PJ

I wasn't always a superhero, I didn't actually realize that I would know as much about superheroes as I do now until I met my hubby. And to be quite honest, my kids probably know more about superheroes than I do, and that's totally ok. I love the balance we have in our household with me being the techie, math, computer, and database loving mommy, and my hubby being the superhero, music, history, and financial savvy daddy. We first and foremost love Jesus and know we would not be where we are today if it weren't for His Grace and Mercy. And, I am a former Mombie. I don't know how some moms get it all done. I work full time, and have 3 kids 5 and under, and man I was exhausted. Until I found out about this crazy thing called gut health, and this cool thing called our microbiome. Now, I've got energy to get it all done, and am feeling so much healthier. I've also got a nice little side business where I actually get paid to help people feel better. What a concept, right?

Homemade Sourdough Bread

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Here’s my recipe card for making my homemade sourdough bread.

If you got a starter, how I feed mine is by adding 3 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of bottled water, then mix it up.

If you keep it in the fridge, you don’t have to feed it as often, I feed mine every week or two.

At the next feeding you scoop out half and move to a bowl to feed it to make enough for the recipe, or trash the scooped out half. And feed the remaining half.

I use a scale to measure everything because my first attempt to convert grams to teaspoons and cups was an epic failure 🤣.

Using the scale gives me good results every time!

I also bought a Tramontina dutch oven from Costco and invested in parchment paper and a slashing tool and had everything else we needed here at home!

I’ll write out the recipe after we move… But here’s my handwritten recipe for now. 😁

Enjoy!

Mueller Vidalia Chopper Pro – Recall

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Because I’m all about Amazon Prime… I order most of my kitchen gadgets online…

I just got an email from Amazon yesterday because this onion chopper I ordered has been recalled.

If you have the M-700 model, you’ll want to get a replacement so you don’t risk being added to the list of those injured.

www.muellerdirect.com is their website. It was down yesterday… Probably from the high traffic of other kitchen gadget enthusiasts… But I was able to open the site today and it says to email recall@muellerdirect.com if you want to apply for a replacement.

Happy (Safe) Chopping!

Recipes for your homemade bread

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So you made homemade bread, now what?

I made some for the first time yesterday! So yummy! If you missed the recipe, you can find it here! We have been trying to find ways to have it for every meal. So I thought… why not share some recipes for your homemade bread? This way you too can have some recipes ready to go when you make your own bread.

As a side…

Yesterday, I also made tuna casserole, and had it with a side of a slice of warm bread, fresh out of the oven, with butter! My son wanted some garlic bread, so I toasted it added butter, then sprinkled some garlic spread on top, we love Johnny’s!

As a snack…

Bobby wanted more bread, but this time with crunchy peanut butter. He’s a big pb&j fan. That’s kinda the reason I decided to try to bake bread in the first place, so when I make him uncrustables at home, I can use it with bread where I know every ingredient that is in it. I also recently started making mini pizzas in our Air Fryer. Since we are running low on english muffins, I decided to try it with our bread today… OMG, it’s like a french bread pizza!

For a sandwich!

I saw that my sister posted a recipe for a BLT Deluxe Melt (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) Sandwich on her blog. Since we had turkey bacon, and avocados, and now yummy bread too…. I decided I should give it a go! So tonight’s creation is brought to you by my little sister!

The whole family enjoyed it! My hubby’s bread got grilled a bit too long on one slice, so I put it on the bottom. He’ll eat anything, which is great since I have burned things on occasion and we usually didn’t have to toss them. Human Garbage Disposal is his alter ego.

We used our homemade bread and Dave’s Killer Bread rather than sourdough. I baked the turkey bacon on a cookie sheet in the oven. I recommend chopping up extra lettuce, tomato, and avocado and saving them into storage containers so we’ll be ready for later. I’m sure the girls will ask for more turkey and cheese sandwiches later this week. They have been on a major turkey and cheese sandwich kick lately. We used Tillamook Medium Cheddar and Arla Havarti instead of Mozzarella. And we skipped the egg. But… it was sooo delicious! You can try out her recipe and jazz it up to make it your own, or copy it to a T if you have all the ingredients. I am all about subbing when I don’t have the exact ingredients, but something close enough. Ha!

