March snow...

Yesterday the weather was quite indecisive. One minute it would be dumping snow and the next minute it would be sunny and beautiful but would quickly turn to wind and hail. Then back to snow and on and on this went. The snow was very lovely but it did feel a little out of place almost like when you leave your Christmas decorations up for too long. They may still be pretty but there is a time when it's time to say goodbye and move on to a new season. I am very ready for spring to arrive.


In the above picture is my rhododendron and my little columbine.

In this picture you can see one of my little crocuses. It was probably feeling very confused. :)



Yesterday morning Daniel and I woke up before the sun to go with my dad to take my mom to the airport. She flew down to LA to help my Aunt Karin take of my Gramma who just had major abdominal surgery. This picture was posted to Facebook shortly after my mom arrived yesterday. It's good to see Gramma smiling. Mom is holding my cousin's little boy Ethan. Hopefully Ethan and Daniel will get a chance to romp around together this summer if we are able to make a trip down there.

Detoxing...

I have been gluten, dairy and egg free since last spring. My migraines have all but disappeared and my daily nagging headaches are gone. I was always exhausted and my head foggy. Now my energy has evened out and my head no longer foggy. I cannot say enough how wonderful it has been to be rid of my headaches and migraines. I don't have to carry Imitrex around in my purse and make sure I have it with me on vacations. I let my prescription expire. My cholesterol is steadily dropping and my naturopath says I am very healthy.

I still have some extra weight on me though and it's being nice and stubborn about coming off. My naturopath said they are finding that some people extract more calories out of their food than others. Apparently I am one of those people. She said it's great if you have to live off the land, but not so great when you live where you can get any kind of food any time you want. Maybe I should audition for Out of the Wild, I'd probably do pretty good! She said basically for me to lose weight and keep it off I am going to have to work my rear off, literally. Lots and lots and lots of exercise. She gave me a three week detox to give my system a little jump start.

I am now finished with week one! This week started out pretty miserable. On the second day I came down with a severe migraine, I was throwing up and in bed all day. I was really second guessing my choice to do the detox, why in the world would I put myself through this on purpose! But my hubby reminded me that I spent quite a bit of money on supplements and a special protein shake mix and I would basically be throwing that money away if I quit. I had the migraine for about 18 hours and then it went away and I have felt great ever since! I am so glad to be over the hardest part. Now it's just plow through to the end.

I realize that I must come up with a course of action for when the detox is over. If I just "fall off" the detox it's not going to do me any good and probably cause harm. My plan includes lots and lots of exercise, small, nutritious meals through out the day and very little sugar. Dessert will only be for special occasions. If I want to lose the weight bad enough then I am going to have to work for it hard enough, no short cuts or compromises.

Simply yummy...

I love when Rue brings home some ingredients from work (he works at a grocery store) and asks me to cook them up. I always make a grocery list and menu each week but it's fun to have him throw something in there that he is craving. I know the meal will be a hit because he is the one who picked the ingredients. He was even sweet enough to check the ingredients of the sausage to make sure there was nothing in there I am allergic to. I sure love that guy! :) So we had roasted sausage, roasted asparagus and baked potatoes. Nothing fancy, just simply yummy. :)

Discovering Discovery Village...

My friend Hannah asked if I wanted to meet her at Discovery Village with Daniel. I had never heard of it so I looked up their website. We met Hannah and her boys Billy and Bo, her sister Ruth and her son Leo and 5 week old Jacelyn, and our other friend Hannah and two of her girls Kyra and Jerusha. There is a central area with tables and a little cafe so moms can get coffee and visit with each other and easily keep an eye on their kiddos at the same time. There is a big play area, an area to play in moon sand, a little grocery store, a pizzeria, a train area and a water area with pretty rocks and a little fountain. The kids had a great time and us moms enjoyed catching up. I took my camera along and totally forgot to take pictures until the very end! Daniel, Billy and Leo really liked the rock and water area. They probably would have stayed there for hours if it hadn't been time to go home. :) Looking forward to going back and playing some more!

Another gluten free breakfast cookie...

