In fact, the first time I ever had a Jello salad was sitting around the table of my future in laws. I didn’t know that they would be my future in laws then. Back then, my husband and I were dating and being a poor starving college student I loved having the invite to enjoy a good home cooked meal. It came at a cost though. My husband’s sisters grilled me about my plans for their brother and I.  ’How long have you been dating?’, ‘Are you dating seriously?’, ‘Has he told you about _____________ (bad habit) he has?’ His little brother was easy in comparison to the girls. Being 10 at the time, I could just bring him a bag of candy or kick a soccer ball with him in the backyard and he didn’t mind having another girl hanging around.

I didn’t really like the taste of Jello, but when you’re starving and only eat a good meal once every other week, it tasted gourmet! I didn’t eat Jello much until I had kids. Reading the back of the label was scary. So many preservatives and artificial flavors

This summer enjoy a healthy, natural Jello treat!

Homemade Jello

4 cups fruit juice (See notes at end of recipe)

2 .25 oz unflavored gelatin packets

1 tbsp honey or sugar (only use if using less sweet fruit juices like orange)

8 4 ounce juice glasses

In a bowl, place one cup of fruit juice. Sprinkle the two gelatin packets over the fruit juice and stir to combine. In the microwave or over the stove, bring the remaining three cups of fruit juice to a boil. Add to the gelatin and juice mixture in the bowl and stir until the gelatin dissolves completely. Pour the mixture up to the top of each juice glass. Refrigerate until the jello becomes firm–approximately 4-6 hours.

Serves 8.

*Juice: You can use fresh squeezed juice or pulp filled juice. Avoid 100% mango, papaya or pineapple juices. For this recipe, I used V8 Strawberry Banana Fusion.

Although it’s a huge milestone for my family and I, there is still one aspect of blogging that frustrates me the most. Blog traffic. Everytime I want to spend a little bit of money upgrading the blog more, Monkey Baby needs surgery on her ears. I need surgery this summer. And Wii Man and Cowgirl seem to somehow drain the bank account. So how can you increase your blog traffic and do it for free? The great thing about the food community is that there are some great, unique ways to increase traffic that are specific to food bloggers. Here are some of the ways that you can increase your food blog traffic for free:

BRANCH OUT

One of the best ways to get traffic to your site is to get noticed by large food sites like FoodGawker,TasteSpotting, and Photograzing. These sites can help stats, but are very picky about the submissions they accept. Keep trying though, as they can be a great resource for your site stats.

Posting your recipes on sites like Tasty Kitchen, FoodBuzz and Yahoo! Shine can also be productive for helping your traffic. There are times that I get many hits from these sites.

BRAND YOURSELF

This one is generally overlooked, but one that is important! Any food community, forum, or comment link should be branded! If you don’t brand yourself, how can people begin to recognize your name? Make sure you also take the time when you comment to fill in your website address! I hate when people comment and I can’t click back on their blog. I want to be interested in your material just as much as you are in mine.

COMMENT

There are times that I grow a little frustrated with this one. I usually comment on about 20-40 blogs a day. In return, sometimes I get a lot of comments back but generally I grow a little agitated at the fact that I put in so much work with so little return. Commenting really is a great way to grow your blog – if it’s reciprocated. It’s nice to be noticed and it’s nice to feel that people actually listen to what you spend your heart and soul writing. It can also be frustrating when you spend time commenting and it’s not acknowledged. I always try to take the time to check out your blog and make a comment if you take the time to comment on my blog. Also do the same for those that visit your blog. Repeat commenters can be gold in building your blog. If you find someone is coming back consistently to your blog, get email or RSS updates so you can visit them and continue to be a regular on their site as well as have them be one on yours. Also make sure that you have a program like Feedburner and an RSS feed installed so people can easily subscribe and follow your blog.

A lot of debate is made as to whether smaller, growing blogs like myself should even take the time to comment on larger blogs that are getting 100 or more comments every post they make. Do they really even notice or help you out when it comes to your stats? My answer is mixed. I have had some success on this. One of the larger bloggers I visit frequently linked to one of my recipes. I regularly get a couple of people visiting my blog per day from this one link. Randomly, I also get a few people visiting my blog from comments I left on larger blogs. So it brings in traffic, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best way to get traffic to my site.

CONTENT

The more content you write, the greater your chances of having someone come across your blog. You also want to make sure that you have a blog that people want to visit. Appealing graphics, large pictures, and clear titles are important. Make sure that you have a page where people can access your recipes. Free pages like Recipage are helpful because they allow others to view your recipes and also link to a larger database that increases the amount of page views you may receive.

