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Tag Archives: Moms

Mediterranean Chicken

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Daniel & April

Put dinner on the table in minutes with this Healthy Instant Pot Mediterranean Chicken recipe. It has traditional Greek flavors using tomatoes, kalamata olives and oregano. So tasty and so simple to prepare. 

• Prep Time: 5 minutes

• Cook Time: 15 minutes

• Total Time: 20 minutes

• 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 Skinless boneless chicken breasts

• 1 can no salt diced tomatoes

• 1/2 onion diced

• 2 TBS minced garlic

• 20-25 pitted Kalamata olives

• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

• 2 TBS All Purpose Greek Seasonings

• 1 TBS dried oregano

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut each chicken breast into 4-5 large pieces.

2. Turn Instant Pot on Saute

3. Add oil, diced onions, and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.

4. Sprinkle both sides of chicken pieces with Greek seasoning.

5. Place 1/2 of the chicken breasts into the Instant Pot and brown on both sides (this will take about 3 minutes per side). Working in batches, remove and set aside the first batch and add the second batch. Remove all of the chicken once browned.

6. Add the canned tomatoes, olives and dried oregano.

7. Using a wooden spoon scrape up all of the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the Instant Pot.

8. Arrange the chicken breasts into the tomato-olive mixture.

9. Set the Instant Pot on Manual/High for 15 minutes.

10. Allow it to self-release for 10 minutes, then pressure release until all of the steam has escaped.

11. Serve over a bed of fresh mixed greens!

Posted in Recipes | Tags: Clean Living, Family, Fit Moms, gluten free, Healthy Lifestyle, Keto, Keto Friendly, Live Clean, Mediterranean, Moms, Paleo, recipe, recipes | Leave a comment |

Gluten Free Gingerbread

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Daniel & April

Gluten Free & Vegan Gingerbread This recipe makes moist and cake-like gingerbread that packs a sneaky serving of black beans in each bite. They are loaded with protein, fiber, and nutrients for a healthier treat. (I’ll be adding another more crisp option)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans , or 1 (15 oz.) can drained and rinsed

• 1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

• 3/4 cup coconut sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon coarse granulated sugar , for topping (optional)

Instructions

1 Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. In the bowl of a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade, combine the black beans, flour, oil, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, vanilla, molasses, and vinegar. Process until a smooth batter is formed.

2 Pour the batter into the lined baking dish and sprinkle the top with the tablespoon of coarse sugar, if desired. Bake until the top feels firm to a light touch, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely before removing the bars from the pan and slicing.

3 These bars will keep well at room temperature for up to 48 hours tightly covered, but for best shelf life keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Posted in Family, Recipes | Tags: clean, Clean Living, Delicious, Families, Family, Fit Moms, Foodie, Gingerbread, gluten free, Gluten Free Gingerbread, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Recipe, Live Clean, Moms, no cheap ingredients, Paleo, recipe, Recipe of the week, recipes, smart, Tasty, Visalia, Yum, Yummy | Leave a comment |

Custom Calendar

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Daniel & April

Here’s a simple way to make a fancy customized calendar/event board. If you’re tired of everyone in your family clipping everything to the refrigerator & it falling off each time someone opens it…. then this DIY is for you!

Materials Needed

  • 24 x 36 piece of sheet metal (tip: find a slightly damaged one for a discount)
  • Dark Colored Sharpies
  • Long Ruler or straight edge
  • 24 x 36 Poster Frame w/ glass or plexiglass (I found a nice one for under $20 at WalMart)
  • Spray Paint

First decide which direction you want your calendar to be… vertical or horizontal.

I went with vertical. Then I marked out my calendar heading, days columns & date boxes using a ruler & a dark colored sharpie marker on my piece of sheet metal. (You can choose to paint your sheet metal first but I wanted the original silver color.) I only taped off a border & sprayed it a brownish copper.

Next I took a part my inexpensive frame and painted it an antiqued silvery copper. After it dried for a few hours I placed my plexiglass back in the frame & my marked out sheet metal.

