Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Whew! Fell a little bit behind, but I am back! Today, I bring you some super fun to make extra use of that George Foreman grill you have lying around. I know you have one...we had one since the day we got married in 1999 and still have one living in Holland, so I know you have one. But, did you know you can use it for more than just grilling meat?! I came up with this idea when I saw a "panini" maker advertised in a catalog on Christmas...I was living in a small apartment and really wanted one, but was so tired of buying new gadgets! So, I thought to myself, hey, these look an awful lot a like, so I gave it a go and it worked famously...we now call the grill the panini maker half the time. This is one of our favorite things to make in the grill.

This amazingly delicious grilled peanut butter and banana panini. It is a delicious treat, in all its peanut buttery, honey, glory. 

Here is what you will need for one sandwich...

• 2 pieces of cinnamon raisin bread
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 banana

Here's what you do...

1. Spread some peanut butter on one piece of your cinnamon raisin bread (you can put some on both pieces if you are a peanut butter nut like me hehe, but be careful it is high in calories as good as it is for you ;))
   
2. Slice up half that banana and put it on top of the peanut butter.
   
3. Drizzle a bit of honey on top.
   
4. Top with second slice of bread.
   
5. Put in the George Foreman grill and put the lid down. I let mine toast for about 10 minutes, but keep an eye out as yours may be at a hotter temperature than mine. 

This is probably the teeanger's new favorite thing for breakfast...what is your favorite thing to make for breakfast?

A to Z Blogging Challenge!

Lately I have been wanting to take my blogging further. Not sure where to go with it and sometimes feeling a bit lost I sought out different challenges to complete to help me be a better blogger and blog more.

So, this month of April I commit to blogging 26 days! That is Monday through Saturday I will bring you at least one post every single day.

To give this challenge some direction I have themed my posts, they will all be some sort of project, like a craft or organizing project or sometimes a craft to help you organize!

If you have a craft or project you would like to see for a specific letter please let me know, I would be happy to incorporate anything you might like to see! Please, if there is anything you want to see let me know in the comments below :)

I have been working on this for a month now. I have had a lot of fun with it and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Here is the schedule for the challenge:

If you are participating in the A to Z Challenge as well please leave a comment so I can stop by and visit your blog as well! 

A to Z Links

Albums

Breakfast Center

Coffee Center

Diary

Earring Holder

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Jeans Recycling Project

Keepsake Trophy Display

Packing Tips

Quote Cards

Road Trip Planning Trip

Countdown 2 Xmas, Day 14 Recap

Wow! Going strong for two weeks now! Hard to believe we are 11 days away from Christmas day! If you are still looking for gifts two of the bloggers for today have some great ones for you! Make sure you pop on over and check them out!

Shere y Paul, Shere and Paul bring us a great post on gifts for travelers! I can assure you there are some wonderful ideas!

Love Life Simplified

This is a fantastic post on gifting experience vs. things. This is a debate that is always near and dear to my heart. Go read it, I am loving the envelop idea and may have to whip up some envelopes and ideas last minute for my kiddo!

Odds and Evans brings us these adorable Christmas vases! These make a cute last minute decoration and could be done with any glass or vase I'd think!













These are some great projects, make sure you go and check them all out!

What I Ate Wednesday!

Wow! I have been gone nearly a month! I am so grateful for all those that kept coming to the blog to visit and read some old posts!

Now that I am done with my project I was contracted to do and we are finally settling in to our life here in Amsterdam I hope to not be so overwhelmed and be back to blogging at my regular rate!

What I Ate Wednesday is one of my favorite days to post because I love, love, love to brag about all the yummies I have been making/eating. This past week has been particularly delicious. Most of these you can see over on Instagram too...by far my favorite social media platform so if you aren't following me please do & leave me a comment or something so I can follow ya back! Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

First, I want to start off with this awesome new product find:

No added sweeteners or thickeners. It is a combo of rice and almonds. It is the perfect complement to all my dishes. I have been looking for something like this for quite some time...I was ready to get the carageenan (or however you spell it) out of my diet and any artifical sweeteners and this is the drink! So, so, so, so, so lucky to have found it! Now, join me over here and tell me how to decipher this label! haha

Banana Pancakes

I will be honest these took a bit to get used to the texture, but they are so delicious!

