Apple Streusel Pancakes I have been on the lookout for a great pancake recipe. I never really do anything fun with my pancakes except the occasional handful of fruit being thrown into the batter. This time around I really wanted something over the top! That is exactly what I with this amazing Apple Streusel Pancake recipe! I am also excited because I know these delicious pancakes will make the perfect Easter Breakfast! Ingredients: For the Streusel topping: 1 flour ½ cup brown sugar, packed ½ cup soft butter ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 cup apple sauce 1/4 cup quick oats For the Pancakes: 1 ¼ cup flour 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 3 tbs brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 egg 1 cup vanilla almond milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 granny smith apple, peeled and diced Instructions: Add all streusel ingredients to a bowl and mix well. In a large bowl add all dry pancake ingredients and mix until well blended. Next … [Read more...]
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes!
Sweet Potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving.....they are for any time of year! Plus who does not like stuffed baked potatoes? This is a recipe that is bursting with flavor! Yum! Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Ingredients: 4 sweet potatoes 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese 1 bundle broccoli diced 4 cloves pressed garlic 1 small onion 1/2 package bacon Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Poke sweet potatoes sporadically with a fork before placing in oven for baking. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until tender. In large skillet fry bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and drain grease only leaving about 1 tbs grease in pan for other ingredients. Add garlic and onion to skillet. Sauté stirring often until onion is caramelized. Add diced broccoli and sauté about 5 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Crumble bacon into bowl and add cheese. Mix together. Once sweet potatoes are done baking, cut the centers out and remove some of the sweet potato filling. Stuff each potato with … [Read more...]
Roasted Carrots with Lime
I love carrots and recently I have had an abundance of the rainbow colored carrots! It's wonderful! The kids love the fun color's and I love that they are eating them without complaining! One of the recipes I have made recently that my family fell in love with is Carrots baked with lime. This dish is very easy and gives the carrots a new fun flavor that is perfect for summer time! Roasted Carrots with Lime Ingredients: 1 lb carrots2 Limes Juiced2 tsp Italian seasoning (mixed Thyme, Basil, Oregano etc....)2 tbs olive oilsalt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400 degrees Wash carrots, peel and cut off ends. Place in Baking dish and sprinkle lime juice, Italian seasoning and olive oil over carrots. Bake 15 minutes in oven Season with salt and pepper before serving. Enjoy! This recipe was quick and easy. The carrots were slightly crispy and bursting with flavor. I love how this is a dish that I can serve as a side with just about anything and it's something that … [Read more...]
Hair Tie Organization Idea!
Hair Tie Organization As most of you know I have been going crazy with organizing my home. This is something that I have needed to do since moving into this home 5 years ago but have never found the time. One of the items that I am tired of cluttering up my bathroom is my daughters hair ties. They are usually tossed into a drawer or on the counter. It drives me crazy because when I actually need one I can't find them! To solve the problem of the hair ties being all over the house I decided to hang some simple little hooks that I purchased at Walmart. They were about $5 for two hooks and I quickly placed them next to the mirror in my bathroom. The hooks are easy to access as they are near where I do my daughters hair each morning and I am easily able to hang the hair ties onto the hooks! This has been a genius idea and has really helped me not only find them when I need them but free up some space and make things look nicer in my bathroom! YAY! Are you on the … [Read more...]
Necklace Organization for you bathroom!
Necklace Organization I have been on an organization kick recently. I has been crazy around my house as I am trying to re-do every single room in the house all at once. Not an easy feat to accomplish but I am slowly getting there. Recently I was trying to figure out a way get my necklaces out of the jewelry box that is taking up space on my counter and get them out in the open so I can physically see what necklaces I have that will match with what I am wearing that day. I went through lots of different options in my mind but I finally settled on the perfect option for me. Behind my bathroom door I put push pins in the wall about 2-3 inches apart. I can now hang my necklaces on the pins so that I can physically see them which in turn will help me to wear them more often. Also having them behind the door of the bath room is perfect for me because it does not take up much room and I am utilizing a space in my bathroom that I have never been able to utilize before! It's … [Read more...]
