Don't Underestimate Mommy

I have been eyeing this recipe for ages, but was really nervous to try it. We are huge pizza lovers in this house. It's a weekly staple. We have pizza every Friday night. It's a tradition that my husband has been practicing since he was a kid and we are happy to continue. I tend to pick easy recipes. Not a lot of ingredients or a ton of steps. It makes it more enjoyable for me and much easier to execute, especially when the boys are under my feet in the kitchen. This one, was not one of the easier ones. It had more steps then I usually opt for, but it was so worth it! Ingredients- 1 medium-large size head of cauliflower 1 large egg 1/2 cup parmesan or mozzarella cheese grated/shredded 1 tsp of Italian seasoning (may substitute rosemary, basil or parsley) 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground pepper Directions- 1. Pre-heat oven to 375°. Line a round pizza sheet with parchment paper. 2. Clean cauliflower removing any leaves. Use a pairing knife to cut down the head into florets...

This my friends is a flavor explosion in your mouth. Who doesn't love bacon, especially on a burger. Add sweet potato which adds moisture to the turkey burger and you have perfection. In case you haven't noticed, there is a pattern in my recipe choices. I do my best to choose recipes that keep the ingredients to a minimum, include items I would have on hand and that won't break the bank. This recipes fits that bill! Servings: Approximately 5 servings Ingredients: 1 lb. of ground lean turkey 1 cup of shredded sweet potato 6 strips of turkey bacon salt & pepper to taste Directions: 1. Precook turkey bacon. Let cool and then cut into small pieces/bits. 2. Microwave shredded carrots, 15-20 seconds until slightly tender, but not mushy. 3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, bacon, sweet potato and seasoning. This will make approximately 5 patties the size of your palm. 4. Cook on grill, frying pan, griddle until thoroughly cooked. 5. Serve on...

Eat your heart out Chipotle. I just made this Burrito Bowl for dinner and it was so fresh and so tasty. We are Chipotle fans and like any favorite meal of ours; I always question trying to replicate. It's like the saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, I went for it and I am glad I did. Cook time: 30 minutes  Prep time: 10 minutes Servings: 4 21 Day Fix Friendly- 1.5 green containers, 1.5 yellow containers ,   1 red container   (per serving) Ingredients- 2 chicken breasts 10 oz can of corn 10 oz can black beans 4 cups of chopped lettuce 2 cups of quinoa 2 cups diced tomato salsa (optional) cilantro for garnish (optional) Instructions- Wrap each chicken breast in foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before shredding. Chop lettuce. Prepare quinoa. I used Simply Balance (Target) Southwest Style Quinoa and Brown Rice, which is easy peasy 90 seconds in the microwave. Putting your bowl together- This is ...

This is a tasty one folks and it's fairly simple. I believe the Mister's exact words were, "this one's a WINNER!" Like most of the recipes I cook or bake, it's clean and healthy as well as easy to prepare and doesn't require a laundry list of ingredients I wouldn't normally have on hand. The flavor is mind blowing. Each bite was better than the last. The creamy feta taste mixed with the oregano is delicious. Who knew a dish with such flavor could also be healthy. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't great. This is what happens when you're cooking multiples meals at a time and have little people at your feet (don't they know I prefer to cook in peace). Adapted from Family.Fitness.Food.Flavor Fix Friendly: 1 red, 1 green,  1/5 blue, 2 tsp. per serving Servings:2 Ingredients: 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, approximately 4 ounces each 1 (and a smidge) blue containers of  reduced fat Feta crumbled cheese (I used Athen...

I love chicken salad! I love how refreshing it is as well as all the goodies you can add to it depending you likings. Of course what's not to like about your traditional chicken salad is the loads of calorie packed mayonnaise that is in it. Prior to taking control of my eating and transitioning to a cleaner lifestyle, I would make my chicken salad with low fat mayo or even mayo with EVOO. I'll admit, it made me feel better mentally about what I was eating. The fact is, it's still not cleanest version of chicken salad out there. In my quest to find a cleaner alternative to this refreshing favorite of mine, I found a bunch of recipes on Pinterest using Greek yogurt in replace of mayo and I thought, "what the heck, just try it!" I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. The recipe below is a cross adaptation from  Fits Simple  & Fixate Cookbook recipes. Ingredients- -3 cups of rotisserie chicken, shredded (you can also use 3-4 cooked chicken tenderloin...

Clean eating doesn't mean giving up your favorites. If there is a will, there is a way! One of the Mister's favorite dishes is Chicken Parmesan. I've been cooking for this guy for 9 years now. He will eat pretty much anything I put in front of him. In the last nine years, I've probably put or tried to put a "healthier spin" on any meal that I've prepared, including his favorites. Now don't get me wrong, some attempts have had better outcomes than others. I am please to share with you that this one was a winner! He raved about how good it was and how much it tasted like the "real" thing.  Real thing? As if I swapped out his chicken for a piece of plastic chicken. So what makes this a "better for you" option you ask? Let me explain... 1. Antibiotic free chicken- for starters. If you don't know about Fresh Markets $2.99 Tuesday, you're missing out! BIG TIME! Every Tuesday people flock to Fresh Market for a can't miss d...

