The Perfect French Toast

On this beautiful Sunday morning my little cherubs wanted french toast and sausage for breakfast. Well, technically The Sponge actually wanted french toast sticks like she gets at the sitter's before school, but I make mine I don't buy them. I like french toast, but I hate making them because of the yucky, gloppy egg white factor. You know, the part that doesn't come apart it just moves around your dish like slime and cooks onto your french toast like a fried egg. It grosses me out! So this morning it hit me, make it in the blender.

DUH!

 

I always add cinnamon to my recipe and it usually tends to clump so this problem would be solved as well. Why had it taken me so long to figure this out? So, this morning we had perfect french toast. :)

Perfectly blended french toast goodness!

I use my pizza cutter to easily make sticks.
Hulk loves Spiderman!

My kids like to dunk everything so instead of drizzling the maple syrup
over the french toast I put the syrup into silicon cupcake liners
that my mother-in-law gave me. (Thanks Lisa!)

This is the recipe that I used today. It made 7 wide loaf pieces of french toast. (There were leftovers for a quick before school breakfast later on this week for Hulk). I'm sure if you used the regular sized bread it would easily make 10.

4 large eggs (I use Eggland's Best...yes, I really do think they taste better)
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
7-10 slices of bread (depending on the size of your slices)
Real Maple Syrup - no imitations please! (optional)

Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blend on low a few seconds just until all of the ingredients are fully blended and pour into pie dish (or other shallow dish). If you have a fluffier, less dense bread then your bread will only need a quick dunk into the eggs, otherwise let them set in the mixture for a few seconds to soak up the cinnamon-y goodness. Cook over medium heat until beautifully golden brown on each side.

Whenever I make french toast I always pull out the family-sized griddle that we got as a wedding gift. You can make them all in one or two batches this way.

Enjoy!

Spring into Fall Challenge!

Starting today, September 1, I am hosting a fitness challenge on my C Mommy Go facebook page. This challenge includes jumping rope, planking, and drinking your water for the day. There is always lots of support from the other members in the challenge and an amazing sense of community. Please stop by and check it out, and if you are interested in gettin' fit with us just click the join button and grab your jump rope! Don't forget to print off the calendar to keep track of your progress and see the guidelines for each day. I hope to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/CMommyGo?ref=hl#!/events/355348924540556/

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes...failure and success!

The only pancakes that I like are chocolate chip pancakes. I like them straight from the fridge so they are cold and then they taste just like a chocolate chip cookie. I. Love. Chocolate. Chip. Cookies. Pancakes, not so much though. However, my kids and my husband love them so I end up making them pretty frequently. As I was surfing through facebook the other day I came across a pancake recipe that included only two ingredients so I knew that I had to try them. Those two ingredients were bananas and eggs. I was a little skeptical on how these would turn out because I was worried about the texture and the crazy banana flavor. I love me a perfectly riped banana and some delicious banana bread, but that's about how far my love of bananas goes. But, I gave them a shot. The hulk helped me mash the banana and mix the eggs in. I sprayed my pan, poured in some batter, and prayed. My hint to you if you make these is to make small pancakes so they are easier to flip since they are a little flimsier than your traditional pancake. Anyways, I knew that these wouldn't be up my alley and I wasn't sure if  the kids would like them or not so I only made 2 pancakes to try them out. Why cook them all up if nobody would eat them? So, I served up the pancakes and tried not be too obvious as I stared at them while they tried them.

Only 2 ingredients

Mashed and Mixed

Finished product

The Sponge immediately spit hers out and said that she only liked chocolate chip pancakes (where did she get that from?!?!) and then I watched Hulk take a bite and then immediately spit it out as well. Obviously this was not for them either. However, knowing that I would probably write about this I knew that I had to try them myself. So, I braced myself and took a bite. Well, they tasted like a  banana omelet with a pancake texture. So, if you're looking for something new and healthy to try for breakfast and you love banana flavored foods then I'd say these would probably be worth trying. They just weren't for us. That being said, if you aren't that adventurous do what I did and turn that banana and eggs into a delicious banana and chocolate chip recipe. :)

Since finding this recipe for pancakes on pinterest it has been my base recipe for many different flavors (hmm...future posts!). This recipe cooked the way it is written is amazing as well. However, since I was trying to make a healthier banana pancake recipe this morning I decided to lighten the recipe up a bit as well.

