Review: Truth Bars

When I was at the Moms Meet Wow Summit last month I was introduced to Truth Bars. I also posted about Truth Bars on Instagram the other day.

The Truth Bar is a great on-the-go snack for hectic mornings, to include in your child’s lunchbox, or for whenever you need a midday pick-me-up.

Afternoon iced coffee and Truth Bar.

I’ve been enjoying them with my coffee in the morning before we head off to the school and gym. The kids love to share a Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch bar with their morning milk.

Truth Bar is a nutrition bar that gives you your daily dose of prebiotics and probiotics to balance your micro-biome, boost your immune power, give you sustained energy, and promote gut health. Truth Bar focuses on building strong gut health because there are so many great outcomes as a result, such as: shedding toxins that clog your metabolism, treating inflammatory disorders, and improving your digestive system. The Truth bar is perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth while remaining nutrient-dense and completely free of “junk” that does not serve the body well.

There are five available flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Almond Crunch, Chocolate Raspberry Coconut, and Dark Chocolate Coconut. Truth Bar has vegan options and all of their bars are gluten-free, non-GMO, kosher, and under 200 calories — so there are choices to fit virtually every lifestyle.

It can be hard to achieve balanced nutrition in the midst of a busy life, which is why Truth Bar aims to be the quickest, most convenient way to get you what your body needs.

I love that the vegan bars are as satisfying and rich as the others.

By using purposeful ingredients such as chia seeds, coconut oil, and chicory root, you can rest assured you’re making a nutritious choice that the whole family will enjoy. With five varieties, there is bound to be a flavor everyone in your family will enjoy.

If you are looking for a way to save money on Truth Bars, order them via Amazon Subscribe and Save. You can save 5% or 15%, depending on how many you order. If you want to buy them in stores, CVS, Gelson’s, and Lazy Acres, all sell them. Check out the Truth Bar website to find the store nearest you.

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Recipe: Kitchen Sink Chip Cookies

Yeah, I have on a cute apron too!

It’s finally winter in San Diego! It’s rainy, cool, and we even had an awesome thunderstorm this afternoon. Cooler weather means that I can turn on the oven and get cooking!

 

That’s a lot of cookie dough!

I made these cookies for the first time last weekend for a Cast Party. They were so well-received (read, I think only 3 came home, out of the 3 dozen I made) that I knew I had to make them again.

So why Kitchen Sink Chip? You can use whatever kind of chips or candy you’ve got. Everything but the Kitchen Sink. The first time I used peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, and M&M’s.  This time, I used butterscotch chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and M&M’s to accommodate a friends peanut allergy. Additionally, you could use white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate, speciality holiday chips, M&M’s (of any variety), or any yummy candy- I got Andes Mints pieces to put in my next batch. Whatever sounds good to you.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 4C. AP Flour
• 2t. Baking Soda
• 1t. Salt (I use pink salt)
• 4 eggs
• 2C. softened butter or shortening or coconut oil (or some combination of two or more- I use half butter and half shortening)
• 1C. white sugar
• 1C. brown sugar, packed
• 2T. Vanilla
• 1.5C Chocolate Chips (or whatever kind you like)
• 1.5C. Butterscotch Chips (or whatever kind you like)
• 3 oz box M&M’s- movie theatre sized box (or whatever kind of candy you like)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.
3. Add eggs, one at a time.
4. Add vanilla.
5. Using mixer on low, slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture.
6. Once two mixtures are completely combined, add chips/candy one variety at a time and mix well.
7. Drop spoonfuls of dough on greased cookie sheets or cookie sheets lined with silicone baking pads.
8. Cook in a 350 degree oven. You can adjust the size and baking time, depending on the size cookie you want. I used rounded tablespoons and it took about 12-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  If you make them smaller, adjust cooking down to 8-10 minutes.

Tablespoons: 2 dozen large cookies

Teaspoons: 4 dozen smaller cookies.