1 banana mashed up really good until it is almost smooth

2 eggs whisked

Pour the eggs into the banana and whisk together until it gets a bit foamy at the edges and the egg & banana are well incorporated. Pour into a pan in small batches, watch the edges and when they seem ready flip them over & cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on the other side!

Top with your favorite healthy ingredients: I love peanut butter or almond butter & cinnamon!

Egg & cheese scramble with sweet potatoes and a sliced peach

Lunch was this amazing oatmeal bowl. I know it looks weird but it is just oatmeal cooked in water with chia seeds, goji berries, blueberries, strawberries. When it was done cooking I topped it with some Rude Health Almond Milk, some peanut butter, and some coconut oil.

Zucchini stuffed with brown rice, pecans, onions, carrots, and the zucchini "meat" and then topped with a half slice of gouda! So yum!

Delicious snack-Pink Lady & PB...*nom*nom*

Afternoon pick-me-up

So, that is it for what I ate.

To counter act all that and keep up my fitness routine I've been running, almost up to a 5K. I took it slow getting back into running because I am very prone to shin splints and aches in my knee and hip. I didn't want to hit the ground running at a 10K and injure myself so I started with C25K Free from  the iTunes store and am almost done. I've been doing that and 30 days of Yoga . It feels so good to do something so restorative each and every day.

What have you been doing for workouts? Anything cool or exciting I should check out? Anyone heard of slacklining? If so, give me info!

How to make Granite Cleaner Wipes

I clean-a lot! LOL As you can tell from my Tuesday posts the last few weeks:

• Living Room & Dining Room
• Entry, Laundry Room, and Porch
• Bedrooms
• Routine
• Power Hour

Now, for a good majority of these I use just basic cleaning tools like my microfiber cloths. However, when I have to wipe down the counters in my kitchen and bathroom each day I need something with a little disinfecting power.

Now, I've mentioned this before so y'all know I don't use harsh chemical cleaners. They stink, make me cough, and dry out my skin. So, all these factors meant I needed to find a way to make a homemade cleaner that was safe for my granite. Enter: Google & Pinterest!

I found One Thing By Jillee and her great granite cleaner recipe. I decided to take this and turn it into wipes!

Supplies:

Process

1. I make three different containers of wipes. One for each bathroom and one for the kitchen. Put rags in each container.
2. In each container measure out 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol.
3. Add 3-5 drops of Dr. Bronner's (or your choice of dish washing liquid in each container)
4. 5-15 drops of essential oil depending on how strong you like your scent/what scent you are using.
5. Add about 1/4-half cup of water to just sort of fill the container.

Essential Oil Variations

• Lavender-lemon: 5 drops lavender, 5 drops lemon
• Peppermint 5 drops peppermint
• Lavender: 15 drops lavender
• Lemon: 12 drops lemon
• Sweet orange: 15 drops orange
• Citrus: 6 drops lemon, 8 drops orange
• Natural: 7 drops tea tree
• Orange Lavender: 5 drops orange, 5 drops lavender

That is about the extent of the essential oil scents I use ;) I am hoping to expand my collection soon and come up with more fun ones. The lavender-lemon is my fave!

Do you use homemade cleaning products? What is your favorite recipe?

Lamp Makeover

I LOVE a good makeover! Knowing this, a few months back my teenager decided she wanted her room made over...in a Moroccan theme. So bright, colorful and lots of DIY projects! I pinned everything I thought would be perfect to accent her room: 

Follow Kate Norris's board Cammi's Room Redo on Pinterest.

As you can see, as time went on she decided she wanted a "cheer" themed room. Not bad because cheerleaders a colorful, just like a Moroccan theme so it has all worked out!

I am all about up-cycling so we tried to use what we had on hand along with our extensive craft collection to make all of her decorations.

First up was this lamp...

