We’re back!!

Hi everyone, we’re back!! Here are some pictures from recent events:

Lucy back from her DECA competition 

Lily outside with a snow-Totoro

Nora with homemade wax stamps

Benji in the laundry basket 

Avocado Pudding

You can make pudding out of avocados. Here are the three varieties that I have tried making. 1. Blend 1 avocado, 1 banana, 4 T cocoa powder, 2-3 T milk, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/2 t vanilla. I loved this. You may want to add some sugar. 2. Same as above, but with 3 T cocoa powder instead of 4 and an added 3 T peanut butter. 3. Same as #1 but add 1 c greek yogurt and use 1/2 c cocoa powder. Number one is the richest. Number 2 has a yummy peanut butter cup quality and number 3 has a slight tang, which is nice. The greek yogurt also extends your ingredients and adds protein.

I like this

Coconut Butter Cookies

Something delicious happened today. First of all, the other day I discovered coconut butter. We are not talking about coconut oil or cocoa butter. This is coconut butter. Like peanut butter. Only coconut. Anyhow, today I made some. My advice, based on my experience today and what I have read is, it's probably not worth trying to make coconut butter at home unless you have a Blendtec or a Vitamix blender. Okay, so I took about 8 ounces natural coconut shreds that I got in the bulk bin at our Smiths and put it in the Blendtec. Then I increased the speed to 10 and let it run its cycle. Then I repeated this. It turned into a smooth butter. It made a little more than 3/4 of a cup. The best part is what happened next. Coconut butter cookies. I made the "Classic Peanut Butter Cookies" from the Joy of Cooking cookbook, using an equal amount of coconut butter in the place of the peanut butter. The result is a chewy/shortbread texture and the delicious flavor of coconut. Very delicious. Here's the recipe: Coconut Butter Cookies (adapted from The Joy of Cooking) 2 1/2 c flour 1 1/4 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1/4 c canola oil 2/3 c coconut butter 12 T softened butter 1/3 c powdered sugar 1 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 1/2 t vanilla Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet. Using a 1 1/2 T scoop, scoop dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment. Make a crosshatch pattern with the tines of a fork. Bake 350 degrees for 11-15 mins.

Cocoa Powder Ganache

Today I needed to make ganache to frost a cake. I didn't feel like dragging my girls out in the winter wonderland to buy chocolate and cream so I looked up online to see if it is possible to make ganache with cocoa powder. Someone said that it's the only way she ever makes ganache so I decided to give it a try. Here is what I ended up doing and I thought that it looked like and tasted like the real thing. 9 T cocoa powder 6 T butter, room temp. 9 T sugar 1/2 C evaporated milk. Combine cocoa powder and sugar. Add butter. Boil evaporated milk. Pour over cocoa mixture. Let stand 5 minutes. Whisk together. Let stand about 15 or 20 minutes to allow sugar to fully dissolve. Use. This was enough for the top of a 9 x 13 cake.

Dr. Laura

This is one of my favorite books. Does that make me weird?

ps--i don't know how you're supposed to give credit for a photo, but this one's from Amazon. Where, by the way, you can buy a copy of this book for a cent.

I like Dr. Laura's way of defending morality and family and telling it like it is. She helps people to make positive life changes to protect their family. I like to read one of her books from time to time to remind me how good I've got it and to give me an attitude check.

What are your thoughts about Dr. Laura?

Popeye's Ice Cream

Do you have a Blendtec blender? Then this is the recipe for you! Although this ice cream contains spinach, I think that if I had been blindfolded and eaten it I would have just thought it was vanilla ice cream. Oh the joyful tastelessness of baby spinach! :)
This recipe is from Blendtec. The changes I made were to use whole milk instead of half and half and sugar instead of agave. My baby loved it so much she was crying when it was gone.
Additionally, if you don't have a Blendtec I think that you could probably prepare it in a traditional ice cream maker by blending the ingredients in your blender--except for the ice. Perhaps use an additional cup of half and half or milk instead. Chill mixture for a couple of hours, then prepare in ice cream maker.
Recipe:
3/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup agave nectar syrup
2/3 c nonfat dry milk
1/2 banana
2 c spinach, lightly packed
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups ice cubes

Put in Blendtec in order listed. Press ice cream button. Serve.

I find it exhilarating that you can be serving spinach-laden ice cream in 2 minutes. What?! This would make such a fun St. Patrick's Day dessert.
Also, you can buy 10-pound bags of pebble ice at Sonic for $1.71.
Enjoy!

Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary

Here are some cute pictures of our cute little people.

In a headband with Mommy

Caught sampling the flour bin

A Sunday morning walk with the littles.

Babysitting

Playing with the button snake after getting all the felts on! (and you can see the aforementioned flour in the background before it was poured in the bucket ;)

Weird

I just realized how much the picture from yesterday's post looks like this pic.

My Valentine

This guy lives at my house.
And he changes diapers.
Jealous?

Joy

I love the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It's not my only favorite. I love Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens, The Perfect Scoop ice cream cookbook. I even love the cookbook that came with our Blendtec. This is one of the sad parts of the Internet becoming so handy--our precious cookbooks are becoming less used and one day they may cease to be produced! I know, I probably sound like an eleventh grade English class essay, but I really do love my little row of cookbooks. I have read them all through and love them like dear friends. Their recipes never seem to fail me!
Okay, so today I made something from the Joy of Cooking. This is my favorite cookbook. I love it's illustrations and helpful descriptions. It is also amazingly thorough in its coverage of the food world. Today I made peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate satin frosting. The cupcakes are studded with mini chocolate chips. The frosting is like a wonderful homemade hot fudge, although surprisingly not over sweet. Yum! Here is a picture. If you want to make them and don't have the book I suggest borrowing your mother's, or grandmother's or elderly neighbors! Viva el cookbook!

