I just had my baby Samuel two weeks ago today and it has been a whirlwind for my husband and I taking care of a newborn and a 3 year old little princess.  I admit that throughout my first pregnancy I was very health conscience of what I ate and my nutritional intake. This pregnancy was the complete opposite. Whatever fast food I could get my hands on went into my mouth. Biggest addiction was Taco Bell’s chicken burritos. I could have eaten these daily if I didn’t know better. For some reason though, now that he’s here, I find myself cooking better meals and trying to get those much needed vitamins and nutrients that I miss out on during my pregnancy.  Yesterday’s breakfast was a prime example.

First I diced one slice of turkey bacon and sauteed it in a small frying pan until it was crispy. I then added one scrambled egg to the bacon and cooked it until it was no longer runny, adding salt & pepper to taste. I folded the cooked egg in 1/2 and 1/2 again and placed it on some whole wheat toast with a slice of muenster cheese to make a sandwich. The sandwich was certainly tasty but I wanted – no I needed something else to go with it other than my mango peach V-8 splash. I then thought of the perfect accompaniment. I sliced some strawberries, diced some green apples and tossed them into a bowl with some blueberries . Then I topped the fruit with 1/2 of a single serving container of  a Vanilla Creme Yopliat Whips! I needed a crunch so I sprinkled two spoonfuls of Planters NUT-rition Digestive Health Mix over the top of the fruit and yogurt. The mix has dried cranberries, whole almonds, granola clusters, whole pistachios and dried cherries. When I saw the few granola clusters I knew that was the finishing touch. I grabbed my bag of BEAR NAKED FIT® Vanilla Almond Crunch natural granola out of the pantry and sprinkled a little extra on top. And viola,  I had the tasty and nutritious compliment to my egg sandwich that I was looking for.

The taste was so delicious that I thought I could use it again that evening for dessert.  For dinner, I sliced and grilled some Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa and cooked up some Zatarain’s red beans and rice. (I know that doesn’t sound very nutrious but I need the calories since I’m feeding a new born. Well that sounds convincing to me.)  I also baked some carrots in a sweet caramel sauce and grilled some onions to go with the sausage.  For the dessert, I made the same dish as that morning but instead of vanilla yogurt I used Chocolate Raspberry Yoplait Delights Parfait.  I added the NUT-rition Digestive Health Mix and the granola but for an added touch I used a micro-plane to grate a Hershey’s kiss over the top and added a sprig of mint for flair.  My husband and daughter dove into dessert first and you know, that’s OK because it was the most nutritious part of the meal.

  16 oz packages cream cheese softened 
  8 oz stick butter softened
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  3 tablespoons brown sugar
  3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
  1 cup miniature semisweet chips

Beat softened cream cheese and butter until well blended.  Add brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar and blend until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla extract. Fold in miniature chocolate chips and 1 cup of the chopped pecans.

Place plastic wrap into a small bowl as a liner and add the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate in bowl for at least 3 hours. Flip out the cheese ball onto a plate and press the other 1/2 cup of chopped pecans into the sides of the cheese ball. Serve with animal crackers.

Alternate preparations include pouring caramel sauce over the top or replacing 1/2 the chocolate chips with butterscotch chips . Also goes well with sliced apples, graham crackers or vanilla wafers.

This weekend we drove down to Mobile, Alabama to celebrate our niece, Katie’s, 3rd birthday as well as my mother-in-law’s birthday. The party was decorated for a princess including the cake. My sister-in-law, Stephanie,  made a chocolate and strawberry castle cake. There were three layers of chocolate and one layer of strawberry with the pink icing. 

Stephanie used cupcakes and sugar cones to create four turrets and one with a chocolate tip that all the kids fought over. Strawberry whoppers, strawberry wafers and chocolate icing were used as the door, drawbridge and overall decor. Stephanie had said that she had been watching the Food Network’s great cake challenge and thought “I can do that, no problem”. A few hours into the cake making and she couldn’t figure out how the chefs decorated cakes for hours on end. All on all, the cake was absolutely beautiful and her little girl loved it more than her little mind could articulate. When it came to carve the cake, I had a little tear in my eye knowing how much time and energy went into making this little girl’s birthday wishes come true. When the kids had devoured the cake and ice cream heading off to open gifts, I asked Stephanie where she had gotten the idea.  She said the recipe had come from a cookbook I had given her last year that she made a few adjustment to for her purposes. For some reason I had a moment of pride and gratitude feeling that I in some way had helped although I know that wasn’t the case. Needless to say, the party was extraordinary as all Stephanie and Alex Pate’s parties are. I am just glad Zoey is only one so she won’t think her mommy will be able to create a cake like her Aunt Stephanie.