I am pleased to announce the winner of the Hain Celestial Group, Inc. “Family Fitness Fun Challenge”gift pack.

Here is some info about the prize pack:

 Mr. Honey Bear

Mr. Honey Bear was a huge star at the expo hall at Blogher this year. My girls cannot get enough of him. In fact they made me snap a picture of them with him at the conference.

At the Honey booth they gave conference goers samples of free honey sticks, recipes, and an opportunity to enter the Cooking with My Honey Bear recipe contest. Here are the details of the contest: 

The Contest

Honey, the one-ingredient, all-natural sweetener, is making a splash in the culinary world this year thanks to its versatility and recipe-boosting benefits. The world’s top chefs use it, now the National Honey Board wants to hear your favorite way of incorporating the golden sweetener into dishes and treats. Submit your original or favorite recipe using 100% pure honey below for the chance to win one of three Le Creuset prizes!

Online Entry

Enter by submitting an original or favorite recipe that uses 100% pure honey and following these guidelines:

• Fill out and submit the entry form below.
• Honey must be the primary sweetener used in the recipe.
• Entrants must confirm the recipe is original; if it’s not original, entrant must provide the name/source of the recipe.
• Recipes found on Honey.com or The Honey Feast are not eligible (we can’t make it that easy for you!)
• All entries must be submitted between 12:00 a.m. August 2nd and 11:59 p.m. September 15, 2010.
• Only one entry per person. Of course the girls wanted me to create a recipe to enter in the contest. This is my first attempt to get my honey culinary juices going. It all started with this.

  

  

    

   

   

   

   

  The Mom on the Run Apple Tree 

  My applesauce recipe only used a few of the apples that this tree has produced. Monique from Food Snob suggested that maybe I make an apple crisp. I immediately thought of my mom’s famous apple crisp recipe and how I could modify it a bit in incorporate the ingredient of honey. So without further ado I present:

  Mom’s Honey Carmel Apple Crisp

   Ingredients:
  

  3 pounds of peeled, cored, and cut apples

  1 tsp of apple pie spice

  1 cup oatmeal

  1/4 c brown sugar

  1/4 cup of honey

  1 tbsp of Caramel (Store Bought Jar)

  1 tsp cinnamon

  1/2 c butter or smart balance

  1/2 c flour

  Method:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  Prepare the apples for baking. Spray baking pan (I used a 13×9 pan) with a cooking spray to avoid for the apples to stick to the bottom during baking.

  

  Sprinkle cut apples with apple pie spice. Set aside.

   

  In a small sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add honey, caramel, cinnamon, and brown sugar to melted butter and mix until blended together.

  

  Once the ingredients have been mixed together, remove mixture from heat. Add the flour and oats to the mixture. Mix all ingredients together.

  

  Pour butter/oat mixture over apples. Bake apples for about 30-40 minutes just until it gets the top gets a bit brown.

  

  Remove pan from oven and let apple crisp cool for a few minutes before serving. Apples are extremely hot

  

   Serve crisp hot with a dollop of vanilla ice cream aka pure bliss.

  I am very excited about this recipe. They honey enhanced the flavors of the crisp. This would make my mother proud. If you want your house to smell like fall, I suggest you make this recipe ASAP. I must restrain myself from eating the whole pan. Oh Mr. Honey Bear you did good

  Have you recreated a dish that your mom made for you that would make her proud?

  Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to enter The Back to School Blues Giveaway. You don’t want to miss out on this one!

  Off to eat more Apple Crisp and spend some quality time with Dad on the Run as he is jealous of my quality time with honey bear.

  

Bloggy Blog Designz is having a Giveaway!!!   They are giving away all kinds of goodies.  Plus ALL entrants will receive 20% off any purchase through the end of the month!  Be sure to check out their website for more information, or to enter yourself.  Take a look at their portfolio and packages to see what’s right for you. 

The first 5 entrants will receive a $15 giftcard.  The giveaway will close on August 21st, so be sure to have your posts done and comments left by midnight!  Good Luck to everyone! 

I have a busy morning but will be back this afternoon after I finish creating Mom on the Run’s Honey Apple Crisp.

Sneak peak on the bedding:

Carter’s  Flowers Bedding Set

and

Chicco Cortina Travel System Stroller

Before the exciting Saturday night adventure, I was able to make a very simple dish that I have forgotten how much my family enjoyed. It all started after we were able to harvest our first apples from our apple tree. Look at how many we were able to pick and from our own front yard.

