Big news, and some recipes

I have some big news to share with everyone: My baby girl is eating. Specifically, she's eating sweet potatoes, and I have the pictures to prove it:

Messy messy baby

She's in sweet potato heaven here

I know this may not seem like a big deal, but it means my baby girl is growing up. I want her to stay a baby forever!! Seriously.

I'm a pretty tidy person - I hate germs and clean obsessively, actually - but Camdyn and the sweet potatoes win every time. I always thought I would never let my child eat messily and get food everywhere. HA! There's no such thing. She flails her arms like a crazy person and spits her food out more than she takes it in. Last time I fed her, I found sweet potatoes in her hair. 

In other news, John and I have been eating pretty good around here (in other words, I've actually been cooking).  Easy recipes, of course.  The crock pot is my new best friend.

Last night, I made spicy mexican shredded chicken tacos. So simple.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Tacos

• Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or not frozen lol)
• 1 packet taco seasoning (I used the spicy kind)
• 1 can of Rotel

Place in crock pot and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Shred and continue cooking another hour (it will be a little watery looking from the Rotel but if you cook it more after shredding, the chicken will absorb most of this).  Serve in soft or hard tacos with cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa etc.  I also made mexican rice from a box to go with this. 

Frozen chicken, seasoning and Rotel

Voila! Delicious spicy, shredded chicken

I LOVE making meals in the crock pot because it's so easy and always tastes so good. Plus, I'm never sure when John's going to be home so it's nice that we can eat a home-cooked meal whenever he arrives :)

Tonight for dinner I made pasta salad. I got this recipe from some family friends. It doesn't involve the crock pot, but it's really easy nonetheless.

Basil Tomato Pasta Salad

• 1 box bowties pasta (I used mini bowties)
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• fresh basil, cut thinly
• olive oil
• shredded mozzerella cheese (I used finely shredded)
• salt and pepper

Make pasta according to package. Rinse with cold water. Add in diced tomatoes, basil, some olive oil, cheese, and salt and pepper. Mix well and refrigerate a few hours. Delicious!

That's all for today. I'll leave you with some more photos of Camdyn and my most recent finance blog: Is a joint checking account for you?

Homemade bread... sort of

Tomorrow I'm interviewing Soleil Moon Frye, otherwise known as Punky Brewster!  She also was on Sabrina the Teenage Witch for a few years and guest-starred on Friends (a favorite show of mine).  

She's promoting Fleischmann's Simply Homemade No Knead Bread, so I figured I'd try this out tonight for dinner.  

I've never made bread before, so I was excited to try this out.  I made the Italian Herb flavor and it is amazing.  I've already consumed almost half the loaf!  *Don't worry John, I'm saving the rest for you :)

As an inexperienced bread maker, I did run into one problem:  the directions say to place on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 25 minutes.  They didn't say what to cover it with, though.  I flipped the bowl I mixed everything in over and used that, haha.  About halfway through it's "rising", a friend of mine texted me that normally you cover bread with a damp towel...oops!  I quickly switched out the bowl for the towel, in hopes my error wouldn't ruin my bread.

It didn't - the bread turned out perfectly!  It's easy to make and at only $2.69 per box, it's cheaper than a regular loaf of bread.  This is definitely something I'll be baking more often (tonight's dinner - bread and spicy sausage spaghetti).  I'm a huge fan of any dinner items I can make quickly and, even better, in advance.  I never know if Camdyn will be fussy when I cook, so I try and plan easy meals that I can make anytime during the day when she's napping (mostly crock pot meals lately).

Seriously, mom's or anyone out there with no time to cook should give this a try. Another bonus is you just need the box and 1 cup of warm tap water.  

You're welcome in advance :)

The Best Pumpkin Cake...Ever

Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake 

with Apple Cider Glaze

credit goes to big red kitchen and my bestie, Christina

pic credit to the noble pig

For the cake:

1 box yellow cake mix (I used spice cake mix - highly recommend this)

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Mix cake mix and pumpkin puree until well blended

Bake in 13 x 9 inch pan for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean

For the glaze:

Powdered sugar

Apple juice

Cinnamon

Pour powdered sugar into a bowl (roughly 1 1/2 cups)

Add in a few tablespoons apple juice

Sprinkle in some cinnamon

Mix well (add more or less sugar/juice until it's the consistency you want)

Pour glaze over cake and voila!  Best pumpkin cake...ever.

You're welcome :)

Iced Caramel Vanilla Lattes and Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Fall is now in full-force.  Everywhere except in Arizona, that is.  Just because it's still 100 degrees out doesn't mean I'm not going to partake in my favorite fall activities - things like decorating, lighting pumpkin-scented candles, making stew (it's in the crock pot now), and wearing scarves and boots (ok...scratch that last one).

As most of you know, I'm obsessed with Starbucks.  I go there every day, even though we're on a budget.  I'm able to justify it in my mind since it's my breakfast and lunch (bad, I know).  Normally I get an iced venti iced coffee sweetened with cream (yes, you do say "iced" twice), but today I tried something new.  Something delicious.  Something that blew my mind.

Ready?

An iced grande skinny salted caramel vanilla latte.

You read that right.  It's even better than it sounds, if you can believe it.  Credit goes to one of my besties, Shelley, over at Courtepointe Amour.  This is now "my drink", even though it is a bit pricier than the iced coffee.

