Chocolate Covered Sunday

It has been a crazy whirlwind of a week. To be honest I have been quite the sassy Cassie. I was stuck in a funk for several days this week. Ugh I hate those funks. Fridays events just pushed me over the edge. I cannot grasp how a person could do such a thing to anyone, but especially children. My heart breaks for all of the families that were touched be this event.

I had a great balance this weekend between having some “Cassie time” and spending time with my amazing family. I am so blessed between my wonderful family, and the amazing ladies I work with everyday. They are all angels for putting up with this Sassy lady all week. I am sure many of them thought of shoving me in a broom closet for the weekend!

I have gotten a lot of things accomplished, during my self assigned time out 😉 . I finished all of my christmas shopping and today had a Chocolate Covered Sunday. YUM! I also made a few other items that were not covered in chocolate.

Diy Christmas gift list: (pictures to come)

Brown Sugar Scrub: you can find a number of these recipes online using things you already have at home

Lightbulb Snowman Ornaments: light bulbs, puff paint, sticks, and some acrylic paint viola

Cheddar Herb Bread: SUPER easy! midwest living recipe here

Fort Kits for kiddos: Sheets, clothes pins, rope, flash light, candy, and suction cups kids love it!!

Ruler growth Chart

DIY cappuccino mix

and these scruptious ZERO Cal treats, okay just kidding but its Christmas not New Years, and you have to fatten up for the resolution.

here

here

Here

here

Any fun DIY gifts?

God Bless,

Cassie

 

My Caffeine Addiction Continues….

Hello, My name is Cassie and I am addicted to caffeine! I literally don’t know if I could survive life without my coffee and of course chocolate. I have a weakness for those fancy coffee house drinks….yum!! It started when my beautiful boy entered my world. No one tells you that you will go years without a full nights sleep..Either that or I thought my baby would be the one to break all the odds. Either way between having an infant, going to college, and working I have developed a major addiction.

The other day we I was sitting at work trying to explain the depth of my addiction to someone, when the case manager popped up and said, “you are like the squirrel from Over the Hedge.” hahaha yeah yeah okay…then I went home and googled this Squirrel…Yep that’s me I load up on caffeine and ping my way through visits.

here is a clip for anyone who needs the refreshing I did.

In honor of this great addition to my life I have decided to release my White Mocha recipe to you folks. Use at your own discretion 😉

Supplies

White hot chocolate powder $3

International delights iced coffee (I use vanilla) $3

milk $3

espresso (finely ground coffee or beans) pennies

Step one: make your espresso. If you don’t have a espresso machine

you can make really strong coffee in the coffee pot. Pour into cup

Step Two: pour half milk half iced coffee mix into your container and froth. If you

don’t

have an espresso machine put this in a Rubbermaid and shake until frothy then

microwave. pour into cup, use spoon to keep froth behind, and set aside.

Step Three: Put white chocolate powder in to taste. Once it is the way you want,

pour froth on top.

Tada! There you have your very own White Moch…Happy Zooms

Happy Monday! God Bless! C

Turkey Day Traditions

I have a number of families, literally five or six groups. What can I say our little trio is super loved! One of my families has a great Thanksgiving tradition. Instead of celebrating the holiday on Thursday, they get together on Friday. This allows everyone to get together with the in-laws, without running to six houses in one day. The other thing they do is a themed dinner.

For Example:

Chinese

German (the worst of them all)

Italian

Mexican

Indian

Japanese

Swedish

and the list could go on….

We tend to go for cultures, but the theme could really be anything; colors, appetizers, Luau, Western, Southern, and classic american dishes. Everyone brings a dish, which takes the work off of one person. Then you can take a picture of each dish as it arrives. Everyone has to bring their recipe. Then our ooober organized aunt makes a recipe book from that thanksgiving. You could even add pictures from the days events, and have everyone record what they were thankful for that year. Fun huh!! What are your Turkey day traditions?

