Monday Morning Coffee

You Capture ~ Something You Did

2012-06-15T15:51:00.002-06:00

Trying to get back in the swing of things over here. I thought a great place to start would be jumping back in with You Capture's. :)

This last week we went to a new splash park / park. The kids had a great time, and C LOVED playing in the water!!

The Way I View. . . Friendship

2012-05-02T11:11:00.005-06:00

Is it REALLY that time again, I have so much going on, and so much to say and finding the time to sit down to type has become a super huge challenge.

C does NOT like to share mom, especially not with her computer. I haven't even gotten to update on his ONE YEAR OLDNESS!! Oh my. I promise to get to that soon, but for now I will leave you with this. Our goodbye picture from Shinko's visit.

I love my boys, I love how my *youngest* of 10 years has embraced becoming the *middle* so gracefully. He must have learned good things from his older brother, because he has taken on the challenge with ease.

Here is the perfect example of friendship in my home. When you're done here, swing over to Valerie's blog, she's pretty much amazing and you need to see her pictures! :)

Sock Monkey Trails. . .Mischievous Monkey

2012-04-05T22:55:00.000-06:00

Sunday was C's first birthday, we had a bunch of friends and family over and quite a good time! Shinko was a bit nervous being out with all the commotion of people and noises, so we let him stay tucked away in D's room where he felt safe. The next morning, when I awoke, I had a cute, colorful little monkey peering down at me. He was sooo excited to show me what he had found.

He could hang from the birthday sign!!

I went in make breakfast and things got really quiet in the dining room. . . I peeked in to check on him and found him eating the birthday cake!!

I told him that even though that cake has more protein in it than most people eat in a day, he really needed to wait and have breakfast first. Then he decided it was time to help with the unopened presents and play with toys.

At least I was able to finish getting breakfast made!!! :)

To have Shinko visit you for a week, visit Lynda over at her blog Sock Monkey Trails.

The Way I View. . . Happiness

2012-04-02T14:11:00.000-06:00

Happiness is getting to play with the big boys. . .

Brothers with their babies

Climbing on big rocks with family. . .

And still being able to ride on shoulders. . . even at 11

Now it's time to head to the wonderfully talented Valerie's page, to see how she view's Happiness. :)

Sock Monkey Trails. . . Shinko's Visit.

2012-03-31T23:38:00.000-06:00

Last week I noticed a posting to host a sock monkey named Shinko. I brought D in to show him and see what he thought of the idea, being my little monkey lover and all. He was SO excited and told me we had to do it right away, so I put an email out to Lynda and asked if we could have Shinko come to our home for a week, asap!

We received him on Friday, and boy was D excited! We will be updating you all about our week with Shinko. If you are interested in hosting him next, please get a hold of Lynda at Sock Monkey Trails. Shinko is trying to visit each of the 50 states and we would love to have a good family to send him to at the end of our week!

Warm Gooey Brownies

2012-03-19T15:14:00.003-06:00

When you go gluten/dairy/soy/sugar free, you give up a lot of foods that you love. Trying to find food that tastes like you remember it tasting, or even tastes GOOD for that matter can be a chore if not impossible.

I ran across Brittany Angell's blog the other day called Real Sustenance, Gluten and Allergin Free Living. There are so many good recipes on that site I didn't know where to begin, until I saw the recipe for Cookie Dough topped Brownies and I just KNEW I had to try it.

After raiding the cupboards we had all we needed for the brownies. I can't have coconut right now as my little guy is still nursing, and allergic. So, we had brownies. I followed the recipe exact, with the exception of substituting the sugar with stevia. They turned out a little thin, but I stretched them over a 9x9 pan thinking it would work. . .

So, after a little alteration, here is the recipe I found that works great, is crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, and aside from almonds, allergy free!!!

