Dark Chocolate Banana Oat Mini Muffins

Since student teaching has started, I've been going to bed at about 8:30 every night. That doesn't leave time for me to spend getting breakfasts and lunches ready every night. Sunday night meal prep has become pretty important in my house. Last week I made a ton of turkey meatballs to freeze and take out when I needed them, and this week I decided I needed something a little quicker and healthier to have for breakfasts and snacks that still satisfies my sweet tooth. So I decided to try something new, and I came up with these super delicious mini muffins! They're perfect to grab on the go, and the best part is that they only have about 67 calories per muffin, depending on how many you make.

Dark Chocolate Banana Oat Mini Muffins

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg white
• 6 Hershey's Miniature dark chocolate bars, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, mash the two bananas in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring until completely incorporated. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray, and fill each tin with one heaping tablespoon of the batter.

Once your oven is done preheating, bake the muffins for about 12 minutes, then remove them to cool.

These smelled so delicious while they were baking that I had to try them once they were cooled. And they were perfect. Just moist enough, sweet enough, and the perfect texture.

I think next time I might try them with some raisins. More people in my household like chocolate than raisins, however.

While I was baking these, Khaleesi stayed in her regular "Mommy's in the kitchen" spot.

If you try these, leave me a comment and let me know how they turned out! I like hearing feedback :)

Happy meal prepping!

Andrea

As promised... Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I know it took me about two weeks of making promises to post my cauliflower pizza crust recipe on here, but I'm finally getting around to doing it! I blame my procrastination on prep for student teaching, and if I could sum up my experience in the classroom from the past three days I would say WONDERFUL! The class that I am with is so incredibly sweet, and I'm really loving all of the many hugs I get every day. I was with third grade last semester, which was so much fun, but they just don't think that random hugs throughout the day is cool. My very first day was eventful. It included a nosebleed, two crying spells, and.... a job offer to work in their extended day program! It's only part time, but it will be such great experience for me and will be the perfect addition to my resume once I start applying for full time teaching positions in about a month.

Anyway, back to food. I've been so lazy with food this week because every day when I get home I am literally exhausted. An 8:30 bed time is a pretty normal thing for me now. But when I made it home today, I had a big time pizza craving. I'm not exaggerating when I say I can't live without pizza. I have evidence from my "About the Author" page from a book I wrote back in first grade.

Pizza and I go way back. I get several cravings for it throughout the week. So I thought this would be the perfect time to finally give you the blog post I've been promising.

It's taken me a long time to get this recipe exactly how I like it. I had very many failed attempts at making cauliflower pizza crusts, but once I finally got it down, I started making cauliflower turkey burger buns, as well. It's pretty versatile, but it might take you a few tries to get it right. Be patient! It's super yummy once you get it! Play around with seasonings, toppings, etc.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

• 2 cups chopped cauliflower
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp oat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While it's heating up, put all of the ingredients in a food processor. I've mentioned this before, but I can't say it enough.... I love my Ninja! This thing really is the best blender/food processor I have ever had. It's easy to clean, and it takes me like a quarter of the amount of time to blend everything up as my old blenders.

Once you have everything in your blender, you want to make sure you get everything as smooth as possible. I hate getting big chunks of cauliflower in my crust, and it just cooks so much more evenly if the "dough" is reeeeeeeally smooth. 

For baking, I always use an iron skillet. It bakes more evenly on one, for me anyway. I grease it up with some olive oil spray, then pour in the cauliflower puree and smooth it own evenly with a spatula.

I start with baking it on the top rack for about 20-25 minutes. Depending on your oven, you might have to bake it longer. It might look a little crispy, but it's better that way because it gets the middle done the way it needs to be.

After that first time interval, take the crust out and add your toppings. I was lazy today because of practical exhaustion, so I didn't make my own sauce like I usually do. I topped it with Prego, sliced skim mozzarella, feta, turkey pepperoni, grilled chicken, and Parmesan cheese.

I then put it back in the oven on a lower rack, and bumped up the temperature to broil for about 3 minutes until the cheese was melted and it looked a little brown on top.