FYI: You can choose to write your days of the week (Sunday, Monday etc) on the sheet metal or you can go with Magnets with the days of the week printed on them.

Finally you can hang it up. Be sure to use good nails & place it on at least one stud if you want it to hold a lot of items.

Now you just decorate it how you choose by using window markers, chalk markers or dry erase markers. You can choose to write the dates in each month or go with magnets. I made my own magnets to match my decor. Here’s a link to a kit to make your own: Blank Magnet Sheets

Posted in DIY, Organization | Tags: Calendar, California, Crafting, Crafts, DIY, Families, Family, Get Organized, Moms, organizer, safe, smart, Tulare, Visalia | Leave a comment |

Cucumber Greek Salad

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Daniel & April

This Cucumber Greek Salad is light and refreshing, and full of healthy ingredients. With minimal prep, it makes an easy side dish for any meal!
🕑10 minutes

Ingredients: Vegetarian, Gluten free
∙ Serves 8

Produce

2 Cucumbers
2 tsp Oregano, dried
1/2 Red onion
4 Roma tomatoes

Condiments

1 Black olives, pitted and sliced
1 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice

Spices

1 Salt and pepper

Oils & Vinegars

1/4 cup Olive oil

Dairy

1/2 cup Feta cheese

Posted in Clean Living, Health, Recipes | Tags: California, Clean Living, Delicious, Exeter, Families, Family, Fit Moms, Fresh, Fresh Cucumbers, gluten free, Greek Salad, Healthy Lifestyle, Lifestyle, Live Clean, Mediterranean, Moms, no cheap ingredients, recipe, Recipe of the week, recipes, Tasty, Tulare, Visalia | Leave a comment |

Dollar Days Summer Movies

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Daniel & April

Woohoo cheap summer fun! Great way to beat the heat!

Family fun movies playing on Tuesdays & Wednesdays for the summertime!
Admission to the Summer Movie Express is only $1. Tickets available for purchase at the box office and all movies start at 10:00 am. Each week both movies play on both days. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute.

Week 1
Tue. Jun 6 to Wed. Jun 7
Both movies play on both days
Kung Fu Panda 3
Ice Age: Collision Course

Week 2
Tue. Jun 13 to Wed. Jun 14
Both movies play on both days
Trolls
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Week 3
Tue. Jun 20 to Wed. Jun 21
Both movies play on both days
Monster Trucks
Penguins of Madagascar

Week 4
Tue. Jun 27 to Wed. Jun 28
Both movies play on both days
Rio 2
The Boxtrolls

Week 5
Tue. Jul 4 to Wed. Jul 5
Both movies play on both days
The Secret Life of Pets
Sing

Week 6
Tue. Jul 11 to Wed. Jul 12
Both movies play on both days
Kubo and the Two Strings
Ratchet and Clank

Week 7
Tue. Jul 18 to Wed. Jul 19
Both movies play on both days
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
The Adventures of Tintin

Week 8
Tue. Jul 25 to Wed. Jul 26
Both movies play on both days
Happy Feet Two
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Week 9
Tue. Aug 1 to Wed. Aug 2
Both movies play on both days
Storks
The Lego Batman Movie

Posted in Family, Kids Activities, Summer | Tags: Beat The Heat, Families, Family, Family Friendly, Family Movies, Kid Movies, Moms, smart, Summer, Visalia, Wheelchair Accessibility | Leave a comment |

Easy Breakfast Cups

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Daniel & April

Breakfest-Muffins1This recipe has saved our morning sanity. It’s so easy and we make a bunch all at once so we have 1 – 2 weeks worth of breakfasts DONE and ready to go.

Our mornings start bright and early at 5:15am so it’s a huge time saver when you have kids to get ready and get out the door!

Ingredients:

12 Eggs
Cheese (Any Type, Your Choice)Sausage Bits, Bacon Bits (Pre-Cooked)
Diced Onions
Potato (Cubed, or Shredded, dehydrated or slightly pre-cooked)
Fresh Salsa
Olive Oil
Muffin Tin

Directions:

Lightly spray or rub down your muffin tin with olive oil. Simply add a few onions, bacon bits, cheese, and potatoes to each cup. Then crack 1 egg over each cup. Place in oven at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Just pull side of egg cup with a fork and if the cup comes up easily its done cooking.

