It has been months since I have posted an update. Thank you so much to those of you who still check in here, stopping by to grab a recipe and thinking of me and my family. Your support is felt and very much appreciated. I have stopped and started writing over the years because I haven’t…
Loving Lately
Good afternoon! It’s a glorious, sunny fall day here. I hope that the sun is shinning wherever you are, as well! Here are a few things that I have been loving lately. I hope that something here blesses your heart and reminds you to go out and enjoy something that you love this week! 1….
Minted
As I sit here on a snowy, beginning of winter day perusing the beautiful family photos we had taken in early November, I am thankful that we planned ahead. Trying to wrangle two small children in front of a misshapen Christmas tree armed with a tripod, self-timer and lighting kit seems like an accident waiting…
Homemade Baby Food
When L began eating solids back in March we loosely followed the Baby-Led Weaning approach. I was surprised at how well he did feeding himself cute pieces of super soft foods. So, honestly we haven’t had a huge need for homemade baby food purees, like we did when M was a baby. I am really loving…
Semi-Homemade Rhubarb Peach Ginger Cake
As the temperature and humidity rise, rhubarb is taking its final bow. However, if you’re like me, your plants are still hanging on. Go out and pick your last harvest and enjoy this amazing semi-homemade Ginger Rhubarb Peach Cake. Can’t get your hands on rhubarb anymore? No worries! This cake would be amazing using blueberries,…
At the Co-Op
This morning Matthew, Luke and I ventured to our Co-Op, Valley Natural Foods, for the first time since Luke was born. In the last few months I’ve shopped at Valley a couple times either with Allan or solo, but this was our first time there just the three of us. I was prepared for an…
Matthew’s 2nd Birthday Party
Sorry for the delay in posting photos from Matthew’s party. We’ve been a little out of sorts over here, so I had a delay in getting the photos pulled together. Last Sunday we celebrated Matthew’s 2nd birthday with family and friends. The following are some highlights from the party, including the party menu. We started…
Birthday Boy Blueberry Pancakes
As I mentioned earlier this afternoon, we enjoyed an amazing stack of blueberry pancakes this morning to celebrate this little guy’s birthday. Matthew, like his mama, loves breakfast! I knew that I wanted to make something special for him this morning to celebrate the big T-W-O and instantly thought of pancakes. A couple months ago,…
Twenty One
Things have been getting increasingly exciting around here. Every day we experience Matthew growing up and learning by leaps and bounds. He is now 21 months old and has definite opinions about everything. His confidence in his body and movement is amazing. He believes that he is invincible! Matthew and I have been focusing on…
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies Two Ways
Every year my mom and I bake Christmas cookies together. We always make sugar cookies, which happen to be Allan’s favorite. My mom’s favorite cookie is the gingersnap, so we usually make gingerbread men as well; however, we are bursting at the seams with cookies this year and settled on simply making roll out cookies, as…
Gluten-Free Cookies: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk
The magical whirlwind that is the Christmas season is almost over. The waiting of the Advent season will soon break through to the awe and wonder that is Christmas… snow or no snow – as it is here in Minneapolis. It seems that yesterday’s snow shower was more of a blip than the light white…
Ten Things Thankful Thursday
Yes, my hair looks short in the above picture. No, I did not cut it – it’s just the way it is laying on my shoulders. It’s still long. However, it looks really cute like this… should I cut it? Allan, that question is not directed at you. 😉 1. God is doing amazing work…
Family Favorites: Soaked Sweet Potato Waffles
I know that it’s still September, but the Holidays are fast approaching. Before we know it there will be snow on the ground, chestnuts roasting on an open fire and jingle bells playing on your iPhone. If you are like me and host your family’s Holiday get-togethers there is always the age old question proceeding…
Wordless Wednesday: Weekend Recap
Mill City Farmer’s Market Quick Lunch Sweetland Orchard (A visit to our very favorite farmer’s market vendor!)
