Life After I "Dew"

My all-time favorite holiday tradition is my family's annual cookie exchange.  We've been doing it as long as I can remember and even before that.  What started out as a way for my mom, aunt and grandma to gift their love of baking to friends and family has turned into a more simple family get-together.  We no longer bake millions of cookies in every variety you can imagine.  There's no more burnt hands from making hard candies.  Gone are our standard assortment of cookies and now everyone kind of makes what they want.  One thing that has remained the same throughout all these years are the cutout sugar cookies.

As much as everyone loves to complain about icing the cookies, it really is our most fun time together.  We get silly with our decorating, we eat more than we ice, we laugh, we listen to Christmas music and it's just good old fashion family fun.  Now that I have kids of my own I am so happy to be passing this tradition onto them.


This year I wanted to make a little something different than the standard "Christmas cookie" so when the folks at Honey Bunches of Oats® asked me to come up with a holiday treat I was up for the challenge and quickly ran to Kroger for my ingredients.  I decided on a peanut butter, chocolate treat bar that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars {featuring Honey Bunches of Oats® }

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups peanut butter
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 cups Honey Bunches of Oats® Cereal {I used Honey Roasted}
• 2 milk chocolate bars

Instructions

• Microwave the peanut butter, syrup and sugar in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes. Stir every 30 seconds to one minute to avoid burning make sure it's melted all the way through.
• In a large bowl mix the cereal and your melted ingredients to coat
• Pour the mixture into a 9x9 baking dish and pack firmly
• Melt the chocolate bars
• Pour and spread the melted chocolate evenly over the cereal
• Let it firm up and once bars have set cut into squares and ENJOY!

Often times I get asked what my favorite recipe for Shakeology is and the answer is, I have many!  If I had to pick my number one it would absolutely be the Reese Cup but all of these are delicious if you're looking to yummify your superfoods.  I also have a different favorite depending on the season we're in {strawberry cheesecake for summer, pumpkin spice for fall and candy cane for winter}.  So without further ado, here are a few of my favorites.

























A little info about Shakeology! First of all, it's all natural. It's made up of over 70 fruits and veggies and gives you your daily recommended dose in ONE packet! Pretty amazing right? The drying process of the fruits and veggies BB uses is one of the best in preserving all of the nutrients! 

There are a variety of flavors to choose from: Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla and Greenberry as well as vegan options. Shakeo can be used as a nutrition supplement or as a weight loss supplement (meal replacement). I typically replace lunch because it's just easiest for me!  For a months worth of Shakeo it is $129 which breaks down to $4 and change per packet which isn't bad at all {I told myself when I started that's cheaper than my Starbucks - and it's healthy - and it's my breakfast!}

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me a message and I'd be happy to assist you in picking the perfect flavor!

My distaste for the PSL {pumpkin spice latte} is no secret. I don't know what it is {too sweet, maybe?} but I just can't get behind this festive fall drink.  That doesn't mean I'm a total pumpkin spice hater, I am not.  I actually love all things pumpkin outside of the PSL.  Gimme all the pumpkin muffins, coffee creamer, chili, and, now, overnight oats.

Overnight oats and smoothie bowls have become super popular lately and rightfully so.  First of all, they are SO EASY.  Just mix everything in a bowl and enjoy.  Second of all, if you do it the night before your breakfast is ready to go when you wake up. And, lastly, you can pretty much throw any ingredients together and have something healthy, yummy, and extremely filling.

This pumpkin spice version could be made using Greek yogurt, chia seeds, chocolate chips, etc.  I used what I had on hand and it turned out delicious, almost like a slice of pumpkin pie! Say what?  It's true!  


Ingredients:

¼ cup brewed {chilled} coffee

¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

¼ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon flaxseed

½ cup old fashioned oats 

Instruction:

Combine all of the ingredients except the oats and stir until combined and smooth

Add the oats and stir to cover

Place in the refrigerator overnight

Stir in additional milk before serving, if necessary

That's it!  It's that easy!  Enjoy!

