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Tag: food

  • Menu Planning with Kids

    Yesterday I cooked up some Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner. Sunday is always my favorite night to cook, since I have the time, and Mark home to help with the kids.
    Normally I will let the girls help me cook, unless I’m handling raw meat and sharp knifes.  That was the case last night.  Princess C really wanted to help though. Since I hadn’t made our menu plan for the week yet, I told her she could help by picking a dinner. I handed her a couple of my Taste of Home magazines, and stopped cooking to look at her selections.  Princess V later joined us as well.
    I really enjoy having my kids in the kitchen with me, and I think they enjoy it too.

    Monday – chicken curry
    Tuesday – three cheese ravioli
    Wednesday – chicken and egg hash
    Thursday – crockpot beef tacos
    Friday – gumbo in bread bowls
    Saturday – leftovers
    Sunday – roast and potatoes


  • Frequency and Quality {80 Bites Week 7}

    I know I missed the last two weeks of letting you in on my progress here. What a wonderful, but busy time of the year for everyone.
    This last week especially though, I have had a different perspective on my life, and the things that truly matter. This diet plan does matter to me.
    Why? Although I would love to be losing a lot of weight, what really matters to me, is being healthy. The 80 Bites plan teaches you in small steps how to eat right, and stay healthy through food.
    The program started with Quantity, then moved into Frequency. I learned how to listen to my body, and stop eating when I was full. I am still working on my frequency of eating. Maintaining 4 “meals” a day – Breakfast, lunch Mid-afternoon Snack (I call this my afterschool meal with the kids), and Dinner. In between those times if I feel inclined to eat something I brush my teeth, or find something productive to do instead.

    This last week started the Quality section with 80 Bites. The first week is what I have been looking forward to. A chart of how to balance my meals to get the appropriate nutrition. 
    Here is my condensed version:

    A handful of carrots may be healthier than a couple cookies – but it’s not balanced. Every meal should be balanced. 

    80 Bites has an easy to grasp, with fun graphics, building blocks for a balanced meal.  Now every time I grab something to eat, I run through the building blocks. What am I eating? A piece of bread? Where’s my protein, veggie/fruit, and drink?  And voila, I’ve sat down to a balanced meal.

    Now to figure out where my chocolate fits in…..

    How Many Bites did you take?
    80-90/day

    Feeling
    deprived?
    No. Especially now that I have the tools to balance my meals, I’m feeling more empowered

    Weight at beginning of diet?
    165

    Weight
    today?
    159.5  Yes I am losing weight, and peopple are noticing.

    Are you still motivated?
    Very much so. If it hadn’t become suddenly very cold, I’d be out running even more.  As it is, I’ve recomitted to my morning crunches with an ever growing baby lying on my legs.

  • Menu Plan Monday 12/10

    Menu Plan Monday 12/10

    Well, we still don’t have a set date for moving yet. It’s making me a little crazy, especially with the holidays approaching. We haven’t put up our tree yet, because we’d like to move before Christmas, but we may not.
    I decided to go ahead and start packing, in hopes it would make our loan get approved faster, and therefore mean we moved faster. Basically trying to keep the optimism going around. 
    The waiting however, has also put a damper on what I cook. I don’t want to go fill our fridge and pantry with food, just to move it a few days later. So this week, I’m trying to use up what we have on hand. Then I’ll do one huge grocery shopping trip after the move. 

    Monday – Chicken Nuggets
    Tuesday – Bean and Cheese Quesadillas
    Wednesday – Eat Out (sometime between dance dress rehearsal and Band concert)
    Thursday – Macaroni and Cheese
    Friday – Chili
    Saturday – Spaghetti and Meatballs
    Sunday – Steak and potatoes

    Breakfasts – Steak and eggs, Corn Muffins, Eggs and Bacon, Pancakes

  • Finding Inspiration {Menu Plan}

    Finding Inspiration {Menu Plan}

    It was a long weekend! Saturday afternoon my little Princess R got a little sick. To be on the safe side, I canceled our plans for the evening. We were going to attend the Army Band Concert with some of Mark’s students.  Instead Mark took the older Princesses to the concert, and I stayed home with the sick girl and baby prince. It turned out to be a pretty nice evening at home.

