Best Dinner Ever...No Exaggeration.

Let me start off saying this is NOT my recipe. I wish I could take claim, but I cannot. We did a recipe exchange for our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group and I ended up with some great recipes. This was one of them. For those of you that are local, I honestly felt that I liked it better than Love Love Teriyaki...and that's saying something. No offense Love Love, we still "love" you, but I do like that I know what ingredients are being used...I always prefer food I make over food you can buy cooked for you. Requires a little more effort, but I just don't like not knowing what is being put in my food. So, for those of you wanting a great, quick, easy dinner recipe for the whole family...here it is (Ruby, you can stop reading now, you won't like it..haha). Oh and I should add that the only change I made was to use honey in place of sugar (since we don't eat refined sugar) and added sesame seeds (they are filled with great nutrients despite being so small). 

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Serves 3-4 (I halved the original recipe, so if you have a large family feel free to double it)

Adapted from Jess Eggert

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/3 c. honey

1/3 c. soy sauce (we use an organic gluten free one)*

3 T. apple cider vinegar

1/3 tsp. ground ginger

1-2 minced garlic cloves

Fresh ground pepper

2 1/4 tsp. cornstarch

2 1/4 tsp. water

Cooked brown rice (baked brown rice is amazing, try it, you'll LOVE it)

Sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

Place chicken in a crockpot. In a bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, and pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours (depending on your crockpot) or until chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove chicken and set aside, keep warm. Place the leftover sauce from the crockpot into a saucepan and bring to boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into sauce and let simmer until thickened. Serve over chicken, rice, and veggies of your choosing and toss on sesame seeds. 

The person who gave me the recipe suggested using broccoli slaw (I've seen this at Trader Joe's and at Winco...I'm sure you can find it at any store). What a great suggestion that was! I simply sauteed it in a bit of coconut oil until softened and slightly brown and we were both raving over the flavor. You must add it! 

So, definitely try this one. Josh even raved over it despite the fact that he has a cold and can't taste a thing. Yep, worth it.

*Whether or not you choose to eat gluten, I will always recommend an organic soy sauce. For those of you watching out for GMO's, soy is notorious for containing lots of them. Pregnant or not, I don't want nasty chemicals in my food.

Yogurt Making Adventures

I went one step further in my food journey. I made my own yogurt. I never even knew you could do that until about 9 months ago. I think at the time I said, "I'll never do that. I'll just buy it at the store and leave that to the real farmers." I laugh at myself. If you ever here me say "never" I can guarantee I'll be doing it soon. I once said I would never marry...and here I am 5 years later and quite happy that I did in fact get married.

So you aren't here to learn about the random things in my life so let me just move on and tell you all about my yogurt making adventures. Honestly? It was EASY. I will admit I am scared beyond belief of the other yogurt making methods out there that I have come across. No matter how many picture tutorials I see...I CAN'T DO IT. I just can't get past this fear that I will fail. So, I went with what I had on hand...a crockpot...and I followed a very easy recipe. I still can't believe I made yogurt in my crockpot. I love the beast (nickname for my EXTRA LARGE crockpot). It has served me well making many soups and lately cooking whole chickens and then making homemade stock out of the bones. So imagine my surprise when I read that I could use that same contraption to make yogurt. The crockpot really is my friend. 

I used a recipe from Heartland Renaissance and loved it. Here is the yogurt cooking away...

I was so scared to open the lid when it was done. I was so sure it would end up just being milk in there, but seriously after all those hours of cooking and incubating I had real live full of probiotics yogurt!! You guys...it was the most amazing sight. We go through yogurt ridiculously fast and buying the most expensive one...usually Brown Cow Whole Milk Yogurt with the cream on top. SOOOO YUMMY! Spending almost $4 on 32 ounces of yogurt that only lasted us a couple days was just not working for me. Literally the only "start up" cost was a half gallon of milk and one cup of yogurt from the store. Next time I'll just use a 1/2 cup of yogurt from the batch I just made (which I already have hidden away in the fridge) and then my only cost will be the half gallon of milk. So for less than $2 I will have 4 pints of yogurt...amazing. 

I'm in love.

For those of you wondering...yes we do drink raw milk, but I chose not to use it for yogurt making. It's pretty much impossible to make good yogurt and keep the milk in its raw state. While the raw milk would still have the benefits coming from grass fed cows, to me it wasn't worth it at this time. We are on a TIGHT budget so we treat every bit of our milk like gold. We choose to drink the milk raw and I just went and bought regular whole milk (hormone free). We will probably sub organic milk (be sure its not ultra pasteurized!) from time to time, but for now we feel like this is one place where we can save a lot of money, and still get the benefits. We just have to pick and choose. 

Seriously, if I can make my own yogurt YOU CAN TOO. I mean it. Let me know if you have questions...this was my first attempt so I'm certainly no pro, but I love trying to help. 

