Not Your Mama's Peppers!

I have never been a fan of stuffed bell peppers. First off green bell peppers don't like me & are completely out of the question - I avoid them like my life depends on it. Red, yellow or orange bells are ok, but I'm SUPER picky about them. Basically my experience with stuffed bells has been slimy exteriors and bland (or worse, over-salted) mushy interiors. All topped by flavorless, sometimes burnt tomato sauce. No thanks! 

Well, recently my husband and I have been trying to do weekly meal planning every Friday night. It helps to make sure we buy only what we need, and has made the dinner hour less stressful since there is no frazzled effort to figure out what to make with 3 little girls tugging at you. We have been eating way more fruits and veggies this way too. Anyhow, this week my husband suggested stuffed peppers during our menu planning discussion. He has some fond memories associated with them since his mom used to make them (the traditional way- he didn't think they were gross). Instead of running away in terror, I suggested we try them with a more modern twist. We dreamed up this recipe and I can now say I LOVE stuffed peppers. Well, MY stuffed peppers anyway! Hubby likes them too! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked organic quinoa 

2 cups chicken stock

5 mild Italian sausages, casings removed

1 jar Trader Joe's bruschetta sauce

1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped

zest of 1 lemon

4 orange bell peppers

canola oil

Garnish: shredded hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan. (Hubby & I both agree that a slice of provolone or shredded mozzarella would be a tasty subsitute)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

2) Rinse 1 cup quinoa in running water for several minutes. Then add to a sauce pan with 2 cups of stock. Cook according to package directions.

3) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, crumble and brown the sausage. Turn off the heat. Drain any grease. Strain and rinse the cooked sausage quickly under warm water to remove excess grease. Return to the pan, but do not turn on the heat.

4) Add cooked quinoa, chopped spinach, bruschetta sauce, and lemon zest to the skillet with the sausage. Stir to combine.

5) Cut bell peppers in 1/2, stem to bottom. Remove all seeds and ribs.

6) Generously oil a 9 x 13 baking pan. Place peppers cut side up. Par-bake in the oven for 20 minutes. (That's right - no filling yet!)

7) Remove peppers from the oven. Generously fill peppers with the sausage filling and top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Served with a salad and a piece of crusty bread for a super tasty dinner!

Another Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffin

Why make ANOTHER gluten free pumpkin muffin you ask? Good question! I'm in love with Trader Joes pumpkin pie spice and I wanted to try out the Trader Joes All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. The last pumpkin muffins I made were wonderfully dense and moist. These are equally moist, but the texture is lighter and closer to a gluten FULL muffin. AND this time I added my most favorite of all chocolate chips from Guitard. You could add pecans instead I suppose. It's not chocolate, but it would be tasty too. My hubby reluctantly tried 1/2 of one (he's generally not a big fan of gluten free foods) and then asked if he could have a whole one! They are THAT good.

DRY INGREDIENTS

2 cups Trader Joes AP Gluten Free flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spices

1/2 tsp kosher 

WET INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup Trader Joes Spiced Apple Cider

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin purée 

OPTIONAL

1 cup Guitard milk chocolate chips 

OR

3/4 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line your muffin tin with paper/foil liners.

2) In a medium sized bowl whisk the dry ingredients. Set aside. 

3) In a separate bowl whisk all the wet ingredients EXCEPT the pumpkin. 

4) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. 

5) Add the pumpkin purée and fold in until combined. If using chocolate chips or pecans, fold them in as well.

6) Scoop batter into your prepared muffin pans filling each cup 2/3 full. I like to use an ice cream / cookie scoop. I had enough for 14 muffins. 

7) Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the muffin passes the toothpick test.

8) After baking, let the muffins sit in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

NOTES: I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe a few more chocolate chips! And I'm thinking of using this recipe as a base... subbing apple sauce for the pumpkin, blueberries for the chips, lemon  extract for the vanilla, and leaving out the pie spice to make lemon blueberry muffins. Mmmmm I do love muffins. Can you tell? ;)

Fall Smoothie

The farmers market was glorious this past weekend! We picked up delicious organic strawberries, perfect bok choy, adorable baby potatoes, raw peanuts, crisp apples, raw honey, beautiful fuyu persimmons, fantastic pluots, and the makings for some really tasty pico salsa. We are still able to get the best of summer fruits and veggies, at the same time get yummy fall favorites. We are so blessed here in California! 

