Be Better

I'm terrible at New Year's Resolutions.  It seems like I make the same one year after year and I never stick with it for more than a couple of weeks.  But I like the idea of a resolution.  The idea of making a vow to change something and start fresh in a new year.  I spent hours contemplating what my resolution should be for this year.  Lose 40 pounds?  Yep, I want to do that.  Pay off some credit cards?  Yep, I want to do that too.  Be a better cook?  Learn to use a sewing machine?  Improve my 5K time?  Yep, yep, and yep.  I was excited about all of the things I thought I could accomplish this year, but discouraged at the same time because, honestly, how was I going to be able to concentrate on ALL of them?  And then it hit me.  Be Better.

Be Better is my motto for 2013.  Rather than making a huge overhaul and trying to tackle all of my goals at one time, I decided to break them down into smaller pieces.  I'm still working out all the details, but the basic idea is to focus on becoming better at one thing per month.  So far, I have plans to be a better cook, handle money better, get a better 5K time, be a better friend, and better organize my home.  Do you see the theme here?  Ha!  I'm hoping that, over the course of the year, I can be just a little better at a lot of things. 

My focus for January is to eat better.  The beauty of this idea is that I don't have to be perfect.  I don't have to overhaul everything, I just have to work at doing better than I have been.  For example, lately my afternoon snack has consisted of some Doritos and a couple tablespoons of Top the Tator as dip.  Sometimes washed down with a can of pop.  Not a healthy snack by any means, I know, but I seriously lose all self control in the winter!  Especially around the holidays when I'm eating so many things that I don't normally eat.  Anyway, today I went to the fridge looking for a snack and repeated my mantra of "Be Better."  Instead of my usual junk, I grabbed an apple, sliced it up, and dipped it in peanut butter.  And I washed it down with a Bud Light.  It wasn't perfect, but it was better.  I figure I saved myself a few hundred calories and added some nutrients and protein I wouldn't normally get.  Again, not a huge change, just something a little better.

I hope you'll follow along on my journey to Be Better.  I'm telling the world of my resolution in hoped that it keeps me more accountable.  But I don't think my resolve will falter this year.  This new approach of small steps and changing things up every month is exciting and refreshing to me and I'm ready to tackle it head on.

My Favorite Christmas Treat

Now that Christmas is getting close, I have an excuse to make all the yummy treats that I don't make the rest of the year.  And the treat I am about to share with you is my absolute favorite - both to make and to eat! 

My aunt brought these to a family get together a few years ago and I was hooked.  I've been making and sharing these for the past few years and I have yet to find someone who doesn't like them.  They have a taste for everyone:  salty, sweet, crunchy, and chewy.  And, they're SUPER easy to make.  I don't know if they have an official name, but I call them the "Rolo Pretzels".  Enjoy!

 

 

You'll Need:

1 Bag Pretzel Rings (you'll have plenty left over)

1 Bag (12.6 oz) Peanut M&Ms

2 Bags (12 oz) Rolos Candies - wrappers removed

Yield:  ~100 treats

 

1.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees

 

2.  Spread some pretzel rings out on the cookie sheet, leaving a little space between them

 

 

3.  Add a Rolo to the middle of each pretzel ring.  (This works best with the round pretzels, but since most of mine ended up being "pretzel ovals" instead of "pretzel rings" I had to make the best of it!)

 

 

4.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 3 minutes, just long enough to soften up the Rolos.

 

5.  Remove the cookie sheet from the oven

 

6.  Gently press an M&M onto each Rolo, which will spread it out inside the pretzel.  If you press too hard, it will push the Rolo out through the bottom.  It won't wreck it, it just won't look as pretty :)

 

 

7.  Cool until the chocolate hardens.  The best part of doing this in December is that you can set them outside or in the garage to cool faster.

 

 

I mixed things up a little bit this year and made a couple of variations of this recipe.  I half-dipped some of them in white chocolate almond bark once they were set.  And instead of M&Ms, I made a few with lightly salted almonds and drizzled melted white chocolate over the top.  The originals are still my favorite, but the other two were good too!

 

 

And....since I had so many pretzel rings left over, I decided to make another quick treat.  I melted white almond bark and dipped half of the pretzel, and then covered with red and green sprinkles.  Quick, easy, and cute!

 

 I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

 

Make Your Own Almond Joys

It's getting to be that time of the year.  Thanksgiving is two days away, and Christmas is coming in just over a month.  It's time for comfort food, curling up in jammies on the couch, and cool nights spent sipping warm cider.  This week I will be pulling out the decorations from the crawl space, roasting a turkey, and starting on the holiday sweets.  I am going to be making some tried and true recipes (which I'll be telling you about later), but also a couple new ones like Homemade Almond Joy Cups.