God Bless! C

I married my husand for this spaghetti

Anyone that has had the chance to eat my husband’s baked spaghetti has fallen in love, too bad for them he is already mine. I guess since I got the better end of the deal I will share his recipe with you guys.This is a sweet recipe with a little spice to highlight the flavors, covered with cheese that has been melted and browned. Plus it combines the top three staples of our home; cholula, parmesan, and greek seasoning. You could load a piece of plastic up with these three and I swear I would eat it. Hungry yet?  He was sweet enough to walk me through it step by step the other night. Isn’t he wonderful!!! Even our son loves this one. The other feature to this recipe I love is that it is still yummy as a leftover. We often over cook our dinners so we can bring lunch to work. Huge money saver, and usually better for you too. Let’s get cookin’ good lookin’ 😉

                                                       Supplies

1 Jar of Ragu Super Chunky Mushroom

6 oz spaghetti noodles

1 lb ground beef ( we have even used deer meet)

1 pkg Italian Cheese

1/4 cup parmesan (yes that much!!)

Greek seasoning

Cholula (sounds crazy, but its a staple in our house)

Total Cost: $10

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil water for noodles. When you cook the noodles do not cook them all the way. This is very important  you want them a little crunchy, they will finish cooking in the oven. When your noodles are cooked put them in a greased casserole dish, then load with parmesan.

Brown ground meat, season with greek seasoning (sodium free, bonus). At this point you can also fry green peppers, onions, pepperoni, mushrooms, or anything else your little heart desires in your spaghetti. On most weeknights we don’t add that, but if we have company we do. My husband really browns the meat not just cooked through. At this point you can put your veggies or whatever goodies you prepared over the noodles.

Next pour your jar of sauce into the meat. Then add Cholula, don’t be shy. We usually put about a few table spoons. At this point don’t rush it ( I am guilty of this, especially when I am hungry!). let the sauce cook down until it is nice and thick. My husband said when you shake the pan and it sticks to the side you know it is done. I tried to take a picture, but it is hard to distinguish.

Once you have your nice and thick sauce pour it over your noodle fun mixture. Then cover it with your cheese, load it on! Pop it in the oven until the cheese is nice and browned like this :

Now to the best part enjoy!

I would love to hear feed back and don’t be shy with questions. Have a happy November day. Don’t forget to send a few prayers up to the big guy for all the families on the east coast. God Bless!    CB

Diet for the old Ticker

I spend all day talking about a heart healthy diet, and figured hey it is completely blog worthy! Obviously my everyday speal is given to heart failure patients, but it is something everyone can benefit from. Considering that heart disease is one of leading causes of death in the US. Now I am just going to throw this out there, I am by no means an expert, these are just an accumulation of my experiences as a nurse, and  things I have come across. Lets get started. Grab some nutrition labels

Heart Healthy Rules

#1 What is the serving size?

Many people read the contents of the label, but skip the step of how many servings they are actually eating. More often than not you will be shocked at how small the serving size actually is.

#2 What is the total fat content per serving?          Less than 5 grams

Many people look at the fat break down and that’s great, but not realistic for the average joe. The rule of thumb I always tell my patients is this number should be equal to or less than 5 grams per serving.

#3 What is the sodium content per serving?          Less than 300 Mg

This one is most definitely the Debbie downer! The food in our country is packed with sodium, and it is terrible for you. Feeling a little bloated? You would be amazed at what happens when you watch your sodium intake. Simple chemistry lesson: water follows salt, if you have a lot of salt going into your body, you will retain fluid. Simply stated you’re going to gain those annoying LBS. Idealy to even enter the mouth foods should contain less than 300 mg per serving, but the goal should be less than 140 mg per serving.

The good news! Following a heart healthy diet does not have to be extremely complicated. The key is learning to read labels and follow these easy steps. There are even canned foods on the market that are classified as heart healthy, so pull those cans, boxes, or containers off the shelf and read the labels before shooting them into the cart.

Grocery shopping tips:

Shop the edges of the stores first. This is where you will find the fresh produce, meats, and dairy. When you do enter the middle READ THOSE LABELS. It will take a few shopping trips before you master this technique, but once you get it down you will know which brands are Safe.

God Bless! C