roasted corn chowder

Tonight we tried this recipe for supper.

Can I just say that it is my new favorite soup!!

Loved it....

I will definitely be making it again.

Yum!


p.s. it's from one of my favorite gf blogs and is also a recipe I had pinned!  how perfect :)

It's what we eat....

Okay...first of all...you guys are way to sweet with your comments on the picture of me and Maguire.  Seriously.  I was just out with my 2 besties and we were talking about our wrinkles!  Getting older is not fun, but you have sure made me feel good :)  So thank you!


Lately I have been eating horrible.  Eating junk food that I never eat.  Chips have never been my thing and honestly I usually only eat them when there is some kind of yummy dip or in a taco salad...that kind of thing, but lately I have found myself snacking on chips.  What is up with that????  And with all the junk I've been eating means I haven't been feeling very good.  When I was pregnant I had a really hard time with food and ever since I've been really careful what I eat (for the most part).

This week I have made an extra effort to get back to eating better so I thought I would share some of the things we've been eating lately.

Let's start with breakfast!  It is the most important meal....

Pumpkin Granola is our favorite!  I eat it almost every morning and the kids even love it!  One of our favorite ways to eat it is mixing it with yogurt and blueberries...yummy!!

I've made my own granola too by following this recipe.  It was sooooo easy and really good!  I actually toasted mine a little too long...oops!



Lunchtime

Okay this week it's been wraps.  I bought the greek salad from Costco, but instead of using it as a Greek Salad I've been using it in wraps!  You don't have to worry about all the cutting and chopping...super simple!  I just added some lettuce and spread my own cream cheese mixture (cream cheese and sundried tomato spice mix) on the tortilla.  Since the kiddies don't necessarily like all the veggies in their wraps I made small little sushi wraps (if I called it sushi Ryker had no problem eating it) that just consisted of the tortilla and the cream cheese mixture!


Supper...

The Santa Fe Chicken Salad from Earls has to be my very favorite!  Love it!!!  So when I came across this recipe I had to try it.  Now it's no Earl's, but it was still really good.  Salads are my favorite!

On Monday night I made Island Spice Pork Tenderloin and my hubby said it was his favorite!!  It was really really yummy!!  I'll be making this again for sure.

One of my hubby's favorite things is steak.  We recently tried this recipe and it was really good...molasses chili!!

Another favorite of mine is sweet potato fries...love love them.  I made this recipe last night and the whole family loved them, but we also love this recipe my friend shared on her blog.


Baking!

For Ryker's half birthday we made this cake.  This was our first time.  I had made a similar cake back in April, but it used ground almonds instead of the beans and I liked that version way better.  But...this wasn't bad...really....

Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies!!  Need I saw more??!!  They were amazing.



Just a few recipes.


Getting back on the healthy eating kick and feeling a bit better :)


K

Recipes

Still scrapbooking these pictures :)

I have a big stack sitting on my table, so they are easy to grab when I have a couple of minutes to be in my room.  But I'm not going to talk again about keeping things simple...blah..blah..blah....  I go off on that enough.  No tonight I'm sitting in bed watching a movie and eating pull apart lemon coffee cake...seriously yummy!!  I actually got the recipe after "pinning" it on pinterest.  haha!!  I've made an effort to actually try new recipes this year and pinterest has been a great source.  There are countless yummy pictures with links to recipe upon recipe....


I thought I'd share some of my favorite recipes I've discovered over the past year.  Now some will be gluten free since we generally eat that way, but not all of them.  I'll make sure to mark the gf ones so you can skip over them if you're not interested.


I'll start with some favorite chicken recipes...

Blackened Chicken...thanks Martha for this recipe!!  It's seriously one of our very favorites!  Be prepared cause it is spicy...Cody also likes this seasoning mix on steak.  We love to Bar-B-Que.

Spicy Honey Chicken...I have to say that this site has a ton of great recipes...it's definitely a favorite cooking site for me!  And this chicken recipe is by far one of my very favorites.  I love the chicken the next day cold and cut up in a salad!!

