pancakes – Sprinkles in my Lunchbox

Tag: pancakes

09
Nov
2015

Pancake Sandwich & Lunchables Kindergarten & 3’s School Lunches

Hello from the other siiiiide

It’s been a while. Halloween has come and gone. I’ve not kept up with both this blog and my “fun” lunches. I’ve had a time getting my migraines and headaches under control. Anyone who has been through that knows, well…it’s a headache! I’m taking it minute by minute, some days.

Here are two of the many lunches I’ve made since we last saw each other. These are the only fun(ish) ones. At least I *hope* they were fun for them. 😀

Pancake and jam sandwiches, mandarin orange (Bigs), carrots (Smalls), grapes, cheddar sandwich crackers, dried cranberries, and three little oatmeal letter cookies.

Another homemade Lunchable – I’ve been doing these about once a week now! This time it was chicken, cheddar, Ritz, a mini banana muffin, mandarin orange (Bigs), grapes, and a piece of Halloween candy.

Peace n’ Blessins’ (look it up, it’s my favorite),

Kristin

25
Feb
2015

Thursday Lunches

categories: Kid Food, Lunchbox

In continuing with Pond Week, I made another turtle lunch for my Bigs. I like how this one came out better than the other.

This little guy has a bit more personality. It’s a PB&J. I also packed honey wheat pretzels, assorted raisins, one date, strawberries, an organic yogurt squeeze, and a homemade dark red velvet cookie. It was big so I cut it in half. I also stuck a few turtle sprinkles on it. Because, sprinkles.

For my Smalls:

He requested pancakes this time, so I made three little PB sandwiches. Under one of those is a red velvet cookie. I also packed a few purple carrots, honey wheat pretzels, grapes, a few raisins, and one date.

And since I’ll be Co-op parent tomorrow, I made a lunch for me too:

I packed purple carrot slices, beet hummus, plain hummus, raisins, strawberries, nuts, dates, and some plain Greek yogurt, mixed with a little bit of maple sizzurp.

Happy (almost) Friday Eve,

Kristin

17
Feb
2015

Shortcut Shortstacks for Shrove Tuesday

categories: Breakfast, Dinner

Today is Shrove Tuesday. And it coincides with Pancake Day. I read, today, that people who would be giving up sugar, eggs, and/or milk for Lent would feast on pancakes the day before Ash Wednesday in an effort to rid their pantries of those ingredients so that they would not go bad. Is that as fascinating to you as it is to me? What are you giving up for Lent? I have decided to give up desserts (save for a few pieces of birthday cake for a few important birthdays). #amicrazy #yes

To keep with this newly found (to me) tradition, I made gluten and dairy free pancakes for dinner tonight, with a fresh strawberry sauce and creamed honey (from Trader Joe’s – one of the best purchases of my life).

I used a shortcut King Arthur Flour GF pancake mix and made it even better.

These were SO good. I am embarrassed to say that I allowed my Bigs to eat, um, eight of these. Smalls ate a few less and without strawberry sauce (he is on a no strawberry kick).

Gluten & Dairy Free Shrove Shortcut Shortstacks

1 pkg King Arthur Flour GF pancake mix (15 oz.)

2 large eggs

4 T coconut oil (you can use other oils or 6 T melted butter)

2 C milk (I used 1 C cashew milk, 1 C coconut milk)

1 T vanilla bean paste

2 t almond extract

Whisk together the eggs, oil (or butter), and milk. Whisk in the mix. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes.

Preheat your griddle pan to 350F. Scoop out the batter and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side (look for bubbles to pop).

Serve with fresh strawberry sauce.

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

2 C fresh or frozen strawberries (I used frozen)

Place in a saucepan on medium heat, until softened. Put into a food processor and whiz until fully processed. Strain to get the larger unprocessed chunks out. Place back in saucepan to thicken.

EAT.

Happy Lent!

Kristin

06
Jan
2015

Brunch Break!

categories: Breakfast, Kid Food, Lunchbox

I packed a brunch lunch for my Bigs’ school lunch. I think everyone likes brunch. I could be mistaken, but I think not. What’s not to love? Breakfast and lunch favorites, all on the same plate, and you don’t have to get up early to eat it. #winning

I made peanut butter and honey pancake sandwiches. I only used a teeny bit of honey, so his little hands don’t get too sticky. I also packed some granola (Trader Joe’s mix – I picked out the nuts because he doesn’t care for those – dried cranberries, granola balls, Greek yogurt chips), freeze dried mango, a mandarin orange, red grapes, and applesauce with flower sprinkles.

