Food for thought...

Yeah, I have been focusing more on making our meals lately, whether it's simply packing a healthier lunch or trying out some new recipe (or even an old one).  Mostly, it's because I've been trying to mix things up for my family.  Hopefully, they will end up eating a little better... that we aren't swinging by a fast-food place or calling in take-out as often as we have in the past.  So far, it is going much better not eating so much fast food.  No, we aren't the most healthy eaters.  I will admit that, but we aren't the worst, either.  We do eat things we like, but I'm working on substituting better ingredients and, of course, I read food labels and try to make better choices.  I think there are plenty of us trying to find the healthier/better alternatives to some of our families' favorite (convenience) foods.  There's so much information to digest (LOL).  Hopefully, this will impact my family's health in the long run by making some changes (even little by little) to our food/eating habits .

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pumpkin oatmeal and ingredients to make it in your crock-pot/slow-cooker.

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Something new that I tried was a pumpkin oatmeal recipe in my crock-pot/slow-cooker.  I liked it a lot.  Some of the reviews I read said that is was much too sweet for their taste, so I reduced the sugar by half.  Then I served it with milk and a little more brown sugar sprinkled on top.  I love pumpkin…especially around autumn.  If you like steel cut oats and pumpkin - give this recipe a try.

Since it had been a while, a few nights ago, I made some beef stroganoff (using organic lean ground beef), seasonings (garlic, onions, etc.), reduced fat cream of mushroom soup, sour cream from our local Smith Brothers Farms (yay! for deliveries), and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top.  This was served over egg noodles. It turned out SO good.  Yum!!!  My husband was super happy with his dinner.

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I tried another new recipe yesterday… or maybe it's more of a regular recipe, but that I'd never made it in my crock-pot before.  We had made something similar in one of our Dutch ovens, so I figured it was worth a shot.  Yep, I would make this again.  Basically a breakfast casserole.  Hash browns/breakfast potatoes of some sort, ham (or other cooked meat of your liking), cheese, and scrambled eggs all in one dish.  The basic recipe I found online is entitled Slow Cooker Western Omelet, although I don't personally think it is "western" since it doesn't have chiles or tomatoes, beans, corn, or anything that screams "western" to me.  However, I did top mine with sour cream & salsa when serving it.  I do love ham & cheese omelets, though, and this was like that only cooked longer…more baked like a frittata.  For mine, I used potatoes O'Brien, a Mexican blend of shredded cheese, dried onion, cubed ham, egg substitute & a little milk.  Layer everything but the egg & milk (starting with potatoes).  Mix the egg & milk together, pour over the layers and let cook.  So simple.  This would be great to have for breakfast the next morning since this can cook on low for a long time.  Mine cooked all day and we had it for dinner instead.  Like I said, I'm trying to mix things up a bit for my family.  :)

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Using my favorite Betty Crocker banana bread recipe, I made some banana-nut bread for this morning.  This time I threw in some fun mini chocolate chips for more sweetness.  Mmm…  
happy kids = happy mama.

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