So Easter is coming up and I want to try and do something a little healthier. I looove deviled eggs, but they aren't super good for you (especially when you eat a dozen lol). Since having my daughter I've been much more conscious of making healthier eating choices because I want to be a good example.for her, and I want to give her every advantage in life that I can. Avocados are an awesome super food with Omega-3s that are vital for healthy brain development. The problem: I don't particularly care for the taste of avocado, and neither does Chloe :( She used to eat it, because that was the first 'people food' that I gave her, but after she tasted other things she never liked it as much again. So I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate avocado into our food without it being the main flavor. You can substitute the healthy fat in avocados for butter or other less healthy fats in most applications, so how about for the mayo in deviled eggs? I haven't made them yet (wanted to give you a heads up before Easter) but my plan is to use sour cream and avocado instead of mustard and mayo in my regular deviled egg recipe. I'll update you after Easter to tell you how they went over, try out this idea yourself. Put your own spin on it and test them on your family! Let me know how it goes :) Hoppy Easter!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Apologies...
Sorry I haven't been around in a while, my hubby managed to get poison oak and give it to me :( I am severely allergic, so this has put quite a damper on my craftiness. Hope to be back soon...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Smooothies
Sometimes I think I want to go on a diet. Sometimes I think I just want to eat healthier. Sometimes I think "screw it, pass the chocolate peanut butter ice cream" :) But I always think that I need to start eating better to be a good example for my daughter as she grows. And when she was diagnosed as mildly anemic at a year old, I resolved to re-evaluate our diet choices. That's when I discovered the health benefits of spinach. In addition to being high in iron, spinach contains nutrients essential for skin, bone and vision health, contains cancer fighting flavinoids, dietary fiber to help curb overeating and vitamin K and selenium, key nutrients that are hard to find in today's highly processed foods. Plus, I like it. I'm not so much the sauteed with bacon kind of spinach prefer it fresh, in salads and on sandwiches, or torn up and added to pasta, scrambled eggs, just about anything!
So when I started to see recipes online for things called, 'Super green smoothies' and 'Green monster smoothies' I though that sounded right up my alley. And my brother and sister are all about smoothies so I decided I'd make my own.
I also know that my time is heavily devoted to keeping my daughter entertained and from breaking things, so I knew that if I had to assemble a bunch of ingredients every time I wanted a smoothie it wasn't going to happen. So I took advantage of a nap and made myself some smoothie packets in sandwich bags.
I used blueberries, strawberries, mango, kiwi, avocado, banana, a little yogurt and, of course, spinach :) I tried to get all the colors of the rainbow in there, to be super healthy. I included the avocado, banana and yogurt to get a creamy texture, but I wanted my smoothie to be primarily fruit and veggie, not lots of dairy. And avocados are super good for you too, but I don't really like them. I figured they wouldn't add much flavor but would still be just as healthy :)
After each baggie was full, I nestled them in a large freezer bag (4 sandwich bags to a gallon freezer bag). Now they are ready whenever I am!
*Update*
I have since made and consumed one of these smoothies, and have learned from my mistakes, lol.
The first thing I learned is that the flavor of bananas is completely overpowering. All well and good if you love bananas, but it was too much for me. And the texture was plenty thick, so next time I'm going to take the banana out.
Also, they're super thick, I had to add almost 2 cups of juice to get it to a drinkable consistency. And by that time, my little food chopper was maxed out and I had enough smoothie to replace breakfast and lunch. Which would be OK if you were doing this to try and loose weight, but I just wanted to have one a day for the health benefits. This is a large beer mug type glass, and I was full after half of it. Chloe helped eat it too :)
But overall it tasted pretty good; mostly like banana and blueberries. I'm curious to see how it tasted sans banana. The two ingredients I was concerned with, the avocado and spinach, I couldn't taste at all! So I consider the smoothies a success, they just need some tweaks. Don't we all? :)
So when I started to see recipes online for things called, 'Super green smoothies' and 'Green monster smoothies' I though that sounded right up my alley. And my brother and sister are all about smoothies so I decided I'd make my own.
