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Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo

Four Fast Lowfat Chicken Recipes

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Remember that line at the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where he said “Life Moves Pretty Fast?” 

I had no idea then what that would really mean until I became a mom. 


Every day after that has been a sprint, but unfortunately there are few too many rest spots and the race never ends. 

That’s why no matter how much I try to meal plan healthy dishes for my family, there are some days “it ain’t happening.” 

Four Fast Lowfat Chicken Recipes

But I have learned a shortcut that doesn’t require going through the drive thru and take less time than getting online to look up the menu for your favorite delivery. 

Using Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Chicken, I’m now able to create a quick lunch or dinner that I can make in less than five minutes (yes, 5), my kids will eat, the adults will like and doesn’t blow our calorie count for the week on one meal. That’s right, quick and lowfat chicken recipes. 

Just like my normal grocery staple when I run to Walmart for bagged salad, milk ,and eggs in the refrigerated section, I’ve added Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Fajita Chicken Strips or Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast to the list. They are a quick and easy way to make a meal just for one or the whole family when the day goes fast than we can keep up with! 

Tyson-Chicken

And since I’m always working to find a recipe that’s not just good to eat, but good for you to eat, these recipes with Tyson® aren’t just easy and quick to make, I’ve made them lowfat, too. And did I also mention most of these are made with less five ingredients! #everydayeffortless, right? 

BuffaloChickenPizza

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Lowfat Buffalo Chicken Pizza

  • Author: Autumn Reo of mamachallenge.com
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • Favorite lowfat Wrap/Flat Pizza Crust (I like FlatOuts with Flax)
  • 1 tablespoon Buffalo Wing Sauce
  • Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Fajita Chicken Strips
  • 1 tablespoon Bleu Cheese, Crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon lowfat Shredded Cheese
  • Lowfat Ranch Dressing (optional)

Instructions

  1. Bake pizza as directed at 375 degrees.
  2. Coat pizza crust with buffalo sauce.
  3. Add cheese and chicken.
  4. Bake for 2-3 more minutes until melted.
  5. Drizzle with ranch (optional.)

Chicken-Caesar-Wrap

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Lowfat Chicken Caesar Wrap

  • Author: Autumn Reo of mamachallenge.com
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 wheat tortilla or wrap
  • Shredded Romaine Lettuce
  • Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast
  • 1 tablespoon Lowfat Caesar Dressing
  • 1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

  1. On a tortilla, lay a few leaves of salad in the middle of the wrap.
  2. Next add chicken strips.
  3. Then add dressing.
  4. Finish with cheese.
  5. To enjoy, roll up tortilla and enjoy!

Notes

  • Use a bagged Lowfat Caesar Salad Mix to make this recipe even quicker and easier!

Chicken Pesto Pasta

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Chicken Pesto Pasta

  • Author: Autumn Reo of mamachallenge.com
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • Refrigerated Angel Hair pasta
  • Refrigerated Pesto (I love to make my own, but some days you need it quick!)
  • Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast
  • Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

  1. Boil noodles as directed for 3-4 minutes.Drain.
  2. Add chicken to warmed noodles.
  3. Add pesto to noodles and mix thoroughly.
  4. Garnish with cheese.
  5. Serve.


 Thai-Chicken-Lettuce-Wraps

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Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

  • Author: Autumn Reo of mamachallenge.com
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • Romaine Lettuce Leaves
  • Tyson® Grilled & Ready® Fully Cooked Refrigerated Fajita Chicken Strips
  • 1 tablespoon Lowfat Asian Ginger Dressing
  • Slivered almonds
  • Wonton strips

Instructions

  1. In lettuce leaf, add chicken, dressing and garnishes as preferred.)
  2. Wrap up and eat like a taco.

Notes

  • Keep salad mixins like wontons, almonds, etc. for quick ways to add to any dish!

What’s your favorite quick and easy chicken recipe?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson®. The opinions and text are all mine.

 

My Lone Star Love Story with Migas

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SponsoredPostDisclaimer

My love story with migas is actually a real love story. 

Actually, the night I met my husband we spent hours learning about each other over a plate of enchiladas and margaritas.


So when only a few months after we had dated he moved to Mexico for a study abroad program, I was devastated. However, during my first trip to visit him, I was destined to make him a Mexican dish that he was enjoy so much he’d wonder why he ever left Texas and would want to come home.

