Our Weekend

We had such a great weekend this past week!!! My mom surprised me and made the long drive to Cape to spend a few days with us.  It has been several months since she's seen us so she was thrilled to spend some time with her grandbaby.  Then, my brother and his family also came Saturday to spend the day with us.  We grilled, walked along the river front, and had lots of fun!!!

 

 

I made my favorite summer dessert recipe also.  This is SO easy and quick to make! 

 

 

 

Key Lime Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

For the crust:

 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter melted

 

For the filling:

6 egg yolks (at room temperature)

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbsp. grated lime zest

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

 

For the decoration:

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

thin lime wedges

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  For the crust, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl.  Press into a pie pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool.  For the filling, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed in an electric mixer for 5 minutes (or until thick).  Reduce to medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice.  Pour into the graham cracker pie crust and freeze.  For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar and vanilla next and beat until firm.  Spoon or pipe onto the pie and decorate with lime wedges.  Freeze at least for 2 hours but best overnight.

 

***I sometimes use shortcuts for this recipe like buying premade graham cracker crust and lime juice.  You could also use cool whip if you didn't want to make your own whipped cream BUT the homemade is SO much better!!!

 



Father's Day & Meal Prep

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day this past weekend.  It was special to celebrate Jamie's first Father's Day.  I planned a dinner out and one of our church friends watched little James.  We went to a Cajun place called Broussard's.  It was so nice to get out and spend some alone time together!!!

 

 

I've been wanting to do a blog post about our weekly food prep and go into further details on how we budget and make things work for us. 

 

First, we set a $50 grocery limit for each of us.  Jamie is doing a keto diet right now so we have totally different nutrition needs.  He spends most of his money on protein.  I spend most of mine on fresh produce. 

 

Next, we make out a weekly menu so we can plan ahead before going shopping.  Jamie is perfectly fine with eating the same three meals every day for an entire week.  I however like to have several different choices each week for at least my lunch and dinner. 

 

This week I decided on oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast, cottage cheese w/ strawberries and carrots for snacks, and chicken pot pies, grilled chicken & couscous with baked veggies, and skinny chili for my lunch/dinner options. 

 

 

Since I'm a nursing momma I am suppose to eat around 2,300 calories a day.  Which means I could eat all that you see above easily and stay within my calorie goal. 

 

 

Chicken Pot Pies

 

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (cooked and cut up)

2 cups of frozen peas and carrots

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of Bisquick

1 egg

1/2 cup of skim milk

 

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.  Combine your chicken, soup, and frozen peas and carrots.  Mix together and divide between 6 oven safe bowls.  In a small bowl whisk together your egg, milk, and bisquick.  Pour mixture on top of each bowl.  Bake for 35 minutes. 

 



 

This recipe is a family favorite.  I make these ALL the time in the winter.  For some reason I had a craving for these this past week.  This is a weight watchers recipe my mom gave me a while back.  I've experimented with this recipe and this is just my favorite combination.  If you wanted to add potatoes or other veggies you could certainly change it up.  These taste just as good the next day as they did when they came out of the oven!!!

 

Skinny Chili

 

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs. ground turkey or beef

2 bell peppers

1 can of corn (drained)

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 can of pinto beans (drained)

1 can of red kidney beans (drained)

1 large onion (diced)

1 cup of chopped celery

2 tbsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tbsp. stevia

1 jar of salsa

 

Combine all ingredients except for ground beef and onion into a crockpot.  Cook ground beef and onions in a skillet until browned.  Combine with the remaining ingredients in crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

 





 

There is a reason I call this "skinny" chili.  The reason is you can eat this till you're going to explode and it has hardly any calories!!!  This makes 10 huge servings at only 212 calories.  But don't worry...once I add my shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream on top the calories start to climb. Ha!!! :)

 

This is a great dish I can make for my vegetarian and vegan friends.  You could substitute the ground beef for morning star beef crumbles or a couple cans of black beans.  This freezes beautifully which makes it ideal for meal swaps, pot lucks, and large get together where you have to feed a lot of people.  My husband says this reminds him of taco soup but a lot thicker and heartier. 

 

That's basically it for this week.  Very simple.  Very frugal.  I will try to do more weekly food prep ideas in the future. 

 

 

 



Quinoa Casserole

Two things that I have really been wanting to try lately have been quinoa and spaghetti squash.  I am definitely still brain storming and searching cookbooks for some ideas BUT this week we have tried both of them out. 

Quinoa is the newest "super food" and has a lot of hype right now.  Which means I've seen it a LOT among blogs and pinterest and had to try it out for myself.  A few studies have found that it's a high protein grain alternative (more than double the protein of most grains), fights diabetes and hypertension (lowers blood glucose levels and lowers blood pressure if eaten daily), a natural appetite suppressant (high protein and low calories), and an anti-aging miracle (destroys free radicals in the bloodstream which slow down aging, decrease the risk of cancer, and delay wrinkles and fine lines).  Why wouldn't you want to try this and incorporate it into your daily diet!?

