Oh-My-Goodness-Swallow-Your-Tongue Pancakes

You guys.

I'm kind of a breakfast addict. And, by that, I mean breakfast foods. I can't think of a time when breakfast food is a bad idea. I love it all: eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, breakfast bakes, muffins...whatever you want to throw at me, I love it.

That being said, most of the breakfast foods that I like aren't super great for you. Lots of sugar, lots of grease. And, since we're dairy free--I'm now running into the dairy issue. Even still, I occasionally get the urge to play around with a new breakfast recipe, instead of sticking to my new-found tried and trues.

Today was one of those mornings. Over the past six months, I've tried several different pancake recipes. I never can get quite happy with them. Something is always missing. I should mention that the one breakfast thing I don't like is syrup. Yuck. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Consequently, my pancakes need to be AH-mazing. And, so far, every recipe I've made has fallen flat. When I announced to my kids I was making pancakes this morning, Madelyn looked at me for a moment, then said, "No. No pancake. Eggs. No pancake." That's how flat they've fallen. Even Lilah looked disinterested.

"It's ok," I assured them. "This time, they're going to be amazing. Girls, you're gonna love 'em! Just wait. Give Momma half a chance, huh?" Another long heartbeat of silence. Then, Madelyn gave her customary little shrug, "Okkkkkkkaaaaaaaayyyyy," she said, dragging it out like she does when she doesn't believe you.

Undaunted, I whipped out the ingredients for yet another dairy free pancake recipe and tugged my beloved Kitchen-Aid front and center.

And, ya'll. This. This is the one. This is the dairy-free pancake to beat all pancakes. I will never go back.

They were fluffy. They were delightfully cinnamon-y. They practically begged for a little drizzle of honey and a topping of tart strawberries. They were (relatively) healthy comfort food at it's very best. And, better yet--it called for one third the amount of sugar most recipes I've seen use. ONE THIRD. (I am really preferring to sweeten things more naturally--honey is my fave way. See above: honey drizzle as opposed to syrup. A grand idea.) These pancakes didn't call for you to cook them in leftover bacon grease. (I've seen that on a ton, and why? Why would you do that?? No judgement here if you like that, but I just can't imagine it.)

And, look at them. Just look.

 (One of these days, I may quit taking pictures on paper plates...) But, they're still amazing, even on a rather plain canvas. Here's the link back to the original recipe: http://delightfuldelicacies.blogspot.com/2010/01/easy-peasy.html


As always, a couple quick notes:
    First, I used my organic coconut sugar for the tablespoon of sugar. I find it lends more of a--caramel?--taste, which I prefer.
    Secondly, when it calls for a smidge of cinnamon, I went a little happy and put in a tablespoon and a half.
  Third, to butter the griddle, I used dairy free butter.
  And lastly, I mixed my dry ingredients in the Kitchen Aid, used a bowl to mix all the wet ingredients together, and then created a well in the middle of my dry. I then added the wet to the dry and mixed it together until I got the right consistency. That was instead of adding the dry to the wet and whisking it all by hand.

All in all, I've got to give this recipe five stars and then some. It was absolutely delicious. The kids ate theirs with no topping as fast as I could them off the skillet. I waited and topped with a small drizzle of honey and strawberries. Yum.


 These pancakes were so easy! From start to finish, the whole thing was completely done in less than thirty minutes. Give them a shot and tell me what you think!!!

Sesame Chicken and Veg

Uhm, yum.

Seriously, guys, this stuff was delish. Usually, when I cook, the kids like it, but pick and choose what they're feeling. Matt eats it, I eat it, and there's still some left over.

Today, so not the case.

(Granted, we were all starving after an impromptu trip out to the runner's market. And, after an Insanity workout, a smoothie to tide you from breakfast to almost two o'clock--just not going to cut it.)

Anywho, I digress. The point is, I almost didn't make the planned lunch. We almost cheated huge and went out to eat, because it was easier and would at least feel faster. Thankfully, the kids were already crying for a nap in the backseat, so we decided going out would be too risky and instead headed straight home.

This meal--sesame chicken with rice and vegetables--was super, duper easy. The ingredients were simple, the steps were well laid out--from start to finish, it's thirty minutes of cook and prep time. So, all in all, not so bad.

And, I mean, seriously. Just look at it. It's delightful. It's got just a little bit of kick and a hint of tang and...yum. Go make it. Seriously. Like, today.