Supplies:

• A lamp (mine is a full lamp, I just couldn't get a nice picture with the top of it in there)
• Some Aleen's jewel-it (I found this worked best, it is most like cement)
• A bag full of multi-colored jewels

Process:

1. Make a circle of glue around the base, just a small circle because it dries fairly quickly and you don't want to waste it.
2. Lay down some jewels, like this
   
3. Continue until you have the base covered!

Finished product:

You may be asking, "why didn't she do the top of the lamp?" Well boys and girls, I didn't do the top because that lamp gets really, really warm. I was afraid if I did the top it would get warm, heat the glue and all the gems would fall off! That would be embarrassing right?! 

So, there we have it a cute and simple project! It only took a wee bit over an hour to complete. This was done back in September, it is now March and she still talks about how cute it is! 

Do you upcycle?? What is your favorite upcycled project you've completed?

DIY Beach Ornament

Good Afternoon! 

Today I have a great little craft project. I am talking ornaments today. I know, ornaments?! What the heck?! Well, these are actually ornaments that you could display all year long. They make a great keepsake and the supplies can be gathered while you are on vacation!

This is what you will be making:

Supplies:

• Sand (can be gathered when on vacation)
• Glitter (optional)
• Small Shells (can be gathered when on vacation)
• Small picture
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Small funnel
• Glass ornament bulb
• Hanger for your ornament

Process:

First, choose the picture you want in your ornament. Have it printed, then shrink it-a lot! I shrunk mine by 50% on to regular printer paper. I wound up being 2" by 2". Seems small, but those bulbs are tiny.

I chose this picture of my daughter with my niece and my nephew on the beach at my parent's beach house in Florida. It's so wonderful the way they were standing holding hands with the oldest in the middle. The picture just makes me smile and lets me remember the fun times we had that summer. Not only does this photo hold great memories, but it is simple. There isn't a ton to look at. The children are the focus and it clearly shows where we are.

Next, take the bulb and remove the top. 

Then, putting the small funnel in the top pour in the desired amount of sand. One very, very, very important thing to remember here is sand is very heavy. So this will add quite a bit of weight to the ornaments, so add it sparingly. I then added a tiny bit of glitter to give the sand some color. Once you have that in there place your finger over the top of the ornament and shake a bit to mix it up.

Now, this part coming up was the most difficult for me, personally.

Take the picture and trim it to desired size. Then, roll it up and put it in the ornament. If you are a perfectionist this is where I apologize to you. Using the tweezers manipulate the photo so it is in the position you would like. At some point you will have to accept that the photo looks good enough positioned a certain way, remember it looks better than you think it does most likely. Once you have it to that point of this looks awesome, using the tweezers gently push the picture into the sand to stabilize it.

Toss in a few tiny shells for some ornamentation.

On the front or back write the year using a sharpie. I sent the final product to a couple of friends (who all live in different places and I sent the messages separately so as not to "taint" the answers) and they unanimously agreed the year actually looked best written across the front...you can see it below.

 You can also add a tag at the top marking the place along with a nice ribbon to hang it from!

This makes a great keepsake for a beach vacation or to give as a gift at-don't kill me for saying it-Christmas!

Weekly Meal Plan

Happy Wednesday y'all!

Where in the heck did the week go?! My weekly menu is coming to you a bit late due to a long weekend in Seattle that involved a cheer competition. The ride home I planned on doing a menu plan but I was in a serious funk. I was just not feeling the planning. So I avoided it Monday and just used what I had in the cabinet to create some mac & cheese. Then, Tuesday I was tired and didn't feel like cooking so I went down to our local deli & picked up some chicken and potatoes.

So, to get me over my slump of not knowing what to cook I turned to a couple of trusty books...

This is one I received from my best friend for Christmas one year. It was the first all purpose cook book I ever got. Honestly, I wish I would have gotten a book like this for our wedding as I had no clue how to cook and there is so much useful information in this bad boy! Not to mention great recipes. I sometimes swap out ingredients to make the dishes a bit healthier, but the recipes use all around basic ingredients that most people enjoy.

This is one hubby & I picked up at Williams-Sonoma one year after Christmas. I think we got it for like six dollars or something ridiculously cheap! It has so many yummy recipes. The book is divided into categories such as, "Weekday Favorites", "Summer Grilling", "Holiday Feasts" and other ones. The ones that are seasonal use seasonal ingredients. It has great side dishes in the back to. Everything in the book uses whole food ingredients so that is one reason why I love it, no substitutions have to be made!

