Day 13 GAPS

I'm determined to find a good pancake recipe.  so far,  these pancakes from Health, Home, and Happiness' blog and another one i can't seem to locate.  They did satisfy the need, but honestly, they weren't AWESOME. tonight we tried these and while they weren't perfect, they were promising.  They tasted more like crepes.  I think in order to make them taste more like pancakes,  i want to try these w/ 1 TBL of almond flour added to the recipe and to separate the egg yolks from the whites and whisk each separately and then fold into the batter.

today we got to introduce raw veggies. i think my man and i both went a little nuts on salad today. trust me, you get to the point where eating something that's crunchy is heavenly!

Day 12 Gaps

We're on Day 4 - to move into Day 5 tomorrow.
However, we kind of cheated today and had all sorts of non-day 4 stuff.

For lunch, we had butternut squash bique. But i added apples to give it a little sweetness. I didn't feel so bad, because cooked apples get introduced tomorrow... so while i cheated, it wasn't a huge leap.  However, dinner is where we went overboard.
But let me give you some context. We went to a Rutgers football game today - hotdogs, fries, funnel cake EVERYWHERE! i so badly wanted a hotdog with the works!  But we held off and when we came home, i splurged but i don't care. i refused a hotdog today, that's pretty incredible for me.

here's our dinner menu w/ a few links for recipes:

salmon cakes and homemade mayo (see below for notes)

zucchini noodles and homemade marinara sauce (i just blended a few tomatoes w/ fresh herbs and garlic)

zucchini bread from Gaps diet journey's blog.

a cup of broth on the side. 

The homemade mayo i used was based on of Crunchy Betty's blog but I tweaked it a bit.
Here's her recipe and my notes:
Foolproof Homemade Mayo Ingredients

• 3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (or 1/2 c. EVOO + 1/4 c. organic canola oil or grapeseed oil or other light oil) I used 1 C of EVOO
• 1 3 egg yolk
• Pinch of sugar (a little less than 1/8 of a tsp)
• 1/2 tsp salt i used pink himalayan salt
• 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or any type of vinegar you prefer)... so i used white
• 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (you can also use just regular mustard, if you prefer)

Combining the ingredients is difficult. Many intricate steps. Ready to hear them?

• Put everything into your mixing container. All together. The end.

It turned out a little tangy - probably because I think I might have used 1TBL of lemon juice accidentally. but it was pretty good. i think i'm going to use it as a hollandaise sauce over my egg omelets tomorrow for breakfast.  since homemade mayo doesn't last very long, i've got to find some ways to use it up. 

For the salmon cakes, i just mixed it w/ some red onions, basil, garlic, salt, and 1 egg for binding. 

For the zucchini noodles, i just julienned them and then threw them into a pan w/ some ghee until they wilted. then they were tossed w/ the marinara sauce. 

I have to say that while the meal was very fulling and satisfying to the stomach, it still left me wanting a hotdog and cupcakes. yes, i've been thinking of cupcakes for a week now...

Day 10 on gaps

I'm surprised I've made it this far. I'm even more surprised that my man has stuck with it - with me.
We're now on stage 4 - we're progressing rather rapidly. The honest truth is that we're probably moving too quickly. but on the plus side, we really haven't see any side effects, positive or negative. does that mean we're doing it wrong? perhaps.... but we're moving along anyways.
with stage 4, we've been able to introduce GAPS-friendly bread. i started with this recipe and then tweaked it a bit.

Here are my modifications:

Grain-Free Almond Bread

• 3 to  4 eggs 
• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider white distilled vinegar
• 1/2 cup barely melted butter or coconut oil
• 2 cups blanched almond flour/meal 1 C almond flour, 1 C walnut flour that i milled
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal   2 TBL coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs well with vinegar. Add butter or coconut oil and whisk together until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, flax seed meal, salt and baking soda. Mix with fork until well distributed.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix until smooth. Press into a greased 8″ or 9″ square baking pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes. Cut into 9 squares. (Then we cut each square in half horizontally and spread with butter.)

* It turned out pretty well. we ate ours with homemade ghee and our jewel had hers with homemade peanut butter.  

tonight i'm thinking of making these chicken enchiladas 

we've started taking probiotic supplements more often. i didn't realize that we should be taking these all along; i thought that the fermented juices and foods were enough, but i guess not. i'm a little hazy on the probiotics. it says we should be getting 15-20B bacteria per day, but that would equate to 15-20 pills.... and i'm thinking that i already get lots of bacteria from the whey, yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi juice we're eating... so i'm not sure how many pills we should take each day. i'm going to play around with it and start with 3 a day and see how it goes from there.  

in other news, after taking a week off, i started running again on sunday. i decided to take it easy and run 3 miles every other day. unfortunately it's been really hard to do even that! my body just doesn't seem to have the stored up energy it needs to run. i do recall reading somewhere, at some point, that we shouldn't be doing any strenuous activity while on the gaps diet - just light yoga and pilates. but you already know how i feel about those two activities, so that wasn't going to happen. i'm a little nervous about introducing the weights back into my life though. i might wait another week on that. 

i admit that there are times when i think that on day 19 i'm going to gobble down a huge cake all by myself. but then there are times when i think, i could do this as a life style change and be ok with it. unfortunately, i don't think that my man is on board with that; that means eliminating his two most prized foods that he's worked years to perfect: coffee and pizza.  i have suggested that we just eat those in limited quantities, but he didn't care for that restriction... so we'll see.

ps. can't wait to have fruit!