In fact, here's your link:

http://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/2016/10/honey-sesame-chicken-lunch-bowls.html

That being said, a couple of notes I'd add:

First, this recipe is not laid out to cook for a meal right then. (Obviously, right? It's a meal-prep lunch bowl.) I didn't think about that, though, and so my veggies were just a hair on the cool side. Next time, I'll use two pans and make it at the same time so that everything is hot and fresh.

Secondly, I reserved a little of my sauce and stirred it into our rice for added flavor. You can choose not to, but I think it really made everything go together well.

Lastly, I didn't add salt and used low sodium soy sauce and chicken stock. Trust me, this stuff doesn't need it. (And, of course, we're trying to watch sodium intake.) It's still got quite a bit of salt, and, personally, I think adding salt to any part of it would make it a little like licking a salt lick. Without added salt, it was perfect! (I did put some Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning on the veggies.)

And that's it! Give it a shot! Tell me what you think!

Tuscan Chicken: DO IT

Ok, so another killer recipe.

 Because. Hello? Food.

Like I mentioned before, we've started being dairy free. Honestly, (I know we're only about a week in), I haven't found it just terribly difficult. In fact, Matt told me just yesterday, "I think I had a harder time switching to eating healthier foods, when we first started that, than just cutting out the dairy."

Now, I don't know if we'd still feel that way if we weren't trying new, delicious stuff all the time, but...so far, so good!

The other day, I stumbled on a recipe for Tuscan Chicken. I know that, traditionally, this recipe is fairly heavy on the dairy aspect. In fact, the blogger that I jacked the recipe from started her post with:

              "There are some original recipes that are so laden with dairy, that I wonder if I’m a pure lunatic to even try replacing them."

But, trust me, here, guys. This recipe is a definite win. 

It has sun dried tomatoes, swimming in a (miraculously dairy free) cream sauce, along with spinach, and tasty chicken. Garlic gives it another little boost of flavor, and that SAUCE. Gravy sakes, that sauce is out of this world. 

Madelyn, who I never expected to care much for tomatoes as everything new is a challenge--actually picked them OUT to eat them first. Shocker, I know. 

Lilah didn't have a favorite part, she just dug into everything in front of her with gusto. She loved every bite.

Matt insisted that this recipe be in our usual rotation, almost as soon as the first bite hit his tongue. 

I LOVED it. 

And, it was super easy!! (In fact, it was easier than the side I paired it with--Scalloped Potatoes. Though, those were delish, too!! You honestly never even missed the cheese!) 

Isn't it gorgeous?? And, to think, it tastes even better than it looks!! Quick note: That picture is not mine. That is courtesy of the original author. No copyright infringement intended, all credit where credit is due!  

The only thing I changed with this recipe was that I used low-sodium chicken broth. And, I opted for their optional choice of spinach instead of romaine. Oh, and I used about a fourth of a cup of the sun dried tomatoes instead of a half, on the grounds that they aren't cheap and I have other recipes I want that bottle for!

Here's the recipe:

http://www.allergyawesomeness.com/30-minute-dairy-free-creamy-tuscan-chicken-gf-df-egg-soy-peanut-tree-nut-free-top-8-free/?platform=hootsuite

You guys have got to try this one. Dairy free or not, it doesn't matter. This is straight up gold when it comes to feeding your family something that makes their bellies smile. It's easy and straight forward and delightful--no excuses!! :)

 Let me know what you think after you've given it a shot!!

Back to My Roots (AKA Chicken Nuggets Are The Bomb)

   Growing up, I was a  big believer that there was pretty much one edible meal: chicken nuggets. I didn't particularly care where they came from, but if we were going out to eat, fast food or otherwise, I wanted chicken nuggets.

   For that matter, I still get chicken at most restaurants. Go figure.

   But that's beside the point.

  The point is that chicken nuggets is always a pretty safe bet for a tasty meal. Except it's normally not something I'd throw in the particularly healthy category. A lot of recipes for them require a deep fryer and powdered sugar.


  Whut. There's sugar in my chicken nuggets?? No wonder I love( ahem, loved--you knew what I meant) them!



  The other significant piece of information for this post is that my grocery shopping day is Friday. And, I shopped on Wednesday last week due to odd circumstances
, so I'm getting to the scraping the bottom of the barrel for meals stage by yesterday and today. When thinking about dinner yesterday, I opened my fridge and took stock.

Broccoli? Nope, used the last of it Monday.

Cauliflower? Finished it off Tuesday.

Zucchini? Forget it, I mixed it with tomatoes and basil for a snack for the kids the other afternoon.

Cucumber? I have one. One. What the gravy am I going to do to feed four people their veggies with one cucumber?? Pointless.

