Coconut Oil: I'm a Believer!

Recently I've been reading up on the amazing health benefits of coconut oil. I'm really excited about implementing coconut oil into our family's diet, so I thought I'd share a little about it.

First off, coconut oil is extremely nutritious and can be substituted for butter in any recipe. But unlike butter, coconut oil has AMAZING health benefits, including weight loss, stress-relief, anti-aging, lowering cholesterol, boosting immunity, aiding in digestion, skincare, hair care and MANY MORE. To read more about the benefits of coconut oil, click here.

Another benefit of coconut oil is that it is delicious! This makes it easy to incorporate into your diet. You should add up to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil into your diet each day.

Today I made two new recipes using coconut oil, and they were both delish!

First, I made some "Pina Colada" smoothies! I just added a tablespoon of coconut oil to my Magic Bullet with some pineapple juice and half a container of yogurt. I added ice and blended it up. McPreachy and I both LOVED it! It tasted just like a fruity umbrella drink you'd get in Hawaii!

Then I made some healthy coconut almond chocolate chip cookies using coconut oil and whole wheat flour. They were really good too!

I am also planning on making this "Make Your Own Lara Bar" recipe this week (this was the reason I bought the coconut oil in the first place).

More info on coconut oil and recipes:

Passionate Homemaking

Tropical Traditions

I'll keep you apprised of my progress!!!

I Love You... I Honestly Love You: Cavender's Greek Seasoning

I met up with an old friend today at Cost Plus World Market. His name is Cavender's Greek Seasoning. And boy do I love him.

This seasoning was a tip from my friend Gina. It was a staple at her house growing up. And after she introduced us, it was love at first taste!

Use Cavender's as a simple seasoning for grilled chicken or shrimp... delish! Or sprinkle it on garlic bread before baking! YUM!

Today after I got home from Cost Plus, I made some delish, easy chicken with it using my healthy, no-fail-chicken-prep method:

I line a baking sheet with foil, place a few boneless skinless chicken breasts on top and then drizzle with olive oil. Then I season it liberally (today with Cavender's) and pop it in the broiler for about 7 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. I use this method for making chicken fajitas, just changing up the seasonings (chili powder, onion, garlic, salt, pepper).

Usually at the beginning of each week, I make a big batch of chicken this way for use all week long in salads, pastas, casseroles, etc.

Try it!

Or as they say in Greece, Τον δοκιμάστε!

P.S. I wrote the above Greek using an online translator. I'm really hoping it's not a curse word.

Valentine's Day: A Pictorial Montage

Today:

Because I don't feel like writing a lot and spellchecking...

...because I am the worst blogger ever and haven't posted in a gazillion years...

...AND just because it's Wednesday, I'm hereby presenting you with a pictorial journey into Valentine's Day in the McPreachy house. Use it wisely.

Our little "Love Jar" we use to write things we love about each other during the month and then read them on Valentine's Day:

Our school time theme for February: LOVE!

Bennett and I made these little "Bear Hug" bags for his friends. They are filled with gummi bears and teddy grahams.

Old-school-magnet-love-poetry... on the fridge. (McPreachy is a wonderful fridge poet.)

Candy Cane Heart Lollipops!

Heart-shaped Rice Krispie Treats:

This is a craft we made at MOPS... Flower Lollipop Valentines! So cute, fun and easy!

For the McPreacher:

For Bennett:

Valentine's Books:

Happy Valentine's Day, lovebirds!

A Snack Solution: Do You Know The Muffin Pan?

A few year ago, I heard Dr. Sears speak on childhood nutrition, and I really liked what he had to say on this subject.

One of his philosophies was that if you always have healthy snacks out and available, then your kids will eat them. His theory is that if you just provide healthy options and leave kids to themselves, they will eat the healthy food.

He shared an idea for kids' snacks, which I have just recently started implementing in our house, and it's working great!

The idea is to fill the cups of a muffin tin with a variety of healthy snacks each morning, set it on the kitchen table and just let the kids munch away throughout the day.

Here's a photo of our muffin tin.

