Jack and Ella Update

I wanted to write down what my children are doing these days because I know I'll love looking back and reading it. Plus, there are a few family members and friends far away who I know would love to hear what's new with them!

Is it just me or do firstborn children take FOREVER to go through each stage and subsequent children fly through them? I felt like Ella was a baby for so long and now Jack is nearing his first birthday already and it feels like he was born 5 hours ago.
Jack is actually nine months old now and officially crawling! He is slow and steady but getting stronger each day. He prefers standing up to crawling and attempts to pull himself up on everything. He also has mastered the sitting from a crawl position, as I found out when I went to get him up from his nap the other day and he was sitting up in his crib.
He wants to be put down more than held but he has stipulations. I must remain within eyesight, preferably sitting next to him on the floor. I spend a lot of time on the floor these days.
He absolutely adores Ella. Anytime she comes in the room his eyes light up and he starts kicking his legs and smiling ear to ear. Ella loves him too and always makes a big fuss over him. She will sit on the floor and hand him toys. If he starts crying she says, "No tears, baby Jack" in the sweetest voice. They definitely have their moments...Jack does this little screech when Ella takes his toys and she yells heartily when he does the same, but for the most part their relationship is harmonious.
Jack is eating everything he can get his hands on, i.e. small pieces of whatever I made for the rest of us. He weighs 21 pounds. Enough said.
I loved his baby look but his hair was getting a little crazy. I was in denial but while I was visiting my mom one day, she begged me to let her cut his hair. She did a great job and he now looks so much older.
















Ella is 3 years old. She is in preschool this fall and loves it. She is always surprising me with what she knows (and understands)! She was in my dear friends' wedding this fall as a flower girl and since that day has not stopped talking about "gettin' married". If she sees someone in what could remotely be viewed as wedding attire,she asks if they are getting married. She tries to remove my wedding rings every day and when I say no, she asks if Daddy will get her a wedding ring. I tell her that in 20 or 30 years someone special will get her a wedding ring.
Ella is in a princess phase. It's bad. The minute she can strip out of normal clothes and get into one of her princess costumes she does. She would wear her costumes 24/7 if I let her. She also discovered she can put a dress on Jack and have a dress up buddy!

Jack is not a fan. 

She loves painting and coloring, playing outside in any weather, playing hide and seek, dancing with Jack and Mommy, telling stories, watching all the old Disney movies, and reading books.
 She has a special love for her Daddy. If I make her sad (usually when she is being naughty..) she will say "I miss my Daddy, I need him." through her sobs. It's terribly cute (and manipulative). Every morning when he leaves for work, she makes sure everyone gets a hug and kiss and then insists she gets an extra one.

Her stubbornness, independence and energy are her greatest strengths and her greatest weaknesses. We joke that she is a Sour Patch kid, so incredibly sweet and then the next minute...but she is a blessing,even in the more trying times, because we know God uses her to stretch and grow Nick and I as parents.

Ella is very excited about Christmas this year. She took great interest in cutting down and decorating the tree and wants to read all our books about Christmas over and over again. White Christmas is literally stuck in our VHS player.. so that's on repeat until after Christmas, when I guess we will have to figure out how to remove it. I told her the other day while we were talking about presents, "Mommy and Daddy got you lots of presents you get to open on Christmas day.". Her eyes got big and she clasped her hands and said "O thank you Mommy, I so excited!".

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Amazing gingerbread cookies

When I am pregnant, I love cookies even more than I do usually....in other words, a lot. Baking is a comfort thing for me, and something I enjoy doing with my kids. Of course I enjoy eating them too, but that goes without saying. When Brett is not home until late, which has been almost every night recently, cookies are sometimes the result!

These gingerbread cookies are a recipe I adapted slightly from allrecipes, under the name Molasses Sugar Cookies 

This is now one of my new favoritest cookies....and that is not something I say lightly. Cookies are taken seriously around here. Soft and chewy on the inside, with a bit of crunch to the outside. Lots of gingerbread flavor, but not overwhelmingly sweet. (The downside to all of this is that I ate almost the entire dozen the first night, while they were still warm. The children helped some. Please don't tell anyone!!)

I also love that this recipe makes a large batch because these are perfect for giving to neighbors during the holidays. That is my plan anyway!! They will love me forever and possibly forget that my chickens sometimes stray into their yard...and possibly even their porch. 

Anyway, here are the instructions for deliciousness!

Molasses Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup butter 

4 tsps baking soda

3/4 cup shortening 

3 tsps cinnamon

1 2/3 cups white sugar 

 1 tsp ground cloves

2/3 cup molasses 

 1 1/2 tsps ground ginger 

2 eggs 

 1 tsp salt 

4 cups flour

1. Melt shortening and butter; cool. Add sugar, eggs, molasses; beat well. 

2. In separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients (or just dump it all into the original bowl like I did). Mix well and chill for 3 hours or overnight. 

