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Archive for the ‘Fresh Ideas’ Category

Winner Announced and Favorite Things Spring Edition

Posted in Favorite Things, Fresh Ideas, Giveaway, tagged , on May 1, 2013 | 6 Comments »

Hello! How’s it going. Great here. Amazing what the Sun can do for your Spirit. So let’s get to it. I wanted to announce the Winner of the Bestowed Box. 

Using the True Random Number Generator
Result:#10 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 
Submitted on 2013/04/27 at 3:02 PM by Ray S

I keep healthy by training at the gym and also running 3 miles a day! Drinking lots of water too! Thanks

Congrats Ray S. I just emailed you with the prize information. I know you will enjoy it. Thank-you to Bestowed for Hosting this giveaway. Ray, I Hope that you will comment back with you favorite item in the box! I think you have a few really good ones to choose from! It’s so fun to SHARE. I really loved this giveaway. I asked as your prize entry to tell me: “What you do to Stay Healthy” and I was blown away by the answers. It is so great to see how everyone takes such Great Care of Themselves. It truly is important and I found so many of the comments inspiring. Thank you all for entering. Stay tuned for another giveaway I have coming up soon from Van’s Natural Foods.

Today I wanted to do a post about My Favorite Things. Spring Edition.

Mason Jar with Straw Hole. This bad boy can fit 8 large ice cubes in it. Love the capacity.

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Sprouting Jar.

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3 Part Salad Sprouting Seed Mix. (Post to Follow with Seed Growth)

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Marinated Artichokes.

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Secretaries Day Gift. Flowers and Goodies.

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Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lip Swivel Stick. (I chap) (it’s amazing)

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Night Time Snack. – Semi-Healthy-Goodness.

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Ginger People Ginger Candies, Ginger People Ginger Juice (so good on salads) and Lemon Oil Essential Oil for my skin. I love the little Gin Gins when I travel, they prevent dragon breath.

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Organic Oat Groats.

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Coconut Spray. Trader Joe’s = Love.

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Just a few of my Current Favorite Things. Check out a few of my Past Favorite Things Post. Random Eats, Drinks & Things. Things I’m Loving, Meals I Ate. 

Check Ya Later.

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Lasagna with a Twist

Posted in Fresh Ideas, Meatless Monday, Recipes, Tofu, tagged , , , , , on April 18, 2013 | 17 Comments »

Hello All, hope everyone is well and enjoying the Spring Weather. I know I am. It was slow to arrive to Michigan, so I am taking advantage of any time I can get outside. So with Spring here I wanted to make a light, but hearty dinner.

I love lasagna. I love spaghetti squash. So let’s make a Spaghetti Squash Lasagna.

First step is to Roast your Spaghetti Squash.

PREPARATION:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Slice spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Drizzle cut side with olive oil, salt and pepper.
  3. Place squash, cut side up on baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until squash is tender when pierced with a fork.
  4. Remove squash from oven and cool slightly, to handle. Into a bowl, shred the inside of the squash with fork.

Now onto the Lasagna. Okay…Here’s the thing. I know most people omit the noodles when they use spaghetti squash, but it just didn’t seem right to me. So I added noodles. I make my own rules, what can I say.

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Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

8×8 Baking Dish

Serves 4 Large Pieces

Ingredients:

  • Roasted Spaghetti Squash
  • No Boil Lasagna Noodles
  • Tofu 1 Container
  • Shaved Parmesan Cheese
  • Seasoning for the Tofu: Italian Garlic Gold Nuggets, Parsley, Salt and Pepper
  • Pasta Sauce
  • Parmesan Cheese Shaker (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press the water out of the Tofu. Crumble with a fork and season with Salt, Pepper, Parsley and Italian Garlic Gold (or any other Italian Seasoning). Mix well. Cover bottom of 8×8 pan with pasta sauce, then a layer of noodles, then spread the tofu mixture over noodles, then a layer of spaghetti squash and some shaved parmesan cheese. Repeat the process 3 times. When finished top layer should be pasta sauce and I also sprinkled in the remainder of my seasoned tofu and shaved parmesan cheese.

