Coffee and learning...

I love coffee. I like it creamy and a little sweet. I like coffee ice cream, coffee candy, coffee cake, & coffee liqueurs. I like flavored coffee, iced coffee, Vietnamese coffee, cafe au lait, espresso, and one of my all time favorite Starbucks seasonal beverage is soon to be available - coconut lattes! Coffee is also a must for combatting Zombie Mommy days when I've not slept well or stayed up too late trolling Pinterest. Coffee IS my happy juice. I truly believe it helps me to be a happier and thus better mama. And today... I lost my coffee.

I was gone only for a minute. It was approaching the baby's morning nap time and she was busy looking at a book. My older two girls were putting toys away in preparation for our quit time when they get to pick out a "show" to watch while the baby slept. I thought I would be safe to go to the bathroom by my self. I was out of the room for only a minute. And that is when it happened. In that one minute, I heard a clang and a crash followed by the baby crying and my oldest yelling "OH NO!" I dashed out of the bathroom to find my to-go coffee mug on the floor. In only a minute, coffee was everywhere. Coffee on the floor. Coffee on the couch. Coffee under the couch. Coffee on the chair. In only a minute, coffee was all over the baby. Coffee on her pjs. Coffee in her hair. Coffee in her ears. Coffee in the creases of her neck. And in only a minute my coffee was lost. No more happy juice. Thankfully I had made it over and hour earlier and it was barely warm and not at all hot, so the baby was scared by all the noise and not hurt. With three girls four years old and under, I rarely get to drink it hot. I've learned to appreciate luke warm coffee. That's one of the blessings of mommydom - you learn so much! Like how much can happen in only a minute! Time to go make more coffee!

Oh-My-Goodness-Cookies!

Dessert for our family dinner night was so tasty! Maple bacon chocolate chip cookies! Maple, bacon and chocolate in a cookie!! How could these be bad, right? They kind of have the taste and texture of coconut macaroons. We munched on these with some Prager port.  My husband downed several with a glass of milk. I think they would be fabulous with an afternoon latte. Again, how could this be bad??

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 12-15 small cookies)
2 cups fine ground blanched almond flour*
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 slices of bacon (cooked and chopped into small pieces)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon canned full fat coconut milk

*(I used Bob's Red Mill blanched almond flour - fine. But for an even finer texture, run the flour through a spice grinder or food processor.)

Directions:
1) Fry the bacon until crispy. Cut into small pieces & cool completely.
2) In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
3) Now add the bacon pieces and chocolate chips to the almond flour mixture. Toss to coat.
4) In a separate smaller bowl, combine and lightly beat together the oil, maple syrup, vanilla and coconut oil.
5) Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, mixing till well combined. The dough will seem be wetter and grainier than your average cookie dough.
6) Using a cookie scoop, form cookie dough into equally sized balls and place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for at lest 30 minutes or freeze until ready to bake.
7) Place cookie balls onto a parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 11-12 min.
8) Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring.

Family Dinner Night - 2

Last night was another wonderful family dinner night with my girlfriends - there is the family you are given, and then there is the family of friends you choose!

Six fabulous women around a candle filled table in my back yard sharing great conversation, amazing dinner, lovely wine, and some "oh my goodness" cookies with port for dessert. Our menu this night was Italian stuffed zucchini boats, herb salad, gluten free rustic olive bread, and maple bacon chocolate chip cookies.

The recipe for the zucchini boats was inspired by this recipe that is meat free. We changed and added a few things to make them more of a main dish. Our recipe serves 6 to 8 depending on the hunger level of your guests - and it can easily be halved or increased.

INGREDIENTS:
8 medium zucchini
2 good quality Italian sweet sausage, cooked and crumbled
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 can no salt petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups finely chopped fresh mushrooms
2 T dried Italian herbs
1 T crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400° degrees F.

1) Remove sausage casings, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up as you cook to yield fine crumbles. Drain and set aside.

2) Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and seeds, leaving 1/4-inch shell. Reserve pulp from 4 zucchini and chop. (We used a mini food chopper for this and to chop the mushrooms).

3) Combine sausage, zucchini pulp, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, Italian herbs, & crushed red pepper flakes in a large bowl.

4) Divide mixture among zucchini shells. Place stuffed zucchini on a baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, & bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

5) Gather some great friends, open a bottle if red, sit back and enjoy!

Here is a merlot we opened that was a perfect pairing to our zucchini:

 

Check back tomorrow -  I'll post about the the AWESOME maple bacon chocolate chip cookies which are gluten free and refined sugar free!

Snack Attack!