Making your content print friendly is also important too. People don’t want to have to cut and paste your recipes. Make sure you include a way to make your recipes print friendly. The program Print Friendly is simple, easy and free to install. Others prefer to make free Google pages out of their recipes and claim that it helps their stats by allowing people to search and find their site.

When labeling and tagging, make sure that you tag and label your photos as well as your article. This will allow people to find your content as well. One other thing that has worked well is to have a “Related Links” tab at the bottom of every one of my posts. I connect my content to three other bloggers with similar content and allows me to leave trackbacks. Also make sure that you link to some of your other posts too. This keeps people on your blog!

One other thing that is helpful to do is to occasionally write articles like “Top 10 Uses for Flour” or How-To articles. These can be very popular articles for readers. My how to on making baby food and the top kid friendly fruits and vegetables continue to top the list in popularity each month – even though I wrote them two years ago.

FOOD BLOGGING EVENTS

These food blogging events help provide link ups and a chance to get to know other bloggers within the community. There are many different types of events both large and small. Some of the more popular ones are Tuesdays with Dorie and Daring Kitchen. These require that you take part in a particular monthly challenge and post them on your blog as well as the host’s blog. They are set up a lot like clubs with membership requirements and participation. Most are free, but will have certain requirements in order to stay active within the community.

GUEST BLOGGING

This is one that I love to do over the summer when I’m not in school. Do your homework and research other blogs that may be getting more traffic than you. You probably don’t want to immediately reach out to some of the largest food bloggers. Start with ones generating steady traffic and comments and offer to guest post for them. Many of us vacation, have kids at home, and generally have hectic schedules outside of the computer. Volunteering to guest blog or having others guest blog for you on your site may bring in traffic and help make new friends in the blogging community.

In addition to guest blogging on other food blogger sites, I’ve been able to guest post for companies like Whole Foods Market and Bob’s Red Mill. These sites generate traffic for me, and get new followers. Sometimes they even offer some free product or a gift card in return for my time. I also volunteer on parenting or diabetes sites too to branch out. 

MARKET

Keep your eyes and ears to the ground. As a food blogger, you always have an excess of food laying around. Use that food for good use. I regularly participate by making food for baby and wedding showers, bake sales, church events and birthdays. Using a site like Vistaprint, I can print out free cards that I attach to bake sale products so people can come back to my site. I regularly have people asking me where I got that recipe for a cookie I made at an event. I direct them to the blog. This is a fantastic, low budget way of getting your name out there (and keeping the extra calories lying around the house away from your own waistline!)

NICHE YOUR BLOG

Focus your blog on what you really want to talk about and be known for. My niche has become a place that you can find recipes that have become “healthified.” (Although I do splurge at times). I want my readers to know that they can come to my site and find traditionally unhealthy recipes that I have revamped to be healthier for their family without compromising taste and glares from the picky palates in their family. I try these recipes on my own picky eaters and along the way I share my struggles with my husband who has Type 1 diabetes, my parenting struggles, and life as a work from home Mom who is also in school part time. But my main focus on the blog is the food. The rest of the things I share enhance my blog and who I am as a person, but don’t define it. 

SOCIAL NETWORKS

These are gold to a blogger. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ are vital to growing your blog. Make sure that you regularly visit, update and share your interests (both food and outside of food). I love P90X and Insanity and stay active with those online communities. I’m also active within the diabetes online communities. All of these sites will draw visitors to your content. But don’t just post content. Like I said, make sure that you are also posting outside of your niche to draw in new visitors to your site.

YAHOO! ANSWERS

People really don’t like when you leave links to your own recipes in their comments section. It’s a bit taboo. I learned this the hard way unfortunately. If you are link happy and want to share those great links to your posts, consider posting them for people who are looking for answers at Yahoo! Answers. Honestly, there are many times that I have a question that I find by doing a google search. Guess what appears most often? Yahoo! Answers is one of the top search results that comes up.

If you find any other great ideas that you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment. Helping one another builds everyone up and helps everyone improve!

Monkey baby and I had a couple of these this week after our runs. Although I don’t count her sitting in a jogging stroller taking a nap as work. But she does. After the last bite she will take the spoon and will babble while holding it triumphantly in the air. Lately I could swear she is starting to say “ha! ha!” too but it could just be the pain from her trying to turn me into her new chew toy. Teeth hurt!

