Popsicles......for breakfast!

I've been wanting to make our own popsicles for a while.....but it has taken me a while to find the molds. Or rather....I did find some (a lot) on amazon.com, but couldn't decide which ones. I was seriously making this whole process to be a huge deal. (I do that sometimes).

But when Geoff ran to Target earlier in the week.....I asked him to pick some up because we figured they'd be in their seasonal aisles. And they were!

I had decided that I wanted to make these popsicles out of fruit and yogurt and milk because it would be healthy. It would be great and fun...... even for breakfast! Here are the pros:

• Parker loves popsicles.
• They are absolutely healthy! No sugar added! No high fructose corn syrup.
• They are super easy.
  
• You can be versatile....pick different fruits and flavors of yogurt.
• It would be a fun activity for Parker to do with me.
  
• Parker loves popsicles.

We've had this bag of frozen fruit for about 6 months now....so I figured this was the perfect time to use it! And then one of Parker's yogurts.

We added the fruit....

The yogurt.....


And blended it.

Then Geoff took this picture. And I thought I'd share because it reminded me of something I'd seen in one of my nursing textbooks. But it's not. The berries just weren't blending as well as I had wanted.

So we added a little milk.

Parker loved pushing the buttons.

Then filled the molds.

I wasn't sure how full we should fill them, but now I know..... almost all the way.

I was afraid to make them too full because I knew the mixture would expand when frozen and I didn't want it to all ooze out (I'm dramatic, I know)... but really....it didn't expand that much and the caps actually have plenty of room and I think that room is meant for the popsicles to expand in that area.

So in the future....I will fill them a little more full than this....

We put them in the freezer and I told her we'd have them for breakfast the next morning!

So this morning....I let her pick which one she wanted out of the freezer by herself. I ran some water over the mold to help ease the popsicle out.


Here she is inspecting it....

First bite. It's a little tart. (And another thing I didn't particularly like about this batch were all of the seeds from the berries. Next time I want to make them with strawberries and an overripe banana.....I think she will like it better because it will be sweeter. Even still....she ate almost the whole thing!)


Here....I told her to show me her popsicle. I love her face.

Here....I told her to smile with her popsicle. Little stinker!

And, of course, she had to eat her Rice Krispies that she eats every morning!

Full House

It's been a full house to say the least!

On Friday, my mom's air conditioner went out at her house (that's where Kristin and Phil and Payton are staying until they find a house)....so.....Kristin and Phil and Payton came to stay with us.

On Saturday, my granny also came to stay with us for a week or so. She had hip replacement surgery this past Wednesday.....so she's just staying with us while she gets some of her strength back and gets used to her new hip. She's doing really well and we're happy to have her here.

Some of you may know this about me...some of you may not....but I love having people over and entertaining. I have not done it much over the past few years due to various reasons...pregnancy...not enough space....new baby...lazy....selling house....living in someone else's house, lazy, etc., etc. So to be thrown into it this weekend was a nice surprise.

I love to cook 'good' foods that I would never (rarely) every cook for just us. So this was my opportunity.

Pictures from the weekend...

On Saturday night....Kristin fried us all some fish, french fries, and hush puppies. It really hit the spot!


I made these oreo balls. They are so very good!!! All you do is crunch up a bag of oreos, then mix with 8oz cream cheese. Then roll into balls and dip into melted almond bark. Then chill in the refrigerator. Then try to take a nap after you eat all of this food...only...you keep thinking about these oreo balls and can't sleep because you are thinking about these oreo balls and how you want another one...so you go and eat another 3.....hypothetically speaking, of course.

Phil and Payton

Sunday morning we had pankcakes....

It was fun for me because I had 2 skillets going with pancakes in them since I don't have one of those long, rectangular griddles...

Phil's stack looked the most delicious. Everyone laughed at me for photographing,.

This is Granny. She's such a good sport for putting up with us.

We also had some watermelon....it was all that I really had at the last minute...

Aunt Sis eating watermelon...

Parker eating watermelon...

Payton watching everyone eat and having food envy...

The love of my life.

My first-born daughter...semi-glaring at me. Wondering....will this picture-taking ever end?

Then it was Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys played their first game of the season.

So in honor of that....we had wings....

Cheddar fries made with homemade french fries and freshly grated cheese.

And fried pickles.

And we had these again. Only- I think we were onto our second batch by now.

Monday night for dinner I just made a chicken enchilada casserole, rice, and beans. Nothing too exciting....but I loved that we all sat down to eat the meal together! This picture makes me laugh...don't really know why....I guess because everyone is sitting there....waiting to eat...only....I have to take a picture of everyone (including Payton and Parker) looking at me first. :)

I love how my family humors me.