3 cups almond flour (meal)
2/3 cup carob powder or cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP baking powder
10 drops Nuvia liquid stevia
2 TBSP cinnamon
2 TBSP vanilla
8 TBSP milk
1 c. carob or chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together, adding milk and chips last. Dough will be very sticky and gooey, not runny at all. This is good.

Place a sheet of wax paper in a 9x9 glass pan, lump batter onto wax paper and using a small amount of oil on your hands press the batter into the corners of the pan and make smooth on top.

Bake 350 for about 40 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Remove wax paper with brownies on it and allow entire thing to cool on a wire rack. If you cut them too soon they will fall apart. :)

Enjoy!!

Mad props goes out to Real Sustenance, Gluten and Allergin Free Living, it is my new favorite website and I am so thankful to Brittany for these great recipes!!

Oh, and I will try to post pictures of the brownies the next time I make them, they seem to fly out of the kitchen so I haven't gotten one yet!

The New Room

2012-03-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a long week in some aspects, and not long enough in others. T left for her grandparents last Friday, and hubby and I set to work to transform her room. We painted, patched, sanded, primed and after spending quite a bit of time online looking for a comforter to give the room that perfect feel, I decided to make my very first quilt. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it, I had more fun making that quilt than I have had in a long time, but. . . it was SO much more difficult than I imagined, not to mention, who would have thought a blanket could make me cry and curse.

After many hours we went from this

(Please excuse the mess, I decided to take the pictures after we started tearing the room apart. But you get the idea)

To this

I know there are pictures of the quilt there on the bed, but I'm just so proud of it. Here are a couple more, of it. :)

Here is the front.

And here is the back

I have to give a shout out to my wonderful mommy for all of her help, as well as the use of her sewing machine. Also to my hubby, Savannah and Nycole for helping to paint. :)

Hope you all have a great night, I'm finally off to bed.

The Way I View. . . Love and Sweetness

2012-03-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

It's Clickin' Mom's photo challenge time again. This month the theme is Love and Sweetness.

The best way I can think of to define this months' theme, is with my stepdaughter, T. She has been such a light coming into our lives, and such a joy to have around. So I wanted to use this month's theme to put the spotlight on her, because she really is "Love and Sweetness"...

Doesn't she have the sweetest, most beautiful smile!!

Please head over and see my very talented friend Valerie and how she view's Love and Sweetness!!

WW ~ Winter Walk

2012-02-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

WW ~ Mr. Cool

2012-02-15T10:19:00.002-07:00

WW ~ 10 Month Love

2012-02-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

The Way I View. . . New Beginnings

2012-02-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a few New Beginnings this month.

My step-daughter T came to live with us.

She got a new puppy, Zues.

C tried fresh carrot juice for the first time.

And he LOVED it!

We discovered a love for "things that go", trucks, trains, cars, ect. . .

We had a "first interview" and got a "first job"

We met our newest cousin

We attended our last "Cub Scout" meeting.

And we took our first (unassisted) steps!

Thank you for visiting! Now you should head over and visit my friend Valerie to see how she view's New Beginnings!!

WW ~ 9 months

2012-01-04T10:27:00.001-07:00

EggNog Cookies

2012-01-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I wish I could have gotten this post up before the holidays had ended, things around here became quite busy once all our kids got into town, then my desktop died. . . Don't know what happened, but it won't turn on, it's like the button itself is broke. My super nice mommy took me out to get a laptop, I am eternally grateful!

Hopefully you still have some leftover eggnog, if not, I am sure the stores still have some. These cookies are a must try. We all really enjoyed them!!!

EggNog Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups of your favorite gf flour blend. I used 1 cup sorghum flour and 1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. xanthum gum
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/3 cup oil
3/4 eggnog (we used ricenog to keep it dairy free, I am sure coconut nog would be just as good too)

Directions

Mix dry ingredients together, while continuing to mix add in applesauce, then add in oil, last add in eggnog, slowly, until desired consistency is reached. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet and bake 350 degrees 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Be careful, it is very easy to over cook these, they still taste yummy, but crumble very easily!

