Strawberry Cream Cheese Mini Pizzas, Low Carb (THM S)

Cute right? They're so mini and fun!  I made these today for the boys' snack when they got off the bus, and we ate it all up together on our balcony. 

Super easy snack to whip up. :) 

Mmmmm....vanilla, butter, cream cheese.

Raw, and ready for the oven!

And out of the oven:

Get in my belly.

Recipe: Makes 3 mini's.          

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

You will need:

3 mini pitas (I used Josef's pitas)

1/2 C. cream cheese

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp pyure sweetener (or just sweeten to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 to 10 strawberries, cut up and mixed with 2 tsp pyure sugar.

*Rest of cream cheese mixture

2 Tbsp egg whites

2 Tbsp sugar-free Strawberry jelly/jam (or low sugar)

1 Tbsp coconut flour

Directions: 

Prep the strawberries... cut up, mixed with sugar, and set aside. (I added a few rasberries, like 3)

Mix the cream cheese and butter together, and add the sugar and Vanilla.

Spread this cream cheese mixture onto 3 pitas.  *Set aside 2 Tbsp of this creamed mixture*

Stir the Jelly and berries into the remaining cream cheese mixture, then finally the egg whites, and coconut flour. 

Spread this berry mixture onto the cream cheese pitas. 

Bake for 18 minutes. Careful of the time so the edges don't burn.

Enjoy!

Light and Fluffy Banana Waffles (Dairy, Sugar, and Gluten free)

I love the taste of bananas with maple syrup in the morning. These two flavors are like two peas in a pod.  Oh my goodness!

These are the best waffles I know how to make.
This will probably come off as bragging (it is)....  But you need to know that these are restaurant quality. 

                                   
They practically bounced with lightness from waffle iron to plate.  Imagine my surprise to see that I had pretty much stumbled upon the perfect amount of every ingredient. (That almost never happens for me on the first try of a new recipe.)

Let's discuss the flour. I've written about this one before. As of now it's still not widely used or known about, but this here flour I used is called "Green Banana Flour".  Now go order yourself some off Amazon right now. Off with you! 

Don't get scared of the word Banana. No we are not talking the bananas in your cupboard. Green banana flour is not filled with insulin-spiking sugar like those ones.  Waaaay different ball game. These are unripened green bananas.

Why is it so great? Here's the deal. For starters, what you make with this flour will come out with the light/fluffy texture of a regular, terrible-for-you normal bread product. Isn't that awesome? 

Also, I've struggled with hypoglycemia since I was a little girl (blood sugar issues), and this flour is a healthy carb with a low gycemic index. Yes, lower than oat flour (and for sure rice, wheat, spelt, or kamut flours). It's actually a resistant starch. And it's easier to work with than gummy bean flours like garbanzo, or heavy flours like almond/coconut. 

Also we're talking surprisingly low calorie count. I personally am not a counter but I still say that's great. Go here for more info and fun recipes. 

Just got home from school and ready for mommy's waffles :)

'K so now that we've had the necessary flour talk, Make these!

Recipe: Makes 10-12 Waffles.

Get that waffle maker hot n' ready. Spray with oil.

Mix the dry ingredients first:

2 C. banana flour
1/3 C. Oats
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthum gum

Now mix the wet ingredients. Start with the mashed banana, sweetener, and egg. Then put in the others.

1 mashed banana
1 egg
1/2 C. sweetener (I use Pyure granular)
1 C. egg whites
1 C. Almond, cashew, or coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp banana extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the wet and dry mixes, and begin making your waffles! 

The State of Naming Your Baby for Millenials - a new generational experience

                        

It's a different time for millennial moms.  Gone is our parents generation, and their social pressure of following the crowd to the tee. Sure there's always going to be some social pressure, but a be-yourself, anti-bullying vibe has permeated today's culture. It's affected many of our life choices, down to the names of the next generation. 

We won't be made to fall in line as easily.  You can find millennial women casting down "fat shaming" as well as "skinny shaming", with mother's telling the world I'll breastfeed where I want to, and for as long as I want. And what does that look like when such a spirit of don't-tread-on-me uniqueness is carried over to the world of baby names? 

"Different" names are very accepted now, and even celebrated!

Here's a shocker: if you name the kid Ebenezer, or Zyra.... they actually likely will never be made fun of for their name. (But probly for other things - kids are still jerks). 