Please note:

• The piece of bagel in the upper left corner. Bennett insisted on filling one of the cups with the remainder of his breakfast.
• For some reason silly Blogger refuses to post this picture in landscape even though that's how it's saved.
• I doubled up on a few of Bennett's favorite items like grapes and banana chips... I like to live on the wild side.
• Bananas are well represented in this morning's muffin tin, with both the fresh and chip variety in attendance.
• I realize there is only one veggie in this tin. Not to worry... veggies have been better represented in other muffin tins. Some great veggie ideas are: celery sticks with peanut butter, baby carrots, snap peas, etc.

The first day I introduced this, I told Bennett how it worked:

• When he's hungry, he can grab anything he wants from the snack tray.


• When one of the cups is empty, we won't refill it. He has to try something else in the tray if he's still hungry.

He was very excited about it! At first he ate all the "best" snacks (grapes, cheese, banana chips). But after those were gone, he started eating other things he normally wouldn't snack on... like carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and walnuts. Buy the end of the day, a good amount of the tray was empty, and I was satisfied knowing that he had filled up on super healthy foods.

Play Room Cleanup: Mary Poppins Style, Yo!

You know what our girl Mary always says: "Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."

Well true dat, Mary P.

Teaching Bennett to clean up his toys has been a struggle. He just hates to clean up. I've tried everything from time-outs, to losing toys, to sticker charts, but we always end up with the same result: a whiny boy, a messy playroom and a frustrated Mama.

So a few weeks ago I decided to take a page from Mary's book and turn clean-up time into a game. And amazingly, it really works!

Here is the bizarre, unorthodox, slightly disturbing game I invented. For some reason, my quirky, funny, creative boy just loves it.

When it's cleanup time, I run into to the play room with a scared look on my face.

Me: "Bennett, Oh No!"

Bennett: "Whatsa matter, Mama?"

Me: "Captain Hook is on his way here to steal all our toys! The only way we can keep him from getting our toys is by putting them away where they go. Come on!"

Bennett: "Hurry! Hurry! Don't let him get my dinosaurs!"

At this point, Bennett starts manically putting away toys while I go set a timer, telling him that Captain Hook should be here in 10 minutes and we need to get all the toys away before the timer dings. We keep telling each other, "Hurry! Hurry!" or "I've got the cars, you get the books!" or my personal-favorite Bennett quote, "Captain Hook's not getting this toy... No Way, Jose!"

Okay, at this point you are probably saying to yourself, "What kind of mother scares her child into cleaning up toys, telling him that an evil villain will steal them all away if he doesn't comply?"

My reply to you nay-sayers is simple: "The kind of mother that wants a clean playroom, that's who!"

Seriously, though, Bennett isn't scared at all. He knows we are just playing pretend, and he thinks Captain Hook is funny, not scary.

Anyway, we are usually just finishing up putting the last few toys away when the timer dings. At this point, I go call out the front door:

"Captain Hook, you can just turn around and go home. All our toys are put away
and you can't have them. You might as well just get back on your ship and sail
home."

Bennett is usually standing behind me with his pirate sword ready to defend our newly clean playroom if need be. But amazingly, Captain Hook usually just goes home without a word. And we go back to our nice, clean playroom with smiles on our faces.

So thank you, Mary Poppins, for the reminder that work doesn't feel like work when you make it fun.

For the Love of Joe: Product Spotlight

I recently posted a promise to do a Trader Joe's product highlight every week.

That was over a month ago.

Oops.

When I said "weekly," I meant it in a more symbolic sense. You knew that, right?

Anyway, the important thing is I'm here now... and I'm highlighting a doozer of a TJ's product:

Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Starter Sauce.

[Insert loving adoration here.]

Side note: I feel the need to mention that I just LOVE the way Trader Joe changes his name depending on the ethnicity of food he's packaging up and selling. Trader Giotto, Trader Jose, Trader Ming... it just makes me happy. It's the stuff dreams are made of. Anyway...

