Nine Months

Adrienne turned nine months old today.

So I took her out for coffee to celebrate.

I got coffee, but she just wanted a piece of banana bread.

We read. Sort of.

We threw bread on the floor.

And we examined the the top of a coffee cup.

Happy nine month birthday to my favorite fuzzy headed girl in the world.

Cait’s Plate in Boulder

Guess who Adrienne got to meet today?

Cait!! Well, technically they’ve met…Adrienne was just the size of a peanut and still all snuggly in my belly.

Cait’s hotel room wasn’t really that cold…we were just bundled in preparation for going outside.

We went out to eat at the Walnut Brewery and I had a turkey sandwich and a fruity side dish that Adrienne destroyed.

Very Cait’s Plate, right?

The sandwich was good! There was some pesto thing going on up there on the bread that was delicious. But not half as good as it was just to hang out with Cait for the afternoon. Basically I spent two hours trying to convince her to move to Colorado.

She’s thinking about it…right Cait?

Happy Friday indeed!!

Lunch Lately

Did you know that you can buy pre-washed and pre-cut mixed leafy greens in a bag at the grocery store?!

I’m not talking about salad spring mix…I’m talking about really hearty greens.

That discovery has changed my life this week. I’ve had greens for lunch every single day for six days.

For some reason, I never think to buy any leafy greens besides kale. But you guys, there are collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, beet greens…so many! And I found them all in ONE BAG at the grocery store. All ready to go.

Could that be more convenient?

Plus, I think they’re pretty good for you too. Green is good, right?

I have been sautéing them in a little olive oil and using this dressing (jeez…how many times in one week can I link to that recipe?!) and then throwing in some roasted some sweet potato rounds on the side.

Happy lunching!

Granola No-Bakes

I tutor a little boy once a week who is so full of words that I sometimes spend five minutes writing down all the wonderfully 2nd-grade-things he says after our hour of homework is finished each Monday.

Last week he raced into the library (2nd grade boys race everywhere), sat down,  and proudly told me that he was allowed to say the word bizarre.

Mrs. Unger, are YOU allowed to say the word bizarre?

This week he told me all about his uncle who makes glue for a living.

That same uncle apparently bakes something called a Moose Cake that has seven eggs in each slice of said cake. (I really want to see that recipe)

Additionally, he has a cousin who owns an African-American bull dog. When I asked him what made the dog African-American, he looked at me like I was daft and told me that the dog has dark skin.

Obviously.

So, by the same logic, I think I could call these African-American No-Bake Cookies.

But that sounds a little bizarre if you ask me, so I’m stinking with my original title.

Granola No-Bakes

• 1/2 c coconut oil
• 1/4 c peanut butter
• 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1 c rolled oats
• 1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 c uncooked quinoa
• 1/4 c sunflower seeds
• 1/4 c chopped almonds

Melt the oil, peanut butter, cocoa, and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium high heat and whisk until incorporated.

Next, stir in the rest of the ingredients. Scoop a rounded tablespoon full of mixture onto foil or wax paper and let sit on the counter (or in the fridge) until hardened.

Tuesday Things

1 . I have been eating at least one head of kale (sometimes two) a day lately. It’s just so gosh darn good. Especially this sunshine in a bowl. I can use all the sunshine I can get.

2. It snowed again. If anyone reading this lives in the Caribbean and wants to host a family of three (+ a cat and a dog) until say…June…please let me know.  I will do all of your cooking to earn our keep. Maybe even all the cleaning.

3.  My grandma turned ninty-one years old on Sunday. How awesome is she?

5. I get to see Cait this week! We met for coffee last year when I was in NYC for a wedding and it was one of the best hours of my life. I am counting down the seconds until I see her again.

6. There are still a couple of tickets left for BLEND. I really, really, really think that if you can make it happen – you should be there. I sincerely want to meet you and play together in Boulder for a weekend. Just imagine the fun. Or don’t imagine it…look at this outline of events.

7. Go check out this week’s Tuesday Trainer…there is a video of Baby A and me. She eats paper in it. You would hate to miss that, wouldn’t you?

8. Speaking of Baby A – she is terrific at helping me with laundry.

9. This video is so oddly/freakishly/awesomely entertaining. But it’s five minutes long, so go get yourself a cup of coffee before you press play. I promise you’ll be amused…you might even laugh.