Two thumbs up!!!

Makes approximately 14 pancakes

Recipe:

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 whole eggs or 3 egg whites

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or flour of your choice)

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 scant tsp salt

2 tsp truvia sugar substitute

1 1/4 cups skim milk

1/3 - 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips depending on taste

Mix all ingredients until well combined. There will be lumps. Use 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure and pour batter onto oil sprayed frying pan over medium heat. Look for bubbles, flip. You can serve with whatever toppings you desire. We just eat them plain because they are so good on their own!



Hulk loves pancakes- they are probably his favorite food!

Today's lesson: don't be afraid to try something new because even if it is a failure initially, you can turn it into a success!

Cauliflower Mac-n-Cheese

On my quest to be more fit I am trying to remake recipes and dishes that my family and I love so that they are healthier. I not only want to be healthier myself, but I want my whole family to love and seek out foods that fuel their bodies and make them feel good. Mac-n-cheese is one of those comfort foods that everyone just loves so I knew that I needed to find a healthier way to prepare this dish. Cauliflower is a food that we had eaten in the past but it has started to take alternate forms in our home recently. (See the cauliflower pizza crust.) This time the cauliflower is replacing elbow macaroni in a traditional mac-n-cheese recipe and I have lightened up the cheese sauce as well. My kids overall like cauliflower if it has melted cheese on it (in the past the cheese had been American or Velveeta) so I hoped this would be a new favorite.

Cauliflower cut into small florets after it's been blanched.

Hot out of the oven!

Plated up and ready to eat :)

I was right. Everyone ate it up and this is a recipe that I will be making again. One change that I might make in the future to add some protein is to add 1/2 cup of pureed chick peas to the cheese sauce. I was going to do this but at the last minute realized that I didn't have any in the pantry, but I will be trying that next time.


Recipe:

1 head cauliflower cut into small florets
1/2 cup skim milk
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
salt and white pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups low fat sharp cheddar cheese (divided)
1/4 cup low fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup pureed chick peas, drained and rinsed (optional)
1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Put cauliflower florets into a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, drain thoroughly then put in casserole oven-safe dish

Mix skim milk, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and white pepper in small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until mixture starts to boil. Add cheddar and mozzarella cheeses (minus enough to sprinkle on the top at the end) stirring in figure 8 motion until cheese is melted. Add chick peas at this time if you are using them and stir until they have warmed through. Turn off the burner then add Greek yogurt to mixture until it is fully incorporated. Taste test the sauce to make sure you don't need to add any more seasoning for your taste.

Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower and stir until fully coated. Sprinkle reserved cheddar cheese on the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly brown.


Allow to cool slightly and enjoy! I hope you and your family enjoy this as much as mine did.

Roasted Chickpeas 10 Ways

It's been said that losing weight is 70% diet and 30% exercise. Snacking between meals can easily make or break your diet, depending on if you're doing it right.

My sister-in-law Leigh Anne recently posted a healthy snack that she made on facebook and since then I've been hearing more and more about roasted chickpeas. On my Internet search I discovered that the sky's the limit when it comes to seasonings so I pinned my top ten on my pinterest board and decided to make some for an upcoming party with friends.

