Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Smilebakers moved to Wordpress!

Just wanted to do a quick post announcing that Smilebakers has moved to Wordpress! 
 I am so excited to be moving forward with my blog! The new address is: www.smilebakers.wordpress.com  

www.smilebakers.wordpress.com 

www.smilebakers.wordpress.com 

Check it out! Loads of new recipes coming now now now! Thank you!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Our fave eats in ATL

For a fun, easy, mother-daughter weekend, my mom and I decided to go to Atlanta. It is so close to us, but we don't take advantage of it! I had the BEST time and here are a few of our favorite places that we ate at in ATL. 

For lunch, we stopped at our all time favorite place: Yeah! Burger. It is awesome. Yeah! Burger is an organic, local, healthy, burger (and more!) restaurant. We normally get the Veggie Burger on a simple green salad with gluten free sweet potato fries! They have sooo many options for everyone, from the health nut to the teenage boy (i.e. my brothers) ;)




We went to Ikea (our other favorite place!) that night and decided to go ahead and eat there! The Greek Salad was so yummy and we had a side of crispy Broccoli-potato cakes! Perfect pre-shopping meal! 


After checking out we got our favorite ($1!) non-fat frozen yogurt!!! 


In the morning we ran from Atlantic Station to Howell Mill and ate at The West Egg!


My mom and I split a delicious Veggie Omelet, Roasted Garlic Grits, and fruit! 

Uh oh..after shopping in the cutest shops, we walked to the other Yeah! Burger..haha it was too good! 


We split the "Burger of the Month" Portabella Mushroom Burger, with tomato jam and goat cheese! I will definitely try making my own Portabella Mushroom burger soon!


We also had to try the "Salad of the Month" the Grilled Watermelon Salad! 


Once again, everything was amazingg!




On the way home, we hit Trader Joe's in Buckhead, I was on cloud nine! Who knew grocery shopping was so fun? :) 


Sunday, July 14, 2013

'Too Good' Payday Bars!

So..just aimlessly looking on Pinterest, I found Homemade PayDay Bars. Man, they looked SO good..but sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter chips..didn't have those on hand, so I made a quick, too good version, of PayDay bars! These sweet and salty bars are addictive and taste just like the real thing! The coconut oil makes them crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, so yummy!


First put Two Tablespoons of Coconut Oil in a large pot on low heat. 

Now, add one bag of Mini Marshmallows! (Not healthy, but hey. Trust me these are really good!) 

Stir until the marshmallows become smoothhhh. 
 

Take off the heat and add: 1 1/2 cups of peanuts, 1 tablespoon of Pb2 or your favorite peanut butter, and 3 cups of Rice Krispy or Chex Cereal! (Basically like sweet and salty Rice Krispy Treats!) 

Stir gently until well combined. 
 
Now press into prepared baking dish (parchment paper!) and sprinkle entire treat with salt! 

 
Try these out and tell me what you think!

Here's the full recipe: 


‘Too Good’ PayDay Bars 
  • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil 
  • 1 bag of mini marshmallows 
  • 1 1/2 cups of peanuts 
  • 1-2 tablespoons of pb2 or peanut butter 
  • 3 cups of Rice Krispy or Chex cereal 
  • 1 teaspoon of salt 

First, line large baking dish with parchment paper. Put coconut oil and marshmallow in a small pot on low heat. Stir until smooth. Take off the heat and add peanuts, pb2/peanut butter, and cereal. Stir gently until combined. Place in baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle entire treat with salt and enjoy! 










Friday, July 12, 2013

Crazy Good "Big Mac" Wrap!


A few days ago, my mom made this for us for a quick dinner. YUM. I was immediately in love. My dad and I agreed, it tasted just like a fast food burger, but is surprisingly much healthier!

"Big Mac" Wrap 
  • 1 Veggie Burger of choice
  • 1 Brown Rice Wrap
    •  (or any other tortilla style wrap, but these Food For Life wraps are a-w-e-s-o-m-e)
  • 4-5 Pickles or Pepperocini 
  • a few slices of Sauteed Onion
  • Lettuce of choice 
    • Romaine, Spring Mix 
  • Ketchup and Spicy Brown Mustard
First, cook veggie burgers according to package or recipe. 

Put Tortilla in oven or in frying pan until just warm.

Place Burger and all toppings on the tortilla and wrap it up burrito style!

Put wrapped burger back in oven or pan until crispy! 