If you are looking for a little more “treat” and a creamsicle type taste, try drizzling a little bit of white chocolate on top.

Creamy Frozen Orange Cups

4 oranges

1 cup Greek yogurt, plain, honey or vanilla flavored

1 tbsp honey (reduce to 1-2 tsp if using honey flavored yogurt)

Semi sweet or white chocolate chips

Cut a lid from each orange and discard the lid part. Cut down the inside of each orange and remove the fleshy, pith part of the orange. Use the same type technique that you would use when you scrape seeds out of a pumpkin.

Make sure that you do this over a large bowl as juice tends to fly.

Discard the pith from the orange and save the orange sections and juice. In a blender or food processor place the orange sections, orange juice, yogurt, and honey.

Pulse blend until oranges become a chunky puree.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and freeze for one hour. While the mixture is freezing place the orange bowls in the fridge, or on the counter upside down with the open part facing downwards on a cookie sheet or paper towel.

After one hour, stir the mixture in the freezer. A thin sheet of ice will have formed on the top of the mixture. Freeze for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove mixture from freezer and fill each orange bowl to the top with the orange mixture. Since the mixture will be thick, make sure to press the mixture down with the back of the spoon to fill in the bowls completely. Stand each bowl upright in a baking dish and return to freezer. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

If you will be freezing the bowls for several days or longer, move the bowls to a freezer bag to avoid freezer burn. To serve, place bowls in refrigerator overnight to thaw.

Right before serving, top each bowl with semi sweet chocolate shavings or drizzle with melted white chocolate if desired.

I’ll save the ice cream for another day because today it’s about salad. I eat this salad frequently during the summer. Actually, I frequently ask my husband to take me to Wingers so I can eat this salad. But when I do, I’m extremely picky about how they make it. I hate making my servers eyes roll, so when I found that I could make it at home, I was so excited.

I am very picky about my sauce. It can’t be too vinegary, and it can’t be too sweet. If you’ve ever tried Winger’s sauce, it’s just perfect.

For me though, it’s all about the salad dressing. A blend of ranch and Original Amazing Sauce. Incredible!

I do save this salad for days that I have a few more Weights Watchers points left. This salad is 10 points. But it’s much less than the Winger’s Crispy Chicken Salad.

**Intrigued but don’t have a Winger’s location near you? You can order it here. **

Winger’s Grilled Sticky Finger Salad Copycat

1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced into thin strips

1/2 oz skim milk mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 oz 2% cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup dried cranberries (you can substitute raisins if desired)

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (not pictured)

2 cups lettuce (you can substitute spinach if desired)

1/4 cup low calorie ranch salad dressing

4-5 tbsp Wingers Original Amazing Sauce

In a pan, pour one to two tablespoons of Wingers sauce in a pan. Add chicken and heat on medium low until chicken is warmed and becomes coated in sauce.

While chicken is heating, wash and arrange lettuce on a plate or in a salad bowl. Top with cranberries, cherry tomatoes, and cheese. When chicken is warmed, remove from heat and arrange by strips on the top of the salad.

In a small bowl, mix together the ranch dressing and two to three tablespoons of Winger’s sauce. Stir until blended well. Pour desired amount on the top of the salad.

Serves 1.

Related Links:

Winger’s Sticky Finger Quesadilla by Lovely Little Snippets

Winger’s Sticky Finger Recipe by Six Sister’s Stuff

Winger’s Asphalt Pie by Our Family Treat (This is my yearly pick for my birthday. I happily wait every year for it)

**Winger’s Original Amazing Sauce contains HFCS. While I generally don’t eat sauces with HFCS, this one I have listed does. Also, there are a lot of copycat Winger’s sauce recipes out there. It isn’t the same. Splurge on the bottle.**

Now it’s back to the last few weeks of school for the kids. I’m not going to lie–I’m nervously excited. I love having the kids home but it’s also hard to keep them entertained all summer long. They are so used to a school like structured day and it’s hard to keep them that entertained all day.

Oatmeal often comes to the rescue. Since I utilize the rice cooker, it makes it easy to pop in the cooker and attend to the kids while it cooks. Steel cut oats are my favorite for cooking in the rice cooker. They seem to cook perfect everytime. If you don’t have a rice cooker you can purchase one for as little as $10! Look for specials and sales. I got mine at my local Walgreen’s on sale. Mine is a smaller one, but it works well for our family.

