Strawberryosarus.

Strawberries were on sale at the store. I know they are out of season and probably sprayed with an unhealthy amount of pesticides but I got them anyhow. My daughter loves them and so do I. 

I decided to have a bit of fun and create a dinosaur (inspired by a strawberry alligator I found on Pinterest).

It's super simple. 

-clean the strawberries. 

-cut the top of of a large strawberry and place upside down .

-place a toothpick In at an angle and insert a medium sized strawberry for the head.

-use cake decorating gel (or sprinkle, or any other decorating material) to create the eyes and nostrils. 

Then watch your child "roar" with delight when they see them!

Alternative Option: Clean(er) Eating ~Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

The sub zero cold weather is coming again to the Midwest.....  BRRRR!
Why not warm up with a cup of hot chocolate, but lets be clean about it.
Instead of a cup of the processed hot cocoa mix (that I told you about a few weeks ago Link here) how about making your own?

It's so simple and you have most ingredients in the pantry, if not they're easily accessible at the store!

 Homemade Dry Hot Chocolate mix

Makes 5 1/2 cups of dry mix

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered non-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Fill mug halfway with mix (about a 1/4 cup of mix). Pour in hot water. Mix well.


 Here are a few tips that I've picked up over the years while making this.

• Put the cornstarch and powdered milk in the food processor if you have one. (It gets rid of all the lumps!) Then put it in a large bowl and use a whisk to mix together all the other ingredients. 
• You can play with the flavor a bit and add more or less milk depending on the creaminess you prefer.
•  You can also play with the type of coco you add, dark choc, milk choc, white choc, etc. 
• Finally, if you'd like, add a tiny dash of cayenne pepper will give it a great little flavor. You can also add cinnamon or a variety of there flavoring if you want to jazz it up.

Tuna lettuce wraps. A healthy success.

Tried a new excipients tonight. I've Ben testing out new 'healthy' ecru pies for my family and tis one was a hit with the hubby (not do much with the 4 year old.

I made tuna in a lettuce wrap. 

Wish I would've taken pics during the process, but I didn't know trey would be do good. 

I made a healthy tuna salad:

3 cans a tuna (packed in water) drained 

1/4 cup olive oil mayo

Some black pepper 

Some garlic salt

Diced up some leftover green pepper

(Sorry it's so unspecific but I kinda wing it when I make tuna..)

Then scoop the tuna salad onto medium sized lettuce leaves and top them with dices tomatoes.

(The hubby added some hot sauce on top and said it made it just right!)

What heathly recipes have you tried lately?

Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows (or as I like to call them, a little bite if heaven)

Marshmallows are good but homemade marshmallows are great and rather easy to make.
*(printable recipe at the bottom of the page)

Ingredients:

Three 1/4 oz packets of unflavored gelatin powder

7 tbsp water

1 1/2 cup granulated Sugar

1 cup light corn Syurp
1/2 cup water

2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Supplies: 

Small sauce pan

Medium sauce pan

Whisk

Kitchen aide mixer (your can use a hand mixer but it makes it much more labor intensive)

Step 1

In a small sauce pan mix the gelatin and water over low heat disk until fully dissolved. 

Wisk until it is a pale beige color and is slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Step 2 

Mix the water, corn syurp and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Bring to boil and stir until fully dissolved. 

Check the temp on your sugar mixture. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the heat until it measures 265 degrees.  (I got impatient and stopped at about 240 and mine turned out fine.)

It helps to multi-task and while you are waiting for the sugar mixture reach its temperature… 

Step 3

Put your egg whites I the KitchenAid with the wisk attachment and let it go till they are stiff.

Once sugar mixture is ready and egg whites are stiff you are ready to start mixing!

Step 4

With the KitchenAid on a low speed slowly poor the gelatine into the stiffened eggwhites. 

Step 5

Then, with the KitchenAid still on a low speed slowly poor the sugar mixture in.

Step 6

Slowly increase the speed as the mixture begins to thicken. 

At first it just sloshes around but it will start to look like marshmallow fluff after a few minutes. 

Leave the mixer on and continue to beat until the sides of the bowl have cooled off.

(I left mine at a medium high speed.)

It doesn't have to be ice cold, just not hot to the touch anymore.

This is the point you can add color if you want colored marshmallows.

Step 7 

While the marshmallow mixture in cooling take the cornstarch and powdered sugar and mix them together in a bowl. Use a large jelly roll pan (or two smaller pans), lightly grease with Crisco, and coat the bottom with thick layer of the powdered mixture. 

(I like to use my metal strainer to help sprinkle a nice even coat on the pan.) 

Step 8

Scoop the marshmallow mixture onto the pan and "spread" it out as evenly as possible.

This is the most challenging step because it is super sticky. A spritz of non-stick spray on the back of a spatula will help out.

Step 9

Coat the top of the marshmallows with a thick coat of the powdered mixture and then set aside to cool. It is recommended to let it set overnight. (I was on a deadline and only let them set for 4 hours. It worked just fine for me.)

Step 10
Using a mini cookie cutter or a knife cut the marshmallows into what ever shape you'd like.

Toss them in a bag as you cut them with some of the cornstarch powdered sugar mixture and occasionally seal and shake the bag to coat the sides of the marshmallows so they don't stick together.

Now you have incredibly delicious homemade marshmallows!