Bake on 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

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I just have fun when making a lasagna. I layer as much as I can depending on the ingredients. One note to stress when making this recipe, make sure you press out all the water from the tofu. Nothing worse than a watery lasagna, and of course ricotta cheese can be used in place of the tofu. I like to use either or, just depends what I have on hand.

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Recently, Meijer contacted me and asked if I wanted to try their New Cereal. I love cereal and so does my husband, so I was so excited to give them a try.  Plus their price point on cereal is a far better deal than any national brand cereal, and I really like that.

They sent 3 boxes:

  • Blueberry Muffin Squares
  • Toasted Oats
  • Fiber Complete

 

Also for anyone interested in trying them Meijer is having a 50 Percent Off Sale on Meijer brand cereals and an In-store Cereal Party in all of their stores on April 20 (11a.m.-4p.m.). This is a great event for kids, they can sample new flavors, make cereal crafts and pose for fun pictures!  I loved all the flavors, but have to say that the Blueberry Muffin Squares were my favorite and my husband loved the Toasted Oats. Hope you can make the event and stock-up your pantry with some great new flavors of Meijers brand cereal.

 

 

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Check Ya Later.

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Random Eats, Drinks and Things

Posted in Favorite Things, Foodie Items, Fresh Ideas, Michigan, Rest Day, Spirits, tagged , , , on March 13, 2013 | 20 Comments »

Just wanted to post some random eats, but also wanted to include a few other foodie type things in it.

Had a great dinner with my family at a local brewery which featured a Michigan Cherry Margarita.

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Ordered an Escargot Appetizer! Yummy. I mean really yummy.

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Got the Sushi Platter.
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Had a craving for some nut butter so I ordered Sarah’s Nutty Butter……My word that is one Smart Lady.  Cannot choose between the Gingerbread or the Caramel Latte so I won’t and I’ll eat BOTH.

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My friend Brooke, made me this super cool Luna Bar Vase.

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Tore up an Edible Arrangement. It had banana, strawberry and green apple in the assortment. Foodie Fun.

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My BF Jody sent me this book on Popsicles and this 4 pc. Spring Garden Measuring Cup Set. I love foodies gifts.

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Drank some Famous Dave’s Adult Punch.

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Crushed this Famous Dave’s Catfish and Ribs Dinner.

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Had a Vodka and Cranberry with friends.


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Just wanted to Share! Foodie Sharing is the BEST.

Check Ya Later.

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The Hummus Chopper

Posted in Fresh Ideas, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2013 | 29 Comments »

I love hummus, eat it nearly every day. Well sometimes I get upset at the price if it’s not on sale or I do not have a coupon, so I broke down and made my own. One thing that helped me come to this breakdown was Chef Ramsey.

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Over the holidays I was at Kmart’s and saw Chef on the box and thought I needed that stat, but I did not buy it. I was shopping for toys for my doggies and on a mission to stay in my Christmas budget. So I walked away from it/him.

Well, last week I realized that my doggies needed some new chew bones so off to Kmart’s I went and there he was staring at me again! Chef, please people will talk. Well something was different this time, he had a little red flag on the price tag! It was On Sale for $14.99. The original price was $22.99 so I thought that was a good enough deal to seal said deal. So needless to say I walked out with Chef Ramsey and some chew bones for the doggies!

My current chopper is super small and I never tried to make hummus because it seemed impossible with a tiny little prep chopper, but now I had no good excuse. I had Chef Ramsey by my side.

So My “To Do List” Went Like This.

# 1 Find a Recipe:

Note: I mixed and matched recipes to make this one, but it was Inspired by Ina’s Recipe.

Ingredients

  • 4 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1  can of chickpeas, drained, 2 tablespoons of liquid reserved
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
  • 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
  • Paprika to Garnish

Directions

  1. In a blender, pour garbanzo beans, reserved garbanzo bean liquid, lemon juice, tahini sauce, olive oil, and salt, and . Blend until creamy and well mixed.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Sprinkle with paprika  and drizzle with olive oil over the top.

