Peanut Butter Maple Cookies

Sully just turned one and we threw a "Milk and Cookies" themed party. It required lots of baking and 4 different types of cookies! I made Ranger, Sea Salt Chocolate Chip, Hodge Podge cookies (recipe already posted) and my hubby's all time fave cookie, Peanut Butter Maple. 

These were the first cookies I ever baked for the hubs, my then boyfriend. My family has been making these for years. They have a special secret ingredient, that make them extra tasty :)

Peanut Butter Maple Cookies 

(makes 3-4 dozen)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 1/s tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pkg of peanut butter chips

Combine all ingredients together in order, dry ingredients last. Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet (I used a silicone mat). Bake at 325 for 13-16 minutes. 

Enjoy!!!

Sleepless nights....oh sweet baby boy....I think

Never ending teething is really killing my sleep! Baby molars are the pits and I seriously just want to stomp and whine about it! But I'll spare you. Painful molars means a baby boy that was up from 1:30 to 3:30 last night. (Side note, one of his molars finally popped through).  It also means Mama was up with him....and I'm pretty sure he kept annoying Daddy by constantly hitting his back or head. We call those "love taps" in our house, but in the middle of the night Daddy is not a huge fan. I can't really blame him since his alarm goes off at 4 AM. After the crazy boy finally went to sleep in his crib, I slept through ALL THREE ALARMS!!!! So D was late to school and this morning started in panic mode. 

A bad start to the morning didn't ruin my day. Luckily, I was able to move past the rough start and got some stuff done. I finally tackled my studio....not an easy task. Fabric, scraps, patterns....EVERYWHERE mixed in with D's random kid stuff and baby paraphernalia. I made a big dent, thank goodness! I think the hubs was about to disown me. And I worked with this a special little guy on climbing the stairs, he doesn't pretty good until he realizes he can stand and forgets to focus on getting all the way up the stairs :) Next up is teaching him how to scoot down the stairs.

I've even stayed up on laundry, dishes and house stuff.....oh em gee the whole 30 is making me domestic....what the what!?!? There's something about having control over what you're putting in your body that makes you want to have control over other things in your life. I tend to live in organized chaos, and as much as I hate cleaning I really hate living in chaos so I'm hoping this is something that sticks! 

After some much needed sewing time (I made the itty bittiest little moccasins) I prepped everything for dinner tonight. We have a double header at soccer tonight, so I didn't want any excuse for not eating whole 30 for dinner. Granted, dinner probably will be closer to 8 but it's better then fast food! Our chuck roast is all prepped for the smoker and I have brussels sprouts patiently waiting in the oven to be roasted. Delay start on the oven is seriously a life saver!

What I ate, Day 16

Breakfast: Sauteed spinach and garlic topped with runny eggs, a few sausage links and avocado

Lunch: Leftover chowder

Dinner: Mesquite Smoked Chuck Roast with roasted brussels sprouts and bacon

Breakfast

I'll post a pic of dinner with the brussels sprouts, it's our favorite way to eat them.

Exercise: Double header for indoor soccer

Beef and Bacon Chowder modified

I found this recipe over on Purely Primal and it was a hit in our house! Whenever the hubby has seconds are keeps telling me it's delicious I know it's a keeper. I tweaked the recipe a bit and next time I'm going to make it in the crockpot. I thought I'd post how to do it in the crockpot for future reference.  And seriously this hit the fall comfort food spot.

Crockpot Beef and Bacon Chowder 

• 3/4 lb ground beef, cooked
• 5 strips of bacon, chopped and cooked
• 1 package of sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1 small onion, chopped and sauteed
• 1 large white sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups of shredded carrots
• 2 cans of coconut milk, full fat
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• fresh minced garlic, to taste
• 16 oz carton of chicken stock

Cook ground beef with fresh garlic in skillet over medium heat. Remove beef and add to crockpot. In same skillet cook bacon until crispy. Add to crockpot. In a new pan, saute chopped onion and mushrooms over medium heat and add to crockpot. Add carton of chicken stock, sweet potato and carrots. Mix all ingredients together in crockpot. Season the soup mix with salt and pepper. Cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 4-5 hours. 45 to 30 minutes before crockpot is done cooking add both cans of coconut milk and stir. Let soup simmer the last 45-30 minutes. Serve by itself or with a salad. 

