Crunchwrap Supreme (Taco Bell Style)

Taco Bell is my kryptonite, I love it! But since its not the healthiest...like at all...I only allow myself to have it every once in a long while. But every time I pass one my mouth starts to water, so I started making items from their menu at home to fulfill my cravings. Here is my healthy version of Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme:

 Ingredients: Ground Turkey, Queso (you could use shredded cheese to be even healthier), reduced fat sour cream, a tomato, lettuce, corn tortillas and wheat tortillas.

I spread some of the Queso onto one of the wheat tortillas. Then I topped that with some of the ground turkey which I seasoned with a bit of pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder while I cooked it.

I sprayed a tiny bit of Pam cooking spray into a pan then placed one of the corn tortillas in the pan until it got a bit crispy then flipped it to crisp the other side. I then placed the corn tortilla on top of the ground turkey and spread a bit of the reduced fat sour cream on top of the corn tortilla. I topped the sour cream with some lettuce and some tomato slices. I then folded the edges of the wheat tortilla up over the corn tortilla and placed it into the oven for only about a minute, just until the wheat tortilla was browned a bit and the edges stayed put. (Sorry I didn't take pictures of these steps, I was so into cooking that I totally spaced it....my bad!)

 It was delish and I didn't feel guilty after eating it like I do when I chow down on one from Taco Bell.

Helpful Hidden Banana Hanger

My son and I love banana's so we always have a nice big bundle here at the house. To keep them fresh I would hang them from a big fruit bowl/banana hanger that sat in the middle of our counter, but it took up so much space and the bananas where the only thing that occupied it since I like to keep almost all other fruits in the fridge. So I started to just let them sit on the counter but they would brown so quickly. Then one day I had a random idea that would save me space and save my banana's.

I took a small adhesive hook and stuck it under one of the cabinets. I used a large loose leaf ring to hang the bananas from the hook. Vuala my helpful hidden banana hanger!

Snack Attack

It seems like my son is always going through a growth spurt, he is growing out of his clothes faster then I can buy them, and as you know growing and eating go hand in hand so my son is always hungry. He loves to snack more then he likes to eat a full meal and an issue I kept having was his "mommy snack...mommy snack...mommy snack..." moments didn't stop when we were out and about. So any time we were about to leave the house I would throw some snacks in his backpack and soon his backpack had become a pantry...a bag of gold fish, some small boxes of raisins, a zip lock bag of granola, a bag of  gram crackers, et cetera, et cetera. Then the issue I started having was him making a huge mess wherever we were by pulling out one snack bag and eating a bit then pulling out another and eating a bit of that so I finally came up with an idea of how to fix both my issues.

 All I needed was a small tackle box! I bought this one from Target for around $3.00.

I filled each of the tackle box sections with some of his favorite snacks.

And just for fun I wrote his name on the tackle box in different colored puff paint.

We have been using this snack holder for almost a year now and we both love it. It keeps my son happy and satisfied so we don't have any more "mommy snack" moments which makes me (and my ears) very happy. 

Chicken Burrito Bowl (Chipotle Style)

One of our favorite fast casual places to eat is Chipotle, or Cha-pa-toll as we like to call it...don't ask, and  my husband and I have been craving it. Since there isn't a Chipotle anywhere near where we live I decided to try my hand at making our favorite Chipotle meals myself, a chicken burrito and a chicken burrito bowl (I'm trying to cut down on carbs so no tortilla for me.)

I found the recipes on how to make the rice, beans, chicken and the pico de gallo here and found the recipe for the guacamole here. 

All the ingredients you will need and how to cook it:

 Rice - Instant brown rice cooked using the directions on the box

A tablespoon of butter

Lime juice (the equivalent of half a lime)

A pinch of chopped cilantro

Mix well

Beans - A can of fat free black beans drained and rinsed then poured into a microwave safe bowl

A splash of fat free low sodium chicken broth

A dash of chili powder, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper

Mix well then heat up in the microwave

Chicken - Two chicken breasts chopped

A sprinkle of chili powder, garlic salt, onion powder, cumin and oregano

Cook chopped chicken in a pan with all the spices until done

Pico De Gallo - 3 roma tomatoes chopped

1 jalapeno chopped (I used a couple slices from the deli sliced jalapeno jar we have)

1 garlic clove minced (I used pre minced garlic)

1/4 small red onion chopped

A bit of cilantro chopped

A dash of salt and pepper

Lime juice (the equivalent of half a lime)

Mix everything together really well. I used my new food processor so I threw all the ingredients into the processor and let it do the chopping and mixing for me.

Guacamole - (I only made half the recipe so this is what I used)

1 and a half ripe avocados

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/6 cup chopped jalapenos (again I used the slices from the deli jalapeno jar)

1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/4 tablespoon lime juice

Pinch of salt

Mash the avocados in a bowl with a fork then add all the other ingredients and mix well. Again I used my food processor and threw all the ingredients in and let it do all the work.

Here is everything I used to make our chicken burrito and burrito bowl, I tried to set it up just like Chipotle. The goods (from right to left, bottom to top): rice, beans, chicken, pico de gallo, shredded cheddar jack cheese, guacamole and fat free sour cream.

