Pumpkin French Toast Bake

INGREDIENTS

• Cubed bread to overfill a 9x13 casserole dish. Crusty french bread works well but you can use Gluten Free too! Udi’s Gluten Free Hamburger buns would work well!
• 7 large eggs
• 2 cups Almond Milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 5 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
• nuts, like pecan or walnuts for topping (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Coat casserole dish with nonstick spray. Cut bread into 1-inch cubesIn a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin, sweetener of choice and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it's all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet.
3. Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar. Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to a couple days.

Thanksgiving Part I

This year we have an awful lot to be Thankful for! One of them is having such awesome friends. Some of those friends invited us to join them again this year for their Thanksgiving celebration. We spend the afternoon with the Baxley Clan. But first, I wanted to start a new holiday tradition for our family. We had a yummy breakfast of French Toast Bake to start the day! I prepped it last night and Chip surprised me by looking up the recipe and finishing the prep work and having the oven preheated by the time I made it downstairs! I was SO GRATEFUL for that too! Man, was that breakfast yummy! I will be posting the recipe later!

As we enjoyed our time with our friends and their family later, I could not help but reminisce about how  last year I was hugely pregnant with the twins and our hostess was announcing her new pregnancy that very day.  So much has happened since then, so many tiny new faces and so much to be thankful for.  We as a family were grateful to be a part of these festivities again this year and Elijah loved having so many children to play with!

Daddy and my little Pfunk ready for some celebrating!

Elijah remembered the last time we were at Miss Morgan’s house, he got to sit on the four wheeler in the garage. What a good memory!

My sweet friend, all my littles and Morgan’s oldest girl peaking from behind!

Cameron was so sweet to Elijah. Future babysitter on speed dial?!

Cameron was amazing with all the kiddos!

They had fun playing a game they made up on the trampoline.

The twins enjoyed some time playing in the grass and of course I had to grab the camera and get some shots of them in their cute overalls.

Gluten Free Flour Blend

6 cups  rice flour
3 cups tapioca flour
1½ cups potato starch
2 tablespoons  xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF DF!)

Ingredients:
1/2 c. honey (I used local honey)
1/2 c. Earth Balance
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. GF Flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips

 

Cream honey and butter together. Add egg and vanilla. In small bowl, mix flour, soda, powder and salt together. Add flour mix. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Coffee Cocoa Crusted Crock Pot Roast

HUGE HIT IN OUR HOUSE!!!!! The flavor of this is unbelievable!

Coffee Spice Rub

2 tablespoons coffee grounds

½ teaspoon ground chipotle

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

Mix all spice rub ingredients together and set aside.

Roast

½ tablespoon coconut oil

2.5 lb beef chuck roast

1 red onion, halved and sliced

¾ cup water

Heat your coconut oil in a skillet over medium to medium high heat, make sure your pan is nice and hot!  Take the spice rub mixture and rub the entire amount into and all over the roast – really rub it in, do not just brush it on!.  Using tongs, place the roast into the hot skillet and sear for 3-4 minutes on each side.  If your pan is not hot enough you will lose your spices, but if it’s too hot, you will burn your roast.  You want it to make a nice crust on both sides of the meat.  Place your sliced onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Once the roast has been seared, put the roast in the slow cooker on top of the onions. Add the water, cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.  Serves 6.

Short Ribs

Ingredients

• f.o.c. (fat of choice)
• ~2 ½ lbs beef short ribs*
• 1 yellow onion, roughly sliced
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 1/4 c red wine
• 1 ½ c beef stock
• 1 ½ c water
• fresh rosemary, chopped
• s & p

 

Method

Salt and pepper the short ribs. Heat a saute pan up over medium-high heat and melt a few tablespoons of your f.o.c., tallow would be great here. Sear your short ribs until they’ve developed a nice, brown crust. Place the short ribs in your slow cooker.

Turn down the heat on your saute pan to medium, and add the onion, garlic and carrot. Saute a bit and add the red wine. You’re not trying to cook the vegetables through, we’ll kill them in the crock pot, we’re trying to evaporate most of the wine from the pan. Stir around the vegetables every so often, until most of the wine is gone. We’re just trying to give a touch of flavor to the vegetables, not make everything taste boozy.  Place the vegetables in the slow cooker.

