a happy saturday

It's no secret.

We love whole foods.

Partially because it's a hop, skip & a jump from our house.

And they always have those hard to find ingredients.

But this particular whole foods is a favorite.

And this weekend they had a kid's cooking class.

It wasn't quite as 'hands on' as we thought it would be.

But if you volunteered you did get to help.

This little lady was dying to get up there.  

So she did with my good friend's son.

 But she told me she was feeling kind of shy.

This is her I'm a little uncomfortable up here face.

Her sister gladly watched from her seat.

They brought each ingredient around to touch, smell & taste.

We have this little tradition of coming here

for dinner, or lunch.

Instead of going out.

They know how to navigate the self serve.

And each of them has their favorites.

 The meal almost always includes a zevia treat.  

and of course eating with chopsticks!

helping

Here's a little tidbit about me and the kitchen.

In case you're wondering what that blue shape on her forehead is,
we went to a place called giggles and hugs.
 It's supposed to be a dolphin, but looks more like a dog to me.  Either way she could care less.  

I totally and completely let my kids help
with the making of treats.

But when it comes to dinner, for some reason I shoo them out of the kitchen.

I think I need the space and I often times don't want them seeing
everything I'm putting into their food.  Because I know their reaction to
actually seeing it going in is that they'll think they won't like it.

So I hide it creatively.
And meanwhile I'm not involving them in the food prep.

Back when I was sick with pneumonia and my husband was out of the country
working.  I was really not doing well and so I enlisted my kids.  They all made
salads and my son actually finished cooking the turkey burgers for them.

They were oh so excited to be helping with dinner.

And I realized why don't I do this more! Really, it was one of those major DUH moments.

SO they've been helping more with things like asparagus soup.

And do you know, they're eating more of it because they had a part of
MAKING it.

So there's a little picture me imperfectly confession.

Perhaps you're already on top of this and totally have your
kids in the kitchen at dinner time.
But for me it was an area where I realized I was majorly missing the mark.

And now they're asking, "What else can I do, What else can I do."

To the point where I'm not sure what else to have them do!

By the way...I wasn't good about taking the after pictures,

so the two recipes we made yesterday can be found
here.  This was a yummy pinterest find.  The kids & grown ups (even our neighbors) loved them.

and here, from my dear friend Kim's blog.  She has other yummy recipes on there too!

And just because, I wanted to share this little Easter display we have on a hutch in the kitchen nook.

The book, in case you don't know about it, is "Benjamin's Box."  It is a story that goes with the Resurrection eggs.  I like it a lot.  And everything else was made by my kids.

That plate, Jackson made in class using broken egg shells to create a mosaic.

And the grace garden, each one of them made one in Sunday school this past week.  I was so impressed by the work the teachers put into making that possible for each of them.

bowling extravaganza

We celebrated this little lady turning 7 this weekend.

It was a fun and sweet celebration with just a few friends.

I got all crazy on the morning of the party and decided to do some printables.  I don't advise starting the morning of the event.

You know when you say you're not going to do it.
You're going to keep it simple.
And then you do one thing and that leads to another...and another?
Does that happen to you?

It kind of happens to me.  Ok, it can really happen to me.
Because the design I liked on etsy was kind of a high price for just the banner
which made me decide to spend some time making my own.

Which then made me think, oh I'll just try to quickly do
the cupcake wrappers, toppers and drink wrappers.
But you know nothing is quick about anything with design.
I did my best, but let me tell you I had my mom and every one of my kids
helping in the assembly line that morning.

And it came together just in the nick of time.
Ironically, someone who was at the bowling alley to
book their own party liked what I did,
and hired me to do a custom design for their son.

So I just sold my first birthday party printable kit.
My wheels are turning a bit on this avenue.

But first and foremost you may have noticed I've been a little more quiet around here.

I've just really felt the Lord telling me to focus right here at home.
To make things run smoothly and to not feel like I'm going in a million directions.
My prayer has been to have energy to really pour into my kids in the ways they need me.
And my husband too for that matter.

