French Toast & Porridge in a Cone

Good morning!  Valentine's Day is going on in full swing in this house hold.  

Yesterday's breakfast was inspired by Snack Girl.  French Toast with a berry compote filling....

To make the french toast I whisked 1 egg, 1/4 Cup Almond Milk and a couple dashes of Cinnamon;

then I dipped 2 sliced of whole grain bread into the egg bath and cooked them in an Olive-Oil-Sprayed pan on med heat - flipping after the first side was browned.

For the filling I just warmed some frozen mixed berries in the microwave then stirred 2 T of Chia Seeds in with them to help thicken the liquid and to give the meal more staying power.

A cookie cutter removed a heart out of the center to make it a bit more fun.

Oh, and then I added some Coconut Whip to take it to the next level.

A 10 minute breakfast with so much charm...Win!!

Lunch was inspired by a snack book Grammy gave Kai.  In it was a cake cone with a tapioca-yogurt filling. I don't have any tapioca so instead I decided to make a Quinoa Porridge to put in the cones.  The quinoa includes a complete protein so I thought it would make a better lunch anyway.  :)

Quinoa Porridge

1 C Quinoa

2.5 C Almond Milk

2 T Maple Syrup

1 t vanilla

2 T Arrowroot Powder

1/2 C Frozen Mixed Berries (to make it pink-ish)

Mix the Quinoa and Almond Milk together and bring to a boil.  Let simmer about 15 minutes, until the quinoa's cooked (it will still be liquidy)

In a separate bowl heat the berries in the microwave.  Once they're soft again pour them into a blender (I used my Ninja) and puree.  Add the 2 T Arrowroot Powder to the berries and blend some more.

Once the Quinoa is cooked, add the berry mixture, the maple syrup and vanilla; and stir it all together. 

Yes, I boiled over and it made a huge mess!!

 Then scoop the porridge into your container of choice.  Our choice?


The cake cones...

Served topped with fresh pineapple, a small squirt of coconut whip, and a side of Broccoli with Nutritional Yeast. 

Of course we had to buy the cake cones first.  I found these... they had the shortest, most readable ingredient list I could find. lol!

As for the Fresh Pineapple...

When at the store Kai saw this and said that we needed pineapple.  I thought, "what the hell" so we threw it into the cart.  Believe it or not, I've never cut a fresh pineapple before.  It was pretty straight forward. :)

Cut off the top & bottom, and then cut off the sides/skin.

Then Remove the center.   I tried using a heart shaped cookie cutter but that was really hard and took too much of the good stuff so I wound up just chopping it all up.

AND THEN when the Hubs got home he asked if we wanted to go get Frozen Yogurt!!!

Can't say no to that!!

Kai got strawberry vanilla swirl with sprinkles, gummy bears, conversation hearts and cherries.  (She ate so much better when I was the one choosing her toppings instead of her picking, lol!)

I had Original Tart flavor with as much fruit as I could pile on top, plus some mochi. :)

For dinner I had an Alumni meeting so I made the Hubs and Kai a pasta bake. 

Boiled Penne mixed with:

A batch of sauce: 1 onion chopped & sauteed, 1 can of diced tomato, 1/2 t minced garlic and 1 T dried basil.  Brought to a simmer and then blended until smooth.

and 2 servings of pulled chicken.

and topped with 1/8 C Mozzarella Cheese

Baked at 350° for about 40 minutes.

To hold me over, and to give me something to eat while they ate, I had a spinach salad.

The Alumni meeting was at Dawson's on Main and I got the French Onion Soup.  It was very good but there was a LOT of cheese.  I probably left 3/4 of the cheese in the bowl when I was done!  We also split a Spinach and Artichoke Dip.  At the meeting we discussed future alumni get togethers... So if there are any Ritter Alumni out there reading this... Make sure you come to the Pot Of Gold Dinner.  We're going to have so much fun (and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need some help at the music trivia, since all the songs I know are targeted for kids!)

Orange Cups and Left Overs

Can you feel it yet?

Love is in the air.

At least it is in our house...we've started our Valentine's Day decorating!

We put up heart garland around windows and door ways, and we made some "stain glass" hearts thanks to some broken crayons, wax paper, an iron and some curling ribbon. :)

There are also now some love birds kissing in the tree!