If the crockpot method isn't for you, there is this updated version. 

Need more inspiration? Kitchen Stewardship just finished up some awesome tutorials.


***UPDATE:
6/8/12

I have a 6 qt. crockpot (most recipes call for a 4 qt.) and through some trial and error I landed on the perfect timing for an even thicker yogurt. While the last one tasted great, this one just looks almost perfect.

Tip #1: During the first step, let it sit on keep warm (or low if you don't have that setting) for another 10-20 minutes.

Tip #2: Let the yogurt sit 30-45 minutes longer during the second step (so 3 1/2 or so instead of just 3).

Tip #3: Don't move your crockpot! (I had an ant invasion in my kitchen...apparently they could smell it cooking from outside?!).

Tip #5: When whisking in your yogurt starter, be careful not to whisk up any bits from the bottom of the crockpot. Mine cooks extra hot so some of the milk "burns" to the bottom...be careful of those.

Tip #6: Wash your mason jars/old spaghetti jars/etc. and lids in your dishwasher. Let them dry fully and then cap tightly. I store mine in a cabinet so they are already sanitized and ready to go for my next yogurt making adventure...or fermenting...or...

So, there are some tips in there whether or not you have a 6 qt. crockpot. I just wanted to tell you what worked for me today! Honestly...I found out all of that because I kind of sort of forgot about it. We were celebrating our anniversary and well...the yogurt just wasn't a priority. WHOOPS.

Project 52:21 | Self-Control

Josh and I are in the midst of a health and fitness challenge called "May Madness." We have loved every minute of it...except the time where my whole family ate a giant mud pie while we sat and watched and the time that we went to a food show where we couldn't taste test anything except a piece of fruit, tea, and greek yogurt. Seriously though it has been such a wonderful experience! I have kind of mentioned the fact that we have changed our eating habits quite a lot once before, but I still need to go into more detail. I have had a LOT of questions on the subject and I really want to be able to give you some information so you can decide if it is the right thing for you. Basically we have gone back to eating the way they would back in the good old prairie days. Think Laura Ingalls Wilder. Obviously we do still enjoy the modern conveniences of today, but we do also try to incorporate a lot of the old practices. We started with making a few changes and now are quite deep in the throws of it all...soaking, fermenting, raw milk...you name it, we are up to trying it. 

All this to say that we have really understood how important it is to take care of the one body God gave us. We feel so much more energized now that we are eating the way He intended for us to eat and are also spending a great deal of time being active. Not only have the changes to our body been significant, but watching Eden imitate our workout moves has made us so excited for her future. The girl loves her technology, so to see that she also loves to run and jump and play makes us believe that she will value an active and healthy lifestyle. Try making a change or two and see how it affects you and/or your family. We are quickly finding that piece of mud pie to really not be all that appealing anymore. 

I'll be back with more regarding the changes we have made over the past 9 months!

For more Project 52 goodness, check out these fine blogs:

styleberry BLOG, Lucas and Mahina, Wicked Kate, The Mog Blog, Dana Moran Photography

Let me know if you want to join in on the fun! It's never too late to start your Project 52 :)

Chicken And Broccoli Fried Brown Rice

Well that was a bit of a mouth full. Good news is my mouth really was full of this for dinner tonight and because I am oh so nice I am sharing it with you. Hold the applause.

This is one of those meals that you make when your husband is complaining that he is hungry, the toddler is clinging to your leg, the dog has to go outside for the 1,091 time and you just realized its past dinner time.

Not that I would know.

Chicken and Broccoli Fried Brown Rice

Ingredients:
Some chicken*
Rice (instant or precooked makes it quick)
Egg
Broccoli (I used frozen)
Peas (frozen again)
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Spices (ground ginger, garlic, pepper)
Squeeze of lime juice (only if you have it)

Assuming your rice and chicken are ready..

Heat up a skillet on medium heat until hot, add 1 T of oil or butter (for all things that are good please only use avocado oil or coconut oil if you choose to use oil..the other stuff is bad). Throw the egg in, turn down to medium-low, use your spatula to break it up and scramble until heated through and set. Put egg in a bowl and set aside.

Throw the broccoli and peas in and heat up (I happened to steam mine but using the same pan keeps you from having to wash another pan) until they are soft enough (to your liking). Once heated add rice, chicken, and egg. Then flavor with about 1 T soy sauce and 1-2 tsp sesame oil (this was for 3 servings so adjust accordingly). Add in spices as desired. Serve hot.

*if you are lazy like me you buy an organic free range whole chicken and cook it in the crockpot and portion it into individual servings in your freezer. Then when you forget to plan your dinner ahead you just grab that chicken and heat it up. Only reason we have food on the table...seriously.

