Homeade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Fall is my favorite time of the year and with fall I eagerly await the pumpkin spice latte.  Elijah and I walk at least twice a day, and now that the weather is cooling off this latte is my perfect walking companion :). Making your own not only saves you money but also is a healthier alternative because you can easily change the fat and sugar content. Here is my recipe:

Pumpkin Spice Latte

2 cups milk
2 Tbs canned pumpkin
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

In saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar until steaming. Remove from heat and add in vanilla and spice and transfer to blender until foamy. If you don't have a blender just whisk it really well) Pour into two large mugs and put the coffee over it. ENJOY!!!!!

Banana Cream Blizzard-Healthified Version!

Bananas are among the favorite food list of mine. Frozen bananas hit the top of it....I don't know what my infatuation with frozen fruit is, but I love it! I buy bananas in BULK. If you live in the Midwest and live near a Super One foods, this is by far the best place to buy bananas. At the end of the week, they have the overripe bananas for half price. If you get there and the over ripe bananas are no where to be found, then  I got there before you :). But anyhoo, overripe bananas are not only way cheaper but they rock to freeze! I cut up a bunch, place them on a cookie sheet and freeze over night. We use them for shakes, smoothies and many other recipes. Here is my favorite thing to do....enjoy!

1cup frozen bananas
1/4 c milk
-blend until it looks like ice cream

add in:
cut up frozen banana chunks
chocolate chips

finish with a big dollop of fat free whipped cream on top!

Homeade Rice Baby Cereal

I just started introducing rice cereal to Elijahs diet. He is still on a diet that consists of 100% breast milk most days, but a couple days a week we have given him this cereal. We wanted to wait until he was 6 months to start solids, but at around 5 months he wasn't sleeping due to teething. We gave him a couple ounces of cereal during this time and he seemed to tolerate it well. He is now one week short of 6 months and we decided we will try the cereal again in hopes of introducing some fruit and veggies when he hits the 6 month mark. I have never given him store bought, all ready prepared food yet. I am still looking up the pros and cons to making your own vs buying baby food. From what I have read so far, the baby food in the stores have come along way. They make single ingredient food with no preservatives and even organic fruits and veggies. Plus, they are way more convenient. I am a stay at home mom so I have a little more time to prepare our own, so I think we may do a combination.
Any hoo.....I thought I would share the recipe I have been using for the cereal. Super easy, cheap and healthy. All you need are whole grain brown rice, a food processor or blender and breast milk/formula.

Baby Rice Cereal

1/4 cup rice powder (I just blend a little bit at a time in my food processor until it becomes a powder)
1 cup water
a little bit of breast milk/formula

Boil the water and add the rice. Turn stove to a simmer, and cook stirring constantly for about 5-10 min until the cereal becomes the consistency you want. Make sure you let it cool and add the milk. Feed to your happy baby!

~this makes a lot of cereal, so I put the rest in ice cube trays (each cube is 1 ounce) and freeze. Once frozen, I put in a freezer bag. Super convenient!!!

Whole Wheat Spirals with Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach

I started my first garden ever this year! We started off simple because of my lack of a green thumb with cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, red onions and green peppers. Elijah and I check it everyday after our walk to see if anything is ready to harvest. Our cherry tomatoes have been turning red, so we pick them anxiously everyday. I am getting a bunch now so I thought it was about time I look through my cookbook to see what I can make with them besides salad. I came across a recipe I LOVED when I was pregnant. It is soooo super healthy and from the What to eat while your expecting cookbook. Tonight, we will eat this wonderful meal with our fresh from the garden tomatoes and organic spinach I bought yesterday from Super One. mmmm mmm mmmm, I cant wait!

Whole Wheat Spirals with Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach

1 Tbs Olive oil
1/2 skinless chicken breast
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 c cherry tomatoes (From my garden)
1 bag or 6 oz fresh spinach or frozen (thawed and drained)-99 cents on Saturdays at SuperOne!
2 tbs sliced fresh basil (from my herb garden)
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan

• cook pasta
• heat olive oil in skillet over med-high heat, add chicken and cook 5-7 min, set aside
• add shallots and garlic (3 min) add tomatoes until softened (3 min). Return chicken to skillet. Add spinach and basil. Cover and cook until spinach wilts (1 min). set aside.
• Toss pasta with cheeses and spoon chicken sauce over it.

serves 2

Cinnamon Buns....the healthified version

Its Saturday morning.....the smell of freshly brewed coffee, the crisp autumn breeze through the window and the smell of cinnamon buns in the oven. This is my favorite way to spend the first day of the weekend and a memory that I want Elijah to have when he grows up. I love Saturdays because its the first day of the weekend and I get to spend quality time with my three favorite boys (my little boy, my husband and or coarse Sam the dog!)

Fall brings harvest, cool breezes, pumpkin patch and corn mazes! I love it!!! This is my favorite season because not many people get to experience it like we folks in the Midwest :) Its something that is unique to us.....sure everyone has fall, but we get to see the trees change color, the leaves fall, the farmers finish up there hard work, the pumpkins ripen and of coarse the wardrobe change. The cute boots and fall jackets come out :) These are all the things I missed living in the south. I loved every second of the beach and the sun, but every time fall would roll around I missed living in this beautiful area.

