happy fall banner printable

Here is the free printable I made for this simple little fall banner. I hung each pennant by a clothespin and hung big fake leaves in between (a pack of 10 leaves for $1.50 at Rite Aid-random I know! I needed a greeting card and ended up in the fall decor aisle ;) )

Fall Banner Page one:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5cifQEt5bQOQ3BXYTFHaVliUlE

Fall Banner Page two:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5cifQEt5bQOblNqeHp4ZXVRR2M

Enjoy! :)

weekly staples

I noticed something funny the other day. The kids finished out all the fruit leathers, gummy snacks, cereal bars, and peanut butter + honey granola bars I had made and I instinctively started on a new batch of all four. And then I realized... working in the kitchen does get easier and... shockingly... more enjoyable! I've been on a mission to swap our weekly staples for homemade versions and the kids and hubby are adapting quite nicely ;)

I thought I would share some of my weekly staples with you. I usually take about 2 hours on Saturday or Sunday evening to make all of the snacks for the week. It's much cheaper, way healthier, and it is a tangible way I can serve my family. Win Win Win!

I already posted about the cereal bars, fruit leathers and the gummy snacks (which I purchased a lego guy silicone mold for and the kids eat them even faster! ;)... But I found an awesome recipe for peanut butter + honey granola bars! Peace out Quaker!

DELICIOUS GRANOLA BARS

1/2 Cup of Local Raw Honey

2/3 Cup of Organic Peanut Butter 

1 Cup of Rolled Oats (for added nutritional benefit, soak your oats before you use them)

2 Cups of Crispy Rice Cereal (TJ's has a good brand with no added sugar)

optional:

raisins or chocolate chips or nuts... you decide! (or add nothing else... they still are tasty!)

Stir the honey in a medium size sauce pan and put on low heat. Stir continuously. The honey should thin out and be very liquid-y but not to a boil. Add the peanut butter and stir until very smooth. Turn off the heat and mix in the oats and the rice cereal. Add Raisins or nuts if you like. If you want to add chocolate chips, wait for mixture to cool a bit or else the chips will melt into the mixture... (which isn't a horrible thing ;)

Lay out parchment paper and dump the mixture on top. Use your hands and form the mixture into a square. Let them harden (or put in the fridge for 10 minutes to speed it up) and then use a pizza wheel to cut into rectangles.

Voila! Yummy and super simple! 

...

what are some weekly staples you find yourself making every week? My other staples is homemade chicken broth... but I'll blog about that later! 

whole food resources

Hey all!

Was just looking at some foodie books on my nightstand lately and wanted to share ...

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
-This gem has been so so helpful. I've actually cooked a bunch from this and it seems super overwhelming because of its massive size, but most recipes are simple, easy and tasty! My fav loved the carrots vichey! And... I just bought grass fed beef liver to make one of the crazier recipes. Ah!! (Thank you Carly for the recommendation so many years ago ;)

La Cuisine de France: The Modern French Cookbook
Inspired to reconnect with Ian's family history... I want to do a Julie/Julia blog type thing. Mainly because my name is Julie, but also because it would be fun ;)

Real Food by Nina Planck 

-A down to earth perspective on the "why" behind eating naturally. Super easy to read and lots of scientific concepts in basic, understandable terms.

The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte

This cookbook is by far the most beautiful. Gorgeous photos and a ton of variety in foods. Lots of veggie based dishes and over 100 recipes for all meals and snacks. 

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

I've mentioned this one before, but it is a handy reference guide too. A must read, I would say...

And.. some from my wish List:

tomorrow I've got a list of some good Bible books we have been enjoying too... 

have a blessed night!

Tart Gummy Snacks

I found a rather successful recipe for gummy snacks that my kids have really enjoyed.

I found a good brand of organic fruit snacks (Costco's Tutti Fruitti Organics), but there is still some added sugar... So... in an effort to try to cut out as much processed stuff as we can, here come gummies!

My husband could eat gummy bears all three meals a day. Thankfully, this isn't a common practice and though he didn't fall head over heels for this recipe... the kids loved it!

Now, it contains gelatin, which is the base for jell-o but its not the aspartame-laden stuff from the jell-o box. And, if you didn't know... gelatin is from the bones of animals and it matters if the animals were sick or healhty when they collected all the gelatin, so it's important to buy a brand of gelatin that is from health, pastured raised animals. The Great Lakes brand one of the best and Amazon will ship it right to your front door :)

Tart Gummy Snacks

Adapted from Mommypotamus' Sour Gummy Stars

- 3 Tablespoons grassfed gelatin 

(gelatin from the bones of grass fed animals)

-1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice... I also tried orange juice sucessfully. Try to eliminate as much pulp as possible

- 3 Tablespoons raw local honey (found at local farmer's markets)

1. Whisk together all ingreidnets in a sauce pan over low heat until it is all melted, stirring constantly because it easily burns

2. Pour into silicone molds (the .99 ikea ones at the checkout line work great!)

3. Freese for 5-10 minutes until firm upon touching them

4. Pop out and keep at room temperature

(note... these begin to get really chewy and hard after a day or two, so best to make a little at a time for little mouths)

(also... I would test them out yourself first to make sure they are suitable for the age of your child. You know what chewiness they can handle, so just be mindful of that)

fruity leathers

I don't know of any child who doesn't like a fruit roll up.. I mean, come on. You give a 30 year old a fruit roll up and they instinctively wrap it around their finger and start sucking on it like they are 5. 

Anyways... I've been experimenting with a way to make these from scratch because basically fruit roll ups are not really fruit roll ups, they are refined, processed sugar roll ups... which, is no bueno.

