80/20 Chow Mein

I love stir fry and my kids love noodles, I have found a way of tricking them into eating tons of veggies while thinking they are eating chow mein (evil laugh muahahaha). When I was younger my Gramma made this chow mein that was not too bad from a little Bohemian woman. After my Gramma passed in 2010 I tried to find her recipe, no one seemed to have it, so I set out to recreate it. Three years late I think I finally have it and here it is: 2Tbs grape seed oil (or olive oil), 2 cloves garlic, 2/3 of a head of cabbage, 4 carrots peeled into long strips, 1/2 onion cut into strips, 5 stalks of celery, a cup of mushrooms, soy sauce and of course noodles. I use Maruchan's Fresh Yaki-Soba brand noodles, they come in 3 individual packages, I use just one package. First I saute the garlic in the oil for about 30 seconds, then add onion and celery saute for 30 seconds, then add the mushrooms, cabbage, carrots on medium for about 5 minutes until the veggies are soft but still a little crunchy, add about 3Tbs of soy sauce. Remove the veggies from the pan (I usually move them to the cutting board) add the noodles to the pan and heat on medium low for about 3 minutes adding hot water to break them apart. When the noodles are tender (3-5mins) I add the veggies back in, cook another minute or so and add a little more soy sauce (I don't have a specific amount, just to taste). This recipe is 80% veggies, 20% noodles and 100% awesome! The kids are also getting Vitamin D from the mushrooms, Vitamin K from the cabbage, Vitamin A from the carrots and all these veggies are low in calories! Super duper win win! Total calories for 1/5 of the recipe (a heaping cup) is only 150!!!! I repeat 150! That means you can treat yourself to a side of gyoza or an egg roll and not even feel guilty!
Till Next Blog!
T.Sadd
P.S. Add chicken or tofu for extra protein.

Vagabond Soul

I believe I was born with the soul of a vagabond, I love to travel whether it be to countries unknown or to local spots that have yet to be discovered. This past weekend we traveled to St Louis to visit my husbands Marine Corps brothers, we seriously had a blast. I almost wrote to my mom to pack the kids and send them to St Louis cause we were ready to stay. However with my husband having to be back at work and my 4 1/2 year old commencing from preschool, with sad hearts we headed back home. We had so many great experiences while in St Louis; playing washers, drinking Budweiser products, eating our weight in all sorts of BBQ food and of course spending time with people we love. These were my husband's buddies, who we really do love dearly and his buddy's family and friends welcomed us with open arms. I feel as close to some of them as I do with people it took years to build friendships with, with some people it just clicks. Anyway back on point, travel really opens your eyes to so much of what the world has to offer and what amazing things are waiting out there for you to discover. Travel doesn't have to cost a lot or be far from home, taking a trip to your local botanical gardens or any national monument that may be close to you, maybe a hiking trail you have yet to tackle. My advice is get out there and explore; for example, about 20 minutes from us is a nature center, it is riddled with hiking trails from the beginner trail to the mountain climber trail. Our trip to The Lou was definitely good for my soul for so many reasons. Get out there and experience life, I promise it will be good for your soul too.
Till Next Blog,
Explore!
T.Sadd

P.S.: For all my SF friends take a San Francisco Walking Tour, the docents love the city and know all sorts of great stuff about it. Take a tour I promise you won't be disappointed! Oh and by the way they are free, a small donation is suggested though.

