Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Shrimp Zucchini Noodles

These parmesan garlic Shrimp Zucchini Noodles are an excellent choice for dinner when you are eating healthy. This easy, low-carb meal will keep you on track with your healthy eating goals.

Yes, I totally realize that there is a plate of veggies staring you down right now. Yes, you are on the right blog.

For the past few months, we have been doing a different food plan and losing some stubborn pounds by saying no to things like this Snickers Cheesecake Brownie Cake.

Those pounds are even more stubborn when you hit a certain age and like to hang on. But thank goodness my hubby has found a calling in health coaching.

We both have gone through the food program and dropped about 45 pounds together. Later thunder thighs!

We have adopted healthier eating habits for our main meal of the day as part of our journey to get healthy. Most of our lean and green dinners consist of salad and protein. Sure, I could blog about it, but it would be very boring.

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Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins: ripe bananas, sour cream, and two times the dark chocolate makes these muffins the perfect breakfast or after school snack.

All I want to do is bake with pumpkin and apples right now but, my family would revolt and give me grief if I actually did that. So, I am trying to space the fall treats out with some normal baking.

Although, it is the middle of September, so the fam should know it's game on pumpkin! I even pulled out some of my fall decorations this morning and started putting pumpkins and leaves on our shelves. It's kind of funny though because when you walk inside from 90 degree weather, the last thing you expect to see are pumpkins and scarecrows staring at you.

Oh, well. I'm embracing the hot weather and balancing it out with a cinnamon roll pumpkin cake in the oven and fall scented candles burning all the time. I've got this! [Read more...]

Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Roll Cups

A sweet cinnamon roll crust makes these little Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Roll Cups the perfect way to enjoy pie for breakfast this fall.

I am officially head over heels in love with all things fall right now. I don't care that the temperature here in Florida is still a toasty 90 degrees outside with no fall weather in sight for a few months.

This past weekend we escaped the storm and headed north to visit family in Indiana. The little bit of chilly weather we got to experience there put me into full blown fall mode. So, now all I want to do is pull out all my fall stuff and decorate the house while a loaf of this pumpkin chocolate chip bread is baking.

It's ok if I do that while the kids are outside picking up all the branches and leaves that are in the yard, right?

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10 Ways to Use Apple Butter

Today I am sharing 10 Ways to Use Apple Butter in different sweet and savory recipes. It's a great way to spice up a recipe for your dinner parties.

*This post is sponsored by Musselman’s. I am partnering with them this fall to share recipes using apple butter. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

We are quickly headed into my favorite time of year. I love all the things that comes with the changing fall season.

Pumpkin, bonfires, changing leaves, sweatshirts, cooler temps, and of course, apple butter. I grew up eating Musselman's, so I love that I get to partner with them to share delicious recipes and to show you how to eat apple butter.

Have you ever wondered what to do with apple butter? Besides slather it on toast, of course. There are so many different uses for apple butter. And if you are wondering if you can eat apple butter by itself? The answer is yes. A spoonful is quite delicious!

What do I do with Apple Butter?

Spread it on toast
Stir it into oatmeal
Top your pancakes and waffles with it
Use it instead of pumpkin or applesauce in recipes
Set out a bowl with a cheese plate
Swirl it into cakes or cupcakes
Brush it on chicken or pork during the last few cooking minutes

From cakes, to cinnamon rolls, to bacon wrapped shrimp, there is something delicious for everyone in your family to enjoy. Let's get jiggy in the kitchen with these 10 Ways to Use Apple Butter this fall!!! [Read more...]

Cinnamon Apple Baked Oatmeal

Cinnamon Apple Baked Oatmeal is a breakfast full of hearty goodness! Make it ahead of time and have breakfast ready for the week.

Our kids have been back to school for about four weeks now. So far, they are still doing pretty good at getting up on their own and being ready to leave on time. I have to admit that I love the fact that our kids are old enough to be responsible for getting ready on their own.

Don't get me wrong; I have days where I miss those little babies that needed me for everything. Our oldest going off to college really had me wishing those little ones were still here.

I still have moments of sadness, but for the most part I'm doing ok with our kids being big because it means an extra hour of sleep for me on a school mornings now. Making breakfast the day before is another way I give myself permission to sleep in while the kids are getting ready.

