Easy Halloween Treats

So Halloween was this past weekend. And now that the little one is bigger, we are able to do some more cooking inspired activities. I skimmed through Pinterest for some cute snacks and desserts to make. Many were 10 ingredients deep and super time consuming. Long story short, I found two that were super easy, cheap and quick to make.

First one I found was actually in the Jewel Ad for the week.
I used the Pillsbury dough sheet and cut in strips of dough. I took the hot dogs and sliced up the middle, almost half way to make "legs". We wrapped the dough strips around the hotdogs, and baked at 375 for about 15 minutes, until they turned brown.

Two ingredients, hot dogs and crescent rolls. They were a nice treat after carving pumpkins. And voila you have mummy dogs! The Original Mummy Dogs Recipe  uses cheese and doesn't cut the up the dogs.

Second recipe we made was the graveyard pudding pies. 3 ingredients here, and Liv enjoyed crushing up the cookies. I started off by first cooking the pudding according to the directions, I went with Chocolate Pudding to make it look more like dirt. Then all you do is crush up a whole package of Oreo's. Put some of the crushed Oreos in the bottom of the pie pan, next top that with pudding, and top it off with more crushed Oreos. To finish it off, we used Milano Cookies with a little "RIP" Icing written on top and some candy pumpkins. You could use candy worms or ghosts, anything your heart des The best part is obviously the decorating :) Kraft has a simlar recipe here.

Turkey Tacos in the Crock-pot

I'm not gonna lie- I use my crock-pot year round. And I finally upgraded and got a programmable CP (my cool abbreviation for crock pot). Which is super cool because I am usually not home in time for the 6 hour window, so it automatically switches itself to warming mode.  For some reason this week when I planned my dinner meals, I ended up having 5 CP recipes in a row. Which I am not going to lie- was pretty awesome to come home and not have to cook.

First up, was an idea that came to me when I couldn't sleep (like most ideas do) I had gone to my friend, Amy's house, earlier that night. The Cubs were in the playoffs and we watched the game with the families. Let's not talk about how the Cubs ended the playoffs (wound still too fresh). Anyways, she made turkey tacos. They were really good! And for someone who once refused to jump on the ground turkey train- that's very big for me to say! I try and make my meals as "heart healthy" as possible so ground beef is not really consumed in my casa much anymore. And if it is, it's usually a 93/7 mix- kinda dry for taco meat. So anyways, one of my favorite things to make in the CP is Turkey Chili. I literally throw everything in there, including frozen ground turkey, and let it cook for 6-8 hours. So i figured I would try the same for taco meat.

Long story short- the results were really amazing. I used 4 whole ingredients, which makes this recipe great on the budget! And I think because the meat simmered all day long, it wasn't turkey tasting at all. And when I came home, all I had to do open a can of beans and warm up some tortillas.

Overall, it's a super easy recipe, very versatile, and great for large groups or even parties. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the finished product, because everyone scarfed it up so fast. But here's the dets:

Crock-Pot Turkey Tacos

Ingredients:

Gotta love recipes where you dump everything in!

• 1 lb Ground Turkey (frozen works fine)

• 1 Chopped Onion

• 1 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes (Rotel would be awesome!)

• 1 envelope of Taco Seasoning (I used one envelope to one pound meat ratio, you could always do more/less)

Directions: Spray Crock Pot with Nonstick spray. Dump all ingredients in Crock Pot. I put the taco seasoning directly on the meat, which worked really well. Let cook on low for 6-10 hours. Crumble meat with spoon, stir, and enjoy! :) 

Nutrition Facts
Servings 5.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 176
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 6 g	10 %
Saturated Fat 2 g	8 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 68 mg	23 %
Sodium 631 mg	26 %
Potassium 47 mg	1 %
Total Carbohydrate 10 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	5 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 18 g	36 %
Vitamin A	21 %
Vitamin C	14 %
Calcium	4 %
Iron	11 %
* The Percent Dai

My First Ever Turkey Chili

So we are trying to eat healthier in our house. This weeks dinner consisted of baked pecan crusted chicken (thanks to my wonderful friend for bringing it over) grilled pork chops and lots and lots of veggies. While grocery shopping with the hubby I picked up a pound of ground turkey and he cringed.

