Snack time!

I know that I've already mentioned my love for avocados...but today is no different! Torin and I were hungry for a snack, but I was really hungry and wanted something filling! I needed some protein in there somewhere.  I wanted vegetables, but I knew just that wouldn't do the trick of filling me up! What's better with veggies than hummus?!

I love hummus. I try to always keep at least one can of garbanzo beans on hand at all times. Hummus is one of those things that you don't realize how easy it is to make until you've made it! You can't mess it up it's so simple!

I wanted to spruce it up so I put in some avocado! Superb taste, awesome color! Seriously, who doesn't like the color green?

Torin loved it so much that he was sucking it off of his red peppers and asking me to re dip his pepper for more.



I let double dipping slide this time! ;)




Avocado Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and ringed
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 avocado
1 T olive oil
1 T water
Salt/pepper to taste

Throw everything in your food processor and process until smooth. Devour with veggies and blue corn tortilla chips!

This is my "It's delicious!" face....can't you tell?...

 

I love this sweet boy.  He makes my world go round.

 

In the mood for a snack??

I always am. I'm actually kind of a snacks eater. I don't eat huge meals...but it seems as though I'm always eating. Just ask my husband. He's always asking me sarcastic questions like, "Didn't you just eat?" What can I say?? I love good food. My snacks aren't chips or cookies or the typical processed junk of which one might think!  It's usually carrots and hummus, peanut butter on an apple, or these little guys....

I love to make little snack balls that I can put in the fridge and grab when I'm feeling snacky! I've made different varieties of these but these are one of my favorites! They are so simple and really quick to whip up! Plus, they satisfy that sweet tooth too (which I pretty much always have).

Coconut Raisin Snack Balls

1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 C oats
1/3 C raisins
1 T honey
1/4 t cinnamon
1 T almond milk

1. Put ingredients in food processor.
2. After about 30-60 seconds it should be mixed and sticking together. If its not sticking together, add a bit more almond milk.
3. Roll into small balls. (this step is especially fun for the kiddos!)
4. Refrigerate.

After an hour, these balls should be pretty firm. You don't have to wait that long to dive in (I never can). Store in your refrigerator and snack happily!

Buying bars such as Lara bars and KIND bars gets expensive! These are pretty cheap to make and every bit of delicious!  Torin loves them.  They have the appeal of a cookie, but pack a stunning nutritious index!

 

 

 

Lactose intolerance meet coconut milk

A few weeks back I started having some painful stomach aches. My tummy was in knots. I mean tossing and turning...won't settle down kind of knots. It was terrible.

I put on my detective hat and tried to pin point the culprit. I found that every time I had a bowl of my lovely homemade granola (which is the perfect anytime snack!!) my stomach became furious with me. It also started happening after I would eat cheese, but not as extreme as when I drank a cup of hot cocoa made with whole milk...but enough to raise a flag.

This is weird, because I've never had a problem with milk. I love milk. Well, at least I did until my body started rejecting it. Turns out, your body can lose the ability to tolerate lactose.

So I conducted a little experiment. I gave up dairy for a week to see if my tummy issues were solved. In place of milk, I made some homemade coconut milk and used that all week. I'm so glad I did this, because oh man is coconut milk delicious!!

(Yes...those are clean peanut butter jars....see my note about being a cheapskate!)

I didn't have any problems all week. It was glorious. I chided down on granola, but used the coconut milk...I made a delicious hot cinnamon flavored coconut milk beverage with cooked bananas and it was pure perfection.

After the week was over, I tried dairy again. Ouch. My poor tummy. Dairy is no longer a viable option for me. At first I was sad. I love cheese and yogurt and milk. These are the things I grew up with and it made me profoundly sad to think that if I wanted to eat them, I was going to have to suffer the consequences.  Is it really worth feeling like crap??  The answer is no.  I pouted for a couple of days, especially when my husband was eating the vanilla ice cream he requests I make him every week.

Then it hit me. Why do we drink cow's milk? It is kind of absurd. We are the only mammals who drink another mammals milk. Weird.  And it makes me sad to think that mommy cows have to give birth to a calf for their milk to arrive, but their calf is taken away from them right away so that us humans can take their milk. That's not very fair.  At least I don't think so.  Our bodies weren't designed to drink milk, so why should I try to force something that was never meant to be.

These are just my thoughts...drink your milk if you please, but I can't and it doesn't bother me anymore!

Want to try some coconut milk? It's so easy and so delicious! Sure you can buy it at the store, but if you make it, you know there's no yucky preservatives added. 

Homemade Coconut Milk

Boil 4 cups of water. Remove from heat. Add 1 1/2 - 2 cups (depending on your personal tastes..I'm a cheapskate, so I use the smallest amount!! He he) to the water and cover.

