Not Everyone's Mama

When I first wanted to make this, internet wasn’t a huge thing and you couldn’t find everything on it like you can now.  I know, I know, I’m ancient.  So, I made up my own Better Than Sex cake (I had it once before and I just went by what that tasted like and what I like) and it is always a huge hit with everyone and a requested cake for birthdays around here.  It’s easy easy easy and honestly, I like it better than every other better than sex cake I have ever had.

That, my friends, is my better than sex cake.

I threw in a new twist last night and it was awesome!

INGREDIANTS

• 1 yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients for the cake)
• 2 bags of Heath toffee bits
• 1 large box of vanilla pudding
• chocolate syrup
• caramel syrup
• large tub of Cool Whip

DIRECTIONS

Make the cake batter

sprinkle a bag of Heath toffee over the top of the batter.

Use a knife to swirl that into the batter

(that was my new twist)

Cook the cake according to the directions

make your pudding and put it in the refrigerator

when the cake is done cooking take a butter knife and push down and twist in as many spots as you want.  I usually make about 10 holes.

Drizzle the chocolate syrup and caramel syrup all over the top, making sure to get some down into the holes you created.

let the cake cool.

After the cake has cooled

Spread the vanilla pudding over the top of it.

Spread the Cool Whip over the top of the pudding.

Sprinkle the other bag of Heath toffee bits over the top of that.

Drizzle chocolate syrup and caramel syrup over the top

Slice, serve, and try not to die when you taste it.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Read these too:

• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Pictures From February
• Tonight’s Supper

Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous by (a fellow Social Mom) Beth Aldrich

The book is written in a mom-to-mom conversational tone, with friendly advice and recommendations. It’s divided into three sections, which include a fun and easy-to-follow 10-part plan for moms to implement to make gradual, life-long changes in their approach to food and 21 days of meal suggestions, tips, recipes and lifestyle exercises—all to help you continue your love affair with food to look fabulous. Beth’s approach to healthy eating, losing weight and feeling fabulous, is simple and realistic for busy moms. You’ll learn a lot about the food you eat and how it impacts your body and still have loads of fun experiencing new foods and enjoying life.

Here’s what leading health and wellness professionals, real moms and peers are
saying about Real Moms Love to Eat:

Beth Aldrich has written a very good primer to help you begin to make your diet an ally,
not an enemy in today’s time-compressed world.
Dr. Barry Sears, author of the Zone Diet books

The Ultimate Mothers Helper! For all of us moms seeking an answer for ourselves AND
our family, Beth reveals the secret way to get more room on your plate.
Teri Knapp, Television Producer

Real Moms Love to Eat is packed with tips, ideas and recipes for today’s busy moms who
want fun and flavor mixed into their healthy lifestyle. Beth’s energetic, no-nonsense
approach make this a perfect book for anyone looking to improve or maintain a healthy
family diet — without sacrificing flavor, fun, or sanity." 
Megan Calhoun, Founder & CEO, SocialMoms.com

Hot moms everywhere will love this book. It’s easy to follow, has great recipes and will
make you laugh–out loud!
Jessica Denay, Founder of Hot Moms Club, author of the Hot Moms Handbook series

This book is perfect for the busy mom who wants to stay in shape, feel good, and still
enjoy good food! 
Tracey Mallett, author of Super Fit Mama and Sexy in 6

My first thought when I saw the title of this book was, yeah we do.

I love to eat.

Especially chocolate, breads, and pasta.

All of that stuff that loves to gather on your hips and stomach.

The other bad part?  I hate to cook.

Ok, I don’t hate to cook.

I hate to clean up.

So I attempt to not cook much.

But with a fun and easy to follow plan and recipes, this might be the book for me.