These cookies are dead simple to make. You can make adjustments as needed: 1 for 1 gluten free flour for AP flour, Sola or Splenda for white sugar. I like that these cookies are not overly sweet. They use approximately 1/2 cup less white and brown sugar than other cookie recipes. I think that and the salt help the flavors of the chips/candy pop.

 

 

Recipe: Easy Cheesy Enchiladas

I love enchiladas. I seldom get them when we get Mexican take-away because they aren’t baked, so the cheese isn’t melty. And really, life is primarily about melty, gooey cheese.

The other night, I had a hankering for melty cheese, so I rifled through the cupboard and discovered that we had all the fixins’ for cheese enchiladas. I added caramelized onions, because… why not?

This recipe is easy to make, vegetarian, gluten-free,  and can be made vegan if you use dairy-free cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1T. butter or olive oil
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 can enchilada sauce, approx 24 -26 oz (I prefer green) Las Palmas is my favorite brand
• 12 pepper jack cheese sticks
• 1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but Mexican cheese blend works great)

Directions:

1. In a pan, cook onion in butter/oil on medium low for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.once onions are golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.
2. Once onions are cool, add to enchilada sauce. Pour 1/2 of sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 of shredded cheese.
3. Place 1 cheese stick at the edge of a corn tortilla and roll the tortilla around the cheese. Place in the baking dish, flap side down.
4. Continue until the baking dish is full.   I do one layer, but depending on how many people you need to fee, you might do two layers.
5. Pour remaining sauce on top of enchiladas, top with remaining shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and edges of tortillas are crisp.

 

I serve with beans, rice, and Mexican Cesar salad. They make great leftovers too- not that it will last.

 

Recipe: Stuffed Squash

This is a very hearty dish! Perfect for cold winter nights!

On Sunday, we made dinner for a friend. She’s a vegetarian, and we wanted to make something hearty, filling and nutritious. After searching for a few stuffed squash recipes, and hitting up the grocery store, I picked up a butternut squash. Originally I wanted a acorn squash, but most of the stores were wiped out from Thanksgiving.

Fruits and veggies cooking in stock. Juicy Gems add a nice tart aspect to the dish.

The Chopped Squash “guts”

We chose ingredients that were healthy and worked well together. This recipe is naturally vegan and Gluten free. There is an option to top the squash with poached eggs, if you want a little more protein.

This recipe is a little more work than my usual fare, but it’s really tasty and makes A LOT.  To save time I used one of the bags of Mirepoix (pronounced meer pwah)I had prepped and froze last week. If you don’t do prep cooking, check your local grocery store freezer case for frozen mirepoix.

I get all of my spices from Penzey’s. They have 67 stores across the country, and you can order from their website too. They frequently have coupon codes for free samples or shipping when you place an order- It’s worth a google search!

You can serve this as a main dish or a side.

Stuffed Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 T. Olive Oil
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 T. Butter
• 2 small Granny Smith Apples, cored and chopped
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 2 cups onion, diced (I used a sweet onion)
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (15 ounce can approx.)
• 1 ounce pouch of Juicy Gems dried pomegranate arils
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp. French Tarragon
• 1 tsp. Rubbed Sage
• 1 tsp. French Thyme
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 T. Air Dried Shallots

 

Directions:

1. Cut Squash in half, remove seeds/membrane. Brush with oil, salt and pepper.
2. Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, until squash is fork tender.
3. While squash is cooking, In a large pan, melt butter, and saute fruit, veggies, and spices/herbs. Cook over low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, arils, and broth. Cook for another 20-30 minutes or so, or until broth is mostly absorbed and garbanzos are tender.
4. As the stuffing cooks, once the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out about 1/3 of the squash. You want to create a cavity for the stuffing. Set the “guts”  aside- You can chop it up and add it to the stuffing, or serve it on the side (I just ate it with butter while the stuffed squash cooked).
5. Place the squash halves on a baking sheet, and fill the cavities with the veggie stuffing. Top with more salt and pepper, as needed.
6. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a side dish. For added protein when served as a main dish, top each portion with a poached egg. Not sure how to poach an egg? Alton Brown has a great tutorial here. 

