Chocolate Souffles

Happy Sunday!

I apologize for getting these Sunday dessert posts out so late. I need to get it together!

Anyhow....our Sunday dessert for this week: Mini Chocolate Souffles.  The recipe comes from Oxygen Magazine. 

The recipe calls for: unsweetened cocoa, white wheat flour, low-fat milk, honey, vanilla extract, egg whites and cream of tarter.

I had to slightly alter the recipe because I didn't buy low-fat milk last week.  My options were Little Man's whole milk, or almond milk.  Since using the whole milk kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy dessert, I opted for the almond milk.  I also didn't have white wheat flour on hand, and I didn't want to buy any since the recipe called for a tablespoon and a half.  I used regular whole wheat flour instead. 

This recipe was really easy to make (see the recipe for full details)

Unfortunately ours really didn't come out very well.  They had a very nice rise to them, but they were really under cooked.  I even cooked the second batch at a higher temperature and for longer.  It still tasted yummy, but it was definatly under done.  I'm wondering if this has to do with the almond milk instead of the regular milk.  I've never cooked with almond milk before, so I have no idea.  The Hubs and I still devoured them :D

The recipe got really good reviews on the website , so it might just be the way I made them.  

I guess the lesson of the day is that sometimes it's okay to swap ingredients, and sometimes you just shouldn't. 

If anyone else tries this recipe and it comes out right, let me know.  I'll probably try it again with regular milk just to see if that makes the difference.  I'll let you all know when I try it again. 

Physical Fitness

 I mentioned in my last post how physical fitness and eating healthy are very important to me and how I realize how we treat our bodies today will impact our health in the future.


I recently joined a gym.  I decided to create a little list to help me get out my door and into the gym easier.  When you have a toddler and the responsibilities or running your household, it's really easy to get caught up in your daily activity and put your workout on the back burner. 

1.  Set a Goal:  Have a realistic goal.  Set a date you want to reach your goal, and write down how your going to reach your goal.  When you set a goal, don't just say I want to lose "x" amount of pounds.  Write down why you need to lose "x" amount of pounds.  Make sure to set mini goals, too.
Saying you want to lose 50 pounds is great.  But physcological it seems like a lot.  Breaking that 50 pound loss into mini goals, like losing 5 pounds a month seems much more attainable.  You'll be celebrating the 5 pounds you lost in a month instead of focusing on that 50 pound that can sometimes seem out of reach. 

2.  Schedule it in.  I use Money Saving Mom's Household Management charts to keep me organized and on schedule.  This also helps me not to neglect anything important I have to do around the house.  It helps to schedule your workouts in during the same time and days during the week.  Put it on your daily "to-do" list.  I like mine first thing in the morning so I don't have to worry about getting caught up on something "more important".

3.  Make breakfast the night before.  I'm in love with making overnight oats.  Super yummy and super quick to make.  I'll make my oats for The Hubs, me and Little Man when I'm making dinner. 

4.  Lay out gym clothes the night before:  Can't tell you how many times I've skipped a worked out because I couldn't find my sports bra, or all my shorts were dirty. 

5.  Pack your gym bag the night before:  Make sure your water bottle is full, your towel is packed, and you have your plan.

6. Create a plan:  Wandering around the gym wondering what to do next is a waste of time.  Plan your workout ahead of time.  Even if you're working out at home you should always know what you're going to do the night before.  It's really easy to get distracted. (visit bodybuilding.com or Oxygen Magazine for ideas) 

7.  Understand your Workout:  Nothing worse than creating a plan and then forgetting how to do the exercise.  Feel free to write down notes in your workout journal. (bodybuilding.com has a lot of videos that will help you learn how to do your exercise right)

8.  Create a Backup plan:  You wake up to run and it's raining outside.  That's not an excuse to ditch your workout today.  Can you lift weights instead?  Or turn on an exercise video?  Even stretching is good.  

