Almond Butter Dream Bars

Ok, I'm being a little eccentric with the title of these bars - but they are seriously SO DELICIOUS. They are candy bar delicious, my friends. I have tried to make homemade granola bars before and failed in flavor and in form. I wanted a granola bar or a cookie or SOMETHING earlier today, but I wasn't willing to let myself succumb to the kids' cookies or leftover Christmas candy.

So, we went for it. I had to make some more almond butter, but it was totally worth it. To date, these are the best homemade granola bars I've made and tried. As I posted on my Instagram and FB page, these are not 100% clean. If I would have had Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chips on-hand, I would have used those. Alas, I had Tollhouse milk chocolate chips leftover from holiday baking. I added less than 2TB in the whole recipe; so, really, it's a pretty minor offense. Do what you wish; I don't think a few Tollhouse chips vs. 100% dark chocolate - in this recipe - will make or break your day.

This recipe makes about eight or so bars. Double it up if you want more or make as is if you're skeptical.

Here's what you need: 

• 2 cups raw old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 TB unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 1 TB chia seeds
• 3/4 cup almond butter - I used my own recipe, but any natural nut butter is fine.
• 1 tsp pure vanilla or vanilla extract
• Sea salt, just a conservative dusting
• 2 TB of unsweetened shredded coconut
• About 1TB of chocolate chips.
• Enough honey to coat the mixture together as you combine - giving it some stickiness.

Here's what you do: (ready? this is so challenging...)

• In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients listed above.  
• Press into an 8x8 baking dish, lined with parchment.
• Move dish to the freezer until solid. 
• Remove when solid; cut into bars or bite size pieces (better for kids) and enjoy!
• You may want to return the bars to the fridge for storage as they do get a little melty at higher room temps. 

Tips: 

• WAIT until they really solidify to serve. If you try to eat these soon after you make them, you will need a spoon. Don't say I didn't warn you.
• Don't over-do it on the honey. You really just need it and the peanut butter to bind the rest of the ingredients together. 

That's it! SO easy, so delicious and more or less guilt-free! I will definitely be making these again. They are an awesome alternative to store-bought bars and take very little time or effort to put together. Hope you enjoy them!!!

Garlic Pasta & Shrimp (On the table in less than 20 minutes!)

I had big plans for today. We were going to get school finished up early and then I was going to
overhaul the pantry. We did get school finished, but after lunch I made a mistake. I sat down. You never sit down when there's a laundry list of crap to get done. It's like sitting down in the middle of a race. You just don't.

At any rate, by the time I hoisted myself back up off the couch and got the baby down for a nap, I was a little behind schedule on the pantry issue. Then I got halfway through and felt like taking a nap. Alas, no nap - ever. Because? Four kids. Do I need to explain that to you? I didn't think so. Your current mental image is surely sufficient. Anyway.

I recharged with some Halloween candy and other random (likely expired) junk I found shoved in the back of the pantry and, we pushed forward. I got the pantry put mostly back together with one or two shelves left to go through (another today...like next year) and it was like 4:40pm. Dinner is served about 5:30 here. But, I really needed to take a shower.

So, quickest shower ever and back to the kitchen to start tonight's kid-friendly supper - garlic pasta and shrimp. VERY easy! The shrimp takes 12-14 min in the oven; angel hair pasta takes water-boiling time plus like 5 minutes and then sautéing some mushrooms with butter takes about as long as the noodles. It all goes together great. Unless.

You forget about the shrimp.
And set off the smoke detector.
Then your kids shriek in terror.
And the baby chokes on an apple because of said commotion.
And your husband has to save the day with the heimlich.

Friends, that little episode of "Mommy Burnt Dinner Again" terrified me. Alas, a few minutes later we were all sitting around the table, totally composed and enjoying the garlic pasta and shrimp before heading out the door to the next thing.

Sometimes it just feels like "a day." And then, in the midst of all the burdens we're carrying, we take a look around and see all of our people; all of our blessings; all of the sovereignty; all of the abundance and we have nothing left to say except - God is good. All the time. Even when nothing goes as planned. Even when we are let down; even when we are in need of a never-happening nap; when people all around are falling apart; when we are anxious; or making dinner on the crispy side, again... God is good.

Hope you enjoy the pasta. It's pretty phenom.

Here's what you need: 
-1pk crispy butterfly shrimp (you know, the kind from the freezer section that's good, but not good for you).
-Angel hair pasta (however much serves your family)
-Shiitake mushrooms
-Half a stick of butter (or more, if you dare)
-A bunch of garlic
-Salt and pepper.

