a pinch of weekending, a dash of parenting, a heap of grace and a grain-free pizookie!

hi friends!

how was your weekend?

my big event was hosting a "welcome baby!" party for my two week old niece on saturday

which meant a quick coffee with friends then a bunch of errand running on friday

followed by some great napping (on the girls' part anyway)

we kicked off saturday pretty early by bundling everybody up and heading to the beach

on a cold, windy, snow-in-the-forcast morning

because i'm crazy and my family loves me enough to play along

well, that and i had to pick up some macaroons for the party later that day 

(which were amazing, by the way!

if you're local, you have to pop by Spiritual Ingredients Bakery on East Beach and give 'em a try!) 

sadly, i was too busy playing hostess to get any pictures of said macaroons

or anything at the party, actually

but i did snap this shot from our beach outing:

there's so much i love about this picture, my heart is filled everytime i look at it

my best friend + my girlies + the ocean + early mornings = the stuff my dreams are made of!

i love that they were willing to come along and turn an errand into a family adventure

and i love having moments like this to flip back to on my phone

(technology these days can be such a blessing sometimes, can i get an amen?)

especially on the not-so-splendid days...like sunday

sunday actually wasn't all-bad, 

it was just heavy on the parenting-two-year-olds-is-exhausting/frustrating/sanctifying scale!

i'm learning that i'm much less patient than i thought i was

but i'm working on that

because grouchy mama isn't someone i like to be

and i'm pretty sure it isn't someone the girlies want me to be either

sometime in the afternoon i looked up from whatever i was doing at the kitchen sink,

saw one of my 50 promises and decided it was time to choose a better attitude

because seeking righteousness doesn't always come easy, but the reward is totally worth it

i know that in my head, but sometimes my heart forgets

later that night we had family over for a games / dessert night which was super fun

i tried my hand at a grain-free pizookie for us to enjoy

there was hot coffee for the girls and fancy beer for the boys

all of which was wonderful

but long after the coffee had grown cold, the pizookie was reduced to crumbs

and the game had been played (twice!)

 came my favorite part of the night:

we sat there, chatting away, 

sharing funny stories and insights,

learning about each other - our struggles, our loves, our plans...

i soaked up every minute of building community and deepening relationships,

beaming on the inside and thinking myself

"this here is evidence of grace, and i am so thankful for it."

so there you have it - my weekend in a bit more than a nutshell...

oh, and before i sign off, here's that pizookie recipe

this was the original recipe, below is my tweaked version! 

Paleo[ish] Pizookie

(grain free, dairy free and honey sweetened)

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal / flour
2/3 cup cashew meal / flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips1 egg, at room temperature
(my free-range, local eggs tend to be bigger than "regular" eggs. if you're using the latter, use a jumbo or extra large.  also, the easiest way to bring an egg to room temp is to stick it in a bowl or cup of room temp water for 10 minutes or so)
1/3 cup organic honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Directions:
- melt your coconut oil in a small pan on medium heat then remove set aside once it's melted


- meanwhile, combine your dry ingredients (almond meal through to sea salt) in a large bowl and mix using a fork


- stir in chocolate chips


- in a separate, smaller bowl, beat your egg then add the rest of the wet ingredients (honey, coconut oil, vanilla)
note: make sure the coconut oil is not hot enough to start cooking your egg! 


- add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and stir until just combined


- chill dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes


- once you're ready to bake the pizookie, preheat your oven to 350* F and turn the dough out into a greased 12" cast iron pan (i used bacon grease!).  

- press the dough into the pan evenly (it's totally normal for your dough to be quite a bit  thicker than typical cookie dough), give it a good sprinkle of sea salt then pop it into the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and your pizookie is a nice golden brown.  


cut like you would a pizza and enjoy...but watch out for those hot chocolate chips!