Prepping for this week while making dinner: 2 in 1!

Hey Mainers!

Today I prepped veggies for dipping as well as made dinner at the same time! Here's how:

I wanted to make it easy for myself and prepared our salad and veggies at the same time. I cut all of my veggies and divided them into two containers. I love to dip the veggies in hummus and use the carrots and celery for dipping in peanut butter. For dinner we had turkey burgers avocado, tomatoes and salsa to top. We also skipped the buns and used collards greens instead. I also put this leafy green in the salad. By the time I get home from work I don't always feel like preparing a healthy snack. But this is a fool proof way to ensure that when you open the fridge you will have a clean snack to eat! This is a great way to prepare an after school snack for chidren as well. They can pick and choose which veggies they want to eat!

Exercising with Family!

Hi Kaite here :)
         This past week I went to visit my family and my little brother Stephen wanted to go to this place called "Defy Gravity" I had no idea what that place was but who could resists this face??!!??
   

        He told me of this wonderland filled with trampolines, balls, foam pits, and fun music... It was better!!!!! It was bright and clean, trampolines from wall to wall (and even going up the walls!) soft balls to chuck at each other, a huge foam pit to flip into, but most importantly quality time with Stephen and Emma! 

       I have a huge family! I am the oldest of eight and my Brothers and Sisters and I were always close! Sure we had times when we really didn't like each other, but all families have that problem! My parents taught us from a young age that your brother or sister will be your best friend... you may have times when you don't like them much, or your really super close, but no matter what you do, or they do, you will always be related, you will always have that bond that is stronger than anything else, and you will always love them (even when you don't feel like it!)

    A year ago my family moved from Maine to North Carolina and I lost my best friends to distance :( I have been trying to visit but time after time it just didn't work out! This week being down here was so much fun and really needed. We talked til 4am, goofed off, listened to crying, and this time tried something new!!! 

    We jumped for an hour straight! We did goofy things with our hands and legs!

    We threw ourselves into the foam pit!!

    Stephen and I played an energetic round of dodge ball!!!

    I got the ball into the basketball hoop twice :)

   I did an hour of "exercise" but it didn't feel like exercise... It felt like fun :)

   As a family I challenge you to go out and try something new! In Bath there are lots of different places you can do stuff as a family, Tony's Dance Fitness, Music and Exercise, the Skate Board park in the old Armory, Thorne's Head has 12+ trails! I plan to talk about lots of places around that you can exercise, and have fun as a family!!!

Love Kaite and Kendra

Graditude Turns What You Have into Enough

Good Morning Maine Families! It is Thankful Thursday!

Kendra Here! I want to share with you how I show gratitude and why I believe it is a critical part of how we should raise our families.

No matter your situation, someone always has more than you. Someone will always have a nicer car, a more functional relationship, and a bigger house. Yet, there will always be someone whom has less than you do. As a society I feel that we spend too many hours thinking about what we don't have instead of opening our eyes to what we do have.

Our children may complain when they are presented with chicken dinner when they would have preferred Mac and Cheese. Your co-worker may complain that they were passed up for a promotion. At the same time you continue to find fault in your relationships. We are surrounded by negative and ungrateful views of our world that it can be hard to step back and see all that we have.

I myself find it hard to be grateful for my boyfriend even though he cooks me wonderful dinners, listens, and makes me laugh. I find it hard to appreciate my family when we have been arguing. I also forget to appreciate my girlfriends that mean so much to me.

My solution???

Write it down and say it aloud!!!

This is a jar I created to write down what I am thankful for. I cut up some pretty scrapbook paper into thin stripes. I then write "Thank you for _________________" and fill in whatever I feel especially happy about. I even write thank you for my paycheck or thank for dinner tonight when nothing particularly exciting happened that day. When I finish writing it down I say it aloud and roll it up into my jar. I say more appreciative of what I have after I do this! This is great for kids also!

This is a DIY project I am really proud of! I found it on Pinterest and it was super easy to complete! I found an old mirror at Goodwill (one of my favorite places!) and bought some white spray paint( you could use any color). I picked out some scrapbook stickers and found this phrase online "gratitude turns what you have into enough". Place the stickers on the clean mirror. Spray paint over the stickers. I had to do a few coats of spray paint. Once the paint is dry you can gently peel off the stickers and you should be left with a pretty phrase with the mirror coming through. I then used a scrapbook punch with pretty paper and made some flowers and glued them around the phrase. To finish it off I stuck some pictures of my boyfriend and I into the bottom of the frame. 