Enjoy! We did!! :)

WW ~ Family

2011-12-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

WW ~ Christmas Brothers

2011-12-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Spiced Maple Banana Bread

2011-12-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

It has been an awesome weekend of baking in our home.We've made Pumpkin Muffins, Everything Cookies and my personal favorite Spiced Maple Banana Bread.

I got some fantastic organic black bananas from our local grocery store for a great price, and I set out to make an amazing, allergy friendly, spiced banana bread. After a little trial and error I believe I have succeed in making the perfect loaf of gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, egg free, soy free banana bread!!

I have a some mini loaves, and muffins in the oven now. The muffins I added carob chips to, you could easily use chocolate chips if you prefer, just make sure they are Fair Trade Certified. Also, if using carob or chocolate chips, make sure to read the label as a lot of carob and chocolate use both dairy and soy.

Spiced Maple Banana Bread

Ingredients

1.5 cups Pecan Meal*
1.5 cups Almond Meal*
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum or 1 tsp Guar Gum
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 cup Maple Agave or Pure Maple Syrup
3 very ripe, mashed organic bananas
1/2 cup almond milk*

Directions

Mix together dry ingredients in a big bowl or mixer, add in wet ingredients one at a time adding the milk last to achieve the best consistency.
Pour batter into a oiled loaf pan, or muffin cups. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before eating or the center will be a bit mushy.

The crust will be a bit of a darker brown than you might be used to, it's from the pecans, don't worry it isn't burnt. :)

Enjoy!!!

* Side note, if your nut free you may substitute 3 cups of your favorite gf flour, You might have to add more or less milk depending on your flour. Rice milk and Hemp milk would be a great substitute for the almond milk.

picture me {im}perfectly. White Elephants

2011-12-14T22:01:00.003-07:00

Two nights ago the boys and I were headed to scouts and we needed to make a quick stop by Walgreens to pick up a white elephant gift for J. I let him run in by himself, and use $5 of his own money to pick the gift, something that I never do, but I was hoping it would give him a little since of freedom, and help him to get a little more excited about his white elephant exchange.

J hops in the truck all excited to show me what he had decided upon, he had gotten 2 boxes of candy canes and a very large chocolate coin.

The FIRST thing out of my mouth was. . ."J, that isn't fair trade chocolate, why in the world would you knowingly buy chocolate that wasn't fair traded?"

He replied sheepishly that he had thought about it, but he wanted to get something that he knew the other boys would really like and he knows everybody loves candy, and with $5 to spend and at Walgreens no less, he didn't have much option. He hung his head. . .

Why in the world did I do that, I mean to ease into it would have been one thing, but to jump right into the negative. . . wow. Mommy FAIL.

We have since cuddled and talked about how I made him feel, and I have apologized for the way that I handled that situation, but that was a big moment for him, and I took the spotlight away with my negative comment.

Has this ever happened to you? How did you handle it?

Jolly Oh Saint Nicolas

2011-12-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Jolly old Saint Nicholas lean your ear this wayDon't you tell a single soul what I'm going to say Christmas Eve is coming soon now, you dear old man Whisper what you'll bring to me tell me if you can We got a visit from Old Saint Nick, and his wife last night, and were the boys ever thrilled! He used his magic key and they walked right in our front door, his bells jingling to the tune of Jingle Bells as they came up the stairs to the dining room where we all were chatting. After greeting the children by name, they jumped right into telling the story of The Night Before Christmas. It was a fabulous performance, and how even Santa can memorize that story, I'll never know! Next came speaking with the boys individually, to find out if they they believe they have been good or bad and what they want most for Christmas.

Both J and D willingly climbed right up on Santa's knee, C, lol well C wasn't having any part of Santa Clause, He did however let Mrs. Clause hold him!

Afterward, we sang the HoHo Pokey, and Mrs. Clause read us a story. It was truly a wonderful evening and I was so blessed to be able to share this with my boys!!

