Do You Cook When it's 100 Degrees?

I don't know about you but when I encounter several days in a row of 100+ degree temps, the last thing I want to do is turn on the stove or oven.
I'd been running out of 'no-cook' dinner ideas. There's only so many times you can let your kids have cereal and fruit for dinner without starting to feel guilty.

My kids aren't really big on salads so I figured I had to make it fun if I was going to get them on board. We had done 'make your own pizza' and 'make your own taco' night before and they were both a big hit.

I decided to do make your own salad this time since it required very little cooking, and qualified as a healthy meal.

Here's our salad bar...

We had lettuce, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, cucumbers, dried cranberries, avocado and grilled chicken. Yeah, I had to cook the chicken but it was fast and didn't heat up my kitchen like cooking an entire meal would have. There were also croutons and sliced almonds, not pictured.

It was interesting to see what the little ones would choose to put on their plates. Oddly enough, Gia who loves chicken and avocado, chose to just do a fruit salad.

She treated it like a piece of art. After this was gone she did have some cucumbers and some shredded cheese. At least she got in a little protein.

Tia, my little (mostly) vegetarian made up this masterpiece...

No protein here!

I was a little disappointed that they didn't venture out a little more and try something new (like some protein!), but overall the idea was a hit. The kids liked having control over what was on their plate, and creating it themselves. Everyone got in a substantial amount of fruit and veggies, so that's always a plus.

Oh, wanna' see my plate? How could I forget!

This Mama's no fool. I know the health benefits of lean protein, avocado, and of course berries! It was dee-lish.

Thankfully today the heat wave has broken. I guess that means I'm back to cooking regular meals at the stove.

Happy Summer eating!

Another Sweet Treat (of the healthy variety)

The girls and I have made these 'cake batter energy bars' TWICE this week. They're so delicious, you'll never know you're eating something that's actually protein packed, and good for you.

We've been following "Chocolate Covered Katie" and her blog for some time. We've made many of her recipes and have loved them all.
I do have to say though that all of her recipes are teeny tiny. We are a family of four. She is single and lives alone. I ALWAYS double or triple anything that I get from her site.

That being said, here's the recipe as I have adapted it to satisfy our family...

2C rice krispies
1/2 C oat flour (grind oatmeal in food processor until it turns into flour)
1/2 C protein powder (I use 100% Whey vanilla flavored)
1/2 t. salt

1/4 C honey
1/4 C agave nectar (or just more honey)
6 T nut butter (I use natural peanut butter)
2 t. vanilla extract

*optional-handful rainbow sprinkles.

combine all dry.
combine all wet.
add wet to dry and mix well.
press firmly into square baking pan.
refrigerate for at least an hour
cut into squares.

All mixed and ready to go in the pan

The mix kind of looks like Fruity Pebbles!

line the pan with wax paper or parchment for easy clean up

And here's the gloriously yummy finished product!

I cut off and ate all the rough edges. I'm sure those calories don't count at all!

We LOVE these and can't stop eating them. I must say that we don't call them 'cake batter energy bars' like Katie does. They are absolutely delicious, but they don't taste like cake batter to me (and I've had a lot of cake batter in my lifetime!). Maybe because she used cashew butter and we used peanut butter? I don't know. We just call them rice krispie treats in our house.

These will definitely be on our road trip snack list for next months drive to NY state.

I hope you'll make them and enjoy them as much as we do.

Have a great day!

Refreshing Summer Treats

It's been hotter than I don't know what here in the mid west. I liken it to walking into a blast furnace whenever I go outside. We've gone out for the occasional ice cream cone, but mostly we make our own 'ice cream' at home. Nope, I don't have an ice cream maker, but I do have a food processor!

A friend of mine found a blog of someone who had been making banana fake-out ice cream, so I gave it a try at home. The blogger calls it "one ingredient ice cream". We've gone far beyond the single ingredient. We've been trying all different flavors, and have never been disappointed.

Here's what we do...

Peel, slice, and freeze a bunch of ripe bananas.

Bananas have been priced about .39/pound here, so I've stocked up and keep lots of them in the freezer for whenever we get the urge for some ice cream.

