Category Archives: yum

Homemade, Corn Syrup-Free Marshmallows

. gluten free, Organic, yum .

“It’s Spring, why are you talking about marshmallows?” you ask, as most of you look outside to sunshine and robins flying by. “We just finished up with marshmallow season. It doesn’t start again until the summer.”

Well, because, this: Denver WeatherOh Colorado spring, how you tease me so….

Now, I saw forecast this past weekend like a lot of folks did some prep work for the storm.

Some fun ideas for the house bound boys? check

hot cocoa materials? check

marshmallows for some hot cocoa? uh, no……{sigh} did you know that even marshmallows can not escape the evils of artificial food dyes? To make the marshmallows as white as they can, they add blue dye #1? Oh, and of course there is also the GMO corn syrup and also Tetrasodium Pyrophophate (a chemical which they try and play off as a “whipping agent”. Thanks Kraft, but I’ll use air as my whipping agent.)

So I went in search of a recipe that I could make at home with everyday ingredients and NO CORN SYRUP.

Most homemade marshmallow recipes call for corn syrup. (and most supermarket, store bought corn syrup is GMO, so no thanks. Although, here is a link to non-GMO, organic corn syrup called Wholesome Sweetners Organic Light Corn Syrup, but that surely is not a staple in my house either.)

I found recipes using brown rice syrup (which is not a staple in my house).

I found ones using honey, but I didn’t want honey flavored marshmallows.

I just wanted a fluffy, normal marshmallow made without corn syrup and nothing funky and really easy! Is that too much to ask?

And this person (from Soap Deli News) NAILED IT! (click for the recipe)

A corn syrup-free marshmallow recipe made with just sugar. And I have a huge 5 lbs bag of organic cane sugar from costco so look at that, I made (almost) organic marshmallows to boot!

{Side note, have you ever seen organic or natural marshmallows at the store? Typically they are rock hard and disgusting looking. So, no, I have never purchased a 10 oz. bag for $6.99}

But this recipe…..these are so incredible. SUPER, duper sweet but they taste exactly like the store bought, Jet Puffed crap that yes, I will admit are so tasty. I am only human, right?

I was texting with Kel Dos while making these and gave her a play-by-play, so I will share that with you because making marshmallows is pretty cool.

003about 5 minutes into the 20 minute whipping process

004about 15 minutes into the 20 minutes whipping process. Notice the fluffiness.

010mouthfuls of marshmallows (GO TIGERS!)

012PLATEFULS OF MARSHMALLOWS! (that I did graciously share with neighbors…mostly so I wouldn’t eat them all myself)

020snow day hot chocolate (consumed out of my husband’s Pluto mug from when he was a boy, which I think is so cool.)

023Hot cocoa mustache (and Go Spartans!)

And so there is one benefit of our Colorado Spring storms….we still get to drink hot cocoa with yummy, homemade marshmallows well into April (and maybe in May too!)

PS – Do you see that butternut squash in the background? I’ll share a secret with you. I have had that since November-ish (I think it’s still good, I’m not sure. But I can’t get rid of it for some reason…..)

Lots of Recipes (and They Are Healthy and Gluten Free To Boot!)

. From Scratch Cooking, gluten free, yum

I have been doing a lot of cooking recently.

In fact, I cooked dinner 28 days during the month of March.

I know this because I did some menu planning at the beginning of the month and kept track of it.

I am kind of insane, yes.

However, the best part about this was that I was able to try out some new recipes that I found on Pinterest!

(click on the link to take you to the pin, click on the picture to take to you to the site and the recipe.)

Here we go….

Crunchy Black Bean Tacos: When asked what things from March’s menu should go on April’s menu, these were the first thing Matt mentioned. Grant seconded that thought. Very filling, really tasty, easy to make, great for Meatless Monday.

crunchy black bean taco(Source: Cornerstone Cooking)

Gluten Free Shepard’s Pie: We had this for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I substituted ground turkey for ground beef. It was super flavorful and really easy to make. Will definitely make it again.