Here's what you do:
-Cook the shrimp according to package
-Boil the pasta
-Sautee the mushrooms in garlic, lots of butter, salt & pepper.

Got all that? Throw it in a giant serving bowl when you are done and tell the kids it's fancy food. Hope you love it!

Maple Sweet Potato Casserole

With a vegetarian/clean eating mom and four kids who like all different things, dinner can quickly turn in to a debacle. We are just thankful that dad comes from a family of eight kids and will eat whatever is on the plate before him. We're working on getting the kids there, but realistically it may not happen for a few years with the littlest of our littles. I'm trying to keep track of all the kid friendly meals I've been making lately, but I wanted to record this recipe before I forget what I did to create it. :) It will come in handy for Thanksgiving, too, if you need an extra dish to bring.

I love sweet potato casserole and I always feel like mine never comes out quite right. You know, a lot of times it comes out like this.

But this time...gracious. It was SO good. I think I've finally cracked the code on sweet potato casserole mastery. 

Here's what I did. 

First things first. It's not because I'm lazy, it's because I'm left-handed. I don't like peeling sweet potatoes. It's a huge pain and I usually end up slicing my hand in one way or another or dropping a potato down the garbage disposal. So, I didn't peel the potatoes. I baked (four of) them in the oven (pierced and wrapped in foil - 400 degrees for like an hour or hour and a half). 

Once the potatoes were nice and tender (and only slightly scalding hot), I sliced them in half and scooped the potato out into my baking dish. Instead of egg (remember my irrational salmonella fear?) I added half a cup of Greek Yogurt (I didn't really measure it, but I was aiming for half a cup). Then I seasoned the tar out of all of it with cinnamon. After I cinnamonized it, I came to the moment of truth. Do I lace this sucker with brown sugar or try a "clean" alternative. I just so happened to have pure, local, maple syrup. I would say I used 1/4-1/2 cup of maple syrup and stirred to combine. Omgosh. So good. I added about 1/2 tsp of sea salt as well. Next, I scooped in the rest of the butter in the butter dish (about 2T and then added 1T of coconut oil). Mmm..... I stirred all well to combine and baked at 325 for about 30min or so. Once my salmon patties were about done, I added some mini marshmallows and allowed those to burn and set off the smoke detector melt beautifully on top of the casserole. 

It was SO delicious. I have to think the maple syrup and coconut oil had something to do with it. I hope you'll try this recipe. It was seriously the best ever...after I removed the charred marshmallows and made a second attempt. 

Here's what you need: 

• 4 big sweet potatoes
• 1/4c pure maple syrup
• Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp tea salt
• 1/2c plain greek yogurt
• 2T butter
• 1T coconut oil
• Tons of mini marshmallows

Now, go make it and enjoy!!! :)

Kitchen Remodel

A couple posts ago, I told you all about our kitchen overhaul. With plenty of help from friends and family, we had the whole thing ripped out and put back together in about three weeks! We try to do everything as frugally as possible while still doing quality updates, at the best prices (or barters) possible. :) I wanted to show you some before and afters in case you are looking for ideas for your own kitchen.

Initially, we just wanted to replace our laminate flooring. We installed hand-scraped hardwood flooring throughout the rest of the first floor (minus the bathroom) about two years ago, and the transition between our family room and kitchen just hasn't been right since.

Of course, flooring leads to cabinets, cabinets lead to counters, counters lead to walls, and so on. Before you know it, we were committing to a total re-do.

This is the finished product. Here's what we did...

• Flooring - We replaced our old well-worn laminate flooring with 16x16 porcelain tile from Home Depot laid in a diamond pattern. A friend of ours laid it for us. He does awesome work and is currently helping us renovate the upstairs bathroom. I think this really opens up the room, don't you?
• Cabinets - Our builder-grade oak cabinets weren't broken or unusable, so we just updated them with paint and hardware. We used Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations to get the paint work finished. It's a simple three to four step process (four if you use the decorative glaze, which we didn't). I opted for the classic white painted look. It was a lot of agony to decide what color, believe me! I think it was the right decision. You'll also notice that we removed our island. (I know! Who would take out extra storage space?) The fact of it is, we really just had it filled with junk that was easily re-homed elsewhere (like the pantry and in other re-organized cabinets). We were constantly stepping on each others toes to avoid the thing. Our kitchen really isn't big enough to be further cramped with the island, breakfast bar that we never used - not once - plus four kids.
• Counters - This may be my favorite part. We replaced our original counters with concrete counter tops. After looking at a few sample colors, we went with black (charcoal, maybe) counters infused with brilliant flecks of stainless steel. WE LOVE THEM. :) They really pull the whole kitchen together. I mean, my word....look how good they make my coffee and eggs look?
  
