Ice Cream SUCCESS!!

Finally! We have homemade ice cream success!

Behold the tools of the trade :)

1 ice cream maker

1 can of full fat coconut milk

1 cup (i didn't use that entire ginormous mug) of chilled coffee. MUST be chilled.

I used Berres Brothers Highlander Grogg decaf coffee for this recipe.

No sugar here. I used Stevia.

Mix all the ingredients and let chill at least 8 hours in fridge. This is where I previously went wrong.

In my haste (and lack of instruction manual) I just dumped everything in the machine. Therefore, I ended up with ice cream goo.

Ha ha! Not this time! WE'VE GOT SOFT-SERVE, PEOPLE!!

During the last few minutes of churning I added (homemade) dairy free chocolate covered coffee beans.

Oh man. What a week! What a way to end this crazy-busy-stressful-only God got me through it-week. With,

HOMEMADE SUGAR FREE, NON-DAIRY COFFEE ICE CREAM

*1 can full fat coconut milk

*1 cup brewed and chilled coffee of choice

*sweetener of choice. either 1/2 cup sugar or 5-6 packs of stevia

*Mix all together thoroughly and chill in fridge about 8 hours

*place in frozen ice cream maker bowl and turn machine on. let it run for about 20 minutes.

*during the last 3 minutes, put in chocolate covered coffee beans.

*EITHER SERVE AND ENJOY IMMEDIATELY, or PUT IN FREEZER FOR 1-2 HRS FOR HARDER CONSISTENCY

Now I fully intend on utilizing The Vegan Scoop recipe book to make more fun healthy ice cream. Who wants sweet potato or green tea ice cream?!! :)

A book, A belief, and busyness

 It's been an exhausting week already! Last night the whole family was in bed by 8:30pm. I was laying next to the Princess and thought she'd be the first asleep. WRONG. Even after 3 hours of VBS (vacation Bible school), swim lessons, and more swimming in the evening, she was chattin' away until 9pm!

I'd doze off and wake up and she'd be telling me about what she learned in VBS. Her favorite "station" at VBS is the science station, and they learned that an orange floats in water. But, when you peel it, it sinks.

How cool is that? Of course it was somehow related to something biblical, although I was too out of it to ask. :)

I also stopped at the library to pick up a vegan ice cream recipe book!!

Before I got the book I made some coconut milk based ice cream with coffee and chocolate covered coffee beans. Um....yum :)  This book has some pretty wacky flavas, too. Wasabi ice cream anyone?

Anyway, while Trinity's at VBS, I go to a Bible study called "Moments for Moms". Each day we learn more about a particular faithful woman of the Bible.

The story of Moses has been one of my favorites since I became a mom. Moses's mother Jochabed trusted God on a level that is nearly incomparable. During the time the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, Pharoah declared that all baby boys be killed and thrown into the Nile River. Jochabed was pregnant with Moses and knew she had to trust God and hide him once he was born. When Moses was 3 months old, she put him in a papyrus basket and sent him down the river through the reeds.

Long story short, Pharoah's daughter found Moses, recognized him as a Hebrew, took pity on him, and found a servant/wet nurse in the palace to nurse him.

Guess who the servant was that nursed Moses. Yup, Jochabed. His own mother!

I LOVE that! She trusted God in a time of terror and uncertainty, and was able to nurse her own child and see him grow into a young man.

It wasn't the most ideal circumstance, but far better than what most mothers of baby boys went through at that time.

Also, the ladies who put together Moments for Moms have been so awesome. They found out of my multiple food intolerances and have made SURE that there is always some fruit and veggies for me to eat! Some of the other ladies were even eyein' up my plate. Sorry ladies-you gotta have major digestive issues if you wanna eat this good! ;)

Ok-gotta run to the beach now y'all. It's time for swim lessons. I may just fall asleep on the bench while Princess swims the afternoon away. So tired!

Question....

If you believe the Bible, what is your favorite Bible story and why?

