Wide awake and talking

Andy is 7 weeks old!

Yikes!

He is so so sweet.

He smiles at me and coos.

It makes dusty jealous.

He is awake so much more 

He loves to talk and kick.

He looks more and more like Ellie

(which I didn't think was possible since they could of been twins)

He looks more masculine 

But

He has the same expressions

They even sound the same.

Buckwheat and Quinoa muffins

These muffins are wheat, dairy, and egg free.

I wouldn't change this recipe to include any of those ingredients 

(even if I ate them)

I couldn't sleep last night.

I was pairing ingredients

Contemplating what goes with what and so forth.

And how much of what...

I didn't get much sleep

But

As a result

And a little luck

I have a counter full of muffin (18)

That passed all three kids' test!

First off- get a bowl

Than add:

1 cup of buckwheat flour

1 cup quinoa flour

1/2 cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup corn starch or tapioca flour

2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Stir

Add 1 cup of brown sugar (loose)

2 mashed banana 

Sprinkle 1 tsp baking soda on bananas

Add 1 1/2 cups almond milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup of coconut. (I used unsweetened)

1/2 cup of walnuts  chopped

Spoon into greased muffin tins about 3/4 full

Bake at 350 for 23 minutes.

So after biting into these muffins

They taste awesome.

Great texture

Fluffy moist

But the con

They smell

They smell like ground quinoa

(which duh that's what is in it)

At first I was nervous you would taste the smell 

but

I don't really taste it.

Now that this is out of my brain

Hopefully I can get some sleep.

Wind

Sometimes life reminds us

{me}

To take a moment

{breathe}

Our bodies can be so frail.

And our minds delicate 

My thoughts the last couple of days have been with a couple of other women.

They stand in their own storms, just as we {I} have stood in our own.

As our bodies and minds can fail

I know that the strength of a mothers soul

Is the most resilient force on earth

And

We are changed after standing through gale forced winds

But somehow we still manage to stand.

My heart aches for theirs.

A little bite of Fall

Our go-to breakfast is pancakes.

Pancakes and eggs.

The eggs are a no-go right now

But

I knew I could do pancakes...

These pancakes are fall.

Every bite tastes like harvest time.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups of rolled oats

2 teaspoons of baking powder

4 tablespoons of sugar or honey 

1/3 cup of pumpkin or an egg if you don't want pumpkin pancakes

1-2 cups of coconut milk or water or milk

Get out your food processor and put your two cups of rolled oats in.

Turn it on and let it go until you get a coarse flour. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed.

Mix.

Cook on a hot pan on medium heat. 

They are really great served with Apple syrup or apples sauce.

Flower Girl

Dustys job sent a bouquet of flowers

Penny loved them

Couldn't my stop touching them

Or asking what each and every flower was

Finally when the time came to dispose of the flowers

Her dad let her pick one.

She wore it most of the day.

Nothing in 'em Waffles

So 

The whole gluten free

Dairy free

Egg free

Business hasn't been too bad.

The worst meal is breakfast.

While my husband and children have been stuffing their faces with fluffy over filling pancakes I have been sitting on the sidelines in envy.

Dusty tried hard to make pancakes using corn flour and they were good. Not fluffy. But made me less envious.

Well after a VERY long night

I NEEDED carbs.

Fluffy delicious fattening carbs.

I was a little gun shy after yesterday's disastrous muffin experience

But my need overcame my fear and

BAM!

Waffles.

Gluten free- dairy free- egg free

WAFFLES!

They were fluffy

They were good.

They were crispy in the outside

Chewy in the inside.

Even the kids are them...

Recipe:

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup of corn starch

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 Tablespoons of canola oil

2 Tablespoons of sugar

1 cup coconut milk

Mix dry. Mix wet. Add wet to dry. The batter will be thick. It should just be runny enough to pour out of the bowl but in a slow thick batter manner.

They were amazing.

But it could be because I haven't eaten anything with anything in it for a while...

High 5

The first few weeks have been a little rocky.

He wasn't a very happy baby.

But

A few dietary changes and I have a brand new baby.

I knew inside that very grumpy mister

Was a content little gentlemen

I have cut out wheat and dairy and eggs.

I know it sounds like a lot or not very much fun but it has been so so so worth it.

He is so squishy and cuddly and smiley.

I have enjoyed the first 5 but I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

It's hard to believe how fast time passes.

Swinging in the Roo

My SIL has this crazy contraption

It's called a mama Roo

It's pretty fancy

Way more high-tech than my ol'

Battery operated swing.

He has finally accepted the idea

That the girls need food too.

So

He actually hangs out in it now.

But only AFTER he has been fed.

Good thing his sisters love him

And

Are a little more patient than him.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love banana muffins.

So do the kids.

My mom takes the cake for healthy banana muffins.

So when I make them I want fluffy white deliciousness.

I found this recipe on Pinterest.

It's really good.

I made a few adjustments.

Mostly because of my laziness to find room temperature butter and I didn't want to haul my good mixer out.

The original recipe is found here :

 http://www.adventures-in-food.com/2012/06/banana-chocolate-chip-muffins.html?m=1

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 12 normal sized and then 24 minis

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (I used cold margarine)

1 cup mashed bananas (I used 3 large)

1/4 cup milk (I used 1/2 cup- I added at least another 1/4 cup at the end because the batter was too thick)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder (heaping)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 ( 350) degrees and grease muffin pans or use muffin cup liners. (Just the pan greased and floured) 

2. Beat together butter, sugar, banana, egg, and milk until smooth. (Mine wasn't so smooth)

3. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, then mix until combined. 

4. Stir in chocolate chips and scoop batter into muffin pans.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, (12 minutes for my minis and 20 for my normal ones) until a toothpick comes out clean, then cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes before turning out. (I skipped the cooling and went straight to burning my mouth)

The first week of February

I have a feeling that all the posts in the first few months of this year will be the same.

Life is sort of returning to normal.

The older girls go to school.

Penny watches cartoons and does puzzles and school books.

Andy sleeps and eats.

I .... I am not sure what I do

But

Boy am I glad I have a calendar!!!

And a furnace.

The deep freeze that has settled is chilly.

It's kind of hard to believe it's been 4 weeks since his arrival.

Although looking at the state of my house- it's not hard to believe that I haven't cleaned in a month!!!

That's pretty much our week.

We did bless Andy on Sunday.

I will post those pictures sometime.

Dusty did take the girls skiing.

I doubt he took pictures.

And

My brother in law had a baby.

Well his wife did.

A boy!

So lots of fun things.