#137 Delicious No-Bake Granola

I'm in love!  I love this recipe for no-bake granola bars and I wanted to put it on my blog to share with others.  I cannot take the credit for this recipe -- I found it on a YouTube Channel called "How Jen Does It."  But it's the tastiest and easiest way to enjoy granola -- while at the same time knowing EXACTLY what's in them!  No words you cannot pronounce -- just a good old fashion snack with ingredients that will keep you satisfied.  Instead of making bars -- after I get them out of the refrigerator -- I crumbled them all up and put in individual bags (a little over 1/2 cup each bag).

Here's the recipe:

Easy No-bake Granola Bars

1/2 (= to 1 stick) cup butter (be sure to use regular butter and not margarine)
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups rice cereal (I used Grape Nuts Fit Cranberry Vanilla)
1 teaspoon vanilla

(If you would like to make peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars, use 1/3 cup peanut butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar instead of the 2/3 cup brown sugar and add chocolate chips at the end)

Toppings of your choice: chocolate chips, coconut, nuts, raisins, dried fruit, caramel chips

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a medium pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat. Let it start to bubble. Reduce heat and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir. Pour over dry mixture and mix well until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into a 13x9 baking dish that has been sprayed well with cooking spray or olive oil. Press down really well until the top is flat. Sprinkle with desired toppings. Press toppings into granola mixture. Cool on counter top for 15-20 minutes. Place granola in fridge for 20-25 minutes. Cut into bars.

Until next time...

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#134 I Got This Too!

Happy September,

Yes, the time is flying and with it lots of great things has happened since my "no-electronic" month in August.  First things first, I read Jennifer Hudson's book "I Got This" and was very inspired by her story.  She talked about her life as an aspiring singer, actress and how her life has changed using Weight Watchers.  If you have not read it I highly recommend it.

After reading it it left me with questions regarding every diet I ever tried.  I had never tried Weight Watchers because I never wanted to start a program where I had to pay to loose weight in a  "PROGRAM."   The only thing I ever "BOUGHT" to loose weight is a gym membership or either home equipment -- but never a program where you pay monthly for their services to loose weight.

She stated how it sounded too good to be true. She joined but she stilled worked it like other programs -- eating less and working out more.  Then once talking with her support person at Weight Watchers she had to truly do the program correctly to believe that it was truly as easy as they said it was.  The program was called the PointsPlus System.

Let me say, I did not and was not going to pay to do Weight Watchers.  First of all, I only had 5 lbs. I wanted to loose and it was not worth paying for.  I went to YouTube to see how others did it without buying into the Weight Watchers Program.  I found out how to do it for FREE!  You heard me --absolutely free.  Here's the YouTube channel that shows how to do it (see link below).  I started with a goal of getting down to 139 lbs.  I started at 144 lbs. and it's true -- those last 5 lbs. are hard to loose.  I've been holding on to them for months and sometimes adding to them as high as 149 lbs.  I will not go through telling you the ins-and-outs of the program but feel free to check out the YouTube channel that I watched to get started below.  The video also shows you how to calculate your daily points with links on how to do this without paying one cent!!!!!

Well let me say that I have met my goal and going down even further (some days).  I truly can say that I can eat what I want and as long as I stay within my points for the day -- I'm good!

I'm with you Jennifer -- "I GOT THIS TOO."

Until next time!


Here's the link:  YouTube Channel for How To Do Weight Watcher's Free

Food Tracker Value Diary App I purchased for my IPhone Ultimate Food Value Diary
(This is not something you have to purchase I just purchased to keep track of my food -- also it's rated very well -- much better then the actual Weight Watchers app).  Perfect for just $3.99

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#124 Funky Monkey Smoothie -- My Favorite Thing for March!

Haven't done a favorite thing in a long time.  Since this is the last Friday of the month I thought I would get back into the swing of things by adding my favorite thing for the month of March.

It's this fantastic smoothie that I've been enjoying called Funky Monkey.  I got this recipe from Domestic Geek.  You can check out the original here:  5 More Incredible Smoothies.

Here's the recipe:

I can't get enough.  So easy and so good!

Funky Monkey
1⁄2 cup milk
1⁄2 cup Greek yogurt
2 bananas
1 tbsp chocolate protein powder
1 tbsp natural peanut butter

Blend together and enjoy!  It's is sooooooooo delicious.  Until next time...