More to come…

The bread is almost gone, but when I make a new batch and try out new recipes, I’ll come back here and add to the list!

Homemade bread is so yummy!

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I never thought I’d be into making things homemade

But the more I check the ingredients on labels, the more I want to try to make things from scratch. 5 years ago, I was pretty clueless when it came to being healthy. I didn’t even think people needed probiotics unless they had a yeast infection. I know better now. In the last 4 years is when I really started looking at labels and learning about ingredients that were not only not necessary, but caused more harm than good to our bodies. I recently started making homemade uncrustables and thought… maybe I should make our own bread. So…here we are! Though I couldn’t figure out how to cut it thin enough for sandwiches, so I’ll have to keep experimenting. For now.. this homemade bread is so yummy!

Ingredients

  • 2 – cups of warm water
  • 1 – Tbsp fast acting dry yeast (I used Bellarise)
  • 1/4 – cup granulated sugar
  • 2 – tsp salt
  • 2  – Tbsp canola oil (or you can use melted butter)
  • 4 to 5.5 – cups of All Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur)

Steps

Add water, fast acting yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and 3 cups of flour to your bowl. Mix to combine. I used my late mother in love’s KitchenAid standing mixer.

Add another cup of flour… this is where things got a little messy for me.

Add more flour, in 1/2 cup increments, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Once it looks ready, set the mixer to medium speed and let is run for 5 more minutes.

After 5 minutes the should be a little sticky, but not too sticky.

Move your dough to a large bowl that you have sprayed with cooking spray. Flip the dough so that the whole ball is covered in some of the spray from the bowl.

And then you wait…

Cover it with a towel and wait 1.5 hours for it to rise. It should double in size.

Next it’s time to punch the dough to remove the air bubbles. The kids helped me do this step.

Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray, and add parchment paper to the bottom if you really want to make sure your loaves will come out of the pan. Divide your dough in half and roll into logs to place into pans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place loaves on middle rack to cook. My oven is a convection oven so I left the racks in the middle. Bake bread for 30 minutes, then test it by tapping on the top with a spatula, it should be firm and sound hollow.

Tilt the loaves out of then pans and set them on a cooling rack. Brush butter on the tops and let them cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

You can store them at room temp for 2 to 3 days, or up to 5 days in the fridge.

Though I though this could be used as sandwich bread for my kid’s PB&J sandwiches, it was more like a super soft and fluffy french roll! I had mine with some of my mom’s tuna casserole recipe! So yummy!

My Mom’s Tuna Casserole Recipe – A Family Favorite!

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Comfort food, and a family favorite!

We’ve been having my mom’s Tuna Casserole Recipe for as long as I can remember. Sometimes she would jazz it up with bread crumbs on top and put it into the oven to make it super fancy. But… I am all about fast and easy, so you are getting the stove top version from me today! This has always been a family favorite in our family, and I am hoping that I can carry on the tradition of it being a family favorite now that I have a family of my own.

Fair warning… these are all pretty much estimates

My mom probably gave the the recipe over the phone when I was living on my own in Ventura County. She doesn’t measure, just like her mom doesn’t measure so… I tried to eyeball my estimates as I typed this up today.

Grandma Terri’s Tuna Casserole Recipe

  • 1 – tsp of butter
  • 1/2 – tsp of celery salt
  • 1/2 – tsp of salt
  • 1 – 12 oz bag of Anthony’s Extra Wide Egg Noodles
  • 1 – 10 1/2 oz can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 1/2 – can of milk
  • 1 – 5.4 ounce of Kirkland Signature Albacore Solid White Tuna in water (drained) (Buy it direct from Costco for the best price)
  • 2 – Tbsp of Best Foods Mayonnaise
  • Salt – to taste
  • Pepper – to taste
  • Celery Salt – to taste
  • 1.5 cups of shredded cheese (we use colby jack)

Steps:

I used my 6 quart Calphalon Stock Pot and filled it a little more than half way full. Add in the 1 tsp of butter, 1/2 tsp of celery salt, and 1/2 tsp of salt and bring your water to a boil. Once your water is boiling you can add in your entire 12 ounce package of Extra Wide Egg Noodles. Stir occasionally and let boil for 9 minutes.