The toppings are really what make this wrap so yummy, the warm ingredients all wrapped together gives this the real burger flavor. Enjoy! :-) 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Mahi, Avocado, and More!


Last night I tried out some new recipes for dinner! Mahi Mahi Burgers with Avocado topping, Gluten- Free Onion Rings, and Tomato Avocado Salad, left over Sunny Side Green Beans, and Paleo Pina- Colada Ice Cream!


Tomato-Avocado Salad AND topping for Mahi Mahi Burgers!
  • 2 mashed ripe avocados or 1 package of plain quacamole 
  • 1/2 cup of diced white onion and 1/4 cup of thinly sliced red onion 
  • 1 1/2 cups of chopped baby tomatoes (I used orange: Zima and red: Sugar Plum Grape) 
  • 1 teaspoon of lime juice 
  • salt and pepper to taste 
 Start by washing and chopping all veggies.

Put avocado in a medium bowl 
Add chopped tomatoes.                  

Now add onions, lime juice, salt, and pepper. 



Stir lightly, until combined. 
You can refrigerate this for a few minutes before adding it to the lettuce/burgers or you can go ahead and add it. I refrigerated it because I made the avocado before the rest of the dinner was ready!















I used this 'guacamole' topping for the salad and burgers, because my mom and I used it as salad dressing and the boys used it as topping!





Mahi Mahi Burgers
: I used 'Trident Seafoods' Wild Mahi Mahi Burgers, frozen from Costco. They cook at 400 degrees for 9-10 minutes on each side.
 I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and just a tad of garlic salt.

Onion Rings: Nothing special, 'Ians' Gluten-Free Onion Rings from Earthfare. hmm..I should try homemade onion rings soon :) 





We also had leftover Sunny Side Green Beans from last night!

Dessert was another great one. Paleo Pina Colada ice cream! No ice cream maker needed, very quick, no guilt ice cream ;) 
  • 1 1/2 cups of Coconut Milk 
  • 2 ripe bananas (frozen) 
  • 1 cup of diced pineapple (frozen)      
  • 1/4-1/2 of shredded coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 
  • Optional: 1 packet of stevia
Place all ingredients in food processor or blender, purée until almost smooth. 



Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Hello Again!

Been away from the blog for too long! We had a family vacation last week and I was not making dinner or new recipes while we were there ;) but I've got lots of dinners and NEW recipes coming to the blog!



Last night for dinner I made Sunny Side-Green Beans. A recipe I found in Eating Well and tweaked a little. 
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 12 ounces green beans, trimmed, cut in 1-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
  • 1 cup fresh shelled beans, fresh crowder peas or frozen baby lima beans (I used Red Bell Pepper!)
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature 
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
First, I washed and cut the green beans. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I put them in the boiling water along with one chopped red bell pepper, reduce the heat a little bit and let it simmer. Once the green beans are tender, (I had to pour a little bit of the water out because it was too watery) add the onion, butter, salt, and pepper. I also added a little bit of garlic salt. The original recipe said to put each serving in individual bowls but I decided to put it all in a pretty, round casserole dish. Pour green beans into dish and crack four eggs (if using casserole dish) right on top! (This recipe is 4 servings so if you do individual, crack on egg in each bowl) put in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until eggs are starting to brown on the yolk. Enjoy! Pretty easy to make, so fresh and delicious!

(Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.eatingwell.com/sunny_side_beans) :-) 

I just did some quick (nothing fancy/impressive) side dishes. I used Alexa's Tater tots and a fruit salad! The fruit salad consisted of whatever fruit I could find in the fridge, which was: 1 large red apple, 1 small green apple, 3/4 cup blueberries, 1 mango, and 1 nectarine! I also made some quick barbecue chicken for the guys, for a little extra protein using left over plain grilled chicken. Simply cover the chicken in barbecue sauce and stick in the oven until warm at about 400 degrees! (this dish never disappoints, if using uncooked chicken: spray pyrex dish, season with salt and pepper, pour sauce all over chicken and cook for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees.)

























Dessert was a new one. My mom pinned this and really wanted me to make it :) Its been floating around the Pinterest world, it's called "Heaven in a Crockpot" Wow, and we made it gluten free! It couldn't be easier.

  •  1 package of Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix  (gluten free if you want!)
  • 1 package of Brownie Mix 
  • 1/2 cup of  melted Butter (we used a 1/4 cup of butter and a 1/4 cup of coconut oil.)     
  •  4 Eggs 
Just mix everything up in a large bowl and cook on low for 3 hours! Top with Slow Churned Vanilla Ice Cream!