Our Daily Bread [Meal Planning]

I’ve never been good at meal planning. I rarely get organized ahead of time, and when I do, I don’t follow the plan because something else sounds good that night or I don’t want to go to the work of a particular meal or our schedule gets messed up.

Instead of planning a specific schedule for our meals, I simply made lists of ideas. Dinner ideas I split into 7 main categories (one for each day of the week, though I probably won’t stick to specific days for each category and will often skip a category and double up on another). I posted the breakfast, lunch, and snack list on the fridge where the kids can see it.

I have picky eaters. And I’m a lazy cook. And we’re terrible at sit-down dinners even though formal family dinner was a daily non-negotiable during my childhood and I understand the importance. Family dinners are on my priority list for this year.

Breakfast:

Eggs (and toast for Levi) (w/ veggies for me)

Oatmeal

Greek yogurt

Protein waffles (freeze ahead)

Bagels and cream cheese

Lunch:

[+ fruit (fresh, fruit strip, apple chips, frozen blueberries, applesauce, or pineapple) and veggie (carrots, tomatoes, celery, mini peppers, snap peas)]

Tuna sandwiches

Grilled-cheese sandwiches

PB&J sandwiches

Chicken sandwiches

Hamburgers

BLTs

Chicken nuggets

Baked potatoes

Tortillas with taco fillings, beans, or chicken sausage

Mac-n-cheese

Cup of noodles

Spaghetti

Pizza

(Grilled meat with salad for me)

Snacks:

Veggies

Pretzels

Cheese sticks

Teriyaki sticks

Granola bars

Nuts or dried fruit

Toast

Sweet potato chips

Dill pickles

Olives

Chips and salsa

Dinner:

Soup (clam chowder, chicken noodle, pasta fajioli, beef stew, zuppa toscana, taco soup or chili)

Mexican (tacos, fajitas, burritos, enchiladas)

Asian (pork fried rice, Asian chicken salad, orange chicken)

Italian (spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, lemon garlic shrimp scampi)

Chicken (pesto, nuggets, stir-fry, rotisserie, fried chicken)

Beef (hamburgers, steak, sloppy joes, Swiss steak, French dip roast, beef/potato/corn hash, hamburger gravy)

Pork (sausage and spinach gnocchi, pulled pork sandwiches, spiral ham, brats)

Sides:

Veggies:

Green beans

Roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes (or potatoes/carrots/onion)

Salad

Fried onions

Sautéed asparagus

Roasted Brussel’s sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower

(Corn)

Bread/Starch:

Homemade bread

Cornbread

Biscuits

Noodles

Rice

Mashed potatoes

Treats:

Cinnamon Oranges

Popcorn (microwave or kettle)

Brownies

Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Chip Cookies

French Breakfast Puffs

Italian Sodas

It's That Time Again

Yes, time for a re-set.

I’m starting another Whole30 this month. [I had planned to start on the 2nd, but life. Party leftovers, illness, inclement weather…So I’ve had a “soft start” the past few days.]

I’m trying my own mayo for the first time around. I’m also hoping to get a batch of home-brewed kombucha going. My sister gave me a beautiful recipe book and a brewing jar for Christmas and I can’t wait!

Drinks:

A detox mixture of water, apple cider vinegar, lemon, and cayenne pepper (Yes, it’s nasty.)

Green tea (I love Tazo’s Zen tea.) (I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the first cup of the morning.)

La Croix sparkling water (or other sparkling waters like Trader Joe’s lemon) (I live on these...)

Snacks:

Fresh fruit or vegetables

Black olives

Dill pickles

LARA Bars (in case of emergency)

Breakfast:

I almost always eat some combination of eggs and veggies (scrambled and sauteed, respectively). Today it was eggs with mushrooms, bell peppers, and asparagus. Occasionally I’ll add sausage or bacon.

On rare occasions I’ll eat a sliced banana topped with coconut milk, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and toasted sliced almonds (too many carbs and not enough protein, so it doesn’t last as long).

Even more rare (because it’s more time consuming and, again, not enough protein), Sweet Potato Latkes and fried apple slices.

Lunch:

Salads with various cold meats with either guacamole or olive oil and vinegar dressing like this Greek Dressing or Caesar dressing using homemade mayo (I love taco salad or a salad with sliced cold steak in particular.)

Veggies dipped in guac and a few slices of cold steak (I love the individual serving guacamole cups at Costco.)

BLT Lettuce Wraps (These would be delish with sliced avocado.)

Lettuce-wrapped tuna salad with tomato and homemade mayo

Cold Sesame (Cucumber) Noodles

Dinners:

My go-to dinner is some sort of BBQ meat and roasted veggies. It’s easy and fast. I also keep Aidell’s Chicken and Apple Sausages and organic beef or chicken stock on hand (available at Costco) for emergencies. But here are a few more ideas for you.

Slow-cooker Piquant French Dip (lovingly called “the roast that does everything” at our house) [3-lb chuck roast, 2 cups water, 1/2 soy sauce or coconut aminos, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 bay leaf, 3 whole peppercorns; place in slow-cooker, cook on high 5-6 hours or until beef is tender, shred beef, strain broth and skim fat; use leftover meat and broth for veggie soup.]

Loaded bunless burgers [I usually top them with some combination of dijon mustard, avocado, bacon, lettuce, tomato; but you could add dill pickles or marinara sauce or grilled pineapple…]

Personal Pesto Chicken Meatza

Asian Ground Beef Broccoli Slaw (I just use the kale salad mix from Costco instead of the broccoli and spinach.)

Korean Beef-Wrapped Asparagus (Leave out the honey if you want it to be Whole-30 approved.)

Lettuce-wrapped tacos (Turkey Lettuce Wrap Tacos with Chiles, Cumin, Cilantro, Lime and Tomato-Avocado Salsa)

Paleo Chikfila Chicken Nuggets

Bruschetta Chicken

Very Greek Grilled Chicken

Oven-baked Chicken Fajitas (This is one of my favorites. I serve it with tortillas for my family.)

