Hoosier Daddy!

Father's Day is coming up, which gives me a great excuse to talk about my amazing husband. There is no possible way that my kids could have a better dad. Paul is the kind of dad that will cut up a cardboard box to create props for anything that Gavin is pretending at any given time, he is the dad who will sing and sign the alphabet to his kids from the time they are born, he is the dad who has both kids conditioned to run to the door when they hear the garage door announcing his arrival after work. They are so lucky!

Every year I try to get him something to make sure he feels truly special. This year I found out about an amazing product from Condiment Connection that is perfect for him. My hubby is an Indiana boy, born and raised. He spent his childhood in Indianapolis, then we moved back there together in 2003. Paul is a proud Hoosier and loves his city deeply.

Check out this awesome box!

Not only does it look fantastic, it is filled with tastes of Indianapolis. 

Included in his box are some of the most delicious condiments found in our state. 

St. Elmo's Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

St. Elmo's Steak House is probably the most famous restaurant in Indianapolis. It is THE place to go for any big celebration or event. Their shrimp cocktail sauce was declared "The World's Spiciest Food" in 2008 and has been featured on Food Network. Anyone who knows us is aware that we are not seafood people. I will eat fish, but our family is not a big fan of any type of shellfish. Luckily, I did a little research and found a great recipe for a shrimp cocktail sauce based dip that can be used with chips or veggies. Stay tuned for the recipe!

Squealers Smokin' Hot BBQ Sauce

Squealers is an amazing BBQ restaurant with a few locations around Indianapolis. We loooooove BBQ and Squealers is one of our favorite places to get it. Brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, ribs... you name it, we love it! We have about a million recipes that use BBQ sauce, and this one has won 11 national and regional awards all on it's own! I can't even imagine how delicious the foods we cook with this will be.

Best Boy Bourbon Barrel Caramel Sauce

Best Boy & Co. is an Indiana Artisan that specializes in condiments that are all-natural and made by hand in small batches. I can't say I've ever heard of them before, but this sauce sounds AH-mazing!!! If you've been following along with me on Snapchat, you've seen my new ice cream maker. I think that I will definitely need to whip up a batch of ice cream just so that I have something delish to put this sauce on... Um, I mean so that Paul has something to put this sauce on ;)

LocalFolks Stone-ground Mustard

LocalFolks is a company that advocates for family farms and helps to create networks of support. Despite the fact that the company has grown to have a full product line carried in retail stores throughout the Midwest, they are still committed to supporting sustainability and family run farms. This fresh, stone-ground mustard is the perfect compliment to any sandwich! We can't wait to try it.

After seeing all of these amazing condiments nestled in their Indy box, I knew there was no way I could hold out until Father's Day. Sooooo, Father's Day came a little bit early. Gavin and I presented the box to Paul after work last week and he was so excited about it! Not only did he love the box, he is so excited to use all of the products. We were actually having homemade pizza for dinner that night, so he pulled out the Squealers BBQ sauce and used it to make his BBQ Chicken pizza. Paul said that it's the best BBQ pizza he's made! 

I'm thinking about ordering one for my dad for Father's Day too, but I can't decide if I should send him the Indianapolis box or if I should pick one of the other available cities. They also have a Build-Your-Own Box where you can pick and choose condiments from any of the cities they have available now. 

Check out Condiment Connection to see the cities they currently have boxes for. If they don't already have your city represented, there is a place on their website where you can make requests. And even if they don't have your city, there are plenty of amazing condiments to choose from out of the current cities...  PLUS they have a 20% off promotion going on right now! So go!!! Check it out! Make your husbands and dads as happy as I made Paul :)

              

Low Calorie Chicken & Onions Dinner

This simple recipe is one of the most simple meals to make, but is so delicious that it became one of my staple low calorie meals that I ate during the Biggest Loser competition I was involved with. I actually started looking forward to eating it on the nights I planned to have it for dinner.

In the past, I haven't been the biggest fan of onions unless they were wrapped in a delicious layer of fried batter. These cooked onions completely changed my way of thinking. I still don't plan on biting into a raw onion anytime soon, but cooked onions are no longer on my "Do Not Eat!" list.Although I haven't been able to change Paul and Gavin's opinions on onions, they absolutely love the flavor of the chicken. It has become one of their favorite meals too!

As I said, it is soooo easy to make! I typically make it just for myself, so this recipe is for one serving. But... It is a big serving. I can't say that I was ever able to eat the whole thing. To make for the family, I just multiply the recipe by however many people will be eating.

Start off by putting a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Cut a chicken breast into about bite size pieces and add that to the skillet. Then, slice up a quarter of an onion and throw it in with the chicken and oil. 

Put the skillet on the stove at medium heat. Sprinkle to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. I usually season it twice to make sure that it is super flavorful!

I let it cook for awhile after the chicken is done. My preference is for the onions to get really, really soft and browned. Once I even let it cook so long that the chicken became somewhat blackened and that was really tasty too! So, in my opinion, overcooked is better than undercooked!

I HIGHLY recommend this recipe even if you are an onion hater like most of my family. Give it a try and let me know what you think :) The recipe is included below.

              

Low Calorie Chicken & Onions

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: approximately 10 minutes

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Ingredients (1 serving)

• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 1/4 Onion
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Paprika to taste

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a skillet.

2. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through and onions are browned.

3. Serve and ENJOY!

Why follow along on Snapchat?

I've been using Snapchat for awhile now. Barely. 

At first, I have to admit that I thought it was pretty dumb. Why not just text each other the pictures? I also have a tendancy to hoard pics of my loved ones, so I hated letting these pictures disappear into the void forever. 

Lately I have been coming around to the fun that is Snapchat. I have so much fun playing with the filters that change daily. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here is a prime example!

One of my favorite things to do now is to take pictures of both kids with the various filters. And they switch them day to day which keeps it interesting. I still have a hard time letting these pictures go... I am known as a habitual screen shotter!

Aside from the filters, following me on Snapchat will give you a sneak peek into all the behind the scenes action including upcoming projects, yummy foods, and crazy kids activities. 

Stay tuned for a post all about the different features available on Snapchat. For now, check out what you missed last week...

              

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

As many of you know, I have been competing in a Biggest Loser competition with a bunch of my friends. I spent most of the competition sitting squarely in second place and had given up any expectation of winning. The six week competition wrapped up this past Sunday. 

Guys. I won!

I am so surprised and happy. I honestly felt like the biggest winner already because I had consistently lost weight throughout the competition adding up to a great total. Stay tuned for a post revealing exactly how much weight I've lost, along with a summary of how I made it happen. I may even post before and after pictures if I don't chicken out ;)

This competition was so inspiring to me that I have already started asking around to see if anyone wants to start another round sometime soon! I want to keep this weight loss ball rolling!

Anyways... Sorry for this random, short post but I'm super pumped that I managed to win!