WIAW #2

Well since people were sooo extremely supportive of me jumping on the WIAW bandwagon with them, I'm here to do round two!

So let's get going!

Breakfast = Greek yogurt with Barlean's lemon smoothie oil (awesome stuff!), with strawberries, some orange pieces, and raisin bread

Dinner = turkey, steamed veggies and mashed taters

oh and of course a side of fruit! 

...please take notice of the "couple" of peanut butter cups we 'obtained'

Snack #1 = peanut butter and raisins on celery... and if you think I just licked off the peanut butter and raisins and left the celery you'd be right 

:/

I can't help it - I just can not take celery!

Snack #2 = graham crackers and apple slices with lemon pudding... I've been pretty into pudding these days! 

Supper = toast with peanut butter, topped with bananas and strawberries and then drizzled in honey :)

Snack #3 = If you're wondering what in the #!*?@ this is... just look here

p.s. I don't actually cuss - ever. 

Well that's all - hope your day is spectacular! Mine will be filled with packing, packing and packing... oh ya-maybe studying for finals? But probably not. Oh well!

Blessings!

~Kristen 

Thanks Peas & Crayons - http://www.peasandcrayons.com/ for this awesome par-tay!

WIAW #1

So... I've never done one of these before but I'm all for jumping on the bandwagon - well unless its illegal, immoral or unhealthy.

But this is none of those - so I'm ALL in*

(*hopefully I do this right... is there a wrong way to tell the world what you put into your belly? I guess I'll find out...)

Alright - here we go! 

So breakfast...

Some egg whites, toast with honey drizzle, and a huge bowl of fruit (blueberries, grapes and pineapple) with a little yogurt and granola with pecans

My university has this great thing that lets you sign up for a sack lunch on days you have classes over the noon hour (so handy!)

And on Wednesdays, it is always a banana and peanut butter sandwich - but today I had some dark chocolate chips (that I got from the trail mix below) and threw them in... WOAH! Totally made my day.

And then some yummy grahams between classes...

Supper = giant bowl of pasta with chicken and veggies and mixed berries

Can't forget the 'snackage'

Who else is enjoying obsessed with Naked juice?

I know I am! And those cute little packages of peanut butter? Such a great idea. Genius. 

...I may or may not have 'obtained' the peanut butter and crackers from my college cafeteria... 

So this may look like a big bowl of crazy... and it it. Delicious crazy that is.

It's pistachio pudding with bananas!

So easy to make in a dorm room for any fellow college students out there!

I just mix up two TBSP of dry pudding mix with 1 cup of milk in a protein shake blender thing and shake, refrigerate and enjoy!

So that's it! I'd love some feedback from my first go at this from all you pro's out there! :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Thanks http://www.peasandcrayons.com/ for hosting this great party idea! 

Granola Muffins

What's cute and small? Sweet and crunchy? With a little bit of sass? 

Well me when I was 5! (minus the crunch!) But also these Granola Muffins!

They are a perfect little treat that can be customized to fit any taste palate. Not to mention easy to make... so easy you can even get the children you babysit involved for a fun way to pass the time!

First things first - get you dry ingredients all stirred together (this is a perfect job for little hands)

Then... while the little one(s) are doing that, you can melt up the wet-ish side of things...

When it's warm and all thoroughly mixed together, wait about 3-4 minutes after it starts simmering... then you are ready to pour it over the dry!

You'll mix them together really well and press into muffin tins. 

Then place in a 350* oven for 20ish minutes (sides will be golden brown)

And viola! 

Also a perfect on the go treat for you!

I threw these into the car as they were just cool enough to pack up before I went out and picked up the rest of the kids from school. 

It was a perfect in the car snack! This is due to these Granola Muffin's 3 qualities:

1. Healthy (so I can feel good about feeding them to children)

2. Delicious (so the kids actually want to eat them!)

and

3. More on the chewy side of things instead of crunchy ... aka-not a HUGE mess in my backseat!

:)

So here is the full out recipe-

Ingredients:

(wet)

-1 banana

-1/4 cup peanut butter

-1/4 cup honey

-2 TBSP. butter

-1 tsp. salt

(dry)

-1 1/2 cups oats

-1/2 cup flour

-1/2 cup cereal of choice

-1/2 cup coconut (or any nuts/cereal)

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1/4 cup nuts (or any other mix-in... choco chips, raisins, etc.)

1. Mix dry together

2. Heat wet on stove, mashing banana and mixing well.

3. Let wet simmer on stove for 3-4 minutes, then remove and let cool a minute or two

4. Add to dry and mix well

5. Press big spoonfuls into muffin tin (greased)

6. Place in 350* oven for 20 minutes, sides of muffins should be golden

7. Cool, remove and ENJOY!

Reese's Muffins (healthy!)

We all know I'm a sucker for breakfast...

anytime of the day.

And I'm a sucker for peanut butter...

So in the celebration of Easter (reminds me of Reese's Eggs-YUM!)

My friend and I decided to storm the kitchen and make an explosion of breakfast deliciousness containing peanut butter and chocolate, but in a healthy way! 

(*drum roll*)

REESE'S MUFFINS!

This recipe was inspired by Equal Exchange Cocoa

What is this Equal Exchange company you ask?

Check out my review here-

So back to the recipe!

The wet stuff (cream it all up!) ~

-2 ripe bananas (about a cup)

-1/2 cup sugar (or substitute, or 1/4 cup honey)

-2 egg whites (or one whole egg)

-3/4 cup Greek yogurt

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 tsp. butter extract (optional)

The dry stuff (sift it baby!) ~

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1/2 cup Equal Exchange Cocoa (or your favorite brand of unsweetened cocoa powder)

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. baking soda

When you're done sifting...

