I think it’s funny how my favorite foods expand as I grow older. I used to not really like broccoli or asparagus growing up, but now they are my favorite veggies with and in just about anything (within reason, of course, like pastas and stir fries or as a side dish to dinner. But, waffles and broccoli? No thanks). Same goes with cheese. I’m still not a huge cheese fan,  I can’t handle a lot at a time like lasagna or certain kinds like ricotta…but I eat a lot more of it in general and try different kinds than I would as child, or more than my own Dad will even now.

My newest discovery? I love spinach. Like, love it. I’ve eaten it just about every day this summer since friends introduced me to ways to eat it that is appealing (the cooked spinach I’ve seen like Popeye? Isn’t so appealing). My obsession started back in May with a spinach basil quesadilla a friend made me along with a homemade strawberry vinaigrette salad with soy nuts.  And, soy nuts? I hadn’t heard of them and normally only like peanuts, but soy nuts are fabulous on a salad!

And then, another friend made a spinach strawberry walnut salad last month with a raspberry vinaigrette. Yes, there is a difference than the one I had in May because it had real strawberries on it, not just nuts, and it was made with spinach leaves rather than lettuce. It took my love to a whole new level.  That is another new thing, fruit on salads never appealed to me until I actually tried it. And surprise! Spinach leaves tastes just like any other darker lettuce and I figure it’s a good way to get the iron I need for my growing boy. And since then, me and my spinach have been best friends for practically every lunch.

Since having my first spinach quesadilla, I’ve been perfecting it to my taste the past few months. My favorite way to make it goes something like this:

-A whole wheat tortilla in a greased pan (I use olive oil spray) on medium heat

-While tortilla is warming, add a light layer of shredded mozzarella cheese

-Break pieces of grilled chicken (I used the pre-cooked strips like Purdue Shortcuts) and fresh basil leaves (we have a plant outside, I wash and use about 3-4 leaves total) and place around tortilla

-Sprinkle of Herbs de Providence, onion powder, and garlic powder (this is what took the flavor the extra step of goodness!)

-Layer of raw spinach leafs (I used the pre-washed bagged stuff)

-A little more basil leaf pieces, another layer of cheese, and a top tortilla.

-Allow to cook until bottom tortilla is a golden brown, then flip and brown the top layer

-When everything is browned and melted perfectly, I use a pizza cutter and start munching!

The Strawberry Salad is super easy:

-Place washed raw spinach leafs in a bowl

-Throw some soy nuts on top (I found mine at Bloom, but I’m sure they would be at a health food store and I’ve heard even Walmart has them)

-Add fresh chopped strawberries (I was out when I took the picture above, sadly. The sweet berries with the sorta-salty soy nut is an amazing combo)

-Add your favorite raspberry or strawberry vinaigrette (I’ve been trying out different store bought ones, right now I’m using Newman’s Raspberry Walnut).

Sometimes I take fresh strawberries and puree them with the raspberry vinaigrette for an even better tastes-like-homemade dressing. I still use this little baby food guy for my puree needs even though we’ve been done with baby food for years. Love it. I’ve also heard people use walnuts, pecans, feta cheese, cranberries, etc. if that’s your thing. That’s what’s great about quesadillas and salads is that it’s so customizable!

And at least I’m craving something healthy everyday, right?

Photo by chris prefontaine/istockphoto

As I’ve mentioned before, I love tea. I grew up drinking hot tea thanks to my Mom, usually some nice sleepy time tea and honey.  However, my love of tea was taken to new heights when I discovered the Chai Tea lattes at coffee shops a few years ago. It’s officially my favorite tea ever.  But, spending $3.00 on a cup of tea is ridiculous to do often so I usually just drink chai tea at home.  But, ya know, it’s just not as good. Something was missing.

Until, I realized. DUH! It’s milk.  I experimented today with only a little bit of boiling water and the rest of my mug with warm milk to defuse my tea (I used double spice chai for more flavor). When it was heated, I added vanilla creamer and lots of Xylitol to sweeten in. It was heavenly and I, of course, was thrilled with myself.  It tasted just like what I could buy at the local shop, but better, because it saves me money and I don’t have to go out to get it anymore.

Sure, it may have been an obvious thing. Lattes…milk…duh…but I was excited and had to share in case I have chai tea latte lovers as readers, too.