This isn't actually mine, as I drank mine in 5 seconds flat before having a chance to photograph it, but you get the idea.

Now, on to the second part of my post:

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I am by no means a food photographer, so don't let this picture scare you.  These cookies are more like a cake.  They're soft, fluffly, pumpkin-y, and topped with a sweet, subtle glaze.  I averaged about 5 per day until they were gone.  

I'd post the recipe, but it's easier for me if you just click here.

The only thing I did differently was add cinnamon to the glaze to make them more pretty.  

Hope everyone's having a great day!  Happy fall!

Thai Chicken Pitas

So I swore to myself after yesterday's picture-less post that I would include pictures in all posts going forward.  Unfortunately, my delicious dinner was devoured before I remembered to take out the camera.  Boo.

Anyways, tonight for dinner I made Thai Chicken Pitas.  My mom used to make these growing up, so I asked her for the recipe and made them myself.  If you're looking for something quick, easy, and cheap (yet still incredibly delicious), give these a try.

Ingredients

• Pita bread (I use whole wheat)
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 bag broccoli slaw (in veggie section next to the Dole pre-made salads)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. water
• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. Put chicken in a pan and cook entirely on med/high or high (I put a splash of olive oil in there too, but you don't have to)
2. While chicken is cooking, combine peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, and water in a small pot and cook on low (I add a bit more water and soy sauce as I prefer my sauce a little runnier, actually, I don't even measure any of the said ingredients haha and it always turns out great!)
3. Once chicken is cooked, use two forks to shred it while still in pan
4. Add the broccoli slaw and continue cooking until slaw is hot.  Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Break pitas in half and fill with chicken/slaw mixture and then add the peanut butter sauce to the inside of the pita as well

Voila!  Seriously, this meal is one of John and I's all-time favorites and it took me about ten minutes to whip up.  Thanks, mom!

Food on the Table

While on our family vacation in Georgia, my cousin Susan told me about the website Food on the Table.  Just last week I got around to exploring it, and have decided that this is my new favorite website (so good that yes it deserves a post of it's own even though I barely post!).

First, you enter in your exact grocery store that you shop at.  This will be used later to tell you the items that are on sale!

Second, select the types of foods you like (chicken, beef, veggie, pork, etc), followed by the style of dishes you like (pastas, baked, grilled, etc).

Third, browse tons of recipes for the week.  They're all super simple and require very few ingredients, plus they look absolutely delicious.

After you've selected your recipes, the website creates a grocery list for you.  You delete items you already have, and hit "Done."  You then get an email of your list to print out and take to the store.

Seriously, I'm impressed.  I like to have dinner ready for my husband when he gets home from work, but I have a lot of trouble finding recipes and deciding what to eat without spending a fortune.  I've never been a huge "dinner" person - seriously, if it were just me I'd be totally content with a bowl of ice cream - so that's why every night is a challenge.  I used Food on the Table over the weekend, went to the store and spent a whopping $47 on four dinners (not to mention lunch foods and snacks for John).  Amazing.  I have yet to try out the recipes, but I'll be sure to post my favorites!

Tuna Salad Recipe

Last night I wanted to make an easy, yet delicious, dinner.  After looking through my pantry and discovering tuna fish, I decided to make a tuna pasta salad.  It's a cold pasta salad so perfect for summer!  I googled a few recipes and asked my mom how she makes hers, and came up with my own rendition:

Tuna Pasta Salad:

- 1 box medium shells
- 6 hard boiled eggs (I hate boiling eggs!  My mom told me Costco now sells them already hard boiled!  That is reason in itself to renew my membership)
- 2 cans tuna fish (most recipes called for 5 cans but I only had two and figured that would be fine)
- 3 stalks celery, very finely chopped
- 1 small onion, very finely chopped (I would recommend half an onion as mine was a little overpowering)
- green onion, finely chopped
- mayo
- tons of salt and pepper

1.  Cook pasta according to directions
2.  Hard boil eggs / peel / chop
3.  Chop celery, onion, and green onion
4.  Combine all ingredients, including tuna fish (or you can use chicken)
5.  Add mayo (no set amount, just add it until it's good for your liking.  I personally do NOT like mayo very much so I don't add a lot)
6.  Stir everything together / season with salt & pepper / refrigerate for an hour / EAT!

Definitely a pretty easy and cheap recipe.  We have lots of leftovers too so it'll make for some yummy lunches and snacks in the upcoming days.

And here are a few photos of me at 39 weeks pregnant.  I haven't felt well at all today - feeling very nauseas and completely exhausted (more so than usual).  Maybe it's a sign labor is coming!!

BANANA ICE CREAM!!

Ok, so I stumbled upon this recipe on a different blog www.todaysletters.com and just had to share...

This is SUCH a delicious, easy dessert to make.  John even loves it and he's not always one for super healthy foods.

Ingredients:
-Frozen Bananas (I recommend slicing them and putting them in a ziplock bag prior to freezing)
-Coconut Milk (I use the brand So Delicious, it was hard to track down but I ended up finding it at Walmart of all places)
-Cinnamon

That is IT!  Place in Blender and wah-la!

I top it with whipped cream since I'm pregnant and not really trying to be super healthy :)