Not Your Ball Park Dog

Growing up, we did not have the normal ketchup and mustard hot dogs.  My parents lived in Chicago and lets just say, they learned how to make a REAL hot dog. And after getting married and showing Justin the real way to have a hot dog, he never wants to go back :)

All my ingredients are not exact.  Just do as much as you want.

First:
Marinate hot dogs in a mixture of EVOO, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and chopped cilantro.  I do this for about 30 min before grilling.

Toppings:
Cucumber
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Onions
Lime juice (about 1-2 tsp)
Make a relish out of these ingredients and set aside to marinate together while you grill your dogs.
Now you know what to do, grill those yummy dogs, basting it with the remaining EVOO mixture as you go, throw it in a bun, top with cucumber relish and a little ketchup and devour!
Enjoy!  

Baby Food

When I had Carter, I figured I would give the whole "making your own baby food" a good try.  I saw this segment on the TODAY show a few years ago and figured I would go from there with a book called Baby Love by Norah O'Donnell and Chef Geoff Tracy.  Carter LOVED it!  And I loved how much money I saved.  I can honestly say, I did not once buy jar baby food except for the baby meats for the first year of his life. It was super quick and easy.  About once a month I would plan a morning and make a bunch of baby food for the rest of the month (taking me about an hour to do it).  Here are a couple of my favorite ones.  Some of them I even wanted to eat.  A bite for Carter, a bite for Mommy :)
I hope any of you contemplating doing this gives it a try!  It is SO worth it!

Cinnamon apple oatmeal raisin:

4 apples
1/2 c. golden raisins (can be the normal ones too)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
12 ounces water or apple juice (I think the apple juice makes it a little too sweet)
1/2 c. baby oat meal

Cut eat apple in half.  Remove seed and stem with a melon baller.Cut each half into 6 pieces, you do not need to peel it! Put apples, raisins, cinnamon, and water into a 4 quart pot and turn burner onto high and cover with a lid.  Cook for 7 minutes, stirring once.  Add the oatmeal and cook for 1 more minute, stirring throughout the final minute.  Pour everything into a blender.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into two ice cube tray and allow to cool.  Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze.

I would then use about 4-5 cubes when I fed Carter and put them in the microwave for about 1 min to thaw.  This one makes your house smell like apple pie!  YUM!

Strawberry banana pineapple

1 1/2 lb strawberries
3 bananas
1/4 pineapple
8 ounces of water

Cut each banana into 4-5 pieces. Cut pineapple approximately the size of strawberries. Put everything into a 4 quart pot.  Turn the burner on high, cover pot and cook for 6 minutes, stirring once.  Pour everything into a strainer with a bowl underneath to save the juice.  Pour the cooked fruit into a blender.  Puree until smooth using 2-4 ounces of the reserved juice if necessary to adjust consistency.  Pour into two ice cube trays and allow to cool.
wrap with plastic wrap and freeze.

Perfectly basic sweet potato

2 1/2 lb Sweet potatoes (about 2 medium sized potatoes or 1 really big one)
24 ounces of water

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut the potatoes lengthwise.  Place potatoes flesh side down on a sheet tray.  Pour 8 ounces of water onto the sheet tray.  Roast for 60 minutes until tender.  (Or you could do it my way, wrap it in wax paper and microwave it for 8-10 minutes :)  Peal off the pealing  and put flesh into blender.  Add water till desired  consistency.  Pour into two ice trays and allow to cool. 
Wrap and freeze. 

Get your greens

1/4 lb spinach leaves, washed and rinsed
1/4 lb green beans
16 ounces of water
1 head cauliflower
16 ounces milk

Put water into a 4 quart pot and turn heat on high to bring to a boil.  While the water is coming to a boil, prepare an ice bath and a colander.  As soon as the water is at a rolling boil add the spinach. Cook uncovered 15-20 seconds.  Remove the spinach with tongs and place in ice bath.  Add the green beans and cook uncovered 3 minutes.  Remove and beans from the water and add to the ice bath.  Discard water and return pot to stove.  Add milk and cauliflower.  Bring to a simmer over high heat.  As soon as it simmers, reduce heat to medium-low and cover.  Cook 12-15 minutes.  While the cauliflower is cooking remove spinach and green beans.  Squeeze the excess liquid out of the spinach.  Pour cauliflower and milk through colander with a bowl underneath.  Reserve the liquid.  Add cauliflower to ice bath and let cool for 2-3 minutes.  Put cold cauliflower, beans, and spinach in the blender with half the milk and begin to puree.  Add additional liquid as necessary.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into two ice cube trays and allow to cool.
Wrap and freeze.