Proscuitto-Wrapped Rosemary Chicken [Chicken wrapped in prosciutto with rosemary- marinate the chicken with rosemary, white wine (use a vinegar for Whole30), pepper, garlic, olive oil and red onion. Wrap the prosciutto around the chicken with a sprig of rosemary tucked in and bake for 40 minutes.]

Lemon Garlic Dijon Chicken

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken

Chicken and Asparagus Lemon Stir Fry (Substitute alternate oil and coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.)

Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles (FYI: the wine is not Whole30-approved.)

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

Baked Salmon with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Asparagus

Pulled Pork with Slaw (I use Costco’s Kirkland Signature pulled pork and the kale salad mix for the slaw veggies with this creamy dressing.)

BBQ Brats and Sauerkraut

Sausage and Cabbage Noodles

Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice (with Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Rice)

Sides:

Heirloom Tomato Avocado Caprese Salad

Grilled Artichokes with Roasted Garlic Olive Oil Dip

Green salad (with guacamole or oil and vinegar dressing)

Roasted veggies (potatoes with bruschetta seasoning, sweet potatoes with cinnamon, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, bell peppers and onions…)

Sauteed snow peas

Green beans

Need more inspiration? You’ll find endless ideas at these blogs:

Melissa Joulwan’s Well-Fed

Elana’s Pantry (but no baked sweets during Whole30!—even if they are Paleo)

Everyday Paleo

paleOMG

nom nom paleo

Against All Grain

Favorite Book of 2015 ~ The Supper of the Lamb

The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection by Robert Farrar Capon

It’s a cook book.

It has recipes.

Well, that and a great deal of philosophy, theology, poetry, parenting advice, and laugh-out-loud humor.

I’d say it’s a little C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Frederick Buechner, N.D. Wilson (Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl), and Bill Bryson.

In a cook book—written by an Episcopalian priest who considers himself an amateur chef.

It’s an absolute celebration of the unnecessary goodness of the simple things—playfulness that leads to profound poetry.

A convivial feast.

I think I shall add it to my top ten, even though it is not a novel.

I can say this as an unashamed electric-stove-user and canned-whipped-cream-eater.

So many passages beg to be read aloud (the part on pocket knives, for example) and I gaffawed repeatedly—like when he compared the feel of packaged bread to a leaky concertina and wrote that boxed cereal tastes like old ironing-board covers soaked in milk.

And yet some passages were so beautiful, they made me want to weep.

Please let me share a small sampling of my heavily underlined book. [You might want to pour yourself a glass of wine and settle in.]

“The world…needs all the lovers—amateurs—it can get. It is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have. Unfortunately, however, our response to its loveliness is not always delight: It is, far more than it should be, boredom. And that is not only odd, it is tragic; for boredom is not neutral—it is the fertilizing principle of unloveliness.” 

[From the whole chapter devoted to cutting an onion. Yes, you read that right.] “You will note, to begin with, that the onion is a thing, a being, just as you are. Savor that for a moment. The two of you sit here in mutual confrontation. Together with knife, board, table, and chair, you are the constituents of a place in the highest sense of the word. This is a Session, a meeting, a society of things.” 

“Man’s real work is to look at the things of the world and to love them for what they are. That is, after all, what God does, and man was not made in God’s image for nothing. The fruits of his attention can be seen in all the arts, crafts, and sciences. It can cost him time and effort, but it pays handsomely.” 

"A man can do worse than be poor. He can miss altogether the sight of the greatness of small things." “[F]or life is so much more than occasions, and its grand ordinariness must never go unsavored.” 

“The girl is bored. Additional goodness cannot help her; inattention has immunized her against even what she has.” 

"Food is the daily sacrament of unnecessary goodness, ordained for a continual remembrance that the world will always be more delicious than it is useful. Necessity is the mother only of cliches. It takes playfulness to make poetry." 

“Red in tooth and claw, we come at last to a fierce and painful city, to the bloody, unobliging reciprocity in which life lives by death, but still insists that death is robbery.” 

"A woman with a cleaver in mid-swing is no mere woman. She breaks upon the eye of the beholder as an epiphany of power, as mistress of a house in which only trifles may be trifled with--and in which she defines the trifles. A man who has seen women only as gentle arrangers of flowers has not seen all that women have to offer. Unsuspected majesties await him." 

"And the mushroom? Ah! It is the proof of creation ex nihilo, the paradigm of the marvelously solid unnecessariness of the world. How anything so nearly nothing could at the same time be so emphatically something--how the Spirit brooding upon the face of the waters could have brought forth this...well, words fail, and mystery reigns." 

“With wine at hand, the good man concerns himself, not with getting drunk, but with drinking in all the natural delectabilities of wine: taste, color, bouquet; its manifold graces; the way it complements food and enhances conversation; and its sovereign power to turn evenings into occasions, to lift eating beyond nourishment to conviviality, and to bring the race, for a few hours at least, to that happy state where men are wise and women beautiful, and even one’s children begin to look promising.” 

[On a whole chapter about thickening the stew:] "Only miracle is plain; it is the ordinary that groans with the unutterable weight of glory." "It is the smallness of the process that hides the wonder." "Each particle of flour, till now so nearly dry, becomes a creature of the sea again, pregnant with the juices of life, waiting for a pentecost of power." "Unfortunately, we live in an age which is too little impressed by the small and too easily intimidated by the great." "Creation is vast in every direction. It is as hugely small as it is large." 

[On wooden spoons:] "True enough, they burn easily and become cracked with age; but then, so do we all. It's nice to have a few things around that make no pretense of imperishability." 

"The dish, however, should never be wet and sticky. The grains of rice should salute you individually, not simply glare back at you as a single glutinous mass." 

"Knead well...it is good for your soul. There are few actions you will ever take that have more of the stuff of history in them. A woman with her sleeves rolled up and flour on her hands is one of the most gorgeous stabilities in the world. Don't let your family miss the sight." 

