Whole Wheat Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

I'm craving sweets.  Real bad.  Lots of sweets.  Anything I can get my hands on really.  And this is happening during one of the worst possible times of the year - Halloween candy is EVERYWHERE!!  I overdid it yesterday and felt it in the afternoon.  But, nonetheless I woke up this morning with more sweets on the brain.  Pregnancy, sigh.  After a quick look on Facebook this morning, I found that Team ACT had posted a picture of her Super Easy 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins and decided it was high time for some pumpkin in these parts!  One problem.  No cake mix.  Doh!  SO, online searching I went.  These from Kitchen Treaty are moist and delicious, just like the pumpkin muffins Team ACT made, but they do require a little more time.  Good news, however, (Miss Team ACT :)) ... they're even better if you add chocolate chips to the mix!!

Whole Wheat Muffins - Ready for Mix-ins! : Freezer Friendly

I've been doing a lot of reading online lately about food, our ability to get food, and the kind of foods we eat.  I have high cholesterol.  At 28.  Had I not had Little One I probably wouldn't have learned this little tidbit and it might not have mattered as much to me.  Honestly, my whole worldview has changed now that I'm a mom.  This little life depends on me to be healthy... to set a good, healthy lifestyle example in food and exercise.  Now, I don't love eating healthy all the time (cheese is my weakness!!) and working out on a regular basis (ugh.  it feels soooooooo repetitive.  I just don't enjoy "the hurt" from working out.  But.  My mind has got to change.  I'm really trying to become better at these - for myself and for Little One.  

Now back from that tangent - I am trying to reduce the amount of processed (pre-made) food that we consume and to increase our amount of daily vegetable and fruit intake.  DH and I decided yesterday that we will cut out most fast food, especially if we're eating it because we're being lazy.  I read something a while back that has really stuck with me as it pertains to children and what they eat.  It was something along these lines... children aren't born with the taste and cravings for salty, processed, empty food.  They learn to like these foods because we feed it to them.  I fail daily at this, but it serves as a reminder to me to stop and think about what I'm feeding Little One.  

So you're a busy mom?  Hectic schedule?  Too many things to do in one day?  How can I possibly cook for my family to cut out some of the processed foods?  Check out this site and this site.  Tried and true places to start.

1) Start with freezer friendly meals.  

2) Set apart an hour a week to meal plan (look up some recipes you want to try!).  

3) Prepare your grocery list based on sections of the store.  I'm kinda crazy, but every time I go I always follow the same path.  This allows me to set up my grocery list the same way every time.  This little time I take to categorize my list based on section of the grocery store or aisle saves me A TON of time in the store and I don't have to backtrack.  

4) One weekend day (or week day - it doesn't matter... just sometime when you have childcare or you know your child can be easily entertained while you cook for about 30 - 45 minutes...) prepare your meals.  

5) Start with 2 or 3.  That's 2 or 3 more than you had before you started!  I try to pick meals or foods that have similar ingredients to save time on prep work.  Start small and slowly work it in.  If you don't like something you've made, mark that off the "to-try" list for next time.  If you like it add it to your "regulars" list.  You can do it!!  

I've found this site - 100 Days of Real Food - she has A TON of good ideas and recipes.  These muffins are from her site.  Little One LOVED them.  They aren't sweet like regular muffins - and it's super fun to be able to add your own different "sweet" fruit mix-ins.  Banana was our favorite (but we're a banana muffin kind of family!)  Let me know what you decide to mix in - the options are endless!

 

Wonton Dessert Stacks

A super simple dessert to go with a super simple supper!

The idea of this dessert could totally be built and made into whatever flavor combination you like!  (Hint: I'm thinking next time adding a chocolate element... mmmm... mouth watering!)  

