March 23, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup

One of my friends turned me onto this soup and I have come up with my own recipe. It is quick, easy and if you have a pressure cooker, fast.

Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup

1 lb bag brown lentils, sorted
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, pressed
4 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 green pepper or 5 small sweet peppers, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika

Pour out lentils and sort through to make sure there aren’t any small stones. Saute onion and garlic in the bottom of the pressure cooker with a little olive oil. Add in the rest of the chopped vegetables and saute for 3 – 5 minutes just to sweat them. Add in vegetable broth, herbs and diced tomatoes and place the lid on the pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and keep at pressure for 3 minutes. Turn off stove and let cool a little before carefully releasing pressure. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

March 21, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates

I love easy appetizer recipes and these would be one of the easiest with simple ingredients. Easy to increase recipe or decrease depending on the size of your group.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates

8 Medjool Date
1 ounce blue cheese
16 raw almonds, roasted

Split dates in half and take out the pit. Put about 1/8th ounce blue cheese in each date with 2 pan roasted almonds. To roast almonds, use a dry pan over medium high heat and roast almonds until they start to sizzle. Make sure to watch them so they don’t burn. Let cool completely before you eat them or use them. They will be soft in the middle otherwise.

Each date is worth 3 pts.

March 18, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

St. Patrick’s Day 2017

This is a little late, but I thought I should post the pictures of my adorable children and what we did for St. Patricks Day again this year. Our daughters preschool has an adorable tradition where they make Leprechaun catchers and spend two straight days trying (desperately) to catch a Leprechaun and get their gold. She made a trap again this year, and we used it at home. Unfortunately, the Leprechaun at home forgot, and had to come up with a quick fix this year.

The kids found the green and yellow M&Ms set out on the counter. They were only there for less than 10 minutes, as they ate them all before I could make breakfast.

Our daughters leprechaun she made at school. Looks like he grabbed the chalk and threw it all over the table.

Cinnamon rolls with magic green frosting. I mixed the frosting in front of the kids and all they could see what the white of the powdered sugar. So it was pretty magic when I stirred and they saw it become green before their eyes.

The mess all over the floor that the leprechauns left for me to clean up.

We were invited to an Irish Dancing show on St. Patrick’s Day. She got this adorable face painting.

March 16, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Our Beloved Nespresso Machine

I have a confession….I dream about coffee. I know, pretty strange huh? But seriously, I go to bed thinking about how nice it will be to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. Maybe I could even drink it on the deck with some relaxing music playing or listen to the birds chirping. I dream about not having to rush through my cup of coffee. How I will finish the whole cup while it is still hot without having to warm it back up.

It is usually a dream, because in reality my mornings are pretty busy. I have school aged children who needs to be dragged out of bed (only on school days for some reason) and dressed. Hurried through breakfast and sent out the door with a lunch in hand, teeth brushed, library books gathered and winter gear on. I know this doesn’t seem that busy, but it can get pretty crazy here just trying to get both of them ready and out the door. Fortunately, my husband doesn’t have to be rushed out the door quite as quickly and we enjoy eating breakfast together most mornings. Our daughter who is left home with us, may or may not be ready to eat breakfast. She also may or may not feel like playing, and may or may not need a cuddle. She also needs to get ready for 4K and dropped off every morning.

That being said, my dream of a peaceful cup of coffee usually gets trumped by other things and I find myself either downing it to get Isla to preschool on time, or it is cold. Usually cold. So, I usually think of caffeine again at 2:30pm. At this point I am not going to make a whole pot of coffee for just me. Instead, I get to have a nespresso.

If you have never had a nespresso before, you should definitely try one. They are wonderful.

We first tried this magic machine out at an apartment we airbnb’d (I know this isn’t a word, but it makes sense here). The woman we rented from had a nespresso machine, and after just one use, we knew we needed to get one. We even have convinced some of our other friends to get one of these awesome little machines as well. We should get referral coffee credit, right?

I am not trying to sell you this, just saying it is awesome.

Mmm, I think it is time to brew myself a cup. Have a great afternoon!!!

March 14, 2017
by Ashley
Comments Off on Pancake & Bacon Dippers

Pancake & Bacon Dippers

These are on our regular menu for camping. They are easy and fun to eat. Isla doesn’t like the bacon in her pancake, but everyone else we camp with does. I make the mix below and just add water to create the pancakes.