This morning I combined 2 of our weekends treasures, raw honey & fuyu persimmons with some pantry goods to make a fantastic creamy non dairy smoothie! Wonderful fall flavor packed into a cool summer treat! My 3 girls and I gulped it down. I'll need to make a double batch next time!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 fuyu persimmons

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp stevia

2 tsp raw honey

Pinch of salt

ice cubes (if you want it cold)

DIRECTIONS: 

Throw it all into a high powered blender and process until smooth. 

NOTES: You can use all stevia or all honey if you want. I tried it with the stevia first and felt like something was missing. I added the pinch of salt and the honey and it was perfect! The honey added a depth that was lacking. You could also make it with almond milk instead of water or add some chia seeds if you are looking for more protein. Enjoy!

Fall is finally here!

It is my favorite time of year in Northern California! The mornings are cool, crisp, and sometimes foggy. The afternoons are still warm and clinging to the last bits of summer's heat. The leaves are beginning to turn colors, and the houses in our neighborhood are decorated with pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween. It's time for jeans, and boots, and light weight sweaters. It's time for soups, and apples, and the flavors of pumpkin pie spices.

This weekend I tried out a new baked oatmeal recipe. There are three reasons I love this recipe, (1) you make it the night before and bake it in the morning, (2) the house smells spicy and delicious when it is baking, and (3) it has a crispy sugary caramely topping like creme brûlée! Plus it's heart healthy oats! Can't go wrong with that!

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 small apple, grated

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

3 cups old-fashioned oats

brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1) Grease a square baking pan. I like to use my Anchor Hocking 9 x 9 covered glass casserole dish.

2) In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients in order except the brown sugar until thoroughly combined.

3) Poor mixture in your baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

4) In the morning, pull it out of the fridge and preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

5) Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle brown sugar evenly over top of the oatmeal and place back in the oven under the broiler. Broil for one minute, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize.

6) We like it served warm with a drizzle of more coconut milk. And it reheats in the microwave beautifully! 

Strawberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Today is Sunday and my husband is playing on the worship team at church. He got up at six and left the house long before any of the children were stirring. Normally about now I would be issuing orders to the girls to quickly finish eating their cereal and get dressed so we are not late for the first service. But today the girls are getting over a nasty cold and our youngest is still sleeping. So the Hughes girls will be staying in pajamas this morning, playing with toys, and eating a leisurely pancake breakfast. I created these tasty vegan Strawberry Cornmeal Pancakes using Martha Stewart's basic pancake recipe as a template. I bake all my pancakes in a large casserole dish so we can all eat at once. No more flipping pancakes while everyone else eats! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup corn meal

3 Tbsp brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

2 cups coconut milk

2 Tbsp flax meal + 6 Tbsp water (or 2 large eggs)

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Non stick cooking spray or butter 

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a medium sized casserole pan with non stick cooking spray or butter.

2) In a large bowl mix together flour, corn meal, brown sugar, and baking powder. Set aside.

3) In another bowl, mix together coconut milk, flax meal plus water mixture, oil, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

4) Pour into prepared baking dish, top with sliced strawberries, and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

You could easily make substitutions - whole wheat flour for the corn meal, or regular milk for the coconut, or sliced peaches for the strawberries. I happened to be out of eggs, so I subbed in the flax meal and water. Use your imagination and let me know what you think!

D is for Donut!

Each Friday as part of our homeschool preschool, we end the week in the kitchen making some sort of yummy treat. And this week we made quite possible THE BEST THING TO EVER COME OUT OF MY KITCHEN!! We made baked apple cider donut holes. Maybe they don't count in your book as donut holes because they aren't fried in a vat of oil. Fine. Call them a muffin, call them whatever your creative heart comes up with. Just make them. I promise you'll fall in love. You might even get someone to fall in love with you if you can manage to share them. They are THAT good.

I INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE BATTER

1 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, beaten 

1/2 cup apple cider (I used Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Non-stick cooking spray

FOR THE SUGAR COATING

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Spray with a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3) In a large mixing bowl, add all they dry ingredients and mix with a whisk. Set aside.

4) In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the cider, sugar, vinegar, & butter until the butter is melted and everything is combined. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, stirring to combine.

5) Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.

6) Fill each mini muffin cup 2/3 full with batter.  I use a small ice cream scoop.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes. 

8) While the donut holes are baking, make the sugar coating. In a small bowl melt the butter for the sugar coating in the microwave. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.

