REAL Mac & Cheese

A few days ago I was lucky enough to receive the Mama Voxbox from Influenster. Here's what the box included:

Of all of these things, though, the one I want to highlight is the Aged White Cheddar Mac & Cheese.

I was a little leery to try it because I'm not a huge fan of 'boxed' mac & cheese. But I received it for free, so it was my duty to try it and review it.

Y'all...it was so good. I don't generally care for the tiny macaroni noodles, but the sauce was delicious. I'm a sucker for white cheddar popcorn, and this? This is my new vice. I shouldn't even call it a vice because although it's delicious, it's much better for you than other 'boxed' varieties. Plus, one single serve package is only 220 calories!

Here's a snippet straight from Annie's website:

The best part? My daughter LOVES it! Mac & cheese is her favorite, & this did not disappoint. Run [don't walk] to your nearest Target  & pick up some! It's a little pricier than other brands, but honestly, you get what you pay for. 

Progress

About 6 weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to try running. It's never been something that I enjoyed doing, but after seeing so many infographics about it, I thought I should give it a shot.

[source]

I started by going to the 3 mile track on post and I was just happy to get around the whole thing without passing out. I mostly walked. I jogged a few times, I didn't run. But most importantly, I didn't give up. I kept up with my time, and tried again. And again. I invested in a jogging stroller so that pushing my daughter would be a little easier. Every time I saw a difference in my time, it motivated me to go again. Each time, I've jogged a little more. More recently, I've been switching between going to the 3 mile track and running on the treadmill at the gym. I feel like the treadmill gives me confidence that I don't yet have at the track. I actually run on the treadmill. I jog, too, but I barely walk. I push myself to the limits, and it's helping increase my endurance and stamina. I can now run several minutes [on the treadmill] without stopping. I've gone from doing a 18 minute mile to a 13 minute mile. That's what hard work and dedication can do, y'all. I'm not done, though. My goal is to be able to run 3 miles without slowing below a jog the entire time. As of now, after mile 2 I start to get sluggish. I know this is going to take a lot of work, but I'm all in. I'm ready for the day that I can do a 5k in 36 minutes.

What are some of your fitness goals?

Meatless Monday Tacos

Back in April when I really decided I needed to change my lifestyle, not just go on a diet, I decided to start eating less meat. For some people, this isn't an issue. But I was raised with the mentality of eating meat at basically every meal. I decided to try a few 'meatless' options, and I was pleasantly surprised. It tricks my brain into thinking that I'm eating meat. I'm getting the nutrients I need. I'm staying full on a lot less calories. Win, win. I swear by Morningstar, but Gardein is delicious, too. I usually keep a bag or two of the meatless crumbles in my freezer because I use them for just about anything! I came up with this recipe on one of my busy days. I forgot to thaw anything out for supper and I was not about to ruin all of my hard work on fast food. Thank God for the meatless crumbles! Aaron was a little skeptical, but I won him over. He even said he wouldn't mind having them again. Score!

1/2 cup meatless crumbles 80 cal

1/4 cup salsa 20 cal
1/2 cup black beans, strained 70 cal

shredded lettuce 10 cal

2 tbsp cheddar cheese 55 cal 

2 tortillas 240 cal

2 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt 28 cal

Pour crumbles in a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add black beans and salsa. Stir to incorporate & cook 5 more minutes. Assemble your tacos using the rest of the ingredients & serve!

Here are mine:

You can barely see all the delicious goodness for the mound of lettuce on top. JUST the way I like them :)

Two hearty tacos for a total of 503 calories. For less calories [383 cal], pile one tortilla high with all of the ingredients and serve open face.

What is your favorite meatless product?

Spicy Sweet Potato Home Fries

I've been a bit obsessed with sweet potatoes lately, but with all of these benefits, can you blame me?

[source]

This is the perfect side to any lunch, especially a lunch that you would usually eat chips or fries.

