Healthy Quinoa and sweet potato breakfast cookies!

I made these for my kids today, and they came out so good! I soaked my quinoa for 24 hours to make it easier to digest and less bitter. =)
*note, these are not very sweet at all... I added a little stevia, so if you want them a little sweet, add a sweetener of your choice!

Healthy Quinoa and Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies

• 1/2 cup of  All natural peanut butter or Almond Butter 
• 1/2 cup of pureed Sweet Potato – I used a leftover jar of babyfood!
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 c shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2 tbs hemp seeds
• 2 tbs chia seeds
• 2 tbs coconut flour to bring the batter to more of a dough consistency. (add 1 tbs at a time and mix... this will soak up a lot of liquid)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

1. Combine all the ingredients in a  large bowl.

1. use a cookie scoop or drop 2 tbs onto a  baking sheet. Press down slightly with the back of a spoon.

1. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown

A mom of four's random thoughts

Now that we have had our fourth and last, (lord willing,) I find myself cherishing every little moment, even the annoying ones, with my baby. I know that as he grows, I will never have my own baby fall asleep on my chest anymore, smell that new baby smell, nurse and sing a baby to sleep  or even burp him.

 It is bitter sweet. I love seeing my babies grow up and develop their personalities. Watching them learn is so amazing! But I know that the baby fever will be a hard one to fight off. While I am happy that we aren't having more, I am also sad. But that's ok! 

I can't believe my oldest will be starting kindergarten in the fall! He is growing so fast! I never understood that phrase until I had kids. Time seemed to crawl by when I was on my own, but now that I have a family, weeks go by and It feels like days. I swear I forget something and go back to do it and its been weeks! It's so crazy! Some days I wish time would slow down. Particularly on the days when the kids are all well behaved and rested, right? 

Anyways, now that I have 4 kids, and so much more free time (ha!) I am going to try and get this blog going again. Not making any promises, but I miss it. =) So here is to the future! 

Paleo Chocolate Chip cookies

I wanted to make paleo chocolate chip cookies today, so I adapted a recipe I had and kind of created my own. They came out so good! So, I had to write it down to share! (and remember!)

Paleo Chocolate Chip cookies

1/4 c palm shortening
1 egg
1/4 c. coconut sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. Maple syrup
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp. canned coconut milk (can leave out, but reduce coconut flour to 2 tbsp)
1 1/4 c blanched fine ground almond flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
2 1/2 tbsp coconut flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. dark chocolate chunks (I used enjoy life mini chocolate chips)
  (you can add more as desired. I don't care for a lot of chocolate chips)

preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put shortening and egg in food processor and process until combined.
Add coconut sugar, syrup, vanilla and coconut milk and process until combined
add flours, baking soda, and salt and process again until well combined. scrape down sides if necessary
stir in chocolate chips
Place on parchment lined baking sheet in tablespoon size balls and press down to flatten.
Bake for 10 mins until edges are lightly browned.
cool and enjoy!

Samuel's birth story

Two weeks ago, Feb 13th, I was 38.5 weeks pregnant.
I started having some contractions that evening around dinner time. As they became more regular I began to think this might be the night but I was really hoping not since I wanted him to come closer to his due date. As it got closer to time for Josh (who works graveyard) to go to work, The contractions were still a little far apart and not that strong, so I sent him to work and went to bed to try and get some sleep. I managed to sleep on and off for a couple hours, but about 2:00am They were still coming regularly and I couldn't sleep anymore, so I texted Josh and told him to come home and called the neighbor to come stay with the kids.
We got to the hospital about 3:30 and got registered (whoops,  didn't realize I wasn't registered!) and got into triage, they checked me and I was only at 2cm. So, we set off to walk the halls for an hour and get re-checked. After an hour of walking, I was at 3cm! Progress! Another hour and I was at 4! finally got admitted and got put into a room!
Finally got settled into the room at about 7:30 and they sent for my epidural (All you mamas who do it med free, my hat is off to you!) I think I got it at around 8-8:30. At that point, I was 5cm.
after I got the epidural, I progressed pretty quickly. My water broke shortly after and there was meconium in the water, so they alerted the NICU team to be present for the birth to make sure there were no issues.  I knew it was time to push when I couldn't bear the pain anymore and felt like I could feel everything!
My nurse got everything prepped pretty quickly and  asked me to do a practice push and see if I was a good pusher. My husband and I told him that we didn't think I needed to with how quickly our last one came, and as I started to push, he goes "Ok! ok! yo uare a good pusher, hold on!" and they scrambled to get the Dr and the nicu people in so I could push him out! I finally just said I have to push, I have to get him out! Luckily right at that point, they were ready! 2 pushes and he was out! Sweet relief! He came at 9:46 am on Valentines Day!
I knew right away that I had torn a little, so the dr. had to put in some stitches and the placenta came really quickly after. They took Samuel over and sucked him out and he started crying pretty quickly! yay! After a few minutes, they brought him over to me and I was able to hold him skin to skin for about an hour and a half before they weighed and bathed him. =) 8lb 5oz and 19 3/4 inches long! My heaviest baby! And he has beautiful red hair that I am praying stays!
After the birth, the nurse was concerned that I was bleeding a little more than I should be and kept pushing on my stomach (very hard! ouch!) and the Dr came in and dug out some clots (OUCH!) and they talked about possibly needing to go in and do a D&C to see if there was anything left, (Even though they had inspected the placenta and it was completely intact) Luckily, they weighed the pads and there wasn't as much blood as they thought, and then It tapered off, so They were satisfied that everything was ok. But, I definitely wouldn't want to deal with that again. That poking and prodding was painful!
After that, they got us up to the postpartum room and we were able to settle in and Samuel nursed like a champ and still does!
We are all completely in Love!

Yummy Paleo apple mug cake!

I just made a super yummy paleo apple mug cake and I have to write it down so I don't forget it!

1 tbs butter (grass fed preferred) or coconut oil
2 tbs apple sauce (unsweetened)
1 egg
2 tsp maple syrup or honey
1 tsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla
2.5 tbs almond flour/meal
.5 tbs coconut flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt

melt butter/coconut oil in a microwave safe mug. add other wet ingredients and mix well. add dry ingredients and mix together. microwave for 1 min 20 sec. Enjoy!

And the crazy continues...

Well, God must have a great sense of humor! But the craziness is only going to get crazier around here. Not only is Charlotte almost 7 months old, but Baby #4 will be making his/her debut in the end of february 2014!

Pictures!

At the Woodland Park Zoo, one of our favorite places!

Jack's first T-ball game

Enjoying a baseball game!

Daddy had a little too much fun...

loves her exersaucer!

My kids are awesome!

best thing ever!

Sitting up! (5 months old!)