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Sheet Pan Chili Lime Cod

A spicy rub adds a blast of flavor to this easy Sheet Pan Chili Lime Cod. A sheet pan dinner that can be on the table in under 30 minutes is the perfect meal for busy nights. Enjoy this oven baked cod with your favorite veggies.

A white plate with chili lime cod and roasted veggies on it

The funny thing is that even though most of the recipes I share here on the blog are crazy ridiculous over the top desserts like this Snickers Cheesecake Brownie Cake, we actually eat fairly well.

Although, we do make our fair share of Homemade Pizza Dough on a regular basis. Given the choice though, I definitely prefer to bake sweet desserts over cooking lean and green meals any day.

We finally got back to doing some harder workouts this week, too. We have kind of slacked off a little. We still were doing some stuff, but not as intense as before.

After two days of hitting hard, I can hardly move because my muscles are so upset with me right now.

My hubby is loving his new job as a health coach. The other day, he bought a few more "torture" devices...aka a squat rack and another air dyne bike. I'm scared for the next few days of workouts.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshakes

Swirls of strawberries and graham cracker crumbs give these Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshakes a fun flair. These frozen drinks are a great way to cool off on a hot day.

The past few weeks we have been enjoying the lazy days of summer in our new home. We splashed in the pool and bobbed in the waves at the beach trying to cool off. We also walked around the outlet malls looking for new school clothes as summer came to a close.

One thing that we had to get used to was the climate change. We were used to the dry heat of Texas, but not the humidity and daily rain of Florida.

Thank goodness for an icemaker in the fridge and lots of ice cream in the freezer because fun chilly drinks will need to happen often.

If you are a fan of drinks loaded with ice cream, try out this Oreo shake and this mocha fudge shake!

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Letting Go

That fateful day has arrived. The day every parent dreads or can't wait for. It's time for me to learn the art of letting go as my first baby heads out on his own for his first day at college.

When you hold your first born child for the first time, you don't think about the day they are going to leave home. 18 years ago we welcomed our first baby boy into our life. What a journey that started for us.

Nothing can describe the immense love and joy we had as we stared down into that tiny face. Those cute chubby cheeks made the nine months of pregnancy and the c-section all worth it.
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Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake

Three times the chocolate makes this moist and rich Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake a decadent and delicious way to eat your greens. This chocolate zucchini dessert is the perfect recipe to serve all year long.

About This Recipe

Do you get excited for certain ingredients at certain times of the year? During the summer months, I get excited to use green veggies in my baking.

I know I should enjoy zucchini as a veggie more often, but I seriously love baking it into chocolate zucchini desserts. It gives them such an awesome texture and taste!

This Chocolate Zucchini Cake and this Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread WERE two of my favorite ways to "eat my greens". They were my favorite until I had a slice of this decadent chocolate zucchini bundt cake. This cake is now my favorite zucchini dessert recipe.

A few weeks ago I headed to the grocery store because I was craving more chocolate covered zucchini. I wanted to use the green veggies to make an over the top zucchini bundt cake.

This moist and rich chocolate zucchini cake has chocolate glaze and chocolate chips. One bite and you will agree that this is the best way to eat your greens.

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Biscoff S'mores Pudding Cookies

Fill your cookie jar with a batch of these chewy Biscoff S'mores Pudding Cookies. The soft, puffy cookies are great for lunch boxes or snacking on any time!!!

Bonus - If you love Biscoff, don't miss out on this Biscoff Cheesecake!

We are counting down to the start of school here. Our kids only have 4 more days of summer vacation until that first day of classes begin. The high school that our daughter is attending this year starts at 7:30 am. She says she needs to make the most of sleeping in for the next few days because she is not ready to be up that early. Her school last year didn't start until 9 am. That's going to be an adjust for her (and us) because she is not a morning person. At all!

Who am I kidding? I'm not much of a morning person either. Although this past summer I really tried to get up by 7 am, so that I could get my quiet time, work out, and odds and ends work stuff done before the kids got up. The past few weeks though we have been up late trying to unpack all the boxes and figure out where things can go, so I have definitely been sleeping in a bit more. Time to get back on schedule with work and baking. I miss baking crazy things like this chocolate s'mores pudding cake.

But hey, there are only 4 more days to enjoy all the summer things, right? Sleeping in happens to be one of those things, so maybe I'll just enjoy a few more late mornings after all. All things s'mores is another thing that says summer to me. Since we were so busy with moving stuff this summer, we haven't enjoyed as many s'mores treats in the backyard.

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