Prepping for winter.

Yep. I'm looking forward to winter already. I always do this...wish away the current season in hopes of the next one. While I'm enjoying all the iced coffee and reading outside in the warm mornings, I'm making the most of my baking and fresh produce from my bountiful basket to stock up some food for the winter. I have a feeling I'm going to be even more homebound than usual with a baby on the brink of crawling/walking.  

 

 

I made some molasses bread today, one for B to have during my upcoming trip to Colorado. (I'm attempting to bake some extra food for him to have on hand that week so he doesn't eat like a bachelor.)

 

 

 

I'm storing one for much later to break out and toast with some winter soup this year. This stuff is so easy to make, it's healthy, smells delicious when it's baking, and I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.

 

 

I'm using my grapes fro this last basket to make a grape salad for a birthday party Ari and I are attending tonight.

 

 

I really feel like I let tons of food go to waste last year when I was getting my baskets because I didn't make myself get creative enough with my cooking. This year I plan on using every last piece of those fruits and veggies! Pear muffins for winter. Leek and potato soup all around. Every sort of veggie pasta you can think of. Pumpkin bread out of our ears! It's also going to make some great baby food for Ari bug. It really is a great deal, but not when I get lazy and reach for premade food first. Maybe I'll have to share some of the crazy recipes I come up with. ;)

 

My grandparents are in town and we are having a blast. This is the first great-grandchild on both sides of our family. It's been fun to watch the different generations interact. So they will be here for the next two weeks, and then Ari and I are off to Colorado with them to see my parents for a week. B is so, so busy these days. I'm sad that he won't get to go with us, but God's got some stuff in the works for him here. :)

 

 

Ari always steals a few kisses before daddy heads to work. :) I love these two boys.

 

xoxo

 

P.S. I got to be a guest blogger over at The Breastfeeding Cafe today! Check out everything Ari and I have learned so far on our adventures with breastfeeding! ;) haha And please ignore all the grammar mistakes. That's the downside to not being able to get back in to the dashboard to edit, and the downside of having mom-brain all the time. ;) haha

 



Quinoa veggie wraps

I can't stop eating these!! Literally, every day for lunch for the last...I don't know how long. Two, three weeks now? They are soooo good and I always have stuff on hand to make them. I first had them at a friend's house a few weeks ago while our husbands were rock climbing. Here's how she made them:

- Extra large tortilla wraps
- Spread some hummus in the middle (I've found this helps everything stick when you're eating it, so they don't fall apart)
- A few spoonfulls of quinoa (I've just been cooking a bunch at once and keeping it ready in the fridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...I've also heard you can freeze it)
- Cucumbers
- Red peppers (I've found a new love for red peppers!!)
- Lettuce
- Cheese
- Avocado
- Pink Himalayan Salt (I swear, this stuff takes this wrap from being bland and full of veggies, to being so tasty and full of flavor!)
- Freshly ground black pepper

Oh yeah! I'm eating one as I type this. ;) You really can add whatever veggies you like or have on hand, this is just my favorite combo.

I've been trying, and quite often failing, to eat clean the last week or so. I've heard it helps balanace post-partum hormones. Crazy hormones or no crazy hormones, this wrap is delicious!! My other favorite clean eating recipe that I've found, which is also a sweet desert, are these Blonde Macaroons. Oh my!! Those didn't stick around for too long!! ;)

Happy eating! ;)

xoxo

Over a week, and here's why...

I can't breathe. Ok, really, I can obviously breathe since I'm alive and blogging, but I have to concentrate really hard to simply SIT and BREATHE most days. Baby is NOT hanging low anymore. He's climbed up my rib cage and is squishing my lungs. Anyways, this leaves me quite exhausted. Want to pray for me? I could really use some extra energy to get through my work days. I'm supposed to be (and hopefully will be) working up until  my due date, but seriously....who would have thought bending over multiple times a day to clean up all the toys in a classroom could knock someone out for the week. That's how I've been feeling. It makes me physically tired, but its also been making my tummy upset. Maybe because everything is being squished together so I can grab one toy here, another toy there. haha I haven't had energy for much else besides focusing on work and home. So no blogging for the last week.