  
  
• Doors - Here's another quandary. Our pantry doors and the surrounding frame were originally painted the color of pooh. That's really the best descriptor I have. We had been hoping to change them for the last five and a half years, but never got around to it. I searched the depths of Pinterest to see what we should do. I really didn't want two white doors in the middle of a long kitchen wall; they would just be asking for dirty little handprints every day, I know it. I decided to go with black, and a metallic glaze. Here's a word to the wise. If you ever care to glaze something, read up on glazing first. My nephew (who is an AMAZING painter and helped us SO much with this kitchen) and I glazed them with a metallic finish; after they dried, I added more black back in because they looked a little splotchy. I think they are just right now.
  
  In addition to the color, the dated brass doorknobs had to go. I couldn't find any respectable stainless looking dummy doorknobs, so I painted them with Rustoleum spray paint. Wahoo. They are a little on the sparkly side (because of the color I picked), but I think they work well and it wasn't a bad process. (Thank you for the idea, Pinterest!)

• There's also that over-sized letter I hung on the wall next to the doors (my Anthropologie DIY). I wrote about that a few posts back. I gets lots of compliments; you should totes make one!

• On the other side, in an effort to balance the room out with complementary colors all around, I added black curtains tied off with a little rope for detail (Target - 2 panels for $24.99). Rope was on a spool from the fabric store. Aside from the black curtains, the door still needed some balancing. I made this black and natural burlap wreath with a black bow to tie it all together. 

On a sad note, the motor died on the Kitchen Aid mixer we got for a wedding gift almost 10 years ago. :( THANKFULLY, I was given a brand new sparkly beautiful one for Christmas. How about that? It even matches the kitchen. :) We got a MUCH NEEDED new knife set, too. 

So, I think that's it (for now!). We'll eventually replace the large flourescent light that hangs where our island once was with recessed lighting. But, for now, we have a bathroom to fix-up and we're just happy to have a working kitchen! :) 

Keeping a Diary

For Christmas, our 7 year old desperately wanted a diary, with a lock. As much as I didn't want to get her one - because that means she's edging dangerously close to tween instead of my baby girl - I know how it is. We got her one anyway. I always kept a diary or journal of sorts. Looking back, the purpose of my journaling wasn't to devise a grand scheme against the universe or to conceal dark truths, I wrote as a way of organizing thoughts; planning; recording; reflecting. Those are all really good and constructive skills to have. Over the years, this very blog has acted as a journal of sorts and I'm thinking of adding a new (pictorial) chapter to it.


If you've been reading along with me a while now, you know I have a deep-seated struggle with using food as medication instead of nutrition. Some stress-inducing times ensued, recently, and I gained about 10lbs. I've come too far to do this and thankfully, I know how to turn this horse and buggy around. I'm not making any grandiose plans to cut dairy, gluten, wheat, fat, and all other sources of flavor. That's unreasonable for me. I do know how to eat clean and the two items below will help me do just that...

1.) Grace. The Lord is bigger than any burden I have and when I have that urge to binge, I need to conscientiously PRAY and nourish my body with scriptural truths instead of a pixie stick.

2.) Accountability. I do SO much better when I have enlisted accountability folks asking how things are going; who are positive influences; and who will encourage me to continue on the right path - even if I don't know them personally. It just helps to be part of a team. Accountability works! It's why things like Weight Watchers; Advocare; Beach Body; and My FitnessPal thrive! These apps and groups all encourage you to write what you bite and work through your diet and exercise routines with friends/coaches.

To me, eating well isn't just about being a few pounds lighter (anymore, anyways). It's about properly caring for what God gave me. When we choose to abuse our bodies with food, drugs, or alcohol, we are really just incinerating the temples that God built especially for us to do His work. I wouldn't burn a brick and mortar temple, would you? Why would we do that to our own bodies that were made for so much more than an inanimate building? We have work to do, believing friends, and we need to keep our minds and bodies healthy to do that work. 

Additionally, I'm not wasting my weaknesses. God gave me this weakness, sugar addiction; but, He also gave me a voice as a writer; I'm putting two and two together in hopes of reaching out to others. He casts light out of darkness - all. the. time.

SO, here's the next chapter. I created a Pinterest board called "food journal in pictures." I'm posting photos of every meal (I take photos of basically everything I eat anyway, ask anyone who follows me on social media). Please follow along for accountability AND for clean meal ideas. I'll be posting everything - good and bad - but hopefully there are mostly good things there and you can get some clean eating ideas as well. :) http://www.pinterest.com/dailyupsnpounds/food-journal-in-pictures/.

