Pumpkin

Last year's pumpkin picking made quite the impression on Levi. He's been asking to go back ever since. When pumpkins appeared at a local fruit stand it was all over. The boy neeeeeeeded one.

Pumpkin carving is not one of my talents. Thankfully, children don't notice such things. It was perfect in his eyes.
Later, he begged me to turn it into a pie. I told him we'd have to wait for the pie pumpkins to come out, so he settled for roasting the seeds.

He practiced patience while they cooked...

Then he ate them all before I could snap a photo. I did manage to grab a few for myself though.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We kept ours pretty simple. Rinse the seeds. You can also use other winter squash seeds such as butternut and acorn. Pick out the pulp (as Levi calls it the "cobwebs". The whole time I was cleaning the pumpkin we had a running story going about the spider who lived in the pumpkin and made all the cobwebs.) Some people dry their seeds overnight. We aren't so patient, and it works out fine. Coat the seeds lightly in oil. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle on some salt, and bake at 325 F until toasted (about 25 minutes), stirring halfway through. Yummo!

Weekend Loves

A few good things for your weekend...

: : My brother-in-law, Dennis, turned me on to the Sideshow Alley music project. Cool would be an understatement for this one.

: : This water birth is so sweet and peaceful. Watching it might have made me cry. Found via my friend, Amanda's Facebook page.

: : Another Facebook friend posted a link to this parenting article...good stuff.

: : I found this 20-minute Almond Berry Sorbet via Pinterest, so for supper last night I tried a version of it. I tossed in some frozen mixed berries, a little maple syrup, and a handful of spinach (to make myself feel better about the fact that I was eating sorbet for supper...what can I say? It was just me and Fi, and sometimes I'm lazy). It was so good. I'm going to try it out on Levi when he gets back from his dad's.

: : Also, I found this DIY train party on Ohdeedoh. (Thanks, once again, to Pinterest). Check out the fruit train. Cute and healthy!

: : Are you on Pinterest? Because if you are you should friend me, and then we could pin together. It'll be fun. I promise. I'm BarefootMama. :)

Weekend Loves...A Bit Late

Favorite things and links...

: : Blackberries are ripening as I type which means the blueberries are close behind them. I'm dreaming about Blueberry Lemonade. Yum.

: : This beautiful kitchen is so inspiring. I cannot wait until our kitchen gets scratched off of the remodel list.

: : I am crazy about this darling baby dress and turban pattern from Pickles. So so so cute! Sophia is going to need a set.

: : And, in honor of Memorial Day, this post is pretty nifty.

Happy Memorial Day!

The New And Improved Blueberry Lemonade

After posting about our new summer love....blueberry lemonade, a friend sent an email to tell me that agave nectar is really a highly processed food that's not as fabulous as it's made out to be.  After a little googling, I discovered that she was right.  Agave nectar is definitely more processed than it's name lets on.  At that news, I started brainstorming new ways to make the lemonade.  And, by substituting honey for the agave nectar,  I came up with something that Levi has deemed "wonderful and beautiful."  To tell you the truth, I like this new recipe way better than the old one.  I've edited the old post to include the new changes.  So, if you're looking for a great summer treat, try this out!

Blueberry Lemonade

Our new favorite summer drink is Blueberry Lemonade.  It's been a hit around here.  And, I'll tell you a secret....as far as summer yum goes, this one is pretty healthy.  It's also begging to be made into popsicles.  Oh, and it's super easy.

Ingredients:

2 pints blueberries
Enough water to just cover the blueberries
1 cup honey*
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 quart cold water
Ice

Put blueberries in a pot and just cover with water.  Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 2 minutes.  Place honey in a large bowl.  Strain the berries into the bowl through a fine mesh strainer, mashing the berries to get all the juice.  Set aside mashed berry leftovers.** Stir the hot berry juice and honey until the honey has dissolved. In a large pitcher, combine the fresh berry juice, honey, lemon juice, and a quart of cold water.  Stir.  Serve over ice, and enjoy!***

*I originally used agave nectar, but since then I've realized how highly processed it is.  I got the idea to substitute honey, and oh, my is it good!

**You can add a touch of honey to the mashed berry goodness leftover and have a yummy blueberry jam of sorts.

***Warning:  It is not advised to wear white while drinking this concoction.  ;)

P.S. Excuse the background clutter.  Renovations are still under way.

Eating His Greens!

Do you see the green?!!!!!

Okay, so you have to peer through the red around Levi's mouth to actually catch the green.  The kid loves all things red, but green....ha!  He won't touch green.  That is...until now.  Thanks to Hannah from Mulberry Spot, I've got Levi eating his leafy greens.  Her green smoothies inspired me to make one more attempt at getting the greens in this kid.  Y'all, I was seriously beginning to doubt that I would ever see the day.  Turns out that he LOVES them.  Of course, it probably helps that I tell him it's ice cream.  Teeny tiny lies are not beneath me.

Here's how I make mine...

Ingredients:
Kale (you can also use spinach)
1/2 a cup or so of juice (your choice)
Frozen bananas
Other frozen fruits

The amounts involved depend on how much you want to make.  This really isn't an exact science.

Trim the tough stems off of the kale.  Pack your blender with kale.  Pour in about 1/2 a cup of juice (you can use water but the end result isn't as sweet).  Blend until smooth.  If you are having trouble getting the kale to blend, add a little more juice or water.  Once the kale is well blended (it will look like a green juice) slowly add frozen bananas and/or other frozen fruits until you have as much smoothie as you want.