Transferring to a plate is kind of tricky, and I almost always have to use two spatulas.

And like I said, play around with seasonings and cooking times and toppings until you get it down to a recipe you like to use. I like using oat flour, but I've used self-rising flour before, and that helped it to get more done in the middle. I've also used half cauliflower, half broccoli before. It's pretty easy to add variations once you get the basic structure down.

As far as student teaching goes, I've just started working with a small group with some letter/sound work, so I'll plan on sharing some of that soon, as well as a fairy tale genre study I'm starting next week. Stay tuned!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go be a grandma and put myself in bed... at 8:15 p.m.

Happy baking!

Andrea

My Sacred DIY Wedding Planning Binder

I mentioned yesterday that I'm trying to save as much money as possible in the wedding planning process. I knew I wanted to put together a wedding planning binder in order to keep everything organized and have a central place to put all of my ideas, lists, etc. I'm a planner. I like to be organized with this kind of stuff. I also knew that I did not want to waste my money on a premade wedding binder. They're too expensive, and I couldn't find a single one that had all of the sections I was looking for, and some of the sections they did have seemed 100% useless to me. So, I found a cute binder I liked at Wal-Mart, bought some dividers and sheet protectors, and I made my own wedding planning binder.

This is like my survival kit for wedding planning. I keep everything in this thing. Receipts, checklists, coupons, registry lists, back-up guest lists, pictures from magazines, etc., etc., etc. I spent the whole afternoon earlier this week going through several bridal magazines cutting out pictures of centerpieces, flowers, and hair styles to add to the binder. I just slip them into sheet protectors and keep them to pull out to show the design team at Stone Bridge Farms (which I will be meeting with for the first time on January 20th!!).

Another tip: go to a bridal show or two. I don't buy bridal magazines, but by attending a couple of bridal shows, I've been getting complimentary magazines in the mail for several months. Unless you like a specific magazine, then you might have to go to Barnes and Noble. But I've enjoyed the ones I've gotten so far!

Okay, so I have several sections in my wedding binder, and a few extra dividers in case I decide I need an additional section (which I've already had to do a few times, trust me). Here are my sections, in order:

1. Calendar. I bought a small desktop calendar, punched holes in it, and clipped it into the very front. I carry a planner all the time, and I use this calendar to keep track of all of my wedding-related appointments, in addition to keeping them written down in my every day planner.

2. I just call this section Important. Here is where I keep my 12-month planning checklist to keep me on track (which I found here and edited to suit some of my needs). This section is also where I keep a contact information sheet for all vendors, wedding party members, an ongoing list for my wedding day emergency kit, a timeline of the wedding day, checklists for who is bringing what on the day of the wedding, etc. 

3. Guest Lists. Pretty self-explanatory. Between showers, luncheons, teas, save the dates and wedding invitations, I need a place to keep a hard copy of addresses for everyone I've ever known.

4. Venues. Since we have a place that's basically all-inclusive, this is where I keep a copy of our price quote from Stone Bridge and our contract with them.

5. Attire. I've collected so many coupons in the past few months for bridesmaids and groomsmen, so this is where I keep track of all of that stuff. This is also where I keep the receipt for my wedding dress, cut outs from magazines with hair styles and makeup ideas, color swatches, as well as ideas for everyone else in the wedding party. I've decided to let my bridesmaids choose any dress they want in mint green, so I don't really have to keep track with much in that department.

6. Floral. Contracts, price quotes, cut outs from magazines, a list of how many people will need flowers, handwritten ideas scribbled on notebook paper. All about flowers.

7. Photography. This is mostly just contracts and login information from my photographer.

8. Rehearsal Dinner. Thankfully, my future mother-in-law has taken charge of the rehearsal dinner so that I have one less thing to plan and stress over, so this is really just a list of people who will be invited to the rehearsal dinner and a timeline for planning.

9. Ceremony. Nothing is in this section yet, honestly. This is where I will keep any documents about the recessional order, music, decor ideas, programs, etc. And really you can forget about programs. That, in my opinion, is a huge waste of money. People throw them away, come on.

