Wordless Wednesday: SIX YEARS (raise a glass to many more...)

Wee Fruit Pizzas

For the girls' birthday this year, we had a small gathering in the morning, the day of their birthday. Little did we know that it was going to be 110° that day, which made the morning celebration that much more pleasant. Adding extra bodies to the house does nothing for the coolness quotient. I am now a huge fan of the morning party! I loved that the girls were able to wake up and start celebrating rather than waiting all day, the summertime birthday fits well with an earlier start, and the snacks were fun and easy! I didn't want to load them up with a sugary cupcake before lunch and naps, so when I saw these Mini-Muffin Fruit Pizzas, I was sold. I used homemade dough but definitely stole the idea. And I frosted/fruited a tray of them ahead of time for the adults, leaving some un-decorated to entertain the smaller humans as they did their own.

Mini-Muffin Tin Fruit Pizzas, with Lemony Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
**I doubled the recipe for this occasion**

• 1/2 C organic unsalted butter
• 3/4 C organic sugar
• 1 local egg
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 2 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Zest of 1 organic lemon
• Juice of 1/2 organic lemon
• Mix dry ingredients
• Mix wet ingredients
• Combine all and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Butter a mini muffin tin
• Roll dough into small balls - do not squish into muffin tin; just drop a ball in each spot
• Bake for 4 minutes; remove from oven and press tops down with the back of a spoon
• Return to oven for 3-5 more minutes
• Topping: basic cream cheese frosting and organic fruit of your liking

Wordless Wednesday: "May I schwim to you?"

Smooth(ie) Moves

My blender is probably the most-used kitchen appliance that we own. It was my life-line when making baby food, it grinds grains for Super Porridge, and it is our smoothie machine. We eat smoothies at least 5 times a week - sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for a snack, sometimes we pour them into the Zoku popsicle maker, and sometimes they're dinner. You can seriously make a smoothie with almost any ingredients and I personally find them to be a dietary staple. Here are two of our current faves:

The Greener the Better

• Organic kale
• Organic Greek yogurt
• We've starting eating Wallaby Greek yogurt - The Merc recently starting carrying it and it's one of the few organic Greek yogurts that is actually strained instead of adding pectin to thicken it
• Organic frozen fruit
• I like to use any combination of bananas, pineapple, peaches, or mango because it allows the green color to remain vibrant. But that's just me!
• Organic juice
• Orange, peach, or apricot are nice
• Maybe a few ice cubes, if you want it colder

Figs are Fun

• Frozen organic banana
• 2 T (or so) organic almond butter
• Organic apricot juice
• Organic Greek yogurt
• 5-6 organic figs
• Maybe a few ice cubes, if you want it colder

As you can see, I don't ever measure - it's more of a chop, toss in, pour, blend, add, blend, drink. But the fig smoothie - yes, please! The girls and I devoured that one! It's only noon, and I've already used the blender twice today. Who knows what the afternoon will bring! :)

Whole-Lotta-Enchilada!

It's summertime. It's hot. And I'm boycotting use of the oven, except before 9:00am or on a cloudy day. No, I did not fix enchiladas for breakfast. It was, however, cloudy and cooler on Monday. I think John was pleasantly surprised to come home and smell dinner cooking in the oven! Nothing but the best for my man!

Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Black Bean Enchiladas:

• 2 local, antibiotic-free, free-range, chicken breasts
• I tossed these into the crockpot with a small can of green chilies and some olive oil around 2:30 (I think). Cranked the crockpot to high for about 30 minutes, then down to low for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Shredded the chicken and it was ready to go.
• 1 organic sweet potato - chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 organic onion - diced
• 1 can organic low-sodium black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 can green enchilada sauce (again, make sure it has no MSG)
• 1/2 C sour cream
• Shredded cheese
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Saute onion in olive oil
• Add sweet potato, cover and cook until tender
• Uncover and let sweet potato brown a bit
• Add black beans until heated through
• Butter the bottom/sides of a 9x9 oven-safe pan and pour 1/3 can enchilada sauce in bottom
• Mix remaining sauce with sour cream
• Assemble enchiladas - fill with black bean/sweet potato mix, add shredded chicken, sprinkle some cheese, pour in a bit of enchilada sauce/sour cream 
• Once enchiladas are rolled in the pan (I think I filled 4-5), top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese
• Bake uncovered at 350° for 25-30 minutes

Then, as soon as dinner is done, run immediately to the bedroom, strip off your current outfit, and return decked out in glitter, frills, glass slippers, and crowns. That's what these enchiladas will do for you. Now get cookin'!