# 2 Pulled out the Chopper:

# 3 Gather the Ingredients:

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#4 Make the Hummus:

and here’s the end result.

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Hummus and Pita = Happiness.

#5 Eat the Hummus:

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#6 Rate the Hummus:

Well I love Sabra Hummus, and in no way can I say this was like Sabra Hummus. There is just something about the smooth creamy texture of Sabra that I do not think I have ever found in any other brand or homemade hummus I have eaten. BUT. This was good and hearty. I liked that it was thick and still had little bits of chickpeas that were not 100% ground up. HOWEVER. When Sabra goes on sale or I have a coupon, I will stock up. I will continue to make my own and perfect it a bit, but Sabra stole my heart and until I can mimic it, I will continue to buy it.

P.S. Thanks Chef Ramsey. Your Cool.

Check Ya Later.

Question: Whats a recipe or food item that you just cannot seem to recreate?

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Wheat Berries

Posted in Fresh Ideas, Grains, Oatmeal, Recipes, Salads, Smoothie's, tagged , , , , , , on February 15, 2013 | 18 Comments »

I must share something, I have a New Food Love.  It’s with Wheat Berries.

But First Check out my New Tea Mug. It’s a wide mouth mason jar with a Cuppow Lid. I love it. I received the Cuppow lid in one of my Vegan Conscious Boxes. On a cold day the mason jar also doubles as a hand warmer.

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My new tea mug sure does complement my Oats in a Jar, Jar! I love jars, containers, bins, baskets and anything else that stores and organizes items. I love glass jars for food storage and serving food.

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So on to the Wheat Berries. I found these in the bulk bin section at Whole Foods and needed to try them out. I love grains and this is one I have not tried.

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After soaking them overnight, I drained and rinsed. Then add 2-1/2 cups of water and boiled for 35 minutes. NOTE: Just make sure that you do not let all the water boil out. Stir occasionally. I kept my eye on them the entire cook time, I made the mistake once and walked away while boiling rice, and all the water boiled out and I had a terrible mess in my saucepan. NEVER AGAIN.

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They are very chewy with a nutty flavor, they are now on my favorite list. Not sure why I waited so long to try them. Oh yeah, I know why…The closest Whole Foods is 40 some miles away from me and I have not found them anywhere else. Well now that I know, I can stock up and keep on hand. Win, Win.

I have been adding a 1/4 of a cup of cooked wheat berries to my Oats in a Jar Oatmeal.

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Here’s some helpful information I found on Wheat Berries over at The Food Network.

Wheat berries are a true whole grain! You may not recognize the name, but without these kernels, there would be no flour. Wheat berries are loaded with nutrients and are as easy as rice to prepare — perfect for a meal any time of year.

What are wheat berries?
Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels. They look like thick, short grains — similar to brown rice. Industrious folks grind them into whole wheat flour for baking; you may not have the time to regularly grind your own flour, but it’s a fun thing to try at least once.

When boiled, cooked wheat berries have a chewy bite and subtle nutty, earthy flavor. They’re sturdy enough to handle bold salad dressings and still delicate enough to taste delicious with some milk, honey and cinnamon.

If you like sprouts on salads and sandwiches, add a little water to wheat berries and you can grow your own wheat sprouts.

Why are wheat berries “Healthy Eats”?
Since the wheat kernel is left intact, virtually none of the nutrients are stripped away. A cup of cooked wheat berries has about 300 calories and is packed with fiber, protein and iron. Tasty sprouts are loaded with vitamin E, a cell-protecting antioxidant, and magnesium, which is good for healthy bones and muscles.

What do you do with wheat berries?
Look for wheat berries at a health food store or in the natural foods section of your local supermarket.

Prepare wheat berries in boiling water — just like other grains. Add cooked wheat berries to soups or even chili. Serve hot as a side dish with hearty mushrooms or cold for a satisfying salad full of flavor and whole grain goodness. Wheat berries have nutty flavor so they’re great with fresh vegetables and dried fruit such as cherries or cranberries.

