Crunchy Thai Noodles

So I have a bit of an obsession with Stir-fry style dishes and i've been trying alot of different recipies (from pinterest if course) here lately.  This is one I found on http://asmallsnippet.com I really liked it but I did play around with it a bit and came up with my own verson using her base.

Here it is

Crunchy Thai Noodles

Ingredients

• 1/2 box thin whole wheat spaghetti noodles
• 1 TBS crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 C. olive oil
• 1/2 C. sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 6 TBS honey
• 6 TBS soy sauce
• 2 carrots
• 2 TBS basil
• 2 TBS crunchy natural peanut butter

Method

• Cook noodles according to package, drain and set aside
• Heat sesame oil, olive oil, red pepper flakes and garlic halfs in pan and cook over low-medium heat for 3 minutes (or untill garlic starts to brown)
• Remove from heat and strain out most of the pepper flakes and garlic halfs
• Let oil mix cool (about 20 minutes)
• Add honey and soy sauce and wisk together
• Stir in carrots, basil and peanut butter
• In seperate skillet heat 2 TBS oil (I use peanut) and saute noodle till they start to crisp
• Pout oil mix over noodles in saute pan and heat
• Serve garnished with peanuts

ENJOY!

Spring Style :)

Keeping this one short and simple.

Im one of the biggest fans of winter (crock pot cooking, fire places burning, snow falling) but man, im so excited to break out my Spring clothes... Im over wearing thick sweaters and BLACK.

I want Corals and Tiffany Blues already :)

Common March 20th (first day of spring)

Coral Sequin Sperry's (Macy's)
Coral Ruffled Tee (Old Navy)

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~ Hal Borland



Wednesday Wake Up

    As most of you know Im a full time student and Wednesdays happen to be a favorite day of mine. Im up 3 or 4 hours before I have class and I usually get breakfast around, have my *multiple* cups of coffee, studying for quizzes and catch up on the latest episode of New Girl (thank you Hulu

"I break for birds, I rock alot of polka dots"

   Its just a morning for me to relax and gather all my thoughts, so I decided

Why not make Wednesdays my blogging days?

I decided to blog this first week a little bit about ACCIDENTAL VEGAN snacks

*now I never said this list was going to be healthy and yes I do eat SOMEof these foods but in moderation*

• Oreos-how its possible for a cream filling to be Vegan I have no clue, except for alot of processing
• Cliff Bars- these are actually really good and really good for you
• Doritos- spicy sweet chili flavored, these are amazingly delish
• Sour Patch Kids- yumm
• Sun Chips- original flavor, if im craving chips this is usually my go to
• Pretzles- and their low in fat
• Nutter Butter- who doesnt love a little blast from their childhood

these are just some that I found the most interesting but the full list can be found thru the link below

PETA's full list of Accidently Vegan snacks

Katie Lynn

Spicy Peanut Stir-Fry

This is one of my favorite vegan dishes, I have an extra container of the sauce in my fridge at all times, its that good! Its so easy to make and really curbs that craving for take out!

Spicy Peanut Stir-Fry
(Sauce recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and then modified a bit by me :))

For the pasta:

1/2 lb. rice noodles
2 large heads of broccoli, cut into florets
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP canola peanut oil
2 TBSP tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger

1/2 finely chopped scallion

For the sauce:

1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4-1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP tamari or soy sauce
2 TBSP molasses
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste)

In a large pot bring water to a boil. Cook noodles, drain, and set aside.
In a wok or pan over medium-high heat, add 1 TBSP oil once hot and coat sides and bottom on wok or pan. Add broccoli florets and give the pan a shake or a stir. Let cook 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, then pour in tamari and stir until mostly evaporated. Remove broccoli from pan while still bright green and slightly crisp. Set aside.

For the sauce:
In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, add the peanut butter and 1/4 cup of the hot water, stirring to combine.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients, then add the remaining 1/4 cup water to thin the sauce to desired consistency.

Toss noodles and broccoli in the sauce, and garnish with chopped peanuts and scallions.

Serve.