"It should be noted that the rolling of a strudel calls for a certain amount of finesse. Violence, of course, is out; but so are faintheartedness and apologetic flipping. Quiet boldness is perhaps the attitude to strive for." 

[On parenting and getting kids to eat well:] “Give them any goals you like—but don’t hold your breath. When all is said and done, their loves are in their hands, not ours; we went into this business only to go out of business. No matter how sad it makes you feel, everything here remains a game: We have yet to sit down to the really serious Supper of the Lamb. Say Amen, and let them go in peace.” 

"May we all sit long enough for reserve to give way to ribaldry and for gallantry to grow upon us. May there be singing at our table before the night is done, and old, broad jokes to fling at the stars and tell them we are men. We are great, my friend; we shall not be saved for trampling that greatness under foot... Come then; leap upon these mountains, skip upon these hills and heights of earth. The road to Heaven does not run from the world but through it. The longest Session of all is no discontinuation of these sessions here, but a lifting of them all by priestly love. It is a place for men, not ghosts--for the risen gorgeousness of the New Earth and for the glorious earthiness of the True Jerusalem. Eat well then. Between our love and His Priesthood, He makes all things new. Or Last Home will be home indeed." 

"Homemade soup is no place for narrow dogmatism." 

"Love is as strong as death. Man was made to lead with his chin, he is worth knowing only with his guard down, his head up, and his heart rampant on his sleeve. But second, last and most important, playing it safe is not Divine. We have come to the end. I tell you simply what I believe. Love is the widest, choicest door into the Passion."

My Favorite Lesson

[Speaking of integration…] I love the TED-Ed animated videos, and this one is no exception. I think we should experiment with this lesson daily. We’ve tried it twice already this school year. I made the above cookies last week and Luke made scrumptious oatmeal craisin cookies this week. Mmmmmmmmm.

Pre-Christmas

Christmas Eve-Eve we drove around with the kids to look at Christmas lights and then stopped by my parents’ house to see my mom’s stocking display. She made all-new stockings this year for all 18 of us!

Christmas Eve day was spent cleaning house and baking. Russ took all 4 kids to swim practice in the morning and then to town to pick up a couple things. I was grateful for the quiet time to work.

I made my new favorite, strawberry almond shortbread thumbprint cookies (gluten-free for my mom and mother-in-law).

We spent the evening with my in-laws. I made barbequed steak, grilled onions, roasted yams, salad, and gluten-free biscuits. We had crème brulee for dessert.

They are two of my most favorite people!

Sweets for You

 

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies from Against All Grain

Not that I’ve been making great food choices the past few days (always a struggle for me!), but I did try a grain free chocolate chip cookie recipe. My mom gave it two thumbs up, so I thought I’d share. {grin}

Let’s Celebrate

Four weeks of Paleo-ish, lots of Shredding; 7 pounds lost, muscle gained. (Not bad considering I had a few bad days in there.)

And, as everyone knows, chocolate cake is the only way to celebrate.

Hot, gooey, dense, sweet, rich chocolate cake.

How about hot chocolate cake with about the same number of carbs as a (much smaller) Yoplait yogurt? BUT, it is sweetened with honey, has 13 grams of protein, and has NO GRAINS (or dairy).

How about hot chocolate cake that bakes in 60 seconds?

Yeah, that’s what I said. No way is this going to taste like real chocolate cake.

I’m eating my words. And a mug of chocolate cake more often than I’d like to admit.

It’s incredible. Not only the taste, but the way it satisfies. It is so filling. I don’t fill up easily, especially when it comes to desserts. But by the last bite of this mug cake I think to myself, That was just right; one more bite would be too much. I’m guessing many of you would find this portion too much for just one person.

But it is so much better than a whole pan of brownies or a batch of cookies endlessly calling my name.

I say, eat a bowl of veggies for a mid-morning snack and then have chocolate cake for lunch. {grin}

I found the original recipe at Paleo Angel. You can thank me later. Are you ready to bake cake? Go grab a big mug (at least 16 oz.).

Dump the ingredients right in your mug.

2 Tablespoons almond butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons honey (1Tbsp wasn’t quite sweet enough for me.)
1-2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I just heap a Tablespoon as heaping as it gets.)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 egg

(Chopped nuts—optional)

(I have also added cinnamon and cardamom with great success, but I just tried almond extract instead and it was divine.)

Mix well with a fork. Your batter should look like brownie batter.

Stick your mug in the microwave for 60 seconds. Part of the cake will still be very moist, like a chocolate lava cake. But don’t over-bake it, or parts of it will be too dry.

I find that the hardest part is letting it cool long enough so that it doesn’t burn my tongue. Well, that and fighting off children who crowd around hoping for a bite…

Enjoy!!

If pumpkin is more your style, try this pumpkin mug from my friend Cori at Wonder in the Woods.

Paleo-ish ~ Weeks 2, 3, and 4

AKA: The Rollercoaster

Did anyone wonder what happened to this? It has been three weeks since I’ve shared an update on my quest for good health in the areas of food and exercise. Mostly because I didn’t want to be transparent. That is the point, however, of sharing in the first place: Being willing to own my goals. Accountability.

My goal was to complete a modified Whole30. Having completed a Whole30 Challenge last year, I had slightly different goals this time around. The past 30 days I planned to eat Paleo-ish with some dairy thrown in. I didn’t intend on reading labels so closely. Trace amounts of soy or even wheat didn’t bother me.

I also planned to add in exercise, which is one thing I didn’t manage to do the last time around. I knew that I needed to increase my strength and endurance.

My friend Danielle stuck with the challenge for 30 days and had incredible results. I’m so proud of her! It really is a huge accomplishment.

How did I do? Some days I did great. Some days…not so great. But I’m going to choose to look at the past 30 days as a success.

