Everything Organic – These Crazy Montanas

Fri – YAY

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

It’s finally Friday y’all! Not that our weekend routine varies too much from the week, there is still an excitement in the air that it’s the weekend! We have lots of fun fall activities planned this weekend that should lead to some epic afternoon naps for the little guy, which will mean some bad A workouts for this mama. Woohoo!

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of me and Max’s staples. The fruit/veggie/protein smoothie. I am a sucker for anything that can knock out a serving veggies while only tasting like a serving of fruits. I wish I liked vegetables, but I don’t…so I have to get creative with ways to get them in my bod!

Here is what you’ll need:

Makes 2 Servings:

2 cups almond milk

1 cup strawberries

1 cup blueberries

1 banana

3 cups spinach

2 scoops Orgain Organic Protein Powder

Combine all ingredients into blender, blend until smooth.

ENJOY!

Max Approves!

Which means I do too. 😉

Happy Weekend Friends!

XOXO

Tavia

Our Family Eats

October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

I don’t think I am alone on this one (or at least I tell myself I’m not), my toddler pretty much hates anything I cook unless its pizza or mac and cheese. I can only sneak in so many vegetables on his pizza and trying to stuff chicken into his shells and cheese is getting old. Although this recipe might not be loaded with vegetables, it’s loaded with protein..and Max scarfed it right up. There may or may not have been happy tears shed.

We’re calling it Mexican Chicken Pot Pie.

Here’s what you’ll need.

3 Chicken Breasts

1 can cream of chicken (I use the organic kind)

1 can black beans

1 can corn or 1 bag frozen corn

1 jar salsa

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

2 pie crusts

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375.

Boil (or bake) your chicken breasts until cooked thoroughly. Shred. I shred my chicken in my kitchen aid mixer on setting 4 for about 40 seconds.

Combine chicken, black beans, corn, cream of chicken, salsa, and cheese into bowl.

Mix Thoroughly.

Pour mixture into casserole dish. Mine is 13×9.

Roll out pie crusts and place on top of mixture. Puncture with fork. I might have gotten carried away with the poking.

Bake for 35 minutes (or until pie crust is a golden brown).

Waa lah! You have yourself a super simple, delicious, family approved meal! I served mine with a side salad.

Let me know what you think!!

Happy Thursday Friends!

XOXO,

Tavia

A Day to Remember and a Game to Forget

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

It’s OU/texas weekend y’all!! We have been rocking our crimson and cream all week!! One of the things I love the most about having gone to OU is the school pride. I don’t think it is going to matter how old I get, I will always get butterflies when I hear our fight song. The OU/Texas rivalry is something every Sooner and Longhorn fan looks forward to each year. It doesn’t matter the team ranks, each team shows up for this game (well, you hope they do). We had a little watch party to cheer on our Sooners while they did some ~~work~~ losing.

On the menu:

White chicken chili: I follow this recipe, White Chicken Chili , and make a couple changes. Actually, just one. I use all organic ingredients, so I don’t use the Bush beans. Ha.

Dutch Oven Beef Chili: I used this recipe, Dutch Oven Chili. I altered the recipe by using just 1lb beef. The hubs, wasn’t so happy about that. He’s right. There really isn’t anything better than chili leftovers. We cooked this chili in our Dutch Oven on our Big Green Egg (best investment ever).

The Sides: Shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, and Fritos.

Chili seems to be my go to menu item when having a group of people over. It’s healthy, fairly easy to throw together, pretty hard to mess up, and easy to make sure you have enough food!

The party was a success…even if the game was not. We lost. Bad. But, that’s what keeps this rivalry fun. You never know whats going to happen. We still love our Sooners and we’re mourning with them today. 😉

^^ Best. Photo. Moment. Ever.

^^ Long gone are the days that it was easy to make him perform for pictures.

I hope y’all had an amazing weekend!

XOXO, Tavia

What We Ate Wednesday

December 18, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

I cannot believe it is already time for What We Ate Wednesday again! The weeks are flying by. We are 9 days out from Christmas and I am the farthest thing from prepared! With all the crazy that the holidays bring it is so important for me to stay on top of my meals! I try to eat in as much as possible. That is the easiest way for me to stay on track with all the holiday yumminess so easily accessible everywhere. Here is my day!