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#123 Homemade Bread Update

To say that I've been enjoying my bread machine is an understatement!  WE LOOOVE THE NEW BREAD MACHINE!!!!  I've made plenty of bread since the machine has been in my home.

My first bread was the Oatmeal Maple Pecan Bread.  I made three of these and gave two away.

Oatmeal Maple Pecan Bread

I've also made:

•  Garlic Bread
• 100% Whole Wheat (my husband's favorite)
• Basic Ultra Fast Bread (my boy's favorite)
• Morning Sticky Buns (made on Valentine's day for the family)
• Irish Potato Brown Bread
• Hamburger Buns

 

• 

  My best bread "EVER" -- Wheat Bread

  
  

  

  Great rise and the taste is YUM!

  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Hamburger Buns

  
  

My bread machine was a gift from my sister.  You can check out my first post about this here:  Bread Machine Post.  It has at least 12 settings and for the hamburger buns I used the dough setting.  Afterwards I formed them into balls and smash down slightly and placed them into the oven.  Once done I cut them in half and "Voila" -- hamburger buns.  And believe me when I say they are much better then store bought.  

Thank you sis for the bread machine.  Sis be looking for more bread and a jar of jam -- which the bread machine does as well!  WHO KNEW!!!?!?!?!

Until next time...


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#122 Are You Getting Enough FIBER?

In order to keep the pipes flowing in my body I needed to add more fiber to my diet.  Me and the hubby decided to add some Fiber One to our everyday salad.  This is the claims for Fiber One:

14g Dietary Fiber

Do you see that -- Dietary Fiber at the bottom?  Just by adding a 1/2 cup you are getting a whopping 14g of fiber.  According to the Institute of Medicine, women need 25 grams of fiber per day, and men need 38 grams per day.  WebMD Article.  It was noted that the average American only eats 15g of fiber per day.  I've been eating this Fiber One two ways:  a bowl of cereal or using the cereal as croutons in my salad.

Add a 1/2 cup or more to your salad as croutons

While I'm sharing -- I also want to share what I found at the Dollar Tree.  It's cheese!  I love white cheese on my salads and I was out of my usual white cheese so while in the Dollar Tree I stumbled upon this:

6oz. package found in the refrigerator section of Dollar Tree

As you know, cheese can be pricey.  I love me some Pepper Jack and this was a great find.  I had to share!  It was "DELISH!"  I added it to my Graty which shreds it up to top off my salad.

Fiber One Adds that Extra "Crunch"

  

Not a bad way to add more fiber!!

Until next time...

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#121 Get Organized and Meal Plan!

I've found that in order for me to eat well I need to organize well.  What that means to me is having my meals planned.  Having it organized in a book of sorts to have what I need for grocery shopping and so on and so forth.  One thing that has been very helpful to me is my Menu Planning & Grocery Schedule Binder.  I got this idea from a YouTuber I love to watch called How Jen Does It.  You can check out her binder here.  Jen's Binder Click Here.  My planner is pretty much set up like hers so if you want details that I don't have here -- please check out here video.

I've always made a meal plan for at least two weeks that work around our pay periods.  I go to the grocery store twice a week for my necessities (and my meals for two weeks) and also during the week for produce (you know how quickly that comes and goes).  What's nice is that you can see what you have as well in your freezer and refrigerator and make meals based on what you have.  Literally it has been a life saver and it saves money as well.  You are not constantly in the store standing like a dear in headlights wondering what to feed your family.  You don't have to eat the same things over and over (unless you want to) and when it's time for dinner you just pull out your ingredients and make dinner.  You feel so accomplished because it's one less thing you have to think of or worry about.

My binder is set up like this.  My first couple of pages displays the stores I go to and what I typically purchase there.  It's my checklist to see what I'm out of and need to replace.  My next sheet list a column of meat dishes, bean dishes, pasta dishes and the last column is my "Whatever" for Saturday meal.  I use a lot of YouTubers for my recipes.  Of course you can add your own favorite recipes to your binder but for this binder I don't do that.  I pretty much use favorites that I've made from other YouTubers.  So my first page consist of my Table of Contents.  I made this using Microsoft Word and I used tabs labeled 1-31.  I have so far 10 YouTubers who I have recipes from.  I have tried their recipes and if I enjoy them (family approved) I add it to my binder.  So my Table of Content looks like this:

