Well today seems to have been all about various "f" words. Fun, Facts, Flashbacks, Friday, and now Frazzled! Today has been one busy day. The morning went a little bit like this - wake up, have devotional time (only calm part of my day), eat breakfast, get dressed, get M dressed, feed M, pack up for the gym and extra snacks for afterwards. *deep breath*

Go to the gym for a power class, skip the abs & stretch sections to be able to leave on time to meet the Mom's Group for a walk at 10:30, get stuck at a light a crew is rewiring for an extra 10+ minutes. *another deep breath*

Arrive at the park 15 minutes late, spend an hour with some of my new mommy friends, M starts fussing because she is tired, feed her a snack and pack her up to head home for her nap. On the way home...remember I have to make a dessert and side for the cookout with my friends tomorrow night and I need to go ahead and make said dessert when I get home....breathe....breeeeaaaaattthhheee....

Hold up! We will now interrupt our Frazzled Friday programming for something Frickin' Fantastic. Oreo truffles!! Luckily, I decided not to return the ingredients for these little balls of goodness with the rest of the baby shower food, so I could have them on hand to make and bring to any of the potluck type activities our crew likes to do. After all, the shopping is the most difficult part of this recipe. Which allowed me to do our weekly grocery trip after making these, instead of before and have my list 6 items shorter. Every little bit counts, right?

Oreo truffles are a hit whenever I have made them, usually around the holidays when other truffles come out to play. Jessica from How Sweet It Is has posted about them before as well. And since no cooking is involved, mine could possibly be almost as magically delicious as I'm sure hers are. Let's get to this Fabulous recipe.

Ingredients

• 8oz softened cream cheese
• 1 package oreos (regular or golden - I did both versions for our party)
• 12oz melting chocolate of choice (I did white for the regular and dark for the golden)

With those ingredients you would have no clue that I am an avid supporter of eating healthy, wholesome foods as the majority of your diet and do so myself. But all things in moderation. And you could definitely opt for healthier balls (a la Averie) but I opted for the processed kind. Mainly because I was looking forward to them last weekend and missed not sinking my teeth into one. And don't fret - the side I'm bringing will be veggies and hummus. 🙂

Step by Step

1. Chop the oreos in a food processor. Or if you have pent up frustration, you can put them in a large ziploc bag and take a rolling pin, pot, or your fist to them. I'm in a good mood today so I opted for the machinery.
   

   waiting to grind

   

   all chopped up

2. Mix the softened cream cheese into the Oreo crumbs until well combined. Please do this step in a bowl. No one likes bloody Oreos from from hands and food processor blades co-mingling.
   

   cream cheese and crumbs

3. From the large Oreo ball, roll a bunch of little 1" balls and place in the fridge to taunt you until you are ready for the chocolate dipping. Or in my case, until your husband gets home and can be put to work dipping.
   

   the golden balls (TWSS)

4. Melt your chocolate with a double boiler (or in the microwave) to a smooth consistency good for dipping. Be careful to melt slowly. You don't want the chocolate to seize up and get all crumbly.
5. Let the balls and the chocolate roll around together and have a good time.
6. Set them on parchment paper and freeze once finished until the chocolate is set and firm.
7. Savor the goodness to help relieve the Frazzledness you earlier experienced.
   

   up close and personal

   

   take a bite out of crime - because avoiding these would be a crime

8. Futilely attempt to have only a few. Fortunately, I have to save some for tomorrow so it kept me in control. But tomorrow, no one can stop me from eating Five...or Fifteen.

Another sign of how frazzled I was today? I completely forgot to post links to these great ladies' blogs and their giveaways! Melissa from Crunches for Cupcakes, Holly from The Balanced Broad, and Sami from Freckled Foodie.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! I have never really done much to celebrate this holiday, although I think any reason for some fun is a good thing. Also, any reason for great recipes is a great thing. 😀

Last night I made a recipe that was recently posted on Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes blog. I have never done Weight Watchers, but I do really like how they focus on making healthy eating a lifestyle. Gina's recipes are a great example of that too. I love catching the recipes from her site because they epitomize the main 3 rules of anything I am willing to attempt to cook. 1) Nutritious and wholesome ingredients, 2) Delicious, and 3) EASY!! I have said numerous times, I am not a culinary master, or even much of an apprentice for that matter, so the simpleness of the recipe is a must for me.

So, what recipe did I whip up en la cocina last night? A perfect meal for St. Patty's Day - Lightened Up Shepherd's Pie. We'll pretend I made it a day early so I could post the recipe on St. Patrick's Day. 😉 Mmmkay? Now to the good stuff!

INGREDIENTS

Shepard's Pie, Lightened Up
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: about 10.6 oz • Calories: 274 • Points: 5 ww pts

Potatoes:

• 1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp fat free sour cream
• salt and pepper
• paprika

Filling:

• 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped - omitted bec didn't have any
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 8 oz mushrooms, diced
• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans, baby lima beans)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free beef broth
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves
• salt and pepper

In advance I apologize for the lack of pretty pictures and no photos for all parts. I was too distracted by these two goofy characters:

my sis and M

Step One: Peel and chop the potatoes. Then boil until soft. Mash with chicken broth, sour cream, S&P, and paprika. Set aside until ready to top the filling.

Potatoes Getting Ready for a Party in the Hottub

*Go ahead and preheat oven to 400*

Step Two: Brown the ground beef. Could also use ground turkey or prepare some soy "meat" crumbles for a vegetarian dish. When finished, set aside on a plate or dish.

Cooking up that Lean Beef

Step Three: Add oil to the pan. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil. After 2-3 minutes, add the diced mushrooms and saute another 4-5 minutes.

Saute, Hey!

Step Four: Add the flour, salt, and pepper and mix well. Then add the remaining ingredients - frozen veggies, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, herbs, and beef. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Step Five: Pour mixture from pan into a 9x13 baking dish.  Spread evenly.

Base Layer of all the Goods

Step Six: Top with the mashed potatoes. Should form about a 1/4" or so even layer over the top of the filling.

Creamy Potato Blanket

Layered Up

Step Seven: Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. You can go ahead and clean your kitchen here too. 😉

I Cook with Energy

Step Eight: Allow to cool and then dish yourself out a nice sized serving.

My Plate

This recipe was GREAT! And I at least made it to culinary apprentice with its success. 😉 It will definitely become one of those staples for us to have every few weeks. 😀 I foresee some leftovers for lunch. Gotta celebrate the Irish day some way.

Do you do anything for St. Patrick's Day?

Do you have any recipe rules like my Simple, Delicious, and Nutritious guide?

Psst...a couple giveaways to check out. Amie from The Healthy Apple and Heather from Heather's Dish.