Gluten Free Shepard's Pie

(Source: Celebration Generation)

Quinoa Crusted Chicken: This looked good on paper, if you follow those instructions. I made this for some neighbors one night and didn’t cook the quinoa before I toasted it. (I read the recipe wrong…go figure) Needless to say, it was rather crunchy and very earthy tasting. My guests were kind enough to tell me they liked it. I did not. HOWEVER, if you do cook the quinoa and then toast it, perhaps it may taste better than mine. It looks good in the picture at least.

quinoa crusted chicken(Source: Taste and Tell Blog)

Another quick, easy, good-for-using-up-leftovers is this Better Than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice. A tip I learned about Chicken Fried Rice a few years back is to use rice that is a day old or else the dish turns out mushy. Also, if you use rotisserie chicken, you can make this dish in less than 10 minutes, easily.

Better Than Take out Chicken Fried Rice

(Source: Rachel Schultz)

This is a more popular pin that I always see on Pinterest, PB Oat Breakfast Bars. It goes to show you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. These are  just ok in my opinion. I didn’t like the texture (kind of gummy) but they boys ate them.  Sweetness, peanut butter, chocolate chips in a cookie-type form…why wouldn’t they? These could be a quick, protein-filled breakfast on the go, just not for me.

Peanut Butter Oat Breakfast Bars(Source: Watching What I Eat)

This prosciutto wrapped asparagus is super quick, easy and a great side dish (especially to bring to someone’s house for dinner). And BACON!

proscuitto wrapped asparagus

(Source: Eat Drink Paleo)

Easter dinner was a last minute thought this year. Like, “Hey, we have people coming over in 2 hours, what are we going to eat for dinner?”-type last minute. I had a ham, I wanted rolls. Do you know how long it has been since I have had a roll? Let alone a roll that tastes like regular bread. A ROLL THAT FOOLED EVEN THE BIGGEST LOVERS OF GLUTEN! They were devoured by all and I made them again, three days later with the ham and bean soup that I made from leftover ham.

For the love of everything that is gluten free, THESE ARE AMAZING! I followed the directions to a tee (even took the temperature of the milk to make sure it was between 110-115 degrees.) I used cornstarch for one batch and potato starch in another. The cornstarch muffins were fluffier, the potato starch ones were almost flakier. They reminded me of canned biscuits (which btw, I used to LOVE!) Flaky and buttery and light and fluffy. Takes about an hour and a half to make them start to finish (40 minutes of proofing) and it is so worth it. Anytime you need a gluten free dinner roll…make these!

nom, nom, nom, nom, nomGluten Free Dinner Rolls(Source: Joy of Cooking)

and I will send this off with the most incredible recipe ever. It is so incredibly good that I made it twice in one week. One time for dinner. And this is really a breakfast thing.

hashbrown quiche! Give yourself about an hour for this one. BUT SO WORTH IT! SO, SO, SO, SO, SO worth it!

IMG_5956hash brown quiche, loaded with goodness

Ok, so really, this just gave me the idea to make one because I didn’t follow the recipe at all. I just figured out how to make the crust.

Here’s how to make the crust:

Get a small bag of shredded hash brown potatoes and dump into a pie dish.

Spread around, up the sides making a well in the middle. Season with salt and pepper

IMG_5957like so

Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until slightly golden.

Here’s how to make the filling:

Crack 7 eggs in a bowl, add a bunch of stuff (and when I say “bunch” I mean it. LOAD it up until it seems like too much) and mix it up really good.

IMG_5962

Stuff you can add:

  • onions, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, ham, bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese (that was our first combination).
  • Green onions, shredded chicken, swiss cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes
  • Black beans, onions, tomatoes, mild chiles (or green chili sauce), cheddar cheese

Get creative! Just add some meat, some veggies (I saute mine first), and cheese pour the entire mixture into the pie crust.

