Dreams of Simple Life

Current favorites: almond flour + coconut milk ice cream

Christine — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:37:01 +0000

I'm sold on almond flour. It doesn't kill my stomach like grains tend to do, it tastes wonderful, and it's easy to cook/bake with. Here are three great recipes I've made lately with almond flour...

Almond Meal Biscuits from Roost. This has become a staple for us - it substitutes the need for dinner rolls or other bread with dinner, and goes great with soup. Luci Belle thinks they're cookies and calls them, "coo-coos." If she thinks these are cookies...GREAT! Roost's recipe adds rosemary to the biscuits for a savory flavor, but we sometimes omit the reosemary, or add blueberries like in the photo. When they're warm from the oven, add honey and butter = YUM.

Almond Flour Brownies from Grain-Free Foodies. These are ridiculously good. The first time we made them, Steven and I ate two pans of them in two nights. GULP. Yes, we did. A little overboard. They're not dense, but more light and cakey. Love them topped with coconut milk ice cream (see recipe below).

Almond Flour Pancakes. I used the recipe in the Paleo Recipe Book (a downloadable e-book) but I don't want to get in trouble for publishing the recipe here (I'm SUCH a rule-follower). If you Google "Paleo Almond Flour Pancakes" there are tons of results that come up, though.

Where to buy almond flour? You can buy it online from Honeyville (not organic) or Benefit Your Life (organic). Almond flour means the skin has been removed ("blanched") which as I understand, makes it more easily digestible. Or, you could simply buy raw almonds and grind them in a Vitamix or food processor until it resembles a mealy consistency. This is almond meal. You won't get the exact result as the blanched almond flour, but it's worked for me in a pinch.

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Easy Coconut Milk Ice Cream

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk (love this brand, and they don't use BPA in their cans)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Optional: add nuts, cacao nibs, chocolate chips, or any other mix-ins such as bananas or blueberries. Blend in a blender or Vitamix and then process according to the instructions of your ice cream maker. This makes a lot! It can easily serve 4 people.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, try this Banana Coconut Ice Cream recipe that you can make in a strong blender or food processor.

Artist.

Christine — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:31:29 +0000

I set her up at the craft table wearing my old smock from childhood - with "CHRISTINE PICCIONE" written in my mother's handwriting inside the neck. Just holding it in my hands reminds me of being in Montessori school, one of my earliest memories. Of course, art was always my favorite.

As I strapped her into her booster seat, she looked at me with wide-eyed expectation, unsure of what mama was about to put in front of her. I handed her a paint brush, squirted some paint colors onto a paper plate, and she immediately dove in...

Of course, once she started, she didn't want to stop. She pointed at the paints asking, "Mooore? Mooore?"

So I loaded on more colors, took out some card stock left over from a baby shower, and smeared her hand in the paints and slapped it on the card to make a handprint.

She giggled.

She looked up at me.

Then she started slapping her hand all over the different pieces of card stock, completely overjoyed.

Was mama really letting her get this messy?

Yes, mama was.

And something in me was released at that moment - perhaps all the stress from the week that had been bottled up inside, and I burst out laughing! As we kept smearing and slapping down more colorful handprints and splashing more paint on the table, I was a child again.

By the end, she was painting her hand, and I just sat there and let her...

Yes, the childlike artist is fervently alive in her - and in me. If leaving the artist behind means growing up, then I hope I never do.

Give it all, give it now.

Christine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:15:32 +0000

Loved this post on Shauna Niequist's blog - look at all the comments for a plethora of her reader's favorite quotes. This one slayed me though...

“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all. Shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.

The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things will fill from behind, from beneath, like water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” ~ Annie Dillard

Now, go and read Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and thank me later.

Thanks, Lord Byron.

Christine — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:44:22 +0000

Image: http://hurststatus.tumblr.com

This is precisely why I simply had to write this post the other day, and why I felt about a hundred times better afterwards. Can I get an amen from all the other creative souls out there?

Texas country weddin'.

Christine — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:00:10 +0000

On a cool, gray January day, underneath a rustic wooden open-air chapel surrounded by trees in the East Texas country, two of our dear friends got married.