Wishing you all a very healthy new year!

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, - I Cor 6:19 (ESV). 

I am, and always will be,

a sugar addict. We're not talking ha-ha funny-funny Tess likes her sweets kind of stuff, guys. We're
talking Tess can sit down to the table and eat a pound of sugar encrusted pretzels, then move on to cookies and sweet tea an hour later sorta serious business. We're saying that once that trigger is pulled, there's no telling how many processed bad-for-you gonna-kill-you-sooner-or-later foods I'll eat, or for how many days. We're saying that I might roll through the Starbucks drive-thru every darn day to get the biggest sugariest latte they have because I need it. We're saying that I just flat-out have an eating disorder. I always have. While I don't like dealing with it, I know that the Lord gives us ALL struggles and through those we can grow closer to Him.

I've had to "quit" sugar about four times now. It's never fun, but it's always when I'm at a breaking point with my weight - my favorite pants don't fit, my collar bone is missing again, and I just feel a little more sluggish than normal. Over the last few months, some stressful circumstances triggered me to start eating crap again. Not literal crap, you guys. Processed, sugary, carb-laden, fatty-fat food that has no place in my body. That's what I'm talking about. About the same time, I also completely abandoned my daily workouts. I'm all or nothing, folks. Not only do I look and feel fatter, I just don't feel good. And, my skin is revolting with all sorts of special blemishes that will look mighty fine in Christmas photos as well. Oh, wait, I have Photoshop for that. Anywho, I can't liquify and clone stamp myself every day before I walk out the door, so it's going to have to be nose to the grindstone clean eating again.

It might be two weeks before Christmas, and no time to start watching my food intake, but I'm tired of it. I texted my fat-pants-woes to a sweet friend today and she said - Let's do sugar free till Christmas. Starting NOW!! I obliged and had a clean lunch. So, here we go. I'm going to try my hardest not to cheat and hopefully we'll be feeling better by the new year and on the straight and narrow to keep eating well every. single. day. as well as seeking HIM more when things are stressful instead of taking it out on a bag of chips and a package of Oreos.  :)

There's no catch; no program to follow; no pill to swallow; just clean, simple, whole-foods living.

No added sugar.
No white flour, rice, potatoes, etc.
No processed (boxed/packaged/bar coded) foods.
No fancy coffees.
No alcohol.

Who's with us?

PS. Sugar addiction really is serious business. If you think you may be addicted to sugar, please visit the following site: http://endsugaraddiction.com/ and this one: http://www.healthiertalk.com/sugar-more-addictive-heroin-1374

First world problems, indeed.

I don't know if it's possible to lose touch with reality while simultaneously grasping reality with all your might; no less, I think that's what just happened here. Three weeks ago, about mid-week, my hubs says something to the effect of, "Oh, hey, the kitchen floor is getting ripped up on Monday." 

Oh, really? 

We've been talking about replacing our shabby torn-up linoleum for five years now, but with many littles underfoot, the time was never right for such an undertaking. The only way we ever got hardwood flooring through out our first level was because the crew (of folks we know) came and laid it while we were on vacation. Because we've been talking about it for SO LONG, I've pinned about a dozen different kitchen ideas and thought I had it all figured out, until he said GO (to Home Depot and sort it all out, for realz). Like really real. Like go get the stuff and bring it home because we're doing this real.

I started panicking. Anyone who has so much as replaced a doorknob knows that one home improvement project leads to another. We started with flooring; however, flooring goes under the cabinets. So, we might as well paint the cabinets, right? As long as we're messing with those, how about new countertops. Ok! We might as well paint the walls while the cabinets are out; oh, and, don't you know that lighting is looking dated, too. Back to Home Depot, for the 27th time this week.

I thought my plans would come together once we had tile picked out. Then, out of desperation, I asked Facebook what color our cabinets should be - white or espresso - because I truly couldn't decide. While my innate desire to have this ornate Tuscan kitchen really wanted the espresso cabinets, my fear of having a too-dark seedy watering hole-eqsqe room attached to my family room made me think otherwise. I probably made 47 phone calls to my sister-in-law about this, who now answers my calls with "Yes?" and an eye roll, I'm certain. I bought the espresso paint.