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward and Balance Bar but all my opinions are my own.

As women, we are taught that the word "crave" means something we should avoid.  It carries a negative connotation and/or references a period in life when women are "weak" {pregnancy, PMS}.  We never crave wholesome things, right?  How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh I'm really craving some kale"?  When the foods we crave are less than healthy {ice cream, pizza, cake} we try to avoid them at all costs because they are "bad" or they will make us "fat".  But, what if I told you you didn't have to deprive yourself of anymore?



My biggest cravings in life are sweets.  Gimme chocolate chip cookies all.day.long {especially fresh, hot, homemade ones}.  I'll also take a double scoop of chocolate/peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone anytime someone asks, "wanna get ice cream?".  Those things, however, don't coincide with my goals so they are eaten in moderation.  That's where Balance Bars come in.

I recently discovered Balance Bars and they have quickly become my go-to snack, quick breakfast on the go, post workout meal, and late night snack.  Guys, I'm addicted to these little smart bars.  I have tried Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat, Dulce De Leche & Caramel and Dark Chocolate Pecan Turtle and I can't tell you which one I like the best because I love them all.  I packed all three flavors for our most recent camping trip so that I could be sure I'd have at least one healthy option while we were sitting around a campfire or out on the boat.



Most of the time I find myself reaching for Balance Bars after my workouts.  The balance between fat, carbs, and protein promotes slow glycemic response, supports muscle recovery and helps satisfy your hunger with steady, sustained energy.  Fueling your body properly, post workout, is so important to your results and can help reduce soreness the following day {even though I do like to feel a little sore every no and again}. And all that for under 200 calories is a total win in my book!



Would you like to try these for absolutely FREE?  One commenter will win a 6-pack box of Balance available in Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat, Chocolate Peppermint Patty, Dark Chocolate Turtle or Dulce De Leche & Caramel varieties.  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your BIGGEST craving in life.  Good luck!

I didn't talk about it much on here but if you follow me on IG you know this whole house {minus James} has been battling some sort of sickness since the beginning of February. It's been a fun month, let me tell you.

It started with me getting some gross puking bug {that I thought was the Chipotle flu} and five days later Jimmy was lucky enough to catch it.  Somehow our kids managed to avoid it which is a miracle seeing as everyone we are close to had it at some point that month.  Following the stomach bug, a little over a week later I was diagnosed with strep for the first time in 33 years.  I was prescribed penicillin even after I told the doctor that I don't usually respond to it. Nine days into the prescription I called them back to let them know that all of my symptoms had returned and I was feeling the exact same.  At that time they informed me that my strep test was negative...hmm...okay...so I don't know what I had/have {my ears are still plugged} but I do know that about two weeks later Kendall did test positive for strep.

Whew...

So we have all passed germs around and somehow James has been the only one to avoid it which blows my mind.  But now, it seems, we are all on the mend.  Everyone has finished their prescriptions and all is "normal" again.  FINALLY.

The thing that sucks the most is my diet.  Up until I got sick I had been counting macros and loving it.  I was eating more food than ever before {1700 calories vs 1200} and I felt great.  The scale got to a number I have never seen as an adult and while that wasn't the goal it was nice to see, I can't lie.  I was cooking a lot more, eating healthier than ever and I was loving it.

Once I got sick all I wanted was carbs.  Gimme all the toast, bagels, noodle soups, french fries, and ice cream.  Seriously I think I logged into MFP one day and my macros were like 95% carbs.  It was insane.  I chalked it up to being sick and if my body was craving those things then that was what it needed to "heal".  How do you like that logic?

Needless to say I gained almost 10lbs in a month thanks to that nonsense.  Insane, right?  It's not just the scale that's driving me nuts but I feel like crap too.  Sluggish, no energy, tired easily, clothes are fitting weird, the whole thing is just bad.  I'm mad that things got so out of control but what can you do?  You hop back on the wagon and don't give up.