9.  Write it down: I like to write my completed workouts on a monthly calender.  This helps to keep me accountable.  Seeing all my workouts makes me feel proud of myself for my dedication and makes me want to workout again.  

10.  Create a Workout Journal:  Use this to create your plan.  It's really cool to look back after you've made progress with weights, or distance, or just feeling better while you're working out. 

11.  Motivation:  Find some sort of motivation.  Post your goals somewhere you can see them often, or create some sort of vision board, read fitness magazines or blogs. 

12. Tell Someone:  Tell someone, anyone, your goals, your accomplishments, your failures.  You can tweet it, blog it, Facebook status is, tell your hubby, BFF, a stranger, or your dog.  This helps you hear encouragement and also kinda holds you accountable.  They might ask how your goal is going or how your workouts are going, and you'll want to tell them something positive. 

13.  Create a reward:  Could be something small or something big.

14.  Workout as a Family:  The Hubs and I really enjoy it when we run together.  It's quite bonding to us and a way to spend time together.  It's also a great way to inspire your kids and to show them it's important to take care of themselves.   Play catch, ride bikes, swim, kick a ball.  Working out doesn't have to be work.  Make it fun!

My Big Rocks

I recently started up at the gym last week.  I went onto Money Saving Mom's website to download her (awesome) schedules so that I can work the gym into my day to day routine easier.   

I happened to notice she had a new series she was writing about developing a routine. What luck!

I expected a "how to get the most done in a single day that you possibly can" type of post.  I stand very corrected.

She writes that when thinking about your routine, start with "the big rocks".  That is, consider what will matter to you most 25 years from now.  


Not what I was expecting.  When I think of routines, I think of my day to day "to do" list; the day to day grind.  The "big picture" never really occurred to me.  I mean, sure, it does, but not when I'm making my day to day to-do list. 

She writes "Develop your daily routine with the big rocks in mind. You’ll likely be able to find time for some pebbles and sand, too, but begin with what matters most."  

Makes sense to me.  I feel it's really easy to get caught up in the "fillers" of life that really don't make much of a difference in the days, weeks, or years to come.  It comes down to the priorities in your life. 

Here's mine:
1. Spending quality time with my husband and son.
2. Preparing healthy meals for us.
3. Work on my physical fitness.
4. Work on my creativity. 
5.  Spending quality time with family and friends.
It seems like if I put my emphasis on these things now, our future as a family well be tremendously better for it.

 My "big rocks" may change slightly in the future.  I'll probably end up going back to work at some point, so I'm sure a career will be in here one of these days.  But right now these are my "big rocks".  Right now I'm focused on setting our family up to have long and healthy lives together.  

Although my current focus on my blog is my family, I'm going to make it a little more specific and and focus on my "big rocks" (I like writing that hehe)

What are your big rocks?

(I don't mean to high-jack Crystal's post nor take any sort of credit for it.  I hope people do not feel I'm "leaching" off her post.  It really inspired me to evaluate my own priorities and long term goals.  Please read Crystal's Money Saving Mom Blog for the rest of the series and for more information)

Sweet Sunday: Balsamic Strawberries with Ricotta Cream

Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!  This weekend's Sweet Stuff Sunday's desert is Balsamic Strawberries with Ricotta Cream from Ellie Krieger. I love most everything I've tried of Ellie Krieger's recipes.  She does a great job creating her recipes: she keeps them pretty healthy and pretty yummy :D She was on the Cooking Channel, although I'm not sure if she is currently (we don't have cable).  She also has a few cookbooks, I believe. 



Click on the link for the full instructions, but the recipe calls for:  Part-skim Ricotta cheese, honey, strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and sugar.  It's super easy to make. 

I've made this recipe a few times for The Hubs and me and some of our guests.  We've gotten pretty positive response from it, but if you are a person who is weird on textures, I'd skip it.  Because it's made with ricotta, it's a little on the gritty side. The Balsamic Strawberries, are very yummy, though.  I could eat a whole bowl of them!  My Mother-In-Law made a great suggestion that the strawberries might be good over marscapone in place of the riccotta.  That was a great idea and would definitely give this dish a smoother texture. 


