Photo Dumping Ground

I've decided that every Sunday I'm going to "dump" the iphone/Instagram pictures I took during the week here to share. I'm rejoicing in the beautiful weather today!

 

Spring Bloom!

My Loves!

Clean Banana, Cocoa, Peanut Butter Oatmeal drizzled with honey-ate this 3 times this week. Yum!

Baha-ing!

 

 

A good hair day before work

 

Sam's first prom...!

Gorgeous!

 

One more week until Memorial Day weekend.

Share your photo dump link in the comments if you have one!



{A Quick Rainy-Day Toddler Activity}

 

We just can't shake the sick bugs around here lately. We've all been sick and just when I think we're done, someone will get ill again. Rich and I have been taking turns staying home with Henry, who of course gets hit the hardest with the daycare germs.

 

 

Here's a fun activity we did the other day when Henry was holed up but feeling pretty good after a morning of napping. I hung a piece of line from one kitchen cabinet to another and gave him a basket of his socks and a bag of clothespins.

 

He spent over an hour playing with this! What a great activity for fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. He lined up all the socks and then counted them and even sang the ABCs with them. You could also have your child do a pattern or match all of the socks after doing the laundry. Very cheap and seriously the kids love doing this easy idea.

 

Do you like Henry's pajamas? He chose them himself. :)

 

 

Anyone else out there who can't seem to shake the sickness this season?

 



{7 Recipes That Use Pure Maple Syrup}

 

Here in Northern Wisconsin, several folks I know have their own maple syrup operation. It is a really cool process. Buckets, like the one in the photo above, are hung on a tap that is pounded into the tree (it does not harm the tree). In spring, when the nights are chilly and the days are warm, the maple trees start to drip their sweet sap into the buckets. The buckets are harvested and put into a large tank that transfers the sap to a big oven, fired by wood. They boil down the sap until it's concentrated and dark and what we know as maple syrup. The aroma of the sap boiling is heavenly!

 

Most of the stuff we see in the stores is made with corn syrup. It's fake.

 

 

My friend's syrup shack-the big oven is inside.

 

Pure maple syrup is one of my first choices to use in place of processed sugar in sweet recipes. I love the delicious, golden taste and it's natural qualities. I like that it's nature made and nothing is added to it. I feel better feeding it to my family. It's worth the extra cost (it's at least twice the cost of the fake stuff).

 

Here are some of my favorite recipes that use maple syrup as the main sweetener:

 

Fruit and Yogurt Muffins

 

 

 

Grilled Chicken Marinade

 

 

 

 

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

 

 

 

 

Banana Oatmeal Chewies

 

 

 

 

Chocolate and Oat Cookie Chews

 

 

 

 

Oat and Almond Pumpkin Cookies

 

 

 

 

Nutrition Packed Baked Oatmeal Cups

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs In A Basket

 

 

 

 At the maple syrup shack we visited, they poured it over vanilla ice cream. It was quite a hit!

 

 

 

 



{Healthier Peanut Sauce}

 

 

I'm a paraeducator and I work one on one with students in the classroom. This year I'm working in the Kindergarten classroom. The teacher I work with, Carrie, is sort of my food soul mate. We don't get a lot of time to chit-chat, but when we do it's almost always about food! We both love food, and nutritious and healthy, clean food. I think she and I could talk for hours about recipes and ingredients. She's probably the first person I've ever met who has as much passion, if not more, about eating healthy but finding a delicious way to do it.

 

She gave me her recipe for a healthier peanut sauce. I was so excited because I LOVE peanut sauce but stay away from it due to it's high sodium/calorie/fat content. This version uses lighter ingredients but is still packed with flavor and even a little heat.

 

Carrie recommends serving it over whole wheat pasta. I've been making refried bean/spinach tortilla (100 cals from Trader Joe's)/chicken wraps with a touch of brown rice and dipping them in the sauce. So delicious!

 

 

{Healthier Peanut Sauce}

Yield: 4 servings

1 T. sesame oil

3 T. all-natural peanut butter

1 T. fresh grated ginger or 1 t. ginger powder

1 t. red pepper flakes or 3/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

3 T. boiling water (add more or less for thickness preference)

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 T. lite soy sauce

1 T. red wine vinegar

 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small mixer, or whisk together in a bowl.

 

Serve over whole wheat pasta, brown rice, or use as a dipping sauce. Optional Add-ins: chicken/tofu, sugar snap peas/pods, broccoli, bell peppers, onions/scallions, finely sliced carrots/celery.

 

Thanks Carrie!

 

 

 

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{Oatmeal & Apple Butter Bars}

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a kid, I remember my mom making me toast with warm apple butter on it. It was always one of my very favorites. As an adult, I don't really see it used too often, but I really think it should be. The kind I found has only apples and cinnamon for ingredients, with no added sweeteners of any kind. Get this, it only has 10 calories per tablespoon and 1 gram of sugar. I don't know how it tastes so good and is so good for your waistline, but it is!

 

 

These bars are filled with good things. They are perfect for a mid-morning snack filled with fiber and nutrition. They stay together nicely as well. I love the richness of the dates, combined with the spiciness of the apple butter,  and texture that the oats give them. They have just enough sweetness to satisfy without compromising your healthy diet.