Boo-ya, brunch is served.

Kristin

13
Nov
2014

It’s the end of the week as we know it (and I feel fiiiine)

categories: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Kid Food, Lunchbox

It’s in your head now. Right? You’re welcome. R.E.M. rocks! Do people say “rocks” anymore? Do young people say “rocks” anymore? I wouldn’t know.

So, the end of the week is here (yay). It’s been such a crazy week. I haven’t even had a second. But now I do. So, I’m taking my second to show you food.

Bigs’ Wednesday lunch was a breakfast theme! I packed a pancake “sandwich”, made with two gluten and dairy free pancakes, peanut butter, and honey. I also packed one slice of turkey bacon, cut up, some assorted raisins (Trader Joe’s big bag of assorted raisins ROCKS [#cantstopwontstop #imold]), a colby jack cheese slice, an orange, and granola (Trader Joe’s again).

Bigs’ Thursday lunch was another turkey lunch (this time with ham and cheese!). I used my Food Writers and a turkey cookie cutter to make him so cute (if I can say so myself). His hay bale is crusts. I also packed grapes and applesauce. Bigs told me he was “staaaaarving” after eating this, so I made sure to pack more tonight for Friday’s lunch.

So. For Bigs’ lunch tomorrow (Friday), I was sure to pack more food. I went with a Fallish squirrel theme. I made a ham and cheese sandwich, shaped like a squirrel. I used my Food Writers for his eye detail and cut out a little piece of fruit leather in the shape of an acorn. I also packed pretzels, seasoned corn, grapes and pineapple, an organic yogurt squeezy thing, and Trader Joe’s ginger cookies for dessert.

He’s going to go nuts! Get it? I love a pun.

And for my Smalls’ lunch today, I packed a Mickey Mouse(ish) lunch. And to prove it, here’s a blurry picture:

Three baby Mickey Mouse shaped PB&J’s, some organic Trader Joe’s PB crackers, grapes, and TJ’s school house letter cookies. He ate all the grapes this time!

I also made Thanksgiving this week! I don’t think you can have it enough. I made a meal for a friend and doubled so my family could enjoy it too!

I can’t wait for the REAL Thanksgiving! It’s going to be the bomb! (Do they say “bomb” anymore? Or is that done-zo?) For us, I made gluten free Turkey and Sage Meatballs.

Turkey and Sage Meatballs

1 lb (ish) ground turkey

1/2 C gluten free breadcrumbs

1 egg

S&P

1 1/2 t of ground sage or poultry seasoning

Mix together, roll into balls, place on greased pan, bake for 30 – 45 minutes (depending on size of meatballs) at 350F.

I covered our meatballs with a homemade cranberry orange sauce.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

1 C fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 C frozen orange concentrate

1/3 C water

1 T sugar

1 packet of plain (unflavored) gelatin

Place all ingredients, except for gelatin, in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Whisk in the gelatin and simmer until thick.

Roasted turkey breast for my friend. I seasoned it with S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, poultry seasoning, and olive oil. I roasted it according to directions.

I made green bean casserole, all of which I could have eaten by myself. I love it.

I made sweet potato casserole. I didn’t have marshmallows, but I DID have marshmallow fluff. And being the resourceful woman that I am, I swirled that ooey gooey fluffy goodness around in the sweet potatoes and it came out just fine.

I made cheesy corn and cornbread casserole.

http://jareskepinterestrecipes.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/corn-casserole/

I made my first ever pumpkin pie (weird that it’s my first!). I used a basic recipe. And I overdid it. But I love my friend, she didn’t even care.

And lastly, I made an old fashioned Cranberry Fluff Salad. I took a picture, but it looked awful. Like bad awful. But it was good. SO good. I am on the molded and gelatin based salad train. Doesn’t that sound like a gross train to be on? It’s not. It’s amazing. If you like that sort of stuff. Which I do. I DID have to change the recipe, due to my lack of marshmallows. Again, I used the fluff. I thought it might work since that IS one of the names in the recipe. And it DID work, maybe not as successfully as marshmallows would have, but it was still really good!

