my blender blew up this morning. the blades came loose and my green smoothie juice started seeping out of the bottom. darnit. i guess now i have to spring for something a little more powerful. an early xmas present is coming my way:) hee hee!!!!
laura (aka chimmie) came in town with her kiddos for a last hurrah trip before school starts up. christina dropped in for a coffee and ended up staying until bedtime. now that is what the mullies is all about. impromptu cooking!!!
i got all tingly from this reader comment that came through this weekend from this previous post and i have to share it:
"I assume you'll get this message even though it's an old post. But thought I'd comment on the post that changed our lives! Thank you! Thank you! I wanted to send an email with more info, but maybe that's not allowed. Anyway...
I get tons of emails and truly believe I was meant to open that one from Jamie (featuring your blog), as we were likely going to take my son in for evaluation. Anyway 2 days into gluten-free I stopped taking notes and knew were weren't going back! The change has been pretty easy since he willingly gave up donuts, pizza, goldfish etc- you know he must be feeling better! With school starting, hoping to get into a better routine and try more foods. Onward and upward! Thanks again, Alyssa"
you absolutely, unequivocally made my day Alyssa. thank you so very much for sharing... i'd love to hear more from you! my fire is lit. this post is dedicated to you and to all of the hot mamas, papas and foodies that are making small or big changes for the lovies in their lives.
here's my mullies promise. real food, real world. this.is.what.really.happens. thumbs up, thumbs down, messes, whines, laughter, screw ups, celebrations... all one bite at a time.
there will be no perfection here. i want to show you what it looks like when you attempt to kick the fake food out and try to get kids to eat more vegetables and other new foods that they just aren't familiar with right away. what happens when you start cooking from scratch? what happens to your sanity? is gluten free just a trend? no no to gmo's? artificial color can cause hyperactivity!?!? can i really do this? do i have the time? you mean this takes practice!? it's just one big can of oye's as you ponder altering your family's food life.
if i might inspire another to make a change (no matter what size), you better believe i'm gonna show & tell how it's going down in crazytown. i'm going to try. it's an ever-evolving lifestyle change. one that was solidified when abbie's ADHD and sensory processing symptoms went bye bye 10 months ago.
booo-ya to the oye oye.
know this: you are in control. you get to write your story. mine is uncharted and so is yours. take whatever you can chew on and swallow slowly. set your own pace and put a sweatband on. you're sexy and you know it.
america is in a serious fake pickle with her food right now and i wanna have some fun with getting my family and yours back on track. that means more posts like this and i'm even going to start taping videos of the craziness that happens in the mullies. the good, the bad and the funny. oh lordie.
it's time to stir it up. school is about to start. i need to start thinking about making lunches again. i can't wait to roll up my sleeves as a food ambassador and continue helping my school district bring food education back into the classroom and healthier options back into our schools' lunches.
so go get your apron on with me, my hot mamas and fellow ambassadors. let's start having more adventures in the kitchen with our kids shall we? it's so much more fun when you have some friends with ya.
let's get back to our red velvet night...
we loaded my dishwasher twice. we savored our wine. we fed 7 kids and ourselves. whew.
we jumped right in. what a night.
laura told me how much she missed her red velvet cake. and i was like, "well i got me some beets from my box, so let's figure it OUT!!!!" why no fake red #40 in this house? check out this article on fake food coloring and you'll see why we drop kicked the artificial rainbow from our kitchens.
note: we realized that boiling the beets whole was going to take too long, so we took them out and diced them after a few minutes.
please take note for freak sake: baking POWDER, not soda.
our simple and not so normal ingredients for our "cream cheese" frosting. pine nuts. PINE NUTS!!!
eat your heart out dwight schrute!!!
gotta love the bunny ears. this is how the cupcakes looked before they deflated.
laura introduced us to vegan pad thai (a little too spicy for the kids) with kelp noodles. holy ballz do i love kelp noodles. you really must try them. i found mine at whole foods. i'm totally nuts for Kimberly Snyder's nutritional guide & cookbook, The Beauty Detox Foods. so far, this and every.single.other.recipe has been a huge, yummy success. my chimmie must have told me 20x's about her and how much she loved her book & recipes. i am officially hooked.
for the kids? we cooked up some brown rice pasta, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and cut up some strawberries (seconds were for blackmailing). forgot to take pics. oops.
not bad eh? our first time and the next will be even better. they came out all puffy and lovely and then they popped like a toot and went flatty-boom-batty. argh. we're gonna leave out some beets next time... too much moisture. i adjusted the recipe below and i'll update the post accordingly each time i tweak it, promise. leave a comment if you have a suggestion for our next round!
the two boys did not like the cupcakes. 2 thumbs down, 5 thumbs up.