I made recipe number 1 below: Parmesan Cheese Roasted Chickpeas. The changes that I made are as follows: 1- I put the chickpeas in the oven dry (no oil or seasonings- I put those on after they came out of the oven; 2- cook them longer so they are crunchier-the crunchier the better! ; 3- add a little bit of garlic powder for flavor too)
TIP: Do not put these in a sealed container as the chickpeas will become moist and lose their crunch - learned this one the hard way :)

My own photo got deleted so I stole borrowed this one from the Parmesan Cheese website :)

Side note: Thinking about the healthy aspects of the chickpea, I found this website with a wealth of information on the topic.

These are my Top 10 Roasted Chickpea Recipes (and I plan on trying each one)

*1- Kid-friendly Parmesan Cheese Roasted Chickpeas

*2- Sweet Roasted Chickpeas with brown sugar and cinnamon

*3- Roasted Curried Chickpeas


*4- Garlicky Roasted Chickpeas with Feta, Mint, and Lemon (I personally will leave out the mint-personal preference)


*5- Roasted Pimenton Chickpeas (uses paprika)


*6- Italian Style Balsamic Roasted Chickpeas


*7- Taco-style Chickpeas


*8- Cocoa Chickpeas


*9- Buffalo Style Roasted Chickpeas


*10- Use your favorite spices- great step-by-step picture tutorial




Snack-on folks! :)

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies

I. Love. Cookies.

Eating cookies and being on a diet typically do not go very well together so when I found this recipe for flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I had to try them. These were extremely easy to make and were a huge hit with the kids and hubby (I ate a few myself). I froze half of the batch and they came out of the freezer just as good as when they went in it. I got the recipe from http://www.ireallylikefood.com/764528172/flourless-peanut-butter-and-chocolate-chip-cookies/. I just added 1 tablespoon less of each sugar and used only 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and they turned out great! The adapted recipe is listed below.





Oven-ready!



Yumm-o!

Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 16 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp of white sugar
• 1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp of loosely packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the peanut butter, sugars, egg, baking soda, and vanilla together in a bowl; mix until well combined. Add most of the chocolate chips then mix. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes so the dough is easier to handle.

Place spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking sheet then top each cookie with the additional chocolate chips. (I like to use a small ice cream scoop-no mess, no fuss.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then carefully place them onto a cooling rack to cool. Cool completely before eating. If you want to freeze the cookies wait until completely cool then seal in a plastic freezer bag.

Printable recipe here

Cauliflower Crusted Cheese Pizza :)

I was absolutely starving today after I put the kids down for their naps (I usually eat lunch during their nap time, it's just easier.) So, instead of pillaging my cupboards like a crazy lunatic I decided to look for inspiration on my Pinterest page. I had found this cauliflower crust pizza a while ago but was intimidated by it for some reason. (Maybe I just didn't want to drag the food processor out of my basement.) Anyways, this was very easy and quick to make (I didn't even have to have a snack to hold me over until it was finished). I may even make it again for dinner tonight...yes, it was that good. On these hot summer days I don't even like to think about turning on my oven so I made mine in my toaster oven and it turned out great. I did learn one very valuable lesson though through this process. ALWAYS spray your foil before you put your crust on it. I just hope that I didn't eat any foil as I peeled the pizza off and ate it with a fork. :)





The yummy cauliflower crust before it went into the toaster oven.



All done! (I left mine in a little too long.)

Recipe for crust:

1 cup of riced cauliflower (see instructions below)
1 cup of reduced fat mozzarella cheese
3 Tbs liquid egg whites (or 1 large egg)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 425 degrees F. Cover baking sheet with foil or parchment paper (if desired) and SPRAY with oil.

Mix cauliflower, cheese, and egg together in your bowl. The cheese will get all melty and yummy. Then add oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper and combine thoroughly. Your mixture will come together to resemble a traditional dough. If you find that you have excess moisture like I did, simply squeeze it out with your hands.

Press cauliflower mixture onto foil/parchment paper until it is about 1/2 inch thick then spray/brush with extra virgin olive oil to promote browning. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

Add pizza sauce, cheese, and precooked toppings of your choice and broil for 3-4 minutes until cheese is bubbly and brown.