Then I started freaking out. I found myself Googling and Pinning cabinet colors in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep over this ridiculous non life-altering decision. I was also tossing and turning because our laundry was down with the floor job and I wasn't sure what the kids were wearing to school the next day or what restaurants we'd be hitting up for our wholesome eat-out-for-every-meal-because-the-kitchen-is-closed lifestyle. Then I realized... I am being ridiculous.

There are so many heartaches in this world - poverty, crime, abuse, addiction. So many BIG issues. And, the color of the cabinets and my kids freshly laundered clothes aren't among those issues. They are in no way worth losing sleep over. In fact, my obsession with these non-issues was taking my heart away from the really important things in life. As I was getting cranky and unlovable feeling a bit frustrated because our house was seemingly upside down for a week, I started realizing that I needed an attitude adjustment and to stop and realized how blessed we are. Truly blessed to be take that next breath; to be able to feed our kids; to do our laundry in the convenience of our home; to have clean water and warm beds to sleep in and a safe place to call home. AND, most importantly, whenever we focus too much on ourselves; our dwelling places; our junk; our toys...we lose sight of what's really important, and that's Jesus.

And then, I returned the espresso paint. I saw the right color sitting in the mis-tint pile for half-off and took it as a sign.

God is good, people. And, sometimes he provides answers where we least expect them - in the midst of a big mess or in the mis-tint aisle at Lowe's.

Busted biscuits and a baby on the table. A day in the life...

I have the worst ADD in the world when it comes to grocery shopping. I don't make a list. I don't meal plan. I don't look at ads. I shop on cravings and daydreams. I always realize there's something I want clear across the store by the time I'm almost finished shopping. Oh, and, I always have at least two littles with me. Did I mention that none of this bothers me? I know you super planners out there are cringing, but I rather enjoy flying by the seat of my pants. It keeps things interesting. Today was no exception, friends. Today, I was the jerk who began unloading groceries for my family of six...onto the lane that was for FIFTEEN items or less. Ahem. As you may realize, it takes more than fifteen items per week to feed my frequently-ravenous brood. I didn't see the sign; I really didn't. The cashier was super nice about it, but as people lined up behind me, I felt their piercing glares through the back of my peacoat. 

So, after that ordeal was over, I came home and unloaded the groceries. I was tossing two ideas back and forth for dinner - Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew OR Pioneer Woman's Tortilla Chicken Soup. When I finally realized that it was time to make a move, I started with the stew. Something about the crisp fall air; the colors of the leaves; oh, and the fact that I picked up two cans of flaky buttermilk biscuits, told me that we were having stew tonight. So, as the stew cooked up, I realized that cook time was a lot longer than I planned. It looked like we weren't going to be eating until almost 8. Oops. We usually eat around 5. So, I decide to go ahead and start the soup, too. Surely that would take less time and if the children started turning into the ravenous beasts that they usually are by 6pm, I could just feed them that. 

Or, you know, cookies. Because by 7:00 pm, neither meal was near finished. 

Pioneer Woman's Beer and Paprika Stew - Amazing.

I love classic fall eats.

While we were waiting, and because the kitchen was already a disaster area, I decide to make a pumpkin pie. You know, the couch-full of unfolded laundry over yonder could just go ahead and take a number. 

The house was really starting to smell delicious. After the pie came out, I decided to bust open a can of biscuits, literally. Somehow my grocery store ADD carried over to the kitchen. I began opening the biscuits with my fancy new can opener, instead of popping center of the can with a spoon. I'm going to blame the clean eating lifestyle. We don't buy biscuits anymore, really, and it just slipped my mind. Yeah, that's it.

I also love laughing at my own culinary mishaps.

Pretty soon, I was getting tired. Timers were going off everywhere. I lost track of what was supposed to be finished when, but it all ended well. Nothing got burnt or otherwise ruined. The stew was mighty delicious, as were the biscuits and pumpkin pie. By the end of the night, I was all for the baby eating whipped cream off her brother's plate; in her PJs; on the kitchen table. You know, whatever floats your boat, kid. Mom's exhausted.

Hopefully the tortilla soup will make a tasty lunch for tomorrow and my marathon cooking experience will not be in vain. Hopefully. 

To be continued...

We aren't even blonde (right now).

SO, you guys, I was super excited when Gevalia selected me to be one of their Chatterboxes. As a Chatterbox, I got to test out their new Cafe-Style K-Cups and tell the internet all about them. They sent me box of cappuccino to run through our Keurig and share with some friends. So, when the box showed up, I knew exactly which friend I was going to share it with first - the one who introduced me to Gevalia, of course! SO, Jenny and all her littles came over this morning to visit and indulge in some delicious Gevalia, perfect for this chilly fall day!