Ice cream fail :(

The Princess and I were way too excited to start making our own ice cream once we got our hands on an ice cream maker my friend Monica gave us :)

First thing she wanted to do when she got up in the morning was make mint chocolate chip.

I was happy to oblige, even though I can't eat dairy-based ice cream.

The ingredients we used were 2% milk, sugar, mint extract, and chocolate chips.

I let Princess stir it all together, along with her adoring entourage Bobo the monkey, Peepers the lemur, and Lizzie the Lizard.  I blame them for the failure of our attempt at making Princess's beloved mint chocolate chip.

Next, we poured in all the ingredients, and during the last few minutes added the chocolate chips.

I'm tellin' ya, those guys are distracting....all up in my kool-aid and don't know ma flava! (lame, sorry).

Because of the distracting entourage, I forgot that alcohol based extracts will prevent the ice cream from hardening. I would have remembered that, if said houligans weren't up in my business! ;)

So, the ice cream remained a cold liquid slush which never materialized into anything resembling even a soft serve :(

We'll try again. But first I will attempt my coconut milk based coffee ice cream. I'll let y'all know how that goes. And I promise there will be no monkeys, lizards, or lemurs involved.

A Beachy Day

It has been raining like ca-ray-zee 'round here. Every day this past week it seems there has been severe downpours. For some reason when it comes time for Princess's afternoon swim lessons, though, the skies clear up and the lessons are on!

We figured we'd hit the beach as a fam today, since the rain ended in the wee early hours of the morning.

Big Daddy got there before Princess and me, secured us a spot, and set everything up.....the grill, the chairs, the floaties,etc.

It was a bit windy, but the temps were comfy.

 I was extra comfy with my own chair, my Anthony Bourdain book, and

a sweet potato. ain't no shame in eatin' it right from the foil! :)

 Oh yeah, sometime soon I'm gonna share some more info from Anthony's book. Although, he's the farthest thing from vegan or vegetarian he highly respects the works of Michael Pollan. Anyway, he shares some things about the largest beef supplier to fast food restaurants, Cargill.*scary scary scary stuff people.*

Beautiful view, eh?

The only way the day coulda been better was if Ty was there. But, you know, he's too busy bein a 20 year old guy....sleeping in until 3pm. Stuff like that.

Garden Dinner

             Thank you Debi,(another fab lady with a daughter named Trinity) for the patty pan squash! Bruce affectionately refers to them as "pie crust" squash :)

I refer to them as delicious! I've never had patty pan squash before. They are very juicy and "buttery."

Yeah, I'm that sophisticated that I had them on a paper plate :)

Split in half and grilled.....I highly recommend!

A cup of patty pan provides 5 grams of fiber, 43% of your daily value of Vitamin C, 13% of your daily value of folate, as well as vitamin B6, vitamin A, magnesium, and potassium.

Eat your squash people!

I Never Woulda Thought....

That the single, childless "me" in 2001, sitting in front of the Sangre de Cristos, overlooking Cripple Creek, Colorado...

Would be back to visit in 2010 with a 6 year old daughter.

It's just kinda weird :)

Coffee Slushy

It's been friggin' hot. I love coffee. Two facts that do not mesh well.

Until now. :)

Into my 36 year old Oster blender went:

8 frozen cubes of leftover coffee. (just pour leftover coffee into ice cube trays)

Half a cup of cold unfrozen coffee.

1/4 cup coconut milk

stevia.

 You could do all sorts of variations on this. If you use regular sugar to sweeten your iced coffee, you should mix it in while the coffee is still warm so it will dissolve. Then freeze it in the ice cube trays.

You could also add other flavors like vanilla or mint extract.

Yum!

Change Creates Change

Ever heard that idiom? For better or worse, it's true.

 I don't like change unless it's necessary. Another idiom...

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I've had the same swimsuit since Trinity was 15 months old. She's almost 7. Scary I know!

 It's a modest tankini/skirtini, whatever you wanna call it. It's slid down countless waterslides, rested for hours on tubes in lazy rivers, dodged hundreds of waves in wave pools. and been covered with millions of grains of sand from the beach.