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/cranberry-fluff/

Do it. That could be your Thanksgiving, right there.

Have a BLESSED end to your week! We are ending our week right with our church/school’s Fall Festival tomorrow night! It’s going to rock!!

Blessings,

Kristin

14
May
2014

Sweet Sweet Summertime

categories: Breakfast, Dinner

What a weird week it’s turned out to be. In between all the playing at parks, eating good Mother’s Day food, and spending time with family, both my boys got sick with two different things and I lost my voice. We even had to skip church on Mother’s Day. But I was “stuck” at home with the two very reasons I got to celebrate that day, so I was a happy, voice-less Mama! The Friday before, we tried out a new park. I couldn’t even get a picture of Bigs because he was on the go the whole time!

Smalls had fun but got tuckered out by the end.

Poor, tired, little fella. <3

We were supposed to travel to attend my cousin’s graduation party the next day, but that night on the park day, Bigs got a fever. We were able to get it down but he still wasn’t feeling well. And I had woken up with absolutely no voice. So no one was feeling well enough to travel. We rested at home and puttered around town when cabin fever set in. We ate a nice BBQ lunch.

I ate a smoked chicken salad sandwich (which I actually had to take home because I was so full from my sides!), roasted corn, sweet potatoes, and bananas foster bread pudding. You heard that part correctly. Seriously yum. The boys shared a scoop of house-made cotton candy ice cream and I took this little baby home to enjoy while they were napping.

Chocolate cake with chocolate chips and vanilla (tinted pink for Mother’s Day) buttercream.

After naps, we went to one of our favorite stores – Christmas Tree Shops. I was THRILLED when they brought one down here. They had all their summer stuff out. It made me so happy to just walk around the aisles of water tubes, canopies, margarita-shaped strung lights, and seasonal summer foods. And I, a sucker for ALL things flamingo and watermelon, had to get these (cheap!) chevron flamingo placemats and watermelon cutting board. So fresh!

I’d say we made the most of the day, even though we weren’t feeling up to snuff.

The next day was Mother’s Day. I felt so very blessed to be able to celebrate this day. My boys showered me with love…AND they slept in for the first time in AGES! It was so nice! They took me to Perkin’s for breakfast, one of our favorite places to eat. It was crowded with all kinds of people.

Smalls was in a “mood”. I should mention that this sort of mood comes out every time we dine out now. I suppose he’s in that phase (hopefully, short-lived) where we are “those people” at the restaurants with the screaming, spoon-throwing, crayon-chucking, food-smearing kid.

This too shall pass.

Our lovely server brought me a warm strawberry muffin, which I was sweet enough to share with my boys. They wanted to dig in so quickly that my picture came out blurry.

It was really good.

Inspired buy said muffin, I ordered the Strawberry French Toast.

It came out missing whipped cream, but the server brought it out shortly after.

My husband ordered an omelette with tomatoes and sausage and potatoes. It also came with pancakes, which he gave to me and I ate later for dinner.

The pancakes were delicious, even heated up later.

Bigs ordered his usual – Sprinkle Pancakes! This boy knows what he wants! He also got bacon.

I ordered the French Toast sticks for Smalls, thinking he’d easily hold and eat them.

I didn’t anticipate that he’d want my whipped cream and smear the table with it, as I imagine a baby Picasso would have done.

This mess was the tip of the ice berg.

It was still lovely, albeit slightly stressful.

When we got home, we went swimming. It was a beautiful day and Bigs was eager to show off his new swimming skills.

It was a great Mother’s Day. I am so very blessed.

On Monday, after swim lessons, the boys and I went jogging. Now that I have a double jogger, I am able to take them with me. We did three miles (half jog, half speed walk) around a nearby lake.

We did stop to feed the turtles and fish some stale popcorn.

About seven turtles came up and went berserk-o on the popcorn.

And that night, I made a really yummy dinner (not an everyday occurrence in my household). I roasted chicken and made a BBQ sauce from scratch (ketchup, garlic, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, ACV). I served it with some dumpy, gross GF, DF cornbread I made from scratch without a recipe, corn, peas, and a fruit salad.

It was still a successful meal.

Well. That caught us up to only Monday. And it’s already almost Thursday! Hope you’ve had a great week!

