Recipes

How to Make Weight Loss Mashed Potatoes

November 1, 2022 by Sandra Leave a Comment

Today, I’m showing you how to make my Rapid Weight Loss Mashed Potatoes. 🙂

You’ll be shocked at how simple and easy it is to lose weight with this delicious and nutritious recipe. You’ve never seen mashed potatoes like this before. These are new and different and I’m going to show you exactly how I make them and how you can change them up to make endless flavor combinations that will allow you to lose weight and feel satisfied.

These mashed potatoes are one of the secrets to my weight loss success, and they’ve helped me get to my current weight of 142 pounds (and I’m not finished losing weight just yet).

If you’re looking for a delicious and nutritious way to lose weight, then you should try this recipe for Rapid Weight Loss Mashed Potatoes as these potatoes will help you lose weight rapidly and without much effort. Give this recipe a try and see how much weight you can lose in just a few weeks! If you do try them, please share in the comments below and let me know how you changed them up or what spices you used so that I can possibly try them in the future.

These mashed potatoes would also be great to help keep the extra pounds from creeping on during the holiday season as they don’t include any dairy and only include ingredients that will promote your weight loss.

I hope you enjoy the video, and, as always, thanks for watching!

Join me on this journey as I share tips and super quick and easy foods to eat to lose weight and keep it off forever! Please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I publish videos there before they make it to the blog.

Are you working on losing weight in 2022? Have you ever thought about including tomatoes in your mashed potatoes?

Weight Loss Mashed Potatoes Recipe

How to Make Delicious Mexican Rice (Perfectly Cooked Easy Restaurant Style Mexican Rice Recipe)

January 23, 2021 by Sandra Leave a Comment

Today, I’m sharing a Mexican rice recipe that I think you’ll love. This Mexican rice is perfectly cooked easy restaurant-style Mexican rice that’s sure to please. I filmed this video for how to make Mexican rice last year but never got around to sharing it here on my blog until today.

I hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching! 🙂

P.S. Please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I publish videos there before they make it on the blog. Oh, and I share about food, family, and more in my Instagram Stories, so you may want to follow me there as well.

DIY Gift Idea: Peppermint Sugar Scrub (and review of the Epson LabelWorks Printable Ribbon Kit)

December 24, 2020 by Sandra 6 Comments

I partnered with Epson for a review of the LabelWorks Printable Ribbon Kit.

Sugar scrubs are kind of…amazing.

Truly, I had never used a sugar scrub for the first twenty-nine-years or so of my life, and I was missing out. 😉

Now, I whip them up on a regular basis for my family and show others how to make them as well. Besides that, sugar scrubs are fabulous during the winter months, because they moisturize your skin and keep it from feeling all dry and itchy. We’ve been using our homemade peppermint sugar scrub all winter, and it’s made such a difference in my naturally dry skin.

I love it!

This particular peppermint body scrub only takes a few minutes to make, and it only requires three simple ingredients: sugar, coconut oil, and peppermint essential oil. Easy enough, right?

Sugar Scrubs Make Great Gifts

Now besides pampering yourself with a homemade scrub, you might consider giving one away as a gift. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner… 🙂

And to make your homemade gift extra-special, you can put the scrub in a brand new mason jar and adorn it with ribbon.

Like so.

I used the Epson LabelWorks Printable Ribbon Kit to create a ribbon that not only lets the gift-receiver know what type of sugar scrub is in the jar, but also gives this homemade gift a little charm and elegance.

The red ribbon with gold lettering was perfect for this project. Best of all, the ribbon was easy to set up in the label machine. I’ll confess that I read the directions on how to get started with everything, but being the non-crafty person that I am, I still didn’t know what I was doing afterwards.

One quick YouTube video later, and I was all set. 😉

I thought the Epson LabelWorks Printable Ribbon Kit was straightforward and a snap to use. Even my kids enjoyed it.

The large, green button on the side of the label printer is what you push to cut the ribbon after it comes out of the machine. My kids LOVED pushing the button and asked if I could make all sorts of ribbons for them.

I did, of course. 🙂

I put the final touches on this homemade gift by using a couple of items I already had on hand: a wintery snowman gift bag and plastic ribbon to tie everything together. I love how it turned out!

Here’s the printable recipe for the Peppermint Sugar Body Scrub:

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

Ingredients

½ cup coconut oil
1½ cups granulated sugar
10 drops of peppermint essential oil

Instructions

In a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the coconut oil and sugar.
Add the peppermint essential oil and mix just until it's infused throughout the sugar scrub.
Store in a covered container, and use as desired.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2020/12/diy-gift-idea-peppermint-sugar-scrub-review-epson-labelworks-printable-ribbon-kit/

I’m looking forward to using my Epson LabelWorks Ribbon Kit to pretty up many more of my DIY beauty projects and even to personalize wrapping paper, foodie gifts, and more of my kids’ creations. 🙂

Do you make your own body scrubs? Have you ever used an Epson label printer?