Pour the water and beef stock in the crock pot. Set it on high and let it go until the short ribs fall apart when you pick them up. This will take about 4 hours.

Chicken Noodle Soup (Gluten Free!)

This is a yummy recipe that is totally adjustable for your tastes. There is just a list of ingredients. Taste it as it cooks (once the chicken is fully cooked of course) and add things as needed! Yummy!

Brown boneless, skinless chicken breasts. At the end add:

Onions

Celery

Carrots

Cook until lightly brown then add:

chicken broth

rosemary

bay leaf

thyme

parsley

salt

pepper

Let simmer for as long as you can then cut up the chicken.

Add the noodles the last 10 minutes or so. I use gluten free but you could use whatever you want, even homemade!

Mushroom Quinoa

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound cremini or bella mushrooms, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in quinoa until well combined.

Hungarian Goulash–Gluten and Dairy Free

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large onions, halved and sliced (4 cups)
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 pounds lean beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose gluten free flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 4 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon Dill
• 1 Tablespoon Parsley

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a 5 1/2- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium. Add mushrooms, onions, pepper, garlic, and salt; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft (15 minutes).

2. Push vegetables aside, add beef, and cook, turning meat occasionally, until brown. Push beef aside. Add paprika, flour, and caraway; cook, stirring (1 minute). Gradually whisk in broth, then tomato paste; bring to a simmer, whisking. Stir vegetables and meat back into sauce.

3. Cover and simmer over low until meat is tender (1 1/2 hours). Stir in dill or parsley. Serve.

Perfect Gluten Free Cupcakes

I have been looking for a good Gluten Free cupcake recipe for about two years and I finally found the perfect one. Originally it was for chocolate but I adjusted so you can make them vanilla as well. SO GOOD!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pure cane sugar
1 3/4 cups Gluten Free Flour ( I like Namaste from Costco)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (For vanilla sub 3/4 additional flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard cupcake pans with about 30 liners, or lightly grease.
2. Thoroughly combine the sugar, flour blend, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large electric mixing bowl. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for two minutes. Stir in the boiling water by hand. Batter will be very thin. Pour into cupcake cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until cupcakes test done with a toothpick.
3. Cool completely and frost.

Dairy Free Creamy Tomato and Chicken Soup

"Creamy" Crockpot Chicken and Tomato Soup
8 frozen skinless boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 14 oz. can of coconut milk (full fat), shake before opening can to avoid separation
2 14 oz. can diced tomatoes and juice
2 cups of chicken broth
1 small can of tomato paste
1/2 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Put all the above ingredients into the crock-pot, cook for 9 hours on low. After 9 hours take two forks and shred the chicken, set the crock-pot on warm till ready to serve (making sure to taste it before serving to make sure there is enough salt and pepper)

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

ngredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground toasted cumin
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1/2 pound of dried black beans (soaked/softened (you can boil them for 10 minutes then let sit for an hour if you forget to presoak them)
• 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, chopped up in food processor
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup bean cooking liquid or 1 chicken broth
• Garnishes:
• Chopped avocado, minced scallions

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add ground turkey and cook until browned and cooked through. Add oregano, cumin, chili powder, ancho chili powder, and chipotle chili powder. Stir well and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add black beans, tomatoes, bean cooking liquid, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Pour chili into a crockpot and cook on low 6 hours to develop flavors. Alternatively, continue cooking chili on the stovetop on low heat for 1 hour.