I'd already had one cup of coffee this morning (though totally not apparent by the string of events I'm about to share with you), so I took the old coffee out of the Keurig, as well as the entire plastic insert and reusable filter. Ahem. This is where bad things happened. I excitedly put a K-Cup in, and the brewer started spraying water and coffee grounds all over the darn place (see photo, above).

As I'm giving the brewer the stank-eye for being a jerk and examining the K-Cup (which must have been faulty, right?), I start ripping open another froth packet to try again. THE SAME SCENE on take 2. We were about to call it a day and cart all seven kids to Starbucks when I noticed that I left the brewer's plastic K-Cup holding insert - right in front of me, on the counter.

My bad.

Sorry, Keurig.
Sorry, Gevalia.
Sorry, Jenny.

Take three. We finally get a nice cup brewed and Jenny thinks it needs a weeeeee little bit of sugar. She's over there mixing and stirring and all while I brew my cup. Then, I get the stank-eye from Jenny. She says "Um, do you think...I think...is that the salt I just put in here?"

Yeah, that's what you get for displaying so much hatred toward Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Jenny! She totally salted her coffee. We basically burst into the laughter, which soon became that weird silent I'm-laughing-so-hard-no-noise-is-coming-out laughter.

Take four and five. We get a good brew for her, a good brew for me, NO SALT, and the results were amazing! Gevalia has created a product that truly does taste like a high-quality coffee-house beverage. On take four and five, we were super impressed. ;)

Thank you, Gevalia, for such a delicious product! AND, thank you for sending enough coffee that we could have several domestic mishaps and still get to enjoy the product. I'll definitely keeping a box on-hand and using, with caution, in the future!! Love it!

Spinach Mac & Cheese

Ta Da! Here's what you're looking for.

Raise your hand if you love Costco! I know I do. I try to pick up at least one new food item every time we visit. At one point, they had a limited stock of the very best hummus in the whole entire world. They told me it was limited (I didn't believe them, no one ever believes that), bought just one tub and ate the entire thing in record time. SO, still in denial, I check the hummus/salsa/salad area every time, hoping that my hummus-covered dreams will come true and the best-ever hummus will be there. Alas, it never is. The good news is, that the light spinach dip they have, is phenomenal. I mean...NO ONE needs the full-fat version when you can have this stuff.

I don't know what makes it so good - the greek yogurt? The water chestnuts? The fact that it tastes bad-for-you when it isn't? It doesn't matter. It's just plain good, and if I could buy stock in this spinach dip, I totally would. Ok, that's ridiculous. But, I do plan to get one or two tubs every time I see it at Costco.

Can you imagine the deliciousness?

We shoveled the stuff out of the container with sweet potato tortilla chips first (also from Costco). After about 270 chips down the trap, I decided I should re-purpose the remainder of this dip (it's a giant container) into something that wouldn't cause me gain 7lbs (hey, even light foods will get you when you fail to use moderation). So, with that, our spinach mac n cheese was born. Now, if you don't belong Costco you're wrong or have one close you should move, I'm sure any spinach dip will do. Just make sure you have oh, I don't know, 16 oz or something to that tune.

Ok, enough chatter...here's the recipe! It's SO easy!

Here's what you need: 

• 16 oz brown rice pasta
• 16 oz light spinach dip (approx)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 TB melted butter



Like my OCD food spacing?

• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Here's what you do: 

• Preheat your oven to 350 and grab a 9x13 oven-safe dish
• Boil the pasta (about 7-8 min - until al dente)
• Once the pasta is boiled, drain the water and pour noodles into the 9x13 pan.
• Add salt, pepper and butter - stir to evenly incorporate
• Add spinach dip - stir gently to incorporate
• Top with mozzarella cheese

Bake 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden. Serve with veggies and enjoy!! 

PS. I made easy balsamic veggies (load up your favorites - frozen is fine - in a 9x13 pan. Drizzle with EVOO, balsamic vinegar and then season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 for about 30-45 minutes, until golden. Time depends on veggie type). 

Easy and delicius balsamic veggies.

PPS. Our 7 year old had two giant servings of this. YUM!

Perhaps I should blog something.

But I've been busy - cleaning the house; changing diapers; taking a million bajillion photos with my new camera; reading; did I say laundry?; having birthdays for half our kids; living up the last of summer; shopping at my new favorite used book store; hugging on my babies who are getting so big; waiting for friends to have their babies so I can go hug on them, too; going on my first girls night out since 2011 - yeah, I'm a neglectful friend like that; wearing my flip-flops thin; thinking about working out, but not actually doing it; listening to the new Derek Webb album (which is awesome, btw); getting ready to send the kids back to school and, of course, not eating what I'm supposed to. Oh, yeah, and more laundry.