(Sam was here, he was just taking the picture)
And Jolly Oh Saint Nick, he even got a great big hug!

When the clock is striking twelve
when I'm fast asleep
Down the chimney, broad and black
with your pack you'll creep
All the stockings you will find
hanging in a row
Mine will be the shortest one
you'll be sure to know

Bobby J wants a pair of skates
Suzy D wants a sled
Nellie C wants a picture book
yellow, blue, and red
Now I think I'll leave to you
what to give the rest
Choose for me, dear Santa Claus
you will know the best.

Snow, Peppermint Coffee and a Gorgeous 8 Month Old

2011-12-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Oh how I do love the mornings when you wake up and there are a few inches of snow blanketing the ground in sparkly white.

After cooking the older boys steak, eggs and bacon with peppermint hot chocolate for a December first breakfast done right, they are off to school and C and I got down to business, my baby is 8 months old today. EIGHT, where did this year go and how did my little man get so big. In just four short months we will be celebrating his first birthday, hopefully in Moab with our family. In the mean time, we are capturing him at 8 months, his first December, his first Christmas. I love firsts!

In the kitchen, I have peppermint coffee brewing, it smells a little like heaven. I tried to make peppermint coffee last week, I don't know if it was the fact that it was still November that threw it off, but let me tell you, mixing dried peppermint leaves with coffee and letting it brew. . . FAIL.

Today I used peppermint extract in with my grounds*, it turned out REALLY good. Filled my mug half full of steamed almond milk and stirred in a tsp of vanilla agave, it tastes like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie. . . not kidding.

So now C is napping, I'm just finished editing his pictures and I am in love. I'll share this one for now, not sure what I want to put on the Christmas cards just yet. <3

*Update - I added 1 TBSP organic baking carob in with my grounds today, EVEN BETTER! I'm sure that cocoa would work too, for those of you who's EBF baby isn't intolerant to chocolate!

WW ~ Autumn Walk

2011-11-23T12:17:00.001-07:00

Out for one of the last few walks we'll get before the season's change from warm browns, golds and reds of autumn to the cool whites and blues of winter.

GIVEAWAY!! MyEcoBabies Wool Soaker

2011-11-17T11:15:00.001-07:00

See my Review/Giveaway page for a chance to win YOUR CHOICE wool soaker cover!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cabbage Patch Kid

2011-11-16T09:52:00.001-07:00

GF/DF Lasagna with Butternut Squash Sauce

2011-11-15T11:18:00.001-07:00

Cold weather brings on the cravings for comfort food, having a strong love of Italian foods has been one of our biggest challenges with our allergies. A few weeks ago Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows put up a post for her Vegan Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheeze and I just had to try it and since we're not vegan, I went ahead and added in some ground beef, and I omitted the lemon juice.
We haven't had lasagna in over.four.years, it took a little experimenting to get a good pasta sauce down since none of us can have tomatoes, but I did it, and my family LOVES it. They've begged me quite a few times to make it, and it always disappears very quickly. The first batch I made with gold beets, the second was made with red beets. I think the red gave it more of a tomato sauce feel, either way it was YUMMY!

So thank you Angela for the inspiration and without further adieu. . .

Gluten Free Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheese and Butternut Squash Meat Sauce.

Ingredients

1 package rice noodles. (We use Tinkyada Rice Pasta)
2-3 lb butternut squash
1.5 lb grassfed ground beef
7 generous sized garlic cloves
1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 c. raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
1 T. dijon mustard
1/2 c. dried basil or 1.5c fresh basil
1/2 c. nutritional yeast
1/4 c. dried parsley or 3/4c fresh parsley
1/2 c. olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Diced veggies- of any kind.
Zucchini slices

Directions

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, clean out seeds and put the two halves with the rind up in a casserole dish with about an inch of water. Sprinkle 5 of the garlic cloves around the squash, cover with foil and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.Chop or shred your veggies (we used carrots and beets this time) Brown the ground beef, mix in with the veggies and set aside.

