Time To Get Packing!

Yup, we're moving.

 Some of you already knew that, so it may seem like old news, but we didn't elaborate too much about our move and to us it's a pretty big deal!

 To say we are excited about this is an understatement. We talked about this for a very long time, and we have decided to change up our lives in some pretty big ways.

 The biggest change of all, is that we decided to downsize. Quite a bit (We are going from a 4 bedroom attached garage, to a 2 bedroom townhouse.). At first, this idea was scary for me. It meant that we need to get rid of half of our belongings, and fully commit to the changes we have made in our lifestyle. The scary aspect of it didn't last long though! I am just a big ball of excitement now! I am planning everything, organizing, and making lists for everything (Because you know that's how I roll.).

I know I keep saying how different this is going to make things, but let me elaborate a little.

Simplicity- The decision to downsize is going to allow us to live with what we actually use and need. No silly attachments to random stuff that doesn't even make sense to have. Only things that are practical and get used on a regular basis stay (Of course we are making room for our style.). We have an entire basement full of stuff we didn't even know we had.
 The house is going to be clutter free, and -wait for it- easy to clean!  Especially with my 'new' cleaning routine, and the fact that we don't let things pile up and become a big job anymore.

Time- With us not needing to worry about spending hours a week cleaning, to keep our house manageable for us, we are going to have a lot of extra time on our hands to do some of the things we really want to do. Like going on more family trips, biking together, doing many more activities with Mackynzie, putting more time towards our hobbies and loves, and lots of other fun things.

Money- With smaller space, comes a smaller price tag. Our living costs are going to be a lot lower than they are right now, which is going to open up many opportunities for us that we wouldn't be able to do all the time (like keeping up with our desire to be organic in a town that's hard to find anything 'real'.).

Active- This move will allow make us be way more active. Because of the smaller space, and the money we save, we will be able to go out a lot more. We won't have any excuses to be bored inside, and with us biking rather than driving, we will have no choice but to get our butts out the door!

Peaceful- With making our life so much easier in so many different ways, We wont have many of stresses we have now. We will really be able to just focus on being a family, and doing our thing.

This is just a handful of reasons, but even alone they sound pretty convincing to us!

I think the thing I am most excited about, is unleashing my creativity on our new home. We have never really made a house 'ours' yet, but things are going to change with this one! We are going to get rid of half of our old things, and replace them with new things that suit both our new home and our style. I can't wait to actually put some effort into the decoration aspect of our home for once. We have just sort of filled our house with stuff, it has never been an actual design, based on our tastes. I am going to stop myself (for this post anyway...) because I could go on about this part forever!

I am going to keep posting away about tons of things that have to do with our move. Including things like how we are organizing a move with a toddler two dogs, and a working husband, plans and inspiration for our new home, before and after pictures, how we plan to help Mackynzie adjust to the move (Something she can't really wrap her head around yet. This house is the only one she knows!), and more!

 I have been itching to be able to blabber on about this exciting new adventure, but was waiting until everything was official (you never know what could happen.).

We will be in our new house in approximately three months, so although there is time, we have so much to do.

  I am still bouncing up and down about it, and I am sure I will be for a while after we are all settled in! I can't wait to share so much more, and get going on this new chapter of our life.

Awkward Moments

 I have been a whirl wind of busy!

 There is just so much going on, and needing to be done in a very short time! Not to mention all the things I normally do need to be kept up with.

 Don't worry, I will be able to spill the beans soon... hopefully next week!

in other news, we have been diaper free for over a month now, and we are officially fully potty learned! She has been for over a week, but I wanted to give it some time to be sure. She asks to go every time now, and she has control over her bladder. We still has the occasional accident, but that's normal; it usually happens when she is really focused and distracted. What has been happening lately, is she gets distracted (happens most often at baby group.) and then she realizes she has to go and does a mini freak-out, but in her rush to the potty she is usually just too  late. She gets better at being aware of her feeling of 'I gotta go' every day, though.(apart from baby group, we have never had an accident in public actually.)

 In celebration of this new milestone, Mackynzie and I went to the store to get a new baby doll (she loves baby dolls, but didn't have a 'full size' one yet, so it seemed fitting.) Now here is where my day gets funny. Or at least  I  think it was funny... and a little odd.
 While at the till, the cashier looks at the baby dolls (She chose a set of twin dolls. Also, it was our only purchase there.) and said:

"Oh... baby dolls! There's only one reason for buying those."

She looked at me with a half smile, half of a 'yup...I know what that's for' type of look.

I was very confused, and figured I must have been missing something. We were just there buying dolls... nothing unusual. I figured she would guess that it was an occasion of some sort, but what she said next shocked me, and almost made me split my side! I answered:

"And what's that?"

She looked at me with that look again, and said:

"There is another one on the way!"

