Cream cheese mint party favors

Gosh it's so time consuming planning a one year old's birthday party! My husband and I made cream cheese mints for party favors. We were trying to come up with a party favor that would be inexpensive yet thoughtful, and I think we nailed it with these mints. However, like I said, it was a bit time consuming! We waited until we put our son to sleep for the evening and then spent until about 10pm creating these delightful treats!

We used this quick and easy recipe:

Cream cheese mints

3 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar 

1/4 t. peppermint extract

Soften cream cheese. In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese with peppermint oil. Add in the food coloring of your choice and mix well. Next add powdered sugar. Mix with a hand mixer. Spoon mixture into a cake decorating bag and use whatever metal tip you would like! We used the flower-looking tip for our mints. 

*If it is too difficult to push the mixture through the tip, either use a bigger tip, or remove the mixture from the bag and add more cream cheese to the mixture.

We reused baby food jars and put our mints in them to use as party favors for our guests.

I wanted the mints to be a more royal blue instead of a sky blue, but I guess royal blue mints might not look as tasty, so the sky blue worked perfectly!

I then tied burlap over the top of the jars and tied on a favor tag. 

I used the same tags for the favors as I used for the invitations to tie in the theme. 

My iPad doesn't always take the clearest pictures unfortunately :(

I put a chalkboard label on the front of each jar which added that extra touch. Can't wait to give them out at my son's birthday party!

The art of juicing

I LOVE juicing! After I have a fresh glass of organic juiced veggies and fruits I feel like a million bucks. It's amazing that you get all the vitamins and nutritional benefits of ALL those veggies/fruits in one yummy glass of juice. I mean, who wants to sit down and just munch on a half bunch of kale, 4 carrots, and a half bunch of celery? But when you juice it all, it's as if you did devour all those healthy veggies in one sitting!

The rule of thumb with juicing is most often a 3:1 ratio of vegetables to fruits (i.e. 3 parts veggies to 1 part fruit). Depending on your adventure level and palette, you can switch up that ratio however you'd like. Just don't juice all fruits! That would be too much sugar and you miss out on so much nutrition.

For today's juicing recipe, I did a half bunch of kale, about 11/2 cups carrots (I usually don't use baby carrots but my time was limited), a half bunch of celery, one orange, and one apple. All organic of course! It's important to buy organic, especially when juicing so you don't get a glass full of nasty pesticides. Make sure to wash all your veggies and fruits really well, preferably with a fruit/veggie wash if possible, and rinse well!

I use either of these veggie/fruit washes and they do a great job.

There are SO many juicers to choose from but I definitely prefer this one- The Breville Juice Fountain Plus. It's very effective, easy to use, easy to wash and clean (most parts are dishwasher safe), and reasonably priced at about $150. Go to Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon and it's an even better deal. 

As you can see, I use a leftover veggie bag from the grocery store and place it in the waste container of my juicer, so that I don't even have to clean that messy part! I take the bag out, throw it away and bam, easy clean up! You can also use the discarded parts from juicing for a soup or veggie stock, depending on what you juice.

Yummy yummy healthy, freshly juiced organic vegetables and fruits!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a wonderful day to celebrate love! 

I had to dress my little guy in red today of course!

I was greeted with this beautiful arrangement the morning! What a great guy I have. I even got a card from my 11-month old son. So sweet.

We were able to make breakfast together this morning - breakfast burritos!

Gotta have all the necessary toppings!

Turns out the avocado wasn't quite ripe enough, but the breakfast burrito was still delicious!

And don't forget the most important part! Organic coffee with cream...yum!

What a great way to start our Friday :)

Pulled BBQ Chicken - Two Ways

I very rarely eat chicken but when I do, I eat organic step 4 chicken from Whole Foods. I know this is extremely specific but I'm so picky because I spent many years of my life being a strict vegetarian. It wasn't until I was pregnant last year with my son that I began incorporating the very occasional organic chicken into my diet. Ever since then, I do make chicken about once a month. This month, I chose to make something that I haven't made before - pulled BBQ chicken. So delicious!

Though I was inspired to make this meal from the Cooksmarts website, I definitely strayed and did things my own way. I made this meal so simple by just pouring Grumpy's BBQ sauce into my crockpot, and adding 4 organic boneless chicken breasts. I turned the crockpot on low and let the magic happen for 8 hours while I left the house to run errands and do my weekly grocery shopping trip to Whole Foods.

After 8 hours the chicken was SO tender and juicy! 

It was incredibly easy to shred. It was practically falling apart by itself.

After I finished shredding all of the chicken, I put it all back into the leftover BBQ sauce and mixed it all together for extra flavor and to coat each shredded piece of chicken with sauce.

For the first night's dinner I made pulled BBQ chicken tacos. The fixings included shredded purple cabbage and shredded carrots tossed with red wine vinegar and a bit of olive oil and honey. I also filled the tacos with chopped lettuce and cheddar cheese (each of these ingredients are organic). These tacos were a total hit. My husband loved them!