Coo Coo For Coconuts

momsreview4you.com

Since tomorrow is Mother's Day I decided to Make A. Coconut Crusted French Toast from my Facebook post today since I will be heading to brunch with my four favorite guys tomorrow. I am going to a start off by saying for many many years I thought I had a food sensitivity to coconuts, it started about 10 years ago when my mom took me out for a mother/daughter dinner at a Thai restaurant, that night I developed a severe stomach ache. At the time I did not make the connection to the food. A couple years later we ate at a noodle place and I had the coconut curry bowl, while it was delicious (I ate every last drop) that night again I had a terrible stomach ache. Since then I completely cut out any type of coconut, but with the coconut craze sweeping the country something like this was bound to happen; my dad had no knowledge of my aversion to coconut, he handed me a piece of toast with a sweet white cream on it, I thought that maybe it was a custard. No it was coconut, I almost went into a ball right then and there expecting to have horrendous stomach cramping. Much to my surprise nothing, not even flatulence! I am still not sure why Thai food gives me a stomach ache but I am thanking Baby Jesus it is not coconut, for the past few years I have missed out on this creamy sweet fruit and let me tell you I am making up for lost time! My sister and her boyfriend who really should be world renowned chefs make a Caribbean jerk bean and rice dish that I really cannot wait to try! Anyway onto the recipe I used whole wheat bread, a cup of milk, 3 eggs, Cinnamon and vanilla. Mine did not look like the picture, I think for appearances the coconut in the picture was added after the bread had been cooked. The coconut was toasted and more of a golden brown, also they were a little soggy so I would recommend less milk and more egg. Total calories for one slice: 272. Cheers to coconut and all it's health benefits!
Till Next Blog,
T.Sadd

P.S. More and more studies are showing that coconut oil may actually raise your HDL (good) cholesterol.

Breakfast Grilled Cheese

FitFromConception

As promised I made B from my Facebook post, it was some serious yummy. I went to the store on Friday to get the ingredients because yesterday I had a training in San Diego to become a fitness instructor, the training was from 8-5 and is about a 90 minute drive from where I live, in other words I knew I wouldn't have time to go to the store yesterday. Any who, my kids found the blueberries in the fridge and while I was not here I am guessing they were completely gone in under a minute, not going to lie I am kinda proud these kids like fruits and veggies. I had also picked up a carton of organic strawberries too just in case the A option (coconut crusted french toast) made a last minute come back, so I used those instead. This is how I made the sandwiches; 1oz softened 1/3 less fat cream cheese mixed with a little stevia, 2 slices whole wheat bread and about 3 strawberries. First I spread the cream cheese mixture on then added the strawberries and placed them on the grilling pan for about a minute and a half on each side. The cream cheese and strawberries almost melted together in a symphony of flavor, so yum! Total calories: 200. I would recommend, and this is what I will do next time, is make it open faced and serve it as a side with maybe some scrambled eggs or a smoothie it was not terribly filling and you save 60 calories off the total. I am going to look into getting a grilled cheese maker cause you know how I love my grilled cheese!
As my four year old would say,
"Bon Appetit"
Till Next blog,
T.Sadd

Stay tuned next Sunday Funday I am going to make the coconut crusted french toast!

Go Bananas!

nomnomnomblog.com

I am pretty sure I have mentioned once or twice that I have a bit of a sweet tooth, well I am always looking for new ways to satisfy that tooth with out dissatisfying my waistband. I found this pin and thought I would give it a go,  PB ‘Nana Cream Bites. I really like white chocolate, that was the only change up I made. I used 2 bananas, 3-4Tbs of PB and about a cup of melted white chocolate, which in our house we call mocha choca latte, it just sounds funner and might even make it taste just a bit better. After I made them they looked so good I couldn't wait for them to freeze (or for the chocolate to harden for that matter), my husband and I had a couple each before I popped them in the freezer. When the boys got up from their nap a couple hours later we all dove in, they were delicious and did the trick in satisfying my sweet tooth. A sweet treat that has potassium plus manganese (helps in the creation of healthy red blood cells) plus protein equals awesome! Next time your sweet tooth and waist start arguing this is a great compromise. I would have to say I kinda like them just as well not frozen as I did when they were frozen. Total calories, 30 per banana bite.

Till Next Blog
T.Sadd

From the kiddo files: When I asked my kids what they wanted to name our next pooch they came up with Unicorn Snicker Doodle Saddler, kinda has a ring to it=) They originally wanted Unicorn Snicker Doodle Chow Mien Saddler (it must have been dinner time) but I told them that wouldn't fit on doggy forms.