The result is a faded, stretched out, useless remnant of a swimsuit. Yesterday at the pool and I noticed the stomach area was so see-through you could see my bellybutton tattoo. The skirt part was so stretched out that when it got wet, it hung to my knees. NOT cute.

When we were done swimming, right then and there, I threw it away. It no longer has a purpose in my life. Easy change to make!

Now I need a new suit. Yay! This is the kind of change I'm talkin' about-NECESSARY change. Not change simply for the sake of change. I'm far too frugal for that anyway.

I've got my sights set on a 1950s style suit :) Cute, no?

So, yeah, this isn't all about swimsuits. It's about change; when to know to let go, and how to change.  Sometimes change is forced upon us and we have no choice but to change. Like the swimsuit. Or gaining weight.Or discovering a food allergy/intolerance. Sometimes you see the need from afar and have to choose to do something about it, before negative consequences impact your life.

Bruce and I have been talkin' alot about what needs to change in our lives and how to go about doing it. I told him, "There is so much that we want to change, but we keep doing the same thing. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is called INSANITY!"

Like when you workout: you can't do the same workout for a year and expect the same results as when you started.

 We've gotten pretty comfortable in with our ways of doing things and as they say "familiarity breeds contempt."

*disclaimer*

This has nothing to do with our marriage :) We are happy and in love :)

So, we made a list of what needs to change and also the corresponding first step to making that change.

Not too overwhelming to do it that way.

Now, we just need to pray, take those steps, and be strong.

What do you do when you realize something in your life needs to change? Do you just take a leap of faith and change it, or do you approach it cautiously and carefully?

For Maggie :)

she knows why :)

A Bourdain kind of day

I spent most of my Monday recuperating and allowing all those nutrients from the veggie kabobs to do their thang, and boost my immune system. I know my body needed the rest, because even after a large cup of caffeine in the afternoon, I fell asleep in the middle of checking emails on my blackberry. I woke up drooling and dazed. Now, that's good rest!

I had a nice surprise when I found out that a book I had on hold at the library had come in.

So far, it's very....interesting. I sorta knew what to expect, because of watching his show on the Travel Channel, and that his language is very....COLORFUL ;) When on tv and  bleeped out, it's not so caustic on the ears. When you read those words, over and over, several times on each page, it gets a little frustrating. I tend to find excessive and gratuitous swearing, lazy and sloppy. Some people will argue that swear words are arbitrary and/or subjective and mean different things to different people. But, if it's a word that is meant to convey malice AND you wouldn't want your kid to say it....well, that falls into the swear word category in my book.

Ok, enough about my book, let's talk about Tony's :)  So far he been addressing what it means to "sell out" in the food biz and talking to Emeril Lagasse(someone he'd previously bashed) about it. He explains a "scary" encounter with another Food Network star he bashed, Sandra Lee, and talks alot about the "machine" that is The Food Network.  Anthony has been raging against the machine from the get-go.

He also talks with regret and remorse about his days a coked-out, drunk-driving pothead.  Without regret, he talks about the bane of society's existence, the fast food industry, and how he teaches his 3 year old that Ronald McDonald has VERY contagious cooties.  

Yes, he's rude, crude, and sloppy, but what makes that forgivable is that he's also VERY smart and does NOT care what anyone thinks of him. Sounds alot like my hubby :)

Oh yeah-bonus! On the new episode of No Reservations last night, he was in Milwaukee at the restaurant Bacchus! Like the title says, it was a Bourdain kind of day.

Now, onto a reader request ;)  Me in my "new" used thrift store dress. I've been into either the 50s style or hippie chic dresses. Either way, dresses are the main reason I love summer.

Here it is with a little cover up.

And without :)

So, have you ever seen No Reservations? Love Tony Bourdain or hate him? Do tell :)

My food is my medicine and my medicine is my food

Seriously I think it's been about 3 years since I've actually been *sick* sick. Even  now, the cold that I caught from my petri dish of a 6 year old daughter, really isn't THAT bad.