9) Allow to donut holes cool in the pan for two minutes. Remove each muffin and dip the top in melted butter, then roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Do this for each donut hole and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy right away. You can store left overs in an air tight container - if you have any!

5 Ingredient Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

These are embarrassingly easy. And made from a box, so don't shoot me.  But they are so quick and super tasty, I couldn't NOT share them with you! And they are HEALTHY!!!

Here are the ingredients:

Yep. That's is. And if you happen to have pumpkin pie spice, use that instead of the cinnamon & nutmeg, and it's only 4 ingredients!!

1 box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

1 can of organic pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Mix it all the ingredients together. Divide batter into your prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Fast, easy, light, moist, healthy, & most important, DELICIOUS!

I'm planning to make an apple cider glaze for mine. Slightly less healthy, but oh so tasty. 

GLAZE: 1/2 cup apple cider, 1 Tbsp powdered sugar, & 1 Tbsp melted Earth Balance buttery spread. Whisk it all up and drizzle away. Yummy fall flavors in a portable snack. Gotta love.

Night Before Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

We are at the end of the month and getting low on groceries. Last night I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I could make for breakfast. I scoured my pantry and then Pinterest. Apparently I'm late to the game with this whole baked oatmeal thing. There are tons of recipes out there and I will definitely be trying out more. And as usual, I tweaked a few recipes to come up with something that worked for our tastes and what I had in the house. I really liked that I can make this the night before and then just pop it in the oven in the morning. Everyone loved this for breakfast with a dollop of jam (the kids had apricot while I indulged in some peach bourbon vanilla jam. Oh so good!) You could change it up by adding dried fruit like cherries. Or I could also see adding chocolate chips for an afternoon snack. Mmmm. Peanut butter and chocolate. I might have to make me some of those tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups old fashioned oats

DIRECTIONS:

1) Liberally grease an 8 x 8 inch pan with butter. 

2) In a bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until combined: milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, peanut butter and brown sugar. 

3) Add in the oats, baking powder, and salt, mixing well. Pour into your prepared 8 x 8 pan.

4) Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

5) In the morning, take it out of the fridge, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake it for 30-40 minutes.

B is for Bodacious Bubbles!

We had a blast in our home school preschool today! We are studying the letter B, so today was Bodacious Bubble Day! First I had the girls use straws to blow in a bowl of really soapy water. I just used dawn. We talked about the size of the bubbles when you blow with all your might vs the size of bubbles when you blow gently. My 4 year old really got into it and observed all sorts of things about the bubbles. She loved it.  My 3 year old on the other hand, accidentally sucked the soapy water up the straw and after much tears & sputtering declared she didn't think she wanted to do bubbles anymore. I guess I should have been more specific in my instructions. Sometimes I forget that is she ONLY three.

Next, I made a bubble blower out of a clean toddler sock, a small 8oz water bottle. and a rubber band. There are various blogs that say to cut off the sock & use duck tape to secure the sock to the bottle. I wanted to be able to use the socks again, and since it is just dish soap and water, we will toss the now REALLY clean wet socks into the next load of laundry. The rubber band seemed to keep the sock on just fine for us. If however you are willing to sacrifice the socks, go check out Rainbow Bubble Snakes on the Housing A Forest blog! Totally cool! I might even try the rainbow bubble snakes in the bathtub with the kiddos when it gets too cold to play outside.

Bubble snakes! Even my 3 year old gave it another go after seeing all the fun!

My 4 year old REALLY loved this activity and kept playing for over 45 minutes!

And then we just had fun playing with the big piles of bubbles all over the grass. Good clean fun!

Not Your Typical Banana Bread

This week in our home school preschool we are studying the letter B. In preparation I bought bananas early in the week last week so that they would be perfect for our cooking segment. I found an unusual vegan coconut maple banana bread recipe over at Honeyed Home that I wanted to try. There is a great shortcut Michelle mentions for ripening bananas if yours are not quite banana bread ready - definately go check out her site.

I tweaked the recipe based on what I had on hand (for example I didn't want to use ALL my bananas, so I added peaches which needed to be used). I also added a maple glaze for extra yumminess. I brought it to share with my bible study ladies, and my kiddos gobbled the remaining leftovers. It was gone so fast, I forgot to get a picture! The girls and I will be making this recipe into muffins in a few days, so I'll update with a pic of those.