Melt up 1/4 (heaping if you're like me!) cup of peanut butter

Mmmm... 

Use all your self control to not stick your head into the measuring cup and drink that amazing melty peanut butter!

Alright.

Now- add the wet to the dry and fold in 1/4 cup peanut butter chips and 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Then fill your muffin tins (will make about 15ish) 3/4 full with batter

Then add a heaping spoonful of peanut butter to each muffin tin and swirl, swirl, swirl!

Ahhh Yeahhh.... 

Bake at 350* for about 15 minutes

Remove

and 

DEVOUR!

Let me hear ya- what's your favorite muffin?

Hit me up with some new recipes friends!

adapted from: Sally's Baking Addiction

Easy Peasy Breakfast in a Jar

So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and trying out (enter whatever the heck you can think of here)-In-A-Jar!
Anybody else tried this new-found trend?

Well, this morning, I had a little bit of peanut butter left in the jar...

I'd say about a tablespoon or so...

So I threw in the last of my Raisin Bran...

probably a half-cup

Topped it with one sliced banana

Stirred it all around-and DEVOURED!

It may sound strange... but boy oh boy was it nummy! 

If anyone else has some delish ...-in-a-jar recipes-leave the link in a comment below! 

Peace, love and peanut butter.

-Kristen

Attune Foods - Cereal LOVE

Cereal.

Quick, easy to prepare, delicious, satisfying.

What's left to say? It's the perfect meal.... but is there evil lurking? 

Let's take a look-see!

Hmm... 50+% of its weight is sugar? Cool.

NOT!

Alright alright, so point made-not all cereal is the 'perfect' fuel for your body.

But not all cereal is made to sabotage your attempts at living a healthy life.

Enter, Attune Foods

That's their theory, and I like it!

So they were kind enough to allow me to sample some of their products and let you wonderful readers know my thoughts

I was sent

Uncle Sam Original

Sinner's Raisin Bran

And

Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal (Gluten Free)

Raisin Bran = SUCCESS! 

Why? Well, aside from being tasty, just the right amount of sweetness from the raisins, it also has AMAZING nutritional stats..

Check it-

Yeah Buddy! See that? The sugar? No? 

OH WAIT! That's because there isn't any!

I get soooo annoyed when cereal companies think it is necessary to add sugar... like for reals?! Come on, it is a cereal with raisins- a naturally sweet food-why are you adding more sugar?!

Whatev. I'm over it... (not really)

But anyways - 

This is what the Raisin Bran looks like...

Not huge flakes like you may be expecting-smaller, but still delicious, don't get me wrong!

I added some blueberries on top and devoured that bowl!

So it's no secret I love their Raisin Bran, but what about the others?

Well, the Erewhon Crispy Rice got thrown into my Peanut Butter Granola recipe - and boy oh boy was it a success! Try it for yourself, you won't be sorry!

And the Uncle Sam Original? GREAT!

It had a neutral flavor that allows for you to add whatever kinds of mix-in's you want and have your bowl of cereal perfectly match your taste!

(I enjoy slices of bananas and using strawberry milk, crazy maybe-delicious yes.)

So that's that! 

I'm loving me some Attune Food cereal!

They make delicious products, with minimal-but wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about putting in your body.

No preservatives, no artificial anything, no harm, all yum!

Attune - Simple Ingredients. Simply Made.

(Kristen's addition - Simply DELICIOUS!)

*All opinions are my own, I was not compensated to do this review in any way.

Comfort Food...

Everyone has it.
Some are ashamed of it.
Some are proud.
Some pretend they actually don't have one.
Others let themselves indulge in it whenever they want, others only use it when needed.

comfort food!

I don't know about you guys, but my comfort foods are usually baked goods (ok and a good steak and mashed potatoes too)
But more often than not, when I've had a bad day or am stressed, or whatever-I just want some homemade CARBS!

And that is just what my mama brought me when she came to visit me at college this weekend-isn't she the best?!

-if you're wondering, that's strawberry milk! YAY for Nesquik! :)

So my family all came to attend an induction ceremony for Phi Upsilon Omicron - no not a sorority - an honors society for the college of education and human sciences

ps-I look at the tag for this dress...

psh- I only spent $8! Boo-Ya!

I was awesome to get to see them, if only for a little while!
We went shopping and I tried on children's shoes (WHAT?! they're so much cheaper than adult shoes! and usually come in more fun colors :)

Snacked on some Two Moms in the Raw granola bars!

And then went to Texas Roadhouse for an AMAZING steak :)

Life. Is. Good. 

I hope all your weekends were equally blessed! And that will carry over into Monday! 

Peace out people of the world-wide-web!

Banana Pudding

Have you ever heard the song "Banana Pudding" by the SCOTS?
Well if you have, you know how easy it is to get stuck in your head (sorry 'bout it!), and now you probably have it stuck in your head and the ONLY way to get it out is to eat banana pudding!

Wait, you haven't heard the song? And it isn't stuck in your head? And you don't want banana pudding?

Go watch this

....I'll wait...

Ok! Now is it stuck in your head? Yes? Good.

This is seriously one of the recipes, I almost feel bad calling a recipe... more like a few instructions and you are well on your way to a happy belly!

Step 1.
Gather supplies:
Vanilla wafers
banana
Cool Whip
milk
pudding mix (can use vanilla, but best to use banana of course!)
Wine glass (if you wanna get really fancy!)

Step 2.
Mix pudding according to directions on package. If your package doesn't have directions, you are getting some sketch pudding my friend!

Step 3.
Layer!

First bananas

Then pudding

Dollop of cool whip

Bananas again

Pudding again

Then top with cool whip

And stick a 'Nilla wafer on top!

Yummy huh? 

...that would be a yes!