Lonestar-Migas

Not necessarily a practical idea, but at 22 and in love, you’re willing to do anything. Besides, there’s a southern saying that says the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And I was going to do whatever I could do to try to put that to the test.

So over a one-burner stove in a not-so-glamourous apartment in Monterrey, I found a skillet, a few things in the fridge including eggs, tortilla, and green chiles, and walked through the steps of my first skillet of migas. 

Ingredients

…Whether it was the setting, the ingredients, or just the fact that anything with eggs are good, that plate of migas was buttery, spicy and just dang amazing.  And apparently the dish worked since only three months into his study abroad program, he came home to stay. 

I like to say it was the migas that brought him back to Texas. And even if it was a little more than that, that first attempt at migas has blossomed into our first of many family dishes. 

So with a few tweaks, I share my love story with you in hopes you’ll be able to love someone over a plate of migas one day. 

Lonestar-Eggs-Walmart

Onion

saute

Green-Chiles
eggs

Lone Star Eggs

Tejas-Migas

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Tejas Migas

  • Author: Autumn Reo, mamachallenge.com
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
Print Recipe

Description

A love story of eggs, tortillas, and Mexican flavor come together for an easy breakfast dish that might make you crave it for lunch and dinner, too.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 Lone Star eggs, beaten
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 5 corn tortillas, chopped or torn into pieces
  • 1 can green chiles, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • cheese, cojita or Mexican shredded cheese
  • pico de gallo , cilantro, etc. for garnish

Instructions

  1. In a medium-hot skillet, melt butter.
  2. Add onion and saute until soft.
  3. Next add tortillas and brown slightly.
  4. Stir in green chiles and cook 2-4 minutes.
  5. Add eggs and cook 4 minutes until cooked, but do not allow to dry or overstir.
  6. Garnish with cheese, pico, and salsa.

Other Eggsellent Recipes You’ll Enjoy:

Lonestar-Eggs-Popovers

baked-eggs-avocado

New Snap Kitchen in Flower Mound

By 8 Comments

There’s a big reason I’m OBSESSED with Snap Kitchen. 

Actually there are several very tasty ones as I discussed on Dallas Food Nerd. But no longer do I have to make a trip to Dallas to get my healthy fix! Nope, Flower Mound, here we come! 

Snap Kitchen

Read why I am obsessed with Snap Kitchen in Dallas Food Nerd


The ever-growing Snap Kitchen is putting down more roots with a new location in Flower Mound. Health-conscious residents in this suburb can now find Snap Kitchen’s chef-driven and dietitian approved meals in their neck of the woods. Set to open on September 14th, Snap Kitchen’s newest location is at 3701 Justin Rd. and features grab-and-go prepared meals available for in-store or curbside pickup. Guests can find comfort in knowing they can pick up healthy, freshly made meals on the go, without compromising on taste or experiencing the post-meal guilt that often comes with dining out.

Snap Kitchen is dedicated to bringing customers flavorful, handcrafted food that supports a commitment to local, organic ingredients and healthy cooking. At Snap, guests can easily grab a healthy meal, snack or cold-pressed juice. The menu offers a selection of palate pleasing items made fresh daily, including Chicken & Green Chile “Enchiladas,” Grassfed Bison Quinoa “Hash,” or for breakfast, the Chicken Sausage Breakfast Tacos. Ninety-nine percent of the menu is gluten free, and there is a vast selection of vegetarian, vegan, paleo, dairy free, carb conscious and sodium conscious items.

Snap Kitchen

Breakfast done healthy and so good at Snap Kitchen!

The concept, which started in 2010, was recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News (February 2014) as one of the nation’s top “Breakout Brands” and selected as one of Nation’s Restaurant News 2014 Hot Concepts award recipients. Snap Kitchen now has 30 locations throughout Austin, Houston, Dallas and Chicago.

The Snap Kitchen Flower Mound store is located at 3701 Justin Rd., Flower Mound, TX 75028 and is open Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, please call 214.613.4484
or visit www.snapkitchen.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to School with Not Your Mama’s Slow Cooker Recipes

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Dinner time blues? Get back to school with Not Your Mama’s Slow Cooker Recipes. 

Affiliate links may be included.