Maple Peach Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 very ripe small bananas

1 cup cooked peaches

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup organic coconut oil, melted at room temperature

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Coconut oil spray

GLAZE:

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp melted Earth Balance spread

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil spray.

2) In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients.

3) In a food processor blend all the wet ingredients.

4) Add wet ingredients the the dry ingredients and fold until just combined. 

5) The batter will be thick like a brownie batter. Dump the batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread with a spatula.

6) Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test.

7) Once the bread is completely cool, mix all the glaze ingredients and drizzle on the bread.

Simply Soup

Many moons ago I threw some ingredients I had on hand into a pot and called it soup. It was fast and simple and turned out tasty! My husband calls it Portuguese Kale Soup. It's not really, but that makes it sound like I knew what I was doing, so I'll go with it.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz bulk sausage (I use pork)

6 cups chicken stock

1 can white kidney beans, drained & rinsed 

1/2 a bag of ready to use kale

GARNISH (optional, but super yummy)

Drizzle of good olive oil

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1) In a 4 qt or larger pot, brown sausage. Drain off any fat.

2) Add stock, beans, and kale. Cover and  cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. DO NOT BOIL or the kale may become bitter. 

3) Ladle into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

I like to serve this soup with a giant garlic crouton. I love to dip it in the broth. Mmmmm good! To make it, I simply took some rustic wheat bread that I made and broiled it on both sides until nicely toasted. Then I rubbed a raw garlic clove over the surface and drizzled a bit of olive oil on top. Placed it back in the broiler for a moment. And there you have one of my husbands favorite meals. And it took less than 30 minutes to make! Gotta love that!

Gluten Free Muffins & No Odd Ingredients!

My Uncle is gluten free and he & my Aunt are coming over early tomorrow morning to watch our kiddos for the day. To make things easier for them I wanted to have breakfast ready to go. I came upon this GREAT gluten free grain free muffin recipe by Whitney McNutt! Super easy, super fast, and it doesn't use any specialty ingredients! Check out the link to the original recipe because she gives great suggestions for modifying the recipe, including a link for making it paleo or without bananas. Here is how I modified it based on what I had in the house and things I wanted to use up.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup nut butter (I used 3/4 peanut butter + 1/4 almond butter)

1 medium very ripe banana

1 cup shredded zucchini 

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp agave

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

         TOPPINGS

         1 cup strawberries, small dice

         1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut

12 muffin liners

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners.

2) Place all ingredients except for the toppings into your blender or food processor and process until a smooth batter is achieved and everything is combined.

3) Divide into the 12 muffin liners.

4) Top each muffin with a spoon full of strawberries. Press strawberries into the batter with the back of the spoon to submerge. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of coconut.

5) Bake for 15 minutes.

NOTES: Next time I make these I am going to drop the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. My convection oven seems to cook things faster and these, while super yummy, are a bit more brown on the outside then I would like.

A Whole Lotta Empanadas

One of my goals for this week is to try some new dishes. Using a few different recipes as guides, I came up with these super tasty, kid friendly, husband approved, empanadas. I added some nontraditional ingredients to boost the veggie factor, and my oldest who is my pickiest eater didn't notice at all. And baby ended up eating 3 of them!!! The kids ate them plain, but my hubby and I dipped them in my blender chimichurri sauce. They would also be good with guacamole, sourcream, and or some chipotle salsa. So so tasty!

This recipe makes a WHOLE bunch (64!) You can cut the recipe in 1/2 or cook up the whole mess of them and freeze some for later!

INGREDIENTS:

2 T butter

1/2 large yellow onion, diced small

1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture

2 lbs ground beef

4 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 a bag of Simply Potatoes shredded potatoes

1/2 cup Fresh parsley, finely chopped

2/3 a cup of low sodium V8 vegetable juice

4 cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (I used Trader Joes)

flour

2 eggs

DIRECTIONS, THE FILLING:

1) Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced onions and sauté until translucent. Add zucchini and sauté until most of the moisture has been cooked out - about 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

2) Add ground beef to the same skillet and cook until just browned and no longer pink. Add back the onion & zucchini mixture, spices, shredded potatoes, parsley, and V8. Stir to combine and cook an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool. 

NOTES: I transferred mine the filling mixture to a shallow baking dish and popped it into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. You could easily make the filling, refrigerate, and assemble the empanadas the next day.