Chicken Tacos...I loved these, but probably wouldn't fry the shells next time.  Less oil smell and I always feel like it's too heavy.  Fryed food just doesn't mix well with me.  But these were really really good!!  And p.s.  I've tried a few recipes from her site and loved them...another great place to check for new supper ideas.


Other supper options

Baked Potato Soup...I love soup.  It's comfort food for me!

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork...this is such a simple crockpot meal.  My family loves it and everyone who tries it for the first time usually asks for the recipe.  I think I would eat this every week if my husband would let me.  There's so many different ways to eat it...salad...wrap...on a bun...taco.  It's really good.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls (pao de queijo)...these are gf and so yummy!  They're like a little hollow cheese muffin really.  The whole family loved these!  I think we ate them with soup if I can remember right.  hmm...now I'm trying to remember what we ate these with.  haha!

Home made potato chips and avocado ranch dip...okay...I make home made potato chips alot.  And honestly we love love them.  But the last time I made them when my sister was here I made the avocado ranch dip and it was beyond yummy.  It was so good.  I have an avocado ripening right now that will be perfect for this tomorrow!  Another pinterest recipe :)

Best Ever Potato Salad...that's a big thing to claim, but it's true!  Anyone who says they don't normally like potato salad always always says they love this.  I've made it a few times this past month and every time I had people asking for the recipe.  Thanks again pinterest!


And I love dips!!!

Black eyed pea dip...I loved this, but my hubby doesn't love beans and things like that so he just said it was okay.  Just being honest with you.  I personally thought it was great...and the kids both ate lots so that says something.

Pesto Artichoke Dip...I wanted to make this again the other night, but I couldn't get the lid off the glass jar.  I had bought the really big glass jar of artichoke hearts from Costco...the lid is stuck on good.  And yes, maybe I am a little weak...haha!!


Baking

gf Cinnamon Buns...I can not even begin to tell you how happy I was to come across this recipe.  It is amazing how 'normal' they taste.  I know that sounds kind of bad, but we have a hard time finding baking that tastes somewhat normal when comparing it to items made with wheat flour.  It can be hard when you start mixing flours since you rarely just use one.  This recipe takes some time, but it is worth it once in awhile :)

Strawberry Coconut Cake...of course I adapted this recipe to be gf and it turned out really yummy!!  It was a pretty pink color and tasted great!  A perfect summer cake.

and then of course I mentioned the Pull-Apart Lemon Coffee Cake...which I would say is more like a cinnamon bun kind of thing, just rectangular and comes apart in sheets.  I can't stop eating it.  I love lemon stuff though, but I'm sure you could use cinnamon and sugar instead and it would be just as yummy.


I really need to get to bed though...I'm starting to get hungry and it's midnight.  Not a good thing :)


K

They were yummy!!

I was at anthro a few weeks ago and came across this book!  If you remember this post from way back when I wanted to perfect the macaron...haha!  Silly me...didn't know what I was getting myself into.  But after purchasing my new book and following the recipe exactly, I made these...

They were soooooo yummy!!  Now I just need to start experimenting with other flavors and colors.  The possibilities are endless I tell ya!

And bonus...they're gluten free so the whole family can eat them!  haha!

K :)

today we....

cleaned the house...like completely cleaned.  (the boys loved the fact that all the chairs from the kitchen were moved into the livingroom so i could sweep and mop the floor!)

opened the windows even though it is cold outside.  we needed a little fresh air in here!

made 'muddy buddies' for our family home evening treat.

learned about our senses tonight by playing a blindfold game where ryker had to feel, taste, smell and listen to different things.  huge hit!  although he loves to peak :)

the boys tipped over cody's dresser...with maguire inside!!  and when i say "boys" that usually means maguire!  when i came running into the room all i could see was maguire's head poking out of the top drawer.  thankfully it's just a three drawer dresser and he wasn't hurt!

found some time to be in my scrapbook room.  one of these days i need to actually clean up my mess before starting a new mess.

and....

managed to sit and flip through this book.  there are some cute crafty things that i just might attempt!

but now...I'm off to bed :)

There must be something missing.

