Toddler Lunches wk 1/18

MONDAY:

I was off from work for Holiday.

TUESDAY:

A few co-workers convinced me to go to lunch.  We had Cheeburger Cheeburger.  YUM

Breakfast/ Snacks:  quest bar, pb, banana, wholesum bar and breakfast muffin.

WEDNESDAY:

I had Tuesday's lunch that I originally brought.

I had fruit mix, avocado, hard boiled egg and 2 pb choc oatmeal balls.

Breakfast/ Snacks:  quest bar, breakfast muffin, cocoa almonds, and a wholesum bar.

A co-worker got a edible arrangement from her daughter and it had huge chocolate covered strawberries and she shared with some of us.  :)

Someone surprised us DJ's with donuts from sugar shack for National DJ day.  :)

How amazing do these look?

I hadn't had a donut from this place so I grabbed the maple icing one.  So good!

THURSDAY:

I had a hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, red grapes, rf mozz string cheese, 2 pb choc oatmeal balls.

Breakfast/ Snacks:  quest bar, wholesum bar, apple and a breakfast muffin.

FRIDAY:

Went in really early and left around 11:30 am because of an impending blizzard.

I didn't eat healthy at all this week for lunches.  :(  Back on plan this upcoming week.  It's okay to splurge every now and then.

Oil Free Rainbow Roasted Veggies

I was off today from work for the MLK holiday.  I decided to my do meal prep today.

Here's some of the meal prep I did.

Cooked 2 cups whole grain brown rice, made hard boiled eggs, washed and cut veggies, and put fruit in a container.  Not pictured....I made 10 chicken breasts, pb choc oatmeal balls, and baked up some healthy breakfast muffins.  WHEW....I did a lot.  :)

Now.....for something really awesome.  I found a recipe on pinterest for 'Oil Free Rainbow Roasted Vegetables'.  I thought it was awesome and knew I'd make it tonight to go with dinner.  When you shop for your veggies get what you like to eat.

Line up the veggies in the rainbow order.

How beautiful does this look?  It also tastes amazing.  

Preheat oven on 390 degrees.  On a lined baking sheet, add your prepped veggies.  I used.....

red bell pepper

carrots 

yellow bell pepper

yellow squash

zucchini

broccoli

red onion

Sprinkle some thyme and spray on some balsamic vinegar to the veggies.  Roast for 25-30 minutes until tender.  Took about 30 minutes for me.  After I took the tray out of the oven I sprinkled on some sea salt and black pepper.  I served with some whole grain brown rice and chicken breast.  Loved it and we have some left over rainbow veggies for later in the week.

Healthy Breakfast Muffins

Healthy Breakfast Muffins......yes please!  :)

You will need:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup rolled oats (I used quick oats)

1/2 cup raisins

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

about 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots 

1 medium banana (mashed)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray your muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, mix your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt until there's no lumps.  Stir in oats and raisins.  Add oil, egg, milk and carrots until everything is combined.  I found mixing everything with a fork worked best.  

Fill each muffin tin with batter.  You should get 12.  Bake 18-20 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.  Mine took about 19 minutes.  Store them at room temperature in an air tight container.  

These are great.  My husband and I both love them.  I've made these 2 times already.  They are that good.  :)  

You could totally add craisins instead of raisins, or zucchini instead of carrots.  You could even add in some chopped nuts if you wanted.  Use your imagination and make them your own.  :)

Amish Baked Oatmeal

We have been eating a lot of oatmeal around my house and finding new recipes that have oatmeal is fun.

I came across this 'Amish Baked Oatmeal'.  

You will need:

2 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (used homemade extract)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk (unsweetened almond milk)

1/4 cup butter (melted, cooled and I used unsalted)

3 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a baking pan and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and then whisk in the brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla and salt until there's no lumps.  Stir in milk and melted butter.  Then mix in your oats.  Pour into baking dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Mine was down at 35 minutes.  Cut into squares and keep in the fridge.  Heat in microwave to warm up before you eat.

These are good.  I felt it needed a little more so I turned to my sugar free syrup friend.

I added a drizzle of sf syrup and some fresh strawberries.  Delicious!  :)

Easy Drop Biscuits

The other day, I made a pot of red chili for dinner.  It was the perfect dinner to end the weekend with and it needed something to go with it.

My husband and I love bread.  Probably one of our biggest downfalls is bread.  Why is it so good?  I can go without it but sometimes certain meals you just need a delicious bread to go along with it.

A while back I remember pinning a recipe for 'Easy Drop Biscuits'.  So, I found it and made them.  I had the biscuits just about ready to go in the oven when my husband came into the kitchen for a  drink and saw them.  His eyes got real big and he said "those look great" and I said "we will see how they turn out, they are from scratch".

