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No Sugar BBQ Sauce

By on September 8, 2015 in Dressings and Sauces

BBQ sauce makes any meat better. Pour it over chicken, that’s all you need for a great dinner. Pour it over a pork roast and, voila; pulled pork. Smear it on hamburgers and they’re suddenly the best hamburgers ever. My daughter DSCN0305uses BBQ sauce like most kids use ketchup, so we go through a lot of it in our house. While I’m totally okay with adding strange things to food to get kids to eat them, I’m not okay with the sugar content of most condiments. This is especially true for BBQ sauce. When we made the change to a healthier lifestyle, I knew we couldn’t give up BBQ sauce. That’s when I began the quest to make a no-sugar BBQ sauce. Not only did I succeed, but my husband says this is the best BBQ sauce I’ve ever made and my daughter gave it her stamp of approval.

First let’s look at a typical bottled BBQ sauce. The sauce we bought before we made our own, contains 32 grams of sugar in 1/4 C with high fructose corn syrup being the first ingredient. That is crazy. My BBQ sauce has less than 3 grams of sugar in 1/4 C and tastes delicious.

This is also an easy recipe. I didn’t want a recipe that required a lot of sauteing, dish washing and vegetable chopping, so I made it simple. Just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Yes there are a lot of ingredients, but they are likely things you have in your pantry. If you don’t like an ingredient, leave it out.

I like to store it in a mason jar (or a washed, glass peanut-butter jar since we have a million of those sitting around) and stick it in the fridge. This will stay good for about a two weeks.

DSCN0314One night we had some left over pork roast and needed a quick dinner. I threw the roast leftovers in a slow cooker with the BBQ sauce and we had dinner. It’s almost too easy.

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Grilled Round Steak

By on September 4, 2015 in Main Dishes

When I was 8-years-old, I submitted my picture to a children’s Christian magazine along with interesting facts about me. Many of the other kids included facts like “I love to go camping with my family,” or “I won the third-grade science fair.” My interesting fact was, “My favorite food is steak.” Needless to say, my profile wasn’t as interesting a read as the others, but I still hold to what I said. I love steak! And this is my favorite way to make it. Plus, it’s extremely easy and healthy.

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Start by making a simple marinade. Because I don’t want to dirty more dishes than necessary, I mix the marinade in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. In the bag, combine the coconut aminos, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, orange zest and garlic. If you haven’t tried coconut aminos yet, you should. It’s basically a healthier version of soy sauce.

Add the round steak to the bag and marinate for at least four hours.

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Now cook it on the grill. We cook it for about 5 minutes on one side and six minutes on the other for rare. I personally don’t know any way to eat steak other than rare.

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Let the steak rest for about eight minutes and then slice diagonally. This is a fabulous recipe because you don’t need to add any kind of steak sauce. The marinade makes it perfect just as it is.

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Weekly Preparation for Healthy Eating

By on September 1, 2015 in healthy tips

Trying to keep up with life and still have time for a healthy snack or meal is a difficult task. That can all change with some weekly prep. Every Saturday, I get ready for the next week by making sure I have enough healthy, delicious food prepared to grab on the go.

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Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

By on August 28, 2015 in Main Dishes

No matter where go you, there is no shortage of Mexican restaurants. Because what’s not to love? Sugar-sweetened meat, loads of melted cheese, processed-flour tortillas. Good news! There is a way to still enjoy delicious Mexican food without eating a ton of processed food, sugar and bad-for-you oils. And it won’t take all day.

This is a dump-in-the-slow-cooker recipe, so it takes very few steps and comes out moist and flavorful. When my husband was eating this he kept saying, “There’s just something about this.” That’s always a good sign.

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Start with the chicken breasts or thighs in a slow cooker. I personally like thighs because they come out much more moist. But if you prefer breasts, go right ahead.

Top with the taco seasoning, lime juice and zest, and chicken broth. No need to stir. Just turn on the slow cooker on high for four hours.

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After four hours, shred the chicken and add it back to the slow cooker. Stir in the salsa and let it heat through for another half hour.

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Now serve it in lettuce wraps. If you really hate lettuce wraps, substitute a whole-grain tortilla. I always use green-leaf lettuce but you can use romaine or iceberg. Top it with sour cream, guacamole and shredded cheese.

