Just a reminder.

These are examples of proper serving sizes! =)

Careful you don't overeat!

That's where most of the calories take over!!!

2 things...

Check out this HEALTHY recipe site, http://sparkrecipes.com/ .
and here is one of their yummy easy snack even your kids will love from that website;

Summer Frozen Fruit Bars
Make your own popsicles.
Ingredients
2 cups cut-up summer fruit (strawberries, peaches, watermelon, etc.)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
1. Place the fruit in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth.2. Add 1-2 tablespoons water, if necessary. Add sugar and lemon juice. Cover and blend until well mixed.3. Pour into 4 oz. ice-pop molds or paper cups. Insert sticks. Freeze until solid. Serves 4.

Potato Cakes

So am I the only one who totally overestimates how many potatoes I'll need for mashed potatoes (I do this also with spaghetti!)...so here's a recipe for leftover mashed potatoes. The reviews on the website (cookinglight.com) were all really good, one lady suggested putting the cakes under the broiler for a few minutes after they are cooked to give them a little more crunch. And you can substitute your favorite cheese instead of the cheddar, too. I'll probably add a little more cheese to mine...2 Tbsp? I need more cheese to make me happy =) Oh, and be sure to use panko, not traditional breadcrumbs, they will give your potato cakes a better crunch. Happy eating!

Cooking spray

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 cups mashed potatoes, chilled

2 tablespoons shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 center-cut bacon slice, cooked and crumbled

3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add green onions to pan, and cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Place mashed potatoes in a medium bowl. Stir in onions, cheese, salt, pepper, and bacon. Divide potato mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Place panko in a shallow dish. Dredge patties in panko. Place patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Carefully turn patties over; bake an additional 12 minutes or until golden. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 potato cake)

Creamed Carrots

Now, don't be turned off by the name of this recipe. It is the yummiest way to eat cooked carrots--just ask my father-in-law. He isn't a fan of cooked carrots, but said these were the best he ever had. (Long pause as I revel in this ultimate compliment!) It's my grandma's recipe--and it's just good country cookin'. I love them. So, here's to a New Year of healthier eating!

Creamed Carrots
(Carolyn Robertson)

4 cups carrots, cut crosswise
1 cup boiling water
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp cream (or you can substitute milk or evaporated milk)
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 medium size onion, diced (I only put in 2 Tbsp or so)
Parsley to garnish

Cook carrots and onions with water, sugar, and butter until tender. Mix a little water with flour, salt, and cream. Add to carrots. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Yum!

Slow Cooker recipe ideas!

Since we now have church from 1-4 pm (yeah for sleeping in, boo for getting home late!), we are starving by the time we get home. I don't want to come straight from church to cooking at the stove, so I want to do crock pot meals on Sundays now. I need some fun and easy recipes, beyond your typical roast, beef stew, and Italian chicken. Destiny, I am totally making your taco beef next week! Please help me with some ideas!

Play Clay Hearts

Last year, after Kade was born, Jordyn had a Valentine's Party in Preschool. And, I forgot the valentines. So, I hopped onto the Family Fun website and found this recipe for play dough valentines. I think they turned out really cute, and I had tons and tons of leftover playdough. It is my absolute favorite. I keep it in tupperware and it has always stayed soft. Give it a go!

CRAFT MATERIALS:
	3 Cups of white flour
	1 1/2 Cups of salt
	1 1/2 Tablespoons of cream of tartar
	3 1/4 Cups of water
	6 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
	Red food coloring
	Rolling pin
	Heart-shaped cookie cutter
	Small cellophane bags
	Scissors
	White paper
	Markers
	Hole punch
	Ribbon
Time needed: Under 1 Hour

1. Mix the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the liquids, adding drops of food coloring until you reach your desired shade.
3. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture holds together and gets too stiff to stir (it will stiffen even more as it cools), about 5 to 10 minutes. Let it cool.
4. Knead the clay briefly, then roll or pat it to a 3/4-inch thickness and cut with the cookie cutter.
5. For each valentine, place a clay heart in a cellophane bag. Cut a tag out of white paper, decorate it with markers, and punch a hole in one end. Thread a length of ribbon through the tag?s hole and tie the bag shut with a bow.

This is the only one... I think

Well, Stina, I hope this is the story you want me to fess up on, although I'm sure you can think of more. I've probably forgotten some on purpose! Really, I'm overly airheaded and not the perfect cook, and there are plenty of times I've over or undercooked things, like the time I was trying to make hamburgers and I made them so thick that we ended up having to microwave them in order to cook them all the way, but nothing embarassing until this...

I was making banana bread one day, and used a metal soup spoon to pour the batter into the loaf pans. As I was cleaning up while they were baking, I wondered where my spoon went but figured I must have already washed it with the rest of the stuff (we didn't have a dishwasher back then, so we washed and dried and put away things quickly).

Needless to say, when I pulled my banana bread out, I tipped them upside down to get them out of the pans, and found this:

At least I found my spoon, right?

One of my embarrasing stories...

I used to think I could cook a steak. I grew up eating them, I'm from MONTANA for pete's sake!!! So I thought I'd BBQ some for Shay and I when we first started dating. Yup, instead of steak we ate JERKY! It sucked big time. Still to this day I am horrible cooking meat. Just now, I burned my sausage. How hard is sausage!? It truly is sad. So... I stick to the desserts. I never mess those up! XOXO