Making Veggies Fun With Help From Country Crock

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

The other day I downloaded a copy of The Clare Crespo Cookbook. There were so many amazing and fun veggie recipes that I felt like I was browsing Pinterest! I chose MY favorite step-by-step recipe to make for my family and it was a hit!

The recipe is copied straight from The Clare Crespo Cookbook: 

Beautiful Butterflies

4 Servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

6 small or medium crookneck squash

3 Tbsp. Country Crock  Spread

2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic

12 baby carrots

4 chives, cut into 24  ½ -inch pieces

2 Tbsp. finely chopped assorted fresh herbs (parsley, mint, tarragon, dill, chives)

1/8 tsp. of salt

1/8 tsp. of pepper

Slice fat part of squash into 24 slices (save the necks for another recipe).

Melt Country Crock Spread in large skillet. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add squash and carrots, saute until tender, about 7 minutes.

Once I added the garlic my kitchen smelled like a restaurant!

Arrange carrots on service dish or individual plates. Place two squash rounds on either side of carrots. Using a toothpick, poke two holes in the tops of each carrot and insert chive pieces as “antennae”.

Sprinkle remaining herbs on squash “wings”. Add salt and pepper.

*If you want these to hold together, add toothpicks—but don’t forget to remove them before eating!

Samantha was so excited about the butterflies that she insisted
 on wearing her flower headband.

Dax is my little herbivore,
but this is the first time I have gotten him to actually eat squash!

My kids and my hard-to-please hubby really enjoyed this. We've been putting Country Crock on our veggies for years. It makes vegetables taste good so I don't have to hide them from my little ones. 

Because our little Philly has a dairy and soy allergy I made a separate serving for him without Country Crock. I can honestly say that adding Country Crock to our veggies made a big difference in the taste, and with 70% less saturated fat and 30% fewer calories than butter I don't have to feel guilty about serving it to my family.

8 out of 10 kids think veggies with Country Crock are delicious.
I don't have 10 kids, but the two who can eat it definitely agree!

If you are looking for even more veggie inspiration you should head over to The Crock Country Chronicle. It has tips and recipes for serving veggies to your family, and there is even a How Does Your Garden Grow feature that has advice on planting your own vegetable garden. This will be my first year planting veggies so this will be a big help!

You can also keep up with Country Crock on Facebook and Twitter:

Country Crock’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/countrycrock

Country Crock’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/#!/countrycrock

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!

PB&J "Stuffing"

I LOVE my Pampered Chef Cut n' Seal. I feel so savvy when I make those cute little PB&J sandwiches and stick them in the freezer. My only complaint is the insane amount of left-over sandwich. Pampered Chef: PLEASE make a bread slice-shaped Cut n' Seal!

After making a batch of "Circle Samiches" as my son calls them, I was ready to toss the crust into the disposal, when I was struck with a brilliant idea: PB&J stuffing! I wouldn't just throw bread into the disposal, I would make it into croutons or stuffing. Why can't I do that with peanut butter and jelly???

Here is what I did and it turned out awesome. I know, I use the word awesome a lot.

Ingredients:
PB&J crusts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins or dried fruit of your choice (optional)
almonds or walnuts (optional)

Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place the cut up the PB&J crust into the pan.

In a small bowl mix honey, vanilla, water, and brown sugar together. Stir until the brown sugar is disolved.
Add oats and stir together.
Pour mixture over the crust and sprinkle cinnamon and raisins over the top. Stir it around until the crust is moistened.

Cover and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 375.

This makes a great after-school snack to keep on hand, or even served as a dessert topped with vanilla ice cream.
If nothing else, your house will smell amazing.
This was one wacky experiment that wasn't a total failure. PB&J stuffing FTW!

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Healthier Apple Crisp (also dairy-free!)

Ingredients:
10 C sliced apples.
1Tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 C Splenda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C water
1 Tbsp honey

1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 C melted vegan margarine (I used Better Life)

Directions:
1. Place apples in a 9 x 13 pan. I left the peels on mine because that is where most of the fiber comes from. Feel free to peel your apples if that is how you prefer them.

2. Mix 1 tbsp of flour, Splenda, cinnamon, honey and water together. Pour the mixture evenly over the apples.
3. Combine 1/2 C flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, brown sugar, honey, and melted margarine. Stir together and crumble over the apple mixture.

4. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

I didn't get a chance to take a pic of the finished product, but it was yummy. This would be especially good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or almond ice cream for all you dairy-free folks out there.