Strawberry and Cinnamon Flax Steel Cut Oats

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1 tbsp flax seed meal

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup water

4-5 strawberries, diced

Milk

In a rice cooker, place steel cut oats, cinnamon, flax and water. Stir to combine. Set rice cooker to “cook”. Your rice cooker may vary, but it typically takes about 20-30 minutes to cook. When cooker is done, remove oats and pour into a cereal sized bowl. Top with strawberries and pour milk as desired.

Serves 1

To make additional servings, increase oats and water on a 1:2 ratio. For every 1/2 cup of oats, increase the water by 1 cup.

For instructions on how to make steel cut oats on the stove, click here.

Related Recipes:

Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats from Barbara Bakes

Crockpot Steel Cut Oats with Pecans and Agave from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Blueberry Coconut Baked Steel Cut Oats from Family Fresh Cooking

Would I want to wake up to the sounds of pots and pans banging in the kitchen, the smell of pancakes or bread making it’s way down the hall and into the bedroom and the kids sneaking their way into the bedroom with a plate full of food? Is breakfast in bed what I would want?

Or should I opt for a delicious dinner that I don’t have to make full of spring vegetables and fruit and topped with rich spices and flavors. (Personally I would want to go OUT to dinner. I wouldn’t get any vegetables or fruit if my husband were making dinner).

Or would I want dessert? A chocolate filled cake, a richly flavored ice cream, or a fruit filled tart? It’s almost to hard to decide, but personally I think I would pick…

A morning of sleep.

But that’s just me. What would you choose?

Breakfast

Biscoff French Toast

Hashbrown Casserole

Lemon Burst Bread

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce

Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls

Dinner

Chicken Bacon Spinach Alfredo

Grilled Chicken and Broccoli with Basil Pesto

Lemon Sage Chicken

Stuffed Pork Chops with Gouda and Bacon 

Toasted Tuscan Walnut Pizza

Dessert

Chocolate Strawberry Trifle

Eclairs

Pink Grapefruit Cupcakes

Strawberry Mango Ice Cream Torte

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies 

I tried to make and post this dessert sooner, but the baby decided she only needed a 20 minute nap this morning.

I tried to be a good Mom and have some treats ready when the kids got home.

The kids decided to bring their friends home from school.

My daughter and her friend decided to volunteer to walk our neighbors dog. The dog dragged them several blocks before getting away. They spent over an hour trying to hunt the dog down.

I spent that hour trying to calm a baby who had only had  a 20 minute nap all day and was subjected to a splashing by a stray water balloon that her brother and his friend were playing with.

The kids never got their treats.

The treats went to the neighbor in an apology and attempt to smooth things over.

And by the time dance was over, the dogs were walked, the homework was finished, and the kids put to bed I didn’t have much more energy to type out a recipe. So I’m sending you to where I got the recipe. And I”m sending an apology. I tried.

Balancing dance and soccer schedules, doctors appointments, working from home, the kids school schedules along with my school schedule is hard. But it’s still not the hardest part of motherhood.

When I see an older sibling say something that could be seen as bullying her younger sibling, I wonder if I’ve taught them enough about being bullied, or being a bully. When I let my son walk a few doors down by himself to play with a friend, I wonder if I’ve taught him all I need to about strangers. When I round the corner of the kitchen and find my daughter on the internet, I wonder if I’ve taught her all I need to about internet safety. When I say “I love you” before the kids run out of the car to school, I wonder if I’ve given them the tools they need to  be a good friend, study hard, listen and respect authority and show respect to property. That is one of the hardest parts of motherhood. But it’s still not the hardest.

The hardest part of motherhood has to be watching your kids try and fail or suffer. It’s so hard to see them not make that soccer goal, not get the part in a play, or try so hard to do well on a spelling test and fail. It’s hard to see them when they are sick, struggling with a friendship, or trying so hard to accomplish a new skill and not be able to do it. It’s also hard to see them get frustrated when one sibling is able to accomplish something so easily and they are not able to.

No one ever warns you how much you will worry. How much you will try. Or how much you will give up in order to make sure that the children you love so much are able to learn and become responsible adults. I don’ t know if I will ever stop worrying that I will fail.

Luckily, motherhood has so many blessings that come with it. Watching them finally get that good grade, perform perfectly at their recital, or finally get that goal he’s practiced so hard for. It’s wonderful to know that I have a hand in it, but can sit back and watch the joyful look on their face. It’s fun to have a second chance to do kid things again, but not BE a kid again.

I love being a Mom, and I know how hard that we as Mom’s work. There is never a day off, so I think that’s why God created chocolate. And cake. So instead of a day, we get a minute to indulge.