While your waiting you can prepare the Basil Cashew Cheese sauce.

Put the cashews in a blender along with about 1/4-1/2 cup of the water they soaked in, add in the remaining two garlic cloves, dijon mustard, basil, yeast and salt and pepper. Blend until you get a nice thick consistency, about like ricotta cheese. If your sauce is too runny, add a bit more yeast until desired consistency is reached. Put into a bowl and set aside.

Begin to boil the noodles.

When the squash is soft, scoop it out of the rind and place into the blender, add the five garlic cloves from the pan, the chopped onion, parsley, and olive oil. Blend until creamy, and water if necessary to reach desired consistency.

Mix the butternut squash sauce in with the ground beef and veggies.

Drain the noodles and rinse in cold water, this keeps the rice noodles from sticking together.

Put a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of a deep casserole dish, then place in noodles and begin to layer noodles, meat and cheese sauce. Continue until your out or you reach the top of the pan. For the last layer I place the zucchini slices on top and spray a bit of olive oil on them. Cover with foil and bake 350 degrees for an hour or until warm and bubbly.

Flavored Coffee

2011-11-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love flavored coffee's, nothing helps you to feel more cozy on a cold day than waking up to a nice warm pot of {seasonal} flavored coffee and my house smelling divine. I however find that most flavored coffee makes me feel 'off'. The coffee labels don't really tell you what they use to get the flavor in your coffee, they tell you "Natural and Artificial Flavors", leading me to wonder what exactly are the natural and artificial flavors?

While doing some "googling", I ran across this article by Phil Lempert titled How Natural is "natural flavoring?" in the article he states that "The definition of “natural flavor” under the Code of Federal Regulations is: “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22). Any other added flavor therefore is artificial. (For the record, any monosodium glutamate, or MSG, used to flavor food must be declared on the label as such). Both artificial and natural flavors are made by “flavorists” in a laboratory by blending either “natural” chemicals or “synthetic” chemicals to create flavorings."

In this other article I found on Squidoo, it tells us that " A single natural or artificial flavor can contain many different ingredients; e.g. the artficial "strawberry" flavor contains 49 ingredients, most of which are difficult-to-pronounce chemical compounds." and that "The FDA does not require that flavor companies disclose ingredients as long as all the ingredients are considered "Generally Regarded as Safe." This policy allows flavor companies to protect their secret flavor formulas." GROSS. . .

Ok, that was just two articles I found while spending half an hour on this topic, I defiantly need to do some more research into this. I know that my boys are allergic to most "artificial flavors" and now I'm beginning to understand why, who really knows what goes into them and how can I know they are safe to put into my own body, let alone give to my children.

Back to the coffee, this morning I created a masterpiece, and a stepping stone into my own world of flavored coffee without the additives. This morning I am drinking a homemade cinnamon spice coffee with almond milk and a hint of agave. My coffee is fair trade, we do our best to buy Fair Trade whenever possible. Kristen over at Rage Against The Minivan has written a great piece on child slavery and our chocolate supply which you can find here if you are so inclined as to get a glimpse as to what "fair trade" really means, and why you should spend the extra money for it. But before you sit down to read that, you should make a pot of this exquisite coffee for yourself, because you deserve it, because it's easy to do, and because it's not only healthier for you but it really does taste better!

Cinnamon Spice Coffee

Start your coffee as your normally would, I fill my wire basket half full of my favorite fair trade, organic kona blend. Then comes the magic, add

1/2 tsp organic cinnamon

1/4 tsp organic cloves

a dash of organic nutmeg

a dash of organic ginger

Stir together, push the brew button and wallah, home made flavored coffee, and you know exactly what went into it!

I hope you enjoy this, please, let me know. Also, if you have more information on natural and artificial flavors for me, I would love some reading material!