Read more at: blog.foodnetwork.com

Now here some of my snacks from the week.

Kale Chips, always a favorite.

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Hail Merry Macaroons I received in my Vegan Conscious Box. Chocolate Craving CRUSHED by these little Macs.

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I made my husband this Decadent Apple Caramel Cake. He saw it while grocery shopping and added it to the cart. (?)

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It was good, but really sweet. He loved it, and that’s all that matters, sometimes you have to indulge on not so homemade, not so healthy items. At least I used my Egglands Best Eggs…

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* Since finding the Wheat Berries and cooking with them I have now located them at a Health Food Store NEAR my home! Dale’s Natural Foods Store in Flint Michigan. I shop here often and turns out they have carried them all along, I guess I just never looked carefully enough in the Bulk Grain Bin Section. Apparently my Observation skills are at an all time LOW.

Check Ya Later.

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Cho-Eats Deets – Chobani Recap

Posted in Chobani, Fresh Ideas, Frozen Treats, Grains, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2013 | 19 Comments »

So I wanted to do a recap on some of the meals I enjoyed while getting creative using Chobani Greek Yogurt in recipes.  The promotion is called #justaddgood. Here’s the idea behind it:

Chobani Conversion Chart.

Chobani Ingredient Conversion Chart

So I’ll take you back to the original post on my Chobani Delivery.  Now let’s look at some dishes!

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Most recently I made this little frozen dessert. This recipe was adapted from Lindsay’s over at The Lean Green Bean. Lindsay has amazing recipes and she is really creative with health ingredients.

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Here’s how I put this all together.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
  • 1 Large container of Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup ground oatmeal
  • 4 tablespoons of powdered peanut butter or 2-3  tablespoons of regular nut butter
  • 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
  • 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds

Instructions for Crust

  1. Mix 1/2 cup ground oats and 4 tablespoons of PB2, along with 2 tablespoons of chia seeds and 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds together.
  2. Next, slowly add 1/4 cup of water to the dry mix until it is smooth and incorporated
  3. Press the crust into a 8×8 glass pan and proceed to make the filling

Instructions for Filling

  1. Mix yogurt and crispy brown rice cereal together in a bowl.

Now put it all together

  1. Spread yogurt mixture into the oatmeal crust.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer until frozen.
  3. Remove from freezer, cut into bars.
  4. Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

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It’s like a frozen rice crispy treat. They freeze well and I love them.

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So with having so much on hand and not wanting to waste a single drop I grabbed a container and made some FroCHO™ Ice Cubes to have on hand for smoothies. I have made Chobani Frozen Treats before, but I wanted more information. So I headed on over to the Chobani FAQ Webpage and here’s what I found on freezing!

Can I freeze Chobani?

Yes, frozen Chobani (or FroCHO™ as we like to call it) can be stored for up to three months. While frozen, the live and active cultures present in Chobani become dormant. But once thawed, either in the refrigerator or by your body heat when eaten, they become live and active again.

FroCHO™ will have a slightly different texture, whether eaten frozen or thawed, but makes for a refreshing treat.

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Once they were frozen, I bagged and dated them. Well I also had to try some in a smoothie, I am only human after all.

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So I grabbed 3 Chobani cubes, a frozen banana and a snack size bag of frozen raspberries and a scoop of protein powder. I keep lots of frozen fruits on hand. I have a small section of my freezer dedicated to items to make smoothies! Check out my stash here. I topped of my blender bottle with soy milk and blended. The Chobani cubes really kept it cold and super smooth.

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I love spicy, hot flavors. So when I saw Tiffany’s Post on Spicy Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, I knew I had to make them. I meet Tiffany at the 2012 Blend Retreat. She blogs over at Snack Snark Bark. I did alter her original recipe, I did not have any celery on hand and I also omitted the jalapeno peppers. I do love spicy hot flavors, but jalapeno is just too much for this gal. I also stuffed them, I mean jam-packed them full so I only ended up with 5 enchiladas, where the original recipe called for 12 tortillas. Oops.

