Quick Foodie Update

Eeeek! I have not written in a while!

I have continued my experimentation in the kitchen and thought I would quickly share a few recent recipes that I've loved. Most ALL of them have been Pinterest-inspired. I cannot say enough about Pinterest. There are SO many great ideas across a plethora of topics.

I made this Lemon Chicken recipe for John's birthday and it turned out great! Pair with some whole wheat angel hair pasta and you've got a meal.
Pinterest Picture:

http://pinterest.com/pin/7036943140847120/

Final Product: (In the bottom right corner. Accompanied by some German beer and homemade chocolate chip cookies.)

Roasted shrimp and broccoli is one of my new favorite dinners because it's something just a little bit different. I've recently regained an appreciation for broccoli, and seafood is something we don't get much of around here.

http://pinterest.com/pin/7036943140714713/

I made these quinoa pizza bites as a healthy snack. They were actually pretty good and very filling. The only problem is that they are very moist so they must be refrigerated or finished in one sitting! Serving with pizza dipping sauce is a must. Not sure if I will try this one again. John prefers real pizza!

http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2012/10/quinoa-pizza-bites.html

The Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls are probably my favorite from this list. I LOVE steak and this was just enough of a twist to keep it interesting.
Pinterest Picture:


My Pictures: (pretty similar, huh?!)

Next up on my list is Coconut Chicken, Stuffed Flank Steak, and a Cinnamon French Toast Bake. Yummy!!! Y'all are welcome to visit anytime you want! :P

Spiritual Inspiration for Your Marriage

Today I want to share a new resource and blog that I recently discovered. I HIGHLY recommend it for any married couple...or if you're engaged or just dating for that matter. One of the things that John and I have always felt very strongly about is keeping God at the center of our marriage. This was one of the reasons why I knew he was "the one". Sharing a common faith and having someone to grow with and support me is so important. We tried to honor this value by holding our wedding ceremony in the house of God (the church) and by taking communion as the first thing we did together as husband and wife.

Anyways, http://davewillis.org/ is the page I'm talking about. In his words, he's "just a regular guy" who shares our same Christian values and goals for himself, his marriage and his family.  He offers up a plethora of information, guidance and things to think about. "Tools for your life. Caffeine for your soul."

I think we will start with 21 Questions to Ask on Date Night tonight when we go to Cheesecake Factory (we have a gift card!) and Bass Pro Shop!!

Still Having Fun with Healthy Cooking!

There is a plethora of articles out there about clean eating and so many healthy recipe options that we will never go bored! Pinterest is especially helpful for finding and organizing things that look interesting to you. I've already posted a few of my recent discoveries and wanted to share how I've taken those ingredients a step further.

First is Trader Joe's Organic White Quinoa. Pronounced "KEEN-wah", this is a protein packed alternative to rice, pasta or couscous. Read more about it on Trader Joe's website. It's only a few bucks at your local TJs and one bag will get you through several different recipes.

Last night I tried the Mushroom Risotto recipe that is on the back of the bag. It was delicious!! I actually found another blogger who added asparagus to her version. Details are here: http://godsavethefood.blogspot.com/2013/03/crazy-for-quinoa.html.

There is a great summertime pasta salad that I like to make with chopped bell peppers, feta cheese and Italian dressing. I replaced pasta with quinoa in this recipe and it turned out great! Less carbs and more protein! John loves this cold, refreshing salad for his lunch.

There is a similar variation on Pinterest that I tried and really liked: http://pinterest.com/pin/7036943140581773.

The opportunities for quinoa are endless...I've seen quinoa fried rice, quinoa black bean and corn tacos, pumpkin quinoa, breakfast quinoa, etc, etc, etc.

My second new favorite ingredient is Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. My last post was about the benefits of coconut oil so I've been trying to fit it into whatever I'm making. I was curious about how it would taste in coffee so I Googled it and, sure enough, there are TONS of articles out there about it! Everything I read said that it's best to blend the coffee and oil together. The first time I tried it, I decided not to blend, thinking that the heat of the coffee would melt the oil and I could just mix it. WRONG. It melted but the oil sat at the top and gave it a funny consistency.

The next time I tried it, I brewed from my Keurig directly into our Magic Bullet, then added a couple teaspoons of coconut oil and blended. It was delicious!!! You can add creamer if you want but it doesn't need it! It's frothy and tropical tasting, which I love. And they say it gives you even more energy. Here are just a few of the articles I found:

http://www.theiflife.com/2-meal-coconut-oil-coffee/

http://wellnessmama.com/5673/the-only-way-i-drink-coffee/

http://ourcrazyboys.com/put-coconut-oil-in-coffee-yes-its-a-coconut-oil-latte/

I recently discovered that Trader Joe's has a Coconut Oil Cooking Spray, so I'm going to try that next!!

Happy Eating and Happy Friday!!

By the way, you can follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/brittkolbeck/boards/.

Have You Tried Coconut Oil??

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! I had four days off, which was very much welcome, but now I feel like I need a whole week off to just rest and relax! I will post pictures next time.

Before I get into today's topic, I want to wish a happy happy 29th birthday to one my best friends in the world, Samantha!!! I've put together a collage of just a few of my favorite pictures.

Ok, building off of my last post where I gave my new favorite banana bread recipe, I wanted to share a revised version of the recipe and some reasons why I changed it. Instead of using regular vegetable oil, I replaced my last batch with coconut oil.

