Friday Favorites: Healthy + Happy edition

It's been a wonderful week for us and I'm so grateful.

We had a really fun weekday family night at the ice rink and Subway. 

My Mom came over for a slumber party :)!

I got the chance to watch my sweet cousins (who were the flower girls in our wedding) play at their basketball games. They were on fire!! I am so proud of them! 

And today has been an awesome + relaxing day. 

I'm going to share some of my favorite things lately. 

I'm linking up with these sweet ladies:

 Andrea from Momfessionals, 

Narci from Grace and Love Blog 

and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything blog 

1.) Monday morning I took this photo. It was a freezing day but the sun was absolutely gorgeous shining so bright. When the sun is out it makes it much easier to tolerate the frigid temps. The temp is going to be a bit warmer this weekend. Yay!

2.) This isn't exactly healthy but very delicious and they make me happy. Have you tried the new "Mega M & M's?" I'll just say that I am a BIG FAN. They are mega delicious ;)! 

And they would be awesome in cookies...just sayin' ;).

3.) I've been taking Juice Plus+ for over 2 weeks now. And honestly, I feel amazing! Definitely having more energy. 

 I was so worried that my 6 year old would not like the vitamins but he did! Taking the vitamins are a highlight of his morning. :) I am excited to see continued healthy effects!

If you want more info you can email me @ jaylee2495@aol.com. I would love to answer any questions you may have. 

4.) I started going on the treadmill every day. I have to use some strategic planning to keep the kiddos occupied :) but it is worth it. Spring & Summer is just around the corner...

5.) These beauties just came in the mail. I love the Young Living "Stress Away" roller and "Peace & Calming." Not only do they smell good but they work.

Have a great Friday!!

Jamie :)

Homemade Pizza Sauce {your kids will love}: Packed with veggies!!

Last night was --> Pizza night at our house! 

I started making a "What's for dinner?" weekly menu on a white board. And I'm really liking it! Now that Austin is 6 years old, he asks me every day... "What's for dinner tonight, Mom?" So, I thought it was only appropriate to write out the menu. 

His appetite sure has increased! He's getting to be less of a picky eater. Praise God! 

Pizza night was suppose to be tonight but Austin wanted it last night so I was a #yesmom and obliged :). 

I was going to just buy some jarred pizza sauce at the store but then I thought it'd be fun (& healthy) to make my own. 

Here's what you'll need...

(This will make enough pizza sauce for 2 pizzas. Just half the amount if you just want enough for 1 pizza)

-15 oz can of Tomato Sauce ( I used Organic)

-3 oz of fresh baby Spinach ( I used Organic)

-4 long carrots ( I used Organic) peeled and cut up.

-2 cloves of garlic, grated

-1 Tbsp butter

-2 Tbsp Olive Oil (EVOO)

-1/4 cup water

-1/2 tsp of Paprika

-A dash of Salt + Pepper

Here are the veggies. I love to hide veggies in my meals. And I love when a meal already has them in it so I don't need to add a side of corn or a side salad. This pizza sauce is packed with carrots, spinach and tomatoes. Yum!

I started by steaming the spinach and carrots.

Once the spinach looks wilted like this, you know it's done. The carrots were not quite soft enough so I let them steam longer and took the spinach out.

Isn't it amazing how the spinach shrinks up so much?! 

Once the veggies were done steaming. I sauteed my garlic and butter together for just a few minutes until mixed well.

Then I put the carrots and spinach in the food processor with the garlic/butter mixture and the salt and pepper.

I mixed it up pretty good and then added the can of tomato sauce.

After the veggies mixed up, I added my paprika, EVOO and water.

Once it was done, it looked like this. It wasn't the reddish color I had imagined. And I knew that if Austin saw the color he would question if it was truly pizza sauce. I just told him it was homemade. :) It tastes delicious! If you wanted it more reddish in color I suppose you could add less spinach.

I spreaded it on my refrigerated pizza crust.

I added the mozzarella cheese and pepperoni's on half.

This particular dough had to be pre-baked for 10 minutes before the sauce and fixings. Then baked for another 10 minutes after the sauce and fixings were put on. 

This was the finished product. The sauce darkened up a bit. 

It was a winning recipe in my house. Healthy + delicious!

Enjoy! 

Jamie :)