IMG_5964

Lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

The coolest part about this is that the egg mixture seeps throughout the hash browns making them this eggy, hash browney, mouth full of deliciousness. and it. is. so goooooooooood.

This would be great when having guest in town, for brunch, a holiday breakfast (Easter!), or just for a really quick and easy (and HEALTHY!) dinner.

And there you have it folks, a few recipe reviews for your liking (and gluten free to boot, what! what!) and it only took me 5 days to write. Seriously.

Chia Fresca, aka Nature’s Red Bull

. Chia, Running, workout, yum

Yesterday I ran for the first time in a month.

I was practically forced into my workout gear by Matt (I love how supportive he is!)

I have been battling a little something going on 6 weeks now and although I think about working out on a daily basis, I just haven’t felt like it. I did not want to go. I stalled for a good hour and half.

But.

I drove my ass to the gym, dropped the kids off at (free) child care!

And I ran 4 miles.

With these modified intervals (6 minute warm up at 5.5, 1 minute at 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, and then back down to 6, repeat 3x.)

and it didn’t suck.

it was kind of AWESOME.

just runand it is not because I am some sort of super woman (that is just something I tell Grant), it is because of my new obsession, chia!!!

chia frescaLooks like a mosquito infested mojito……

But is it not, it is nature’s Red Bull! aka  Chia Fresca or known to the Tamahumara People as iskiate. (And for those of you not up on your Northwestern Mexico Native American tribes, these folks can run. Hundreds of miles, for fun. With the aide of their iskiate, of course.)

I had some for breakfast.

I made Matt drink it.

I made Grant drink it.

Chia Fresca anyone?The Driods may be coming, but they are not going to catch this kid

And then he asked for more.

Seriously.

It may look gross, but this stuff is good!

Tastes kind of like Limeade, but with little jelly seeds in it.

And I like those jelly-like seeds. Kind of reminds me of tomato seeds. (and I love tomatoes!)

So, if you have an aversion to texture (like, tomatoes or tomato seeds), probably not the best drink of choice.

chia seedsThis from the girl who told me eating raw chia seeds “tastes like dirty water” and look like “bugs in a bag”

My point of this all though, is this stuff works.

I just didn’t want to stop running, I felt like I could run forever.

And I haven’t run in forever (only 2x in February) so it should not have come easy to me. But it wasn’t as difficult as I expected. (although my knees and ankle were not happy about it.)

Btw, you are running it when you are at an 8 on a treadmill.

I totally attribute my new energy drink, ch ch ch chia fresssss-CA!

However, it is not advisable to drink this (and especially do not give this to your child) in the evening or before bed (or nap).

Not that I have personal experience with this or anything.

How about you? Have you gone “Tarahumara” with your workouts and have you seen a difference?

Team Meeting

. From Scratch Cooking, i want to make this, Running, yum

I have mentioned in previous posts that Matt and I have this kind-of crazy race coming up in less than 5 weeks. Something about 200 miles, 12 runners, 48 hours non-stop, mountainous passes, Breckenridge, Aspen…something like that.  Our team, Last Call is a conglomeration of  spouses, friends, friends-of-friends, and neighbors, which are also friends. So lots of friends which also equals lots of fun and last night we got together for our second team meeting. In which I had two major responsibilities, a side dish and the t-shirt design. Don’t laugh, side dishes are very important and in fact, are my favorite part of the meal.

                                                                                       Watermelon Feta Salad with Basalmic VinegaretteBalsamic Watermelon & Feta salad – no olives please

Now, this came about because I am in desperate need of going to the grocery shopping and had little to work with, but I did have a mini seedless watermelon! And basil and mint! From my garden! (Yay summer!) And I always have feta and I never have olives (so get rid of them!) and balsamic should be a household staple and so there, that was easy. Thanks again Pinterest.

