~ The Crystal Dish ~

I'm always looking for a healthier snack for the kids one of my personal favorites is lemon poppyseed muffins. Not knowing how well the kids would like with poppyseeds, I decided to omit them from recipe.  Nicholas thinks these taste like cake and he was happy when he saw what I had baked.  Ingredients : 1/2 cup + 1 tbs of coconut flour 5 eggs 1 tbsp vanilla 1/4 melted coconut oil 2 medium sized lemons juiced 1/3 cup honey 1/2 tsp baking soda Zest from 2 lemons 2 tbsp poppyseeds (I omitted) Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 325. 2. In a large bowl mix together eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. Melt the coconut oil and honey together and pour into the egg mixture. Mix everything together. 3.In a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients. Slowly stir them into the wet ingredients. 4. Fill each muffin tin with about 1/4 cup batter 5. Bake for 22 min.

    For Sunday Football, I wanted to do a different version of Jack's football fave, Buffalo Wings.  Since I have been having some digestive problems when eating certain meats, red meat in particular, I wanted to try something new.   All the Paleo recipes I have tried in the past have been amazing, so I was looking forward to this recipe because like Jack, I love Buffalo Wings as well.   The kids especially loved these nuggets, cause hey, lets face it, what kid doesn't love nuggets.   Ingredients:   Paleo Chicken Nuggets   1 pound ground chicken (a little fat makes for a moister nugget) 1 egg 1/4 cup coconut flour 2 tsp. Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. onion powder 1/2 tsp. garlic powder   Paleo Chicken Nugget Coating 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/4 tsp. salt   Buffalo Chicken Nugget Sauce  1/3 cup Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce     Instructions ...

This morning I was on a mission to prepare a healthier version of Jack's favorite, Eggs Benedict.  To say this morning's breakfast was an epic fail would be an understatement.   As some of you know, hollandaise is not the easiest thing to make. One thing goes wrong and the sauce doesn't come out right. I tried a different hollandaise recipe this morning and it did not come out. I kind of beat myself up about meals when they don't come out right, but I know I tried my hardest to make this breakfast this morning.   As I stood in kitchen whisking the eggs with lemon juice and water, I awaited for the yolk mixture to become frothy and double in size. After about 10 minutes, this happened. I removed from heat and started to whisk in the butter. I whisked for another 10 minutes waiting for this sauce to thicken and after 10 minutes of additional whisking, it was still thin. The taste was there, but the thickened sauce was not.   I was very disappointed, but ...

Today the kids and I are going to the pumpkin patch with Mema and Papi, however I wanted to start this morning off with something different than the pancake batch I made and froze on Sunday for the kids breakfast for the week. I searched paleo recipes on Pinterest and found this one: Bacon Banana Almond Butter Donuts Once again, I didn't want to leave the recipe as is, I needed to make it my own and it was a great success. The kids loved these donuts. I gave them each 2 donuts and a banana and they gobbled them up. I have leftovers for Jack for the next few day and I know he will enjoy them since there's bacon in them. He doesn't have to feel bad about eating them either since they're paleo and healthier than a normal donut. Ingredients 1/2 cup coconut flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. pumpkin spice 1/2 cup almond butter 1 mashed banana 5 eggs, beaten 2 tbs. honey 1 tbs. maple extract 3 bacon slices...

It's only 8 am in the morning. The kids have been fed breakfast consisting of homemade pancakes and bananas.  The kids have only been up for two hours and already it  looks like a hurricane went through the house. I  saw this picture today and it is completely true when you have toddlers. Especially two toddlers. While the kids ate their breakfast, I decided to surf the web for something for dinner. I thought pork chops would be good because I feel like we've been eating chicken everyday for about a week now. I needed to change it up. With pork chops, my grandmas fried pork chops are my favorite, however they are not healthy! Since Jack and I are eating healthier, I wanted to make something that was healthy and yet still very tasty. I found this recipe: Apple & Onion Stuffed Pork Chops Of course as you all know, I make it my own and add things, or subtract things from the recipe, so here's how I created my stuffed pork chops. Ingred...