Courtesy of Real Moms Love To Eat
New American Library-Penguin Books Imprint, January, 2012

NO-BAKE BROWNIES

•  3 cups raw walnuts
•  16 pitted dates
•  1/2 cup dried fruit (like raisins or cranberries)
•  2/3 cup raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
•  1/4 cup raw cacao nibs (or mini carob/choc. chips)

Process walnuts in food processor until ground up, slowly add the pitted dates and process. Next,
slowly add in the cacao powder and dried fruit and process. Gently, pulse in, the cacao nibs to
keep them partially chunky in the "dough".
Press the mixture into a square, glass baking dish and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
to "set". 
Serve 2" squares topped with sliced berries or powdered sugar.
Ssshh, don’t tell them it’s healthy!

I think I need to get my hands on this book.

For those of you who are bloggers, Beth has a Food Affairiate program, which I am totally joining!  You’ll get a digital copy of Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous and be entered to win one of the following: Top of the Line Kitchen Blender, Compact Food Processor, Kitchen bakeware, Kitchen utensil goodie basket, cutting boards and a couple other secret prizes!

Very cool!

She is also having a Preorder contest!  Preorder the book, send in your proof and be entered to win a cool prize!  (There are monthly drawings!)

Preorder it on Amazon – Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous

If you do preorder, come back and let me know what you think of it after you read it!  I’m going to post my review when I get done with it.

Beth Aldrich is a Certified Health Counselor, Healthy Lifestyle and Nutrition Expert, engaging speaker, media personality and author of the book, Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food and Still Look Fabulous (New American Library, a member of the Penguin Group (USA), January 3, 2012); she delivers health, nutrition and balanced living fundamentals through keynote addresses, presentations, lectures and as a media spokesperson. As a health and nutrition columnist for Diet.com, SocialMoms.com, HotMomsClub.com and RealMomsLovetoEat.com, Beth shares her wisdom, experience and knowledge about health and nutrition topics. From food coaching, and living a balanced life to, the energetics of food and finding your passion, Beth delivers her message in a charismatic and inspiring way.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Beth Aldrich – Real Moms Love to Eat blogging program, for a chance to get 3,000 My SocialMoms Rewards points. For more information on how you can participate,click here.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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• Earth Day – Smart Recipes That Save The Planet And Your Wallet
• Better Than Sex Cake
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Tonight’s Supper

Every once in awhile I hit a homerun in the kitchen.

It doesn’t happen often.

I like to cook, I hate to clean up, one outweighs the other, so I’m not too adventurous when it comes to cooking.

I normally make this without the bread because I never take the time to actually let it sit in fridge.  That’s because Heather always does things last minute.  Plan ahead for supper?  We’re supposed to take meat out to thaw early?

It was soccer night though and I wanted to have supper ready to go right when the kids got home from school so we could eat and go.

I tried and tried and tried to get my mama on the phone to get her recipe because I love it when my mom makes egg soufflé.  So good!

She was napping while I was at the store.

I tried my sister.

She had no idea.

I knew mom used bread, so I took what I make and just went with it.

INGREDIANTS:

• 14 slices of bread (crusts removed)
• 12 eggs
• 2 cups of cheddar cheese
• 1 family size can of cream of mushroom soup
• Li’l Smokies – I used cheddar filled ones
• 1 large can of mushrooms (you could go gourmet on me and use fresh)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

When I got done, I thought of all the things you could add to this.  (Onions, green peppers, veggies your kids don’t like if you throw them through the food processor first, this was all just stuff I had at home when I was cooking.)

Tear up the bread into little pieces and throw it in the bottom of a 9X13 pan.

Cut the Li’l Smokies into small pieces.

Put everything (including the Smokies – minus the bread) into a large mixing bowl. (Crack the eggs first, we’re not making bird bread, no shells needed for human consumption.)

Mix it all up.  I use my mixer, it just makes it all light and fluffy the way I like it.

Pour it over the bread in the 9X13 pan.

Cover

Now, before I show you what it will look like at this point, I need to admit that I have gotten rather lazy about taking pictures.  I’m starting to think I should start getting my camera out for these things.   On to the rest.

That is what it will look like at that point.

Put it in the fridge and let it sit for at least 8 hours.

(I fudged a little and it sat for 5 hours, I had hungry kids going to soccer – it still turned out really really good.  I was just told soufflés need to sit for that long.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Throw that puppy in and let it cook for an hour covered with aluminum foil.

