A few good recipes

I don't normally cook post recipes, but I've come across a few that are just too good not to share. The best part: both have only 3 ingredients. Love that!

My favorite for fall is Pumpkin Spice Cake. It is so, so, SO good! And addicting. I originally got the recipe from Hungry Girl.

• One can 100% pure pumpkin
• One box of spice cake
• One container cream cheese frosting (optional)

Mix the pumpkin and spice cake mix together. The batter will be thick so beware! Spread evenly in a 9x13 cake pan and bake according to the box specifications.

I baked at 325 for about 30 minutes because I was using a non-stick pan. You don't have to frost it but I chose to since I had been craving cake. Trust me, it is just as delicious plain or with a little butter spread on it.

I've made this recipe as cupcakes, a loaf (like pumpkin bread), and as a cake in a 9x13 pan. The cake pan by far worked the best. I found the batter stuck to the cupcake liners too much for my liking. Maybe if you didn't use paper liners it would be okay. With the loaf pan, it was hard to get it to cook all the way through but it came out perfect with the cake pan.

 

My newest favorite recipe is Crock Pot Chicken Tacos. This is great for busy days - just put everything in the crock pot and you're set! This is a recipe I found on Iowa Girl Eats.

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts.
• One packet taco seasoning.
• One jar of salsa.

Throw it all in the crock pot, set it on low and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Shred up the chicken and enjoy! Serve it however your family likes tacos.  This recipe was a big hit in my house. Even my kiddo who doesn't eat anything but fruit liked it. That's a miracle, people!

Try both of these ASAP. You won't regret it!

What a difference...

...one year makes. We had our annual family photos taken last week. We always have them taken in the fall so I thought it would be fun to see how Colin has changed in a year.

These two photos were taken almost exactly one year apart.



Just a wee babe in 2011



A little boy in 2012

Teaching boys to have a healthy body image

In the almost two years that I've been raising a boy, I have stopped in my tracks many times to ask myself "Am I giving him all that he'll need to grow up and be the best person he can be?". I wonder so many times about how he'll treat others but I've rarely stopped to think how he will treat himself.

I always hear parents of girls worry that their daughter will grow up and continuously compare herself to others and think she isn't beautiful because she doesn't have that girl's hair or the other girls perfect smile. Believe me, if I had a daughter I would nip this behavior in the bud and make sure she understands she is beautiful because she is herself.

But I have a boy. Am I supposed to be naive and think he won't have body image issues?

Part of me wants to. But it very well may happen.

This morning as I was taking a shower and listening to Colin play in the bathroom, he suddenly got quiet. As I peeked out of the shower to see what he was doing, I found him standing on the scale just like he sees me do every morning. He was clapping though...something I do not do! My first thought was "Oh, sh**. What am I teaching him?!"

I couldn't get the image of him on the scale out of my mind. What if he grows up to be dependent on the scale, hates his body, and goes to extreme measures to diet and lose weight? I had to force myself to put those thoughts out of my mind.

Because that is certainly not what I am teaching him.

I am teaching him to have a healthy relationship with his body. I don't want him to ever feel embarrassed about how he looks compared to someone else. And if he ever is unhappy with his weight or how his body looks, I want him to have the knowledge of how to change it in a safe and healthy way.

I want to teach him to have a healthy relationship with food and to understand it's okay to indulge from time to time. Life is about the little pleasures and if chocolate cake gives him pleasure once a month, THEN EAT THE CHOCOLATE CAKE!

These are all things I wish someone would have taught me while I was growing up.