Patriotic Cheesecake Bites

So hard to believe that we're inching up on the 4th of July already!! I've had such a blast keeping up with Little C this summer. She's such a fun kiddo--her new favorite activities:

-Scooting. I blame this on us always saying "Scooter" (it's our dog's name). She can scoot across the living room in 2 seconds flat. Crawling is for suckers, clearly.

-Barking. Her puppy brother is a little protective (to put it kindly...), so he barks. A lot. She's taken a similar approach in her communication style.

-Kissing. This one melts my heart. She just comes right at you with a big ol slobbery open mouth kiss. It's to die for :)

Today we tested out a Little Gym in the neighborhood...and she did all three of these things on repeat with a big cheesy smile on her fave. Love. This. Girl :)

Anywho...back to the recipe!! I was dreaming up (ok...searching on Pinterest) and stumbled across something that looked a lot like what I came up with. I was just disappointed at the amount of sugar that was getting added to the cream cheese, so I brainstormed some alternatives. Not only are these little guys adorable and SO perfect for a 4th of July BBQ, they are also fairly bikini-friendly!

Patriotic Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:
12 strawberries
24 blueberries
1 pkg neufchatel  (or reduced fat cream cheese), room temperature
1 8oz container vanilla greek yogurt
1 tspn vanilla extract
12 toothpicks

Preparation:

Whisk together the cream cheese, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Place in a large storage bag and refrigerate for at least an hour. Slice the stems and the tips of the strawberries, so you have two flat surface. Setting the strawberry on the smaller end (so where the tip was), hull out some of the center to make room for the "cheesecake" filling. Snip a corner of the storage baggie, and pipe the filling into the center of the strawberry. Push a toothpick through the center, and stick two blueberries on the end.

So easy. So delish. So stinking cute. :)

Sensory Play: Cloud Dough!

David used to jokingly call me "Summer Wife" once school let out. Summer Wife cooked more interesting dinners, was game for Tuesday happy hours, and sometimes even made breakfast for the hubs before work. She also kept a pretty clean home, too :)

So I guess with the addition of little C in our lives, I've been upgraded to "Summer Mama." It's been fun getting into a routine with her at home this summer. Given how upside down so many things in our lives are at the moment (...being in between homes tops the list!), I've been amazed how quickly we've settled into a groove. Today I opted to shake up our "middle of the day" play time with a little sensory activity for our girl...Cloud Dough!

When I started researching recipes online, many involved flour vegetable oil...totally a fine combo. But I'm constantly looking for ways to get rid of pantry items I have an accidental excess of (y'all know mom brain + grocery shopping + a good sale = way too much stuff). Then I stumbled across this post and realized I could throw together some "cloud dough" for C that would take care of the abundance of rice and oatmeal cereal she isn't too interested in eating lately (my girl LOVES waffles these days!!). I changed the proportions a bit to get a consistency I was happy with...and it was perfect :) Like the prettiest, softest sand you remember from vacay :)

Here's what you need:
1 cup rice cereal
1 cup oatmeal cereal
1/2 cup melted coconut oil.



Mix all the ingredients together till you get a soft, pillowy sand consistency. I used double sided tape to secure a garbage bag to the floor to make clean up a tad easier....homegirl still tried to pull it up. We added some rings, cups, and spatulas to the fun and had a great little afternoon!! When she decided we were finished, I just dipped her in the tub for a fast rinse off...and she smelled like a little coconut all afternoon :)

P.S. She only tried to eat it once!!

Care-package Love...Homemade Cranberry Coconut Granola

My littlest sister is doing AMAZING things this summer. While most college students use summer as a time to take meaningless three-hour classes and lounge by the pool (*sheepishly raising hand...*), this fab gal is participating in Kaleo 2014--a nine week long discipleship opportunity that combines biblical study, leadership development, and gives her the skills to launch a ministry on her own campus. In her words--"we're learning how to study the Bible, share our faith, and witness God work in my life and others! Figuring out what making disciples looks like and how you would go about doing it. Basically the best summer of my life." All while holding down a full time, 40 hour a week job. She's basically my hero :) I'm so thankful that little C has so many strong, wonderful, talented aunts to look up to!

 While sister is I'm sure enjoying living in Panama City, FL for the summer, I thought a little care package would help her and her roomies feel a little bit closer to home. Her are my go to items to include in her package:

*Strawberry Liquorice from Trader Joe's (did y'all see my FB post about this last week?? So. Good.)
*Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels--her and her roomie will LOVE these!
*Nail Polish (something fun and girly for summer!)
*An assortment of random items from the dollar section at Target, hahahaha!

and the pièce de résistance...

