Oatmeal Mini-Cakes for Breakfast

Yep. Cake for breakfast. That's how I roll....well, not really. I'm all about being healthy and passing on that lifestyle to my kids! This breakfast recipe feels like you're cheating and eating CAKE for breakfast but it is oh.so.healthy for you - and suuuupppeeer easy to boot. *I just typed 'to boot'. Ugh. Turning in my cool card....* 

I was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest here and tweaked it just a tad to fit my liking - here's my version of it...

**like those little feet on the top of the pic? It's really not MY baby - just a cute stuffed bear they were playing with**

Oatmeal Mini-Cakes 
*Adapted from ChocolateCoveredKatie

- 2.5 cups oats (I like old-fashioned)
- 1 1/4 c mashed banana (the brown-er the better!)
- 5 Tbsp sugar or sweetener of choice (honey, agave, etc)
- 1 1/3 cup water
- 2 Tbsp oil (veg or coconut)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup chocolate chip (or nuts, raisins, dried fruit, etc...)
- 2 Tbsp water + 1 tsp baking soda

I prep mine the night before and store it in the fridge - this way the oats can soak up all the yummy goodness and they become easier to digest...and it totally cuts breakfast prep in the morning! 

In a bowl combine banana, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add in oats and mix well - Add in water and stir together.

Put a cover (plastic wrap, press-n-seal, etc..) and pop in the fridge over night.

In the morning -- 

Preheat oven to 350* and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin ready (I like to use paper liners and SPRAY them)

Take your bowl out and notice most of the liquid is gone (soaked into the oats). Mix about 2 Tb water with 1tsp baking soda and ADD into your big bowl. Mix well.

At this point you can mix in your choice of add-ins! I normally pour 2-3 muffins without chocolate for my littlest guy then mix my chips in for the rest. Fill up your muffin tin and pop in the oven.

BAKE 18-21 min depending on your oven. They should puff up a tad and smell amazing.

**I like to eat mine with a fork...it's seriously like CAKE! Mmmmm.

I make these probably twice a week and we eat the leftovers the next morning warmed in the microwave.

Kids review? THUMBS UP! They love 'em!

Baby review? Well, I went to take the pic and it was gone. Like...he inhaled it in .5 seconds. I take that as a GREAT review! 

One time I made these I was lacking in the banana department *gasp!* so I used the banana I had and applesauce for the rest to get a grand total of 1+1/4 cup. Those were delish! I'll probably do that again on purpose. Mmmm.

Save yourself some time tomorrow morning and whip up the batter for these tonight -- you won't be disappointed! I know what I'll be making tonight for tomorrow's breakfast...CAKE! Well, sorta. My healthy cake:)

Food in Review (week 6)

MONDAY: Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Carrots

Mmmm comfort food. Gotta love it. This past Monday I made a turkey meatloaf from this recipe and a side of roasted carrots from this recipe.

Photo from recipe website 

Call me behind the times, but this was my first time ever roasting carrots. Oh.My.Goodness those are good! My kids gobbled them up and both Joe and I couldn't get enough of them! So simple and so sweet. Needless to say - they are on the menu again this week. 

TUESDAY: White Turkey Chili over Rice

I used this recipe as a base and tweaked it to fit what I wanted to use. Instead of chicken I used ground turkey and used my basic chili seasonings (chili powder, cumin, garlic). I served this chili over a bowl of rice - Mmmmm.... 

WEDNESDAY: Pepperoni Pizza Bites with Broccoli

How fun is this meal? Pretty fun you'll see...

I based my idea of this recipe but used a different dough and different baking method...same concept though! 

Ingredients: 

3 tubes refriderated Buttermilk biscuits (total of 30) 

Mozzarella Cheese cut in small chunks

Pepperoni 

Butter (I melted garlic into mine) 

1. Flatten down each biscuit a little

2. Lay a slice of pepperoni on it 

3. Put a piece of mozzarella cheese on top

4. Fold edges of biscuit up and seal top

5. Place little pizza packages in 9x13 pan with sides touching

6. Brush melted butter over biscuits and bake according to package or until tops are brown

DIP in warmed marinara sauce! Yum and Fun! 

