signs that my life is in compete chaos

#1

i haven't blogged in over a month

(oops!)

#2

i STILL haven't looked through pictures from the girlies' birthday party

#3

things are getting crossed off my to do list because they're no longer relevant,

not because they're actually getting done

#4

valentines day included dinner out for my best friend's birthday 

followed by attending the home / water birth of my first niece

...all in the span of 3 hours (dinner, labor, delivery and all)!

#5
my on-again, off-again relationship with my espresso machine is very much back ON
she's temperamental and practically vintage,
but she makes a mean americano when she works
plus i got her for $2 at an estate sale...don't judge!

#6

i've done four photography sessions in just about four weeks:

one maternity, one Tiny Footprints,  one (my first!) birth and one newborn

plus i've got another session penciled in pretty soon

(so much for choosing to be very part time during this season of my life...!)

it's all good though - this was just a random busy stint, 

plus i'm thankful to be busy doing something that fires me up!  :)

#7

i can't remember the last time i went to bed before midnight

#8

we almost put in an offer on a house

...aaaand didn't, since we still had a few more numbers to crunch

i was in tears, but knew it was the wise thing to do

and now that we have taken a look at all the numbers, 

i'm super grateful to the Lord for giving me a wise (and number-savvy!) husband
so we're back to the drawing board for now
where the Lord continues to whisper to my fretful heart:  trust in me, I've got a plan

#9

i keep forgetting to eat breakfast,

and when i do finally get around to it, 

i'm finding i prefer to drink it, because it's that much quicker to "eat"

lucky for you, i actually remember what i threw into my most recent shake, 

and I carved out time to share it...you can thank me later!  ;)

a couple notes before i share the recipe:
- it has a really strong almond flavor, so if that's not your thing, you might want to pass on this one
- you don't really taste the banana in the shake, which is a BIG plus in my books since i don't like drinking bananas.  weird, i know.  when i order a smoothie on the go, i always ask for the banana on the side, for reals...talk about getting funny looks!
- the ingredient list looks long, but gathering them is the hardest part so don't let that keep you from trying it!

ingredients:

1/2 - 3/4 cup chilled coffee or espresso shots
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp pure almond extract
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsps hemp seeds
1 [heaping] tbsp cocoa powder
1 frozen banana
1-2 tbsp almond butter

dump everything into a blender and blend until smooth
presto, change-o
your mid-morning / afternoon pick me up is ready!

Monday Mustache Milkshake ...mmm!

happy Monday, peeps!

we had a SUPER fun, SUPER packed weekend:

successfully ran about a bazillion errands after Daniel came home on Friday,

did a pig roast all day Saturday, which, including travel and prep time was a 14+ hour day

went for a delicious lunch with family + did at least four loads of laundry on Sunday

it was probably the busiest weekend we've had since the girls were born

and you know what?

they were SUCH super stars about it!

despite missed naps and random mealtimes

they were really great about not melting down

we were impressed

way to go, girlies!

anyway, between all the time spent outdoors,

the sunshine,

the mosquitos (booooo...),

and all the sweet, juicy fruit we were munching on

(pretty sure i ate my weight in watermelon between the pig roast and dinner yesterday,

plus the girlies discovered they love grapes)

...it just felt like summer suddenly kicked into gear

and it's only gonna get better

because on Thursday we head off for our annual camping weekend

we look forward to this trip all year

there's not much better than 

getting to enjoy the outdoors,

with some of our best friends,

grilling all our meals,

soaking up the sunshine,

chatting by the fire,

cooking and eating together,

passing on our love of camping to our kids,

etc, etc, etc

so, with a great weekend behind us

and a great weekend before us

i thought it would be fitting to celebrate Monday

by sharing a delicious milkshake with you

it's superbly chocolatey, relatively healthy and cold...perfect for celebrating summer!
oh, and it's nice and thick, so expect a great milk mustache!