When you combine fall with Saturdays AND cinnamon buns you get by far the perfect day :)

Cinnamon Buns (Health-ified version)

2 TBS Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
2 Eggs, beaten
1/3 Cups Melted Butter
5-6 Cups Whole Wheat Hot Roll Mix

Make Dough in bread machine

Cinnamon Butter

5 TBS butter, melted
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

Roll Dough 1" thick-Spread with cinnamon butter-roll tightly. Cut into 20 slices.
Bake 20 min @ 375

Topping

2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Tbs Milk

Drizzle the buns when they come out of the over. Enjoy!!!

- I made my dough last night so the buns where easy to make in the morning :)

Whole Wheat Hot Roll Mix

I am making my Saturday morning Cinnamon Buns tomorrow----the "health-ified" version :). I keep this mix on hand because all you have to do is add in a few more ingredients and your ready to go when you want fresh cinnamon buns!

Whole Wheat Hot Roll Mix

9 cups whole wheat flour
8 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
4 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar


Come back to visit tomorrow and I will let you in on the recipe for the cinnamon buns using this mix ;) see you tomorrow morning!!

Nothin like Fresh Baked Bread

I love the smell of fresh baked goods going through my house. To me there's nothing that says "this is home" like fresh baked bread. We don't eat a ton of bread in our home so I never buy it at the grocery store. My theory is when a loaf of store bought bread stays good for a couple weeks and fresh baked bread will stay good for a couple days......the store bought bread probably isn't the best for you. The health benefits of making your own are awesome, plus its a ton of fun. If your like me and baking bread and buns isn't your gift in life invest in a bread machine. It kneads and rises your dough and bakes your bread.All you have to do is put the ingredients in!!! win-win! fresh baked bread, and ANYONE can do it with no time involved!!!

I made this bread yesterday but did not put the recipe up until I tried it. Boy, this is some good bread!!! I topped it with my peach jam....mmmm mm mmmm!!!

Honey and Flaxseed Bread

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast


1/4 cup honey


3 tbsp ground flaxseeds


1 tbsp vegetable oil


1 cup water, warm (100-110F), divided


1 cup white whole wheat flour1 –

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading


1 1/2 tsp salt




I put these in the bread machine and pressed start!




If your a from scratch kind of gal here are the directions:


In a large bowl, stir together yeast with 1/4 cup of the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.Stir in honey, flaxseeds, vegetable oil, remaining water and 1 cup white whole wheat flour, mixing until smooth.Add in 1 cup of the all purpose flour, along with the salt, and stir until a dough starts to come together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add additional flour gradually until dough is no longer sticky. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes, adding additional flour as needed.Shape into a round, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.When dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape it into a slightly oblong loaf.Bake at 400F for about 35 minutes, until the bread is a very dark brown, and an internal read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 200F.Cool bread on a wire rack before slicing.






Makes 1 loaf; recipe can easily be doubled.



http://bakingbites.com/

Its Peach season!

There is just something about a peach that is so wonderfully delicious! The soft fuzzy outside, the juicy sweet inside, the smell that screams its the end of summer. I have never loved peaches more than when I was pregnant with Elijah. Usually, pregnant women will have intense cravings for chocolate, ice cream, chips....all the unhealthy stuff. My little one wanted peaches! But not just any peaches....they had to be frozen! I have never eaten so many frozen peaches in my lifetime as I did in those nine months! (Maybe that's why he came out so sweet, hehehe).

Anyways, while the hubby and I where visiting the in-laws this last weekend, my mother-in-law bought us a box of fresh peaches! Whatever shall I do with all this fruit I say :)

Well, yesterday we cut half of them up and made peach jam ( I plan on making honey flax seed bread to go with it today) and of course I had to cut a ton up and freeze them to eat plain and to make smoothies with!! Today is bread making day and possibly peach crumble day :) For all that know me, I have a weakness for sweets that I am working on my self control! When I make sweets, I have to make them in a healthy alternative version because I tend to devour the whole thing. :)

Peach Jam

3 cups cut up peaches

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

~add sugar and water and boil, add peaches and simmer 5 min. store in airtight container

Peach Smoothies

1 cup frozen peaches

(I cut them peaches up and freeze them on a cookies sheet, then store in Ziploc freezer bags)

1/2 cup milk

squirt of agave nectar

~blend and enjoy!!

Peach Crumble (weight watchers recipe)

2 spray(s) cooking spray

3 large peach(es), pitted and sliced
3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
6 Tbsp whole wheat flour
6 Tbsp sugar, granulated
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp table salt
1 large egg white(s)
4 Tbsp butter, melted

~Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, gently toss peaches with brown sugar until sugar starts to dissolve; spoon fruit into prepared baking pan.
In another small bowl, sift together flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt; add egg white and combine with your fingers until mixture comes together and starts to crumble. Drop clumps of flour mixture over fruit; drizzle with melted butter.
Bake until fruit just starts to bubble, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.