Serve it with a healthy side and call it good. My go-to for this night was steamed broccoli - everyone's a broccoli fan in this house! 

THURSDAY: Vegetable Minestrone

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and gave it a whirl....meh. It wasn't AmAzInG but it wasn't horrible....meh. 

It's full of veggies and is great for a chilly winter day! 

Here's the recipe I followed. 

Photo from recipe website

To help fill us up I served this with a side of crackers and cheese. Mmmmm cheese. 

FRIDAY: LazyMan Lasagna

This one's a keeper. Easy. Yummy. Feeds a crowd. 

Here's the recipe. I used bow-tie pasta to more emulate 'real' lasagna noodles and love the way it turned out! I decided to use chopped spinach for the veggie aspect of it and it meshed perfectly with the rest of the dish. I had thoughts of adding in chopped mushrooms but I'm glad I didn't -- the spinach itself was great! 

Photo from recipe website

I've eaten these leftovers for the past 3 lunches! It's that good (and it makes THAT much!) Try it. 

SATURDAY: Papa Murphy's 

I love a good deal. In our local newspaper I found some sweet coupons for Papa Murphy's and then in a mailer I found more coupons for Papa Murphy's....guess what we're eating for dinner this night? Yep. Papa Murphy's. I totally mis-matched the coupons together to get an even better deal! 

$6 Large Pepperoni Pizza

FREE 2-Liter Pop

FREE Cookie Dough

That was our ever-so-healthy dinner on Saturday. The kids thought it was so FUN! Pair this with a RedBox movie and you have a special Saturday night. 

That's our week in review! I have a lot of fun food planned for this week and can't wait to share it with you. A few new recipes and a few old recipes....

Ethan the Chef

I promised you a story about my little chef....promise delivered. Read on and enjoy the warm fuzzy's you'll feel from the massive amount of cuteness I'm about to throw at you...

So - my smart Kindergartener E recently created a 'cookbook' of sorts. He was flipping through a SpiderMan coloring/activity book of his and got super excited when he found a recipe in there. Then he found another - then another. These exciting discoveries were the first of many entries in his 'cookbook'. We ripped out the super-hero recipes (Think: SpiderMan Stromboli and Sandman Slushy), put them in page protectors and secured them in a handy-dandy folder (you know - those sweet ones with the metal clips inside?). E also found recipes he liked in random cooking magazines, ripped them out and put 'em in page protectors.

Then one day while I was cooking, E got the idea that he wanted to CREATE a recipe of his own.

So he did.

And it was awesome.

In the morning we (E and I) sat down and wrote the recipe. He drew the picture and dictated the steps to me (which I wrote word-for-word of course!) - said recipe went in a page protector and into the ever-growing cookbook folder.

*This is the recipe for Darth Vador Pizza* 

When lunchtime rolled around E proclaimed that he was going to make us lunch! Yes, please.

He started with cutting up mozzarella cheese with his knife...

**did I make you nervous?? It's a butter knife I promise**

He ripped up some delicious salami (I was too busy staring in awe that he was making me food and forgot to take a picture -- I'm sure you can imagine it).

Then he laid out the crescent rolls in triangles and topped them with his meat and cheese...

And then into the OVEN it went! E made it very clear to me that I had to do that part since it was HOT. Smart kid I tell ya. 

As his little Darth Vador Pizza's were cooking away, E went digging in the fridge to find something to go with it. As a result of his searching the DARTH MAUL SALAD was born. 

*Mmmmmm veggies*

Carrots, celery, sweet peppers and cherry tomatoes were the ingredients Chef E combined for our salad. I love that he didn't put lettuce in...lettuce in a salad? Sooooo expected. 