Anyways, besides that...I drove past Wendy's and Burger King today, all before 11 a.m. and all I could think about were the chocolate frostys they have!! So I had to rush home and make myself a healthier version that I'm quite pleased with. :)

1 banana (not frozen, but I usually use frozen)
a squirt of agave
1 tablespoon coacoa powder
about half a tray of ice cubes (depends on how thick you like yours)
almond milk
leftover coffee from this morning
three strawberries

It's so yummy!! And not too bad for you, and I took care of that sweet craving while filling up my tummy with good fruits. :) When I worked at Starbucks I LOVED making smoothies for my meals with all sorts of weird things in them: I always had spinach in mine, Greek yogurt, almonds, chia seeds, wheat germ, whatever fruits I had on hand, one packet of honey, some dark chocolate chips...I promise, promise, promise you don't taste the spinach. Yes, it looks weird and gross, but they're really sooooo good for you, and quite filling too. Enough about my random smoothies.

I'm at 29 weeks tomorrow. I have some time this afternoon, so I'm going to pack our hospital bag. Advice? What things were you glad you had on hand? What was useless? Some things I've been reading from around the web say its nice to have little gifts for the nurses, as well as mints or something to suck on during labor (since you can't eat...still not sure how I feel about that?), ohh...I can't remember what else. It's still a bit early to think we need to head to the hospital, but you never know I guess. I was planning on doing this last week while B was out of town, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just seemed way too real that this is all happening. I can't even describe it now that I'm thinking about it. haha

While continuing to think and pray about what God wants this baby's birth to look like, I found this blog post to be very helpful. A friend shared it with me and it's seriously one of the most encouraging things I've read yet. In thinking about diets, natural birth, birth orders, epidurals, essential oils, being vegan, Hypnobirthing, blah, blah, blah....the list could go on, God's continued to put a passage from 1 Timothy on my heart.

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge any persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussions..." 1 Timothy 1:3-6

God really showed me a few weeks back that I was wandering into vain discussions with myself on learning and reading about natural birth. All of the things I listed above really are just myths, things we can never, ever truly be certain about. I will never know for sure if an essential oil can cure my cold. I will never know for sure if I will make it all natural this time. I will never know for sure if an epidural would be perfectly fine for me and my baby. I will never know if I will live longer of this diet or that diet. Only if it's God's will would any of these things happen. I was, and continue, to get caught up in things like these, placing my faith in these things instead of in Christ. Trusting in those other things instead of Him was and is sin (Romans 14:23). His Word is one of the only absolutes I can stand on in faith, and I knew all of my anxiety was coming from trusting in these things I was never meant to trust in. There's been quite a release since He gently showed me that. I've also come to the conclusion that I'm honestly not going to make a decision and stick to it when it comes to this whole giving birth thing because the only person who knows how its going to turn out already has the whole thing planned out for me, and I want to rest in His plan.

Well, off I go to back our hospital bag! :)

xoxo

More thoughts on pregnancy: anticipation & diet

Yep, it's here. All my days and lots of my thoughts are filled with anticipation of this little guy getting here. I finished registering with a friend on Saturday, and I'm sooo thankful I did that! As a first time mom I had NO CLUE about all the little gadgets that you need for breast pumps/feeding, little tricks for having diapers ready in the car, etc. It was very helpful! (Thanks Stac!) After that, I attended a baby shower yesterday. All this combined with the cold weather is really causing much impatience on my part for May to get here, and secondly, summer!!

Summer means gardening. Actually, summer means your garden better have been in a few months ago with plenty of time to start soaking up the sun. I was planning my garden online through Smart Gardener. It's a sweet tool that help you literally plan out each square in your garden (I have a raised square foot garden box), but it also tells you what grows well in your area according to your zip code. Super easy! One of my favorite parts is that based off of your zip, it can tell you which plants are ready to be planted each week of the year, if any at all. I learned there is a lot more that can be planted in the cold months in Utah than I thought.

After looking over my calendar, I realized the bulk of what we like to eat and that is plantable needs to be in the ground right around week 38 of my pregnancy!! Can you imagine? I'm having visions of going in to labor with dirt up to my elbows....

It's either that, or I just go for it as soon as baby is born. (No...no...no...) I may recruit the help of many of my gardening friends this year. My herb garden will all come back on its own, I just need to get those veggies in! I think gardening will be fine with a new born, since my bed is literally right outside our front door. I can lay baby down for a nap, leave the screen door open, and soak up some rays while pulling weeds. :) And for when I want to hang outside with my little guy, I registered for this super cool portable activity seat.

