Saturday, July 28, 2012

18 Months


1 ½ candles for 1 ½  years


Becker turned 18 months today.  A year and a half.  Watching him run and play in the grass this morning brought a warm smile to my face.  I tried to remember how different things were just a few months ago.  How much he has changed.  All the things he could not do, and the things he could.  He could crawl around in this grass and got really fast, but now he can RUN and he glides through the air with his long, swift strides.  I remember when he got a boat bath set for his birthday and it came with a fish shaped nail brush.  I thought that was cute idea, but didn’t think you would ever use one on a baby.  Fast forward a month and a half to when he started walking and squatting and digging in the dirt and that nail brush is a routine part of the bath these days.  Walking brought all sorts of new avenues for Becker.  He can squat down for long periods of time examining bugs, digging or just observing the world.  He gets filthy daily and I love watching him fully immerse himself in this serious business of play.  He can run towards anything he is interested in and run he does!


He can jump, climb and almost do a summersault.  I wonder what we did at the park a year ago when we walked to this same grassy spot almost daily with Bodi.  I guess we sat or laid in the grass.  At the time that was exciting too and I took tons of pictures of Becker sitting just watching Bodi and the trees.  My baby is no longer a baby.  He is a little boy full of life and love.  His personality has really developed in these six months since turning one.  He has become himself.  He is exuberant, funny, strong and kind.  He is always excited, whether it’s because he gets to open a package of printer ink we ordered or carry the toilet paper from the car to the house.  And don’t bring up the vacuum unless you actually plan on vacuuming within the next few minutes because that activity is just thrilling and he will have the vacuum out of the closet before you know it.  Becker, I hope your joy in the little things sticks with you as it is contagious and really makes you a fun person to be around.  Don't ever stop smelling the flowers.



Thursday, July 26, 2012

Muffins

I wasn’t planning on blogging about recipes, but now and then I finagle a recipe just right and it has to be shared.  I don’t eat dairy so we do a lot of finagling and ½ real cheese, ½ dairy-free cheese when cheese is necessary such as in our weekly homemade pizza.  My friend is gluten-free so when I make things for her I up the ante and make it gluten-free and dairy-free.  I took a muffin recipe sent to me by a friend and not only freed it up of gluten and dairy, I even managed to make it healthier too.  Bam!  The original recipe had more sugar, a whole stick of butter, a cup of sour cream and all-purpose flour.  I generally bake with butter when recipes call for it, but we didn’t even have a stick of butter come the morning of playgroup so I improvised.   I had all of these items in my kitchen to start with, but they are all super easy to find in any grocery store.  Here is what I came up with and let me just say that they are delicious and toddler approved.  You can always use  3 ½ Cups all-purpose flour instead of the flours I chose if you don’t need or want gluten-free muffins.



Gluten-free, Dairy-Free Raspberry Millet Muffins

1/2 Cup Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce
2 Tbs Canola Oil ( I just tossed in a little bit to offset the lack of butter)
1 Cup Organic sugar
1 Organic egg
2 Tbs Flax Meal mixed with 6 Tbs water  (this substitutes 2 eggs.  I only did this because we like to eat our eggs for breakfast so I didn't want to waste 3 of them, plus it adds a fiber and omega 3s)
1 Cup Tofutti dairy free sour cream (without partially hydrogenated oil. Greek yogurt would also be good)
1 Cup Almond Meal
1 Cup Organic Brown Rice Flour
1 ½  Cups Organic Oat Flour
1 Tbs Baking Powder
1/2 tsp sea salt (since I didn't use butter)
2 Cups raspberries
2 Tbs millet

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350 F
Lightly spray muffin tin with olive oil.  In a small bowl combine 6 Tbs water and 2 Tbs flax meal.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Mix flours, baking soda and salt in one bowl and set aside. Mix sugar, apple sauce and oil together in standing mixer on high until well combined.  Added the flax meal mixture and then the egg, mixing between them.  Add the sour cream and mix that up followed by the flour a few scoops at a time.  Once combined, mix the millet and raspberries in with a spatula and then spoon into  muffin tin to the tops.  I had extra batter so I made some mini muffins for the kiddos too.  Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out dry.  Serve with butter, nut butter or as is.  They were delicious warm and peanut butter was also a yummy topper.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Here We Go

Hello World.  That is of course the only way to get the ball rolling.  I’ve been told I should write a book or start a blog.  I’ve got a lot swirling around in my head and I might sleep better if I have an outlet for some of it.  I Googled “How to start a blog” and came across lots of articles on the topic, none of which were actually all that helpful, but clearly the interest is out there.  I tried to use the app Dragon Dictation while driving to get some good thoughts written down and lost all train of thought upon hearing my voice out loud.  I spoke a whole awesome paragraph that was coming together in my head and the app caught the first 2 words and pooped out on me.  If that wasn’t bad enough I had lost my drive to give it a second go after listening to myself rattle on out loud.  It was NOT the voice that rattles on and on inside my head day in and day out.  My inner voice is a lot more self confident  and sure of itself than my out loud voice.  Choosing a name for this blog was exceptionally difficult.  You wouldn’t believe the names that are already taken!  Let’s suffice it to say that this is not even my 17th choice.  As my mind rattled on in bed after failing to choose an adequate name for my blog so I could just get on with it and start, I randomly came up with JeMaBeBo using all the first two initials of all four of us.  I'm the Je.  In my head I pronounce it “Gem-a-bee-bo”, but feel free to pronounce it as you like.  Maybe there is a better pronunciation out there. My aim is to jot down my experiences and observations of life with Ma, Be and Bo before I forget and it's all a blur.