 

 

Allow it to sit and steep for 1-2 hours. Pour into blender, and mix for 1-2 minutes. Pour through a mesh strainer and then pour milk in airtight container (mason jars are great...or used peanut butter jars if you're like me...). Store in refrigerator for 3-5 days.

I hate wasting food, so here are a few things to do with the leftover pulp...make another less strong batch of milk (if you're a cheapskate Luke me!!), throw it in with some granola, make some granola bars, or dehydrate it and grind into coconut flour.

We played out in the snow today!  Hooray for living in Alaska!  Isn't my little snow angel a cutie pie!?  He absolutely loves being outdoors.

 

Green goodness

Sometimes I get a hankering for avocado. Okay...this is pretty much everyday. Seriously, I love avocados. Anyways, I have a few favorite recipes to use them in, especially for snacks!

Smoothies are one of my favorite snacks. They are so simple and filling and they always taste amazing. Plus Torin loves smoothies. He runs to the kitchen in excitement when he hears the blender! And I can throw spinach in ant smoothie and it's tastes awesome!

So before we go any further, let me say yes, I am about to tell you to put avocado in a smoothie. Don't be scared! It's delicious!

Some people are afraid of avocados because they have a good amount of fat and calories in them-but it's good fat and calories! Our bodies need it! And the fat in avocados is great for your metabolism! But don't go out and eat three avocados or anything! Moderation is key! :)

So back to my smoothie! It's a lovely green color and mildly sweet! I call it the green goodness smoothie.

Green Goodness Smoothie
1/2 avocado
1 banana
1 C spinach
1 C cold water

Put everything in a blender and blend for a minute! Easy peasy!

We also did some painting today! Picasso...ahem, I mean Torin loved it! This art easel we got him is pretty awesome! Lots of goodies out of it already!

Sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Ever since we moved to Alaska , it seems like someone in our family catches an illness every month. And then we pass it on to each other. This time my husband became sick. And then Torin. And then inevitably, so did I. This all happened within a day of each other, so it has been fun-and by fun, I mean terrible.
I don't really take medicine. I'd rather let my immune system fight what's going on, especially when it's just a cold or a virus.  However, I do believe in using good nutrition for healing. I've been making sure to drink lots of water with apple cider vinegar, eating lots and lots of fruit to load up on vitamin C, and packing in nutrients from various veggies! Also tea is a must for me when I'm sick. And who doesn't want a good soup?
I made a super delicious soup with stuff I had in the house - there was no way that this girl was leaving the house to go to the store. I thought  this combination would be good, but I wasn't prepared for just how delicious it really was!
I used sweet potatoes, chicken broth (I had some in my freezer that I made a few weeks back), coconut milk, and spinach! Then I topped my bowl with some avocado! Deeeelicious! Here's the recipe...



Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup

2 baked sweet potatoes
2 C spinach
1/4 C chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 C coconut milk (or any kind of milk-whole, almond, soy)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Directions
1. Saute the onions and garlic for a few minutes in some olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat.
2. Add the chicken broth.
3. Scoop out the insides of the baked sweet potatoes into the saucepan.
4.  Add coconut milk and spinach.  Also throw in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
5.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Cook for about an hour. 
6.  Serve warm and garnish with sliced avocado!

 

My kitchen helper!

 

I'm definitely going to be making this soup again, and it won't be reserved for illnesses!  This is such a yummy soup!  Sweet and fulfilling!  You could also use kale instead of spinach, or butternut squash or pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes. 

 

We're finally starting to feel better over here!  Yay!  We're venturing out to the grocery today!  Wish us luck!

Quiche anyone?

Ever have those days where you don't have much in the refrigerator, but you don't want to go to the store??  These days are becoming more frequent over here.  I like to challenge myself and set a date until which I'm not allowed to go to the grocery. Sometimes it's just a couple of days, but this time I was determined to last a week.

That doesn't sound like a really long time, but considering most of our grocery haul is fresh produce, it was a feat!

Anyways, I was trying to come up with something for dinner using what we had left. We had eggs and bacon (and some leftover veggies and fruits!), but we just had breakfast for dinner so I knew scrambled eggs were out of the question! But we haven't had a quiche.



My husband has never had quiche before, so when I told him that's what I was probably going to make, he made me repeat the word quiche about 5 times before asking what was in it.

"A what?!"
"Quiche."
"Huh?"
"Quiche."
"Who?"
"A quiche, babe. Q-u-i-c-h-e. Quiche."
"What IS that??"

But then I realized that I had run out of milk that morning...wait a minute...I have yogurt. I can make this work...

