Muffin Tin Monday - St. Patrick's Day

Pin It now! Hello! It's been awhile since I've participated in MTM! It's been awhile since I've posted regularly in this blog, too, but I've recently decided I want to try to be more active in here. I've always loved Muffin Tin Monday so I knew that I'd definitely want to jump into that again.

When I started thinking about what I was going to put in our St. Patrick's Day tin I imagined our tins turning out to be a lot more fun. I didn't really "plan" it and I think that was my problem, I'll try harder next week. The kids were happy with their tins so that's really all that matters, right? Right!

On the top row we've got a rainbow of fruits and veggies, with ranch for dipping. I put some pesto in the ranch to turn it green! Veggies include green and red pepper slices, cucumber slices, and carrot sticks. And blueberries and red grapes for fruit.

On the bottom row we have some lucky charms and a mini pizza on a whole wheat muffin. I toasted the muffin then put some alfredo sauce on it, then some mozzarella cheese, and a couple pieces of chopped spinach and then stuck it under the broiler for a minute or so to melt the cheese.

Ashlynn ate everything except the pizza, Dawson ate everything except the veggies! Next week's theme is Spring is Sprung! I should probably start planning that now so I can make their tins a little more fun next time. :)

Visit Another Lunch to see more Muffin Tin Monday meals. :)



For those of you who may not know us, let me introduce my little family to you!

I'm Jamie (the mommy), Dawson is my very energetic and smart 4 year old, and Ashlynn is my sweet and smart 2 year old. Dave (not pictured) is my wonderful husband and the best daddy in the world. :)

Thank you for stopping by!

Baked Zucchini Chips Recipe

Pin It now! Yesterday I posted the recipe to these yummy turkey burgers with zucchini and I'm sure you all are on the edge of your seats waiting for the baked zucchini chips recipe, right? ;) They really are good, in fact they are one of our new favorite sides. Even Dawson, who may be the pickiest eater in the world, loves them! He begs for seconds which is so not like him, but I am not complaining!

We tried Gina's zucchini sticks recipe first but the middle of some of them were super mushy, I think because I didn't cut them all evenly. My solution to that was make them as chips instead of sticks! It's a lot easier to keep them the same size that way.



Baked Zucchini Chips (adapted from SkinnyTaste.com)

• 2 medium zucchini cut into 1/4 inch slices
  
• 1 large egg white
• 1/3 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• salt
• fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 475°.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, place breadcrumbs, garlic powder and cheese and combine. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Dip zucchini chips into eggs then into bread crumb and cheese mixture, a few at a time and coat well. Place the breaded zucchini in a single layer on cookie sheet. Bake at 475° for about 7-8 minutes, then turn over and bake for another 8-10 minutes until browned and crispy. Serve with marinara sauce or ranch for dipping.

Enjoy!

Turkey Burgers with Zucchini Recipe

Pin It now! I am seriously obsessed with skinnytaste.com. My obsession started about 2 months ago when my husband and I decided we were ready to lose weight together. We had both wanted to lose weight for a couple of years now, but we weren't ready to make the lifestyle changes that we needed to in order to be successful. I'm not sure what "clicked" but we are both ready now. In the last two months we have been eating healthier, exercising, drinking only water and lots of it, and just being a lot more active. Since the second week in April (almost 2 months ago) I have lost almost 16 pounds and my husband has lost 21 pounds!

I was so excited when I came across Gina's recipes at Skinny Taste and couldn't wait to start trying some of them. So far we have tried at least 10 of them and have loved them all! I'm going to start sharing the ones that we try here, along with any other new (or old favorites) recipes that we try and love. I know you could easily hop on over to Gina's blog (and I think you should!) and see these recipes there for yourself, but I like getting recipes from friends that I know they love so I figured you might too! (We're friends, right? ;) ) I also like to make a few changes to some of the recipes that we try to sort of make it our own, so the recipes that I post might be a little different from Gina's. :) We've been counting calories and not going over our daily calorie goal, and Gina posts how many calories are in each of her recipes which helps out a lot! Of course if you change the recipe up a little bit you will have to add or subtract calories to get an accurate count. If anybody knows of anymore recipe blogs like hers please let me know. :)

Anyway, have I rambled enough yet? Let's get to the recipe already! ;)



Turkey Burgers with Zucchini (recipe from SkinnyTaste.com)
Servings: 5 • Serving Size: 1 burger no bun Calories: 156

• 1.25 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 tbsp red onion, grated
• salt and fresh pepper

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties. Barbeque burgers until they are cooked all the way through.

