Yummy Fish

My family LOVES eating fish in our home. Someday we'll take a trip to Alaska so we can catch lots of fish (our favorites are Salmon and Talapia) for our freezer. Until then we buy our fish from Costco. I wrap each fish in tin foil with a little butter and seasoning and cook on my grill. I love using the grill because it keeps my house from smelling fishy!! It tastes so yummy and it is so quick to make!!   Cook time on the grill 10 minutes. 

Hot Dog casserole (My dad's favorite)

 If your family likes corn dogs they will love this. My Dad asks my mom to make this regularly. I had to make it for my family and it was so easy and filling. Those are two thing I look for in a meal. Oh and by the way the cabbage came from my garden. First time ever growing cabbage but this is our favorite way of eating it.

Sauté with olive oil

Celery, onion, frozen corn, and hotdogs

add diced or crushed tomatoes

chili powder

cumin

black beans

Salt and pepper

grease casserole dish 

put cornbread on top

bake at 400 for 20 min

Snicker-doodle Apple Cookie Bars

When I saw a dessert like this one on Pinterest I had to figure out a way to make it with the sugars I could eat. My first attempt was while my family and I were in Vegas for Thanksgiving. They turned out so delicious!! Everybody ate them and I didn't feel sad about not eating pumpkin pie.

This is my recipe...

Snicker doodle cookies dough

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 and 1/3 cup agave
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
•  2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place a thin layer of your cookie dough in the bottom of your 9x9 dish. Bake it for 10 minutes. Pull out and add apple pie filling and the rest of the dough on top. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.


Apple pie filling
5 apples
1 c. agave
¼ cup corn starch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup water

Pour in all ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once the filling is to a thick consistency it is ready!!

I'm a Mormon

I don't know if anyone is even reading my blog but it has been such a good release for me. When you have 5 children you find yourself wondering," who am I? "What do I like to do?" You tend to loose your identity in the service you are giving to your family. This blog has helped me during those times. I know that I LOVE food. This has never been a question. As Im getting older and my metabolism is slowing down I wish that food wasn't as important to me (just kidding). Food is AWESOME!!

One thing I've realized in re reading my blog is that I haven't posted lots of personal things on here.  So this is me being personal. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I have such a strong testimony of it's truthfulness. I am grateful for the happiness it has brought to me in my life. I know that I am a daughter of God. I know that he loves me and I love him (SO MUCH). My church started a website about mormons. Its called I'm a Mormon. I love watching these small clips. They are about normal people living the best that they can. They tell of their struggles and their achievements. I've often wondered what my movie would look like. What I could say if they wanted to document my life. This is what I think mine would look like.

I'm the one in the pink. The 3rd of seven kids. 

My mom and dad had 7 children by the time they were 30 years old. I was number 3. We had so much fun growing up in a big family. We always had someone to play with. My parents were and still are amazing. They taught us so much. We were the family that drove in the huge 18 passenger van (ours was all white). We very rarely ate out but if we did we had so many people watching us. Those that were brave would ask my parents if we were all theirs. It was kind of fun.  We loved going on Sunday drives exploring the areas that we lived in. We saw the coolest places in Alabama and Georgia that I will never forget. Old grave yards found down old abandon roads. The sun
light going through the trees made it look almost eerie but very beautiful. I'm sure they were graves from the civil war. Fun memories

I am an expert MOVER. My parent moved 21 times (Las Vegas, St. George Utah, Provo Utah, Sacrmento CA, Hartsell Alabama, Macon GA to name a few) in their married life (my Dad was an accountant not in the army). Their last move was when I was 12 years old. My husband and I have moved 12 times in 13 years. If anyone needs help moving they should call me. I know how to get free boxes. I seriously should write an ebook!! :) The good thing about moving so much is that I have friends all over the country. The bad thing is that it's time to move again when I make new friends.

My husband and I have been married for 15 years. We were married in the St. George Utah Temple. I truly felt like a princess marrying my prince in our castle. It was a magical day for me. My husband and I dated for a year and a half before we were married. This is uncommon for most mormons but it was perfect for us. After we got married we made a handful of newly married friends and they really struggled that first year (because they didn't know each other very well).  Our first year of marriage was AWESOME. We had a blast because there were no surprises. We knew everything about each other and still loved each other. When my husband and I got married we wanted 8 children. Heavenly Father blessed us with 5 and we are so happy. Being a parent has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things Ive ever experienced.