I also know that my time is heavily devoted to keeping my daughter entertained and from breaking things, so I knew that if I had to assemble a bunch of ingredients every time I wanted a smoothie it wasn't going to happen. So I took advantage of a nap and made myself some smoothie packets in sandwich bags.
I mostly just eyeballed the amounts and stuck them all in a plastic sandwich baggie that I stood up in a measuring cup for ease of stuffing. Each packet contained 1/2 an avocado, 1/2 a kiwi, 1/2 a banana, about 1/4 cup each of blueberries, strawberries and mango. Then I added just a dollop of yogurt and filled the rest of the baggie with spinach. **Always make sure to wash your spinach thoroughly! Spinach is one of the vegetables most likely to be contaminated with all kinds of icky stuff, and sometimes still has dirt on it when you bring it home**
After each baggie was full, I nestled them in a large freezer bag (4 sandwich bags to a gallon freezer bag). Now they are ready whenever I am!
*Update*
I have since made and consumed one of these smoothies, and have learned from my mistakes, lol.
The first thing I learned is that the flavor of bananas is completely overpowering. All well and good if you love bananas, but it was too much for me. And the texture was plenty thick, so next time I'm going to take the banana out.
Also, they're super thick, I had to add almost 2 cups of juice to get it to a drinkable consistency. And by that time, my little food chopper was maxed out and I had enough smoothie to replace breakfast and lunch. Which would be OK if you were doing this to try and loose weight, but I just wanted to have one a day for the health benefits. This is a large beer mug type glass, and I was full after half of it. Chloe helped eat it too :)
But overall it tasted pretty good; mostly like banana and blueberries. I'm curious to see how it tasted sans banana. The two ingredients I was concerned with, the avocado and spinach, I couldn't taste at all! So I consider the smoothies a success, they just need some tweaks. Don't we all? :)
Friday, January 11, 2013
Grow your own
Lately I've been yearning for a house with a large yard and a garden. I have a few potted plants on my porch, but I cant plant anything in the ground here, and don't really have the room anyway. Oh, also I don't really have a green thumb. Not like my mom does, she's awesome... But I digress.
So I've been reading about foods that you can grow inside from scraps, which sounds right up my alley. You don't have to buy anything extra, and most of them claim to be easy. So far I have started Avocados and Garlic.
The avocados take some patience, I read that they take 4-6 weeks to sprout and then like 3 months before you can plant them. Oh, and at least 7 years before your tree will flower and bear fruit. But you start them just like the potato projects from when you were a kid. Take the pit, stab 4 toothpicks into it and suspend over a glass or jar and keep watered. I guess I'll update you in 4-6 weeks :)
As for the garlic, you treat it like any other bulb. Here's a trick I like, I used to fill the bottoms of my pots with rocks or whatever I had handy to allow drainage without dirt falling out through the hole in the bottom. A coffee filter will keep all your dirt inside but allow excess water to escape. Dirt isn't that different from coffee grounds in some respects :)
After you add some soil to your pot, separate a couple cloves of garlic from a head (I hear the larger cloves grow larger plants). Stick the cloves flat side down into the dirt.
One thing that I learned from my green-thumbed Mommy, bulbs are weird. They need a season of cold before they can grow. I guess they have to be out in the cold so that when it gets warm they recognize that it's Spring and time to sprout. So my garlic has been relegated to the porch for a few weeks, before I bring it inside where it is warm(er) and trick it into thinking Spring has Sprung.
Garlic needs some attention after it has started to sprout. You have to pinch off the part that would grow into a flower so the plant can put all its effort into growing large bulbs. More about that in a few weeks when (hopefully) I have sprouts.
So, I suppose I'm in a holding pattern now until it's really Spring. Hopefully by then I'll still be as excited about growing my own food. Fresh herbs for sure, I have lots of plans for those, as soon as I can get my hands on some...
So I've been reading about foods that you can grow inside from scraps, which sounds right up my alley. You don't have to buy anything extra, and most of them claim to be easy. So far I have started Avocados and Garlic.