I improved my eating overall (it may not seem like it if you read my tedious food journal, but if you had any idea what I ate before…). My goal is not to eat well for 30 days. It is to create long-term, workable solutions for making good food choices. I’m still wrestling with what that looks like on an on-going basis. I know I’ve said it before, but I love to eat. I’ve always loved to eat. I love quantity. And I love a lot of junky food. And once I get started on junky food, I can’t stop. (I will say that in the past 30 days I once had a few sips of root beer and once a few sips of Dr. Pepper—other than that, I haven’t had any soda. Wahoo!)

As far as exercising goes, I’m so proud of myself! I didn’t work out every day (and I’m far from ‘shredded’…I’m still on level 1 of the 30 Day Shred), but I’ve been fairly consistent. I know that I’ve gained strength and endurance. I have every intention of continuing with exercising 5 days a week. If only I could figure out how to do so and still get to bed at a decent hour. Sigh.

I don’t expect anyone to read my food journal. It is mostly for my own benefit that I have kept track over the past few weeks. But, if it inspires anyone or even if it helps anyone to know that I’ve fought hard and still slipped up, well, I’m happy to share.

Day 8:
Breakfast—Eggs and bacon
Lunch—Taco salad
Dinner—Salad with romaine, chicken, toasted sliced almonds, grape tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing
Dessert—Apple slices and blackberries fried in coconut oil with cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and smothered in coconut milk
(Russ had just picked both the apples and the blackberries…YUM! I thought I deserved dessert after narrowly resisting a piece of pizza!)
Exercise—30 Day Shred

Day 9:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells chicken apple sausage
Lunch—Pan”cake” (almond meal, eggs, butter, and Greek yogurt baked in oven) with a drizzle of honey (meh.) and a few pear slices
Snack—Sweet potato chips
Dinner—Sabatino’s spinach with aged white cheddar chicken patty with romaine and spinach, tomato, and avocado and a carrot
Exercise—30 Day Shred

Day 10:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells chicken apple sausage
Lunch—Taco salad
Snack—A little fruit leather (only real fruit, no sweetener)
Dinner—Grilled trout with onions and lemon, and roasted yams
Dessert—Apple slices sauteed in coconut oil with cinnamon, sea salt, and coconut milk
Exercise—30 Day Shred

Day 11:
Breakfast—Sliced banana, toasted sliced almonds, coconut milk and cinnamon (with a pinch of sea salt) (I ran out of eggs!!)
Lunch—Taco salad
Dinner—Bombed. But I had so much fun with my family, and I still didn’t eat as much/everything I wanted to.
Exercise—Hiking with the family (including some killer steps). I should have done the 30 Day Shred, but I fell when I was climbing over a log and my arm and back were sore.

Day 12:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells chicken apple sausage
Snack—A few pistachios and dried (sweetened) cranberries
Lunch—Bombed. A slice of pizza, a few breadsticks, and a few chocolate chips. We were on the go and I didn’t have anything packed.
Dinner—Pesto chicken (YUM!!), cherry tomatoes, and smoothie (banana, pineapple, spinach, frozen blackberries)
Snack—A granola bar that I should NOT have eaten. But I was hungry and it was my weak hour of 10 pm.
Exercise—30 Day Shred (I put it off until after midnight! and I really had to talk myself into it…but it felt so good when I was finished.)

Day 13:
Breakfast—Eggs
It pretty much went down-hill from there
Exercise—None. Went to bed because I was in a bad mood. Bleh.

Day 14:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells sausage
Snack/Lunch/Snack—Not good. Not good at all.
Dinner—I was determined to turn the day around. Mexican Stuffed Green Peppers. YUM!!

Day 15:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells sausage
Mumble, mumble, mumble (I did have some leftover filling from the green peppers, cold, while we were out and about and it was yummy.)
Exercise—I walked, and walked, and walked at the Renaissance Faire

Day 16:
Out all day at church and a birthday party. (I *really* enjoyed myself…)

Tomorrow is always a new day. Right?!

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, (attributed) (HT: Momastery)

 

Day 17:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells sausage
Snack—Pistachios and dried (sweetened) cranberries
Lunch—Leftover stuffed green peppers
Dinner—Taco salad
Exercise—30 Day Shred
(Wahooooo!)

Day 18:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells sausage
Snack—Pistachios and dried (sweetened) cranberries, dried apples, pea pods
Lunch—Pastrami, cheese, and a banana
Dinner—Sausages (some yummy chicken kind), roasted cabbage with fennel, sliced avocado
Dessert--Paleo Pear Crisp (meh.)
Exercise—Walked for hours at the Oregon Garden

Day 19:
Breakfast—Sliced banana with coconut milk, toasted sliced almonds, cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt
Snack (ha!)—Eggs and sausage (I was dying of starvation by 10:30. That will teach me to skip eggs in the morning!)
Lunch—Pastrami and cheese. Chocolate chips. Hmmmm.
Dinner—Melt in Your Mouth Chicken (with Greek yogurt and parmesan cheese), roasted broccoli and cauliflower, sliced avocado, and cherry tomatoes
Snack—Toast. Sigh. That 9pm hour kills me.
Exercise—30 Day Shred (I almost skipped it because it was LATE and I couldn’t find the DVD player remote, but I persisted—finally found the remote and worked out at 11:30. It is SO. HARD. to take the time to exercise when I have a long to-do list and I need to get to bed earlier!)

Day 20:
Breakfast—(I bet you can’t guess…Ha!) Eggs and Aidells sausage
It really went downhill from there. For a few days. Sigh.

…Day 21:
Dinner—I did make sausage with cabbage noodles for dinner. That’s something, right?

Day 22

Day 23…

 

A new start. Again.

Day 24:
Breakfast—Eggs and Aidells sausage
Snack—Pistachios and dried cranberries
Lunch—Celery with almond butter, cherry tomatoes
Snack—Pea pods
Dinner—BBQ steak, grilled onions, roasted yams with olive oil and sea salt, avocado, cherry tomatoes
Exercise—30 Day Shred (I managed to start at 10pm and be in bed by 10:40! It’s a start in the right direction.)

