Homemade Fall Apple Crisp

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Today I thought I’d share with you the first recipe I baked when I found out I was diagnosed with Celiac. It’s been about 3 months now since having to change my lifestyle and while I haven’t completely changed everything, I’m getting there! I absolutely love baked goods! Cupcakes, cake, pies, crisps, I could take them all any day! So when I found out I had Celiac Disease, this was the first thing that came to my mind. After some research, I found that I can still enjoy my old “go to” recipes with just a few minor changes!


This recipe is not only gluten friendly, but easy to make and will be a hit at your table for years to come!


Enjoy!


 

Ingredients: 

10 McIntosh apples (Peeled and thinly sliced)
1 cup sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose gluten free flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup water
1 cup gluten free quick cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
¼ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter (melted)


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°


Place your peeled apples in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
 

Mix up the sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and the cinnamon together.
 

Pour over the apples and mix together. Once mixed, pour the ½ cup water over the apples.
 

Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, melted butter, and the baking soda and powder together.
 

Crumble over the apple mixture.
 

Bake for about 45 minutes or until browned.
 

**NOTE** While I made this recipe gluten free, this recipe can also be made normally. Just substitute regular all purpose flour and regular quick cooking oats.

For more recipes like this and great discussions please like my Facebook page!

~Nikki

Crockpot Overnight Oatmeal

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you had a good weekend.  Sorry I haven’t posted much, life has been absolutely crazy!  Today, I thought I’d share with you a recipe that is very quick, easy, and healthy.  Perfect for a quick weekday breakfast! 

Ingredients

1 cup steel cut oats

4 cups water

½ cup milk

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

Directions

The trick to this recipe is to cook the oatmeal in a separate bowl in the Crockpot in a water bath.  So the first thing you’ll need to do is find a bowl that will hold at least 4 cups of liquid and that will fit inside the Crockpot. 

Measure out 1 cup of steel cut oats and add to the bowl.  Add the water, milk, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice.  Mix well. 

Set the bowl in the Crockpot and fill the Crockpot with water all around the bowl.  Try to match it so that the water reaches about the top of where the oats are sitting in the inner bowl. 

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until you wake up!  Enjoy!

Tip

Add some fresh blueberries or raspberries for some extra vitamins!  Also, if you’d like you can add some dried apples, raisins, apricots, or cranberries before cooking. 

Have a great week!

|Nikki

Raspberry Lime Flavored Water

In an effort to get healthier, I am trying my hardest to drink more water.  Unfortunately, I cannot stand water!  I hate the fact that it has no taste and honestly, I’d prefer to have a good ole diet coke!  With that said, I have been reading all over the place of people making their own flavored water and decided to give it a try.  Well what a nice surprise!  It’s really honestly good!  I leave a jug of it on my counter or in the fridge throughout the day and that’s all I’ll drink.  I’ve increased my water intake greatly.  Very exciting!  Here’s my most favorite way to drink the water.  There are so many variations but this is in my opinion the best one! 

Raspberry Lime Water

Ingredients:

1 pint of raspberries

2 limes

Ice

Directions:

Slice the limes thin and add to a large pitcher.  Add the raspberries.

With the end of a wooden spoon gently crush the raspberries and limes to release some of the juices.  (Don’t smash them to smithereens!) 

Fill the pitcher with ice and then fill with filtered water to the top.  Place in the refrigerator or on the counter until you get a nice pink hue. 

Hint:  The longer you let it sit, the better it tastes!  I’ve let mine go overnight and it’s awesome!

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to join my Facebook community for more great recipes and healthy advice!

~Nikki

3 Ingredient Crockpot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

Ok, so I contemplated whether or not I was going to post this recipe because it is so easy but I said, eh, why not!  I make this recipe often.  I have the ingredients on hand most of the time and it is wicked easy!  Kids love it too!  I got a thumbs up from my little one!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 oz can crushed pineapple

1 bottle (18 oz.) BBQ sauce

Directions:

Place chicken in a greased slow cooker.  Combine BBQ sauce and pineapple and pour over the chicken. 

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 

Serve with rice and your choice of veggies. 

That’s it!  Easy and kid approved!

Tip:  If your kids don’t like just plain white rice, add 1 slice of American cheese per serving of rice to the boiling water before adding the uncooked rice.  (We’ve been eating rice like that since I was a kid!  Thanks Mom!)

Don’t forget to join my Facebook community for more recipes!

~Nikki

Summer Sun Protection

Finally!  It’s summer!  I don’t know about you, but this is my absolute favorite time of year.  Backyard BBQ’s, amusement parks, beaches, swimming…..any way you look at it, it’s awesome to be outside.  What we probably don’t think about though is what could be happening to our skin.  For our skin, summer means extra contact with the sun, heat, and sweat.  So how can we protect ourselves?  Good question….I have some solutions. 

