Need to learn how to use the new camera!!

Yeah, Yeah, the pictures are horrible but we just got a new camera and I have yet to sit down with it.  I need a place to store my recipes online without losing them in some la la land word doc on my laptop.   I need a pic to send it to Pinterest so you all get my awesome recipes with crappy pics. Enjoy!! 

Our favorite Protein snack balls

Protein snack balls

These are great for a pre- or post-workout snack

We usually double the batch and they last all week.  The kids eat them as after school snacks too. 

1 Cup Oatmeal

1/2 cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter or a mixture of the 2

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup chocolate chips (mini or chopped up)

1/3 cup honey

1 Scoop Protein Powder  ( We use Fitness Labs WheyFit Isolate Creamy Vanilla)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 to 1/2 cup Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds)

Mix all together until crumbly but will stick together when pressed into a ball.   Add additional honey or Peanut butter if it is too powdery and won't stick together.   Roll into golf-ball sized balls or smaller and refrigerate in a sealed tupper ware container.  A single batch will produce around 20 balls. 

There are many things you can add to your liking, dried fruit, coconut, etc.  balance out the dried ingredients with the wet so they stick together. 

We also made our own peanut butter and almond butter for these recipes so there are no additional preservatives in them. 

Homemade Chicken Soup with Farina Dumplings

Home Made Chicken Soup with Ferina Dumplings

One whole chicken carcass

handfull chopped carrots

handfull chopped celery

one onion sliced

2-3 garlic cloves minced

parsley

2 bay leaves

basil

thyme 

rosemary

salt and pepper

mix all into large stock pot.  cover with water and bring to boil, simmer 2 hours

strain broth into bowl and pick out chicken meat

discard the rest of the bones and vegetables.

pour broth back into stock pot and cut up new carrots, onion, celery and garlic.  bring back to boil

Ferina Dumplings

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 egg

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup ferina  (not the instant cooking type)

dash garlic powder

dash salt

mix together until consistancy is somewhat powdery but sticks together when you press it together

drop small balls (size of sugar cubes or a bit bigger) into boiling soup  boil 5 minutes

add chicken meat back into soup.

cover and lower heat, simmer 15-20 minutes

The Dumplings will double in size when done cooking.  I usually double the dumpling recipe because we love the extra dumplings.

Chick-fil-A copy cat nugget recipe

We tried out the Chick-fil-A nugget recipe floating around and SUCCESS!

They were great!  

Trim fat off of chicken breasts and pound evenly.  Cut into strips or nuggets.  Marinate in Pickle juice for minimum of 4 hours.  

Heat about 1/4 inch Canola oil in pan over med heat.

Dip in chicken in mixture of 

1 egg and 1/2 cup of milk wisked together.

Dredge in flour mixture of 

1 cup flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Basil

1/2 tsp ground mustard

dash celery salt

1 tsp Garlic Salt 

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Black pepper

1/4 tsp baking soda

fry for about 4 min per side and transfer to papertowel lined plate to drain.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola and Quinoa Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola and Quinoa Bars

Ingredients

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 cups plain granola or quick cook oats

1 cup Quinoa

1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cup peanut butter

2 scoops whey protein powder

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup mini M&M's - optional but makes the kids devour them. 

Process

Line 9x13  inch baking pan with parchment. Leave overhand so it's easy to lift the bars out of the pan.

Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Mix in PB and protein powder and vanilla

Add the granola and rice cereal  and almonds into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.  Add choc chips last so they won't melt as much.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the M&M's on top and press into bars.

Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.

Quinoa Granola

I love my after morning workout breakfast, granola with berries and yogurt. No, not Greek Yogurt.

I'm trying out this Quinoa fad only because 1. It has extra protein 2. It's gluten free. Hell no, I'm not going Gluten free. I love my bread. BUT I am trying to cut down. It's a huge part of weight loss and cutting out carbs is a challenge but if I do it slowly I know I can do because I've done it before. I've found lots of recipes for Quinoa granola but none that I really cared for. I don't like dried fruit in my granola. I do however love nuts. This is what I came up with using a few ideas from Pintrest. My granola didn't come out crunchy, but it's not soggy either. It has a nice bite to it but it won't break teeth.

I love it and even better, the man loved it.

Quinoa Granola

2.5 cups oats (I used 2 cups Old Fashioned and ½ cup Quick Oats, that's what I had on hand)

1 cup Quinoa

1/2 cup chopped almonds – I used roasted and salted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

½ cup brown sugar

½ applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

Dash cinnamon

2Tbsp honey

Measure the dry ingredients in large bowl, mix well.

Mix wet ingredients (including sugar) in saucepan over low heat to melt and mix together. I didn't bring to a boil, next time I'll try that. Mix into dry mixture.

Spread on a baking sheet and bake 225 degrees for an hour.

Next time I'll use 2 sheets (maybe It'll get crisper) and not dump half on the floor while moving it from one counter to another.

Skiing at Huff Hills16FEB09

Hayden and mom spent the afternoon at Huff Hills, south of Mandan, ND. We both started off on snowboards, but that proved to be too difficult for Hayden to master, so we switched to skiis. Hayden quickly caught onto snowplowing and spent the rest of the afternoon up and down the bunny slope. The day ended too soon to try out the big chairlift. Maybe next time.