He warned me of "tricking" him into eating ground turkey and how it has no flavor blah blah blah. And I said "challenge accepted my friend"

So I searched Pinterest for a good turkey chili recipe and when all was said and done I ended up doing my own thing.

I picked up a pack of chili seasoning, usually with chili I season it on my own but in order to know exactly the calories, fat and carbs I picked up the seasoning pack. It worked out well because I was able to scan everything into MyFitnessPal app- which is the best FREE app to keep track of what you're eating. Plus the fact that you can scan in foods and build recipes makes life so easy. 

So here we go....

The Cast Of Characters

I sprayed the Dutch oven with Pam (cut down the oil factor right there)

I added chopped onions, chopped green peppers, and garlic. Let those sweat out a bit and then added in the ground turkey. Besides the fact that the meat wasn't super greasy, the only different I noticed was that the meat was softer than ground beef. Not a big deal...

Once the turkey was cooked I added in the seasoning packet, and let it cook for a minute or two- really letting the seasoning get in there.

Now for the dumping...

A can of reduced sodium kidney beans, can of reduced sodium stewed tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. Which I used a new technique, I saw on TV, where you take the lid off the top and bottom of the tomato paste can. Then you use the metal lid from the top to push all the paste into the pan- super amazing you get all the tomato paste out.

Yummy Yummy

Anyways, get all that in there and add a cup of water or so just to thin it out. And that's it- I let it cook on low for about an hour. You could cook it less than that, like 15 min if you are pressed for time. But I liked the fact that I let it simmer for a while, and the stewed tomatoes broke down and made the sauce rich and tomatoey.

The verdict:

Husband loved it, just needed some more heat he said. So have some hot sauce on hand. I do agree- it could use some heat. But I left the heat factor out so the kids could eat it.

I was really surprised how good it was. 

And thanks to my fitness pal app this is the nutrition in a one cup serving..

So I'm Kinda a Big Deal

So there I was...rushing through my lunch hour with mindless tasks. Take the dog out. Wash the sheets. Catch up on emails. Actually eat something. Get gas on the way back to the office. I get out of my car and this guy comes up and introduces himself. Long story short-he's from the Daily Herald and wants to ask me how I feel about gas prices going up.
How do I feel about gas prices? They suck. It's a necessary evil and everyone who is out there trying to make it gets sucked into the gas/oil price BS. Because that's basically what it is. A game. Living in Crook...I mean Cook County, everything is hiked up. Gas prices, food prices, property taxes. Did I answer his question this accurately? No. I said something about how gas prices are increased just for Summertime so they can make more money.
Have no clue where that came from, but then again with the exception of my three job interviews in my life, I've never been interviewed for anything- so I kinda froze.
Was this a day where I was cutely dressed and looked like I had everything together...uh no.
I look like I woke up 30 minutes late and picked up the first thing I could think of to wear and ran out the door.
Oh well, Hopefully my 2 minutes of fame doesn't make me look like that big of a stooge. :)

Here's the Link to the story....enjoy!

Do I Have To Open a Book in Nursing School?