Take the foil off and let it cook another 10 minutes.

Voila.  Heather’s version of egg soufflé.  Not a great pic, but you get the point.

My piece.

I have a family of 6 and there were leftovers for breakfast the next morning which my children insisted on warming up and eating in the car on the way to school.

I wouldn’t call this the most transportable food, but it worked.

Have a great day!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• National Pumpkin Month
• Tonight’s Supper
• Heather’s Picadillo and Rice

Pumpkins are such a versatile ingredient in the kitchen! USANA offers a couple seasonal drink recipes that include their great nutritionals for your body including their Fibergy Plus and Vanilla Nutrimeal . Fibergy Plus promotes good digesting health and is important to the maintenance of heart health and Vanilla Nutrimeal is low glycemic, meaning that the ingredients are formulated to produce only small fluctuations in blood glucose levels for sustained energy to keep you satisfied longer. Each serving of Nutrimeal contains 8 grams of dietary fiber, which can help maintain a healthy heart and circulatory system.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Servings: 2

· 2 cups milk or non-dairy alternative, such as soy milk

· 2 tablespoons canned or fresh pureed pumpkin (unsweetened)

· 2 tablespoons Truvia or sweetener of choice

· 1 scoop (about 2.5 Tbs) Vanilla Nutrimeal

· 1 tsp Fibergy Plus

· 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

· 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

· 2 shots of espresso (about 1/4 cup) or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee

Directions: In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sweetener and stir on medium heat until steaming (you can also microwave on high for 2 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in Nutrimeal, Fibergy, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, then transfer to a blender and whirl for 15 seconds until foamy, then stir in espresso. If you don’t have a blender, whisk thoroughly with a wire whisk.

Optional: Top with light whipped cream if you’re feeling decadent and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice over the top.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Servings: 2

· 1-1/4 cup cold water

· 3 Scoops Vanilla Nutrimeal

· 2 tsp Fibergy Plus

· 1/2 cup canned or fresh pureed pumpkin (unsweetened)

· 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

· 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

· 1 cup ice

Directions: Combine ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Optional: 2 tsp of Truvia or sweetener of choice

I was not compensated for this post at this time.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• Tonight’s Supper
• Heather’s Picadillo and Rice

I had another post planned for today, I should have typed it out last night and scheduled it, but I didn’t and life got away from me today.  Signed Alyce up for preschool, grocery store, Jordan had chess club, Kat was home sick, all 7 of the kids were in great form tonight fighting, whining, crying, ticking each other off. <sigh> Very long day.  None of us had a minute to sit and just think until after they went to bed.

Now, these pictures are of the food before we cooked it.  Unfortunately, it was devoured before I thought to take an after picture.  It was a crazy day I tell you.  I just wanted to dish out the supper and have them eat and go to bed.  Please go to bed.

We wanted something different tonight.  (Shelley and I)  We googled steak recipes because we wanted meat, but not the same old same old.

We improvised with these:

Braciole and Creamy Twice Baked Potatoes

I won’t repost the recipes since they are all written out there, I will say we used a different steak than they suggested and now I don’t remember what it was.  I’m sure what they suggest is good, but ours was really really thick and 1 would probably have 3 adult servings.  Huge.  We tripled the recipes since we are feeding 11 here.  I sliced the steak down the middle and then pounded them down to a little thicker than 1/2 inch because I got tired of pounding.

With the Braciole on top of what they suggested, I also added Italian Seasoning, Basil, and Rosemary.

Just sprinkled it right in the bowl with everything else.  With tripling it, I added 2 containers of grated Romano cheese.  I’m glad I did because we used every last drop of filling.  This is sad, but I’ve never used fresh parsley before in cooking.  I have never really used parsley.  I always thought it was for decoration. (That’s mom’s fault. You know, you’re little and you’re at a restaurant and you see something green on your plate, you’re all ewwww!  Mom says, just sit it to the side, it’s for decoration.  Nu – uh, that’s a tree in my food.)   I’ll tell you, when it’s all chopped up finely in the food processor, it smells like wet grass.  I was nervous about using it after I smelled it.  I’m a chicken.  Here’s what the steak looked like before we stuck it in the oven.