    Sunday rolled around, and Princess R seemed to be feeling much better. She had no fever, and ate a bowl of Fruit Loops for Breakfast.  I only allow sugar cereals on Sunday, so it’s like a treat. They kids look forward to Sunday all week long, so I let her have some.  We went to church, came home and started making lunch, when it happened. Princess R was definitely suffering some kind of tummy bug. Thankfully we had bought some pedialyte on Saturday. I spent the majority of my afternoon and well into the evening taking care of the sick girl, and the Prince – who was starting to act a bit sick himself.

    I normally plan our weeks Menu on Sunday, but I didn’t get the chance this weekend. I almost decided to just forego it, and wing dinners all week. That however, has never worked out well for my sanity. So this morning, I went looking for inspiration at of course my Foodie Friday party!  There are so many good recipes linked up over there.

    Dinner Menu Plan

    Monday – BBQ Chicken Bacon Pasta Bake (leftovers…this is OH so good!)
    Tuesday – Chili
    Wednesday – Macaroni and Cheese
    Thursday – Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
    Friday – Salmon and Pasta with Lemon Dill Sauce
    Saturday – leftovers
    Sunday – Smokey Beans and Rice

  • Cupcakes and Sisters {Menu Plan}

    Wednesday night, my sister and I took a trip to the store for some last minute Thanksgiving items. It was nice to spend some time with just her, so we decided to make the trip extra special, and went to a little Cupcake Bakery.  It was one of the cutest little places I’ve been to in a long time.

    My sister knows me uber well, and knew that I love cupcakes. I’m not a big television watcher, but one show I make sure to record each week is Cupcake Wars. It just so happens that the bakery we went to, had been on Cupcake Wars earlier this year, and I remembered them!  Cravings – Alisha’s Cupcakes, was in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle episode, where they had to turn pizza into cupcakes.

    No I didn’t try a pizza cupcake.  I enjoyed a Salted Caramel Cupcake, and my sister tried her Snickerdoodle Cupcake. They were both very yummy!  She had also made some fudge and was offering it as a free sample.  Along with the yummy cupcakes, Alisha has created a fun atmostphere for eating them. She has couches, and tables and chairs, even a little corner for kids. None of the furniture matched, but it all gave off the same feel, fun. Just perfect for enjoying a girls night with my sister.

    I had hoped to take my Princesses back before we left town, but it just didn’t fit into our schedule. So over Christmas vacation, we’ll definitely be visiting Alisha again.  She actually just opened her store front a few weeks ago. So if you live in the Utah County Area, you should go visit her on Main Street in Pleasant Grove.

    Did I mention, I got to meet Alisha too? Yep she was the only one there baking and serving cupcakes when my sister and I stopped by.  She is a lot of fun, and extremely friendly. I kind of felt like I was meeting a rock star.  I’ll definitely be tuning in when she makes her 2nd appearance (voted a fan favorite!) on Cupcake Wars.  This was my first trip to a Cupcake Bakery, but it won’t be my last.

    Have you been to a Cupcake Bakery? 
     
    Now, what to eat this week? We left all the leftovers at my parents, so no more Thanksgiving food for us.
     
    Monday – Bean and Cheese Taquitos
    Tuesday – Macaroni and Cheese
    Wednesday – Chili
    Thursday – Caprese Chicken
    Saturday – Leftovers
    Sunday – Lasagna
  • Anise Orange Biscotti {Foodie Friday}

    Anise Orange Biscotti {Foodie Friday}

    Every year my family has an h’or doeve contest for Thanksgiving. It gives us something to snack on during the day while waiting for the big meal.  This year I decided to try making some biscotti. I’ve never had biscotti before, but heard it’s good. I was not expecting it to be so hard though.

    So, make sure you have something nearby to dunk these in. Today’s choices ranged from tomato soup, wassail, and hot chocolate.  All were found equally enjoyable.

    Anise Orange Biscotti

    Ingredients
    2 eggs
    1 cup sugar
    1/4 tsp vanilla extract
    1/4 tsp anise extract
    2 tsp McCormick Valencia Orange Peel
    dash of anise seeds
    2 TBS 100% Orange Juice
    2 cups flour
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 tsp baking powder

    Directions
    Preheat oven to 350 F.
    Whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, anise extract, orange peel, seeds and juice together.  In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Slowly stir the dry mixture into the wet, until fully combined.
    Separate the dough in half, and form 2 logs. Aproximately 2 inches by 12 inches.
    Grease a cookie sheet!
    Place the logs on the cookie sheet, and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, and the tops are slightly brown. Remove from oven. Lower the heat to 325.
    Allow the biscotti to cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch slices, and place back on the pan cut side down. Bake for another 15 minutes.
    Let cool.
    You can dip them in chocolate, drizzle chocolate on top, or leave plain.

