Pancake Date

Baby C and Baby A, born one day a part, in the same hospital. He lives just ten minutes away with his mommy and daddy, our good friends, Jessica and Brian. We met on Valentine's Day at a local pancake breakfast. Their first outing since coming home from the hospital. It will be so much fun for them to grow up together!

La Patisserie

La Patisserie is a little bakery in Cape May. It is always on the "must do" list for us. They make the most delicious pink pig sugar cookies and this time they had pumpkin ones also. The girls ride their bikes /cars and we walk down to the bakery. Then we sit and eat cookies on the bench watching all the people, and of course the carriage horses accross the street.

Blueberry Picking

A couple weeks ago we met up with Nana and Pop-Pop and went blueberry picking. Well, most of us picked blueberries, the littlest one just ate them. A LOT of them! We picked for about an hour and went home with plenty of blueberries. Enough to last us all week and share with our neighbors.

Farmer's Market

We are back in action. Blogging action that is. Sorry for our absence!

Here are a few pictures from our local Sunday farmer's market.

Lots of yummy stuff and great people watching!

Eating Ice Cream

They really enjoyed the homemade vanilla with pink and purple sprinkles in little waffle bowls. We had ours with homemade blueberry crumb cake. Yum!! Aunt Nicole is a 1st grade teacher, but could totally be the next Sandra Lee.

Bakery

Our town does not have a bakery, but we found an awesome one a few towns over. The girls love their ricotta sprinkle cookies and I love the 1950's ambiance. They just introduced fat free, sugar free frozen yogurt for the Summer and I am hooked. 80 flavors and a feature flavor each day. Oh how I love froyo and so does BP now!

Sweet Surprise

The director of BP's school handed me some fresh rhubarb from her garden and a dozen fresh eggs on Tuesday morning. So BB and I brought her a Strawberry Rhubrab pie when we picked up BP that afternoon. We brought her a full pie. The half-eaten one in the picture above is ours and it was so delicious!

Easter Desserts

Some Easter Desserts...all courtesy of Martha. Wish I could make the garden cake, but I am not brave enough to try it, and I think it would be too much work to eat in the end. We will be making the nest cupcakes for Easter Sunday though. I think BP will have fun helping with those.

Cinnamon S'Mores

Yes, S'mores!!! I had to blink twice when I saw this recipe in the Weight Watchers booklet. When all is said and done this desert comes very close to the campfire favorite.

Preheat oven to 425 F

Take two graham crackers (4 rectangles in each)

Break crackers in half so you are making two sandwiches

Spread marshmallow fluff on one side of each sandwich

Sprinkle with chocolate chips and cinnamon (the secret ingredient)

Wrap individually in foil

Bake in oven for about 4 minutes or until hot and gooey

Open packaages carefully and enjoy!

Point Value= 3

Avocado Swiss Melt

Oh how I love this sandwich! The smooth nutty avocado mixed with the sharp bite of the Swiss and the crunch of the fresh veggies. It is heavenly!

This recipe also began its life as a Weight Watchers recipe, but I altered it a little bit. There are so many variations you could do with this. This is for those who are a fan of grilled cheese, but want to shake things up a little bit.

Take two slices of whole wheat bread
Spread low fat mayo on them
Add once slice of low fat Swiss
Then add 1/4 of an avocado sliced thin
Next add shredded carrots
Sprinkle some alfalfa sprouts
Spray a non-stick skillet with Pam and put the sandwich in
Cover and wait a minute or two
Then flip and watch for the Swiss to melt and the yumminess to be ready

You can also use cucumbers, tomatoes, or even turkey bacon. The possibilities are endless.
I think that is why I love Weight Watchers. The food is so delicious and you can be creative. For me eating and food is a lot about color and presentation as well as taste. I love the fresh veggies and fruits in the recipes and the variety of spices and seasonings used too.

Points Value: 4 points
Note: Turkey Bacon would add and additional 2 points

Cous-Cous Dinner in a Pot

This was originally a Weight Watchers recipe that I altered a little to suit the needs of The Barefoot Family. I highly recommend it. It is quick, like five minutes, tasty, and very healthy.

I bring a cup of orange juice (any kind), two tablespoons of EVOO, and the cous-cous seasoning mix (optional) to a boil in a sauce pan
Then add the cous-cous (one box store bought), stir, and remove from heat
Also add a handful of craisins, yellow raisins, slivered almonds, and 1 cup of roasted chicken breast (I recommend the kind you buy right in the store, it's easy and saves so much time), stir all ingredients together, and cover with lid
Let the ingredients sit for five minutes and then fluff everything with a fork
Grate fresh Parmigiano Reggiano on top and ta-da (as BP would say) you have a healthy, delicious meal in no time at all.

You can also add green onions sliced very thin for extra flavor and color


My girls love this dish and I know when they are whiny and starving which happens quite often, you should be in our house at around 5:00, this is my best bet for dinner.