Day 5 on GAPS

I'm so sick of soup. We've been eating soup for all our meals. While I'm grateful for the cooler weather, as it does invite soup for a meal... there comes a point where the guest is now unwelcome. and well, soup, you're unwelcome to my palate.  But alas, we are to continue having soup for a while.

Yesterday, we accidentally jumped the stage and had scrambled eggs w/ sausage for dinner.  Boy was it a welcome change from soup! But this morning we're back to soup.

I've basically been making a new pot of stock in a crock pot on the side every day.
On the stove I've been making one big pot of soup a day and that seems to carry us.  I have to admit that this is the first time that I've eaten food just for the functionality of it. it's really unpleasant. esp since i come from a culture where food is so much more than just food.

Day 1: Broth with sauerkraut juice.  But I also goofed and had squash pancakes for breakfast.... which doesn't get introduced for a while.
Day 2: chicken soup w/ butternut squash and sauerkraut juice and whey
Day 3: Broccoli Soup with meatballs, continuing w/ the s. juice and whey.
Day 4: "spaghetti soup" w/ meatballs and sour cream(continuing w/ the s. juice and w).   The spaghetti came from the spaghetti squash.  We also got to add an egg yolk to our soup so that was a nice touch to make the soup creamy.
Day 5: Today I'm making a mock creamed broccoli soup.  I cooked the cauliflower first in the broth and then put it in the blender to cream it. Then added the broccoli florets.     Today I'm going to introduce homemade yogurt into the diet.

A few thoughts:
1. my man and i decided that we'll try it for 3 weeks. that's assuming that we do each stage for 3 days and there are no side effects (you're not allowed to move on to the next stage if your body reacts badly to the introduction of a new food).

2. i have more will power than i think; we had guests over for dinner last night - we served my man's homemade pizza, salad, homemade cupcakes, and coffee and we didn't touch any of it. well, ok. i had to take a small lick of the icing because i ended up having to fudge the recipe a little and wanted to check it before i served it to others. i admit, i did keep staring at the cupcakes all night and really wanting to wave the detox good bye. but in the end, i put the left over cupcakes away for tomorrow's picnic with friends.  

I can't wait until Monday when I get to eat scrambled eggs! woohoo!!!

ice hockey practice

in the meantime, here's a random picture of our jewel at ice hockey practice just because i haven't posted a picture in a while.

with the end of one chapter begins another

i've been wanting to do this detox for years but wasn't ever able to fit it into the schedule, i was either running, pregnant or in-between running and pregnant.  so now that my race is behind me and i don't have another race coming up (i think... i keep wanting to reopen that chapter), i can officially detox.

today marks day 2. technically it's day 1 1/2 because we did something wrong on day one and didn't really get it right until dinner time, but my man wants it to count so it's day 2 today :)

the detox is the gaps diet. perhaps you've heard of it. it's gained a lot of popularity over the last few years.  the basic premise is that all illnesses come from the gut.  in order to get healthy, you have to heal the gut.

the gaps diet starts w/ the intro (which is further divided into 6 stages) and then you move onto full gaps.  the length of each stage depends on your body's reactions to the new foods introduced.

stage 1 - it's basically broth, probiotics, boiled meat, and some vegetables.
i'm hoping to zoom through this one as i'm already sick of soup and it's only the end of day 2.

we'll see how things go...

closing a chapter in the book

After a 4 year break, i ran a marathon yesterday.  honestly, it was a very disappointing race for me...
it was a gradual realization. i probably suppressed the feelings at first, not wanting to give in to the idea. however, as the training season wore on, i had to come to the realization and self-acknowledgement that i just can't do everything and that this was going to be my last marathon for a while.  the training just didn't go well for me. trying to get in my miles on top of everything else in life just wasn't happening - i was cutting corners; i was skipping days here and there; "rounding up" my miles. eventually it caught up with me.  sure, i had other factors against me. i was sick all last week and my body is still getting over this cold. i had stomach cramps for 13 miles. yes it was seriously the WORST! running w/ stomach cramps for over 2 hours - where i'm stopping every few minutes just to hold my stomach is about as miserable as i've experienced it.... but it really came back to the training. i just didn't have it in me. it sucks. it's sad. it's disappointing.  but alas, it's life.