Last week was when I really noticed things were "bad" and I decided to get back to a more paleo style diet.  I say paleo style because I am not committing to 100% paleo again.  I love counting the macros because I don't feel deprived of anything yet still feel in control too.  If that makes any sense.  BUT since I'd been living on a carb-filled diet for the month I decided I should probably try to cut those for a minute.  So that's what I've been doing, combined with counting my macros and it's been great.  I've been eating lots of yummy, healthy, pretty foods again.  I got my cooking mojo back, woo!  And I'm starting to feel better too, double woo!

Also, since November I've just been feeling "blah" in the workout department.  Call it the winter blues, call it SADD, call it what you will but doing anything worthy of breaking a sweat or leaving me sore for days did not sound appealing.  I wanted something "easy", something I could do in the mornings, something that wouldn't make me drip with sweat but something that would still feel like I was doing something.  That's when I discovered and fell in love with Yoga With Adriene.  From November-February I strictly practiced yoga as my workout. I completed two 30 day challenges and found a love for my body that I wish I'd had all along.  It was a great physical change but it was an even greater mental one.  I truly appreciate and love yoga in a whole new way now.

I also came out of it feeling reenergized.  Like I was ready to sweat again and it was time for something more challenging.  Then my T25 journey {the beginning} started showing up on my Timehop since it's been two years since I started it the first time. I started to feel re-inspired to start the program that changed everything for me all over again.  So I'm officially ending week two of T25 alpha today and it feels amazing.

It's completely different this time around though.  I remember the first time I did the entire program I felt like I had to keep up with Shaun T.  I didn't want to modify anything and sometimes that was a great big disadvantage to me because I would fizzle out and just stop or I'd take more breaks because I couldn't keep up.  This time I'm letting myself modify where I need to and I'm OK with it because it allows me to keep going. I was also pleasantly surprised that I hadn't lost all of my stamina over the past couple of months.  T25 is very different from yoga and I thought that I was going to be on the floor about to pass out at the first day of cardio but surprisingly I made it though and didn't feel like I was going to die!

I think coupling T25 with the macros is going to leave me with an amazing transformation.  I'm super excited about it.  I never take measurements because I'm too lazy but I did this time!  I took measurements, weight, and before pics so that I have a FULL testimony this time.  I can't wait.  Two weeks down, eight to go.


Stay tuned.

You guys I have such a yummy treat to share with you today!

As you {may} know I have a major sweet tooth.  Cookies, especially chocolate chip, are my main weakness.  Some people crave salt, some people choose something a little more savory, I choose cookies.  Unlucky Lucky for me Kendall loves baking so we make chocolate chip cookies about once  a week.  The problem here is she only likes to make cookies for the dough {no judging} and that leaves me and James {Jimmy hates most sweets} to eat an entire batch of cookies.  Since I'd rather not have an already hyper toddler hopped up on sugar, I take one for the team and eat them all.  Yep, all of them.  In a matter of days too.  It's not pretty.

Anyway...

I needed to find a healthy alternative to all these cookies I was consuming.  So that I'm not the only one eating them {even though they're healthy doesn't mean you can eat the whole batch}, I wanted something I knew my kids would like too.  So, without further ado...

Shakeology No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup all-natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
1 cup quick cooking oats
½ cup raw honey
1 cup Chocolate Shakeology

As I mentioned a couple times, I'm doing 21 Day Fix EXTREME right now and so far, so good {I think}.  I'm not weighing myself or taking measurements till the end so that's why I say "I guess".  It's not been easy and I have slipped up a couple of times, I'm human.  I will say that it has been an eye-opening experience and I have realized that 1. I eat too many carbs and 2. I don't eat enough veggies.  I kind of already knew all of those things but this sort of put it on display and made me really check myself.  

One recipe that I have made and LOVED has been this 21 Day Fix EXTREME turkey chili.  Now, not to toot my own horn or anything, I make a pretty BA chili.  I don't have a real recipe, per se, but it always tastes the same and it's always a crowd pleaser.  Anyway....with that being said, I was skeptical of trying something new.  Jimmy is not a big fan of turkey, in fact he refuses to eat turkey bacon altogether, so I was nervous when I told him I was making a turkey chili. But, to my surprise, he loved this just as much as I did!  Wife win!