So I am a little over half way through Nursing School.
Now for anyone who knows me- knows that school was my thing. I graduated High School a year early, never got anything less than a B in any class and was considered super "smart"
Here's the secret- I never opened a book. Never studied a thing and pretty much understood and Aced everything. I know blah blah blah.
Well when I got to nursing school, I once again never opened a book. I did however, accept the fact that between working full time, being a full time mom and wife, and a full time student- my nothing less than a B track record would not continue. Mostly because when I was in High School, thoughts like "what should I make for dinner?" "Do I have a coupon for dog food?" "Is the dog happy in his life in our house?" "Is Liv growing up happy?" "When was the last time I scrubbed the shower?"  were not racing through my head while trying to take notes and listen to a lecture. 
I learned and accepted that  "C's get degrees" and while I could bust my ass, spend all my time studying (to make up for my lack of focus in class), and probably Ace everything- spending time with my family or having clean laundry became a little more important. 
Does this mean that I will be a shitty nurse? Absolutely not because when I am a nurse no one is going to ask me what microorganism has the smallest cell wall?
How am I going to know you have TB? I will look at the Chest Xray and the radiologist will tell me! I won't have to know that the Bacilli enter the lung and form a tubercle and Caseous Necrosis happens, what I will have to know is how to explain to you that your loved one is dying or how changing your diet will improve your Type 2 Diabetes. Why? Because I have been there, done it. I have worked in healthcare for over 6 years. I've seen it all, smelled it all, and cleaned up after it all.

Right after I got my CNA- Note to self, White Scrubs suck!!!

My first job in healthcare was working as a PCT, or a nurse's aide. And the experience that I gained was unbelievable. I really think anyone who goes into nursing should have to do at least 6 monthes as a tech. Actually, the best nurses were those who started off as PCTs because they knew what it was like. They didn't just pass meds and chart for the next 7 hours, they were in there with their patients, hanging out, taking care of them. As a PCT (or CNA) You get the worst jobs, the worst pay, BUT you get to spend the most time with the patients. And when everything is said and done that's what nursing is about.
No patient is going to care about how I did on my Statistics Final or if I was on the Honor Roll every single semester- He's going to care if I have his best interest at heart and if I am qualified (in more way than one) to save him. And that's what I keep telling myself over and over, to make nursing school a little more bareable!!!

Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast

My family loves breakfast. My daughter's favorite food is anything breakfast, and given the fact getting her to eat dinner is always a fight, I decided to make some breakfast for dinner the other night. I made Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast. One of the main reasons I love this recipe, is that you can assemble it the night or day before and then just pop it in the oven when you get home.  The other reason I love this recipe is all of the ingredients are things you have at home. The only thing I usually don't have on hand is heavy whipping cream and I have even substituted milk for the cream and it turned out just as delicious.
This recipe is also great for potlucks and brunches. Super easy, Super delicious, and Super crowd pleasing.

 You start off put chopping (into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes) up a loaf of sourdough or Italian bread. I usually buy whatever is the cheapest at the grocery store- ya know they have those deals where you can get like a loaf for a $1. Throw the cubes into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Next up is the very difficult task of whisking eggs, milk, cream, sugars and vanilla. Don't ask me why but I hate whisking lots of eggs. It makes me crazy and I feel like they never completely get whisked together, oh well such is life. 

When that mixture is all whisked together, you dump it (evenly) on top of the bread cubes. I usually try and make sure every cube gets covered. This would be the point that you can wrap it up and put it in the fridge to bake later. Or you can bake it right away, your choice- either way DELICIOUS!! If you do bake it right away, do not forget the most important part which is the butter/brown sugar/Cinnamon crumble mixture that makes this whole thing...

 This is the one and only time I really use the pastry cutter. Quite frankly the only reason I bought a pastry cutter was for this recipe. By all means you can use a fork and chop-a-chop-a but ya know I try and be cool.  Sprinkle that mixture ontop of your bread cubes, and bake that baby off!! Finished product is an awesome crunchy, creamy breakfast treat. I usually make up some bacon to go with it, and that's it! Pioneer Woman suggests warming up syrup and fresh blueberries for a topping, but "Ain't nobody got time for that" in my house!!! ENJOY!!

Baked French Toast

• FRENCH TOAST
• Butter, For Greasing
• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract 
• Topping
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Grated Nutmeg (optional)
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces

Instructions

For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably). Or you can make it and bake it right away---delicious no matter what!
For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour-plus or more for a firmer, crisper texture.