DIRECTIONS, THE DOUGH:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pop open a can of biscuits. Take each biscuit and peal 1/2 off yielding a total of 16 rounds. 

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out each biscuit into a 4 inch circle. 

3) Add 2 tablespoons of filling to each rolled out biscuit and fold in half, pinching the edges to seal and forming a half moon shape. Crimp the sealed edge with a fork. And place on a lightly greased or silicone mat lined baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch of space between empanadas.

4) Brush with an egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

NOTES: I rolled out each biscuit and then filled it rather than rolling out all the biscuits first and then filling all of them. You can freeze baked and cooled empanadas in a single layer in a freezer bag. To reheat, preheat over to 350 degrees. Place frozen empanadas 1 inch apart on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Help & Hope

Last week I finally got around to seeing my doctor. I've been meaning to for months and months but daily life with 3 kids 4 years old and under has a way of speeding by. I can't believe my youngest is almost 16 months old, how did that happen! Well, the reason for seeing my doctor is that I've felt "off", not quite myself, for a long time. I've been feeling like I am 12 years old again - everything feels extreme... Happy, sad, angry, frustrated... It feels like I've been on a junior high type emotional roller coaster. Every night as I was going to sleep, I would feel like I had failed again. I would pray and ask God to forgive me for yelling at my kids again, ask Him to help me be a better mom again. Beg Him again to help me to see them as He sees them and not just be frustrated with them all the time.

Baby number 3 was an induced labor and I am very sensitive to medications... They kinda work too well. Anyhow, I figured my hormones were a bit off, and it was time to get everything back in line. My husband finally made me make an appointment after months of talking about it. The doctor asked about all manner of things and then she said "Ok, so now for a tough question... Could you be depressed?" I burst into tears and squeaked out "I don't know." She was very understanding, handed me a tissue and began to talk about Postpartum Depression - PPD. Everything snapped into place...it all fit... All things that I just thought were part of being a mom of young kiddos were symptoms. I never felt any desire to drive my minivan with all three kids off a cliff, or to harm myself in anyway, that is the extreme side of PPD. But headaches, trouble staying asleep, back aches, moodiness, weeping about articles on moms or kids, easily frustrated, easily angered, lethargy... ALL. THE. TIME. These can be some of the symptoms of PPD. And PPD does not only happen to first time moms - it can happen with any birth. It can even be experienced by adoptive parents and dads. I thought what I was experiencing was just part of having 3 kids so close together. My doctor assured me that some of what I have been feeling is just that - the hard demands of motherhood - but feelings to the extreme and feeling it everyday is another matter -- that is postpartum depression. She told me that my job as mom & wife is to take care of my family - that her job as my doctor is to take care of me, and to help ME take care of me.

So now the road to getting better, to feeling more like myself, is laid out before me. The friends and family with whom I've shared have been supportive. But most seem to say the same things, "You need to cut yourself some slack," and "You're too hard on yourself." And that is probably true, but it is also more than that. This is NOT in any way my fault. I haven't done something wrong to cause this. This is a disorder. And thankfully one that has a cure. With my doctors supervision, I will be on a mild antidepressant for a little while, I will have regular sessions with a therapist to begin healing mentally and to learn better coping strategies, I will carve out regular time to pour into me - to reconnect with the things that bring me joy outside of my family, and I will once again begin to exercise daily & take care of my physical self. As a people pleaser it is going to be a challenge to not put myself last on the list anymore. It will be a challenge to place a priority on time to meet with a therapist and to carve out that daily hour for time just for me. And it will be a challenge to be the one asking for help and not just giving help. But the alternative is no one getting the best of who I can be. And that is simply no longer an option.

And so today I got up early again and walked the treadmill. I took some time to read my Bible and start this blog post. Today I thank God for an answer to prayer. I thank God for a great doctor who is compassionate and knowledgeable. I thank God for my husband who pushed me to finally get help. I thank God for a plan to better health and a better me. I thank God that I now have the hope of being more like the mom and wife I've always wanted to be, through help. 

Crunchy Granola!

A few weeks ago I made a double batch of granola and I honestly remember blogging about it, but either it wasn't saved or I dreamt it. I even told a friend who tried it a few days ago that the recipe was posted on my blog. And guess what?!? She couldn't find it. And neither could I. So... ANYWHO!! Here it is now!