The avocados take some patience, I read that they take 4-6 weeks to sprout and then like 3 months before you can plant them. Oh, and at least 7 years before your tree will flower and bear fruit. But you start them just like the potato projects from when you were a kid. Take the pit, stab 4 toothpicks into it and suspend over a glass or jar and keep watered. I guess I'll update you in 4-6 weeks :)
As for the garlic, you treat it like any other bulb. Here's a trick I like, I used to fill the bottoms of my pots with rocks or whatever I had handy to allow drainage without dirt falling out through the hole in the bottom. A coffee filter will keep all your dirt inside but allow excess water to escape. Dirt isn't that different from coffee grounds in some respects :)
After you add some soil to your pot, separate a couple cloves of garlic from a head (I hear the larger cloves grow larger plants). Stick the cloves flat side down into the dirt.
Make sure to leave enough space between, picture a whole head of garlic while you're planting. I probably didn't :( I might have to transplant one of these into a different pot...
One thing that I learned from my green-thumbed Mommy, bulbs are weird. They need a season of cold before they can grow. I guess they have to be out in the cold so that when it gets warm they recognize that it's Spring and time to sprout. So my garlic has been relegated to the porch for a few weeks, before I bring it inside where it is warm(er) and trick it into thinking Spring has Sprung.
Garlic needs some attention after it has started to sprout. You have to pinch off the part that would grow into a flower so the plant can put all its effort into growing large bulbs. More about that in a few weeks when (hopefully) I have sprouts.
So, I suppose I'm in a holding pattern now until it's really Spring. Hopefully by then I'll still be as excited about growing my own food. Fresh herbs for sure, I have lots of plans for those, as soon as I can get my hands on some...
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Chicken Alfredo Potato -or- Why Some Things are Just Better from A Restaurant
Where I live there is a restaurant called Adele's, and every time I eat there I order the same thing. It's a giant baked potato with strips of grilled chicken, broccoli, Alfredo sauce and cheese, yum! Well, yesterday my Granny brought me some ingredients to make my own at home. Except for the sauce, she brought sour cream instead, which I'm not a big fan of :( So I decided to make them for dinner, with semi-favorable results lol.
The first thing I did was prepare my potatoes; scrubbed them up really well, then rubbed the skins with oil and some salt. I read somewhere that most of the nutrients in potatoes are in the skin, and I would say that my potato skin tasted better than that from the restaurant :) Yay small victory! Then I wrapped the potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven at 375. I read on FoodNetwork's website that it should only take about an hour for up to 4 potatoes. We'll revisit that later...
So I let the potatoes go for like 40 minutes and then started the rest of the toppings. So here's where I cheated a little bit; I used precooked Foster Farms chicken breast strips, but instead of sticking them in to oven I cooked them in a pan on the stove with some butter and grill seasoning to make them yummier. Hey, I'm actually baking potatoes in the oven instead of the microwave, I think I earned some credit there :) And then I guess I also kind of took the easy route with the broccoli too, and just steamed it in the microwave for a few minutes until it was al dente.
I did, however, attempt to make my Alfredo sauce from scratch. I found a recipe on Pinterest (well, more like a list of ingredients) that I could accommodate to what I had at home. The recipe called for 1 cup of heavy cream (I just used whole milk), a half a stick of butter, 1tbsp cream cheese, a clove of garlic, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, plus salt and pepper. I also added a little nutmeg and Italian seasoning. I'm unsure if this was the proper procedure, but I minced the garlic and sauteed it in the butter just for a few minutes and then added the milk and waited for it to come up to a boil.
Right about now the timer for my potatoes went off so I went to go check on them- rock hard :( And as I'm stabbing at my potatoes with a fork hoping that at least part of them was cooked... my Alfredo sauce boiled over :( Nothing smells quite like milk burned on the elements of your stove, or is as awesome to clean up.
So, I unwrapped the potatoes and stuck them right on the oven rack and turned my attention to salvaging my sauce. When I make Alfredo sauce at home I like to use a specific organic packet mix and augment it with extra butter and cream, but these were desperate times :) So I dumped the spices and Parmesan cheese into the milk and whisked for 20 seconds like the instructions on my packet tell me to. I figured the same concept applied. After that I plopped a spoonful of cream cheese into the mix and whisked until it dissolved. I was actually quite surprised to see how well it thickened the sauce.