I made a few modifications: NO OLIVES, obviously and I added mint. I didn’t have enough basil so I made up for it with mint and it was goooood! But THE best part about it was that most people who tried it didn’t know it was watermelon, it looked tomato-y and the look of shock on their face after the first bite was kind of priceless. Score 1 on taste and shock factor.

It also most likely comes as ZERO surprise to anyone that knows me that I am in charge of team t shirts. Zero. I have been t-shirt girl for anything that needs a t-shirt since back in high school. And then in college when I joined a sorority, where ever single event is documented with a t-shirt, well yes, I did have my hand in coordinating more than a few of those t shirts. So, when Team Last Call came together I jumped on the t- shirt responsibility with a vengeance!

We took a team vote last night, it was almost unanimous. And only one person REALLY isn’t fond of it (“It’s too resume-y”), but she also has a strong preference to Comic Sans* so…..

without further ado…dun da da DUN!!!!!

Front, centered on our chest…no pocket logo

Back

What does this have to do with Pinterest? Well, type in “free font” in Pinterest and see what pops up. A lovely variety of typography just WAITING for you to download it for free! Because why? Font is important and font is FUN. So I found this font, CODE from this pin and knew I needed to use it for something. And so I found something to use it for.

and lastly, this:

Cheers!which is essentially, this recipe x16

I am not saying anything about if or how that was consumed or by how many people…but we may or may not have lived up to our team logo last night.

So Many Things To Write About..Such Little Attention Span….SQUIRREL!

. kids, yum . ,

My conscious can’t let me go more than 30 days without writing. My goal initially was every other days. Pssshhhh, right. The realization I came to last night was this: I love this blog and I love Pinterest and I still have it set at my homepage, but if I were to rank it (this blog) in order of importance in my life, it falls right below “Dorthy”, our (third) Beta fish. Who was a lovely goodie bag gift at an Elmo birthday party. (One in which I STRONGLY suggested Dorthy as a goodie bag gift…..well didn’t that come right back and bite me in the ass?) And the only reason why Fishy takes precedence over my blog is because Fishy is LIFE and I am a somewhat compassionate human being. Somewhat.* But both are relatively LOW on the totem pole of my life, fishy is just about dead right now.

“Yo, clean my bowl, I can’t do it myself!”

Fishy the fish is actually Dorthy the Fish, the Second** (There was an original Dorthy, aka, Foggy.) And then it’s named changed strangely, when Foggy died and the replacement fish was brought in, in a covert operation, his name changed to Fishy.

Because I can tell you honestly that Foggy/Fishy/Dorthy the First, died because of my negligence. Yep, my fault. But SERIOUSLY, isn’t it enough that I keep alive a husband, two children, two dogs, and a cousin? I MEAN REALLY? A FISH? Good thing we have a Pet Smart discount in our family now.

Also, I am not sure where this blog is going, but I made these this week and they were a hit!

Meatloaf Muffins

Don’t laugh, you put anything in a muffin tin and a toddler will put it down! And I load my meatloaf up with veggies so I didn’t worry about how much they were actually consuming. (Because my 1 and 3 year olds can eat more than me!) This pin wasn’t so much about the recipe (because I used my own, which really isn’t my “own” but more so a bunch of stuff kind of tossed in willy nilly) but more so the concept. Really, you’re just scooping meat mixture into muffin tins and baking. Takes less time, the meat muffins (as Matt wanted to call them, ew) cook more even when they are distributed into muffin tins, and lastly it is SO MUCH MORE fun to eat them this way. Ask any kid (or me, or my family.) Plus, we had a TON left over for sandwiches the entire week. Meatloaf sandwich anyone? YUM!

annnnnd, that’s all I have time for today. Seems as if a certain, once angelic, perfect sleeper has gone all Big Boy on me and decided that naps are for the weak and that he shall have none of it. Well now, you want to take on that battle with me? This is one that I will not lose (but I may lose my mind battling it.) Wish  me luck….