*Note, you could skip cooking the onions and mushrooms in a skillet and just add to the crockpot, they might not be as flavorful though. 

Variations: 

• Italian sausage instead of beef
• omit carrots and add kale
• add different types of squash

This is a great "base" for lots of paleo soups. I think I'm going to try a Paleo Baked Potato Soup next. 

  

A Plan and Day 15

After a horrible night's sleep because of my poor planning, I got out of bed and knew after I dropped D off at school Sully and I needed to make a trip to Chuck's so I could start the day out on the right foot. Last night I spent some time pinning some new recipes to try this week so I had an idea of what I needed and off we went (and yes I was that Mom, my boy was rocking his jammies).

I made a quick meal plan for the week:

Monday: Beef and Bacon Chowder (instead of white potatoes I'm going to modify to sweet potatoes)

Tuesday: Smoked Chuck roasted with Cauliflower Mash

Wednesday: Spaghetti Squash Crusted Quiche

Thursday: Sausage and Kale Soup (PS I met this blogger at Crossfit the other night)

Friday: Smoky Bacon Chili

Saturday: Birthday Dinner out with Friends

Sunday: Paleo Savory Sweet Potato Meatloaf 

This is the plan for the week. I might be able to stretch it a bit with leftovers and we usually end up doing "brinner" for dinner at least once during the week.

What I ate, Day 15

Breakfast: Fruit bowl (pear, strawberries and blueberries) and nuts

Lunch: Salsa burger and avo

Dinner: Beef and Bacon chowder

Exercise: Hoping to get on the elliptical today after I catch up on some orders

Day 14, Soccer Sunday and poor planning!

One major thing I've noticed with doing Paleo and/or Whole 30 is that I now wake myself up in the morning. Yes, my alarm goes off but I find that I'm actually awake when I roll out of bed. This is huge! If you know me, you know I'm not a morning person. I'm usually the person that doesn't want to talk to anyone for a good hour after I wake up :) But things are CHANGING!!!

With my new found morning "awakeness" I'm finding I'm way more productive. After the kids and I were up, I made them breakfast, made the little guy a new pair of moccs, actually got ready (like did my hair and MAKEUP!!! Holy Man!) and made it to church on time. This never happens! I usually love sleeping in on the weekends, but I don't feel like I need to now. PS my whole entire body is still sore from Crossfit, but I definitely want to go back! Who am I!?!?

Quick recap of what I ate

What I ate, Day 14

Breakfast: Fruit and veg smoothie and some turkey

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with diced chicken and apple sausage and a handful of macadamia nuts.
I even had part of beer after soccer (I was kidless and with adults....shoot me)

Dinner: The doomed didn't have a plan after soccer and we were out of eggs and produce so no quick ideas came to mind....teriyaki it was at 7:30 :/ (Beef, chicken, rice and a small salad....and holy crap did I sleep awful and feel awful....DANGIT!)

Exercise: None

So of course after eating takeout I felt like ish....and then I was disappointed in myself that I didn't rally and find something to eat at home. But lesson learned. And honestly after being at soccer and picking the kids up at 7 I really didn't feel like cooking. That's the biggest downfall with going Paleo or Whole 30; cooking is huge! Note to self, have leftovers in the fridge or something in the crockpot if you're going to be away from home most of the day.

But all in all it was a great day. Got to go watch my man kick ass playing soccer (even if they lost) I don't care...still love watching him and his buddies play. Well more him....but you get the idea. 

PS look at my little mini....I just love him :)

Day 13 and a beautiful fall day

Today was a gorgeous fall day, this past week has been beautiful. I just love the northwest and I love the beauty that fall brings.

Today we spent part of the day saying goodbye to Jason's step Grandpa and it made me super reflective. Memorial services always tend to make me ponder life. On our way home Jas and I were talking about how much we didn't know about Carl. He was an amazing man before we went to the service, but then hearing about all of the other things he did during his life and friends and family telling stories about him had me in awe. He had a beautiful life and an amazing family and I'm truly blessed to be part of it.