Hope you enjoyed it!

New Style

Hey Everyone,

Well as y'all can see im back to blogging, I know ive been away for awhile (try a year) but im ready to start journaling again :)

Over this past Christmas season, my heart was changed about the way I was eating... and not the typical I need to eat healthy and lose weight change... But in the way that my eyes were opened to the "unatural" things that are going on in the animal farming community.  I call myself Vegan to save my breath explaing what I reall am which is a,  "VEG-I-will-not-eat-any-animal-products-if-the-animal-had-an-unatural-life-prior-to-death-AN" Meaning I will eat game my husband hunts himself. 

I know there are SO many opinions about this topic and I don't judge anyone who eats a different way then I do, I really think its a decision you must come to on your own and its also about your personal feelings, I feel like God intended for us to hunt our meat and raise our own chickens for eggs and get milk from our own cows, not buy it massed produced and pumped full of hormones. And I know from the Vegan community I would get alot of flack for my eating of game, this is the point im trying to make, its a personal decision and everyones hearts are in a different place and people are passionate about different things when it comes to food and animal consumption.

I just wanted to do a little introduction into my new style of blogging Im going to be doing, Im going to have alot of Vegan recipes and some information Ill share as Im a newbie learning myself.  Feel free to leave comments and links to recipes or articles you find or found helpful as a beginner yourself.


Katie Lynn

Weight loss update...

These past 2 weeks have been fantastic, I'm in such agood mood because I reached my first weight loss goal...

Im officially in the 120s, I haven't been here since Evie was 4 months old.

I started my weight loss journey last April and since then ive lost 16lbs, it didn't seem like alot month by month but I'm so glad now that I didn't give up. There were months with literally NO loss and I would feel upset and devastated but I would re evaluate what I was doing and make adjustments.

Im so close to my next goal and hope I can post about it soon :) thanks for checking out my blog!

Liebster Award!

Hey Everyone, Im happy to infor you all that I recieved the Liebster Award :) It was awared to me by my friend and fellow blogger Danielle, she has an awesome blog named Healing the Heaviness, where she writes from weightloss to frugal finding... Its really awesome so be sure you check it out.

So heres the details of this award...

1. choose five up and coming blogs to give the award to. blogs must have less than 200 followers.
2. show your thanks to the blogger who gave the award to you by linking back to their page.
3. post the award on your blog.
4. list the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their blogs, and leave a comment on their blogs to let them they received the award.
5. share five random facts about yourself.

Ok so heres who I would like to give the award too....

1.

Michelle at Mumma and the Kiddo

2.

Soon to be 7 in the Nest 

3.

Ashley from Missionary Heart

4.

The Happily Ever After Project

5.

Simply Prudent

Ok now for the 5 random facts about myself....

1. My favorite snack is green olives, sharp cheddar cheese and a glass of sweet tea.

2. I always forget to turn off the lights when I leave the house (My Husband jokes and says his song for me is "Every Light in the House is On" by Trace Adkins).

3. Im a coffee addict, and proud to admit it :)

4. I end everyday reading (currently going through cooking books trying to find inspiration).

5.  Gone With the Wind is my favorite movie.

Thanks for taking the time to check out these awesome blogs!!

Baked Egg Rolls

These egg rolls are super easy to make, and a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

egg roll wrappers

a bag of coleslaw mix

1 tsp garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ginger

a splash of soy sauce

salt and pepper

EVOO cooking spray

I added a little ground chicken into a few of them

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Put your coleslaw in a large microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave 3-6 minutes.

Once the slaw has cooked, drain (no one likes a soggy egg roll).

Mix in garlic, ginger, soy sauce salt and pepper.

• Place some filling into the middle of the egg roll wrappers fold in two opposite corners (make sure you have a small bowl of water to seal the edges with).