Once again I am writing another post about gluten free breakfast cookies in my quest for finding that perfect on-the-go (tasty) gluten free breakfast. These little cookies are so good! They are pretty small so about two or three of them is about the size of a good sized granola bar. (I used a salad plate in picture so they look bigger in the picture than they actually are.) Daniel loved them. He gobbled up two this morning. He was pretty sure he was to getting to eat cookies for breakfast. There is a little bit of sugar in these but not nearly as much as a regular cookie. They will be perfect for taking camping and packing on hikes. This one is a recipe I changed up a bit for my taste. Here is my recipe.

1 1/2 cups gluten free baking flour
1 1/2 cups gluten free rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 very ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbls olive oil
4 tbls unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
egg substitute, equivalent of 2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, oats, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugars.
3. In a small bowl mash the bananas, add the chopped walnuts, oil, melted butter, vanilla and egg substitute.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and combine well.
5. I used my baking stone to bake the cookies so I didn't need to grease it. But if you don't have one then I would use a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. I used a 2 oz scoop to form the cookies. I pressed them down just a little bit.
   
6. Bake for 12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
7. To store put in a freezer bag and keep in the freezer. To thaw nuke a couple in the microwave for a few seconds. Enjoy!

And here's a picture for the road. I was in the kitchen the other morning and when I came out Daniel had laid out blankets all in a row and was sitting on them watching cartoons. When he saw me he told me he was riding a train. Too cute! :)

Ruston Way 5K...

This morning at work my fellow Starbucks barista Hannah talked me in to doing a 5K on April 21st. It's the Ruston Way 5K in Tacoma. Ruston Way winds along Commencment Bay with gorgeous views of the water, Vashon Island and views of Tacoma and Mt. Rainier. It took me about five minutes to decide to do it. I knew that once I promised Hannah and registered for it then there would be no backing out. Right now I am figuring out my training schedule and since it is just a 5K the training sessions won't take too much a chunk of time out of my busy days. I am really happy she talked me in to it. It has been two years since I ran my first 5K, it's about time I did another one. :)

For Earthen Vessel Shoppe...

I love love love this fabric! It's called Urban Cowgirl. I bought it from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics on Etsy. My plan for this fabulous fabric is to make baby girl bibs for my Etsy shop opening up in March. If I had a baby girl I would definitely put her in bibs made from this fabric. My daughter Daisy (age 15) probably wouldn't appreciate me putting them on her. :)

Gluten-free, Vegan, Breakfast Bars...

I am not one to want to spend much time on breakfast. I just want something quick, easy and healthy to eat with my cup of coffee. I am a gluten-free girl. I was eating Rice or Corn Chex until the naturopath told me to stop since those almost immediately turn into sugar in your system. It was quick and easy but not very healthy. Then I started eating Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. It is mighty tasty, but not very quick. It has to cook for a little while, not the best thing on mornings when I am up way before dawn to go to work at Starbucks. My cousin Mary Beth is now doing gluten free and she sent me the recipe for Joann's Power Bars at www.allrecipes.com. Here is my version of that recipe:

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flax seed meal
1/4 cup soy protein powder
1/2 cup dried fruit of your choice, dried blueberries is my choice :)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
egg substitute, equivalent to 1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbls brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbls olive oil (I want to try coconut oil next time)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 inch square pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Mix together the oats, flax seed meal, soy protein powder, brown sugar, dried fruit, nuts and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Add the apple sauce, egg substitute, apple sauce, and olive oil. Mix all together.
4. Spoon the dough into the baking dish and press down until evenly in the pan.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges get slightly brown.
6. Simply lift the edges of the foil out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. I cute mine into 6 squares, a good size for breakfast. You can cut them smaller if you are just wanting a little snack. Store in an air tight container in the fridge.
   
7. Enjoy!

I had one this morning for breakfast and I was not hungry again until noon! I usually get hungry around 10am and have to have a snack. Not today! I am guessing that all the fiber from the oats and flax seed plus the protein powder and nuts really helps it all stick to your ribs.

This is exactly what I was looking for. This definitely fits the bill for quick, easy and healthy. Yes, cooking up a batch takes a little bit of time but for the next 6 mornings I have breakfast all ready to go. It's not too sweet which is perfect, I don't like sweet breakfasts. I don't even put sugar in my coffee.

Pork Chops, Asparagus and Potatoes...