    I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for being a part of Foodie Friday. I am truly grateful for my cohost Diane. She really helped kick this party off the ground. And without all of your, this party wouldn’t be so much fun. I am grateful to those of you who come by every week and link up with us. You’re recipes, kitchen creations, and food knowledge always inspires me.
    Now on to the 
    ~FEATURES~
    Post image for Recipe: Sugarplums from Real Food for the Holidays by Nourished Kitchen
    Sugar Plums
    from Real Food Forager
    This screams Holidays! I’ve never had sugar plums, but watching the Nutcracker always makes me want one.

    Baked Cheesy Chicken Taquitos
    Baked Cheesy Chicken Taquitos
    After all the Thanksgiving fare, I was looking for something a little more light. This looks perfect!

    Portuguese Style Orange Cake
    This just looks so yummy! Even if I did eat some pie recently, I think I could go for this!

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  • Counting, but not Calories: The 80 Bites Diet

    Counting, but not Calories: The 80 Bites Diet

    So I finally did it, I decided to diet.

    I’ve never been a fan of dieting. Counting calories and giving up my favorite foods, just have not been things I wanted to do. So I didn’t. Well, I guess I did a couple years ago when I gave up sugar, but I found a lot of yummy sugar-free foods during that time too. I was asked to test out 80Bites, all opinions are my honest thoughts. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you click on and purchase from them.

    Trying to lose weight, but hate counting calories? Try the 80Bites diet. ad

    Anyways – back to this new diet I’m trying out. First off, why? Well because I really needed to lose some weight. Since Lincoln was born I haven’t done much to get back in shape. I had these grand plans of running and eating lots of veggies. The veggies have worked out great, but the running not so much. I find I don’t have a lot of time with 4 kids underfoot, and a husband whose schedule is ever changing.

    Basically, it didn’t matter how healthy I was eating at this point, I wasn’t losing any more weight. I hit a plateau, and it wasn’t changing anytime soon. So what happened next? I stopped eating healthy. I gave in to my sweet tooth. Exchanged water for more milk and juices. Went without some meals, in favor of quick and unhealthy snacking throughout the day.

    Something had to change!

    Then I found 80 Bites. Ha, that totally just sounded like an advertisement didn’t it…ok maybe it is…but really I did find it at the right time for me.

    So how does it work? Well, instead of counting calories, 80 Bites has you count the bites you take. Cool right? I mean, counting your bites is pretty easy. You don’t give up your favorite foods, you don’t change anything actually, except for how much you take in.

     
    I think we’ve all heard it before, but it really is about portion control. Too much of anything, including food, isn’t good for us. 
     
    I started this “Diet” at the beginning of the week. The program lasts 12 weeks and is separated into 4 themes. Each lasting 3 weeks – because as they say (who is they anyway?) it takes 21 days to create a habit.  Each week in the program new information is provided to you with tasks to complete. Week 1 is all about getting started and observing your regular eating patterns.
     
    I really love how simple 80 Bites is to follow. They don’t overwhelm you (a big turn off for me from other diet plans), and they keep it fun.
    The 80 Bites program was developed by Joan Breibart, creator of the first Pilates Certificate program (I LOVE PILATES!!!), and Meredith Luce, dietician for 30+ years!  If that doesn’t qualify for a great diet plan, I don’t know what does.
     
    Once you’ve joined the program, you’ll want to download the App.  The app helps keep track of how much you eat, plus it’s cute to boot! Is it weird I find a talking stomach cute? The program is 100% FREE! 
     
     

    Week 1 Take Aways from 80 Bites

     
    How Many Bites did I take?
    – Well, I’m still trying to remember to count my bites. It may take a bit, but I’m getting better at remembering.
     
    Do you feel deprived?
    – Nope. I’ve even enjoyed some brownies
     
    Weight at the beginning of the week?
    – 165 (that’s right I’m telling the world my weight!)
     
    Weight today?
    – 162 (note, these are my results only, everyone will be different. This includes a dose of exercise in addition to just observing what I eat.)
     
    Has it motivated you?
    – YES! On top of just being excited about this diet, I decided I really was going to start running again. So last night, I grabbed my 4-year-old, and we took a run after dinner. It felt so good, despite being a slow jog and the amazing back pain I woke up with. 
     