I'm always on the look out for healthy snacks for the whole family. I found this great snack idea on Pinterest (original blog link) and let me say, I was not immediately impressed upon reading it, but something compelled me to try it anyway. I'm SOOOO glad I did! The kids love it, I love it, and my hubby loves it!  Other virtues: (1) refined sugar free (2) loaded with fiber and vitamin C, (3) and best of all I can make a big batch and it lasts in the fridge for days without the apples browning! They are a great replacement for those expensive already cup up apples you get at the store, and they only take a tiny amount of time to make. We like using Jazz or Pink Lady apples, but really you could use any kind - Fuji would be great, especially for kiddos since they are a bit sweeter. Super simple and super tasty - I hope you try it!

INGREDIENTS:
4 large apples - sliced thin
1 large orange
1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:
Into a large container with a sealing lid, squeeze the orange & lemon. Add the sliced apples and place the lid on making sure it is tightly sealed. Gently shake to coat all the apple slices in the orange & lemon juice. Chill for at least 30 minutes & enjoy!

Spring Rolls!

We have loved Vietnamese ever food since our mission trip to Saigon in the summer of 2005.  One of our favorite local Vietnamese restaurants serves several dishes with heavenly slices of grilled pork. We've tried guessing at the ingredients to make it at home because we can't go out as often as we'd like, and we've finally come very close! Last night we used the pork to make spring rolls for dinner. Yummalicious! Our girls are not super fond of the spring rolls themselves, but they love the pork, noodles, and peanut sauce so it ends up being a meal we can all eat.

INGREDIENTS - PORK:
Pork loin
5 - 6 fat garlic cloves - minced
1/2 a tube of lemon grass paste (found in the produce section)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T. canola oil
2 T. water

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Freeze the pork loin for 20 - 30 minutes to make it easier to make thin slices.  You want to slice this as thin as possible for the spring rolls.
2.  In a large zip lock combine garlic, lemon grass, brown sugar, oil, & water to make a thick marinade.
3.  Add the thinly sliced pork to the marinade, mix around to ensure all the pork has been covered in the marinade, and then seal the bag squeezing most of the air out of the bag.
4.  Marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours - longer would be superb.
5.  Cook pork over medium high heat just until no longer pink.  This should only take 2 - 3 minutes per side - a little longer if your pork is cut thicker.  A little bit of browning and charing is desirable makes it super tasty.


INGREDIENTS - SPRING ROLLS:
1 package Bahn trang spring roll wraps
water
green or read leaf lettuce
1 package cooked vermicelli style rice noodles
pork
mint leaves
basil leaves
cilantro
pickled carrots (recipe)
Optional:
1 - 2 avocados sliced thin
1 red bell pepper sliced thin

DIPPING SAUCE:
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup hot water
2 T. soy sauce
2 - 3 T. sriracha (to taste or leave out if you are giving it to kiddos)
2 T. coconut syrup


ASSEMBLY:
NOTE: You will make one roll at a time.  We spread out all of the ingredients in assembly line fashion and each made our own. This would work well for a summer dinner party as you can get all the ingredients ready ahead of time and everyone can make their own.  Here we used the lemongrass pork, but you can add grilled shrimp, chicken or just keep it veggie. These can also be made ahead of time and wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated, but they really are best freshly made.  I like adding the bell pepper and avocado though they are not strictly traditional and my hubby likes to eat them with 1/2 sriracha & 1/2 peanut sauce, but that is a bit too spicy for me.

1.  In a large shallow dish, soak one spring roll wrap for approximately 10 seconds.  It will still be stiff. DO NOT wait until it softens completely or  you will have a hard time working with the wrappers.
2.  Place the wrap on your plate, then start piling on your toppings.  Start with lettuce, then noodles, pork, herbs, pickled carrots, and other veggies.  Keep it to small amounts or it will be hard to wrap!
3.  Fold in the sides, and then roll up starting from the edge nearest you - burrito fashion.
4.  In a small bowl stir together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce until combined.
5. Dig in and enjoy!

Healthy green breakfast...

I'm kind of obsessed with two things right now. Spinach and dates. Both are crazy nutritious! Go ahead, Google the nutrition facts! Crazy good for you, right?

Here is a breakfast smoothie that showcases both. And boy is it TASTY and filling! My picky 4 year old sucked it down! This makes 2 generous adult sized smoothies or in my case, 1 adult smoothie and 2 kiddo smoothies.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup cold cooked oatmeal (I had some left over from yesterday's breakfast)
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup date paste (recipe)
1 cup frozen strawberries
2 handfuls baby spinach

Blend until combined and smooth... This is a smoothie after all ;-)  Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think! Do you have a favorite breakfast smoothie? Post it in the comments below, I'd love to try it!

Egg salad makeover

So... What to do with all those dyed Easter eggs. There are only so many deviled eggs you can eat! While trolling Pinterest I came across a recipe that mixed chopped eggs, avocado chunks, & mayo. Sounded interesting and different! I put my own spin by mashing 1 whole avocado with 4 eggs, left out the mayo, and added fiesta lime Mrs. Dash. I piled it onto a whole wheat bun, added some fresh spinach, and TADA! Super tasty & good for you egg salad sammy! LOVE it!