There were the Vicki's, Richard's, Diane's, Terry's and Sue's of our moms's generation... back then no one dared buck the system in the baby-name department.  This would've been social murder for your child. Why would you be cruel and do such a thing?  That was the 50's...but even in the 80's you still just didn't wanna go there Sure this country had religious freedom, but baby-naming freedom back then? You will be persecuted.  

There weren't actual laws about names but, the accepted traditional customs and usages of social groups were clear-cut and operating outside of them was socially punishable. 

Case in point, My uncle's name is Bruno (after a famous 1800's Canadian ancestor of ours). He grew up in a small Minnesota town with zero diversity. He was made fun of so badly that he had to switch high schools. My aunt was also teased for having the middle name "Elvira". Wasn't my grandma super creative? Love her. 

That was then. Sorry about that baby boomers. The moms walking around currently care way more about their kid's potential food allergies than a name ranking. People nowadays are much more open-minded in the name game - gives you hope for humanity right?

                      

So fast forward to now. It's 2017, and my boys live in a rural area in Minnesota as well with very little diversity.  My son's kindergarten class had a kid named "Petron" (yes like the alcohol) and no one bats an eye. The boy my son hung out with the most was named "Kale". Who cares? No one. Aren't we happy times have changed now? You can name your kid what you want - Yay! Weird or unique is even becoming a popular thing, as noticed by Time Magazine. 

We want different names. We may not have liked being number 3 in a classroom. My name is Emily and I found that incredibly boring. We want interesting names. The exotic is not to be feared. 

Let us partially thank the normative power of celebrity status which has helped push odd names toward glorification. Miley, Bruno, Adelle, Scarlett and Isla could be weird, but celebrity status have given those names the A-okay/go-ahead. More reason why odd and unheard of is now cool, accepted, and becoming an actual social norm in our society. 

Although if you do choose a rare gem; def expect some eye-brow raises and a few brazenly rude comments from grandparents. Course in their defense, they grew up under stricter social mores of conformity, and it was pounded into their skulls. Don't be different. 

Recently when I revealed the rare name I just chose for my unborn daughter, my 61-year-old family relative (who shall not be named) chuckled at my choice and had this to say: "Remember Emily - you're not Jewish and you're not black." Haha, yes this was an actual statement made.  

Sometimes you just have to laugh off the out-dated (or inappropriate) things the older generation has to say. This coming from a relative who named her kids names like Sarah, Benjamin, and Matthew (all Hebrew)... but it seems naming my first daughter Hadassah, was just a little too ethnic - too Jewish. And now apparently, I'm told by this relative) the name Sapphire is "ghetto" (which would've been wrong?). I think it's gorgeous, but if it is ghetto, I, ah... don't care. (Here's an interesting article on that btw).

There is nothing new about the rigidity and judgmental nature of the elders. It's made fun of in sitcoms and multi-generational comedies everywhere - because it's actully kinda funny. It's common across the board, every culture can relate to it and just laugh. What IS new is that our peers in THIS generation are accepting each other's name choices well. And we're not allowing our children to make fun of rare names. Many people are choosing "ethnic-sounding" names now outside of their own ethnicity. I know a little blonde white boy at my gym whose name is "Diego", and another boy with zero anglo-saxon blood in his veins whose name is "Ivan".

I don't think the older generations even see themselves as the judgy people they can come off as. She was maybe trying to protect my unborn from future bullying. Can anyone tell me what kind of social situation took place in that convo? Here you have it in plain view folks: a generational gap. 

The former generation isn't aware that we no longer need the protection of sameness when it comes to naming our spawn.

                                        

Still, like the Jennifer's and Jessica's of the 70's, this generation naturally has our own top 10 popular names. You can name your kid Liam or Noah... Emma or Sophia. You can go with the whole Hayden-Aiden-Cayden-Jadin-thing too. It's just that that you can also go down the 'no-one-has-heard-of-that-name' road without fearing your kid will get boo'd off the playground harassed on the bus. It's whatever floats your boat, and that is to be celebrated!

Yellow Birthday Cake (Gluten, Sugar, dairy free, low carb)

This was quite a hit!  It tasted like buttery rich birthday cake, and people were having seconds.  ***This is an S for you trim healthy momma's***

For my daughter's 2nd birthday, I thought I'd make her my own fave...yellow cake - cuz who isn't in love with yellow cake batter right? I Looooved that stuff when I was little. 

Too bad it always made me feel like crap. 