I know I know, I've been on a salad kick lately. I'm sorry about all these different salad posts for those of you looking for something more savory... Do not worry though, tonight's dinner will be savory. I cannot wait to start cooking it. Today I wasn't quite sure what I wanted in my salad, but I knew that I had my morning star vegan burgers in the freezer and I had completely forgotten about the Morning Star Buffalo Wings I had bought.  Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. No Dressing needed for this salad either because of the balsamic reduction made with veggies. It's amazing and my stomach was very happy after eating this amazing salad. Ingredients: 1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped 6 Morning Star Buffalo Wings 1 Yellow Bell Pepper, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbs. coconut oil 6 tbs. balsamic vinegar 4 baby carrots, sliced 1 celery stalk, sliced salt and pepper to taste Instructions: In a skillet, over medium heat, brown wings on b...

I saw this on Giada at Home a few weeks ago and I wanted to try this for my kids. Since Nicholas doesn't do lunch meat or pickles, I decided to just do peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The first one I did, I had put a little too much jelly on it, so I realized I needed to use a small amount of jelly, or else it would ooze out the edge of the bread. I actually ate one of the pinwheels after I had cut them. They were great and a fun way for the kids to eat a peanut butter and jelly rather than just cutting their sandwich in the normal squares. Since my kids are toddlers, I actually only used 2 slices of bread to make them each a set of pinwheels. Ingredients: 2 slices bread (I use whole grain), crust removed 4 tbs. peanut butter 2 tbs. jelly (I like using seedless for kids so you don't get the chunks of fruit in it) Instructions: Place the bread slices on a work surface. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll the bread until 1/4-inch thick.   ...

Jack and I love fried calamari and on the rare occasion we have a date night just the two of us, if the restaurant has fried calamari, we always have to try it and we compare to other fried calamari we've eaten in the past. This was my first attempt at making this and I didn't have a recipe to go off of, I just kind of went with what I knew about frying. I decided to fry the calamari in a deep skillet which it turned out great, however I think it would've been better if I had used my deep fryer. For those of you who have ever cleaned the calamari when it's fresh, you know it's not a quick and easy process. I cleaned nearly 3 lbs of calamari in approximately 45 minutes and that's including trimming it to fry as well. I'd say this is pretty good timing for my first try. After you have cut and trimmed the calamari, it should look like this:     As for frying the calamari, for a deep skillet, you'll need enough oil to fill the pan 1/2 way up....

This weekend we had Jacks mom, sisters and grandma over for lunch and since I know they all love Buffalo Wings, I decided to try and make some crockpot buffalo chicken using chicken breasts and wing sauce. I didn't have a recipe, so I just winged it. I just threw it together in the crockpot and it was amazing! Everyone was pleased. For some reason though, I noticed the Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce came out slightly hotter in the crockpot than when I use it for actual wings. I'm not quite sure why this happened, but still it was good. Ingredients: 6 frozen chicken breasts 1 small bottle Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce Instructions: Place ingredients in crockpot and cook on HIGH 2-4 hours or LOW 6-8 hours. While chicken is still in crockpot, shred chicken with two forks. We did variations on how each of us wanted to eat this meal. I decided to eat over a bed of chopped romaine lettuce, 1/4 cup cooked quinoa, sliced celery, carrots and a little bit of corn. If you want to ca...

Friday night I had no idea what to cook my family for dinner. Mexican food is always a big hit in this household, so I decided to go with a Taco Salad for myself and just regular tacos for Jack and the kids. As I looked through our pantry and refrigerator, I wanted to spice it up a bit. I had just the ingredients needed to do so. Brooklyn, our one year old loved the dinner and she kept trying to steal my salad because apparently she liked that better than the tacos. I am not complaining though, I love that she's such a good eater. Nicholas on the other hand was a little more picky with his meal. He ate all of his beans, and his tortilla shell and cheese. I was so full from my Herbalife shake my friend Amber had brought over for me around lunch time that I could not even finish my salad. I did eat about half of it and Brooklyn polished off the rest. Jack enjoyed his regular tacos with sour cream and one of his favorite hot sauces, Tapitio. If you're feeling like be...

