The Sickness that Never Ends and Our New Addition

     I am SO SICK of BEING SICK! This is ridiculous. We've all gotten sick once a month since December! We've spent the past few days going between urgent care and the emergency room.  Saturday James had a fever of 103.   Monday Brooklynn had a fever of 104. It's now caught up to me. I don't feel super bad, yet, but I am so stuffed up I can hardly breath. Is the cold and flu season over yet?! 

     In other news, we adopted a baby kitty over the weekend! We went to our SPCA where they had many kittens that were not old enough to put up for adoption. So we learned about the foster to adopt program. Our kitten is only about 4 weeks old. We are technically fostering him until he gets to 2 lbs/8 weeks old.  And guess what! Even the CAT is sick!! But this program is great because the SPCA pays for half of the medical costs while we are fostering.

    Brooklynn loves cats and we thought this was a good time to adopt. When we got him home and put him in her lap, she was beaming.  We are now working on being gentle, not picking the cat up by his neck, tail, etc. He is taking everything very well. He puts up with the kids and the dogs. He is very playful and loves to cuddle. I have missed having a cat.

We're calling him Chevy.

Vida is very suspicious of him. 

Two sick babies. :(

Crossing my fingers the season of sickness ends soon and I get some energy back! 

Greek Style Broccoli Salad

    I usually make a big batch of some type of salad and eat it throughout the week. It saves a lot of time for me to only have to prep my lunch once or twice a week. Today, I made this yummy twist on traditional broccoli salad. 

Greek Style Broccoli Salad

Dressing

- 1/2 cup olive oil

-1/4 cup red wine vinegar

- 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

- 1 tsp dijon mustard

- 1/2 tsp honey

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp pepper

   Salad

- 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets

- 15 oz can Garbanzo Beans

- half a red onion, diced

- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

- 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped

- 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

- 1/4 cup sunflower kernels

- spring mix lettuce

1) Whisk together all dressing ingredients, set aside.

2) Combine all salad ingredients, toss.

3) Place about 1 cup spring lettuce mix on each place, top with broccoli mix, top with a couple tablespoons of dressing. 

If you're serving immediately, you can toss everything together, including dressing. Otherwise best to leave separate so the greens don't wilt.

Enjoy!

Easter

    Gosh, I haven't been on my blogging game everyone! We've been battling colds, ear infections, allergies. Ugh. Everyone recovered in time for Easter though, thankfully! James is back to school now after Spring break so that frees me up, a little.

     We kicked off Easter on Saturday. We made this super easy white chocolate and colored marshmallow Easter bark. The kids loved helping and taste testing. Saturday evening we dyed eggs. We ended up with a huge puddle of muddled  egg dye, but the kids loved it. ;)

Sunday morning we did Easter baskets and an egg hunt. They did so well with the egg hunt this year. I decked out the back yard with eggs, plus we got them new bubbles , new toys for their water table, and new sand for their sandbox. They had a ball playing outside all day. 

We had only a small group this year for Easter dinner. It was actually kind of nice to not have to cook for an army. But I did miss the rest of our family. Steven was in charge of the ham which is a tradition we started 3 years ago. He puts the ham on the rotisserie on the barbeque and tops it with a tasty glaze. He never writes down the recipe for the glaze, so it's different every year. This year it was a Dijon-Bourbon glaze and it was delicious!! I made French Onion Soup in the slow cooker, and Steven's favorite Broccoli Salad.

Sipping my morning tea stuffing Easter eggs and baskets.

Sand & Water Toys / Egg Shape Sorter / Play-Doh Plus / Starry Night Projector / Monsters Inc /  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 

Barrel of Monkeys  /  Mrs. Potato Head / Marshmallow / Cinderella

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with family and friends!

Spring

    Spring has definitely sprung here and I have so been enjoying being outside. Still nursing my little garden. Things are sprouting slowly, but I'm having a real problem with pests. My poor little seedlings are getting eaten alive before they even stand a chance. And between my kids and the dogs running through it, the seeds have become scattered about and a lot of things are growing out of place. It looks a little pathetic. XD But I really started this thing on a whim so I guess this is what I should've expected!  I've been using a pest spray I made myself of onions, garlic, habanero pepper and dish soap that I found online. I've only used it for about a week. Seems to have made a bit of difference, so I'll keep going with it and see what happens. Although I buy produce at the store I know are treated with un-natural pesticides, it really puts me off to spray chemicals on my food myself. (If I didn't see it, it technically didn't happen, right? lol. If my husband were here he would make a joke about quantum physics.) 

   Anyway, the kids are having a ball with this weather too. Who's ready for some pictures?

We love our walks. There's always a new flower to smell, squirrels to chase, people to say hello to. The neighborhood is lovely right now and feels so alive. 

Bonus! Our area of town has back to back block sales all spring. So excited for that. I already scored a very nice, and very pricey Medela breast pump for $35 at my neighbors yard sale!! Also a huge deal because Steven was totally ok with it, so you know what that means... :)

So much nakedness around here lately. We've been enjoying a lot of lunches outside. Between playing outside in the water and potty training, pants are useless at this point.