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Before:

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After:

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I am in love with these bad boys, they are so zippy and spicy, I had to dab my upper lip a few times! If you like Franks Red Hot, then these are for YOU.

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Super Spicy Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

  • 5 tortillas
  • 1 ½ lbs of chicken, cooked
  • 1 cup Chobani 2% plain yogurt (in place of cream cheese)
  • 4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled (same some for topping)
  • 4 oz. Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp chile powder
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • Ranch dressing for drizzling

Mix together well, stuff tortillas and fold, place seam side down in pan, sprinkle with blue cheese and drizzle ranch dressing and hot sauce and bake on 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes and enjoy.

So on to a milder recipe….Cho-Egg Salad Sandwich.

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I just diced up 2 hard-boiled eggs a generous amount of mustard along with a few tablespoons of Chobani yogurt and mixed together, tasted then added more mustard and Chobani to my taste. Toasted some wheat bread. Piled the Cho-Egg mix on the bread, then topped with Organic Pea Sprouts, and dug in, it sure did make a perfect lunch.

Made my all time favorite breakfast bowl or Cho-Cereal Bowl. Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, PB2 (not pictured), hemp seeds, cinnamon and mixed with Chobani yogurt. Love, Love, Love.

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Cho-Enchiladas. Check out my recipe/post link.

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More Cho-Cereal Bowls.

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Shrimp Taco Wrap with Chobani instead of sour cream…Very Tangy.

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I think the one thing I am currently obsessed with is the Chobani Fruit Dip. Inspired by the Fruit Kebobs on the Chobani site.

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Chobani Fruit Dip

Serves 1

2 Tablespoons Chobani Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Biscoff Spread or any Nut butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 Shakes of Cinnamon

Blend together with a spoon and dip, dip away.

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I also wanted to mention that I froze 3 cups of this dip in a glass Pyrex container for a Super Bowl party. Before the party I let it thaw and whipped it up with a spoon, and the texture and flavor were as good as when it was first made fresh. CHO-Bonus.

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite way to use Greek Yogurt in your recipes?

Check Ya Later.

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Me Day, My Way

Posted in Chobani, Fresh Ideas, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on February 8, 2013 | 9 Comments »

Last weekend I took advantage of the fact that I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So I spent the day doing what I wanted to do. I watched movies and ate! It was just what I needed. I had a Me Day, My Way.

For Breakfast I enjoyed a few Crumpets with Sun-butter and hemp seeds.

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For lunch I made a fun and really tasty sandwich. For some reason I have been craving an egg salad sandwich so I made one. Like I said I was having a Me Day. Check out my secret ingredient. Chobani Greek Yogurt. #justaddgood.

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I found Organic Pea Shoots at Trader Joe’s, and when I saw them, I knew I had to try them and I am happy to say I loved them! They can be added to stir frys, salads, soups and sandwiches, or steamed as a side dish. I have been wanting to use my Chobani so I thought instead of mayo on my egg salad sandwich I would use my yummy Chobani Greek Yogurt. 

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It was one fine tasting sandwich. Worthy of repeating on any given day. Cho-Egg Salad Sandwich with Pea Shoots. Other fun Chobani creations can be found here, and here. Oh yeah, and here. Chobani is a great way to add some clean protein to your diet and replace fatty ingredients, like mayo, oil or butter. In the summer I made a few fun dessert dishes using Chobani Greek yogurt. Chobani Cheese Cake, Chobani Frozen Treats.

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For a fun snack I ate one of my Homemade Brown Rice Krispy Treats smothered in Sun-butter  Yeah, it was a great snack! It was a little salty and a little sweet.

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For dinner I ate some baked Black soybean that I marinated in Soy sauce and sesame oil. I however forgot to take a picture of the finished tofu. Oops.. I eat tofu all the time, but this was my first time trying the Black Soybean Tofu. It really soaked up the marinate, and had a great flavor and texture. I wish I had a picture of the finished product, because it was baked to a golden brown and looked really good. I loved the black speckled look of the tofu. I will get a picture….Next time. 