Sure, meal planning makes getting on the table much easier, but I admit, it’s difficult to schedule the opportunity to lay out what your family is going to eat when, go to the grocery store to get exactly what you need and then most of all, put it all together for that perfect dinner that everyone loves…

Slow-Cooker


Nobody got time for that…and face it, that’s not the times that most of us live in. So I’m sharing some of the best recipes to make your school nights easier – all made in the slow cooker! 

However, what we do have our a few minutes here and there to make our world rock a little better, especially during back to school time. So we’ve got a few tips for meal planning and recipes with the slow cooker that you may have never thought about. And takin’ a look at these slow cookers, it’s worth reconsidering if you think that these babies are only for roast and chili night.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

  • Author: Autumn Reo, mamachallenge.com
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 240
  • Total Time: 255
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast halves (or chicken thighs, approximately 6-8)
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 red, orange and green bell pepper, julienned
  • 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 3/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

  1. In a bowl whisk together chili powder, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt and pepper. Evenly sprinkle seasoning over both sides of the chicken breasts.
  2. Now pour the tomatoes into the bottom of a slow cooker and spread into an even layer. Top with peppers and onions. Then add garlic and lastly, the seasoned chicken.
  3. Cover and cook on HIGH heat 3 – 4 hours or low heat 6 – 8 hours, until chicken has cooked through and peppers are tender. (Depending on your slow cooker, you can do less heat for sliced fajitas or more for shredded.)
  4. Remove chicken and cut into strips or shred. Gently toss a little of the broth onto fajitas for more flavor. Now serve warm in warmed tortillas with sour cream, guacamole, cheese and salsa.

Notes

  • Back to school is easy with these standy that takes no time to prep or cook!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4
  • Calories: 425
  • Sugar: 3
  • Sodium: 879
  • Fat: 9
  • Saturated Fat: 2
  • Unsaturated Fat: 5
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 11
  • Protein: 72
  • Cholesterol: 193
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Slow Cooker Lasagna

  • Author: Autumn Reo, mamachallenge.com
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 270
  • Total Time: 285
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb lean ground beef (or turkey or chicken)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 6 ounces cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese)
  • 6–7 ounces Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
  • 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  1. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in pan.
  2. Add sauce, salt and oregano.
  3. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker.
  4. Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles and top with cheeses. (You can break noodles to cover.)
  5. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.
  6. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.
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Slow Cooker Lemon Rosemary Chicken

  • Author: Autumn Reo, mamachallenge.com
  • Prep Time: 7
  • Cook Time: 240
  • Total Time: 247
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 4 lemons
  • 2–3 heads garlic
  • Fresh rosemary and other favorite herbs
  • Poultry seasoning

Instructions

  1. Cut garlic and lemons in half. Save one half lemon, a few slices of lemon (cut wide) and garlic head and set aside.
  2. Lay in bottom of slow cooker so they lay flat.
  3. Clean chicken, rinse and pat dry.
  4. Season chicken with poultry mix, all over (both inside and out) as well as salt and pepper.
  5. Lay chicken onto garlic and lemon and stuff garlic into cavity of chicken.
  6. Cover chicken with lemon slices and rosemary.
  7. Cook chicken for around four hours on high (or until 165 degrees.)
  8. Turn off slow cooker, let chicken rest for 15 minutes and then remove from slow cooker to serve.
  9. Use reserve sauce to be served over chicken.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4
  • Calories: 385
  • Sugar: 2
  • Sodium: 125
  • Fat: 21
  • Saturated Fat: 6
  • Unsaturated Fat: 13
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 9
  • Protein: 42
  • Cholesterol: 132
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Slow Cooker Breakfast Egg Casserole

  • Author: Autumn Reo, mamachallenge.com
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 150
  • Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 20 ounces shredded hashbrowns (you can use frozen or fresh)
  • 4 ounces chopped ham, 8-10 slices of bacon, or 1/2 roll of crumbled sausage
  • 8 ounces shredded cheese
  • 12 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 onion, chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • Cooking oil or cooking spray to coat pan

Instructions

  1. Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings in a bowl. Set aside.
  2. Grease slow cooker with cooking spray.
  3. Layer half of hashbrowns with half cheese, half meat and 1/4 onions.
  4. Then repeat hashbrowns, meat, cheese and onion.
  5. Pour eggs over the top of the layers.
  6. Cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low.
  7. Sprinkle more cheese, meat and onions for garnish and serve.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 6
  • Calories: 356
  • Sugar: 2
  • Sodium: 940
  • Fat: 25
  • Saturated Fat: 12
  • Unsaturated Fat: 12
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 3
  • Protein: 28
  • Cholesterol: 427

Yes, these slow cookers are THAT cool.