I was out of things to do so the potatoes could keep cooking, and they were still not done so I gave up and stuck them in the microwave. I guess I lose some of the points I was hoping would cover the precooked chicken, huh? So once the potatoes were done I cut them open, put chicken and broccoli on top, smothered them in Alfredo sauce and topped them with shredded cheese.
They were OK. I do definitely think the skin on my potatoes was tastier, probably due to the 16 different cooking methods I used, I can see how that would be impractical for a restaurant :) the sauce was a little grainy though, I guess the Parmesan didn't dissolve all the way. Chloe and I ate all of ours, as for my Hubby? "Well, I ate all the chicken out of it." :) At least he tried.
So, the verdict? Only Grandma's make potatoes in the oven anymore because it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r; a watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot will boil over; and sometimes it's best to just go out for dinner.
The first thing I did was prepare my potatoes; scrubbed them up really well, then rubbed the skins with oil and some salt. I read somewhere that most of the nutrients in potatoes are in the skin, and I would say that my potato skin tasted better than that from the restaurant :) Yay small victory! Then I wrapped the potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven at 375. I read on FoodNetwork's website that it should only take about an hour for up to 4 potatoes. We'll revisit that later...
So I let the potatoes go for like 40 minutes and then started the rest of the toppings. So here's where I cheated a little bit; I used precooked Foster Farms chicken breast strips, but instead of sticking them in to oven I cooked them in a pan on the stove with some butter and grill seasoning to make them yummier. Hey, I'm actually baking potatoes in the oven instead of the microwave, I think I earned some credit there :) And then I guess I also kind of took the easy route with the broccoli too, and just steamed it in the microwave for a few minutes until it was al dente.
I did, however, attempt to make my Alfredo sauce from scratch. I found a recipe on Pinterest (well, more like a list of ingredients) that I could accommodate to what I had at home. The recipe called for 1 cup of heavy cream (I just used whole milk), a half a stick of butter, 1tbsp cream cheese, a clove of garlic, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, plus salt and pepper. I also added a little nutmeg and Italian seasoning. I'm unsure if this was the proper procedure, but I minced the garlic and sauteed it in the butter just for a few minutes and then added the milk and waited for it to come up to a boil.
Right about now the timer for my potatoes went off so I went to go check on them- rock hard :( And as I'm stabbing at my potatoes with a fork hoping that at least part of them was cooked... my Alfredo sauce boiled over :( Nothing smells quite like milk burned on the elements of your stove, or is as awesome to clean up.
So, I unwrapped the potatoes and stuck them right on the oven rack and turned my attention to salvaging my sauce. When I make Alfredo sauce at home I like to use a specific organic packet mix and augment it with extra butter and cream, but these were desperate times :) So I dumped the spices and Parmesan cheese into the milk and whisked for 20 seconds like the instructions on my packet tell me to. I figured the same concept applied. After that I plopped a spoonful of cream cheese into the mix and whisked until it dissolved. I was actually quite surprised to see how well it thickened the sauce.
I was out of things to do so the potatoes could keep cooking, and they were still not done so I gave up and stuck them in the microwave. I guess I lose some of the points I was hoping would cover the precooked chicken, huh? So once the potatoes were done I cut them open, put chicken and broccoli on top, smothered them in Alfredo sauce and topped them with shredded cheese.
They were OK. I do definitely think the skin on my potatoes was tastier, probably due to the 16 different cooking methods I used, I can see how that would be impractical for a restaurant :) the sauce was a little grainy though, I guess the Parmesan didn't dissolve all the way. Chloe and I ate all of ours, as for my Hubby? "Well, I ate all the chicken out of it." :) At least he tried.