I don't know what it is about blogging, but I always feel like there should be a picture or something more for everyone to see rather than just my words.  I don't know if I feel like my blog is just a little boring without it or what?  But it's definitely one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much lately...there's just not much to show or share.  Well maybe there is lots to share I just haven't gotten around to downloading the pictures to my computer yet.


This week has been one of those weeks that I'd like to rewind and do differently.  If only we had control of those things.  Unfortunately life just doesn't work that way so instead I woke up Sunday to a sick little boy...who had been sick everywhere!  And so that is how the laundry began.  Two days dealing with him and then my own fun began.  I went to bed Monday night with a stomach ache and spent Tuesday in bed.  The poor kids...or maybe I should say 'Lucky' boys got to watch a little too much t.v. and had full rein of the house.  Maguire really enjoyed that part of the day.  He's great at pulling things out of cupboards and dumping boxes.  Really...I think he was loving it!  haha!!  The best part was that Cody came home early from work and cleaned up...took care of the kiddies...and let me sleep all afternoon.  It's amazing what 3 hours of sleep can do.  I love him!!!


Wednesday things were pretty much back to normal.  The boys went to grandmas for a couple of hours while I worked away cleaning things up around here.  There's still a lot to get done.  I think I need to make a list and re-evaluate my goals for the year again.  I get off track so easily.  And with all this cold weather we have been spending most of our time at home...there are no excuses as to why things aren't getting done.  Just no desire to do it.  Does anyone else feel that way???


Ryker and I made a really yummy dinner last night from this cookbook (my favorite!)...Roasted Butternut Squash soup....yum!!!  The other two boys weren't as excited about it and Ryker had a change of heart once there was a bowl of it in front of him, but I LOVED it!  I'm always up for new recipes :)


And today we attempted swimming again with some friends!  I will admit that I was a little bit nervous, but things went really good and I was completely in control as the mother.  haha!!  I might have brought a sucker for each of the boys as a little bribery.....whatever works, right??  haha!!


Tomorrow night we are planning a little family date night.  Not sure what that's going to be yet, but it's fun to do things with the boys and make it a little special.  I've been reading one of many parenting books the last couple of weeks and have really been seeing big improvements lately.  I don't feel like the nagging mom anymore!  Positive parenting is definitely the way to go....I feel more in control and feel like the expert on my children.  I've been really trying to understand each of their little personalities and they way they each work...cause what works for one definitely doesn't work for the other.   I've seen how our bedtime routine has really paid off...and how it can quickly fall apart when we don't follow through.  I've seen how making rules allows for happier children...and how rules are sometimes meant to be broken.  It's coming...it will never be perfect, but it's coming.  Making some simple and difficult changes has really helped me to be more patient and look at things differently.  I love my little family :)



Off to bed.  Completely exhausted tonight.....

K

evaluating

So today I'm evaluating my goals.  Every once in awhile it's a good thing...otherwise I forget completely about the things I've been wanting to improve on.  It happens.  

I'm doing good in some areas...like finding time to read.  I finally finished reading little bee...which was a good read...and instead of looking through my pile of books to read under my bed I made a trip to Chapters Monday night.  I love buying books.  If only I could read as fast as I'm buying...haha!  

Project Life is coming along...I'm just not very patient at getting my pictures in.  I want it done now.  But I have a year ahead of me.  It's coming though.  The album is all put together and I absolutely love it!  I have it in our living room and keep flipping through the one week that is completed.  :)

I've managed to get a few pictures of myself.  As long as there are a couple it's an improvement from last year.  haha!

Yesterday I finished a little table that I had started back in the summer.  I'll have to share some pictures when it find a home :)

And the big area I need help in is the exercising.  I'm having such a hard time fitting this into my schedule.  I know the gym is out for me, but there has to be something I'm willing to spend time doing at home.  Anyone that has workout equipment at home...is there something you think was worth spending money on?  Like a treadmill or eliptical?  I'm not sure I want to spend money on something like that, but I keep throwing the idea around.  I kind of think I'd use it for the first month or two and then fall back into my routine of not doing anything.  Okay.  Maybe this week I need to evaluate my time and see where I can fit it in.  I think I need to cut some laying around out and fill it with exercise.  hmm....