On your FOURTH birthday...

Four. Years. Old. Happy Birthday to the most amazing four-year olds that I have ever met (and, given my profession, I've actually met quite a few!). Our family tradition growing up was that, upon waking up, there was always a present in our room, with a balloon attached, that we could open immediately. I've done this with the girls, but slightly modified since they startled easily as toddlers and get up periodically for bathroom runs now. This morning at 6:15, as I was tiptoeing down the hall to place presents just outside the girls' bedroom door, I heard this conversation:

• Elise: "abby. Abby. ABBY!"
• Abby (clearly having just been woken up): "What Elise?"
• Elise: "Are you SO excited that it's our birthday?"
• Then, after opening the door and seeing the presents as well as the balloon-filled banister, Elise: "This. Is. So. COOL!"

I want my girls to be happy. I want them to love life. I want them, everyday, to feel special, to feel loved, and to look forward to and appreciate the little things that I, as their momma, can do for them. Presents and balloons outside their door? Check. Appreciated by the birthday girls? Check. We are clearly off to a good start this year with both "little things" and "appreciation"!

Abby - I love the way you walk with purpose. You swing your arms and every footstep is with seriousness and intent. During the weeks leading up to turning four, you have taught me to be a more patient person while we work together on conveying our frustrations calmly and quietly. :) You know the exact moment in conflict to say "Hey Mom?" and, just as I'm ready to reiterate a rule or ask you to use your manners, you quietly say "I just love you". And I just love you, too, in that moment and in every other moment. You, my sweet Abby Rose, are showing me that at the end of the day, it feels so much better to have stopped the tears with a few extra hugs instead of consequences and "no". I often times wish that you were still small enough to be carried around in the ergo - the physical closeness of being held settles you and gives you such a sense of peace. Lucky for you, I love that you love to be held. You are extremely articulate and can rattle off paragraphs at a time flawlessly but when you start making up songs? Oh, the random combinations of vowels and consonants at the top of your lungs puts the whole room in stitches. You have the same effect on Elise - no one can give your sister the giggles like you do and it seems like your "funny bone" tends to strike at the dinner table. You had your own first pet this year: a betta fish named I-Love-You-So Rose Lawrence. You cried when it died. What do you love right now? Babies. Babies with bottles. Babies with pacifiers. Babies. Babies. Babies. Whether we are at the farmer's market, the library, or home depot, you are on baby patrol - pointing out every baby, if there is a pacifier or not, the color of the pacifier, and often an added "awwwww" for effect. What do I love right now? I love you, Abby Rose. 

Elise - I love the way you start stories or statements with "Well...", and both hands open flat, dramatically gesturing the importance of what you're about to say. You love your sister and have recently talked about how Abby is your best friend, which she is quick to agree with. I think you girls are the best kind of friends because you're sisters, but I'm a little biased about you two. When Abby is having a meltdown showing some frustrations, you are quick to give her exactly what she wants, even if it's something of your own. I love how compassionate you are. You still totally freak out about bugs. In fact, I'm just pleased that I can now go into a different room in the house without you stressing about the possible presence of a fly in my absence. Clothing continues to be important to you, you always have a "favorite" dress/shirt/skirt, and just this morning you laid on your bedroom floor clearly communicating your disgust with the outfit I had chosen for your birthday party. You had your own first pet this year: a betta fish named Blueberry Dorothy Lawrence. You made Abby cry when you quickly pulled the handle and flushed her fish away when it died. What do you love right now? Cinderella. Cinderella's blue dress. Cinderella's glass slippers. Cinderella. Cinderella. Cinderella. Your new Cinderella glass slippers are beside your bed right now while you sleep. What do I love right now? I love you, Elise Autumn.

Abby and Elise - You are both reading and writing dozens of words everyday! Your shared love for books is one of the things that I love most about you. More than anything else in this house, it is books that I clean up all. day. long. Books and paper. You are both so content with a stack of paper or a coloring book, a pile of markers, and the company of each other. You are coloring in the lines, writing the names of your family or favorite book characters, and making me very proud. You have both struggled with separation over the past month or two - as babies/toddlers, you were rarely phased when I left. Lately, you've been taking turns becoming upset when I leave you, whether it's for a run, a visit with grandparents, or for your first "class". I love you both for your attachment to me - I guess it's just your turn, as I shed an insane amount of tears, unbeknownst to you, separating from you both for a long time. :) I know this too shall pass. Happy Birthday, my sweet girls. Let there be this much love, and more, throughout the next year.