Start munching on them now….

...or toss a few onto a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy! 

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

Three 1/4 oz packets of unflavored gelatin powder

7 tbsp water

1 1/2 cup granulated Sugar

1 cup light corn Syurp
1/2 cup water

2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup powdered sugar 

1. In a small sauce pan mix the gelatin and water over low heat disk until fully dissolved. 

Wisk until it is a pale beige color and is slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

2 . Mix the water, corn syurp and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Bring to boil and stir until fully dissolved. 

Use a candy thermometer to monitor the heat until it measures 265 degrees. 

3. Put your egg whites I the KitchenAid with the wisk attachment and let it go till they are stiff.

4. With the KitchenAid on a low speed slowly poor the gelatine into the stiffened egg whites. 

Then, with the KitchenAid still on a low speed slowly poor the sugar mixture in.

6. Slowly increase the speed as the mixture begins to thicken. 

Leave the mixer on and continue to beat until the sides of the bowl have cooled off.

7 . While the marshmallow mixture in cooling take the cornstarch and powdered sugar and mix them together in a bowl. Use a large jelly roll pan, lightly grease with crisco, and coat the bottom with thick layer of the powdered mixture. 

8. Scoop the marshmallow mixture onto the pan and "spread" it out as evenly as possible.

9. Coat the top of the marshmallows with a thick coat of the powdered mixture and then set aside to cool. It is recommended to let it set overnight. 

10. Using a mini cookie cutter or a knife cut the marshmallows into the shape you'd like.

Toss them in a bag as you cut them with some of the cornstarch powdered sugar mixture and occasionally seal and shake the bag to coat the sides of the marshmallows so they don't stick together.

Recipe adapted from:

The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making

by Alana Chernila 

Chop Salad Recipe

This is one of my all time favorite salad recipes. 

Better yet, it makes a great all in one meal and only takes 15 minutes to make and serve. 

Ingredient list:

Head of romaine

2 cups cooked pasta

1 cup chicken Brest Cooked & cubed (great way to use up leftovers!)

4 green onions diced 

2 roma tomatoes diced

3 tablespoons real bacon bits

1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese 

Start some water boiling for the pasta and toss in the pasta when it's ready. 

(I use gluten free and happen the like the little rings.)

I like to start with a crisp fresh head of Romaine (I'm not a huge fan of iceberg).

Chop the whole head up onto nice bite size pieces and toss into a bowl.

Make sure everything is diced and chopped. 

When the pasta is done drain it. I recommend cooling it under cold water before adding it to the salad.

.....then toss everything together!

My favorite part about this salad is it is so flavorful that it doesn't need any dressing. But if you are a dressing kinda person my husband does love this with poppyseed dressing.

Enjoy!

Korean Beef Tacos

I made the most delicious recipients the thee night. It was a new recepie so I wasn't sure how it would turn out ( also why I don't have step by pictures)

But this was just too good not to share!

The recipe is from Family Fun magazine.

All you need are the ingredients. It takes less than 10 minutes to prep eveything and thow it in the crock pot. Then you let it cook all day and you've got dinner when you get home!

Best part, it's flavorful enough for the adult pallet but mellow enough to appeal to kids. My four year old couldn't stop eatting them!

Leave me some feedback and let me know what your family thinks.

Applesauce

Apples are in season! What should we do? Make applesauce.

Wash and cut the apples into quarters. With the Kitchenaid attachment you 

do not need to core or peel the apples. 

Bring the apples to a boil and cook until soft.

Meanwhile place the grinder and fruit/vegetable strainer attachments on the Kitchenaid. These attachments can be purchased online or most anywhere Kitchenaid are sold they will cost about $100 together depending on where you purchase them..

When the apples are soft pull them out of the water with a slotted spoon. (This way you can place the next batch of apples into the hot water instead of filling it and having to bring a new pot to a boil all over again.) 

While the second batch of apples are coming to a boil start feeding the cooked apples into the grinder. Push them down slowly, they are hot and you don't want hot apple squirting out at you.

As you push the apples in the applesauce will start to push through the stainer and drip out the peel, seeds, stem, and any other unusable parts will be forced out the end. 

When you are done you will have a bowl full of hot applesauce. I add a 1/2 cup sugar, a few shakes of cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg. 

Notes: 

*The applesauce has a pink tint because you are leaving the skin on but think of all the nutrients you gain!

*I cooked up a peck of apples from the orchard and it made me 3+ quarts of applesauce. I can't give you an exact measurement because we were all eating it hot and fresh so all of it didn't make it into the containers. 

*From taking out the apples to the end of clean up it took about 3 hours (including distractions from my 4yr old.) A chunk of time but well worth it! 

*Applesauce freezes well. 

Sulley Popsicles

Summertime calls for popsicles and I adjusted a recipie to make some healthier versions. My daughter named the Sulley because the colors remainder her of Sulley from Monsters Inc. 

Ingredients:

4oz box Sugar free jello

1 cup water 

1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt

Grapes

Heat 1 cup water and mix in jello.

Stir in 1 cup yogurt. 

Pour into popsicle molds until 3/4 full. 

Slice grapes in half and drop several into each mold. 

Top off popsicle molds of needed. 

Place molds in freezer and wait several hours till firm.

Eat and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite popsicle recipie?