Enter the purchase of an appliance that has been on my list for a while... a dehydrator! I am having a little too much fun with this thing. Fruit Leathers, dried fruit, dried herbs and greens for smoothies... wa hoo!

I had a few recipes flop on my quest for the perfect fruit roll up, but I finally found something that works, tastes good, and is super simple... If you have a "warm" setting on your oven, or if your oven can go down to 130-150 degrees, then you can use that! But mine doesn't... enter the dehydrator. 

It is another kitchen appliance but it is a work horse and has been a fun addition to the real food way of living... I found THIS one on sale but I know there are lots of other brands that are great too. The Excaliber dehydrators (like the one in the video) are the best but I didn't want to drop a huge chunk of change for something I wasn't sure I would use. Sometimes the one I bought goes on even more of a sale at Amazon so check it out!

For the recipe, I used the video tutorial here:

super simple, easy and amazing!!!

BERRY FRUIT LEATHER

-Puree your berries (Raspberries, Strawberries or Blackberries seem to work best for me)

-add some unsweetened organic applesauce (organic apples as the ONLY ingredient)... or make your own apple or pear sauce/puree.

-Pour the mixture into a pot on the stove and heat on low to thin out the mixture, stirring frequently.

-pour onto fruit leather trays (and spray with a little coconut oil), or onto a silicone baking sheet (anything non stick)

-thin the mixture on the tray only slightly. It should be about 1/4" - 1/8" thick on the tray.

-dehydrate away! usually between 8-12 hours depending on how thick you make your layer of puree.

     ...you will know they are done when it is not goopy in the center anymore. 

-peel off and store!

     ...you can use wax or parchment paper to store them easily (and make it look even more like a fruit roll up)

My Swat team approved! I seriously couldn't get a picture of him holding it up because he eats the stuff so fast!

no added sugar, no ascorbic acid and no sad kids... let me know how it goes if you try it out!

Disneyland Half

Back in January when we registered for the Disneyland Half Marathon, we didn't really think much of it, September was SO far away! But... it inevitably creeped up on us and we both feel like we spent this summer running, running, and running some more! 

so, after 10 weeks of training, we both were ready! Ready to be done training! ;) 

we made a little trip out of it (since the race call time was 4:30am, we spent the night in a hotel the night before)

In true Disney fashion, nothing is ever done half hearted... they go all out with a massive Fitness Expo for all the participants.

I'm so dumb. I stared at this for a long time trying to figure out how someone named "mary sample" could have already run the 2012 race... then I realized... its the sample. I'm a genius I promise ;)

Killin some time in Downtown Disney on Saturday

Yay for 4am!

even disney in the middle of the night is beauitful. All tree lights lit!

I didn't want to be a total creeper so I couldn't take a ton of pics, but this is a race full of COSTUMES!!! here is the white rabbit with alice in front of him. People are crazy.

Singing the National Anthem before the race... complete with fireworks. Thanks mickey!

The first 5 miles of the race are through Downtown Disney, California Adventure, and Disneyland. It was SO fun!!!! The World of Color show was going, all the rides were on and lights were shining. 

Ran down Route 66

And they had every disney character out! But what was even crazier.... people were waiting in line to take pictures with them!!! Seriously people!? The line for Darth Vader was 50 people long!!! Run people! 

Took this for my kids. they are loving dumbo right now 

running through the castle

my favorite sign along the route

Disney is so rad. Through miles 6-9 (through the anaheim streets) they lined up classic cars, school bands, cheerleaders, and dance teams.

running around the anaheim pond/honda center

lightening!

I ran with aladdin for a while :)

actually running onto the field of Angel Stadium!!! SO much fun!

There were about 2,000 people in the stands cheering everyone on!

one of a ton of bands!

almost to the finish!

YAY!!! We did it!

Ian finished in 1:59 (he wanted to finish in under 2 hrs!) and I finished in 2:31! My goal: FINISH and don't pass out! Yay!

It was such a fun day. Both of our first races and to actually finish something that I start, that was cool too. I'm really good at starting things... finishing them: not so much.. so by the grace of God we both were able to train and run the race and finish! All praise be to Him!!

I like to listen to sermons when I run... I'm strange... and I chose a few from the Grace To You archives for this race and they were so so so good!! You have to listen to them too!!!

Here they are:
FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES: Self Discipline Part 1
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-130/fundamental-christian-attitudes-selfdiscipline-part-1

FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES: Self Discipline Part 2
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-131/fundamental-christian-attitudes-selfdiscipline-part-2

So so encouraging for you but also things to instill in your kids. I am going to listen to them again with a pen and paper this time!

All in all... an awesome weekend! And now... I waddle from the soreness, but it was totally worth it! We want to try to do it every year or so!


***A note to "non-runners"*** I once was you. I HATED running. My college softball coach at Master's knew it and to punish me, he would make me run... (only fueling my hatred for running)... HATED it. But, after Reese, it was the only way I could workout with my kids. Running gives you the most calorie burning bang for your workout buck. And... by God's grace again, actually started enjoying it... Amazing what happens when you just try! This is only a suggestion remember, no mandates here! Just what has been a blessing in my life! :)
Now I know some of you have injuries and so did I! I had major knee issues from gymnastics injuries in High School and my two ankles are more messed up from sliding into second base than any other joint... but if you gradually, slowly, work up to it... I promise it won't be as bad as you think!
(obviously, if your doctor has told you not to run, obey! And... with multiple kids, I know that is a challenge too... triple jogging strollers are hard to find! But, that is a short season in life! And I'm not talking about that reason as a reason not to run! But, I know for me, I used my pseudo-injury as an excuse for a long time...)