I found the recipe for these at http://www.sophistimom.com/homemade-almond-joy.  It seemed simple enough, so I decided to do a test run tonight while dinner was baking.  Here's what you'll need:

 

Homemade Almond Joy Cups

 

3/4 cup dried, flaked coconut

3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup toasted almonds

 

1.  Mix the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla together.  (The original recipe said in a food processor, but I just mixed mine in a bowl with a spoon.)  It should be thick and sticky.  If it's too thick, add more milk.  If it's too runny, add more coconut.

 

2.  Line a mini-muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

 

3.  Melt about half of the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, in 30 second intervals, stirring well after each.

 

4.  Pour about a teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of each liner.  Shake the tray (or bang it on the counter a few times!) to distribute the chocolate.

 

5.  Put in a heaping teaspoon of the coconut mixture in each cup and top with an almond.

 

6.  Pour more melted chocolate over the top of each cup.  Shake (or bang) to distribute evenly.  Melt more chocolate if necessary.  (I ended up using almost the whole bag.)

 

7.  Refrigerate until set.

 

8.  Enjoy!

 

I thought these were pretty good!  The hubby wasn't a huge fan, but it was because they were too chocolaty and he doesn't really like chocolate.  I know what you're thinking, "who doesn't like chocolate?"  He likes some, just not the straight up, milk chocolate kind.  But it works out - I get to eat everything he doesn't want :)

 

 

 

 

 

The Magic of Vinegar and Dish Soap

Our bathtub is gross.  If you come to visit our house, I will send you to shower in the basement with the spiders and creepy crawlers before I let you step foot in the upstairs tub.  It's been that way since we moved in, almost 9 years ago.  Yes, you read that right.  9 YEARS.  I don't know what the person who lived here before us did (or didn't do), but it resulted in some stubborn stains.  I've tried every product on the market, and nothing has been able to get rid of them.  There are stains on the sides that I think are from the hard water, and the textured bottom looks brown instead of white because of all the junk trapped in the grooves.

I happened to hear some coworkers talking about their tubs the other day.  One just had her tub resurfaced because she had a problem with stains in the texture at the bottom of the tub.  I was starting to think that was my only hope until someone suggested something MUCH cheaper:  vinegar and water.

Now, I've seen posts on Pinterest and Twitter about the magic of vinegar and dish soap, but I didn't actually believe it.  But before I called in a pro, I figured I may as well give it a shot.  I was advised that it needs to be the blue Dawn dish soap and white vinegar.  I was told to put half a cup of vinegar in a container and put it in the microwave for a minute.  Then mix in a half cup of Dawn dish soap, spray it on the stains, and let sit for 30-45 minutes.  Then rinse.

So, this morning I set out to give it a shot.  Instead of spraying on the stains, I just dumped it onto the bottom of the tub and let it sit.  After about a half hour I went in and gave it a once over with a rough cleansing pad and then rinsed it off.  To my surprise, a bunch of the areas came totally clean and some other areas lightened up quite a bit.  So I repeated the process, this time letting it sit for about 50 minutes.  I again went in and did a little scrubbing and HOLY COW!  I actually yelled downstairs for Robb to come and look at it.  It was clean!  It was white!  It was beautiful!  I probably sound nuts for getting so excited about a clean bathtub, but considering I never thought it would be clean, I am quite happy.

Vinegar and Dawn.  Who knew?

Note:  After doing this a few times today (I had to keep testing it, so I went after a spot in the downstairs washtub), it seems like the longer you let the mixture sit the better it works.  Good luck!

Super Easy Hard Boiled Eggs

I have a love-hate relationship with hard boiled eggs.  I love to eat them.  I get a weird sense of satisfaction when one peels just right.  But I HATE to make them.

This hate comes from not being able to make a consistently peelable, creamy egg.  I have tried my grandma's method regarding boiling time vs cooling time.  I've boiled them with salt.  I've boiled them with baking soda.  I've boiled them with sugar.  I've waiting until the eggs are expired before boiling them.  I've boiled the water first and then added the eggs.  I've added the egg to cold water.  You get my drift.  I've tried just about everything and STILL only get really good eggs about a quarter of the time.

Then I found the following pin on Pinterest:  Make Hard Boiled Eggs in the Oven  This idea is GENIUS.  Forget boiling eggs, BAKE THEM!

