Rainbow Veggies and Sausage

I have a favorite recipe that my family really enjoys but lately I've been wanting to cut back on all the cheese in it. I don't get sick or anything, it just tends to weigh me down.

So I did some playing around with it and found a very yummy and healthier version.

First start with olive oil and 2 or so cloves of garlic. (If you like a little heat, you could even throw in some red pepper flakes) Cook the garlic for about a minute then add lots of veg...peppers of all colors (I don't discriminate), zucchini, onion, tomato (not pictured - add later). 

Then some super yummy chicken sausage. This Italian style one went really well.

Chop the sausage and cook in a wok or skillet until cooked through. Remove from the pan and add the veggies. Stir fry those until tender.

Remove from heat and combine together and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add chopped tomatoes.

 

Optional: add cooked pasta and sprinkle with a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese. I did this to make sure it was filling and there was enough for my whole crew, but the sausage and veggies were super yummy all on their own.

It was super yummy and the kids loved it!

Crockpot Chocolate Rice Pudding with TruMoo!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TruMoo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was in college, I found this really amazing shop. I don’t remember who told me about it or who I first went there with, but it was a rice pudding shop. It was amazing! There were different flavors and different toppings. Unfortunately the shop went out of business or moved, but I couldn’t find another place like it. I was so sad!

Fast forward several years and I really haven’t had rice pudding since. I was given the challenge by TruMoo to make something yummy with their milk. Did you know TruMoo doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup to sweeten their milk? Yup, and no artificial growth hormones are used on the cows they get the milk from! TruMoo comes in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and coffee!

Go learn more about TruMoo on Facebook or visit TruMoo for more information!

I thought and thought about what I could make and suddenly rice pudding popped into my head. So I’ve come up with a yummy recipe to fill this void in my life, it’s very yummy and not overly sweet.  Jump to the bottom of the page for a giveaway for you!

Crockpot Chocolate Rice Pudding
4 1/2 cups chocolate milk, such as TruMoo Chocolate Milk
1/2 cup cream (optional, I used it because my local store only had 1% chocolate TruMoo, if you find the whole milk you will not need this)
1 Cup Arborio Rice
1/2 sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Stir all ingredients together in the crockpot and put on low for 4 hours.

Transfer to bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
There you go, I hope you enjoy. You could even use some chocolate chips to top it or fruit as a mix in. I drizzled a tiny bit of chocolate syrup on top. Yum!

What TruMoo flavor are you most excited to try?

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with coconut oil!)

I have been using coconut oil in my cooking for a while now. I use it to stir fry, saute vegetables, and make popcorn (For more ideas, check out my guest post How to Use Coconut Oil in Cooking and Baking). But I hadn’t really used coconut oil in baking much yet. So I found a yummy recipe and gave it a shot.

The cookies turned out amazing and the little hint of cherries with the chocolate was fantastic. I love how things just work out. I had the cherries in my fridge after making the Homemade Cherry Hand Pies and decided to try them in some cookies.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Oil (Recipe adapted from Leelalicious)

• 1/2 cup + 1-2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil, softened (I have used and like both Trader Joe's Coconut Oil and Tropical Traditions)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 cup flour 
• 1 tsp baking soda  
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup cherries, pitted and chopped 

Soften the coconut oil and cream together with the sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix for about 3 minutes until fluffy.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate chips and cherries and mix until combined. At this point my dough was a bit dry so I added another Tablespoon of oil. Fold in the chocolate chips and cherries by hand.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F, spray cooking sheets with spray (Trader Joe’s even has a cooking spray ). Use a cookie scoop and form dough balls, place onto the cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool before devouring every last one! ;)

What are your favorite ways to use coconut oil for cooking and baking?

Better Than Anything Pineapple Poke Cake

Hey there! How’s your summer going? Are you enjoying the sunshine and making great memories?

We’ve been trying to keep busy and entertained in the house. I haven’t been feeling too inspired or productive lately the 100+ degree weather. I have been meaning to make this cake for quite some time and finally got to it. Now this is not my normal healthy recipe I like to make, but it brings back memories of summer when I was younger. My mom didn’t make this often, but it was a really yummy treat when she would make it.

Cake:
1 package plain yellow cake mix
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
Topping:
1 can (20oz) crushed pineapple packed in juice
1 cup sugar
1 package (5.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
3 cups whole milk
1 container (8oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
optional:
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 package (6oz) frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9x13” pan with non-stick spray. Set pan aside

In a large bowl, mix cake mix, melted butter, and eggs. Blend on low for about a minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. The batter will be thick and well combined. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Put into the oven and bake for 28-32 minutes. Cake should spring back when lightly pressed and begin to pull away from the sides.

While cake is baking, prepare the topping. Place pineapple with juice and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves and mixture comes just to a boil, 2 minutes. Set aside.
When you remove the cake from the oven, immediately poke holes in the top with a drinking straw or chopstick. Spoon pineapple mixture over the top of the cake.

Put pudding mix and cold milk in a bowl and blend according to directions. Spread pudding over pineapple layer. Place the pan in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Place whipped topping, pecans, and coconut in a mixing bowl and stir gently. Spread over pudding layer and return to fridge. Chill for another 30 minutes until topping has a chance to set.

DIY Baby Food: Zucchini Millet Medley

My little girl is just growing up so fast! I could have sworn she was just rolling over yesterday, haha! I’m pretty slow when it comes to feeding my babies, and by that I mean I’m slow to progress them along. Partially out of just wanting to keep them little and partially because purees are so easy to make.

I have started to make a few more advanced meals like this one and the Squash and Quinoa meal and she seems to like them both so far. I really like to make sure anything I make my babies is healthy, nutritious, and fresh. This is all of those!

Zucchini Millet Medley
-1/2 cup Millet
-1/3 Cup Zucchini Puree (see below)
-2 TBSP Apple puree
-1/4 Cup Fresh Basil

Begin by boiling 2 cups of water, add millet, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Once done cooking, divide the millet and store half away for later. With the other half, combine with zucchini and apple purees. Let cool. Stir in basil just before serving.

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to use storage containers similar to these and these.

If you don’t happen to have zucchini puree on hand already prepared, here’s how to whip some up….

Take 2 large or 3 small zucchini and wash. cut into 1 inch rounds. Place a steamer basket in a pot with 1 inch of water over medium heat to boil. Once boiling, place zucchini in the steamer basket and cover for about 7 minutes until the zucchini is very tender.

Puree the zucchini in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Store unused puree in a sealed container for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.