We had a little fun with our snack this afternoon.   We pulled out 2 Blood Oranges...

Which I cut the tops off of, as well as a SMALL sliver of the bottom so that they don't roll around.

Then the oranges got hallowed out with the help of a grapefruit spoon.

Into my Ninja went the orange pulp & juice with 1/2 a frozen banana...

Then blend, baby, blend.

That got scooped back into the oranges and were topped with a few organic sprinkles (yeah, I'm that mom.  But seriously, artificial colors can do some seriously scary stuff to your body)

Then the taste test...

She loved it!!  Win!!!

I originally saw this orange cup idea with yogurt mixed into it rather than a frozen banana but I only have 1 cup of yogurt left and I didn't want to open it. :)

As for our actual meals...I have no record of what we ate for breakfast!  I was still full from the massive amounts of pretzel I ate during the Super Bowl so I basically just snacked on Kai's breakfast as I made hers.  She had Multi Grain Cheerios with raisins, Banana and "Tropical Dried Fruit" from Walgreen's; topped with Almond Milk.

Lunch was left overs...

Kai had a jelly sandwich, broccoli, pop chips and avocado.

I had tortilla chips topped with the last of the chili dip and avocado.  Seriously, this is the best dip ever!!

Dinner was also derived from left overs.  For Kai and I, I made up a small batch of Cous-cous and topped that with California Mix Veggies, the left over Tempah and nutritional yeast.  Plus we had the last of the "Ants on a Log" snacks. :)

The Hubs at a BIG plate of left over wings.  And that's all he ate!  :(

Weekend Eats

Yesterday I talked about what we'd be enjoying before/during the Super Bowl but believe it or not, I ate more than just my mom's pretzels and Chili Dip this weekend....

Both Saturday and Sunday started off with oatmeal...

Like you didn't see that coming!

On Saturday I drank the other Coconut water that I bought on Friday.  This one was Mango Peach and it was far and away my favorite.  I thought I liked the Lychee until I had this one...I could have drank 4 more of the Mango Peach!!

Saturday's Lunch was a super quick soup... Like maybe 10 minutes to make.

I filled a pot with some Veggie Broth, added Frozen Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots & Okra and brought all that to a boil.  Then I stirred in a whisked egg.

Into a bowl it went with a bit of Nutritional Yeast and Tamari (Soy) Sauce.

That was followed up with a delicious pear.  :D

Dinner was thanks to Catholic Schools Week.  The school gave all the parents a box of 3 Boboli Pizza Crusts & Sauce.  I'm still not sure why, but I'm not one to look a gifted horse in the mouth. lol!

I pulled out one of the crusts and sauce packets and put the other 2 in the freezer for later use.

Onto the crust went some Olive Oil...

See me using that silicone brush?

And some Minced Garlic...

There was some discussion last week about whether people really use them.
My boss mockingly called me a "Stay at Home Mom" since I use it
most often to "paint cookies" because it's easier than giving a toddler a knife.
That's right, my "BOSS" called me a "Stay at home mom"....
HELLO, Clearly if I have a Boss I'm a Work From Home Mom! lol!!

 Back to the pizza, I also added the sauce (obviously).

Then topped it with 1/2 veggies and 1/2 Sausage, pepper & cheese.

And baked it until the cheese was melty.

As a side we all had a nice salad (Kai's was more carrot & mushroom based and put on her plate)

For my dressing I whisked:  Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Black Berry Whipped Honey and Dijon Mustard. :)

On to Sunday...

Breakfast was oatmeal, just like the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that.  I love me some oatmeal for breakfast.  It's warm and keeps me full and I feel like it starts my day off on the right foot.

Lunch I wanted to keep light since I knew there was going to be a LOT of snacking once the food was set out for the game.

A salad made of  chopped brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, tomato, mushroom, sunflower seeds, and Dressing from Saturday's salad.

Then the snacking began!

I forgot to take pictures of the wings & tempeh. :(

Ants on a log, made with hummus and peanut butter!

Store bought goodies... Cheese Its, Pop Chips, Chex Mix...and
the Homemade Chocolate Meringue

The Chili Dip & Chips...with Avocado on the side for topping

My mom's Pretzels with a Honey Mustard, Garlic Cream Cheese
and Beer Cheese (crock) dipping options

I ate SO MANY pretzels.  And then when my mom left after the game she gave me the leftovers! AHHH!!  They're now safely in the freezer in the hopes to slow down my consumption of them! lol!!