Drain your noodles in a strainer, and do not rinse.

While your noodles are sitting in the strainer in the sink, add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 a can of milk, 2 Tbsp of mayonaise, 1 can of tuna (drained), and salt, pepper, and celery salt to taste to your warmed stock pot. Turn the heat to medium to get your soup mixture bubbly. Once you see bubbles, add a handful of shredded cheese and stir together until melted. Turn off the flame.

Add your warm noodles back into the mixture and stir until well coated.

Once it’s all coated, sprinkle with more cheese, cover with the lid, and let the cheese melt on top for about 2 minutes.

Dinner is served!

My mom would usually make a can of corn, and we’d have a piece of white bread, not toasted, with butter on the side. I am actually making bread for the first time, but I think the kids are going to devour their tuna casserole before the bread has time to bake. Maybe they can have it together for leftovers.

I ended up waiting to eat dinner until the bread was done… I took my Balance about 30 minutes before the bread would be ready so I would be ready to go! It was sooo good! I’ll post that next.

And I think I have a video of my mom making Tuna Casserole. She and my mother in love came to our house in Camarillo after our first was born 4 weeks early due to HELLP Syndrome. They both made some recipes, and we recorded them, so that we could share them with the kids when they got older. Thankfully we did, because we lost my mother in love to Pancreatic Cancer just 4 months later. When I find the video of my mom, I’ll add it to this post!

If you’ve been on the lookout for a really yummy tuna casserole recipe that the whole family will enjoy, you should try my mom’s tuna casserole recipe! I think you’ll enjoy it!

If you have kids, you need Mini Air Fryer Pizzas

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Pizza and Air Fryer… Need I say more?

Bagel Bites are another thing that’s super convenient… But maybe not the healthiest. I love that an entire pack fits into my Power Air Fryer XL. I’m all about my Air Fryer, and we are all for pizza. 🍕 We are part Italian 🇮🇹, so it kinda makes sense. In trying to make room in our freezer before my Costco run, I found a pack of English muffins… I also saw an almost empty bottle bottle of Marinara in the fridge and a pack of pepperoni… And we always have shredded cheese. So… Mini Air Fryer Pizzas was invented… This morning. 😂

Super easy, the kids can even help!

They could have helped… Except I did it before they caught me. I was trying to get to Costco early, but that didn’t end up happening. First, I made a batch of Boiled Eggs in my Instant Pot because I wanted to make room for fresh eggs. Then I made these mini pizzas and by the time I got to Costco, I had missed the Clorox Wipes 😕. I saw a guy walking out with the prized possessions and when I got to the back corner there were none to be found. We don’t even use Clorox wipes at home, but it’s on the school supply list for second grade, so I’m on the hunt now.

Cut your English muffin in half to make 2 mini pizzas. Top with marinara, or your favorite sauce, add some shredded cheese, and some toppings, then a little more cheese. I would add more cheese on top to help with the casualty we had…

4 mini pizzas ready for the Air Fryer!

Gently place them into your basket.

Set the timer for 5 minutes.

And voila! We only had one major casualty… One pepperoni flew off and landed in the middle. I just put it back on top of the one pizza with only 2 pepperoni. Nobody knew. 🤷🏽‍♀️ But I would use more cheese next time to try to keep the pepperoni from flying. One did curl, I’m assuming the heavier cheese would have kept that one flat as well. I didn’t get to taste them since they were gone before I got home, so I’ll take that as a good sign that the kids approved!

I used whole grain English muffins since that’s what we had on hand. Next time I may try to make our own. 🤔 I did finally buy yeast for the first time ever, so watch out… This Mama is going to get to baking!

Do you use reusable apple sauce pouches?

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Apple Sauce Pouches are totally convenient!

I’ve always been not so keen on the fact that I can’t actually see inside the store bough ones. 👀 Do you use reusable apple sauce pouches?

