Applesauce is delicious

Seriously. I don't care how old you are. It is such a comfort food. And it is SO simple. And Sienna loves it.  I made this recipe in a single serving so that it can be made quick for baby, but its also great doubled, tripled, quadroupled and comes out equally lovely when frozen.

It all starts with a fresh apple & a dash of cinnamon.

Ingredients:

1 large organic apple - halved & cored (DO NOT PEEL)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or more - to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place oven rack in center of oven. 
2. Place halved/cored apple on baking sheet. (for the apple I used Braeburn, I find they are very naturally sweet and bake really well, but use whichever apples you have at your disposal. Keep in mind that mixing types of apples makes the best juice so it also makes the best sauce :)
3. Once oven is at correct temperature place baking sheet in the oven.
4. Bake apple until tender when pierced with a fork - about 25 min.
5. Remove apple from sheet and place in a bowl, add cinnamon and blend with immersion blender until proper texture.
6. Alternatively: place ingredients in blender or food processor - I just LOVE using the immersion blender because it is so easy to get the chunks out. 
7. Enjoy. (refrigerate for up to 3 days & freeze up to 3 months)

You can also mix this recipe with butternut squash puree.

--Recipe to follow later this week :) 

it is currently 93 degrees outside

And YES its October. That's what happens when you live in Southern California. Thanks to Santa Ana winds for providing us with hot, dry weather. (Praying for safety against fire storms!!) I'm wearing shorts and a tank top.. no scarves for this part of the country today. Too bad because I just made a really great scarf out of a t-shirt! (DIY tutorial to follow??)


So SiennaJane & I decided to play outside yesterday.....for 10 minutes while I ate my lunch... and then we went inside after she fell OFF her playset straight onto her face. Praise Jesus this kid only has her baby teeth so far..

and for lunch. I ate leftovers. 

But it was mouthwateringly delicious & I ate it in 3 seconds flat after I took these pictures.

Chicken Caprese Sandwich on Ciabatta with a Spring Salad

This is something I love to eat when I don't feel like doing a lot of dishes or cooking for a long time, but I still want to eat something fresh and tasty. It works great if you have left over chicken from dinner. Usually I hate eating left over chicken - it gets dried out in the fridge. bleh. But I hate letting it go to waste... That being said, is also perfectly fine if you buy a precooked chicken at the grocery store and use it that day or even cook up a breast quickly for yourself. It is also very simple to double, triple, quadruple this recipe.

Serves: 1
Time: 8 min, max.

Ingredients:
Ciabatta bread
EVOO
Pesto
Fresh basil
Cooked chicken
Fresh slices of mozzarella
Sliced tomato(es) - any type will do
Freshly cracked pepper


Directions:
Put your oven on broil - high. Cut your roll in half. Brush each side with a little olive oil. Place them cut side up on a baking sheet and place in oven, just until slightly crunchy, be careful to watch them closely because they WILL burn (RIP garlic bread). Remove from oven and pile the ingredients on! Place the pesto on both the top and bottom pieces.

On the bottom: place the pieces of chicken over the pesto. On the top place sliced tomatoes (I used cherry because I had ripe ones on hand) then place slices of mozzarella. Both over the pesto. Crack some pepper on both top and bottom and then put back in the oven just until cheese has melted. Now add the fresh basil and join the two sides together for a healthy, easy, and delicious lunch!

For the salad, I just tossed some tomatoes and chopped onions into spring mix and drizzled a little balsamic on it.

Anddddd here is something to ponder! I searched "garden" in biblegateway and this is what I found, a lovely picture painted of the kingdom of God by Jesus himself. May we be like the birds that perch in branches of the mustard tree!

" ¹⁸ Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

 ²⁰ Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”  "

Enjoy your day! 

The BEST banana muffins you'll ever eat!