Paul and Brooke were made for each other in every sense of the phrase - one of those couples that makes you feel like all is right with the world because they are together. They both grew up in Athens, TX, where Paul's family is known for their restaurant/catering business, The Cherry Laurel.

There were chandeliers hanging from trees. The bouquets and boutonnieres were made of buttons, and the programs were printed on vintage handkerchiefs. It was classy and casual, sophisticated yet understated.

My husband and Paul met over 10 years ago when they served in orphanages in Romania together. Their team formed a lifelong bond, spending entire summers holding babies and changing diapers. Steven and Paul still call each other several times a week to talk about manly things like Paul's new chainsaw or beekeeping supplies, or how to weld a fence. Brooke is a stunning beauty and a creative, kindred soul - when we first met her, it was like she'd been with us all the while.

On her wedding day, Brooke's style resembled June Carter Cash or Loretta Lynn - a down-home but classy Southern beauty. Her sense of style permeated everything...

The barn where the reception was held was pretty much a dream. Yes, it's exactly how the barn will be on my farm one day.

My favorite thing about the wedding, though? The people. They didn't have agendas, weren't trying to be cool or trendy. They were just true, friendly, unpretentious folks. Young boys opened doors for me without hesitation. People smiled as my toddler walked up to their table trying to steal their food.

I got to talk with Brooke's dad during the reception - he was as "Long Tall Texan" as it gets, with a cowboy swagger, wearing Wranglers and a cowboy hat that looked like it was his everyday attire. I told him how much we've loved getting to know Brooke, how the two of them together felt so perfect. He nodded and replied, "Paul is a good man. When he asked me if he could marry m'daughter, I told him I'd had him picked out for her all along."

I wanted to stay all night, drinking red wine out of plastic cups and dancing to old Country music. It made me miss Nashville; it made me love Texas. It made me love love.

It is going to be ok.

Christine — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:43:30 +0000

by dazeychic on EtsyOn days like this, when the laundry basket is sitting on the kitchen table, filled with crumpled {clean, yet to be folded} clothes, and my living room floor is trashed again with crayons and raisins and receipts and an old moldy carrot I found beneath the sofa, and I have so many pressing tasks to do on the computer for our small business that my toddler has to watch The Muppets Take Manhattan for the millionth time and I almost cry because I feel terrible, I have to stop and remember something:

It is going to be ok.

When I purchased this print for Luci Belle's nursery as I prepared a place for her while I was still pregnant, I had no idea just how often I'd have to remind myself of this simple phrase. Oh, around 55 times a day, it turns out.

Motherhood is wonderful and taxing. On top of that, it's important not to neglect my husband and to help keep my marriage thriving, I have a neverending list of jobs to do for Urban Acres, two very needy Dobermans, and dishes and laundry and dirty bathrooms and a list of friends I wish I could invest in right now. I seem to flake out lately and feel frustrated because I can't juggle everything. I haven't done anything creative in a week and I feel like my soul is dying, so I stayed up until midnight writing this post.

On insane days like these, I take a deep breath, remember I'm not perfect, and remind myself to love my husband and my child the best I can. And when all else fails, I stop and have one of these:

Yes, at 4pm today, I finally stopped running around like a crazy person and realized that neither I nor my child had eaten lunch. So, I did what any desperate mother would do and whipped up a large, frosty, rich chocolate shake and chugged it down like there was no tomorrow. Then, I put my daughter in her high chair and gave her a few spoonfuls of the chocolately goodness and watched her eyes fill with delight. Then, I let her take the spoon from me and "feed" herself until a chocolate mustache formed over her lips and chocolate dripped all down her shirt {no bib today, of course} and probably stained it forever because I'm out of Oxy Clean.

These are the moments to remember - the mess and all.

When my husband comes home from work and kisses me all over my face, I remember,

It is going to be ok.

When my dear friend Linda buys me a $20 bottle of my favorite wine because she knows I need to loosen up a little, I remember,

It is going to be ok.

When my 18-month-old folds her hands in prayer before dinner and can say "Jesus" ("Shee-shus") already with sign language, I remember,

It is going to be ok.

3 simple joys.

Christine — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:47:14 +0000

Here are 3 simple joys I've experienced lately...

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams - the best ice cream. EVER.