Beep. Beep. Pizza's done! 

Ethan plated up our lunch and enthusiastically explained to us what we were about to enjoy:

Darth Vador Pizza 

Darth Maul Salad

R2D2 Oranges

And you know what? It was really good! 

Thanks E for the great lunch! Can't wait to taste your next new recipe :) 

Food in Review (week 5)

We enjoyed lots of delicious food this past week! 

SUNDAY: Loaded Baked Potatoes 

Have you made baked potatoes in your Crock Pot before? If not - try it. You won't go back to the old fashion way in the oven. I promise. It's sooo easy it's ridiculous! I like this method because it doesn't heat the house up and I can actually LEAVE while they're baking.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

-wash and dry your potatoes 

-prick your tators with a fork a few times

-spray with cooking spray (olive oil, canola, butter, your choice) 

-sprinkle salt (I use garlic salt...fancy!) 

-WRAP in tin foil and place in empty crock (I try not to layer mine) 

BAKE for 8 hrs on LOW or 3-4 hrs on HIGH 

**If I want to start my potatoes and have 5-7 hrs before dinner (ie: too long for high and too short for low) I've baked them on high for 2ish hrs then bump it down to low for the rest...you really can't mess these up! 

Here's what we had for options to top our baked tators:

*leftover chili

*cheese

*sour cream

*avocado

Pair this with a salad and dinner's done. Easy. 

MONDAY (aka Joe's BIRTHDAY): Ginger/Cilantro Tilapia with Rice and Broccoli

Sound similar to what I made for V-day? It is. This time I doctored up our fish with some fresh ginger and cilantro. I also made our rice with the same concoction and sprinkled some grated ginger over our steamed broccoli....can you tell I had a chunk of ginger? ha! It was delish. Mmmm I love ginger. Better yet - the birthday man loves ginger! 

The boys and I made Joe a special dessert: TRUFFLES! The kids had a ball decorating them - they each turned out unique. And delicious. 

I love how J is totally eyeing up the goods...

TUESDAY: Beef Stew 

Crock pot to the rescue again! I was able to prep this meal in the morning and come home to a hearty meal ready to be gobbled up. I don't have an actual recipe for this stew - drop some of this and that and call it good! 

This time here's what I put in my magic food maker (aka Crock Pot) 

*stew beef

*carrots

*onions

*celery

*potatoes

*ginger 

*dill

*beef broth

YUMO. 

WEDNESDAY: Oatmeal Pancakes and Bacon

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it peaked my interest...so I had to give it a whirl. Verdict: Oh.My.Yum. It tastes just like FRENCH TOAST but in pancake form. Weird I know, but awesome. 

It's packed with protein and healthy oatmeal so you can't go wrong there. 

Here's the recipe I used - I didn't use blueberries though. It would be divine topped with powdered sugar! 

Image from Recipe Website

I made some bacon in the oven (BEST way to prepare it in my opinion) and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Mmmm I want it again...right now...stat. 

THURSDAY: Oven Mac-n-Cheese

I whipped this up in the afternoon so it'd be an easy meal for Joe and the boys while I went out to eat with a girlfriend! What? I have a social life? Ha. Anywho - the home crew gobbled this up with I gabbed it up with my bestie from college. I've since eaten the leftovers THREE times (yep. 3! It makes a lot and it's delicious) 

Here's the recipe I use. You should make it. Total comfort food - my boys LOVE oven mac (and so do I!) 

Image from recipe website

FRIDAY: Soft Shell Tacos with Corn and Rice

Mmmm Mexican food I adore you. So many variations. So much yumminess. So little time. 

Brown up some ground turkey and onions...add in some drained black beans....sprinkle some (or a lot) of chili powder, cumin and garlic powder....add a little water...simmer. 

Lay some of the turkey/bean mixture in a tortilla and top with cheese, salsa and sour cream. Wrap and roll. Served with a side of rice and corn - done. Mmmmm. 

