Classic Red Skinned Potato Salad

Well its been a busy couple of weeks around here. We had little guy #3 break his arm monkeying around outside. That was the first broken bone ever. Considering we have 4 boys, I think that's pretty good. Hopefully we don't have any more of those….ever!

We also placed 2nd in guy #1's hockey tournament in Duluth, MN……Always a bridesmaid. Hopefully we can take home first in our upcoming tournament. Fingers crossed.

I love potatoes…..and I love dill. I made this summer classic red skinned potato salad a few days ago. It was so good I thought I'd share it with you all.

The bonus part is that I used baby potatoes that were prewashed. So this was easy peasy. No peeling!

Here's the recipe….

2 lbs of red baby potatoes 
2 sticks of celery
2 green onions
5 hard boiled eggs
1 3/4 cups mayonaise
1/4 cup sour cream
fresh dill to taste
salt and pepper

Cut prewashed potatoes in half 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil potatos until tender. Drain and cool potatoes in the refrigerator.

Chop celery, onions, cooled eggs, and dill.

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and mix.

Cill for an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable and Grain Salad

Want to add a new salad to your lineup? Try this one. You can eat it cold or warmed up.

It's been busy around our house lately. With a family wedding this past weekend and my husband being in the wedding party there's been barely enough time to do anything around here. 

Dishes are in the sink, laundry is piled up, I can't see one single inch of flooring in our youngests' bedroom (he decided to dig through 4 piles of clean laundry, empty his entire toy box and scatter laundry and toys all over the room)

Awesome!

But, the good news is I made this salad a couple of days ago so I'd have something in the fridge to eat when I want to just grab something quick. 

Same with the kids. They've been eating like crazy and I wanted to have something ready and healthy on hand.

This salad is so good. I love roasted vegetables, so I paired it with some healthy grains to give this salad a hearty feel. 

Some of these vegetables didn't make it into the salad after I roasted them, I couldn't help myself.

Don't these grains just scream hearty and healthy? I love barley.

Here's the recipe….

Roasted Vegetable and Grain Salad

2 cups cooked barley
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 cup chopped zuchini
1/2 an onion
1 bell pepper (any color)
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Italian Dressing

2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F 

Cook your grains and set them aside. You'll need 2 cups of cooked barley and 1 cup of cooked quinoa.

Wash and chop your vegetables. Place them in a 9x13 baking dish and add the oilve oil, salt and pepper.

Bake until vegetables are tender and starting to brown.

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the dressing by combining the dressing ingredients and whisking vigourously. 

Combine the cooled grains and vegetables and pour the dressing over it. Toss the mixture and place in the fridge.

Bananas Foster Muffins

Today started out a sunny and nice summer morning, somewhere along the way the clouds and fog rolled in. Boo. 

But, on the bright side, perfect baking weather....bonus. 

My kiddos love banana muffins. They ask for them all the time. Everytime they see bananas in the fruit bowl getting really ripe they bug me...non...stop. 

I was kind of getting sick of the same old banana muffins so I though I'd put a twist on this classic favourite.

Then it popped into my head. Why not try bananas foster muffins?

Voila!...here they are.

They're super yummy.

I chopped up the walnuts quite fine. You can omit them too if you'd like.

Doesn't the sauce on top make them look divine?

Here's the recipe

Bananas Foster Muffins

Yield: 12 Muffins  
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes  
Total Time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup butter melted
1 tbsp rum extract or 3 tbsp rum
1/4 cup walnuts


Glaze:

4tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
2tbsp rum or 1 tbsp rum extract
pinch of cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 12 muffin tins with liners

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mash bananas, sugar, egg, and rum. combine wet and dry ingredients.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Top with chopped walnuts and pat them in gently.

Bake for 20-25 minutes

While the muffins are baking, make the glaze.

Combine brown sugar, rum, butter and cinnamon in a small saucepan and simmer for a few minutes. Whisk frequently. Allow to cool until warm but not hot anymore.

Remove the muffins from the oven and place on wire cooling rack. 

Drizzle glaze on top while muffins are still warm.

Enjoy!

Nutella Multigrain Cheerios Treats

A sweet treat with a healthy twist. Just a few simple ingredients.

Say what?

Healthy multi grain cheerios marries nutella and marshmallow???

Yes! I made these little treats yesterday when the kids were looking for a snack. I didn't want to give them total garbage (we've been trying to eat healthy you know?).

I spotted the cereal in the cupboard and thought, "Why not?…I can make these into a nice little snack."

All you need for these babies is Cheeries (multi grain or honey will do fine), butter, marshmallow, and nutella. That's it! Easy Peasy.

Just melt your butter, add your marshmallows and Nutella

Toss in your Cheerios

Enjoy! These taste like a treat, but are packed with the goodness of multi grains from the Cheerios.


Nutella Multigrain Cheerios

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter
1/3 cup Nutella (more if you love it)
1 10 oz pkg mini marshmallows
6 cups of multigrain Cheerios

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the marshmallows and melt on low stirring frequently. Then add your Nutella and stir until incorporated. Stir in the Cheerios and mix until combined.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and pour in the mixture. Gently pat it down and let it cool.

That's It!

So easy right?

I'm going to need to pick up some more marshmallows so I can make these suckers again.

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal…with Chia Seeds

Who wants blueberry pie for breakfast???……..I do!

This Blueberry Pie Oatmeal is so healthy and delicious! What a fabulous healthy twist on a yummy dessert. 

I don't know about you guys but when my kids have oatmeal they keep trying to load on the brown sugar. So today I thought, there's got to be a way to get them to eat oatmeal without complaining for more sugar.

The solution was giving them "Blueberry pie". As soon as I told them I had made them blueberry pie oatmeal they gobbled it right up. They were asking for more "filling" of course, but at least it was healthy stuff.

So here's how I made it….

Cook up some oatmeal

You'll need these…

These frozen blueberries look so beautiful...

Put it all in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes…..

 Looks so yummy!…..

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal with Chia

Oats (cook as much as you need as per package)
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp chia seeds
a pinch of cinnamon
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp corn starch

1. Cook your oatmeal
2. While oatmeal is cooking, combine blueberries, chia, cinnamon, water, and maple syrup. Sprinkle the corn starch on top. Mix all together and simmer for about five minutes.
3. Spoon oatmeal into a bowl and top with blueberry "pie filling"