Blessings!

Kristin

01
May
2014

Current Events

categories: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Kid Food, Lunchbox, Snacks

Oh, boy! Hello, there! I’ve missed you! It’s been crazy-town lately. I used to have time in the mornings to write before my boys were awake, but now with early swim lessons, things have been shifted…off my radar. So here I am now, catching up on two weeks worth of stuff, and trying to get ready for my Bigs’ 4th birthday this Friday!!! Where does the time go!

So let’s catch up, shall we?

So for snack one day, I let my boys have Oreos. Probably lots of people have Oreos for snack. My boys have never had cookies as a snack. Despite how much I bake, I am very controlled with the amount of sugar I let my children have. I’d say they enjoyed it. Bigs was loved dipping the Oreo in milk. Are you a dipper? I am not. I do not care (too much) for wet food.

We’ve eaten lots of pancakes since I last wrote, too. Obvi.

And I’ve actually made some good dinners!

I made oven-fried chicken tenders (using corn flake crumbs), fresh corn on the cob and green beans. Yum-o!

And we even met some friends for dinner at this amazing taco restaurant that I’d never been to.

I got a watermelon adult drink. Anytime there is something with watermelon, I’m in!

We ordered their famous guacamole, made table-side!

Best guac I've had! — Best guac I’ve had!

I ordered three small tacos – a mushroom one, a chorizo one, and a pork one. All three delicious!

And for dessert, we all shared a piece of Mexican Chocolate Pie and Tres Leches Cake. The cake was topped with meringue. I’d never seen that before!

The Tres Leches Cake was served with strawberries and bananas. So fresh!

It was a night filled with laughter, great food, and great company.

Then we had Easter. How was your Easter? Ours was wonderful. We had a great church service and ate lots of yummy food afterwards.

My Mom made homemade biscuits, ham, pickled everything (which I put all together), fresh green beans, mayo-less potato salad, deviled eggs, and fruit salad. Delish!

And these beauties for dessert – chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Serious yumminess.

The Monday after Easter, the boys and I went on a field trip with Bigs’ school. We went to Publix for a tour. ~~They~~ We had a great time!

They handed out nametags with our names on them and hairnets.

Bigs would not take his off. It was so cute.

We saw a cake being decorated, we tasted popcorn chicken, we saw the produce coming in off the truck, we saw the seafood man put a lobster to sleep. It was fun!

Bigs even got to ring some items up! He loved it! What a fun trip for the kids…and adults. 😀

The next day, we went to a birthday party at a park in the afternoon. It was so much fun to celebrate our little friend turning 2 and eat cake and run around!

Speaking of running around, I finally updated my Mom Workout Shoes. And I’ve been running even faster in my new ones. I think having “cooler” shoes helps your workout.

Agree?

Then on Friday, I made my flourless chocolate cake for a dinner with friends. It is easy to whip up and my husband can enjoy dessert too! I also make it dairy free.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/flourless-chocolate-cake-recipe

My Bigs had a karate belt ceremony on Saturday. He’s now an orange belt – go Bigs! We had a potluck at the academy. I had found this from Target earlier:

I love watermelon anything. I almost always make desserts from scratch, but this appealed greatly to me and Bigs, while on a Target run.

They came out great – very artificially watermelon flavored, like a jolly rancher. I think they went over well at karate.

We went from karate to another birthday party for another friend. This one was at a park too, which also had a splash pad. That was a lot of fun! Hello Summer weather!

Bigs just loved it. Smalls wouldn’t get so close. He is so fearless with most things, but for some reason, had some major fears about the splash pad. He was like this last year too but by the end of the season, loved it. 🙂

After church on Sunday, I went to a baby shower of one of my dear friends. She is having a girl in July, the day before my Smalls’ birthday. I can’t wait to meet her!

We had so much fun celebrating the Mommy-to-be. We ate and ate.

There was two kinds of chicken salad, fruit with marshmallow dip, antipasti for days, many different kinds of salads, and rice balls in red gravy. SO GOOD!

For dessert, there were two kinds of cannolis (one chocolate covered), eclairs, and Napoleons…

…and her beautiful, delicious, ruffled cake!

And then lastly, I made healthier brownies to take into Bigs’ class this past Tuesday to celebrate his upcoming Friday birthday.

