Veggies are hard with a boy who hates all things green (except super heroes of corse!) Here is a sweet treat any boy (or girl!) will love!

Citrus Hulk Smoothie for one and a half

1 avocado

1 frozen banana

1 c yogurt

2 T honey

1/4 c orange juice

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

A big handful of spinach

Blend until smooth

I HATE when u spend so much time on making this beautiful delicious cake and it won't come out of the pan!! Through lots of trial and error and taking the advice from people much smarter than I, I've figured out a system that works for me.

First: parchment paper. Place your pan on top of the paper and use a sharp knife to cut the paper around the pan. Obviously, if you don't have granite countertops put a cutting board under this.

Then brush coconut oil on the bottom and sides of the pan. I oil the bottom so the paper will stick to it and not move when your pouring the batter. You can also use flour and butter for the sides of the pans. I think coconut oil does a better job at keeping things from sticking.

I saw a trick a while ago about making your cake flat. Cut a towel the height of your pans. Cut them about an inch longer than the diameter of the pan so the will overlap. I used one of the clips that comes with an ace bandage and that worked well. I've also used safety pins. One of these days I will sew Velcro on them and they will be much easier!

Anyway, soak the towels in ice water and wrap them around the pans immediately before placing them in the oven. The cakes turn out perfectly level.

So, when you pull them out of the pans you should have a perfectly level cake that didn't stick to the pan!

Happy Birthday papa! Hope you had a good one!!

After a little pinspiration I made this for dinner. I am trying to come up with flavorful ways to make veggies. Maybe I will have more success at my almost 4 year old eating them. Right? I think he ate 3 bites to this, so I guess he gives it a 3 out of 10.

2 T olive oil

1/4 of a red onion

1/2 of a bell pepper

A handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half

3 ears of corn cut off the cob

1 t salt

1 lime

Preheat oven to 350. Drizzle oil on a 9x13 pan with sides. Add veggies. Sprinkle with salt. Juice lime on top of veggies. Toss to incorporate everything. Bake for 30 min turning them after 15 minutes.

Looking for something healthy(ish) to satisfy that sweet tooth? How about a creamy, fruity, chocolatey Popsicle? I made these after attempting that banana icecream you've seen al over Pintrest. It started out with a good consistency and then got a little runny. They made awesome Popsicles though.

2 frozen bananas (take overripe bananas and break them into four pieces. Put them in a freezer bag in the freezer overnight)

1 t vanilla

10 cherries

2 T Nutella

Blend bananas and vanilla until smooth. I added a little almond milk so they would blend better. While that is going cut cherries in half and take the pits out. Put them in the blender and pulse once or twice. Not too much though. We have a ninja and it obliterated the cherries. I would have liked more chunks. Pour mixture into a bowl. Drop Nutella into bowl by the teaspoon or so. Stir then add to Popsicle molds. This made 2 Popsicles for me and I ate about 1/2 a Popsicle worth then. I had to try it right! Let freeze for at least 3 hours. Enjoy!

I have been completely obsessed with this breakfast lately. I have made a different way every time I think but they are all good! I am trying to eat better so adding a couple more veggies to breakfast when I would normally eat a carb made sense.

Option 1

Olive oil

A medium sweet potato skinned and cubed

1/4 a red onion

Boudin

2 eggs

Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions while you are cutting up the potato. Add potato. Stir occationally and top with a lid so the potato cooks a little faster.

Cut boudin in half lengthwise. When the potato is almost cooked, push it over to one side. Lay the boudin cut side down and brown both sides. Put the potatoes in a bowl then boudin. Top with eggs, I like mine over easy!

This was another variation:

1/4 a red onion chopped

Olive oil

1 Sweet potato

1 zucchini

Eggs

Follow the same instructions as above for the potatoes. Add chopped zucchini when the potato is about halfway cooked. Top with eggs.

Olive oil

1/4 red onion

1 zucchini

A handful of cherry tomatoes

Port de Salt or another super creamy salty cheese

Eggs

Sauté onion in olive or coconut oil while you are chopping the zucchini. Add zucchini and tomatoes. Let sauté until zucchini is cooked. I like it best when it still has some crispness. Cube cheese and sprinkle over veggies. Stir into veggie, it will only take a few seconds for the cheese to melt. Top with eggs. Be carful of those tomatoes! They are like lava!

This is my all time favorite cake! It is absolutely beautiful, light and, because of all the berries, almost looks healthy.

The cake is a white cake. You can use your favorite. Even a box would be fine. but this is my favorite recipe. It comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cook book, which is always my go to place for any staples: cake, biscuts, pancakes and so on.

4 egg whites

1/2 c butter softened

1 3/4 c sugar

1 t vanilla

2 c flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 c butter milk or soured milk

Seperated whites from yolks. Let eggs and butter stand at room temperate for 30 min. I always forget this part so I'll remind you to do it first.

Prepare two 9" round or square pans. I think it's best to line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Lay your pans on top of the parchment. Using a sharp knife, cut the paper around the pan. Butter and flour the sides of the pan and lay the paper in the pan.

Preheat oven to 350*

In a stand mixer, beat butter on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat untill fluffy. Add vanilla. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour and milk, being sure to start and end with flour. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl well and mix another 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 25-30 min.

Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Take cakes out of pans and cool thoroughly.

The icing is ridiculously easy! It is basically flavored whipped cream. You can add whatever flavor you'd like. From what I've read, Chantilly icing is vanilla. Rouses makes this cake, called the Berry Gentilly and adds almond flavor.

32 oz heavy whipping cream

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

Put all ingredients in a stand mixer with the wisk attachment. Start off slow then whisk on high until light and fluffy. Don't wisk too much or you will have butter!

To assemble:

Lay down one cake. Pipe, using a large circle tip, a ring of icing around the top edge of the cake. Fill with 6-7 large fresh strawberries sliced, 15 or so fresh raspberries and lots of fresh blueberries. Top with a decent amount of icing to fill in the cracks.

Put the other cake on top of the berries. Ice the top of the cake. Pipe the sides of the cake with a flat decorative tip. Top with more berries. Pipe the top and bottom edge with a medium decorative tip. The goal is to make it look like a present, which makes a perfect birthday cake!

My husband and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Dallas. I had intentions of writing while I was gone but we were so busy! We had such a great time, Dallas is a beautiful city and the food is amazing! They have a great appreciation for food, and using high quality mostly local and/or organic ingredients.

We went to the Dallas Museum of Art on our second day. It was amazing and huge! I don't think we got through half of it!

Don't be fooled by their name, Max's Wine Dive is not a dive! They have a huge selection of wine, the wine list was more extensive than their food menu.