Well, without further ado here is my weekly menu!

Breakfast choices:
English muffin breakfast sandwiches with fruit salad
Cream of Wheat
Donut Holes
Eggs

Lunch Choices:
Leftovers or
Subs and soup/salad/chips (Th & Saturday)
English muffin mini pizzas and salad (Friday, kiddo is home from school)
Omelettes with bacon and fruit salad and avocado (Sunday)

Dinner:
Wednesday: Tacos and salad
Thursday: Chicken and Sausage Paella (crock pot meal from the Better homes & garden cookbook)
Friday: New Restaurant Friday
Saturday: Creamy garlic pasta with grilled chicken breast and salad
Sunday: Chicken fried steak with cream gravy, sweet potato biscuits, carrots/salad, and corn and a baked potato (for the hubby) This is from the steak & chops book. I was feeling like a nice big dinner was needed today.

Well, that is my meal for this week. What have you made so far this week...any must try recipes?

Menu Plan Monday #20

Here we are, 'round at Monday, again!

We had a great weekend. Our new restaurant Friday didn't go quite as planned. We were quite tired and just wanted to relax, so we just got some take out and enjoyed just doing nothing. Then, Saturday the kiddo came home from camp so we did New Restaurant Saturday. We tried a place called the Tap and Barrel, it's just a 10 minute walk along the water from our house and it's new so we had to try it! They didn't have the crispy chickpeas I wanted, but the kiddo and I split a fantastic pretzel and then I moved on to a veggie burger with a side salad. It was quite delicious!

Isn't that tee tiny little mushroom adorable?!

 Hubby had the complete opposite of me, he made up for my missing bad fat content (as any good husband does ;))! It was all quite delicious and we had the most amazing view during our meal.

My picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a gorgeous day despite the clouds!

Also, here is a sampling of what I got at the farmer's market this week....

Now the beginning of the week is a bit off as the husband is off on business so the teen and I are doing it easy....

Menu Plan Monday Link Party

Breakfast
Monday: Peach cobbler oatmeal bake
Tuesday: Eggs with fruit and avocado
Wednesday: Leftover peach cobbler oatmeal bake
Thursday: Veggie egg scramble with oatmeal
Friday: Whatever is leftover or egg sandwiches
Saturday: Breaka (our fave coffee shop) or pick something up at the farmer's market
Sunday: Eggs, bacon/sausage, paleo pancakes

Lunch
Monday: Quiche with tomato soup
Tuesday: Homemade veggie subs with soup and salad
Wednesday: Leftovers from Monday
Thursday: Homemade vegan spaghetti o's
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Leftovers/light easy things
Sunday: fruit/popcorn/nuts just easy stuff

Dinner
Monday: Stuffed squash
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken sandwiches with salad and veggies
Wednesday: Leftovers (this is our D&D comedy night)
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner
Friday: Try Korean BBQ again (hopefully we will find a true BBQ place this time!)
Saturday: We are supposed to be having family in town, may go out with them, if not we will just do surf and turf (one big steak, then shrimp and lobster)
Sunday: Again, with family in town we will be going out either Saturday or Sunday so we're playing that by ear.

This is my prep:
Sunday make and bake the peach cobbler oatmeal, and the quiche.
My fruits for the week are soaked in diluted vinegar and cut up and stored in individual containers for the week.
Four salads are prepped and set aside, along with two relishes for my husband (diced cucumber and tomato).
I premade a honey mustard dressing for each salad.

Snacks:
Cacao nib granola bars
Fruit kebabs and paleo mini-blueberry muffins

Prep for these: I made about 10 fruit kebabs and just stored them  in quart size ziploc bags (2 kebabs per bag) so they are grab and go. At the same time as I was baking the cobbler oatmeal and quiche I whipped up the muffins, once cool stored in snack size ziplocs so they are grab and go. Same with the granola bars only I wrapped those in parchment.

This way there is no way I can deviate from my menu this week. We are back to school next week so I will be diligent about sticking to our eating schedule!

Well, I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Skinny Strawberry Margarita ....Happy Friday!

Good Afternoon!

