Battleship Cove

We had a GREAT family day yesterday at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA. It is one of those places you never go because you live nearby. Zach has been wanting to go and Scout enjoyed the opportunity to climb, climb, climb.

View from the USS Massachusetts

Me and my awesome kids!

Dreaming

exploring

This was a great time of year to go because there was no one else there.

Lots of climbing up...

...and down.

Loving her big brother.

Everyone had fun!

I cherish these family days.

Check it out

Our officer

Zach commissioning day is drawing near. Uniforms have been ordered and are arriving in the mail. We are so proud and so happy that the dreams of a 6 year old boy were never given up on and finally are coming true.

Heart smart cookies

Heart Smart Cookie

I love altering recipes to create my own. My cookie has the cholesterol lowering benefits of oats, all the benefits of whole wheat flour and omega-3's from flax. I have eliminated most of the butter, increased the whole wheat and reduced the sugar.

2 Tablespoons Smart Balance buttery spread

3-4 mushy bananas (or thaw frozen ones to make mushy)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 farm fresh egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

shredded coconut

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup whole oats

1/2 cup flax

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

chopped dates

chopped walnuts

mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in banana, brown sugar,egg, vanilla, coconut and dates, one at a time until smooth.

In another bowl mix remaining ingredients. Mix both bowls together. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Cookies don't spread so you can size or shape them artistically if you like!

Bake for about 12 minutes or until they bounce back when the top is touched.

These cookies freeze well and travel well, perfect for taking along on adventures! Enjoy.

Spring chores

The ground was to frozen to pick up the paddock so we cleared the trails today.

Using your pony makes the chore extra fun!

When everyone was getting cold we moved into the art studio.

The kids are all at different stages in making and painting their paper mache horses.

I set Scout up with this horse, came back, and this is what she had done...all by herself. It even has eyes!

A finished pony

good times

whats better then a boy whistling while he works!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Here is a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks. I usually alter recipes, using them only as a place to start. This one was perfect as written...I did add cheese.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas

2 teaspoons oil

1 small onion

2 sweet potatoes diced, about 2 1/2 cups

2 cups cooked black beans

2 cups chopped greens (spinach, kale, etc)

sea salt and black pepper

8 large whole grain tortillas

sour cream or Greek yogurt (my choice)

shredded cheese

enchilada sauce (I uses a 28 ounce can but there is a recipe in the book)

Preheat oven to 375. Heat oil in large skillet. Saute onions 5 - 10 minutes or until soft. Add sweet potatoes.Cover and cook about 10 minutes until tender. Stir in beans and greens. Cover and heat until wilted. Add a little water, if needed, to prevent scorching. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Cover bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish with 1/3 enchilada sauce. Place tortilla on flat surface. Spoon yogurt or sour cream in a line across tortilla. Spoon filling across the top of yogurt/cream. Roll enchilada and place in pan, seem side down.Repeat until all are used. Pour remaining sauce over the top. Top with grated cheese. Cover pan and bake 20 minutes.

Proud

Scout was so happy that her sandbox finally thawed out. She spent a couple hours digging and cooking in her sandbox kitchen. I can see her from my new art studio and captured these shots, initially not knowing what was to come.

Carrying something important...

climbing out without spilling...great motor skills practice!

She appeared, proud as punch, with "I made dinner". When I asked what she made, "pancakes".

She pulled out the tiny doll table and chairs and instructed me to sit down. Of course, the important point here is, I stopped what I was doing and sat down and marveled over the delicious pancakes.

She was feeling so proud. Don't miss out on these important moments in your kiddos learning and growing...take time, right now.

Smoothies

I have been thinking about posting recipes for some time now...here it is.

I like to cook, I like to create my own recipes. I frequently make dinner by pulling things out of the fridge/pantry as I cook until a meal appears.

We are vegetarians, however we do eat some wild caught fish. Technically that makes us pescatarians.

I am going to start with one of our favorite quick meals, usually used for breakfast or lunch and sometimes a snack. It is also great when Scout is not feeling well, it packs in a lot of nutrition and she easily and happily slurps it down...the smoothie.

The Smoothie

Basic ingredients in all our smoothies:

Plain Greek Yogurt (24 grams of Protein) for some reason only the plain yogurt packs this many grams of protein.

Stoneyfields yogurt this adds some sweetness and I use a whole milk version for Scout who still has a developing brain!

Flax you will find out I put this in just about everything.

Frozen fruit chunks I get bananas from the grocer when they are marked down and freeze them into chunks for smoothies and baking.

Cinnamon

Vanilla

Milk

We have a large blender so we can make a batch for everyone at one time. Let it run long enough for everything to get well blended and smooth.

Some other ingredients we like to put in

spinach you can't even taste it but you know its there!

chocolate

nut butter

fruit that is getting to ripe

fresh pineapple and coconut

fruit juice instead of the milk

there are no limits here and no measuring (you will find I don't do much of that anyway) just put in what you like and don't be afraid to experiment!