Back to the ol' food catch up. I ate a later bigger breakfast just so I was tempted my too many things at lunch after the memorial service. Remember the sweet potato fries from last night? They make a delicious breakfast scramble :)

What I ate, Day 13
Breakfast: Smoothie (spinach, mango, strawberries and carrots) and chicken and apple sausge egg scramble with sweet potatoes.
Lunch: Spinach salad, turkey and ham, meatballs (not whole 30)
Dinner: Rosemary chicken breast, olives and salad.

Exercise: None

Starting to notice my face clearing up (still dealing with the affects of having a baby!), my wedding ring is spinning on my finger (always a good sign) and my energy level is up. But I still feel like I want a nap in the afternoon, which I definitely got today :)

Day 11 & 12 and Oh Em Gee I'm trying Crossfit!

Just a quick little recap on what I ate

What I ate, Day 11

Breakfast: Fruit smoothie, hard boiled egg
Lunch: Turkey, nuts and an orange
Dinner: Banana pancakes, avo, sausage and fried eggs

Exercise: None 

Noticed I'm sleeping way better, falling right to sleep and waking up actually refreshed. This is huge since I tend to be an insomniac.

What I ate, Day 12

Breakfast: Fruit and nut bowl

Lunch: Asparagus wrapped in ham, blueberries and olives

Dinner: Angus burger on butter lettuce with avo and sweet potato fries. (Tip: save left over fries even if it's a few, it makes a great addition to breakfast scrambles)

Exercise: First Crossfit class 8:37

My cousin invited me to her Crossfit gym's Girl's Night Out.....first thought...um no! But I've been wanting to see what Crossfit is all about. I follow enough Paleo blogs to see that it's the choice exercise for most of my fave bloggers. I'm not going to lie the whole idea of Crossfit intimidates me, but my hubs nudged me. And I actually did it! And I might even say I liked it! I actually want to go back and try it again! We did a bunch of different exercises Kettle ball swing, burpees, jump rope, 200m jog with weighted ball, situps, squat ball (pretty sure that's not the name). Basically the workout kicked my butt. I was dripping sweat. After the warm up the actual workout took less then 10 minutes, and I felt beat. But I liked it! I left feeling kind of like a bad ass. I mean I definitely need to learn the exercises better and did more of a walk/jog and a modified burpee but I still felt like I accomplished something. I stepped out of my comfort zone and went for it.

And just because my legs now hurt from all the squats, this ones for you ;)

Day 10 and some truth

Let's be real about doing a whole 30, any time you re-vamp what you're eating you have to have time. Time to plan, prepare and cook. And time to clean. Yesterday on Day 10 I just wasn't feeling the cooking and planning part. Call me crazy, but I was tired. Tired because the baby is cutting molars and up crazy hours of the night, and tired because the oldest woke up 3 times in the night because of an ear ache. So ya I was tired.....some may even call it exhausted. So I slipped, and honestly I don't feel bad about it because it gave me some serious insight.

In the midst of a sleepless night, a grumpers baby and a little lady that wasn't feeling up to par we had family photos. Perfect day right? ;) Somehow we rallied and the kids both made it through pics and the hubs and I didn't fall asleep from a sleepless night. With family pictures we did Sully's first birthday cake smash a bit early (our friend/photog is preggo and due in the next month so it was just easier). Any who, a cake smash means cake right? So I picked little man up a pretty little cake from Chuck's. Red Velvet to be exact. I mean he was going to smash it so he needed to be nice and messy.....right? Wrong (secretly I wanted a piece of that bad boy)

