Baked Cauliflower Cheese Tots

  I am always looking for ways to sneak veggies into my boys diets. The only veggie I can get my boys to eat is carrots. They just won't eat any other veggie. So when I saw this recipe for baked cauliflower cheese tots, I knew I just had to make them. My boys love tater tots that are made with potatoes so I needed to see if the cauliflower ones tasted just as good. A while back I had made a pizza from cauliflower that I thought tasted awesome, but since it did not have the same texture that pizza had my boys would not eat it. These cheesy tots have the same texture as regular tater tots but so much healthier with the cauliflower in it. I made mine with bread crumbs but if you want to make them gluten free then substitute almond meal/flour or ground up oatmeal for the bread crumbs. You can also make these tots in a mini muffin pan too. I choose to form mine so that they would resemble tater tots making them more appetizing to my boys.

  I love that these cheesy cauliflower tots are baked instead of fried as that makes them way lower in fat. When I bake I like to use silicone oven mitts to protect my hands and arms from burns. I find that silicone oven mitts over way better protection than cloth oven mitts and they are way easier to keep clean. Have you ever tried to wash a cloth oven mitt? I love my new silicone oven mitts as they have a comfortable quilted inner liner which makes using them so much better than my old pair that was just make from the silicone. The inside cloth liner helps me to grip my baking pans so much easier and provides an extra layer of protection from the heat. These cute blue gloves are longer too so it covers above my wrist. I always seem to burn my wrists when pulling my baking pans out of the oven. Did you know that silicone oven mitts are heat resistant up to 482 F and waterproof? My husband loves using these oven mitts when he grills food on the barbecue. You could even use these oven mitts to help you lift a cooked turkey. I just love using my silicone oven mitts for all my baking and they have a nice hanging hook on them. I hang my on the wall next to my oven so they are ready to use. Cleaning these mitts are so easy too, I just clean them in soapy water, rinse and hang them to dry. If the inside does get dirty or wet, they are easy to turn inside out to clean and dry. I just love the vintage box that these silicone oven mitts come in, making it a great housewarming or wedding gift. Life Quintessentials also included these cute cupcake wrappers in the box. These gloves come in many different colors too, including pink.

          http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Oven-Mitts-Professional-Resistant/dp/B00J5M55SG/
                 

                                       Baked Cauliflower Cheese Tots

                                              1 medium head, cauliflower, cut into florets
                                              1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
                                              1/2 cup finely ground breadcrumbs
                                              1 large egg
                                              1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
                                               1 teaspoon garlic powder
                                               1/4 teaspoon salt
                                               1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
 1. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or spray with cooking spray.
 2. Place cauliflower pieces ina microwave safe dish with water, cover and cook for 5 minutes, until soft.
 3. Thoroughly drain the water from the cooked cauliflower and place in a food processor. Blend until it resembles rice.

4. Place the mashed cauliflower in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well until it looks like mashed potatoes.
5. Take 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture and shape into a tater tot shape. You can also place mixture into a well greased mini muffin tin.
6. Place the tots on the baking sheet, spacing and inch apart, and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the tots over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crispy. Makes about 35 tots. Serve with ketchup or desired dipping sauce.

Notes: The mixture will be very wet when forming the tots.

"These opinions are my own and a received a set of silicone baking mitts to facilitate this post."

Chris Tomlin Is Launching A Brand New Video & A Giveaway

Chris Tomlin is launching a brand new video to go with his song “Good, Good Father!"

I just love Chris Tomlin's song “Good, Good Father!" I never tire of listening to it. I love that Chris Tomlin is launching a brand new video to go with this song. You just have to go check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlsQrycKKsY

I just love the story behind this song.

Story Behind The Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN_XJ1zyYnA

                                                    Link to get song on iTunes 

                              http://smarturl.it/CTGoodGoodFather?IQid=pbn 

Check out this Giveaway!
Win a Flyaway to see Chris Tomlin at Worship Night In America!

1st Prize: 1 winner
a Flyaway for 2 to see Chris Tomlin at the closest Worship Night In America stop near you
2 Meet & Greet Passes
Hotel Accommodations

https://www.tunespeak.com/christomlin?secret=e1X9apACpws#contests/56c7561a69702d35130008af

WINNER(S) will be notified by Tunespeak via the email address associated with their Facebook accounts. If Tunespeak is unable to contact a winner after reasonable effort or failure of winner to respond within 2 Days of the first attempted notification, will result in forfeiture of Prize and selection of an alternate winner.