I’ve had several people asking about the agave peanut butter cookies I made for my birthday so I thought I’d share with everyone! I made the dough Thursday night and baked them on Friday.   I’ve made peanut butter cookies before (not using agave) without refrigerating the dough first and let me just say, it was much easier this time with the dough chilled. These turned out really well, they tasted exactly like other recipes I’ve made using regular processed sugar, and perhaps even more moist and tasty!  The only thing I might add next time is more peanut butter. I like my cookies to burst with flavor and even with the chopped nuts in it, it needed  more peanut kick (the same thing happened when I made regular peanut butter cookies last time) so I indulged in adding a tiny bit of a home made peanut butter frosting on top (using powdered sugar since I couldn’t find an agave frosting recipe online. If anyone know of an agave frosting please share). I also halved this recipe because I do not need to eat 5 dozen cookies by my self. So in short: these are tasty and could fool anyone who didn’t know it wasn’t a typical recipe!

Agave Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2C butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup honey OR agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups WW flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped peanuts

In a large bowl combine butter, peanut butter, honey (or agave), vanilla and egg. Beat thoroughly.

Stir together flour and baking soda. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend. Add peanuts and mix. Chill dough several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325F. Oil a baking sheet.

Drop dough by level tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let stand for a few minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool.

Makes 5 dozen. NOTE: If using HONEY this would go under the 3 grams sugar rule. Broken down this would give you approx. 48tsp of honey, you are making 5 dozen, (60 cookies), broken down, this will give you 3.02 grams of sugar per cookie.

Source: 3fatchicks.com forum. They have a ton of great healthy recipes, but this is the only one I’ve tried so far.

P.S. Curious what agave is?  It’s a natural alternative to sugar from an agave plant. It’s very similar to the texture and sweetness of honey, but without the honey taste.  It’s a low glycemic sugar substitute so diabetics can use it, and I chose to use it to limit my intact of processed sugar and even though I am not diabetic I try to follow a low GI diet for my acne’s sack. I hate artificial sweeteners for their bitter after taste and for just how bad they are for your health, and this is neither of those!  It can easily be found in local health food stores like Trader Joes, Earthfare, etc. for about $5.

You know what’s funny about me?  I prefer to cook lunch over any other meal.  I’m not too good at breakfast foods unless it’s something like cereal.  Me and pancakes are still working on our relationship as my husband makes better pancakes than I do. Plus, I’m not big into breakfast foods anyway, so by lunch I’m starving and want a hearty meal.  So, when I’m home and able to whip me up something to eat, I do (assuming there aren’t any left overs, I love me some leftovers as well).

I absolutely love cooking with frozen foods.  I stock up on frozen broccoli, asparagus, onions, peppers, and frozen chicken strips.  With those basics I can make different types of meals with them.  Also? I’m the only one that eats my concoctions so I can cook whatever I want! Savannah is always down for a nap and Mark either isn’t here or won’t eat the veggies I love.  Maybe it’s that freedom that makes me love my lunches so much, it satisfies my veggie cravings and different flavors.

My favorite thing to cook right now?  A Tai-Peanut Stirfry that I serve over noodles.  Oh my goodness…YUM!  I found this quick and easy recipe at Cooks.com (my favorite place to find new recipes) a few weeks ago and have made it several times.  I’ve altered the recipe to show how I do it:

Start water to boil for pasta.  In a wok or large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and chopped onions; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add chicken, broccoli, and other veggies; sprinkle some soy sauce over it and stir-fry until heated, about 5 minutes. While pasta and stir fry is cooking (it’s ok to let it hang out even when it’s done heating), in a small bowl blend peanut butter, water, soy sauce and sugar. Stir in peanut butter mixture with the chicken and veggies. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

I also tend to throw in other things if I feel it needs it, like some salt and pepper, onion powder, etc.  You make it to  your taste! Best of all? It’s so easy and done within about 10 minutes. Which means less time cooking, more time blogging during nap time for me :-)

I went to my first mommy group meeting last friday. It was a Mom’s Night Out, so I felt like it was less pressure than bringing all our kids and trying to keep them reined and I could actually focus on getting to know other mommies rather than worrying about what Savannah was doing.  It went well and it was fun!  But of course, when a Mom goes out to meet other moms, bringing food is a must and so I whiped up this recipe before I left. Like, literally, I was finishing this the moment before I walked out the door because my fudge recipe didn’t work out. Such is life, and thank goodness for the internet for food emergancies! 