10. Reception. I have a lot of centerpiece design ideas in this section, mostly because I have no idea what I want as far as centerpieces. I also have information about our cakes, contacts for potential photobooth services (which I'm considering a DIY photobooth setup, anyway), and ideas about the send off. This is also where I plan to keep a copy of our menu, a timeline for the reception, tip info, favors, etc.

11. Honeymoon. Delayed until further notice because I will (hopefully) be teaching in September, so there's really no telling when we will take a honeymoon.

12. I call this section Mr. and Mrs. Just because you have a ceremony doesn't mean you're legally married. This is where I'll keep all of our documents to sign proving we're married and that my last name is Lynch.

13. Miscellaneous. Coupons. Mostly coupons. And articles I've pulled from magazines about wedding etiquette.

14. Registry. This is just a list of where we're registered and checklists for registry suggestions I've pulled from various sources.

So far, that's all I have. I'm sure as time goes on I will have a few more sections to add, and I have a few blank dividers reserved just for that. This binder goes with me to every single appointment I attend, just in case I need it. Even if I don't need it, I take it. It's kind of like my wedding planning security blanket.

I have been seriously slacking in the recipe posting lately. Hopefully I'll have a new one up for you all very soon!

Happy wedding planning! 

Andrea

Wedding Planning Update

     Some of you probably remember that I recently decided to turn this into a more personal wedding planning and student teaching blog in addition to my usual recipe posts. Well, the student teaching aspect of my life officially begins next Monday, so this week has been a "let's see exactly how much wedding planning I can cram into one week and not go crazy" kind of week. So far, I think I've done okay!

    The day that Chad and I got engaged, we knew we wanted to get married at Stone Bridge Farms in Cullman, Alabama. The weekend before we got engaged, Chad was the groomsman in a friend's wedding there, and let me tell you: beautiful is an understatement. It was important to us to be able to be married indoors because we hate to sweat, and that if it wasn't going to be a church, it would at least be a chapel. The chapel at Stone Bridge is the most breathtaking wedding venue I've ever seen. This is a picture I took the day that Chad's friends got married there.

     You can't tell from this picture, but there is a beautiful cross at the end of the center aisle that we will be standing in front of when we say "I do". So lovely!

     My next step was to find a photographer that wasn't going to charge me a billion dollars because, let's face it, weddings are expensive, and student teachers don't have time to work at all. I browsed a ton of local photographers online before setting up any meetings, and I only met with one: Shelly Smith at Shelly Smith Photography. She and her husband, Josh, we so incredibly kind that I knew I was making the right choice when I asked them to do our wedding photography. We took our engagement photos back in November, and they turned out so great!

     So, now that I have those, I've been working on save the dates to send out, which are also extremely costly when you're on a tight budget and you have a large family like I do. I don't have the money to spend on refrigerator magnets or to pay someone to address my envelopes. I decided to go the "DIY" route to save a tiny bit of money, and I found the perfect app to help with that: Makr.

     From what I understand, Makr is still kind of new. I had never heard of it when I found it in the iPad app store, but I am so glad that I did. They have so many templates and ideas for creating your own save the dates, invitations, cards, party supplies, etc. I started playing around on it, and I love this app!

     Save the dates online were going to cost me around $1.89-$2.50 a piece. On Makr, I was able to create my own save the date (picture, color, design, fonts, details...) and download the PDF for $3.99. I even had some money left on my iTunes account from gift cards that went towards that cost. And I can print them wherever I want for muuuuch cheaper.

     You can even create invitations and other stationary to match other projects, so I've tried to get a head start on choosing what kinds of invitations I'm going to create. I haven't set my heart on any design yet, but I don't think it's bad to get a head start in this process, especially when your life is as busy as mine. It's better to be way too prepared way too soon than to wait until the last minute, panic, and have to settle for something you don't really like very much.