Place frozen bananas in a food processor and blend. After a minute or two scrape down the sides and blend again until you get a creamy texture with no lumps. That's it! You've got banana ice cream.

I like to add a tablespoon or peanut butter to mine to make peanut butter ice cream. Who doesn't like peanut butter and banana?!

My kids and husband are partial to berry-banana ice cream. I just add a handful of frozen wild berries and the mixture becomes bright pink!

The possibilities are endless.

Dairy free, fat free, no added sugar, full of potassium.
That's a sweet treat you can feel good about.

Trying to do Better

Yesterday I watched the documentary "Food Matters". My nephew recommended it a while ago and I just got around to it.
He was right, it was profound and definitely got me thinking.

If you haven't already seen it, I suggest you give it a shot. There's A LOT of information to digest, but most of it good, easy to understand basic stuff.

The main thing I took away from the documentary is how the cancer rates in the U.S. are so much higher than other nations. Think about it, we eat a lot of junk. I'm not just talking about fast food, but all the pre-packaged convenience foods that claim to be healthy but have a list of 40 ingredients you've never heard of. We put a lot of chemicals in our bodies every day.

We had already made some changes before I watched the documentary. For example, a couple years ago we made a decision for our family to get all the High Fructose Corn Syrup out of our diet at home. Once we started reading labels, we realized it's in just about everything. We did our home work and found brands we like, and now it's second nature to us. I know my kids will get corn syrup in their diet when they go places (parties, play dates, school, etc.) but we choose not to have it in our home. It was an easy transition for us.

How about going even further? Could I do better? I gave it a lot of thought last night and decided to do some shopping today, to see what changes I could make in our diets, especially for the kids.

It doesn't take more than a minute in the grocery store to see why people are reluctant to go organic. Organic food is expensive. VERY expensive. How can I justify paying $4/pound for grapes when I know I can get them for $1/pound? You know I'm cheap...REALLY cheap. So for me the shopping trip today was an agonizing experience.

However, here's what I did...

Tia takes apple sauce in her lunch every day. It's her favorite thing in the world to eat. I figured that was the best place to start. Although I always buy natural/no sugar added apple sauce, I decided to go a step further and give organic a try.

Do you know how much it killed me to pay the same price for this 4 pack that I normally pay for a 6 pack?! I'm trying real hard to think of the long term benefits of eliminating the chemicals in our food. (inhale...exhale).

And since we use a lot of apple sauce at home with dinner, and we use it to bake with (instead of oil), I had to get a jar...

The organic jar is half the size as the regular jar, but cost the same. Ugh! Deep breath. I can do this.

However, I have to tell you that when Gia tasted it she asked "Mom, did you make apple sauce today?". I told her no, I bought it at the grocery store just like always, and her response (as she was shoveling it in her mouth) was "Well, it's DELICIOUS!". I didn't taste it, I'm just taking her word for it. Looks like I'll be buying more.

So, what did I do about the grapes? Well, I just couldn't do it. If I paid $4 a pound for grapes, I'm sure I'd break out in some sort of hives. Have I mentioned that I'm cheap?

Instead, I bought the $1/pound grapes and washed them to death. I put them in a strainer in the sink and washed them about 4 times. In fact, every time I walked by the sink I'd spray them again and move them around. THEN, before I put them in the containers, I washed them AGAIN.
Now, I know the washing didn't do anything for the contaminated soil they were grown in, but at least I tried my best to get the pesticides off the skin.

Hey, you gotta' start somewhere, right?

Baby steps. This week it's apple sauce, maybe next week will be grapes.

How do you feed your kids?

More Birthday Celebrations!

This past weekend was my real birthday and it was full of celebrations.

First we headed into downtown Chicago on Friday to meet up with my sister and brother in law who flew in from Rochester.  I was SO happy to see them, especially since we know we won't be together for Christmas this year.
We went straight to the American Girl Place for Tia's big birthday present.  Her birthday is a month away but we promised her an American Girl doll this year, and since we were already downtown, we figured we'd get that out of the way (I told you we celebrate for weeks at a time!).

That's the one!