I can set it up next to me while I garden, put a hat on my little man, and hopefully garden away. Since our condo is kinda small (I'm not complaining, I love my little dollhouse) we love to spend time outside in the cool of the morning or evening. I prefer reading and studying in the morning...now that I think about it....we prefer reading in the evenings too. ;) haha (We literally sat on the couch reading from about 3 in the afternoon until 9 at night yesterday. Sundays...are exhausting, so we really try to Sabbath in the afternoons.)

So much gibber gabber today.

I'm really trying to cut out white sugar and flour in this last part of my pregnancy. I've been reading and hearing from lots of people that it really helps prevent tearing and cuts down on blood loss during labor, as well as after birth. Since I've developed this crazy, untamable sweet tooth the last few weeks I've really been searching for some healthier sweet treats to make. I'm turning to one of our favorite vegan desserts which is an upside down fruit cake. I love it because you really can use whatever fruits you have on hand, or that are in season. Since strawberries have been such a good deal these last few weeks, I'll be using those up, along with the banana a day I'm trying to consume to help these ridiculously scary charley horses that attack at of nowhere. (I'm scared to go to bed at night for fear accientally pointing a toe and causing a charley horse.)

It looks like the blog I got it from doesn't really exist anymore, but I search some more on pinterest and found the recipe in a comment under the picture of the dessert, so here it is for ya'll:

"8 dates 1/2 cup shredded coconut- in processor till thick paste. Slice a banana and line bottom and sides of small container. Spread half of paste smoothly. Layer the fruit-3 layers and spread rest of crust over the top, so it all looks pretty. Refrigerate overight. Carefuly remove from container."

(You don't NEED to refrigerate over night, as long as you make it early enough in the day to set. I better hurry up and finish here so I can go do that!!)

This is what it looks like so you know how to layer it. I use my little ramekins or small containers that I usually store leftovers in. So yummy and healthy! :)

xoxo

Quick Stove Top Granola: No Oven Required

If you're anything like me, you always end up burning the granola that needs to be baked in the oven. There is that tiny window of time that consists of mere seconds were it goes from being just crunchy enough, to black and smelly. I don't think I have ever NOT burned a granola recipe, and I've tried many. I LOVE granola. After some experimenting and much taste testing on B's part, here is my solution: Stove Top Granola. It's so, so quick. I can make about one batch in ten to fifteen minutes.

Quick Granola: No Oven Required 

This recipe makes a little less than two cups of granola, which is all I like to keep around for lack of storage space in our kitchen.  

1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil

1 ¼ cup quick cooking oats

¼ tablespoon group cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter (use vegan butter if you have some on hand)

1/8 cup honey

1 tablespoon maple syrup (add extra honey if you don’t have this one hand)

1/8 cup brown sugar

½ sliced almonds

¼ craisins (any dried fruit you have on hand would work)

 

Heat oil in pan on stove top and add oats and cinnamon. Keep on medium heat for about ten minutes or so, stirring constantly so you don’t burn them. You want them slightly toasted (this is where you can go very, very wrong and end up with that burned taste in all of the granola). I’d even say it’s better not to get them toasted at all than to over toast. So when you’re ready, transfer this oat mixture to another plate. Now add butter, honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar in the pan. Once mixture looks caramelized, reduce heat and add the oats back in the pan. You want to keep the heat on low so it doesn’t harden too quickly and you can still stir the mixture around while adding the rest of the ingredients. You may now add the almonds and dried fruit. I ALWAYS have craisins on hand, but some other things I like to add include flax seeds, wheat germ, coconut, and chia seeds. The seeds don’t always stay in the mixture very well and end up being quite messy, so I didn’t add them this time. Once mixed well, move granola to cookie sheet or large plate to allow to cool. Enjoy with some yogurt!!

I recently read in a magazine than cranberry juice and yogurt help keep high blood pressure down. These are two things I have as part of my breakfast routine almost every single day. I love mixing this granola with any yogurt for some extra protein and crunch! Yum yum! What are some things you guys like to try in your granola?

Happy cooking!