I was browsing some body builder websites last weekend (they seem to have the best "clean" recipes) and came across several quinoa recipes.  We have been doing food prep on the weekends (6 small meals a day) and I wanted something that would hold up well for 5 days in the fridge. 

Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper (or any color you prefer)

1 egg plant 

2 zucchini's

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

2 cups of chicken broth

1 can of tomato paste

2 cans of tomato sauce

4lbs. lean ground beef

salt, pepper, cumin to taste (I used 1 tsp. of each) 

2 boxes of quinoa pasta

Servings: 12

Calories: 401

Start out by sautéing your onion and garlic until translucent.

Add your ground beef and cook until done (I had to use 2 skillets since it was so much meat).

Drain and set aside.

Boil your pasta.

While your pasta is boiling add the egg plant, zucchini, bell pepper, and chicken broth to a skillet.  Once it starts boiling turn it down to medium-low heat and put a lid on it. 

Simmer until your pasta is done (6-10 minutes). 

Add together your sauce and ground beef.  Mix together.

Drain your quinoa pasta once it's al dente. 

Line up 10 mini loaf pans to start your assembly.

Divide evenly your quinoa pasta among the pans.

Then, add your beef and veggie mixture.

Lastly, add your mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Voila!

Once they are cooled you can put a lid on them and store in the refrigerator up to five days!

I had to sneak this picture in...these two were snoozing while I made these tonight! :)

PRECIOUS!!!



Hubby and I really liked this recipe.  If you're vegan you could substitute in vegetable broth and black beans and omit the cheese.  Or you could also do turkey instead of beef.  The quinoa pasta is very similar to regular pasta but a little more dense.

***I will blog a recipe using spaghetti squash soon and tell you my opinion on it...

Flooded Basement

Sorry I haven't been blogging for several weeks!  It's been crazy here at the Arnold house.  Arkansas got tornado's and we had flash floods.  I think the weather said something like 8 inches of rain over one night.  I went downstairs to the unfinished part of our basement and noticed a small leak from the wall...within 3 hours the WHOLE basement was flooded.  We were hoping the leak wouldn't travel to the finished part of the basement but it did.  Thankfully, we had a couple people helping us move everything upstairs before it got damaged.  The floors and trim were taken up immediately as well.  We will be glad to have everything fixed and back to normal this summer!!!

 

 

I'm going to share a healthy clean eating dinner tonight!  We've been doing six small meals a day and prepping all our food on the weekends.  More on that later!!!  It's really nice to have all your meals ready to go for the week and not having to cook every day (I love cooking but it's not easy with an infant).  Check back later tonight...

Easter Recap

Our little family had a great Easter!  This year we were far from family BUT we got to celebrate it with a new addition.  It's so much fun to celebrate Easter with children...what a blessing! 

 

 

I always have this "goal" of being at my ideal size by Easter so I can buy and wear a cute sundress.  Let's be honest...if you're bigger than a size 10 you just can't find much.  Well another year passed and I was in that boat again.  In conclusion, momma didn't get a new dress.  Whomp whomp...

 

Meanwhile, I enjoyed cooking AND eating these yummy recipes...

(TOTALLY did NOT log my food this weekend OR count calories) 

**This is why I never reach my goal size...lol

 

 

Great American Cookie "DOUBLE DOOZIE"

 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1.5 sticks unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg AND 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

 

Icing:

1lb. confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 tbsp. milk

2 tbsp. hot water

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

**I didn't even use half of this to fill my cookies so I suggest cutting this recipe in half.

 

I have a great love affair for the Great American Cookie double doozies.  Y'all don't even understand how hard it is to walk by one of these and NOT be tempted.  But we moved to a new town that doesn't have one SO when I had a craving for this I had to come up with a copycat recipe.

 

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the hardest things to get just right.  Well baking in general is like that.  Just the smallest detail can make a huge difference.  Also, everyone likes their cookies a certain way.  Normally, I just use the classic chocolate chip recipe on the back of the Nestle chocolate chips package.  However, for double doozies you need large soft and chewy cookies.  So the hunt was on to find the perfect recipe...

 

Here are some tips I learned:

• Make sure your eggs are at room temperature (if you're in a hurry put them in warm/hot water for 5 minutes).
• Use good ingredients!!! You want good quality vanilla extract and chocolate chips (I only use ghiradelli chocolate chips).
• Refrigerate your cookie dough for at LEAST 2 hours before baking.
• Use parchment paper so the cookies do not get crispy on the bottom.
• To get thick cookies make them TALL.  What I mean by that is use your hands to form your dough into 1 inch wide and 2 inches in height.
• Measure correctly.  Don't eyeball anything.  I even go an extra step and use a knife to swipe across my measuring cups.