Do we look Mississippian yet?

Eating like a lady

Eating like a _______. Isn't that a cute smile?!!!!

It's way more comfy under the mattress

She's sooooo advanced

Can you believe that awesome moustache? One guy told him he loved his cool retro "stache"

Vico had a loch ness monster candle on his birthday cake

I wish Sarah were here to borrow this bonnet

d'Iberville

...or as Sarah lovingly calls it "Diaperville." Vico is working at the Mississippi gulf coast for a few weeks and we have the pleasure of accompanying him. It's really beautiful here. The landscape looks kinda like the pictures you see of an African safari. Minus the animals. The girls and I have been enjoying taking walks in the late afternoon. Something that we have noticed is a lot of plots where houses used to be--that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. When I told that to my visiting teacher she said that Biloxi (which is the city right next to where we're staying) was hit the hardest in Hurricane Katrina. It is truly disheartening to see cement walkways leading up to houses that are no more. Grass has grown up in their place. Oh the poor people! To cheer you up, here are some cute pictures of our family.

Aren't they cute?!!!

Ah, all dry!

And finally...an oldie, but a goodie!

In case you were wondering...

...this is how cute my girls are!!

I love Lucy and she loves bread

When I opened the oven to see if the bread was done baking this image reminded me of the Famous "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy bakes a bread that is so huge.

This post could also be titled: how to bake 4 loaves of bread when your only bread pan is 11"x13"x2" :)

I love it!

I stole this picture from my sister's blog. I hadn't seen it before and it's my new favorite picture. My husband is awesome. He is just the best daddy and love that the world has ever known. He has transitioned from daddy of one to daddy of two with the grace of a savannah gazelle and I love him with all of my heart.
As you have surmised by this point, baby #2 was born. Lily Jane is our new darling sweetheart. She entered the world at 9lb 7 oz on May 6 at 5:21 pm. Having a baby that big is essentially a recipe for a horrific delivery. All I have to say is that I'm just glad to have survived it and to have her out of me. We love our little Lily and are so grateful that she is part of our family.
My sister Sarah came for a week to help us. She is my hero. She came on Monday and the baby was born on Friday. Basically there couldn't have been better timing. She did everything for me--cooked, cleaned, took me on adventures, watched Lucy, moved us to a different apartment. I love her.

Mississippi is so skippy!

We made it. We've been living in Mississippi for 3 weeks now and are all still alive. :) What I'm trying to say is we are doing something grown up and surviving it! We went to the OB doctor today. Her name is Dr. Zekam and she was friendly and nice. She said "Well, now we just wait for the baby to come!" That's what I have felt like lately--just waiting for the baby to come. This is hard to admit, but I have actually in my less than 3 weeks in this apartment, worn a patch of carpet smooth--where my feet rest where I sit in the left-hand corner of the couch. My Vico is an amazing stud. He has transitioned to a new job with such strength, optimism, and determination. He is the coolest husband and da da and best friend. The funny thing is that he's my best friend and Lucy's best friend too. Whenever she's most excited--about anything--she shouts "Da da!" I just want him forever. My biggest fear is cockroaches. I saw one yesterday on the kitchen sink, screamed, and smashed it under the Palmolive bottle. My next biggest fear is cigarette and marijuana scent entering out apartment. It freaks me out. I like the rain here. Every few days there is a thunderstorm. The funny thing is that I will text Vico that it's pouring rain and where he's working 20 minutes away the sky will be clear. We like going on drives here to see the beautiful green scenery and to explore. We have seen the Mississippi river in Vicksburg, with a huge river boat on it, have crossed the border to Louisiana, and randomly ran into a huge reservoir lake thing about 15 minutes from here. There are tons of chicken finger places. We have tried two. My favorite is called Bops in Richland. But by far the nicest touch about Mississippi is the southern hospitality. It's real. My first encounter with it was in the Atlanta airport where on two separate bathroom visits, the girl in front of me in line let me go first. Also, the other day a lady from church brought us a pie. Everywhere we go people chat with us about the baby in the nicest way, as if you'd known them for ages. And to top it off, last night after a job, the couple Vico installed an alarm for fed him turkey necks and saltines. :) I'm just so happy to be here with my sweetheart. And my Luly. Heavenly Father has given us so much joy!

California Here I Come, Right Back Where I...wait, delete California, insert Mississippi

Do you want to move here? That's where we're going. :)

Delicious Breakfast Cookies!

This morning I made breakfast cookies that were based on this recipe. they were super fast, and, as far as I can tell, not less healthy than anything else I eat for breakfast :)

Delicious Breakfast Cookies
1 c brown sugar
1 1/4 c oats
2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t ginger
Combine all of these ingredients in a bowl. Then add:
1 c pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c craisins
1/4 c chocolate chips
Combine. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with pam. I put a piece of foil on my cookie sheet, sprayed it, then dropped on the dough. This made 19 cookies for me. Bake 350 for about 12-14 min.
Yum! Lu Belle loved these.

I love Shutterfly!

Birthday Lime Birthday 5x7 folded card

Say "happy birthday," with a Shutterfly custom card design.

View the entire collection of cards.