I laughed a little and said:

"No, definitely not. We are celebrating being potty learned."

I couldn't help but laugh a little more. She then told me a story about how her granddaughter got mad when they gave her  daughter a baby doll, because they didn't want her to think she had to play with dolls, and couldn't play with trucks etc. So with that being said, I could understand why she might think that. Still super funny to me though. Probably more so because she caught me so off guard!

 unless I look prego... if that's the case, then apparently I need more flattering clothes.

Cody and I giggled about it on the way home. Ah.. fun times...

A Little Potty Update

 This potty thing has been so relaxed and wonderful, I find myself forgetting we ever had diapers!

 Yesterday morning, Mackynzie got up from playing, came over to me (I was in the kitchen.) and told me:

"poop potty! poooooop!"

 We hurried to the potty, and sure enough, she went! This has been happening quite a bit this past week-two weeks. She can now recognize the feeling of 'I gotta go!' and can respond before the accident happens.

 Of course, we still have accidents sometimes, but that can be expected from any new potty learner, no matter their age.

 Mackynzie is enjoying being able to pick out an ENTIRE outfit now (panties included!), and I am enjoying how darn cute she looks in her clothes without that diaper bulge. (We are almost ready to go stock up on cute underwear (if I can fin any that fit well, that small!), to get her used to wearing underwear and pants.)

I always imagined potty "training" to be this drawn out, tedious thing. Who knew it would be a wonderfully relaxing experience, and another way to bond!

Paleo Pizza

 Tonight, Mackynzie and I needed something fun to do, and I wanted something easy and delicious for dinner. I was in the mood for filling, carb-like food, so we decided to try out our first primal pizza with a more traditional crust (we have made it before using cauliflower 'rice').

 I grabbed some random ingredients from my-'I need to go to the store'- kind of stocked fridge, and made a simple, easy, yummy pizza!

PALEO PIZZA CRUST (and Pizza recipe):

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of full fat coconut milk Or approx 3/4 C of almond milk
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup coconut flour

 Mix eggs, milk, and both garlic's together gently. Add baking soda and coconut flour to egg mixture. (sift your coconut flour!) Mix until combined.

spread out into a pizza shape on your pan. (it will be more like a thick batter, not dough like.) *Remember that coconut flour recipes don't 'grow', so how thick you spread it, will be how thick your crust it!*

  Place on greased, non-stick pizza pan (or parchment paper)

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Once brown, take crust out, and carefully flip your crust.

 Spread pizza sauce on (we used tomato paste mixed with herbs, salt and pepper, and a bit of garlic powder.), and top with whatever your taste buds desire! (We had farmer sausage, tomatoes, black olives, avocado, and a tiny bit of cheese. The avocado acts as a cheese substitute, in my opinion, because it's so rich and creamy. (we only used cheese because that was the last of the block I needed to get rid of!) random toppings, but it was what was in the fridge!)

Turn oven to *broil* and place back in oven for approximately 10 minutes. *watch it though, you don't want to burn your edges!*

Take out, cut up, and ENJOY!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Paleo Muffins (Or just Banana...)

 Paleo muffins?! No way!

Don't be so shocked! Some of us on the caveman diet still love to bake! (I have quite a few baking recipes that I will be posting asap!!)

For those of you who were not shocked, and just want me to get to the dang muffins already, here we go:

Banana-Chocolate Chip Paleo Muffins (Or just Banana Muffins...):

• 2 large size eggs
• 4tbsp Melted coconut oil, or butter
• 2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup (add a bit more if you are not using chocolate chips. if you don't like sweet things all that much, don't add any. Or, add more if you like. OR you can use honey (if you don't have little ones under/around 1 year), or other natural sweeteners.)
• 2 pureed over-ripe bananas (I have a bullet, so I just popped them in there, and made them smooth. You can do this with a blender, OR you can just hand mash them. I didn't want any lumps of banana this morning, so this is just what I did!)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp crushed sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• handful of chocolate chips. (eye-ball it. You know what you like.)
• Nuts, if you like them. (we don't bake with nuts often, so we don't add them.)

Directions:

There are two ways you can do this. 

 1 - put everything in bowl and mix.

2 - (what I do.) Crack eggs into your bowl, and give a light whip so they are somewhat combined. Add your syrup and *melted* coconut oil/butter - give a little whip again to combine.

  Add your banana puree or mush (or, if you are not pureeing them, just put them in the bowl and mash them with the eggs etc in there... Or do it separately, its completely your call.)  and give a little whip to combine it all again.

 Sift in your coconut flour, then add your salt, and baking soda - mix with wooden spoon until combined.

Add your chocolate chips and/or nuts if you're adding them.