So we do family pics, I tell the hubs I'm not into cooking so we decide on takeout. I mean we were so close to the Thai food place, so why not? Well let me tell ya why that was a bad decision, or rather an eye opening decision. I was all excited for my delicious chicken pad thai. Surprisingly my delicious pad thai, was rather rich and it was A LOT of food and my tummy wasn't a huge fan of all those carbs/oils/sauce/etc. Hmm maybe my eating habits really are changing I pondered. Then I decided to cut into that beautiful Red Velvet cake that my little guy hardly touched. I had been patiently waiting for a bite of it. Not because I've been craving sugar, but because damnit it looked delicious and I wanted some! Welp, a took a bite and man was it delicious but HOLY CRAP was it sweet! And oh man, was it worth it? Probably not but I realize that life is not perfect, eating habits are not perfect, and this whole 30 is not perfect. But I'm ok with that. It's part of learning. It's part of figuring out myself and my body. It's part of figuring out why I feel like I need to eat things when I don't really want to. Make sense? Clear as mud? Ya, I get it. What I got from the whole experience on Day 10 was that if I probably had  full night's sleep I most likely wouldn't have made poor eating decisions because I would have had a plan. But that is life. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and realize that tomorrow is going to be better. 

So here's to starting new today!

Quick side note on what I did eat

What I ate, Day 10

Breakfast: Smoothie (berries, banana, spinach and ice)

Lunch: Leftovers (wrapped sausage with bacon) and roasted broccoli

Dinner: Thai and cake (BOO ON YOU)

Day 9 and a little pumpkin patch fun

Day 9 was a quick food kind of day. Tuesdays are our busiest day of the week, piano and soccer so easy food is my jam.

What I ate, Day 9

Breakfast: Smoothie and half a chicken breast

Lunch: Salsa eggs, avo and chicken and apple sausage (this is a staple meal at our house)

Dinner: Bacon wrapped beef german sausage, sliced apple and macadamia nuts (I ate super late after soccer, like 10 pm because eating dinner before soccer is a bad idea!)

Exercise: Indoor soccer....oh and we won and my hubs is a boss at goalie

Yesterday we took the kids to the pumpkin patch. Dylan was so excited and it was Sully's first time so he was rather inquisitive. We just took them to the local little patch close to home, but they had a hay bail tunnel, corn maze and billy goats and piggies so the little lady was excited! Here's a few pics from the day :) (ok more than a few, but I couldn't help it!)

Quick catch up Day 7 & 8

Day 7 was a weird food day for me. I should have had a better plan and ate breakfast before I went to a baby shower, but sleep was more tempting.  So I went to the shower hungry and ate of plan, but I watched the amount that I ate and quickly went back on plan when I got home.

What I ate, Day 7

• Brunch (too many delicious, not whole 30 foods)
• Turkey breast, cukes and cashews
• Zucchini noodles, grilled chicken (cooked in coconut oil, rosemary and garlic) and avocado sauce

Definitely going to make the zucchini noodles again. They were really good and it felt like we were eating pasta. And Dylan loves using the spiralizer to make the noodles. You can even eat the noodles and avocado sauce raw. We ate it warm.

Day 8 started with a quick breakfast, errands and a really good Zumba/U-Jam class. I can feel the aftermath of that class today :) 

What I ate, Day 8

• Breakfast: Fruit smoothie and nuts
• Lunch: Cooked chicken breast, blueberries, olives
• Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, strawberries and sauteed butternut squash, sweet potato and onion cooked in kerrygold irish butter. (I steam the tators and squash before I saute)

Exercise: Zumba/U-Jam

Early Morning Zumba

When you hear your baby moving around at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday, you get a little grumpy. The days of sleeping in is LOOOOOONG gone, and I'm not a fan. But I do have to say I'm glad he woke me up because it got my booty off to Zumba at 8 AM. D and her bedhead even joined me.

I love Zumba and U-Jam. It makes me smile, I always leave a sweaty hot mess, when I'm done I feel like my booty was kicked and who doesn't love to dance! D even joined me in a few songs this morning. Now my workout is done for the day so now I've got the rest of the day for fun stuff. 

What I'm eating today, Day 6

Breakfast: Pre-workout apple and handful of cashews. After workout Meat/veggie/egg scramble 

Lunch: Leftovers and salad

Dinner: Man burger (beef burger, fried egg and sauteed onions) and Sweet Potato rounds

Exercise: Zumba

Girl time and day 4 and 5

My week hasn't gone exactly planned with the hubby being off work but I'm still eating right, just not getting my workouts in like I planned. I'm realizing that I have to workout first thing in the morning or else I won't fit it in. Now I just need to make myself do it ;)

Quick recap of what I ate yesterday Day 4:

Breakfast: Leftover orange ginger roast

Lunch: Fruit smoothie and some almonds

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with a meat sauce (quick and easy meal)

Exercise: None :(

Had a killer headache today, not sure if it's part of the detox or no caffeine!?