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1.5 pounds raw 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (I used orange pepper b/c I had it on hand)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt or Himalayan salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste; optional)
• 1 (15-0z) can black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 (15-oz) can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 (15-0z) can all-natural diced tomatoes, no sugar added
• 12 fresh cilantro sprigs, finely chopped (for garnish, optional)

So ladies, listen up, I am the worlds worst chocolate chip cookie maker.  Seems like no matter what I do they turn out flat, hollowed out underneath and all the chips rise to the top.  What gives?!  I follow the instructions perfectly, I have all "fresh" aka not expired ingredients, and I've tried multiple baking sheets in hopes of that being the culprit.  I've tried butter soften, melted, straight out of the fridge.  Nothing seems to matter, the're always bad.  I can make every kind of cookie except chocolate chip.

Until now.

I decided maybe it was just the butter in general.  I know everyone says to use butter instead of margarine but to those people I say, "pish posh".  Also to the people who say you need to separate the wet & dry ingredients into two bowls and then combine, double, "pish posh".

That's right, I use margarine and I throw all of the ingredients into my stand mixer and my chocolate chip cookies have never been so perfect!  Thank goodness too because Kendall requests to bake cookies at least once a week.

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup margarine or two sticks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

I put all above ingredients, minus the chocolate chips, into a stand mixer and mix until combined.  Once all of the ingredients are mixed together I then add the chocolate chips and mix some more. Drop a tablespoon-ish of dough onto your cookie sheet and bake in preheated {375 degrees} oven for 8-10 minutes.


Enjoy!

*Disclaimer:  While I don't follow a strictly paleo diet/lifestyle but I do find a lot of delicious paleo recipes that I like to incorporate into our rotation every once in a while.  

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  I love everything breakfast related.  Coffee, pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, cereal, bagels, you name it, I love it.  Once for my birthday I even did a breakfast theme and it was glorious {must remember that again this year}.

I don't make waffles very often because, honestly, I hate to get out the waffle maker.  It's so hard to clean, I always overfill it causing the waffle to spill over the edges, it's just a mess.  Jimmy doesn't really care for sweet breakfasts, he much prefers something hearty like sausage gravy & biscuits, and the kids can't ever finish a whole waffle between the two of them.  So when we have waffles I go all out.

Which brings me to these apple & sweet potato paleo waffles.



I didn't know what I was doing.  I had eggs, too many sweet potatoes and more apples than I knew what to do with so I figured I could make something happen. I've made paleo pancakes with a smashed banana and egg before so I figured this would be the same concept.

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
1 large apple {any kind would work}
2 whole eggs
Dash of cinnamon
Grade A maple syrup

Shred the sweet potato, you could pulse it in a food processor but I just used a vegetable peeler, and dice the apple. Mix together with eggs and a dash of cinnamon.  Pour into your waffle maker and wait until the eggs cook all the way through.  Remove, drizzle with syrup {or you could use honey}and enjoy!

Super easy, super delicious!

This past weekend, much like the rest of the Midwest, we were snowed in.

Yay!

Not.

But we made the most of it. We had lots of family time, went sledding in our back yard, played on the swing set {in the snow}, Jimmy and I got to finally watch SNL40, and most of all I made lots of yummy food.  My waistline wasn't happy but my husband was.

I posted this delicious chili mac on my FB page Sunday and it was really good and made plenty for Jimmy to take for lunch all week.  I call that a win.  But the star of the weekend was my first time ever making stromboli.

In my family when it's your birthday you get to pick what you want for dinner and someone, mom, aunt, grandma, will make it for our family birthday dinner.  Normally I pick stromboli.  I make no secret of my love for pizza but stromboli classes it up a bit, right?  Ha! But I'd never actually made one myself.  I guess I thought it would be too complicated and too time consuming.

Enter Pinterest.

I found this recipe and thought, "store bought pizza dough?  I can do this!".