I use this stuff ALL the time. It's super versatile. Use it for pasta sauces, lasagna, soups, taco meat, enchiladas... the sky's the limit! The back of the box even has a simple recipe to make your own salsa. Oh, and speaking of the clever box-packaging... it's a much-better-than-a-can option for exactly three reasons:

1. The box doesn't hurt nearly as much as a can when you drop it on your foot.

2. The box doesn't leave your tomatoes tasting like metal.

3. The box doesn't dent/crack/break your floor when your three year old says, "Was'this, Mama?" and throws it to the floor with all his might. A can does.

One of my favorite recipes to make with this sauce is my easy Chicken Parmesan.

Here's the recipe:

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
olive oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 boxes Trader Giotto's Italian Tomato Starter Sauce
1.5 cups (approx) grated mozzarella cheese
1 lb corkscrew pasta

1. Bread chicken: mix Parmesan cheese with breadcrumbs. Place eggs
in shallow bowl and breadcrumb mixture in another bowl. Dip chicken
in eggs and then breadcrumb mixture. Repeat with all chicken breasts.
Put on a plate in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add a little
olive oil.

3. In a skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in olive oil on both
sides until golden (Chicken will just be browned, not cooked through
yet). Add the boxes of sauce to the pan and turn heat to low. Cover the pan
and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until chicken is cooked. Remove lid, add
grated cheese on top of each piece of chicken and put a lid on it
again until cheese is melted, another 2 minutes or so. Serve over
noodles, with plenty of sauce. Enjoy!

Use-Up Month: An Update

Just a quick update on use-up month...
Things are going swimmingly.

So far I've been able to use up a lot of canned goods that would have probably expired within the next few months.

I made lasagna soup, using up frozen ground beef, canned tomatoes and noodles. This is one of our favorite soup recipes.

I made the aforementioned mandarin orange chicken recipe, and it turned out pretty good. McPreachy seemed to like it.

We somehow had three half-empty bags of tortilla chips in the pantry, so I made chicken nachos the other day! I used canned black beans and frozen chicken breasts that I seasoned, broiled and chopped. They were delish!

I made my friend Katie's pineapple chicken. You make it by sauteing cubed chicken and then adding 1 small can of crushed pineapple and one 1 packet of onion soup mix to the saute pan. That's it... super simple but super delicious!

I've made basics too, like the big batch o' spaghetti I made last weekend. (We've been eating leftovers for the past few nights).

I used up the remains of my meat and cheese drawer by making Monte Cristo sandwiches the other day. They were magical.
Here's how you make 'em:

• Lay down a piece of plain old white bread. Top it with Swiss cheese, ham, turkey and another piece of bread. (You can also add Dijon mustard to the sandwich if you like)
• In a shallow dish, mix together a few eggs and a splash of milk (like you would for French toast). Add salt, pepper and a dash of cinnamon.
• Heat up a skillet or griddle to medium high heat. Butter it 'till it begs for mercy.
• Finally, yep... you guessed it. Carefully dip the sandwiches in the batter, completely coating them. Be careful to keep the sandwich in tact, and place it on the hot griddle. Cook until golden and then carefully flip it (have I mentioned yet that you need to be careful?). Cook until golden on the second side and until the cheese is melted and the sandwich is heated through.
• Slice the sandwich diagonally and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with a dollop (one of my favorite words) of raspberry jam on the side! Enjoy!
• I just also feel the need to mention that Disneyland makes the BEST Monte Cristo sandwiches in the world, and you MUST get one the next time you're there. You can get one at The Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans.

On the menu for this week:

• Lasagna (I have frozen sausage in my freezer and 3 half-used boxed of lasagna noodles in the pantry.)
• Pizza (another favorite way to clean out the meat and cheese drawer of the fridge.)
• These sandwiches from my favorite website of all time. (I already have bacon and cheese on hand, and I have some frozen hamburger buns I want to use up).
• As you can see, it's low-cal week at the McPreachy home! :0) Come on over if you are in the market to gain 5 pounds.

Whoops.. did I say "quick" update at the beginning of this post? Sorry!

So how are you guys and dolls doing? Anyone else successfully cleaning out the pantry one meal at a time?