So I used plain whole milk yogurt(this is a staple in our house - Torin loves it And we use it in our green smoothies). It turned out nice and fluffy!



Now a quiche is not the healthiest thing in the world. It uses a pie crust (butter and flour...hmmm) so its pretty important to put LOTS of veggies in there! Plus my husband is a carnivore, so I put some bacon in there so satisfy his meaty ways.

I also made a fruit salad of strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and kiwi. Torin eats a lot of fruit, so it's something I pretty much always have in hand.



Here's the Quiche recipe..

Fluffy Vegetable and Bacon Quiche

-1 pie crust recipe

1 1/4 C flour (I use half white and half wheat)
1 t salt
8 T cold unsalted butter (cubed)
1/4 C ice cold water

Mix flour and salt together.  Work butter into flour until pea-sized balls form.  Slowly add cold water until the dough comes together (you may not need all the water).  Form into ball and put in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

-6 eggs
-1 1/2 C yogurt
-2 C spinach
-1/3 C chopped onion
-1/2 + 1/4 C shredded cheese
-1 T butter
-3 slices cooked bacon, chopped
-any other cooked vegetable you want to add!  zucchini, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms - just remember the more you add, the more space it takes up so you wouldn't want to use as much yogurt and eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Roll out the pie crust and place in pie dish.  Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. 
3. Meanwhile, sweat the onions in the 1 T butter.  Throw in the spinach at the end so it becomes wilted.
4. Line bottom of partially cooked pie crust with onions, spinach, bacon, and 1/2 C shredded cheese (and any other begetables you decided to use). 
5. Lightly beat eggs.  Add yogurt to eggs and mix.
6. Pour egg mixture into pie crust on top of the vegetables and cheese.
7.  Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
8. Bake for approximately 40 minutes.
9. Eat and enjoy! 


My husband ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.  He not only knows what a quiche is now, but has become a fan!  We saved the leftovers for Daddy to eat, so this is what Torin and I had for breakfast!  Happy oats!!  Yum!  Torin was pretty excited to see his oats smiling back at him. 

Hat!  Torin used to hat hats.  He would wrestle to get them off of his head.  Now he enjoys putting them on his head, along with Mummy's headbands.  Mr. Potato Head let Torin borrow his hat for the day.  :)

Who can frown when waffles are for dinner?

I woke up to a grumpy boy yesterday. As a mum, you always want to see your kids happy, smiling, and laughing! But I guess kids and babies have their off days too. He needed a good nap and that's what he finally did in my arms.

Little angel! Kids look so peaceful when they sleep.

He definitely got some extra loving...and breakfast for dinner! Who doesn't like breakfast?!

This reminds me of an episode of Parks and Recreation (which is a really funny show if you've never watched)...
Leslie Knope - Why would anyone eat anything besides breakfast food?
Ron Swanson - People are idiots, Leslie.

I don't know about being idiots, but maybe completely unaware of the multiple healthy breakfast possibilities and options!  So breakfasr it was and we had eggs and waffles.



I have a hard time keeping things plain and ordinary. I cant just scramble eggs- that's too simple. Instead, our eggs were smothered in veggies. I think eggs taste good with almost any kind of veggies, and I already had steamed broccoli and carrots from lunch so in those went, along with fresh spinach and a tiny bit of cheddar cheese. It was delicious. Torin gobbled them up, and needless to say, so did I! 



My waffle maker is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. I can't say it's my favorite because I don't want the others to get jealous... I got it years ago while I was in the Navy on a spontaneous shopping trip. I saw the double waffle maker (yes...at the time I seriously felt like I needed a double waffle maker instead of a single) and I just had to have it. So many great waffles have come out of there since that day! Also, waffles freeze well, so you don't have to worry about eating the whole batch!



We made Wheat and Oat Blueberry Waffles. My husband loves them. He was a astonished when he saw me putting the oats and yogurt in the waffles-but you seriously can't even tell. So as long as you keep picky eaters (aka my husband) out of the kitchen, they won't know the difference and will just be excited to be having waffles!




Wheat & Oat Waffles
1 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C oat flour (just put about 1 1/4 oats in a food processor and pulverize until it resembles flour)
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder

1 1/4 C milk
3/4 C plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

3 T melted butter

1. Whisk dry ingredients together.
2. Whisk wet ingredients together, except melted butter.
3. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4. Fold in melted butter.
5. Fold in your add ins - blueberries, bananas, or nothing!
6. Cook according to waffle maker instructions.

Serve these with fruit on top, yogurt, or real maple syrup.

 

 

Enjoy!  Here I am after a sweaty workout, ready to eat...Ignore my nerdy thumbs up!  :)