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Jan 03 2012

A New Year and A New Ritual

I have heard so much about green smoothies for awhile now.  I forgot where I first saw them, really.  I think it was sometime last year on a blog or somewhere on the internet.  I have read that they are really packed with tons of nutrients and are just about the healthiest thing you can put in your body…. really because of one key ingredient.  KALE.  I had pinned a few different recipes on Pinterest.  I have found that there are tons of different ways to make a green smoothie, and many different variations.  I decided to try a simple one.  I actually changed it from the original recipe just a little — to simply make it a tad bit more healthy.  I had this for dinner tonight.  It was my meal.  I told Joe that it was so very good, that I think that it may be my new daily ritual for this new year.  Here’s how I made my green smoothie.

1 green apple
1 banana
1/4 cup of water
A ton of kale (probably around 3-4 cups or so)
A ton of ice

Blend and enjoy, while feeling all the richness of the nutrients your body is soaking in.

Let me know if you try it, and what you think…. and do you have any new rituals for the new year?!

 

Posted in In Our Kitchen

by Lauren Donofrio

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January 4, 2012 - 4:01 pm

Allie - Hey Lauren,
My neighbor, Toots…(yes Toots) was telling me about this type of smoothie…I’m so glad you posted the recipe. I’m going to the grocery later on today, and I’m going to get me some kale….Glad you like it! Sounds healthy, no ice cream…but I’m gonna try it….kale all up in it, don’t know how to use that blender, all them crazy buttons! :-) Love you!

Oct 07 2011

What’s for Supper :: Poppy Seed Chicken

It has been a busy day in our kitchen.  We started our morning eating banana bread with a cup of coffee (By the way, it sure would be nice  for the grocery stores to go ahead and put out the pumpkin spice creamer – it’s time;) Soon into breakfast, I was already thinking about supper… because that’s usually how my mind works.  I decided we would have Poppy Seed Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, and a loaf of Homemade Bread tonight.  Mmmm, sounds good doesn’t it!  It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any recipes here, so I thought Poppy Seed Chicken would be a great one to share with you.  It’s really easy and is so good!

Here’s what you need:

4 chicken breasts
8 ounces of sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 stick of margarine
1 tube of Ritz crackers
1.5 – 2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds

Here’s what you need to do:

Cook chicken and then cut into bite size pieces.  (I used 5 large chicken breasts and it worked well.) Mix sour cream and cream of mushroom soup.  Add the chicken to the mixture and combine well.  Pour the complete chicken mixture in an oblong glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Crumble the Ritz crackers over the top.  Slice 1 stick of margarine and spread the margarine pieces over the crumbled crackers.  Sprinkle poppy seeds over everything.  (I didn’t measure the amount of poppy seeds that I used… I just sprinkled until I thought it looked good;)Put the dish into a 350 degree oven until bubbly hot — about 30 to 40 minutes.  Enjoy!

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole
Poppyseed Chicken

Posted in In Our Kitchen

by Lauren Donofrio

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October 8, 2011 - 10:55 am

Genn - Hi Lauren!!
Hmmmm, that looks so good! Thanks for sharing, I will jot this one down.

Hope you are havnig a great weekend. THanks for your nice comment about my pictures! You’re so sweet. Those were all taken with my 50. Such nice quality with that lens. :)

Jul 15 2011

family tradition bran muffins

We normally eat healthy, and since I cook most everything we eat, I always know exactly what is in everything.  We try to watch how much bread we eat, and I try to use the most natural of ingredients that I can.  Today, I made some all natural bran muffins, and they turned out so pretty and smell so yummy that I thought I’d share the recipe here.

Family Tradition Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauve
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.  Make a depression in the center of the bowl to receive the liquid.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and honey.
Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture.  Blend with a wooden spoon for 15 strokes.  Do not overmix.  Fold in the raisins and walnuts.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes.
Makes one dozen muffins.

All Natural Bran Muffins

Note that these muffins have no butter or sugar.  It is so amazing to me that using natural ingredients like applesauce and honey can still produce a sweet taste…. although much healthier;).  For the wheat and oat brans, I used both wheat and oat bran cereals…. I just crumbled and crushed the appropriate measurements for each and it worked very nicely.  YUMMY.

Posted in In Our Kitchen

by Lauren Donofrio

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July 17, 2011 - 7:51 am

Angie Kephart - Those look wonderful! I will have to try them!!!

May 27 2011

a peek.

sometimes i tell joe when i have published a new blog post, and sometimes i don’t… because sometimes i get busy after i click ‘publish’ and i forget. well, that was the case yesterday… i forgot to tell him that there was a new post.  he has a busy weekend working extra patrol for the holiday weekend, so i was going to surprise him with our hearty breakfast burritos this morning from pw’s cookbook, because i had never made those before and i knew he would probably like them.  it wasn’t really a surprise, though, because he just happened to check grace through our world last night and saw our breakfast.  ;)  soooo…. today, since i’m still on a pw kick, (and just in case joe happens to check the blog again) here’s a peek at what i made today for tonight’s dessert!

homemade made-from-scratch chocolate cake

hope you have a great weekend:)

Posted in In Our Kitchen

by Lauren Donofrio

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May 27, 2011 - 7:13 pm

donya - Oh Yum!! Funny that your husband read the post. I posted something today on my blog and didn’t tell my husband, and an hour later he emailed me (from work) with a typo correction. LOL!

May 31, 2011 - 8:41 am

Genn - Oooh that looks so good! I want some for breakfast with my coffee. Is that pw’s chocolate sheet cake? I have only made it once and I am afraid if I make it again I will eat the whole thing myself! ;)

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