Simon's Birthday

Today is my Simon's 5th birthday! He is so grown up already. I love you Simon! We are so glad to have you in our family!

Time to take it down

Well, the Christmas trees lasted less than a week. I guess it is time to take them down!

Kitchen Experimenting

So, yesterday I think I was feeling a bit adventurous in the kitchen. I decided to try and improve on my hot chocolate a little bit and try to make it a little creamier. Here is the improved recipe that I came up with.

20 macadamia nuts
6 oz of hot water
1 Tbls cocoa powder
1 Tbls Agave

Put the 6 oz of hot water in the blender with the macadamia nuts. Blend until smooth. Pour nut milk into cup. Stir in Cocoa and Agave. Enjoy.

I also decided to try to make a healthy version on baked potato soup. I have lots of baked potatoes that were left over from the ward Christmas party so I am trying to be creative in my use for them. I used a few different recipes as guidelines and this is what I came up with.

Baked Potato Soup

5 cups water
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup celery
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 Tbls Olive oil
4 tsp vegetable bouillon
3 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbls Dry Parsley
7-8 medium sized baked potatoes
2 additional cups of water, almond or rice milk (I used water, but if you like it more creamy use milk)

Chop vegetables and add to a large pot. Add olive oil and saute until onions are transparent. Add 5 cups of water, salt, pepper and bouillon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 min. Meanwhile chop 3-4 baked potatoes into large chunks and put into blender with additional water or milk. Blend until smooth. Chop the remaining potatoes into bit sized pieces and add to soup along with the parsley and potato puree . Simmer for 10 min.

Homemade Dounuts, Hot Chocolate and Roger Whittaker

Well, the last couple of days have been difficult to say the least. Today, I decided that we just needed a very laid back relaxing day. The boys decided to play in the snow and I wished that I had some hot chocolate in my house to give them when they came in. In years past that is what I would do. Now, because we have changed our eating habits, I no longer have hot chocolate in our home. I never really wished for it quite like I did today. So, as I was doing the dishes my mind started to wander and it occurred to me that I could make my own hot chocolate that would be healthy for my kids to have. I decided to get brave and experiment. It actually turned out really well! Simon especially liked it! I also decided that I would make some nice warm doughnut drops for them. My neighbor posted these on her blog the other day and I have been wanting to make them ever since I saw her site! I had to healthify them a little bit also to fit our needs, but they turned out beautifully! All the while I was blessed to listen to one of my favorite all time Christmas songs. You can listen to it for free here. It really helped me to remember that I really do LOVE my boys so much and I am so blessed to have them in my life! Hopefully today will be better now.

Here are the recipes that I used to make the hot chocolate and doughnuts.

Healthified Hot Chocolate

6 oz of hot water
1 Tbls cocoa powder or carob powder
1/2 Tbls sucanat or agave

Stir together and enjoy!

Healthified Doughnut Drops
(Check out the link above for the original recipe to get great ideas on how to make these when in a hurry.)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbls vital wheat gluten
1/3 C. sucanat
2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. water, almond milk or rice milk (I used water)
2 Tbs. cocount oil, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg or egg substitute using 1 Tbls ground flax or chia seed and two Tbls water mixed together and allowed to sit and make a gel.
Coconut oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together to form a dough. In a large saucepan, heat 2 to 3 inches oil to 375º. When oil is heated, drop five or six doughnuts into hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side to a deep golden brown. I used my small cookie scoop to drop them in the oil. Drain on paper towels. If you like you can top the dounuts with powdered sucanat or drizzle honey or agave over the top of them. It would also be fun to roll them in some agave and then some chopped nuts and/or shredded unsweetened coconut. We just ate them plain and they were delicious and plenty sweet!

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