Using all frozen fruits creates a thicker texture which can be passed off as ice cream...if your kid is like mine.  However, feel free to substitute fresh fruits for a more smoothie-like texture.

Note: If you add colorful fruits, your smoothie will turn funky colors.  We don't mind oddly colored "ice cream" around here.  If you want it green though, stick with white and yellow fruits like bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.

And, for more green smoothie ideas, check out this ode to green smoothies.

P.S. This is an excellent way for pregnant mamas to get their greens too.  If you're like me, pregnancy = an uncharacteristic dislike of all things leafy.

Holiday Yumminess

Nanno's Sweet Potato Casserole with Apricots

Ingredients:
1/2 a stick of butter
6 sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, and sliced (you can cook these in advance and refrigerate)
1/2-3/4 c. chopped apricots
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 c. sugar (you can substitute fructose, and really you could use less sugar)
1/4 c. cream
1/4 c. chopped pecans
Brown sugar (we generally eyeball the amount on this one...I guess maybe and 1/8 to a 1/4 cup??)

Directions:
Add butter to potatoes. (If they're hot, they'll melt the butter. If the potatoes are cold, melt the butter first.) Combine the next 7 ingredients with a mixer.  Put in a 2 qt. casserole. Combine chopped pecans and brown sugar.  Sprinkle over the top.  Bake at 350 F for 30 min. Serves 10-12.

What's your favorite holiday recipe?

Sniffles and Such

We're having a sick day....both of us. We're quite a pitiful sight in our p.j.'s with runny noses and puffy eyes. I'd post pictures, but I'm a bit too self conscious to pull out the camera on days like today. And, I doubt y'all really want to see us quite this beautiful. Ya' might get jealous. ;)
In case we're not the only ones with pollen allergies, I thought I'd share one of my favorite soothing "teas." Now, I'm not promising a cure with this, but it sure does taste nice.
What you'll need:
1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon honey (local honey is supposed to help with allergies--so support your local beekeepers)
a mug of water

What to do:
Heat your water. It doesn't have to be boiling-just on the hot side of warm will do. Personally I like to heat my water in a tea kettle. I'm just finicky like that, but a microwave does just fine. squeeze 1/2 a lemon into a mug. Add your honey. Pour in your hot water, stir, and enjoy. It's kind of like hot lemonade.

Cinnamon Makes The World Go "Yum!"

I got quite a few requests for the cinnamon bread recipe from yesterday's post. The recipe came from allrecipes, which is chock full of super fabulousness. This one is particularly easy and yummy. I did make a couple of minor changes, and the recipe below will reflect those.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons dry buttermilk powder (If you don't use buttermilk often enough to warrant keeping it around, this stuff is very handy. If you have real buttermilk skip the powder and replace the 1 cup water (below) with 1 cup buttermilk)
• 1 cup water
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter

Instructions:
--Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan--make sure to grease generously. Apparently I didn't do this well enough, so part of the bottom of my loaf stuck. It still tasted good.
--In a large mixing bowl, measure flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, salt, buttermilk powder, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat 3 minutes. Pour into greased loaf pan.--In a small bowl cut butter into 2 tbsp white sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the batter. Using a knife, cut in a light swirling motion to give a marbled effect.
--The recipe says to bake 50 minutes. Mine took about 10 minutes longer. It's done when you insert a toothpick, and it comes out clean.
--Remove bread from the pan and let cool on a rack.
--Enjoy!

Fruit Strips 101

At Target, and probably many other places, they sell these super yummy all natural fruit strips. I love them! Problem number one: I eat them in mass quantities. Problem number two: they are expensive and Target is quite a ways away from my abode.
Problem solved: I found out how to make them. Yay! The best part...it's crazy easy.
Ingredients:
about a pound or so of apples and pears
1/4 cup of sugar (This really depends on how sweet your fruit is. You can put less.)
1/2 a lemon

Peel and chop apples and pears. You'll want about 5 or 6 cups of chopped fruit. (This is not an exact science, so don't worry that much about measuring.) Put fruit in blender, squeeze in the lemon juice, and add sugar. Blend. Basically you're making apple/pear sauce. Spread sauce onto 2 Silpat baking mats (silicone backing mats) on baking pans. If you don't have silicone mats you can use a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap. I'm just mildly creeped out by baking on plastic wrap, so I use Silpat mats. The sauce should be in a thin but not completely see through, even layer. Turn oven to lowest warm setting. Place baking pans in oven for about 4 or 5 hours. I turn the oven off at this point, and let the strips dry out the rest of the way. I usually just leave mine overnight.
When they are dry: If you baked them on plastic wrap, cut into strips and roll. If you baked them on a silicone mat, transfer to plastic wrap, cut into strips and roll. When cutting into strips, leave some of the plastic wrap hanging off of one end and use it to hold the strips in place once rolled.
Voila! You have your own yummy fruit strips.
I'm pretty sure this would work with store bought applesauce. Let me know if you try it that way.
And, of course, we can't leave out Mommy's little helper. He's really taken a liking to "cooking".

Fresh Goodness

Some church friends gave us some fabulous veggies from their garden. Yummy!


If you want a really yum, but terribly unhealthy way to eat your veggies try this:

1/2 an onion, chopped
a few small squash, sliced
a zucchini, sliced
Bacon

Cook bacon, remove from pan. Put bacon on paper towels. Drain off some but not all of the bacon grease from the pan(in case you hadn't noticed this is the unhealthy part). Saute onions in the bacon grease. Add squash and zucchini. Cover and cook until desired tenderness. Add cooked bacon. Salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of pepper on this dish. It's sooo yum!