This beautiful hummingbird cake will show Mom how much you love her this Mother’s Day. Just in case you forgot, it’s SUNDAY!! Traditional hummingbird cakes use a lot of oil, but with the addition of bananas and pineapple that keep the cake moist already, I was able to cut back significantly on the amount of oil used but not sacrifice flavor.

Mom will love it when you tell her that this cake is much lighter than it’s original counterpart.

Lightened Up Hummingbird Cake

2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (about 3-4 bananas)

1 can (8oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs (can use egg substitute, egg whites or flax eggs)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour or almond flour

1 cup sugar (can substitute 1 1/2 cup coconut sugar or fine raw sugar)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan.

In a food processor, place the bananas and pineapple. Pulse several times until the bananas and pineapple have reached a thick, chunky consistency. Pour the pineapple and banana mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the applesauce, oil, and vanilla and stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until well blended. Fold in walnuts if desired.

Pour mixture into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Check the cake to see if it is done before removing from oven. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

(Frosting on the cake is part of a traditional hummingbird cake, but you can sprinkle some coconut and walnuts over the top of the cake and omit the frosting if desired).

FROSTING

1 8 oz pkg fat free or reduced fat cream cheese (reduced fat is better for a more whipped consistency to the frosting)

1/3 cup butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar until well incorporated, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until frosting is smooth. Spread frosting over cake evenly and sprinkle walnuts on top of cake if desired.

Makes 16 servings.

Related Links:

Hummingbird Cake by Joy of Baking

Vegan Hummingbird Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting by Vegan Thyme

Gluten Free Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Premeditated Leftovers

Hummingbird Cupcakes by Annie’s Eats

If you haven’t made these cupcakes, the answer is probably, NO!

We have been busy running around to choir and dance concerts this week. I’m getting really tired of running around like crazy, but glad that it will be over tomorrow. I’m planning on napping when the baby naps on Sunday–just to recover!

These cupcakes have been perfect for our nightly treats as we have run around. They are moist and delicious with a wonderful hint of pineapple and toasted coconut. These are absolutely perfect for your Cinco de Mayo celebration!

Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes

1 10oz can crushed pineapple

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 egg (can substitute flax egg if desired)

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar (can substitute coconut or other sugar alternative)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line and grease 12 muffin cups.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat the oil and egg in a bowl, then add to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in pineapples until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the muffin cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cupcakes brown slightly on the top and spring back when touched in the center.

Cool on a wire rack until completely cooled, then frost.

Coconut Frosting

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, place toasted coconut. Bake several minutes or until coconut browns. Remove from oven and allow to cool for later use.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Slowly add sugar until all sugar is incorporated and sugar reaches a thick, spreadable consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Top each cupcake with frosting. Top with toasted coconut.

**For a vegan version of this recipe, omit the frosting and top each cupcake with toasted coconut.

That’s OK! (For like, the first 2000 times we’ve eaten them).

Today it was time to branch out. With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, it was time for my family to try a new quesadilla flavor. With the history of complaints anytime I shake up our normal eating routine, I was expecting the family to complain and then break out the cereal and cereal bowls. It’s the standard punishment I get for making them try something new.

Today? I got nothing but compliments! (Even from Mr. Carnivore!)

Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

1 15 oz can black beans drained, rinsed and coarsely mashed

1 1/2 cups corn kernels (thawed if frozen, drained if canned)

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

6 oz pepperjack cheese, shredded (use 2% if available)

1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped (optional)

1 cup shredded chicken (optional)

8 8-inch tortillas

In a large mixing bowl, add the beans. Mash slightly until the beans become coarse. Heat a frying pan to medium high heat and add the corn. Cook for several minutes (approximately 3-4) in the pan until the corn begins to brown. Remove the corn and add to the black beans. In the frying pan, add the oil, garlic, onion, and jalapeno (optional). Brown onion and garlic, remove from heat and add to the corn and bean mixture. Add the fresh cilantro and stir mixture until mixed well.

Allow entire mixture to cool for approximately 10-20 minutes. Add cheese and chicken to mixture and stir to combine.

Warm skillet and place a tortilla on it. Top with bean and cheese mixture and then another tortilla. Cook for several minutes until tortilla begins to brown. Flip tortilla and cook on the other side until cheese melts and tortilla browns. Remove from heat and use pizza cutter to cut into slices. Continue cooking tortillas until done. Place cooked tortillas in warm oven to keep warm until ready to serve. Serve with salsa for dipping.

Makes 8 servings.