I always use these tortillas because they are incredibly delicious and they don't contain hydrogenated oils or preservatives, like most tortillas do.

For the second night, I used the pulled BBQ chicken leftovers to make sandwich melts. I used organic whole wheat English muffins, topped them with the pulled BBQ chicken and a slice of cheddar cheese (pepper jack cheese would also be good), stuck them in the toaster oven to bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees, and dinner was done. I added a simple side salad to the meal as well to get proper nutrition.

I took a picture but it turned out a little dark so you'll have to use your imagination :)

Cream cheese and chive pasta - Mmm Mmm good!

My in-laws are terrific cooks. I am constantly asking for the recipes of meals they serve me because they are just THAT good. For dinner tonight I made my father in-law's cream cheese and chive pasta. It has such incredible flavor and it definitely fills you up.

Cream cheese and chive pasta
16 oz whole wheat pasta (I used half organic whole wheat spiral and half organic wheat semolina penne)
8 oz organic cream cheese, cubed in small pieces
1/3 c. olive oil
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. organic Italian parsley, chopped
1 pkg (19g) organic chives, finely chopped

1/2 c. white wine (I used a Sauvignon blanc)

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

2 T. salt

Pepper to taste

First, boil a large pot of water. Add in the salt so the water has the saltiness of the ocean. This is your one opportunity to get some flavor directly into the noodles. When the water boils, add the noodles and cook al dente according to package instructions.

Drain noodles and set aside.

In the large pot, add olive oil and minced garlic. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes. Add the noodles back in to the pot. Add in cream cheese, white wine and pepper. Mix together until cream cheese is melted and evenly coats the noodles.

Add parsley, chives, and Parmesan cheese. You can save some of the Parmesan cheese and use it to top each personal bowl of pasta if you'd like, along with a sprig of parsley.

And dinner is served.

I made a quick salad to go with dinner with some random items we had available in the pantry - croutons, cherry tomatoes, dried cherries, poppyseed dressing and honey mustard dressing. Nothing special, but I needed some greens for nutrition!

Broccoli cheddar quiche

Quiche is always my easy go-to dinner when I haven't been grocery shopping yet for the week. So considering it is Sunday night and I do my grocery shopping on Mondays, I decided to make quiche for dinner! I always have cheddar cheese, frozen broccoli, eggs, milk (or almond milk) and a pie crust reserved for times like this, so this meal was a simple decision.

Quiche is so great because you can put whatever you want in it. I usually do a simple broccoli cheddar quiche, which is what I made tonight, but feel free to experiment! Here is my "skeleton recipe" that you can customize:

Broccoli cheddar quiche
5 organic eggs
3/4 c. organic milk (or almond milk)
1/2 c. organic half n half
1 1/2 - 2 c. organic vegetables of your choice (I used organic broccoli)
2 c. shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar)
Organic pie crust
Salt and pepper to taste

First, I steam the frozen broccoli and if I use onions, I sauté the onions ( which I didn't use tonight). I then dry the broccoli with a paper towel and chop the broccoli into smaller bite-size pieces.

While the vegetables are cooking, I put the pie crust in a pie pan, pressing it down gently to mold it to the pan, cover it with foil (so the crust doesn't burn), and then bake the crust in the oven for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together - eggs, milk, and half n half. Then add vegetables, cheese, salt and pepper.

Once the crust is done cooking (it will not be fully cooked), remove the foil and fill the pie crust with your quiche mixture. 

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake the quiche for about 55 minutes.

Stick a knife in the middle to make sure it comes out clean (no egg mixture residue, but there will be some condensation on the knife from the heat). And you have yourself a delicious, satisfying, quick easy meal that looks fancy but takes hardly any prep! Plus, it's packed with protein. All of our friends love this recipe, and surprisingly, it is actually a favorite among our male friends.

Saturday morning crepes

Ahhh I love Saturday mornings. Especially sunny ones. I was even able to sleep in until 7:20am before my 11-month old woke up! My husband wanted crepes for breakfast, and since that is one of my favorite breakfasts, I decided I would grant his wish :)

Crepes

4 organic eggs

1 c. organic milk (or almond milk)

1/2 c. warm water

1/2 c. organic butter

3 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together eggs, milk, water, flour, salt, and sugar. 

Melt butter and then slowly add it to your crepe batter, while mixing with an electric mixture. This step is very important. One time I just added all the ingredients together, instead of adding the butter last and pouring slowly, and the crepes turned out a little chewy and clumpy. 

I even had a helper this morning!

Pour crepe mixture about 1/8 c. at a time into the skillet of your choice. Pick up the skillet and lean it side to side, making circles so that the crepe mixture coats the bottom of the skillet evenly. Do this motion until there is no batter left to move and it settles to cook in the pan. 

