I have an obsession with granola. I love trying new flavors. We were at Whole Foods yesterday, and I was checking out the granola. The Imaginative One had to tell me to step away from the granola area because I didn’t need to buy too many of them. I just love eating them with either plain yogurt or almond coconut milk for breakfast or with my lunch.
Here’s my newest find:
It’s delicious!
I tried to come up with a witty blog entry about this salad. Even though I thought and thought, I couldn’t come up with anything. So I’ll just be straightforward. This recipe is delicious and easy to put together. You can adapt it by changing up the veggies in the salad.
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This made 3 servings for me.
I had been doing great with my eating. Then illness and other things halted my progress. Spring break was a killer for me. I didn’t eat right during a lot of it. I’ve gained back a pound, so I need to refocus before it’s multiple pounds.
Today was my first day from break. I was so busy with getting work done and teaching. I’ve got to make sure I have time to eat lunch. That is one of my biggest problems. Too few calories are just as bad as too many calories. I need to make sure those calories count also. Today for lunch, I had orzo pasta salad with a pesto dressing. The veggies in the salad were broccoli, tomatoes, and yellow peppers. There were also some chopped black olives and feta cheese in the salad. Yum! I also had a Chobani blood orange yogurt and a cutie. It was a good lunch.
Breakfast is also an issue for me. I’ve been doing better about having breakfast. However, when I am working, I take it with me with the intention of eating it all. I usually only finish part of it. I’m just not hungry before I leave for work.
So if I can work on eating a better lunch and completing my breakfast, I think I’ll do better in my quest to get healthier.
I’ve been bad about eating healthy. I really need to get on track.
Breakfasts –
Lunches –
Dinners –
For more menu plans, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Day 2 of using up ham left-overs was a success. In fact, Hubby told me that it was better than Bd’s Mongolian Grill. Score!
A few weeks ago, we went to Bd’s for supper. He loves the fact you can pick your own ingredients and then they grill it up. So this was saying a lot when he liked my version better.
Oh, I know there are a lot of versions of this recipe floating around. However this is my creation based on the concept.
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So on Easter Sunday, I decided to cook Easter dinner. Yes, on Easter Sunday at about 11:45 am, I committed to making dinner. Okay, it was only going to be for 6 of us, so that’s not too bad.
My family of four headed to the grocery store to plan out the meal because I had no clue what I would make. I cooked crock pot ham, honey, cinnamon carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, and spinach salad. We had lots of ham left-over. Fortunately for us, we love ham!
I’m finding ways to transform the ham into delicious dishes so we are not just eating ham repeatedly, even though the Imaginative One would love that. Last night I made ham and black bean soup using Bob’s Red Mill’s Black Bean Soup mix. To make this soup, you can use any black bean soup mix or dried black beans.
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This is my fifth time participating in the program I love how I can try new foods from around the United States.
This time I bought it for Nichole, who lives in New Jersey and works in Manhattan, a place known for incredible food. Since she doesn’t have a blog, she wrote a little blurb for me to post here.
What a great box! I received some wonderful teas which should be very relaxing and refreshing as well as some delicious local coffee. I also received my favorite snack, apples and peanut butter, the peanut butter came in handy dandy travel form. I will certainly be enjoying my chocolate/peanut butter hybrid spread which is absolutely delicious and has been hidden from me for way too long. It’s delicious and I plan on putting it on just about everything. Also, kindly and thoughtful enough, included was a magnet and a small history on Ohio.
Caitlin who lives in Washington, D.C., sent me my box. She had it ready for mail pick up before leaving for a trip but it wasn’t picked up. So she repackaged everything and sent it overnight. The barbecue sauce did not make it, so I used a towel to wipe off the items in the box. Even with those two setbacks, I loved my box. Everything was very much appreciated.
The items that did survive the trip.
She was extremely thoughtful and had looked at the blog. She saw that one of the boys (the Wee One) loves fruit snacks, so she sent some that are all natural with no high fructose corn syrup. He absolutely loved them. His first comment was, “They have a dot com.” Only my boy!
This pink salt came with a lot of discussion with my family. One reason it’s pink is because of the iron content. So Hubby decided he needed to take some and experiment on it to see if it was magnetic. Of course, the conclusion was that it was not magnetic. The Wee One loves salt, so he enjoyed tasting it even though it was pink.
She also sent me an Irish soda bread mix. Since I was sick over St. Paddy’s Day, we hadn’t had our special Irish dinner yet. We had in on the 23rd instead. I did not want to use all of the mixes right away, so I decided to make the biscuits instead. We enjoy biscuits more than bread. Caitlin suggested putting raisins, currents, orange zest, or herbs in the dough. I opted for the orange zest. The whole family enjoyed them!
I love granola and cinnamon, so this was perfect for me. I’ve eaten it for breakfast with my vanilla coconut almond milk (a rarity because I don’t like milk on my cereal). The walnuts were huge! Yum!
I ate up all the bag she sent me and found a place an hour and a half away selling the granola. The place is near my favorite zoo so we took a side trip there when we went to the zoo last week. I bought myself some more bags of the granola.
Pistachio cardamon shortbread with the recipe. It is absolutely delicious! I’m enjoying it one piece at a time.
Thank you so much, Caitlin for this delicious box of goodies.
Gluten-free
Vegetarian
Quick
Easy
The Imaginative One loves French fries. He is the biggest French fry stealer, so when I made these, and he kept trying to take wedges from various family members, I knew this was a hit! They were so crispy, which is the way I love them. I ate them without any condiments because they were that good!
![IMG_7190[1]](https://cookingwithtraci.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/img_71901.jpg)
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Oh my goodness, I found a recipe that made the Shamrock shake healthier with fewer calories. It’s full of good fats.
One of the ingredients might surprise you. It gives you green coloring without food dye.
Now when the boys have their Homemade “Shamrock” shake, I can have this instead. Yeah!
Oh, it’s also husband-approved.
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11. Hubby – He’s been a brave soul trying the new foods I’ve been cooking. A lot of them, he’s actually liked :) Yeah!
12. My favorite book series – Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone series, Joanna Fluke’s Hannah Swenson series – I love visiting my “friends” and catching up with them.
13. Spring is almost here! It’s a time of rebirth and renewal.
14. My family – They are very important to me.
15. Foodie Pen Pals – I did it in October, November, January, and February. I love shopping for new people and figuring out their likes and dislikes. Then I get my package in the mail and try new foods from different places in the US. Okay, my last one was from five minutes from the house. This month the person sending me my box is from further away, so that’s exciting.
16. Going to the beach this summer – I love Charleston, SC. We finally made a commitment to go to the beach. Yeah! I get to eat at my favorite restaurant there. The boys are going to get to go to Piggly Wiggly. They want to dump sand on grandpa down there. We are going to Charlottesville, VA, on the way down or back.
17. the zoo – I love going there.
18. Coffee – Enough said there!
19. Chocolate
20. Being a teacher – There is nothing more fulfilling than teaching, especially when the students have learned something new and are excited about it.
