Monday Meal Plan: Apple Pie Recipe

Hey all! Hope you had a great weekend and are ready to kick off the first full week of October! This past weekend I made my middle son an apple pie for his birthday and I realized I never shared the recipe with you all. It is seriously the easiest and fastest homemade apple pie you will ever make. And what better time to share an apple pie recipe, am I right?? The quintessential fall staple comfort food: apple pie!

I have made this ever since I was in college. You can make it with any sort of apple and it tastes good. I use unbleached organic white flour (a little healthier) and I use less butter & sugar than what the recipe calls for. You can definitely make your own crust but this is just so much easier with little kids running around and its reasonably healthy! The best part of this pie is 100% the topping! Enjoy everyone!

Ingredients:

4-6 apples
Pie crust ( I u
1/4 cup Sugar
1 cup flour
1 stick butter
Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Wash and peel apples. Slice. Place into large microwave friendly bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

3. Melt butter in microwave friendly bowl.

4. Place apple bowl in microwave for 3 minutes. While apples are softening, make crumb topping.

5. Add flour and sugar to melted butter. Stir.

6. Put pie crust in pie dish. Dump apple when finished in microwave into pie dish & crust. Even out apple mixture and place butter mixture on top of apples. Top with some cinnamon and sugar if desired.

7. Bake for 20-25 mins or until edges begin to crisp. Let cool. Enjoy!!!

Have a great Monday everyone!

xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday: 3/11/19

Happy Monday!

Anyone else super happy about Dayoght savings? I know a lot of people hate it because you “lose” n hour of sleep…but when you’re used to losing sleep it means nothing— ! I know it can cause a lot of havoc on sleep schedules to parents all over the nation but right now I will take that over darkness any day! This winter has honestly lasted 49053 days and I’m ready for SPRING.

Our big kids were off at their grandparents this weekend so I actually went grocery shopping on my own #score. I wanted to share my meal plan for the week with you all!

Sunday: I made Arugula Chicken - you can find my recipe linked here. I like this meal because its a two for one- meaning I don’t need to make an extra meal for the kids (HECK YEAH). I just give them the chicken plain and then just steam some veggies and pair it with some noodles. This meal is SO good, fast, and you can make it ahead of time (like I did today-I just put it in the fridge and when it was time to cook, popped it into the oven!!).

Monday- I have two Sunbasket meals arriving this week. The first is a Crispy tofu stir fry with sweet Sichuan sauce. The second we will be having on Tuesday night and its a Chipotle turkey chili with cucumber sumac salad. For those interested you can use my code to save money on your first order with Sunbasket!

Use this code: https://sunbasket.com/invite/Alex398281

Wednesday- I’ll be falling back on the trusty chicken pepperoni meal-the kids love it, and its easy!

Thursday- I’ll be making this cheesy chicken bake . This is another good recipe that can be made ahead of time & thrown into the oven, the kids like, and I substitute plain greek yogurt for mayo to make this pretty healthy. Yes, it has cheese in it, but this meal HAS been part of my rotation when I’ve been in the process of leaning out! Because when I’m leaning out, this works because I tend to focus on high fat/high protein! *Also, I have had this WITH mayo and honestly I don’t even like mayo and it still tastes good. I obviously prefer the greek yogurt because it packs extra protein and is lower fat/cal and just all around healthier!

Friday- Will be your standard Friday fish day! Salmon with good ol Paul Prudhomme’s spices!

I can’t think as far as Saturday so that is it for meal planning! ha! I wanted to share every week a few of my favorites.

This Weeks Faves:

1. Teriyaki Wegmans Chicken: I really like their pre-seasoned chicken. Yeah, its more expensive but for the season I’m in I need something easy, fast, healthy, and convinient that I can just make ahead of time and warm up on the go at home or bring with me to work. TIP: Cut these in half before cooking!! This will help give it an even cook. I always found it hard when leaving it whole to get it cooked just right. Either the outside would get burned, or the inside would be raw! Added bonus: Both of my boys like this chicken and I give it to them for dinner/lunch one or two times a week. I always make these ahead of time and put in the fridge for a fast meal in a pinch!

2. Wegmans Turkey Bacon -This stuff has great flavor, is awesome paired with eggs, or in an omelette!

3. Eggs are a big staple in our house. May-October we get eggs at the farmers market, but in the winter we rely on the grocery store options. Wegman’s came out with these this past year and they are worth the extra money. The flavor of them is AWESOME.