1. My 30 day fast from the internet turned into a lot of days fast from my blog.

2. Here is a recipe for something you'll love. Though they aren't for baby and they are very sweet. A treat for mama!!

These are seriously so delicious you're going to bake them til you get sick of em. I LOVE THEM. so I try not to make them too often.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten. :)

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift (or don't sift.... I never do & they turn out perfectly fine...) the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter. Blend. 

Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas in a small bowl (I usually just lightly beat the eggs, and then mash the bananas into them and add the milk and vanilla - to minimize dishes) and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 almost to to the top... don't overfill these or they will get stuck to the pan and also look ugly haha. Top each muffin with a few sweetened banana chips. Pop those babies in the over for 25-30 min, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Notes: For the granola I use a blend called "rainforest granola" that I get out of the bins from my natural foods grocer. It has all sorts of stuff in it. Like Brazil nuts for example! SO DELICIOUS.

My suggestion is to make these for a crowd, they just don't keep well. unfortunately..

A Fire Worth Living For

Tomorrow I'm starting a 30 day fast from the internet. 


This should be interesting. I think I'll write a book about it haha. jk. sort of. I've been wanting to for a while and today I feel called to do it. Take the plunge. Stop caring about money I make from my etsy shop. Stop caring if I become a food network star who makes baby food recipes. Stop "favoriting" items on etsy in hopes that one day I can buy it for the home I don't have. Stop dreaming about things that could happen, and actually go out and make things happen. 


I won't be able to find recipes online. I won't be able to research about the lifespan of a fruit fly with the touch of a screen on my iPhone. I won't be able to check my status on facebook every five seconds. 


I might have to go to the library or get out of the house and do shopping in a REAL store. but all of that is good for me. and good for you, too. so go out and do it and stop eating bon bons on the couch while you watch 30 minute meals with rachel ray reruns.


Besides all of this, I will be making a really great sacrifice for my daughter. Right now, she is playing on the floor alone while I am typing this. Tomorrow we could be doing puzzles and building sky scrapers. I will be making a sacrifice for myself. Today while Sienna took her nap, I thought "maybe I should research some info about her birthday party" aka: go on etsy and waste time. Instead I decided I should clean my room and organize the hall closet. My room is looking much neater and my hall closet is now organized (praise the Lord) something I've been meaning to do for a few months now. I also dedicated a small space to my "art supplies" and now I have less clutter and more things I can actually work with. I feel cleaner and less stressed. Which brings me to the fact that it will be a sacrifice for my husband. He does NOT like the clutter around our room hah. He also comes home to a wife who is sitting on the computer. a wife who doesn't go to bed at the same time as him. even though she is exhausted, but wants to "surf the web" instead. hah. He will have more time with me, he will have more life with me. (hint, maybe you should give up movies for me, Jeremy :) and I'm excited to spend the time with my family.


Most of all, this will be a great sacrifice for God. The other day I was reading Malachi. Basically, God became angry with them for offering animals that weren't the best ones they had.

" 'When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?' says the LORD Almighty." Malachi 1:8

“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands

-Malachi 1:10

This passage reminded me that sometimes we show a faith that is not really a faith at all. We just go through life doing all the things we know we're not supposed to do - not swearing, not having sex before marriage, not divorcing our husband, not going to bed angry, not stealing our neighbor's donkey, not coveting our neighbor's wife - and we do all the things we know we are supposed to do. In doing this, we don't really listen to God, we don't really care that much about him. We are just lighting useless fires. 

I want a real fire. I want a fire that is the Spirit itself. I want to be an inspiration for others, but not because I am an inspiration, but because Jesus lives in me and others can see that and see beyond me to God's great mercy and the good news of the gospel. 

See ya in 30 days. :)

Blueberries, etc.

I love this recipe. I found it in "Top 100 Baby Purees" by Annabel Karmel. 

Its a great recipe because you don't have to stick to it. 

You can change it up however you like.