I love pictures. I love taking them and looking at them. Im surprised by how many families don't take family pictures very often. They will say that they hadn't taken a picture with everyone for 10 years. WHAT?!! Thats crazy. Mostly its because of the cost of having it done. If you know me and live in my area know that I will take your family pictures for FREE. I think that pictures are another form of family history (journalling). They tell a story and are so important.

I love to run. It's always been "my" time. My time to think and enjoy the beauty of the area that we live in. I started to love running in Jr. High. In P.E. I was always in the top 3 to cross the finish line when running the mile. I loved the look on the boys faces when I passed them. I've been a runner ever since. I've competed in two marathons and one ½ marathon (while 5 months pregnant with my 5th child). I mostly try to get a couple miles in 2 to 3 times a week. It helps me to feel good about myself and gives me a time to myself (which doesn't happen often with a big family).  

I'm an Idealist which means I expect everything to be perfect (my home, my children, me with my church callings, my marriage, ME, etc). This has been a really hard thing for me because I'm NOT perfect. My house is never perfectly clean unless we are having company over and that only last for an hour or so.  My husband and I have disagreements. I gain weight when I eat bad and don't exercise. I am not perfect at doing my visiting teaching but wish I were, I have a hard time letting people see the real me because I fear they won't like what they see. SO DUMB but this is who i am. I recently was told to read a book called Believe in Christ.  It was written for me. It talks about the love the Savior (Jesus Christ) has for us and how he made up the difference in our imperfectness when he  died for us.  I've been taught this my whole life but it took me being at a point of a breakdown for me to understand it.  

I am so grateful that I belong to this church. I know that without it life would probably be fine but the blessings from living it have made my life GREAT. I have been so blessed. I know that families can be together for all eternity not till death do we part. I know that we all are Heavenly Father's children and he wants us to be happy.

My name is Melissa Miller Spelts. I'm a daughter, wife, mother, want a be photographer, cook, runner, daughter of god and Mormon.

Paleo Tacos

I got this recipe from a blog called Stupid Easy Paleo. I really like her blog. Changing your diet can be hard and scary. I usually make it harder than it needs to be so someone showing me an easier way is very appreciated. My family really like these. Ryan's only suggestion was for me to spice them up a little more next time. 

Paleo Tortilla Shells 

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon melted ghee (sub: melted coconut oil)
• Update: 1 Tablespoon water makes the batter more spreadable / thin
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder (I didn't have arrowroot powder so I used cornstarch. It worked great)
• 1 teaspoon coconut flour
• Pinch of salt
• If making crepes for a sweet application, add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

We had filled our tortilla with...

Browned hamburger meat

Diced tomatoes

Grated cheese

Mild salsa

Lettuce/ Spinage

Next time I would like to make a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato) in our shells. It would be great for breakfast on the go. 

Chicken Curry Stir Fry

This is another paleo recipe that I tried. My family LOVED this! YEAH!!! I used two different blogs for this meal. I will post the links next to the recipes.  The recipes you see below are my adaptations. 

Paleo Chicken Curry Stir Fry (One Pot Paleo)

2 tbsp olive oil 
12 chicken tenders, diced
1 bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 onion, halved and then cut into strips
1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
4 cloves garlic 
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp curry powder

I made cauliflower rice instead of brown rice for Ryan and he loved it. 

Cauliflower Rice (Nom Nom)

1. 2 Head of organic cauliflower (clean and chop up small pieces)
2. In a pan saute ½ onion in 2 Tbsp butter when onion is brown add cauliflower and cook for 5 to 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste and EAT!! 

Fluffy Pancakes

I had a pancake recipe I used for years (since 1999) until I found this one. I know that I have shared a few recipes from The feel good cookbook. Hopefully this is the last one. It is seriously a must have cookbook in your kitchen. Jonell has a few tips that I didn't put on this post. If you are curious buy the book :). 

6 cups whole wheat flour 
5 ½ cups water
½ cup each oil and honey
3 eggs
2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp baking powder

Combine in bowl (Jonell mixes her batter in a blender to make it more fluffy). Pour batter on a griddle at 350 degrees. viola your meal is complete. We eat pancakes a lot for dinner (my kids favorite).  I love when we have leftovers that means that breakfast is ready for the next day! 

My family's favorite toppings...
- homemade jam with whip cream 
- organic peanut butter with organic maple syrup