There's my little garden plot in the background. Not much to look at right now.

So much fresh produce. The produce stands around here are just starting to have more variety. The strawberries in particular have been amazing.

Steven has been happily working on brewing a batch of beer. Brooklynn had fun "helping" cap the the bottles. 

Kinetic Sand. One of their favorite activities.

West Coast I hope you're enjoying early Spring! East Coast, here's to hoping your snow melts soon! 

Crunchy Cocoa Cereal

    I am a huge cereal lover. But, I've mostly given it up since all cereals are grain based. Even so called healthy granola falls short for me because of its sugar content. So after scouring pinterest, I found a couple of homemade paleo cereal recipes and I thought I'd start with this one. Because, chocolate. :) It's crunchy and sweet. It feels decadent. I topped it with unsweetened almond milk and it was soooo satisfying!! Even if you are not following a paleo diet, you've got to try this. You will love it! Make sure all of your nuts and seeds are raw and unsalted if possible.

Crunchy Cocoa Cereal

- 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

- 1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds

- 1 cup almond meal

- 1 cup shredded or ground unsweetened coconut

- 1 cup chopped almonds

- 1 cup chopped cashews

 - 1/2 cup coconut oil

- 1/2 cup honey

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2) In a large bowl combine sunflower seeds through cashews.

3) In a separate small bowl combine coconut oil through cinnamon. Microwave for 20 seconds. Stir thoroughly. Pour over your dry ingredients. Stir to combine, making sure everything is coated evenly.

4) Spread mixture evenly on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes. Stir mixture, spread again and bake an additional 5 minutes. 

5) Remove from oven and allow mixture to cool completely before transferring to a cointainer.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Lemonade Hand Pies

     We should be well into St. Patrick's Day festivites, but I'm just getting around to sharing this yummy pie recipe. While they are heart shaped, you can totally use a round cookie cutter for any occasion.  Add a little whipped cream on top to finish these off!

Strawberry Lemonade Hand Pies

- 1 box refrigerated pie dough, room temperature

- 1 can lemon pie filling

- 3/4 cup chopped fresh or frozen strawberries

- 2 tsp white sugar plus more for sprinkling on top

- 1 egg

- 1 tbsp milk

- cookie cutter

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix chopped strawberries with 2 tsp sugar, set aside.

3) On a floured surface, roll out your first crust to 1/4 inch thickness. Begin pressing out your shapes with your cookie cutter, re-rolling dough as necessary to get the most you can. Same with your second package of dough. I ended up with 18 hearts. 

4) Cut a small 'x' in the center of half of your shapes.  On a parchment lined baking sheet, lay out the other half of your crusts and spread 1 heaping tbsp lemon filling, spread it around a little but leave at least a 1/4 inch around the edges. Top that with 1 tbsp of the strawberry mixture.

5) Lay the other half of your pie crusts on top, and crimp the edges with a fork. Press down fairly hard to get a good seal. 

6) Whisk together egg and milk. Lightly brush the tops and edges of your pies with egg wash, followed by a little sprinkling of sugar. Bake about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Ciabatta Margherita Pizza. Not Paleo. I'll Explain...

  I have been eating within the Paleo diet parameters since January and I have started to ease up a bit on it. I am still eating mostly Paleo but it's about 80% Paleo, 20% non Paleo which is suggested after you go 30 days strictly following the guidelines. 

  I learned that I feel noticeably better when I don't eat dairy, grains, and sugar regularly. I can't pinpoint if it's one of those things in particular or all three together. But I have had more energy, far less fatigue, and better digestion. I also realized I don't really miss those items that much! Dairy has been the toughest, especially cheese and sour cream. But I'm so used to not eating them all the time now it's no big deal. I can still make delicious food without any of those items. Another wonderful thing I've experience while eating Paleo is that I never get that, 'ugh I'm so full' feeling. You know, where you just need to sit for a bit and "digest". I just feel lighter. It's been a great experience and plan on continuing with an 80/20 Paleo diet. 

   However, this recipe was from Valentine's Day and I really broke all the Paleo rules that day. ;) Sweets, and bread, and cheese, oh my. (It was a holiday!) So enjoy this delicious pizza. 

Ciabatta Margherita Pizza

- 1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally

- 4 tbsp softened butter

- 3 garlic cloves, minced

- 16 oz sliced fresh mozzarella

- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

- 2 tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

- 1/3 cup basil, thinly sliced (chiffonade) 

- salt and pepper 

1) Preheat oven to 400*. Mix together softened butter with minced garlic. 

2) Place ciabatta halves on a large baking sheet, spread butter evenly. Place mozzarella slices on top and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

3) Meanwhile, heat balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan, bring to a low boil, cook for about 8 minutes until the vinegar thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

4) Remove bread from the oven. Top with tomato slices and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle your basil and then drizzle with balsamic reduction. Slice and enjoy!

Original recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod