baby steals

Hey, for all you folks out there having babies, this is a pretty fun site. One deal a day, posted at 9 a.m. Get 'em while they're hot.

Yummy Recipes

A while ago I bought the Biggest Loser Cookbook, and have been using it once or twice a week. Of course, we have developed favorites, and I wanted to share them with you. They are all super easy, otherwise, they would not be made at my house!

New Beef Stew:
These are the exact directions, however I just throw it all in the crockpot for a few hours. Then the house smells yummy, too!

1 TBSP whole-grain oat flour
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
pinch of black pepper, plus more to taste
1 lb. top round steak, cut into 1" cubes
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz. button mushrooms, each halved
1 onion, cut into bite sized pieces
1 TBSP. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 cans (14 oz. each) low-sodium, fat free beef broth
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 " cubes

In a ziplock bag, combine flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the beef and shake until all the cubes are coated. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Set a large nonstick soup pot over med-high heat and add the oil. Add the beef cubes to the pot, and cook for about one minute or until all the sides are brown. Reduce the heat to medium and add mushrooms, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until onion is tender.

Add the broth and carrots, increase the heat to high. When broth comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

Add the potatoes, and simmer for another 45 minutes, until beef in tender. Season as needed.

275 calories, 31 g protien, 6 g fat

Picante Chicken:
I have made a few versions of this dish, and this is by far my favorite.

1/3 cup, plus 1/2 cup mild, medium or hot picante sauce
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of visible fat
6 TBSP light cream cheese, from a block, softened
1/2 cup finely shredded, low fat cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/3 cup of the picante sauce on bottom of 13x9 baking dish.

Lay chicken breasts on a cutting board. Use the flat side of a mallet to pound the chicken breasts to a uniform thickness.

Spread the chicken evenly with the cream cheese. Lay the chicken, cream cheese side up, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup picante sauce evenly over the breasts. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly over the chicken. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until no longer pink.

198 calories, 30 g protien, 6 g fat

little night light thingies

These are outrageously expensive, but so cool. My sister picked me up a pair for half price at the trade show but I just thought I'd pass it on if you ever find a deal on them. They are little night lights that charge on this base and then you can take them off and they glow all night. Pretty cute I thought. They also have this cool little number:

It just sits in an outlet and doesn't glow until you pick it up then when you go to get your nursing baby at night you have a soft little glow to light your way instead of stumbling through the dark or turning all the lights on.

check it out at http://www.oxo.com/ (yep, the spatula people.)

speaking of ranger cookies...

I made some tonight with 1 C whole wheat flour and 1 C regular (+ some extra oatmeal and chocolate chips) and they were SOOOO good!

I am all for changing the name of this Blog as my bag sewing days have quickly come to a close!!! Don't have any ideas though. Anyone?

My Two New Good Finds

Meet the Frog Pod.

This is actually something I have wanted for about two years, but couldn't justify it in our little apartment, plus I am not sure it would have adhered to the 100 year old tile in the shower. This frog is great. It sticks to the shower three different ways: adhesive, screws or suction cups. The back of the frog is a toy holder, and has holes for water drainage. The top of the frog is a shelf, and all the toes stick out so that you can hang things on them. My kids think it makes their bathroom "a frog bathroom."

There is now a bug version.

Meet The Boon Bug.

If you want to see more of their cool stuff, including a bean bag that you fill with stuffed animals or blankets, check out Boon.

This next one I didn't actually find, unless you count finding it at Becki's house and deciding I want one as finding it myself.

Meet The Kaboost.

This is a good solution to having lots of straps hanging from your chairs in the dining room. Instead of using a booster seat that needs to be strapped to the chair, we decided to get this for Annie. It raises the chair high enough for her to eat at the table without any help. It's adjustable, and very sturdy. The chair doesn't move at all, and now I don't have to worry about her rocking back in the chair. It comes in green, brown and a natural color.

Cool Blog Stuff

Some of you may have discovered this already, but it is new and exciting to me. I have a sister-in-law that changes the background on her blog all the time. She has a cool Olympic one right now that is very cool. Anyway, I have always used Pyzam for my backgrounds, but it erases all the wigets on the side. Well, never fear, you can now change them because of a wonderful site: The Cutest Blog on the Block. That is were I found this background that I thought you would all love. Anyway, all you do is pick one of the basic layouts from blogger and then you add the backgrounds in the layout section with the html/javascript widget. Easy peasy

I also found these cool things on there too.



Okay, I am sorry, but I don't care whether you liked the book or not, that is funny!