Simple Granola Treat

This is so simple!

I love Aldi so I got a bag of trail mix there for under $5.00, it has rasins, cranberries, chocolate, almonds, peanuts, and salt.

I put about 2 cups of that into a bowl, added about a cup of warm peanut butter (warm because its easier to mix), one scoop of chocolate whey protein mix, and a bowl of oatmeal (I had rolled oats so I cooked them with some water and then drained it and added it to the mix).

Mix it all together and yum :) I pressed mine out on a cookie sheet and put it in the fridge for an hour to let it harden.

Next time I will probably add honey to make the bars mix together better or I will try a different recipe. But this tastes so good I don't care that its like a crumble....it would be good heated up and put on ice cream (not healthy but good!) 

Spicy beef-free chili

This is not vegetarian because it has ground turkey in it. But I'm sure you could add more beans and skip the meat.

Recipe.....*The way I cook is by taste so some ingredients have no measurements, remember its better to add less and need a little more than to add too much.

So I got ground turkey at Aldi for $2.99, cooked it in a frying pan
Then I put a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato soup, a can of red kidney beans, a chili seasoning packet, extra oregano, extra basil, cracked black pepper, and finally 2 plops of siracha that looks like this.....(its hot!)

After the meat is done cooking I added it to the pot with all the good stuff and put it over medium heat for a few minutes. While over the heat I tasted it and found it was too spicy so I added 3 tablespoons of sugar.

A few minutes later it started to bubble so I changed it to low heat. Once the hubby got home it was time to try it out. He had his in a bowl and said it was spicy. I had mine over a bowl of lettuce and put Greek yogurt on top and it was perfect.

This meal cost me maybe $6.00 a few more if you count the lettuce and yogurt. So good and so cheap. We had a snow day today so this was winter comfort food but you could also have this in the summer, it would be great on a hot dog.

I am a photographer but when it comes to food I never take good photos.....why? Well I don't keep my good camera in the kitchen and I never remember to take photos of the food while I cook it. When I re-do my kitchen I will have to get some under cabinet lighting and have a little set up for food-tography.

Chocolate Treat

Want to eat a guilt free chocolate treat?

Try this.....

Chocolate Amaretto Treat

**Warning this includes plain greek yogurt which might be an acquired taste so I suggest adding some all natural honey to sweeten it up

Ingredients- makes 2 servings
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbs coco powder
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tbs peanut butter (if your ok with the calories you can add more)
1 tbs almond extract
blueberries for garnish
cinnamon for garnish

 *PB and cinnamon not pictured. As you can see I shop at giant eagle and walmart lol. I really like GE's fuel perks :)


Mix all ingredints in a blender or food processor
Pour into cups
Add blueberries and sprinkle cinnamon
Place in freezer for 40 minutes
Enjoy- it has the texture of ice cream :)


-Simply Yours-
Ally Marie

Avocado, tomato, and egg white wrap aka ATE wrap :)

As usual I was on pinterest and saw a pin for an egg white and avocado wrap. When I went grocery shopping I made sure to get the ingredients and planned to make the meal one night this week.

Well tonight was the night and let me tell you the picture does not do it justice.

I added to the recipe of course :)

ATE Wrap
3 avocados, pitted and shelled
2 roma tomatoes, cubed
8 egg whites
2 tbs low fat cottage cheese (try not to get too much liquid in your tbs)
5 whole wheat wraps
1 pinch of salt
1 cup parsley, chopped


1. Mix avocados, tomatoes, and salt in a bowl
2. Heat pan, add egg whites and scramble
3. Add cottage cheese to scrambled egg whites heat for about a minute (when cottage cheese starts getting runny turn off the heat)
4. With a slotted spoon remove the egg whites/cottage cheese from the pan and into a bowl
5. Add parsley to the remaining liquid in the pan and heat for a minute until parsley cooks down
6. Lightly wet and heat wrap (I microwaved it for 20 seconds so its easier to fold and doesnt tear)
7. Spoon avocado mixture on wrap, then egg white mixture, then top with cooked parsley
8. Fold in the sides and then roll the wrap up and enjoy

*Be careful because there might be extra liquid in your wrap so when you eat it do so over a plate or you can be like me and hold your baby on your hip and eat the wrap with one hand over the sink.

