Last week, I desparately needed to unwind. Between back-to-back birthdays, sick kids and trying to get ready for Christmas, I realized I hadn’t had a conversation that didn’t involve Batman or Elsa in far too long. My amazing friend suggested we get together and do some baking. Sweet treats and adult conversation were exactly what […]
When I was a little girl, my mom tried to give me a sweet potato for dinner. After tears, screaming and a fair amount of pouting, it was accepted in our house that I did not like sweet potatoes. I lived for years thinking this to be true until one day I decided to be daring and eat a sweet potato. It was like making a new best friend. Since that day we buy a large bag of sweet potatoes every week. We eat them as fries, as cubes, roasted, in potato salad, in breads and pancakes, baked and loaded, and most popularly, mashed. Mashed sweet potatoes serve as a great component to a lot of dishes. You can use them as a side dish or a base for meatballs or stew. After trial and error, I’ve found the best way to make mashed sweet potatoes.
You can cook the sweet potatoes by boiling them or baking them whole. I usually boil them. Just peel, cube and boil them until they’re tender.
Then mash them with the coconut oil, milk and seasonings. They’re so easy and delicious! My 5-year-old does not like regular potatoes, but loves these mashed sweet potatoes. Enjoy your Christmas sweet potatoes!
I realize Christmas is going to have its unhealthy splurges, but I can alleviate some of them for myself and my friends and neighbors by delivering non-treat Christmas gifts to my friends and neighbors. Here are 11 ideas for non-treat gifts for neighbors.
Apple cider is fabulous for many reasons. I love to use it in bbq recipes, it makes the house smell great while it’s cooking and it’s so fun to drink on a cold day. Sadly, most apple ciders, homemade or bottled are packed with sugar. This is one of my pet peeves [Warning: Rant ahead]. Why do we always need to add sugar into fruit. Fruit is nature’s sugar. It’s naturally sweet. It doesn’t need sugar! [Rant complete… for now].
This apple cider combines all the things that make apple cider so delicious, without the added sugar. Plus it’s a slow cooker recipe so you can let it brew all day and come home to amazing smells.
Add the apple juice to a small slow cooker. We like Motts Tots. It has half the sugar of other apple juices, which makes this even lower in sugar than it would otherwise. But use your favorite apple juice, as long as it’s 100% juice.
Slice the orange and add it to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients. Now just let it simmer on low for at least 4 hours. If we want it the next morning, Waking up to that smell makes life better, no matter what else happens the rest of the day.
We make these ornaments every year. They are super easy to make and something the entire family can get involved in. Plus, they satisfy my need to make Christmas cookies without having said cookies in the house.
Last week we were supposed to have chicken for dinner. About an hour before dinner, I realized I had failed to thaw said chicken. This always leaves us with two options: Go out to eat or throw together something quickly with what we have on hand. In the past I would have boiled some pasta and topped it with canned sauce. That amounted to very little protein, lots of sugar, and basically just a lot of processed junk. So I needed a solution that would give us a protein and vegetables without loading us down with processed ingredients. The solution: eggs. Eggs are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and iron. It’s hard to beat the nutrients of an egg. Plus, turning it into a frittata makes it seem more fun and elegant. If I were Fancy Nancy I’d say, “We’re eating frittata. That’s a fancy word for eggs.” Can you tell I spend a lot of time with a 5-year-old girl?
Brown a pound of turkey sausage. Let this cool a bit or the eggs with scramble as soon as you add it.
Whisk together the eggs and almond milk. Stir in some Pico de Gallo. Pico is so versatile and adds all the seasoning this dish needs. Add the sausage and mix everything together.
I like to bake this in a pie dish but you could also bake it in a 9×9 pan or an oval casserole dish.
This dish is great because it’s so versatile. Add whatever meat you want or leave it out completely. If you’re not a fan of pico, switch it out for different vegetables. Use what you have on hand and what your family likes.
This goes great with roasted veggies, a green salad or sliced fruit.
Last year, I saw this tiny nativity and wanted one so badly. I decided to dust off my craft table and give it a go. To my great joy, I did this with zero sewing and minimal cutting. If you can paint and hot glue, you’re golden.
Even though I enjoy making dinner for my family, there are nights I’m tired, cranky, hungry NOW, or would rather sit on my tuckus and not make dinner. That’s when I love “2-for-1” dinners. That’s when I make dinner one night and can use the leftovers to make dinner the next night. That’s what I do when I make Grilled Round Steak. The night after we have this delicious steak, we have Steak Salad.
A salad is a great meal option for families with picky eaters. Each person can customize their own salad based on what they like. I’ve listed our favorite ingredients, but feel free to customize this however you like. I like to top it with guacamole (my favorite salad dressing) but use what dressing you have and like.
Thank goodness for Thanksgiving. This gives us a chance to step back from all the getting and focus on what we’re grateful for. Here are 10 ideas of gratitude activities to do with your kids
Because a large portion of my google/pinterest/cookbook searches include the word pumpkin, I’ve tried many healthy pumpkin recipes. Here are a few of my favorite sweet pumpkin recipes.
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