Turkey Meat Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Jaime Eason's Turkey Meat Muffins recipe on bodybuilder.com. These are like giant meatballs. Jaime suggests the serving size is two muffins for women and four muffins for men.

2 lbs. ground turkey or chicken (I mix lean and extra lean turkey)
3 egg whites
1 cup of quick oats
2 Tbs. toasted wheat germ
2 Tbs. ground flax seed
2-3 shakes of ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dry yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced or 2 Tbs. garlic powder
3 shakes of bacon salt (we just happen to have this, optional)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 celery stalks, chopped fine

Directions:

1) Line a large muffin tin with foil, spray with non-stick spray. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Mix all ingredients in one large bowl.

3) Roll slightly larger than palm sized balls and place in muffin tin. Muffins should be the size of a racquetball.

4) Bake for 40 minutes until done. If you like the crispy texture all the way around, you can toast the bottoms in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat until browned.

Calories: 80

Fats: 2g

Carbs: 4g

Protein: 11g

New Haircuts

Our big girls Alexa and Zoey came home from Mimi's house with new pixie-style haircuts. So cute!

The photo above is what I get every time I ask "look at me and smile!" They are smirky kiddos.

Mexican Fantastico Casserole

Mexican Fantastico Casserole

So I made this last night, and man is it awesome! It makes a ton so you may want to freeze some.

2 chicken breasts (baked with salt and pepper, and shredded)
1 small can of chopped black olives
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 can of tomatoes and green chiles
1 large can of red enchilada sauce (you could really use what ever flavor you desire)
1 packet of taco seasoning
1/2 of homemade sofrito (I'll have to post how to make that in another blog post, I freeze mine)
2 cans of refried beans
1 90-second Uncle Ben's Spanish Rice packet
18 corn tortillas
1/2 to 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 to 1 cup of Colby Jack/Cheddar cheese
Tortilla corn chips- smashed up for topping

1) Bake chicken breasts.

2) Put olives, corn, tomatoes and chiles, enchilada sauce, taco seasoning and sofrito in a large pot. Heat through on Medium to Medium Low.

3) In a large skillet or pan, cook refried beans on Medium to Medium Low.

4) Microwave Uncle Ben's Spanish Rice and add to the enchilada pot.

5) Shred chicken and add to the enchilada pot.

6) In a large baking dish, spray bottom with Pam. Layer 6 tortillas on the bottom. Spread refried beans in a thick bottom layer. Sprinkle on some cheese action.

7) Layer on six more tortillas.

8) Spread on enchilada mixture.

9) Layer 6 more tortillas.

10) Spread on remainder of enchilada mixture.

11) Sprinkle generous amounts of both cheeses and top with tortilla chips on top.

12) Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes to heat through. Serve with sour cream or plain greek yogurt to your favorite army!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Crazy weather here in Dallas with snow right before Valentine's Day! Here's a vid of our snow bunnies. Yes, I know it starts sideways--I filmed it on my point and shoot camera and sometimes I forget that video on shoots landscape. :)

Free Shipping on Sassy Hoops

Happy Holidays! Spread the hoop love to others by taking advantage of our free shipping any where in the continental US promotion Dec. 3 - Dec. 18th at both sassyhoops.com and the Sassy Hoops Etsy shop.

Tracy Porter Radio

Tracy Porter is my new favorite designer and she's got a live radio show on the web every Weds. from 2-3 pm CT. Very cool!

Gypsy

Tuesday our sweet little GypGyp, Gypsy Dawg was put down. She was 17 in people years (that's 119 in dog years) and lived a full and privileged life. She is missed. I'm tearing up as I type this, so I'm making it short.

Jog Journal: 2

ohmygod. Ow. Seriously, I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had. But I got up and jogged anyway. Walking, this morning, not too bad. The hardest part was setting my mind to jog when my legs were yelling "are you crazy woman?!?"

I didn't fudge the hill--I jogged it knowing once I got to the other side things would be easier. I went further than last time, jogging in longer sprints. I know I'll never be a runner. Being short, my stride is pretty small. I'm happy with the jog and the sites along the way.

I'm becoming aware of how much I miss always being in a car, moving at high speeds. This is a good mental exercise for me as well as physical. I saw a little bunny this morning, so that makes me feel like I'm on the right path.

It was a total retro jog on the MP3:

B-52s: 53 West of Venus
Jane's Addiction: Classic Girl
The Cure: Just Like Heaven


Right now the house is silent and I'm sitting in the kitchen watching the morning sky. This is so worth it.

Jog Journal: 1

I started jogging this morning. Correction--I actually started yesterday morning, got dressed, eager up, the whole nine yards. I walked out the front door and it immediately started raining.

This morning, after a little coaxing from Heath, I did it. Not far, not long, with walking stretches in between, but the point is: I did it. One down, enumerable more to go. YEA! A little victory for me.

Truth be told other than hooping I haven't exercised mush since the girls were born. And to me it shows. Before twins, I was a gym rat, going 5 days a week and working it on out. I miss the endorphins. The sense of peace, the ability to be exhausted for bed. And my white jeans. Yes, in truth it comes down to the white jeans.

I also want to have more energy for the girls as they are getting to be handfuls. I find myself sitting rather than chasing---and that's not the mom I want to be.

So now that the ball is rolling, Heath is uber-supportive, I've got a commitment to myself. Most days. Mornings. Just me and the pavement.

craft room heaven

Okay, I own entirely too much craft stuff. Seriously. For a year my craft room has looked like a Michaels tornado. I would shuttle all my stuff into the living room or kitchen to craft and Heath would have a fit because it would migrate through out the house.

I've worked hard on getting it all together and here is the nearly finished product. I now have space to make a real window covering for the window--first project on the to do list. And Heath has promised to help me hang up a light in the corner.

My inspiration for getting this done was a Craigslist sewing desk score for $40. Let me tell you, when I got that thing in my car, I thought the seller got the better end of the deal. Their many cats were living with it in their garage for several years. It stank of cat urine and cats in general. I'm not a cat hater, just allergic! Needless to say I drove with the windows down and wiped it with vinegar several times.

After a week of sanding, priming, painting, and drilling I got it looking pretty cute. I decided to redo my craft room in black, white, with a dash of hot pink thrown in there for spice. My goal was to use what I had, and keep my budget under $100, which included the paint, knobs, etc. for the desk plus a few more containers.

As the desk is pretty much open all the time, I had to brace one side. I swiped a filing cabinet drawer from my hubby's office. It's that particle slick wood covering on the drawers, so I covered the drawer fronts with Cricut Vinyl to match the room. I didn't think it would work to prime and paint them. I stacked some heavy Gnome and Fairy books on top of the filing cabinet as a brace, and wah-lah, no more tilted work surface.

The hard part about this room is there's a huge attic access in the corner, so I can't have any shelves of depth on that wall. I put my Wall 'O' Containers under the attic door which all can be moved easily or rolled out of the way.

Here are before and after pictures of the sewing desk and lots of pics of the finished craft room!