Saturday, October 9, 2010

My Introduction to Organic Eating

My Mom bought me this awesome cookbook, Fresh Choices, last week and I've been pouring over it ever since.  It has tons of information about eating organic foods and why it is so much better for our bodies.  It has blown me away.  I always thought eating organic was unnecessary and kind of a waste of money, but not anymore. Since learning all of this new information I've been slowly buying a few organic items to get my feet wet, so to speak. In addition to being more nutritious, I've noticed the organic food I've purchased tastes so much better!  Last week, I purchased a pork roast that was free-range and antibiotic and hormone free.  I threw it in my slow cooker with an onion, three cloves of garlic and half a cup of water and let it cook all day.  It was the most flavorful, tender delicious pork roast I have ever eaten.  We polished off the last of it last night in pork fajitas.  Yum, yum. 

I tried the recipe below this afternoon and it was delish!

Orange Banana Smoothie

1 container (8 oz) organic vanilla yogurt

1 cup orange juice

1 fresh or frozen ripe banana, broken into pieces

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt

In a blender, combine the yogurt, orange juice, banana, cinnamon and salt.  Blend until smooth and frothy, about 30 seconds.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Pumpkin Patch

I took Bri and Emmie to the pumpkin patch this morning.  It was a first for all three of us and we had a good time.  It would have been more fun if it hadn't been so hot.  It felt like a crisp fall morning when I was dressing everyone and by the time we got there, I realized I'd made a mistake by not putting us all in summer clothing.  Oh well, a lesson learned for next time.




 



 





[caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="553" caption="Emmie on the hayride"][/caption]




[caption id="attachment_218" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Bri on the hayride. She didn't seem too excited about it. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="She had more fun in the corn pit!"][/caption]

My Girls



My girls are getting so big!  Brianna will be two next month and Emmie is six months!!! Crazy how fast time flies by.




[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="412" caption="Brianna - September 2010"][/caption]

 




Bri’s personality develops more and more every day. She says “otay day” which means “okey dokey.”  She says “uh-oh” ALL THE TIME. Whenever she does something she is proud of or excited about, she claps her hands and yells, “YAAYY!” She can point to and identify most parts of her body.  She loves to help me unload the dishwasher and is fascinated with closing doors, cabinets, etc. She’s more and more interested in Emmie and does try to help me with caring for her.  It’s so sweet.  Nick and I were commenting the other night that our “baby” has turned into a little girl all of a sudden.  She is so precious and makes me smile every day.  My first little love :)





[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Emmersen Grace - September 2010"][/caption]

 Emmie amazes me each day as she grows.  I swear, the child has no separation anxiety whatsoever.  She loves people and lots of activity.  She’ll probably be crawling in the next few weeks and is fascinated with the world around her.  She loves holding onto her chubby little feet and sucking on them!  When I bend over her crib to pick her up, she flails her legs and arms and squeals. I love her so much.





[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Me and my girls"][/caption]