Flip over your crepe after about 2 minutes of cooking on medium low heat. It should be golden brown and still soft. As you can see, we don't have a special crepe pan so I use this organic non-stick skillet and they turn out perfect. Obviously our crepes are much smaller than a typical crepe but it works great for us because we like to make a variety of fillings for each one!

My personal favorite crepe filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, and strawberry preserves. We do peanut butter and syrup as well. Usually we have a lemon juice and powdered sugar option but I didn't have a lemon on hand this morning. You can also do a more hearty filling of cheese and veggies if you choose, but my family prefers crepes dessert-style!

Warm, homemade white chili for a freezing, snowy evening

Freezing temperatures below zero and snow definitely call for some warm, homemade white chili for dinner.

White chili is one of my favorite meals. It is not exactly a low fat meal but it is full of protein and is wonderfully filling. I of course use all organic ingredients, especially for the dairy products (sour cream and half n half). Non-organic dairy products often contain hormones, antibiotics, and other additives that I would prefer not to consume. Horizon brand is one of my favorites.

I keep all of my recipes organized in my little red cookbook. 

Here is the recipe for my white chili:

White Chili

2 cans (15.5 oz each) organic great northern beans

1 can (15.5 oz) organic cannellini beans

14.5 oz organic vegetable broth

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies

1 medium onion

5 cloves chopped garlic

1 T. olive oil

1 t. salt

1 t. ground cumin

1 t. ground coriander

1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 c. organic sour cream

1/2 c. half n half

In a large sauce pan, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant (3-4 minutes). Then add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for about 25 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and half n half.

This recipe makes about 6 servings (in my opinion). My husband and I, with one other couple, can polish off the entire pot! Everyone has seconds of course because it's just so tasty.

There are about 300 calories per cup.

The above picture is pre sour cream and half n half. I didn't even have time to take a picture of the completed chili because everyone was serving up, and before I knew it, the pot was empty!

I almost always make cornbread to accompany my chili because the meal just doesn't seem complete without the light sweet, fluffy, delightful taste of cornbread. My husband loves to put his cornbread in his chili bowl and mix it all together but I prefer to eat mine separately.

I am personally a fan of putting honey on my cornbread. This local, Colorado raw honey is amazing! I don't even need butter :)

Black Bean Quinoa Salad- It's all about the "superfood"

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a grain that is often referred to as a "superfood" because of its excellent nutritional value. It not only contains antioxidant phytonutrients and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients but it is also a great source of fiber and calcium. The greatest part of quinoa, in my opinion, is that it is actually a complete protein, which makes it a perfect food for a vegetarian or vegan. 

Quinoa is a weekly staple in my family's diet. Since we make quinoa so often, we buy the big 4lb bag of organic quinoa at Costco (shown above). I love how versatile quinoa is. You can make a variety of quinoa salads, use it as you would rice, put it in veggie burgers, egg dishes, etc. The list really goes on and on. Today, we made a delicious black bean quinoa salad. After you make the quinoa (similar to how you make rice), cut up the veggies and rinse the beans. Then you simply toss it all together with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar, and you have the perfect superfood! Here is a peek of today's recipe.

Make the quinoa over the stove according to the directions on the package (super easy!), then fluff in a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Cut up the veggies of your choice. This version has red pepper, yellow pepper, cilantro, and green onion.

Toss the veggies in with the chilled quinoa. I also added black beans to this one.

Then make your quick dressing with a 2:1 ratio of red wine vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss it all together, and eat!

We munch on this dish all week long so we always have something healthy and filling to eat when we are short on time. It makes for an easy to-go option as well, so pack it in your lunch for work or in your kids' lunch too!

Chocolate chip banana bread to complete the evening

As we all know, health is important. I love organic food, creating delicious healthy meals and exercising in almost every way possible, but every once in a while, an evening rolls around that just requires chocolate chip banana bread.

Sure I use organic ingredients for most all of my recipes (minus the chocolate chips, brown sugar and vanilla extract in this particular recipe) but I'm not sure I can classify a yummy mixture of butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips, eggs and flour as a healthy snack. However, let's not forget the bananas. Those offset the "naughty" ingredients....right?

This chocolate chip banana bread recipe is actually one of the best I have ever had. It was given to me by my mother-in-law. It has an excellent texture, the perfect density and it tastes like heaven for all you banana bread lovers. Here's how easy it is to make:

Chocolate chip banana bread recipe-

1 stick organic softened butter

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

2 very ripe organic bananas

2 organic eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. organic flour (I do half whole wheat and half white flour)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. chocolate chips

First, cream together butter, brown sugar, and bananas.

Then add eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Then add dry mixture to wet mixture. Do not over stir. Add chocolate chips.

Lightly grease a bread pan and pour mixture into it. I happened to double the recipe tonight so I could save one to bring to a brunch that we have planned this weekend, but the recipe above only makes one loaf. Bake bread at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

And there you go! Banana slices on top make it that much better (and healthier!), of course. Enjoy!