*I am not compassionate about rabbits. I despise rabbits and when I hit one with my truck the other day, I did feel bad for a fleeting moment and then I thought…”Ha ha you little F-er, at least that’s one less rabbit that will eat my flowers or KILL MY LAWN!” This way of thinking typically goes against every fiber of my being.

**You might have noticed that I said it was our third Betta fish, but Dorthy the Second (or probably not…but….) We had a prior Betta fish named IZZE, back in 2011. You might be able to guess where she ended up.

A Few Recipe Reviews – Lasagna Rolls Ups, Zucchini Tots and More!

. Friday Flop, From Scratch Cooking, yum

About once or twice a month I get super busy with work and everything (fun) is put on the back burner. As you might be able to tell from the lack of posts recently, this has been the case. Thankfully, that doesn’t include cooking because these three males that live with me demand to eat at least three meals a day. Seriously, the nerve of some people.

As I have said before, I am all about healthy, quick, and easy and here are a few that have been put to the test the past few weeks:

Lasagna Roll Ups : This happened because I planned a big lasagna dinner to carb-load for a The Bolder Boulder (See: previous post) but when it came down to preparing it, I did not have enough noodles. And I had already gone to the grocery store THAT DAY and was not about to go back to the store that I was just at a few hours prior. damn. But I remembered this lasagna roll up pin and decided to try the concept…the recipe was mine and it isn’t much of a recipe more so eyeballing everything, I am a Rachel Ray type cook.

(source: Cooking Classy) Also note, this looks relatively mess free

It is not relatively mess-free, but it ALL SORTS OF AWESOME! It is easier to serve, it is easier to eat, it is more fun to eat, it does not fall apart like a lot of other lasagnas I have eaten and/or made, and for some reason, it is tastier. Also a bonus, it is more economical. I used a 8 noodles and fed one LARGE man (and by large I mean 6’5 large, not fat large), Matt, who is in training, myself, my BF Kelly, and both of my children. Whom, at 1 and 3 you wouldn’t think they could put it down, but let me tell you…these boys can eat more than me. PLUS, we had enough left over for the boys to eat for the next few days. Love left overs!

Zucchini Tots (source: Curious Country Cook):  Let me start off by saying, zucchini could very well be the cure to world hunger.

A little TLC to a plant and that baby will give up the bounty, let me tell you!

On Monday, I made these zucchini tots only I added a mushroom to the mixture. Holy cow we they good. So good, I made them the next night too. And the biggest fan in the family, who ate six of them that first night? My almost one year old, Brody. No joke, six (6). Shoveling handfuls in his little pie hole, he couldn’t get enough. Such a satisfying feeling when that happens.

Pesto (source: Simply Recipes)  I am tending my neighbors garden while they are out of town and we have been eating really well the past week. They have these basil plants that are out of control and so I gave them a hair cut and made my own pesto. It is much easier for me to make my own pesto, rather than try and find one that is sans soybean oil. Also, you can control the amount of oil you put in allowing you to cut calories. I found that I didn’t need nearly as much oil as the recipe called for (I probably used half.) This lovely garden also provided us with some lovely (organic) lettuce and so I made a Chicken Pesto Salad. Here’s a new twist on salad that you may have not thought about. Add rotini noodle to the salad and use the pesto as salad dressing. LIGHTLY though, you do not need a lot to add flavor to this salad, pesto is a potent flavor anyway. This makes the salad a bit heartier and filling and more of a meal…and is damn good.

Banana Bread made with applesauce and honey instead of sugar and oil (source: 8 Weeks To A Better You Recipes): I always have an overripe banana or two around the house so banana bread is one sweet that is around more often than not. However, I believe this is the first loaf of banana bread that I have ever thrown away. No joke, it was so sweet I couldn’t eat one more piece. And while I definitely encourage substituting the applesauce, perhaps there was just too much honey in this recipe and so I am giving this the big, ‘ole Friday Flop.