This is only from the bottom branches of our tree. There is a lot more where this came from. We planted this tree when we moved into our hours 7 years ago this month. This years harvest has been by far the best. Who doesn’t love fresh apples?

Mom on the Run’s Homemade Simple Applesauce

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 pounds of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. (My apple tree produces Macintosh Apples)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar

Method:

Peel, core and quarter apples. Place apples in large pot.

  Add the cinnamon, water, and brown sugar to the pot.

Cover and bring apple mixture to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check and stir frequently.

Remove from heat.  Mash with potato masher to allow for smoother apple consistency.

 Ready to serve, either hot or refrigerated. My girls were so excited about homemade applesauce. They love it for breakfast.

Let the fall flavors begin. I can’t wait for my butternut squash to ripen so I can turn them into some yummy soup.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

Don’t forget to become a Facebook Friend of Mom on the Run! Be sure to let me know if you have a page and we can become friends.

I have gotten many requests to see the finished product of my daughters hair. My oldest daughter has a hair dilemma (of her own doing), so I am not going to be able to show you her picture because she is camera shy. My youngest was gracious enough to let me snap a shot.

 This will last her until the start of school. We already have a style picked out for the first day of school. Stay tuned for that picture.

Besides doing things with the girls, I have also been working on the nursery. I realized that no matter how hard I try the my entries will be family, baby, and food focused. Hope every is okay with that. I have been painting, cleaning, and organizing baby supplies for the last two weeks. Dad on the Run has also been a great help with my crazy nesting spree. Here are some progress pictures:

Before Picture of the wardrobe                  After Picture of the wardrobe

   Before of the Dresser                                        After of the Dresser

A picture of the finished Crib

I am very pleased on how things are coming together. I have some finishing touches to complete and the changing table is on its way, but I will be able to go back to school with a majority of the work done. I am feeling such relief.

After all of this work I decided I needed to create a meal that was easy but tasty. I am a big fan of one pot cooking, so my recipe inspiration came from that thinking.

Almost One Pot Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Instant Brown Rice or Frozen Brown Rice
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or Gluten-Free Flour
• 3 tablespoons of butter (I used Earth Balance)                                         
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup frozen cut okra
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoons of Cajun Blend Spice
• 2 cups chopped skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
• 8 ounces turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

  Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.While rice cooks, combine flour and butter in a Dutch oven; saute over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add onion and next 7 ingredients (onion through cajun spice); cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

While onion, pepper, celery mixture is sautéing, cook chicken pieces in small skillet. Once chicken is cooked. Add sausage to the pan and brown sausage. Set aside.  

Stir in chicken, kielbasa, tomatoes, and broth scraping up brown bits at the bottom of the pan; cook 6 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Serve over rice.

I am going to be quite honest. I was not too sure how my children were going to like this dish. My fear came to a rest when they both made the clean plate club. In fact my oldest asked for a second helping. Dad on the Run could not stop raving about it. I love when such a simple dish is such a big hit. This will be something I will definitely keep in the recipe file a freezer dish for when the baby comes.

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! We have a few things planned. Not sure if I will be able to post until Monday.

In only a few short weeks my children and myself will be getting ready to go back to school. I have begun to buy the supplies and school clothes. Lucky for me I have some time to purchases and plan on what I really need to buy. I know once the school year begins life gets more hectic, and I need to make sure that I focus on health and nutrition for my family. The Hain Celestial Group has created a fun challenge for families (and individuals ) to participate in during the back to school season. Why let the end of summer end your fitness and healthy eating goals?

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has created the “Family Fitness Fun Challenge”. Located at www.TakeaHealthyBite.com, the program invites families to eat right and exercise together for a chance to receive high value coupons for Hain Celestial products.  Additionally, families can receive free Sports Authority® Gift Cards for use in purchasing items like sporting equipment and athletic gear that will enable them to get fit as a family.  On the site, families can access activity, meal and snack ideas, log total hours spent participating in fitness activities to receive product coupons and download a form to mail in register receipts.  Receipts totaling $10 in participating Hain Celestial products for a free $5 Sports Authority® gift card OR $20 in receipts for a $10 gift card. Can you say free fall athletic gear!

