Play Day

Happy Second Easter!

Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love to watch Dr. Oz. I don't really get to very often, but when I do I learn something new every time. I was watching yesterday and this recipe for chocolate chip cookies came on. Apparently these cookies are made with beans instead of flour and they taste good. I'm willing to try a healthy cookie and thought I'd give it a shot. The link is here.

Added to Recipes on Thu 03/25/2010

Ingredients

Makes 20 cookies

1 serving: 45 calories

1.4 g fat

2 g protein

9 g carbohydrates

0mg cholesterol

2 g fiber

32 mg sodium



½ tsp vanilla extract

¹⁄³ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 cup canned white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbsp light agave syrup

3 large egg whites

1½ cups granulated artificial sweetner

¼ cup dark chocolate-covered cacao nibs

¼ cup mini chocolate chips



Directions

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.



In the bowl of a food processor, combine vanilla, cocoa, cannellini beans, and the agave syrup, and blend the mixture until smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl halfway through blending.



In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the artificial sweetner. Continue to beat the whites until they are creamy and nearly stiff. Add 1/3 of the egg-white mixture to the cocoa bean mixture in the food processor. Blend to combine, for about 30 seconds. In 2 batches, fold the lightened cocoa mixture into the egg whites until they are almost fully combined. Add cacao nibs to the batter. Fold batter until cacao nibs are evenly dispersed and cocoa mixture is completely incorporated.



Drop mounded spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared sheets. Spread batter out to form cookies about 2½ inches in diameter. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the cookies.



Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans one turn halfway through baking. Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Lil' Shoppers

Early Easter

Happy Birthday Pastor!

Growing Boy

Marshmallow Fondant

I'm planning on making Pastor's cake for his upcoming birthday. I found a recipe for fondant icing using marshmallows instead of the traditional way of making fondant. Here is the link, I'll post pics later, but from reading the reviews it seems like it will work great!

Baby?

Today, Duane found his baby with it's foot stuck under a chair. He pulled it out and said: "Baby owie!" while showing the doll to me. I said: "Did the baby get an owie? Aww!" Then Duane looked at the doll and said: "Baby's baba?" I tried to keep from laughing at how cute he is and said: "Does the baby need a baba? Okay."

I thought this was so cute and decided I'd better blog about it before I forgot.

Big Boy Bed

Duane is officially a big boy now! I can't believe how much he's growing and so quickly too. He helped Pastor put the bed together and seemed to like the idea once it was in once piece, but when we put him down for bed that night, he seemed confused. I gave him his bottle and told him it was time to sleep and tucked him in. He looked at me and grinned the biggest grin I've seen on him. It was like he was just realizing his new found freedom.

After we put Duane down, Pastor and I went to watch some TV. Not even five minutes later, little Duane came out of his room in his little footsie PJ's and dragging his blankie behind him. He looked at us and smiled hugely. I put him back in his bed and this happened again and again, but on the fourth try, he stayed in his bed and fell asleep, just like a big boy.

Tonight, Duane put himself to bed. I felt bad to find him all curled up in his blanket and fast asleep. I didn't even get to say goodnight, but this was at seven, so I wasn't really expecting sleep to hit him that early. He's such a smart boy.

Food Storage

Our family has yet to create a food supply that we could rely on if something went wrong. I've been thinking about this for months and have wondered how to build food storage up when we don't have very much extra money. Now that we have our tax return, Pastor agreed that we should dedicate some to starting our three month supply. I've been thinking about working at the LDS canneries a lot lately too and think it's a good way to get some things that we want. The link for the canneries is here. Hopefully we can be more on the ball with this sort of thing. The last thing I want to hear is my babies crying because they are hungry.

Diet Changes

I have recently heard that high fructose corn syrup is really bad for people. As a matter of fact, Dr. Oz hates the stuff and treats it like poison. Well, I thought it would be worth it to cut it from our kitchen. Little did I know it is the glue that holds a lot of food together! Ketchup, for example, has high fructose corn syrup, so does BBQ sauce. One thing I was really surprised to learn had high fructose corn syrup was yo plait yogurt. Come people, yogurt? Really? YOGURT?? I thought that was supposed to be good for you! The only jelly I could find with out high fructose corn syrup was this itty bitty bottle that costs almost $3, so I have been eating PB&J a lot less lately. The jelly was a Smuckers brand called "Simply Fruit."