So I realize I am a horrible recipe writer. I babble, over explain everything, and have no idea how to measure ingredients so I use terms like some, a bit, to your liking to just let you know that there is no science to it, I just throw things in.

If I completely turned you off from this meal due to above reasons I apologize. It really was easy and tastes divine. Maybe one day I'll get un-lazy and actually post all of my lazy timesaver tips and tricks. Maybe.

Now off to make some pretzels cause Eden asked for them (aka mommy was craving them and begged Eden to say she wanted pretzels).

Bring On The Fat

Lately we have been adding lots of butter into our diet. We use coconut oil in everything. We strive to only buy products that were made/grown locally. In fact we rarely buy anything that has been pre-made and make most everything in our kitchen. We choose full fat and never low-fat food. We like our eggs to come from chickens that have roamed freely. We even buy milk that is not homogenized. I know it looks like we have lost our minds, but let me assure you...our minds are (mostly) intact.

I used to dream of being a dietitian or personal trainer. I loved food and its relation to our bodies and I just wanted to soak up every bit of knowledge and pass it on. Then, I married a man who gagged at the sight of a vegetable or anything else that resembled "healthy food," I got busy, etc. I just kept making excuses. Well, after 9 months of eating whatever food we could possibly buy (usually cheap food means not so healthy food) or that people gave to us, we are finally done with eating poorly.  Literally, we were just eating to survive before and now we want to eat in a way that will help our bodies thrive. Eating good food is the best thing you can do for yourself, and most definitely for your children (whether you have them now or in the future). I think we can all agree that something is wrong with our society...diseases, obesity, etc. I think I am just over it all. I don't want Eden growing up thinking that eating something that resembles meat at a fast food restaurant is actually good for her body. I mean, who else is going to teach her the best foods to eat? Anyone else willing to step in here? As much as I enjoy watching The Biggest Loser, I would rather not have to have my children on the show. Dear Jillian Michaels, don't take this personally, but I don't want to meet you. Well, I want to meet you, but just not because I chose to abuse my body with harmful foods. Is she even on there anymore? I don't even know!

While we venture on this new "real foods" journey I just want to give you tips, tricks, and resources that we find while on this adventure in hopes that it may benefit you as well. Even if you are fine with eating your Big Macs each day without thinking twice about it (coughMYBROTHERcough) you still may enjoy learning just a little bit more about treating your body (and your planet) right. Oh, and Brett, please don't disown me as a sister. I truly do love you, just maybe don't love your food choices..haha. Okay, but seriously I do still want you to claim me as your sister.

So, after that ridiculously long-winded (hopefully not too preachy) post, here are a few blogs that have inspired me so far on our journey.

First, I have to give major props to one blog in particular.

via

100 Days of Real Food

Lisa is one smart woman. I wish we could be friends. I love reading about her journey and boy oh boy can this woman cook. So far we have tried her homemade honey whole wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas, berry sauce, banana ice cream, chocolate sauce, whole wheat crepes, biscuits, chicken enchiladas, pumpkin bread, granola, macaroni and cheese (I know I'm missing some), and used her recommendation for homemade creamer from Deliciously Organic (I made the pumpkin spice one for Josh). We have loved EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. No joke. We are obsessed. 

A few (very) new to me blogs have been providing me with even more wisdom. I am starting to feel the whole ignorance is bliss thing because honestly sometimes it does get a bit overwhelming (you know I always have to state the facts). However, each one of these blogs has broken it down in such a great way. In fact at Kitchen Stewardship, the goal is keeping it simple and doing baby steps. Love this!

The next blog is new to me, but I fell in love instantly. Monica, who writes Oh Sweet Escape actually commented on one of my posts so I went to check out what her blog was all about. OH.MY.WORD. She is gorgeous and super sweet to top it off. Oh and the best thing? This girl can cook. If you want to be inspired in your cooking, go now. You'll love her.

Looking to "green" up your life in all aspects, this next one is sure to give you a great place to start: Frugal Granola

Greats posts and easy to read. Lots of resources on eating and living healthy lives: The Nourished Life

Loving this blog! Another wonderful resource: Simple Organic

Great tips, especially for you moms: Keeper of the Home

I found this blog via Jamie Oliver and love it for planning out healthy meals for kids. Even if you don't have kids you can find some great inspiration: Healthy Meals and Food for Healthy Kids

Now I need to make a little disclaimer here. I am in no way a nutritionist. I know this may come as a shocker (ha!) to most of you. Technically I am just a wife and a mom who is concerned about the state of health in this generation and am refusing to follow that trend. Also all of these blogs that I have shared are just blogs that I have fallen deeply and madly in love with in recent days. Most don't even know I am writing about them (hope they don't mind!).