Today started off a little rocky when we overslept but I got a lot of sewing done....leggings and infinity scarves oh my :) And I made my favorite whole 30 breakfast, don't tell D (it's her fave too).

Day 5

Breakfast: Banana pancakes, avo and chicken apple sausage

Lunch: Sauteed spaghetti squash, chicken, bacon, green beans and garlic (Oh em DELICIOUS!!!)

Dinner: Chipotle Salad, avo, salsa, and steak

When your bestie texts you that she can come get you in 20 minutes to go have girl time. You get off your booty and rally that ish! I forgot how much I love having adult conversation, you kind of lose that when you're at home with the babes all day. It was so nice tonight chatting with my girls, shopping and playing with makeup. It was so needed! And it's always fun to bring home new makeup ;) 

Banana Pancakes (note don't cook in coconut oil, they cook really hot)

• 2 bananas
• 4 eggs
• dash of cinnamon

Makes 5-6 small to med pancakes. Mash bananas and mix with whisked eggs, add in cinnamon to taste. Cook on medium heat, I use a lid to help evenly cook both sides before flipping. Typically I cook using Kerrygold Irish Butter, but I was out so I used coconut oil. I wouldn't recommend it since it cooks really fast, I was cooking on low heat and it was still making the pancakes really dark. They were still tasty though. And if you aren't doing the whole 30 and just going Paleo, you can top with Pure Maple Syrup or Honey.

Round 2 day 3 and some flexibility

It's a day late, but oh well!

Today was a weird day! The morning started out way too hectic.  The hubs hurt his ankle during soccer, and can't drive which is kind of huge when you drive a semi for a living. So the morning started with rushing D to school so that we could make it to the hubby's doctor's appointment to make sure he didn't have a fracture. 2 hours later, a tired Sully, 2 flu shots given, x-rays done and no broken bone. Hallelujah! But he has sprained tendons around his ankle which means no work for at least the rest of the week. Hmm, talk about a little nerve wracking when you're a single income family. But I'm finding the silver lining and we're calling it a "stay-cation" and today we're getting D out of school early to go to the pumpkin patch. 

Anyways, due to a hectic morning I didn't get my workout in like I planned and eating was a little weird but I did the best I could and stayed on plan.

What I ate today

Breakfast: apple, salsa scrambled eggs, avocado and sausage (more like brunch)

Snack: fruit and nut mix, piece of turkey

Dinner: Bacon wrapped chicken thigh, sweet potato fries and cucumbers with apple cider vinegar and salt.

And yes I know that you aren't supposed to eat fries on the whole 30 but it is what it is and they were DELICIOUS! 

Exercise: None (for my sanity I chose to work on orders)

Today I felt good, a little sluggish but not bad. I can tell somethings working because my wedding ring is moving around, which is usually a good sign. 

Round 2 day 2 of the Whole 30

Today was Day 2 of the Whole 30. I'm not gonna lie, I was bitter today.  There were M&M candies taunting me (no I did not partake). My husband ate leftover calzone, but holy man am I glad its out of the fridge! And then I had to make my precious D a sandwich for her lunch. So there was lots of bitterness, but I'm over it. 

I also didn't get my morning workout in. I'm finding that I really love working out in the morning. I don't have to think about it the rest of the day and I'm way more productive when I workout in the AM. But at least I played indoor soccer this evening, even though the hubs messed up his ankle :(

Made something new for dinner tonight, Orange Ginger Rump Roast in the crockpot. It was pretty good.

Orange Ginger Rump Roast

• Roast
• Naked Orange juice (no additives)
• Coconut oil
• Ginger
• Sliced Oranges

Place roast in crockpot. Poke with a fork all over roast. Top with spats of coconut oil. Poor orange juice over roast (1 1/2-2 cups). Sprinkle with ginger, to taste. Top roast with sliced oranges. Cook on low for 7 hours. 

What I ate today:

Breakfast: Chopped apples and pears, 1 tbsp ghee, cinnamon and slivered almonds. Heat mixture and stir together. 