This is some with the Chicken

• Put a bit of water on the top edges with your finger. Fold up the bottom, and roll as tightly as you can to the edge.
•  Repeat for the rest of the wrappers, and place the egg rolls on a baking sheet sprayed with EVOO cooking spray....spray the tops of the egg rolls with the oil, too.
• Bake 15 minutes then turn and bake an additional 10 minutes
• Serve with your favorite dipping sauce (mines duck sauce)

ENJOY

After Easter Lunch Hunt

This was an Idea I found on pinterest, actually EVERYWHERE on pinterest and thought I would share my version :)

This morning I was getting ready to put away the Easter eggs and I decided why not get just 1 more use out of them this year..... So I took some of lil E's favorite snacks and put them in the eggs and hide them all around the house (I wanted to do this out side but since its only 39.8 I decided to make this an indoor activity)

E ran around and found all the eggs

After she gathered them all she sat and opened them and was surprised to find "lunch" inside.

Yummy

Just a last minute egg hunt idea :) hope you enjoy as much as we did



Week 5

Why hello there everyone.  First off I would like to apologize for such the long break in between updates.  As most of you already know last week was my first week of school and work... and needless to say it wore me out :( I'm still getting into the swing of things, this is all very new to me.  As I mentioned I am wore out, my body took a little bit of a beating this week and I have the Dr's note and NO voice to prove it.  I lost  my voice Thursday evening and was told by the family Dr, after a pretty bad steroid shot, to take it easy till Wednesday and relax (whats that?!?!?!) so this means I'm relaxing, through blogging of coarse :) This gives me a chance to get caught up.

Last week was a great weigh loss week for me. I'm sure being super busy, constantly on the go and my temporary sickness had some to do with my 2lb weight loss, but I'm determined to keep it off. Only 4 more lbs and Ill be to my first goal. Woohoo. 

Has anyone else on a weightloss or any type of Journey reach that 1ST goal??

Mozzarella Sticks

Cheese, yum! This is one of my favorite food categories... I mean common, who doesn't love it? I found in a *Cooking Light* magazine a recipe for a healthier version of one of the greatest cheese food inventions.... Mozzarella sticks. These are delicious and I love making them especially because its very fun to make, Evie loves to help me in the kitchen and we made these yesterday afternoon for out Lunch.

Ingredients

3 light string cheese sticks

3 egg roll wrappers

1 cup of lukewarm water

EVOO cooking spray

Directions

Lay out 1 egg roll wrapper and place a string cheese stick in the middle

Place a little water around the edges, you can use a small paintbrush or your fingers for this step

Take the top and bottom edges and fold them up
With the bottom and top folded then roll the remaining edges

Lightly spray EVOO cooking spray on cookie sheet. 

Place mozzarella sticks on sheet and lightly spray them with the cooking spray

bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, turning half way through.

Serve with marinara and enjoy

serving size 1 mozzarella stick *they are pretty big*

calories- 103

Working Momma Melt Down

Just thought I would share this story in case anyone else was feeling a little down on themselves, hopefully the story of Job can renew your week and give you the encouragement you need....like it did me.

I recently *last Tuesday* started working again *I'm also starting full time night classes next week*  I love the job and its something I believe I'm very good at, teaching at a daycare.  I'm currently working with the toddlers and let me tell you if you think running after one super busy toddler is hard, try 7.... then it makes your 1 or 2 seem easy :) Mostly why I took this position is, I can take Evie with me and she's actually in my group of toddlers, so I can work and still spend time with her.  Even though she had a few melt downs *mmostly because E isn't use to sharing her momma* Evie is doing great.  Lots of story, craft, puzzle, play and most importantly SOCIALIZING time.  I just love watching her grow and I'm so thankful that God allowed me a job where I can bring Evie along too. 

After the end of a very crazy work week *my part time job turned full time*  I really needed some relaxation and re cooping time before I start my next BIG week; which included working my now full time job plus taking night classes full time. But instead I was sick, no fun family time for me, no special play days with Evie. Just soup and the couch *with some good movies of course*  As I was sitting on the couch, in between the cloud my head seemed to be in and the to do list in my mind that kept growing and growing, I kept thinking about how unlucky I felt, was I actually feeling sorry for myself? for being sick 1 weekend? 