Hope you enjoyed!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

Busy, Busy

Yesterday we had tons of fun!  Little Man and I went to the gym.  He gets spoiled by the girls in the daycare center:  Every time I walk in there he's being held like a baby!  hahah  After the gym we went to the dollar store, and the library.  When we came home The Hubs was home and Little Man lovesss hanging out with daddy! 

Later that evening we took Little Man out for some frozen yogurt.  This was his first time eating it, and of course he loved it!  While we were there a little girl walked by and said "he's cute" pointing to Little Man.  He also got to play with a little dog, which he was crazy about.  We ended up having to change his shirt because he made such a mess with the yogurt.  But that's okay!

After the frozen yogurt treat we went to the park.  The Hubs and I were surprised at how fast he took off running towards the playground equipment. 

The playground has one piece of equipment that has a hole cut through the middle so you can climb up and down the ladder.  The Hubs and Little Man were playing on the upper portion of it and I decided to surprise Little Man by peaking my head up through the bottom where the ladder was.  Little Man was soo surprised and excited to see me there he squealed with delight and moved his hands up and down.  It was soo cute!  The hubs agreed it was the most excited he's ever seen Little Man.  Too sweet!

After the park we went to our neighbors house for a bit then came home and fed Little Man some dinner.  I got on a cleaning rampage (awesome!) while The Hubs played with Little Man.  The Hubs and I made dinner together:  Ellie Krieger's Chicken with Jerk Sauce and Cool Pineapple Salsa. 

If you're looking for a great, healthy, flavorful meal, try it.  The only difference we did was substituting the mint in the salsa for cilantro and we added the habanero pepper to both the salsa and the chicken.  Super yummy! 

Daddy's Home!

Hi All!
The book we're reading this week is Daddy's Home! by Rosanne Parry.  We got this book as a gift from The Hub's parents.  Little Man loves it!

It's a cute little story about a boy who is excited to see his daddy when he comes home for work.  The excitement and joy the boy in the book feels when he sees his daddy is definitely how excited and happy Little Man is to see The Hubs.  It's soo exciting to see Little Man's face light up with The Hubs comes home!  Last night Little Man didn't want to go to bed because he was soo happy to see The Hubs!  When I put him on his changing table he was squirming all around because he wanted to play with daddy. 

The book is also cute because it outlines the day's events:  Mom gets a phone call from dad that he's on his way home, the boy washes up, daddy helps the boy take a bath, they read a story together, etc.  Little Man dosen't usually have a hard time going to sleep (thankfully) but if he does when he gets older, this book will be great because it outlines the evening routine of getting ready for bed.

We didn't get any pictures of Little Man reading this book today :(  The first time we read it he sat very patiently in my lap and we looked at the pictures and read the book.  After that he decided to throw a little tantrum for no other reason than because he is quickly (gasp!) approaching two years old.  hehe  I hope we don't see too much "terrible two" behavior!  

Happy Mardi Gras!

The Hubs and I celebrated Mardi Gras last night with homemade Jambalaya and some Red Bean and Rice!  Well, we attempted to make our own Red Bean and Rice, but it didn't come out very good.  The Hubs tried some and said it was okay.  Good thing I bought a box of Zatarain's as a backup! 

Our Jambalaya over white rice

The Jambalaya was good, but I think we both preferred Gumbo and will probably make that for next years Mardi Gras instead. 

I was really hoping to rent the Princess and the Frog for Little Man since it's set in New Orleans but they didn't have it at Red Box or instant streaming for Netflix. Looks like all our local video stores have gone out of business (sad), so I guess we'll have to wait for next time. 

So...my backup game plan is to try and see if Pandora has any "Mardi Gras" themed music for us to listen too.  Little Man has been looooving to dance lately, and I'm sure he'll get a kick out of the music. 

What do you have planned for Mardi Gras?