It's all about the LOVE

Over the weekend, Abby and Elise had a little Valentine's worksheet that involved defining "love" according to the dictionary, their parents, best friend, and on their own. They included Anna in this exercise and her response left us all smiling in agreement: "it just makes your heart feel better". 

You're nodding aren't you? Right?!?!?! Toddler speaks the truth... she also takes great pride in her flamingo pose.

Abby and Elise spent the last several days carefully crafting Valentine's for everyone in the family: Anna's had the little pig characters from some of her fave books drawn on it; John's was decorated with pants and referenced reading Harry Potter together; mine had a ball of yarn and crochet hooks. As I was sitting here typing, John walked in the door with handmade dark chocolates and a cherry sour beer from a local brewery. That is love. 

Happy Valentine's Day from our hearts to yours! May you find/do/be/say/see/make something, just even a little something, today and everyday that you LOVE. And, while you're at it, feed your body a little something it will love, like these super tasty and new favorite breakfast cookies!

Crisp and Delish Breakfast Cookies
Adapted from My Darling Vegan: Gluten Free Breakfast Cookies

- 1 C organic rolled oats
- 1/2 C organic almond flour
- 1/2 C organic unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 local eggs
- 1/4 C melted coconut oil
- 1/3 C organic creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 C maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 C raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 C dried fruit (I used chopped pineapple but cranberries would be great!)
- 1/4 C chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredents; in a separate bowl mix wet ingredients; add wet to dry and then fold in dried fruit, seeds, and nuts.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until browned a bit - I made approximately 18 cookies out of this recipe. 

Cards, hats, and horses... OH MY!

As you may have noticed, the blogging has slowed lately.  I can promise you that I am still cooking... still baking... still feeding my family. But, as the weather changes, so do my hobbies. I consider blogging a hobby; it's a great thing to do when I have time but is not a "must do" in my day. Added to the already long list of hobbies that I love, sometimes I must take a hiatus. I definitely have the "craft" gene (thanks, Mom!) because I find handmade to be simply wonderful. 

The girls have 2 new (not pink!) stocking hats. I handed over 4 gorgeous (did I mention that I 
take great pride in my creations???) packs of cards to Grammy. And as I sit here and look at these pictures, the less I want to be typing and the more I want to be doing!

**Quick sales pitch... the cards make GREAT gifts (insert testimonial here from repeat buyer... hmmm... I wonder who that could be??? Linda). I make packs of 4, they are lined - which actually makes them reusable as the receiver could take the liner out and tada! - The holidays are rapidly approaching... if interested, email notemailcards@gmail.com **

In addition to the frenzy of paper and yarn, our family of five (don't get carried away... I'm including the dog here) have been visiting the Farmer's Market on these lovely fall Saturday mornings. Fresh, local goodies. For lunch last weekend, the girls had a bit of everything in this bowl:

And we really enjoy this homemade buttermilk ranch dressing recipe. I used lowfat buttermilk and substituted Greek yogurt for the mayonnaise.

To top off fall, we spent Saturday afternoon at the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin, complete with a festival of meats courtesy of one of John's buddies. As we walked up the driveway, Abby saw the smoker and said "Wow! Look momma - choo choo train!". It...was...huge. A steam-engine sized smoker and a merry-go-round made for a splendid Saturday, I must admit.

           

While I'm lacking pictures of my own, here are a couple of recipes that we consumed in the past week - one was breakfast and one was dinner. We LOVE steel cut oats - John discovered these a little over a year ago. Thank you, darling! I sometimes wonder how Abby and Elise manage to eat a bowl as big as ours without exploding. The other recipe involves the crock-pot. Yes, it is crock-pot time. Could fall bring any more enjoyment to our lives???

• Apple cinnamon steel cut oats
• Chicken tacos

Living right...