Day 25:
Breakfast—Eggs, Italian sausage with kale and parmesan cheese
Lunch—Leftover steak strips, and banana with coconut milk, sliced toasted almonds, cinnamon, and sea salt
Dinner—Taco salad
Dessert—Paleo pancakes (AKA: a way to use up my too-ripe bananas since I can’t eat banana bread. All four kids gave them a thumbs up!!) (3 eggs, one mashed ripe banana, 1 cup almond meal, a smidge of sea salt/baking powder/cinnamon, and just a little arrowroot powder for the fun of it—mixed and fried up in coconut oil. With a *smidge* of maple syrup.)
Dessert #2—I know. I know. But, seriously. My husband walked in late in the evening with an apple pie hot out of the oven. My friend had made it for him because he had fixed her computer. Hot, home-made apple pie smell wafting through the house. It was a sin to waste it, that’s all I’m saying.
Exercise—It was late, but I owed it to myself after dessert #2. 30 Day Shred at 11pm. Sigh.

Day 26:
Breakfast—Eggs, Italian sausage with kale and parmesan cheese
Lunch—Taco salad
Snack—Yes, that apple pie was still sitting on my counter. I ate some leftover steak to balance out the sugar a little.
Dinner—Beef and Broccoli (my own concoction) topped with toasted sliced almonds
Dessert—Banana pancakes (I’ve got to stop eating in the late evening, but I’m so hungry around 9pm!)
Exercise—30 Day Shred (I’ve also got to stop working out after 11pm, but it is hard for me to finish my other tasks before then!)

Day 27:
Breakfast—Eggs, Italian sausage with kale
Lunch—Steak, romaine lettuce, and spinach-parmesan dip, dried apples
Dinner—Thai cilantro grilled chicken and green salad
Exercise—30 Day Shred (I thought I’d try level 2—die.) (Worked out after book club, but done by 11pm—wahoo!)
(A great day in the end, but I was in such a snacky mood. I went to make chocolate Larabar, but I was out of pecans. I tried to add some cocoa powder to almond butter, but it tasted yucky. I would have caved if someone had brought dessert to book club, but luckily no one did. Only three of us there, but great conversation. I just love those ladies.)

Day 28:
Breakfast—Eggs, Italian sausage with kale
Lunch—Leftover beef and broccoli
Dinner and Dessert—Date night with hubby. I ate whatever I wanted. {grin}

Day 29:
Breakfast—Banana pancakes (I didn’t feel like making eggs, and I figured the pancakes with egg and almond meal would have more protein than a banana with coconut milk.)
Lunch—Leftover Thai cilantro chicken
Dinner—Spaghetti meat sauce sans noodles
Snacks—I made bad snack choices today. (Ritz crackers and chocolate chips. Sigh.)
Exercise—30 Day Shred (level 1 again—ah, much better…in fact, it felt really good…if only it weren’t at midnight…)

Day 30:
Breakfast—Eggs, Italian sausage with kale and parmesan cheese
Lunch—Ham and cheese roll-ups
Dinner—Bun-less burger with spinach, pesto, and chopped grape tomatoes, and a fruit/spinach smoothie
Snacks—Bad choices again today.
Exercise—30 Day Shred (at 11:30 pm)

Whole(ish)30(ish): Take 2

We’re going to get a good start on our new year. Our menu will be mostly Paleo but with some cheese snuck in here and there. This time I’m going to work in some form of exercise. I’m posting my general menu ideas for reference.

Anyone joining me? {Come on. You can do it!}

Breakfast:
Sliced bananas or sauteed cinnamon apples with pecans and coconut milk
Banana with almond butter
Chopped nut, seed, and dried fruit cereal with coconut milk
Eggs, eggs, and more eggs
Sausage or Bacon
Green smoothies (banana, OJ or canned unsweetened pineapple, baby spinach, and frozen berries in Vitamix)
Sauteed steak and veggies
Pumpkin/apple/bacon biscuits

Lunch:
Tuna, lettuce, cherry tomato, and sunflower seed wraps
Various soups, salads, or leftovers

Snacks:
Deviled eggs
Almonds and dried cranberries
Veggies
Black olives
Celery with almond butter
Sweet potato chips

To Go:
Lara Bars

Dinner:
Bun-less loaded burgers
Grilled meat + roasted veggie (cauliflower, cabbage, sweet potato) + green salad
Roasted broccoli with chicken apple sausage and slivered almonds
Pizza salad or taco salad
Pizza with chicken or cauliflower crust
Grilled Lemon Chicken and Faux-tato Salad
Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia
Chicken antipasto kabobs (chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, cherry tomatoes (mozzarella))
Slow Cooker Latin Chicken
Egg flower soup and Chinese meat and veggie platter (take-out)
Shrimp and Egg Flower Soup
Beef and veggie stew
Chicken and veggie soup (or pumpkin veggie chicken soup)
Sausage tomato soup
Cabbage soup with chicken and pork
Moo Shu Vegetables
Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers with marinara sauce and green salad
Indian Chicken Curry
Garlic Shrimp and Tomatoes
Zucchini Lasagna
Fajitas in lettuce bowl or fajita chicken salad
Spaghetti meat sauce over spaghetti squash
Roasted Brussels sprouts, apples, and bacon
Avocado, tomato, cucumber, (mozzarella) salad
Chorizo Mini Meatloaves with Chipotle, Tomato Relish
Pulled pork spareribs with coffee/molasses barbeque sauce (for cheat-nights :))

Cook hamburger and onion in olive and sesame oils. Add a teaspoon of coriander then toss in a bag of frozen chopped broccoli. Serve as is or stuffed into a baked acorn squash or bell pepper.

Sautee zucchini, yellow squash, and onions in bacon fat. Add shrimp and crumbled bacon. Add baby spinach at the last minute. Top with lemon juice.

