{Happy Birthday Mama!}

My Mom is one of the biggest blessing in my life! I am lucky to call her not only my Mom, but my friend. I know I can always count on her to talk me through a rough situation, help me get the most impossible stains out of clothes or to be available when I've got some crazy idea and need a partner in crime! She taught me to always extend others the benefit of the doubt and to give without expecting anything in return. For that and for so much more, I love you Mom!

Happy Birthday!

{Claire Lately...}

These past several weeks Claire's 1st birthday seems to be inching closer and closer and before our eyes our sweet baby is becoming a beautiful, intelligent, amazing little girl! She is so independent, yet such a cuddle bug. She is a pure delight and we are beaming with pride to be the parents of such a precious, incredible little darling!

Here's a little look at what Claire's been up to lately...

{Foodie Week} Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

To conclude Foodie Week here at HWTH I have a sweet treat for ya! Of course a self-proclaimed sweet tooth like myself couldn't leave you without dessert! While not exactly healthy, I love recipes like this one because they're incredibly simple and chances are, you already have all the ingredients in your pantry. Believe me, I was pretty skeptical that a cookie containing a mere four ingredients (and no flour or butter) could be anything above sub-par. Folks, I am proven wrong.

These peanut butter cookies are superb! In fact, I will likely never touch another peanut butter cookie recipe. They are sweet, delicate and well, very peanut buttery. But I believe the magic really comes to life with the sprinkle of sea salt I added to the finish. It cuts the sweetness perfectly! But I must make one request of you - please, please make sure to use natural peanut butter! Otherwise, I fear the added sugar in other varieties would completely ruin these. Seriously, don't do it.

And finally, I just wanted to thank you all for taking part in my first ever Foodie Week! I had a lot of fun putting together some of our new favorites and I hope you get a chance to try one or two (or all!) of the recipes I shared this week! 

Without further ado, I give you these scrumptious little bites...

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup sugar (I used half regular & half brown sugar)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until well combined. 
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten the mounds with the tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern on the cookies. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of the cookies.
4. Bake until golden around edges, about 10 minutes.

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

{Foodie Week} Baked Chicken Tacos

Truth be told, today's recipe came to be one evening because I planned to make chicken enchiladas, but started dinner really late and realized I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make the enchilada sauce (we'll just chalk that up to mommy brain!). And so it morphed into the next best thing, baked chicken tacos! And lucky for us, they came out quite tasty. I love when that happens!

Baked Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jalapeno, diced and seeded
1/2 can black beans, no salt added
1/2 can corn, no salt added
1/2 cup salsa
8 small corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheese
olive oil
taco seasoning
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper

optional for serving
salsa
avocado
cilantro
sour cream


Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
2. Season chicken with taco seasoning, sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Heat olive oil in a non stick pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken about 5 minutes on each side.
3. Shred cooked chicken breasts using two forks to separate the meat.
4. Layer each tortilla with shredded chicken, beans, corn, jalapeno and salsa and place in a rectangular dish.
5. Once all the tortillas are filled and placed snugly in the baking dish, sprinkle each individual taco with shredded cheese.
6. Place baking dish in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and tacos are heated through.
7. Serve immediately and top with salsa, sliced avocado, sour cream and fresh cilantro.

{Just for the record, this heaping plate was my husband's}

{Foodie Week} Roasted Mushroom Quinoa

Today's recipe is a side dish and the star of the show is one of my favorite grains, quinoa! Simple to make and mild enough to serve aside most any dish, this is one of those recipes I will definitely serve over and over again!

Quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse, high in protein, iron and calcium and extremely versatile. In fact, on numerous occasions I've served it for breakfast! There are so many delicious ways to prepare quinoa, though I am partial to the addition of meaty mushrooms!

Now forgive me for the lack of green in my photos, as I didn't have fresh parsley on hand so I substituted dried parsley. It was still delicious. No, make that perfect. It was quinoa perfection.

 And p.s., served hot or cold, these leftovers are delish!!

Roasted Mushroom Quinoa
recipe from Clean Eating magazine

Ingredients

1 lb cremini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 large shallot
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup quinoa (I used a combo of red and white quinoa)
1 loosely packed cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped


Directions

1. Preheat oven at 425 degrees. On a large baking sheet spread mushrooms, garlic and shallot. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Bake, using a spatula to toss once or twice, for 25 to 30 minutes, until mushrooms are dark brown and tender and garlic and shallots begin to crisp.
2. Meanwhile, prepare quinoa according to package. (Here's a great website with instructions if you're not familiar with cooking quinoa)
3. In a large serving bowl, combine mushroom mixture and quinoa. Sprinkle in parsley and toss to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve cold.

