Vegetarian Pizza Rolls

I made vegetarian pizza rolls for my family last night and everyone loved them. I got the recipe from my friend Becca. Instead of serving my family those yummy, unhealthy pizza rolls I tried this recipe for healthy, full of flavor pizza rolls. It's so easy. It takes about 20 mins. to prep and 15 mins. to bake... not bad.

Here's what you need:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 package of mushrooms (chopped)
Package of Won Ton Wraps
1 jar of natural pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese

Here's what you do:

Spray your baking sheet with cooking spray and lay out as many Won Ton Wraps that will fit onto the sheet. Then saute the red peppers, onions, garlic, and mushrooms with the olive oil until soft.

Once veggies are cooked to your liking, scoop about a tsp. of veggie mixture onto the middle of each Won Ton Wrap then cover the veggies with another Won Ton Wrap. Wet your fingers and squeeze the sides shut. Once they are all sealed up spray the top of the pizza rolls with cooking spray. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Warm up pizza sauce according to directions. Scoop about 1/4 cup onto plate and sprinkle with cheese. Enjoy!

I didn't add cheese to mine.

Some tips:

1. I used Nasoya All Natural Won Ton Wraps. You can find them in the produce department by the tofu food.

2. For all my Weight Watcher friends out there. Each pizza roll is 2 PointsPlus and 1/4 cup of natural pizza sauce is 1 PointsPlus. The pizza rolls are a good size and will fill you up pretty fast.

Damn cake.

My first week on weight watchers wasn't a complete fail but it certainly wasn't the best. I know what I did wrong this week and what I shouldn't have ate. I'm woman enough to admit it. I had a baby shower, birthday party, and bridal shower all this weekend and when the big question came around about wanting cake, I just didn't say no. (btw, a piece of cake is 30 pts., that's a days worth of pts. for some people.) You see cake, cookies, chocolate, and any other baked goodies are my weakness. sigh. They are the biggest temptation for me and probably a lot of other women out there too. I now wish that I would of said no to them.

I will eventually come to a point where I will say no to these temptations and they won't even sound good to me anymore but this weekend was not one of those times. I am making change, old habits die hard, and I will be successful. Every choice is a new beginning. A gentleman at the WW meeting said, "The next meal is a new moment to change and start over. Why wait until tomorrow?" So true! I'm one of those people that says tomorrow is a new day and I will do better than today but from now on I'm not waiting until tomorrow. I'm taking control of my sweet tooth now!

Tis' the season to start thinking.

Can't believe I'm thinking about Christmas already! Every year I tell myself that I will start buying and getting deals all year so that when Christmas comes around I don't have to spend a big chunk of money all at once. Go ahead, ask me if I've gotten even one present yet...
NO! I haven't gotten anything! I can hardly keep up with family birthdays. We have 5 birthdays in October alone. I need a good, solid plan. I wish I could think of some cool, homemade gifts to give away this year. You'd think that with all the time I spend on pinterest I would have everyone's gift idea at least picked out. Does anyone else start gearing up early for holidays? If you have a good method that works for you send it my way! PLEASE!!

The Fam.

Happy Birthday to my nephew Alex!! He is such a fun, loving little man! He turns 6 today... it's hard to believe! It'll be weird when I'm wishing my kids a happy 6th birthday. Yesterday Levi was 8 weeks old on the dot. Also yesterday, we got our first family picture taken as a family of five! Unbelievable! Remember in my last post how I posted a link to the awesome photographer that took pictures of my friend's product? Well Kalaina Jolene Photography took us out last night and got some awesome shots of our family! I'm so happy with how it went and the way the pictures turned out. If you live in the West Michigan area and are looking for a great photographer you seriously need to get a hold of her! On top of everything, she was even great with my kids and very flexible as far as me wanting certain pictures. She took tons of pictures and I'd like to share a few with you all.

A precious (and brief) moment of my kiddos.

She's breathtaking.

Sister by chance, best friends by choice.

My dreamers.

Our family of FIVE!

Everyone have a great weekend and remember to check  Kalaina Jolene Photography the next time you want professional pictures! She's well worth every penny!

A steal of a deal.

Today I have a great opportunity for you all to get some good deals on custom designs for the fall. My good friend Carrie from C.J. Kalasz Creations makes the cutest hats, tutus, dresses, headbands, and more. She makes all sizes because she's that good. She is really crafty girl and is now starting to share her talent with the world! Thank goodness for us because she is one of those people who truly cares for others and makes sure that every item is perfect. Believe me, I talk to her for hours a day... we're pretty much besties by now. Truly she has a heart of gold and her stuff is really well priced, a lot cheaper than etsy, and right now she's having a sale. (Sale is posted after pictures at bottom) Okay I can't take it any longer, I have to share some pictures. (All photographs used on my blog are taken by Kalaina Jolene Photography you can check out more of her photography here.) Here are some of my personal favs!



Dress starts at $40

Infant nest $25



Boys owl hat $18
(She also makes a cute pink one for girls)



Monster hat $18



Girl monkey hat $18
She also makes boy monkey hats.

Cupcake hat $18

Aren't they just adorable? She does custom orders too so if you don't see something she's already made, I'm sure she's willing to give it a go. Right now she is running a 15% off sale over on her page and if you mention my blog or name you can get an additional 10% off. PEOPLE THAT IS 25% OFF of an already great price. So the custom hat that you really want for your cute little kiddo this fall would be only $13.50! Whoop! She's local and has an amazing talent so don't wait any longer because all sales will end August 31st and you will be sad if you didn't order anything. Happy shopping!

Amanda.