                         Table of Contents

1	Stores/Meat, Bean and Pasta Meals Table	11
2	LAURA VITALE	12
3	ROSIE	13
4	HOW JEN DOES IT	14
5	DO IT ON A DIME	15
6	DANI SPIES	16
7	MY SO CALLED HOME	17
8	ROCKIN ROBIN	18
9	CUT THE FAT	19
10	AT HOME WITH NIKKI	20

Our schedule consist of eating whatever we like on Saturdays -- most of the time I make something from home that is not how we normally eat.  Burgers and fries, fried rice and orange chicken, pizza, tacos, etc.  Or there are times when we go out to eat and that's added to my list (if I know in advance).  So I will put meals on the menu for this two week period.  We eat meat two day out of the week, a bean meal two days out the week and a pasta meal two days out of the week.

What’s for Dinner

8 meals for two weeks

Saturday	Fri/Sun	Mon/Tues.	Wed./Thurs.
Eat Out Day To last one day	Meat Meal To last two days	Pasta Meal To last two days	Bean Meal To last two days
Saturday	Fri/Sun	Mon/Tues.	Wed./Thurs.
Eat Out Day To last one day	Meat Meal To last two days	Pasta Meal To last two days	Bean Meal To last two days

I plan for eight meals in a two week period.  I go through my binder and pick out eight meals and make enough to last for that period.  Our Saturday meals is meant for just one day.  There are times when a two day meal does not spread out for two days (someone ate too much -- then I will always add something to it in order for it to work.  There are times when there are leftovers after the two days.  I either freeze this or have it for lunch.  It pretty much works itself out.

I keep a copy of the recipes with it's ingredients and it's stored in my binder.  I then make a grocery list of those eight meals and head off to the store.  This has saved me so much time and money that I had to share.  

Don't get caught at 3, 4 or 5pm standing in front of the refrigerator asking..."What am I going to make for dinner?"  Be prepared and you will find yourself saving time, money and your sanity.

Until next time...

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#120 Cauliflower Pizza Crust!!!

Scoot on over to my "Oh Taste & See" blog and check out this week's post regarding a great pizza crust I made with Cauliflower.   Oh taste and see for yourself how good it is!!!!

Click here to go to the post:  Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe Blog Post

I could have eaten this entire healthy pizza (8 slices)

Until next time...

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#118 Don't Ever Go On A Diet Again!

Don't ever go on a diet again.  I will tell you why!  Diets set you up for failure.  Unless you are willing to eat a low carb diet, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or any other diet -- for the REST OF YOUR LIFE, you are wasting your time and money.  They are making money off of you and that's how they stay in business.  How many people do you know that started Weight Watchers or any other diet and as soon as they got off of it and tried to eat "regular" food they gained back their weight and some?  Too many stories and unfortunately it doesn't have to be that way.

This is my suggestion.  Don't ever go on a diet ever again.  I'm going to suggest you do what you know is the only way your going to loose weight and keep it off.  Stop eating crappy food.  Eating out 2 to 3 times a week instead of fixing your own meals.  I'm talking restaurant food that you know is not good for you.  Greasy burgers, greasy chicken, fried rice, fried this, fried that.

And let's face it.  If you are eating out at restaurants instead of eating at home, even if you are not eating greasy food, you could be loading up on unnecessary calories.  These places should be at best every blue moon.  Not once or twice a week.  It is best to cook most of your meals 90% of the time.  That way you know what you are eating and you are avoiding sabotaging your hard work.

I'm going to say something I'm sure you have heard before.  What you NEED to be eating is more fruits, vegetables and lean protein (chicken, fish).  You can get full on this stuff -- you just need to know how to prepare it.  That's where internet and cookbooks comes in --- if you are not familiar with cooking.  As a family we try to eat meat once a week (the leftovers the next day), beans once a week (the leftovers the next day), pasta once a week (the leftovers the next day) and on Saturday is our eat whatever we want day.  I have teenagers who do very well eating this way during the week but I make sure I have a eat whatever you want day in the schedule as well.  This is mostly for my teens -- so I will say that on this day for me and my husband we will eat our usual way for breakfast and lunch and have whatever we want for dinner.    But basically this way of eating allows me to eat well 90% of the time and have something that I wouldn't eat everyday once in awhile.  This allows me to maintain my weight and if I want to loose unwanted pounds, I just cut back on food or exercise more.  It really is a matter of calories in and calories out.  I do not count calories -- the food I eat is so familiar to me I don't have to.