Enjoy!

How to rice the cauliflower:
*Grate enough cauliflower to measure one cup with hand grater (or you can chop the cauliflower into chunks-not too much stem-and pulse it in your food processor until it looks like rice-do not puree it)
*Put cauliflower in microwave safe dish and cook on high for 2 1/2 - 4 minutes depending on your microwave (I did 2 1/2 minutes with my 1100 W microwave). Do not add water or you'll just have to drain it out later (personal experience again).


This is a recipe that you really must try, you will not regret it! Happy/healthy eating :)


Here's a printable version if you'd like it.



**Updated:**
The recipe above makes enough pizza for about an individual portion size. I recently made the pizza for a larger group and made 2 round pizza pans and a large rectangle pizza and it was a hit!
Below is the adjusted recipe that I used for 1 large round pizza pan.

* 3 cups of riced cauliflower-microwave for approximately 8 minutes or until soft
* 2 whole eggs or 4 egg whites
* 2 cups shredded reduced fat mozzarella
* 1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
* 1/8 + 1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil to coat dough 

(I didn't have onion powder, but if I had I would have added 1/4 tsp)

Fireworks and Play-doh!

For years my favorite holiday has been the 4th of July. I know most people probably would choose Thanksgiving or Chrismas, but for me there's nothing like hanging out by the pool, grilling a yummy meal, and watching fireworks.  Most areas have fireworks several days before the actual holiday, so we actually went to see fireworks a few days ago (and hoping we can again today!). About 3 minutes into the fireworks Hulk was over it and wanted to go home. He's not much for loud noises anyways, but I'm sure the people around us loved hearing "all done now, go home" between the booms of the fireworks :)

Sponge seemed to enjoy herself and even snuggled up on my lap for awhile :D (In my head I was thinking "remember this moment").

My husband was playing with the fireworks mode on our new camera and he didn't do too bad!

Time to check 34- watch fireworks off of our list!

The fun weekend didn't stop there!

The next day we had our Pirate birthday party to attend and we made Pirate Play-Doh for the birthday boy. Play-doh is always a big hit in our house so of course we had to make some for ourselves too.

Number 2- make play-doh- check!

Sponge was able to make most of this on her own with the exception of dealing with the hot water and oil.

Time to play!

She made a birthday cake :)

Thinking of making white and blue play-doh today as well....oooo, and adding glitter!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Pirate Party Gift

When it comes to giving kids' gifts I try to give something that is both fun and educational or beneficial to development in some way...I guess it's just the teacher in me. Friends of ours were having a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday party for their soon-to-be 4 year old son and I wanted to find something that would fit in that criteria and be pirate themed in some way. So, what I decided on was to make red (that's a pirate color, right?) Pirate Play-Doh using the kool-aid recipe from Come Together Kids, a set of plastic cookie cutters that can be used with the play-doh, and something piraty (now I'm making up my own words!) to wrap it in. The Sponge always wants to make cards for people now so I save myself the $3.99 and let her have at it!

While I was at Wal-Mart picking up the cookie cutters I found a beach towel with a pirate ship and sharks wearing pirate hats. Perfect!

So, with all of my goodies purchased I got set to make the kool-aid (pirate) play-doh. Instead of making up the goody bag with the directions to make-your-own play-doh like on Come Together Kids, I just followed the recipe to make the recipe in completion (get straight to the "play" part). Here's what I did.

Bring 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 Tbsp oil to a boil



Meanwhile put the following ingredients into a bowl:
*1 1/3 cups flour
*2 packets of unsweetened Koolaid powder for a bright color, but 1 packet works too
*1/4 cup salt
*1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Once the water/oil comes to a boil, add to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until well blended (I must of had lumps in my flour-it looks like raw hamburger meat!)

When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead it until it's fully combined. Keep in a sealed plastic bag.

