Happy Friday!!

My house might be a disaster but...

One Pot Wonders

I have been a huge fan of one pot (or casserole dish) wonders lately.  In the past, I have been a huge fan of recipes with like 52 ingredients, that need careful preparation and 4 different saute pans going at once.  I can follow recipes with the best of them, but hours of meal prep? I no longer have time for... especially now that Ava hangs on my legs (or uses her monkey toes to climb the cabinets) while I try to prepare dinner.  I have really LOVED using Pinterest for easy dinner ideas.  My Mario Batali cookbooks are ashamed of me, but it is important to me that my husband and little girl have a semi-nice meal that we can sit down to together.  I grew up with sit-down family dinners, and even if they weren't gourmet, I truly believe that the family time is important.

My one-pot wonder for tonight is this simple chicken dish... all the ingredients are pictured below plus a melted stick of butter (usually I use Smart Balance or Earth Balance).  Just pour butter over the dish, sprinkle the Italian seasoning over it all, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothies

I love breakfast food, but never ever have the time to make myself breakfast in the morning.  It has always been a challenge to get that first meal of the day in.  Lately I have been so much better because I have been combining my morning protein shakes with some yumminess in order to create what I like to call Super Protein Shakes!  I have always loved drinking smoothies for breakfast, but it can be hard to make a combination that tastes good while keeping the calories in check.

I always use my protein shakes as my base.  The ones I have been using have been from Costco and have 30 grams of protein and 160 calories per serving.  The brand is Premier Nutrition High Protein, in Vanilla.  When I use powder protein, I usually mix with unsweetened almond milk due to the low calorie content.  Then to add some thickness, I have been using cottage cheese (thanks to the idea I saw in a Cake Batter Shake on Dashing Dish) which is about 70 calories and another 12 grams of protein. I realize this sounds disgusting interesting, but when it is well mixed you cannot tell AT ALL that there is cottage cheese in there.  At times I also use Greek yogurt depending on the type of smoothie I am making.  This makes up my base to which I add ingredients for the smoothie I am craving.


My recent favorite:
Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
Protein Shake (or 1 scoop powdered protein with 1/2 cup** of almond milk)
1/2 cup cottage cheese*
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (no sugar added)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
12 ice cubes (use less for a thinner smoothie)


Cals: 270* Fat: 3.5g Carbs: 18 Fiber: 7 Protein: 43
*depends on protein brand


*I tried making this with 1/2 cup Greek yogurt. Yuck! It added a sourness that I did not enjoy!  I find that Greek yogurt tastes best in fruit based smoothies
** I adjust this from 1/4-1 cup of almond milk depending on how much liquid I need to add in order to get to my desired thickness

Gettin' My Craft On

Whenever I am out shopping, if there is a sale... I immediately run the other way. Kidding! But it feels like this is the case sometimes! I really am HORRIBLE at finding deals, despite the fact that I have seen the Supercouponing video. (Seriously, it is really easy... Jill Cataldo is a coupon goddess, and her site makes it even easier for the Chicagoland area) Ok, and supercouponing (is that a word-- haha it is now!)? is beside the point because I am talking about clothes and accessories, not grocery items.

Let's get back on track. I am horrible at deals. Part of this is because I live near downtown Geneva and they have adorable specialty shops that are perfect for my little girl. And at these shops, I always adore the accessories for sale. I mean-- accessories are the best friend of someone who likes to shop, but hates how they look in clothes! They instantly dress up an outfit. The problem is that I hate spending money on accessories! Call me cheap, but seriously... why spend money on things that will be out of style in a month?

So as I started to delve into the world of Pinterest (and by extension, Blog World), I realized... Holy Guacamole... these accessories are SO super simple to make, and I don't even have to sew! So here is my version of some DIY accessories.

First, I googled fabric flowers or something, and found this website, with SEVEN tutorials on how to make fabric flowers without sewing!

This is my version... not bad for a first attempt! (Next time I would use a different chain)

This necklace was inspired by Little Miss Momma's blog:
This is her pom pom necklace

Then I hopped on over to my Sparkle, and followed her rolled flower tutorial.

Here's MINE!! :) I love how these turned out. Good thing... because a bolt of fabric? Will make a million of these puppies (clearly I am a rookie crafter)

Hers...