 

 

{Oatmeal and Apple Butter Bars}

Yield: 18 mid-sized bars

3 c. quick cooking or old fashioned oats

2 t. ground cinnamon

2 T. flax meal

1/4 c. raw cashews, ground

1-1/2 c. dates, ground in the processor *see below

1 c. unsweetened apple butter

2 T. pure honey

 

Method:

1. Stir together the oats, cinnamon, flax and cashews in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

 

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, including the dates. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. The mixture will be very thick. It should stick together in one big ball with no crumbs. Using your hands works best.

 

3. Line an 8x13 baking pan with parchment and spray lightly. Press the mixture into the pan, leveling until smooth with the back of a spoon.

 

4. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove and cut into bars, but leave in the pan until cooled completely.

 

 

 



{Nutrition Packed Baked Oatmeal Cups}

 

Can we talk about hormones for a minute? I realize that nobody really wants to read about hormones on a recipe post, but they are a big part of most women's lives. My daily diet (and please be clear that by "diet" I mean what I consume, not a weight-loss plan!) is pretty clean and healthy and I thrive on that. I feel energized and ready to go most of the day. I can fight cravings and most disappear after awhile because I'm full of good, healthy foods that meet all of my nutrional needs.

 

Then, one week of the month, those horrible hormones rear their ugly heads and sabotage me! I turn into this crazy monster who hunts down her pantry and fridge for anything that contains chocolate and whites. When I find some, I don't even think, just shovel it in and look for more. Hormones really do some funny things to our bodies.  They can make us feel bloated and chunky and miserable. I decided, after a hormone induced bin of eating 1-1/2 Trader Joe's dark chocolate bars without flinching, that I was going to find a way to stop hormone binging.

 

I know I'm not alone. I hear women say it all of the time: "It's that time of the month and I CAN'T STOP EATING!"

 

I find that even if I just have a small taste of chocolate in something, it satisfies most of that hormonal craving, so I need to stick with healthy recipes that will fill me up and have a touch of my craving. These oatmeal cups really do it for me because they make me feel so full and satisfied. They are 100% clean, with the exception of the handful of mini chocolate chips, I throw in and packed with good for you ingredients. I love other add-ins that are healthier choices as well, such as:

 

fresh berries

ground nuts of your choice

raisins

craisins

unsweetened dried fruits, chopped

 

Typically oatmeal is a breakfast food, but I eat these as part of a meal or snack any time of the day. I even pick them up and eat them like a cupcake right out of the fridge. Take that, hormones!

 

Another thing I've noticed- If I'm eating a well-rounded, healthy diet, my cramps and bloated feeling is reduced almost 100%. It's awesome!

 

I love to add flax or chia seeds to recipes. Chia seeds are SO good for you. One tablespoon has 6 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein, and 2.9 grams of Omega-3 fatty acids.

 

*****I don't need things to be super sweet, so if you are, definitely up the amount of honey or maple syrup you use.

 

 

 

{Baked Oatmeal and Chia Cups}

Yield: 8 large muffin cups

2 c. old fashioned or quick oats

1-2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

dash of salt

1 t. baking powder

2 T. chia seeds

2 T. ground flax

1-1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

1 large, ripe banana, mashed

2/3 c. all-natural unsweetened applesauce (more if you want more sweetness)

1/4 c. pure maple syrup or pure honey

2 egg whites

1 c. water

1/2 c. add-ins of your choice

 

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, chia seeds, and flax.

 

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the banana, vanilla, applesauce, syrup or honey, egg whites, and water.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spoon just until combined. Mix in the add-ins of your choice.

 

3. Fill sprayed muffin tins almost to the top (these won't really rise). Sprinkle the tops with a little more cinnamon. Heat in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, depending on how you like yours. Less time for more moist, soft oatmeal and longer for firm, darker cups. Eat warm.

 

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 



{Break!}

 

We've been on spring break this week, though it hasn't really gone off as planned. We had a nice trip to Minneapolis to visit family, but Henry started to get ill Sunday night. He just started at a new daycare, so I wasn't surprised, only I didn't expect it to hang on the entire. spring. break.

 

He's had fevers every single night since and is tired and sickly during the day with coughing and congestion. Two doctors visits, one doctor says pneumonia and ear infection, the other doctor says bronchiolitis and RSV or influenza (the joys of small town medical care). Either way he's sick and down in the dumps and I just feel bad for the poor guy!

 

Poor Lucy had to get a shave...world's ugliest dog? I'm not sure which one has the worst hair-do here!

 

We did manage to get in an Easter egg decorating party! We used Sharpies, stickers and stamps in place of dye. **Tip: The silver Sharpies worked great on the eggs.

 

 

 

We finally have sun and I feel so energized! I've been getting in some great workouts and working on some healthy and delicious recipes. I also managed to reorganize my horrifying looking pantry. Organizing always makes me happy once it's done!

 

The pantry before. I always mean to keep it organized, but work gets in the way of things like that!

 

 

I bought wide lid quart canning jars for all of my dried nuts, fruits, legumes, etc. I eat these all on a regular basis and replenish often, so I cut the label off of each package with nutrition info and taped them on the backs of the jars. I'll just keep refilling the jars as needed and throw away the packaging to make it tidier and easier to find. I wrote the name of each on a label and put it on the lid with the expiration. I can just put a new label over the old if needed.

 

 

 

I cut out the cooking instructions and put them on the Kitchen Recipe Board for later use.

 

 

Command strips work great to hang and hide lunchboxes in the sides of the pantry.

 

 

Pantry after: much more functional and appealing.

 

 

 Happy Spring Everyone! Enjoy the sunshine!