Mexican Chicken Crock-Pot Soup

This easy recipe is a staple in my household! Not only is it easy to make but it’s light and healthy too :)

This can be done in the morning and left on low all day, or if company is coming over you can throw this in the crock-pot for 2 hours! (3.5 if you have to cook the chicken in the soup!)

You can have your children help you with this recipe, and it’s a great way to use up left over chicken!

Here is the recipe with some tips included!

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of tomato paste

1 big can (28oz or bigger) or diced tomatoes

4 Teaspoons Chili powder

2-6 cup container Chicken broth (I use reduced sodium) (or you can use chicken bouillon cubes or my favorite, Better than Bouillon)

Mix this all together!

Now for the chicken!

You can use leftover chicken, shred it and put it straight into the soup (this is great to include your kids on this part!) Or you can put Chicken breasts right into the soup to cook!

Full chicken Breasts will take longer to cook through, but Chicken Tenderloins (Pictured below) take about 3 hours to cook through on high!

(Chicken Tenderloins are my go to for white meat chicken! Not only does it cook faster, retain its juiciness better, and come in perfectly portioned sizes! It’s often times cheaper than big breasts (so you still get the same weight of chicken just lighter on the wallet!)

Cook on High 2-4 hours

Cook on Low 6-8 hours

Stirring occasionally

If you cook the chicken in the soup wait 3 hours pull it out and check it for doneness (it will be white the whole way through!) and shred it!!

When it’s time to eat you can eat it plain, or you can add any of these following toppings (or come up with your own!)

Cheese (let your kids grate fresh cheese!)

Avocado

Cilantro (let your kids tear the leaves!)

Green Onion

Tortilla Strips (to make: cut corn tortillas into strips toss with a little oil and cook at 425 til brown!)

 Put into bowls and enjoy this wonderful meal!

Love Kaite and Kendra

Planning ahead for the week!

Hi Guys!!!!!
       This is Kaite and today I'm going to talk about planning ahead! And yeah I know, how many of us have time to actually plan ahead? Most of the time I just open the fridge, stare at it, close it and walk away hoping for inspiration... Then ask Mason what he wants!
        But then there are the times, when I sit down and write out a menu for the week and Wow what a difference it makes! I don't have to stress over what to make, we have food ready at a decent time, and we save money.
        I'm going to post recipes over the next few weeks on Smart Sundays to help with long term planning for the week! A recipe that you can cook Sunday night... Then throughout the week recipes that use those left overs in a variety of ways, crock-pot meals, creative sandwiches, yummy breakfasts, and casseroles.
         So to start.................. Roast Chicken!!!!!!!! Seriously one of the all time best meals ever! You can get a bigger one than your family will eat and make so many different meals during the week!

                               

So let's start with a Crock-pot chicken.

1) Take a whole chicken pull out the gizzards, rinse it with water and throw it in the crock-pot.

2) If you want you can add Vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, celery etc...) underneath it.

3) pour one cup of water over the whole thing, add seasonings (sage, garlic, poultry seasoning, lemon pepper, really whatever you feel like!)

4) Cook on low 8-10 hours, Or Cook on High 4-6 hours

Next Cooking Chicken in a pan (my husband's favorite!)

1) Pull out innards of Chicken, rinse it and put it in a 9x13 pan

2) if wanted add a few vegetables (for this dish don't add alot or it wont cook right! Just one onion, 2 carrots, and 2 celery is what I usually do!!)

3) Rub Olive Oil on the skin and cover with seasonings (you can also let your kids help with the seasoning part!)

4) Put in the oven and cook 20 minutes per pound at 425 degrees. (when you cut into the chicken and the juices run clear, not PINK, then it is done!)

Serve and enjoy with sweet potatoes, or salad, or green beans, or Brussels Sprouts etc...

Place the left over chicken in a rubbermaid and store in the fridge! During the week you can use it for sandwiches, soups (I will be sharing 3 recipes for leftover chicken in the next week or so!)