She couldn't have been more thrilled.  She kept saying "I'm a very lucky girl to be able to have one of these".  I'm glad she realizes that because more than one is out of the question unless she gets a part time job!

Then on Saturday was the BIG RACE.  I haven't written much about it but this year the Chicago Lung Run 5K, to benefit lung cancer treatment and research, was being held on my 40th birthday.  To me, that was a sure sign that I was meant to run that thing!  What better way to celebrate a milestone birthday.

Mommy's Cheerleaders!

I've been training for a few months and was determined to beat my time from 2 years ago when I first ran this race (that time was 45 minutes).  I'm pleased to announce that I blew that time right out of the water.
I  must say, turning 40 feels GREAT!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day...

My team!

#1 Sister

One last good luck kiss

One last good luck hug

Yup, I wore the birthday sash for the whole race!

We finished it together!

The girls were so excited to cross the finish line with me.  Gia kept saying "We won, we won!".
Don't pay attention to that clock on the right, that was for the 10K racers...my clock said 38 minutes but since it took me a minute to get to the starting line, my finish time was 37 minutes.  WAY better than the time from 2 years ago!
What a great day for a run, for a good cause.  I had a blast and couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday.
Later in the day we went on an architectural river boat tour.  That was a nice way to see our favorite city.  Here are a couple pictures from that...

Navy Pier

Hanging with Aunt Kimmie

Look Dad, Look!

My bestest sister!

Gotta' love Marilyn

I think I can now safely say that all the birthday celebrations have finally come to an end.  It's been one heck of a week!
Thanks to everyone who participated in helping me ring in this milestone year with a bang!

"Mom, I WANT to try broccoli!"

Those are words I never thought I'd hear at my house.

Gia is a pretty good eater and will at least try most things we put in front of her. However, she's not big into veggies, just like most kids her age.  She mentioned to me one day that she wanted to try broccoli, and I quickly forgot all about it.  A few days later she was yelling at me that I still hadn't given her broccoli!

I steamed a bag for dinner and let her put a few pieces on her pizza.  You know the experts say getting kids in the kitchen and making them part of the process encourages them to explore more foods.

She tried some without too much excitement, then told me it was alright, but not great.  That's sort of how I feel about green beans, so I get it!

The masterpiece

So proud of herself!

I love that she's open to trying all sorts of new and different things.  I also love that she's OK with trying something and discovering she doesn't really like it.  It's all part of the learning process as far as I'm concerned.
Hooray for green food!

Cool Treats

We attended a Family Health Fair yesterday at the local health club.  It was very well organized and loads of fun for the kids.  I'm glad we went.  Sadly, I didn't take a single picture there!

I visited the nutrition tent and got a list of suggested healthy snacks for kids.  There are some pretty good ideas on the list and we plan on trying several of them.  It's been so hot out lately that we decided to try the frozen yogurt-banana sandwiches.  I guess the idea is to get the kids to eat more fruit, which isn't a problem at all in our house, but it was fun anyway.
Here's what we did...

Slice the banana

place a scoop of frozen yogurt on graham cracker

Assemble like an ice cream sandwich

And enjoy!

It was fun for the kids to make it themselves.  However, the bananas were sliced too thick which made the sandwich too big to bite.  Also, it was way too hot outside and the frozen yogurt melted very quickly, which made a big mess.  They both needed to be hosed down and had a bath after all was said and done.

Oh well, I guess the point was they got their sugar dairy, a complex carb and a fruit.  It was a good summer time snack!

Look Mom, No Cavities!

We had our annual trip to the dentist on "Give Kids A Smile Day".  Our local dentist office makes it a big deal for the kids, complete with the tooth fairy.  This is Tia's third time and Gia's second.  It's such a positive experience, they absolutely love going to the dentist!

So happy to be in the big chair

A visit with the Tooth Fairy

All clean

All done!

As a parent, I'm so pleased that both kids view a visit to the dentist as a positive thing, and they look forward to going every year.  Best of all, no cavities again!