     One thing that makes me nervous... bridal showers. I shiver at the thought of them. I hate being the center of attention, opening presents in front of people, and having others spend a lot of time planning something for me. But one thing I knew I wanted to do, and that I advise anyone who is a future bride to do: a Christmas decorations shower. Think about it... you're finally married, you have all of your home appliances, kitchen utensils, bedding, etc., but then Christmas rolls around, and you're still broke from the wedding, and you have no money to put towards Christmas decorations. Plus, it can take years to build a nice collection of Christmas decorations to fill your home. So why not have a shower for only Christmas related items in January, when all of that Christmas stuff is on sale at Hobby Lobby for 80% off? My sister-in-law, Lauren, had one when she was engaged, and I knew this was one I wanted, also. And my lovely sister-in-law herself was a wonderful hostess this past weekend for this event! She did an amazing job decorating her home and welcoming so many there, and I was so humbled by those who came. We got so many beautiful ornaments, platters, decorations, storage containers, and even a Christmas tree! I can't wait until next Christmas when we get to put them all up in our new apartment (which we will hopefully be picking out soon)!

     Since the party was last weekend, I've been working on more stationary: thank you notes. But I wasn't about to get all fancy like I did with the save the dates and design them and print them or anything. In this case, it's just cheaper to go with store-bought. Chad actually picked out the most adorable ones from Target yesterday, and they match our color scheme! And they were on sale, 50 for $10.89!

  
     I'm sure that I have probably made this post entirely too long, but the more and more wedding planning that I do the more and more I realize... getting married is expensive! So if any of these ideas help any other time-constrained, almost-broke brides, then this novel of a post was worth it!

     Tomorrow, I'm planning on posting a little bit about my wedding planning binder. I (yet again) saved a bit of $$$ by making my own instead of spending $20-$40 on one of those pre-made Martha Stewart ones that have pointless sections and leave what I think are very important sections completely out. So look for that some time tomorrow! And I haven't forgotten the recipe I promised! Hopefully that'll be up later tonight! :)

Happy wedding planning!

Andrea

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with Creole Shrimp

I know I said the next recipe I would post would be cauliflower crust pizza, but I decided to use what I had left from this week's spaghetti squash to make something a little fancier for lunch today. I've made spaghetti squash Alfredo before, but I wasn't a huge fan of how the sauce turned out. The most delicious thing about Alfredo sauce is butter and heavy cream. That's kind of what makes it so great, and so fattening. So finding an alternative that works as a fill-in can be really hard. The sauce I came up with today is really good, but I know I will still be tempted to break out my copycat Olive Garden Alfredo recipe in the future.

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with Creole Shrimp

• 1 1/2 cup cooked spaghetti squash
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 Tbsp cottage cheese
• 1 Tbsp cream cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 slice low fat skim mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil
• fresh ground black pepper
• about 10 uncooked shrimp
• Creole seasoning

Preheat your oven to 350. Fill a small, single-serve pan with the cooked spaghetti squash. In a small sauce pan over low heat, put the milk, cottage cheese, cream cheese, garlic, and pepper to taste. Stir constantly until the cream cheese has melted. The, add the Parmesan cheese and stir until the sauce has thickened, and then add some of the chopped basil to taste. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti squash and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the squash is cooking in the oven, spray a small skillet with olive oil spray, and cook the shrimp with Creole seasoning, to taste.

When the spaghetti squash is done cooking, remove from the oven and turn it up to broil. Place the slice of mozzarella cheese over the top, sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese and basil, and broil for 3 minutes on the lowest rack of the oven.

Yum! The top of this was perfect. Fill a bowl with the spaghetti squash, top with the spicy shrimp, and enjoy!

This was very filling and really yummy. Like I said, not my usual Alfredo, but a good substitute to kick the craving for the regular stuff!

Happy healthy new year!

Andrea

How I "Eat Clean", and Banana Protein Pancakes

Now that it's a new year and all of the holiday eating is completely over, I'm finally getting back on track with eating healthier foods and making better choices about what I cook at home. My mom has started eating healthier along with me because she wants to lose a bit of weight before she looks for a dress to wear to my wedding, and just to be healthier in general. Of course I still have to make the not-clean versions of my clean meals for my dad and my fiancé, Chad, but that's not something I mind. I love cooking so more people to feed doesn't really worry me, it means I get to spend more time cooking.

