Wordless Wednesday - Blue

As summer prepares to come to an end and the sights and smells of autumn begin to steadily roll in, I decided it was time to get the kids to the pool one last time. C was enthralled with the sights and sounds of the busy pool, he spent a good hour laying on a towel just taking it all in, and doing whatever he could to get his hands . . . um I mean mouth,  on mommy's camera.

See more Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday blogs here.

Gluten Free Cherry Chocolate Chip Pancakes

While strolling through our town's farmers market this week I happened to notice that the cherries were looking mouthwatering. The lady running the booth was kind enough to let me sample, and was I ever right, they were delicious! I decided right then and there that they needed to be baked into some tasty morsel.
For weeks D has been begging me to make him some chocolate chip pancakes,  this is my kid that always asks for fruits and veggies and rarely asks for sweets, so I try to give in when he actually asks me for something.
Since we have chocolate allergies in the family, we use carob chips, however either will work and taste yummy and added in a pancake batter with fresh, local cherries. . .the end result was almost too perfect.

Gluten Free Cherry Chocolate Chip Pancakes

• 1 cup almond flour*

• 1 cup quinoa flour

• 1/3 cup tapioca starch

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. aluminum free baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Combine dry ingredients, in a separate bowl mix together:

• 1/4 c. maple agave or pure maple syrup

• 3T. light olive oil

• 2 eggs ( if going egg less, use 1 tbsp apple sauce and 2 tsp baking soda, per egg, mix separately then combine into batter)
• 1 cup pitted and chopped cherries
• 1/2 to 1 cup almond or hemp milk, add slowly until desired consistency is reached.  

Combine wet and dry ingredients, mix well. Add 1 cup chocolate or carob chips.

Cook in a lightly greased pan or skillet until the upside of the pancake looks a bit dry, the bottoms at that point will be nice and golden and they will be much easier to flip. If you try to flip gluten free pancakes too soon they will squish together and not turn out so well.

This was D's breakfast this morning, yes he ate it all, the teenage years are going to kill us financially! There was not one preservative in this breakfast, nor was there one ounce of refined sugar.


End result . . . One VERY happy boy!!

*Side note, if you are nut free, you can substitute brown rice or millet flour, use less milk as they will be a little more runny. 

You Capture. . .Ordinary Moments

This weeks You Capture is about ordinary moments. These moments happen all around us, all the time. I absolutely adore this picture of C's Great-Grandma holding him.

This summer was the first time that J and D ever caught a fish, the boys were so excited they couldn't see straight, and oh boy did Sam and their Uncle Scott teach them to tell 'fish stories' to mom when they got  home!!

This last one was taken at my sister-in-law's wedding, yes archived, sorry but I love it!  S was super tired and hungry, thus transforming my sweet teenage step-son into a grump. It's hard to stay grumpy though when your baby brother wants to play with you.

Find You Capture here.

Wordless Wednesday. . .Water

Hello My Name Is _______________.

After a couple of blog postings, I guess it would be a good time to introduce myself.

My name is Jennifer, I am generally known by Jenni or even more common, "Mommy!". Born in '81, I married my first husband in '99 and had two beautiful baby boys very shortly after. J was born in 2000 and D was born in 2001. After only 3 short (and very fast) years of marriage my husband passed away, leaving me a single mom of two very young babies.

Life as a single mom had many challenges, but just as many rewards. With loving family and friends to support me, we made it through. I have worked all sorts of jobs during this time, but I would have to say my biggest love was photography.

In May of 2010 one of my best friends in the world purposed, and we were married that June, and I became the proud step-mommy to two sweet kiddos, T (born in '94) and S (born in '98)

Yes it was fast, but we both wanted to add to our family of Us + 4, and didn't want to let the kids get a whole lot older before this happened.

And 10.5 months after the wedding. . .

We welcomed C to our modern day Brady Bunch.

Both of my older boys were born with a midwife attending, however with C I decided to take it one step further and have him at home. I found (after trial and error) an awesome and very experienced midwife right down the street from me, and it was the best experience of my life. He was born at 4:50 am, in the water. 9lbs 2 oz, 19 inches (although I think this is wrong, we couldn't get him all the way straight) with a 14.5" head in a little over 6 hours from start to finish. Let me tell you, it hurt SO.MUCH.LESS being at home and relaxed. I don't care what anyone will tell you, epidurals are NOT the way to go!

So now I am a cloth diapering, eco-loving, organic & non-gmo eating, SAHM, of 3 beautiful boys (four when S is here)

Doing my best to find new recipes for my allergen induced family, remembering what it was like to have a baby around the house again, and taking pictures of it all!

Wordless Wednesday

Check out other Wordless Wednesday's on Natural Parents Network here

Autumn Is In The Air!!!

You can smell it, you can feel it, and hopefully soon the leaves will start their journey from summer green to vibrant reds, oranges and golds falling and becoming crunchy under your feet. I cannot wait to introduce C to autumn, the sights, the smells, a pumpkin patch or two.  I can only hope he enjoys it as much as his mommy!

Pocket Book VS Your Health. . . Is This Really A Question?

So I'm sitting here sipping on my coffee and eating a zucchini muffin. One of my friends linked me to this website and I wanted to share and discuss.


I'm having a really hard time understanding why it is that so many people don't value their health. I have had dear friends tell me that if people are educated, they will be able to understand and make educated choices that are best for them. I know that I can be a pretty pushy person when I feel strongly about something, I don't try to push people, it's just that I want to see those closest to me and even those I don't know living as happily and healthy as God and Mother Earth intended us to live.
Genetically Modified food is NOT what anyone other than large companies looking to turn a profit, intended us to eat, nor is it good for anyone. When pesticides are injected into our food, yes they kill the weeds, but they don't just disappear when foods are harvested, cleaned or even cooked, and they continue to grow inside of you causing illness and even are responsible for a LOT of cancers!
If we, as consumers, would put our foot down and stop buying GM foods then eventually they would stop making them, and our health, water supply and the future of the world would be a much more secure place!
So, please, spend the extra money on NON-GMO and Organic foods and spend LESS money on health companies and hospital visits. You'll be saving money, and your life in the end.

 

First Week Down!

The first week of school was a major success, for both boys and for mommy! While my dear children made new friends and learned how to follow a class changing schedule, mom got to get a good portion of the house cleaned, the laundry caught up, coffee with a dear friend, new recipes baked and even got one or two naps in with the baby!

I think I have to admit. . . I'm going to like this school year!

Gluten Free Peach Almond Muffins

Here it is, what I can honestly say is one of my favorite recipes for muffins yet. These little gems are just the right amount of sweet and fruity, yet packed with all kinds of proteins and very little starch. They can be made with eggs, or vegan. We don't use eggs in them since J and my dear husband are intolerant to eggs. My inspiration for these muffins came from Karina Allrich's (Gluten Free Goddess) Cherry Almond Muffins, you can find her blog here.

Right now peaches are ripe, juicy and at your local farmers market, how can you help but to indulge, even just a little.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is an ancient seed that has a somewhat nutty flavor and is very high in amino acids and protein. Learn more about Quinoa and it's benefits to your life here. Quinoa is fairly inexpensive and available at most health food stores.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a muffin pan, I like to use my silicone muffin cups personally as I have a hard time getting gluten free muffins out of normal cups without them crumbling, plus they come in fun colors!  

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups Almond Flour (or meal)
1 1/4 cups Quinoa Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Celtic Salt
1/2 tsp. Stevia
1/2 tsp. Tapioca Starch

Cinnamon Shaker (save for last)

Mix dry ingredients together, in a separate bowl combine wet ingredients.

6 tbsp applesauce mixed with 3 tsp aluminum free baking soda (if using eggs omit applesauce and bakingsoda and use 3 large, organic eggs instead)
2 tbsp Sunflower Oil
2 tsp Almond Extract
2 tsp Gluten Free Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp maple agave
3 Organic Peaches, washed and diced
1/2 cup Almond Milk, as needed

Combine wet and dry ingredients, add milk until mixture reaches desired consistency. If you add too much liquid your Gluten Free muffins will be gummy in the middle, not enough and they fall apart,  your elevation and the humidity in your kitchen will determine a lot when adding your liquids.

Spoon batter into your muffin cups, sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon if desired and bake for 20-25 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or remove from pan so they may cool properly or they may get a bit soggy in the bottom. Most of all. . . Enjoy!

Yield: 18 muffins

And It Begins. . .

Here it is, the first day of school... It is official, I am the mom of a MIDDLE-SCHOOLER! I mean, yes, T is in high school and my S started middle school last year, but they don't live with us so this feels different. My little boy, the one who I am pretty sure just started kindergarten LAST year, yep, he just started his sixth grade, I have eight classes year, year! Both my boys were SO excited to be going back, I don't know what I did to deserve this but my 5th and 6th graders were so overwhelmingly excited they couldn't sleep last night, BEST.KIDS.EVER!

So here I sit, sipping my coffee, working on the photographs of them that I took this morning while my baby naps and wondering what I am supposed to do with all the QUIET I am about endure today. Perhaps I will make some muffins, peaches are in full season right now and I think it might just be the perfect way to end the boys' big day. Recipe to follow, it's YUMMY, vegan and gluten free!!!