That's when I decided to open my Bible to Job, he is my favorite Biblical character and this is my favorite book of the Bible.  I went right to

Job 1 :20-22

And Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell upon the ground saying, "Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return Hither, The LORD giveth and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD"

And in all this Job sinner not, nor charged God foolishly

Made me feel kinda foolish for feeling sorry for myself, Job had lost everything, his family, animals and land. he had nothing left yet he still praised God.  Every time I'm feeling sorry for myself, I always turn to these verses and they help keep me in perspective.  Yes I'm going to be extremely busy and at times overwhelmed but God will not let me take on too much to handle. 

I'm looking forward to the new "business" of our life......It will just make me enjoy the quite smaller moments even more :)

April 2012 Workout Plan



I Finally did it, I made my own workout plan :)

 It may be corny but its a way to keep me motivated and on track with my weekly workouts. I know its simple but I dont do much working out except for running, so this is perfect for me to start with. Feel free to use this for your starter too!




Week 3 and 4 Weigh Ins

I have some good and some bad news on my weigh ins to report. 1st off last week I weighed in with absolutely no weigh change, it was exactly the same even to the ounce.  I was extremely disappointed with myself and had to do something to really help me lose weight the following week.  So this past week I decided to eat "meatless" and I would like to say I am by NO means a vegetarian, I'm a meat and potatoes kinda gal (which explains my weight) however I found this extremely easy... I was not even temped once to eat meat. I don't want to give too much of this topic away since ill be guest posting about my "meatless" week on Healing the Heaviness the 13th :) But I do want to report that I lost 1.2 lbs this past week. woohoo!! I cant wait to tell everyone more about this on the 13th!!

Spinach Balls

I absolutely love spinach,I can pretty much put it into anything.... Lasagna, soups, spaghetti even shakes.  Its extremely good for you and literally help BOOST your metabolise.  I'm always trying to find new ways to include this green into our diet and tonight I took a recipe I found on The Curvy Carrot and modified it a bit to make into a healthy alternative to meatballs. I hope you enjoy these we made them for supper tonight and loved them. Let me know what you think :)

Ingredients

1T. EVOO

1T minced onion

1 teaspoon garlic powder

10-ounces package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 8-ounce bag of herb seasoned stuffing mix

2large eggs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup low fat ricotta cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Mix onion, garlic, spinach, stuffing, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper into large bowl

Form into balls

Heat EVOO in skillet on medium heat

Drop the Spinach balls into EVOO and cook till browned

I usually cook for 3-4 minutes on each side

Serve with Pasta and Marinara

What Happened to Playing??

As I was filling out a little bit in my about me page I got to thinking about my

childhood....


The family at Kelly's Island (along time ago) Mom was taking the picture and yes Im the goober in the middle :)

We lived on a deadend street in a little town in Ohio, there was a open lot (more like 3 or 4) right behind our house that belonged to the neighbors, it had a creek running along the far side. I remember taking all the sticks and "big" rocks we could find and trying to dame it up. We'd ride our skateboards and bikes up and down the street, racing......We'd do this over and over again. We played baseball, house, tag, football, catch, hide and go seek and pretty much every imagianable outside game, from the time we got home from school till our parents called us in for the night (ok, ok! Most of the time we acted like we couldnt hear them and made them come out and find us, sorry mom).

We spent days at the park, watching bub play baseball.... walking to the library and even for Icees a few times.  We went to the beach and a couple trips to Kelly's Island, where we walked the boardwalk and soaked up the sunshine. 

 Something all these memories have in common? Being outside and being active. I dont think that God intended for humans to be as inactive lazy as we have become.

These were some of my best childhood memories, we were safe and we were having fun.  It just doesnt seem like this is the norm anymore.  Ive seen it happen, parents are to busy to let their kids actually play, they dont want them to get hurt, so instead of taking the time to watch them, they sit them in from of the TV, buy them every video game known to man and "lock" them away. 

I hate to admit it but Ive been there, Ive ocassionally used the TV or Angry Birds as a distraction cause I didnt want to take the time, but this is something ive been working on.  I try to get outside and do things with Evie, I want the memories Evie has of her childhood to be like mine, playing outside with mom, dad and friends, not of Dora or The Wonder Pets.