Because this time is fleeting and the things they need help with are really important.
There will be more time for the creative things.
So I'm squeezing them in when I can, but I'm not staying up till all hours anymore.
I'm needing to find a better balance so I'm not running myself into the ground in order
to make all the ends meet.

My father in law's recent health scare has sent his whole family on a mission
towards healthier eating.  There are praises all around in this.  My husband began watching
documentaries like Forks Over Knives, The Beautiful Truth, and Engine 2.
He had them all watching them too while he was there.

They live deep in the country and thought ok.  We get it, but how do we eat this way here.  So I went on a mission to try to find them organic farmers and co-ops and health food stores.  I was sending emails and recipes and web addresses all to encourage and help them map this out.  I know it can be overwhelming.  But it's worth it.

My husband who has benefited from my vegan cooking, but wasn't really on board with much of my label reading now totally gets it and is a transformed man.  He really didn't know how to navigate through a store to find the right things on his own.  So one day alone they called me a  half a dozen times from across the country, with five grown adults all asking questions about quinoa and chia and where to find this and how to do that.  I'm by no means an expert, but this health journey of my own has definitely educated me.  In a way, their father and father in law's illness just may be the impetus for a lot of lives changed.  I'm so proud of them for taking charge and making an effort.

So I've been taking a lot more pictures of the foods I make and the ingredients to share with them.

wraps using collard greens

Chia Pudding, my picture may not look that great,
but it's yummy & good for you too!

cauliflower soup & vegan grilled cheese

I'm not a strict vegan by any means and am not with my kids.  I want them to have eggs and a varied diet because I think they need it.  But I don't think they need a bunch of additives and poisons that are put in so many things if we don't read the labels.

I recently found a new to me website I'm really excited about with lots of kid friendly recipes.

These rainbow wraps were a hit the other night.  Only we used peas instead of edamame.
Eating well and feeling well and finding ways to treat our kids to healthy foods while still being yummy. It takes effort and some time, but it's so worth it knowing we're nourishing their bodies.

Lately I've been asked a lot about recipes.  I put together an email for family and friends.  I thought I'd list some of the websites I go to or have their feed emailed to me so I can find new inspiration.  Some of these links have been shared with me by other bloggers too.  I'm always excited to find new sites, feel free to comment with any favorites of yours!

This list are some of my favorites, but I'm sure I'm forgetting some too.  Not all are vegan, but all have healthy recipes.

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/

http://www.nourishingmeals.com/ 

http://www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/

http://ohsheglows.com/

http://glutenfreegirl.com/recipes/

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/

http://www.keeperofthehome.org/recipes

http://www.cookingquinoa.net/quinoa-recipe
http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/blog/

http://www.alkalinesisters.com/ 

http://chefchloe.com/vegan-recipes.html
http://youngonrawfood.com/
http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/

Linking up to embrace the camera..since I'm actually in a couple pictures up there. :)

gifting fun

Ok...this is going to be quick.

I have about three posts to write, but didn't want to lump them all together so I think I'm going to make them separately.

First, this year I was so inspired by pinterest to do this...

Gingerbread play-doh.  The source is from this adorable blog.
and this adorable packaging sourced from tatertots and jello.

Except I made it a goal to just use whatever I had on hand and not to buy anything new.

So mine are a little of this and a little of that.  With my joy to the world tags I already had printed.

It helps that I seem to save scraps of ribbon and paper from everything.  Sometimes I wonder why I do,
but then when it comes in handy like this I'm glad.

Inside the grown up jars are these cookies from one of my favorite gluten free sources, the pure pantry.
They're dark chocolate dipped molasses ginger cookies, featured on Martha Stewart's whole living site.  You would never guess they're gluten free.  We couldn't keep them in the house...so we'll be making more later today.

Speaking of today...lots to do on my list still.

So I must get going.

Hope you're all having a Merry, Merry Christmas Eve's Eve!