Beef and Mushrooms over Rice (or Pasta)

I love Beef and Mushrooms so much but have you ever looked at the nutrition! It's terrible so this is my attempt at making it healthier while still tasting amazing, and of course easy by putting it in the slow cooker!

2lb lean sirloin- cubed
16oz mushrooms- sliced or quartered (however you like yours size wise)
1 medium onion- sliced thinly
1 can 98% Fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 cup 99% fat free beef broth
1 packet dry onion soup mix
seasonings to taste

Step one- Put the beef into the crock pot and season

Step two- Put onions on top of the beef

Step three- Top with mushrooms

Step four- Mix the soup, broth, and dry soup mix together

Step five- Pour over the mushrooms

Step six- Cook on low 8-10 hours (know your slow cooker well! Mine cooks a bit fast so I go for the lower end of the time)

Step seven- Cook your rice or pasta

Step eight- Serve the beef over your rice/pasta (or mashed potatoes!)

Not my best picture but the meat was melt in your mouth tender and the sauce was so so good!

Enjoy! Serves 6 - 288 cal   13 fat   13 carb / Plus your rice/pasta,

Pork Alfredo!

Ingredients:
  1 pound Pork Loin
  4 cups frozen Broccoli
  1 cup Alfredo Sauce
  2 cups dry whole wheat rotini

Directions:

Put water on to boil and cut pork loin into bite size pieces.

Brown Pork with your choice of seasonings. I used pepper on mine.

QC is waiting on supper.

LT decided he wanted to be held. Thank goodness for the wrap carrier

Supper must go on! 

Add frozen broccoli to pan and cover on low. 

Meanwhile your water should be boiling so add your pasta.

Bright eyed baby watching everything!

I put a wooden spoon across my pan so that it doesn't boil over. 

Add the sauce and mix on med low heat until warm through.

Drain and add pasta to pan.

Toss to mix and serve.

Recipe makes 4 servings of about 1 1/2 cups.

Mommy's Supper

QC had the same thing but with a little cheese on the side.

Nutrition Facts:

As per MyFitnessPal.com Recipe calculator.

Total:	Calories 1464	Carbs 110	Fat 55	Protein 125	Fiber 12	Sugar 18
Per Serving:	366	28	14	31	3	5

Whole Wheat Crock Pot Lasagna

It isn't perfect but tastes great!

Ingredients:

8 oz whole wheat pasta- Broken Lasagna would be best but I had Rotini on hand.
1 lb Ground beef- lean is best :)
Spaghetti Sauce- I can/jar
1/4 cup water- I use this to get the rest of the sauce out of the can/jar for the spaghetti
15 oz container Ricotta cheese- You could use small curd cottage cheese if you really wanted to
2 cups Shredded Skim Milk Mozzarella
Seasonings to taste!

Directions:
   Spray Crock Pot with no calorie non stick spray
   Brown meat and drain
   Layer half the Dry Pasta on bottom of crock pot

   Put half the meat over the pasta

   Layer Half the sauce, half the Ricotta, and half the Mozzarella

   Top with seasonings and Repeat Pasta, Meat, Sauce, Ricotta, and Mozzarella then Seasonings.

Cook on Low for 2-4 hours (Check it at 2 hours!!) Every Crock Pot is different and cooks a bit differently. My Pasta was perfect at 3 hours but by 4 it was a bit more cooked than I prefer.

Serves 6 (about 1 cup servings) and Freezes well

My Holiday Hiatus and Catching up!

So for Christmas time I took a break from the blog while I got ready for several exciting things.
   1) I love the holidays and especially the baking that comes with them!
I baked and I baked A LOT! Yes I had just had a baby but that doesn't mean I wasn't going to bake my little heart out!

Ornament Rice Krispy Treats!

QC helping me mix brownies!

QC decorated his first sugar cookies!

Christmas Eve Breakfast! Pancake Christmas Tree!

Christmas Tree Brownies

Sugar and Molasses Cookies

Peanut butter and Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peppermint and Snicker doodles!

Church Windows

S'mores Bites

Our Tray of Goodies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Andes Candy Cookies!!!

Yes the family was amazed at all the goodies I made since I had a baby so recently.

Here is my Pintrest Link to the recipe's I used!

   2) Crafts with QC!!!! OMG I love to do crafts and getting QC excited about them as well was a blast!

Empty Box wrapped with paper and QC got to make a snowman face!

Advent Ring Tree- Pull a ring off each day until Christmas!

Reindeer Pancakes!

QC and I made a Gingerbread house!

Reindeer Noses! 

   3) We welcomed the new Perz boy into the family!!!
                     Introducing LT (Little Tank!)

