2012 September

31 days of letters… in 2012

09/30/2012 by Annalise · 21 Comments

I’m joining in this fun writing exercise with the nesting place for the month of October…

It’s a challenge to write for 31 days straight, every single day, about one topic.

I love to write, and I don’t feel like I push myself enough in this area, so I wanted to join this challenge.

The topic I chose:

Yep, starting tomorrow, there will be 31 days of letters.

Letters to my daughter, my sons, my husband, my parents… at this point I don’t exactly know. Maybe not all to my family, but mostly, and we’re all really family right? All I know right now is that there will be letters. Lots of them. 31 to be exact.

And don’t worry, I will still be posting recipes. So that means there will be multiple postings some days. But I love writing and couldn’t resist this challenge for myself!

If you’re interested in joining… Go to nesting place and check it out.

Oh, and I’ll be linking all the posts back up here so that we can find them all easily in one place!

—-

31 Days of Letters

(day 1) a letter to my sons…
(day 2) a letter to my daughter…
(day 3) a letter to my husband…
(day 4) a letter to my mom…
(day 5) a letter to myself… the me who is a mom…
(day 6) a letter to my dad…
(day 7) a letter to my daughter… when you’re a teenager…
(day 8) a letter to my blog…
(day 9) a letter to my grandma…
(day 10) a letter to my other grandma…
(day 11) a letter to my second born…
(day 12) a letter to my God…
(day 13) a letter to us moms…
(day 14) a letter to my cousins…
(day 15) a letter to my firstborn…
(day 16) a letter to my brother…
(day 17) a letter to my boys…
(day 18) a 5 minute letter to my daughter…
(days 19-21) a letter to you and me…
(day…) a failure admitted…

Filed Under: 31 days 2012, mama musings, ramblings ·

pumpkin pie coconut macaroons

09/28/2012 by Annalise · 1 Comment

As if the name doesn’t tell you enough… these are a chewy, moist, delicious little coconutty bite of pumpkin pie bliss in a macaroon form!

And to make things even better (for me at least! Ha!), they are dairy-free! (And even gluten-free too, I think!) YAY!

I have been so grumpy lately without my dairy. Baby Girl isn’t showing any great signs of improvement yet, but it’s only been a few days so I guess we’ve still got a ways to go on that.

I am so hoping this helps her feel better, but at the same time I am hoping it doesn’t help at all. :o/ Selfish, huh?

Anyways, these little dairy-free gems (all macaroons are dairy free, so I didn’t do anything sneaky to these, in case you were wondering!) really are delicious. Super simple to throw together and taste like a little bit of autumn-joy in your mouth.

Especially with a big cup of coffee… because we all know coffee makes sweets taste better, right?

Right?!

Pumpkin Pie Coconut Macaroons Recipe
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
makes about 2 1/2 dozen small cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup pumpkin purée

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse the coconut for about 1 minute. Add in the sugar, spice & salt and pulse for another minute.

Pour in the egg whites while the food processor is running and continue to process for another minute. Add in the pumpkin and pulse a few seconds to combine.

Drop with a small scoop onto the prepared baking sheets (the cookies won’t spread much). Bake each sheet for 25-32 minutes, until the cookies are light golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking sheets.

These are one of the very few cookies that, in my opinion, actually store better not in an airtight container… they stay crispier on the outside while still nice and chewy inside that way!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - cookies and bars, recipes - dessert, recipes - desserts, recipes - freezer, recipes - gluten free, recipes - healthy ·

grasping…

09/28/2012 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

Joining Lisa-Jo and gang for Five Minute Friday again…

No editing, no censoring, etc… just raw, focused writing for 5 minutes.

And… GO:

—-

Grasp.

I am grasping at threads in this new life of mine. This new normal we are trying to establish with a new member in our family.

My boys are grasping at their past and their comforts. I am grasping at a dream of what will be.

Once we get through this struggle. Once we get to the other side of this race, this marathon… this ironman that is parenting babies and toddlers.

Yes, I know that older kids, tweens, teens, adults… all posses their own intricate difficulties, but I am so looking forward to that difference.
I love my children so much. I don’t love this stage that is whining and crying and not-able-to-reason or even understand sometimes what we are saying to them and trying to teach them.

I don’t love diapers and potty training and endless sticky messes of oatmeal on hands and faces and hair and tables and chairs and floors and everywhere else they can get to before we catch them with the rag.

I am so excited for parenting my little family: stage 2. And even though that stage seems so far away from us… I know it will be here before we know it.

And so, for now, I am focusing on none other than rocking, snuggling and holding my sweet babies.

Because, you know, they just don’t keep.

No matter how hard we grasp.