SATURDAY: Homemade PIZZA

Well, semi-homemade. I bought a pre-made crust and then we topped it with our faves: sauce, cheese, pepperoni and black olives! I love that my kids (baby included) love black olives. They have good taste. Dinner was complete with some cuties clementines! 

SUNDAY: (Leftover) Taco Cups

I kinda had to wing dinner this night....and I came up with a pretty sweet meal! I used the leftover turkey/bean/rice/corn from our taco night on Friday and put them in cute little tortilla cups in my muffin pan. 

I cut tortillas into circles and gently shoved them into my (sprayed) muffin pan, then I sprinkled a little cheese in the bottom then a scoop of my leftovers topped with more cheese. Throw it in the oven for a while (I watched mine..maybe 10 min or so?) till the cheese is melted and the tortilla cups are lightly browned. Look how they came out....

Top them with your fave goodies and we have a winner! I love random leftover meals that turn out better then expected. 

So, that's what went on our table this past week. I have a super-cute story about E and his cooking adventure but don't have time now (time? I don't have time? who wouldn't thunk) 

I'll blog it I promise. Super cute. Stay tuned. 

Food in Review (week 4)

Ready to what we ate this past week? If not...well, I'm not sure why you're reading this...if so..READ ON!

SUNDAY: Oven Tacos

*This is one of my favorite recipes! It's a crowd pleaser - super economical - and best of all...SUPER TASTY!

I discovered it on Pinterest here! I like it with ground turkey (cheaper and healthier) but it's equally as delicious with ground beef.

Image from recipe website

The main change I've made is that I layer shredded cheese in the BOTTOM of the shells - then meat - then cheese of the TOP. I've discovered this prevents the bottom of the shells to get soggy...who wants soggy tacos anyways? Not I.

MONDAY: Chicken/Wild Rice Bake 

Another wonderful Pinterest find! I only made HALF of this recipe and it fed us plus leftovers...wow! Here's the link - you're welcome. This is some serious comfort food - it reminded me of chicken wild rice soup in casserole form.

Image from recipe website

TUESDAY: Potstickers and Fried Rice

Some days you gotta go easy. That was this day -- thank you frozen potstickers for cutting my food prep effort in half! I decided to be crazy and fry my potstickers instead of the normal boil method - I'm a rebel I know:) 

Along with our fried potstickers I whipped up some easy fried rice...no real recipe, just a little of this and that. 

Fried Rice: 

Cooked Rice (preferably cooled so it doesn't all stick together) 

Soy Sauce

Ginger

Onions chopped

Peas

Carrots (chopped) 

Eggs (to scramble at the end) 

Fry your rice and onions in oil of choice, add in soy sauce and ginger to your liking, add in peas/carrots. Move everything to one side of your pan and then scramble your eggs and mix together! Easy. Boom. 

WEDNESDAY: Pasta, Sauce and Sunshine Salad 

Ethan has compiled a 'cook book' of sorts from recipes he's ripped from magazines and asked if we could make one of his recipes this week. Of course I said YES and asked which one! He flipped through and landed on the Sunshine Salad. Since this wasn't a main course we paired it with the good ole pasta and sauce combo. 

The basics of this salad was lettuce (woah!), mandarin oranges and almonds. Pretty simple but E thought he was hot stuff helping me plan and then make it! 

*Sorry I didn't snap any pics while he was making it - mom fail. I'll do better next time.* 

THURSDAY (AKA Valentines!): Tilapia, Broccoli, Rice 

Awwhh. Love Day. Gotta make something special for that...so I planned some FISH! Nothing spectacular but a little out of the ordinary. I did have some pretty good looking dates I must say...

Like our candles? The boys wanted a 'special' dinner so we gave them one! 

For BREAKFAST on V-day I made pink-chocolate-chip-HEART-pancakes! Mom of the year...I'm coming after you - ha. They thought it was pretty clever...I concur. 

