Gathering with friends is a wonderful blessing. It gives us the opportunity to share, to listen, and to simply spend time together. Getting together is a wonderful way to build community, honor special occasions, and simply to celebrate the everyday pleasures of life.
When we gather with our friends, there’s almost always some sort of food laid out. People tend to gather in the kitchen, and whether or not a meal is planned, having snacks to serve is never a bad thing.… Continue reading
When we visited my grandmother over the summer, she gave me a jar of Apple Pie Spice she had received as a sample when placing a large spice order. She didn’t see herself using it, so she passed it along to me (along with a sample jar of cardamom, which she is now going to wish she kept because I’m going to post more recipes using it ::wink::).… Continue reading
For most of the summer, the local dairy where we get our raw, grass-fed milk has not had cream. However, the other day when we went to pick up our milk share, there were a couple of jars of cream sitting in the refrigerator. To say we were delighted at the prospect of making ice cream with real cream is a bit of an understatement.… Continue reading
When the weather is warm, we make a lots of smoothies and ice creams (see HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE for a few of the many recipes I’ve posted). When we make these things, I always make a rather big batch. We generally finish most of, if not all, of what I make at that same time. My boys, in general, eat a lot, though their appetites vary from day to day.… Continue reading
We just had new neighbors move in across the street. We live in the mountains, and don’t have many people close by, but we’ve been fortunate that those who live around us are truly wonderful people. I’m excited about meeting the newest residents in our neighborhood, and want to greet them with a welcome gift in hand.
My son suggested making them some type of cookies or a cake, but I always feel nervous about bringing baked goods to people I don’t know.… Continue reading
Today it was milkshake time again. My boys and I spent hours out and about on a hot day running errands, and then we came home and spent some time working in our garden. Later that afternoon when my 6-year-old suggested making a milkshake, it sounded like the perfect way to cool us down after our busy, hot day.
I love chai spices, so I decided to try making a Fruit-Sweetened, Chai-Spiced Milkshake.… Continue reading
With local peaches in season here in Colorado, we’ve been enjoying an abundance of them. While we’ve been eating most of them in their wonderful, pure fresh peach (see HERE) form, today I decided to give Fresh Peach Ice Cream a try.
I wanted the peaches to shine, so I only added two other ingredients to the mix. I was about to grab some ground cinnamon, when on a whim I decided to use the apple pie spice we had received as a gift instead.… Continue reading
The other day, I took my boys to the County Fair. While we were there, especially as the day got warmer, we saw lots of people drinking slushies. My boys were fascinated by these bright-colored beverages. I didn’t want to buy a fair slushie drink. The day-glow colors told me that they were full of artificial colors, and they were likely loaded with corn syrup too (which would make my little guys break out in a serious rash).… Continue reading
What do you do when it’s so hot outside that you child declares he’ll only eat a smoothie for lunch? Make sure that smoothie is a nutritious meal in and of itself. To make this smoothie, I combined lots of greens – kale, spinach, and spirulina powder, generous amounts of healthy fats and protein – coconut and cashew butters, frozen bananas to give it some sweetness and to make it nice and cold, as well as some cacao powder to make it all taste yummy (in addition to cacao’s wonderful nutritional benefits).… Continue reading
When my 6-year-old asked if we could make a batch of cookies for when our friends came over to visit, it seemed like the perfect time to try this fruit-sweetened cookie recipe. I came across this recipe on Real Healthy Recipes, and loved that the primary sweetener was dates (in addition to the minimal amount of sugar in the dark chocolate chips). … Continue reading