Crock Pot Smart WiFi WeMo 6-Quart Slow Cooker 

Crockpot-I-stir

Crock Pot iStir Automatic Stirring Slow Cooker

Ziploc-Meal-Planning

Spring Slow Cooker

Follow Autumn {mamachallenge.com}’s board FOOD: Crock Pot on Pinterest.

No-Planning Meal Planning

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ZiplockBacktoSchool #CollectiveBias

I strive to be organized and well prepared, but it doesn’t always happen.

I have good intentions, especially at the beginning of the school year, to not just get my kids into a routine, but to create efficient and EASY systems that work for my family. I’d love to have meals planned for an entire month, with all my grocery shopping complete, but I just don’t have the time to do it. However, with the new Ziploc® brand Storage bags with Easy Open Tabs, I have a can’t-be-beat meal planning process that takes little work and even gets the whole family involved with what might be the most dreaded question in our household: “What’s for dinner, mom?”


Ziploc-Meal-Planning

I’m happy when I get to the grocery store, and I’m prepared enough to get all the ingredients for a specific meal. I typically have one hour to go to Kroger, figure out the items my family enjoys and then go home to prepare a meal using the things I bought. However, on some days, I don’t have enough creative space left in my brain to prepare a meal in time for everyone to enjoy it before going to bed. I had to come up with a way to meal plan that didn’t require much thinking so I wasn’t running through the drive-thru every night of the week.

Ziploc-Brand-Bags

Ziploc® brand has always been a staple in our home for everything from packing for a flight, organizing the kids’ crayons and markers, and of course, storing food. However, their new Ziploc® brand bags with Easy Open Tabs have taken it to a whole new level for me. Not just because they’re easy to grip and easy to open for small or big hands, but I’ve learned to use the colored-tabs to help me meal plan – and here’s how.

Ziploc-Kroger

Still using my system of running to the store to take advantage of the sales, I purchase proteins (chicken, shrimp, etc.), produce and starches like rice and gluten-free pasta. Then, when I get home, I just need around 20 minutes to cut up my meat and produce. Many other meal planning techniques require you to pick what you are going to cook when, but I don’t always know exactly what we are going to eat and most of all, want, all week.

Veggies

We need flexibility for whatever might happen on a given day AND what we might want to eat (since sometimes you aren’t feeling Monday’s menu either.) While even at this point I may not know what we’re going to eat, I’ve learned meals like stir fry make it easy to create healthy meals by just having a few basic sauces ready to go.

I take my cut-up proteins into bite-sized pieces/strips and place them in Ziploc® brand bags with Easy Open Tabs. While the meat doesn’t take up the whole bag, you use the Ziploc® brand bags with Easy Open Tabs for a couple of things:

  • Add a marinade to a Ziploc® brand Storage bag with Easy Open Tabs so you have room to mix the ingredients
  • Pound your protein into thinner, more tender pieces
  • Place any leftovers in the freezer inside a Ziploc® brand Freezer bag with Easy Open Tabs (blue tab), so you’re always ready to go

1.  Place a “1” on these bags with a marker.

Ziploc-Colors

2. Next using both the quart size Ziploc® brand Storage bags with Easy Open Tabs (pink) and a few of the Ziploc® brand containers with One Press Seal, cut up the produce like onions, mushrooms and broccoli into smaller pieces. Additionally, I put healthy and easy nibbles like baby carrots, chopped peppers, etc. in the Ziploc® brand Snack bags with Easy Open Tabs for snacking. This way I have a few already prepared items for me to snack on while I’m cooking dinner or for the kids when they get home from school. On these bags, I place “2.”