My Week Three Adventure Of Running After An Injury

I have learned that stretching is a must when it comes to running after and injury.

  The one thing that is helping me get back to running is a lot of stretching. I have been not only doing leg stretches before and after my running, but I have found that stretching helps during my running. I have been increasing the amount of running time of my run/walk sessions and will stop to stretch about half way through my session. This stretching has helped me to run longer. I have been able to run for ten minutes before my muscles start to get tight. Then I walk for a minute and run for another ten minutes. I am feeling good about my running.

   Last week was a busy week. The boys were home for two days from school because of school conferences. They also get home early on Wednesday. So that meant three days that I had to run at the park. I really don't do well with running at the park as I have to run in circles so I get bored fast and I want to give up too soon. I am hoping by summer time that my 9 year old son can ride his bike for longer distances so I can run on the bike trails. The last time I tried the bike trails with my boys, he complained that his legs hurt half way into my running. Maybe getting out first thing in the  morning might help, I sure hope so.

This was the final week before my son's ROTC military ball and I wanted to look smashing in my dress. So I made sure that I ran every day and ate lots of healthy food. I don't know if I lost any weight as I hate stepping on the scale, but I did have to tighten my belt one more notch. I am afraid that stepping on the scale will either leave me depressed by the number or if I lost weight then I will use that as an excuse to eat more. So for now, I am going to continue to eat good and keeping running until I like what I see in the mirror. I really want to tone my belly by July for my other son's wedding.

Here is how I looked for the military ball. I think I look good in this dress. Here are some other pictures from the ball. It was a fun time and I enjoyed talking with the other moms who sat at our table. I did enjoy a piece of cake too. That cake will motivate me to run today.

My son and his girlfriend were selected the prince and princess for the night.

My son looked handsome in his uniform for the sword detail, I really need a better camera. My tablet does well in natural light not in a brightly lite room.

My husband and I really enjoyed the ball. We are so proud of our son. He has a great future ahead of him. He plans to go to the naval academy and is doing well in school so he is well on his way.

So time for me to lace up my shoes and get out running. Here is to a great week of running!

How To Go From Boring To Beautiful With L'Oreal Paris

Help! I am going to my son's JROTC Military Ball and I need to look pretty.

 Here is a picture of how I look most days before I put on any lotion or make-up. I am also desperately in need of a haircut. Now if I was just sitting at home then this look is OK with me. Since I am attending my son's JROTC Military ball in two weeks, I want to look a whole lot better. I want to go from boring to beautiful and wow not only my husband but also the other moms at the ball. I had my son at age 34 so I am older than the other moms who will be at the ball, but that is not going to stop me from looking beautiful. I already bought a pretty black dress for the event so the next steps that I need to do are get a smashing haircut and learn how to do my makeup.

The secret to learning how to do my make up for the ball is in this little box. This box contains all that I need to make my face go from boring to beautiful. L'Oreal Paris sent me a box filled with their brand new for 2016 cosmetics.This box contains everything that I need to be my own makeup artist. I usually don't wear more than foundation, so I am excited to be able to experiment with what is in this box. So, I won't keep you in suspense anymore and I will open this box up so we can see what is inside.

I just love the way this box opens. My younger boys saw my box and were fascinated by it. They thought it would make a great box to store all their Lego guys in and asked if they could have it. I think not, as it is my beauty box.

     The top layer of the box contained 15 wonderful shades of Colour Riche Eyeshadow Monos. These pretty colors provide an ultra-rich and ultra-smooth gel-to-powder blend that allows for easy, controlled application. The hard part will be deciding what color to wear. I am thinking a shade of purple as I am going to be wearing a gorgeous purple necklace, but I will try other colors to see what looks best on me. I just love how rich that dark blue looks.

The next layer of the box contained these Infallible Pro-Contour kits and Brow Stylist Prep & Shape Pro-Kit. I just love the Pro-Sculpt brush that comes with the complexion kit and with the easy to follow pointers on the packaging, I will be able to create, define, and enhance my features in seconds. The Infallible Pro-Contour kits are available in three shades too. The Brow Stylist Prep & Shape Pro-Kit comes with tweezers and a brush so I can perfectly groom and polish my brows to look their best for the ball.

The last layer of the box contained some more fun makeup items for my lips and eyes. My lips are going to look gorgeous when I apply the Infallible Pro-Matte Gloss to them.The creamy liquid matte lipgloss comes in ten pretty colors to deliver bold color to lips. I think my favorite is the top pink one.