Drinking:
Good Earth Lemongrass Green Tea
Lots of water

Desperation:
Chocolate milkshakes (frozen banana, coconut milk, cocoa powder, a couple frozen strawberries in Vitamix)
Chocolate date balls (pecans, dates, and cocoa powder in food processor; roll into balls)

Cheating:
Chocolate Mug Cake (with coconut milk and almond flour)
Dates with cream cheese

Whole30 ~ Week 2

Look! I’m still here! Two weeks down. Two to go. I’m extremely proud of myself. 27 days without Dr. Pepper.

I’m not sure how I feel. Lola’s sleeping is all over the place, and lack of sleep affects me in a huge way. So I can’t tell if my energy levels and headaches are sleep related or food related. Regardless, I’m eating healthier than I ever have before, so that’s a huge plus.

Pro: I have made a hot, tasty (breakfast, lunch, and) dinner for 14 days in a row. (Yep. That’s a record.)

Con: I’ve had to make a hot, tasty (breakfast, lunch, and) dinner for 14 days in a row. This diet is very cooking-intensive.

Pro: My refrigerator and freezer are constantly well-stocked, and we are actually eating. the. food.

Con: I’ve had to keep the refrigerator stocked. This diet is very grocery shopping-intensive.

Pro: Nope. Let’s go straight to con on this one.

Con: My kitchen is constantly a disaster. I barely have time (or often don’t, at all) to recover from the mess of one meal before it’s time for the next. [Sigh. There just isn’t enough me to go around. I can’t clean quickly enough. Can’t cook quickly enough. Can’t parent well enough. Can’t do laundry quickly enough. Can’t return emails, teach, run errands, pay bills, wipe bottoms, make appointments quickly enough. Can’t lesson plan well enough. Can’t blog. Can’t read. Can’t watch TV. Can’t sleep. No such thing as break time, me time, quiet time, evenings, weekends, not even night-time. I’m exhausted!! Okay, sorry. Rant over.]

On Mother’s Day we had BBQ burgers with the works, roasted veggies, sweet potato chips, and a huge fruit salad. I made ‘banana split milkshake’ for dessert. YUM!

The winning recipe from this week: Chicken Pizza. Served with banana, mango, coconut milk, spinach, and frozen blackberry smoothies. Yeah, baby. I made the mini pizzas with leftover spaghetti sauce, salami, crumbled Italian sausage, sundried tomatoes, black olives and sliced fresh tomato. I know paleo pizza isn’t Whole30 approved (along with my sweet potato chips, Lara Bars, milkshakes, recent date obsession, and weighing myself…), but you do what you gotta do. So there. I can see this being a staple menu item.

BBQ flank steak and roasted yams were delicious last night.

Another hit this week: my mom’s chicken salad. I could eat this all day long. I made up two big batches of it for lunches. Very, very handy.

Mom’s Chicken Salad

2-3 cups chopped chicken
1 cup chopped celery (and/or cucumbers, zucchini)
1 apple chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans chopped (sunflower seeds are also delicious!)
bacon (of course)
finely chopped red pepper

dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 Tablespoon dill pickle juice

 

Oh, and I’m down another 2 pounds this week, 7 pounds total. I’ll take it. I’ve cut down on snacking and fruits/nuts the past few days, so that might have helped things along.

 

How is it going for all of my fabulous Whole30 peeps?

 

He who has health has hope;

and he who has hope has everything. 

~Arabic Proverb

I Might Be Crazy Enough…

But I’m waiting until the end of this month to begin. Anyone daring enough to try it with me?

Only meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruit for 30 days. (And nuts and good fats.)

No sugar, no processed food, no grains, no soy, no dairy, no peanuts, no white potatoes, no alcohol, no legumes.

I think that eliminates about 95% of what I eat and drink. Scary.

First Burger

We love to eat out. LOVE to eat. Especially out. Between the job situation and the baby situation, eating out hasn't been as high on our list the last couple months. I won't pretend we haven't been relying (heavily) on prepared foods or take-out, but dining IN occasions have been sparce.

So it was a big treat for the whole family to head to the old downtown district and eat at First Burger. It is one of my favorite places! A lovely, bright, clean, colorful space with great food. The decor is a mix of bold graphic design, retro, industrial, and American farm. Super classy.

First Burger features natural, local ingredients. The burgers are fabulous (I had a LOADED one), as are the sweet potato fries. The food is a great value for the budget-conscious, as well. What a bonus!

The restaurant was packed over the lunch hour, but I managed to snap this shot of the family while the two tables behind us were in transition...

Saturday Seven ~ Week 29

1:: Made PB cookies for my hubby for (sadly) the first time. I don't care for them, but he loves them. A friend made these, and when I found out how simple they were I had to give them a try! Russ gives them two thumbs up. (Oh, and they are gluten-free!)

1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar (or a little less), 1 egg, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix together. Roll dough into balls. Roll in sugar. Press down with fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. (Makes about 18 cookies.) Easier than pie.

2:: Enjoying a few days of solitude. 2 doctor appointments, 2 shopping sprees, 2 photoshoots, 2 chick flicks, 2(0) loads of laundry, 2 rooms cleaned and organized (unfortunately not the 2 I was really hoping to work on), more than 2 naps, 20 projects still unfinished... I need 2 extra days!!

3:: I LOVE fresh peaches!!!

4:: I don't so much love having so much to do and so little energy/stamina. Sigh.

5:: Okay, I realize that I don't share everything on this blog, and I really try to focus on the positive, but sometimes I realize that y'all might think I have it all together. I'd hate for anyone to think that. So, for the sake of complete honesty:

Most days, lately, this parenting gig has me on my knees by nightfall. No, that isn't quite strong enough. This parenting gig has me flat on my face by mid-morning. I simply don't seem to have what it takes. Not the self-discipline, not the consistency, not the personality, not the energy, not the imagination, not nothin'. I'm so freaking exhausted. The thought of adding a newborn to this life is terrifying.

