Thirsty Thursday...Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Quick and Easy chocolate banana smoothie

1 1/2 banana, sliced & frozen
3/4 c milk
2 Tbsp chocolate malt Ovaltine


Put all ingredients in blender and blend til smooth.

Mormon Temples

Mormon Temples

 (click for article from Huffington Post article, with pics)

Weekend Getaways

We took a weekend trip to Brittney's hometown to visit with friends and family.  We stayed at Brittney's grandma's house, sharing a full bed between us and Ethan with Claire in the pack N play just beside...tight quarters made it more fun.  We were able to go out to dinner at Red Lobster & to Toys R Us with Brittney's Dad and Kathy.  They were sweet and bought Ethan, Salty and James the trains from the Thomas the Train series.  Ethan had been wanting those trains for awhile, but we weren't able to find them around here.  So, Ethan was in heaven all weekend with his new talking trains.  We then headed to Brittney's niece Alex's 9th  birthday party at a local hotel.  She had some friends over and they swam at the hotel pool.  The next day we managed to go to church and then head to Brittney's mom's church followed by Cindy's baptism and a pitch-in lunch with the family at the church.  Afterwards we visited Brittney's college roommate, Melissa, at the Griffin's home.  The Griffin's son, Dale, was killed in action serving in Afghanistan 2.5 years ago.  It was so great to see everyone and hear stories of Dale.  Finally...back home we went, exhausted, but feeling blessed.  So grateful to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Getting ready to travel

Claire and Mimi

Claire, Mimi, and Great-Gma Elsie

Ethan and Pappy checking out the live lobsters at dinner

Claire, cousin Alex, and Alex's friend Payton

Daddy and Claire getting ready for church

Gma Elsie and her best friend Zelma.  Gma Elsie is 88 and Zelma is 98

Gma Elsie, Mom, Uncle Randy, Aunt Kimba, and Zelma

Visiting Alex at her hotel birthday party.  Claire was giggling up a storm at Alex.  Of course by the time we grab the camera she was done...there's a good laugh at the beginning of the video though.  She'd been laughing like that at Alex for at least 30 sec or more. It was so sweet.

Friday Family Faves...Homemade Enchiladas

One of our Peterson family favorites is Homemade Enchiladas.
 Try them for yourself...Yum!

Stuffing:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 c. diced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 c. light sour cream
1 c. sharp cheddar shredded

Sauce:
2/3c water
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin


8 Corn tortillas
additional cheese & sour cream to garnish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Preheat oven 350
2. Cook beef, onion, & garlic in 10 in skillet over medium heat. Once cooked, drain grease.  Stir in sour cream & cheese. Set aside.

3.  Heat water, tomato sauce, chili powder, & cumin to a boil. Simmer uncovered on low heat for ~ 5 min.  Pour into ungreased pie plate, & wait until slightly cooled.

4.  Dip each tortilla in sauce, coating both sides.  Spoon in beef mixture.  Roll, and place in ungreased 11 x 7 x 1.5 in baking dish.  Continue with all tortillas

5.  Pour remaining sauce over tortillas and bake for 20 min.  Top with additional sour cream and cheese.

Homemade Enchilladas

LIGHTER VERSION:
-Use 1lb ground turkey, or 1/2 ground turkey with 1/2 lean beef, or use shredded chicken
-Use reduced fat tortillas and reduced fat cheeses

VEGETARIAN VERSION (AKA cheese enchiladas):
-Use 2 cups Monterey Jack or taco blend cheese instead of beef, mix with onion, sour cream, 1 c. sharp shredded and stuff into drenched tortillas.  Top with additional cheese before baking.

"When we're helping, we're happy!" ~Molly H.

Remember when you were little and you LOVED helping Mom & Dad.  It was exciting to sweep the floors for your parents and see how much gunk you get in your dust pan.  Dusting was as good as a 4th of July fireworks display....you got to touch all Mommy's "untouchable" knick-knacks and spray Pledge until it formed one big ball of foam, much to your mother's dismay.  Helping around the house gives our little ones a sense of purpose, pride in a job well done, and even teaches them valuable skills...like how to keep the house clean and clean up after themselves.  So let your children help you.  Find some age-appropriate way to include them...yes, it may take more time than if you were to do it yourself and it may not be perfect, but let them help while they actually want to...it's worth it. 


This week the Peterson clan is redoing our landscaping on top of all of our other household chores and getting our gardens ready for planting.

Helping Daddy level our new pavers

Getting the soil ready in our herb garden

Working on making our new flower bed

Ethan is my big helper around the house.  He LOVES to sweep the floors and dust for me.

   

Minimizing regrets with Dominoes

Someone once told me that life is about minimizing regrets. This got me thinking about how sad I feel for those families and people who haven't figured out "family first".  They still are only worried about their own desires and wants and needs...and there must be quite a few people thinking this way with the divorce rate what it is.  I LOVE our little family.  There is no TV show, no video game, no new car more important than the moments I spend with them.  We find so much joy in our roles as wife, husband, father, and mother.  Blessings overflow from being a part of our family and spending time together, serving each other, and strengthening our relationships.  It's sad for me to think of those people who work all day and then come home and eat fast food and watch tv all night.  Or those individuals who still go to the bars regularly, or spend countless hours on the internet, playing video games, or texting.  I just want to scream at them....WAKE UP! You're missing the most important thing in your life!  Yes, we have days when we're just so tired that I think, okay we could skip our bath and bedtime routine which includes reading books together.  But then I think, in a few years, my children are going to think I'm the biggest dork on the planet and it'll be a struggle just to get them to hang out with me.  Then I'll think, man I miss my little guy snuggling with me and reading books every night before bed, and that little boy who just wanted to play trains with me all day long.  So, yes, we push through the tiredness to capture all those moments before they pass us by.  When we're 60 years old, we won't care if we beat the newest video game, if we got see the entire season of American Idol, and texting will be ancient technology.  But, I will remember sitting in my rocker with a toddler on my lap reading "The Cat in the Hat" until I just can't stand it anymore.  I'll be glad I chose to spend time with my family, no technology, no distractions.  So maybe that someone was right, life is about minimizing regrets.