Chocolate Banana Mustache Milkshake

1 cup organic brown rice milk

(or whatever milk you prefer)

1 frozen banana

1 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp almond butter

1/2 cup ice

- blend ingredients together until smooth

- drink up!

trust me, this one's worth the mustache!

Healthy(ish) Coconut Oat Fudge Bars

there's something you need to know about me

i usually try to make good food choices

but sometimes, i just go with what i love,

and throw health to the wind

(hey, I'm only human!)

perfect example: starbucks' oat fudge bar

oh em gee - these things are amazing!

but they're also amazingly full of calories and sugar and who knows what else

they definitely fall into the guilty pleasure category
(which means I might have one once, maybe twice a year)

so it's no surprise that one day i thought to myself, 

"hmmm...i wonder if i could make a healthier version?"

and thus began the search

now, before i go any further, 

i'll dash your hopes right from the get go

and tell you that these turned out nothing like the real deal

which left me kind of disheartened, 

but once i shifted my perspective 

and just looked at them as a healthy oat-y chocolate-y bar,

they were suddenly pretty good,

even good enough to share with all of you!

(it helps that the girlies loved them, 

and i'm always on the hunt for / eager to share good toddler snacks!) 

Healthy Coconut Oat Fudge Bars

(adapted from this recipe)

batter:

1 medium banana

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted to liquid form

1 egg

2 tablespoons agave nectar / syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 cups rolled porridge oat mix

(porridge oats = rolled oats that have been rolled to the point of being crumbly, the package I bought (Rogers brand) came with oat bran, wheat bran and flax seed - hence the "mix" part.  If you can't find the mix, just use 1.5 cups rolled or porridge oats then add 1/2 a cup of oat or wheat bran)

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

chocolate center:

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1/3 cup good quality dark chocolate, chopped up 

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

topping (optional):

a handful of extra oat mix

a handful of shredded, unsweetened coconut

***

- preheat oven to 350*

- combine oat mix, flour and flax seeds in a bowl and set aside

- mash your banana up in another, larger bowl

- add the coconut oil, egg, agave and salt to the mashed banana and mix until well combined

- add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time   then set batter aside

- in a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk on medium/high

- once the milk has warmed through, stir the chocolate in and turn the heat down to medium or medium low

- continue stirring until the all the chocolate has melted into the warm milk

- in a small bowl or cup, mix cornstarch with a little bit of water then add it to the saucepan

- remove the saucepan from heat and stir until it has thickened up a bit, then set aside

- grease a 9x13 pan, then press about 1/2 the batter into the bottom of it 

- spread about 2/3 of the chocolate "sauce" on top of the batter

- add the remaining batter (be careful not to burn yourself if your sauce is still hot - mine wasn't, since i kept having to walk away and deal with the kiddos)

- top with the rest of the chocolate then sprinkle on optional topping (oat mixture and coconut)

- bake for 10-15 minutes

- once cooled, cut into squares and serve

Flax Banana Nut Muffins // going, going, gone...

i've developed a new appreciation of efficiency since having twins

i'm sure one day, i'll get back to enjoying taking things slow now and then, but for now - efficiency is key if i want to get anything done

enter fabulous banana muffin recipe  

actually, to be honest, i didn't make these myself

my mom had a bunch of bananas that needed using up, so i dug this recipe up from my pre-baby "to try one day" pile and before we knew it - fabulous banana muffins! 

(and a better breakfast option than a cup of black coffee - double bonus!!!)

seriously, this recipe is literally a matter of mixing your dry and wet ingredients - can it get any easier?!

i think not!  

so go ahead, whip up a batch - you know you want to!

flax banana nut muffins

wet ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (mashed well)

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/3 cup of vegetable oil (we used corn oil)

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

dry ingredients:

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup of unbleached bread flour

1/2 cup of unbleached white whole wheat flour1/4 cup walnuts

- preheat your oven to 350* F

- combine all the wet ingredients in a large bowl

- in a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except for the walnuts

- slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones until well mixed, then stir the walnuts into the batter

- pour into muffin tin (about 1/2 cup batter per muffin) and bake for about 25 minutes