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My tuna sushi was so good, I was so excited when my Kroger’s store had it, they normally only stock California type sushi. Bonus for my Me Day.

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Guess who else had a Me Day? These two. They work so hard all week, they deserve it. ;-)

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Question: When was the last time YOU had a ME DAY? 

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Holiday Eats, Goodies and Things

Posted in Breakfast, Chobani, Fresh Ideas, Holiday Meals, Holiday's, Recap Posts, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 6, 2013 | 9 Comments »

Better late than never… Here’s a little post about what I made, ate, and enjoyed over the holidays.

To start I baked some white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, they happen to be my all time favorite cookie. EVER.

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Made my Favorite Instant Oatmeal Pancakes for breakfast.

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Even Elf loves Instant Oatmeal Pancakes.

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So easy and satisfying.

Instant Oatmeal Pancakes:

Ingredients:

  • 1 packet instant oatmeal (any flavor)
  • ½ banana , mashed
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1⁄3 cup Egg Beaters egg substitute

Directions:

  • Mix and combine all ingredients.
  • Pour into non-stick skillet and when you shake the pan and the pancake moves, it’s time to flip.
  • Brown on both sides

Top with your favorite ingredients and enjoy. I just topped with Chia seeds and agave nectar. Sheer Perfection.

I also made some Healthy Brown Krispy Treats. Gotta have good for you treats with the indulgent one! Just playing fair.

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Brown Rice Krispy Treats:

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups crispy brown rice cereal (I used Erewhon)
  • 2 tablespoons almond butter, peanut butter or other nut butter
  • 3/4 cup agave syrup

Preparation:

  1. Place cereal in a mixing bowl.
  2. Heat nut butter and rice syrup on low heat, stirring until warm and creamy, but not boiling.
  3. Pour the nut butter and rice syrup mixture over cereal and raisins and coat evenly.
  4. Press mixture evenly into a 13×9 casserole dish.
  5. I put the pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes to make it easier to cut into squares.

Made a big old bowl of #justaddgood Chobani for Breakfast from my Chobani score.

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Chia seeds, hemp seeds with a cup of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, mixed with Vanilla Chobani and you have got your self a big old bowl of YUM.

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Indulged on a candy caramel apple. A co-worker gave this to me as a Christmas gift. It was love at first Sight, I mean Bite.

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Wow, so incredible. Almost ridiculous it was so good.

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For my contribution to my families holiday meal I made the Pioneer Woman Burgundy Mushrooms.

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They were so worth the 9 hour cook time. Yep, 9 hour cook time. Crazy right? But I have to tell you,  I will make them again and again.

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Check out her recipe.

Pioneer Woman Burgundy Mushrooms: 

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds White Button Mushrooms
  • 2 sticks Butter
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 quarts Burgundy Wine (other Reds Will Work)
  • 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 cups Boiling Water
  • 4 whole Chicken Bouillon Cubes
  • 4 whole Beef Bouillon Cubes
  • 1 teaspoon Dill Seed
  • 5 cloves Garlic, Peeled
  • 2 teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

  • Thoroughly wash the mushrooms and throw them into a large stockpot. Add all the remaining ingredients except the salt. Stir to combine.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for six hours.
  • Remove the lid, then continue cooking, uncovered, for three hours.
  • Add salt to taste at the end if desired. The mushrooms will be very dark in color. Simmer until needed. Server straight from the pot or in a serving bowl.

I scored a new toaster oven from the rents. Love new kitchen appliances!

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Love the holidays, but I am so glad they are over. So are these two, they just want to get back to their normal daily routine; Wake up, Eat, Power Playtime for 30 Minutes, take a Long Nap, Wake Up when Mommy gets Home from Work, Eat Again, Endless Playtime and Daily Walk, Bedtime and Repeat!

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Check Ya Later.

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Cho-Enchiladas

Posted in Chobani, Fresh Ideas, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on January 2, 2013 | 20 Comments »

Special Delivery….#justaddgood…Chobani

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My good friends at Chobani sent me a wonderful box of goodness to try out in some recipes. I used this Conversion Chart from Chobani.