So I bought the little green pouch ones that I could fill up at home when my oldest was 1. I used those for a bit, until my kids chewed up the spouts. 🤦🏽‍♀️ And lost the caps. 🤷🏽‍♀️ It was always a little awkward trying to clean the bottom of the pouch, too. You would fill it from the top, next to the odd placed spout, and good luck cleaning all the crevices. Plus they weren’t see through. I knew what I put in though, so… I did have a little more peace of mind than the store bought ones.

Then, I went back to the prefilled ones…

For no other reason than because it’s just easier. Plus… there were organic options… So they have to be better than the ones that people have found mold inside, right?

But then… Amazon…

Totally popped these up as something I might be interested in. These pouches have a mostly clear backside! And the spout is on the top, like the kids are used to!

So you fill it from the bottom, it even has a line to tell you where to stop filling so it won’t spill over when you zip it closed!

And I found these super cool soft spouts you can attach over the hard spout. They come with a built in cover! These totally help you to avoid spills if your little ones are anything like mine were. Do your kids squeeze the pouch as soon as your hand it to them? Mine would make a mess at the most inopportune times. They will have to get used to the extra suction required. But, you won’t have to worry about a big mess if they squeeze the pouch a little too hard. I’m sure it’s totally possible that they could grab a full pouch and squeeze it just to test it… You can even attach these spouts onto the store bought pouches too! So, if you are just looking for a little bit of safety while handing prefilled pouches to your kids, get you some!

The kids are getting older now…

Hopefully my kids won’t bite the spouts again, because they are older now. But since we are hoping to grow our family through foster to adoption, these may come in handy for our newest youngest.

I filled these with apple sauce today. You can buy the big container of apple sauce for less cost per serving and fill your own containers at home. Did you know that you can often find out the cost per serving right on the price labels at the grocery stores? Plus, I find that my kids eat so much more fruit when it’s already ready for them to grab and eat! You can even make your own apple sauce at home, but I haven’t been that brave just yet.

I plan on making a big batch of yogurt too in my Instant Pot, and filling up more pouches so those can be grab and go as well.

These can be great for school too!

These can even be grab and toss into the lunchboxes when the kids do get to have lunch at school again. We found out yesterday that our kids do get to go back to school in person. It will be day camp style, almost 3 hours a day, with half their class, and with their real teacher in person! I’m super excited too, because our middle child will be starting kindergarten. I was not looking forward to having to try to teach him fully at home through distance learning. Many are having to do this, and I don’t envy them at all. I know everyone is doing the best that they can, and that’s all that you really can do. Do your best, let God handle the rest!

So if you’ve got young kids who like their snacks in pouches, you have got to check out the reusable apple sauce pouches for your kids!

If you want to check out more of our super favorite things, you can find them here!

Let’s talk Uncrustables…

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My son would have Uncrustables for every meal if we let him.

And he eats them frozen…

I’m a little worried about how he’s going to react when he opens his lunchbox at school and finds a thawed out Uncrustable 😱.

Not going to lie, they are super convenient too… He can grab a bag out of the freezer and have his meal ready to go.

But… Then there’s the ingredients. 🙄 And the high fructose corn syrup is a deal breaker for me.

So… I started making my own at home with these cool sandwich cutters!

I know exactly what is going into them, and I can freeze them and store them in one big zip lock bag for less trash waste too! Plus, it saves money since we buy the peanut butter and jelly in bulk!

I put peanut butter on both pieces of bread then drop a spoonful of jelly on top of the peanut butter to try to keep it from squirting out of the bread as I use the cutter and sealer.

Next thing on the to do list… Find a good recipe to making my own bread at home so I can stop having to read all the bread labels… 🤔

Bentgo Kids Boxes!

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I had no plans to buy Bentgo Kids boxes for their school lunches…

But then my youngest started preschool. And because of COVID-19 they are only allowed to take their lunchbox to school, no backpack. I tried to pack her all the things she wanted on the first day into her lunchbox and I was looking for small containers, with lids, and trying to fit things into nooks and crannies. I got it done, but it wasn’t easy…

Then Amazon read my mind…

And what pops up on sale the first day she is at preschool but… Bentgo Kids boxes! They were on a super sale too! I should have shared that day, but I just thought about it today. It’s my first time packing her lunch in her Bentgo Kids box, as it is her second day of preschool. They are still on sale for $3 off if you order today. But I think I saved like $10.