Lunch: 2 Fried eggs, small avocado, 4 sausage links (whole 30 approved)

Dinner: Orange ginger roast, roasted broccoli, broccoli slaw topped with red wine vinegar

Exercise: Indoor soccer

Side note, finally tried coconut oil as a facial moisturizer, AMAZING! My skin was so soft this morning! And I smelled like I was at the beach ;)

Oh hey Whole 30, Round 2

Some might think I'm crazy for taking a trip down the Whole 30 road again, but I like to think that I'm up for the challenge. 

Reasons why I love the whole 30:

It gives me discipline

I'm fueling my body

I feel good while I'm on it

It pushes me

I have never FELT better then while on the whole 30

Its a challenge that I can conquer

Reasons why I loathe the whole 30:

Dishes.....so MANY dishes

No treats

Kinda cranky (just for a few days)

Preparation

And it can be spendy

This time around I'm doing things a bit different. The hubs isn't doing the Whole 30 with me this time, but he's eating what I eat (which means he's going to eat junk while he's not around me :)). I'm going to try to do this on a grocery budget. Another big difference is D is in school this time around and Sully is eating table food now so I'm still going to be making kid friendly meals, but I'm going to try my best to make them Whole 30 approved. 

My hopes for this time around:

I'm going to take before/after pictures and measurements

I'm going to to go out and just make the right choices

I'm going to try and "move" for at least 30 minutes a day whether that's walking, soccer or zumba

And I am putting the scale AWAY

Enough rambling, now what I made for dinner. Quick, easy and tasty and the whole family loved it!

Thai Curry Chicken

Thai Curry Chicken (feeds family of 4 with leftovers)

• 3 chicken breasts
• zucchini
• carrots
• broccoli
• mushrooms
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 TSP of curry (any flavor of curry I used Thai curry)

Cube chicken breasts and cook in coconut oil, salt and pepper chicken while cooking.  Remove chicken from pan. In skillet place can of coconut milk and mix with curry, cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. While curry mixture is cooking steam chopped veggies. (I highly recommend cheating and using a ziploc steam bag). After veggies are steamed and curry has been cooked for 5 minutes add chicken and veggies back to the pan. Let simmer for 10 minutes.  Voila super easy dinner! 

Round 2, Day 1
What I ate today:
B: banana, chicken apple sausage and cashews (my avocados were bad)
L: Scrambled eggs with cilantro/tom/onion, apple and sunbutter
D: Thai Curry Chicken (my fat was the coconut milk)

E: 50 mins Zumba with a touch of U-Jam

Simple fall cookies

Fall is in the air around here. Pumpkins,changing leaves and scarves!

I came up with these cookies the other day on a whim. The base is a classic Weight Watcher's recipe for pumpkin muffins, but I took it up a notch. 

Introducing the 4 ingredient fall cookie aka pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

These are soft "cakey" cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 1 15 oz can of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
• 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix box of yellow cake mix with the can of pumpkin (do NOT add the extra ingredients on the back of the cake mix box). Once mixed thoroughly, add pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips. Grease cookie sheets. Using a cookie scoop drop dough on sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Makes approximately 15 minutes. 

Variations

• You can use spice cake mix instead of yellow (I haven't tried this)
• Nuts
• Omit chocolate chips and do cream cheese frosting

Friday nights and a little nostalgia

Growing up Friday night's meant family night. Pizza and a movie and picnics in the front room.  Sometimes we'd make our own pizza (taco pizza is what I remember) or we'd pick up Papa Murphy's or Figaro's (if you're from the Dell you know that place was the ish) and super convenient to picking up movies at the old Hollywood Video.

The hubs and I decided that this tradition was a must. Now that D is getting older it will be easier to do this tradition, until recently it hasn't been very fun to watch movies with a chatty D :)

My fave part of friday nights is making Homemade Pizza or Calzones. Dylan loves helping with the "toppings." And they are just sooooo good, I mean my calzones put Papa Murphy's to shame. 

Creamy Pesto Calzones

Roll out your dough and place on greased cookie sheet

Take Ricotta and spread on half of dough. Do the same with your Pesto.