Here's the other thing. I don't want you to think that I expect each one of you to choose this lifestyle. I don't. We all make our own choices for ourselves and for our families and I expect you are making the best one. I respect that. I am just so over the moon excited about what we have learned and how much better we are feeling these days that I felt the need to share. I can't imagine that we will ever go back to eating processed food. Yes, we let ourselves eat it while on vacation, and we even have a treat once or twice a week. However, our overall food intake is food that would have been ingested on Little House on the Prairie. It's natural and downright good for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions or anything! I love this subject and would love to chat more on it if you would like to hear. Maybe another post will be in order? 

Pinkalicious First Birthday: The Eats

I'm back with my favorite part of any party....FOOD!  Seriously, I love eating food, cooking food, talking about food. Yes, food is most definitely one of my loves. On to the details. 

I "pinned" a ton of food inspiration to come up with the perfect menu for Eden's party. I knew I wanted to go with food that made you feel like a child again so that's where I started. The other important issue with the food was the fact that Eden has had a dairy allergy (yay for growing out of it!). We wanted food that Eden and any other child with allergens of some sort could at least eat something. 

Also, just a note that any recipes used are linked to the food title, so just click on the name of the food and it will take you to the recipe! If there isn't a link its because we didn't use a recipe or because we bought it :)

Pizza Balls

Mini Mac+Cheese and Veggie + Dip Cups

Fruit Kabobs

PB+J Sushi

Tortilla Roll-ups

(Not pictured...just used the standard ones from Costco)

Goldfish + Animal Crackers

Now I know it looks like I forgot to feed my guests dessert, but that's the best part. Eden's party was at my parent's frozen yogurt shop (our shop is just too small for our guest list and my parents willingly agreed to let us make a mess of theirs) so everyone got to go fill up their cups with frozen yogurt and all of the toppings they could want. This was SUCH a huge money saver for us and we are so thankful to my parents for letting us do this. I had even thought about purchasing some cute cups that I designed, but then realized the Limeberry logo cups were cute as is and my mom kept reminding me that they were happy to have us use them. So, I did. I'm so glad. We are obviously in quite the financial crunch right now (maybe that's not so obvious..but we are on a spending freeze permanently I'm pretty sure) so any money saved was quite a blessing. Besides, who doesn't love some frozen yogurt?! 

As for drinks we went with pink lemonade served in mason jars and then organic whole milk and natural apple juice for the youngest ones in the group. More on the drink portion of the party later!

I cannot close this post without a GIANT and HUGE shout out to my friends, Maggie and Kristen. They were extremely vital in the food portion of the event. In fact, there would be no food if it wasn't for them. See, I loved the idea of all of the food, but actually making it happen was a different story. I needed to be able to set up the party, but also cook the food and keep it warm all in a few short hours. Yeah. Not going to happen. They willingly volunteered their morning (and the time to go pick up all of the groceries!) to get the food prepared. Can I just say they did an AMAZING job? LOVE THEM!


I'll be back with more details later! Anyone else feeling like "this is the party that never ends...yes it goes on and on my friends..." What? You don't remember Lamb Chops? I loved that show. Even had the lamb puppet.  

Let me know if you have any questions about the food or even another aspect of the party. Oh and just so you know, people are still talking about the peanut butter and jelly "sushi" that we served so that's a must make. 

Scattered Thoughts With Some Chocolate For Good Measure

To say I have been busy is quite the understatement. Even though a majority of the past couple of weeks have been spent in total seclusion in my home, I still haven't even had time (and somewhat the desire) to blog. This is a crazy concept to me since I LOVE blogging. My blog just gets me. I know, it doesn't have brains or anything, but it's just really nice to be able to type out all the things that happen in this wacky head of mine without judgment (okay so you two readers out there may judge me, but I am okay with that).

Here's the thing. I have been a single mom (well it feels that way) for a few weeks and I. AM. OVER. IT. Josh has been working overtime to try to get our shop open as quickly as possible. Open equals money and money equals groceries. I am so proud of he and my dad for all of the hard work they have put into it and I am so very thankful for this opportunity...seriously, so thankful...but, BUT I miss my baby daddy. We are all a bit lost without him here all the time. Sadly, the few times he does come home I am usually a grump because I just don't even know how to share the house with anyone other than a baby and a whiny dog. I'm such an Eeyore. 

The expression Eden gets as soon as her daddy comes home

Things get worse. Yeah, I know, how is it even possible since my life is so very terrible (enter sarcasm here). We chose to be a one car family about a year and a half ago and while we never regret it we have come to find that now that Josh is working outside the home and I am not, well, sometimes I get a little frustrated that I am stuck inside. Ironically, for those who don't know me real well, I don't actually drive. I know how to drive. I do in fact like to drive. However, after an astronomical amount of accidents and such I choose to leave the driving up to Josh. I am quickly realizing that while I probably wouldn't leave the house much...the opportunity to leave to go to...I don't know...buy groceries, see some of the beautiful babies my lovely lady friends have had recently, go actually get some frozen yogurt, and so forth is really looking appealing. Sadly, a car is an expense that is not in the cards for now. 