EVOO= Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Points Value= 6 points + chicken add 2 points (for anyone who cares about points)

Italian Stir Fry

Delicious! We are trying to make some lifestyle changes in our house and eating is the major one. For almost a week we have been doing the Weight Watchers diet. So far so good. We both have seen instant results and feel amazing! I wanted to support my sweetheart and honestly have a few lbs. to lose from my last pregnancy. I figured if we did it together we would be more successful. The Weight Watchers recipes are so amazing that I don't feel like I am missing out on anything, and I am definitely not starving. Avoiding convience foods and choosing healthier options makes all the difference in the world. Oh, and no more soda for either of us. That alone made a difference in how I feel immediately. The other big reason for this change is to set a good example for our girls.



The recipe below is my favorite right now...

Italian Stir Fry (It is steak and salad all in one dish and ready in about ten minutes!)

Try it. I promise you will love it!



2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped red pepper

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 lb. sirloin, trimmed of fat and slice into stips

2 medium cloves of garlic chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp red pepper flakes

5 cups of arugala

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (has to be fresh, it really makes the meal)



Heat a very large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and turn pan to coat.

Add peppers and mushrooms, saute until peppers begin to soften, about three minutes. Move veggies to side of skillet.

Add sirloin and garlic to open space in skillet, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Turn beef after 1 minute and then continue to cook for 3 minutes more, shaking pan accasionally to mix all ingredients back together.

Add arugala, stir frequently until it wilts slightly

Serve with parmesan cheese.

7 points for 2 servings (2 cups)
3 additional points with brown rice
We have never added the brown rice and it is quite filling.

(Picture above from macys.com)

A Big Fish

One of the highlights of our vacation for BP and BB's Daddy was catching this big fish. He went fishing early Sunday morning with Papa and Uncle T. It is a Horse-Eye Jack. (Interesting name for a fish.) He caught a Kingfish also and brought that one home for dinner.

This is what the Kingfish looked like later that night after Uncle T's adorable and sweet friend "Chef Lauren" worked her magic. It was delicious with spinach salad and cheesy potatoes!!! Yummy!!!

Spaghetti

The Barefoot Baby enjoying spaghetti for the first time. We are entering the world of real human food, slowly, very slowly. She likes everything so far. We are not surprised by this at all!

Red, White, and Blue Strawberries

Red, white, and blue chocolate covered strawberries are easy to make and so festive. I have made them for the 4th of July a couple times and they are always a big hit. Who doesn't love a choclate covered strawberry? So if you need a dish to take to a picnic this year I highly reccomend these.

All you have to do is melt the white choclate chips in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler just put them in a glass bowl over a pot of water and melt them that way.

Then dip the washed strawberries in the choclate and sprinkle with blue sprinkles. I prefer the blue crystal sprinkles because they look so pretty, but you could use any sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Smoothies

BP's New Favorite = Strawberry Banana Smoothies

She loves them!

I love them because they are healthy and she is eating lots of fruit and does not even know it.

I found this recipe in Parenting magazine...

1 cup ice

1 cup low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt

1 ripe babana, cut into chunks

1 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 pomegrante or cranberry juice

Dash of vanilla

Place ice in blender, whirl to crush. Add remainig ingredients, and blend until smooth, abput 30 seconds. Serve immediately. Yeilds approx. 3 cups.

BP really enjoys pushing the buttons on the blender, but BB freaks when she hears it. Her bottom lip immediatley juts out and she starts wailing.

(photo above from flickr)

The Result...

This is the result of a day of rolling, cutting, baking and decorating. We had a blast and could not believe how fast the day went. Thank you to my friend Judy and Mona for putting up with BP's meltdowns towards the end of the day. I have learned a very important lesson about skipping the nap. Also thank you to Judy for making the dough in advance which saved us some major time. What a great friend... I guess she new that the new mother could not handle too much. The cookies were delicious... Santa really enjoyed them!!!

The Cookie Inspiration...

In the December issue of Counrty Living magazine there was a whole section dedicated to baking Christmas Cookies. It gave the recipe for a sugar cookie dough and then thirteen, yes thirteen different cookies you could make out of it. My friend Judy and I often call each other when we receive the magazine in the mail and talk about things we like and see in it. So when December's issue came she called and said; "we have to try these cookies." We set a date and went to work...

Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet Potato Fries have become a new favorite for The Barefoot Princess. She loves them and I am so happy because they are so healthy for her. I just cut them and place them on a baking sheet and then drizzle with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Rachael Ray terms) then add a little salt and pepper and a little brown sugar (if you so desire). Place them in a 400 degree oven for 20 -25 minutes or so. BP dips them in a little ranch dressing, but they are good plain too. The perfect side dish with a burger or steak!!!

Peanut Butter Kisses

The Barefoot Princess and I made four dozen of these delicious little "tookies," as she calls them, the other night for a cookie swap at our Friday playdate. (Thanks to Nana for the matching aprons.) We came home from our playdate with three different types of cookies...chocolate chip, sugar with raspberry preserves inside, and chocolate nut bark. They were all delicious!!