Pancake & Bacon Dippers

Dry Mix

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg or 3 tbsp flax seed
1/2 cup dry milk
1 tsp kosher salt

Place all ingredients into a zip top bag and it is ready for camping.

For assembling the pancake dippers

1/2 lb bacon
1 dry mix for pancakes
1 1/2 cups water

Once you are ready to use, I add in 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix well either in a bowl or sometimes I just use the bag to reduce the amount of cleaning up after. You may need a little more water to make the batter runny enough. Use your judgement.

Fry bacon until crisp. Pour out fat and return skillet to the heat. Squeeze out or pour about 1/4 cup of batter into a straight line. Place cooked bacon into batter and pour a little bit in a zigzag over the top. Let cook until bubbly and flip to finish cooking pancake. Serve with fruit and maple syrup to dip.

6 points for two dippers.

March 7, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Rye Pancakes

I bought some rye flour recently for a bread recipe, and am not trying to figure out more ways to use up the flour. These pancakes turned out pretty well. They are flat, but the kids ate them which is always a plus.

Rye Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole grain rye flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups 2 % milk
3 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt

Mix everthing well and cook on an electric skillet or in a pan on the stove top.

Made about 24 small pancakes. 3 pancakes for 4 points.

March 3, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
2 oz low fat cream cheese
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
⅛ tsp vanilla extract
10 medium strawberries

Use a small paring knife to cut out the center of each strawberry removing the stem. Whip the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Spoon evening between each strawberry and serve as a quick and easy dessert. Perfect for a hot summer day…which we are dreaming about right now in Wisconsin.

Only 1 smartpoint each.

March 2, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Light Hollandaise Sauce

This last weekend, I wanted to make Eggs Benedict for Paul and I for breakfast. So I used my homemade english muffins, two slices of sliced chicken, poached eggs and the hollandaise sauce below. It turned out really well and I will repeat this again once I make more english muffins.

Light Hollandaise Sauce

1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
1 tbsp dijon mustard (or less to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil mayo
pinch cayenne and ground pepper
pinch Kosher salt
2 – 3 tsp lemon juice

Stir together and serve over Eggs Benedict.

February 28, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Powdered Donuts

I have been on a donut kick lately. Not really eating them, but making them. Paul had a beer brewing event he needed to go to for the whole day soon, so I thought I would make a treat for the 1 1/2 hour drive with a friend. These turned out a lot better than I had expected. The kids liked the taste I gave them and I needed to hide the rest so there we some left for the trip.

Powdered Donuts

2 tsp white vinegar
1 1/3 cup half & half
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 tbsp olive oil
2 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix everything together (excluding the powdered sugar) and mix well. Put about a tablespoon of batter into a Babycake maker (or you could bake in the oven at about 375°F for 12 minutes or until golden brown). I gave them about 4 -5 minutes to cook in the Babycakes maker. Toss immediately in the powdered sugar. Now…hide them until you everyone is ready to eat them. Otherwise, you may not share.

The batch make 60 donut holes for 2 smartpoints each.

UPDATE – I just made these with almond milk and 3/4 cup sugar and they turned out well and 2 donuts for 3 point. I also skipped the powdered sugar coating and made a frosting on the side for the kids.

I also didn’t count the powdered sugar in the recipe. This recipe was originally from Chocolate Covered Katie.

February 24, 2017
by Ashley
0 comments

Baked Doughnuts

I love looking for new recipes to try. My follow a couple of different blogs but really find myself skimming more over Pinterest. I love all to look at new recipes and then I never actually make them as they say. I think how I can change them to make them a little healthier or if I don’t have the ingredients, what I could use instead. So here are two doughnut recipes based off of Chocolate Covered Katie’s blog.

Blueberry Doughnuts

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp applesauce
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
pinch cardamom or cinnamon
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen-thawed

Mix all wet ingredients together. In a larger bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Add wet ingredients and mix. Add in blueberries and mix carefully. Put into a prepared doughnut sheet or muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 16 minutes.

Turn out and let cool.

Serves 6 for 4 smartpoints each

I also made the same doughnuts with a slight variation. I used chocolate almond milk instead of the regular and I added a tablespoon of mini chocolate chips instead of blueberries. Next time I will add in a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa to give it more color. My kids are tricked by colors.