What I'm basically saying is -- you have to find a way that you can eat FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE and stick with it.  Don't fall for having food being shipped to your door unless you are willing to stick with that for the rest of your life.  Eat well (and that does not mean eating food that has no flavor or is boring because you will have to live with that for the rest of your life too -- are you willing to do that -- I'm sure not).  Eat foods that are good for you, that will fill you up, that taste good, and what you feel you could do for the rest of your life.  Then enjoy it!

Until next time...


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#116 Homemade Bread - YUM!

I have been wanting to make my own bread but not the old fashion way of kneading and letting it rise and kneading again and you know the drill.  It's seems like an all day job. 



So what's a girl gotta do?  Buy a bread machine that's what!  Several ways of getting your hands on one.  You can either buy one new or get one from a garage sale, get one from a friend who back-in-the-day bought one and does not use it and is willing to give it over to you -- or you can like me, have a super sweet sister who buys you one!  SCORE!  How blessed am I. 

Well, I've been making bread for my bread heads (AKA hubby and two teenage boys) who absolutely love anything with gluten in it! 
So far, I've made 3 maple, pecan breads -- one was a gift for a girlfriend's birthday, one for my sister of course, and I couldn't make bread without making a loaf for the bread heads mentioned above.  As I'm typing out this blog there is a loaf of garlic bread churning in the machine. 




My First "EVER" 1.5 lb. Loaf

What I love about my machine (which is a West Bend) is that it's practically foul proof.    Put in the ingredients from top to bottom, shut the lid and in hours you have fresh bread.  It has 12 settings to choose from depending on what type of bread you want to make.  Set it and forget it!  Literally.  I purchased a book of over 300+ bread machine recipes (that you can use with any bread machine) and boy am I excited.  I realize that I'm on a quest to loose my tummy (Loose My Tummy Blog #115) and bread is not the best thing to be eating in order to do that -- but I'm also on a mission to make healthy breads as well.  So be looking for healthy bread recipes in the upcoming months.


One more thing -- can you say BAKERY.  That's literally what my house smells like when I bake bread.  I can turn off my baking scented Yankee candles and just bake bread. 

Life is good.

Until next time...


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#112 Diet change for my young adults

It all started with a "Meatless" Spinach Lasagna Roll-Up recipe we had for dinner.  Jen's Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups Recipe.  We typically will have two days were we will have meat in our dinner rotation, two days of a bean type meal and two days were we will have some type of pasta meal. 

My 16 year old asked the aged-old question -- "What's for dinner."  Here's how it went down:

Me:  Lasagna.
Son:  Let me guess, no meat.
Me:  You guessed it.
Son:  Why is it we never have meat anymore in our lasagna?
Me:  We have meat twice per week, as a matter-of-fact we had that for the last two days.
Son:  I know, but we never have it in our lasagna.

This discussion brought forth a chain reaction.  At dinner dad and I began to talk about the eating habits of our teenagers.  For the most part, I felt their diet was OK compared to a lot of teens their age but then dad made it clear we needed to re-evaluate what they ate more carefully. 

• Breakfast:  Cheerios (no milk), a ready-made sausage for the microwave and toast. 
• Lunch:  Bologna sandwich and tortilla chips.  My oldest will have an apple but the other does not eat fruit (unless forced). 
• Snacks:  Graham Crackers, pretzels, Fruit and Grain Cereal Bar, Clubhouse crackers and a box of raisins. 
• Dinner: would consist of something healthy that I cook for the entire family which varies nightly. 

Needless to say, the snacks are no longer an everyday option.  Fruit and vegetables are now the new norm.  Both myself and the hubby feel if we are going to eat healthy -- primarily something green or a fruit with breakfast/lunch/dinner and our snacks -- why not our kids. 

Believe it or not, they did not take this hard.  It was as if they knew it was coming and took it very well.  I thought there would be a big kicking and screaming (not literally) but there wasn't.  We will continue to have our eat out day on Saturday's which is something we all enjoy  -- but for the rest of the week -- they will have better nutrition in their diets.  Thanks to hubby!  And yes, we will have meat in our lasagna from time to time in the future.

Until next time...