Chopped-Vegetables

3. Then comes time for the fun stuff. For meals like stir fry, the sauce is everything. The sauces are super easy to make and only get better with time if you prepare them in advance. I have a few standard recipes for chicken and beef I always use, and if you’re feeling creative, you can add a little something else. Again stir fry meals give you that flexibility to make it what you want. Sometimes I mix these up in advance and sometimes I make them on the fly, but if you have time, put them in a Ziploc® brand Sandwich bag with Easy Open Tabs (green) and place them in the fridge with a “3.”

Ziploc-containers-collage

4. Now here’s the magic. You’re set. On Monday or Tuesday when the dinner conversation begins, have the kids pull out one of the “1” bags, one, two or three of the “2” bags/containers, and one of the “3” bags. I normally then add a rice or pasta, which can boil while you fry up the ingredients from your bags, and then dinner is done!

Fridge-Ziploc

Make sure you stock up on the value pack of Ziploc® brand Sandwich and Snack bags with Easy Open Tabs right now because they have all kinds of uses, and you can’t beat two sizes in one package – especially during back-to-school. School supplies, snacks, lunches and even those special “Show and Tell” days, all are easier with Ziploc® brand.

8/9 to 8/30: Save $.50 off regular price on: Ziploc® brand Sandwich bags with Easy Open Tabs 40ct, Ziploc® brand Sandwich bags with Easy Open Tabs 90ct, Ziploc® brand Snack bags with Easy Open Tabs 90ct.

Thai-Chicken-Mushroom

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Thai Basil Chicken and Mushroom

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Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb. boneless chicken breast
  • 1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons red chiles
  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/8 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 can coconut milk (I use lowfat)

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in pan to high.
  2. In a Ziploc Sandwich bag, blend fish sauce, honey, cilantro, and basil together.
  3. Cook green onions, mushrooms, and chiles.
  4. Add chicken and stir fry until tender.
  5. Add coconut milk and heat until warm.
  6. Serve with rice.

What’s your favorite way to use Ziploc® brand bags with Easy Open Tabs?

 

Texas Popovers with Strawberry Jalapeno Butter

By 12 Comments

SponsoredPostDisclaimer

I’m a proud Texas gal.

Born, bred and while I do love to travel, I’ll always say this is home.


When you see those people with the big state of Texas across their chest, that’s us.

We decorate our home with big Texas flags and proudly sing anything by Pat Green and Robert Earl Keen (if you need more explanation, send me an email.) And we even live right next to this little placed called AT&T Stadium (AKA the home of the Dallas Cowboys and the biggest stadium ever built.)

Lonestar-Eggs-Package

When we cook, we buy, cook and eat Texas because…this is Texas and that’s what you do. Including my Lonestar Eggs (available only at Walmart.)

Lonestar-Eggs-Walmart

We practice Texas traditions like spring bluebonnet photos…

Bluebonnets

…and an annual girls trip to the flagship Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas for warm popovers and strawberry butter.

For some reason, even if you don’t like the ideas of dressing up in your Sunday’s best, you’ll do it every time, heels and all, just to get your hands on this complementary starter. It doesn’t matter what else you plan to order, it’s all about tearing off a little piee of the buttery popover and slapping a pat of the strawberry butter to melt down the bread just enough before you let it enter your mouth. Yep, it’s that good. And there’s something about eating something so sinfully simple that makes it so fun and probably even taste a little bit better.

Tea-Party

So when my little gal turned four with an over-the-top tea party, I knew I was starting something I was going to have to continue at home with big, fun elaborate tea parties! And all tea parties should include popovers.

But like any Texas cook, I can’t help but put a little something else in there to make it really wow. (We take our unofficial motto: “Everything is bigger and better in Texas” very seriously.) So it wouldn’t just be big popovers with strawberry butter, it would be strawberry-jalapeno butter.

Texas-Eggs

Before you go thinking I’m going to put my little princess in pain (or any others that don’t like a little spicy in their step), you should know jalapeno is a flavor and if you don’t include the seeds and stem, most the time you will just have the spice of the pepper and not the bite. However, I can’t help to include that the bite with the creamy sweetness of the strawberry butter makes it really a really good marriage of when opposites attract. Best of all, this all happened in just about an hour.

Ingredients

Yep, y’all, that’s all it took to make it. A few ingredients from your pantry and SIX Lonestar Eggs.

Lonestar-Eggs-Popovers

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Popovers with Strawberry Jalapeno Butter

  • Author: Autumn @mamachallenge.com
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Description

A Texas tradition, this is an easy recipe for the traditional popover with a spicy take on strawberry butter.