It's just easy to milk it, cuz I have an awesome husband that loves to take care of me and is the most nurturing person I know.

 ~swoon~

Heeding the advice of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, I am letting my food be my medicine and my medicine be my food.

Raw and grilled garlic?check.

Tons of veggies? check.

Check how the grillmaster, nurturer extraordinairre is helpin' me prevent any progression of this icky cold virus.

red, orange, and yellow mini peppers, farmer's market garlic, green pepper from my garden,2 kinds of squash, mushrooms, and a couple cherry tomatoes also from my garden.

There is also some cubed pork chops on there for the chef and mini-carnivore/petri dish. ;)

Yes, that is bacon-wrapped asparagus. jealous? ;)

Bacon is the one food that will forever keep me from becoming a 100%, full-time, true vegetarian.

Deal with it, haters! :)

Hubby also brought into my solitary confinement area a mini skewer(toothpick) of raw garlic and homegrown cherry tomatoes.

Man, am I blessed.

So, yeah, lots of rest, water, love, and veggies, and I'm already feeling better.

A Gift,Frugal Fashion, Local Food, and a Gorgeous gal

THIS WEEK

My Uncle Bill is known to give the most unique of gifts.

My belated birthday present was no exception-a Jolly Roger clock!

Love.

I ventured to St.Vinnies, the local thrift store, and found the following for $12.

1-Super cute summery fun happy dress for me :)

2-Two shirts for Bruce displaying 2 different sports teams for which he shows allegiance

3-a pair of Adidas shorts

4-a pink princess shirt for the princess

Oh-a pepper! Ready for consuming! I will stir-fry and add you to my next salad or........the tacos I've been craving and assembling in my mind. I picked up some gluten free tortillas today. Can't wait!

One lonely red ripe cherry tomato, which I promptly ate. It was awesome.

Thank you Lord for providing such diverse and delicious produce. Only YOU can make a seed.

The Romas, which are at full size, but being stubborn in their transformation phase to an edible shade of red.

Oh yeah-we have snap peas, too! Not many, but some.

Farmer's Market face painting lady got ahold of the princess and turned her into a butterfly. Gramps took this pic. Super cute, no?

Hope everyone's having a great week! To everyone on the east coast-don't melt. or pass out. or go jogging and get heat stroke. You know who you are! ;)

Local Treasure

For such a small, obscure midwestern town, there really are quite a few "gems" and "treasures" to be found in the way of unique shops, dining, recreation, and entertainment.

Last night the whole fam headed to the Tyranena Brewery (pronounced: Ty-ra NEE nah).

Yes, it's a Brewery offering lots of different kinds of microwbrews, but it's also a family friendly, non-smoking, clean, and laid-back establishment.

The place was really jumpin' and people (us included) bring their own lawn chairs, blankets, food, kids and dogs.

There were alot of kids and alot of dogs!

At the back of the building, I noticed they grow there own hops! While I'm not a drinker by any means, (that whole gluten intolerance thing and not really liking alcohol anyway will do it!), I do find certain aspects of the brewing process interesting.

Every Friday and Saturday the Brewery is host to different bands. Weather permitting they get to play outside. We got to listen to Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo. VERY.COOL. Check them out if/when you can.

It was hot. My face was glowing :)

My dad was there, too! Hi Dad!! He ordered pizza. I had an apple.

Trinity holding a pow-wow and ordering suggesting games to play :) This picture represents a mere fraction of the kids that were there. There was a lot of running,playing,frisbee, football, and tree-climbing.

*sigh* To be a kid again, eh?

The sun is finally starting to set and the trees offer more shade for all us loungers.

Awww. Poor guy's back is jacked up pretty bad, but he still mustered up the strength to gimme a smooch.

Since there are T-storms forecasted for Sunday night (the 4th), we decided to have our mosquito-infested firecracker celebration when we got home. Can't remember if this was the "dragon fart" or "unicorn." Where do they come up with those names!

Have a safe and fun Independence Day and Bless God, America!