Chocolate PB-Banana Breakfast Smoothie

Mornings when I don't particularly feel hungry I like to make up a big, healthy smoothie. Usually one like this, full of fruit, yogurt and a healthy green like spinach or even kale. I usually have a least a few kiddos begging for a glass too!

Today I had a full carton of chocolate almond milk staring me in the eyes. So I went a different route with my smoothie, one that will curb those sweet cravings in fact. I really like this combo, I think it's a new favorite.

Chocolate PB-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate almond milk
1 banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
Crushed ice

Directions:
Add almond milk, banana and peanut butter to a blender. Blend together until smooth. Add a couple of handfuls of crushed ice and blend until it's reached your desired consistency.

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I have to say we're still going strong in our spending strike. We did spend some money this weekend but we had already planned for this expense. Josh and our oldest bowled in a fundraiser tournament in memory of a close friend's brother that passed away three years ago unexpectedly at the age of 35. The proceeds go to scholarships for the youth bowlers so it's a great cause.

We also started having issues with the plug in our bathtub. It was being stubborn and of course last night Josh tried to pull it up and it snapped right off. So that will need to be replaced sooner than later. I've got two little ones that love their baths!

Spending Strike Week 1 Update

Tomorrow marks one full week of our month long spending strike. It's really been a pretty normal week around here. I'll try to give you a little run down for each day.

Last Friday I made sure to do our normal weekly grocery shopping, I did spend a little more than I normally do but at the same time made sure that I wasn't going crazy. In the evening when Josh got home from work we headed to Sam's Club for a couple items and then I stopped by the milk store to add money to our card {we get a nice discount and it's just like a debit card} and to grab a gallon of milk.

Saturday: Our girls have their bowling league every Saturday morning, we eat breakfast and then head out. We've talked about our no-spending month for quite some time now so they knew the drill. No quarters for after league. They usually get one or two quarters to put into the machines and get something small. All ended well, they didn't even ask for anything.

Sunday: Most of our day was spent preparing the house for our families to come over and watch the Super Bowl with us. It was sort of a last minute plan but worked out great. Between myself and the others, everyone brought over plenty of food to enjoy and we had a great time with our loved ones. Obviously having just gone grocery shopping, it was easy to make up a few appetizers with what I had on hand. I made bacon-wrapped crackers, a guacamole dip, Kit Kat barrel cake and these buffalo chicken egg rolls.

My husband also got very lucky and won a couple of football pools he had entered a couple weeks back. He ended up winning $500 on one and then $100 on another. Yay for extra money!

Monday: Mondays are one of our busiest days of the week. After work, it's rushing to get dinner on the table and then off to dance class for the girls and I and bowling league for Josh. Usually he goes out to dinner afterward instead of eating with us. Not this week! That saved us about $15.

Tuesday: I was low on milk at this point and had to make a trip to the milk store, $3.29 was taken off of our card.

Wednesday: Another night of dance class. Nothing too exciting going on and no money spent.

Thursday: Our oldest had an orthodontist appointment in the morning, which resulted in more driving than I would like to have done. I've still got about 3/4 of a tank left and I also forgot to fill up before our challenge started. So I've technically gone 2 weeks already on the same tank of gas. We'll see if I can make it the full month.

Our six-year old also had Girl Scouts last night, so we did have to give her $1 for dues. She also brought home cookies to begin selling this weekend. We've already told the girls, sorry, we have to wait to purchase any until March. Of course it might be tempting with boxes of delicious cookies sitting around but they'll survive. I just might have to make some homemade cookies for them to enjoy in the meantime!


Not a whole lot went on this last week. We're pretty easy going people, complete homebodies and as you can see this no-spending challenge so far doesn't seem to be too much out of the ordinary. My goal for this weekend is to menu plan from what I have on hand. I'll also be needing to go to grab some produce, I only have $8 of my $15 remaining, since I spend about $7 on milk.

If you're joining in on the challenge, please, let me know how it's going for you and your family. I'd love to hear your stories!

Kit Kat Barrel Cake

Sunday we ended up celebrating the Super Bowl at our house, it was sort of a last minute decision but definitely a lot of fun. We had my husband's side of the family along with my parents over. Everyone pitched in with food, especially my mother-in-law and I stayed within terms of our spending strike.

Without going into too much detail, because I do plan to post on Friday our progress from the first week; we've done great so far. I did our regular grocery shopping on Friday so I had plenty on hand to make up a few appetizers for the game with no problem.