We cooked it at the same temp but ended up having to cook it for almost 40 minutes before it hit the 160 degree mark.  The recipe says 130, but our meat thermometer says 160 for beef and it was still really red on the inside when we checked it at 130 degrees.  Better to be safe than sorry.  It was really dark on the outside but so moist on the inside when we pulled it out.  I was in charge of the steak and if I do say so myself, I think that was the best thing I have EVER made in my life.

Shelley was in charge of the Twice Baked Potatoes.

Cell phone pics.  Sorry!  I’m on the laptop still without my Paintshop Pro to fix the color.

We followed their recipe to start out with then added Italian Seasoning, Basil, more salt and pepper, chives, and of course added chedder cheese on top because we are cheese lovers around here.

Best twice baked potatoes ever.  Smooth, creamy, so yummy!  I’d never had them with cream cheese before and that was the perfect addition!

Now I need to find something different to make for tomorrow.  How do you top the best meal you’ve ever made?  I don’t know but I’m feeling the pressure.  Josh said Pato and I should open a Mexican steakhouse after he ate that. 

Tomorrow I’ll get a post up about the mobile home and our tax drama.  (You can imagine how that is going to go when I tell you our tax preparer left the last digit off of our bank account number.  I’m hoping the story will have a happy ending after Pato goes to the bank in the morning.

Have a great night!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Heather’s Picadillo and Rice

I wanted to make something tonight that was similar to the picadillo I get at this awesome Mexican restaurant called Tacos De Mariana here in Des Moines. (My absolute favorite Mexican restaurant to eat at in Des Moines.  It’s real Mexican food.  Not authentic Mexican food made for us Americans with sensitive taste buds.) I didn’t want to make a trip to the grocery store tonight to get extra ingredients for the recipes I found online for Mexican picadillo and Mexican rice so I just got out what I had an went to town.  I had the kids all gathered around helping me and it was fun!  I have to say since I finally replaced my old food processor that died (that never worked great to begin with since I got it at a garage sale), life has been much easier when it comes to making dinner. 

I got the Black & Decker 8-Cup Food Processor and I LOVE it!  Someday as I get better at cooking, or more adventuresome I might invest in one that has more features, but for now that works for me.  It does everything I need it to do.  Back to the recipe.

Cell phone picture – sorry! 

I started with the rice.

Remember my recipes feed a family of 6 with a husband who is a big fan of food.

3 tbs olive oil

3 cups brown rice

5 cups water

1/3 white onion (chopped up small)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 tsp chipotle seasoning (or you could use an actual pepper chopped up finely)

3 tbsps chicken boullion

salt and pepper to taste

Add the olive oil to a pan and warm up. (I cooked on med.) Add the rice and sauté it until it’s brown.  Add the onion and garlic.  Sauté a bit longer. Add the rest of the ingredients besides the water.  I sautéed that all for a few more minutes then added the water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Turn to low, cover, and forget it for 20 minutes or so.  (It actually took me 30 minutes until the water was completely absorbed.) 

Then we started on the hamburger.

5 potatoes (washed and chopped)

2 lbs hamburger (I use 93/7)

1/3 white onion (chopped up)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

2 tsp chipotle seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

I put that all in a big pot and cooked it until the hamburger was brown (on med).  The potatoes and onions were soft with the amount of time that took.

I warmed up white corn tortillas (the small ones) one at a time in a pan.

Served it as you see above.

All the kids ate it up.

I can envision this as another way to sneak in more veggies, carrots, corn, beans, etc.  I bet you could sneak in a lot of different healthy things if it’s chopped up fine enough in the hamburger and they wouldn’t even notice.

That’s my goal.  Hide things my kids normally won’t eat in things they will eat.