Ingredients

Scale
  • For the Turnovers
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 1/4 cup milk, slightly warmed
  • 6 Lonestar Eggs, beaten at room temperature
  • cooking spray
  • For the Strawberry Jalapeno Butter
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup strawberry jam
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped (optional: omit entirely or just remove seeds for less heat)

Instructions

  1. Sift flour, salt, and powder together in a large bowl.
  2. To the mixer, add eggs and slightly warmed milk together and blend on low.
  3. Add flour mixture gradually until all is blended.
  4. Turn off machine and let batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
  5. Preheat oven at 450F degrees.
  6. Spray muffin or popover pan with cooking spray.
  7. Fill pans until almost full.
  8. Place batter in the over and bake at 450F for 15 minutes. Then turn oven to 375F degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until a golden brown. (Don’t keep opening the oven door to look at them or they will fall!)
  9. While turnovers are cooking, combine butter, jam and jalapeno together in a bowl and at medium until fluffy. Set aside until ready to serve (or put in fridge for a little bit to firm up.)
  10. Once turnovers are complete, remove from the oven, and serve immediately with butter.

Popovers-lonestar-mamachallenge

How do you show your Texas pride? 

 

Quick and Easy Meals for Back to School

By 20 Comments

Awwww… Back to School.

The time in which the mad hustle to get meals for your children along with the 101 other things that have to happen that day. AND in a perfect world that have some source of nutrition and don’t take three hours to make.


So we’ve put together a few ideas that not only will make your life easier, but also will get your kids healthy grub in their tummies and maybe a few extra minutes of your day back. (And don’t we all want that!)

3 Quick Tips to Remember

  1. Meals don’t have to be hard. Just because you saw it on Pinterest doesn’t mean it’s your personal responsibility to do it, too. However, there’s nothing a matter with experimenting.
  2. Make your kids help you. It will do wonders for you and also teach them how to be healthier eaters and more independent.
  3. The name of the game is time. Spend 20-30 minutes on Sunday prepping or 10 minutes the night before and you’ll be rockin’ and rollin’ all week long.

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School Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast Cereal Bars // recipe
And you don’t even have to cook them!

Energy Balls // recipe
A super treat that’s no cook and no fuss for any meal of the day (I love these)

Breakfast Cookies // recipe
One of my favorite recipe I found from Gold Medal flour, clean out your pantry with these no-cook bars

Applesauce Muffins // recipe
Just use a package of Gogo squeeZ in your muffin mix and you just added a 2/3 cup of natural apples with vitamins and minerals (and you don’t always have to tell them you did that either!)

Breakfast “Lunchables”
Are mornings your hardest trying to get everyone dressed, fed and out the door? Make breakfast the night before for easy prep and even eating on the way to school!

Back to school lunch

Gotta love the cute firetruck lunchbox from Thermos! And you can’t really go wrong with Jack Links jerky for snacking all day long! However, I suggest you throw in a Bath and Body Works travel size antibacterial cleaner in fun colors to get your kids to wash their hands before and after they eat to stop the spread of germs!

School Lunch Ideas

Lunchbox Sushi // recipe
It’s fun to eat sandwiches again (and throw in some more veggies, too.)

Macaroni and Cheese
Add 1/2 cup of steam and smashed cauliflower or winter squash to their favorite mac n cheese recipe for added nutrition.

Most of all, Make it Fun // video // video
Cookie cutters, fun muffin tins, toothpicks, their favorite characters…add a little bit of fun that can brighten up both your days (and we’re talking just seconds here!)

back-to-school

Also make sure to check out my other back to school ideas solutions (and giveaways) for your mamachallenges right now!

 

Mouse Upgrade: Chuck E. Cheese New Menu

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Chuck E Cheese’s used to have this catchy commercial that stated “Chuck E Cheese’s…where a kid can be a kid…”

I’m sure you’ve heard it…over and over and over again. 

While that may be true; it’s indeed a great place for kids and birthday parties, adults are sometimes left at the table for hours with cold pizza and soft drinks. 


Not anymore. 

The new menu items at Chuck E Cheese’s are made for grown-ups, and they’ve even introduced a little beer and wine to the mix. 