Lastly, I wanted to share these Lara truffles. Only 7 ingredients (and all goodies) make these a great snack.

Have a great day peeps! xo
Alex

Appetizer 101: Rustic Guacamole

Tuesday Vibes

Happy Tuesday friends..can get a heck YES for a 4 day week??! So basically its really like Wednesday or Thursday?? Something like that. Whatever. Its a short week! YES! Its going to be freeezing here Thursday on Thanksgiving day so I’m already thinking it might be perfect weather for an afternoon snooze (something I never get to do these days because #thatworkingmomlife!

I’m so lucky that my brother and sister in law host so I get to chill (which is esp amazing bc I’m pegnant AF rn) I’m planning on decorating my house for Christmas on Thursday, or at least starting it out ha. My 4 year old has asked me about 18 times when we were decorating so we are going to get that party started! Have you guys already started decorating?

Rustic Guacamole Recipe

I thought I would share an awesome appetizer you can all make now that we are in the height of entertaining season! This is one of our go-to’s to make when we have some company over and it is def a big hit! You can make it all year round and serve it with chips (of course) but also with any sort of cracker, veggies or even throw it in your taco/fajita if you’re just having a quiet night with family for taco night!

Ingredients:

2 Avocados (picking good ones is key!)
1 diced roma tomato
2-3 cloves garlic minced
Cumin
Cayenne
Cilantro
Salt
1/4 cup onion (optional)
1 small jalepeno pepper diced

Directions:

1. Cut the garlic, tomato, cilantro, and jalepeno and onion (if using).

2. Mash the avocados

3. Mix in all of the above ingredients

4. Add water if needed (you will be able to tell if it is too pasty!)

5. Lastly, add your cumin, cayenne and salt. This is based on how spicy you like yours! We like to use a decent amount and the first time make sure you take a taste as you are sprinkling in!

   Normally, we use onion but lately we haven’t been adding it just because I get the worst indigestion with pregnancy! And honestly I don’t even really miss it that much!! So its worth a try, and if you don’t like onion, this recipe is still AWESOME!

   Hope you guys have a great afternoon and let me know what you think!

   xo

   Alex

Make your own Panera Bread: Family friendly Chicken Avo Panini

Happy Monday! I’m dragging a little this morning and not sure why. I feel like last week is finally catching up with me. Sometimes I get on a high and work on adrenaline and that might be the case after our big trip last week!

I wanted to share a favorite recipe of ours that I’ve modified in a couple of ways to make more healthy! It is honestly one of our go-to weekend meals because its quick and easy; but also satisfies us like we’ve gone out for a meal even though we are too tired to go out! ha! #thatparentlife Also, bonus, the kids like it!

I am so obsessed with paninis and if you love them too, you NEED to try this recipe. We have a KRUPS panini machine that my mom got us for Christmas but I think you could probably cook this on the stovetop or even in a George Foreman. Looks like you can panini presses at all levels of price including like $20 so its a good investment if you have kids & want to make sandwches, paninis or even a fancy grilled cheese!

Chicken Avo Panini

Ingredients:

Chicken Cutlets
Italian Seasoning
Olive Oil
1 Lemon juiced
2 garlic minced
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tomato sliced
1 avocado sliced in pieces
Cheddar cheese (shredded)
Bread: we use soft sided Italian (a lot easier for the kids to bite down than regular Italian. I have tried to find wheat but haven’t found it yet! That could also work!)

Also: those who DON’T like Mayo: please do not let this scare you away from the meal! I don’t ever eat mayo and I LOVE this sandwich :)

1. Marinate the chicken in a ziploc bag- put the cutlets in a bag with olive oil, italian seasoning (to taste), 1/2 lemon juiced and 1 garlic minced. Make sure you mix it around so it all gets covered. Place in fridge. You can do this 8 hours before or 20 minutes before!

2. Make the sauce. Combine garlic, the other half of the lemon, the greek yogurt and mayo. Stir and put saran wrap over the bowl and place in the fridge.

3. When you’re ready, put some olive oil in a bowl and cook the chicken in a frying pan. Slice your tomato and prepare the avocado while the chicken cooks.

4. Turn your panini machine on.

5. Take the sauce out of the fridge. Spread on the bread, add chicken, 2 slices tomato, avocado, and desired amount of cheese. Spray machine & put sandwich under panini press.

