Make It Yourself: Fro Yo

This is such a pregnancy craving right now...I love all those fro-yo (frozen yogurt) places out there that are the new trend.  

What's there not to like about delicious frozen yogurt, a bazillion toppings to choose from and super fun names like, "Chill" and " Sweet Frog" and "Kraze Yogurt"?!?

For us, it's the price tag :-(

We love going but it's definitely a special treat because we just can't justify spending $10-$15 on frozen yogurt on a regular basis.

Soooo, I decided it was time to figure out how to enjoy my own fro-yo on my own budget.

I've included some yummy sounding frozen yogurt recipes...or you can just bypass that and buy your own frozen yogurt at the grocery store.  

Our local Grocery (Publix) has some great frozen yogurt options and they sell for less than ice cream.  

I also think that Sherbet is a great option for this!

Then, you just need to stock up on your toppings.  

It may seem like you're spending more at first but when you break it down into the amount of servings all your toppings will provide, it's a much cheaper option!

I bought some fresh kiwi and strawberries, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips and maraschino cherries (I also poured some cherry juice on top!).

It was delicious.  I was going to buy some gummy bears too because that is Caleb's favorite topping, but I totally forgot to stop on the candy aisle at the store today.

  I think marshmallows will be a good substitute for him though :)

Here are a few, delicious looking recipe links!

Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt- this one's a simple, no brainer!

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

Almost Famous Frozen Yogurt- 

this one looks so good and the perfect vanilla base to all your toppings!

What are your families favorite fro-yo toppings???

Dark & Spicy

I. love. hot. chocolate.  

Especially now that I have to keep my caffeine intake under control.

Seth thinks I'm crazy I love it so much.

This is one of my favorite recipes I concocted!

 I thought since I loved it so much, you might too :)

Ingredients:

16 oz of milk

1 heaping tablespoon of Hershey's Dark Cocoa

3 Tablespoons of sugar (or splenda)

1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips

Dash of cayenne pepper

Marshmallows for topping

Mix everything together except the marshmallows.

Heat for about 1 1/2 minutes.

Stir realllllly well (the cocoa likes to clump, so you have to really stir that bad boy!)

Top with marshmallows.

Find a quiet spot, preferable during toddler nap time.

Drink to your hearts content.

Beware of marshmallow stealers...or as the thief calls them,

 "Smarshsmellow's"

Or you can just give up and hand over the entire bag...=

Yummmmmmm

Skinny Mama's No-Bake Cookies

I'm by no means anywhere near being a "skinny mama" right now...but so as not to gain 60 pounds this pregnancy, I have been experimenting with healthier options.  I love no-bake cookies and decided to do my own low sugar version.  

They turned out yummy...especially since I know the calorie content is much lower than the regular kind!

Here's my concoction :)

Recipe:

1 1/2 Cups of Splenda

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Natural Peanut, Cashew or Almond Butter

1 Stick of Smart Balance Butter Blend or just regular butter

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbl dark cocoa powder

3 Cups of Quick Oats

In a saucepan, whisk the butter, sugar, splenda, vanilla, cocoa and milk together.

Let boil for about 1 minute.

Stir in your nut butter.  I found this at Target and I realllly like it!

Moving quickly, add your oats and remove from heat.

 It should look all nice and messy, like this:

Lay out some wax paper and drop spoonfuls of the mixture.

It's gonna be tempting, but try realllllllly hard not to eat one until it's nice and cooled.  Or you can stick a few in the freezer like I did ;)

Yum!

Fried Potatuh's on Saturday

We haven't been anywhere today.  Just enjoying our Saturday at the house.  Cleaning, cooking, laying around.

Some of us like to wander in our under-roo's...

our new Yo Gabba Gabba underoo's

Or maybe only one of us...

I decided to whip up some fried potatuh's...that's southern for "potatoes"

Took a couple potatuh's

Sliced them real thin

Put them in a pan with hot oil...olive oil, vege oil, canola oil...whatever tickles your fancy

Sprinkle some salt and pepper

and a little sprinkle of Tony's for good measure

Then I went and peeped in on the little guy, just to make sure he wasn't putting a hole in anything

Nope, he was just eating a "dog dog" and watching some toons.

Then I came back to check on the tater's

 Stirred them until they were nice and brown and then put them on a plate

With lots of ketchup

Then I ate them...oh yes, and they were delish...d-e-lish

My picky little man decided to stick to eating his dog dog and shredded cheese

On another note, my skin has been terrible throughout this entire pregnancy.  On a whim, I decided to up my water intake. 

 Literally, within a week, my skin has cleared tremendously! 

 I went from drinking about 6-8 8 ounce glasses a day to drinking around 12 or more 8 ounce glasses every day.  

I've even noticed that little man has been wanting to drink more water because he sees me drinking it.

Although he enjoys playing in his more than I do

And then, daddy picked him up because it was the dreaded "nap time"

We live for the weekends...they. are. awesome.

We've been chillin'...cookin'...playin'

Hi everyone!

We've had a somewhat laid back week this week.

Our small group Christmas party for church was last night and I made a couple of Pinterest inspired appetizers...they were good...so. good.

Mini pigs in a blanket, shaped into a wreath with red bell pepper bow...and I made a cranberry BBQ dipping sauce...YUM

This would be a cookie brownie with cookies n' cream candy bars and chocolate chips among other amazing ingredients.

We had a lot of fun and we were sooo tired and ready for bed afterwards...so we went to sleep.  I was awakened by a little person saying, "Mommy, I lay down wif you?"

This has never happened before but I was so tired, I just grabbed him up and laid him in the bed with us...he fell fast asleep.  

Then, about 7am, I was awakened again by a foot in my side...someone decided to take up the whole bed and kick the rest of us out.  It was cute, as long as it doesn't become an every night thing!

Then, the little zombie was surprised with his very own play nativity.  I thought about making our own but honestly, Caleb's too little to really help me make it and I would rather just buy this plastic one so that we can keep it for years and years...he was slightly excited.

He opened it and said, "Baby Jesus!"

Very excited that somehow, he already knows about baby Jesus in the manger.  I was waiting until I bought this nativity and I also bought a book to explain to him about Jesus and Christmas but he already has a head start...that little smarty pants.

Just goes to show they watch and listen all the time, even when you don't think they are!