To say I took the summer off would be an understatement. My last post was at the end of May. What the???? Taking the summer off, was not my intention. In fact, I thought I was going to be able to focus on the blog over the summer months. Guess I was wrong. It has been a busy summer for everything else beside this blog though. Boys were in camp, we spent a lot of time with our cousins, we had swim instruction, plays dates, mom and dad even had a weekend get away and then a 1 night stay cation with friends. Not too shabby, right? I am hoping now that summer is winding down, I can start focusing more on my blog, which is a huge outlet for me. Unfortunately, it will compete for my free time with some other activities I have, like MOMs Club, Jamberry and more recently BeachBody. So in an effort to jump right back in, tonight I bring you a delicious, healthy and easy dish to prepare. It was dinner for one tonight and I actually packed it as the Mister's lunch earlier today too. This re...

While scrolling through Pinterest (shocker), I came across a pin for a Coffee Bar and thought, "I want/NEED"  a coffee bar! And so it began. My fingers started franticly typing in the search bar and my eyes began scouring the page. My brain was going in a million different directions and I was in Pinterest heaven. I pinned a few I liked and thought I could pull off in the space I was working with. In the end, it cost me $5.99 to make my little coffee station. What's in my coffee station? 1. What actually makes my cute little coffee station a "station" is this adorable gray metal half basket I found at HomeGoods for $5.99. I also bought the next size up, but in the end decided this was the right size for my counter space. The basket holds my counter top essentials for my coffee station. 2. This crystal sugar bowl was my grandmother's. Any time I have the opportunity to use or display a piece of her crystal I jump at it! This was...

This family happens to be fans of the movie The Incredibles. It's a great movie if you haven't seen it. Check us out on Halloween. P was Jack-Jack and O was Dashiell. I made shirts for the Mister, myself and Grandma to wear as well. The boys have seen the movie more times then I can count. So many times that they can recite lines from the movie, well at least O can. One phrase from the movie we hear often in our house is "Hulk SMASH." O likes to say this when getting undressed for the bath. He takes his shirt off and throws it to the ground saying, "Hulk SMASH." It's hilarious! Recently I volunteered in O's classroom and they had a "Smashing Balls" activity on the playground. Immediately, I thought to myself, "Hulk SMASH!" Fast forward a few weeks, it's spring break and both boys are home sick and confined to the house and then I remembered the baked cotton balls smashing activity. It took about an hour from start to fin...

Like most of the holidays, Easter came and went in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. It could be that the week of Easter was a crazy week with an unexpected hospital stay for my mom. Good news is she is home. Bad news (if we should even call it that) we don't know what the cause of the chest pains are that landed in the hospital for the week. Despite the crazy week, Easter was a hit. We hosted a brunch at my house. We were 18 with the kiddos, so it was a manageable crowd. It's always fun watching the kids hunt for the eggs. The kids range in ages from 9 years to 5 months. We actually tried practicing hunting for eggs during the week with P and despite our efforts, we got the same result as the week before at the preschool egg hunt. It was quite funny to watch. He was walking around saying, "ball" and kicking at the eggs or picking them up and throwing them. With a little assistance, he managed to get a few in his basket, only to dump them all out. Quite a show to...

It would only be appropriate that my first post in what seems like forever would be about a MOMs Club craft project. I say that because the MOMs Club is one of the main reasons I have not had a post in over 2 months!!! I don't think I've mentioned the Parkland MOMs Club or my involvement in this group on the blog. So I guess it's time I catch you up and fill you in. I joined the MOMs Club a little over a year and a half ago. It's been a lot of fun and most recently a lot of work. I've met some amazing woman, some of who have become my closest friends. I joined in July 2013, when P was about 3 months old. We had been living out here for about a year and half and I had yet to really meet anyone in the area. I was still traveling to  Fort Lauderdale and Plantation for all of our activities. I decided it was time to change that and make some friends for myself and the family right here in our own backyard. It wasn't too long after I joined that I went from attendi...

I've come to learn that teaching your child can be a difficult task. Every child learns differently as well, which means that there is a good chance that the method I use for O won't necessarily be the most effective method when it comes to P. O likes a challenge. He wants to race, finish first, be the best; it all comes down to playing games. He will not be the child I sit down at the table and do workbooks with. He is a visual and hands on learner. So my approach with O is through play. Our newest "Learning Through Play"activity is called Parking Lot ABC's. It involves... you guessed it... matchbox cars. A big winner in our house, so I knew this was going to be a hit! Materials Needed: 1. Foam core. You could also use poster board. If you use poster board, I'd spend a few dollars and have it laminated. 2. Markers 3. Cars/Trucks 4. Alphabet flashcards* (optional, you could simply just call out a letter, but in order to sell this as a game to O, the...