I think all eyes will be on me when I wear the Voluminous Superstar Red Carpet Mascara. This is a primer + mascara that creates lashes that sparkle with light-reflecting pearls. I will be able to bat my long lashes at my husband while I dance the night away. I will have to try all of the four intense shades of the Infallible Matte-Matic Liner to be able to see which one looks best on me. I love that they are a mechanical eyeliner so I don't to sharpen them with a pencil sharpener. That is a plus for me as my boys always seem to take my sharpeners for their pencils. I am not sure if I will use the Infallible Black Velvet Liner, as it might just be too bold for my eyes. I also love that both liners are safe and gentle for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.

What a fun box of items that I received from L'Oreal Paris. I am going to look so beautiful for my son's JROTC Military Ball. This cosmetic collection will help me go from boring to beautiful for a fun night of dancing. The L'Oreal website also has videos to help a girl, like me, who needs help with makeup application. Check out L'Oreal Paris's website to find out more about this new makeup collection.

http://www.lorealparisusa.com/en/Products/makeup.aspx

So how do I look? Did I do a good job with my makeup and go from boring to beautiful?

"These opinions are my own and I received the above-mentioned products to help facilitate this post."

How To Attract Humming Birds With A DIY Feeder

Spring is on the way and so are the hummingbirds.

  Hummingbirds are fascinating creatures to watch. These little birds flutter near my house in the spring and summer and feed off pink flowers that will bloom on this plant. Right now this plant has no flowers on it so I decided to make a DIY hummingbird feeder to see if I could attract some hummingbirds. This feeder was simple to make and only cost $3.00 as I purchased the materials from the dollar store. I bought a pink water bottle, red flowers and a plant stand. If you have a tree then there is no need for the plant stand.

The first step to making the feeder is too cut off four flowers, keeping the holes open from the flowers. Then I drilled 4 holes in the water bottle and hot glued the flowers over the holes. Make sure the holes in the bottle are not covered by the flowers. Your feeder is now ready to be filled with hummingbird food.

I like to use a clear nectar to feed the hummingbirds as I am sure the red dye is not good for them. The pink bottle and red flowers will attract the birds so there is no need to use a nectar with red dye in it. I like to purchase my nectar in a powder form so I can easily mix it up as needed. I bought this hummingbird gift set from CentiMom as it had everything that I needed to be able to make the nectar and then some. This kit comes with three pounds of nectar powder(in a resealable bag), a measuring cup, a mixing/storing container, and several cleaning brushes. I love the way it is packaged in a burlap bag, making it great for gift giving. The burlap bag can then be used to store everything so you don't have to hunt for supplies.

 This great hummingbird nectar starter kit was a perfect gift for my boys so they could learn more about those cute little birds. I wanted  to make sure that we were feeding the hummingbirds a food that was good for them and I choose this clear nectar based on what it did not have in it. The CentiMom hummingbird food will not harm the birds and does not contain FD&C#40 Red dye, artificial sweeteners,  preservatives, pesticides,  refined beet sugar,  MSG, or common allergens (peanuts, wheat, dairy, chocolate, eggs, gluten.) I just love that this large 3- pound bag is resealable and has unlimited shelf life so I can use what I need and save the rest for next season.

Watch this video to discover how easy it is to prepare the nectar for your hummingbird feeder. The video also shows everything that is included in the starter kit. 

Click on the below link to purchase this CentiMom hummingbird nectar starter kit. These make a great gift for bird lovers of all ages.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M5RR6YE

    My DIY hummingbird feeder is filled and ready for the hummingbirds. I placed my feeder by my Yucca plant as this plant will sprout pink flowers in the next couple of weeks. These pink flowers have attracted hummingbirds in the past so I think this plant will help the birds discover my DIY feeder. Maybe the hummingbirds will discover my feeder before the flowers bloom. I will update this with photos of hummingbirds once I see them. The hummingbirds usually arrive once spring starts.

Free Kroger Greek Yogurt Pre and Probiotics

Calling all Kroger and affiliate shoppers! Hurry over here for this week’s KrogerFree Kroger Greek Yogurt Pre and Probiotics!  This eCoupon is available for download today only, February 26th but you have until 03/13/2016 to redeem it. I love Kroger's freebie Friday!

http://kroger.softcoin.com/programs/kroger/freefri/

Kroger • Baker’s • City Market • Dillons • Fred Meyer • Fry’s •Gerbes • Jay C • King Soopers • Owen’s • Pay Less • QFC • Ralphs • Smith’s