Sienna holding her own spoon... at least she wasn't dropping it on the floor :)

AGE: 6+ months

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Blueberries
1 extra juicy Peach
1 ripe Pear
(after 14 months you can add rice cereal to thicken)

...:::Hold off on ALL grains until about 14 months, babies don't have the enzymes to digest them, despite what doctors suggest about rice cereal, though once baby is 14 months feed them the rice cereal first:::...

Directions:

Wash the fruit. Dry immediately (especially the berries, they will absorb water if left in too long). Peel, core and chop the pear and peach. Make sure there aren't any stems on the blueberries - this is common to find if bought from the farmer's market.

Put the fruit into a small sauce pan over low heat and cover. Stir occasionally. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Puree in a food processor.

Refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.

........................................................


VARIATIONS:
Add an apricot, nectarine, or pitted/stemmed cherries.
You can use cherries instead of blueberries.
Use the apricot instead of the peach.
Use two nectarines instead of a pear.
be creative. :)

Triple this recipe and freeze.

Resources

Here are a few resources I've found helpful in buying organic food. They come from sources I trust for my family and they are also pretty to look at! (bonus!!) Do you and your family a favor and check them out! Even if you already buy organic food, its worth reading. :) Hope you enjoy!

1. EWG's Shopper Guide to Pesticides

Reasons why I love it:

• This website is great for telling you what's worth buying 
• provides a FAQ page with questions such as "Do pesticides pose special risks to growing children?" , "Shouldn't I try to buy everything organic?" , "Why should I be concerned about pesticides?"
• there is an app for the iPhone titled "dirty dozen" & its free

2. Real Simple Magazine's Online Organic Food Guide 

Reasons why I love it:

• There are multiple articles to read concerning organic food. 
• Tells you how to "decode" food labels. (What does "fat-free" mean? What does "organic" mean? What does "heart-healthy" mean?)
• Provides recipes at the bottom of the article titled "Ten Organic Foods that are Worth the Money"

FINALLY

Finally, a moment to blog.

Lately I've been such a busy, busy bee. My daughter has been teething, had a fever for a few days, we went on vacation, etc., etc., excuses, excuses, etc.

So here is a really great recipe that I made :)
Sienna hates carrots. She won't eat 'em. Raw. Steamed. Pureed. Nothin.

So I sneak them into other food. & here is a recipe she really liked:

Carrots, Corn & Onions:


Portions:
Two cobs organic corn
1/2 of a small onion (or 1/4 of a medium-large one)
3 medium organic carrots
about a tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup of water

Directions:
Remove the kernals from the cobs. Dice the onions into very small pieces. Peel, chop & dice the carrots. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Saute for a few minutes, about 3. Add the water. Bring the water to a boil & then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the carrots are soft, 15-20 min.

Puree in a food processor to a consistency baby can handle. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.



Note: I would not reccommend this to babies less than 9 months. Corn is difficult for baby to digest. I would also reccommend giving this to baby as a snack rather than a meal, especially the first time she eats it.

Two Super Easy Recipes

Age: 4-6 months
(but my babygirl still eats these & she is 9 months)


1. Bananas 

My daughter LOVES bananas.
For a while it was one of
the few things she would eat. 

It is still one of her favorite foods & she
eats them probably more often than she should. 

Directions:
Peel the banana. Whip it up in a food processor. finito! OR you can mash it up. Whatever your baby can handle.

Unfortunately bananas don't save. So if you don't think baby will eat very much, take half for yourself!


2. Pears

Another thing we always seem to be buying at the 

farmer's market/grocery store is pears. SiennaJane loves pears. 

Directions:

Peel the pear with a knife or a peeler. Slice off chunks into the steaming basket of a baby food processor or the steaming basket of a pan. Steam for 5-10 minutes (depending on what method you use, my baby brezza automatically does 10 minutes, but sometimes I take it off early - it varies based on the ripeness of the pear) Blend it up with a food processor and serve once cooled. 

The great thing about the pears is you can make them in a small amount of time & then you can save what you don't think baby will eat. You can even serve them cold right out of the refrigerator. 