This is truthfully the best granola - and not because I made it.  It has the right balance. It is a lovely concoction of toasty, salty, sweetness that is quite addicting. We've been eating it sprinkled on Greek yogurt, as a topping with fresh fruit on hot oatmeal, in a big bowl with milk, or just as a snack straight out of the jar. My husband says this is the best batch yet and THIS time I actually wrote down the recipe! Yay me!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup slivered Almonds 

1 cup Pecan pieces  

1/2 sesame seeds (flax seeds would be good too!)

3/4 cup unsweetened Coconut 

1 tsp salt  Kosher salt

1 tsp Cinnamon  

 1 cup Honey 

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup Peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 300* and lightly grease a deep 9 x 13 baking dish.

2) Mix all the dry ingredients - oats, nuts, coconut, seeds, salt, spices -  in a LARGE bowl.

3) In a separate bowl mix the honey oil, and peanut butter until combined.  4) Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is coated and spread evenly in your prepared baking pan.

5) Bake for a total of 50 - 55 minutes, stir at 25 minutes, and again at 40. You'll know it's done when it is a lovely golden brown and  smells heavenly!

NOTE: The granola WILL NOT be crunchy at first. Let it cool and harden completely in the pan. Then transfer & store in an airtight container.

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Cheesy Beer Bread

Today for lunch we are visiting my husband at work. The few times we have visited, I have brought a little something for his office mates - a peace offering of sorts for exposing them to the cacophony that is my children. They are good girls, but easily excited and the word quiet simply is not in their vocabulary. Today I made a quick beer bread recipe based on one in the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp chives

3 Tbsp sugar 

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups beer (I used a pilsner)

4 Tbsp canola oil

1 T butter - melted

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9" loaf pan.

2) Mix flour, cheese, chives, sugar, baking powder, salt, & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in beer & oil until just combined and no dry bits are left. It will be a thick batter. Careful not to over mix.

3) Scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan & smooth the top. Brush with the melted butter.

4) Bake until golden brown and it passes the toothpick test - about 45 minutes.

5) Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

And here is the loaf! My house smells so yummy! Can't wait to see how they like it.

Shhh! They are good for you!

My cousin brought me three zucchini from her garden. 3 GIANT foot long baseball bat thick zucchini!! What to do? What to do? Muffins!! And how about Chocolate in them too?!? YES!!

The first thing I did was grate all of the zucchini. I discovered through looking at over a dozen recipes that you can freeze grated zucchini to use at another time. I ended up with almost 12 cups grated zucchini! Woohoo!!

I mentioned in previous posts that I've been trying cut down on the amount of refined and processed foods we eat. And I am moving our family towards a more gluten free diet (I'm not quite ready to give up bread though!)  So I did an online search and looked at recipe after recipe. I found a bunch of great recipes, but most were complicated or had unusual ingredients. Here is the recipe I ended up creating based on what I have in the house:

Cocolicious Zucchini Muffins
DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup almond meal

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed dry)

3 Tbsp flax meal + 9 Tbsp water (or 3 eggs)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raw honey (or use agave if you are looking to make these vegan)

Non- stick cooking spray

Chocolate chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350* and grease your muffin tin (makes 12 muffins)

2) In a food processor, pulse oats & almond meal until a fine flour is achieved.

3) In a medium sized bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients making sure there are no lumps & everything is combined. Set aside.

4) In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Then stir in the dry.

5) Divide the batter evenly to achieve 12 muffins. The cups will be 2/3 to 3/4 full.

6) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted cones out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

And here are the coco zucchini muffins in all their dense cocoa good for you tasty glory. You'll notice I decided to pile some up with chocolate chips - I put them on right out of the oven so that they are nice and gooey. Try them, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU! 

Series Of Unfortunate Events

Tonight we has fish had quinoa with dinner. The good news is that the kids LOVED it. All 3 ate an amazing amount of the fish. The quinoa on the other hand was only loved by our littlest. And that is the start of the not so good news - she got it in every crevice and fold. So we decided to rinse her in the kitchen sink.

Well, little miss wiggles wanted to get down and play. I decided to let her play without a stitch on since bath time was only 15 minutes away. What could go wrong in 15 minutes, right? Riiiiight! 

Not even 5 minutes later I hear her slowly and repeatedly saying "Uh oh. Uh oh." And then the older girls start shouting "EWE!!!" I stepped around the couch to see what was wrong and I found the baby sitting on the carpet, holding poop, and sitting next to a rather impressive pile. Bath time instantly got moved up. Baby needed decontaminating. Carpet needed washing. Older sisters needed calming. And I... needed to be done with this day.