Top with your favorite ingredients

Fold dough in half and take your fork and seal the edges. Poke some holes in the top of the dough too.

Bake at 425 for 18-20 mins or until golden brown.

Cut int and enjoy some serious deliciousness

(Can you tell this picture was a complete after thought....whoops)

Stacy's Calzones

Ingredients

• Prepared pizza dough (i really like Wincos and Safeways)
• Pesto (Costco's is the best deal)
• Light Ricotta (small tub)
• Italian shredded cheese blend
• toppings (sausage, pepperoni, olives, canadian bacon, mushrooms)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Roll out dough and place on cookie sheet.
3. Take ricotta and spread over half of dough. Then take Pesto and do the same.
4. Add toppings (we did canadian bacon, italian sausge, turkey pepperoni, olives and mushrooms) There's no right or wrong way to layer these ingredients.
5. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Fold dough in half. Use a fork to "seal" the edges. Poke holes in the top of dough to help vent.
7. Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
8. Slice that bad boy up and enjoy!

Every time I make this I usually make 2 because it always gets gobbled up and because the leftovers are delish!

Love.

Stace

The first day of fall

The first day of fall in the lovely Pacific Northwest means rain, and lots of it. I'm not complaining. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, maybe because its the start of the holidays, almost my birthday or because I can justify boots, scarves and hoodies.

In honor of the first day of fall crockpot baked potato soup needed to happen.  It's one of the hubby's favorite meals. He likes it so much that he will get up early to heat it up for his thermos for lunchtime. 

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 5 lbs of russet or yukon potatos, diced not peeled
• 2 cloves of garlic or the equivalent of minced garlic
• 64 oz of chicken broth
• 16 oz of light cream cheese
• toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, green onions)

Instructions

• Cook potatoes, garlic and chicken broth on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.
• Puree/blend half of your potato/broth mixture with both bricks of cream cheese. (we like our potato soup chunky so I don't puree the whole soup)
• Serve soup with any of the above toppings

Note this makes a TON of soup so I'd half it if you are a small family. My family love this soup so I cook the whole shebang and we just eat it for lunch throughout the week.

If you're feeling extra fancy and don't care about the bazillion calories serve soup with this garlic cheese bread. You can thank my bestie for finding the little delicious number.

I'll post pics of the soup after it's done cooking :) Happy first day of fall!

Love,

Stace

Mexicana Bowl

If you know me, you know I'm a meal planner. I hate it, but I do it because it saves me money and I don't have to think about what's for dinner every night.  Whenever I do my meal planning and huge grocery shopping trip I always make sure that dinner that night is quick and easy.  Somehow grocery shopping always zaps my energy and makes me a little moody (I blame Costco and all the old people/kids that stop for samples)

While Sully and I did our epic grocery trip I made sure to get something quick and easy for lunch and came up with a simple dinner idea. When Jason and I started dating, he came over once and had one of my family's fave quick dinners and it soon became one of his favorites. Nothing fancy, but super easy and tasty.

Crispy Chicken Ceasar Salad

• 1 lb of chicken strips (we get the spicy ones because they have less breading)  
• 2 bags of Light Ceasar Salad Mix

Chop up your chicken and mix it in with your salad mix. I have to make a double batch because my husband and daughter love it, and it's just way too easy!

But back to why I started writing this post. My girlfriend Lindsey made these yummy wraps when we went camping together. I took her idea and changed it a bit and came up with a new dinner. I got a stamp of approval from the hubs and D was "ok" with it but not a fan of the "green leaves" in it ;)

The Mexicana Bowl

 Grab your crockpot, a slow cooker liner (because they're genius!), carne asada and your favorite marinade (I used Lawry's Steak and Chop)

Toss in the meat in your crock and cover in marinade. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

 Now that it's all cooked, it's time to chop it all up. 

Get the rest of your ingredients for the rice portion of the dish. (Brown rice, black beans, cilantro, cumin, salsa)

Microwave or cook your brown rice. Chop up your cilantro (I used about a 1/3 of this bunch) Place rice in a bowl, add cilantro, 3/4 cups of black beans, cumin to taste and 1/2 cup of Salsa and mix together. 