So I made this up instead and omg - it actually turned out well. I mean, really well. Please don't get me wrong - I've bought a box mix before and I'll do it again. Not a perfect mom here baking all foods from scratch. But hey, sometimes it just works out. :)

Digging into her birthday cake!

My little boy's sticky fingers going in for more...

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You need to double this recipe if you are making a layer cake like I did (for two layers)

Combine the dry mix:

1/4 C. plus 2 Tbsp Almond flour
1/4 C. Coconut flour
2 Tbsp flax meal
1/3 Oat fiber (Here you can sub Almond Flour)
1 Tbsp Collagen (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
scant 1/8 tsp. xanthum gum 

~ Mix well.

Combine the Wet mix:

First, cream together the butter or oil, with the sugar. Add the egg next. Then add in the rest....
1/3 C. canned butternut squash puree
2 eggs
1 C Truvia Baking sugar mix
3 Tbsp Butter or oil
2 Tbsp Honey
1/4 C. Almond milk
3 drops of yellow food coloring (optional, but that is how this cake looks yellow)
Extracts: 1/2 tsp. each of butter, almond and vanilla.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  

For cupcakes... Pour into 10 cupcake liners, and bake for 25 minutes. Fill the two middle holes with water. 

For a cake... Pour batter into a greased round pan (two for the doubled recipe).  
Or use an 8-inch square baking pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. 

For the Frosting...

3/4 c. greek yogurt
1/4 /c. butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
8 ounces softened cream cheese
*coconut flour as needed. 
I sweetened this with powdered xylitol and liquid stevia to taste. 
Now just cream it all together with a mixer and you're good to go!
*Note: Play with the thickness of this frosting by adding in sifted coconut flour until you have the desired consistency. 

Thursday Things

Welcome to Thursday Things! Where I post some pretty sweet stuff that I'm super excited about, and that I think you need in your life.  I can't do this every single Thursday, because country living messes with my consumerism endeavors. But a few times a month you can expect some glorious life-bettering gems riiiiight here in this awesome blog. ;) 

Water Beads

Just $6.99 for an 8 oz bag on Amazon. These actually start off the size of teeny-tiny little beads.  They are great for little kids, especially in the winter.  Really calming and just an amazing sensory activity.  The best part is they are earth-friendly since they are bio-degradable and non-toxic.  

Be warned, they do take like a day to expand fully. I maybe give them 8 hours in water, and I add a few drops of some lavender essential oil. 

I had a place set up on this table for all 3 children .

So I wouldn't leave my two-year old unattended with them, but this was how I discovered that my daughter's fave color is blue. Every-time we do water beads she seperates out just the blue ones. 

We tried a bath with them once...it made for reeeeally tedious clean-up. But putting them in a kiddie pool is perfect. 


This Breastfeeding book to read to your toddler. 

Yep, another amazon prime thing. It's just $8.99 and so adorable. I know, those are pictures of... (gasp) boobs. The scandal!  But guess what - in my home of small children spaced 2 years apart, every person here has seen my rack out on a daily basis during the season of constant nursing sessions.  Nbd.  Let's normalize breastfeeding amiright?

I really got this for my two year old.  Hadassah was weaned at 14 months, so I feel like she doesn't remember what boobs are for. Well she will know now. I read this to her for her naps so it wont be any surprise when I feed her new sister.  When I got to the pic of two bared breasts, she made her happy little sounds of familiarity (doesn't talk yet) and excitedly pointed to my chest. "huuuh! hmmm!" I just told her "yep! those are the baby's bottles!"

What can I say, she def knows what boobs are because I'm usually changing in front of her, and we also like our bath-time together.  My boys couldn't care less, but this cute little book was a huge hit with her. 


Aromatherapy Essential Oil Lotus Diffuser

I just got this little thing off Amazon.com for $16.99 to use in the hospital room for when I give birth. It's an Amazon Prime item so yay! Right? It being my first diffuser, I don't really know what to compare it to, but so far I dig it.

This was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, (like as big as my hand) but its pretty adorable, and now my kitchen smells like lavender.  Cuz I'm not in labor yet. :(


Tangle Teaser Compact Flower Detangling Hairbrush.  

You can buy this for $7.99 at Target.  I use this for my two year old daughter and we love it! Finally an end to mommy's cruel torture!

Up until I found this I had just been using my regular 'ol hairbrush to brush her snarls out. She hated it, and I dreaded the crying - I felt so bad - She would cry as soon as she saw my brush come out.

Now she will actually go into the bathroom drawer, dig around, take out her little round brush and go to town on her own hair....but with flower power.  This little brush made the toddler grooming process so much more pleasant for us both! And its cute!

