Butter, anyone?

My appologies for being...well, MIA for several months. I've had quite a summer, you know, moving, putting in a yard, raising kids, organizing my new homw, and sleeping a little somewhere in between all that. It's starting to get a bit cold here, and those of you who don't know me, will soon begin to understand that all I do in the winter, besides hanging out with thing one and thing two is BAKE, and COOK and GET CREATIVE!! So I told my husband a couple nights ago, I wanted to get back to blogging all my great finds. Which leads me to TODAY. Yikes, no more caps, I PROMISE.

This recipe is used for special occasions....big sigh....because its not clean...at all.
Although butter can sometimes be debated as clean or not, we use it here in our house and I feel its ok. The one debatable item here in this recipe is raspberry preserve. Ok, not debatable, its totally unclean, I'm talking high fructose corn syrup not clean. Thats why we don't make it very often, but we enjoy it when I do decide its ok. I found the recipe on Pinterest and you can go to that original post here.

There are several other recipes that call for additional sugar (I know, I was trying not to gag, because this is really sweet as it is. I would never want to add more sugar). In the future, I'm going to get the guts to try the no sugar raspberry preseve, and I'll post my finds on that as well.

I have not been able to duplicate my butter to look like the picture in the post provided, but trust me, when you taste this, it won't matter what it looks like. I'm still working on my photog or phratography skills, as my husband and I always joke. So todays wasn't stellar, but hey, its my first day back, its going to be rough!

This recipe is a huge hit wherever we go, or whomever we invite over, or whatever we put it on. I love to put it on our bran muffins...recipe forthcoming.

We are all smiles here and are looking forward to a great day!

As Ellen would say, "be nice to each other", and I wish the same. Cheers!

Annisa

Avocado and Egg Sandwich...with sprouts!

I felt like this was a good time to post this recipe I've had because it is the day after Easter...and the dilemma starts...what do I do with all these hard boiled eggs?? You can only have so many devilled eggs.

I had a few avocados the other day that I wanted to use up...ok, that NEEDED to be used up. So I went to my clean eating board on Pinterest and found a recipe I'd been wanting to try. I made a couple small changes, and it was delicious! Because my kids don't eat actual "sandwiches" yet, I just gave them some of the mixture and put it a bowl with a spoon. They ate it with crackers. I added sprouts to mine, and I'm sure if you wanted you could add some kind of cheese that you consider clean.

One thing about this recipe. You really need to eat it in one meal. Because avocado has a tendency to turn brown, its not very appealing a few hours later....bleh! Let me know if you like this, its a great alternative to adding mayonnaise to your egg salads, and adds some goodness!

Original recipe found HERE

Caesar Dressing....cause I'm in a salad mood

Well good morning everyone! I say good morning because my kids slept till almost 9, and I had a new friend stop by and surprised me with a visit (thanks Whitney!), so I'm JUST getting showered and now I realized its time for lunch! So I'm still celebrating my morning. haha

I had a friend from Utah ask me for a Caesar dressing recipe that I use because it doesn't have anchovies...and I have failed miserably to get it to her...until NOW. Its whats for lunch, so why wait?? Tipping my hat to you Susan!

There are a couple reasons why I love this dressing. First, because I'm not putting anchovies in ANYTHING I eat. Second, it really is that good. It isn't extremely thick like some mayo based dressings, but the good part is, there isn't a STITCH of mayo in this. This is clean, about 150 calories for 2Tbs, and just darn good. I hope you enjoy!

Caesar Dressing

1 C Olive Oil
1/4 C Water
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice (fresh is best, but I've used lemon juice from those yellow "lemon" looking containers...you know what I'm talking about...)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lg egg yolk
2 cloves garlic
1/4 C grated Parmesan Cheese (fresh is best, and then you can put some on top of the salad, but kraft can be used as well)

Add all ingredients to blender and blend well. Its best after it has been refrigerated for a couple hours. It thickens up  more that way.

I start with a bowl of thinly sliced romaine lettuce. I usually use mixed greens for almost any salad I use, but I find romaine sticks to tradition with this dressing. I then add grated parm cheese and top with croutons. If I'm making this for dinner, I do grill up some chicken and slice it for a more filling dish for Peter, but during lunch its me and this dressing SANS chicken.

I hope you enjoy this and let me know how well you like it.

Props to BLENDTEC for this recipe. YUM!

I'm back!!!! oh and a fruit smoothie....

Well, It has been an eventful couple of months. We moved, we have renters in our old home, we've already had to speak in church, and our new home is getting used to us being in it...I think.

I fell off the wagon last week (clean eating speaking) and I'm just unhappy when I do! I feel horrible, I'm sleepy, I'm grumpy, and I seem to not fit in my clothes very well (bloating I'm sure). So today we start again!!(cheers in the background)

My husband has been enjoying this hiatus and when I mentioned to him last night that the oreos and pringles he was stuffing in his mouth was going to be his last meal, he says, "oh, but we haven't eaten like this forever!" I have to admit I was proud of myself. Although it wasn't that hard to find recipes that peter would love, It has been hard keeping crap out of the house.

Today is a new day, and you can do ANYTHING with new days. I began my clean eating this morning with a Tropical Smoothie, and I'll share it with you below. Many cheers for all of you and sticking to clean eating, let me know if you've seen a difference!!

Tropical Breeze
(thanks Blendtec)

1 C. Pineapple Juice
1/4 c coconut milk
2 bananas (I used 2 frozen)
2 Tbsp shredded coconut (unsweetened)
2 C ice cubes

blend and enjoy!

Break it down, SMOOTHIE TIME

Sing the title to MC hammers Hammer time....you know, just for effect.

So last night I couldn't really get my son to eat much. Which always frustrates me because he usually is a HOOVER. I needed him to get some nutrients... and my go to for that kind of thing is always a green smoothie. I had some aging strawberries that needed used up, and because I buy my spinach in a costco size bag and freeze it into two cup increments, I always have spinach. I actually do the same for bananas. I buy them in bulk and break up one banana and freeze it in a baggie. makes for easy smoothie makings. I just did a simple search on strawberry green smoothies and several posts down I found this little gem: Strawberry Blueberry Green Smoothie

Since my kids are lovers of blueberries, frozen or fresh, this was a winner.

ENJOY!!

Niss

my daughter refusing to eat the rest of her chicken till I tempted her w a smoothie

WHOMP, there it is 

Stop, hammer time

wow, Ive got to get a life.......

Clean Eating Breakfast Burrito

I'm all about simple. Don't get me wrong, I love a great meal that is very complex...but lets face it, I'm a busy mom and some days I'm lucky to get breakfast or lunch.  Today was one of those mornings. It turned 11:30 and I had forgotten that I'd not eaten breakfast! a HUGE no-no in clean eating. So I put my son down for his nap and ran-sacked the fridge. Eggs....check, whole wheat tortillas....check, avocado....check, clean eating salsa leftover from yesterday....check.


Breakfast Burrito sans picture...sorry!!! it was so good I forgot to take one!!!!

3 organic eggs
mozz cheese if you are eating dairy
2 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 an avocado
Clean eating salsa (recipe found HERE)

Make scrambled eggs according to your liking. Add cheese either in the eggs or just in the burrito with the other ingredients. warm up two whole wheat tortillas. Put eggs, cheese, avocado and salsa in the two tortillas. Wrap and eat.

I could eat this for Breakfast, snack, or lunch. For dinner I have a more in depth/complex recipe my husband loves. you could always add red or yellow bell peppers for a nice crunch to this as well. I followed this down with a green smoothie.

Enjoy!!!

Superbowl clean foods

CHIPS AND SALSA

I'm really excited for the Superbowl tomorrow. I mean, I hate professional football, but I'm excited to see two brothers coach against each other, and I really like the 49ers. So I'll be glued to the tv one one condition: good clean food to inhale.

Today I'd like to share a recipe that I borrowed from Green Shakes and Giggles. It was very easy to make, and got a standing ovation from my husband, my children, and my brother in law. 

Jacobs Garden Salsa

Recipe HERE

BUT WAIT!!!!!

Before you go making this salsa and not reading the rest of my blog....cause I do it too...I scroll down to the recipe and not read the boring mumbo jumbo of a lot of blogs. (you do it too, don't lie to yourselves....haha) I did make two changes to the recipe. 

1: I added GROUND CUMIN SEED to this recipe. I just love cumin, and to me, salsa isn't salsa without cumin. 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp.

2: I added a touch more jalapeno. Not a whole lot, but the amount in the recipe didn't cut it for us...EVEN after it sat overnight. 

After these two minor changes, the salsa was CONSUMED. I was actually asked to bring this to family dinner tomorrow night. 

NOW.....

What would salsa be without chips?? Here is an easy recipe to make your own chips, and feel like a freakin rockstar! (I can't guarantee people will want you to sign their boobs or anything...but rockstar ENOUGH)

Take a package (or two) of corn tortillas. You can find them pretty much anywhere, but make sure you READ YOUR INGREDIENTS!!!! Find a good compromise, and don't buy them with lots of additives. My rule is LESS than 8 ingredients, and if you can't pronounce the ingredient, DONT FOR THE LOVE BUY IT!  (remember, baby steps....I still have to purchase things that aren't entirely clean...ITS OK! you're not a failure, you're already getting there just by having a DESIRE) 

But I digress....

Package of corn tortillas

cut into wedges

lay out on baking sheet 

Spray olive oil on them ( I had to purchase an oil pump, 20$ at the local spoons and spice and I'm having a hard time thinking of how I would have done the chips without them)

Sea salt-sprinkle over chips

350 degrees for about 10 min...just check them. if they are still soft, let them go a tad more. 

Enjoy your Superbowl!!!!