Spicy Sweet Potato Home Fries

Make this wrap! 1 tortilla [120 cals], 1 wedge laughing cow cheese [35 cals], 4 slices deli style lunch meat 

[56 cal], shredded lettuce [10 cal], sweet potato home fries [54 cal]

total for the whole lunch: 275 calories!

1 small sweet potato, peeled & cubed [54 cals]

1/2 teaspoon Lawry's low sodium seasoned salt

Red pepper flakes, to taste

Spray olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Meanwhile, put potato cubes in a bowl and toss with seasoning. Add seasoned potatoes to the skillet and cook for 10-15 minutes [depending on how 'done' you want them, I like mine to have a slight crunch to them]. And Voila! There you have your spicy sweet potato home fries. Eat these plain [no ketchup!] or, if you must have something to dip them in, try 1 tbsp fage nonfat greek yogurt [14 cals] with a squirt of horse radish sauce. So good! 

Green Eggs &...Jam?

Y'all, sometimes breakfast can be boring for me. I get stuck in a rut and I get tired of eating the same stuff every day! So this weekend I was looking for something a little different [I usually eat things on the sweet side for breakfast] and came up with this simple recipe with ingredients that I had on hand.

1 cup fresh spinach 13 cal
1 whole egg 70 cal
3 tbsp egg beaters [or 1 egg white] 25 cal
1 tbsp fermented fish sauce 20 cal [note:if you don't like or don't want to use the fish sauce, just season with salt as you would normally]
Pepper, to taste

Spray olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. Add spinach and allow to wilt. Meanwhile, beat egg & egg white together with the fish sauce & pepper. Once spinach has wilted, add the egg mixture & stir occasionally to 'scramble'.

Serve with a piece of whole wheat toast [60 cal], 1 tsp low cal butter [17 cal], & 1 tbsp sugar free jam [10 cal]!

A delicious, easy breakfast for just 215 calories!

Salted Caramel Cake Pops

Last year, my dear hubby introduced me to the salted caramel mocha from Starbucks, and I became obsessed! 

More recently, my sister introduced me to the salted caramel cake pops and I couldn't believe how amazing they were. I found myself craving them, but they're kind of expensive, so I wanted to try to learn to make them myself.

Alas, here is my version of the salted caramel cake pops, inspired by starbucks.

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix

2-3 tbsps chocolate frosting

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup caramel melts

kosher salt

optional:

heavy cream

butter

Make the cake mix according to directions. Bake & allow to cool completely before you begin creating the balls. Break cake up into tiny pieces into a large bowl (this should be super easy since the cake is fresh and moist). Add frosting a tablespoon at a time. Less is more. You don't want the balls to be so moist and sticky that they don't stay together. Once you have a nice, firm consistency  let the mixture rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll mixture into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a wax paper covered sheet tray. Once all balls are formed, place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes in order to firm. [Optional: dip sucker sticks in melted chocolate before inserting into the middle of the balls.] 

After balls have hardened, put chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals until completely melted. Dip each ball with the chocolate and tap to get rid of excess chocolate. Allow to dry [10-15 minutes]. Melt white chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals until completely melted. Melt caramels the same way. I found that the caramels didn't get as soft as I wanted, so I added a tbsp of butter and a tbsp of heavy cream and microwaved until it was a smooth consistency. Put a dollop of white chocolate on each pop. Then put a dollop of caramel on top of that. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.

They aren't perfect, but they taste like heaven. I promise, they're so good, you won't regret the time it takes to make! Plus, take these to a party and you'll really impress your friends!

During this process, though, I did find a few things that I want to change next time. Instead of chocolate chips, I want to use candy melts. From what I hear, the consistency is a lot thinner and would be easier to work with. I also want to create my own caramel frosting to use in the mixture rather than chocolate frosting to add more of a caramel flavoring. Lastly, I'm going to use coarse sea salt in place of kosher salt. My hubby said these didn't have enough salt on them to truly be called salted caramel. So there you have it!

Do you have any fun ideas or tips for cake pops?

It's a boy!

Meet Kaiser, the newest addition to our family.

