May 26, 2010

A few Diapers

Two for a customer (which I wanted to keep!) and one for Ethan
One Size AI2s
Black & White Circles
Iced Girrafe

Ethan wearing Retro Owls



May 10, 2010

Time for Breakfast



Blueberry Muffins, these were a HUGE hit and we will be making these and trying different fruit/nuts!
3 cups almond flour
2 large eggs
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (can substitute blueberries for chopped bananas, peaches or other fruit)

Preheat oven to 300. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
In a food processor, puree the almond flour, eggs, butter, honey, baking soda, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Gently fold in the blueberries. With a big spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Serve warm or at room temp.

Blueberry Muffin Homemade Cereal
4 Blueberry Muffins (from above recipe)
1/2 cup raw unsalted walnuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
1/2 cup home-dehydrated banana chips, raspberry slices, or favorite fruit
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 200.
Crumble the muffins onto a parchment-lines cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until crunchy. Allow to cool completely.
Mix the muffins with the nuts, coconut, fruit, and raisins. Very good sprinkled on top of homemade yogurt with honey drizzled on top.

Cinnamon Pancakes
1 cup cashews (unsalted) - I love to use pecans instead of cashews, but either way these are very tasty!
3 large eggs
2 Tb homemade yogurt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tb honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
coconut oil or vegetable oil

Grind the nuts into a paste in food processor. Add the eggs, yogurt, baking soda, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt, and blend well.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-low (these will burn easy, so lower and slower for cooking is best). Pour the batter into small pools and cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve hot, drizzled with honey.

What's for dinner?

Here are some of our seafood favorites for a very tasty, filling supper.

Seared Ahi Tuna with a Sesame, Avacado, Ginger sauce
4 Ahi tuna steaks
salt
cayenne pepper
2 Tb sesame oil (or toasted sesame oil)
1 garlic cloved, minced
1 Tb grated ginger
1 Tb grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tb homemade dijon mustard or wasabi
1 Tb honey
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, cubed
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 Tb snipped fresh chives
2 Tb currants
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 Tb black sesame seeds, toasted (I leave this out)
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat grill to high.
Season tuna steaks with salt and cayenne. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side for rare. Set aside and let rest for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, zest, juices, and mustard.
If you want to, cut the tuna into small dice and put in medium bowl and add the honey, avocados, onion, chives, currants, half of the cilantro, and half of the sesame seeds and then pour the dressing from the small bowl over top and mix thoroughly. I leave the steaks hole and just add all of the ingredients in one bowl and put about 2 large spoonfuls on top of the hole tuna steaks. Either way, this dish is amazing!

Swordfish Steaks with Mango salsa
4 Tb olive oil
Four 8-oz swordfish steaks, about 1 inch thick
salt and pepper
1 large ripe mango, diced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and minced
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice

Heat grill to high.
Using oil 2 Tb, coat the swordfish steaks all over. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for about 8 minutes per side, until browned and cook through. While fish is cooking, mix together the remaining 2 Tb oil, mango onion, avocado, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, and lime juice. Set aside.
When the swordfish steaks are cooked, top with a generous mound of mango salsa. Enjoy!

Pecan Encrusted Salmon
2 Tb olive oil
1 large Salmon fillet or 4-6 salmon fillet planks
4 Tb brown mustard
1 Tb honey
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Using a pastry brush, spread oil over the tin foil. Set salmon on prepared foil. In a small boil mix mustard and honey (use less mustard if you want it sweeter or less honey if you want it tangier). Using the pastry brush, brush the salmon with the honey mustard mixture. Sprinkle the pecans on top. Loosely close the tin foil around the salmon and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the thickest part flakes with a fork.

May 7, 2010

My Kids LOVE Juice....

...and of course I am not a huge fan of all of the sugar added to juice. So, as I have been modifying our diets and trying to get rid of unnecessary added sugar I have come across these super good drink recipes that my kids (and myself) LOVE.

Lemonade (not sure what kid doesn't like lemonade)
1 cup honey
1 cup water
juice from 6 lemons
14 cups water

heat the honey and 1 cup of the water in a large pot until the honey is well combined with the water. Let cool and add the lemon juice. Add the rest of the water and keep in airtight bottles in the refrigerator. If concentrated lemon cordial is desired, only add 4 cups of water after boiling and then serve over ice, diluting the cordial to the desired strength.

Raspberry Cordial (my favorite!)
1 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup honey
juice from 2 lemons
4 cups boiling water

Heat the raspberries and honey in a medium saucepan slowly and cook covered for 15-20 minutes until fruit has released all its juices. Let cool, then line a large sieve with four layers of cheesecloth and strain the juice, squeezing  the cloth gently until all the juice has been extracted. Discard the pulp. Juice the lemons and strain them into the cordial. Add boiling water to the mixture. Bottle and refrigerate. To drink, place ice into a large glass, add 1/4 cup cordial and fill with cold water. Can use soda water if you prefer (my kids think it is pop with the soda water).

We like to make our own orange juice, and the boys love juicing the oranges...plus how easy is it to just cut up a bag of oranges in half, juice them, put them in a pitcher and you have orange juice....that and it keeps my boys entertained and behaving for a good 30 minutes :)