My New Toy
Last night, Jarid came home and handed me a package. This is what was in it.
A Nike ipod armband. Without the ipod. Apparently, a customer came into the store and had this armband, but had bought another one and wasn’t going to use it. So he gave it to Jarid. Sweet.
Now we need the ipod. Which is awesome because I’ve started running in the mornings and it would be so much more enjoyable with music.
Oh, but wait. While I’m fixing dinner, Jarid walked around the corner and handed me another package. That’s right.
Of course, my immediate response is, “What did you do????”
Well, let me tell you what my wonderful husband has done. In typical Jarid-fashion, he has worked his tale off, shown his work ethic, and helped get a business off the ground and on it’s way to being very successful. For that, his boss is greatly appreciative. Thus the ipod.
And thus, I am very appreciative. Thanks, Kyle!
Being new to the ipod world, it took a little bit of doing, but I was able to run this morning with music in my ears! Yay.
Now I just have to burn all of my Napster tracks to cd, rip them back onto cd in mp3 format, find them again, and import them to my iTunes library.
(insert sarcasm here) Brilliantly orchestrated. Well done, Apple.
Either way, I am super pleased.
Yummiest Whole Grain Waffles
If you missed my heathiest pancakes, click here.
These are absolutely the best waffles ever. I make them at least every week and a half. Pretty sure I’m going to have to get a new waffle maker soon. *hint hint*
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 cup coconut flour (adds fiber!!)
- 2/3 cup oats
- squeeze of agave nectar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- dash of salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup oil (olive, grapeseed, avocado, etc…)
- **optional ingredients: unsweetened coconut, pecans or walnuts, and flax meal or wheat germ
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk eggs lightly, then add milk and liquid oil. Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil (I usually stick the entire jar in the oven, which I set to “broil”). Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, then add the coconut oil. Do not overmix. Make waffles!!!!
As with the pancakes, instead of regular syrup, we use half agave nectar and half pure maple syrup. Trust me…the result is SOOOO much better. I do try to add pecans and flax meal every time. Omega-3’s baby! And since Benjamin isn’t big on pecans, it’s a great way to hide them. The kids LOVE them.
Hope you enjoy!
Bountiful Baskets
I’m so thrilled with my most recent discovery, I had to put up a quick picture and post.
What you see below cost me $30. All of that (58.5 lbs) for $30!!!!!! That’s 51 cents per pound. You can’t buy produce in the grocery store for that price.
(Please excuse the poor picture quality. Our digital camera has apparently kicked the bucket, so cell phone quality will have to do for now.)
For my Arizona friends and family, you can go to www.bountifulbaskets.org to find more information. For my non-Arizona friends and family, I would be more than happy to help you find something in your area.
Here’s how it works: I go to their website, place my order, pay and wait until Saturday. On Saturday morning, I pile the kids and a large basket in the car at 7:00 am and drive, oh, maybe a mile, to the pick up site. We load our goodies and leave. It’s that simple. Obviously produce is the biggest thing, but occassionally they have other special offers like granola, herbs and spices, cheese, etc. They also offer bread all the time. The bread is $2-$2.50 a loaf, unlike the $4.50 you’d pay for the same brand in the store.
I don’t have a say in what goes into the produce baskets, but it’s all fairly “normal” stuff. Here’s what we got this week:
- apples
- bananas
- grapes
- mangoes
- cucumbers
- radishes
- red potatoes
- carrots
- zucchini (I think!)
- rhubarb Swiss Chard (can you imagine if I’d actually made the rhubarb crisp????)
- lettuce
- broccoli
- artichokes
- green onions
- cantaloupe
I may have missed something, but you get the idea. Pretty soon they will be offering strictly organic produce!
Okay, I’m off to store my goodies!
Easter Cuties
It’s no secret that I’m not very good about posting pictures…or sending them. So, I figured I should probably get some Easter pictures up sometime before Christmas….
These are probably some of the best pictures we’ve gotten of our kiddos. Enjoy!
Do you know the muffin man?
Funny story.
I made muffins for breakfast before church last Sunday. They are, by the way, the world’s yummiest healthy muffins ever. So, as we were heading out the door, I grabbed a few muffins for the road and set them on the trunk while we got the kiddos buckled. Of course, Benjamin spotted them immediately and begged to have one more. I only vaguely remembered this until yesterday. We were eating a few for a snack and Jarid said to him, “Do you know the muffin man?” (the muffin man, the muffin man…..la la la)
Benjamin’s response? “Yeah, he puts cookies on our Honda!!”
Okay, I thought it was funny.
Anyway, without further adieu, the muffin recipe:
Sweet Potato Muffins
- 1/4 cup flax seed meal
- 3/4 cup filtered water
- 3 cups pureed sweet potatoes* (I used one yam and one sweet potato!)
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 3/4 cup raw agave syrup (or honey)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried ginger
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 cups gluten-free flour blend** (I actually used rice flour, coconut flour, and whole wheat flour)
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup raisins (optional)
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In blender container, whisk together flax seed meal and water. Let sit for a few minutes. Add sweet potatoes, grapeseed oil, agave syrup, spices, and vanilla extract. Blend well, until smooth.
In medium sized mixing bowl, put flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fluff with fork. Add nuts and raisins.
Add blender ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fill greased muffin tin or muffin paper liners three-fourths full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer muffins to cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container.
*If using homemade pureed sweet potatoes, let excess water drip out through a cheesecloth, until the puree is very thick.
**Gluten-free flours are: Amaranth, brown rice, buckwheat, cornmeal, teff, millet, quinoa, sorghum, and tapioca.
Thanks to Wardeh at Such Treasures for this recipe!