In conjunction with this program, Hain Celestrial would like to provide one prize package for one lucky Mom on the Run reader.The prize pack, valued at $50, includes a variety of the latest all-natural and organic foods and beverages from Hain Celestial including items from Garden of Eatin® tortilla ships, Almond Dream® non-dairy beverages, Health Valley® granola bars, Maranatha® nut butters and Earth’s Best® snacks as well as a Sports Authority® gift card ($25 value).

Here is some info about the prize pack:

Mom on the Run Disclosure: I was provided the Hain Celestial prize pack by Hain Celestial  for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own. No other compensation was received for this review.

Today was hair day for the girls. For those who do not know my adventures in hair, I bring in a professional to style the girls hair. They have way too much for me to deal with, and their stylist Nez is amazing.

As we all know great hair takes time, aka 2-3 hours per a child. This becomes a half day adventure. Thus dinner was leftovers tonight. I did have an exciting thing arrive today while I was gone.

 My Diapers.Com order had arrived. If you were an attendee of Blogher this weekend you may have stopped by the Diapers.com or Soap.com expo booth. It was a great stop in the expo center because along with great information about what their site has to offer, they gave everyone a chance to win a gift card to utilize the site. I (or should I say lucky pants Tajiah) pulled out a card that was a $20.00 gift card and free shipping. SCORE! When I came home I perused the site and found so many great bargains. It was so hard to decide what exactly I wanted but I settled on a baby bath tub and a pair of nail clippers.

The shipping was very quick. I ordered on Sunday night and it arrived today. I am in no rush but it is great to know that shipping is very expedient. Diapers.com is definitely a site I will keep in mind for future baby needs.

Diapers.com and Soap.com is also offering Mom on the Run Readers an opportunity to use the site with a coupon code for 15% off your first order. Just use the code BLOGHER2010 when checking out. Happy Shopping!

I love summer! The list of what I love is a mile long, but right there on my top 10 list is fresh herbs and veggies from my garden. It is at this point of the summer that I am inundated with more produce that I can handle. There are worst things in the world, trust me! Over the weekend I looked for new recipes that would help me use up my veggies. Here is the first of many mouth-watering dishes that the whole family will enjoy.

The inspiration for this recipe came from Aaron McCargo, Jr, from Big Daddy’s House on Food Network. My husband loves Aaron because it reminds him of the dishes he grew up eating. Big bold flavors and lots of meat. I usually can find ways to modify the recipes to make them a little bit healthier. This recipe was not too bad to begin with but I did have to modify to adjust for flavors.

Smothered Pork Chops

Adapted Recipe from Aaron McCargo Jr.

Serves:

5 servings

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 5 (1-inch thick) pork chops
• 3 to 4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon gluten free flour
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped oregano
• 1 Vidalia onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 cups beef stock

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix together the seasoning salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, and onion powder.

Season each pork chop liberally with the spice mixture. I rubbed a little bit of grapeseed oil on each chop to allow for the spices to stick to the meat better.

In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil. Sear each chop for 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and sear the other side for an additional 2 minutes.

 Remove pork from the skillet to a plate and set aside. Add the thyme, onion, garlic and 1 to 2 tablespoons of the seasoned flour and cook until slightly caramelized, about 2 to 3 minutes.

 Stir in the stock and with a wooden spoon scrape up any bits from the bottom of the skillet.

 Add the chops back to the pan and cover.

 Put in the oven and bake until tender and the sauce has thickened, about 30-45 minutes. Remove the chops and sauce to a platter and serve.

I served the smothered chops over brown rice and veggies.  

This dish was a complete success. Every member of Mom on the Run earned a spot in the clean plate club. This rarely happens! The sauce had such great flavors probably due to the freshness of the herbs. The pork was so tender and moist that my husband asked me how exactly I made this dish because pork is rarely that moist. I was so excited how this dish came out. This recipe is one for the books

What is a family friendly recipe that you enjoy?

My house is a hot mess! I am trying so hard to get everything done that I can before I have to go back to work in a few weeks. Currently I am in the middle of transitioning my two daughters rooms, so that I can begin to get the nursery set up. My little daughter will be transitioning from a toddler bed to a “big girl”bedroom furniture sets. Help me pick out a set that will make her happy! She has a few favorites

The crib arrived and my husband is in the middle of putting it together. Expect a progress picture in the near future. Here is a sneak peak of what it looks like online.

I am using a chocolate/pink theme for the colors. I am very excited to get this project done

Stay tuned for a great recipe coming tonight.