Diced Apples

Just another healthy snack option for you all! I love apples and peanut butter, buuuuut that whole trying to lose weight thing is always getting in the way of me and my favorite foods these days. So this is a great substitution! I actually was surprised at how much I liked these apples. The longer they sit in the bag, the creamier the PB2 will become. So, take your time eating these. Or, prepare this snack and throw it in the fridge until you're ready for it. Either way ;-)

-1 apple
-2 T. PB2
Dice apples into about 1 inch chunks. Place 1 T. PB2 in a ziploc sandwich bag. Put diced apples in bag. Sprinkle with remaining PB2. Shake in bag. EAT! :)

Tater Tot Casserole

I think most people like tater tot casserole... If you don't like this exact version, you can probably tweak it to your liking! I remember the first time I was wanting to make it, I wasn't sure how. I mean, it seemed like such a simple concept, I just didn't know exactly what goes into it or if there were any secret ingredients or something. Turns out, no secret ingredients! So I realize this is nothing fancy, but it is a very "real life" type or recipe. You can throw this together quickly after work and it goes a long way as far as servings!

-1 lb. ground beef
-1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
-1 can green beans
-salt, pepper, or other seasoning... I use Freddy's Seasoning because it is AMAAAAAZING!
-frozen tater tots
-shredded cheddar cheese, colby jack cheese, or fiesta style...whatever you want/have
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown hamburger. Drain off grease, if any. Mix in soup. Season to taste. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Strain green beans and pour on top of meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese until evenly covered (as much or little as you like). Cover with tater tots. Sprinkle with seasoning. Bake for about 30 minutes or until tater tots are crisp and done.
**You will notice that I made this in a square pan instead of a 9X13. I did it that way because we just didn't need that big of a pan! So I still browned a pound of hamburger and still added a whole can of cream of chicken soup. When I poured it into the pan, I only put about half of it in there and saved the other half for something else this week :) I also used a small can of green beans instead of a "regular" size. You could certainly still use the whole pound of meat- your casserole will just be meatier! Nothin wrong with that :)

Hamburger + Soup

First Layer

Second Layer

mmmm cheese- Third Layer

Last Layer

Done!

Let's Eat!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

This is probably the easiest and the healthiest ice cream you will ever eat/make. Aaaaaand, it's pretty tasty! Who knew frozen bananas turn into a creamy little sweet treat when pureed?! Now you do. You can simply puree your bananas and let that be that. But, if you're like me and have an obsession with peanut butter, then you better add some in!

 -2 bananas
-1 T. PB2 (Regular peanut butter would work fine too. PB2 just keeps it a little more on the healthy side)
Peel bananas. Cut into about 1/2" chunks. Lay on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Unwrap and place banana chunks in a food processor. Add PB2 or peanut butter. Blend until smooth. Makes 2 servings... or 1 giant bowl of ice cream.

Bananas with PB2

So creamy!

Here are a couple other variations-
Add 1 T. Nesquik or Chocolate PB2 for Chocolate Banana
Add 1/2 c. strawberries for Strawberry Banana
Top with 1 T. mini chocolate chips
Top with 1 T. crushed nuts- peanuts, almonds, cashews, etc...

Pizza Grilled Cheese

I was needing an easy meal in my life today. Just feeling extra lazy! Everyone has those days, I'm sure. Sometimes a grilled cheese just hits the spot. However, I didn't feel like a plain ol' grilled cheese. Getting a little picky for how much effort I was willing to put into it, huh? Introducing: Pizza Grilled Cheese. Just a little twist on a classic grilled cheese. You can pretty much do whatever type of variation you want with this. I did pepperoni pizza. You could do veggies, beef, bacon... go crazy.

Love the turkey pepperoni! Much less grease!

-2 pieces of bread
-Spray Butter (or spreadable butter)
-Pepperoni
-Italian Style Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese
Spray one side of each piece of bread with spray butter until evenly coated. Lay one piece of bread, butter side down, on a skillet or griddle. Turn skillet or griddle on to medium heat. Place 5 or 6 pepperonis on bread. Sprinkle to cover with cheese. Lay another 5 or 6 pepperonis on top of cheese. Top with other piece of bread. Let cook until golden on first side. Be careful flipping in case all cheese isn't melted yet. Cook until second side is golden.

Buttered side down, add pepperoni

Add however much cheese you want 

Top with more pepperoni

Yum

Cheeeeeeesy

Deliciousness

So that is how I did mine, and it was great. You could do more layers if you want your sandwich to be a little fuller- just be careful flipping :)

White Cake

My mom's birthday was yesterday so of course, that means CAKE! I feel as though I've perfected my chocolate cake recipe, but I hadn't quite gotten there with the white cake yet. So, I decided I'd better give it another shot! This turned out great! It really is a great balance of flavors that come together to make the perfect white cake.