SAFTEY NOTES: Once baby has eaten out of the container your serving her in, do NOT refrigerate it. Bacteria will form and cause the food to go bad. 

California Girls Eat Avocado

Plus, its SO easy to make.


What you'll need:

Utensils:
Bowl
Fork
Spoon
Knife
Cutting Board (if you want one)

Ingredients:
1/2 an Avocado
teaspoon of Lime or Tangerine juice




Directions:
Slice the avocado in half length-wise. Remove the pit (do this with the knife by tapping the pit and then twisting while the knife is still lodged in the pit, should come out pretty easily if you do it right). Scoop the meat out of the skin with a spoon- or I just use to fork so I don't dirty more dishes, careful not to get any of the bitter dark meat, squeeze the lime juice in and mash it up with a fork. Now baby is ready for a snack!


NOTES:

• if you want to save the avocado then just keep the pit in the half and it will last longer. 
• baby probably won't eat much of this, especially if its her first time, so you get to eat the other half as a snack :)
• you can always puree this in a food processor, it will give it a completely different texture - VERY smooth and creamy 

Sorrry this is on Thursday & not Wednesday. Better late than never??

Welcome Summer!

As a salute to summer SiennaJane & I went swimming :)

Two Things

ONE:

Today SiennaJane and I went to SeaWorld with my wonderful friend, Renata:

Renata trying to "pet" a dolphin. Fail.

We checked out new turtle reef - worth it.

Sienna & Me looking at the turtles & fishies.

...kickin' back in the stroller

Lookin around while... 

TWO:

I'm reading a really great book by C.S. Lewis called "The Weight of Glory". Here is something beautiful, among others, that he painted for me.

"We do not merely want to see beauty, though, God knows, that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words-to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it... that is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that 'beauty born of murmuring sound' will pass into a human face; but it won't. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy."

Isn't it marvelous?? I love this imagery. If I could write such magnificent beauty, I would be so happy. It is amazing how we are all blessed with different talents. In the introduction to "The Weight of Glory", written by Walter Hooper, it says, " Certianly,  Lewis could write no great works until he was converted to Christianity in 1931, after which he ceased to take much interest in himself." This reminds me that every talent we have should be used for the glory of God, to further his Kingdom & not try to further ourselves. & with that here are a few verses to meditate on tonight.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” 

-Mark 8:36

"Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

-Matthew 10:38-40

Anna's Camping - Bandana Bib

Sometimes babies really need bibs. But the ones you find at Babies R' Us aren't quite so cute as these guys: 

Vibrant for summer

Anna's Camping reversible scarf/bib is a perfect alternative!

Not only are they absolutely adorable, they are also very practical and very soft. The bibs are reversible. You can wear them FOUR different ways! Baby makes a mess, no big deal, flip it over. Spills food on their shirt & you don't have a change of clothes? No big deal! This isn't only a bib, its also a very trendy scarf. They fit super snug & keep baby's chest nice and dry! So go ahead, splurge a little, this scarf is great & will last throughout the years with easy snap closures made to grow on. 

. 

Great for boys and girls!

Snap closures for baby's growth

Carrots, Beets & Apples

Age: 7-9 Months

Ingredients:

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil 

3 cups water

2 red beets

1 golden beet

2 carrots

1 pink lady apple

1 braeburn apple

Directions:

Dice beets & apples into 1 inch chunks, chop carrots into small rounds (they will cook slower than the beets and apples). Heat olive oil in a large pan. Put carrots in pan over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Add the apples and beets to the carrots in the pan, cook for about 8 minutes longer. Add the 3 cups of water, cover and reduce to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Make sure the carrots are soft!

Puree in a food processor to a consistency your baby can handle & refrigerate up to 3 days; freeze for up to 3 months. 

You can also mash this mixture or mash some and puree the remainder. Its all what your baby likes! Mine likes it pureed better :)