He's an 8 week old Airedale puppy and he's as sweet as sugar!

Not long after we moved into the house, we realized that, even with a yard, Kami still just wasn't herself. I would take her to the dog park from time to time & we would play with her outside every night, but that just wasn't cutting it. Moves can be hard on our pets, too! So after much deliberation, we decided to go ahead and get her a companion.

Yep, that's right. We got a dog for our dog.

And I'm so glad that we did! She has so much more energy now. She's not just laying around all of the time.

Kaiser has brought her back to life.

We love him. He is so smart, and is getting the hang of things around here.

Not to mention Adelei is obsessed...

I think we'll keep him ;)

The Best Buns Ever

A few weeks ago, while on a thrifting trip, I picked up this bad boy.

It was practically brand new. 

Probably a wedding gift that was never used.

The inside was flawless & the outside was almost just as perfect, 

minus a few blue scratches. 

I made a $15 bet that it would work, and [not so] patiently drove the 10 minutes back to my house.

As soon as I got inside, I plugged it up & wa-la! It lit up like a Christmas tree.

I was ecstatic.

I immediately got online to download the user manual & get recipes.

The next morning I went out to get ingredients so I could begin my bread baking adventures.

Because of my resolve to become healthier, I have greatly limited my bread intake.

But, when I do have bread now, I don't feel bad about it.

I am making my bread fresh, free of nitrates and preservatives.

Not only do I feel like I'm doing something great for my family, but I'm also saving a lot of money!

Never again am I going to spend $3 for a pack of hamburger buns that are going to sit on the shelf and get moldy before I use them all. I'm not going to buy canned cinnamon rolls because I can make them for half of the price & they taste so much better. I will not buy Sister Schubert's rolls [even though they are delicious!] because now that I know how to make them, it is so much cheaper. And [dare I say?] better.

I'm taking you on my bread baking adventures.

You do not need a bread maker. 

The $10 you spend on ingredients will likely make a few loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls, yeast rolls, and buns. Trust me, a bag of bread flour and a jar of yeast will go a long way.

Our first stop--

The Best Buns Ever...

Seriously.

I used this recipe.

1. Put all of your ingredients in your bread maker & turn it on. Walk away & let it do it's magic.

If you do not have a bread maker, you can do this with a mixer, you just need to stand and supervise.

2. Once dough has risen for the first time, dump it out of the bread maker [or mixer] and onto a lightly oiled surface. Separate into buns. HINT: make them smaller than fist size. They will rise again & if you make them any larger you will have ginormous buns. When you get them separated, cover with a cloth in a warm area [I do mine on top of the stove while it's preheating] and leave to rise again. Do NOT skip the second rise.

3. Risen buns, pre-tan. Lather them with an egg wash, sprinkle on some sesame seeds if you're feeling fancy.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, according to the directions. It's 12 minutes to perfection in my oven, so just keep an eye on them.

I have made these on 3 separate occasions. Two of those times, we have had company & I got rave reviews.

Try them. It might take a little time out of your day, but I promise you it's worth it.

You can thank me later.

The Easy Way & A New Shake

I've been back on my shake routine for a little over a week now, and I've been looking for more convenience. My spinach doesn't really hold up for very long, and I'm not a fan of going to the grocery store more than once a week. So, I decided to make spinach cubes & keep them in the freezer.

Not only does this keep the spinach from going bad before I'm able to use it all up, but it also saves a lot of time in the morning.

If you have a full size blender, I would definitely suggest using that when making the cubes.

All you need is

1/2 cup 2% milk

1 bag of spinach

Ice cube trays or a mini cupcake tin

 Pour all of the milk in the blender & fill the rest with spinach. If you're using a full size blender, I would suggest still adding just a handful of spinach at a time so you don't over work the blades. It's basically going to look like spinach milk. There is no thickness to this whatsoever.

Once it has blended down, add more spinach & blend again.