*A bag of homemade Cranberry Coconut Granola! (recipe below...)

Homemade Cranberry Coconut Granola
(adapted slightly from Southern at Heart)

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sliced almonds

½ cup raw honey

½ cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup water

2 tspn cinnamon

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 tspn sea salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup raisins

½ cup dried cranberries

1 cup shredded coconut

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line two baking sheets with foil (makes clean up a breeze!). In a large bowl, combine oats, pecans, and almonds. In a separate small bowl, whisk honey and next six ingredients together.  Stir mixture into oats and nuts till completely combined. Spread mixture evenly on the two baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, then stir mixture on pan and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 300 degrees, and return trays to oven for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown in color (I pull the trays out in the middle of this baking time also and stir). Remove trays from oven, and sprinkle raisins, dried cranberries, and coconut over golden oat mixture. Stir to combine, and allow to cool before storing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three weeks.

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs aka...

While little napped, I decided to throw together a new batch of meatballs for her with a bit of a twist. I have been really terrible at the "homemade" food thing as we've moved into a temporary housing situation while we wait to close on a home. A smaller freezer + boxes everywhere + school year wrapping up didn't exactly make for a solid "Mom of the Year" application.

Now that we've settled into a bit of a summer time routine, I figured it was time to cook for my girl again :) I just kind of winged this recipe while she napped. The final product was actually super tasty....just a little green :)

A little "name the meatball" challenge on Instagram came up with:
*Green Boogers
*Green Monster Meatballs and...
*Hulk's Balls

 Call 'em what you like, little girl GOBBLED these up! She tossed back 4...when most days she only had 2.5 of the other recipe. I'll mark this one as a win in the mom column!

Kid tested, mama approved :)

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs 

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and pureed (optional to puree--my kiddo doesn't do well with stringy cooked spinach yet!)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup baby oatmeal cereal (breadcrumbs would be a fine sub; we aren't eating cereal as often, so I wanted to use up what I had left)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl (mixture will be quite sticky). Form into balls and place on a greased, foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 minutes, or until cooked through.

To freeze: Cool completely. Place in ziploc bag and freeze until desired use. I don't recommend keeping baby food for more than three months in the freezer!

Healthy Chicken and Couscous

I'm surprised I didn't open this blog with this meal. It's a recipe that brings back lots of memories--I found the original on the inside of a couscous box when we lived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. David traveled a lot for work back then, which meant this soon-to-be bride had a lot of Food Network time on her hands. Couscous was all the rage it seemed that year, so I grabbed a box when I hit up Albertson's and planned a "fancy" dinner for us. I love thinking back to this time in our lives--learning how to live together, learning how to live away from our families, and learning how to become adults (still sorta working on that last one...).

The recipe has morphed substantially over time, and has turned into one of my go-tos. I honestly ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand and love knowing a delicious, healthy meal is less than 30 minutes away....and only requires ONE saute pan! Now that I think about it, it's also pretty baby girl friendly before the tomatoes hit the pan (with a little whirl in the Magic Bullet of course). Enjoy :)

Healthy Chicken and Couscous

Ingredients:
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 ¼ tspn dried basil (fresh ok here too! Use more though…)
2 tbsp EVOO ½ cup pine nuts
2-3 chicken breasts, diced in bite sized pieces
1 box whole wheat couscous (either parmesan or roasted garlic flavor)
1 ¼ cup chicken stock/broth
1 clamshell spinach, chopped coarsely (I stick my kitchen shears right in the box and chop away)
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with foil (I’m a lazy cook!), toss tomatoes with 1 tbsp EVOO, pepper, salt, and ¼ tspn basil. I like to make sure all tomatoes are cut side up before putting the pan in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, over medium heat, lightly toast pine nuts in saute pan, stirring often (pick a big pan that you can use for everything! Less dishes = happier mama!) until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside.

3. Season chicken to taste with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp EVOO in the same saute pan (yay!). Add chicken to pan, and cook through. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

4. Add chicken broth, spinach, seasoning packet from couscous, and 1 tspn dried basil to the SAME saute pan, bring to a boil. Add in couscous, stirring to mix. Add chicken on top on the mixture, place lid on pan, and remove from heat. Let sit for five minutes.

5. Remove lid and stir in tomatoes and pine nuts. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese to taste. Enjoy!