About a year and a half ago me and Nick took Evie to Kelly's Island.... She loved it!

Mommy Monday Link Up

Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla

Ive a girlfriend who whenever we go out together it seems like we always end up at one of those extremely corny looking but absolutely delisiouc Mexican restaurants.... and even though I tell myself "Just order off the kids menu and DON'T eat the chips and salsa" I almost always do.  So tonight I decided to try to make my own healthier Mexican fiesta....and this is what I came out with.

Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla

Ingredients

whole wheat tortilla shells

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

juice from 1/2 of a lemon

1 teaspoon of cilantro

pinch of salt

Directions

Mix together all ingredients except tortilla shells

Lightly spray skillet with EVOO cooking spray

Once pan is at a medium high heat place 1 tortilla shell into it

Take 1/3 cup of black bean mix and spread on tortilla

Top with another tortilla shell and very lightlyspray with cooking spray

Cooking until browned on both sides

Enjoy with fresh Perfect Guacamole and all the toppings you prefer

323Calories Per Serving

Perfect Guacamole

Ingredients

1 Avacado

1/2 C. Plain greek yogurt

1 Clove of garlic

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Pinch of cumin, cilantro and salt

Directions

Peel and mash avacado, mince garlic clove and then mix all ingredients together

Serving size 1/4 C.

Calories 64 

Oven Roasted Fries

French Fries!! Just saying the word makes my mouth water, but did you know that when you get fries from lets say McDonalds

• They are full of starch, which can cause diabetes
• The potatoes most of the time are sprinkled with sugar, to keep you wanting more (because everyone know us Americans are sugar addicts) which can cause diabetes and obesity
• They are covered with salt, which can cause high blood pressure possibly leading to a heart attack and stroke
• They lose all nutrition once fried

so bottom line.....

There are NO nutritonal benefits of fast food french fries at all

so here is a recipe my mom makes all the time, it was a favorite growing up and its a favorite in my home now

Ingredients

3 potatoes- I used rustic this time but my favorite are yellow potatoes

2 T. EVOO or enough to coat potatoes

1 T. Dill weed

1 T. Chives

1/2 T. Paprika

Directions

• Cut potatoes lengthwise into Strips.  
• Place cut potatoes in large bowl and rinse with cold water until water is clear. 
• Dry potatoes well and toss with EVOO, chives, dill weed and paprika (use just enough EVOO to coat – about 2 T.)
• Place coated potatoes on baking sheets and place in the oven.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then toss.  Continue baking (and tossing every 10 minutes) for 50-60 minutes or until evenly browned and crispy.
• Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

Bake at 400 degrees

Serving size- 1 Cup

Calories per serving 140

Juicy Lucy: Chicken style

Can you say perfect cookout weather? This past week I have been wanting nothing but to throw some hamburgers on the grill, mix up some Strawberry Lemonade and sit on the deck. So tonight we did :) one of my favorite hamburgers is a juicy lucy, they are perfection on a plate (seriously).  So I got to thinking "Why not make a Chicken version?" Tonight was my first attempt and it turned out delicious,  even the Hubby who won't touch my healthy burgers, scarfed one down.

Apple Chicken Juicy Lucy 

Ingredients

1lb. Ground chicken

1 Medium apple (peeled, seeded and shredded)

1/3 C. Bacon (cooked and chopped)

1T. Garlic and herb seasoning

1T. minced onions

4 T. Crumbled lowfat blue cheese

Directions

In Bowl mix chicken, bacon, seasonings, onions and apple

Divide mixture into 8 parts

Take one part of mix and mold into hamburger

Put 1 T. blue cheese into center of hamburger and place another of the 8 mixture parts on top

Seal the edges by finger pressing them together

Grill or pan fry till center is no longer pink

top with favorite toppings and whole wheat bun. Great paired with Oven Roasted EVOO Fries :)

Calories

Without bun 211

I usually use a whole wheat bun, around 100 calories