I mean, c'mon...butter, ice cream, and almonds all in one container? Sign me up. "Where can I get some?" you might ask. Check out this page on Jeni's website. Love the simplicity of her site too, and that adorable font used for the logo!

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My Christmas amaryllis.

A sweet gift from Melissa, it feels like Christmas is still hanging on a little bit. And it's about to bloom!

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A grassy meadow right near our house.

After we sold almost 700 Urban Acres Groupons, I've been in front of the computer pretty much nonstop lately! Insane, but good insane. Still, my child has been watching a few too many videos, and I've been feeling really badly about that. So it was great to get out yesterday and enjoy a sunny afternoon with my girl, laying in the grass and climbing hills...

Loving Our Kids On Purpose.

Christine — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:18:34 +0000

It just makes so much sense...

"God is a safe place. Because sin has been dealt with in the New Covenant, we no longer need to be punished or controlled but need to learn to manage our freedom responsibly, which changes the goal of government as well as the goal of parenting. When love and freedom replace punishment and fear as the motivating forces in the relationship between parent and child, the quality of life improves dramatically for all involved. They feel safe with each other, and the anxiety that created distance in the relationships is chased away by a sense of love, honor, and value for one another." ~ Loving Our Kids on Purpose, p. 43

The premise of this book - Loving Our Kids On Purpose by Danny Silk - is building a heart connection with our children and teaching them to manage the freedom they've been given, modeling the way God interacts with us, His children. When God sent Jesus, something new was created, something much greater than rules or The Law - a relationship.

No, it's not about letting my 18-month-old do whatever she wants, without any boundaries. If that were the case, then today alone, she would have jumped off the bed onto her head, drawn with crayons on the blinds, and eaten dog food. It's that I love her enough to stop and teach her in that moment, rather than screaming "STOP DOING THAT!" while I continue surfing Facebook.

My challenge is to redirect and show her how to use her energy without falling on her head, how to be artistic without defacing the blinds {although sometimes the mess just happens, and you deal with it!}. It's about respecting her as the unique, divinely created individual that she is.

One of the greatest bits of parental advice I've received so far is on this simple plaque from Etsy. I must repeat it to myself several times daily as I alternate between pulling my hair out and being thankful - "Luci Belle is not an inconvenience. She is a human being, for God's sake. When she's tugging on my leg saying 'Mama! Mama! Pease!', stop doing the dishes. Stop, kneel, and LOOK at her."

It's not easy, and no parent is perfect. The other morning, I cursed out loud multiple times and smacked our naughty dog in front of my daughter, and even though she had no clue what I was saying, she saw what I was doing. Ugh. I acted rashly and violently. I immediately burst into tears, so not proud of myself at that moment.

Loving well and loving on purpose isn't the easy way. The easy way is to react, to inflict punishment out of anger, to say, "Just do it because I said so." What's difficult is getting into the nitty gritty of real relationship and loving intentionally. I want to establish trust with my children, to walk through life with them. And above all else, to love them well.

God help me.

Pinterest project: DIY birdfeeders using bird seed, cookie cutters, & gelatin.

Christine — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:39:13 +0000

These adorable birdfeeders are the perfect winter project to foster creativity and also make the birds happy! I saw this on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun and inexpensive way to provide food for the birdies all winter. Do it on your own, or with kiddos!

You only need a few items:

Bag of bird seed for small birds {I got mine at Target.}
Box of Knox Gelatine {Get at any grocery store. The box has 4 packets inside. Gelatin is completely safe for all birds as well as weatherproof!}
Water
Cookie cutters in various shapes
String or twine
Wax or parchment paper

For the cookie cutters, use simple shapes such as a star, heart, or circle. You don't want to use very complex designs because they won't hold together well.

Here's the tutorial that I used - so easy!

After taking about 30 seconds to make the birdseed mixture, I pressed it into the shapes and added string and let it dry overnight...

Come morning, I simply removed them from the cookie cutters.

Cute, eh?

Ready to hang them from the trees!

Come, birdies, COME!

Watch out, world!

Christine — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:46:47 +0000

An incredibly thoughtful Christmas present

A crafty girl with an entire list of things she wishes she could sew

Amazingness to come {hopefully!}

Stay tuned...