They were gluten-free black bean brownies. I used coconut oil in place of vegetable oil and that made them taste like coconut chocolate brownies, which apparently lots of kids don’t like! Oops, now I know! 🙂 Bigs loved them though. Here is the recipe:

http://www.mealmommy.com/Recipes/tabid/89/CategoryID/5/List/1/Level/a/ProductID/42/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName

Alrighty, I am caught up on food, events, and general diary. Next up is fun birthday food and events for my Bigs! I can’t believe he’s turning 4!

Kristin

20
Mar
2014

Spring has Sprung!

categories: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Snacks

It’s still Spring Break here and we’ve been staying quite busy! The weather has been gorgeous (save for one day where it seemed like we were in a hurricane) – clear skies, white fluffy clouds some days, picture-perfect blue backdrops everyday, chilly mornings that burn off to warm, sunny, lovely spring days.

Spring Break actually started last week, after Bigs got out of school. We had breakfast for dinner that night. I made a baked oatmeal casserole.

I based my recipe loosely on this one:

http://www.aaronandyolanda.com/2013/07/baked-oatmeal-casserole.html

Instead of two cups of milk, I did one cup of coconut milk and a cup of pumpkin puree. I only added a few chocolate chips. I also didn’t add nuts or fruit of any kind. So it’s basically nothing like that recipe. And it of course didn’t turn out like that recipe (what did I expect!).

It was alright. The oats didn’t get soaked with the pumpkin custard like I thought they would, so there was a separation of sorts. Next time, maybe I’ll have all the right ingredients and I can make it the right way. 🙂

I served it with scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and sausages. It did the trick (if trick = filling our tummies).

The next day was GORGEOUS! We went to a park play date.

Smalls was able to keep up with the big kids this time.

And Big Brother took the time to play with him.

I love to see them playing nicely together. 🙂

I gave Smalls a wee little apple and he carried that thing around while playing. He dropped it and still clutched it tightly. This is what I found him holding later on.

The next day was Pancake Saturday – not to ever be missed in our house! It should be renamed Pancake and Breakfast Meat Saturdays.

By this time, I’d run out of eggs (running out of ingredients is a key theme in my life, apparently). I substituted applesauce for the missing eggs. The result was an incredibly creamy, custard-like inside. I also added loads of vanilla and vanilla bean paste, and some caramel extract that I found at Wally-World (Walmart). I thought they were just delicious.

They came out fluffy and golden. So good. Seriously. I might be using the applesauce trick again. I also might HAVE to, as I never seem to have everything I need.

Oh, pancakes.

After breaky, we went to a local Farmer’s Market/Petting Farm. It’s newly opened and we’ve been wanting to try it out.

Bigs insisted (and I am not using that term lightly) on wearing his overalls and boots.

Kind of adorable though.

We saw all kinds of farm animals. Bigs went up to the chicken coop and squatted down and said to them, “Hey Chickens! Why did you cross the road?!” My husband and I were beside ourselves with laughter!

From there, we went to the food trucks and market side. We ate an okay lunch of hot dogs.

And followed that up with a huge cup of the most refreshing, gorgeous, delicious fruit ever. I think it tasted even more delicious after that greasy, fried lunch.

We also ran into two different families we know! It was a great day.

When we got home, there was still some time before nap, so the boys did their “yard work”.

They earn their keep, I tell you.

On Sunday night, some of our best friends, who have moved far away, came back because of work and we got to visit. We went on a date night with several of our couple friends. It was just wonderful seeing them. It is terribly sad when one of your best friends moves away, but it makes you treasure the time you have with them, when you see them again.

My husband ordered the best red wine I’ve ever had – Jam Jar! SO GOOD! I will have to get that one next time. I’m not much of a red wine drinker, unless it’s sweet, which Jam Jar was.

We had a minted edamame hummus and roasted red pepper hummus with lavosh crackers, as an appetizer. We also tasted our friends’ pesto chicken flat bread.

After we toasted to our wonderful friendships…

…we dug into our meals. My husband ordered the scallops (did not get a good picture) and they were divine. I ordered the winter vegetarian sampling.

This plate changes seasonally. I love it. This time, there was a stuffed mushroom, some roasted beets, broccolini, asparagus, and peppers, along with a veggie stuffed taco, and some tofu with mango chutney.