FRIDAY: Chili

Thanks Crock Pot for being there for me again. I like you. While the kids were having rest time (aka: give mom a break time) I browned up some beef and onions then poured in the last little bits from a salsa jar. Waste not, right? right.  That mixture went swimming in my crock pot with his buddies black beans, corn, diced tomatoes and some tomato paste. Spice it up with some cumin, chili powder and garlic then give it a good stir and walk away. 

Once again - no photo. It was nothing special - just a good ole bowl of chili! Perfect for a chilly day (har-har-har I'm funny!) and it makes great leftovers. I know that because I ate it yesterday for lunch and have plans for the remains of that for tonights dinner (loaded baked potatoes). 

CHEERS! 

Food in Review (week 3)

Another week done - Another menu completed!

SUNDAY (SUPERBOWL!!): Nachos Supreme

We enjoyed Nachos Supreme with all the fixings during the Big Game!

*Tortilla Chips

*Shredded Chicken

*Cheese

*Sour Cream

*Green Onions

*Black Olives

*Shredded Lettuce

*Salsa

MMMmmmmm! 

MONDAY: (Our Anniversary!) Mexican Lasagna

SEVEN years of wedded bliss deserves a special meal don't ya think? This is one our favorites dinners and with good reason..it's delicious! 

I blogged about it HERE - oh.for.yum. I like to have all my ingredients ready to roll (rice and meat cooked) then my assembly is a piece of cake! 

TUESDAY: Crescent Roll-Up Sandwich/Tator Tots/Peas 

This is one of those super-easy kid-friendly meals that are quick to whip up! You can fill these bad boys with whatever you please...this night I used turkey lunch meat and mozzarella cheese. I take my crescent rolls - lay some meat and cheese in in - and then ROLL 'em up! Bake in the oven as the directions say or until golden brown. 

We dipped ours in mustard - depending on your fillings other dips would be tasty too! I threw some tots in the oven, heated up some peas and called in a meal. Easy Peasy. 

WEDNESDAY: Cherry Berry! 

For reals. Am I the coolest mom ever? Debatable...but with this under my belt I'm getting somewhere! After Joe and I discovered Cherry Berry on our Anniversary outing last weekend we knew the kids would LOVE it -- so I fed them a hearty (and healthy) afternoon snack and went to Cherry Berry for dinner! 

If you've never heard of this wonderful place...let me enlighten you...

It's a self-serve yogurt bar. You choose your flavor(s) and serve yourself a bowl, then add in your toppings and finally weigh it to see what the damage is (you pay by the ounce). Sheer genius.

THURSDAY: Creamy Potato Soup

My trusty Crock Pot helped me out with this one - and it didn't let me down! I found this recipe of Pinterest and gave it a whirl...it'll definitely be in my menus in future weeks. 

Pic from recipe website 

I added in some carrots with the potatoes and then garnished with green onions and BACON! Everything gets better with bacon. 

FRIDAY: Baked Pumpkin French Toast

Another Pinterest find I had to try - I love breakfast for dinner and I love pumpkin...this recipe had both bases covered! Here's the RECIPE that I used. For my bread I used Hawaiian Rolls (tore up into pieces) and I doubled the brown sugar to make it sweeter. Total keeper in my book! The only thing I would suggest is to double it if it's for more than 3 people - it only makes a loaf pan and it served myself and the boys perfectly with no leftovers. 

 Pic from recipe website

So, there's my week. 

Happy Cooking! 

Food in Review (week 2)

Ready to see what I fed my crew this past week? Read on...

SUNDAY: Pasta/Sauce with Cheesy Bread

Good ole standby for a weekend night when I really don't want to cook - I bumped it up a notch this time and added some ground turkey in the sauce (bam!) and threw some cheesy bread in the oven. Nothing spectacular here. 