Now the fun part. There are lots of ways you can eat it. You can take your rice mixture, chopped up steak and place it in a bowl and top with sour cream, avocado and more salsa. (That's what we did)

 Or you could take all of the same ingredients and put it in a tortilla or make a lettuce wrap. I didn't want to waste extra calories on a tortilla so I did without and still thought it was delish. D wasn't a fan of the cilantro...because she's 5 and picky. Sully on the other hand loved the rice mixture and avocado.

Mexicana Bowl

• 1 lb of carne asada (this made a double batch for leftovers)
• a bottle of your favorite steak marinade (Lawry's Steak and Chop)
• Brown rice (i cheated and used Uncle Ben's 90 second version)
• Fresh Cilantro, chopped (1/3 of bunch)
• 3/4 cup of Black Beans
• 1/2 cup Salsa (i used Jason's Uncle Tab's famous homemade salsa)
• Cumin, to taste
• Avocado
• Sour Cream
• Salsa for topping

Grab your crock and add meat and marinade, cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Take your cooked meat and chop it up.  While chopping, cook your brown rice. Place brown rice in bowl. Add chopped cilantro, black beans, cumin to taste and your salsa. Mix together.  Now add the meat to the rice mixture and top with avocado, sour cream and salsa. 

This could easily be made with chicken. You could also add tomato, onion or cheese to the combination as well. I just used what was handy. Enjoy!

PS best part of this recipe is that you will have lots of meat leftover so it's great to use in other dishes...nachos, fajitas, just meat and a veggie side or steak salad :)

PSS what's your best advice for concurring the grocery shopping dragon?

Love,

Stace

A whole new me.....the process

This last year has been a year of change....some call it life, the hubs and I call it an adventure. In this year, we moved, my parent's moved to the other side of the world....literally, I quit my full time job, we had Sully, Dylan started school and my special needs younger sis lived with us for 7 months and then we moved her into an adult family home a few streets away. Lots of change, lots of reflection, lots of LIFE!

During this time of life changes, all I could think about was getting healthy, being a better me, and loving myself. I was tired of not having enough energy, not liking what i saw and to be completely honest i just wanted to start LOVING me. I had an epiphany and a mission was started.

6 weeks after I had Sully somehow my hubby talked me into joining a beginners co-ed soccer league with all of our friends. This was HUGE! I'm not what you'd call a "competitive or athletic" person, but nerves set aside I was ready for the challenge. 

Lil' Lebowski Urban Achievers was quickly formed.

Then we got some amazing tuxedo shirts so we could be super cool!

Then we got a sweet sponsor and got new shirts with super cool logos on the back, thank you Thomas Family Tree!

And in case you're wondering why the guy in the back is wearing purple (aka my hubs) he's our goalie so that's why he wears a different shirt.

With my new found love of soccer, I really started to get on the exercising bandwagon. I started walking 5Ks...another big deal!  My lovely friends were there to cheer me on when they all finished before me :)

We did the Shamrock Run in PDX

and the Tulip Trot

and then the Retro Run (hence the sweet outfit and hair)

My girlfriends and I have taken a bit of a summer hiatus to 5Ks but I hear there's a Bacon Race coming up that involves a run/walk and all-you-can-eat bacon! I may have to ponder that one. 

 In this adventure to get healthy the whole fam bam has gotten involved. D rides her bike while I push Sully in the stroller on our walks.

 My kids even hangout while I'm doing Zumba

They don't even judge me when I leave looking like this ;)

This whole weight loss/get healthy/be strong not skinny adventure is a work in progress. I've had ups and downs. I've fallen off the wagon and got back on. 

In this journey I've realized this is a daily battle.  I feel better when I take care of myself, whether its eating right or exercising. 

A few months back I celebrated my 40 lb weight loss with a family day out and some delicious treats from Salt and Straw. PS never, I mean NEVER look up the calories....I now know why their ice cream is so delicious!

I'm still teetering close to my 50 lb mark, its so close but so far!  The fact that I've maintained during the summer with camping, bbqs and lots of eating out is HUGE! So I'm not complaining.

In this adventure I'm finding ME!  

And I can't wait to see where I'm at in the next year.

Love,

Stace