Candy Cane Pie with Stonyfield Yogurt (Recipe) This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt. All recipes and opinions are my own. We're right at one week away from Christmas and the spirit is flowing in our home. Cookies have been made (and mostly already eaten) and the candy canes are taunting us to create something yummy. What better way to use candy canes than in a festive candy cane pie! This is a very simple recipe and one that doesn't require too much planning or prep time. The only ingredients are Stonyfield Organic Greek yogurt (vanilla bean of course), cream cheese, whipped cream, and a pie crust! Oh, and don't forget the candy canes!! For a smooth consistency I used my electric mixer (referral link to Amazon for the mixer I use) to mix the whipped cream, cream cheese and yogurt. I added a few drops of peppermint extract to make the peppermint flavor more noticeable. Once the mixture is creamy and blended then you can stir in the crushed candy canes. Then you ... [ Read More ]
Sweet Summer Chicken Salad
This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt and Taylor Farms as part of the Stonyfield Yogetters Bloggers Network. Summer is in full swing in our house and I'm TRYING to eat more healthy. At the end of May I started a 21 Day Fix "diet" through a friend of mine to help me kickstart some weight loss. I hate the word "diet" because that makes you feel "fat" and I still don't feel fat even though I'm not my ideal weight. I've gotten into some bad eating habits and I really just needed to refocus my priorities and start making better choices. Our family is plagued with heart disease and I am not getting any younger. Plus my kids need to start seeing me make better choices so that they won't have to struggle so much as they get older. ....anyways.... For almost an entire month I've given up dairy, coffee (WOW), breads, pastas, rice, and processed foods. I've been focusing on whole fresh foods; which means a lot of salads. I've slowly started to add back some dairy in the form ... [ Read More ]
Celebrate the Whole You with Stonyfield & prAna
This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt and prAna as part of the Stonyfield Yogetters Bloggers Network. Mother's Day is tomorrow and our house is in chaos; but what's new! We just started demolition on our kitchen for a very overdue remodel. Our kitchen is the original kitchen from 1985 and the cheap laminate cabinets have been painted over (poorly) several times. As of Friday afternoon the remnants of our old kitchen are now gone and we're left with dust and dreams. Day 2 demo progress! Now we break for the weekend. Cabinets installed on Monday! #kitchenrenovation A post shared by Calley Pate (@backtocalley) on May 12, 2017 at 3:14pm PDT Needless to say I'm learning to live in chaos. We saved out the essential items needed to live day to day and packed up our plates, glasses, and pantry. Most of our kitchen is now packed in boxes and bags in our garage; while the essentials are sitting on our dining room table in the living room. Even the refrigerator and ... [ Read More ]
Pear Frozen Yogurt Recipe
Pear Frozen Yogurt is a great summer treat and is super easy to make! This post is sponsored by R.W. Knudsen as part of their blog ambassador program. It's been in the 90's all week in Florida and we've been breaking all sorts of record highs for April and it doesn't look like May is going to be any cooler. Summer is here and I'm filling my freezer with some treats for my family to chill out with. I received a few bottles of RW Knudsen's Organic Pear juice in my quarterly box of goodies as part of their ambassador program and I knew I wanted to make a frozen treat. The recipe was pretty simple but I'm sure you could tweak it to your desired consistency. I honestly wish it had been a little creamier, but I have no clue what to change to make it creamier. The mixture before it was frozen was actually a really nice consistency that would have made for a nice summer fruit soup, or if it were a little thicker it would have made an amazing smoothie. I'm sure my kids would have ... [ Read More ]
Raising Dirty Kids
This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt and Toms of Maine. My kids love to be dirty, and I'm OK with that. I have to remind them to brush their teeth. I have to remind them to take showers. I have to remind them to put on clean clothes in the morning. I'm not sure that my teenage son knows how to use deodorant properly. I have to remind them to eat a healthy breakfast. I've come to realize that this is just my life, I'm the one destined to remind my children to give a shit about the way the look when they leave the house. I'm actually really glad I don't have kids that take hours to get ready before they leave the house. I'm not a high maintenance girl, but it can take me 30-45 minutes to get ready to go anywhere. Even if we're just going to Walmart, I feel the need to look "put together." This has relaxed a lot over the past few years and I'll actually leave the house without makeup and with my hair in a ponytail, but only if I know I won't see anyone that I know. If ... [ Read More ]
How to Cook Steel Cut Oats in an Instant Pot
