Fillin' Them With Somethin' Better-

I don't know about you,
But we are completely wrapped up in sports around here.
Football, to be specific.
Three out of four boys.
On three different teams.
In two different cities.
This causes my head to spin with scheduling issues.
Good times... I think.
No, really, we are loving it! =)
(That's my mantra!)

Anyway, enough about our crazy schedule
And onto what that means nutritionally.
Sports season always brings about sports drinks.
I'm not going to pretend that I'm ultra healthy
When it comes to eating,
But I do try.
Seeing those bright colored sports drinks
Makes me cringe a little.
Reading the labels makes me cringe a little more.

So, to the internet I went.
You know, I can find just about everything
With my friend, Google.
Google: DIY sports drink
Result plus a little tweaking and taste-testing
By my faithful four and BAM!
We, I, made our own without ingredients I can't pronounce.

So here, my friends, is our Sports Drink recipe:
Grape flavor-
4 cups water
3/4 cups grape juice (flavor)
2 Tablespoons raw honey (carbohydrates)
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt (electrolytes)

Citrus flavor-
4 cups water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons raw honey
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

Drink up, fellow athletes!

Eunora

PS- I wasn't sure if my boys would think it nerdy not to be drinking from the cool name-brand sports drink bottles, so I asked them if we could rinse out an old bottle and refill with ours. To my delight, they couldn't care less and was happy to drink my concoction without trickery. ;)

Homemade Chocolate Syrup!

Who knew?!
You can make homemade chocolate syrup!
I should have known.
Anyone can make anything anymore.

So here's what happened...
I was in a pinch.
A real pinch.
I brewed some coffee to make my homemade version of my guilty pleasure:
An iced coconut mocha.
I've been making this little treat with:
Chilled french press coffee,
Chocolate syrup,
Vanilla coconut milk,
And a few drops of coconut extract.
Poured over ice= a little piece of my kind of heaven.

Where the disaster strikes?!
I discover I am completely out of my organic chocolate syrup!
This drink is simply not sweet enough without the chocolate goodness.

Fortunately for me, the solution was only as few clicks away.
Googled homemade chocolate syrup and found
My tragedy had come to its end!

Here is the recipe I found: Homemade Chocolate Syrup



Only a few simple ingredients:
Cocoa powder, cane sugar, water, salt, and vanilla extract.

Whew! All my worries have come to an end!
Once this delectable goodness cools,
I'm a few steps away from my refreshing afternoon drink! =)

Have a wonderful afternoon, I am!

Eunora

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

I've mentioned a couple of times how much I love this little treat for breakfast.
Some of you have asked for the recipe, so here it is: =)
Enjoy!

I wish I had my own picture of these, but alas, I do not, so I took this one off of pinterest. ;) They look pretty similar.

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
2 eggs
zest of one orange
juice of half an orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425*
In large bowl, whisk dry ingredients. Cut cubes of butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter. In small bowl, stir together eggs, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, and yogurt. Add egg mixture to flour. Knead in chocolate chips. If dough seems too wet, I just add a bit more flour. Form dough and bake 18-25 min.

I recently made this recipe dairy-free and egg-free by substituting Earth Balance for the butter, flax meal for the eggs (2 Tablespoon + 6 Tablespoons of water), and applesauce for the yogurt. I was pleasantly surprised with how well they turned out. The only difference we could detect was that they were slightly more dense. I may try a little less flax meal next time to see what happens.

Eat these with your favorite green smoothy and it helps balance out the sweet goodness you receive from these. ;)

Eunora

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

I am always looking for new recipes to make for my family.
Although I plan my dinner menu, I don't have a set breakfast plan.
So yesterday morning I found myself thinking,
"What shall I make for breakfast today?"
And then I remembered a pin I had on a pinterest board.

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins



I love finding recipes that are not only tasty
But also provide a healthy meal.
(I used agave for sugar).
We ate these for breakfast along with our green smoothie.
Fortunately, we had enough for the boys' mid-morning snack.
Success!

For more fun breakfast ideas, check out my
'Startin' the Day' pinterest board here.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Eunora

What's for Dinner-

I've been MIA when it come to posts on menu ideas.
This Summer has once again proven to be a busy, inconsistent time.
I have to admit, we've eaten out, had last minute BBQ's with friends,
And eaten leftovers.
I know this happens for many,
But when it happens more regularly than irregularly,
It leaves me with, well, not much to put down as our menu. =)

But, in the midst of crazy schedules I have been able to try out a few new recipes.
So for those looking to try something different, here are some we liked.

Crockpot Korean Beef Tacos with Cucumber Slaw

These were tasty. A little Asian twist to the Mexican taco.
I also did the suggested leftover meal by adding mangos and wrapping in spring roll wrappers.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup


This soup was really yummy and very hearty. I can't wait to make this again in the Fall.

Salmon Teriyaki Bowl


Not only was this a delicious meal, it also tasted 'clean' and healthy.

Kale Meatballs
I served these with roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli and a green salad.


And for dessert.... these are wonderful!! Not only tasty, they are also flour free, dairy free, and egg free!

Brownies


OK, go try something new, and tell me what you think when you do!

Happy Cooking!

Eunora

Popsicle Time!

Have you heard of Zoku?!

It's the latest, greatest, popsicle-making gadget!

I love to find new ideas for healthy snacks,

so thought I'd share this one with you.

My husband received one of these for Christmas

and boy, have we been having fun with it!

As the weather warms,

a cool, healthy snack is just 10 minutes away!

Yup, it's that fast!

 This is a self-freezing unit so

once the unit has been frozen overnight,

simply pour desired juice into the mold,

and ten minutes later, you have three popsicles!

This can be repeated three times 

before the unit needs to be refrozen.

For those to whom math is not a strong point,

that's NINE popsicles in 30 minutes! Yeah!

At the next holiday I gifted my husband with these

storage containers.

This way we can grab our popsicles when we head to the pool. =)

This is not the cheapest gadget;

you can find them at William Sonoma for $49.95,

so maybe for a gift sometime?? =)

But the reason I write this little post is to 

throw out the idea for a fun,

and healthy snack.

We love to use Odwalla juices and smoothies.

Healthy and delicious.

So just an idea as the Summer months approach. =)

Eunora