I hope this day's blogs will help you for the week! I plan on posting tips, menu ideas, grocery lists, and just general helpful (hopefully!) hints for Smart Sundays :)

Love Kaite and Kendra

Tasty Tuesday Healthy Apple Crisp

Tasty Tuesday

Apple Crisp

I love Apple Crisp!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not it is my favorite dessert J

My Mom used to make a recipe similar to this and serve it at breakfast with a cold glass of milk!

Apple crisp can be healthy and yummy it’s a great addition to dinner, lunch, or breakfast!

I serve it with frozen vanilla yogurt for dessert and with Milk for breakfast.

1. Cut up apples to fill you pan 9x9, 9x13,13x15

I try to fill it about ¾ full.

4 Tablespoons of lemon juice

 For the Topping

Mix together

½ cup of Oatmeal

½ cup of Whole Wheat

¼ cup Brown Sugar

¼ cup of Wheat Germ

2 Tablespoons of Flax Seeds

2 Tablespoons of Chai Seeds

Cut in (By cut you can use a fork or a nifty cutter thing!!)

½ cup of solid coconut oil

½ cup of butter (or you can do all coconut oil!)

Pour Topping over apples and put in oven at 400 degrees

Cook for ½ an hour or until apples are tender!

For added juice and amazing topping pour apple cider (or juice) over the whole dish after 20 minutes and cook for 10 more minutes!

Beef Stew Crock-Pot Recipe

This is a wonderful, easy beef stew recipe that is hearty yet healthy!

To start you can use either leftover roast beef, or you can use stew meat! (stew meat is generally cheap and if you find it on sale get it and freeze it!!! It thaws quickly and can be used in a ton of recipes!)You can use more or less meat but I shot for around 1.5-2 pounds of meat in this stew.

Then chop up vegetables!

I used

2 Potatoes (white or sweet!)

1 Onion (I used yellow but any kind would work! Even throwing in the little ones whole!)

3 Carrots

2 Parsnips (or rutabaga, turnip, beats, or other similar veggie)

Green Beans (cut into one inch pieces)

(You can add others celery, corn, Brussels sprouts etc…)

Put this in with the meat and mix together

3 cups Vegetable Broth (or Beef Broth)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 Bay leaves

1 Teaspoon Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pour over meat and Vegetables.

Cook on Low 6-8 hours

Or Cook on High 3-4 hours

Serve and enjoy!

Mommy Mondays: Lets Talk About Forgiveness!

Hello Fit Maine Mommies!

Normally, Kaite and I would write about how a successful a recipe turned out. Or perhaps comment on a yummy new dish we tried . Instead of tooting our own horn today, I'm going to tell you about a dinner I made last night that was on the brink of horrible. I attempted to make fish tacos for the first time with Mahi Mahi. I had never cooked this fish before and wasn't sure what the flavor was going to be like. The darker the fish meat, the more "fishy flavor" your dish is going to be. My fish fillet had a lot of dark meat and when I cooked it it turned into a mouthful of fish smelly yuckiness! The rest of the recipe was good such as the red cabbage slaw and the yogurt dressing but I couldn't get over the taste of the fish!

My reason for telling you this is to assure you that not every meal will be amazing. Not every dish will be delicious and family approved. It doesn't mean that we should give up on ever making the dish again. Instead we should try to tweak the meal to make it more appealing! Forgive yourself if something burns or you overcook a dish. I may not have finished my fish taco-it was that bad! But I will try again one day!!

Also realize that we are all learning! Even the best of chefs can still learn!

Forgive yourself and learn from your "dinner fails"!

Love,

Kendra and Kaite

Yummy recipes the family will love! Ours did:)

Apple Cinnamon Bread
  One of my new favorites! you can put this in one 9x5 loaf and make a nice big loaf perfect for eating and cooking (think french toast!!!!!) or a couple smaller loaves perfect for school snacks and lunch bags!!

 pictured here with homemade Triple Berry Cinnamon Jam!

Ingredients:
3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. apple pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves)
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
½ cup coconut oil
¾ cup maple syrup
¼ cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated apple and 1 cup diced apple

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 medium loaf pans or equivalent.  (I used 2 mini-loaf pans plus a 12-muffin pan).
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine well.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (45-50 minutes for a medium loaf pan; 30-35 minutes for a mini-loaf pan; 18-25 minutes for muffins).
6. Cool on a wire rack.