Oh and before the game I added the trim to my door!!  It's now all done and Kai and I are LOVIN' IT!  :)

Super Sunday

It's Super Sunday!  In case you haven't heard there's a little football game happening in Indy. :)

Gotta cheer for Payton's little Bro!! :)

Since the game doesn't start until late (Stupid West Coast) we're staying home. Kai still has school tomorrow so it's just easier that way.  But it will be more than just the three of us.  My parents are coming over, as well as another friend. :)

And since I now have a nice chalk board on my pantry door I went ahead an wrote up our "Menu".

Need a closer look?...

The main food will be Wings.  The Hubs is making Buffalo & BBQ.  Assuming I was listening correctly he plans to cook them in the oven, add sauce and then cook some more.  But that's all him.  I don't do Buffalo sauce.  Something about the smell of it has always made me sick.

I'm making Teriyaki Tempa "wings" for anyone who doesn't want chicken wings (i.e. me).   I was going to get all creative and just start throwing flavors together but then I came across this recipe and decided to follow it instead. :)

Source

Earlier this week I saw this chili dip and immediately saved it to my favorites for during the game.  I figure that with a little avocado and some tortilla chips I may not leave the snack table! lol!!

Yesterday I made up some Salsa to use:

Pulsed 1 Red Onion, 1 Sweet Pepper & Handful of Cilantro

Added 1 cube of Lime Juice (~ 1-2 T)

Added 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes with Chili

Stirred it all together & let sit over night. :)

Source

Since my parents are coming my mom wanted to know what to bring.  My first response was Rice Krispy Treats in the shape of footballs ('cause she has all the time in the world do shape them -jk).  But then she mentioned making Pretzels.  Ding, ding, ding, ding - we have a winner!!  Homemade, warm, soft pretzels with a beer cheese dip. mmmmm!

I also made up a small batch of Chocolate Meringue Cookies* in what are supposed to be football shapes.  Right now they kinda' look like little piles of pooh. :(  I'm hoping that if I add some white stripes/laces that will help.  Either that or we'll just call them our tribute to the Patriots...hmmm!  (all in good fun!)

* Recipe Below

And as a last treat we'll have "Ants on a Log".  This was a last minute addition when we realized that I had the Hubs get me celery at the Grocery store when I already had a full bag.  The plan is to fill half with Jiffy Peanut Butter (Hubs Version) and half with a Peanut Butter Hummus* (my version).  Then we'll top them with raisins & maybe white chocolate chips (left over from Christmas Cookies).

* Recipe Below

Source

At the store on Friday the Hubs bought a BIG bag of Chex mix and some cookies, so that will also be out for snacking.

As for drinks, we have the standard Soda, Beer, Water, etc...

And I'll probably be having one of these....

Last night I made what is now my absolute FAVORITE adult drink:

1 frozen banana, Ice, Almond Milk, & Kahlua - blend until smooth.

I'm sure someone else has created this combo before but OMG!!  It was so good.  I'm thinking tonight I may add a spoonful of cocoa to it too. :D

RECIPES

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

2 Egg White

4 Pkts Truvia Sugar

Dash Cream of Tartar

1 T Cocoa Powder

2 Shakes Cinnamon

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add the egg whites, Sugar & Cream of Tartar to a bowl and whisk the bowl over the boiling water until everything is dissolved.  It doesn't take very long at all but it does warm the eggs which will let them whip better (or so I'm told).

In a heavy duty mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid) whisk the egg whites from the bowl until they're stiff.

Add the cocoa powder & cinnamon and whisk a few more seconds so that it's incorporated.

Pipe into Football/Patriot Pooh shapes onto a non-stick pan (I covered my pan with a silicone mat)

Bake at 200° for an hour.  Turn the heat off and leave in the oven another 2-3 hours.

They should just peel right off. :)

Peanut Butter Hummus

1 can chickpeas - drained & rinsed

1/2 "cup" of Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt (approx 3oz)

3 T Peanut Butter (only ingredients are Peanuts)

2 T Ground Flax Seed (optional)

2 T Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Blend it all together until smooth.  If it needs thinned out more then add more yogurt.