This is seriously so simple.  I preheated the oven to 325 degrees.  I placed 12 large eggs into the cups of a muffin tin.  I placed the muffin tin in the oven.  And then I forgot about it for 30 minutes.  I did some laundry, I started some chicken noodle soup, and I cleaned up my kitchen.  I did not once look at the eggs in the oven.  When my timer went off, I removed the eggs with a spoon and placed them in ice water in the sink for 10 minutes.  Then I put them in a bowl in the refrigerator.  Done.

Okay, not done.  I HAD to try one.  And.....it was fantastic!  It peeled so easily and the yolk had a nice, creamy texture.  Yum!  I don't think I will ever make them the "old way" again.

One last little tidbit:  a few of my eggs got small brown spots on the shell while baking, and the one I tried had a spot on the egg after I peeled it.  But that had no effect on the flavor.

Edit:  One last, last little tidbit:  The blog I linked to above listed cooking time as 30 minutes in a 325 to 350 degree oven (depending on the oven).  Since this was my first time making them, I set my temperature at 325 and went for 30 minutes.  Then I crossed my fingers :)  The blogger suggested testing just one first, but I decided to just go for it and it worked!

Spaghetti Squash. Did I really just make that?

First off, I have been a bad, bad blogger.  I started this blog back in the middle of a cold, Minnesota winter and then I completely ignored it for months.  I didn't forget about it, I was just preoccupied with sun and summer.  So my apologies.  I promise to do better!

In the last month and a half, the hubby and I have decided to get serious about losing some weight.  We'd been counting calories and exercising more, and I'm happy to say we're making some great progress.  We've both lost a little over 10 pounds!  We've both always been kind of picky eaters, so when I first saw this recipe I thought "no way"!  But, with counting calories has come a willingness to try new foods and new combinations, and I decided to give it a shot.  So, without further ado:  Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

*The serving size for this is one cup of spaghetti squash and a half cup of meat sauce, which comes in at 192 calories.  Recipe makes approximately 5 servings*

 

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash

1/2 pound of extra lean ground beef

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (we use Prego with Meat)

Cooking Spray

2 tsp. Parmesan Cheese

 

Note:  I brown an entire pound of ground beef but only use half of it for this recipe.  I either refrigerate or freeze the rest for later use.

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half and clean out the seeds and "guts"

 

 

 

3.  Spray the "meat" or inside part of the each half with cooking spray and place rind up on a cookie sheet lined with foil.

 

 

4.  Place in oven and bake for 35-45 minutes

5.  While squash is baking, brown hamburger in a skillet and drain.  If you've browned an entire pound, move half to another container and leave half in the skillet.

6.  Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and simmer until heated through

 

7.  Remove squash from oven. Careful, it will be very hot!

8.  Using a pot holder, grab one half of the squash and start running the fork lengthwise to create long strands that look like noodles.  This was a relatively small squash, which gave me about 4 cups of squash (2 per each side).

 

9.  Measure one cup of squash onto a plate and top with a half cup of meat sauce.  Sprinkle two teaspsoons of parmesan cheese over the top, and enjoy!

 

 

Just like spaghetti, only with a lot fewer calories.  I'll admit I was skeptical at first, but there's only a slight texture different and it tastes GOOD.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

 

Shrimp

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods. That's about the only seafood, other than fish, that I like. Not a fan of lobster or crab. I tried this easy shrimp recipe a while ago and we both love it! I've been told that it's like Shrimp Scampi, but since I've never had that I can't really say! I'll let you know the next time I go to Red Lobster :)

Ingredients:

1 lb. frozen shrimp. (I buy the frozen medium shrimp that's cooked, peeled, and deveined)

2 tbsp oil (I've used vegetable, olive, and sunflower)

1 tbsp garlic powder

parsley flakes

To Make:

1. Pour oil into large skillet and heat over medium high. Once it's warm, swirl around to cover bottom of skillet.

2. Sprinkle garlic powder and parsley flakes over oil. I don't measure the parsley, I just sprinkle an even layer across the whole pan. Then I let it cook for about 30 seconds so the flavors can start to blend.

3. Add the frozen shrimp to the pan. Let cook for 5 minutes, then mix/flip the shrimp so they cook evenly.

4. As the shrimp cooks, it will release water. I cook the shrimp until the water is almost completely cooked off. Usually it takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how high you have the heat. I mix the shrimp one additional time while it cooks.

5. Turn off the burner and serve up the shrimp!

We ate the shrimp with fries, because we're fancy like that :) Pretty simple and oh so yummy!