sometimes, you work hard, and put in your best effort and the results aren't what you worked for.  sometimes external factors kick in and you just have to roll with it.  sometimes, you know you could have done a better job, but you worked with what you had and that was all you could do.  sometimes, "good enough" is about as good as you're going to get done and that has to be ok. and sometimes, that's just where the chapter ends.

it's nice seeing family at the end of a race

ok, you know it's ben a while when you go to post something on your blog and all the formatting and everything looks different and you really have no idea how to do something as simple as write up a post.. .
obviously, i made my way, as i'm now here, but honestly, this will probably give me even less motivation to go on my blog. see, i don't like change. i don't like technology. but put the two together and then you just have one less person to talk to because i've left the room.

anyways, i digress.

i feel like i should write something.. at the very least to give a little snapshot of what we've been up to so here it is in list form:

1. i'm managing CC's communities for central new jersey. that kept me busy from may to july.
2. i also direct a CC community in our area. that kept me busy from july to.... now.
3. i also tutor a language arts class for our homeschooling group. that will keep me busy until may.
that means i'm constantly tired.

so what does our day look like?
a typical day goes like this:
i get up in the morning and if i have the energy. i go for a run
then i get back, hop in the shower, eat breakfast and then it's devotions time. usually eating and devotions go together.
then it's time for homeschooling. we learn learn learn all morning. then when the baby gets up, i take care of baby stuff while our jewel does a few subjects that she can tackle on her own.  after baby's fed, changed, and cleaned up, i go back to teaching mode while baby plays on the ground.

we get lunch. then it's read aloud time while our jewel finishes up her food. this girl likes to take her time during meals!

after lunch it's back to school. we usually have 2 or 3 subjects still left so on a good day, we're done by 2:30. on a bad day, we go until dinner time.

then it's dinner. after dinner, i pop onto the computer to work. sometimes, i can get on during the day in the afternoons and some times i do it in the early mornings.
if i didn't get in a morning run, then i'll go out in the evening once our jewel is set w/ her school stuff.

i'm trying to structure the week so that we heavy load early in the week and go easy on fridays. fridays is our "test day" - for history, science, spelling, writing final drafts, etc... so the lessons go a lot faster. i'd really like to do 1/2 day fridays and then end it at the park or something (at least while the weather is good)...

as far as her extra activities go:
monday - swim
tuesday - ice hockey (yes, we made the change from ballet to ice hockey. but i think this is going to be the last year of 'trying' things out. it's getting expensive buying all new equipment every year! and hockey is no exception!)
wednesday - our homeschooling community day
thursday - public speaking
i was really sad to drop piano lessons, but she and i have continued them on an informal level. i'd like to get her back into formal lessons soon but at this point, i'm not willing to add anything else to her plate.

so that's a typical week. weekends, i do my long runs saturday mornings, i work when i can without killing family time, and of course sundays are church and home group.

i have my race coming up next weekend and i have to be honest and say that i'll be really glad when it's over. the training this time around has kind of sucked. i'm constantly tired and i realized that this just isn't the phase of my life to be running 4 hours at a time.

ok this post turned out a lot longer than i thought. and it's already 9pm. so i've got to fold laundry before my sister arrives into town and get enough sleep to get up for an early morning run.

are you tired? i feel tired writing this....

Stuffed squash blossoms

My friend gave me some squash blossoms from her garden so I looked around to see what I could make with it. It seemed that the most common recipe was to dreg it w/ egg and then coat it w/ flour and then fry in a pan.  But when I saw this recipe, it sounded a little more unique.

practicum world

i've been living, breathing practicum the past few months but the last week has been super crazy. this past week, the number of kids in the camps BLEW UP! so i'm trying to keep up with logistics last minute. it starts tomorrow. i think once it gets started, i'll breathe. but until i'm writing my list and checking it twice.

come friday i'll be a different woman. summer will have officially started in this household. i'm thinking a few museum days are in order next week :)

butterflies

sunday we had the blessing of seeing this guy and then he did this

it was a pretty cool reminder of: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. gal 2:20

what's up in our household...

our typical day is supposed to be:
8am swim lesson,  then devotionals, math, writing/ history, and cursive, and then off to the pool.

our jewel was complaining that she wanted a summer break like everyone else. apparently, she feels like she's getting jipped or something... so we came to a compromise - math. writing through history ( i combined these subjects) and then i let her pick the third subject - cursive.  i had every intention of doing full school over the summer but alas... even i needed a break. the irony is, we've taken the last 3 weeks off for various reasons and yet she's still complaining that she's not getting a break??!