Whole Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
1 whole baking pumpkin, approximately 4-5 pounds,  scooped and rinsed
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter or Earth Balance (for Dairy Free) 
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 clove garlic
1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, condensed milk (goat or cow) or full fat coconut milk (canned) for dairy free
2 ounces goat cheese (optional...I may add this next time)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Make a lid on the top of the pumpkin by cutting around the stem at a 45 degree angle. Make sure the opening is large enough to work within. Remove the seeds and fibers with a metal spoon or ice cream scoop and kitchen shears. Reserve the seeds for another use. Brush the exterior of the pumpkin and the lid with vegetable oil.Line a casserole dish with foil. Must be large enough to hold pumpkin

Combine the butter, onion, salt, garlic, apples, chicken broth, and dairy option in the hollow pumpkin. Replace the lid of the pumpkin to cover. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. If you are not adding the cheese, bake for 2 hours. 

Remove the lid. Add the goat cheese and thyme and bake an additional 30 minutes, uncovered. Remove the pumpkin from the oven, and gently scrape some of the flesh into the soup mixture. Puree with an immersion blender to desired consistency, being careful to avoid the sides and bottom of the pumpkin. Serve immediately.


Original Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/whole-pumpkin-pie-soup-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Rory and Patrick are Nine Months Old!

Rory and Patrick are now nine months old! They are just flourishing in their little world that just seems to be getting bigger as they do. They are really becoming best friends along with this big brother and it is so much fun to see. Watching siblings play and grow together is one of the coolest things I have witnessed as a parent so far. To see these little people that I love so much love one another makes me so happy. I still see a lot of similarities between the three of them but they are also so amazingly different.

And here we are out nine months old. I keep joking that they are old babies. They are so close to being toddlers which is just so bittersweet. I genuinely love the baby phase and will miss this so much, as much as I miss the sweet tiny newborn stage. I am doing my best to savor every sweet moment.

PATRICK: Patrick got his first tooth! Patrick does not like anyone to put their fingers in or near his mouth. He will scream bloody murder if I try, especially if I am trying to fish something out that he put in there. So we aren’t exactly sure when it surfaced though very little of it is actually through so probably just happened. I noticed today but Chip said he felt it yesterday when he was fishing a piece of dog food (apparently my twins’ first solids) out of Patrick’s mouth. I thought maybe I would get to enjoy that gummy smile a little longer but apparently the days are numbered and my tiny boy is growing up.  As of this morning Patrick is weighing in at 15 pounds almost 8 ounces. Apparently being so mobile an active slows my kids weight gain down which I expected because that was the trend with Elijah as well. He is just a little guy but he continues to be a champion nursling and is still exclusively breast fed. This baby can put away A LOT of Mama’s milk!

Patrick loves to cruise the furniture.  I still think the first steps are right around the corner but for now he is happy walking along the couch back and forth. He will do this for like twenty minutes at a time. He pulls up on anything he can get to. He loves to crawl and uses his mobility to chase Wrigley.  Patrick has developed enthusiasm and is very good at showing excitement. He loves to leave the house and if he is being carried to any door in the house that leads outside, he will begin jumping with excitement in your arms and making these little gasps coupled with heavy breathing and a giant smile. It is so cute! This reaction is also given when he is particularly happy about being picked up. He is just so sweet and so funny. He continues to have very intentional vocal play and his “words” sound like he is having a very quiet and intimate conversation. I just love his gentle voice.

This month I started letting the babies try bathing in the guest bath tub (which is smaller) by themselves and with their big brother. Patrick LOVES IT! He shows excitement ( in his cute little way) when we walk over to the bathtub and happily plays in there as long as I let him. He will over crawl down to his belly and happily kick his legs and splash on his tummy. It is SO CUTE!!!

Patrick loves to cruise as I said but if he is fussy, the best place for him is on Mama’s back. Most evenings that is where he can be found as I cook dinner and get ready for Chip to come home. Patrick has been sleeping pretty well through the night which is awesome. He will sometimes wake around 11pm for a feeding but other than that he is good to go until around 6 or 7.

This little baby has such sweet and funny little ways and it is so much fun to silently observe him as he does his thing. He is still pretty clingy with Mama and if he sees me, he wants to go to me but the separation anxiety seems to be lessening a little bit which is nice for us all.  It is no fun when any of my babies are stressed out. He is definitely a very special and precious little guy and I love being his mother!