Tah-Dah! You just made breakfast for a week!

In our house we make 2-3 dozen every Sunday. We just store them in baggies in the fridge. Each morning we just pre-heat our toaster oven while we are making our coffee and pop 3-6 into the oven to warm. By the time our coffee is ready so is breakfast!

You can mix and match different veggies and meats into your cups each week to spice it up. Or even scramble your eggs before and just pour them in for a different texture! This recipe is so easy you can even let your kids help out. The tasty possibilities are endless!

Posted in Recipes | Tags: Breakfast, California, clean, Clean Living, Delicious, Easy, Exeter, Families, Family, Fit Moms, Food Lover, Foodie, Fresno, gluten free, Healthy, Healthy Breakfast, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Recipe, Iowa, Kids Cook, Kids Recipe, Live Clean, Missouri, Modere, Mom On A Mission, Moms, no cheap ingredients, Paleo, Paleo Breakfast, recipe, Recipe of the week, recipes, Simple, smart, Tasty, Tulare, Visalia, Yum | Leave a comment |

Cucumber Noodle Salad

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Daniel & April

CucumberNoodleSalad
What we absolutely love about this dish is that you can make it as simple as you want or as fancy as you want!

First you need the right tools.

We used a Veggetti to noodlize our cucumbers. It works well, but if your cucumber is too large it will not fit.

Also if you have limited strength or grip it can be difficult to use.

Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer Pro 4-Blade

You may want to consider getting a Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer Pro, it takes up more storage space but is much easier to use if you have limited grip and strength in your hands.

Ok now on to our recipe!

Veggetti-LongIngredients

3 TBSP fresh lemon juice [or lime!]
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP rice vinegar
¼ tsp soy sauce
⅛ tsp dill [fresh or dried]
⅛ tsp ground pepper
½ tsp fresh minced garlic
¼-1/2 cup fresh chopped green onion, plus extra to garnish
2 TBSP honey
1 pinch of toasted sesame seeds and chia seeds
3 large cucumbers

Instructions
Grab a giant English cucumber, a spiral slicer/veggie peeler, and follow the kitchen gadget instructions to noodlize your 3 cucumbers!
Whisk everything together and pour over noodles.
Let them sit at room temperature to soak up all the yummy dressing for 10 min or so then pop it in the fridge to chill a bit.
Garnish with cilantro or chopped green onion. Crushed peanuts or cashews are great too!
It’s ridiculously easy to customize based on what you have available as well as what you prefer taste/topping-wise!

Tips: To fancy it up noodlize some carrots and toss in some peas.
To spice it up add some wasabi to your dressing mixture.

 

Here You Can Find Our Full Reviews for the
Veggetti & the Panderno Spiralizer Pro

Posted in Recipes | Tags: California, Clean Living, Cucumbers, Exeter, Family, Fit Moms, Fresh Cucumbers, Fresno, gluten free, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Meals, Healthy Recipe, Live Clean, Merced, Moms, no cheap ingredients, Paleo, recipe, Recipe of the week, recipes, smart, Tulare, Veggie Noodles, Visalia, Yummy |

515 Chemicals A Day

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Daniel & April

The skin is the body’s largest organ. It’s also the biggest for toxins to get inside. It’s not only what you eat, but what you put on your body that is vital to your health. Yet, conventional bath and beauty products are riddled with harmful chemicals. It’s important to take notice of what you put on your #skin.
——————————————

Visit www.Modere.com
Use REFERRAL CODE 600574
You’ll get a FREE $10.00 to get you moving towards a Live Clean lifestyle & a healthier YOU!