Then this morning....for Kristin and Phil and Payton's farewell (back to my mom's house) breakfast...we had sausage, biscuits, gravy, fried potatos, and strawberries.

Phil's plate was, again, the winner as the best looking. Haha.

Geoff slept in a bit...so he ate alone. Except...Parker was so happy to see her daddy...that she sat with him. So I thought I'd include these. She was in a very good mood.

Sweet Potato Fries

A couple of weeks ago, Geoff and I visited the restaurant Blue Mesa. We were intrigued when we discovered that there was something other than tortilla chips in the chip bowl....they were sweet potato chips. And they were good!! So this sparked an idea in my head (scary...I know!). I thought that maybe instead of cutting up regular potatoes and spraying them with olive oil and sprinkling them with Tony Cachere's Cajun spice and kosher salt and then baking those in the oven....I could do something similar with sweet potatoes. And a reason I really liked this idea...was that the sweet potato fries (if they worked out) would count as a vegetable. And this would come in very handy with a toddler who is very picky about the vegetables she eats. It was worth a try.

So here's what I did. I didn't think that cajun spice and kosher salt would do the trick for sweet potatoes...and since I don't think I have ever even bought a sweet potato before...I just googled "sweet potato fries" and found Sarah's Cucina Bella. I didn't use the exact ingredient amounts, but I did use these ingredients...just dumped the stuff in the zip-loc baggy until they looked like I wanted it to. Moral of the story.... It worked. Parker ate a few of them...



...but hey...I am happy with that!! I think it helps that they look like actual french fries...just a little more golden. And Geoff and I really like them as well. Definitely something I will do again. I do not like sweet potatoes (or at least I used to not like sweet potatoes)...I do, however, love french fries...and although these do not taste exactly like french fries...they do have a similar texture and kind of trick you into thinking that you are eating something bad.

And here's just a little more food for thought (no pun intended...hehe)...these things are really good for you!! I think we'll be seeing more sweet potatoes in our house real soon...

The following information was obtained from: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

An Antioxidant-Rich, Anti-Inflammatory Food

As an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and a very good source of vitamin C, sweet potatoes have healing properties as an antioxidant food. Both beta-carotene and vitamin C are very powerful antioxidants that work in the body to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals are chemicals that damage cells and cell membranes and are associated with the development of conditions like atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease, and colon cancer. This may explain why beta-carotene and vitamin C have both been shown to be helpful for preventing these conditions.

Since these nutrients are also anti-inflammatory, they can be helpful in reducing the severity of conditions where inflammation plays a role, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6, which is needed to convert homocysteine, an interim product created during an important chemical process in cells called methylation, into other benign molecules. Since high homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, having a little extra vitamin B6 on hand is a good idea.

Strawberries and Ketchup.

Yesterday for lunch we had Whataburger. I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that...but it was cold outside and it was good, good, good! Anyway- Parker didn't get to eat Whataburger...she had her own meal that was made here (I know- life isn't always fair!). Anyway- she was done with hers before I was done with mine, so I let her sit in my lap. This is what ensued. She immediately starting picking up one fry after another, putting them in her mouth and eating them. She would even pretend to dip it in the ketchup. I have tried ketchup with her before with other things, but she has never been a fan. So- I thought it was cute that she was pretending. Well the deal is...I usually don't let her eat fries because the few times she has had them, they seem to upset her tummy and leave her a bit on the cranky/feisty side. So after about 3, I put the rest of them away and made them disappear. I was ready for a little fit....just knowing that she would want more. But I was wrong. Instead...she decided to pick up some of her leftover strawberry slices and dip those into the ketchup. At first I quickly brushed her hand away....it scared her because she jumped a little. I was trying to save her from the horribleness that was about to touch her mouth. But Geoff insisted I let her try it. And I guess he was right...she didn't mind at all. She had so much fun dipping that strawberry into the ketchup and licking it all off!! Yummy?!?!

NOTE: The pictures you are about to look at are not good. Geoff accidentally took the up and down pictures holding the camera the wrong way. So here's a photography lesson (not really, but this is true): He should have held the camera to where the flash was facing his right, instead it was facing the left...leaving a horrible shadow and a really dark picture. I messed with the exposure a lot to make them bright enough to see and so that's why they have a weird coloring. I don't know if this is true with all cameras, but it is definitely true with ours. It was an honest mistake, but I just wanted to explain what was going on here. So please bare with these photos...but you'll get the point...strawberries and ketchup!

(here...he had figured out how to hold the camera the right way again....:)

Yuh-uh-mmy!?!?