I just tried it.  It doesn’t look like Taco’s De Mariana, but it tastes like it.  Her rice is better though.  I don’t know what she does to it but it’s like my mother in law’s.  Best rice you will ever eat. Chalk it up to another recipe I’ll save in my brain to make again.  You didn’t think I’d share something with you I didn’t like did you?  I was waiting to post until I actually took a bite.   I assumed since my kids liked it, it would be good.  It is.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Tonight’s Supper

I was making this last night and thought I’d share it because I hate normal meatloaf.  I don’t know if this qualifies as “meatloaf” technically, and it’s definitely not a romantice put on the lingerie, light the candles, have dinner with your significant other dinner. But I love it  and my kids scarf this down and beg for more.  My ex-husband would call this another one of Heather’s conglomerations.  I can’t cook well if I follow a recipe but if I just throw things in, I’m good.

This feeds our family of 6 including my husband who eats about 1/2 the pan himself.

I’m not the most talented food photographer

2 lbs of hamburger (I use 93/7)

1 small bag of frozen corn (or 1 can)

1 small bag of frozen green beans (or 1 can)

1 can of mushrooms

2 eggs

2 cups of oatmeal

Some type of seasoning – last night I used Cavender’s Greek Seasoning, sometimes I use tomato basil, other times I use Lowry’s.  I just throw it in, I probably use 2-3 teaspoons

Salt – again, I throw it in, probably 2 teaspoons

Pepper – maybe 3/4 teaspoon

6 servings of mashed potatoes (Either make your own, last night I used box, or frozen)

2 cups of cheddar cheese – I use sharp

Mix the hamburger, corn, green beans, mushrooms, eggs, oatmeal, seasoning, salt, and pepper together.  Put it in a 9X13 pan.  Cook for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

I make the mashed potatoes while that’s cooking.

When both are done, spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the meatloaf.

Sprinkle the cheese over that.

Throw it back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Pull it out, slice it up, feed your family.

I’ve been known to slip lots of different vegetables that my kids won’t normally eat happily into this.  Kidney beans, hominy, carrots, etc.  Sliced up small, they never know they are in there. Best way to get your kids to eat something they don’t like?  Slip it into something they DO like without them knowing.

Katiana saw me putting oatmeal in it last night and was slightly freaked out until she ate some.  I told her it’s how I always make it but she still started out with an itty bitty teeny bite.  Silly girl.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Tonight’s Supper

Alright, since I didn’t blog this morning due to a nasty headache that started and ended right at the base of my skull below my left ear and radiated out and I am slightly hgh – that’s high – on pain killers right now, and I really didn’t have anything interesting to say either, I thought I’d blog supper tonight.

You know when you go out to high school games (or soccer games for us), you can get a walking taco?  A bag of chips, with some taco meat, lettuce, etc?

I adapted it a little so it was a tad bit healthier.  My kids love them.  This is probably self explanatory, but just in case you hadn’t thought of it yourself. 

I make mine triple the size of this because we are a family of 6 and my husband enjoys food…A LOT.  These are really sitting down tacos instead of walking tacos, but it works.

Baked Nacho Cheese Doritos

1 lb 93/7 hamburger

1 packet of taco seasoning

lettuce

diced tomatoes

Fat Free Sour Cream

Olives

Fat Free (or low fat) Shredded Cheese

Green salsa (I use homemade if I have some, jar if I don’t, you could use red)

Cook the hamburger.  Drain the grease. I run hot water over it to so the extra grease will flee.  Cook with taco seasoning according to packet instructions.

Crunch Doritos in the bottom of each bowl.

layer the hamburger, lettuce, tomatoes, (my youngest 3 skip those 2 ingredients), chopped olives, a dollop of sour cream, cheese, and salsa

Serve.

So quick and easy (especially if your lettuce is pre-shredded) and in my opinion, it tastes better than the ones at the snack shack because there are more yummy ingredients in it than ours serve. 

It still takes you out to frigid Saturday mornings at the soccer field (or Friday nights at the football field).

Have a great night!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Read these too:

• Better Than Sex Cake
• Real Moms Love To Eat
• Heather’s Egg Soufflé
• National Pumpkin Month
• Tonight’s Supper