Best Ever Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hello Lovely's

Red Velvet is the mother load of amazingness. Our top tier of our wedding cake was actually red velvet- we kept the top and devoured it on our wedding night. Amazingness. The one thing about Red Velvet anything is the cream cheese frosting makes it all. Please for the love of god, if you are going to make Red Velvet anything do not skimp on the cream cheese frosting!! Don't do anything low fat or organic, just get some real butter and real cream cheese.
I remember the first time I made this recipe, my husband professed his undying love for me and my ability to make these cupcakes...lol. Also, we had just gotten our dog, Owen. I had found him through a foster home site for abandoned dogs. My husband told me the whole time we went to meet him, "We're just going to look" Long story short we were there not even 15 minutes and Owen was in the car with us. I was in love with him, and while it took a good year or so for everyone to adjust he has been a great addition to our family.

Their 1st official picture together

Anyways, one of the first memories I have of Owen was when I made these Red Velvet Cupcakes. I had made them, Olivia put the sprinkles on then off she went and to take a nap. I ran around cleaning, and blah blah blah and went downstairs to do laundry, came upstairs and  found Liv in her underwear, eating red velvet cupcakes with the dog sitting and waiting patiently for a crumb to drop. Being that she was 3, it wasn't unusual to find her running around with no clothes on- it's a total toddler thing. Back to the point: the reason I love this picture so much is that even though Liv was 3, from day one of having Owen she has totally bossed him around and owned him. He barely listens to the hubby and I but when it comes to the little one- he is deathly afraid of her. He listens to her. Watches over her. And sleeps in her room every night. I'm so lucky that those two have each other. 

Being that in a couple days it will be the 3 year anniversary of getting him- I figured I would share the recipe. It's from the queen of butter herself, Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcakes. Couple of notes: when it says room temperature, make sure you actually get the ingredients to room temperature because it will help the cupcakes come together better. Also, use a mixer to make the frosting- so much easy than mixing by hand. And like I said, do not skimp on anything. Use real cream cheese, real butter and real buttermilk!

Happy Red Velveting!!

American Stir Fry

Yesterday was absolutely insane. I had to work, then drive to school, then drive back to work for a meeting and by 2 o'clock- I realized that I hadn't defrosted anything for dinner. By 5 o'clock- I realized the only thing I had eaten all day was a granola bar. By the time I got home I was so hungry!! I knew I needed something quick and easy. When I saw some Polish Sausage in the fridge, I knew American Stir Fry was in order. American Stir Fry is something I came up on the fly a while back, when we had nothing to eat in the house. Every time I make it's a little bit different but it always has four things: Some type of sausage, potatoes, onions, and some type of vegetable.

The great thing about this recipe is you can really switch it up and make it your own. I usually go by whatever I have in the fridge/pantry. This time I had Polish Sausage, but I have made this with Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, even Hotdogs once. My personal favorite is using Bratwurst because the meat gives the whole mixture a wonderful deep taste.  So you start off by chopping up the meat into slices. Saute them in a large skillet or this time I used a small dutch oven and it worked really well. It only takes about a 3-4 minutes with Kielbasa until they get a nice crispy brown edge to them. Remove the from the pan and add in the vegetables.
  
This is something that is totally up to you what you want to add in.  I have done carrots, red peppers, spinach, frozen corn, frozen mixed veggies. This time I did potatoes, onions, and some leftover green pepper I had. I try and chop them all to the same size so that they cook evenly. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the faster they will cook. I also put the lid on the pot so that they get nice and soft. Then I let them cook for a couple minutes without the lid so that they get crispy on the outside.  About half way through I add in some chopped garlic. I have made the mistake before of putting the garlic in too early and it gets all black and bitter....gross.
 
Once everything gets all nice and tender and yummy, I dump the kielbasa back into the pot. I let everything cook for a couple minutes. And this time I added in some frozen peas at the end, it gives it a pop of color and some crispy-ness at the end. BOOM! You are done! Kinda looks like mush, but is so warm, amazing, and not low fat. Great on a night when it's 9 degrees outside. And the best is all you have to do is pair it with a biscuit and it's a complete meal. :)








American Stir Fry

TOTAL TIME: Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

MAKES: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 package of  Polish Kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 5 red potatoes, cubed
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• ¼ cup of frozen peas (optional)

Directions

1. In a large skillet or small pot, sauté kielbasa until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add olive oil to pan, and add potatoes, onions and green peppers in pan. Put lid on pan and let cook for 5-10 minutes until tender. Remove lid and let cook until browned.
3. Add in frozen peas if desired. Add Kielbasa back into pan, and stir and let cook for 2-4 minutes.