*If you are extremely impatient like someone I know when it comes to devouring cookies, do not be dismayed by these chilling instructions. I have it on good authority that slight chilling, of about 30 mins or so, seems to work just fine. They just aren't as pretty and crackled. So just bake one dozen immediately, eat and satisfy your sweet tooth, and then chill the rest properly and bake them the next day.*

3. Bake at 375 for 8-10 mins. Don't overbake if you like them chewy!! 

Makes 6 dozen

It's a soupy kind of day..

Well, today in good old Delaware,  the weather is decidedly dreary. It is also the first day all week that I've had no plans that involve leaving my house! I am not a homebody for the most part, but when we've had a busy couple of weeks I love a day at home. I like to spend days like these catching up on Mount Neverest (the laundry pile), reading books with the kids, watching a happy movie and cooking comforting food.

Soup on a rainy day is just the best. I love soups because I enjoy getting creative with spices and trying new combinations of vegetables and meats. Here is my favorite yellow split pea soup. It is very similar to the classic green split pea except it looks much more appetizing! I also like this soup because it's incredibly inexpensive to make, yet filling and healthy.

I start by sauteing the onions, carrots, garlic and spices in a touch of olive oil.

I added a splash of white cooking wine when the onions start to be translucent. These are the spices I used. I am having a love affair with smoked paprika. I just adore the taste and depth of flavor it adds to dishes.The cumin and cinnamon in the Moroccan seasoning compliment the natural sweetness of the carrots perfectly. Sage and bay leaves you probably already have.

Don't forget to rinse and sort your yellow peas!

Combine the peas with the vegetables and add some chicken stock and water. Then just let it simmer away on low for a couple hours! It needs to cook at least until the peas are falling apart and very soft. 

Nothing like a simple, healthy, vegetarian soup. My 3 year old and 8 month old joined me in gobbling it down with some cornbread muffins. 

Yellow Split Pea Soup

4-5 medium carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons Moroccan seasoning

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

2 bay leaves

4 cups or 32 ounces of chicken stock

1 cup water

1 bag of yellow split peas, rinsed and sorted

Saute the carrots, onion, garlic, and seasonings in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of white cooking wine and cook for another minute. Add the sorted and rinsed peas and the chicken stock and water. Put a lid on the pot and simmer on low for at least an hour or until the peas are completely soft and falling apart. 

I prefer my soup to be quite thick but you can always add more water if you would like! Also, I cook without added salt most of the time and the chicken stock was plenty salty for me but you might want to add a bit more. 

Enjoy!

Art with children: Bark rubbings

 We love being outdoors and doing "art projects". When the two can be combined, we get pretty excited around here! Even though my kids are young for this, they still enjoyed it. 

All you need are a couple different kinds of trees, some paper, and crayons. That's my kind of craft...no runs to the store required!! 

We discovered that white copy paper holds up much better than construction paper. Block crayons or chunky ones without the paper work best but any will do.

Simply pick a spot on the tree that is flat enough to hold the paper against it evenly. Hold it down tightly.

Then let a child (or demonstrate for them, as I did most of the time) color vigorously and evenly back and forth. The pattern of the bark from your tree will emerge on the paper. The larger of a section you color, the more obvious the pattern will be. 

Then repeat on a couple different trees, preferably with very different bark, so that you can contrast/compare them. 

We talked about the different kinds of trees in our yard, how bark is to a tree what skin is to us, and how we can distinguish different kinds of trees from their bark and their leaves. One tree had a spot on it, pictured below, where it had oozed some sap. I told Nate that sap was like the tree's blood that flowed through them and kept them alive. This was fascinating to him and he was very concerned about the tree's "boo-boo". 

This is what my sheet of "rubbings" looked like after we did three trees. The red and top right blue were different places on the same tree.

Evelyn was much more interested in going to visit the chickens then in talking about tree bark. 

 And so we did.

12 Minute Total Body Workout

This workout is not original to me, but it is amazing so I wanted to post it! Think you don't have time to complete a truly grueling workout?! Think again!

 I personally am a huge fan of super quick, intense workouts because then I have no excuses. Who doesn't have 12 minutes to be healthier and feel better? Because this workout is so intense, I like to break it up into two 6 minute segments. Even if I only get around to completing one segment, I can still feel it the next day!

All you need is a timer and your body.

12 Minute total body workout

50 seconds jump squats

10 seconds rest

50 seconds burpees

10 seconds rest

Repeat twice, so a total of three rounds. 

Take a full minute rest (or a couple hours). 