RORY: Rory continues to have a jovial personality and can often be found cracking up at one thing or another. He is BIG EMOTIONS in general as he has always had. I see a lot of passion of life in him. Some may call it dramatic. In my child, I see it as passion and enthusiasm. He is VERY attached to Mama and so if I go somewhere that is is not convenient to take two babies, Patrick is the one that stays home with Daddy and Rory is my date.  Normally I can just wear him and he is pretty low maintenance if we are out.

As I said before, the boys started co-bathing with each other and their big brother instead of with me this month and Rory has made it clear that he does not like this. I don’t know if it is that he doesn’t like change or he is just not ready for this independent step but my guy who normally splashes happily in the bath cried the whole time. I tried it three times with him. One time solo, one time with Patrick and one time with both his brothers. I will probably continue to co bath with him some but also let him bathe with his brothers just to see if he gets used to it. I love co bathing with my babies but I started to think maybe they would get baths more often if I could get them in the tub without me. Plus it is fun to see them in there together and Patrick and Elijah seem to have real good time with it.

Today Rory tipped the scales at 16 pounds 12 ounces. This may sound familiar because it is exactly what he weighted last month. Rory was the first in the family to catch a really nasty stomach bug and was throwing up for 24 hours. Patrick was the only family member not to get it! Poor little Rory had it worse than anyone and as a result he lost about half a pound so really he gained half a pound this month but it was just putting back on what he had lost. Rory is still exclusively breast fed though if it were up to him he would be chowing down on whatever is in arm’s reach. I feel confident that when I do give my babies their first solids, they will be ready for them both physically and emotionally and it will be an experience to be enjoyed! But for now I am just loving the fact that I have been able to EBF them both for 9 months and counting. Rory, as always, would nurse all day if I offered it and lately, all night as well. He has had some major sleep “regression”. I say regression but he has never really slept through the night consistently. But lately he is up sometimes every hour. Neither baby will sleep in bed with me anymore which makes me sad because I LOVE cosleeping. But whenever I try to bring one in bed with me, even if they are almost asleep, they wake up and want to climb on me and climb around the bed and it just seems to be too stimulating. But I may try going to be with Rory when he goes to bed and starting him off in bed with me and see if that helps.  I don’t know why it would but I have got to try something to get this poor little guy (and his Mama) some rest. I would like to blame a developmental leap….and that is probably what it is….but right now it feels like it has been forever since he has gotten a decent night sleep. And yet he wakes up smiling and happy every morning! Cute little bugger! 

Rory has developed a very purposeful crawl up on all fours. He pulls up and cruises but he really wants to WALK! He will stand, holding on to something and let go with one hand, then the other than grab it again really quickly. He will look at me longingly with a giant smile that says, “I’m coming to get you Mama!” but then its as if he remembers he cannot walk yet. But oh how he wants to! You can just see it in his big blue eyes! I predict Patrick will take the first steps first but then Rory will talk off running shortly after and never look back.

Rory is just such a sweet and happy little boy. I see so much joy and elation in him. His eyes sparkle when he smiles and it amazes how loved a little baby can make me feel.

These two sweet boys continue to amaze and impress us. We are so blessed with these sweet three. Elijah, our sweet P, opened the door to parenthood for us and showered us with all these new, beautiful emotions. And our sweetheart babies, Patrick and Rory, have shown us there us no limit to how much or how many you can love. Oh how I love these children.

And without further ado….our nine month photos!

Here are all three boys at nine months old just for a fun comparison. The same of the eyes is what I see at similar for all three. And the fact that all three are SO STINKIN CUTE!

There’s my Rory, always laughing

Grandmother, you are so funny

Love that baby face

Such a sweet sheepish grin

I was teasing him with Grandmother’s Raggedy Anne doll. He thought it was hilarious.

My sweet boy

This little face just melts my heart

My newly toothed little guy!

To me he just has the cutest little feature. I mean, look at those tiny cute feet! Could you just die!

His face just lights up

Cheeeese Mama

Yup! I have two feet!

I’m not sure what he was looking at but that expression is priceless!

Well hellloooo up there!

Sweet shot of them playing together.

Here are a few shots of  bath time!