 Disclaimer: This process may not work as well if you don't have a super cute helper. ;)

 If you're using a mini blender, you will have to dump some of the liquid before you can continue with the rest of the bag. I had to do this twice. But the steps are pretty simple. Just keep about half full of liquid, half full of  spinach until you're done with the entire bag.

 Then pour it neatly into ice trays or a mini cupcake tin. If you don't use ice trays, you need to lightly spray the surface of the cupcake tin with nonstick spray.

 Pop them in the freezer over night & they will be ready to go in the morning!

I use 3 cubes in each shake. This process, for me, made 8 days worth of cubes.

When you pop these out of the molds, store them in a freezer bag to take up less room.

And as promised, a new shake recipe.

Here's the old one, in case you missed it.

I got tired of bananas.

I tried a few other fruits, but none that were blog worthy.

This, though. This is heavenly.

I can see myself drinking this for a very long time.

1/4 cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
[use vanilla greek yogurt for a creamier shake]
1 tbsp peanut butter
8 oz 2% milk
1 tsp honey
dash of cinnamon
3-4 spinach cubes
4-6 ice cubes

Put all ingredients into blender & blend until frothy.
Milk & honey? I told you it was heavenly. Just try it. Don't be scared of the spinach.
If you're worried that this won't hold you over until lunch, don't be.
It will, unless you're doing a lot of activity.

What is your go to shake recipe? Even though I love, love, love this one, I'm constantly looking for new ideas!

Nan visits Oklahoma

Two weeks ago today, I received a phone call from my Nanny saying that she and my aunt were on their way to come visit me! 

After 3 long months, they were finally able to come see us. That was the longest I've ever been without seeing her, and I was definitely ready to give her a big hug!

While they were here, they helped me finish unpacking the last few boxes I had & put everything in it's place. They helped me get my patio whipped back into shape & helped me organize the garage.

We did some fun stuff, too.

We spent a lot of time just talking on the patio, reading/playing with Adelei, and watching movies.

I took them with me on a thrifting adventure one day, & we made our way to Oklahoma City for a trip to the Zoo & outlet shopping.

Their 10 days here went by all too fast! Before I knew it, Wednesday was here & we were saying our goodbyes see ya laters.

The rest of Wednesday was a little morose, but just knowing I'll get to see them again at Christmas time is getting me back to my old self again.

Birthday (Party) Girl

When I found out that we would be moving a lot sooner than we had originally thought, one of the things that bothered me was that we wouldn't be with our friends and family for Adelei's first birthday.

But when I realized that Aaron's Graduation and Mother's Day were scheduled for the same weekend, I thought I could just have a very early birthday party for her.

Yep, that's right. We had Adelei's first birthday party at 10 1/2 months.

 Her theme was cupcakes, and it was so, so cute!
My sister made her a custom onesie, tutu, and birthday banner, and my aunt helped me make the decorations!
Our menu included pimento cheese/chicken salad/pb&j sandwiches, french onion dip & chips, & Nanny's 'famous' rotel dip! Cupcake flavors included strawberry & funfetti w/ chocolate buttercream icing, and chocolate with pink [vanilla] buttercream icing.
We made all of the food/cupcakes ourselves to cut down on costs.
Oh, and who could forget about the punch?

Also something we threw together, but turned out amazing!
So many people came out to spend this special time with us! I couldn't have asked for a better turn out!

And although Adelei isn't quite 1 yet, she sure did enjoy smashing her cake!

 [I used cool whip instead of icing to avoid too much of a sugar rush!]

Adelei & her cousins

I'm so glad that I decided to have her party before we left. Everything worked itself out perfectly!

10

My [not so little] chunky monkey is 10 months old!

 She goes on mini-rants that are absolutely hilarious. [I will try to video one so you can see for yourself!]

Her new words are dog, duck, bottle, & momma.

[dah, duh, ba ba, & ma ma]

Still not standing on her own yet, but doing so well while holding on [even walking while holding on!]

She's 'dancing' on command & when she hears music.

She gives kisses like crazy!

And she gets in to jusssst about everything!

Need I say more? ;)

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