Want to know how I cope with all of this? One word. CHOCOLATE. Seriously, I did not have a sweet tooth before pregnancy, or even during pregnancy...but the second my dairy allergies left me I became a sugaraholic. I crave sugar. Look at the fabulous discovery I made when I was frantically searching for any sign of sugar...

Smores. The great thing about this little treat? I didn't have to go try to figure out how to start a fire with two sticks. I just grabbed a graham cracker, snapped it in half, tossed some Ghiradelli chocolate chips on one side of the cracker (actually I strategically placed them on there, but that's just the OCD side of me), effortlessly tossed  placed marshmallows around the chocolate chips in a pretty pattern, and tossed it in the oven. At 350 degrees for 3 minutes to be exact. Ooey gooey melty chocolatey goodness. 

This wasn't my only creation. 

The sweet taste of coffee and chocolate without the price. Seriously it can't be beat. So, here's how it happened. Josh went and bought some Peet's coffee grounds with his birthday money (yeah, we do some wild stuff for our birthdays). I stole borrowed some, brewed it, and chilled it. Then when I took a celebratory trip to Winco (more on that awesomeness in a moment) I went and found me some chocolate syrup (Torani to be exact...it reminds me of my barista days). To make this heavenly concoction I just threw in some ice (crushed ice is best), coffee, lots of chocolate syrup, and some rice milk. Then I blend. Toss it into your reusable cup because we like to save the earth while we drink heavenly concoctions and add some sprinkles because you deserve it. Then, sip away. I promised Josh I wouldn't take any more of his coffee, but I'm thinking he won't notice if I take just a bit more...

While I am embarrassing myself by showing you all of the chocolate I have been indulging in, I might as well show you the most asked about creation. The microwave chocolate cake.  I won't say its heaven in a cup because its just not deserving, but it most certainly is a great way to get a chocolate fix super fast. 

Ingredients:

1/4 c. flour

5 T. sugar

2 T. cocoa powder

1 egg

3 T. milk

3 T. melted butter

Handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Dash vanilla extract 

Dash of salt

Pinch of baking soda

Pinch of baking powder

Directions:

Toss all ingredients into a large mug (I split this in half and use it for two servings) and stir together until combined. Microwave until puffed, about 1 minute 30 seconds. Sprinkle powdered sugar or cocoa powder on top. Devour.

I know the ingredients list is long, and I have seen it done with far less ingredients. However, I think your results may not be as satisfactory. I have read a ton of reviews on different versions and many people say the cake is spongy and dry. Josh and I found our version to be fairly moist. I did find that the first attempt turned out perfectly, while the second one turned out a little less appetizing. Not sure why, maybe the microwave was cranky.

One last thing...I know, I know, shut up already Mallory. 

So, I mentioned a celebratory trip to Winco. Yes, we party hard around these parts. Josh actually received a paycheck (HOORAY!!!!) so I was able to get groceries. I actually had a really hard time with this since I was so very used to not being able to buy anything, but it felt great. I even took a photo to document this blessing. 

Wow. I never thought posting a photo of our pantry would make me so happy. And hungry. Now I want to eat while simultaneously organizing and prettifying that cabinet. 

In all seriousness, it is late, I am tired, I talk to much, I should blog more so my posts aren't a mile long, time to go to bed. 

Put The Lime In The Coconut

Exactly three weeks ago we celebrated my mom's birthday. She turned 41 again...just saying. For her birthday I knew I wanted to make her something involving her absolute favorite ingredient, key lime. My mom actually spent some of her childhood in Key West, Florida so this is a way that I can help her reminisce a bit about her past.

My inspiration started when Eden, from Sugar and Charm, did a week of key lime treats and crafts (seriously I know I have mentioned her a whole lot on here, but I absolutely admire her fantabulousness). Then, while pinning my life away on Pinterest, I found this image.

via

Now, I'm no key lime lover, but doesn't this look delicious? To elicit a bit more drool I decided to switch it up and use an Oreo crust instead of graham cracker...yeah, I totally live on the edge. The Oreo crust reminded me of all the mud pies my mom made when I was a kid so I thought, "why not?!" 


Here's the recipe I used, with my adaptations as well.

