the entire loaf and I need to make more tonight if I can muster up the energy!

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel (I omitted this)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or homemade

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Since you are making this my "messed up way" just mix it all together!! Seriously, I mixed the cream cheese, one egg, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of flour together until it was really creamy and set it aside. Then I sifted together the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. If you want to follow the “Melissa Way” just dump the pumpkin mixture into the cream cheese mixture and make sure you blend it together well. Then place it all inside a lightly greased loaf pan and bake on 350 degree for a very long time...this is where I wondered what the hell I did as the bread wasn't baked in the 45 minutes I had written down. I bet this bread cooked for a good 90 minutes! Keep checking on it to make sure it isn’t burning. This pumpkin bread is seriously addicting! Enjoy!

I'm always looking to make recipes healthier. I plan on making this bread this week, but I will sub local honey for the sugar, all natural applesauce for the vegetable oil and I'll do a "half and half" mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. If I make the bread I'll update with results. 

Eight Funky Foods

Today as I was playing round on Facebook I came across an article on a friend's page. The article lists eight foods that experts refuse to consume and why. I was pretty sure I'd find dairy laced with hormones on the list and I was right, it is number six on the list. If you know me at all, you know my love for cows and my quest to stay away from rBGH tainted dairy. I found this to be an interesting read and wanted to share:

http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12214-8-foods-even-the-experts-won-t-eat.html

Recipe: Healthy "Cookies"

I don't know about you, but I love to indulge in cookies. My favorite is a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie, however I am pretty open to eating any cookie you pass my way. A few weeks ago I was obsessed with Ginger Snap cookies. That love affair has come and gone and now I am back to my beloved chocolate chip cookie. Over the past several months I have lost some weight. It took me awhile to drop three sizes and I am damn proud of my accomplishments! I do not want to sabotage my efforts, but I cannot live without my sweets! Then my friend Abby shared this amazing cookie recipe with me and I am in love!

Now, you cannot make this recipe and except it to be a traditional cookie. It is actually far from anything you'd bake, but it satisfies my sweet tooth, is fairly healthy in my opinion and best of all it is so easy to make!! I'll have to see where she found this recipe so I can give credit where it is due, but for now I shall just share this little gem with you!

Ingredients
2 very ripe bananas (think brown to black colored peel)
1 cup of quick oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
In a bowl, mash bananas well.

Mix in the oats.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

These are awesome straight from the oven! I save the leftovers and just popped them in the microwave when I was ready to indulge. I've certainly eaten my fair share today!

Thank you Abs for sharing this with me!! xoxoxo

I'm Back!!!

It has been 10 months since I last blogged! I have been so very busy and sadly blogging was just not high on list of things to accomplished. Both boys are in elementary school now and I have had a major career change that has effected our family in many ways. When I cook or visit somewhere fun I always think, "I should blog about this...", but then life gets busy and once again this site is pushed away. I miss blogging though so I am going to make it a point to get on here at least twice a month to post. Writing is fun, almost therapeutic to me, so I need to bump it up on my list of priorities and make time for it. With that said, I am off to create my newest recipe post!

Recipe: Potato Soup

My goodness, it has been nearly two months since I last posted! So much has happened in the past two months, I was just super busy. I broke my foot and in addition to the boot I needed physical therapy three times a week. Then our sweet old dog Nick became very sick and needed around the clock care. We had to make the heart wrenching decision to put our boy to sleep. It was such a very sad time, I still miss him terribly. Our other dog, Miles, is just lost without his companion. It is very sad. Brennan woke up one night with a high fever and before long I was caring for a very sick little boy. He tested positive for Influenza B and was down for nearly nine days! We were practically drinking bleach in an effort to keep the illness at bay. Whatever I did worked because nobody else caught it! So to say I have been busy is an understatement!ion

The boys and I started Christmas vacation this afternoon. It is cold and windy and snowy. Winter has finally hit our area! I don't know about you, but warm comfort foods are a must on wintry days like this. As I snuggled on the couch under a blanket watching The Polar Express with the boys, I decided we needed a big pot of potato soup for dinner. Luckily I had all the fixings on hand so potato soup was on the menu!

This soup is easy to make, tastes amazing and is a crowd pleaser, kiddos included! I am not sure how much this makes as I do not really measure stuff out. Bryan had two bowls, I had one and the boys each had one small ladle full. I was still able to put the leftovers in a small plastic container so I am guessing 6 servings? You can always adjust the amounts for your needs.