Breakfast: The usual. 3 egg yolks with 2 egg whites and half a cup of oatmeal.

Snack: A protein shake (orgain organic powder mixed with 2 cups almond milk) and a cocoa loco bar from Mimi’s house. Holy delicious.

Lunch: Taco Salad! Honestly, I wasn’t that excited about this lunch because we literally have nothing in our refrigerator. All we had was some salad and leftover taco meat from the night before. I heated up with meat with some sharp cheddar on top and then threw it all on a bed of super greens. It actually turned out delicious!

I also had a cup of Roiboos tea to go with it…if you have never tried Roiboos, try it! It is amazing and has so many health benefits!

Snack: 1 handful of almonds with about a cup of dried raspberries. I will probably never eat those little raspberries again…they are so sour!

Dinner: Faux fried chicken, super greens salad, and organic macaroni and cheese (my weakness..all in moderation y’all)

Faux friend chicken recipe:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium size bowl add two whole eggs and mix well.

In a gallon size ziplock add 2 cups organic Panko bread crumbs and 3 tbs of parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Dip your chicken breasts in the eggs until fully coated and throw them into the ziplock bag mixture. Shake well.

Place coated chicken breasts on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes! Super east and super delicious.

What We Ate Wednesday

December 4, 2014December 5, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

I get asked all the time what I eat. So I have decided to show y’all! Every Wednesday I will post all of my meals and recipes! I don’t ever diet, ever. It is much easier for me to stay healthy if I have a good balance. What does that mean? I eat things like cookies and pizza every once in a while and I never deprive myself (that leads to bad decisions later!). I do my best to make sure we are eating organic ingredients all the time. None of that fake food is welcome in this Montana house! We don’t do artificial sweeteners, colors, fat free, low fat, etc etc. I have included Max’s little meals too, mostly because pictures are much cuter with his face!

Breakfast: My breakfast is almost always the same. I do 3 whole eggs + 2 egg whites with 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1 banana mixed in (I add cinnamon for more flavor). I am pretty much addicted to orange juice, so I have my little glass every morning. Max enjoys his breakfast oatmeal at this time too 🙂

Snack: Ok, this is weird, and not a norm, but breastfeeding cravings have been way worse than any pregnancy craving! Lately, that craving has called for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I use two slices of bread, about 1 1/2 tbs peanut butter and 1/2 tbs jelly.

Lunch: Max and I ventured to our local Whole Foods to buy ingredients for our dinner so lunch was on the go. I made myself a salad from the salad bar at Whole Foods. Loaded that sucker up with spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, almonds, chicken, and a little bit of balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I also had two tacos from the taco bar. (My phone died or I would have had photo evidence of this amazing lunch)

Snack: My favorite part of the day is my Orgain Organic protein shake. I mixed two scoops of the protein powder with 2 cups almond milk.

Dinner: With all this gloomy weather we have been having I have been in the mood for soups lately. I decided chicken chili was the way to go! This bad boy is the bomb.com.

Here is how its made:

1 onion chopped and placed on the bottom of the crockpot

3 chicken breasts

1 package taco seasoning

1 can black beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can corn

1 10oz can of tomato paste

1 can of rotel

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Layer all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. This made my house smell amazing!

While the hubby and I enjoyed our chicken chilli, Max was chowing down on some sweet potatoes and peas! He loves both! Yay!

And all of that, along with about a gallon of water, is how my Wednesday meals looked! What do y’all think?

Solids Y’all

November 22, 2014November 22, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

Well ladies and gentlemen, we have started solids in this Montana household. And to my dismay, Baby Max is not thrilled. At. All. We started with avocado. We had his Daddy, Mimi, Papa, and Auntie Kienna all here to witness his first bites of real food. At first, he was just excited because we were all cheering for him, and then, the reality of this ooey gooey new texture in his mouth set in. He gagged, gagged some more, and it all came back up. Poor guy. I knew this could happen so I wasn’t discouraged (yet). We tried again the next morning, and an even worse reaction. So we took a few days off, and tried carrots, fail. Then we tried oatmeal, by this time the kid gagged at the sight of his spoon. I felt so bad. He wasn’t ready. I don’t know why I felt like I had to rush him into solids. It seemed like that was the next milestone we needed to check off the list right at the six month mark. We have taken a few weeks off from trying new solids and just this morning we went back to the avocados. You can tell by these pictures how he felt. Ha!