lately, our typical has been:
oh and i guess i should put in a small post about 4th of july (this past wednesday).
we went to a friend's house for BBQ - but boy oh boy was it sweltering! this friend used to have his own BBQ joint and cooked for one of the sports stadiums... don't ask me which one.  when we first got there, he told us  that the best bbq will be later in the day - kind of like Jesus and the wedding wine.  but after 3 hours of sitting outside in 100 degree weather, we had to take the girls home. it was just miserable for the baby so we had to miss out on the good stuff. but it was so nice seeing friends.

thursday night, my man and i had our first date night in over a year! i know, so bad right?! our good friend offered to stay w/ the girls while they slept and then we got some greek food. it was pretty good. we ended up talking politics most of the night... why? got me! i don't even like politics...

friday, we met some friends at a pool of a mutual friend's house. had lunch there. then i went back home for what seemed to be 5 minutes and then we went back to the same house for thai food w/ some other friends. it was so hot that people ate quickly and then spent most of the time in the pool. it's so  nice to have friends w/ pools :)

this weekend

Saturday morning was Crayola Factory with my sister and her family. Of course I forgot my camera.  Fortunately, I think my sis took lots.  We ate lunch and then headed back to our place. We went to the pool for a few hours and then finished up with Thai food for dinner.  I'm grateful for my friend (who's thai) and made us dinner the night before and gave me lots of leftovers.  It made dinner time w/ my sister and her family a piece of cake. Just made the rice, heated up the thai chicken curry, and then sauteed some sesame green beans.

Sundays are generally pretty full as we have church and home group two sundays out of the month.  Yesterday was home group day. But in addition, our jewel had a birthday party and I also took her to the pool for an hour and that seemed to take her exhaust level over the edge. poor thing crawled out of the pool complaining of a head ache and body aches so we headed home. i'm wondering if she could have caught something at the pool - although with all that chlorine, i don't know how any bacteria could survive.

today we're taking it easy and she had chills during the night and a fever this morning.

homemade refried beans

i really like when you look in your fridge and wonder what you're going to make and think it's going to be a left over kind of dinner but then after you start cooking, you find that your left overs turns into a whole new mean...

so what started out as left over risotto and quesadillas turned into risotto for our precious and we had soft taco night.
i made the cheese quesadillas and then for sides, we had guac, refried beans, and salsa and virgin "margaritas".

our favorite way of making guac is probably the simplest:

1 avocado
1 TBL of minced garlic
ground black pepper and sea salt (we heavy up on the black pepper).
lime

i just realized that i forgot to put the lime in - oh well. and i had some sour cream on hand so i added a heaping TBL.  we really like our guac heavy on the garlic and black pepper.

for refried beans, i used this recipe from money saving mom as my base, and loosely followed her recipe.

Homemade Refried Beans

(Feel free to cut this recipe in half- it makes quite a lot. However, they also freeze well.)

• 4 cups cooked pinto beans (You may used canned whole beans if you like. I prefer to use dry beans and cook them myself. Directions follow below.)
• 3 T. healthy fat for sauteing (Butter, coconut oil, beef tallow, or lard would all work here. Avoid olive oil as it isn’t stable at high temperatures.)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves minced garlic
• 2 1/2 t. cumin
• 2 t. paprika
• 2 t. sea salt
• 1/2 t. chili powder (more or less- the intensity of chili powders seems to vary)
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• Milk, as needed (water or bean broth can be used if your family is dairy-free. However, I prefer the richness that the milk adds.)

 Directions:

To prepare dry beans, place the beans in a large bowl, cover with an ample amount of water and allow to soak overnight. (Keep in mind that 1 cup of dry beans equals approximately 3 cups of cooked beans).

The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Cover them generously with fresh water and simmer for several hours or until tender. A slow cooker works wonderfully for this as well! I like to make up a big batch of beans and freeze the leftovers in 2 cup portions.

In a large pot or saucepan, saute the onions in the fat until they are soft and translucent.

Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

Add the beans. If your beans are without liquid, you may need to add extra water or milk at this point. (I prefer to leave a little of the bean broth in with the beans when I freeze them.)

Stir in the cumin, paprika, salt, chili powder, and black pepper.

Bring to a slow simmer and allow it all to cook on low heat for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If the mixture is dry, you may need to thin it with a splash of milk or water at this point. However, if you started out with extra liquid in your cooked beans, you may not need to add anything.

Once the beans have cooked down for a while and the flavors have had time to incorporate, mash them with a potato masher, fork, or my personal favorite: an immersion blender. I prefer slightly chunky beans, versus a super-smooth “puree” consistency.

Serve with tacos, burritos, or alongside chips as a dip. One of our favorite ways to eat refried beans is to make simple bean quesadillas with homemade tortillas, cheddar cheese, and dipped in sour cream.