Ingredients:
5 russet potatoes, baked and skinned
6 slices of bacon, reserve the grease
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons butter
2.5 cups half & half
2.5 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
2.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
sour cream, green onion for garnish, if desired

Directions:
1. Bake potatoes until fully cooked. Peel potatoes, mash well.
2. Cook bacon. Reserve a few slices for garnish, crumble the rest.
3. In a large pot heat up bacon grease. Add in diced onions and garlic and cook until tender.
4. Add in butter and cook until melted.
5. Add in potatoes, bacon crumbles, half & half, broth, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Heat all the way through, but do not boil.
6. Once heated, add in cheese, stirring well. Continue to simmer on low heat.
7. Ladle into bowls, adding sour cream, bits of reserved bacon, shredded cheddar and green onions as desired.

The Switch Witch

Halloween is usually a fun filled holiday for children and adults alike. I mean, who doesn't enjoy dressing up in a crazy costume and getting free candy from all of your neighbors?! I have so many wonderful memories of trick-or-treating as a child. Back then we either made our costumes or we bought the cheap plastic costumes from Venture or Kmart. I fondly remember my homemade costumes like a black witch, Little Bo Peep and a clown. Best of all was coming home from a night of trick-or-treating, dumping out my loot and binging on sugary treats. Personally, I liked to sort out my candies into specific group. Chocolates like peanut butter cups, kisses, Twix, etc. were in the favorite pile. Next was the "OK" candy pile that consisted of treats like Skittles, Star Burst and Now & Laters. The crap pile was full of, well crap, like Raisinets, Smarties and Bit-o-Honey. The crap candy was always thrown away, the OK candy pile was placed in a bowl in the kitchen and the favorites were stashed in my room so I could gorge on them as I liked. I never once questioned whether scarfing down that Kit Kat or smuggling a Snickers would affect my health. I happily gobble away on sweets until my stomach ached and bounced off the wall on a sugar induced high. God, I loved Halloween!!

Fast forward to many, many years later. I am now the mom of a child with severe food allergies. Just one bite of an allergen can make my son very, very sick. Just one bite of an allergen can swell up his throat making breathing next to impossible. Just one bite can literally mean a matter of life and death. Trick or treating is still fun, but coming home to check out our loot is a totally different experience for Bryan and I. Instead of the favorite/OK/crap piles of treats, we have the safe/unsafe pile. Brennan must wait as Bryan and I carefully scour each and every label. Candies without an ingredient label are deemed unsafe. Treats that contain peanuts/tree nuts or are made in a facility with peanuts/tree nuts are totally out of the question. Most chocolates like Kit Kat and Twix are not safe. He is usually able to safely eat candies like Skittles, Start Burst and Nerds. While I am grateful he can at least enjoy those goodies, it is hard to watch his little face as I take all that candy away.

Thank goodness for the Switch Witch! Brennan places all of the unsafe candy in a bag and leaves it on the kitchen table. When he is fast asleep the Switch Witch comes in and takes all of that unsafe candy far away from our house (The candy usually finds its way to Bryan's work). In its place she leaves fun, safe goodies like pencils, fruit snacks, gummy worms, Rice Krispie treats and tattoos. Not only does Brennan get to celebrate Halloween, but he gets a bonus surprise from our beloved Switch Witch! Not many kids can say they have a super cool, super safe witch visit their house on Halloween!

For those of you reading who celebrate Halloween, please consider purchasing some safe treats so ALL trick-or-treaters can enjoy the fun and magic of Halloween. Pencils, fruit snacks, tattoos, Utz brand pretzels, individual baggies of Teddy Grahams or Oreos, Rice Krispie treats and even small containers of Play-doh are safe alternatives for kiddos with nut allergies. I always purchase Utz brand Halloween pretzels or fruit snacks as well as a non-food item like pencils. I do not ever want a child to miss out on the fun and excitement of being a kid on Halloween. This food allergy mom thanks you for considering this idea!

It Hurts!

My foot is killing me! It hurts so bad that I want to cry and at times I still get nauseated. I know I am supposed to be on rest, but that is hard to do! I have to get the boys ready for school each morning and that is like an hour long process. They are still little and depend on me for much of the morning routine. My house is a flipping disaster and I cannot do much about it. Dishes have to be washed and laundry has to be finished so I have to keep up on it. It is just never ending. I wear my boot, but that is not enough. I need like a week straight of total bedrest, but that is not going to happen anytime soon sadly. I worry about returning to work next week. How can I teach in such pain?!

I started researching some homeopathic approaches to healing and I came across some info on the use of arnica. I am desperate to find anything that will help me heal and ease my pain. I know this is not a quick fix and it will take time, but if the arnica aides in healing, why not try it? I see a visit to the nutrition store or Whole Foods in my future. I need relief!! Let's hope this pretty little yellow flower packs a punch in helping me feel better sooner!