This random and adorable baby bonnet.

Got this cutie off of Wish.com.  You know how you can get stuff for $2 on that site? Well that's what happened here. I've been wanting a baby bonnet for my two year old daughter since she was an infant. I know they're old fashioned and I don't care.  I think they're SUPER practical. They basically are just some tie-on shade, with cuteness-factor you could die from. 

I couldn't find any bonnets at the mall or at Target. There are a few on Etsy though. And if you're willing to shell out the big bucks you can find the cutest ones on this adorable website, The Beaufort Bonnet Company.  

That's it for today! 

15 Gifts For Manly Men Who are Hard to Shop For

My husband is kinda difficult to pin-point when it comes to hunting down presents for him. Usually when I google gifts for men it doesn't go well.  That's because a lot of what's out there seems to be things totally designed by women, or desk-type men. Not that working at a desk makes a guy unmanly.  But Brandon is a laborer by trade. He remodels homes and has no use for anything desk-related. 

This man is the grown version of my boys. Cannot sit still (unless adulting forces him to). Always into something. And lives to please me. :)

He is not into video games and golf is too slow for him.  He is totally the outdoorsy, handyman type.  Likes his guitar, fishing, his RC car, yard work, guns, beer and football.

His birthday is coming up later this month, and once again I remain totally at a loss for what to get him. I was thinking the usual... Uuugh why are men so hard to shop for?? I want everything I see! 

Then a brilliant idea popped into my head... this year I've decided to have him help me with a blog post.  

These are all hand-picked stuff that he says he would love.  

 Muahaha... mission accomplished.  My life just got a little easier for  at least a few holidays to come. ;)

1.  Assisted-Opening Tactical Folding Knife. You can find it here. Apparently it's a pretty big deal that it's got a spring-assisted opening.  For only $7.99, this is a great pick if your budget is small! It comes with a bottle-opener (naturally) and a pocket clip for safe carrying. 

2.  A monthly subscription to this Crate Club. With handpicked tactical gear by special ops vets.  On this website, you will see several profiles of individual men who have served, detailing what their specialty was and their years of service.  

It is their top pick items that make it into each differently priced crate, for whichever monthly membership you choose for your man.  Prices vary greatly for these package deals....from $23.99/month to $399.99/month.

3.  The Gunbox. This right here is something he actually bought for himself recently. It's a good safety measure because we have all these small children running around.  It appeals to me because it goes in our bedroom sitting on his dresser in a non-ugly way.  There is an alarm that goes off if it's tampered with multiple times by someone who's finger-prints are not programed in.  You can open it with special keys that just need to be waved in front of it. It also has bluetooth and RFID unlock.  

4.  "Grunt Style" - some pretty cool gear here.  An online store for men and women alike with patriotic apparel and lots of mentioning of love for our country, guns, and whisky.  My husband hand-picked the American Spartan tee below: 

5.  This Needle-nose multi-plier.  $39.27 and amazon prime. 

6.  Solar charger. A solar power bank with compass right here for $25.99.  Water-resistant with flashlight. 

7. FREETOO Tactical Gloves.   Here for $14.84-$21.68.  

Heavy-duty, full-finger, and breathable. 

8. Bushcraft 101: A Feild Guide to Wilderness Survival. My husband says this would be an entertaining read for him.  Find it right here for $12.51. 

9. FiveJoy Portable Compact Emergency Kit. Get it here for $59.00.

10. The X-Plore Gear Fire-starter. Here for $7.49. 

11. SUMPRI Fire-starter and Pocket Chainsaw.  $15.95.  We live with lots of trees around us out here in rural MN, so hubby also made this as one of his picks.  If you live among the trees like us, this may come in handy!

12. Outdoor Tanto Knife With Fire-Starter. Get it here for $7.95. 

13. GoPro Hero5 Black Camera.  $399.99.  A super- cool water-proof action camera.  You can use this out on the jet-ski, skuba-diving, the mind reels. My husband wants this in a baaaaaad way. But we are saving up to for our big move come November.  Sorry baby, maybe Next year ;)

14.  Night-vision Riflescope.  $618.00 right here. 

It's got all the fun stuff: Video, wifi, GPS. 

15.  The Black Rifle Coffee Company.  How cool is this? They have combined coffee, apparel, and gear right here.  Another veteran-owned company...yay vets!

If you have any other great gift ideas for the guy's guy type, do share them with me!!