Food & Recipes
LOW CAL FUDGCICLES
I stumbled across a pic of this recipe on Pinterest the other day & just knew I had to try it. Growing up, Fudgcicles were my favorite type of ice cream treat on a stick. Any time the ice cream truck rolled into our neighborhood a Fudgcicle was what I picked.
This particular recipe is a whole lot less in calories however, & even a little good for you too! They definitely have that “fudgy” goodness about them but if you can’t stand bananas then you might want to skip this. The banana in them does seem to be the most prominent of flavors but I think the blend of everything makes them just perfect.
I only have a 4 pop Popsicle mold so I halved the recipe & added a heaping tablespoon of Nutella rather than Peanut Butter. Delicious!
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:
(Makes 6-8 depending on the size of your molds)
* 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
* 1/2 cup canned Coconut Milk (Pour left overs into a container & refrigerate for your next batch if you plan to make more within a few days)
* 2 small, very-ripe Bananas
* 1/16 tsp Salt
* 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
* optional: Peanut Butter or Nutella
WHAT TO DO:
* Combine all items in a blender (I used a small food processor).
* Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze.
TURKEY STUFFED PEPPERS
I absolutely love Pinterest. Especially for finding tasty looking pictures of recipes that I might like to try & it was there that I first stumbled across a delicious image of these Turkey Stuffed Peppers, which then led me to SkinnyTaste.com for the recipe.
Roy really enjoyed this recipe. Normally all I get out of him is “tasty” when I ask how stuff is that I’ve made for him but this particular recipe he raved about.
I made some minor modifications, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t have any tin foil or garlic powder on hand, so I’ll post the way I made it, which still turned out awesome, & you can decide for yourself which method you’d like to try.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
* 1 lb lean ground turkey meat
* 2 tbsp garlic, minced
* 1/4 onion, minced
* 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 tsp onion salt
* 1 tsp cumin powder
* Salt & pepper to taste
* 3 large red bell peppers
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup tomato sauce
* 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
* 1 tbsp Olive oil
* 1/4 cup shredded cheese
What To Do:
* Heat oven to 400°.
* Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, and remove all seeds. Place in a baking dish.
* Bake 20 minutes & while waiting do the rest….
* Heat olive oil in a medium pan.
* Add onion, garlic and cilantro to the pan. Saute about 2 minutes and add ground turkey.
* Season with salt, onion salt, pepper, and cumin.
* Brown meat for several minutes until completely cooked.
* Add tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of chicken broth, mix well and simmer on low for about 5 minutes.
* Combine cooked rice and meat together.
* Spoon meat mixture into each pepper half and fill it with as much as you can.
* Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
* Pour the remainder of the chicken broth on the bottom of the pan & bake for about 25 minutes.
* Enjoy!
KID FRIENDLY SWEET & SALTY TREATS
I was first introduced to this idea by a friend of mine who blogged about it here. Her idea in doing it was an excellent way of combining yummy fun with learning for her boys. I later began finding similar images of this treat all over Pinterest so decided to collect the necessary ingredients & let the girls give it a go.
They loved it! No, we didn’t make much of a learning experience out of it, but they did learn about sharing a little bit since they each had to assemble their pieces on a separate end of the same cookie sheet. One would think this would be a simple enough concept but when it comes to our girls they find a way to bicker about the smallest of things. I’m sure it has a lot to do with them both being so close in age developmentally but sometimes it’s just mind boggling.
Anyways, after sorting out what it meant to keep their pieces on their own side & eventually meet in the middle they did wonderful. They were so excited to get to assemble everything on their own & even more excited about getting to eat their treats after. We even packaged a bunch up for them to share with their classes at school which resulted in rave reviews. So I think these have quickly become a definite favorite. It’s something the kids can do themselves that’s simple, constructive, rewarding & of course yummy!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
* Bag of square waffle style pretzels
* Bag of Hershy’s Kisses & or Hugs
* Bag of M&M’s (we used the mini ones this time around but I think from now on we’ll stick to the regular sized ones since the mini ones were a bit of a pain to stick on top without getting melted chocolate all over little fingers at the same time)
What To Do:
* Pre heat oven to 275
* Show your kiddo what to do (On a cookie sheet place Pretzel on the bottom, Kiss/Hug on top, repeat) & let them have at it
* Pop sheet in the oven for 2-3 minutes
* Depending on the age of your child & their understanding of NOT touching hot things have either them or yourself lightly push an M&M onto the center of each treat
* Refrigerate sheet for about 15 minutes so chocolate can re harden. Personally I then package them all into a container & leave it in the fridge so the chocolate doesn’t get soft but this is entirely up to you.
BACON WALNUT BRUSSEL SPROUTS
Growing up Brussel Sprouts were always a tradition that was served up with Christmas Dinner mostly because my gramma loves them. I’ve never really minded them but the plain ol’ way they were always served (just tossed with butter & a lil salt) didn’t make them overly appetizing.
This year I had my gramma here at our house for Christmas & it’s the first year I’ve cooked up a Christmas dinner for her. Fortunately, a few days prior I had stumbled across this recipe via a link I followed on Pinterest & it turned out amazing. Definitely a new fav that’s for sure. Honestly, even if you don’t even like Brussel Sprouts this is worth trying. Bacon just makes everything better, doesn’t it?
Ingredients You’ll need:
* 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
* 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
* 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
* 6 slices pre-cooked Bacon
* 2 Cups Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and shredded
* 1/2 cup toasted chopped Walnuts
* Salt & Pepper to taste
What To Do:
* Mix Vineager, Oil & Brown Sugar together in a small bowl & set aside
* Saute the Brussel Sprouts, pre-cooked Bacon & chopped Walnuts together with about 1-2 tablespoons of Olive Oil in frying pan for about 5 minutes or until Sprouts just start to become tender.
* Remove from heat, stir in dressing mixture & serve as a side dish.
* Enjoy!
Nothing beats a good ol’ Thanksgiving Feast! 
We shared a wonderful evening with friends enjoying the delicious feast that I’d spent the day preparing.
Pictured is: Turkey, Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole with a Pecan Crumble
& Marshmallow topping, Honey Roasted Carrots, & Corn
Not pictured is: Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Dinner Rolls & 3 Pies for dessert!!
It was all very delicious.
Good Food. Good Friends. Good Times!