  • Canned Apple Pie Filling {Foodie Friday}

    Canned Apple Pie Filling {Foodie Friday}

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    Hosted at
    and
     Canned Apple Pie Filling
    makes 5qts

     

    8-9 cups peeled and chopped Apples (Or you can slice them. However you like them in a pie).
    5 cups water
    1/2 cup corn starch
    1 cup +1TBS vanilla sugar
    1 cup brown sugar
    6 whole cloves, crushed (I just pinch them between my fingers. Or about 1/2tsp crushed cloves)
    2 1/2 TBS Apple Pie Spice – you can always add more or less for your own taste
     
    In a large pot, boil the apples and water until the apples are slightly tender.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Keep on medium heat until pie filling is thickened.
     
    While the filling is thickening, sanitize your jars, rings and lids. Once the jars are ready and the filling is where you want it, fill the jars. I filled to the bottom of the first ring, where the jars begin to taper. Wipe the rims and place the lids on. Screw on the rings and you are ready to process them.
     
    Process in a water bath or steam canner* for 25-30 minutes.  Remove the jar and let cool. I just use a pot holder, but they do sell jar lifters.  Check to make sure they have sealed, and store in your pantry. If they didn’t seal, store in your fridge, and use within 2-3 days. 
    *I used a steam canner, but they are not recommended by the USDA. 
     
    ~This weeks Features~
     
    Home Made Alfredo Sauce
     
    “Twice-Baked” Faux-tatoes
     
    Berry Dutch Baby
    

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  • Garlic Parmesan Baked Chicken {Foodie Friday}

    Garlic Parmesan Baked Chicken {Foodie Friday}

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    Hosted at
    Home Maid Simple
    and
    Simple Living and Eating

    Garlic Parmesan Baked Chicken
    Print Recipe

     
    Ingredients
    4 chicken breasts
    1 cup flour
    1/4 cup grated parmesan
    1/4 cup bread crumbs
    salt and pepper to taste
    2 eggs
    1 can Progresso Creamy Roasted Garlic
    Sliced smoked gouda
     
    Directions
    Whisk eggs in a shallow dish.
    Combine flour, parmesan, bread crumbs and salt and pepper in a separate shallow dish.
    Soak chicken in the eggs, and then coat with flour mixture.
    Pan fry about 5 minutes each side, and place in a casserole dish. Pour the Progresso over all the chicken. Top each piece with some smoked Gouda.
    Bake at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
     
     ~This weeks Features~
     
    This Chicken Biryani has some yummy looking flavors!
    from Simply Sweet n Savory
     
    Who knew? Crockpot Applesauce would have saved me a lot of time last week
    from Chocolate, Chocolate and more
     
    I love the healthy and seasonal ingredients for this Crock Pot Turkey White Bean Pumpking Chili. It’s like leftover Thanksgiving
    From Run DMT
     
     

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  • Back on Chocolate! and a Menu Plan

    Do you recall me saying I was going to skip chocolate for the month of October? I give up. I’m taking back my chocolate, and completely enjoying it!  Here’s what I learned in my attempt to go without chocolate –

    – I don’t eat a lot of it on a daily basis. But when you take away my small doses, like a few chips in a cookie, thten later I binge on a nice big dense chocolate energy bar (Space Food Stick). They taste like Resen’s, so of course, I couldn’t stop at just trying one. Nope I had to go back and have another. I told you, binge!

     
    – Chocolate actually does help keep me sane. I had a couple bad mommy days, where I just couldn’t handle things. I let my emotions rule. Afterwards, I ate a small piece of chocolate, and the smooth creamy goodness, brought me back. So when I got whacked pretty good in the eye with a Minnie Mouse doll, I was able to keep my cool.
     
    – Finally put it all together, and I learned that like most things, chocolate in moderation is good for you. I don’t have a chocolate addiction. I just enjoy chocolate, and will continue to enjoy it, in moderated amounts.
     
    Fyi, you can win some Space Food Sticks of your very own! Just come join the MomPact Twitter Party this Thursday October 26th at 6pm Pacific/9pm ET. Use the hashtag #mompactLNO
    Plus there will be lots of other prizes as well. RSVP HERE
     
    So on to this week’s menu
    Monday – Pasta
    Tuesday – Breaded Parmesan Chicken
    Wednesday – Cowboy Chili
    Thursday – Hamburgers
    Friday – Enchiladas
    Saturday – Leftovers