Points-Yes I keep track

Thinking about this post I recall a conversation I overheard. My husband is listening while the friend is sharing the following..."well I don't understand why they don't keep score anymore. I want my kids to know who won and who had the bigger score." While I don't necessarily agree it came to mind when I sat down to post. I recently joined the weight watcher bandwagon and I have to read every label (already do anyway) so that I can figure the total points value per serving of everything I put into my mouth. Now I have to track and log my points which are in essence the food I take in, boiled down to a point target that I can reach but not cross at the end of every day. So today after our monthly Costco trip and grocery get we are well stocked and I can finally craft up a storm in my favorite art of cooking. Whenever the fridge is stocked and full of goodies I have to admit that this MUST be what an artist feels like when they have a palette full of paint and a brand new, fresh white canvas in their midst. I get this childish giddiness that nearly resembles the night before Christmas and I quickly rub my hands together so I can snatch up the first foodie idea I can while the ideas roll around my head knocking into one another. The idea didn't quite seem "mona lisa" more like a palette practice of the color wheel but we made crock pot Chicken tacos and they were simply amazing. And when it's as easy as this it (almost) makes me feel guilty-but not quite

Crock pot Chicken Tacos

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 packet of taco seasoning (I make my own-see below)
1/2-1 c salsa
1/4 c water

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours

For dessert I was craving lemony goodness. I'm sure you have all heard of the weight watcher diet soda cakes. IF not check this out or this.


Tonight I made these lemon cupcakes using the following recipe:

Lemon WW cupcakes

1 pkg Lemon Cake mix
1 can diet 7-up

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Bake according to package directions. (Mine were about 17 minutes at 350 degrees.) For icing if you're trying to keep points low, I top mine with Fat free cool whip (2 T) for zippo points. Whoo hooo yummmmmmmmMMM! Just the right amount of sweet and lemon. You won't believe how terrific these are. You've gotta try them! I think I might try these in the summer and keep them in the fridge for a fresh and cool sweet treat!


Homemade Taco Seasoning
(I usually quadruple this so that I can have plenty on hand. I hate buying the packets!)
1 T chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t paprika (I sometimes use smoked for flavor)
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t sea salt
1 t black pepper

Mix all together. I use about 2 T per pound when cooking. Enjoy!

I'm not afraid of the big Green Monster

So we're off to a good start in 2012. I'm at home with kiddos today because our daycare gal is down with the flu. NO good. I'm PRAYING the kids don't get it. Part of my news years continuum (didn't feel fair calling it a resolution since it's not new) is continuing the healthier diet and lifestyle and the resolution is to fully declutter the household. When you have kids, it's like secret elves frequent your house when you're sleeping and after you leave and they add new piles to the ones you already have and then all of a sudden !POOF! you have clutter. I feel like it's everywhere and beginning to take over. OUT YOU GO CLUTTER! OUT! I've taken on the kitchen, dining room and I'm not off to the kids' rooms. Those will take longer. Plus I've been through nearly half the storage bins in the garage. YUCK. By far not my favorite activity but very fulfilling when I can put only half back and know that it's downsized, cleaned and ORGANIZED. Can I get a WOOT WOOT!?! So on to the yummy part, I tried the Green monster smoothie the other day and I wasn't just pleasantly surprised. I was BLOWN away at how good it was. Keep telling yourself GREEN milkshake, GREEN milkshake! If you can get past the green, it's by far one of the best smoothies I've ever made. It's very filling, healthy and my kids will drink it so it's definitely a keeper in our kitch!

To begin you will need
Two large handfuls of organic spinach
1 frozen banana
1- 1 1/2 c almond milk (or your choice of milk)
2 T nut butter
1-2 T Flax seed
1 T Agave syrup (optional)
handful of ice



Put all ingredients in the blender and blend that bad boy UP!




After blending pour into cups and serve. I've been putting these in my insultated starbucks to-go cups and drinking my breakfast on my way to work. If I can get my kids and DH to drink this you've seriously got to give it a try! Drink up!

New Kitchen Toy

Ok so we officially started the Christmas shopping extravaganza this past Sunday. You should of seen me and the DH, we were practically skipping through Target. We definitely felt like the Clauses for sure but part of the reason (a big part) of going to Target was because of this little beauty. In this week's ad they were only 16.99. EEEEK HALF price for a drool-worthy cutie tootie crock pot! I had to have it. Luckily I had the great luck of having a crock pot that was in good need of replacing so I had reasonable ammunition for the purchase of this one!!!