  Another homemade kid friendly snack and I know exactly what is in it instead of getting something processed at store.  I always loved fruit roll ups as a kid so instead of buying them at the store, I wanted to attempt making these for my kids. Keep in mind this is not a short process to make, so if you're going to make them, make sure you're going to be home for at least 6-7 hours while making these. Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups 1 pound fresh fruit (I used Trader Joe's tropical fruit blend) ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) granulated sugar 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about ½ lemon) Yield: 12 rolls, 5 by 5-inch size Cut the fruit in half or quarters, depending on size, and mash roughly with a potato masher in a large bowl. You should have about 2 cups mashed berries. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to break down the berries slightly. Stir once or twice while they sit to dissolve the sugar. Pour...

    This morning I was on a mission to find something for Jack to eat for breakfast for the rest of the week.  I'm always trying new breakfast muffins for Jack and I came across this recipe and I of course elevated it a little bit. As these muffins baked in the oven, the essence of bacon, cheese, and herbs permeated the air.  I couldn't wait for these muffins to come out of the oven. The anticipation was killing me as I sat and watched these muffins bake for a better part of the 20 minutes. As I took the muffins out of the oven, Nicholas screamed, "CUPCAKES!!!!"  I then had to try and explain to a 2 year old that they were hot and he couldn't eat them yet, so he of course moved a chair over to the counter where I had placed the muffins and started blowing on them to try and cool them down a little faster. After they had cooled enough for me to handle one, I took out of the pan and quartered the muffin to cool the inside faster.  Nichol...

This morning I wanted to try something different for my kiddos. I was out of regular bread, however had an entire loaf of raisin bread, so I thought, why not make french toast with this. Wasn't sure what the kids would think about this, but it was a hit!!! I actually made myself a slice to try also and I don't know why I haven't tried this sooner! It's brings French toast up a notch! Yum! Ingredients: 4 slices raisin bread 1 large egg 2 tbs milk 1/4 tsp. almond extract 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/8 tsp. nutmeg Cooking spray Instructions: Beat egg with milk, almond extract, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined. Heat a large skillet over medium low heat. When skillet has warmed, lightly spray with cooking spray.  Dip each slice of bread into egg mixture to coat on both sides and place in pan. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from pan and serve warm. You can serve with butter and syrup, or even just eat it plain!

Last night I wasn't quite sure what to cook for dinner. We definitely need to go grocery shopping, so I kinda had to work within my means of what we had in the refrigerator and pantry. Since I wasn't feeling 100%, I decided to make a casserole cause casseroles you can sometimes just throw things together and they come out great. Tonight's casserole was good and the kids, Jack and I all loved it. Well, Jack didn't like the tomatoes, but the kids actually ate everything that was on their plate. Ingredients: 3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed 1/2 pound cooked spaghetti noodles 10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup sour cream 8 oz. shredded Italian cheese blend 4 oz. shredded Colby jack 2 tomatoes, cubed 1 cup frozen peas Instructions: Are you ready for this? Its the easiest recipe ever. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except the Colby Jack cheese. Transfer to a 9x13 pan, top with Colby Jack and bake in a 350 degree ov...

Today after doing my daily routine of cleaning while the kiddos napped, I needed to figure out what to make for lunch. The kale I made last night was so good that I wanted to slightly elevate it and make a healthy lunch of it.  I decided to roast a sweet potato and cube up a little butternut squash to add to my concoction.  Today has been a vegetarian day for me and I'll probably make some chicken for dinner so I can get some protein in my system. Lunch came out great. The kids of course wanted something different but my lunch was awesome. I ate every bit of what I played for myself and I still have some leftover for lunch for tomorrow and possibly the following day. Ingredients: 4 tbs. olive oil, divided 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 baby bell peppers, minced 5 mushrooms, sliced 8 oz. kale, roughly chopped 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed 1 cup sweet potato, peeled and cubed 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed Salt and Pepper to taste ...