-1 stick butter
-2 c. sugar
-3 1/4 c. all purpose flour
-1 t. salt
-3 t. baking powder
-1 1/2 c. cold water
-1 t. vanilla extract
-3/4 t. almond extract
-4 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. (It'll look like white foam...this takes a while, patience grasshopper!) While egg whites are going, mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl; set aside. Mix vanilla and almond extracts in with water. Once egg whites are beaten stiff, pour them into a separate bowl. Beat sugar and butter in the mixer now until light. Add half of water to sugar mixture and mix. It will be kind of lumpy looking- no worries, you're doing it right. Add half of flour mixture and mix- see? Now it's looking like normal cake batter! Add water, mix again. Add rest of flour mixture, mix well. Take bowl out of mixer. Pour egg whites into the bowl. Fold in with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Pour into greased and floured (and/or parchment lined) pans. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched. I bake this cake in 2 8X8 square pans and they take about 37 minutes. Slide a knife around the edges and invert onto a cooling rack after they've been out of the oven about 10 minutes.

Don't worry, I know I'm not a cake decorator... just wanted to show you how tall the two are when stacked!

I frosted this cake with my vanilla frosting recipe, found on my RECIPES page! You could make this as a sheet cake, cupcakes, etc... just adjust your baking times! I haven't done it any other way than square pans yet, so I am not sure on baking times. Cupcakes- I'd start checking them around 20 minutes, Sheetcake- probably start checking around 25 minutes.

Granola Bars

Who doesn't love granola bars?! I'm pretty sure everyone from 1 to 100 years old loves them.

I'm going to the zoo tomorrow with Heidi in Kansas City, and I thought it would be nice to have something like this to take with us so we didn't have to worry about getting hungry on our "3 hour tour"! Getting hungry = end of the world...maybe not, but it sometimes feels that way. Anyway, I didn't want to go to the store to buy stuff so I decided to do these. I took a lot of pictures along the way. I am putting them at the bottom of the recipe though so maybe it'll be easier to read..?! I don't know, but I hope they help!

-3 T. butter
-1/3 c. brown sugar
-1/3 c. honey
-1 t. vanilla extract
-2 c. instant oats
-1 c. crispy rice cereal
-1/4 c. almonds
-1/4 c. mini chocolate chips, divided
Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low(2 or 3 on your stove dial) heat until butter is melted. Turn up to medium-high(8 or 9) heat. Meanwhile, put almonds in a bag and crush into small pieces. Mix oats, cereal, crushed almonds, and half (2 T.) of chocolate chips in a large bowl. Stir butter/sugar mixture, scraping bottom and sides well. Allow to come to a boil. Turn heat down to medium(4 or 5) and simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over dry mixture. Mix well until all dry mixture is coated with liquid. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Press firmly into pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Let sit for at least 2 hours before cutting. I stored mine in snack size ziploc bags individually so they would be easy to grab on the run. Makes 12 bars.

That is some packed brown sugar, friends. Before you melt!

This is what it looks like as the butter melts. Be sure to stir quite a bit.

Mix your dry ingredients while you're waiting for butter mixture to boil.

When you start to see those little bubbles on the sides, it will boil shortly thereafter.  Don't forget to add vanilla after boiling for 2 minutes!

Make sure all dry ingredients get coated.

Press into pan

Sprinkle with chocolate chips

ooooo yummy!

Hobo Dinners

Suuuuper easy, comin' atcha! Meat, potatoes, carrots. Simple. I think my family has made these forever! I did a little twist on them though. The way this recipe is written is for 2 hobo dinners. It is incredibly easy to convert to 4 though. It's probably easier to make for 4, actually. I decided to make them just for tonight, instead of making extra for leftovers. You can make these on the grill or in the oven. You could throw some onion in there too, if you're into that kind of thing :)

-1/2 lb. ground beef
-1 c. baby carrots
-6 petite red potatoes (these are the tiny ones!)
-2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 T. (about 1/2 pkg.) Brown Gravy Mix
-salt, pepper
-aluminum foil
Tear 2 pieces of foil about a foot long. Rinse potatoes and cut in half. Mix in a bowl with carrots.

 Add EVOO and toss to coat. Add in brown gravy mix. Stir.

 Divide carrot/potato mixture between the two pieces of foil. Pour onto the center of each piece- SHINY SIDE UP! Break apart ground beef in same bowl carrots and potatoes were in. Add a little salt and pepper (you know how salty and peppery you like your food...the gravy mix will add a little salt, so hold back a little). Roll hamburger into 8 little "meatballs"- about 1 inch or so. Put 4 meatballs on top of each carrot/potato pile.

 Bring 4 corners of foil piece together in the center. Smash down a little so there's no holes.

Cook on a 400 degree grill or in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Check the tenderness of the carrots at about 30 minutes to see how much longer they need to cook. (The carrots will take longest to cook.) Open the foil packages and shake them a little to coat the meat in the "gravy".

Austin, of course, put ketchup on his. I just added a little salt and pepper to mine. We also had salad with these tonight. Actually, I was so hungry, I ate my salad while these were cooking. See how easy life can be?! You. Are. Welcome.