Chobani Ingredient Conversion Chart

Nothing but Good.

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So my first thought was to make some zesty chicken enchiladas. I didn’t use a particular recipe, I just added a few easy ingredients I love and threw them together, or rather rolled them together. So here’s how this very zesty recipe came together. I used the Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or a cheese soup mix like I normally would use. This really kept this recipe light and creamy, plus it gave this dish a real zippy bite. I was really excited at how the dish turned out. One huge benefit of using Chobani Greek yogurt for me is the increase in the protein it added to my meal. It’s a keeper recipe, with a keeper ingredient.

Ingredients

1 Can Yellow Corn
1 Can Black Beans
1 Cup Chobani Greek Yogurt
2-3 Chicken Breasts Cooked and Shredded
6 Large Wheat Tortillas
3/4 Cup Shredded Cheese – 1/4 Cup for Topping Tortillas

1 Cup Medium Salsa – Plus 1/2 Cup for Topping Tortillas

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Incorporate all the ingredients together and spoon a large portion of stuffing mixture into each tortilla and roll. Place in a glass baking dish. Spoon additional 1/2 Cup salsa over the rolled tortillas and sprinkle with extra cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbling hot.
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#justaddgood
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Also wanted to introduce my new little girl, Ginger. We rescued her and she is amazing. She loves Stuart and Stuart loves her. She is 6-8 months old (vets best guess). After we lost Killian we decided to let our next dog find us. What we did not know is that she was already looking for us. I will post her story in an upcoming post. For now here’s a few pictures of my Ginger Lou.
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Ginger and Stuart have become fast friends. They nap together, play together and holiday together. Brother love his new Sister!
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Check Ya Later.

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Box Service

Posted in Dogs, Fresh Ideas, Membership Boxes, tagged , , , , , , on December 11, 2012 | 16 Comments »

My favorite subscription is the Conscious Box. I ordered this 3 months ago and thought I’d try it and see if it was something I wanted to purchase long-term. Well after the 1st. month I was hooked, and renewed my subscription for 3 more months. Loving it! This was my haul from the October’s Box.

This box is just packed with such good stuff.

I love trying new products and trying new foods, so this box service is perfect.

I like to make my own kale chips, but these were dehydrated and were simply delicious.

I loved the flavor, it was smokey and rich.

My furry kids just loved these V-Dog nuggets.

Stuart giving them a try.

Killian coming back for more.

One bite left for each.

Now this is one bar I have been really wanting to try.  I have seen them on many blogs and loved the concept behind the bars. You can read the concept behind the Barre Bar here.

Reusable bamboo towel. Love it and use it in my kitchen. Love that it can be used, reused and used again.

There was also some skin lotions, dog shampoo and a few other sample packets in the box, but sadly I used them before I took a picture, but you get the idea…Conscious Box rules! Oh yeah and some chocolate that just did not stand a chance.

On a sad note, its with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that my little red dog Killian is no longer with us, he died on November 26, 2012. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the end of October, and we were giving him insulin shots twice a day hoping to get it under control, but sadly he ended up getting a blood infection due to his pancreas not working properly. We had an amazing Thanksgiving with Killian, my parents and their dog Charlie all came over and we had a wonderful holiday, at this time we thought we were going in the right direction with him, and that he was improving, but just a few days later he declined fast. I held him as he left this world, with Stuart by his side.

Words cannot describe what this precious life meant to us. He lived 14 years, I am thankful for that, but I’m greedy and I wanted more. If there is one thing I can say about Killian, it’s this: He Lived Life Well. He loved every second of everyday. He was my special boy and I will carry him in my heart for all the days of my life.

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Killian Michael, Rest in Peace.

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures;they give unconditional love.For me they are the role model for being alive.” Gilda Radner

One thing that I am so thankful for is taking a family picture on Thanksgiving. 

“Our Family”

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Each day since Killian has passed I have given thanks for his life and how he touched our lives with his humor and his never-ending love.

Check Ya Later.

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