Family togetherness at the Peterson's this week included....DOMINOES

Prepare to be LAZY

Over the years the number one barrier to eating healthy for my clients has been...wait for it....energy/effort...otherwise known as LAZINESS.  We're all entitled to those days where we just want something quick and easy to eat because we're exhausted.  So, instead of going to the nearest drive-thru or popping in a microwave, full of sodium meal; follow my motto..."prepare to be lazy".  Here's what has worked for us....

1.  After coming home from the grocery store, chop fruits and veggies right away and store in your fridge....Especially that lettuce.  Bagged lettuce is expensive and doesn't last.  So, pick up some romaine and iceberg on your next grocery trip, chop it up and bag it as mixed lettuce in your fridge.  Pop in a piece of bread with the lettuce to absorb extra moisture and watch that lettuce last and last.

Chopping fruits and veggies after returning from the store may take a little extra effort initially, but it'll save you time and money in the long run.  It also makes these healthy choices more accessible to your children.


2.  Pick a day and time to cook and freeze meals with your family.  This is great family togetherness and perfect for those days when you just don't feel like cooking....just unfreeze your pre-cooked meal.  I love making and freezing meatballs with the family to prepare for lazy days.  Try my freezer meatball recipe for yourself.  Great with spaghetti, as meatball sandwiches, or even by themselves.

1 pound lean ground beef, or 1 pound ground turkey, or I do 1/2 lb lean beef and 1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 c Italian bread crumbs
1/4 c milk
 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 large egg

heat oven 400 degrees
mix all ingredients, shape into 1 1/2 in meatballs. place in un-greased 13x9x2 pan
bake 20-25 min

(if you want cocktail meatballs, shape into 1 in meatballs and bake 15-20 min)

Adventures in Ponytails

It's no secret that Claire has more hair than most toddlers...which means fun times for mommy and daddy!  Since most of the time it sticks straight up anyway, we'd thought we'd give her new ponytail holders a try.

Thirsty Thursday....Homemade Lemonade

There's nothing better on a warm day than a large glass of homemade lemonade!

3 c. water

1 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice (~4 large lemons)

1/2 c. sugar

Mix all until sugar is dissolved.  Refrigerate or serve over ice.  I like to buy an extra lemon, slice it, and put those slices in the pitcher of lemonade.

*Add sliced fresh strawberries, raspberries, etc for fresh homemade fruit flavored lemonade

It's Hump Day

It's Wednesday, "Hump Day"....so here's a little ab workout to work on some of those humps and "lovely lady lumps" (thank you Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas).  It's a quick one, but definitely effective so give it a try!

Begin with a Straight Arm Plank- hold for 1 minute

Drop your right knee, then left so you're now on all fours, then straighten right knee then left until your back into your plank.  I like to get a little rhythm going with my knees..."down, down, up, up, down, down, up, up"- Repeat for 1 minute

Hold Straight Arm Plank again for 1 minute. (Watch that form!  Flat back!  If you're not feeling it in your abs then drop your hips a little lower)



After 1 minute, bring right knee up and out to right elbow, now the left knee out and around to left elbow. Repeat, continuing for 1 full minute.

Now relax, you've earned it:)  Repeat the whole series a couple times for a killer ab workout.
As I always say in my fitness classes, do what you can, so if 1 minute is too much to start with, then try 30 seconds.  Work your way up to 45 seconds then 1 minute intervals.


Happy Wednesday!

Summer Treats

Summer is on it's way...so naturally our local ice cream shop is as busy as ever selling their homemade ice cream treats, coney dogs, fountain sodas, and other less healthy treats.  The sad part is they have one of the best playgrounds in our tiny town so families are lured in, en mass and more frequently than necessary, so their kids can play on the nice playground equipment.  Well, we're not falling for it :)  We're beating the ice cream cravings with fruit smoothies.  Naturally sweet, these frozen concoctions really hit the spot and it's a great way for us to get our children to eat more fruits.  We love to pick fresh fruits from local farms and freeze them in bags so when the craving hits, we're already prepared.  We usually have bags of fresh frozen blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, sliced bananas, stocked in our freezer, just in case.  Here are a couple of recipes we've created that really seem to hit the spot.

Tropical Breeze

2 slices fresh pineapple, chopped and frozen
1 banana, sliced and frozen
1 handful of strawberries, sliced and frozen
1/2c. apple juice or fresh squeezed orange juice

Throw all in a blender til smooth and enjoy your frozen treat.

Forest Berry

1c Blueberries, frozen
1c Blackberries, frozen
 1/2c Raspberries, frozen
1 banana, sliced, frozen
1/2c. apple juice or carrot juice

Throw all in a blender til smooth and enjoy your frozen treat.

Creamy Forest Berry

1c. Blackberries, frozen
1/2c raspberries, frozen
1 banana, sliced, frozen
2 oranges, juiced
1/2 cup. plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey

Throw all in a blender til smooth and enjoy your creamy, frozen treat.