I'm back ...

From my unexpected blogging break that is. The last couple of months have been quite busy. How any mom of small children has time to blog regularly still remains a mystery to me. But I have Reuel down for a nap and Keziah in front of the TV watching Sesame Street, so I will take a moment to fill you in on the last two months:

Mid July, we went back to west TN to see my family. The highlights of the week included Keziah's first gymnastics lessons at Aunt JuJu's gym. My sister and her husband recently became the owners of Glory Gymnastics Center. It's totally awesome getting back into the world of gymnastics.

 And when your Aunt and Uncle own the gym, you get to go play there anytime you want!

My sister enjoyed hanging out with her niece and nephew. She only gets to see them a couple times a year.

We also took a trip to the lake where I was impressed that I could still ski! I hadn't done it since before Keziah was born. But it all came back to me. I'm not as out of shape as I thought.

Keziah got her first tube ride! (with Daddy of course)

while Reuel helped Grandaddy steer the boat.

 It was fun hanging out with my family for a week, although it made me appreciate that I no longer live where the summer heat index stays in the 100s. Reuel had a heat rash the whole time!

On the way home we stopped at my Alma Mater, TN Tech University for the Wesley Foundation Alumni Picnic. It was fun catching up with all my old college friends and meeting all the new children that have been born in the last year. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture.

 On the way home our van hit 100,000 miles! This is a first for Michael Paul and I. Every other vehicle we owned, we watched hit 200,000 miles! That tells you something about the vehicles we buy!

At home, Reuel turned five months old and started sitting up on his own real well. He is determined to crawl real soon!

Meanwhile, Keziah became obsessed with makeup. She does not have access to makeup but apparently a crayon works just as well!

Reuel sitting up on his own led to him spending a lot more time on the floor. Pretty soon he developped some pretty dark circles under his eyes and the occasional sniffles. I did a quick webMD search and the first thing that popped up was an allergy to dust mites and carpet mold. Needless to say the carpet had to go ASAP! We had always planned on doing hardwoods anyway. My dad came up and helped Michel Paul put them in. Reuel approves!

We also found time to do some hiking in the mountains. We went with hopes of blueberry picking but unfortunately the harvest is pretty puny this year so we didn't bother bringing any back. It was fun munching on a few as we hiked though. The highlight for Keziah was getting her very own backpack and carrying her own snacks and water.

Let's see what else has happened ... Keziah potty trained. Just as I was about to decide she was never going to be interested in the potty, she up and trained in a day. She had a few accidents in the first couple weeks, but for the most part, the whole experience was pretty painless.

 I guess those are the highlights of the last few months. In between, there were lots of sweet memories, hugs, and kisses...

 

Well I guess thats it for now. I do hope to get back to blogging on a more regular basis. No promises though!

Real Food Friday: Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup

It's summer time and hot hot hot! I can't resist ice cream in the summer. A carton of ice cream use to last only 2-3 days in this house. I always bought Bryers because it seemed to be the most natural. But recently I noticed they changed their cartons from saying "all natural ice cream" to "all natural" and then in tiny letters at the bottom of the carton "frozen dairy dessert". The first ingredient in ice cream should be, you know, cream! Not skim milk. And then I read this blog post about antifreeze in ice cream and was horrified. This summer, I finally started making my own ice cream. And it is exponentially better than any store bought stuff. I honestly don't even like the taste of store bought ice cream anymore. There is still half a carton of Bryers in our freezer from a month ago that my dad bought when my folks were here for a visit. I tried it a few weeks ago and it tastes weird to me now. Like I'm tasting things that aren't food. And that is kinda scary.

And who doesn't love some Hershey's Chocolate Syrup on vanilla ice cream? The only problem there is that it is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Don't even get me started on how bad that stuff is for you! But enough venting. On to the recipes:

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups Cream
2 cups Whole Milk
2/3 cup Grade B Maple Syrup or 2/3 cup Evaporated Cane Juice (Sucanat)
1 TBS Vanilla
pinch of Salt

Stir your syrup or sugar into your milk until it is dissolved. (I do this in a pitcher so it pours easily in my ice cream maker) Add cream, vanilla, and salt. Stir well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Pour in your ice cream maker and follow your ice cream maker's directions.