Easy enough, right? Adding the zucchini means less calories and fat per serving and they taste yummy! My husband and I agreed that we would be adding some garlic next time though.

Only my husband and I were eating these burgers (Dawson isn't a big meat eater yet) so I only used 6 or 7 ounces of ground turkey and adjusted the rest of the recipe around that.

Since the turkey burgers called for zucchini and I wasn't making the entire recipe I had some zucchini left over, so I decided to make zucchini chips to go with them. I'll post that recipe tomorrow, it's one of our favorite sides (even Dawson approves!). See the baked zucchini chips recipe here.


Does anybody else use sandwich thins instead of regular buns? We love them! And they're only 100 calories for the entire "bun". We like to use them with sandwiches also but we still use our whole wheat bread, too.

I plan on writing a little bit more about our weight loss journey in the next few weeks, we still have a while to go before we meet our end goals so I am sure they I'll have plenty to write about.

Family Movie Night - A Bug's Life

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We had another family movie night last Saturday and it was a blast like usual. :) We were going to be watching A Bug's Life so we planned dinner around that. Here is our dinner table all set up:


We decided to use our picnic table cloth to give it a little bit of a picnic theme. And if you look closely you can see ants wandering around. (Don't worry the "ants" are really just raisins.)

Our movie tickets were set out and ready to be used.


We decided to use some brown construction paper as place mats and I drew some ants on them. For dinner we had piles of dirt (mini meatloaves), an ant hill (mashed potatoes), green plants (salad).


We also had caterpillar rolls.


Ladybugs (strawberries) and more caterpillars (grape kabobs).


And for dessert we dirt and worms (Oreo cheesecake and gummy worms).


I didn't get Dawson's drink in any of the pictures but he was drinking bug juice! (Ok, ok, it was really Mott's for Tots apple juice.)

I had Dawson make a caterpillar out of an egg carton (he LOVES to paint!) and we used his new Rollitt paint set to make the ladybug. He painted a paper plate black and another one red and then I added the dots and put it all together.


And before the movie we changed Dawson into his bug pj's! It was SO hard for me to get a picture of him, he does not like to stay still for long.


I'm really looking forward to our next movie night because we are going to be watching Lilo and Stitch and I have never seen it before! It was hubby's pick and he is definitely going to have to help me with the planning since he has seen it and I haven't.

Muffin Tin Monday - Memorial Day

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We weren't going to do Muffin Tin Monday today because honestly Dawson hasn't been eating very well at all. He won't try anything new and even things that he used to love he won't touch anymore. He's been like this for a few weeks now and it seems like it's getting worse. :( It can be very frustrating at times... I really hope this is just a phase that he gets over quickly.

Last night I had the idea to use his football muffin tin because he LOVES footballs. I thought that might make breakfast a little more exciting for him and maybe he'd eat more...

Top Row: strawberries, toast with strawberry jam, blueberries
Bottom Row: strawberries, cheerios, blueberries

He did LOVE the football tin and got all excited about that, but he definitely didn't eat any better. :( He ate all of the blueberries and strawberries which was expected but he wouldn't touch anything else. *sigh* Hopefully lunch goes better.


To see what others did for Muffin Tin Monday this week visit Muffin Tin Mom's blog.


Happy Memorial Day!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta

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We tried this Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta recipe from kraftrecipes.com the other day and it was so easy and so yummy that I thought I'd share it with you!

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

What You'll Need:

1-1/2 cups whole grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.

BAKE 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

I need to work on taking pictures of food because I really don't know what I'm doing. *lol* It was really good though and we'll definitely be making it again.