* i tweeked it a bit - i just put the pinto beans into a pot, then threw in my homemade taco seasonings, some garlic, and then i realized that oops, i need to add the onions, so i just threw that into the pot. then i just mashed as it was cooking. next time, i'll saute the onions in the pan before adding everything else. 

the "margarita" wasn't really, but it went well:

some tonic water, some pineapple juice, and the juice of a lime all in a pitcher and served up cold made for a nice touch to the tex mex dinner.
it was a hit.

what we're up to these days

so we've been feeling like it's been "summer vacation" for oh about 2 months now... but it's really been kickin' in and these days both our jewel and i both don't want to do school... so this week has been kind of an off week.  monday was reading day and i just let her read to herself, i read to her, and we even did math, reading style. then she had swim lessons.

she's been going to swim lessons everyday so that seems to tire her out.  sometimes, if i'm able, we've been going early and hitting the pool before her lessons start. this is a bit of a sight since i never learned to swim!

tuesday, i had a meeting for CC that took up the afternoon and then it was off to swim.

today, we had a dentist appointment for our jewel and me, a doctor's appointment for our precious, and then swim.  we're also watching my friends' twins as she has a surgical procedure done today. i managed to make my blueberry jam and get in a quick run this morning. digressing a bit, but i'm only 3 weeks into my training and already i'm sick of running. this is NOT a good sign!

tomorrow i have another meeting for CC in the afternoon and we'll have the twins with us all day so that'll take up thursday.

friday, our jewel has her last spring swim and gym class from another gym and then we're rushing her to the daily swim lesson right after that... i know a whole lot of swim is going on these days.

so i'm thinking that i'll probably resume school again next week. fortunately, i've made the schedule so that her summer schedule ends by lunch time so it's not all crazy and she still has plenty of time to run outside and play with friends.  i think the question i've been getting the most these days is, "you homeschool through the summer????" they look at me like i'm crazy. but honestly i love it. it's the best way to go for us. we take breaks throughout the school year and so if some in the family is sick, or has a birthday, or whatever, we can take it out without the stress of trying to make up for it. besides, i remember all that review that was done at the beginning of each school year to make up for all that memory loss during the summer and it's such a waste!  so this way, we just plug along at a nice pace and there's no stress :)

easy, fast granola bars

i made these tonight.

i had some sweetened condensed milk that i needed to use up and so i went on a search for a recipe i could use it in with all ingred. i already had on hand and ended up with the granola bars recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

it's pretty good. 

it's that time of year

our jewel had her recital yesterday.

our jewel was a doll!

she wasn't scared of going up on stage and her favorite part was being able to wear makeup!

our precious enjoyed watching her big sister dance

update

so i've been spending the last several days praying, pondering, sometimes, just kind of going but not thinking (know what i mean?)

we received some news earlier this week that i'm still processing.  i'd really like to go hide somewhere for the next several months - preferably where i will know no one, somewhere on a nice secluded beach, somewhere other than here... makes me think of "no man is an island" bit... but alas, that's not the life we live and i don't think it's the life God intends. i've been pondering this idea of what it means to live victoriously and powerfully in the kindgom of God. no, it's not some crazy off the deep end weirdo christianese... it's the idea that God said that He who is in me is bigger than what's in the world; it's the promise that God says, I will never leave  you or forsake you... so if God - Almighty, Powerful, Reigns over all - God is inside of me and He promises me that He came to give me life, than shouldn't my life be characterized by His promises?

there are days i wake up in the morning and i feel like i've got a serious hang out (it could be the carbs - i'm still figuring it out), but it's definitely not alcohol cause i definitely didn't have any - unless you count using rubbing alcohol to wipe my earrings.   and there's a lie that satan whispers in my ear. "i don't want to..... " and then the "if onlys" kick in... and i have a choice - i can agree and be miserable - which i admit i do quite often sometimes, or i can discern what God is saying versus what Satan is saying. You know, satan's been lying to us since the beginning of time.. and it's the same ol' lie. "Did God really say.... "

so, i'm still meditating on what God's words say but i have to admit it's been a wrestling match of the heavenlies.

on a lighter note, i really think i'm seeing the effects of carbs in my diet. we didn't do a lot of carbs for a while and just last week i re-introduced rice into our everyday eating and i feel awful. in fact, i think it's causing me to run a 45 second slower pace during my runs.  but oh man! does it taste so good going down.  so the question is, is it worth it?

on a brighter and more worthy note, our jewel reminded me today of 1 peter 5:7 - cast all your anxieties upon Him because He cares for you.

protein cookies recipe

i made a recipe for protein cookies a while back and they were really good. unfortunately, i didn't save it. i thought it did, but i didn't... one of those memory backouts perhaps.

anyways, i made my own based on variations i've seen on the internet. i really liked how it turned out and i think it's a keeper:

1 mashed banana (ripe)
1 1/2C quick oats
1C nut butter (i made mine w/ a combo of honey roasted peanuts, almonds, and flax seed)
1 tsp BS
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1/4C cranberries - dried
1/4 coconut flakes
1/2C chocolate chips

mix all together except for the chocolate chips. add chips at the end after everything else is mixed well.
then spoon them onto your cookie sheet and bake in pre-heated oven at 350 for about 12-14 minutes. I think i did mine for 15 min and the bottom was slightly browner than i would have liked. 

they had a really good cookie texture. dense but not heavy like wheat flour cookies.

note to self...

i realized something about myself. probably something that others around me knew but were kind enough not to say... i'm not a clean person.
i thought i was a cleaner, an organizer... but i've realized that you ARE what you DO. and what i DO is not clean. ... i realize that there are other things on my list that are more important to me than a clean house. such as: eating healthy, homeschooling, running, sleeping. and at the end of the day, that's about all i have time or energy for. now, do i want a clean house? MAI, OUI!  but am i willing to sacrifice the main time commitments of my day to get it? not likely.... so if you come to my house and see clutter everywhere, chances are, i was able to get my run in.

moral of the story: if it's really that important to you, you'll sacrifice other things to make it happen.
application of the story: if you come to my house, you'll probably not see a clean house, but you'll probably have one of the healthiest smoothies around.  

one crap of a day!

today was one homeschooling day that i'd soon like to forget.

i basically spent the entire day monitoring our jewel doing copywork on three lessons that she was supposed to read aloud and discuss with me. instead, it turned into a bear. whining, pouting, complaining about not wanting to do the work resulted in me telling her that since she didn't want to read it, she could copy the 3 lessons down. 10 hours later, she was sent to bed, to be resumed tomorrow. ugh!

honestly, she could have finished it in 2 hours, had she not whined, complained, and pouted. i'm not looking forward to tomorrow.

oh and by the way, happy birthday to me. this is NOT how i thought the day was going to go.

wanna know how i had envisioned how the day was GOING to go?  we were going to finish school early, go to paneras for a fun treat, and work on a puzzle.  

dang gone it! it's gone into the crapper!

http://www.musclehack.com

a whirlwind of days

it started on wednesday and since then it's been a procession of events!

wednesday evening, we had some friends over for a pizza dinner (my man's specialty) and they left around midnight.
then on friday, after our jewel's ballet, we had some other friends over for a pizza dinner and they left around 12:30am.
on saturday, we went to an easter egg hunt (which i drove 30 minutes for and then ended up missing) but our jewel got to pick up her dad's birthday gift so it wasn't a complete lost. then off to a friend's birthday party and then drove down to philly for a progressive dinner w/ some friends.

our precious getting serenaded at Lascala's

love this face!

appropos of nothing, both the men in the families were feeling under the weather, but because it took 3 months to get a date we could settle on, no one wanted to postpone. it was fun, but guess what time we got home? 1am. then i was up til 4am making our jewel and our precious'  easter baskets. for someone who's not a fan of easter baskets, i surely did put a lot of time into it!

KA and her basket

our precious' basket. i wanted to get a picture with her but the only time we were home, she took her nap

our precious and her easter hat

peek a boo!

i see you!

then on sunday, we had easter service at church and then afterwards, went to a friends' house for easter dinner. didn't get home until well after 10pm, so by sunday evening our jewel  was a basket case. so today, we're just chillin' around the house. reading books, playing w/ toys, and eating :)

venting over easter traditions...

i'm not one for dying easter eggs as i think it's a waste of my farm eggs. i know you can eat the eggs after you dye them, but honestly w/ that nasty food coloring, i'd rather not.
i know you can get the cheap store eggs and just toss them afterwards, but that seems so wasteful too...
so i usually ho hum about it each year and then  i usually don't do it. but this year, i just may muster up the energy to go to the store and get some natural dyes. 

last year, i did an easter basket for our jewel. i'm not one for giving junk just to give junk...which is why i don't generally do baskets, but for some reason last year, i just had a heart's desire to give her a basket.  but this year, i don't know, i'm back to thinking it's junk again.

i think if i were more proactive about planning for this, then i would look for small things that she needed and gather them in a cute basket - you know, socks, pencils, etc...
wait! stop the presses!
you know, as i write this, i think that i just may put something together for her. i know she would enjoy opening it.  now i just need to get myself to the store...


however, the one tradition that requires no venting is the easter meal with family and friends. each easter we've had the privilege of spending time w/ some wonderful people in our lives. i love that we can sit down w/ others over an easter meal and share the love of Christ.  we're excited to spend some time w/ a really cool family that we've gotten close to here.

dad

dad and grandkids

dad celebrated his 70th birthday a few weekends ago. the grandkids got a kick out of opening his presents.

mom and our precious

happy birthday, dad!