To make:

2 cups flour (spooned and leveled)

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk (unsweetened almond milk)

1 tbsp melted butter (optional)

garlic salt (optional)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder with a fork until combined.  Add the COLD cut butter and mix it in with a dough/pastry blender until pea sized clumps form.  Add in milk and mix real good.  It will be sticky like.

Drop large mounds onto the baking sheet and bake until golden brown.  About 18-20 minutes.  When I took them out of the oven I brushed a tiny bit of melted butter on top and sprinkled on some garlic salt.  This recipe made 6 big biscuits.  We had some for the next night to go with dinner too.  Next time, I make them I might make them a little smaller just for my own preference.  

They came out terrific and they were just the correct pairing to go with the chili.  My husband loved them.  He said "anytime you want to make these, please feel free".  

I plan to make them this weekend to go with spaghetti.  My husband doesn't know that I'm planning his favorite meal this weekend unless he reads this post.  hahahaha  :)

Triple Berry Baked Oatmeal

My husband and I have been trying to eat healthier since the end of 2015.  We've been doing really good with just 2 cheat days.  The scale has been doing down for both of us too so we must be doing something right.

I've been on pinterest looking for some easy, and healthy recipes.  I came across a recipe for 'Triple Berry Baked Oatmeal' and gave it a go.

You will need:

2 cups oatmeal (I used quick oats)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1/4 cup syrup (I used sugar free)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used my homemade extract)

2 cups berries (blueberries, raspberries and sliced up strawberries)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a medium baking dish and set aside.  In a bowl, mix the oats, baking powder and salt until combined.  Add in the milk, vanilla, syrup and egg.  Then gently fold in the berries.  Pour into baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes.

Ready to go in the oven.

I cut a slice the next morning and heated it up in the microwave for breakfast.  I tried a piece and felt it needed a little more.

I added some sugar free syrup and some cinnamon.  That helped a lot.

It was a little bland for me so that's why I needed to add the sf syrup.  My husband liked it but it needed a drizzle of sf syrup and cinnamon as well.

Toddler Lunches wk 1/11

MONDAY:

hard boiled egg, rf mozz string cheese, 3 pb oatmeal balls, and cucumber slices.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, greek yogurt with granola, mini cinn raisin bagel, cocoa almonds, and wholesum bar.

TUESDAY:

hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, rf mozz string cheese, 3 pb oatmeal balls, and blueberries.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, pb, celery, wholesum bar, and cocoa almonds.

WEDNESDAY:

leftover chili

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, mini cinn raisin bagel, wholesum bar, cocoa almonds and mini saltines for chili.

THURSDAY:

hard boiled egg, edamame hummus, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese and 3 pb oatmeal balls.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, wholesum bar, and cocoa almonds.

FRIDAY:

2 pb oatmeal balls, strawberrries, rf mozz string cheese, and some UTZ cheese balls.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, wholesum bar, banana, pb and mini cinn raisin bagel.

Toddler Lunches wk 1/4

MONDAY:

Off work for Holiday since I worked on New Year's Day.

TUESDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, 3 pb choc oatmeal balls, grapes and cucumber slices.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, banana, pb, mini blueberry bagel, apple and cocoa almonds.  I didn't eat the almonds.  Just stashed in my desk.

WEDNESDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, fruit mix, grapes, cucumber slices, rf mozz string cheese, and 3 pb choc oatmeal balls.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, mini blueberry bagel, pb, banana, and apple.

THURSDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs with edamame hummus, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese, cucumber slices and grapes.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, mini blueberry bagel, apple and cocoa almonds.

FRIDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, rf mozz string cheese, cucumber slices, grapes and 3 pb choc oatmeal balls.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, mini blueberry bagel, banana, pb and cocoa almonds.

Toddler Lunches wk 12/28

Does anyone actually care what toddler lunches I take to work?  :)

MONDAY:

hard boiled egg, grape toms, triscuits, watergate salad leftover and cheese cube leftovers from family Christmas.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, pb, banana, apple and cocoa almonds.

TUESDAY:

3 leftover Chinese wontons, grape toms, hard boiled egg and cheese cubes.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, banana, pb, apple and cocoa almonds.

WEDNESDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, grape toms, wheat thins, cheese cubes.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, cocoa almonds, banana, pb and an apple.

THURSDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, grape toms, wheat thins, cucumber slices, and cheese cubes.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, banana, pb, apple and cocoa almonds.

FRIDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices, pretzel stickers, grape toms and cheese cubes.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar (not pic), apple and cocoa almonds