Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Have You Tried Coconut Oil??

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! I had four days off, which was very much welcome, but now I feel like I need a whole week off to just rest and relax! I will post pictures next time.

Before I get into today's topic, I want to wish a happy happy 29th birthday to one my best friends in the world, Samantha!!! I've put together a collage of just a few of my favorite pictures.


Ok, building off of my last post where I gave my new favorite banana bread recipe, I wanted to share a revised version of the recipe and some reasons why I changed it. Instead of using regular vegetable oil, I replaced my last batch with coconut oil.


I've been hearing a lot about the benefits of coconut oil so I decided to see what it's all about. Wellness Mama gives us 101 Uses for Coconut Oil. This list includes taking supplementally for daily energy, to support healthy thyroid function, as an intense nighttime facial moisturizer, as a tanning oil...just to name a few. Most of this list is geared towards women.

Not only can you apply coconut oil to myriad body parts, but it's also great for cooking! I was a little nervous at first, especially because the consistency was much closer to a solid than I'd expected. But I read a bit about why coconut oil works and liked what I saw. Not to mention, my banana bread has a little tropical taste to it now! Long story short, coconut oil is a good fat, supports your immune system, is good for weight loss and organ function, and can be used for hair and skin care.

Read up on cooking with coconut oil here.

Friday, May 10, 2013

More Almond Meal Experiments

Because we always have bananas in the house, banana bread is often a convenient baking option. And since I still have almond meal in the cupboard, I found a new recipe which substitutes flour for almond meal.

Here's the link: http://www.thewannabechef.net/2012/06/04/almond-flour-banana-bread/. How could I pass up a recipe from The Wannabe Chef?! That's practically what I call myself these days.

I was initially worried about the dough being too watery, because almond meal tends to make things more moist than flour. But after about an hour of baking, the bread looked great! Definitely not too watery...and much more moist than regular bread. Imagine that!

I added chocolate chips but the bread really doesn't need it. It is a very sweet, yet spiced recipe which turned out to be delicious! I think this is my best banana bread yet!!

Lexi is 6 Months Old!

Today marks Lexi's 6 month birthday! She was born exactly one week before our wedding, which is very special to us. We have had Lexi for about 3.5 months now and have been through A LOT with her. She is growing like a weed, learning everyday and always finding new things to get into.

THEN
When we first picked up Lexi, she weighed 8 pounds. She seemed to be a bit malnourished and was still learning how to use those little legs.


Her crate was massive compared to her puppy body so we had the separator in the very front. (We recently took our the separator completely since she's gotten so big!)


Her first weekend with us she got very sick and we were afraid she had something serious like Parvo, which can be deadly. Turns out she just had a tummy ache, so the doc gave us some medicine and some special food and she turned into a wild and crazy, regular puppy in no time!




NOW
Today Lexi weighs 38 pounds!!! Which means she's gained 30 pounds since we got her! The vet said she will get to be anywhere from 60-90 pounds. Wow!



Since January, Lexi has been stung by a bee and rushed to the vet, gotten spayed and had a cone on for 2 weeks, and attends obedience school every Monday. She knows how to sit, lay down, stay and come. We are still working on jumping, play biting, and "going to bed", which means going to lay down in her designated area so we can have a little bit of peace without her next to us on the couch.

She loves to spend time outside during the day and has recently discovered how fun water and sprinklers can be! She has the "zoomies" at least twice a day, which is her crazy time where she sprints around, jumps on the furniture, attacks her toys, etc. The dog trainer said this is most common at dawn and dusk. I have lots of funny videos on my YouTube channel which I posted a few weeks back.



She is in her "terrible twos" and is quite defiant. As I was writing this post, she stole a calculator from my office and was downstairs and outside before I knew it. I started out chasing her around like an idiot, but every time I would get close she would run away. It was a fun game to her. Then I returned to the patio and said, "Lexi Come!" She would get as close to me as possible and then when I reached for her she'd run away again...over and over. She was basically running laps around the yard with my calculator, most likely laughing at me. Here's the damage. Luckily, I don't need that calculator!


When Lexi is not busy getting into trouble, she is very sweet and loving. Her favorite morning routine is to get under the covers with us. When she gets too hot, she lays on top of the covers at our feet. And then finally moves to the floor where the sun shines through the window. Here she is giving morning kisses to "Daddy".


We love our little Lexi to death and look forward to the next 6 months!!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Kitchen Success...and Fail!

In my continued efforts to improve my housewifery skills, I am constantly searching for new, interesting, creative and healthy recipes. This week I tried two...one for Crockpot Orange Chicken, which I've tried before and wanted to perfect, and another for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies.

First, the orange chicken. This was my second attempt and it was DELICIOUS!! I've found that my crockpot cooks waaaay faster than one would expect so I have to significantly reduce cook time, even when it's on low. That has been my issue with most of my first attempts. I used a little extra flour than the recipe calls for just to make sure I got that breaded effect. Then I made a little bit more sauce than the recipes calls for to get a good coat on each piece of chicken. I paired the chicken with brown rice and steamed veggies and it was perfecto!



Now for the Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies...

NO I am not turning Vegan!! I actually have a decent amount of Almond Meal in my cupboard which I wanted to experiment with. Almond Meal is a gluten free option that can be substituted for flour. It has some great health benefits so I figured why not give it a try with a few different things.

I have to admit that I was excited about this recipe and had no reservations about it. The main difference is that it substitutes flour for almond meal and sugar for honey. The dough was very, very sticky and had a grainy texture to it. I still wasn't worried. Luckily I halved the size of this recipe so it was only a single batch. I love peanut butter but these cookies just taste TOO healthy! They have a very strong taste of shortening, which ruins it. And I ran out of honey so maybe I didn't put in as much as I could have. Long story short, these cookies are not my favorite but they are in my fridge in hopes that I can still stomach them as a snack full of protein.

vegan gluten-free peanut butter cookies recipe

Never fear, I will spend more time and effort on almond meal recipes to see if I find something I like! The challenge is that most of the recipes that include almond meal also include a lot of healthy, vegan ingredients that I've never had in my cupboard before so it's going to require a trip to Trader Joe's. Wish me luck!!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A Tribute to Mama B!

I started writing this post TWO YEARS ago!! Apparently I wanted it to be perfect and spent so much time on it that Mom's birthday came and went...twice. Oooopsy! Instead of prolonging the post, I thought I'd post it now for you all to enjoy! I love you Mama B!

It has been quite some time since I've posted, so I apologize for not keeping everyone updated. I've got LOTS of news to share but it will have to wait til another day. In honor of Mom's 50th birthday, I thought I'd post some pictures of us all through the years. I always enjoy looking back on all of our great times and how far we've all come over time. Happy Birthday to my wonderful, beautiful, amazing mother. You are strength, inspiration and the voice of reason for us all and we love you!!

Mom & I celebrating March birthdays in 2003!

LMU Softball Game - 2003

March Birthdays 2004

Mom & Dad - Christmas 2004
The Bassett Gang - 2004

BKC - Christmas 2005


Mom & Dad in San Francisco 2006

Britt's Graduation - May 2006


La Tech Fans in Fresno - 2007
Louisiana - 2007
Grams & Her Grandkiddos - Christmas 2008

M&D - Christmas Eve 2008

Bassett's go to Baylor - March 2009

Louisiana 2009

Soccer in the Snow 2009
Mom& Dad Playing on Father's Day - 2009

Kylie's Graduation - Louisiana 2009

Merry Christmas! 2009

Kylie & Ben - Christmas 2009

Camille & Britt - Christmas 2009