dinner fast food wise

today was a typical day where i was behind my "schedule" and i didn't get done nearly 1/2 the to do list that i wanted to get done...
it's 6:30 and in walks my man to see that the baby is crying and our jewel is taking a break.


anyways, i passed the baby to my man and whisked into the kitchen to whip something up for dinner.
i pull out stuff for a salad and a baguette i had picked up at target earlier today.
i had made hummus a few days ago and figured we'd just do that.  but then i remembered we had left over sausage in the fridge too...

soooo, after a 'hurricane' of action in the kitchen, we sat down to:

spring green salad w/ a shallot vinaigrette
hummus and baguette (so yum! hot and soft right out of the oven)
scrambled eggs, sausage and onions in thai chili sauce.
for dessert, we had protein bars that i had made earlier today. they were really good! my man said that they tasted like scones.

oh and by the way, i picked up a few containers at target (my original reason for going) and was able to organize my fridge. so while i didn't get everything done, it was still a good productive day.

Death comes to us all

the child we sponsored through compassion passed away quietly in a hospital in December from Hep.
she was 7.
7!!! that's the same age as our jewel....
i've been thinking about their family. praying.

homeschool update

we've been working on memorizing the 160 major people and events that have affected western civilization (biblical based) from september.  our jewel finished it a few weeks ago so i wanted to post what she's accomplished for memory's sake.  we're really proud of her accomplishment, but more so, we're proud of the character development that occurred through this project - it took a lot of perseverance and commitment on her part to memorize this.  we've been working on the skills of diligence and perseverance all year. it's easy to quit when it's gets tough and we want our jewel to know that we've seen her work really hard and her efforts have not gone unnoticed. we're proud of you, our jewel!

it's 2012/2013 already?

i'm already well into the 2012/2013 school year. can you believe it?
busy sharing about CC, hiring tutors, directors, etc.
also, on my to do list is coordinating and planning for our summer 3 day homeschooling conference.   it's been so busy here!

am trying desperately to  find time and motivate myself to run. it's been terribly difficult to do without accountability. the running group here meets crazy late - 9am on saturdays. it's so ironic to me - down south, i had to beg my running pals to meet me after 6am and here i can't seem to find running groups who meet before 8.

looking back over the past several months, i have to say that i'm so impressed with our jewel's academic developments. i can't believe how much she has learned. i decided to sign her up for a standardized assessment test the end of april so that it'll help me to see if she's on track with stuff and if there are any holes we need to fill in.   as a note to self, here's a list of stuff she's been working on:

1. Poetry: memorizing "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
She's about 1/2 way though.
2. Latin: memorizing John 1:1-7 in latin
3. Geography: learning US map - states, capital, features
4. Grammar: almost done w/ the book 1. i'm debating if i want to move to book 2 or if i should take a break and work on something different.
5. Math: Will be wrapping up math u see but will probably buy saxon 2 math and go back over it as review.
6. Literature: we've been reading through American Dream and it's tied in really well with our American History.
7. Science: she's going through a BJU book. it's not my favorite but it's her time to see other gals her age once a week and the moms who lead it are fabulous at coming up with science experiments.  
 8. Spelling: She's been going through spelling rules and a list but I'm not sure if this is sufficient or if i should get a separately. the other thing that i need to be better about is doing this on a weekly basis and just doing the test every friday. this seems to be the subject that i get loosy goosey on so it's been more like a test every other week.
9. Timeline; memorizing the major people & events that affected western civilization.

random update

1. i started running again. this time i'm really going to take it nice and slow. i ran a couple of miles a few times last week. this week, i did 2, 3, and then 3.5 today. oh it feels so nice to be out there again!

2. i signed up for wineglass. i'm so excited! it's exciting the prospect of being able to run a marathon again. i'm sure my time will be pretty blah, but that's ok - i'm just hoping my back will hold up.

3. our jewel was so excited today. she won her first chess game against the computer.  i love seeing sheer joy on the faces of children. there's nothing like it - that unadulterated joy is like none other.

4. it's amazing how a catchy tune can make you sing geography. this week it's the US rivers and i've been unintentionally singing it or humming it all week!

5. our precious is growing leaps and bounds. she's 5 months and yet she's in 9 mo. clothes. i've got to get myself down to my parents and pick up some 12mo clothes right quick!

6. i'm starting to get a little stressed out about putting on a parent homeschooling conference this summer. i just started thinking about it today and i've got so much to do that it's pretty crazy... so i might just put off thinking about it a few more days. ha ha ha.