Key Lime Pie Fudge
Recipe: Slightly adapted from Sugar Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 cups finely crushed oreos (about 24 cookies)
• 3 cups or 4, 4-oz bars of good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
• 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Key lime zest, about 5-6 Key limes
• 1/3 cup key lime juice – freshly squeezed is better
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Line a square 8"x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, extending it up and over pan (this helps you get it out of the pan later). Butter sides and bottom of the pan, especially the corners. Set aside.
2. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375. In a medium sized bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Add crushed Oreos and toss to mix well. Spread evenly into the baking pan and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
3. Stir white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in a large heavy saucepan over low heat just until chocolate is melted and all the lumps are gone. Remove from heat and stir in zest and juice and salt. Spread mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
4. Cover and chill for two hours or overnight (longer is better to help it set). Lift the fudge from pan using edges of foil. Peel off foil and use a heavy non-serrated knife to cut the fudge into one-inch pieces. (Tip: Keep a damp kitchen towel handy to clean off the knife after each cut. This will keep give your fudge a cleaner appearance.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week (this made me nervous so I kept mine in the fridge and it seemed to keep really well).

I added little slices of key limes to the fudge for a fun little presentation when I gave it to my mom. She loved it! I would call this a success. 

Seriously, just looking at photo is making me think that maybe I should give key lime another try. I love the key lime slices...they are just so gosh darn cute. Also, here's a little tip...if you get a bag of key limes (to all you local folks, I found these at Winco of all places) and have some leftover after making this fudge you can use it on all sorts of dishes. I added some juice and zest from some of the limes to chicken and it was great. It had a slight sweetness and then the slight sour taste of citrus. I think it would taste divine on fish as well. 

Let me know if you end up venturing into the world of key limes...it was definitely a new experience for me, but most definitely a happy one!

Cookie Monster

I am going to go admit right now that I INHALED these cookies. Thankfully my parents took a load of them off my hands because I was starting to gain some serious weight from eating so many. Hello pregnancy weight, so nice to see you again. 

This recipe comes from a wonderful friend of mine Ashley. She has a blog called Everything Free, and it's all about allergy-free cooking. Ashley is a PRO when it comes to cooking for allergies and thankfully provided us with some allergy-free meals after I had Eden. We are forever grateful for that!

Here is the recipe adapted to fit what I had in my pantry (original recipe here)

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup rice milk
1/2 cup dairy free margarine
4 Tbs cocoa powder

1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 cup Skippy Natural Peanut Butter
3 cups Quaker Oatmeal (quick cooking)

Combine first group if ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling, stir 3 minutes.

Stir in vanilla and peanut butter, adding oatmeal last. If mix is too wet add a tablespoon more oats (I did end up adding more). Use two spoons to drop onto wax paper, working quickly as mix hardens to crumbling fast! Do not double batch.

In case you didn't catch it before...I LOVE LOVE LOVED these. It is definitely an easy recipe for anyone trying to make a dessert for someone with food allergies. I actually found that I loved them even more the next day while Josh liked them more the first day. I may have also taken spoonfuls from the pot and inserted directly into my mouth. I may have also taken my finger and cleaned out the entire pot after I was done cooking. In short, if you liked chocolate, dessert, peanut butter, or any combination of those...you will want these. Okay, I am off to go salivate now...

...anyone else notice that my favorite desserts tend to look like blobs of you know what? Alright, sorry, not a good thing to say when prompting you to make something. Well, whatever they look like, they still taste divine! 

Super Food

Alright, so yesterday (decided to spend time with family and never finished this post yesterday) two days ago was some big game, I think they call it the Super Bowl. Obviously I am a BIG football fan. However, even though I have absolutely no desire to watch football, I do appreciate any chance to eat lots of food so I took advantage of this day. Oh and if you were wondering who I was rooting for, Josh told me to say, "Go Packers!" So I would say that is who I was cheering on, if you can call it that...and conveniently they won!


Back to the food. For a little pre-game snack we had some multi-grain chips and hummus. I have no pictures because I made neither item and that would just feel like cheating. Moving on...


I will say that I look for any excuse to have Mexican food and since we aren't eating out while we are on a spending freeze, I do my best to replicate my most favorite local Mexican restaurant (La Hacienda if you didn't already know). Seriously, those of you who live in or visit Salem..please do not try to convince me that there is a better place out there. I will not believe you. Oh and the other reason why I was craving Mexican food and thus decided to cook it for the big game was because of this beautiful lady. She makes some tempting looking food.

That is part of our big spread. My stomach grew two sizes after consumption. Here is the thing, those tortillas made the meal. Honestly, I would like to say that I made them from scratch, but that would be lying. I actually found them at Costco. I had no idea about them, I actually got the idea from this other fabulous lady. They are just slightly cooked, so you finish the cooking process and voila! You have tortillas that taste super fresh. They are as good with fillings as they are without. I will never buy regular tortillas in the store again. No way.