Party People
You may recall that a couple weeks ago we hosted an ecofriendly, clean living party with the goal of only producing one bag of landfill-bound trash. If you are catching up, you can read about the party here and here. We were extremely successful in our mission and I thought that today I would share…
Gardens of Eagan Open House
On Saturday afternoon we visited the Gardens of Eagan open house. Garden’s of Eagan is a 100 acre, urban-edge, organic vegetable farm that provides produce to several area co-ops and businesses. They also frequent a few farmer’s markets, including the Fulton Farmer’s Market. Sunday afternoon was spent dicing and freezing lots of peppers,…
A Day at the Lake
Late this morning, we spent a couple hours walking the Lake Michigan sandy beach outside of Menominee, MI. We had a beautiful time and for a moment we were able to take our minds off of why we are here. For lunch we stopped at the Blue Bicycle in Marinette, MN. Allan, Mark and Lois…
Hello from Marinette
Yesterday morning we received news that Allan’s Great Aunt Anna Mae passed away, so we quickly packed up the Rav4 to accompany Allan’s parents to Peshtigo, Wisconsin. We are staying at the lovely Country Inn in Marinette, which is a bit outdated, yet surprisingly very clean. Also, they have a huge fridge in the room…
Dolce Vita
We had another glorious weekend filled with sunshine, family and amazing food! On Friday night Allan and I went on a date to Doolittle’s Woodfire Grill where we dined alfresco on amazing food including a cosmo for her and a mojito for him (my first vodka since having Matthew). We shared the mediterranean flatbread, mediterranean…
Hashbrowns or Pizza?
Last Friday morning before work, Allan asked me if we were having Friday night pizza and I told him, “of course, it’s Friday, isn’t it?” He then asked me what kind of pizza we were having and I told him “you’ll see”. When he arrived home to see me shredding potatoes he was very suspicious….
Greens Galore
Today was a most beautiful day. Matthew and I enjoyed a mid-morning walk along the creek and then ventured back home to work on packing for our weekend away at the Peters family rustic cabin. And by rustic I mean no running water, no oven and an outhouse. 🙂 So, this morning we had laundry…
A Father’s Love
We spent another incredible weekend with our families! My father-in-law was away for the weekend fishing with his nephews, so my mother-in-law offered to watch Matthew on Saturday night. Allan and I spent our date night with movie and dinner. We usually do dinner first and then the movie, but this time we decided to…
Open Streets and a Bran Breakfast Bake
Saturday afternoon I had a major craving for a bran muffin. Not just any bran muffin, but a Breadsmith bran muffin… my absolute favorite! So, I decided to conjure up a recipe for a healthy and lovely bran breakfast bake. Folks, you need to drop what you are doing and immediately throw one of these in…
Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce
Today was an amazing day filled with laughter, sunshine and family. I love afternoons spent talking, munching and playing in the sunshine with those that mean the most to me. It was glorious! Last night I was so excited to enjoy a Cooler 2 breakfast that I threw together this simple Rhubarb Strawberry sauce that…
Cooler 1: Day 5… Last day
Good evening. Happy Friday! I just love Fridays. All day Matthew and I look forward to Allan’s arrival and (usually) pizza night follows. Tonight we did not enjoy Friday Night Pizza night; however, we did have something that was completely amazing! Remember the spaghetti that I blogged about yesterday? It was amazing!!! Both Matthew and…
Cooler 1: Day 3
Today has been a LONG day! At least it’s starting to cool off a little outside. Those super hot and humid days were very difficult. I hate turning on the air conditioning and we’ve had it on since last Friday. *yuck* While Matthew napped this afternoon I got to working on some food prep for…
Matthew’s Birthday Party: Food Edition
As you know, Sunday was Matthew’s first birthday and we threw a small party for him. The following is the food that we served to our family that came from near and far to celebrate with us. Prepping the salad I used the following simple dressing on this salad. The recipe makes enough dressing for…
Mill City Farmer’s Market
Yesterday morning, we arose at the crack of dawn to make it to my favorite farmer’s market, the Mill City Farmer’s Market before Matthew’s morning nap. Enjoy these gorgeous photos courtesy of Mister Peters.
What does it mean to eat clean?
Yesterday I posted about our reasons for living clean. Today I would like to explain what I mean when I say that we are clean eaters. Eating clean is a diet (definition: food and drink regularly provided or consumed, source) that focuses on eating as close to nature as possible. We strive to consume foods that…
Chili and Cornbread for a Crowd
Sunday is our family day. We wake up early and attend church as a family. Spending the morning worshiping God with Grandma and Grandpa Malcolm is always a lot of fun. Sunday is also the day that I make something fancy for dinner. Some weeks I make pork tenderloin with roasted veggies and apples, other…
Brunch Easter Style
Happy belated Easter! We hosted Easter festivities for both of our families. My parents, Allan’s parents and my sister were in attendance. There was so much AMAZING (and clean) food that the fridge was so packed it was difficult to find anything! Lois, Allan’s mom, made this beautiful watermelon fruit bowl! This bad boy was…