Chocolate Syrup


1/2 - 3/4 cup Cocoa
1 cup water
1 cup Evaporated Cane Juice
1 cup Honey
pinch of Salt
1/4 tsp Vanilla 

Add cocoa to water in medium sauce pan and whisk over high heat. Use more cocoa if you like dark chocolate, less if you want your syrup more sweet. Add sugar and honey and continue stirring over a rolling boil for 3-4 minutes. (You can use 2 cups sugar instead of Sucanat and honey, which is at least a step above HFCS, but won't have the redeeming values that more natural sugars have.) Stir in salt and vanilla. I let it cool for a bit and then use a funnel to pour it into a squirt bottle. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Reuel is Four Months Old!

Reuel is four months old! I can't believe it. My mom and I were chatting on FaceTime this weekend and she commented on how toned my arms looked. No I am not working out. Hahahaha. That would require, you know, free time! No, my arms are looking so nice these days because I am carrying around my four month old baby who happens to weigh 17 and a half pounds. He's huge. He has the most chunkilicious thighs you have ever seen. In addition to being a kissable, squishable, hunk of love, here are a few more little things I love about him along with some pictures from the last month: 

When he nurses, he scratches the top of his head and plays with his hair. It's so adorable.

When we are in the car, he likes to grab the chest buckle on his car-seat and pull it up so he can chew on it.

Every time I try to change his diaper, he rolls over to his belly and giggles. I think he knows exactly what he's doing. It's his favorite game. 

"why yes, that is a cup of coffee on my butt!"

(mama couldn't resist this diaper)

He loves being outside. I can go out and put him in his bumbo under a tree and he is content to sit and watch nature for a long time. The fresh air has a calming effect on him. If he is getting cranky, all I have to do is walk outside and he calms down.

 Chillin' with Mousey and a Lego

 "How do I get music to come out of this thing?"

 Father's Day 2012

Real Food Friday: Squash/ Zucchini Mini Quiches

Here's an easy one. This is a recent recipe for us and I have to give my mom credit for passing it along to me. Sooooo yummy! And quick! And easy! But first a little background story (hey, you know I'm gonna have to talk a bit first). So my darling husband is somewhat of a picky eater. It's actually not because things taste bad to him. He has some sensory issues. And texture of food can really drive him bonkers. If anything is the least bit 'slimy' or 'mushy' feeling in his mouth, it's enough to drive him into convulsions (no, not really, but it really does get to him much like the proverbial fingernail on a chalkboard.) So there are a lot of vegetables that he will not eat cooked. For the most part, I adapt. If I want to serve broccoli or carrots, I don't cook his portion and he eats them raw. But two vegetables I have really missed are squash and zucchini. He swore that there was no way that I could cook them that he would eat them and they aren't really that good raw. So I have only had them a hand-full of times since getting married. I tell you all that so you will be amazed when I tell you Michael Paul gobbles these up like there is no tomorrow. That's how good they are. He still can't believe that they are made of squash or zucchini. And these are so versatile! There is no limit to how many variations you can make.

Squash/ Zucchini Mini Quiches


You will need:

A (medium sized) Summer Squash or a Zucchini (or you could do half and half)
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Garlic
2 Eggs
Spices

First take a large cheese grater and grate your squash into a bowl.

Next take your block of cheese and grate it into the bowl with the squash. You don't really have to measure. Just grate until it looks like you have almost as much cheese as you do squash. (Wait! You're not using prepackaged shredded cheese are you? You know that stuff almost always has additives like anti-caking agents and preservatives. And it doesn't taste near as good. Seriously, take the time to grate the cheese yourself! ;) You'll thank me for that tip!)

Add 2 eggs and a clove of pressed garlic. Or if you LOVE garlic as much as we do, go ahead and add more. I usually add 3-4 cloves. But that might be too much bite for some people.

Add spices. Here is where you can get creative. You can keep it simple and just add a little salt and pepper. You can give them a little kick by adding cayenne. The last time I made them I used Italian seasoning. Just use whatever strikes your fancy that day!

Stir it all together. Drop spoon-fulls into a mini-muffin pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until they just start to brown on the edges.