-         Sunscreen.  Not that SPF 4 business either my friends! That will do you absolutely nothing.  You might as well not bother.  It is suggested to go with at least SPF 30.  If you have fair skin, go even higher.  (I’m a redhead.  I go the highest I can.)  Don’t be frugal with it either.  Coat it on!  Apply every 2-3 hours and after getting out of the water. 

-         Avoid sunburns.  Did you know that if you’ve had 5 or more sunburns in the course of your life you are doubling your risk of sun cancer?  Yikes.  I unfortunately, would fall under this category. 

-         Try to limit being in the midday sun as much as you can.  The sun’s rays are usually the strongest between 10 am and 4 pm.  Try to stay in the shade if at all possible. If you are at the beach, get under an umbrella.

-         Wear protective clothing.  Putting on a light pair of pants or a long sleeved shirt could help against the sun’s harmful rays.  If it’s just too hot, at least wear a wide-brimmed hat.

-         Sunglasses!  Get glasses that provide 99-100% protection from UVA and UVB rays.  This will significantly reduce the sun exposure to your eyes helping to ward off cataracts or other damage to the eye.  Check the label though!  Not all sunglasses offer this protection. 

 

                                  (Ethan being a goof!!)

-         Watch the UV index.  Most news stations will provide this important information during the weather broadcast.  Plan your outdoor activities around this. 

Don’t forget to join my Facebook community! 

Have a great weekend!

~Nikki

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjohnbeckett/2534753748/">chrisjohnbeckett</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/piper/1128331191/">CaptPiper</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>

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Roasted Chili Lime Chickpeas

Hi everyone!  Hope you are doing well!  Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, life literally took over!  With the end of Ethan’s first school year coming to a close, there are a ton of activities that are coming up. 

I must say though, I’m so excited for the school year to end.  I’m looking forward to spending my first summer home with the kids.  We have so much planned, and I’ll be blogging my way through it, so stay tuned!

Today, I thought I’d share a recipe that’s a complete HIT in my house.  It’s so incredibly easy and healthy too!  The best part about this recipe is that I was finally able to use some of the cilantro that I’m growing.  That alone got me excited! 

Hope you enjoy!

Roasted Chili Lime Chickpeas

Makes: 1 small bowl |Prep Time: 5 minutes |Cook Time 40-45 mins |Total Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons lime juice

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon – 1 teaspoon chili powder (depending on how spicy you want it)

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon – ½ teaspoon salt (depending on how much you love salt)

Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with foil

Spread chickpeas that have been drained, rinsed, and patted dry, onto the baking sheet in a single even layer. 

Roast chickpeas for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so. 

Combine olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, and cilantro in a medium bowl. 

When chickpeas are nice and crunchy (not burnt!), remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. 

Transfer chickpeas to a bowl and toss to coat.

For more recipes and healthy advice please join my Facebook community (you can find the link above)!

Have a great day!!

Nikki

Quick & Easy Changes to Start Leading a Healthier Life

One of my goals for this year was to get healthier for myself and my family.  I thought to myself, “piece of cake!” but then I got real.  There is no quick fix to getting healthy and losing weight.  You must dedicate yourself to “you” and that is when you’ll start to see things happening!  Watching what you eat and exercising are just a small percentage of the battle of getting healthy.  It is a complete lifestyle change and when you are ready, these few fundamental quick and easy tips will help you to get started.

1.      EAT SMARTER – Please don’t do what I’ve done and give up all your favorite foods!  You are just setting yourself up for failure when you do that.  Instead, eat just a little less everyday at every meal or substitute a protein shake for one or two of your meals.  Another idea is to leave the last bite or two on your plate at every meal.  Over the course of just one week you could save yourself approximately 700 calories!

2.      LESS MEAT AND MORE VEGGIES – This is a challenge in my home.  My husband loves his protein and I only cook one meal for my entire family.  We are going to try to incorporate this into our meal plan though.  It is shown that eating red meat increases your risk for heart disease and cancer.  Try swapping out one red meat meal a week with a vegetarian one!

3.      SERVE MEALS ON A SMALLER PLATE – Psychologically this is one of the easiest ways to start to eat a little less.  Most dishes these days are about 10-12 inches in diameter so when you switch to a smaller plate, you will eat less because these is less room to pile the food on!  Less is more.

4.      COOK AT HOME – Now I know what you’re thinking…..I try to cook at home I’m just so exhausted!   Here’s the truth.  I am too.  I don’t cook every night.  I want to, but there are just days that I can’t.  None of us are perfect.  Try to cook at home just one more night a week than you usually do.  Foods that are cooked at home are naturally lower in fat and calories because we are in control of the amount of fat we are cooking with. 