I add a little salt and butter when I get it ready to eat to add some fat and a little flavor :)

Tilapia Soup (makes 10 cups)

I know... sounds gross right?  But I promise it is SO good.  It's an invention from my brother in law, Larry, and I wrote it as he put it together!  It's a must try when you are watching your calories because it's like 70 cal per serving!!!  So good with some crackers or bread (if you are not watching your calories :)


Tilapia Soup
4-5 Tilapia fillets, seasoned with Fajita seasoning
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, sliced
6-8 Italian sweet peppers (they look like yellow and red jalapenos)
2 tsp chicken bullion in one cup water, set aside
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 c coarsely chopped cilantro
2-3 c. water (enough to barely cover the soup)
1 small can tomato soup
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Brown fish in EVOO.  Turn down heat to medium and add onions, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian peppers.  Try not to move fish around too much so it does not break up.  Cover for 3-5 minutes to cook onions, garlic and peppers. Add chicken bullion, water, tomatoes and tomato soup.  Bring to a boil. Stir to break up fish and add cilantro and cherry tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes or until cherry tomatoes are soft. Enjoy!!!

Here are the health info for this:

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
10 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		78.0
Total Fat		0.9 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		22.0 mg
Sodium		259.5 mg
Potassium		283.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate		8.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g
	Sugars	2.6 g
Protein		10.0 g

Rock Candy Suckers

These were SO much fun to make with the kids! Cohen loved watching them grow every day and honestly...what kid does not like sugar?
Here is the link to the recipe and tutorial:
CLICK HERE

Ice Cream Cups

What a crazy cute idea!!!

Source: the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com via Mado on Pinterest

Cookies and Cream Cup Cakes

Source: Bakerella.com

Oh my gosh are these things good! They are a must try, esp when you are not on a diet!
The link to it is HERE.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup hot water
24 Oreos, plus more for crumbs

Frosting:

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter (room temp)

1 tsp vanilla

4 c. powder sugar

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp crushed cookies

2 or more teaspoons Oreo cookie crumbs

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line tray with 12 baking cups.
• Place one whole cookie in each cup or break apart at least 12 cookies and place the broken pieces into each cup.
• Mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
• Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix well until thoroughly combined. Add the hot water and mix until combined.
• Transfer the batter (it will be very liquid) to a large measuring cup and then pour batter into each baking cup so it’s about three quarters full. You should have a little left over.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Makes at least 12 cupcakes

For the frosting:

• Beat the shortening in a mixer until smooth.
• Add vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the powdered sugar in three additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
• Add a Tablespoon of milk at a time and mix together until you achieve the consistency you like.
• Add the cookie crumbs and mix until completely combined. You can add more if you like, but I just wanted a light speckling to show off the white frosting.
• Place frosting in a decorator bag with a 1M tip and swirl on top of each cupcake.
• Insert a cookie on top of each cupcake.
• You can also apply frosting on each cupcake in a mounded shape. Turn upside down and roll the top around in a small bowl of cookie crumbs to coat.

Note: If you choose to pile the frosting on high like I’ve shown here, you should double this recipe to make sure you have enough.

Turkey Sausage Stew

apologize for the bad pic, you get the point though right?

Source: Fix It and Forget It Lightly , for the slow cooker.

Serves: 6 large servings

If you like Pasta e Fagioli soup at Olive Garden (my personal fav) then you will LOVE this soup. I have tried many times to imitate that soup but have never found one like it... until now. It's always when you are not looking for things that you find them, right? Try this one, I promise you won't be disappointed!

1/2 lb. turkey sausage (removed from casing)
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 c. carrots
1/2 c. celery, chopped
10.5 oz can fat free, chicken broth
3 cans chopped tomatoes (I used one can italian stewed tomatoes and 2 cans chopped, the smaller cans, not the super big ones)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano (I don't like oregano unless it's lasagna, so I did not put any in)
1/4 tsp salt
15 oz navy beans (white beans)
1 cup shell pasta
1/2 c. low fat parm cheese.

1. Brown turkey with onion and garlic. Drain well.
2. Combine all ingredients except cheese and pasta.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours
4. Ten minutes before serving, cook pasta and add it to the soup.

only 280 calories per serving