Healthier eating but with flavor....

 Image from here.

My husband and I have been on a new diet. One where you can't eat much of anything ( haha ), no carbs and for the most part no sugars. It's really been teaching us how to eat healthier and it's also really opened our eyes to the JUNK we were eating before. I NEVER read labels on any food products that we bought before and now I check everything. While the kids still get to have their snacks and most of their regular foods, they can ( for the most part ) eat healthy with us. Teaching them good eating habits early :)

When I tell people no carbs, no sugars, they freak but It's really not that bad. We do also treat ourselves to a few carbs and sugars here and there. We aren't starving ourselves, we still eat our meals and they are very filling. The hardest for me is when I'm enjoying quiet time after everyone is in bed and I'm glued to the computer. That's when I want to snack.

We have been learning that you can still cook healthy and have all the flavor and yumminess. My new favorite is Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning, no carbs, no calories, and even NO Sodium. There are 15 different flavors available and I plan on trying every single one. It's a great way to spice up a meal and make it taste great while leaving out all the not so good stuff. We love the fiesta one too, yumm!

One of my favorite meals to make is this and there is no cleanup afterwards!

You'll need the following...
Tilapia
Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning
Raw Veggie of choice ( we like broccoli or cabbage )
foil :)

I rinse my tilapia, lay both pieces on a piece of foil rub it with a tiny bit of fake butter and season away with Mrs. Dash lemon pepper. Then I wrap it up leaving most of the top open. Next do the same with your veggies after you rinse them, put them in the foil with a tiny bit of fake butter, season and throw both foil pouches in the oven and bake it. I bake at 350 and the time varies as my oven is half dead. Just keep checking them, and take them out when they are to your liking.

When I cook a meal like this for us, I cook the kiddos a meal of the same but with chicken and corn or a veggie they prefer. They also like when I take bread and butter it, then sprinkle with our favorite Mrs. Dash seasoning and stick it in the oven. It's my oldest sons favorite and so easy! See, you can still have "Flavorful Low-Sodium Family Meals" that everyone can enjoy.

It's so easy, good for you, and guess what NO MESS to clean up! This is my new favorite way of cooking. Really. My husband loves it, I love it and even the kids love it. We cook almost all our food like this, the seasoning is great on steak, chicken, veggies, fish, bread, everything really. We eat lite, but we are full after and are eating less sodium and the other junk that's not good for us.


So how are you trying to eat healthier? Any tips? Recipes?



“I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here

2 Yummmy Meals out of one Roast in the slow cooker!

Photo from here.

I found this recipe here a couple of years ago when googling and looking for a new roast recipe. I absolutely LOVE cooking in my slow cooker! It's awesome as it's basically dump and go, and then about 8 hours later you have a Fabulous meal that you did virtually nothing to prepare.

Now I admit I was skeptical at first myself, sounded a bit to salty but TRUST me it's Awesome! This is the only way I make my roasts now....

I do everything exactly as the recipe from RecipeZaar says except I always brown my roasts beforehand in a tiny bit of olive oil.

Ingredients

• 1 beef roast, any kind
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package brown gravy mix, dry
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package ranch dressing mix, dry
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. 
   
   Brown your roast in a tiny bit of olive oil. Then place in your crockpot.
   
   
2. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast.
3. Pour the water around the roast.
4. Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

A little more than halfway I add in cut up potatoes and carrots. LOTS of carrots for us as we love them!! This recipe makes a yummy gravy for the potatoes! I always make angel hair pasta right before the roast is done and the roast, potato, and carrot mixture with the gravy is sooooo goood!!!! Serve it with some yummmy bread or rolls and your ready to eat!

Not only is this recipe easy peasy but I love that it requires only a few ingredients and is very inexpensive to make! We always have leftovers. Wanna know what I do with the leftovers? This is almost better than the first time around. I said almost.


1. Take your leftover roast, doesn't matter if it's pork or beef, whatever will work and tear it all apart.



2. Now heat up a skillet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil ( butter works to ) in it and add your meat.


3. Just cook it long enough to very slightly crisp it and warm it up.


4. Take some sandwich rolls, sliced bread, or hamburger buns with mayo ( that's how we roll ) or whatever your preference and fill with your meat and Enjoy! 

It is soooooooooooo good! It's good with a slice of provolone cheese too!

One Super easy and Yummmo Roast = 2 nights of dinner or dinner and lunch the next day!!

Happy November and Some Hot Chocolate Goodness...

Happy November Everyone!! November brings turkey, cold, shopping, family time, Christmas decorating, Christmas movies, and Hot Chocolate! Besides December, November is absolutely one of my favorite months!!

Lenox and Twittermoms have teamed up and want to know everyone's favorite winter drink recipe. You can learn more about it here. We LOVE hot chocolate in this house, it's one of our favorites in the winter and all year even! I found this recipe here last year and use it all the time now! I love the name too :)

SnowFlake Cocoa

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 6 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
• Garnish:
• Whipped cream
• Candy canes

Directions

1. Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and white chocolate chips in a slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted. Stir again before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and candy canes, as desired. 
   

I love to that you can make this in your slow cooker for parties!! You could always use milk chocolate to if your not a fan of white chocolate :)

Do you have a favorite drink recipe for the Holiday season? I would love to hear them!

An easy peasy chicken salad recipe!

French’s Foods and TwitterMoms are teaming up to find out who knows there way around the kitchen! For more details about the TwitterMoms contest you can go here or you can visit the French's Foods Contest page here.

Here is my recipe. I recently started cooking alot with the rotisserie chickens you can get already cooked in the deli. It's so simple and easy to whip something good up with! My husband and 7 year old son both love this one!!

Easy Chicken Salad with a Kick!

You will need:

3 Cups cooked Chicken, Again I cut up a cooked store bought Rotisserie
1/2 Cup of French's Honey Dijon Mustard
2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 Bag of Mixed Salad
3/4 cup of Shredded cheese
4 Hardboiled eggs
1/4 Cup of Croutons or French's Fried Cheddar Onions
3/4 Cup of your favorite Salad Dressing, We like Ranch but the Honey Mustard is Great too.

Add your Olive Oil to your skillet and heat it up. While your waiting on that take the cut up chicken and mix it in a bowl with the 1/2 cup of Honey Dijon Mustard. When your skillet is ready toss in the chicken for about 3 to 5 minutes, just long enough to crisp and brown it a bit. When that is done set it aside and dump your salad mix, diced eggs, cheese, and croutons in a salad bowl and mix. Then add your chicken and toss with your dressing of choice.


The recipe varies depending upon what you like as with any recipe. My husband like more meat anything, we also use a little more salad dressing as well as toppings on our salad.


Go over and checkout the contest here, or read how you yourself can enter here!!!

I wish I had a picture! I will have to take one next time I make it!