Our family has also been striving to eat less canned food. Before this decision our cart would be filled to the brim with cans. We love food that doesn't spoil quickly and beans were our biggest purchase. So, to limit our consumption of canned items (thus reducing our exposure to icky BPA) I am now cooking up big batches of beans in the crockpot and freezing them in individuals bags. So far I have done black beans and pinto beans. Seriously, homemade refried beans are SO much better than the dog food version at the store. They do take some getting used to (unless you choose to WAY over salt them like the canned variety), but once you have tried them you may not go back. Here is my rundown of how I get things done:


Refried Beans


Take the bag of dried pinto beans and toss them into a colander. Rinse under cold water and pick out all the icky pieces (shriveled beans, beans that are split in half, and rocks). Throw the cleaned up beans into your crockpot (you need a big one for this). Pour in enough water so that there is an extra 2 inches above your beans. Put the lid on. Let it sit overnight and DO NOT TURN ON. 


The next morning get up and dump out the water and beans into your colander again. Rinse. Put back into the crockpot with an extra inch of water above the beans. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours (cooking time varies, but you want them very tender). Once done save a good amount of water and then dump the rest of the water. 


Put beans back into crockpot and add some cumin, kosher salt (any salt works, but I love the taste of kosher), pepper, chili powder, a dash of lime juice, some hot sauce if you feel like it (Tapatio is my preferred brand), the reserved bean water as needed, and lots of garlic powder (I also add some fresh minced garlic at the beginning of the cooking process). I would give you measurements, but I never measure anything so just add them until it tastes good. Then just smash away with your favorite potato masher or you can throw into a blender or food processor, your choice. You can then choose to throw them in a pan with olive oil and do the actual "refried" part, but we liked it better when I didn't do it and it saved us a bunch of time skipping this step. Your call. 


For freezing purposes I took about 1 2/3 cup of beans that had cooled off in the crockpot, threw them in a quart freezer bag, smooshed flat, and freezed. Works like a charm. When reheating just throw into a saucepan with a little bit of water over low heat and you have some yummy beans.

I'm hoping to share my recipe for the Mexican rice I made. Definitely not award winning, and probably not completely authentic, but it tasted good and that is what I was going for. 

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So, my brave attempt at submitting one of my photos in a contest didn't give me a win, but I am still proud of myself for doing something that was so outside of my comfort zone. I was totally out of my league anyway. Either way, you should take a look and even vote on the final 24, there are some amazing photos! Oh and don't you worry, I am not going to let one loss bring me down. If you know me much then you know I honestly don't win anything so it doesn't faze me too much. I don't like to think of myself as a loser, just more of a non-winner. Hey, whatever it takes to make me feel better. Now, moving on so I can continue practicing my photog skills. 

Have a lovely Tuesday!

The Crainanator

No, the title isn't indicative of a new robotic superhero or a  name from one of Josh's characters on his various computer games...surprisingly, it is a sandwich.


Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?


This sandwich started off with our love for avocado. Honestly, we could eat it each and every day and still want more. It is GOOD stuff. Well, Josh started out by putting together turkey sandwiches and adding in different combos which he then titled, "the Crainanator." Not wanting to be outdone, I had to come up with an ever better, yummier version of Josh's sandwich. It became my obsession. I was inspired by a sandwich I had at the Nordstrom Cafe one weekend while shopping with my mom and Eden. It was D to the LICIOUS. I figured, if they can make it, then why can't I?! Oh I don't know, maybe because I am not a chef in the slightest and they actually have knowledge in the area. However, once again, I refused to be outdone. 


So, what makes this sandwich so superb? Well, I believe it is the combination of the best ingredients ever along with a slathering of my special "spicy mayo." Oh and if you have ever been around me when I am cooking, you will know that I a) NEVER measure ingredients...with the exception of baking, sometimes and b) NEVER make something the same way twice. I like to think of my food as snowflakes, no two dishes are exactly alike. Plus, I like to let myself feel the ingredients out until I am inspired. I may be odd, but the good news is you don't have to live with me (sorry Josh, you do have to live with me). 


The "typical" ingredients:
whole wheat bread
romaine lettuce
avocado
turkey bacon (Safeway's Eating Right brand is da bomb dot com)
tomato (I am a snob and only eat the "on the vine" variety)
deli turkey (it won't taste good unless it's natural turkey...because I said so)
spicy mayo (read: mayo with a couple of dashes of cayenne pepper)
a dollop of Grey Poupon (with or without the men in limos)
swiss cheese (if you are into that kind of thing)

If you are detail oriented, which I am not, you will notice that not all ingredients are in this photo. That is because I have a baby, she started to cry, I snapped a photo before I had finished compiling ingredients, decided that you would get over it. 


Alright, so this is how I put it all together. I get out a flat pan and heat up the bacon just like usual. While the bacon is frying away I get all my ingredients together. If you are using cheese, please place a slice on one piece of the bread and add some turkey. As soon as the bacon is ready to go, set it to the side. Then, put a bit of olive oil on the pan (I usually use a pastry brush to smear it around) and lay the slices of bread on the hot pan.  I let them toast up until they are golden brown. Once they are done slather on the spicy mayo and Grey Poupon (yes, my brother and I used to call it POOP ON because we are funny like that),  lay the bacon on top of the turkey (I usually use one piece and just cut it in half), add the lettuce, avocado, and tomato, and then smash the other piece of bread on top. Cut in half to make it pretty. 