Since Mom and I have decided to eat healthier together, it has been easier to stick to it and make the healthier options for us because it's not just me that I feel responsible for. I cook the majority of the meals in the house, and I already know how to make a lot of the clean eating recipes that I've had for a while, so I'm kind of in charge of the menu around here. If I don't cook the healthy option, I feel like it won't only be myself I'm letting down, but her, as well. However, last night Chad and I did go to the venue where we are getting married, Stone Bridge Farms, and try out some of the food that is going to be on our menu for the rehearsal and reception, and it was so delicious, but not the healthiest of foods. But, come on, a free meal that lets you see what your wedding guests will have to choose from... Who can argue with that? I did it for the guests! ;)

Anyway, back to healthy food. Mom and I made a trip to the grocery store the other day and picked out some fruits and vegetables and things like that for us to start out with. Some of my favorite things to get for clean eating dishes are:

• spaghetti squash (you can do SO much with spaghetti squash, it's definitely my favorite veggie)
• asparagus
• cauliflower (I love cauliflower pizza crust, mostly because I just can't do without pizza, ever)
• broccoli (sometimes I do a combination of cauliflower and broccoli crust for my pizza if I'm running low on cauliflower) 
• apples 
• oranges
• pomegranate 
• bananas
• CHEESE (feta, mozzarella, string cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, parmesan... I like cheese, okay)
• tuna
• ground turkey/chicken
• spinach
• plain Greek yogurt 
• carrots
• edamame 
• oats (not only for oatmeal, but also to make oat flour, because I think it's silly to buy it, I just blend it up in a food processor)
• vanilla protein powder (for pancakes, quick breakfasts, etc.)
• almond milk

Really, I could go on, but those are just a few of my personal essentials. If I am loaded down with those types of things, I find it easier to stick to it because a lot of those things don't last very long and will go bad if you don't cook them. That's another reason why it's easier having my mom do this thing with me, because there's two people eating all of that instead of just me. And not all of the things that I make are 100% clean. I don't do the specific types of oats that they recommend you use, because we buy the cheapest dry oats you can get at Walmart in the biggest container they have to save money, and it's not organic, blah blah blah. It's the basic rolled oats in a big blue container. And I feel just fine about that. 

We got a big bundle of bananas the other day when we went shopping, so I wanted to try to create a better pancake recipe than the one I had been using. I've tried the kind that are just egg whites and bananas, and they're good, but they're too eggy, and felt more like scrambled egg whites with bananas rather than banana pancakes. So, I decided to just start throwing things in a bowl and sampling things a few times until I found the right balance so that I could have healthy banana pancakes that didn't leave me feeling like I had made a compromise in order to eat better. The recipe that I've stuck with is actually the first combination I tried, and I've had them every morning this week. 

Banana Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 egg whites 
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 2 Tbsp almond milk

All you do is put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until it's smooth. And if you want the batter to be a bit thinner, you can add some more almond milk. Then, cook them like regular pancakes in a skillet or on a griddle.

My cousin, Alli, made us some amazing blueberry preserves for Christmas, so we topped them with some of that, and they were perfect. 

This recipe makes about 6 pancakes, or 8 if you prefer smaller pancakes. We like to make them a little bit bigger around here. 

Tonight I have one of my bridesmaids, Sofia, coming to stay with me from Atlanta for a bridal shower that my sister in law is hosting for me tomorrow, so I'll be making some homemade pizza for her, daddy, and Chad, and the clean cauliflower crust pizza for me and mom, so hopefully within the next few days I'll have another recipe going up! 

To everyone who's trying to be healthier in 2014, good luck! It's hard to do, and I suck at the exercise part, but that's why I try to be as healthy as possible to kind of balance out my lack of physical exertion. Hopefully if you are trying to be healthier, some of my recipes will help out. 

Now if I could just get rid of all the peanut butter balls in the house....

Andrea