Preheat oven to 350.

use ice cream scoop, or spoon, to scoop a big dollop of batter into a **greased** muffin tin. (or use cupcake liners.)

Bake for 28-30 mins. Cool, pop out and eat them all... 

TIPS AND EXTRA INFO:

• If you have baked plaeo-style before, you will notice that I only use two eggs. This may confuse you, as paleo baking usually requires 6+ eggs. Worry not, this is not a typo. I have been playing around and making dozens of muffins to find the right consistency. I think I found it. (don't hold me to this yet, as I need to try and do a recipe without chocolate chips first, to see if what I did was right!)
• If you have baked with coconut flour before, you will noticed the muffins tend to come out mushy. This one is not mushy. (see above bullet.)
• These muffins don't rise, So fill your tins appropriately.
• The bake time is quite long for muffins, but they are mushy if you don't wait it out. Some ovens may be done in 17 mins, but I have a hot oven, and I leave mine in for 30 mins, or else i find my centers are just too moist.
• These freeze well, so make some, and freeze them!
• Paleo muffin batter doesn't make as many muffins as you may be used to, with wheat flour. Don't be fooled, these are FILLING because they are packed with so much goodness. Just 2 of these bad boys with my tea or green smoothie, and I am stuffed for breakfast! 
• Some people may be going "whoa, Rainbow. Chocolate chips are NOT paleo." -This is true. But, a little dark chocolate is A-okay in most paleo eyes, and you can get vegan/gluten free chocolate chips. (these in particular, are just normal chips. We don't always sweat the small stuff, and we are not crazy strict, so this is okay for us. It;s not like it's all the time ;) )

Eat, and enjoy! 

Please feel free to ask any questions (I may have let something out, you never know!) and be sure to keep an eye out for more muffin recipes! 

16 Months Old

 Wow... That was a crazy week!

 First, lets start out with my amazing girl. She turned 16 months old on the 9th!
 
 I just cant get over how much she learns and grows with each passing month. It's such a surreal and beautiful experience.

 I am learning things I never could have imagined I would learn. Like how as she gets older, and grows into her own, independent person, we grow closer. Our bond gets deeper. Our relationship becomes stronger then ever before.

 Words to describe this experience do not exist; not ones that do these feelings and moments justice, anyway.

Every touch of her tiny hand, every look  that needs no words, every mid-afternoon snuggle under the blankets, for no reason other than wanting to be near each other.

  These things, are what life is all about.

 I can only look forward to the time that has yet to come, because I am assured that so long as I follow my heart, and be true to my empathy, we will be able to create more moments and memories, then I could ever dream.

 My love for this beautiful little person, is so overwhelmingly powerful. It coats my mind, and flows over my every thought. It makes me better - She makes me better- in every single way, every single day.

  I find myself amazed by her personality. By the way she views things. By the ways she differs from me so greatly, yet is so much like myself.

 Maybe, more than anything, I love this feeling of guiding her, and letting her learn this world in her own special way, and feeling more connected with her than I ever thought possible. Its like she is flying above me, but there is the world's strongest tether connecting our hearts and souls; and although she is flying above, we are somehow beside each other, seeing everything together.

 She has taught me so much in just 16 months; I can only imagine what she will teach me in her lifetime.

 I am so incredibly fortunate to know this love. To know this life. To know her.

Happy 16 months to my little girl, who words will never be able to describe, so lets just use 'love'.

Home Made Chicken-Vegetable Soup, with Home Made Bone Broth

**I have updated how I do these recipes slightly, now that i'm further down my holistic eating path. Please check that out for adjustments to make these as optimally nutritious as possible. click HERE**

 Nothing can compare to home made soup. If you have ever had it, you know this, and you probably discovered this by trying to find something that would be the same, because you didn't know how to make your own.

 I avoided making my own soup (never mind my own broth) for a long time, because I thought it would be hard and complicated. When I finally did it, I realized its one of the easiest things to make!

I keep broth and/or soup in my freezer constantly. It really comes in handy. I will talk more about how I freeze it, and what I do with it in a minute.


 The gist- Soup is good. Homemade soup is EPIC. Keeps you healthy, keeps you full, and is PACKED with nutrients. Here is my recipe (paleo of course!):

*this recipe is for a chicken approx 6-7 lbs. Use water/vegetable amount to match the size of your chicken.*

Home Made Bone Broth:

Buy a whole chicken, cook it, and eat it as an awesome meal, however you like.

 When you are done, you are left with the bones, and the left over meat. (that should be still on the chicken.)