Earth Day Tribute Blog

There are many ways for us to conserve our precious resources and help our Mother Earth. In this blog I will go over a couple and give some facts along the way.

Reusable Water Bottles:
This is probably the easiest way to start reducing our carbon footprint. You can find reusable bottles in almost any store from Starbucks to Target to your local grocery store. They now come in a plethora of colors, shapes and sizes; I literally bought one the other day that holds almost 40oz of water!!!! That is over half of the recommended daily water intake for the average American. I think the priciest one I have seen (I own this one too) is the one from Starbucks at about $11.95 and I can fill that bad boy up for pennies a day. Of course we all know that water bottles pile up in our landfills but that isn't even the worst part of why you should make the switch. Here are 3 facts about the production of water bottles:
1. 3 times the amount of water in the bottle is used to make just the bottle alone!
2. 17 million barrels of oil are used in one year to make bottles, that amount of oil could fuel one million cars for a year!
3. The waste and Carbon Dioxide emitted by the factories is far worse for the planet then the bottles in landfills themselves.
When Sheryl Crown was diagnosed with Breast Cancer she admitted that she drank a lot of bottled water that had been left in her car and the dioxins in those bottles contributed to her cancer. 95% of the reusable bottles I have seen are BPA free. Bottom line, go buy one of these reusable bottles and save the planet's green, a little green of your own and reap the health benefits of being BPA free.

Reusable bags:
I have to admit when I first bought my reusable bags I forgot them in the car 50% of the time, I used to think 'oh well next time.' Now I feel horrible if I forget my bags and will either carry my Target loot to the car or run back to the car to get the bags. For literally a dollar a bag I am not sure why some people leave the grocery store with 500 grocery bags or bag things like their bananas in the produce bags. I know sometimes, for example when you buy meat, it is a necessary evil but lets be real your bananas aren't going to leak on the other food in your cart. Everyday when I take my oldest to school I see tons of these bags strewn along the freeway and it breaks my heart.  The flowers have started to bloom in Southern California and what catches my eye the most are these bags drifting along or caught on a bush. I do sometimes get these bags at the grocery store and I use them for various things like garbage liners or to put dirty diapers in when we are out and about. In Canada where my mom lives they charge 5 cents a plastic bag, you better believe most people do not forget their reusable bags. Three facts about plastic bags:
1. 12 million barrels of oil are used in the production every year.
2. Only 1-2% of all plastic bags get recycled each year.
3. Thousands of marine animals and an estimated 1 million birds die each year as a result of plastic pollution, most confuse it with food and die from trying to consume it.

These are two simple things you can do to make a huge difference for our planet and for those we share it with.
Till Next Blog
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse
T.Sadd

P.S. One of my favorite quotes from Modern Family:
"I haven't been judged by this many people since I forgot my canvas bags at Whole Foods." ~Mitch

Cookie Dough Yogurt

Girl Gone Counrty

I usually like to come up with quirky titles for my blogs, usually I have the title before I even start writing and sometimes it comes to me right in the middle of a blog. Well this blog, I think will speak for itself, it is cookie dough yogurt!!! And it is AMAZING, in fact I am going to go on the blog right now to praise the author for her genius! Ok I am back, her blog is called Girl Gone Country you should go right this minute and check it out. Anyway I followed the recipe almost to a tee except since I don't have honey and I used the last of our agave for pancakes on Sunday I substituted the sweetener with Stevia, I used white chocolate chips and I also used a tablespoon and a half of chunky peanut butter. Calories: Greek yogurt: 100; peanut butter: 140; vanilla extract: 5; Stevia: 0; white chocolate baking chips: 35; for a total of 280 calories and 23g of protein!!! I have a horrible sweet tooth and I may have just found my answer to a sweet treat that is made with all natual ingredients (yes the white chocolate chips are all natual, they are the Ghiradelli brand) and is packed with protein! This recipe is sooooo good, why are you still sitting there go right now and make it, if you don't have the ingredients go to the store!
Till Next Blog,
T.Sadd