7. it just occurred to me that i've been wanting to paint my nails for over a month now, but i haven't been able to find the time. every time i think of it, i think of something that i have to do that will require them getting messed up - like the pile of laundry staring me in the face.  hum,  i wonder if my nail painting is going to be like my hair cuts - twice a year.

over and out

i've been up since 4:30 but i am like a spring chicken - our precious gave me 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night - woo hoo!!!!

our jewel has a field trip today and some dear friends of ours offered to take her so i've got the whole day to myself - well and with precious. i've got great plans to finally organize our office!

random tidbits

just randomly thinking back to the birth of baby #2. it was odd to think that i was stone silent during the entire time. with #1 i was ms. chatter box. but with #2, you couldn't get me to talk for anything.  i think it was the prospect of the c-section that left me speechless. i don't think my man has ever seen me that silent. i think it scared him. isn't that odd? that silence can scare a man?

today i learned that our jewel's ballet teacher isn't going to be there anymore. i really liked him as a teacher and now i'm bummed. i don't think i would have switched her over to this school had i known he was going to be gone only after 3 weeks of us being there :(

do you ever look around your house and see all the projects you want to finish but know it'll probably never get done? ie. the island in our kitchen that we had upcycled and topped off with a wine rack. pretty cool concept if we could just finish it. or what about my wing back chairs that i seem to re-upholster/ slip cover everywhere we go... it's time for another change but that's probably not going to happen either.  and lastly, my kitchen table that we painted two years ago.. it needs to be stripped of the paint and re-stained. yes, i knew i was going to do this when i first painted it, but i wanted to paint it anyways....

kiddo tidbits:
- our jewel: she's an amazing big sister.  honestly, she has got to be the best helper this side of town! she's doing remarkably well in school and i've been really impressed with how much she can handle on her own.  this week we finally met our neighbor next door and it turns out they have an 8 year old daughter (only child) and so they had their first playdate yesterday. it's so awesome to be able to just pop over next door and they seem to be getting along splendidly. could this be her new kindred spirit?

- our precious: i can't believe how big she's getting. i've got to bump her up as she's outgrown her infant carseat at almost 5 months. her eczema seems to be subsiding. yeah!
but she's STILL not sleeping through the night!!!  me thinks she's not getting enough to eat while nursing as she seems to take a full feeding each time she wakes up in the middle of the night. the problem is that she hates the bottle and she's very hit or miss with the rice porridge... so it's been a doozy trying to supplement.  i'm really at my wit's end. last night i was so tired, i fell asleep at 8:45pm. however, i was as tired as ever when i got out of bed this morning at 7am because our precious eat every other hour!!! i was thinking back to the last few months and i realized that since she's been born, i have not slept more than 4 hours in a row.  it's taking it's toll on my body and my memory is worse than ever. 

and the two shall be one

after years of a long distance relationship, miss silva and rocky are finally united. my man is happy.

twinkies

did you know that hostess has declared bankruptcy???  soon, they will be a distant memory and your children will look at you funny when you recall your love affair with twinkies.

so in honor of our childhood memories - actually, it's my childhood memory and my man's adult memory, he came home with a box of twinkies the other day.  i remember them being a lot bigger. i also remember them being so yummy - that sweet, soft filling enclosed by a moist yellow cake.  when i took a bite into these, i noticed that they weren't the soft, heavenly bites i once remembered. and they got smaller! but that didn't stop me from eating 1/2 the box ;)

back news

today, i was able to stand upright. yeah! carrying the carseat to and from the church building to the car put some pressure on my back so by the end of the night, my back was hunched over again. but hey, i'm standing! so happy.

in other news...
Saturday morning i experienced something i NEVER thought i'd experience.  our precious was with me in bed and she spit up. in MY MOUTH!!!! ugh! it was the worst! in case you're wondering, it tastes like throw up but not as acidic.  you're wondering how it happened? if you're lying down and have your baby on your stomach,  playing peek a boo w/ her, keep your lips sealed!

back pain continues

today marks day 5 that i've been rendered immobile.  my man said that he now sees a bulging in my back from the hardened muscles that are trying to overcompensate.

meanwhile, my place is a complete disaster, i have a presentation on Friday to prepare for, CC starts next week, and oh yeah, my sweet precious is STILL NOT SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!  running almost seems like a distance dream. sigh sigh sigh.

back to running?

i have my heart set on running the wine glass marathon in october.
but what do you do when your back isn't cooperating with your heart?
the 3 mile speed workout i did yesterday resulted in serious back pain today - all day.  24 hours later and i still can't seem to straighten out my back.  my man has nicknamed me quasimoto.

ugh. i need my back to get on board...

happy new year!

it's not good when you start off the year feeling like you're already behind.
but a few thoughts as we go into the new year:

1. today our jewel said (on her own accord) that she wanted to read the bible in a year alongside us.  so we started gen 1-3 today. we took turns reading. not sure how long this will last but i was encouraged that she took the initiative to do this with us.

2. my favorite gift of the season was the bible we got for our jewel.  she LOVES it and it suits her.

3. "i have a feeling" that this will be a good year for my man. i'm excited for him and all the exciting things in store for him and our family.

happy new year!