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#107 Fast Food Restaurants -- Healthy Menu Choices

We all have times when we are pressed for time and have to stop into a fast-food restaurant.  There are also times when we just don't feel like cooking and we want something fast and not made at home that's still healthy for our lifestyle.  Well I've researched some fast food restaurants that are pretty much in everyone's neighborhood that offer some healthy options on their menu.

Now these are primarily fast-food restaurants.  Grab and go, not sit in -- but of course you can sit in and eat there -- but these restaurants are not restaurants that you need to tip a waitress.

Here are some of my picks:

McDonald's.

My healthy food choices there are:

1. Southwest Chicken Salad (use 1/2 dressing pack or bring your favorite (my favorite is Paul Newman's Creamy Caesar))
2. Grilled Chicken Classic (comes with whole grain bun)
3. Chicken Grilled Snack wraps w/no dressing (bring your own -- I like Veganaise-- see my blog post on this Mayo Please pass the --- what???)
4. Fish Fillet - no tarter sauce (use Veganaise here as well)

Taco Bell

Veggie Cantina Bowl

1. Veggie Cantina Burrito or Bowl
2. Burrito with black bean (Fresco Style - means no cheese) and replace cheese with Pico De Gallo (salsa)
3. Fresco Crunchy Tacos

Wendy's

1. BLT Cobb Salad (remove bacon and blue cheese bits) and your left with plenty of good grilled chicken, hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes over a spring mix and avocado ranch dressing (use 1/2 packet or bring your own)
2. Go wraps
3. Grilled Chicken Sandwich with no sauce
4. Chili
5. Baked potato 

Subway

Turkey Flatbread

1. 6" Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich (hold cheese, avocado & dressing).  Put on a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar
2. Turkey Flatbread sandwich with loads of veggies and Balsamic Vinegar or mustard

 Chilpolta

Steak salad

1. Chicken bowl, brown rice, black beans and tomato salsa
2. Steak salad with grilled veggies (no cheese or avocado) with green salsa

 Chick-Fil-A

Char Grilled Chicken Sandwich with fruit cup

1. Char grilled Chicken sandwich meal with fruit cup or side salad with unsweetened tea
2. Char grilled garden salad

Keep these in mind when you are on the road and want to eat something fast and healthy.

Until next time.

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#99 Bland Food Made Fabulous!

No, I'm not a Vegan -- but I enjoy cooking Vegan recipes.  I love to try new recipes -- therefore I'm constantly running across people that make bland food taste "FABULOUS."

One such person is Brown Vegan  You can check her out at this link:  Brown Vegan's Website.

When I try recipes, I try to pick something that is a favorite of my family but made in a healthier way.  I tried a recipe on her site called Buffalo Cauliflower (remake of Buffalo Wings).  They were a hit in my household.  I've also shared it with friends and their 12 year old daughter kept coming back for more.  Go figure! 

Here's the recipe if you are interested:

Buffalo Cauliflower

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 40

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 large head of cauliflower, broken into bite sized pieces
• ½ cup rice or all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup hot sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine, melted (Earth Balance is a good butter)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, garlic powder and water.
Mix in cauliflower, being sure that all the pieces are coated.
Place cauliflower on a baking sheet in a single layer (use parchment paper or oil to prevent it from sticking).
Roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the hot sauce and margarine.
Transfer the cauliflower to a large bowl.
Pour on the sauce, being sure to coat all the cauliflower pieces.
Place the cauliflower back on the baking sheet and roast for 18-25 more minutes.
Let it cool for 10 minutes and serve with vegan ranch dressing.

Another person whom I've enjoyed on-line for her Vegan food is Jill with Simple Daily Recipes:

 

This lady will crack you up with her wit in the kitchen.  She is very good at making everyday meals simple and healthy.  Her kids are her tasters and it seems like the whole family has a great sense of humor.  I was inspired to cook up a big pot of lentils and to try a bunch of recipes from her stash using those lentils.  I tried (or will be trying):

• BBQ Lentils and Baked Potato Wedges
• Lentil Tacos
• Italian Lentil Meatballs (had this on the list the same week but didn't cook it -- the family were a little burnt out with Lentils at that point) but I can't wait to try it...

I would definitely check out her YouTube channel Simple Daily Recipes and pick a recipe that you might want to try.  You will leave inspired to try something new -- I can promise you that.

Until next time...

 

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