-Simply Yours-
Ally Marie

Ch Ch Ch Chia!

Chia seeds are absolutely amazing!- Chia pets are cool too but thats not what were talking about. In fact I have no clue why chia pets are called chia pets and not clay pets or grass pets.

Want to know more about Chia Seeds? Click here.

Here are some recipes I have made with Chia Seeds.

These are the seeds I have got them in my grocery stores organic section near flax seeds.

*Hydrate Chia Seeds- 1/4 cup seeds + 2 cups water. Mix them and then set in refridgerator for a few hours. They will start to gel in 10 minutes but to fully gel let them soak up the water longer. Chia seeds are ok to eat raw or hydrated. If you hydrate them it is easier for your body to absorb all their nutrients. Hydrated seeds will yield about 17 fl.ounces and will last 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

1. Chia Breakfast-
            1 tbs. hydrated Chia Seeds, 1 cup greek yogurt, and half a banana.Mix them together and enjoy! Make sure you drink with warm tea or a glass of water.


I will add more as I make them :)

-Simply Yours-
Ally Marie

Classroom Organization: Binder Clips

I am going to be starting my student teaching soon and I am so excited. I am really eager to learn and teach. Since I had some free time and I love pinterest so much I have been going crazy pinning stuff for my future classroom or ideas to use for student teaching this fall.

Check out my pinterest boards

One of my favorite ideas I got from pinterest is to use binder clips to organize papers. You better believe I will have tons of these when I have my own classroom and they are so cheap and effective I will probably have my students use them too.

The supplies you will need:
Labels
Sharpie
Binder Clips
Clear Tape(optional)

 Finished Product!

So I can use these to organize all the stacks of paper I will have :)  These are two sided so the first picture is side 1 and then the second picture is side 2. The tape is optional I didn't use it here but to keep your clips lasting longer you could wrap clear tape around them.


-Simply Yours-
Ally Marie

You Probably Won't Get Skinny Eating This

So just what the title says....you really probably won't get skinny eating this so why did I make it?

I'm trying to eat healthier which means mostly good vegetables and fruit with some carbs but let me tell you I made this fried rice for my husband (the white rice is for me) I tried it and found I really couldn't put the spoon down. Yum whole eggs and soy sauce. Plus my favorite veggie is peas.

How to make:
Its simple of course! I used natural ingredients and used only a bit of oil and the sodium that is already in the soy sauce. This is the best fried rice I have ever made.

Ingredients: (I am not putting the amounts because I dont measure when I cook and you might like more of a certain ingredient in yours when you make it)

Long-grain White Rice
Peas
Eggs
Soy Sauce
Green Onion
Olive Oil
Garlic


1. Cook the rice. I just emptied the bag into a pot and added water, enough water to cover the rice and fill the pot up about 2 inches. Sorry that I dont measure things.

2. Heat up a skillet with a little bit of oil and some minced garlic. Heat until garlic is brownish.

3. Add rice (drain out excess water before adding), chopped green onion, and soy sauce to the skillet. Watch and continuously stir the rice so it doesn't burn.

4. Cook peas (I used birds eye steamable peas).

5. In the skillet push everything to one side. On the empty side crack your eggs (I used two). Using your cooking utensil scramble the eggs until cooked. Then with your utensil chop the eggs up in the skillet and mix with other ingredients already in the skillet.

6. Add peas to the skillet. and turn off the heat asap.

Enjoy!


*I barely used garlic so you could eliminate that from the recipe- the soy sauce kind of overpowers it or I just lost my taste buds.
**My husband says don't eliminate the garlic because even though I didnt use enough to be able to taste it apparently it enhances the flavor no matter the amount you use......I will leave the decision up to you to use it or not. :)

-Simply Yours-
Ally Marie