The girls helped me make this cake. I have this huge bag of M&Ms leftover from Christmas time when I was working on a cookie order. I've made one of these cakes before and thought it would be a fun addition to our spread.

I love it not only because it's so easy to decorate, it's a great cake for any occasion. Since M&Ms come in  many fun colors for all of the holidays, you can easily coordinate it to your theme.

For our cake, we stuck with a classic chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream. Lots of chocolate all in one dessert, can't get any better than that! Most everyone took a plate of cake home with them since we were stuffed to the gills. It's better that way, I didn't want to be tempted with cake all week!

Kit Kat Barrel Cake

Ingredients:
2-layer chocolate cake, baked and cooled
10 packs regular size Kit Kat bars
M&Ms
Ribbon
Cake board or platter of some sort to place cake on

Chocolate Buttercream:
2 sticks butter, softened
2-lb. bag powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate flavored milk powder {Nesquik, Ovaltine, etc}
Heavy cream or milk, for thinning

Directions:
To make buttercream: In the stand of a large mixer or a large bowl, cream together butter and vanilla extract. Gradually start adding in powdered sugar and both chocolate milk powder and cocoa. Alternating with each other. I only use about 3/4 of the powdered sugar. Thin with either heavy cream or milk to your desired consistency.  Set aside when done.

To assemble cake: Trim tops of both layers of cake. Place one layer on prepared cake board, plate or platter. Add a big dollop of frosting to the middle and spread evenly. Top with the second cake layer.

Frost the entire cake, sides and top with the chocolate buttercream. Should look like this:

Carefully unwrap all of the candy bars and break them apart into individual pieces. Start lining each piece around the cake. You should have a couple pieces leftover. Sprinkle M&Ms on top of cake. Tie a ribbon around the cake if desired.

Serves 12-15, depending on how big you cut your slices.

Banana Nut Coffee Cake

I teased you all on Facebook last week with this photo. My mom texted me before church last Sunday and asked if we'd like a pan of banana coffee cake if she made it. Of course! So before the blizzard like conditions set in for the night, we made a quick trip over to their house to grab this pan.

Amazing is one way to put it. I've fallen in love with this new recipe. Apparently she's been busy selling this at the deli she manages. I can understand why!

It's not like your traditional cinnamon coffee cake, but rather a banana cake with a sweet, nutty topping. It's perfect for breakfast, snack, dessert, really anytime throughout the day. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to stop at just one piece either...really.


Banana Nut Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
5 tbsp milk
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1 stick butter, cubed
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts {my mom used walnuts, but pecans would be good too}

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, milk and mashed banana. Gradually mix in flour and baking soda. Add vanilla extract and beat well to combine.

Pour into a lightly greased 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside.

In a bowl combine brown sugar and nuts for topping. Cut in cold, cubed butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 mins. or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool just a bit before serving.

February Spending Strike

Back at the end of December I read this book. It was a very quick read and thought provoking. And the author lives here in Iowa, actually not too far away from me. The idea is intriguing, to not spend any money out of your bank account for one whole month; besides paying your bills, etc. But to give up any and all unnecessary spending? For some it may seem like a piece of cake, but for many others, it would take some major dedication and self discipline.

I mentioned before, some Iowa bloggers were jumping in with their own spending strikes for January. Our family thought long and hard about this and decided we needed to wait until February to participate. It sounds like a fun challenge but we knew we had some things going on that would be necessary for us to swipe the debit card. It seemed only fair we do this the right way.

So here we are, February 1st is tomorrow. No backing out now!

You know honestly, this shouldn't be hard for us. We're not big spenders, mainly because we can't afford to be. I'm blessed to be able to work from home and be here for my kiddos, but in order to do that, we have made sacrifices. We can't go out to eat very often, I keep our grocery budget pretty low, we don't take extravagant vacations, we don't drive brand new vehicles and I love not having a car payment because of that.  But I promise you, our kids are not lacking in anything!

My hope for this month is to just have fun with this challenge. Yes, it may get hard at times. The kids might whine because they want a couple quarters to spend at the machines after bowling. The hubby is going to miss going out for dinner with his buds after bowling league. I'm going to force myself to plan out my errands a little better, making the best use of my time and gas so that I'm not wasting.

So let's get started. Here are our "rules" for the month:

February Spending Strike Rules:

1.  All bills and necessary expenses will be paid for the month. {i.e. bowling league and dance lessons}

Gas- Both vehicles will start with a full tank of gas, our aim is to make mine last the entire month, since I work from home I don't drive the van much. Josh, on the other hand will have to fill up at least once. We're going to be more conscious about our driving through this challenge.