 My chicken burrito bowl, it was delicious! My husband absolutely loved his chicken burrito, he said it pretty much tasted like the real thing and asks me almost every day to make it again.

Chic Camera Strap

I have started to get back into photography so lately I have been taking my nice big camera with me wherever I go. The first time I took it to the zoo with us I was using the wrist band that came with it so of course I had it hanging around my wrist but my son kept pulling on it and it kept bumping into things, it was more annoying then it was convenient. But when I saw a man with his camera hanging around his neck with his nifty gigantic camera strap I got a great idea, as soon as we got home I grabbed some supplies and got to work on making a chic camera strap.

 Supplies: An old long chain necklace, two small key rings and of course your camera.

 Cut the necklace chain so you have two ends then attach the two small key rings to each end of the chain.

 Then attach the key rings to your camera, you now have yourself a chic camera strap.

Once Upon A Time...

Once Upon A Time is back on tonight after taking a short break and I cant wait! I have five very favorite shows and Once Upon A Time is at the top of the list. If you haven't seen the show before and know nothing about it click here to find out what it is all about. To repay my friend for getting me hooked on Twilight, I explained all about that in my A Taste Of Twilight post in November, I got her hooked on Once Upon A Time. So tonight she has come over for a Once Upon A Time themed dinner, dessert and of course to watch the new episode.

Granny's Diner is the hang out on the show so I made a diner favorite...a club sandwich with fries, a pickle and a root beer. 

For dessert I baked some apple turnovers from Pepperidge Farm, the Evil Queen made one for Emma at the end of season one. I made cinnamon hot coco to serve with it since that was the first drink Emma had at Granny's Diner. (In a pot I brought 16oz of milk, a dash of cinnamon and two packs of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix to a boil then removed it from the heat.)

The magic is back!

Cool Kids Scarf

My son loves the snow and when we finally got our first snow storm he had to go out and play in it asap. So I busted out his snow clothes and by the time I was done with him he looked like Ralphie from A Christmas Story (minus the scarf.) I got all decked out my snow clothes (plus a scarf) and we headed outside. Right in the middle of us making snow angles my son stopped me, told me "up mommy," then unwrapped my scarf from around my neck and put it around his....light bulb....I need to make him a scarf!

 Supplies: A fleece scarf (fleece wont fray so I didn't have to worry about sewing anything), scissors, box cutter and some iron on patches.

 I put the scarf around my sons neck and figured out how long the scarf should be. I used two pins to mark where I needed to cut both ends of the scarf to make it kid length. I then used the scissors to cut both the ends of the scarf off beneath the pins.

 I put the scarf back around my sons neck and figured out where I should cut the hole and marked that with a pin. I then placed the scarf on a cutting board and with the box cutter I sliced a hole in the scarf where I had placed the pin. The hole is to loop the other end of the scarf through so the scarf will stay on a busy kid like my son.

Last but no least I ironed on one of the patches where I thought it looked best. I had put the scarf back on my son and pulled the end through the hole to see where corner would be facing out then placed the patch on that corner. 

(I did end up sewing each end of the patch onto the scarf because it just didn't want to stay on.)

My son loves having a scarf of his own, every time he sees it hanging behind his door he tells me "mommy on." And I love the fact that it is another thing to keep him warm during the cold winter days.

Last Years Loves

Happy 2013! 

Yesterday I was thinking about what I hope the new year brings...vacations, adventures, friends, health, new little family members, fun times, maybe some good luck. Then I started reflecting on last year...all the fun times we have had with our families, all my home town friends visiting me, all the holidays, the hard times we stumbled on, new friends that have become some of our best friends, everything I discovered and fell in love with and everything I rediscovered and fell back in love with.

My 2012 Rediscovered Loves:

In 2012 I really fell in love with cooking, its something that makes me very happy, and I feel back in love with my crock pot (I use it at least twice a week.) In 2012 I became a lot closer to all of our family members and being around them truly brings me so much joy. In 2012 I rediscovered my love for Country Music, my iPod is now full of new and old country songs (sorry Dad.) In 2012 I became obsessed with Goodwill! I hadn't been second hand shopping for years but one trip at the beginning of 2012 totally changed my life, Goodwill is now the first place I go when I feel like shopping. 

My 2012 New Discovered Loves:

In 2012 my dad and brother introduced me to NBC's Grimm, I never miss an episode and I made a themed dinner for the Fall Finally of the show which you can find here. In 2012 a friend introduced me to Zumba and I was immediately hooked, I purchased Zumba for the Wii and get down and sweaty at least 4 times a week now. In 2012 I was given an iPad 2 and it has been attached to my hip ever since. My favorite movie in 2012 was This Means War, my husband and I watch it every time its on TV. (Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 was also a favorite but I have liked the Twilight Series since I saw Twilight for the first time 3 years ago so I didn't count it as a 2012 discovery.)

In 2012 I discovered this song by Landon Austin via Pixi2woo's YouTube channel, LoVe it!

And of course in 2012 I started this blog! I have been loving blogging and sharing everything in my life that I find fun, beautiful, yummy and exciting and I hope you are loving what I have to share.