I promise to up the blogging ante once my littles are back in school. Summer is basically a free-for-all when it comes to our schedules. For now, I'll leave you with something completely random. The other day, a friend of mine told me she wanted to try out Trader Joe's. If you've read this blog for more than a hot second, you probably know that I big-warm-fuzzy-heart TJ's. I love it so much that I made her a comprehensive shopping list to make her trip more enjoyable. This is big, you guys, because I don't shop with a list. I wouldn't stick to it anyway; so, why bother? SO, all TJ's stock different things, but I think I've listed some of their staples, here. Check it out and happy shopping. PS. The aisle designations are from our TJ's and likely won't match up to yours. PPS. This isn't meant to be a "clean eating" list.

Notes about shopping TJ's: 

• No, the prices aren't out of control.
• Yes, it's kid friendly. I take all four kids by myself and make it out alive every single time. They have lollis and stickers at the checkouts. 
• Yes, they have bags, but it's cool if you bring your own.

Aisle 1 (all the way to the left and left of the fruit)

• Ezekiel 4:9 cinnamon raisin bread
• Oat bread (for the kids)
• Hummus quartet
• Mild salsa
• English cucumber (aka seedless/burp less)
• Bananas
• Clementine Oranges
• Other fruit, veggie, eggplant, avocado

(Opposite side of first aisle)

• Almond butter
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Many clove garlic sauce
• Brown rice pasta
• Brown basmati rice
• Marinara sauce
• Marinated artichokes

(Dairy aisle along back wall)

• Eggs
• Butter
• Almond milk
• Greek yogurt
• The chocolate pudding is pretty much amazing

(Aisle 2 - Frozen foods)

• Orange chicken
• Sockeye salmon
• Cat cookies (cinnamon) - look on the shelf above frozen foods
• Chinese potstickers and/or egg rolls
• Strawberry coconut milk ice cream
• Coffee and cream latte bars (these are SO good)

(Aisle 3 - Snacks and such)

• Olive oil popcorn
• Veggie chips
• Quinoa black bean chips (all 6 of us eat these) - good in the hummus
• Hot tea, if you like tea

(Aisle 4) I can't remember...I think it's soaps, toothpaste, protein powder, etc. I don't get any of that there.

(Back wall cereal aisle)

• Puffins (original and PB) all of our kids and the hubs and I love puffins!!
• Chia seeds
• Oats

(Far wall with meat)

• Love the Bool Kogi (for the grill - it's TJ's version of Korean Bulgogi)
• Hebrew National Hot Dogs - safe alternative to regular hot dogs
• Chicken breasts
• Any other meat that looks good
• Havarti lite cheese
• Dubliner Irish Cheddar
• Cheese sticks
• Turkey breast, salami, etc.

If you like adult beverages, the Newton's Folly hard cider is delicious. Trader Jose's beer is good, too. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear the laundry room calling.

Eggplant Romano!

Don't mind the dumb-looking cheese.
I grabbed the wrong grater.

So, here in this house, we could eat Italian food every day. I mean, every. single. day. and probably never tire of it. The hubs and I both have family that came here straight off the boat from Sicily. We were basically raised on meatballs and sub sandwiches. And, sometimes, when you want a good Italian carb-heavy meal, you just have to say, "Mangia! Someone go get my fat pants!" So, I'm going to tell you about our delicious dinner from this evening. I'm not going to pretend, for even a second, that it was remotely healthy...or clean...or whatever. It was just delicious. That's all I'll give you. So, if you're trying to lose a few pounds this week, just go on and click out of this post and I'll be back with something healthy another day. Now, if you're a foodie who doesn't mind a non-MyFitnessPal-friendly indulgence now and then, listen up...

We all (even the kids) love eggplant parmesan (romano) in this house. I usually make a semi-healthy version (sautéing sliced eggplant in oil and then layering and baking with marinara, romano, and some mozzarella). My culinary skills have been diminishing since summer showed up. You know...salads, fresh fruit, burgers and veggies are DELICIOUS to eat all summer, but don't require too much effort. So, tonight, I thought I'd spend a little extra time.