Strip the meat off the bones of your chicken (that you didn't eat for dinner. I have enough for dinner, lunch the next day, and enough for the soup.), and set aside in a bowl/container. This will be the meat you use for your soup. You have to really get in there and pull apart that chicken. *Don't throw anything away! (unless you still have some 'bits' left inside the cavity of the chicken (heart or something.), and you don't wish to use those. They are full of flavor, but I choose to chuck them. Little past my comfort zone.) there usually wont be anything to throw away.*
  Lift up the chicken, and be sure to get underneath, and in all the nooks. You don't need a giant bowl, it goes a long way. You will learn how much you like in your soup.
 Wrap up your chicken that you have set aside, and put it in the fridge. You deal with that much later.

Put all the bones etc in a soup pot, and fill your pot with filtered water. (enough to cover approx 2-3 inches above your bones.)

Add veggies to your bones. a big carrot, or two medium ones, an onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, and 2 celery stalks. (these are very roughly chopped. Big pieces, and you don't even need to take stems/ends off, or peel if you don't want to. Except your onion and garlic. peel your onion, and cut in large chunks. peel your garlic, and give slight smash with the side of your knife.) Don't worry about these veggies. You won't be using them for anything besides flavor. they get left aside with the bones.

Add spices. I just eye-ball it to my taste. I add a bit of thyme, 2 bay leaves, sea salt, pepper, and oregano. (probably about 1/2 a tsp of oregano and thyme..)

Set your burner on med-high heat (on the higher side. 7 or 8, if your stove does the number thing.) Once it starts to boil turn it down to med-low heat (about 3.).

Simmer for about 4-5 ish hours. This is really up to you. You could simmer it all day on low if you want, but i prefer about 4-5 hours. You can tell its done, when the bones have separated from the rest of the chicken, and your veggies are super mushy (onions are clear, garlic is mushy.) Taste it! If it tastes like chicken broth, and its been an hour or two, you could pull it off then. Add what you think is missing, and keep simmering if you like.

Extra step: After its done, turn off element, and leave on stove to cool. when its cool enough to touch, place pot in fridge-with a lid- over night. This allows everything to combine more, and the flavor is better. (still fine if you skip this though.)

Strain your broth into a container, and store, or use in soup right away.


Home Made Chicken-Vegetable Soup:

Pour the broth that you just made (the day before...or not), into your soup pot. add equal amounts of filtered water. ( I just pour with a big ol' measuring cup that holds 4 cups. I usually have about 2 1/2 measuring cups of both broth and water. i usually add about an extra cup of water.)

Chop and add vegetables. 3 carrots, 4-5 celery stalks, onion if you like it-the amount is up to you-, 2 cloves of garlic (hit them with the knife again like mentioned in the broth recipe.), zucchini if you like it **Don't add zucchini until the last 10-15 mins! it dissolves if you put it in too early.**

Shred and add your chicken you put aside from your bones.

Add spices. (less then you added in the broth.) 1 bay leaf, oregano, tiny bit of thyme, sea salt and pepper to taste.

Heat on med-high (again, on the higher side.). When it starts to boil, you can do one of two things: If you have time, and will be home, turn down to med-low, like you did the broth (3 or 4) and simmer (stirring very occasionally.) until veggies are your preference of softness, and tastes as desired. I leave this for 2, even 3 hours. Or, you can cook on medium heat (5-5 1/2) for approximately an hour, until your veggies are desired softness.
* It's always better to go a bit slower, to let the flavors incorporate a little more, but you don't always have time!

Enjoy a bowl of your 100% from-scratch soup! (It really is that simple.)

**this recipe is paleo, because we are paleo (obviously..). If you eat noodles, you can add 1/2- 1 cup egg noodles to your soup for chicken noodle.(you really don't need them though! Its fantastic and hearty without!)**

To Freeze:

I freeze mine like this:

 Ladle soup into muffin tins. Make sure there is a good ratio of veggies and meat,  to broth. Place muffin tins in freezer over night, or for a few hours. Once frozen, pop out soup 'pucks' and put into a container.
 Take extra soup broth you have left over, and either place in muffin tins, or put it in ice cube trays. (place in freezer, and then put in container and put back in freezer, like you did the soup.)

Heat a couple soup pucks over medium heat when desired, and serve. (This is AWESOME for toddlers!)

Add your extra broth cubes/pucks if you want more broth, or, use them to flavor other recipes.

(I pop 2-3 cubes of soup broth in with peas and ham/bacon, for a quick, yummy lunch for my little one!)

*great to use if someone is sick too.*

Extra Tips:

If your bones from your broth still have a good amount of stuff on them, and your veggies are still whole etc, add a few more spices and celery, and do another broth with it! Then, freeze your broth in cubes or pucks, so you have pure bone broth at hand for future soups/recipes/sickness.

If you don't like to eat mushy vegetables, take your soup off the burner while they are still a bit firm. They will soften up when they cook a second time after you freeze them. If you want to eat a bowl then (for dinner/lunch or whatever), set aside the amount you want to keep cooking a bit more.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!