Apple and Cheese Quesadilla

I'm on the search for different quick and easy breakfasts.  We always fall back to the same two things: scrambled eggs or peanut butter, banana, and honey english muffins. We're always looking for a healthy alternative to quick and easy.  It's just hard to find something with a good balance of protein and fiber to keep you fuller longer.  Funny that I hardly ever ate breakfast growing up and now I can't live without it.  Amazing what your body gets used to! Enter apple and cheese quesadillas.  They're that easy. Ingredients grated cheese, to your desired amount - I used about a 1/4 cup 1/2 - 3/4 apple, peeled and sliced 2 whole wheat tortillas 1) Grate some cheese (I used Vermont sharp cheddar) and slice a peeled apple (I used something called a "Crisper" - it was green like a Granny Smith, but wasn't as tart. 2) In a dry pan (or you can butter it) place a whole wheat tortilla.  Place a layer of cheese and apples down.  Add a top tortilla. 3) Cook until both sides are toasted lightly brown and the cheese is melted. 4) Cut into 6 wedges with a pizza cutter.  (Sorry no pictures.  It was a hectic morning when I made these.)  Enjoy! The Verdict My DH and I split one of these along with a fruit smoothie I made the same morning.  The problem is I also had to make his lunch and didn't allow enough time to do all three and take pictures.  That's why it was hectic.  Next time I'll know! But I loved this breakfast quesadilla.  It was something different.  The apples were cut thin enough that they got a little soft but still retained a bite.  And the salty sharp cheese was a nice complement to the sweet, tart apple.  I can say, for the first time in a while, this breakfast paired with the smoothie kept me full all the way until lunch.  Usually I get hungry again around 10 (eating breakfast around 7:30), but not this time.  I made it all the way until 11:30.  I will make these again!  And I can't wait to try one out for Little One.  I think he'll like it too.

"Lazy Chicken" Salad

I made this recipe Wednesday.  Have I mentioned how crazy it is to get Little One back on schedule after being gone?  Oh yeah, and we're moving in a few weeks.  Why do I like to do all the crazy life events at one time?  Haha!  Anyway... I was wanting something light, quick, and easy.  So this recipe hit me and it is in honor of Auntie Lo.  We were talking about chicken salad while we were at home and she likes hers with grapes.  I didn't have any grapes on hand, but I certainly substituted an alternatively sweet fruit... apples.  Hope you enjoy this crazy easy, refreshing, sweet and savory recipe! Homemade, gourmet chicken salad - and it couldn't be easier!

Scratch Made Muffins

I've been looking for some scratch made recipes ever since I learned that most pre-packaged box mixes have trans fat in them thanks to some of the preservatives. Not to mention, the money you can save by whipping up your own batch of muffins.  The options are endless as to what you can 'throw in' them.  I wanted some muffins this morning, it is Saturday after all, and googled away to find some easy ones.

I came across this site.  It's true.  I tried her recipe, as is, and it makes a great base.  I added oats, chocolate chips, and cinnamon to my batch and made my own scratch made muffins.  She offers great advice on the different options you can change up to make your recipe more 'you'.

Orzo with Cranberries, Apples, and Herbs

Redeemed.  Tonight's recipe was much better and actually went along great with the disastrous Recipe 2 Turkey Tenderloin from yesterday.

This was the first time I purchased bulk fresh herbs.  They're sitting in my fridge in glasses of water... it looks like a jungle in there!  

Tonight's recipe is actually called "Israeli Couscous with Apples, Cranberries, and Herbs" from Giada De Laurentiis on foodnetwork.com, but it says you can make it with orzo.  I'm here to testament that yes, it is good with orzo :)

Super Bowl Sunday

Go Big Blue?!  We're not big football fans, but where we live almost mandates that you love football and pick a team.  So, we are pulling for the NY Giants :)  But secretly, we're watching mostly for the commercials! On the menu tonight: Blue Corn Chip Nachos Apple Blueberry Pie No, I didn't specifically plan this menu because of who we are pulling for.  Instead, this is a meal of necessity when I realized I reeeeaaaaaallllllly needed to go to the grocery store.  And next to Thanksgiving, Super Bowl weekend in a big football area would have been wild AND cRaZy.  So, we made do with what we had around ;)