Of course since I bought it Sunday I had to use it right away! Here's what I tried and it was so creamy and scrumptious! MUST TRY!

Crock POt Italian Chicken

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup (98% less sodium)
1 block cream cheese
1 envelope packet good seasons italian dressing mix

Place chicken in bottom of crock. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours and serve over pasta. YUM! Oh so yummy!

With this dish I felt the need for some major veggies to coincide with the load of carbs

Sweet Succotash

1 T grapeseed oil
2 bunches green onions

Saute the onion in oil until just brown. Add

1 bag cascadian farms organic frozen corn
1 bag cascadian farms organic frozen edamama (shelled)
1 large orange or red bell pepper roughly chopped
shake of salt
couple shakes of black pepper
1/4 - 1/2 c broth 1 t cornstarch

Add in veggies to onions. Stir broth and veggies together and pour over mixture. Cook over low heat about 10 minutes until broth thickens.

Leave it and LOVE it

I love my crock pot more than words can express. IT's like a magic little pot of cooking goodness. I just throw some things inside and it works its wonders while I'm away. Sounds like a little bit of magic to me. I tossed this in this morning and LOVED the way this turned out. My MIL recommended this recipe from Kraft the other day and I just obsess about anything with A1 in it. I could *almost* drink the stuff. I love the tanginess, a little peppery and zing. It should be called SHAzAAM sauce or something. A1 is good but I bet SHAzAAM was their second choice. So try this out. It's really yummy. I served it over plain whole grain penne but I think next time I might try it over egg noodles just to see.

A1 stew & sauce

1 package of stew meat
1/4 c A1 sauce
1/4 c water
1 small onion chopped
1 regular can diced tomatoes in juice
2 T flour

Combine all in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over noodles of choice.

Cherry Coke Salad

I definitely hit a nerve yesterday posting Cherry Coke Salad on the menu. Is there such thing? Yes and if you like cherry jello, fruit, cherries and bites full of fizzy wiggly deliciousness, then this is the 'salad' for you. I think salad is used a bit loosely here. It's more of a dessert jello dish. But it comes from The Best of Postal Recipes. This book was a staple in my husband's family menu's and I was so glad to happen upon a copy one day. It holds within all those awesome family reunion, picnic, some comfort food, one-of-a-kind goodies. Cherry coke salad is one of them and while it's definitely a treat, it's still a Foster fave. I've cut back on the sugar and used sugar free jello and even tried diet coke. Of course, I always add more fruit and my own mix of what I have. Just make it to your liking and enjoy each one of those fabulous fizzy bites!

Cherry Coke Salad

1 can pitted cherries
1 c sugar
1/2 c water
2 sm boxes cherry jello
2 c chilled coke
1 c walnuts (opt.)
1 sm can crushed pineapple

Put cherries, sugar, and water in saucepan and bring to boil. Pour in dry gelatin and stir. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in cola, nuts and pineapple. Pour into a large dish or bowl and chill until set.

Farmer's Casserole and Menu Monday

Trying some new things this week for something different for the many bored palates.

Tonight: Farmer's Casserole, Cherry coke salad
Tuesday: Potato Soup & homemade biscuits (pushing the wrong dinner for weather but hey, they're predicting rain. (Notta Nicegirl "As if that matters in Kansas.") Dang! Who was that?!
Wednesday: Philly Sandwiches
Thursday: Hamburgers on grill, corn on cob, Cherry coke salad
Friday: FFY-getting ready for the big birthday party!

The farmer's casserole is simply a mundane excuse for breakfast at dinner, an all around family fave. I love all ingredients and the combo of them marrying around together. Plus, casserole's are just home-y and delicious in their own right.

Farmer's Casserole (breakfast casserole whatever)

1 package hash browns (I used the cubed O'Brien style but it calls for shredded)
(I threw in some leftover grilled potatoes too)
1 package cubed ham
1/2 onion diced
8 eggs
S & P to taste
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese
1- 5 oz can evaporated milk

In 9x13 pan, spray with Pam. Layer hash browns, then ham, cheese & onion. Whisk eggs, milk and S & P. Pour over layers. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

For the Darling Diva I made a individual version of this in a ramekin and used 3 T of rice milk to one egg.

Eat up and enjoy the Spring!