And a little of that is never bad to keep up for hours at Chuck E’s.

Cali Pizza

Kids love Chuck E. Cheese pizza. Well, let’s be real – kids love any kind of pizza. It’s cheesy. It’s greasy. It’s yummy. Well, now adults will love their new and improved pizza just as much. The Thin & Crispy pizza has a new crust that has the perfect combination of crispy and crunch. And they’ve added new flavors to the mix including a Cali Alfredo Pizza, BBQ Chicken pizza and Mac-Cheesy Pizza. (This is actually where I get a little excited to claim a kid even know I want some too….) And apparently, the crust is so good it’s beat out Pizza Hut in a national taste test. 

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In case you missed it, Chuck E. Cheese’s  already added other grown-up friendly items to their menu from chicken wings to ciabatta sandwiches to wraps made with whole wheat tortillas. And if you’re being really good, you can forego all of those delicious fatty items and have a fresh item from the salad bar for $6.99. They even have gluten-free pizza for those kids and parents with food allergies. 

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And as you flip through the pages of your magazine or chat it up with other parents, you can grab a beer or enjoy a glass of wine. I call that a win-win for everyone. Just don’t tell your kids if Chuck E. Cheese’s becomes your new favorite spot. 

Check out the menu for a full list of all of the offerings on their new menu! 

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Lactose Free Gluten Free Banana Pudding

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Just because you have an allergy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect to enjoy your favorite foods. Enjoy every bite of this Lactose Free Gluten Free Banana Pudding…again and again!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #livethefairlife #CollectiveBias

Getting older has its ups and downs. Just about six months ago, my husband was diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease and I discovered that my friend lactose and I were not exactly getting along. So changes in both our diets made for across-the-board changes for the whole family like our favorite summertime treat, banana pudding.

The world of food changes a lot when you take out gluten. And lactose.


fairlife

That creamy blend of bananas, cream and the crunch as you bite into the vanilla wafer goodness is one of the sweetest simplest joys. And with no gluten and now trying to avoid lactose, banana pudding was going to be real hard to make for the next Saturday BBQ or Sunday afternoon picnic.

Never one to let NO get in my way, I was determined to find a way to make my husband one of his top desserts, now gluten free banana pudding with ‘nilla wafers, y’all.

fairlife at Kroger

So after a quick trip to Kroger, off to the kitchen (and to Google) I went, to recreate my mother-in-law’s rich and dreamy banana pudding recipe. With only #7 ingredients, I was able to directly replace all the ingredients including gluten-free flour and fairlife for a pudding that was:

    • 50% more protein than regular milk
    • 30% more protein than regular milk
    • 50% less sugar (versus normal milk)
    • that’s lactose free. Whoo-hoo for me (and my stomach!)
    • And ultra-filtered to perfection (to understand why that is something you SHOULD care about, check this out!)

And best of all, with fairlife you get all of those benefits without any change in the taste. That’s right, it tastes like “just like milk” because that’s exactly what it is with all the benefits!

fairlife in my fridge

As you can see the while family is on board so we have three fairlife milk varieties in our fridge…and I’m only missing the whole milk because I used it for the pudding!  (We kinda like it a lot.)

And of course no ‘nanner pudding would be right without the wafers!

So adapting a gluten recipe, I was added a little fairlife and chia seeds (a great healthy alternative for xanthan gum which helps to thicken recipes using gluten-free ingredients) for a dead-on homemade ringer (that does mean it tastes just like it.)

banana pudding

While developing a recipe for gluten-free vanilla wafers was a little work in progress, I figured out a quarter-sized dollop makes the ideal-sized cookie with the right consistency you expect from your childhood memories.

Wafer

Normally I’d serve banana pudding in a big trifle bowl and layer it beginning with wafer, banana, pudding and repeat, this time smaller portions of the custard seemed to be the right (basically so I could ensure one of us didn’t eat all of it!)

Quick note: You can make homemade whipping cream using fairlife whole milk by adding gelatin, powdered sugar and a little time in the refrigerator if you wanted to go completely homemade!

I think it’s fair to say that fairlife makes my life (and yours) a whole lot better with all the same ingredients, but better made.