Baby's first picture with Mommy! Mere minutes after birth!

Born December 16th, 2012 at 5:06pm 

Weighing in at 6lbs 15oz and 20 inches long!

All swaddled after his bath!

Daddy holding him for the first time! Doesn't he look so happy!

Safely Buckled in the car seat ready to go home!

Just before we left the hospital. Love his car seat poncho!

QC 

LT

The Perz Boys 

2012

Healthier Thanksgiving!!!!

So in my little family we are starting to shy away from processed foods and trying to get healthy!!!
   My husband is a diabetic so when he is home I try to make sure suppers are more friendly for him. This means that I don't use as much sugar, I cut down on my carbs and fats. Great for the entire family!!!! The main issue we have come upon is the holiday meals. Thanksgiving and Christmas being the worst culprits of destroying the diet. This year I am putting in motion some "new" versions of some of our favorite things. Since he will not be home on the actual holiday we are having supper a few days late. Also I will be 36 weeks pregnant with our second little boy, so cooking the entire feast just isn't in the cards!

   This years menu:

    Crock Pot Turkey Breast- Easier to cook, less maintenance, less fat, and best of all we can still go to the town Santa Parade while it's cooking!!!!
    Turkey Gravy- This is for me. I love gravy but the boys don't.
    Mashed Sweet Potatoes- Yes I have posted these many times :) We love sweet potatoes and they are better to my husbands blood sugar than a traditional potato! To make this even better I will be cutting down the butter a bit!
    Green Bean Casserole- No this is not the traditional canned soup and super processed onion recipe but OMG we love love love this recipe and have made it many times!
    Cranberry Sauce- I admit this is the over processed and canned stuff... Why? Because well it reminds me of my childhood and denying a very pregnant woman this is not a smart idea :) I will be the only one partaking in this.
    Whole Wheat Rolls- I will be getting them from a bakery because I admit me and breads that need to rise do NOT work. I manage to mess them up all the time.
    Pumpkin Custard- This one is the biggie for us. We all LOVE Pumpkin Pie but as you know it is chocked full of Carbs, Fat, Calories, and Sugars. This custard has all the flavor with so much less of the bad stuff!!!!!!

  This covers the basic meal. No there is not any Stuffing/Dressing. You just really can't make it healthy and it's not needed with the rolls already on the table.

   Now recently I read an article about how many calories the average american consumes for Thanksgiving and frankly I was disgusted. 3000-5000 calories! That is the equivalent of my eating for 2-3 days (again I am pregnant here!). So I sat down and calculated my meal totals and then I padded it to account for the extra roll here or scoop of green beans.
  Coming to a Grand Total of:


 Calories-1500
 Fat-  140
 Carbs- 90
 Protein-100

   Is this perfect NO!!!! Next year I aim to drop the Fat and Carbs Down more! But for the first year trying to make this very heavy and traditional meal better I am pleased with how I did. Since our meal is not on the actual holiday we are able to go out and take a nice long walk after our supper to work off everything. We will have "free foods" for later in the night if someone get's hungry (points at self) and a lighter breakfast so that we keep our numbers under 2000 for the day. Making our day 1000 calories under the lower number for the "Average" Thanksgiving supper!  

Car Seat Safety.

This is something near and dear to my heart. I didn't have all the information with my oldest was a baby and now when I look back I thank the lord we never got into an accident. So here is some information I have found and compiled to easily show the do's and don'ts

On your car seat there is a little clip between the straps and it is called the Chest Strap! It really does need to go at arm pit level. Having it lower is not safe as if you were to get into an accident it will push into the soft organs and possibly cause internal injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRbNSWVVUm8

Rear facing vs. Forward facing

  Rear facing is the Law at our children’s age when they come home. There are no car seats that I know of that even allow a child that small to forward face. Now I won’t get into the debate of ERF(Extended Rear Facing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U&feature=fvwrel

Keeping our children warm in the winter.

  Coats are NOT safe in the car seat! There are many ways and options to keep our babies safe and warm.

There are of course blankets, car seat poncho’s (this is my favorite) and of course yes you can put the coat on backwards AFTER your child is properly buckled in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGT9eBL_gg&feature=related

When Rear facing the straps need to be below shoulder level, they need to be tight with no slack, no twisting in the straps!  Aftermarket items are not to be used. They aren’t needed either.  This video will show you proper tightness, clip placement, and most of all will show you that there is no need for head positioners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvzPZfba4ys&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM1LJaOIu34&feature=related

Installing your car seat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq5Olcp1r8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dJbYUmWpSY&feature=relmfu