What's Cookin?

It's no secret that I'm a yo-yo dieter. My weight has fluctuated SO much in the last 5 years or so.........from marriage to pregnancy to post-partum and on to another pregnancy. I'm not disappointed with where I am today, even if I'm not at an ideal weight. To get myself back to a comfortable weight, I've always turned to cutting calories, cutting carbs, and/or exercise. Lately, though, I've had some different convictions. I haven't felt an urgency to drop a ton of weight or run a triathlon.......what I'm wanting is to just be healthier. I've done only a very small amount of research on the foods my family typically eats, and what I've found is scary to say the least.

I know that I have lots more research to do, but as it stands, I've got plenty of lifestyle changes to make now before I worry about more. I've been making some changes over the last couple months to transform my eating habits, re-direct my tastes and cravings, and hopefully soon have an impact on the things that Elliott and Scott (and eventually Liam) eat, as well.

As of today, my typical diet looks like this: fresh vegetables, meat (not necessarily lean or organic, but no overly processed lunch meats or canned meats), eggs, full-fat dairy products (greek yogurt, sour cream, cheeses, etc. No low-fat or fat-free items or flavored yogurts), fruit, berries, nuts and oils. I've personally cut out grains, wheat, pasta, bread, rice, processed sugars, and most importantly, artificial sweeteners. It hasn't always been easy, and I feel like I've still got a long ways to go until my diet is "ideal". Perhaps I'll never get there, but I like the path I'm on. Scott and Ellie are a little slower to be convinced, so most meals start off as one, and we alter their meals by adding a starch or carbohydrate.

I'm hesitant to do any more reading or research at this point, because I'm afraid of what I will discover. I've been horrified by some of the things I've learned.........I have no trust in the FDA, Monsanto scares the bejeezus out of me, and I have no words for how angry color dyes, high fructose corn syrup, and GMOs make me. I wonder if I continue this search, how will I possibly feed my family? I certainly don't want to poison us any longer, but it's a scary, expensive, slippery slope.

I will continue with the progress we've made, though. I've already learned that I cannot give myself "cheat days", and really even just a "cheat meal" can ruin my entire outlook and set me back more steps than you can imagine.

My goal is to eat real food, and soon I hope that my whole family will be eating real food. On this blog, I will occasionally share what I've been cooking (and eating, duh) to serve as an inspiration for myself. I'm not the best cook to begin with, so expanding beyond boxes of pasta and microwave meals has been a challenge. But this challenge has also been so rewarding! It's fun so far, and the food just tastes good!

Some of my favorite meals so far:

 Not a meal, but my go-to snack! It sounds plain and boring, but fresh veggies with some home-made ranch is a daily occurrence for me.

Turkey patty, broiled and topped with bacon and cheese! So yum! I like to eat mine with a large serving of baby spinach and tomatoes.

Egg whites with whatever else I can find in the fridge! This has become one of my favorite breakfasts, and I've tried a few different variations. I think one whole egg plus two egg whites is the perfect size, and I sometimes sautee some of the veggies before adding the egg to cook it all together. This is good with baby spinach too (I swear, I eat that stuff with everything now), and I've even topped it with pico de gallo and/or avocado. This is one area that I consider "adventurous" for me and I've been pleasantly surprised!

Zuppa Toscana a la Olive Garden. This has been one of Scott's favorite meals for a while now, and I realized that if I stop serving it with a huge hunk of white bread on the side, it's really not so bad for us! The soup consists of potatoes, sausage (the spicier, the better!), kale, heavy cream, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes. So easy and so delicious!

See, I told you my "cooking" skills aren't much to brag about. But I'm proud of myself for branching out, trying new things, and just making it all work. I've had some really terrible days, and I've had other days that I stick to my guns even if I want so badly to give in..........I want this to be a real, lasting, lifestyle change, and I know that this won't happen overnight. Stick around and see what else we feed ourselves! What are some of your favorite healthy meals?

A Whole Lotta Bakin' Going On

Okay, is that post title cheesy enough for ya?!

Hehe! Well, it's my first post after spending an entire weekend working on this blog "behind the scenes". Thanks for sticking around! I'm happy with a much simpler, fresh layout, and while I'm no pro at html and all that jazz, I think I did ok!

So, this was a post I had wanted to write last week, but, well.....time just got away from me!

I did post last week about apple picking, which was so much fun and ended with 30 pounds of yummy apples just begging to be cut up, cored, peeled and used.
Somehow, some way.
So, a lot of baking ensued in an attempt to use up the apples before they went bad
(and some other non-apple baking happened because I had a couple potlucks at work).

First up, apple sauce!
I heard from a friend that you can make apple sauce in a crockpot, and since I'm recently obsessed with my crockpot, this was the first thing I wanted to try.
You guys?! This applesauce was SO good!!
I don't eat store bought applesauce. It's just not something I've ever enjoyed.
But this applesauce is definitely something I crave now!

I really just looked at a few different recipes and decided to just wing it.
Here's what I did:

10-15 apples (our apples were pretty small. just use enough to pretty much fill up yer crockpot.)

(peel and core the apples, then toss in the crockpot in large chunks, adding lemon juice sparingly as you go)

1 cup sugar

1tablespoon cinnamon

splash of vanilla

1/2 cup water

I mixed all of my dry ingredients and poured them over the apples, then I added my wet ingredients.
I gave it all a good stir to coat all of the apple pieces, and let it cook on low for about 8 hours.