Homemade Churro Recipe

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When I told Dave that this week's Muffin Tin Monday theme was Cinco de Mayo he suggested that we make some churros for Dawson's tin. Awesome idea honey!!! We've never made churros before. I looked up some different recipes and found the one that I wanted to use on AllRecipes.com. After reading the reviews we decided to tweak the recipe a little and they turned out perfect! This is the recipe that we ended up using:

What you'll need:

1 cup water
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts oil for frying
1/2 cup white sugar, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.

2. Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pipe strips of dough into hot oil using a pastry bag. (I used a Wilton 4B tip.) Fry until golden; drain on paper towels.

3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Place drained churros (a few at a time) into bag with sugar mixture and shake until well coated.


Dave said they were just as good as any churro that he's gotten at the fair. I think they are better than any churro that I've gotten at the fair because half the time those churros are stale. These were so yummy and so easy!

Muffin Tin Monday - Cinco de Mayo

Pin It now! Welcome to another installment of Muffin Tin Monday! This week's theme is Cinco de Mayo. A few days ago I told my husband what the theme was and asked him if he had any ideas for it...he said we should make churros! So we did and they turned out SO good and they were SO easy! (Homemade churro recipe)

Anyway, here is Dawson's tin.

Top Row: bean and cheese quesadilla
Bottom Row: homemade tortilla chips, "salsa" (really just tomatoes), homemade churros

To see other muffin tin meals head on over to Muffin Tin Mom.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Pin It now! If you have a bread maker and you love cinnamon rolls then you *must* try this recipe that I found over at Money Saving Mom. They are SO easy and they taste SO good!


Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten plus 2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour (Add a bit more if dough seems too wet after first few minutes of kneading in the bread machine.)
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons active yeast

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup brown sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing:
1 teaspoon milk (I had to add more milk because it just wasn't coming together for me.)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
4 tablespoons (or less) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla


Put the dough ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and run on the dough cycle.

After the dough cycle is finished, roll the dough into a large rectangle and spread it with 2 Tablespoons melted butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar mixed with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon.

Roll up and cut into 10-15 rolls and place in two greased round cake pans.


Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned.

Spread the icing on as soon as they come out of the oven.


If you want to make the dough and roll out the rolls the night before (which is what I did and why you don't see pictures of the first few steps...it was like 11 o'clock and I was tired. *lol*) you can put plastic wrap over the cake pans and stick them in the fridge until you are ready to bake them in the morning.

Muffin Tin Monday - Mickey Mouse

Pin It now! There is no theme for Muffin Tin Monday this week so we decided to do our theme. Mickey Mouse! When we were at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago I couldn't pass up buying some stuff that we could use for MTM!

I couldn't resist bringing down his Mickey ears and I was really hoping that he would wear them while he ate lunch but he didn't want to. Oh, well. I tried. :)

Mickeyroni and cheese, Minnie and Donald cookies, toast

Mickeyroni and cheese, yogurt with Mickey sprinkles, Mickey shaped jello

And for dessert a Mickey cupcake!


This is Dawson's first muffin tin meal sitting on a booster at the table. He's usually in his highchair. We'll probably still use his highchair, but he really likes sitting at the table with me and dada.



To check out other muffin tins head on over to Muffin Tin Mom.

Creamy White Chili Recipe

Pin It now! I didn't do a lot of cooking while Dave was deployed because it's hard to cook for 1...well technically 1 1/2, but Dawson isn't always the best eater so I'm not counting him. So now that Dave is back I've started trying out all the new recipes that I've been wanting to try. I love being able to cook again!

This is recipe that I got from a friend. She brought this soup to the Superbowl party that my parents had and I was in love with it when I tried it. Seriously, I love this soup.

2 lbs. chicken breast cooked and diced
1 lg. onion diced
3 cans great northern beans drained and rinsed
2 (14oz) cans chicken broth
1 (7oz) can green chilies diced
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups sour cream
1 cup whipping cream or half & half

Combine chicken, onion, beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes.

Stir in sour cream and milk.

Serve immediately. Serves about 6


This soup is heaven.

Hubby and I agreed that next time that I make it I should add a little more pepper and chili powder. And instead of 2 cups of sour cream I am going to start with 1 and see how it looks and tastes and add more if it needs it. ***We tried it with 1 cup of sour cream instead of 2 and we like it better with 2 cups of sour cream. It was still good though.***

We just had this for dinner a few days ago (and I ate it for lunch 3 days in a row finishing up the leftovers) and I am already ready to make it again. It is that good!