 

Talk Back: What is your go-to Vegetarian dish? 

Weekly Menu Plan!

I usually post this on Monday mornings, but I just finished organizing the pantry and freezer, so I thought I’d post it while my memory is fresh! School starts on Wednesday..Not that I’m excited or anything, but I can’t wait to get back to a routine for the entire families sake.

Breakfasts are usually the same for us: Protein shakes for grown ups, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. We have plenty of protein shake fixins’- I buy the over ripe bananas, peel and slice them pop them into ziploc bags, and freeze them for smoothies and protein shakes. I also keep sandwich ziploc bags of  other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or a protein shake for me and the Mister, and The Big kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently). Bitty Bird eats whatever I’ll feed her.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Homemade frozen pizza with watermelon slices

Tuesday: Lemon Garlic Spaghetti Squash Casserole, fruit salad

Wednesday:  Chicken and veggie stir fry & Rice

Thursday: Sliders with cheese and caramelized onions on a green salad (no buns for us)

Friday: Date night- I’m thinking Ramen!

Saturday:Shakshuka– It’s a one dish meal (and it’s vegetarian!)

Sunday: Leftover night!

What are you having this week for dinner?

Meal Plan Monday 7/16/18

The heat is finally starting to break around here, which is a good thing. I am looking forward to eating hot food again. Our bbq died (we can only have propane grills at our HOA, because of insurance purposes, and really, having a grill with a shut off is probably  good thing here).

Breakfasts are usually the same for us: Protein shakes for grown ups, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. We have plenty of protein shake fixins’- I buy the over ripe bananas, peel and slice them pop them into ziploc bags, and freeze them for smoothies and protein shakes. I also keep sandwich ziploc bags of  other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or a protein shake for me and the Mister, and The Big kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently). Bitty Bird eats whatever I’ll feed her.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Breakfast sandwiches on the homemade sourdough English Muffins my mom made over the weekend, and fruit salad.

Tuesday: Crockpot chili. We’ve got lots of beans in the cupboard, so I’m using them up!

Wednesday:  Chicken Tetrazzini, asparagus, fruit

Thursday: Bean, rice, and cheese bowls

Friday: Pizza and salad

Saturday: Hamburgers, salad, and fruit

Sunday: Leftover night!

What are you having this week for dinner?

New Month, New Coupons!

Now that we’ve settled into July, it’s time to post about some of the new printable coupons! Last month I posted that the coupons weren’t that great. This month, they are slowly but surely getting better to ramp up for back to school.

Here is your monthly reminder!  A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!

Check out the following sites:

• Coupons.com (printable an e-coupons),
• Redplum (printable),
• SmartSource (Printable),
• SavingStar (E-Coupons)

One of my favorite website is the Sunday Coupon Review.  It helps me plot out scenarios in advance and I can email friends to ask for coupons in advance. Remember if clipping coupons isn’t your thing, but saving money is, check out my list of Smartphone apps that can save you the big bucks! New offers are added on the Smartphone Savings Apps all the time!

Here are just a few of the new coupons that have me excited:


This coupon is great if you have a Dollar Tree location near you. These little boxes are $1.00 each and contain 8-10 packets. With this coupon, it’s like buy three, get one free!

 

If you use this coupon, check your Target app to see if there is a cartwheel/savings deal in addition to this coupon- The best way to save money is to stack deals.

Perfect for Back To School Shopping, especially if your school is peanut-free or you have a peanut allergy in your home.

These cookies are so delicious.

 

 

And if you live in California, check out the CA Dairy Board’s website! Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and look for this:

You can print two coupons per computer, every thirty days. It’s a great way to save a little bit of money if you already purchase milk and other dairy products.

What coupons or deals are you excited about?