The Secret Guide to Valentine's Day for Men

One of my favorite memories of Valentine's Day is towards the beginning of my husband and I's dating he took my daughter and I out for Heart Shaped Pizza on Valentine's Day. Now Olivia was way to tiny to even remember, but just the fact that he included her on a day that is essentially for "couples", made me fall in love with him. At the time I was so jaded by being a single mom, I thought I would never find "the one" who would love not just me but also my baby girl. Since then every year the three of us go out for Valentine's Day pizza and it always reminds me of how lucky I am to have him.

Now after that very sappy Valentine's Day story, the advice I have for the rest of you bums is to follow..... 

Valentine's Day. You either love it or you hate it. If you are a guy, you most likely hate it, if you are single you most likely hate it, if you are a female it is the ultimate test for your husband/boyfriend to prove their love for you.Gentleman, send her flowers and buy her a card. And if you really wanna seal the deal- buy her jewelry. Even if she says any of the following:

Valentine's Flowers of 2013

"It's a Hallmark Holiday"

"I really don't care about Valentine's Day"

"I hate flowers"

"You don't have to do anything"

Gentleman, send her flowers and buy her a card. And if you really wanna seal the deal- buy her jewelry. One more time: Gentleman, send her flowers and buy her a card. And if you really wanna seal the deal- buy her jewelry. I am a woman and I still don't understand women- just mark my words you can't go wrong. I know it's confusing as hell, but the easiest way I can describe it is she wants you to show the world that you care. 

Here's the plus side to sending flowers (especially to her office) 

Valentine's Flowers of 2012

1. All of the other women she works with will be aware that you are a "keeper"
2. She will know that you care.
3. She will remember for ever that you sent her flowers.
4. If she posts it on Facebook or Instagram, the entire world will know that you are a "keeper"
5. You will most likely get some. 

I speak from experience. Working in Healthcare, I work in an office of nothing but women and when V-Day rolls around there is a secret tally to see who gets flowers and who doesn't. And those who don't and use excuse of "I don't like flowers" or "It's a Hallmark Holiday" will forever be labeled as "bitter" "bitches" or my favorite "having marital problems". Why? Who knows? Women are f-ing nuts! But the reality is all of those labels reflect poorly on your woman and you do not want to be the cause of it. 

Just Because Flowers

Now while this may seem like this is totally one sided and only benefiting your girl, it's really not. I remember being in the office, with my colleagues and going on and on and on about something completely stupid my husband did. Which if I remember correctly had something to do with correctly putting food away. And while I complained, one of the ladies I work with said to me, "But remember those beautiful flowers he sent you on Valentine's Day." And I was floored. Not only was she right, but it was October and she still remembered. Anyone who knows my story knows that my husband is amazing. We have been through hell and back together and he's always been by my side. There's about 10,000 reasons why I should have let that tiny issue of putting things away go but the girls in my office were more focused on the fact that he bought me flowers on Valentine's Day- and I should cut him some slack. Point of the story- these flowers will gain you allies and friends all over the place, that you will never know secretly have your back. And if you really wanna get in good with your girl, send her "Just Because" flowers- 100 times the effect of Valentine's Flowers. But that's a story for a different day.

Now- one big point to remember. MAKE IT A SURPRISE. Whatever it is, flowers, dinner, jewelry, a card whatever. Do NOT ask her what she wants or what you should do or bitch about how much money you spent. It takes the romance and fun right out of it, and you are guaranteed more loving if you surprise her. Consider every Valentine's Day to be taking one for the team. Suck it up, spend the money, and take care of her. Because "a happy wife is a happy life"

Happy Valentine's Day!!