Homemade

I have had a few people ask me recently not only about making my own baby food, but more specifically about making my own baby cereal so I thought I would post a little "how to." It sounds super complicated but it is actually quite simple and now that I do it regularly, it has just sort of become part of my routine. I got my recipes from Ruth Yaron's book, Super Baby Food , and this would be a substitute for Earth's Best rice cereal for example and later on, for oatmeal or any other cereal you would feed your babe/toddler in the morning. I also add beans to mine (sounds hard, but again...super easy!!) which gives it a punch of protein- gotta love that!

So here we go:

You will need an over sized pot, blender (love the Magic Bullet), measuring cup, measuring spoon, any kind of grain (millet, oat, brown rice, etc), any kind of bean/pea/lentil (Lima, pinto, kidney, garbanzo, etc), whisk, timer.

Measure 1/3 Cup grain (this was millet) and 2 Tbsp beans (black-eyed peas)

Grind, grind, grind into a fine powder.

This is what it should look like when it's done

In the meantime, you should have 2 cups of water boiling.

Slowly pour the ground mixture into the boiling water using the whisk to break up lumps

Set the timer for 10 minutes and whisk every 2-3 minutes.

I usually read a magazine or do something around the kitchen :)

Pour into individual containers. Each of these containers will serve my twins for two days!

10 minutes of work = 4 easy, homemade meals.

PS- My kids won't eat this plain anymore so I mix in anything and everything...bananas, peaches, sweet potato, kale, spinach....

Happy cooking :)

War and Wes

My dear friend Leslie came all the way from Costa Rica for a visit this past week and I was so blessed that I got to spend some quality time with her. Leslie and I grew up together-our moms also close friends- and while a long distance separates us, we have stayed in touch and I cherish her friendship. Leslie and her husband are full time missionaries working with YWAM and raising four young boys...don't know how she does it! She is also Jackson's godmom so I was delighted that J finally got to meet her.


Sure wish she lived right around the corner so we could have play dates and let our kids grow up together. But I am also thankful she is doing the work God has called her to do. Here are a few pics from our time together.


Bathing all three of our kiddos- Emma Kate, Jackson, and Koa

Jackson and his Godmom

Touchdown!

We're ready for football season! We don't really have a team to cheer for since our school wasn't so hot at football so how about Go Dawgs, War Eagle and Go Tigers!! Does that work??

Weeds

I was out doing a little gardening this weekend which is a task I truly dread. I did not get my mother's green thumb and honestly would rather just have someone else do the work and reap the benefits of a beautiful garden. But since I need to live in reality (we won't be hiring a professional gardener anytime soon...), I was out trying to spruce things up a bit. Here is a pic of my little garden:

What you might not be able to tell (or perhaps you can if you've got a gardening eye) is that it is full of weeds...I mean just absolutely FULL. They have pretty much taken over my entire garden and here's the thing- as I tried to pull the weeds out, I could barely tell the difference between the flowers and the weeds because they have become so intertwined...it's like you can't see where one begins and the other ends.

So why am I even talking about all of this? Well as I was out working, the Lord gave me this sweet picture that this is exactly how I live my life. I try to make sure things stay nice and pretty on the outside (the flowers) but over time, sin starts to creep in my life (the weeds). It starts as just one sin here - one sin there... and that is exactly like my garden. I mean, I walk by my garden every day and see that one little weed and it doesn't seem overwhelming. I think, "I'll get to it later..." But eventually, my garden just like my life can get filled with weeds and it's hard to decipher between what is good and holy and what is sin. So where does that leave me?

My instinct when I started to weed my garden was honestly to just rip everything out and start fresh. New soil, new mulch, new flowers. And so often, I feel this way about myself..."Oh Lord, let me just wipe everything clean and start over!!" How thankful I am that I can do just that...by simply asking! And my prayer is that I can begin to get to a place where I catch myself early -- when the first "weed" appears and just nip it in the bud.

In the meantime, I will try to keep up with my garden too...you know, in all my free time :)

"A farmer planted seed...Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams." Mark 4:3-8 (MSG)

Dear Diary...

I had the best lunch today with a dear friend that I haven't seen in forever...one of those friends where you just pick back up right where you left off the last time you were together. Love those kinds of friends. We caught up on life and it was so refreshing...just a breath of fresh air for me. Though I absolutely love my job as a stay at home mom, I often get lost in the daily routine of being a mommy...you know, wake up, eat, play, nap....wake up, eat, play nap...throw in some laundry, a little dinner, perhaps a few minutes of facebook and the day is done. What a treat it was to get away today and get recharged. And here is the thing -- it's not like we chatted about anything monumental. Or came to some big revelations. It was just girl talk. But it was EXACTLY what I needed. Thank you Leeann- you were just what the doctor ordered!