Muffin Tin Monday - Colors of the Rainbow

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Happy Monday!!! This week's MTM theme is Colors of the Rainbow. I'm really looking forward to seeing what everybody came up with because I love colorful tins. Here is what Dawson had...

tomatoes, cantaloupe, bananas
avocado on ritz, blueberries and grapes

Dawson enjoyed his tin and ate pretty much everything except the tomatoes and bananas.

And then he ate a rainbow cupcake that I made for dessert.

Those were a big hit! So cute and so yummy!

Head on over to Muffin Tin Mom for more fabulous muffin tin meals.

Muffin Tin Monday - No Theme

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Happy Monday! I am so glad to be starting a new week! Last week was not fun AT ALL because Dawson was sick and I was really worried about him. He is doing just fine now though. Last week in my MTM post I mentioned that Dawson wasn't eating very well and it got so much worse when he was sick, which is expected. He hardly ate a thing for 4 days! He is definitely feeling better but he isn't eating much better yet. I really hope his appetite comes back soon.

This week there is no theme for Muffin Tin Monday so I decided to put together some of Dawson's favorite foods hoping that he would eat most of it. Here is what I gave him...

Top Row: mac & cheese, club crackers, cheese
Bottom Row: mac & cheese, arrowroot cookies, cheese

He ate about 1/4 of the mac & cheese, a couple pieces of cheese and one bite out of each cookie. Lunch was over in about 5 minutes. I tried keeping him in his highchair a little longer even though it was obvious that he was finished and wanted to get down in hopes that he would eat more but it didn't happen. I really hope he starts eating more soon.


Holy smokes he needs a haircut! *lol*

To see what others did this week for Muffin Tin Monday stop by and visit Muffin Tin Mom.

Muffin Tin Monday - Back to School

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This week's Muffin Tin Monday theme is back to school. Dawson has not been a big fan of meal time lately, I can barely get him to eat! Lunch is the only meal that he will eat more than a couple of bites... I'm thinking I'm going to have to start serving him sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner since it seems like that is all that he wants to eat! Hopefully this is just a short phase and he'll be my good eater again in no time.*crosses fingers*

Here's his "back to school" lunch...

Top row: books (grilled cheese), pencils (lil crunchies), apples for the teacher (I hope she likes diced apples!)
Bottom row: books (grilled cheese), gold stars (banana puffs), more apples for the teacher

Dawson ate half of his sandwich, half of the apples, all of the little crunchies and most of the puffs. Not too bad! Especially considering he only had a mini blueberry muffin and 4 bites of yogurt for breakfast... I don't know why he won't eat breakfast or dinner anymore. At least he still likes lunch!


To see what others have come up with this week head on over to Muffin Tin Mom.

Muffin Tin Monday - Circus

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There is no theme this week for Muffin Tin Monday, but for the first time on a no-theme week I've come up with my own theme! Yay! I'm hosting my very first giveaway (Dr. Seuss books) so I decided to pick a theme that goes with one of the books that I am giving away. So our theme this week is Circus. (One of the books I am giving away is If I Ran the Circus.) Here's what I came up with:

peanuts (nutter butters), clown face (pb&j w/blueberry eyes, cherry nose and twizzlers pull & peel hair), circus animals (frosted animal crackers)
clown car (pb&j sandwich), the fruit doesn't go along with the theme...oops! (peaches and pears), circus animals (frosted animal crackers)

I learned 2 things this week. 1- I don't own any animal cookie cutters besides a dog, a bunny and something else that I am forgetting. No circus animals, though. And 2- Dawson does not like to see a face on his sandwich! Check out this picture...you might have to look closely but notice the clown's face - it's gone. But not because Dawson wanted to eat the blueberries and cherry first. The blueberries are now with the nutter butters and the cherry is next to the sandwich.


He cracks me up. I guess I wouldn't really like it if my sandwich was staring back at me...how do you eat something like that?! *lol*


*sigh* I just love that little face.

To see other Muffin Tin Monday meals visit Muffin Tin Mom.