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let your son quit

Why I let my Son Quit Karate

By on August 25, 2015 in Thoughts on Motherhood

I never understood how parents could let their kids quit activities. I assumed that once my children got involved in an activity, they would finish it, no matter what. So when my son came to me and asked if he could quit karate it was a hard thing for me. After a lot of thought, […]

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Healthy Diary-Free Chocolate Peanut-Butter “Milk” Shake

By on August 21, 2015 in Guilt-Free Treats

For the most part, a healthy lifestyle is easy to maintain. The hardest part is when people are eating dessert. I can usually resist, but there’s always part of me that wants to grab the milkshake out of their hands and chug it down. But then I remember how horrible I feel after I binge on sugar and talk myself down. Rather than cheat and feel like death after, I try to come up with ways to have a treat without loading my body with processed, sugary crap. This healthy take on a classic milk shake was a huge success.DSCN0174

I bring this all together with my immersion blender. This is one of my favorite tools because it creates way less cleanup than using a blender.

Combine coconut milk, a frozen banana, protein powder and peanut butter with an immersion blender. I use this protein powder.  It tastes great and doesn’t have all the bad stuff some protein powders do.

This is so thick you’ll need a spoon. See! Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t indulge.

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Homemade Summer Wreath

By on August 18, 2015 in Home Decorating

This summer I decided it was time to retire my front door wreath and get a new one. I had visions of a yellow, summery wreath. I found the perfect wreath and checked the price tag. I believe I shouted “What!?” in the middle of the store when I realized the wreath I wanted was […]

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Healthy Twist on a German Pancake

By on August 14, 2015 in Breakfast, Main Dishes

For years, we’ve had breakfast for dinner every Friday night. That often meant huge grocery-store muffins, sugar-loaded cinnamon rolls and French toast made with processed bread. Yum… I knew when we switched to a healthy lifestyle, my family would not be okay nixing the Friday-night breakfast tradition. Nor would they accept omelets every Friday. I quickly realized that with a few tweaks I could revamp some of our favorite recipes. That’s my favorite part about eating healthy; finding ways to still eat the foods we’ve always loved but in a healthy way. This German pancake is packed with protein, comes together in just a few minutes and lets us still have our Friday-night breakfast tradition.

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Rather than melting butter in advance, just stick the butter in a 9×13 pan and put in in the oven while it preheats. I always love the chance to cut out a step.

Whisk the eggs and almond milk together. Then add the almond flour and whisk the heck out of everything until it’s totally smooth. You can also use an immersion blender or a stand blender to get a really smooth consistency. I just don’t like extra dishes, so I stick with the whisk.

Once the butter is melted just pour the batter into the pan and bake it for about 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s golden brown and puffy in spots.

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My husband and kids like to eat this with pure maple syrup but you can also use peanut butter or honey. I like to just toss some berries on top and eat it all together. That’s a great way to get in some added nutrients.

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raincloud experiment

Summer Science Experiments for Kids

By on August 11, 2015 in Activities for Kids

Before we start school again, I want to get my kids back in the learning mode. We’ve started doing this with fun outdoor science experiments that can be done with things you probably already have at home. Here are our top 10 favorite summer science experiments to do as a family.

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Better than Restaurant Pico de Gallo

By on August 7, 2015 in Dressings and Sauces

Whenever I go to a Mexican restaurant, I always load whatever I’m eating with pico de gallo. Did you know pico de gallo is healthy? And did you know it’s extremely easy to make? I know that now and my life is much better because of it.

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Here are my top five favorite uses for pico de gallo:

  1.  Rather than spending a lot of time making a salsa or buying one full of preservatives, make a batch of pico de gallo and use this in place of salsa for tortilla chips.
  2. Use it on top of enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas or nachos to make them taste extra fresh and yummy.
  3. Top a salad with pico de gallo instead of dressing. Eating healthy means a lot of salads, so this helps to change things up a bit
  4. Grill a chicken breast and top it with pico de gallo. If you’re like me and make a big batch for the week, this makes dinner extremely easy.
  5. Stir pico de gallo into some brown rice for an easy side dish.

Now I’m sure you’re curious how to make it, so here we go. Pico de gallo has only 4-5 ingredients, plus salt and pepper to taste. I say 4-5 because the jalapeno is optional. I opt out because I have kids who aren’t fans of spicy food and I’m a spice wuss. At least I’m confident enough to admit it.

Start by chopping equal parts roma tomato, red onion and cilantro. Make the pieces as large or small as you like, but try to make them uniform. If you’re adding a jalapeno, remove the seeds and finely chop it. Stir this all together and squeeze in the juice of two limes. Now add salt and pepper to taste. That’s it!

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This is easy and versatile enough to whip up every week. And this is one of those fabulous recipes that gets better as it sits. Since I love the stuff so much, I’d love to know your favorite uses for pico de gallo.

 

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