Monday: Baked Taquitos with Brown Rice/Corn

I LOVE the filling of this - I use it all the time (translation: weekly if not more) and it is soooo easy. I originally got the idea from some recipe but have since changed the ingredients and amounts a bunch so I'll give you my version...

Filling: (don't blink...it's short!) 

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, etc.. I often use turkey since it's so cheap!) 

1 can refried beans

1-2 Tb salsa (choose your level of spice) 

Cumin 

Chili Powder

**Brown meat in skillet. Drain excess grease. Add refried beans. Add salsa. Add seasoning (eyeball how much you want...no right or wrong here!). STIR and heat. It will look unappealing...keep stirring and smell how yummy it will be. 

I use this filling in my taquitos, oven tacos, chimichangas and quesadillas! 

To assemble my taquitos I put 1-2 Tb of filling in a small (fajita size) tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese on top (can be excluded if you're not a cheese fan) and roll 'em up! I line them in my pan, spray with oil and sprinkle with salt (I used garlic salt this time...daring I know!). 

BAKE: 350* till nice and crispy and golden. 

Serve with sour cream, lettuce, salsa and whatever your little heart desires! YUM. 

TUESDAY: Tortellini Soup 

I always try to have at least one (if not more) meatless meal to help the budget -- this soup fit the bill and was a great way to warm up during this *ahem* cold spell we're having. And by 'cold' I mean, "frigid, burn your nostrils, don't want to step outside ever" 

Here's the base recipe I used for this soup - I added in carrot, celery and onions to beef it up a bit. My kids loved the tortellini and white beans - I loved that it was warm. Have we established it's cold yet? 

p.s. see E's sweet bowl? It has a built in straw! I want one. 

WEDNESDAY: Salsa Chicken (Crock Pot) with Rice

Here's another one of my go-to meals...super easy+crock pot+kid approved=WINNER. 

I love that I can get it started in the morning and all I have to do for dinner is make rice! I use my crock pot a lot. It's one of my best friends. You should make friends with yours. They ROCK. 

Here's the easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy (E's favorite saying) RECIPE for it. I've done it with whole chicken breasts and then shred it at the end OR cube up my chicken before putting it in...either way is a win-win. Throw it over some rice and you're golden. Add some black beans and you're an over-achiever! Way to go. 

Photo from recipe website. 

THURSDAY: Crock Pot Banana Bread Quinoa served with Bacon and Eggs

So, I just told you how much I love my crock pot. You'll see me use it a lot. No joke. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked good...I haven't done sweet quinoa yet but there's a first time for everything! 

Photo from recipe website. 

Verdict: meh. I don't know if it was the texture or what but I wasn't a fan. The FLAVOR was good (like banana bread - go figure!) but the texture was a little too something for my liking....like caviar maybe? Joe liked it. Isaac LOVED it. The big boys tried a bite each and graciously declined. Good thing I made scrambled eggs and bacon as a side. Can't go wrong with bacon. Live and Learn. 

FRIDAY: Teriyaki Chicken (crock pot) with Rice 

I like to have easy dinners for Friday (who am I kidding...I like easy dinners most nights!) and my best bud Crock Pot helped me out yet again. I've made this one a bunch of times - typical dump this and that in the crock pot and walk away for the day returning for a yummy meal. 

Here's the link to the sauce for this easy weeknight meal. I added in some carrots and onions to cook with the chicken to complete the meal. All I had to do was whip up some rice at dinner time! 

Photo from recipe website. 

SATURDAY: nothing! 

I didn't have to cook today! Our anniversary is on Monday (SEVEN years - woot!) so Joe and I got to enjoy a date day today sans kids. The date spanned over lunch and dinner letting me off the hook for making any food today. As part of our date, Joe and I went grocery shopping (romantic I know...) so I'm all ready for next week. 

Let me know if you have any questions about any of these recipes - I'd be happy to answer them! 

Happy cooking.