Baby Caleb is home!

Caleb is home!

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

The little guy is doing great. All things considered, he is a normal baby, just smaller. He is eating and sleeping well, and seeming to adjust to life outside the hospital very well. Our biggest concerns are his jaundice, which seems to be getting better each day, keeping him warm, making sure he is eating enough, and keeping him as germ free as possible. This seems like the hardest task with 2 other little ones around. We will need to lay low through the Winter, and hopefully avoid many of the common germs. But I have to say I am really enjoying this quieter season. We have enjoyed being a family of 5 and spending all this extra time together. It has been a sweet time.

Why I love Fridays

We do school Monday-Wed mornings, and then have CBS on Thursdays. So Friday becomes the day when I really love to let the kids do what they please. And almost always their first choice would to be outside. Jesse would hunt for bugs, build a leaf pile, and swing. Eva would do anything Jesse would do, make cakes in the sandbox, or swing (Jesse pushing). I love how they are playing together and are able to come up with adventures together. Most recently it has been picking "cranberries" from the side yard. We are loving Cranberry Thanksgiving right now, so we are a bit focused on cranberries. I can't wait to cook the bread from the book.

Baby Ethan

Muffins

Paleo can be hard in the morning, basically you have to have a hot breakfast. These are two muffins that the whole family loves.

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

Cinnamon Topping
2 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1. To make cinnamon topping, combine agave, cinnamon and oil in a small bowl
2. Set mixture aside

Muffin Mixture
1 cup blanched almond flour
2 tablespoon coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
2. In a large bowl blend together oil, agave, eggs and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant ¼ cup at a time into lined muffin cups
4. Spoon topping onto muffins
5. Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350°
6. Cool muffins for 2 hours then frost with Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 9 muffin

Paleo Banana muffins
• 1 c almond butter
• 1 c almond flour
• 3 medium brown, spotty bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 c melted chocolate, optional

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients (minus the chocolate) and mix until the bananas are no longer in visible chunks. Pour the batter into a loaf pan (or muffin tin, just adjust the cooking time). If you’re using chocolate, pour it down the center of the loaf pan, on top of the batter. Use a toothpick and start making a swirl motion all the way up and down the pan.
Bake for approx. 35-40 minutes, until the center is hard to the touch. Let the banana bread cool before removing from the pan.

Where I go for paleo recipes

The most frequent question I get about paleo is, What do you eat? Here are our favorite websites for paleo recipes. We started this way of eating first by trying the Whole 30 Challenge. That is the first website below, and after that are the recipe websites. Enjoy!

Whole 30
Everyday Paleo
Paleo Mama
Paleo Digest
Health Bent
Primal Kitchen
Iron Tribe
Foodee

Lindsey's blog- She is a good friend and mother of 2. She is on a budget like us, and blogged about her family meals during her whole 30. And, her recipes are great!

First Day of School

The kids got to choose favorite meals for the first day. Eva -crepes Jesse- pizza

As per tradition, we took the kids out to ice cream the night before school.

Eva got her new back pack in her favorite color, PINK!

We have decided to try homeschooling this year for a variety of reasons. I am hoping to document parts of our year for the kids and for myself. I feel blessed for the opportunity to be with them and excited about whats to come.

Menu: 5/8

I finished my Whole 30 experiment and after looking forward to adding a few things back into the rotation (some strong cheeses, homemade bread), I just don't feel as good as I did on the Whole 30, so I am thinking about going back on it, who knows.

Farmers market finds: spring onions, broccoli, green beans, parmesan, strawberries, carrots

Saturday:

Chicken pesto pizza: chicken, pesto, spring onions, parmesan

Califlower dough for me

Family Favorite dough

New whole wheat recipe we are trying

Sunday:

Sofrito chicken

green beans

Monday

BBQ beef We will be using on of the roasts from our grass fed cow

sweet potato fries

Tues

Kafta kabobs

grilled peppers and onions

Wed

Thurs

Grilled tomatoes with rosemary and garlic

Menu 5/1

Friday: Fajita salads: greens topped with chicken, grilled onions and peppers, guac, and salsa

Sat: bbq from Saws and salad (blueberries, strawberries, almonds, and homemade strawberry basalmic dressing)

Sun: Rotisserie chicken and roasted veggies: we use whatever veggies we have in the fridge, cut them up and cover them with coconut oil and salt and roast them at 400-425 for 20-25 min

Mon: grassfed burgers (minus buns) topped with avocado, tomato, and bacon
and grilled asparagus
recipe: http://www.health-bent.com/proteins/chorizo-burgers

Tues: Roasted whole chicken: cover with coconut oil, salt pepper, and other favorite spices and roast at 450 for one hour

Wed: twice baked sweet potatoes, used this recipe as a guide, but left out syrup and instead topped with bacon, green onions, and broccoli
recipe:http://www.health-bent.com/sides/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes

Thurs: pasta made from spag squash (roasted in oven for an hour and then shred out "noodles") Sugar free pasta sauce and turkey sausage

Friday: tortilla soup
recipe: http://feedmepaleo.blogspot.com/2010/01/chicken-no-tortilla-soup.html

Eva's 2nd Birthday

We just celbrated Eva's 2nd birthday yesterday with a very girlie dress up party with sweet Ellie Jane. What a difference there is between the 1st and 2nd birthday!