I was SOO ready for a glass of wine and some shut eye. Whew, what a day! And that was only the last part! Good gracious!  

Baked Flautas ! Cha Cha Cha!

Last night we had baked flautas for dinner and while they are hardy traditional, OH MY GOODNESS they were good! Now I'm not a big left overs person in general, but I HAD to have them again for lunch today. And your crock pot does most of the work for you! You can't beat that!

Here is the recipe. Is supper easy and the filling could be easily used in tacos, on nachos, burritos, or even over rice and beans with some fresh veg like green onions, avocado, pico de gallo and topped with salsa & sour cream. Goodness, I think I'm drooling! Back to the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag of frozen BLSL chicken tenders

1 large jar of salsa (I used Herdez, mild)

1 can of corn, drained

1 - 12oz can of low sodium V8

2 Tbsp ground cumin

2 cups grated Colby Jack cheese

1 cup grated  mozzarella cheese

8 flour tortillas

Non stick cooking spray or aerosol oil

Optional toppings: additional salsa, sour cream, or guacamole 

DIRECTIONS:

1) Dump the chicken, salsa, corn, cumin, & V8 into your crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours. 

2) Remove the chicken, and using 2 forks, shred it all and return it to the crock pot, stirring to combine.

3) Cook for another hour on high.

4) Scoop 1/2 the chicken mixture out into a wide shallow bowl and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes. The other half can be saved for another meal.

ASSEMBLEY AND BAKING:

1) Preheat oven to 400*.

2) Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

3) Take your cooled chicken mixture and stir in the Colby Jack cheese until combined.

4) Take a flour tortilla and sprinkle down the middle with about a tablespoon of the mozzarella cheese. Add about a 1/4 cup of chicken mixture on top of the cheese, spreading into an even pile from one side to the other and roll up tight, just like when you are making enchiladas.

5) Place seam side down in your prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaing cheese, chicken mixture, & tortillas.

6) Spray the tops of all the flautas with non stick cooking spray or aerosol oil. This helps the tortillas to crisp up.

7) Cook uncovered for approximately 20 minutes. I checked at 18 minutes and they were a lovely brown, so I pulled them out.

8) Serve with your choice of salsa, sour cream, and or guacamole. 

Pictured below is my lunch. I simply topped it with chopped up cherry tomatoes & avocado. Then had apples and cucumbers as sides. For dinner I served the flautas with Mexican rice, slices of avocado, and home made pinto beans.

Kitchen Experiments - Cherry Tomato Jam

The other day my cousin came to babysit our kiddos and brought with her some extra goodies from her garden! Just over 2 lbs of cherry tomatoes and 3 giant zucchini. Today I decided to try something new with the cherry tomatoes, tomato jam!

After checking out 1/2 a doz recipes on Pinterest I came across this recipe from Sacatomato and modified it based on our taste & what I had in the house. It came out yummy & I will definitely be making more for Christmas gifts!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 large onion, diced

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

2 large pinched kosher salt

2 lbs cherry tomatoes cut in 1/2

2/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp each: 

        minced garlic

        crushed red pepper

        fresh rosemary chopped fine

        fresh thyme chopped fine

DIRECTIONS:

1) In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium high heat. 

2) Add diced onions & sauté until they begin to turn golden. 

3) Add 2 hefty pinches of salt & the red pepper flakes. Sauté for 3 more minutes.

4) Add tomatoes, sugar, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

5) Reduce to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. The mixture should be much thicker.

6) Add fresh herbs & cook for 10 more minutes.

7) Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of head space.  Wipe off the rims of each jar, add the lids on top, and twist on the rings to "finger tip tight".  I used six 4 oz ball jelly jars.
8) Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes*. Remove jars  to a cooling rack and allow them to cool.  You should hear a ping for each jar which will indicate a proper seal.  The lid will also no longer appear domed. You can store properly sealed jars in your pantry for up to one year. 

* You don't really need any fancy canning equipment - although I highly recommend a jar lifter! For small batches you can do what I do and simply use a stock pot with pasta insert. The key is making sure they aren't touching the bottom of the stock pot (the pasta insert keeps them above the bottom) and are not touching each other. If I have more jars to process than will fit in the pasta insert, I place a few dish towels over the jars that will get processed in the second batch to keep them a bit warm while they wait their turn. Happy canning!