I went to stir the apples at the very end, and Scott started to ask if we needed the blender to blend our applesauce. In case you've never made applesauce, the answer to that question is a big fat NO! Seriously, the apples just fell apart and mushed all together to just the right consistency!
Our applesauce was sweet and cinnamon-ey, but if you like yours different then just adjust those ingredients to your liking ;)

Ellie refused to eat it at first, but once she finally gave it a try, it was love at first bite! Mmm Mmmm! I think this will be one of our new favorite treats (and traditions!)

Next up was apple pie. I know a few people who absolutely love apple pie, so I figured it was a good thing to make (and then give away so we didn't have to eat it all!). Again, I eyeballed a couple different recipes and then just went for it! (I don't know what's gotten into me lately.....I've never ever been this comfortable in the kitchen!) I cheated and bought the pie crusts, but I didn't regret it one bit!

Here's what I did:

2 store bought pie crusts, lay on on bottom of pie plate

5-8 apples (I really have no idea, just fill up a big bowl), peeled, cored, and sliced

Sprinkle some lemon juice over the apples

Sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg (I just threw in as much as I wanted, and mixed it with the apples until they looked good!)

Pour apple mixture into pie plate

Take "pats" of butter and add randomly to the top of your apple pile

Cover with second pie crust, and seal the edges

"Vent" the top pie crust with a knife (I tried to make a cute apple tree like my mom always does)

Sprinkle some milk on the top crust, and then sugar (this gives your crust a nice glaze)

Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Honestly, you'll be able to smell when it's done ;) And the crust should be nice and lightly golden. We let the pie sit for about 20 minutes, and then we dug in and enjoyed it warm! Yum!

And last but certainly not least, I made some Pinterest inspired pumpkin cupcakes to take to work.....and I'm so glad that I took them to work, otherwise I might have eaten them all myself!
I love these because not only are they delicious, but they are just too easy to make!

You'll need:

1 box of cake mix (You can use white, chocolate, or spice....I used spice cake mix this time)

1 can of pumpkin (I think 15 oz is the small can? Yeah, use that)

Mix your two ingredients together, and then bake in cupcake liners,
according to the directions on the box!

That's all!!
Now, I was a little worried that my cupcakes would be more like muffins, so I did add one egg and a splash of oil....but I've heard that it's really not even necessary!
These cupcakes were so moist, and had just the right amount of pumpkin flavor!
I bought some cream cheese frosting to go along with it.
Now you can certainly make your own, but I was all about the easy for this recipe.
I did, however, take that frosting and plop it in a ziploc bag......cut a little bit off of one corner, and then pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes!
That way you get a "homemade" look, with only half of the effort ;)

I'm so glad that I was able to get a little fall baking in last weekend. Because before I know it, I'll be whipping up my favorite Christmas goodies! Ah!

~Amanda

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts for me! (I know most of my writing is about Ellie....pretty sure this one's just gonna be about me, k?)

As you probably heard in my vlog, I'm dabbling with this idea called "clean eating". I've heard the term used loosely before, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what it means for me, my life, and my family.

Tuesday was the first day that I attempted to "eat clean". It was a success....right up until dinner time! Then I ate two corn dogs and two cupcakes for dinner after Elliott went to bed......not clean eating at all!!

So Yesterday was officially my first day of Clean Eating. Here's what I ate (and if you're a clean eating expert, feel free to chime in if you have advice or if I ate something I shouldn't have, etc):

Breakfast: Strawberries

Snack: Grapes

Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken and spicy ranch dressing (most salad dressings are on the do-not-eat list, but there's no way that's going to work for me! I have to have dressing, and so I use it sparingly.)

Snack: Banana and sunflower seeds

Dinner: Salad and Beef Stew (see below about the stew)

Snack: Apple with Natural Peanut Butter (see below about the peanut butter)

I did happen to eat a few jelly beans at work in the morning.....obviously jeally beans are not "clean", but for my first real day of this, I think I did pretty good!! I think that I need to eat more veggies and less fruit, but again, not bad for my first day!

Another first: using my crock pot!!

I've used my crock pot one other time, but that was just to warm queso dip for Elliott's birthday party (and to me that doesn't really count). So yesterday is going down as my first official use of the crock pot, and it was a success!! Granted, the stew took about 3 hours longer than I thought it would, but that's what I get for starting crock pot stew at 2 pm!

Mmmm

I made the stew with beef, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, corn, carrots, and some seasonings. I think this is still clean eating (at least from my point of view, it is. It's essentially just meat and vegetables, and that's good enough for me!). Scott loved it, and I enjoyed it as a nice change from the salad I had been eating all day :) As much as I don't like to cook, I actually found myself enjoying the process of cleaning and chopping vegetables, and of course the end result was well worth the twenty minutes of prep time.
This may have been a first, but it definitely won't be the last!

Ellie being cute while I was cooking

And finally, one more first: Natural Peanut Butter.

I looove peanut butter, and believe it or not, yesterday was the very first time I had ever tried the "natural" kind. The ingredient list? Peanuts. and less than 1% salt. Not too bad. I consider that clean eating. However, it's definitely an acquired taste. You won't catch me licking a spoon full of peanut butter anytime soon. The texture and taste are just a lot different than I'm used to with good ol' Jif, you know? It felt very greasy to me, and the only way I managed to get any down was by taking it with a slice of apple. I think in time natural peanut butter will become a healthy part of my diet, but it's definitely going to take some time.

So there you have it, a little update on my "diet" (although I like to think of it as a lifestyle change, not so much a diet) and adventures in cooking!

My goal for today is the same as yesterday: meat, vegetables, and fruit with a few nuts and berries and no more jelly beans!

~Amanda