Filed Under: five minute friday, mama musings, ramblings ·

hearty beef & bean soup… on the stovetop or in the slow cooker!

09/26/2012 by Annalise · 2 Comments

Tender, melt-in-your mouth chunks of beef, with a flavor-packed broth and a bunch of beans, veggies and potatoes. This is a perfect hearty fall soup for these chilly evenings that are approaching!

I think I could eat soup every day and not get tired of it. Soup is definitely near the top of my list of all-time favorite foods… but oddly enough I always forget how much I love it until I am eating it.

I’m actually pretty sure I’ve never met a soup I didn’t like. Obviously some are more loved than others, but I love soup in every form. Thin, thick, creamy, brothy, meaty, light… There are just so many amazing options, it never gets old for me.

This soup started out as a clean-out-the-fridge dinner, but as ingredients got thrown into the pot I realized how tasty it was getting. By dinner time, I knew I had to share this with you and will definitely be making it again!

I absolutely love the beef in here. Tender, juicy and packed full of flavor… so comforting and satisfying!

Hearty Beef & Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 long celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large baking potato, raw or leftover baked, chopped
3 cans beans, rinsed (I used 2 black & 1 garbanzo!)
4 cups beef or chicken stock
4 cups water
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat the bacon fat (if you don’t have any, olive oil will work) over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, carrots and celery until soft and slightly browned. Stir in the garlic and sauté for a minute or two until very fragrant.

Push the veggies all to the sides and dump the meat into the center to brown a little before adding in the rest of the ingredients.

Bring everything to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for as long as possible for best results, but at least 6 hours if you are using regular stew meat.

This is a soup that tastes better the longer it simmers. You could even start it one night and reheat it the next for amazing results!

OR brown all the veggies and meat and then dump it and everything else into the slow cooker on low for 8-12 hours for an almost hands-free meal. Yum!

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - crockpot, recipes - dinner, recipes - freezer, recipes - make ahead, recipes - slow cooker, recipes - soup ·

what we’re into… September 2012

09/25/2012 by Annalise · Leave a Comment

I love this posting by Sarah Bessey about what she’s into each month, and I think I want to join her in this.

It’s such a fun way to peek into someone’s life, and great way to record memories of my own life!

(Join us, if you’d like… I’d love to know what you’re into!)

What I’m Trying To Read
(because we all know I’m not getting a chance to actually finish reading anything these days!)

Me, Myself & Lies - by Jennifer Rothschild

She’s Gonna Blow!: real help for mom’s dealing with anger - by Julie Ann Barnhill

Devotions For Sacred Parenting - by Gary Thomas

What We’re Watching
(We don’t have regular TV, so we’re pretty much a Netflix & DVD only household.)

I just finished Eureka (loved it!), then Warehouse 13 (liked it) and now I’ve just started Parenthood and I’m absolutely loving it!

Andrew and I also just started White Collar together…

and the boys are loving Ice Age 1&2, Toy Story 1&2… and whatever else I make them watch when I get sick of those 4 movies!

What We’re Listening To

In the car we’ve been rotating VeggieTales Worship, Little People Christmas and an old favorite Chris Tomlin Live. Quite the variety, huh?

On Pandora, we’ve been loving the Winter Song station for a super-relaxing mama/baby channel! (Thanks for the suggestion Lisa Jo!)

And the husband is loving his usual (somewhat annoying to me!) dubstep. :o) (Which leads me to a burning question: Do you and your husband/significant other enjoy the same music?)

What’s In The Kitchen

Well, this is usually a fun one for me, but you might be surprised by our September. We have been eating a lot of cup-o-noodles and oatmeals. Yep. Life has been that crazy!

Yes, I have done a little cooking & baking (pumpkin caramel pecan rolls, pumpkin spice syrup, roasted cauliflower mac & cheese), but the majority of our days have been finishing off the freezer meals and eating as quick and easy as possible.

On another note, Baby Girl and I are trying a Dairy-Free diet as of a few days ago. She is NOT a happy camper and I am finally ready to try this last resort. I hate to see her suffer. And I hate to give up dairy (one of my favorite things!). It is a major struggle and sacrifice. But I sure do love her a whole lot!

What Blogs I’m Loving

My favorite new-to-me find this month: Lisa-Jo Baker (Tales from a Gypsy Mama). I am absolutely in love with Lisa-Jo and everything she writes. Seriously brought to tears or cheers almost every time I read her stuff!!

My favorite not-so-new-to-me blog’s: My Kitchen Addiction, Annie’s Eats, Gimme Some Oven & He Sows, She Sews. Check them out!

And that’s about it for the September edition of What We’re Into! Unless there’s something else you’d like to know?!