Sliced Baked Potatoes With Cheese
Sliced Baked Potatoes With Cheese We are a potato loving family. It helps that my cousin's family owns a huge potato farm and we get the most delicious potatoes ever! One of our favorite ways to prepare them is by baking. It is a healthier option for us and keeps us away from the fryer. Recently I saw a picture somewhere around the internet (I think one of my friends posted on facebook) of Sliced Baked Potatoes that someone baked. I thought this was a brilliant idea and we decided to give it a try. We decided when making our sliced baked potatoes that we wanted something more in them then just salt and pepper so we layered each slice with cheese! Ingredients: PotatoesCheddar Cheese Sliced (about 1/8 inch thick)2 tbs olive oilsalt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400 degrees 1. Slice each potato about 1/4 inch thickness. Do not slice all the way through. Leave about another 1/4 inch at bottom that is not sliced. 2. Place sliced potatoes on baking pan. 3. Drizzle … [Read more...]
Otto’s BBQ Funyun Meatloaf
BBQ Funyun Meatloaf Meatloaf...what can I say. Some love it and some hate it. When I first moved to a new town my husband quickly made friends with a guy who loved to cook. He would rave about his amazing modernized meatloaf. To be honest it actually sounded really good so my family gave it a try. It is now a staple in our home. My husband cooks twice a week and I must say that he makes this at least once a month and each month he switch's out the 'chips' that he use's to give this meatloaf a fun twist. In this recipe he used Funyun's but he has also used Doritos, Cheetos, and Lays, or even a mixture of all of them! Another fun thing you can mix and match is the BBQ sauce. I have never found a BBQ sauce that does not taste amazing in this recipe, so grab your favorite one and have some fun! Ingredients: 4 lbs ground beef (can also use Turkey, Chicken, etc....)4 oz Funyons + some for top1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (any flavor) - 1/4 in meat and 1/4 for top2 eggs1/4 tsp pepper1/2 tsp garlic … [Read more...]
Eggplant Parmesan Fingers – Kid Friendly Recipe!
Eggplant Parmesan Fingers I used to dislike Eggplant. It was one of those vegetables that I really wanted to like and I used to try it out in all kinds of recipes that would just later get trashed because I could not stand the taste of the eggplant. I was discussing this with my cousin (who runs FarmersWifeRambels.com) and she let me in on her amazing eggplant recipe. I must admit that I could not wait to give this a try as it did not only sound simple and easy but very kid friendly! Ingredients: Eggplant crushed croutons - any flavor1/4 c Parmesan cheeseMarinara Sauce for dipping 1.Use vegetable peeler to peel purple skin off eggplant. Slice Eggplant into thin strips much like french fries. 2. Add crushed croutons and Parmesan cheese to a Ziploc bag. 3. Add sliced Eggplant to Ziploc bag and shake until eggplant is coated with crumb mixture. 4. Dump contents of Ziploc onto baking sheet (I used a cookie sheet). 5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until … [Read more...]
Kiwi Avocado Smoothie!
Kiwi Avocado Smoothie! The days are warming up and that means summer time foods! I am so excited to have fresh product to make smoothie's with! There is nothing better to help you start your day then a fresh fruit smoothie. One like the Kiwi Avocado smoothie pictured above! This week I was lucky enough to have avocado's and kiwi's in the house. As I was trying to figure out something amazing to do with them I thought of this Kiwi Avocado Smoothie.....well kiwi's and avocado's are green....and St. Patrick's Day is this weekend so why not? I had never thought about adding avocado's to my smoothie's before but I must admit this was AMAZING! Ingredients: 1 ripe avacado 2 kiwi's peeled juice from 1-2 lime(s) - depending on how much you love lime ;) 1/8 C coconut water/milk 2 TBS honey 2-3 ice cubes 1. Place all ingredients into Magic Bullet and blend until well blended. I know that I will be making this amazing smoothie long after St. Patrick's Day. It … [Read more...]
Easy to Make Homemade Coconut Chips!
Easy to Make Homemade Coconut Chips! I am a sucker for chips. I don't care if they are potato, tortilla, beets, kale, salad savoy, or anything else! Chips are just amazing. Ok so the truth is, I think I am more addicted to the salt then anything which I know is not the healthiest but that's ok. At least if I am getting my 'chip' fix in a healthy way I guess that should count for something. Recently I came across a recipe for Coconut Chips. I have never, ever seen coconut chips before but since I have been on the coconut fix I knew I had to give them a try! Remember that if you need help getting into your coconut you can read my tutorial here! Ingredients: Coconut thinly SlicedSalt Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place thinly sliced coconut on baking sheet (I used cookie Sheet), Lightly salt. Bake until golden brown on ends about 10 minutes! The coconut chips were very simple to make and they were a huge hit at my house. I love having this low calorie snack … [Read more...]
Delicious Homemade Coconut Bread!
Delicious Homemade Coconut Bread! Oh my I can't get enough of all the coconut lately. It is giving me a chance to cook all kinds of new foods. One of them being coconut bread which is something I have never heard if before let alone made. That is until now! When I was a child I hated coconut. It was one of my Mom's favorite things to cook with. She would purchase anything with coconut in it because she loves it so much. Now that I am getting older I realize that I am starting to like coconut more and more. Recently I have been able to experiment with lots of great coconut recipes. This amazing bread is one of my favorites that I have made. The whole family loved it and I even made some for my Mom. She was thrilled, after all these years of loving coconut she has never made it in bread before and could not wait to give it a try! Ingredients 2 eggs 1 1/4 cups vanilla almond milk (can use regular milk as well but the vanilla almond milk makes it tasty!) 1 teaspoon vanilla … [Read more...]
Healthy St. Patrick’s Day Mac & Cheese! So Easy!
Healthy St. Patrick's Day Mac & Cheese! St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. I know that sounds crazy and I am not Irish so I don't even have that as an excuse. I just love that it is a fun holiday that is not yet taken over by store sales and media. I love the thought that if you don't wear green you will get pinched and I loved all the amazing St. Patrick's Day traditions I had as a child. My Mom used to have a St. Patrick's Day 'pin collection' and every St. Patrick's Day my brothers and I would get to choose what 'pins' and such we would wear to school that day. It was fun choosing my green socks and doing my hair in funky green colors. It was just an all around great time. Now that I am older I still love St. Patrick's Day. Each year I try to make the month of March leading up to the 17th special for the kids. Recently that entailed making healthy green Mac & Cheese. Ingredients: Box of Mac & CheeseMilkBundle Spinach (about 3 cups) - make sure you wash it … [Read more...]
Open a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way!
Open a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way! One of the biggest reasons why I never purchased coconuts in the past was because of how hard they are to open. I mean I you could really hurt yourself trying to get that tasty white meat out of one of those thing. Well that was until I learned how to open a coconut the safe and easy way. Who would have thought that baking a coconut would pop it's shell off like that? Certainly not me, but that is exactly what happened! Now I have no excuse for not purchasing coconut's and I am so excited for the amazing recipes I will soon be posting! Yum! The first thing you will want to do when opening a coconut is find the soft eye at the top. Every coconut has three 'eyes'. Two of them are hard and one is soft. By taking a "clean" screwdriver and poking at the holes you will be able to find the soft one. The screwdriver will be able to go into the eye without much force. When you find the soft eye move the screw driver around to make that … [Read more...]
Garlic Lemon Spinach Hummus Recipe!
Garlic Lemon Spinach Hummus Recipe! I can't get enough of these Bountiful Baskets. I love all the great produce I get each week at such a low price. Recently I had two bundles of spinach to use up. My family told me they wanted me to get creative with it so that is exactly what I did. I decided that spinach hummus was the perfect idea. Not to mention that it would also help me use up all the other veggies I had on hand like tomatoes and cucumbers. My family don't usually like hummus so I knew I was going out on a ledge with this idea. But I decided to take that chance anyway knowing that I at least would enjoy it. The hummus turned out to be exceptional and the whole family went back for helping after helping. It was a great dinner idea and it turned out to be super easy to make thanks to my Magic Bullet! Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 4 cloves garlic, peeled 3 tbsp. dried cilantro 1 bundle spinach (about 3-4 cups) lemon juiced 1/4 cup olive … [Read more...]
Easy DIY Thank You Gift Idea
Easy DIY Thank You Gift Idea Look! I found another copy cat craft idea on Pinterest! Recently I was on the lookout for another gift idea for the Primary Teachers. This gift idea is for anyone who might be released from their calling as a Primary Teacher. But, you could also use this gift idea for just about any occasion where you have someone leaving and you want to thank them for what they did. On my lookout for a great, cheap gift idea I came across these super cute jars filled with gum balls. I knew that this was the perfect idea and it really helped that I had everything except the gum balls already on hand. All I had to do was hit my pantry for the empty canning jar and my craft room for the ribbon! It was really that simple and easy. The most time consuming thing on this whole project was making the tag. I am not the most computer savvy person when it comes to Microsoft Word but I did it and I think it turned out great! Items Needed: Canning JarGum BallsPrinter Paper/ … [Read more...]