So, the verdict? Only Grandma's make potatoes in the oven anymore because it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r; a watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot will boil over; and sometimes it's best to just go out for dinner.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
A look back on some of my favorite projects
As I get into the swing of this and stock up on some crafts to blog about, I figured I'd post some of the projects I've done in the past couple months. Since I did these a while back they wont have complete instructions, mostly I just want to give a little insight into my style and the type of crafts and recipes I enjoy. Most of these I intend to revisit and provide instructions for, but that is for another day :)
My daughter is one of those babies who puts everything in her mouth. I wanted to introduce some art projects to her; but when I tried crayons, so did she, if you know what I mean :) So what really appealed to me about these finger paints is that they're made completely with food ingredients so when she put them in her mouth she would be OK.
Just cornstarch and water boiled until it thickens and then food coloring for color. It WILL stain, however, skin and clothes. So this is a clothes optional activity best followed by a bath :)
For her first pumpkin, she is obviously not old enough to carve, so we got her a white one and let her decorate it with the finger paints :) Dont let it get rained on or the beautiful artwork will wash away!
I made this cake from a box mix, using yogurt (actually Go-Gurt because that's all I had handy) instead of oil and eggs. And then six pounds of frosting trying to make it look right, lol. Hopefully they cancel each other out :)
Felt Christmas tree with felt ornaments for Chloe to play with, so that she would hopefully leave the real tree alone. I put magnets on the back so it could stick to our metal front door.
Christmas, tutu. Told you I was addicted :)
Salt dough ornaments, so simple, so fun! Also safe for little ones to stick in their mouths :)
I hope these pictures have inspired your creativity, or at least inspired you to stay tuned for some more of mine :)
<3, Kalie
Baby-Safe Finger Paints
For her first pumpkin, she is obviously not old enough to carve, so we got her a white one and let her decorate it with the finger paints :) Dont let it get rained on or the beautiful artwork will wash away!
Healthy-er Birthday Cake
I made this cake from a box mix, using yogurt (actually Go-Gurt because that's all I had handy) instead of oil and eggs. And then six pounds of frosting trying to make it look right, lol. Hopefully they cancel each other out :)
Footprint Ghost
This one is pretty self explainatory, I loooove hand and footprint crafts. They make great presents for family members, and remind you how small your babies used to be :)
Marshmallow Fondant
Part of me isn't sure I should be proud of this, because I don't think it is my best work. But the idea is good and I spent a lot of time on it, and it tastes way better than traditional fondant. My mom ate the leftover mashmallow fondant plain! There are several recipies online for this; my input? whatever you do, do NOT add water! I don't care what the recipe says. Unless you try to mix it first and it is positively parched, the recipe doesn't require any aditional moisture.
Thanksgiving outfit
Making tutu's is soooo easy! Chloe has one for evey occasion. And the shirt is all hot glue gun work :) I promise I will do a post dedicated to tutu's, I'm addicted.Christmas Crafts
Christmas, tutu. Told you I was addicted :)
I hope these pictures have inspired your creativity, or at least inspired you to stay tuned for some more of mine :)
<3, Kalie
Well hello :)
Hi :) Thanks for checking out my blog-in-progress. I'm a stay at home mom, and I like to think I have the potential to be, at least a little bit, a crafty mom. My mother is my inspiration, she has always been crafty, making Halloween costumes and Easter baskets and all kinds of awesome stuff. She is a better seamstress but I like to think I'm a better cook :)
The goal of this blog is to share some craft ideas and recipes in a format for people like me, who want to be crafty, but maybe aren't so confident in their abilities. Everything I do is relatively simple and done with items that are easily attainable, if not already in your house. My daughter is 16 months old today (Happy Birthday Chloe!) so many of my projects are geared toward toddlers and young families.
Well, thanks for checking me out, and for your patience while I set up and figure this whole blogging thing out (it's my first one!)
<3, Kalie
The goal of this blog is to share some craft ideas and recipes in a format for people like me, who want to be crafty, but maybe aren't so confident in their abilities. Everything I do is relatively simple and done with items that are easily attainable, if not already in your house. My daughter is 16 months old today (Happy Birthday Chloe!) so many of my projects are geared toward toddlers and young families.
Well, thanks for checking me out, and for your patience while I set up and figure this whole blogging thing out (it's my first one!)
<3, Kalie
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