One Year Later

June 12 was the one year anniversary of my Mother's death. A few months ago my sister called to tell me about a lung cancer race/walk (Meaghan's Run) that was happening on that exact day. What an amazing coincidence! We decided we needed to participate in this walk together to honor our Mom. Even more of an amazing coincidence is that this annual race was started by a woman who shared my Mom's birthday. More reason to get involved, and raise money for a great cause.
So, my sister flew to Chicago, stayed a couple days, and then we did the long and grueling drive back to Rochester together.
Bright and early on the 12th a big bunch of us met at my sisters house to head over to the race. I was touched by how many of our friends and relatives decided to join us!

Here are our top money raisers! Our friends Sheila and Roman. Roman was very close to my Mom, and ironically enough, they too shared a birthday!

Here's our group of walkers for "Team Peg!" What a great group.

We had two runners for "Team Peg!" My great Uncle Roger (72 years old!) and my nephew Thomas. They did great, Uncle Roger came in 2nd place for his age group. We're so proud.

We added a bunch of folks to our group along the way. The gentleman with white hair is Meaghan's father, the woman who the race was started by and named for. I had the opportunity to meet him and chat a little. How awful to have to lose a child, but how wonderful that he has turned his grief into a way to raise money and awareness for a great cause.

Our Great Aunt Ann, who will be 83 next month did the walk with us. I actually had to run to catch up to her because she took off like a shot! She is one spunky lady (she does pilates and has abs of steel!).

My proud sister with her son the runner!

Our whole group had a wonderful time together. We all went out for lunch after the race and enjoyed each other some more!
Losing our Mom was really tough, but we couldn't have picked a better and more fitting way to honor her memory. I know she was smiling down on us that day!

Our New Favorite Recipe

Recently, my family has sworn off High Fructose Corn Syrup. A friend of mine was telling me all the bad things it does to our bodies, so I went home and did my own research. Sure enough, she was right. HFCS is seriously bad stuff. Among other things, it actually makes you crave sweets (big problem for me). So, in our continuing quest to be a healthy family, we've begun reading labels a little more closely. Just like a few years ago when we banned Trans fat from our diets, we are now getting rid of the HFCS. I can tell you it's in a lot of foods you wouldn't imagine, like ketchup and mustard! For some things we've had to go to Trader Joe's, and for other things, it's just a matter of changing brands at the local grocery store. Out with the old, in with the new!

Another friend who knew about my latest endeavor recommended "Better than Peanut Butter and Jelly", a kid friendly cook book. She doesn't even have kids, but recently became vegan and needed some simple recipes. That's where I found our latest favorite recipe, and I want to share it with all my friends. I must tell you that I changed a couple things from the original recipe to suit our needs. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Cookies:

4 TBSP light margarine or "Lighter Bake"
1/4 Cup pure maple syrup
1 TBSP water
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup canned pumpkin
1/2 Cup unbleached white flour
1/2 Cup wheat flour
1/2 Cup wheat germ or toasted wheat bran
1/2 Cup Rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
In large mixing bowl, combine margarine, maple syrup, water, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on low until well blended. Add pumpkin and beat until thoroughly combined.
In separate bowl, combine flours, wheat germ, rolled oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix thoroughly. Add to pumpkin mixture and stir until well blended.
Drop batter by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes.
Makes about 4 dozen.

Because these cookies don't contain any refined sugar, they're not super sweet. That's just the way we like them. Tia and D.R. are not big on sweets. And since they're made with real pumpkin, we're getting another vegetable in, which can only be a good thing!

You'll see from the picture that I let the girls put a few white chocolate chips in a couple of the cookies. I didn't mix the chips in the batter, but had them each make their own special cookie by pushing the chips in. When the cookies were done baking, they knew which one was their own.

Live healthy. Live well.

I did it again!

Several years ago when we lived in NY, my husbands family and I started a tradition of walking the Breast Cancer walk on Mother's Day morning. It was something fun for us to do together, in honor of my Mother in Law being a breast cancer survivor.

Here in Illinois, the race is held in October. I walked it last year with a couple ladies, and our finishing time was a miserable 55:33! There were so many walkers, that there was a huge bottle neck, and it was hard to keep a good pace.