And boy oh boy, was it a hit!  I think Jimmy and I fought over the last piece and I won because it's my birthday week and I love pizza the most.  The latter he cannot argue with, ever.  I can eat more pizza than him any day.  So I always get the last piece.

It's been a while since we've done a Dinner with the Dews and since I've been back to cooking again I thought I should share some of my recent, yummy discoveries.  I was really craving comfort foods this week, I blame the fall weather, so I whipped up lots of soups and chili {I will be sharing this amazing paleo chili recipe later}. I posted this pic to IG last night and y'all went nuts.  I can't say I blame you because it looks as good as it tastes.

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 to 1.5 pounds)
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
24 oz frozen vegetables (red bell pepper, zucchini, squash, carrots)
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cut into small cubes (or sweet potato)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 – 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 – 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
6 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

Good morning pizza lovers.  I swear, pizza is THE ONE thing I could eat morning, noon, and night and never get sick of it.  I have never had bad pizza either.  I love it all.  Even the nasty frozen Totino's pizza that they serve in elementary school cafeterias.  Are you with me?

So when I decided to go Paleo {you know, two weeks ago} I knew that pizza would be hard for me to give up.  I searched and searched and found a Paleo pizza recipe {meatza} and I was immediately skeptical.  Meat crust?  I wasn't sure if I even liked sun-dried tomatoes.  I knew I loved spinach and artichoke dip but didn't know how I felt about straight artichoke.  But I added this to our weekly menu/meal plan and decided to try it.

You guys!  Words cannot even describe the flavor in this meal!  I do like sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes are just fine even when they aren't covered in grease and cheese!  The meat crust?  Ah-ma-zing.  So much flavor.  Now I wouldn't go calling this a replacement for pizza because it's not.  It's nothing like pizza that I know and love.  The only similarity between this and pizza is the tomato sauce.  And I ate it with a fork.  BUT this will be a staple recipe in the Dew house and I'll be mixing it up with different toppings each time {even though this combination was bomb.com}.

• 1 lb. lean ground beef {I used venison}
• 2 Tablespoons mixed dried herbs {I used Tastefully Simple Rustic Herb Seasoning}
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried dill)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Tomato sauce
• Red bell pepper, sliced
• Sundried tomatoes, sliced
• Artichoke hearts (canned or packed in oil), chopped
• Olives, any kind, sliced
• Arugula leaves 
• Fresh basil for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the crust ingredients – ground beef, dried herbs, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Divide the meat in half. Press half the meat into an 8″ round pie pan. Repeat with the other half.
4. Bake for 10-15 min or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and drain off any liquid in the pan.
5. Now it’s time to do the toppings. I added the tomato sauce and red pepper first, then popped it back in for another 5 minutes to soften those up. Then, I took out the crust, added the rest of the toppings – arugula leaves, sundried tomatoes, artichokes {and olives for Jimmy}.

Raise your hand if you have pinned things thinking, "I'll totally do/make/try/recreate this later" and then never looking at it again.

I'm always looking for new, easy, quick things to eat for breakfast.  If your house is anything like mine, breakfast=chaos.  Kids wake up, James takes a bottle and usually about halfway through Kendall decides she needs.food.now.  By the time I get her fed it leaves little time for me to get myself something hot so I usually settle on a Luna bar and call it a day.  

Boring.

I came across this meal plan a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for clean eating recipes.  I loved that it was broken down into breakfast, lunch and dinner with the recipes provided.  I saw the granola recipe and I knew it was the answer to my breakfast problems.  I could make a huge batch, keep it in the freezer and add it to yogurt, berries, smoothies, etc as I needed or when I wanted something more exciting than a Luna bar.  

• 6 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut, if you don't like/want it, add another cup of oats
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• pinch salt
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup honey
• 2 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

My favorite way {and Kendall's} is to put it in a bowl with a splash of almond milk, strawberries and blueberries!  It's kind of like cereal but not.  It's also good just by the handful every time I open the fridge.

Enjoy!