2. Absolutely NO unnecessary spending allowed! This means no quarters for the girls after bowling, no eating out for Josh on Monday nights and no shopping for clothes, books, toys, etc. 

3. No gift card spending allowed. {We received a nice amount of gift cards for Christmas, but we've decided that seems like cheating to us if we use those}We also decided if we take back pop cans, sell items at the consignment shop, etc; that money is to not be spent. That's cheating, again!

4. In the event of an emergency or an absolute necessary expense comes up, we will review the case and take the steps needed. {i.e. doctor visits, household repair, etc}

5. We are aiming to eat from our pantry, freezer and fridge for the whole month, using up ingredients we already have on hand. Now keep in mind, we have small children and I care for a few kids 3 days a week for daycare. Under no circumstance would I put their health in jeopardy for some silly challenge. But I know for a fact that my freezers are full of meat, veggies, fruit and many other items that I have preserved from the summer months. I have decided to allow $15 each week to be used towards milk, eggs and any sort of produce I can buy with that amount of money. 

6. Since I do decorate cakes/cupcakes on the side and I already have orders on the calendar for the month. I will be purchasing the needed ingredients for those orders.

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What do you think? Anyone on board and want to join our family?! Leave a comment below and let me know. My goal is to update once a week and let you know how our challenge is going. If you're joining in, I'd love to hear your progress or any tips you might have.

Taco Soup

Over the years I have to admit, I've gotten so much better about using up leftovers in our fridge. Growing up, I don't remember our family eating leftovers much. I suppose in that way, we were sort of spoiled.

Even in my first few years of marriage I remember cleaning out the fridge and throwing away container after container of food. I'm sorry if that makes you cringe. I realize how wasteful that must seem.  But fast forward to now, I make an extra effort to either use up those leftovers for lunches the next day or to re-create a whole new meal.

When we make tacos, I always make up extra meat just because they're actually one meal that's really good the next day. Or it's even easier to make into a whole other meal. Whether it be taco pizza, nachos, taco pasta bake or this soup. Especially now that we spent a good chunk of money on locally pastured meat, I aim to not waste a darn bit of it!

Since we were in for a blizzard warning Sunday night through Monday, this was the perfect meal to have on that cold night. Topped with cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips and avocado.....yum! I could go for another bowl right now.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef/seasoned taco meat
14.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can tomato sauce
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes {do not drain}
2 cups water
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn
salt and pepper, to taste
1-1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, stir well. Cover and let cook on low throughout the day, for at least 5-6 hours. When ready to serve, ladle into bowls. Serve with grated cheddar cheese, tortilla chips and avocado if desired.

Cookies 'n Cream Parfaits

Besides this crappy weather we're currently having in northeast Iowa, it was a fabulous weekend in our house. We didn't do much of anything, which was welcomed by everyone; we also enjoyed these parfaits on Saturday evening.

I felt like making something special for the girls to enjoy after dinner. They definitely loved their pudding cups, especially because they had Oreos folded in the pudding, which is a huge treat in this house!

I like making my pudding and whipped cream from scratch, it's really pretty easy and tastes so much better than the store bought kind. But if you're feeling a little strapped on time or intimidated by the thought, by all means, whip up a box of instant pudding. But at least make your own whipped cream, I promise it will only take you three minutes. It's worth it, I swear!

Cookies 'n Cream Parfaits

Ingredients:

For the pudding:
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips {I used a combo of milk chocolate and semi-sweet}
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
5-6 Oreos, crushed plus more for topping

Directions:
For the pudding:  In a saucepan, stir together sugar, corn starch, cocoa powder and salt. Gradually pour in milk and heavy cream, whisking to combine well. Let come to a boil, making sure to whisk constantly, let boil for about 2 minutes. The pudding will start to thicken at this point. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for at least two hours or until set.

To make whipped cream: Add cream to a large bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat cream on a high speed. When the cream starts to thicken, gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla. As the cream forms soft peaks you may stop mixing and fold in crushed Oreos.

To assemble parfaits: Layer pudding and whipped cream into cups or bowls, ending with whipped cream. Sprinkle crushed Oreos on top if desired. Enjoy!

Makes enough for 3-4 good sized parfaits.

In other fun news, have you heard that I'm now a field editor with Taste of Home magazine? I'm pretty stoked about this new opportunity. I was surprised to come home Saturday morning from the girls' bowling league and find a box on my front porch. Of course the hubby instantly asked what I bought haha. These were just some of the goodies they sent me, how awesome is that?!