There really isn't a solution. Well, there are lots of solutions, but every single one requires more of me. And there isn't.

Enough of the honesty, let's find something productive to contemplate...


6:: On Education (and the work force):

*Would You Hire Your Own Kids? 7 Skills Schools Should Be Teaching Them at The Daily Riff:

Clay Parker stressed the importance of employees whom he hires being more than just smart. "I want people who can think -- they're not just bright -- they're also inquisitive. Are they engaged, are they interested in the world?" And Mark Summers told me: "People who've learned to ask great questions and have learned to be inquisitive are the ones who move the fastest in our environment because they solve the biggest problems in ways that have most impact on innovation."

*Here I Stand: 2010 Valedictorian Speech by Erica Goldson:

"And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us."

7:: On Creativity (and education and industry):

*The Creativity Crisis at Newsweek (fascinating stuff here, friends):

Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put into homeroom. The argument that we can’t teach creativity because kids already have too much to learn is a false trade-off. Creativity isn’t about freedom from concrete facts. Rather, fact-finding and deep research are vital stages in the creative process. Scholars argue that current curriculum standards can still be met, if taught in a different way.

Having studied the childhoods of highly creative people for decades, Claremont Graduate University’s Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and University of Northern Iowa’s Gary G. Gute found highly creative adults tended to grow up in families embodying opposites. Parents encouraged uniqueness, yet provided stability. They were highly responsive to kids’ needs, yet challenged kids to develop skills. This resulted in a sort of adaptability: in times of anxiousness, clear rules could reduce chaos—yet when kids were bored, they could seek change, too. In the space between anxiety and boredom was where creativity flourished.

From fourth grade on, creativity no longer occurs in a vacuum; researching and studying become an integral part of coming up with useful solutions. But this transition isn’t easy. As school stuffs more complex information into their heads, kids get overloaded, and creativity suffers. When creative children have a supportive teacher—someone tolerant of unconventional answers, occasional disruptions, or detours of curiosity—they tend to excel. When they don’t, they tend to underperform and drop out of high school or don’t finish college at high rates.

*My childhood friend and writer, Trish Lawrence, has been talking about creativity on her new blog, Bringing Creativity to Life: A Blog for Burnt-Out Human Beings.

I don’t intend to be wildly innovative tomorrow when I brush my teeth or when I do the dishes or when I handle my conference call, but I intend to go in with the right mind. A creativity mindset. To enjoy, to live out, to pursue my passion, wherever and whenever I possibly can. To be happy for the chance to be so creative, to be alive, to have two hands and two feet, to have freedom to accomplish things, and for the breath to do it with.

*If you are interesting in exploring how Christianity and Creativity collide, read Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle. This book had a big impact on me as I read it last year, and I'm anticipating revisiting it as it shows up this next month as our book club selection.

To trust, to be truly whole, is also to let go whatever we may consider our qualifications. There's a great paradox here, and a trap for the lazy. I do not need to be "qualified" to play a Bach fugue on the piano (and playing a Bach fugue is for me an exercise in wholeness). But I cannot play that Bach fugue at all if I do not play the piano daily, if I do not practice my finger exercises. There are equivalents of finger exercises in the writing of books, the painting of portraits, the composing of a song. We do not need to be qualified: the gift is free; and yet we have to pay for it...

Creative scientists and saints expect revelation and do not fear it. Neither do children. But as we grow up and we are hurt, we learn not to trust, and that lack of trust is a wound as grievous as whatever caused it.

It strikes me that perhaps I am elevating scientists and down-grading theologians, and that is not true, not fair. For the few scientists who live by revelation there are many more who are no more than technicians, who are terrified of the wide world outside the laboratory, and who trust nothing they cannot prove. Amazing things may happen in their test tubes and retorts, but only the rare few see the implications beyond the immediate experiment. They cannot trust further than their own senses, and this lack of trust is often caught by the rest of us.

*The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things--ancient history, nineteenth century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later, or six months, or six years. But he has faith that it will happen. ~Carl Ally


*We have come to think of art and work as incompatible, or at least independent categories and have for the first time in history created an industry without art. ~Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Have a lovely weekend, and go BE CREATIVE!

*Creativity is the quality that you bring to the activity that you are doing. It is an attitude, an inner approach - how you look at things . . . Whatsoever you do, if you do it joyfully, if you do it lovingly, if your act of doing is not purely economical, then it is creative. ~Osho


*Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun. ~Mary Lou Cook

Cookbook Delights

We've been on a cookbook kick around our house, lately. Levi got the wild idea to have an international-themed birthday party (in January), so he has been pouring over The International Cookbook For Kids. I often see him with a little 'composition notebook' writing down the page numbers and recipes that he would like to have made for his party.

Leif doesn't get left out of anything, so he grabbed the DK Children's Quick & Easy Cookbook. This is the perfect cookbook for Leif: very visual, some words that he can read, and step-by-step, numbered picture instructions. He wants me to look at it with him and pick out my favorite foods.

But Luke has been pouring over our hefty FamilyFun Cookbook (which is, of course, no longer available). It has so many great recipes, photographs, and ideas (a whole page on various play dough/clay recipes). Luke is constantly bringing me the cookbook, turning up his little earnest face, and saying things like, 'Did you know you can make all kinds of scones?!'

A few mornings ago, I walked into the kitchen, and Luke had everything on the counter to make Swedish pancakes. He put two eggs in a little glass bowl. He put a stick of butter in another. He found a 1 1/2 cup measure and put it next to the flour. He had the tablespoon measure next to the sugar. The salt and milk were on the counter. He handed me my apron. This boy was *ready* to make breakfast. It didn't matter that he didn't really know what Swedish pancakes were (and that I would have to eat the whole batch by myself.....).

Leif never misses out on any activity, so Luke read the recipe and they both helped measure, pour, and stir. They were involved every step of the way. (Levi was off in his own little world planning his January birthday party....)