This has been quite a busy week but we are finally at Friday!! Do you have fun weekend plans? We always try a new restaurant on Fridays and then after today we have an entire week to ourselves. So, I thought it only proper to start the weekend like this....

Mmmmmmmmm skinny margarita's! This is a bit of a cheater margarita, but it's Friday...

Start with these necessities....

Then, to give it the restaurant touch I used some organic coconut sugar, dipped the rim of my glass in a little water (which is in the small container to the left) then, I dipped it in the sugar. Was the perfect touch to the drink!

De-vein about three strawberries (I used on big one & two little ones).

Mash those babies up! Make sure you get them super mashed so you have a lot of strawberry juice. The pulp will be floating around in there, but that's ok it let's you know it's *mostly* real!

Then, pour in some of the Skinny Girl Margarita mix & be done! I cut a slit up the middle of one strawberry and used it for garnish. So fun! 

I love this mix because Bethany Frankel, believes in eating real food so the margarita mix is sweetened with agave. It's as real as you are going to get for a pre-made mix and I love that!

Strawberry Margarita
Yields 1

• Skinny Girl Margarita
• 4 strawberries, divided
• Rimming Sugar

Take one strawberry and cut a slit up the center, wipe it around rim, set aside. Dip the glass in sugar. Put strawberry (the one you set aside) on the rim as garnish. In a shaker cup put last two strawberries and mash them up with a fork. Add two ounces of the Skinny Girl Margarita mix. Put lid on and shake vigorously. Pour into cup topped with sugar.

What is your favorite Friday activity? Mine is definitely our New Restaurant Friday's. It's so fun trying somewhere different.

Cheers!

Menu Plan Monday #19

Happy Monday!!! Ready to start the week off, right? I am! I am kid-free this week so I am going to be working on projects and getting the freezer and pantry stocked with homemade snacks and stuff for back to school! So....let's get to the Monday duty....

Org Junkie

Breakfast

Monday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Tuesday: Bon Chaz (tasty new coffee shop I've been wanting to try)

Wednesday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Thursday: Big Ass Pancake with Nut Butter

Friday: Cereal with Banana's

Saturday: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissants with fruit salad

Sunday: Cereal with banana's and sausage

Lunch

Monday: Strawberry Chicken Salad with Simple Honey Dressing (this salad uses up leftover chicken from our dinner Sunday night and in the dressing I'll sub Champagne Vinegar for the white wine vinegar)
Tuesday: Same as Monday
Wednesday: Trying out a new food truck that only serves fresh, local ingredients in their food.
Thursday: Tuna Melts on Zucchini "buns" with the "meat" of the zucchini on the sides
Friday: Ham Sandwich kebabs with side salad (I'll probably make a few and go see the hubby for lunch)
Saturday: We'll just to a light spread of snacks: popcorn, ham, fruit, nuts
Sunday: Grilled Cheese, chips, fruit/veggies/salad, sort of whatever is leftover

Dinner

Monday: Flying Pig in Yaletown with friends.
Tuesday: Skirt Steak Fajita's with tequila marinade, peppers, and corn
Wednesday: Twice bakes potatoes with Green Beans and Corn (yes, my Mr. Loves corn lol)
Thursday: Paleo chicken fingers with home fries and squash
Friday: New Restaurant Friday
Saturday: Spagheti with Salad and Garlic bread
Sunday: Whole chicken with corn, squash, salad, and garlic bread

Snacks

• Fruit/cheese, fresh juice, nut butter & chia seed jam on pecans, no bake oatmeal bites, hard boiled eggs and squash/avocado, popcorn(scroll down for the recipe)

Dessert

• Chocolate Chip Cookies (My fave recipe is from the Betty Crocker cookbook) 
• Cosmic Brownies

Goodies to fix and freeze for back to school:

• Granola Cereal
• Granola Clusters
• Instant Oatmeal & toppers
• Popsicles
• Zucchini-Banana Muffins
• Sweet Cinnamon Cereal
• Cocoa Puffs

So, that's it for my week. Should be a busy one and full of delicious food. I am so looking forward to the Flying Pig, they have a delicious garlic bread...that may be my entire meal (don't judge :P) and the tequila marinated fajitas. What are you most looking forward to eating?