{Foodie Week} Sweet & Salty Popcorn

A favorite snack around here is air-popped popcorn. It's a delicious, inexpensive, low-calorie, high fiber snack that we can really feel good about eating!

 I don't know about you, but when it comes to popcorn, I am partial to the ever famous sweet/salty combo. Oh, kettle corn...

However, I recently stumbled upon what is my new favorite combo. It really hits the spot when I'm hankering a sweet & salty snack, but with way less sugar than kettle corn! The addition of coconut oil infuses a lovely hint of exotic sweetness while the dark chocolate melts into the warm kernels, all balanced out by the touch of sea salt - be still my heart!! And because dark chocolate is so rich, it doesn't take much to satisfy a pesky sweet tooth!

I can definitely get on board with healthy snacks that tastes awesome.

 Sweet & Salty Popcorn

Ingredients

1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/4 cup popcorn
1 Tablespoon dark chocolate chips
Pinch coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add popcorn to pan and cover until fully popped.
3. Add chocolate chips and sprinkle with sea salt.

{Foodie Week} Coconut Breakfast Pudding with Sauteed Nectarines

Happy Monday, friends! I've got a special treat for you this week: it's Foodie Week here at HWTH! I recently realized how little I've posted in the recipe arena and I'm here to remedy that! We have indeed been cooking up some new flavors lately, as well as our tried and trues, but some of them have really stood out and I'm here to share them with ya! Enjoy the five new recipes I've got this week and let me know what you think!

This first one is quite possibly the very best variation of oatmeal I've ever tasted. It's creamy and comforting and infused with some of my favorite flavors! Definitely a keeper and will likely be showing up on my next brunch menu.

Don't be fooled, while they may look fancy, these oats are simple enough to make on any given Tuesday! Just a word to the wise, as tempting as it may be to skip the overnight soaking of the oats, I promise it's worth it as the subtle coconut infusion really gives this recipe that extra something special. This dish even gets my non-breakfast eating husband on board with oatmeal, and that's saying a lot!

Coconut Breakfast Pudding with Sauteed Nectarines 
recipe from Whole Living

Ingredients

2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 nectarines, sliced
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup unsweetened large coconut flakes, toasted

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine oats and shredded coconut with 1 1/2 cups water and refrigerate overnight.
   
2. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and add milk, cinnamon, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until creamy, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir, and cover.
   
3. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and saute nectarines until golden, 1 to 2 minutes, before stirring in syrup.
   
4. Divide oats between two bowls and top with nectarines and coconut flakes. Drizzle with additional syrup, if desired.
   

Claire Elizabeth {8 Months}

This month was a little difficult to get many still shots of our girl...

{4th in Photos}

Happy Friday, friends! I don't have much time to post today, but just wanted to share some sweet shots of Claire looking all patriotic! I decided to make an exception for the holiday and get her one of those obnoxiously large bows, which was a good call, she was a hit. The only thing I didn't capture was a her munching on watermelon (which she loved!).

We're headed to the airport this afternoon to spend a long weekend in Oklahoma. Sadly, we are visiting family who is very sick. Not the ideal circumstances, but extremely happy we could make this happen last minute. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

{Happy Independence Day!}

Happy Independence Day, friends! How are you celebrating today? 

We have fun plans to swim and grill out with friends this afternoon (who also have a little cutie!)  and then a family BBQ tonight - a pretty classic 4th! 

Though we kicked off the festivities this past weekend with a community festival called Celebrate America with our families, which included some wonderful patriotic events, a great performance by Danny Gokey and of course an awesome fireworks show (which our girl slept through!).

Hope you have a glorious day celebrating America's freedom!

{First Pony}

It's a mom's dream come true - Claire officially has enough hair for a ponytail! 

Is that not the sweetest little fountain pony you've ever seen?! It kills me in the best possible way! I still can't get over how much hair she has. In fact {sniff} she's getting her first trim this week {sniff, sniff}. Poor thing can barely see through all that hair when it's down. Pictures to come!