McDonald's Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe Uncovered...

I know I have a TON of things I need to update the blog about.  Halloween.  Family Pictures.  Dax's 8 month monster photo shoot (which still hasn't happened, because he's sick), recent Adaisms (and there are plenty that I'm quickly forgetting!), all of the new adorableness up for sale at Sweetish Baby, etc. 

But, I'm choosing to use my sparse free time to blog about the trivial things.  Like figuring out how to make an exact duplication (except without the high fructose corn syrup, and $3 pricetag of course) of McDonald's Strawberry Banana smoothie- which Ada can't seem to get enough of. 

Is it sad that that is the negative reinforcement that works best for us?  Not "you're about to get a time-out", or "You are about to lose your TV privileges for the day"... it's "You are about to lose the opportunity to get a "smoovie" on the way home!" 

See below for my make-shift, grossly unprofessional recipe! 

In the blender:

• 1/2 soft banana
• About 6-7 large frozen strawberries (8-9 if they're small)
• Cover the fruit about 75% with whatever-milk-you-have-on-hand.  It looks about like 1 cup.
• A liberal splash (on the verge of a pour) of french vanilla creamer.

Blend, and Oila!  It makes enough for a HUGE serving (think- 20 oz), or 2 smaller servings (think- straw sippy cup and small juice glass for mom!)

Delicioso

You have to try this Chicken Parmesan recipe- it's SO tasty, and SO healthy! I love Elie Krieger, a Nutritionist that has her own show on the Food Network. I've been planning on making this for a while- and been saving the butts of bread for weeks to make my own breadcrumbs (so they could be whole wheat! My friend Tiffany uses leftover bread from her breadmaker to make breadcrumbs- I might have to try that next!). So I finally got around to making it, and let me tell you- it is definitely going to be become a part of the routine recipe rotation! Casey LOVED it, Ada ATE HER MEAT, and it was delicious and nutritious! This is Elie's recipe- I put the tweaks I made in green!

Ingredients:
-4 slices whole wheat bread (for the breadcrumbs- just throw it in the food processor, then spread on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray, and bake for about 12 min on 350. It's OK if they get a little too crispy, but you definitely don't want soft or soggy.)
-1/c flour (I used 1c, just to be safe and well coated!)
-1 tsp dried oregano (I'm pretty sure I used way more than this.)
-1/2 tsp dried garlic POWDER (not garlic SALT. Big difference in nutrition! Also pretty sure I used more.)
-4 tsp paprika
-1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
-1/2 tsp cinnamon (I think this was the amount? I honestly didn't measure any of this: I just put it all in various amounts based on how much I like the spice!)
-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (I LOVE sweet and spicy!)
-2 eggs + 1/2c milk (Elie used just egg whites, but I'm not THAT crazy over the amount of fat in a dish- especially if it's from a natural source. Plus, the cholesterol is good for Ada's brain. Use whatever milk you've got in the fridge. Elie says skim, I used whole and it worked fine.)
-4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves; pounded to 1/2 in thick. (I would pound to even thinner- ours came out SUPER thick- which was amazing; but impossible to finish a whole breast! Maybe cut them in half before breading, too? These servings end up HUGE.)
-1 jar marinara sauce (I actually just used a pasta sauce I had on hand- complete with chunky vegetables. And it was great! You might want to double this to 2 jars- I'll explain later.)
-3/4 c mozzerella (I have no clue how much I actually used. I just covered the top of the dish!)
-2 tbl GOOD parmesan (we're talking the $8 wedge you get from the cheese lady at HEB. But you don't need much, and it will last a while wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Also- I'm pretty sure I used way more than 2 tbl!)

Directions:
-In 3 separate medium bowls (I used deep plates), put the flour, the eggs/milk, and the bread crumbs with all of your spices. Dredge each breast through 1)flour, 2) eggs/milk, and 3)the bread crumbs. Get a good, thorough coating of each to ensure major crispiness!!! Place them all on your foiled baking sheet.
-in a 400 oven, bake these for 15 minutes. Spray them with cooking spray on each side before hand.
-Pull out, top with a jar of marinara sauce and your cheeses, and bake another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and calling your name.
-We cooked spaghetti noodles to put our chicken on; but you will probably want another jar of pasta/marinara sauce b/c it just wasn't enough with the one jar over the chicken!

Homemade!

Here is a homemade pizza! From the whole wheat crust (from the breadmaker! Much better than the one I tried this summer, MiMi!), the pizza sauce (a very fabulous way I'm learning to sneak a wide variety and large amounts of vegetables in...for both my husband and my daughter. We're talking carrots, tomatoes, peppers, arugula and/or spinach, onions, garlic, and whatever else I've got laying around!), and the herbs on top are from the garden! (The vegetables were store-bought...but will soon be our own, hopefully!). And last but not least- of course- the sausage and cheese were from the pigs and cows we've been raising in the backyard. (Joking).

It actually turned out really great- sometimes my healthy/homemade experiments aren't quite perfect! :)

Knead Bread?

I've had this urge to buy a bread maker lately. We will go look at them, and I will talk myself out of it with the reasoning that a) I will only enjoy it (therefore use it) for a brief moment in time (I'm famous for that), and b) I will not be able to actually successfully bake a loaf of bread. Well, Grandma and Grandpa (Casey's parents) are getting ready for a garage sale, and found one that they have had and never used!! So we brought it home and put it to work!

Like new!
It does all of the work for you- kneading, rising, kneading, rising, punching, rising, then baking!!! All you have to do is put the right ingredients in and choose your setting!

First loaf!

Here it is sliced and ready to be eaten. We made French Bread, because we had pasta for dinner tonight- so it eventually became Garlic Bread. Yum!

Ada enjoying- still warm and fluffy!

I'm going to try Whole Wheat sandwhich bread next week- then the fun begins! Apple bread, garlic-herb bread, pumpernuckel (sp?) bread, and the list goes on! :) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa ("Pa")!!!!

Christmas #5: Mobley Money Hats

.... after Ada's nap on Christmas Day (a rather long one, after playing her heart out with her new toys!), we headed to Uncle Christian's to have a Very Mobley Christmas! Grams always gives us $50 pinned to some sort of hat. Some years she hand makes them, some years something random and crazy catches her attention! This year we donned Cat in the Hat hats!

Front (l-r): Stacy, Christian, Andi, Alicia, Ricky

Back (l-r): Rick, Drew, MiMi, Dani, Ada and Casey, Donny

A Sweet Day

We are ear infection free as of today's visit to Dr. Gonzalez! After a round of 3 Roceffin (sp?) shots (notoriously painful and terrible), we were so thankful to be able to put off tubes- at least for a little bit. The ear infection signs I'd been noticing are actually just her top 2 teefies trying to come in- The Bug will soon be Bugs Bunny! If she can just get through 8 more days of daycare without catching some kind of head cold, we should be in the clear until the fall!

We also made sweet potato enchiladas- inspired by Grams. Ada had a blast helping! Here is the recipe:

8 tortillas (I used whole wheat- Grams used flours)

3 sweet potatoes (I left the skins on)- diced and steamed

1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)- steam with sweet potatoes

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

4-8 oz cream cheese (I used about 6!)

8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese (I used a lot more)

1-10oz can green enchilada sauce

Mash the sweet potatoes, black beans, spices and cream cheese together and fill the tortillas. Roll up and put seam-side down in a baking dish. Top with the enchilada sauce and Monterrey Jack cheese. Bake on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, until top is golden brown. I then spread sour cream and some avacados on top and they are DELISH! :)

I also added a little shredded chicken, but it's fine without! :)