~Save Money Momma~

One thing that always makes me happy on Father’s Day, is having the kids make a home cooked meal for Dad. 

Sure we eat in all the time, but on a holiday such as Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, the meals are supposed to be special…so I was thrilled when Prevention emailed me the recipe of the day and it was:

Four Veggie Pizza!

How YUMMY does that look?

1 thin whole wheat pizza crust (12″ diameter)
* 1/4 c sun-dried tomato pesto (MUFA)
* 1 sm zucchini, sliced (1 c)
* 1 med orange or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips (about 1 c)
* 1 c sliced cremini or button mushrooms
* 1/2 med red onion, thinly sliced (1/2 c)
* 2 tsp olive oil
* 2 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
* 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
* 3/4 c quartered grape or cherry tomatoes
* 1/2 c thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put crust on baking sheet or pizza pan. Spread crust with pesto. Toss zucchini, pepper, mushrooms, and onion with oil. Place in medium skillet over medium-high heat and saute until veggies are soft and excess liquid has evaporated, about 6 to 8 minutes.

2. Top crust evenly with cheeses. Arrange sauteed vegetables over cheese and top with tomatoes. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until crust is baked through and slightly crisp. Sprinkle with basil. Let stand a few minutes before cutting into quarters.

This is one of the cutest Father’s Day recipes I have seen in a long time! Easy to make with the kids and I think if you get creative, it wouldn’t have to be a lawn mower. If dad is a golfer, use gumballs as golfballs, the same can go for bowling! Marzapan is easy to use and you can pretty much shape it into anything such as bowling pins, golf clubs…anything daddy enjoys!

1. For each cupcake, mix a handful of flaked coconut with a few drops of green food coloring. Press a chocolate-frosted cupcake into the coconut to cover.
2. The mower is made with a dark chocolate Hershey’s Nuggets body, brown M&M’s wheels, and a red M&M’s engine, held in place with dabs of frosting.
3. Shape the handle from a piece of black licorice lace, then insert the ends into the cupcake.

Ingreedients:

Any flavor cupcake you would like

flaked coconut

green food coloring

Hershey’s nuggets

m&m’s

frosting

black licorice laces

I found this recipe on Family Fun.com!  CLICK HERE for an entire list of printable cards, more recipes, activities and more…all for dad!

I seriously made this recipe last night with a pot roast and veggies!  Prevention gave about 20 recipes which were low fat and a different spin on the usual fattening favorites.  I loved and so did the rest of the family! I found them to be lighter and fluffier and I think that’s because I didn’t use any butter or margerine.  And the flavor, wow…just creamy and delicious!

Super fast and super easy!  This will feed a family of four!

• 1 1/4 pounds unpeeled red potatoes, cut into 1/2″ pieces 
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 8 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 
• 1/3 cup low-fat sour cream 
• salt 
• ground black pepper 

 1.  In a medium saucepan, combine the potatoes and enough water to cover. Add the milk and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

2.  Drain the potatoes and garlic, reserving the cooking liquid. Return the potatoes and garlic to the saucepan. Add the sour cream; mash the potatoes until smooth, thinning with reserved cooking liquid if desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.The only thing I did differently was I cooked the garlic and potatoes together without the buttermilk.  I added the buttermilk and sour cream after I drained the water and the potatoes were cooked.  The garlic was so soft it melted into the potatoes, but the taste was fantastic. For more time saving, calorie reducing favorites, go to Prevention and find some for your family!!!

We all know that superbowl  sunday is not just about the commercials, or the half time show or the teams or even the football itself …it’s about the food baby!  The one day a year that anything goes…in our mouths that is and we love it! We enjoy our hot wings, our chips and dips, chili with cheese topped with sour cream in a pumpernickel bread bowl…um, umm, good!

Even though we love our food, our food doesn’t always love us, so thankfully LifeScript has given us 7 super recipes that score big!  They taste good and are good for us too!

Slow cooker black bean mushroom chili

Blue cheese dip

Oven-Fried Zucchini sticks

Thai chicken pizza

Chicken Parmesan Sub

Avacado and Corn Salsa

Squash Cheesecake bars

So now the game is over, we clean up and go to bed. The next day, our jeans don’t fit as well as they did the day before and our bellies are kind of puffy. What do we do?  4 simple exercizes at home (or in your neighborhood if the weather is nice enough), which will help you love your belly, butt and thighs thanks to Prevention! In three short weeks, you can have a super-better YOU!

Dipping toes, great for abs and trims the thighs.

Standing side-overs, best for obliques and tones thighs.

Plank Extension, best for butt and tones abs.

Warrior 3 to stork, best for thighs but tones butt and abs.

So there you have it. I hope everyone has a great game day!  Oh, before you go, click here to take a FREE calorie IQ test!