Kitchen Experiments - Apple Pie Applesauce!

I was given a few big bags of apples from a neighbor of my Great Aunt Honey. They were not really good apples to just munch on raw. So I cooked them up to make apple sauce, but they still needed help. A little cinnamon & brown sugar to the rescue. Now I have a 1/2 gallon of apple sauce that tastes just like apple pie!  I only used about a quarter of the apples. I think I'll pick up some Granny Smiths to add to the mix for the next batch. Don't be surprised friends if you get some Apple Pie Applesauce for Christmas!!

4 lbs apples, cored and cut into chunks, skin on
3 cups of water
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

1) Add apples and water to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
2) Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Add to a blender or food processor in batches and process until smooth.
4) Add brown sugar, cinnamon, & salt. Stir to combine.
5) Cool and refrigerate for up to a week or to can them, ladle into sterile jars and process for 15 minutes. Canned apple sauce can be stored up to 1 year.

Toasted Cheese & A New Green Smoothie

I'm trying, once again, to get back to better eating. Trying to get in all my fruits and veg. Since today has turned out to be another crazy hot summer day, I decided on a toasted cheese sandwiches:

1.  Toast the bread

2.  Put cheese between two pieces of toast

3.  Pop the sandwich in the microwave of 30 seconds 

PRESTO - toasted cheese sandwich! Like a grilled cheese minus the butter and hot kitchen!

AND we made a lovely new green smoothie recipe. I choose to forgo the sandwich and have an extra helping of smoothie. So yummy & refreshing! And the kiddos loved it too! BONUS!

1 banana

1 Granny Smith apple

2 med carrot

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup orange juice

2 big fistful of spinach 

3 mint springs

I threw it all in my Vitamix, blended until smooth, and sucked it down! Let me know what you think!

Salt & Light... and BBQ sauce!

It's funny how little things can turn into great teaching moments. Right now I'm trying to use up things I have in my pantry and freezer instead of going to the store.  This leads to some creative cooking.  This morning I noticed we had some kalua pork and some leftover hamburger buns hanging out in our freezer. I also happen to have a head of cabbage that needs to be used up STAT.  So... pulled pork sandwiches for dinner it is!

My older girls (ages 3 & 4) are just starting to be old enough to cook with me.  I decided to have them help me make some BBQ sauce to go on the pulled pork. I have to say, the sauce came out REALLY good! We took our time tasting the ingredients before mixing them together, then we tried it before and after we cooked it so the girls could taste the difference.  The girls had a blast. AND an added benefit to having them help me in the kitchen is that they are more likely to try something new when they have helped make it. Now, they are both excited to try the pulled pork sandwiches! Woohoo! Score one for mama!

And here comes the teaching moment... while the sauce was cooling, the girls begin to play together with their tea set.  My oldest came to me and said "Here mama. I made you some hot chocolate! I stirred in the chocolate chips after it was hot to make it really chocolatey.  And I put a pinch of salt too." I asked her why she put the salt in and she replied, "I put in just a pinch. It will make it taste gooder." I smiled, gave her a hug and said, "Did you know that in the Bible, Jesus tells us to be salt and light?" She said "That's silly mama.  How can a person be salt and light?" So we looked up and read together the verse in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it. You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven." 

By this point my 3 year old had come over to listen. I explained that just how we sometimes add salt to our food to make it taste better, Jesus asks us to be flavorful around people which means to be our best selves and be the type of people that other people want to spend time with. And then we talked about how when it gets dark in their room a little night light helps it not be so scary, and that Jesus wants us to be like the night light and help people who are lost or scared.  I asked them what might be some good ways to be both salt and light to people we know and meet.  They came up with this great list:  (1) showing people you care about them by having good manners (can you tell we've been working on that one?!"), (2) giving hugs when someone feels sad, and (3) being a friend and sharing your things. Well praise the Lord, they do listen! It's hard to believe they are only 3 & 4 years old sometimes!

And in case you are interested, here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce we made. My oldest says "It's gooder than good Mama!" We may even make up a huge batch and give it as Christmas gifts this year.  It really turned out tasty!

Hughes Girl's Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup catchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic (garlic powder or fresh garlic could work too)

1 teaspoon each: powdered ginger, ground cinnamon, kosher salt

Directions:
Whisk all the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced.  We then used an immersion blender to break down the tomato chunks, and cooked for another 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!