Blueberry-Almond Bars

So I've been buying LaraBars for quite some time. They're delicious and made with whole foods. When we started eating Paleo I realized they still fit nicely into our diet. Because I started buying them more often I started thinking about making them myself. I checked out a recipe on Elana's Pantry to get an idea of percentage of fruit to nuts. This is what I came up with.

Blueberry-Almond Bars

1 cup pitted dates
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 Tbsp coconut oil

In a food processor, pulse fruit and nuts until well ground. Pulse in spices and coconut oil. Press into a bar pan and refrigerate at least an hour before cutting.

This was a huge hit with the girls and my husband. I will definitely make them again and play around with different recipe variations. I'm thinking about macadamia nuts and cherries or cashews and cranberries. This Mom Loves creating new treats.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy Birthday Grandma

This picture was taken a month and a half before my grandma died of cancer. I miss her.

Today would have been my grandma's birthday. I celebrated in my own little way by cooking up a beef roast for dinner and showing pictures of her to the kids. Last night and today I've been thinking about all the things I loved about her. Here are some of them:

emboroidered dish towels
the care packages she made us for Christmas
Sunday at Grandma's
knit slippers
staying at the camper alone with Lisa
playing cards
her whistle
visiting Great-Grandma "Tony" with her and drinking coffee
raspberry jello
bunny hunts
cardinals
she came to all my high school plays and the basketball games in town
going fishing in the living room
naps on the davenport
grape juice in little juice glasses
meatballs and lefse
sandbakkels
her laugh

This Mom Loves and misses Grandma.

new spin on an old favorite

I was playing around with my Paleo crunch recipe the other day and came up with something just as yummy but not quite Paleo so we'll call it:

Primal Yummies

Preheat oven to 325 F

In a large bowl combine:
1 cup almond meal
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or pecan halves
2 cups raw slivered or chopped almonds
1 Tbsp cinnamon

In a measuring cup combine:
1/2 cup clarified pastured butter
1/2 cup raw honey
1-2 tsp vanilla

add after baked and cooled:
1 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit of choice

Add the wet ingredients to all the dry ingredients except cherries and combine well. Spread in a thin layer over one or two baking sheets with sides (like a jelly roll pan). Place in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Redistribute the Primal mix and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on the pan(s) for 5-10 minutes. Stir in dried fruit.

I enjoyed mine with a splash of organic whole milk since I've temporarily added that back into my diet. It's equally tasty on its own. This Mom Loves a good treat that fits perfectly into our healthy lifestyle.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

meal plans

I'm working really hard to get meal planning down to a rhythm. We're getting new favorite Paleo dishes and I'm finding more everyday. My sister-in-law plans 6 or 8 weeks at a time and I'm having a hard time getting a whole week down on paper. I took some of her suggestions though.

She said,

"I assign a TYPE of meal to every day. For us, Mondays are roasts (in the oven, on the grill, or in the crock pot...crock pot roasts are great for work days) with corresponding sides. This one type of meal allows many options...turkey (I buy many on sale at Christmas), chicken (watch the loss leaders for roaster chickens about every six weeks), ham (lots of sales at easter), pork loin (best price I've found is at costco), lamb, you name it! And within those options are many variations...different prep styles, marinades, sides, herbs...all fairly easy!

Tuesdays are soup or stew, salad, and bread...I usually take the remaining roast/bones from the day before to make this soup. If we're already sick of said roast, I'll freeze this soup/stew and pull another "flavor" out of the freezer. I often put the bread in the bread maker and the soup in the crock pot, and this is also a "gonna be gone all day" "quick" meal. There are so many possibilities with soup...noodles, rice, dumplings, stews, cream base, veggie soups, you name it.

Wednesdays are international days. So pasta is a possibility, but only every six weeks! Otherwise, we do thai, chinese, mexican, other italian...we're irish, so good irish meals, french...this allows for some spice and "mixing it up." Within those "nationalities" are so many options that we rarely have the same thing on wednesdays for a minimum of 8-12 weeks, rather than the usual six.

Thursday is breakfast day. Pancakes, waffles, blintzes, crepes, french toast, and within those types lots of variations (we have five variations of pancakes alone). Also, we vary the protein (sausage, ham, eggs (and TYPES of eggs)). We will often have fruit, berries, and orange juice with breakfast night.

Friday is Pizza night. Pizza, believe it or not, has lots of possibilities. Thin crust, thick crust, normal crust, calzone, barbeque, alfredo, all meat, all veggie, a little bit of everything...depending on how much vegetable matter is on the pizza we may or may not include salad that night.

Saturday is leftover night. If there aren't leftovers, we'll have sandwiches (egg salad, tuna salad, grilled cheese, tuna melts, grilled peanut butter, cold cuts if there are some left that need to be eaten) and raw veggies.

Sunday we often go to either my in-laws or one of my parents' houses for dinner, just because we like to spend time with family. We usually bring a dish to pass. If by some chance we're home that night, its a vegetarian meal night."

I intend to start making fish once a week while the hubby is gone (he's allergic to fish), doing a roast on Thursday, maybe soup on Friday, and a roast chicken on Saturday. I have to fill in the gaps and work out my rhythm but I'm having fun looking up recipes. This Mom Loves getting organized. Oh, and I love you too Courtenay. Thanks for all your help.

two nights of dinners

After reading Everyday Paleo's post the other day on 2 for 1 Meals I decided to give roasting a whole chicken a try. I've got to say it was really easy but it took everything I had to prep the chicken and I made my husband carve it. I eat meat because it's good for me but I can't think of it as having been alive or it makes me a little sick. I went from being nearly a vegetarian to eating paleo. Well, I digress. I roasted a chicken for the kids before the hubby and I went out for the night. We saved the the carcass and drippings and such and today I made my first chicken stock. I added some veggie bits that I had saved in a freezer bag, onion, garlic, and thyme. It was beautiful. I planned to use the leftover chicken meat for chicken salad but because the stock was so great I ended up making a chicken soup tonight for dinner. I added all the leftover chicken plus two chicken breasts, carrots, celery, onion, cabbage, salt and pepper. It really could have used more herbs and spices. I intend to play around with the seasonings and the veggies will change with my mood. I really love that I got days worth of food out of very little work. I will definately do this again...I may have the hubby clean the bird. This Mom Loves successful recipes. I'm really looking forward to adding these to my regular meal plan.


my first chicken stock

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.