Now, take a big giant bite and then thank me for eating a sandwich that is just about what I think Heaven would taste like, if you could eat it. 


Just a note, you can just slice the avocado, but Josh and I prefer to slightly mash it guacamole style and add some cumin, garlic powder, lemon and lime juice, and a dash of salt and pepper. We find it easier to eat that way (I tend to have slices of avocado falling out the backend (haha) of my sandwich if I do not do it this way. Also, you can use regular bacon instead of the turkey bacon, but we like to think of this sandwich as a healthy alternative so using turkey bacon makes it seem a bit more justifiable. Don't judge. 


So, enjoy your tasty (and SHHHHH healthy) Crainanator!

Fire Free Smores

Every Christmas, our small group has a white elephant gift exchange. We are also asked to bring food or desserts. This year I knew exactly what I was going to bring and I am so happy that I did. Now, I know the photo above kind of looks like a big blob of you know what, but I promise it is actually quite delicious. I mean like, ooey, gooey, chocolately deliciousness. Okay, all of my smarty pants friends are hating me right now for my use of words that are not technically in the dictionary, but thankfully I think they may still love me after this. Or not.

Now, I cannot take credit for this dessert at all, other than the fact that I made it and then ate it. The original recipe was found here. Yes, I am in love. I do not get a whole lot of chocolate in my life now that I am living dairy free, BUT this was chocolate, and had no dairy, and was made with items that can be found right at your regular grocery store. I am just too cheap to frequent specialty stores that actually carry foods that I could eat. I am much too simple for that. I followed the recipe almost exactly except that I used Ghiradelli's semi-sweet chocolate chips, and Nucoa margerine (both found at WalMart). Also, I suggest not wandering off to go play with your baby before mixing the chocolate with the rest of the ingredients. The items just don't melt well together when the chocolate has cooled off, just saying.

Seriously though, even if you are not allergic to dairy, this is a fabulous dessert. Is it evil that I am posting this on the third day of January, right after everyone has chosen to eat healthy, exercise, etc? Oh, don't worry, you will thank me later. Now, go buy yourself some Golden Grahams, pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, and start on these right away.

May I have Cheese Please?!

One thing that is very important to us is honesty. We always strive to be transparent so that people can always see who we truly are. Our goal on this blog is to be honest and open to anyone who reads it. So, please feel free to hold us to it. No really...you can scold me if I start to disobey my own policy. With all this in mind...I do give fair warning that I am going to be a little honest about what is going on in my life at the moment. Be scared..and close your eyes if you don't like "potty" talk...actually just scroll down a lot because I have safe photos below!

After that dramatic intro I feel like I should have something life-altering to say. I do not. What I do have to talk about is my stomach. Since I can remember I have had what we call stomach issues. My digestive system just did not like food, stress, movement...really anything. It was something I experienced a lot, but never to the extent that I have recently. For the past 4 months I have been sick every single day no matter what I ate. This prompted many pregnancy rumors, but I can dispel those rumors quickly...I am not, and not the right kind of sickness folks. There. It's out in the open. My daily meal consisted of saltines and water. Of course that means losing a lot more weight than I should have in that little amount of time. Well, after the 3rd month I had realized it was time to look to doctors for advice. Due to that decision, next Tuesday I am scheduled for a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy...and no I will not define those, look them up people. Something I didn't think I would say until much later in life. The procedure is simple and almost painless (besides drinking yucky stuff to make yourself sick and not eating for two days). My doctor also has asked me to go completely dairy free for 2 weeks (cheese is like my favorite thing besides bread). Once my procedure is over I will then be taken off of wheat if the doctor feels that it is necessary.

Going dairy free made me frustrated for the first few days. I felt like there were no resources out there despite the fact that many people are allergic to dairy. Needless to say I was completely clueless and "accidentally" ate some dairy. Let me tell you, that was a BAD idea. If your doctor says to go completely off of dairy and you don't think he is all that serious...you are very mistaken. Well after a long shopping trip I now truly am completely dairy free and surprisingly happy.

My hope for this blog is that I can share the things that I learn from having to cut dairy from my diet (I actually do plan to stay off of it even after the two weeks). So, no more cutting the cheese for me...pun intentional. As promised, here are a few photos dedicated to all the cheesey goodness that I once loved...

 

(Country Living)

 

Foods full of dairy...this is our goodbye. You kept me company during those lonely nights, helped me cope when I was sad, filled my time with friends with lots of fun. Oh you cheesey goodness, I loved you while you were mine, but it is time for me to make new relationships. I have moved on you see...soy milk, tofu, they are my friends now. I will never forget you...