10. Have an incredible Tuesday!

Coconut Cream Pie

This is not a healthy recipe.

Not at all healthy.

It’s a sweet-fluffy-girly-after-superbowl-recipe.

It’s a I’ve-been-buried-under-two-feet-of-snow-for-days-and-can’t-go-outside-someone-rescue-me recipe.

It’s also an unbelievably delicious recipe. I could live off of this pie.

Wait, I need some vegetables.

Correction: I could live off of this pie and Mama Pea’s kale sunshine salad. Seriously, that’s all I need in life.

Coconut Cream Pie

• 1/2 pie crust prebaked

pie filling

• 4 egg yolks
• sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5tbs corn starch
• 1/4 tsp salt

topping

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt to a small sauce pan set over medium heat. Whisk the egg yolks and the corn starch together. Right before the coconut milk begins to boil turn the heat down. Then temper your egg yolk mixture by mixing in little amounts of the hot coconut milk into the egg yolks (basically, you are heating up your eggs before you add them to the hot mixture so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs). After 3-4 additions, your egg yolk mixture should be warm enough to add into the saucepan. Whisk it in and keep whisking until it thickens up. 3-4 minutes over medium-low heat.

When the mixture is think, stir in the shredded coconut until combined.

Pour the mixture into your pre-baked pie crust and refrigerate for at least an hour (I left mine over night). When you are ready to eat the pie, whip the cream with the confectioners sugar with an electric mixer. Pile the whip cream on top of the chilled coconut pie filling and enjoy the best pie you’ve ever had.

Sunshine State?

Our week quickly went from this…

To this…

Now it’s time to get creative. Meeker just ate the rest of the leftovers and the last three eggs in our refrigerator. All that plowing really made him hungry.

Maybe I’ll make some biscuits to live on until it stops snowing.

In the meantime…summer, you can come early if you want.

Exercise for Sleep

The worst cure for sleeplessness: counting down the hours you have left to stay in bed.

The best cure for sleeplessness: exercise

I was tossing and turning the other night. Sort of dreading the workout that I had planned for the morning. I looked at the clock at 10:30…11:30…12:00…when finally I just decided to get up and do the dang thing.

Approximately one episode of Parks and Rec later (or 16:45 – however you keep track of time) I was finished, back inside, and feeling sleepy.

30  push-ups*

40 Pull-ups

50 Kettlebell swings

60 Sit-ups

70 Burpees

*the crossfit workout actually called for handstand push ups, but I didn’t feel like smashing my head on the garage floor at 12am.

Peanut Butter Purely O’s Treats

About a week ago, Cascadian Farms sent me two boxes of their cereal to try out. Purely O’s and Honey Nut O’s.

I really liked them both. Reallly liked. So much so that I hid the Honey Nut O’s box just for me…thank goodness babies can’t have honey.

While I was eating handful after handful cereal, I decided that they taste a lot like rice crispies.

The logical next step was to make some sort of sticky treat out of them,

You follow that logic, right?

Peanut Butter Purely O’s Treats

PRINT Recipe

• 1 c peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
• 2/3 c maple syrup
• 1 t vanilla
• 3 cups of Purely O’s (or similar cereal)

Combine the peanut butter and maple syrup on a small saucepan on the stove. Cook over medium heat, stirring until incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Stir in the cereal and mix until all those O’s are covered in sweet sticky peanut butter. Then you can either press it all into a 9×13 pan or squish them into 12 little muffin tins until hardened.

(Yes, Adrienne eats peanut butter. Don’t try to tell me it’s not good for babies…I’m not buying it.)

Mama, I need another one. This one disappeared inside my squirrel cheeks.

Lunch Lately

I know, I know. Before you roll your eyes and think MORE roasted vegetables…yada, yada, yada. Does this girl know how to make anything else?…let me just say this combination was perfect!

See, A says so. Or thinks so. I suppose she can’t really say anything yet.

But look at that glee on her face. And the vegetable smear.

• red potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• zucchini
• baby carrots
• cherry tomatoes
• onions
• red pepper hummus
• pepitas
• sunflower seeds
• roasted almonds

Run to the store and get this in your belly. Today please.

Oh, and per request, I tried to get a picture of Adrienne’s new pirate tooth…

but she wasn’t having it.