Today I cooked The Pioneer Woman's Pork Chops with Garlic and Wine. And I have to say you must must must try it! My husband raved over it so you know it is a good recipe. :) I used boneless pork chops.
(Picture c/o of The Pioneer Woman)



With the pork chops I made these baked potatoes. I found the idea on Pinterest. Boy were they good. I used Yukon Gold potatoes and after slicing them I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with a little bit of seasoned salt (my newest found favorite seasoning). Then baked them at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes.



I also made some roasted asparagus. I drizzled it with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted it at 400 degrees, after 5 minutes tossed them around a little bit and then roasted for another 5 minutes. It comes out perfectly, not too mushy and not too hard.








This came out to be a pretty scrumptious meal. My hubby loved it which means it goes on my "recipes to repeat" list. I am pretty sure I am going to make it every time boneless pork chops go on sale. :)

My brother, the English teacher...

Right now my brother Ben, his wife Mai and my sweet little nephew Charlie are living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. My brother is teaching English and my sister-in-law is working in an orphanage. Mai is from Vietnam and all her family is there. They will be returning to the States in March and then moving to Alaska. Talk about change in climate! Vietnam is hot all year round with the rainy season mixed in there somewhere which is hot and muggy. Alaska is, well... Alaska! My brother made a video for the British school he is working at. I believe he is the one on the motor bike riding around like a crazy man, but that is how they all drive around there so he fits right in. Needless to say I gasped at a couple parts. He appears in the video around minute 2:00. He is the bald, white guy dancing around. It was really fun to see him in his job over there. I can't wait to see them in March. I am going to squish my little squishy face (aka Charlie) all up! (Yes, I am going to be one of those aunts who squishes cheeks, especially when they are that squishable!)

Homework...

When Daniel and I came home from taking Aunt Karin to the airport on Monday Daisy was sitting at the table doing some drawing for a homework assignment. Daniel immediately wanted to do some drawing too. So I set him up with some paper and crayons. They sure looked pretty cute doing their "homework" together. Every once in a while Daniel would say something to Daisy about what he was drawing. Too cute!

Sickies...

Daniel woke up yesterday with a fever. The only good thing about him getting sick is lots of cuddle time. Even Daddy is good for cuddling when you are sick. These pictures just melt my heart. :)



Sweet baby boy. I am keeping lots of liquids in him as he doesn't want to eat much right now. With lots of cuddling and liquids he should feel better soon. :)

Leavenworth with Aunt Karin...

MyAunt Karin came up from LA to visit this past week. It has been so lovely having her here and I am very sad to see her head home tomorrow. I think all of my SoCal family needs to come up here and visit more often! :)

While she was here Mom, Dad, Aunt Karin, Daniel and I went and spent the night in Leavenworth. It was a lot different from the last time Rue, Daisy, Daniel and I went at Christmas time. Then it was extremely crowded, no parking and hardly any room to move in the shops. There was much more snow at that time too. This time it was so quiet and there were hardly any tourists and there was not nearly as much snow. The Enzian Inn we stayed at had hardly any patrons. It was quite nice as I don't enjoy large crowds very much. And the town was still decorated for Christmas!




After dinner at Andreas Keller I took Daniel for a swim in the hotel pool. Unfortunately Daniel wasn't too excited about swimming. I had the whole pool to myself. The pool is in the basement of the hotel. It is surrounded by pillars, has a beautiful mural and there was classical music playing. There was a hot tub too! Aunt Karin, Mom, and Dad were kicking themselves for not bringing their swimsuits.







Daniel and Gramma watched cartoons on my iPod after swimming.


Can you tell that they are twinnies? :)

The men. Aren't they cute! No, Daniel is not retaining water in his wrists, I just pulled his gloves up and over his jacket. :)

This was our view at breakfast in the hotel.

During breakfast a man came out dressed in lederhosen, hopped up on the railing of the balcony and played the alpenhorn.










After breakfast we did a little more looking in the shops. Thanks to Mom and Aunt Karin I came away with a wonderful new hat but that is another post for later. We bought some goodies for Rue and Daisy and then headed towards Wenatchee. The scenery was so beautiful and Aunt Karin oohed and awed almost the whole ride in the car. We stopped at the Aplets and Cotlets factory in Cashmere. Aplets and Cotlets are one of my favorite treats. You can buy them in grocery stores here but I always wait to buy them until we are on the east side of the mountains that way they stay a special treat.