This restaurant is famous for its small desserts. I can’t ever choose one.

Oink.

I chose the chocolate peanut butter mousse (um, SO good) and the cannoli (cannoli cream, chocolate chips, raspberry sauce, cannoli shell).

I can’t even.

I am still dreaming about that cannoli cream. Is that weird? To dream about cannoli cream?

The next day was St. Patrick’s Day! I always go big on these smaller holidays. I love a theme! I think you know that by now.

Before everyone (else) woke up, I put together the Irish Stew in the crock pot.

I sort of changed around the recipe. I used this recipe as a base:

http://everydaymomsmeals.blogspot.com/2013/02/its-not-soup-its-stew.html

I did not add onion soup mix (due to the non gluten and dairy-free and high sodium nature), so I added real onions. I only used one can of tomato soup and added a can of no-salt stewed tomatoes. I also added more of the same vegetables. I let that sit on low all day while we were busy doing other things.

For breakfast, I made Spinach Pancakes (yep – the third time in five days that I served my family pancakes – that’s how I roll). This was a great recipe.

They were chock full of fresh spinach (two cups!). Bigs said that they tasted like green beans, but he kept eating them, so that’s a good sign.

When drizzled with syrup and some butter, the very obvious spinach flavor was sort of pushed to the back (a plus for most kids).

I added more vanilla than called for. I served them with corned beef hash.

Here is the recipe:

http://www.superhealthykids.com/blog-posts/no-dye-green-pancakes.php

My best friend since kindergarten was up visiting from where she lives and brought her little girl (who is only 2 months older than Smalls). I LOVE seeing my best friend. I miss her dearly. I feel so blessed to see two of my loveliest friends, who no longer live near me, all in the same week!

For an after lunch St. Patty’s Day treat, I made Leprechaun Pudding for the kids!

I just mixed half a packet of sugar-free, fat-free white chocolate pudding mix into some vanilla yogurt and added some green coloring. I layered that with some Lucky Charms cereal. I think they liked it.

Earlier in the morning, I’d also made a birthday treat for my bestie. I asked her what she wanted and it was so simple and I love her for that. All she wanted was a boxed mix peanut butter brownie with a ganache on top. How easy!

I sent that home with her. She let me try it and take pictures of it before she left though. THAT’S a best friend!

It was good. I used coconut milk for the ganache.

While my boys were napping, I prepared our Irish dessert – Banoffee Pie! I totally used shortcuts. I made a quick crust from graham cracker crumbs and butter. I “baked” it in the toaster oven. I sliced a banana on top of that, melted and poured some dulce de leche that I bought from Costco, and sliced another banana on top. I then whipped a half pint of whipping cream and spread that on top.

I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. It was SO good.

I loved that the dulce de leche was the only sweet part of it. I added no sugar to the graham crust or whipped cream. It was a nice contrast.

It was a dream of a pie – crunchy, buttery and rich, sweet creamy bananas, indulgent, deep caramel, fluffy, milky topping. Seriously, the stuff (my) dreams are made of.

Just…yum. It was even better the next day.

And the Irish Stew came out SO SO good!

The stew beef was so tender, as were the potatoes.

The broth was rich and tomato-y.

We ate it for two days. It was great.

I’d call that a successful food holiday!

I got a chance to see my other friend (who we’d seen on Sunday) again before she went back up North. We met, with some other friends, at a neat farm-to-table restaurant.

We started off with fresh, crusty bread and butter (the only way to “start” anything).

My friend got a Blue Moon and I had some. I love that beer – so refreshing!

My other friend and I went halfsies on the burger. It wasn’t just any old burger. It had bacon jam, pimento cheese, spicy/sweet pickles, bibb lettuce, and a fried green tomato.

One of the best burgers I’ve had!

It was served with wedged potato fries topped with shaved white truffles. Earthy, salty goodness.

Aca-yeah!

Yet another friend and I shared the chocolate cake! We call each other “cakesters”…we just live for cake, what can I say!

It was delicious. And a wonderful night with wonderful friends.

I got to see my kindergarten bestie again the next day! I took her to my favorite donut shop.

She hadn’t been there before. She is now a convert.