P.S. Message her on her Facebook Page to get both the 15% off and 10% off.

Shrimp anyone?

Yes another shrimp recipe that was a success! I really enjoy shrimp and surprisingly my kids like it too.  This recipe I found on Eating Well. It's called Quick Shrimp Enchilada Bake and it was a nice substitution for either beef or chicken enchiladas. Not to mention it was super easy to make. I heart easy recipes, they can make my whole day better. lol.

Eating Well

Add this recipe to your grocery list and try something new next week. It's always fun to switch it up. Also I thought it would be good to add some chopped green onions to the shrimp mixture. I'll try it next time I make it. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday! Ta ta for now.

The fresh water.

Mondays are so much work. There's so much catching up to do from being on the go all weekend. Wouldn't you agree? Hubby and I had a stay at home date night with the Hunger Games and Pop Secret on Saturday and yesterday after church we went on a picnic and to the beach with my family. (That would include Mom and Dad Wags, Marie (sister), Tony (Brother in law), and their kids; Alex, Madilyn, and Jaxson.) I love living close to Lake Michigan! The guys went hiking while us girls went down to the water with all six of the kids. (Keep in mind that 2 of the 6 kids are nursing.) Of course we went down to the water without the kids' swim suits because we thought it was too cold for them to swim but we should have known they wouldn't care, they ran straight for the water anyways. Needless to say, they ended up swimming in their underwear. lol. Of course they were freezing when they got out but my mom said it's about memories. Here's proof of the daring children.

Miss Kylie (My middle child)

The freezing part. Very happy kids though.

I told my husband and sister, "I need a strong drink after that experience at the beach." Never again will I think it's okay to bring 6 kids to the beach without our husbands. What were we thinking? They had fun though and that's what matters. 

"BELIEVE because it works"

I know I just had a baby 7 weeks ago so no one needs to remind me when I say I am starting Weight Watchers (WW) next week to help me lose the babies weight. The reason I say babies is because I'm still holding onto 25 extra pounds from being pregnant with Mya too. My kids are 21 months and 18 months apart. I'm hoping to get a break from being pregnant so that I can drop this extra weight and feel good, become the athlete I use to be. I have 45 lbs to lose. I am excited to get back to that healthy weight because when I see myself in the mirror now I see a beautiful woman but I'd love to see a fit mama looking back at me. Does that make sense?

The reason I chose Weight Watchers is because I've done it before back in 2007-2008 right before I got married. I loved it! I lost the weight and felt in control.
Here's what I looked like before three babies:



Now this is my most recent picture. It was taken last week with my cousins at the Unity Festival.
What I look like these days:

So here's what I'm hoping to do. I would like to post at least every other week about my weight loss journey. I have a hard time remembering sometimes so if someone wants me to update a picture of my progress then let me know. I'm making the change and hoping to make it perminate.

So here's to making the change! Wish me luck.

You can have it too.

This is Mel's  picture... I do not take credit for it.

Oh how I adore and waste tons of time on Pinterest! Hours go by and it only feels like minutes to me. Anyone else find themselves doing the same thing? There's just something relaxing about dreaming of DIY projects, food, future home ideas, fashion, and having all the time and money in the world to do everything I pin. lol. If you're not following me on Pinterest then you are missing out on some great repins, but you don't have to miss out anymore because you can see what catches my eye at http://pinterest.com/akmoran87/! You won't regret it because I have great taste. lol.  To prove it, I will share with you one of the recipes from my food board that I made this evening for dinner. Yup, I put one of my pins into action AND not only was it a success, it was a hit! The whole family chowed down. I even made some to bring to a couple at our church who just had their first baby. (Adorable baby btw) Ready for the recipe? It's called Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps. It's healthy too! I found it over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe! This is just something she "whipped up real quick with ingredients she already had" LOL. I wish I was that good. Seriously though, you have to try this even if you have to go out and buy the ingredients. Just put it on your next grocery list. It's super easy and I will even leave you with a few tips that will make this meal even easier and better:

1. You can cook the rice earlier in the day since it only needs to be room temperature or warm and if you don't have leftover chicken just boil your chicken while your rice is cooking. Wala, longest part done.
2. Ever used a Pampered Chef Food Chopper? A.mazing! This baby will have your cilantro chopped within a few seconds. If you don't have one I would suggest finding a consultant and making them your friend. I seriously use it all the time. Not to mention it's an awesome stress reliever... those that have one know what I'm talking about. ;)
3. For those of you who aren't counting calories, try this with the new Mayo Chipotle Sauce. Awesome!

So if you try this recipe leave me a comment and let me know how you liked it. There's no way you can mess this recipe up if you just follow the directions. Enjoy!

Beer goggle moments.

My family has been through some tough times the last few months. Sometimes I tend to ask God, "Why?" Does anyone else do this? I'm sure we all have at sometime in our life but at the point of brokenness and being desprate for an answer I tend to feel so alone in the world. Now, I KNOW I'm never alone and it just seems that way, but it's hard to see outside of my selfish little world sometimes... it's like I have beer goggles on. To best describe it, it's the moments when everything around me is crazy, confusing, and giving me a major headache. I just can't see straight to the truth when I'm a hot mess.

The truth is:
God comforts me through my heartache and brokenness;
God has control of the chaos around me;
God gives me clearity when I am unsure;
And He will never leave me nor forsake me!

Psalms 9:10- Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalms 55:22- Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:7- And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

Psalms 111:10- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.

So it really is okay to wonder why hardships keep coming after you one after the other, but it's improtant to know that God's got everything under control. In other words, He's got your back no matter what! Thank the Lord!