1/2 c diced and boiled beets until tender with a fork (we used 3/4 c and it was too much we think)
1/3 c melted coconut oil
1 1/4 c coconut palm sugar (or organic sugar)
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c gluten free flour (155 g)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp baking powder (not soda)
1 c almond milk
2.5 T cacao powder
dairy free cream cheese frosting
adapted from Kimberly Snyder's vegan cream cheese
1 1/4 c pine nuts
1 T coconut oil (room temp)
1 tsp sea salt
2.5 T + 2 tsp almond milk
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1.5 c organic powdered sugar
whiz all ingredients in a food processor. place in fridge or freezer to firm up.
as of today, abbie has gone from level a to level i in 150 days. she is now performing above average as 1st graders in our district are expected be at level j by the end of the year. i can't thank our classroom teacher enough for holding abbie to such high expectations...wowzers...so so appreciative of what you do for our little girl and every kiddo in your class. you are truly making a difference L.
where o where will my little girl fly to next...
you go girl.
AND...
singing to the mullies news #2: chances are you're gonna love this...hit play:) this is so fun.
i just got this tinkle-in-my-pants email from my friend shelly, another hot mama in the mullies.
***
Okay, so I have to tell you…. We are truly 99.5% gluten free in our house – it has taken some time but we are really making head way with no gluten, preservative free, no GMO’s or color additives and clean healthy foods. Still working on getting the finishing touches on the gf flour blend – ordering items on amazon tonight. But this is what has me delighted – Ana’s teacher emailed me and informed me that Ana sat and wrote an ENTIRE page to her pen pal for 35 minutes!! That is MASSIVE!!! Ana could not sit for 5 minutes let alone write more than 3 sentences. I am tickled pink and to some parents this isn’t much - but for me – it’s HUGE… Banana was stretching to read at a level D and in the past 2 weeks she is reading D books with ease. I am so excited - but you know what this is all about!
It has been just about 3 weeks – two weekends of shopping all natural/clean – Mike and I haven’t spent this much time together since our honeymoon:) Oh man! I have also added Fish oil & flax seed (smoothies are a great cover) to our daily intake. Plus, I tell the girls everything I have added and explain why & what it does for them. Lilly is loving this and is so interested in nutrition – “knowledge is my power” my girls have been hearing it day after day for the past 3 or so weeks.
By the way – LOVE the celery soup! My Dad was so funny, I barely sat down on the bleachers and he was asking if I had any more – laughing at him – I told him I would bring some over the next day. First thing in the door last Fri – he took the container with a big smile! I made his day.
***
dancing in my kitchen...dancing for all the chances being taken. this song is for all of you.
"chances are, we're making our own equation.
chances are all we need, chances are this could be the combination, chances come and carry me...
chances are waiting to be taken."
you go girls.
ps
singing to the mullies news #3:
i met with our school district's board of education last night on behalf of my ambassadorship to the jamie oliver food revolution. it was a great "hello" and the conversation ball is in play...stay tuned:)
the video montage at the end of the article really captured the night we all had together in the kitchen. i mean, i love and want to squeeze it to death. tinglies every time. paul you rocked it. and meg, your pictures are stunning. t.h.a.n.k. y.o.u. and we are sooooo doing this again.
talk about a nuclear explosion to start the week! jamie o's new food tube channel broadcasted live and i spent most of my free time yesterday watching all the new videos his food team put on. they even answered my chard question! i literally had no idea that i could use the stems...to think i have been throwing them in the garbage this whole freakin time...it's a travesty, i should be shot...and you better believe i'll be cooking up that chard pie soon...stay tuned for that little ditty.
this is one crazy lot: megan (the allergy awareness mom), me (nuts), christina (the kitchen queen) and stacey (the not-so-confident cooker). these are the hot mamas who were the first brave souls to join me here and share their evolving, not-so-perfect experiences in the kitchen.
i'm really looking forward to more of you mustering up the gumption to join me. cuz you knooooooooow you want to cook more...you knooooooooow you wanna stuff your faces with more of the colorful stuff... but maybe just not yet. tomorrow, mmmmmm perhaps next weekend? that's ok, i'm not going anywhere. happy to have you anytime, with kids or without. i am an all inclusive party place.
ps
here's a peak back to what i wrote on oct 3rd. i keep thinking about that morning in trader joe's parking lot when i parked the car...we're a-waterfallin baby.
it'll totally add to your reading pleasure:) my absolute fav song EVER...i've been known to dance around in my kitchen to it. believe it.
i just made it. met the deadline....phew. the november jamie oliver food ambassador goal was to teach friends and family a traditional dish from scratch...
it's nov 30th and i thought that i had to inspire someone else other than myself to do the teaching...hahahaha, ooops. i figured i'd go all in for dec... yet another problem i have with reading:)
so the night started with me just planning & making dinner...and then a neighbor kiddo came over...and then her big sister and poof! we had ourselves an impromptu kid cooking class! yea baby!!!
i had two sweet dumpling squashes that i had to use and i found this recipe on the internet