Another thing I have been trying to avoid are foods with names of things that I can't pronounce. You know what I mean, right? Those really long names of scientific chemicals and such that seem like they shouldn't be on a box of cookies? Well, it turns out they probably shouldn't.

The one other thing I've been trying to do lately is eat more veggies, which isn't really hard for me. I like vegetables, but Pastor does not. I'm going to try make him a banana spinach smoothie and see if he notices. The color will be disguised by chocolate powder, so he'll never know. I did tell him that the bag of spinach we got today was for him, but he just laughed and didn't believe me.

Smartie

On Sunday, I took the boys to church. Whenever we tell Duane that we're going to church, he says "Emma? Emma?!" and gets really excited. He loves his friend Emma, but sadly she was sick on Sunday and not at Church. After Sacrament was over, I went to talk to Tim, Emma's daddy. When Duane say Emma's dad, he looked at him, then looked at me and looked at him again and said, "I want to go see Emma." It was the most amazing thing I've heard Duane say! I've never heard him say more than a two word sentence and I was shocked. Tim was a little surprised too and said, "Wow Duane, that was a pretty good sentence."


Avan, being cute.

Duane, being cute.

This is not Duane and Emma, this is Duane and Daphne, another one of his friends.

Rub a dubb dub

Duane really enjoyes bathtime. Every day, sometimes twice a day he'll ask to be put in the tub. He'll run in the bathroom and point at the shelf where his rubber duckies are kept and say "Ducky? Bath?" He's getting really smart with all his words.



Look out evil doers, it's super D!

Avan actually seems to like bath time as well. He kicks his legs repeatedly to make splashes.

Errand Run

This is Avan being so super adorable at Office Depot that all the ladies want to steal him as their own. What can I say? We have such cute babies that they draw attention everywhere we go! Pastor and I often joke with each other by saying "What a cute baby!!" in a semi dramatic tone because we can't go out without someone saying so about both of the boys.

My Smiling Avan

Avan has taken to smiling, laughing and cooing. He seems to really enjoy talking and says things like "Ma" and "Ga." When Avan smiles it really lifts my day. He's such a snuggly, cute little baby.

:D

I am soo happy! Pastor came home from Peru after being gone for a little over a week. I know a week ins't that long but it seemed like an eternity at the time! I missed my hunny a LOT and I hope the next time he goes to Peru I can go with him. There is nothing like someone going away for a week to remind you of how much you love and need them.



While Pastor was gone, Duane would ask for him daily. He'd even go to the window and look for him saying "Daddy? Daddy?" as if calling for Pastor. Needless to say, he missed Pastor too and was really happy to see him. For the first few days after his return, Duane wouldn't let Pastor out of his sight. He REALLY loves daddy.

Great Day

The most amazing thing happened today! Avan smiled at me. It wasn't one of those I'm laughing because I have bubbles in my tummy smiles. No. I cooed at him and he smiled and even giggled a little. He did it again when Pastor came home. Granted this was at one in the morning, but staying up is worth seeing a little baby smile.

To be honest, it's given me a much needed boost. It's funny how the smallest things can keep us going.




On another note, I've been loving the sun coming out, even though I haven't been able to enjoy it. At least not until today. Today was the day that we finally got to go to the park again. We haven't since two days before Avan was born and Duane was so excited when I told him to get his shoes on because we were going outside. He kept saying "OUTSIDE?! OUTSIDE?!" and "Go? Go?" It was really adorable. Avan didn't enjoy the park as much as Duane though, he was more ready for a nap than being in the sun.

Cute Skirt

While I was looking for a nursing cover pattern I stumbled upon this cute looking skirt pattern/instructions. It would be nice to make my own skirts because I like them longer than the world seems to make them.

Hooter Hider?

When I had Duane my grandma gave me a stylish and trendy nursing cover. I have since lost it while we were out shopping for couches. It saddened me greatly to lose it because it's been such a wonderful thing to cover up anywhere and still be modest without worrying about a blanket falling down. So I have taken my dilema to google and looked up ways to make my own. It seems simple enough, all I'd need is a large square piece of fabric with a bendy top and a strap to keep it on. I'm hoping to make one of my own and I'm also hoping it will be cuter than ones that can be purchased at the mall or online.

Here is a website to some basic intructions to making your own nursing cover although I already have some ideas of how I'd want mine to be different.