Do it again from the top! 

This works your abs, back, arms, thighs, butt, calves, and probably any other major muscle group I'm forgetting. Your heart rate will go through the roof, but just for a short time, which revs up your metabolism and gets you burning calories! 

Since I'm pregnant and getting bigger, I don't want to be doing all that jumping and working at such high intensity. This is very simple to modify though and it is still extremely effective.

Pregnancy Modification

50 seconds squats with calf raises

10 seconds rest

50 seconds walk out to push-up position, push-up, walk back up

10 seconds rest

Repeat twice more.

Rest 1 minute (or however long you need to)

Repeat from the top.

*Personal note: I did the pregnancy version a few days ago and was sore in a good way for a loooong time afterwards. It works!! And confession: I only did the first section. Of course, I have not been faithfully working out during this pregnancy so if you're one of those super moms that works out every day then you might have to do the whole thing to get the burn I did!!* 

Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Boats

I was feeling uninspired yesterday by the contents of my fridge. I had leftover cubed chicken and some zucchini and I just wasn't excited about doing the usual casserole with rice or stir fry. Then I realized..what is more thrilling than cutting your zucchini into boats and stuffing them? Many things...but bear with me. 

I knew that if I was going to serve my husband anything in a boat of zucchini it better have an amazing flavor or bacon or lots of cheese. So, this is what I came up with.

Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Boats

4 medium zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise
4 strips of turkey bacon, diced
1/2 of a medium red onion
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 1/2 cups cubed chicken
1/2 cup buffalo chicken sauce
Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, hollow out the zucchini, reserving and chopping the insides.

 Cook the bacon in a pan until crispy then add the carrots and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the reserved zucchini, onions, and garlic and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Mix in the chicken and hot sauce and remove from heat. Put the zucchini halves in the boiling water and boil for a minute. Remove from water and place in a 13x9 baking dish. Stuff the zucchini halves with the buffalo chicken mixture and sprinkle on as much or as little cheese as you like.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the zucchini is nice and tender and the cheese has melted, about 30-40 minutes.


 I'm happy to report that Nick loved these (so much that I didn't have time to take an "end product" picture) and said I should make them again very soon. I think they would be even more amazing with a homemade avocado ranch dressing.  So. next time your fridge is overflowing with zucchini and boring chicken, give this recipe a try! 

Flour-less Dark Chocolate Brownies

Apparently, when having our annual sister bake off, my brownies did not get any individual shots. So here is a group picture, with Sam's amazing Greek Yogurt Apple Caramel Cheesecake bars stealing front and center. 

The brownies still deserve some attention though! Of course, "healthy" when talking about brownies is somewhat relative, but these are decidedly better for you than traditional brownies, as well as being grain and gluten free. I made mine with peanut butter swirled into the top of the batter before cooking. 

Don't get thrown off by the secret ingredient! Many people, including some men who don't even like beans in chili, sampled them and thought they were quite tasty. Aforementioned men were totally floored when I told them afterwards that the brownies contained beans. Try them before you judge and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised....I was! 

*Disclaimer* I usually don't make exceptionally healthy desserts. My philosophy is that a dessert should taste like a dessert. If I want a salad, I know how to make that too but they should not be confused. However, when I can make something that is quite tasty and also a bit better for me, I call that a win-win. 

Flour-less Dark Chocolate Brownies 

 1 can black beans (15.5 oz), drained and rinsed. 

 1 egg (or 2 if you prefer a more cake like brownie)

 3 tablespoons butter, melted (coconut oil would probably be very yummy too) 

1/2-3/4 cup cocoa powder (if you prefer very dark, less sweet chocolate then use 3/4) 

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 1 teaspoon vanilla

 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Chocolate chips, peanut butter, walnuts, whatever sounds amazing to you(optional)

Rinse black beans thoroughly! Put all ingredients except optional toppings into blender and blend very well. You don't want any chunky pieces! Scrap batter into 9*9 glass pan and top according to your liking.
Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes, being careful to not over bake. 

Stair Workout

Ok, ladies. This workout is harder than it looks. You will be breathing hard and your legs will be begging for a rest but you can do it! What I love about this workout is all you need is your body, a timer, and a set of stairs. No Excuses!
Grab your timer (I use Seconds free edition on my iPhone).

2 minutes Stair Runs
2 minutes One Leg Step Ups
2 minutes Jump Ups
2 minutes Side Stair Runs

Do at least 3 sets. If you can do more than 3, you deserve a medal!

If you need a visual of these exercises, visit Patience's Instagram page and watch the nifty little video demonstrating the moves.