Bell peppers? Onions? Bananas? Cheddar cheese? ---seriously?? I'm out of cheese??

I did have carrots, though, which is kind of a plus. I say "kind of" because it's one of the few veggies the girls outright refuse to eat. Hence, it's survival in the fridge.

So, after much thought, I took to Pinterest and searched for something I could do with the ingredients I had. And, lo and behold:

Chicken nuggets. Seriously. I was going back to my roots. Chicken nuggets for dinner. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

I went through quite a few recipes until I found one that fit our fairly low carb, low sodium, no processed sugar needs. And, guys.

Guys.

You can't even understand. You've got to try these. ASAP.

Not kidding. These will change your life. Here's the link:

http://damndelicious.net/2014/12/26/parmesan-chicken-bites/

Of course, I omitted the salt and replaced it with a little more garlic powder.  Honestly, you could probably cut it out without any replacement and not notice. Parmesan cheese is PACKED with sodium, so it doesn't really need any extra help in the salt department.

These things got GONE. In record time. And, since there was no added salt, no added sugar, it wasn't super high in carbs, it wasn't something I felt even remotely bad about feeding my family.

(Even if we skimp on watching the carbs and sugar, salt has a huge impact on Lilah-Bear. We have to be super careful about it. If she eats too much sodium--which is in everything, if you read your labels--she swells the next day like a water balloon. And it takes a couple days of REALLY watching and increased water intake to get her back to her normal self.)

Ooh, one more little side note about those: I knew I wouldn't have time to chop up the chicken, do all the dredge work, etc. in the afternoon, so I did all the prep work while the kids napped and stored them in a Ziploc gallon bag until we were ready to cook them. I didn't cook them six at a time, either; I just dumped half a bag in at a time and did it in two batches. Coconut or olive oil either one works beautifully to cook them in. Once we got ready to cook them, dinner was ready in about ten minutes. This is a great prep-ahead meal. Great.

Now. What to do for a side? I've never really cared one way or the other about sides, but Matt really loves them. He doesn't believe a meal is complete without a side. I returned to the fridge and stared at it until inspiration struck.

What goes with chicken nuggets?

French fries, obviously. Delicious, high sodium, starchy french fries... I nearly drooled thinking about it.

It's probably just as well that I didn't have any potatoes on hand, honestly...but, I did have...carrots? Could it be? Pinterest assured me that carrot fries were, in fact, a thing. Score!

And, the Nutrition Twins gave me a good introduction to them!

Again, here's your link:
http://nutritiontwins.com/spicy-carrot-fries/

We liked them, but a couple quick notes: First, these are not crunchy. If you're looking for crunchy, well...don't look here. They're cooked carrot. So, they're tender. And delightful for dipping and we didn't have any of those left either, I didn't even get a good picture. But, not crunchy. Consider yourself warned.

Secondly, they have a little bit of an afterburn. I mean, we're a family who's two year old bit into a habanero and did ok with it. So, we liked that. But, check these ingredients: chili powder and cayenne pepper. It's got some burn. But, they were super tasty, and come highly recommended!!

Especially if you look in your fridge and you only have carrots left...

But, seriously, guys, this was a rockin'-gone-in-no-time with no left overs at all kind of meal. Give it a go, and tell me what you think!!

Vanilla Chai Breakfast Quinoa Bowl--Baby Steps to a Healthier Us

I can't say I've ever been a particularly healthy eater. Throughout my life, if I had a desire to diet or change eating habits, it was more about loss than anything else. You know the feeling: instead of looking up good ways to improve your eating, you look at what all needs to be cut out of your daily life.

Cookies.

Coke.

Cake.

Sugar-laden delicacies that made up my entire list of favorite foods.

Creamy mac and cheese, with more cheese in one bite than you normally have all day.

Chicken and dumplings.

Chicken pot-pie with a warm buttery biscuit perched on top.

(Are you noticing that all the tastiest treats start with a 'c'? Weird.)

Anyway, over the past several months, a few things happened that have slowly started to overhaul, not just my diet, but the whole way I look at food.

First. In the last two years, I've had two babies and I'm still a big ol' girl. I'm actually as big now as when I delivered my first daughter. That's embarrassing to think, much less to admit out loud or in text. I wouldn't say I've ever had just stellar self-esteem, but my weight issues are putting it squarely in the toilet. I need a change. For me. To feel good, both physically and emotionally.