6. Remove from press and repeat process with any other slices of bread. Let cool. Enjoy!!

So, there you go! What I love about this is its pretty quick and you can either prep before you are gone for the day (before work or a weekend day) and throw in the fridge, or you can make it right before! To me there is really no taste difference it just depends on how much time you have!

I also always use cutlets; if I have breasts than I cut them in half and pound them because it cooks so much faster & you need it thin for the sandwiches!

Hope you all enjoy!!

xo
Alex

Family friendly Breakfast & 16 Weeks Bumpdate

Happy Friday! I'm rocking in today at 4 months pregnant...I can't believe it! Hope you all have some fun plans for this summer weekend :) 

Guilt free Family friendly Breakfast:

I wanted to share with all of you an awesome breakfast that is great for the whole family! I know that sometimes it is such a struggle to make only ONE meal for the whole family..especially when you are trying to eat healthy ((hello fellow moms of picky eaters!)).

Introducing...Kodiak Cake Buttermilk Pancakes. The macros (Protein, fat, carbs) on these bad boys are AWESOME, and they taste great. Our boys love them and we usually top them with syrup or honey for the kids. Right now ((because I'm a little bit of IDGAF about nutrition sometimes ha)) I usually top mine with syrup too haha #pregnancyprobs. A healthier more clean option would be to top with either Walden farms sugar free syrup ( I haven't tried, I've seen a lot of people use though) or a nut butter- Peanut butter, almond butter, etc. 

These are literally IDIOT proof to cook (I am a decent cook but for some reason pancakes aren't on the top of my list of great meals I can cook), and you can play up the protein content with adding milk and egg. YES- that means the mixture needs NOTHING else. So, those days that you have nothing left in the house (read: no eggs), you can still make these suckers. 

I get mine at Wegmans but I'm sure you can snag them online. 

BumpDate: 

16 weeks pregnant! Boom! Another month and we will be halfway there. I've had a killer week of workouts and can't wait to have a day off tomorrow and rest my body! Weight gain is staying steady at 9 pounds. I have my anatomy scan scheduled in a few weeks before we go out of town, so fingers crossed everything is okay. I've started to stock up on maternity basics (short sleeve and long sleeve tees, leggings, etc.) for the upcoming months. By mid September I think I'll be hard pressed to find too much of my closet that fits properly! Ha! I'll be doing a post on my maternity must haves and brands I love for fit, comfort, and quality so keep an eye out for that! 

Hope you all have a great weekend! xo

Alex

Transformation Tuesday

Nothing worth having comes easy. 

20 long, long months. 

But I made it. And it feels so, so good. 

I'm here to show you that it can be done, if you want it.  I'm not a mom that "bounces" back and loses all her baby weight in 3 weeks ((Clearly)). Or has a flat stomach within 6 weeks ((see photo)). It takes time. Lots of time. Making the right choices, over and over again. Sometimes when you don't feel like it. Sometimes when you're just going through the motions. But every single one of those choices count. The little choices that at the end of the day make the difference.

I spend a maximum of 2- 3 hours at the gym ...a WEEK. Any cardio is mostly done with my kids (walking or running) and any other workouts I get in are in my basement with 3 sets of kettlebells and some bands. Do I watch what I eat? Of course. But I also don't turn down ice cream, pizza, or any other treats with my boys, family or friends. Balance. And when its time to knuckle down, I'm smart about fueling my body at the right times (and yes, that means carbs!!). 

My biggest tip? Start small. Make small changes. For example, my first step after Baby 2 was cutting out granola and replacing it with berries or greek yogurt with protein powder before bed. Once I conquered that, then I started working on my habits during the day. Committing to doing some meal planning, adding more vegetables, not sneaking bites off of the kids plates, eating more protein, etc. It all adds up and everything...EVERYTHING is a habit. 

Fitness and being healthy has always been a passion of mine due to my background and love of a sport. Now, its a passion of mine because I'm a good role model for my kids..because I'm healthier and feel strong and confident...and at the end of the day I'm holding on to the pieces of ME for those few hours a week.

I'm not just Max and Seb's mom.

Is being their mom the most important part of my life right now? Yes. But at the end of the day, and quicker than I think, they're going to grow into their own lives. And while I'm holding on tight to my fleeting moments with them, I'm also holding on to Alex. Just a little bit. Because I don't want to lose her in the midst of raising my littles and wonder where she went 15 years from now. 

Have a great day everyone!

xo

Alex