 

Directions:

Whisk together your melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar till there are no lumps.  Then, whisk in your eggs and vanilla.  Set aside.  In a large bowl mix your dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.  Now fold in your wet ingredients.  Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips.  Bake 10-12 minutes on 325 degrees (they will still look doughy but they will continue to cook on the cookie sheet once you take them out).  For the icing, mix all the ingredients into a mixer.  Mix on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes.  Now you're ready to assemble! Just make sure your cookies are cooled before adding the icing.  Makes 8 large double doozies!!!

 

 

 

St. Louis Thin Crust Pizza



 

Ingredients:

1/2-1 cup Pizza Sauce (I used a jar sauce)

2 cups Pizza blend cheese

1-2 tbsp. Italian seasoning

Your favorite pizza toppings

 

Crust:
2 cups of self rising flour

2 tbsp. olive oil

6 tbsp. water

 

We moved really close to St. Louis and we've really enjoyed all the pizza joints around downtown.  There are seriously like 4 within one block of each other.  Our favorite is Imo's and they serve "St. Louis style" thin crust pizza.  The provolone cheese and seasonings on their pizzas are SO good. 

 

I've never made homemade pizza crust.  Store bought is always EASY and fast.  But I really wanted to get a SUPER thin crust so I decided to make my own this time around.  This crust recipe is super simple and fairly good.  I do think I'll try another recipe though the next time to experiment with a yeast crust instead.

 

Directions:

Combine your flour, olive oil, and water.  Form into a ball.  Let is rest for 10 minutes.  Roll dough out in between 2 pieces of wax paper.  Transfer to a greased pizza pan.  Add your sauce, cheese, and toppings. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.  Bake on 425 degrees for 12 minutes. IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

**I had to use a few tablespoons more of water to get the dough to form but you might not need to.

 

 

**I've been backed up on posting recipes this past week (see why below) but hoping to get things posted daily this week and share some new recipes.

 

James will be 3 months old this coming Friday!  Motherhood has been wonderful (I know...I'm only 3 months into it).  I don't have a lot of negative experiences or complaints.  He is really a good/happy baby.  Sleeps well.  Healthy.  Etc.  But the one thing that has been difficult is breast feeding.  The 2nd week I ended up with mastitis because of engorgement and then the last month I've been dealing with supply issues.  It went from one extreme to the other.  I know the biggest issue for me is drinking enough water.  If anyone has any pointers on increasing milk supply I sure would appreciate it!!! Do those milk cookies really work???

 

Friday Fun Day

I have several recipes to share today!  So let's start with breakfast recipes and work our way to dinner.

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Waffles

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups water/milk
144g of strawberries (topping)

Servings: 4
Calories: 164

This recipe is super simple! All you do is mix your ingredients and pour batter on your griddle.  You can do any fruit.  Typically I would add blueberries to the batter but I was out. 

Ham and Egg Cups

Ingredients:
12 slices of ham/turkey
12 eggs
1/2-1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
salt/pepper to taste

Servings: 12
Calories: 114

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

First, spray a muffin tin with non stick cooking spray

 

Line each cup with a piece of ham

 

Add your egg (you can scramble if you want but I don't)

 

Add salt/pepper

 

Sprinkle cheese on top

 

Bake 20 minutes

 

Let them cool and then place in a gallon size ziplock back.  These keep good for five days in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake

 

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Sugar free Fat free Cheesecake jello mix

1 cup of greek yogurt

1/4 cup of milk

144g strawberries for topping

 

Servings: 2

Calories: 104

 

 

 

This is AMAZING if you love cheesecake and need a fix but are trying to watch your calories.  Let's face it...cream cheese is NOT your thighs best friend.  To make this just mix all your ingredients together, top with sliced strawberries, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

 

Chicken Fajita Kabobs

 

Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1/2 large onion

10-12 ounces chicken breast

Marinade

6 Kabobs

 

Marinade:

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp. Chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

 

Servings: 2

Calories: 259

 

 

 

At our house we love anything and everything Mexican.  Tacos, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Fajitas, and so on.  To make this requires a little bit of prep time.  You will need to soak your skewer sticks (if wooden) for 2 hours and marinate your veggies and chicken at least this long as well.  I take a gallon size ziplock bag and throw in all my veggies, chicken, and marinade.  Refrigerate.  Assemble.  Grill.  We like to add beans, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese, and tortillas with this meal.  SO GOOD!  Just watch out for all these little extra things if you are watching your calories. ;)

 

Me and James Jr. had a great Friday cooking, walking, and getting baths!!!