The next morning, we decided on blueberry muffins to go with our scrambled eggs. Luckily, these were more of a hit, and I didn't have to eat the whole batch myself.

It is very clear to me that Luke may be my biggest ally in the kitchen within just a couple years. And I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that....

To Grandfather's House We Go...

We're off, braving the two mile trek through the country (grin) to spend the day with family.
This photo is from two years ago, but we are all about tradition around here.
I'm adding Swedish Limpa (bread) and Orange Cream Souffle (mousse-like jello salad) to the menu, as always.
Shannon and I spent yesterday evening together making bread dressing and watching a romantic comedy.
We walked/ran this morning in the rain so that we wouldn't have to feel quite so badly about the amount of food we will surely eat this afternoon....

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!!

(Living. Lovely. will go up late this evening or tomorrow.)

Today I'm Thankful For...

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Pure Maple Syrup

The Science of Bread

Bread, bread, bread. I'm up to my ears in it! We had a fabulous visit to Thompson's Mill, made a few batches of Cranberry Orange Bread, visited Bob's Red Mill (more about that later)....

We found The Science of a Loaf of Bread at the library. It fit in perfectly with life and studies the last couple weeks. I was surprised by the amount of information in this book, and at a level just right for Levi and Luke. It covers various grains, why we eat bread, the different parts of wheat, how flour is made, how yeast works, making dough, how bread rises, what happens to bread as it is baked, how your body digests bread, physical and chemical changes, pictures, diagrams, experiments, and recipe and instructions for making bread.

Luke begged to make the bread. He had already read all the ingredients and instructions in the book, so there was no deviation from his plan. I think he had most of the ingredients out and on the counter before I finally caved. The kitchen was a disaster, we had other things to do, but there was no putting him off. We made bread. And, boy howdy, was he proud of his loaf!

I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series. We have The Science of a Glass of Water on our stack for this next week. Water.... I think I can handle that.

Living. Lovely. ~ Savor Slow Food

Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well.

Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food

as you devote to your appearance.

Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.

~Charles Pierre Monselet, French author (1825-1888), Letters to Emily

Did you

Savor Slow Food

this past week?

Tell me all about it. Pictures! Recipes! Do share!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in bread mood. Really in a bread mood.

[Breadbaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony.

It leaves you filled with one of the world's sweetest smells...

there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel,

that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.

~M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

I love bread in all forms.
French baguettes. Whole grain toast... buttered, of course. Corn bread.
Biscuits. Banana bread. Scones. Fresh tortillas. Focaccia. Croissants. Shall I go on?
Swedish Limpa (more about that in a couple days).
Orange Cardamom Bread with Cardamom butter (be still my beating heart...).

I had fresh cranberries on hand this week. My mouth was watering for Cranberry Orange Bread.
My dear mother brought me her Pillsbury's Bake Off Breads Cook Book she has used since first married (40 years ago!!).
I thumbed through the pages, remembering various breads she has baked for our family over the years.
I'm pitifully sentimental. I think the Cranberry Orange Bread tastes so much better,
just because I got to use Mom's bread cook book....

I always have helpers in the kitchen. Always. Luke and Leif refuse to miss out on the process. Levi joins us here and there.

I'm counting on the fact that the boys will be able to cook and bake on their own in a few years.... (We also made yeast bread this week, but I'll post about that in a day or two.

There is nothing more theraputic than kneeding bread, I tell ya!)

I made a couple batches. The loaves don't last long around here.

This is all that remained when I remembered I needed to get a picture:

Want the recipe? Voila!

Cranberry Orange Bread

4 cups unbleached white flour (I use 3 cups white, 1 cup whole wheat)
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons grated orange peel
4 Tablespoons (or 1/4 cup) shortening (I use olive oil)
2 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped or halved
(1 cup chopped nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and soda. Stir to mix well.
Add orange juice, orange peel, shortening and egg to dry ingredients. Mix until well blended.
Stir in cranberries (and chopped nuts). Pour into loaf pans.
Bake for 55-65 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool thoroughly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Be Silly!!



Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans;

it's lovely to be silly at the right moment.

~Horace (Ancient Roman Poet. 65 BC-8 BC)

Have Your Cake...

Heaven forbid, I posted pictures of cakes without recipes!

Citrus Bundt Cake

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons orange juice

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy;
beat in the eggs, orange peel and extracts.
Combine flour and baking powder;
add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool.
For glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and juice until smooth.
Spoon over cake.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

(from the kitchen of my friend, Colleen.... thanks!!)

2 2/3 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 (15oz) can pumpkin

Brown sugar glaze:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 inch Bundt pan.
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
Beat together butter, sugar, applesauce, and eggs.
Mix in 1/2 cup heavy cream and pumpkin.
Stir into the flour mixture just until blended.
Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Bake 40-50 minutes.
Cool & invert.

Place the brown sugar, butter, and cream in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil while stirring to blend until smooth.
Cook until sugar is dissolved.
Whisk in the confectioners sugar, and drizzle over the cake immediately.

One Berry, Two Berry...

...Pick me a blueberry.

Say it with me, now:

Mountains and fountains

Rain down on me

Buried in berries

What a jam jamboree!

I'm in the mood to read Jamberry by Bruce Degen!

It's raining berries around here.

Blackberries at home.
Blueberries at the U-pick farm.
Raspberries at the farm stand.

Oooh-la-la!

I know I've shared my favorite blackberry recipe,
Blackberry Gingerbread, with you already,
so I'll share my favorite Berry Cobbler recipe today.

Berry Cobbler

4 cups raspberries or blackberries (or both!)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix berries and lemon juice.
Mix sugar and cornstarch.
Gently stir berry and sugar mixtures together.
Spread in 2 qt baking dish.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.
Stir in milk, butter, and egg.
Spread batter evenly over berries, sealing edge.
Sprinkle with additional sugar.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown.

(I often add a few extra berries and double the topping recipe. Yum!!)