Once the play-doh was cool I labeled the ziploc bag as Pirate Play-Doh and wrapped it and the cookie cutters in the beach towel. The beach towel was a little small so I taped the smaller ends to the cookie cutter box and then was able to easily tie up the long ends with braided yarn, tuck in the home-made birthday card, and voila! A gift fit for a pirate.

Everything's ready to wrap!

Completed pirate birthday gift :)

Library

Number 63- check out the events calendar at your local library... you'd be amazed at the activities that are offered for free!

I'm just going to say it, the library is fun! And not only is it fun, but most of it is FREE! We have been taking advantage of ours lately for this very reason. My kids' favorite activity right now is storytime. They LOVE sitting down with me on the couch or in their beanbag chairs and reading book after book. They are always upset when it's time to be done, and as a mom and a teacher nothing makes me happier. Two nights ago my mouth and throat were dry from reading for so long, but I didn't care I kept right on going. I think that the greatest gift we can give our kids is a love of reading. It will make their lives richer and fuller in so many ways.

We read until we pass out!

Our local library has the summer reading program, which I will post about another time, and it even rewards it's patrons for checking books out of the library during the summer months. Everytime you check books out at the library you get a scratch-off ticket. The very first time that I received a scratch-off ticket just a couple of days ago, I scratched that silver off with the penny that the librarian gave me and then I saw it. Winner! I never win anything and the fact that I won 2 free books from the library just made my day. It was late as we were leaving the library so I have yet to collect my prize, but when I do I'll definitely be posting it. I wish I had a picture of my winning ticket but the librarian took it. Hindsight right?!

The reason I was at the library that night was because I had signed The Sponge up for a FREE drama workshop for kids. (Isn't the library wonderful?!)

We were the first ones to arrive and she was a little nervous and clingy, but once she saw the props and the other kids started pouring in she was in her element. Now, some of the moms stayed for the workshop, but I have come to notice that if I'm with The Sponge when she's in a class, such as her dance class, she watches me and tries to talk to me and doesn't pay attention to what she should be doing, so I bowed out and I'm glad that I did. While I was looking for new CDs, books, and movies when she was in the workshop the sounds of the singing, laughing, and "drama" from that conference room were filling the whole main level of the library. I could even pick out The Sponge's voice from time to time amongst all of the chaos and it made me smile. I was a little sad because I could not see what was happening and truly be a part of this experience with The Sponge, but when I asked her how it went and she enthusiastically said, "IT. WAS. AWESOME!" I knew that I had made the right decision.

Sometimes even though we want to be right there with our kids every minute (and I do when it comes to the extra-curricular type of activities- oh, and I usually tear up watching them participate and succeed at ANYTHING---I'm a little emotional okay?! (: ) we need to step back and let them gain some independence and have their own time to just be themselves, fail, succeed, whatever, and experience life.

Nature Art and Dance Party

It has been surprisingly easy to check off items from our summer activities list. Especially when The Sponge initiates activities that are already on the list! (I love that girl!) Last night my hubby and I were chillin' on the new patio furnature that he had just finished making. Awesome job right?!

He bought the adirondack chairs in boxes and put them together and made the table out of pallets, a 4x4, and casters then stained them all to match!

Anyways, so we were chillin' and admiring the view of our kids running around being crazy adorable in the backyard when The Sponge came up to me and asked if she could make a project out of leaves and flowers...um...YEAH! She asked for paper and glue, to which I happily abliged as I grabbed my camera to check Number 52-create works of art from nature off of our 70 Days of Summer Activities list. Of course, as soon as The Hulk heard the words "project" and "glue" he was running over and asking for paper too. They had so much fun with this open-ended activity. The Sponge made a family out of the leaves:) Here's how they made their masterpieces!

Materials were gathered

Sponge got angry when Hulk stole her leaves

Hulk does not like getting his fingers dirty! -Glue yucky!

Ta Da! Finished Masterpieces!