There was so much food at the meeting that this dip didn’t get eaten much, but I did get several good comments. And really? I’m glad there was still a lot leftover because it has turned into one of favorite my snacks/deserts.  I’ve been munching on it all week and it gets better each day as it sits and chills, the flavor is amazing.  Tastes just like pumpkin pie, but less fat, quick, and no baking!

So , behold. This amazing recipe.  It is love, for sure.

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

Incredients:

-16oz. Cool Whip Light

-15 oz. Can of Pumpkin

-1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

-5oz. Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

Mix all incredients until well blended, chill in the fridge before serving, serve with cinnimon grahm crackers, and enjoy!

Warning: This makes a lot of dip, I cut this in half and had plenty.  I also added more pumpkin spice, cinnimon, and a tad bit of nutmeg because I thought it was bland at first. I suggest starting with what is listed and then keep adding to your taste. 

Thank goodness it’s fall, I love me some pumpkin recipes!  Do you have any good ones?

You know what I’m absolutely in love with right now?

Iced coffee.

But I don’t even have to head to Starbucks for it, which is good, because it saves money and my taste buds. See, I’m a girl that likes really sweetened coffee (I’m talking like, 1/3 cup of sugar per one coffee cup) and their strong, bitter coffee doesn’t cut it for me in this area. So what do I do? I make it myself.

I take coffee that is still hot enough to melt all that sugar and creamer (I use powdered flavored creamer like Coffee Mate’s Vanilla) and simply pour it over ice. And, I make enough to have left overs so I can put the rest in a sealed drink container so the next few days I can just whip that out and pour it over ice.

It’s simply divine and so refreshing first thing in the morning (and easy!). It’s just too hot for a steamy cup of coffee for me right now and this has been perfect first thing in the morning or through out the day when I need a caffeine boost.

Try it!

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Photo Credit:

coffee on Ice

Originally uploaded by Yato

Hard to believe it’s already been a week since Savannah turned one and we had the big ol’ party. Today some one found my site through searching for a “cream cheese fruit dip,” but they didn’t find it here. It was only mentioned briefly in the party recap post. I’ve been wanting to share some of the recipes that were a huge hit from the party anyway, so that was my little booster.

So here we go, 3 super easy and delish recipes that even kids like:

Mini-Pizzas

-1 Can Pillsbury Pizza Crust

-1 Jar Pizza Sauce (our favorite is Ragu)

-Mozzarella cheese

-Your favorite toppings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough to desired thickness, cut into small circles using a circular cutter (we used the rim of a cup that worked just as well!). Place onto greased cookie sheet and bake about 8 minutes (doing this gets the dough more crisp and keeps it from getting soggy). Put desired amount of pizza sauce and toppings on crusts, put back in oven until cheese is melted.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Just so you know, I do not like cream cheese. So if even I like this dip, it’s sure to be a hit for your family, too!

-8oz Philadelphia Whipped Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Cream Cheese

-1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

-1 tsp. Vanilla

Place cream cheese in a bowl, add brown sugar (may need more or less depending on desired sweet taste), add vanilla and stir. Done! Great with apples and strawberries (haven’t tried it with anything else)

Andes Mint Melts

I’m addicted to these. Seriously. I’m still chowing down on the left overs. They taste great frozen!

-1 Bag of Andes Mint Baking chips (Pepperment or traditional Creme de Menthe)

- 1 box Nestle Premeir White Chocolate Baking Bar

-Parchment paper

Melt desired amount of chips and white chocolate together in microwave. Keep stirring and warming until well mixed together and liquidy. Place parchment paper on large baking sheet, spread mixture out to desired thickness (I like mine SUPER thin so it melts in my mouth right away without biting). Place in refrigerator to cool and harden quickly. Once hard, break into bite size pieces. If it came out thicker than you like, just put back in the microwave and spread it again!

Mark and I recently started attending a small group within our church. Finally, after months and months of busy schedules and just plain being scared, we’ve made it. And we’ve enjoyed it so far!

For this past Sunday I offered to bring the desert for our dinner/meeting. I was going to go the easy-peasy-boring route and whip up a box of brownies or something. But, I figured I’d out do my self (if I do say so myself…) and actually make something that involves more than 1 box mix, egg, oil and water. Ya know? Let’s impress! Let’s go beyond the bounds of typical.

So, I pulled out the Paula Deen recipe I’ve been dying to try: Eclair Cake. Why it’s call a cake is beyond me because there is no cake to be baked or found near this thing, but it’s amazing none the less. And easy. And, did I mention it’s amazing?

I just had to share with you guys, because you need to try it.