Hungry, Hungry Hippos

This has been one of those weeks, when no matter what I feed my kids, in 10 minutes they are "starving" and need something to eat. I feel like I'm playing a giant game of hungry, hungry hippos on my dining room table whenever I sit food in front of them. And when all the marbles are gone, instead of a winner, I have three whiners, who all want more food! (spoken tongue in cheek of course.) Add to this my EBF (extended breast feeding) toddler thinks that she needs to nurse around the clock again, we were down to only before nap/bedtime, and I'm hungry all the time. She must be ready for a growth spurt or something.

I usually offer them carrot sticks, apples or bananas. Sometimes crackers, pretzels or cheddar bunnies. I recently purchased 20# of apples through our buying club, so they've had all the apples they care to eat fresh. And the bananas are usually all gone by this late in the pay cycle. Once the fresh 'naners are gone, I usually have a reserve of frozen ones for making smoothies with, but alas, those are depleted as well! I really need to do some stocking up!

So I'm down to the last resort~bake something. I do like to bake, I really do, it's the cleaning up part that I loathe. So after I put the kids down for nap time, I flip through my cookbook looking for some sort of drop, no-bake cookie that I can make more "healthier" and hope that it works out! And hopefully something that doesn't take an hour to do. Here's what I ended up with:

Puffed Rice & Peanut Butter No-Bakes
1/3 cup Honey (instead of nasty corn syrup)
2 Tbsp Sucanat, Rapadura  (natural, dried can juice with no refining/bleaching)
Bring to a good roiling boil.
Then add:
1/2 cup Peanut butter, raw/unsweetened
1/4 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Puffed Rice Cereal (our local stores carry a 'whole grain' brand that's only $1 per bag.) or you could use a crisp rice cereal as well.
Stir together, then drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper to set up.
makes apx 16 cookies.
Small batch? Yep, on purpose. If I make it any larger, then I tend to eat way more than I should! So I try to keep the batch sizes small to compensate for my lack of willpower.
Slightly sweet with the rich taste of peanut butter. Yummy!

Once in a while we have a purely decadent 'treat' that has no nutritional value what so ever, but those are pretty rare here! We strive to eat healthier at home, and limit our eating out, so our treats need to be extra special and healthy too. Our main reason for our diet is health, we want the best health possible of course! But also we limit our "junk food" and eating out for financial reasons.

Eating out is one of those areas where money just vanishes, quickly. We usually budget eating out 2 times per month, or once per pay period. Sometimes we go over, sometime we don't go at all. Being the stay at home mom that I am, I'm always looking for ways to cut back on expenses while still providing delicious foods for our family. Eating out is a real temptation to me. Not having to clean up that mess! As you all are aware, the prices at the grocery store just keep going up. I'm finding that my regular purchases are costing more and thus need to cut back on those comfort food meals and stick to more "beans and cornbread" meals. Cutting back on the expensive foods, like meats, and offering more fillers, like veggies and starches. Also trimming portions = more 'snacking' in between meals. So I struggle to find healthy, inexpensive snacks to help the kids make it dinner.

I would love to hear your healthy snack ideas and how you cope with your"Hungry, Hungry Hippos"!

Hearty Kielbasa and Potato

I like this one because it only dirties one pan, cutting board, and strainer, quick, easy, and husband LOVES it.

2 lbs potatoes (about 6 potatoes cut in cubes)
1 lb kielbasa (halved and sliced)
2 cups frozen green beans
1T olive oil
1 tsp Creole Seasoning (make your own)
1/4 tsp salt
onion flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced

Place cubed potatoes in a dutch oven or deep pan and cover them with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and cook for 12-15 minutes. Add frozen green beans and cook for 5-6 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.

In empty pan, cook kielbasa until browned. Add the potatoes, oil, seasoning, salt, onion flakes (your discretion), and garlic, stir. Cook on low for a bit until heated through

Recipe ~ Cauliflower Salad

Recipe ~ Cauliflower Salad
A Healthier Alternative to a Summer Favorite!!

Ingredients
Cauliflower (2 heads, chopped)
1/2cup lowfat mayonnaise
2Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1Tsp Capers
1Tbsp Dill Pickle Juice
1Tsp Relish
1/2cup Chopped Scallions
3 Hard Boiled Eggs
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Boil cauliflower until soft, falling off of a fork

Combine ingredients and salt & pepper to taste. Once you have done this, you may add mayonnaise to reach your own personal desired consistency.

If you usually like a creamier potato salad, you could choose to mash some ingredients separately ahead of time, such as the eggs and cauliflower.

*If you like this, also substitute cauliflower in your favorite mashed potato recipe!! 

Enjoy!

Vegetable and Fish Soup

by Melissa Jagears

I like this soup because it is fast and can easily be adapted to use leftovers.

4 fillets of fish (I generally use tilapia)
black pepper
1 T olive oil
2 cups of fresh vegetables thinly sliced (if I don't have some kind of garden leftovers, I use frozen peas and carrots)
14 oz can (OR 2 cups) vegetable or chicken broth
2 1/4 cup water (OR 2 cups if you use 2 cups broth)
leftover mashed potatoes  (I'm sure potato flakes, salt and butter would work too)
salt, saltines or parmesan

Put oil and fish in deep sided skillet or dutch oven.
Pepper to taste.
(If you have fresh veggies, chop and add to fish in skillet.)
Over medium heat, cook for 3 minutes, break fish apart into bit size pieces with spatula.
Add broth and water. (If you have frozen veggies, add now)
Bring to a boil,
Reduce heat, simmer, covered, for 3 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with fork.
Throw in mashed potatoes (the more potatoes, the creamier the broth) or throw in the amount of flakes, and butter to make about 2 servings of potatoes and stir until dissolved.
Now, I either salt to taste, or
I like to throw in parmesan to taste but hubby hates parmesan, so he crumbles in saltines if he wants more than just the salt.

About 20 minutes 4 servings.

Yummy Fruit Dip

Whenever summer rolls around, I'm always eager to break out the fresh fruit. And while I have to confess that I borrowed this recipe from a friend, I think you'll find it's a delicious compliment to almost any kind of fruit. (And it's super simple, which is always a requirement for me!)

Ingredients:

1 8oz brick of cream cheese

1 7oz jar of marshmallow creme

(Note: I've always heard/seen variations. Some people add in other ingredients as well, but this works just fine for us.)

Directions:

Allow the cream cheese to soften. Afterwards, mix with the marshmallow creme--I generally find that a hand-mixer is the best way to go.

Refrigerate mixture until ready to eat, and of course, refrigerate left-overs.

Enjoy!

Easy Dinner for Busy Moms - Creamy Tortilla Soup

by Melissa Jagears

I had extra turkey leftovers from the holidays. (Who doesn't have leftovers?) After a few sandwiches, I was down to the dregs, maybe a cup of shredded turkey. So, Leftover Tortilla Soup was in order.

Quick Easy Creamy Tortilla Soup (Less than 15 minutes)

1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomatoes and chilies (Or a substitute for tomatoes and chilies is 1 cup salsa if you do not have this on hand)
1 can refried beans
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 to 1 cup corn (frozen, fresh, canned, whatever)
1 lb cooked chicken or turkey (or whatever you got left!)
shredded cheese
tortilla chips

Stir tomatoes, salsa, beans, broth and corn in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add meat until heated through. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese and crushed tortilla chips to liking.

I ladle serving sizes into freezer bags and freeze for later since this makes too much for my family to eat in one sitting.

Pull out of the freezer, place it in a sink of hot water to soften enough to get it out of the bag and zap it in the microwave.