In Case You Were Wondering...

I've been a very busy lady!  Here are some of the yummy things I"ve made lately.

Homemade honey wheat bread:

I have a newfound respect for people that make bread from scratch for a living.  Kneading for ten minutes!  For two loaves of bread!  My arms felt like jelly afterwards!  But you know what?  It's the best wheat bread I've ever had, and I think I'm going to make bread every week now.  Buff arms here I come!  (Oh wait, I carry around a 30-pound toddler...already have those...well, a little extra never hurt!)

Last Friday, my best friend Juice needed 24 creme brulees for his dance instructor's birthday party.  I topped them with homemade whipped cream and served them with a side of sugar-crusted mango tossed in lemon juice.  I forgot to get a photo of the mango salad...but here are some photos of the creme brulees:

I made some steamed sweet potato slices as a side for dinner the other night.  I melted some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a ramekin and drizzled it over the sweet potatoes.  Yum!



Last Saturday I whipped up some killer breakfast sandwiches.  I toasted my homemade honey wheat bread and filled them with simple cheesy scrambled eggs and crispy bacon.

Lastly, here's a cake I made for my Daddy.  He's officially a pilot!

The cake was 2 layers of chocolate and one layer of vanilla, filled and iced with vanilla buttercream, and topped with my favorite candy from Canada, Coffee Crisp!

I'll be sharing more of my baking and cooking adventures next week!  Have a great weekend!!

I'm SO Sick of Soup!

Oh my gosh, it's only a month into cold and flu season and my house has been hit with the sniffles and achiness AGAIN!  Ugh.  There is nothing worse on this planet than a cranky, runny nosed baby, and a cranky, runny nosed, feverish husband!  Since we're all a little sick or being sick, and of living on soup and crackers, I've been researching some healthy alternatives to our favorite sick day staple, chicken soup.

What did I find?  Besides soups- which really are best, I found that instead of the plain white flour pasta and butter that is most people's alternative to soup, you can have a variety of pastas and rices that are delicious and more nutritious for you. You're sick!  You need vitamins and minerals and complex carbs.  You need food that will fuel your body in the most optimal way to help it fight the illness at hand.  Do yourself a favor, get out of your white pasta and white rice comfort zone and try some whole grain, whole wheat, or quinoa pasta.  If you're baking, take a risk!  Substitute some whole wheat or oat flour for some of your white flour!

Tomorrow I'll post a yummy quinoa pasta recipe.  Just because my family is sick, doesn't mean they shouldn't have a healthy, protein and nutrient packed meal!