Greek Yogurt Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Last year, the incredibly decadent apple caramel cheesecake bars I made won first place in our sister bake off. These bars had almost 3 sticks of butter in them and were drizzled with store bought melted caramels. Lets just say, the calories in those bars are out of control. Still, if you have never made them I suggest you try the original version once in your life. They're that amazing. 

My goal though, was to create a delicious though slightly less decadent version that I could make more than once in a lifetime! I've been curious about Greek yogurt cheesecake because I am a lover of both cheesecake and Greek yogurt. It just makes sense to combine these two great loves. 

The Greek yogurt cheesecake was not quite as smooth and creamy as a cream cheese based cheesecake. However, it still had excellent flavor and decent texture considering it is entirely yogurt! 

One of the other major changes I made to the original recipe was making a homemade caramel sauce. This caramel sauce is not as thick as a store bought version but still has a rich flavor that complemented the tartness of the apple and yogurt. 

Give it a try, folks!

Greek Yogurt Apple Caramel Cheesecake

Shortbread Crust-
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt 

Cheesecake Layer-
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp flour
3 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar

Streusel Layer-
3 apples (Macintosh or Granny Smith)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg

Caramel Sauce-
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup almond milk
2 tsp arrowroot powder



First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9X13 with tin foil. Spray the tin foil with cooking spray.
Pulse the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until crumbly. Press into the foil lined pan and put in the oven for 15 minutes, or until set. 
For the cheesecake layer, beat together the eggs and sugar. Add the vanilla and flour and mix thoroughly. Gently fold in the yogurt.
Pour the cheesecake mixture evenly over the warm crust. 
Dice the apples and sprinkle over the cheesecake mixture. 
Mix together the rest of the streusel ingredients and sprinkle over the apples. Place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set and lightly browned. 
While your cheesecake is baking, make the caramel sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the almond milk and arrowroot powder and return to heat for several minutes and continue to stir while the mixture thickens. 
Let the cheesecake bars cool for an hour or so and then drizzle the caramel sauce onto the bars. Place in the fridge for 4-8 hrs (hardest part!) and serve chilled! 

2nd Annual Sister's Bake Off

Last year, we started a tradition that we hope will continue for many years to come. Once a year, on vacation, we have a bake off between the sisters who enjoy baking. Who wouldn't love having three amazing desserts to eat in one night? The first year, we had everyone write their vote on a piece of paper to determine a winner. This year, we had the four oldest men in the house be the official judges.

                                                       one of the esteemed judges 

Let me tell you; these men took their job as judges extremely seriously. I wish I had gotten a video of their heated discussion about the texture and balance of each dessert.

The theme of the bake off this year was healthy desserts. We had a peach crunch dessert,  Greek yogurt apple caramel cheesecake bars( a healthy take on last years winning dessert), and flourless peanut butter fudge brownies. All three were a huge hit but the cheesecake bars won again by a slight margin!

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we enjoyed coming up with them!

Muffin, Please!

The weather has officially taken a turn for fall in my hometown. The crispy, cool  breeze this morning just begged for a warm freshly-baked breakfast treat!
Oh, and my daughter begged for one too. Then ate three(!) of them.

In my experience, healthy muffins can be quite dry and tasteless. These were light and fluffy, yet moist, with just a touch of sweetness. I didn't feel like I was sacrificing deliciousness for health! These would make a great on the go snack as well. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. 

Banana Oat Applesauce Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour*

1 cup oats (quick or rolled)

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

3/4 milk

1/4 cup honey *

1/3 cup applesauce

1/2 tap vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas

1. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. 

2. In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the milk, applesauce, honey,and vanilla. Add the mashed banana and combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups and put 1/4 cupful of batter into each cup. 

3. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degree C) for 18-20 minutes. 

* (I would usually use whole wheat but was all out. If you use whole wheat add a bit extra applesauce and milk to combat the density.)

*(You could add a bit more honey if you prefer sweeter muffins, especially if you are using unsweetened applesauce.)

Nice to Meet You!

Hello Blogger World! Please read our "Sisters' Stories" page for more info about us. 

We have created this blog to share with each other healthy recipes, home based workouts, and encouragement as we learn and grow together. We plan on discussing healthy eating on a budget and balancing health and fitness with being busy wives, mothers, girlfriends, daughters, and friends. We will also be sharing stories from our daily lives, crafts we do with our children and more. We aren't professional photographers, trained bakers, or perfect parents by any means but we are learning to laugh at our failures and just enjoy the little things. 

We hope to keep the content of our blog encouraging and uplifting. Life is sometimes hard, parenting can be incredibly exhausting, and (maybe its just us) but reading the news usually just causes tears and anxiety. Let's combat all the negativity around us, while still being "real". We hope that anyone who reads this page will be encouraged, inspired, and maybe even have a good laugh...