Yesterday I participated in this race again. My goal was just to run the first few minutes to break away from the crowd of slow walkers. In doing so, I figured I could easily beat my time from last year. I knew it was unlikely that I could run the entire course, since I really hadn't trained much at all.

It was a cold, dark, damp morning. I went by myself, not wanting to take the kids out on such a dreary day. For some reason the race started 35 minutes late, which meant we were all standing at the start line, freezing. At that point I wanted to run just to get warm! I did in fact run for the first 7 minutes, then power walked for a few minutes, alternating between walking and running for the entire race.

Well, I not only beat my time from last year, (when I walked most of the race), but I also beat my time from the Chicago Lung Run in September! I really felt like I ran more at the Lung Run than I did this time, but somehow I finished in 42:30! My theory is that my running pace isn't really all that much faster than my walking pace. When I had to stop running to catch my breath, I walked faster than I ever thought I could walk. So, running the Lung Run actually took longer than a run/walk combo. Go figure!

The bad news is that I seriously irritated a hip problem that I thought was gone for good. I had problems with my hips during my second pregnancy, and for a long time after. Since I've been exercising, stretching, doing yoga, etc., it hasn't been a problem. For some reason, it flared up with a vengeance after the race. I was in horrendous pain last night, but it is starting to ease up today. I guess that's what happens when you're my age and think you can become a runner!

It doesn't matter though. I'd do it all over again. It's a good cause and has personal meaning for our family. It's a tradition I'm proud to keep going, even if it involves a bit of pain.

So many reasons to celebrate!

This weekend was action packed with lots of wonderful happenings. In order to squeeze it all in, this is going to be a long post!

Way back in March I decided that I would train to run the Chicago 5K Lung Run. I've always wanted to run a 5K and since my Mom was sick with lung cancer, this seemed to be the best fit. It happened to coincide with my birthday so we figured we'd make a full weekend out of it. Then to make it even better, my sister and brother in law decided to join us. Talk about excitement! If they hadn't come, we wouldn't see each other until Christmas, so it was great timing.

We stayed in a great hotel close to Navy Pier. The kids were so happy and excited just to be in a hotel. They loved the lobby, the elevators, the beds, EVERYTHING! It doesn't take much to make them happy.

On our first day together in the big city, they gave Tia her birthday presents. Uncle Reggie surprised Tia with a real guitar. She's been making up her own songs ever since!


On Friday we went to the Sears Tower and I was able to check an item off my 'life list'! We all went to the top, and even went out on the glass ledge (sort of). I couldn't go all the way out. My brain kept telling me not to do it. I had to sit on the floor, with my back to the view. As long as I wasn't looking, I could scooch out backward far enough to get a picture.

D.R. and Tia didn't have the same problem!

Then came the big day...race day! After forecasts were threatening rain all week, it turned out to be a beautiful, warm, sunny day. This year was the biggest turn out ever in the history of the Lung Run. The crowd was amazing and full of energy.

Before

I started at the front of the pack with the fastest runners, only because that's where I was able to find a spot to stand. I didn't count on being passed by about 500 people as soon as the horn blew! That was pretty deflating. Then of course as the race progressed I was actually the one passing people. That was a great feeling. I was able to finish the race in 45 minutes. I was hoping for 40 minutes but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. It was pretty hot, there was absolutely no shade, and I got a major cramp in the third mile. I figure I now have a time to beat for my next race, even though I kept saying I never wanted to run again.

Running a 5K was also on my life list, so in one weekend I was able to check two things off!

After!

Sadly, my Mom didn't make it to see me finish this race, but she knew I was training for it and that I was doing it for her. She was my inspiration and motivation. She thought I was crazy for taking up running in the first place, but I know she was smiling down on me. Ironically, the race was on the 12th, exactly 3 months after her death. She would have been proud, and she told me so before she died.

On a lighter note, we took the opportunity to celebrate Tia's birthday while Aunt Kimmie and Uncle Reggie were in town. She even picked out her very own cake.

Then, can you believe after all that exercise I got from running, my family had me out walking around Chicago for the rest of the day?! Here are some pictures of what we saw along the way.

It was a nice mini-vacation. I'm so glad we did it. It couldn't have been a more perfect weekend.