My hubs was pretty much begging for angel hair pasta to be incorporated with tonight's dinner some way, somehow. I have this mental block, though, that tells me angel hair noodles just can't stand alone with sauce. They're too wimpy and need to be accompanied by something else substantial to be an actual meal. SO, I thought I'd bread some eggplant and fancy-up my usual recipe - just a little. SO, we ended up with breaded eggplant served over angel hair that was (and I totally am showing my own selfie here) SUPER DELICIOUS. You know it's good when all the kids ask for seconds (this was after they decided to practice stop-drop-and-roll because I filled the house with smoke while I was browning the eggplant, btw). So, without further ado...check it out!

Here's what you need: 

1. One good-sized pretty eggplant (aren't they all pretty, though?)
2. Cooking oil (for the pan)
3. 2 eggs
4. Flour (I really don't know how much - a bunch)
5. Pepper (1-2 tsp)
6. Garlic powder (1 tsp)
7. Panko Japanese style bread crumbs (MUST. GET. PANKO. - don't skimp!!)
8. Romano or parmesan cheese (don't buy crappy cheese, either!)
9. Mozzarella, shredded (about a cup)
10. 2 jars of basil marinara sauce (yes, I'm using jarred sauce again. At least I'm not doing drugs [Pops].)  

Here's what you do:

1. Fire up that oven and set it on 350.
2. Start warming up your skillet with oil.
3. Slice your eggplant (medium-thin slices)
4. Add flour and pepper to a gallon size zip lock. Put your eggplant slices in the bag; SEAL the bag (check it again to make sure it's really sealed); shake the crap out of the bag, covering the egg plant with flour.
5. Crack your eggs in a bowl and whisk
6. Add the bread crumbs, garlic powder and about 1/2 cup of romano to a pie plate, mix. 
7. Pour about a quarter to one half a jar of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. 
8. Carefully remove eggplant from the bag, one slice at a time. Knock off any excess flour. 
9. Dredge each slice in egg (both sides); then, coat both sides with bread crumbs. 
10. Drop the slices into the hot oil in your skillet. Lightly brown the slices on each side and transfer to baking dish. You can probably do four slices at a time, depending on the size of your skillet. 
11. Keep doing this until all eggplant is browned up. You will probably have to add more oil as you go. If you have to make a second layer of eggplant slices, add a little sauce in between the layers.
12. When you're finished browning the eggplant, add one more layer of sauce and top with mozzarella cheese. 
13. Bake about 30 minutes, until cheese is nice and melty.

Serve over angel hair pasta and enjoy!! PS. After we had this fatty-delicious dinner, we decided to fire up the grill and make some of these: 

Grilled s'mores. Yes please.

And then, before blogging and bed, I needed some of this delicious blueberry tea. Zzzzzz. :)

Weight Loss Tools

When we talk about "weight loss tools" something different probably comes to mind for everyone. For me, it's often been my workout crap fitness equipment (though I promise, I really do loathe exercising); fitness videos; elliptical machine, etc. Recently, though, since getting back on the MyFitnessPal Wagon, I realized something. Weight loss tools go much further than that. As I dug through a drawer of kitchen utensils, I pulled out a few things and snapped a photo - just to remind myself that losing weight doesn't (usually) happen unintentionally. We do need to be careful about what we eat, and how much of it. Using MyFitnessPal (which is also available via web-browser for you non-smart-phone users), I'm forced to check serving sizes with every meal.

Yes, it can be a pain. No, I don't always want to do it. But, guess what, I'd also prefer not to eat aimlessly and pack on more pounds. So, this is what I'm doing. You really need just a few inexpensive kitchen items to be able to take control of portions in home-cooked meals (and packaged food).

These things get me through the day. I have a really inexpensive food scale that I got from the grocery store. It works just fine and I've had it for years. Really helpful to measure out sweet potato chips. Soooo....one ounce isn't exactly what I thought it was (or hoped it was). Measuring cups and spoons may seem like something we use only for baking, but I assure you...you can use them with every single meal. I measure coffee creamer, yogurt, ketchup!!!!, vegetables, shredded cheese, chips, peanut butter, etc. If I don't measure, things can spiral out of control REAL quick in the kitchen.

To satisfy your curiosity (I know your'e just itching to know), here's what a serving of veggies; a serving of sweet potato chips; and a serving of hummus looks like in real life. I recently saw a meme that said something like "I don't always eat chips and salsa, but when I do, I do it until I hate myself." Yeah, that's pretty much it. I can sit and eat chips and salsa or hummus to the point of total disgust. Easy to do with "healthy" food, right?

So, if you're thinking about taking control of your health - start in the kitchen and go back to basics with rolling back portions and eating food that simple, with just a few recognizable ingredients. Homemade is always bese, but when you do have to buy packaged food - make sure you know what each ingredient is and the wagon will be moving full-speed again (with you in it, not under it).