That's it! They are great for breakfast, brunch, a side dish to a meal, and the perfect snack. Keep them in the fridge. They taste great cold too and are an easy snack to grab and pop in your mouth. Of course, we usually eat the whole tray the day I make them. But I see no reason why you couldn't freeze them and then pop them in a toaster oven for a few minutes to serve at a later date. Summer squash is in season now so go out and try this recipe soon!

Real Food Friday: Pumpkin Coffee Cake (grain-free)

I've been needing some blogging inspiration - so I can post more than just cute pictures of my kiddos! So I've decided to join the Real Food Bloggers who post recipes on Fridays. We've been on our Real Food journey for several years now. We are certainly not perfect about it (and we don't intend to be). I have no desire to turn into one of the food snobs that this blogger recently vented about. But the truth is, we really do feel our best when we are eating real food!

Keziah and I are both sensitive to grains (for different reasons). I have blood sugar issues and grains tend to spike my blood sugar and then make it crash. They also throw off my hormone balance if I eat too many of them. Keziah seems to be sensitive to grains too. I suspect it is not gluten but the phytic acid in grains. I suspect this because she can handle grains much better when they are properly prepared (ie soaked, sprouted, or soured) because this reduces the phytic acid. Still, if she has too many grains, the same pattern emerges. It starts with lots of meltdowns. Then it progresses to night terrors, and eventually she breaks out on her face. When we fast from grains these problems clear up immediately. Keziah truly is a different child when we are off grains. I can tell she feels her absolute best because she is super happy and agreeable.

Well, yesterday Keziah had several meltdowns and seemed rather sluggish. I wrote it off. But when I was woken up at 2 AM last night to her having a night terror, I knew it was time to go back on a grain fast.

I had intended to start with a simpler recipe for my first Real Food Friday post. But since I needed to cook a grain-free breakfast this morning, I took pictures and decided to post this. I perfected this coffee cake throughout my pregnancy with Reuel. It was my go-to breakfast because it didn't spike my blood sugar (I had gestational diabetes) and yet it felt like I was getting to eat cake for breakfast! A win-win!

So here it is:
Grain-free Pumpkin Coffee Cake


You will need:
coconut oil
honey
1 egg
vanilla
pumpkin (You can use fresh when in season, but since it's not, I used canned this morning)
almond flour
baking powder
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves
salt
nuts (walnuts or pecans)

First, Cream 1/4 cup coconut oil with 1/4 cup honey

 Then, add 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, and about 1/2 cup pumpkin. (I bought a 15 oz can of pumpkin and scooped out half of it). Then you let your toddler stir it all together as your baby watches and giggles.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 + 1/2 cups almond flour, 2 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and your spices. I don't measure my spices. I just sprinkle them in until it seems like there is enough. But if I had to guess I would say I use about 2-3 tsp cinnamon, and 1-2 tsp each of cloves and ginger. I also might sprinkle some nutmeg in there.

Next, add your dry ingredients to your wet and mix well.
You can let your little helper stir while you prepare the nut topping!

For the nut topping, put 1/2 cup almond flour in a bowl (I use the same bowl I just mixed the dry ingredients in). Drizzle a generous amount of honey on top and add a large spoon-full of coconut oil. Then add a hand-full of chopped nuts. I prefer walnuts or pecans. Mix this all together.

Pour your cake mix in an 8x8 pan. Spread your topping on (it won't cover the whole cake, just drop little dollups around. It will kind of make a marbled look when it is done). I've also discovered that when cooking grain-free/gluten-free cakes, they seem to set up better in a dark pan as opposed to glass cookware. I'm not sure why, but that's my experience anyway.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

While it is cooking you can take cute pictures of your 

little helper licking the honey out of the measuring cup.

 And here is the finished product! Let it cool for a while before cutting.

Yummy Yummy!

Keziah: two and a half!

In a couple of weeks, Keziah will officially be two and a half. Such a fun age! She is so full of life!

 Keziah loves playing guitar with daddy. Although she usually turns her guitar into an upright bass because it is still too big for her to hold properly. Sooooo Cute!

Three Months

Tomorrow, Reuel will be three months old! Last Sunday we celebrated his creation day. I was thinking about how one year ago, he was just a single cell. And now he is a 16-pound handsome baby with the cutest personality. God is so amazing! It is so unfathomable to me that God turns a single cell into this - 

 in the span of one year. He truly is fearfully and wonderfully made. I can't help but praise God!