What’s for lunch?

This is what she ordered today…

And I totally forgot to take a picture with the cute little animal forks I also found on Amazon, but she’s got one in there to poke into her patty with cheese, and dip it into her mustard and ketchup. She likes to eat her fruit with it too!

I also got these slim ice packs to put underneath her Bentgo Kids box in her lunchbox to keep the right side of her container cold. Looks like those were on sale last week too…. shoot, I need to get better at telling you all about the sales…. right after I find them!

So, she’s actually going to school in person?

She is! And today she decided to wear her new Face Shield. I thought this might be easier for her to breathe in, and she can still see through it, as well as her teachers can see her mouth since it isn’t covered behind a mask. I did send her cloth mask in her lunchbox… just in case this doesn’t fly. (I also missed a picture of the shield on, I swear she walked out the door with it on her head and I told her and Daddy to turn around for the picture and completed missed that it was no longer on her head) I haven’t had my Vitalbiome or my Metaburn yet today, that’s probably why I didn’t notice… ha ha! #focusfocusfocus

She asked me to pick her up today, since Daddy is dropping her off. I guess we’ll be taking turns as long as Daddy gets to continue to work from home.

And just in case you are wondering…

Don’t expect to be seeing super fancy lunchbox creations from me… just easy food, that fits into the tiny, organized compartments.

I keep seeing the other 2 kids Bentgo boxes on the counter as I type this and thinking I forgot to send her lunch to school with her… Oops!

I’m off to take my Vitalbiome and Ease so I can start my workday!

The Superhero Family RV Trip – Day 8

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7/18/2019 – Ishpeming, MI #MAKPOSTINUP4LIFE

We crossed the Michigan state line at around 1:00 am. And as we got closer to our destination a deer started running out into the road. We were in a large RV with the kids asleep on the couch, so my hubby had to make a split second decision. Either try to avoid the deer by swerving, and risk the kids rolling off the couch. Or… speed up and hope that we pass the deer before he gets to our side of the road. He chose option 2. He gunned it, and the deer ended up running right behind us. No deer were injured in the making of this 3 week RV trip.

We pulled into Ishpeming at 3:00 am and were at Country Village RV Park a few minutes later. This would be our “home” the longest of any place on our trip. The Matron of Honor (that’s me) was finally in the same town as the bride (my sister) and was ready to report for Matron of Honor duties. The whole point of this 3 week RV trip was to travel across country to be at my sister’s wedding. I was the Matron of Honor, my kids were part of the flower girl and ring bearer crew, and my hubby walked my mom down the aisle. My brother and his family weren’t able to make the trip, so my hubby stepped in to help.

Bachelorette Day

I got a few hours of sleep, then got ready to be picked up by 9:30 am. The girls had big plans for Bachelorette Day. One of the bridesmaids, Mary (she’s a teacher like my sister), graciously offered her family’s lake house for the day. It was so cute, and literally right on the water. I got to meet my sister’s new sister in laws, Deanna and Leann, and another one of her teacher friends, Madison. It was great seeing some of my sister’s friends that she went to high school and college with too. They, and my cousin, Monica, flew out from California to be here for the big day. Lake day included yummy BBQ, a really cool floating raft that we could all fit in, and an interesting game. Ha!

Night out for dinner…

After lake day we all went “home” to get ready for dinner. My mom and dad had rented a minivan to help us get around without having to load up in the RV to get around town. So, mom was the chauffer getting us to and from where we needed to be. Us girls went out to dinner in Marquette, MI at Sol Azteca and the food was so delicious. What’s better than good food? Is great food with prices to match! We took a few pictures after dinner across the street by Lake Michigan. I have never see a lake that big in my life! It is huge and it looks like it is the ocean.

And that was a wrap for that day! That was our first night that we got to go to bed with the RV already set up, with the slides out. And we got to sleep in a little the next day before we got our nails done.

Tips for Day 8:

  • Tip 1: If you are near Marquette, MI and you want some delicious Mexican food, you have to check out Sol Azteca!
  • Tip 2: If you are near Ishpeming, MI and need an RV park, or even want to rent a cabin, definitely go to Country Village RV Park!