I've been hearing a lot about the benefits of coconut oil so I decided to see what it's all about. Wellness Mama gives us 101 Uses for Coconut Oil. This list includes taking supplementally for daily energy, to support healthy thyroid function, as an intense nighttime facial moisturizer, as a tanning oil...just to name a few. Most of this list is geared towards women.

Not only can you apply coconut oil to myriad body parts, but it's also great for cooking! I was a little nervous at first, especially because the consistency was much closer to a solid than I'd expected. But I read a bit about why coconut oil works and liked what I saw. Not to mention, my banana bread has a little tropical taste to it now! Long story short, coconut oil is a good fat, supports your immune system, is good for weight loss and organ function, and can be used for hair and skin care.

Read up on cooking with coconut oil here.

More Almond Meal Experiments

Because we always have bananas in the house, banana bread is often a convenient baking option. And since I still have almond meal in the cupboard, I found a new recipe which substitutes flour for almond meal.

Here's the link: http://www.thewannabechef.net/2012/06/04/almond-flour-banana-bread/. How could I pass up a recipe from The Wannabe Chef?! That's practically what I call myself these days.

I was initially worried about the dough being too watery, because almond meal tends to make things more moist than flour. But after about an hour of baking, the bread looked great! Definitely not too watery...and much more moist than regular bread. Imagine that!

I added chocolate chips but the bread really doesn't need it. It is a very sweet, yet spiced recipe which turned out to be delicious! I think this is my best banana bread yet!!

Lexi is 6 Months Old!

Today marks Lexi's 6 month birthday! She was born exactly one week before our wedding, which is very special to us. We have had Lexi for about 3.5 months now and have been through A LOT with her. She is growing like a weed, learning everyday and always finding new things to get into.

THEN
When we first picked up Lexi, she weighed 8 pounds. She seemed to be a bit malnourished and was still learning how to use those little legs.

Her crate was massive compared to her puppy body so we had the separator in the very front. (We recently took our the separator completely since she's gotten so big!)

Her first weekend with us she got very sick and we were afraid she had something serious like Parvo, which can be deadly. Turns out she just had a tummy ache, so the doc gave us some medicine and some special food and she turned into a wild and crazy, regular puppy in no time!

NOW
Today Lexi weighs 38 pounds!!! Which means she's gained 30 pounds since we got her! The vet said she will get to be anywhere from 60-90 pounds. Wow!

Since January, Lexi has been stung by a bee and rushed to the vet, gotten spayed and had a cone on for 2 weeks, and attends obedience school every Monday. She knows how to sit, lay down, stay and come. We are still working on jumping, play biting, and "going to bed", which means going to lay down in her designated area so we can have a little bit of peace without her next to us on the couch.

She loves to spend time outside during the day and has recently discovered how fun water and sprinklers can be! She has the "zoomies" at least twice a day, which is her crazy time where she sprints around, jumps on the furniture, attacks her toys, etc. The dog trainer said this is most common at dawn and dusk. I have lots of funny videos on my YouTube channel which I posted a few weeks back.

She is in her "terrible twos" and is quite defiant. As I was writing this post, she stole a calculator from my office and was downstairs and outside before I knew it. I started out chasing her around like an idiot, but every time I would get close she would run away. It was a fun game to her. Then I returned to the patio and said, "Lexi Come!" She would get as close to me as possible and then when I reached for her she'd run away again...over and over. She was basically running laps around the yard with my calculator, most likely laughing at me. Here's the damage. Luckily, I don't need that calculator!

When Lexi is not busy getting into trouble, she is very sweet and loving. Her favorite morning routine is to get under the covers with us. When she gets too hot, she lays on top of the covers at our feet. And then finally moves to the floor where the sun shines through the window. Here she is giving morning kisses to "Daddy".

We love our little Lexi to death and look forward to the next 6 months!!

Kitchen Success...and Fail!

In my continued efforts to improve my housewifery skills, I am constantly searching for new, interesting, creative and healthy recipes. This week I tried two...one for Crockpot Orange Chicken, which I've tried before and wanted to perfect, and another for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies.

First, the orange chicken. This was my second attempt and it was DELICIOUS!! I've found that my crockpot cooks waaaay faster than one would expect so I have to significantly reduce cook time, even when it's on low. That has been my issue with most of my first attempts. I used a little extra flour than the recipe calls for just to make sure I got that breaded effect. Then I made a little bit more sauce than the recipes calls for to get a good coat on each piece of chicken. I paired the chicken with brown rice and steamed veggies and it was perfecto!



Now for the Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies...

NO I am not turning Vegan!! I actually have a decent amount of Almond Meal in my cupboard which I wanted to experiment with. Almond Meal is a gluten free option that can be substituted for flour. It has some great health benefits so I figured why not give it a try with a few different things.

I have to admit that I was excited about this recipe and had no reservations about it. The main difference is that it substitutes flour for almond meal and sugar for honey. The dough was very, very sticky and had a grainy texture to it. I still wasn't worried. Luckily I halved the size of this recipe so it was only a single batch. I love peanut butter but these cookies just taste TOO healthy! They have a very strong taste of shortening, which ruins it. And I ran out of honey so maybe I didn't put in as much as I could have. Long story short, these cookies are not my favorite but they are in my fridge in hopes that I can still stomach them as a snack full of protein.



Never fear, I will spend more time and effort on almond meal recipes to see if I find something I like! The challenge is that most of the recipes that include almond meal also include a lot of healthy, vegan ingredients that I've never had in my cupboard before so it's going to require a trip to Trader Joe's. Wish me luck!!