Enjoy!
~Macy

Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies--AKA--Philly Dough Cookies

I have been doing so much cooking and baking lately and I haven't posted any of the recipes! In an effort to be less lazy I am posting the recipe for dairy-free chocolate chip cookies.
My poor little Phillip has been the fussiest baby I have ever encountered and it turns out that is because he has a milk protein allergy/sensitivity. We cut out milk and it made a huge difference. Unfortunately, we have had to cut out ALL dairy. Even the milk in bread and cookies makes him sick, so we have taken to making our own bread and goodies at home.

Ingredients:
1 C shortening, 1/2 C sugar, 1 C brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 1/4 C flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 2 C dairy-free chocolate chips. Harmons sells allergy-friendly chocolate chips!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda and add them to the batter. Stir until completely moistened.
4.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Place onto a greased cookie sheet or wax paper in table-spoon sized heaps.
     Bake for 11 minutes or until golden around the edges.

These are really good and I am so glad that Philly doesn't have to be left out of the cookie fun.

~Macy

NIghtmare Before Christmas Treats

What's this? What's this? It's The Nightmare Before Christmas on BluRay! In true Macy fashion, I am more excited about buying a new Disney movie than my kids. I can't help it! I absolutely love this movie. I remember when it first came out. I had one of the Nightmare Before Christmas watches from Burger King. I sure wish I had held on to that....
In celebration of our newest movie I set up a fun little snack for the kids. This literally just popped into my head when we got home from Target that night.
I had some mega marshmallows in the pantry and used a black gel icing pen to draw Jack's face.

I stuck toothpicks in the tops to avoid black frosting fingers.

Next, I drew a Jack face on styrofoam cups with crayon. This would have worked better with a Sharpie, but I didn't have one on hand. And yes...I know....styrofoam = bad, but you try making hot chocolate for half the kids in the neighborhood with only 4 coffee cups in the house.

Here you go. The whole shabang. 

It added an extra special touch to a fun family night. Who knows...maybe my kids will do this with their kids when they get older.

~Macy

P.S. What is YOUR favorite Halloween flick?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini-Loaves

Since I'm hosting a pumpkin-themed link party I decided I should probably contribute something: Pumpkin chocolate chip mini loaves.
To get myself in the mood I made a stop at Starbucks and got myself a nonfat pumpkin spice latte. Yum!
While the Daddy and the munchkins watched Spooky Buddies (anyone else have a problem with the farting scene??) I whipped up a batch of yummy pumpkin chocolate chip bread.
The recipe is modified from the Betty Crocker website.

Ingredients:
8 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
A pinch of allspice
A pinch of ground ginger
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
8 eggs
1 cup water
30 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium/large bowl mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.

In a large/extra large bowl mix the margarine or butter and sugar on LOW until it is creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next egg.
Add the water and pumpkin puree and mix on low until well blended.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir until it is completely moistened.
Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spray the bottoms of the loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the loaf pans 1/3 of the way full and bake for 35 minutes. If you are using full-sized loaf pans bake for approximately 65 minutes.

*This recipe will yield at least a dozen mini loaves or 4 regular sized loaves.
   If you have a 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree just half the recipe.

I didn't have plastic wrap, so I wrapped the loaves in wax paper and secured them with jute cord. I also added a little fake leaf for some Autumn charm.

Happy baking!
~Macy

Cajun Chicken Rotini Bake

A few weeks ago I was searching for something to make for dinner that wasn't going to be complex, but that wasn't spaghetti. I eventually tossed what I had in a casserole dish and called it "Cajun Chicken Rotini Bake". It turned out so good that we are having it for dinner tonight. Here's how you do it:

Ingredients:

Rotini

Alfredo sauce

Shredded cheese

Mixed veggies

Chicken--I used frozen breast tenderloins

Cajun seasoning

Spray the bottom of your 9x13 dish with cooking spray.

Place the chicken on the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with cajun seasoning and cover with frozen veggies.

Cook according to the directions on the chicken. I cooked mine at 375 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook your rotini according to the directions.

When your chicken is about 2/3 through the cooking time (20 minutes for mine), pour the drained rotini on top of the chicken and veggies and top with half the jar of alfredo sauce and sprinkle with the desired amount of cajun. 

I mixed the sauce around before putting it back in the oven.

Add shredded cheese during the last 5 minutes.

**You can cut the fat and calories in this dish by skipping the cheese and using a reduced fat alfredo sauce.88

I also used Garden Delight rotini, which added an extra serving of veggies.

Enjoy!

~Macy

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