Daniel and Grampa walked to the nearby train tracks hoping to see a train.


It was so wonderful being in the snowy mountains for a couple days with my parents and Aunt Karin. Hearing Aunt Karin ooh and awe over the beauty and snap as many pictures as she could was fun. I love sharing the mountains that I love with the family that I love.

Sunny weather...

We woke up to another gorgeous sunny day this morning. We went to church this morning and after Daniel had a little rest we headed out to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. It was almost warm! Rue had to go to work and Daisy stayed home to finish up some math homework.

We drove out to Manchester, a cute little town on the water. There is a tiny public beach there, probably the smallest, cutest little public beach I have ever seen. The only problem with this little beach was there were no rocks! It was all sand. When I told Daniel we were going to the water he got all excited about getting to throw rocks in the water. This is the first beach I have been to in Washington that had absolutely no rocks! So we walked back up towards the car and found a little dirt patch that had some rocks in it so we gathered up as many as we could and took them down to the beach. They were gone all too quickly but Daniel got to throw some rocks in the water. After the rocks were gone I showed him how to draw in the sand with a stick. He really enjoyed that and kept drawing in the sand until we left.








The view was gorgeous! You can see the full skyline of Seattle. If you look closely towards the left of the picture you can see the Space Needle. This is another moment when I really wish I had a better camera. It's just not that good for distance photos. And we could see Mt. Rainier. I sure can't wait to go do some hiking up there!


My Aunt Karin arrives tomorrow night from LA! She will be visiting for a week. On Wednesday my mom, dad, Aunt Karin, Daniel and I will be heading to Leavenworth and we will be spending the night. I know Aunt Karin is going to LOVE Leavenworth! I just can't wait to see her sweet face! I probably won't be posting anything this week since we will be out having fun but I will be taking lots of pictures and will have a fun post up in about a week or so. Have a good week everyone!

Mmmmmm, chili!

I discovered my two new favorite ingredients from the grocery store Ro-Tel and El Pato tomato sauce. I now keep my pantry stock with several cans of each. So far I have used them in burritos, enchiladas and chili. I am sure I will find even more recipes to use them in. I love making chili in the winter time and thankfully my hubby loves to eat it. It's probably one of the few meals I could make every week and he doesn't mind eating it so often. My favorite chili recipe is from The Pioneer Woman's cook book. At this point it is the best chili I have ever made. She doesn't add the El Pato to her's but I decided to try and add it to mine and it is so good. It makes it just a little bit more spicy. She serves her's with Frito's and I decided to give that a try and it is very yummy. Even better the whole thing is gluten, dairy and egg free which makes it a perfect meal for me. I love it when I find something we all can eat and I don't have to make something separate for myself. I really wish I could share the recipe with you but I am pretty sure that would be breaking a copyright law of some kind so all I can do is encourage you to buy her book. Or you can just come over to my house for dinner and I will make it for you! :)

More crazy weather...

A huge windstorm blew through last night. The wind kept me awake but I did eventually fall asleep only to be woken by a huge gust of wind along with a huge crash. It was so loud I was sure a tree had come down. When I looked out the back window I saw that the back fence had been blown into the neighbors yard! Needless to say we have been having some crazy weather here in the Northwest. My hubby had the day off and Josh, our neighbor, took the day off from work so they are both out there right now working to get the fence back up. The people who lived here before put the fence in but didn't do a very good job. The main posts in the ground weren't put into cement but just in the dirt so they eventually rotted away. No wonder the fence blew over last night. Rue and Josh are doing it right this time. :)

A Very Good Idea...

I saw this idea on Pinterest for salads. I put a homemade balsamic vinaigrette in the bottom. Then some cut up mushrooms, grape tomatoes, then the lettuce. I put a small handful of sunflower seeds on top, you can't see them in the picture. Since the lettuce is on top then it won't get soggy in the dressing. I made up a bunch of these and put them in the fridge. When I am making Rue's work lunch I can just grab one out of the fridge and add it to his lunch. It's so nice to just pull one out of the fridge and dump it on a plate and enjoy. :) They will keep in the fridge up to four days.