—————————————–
They’ve taken a stance against potentially harmful ingredients: no Ethoxylates, no PEGS, SLS, Phthalates, and no Parabens. Add about 750 more for a total of about 3000 other nasty ingredients they completely avoid. Their formulas are pure, reliable and high-performing. Safe. Smart. Stylish.

infographic-skin-final-mine

Posted in Clean Living, Health, Wisdom | Tags: All Natural, Avoid Toxins, Beauty, Body Care, Classy, Clean Beauty, Clean Living, Detox, Families, Fit Moms, GiveAway, Hair Care, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Moms, Healthy Skin, Live Clean, Men, Modere, Moms, Natural Beauty, Skin Care, Skin Deep, Women | Leave a comment |

What Happens When Satan Steals Your Motherhood

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Daniel & April

Satan MotherhoodIt is there, and it creeps up like a silent killer. Maybe it is the wet underwear that you found floating in the hallway bathroom. Or the cat food that has been flung out on the floor like tiny marbles waiting to trip up a passerby. Or the loud thumping and yelling and tantruming as if we live in some sort of primal age where roaring and beating your chest were the only way to get other’s attention.

And all of that madness and anger? It wasn’t the kids. It was me. The mother. The one who left a pair of Superman undies in a bathroom we rarely use for days, fed the cat without my glasses after someone else forgot, and the loud, obnoxious, downright scary human being I can be when I have just had more than I can handle.

That’s the kind of thing that happens when you allow satan to steal your motherhood.

No, it’s not the mistakes. It’s not the forgetfulness. It is what happens on the inside that no one else sees. And he knows just how to get to you.

He admires you, you know. But only when you yell at your kids, complain about tasks that need to be done regardless of how many people are in your home. He loves it when you wish you were the mom with the skinny jeans and tall boots and shiny hair with the perfectly groomed kids at the mall play area. You look at her and think you are sub-par. Satan loves that.

Satan also loves it when you get scared because someone posted a random video online of how their four year old can read, so you freak out that YOUR four year old is more interested in roaming outdoors and playing with bobby pins and giving them names, so you panic because books are the last thing on her mind. Satan is clapping now.

Satan also adores you when you get on the phone and ignore your kids, when you hide your true feelings and dreams and frustrations with your husband with a weak “I’m fine”, and when you feel like this fun birthday party at the park for your children isn’t “the best” compared to someone else’s insanely expensive Pinterest celebration.

Satan wants you to fail. And to feel alone. And to feel inadequate to what Someone Else has CALLED you to do.

Because I might as well have left the front door unlocked and allowed a thief to come right in my home yesterday. I mean, why not? I let satan in. After all the fussing and nagging and utter bone tired exhaustion, I crawled into bed with my three year old for a moment. Just to apologize.

“I am so sorry today was so rough”

“I didn’t think it was rough. I thought it was fun!”

“Really? Which part was fun?”

“The part where we played on the couch like we were on a boat. Where we ‘fished’ with your belt as a fishing line, and used the couch pillows for life boats”.

Tears started rolling down my cheeks.

“Please pray for me. That I can be a better Mommy”.

“Oh, I did! Earlier today. When it was sunny. Right before we played the boat game”.

Today I’m locking the door tight to whatever evil enters my heart and home.

Today I am going to remember the One who GIVES LIFE and knows I am a mess and LOVES ME ANYWAY.

I washed the undies. The cat took care of the food. That four year old is now six and can read like a champ. But she still names random things. And it’s cool that my hair is “shiny” because it is unwashed and I can’t wear tall boots because they make me taller than the guy that loves me to the moon and back.

Roll those cars down a ramp, read one more princess story, forget how “busy” you think you are and what the world thinks you should accomplish in a 24 hour period and for heaven’s sake, LOG OFF OF PINTEREST.

Take your kids and an old, worn blanket, reheat that coffee and hold them tight and just rest at the feet of Jesus for a moment.

Today? It is going to be okay. Take back your motherhood. It is a gift. Listen to the life-giver, NOT the liar.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. {John 10:10}

This post originally appeared at Letters From The Nest

Posted in Faith, Family | Tags: Faith, Giver Of Life, Jesus, John 10:10, Moms, Motherhood | Leave a comment |

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