Healthy Popcorn Balls

This Friday, our homeschool co-op is having a Valentine's Day Party. Everyone was asked to bring a healthy goodie. The kids and I thought that popcorn balls would be a great idea. I knew that I would want to make something without processed sugar and corn syrup. This morning I googled "Healthy Popcorn Balls". There were a lot of choices. Squirrel & I picked 2 different recipes to try.

The first was Agave Popcorn Balls. We made this recipe twice, once with chocolate chips and once without. Tracker & Dragon were eager taste testers. The boys both liked the chocolate version. Squirrel preferred the kind without chocolate chips. I tasted a bit and they tasted just like Cracker Jacks, only healthier.


The next recipe we tried was Cinnamon Popcorn. The first time we made it, we did not think that there was enough liquid. We decided to double the syrup recipe and that turned out to have too much butter and sugar. The next time I made the recipe, we used the original recipe, but doubled the cinnamon & vanilla. It turned out a little bit better. Dragon told me that there was too much cinnamon. He also suggested that I add nuts to the recipe. I added chopped pecans & almonds(leftover from the Agave Popcorn Balls) and added more popcorn. They decided that they liked this version. They thought that it would be a great snack food, but not appropriate for popcorn balls. I had to agree. We decided that we had a great afternoon snack.We decided to make both variations of the Agave Popcorn Balls to take to the party Friday. Squirrel had the great idea to use our ice cream scoop to form the balls.
We are going to serve them in heart cupcake liners.

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Posted in: kid approved,snacks

Expectations

Today was a crazy day. We had to travel out of town for a doctors appointment. We had to stop at a fast food place for dinner. There was no other option. We packed our lunch trying to not only save money, but avoid the bad food on the road. As I sat there and ate my crappy and tasteless sandwich, I asked myself what I was doing? What the hell was I thinking stopping there? What kind of example am I? I feel like I should of found something better for dinner. I want my children to have a healthy relationship with food. I do not want them to worry about every little thing they put in their mouths.

I need to get my head on straight. I need to get back into the swing of things. I need to make sure that there are healthy food choices in the house. I need to start making things from scratch again. I know what I need to do, I need to believe that I can do it. I need to remember why I am doing this.

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Posted in: diet,family,healthy eating

Start of the day

I have learned that starting off the day right is very important. This is what I normally have..



Egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, and a tiny bit of cheese
Handful of nuts
fruit
2 pieces of whole wheat toast

Here are some of our other family favorites:
whole wheat pancakes
veggie sausage biscuits
apple cinnamon baked oatmeal
waffles
hard boiled eggs & coffee cake
cereal and muffins
breakfast burritos

I would love some more breakfast ideas.

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Posted in: breakfast

Willpower

"All things are difficult before they were easy." ~Thomas Fuller

My willpower has been next to zip. I am having a hard time refusing temptation. I have determined that changing my diet is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I now have a food journal. I am going to keep track of what I am eating.

I am also putting myself first when it comes to my workouts. I need to do this for myself and my family. I am going to be working out a schedule this week.

I know that I can do this. In the words of Fire Chef...we will get there, together.

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Posted in: diet

Thinking of Spring

I am anxiously awaiting the day that I can start my seedlings. Before I can start them, I need to decide what to plant. My ideal garden would have cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, watermelon, eggplant, herbs, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, corn, crookneck squash and patty pan squash. I would also love to have strawberries.

I wish that I took the time to create a garden journal last spring. If I had I would not have to try and remember what I planted last year. Last year I did square foot gardening, but it failed due to the fact that I had major surgery in June. The garden was neglected while I recovered. This year I am going to ask a friend that had a wonderful garden last year for advice.

I do know that one big part of my garden this year will be an herb garden. I am just not sure if I am going to put them in the garden or a container.

Seed companies here I come....

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Posted in: garden

Veggie Wraps

I took these....
And some of these....
and made some of the best grilled veggie wraps...

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Posted in: Quick Meals,vegetarian

Spinach, Black Bean & Mushroom Quesadillas

This was our lunch the other day. We love spinach in my house. I personally cannot get enough of it. In order to make this go with my diet I did the following:

~used whole wheat tortillas
~added spinach
~used a small amount of cheese & sour cream
~added salsa

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Posted in: lunch