It didn’t hurt as much as this did

And while we are on the topic of sweets…..my sweet tooth has kicked in full time these days. I am “in training” which just means I am a little more neurotic about getting a run in daily. The flip side is that I need to keep my calorie intake up and while 95% of the time the food that I put into my body is fairy unprocessed and healthy, well, I do have a thing for cookie dough.

And now is one of those times that I don’t feel bad eating it. So I took to Pinterest to find an eggless cookie dough recipe that I could sneak bite from the freezer every once in a while. I found one for Cookie Dough Bites from Dear Lillie.

While I give her props for coming up with a recipe she liked, it was too sweet for me. I could taste too much brown sugar. Plus, I really like the slight bite that baking powder gives a cookie, which was left out of this recipe. And salt although seems counter intuitive to add to sweets, actually brings out the flavor. By taking those out of her recipe (although, the baking powder is not necessary so I understand why it was done) it doesn’t taste like cookie dough anymore, just really sweet flour and butter mix with chocolate chips. My thought is, why can’t you just make your own chocolate chip cookie recipe, replacing the eggs with applesauce, banana, ground flax and water or the multitude of other egg replacements? Cream your butter with whatever your replacement is and make the batter eggless that way? I’ll try it the next time I make a batch of cookie dough and let you know how it turns out. But this recipe, as it is right now, gets chalked up on the Friday Flop list too. wah wahhhh.

Quinoa, Who Loves Quinoa?!

. From Scratch Cooking, yum . ,

About seven years ago before this quinoa craze took off, I discovered it while going through my complete diet and lifestyle overhaul. I was looking for something that I could actually eat (because at that point in time, even a glass of water threw my stomach into a downward spiral of stabby-death pains.) I needed something gentle that packed a big punch. I could pretty much only eat yogurt and knew I needed to get some protein in me to keep me healthy….enter into my life, our beloved quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah). The delightful, kind-of-grain from the Incas.

A single serving size (1 cup) offers:

  • 220 calories (70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, 15 percent protein)
  • 40 grams of carbohydrates (13 percent daily value)
  • 8 grams of protein (16 percent of daily value)
  • 3.5 grams of fat (5 percent daily value with no saturated fat)
  • 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of daily value)
  • A glycemic load (blood sugar spike) of only 18 out of 250
  • 20 percent of daily value of folate (I ate it a lot when I was pregnant with Grant!)

Quinoa also contains all eight essential amino acids, the building block for protein!

(source: mother nature network – mnn.com)

So, there is your daily lesson on quinoa. Another good tidbit to know if you have never cooked with it, without flavor, it tastes kind of boring. Like nothing really, maybe a little nutty or slightly earthy-ish, but not really like anything. So it takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking with very well.

Well, I have had my eye on this little doozy for a while. Quinoa Mac and Cheese with Broccoli! (from AroundTheTableRI) So. GOOD. and EASY!

Here are some tips and recipe adjustments I made:

  • The original recipe called for almond milk, but I don’t like cooking with almond milk (as I have stated before, too nutty of flavor for my liking) and so I substituted with rice milk.  Still kept the fat content way down if that is something concerning to you. And since quinoa is so absorbent, I didn’t have to worry about this dish being runny (like I do my mac and cheese). It just soaked up all of the extra milk/cheese goodness and made it amazingly flavorful. It was really cheesy and creamy and the eggs helped make it a nice consistency (and not nearly as messy as eating regular quinoa!)
  • I used sharp cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The mozzarella gave it a nice gooey-ness, the cheddar and parm gave it a sharp cheese flavor.
  • I would double the amount of broccoli only because I love anything broccoli
  • Panko. ‘Nuff said
  • I doubled the recipe and we ate it as a main dish. Later on in the week I reheated it with additional cheese on top and served it as a side
  • Guessing by the level of enthusiasm as this was literally shoved in mouths (some with hands, some with forks), it was a hit with both boys
  • I also mixed it in with some marinara later, later in the week only for Brody to shovel in his mouth…with equal gusto as day one (good way to get even more vegetables in his little belly)

Another keeper!