5.      CLOSE THE KITCHEN DOWN! – I remember growing up that after 8:00 the kitchen was closed.  No snacks, no nothing.  Late night snacking while sitting on the couch watching TV and unwinding from a long day just turns into many unwanted pounds over time.  Your body struggles to “work off” these calories in your sleep.  Close down the kitchen just like if you closed a restaurant.  If it isn’t open, you can’t get that late night snack.  If you just absolutely cannot do it, put your snack in a bowl or on a plate to prevent you from downing an entire bag or box!

6.      TAKE A VITAMIN – It is shown that society today is not getting the right amount of nutrients on a daily basis.  Taking a vitamin makes sure you get those nutrients regardless of what you eat and you’ll start to feel better within days!  If I don’t take my vitamins, boy do I know it!  I’m tired, cranky, and dragging all day.  Click HERE for the vitamins I take.

So, start making these little changes today and you’ll see that over time and probably without realizing it you are losing weight and building a foundation for a healthier lifestyle! 

Also, there is only two more days to take advantage of our Shaklee free membership!  You can get the vitamins I listed above for 25% off with the membership and auto-ship!  Makes for a really sweet deal!  If you would like more information you can also contact me at nicole@lacicwellness.com

Have a great day everyone!
Nikki

Super Easy, Kid Friendly, English Muffin Pizzas

Ok, so this isn’t the most gourmet recipe in the world but its fun, kid friendly, and really easy!  My husband works well over 2 hours away from work so most nights it’s just me and the kids for dinner.  With my hands so full, I usually turn to things that take me 30 minutes or less.  These pizzas are so versatile.  I’m sure most of you have already made these before and know that there are so many variations to the recipe.  I like to stay on the more healthy side so I don’t use pepperoni, bacon, or any of the really greasy stuff.  In this particular recipe I used Italian chicken sausage.  It’s awesome!  Any way you make these, I’m sure they’ll be delicious! 

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of English muffins
• Olive oil         
• 1 jar pizza sauce
• ½ tsp of garlic powder
• ½ tsp of Italian seasoning
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Whatever toppings you like on pizza (In this recipe I used Italian Chicken Sausage)     

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450.

Split the English muffins and brush the outside with olive oil, place the cut side up on a baking sheet. 

Sprinkle the muffins with the garlic powder

Toast in the oven until slightly brown. 

Remove from the oven and top with pizza sauce, toppings, the mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. 

Even Ethan likes to help!

Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly brown. 

Here is Ethan's plate….I always like to have some sort of veggie with every meal!

Enjoy!

~Nikki

Meal Planning 101

Welcome to my first of an ongoing meal planning series for Mom’s and Dad’s!  As a very busy Mom who is taking care of two children, running a business, and going to school, I find it very difficult to not have a plan in place when it comes to meals during the week.  Before I started meal planning, my husband would pick up take out on the way home from work or I’d cook frozen junk that really took no effort at all.  Both of these are extremely unhealthy and not creative.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t cook gourmet meals every day.  I make things that are not only healthy, but quick and easy as well, because let’s face it, who has the time! 

So, twice a month I’ll be sharing with you my lovely and faithful readers our menu and give you some tips on what works for me.  I do my big grocery shopping trips twice per month and then weekly I get my essentials, milk, fresh fruit, veggies, etc.  I plan according to what is on sale and I also clip coupons.  This is a bit time consuming on my Sunday nights, but I have saved a significant amount of money. 

Without further ado, here’s my menu for the next two weeks!

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Mother’s Day Dinner at Aunt Sue’s House	Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli with rice	English Muffin Pizzas with Italian Chicken Sausage	Stuffed Peppers	Chicken Parmesan with Salad	Tater Tot Casserole	Teriyaki Steak on the Grill with Veggies and Baked Potatoes
Crockpot Bolognese with Salad	Chicken Enchiladas	Meatloaf Muffins with Rice and Veggies	Crockpot Chicken Philly Grinders and French Fries	Tacos with Mexican Rice	Grilled Honey lime chicken with Mexican 3 Bean Salad	Grilled Pork Chops with Sweet Potato and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Note:  I post my menu on the front of the fridge so I know what I need to thaw out first thing in the morning.  This way, I don’t even need to think about it!  I also keep a magnetic notepad on the front of the fridge as well so if I run out of something my husband or I will make a note of it.  This makes life very easy when it comes time to plan my grocery shopping trip. 

I’m also going to be sharing with everyone some of the recipes I make for our dinners.  Now, keep in mind, I’m feeding an extremely picky five year old!  Need I say more?  I cook very easy, very kid friendly meals that work for my family.  I try very hard to instill what my Mom taught me which is to have a meat, veggie and a starch at every meal.  Do I do this every night?  Nope.  I’m human!  I do try my best though. 

Tonight I’m making English muffin pizzas with salad.  I’ll be sharing the recipe tomorrow so please stop back!

Have a great day!

~Nikki