Recipe: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

A friend recently was looking for a healthy, yet yummy, mac & cheese she could make for her kids. I jumped at the opportunity to let her try mine - I've been using this recipe for years and it never seems to fail! I encourage you to try it with your kids too and see what they think. Remember though, if they are used to the boxed kind...especially the bright orange boxed kind, it maky take a few tries for this recipe to catch on. But its healthier, easier, and cheaper than anything you'll find on the store shelves. Go ahead...give it a try!

Organic Mac & Cheese

1 lb (or 1 box) Elbow Macaroni (I use whole wheat when possible)

3 Tbsp Butter

3 Tbsp Flour

2 Cups Organic Milk

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Pepper

16 oz Organic White Cheddar Cheese

Sliced Tomatoes (optional)

Italian Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook Pasta according to box. While pasta is cooking, combine butter, flour, & milk in a medium saucepan on Med. heat until thick. (I use a whisk). Once well combined, add salt, pepper, & 3/4 of the cheese. Stir consistently until completely melted. Remove from heat and mix well with cooked pasta. Put in 8x11 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Place 6 sliced tomatoes on top (optional). Bake for 35-40 min (foil on for 25 min and then remove for last portion of baking).

True Confessions: What I've Learned this Summer

...As a Mom...its important to give each child quality time.

...As a Daughter...let your children get spoiled by grandparents.

...As a Sister...spend time together. Find something you both love to do and go for it!

...As a Friend...stay in touch with old friends and create memories with new ones.

...As a Wife...do things as a couple and open your heart.

...As a Family...its important to be silly and create memories together.

Summer can be filled with crazy days and late nights, but throughout there are lessons to be learned and life experiences we need to embrace. Some of the things I have embraced this summer in our travels, home life, and through meeting of new friends are...dare to dream. life is short. take risks. tell people you love them. As for kids - you can't change them. they are who they are. embrace differences. love them unconditionally. 

That's my advice in a nutshell. We've had an amazing summer as a family and I'm excited to begin school days and see what more is to come!

Cheers to a wonderful Summer Everyone!

Fake Out: Sweet Treats

I have mentioned before that I believe in feeding my kids the purest I can while still enabling them to enjoy food. I believe in the 80/20 rule where you eat 80% real honest food and then 20% is for the "life happens" category. I don't want my kids growing up never have tried anything - its important to test our palettes and as we all know our taste buds evolve over time. There are plenty of foods i never liked as a kid (or even a teenager) that now I love. As parents, its our job to help our kids test their palettes....and much of the time it can be a huge struggle. Don't stress. My advice would be to do your best and stick to it. It will happen and they won't be eating out of a box forever. Once you, as the adult, realize that there is no nutritional value in boxed and bagged foods you'll start to be more persistent. Kids get hungry, they're growing - so feed them! My kids aren't perfect eaters, believe me :) But I do my best to feed them with good/real food. If they're really hungry, they'll eat it!

Here are a few Fake Out Sweet Treats we have enjoyed this Summer. They're yummy & your kids will never know the difference - I promise!

Strawberry & Banana Almond Milk Ice Cream
1 Small Frozen Banana
1 Cup Frozen Strawberries
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into glasses & enjoy!

Pineapple Milkshake (adapted from Knead to Cook)
1/2 Cup of Chobani vanilla yogurt
3/4 Cup of almond milk
6 Ice cubes
1 Tablespoon flax seed meal
1 Small Banana (I freeze ripe bananas so this would be a good time to use them)

1 Pineapple, skin & core removed, chopped into large pieces (or use frozen)

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into glasses & enjoy!

Nutella Cherry Ice Cream Pops
3/4 Cup Nutella
1 Cup coarsely chopped cheeries
1 Cup organic whole milk

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into silicone yogurt tubes and freeze for at least 2 hours & enjoy!

Banana Almond Butter Ice Cream - My favorite and also adapted from Knead to Cook)
4-6 Ripe bananas (peeled and sliced)
3-4 Tbsp of almond butter
1 Tsp of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

Favorite Toppings:
Chopped nuts
Chocolate chips
Graham crackers
Mini Marshmallows
Sprinkles

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely. Distribute ingredients into freezable Mason Jars (about 1/2 way) and freeze overnight. Let stand at room temperature a few minutes before serving & enjoy!

Mommy Lifesaver: The Label Maker

Brother Label Maker

With Summer nearly coming to an end and school right around the corner, I've started organizing backpacks and lunch boxes. This is such a simple lifesaver, but it saves many of headaches when you leave your items scattered around your neighborhood - at the park, playdates, supermarket, gym, camp, school, etc. Every kid seems to have the same water bottle and lunchbox these days and a label maker can change all of that for you.

Simply print out your child's first and last name and adhere to their favorite things. They're dishwasher safe and  easy to remove, if needed. They're great for baby bottles, kids sports bottles, lunch boxes, snack cups, and so on. I can't tell you how many times I've left/dropped an item at the park and have had to go back and retrieve it. Labels save alot of hassle and money for needing to go buy new ones every week!

Enjoy!

Back to School Cookbook: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes

Images provided by Stephanie Cornais of Mama & Baby Love

The idea that I'm already uttering the words "back to school" in the first week of August gives me the chills...but for very good reason! I'll spare you my spiel on how much I sincerely love Stephanie Cornais of Mama & Baby Love who I came across via her website some time ago. I find her intriguing, intelligent, and genuine about all things family and food - two of the most important things to me - nourishing my family inside and out.

She had written Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes and I immediately went online to buy it, to then read it cover to cover in one sitting. I started planning my families meals instantly based on her recommendations. I was already a pretty good meal planner myself, but I'm sure you can relate to the weekly set of standard (and sometimes dull) meals. Stephanie's recipes are 95% grain-free, gluten-free and dairy free. And although I don't follow one strict rule of diet - except healthy variety - I think its important to take food seriously and make sure you're feeding your kids the best they can possibly have. Putting her recipes in my family's repertoire has brought more variety and clean nutrition into their lives and has allowed me peace of mind.

So, back to her "back to school" recipes! Think Harvest Pork Roast, Beef Stew, and Tex Mex Chicken. This book has everything you need - shopping lists, simple step by step directions, and even labels for your freezer bags. It leaves nothing to the imagination and enables you to meal prep in no time and have a delicious and healthy dinner on the table in minutes during those crazy school weeks of carpool, sports schedules, and homework.  Allow yourself that extra time in the evenings with your family and not worry so much about preparing that gourmet meal at 6 o'clock at night during the "witching hour" of tantrums and chaos.

The best part of Stephanie's strategy is in the title of her book - Back to School: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes - in which all your dinner prep requires on that day is pulling your frozen prepped meal from the freezer and placing it in your slow cooker in the morning. Done. That's it. Its ready when you are. What more can I say about it but, ENJOY!