You may have noticed my love of my Instant Pot lately? I've found a new way to use it to make breakfast even more fun and stress-free. I was sent some Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats for this months Stonyfield Yogurt campaign. Before this month I had never before cooked steel cut oats and really wasn't sure how they were different from regular "quick oats." They are essential the same oat, but processed a little differently. Quick oats have been steamed and pressed to make them "quick" to cook. Steel cut oats are relatively unprocessed, but can take a lot longer to cook. With an Instant Pot you can prepare a single serving or a family-sized batch in only 10 minutes (20-30 including prep time and for natural release), as compared to 7-8 hours in a slow cooker. You won't have to watch the pot or stir anything once you have it started. If you want to learn more about Instant Pots you may want to read, What is an Instant Pot and Why Do I Need One. Directions for cooking steel ... [ Read More ]
Stonyfield Bloggers on the Farm
If you follow me on social media, you may have seen some of my recent pictures from the Stonyfield Farm Tour (#StonyfieldFarmTour) in Vermont last week. The Stonyfield company selected 13 of their blog ambassadors to tour 3 farms in Vermont. This is the second year that they held their Farm Tour and I'm so thankful that they invited me (and paid my expenses....in case you were wondering), this is a trip that I won't soon forget. The Stonyfield blog ambassadors are made up of the Yo-Getters and the Clean Plate Club. Most of the bloggers have never met and live across the US. We all blog about different topics; some of us are lifestyle bloggers, some are food bloggers, some are eco-friendly bloggers, and I'm sure there are a few more niches that we belong to. We all share one thing, we love Stonyfield and their mission to bring healthy and organic food into our homes. This year's Farm Tour bloggers..... Welcome to the 2016 Stonyfield Blogger Farm Tour Team! Follow our ... [ Read More ]
Summer Cravings with prAna and Stonyfield
This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt and prAna. Enter to win a pair of prAna Kara Jeans at the bottom of this post! Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids and it's officially summer break! We celebrated the end of the school year with a pool party for my kids and their friends; and the adults sat around and reflected on how fast they are growing up. Today we have relaxed around the house and haven't done much. I've had to work all day so the kids have been really bored, but I did stop for an afternoon swim and to make some yummy treats with them. Since it's hot outside and it's summer I decided we'd make some frozen yogurt bites for when they are done with their afternoon swim. I almost always have Stonyfield yogurt in the refrigerator. Stonyfield Frozen Granola & Yogurt Bites #SummerCravings Supplies needed: Stonyfield Whole Milk Greek Yogurt - Vanilla Bean Fruit Juice (your choice of flavors) Granola Muffin tin or mini-muffin ... [ Read More ]
Breakfast Granola Cookies & Stonyfield Yogurt
Less than one week until Christmas and I'm finally starting to get in the holiday spirit. There's something about being in the kitchen that brings it out in me. I'm able to recharge and relax offline and use my creative energy in other ways. The kids are out of school for 2 weeks and a little time in the kitchen with mom will entertain them for a few minutes at least...and keep them offline as well. Today we decided to make some breakfast cookies for the coming week. This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt & Nature's Path Organics. I absolutely love oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies, so I decided to see how I could tweak some of my favorite recipes into something a little more healthy for breakfast. Breakfast + cookies = easy mom trick to get your kids to eat something good! The ingredients are pretty simple; 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, 1 cup Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola, 1 egg, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup of peanut butter. I almost always have ... [ Read More ]
#JustBeYou with prAna & Oh My Yog {Coupon Code & Giveaway}
This post is sponsored by prAna and Stonyfield Yogurt If there's one thing that I've learned over the last 40+ years, it's that all you need to be in life is YOU. As a child I always wanted to be just like the other girls, those popular girls. I wanted to have the perfect hair, the perfect clothes, and the perfect friends. What I didn't realize at the time was that I'm not who I wanted to be when I was little.... ...I'm better! I look back over the profile pictures on Facebook of those girls I wanted to be like, and I realize that I'm more than happy with who I've become and who I've always been. I don't want to be "just like them" any longer and I wouldn't want to be anyone else but me. Oh, how I wish I had learned that 30 years ago. This was me today after a full day at work, after homework was done, and after dinner was in our bellies. This is how I looked at 8am this morning when I left to take the kids to school and the only difference right now is that I've ... [ Read More ]