I got my now usuals – a sprinkle for Bigs, some holes for Smalls (one of which was shoved whole into his teeny mouth), a German chocolate, a Coconut Crunch, a strawberry and cream cheese, a chocolate and peanut butter, and a chocolate and cream cheese.

I meannnnnn…..

Oh, my heavens.

Why, thank you!

We then walked off our calories at the zoo. It was such a gorgeous day!

The boys and my bestie’s daughter, B, really loved seeing all the animals.

The usually low-key otters were really playful and the lemurs saved their freak-out for when we were leaving.

It was a really wonderful day.

My, what a foodie Spring Break it’s been, and it isn’t even over yet!

I hope this finds you all well,

Kristin

08
Mar
2014

A Berry Good Day

categories: Breakfast

Today has been a berry, berry good day! Yesterday’s gloomy, overcasty clouds burned off to reveal a blue-skied, clear, gorgeous day. It was a perfect backdrop for strawberry picking. We started our day with our usual Saturday Pancakes.

This time, I added little sausages with our bacon, and brûléed bananas.

After our hearty breakfast, we were off! The strawberry fields were about a half hour away and we got there just as they opened.

The boys were SO excited! To them, it must have looked like miles upon miles of strawberries! Bigs did a great job of picking the plump, ruby red, ripe berries. Smalls did a great job of eating any berry he could find, whether it be from the ground (half-eaten by some vermin or squashed by an unknown stranger shoe) or plucked from the plant itself.

Just about every time I turned around, Smalls was stuffing a berry into his mouth. His little baby hands were stained red within minutes. When I picked him up to give him a snuggle, his little breath and skin smelled so sweet of ripe, juicy berries. I just held him forever, burying my face in his curly hair and neck, inhaling his sweetness. And he let me, instead of squirming away. It was magical. I could have breathed in his scent forever.

The boys had a wonderful time. It was great to show Bigs food-sourcing. He couldn’t wait to get home, wash these sweeties, and eat them – the ones HE picked! Snack-time was wonderful – a bowl of freshly picked berries!

I love this one of Husband, Bigs, and Smalls, in succession <3

It was such a happy morning, with the blue, clear skies, the sweet smell of berries in the air, and surrounded by my three, very special boys. My heart is so full!

Our bounty, washed and drying

Beautiful, ruby red jewels

From the strawberry field, we went to a Farmer’s Market. We walked around, munching on kettle corn (it’s always best made right in front of you!).

Each boy got their own little bag. Smalls dumped his out on accident.

We smelled the produce and plants for sale (this one was a spectacular chocolate mint plant!!).

We watched an Amtrak train pull into the station and take off again. We sat there gawking at it like tourists. It was great. Smalls talked about for the rest of the day, in his own little 19 month old way, “Choo choo?? Wooo wooooooo!!”, “Choo choo!!!!”. Those boys love their trains.

And, we also walked through the rows and rows of gorgeous flowers for sale. These are the most lovely hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas.

Spring has most certainly sprung around these parts – a fresh promise of growth and renewal, and a reminder of life’s beautiful, cyclical nature.

It was indeed a gorgeous and perfect morning for our little family! We ended our day (after all the non-event middle day stuff) with frozen yogurt.

The boys are now tucked into bed, I am not far behind. I love when I am pooped from doing things that made me happy.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

I am so blessed by these three boys! They give me the hope for a new day and they fill my heart with love. My cup truly runneth over.

Have a very blessed night, yourself,

Kristin

22
Feb
2014

Happy Pancake Saturday!

categories: Breakfast

I love our family’s Pancake Saturday tradition. We ALWAYS look forward to pancakes anytime, but especially combined with a Saturday morning, where the hope to sleep in springs eternal, and the rush of the weekday life sees further away.

The type of pancakes vary (although they are now all gluten and dairy free). There’s usually bacon and some kind of fruit.

Today was vanilla pancakes (lightly flavored with almond from almond milk).

I can always count on the boys to clean their plates!

And also…this happened! Dunkin’ Donuts now has their own line of coffee creamers!! I’ve been saying they should do this for forever. It was good! I found it at my Target, where I seem to be able to find all kinds of funky, new, seasonal, and rare food-type items.

So here’s to a fulfilling, lovely Saturday! Where we live, it’s dreary and very rainy right now, but we are making our own sunshine. <3

Have a blessed day,

Kristin