Today the boys and I made cinnamon buns...gluten free style :)  They are just getting ready to go in the oven and I'm hoping they taste good.  I don't know why I keep attempting to bake gf when Cody doesn't seem to really like the result.  haha!  The boys and I always end up eating the baking and Cody won't touch it.  I try.  :)

I hear a little boy bouncing in his crib, so I should run get him before he pulls everything off the walls like yesterday!  I just can't keep up with these boys...it's seriously been one of those weeks.  That's a whole other post though.....

K :)

I love Mac and Cheese!!

Have you ever been to Yardhouse??!!


It has the best Mac and Cheese I have ever ever eaten...serious love happening when I'm anywhere that has that restaurant.  Seriously.  It's dangerous.  And since I love mac and cheese just a little too much I'm always looking for a good recipe to make at home.


I think maybe my love for mac and cheese came from my Grandma.  Every family dinner she made the best mac and cheese.  All the kids loved it!  I can still remember everything about her mac and cheese...the casserole dish she served it in was round...it was really creamy...and tasted soooo yummy!  The one thing I never knew was the recipe...haha!!  I should see if my mom or one of my aunts know it.  I'm sure it was a pretty simple recipe, but I loved it!


In the spring my niece was selling magazine subscriptions as a fundraiser for something, so I ordered the everyday FOOD magazine and have loved it!!!  The first one I recieved in the mail was the best.  And every month since has had soooo many great recipes.  When I get my copy in the mail I immediately sit down and look through the recipes.  If there are any that I like (usually a lot of them) I fold down the corner of the page.  Then when I'm thinking about my meals for the week I try to make at least one or two of my new recipes.  I have found some of our new family favorites this way...more recipes I'll have to share at another time....  Anyway...tonight for supper I tried "Emeril's three-cheese baked macaroni."  It was a huge hit!  At first Maguire wasn't too sure about it and Ryker was more interested in his peas, but once they each had a bite I couldn't stop them.  Maguire was eating off Ryker's plate and trying to get mine...it was a little crazy.  haha!!


Okay, enough blabbing from me.  You probably think I'm obsessed with food.  Really I'm not.  Promise.  Here is the recipe.  *make sure to read the changes I made at the end!

coarse salt
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 large eggs
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook macaroni 6 minutes (it will be undercooked).  Drain.  Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium and add bacon.  Cook until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.  With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon mixture to a medium bowl.  Add Macaroni and stir to combine.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and evaporated milk.  Add 1/2 tsp salt, cayenne, nutmeg and cheeses; mix well.  Add macaroni mixture and stir well to combine.  Transfer to a casserole dish.  With a spoon, gently spread mixture to form and even layer.  Bake just until sauce is bubbling at edges, 12 minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.


* I made a few changes of my own though...they include:

- I didn't have any bacon, so I used the bag of real bacon bits from Costco instead (hmm...I didn't think about it, but are they Gluten Free Dana??).  I didn't measure how much I used, but probably about 1/4 cup.  I cooked the bacon in a frying pan for about 2 minutes and added the minced garlic.

-I also cut up some mushrooms and cooked it with the bacon and the garlic.

-I used milk instead of the evaporated milk.

-And I used our favorite GF Brown Rice fusilli instead of the macaroni noodles.  And I also cooked it a bit longer...more like 10 minutes in the boiling water.

-I cooked it in a 425 degree oven instead and cooked it for about 18 minutes.  I'm known to burn things, so I felt more comfortable cooking at a bit lower temp...haha!!

-I think it would also be soooo yummy with chicken added.  Then it would be like the mac and cheese at Yardhouse!!


Let me know what you think!!  We loved it!!!  And if you have a recipe you love...share it.  I'd love to try it!!