He’s not super thrilled but this is a huge improvement from last time. There was one gag, and no throwing up. LOL! In a way, I’m selfishly glad he isn’t ready for solids. I am so not ready for our breastfeeding relationship to begin to end. Any of you other mamma’s experience this when starting solids?

Protein Packed Oatmeal Pancakes

September 24, 2014September 24, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

I’m not usually the kind of person to brag….but I’m bragging today. I kind of feel like a culinary genius (ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration), I made the best protein pancakes this morning. They are super easy to put together and delicious! Here is what I did!

Ingredients:

2 whole eggs

1 tbs Greek yogurt

1 scoop Orgain Organic chocolate protein

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup organic almond unsweetened almond milk

What you do:

Blend all ingredients in small blender

Pour onto skillet on medium-high and cook like a regular pancake

Tah-da! The best breakfast creation. I topped mine with a 1 tbs of organic peanut butter and 1 tbs of pure maple syrup

Disclaimer: I messed up with the pancake flip, so mine don’t look pretty. I promise they are delicious. This recipe will make two regular size pancakes or one giant one 🙂

Good luck flipping and enjoy these little pieces of heaven!

-Tavia

Healthy-er Mac and Cheese

September 17, 2014September 17, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

If it were acceptable I would eat mac and cheese for every meal, every day, possibly for the rest of my life. I think most kids share that same feeling towards mac and cheese that I do! This recipe helps make this childhood staple much healthier!

Creamy Greek Yogurt Mac and Cheese:

What you need:

8 oz elbow pasta

2 cups spinach

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

1 tbs almond milk

8 oz cheddar cheese (about two cups, I use extra sharp cheddar)

salt & pepper about a tsp of both or to taste

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to the package

Place the spinach leaves in the bottom of the strainer, and pour pasta over the top to drain the water. This will cause the spinach to wilt. Return the pasta and spinach mixture to the pot.

Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Stir in Greek yogurt, almond milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until creamy! Enjoy immediately 🙂

Not only is this stuff some of the creamiest mac and cheese I’ve ever had, it is a great way to sneak in those veggies for all those picky eaters out there! Enjoy!

I can’t forget about my happy little sous chef, he can’t wait to try this someday soon! Ha!

Kid Friendly Protein Smoothie

September 10, 2014September 10, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

Last weekend on our weekly Costco trip we found the most exciting thing, Orgain Organic powdered protein! I was so excited I think my husband was a little embarrassed. This stuff is the bomb.com. Even the pickiest of eaters will love this stuff. You don’t have to worry about any GMO’s, gluten, dairy, or soy because the makers do not use any of those ingredients!

Here is how I like to make it!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen organic banana

1 serving Orgain organic creamy chocolate fudge protein powder

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender! Enjoy the frosty like goodness of this protein smoothie!

Let me know what you and your kiddos think of this gem!

Keepin’ Kids Healthy

September 3, 2014September 3, 2014 Taryn and TaviaLeave a comment

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness month, obviously something that is near and dear to my heart! I want kids to be pumped, excited, and proud to be eating healthy and being active! Well, it starts with us, the adults. We need to be the example. Throughout the month I am going to post my favorite healthy recipes that kids happen to love too! This weeks recipe is one I found on Pinterest (the mecca of all great things) and altered to make it healthier! I forgot to mention it takes five minutes to put together…literally five minutes.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole:

Pre-heat oven to 350

What you need:

4 chicken breasts

1 jar organic marinara sauce

2 cups organic mozzarella cheese

2 cups herb seasoning stuffing mix

Now, you will cut up the chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place on the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer the marinara sauce over the chicken, the cheese over the sauce, followed by the seasoned stuffing mix! Pop in the oven for 40 minutes, and waa-lah! Dinner is done. Serve over organic spaghetti noodles or spaghetti squash! We ate ours with a side of steamed broccoli! 🙂 Happy eating!

-Tavia