While we work or play outside we like to listen to music, so last night I had our Kindle Fire tuned to my Taylor Swift station on iHeart Radio (which if you don't have iHeart Radio yet you should, it's free and there are NO commercials). The kids decided to have an imprompto dance party, taking care of Number 6-have a dance party in your backyard.

Hulk getting down with his bad self

Oh, you're taking picures now Mom?

Go Spo-onge, Go Spo-onge

Dance partners :)
The Hulk doesn't like to wear pants..it makes him 'ANGRY'! ;)

We had so much fun with these two activities. It's amazing how much fun you can have when you let your kids lead the way. One of my favorite blogs to follow is Hands Free Mama. I swear when I grow up I want to be just like this amazing Mama. Her focus is on really being present with her family. That is my ultimate summer goal. My kids are growing up too fast, as all kids do, and I just want to relish every moment and turn them into memories not regrets.

Camping Trip

Camping is Fun!

This past weekend was our 2nd Annual Family Camping Trip! We added our cousin and her family to the fun this year. Last year on our 1st family camping trip (which was...interesting) it was just me and my family, my sister, and her boyfriend. The campground that we went to was dirty and disappointing and will rename nameless (but let's just say it rhymes with Halt Dork!). This year we chose a new (clean) park, my kids were a year older, and we let go and just had fun! We were able to check off several of our 70 Days of Summer Activities during our 3 day trip and I got pictures of most of them!

We checked off number 24-make smores  on our last night there. Now, I did not get a picture of this (and I should have) but my husband may have invented the most delicious camp-out-sitting-around-the-fire-treat EVER. You'll want to take notes. No really. Go get some paper and a pen. He sprayed a pie iron then put in two pieces of white bread in it  and loaded it with marshmallows and an entire Hershey bar. AAHHH! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After a few minutes of sitting at the edge of a blazing hot fire what resulted was an unbelievably ooey, gooey, chocolaty delicious treat that words fail to fully describe! If you have other yummy campfire treats please share, I have a feeling I'll be buying some wood very soon :)

Number 29-make mud pies

These mud pies started out as dirt pies.

Then the kids decided to make mud pies by adding water from the water fountain.

Then they thought it would be more fun to squish their toes and splash around in it. (This picture makes me think of the grape-squashing from the wine-making episode of I Love Lucy :) )

Filthy



and I love it!


Number 33-play with sparklers

Using the extended shutter time on his camera, my cousin's boyfriend Mike took a picture of the kids playing with sparklers. So cool!

Ooooooo. Aaaaaahh.


Number 41-go on a family camping trip

I think I covered that one already, but here's a group photo that we took on the last day before we drove away from our campsite. The Sponge is so sassy I love it!

Number 46-go swimming

The park that we were at had a lovely beach and Marina and a beautiful lodge. We took the kids swimming in the lake (okay my husband did, I didn't bring my suit on purpose-body issues but I'm working on it- but once they got out there I wish that I had :(  ) and the kids had a blast.

Number 54-look for rainbows

Now, when I originally wrote this one I was thinking about looking for rainbows when it was raining, but I like how we found ours better. After the kids made their mud pies they were filthy from face to feet and I took them to the water fountain/spigot to rinse them off and in the mist of the water we saw rainbows! I tried to get a good picture of it but I don't think it came out too well.

Our "home-made" rainbow :)

Number 59-start a nature collection

My daughter has always loved picking up rocks that she thought were special in any place from the parking lot at BJ's to the local playground and now my son has developed the same fondness for these little gems. While on a trip to the playground near our campsite The Hulk started digging in the sand at the foot of the slide...

The Hulk's favorite playground equipment

Finding treasures

and found these.

The rest of the weekend was filled with the kids looking for more treasures as they both were building up their new rock collections.


So, in 3 short days we were able to create many wonderful memories and cross 7 of our summer activities from our list. What fun things are you doing this summer?