Second. My youngest daughter is one and is already weighing in far more than they would like. With the family histories all the way around, the doctor wants us to keep a close eye on what she eats. Now, I've always been fairly careful with what I feed the girls. Less so with what I feed Matt and I. And, now, the girls are old enough to see the difference. We can't continue eating junk and then trying to convince them that veggies are the new Twix bars. We, as a family, needed a change.

At first, I tried an overhaul the way I had in the past--no carbs! No sugar! No ANYTHING THAT MAKES LIFE TASTE GOOD. Nothing! Forget it!!

And, ya know what? That sucked. Thoroughly. So, like the addict that I am, I hit up Pinterest. All of a sudden, I had a wealth of recipes at my fingertips that...well, they actually looked pretty good! Fruits, veggies, healthy cooking...that could be...good? I could eat something and not feel deprived if I didn't follow it up with a cold soda and warm, gooey cookie? (Cutting out soda has still been my least favorite part of this whole thing, not gonna lie.)

No way.

And, yet...it's true! I've found my journey to discovering how to eat and cook healthier liberating! To not automatically discount a recipe because I didn't think I liked the ingredients frees up A LOT of recipes for me. And, my husband is a saint who doesn't care at all what weird things I want to try. His general response is, "Yeah, I'll give it a shot." I don't think he's said no to a single thing so far. (Even though I may have tested him this morning by sending him a Pin to a hot pink beet soup.)

And, if I intentionally "forget" that I don't like something--take peppers, for example--then when I cook it, it's like trying it for the first time. Some recipes still don't work for us. I can think of a couple that have fallen totally flat. (I find that many of those have been because they've been touted to be similar to some sweet treat that I love. I like spinach a lot. But, you can't have it be the base of a smoothie and call it a thin mint and swear it tastes just like a girl scout cookie. That's blasphemy.)
But, some recipes have been an absolute delight! The whole family has enjoyed them, and we'll definitely be adding them to our monthly cooking rotation.

I've actively enjoyed sitting down and reading up on various ingredients, and what they can do for your body. How nutrition affects our bodies and even our mental state is absolutely fascinating! Lilah is far more receptive to trying to new things than Mads is. I read an article on the words "You don't have to eat it" that changed my life, though. (The gist is that you can say, "You don't have to eat it", and without the pressure, they usually are more willing to give it a shot. Thus far, it's proven true. Of course, that's followed up by the I'm-not-making-you-a-separate-dinner statement.) And, with the understanding that it's what everyone is having and there isn't another choice, she usually comes around fairly quickly.

Plus, knowing more about what we're putting in makes me more excited to try new things--especially when I've had some successes throughout the week. This morning's WONDERFUL success was a Vanilla Chai Quinoa Bowl.  (See how it sort of starts with a 'C', too?? You know it's bound to be good!)

For those interested, the original recipe was obtained from Flavor the Moments, found here:
 http://flavorthemoments.com/vanilla-chai-breakfast-quinoa-bowls/

Oh. My. Gravy.

The thing was delicious.

Admittedly, I made a few small changes. For one thing, I didn't choose apples for my topper. We had some blueberries and strawberries that were going to need to be frozen or eaten in the very near future, so I went that route.

I also didn't have any yogurt that wasn't already promised to other recipes, so I didn't use it. It was still filling to the extreme--I doubt very much if I could have eaten yogurt if I wanted to! I didn't even finish my whole bowl, and, here I sit, hours later, still full as a tick. Nor did I have maple syrup, as I really don't care for maple as a taste in general--so I used raw organic honey. It was wonderful!


Doesn't it look AMAZING? (Even prettier picture is the one Marcie at Flavor the Moments posted on the recipe. I never thought of food as gorgeous before.)

Seriously. Go to her page. Look at it. You'll be running to the kitchen to try it out.

Couple of notes about this: 1.) It takes nearly a half hour to make. Be prepared for that. I didn't read far enough ahead and ended up being VERY ready to eat by the time I got it finished.)  2.) My blueberries were frozen, but after about fifteen seconds in the hot quinoa, they were the perfect addition to each bite!

All in all, I loved this recipe--I can't wait to try it out on the husband!

That being said, I wanted to start posting more on my blog again anyway--and since the food aspect is such a part of our life as a family right now, I figured I'd include it! (Especially since I can't actually keep blowing up Facebook with recipes you all NEED to try.) This way, if you want the recipe, I'll link to it in the blog--give credit where it's due and all that--and note any modifications we made.

Try this, though--enjoy it--and, if you liked it, let me know in the comments below!! (Especially if you modified in any way, I'd love to give your way a shot!)

Thanks for walking through this whole "baby steps to a healthier us" post, lol!