Delicious Monkey Bread Recipe PLUS Baking Tips and Tricks from a Chef

December 23, 2020 by Sandra 8 Comments

Thanks to Jewel-Osco for sponsoring this post and sharing great baking tips as we head into the new year.

One of my family’s favorite ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve is with monkey bread.

It’s gooey, sweet, and delicious! Plus, it’s the perfect indulgence as we wrap up the busy holiday season and look forward to the new year. We all love it, and I know my kids will have memories of making monkey bread with Mommy for a long time to come. 🙂

Here’s what the monkey bread looks like before it’s flipped out of the bundt pan and onto a serving platter. Mmmm…so much buttery, sugary goodness!

Jewel-Osco Lucerne® Dairy Farms Products

Now, when I make monkey bread, I love using Lucerne® Dairy Farms butter and milk exclusively available at my local Jewel-Osco grocery store. If you’ve seen my grocery haul videos, you already know that I’m a big fan of Jewel-Osco. After all, the variety of dairy products they have available is great quality and affordable.

While Jewel-Osco offers all of the above products (and more) for your NYE party needs, I only need to use their milk and butter along with the rest of the ingredients listed in the recipe at the end of this blog post for the monkey bread.

Side Note: Pair crackers with strawberry cream cheese spread (pictured above) to create a quick and easy New Year’s Day snack for your family and guests!

Baking Tips and Tricks

If you need more baking tips, Jewel-Osco Executive Chef Jeff Anderson has these for you:

1. Take inventory: Before diving into cooking and baking, check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to make sure you have all the essentials.
  - PRO TIP: Keep extra flour and sugar in the pantry, stock up on an 18-count of Lucerne® Eggs, and store Lucerne® Butter in the freezer so you have it on hand to make last-minute dishes for the parties you’ll be attending or hosting!
2. Gather, Measure, Ready: (Or in fancier terms, “Mise en Place”) Before you begin baking your scrumptious treats, organize all of your ingredients, utensils, and baking materials. Use these simple steps to help you prepare and not waste any time in the kitchen:
  - Gather: Pull together all of your ingredients.
  - Measure: Before you get your hands dirty, pre-measure your dry ingredients such as flour, salt, dairy, spices, etc.
  - Ready: Get your oven pre-heated before you start, so there is no waiting around.
3. Get ahead of the game: Have an early morning start? Prepare dishes that can be made ahead of time and freeze them until it’s go-time! As an example, freeze your Pumpkin Chocolate Rolls made with Lucerne® Pumpkin Flavored Cream Cheese and then pop into the oven just before guests arrive so they will smell the delicious aroma when they walk through the door!
  - PRO TIP: Take the extra step, and prepare whipped cream to top off your desserts! Try out this recipe using just four ingredients including Lucerne® Heavy Whipping Cream. This is great for coffee drinks, kids’ treats, and more!
4. Dry run: Read over your recipe a few days in advance. When menu planning, make notes, check your inventory, and think through everything you’ll need to prepare the recipe.

Monkey Bread Recipe

I hope those tips from Chef Jeff are helpful to you. Now, here’s the recipe for the delicious monkey bread I’ve been talking about. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine. 🙂

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

For the Dough:

3-1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for the counter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 envelope of instant or RapidRise yeast (or measure out 2-1/4 teaspoons if you're measuring the yeast out of a jar)
1-1/2 teaspoons salt (I use fine grain Himalayan pink salt)
1 cup Lucerne whole milk, warm (around 115 degrees)
1/3 cup water, warm (around 115 degrees)
3 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons Lucerne unsalted sweet cream butter, melted and cooled

For the Coating:

8 tablespoons Lucerne unsalted sweet cream butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (I use fine grain Himalayan pink salt)

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, cinnamon, yeast, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, water, honey, and butter.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix together using a fork or spatula until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then shape the dough into a ball and place it in a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise in a warm place for about 1-1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, lightly grease a bundt pan and set aside.
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface, then take the dough and divide it into round balls that are about 1 tablespoon each in size.
In a small bowl, mix together the butter and vanilla extract. Set aside.
On a large rimmed baking sheet, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and then spread that mixture out over the baking sheet to roll the dough balls in.
Roll each ball in the butter mixture and then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Toss each of the dough balls into the bundt pan as you go. Try to arrange them evenly in the pan.
Pour any remaining butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough balls. Then cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise in a warm place for another 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once the monkey bread has risen, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the monkey bread for 35 to 40 minutes or until it's golden brown. Then remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.
Once the monkey bread has cooled, place your desired serving plate on top of the bundt pan so that it covers it completely. Then carefully flip the monkey bread out onto the serving plate. Serve and enjoy!

https://thesensiblemom.com/2020/12/delicious-monkey-bread-recipe-plus-baking-tips-and-tricks-from-a-chef/

How to Make Weight Loss Mashed Potatoes

How to Make Delicious Mexican Rice (Perfectly Cooked Easy Restaurant Style Mexican Rice Recipe)