Lactose Free Gluten Free Banana Pudding

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Lactose & Gluten Free Banana Pudding

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Ingredients

Scale
  • For the wafers:
  • 1 1/3 cups gluten free flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon chia seeds
  • dash teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup light brown brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten, room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extra
  • 2 tablespoons fairlife whole milk

For the pudding:

  • 1 c. sugar
  • 3–4 tablespoons gluten free flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups fairlife whole milk
  • 3 egg yolks, beaten
  • 1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons)
  • 2 teaspoons butter

Instructions

  1. For the wafers:
  2. Preheat oven to 325F. Lay parchment paper on baking sheet to prepare pan.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, chia seeds, baking powder, soda and salt.
  4. Next add butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk, making sure to beat well. Batter will be thick, but not dry.
  5. Scoop nickel to quarter size dollops of dough on pan about 1 inch apart.
  6. Then using GF flour or water, flatten cookies slightly so they appear like wafers when cooked.
  7. Cook for 15 minutes, remove from oven and cool before serving.

For the pudding:

  1. Whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan.
  2. Then over low heat, add milk and yolks and stir until mixture begins to bubble.
  3. Next add butter and vanilla until it begins to thicken.
  4. Store in fridge to cool and get thicker.
  5. To prepare, layer pudding, wafers and slice bananas for the best banana pudding ever!

Want more ways to make your menu more fairlife? Check out these recipes! 

Relax with a Ginger Mandarin Orange Sparkletini

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Did a kid vomit on you today? Did someone dent in the side of your car at the gym? Did the grocery store run out of your favorite coffee creamer? Did someone at work get the promotion you know you should have gotten?

Those are the kinds of things that happen that can make your day go from awesome to awful in about 2.5 seconds.


While a spa day is a great way to relax and take your own time out from the stress of everything, it’s not always in the schedule or the budget. However, there are some days that a little “bubbly water” and a little time to yourself to take a relaxing bubble bath is just the way to let go. Just so happens, I like my bubbles to drink with a little kick.

Canada-Dry-Cocktail

For me, I’d love if I could runaway for a few days, but sometimes, an hour to myself does just enough good. For me, free time is not even possible at night time. Between dinner, homework, chores, showers, teeth brushing and all the fun “surprises” that come with it, there’s no time for me to just enjoy a little quiet moment away with me, a bubble bath and a little cocktail. So I often have to make do with a 1 pm date with the bathtub.

Yep, you gotta make do with what you have, right? I may not have much time, but I can create a “lunch” date with my Kohler. I turn off the phone, make my cocktail, run a bubble bath, throw in some bath fizzies and smelly-good bubbles, and step in to the steam. Ahh…..

That’s all it takes to just relax. This way you don’t have to ask your spouse to watch the kids or sneak away.

So after long days taking care of the kids, running around like a chicken with its head cut off and general stress of dealing with people, a SPArkletini can make it all go away. At least for the time being. And best of all, this recipe is super easy and refreshing!

1. Head to Walmart and pick up Canada Dry Sparkling Seltzer Water Mandarin Orange and Lemon Lime flavors. Right now you can even save 50¢ on ONE (1) 12-pack cans of any flavor* Canada Dry® Sparkling Seltzer Water with this coupon.

Canada-Dry-Walmart

2. You’ll also need just a few other ingredients, including ginger syrup (found at most beverage stores or a great recipe can be found here), vodka, and an orange. Yep, that’s it! (No need to make it difficult after the day you had!)

Canada-Dry-Mandarin-Lime

3. You’ll need to half an orange and then slice a few slices to use for garnish. (You’ll be using some of the juice and the slice is to make it pretty.)

Oranges

4. To a shaker,  you’ll need to add 1 ounce of ginger syrup and 2 ounces of vodka. 

hands

5. Then squeeze the orange for juice into the shaker (as much as you can, but you should get at least an ounce.) Next add 1/4 cup of ice.  

Orange

6. Add the top and shake it up. (Cue the Cars, song here.)

Shaker

7. Pour in the glass. Now top it off with the good staff, the Canada Dry Mandarin Orange and you can even add the Lemon-Lime for flavor. (The more seltzer water, the more bubbles to make you happy!)

8. Top with an orange and enjoy. Orange you glad you did? 

Sparkletini

What’s your favorite way to enjoy Canada Dry Sparking Seltzer Water? Get more inspiration here.

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