A Pinterest Christmas

 So I (Very Involved Mom) have been enjoying the Pinterest World these past few months.  During the perusal of this site, I've come upon many Christmas traditions that I'd like to try this year for my Byrd Flock.  For the past 20 years, Hard Working Dad and I have collected various books and videos that seem to be ignored throughout the season.  By placing them in a prominent location and making it look pretty, we've attracted the children's attention and brought anticipation and mystery to each day in December. We have been pleasantly surprised by their reactions.  It's been a joy to watch!

 Here are the links that inspired the "Christmas Advent Basket": 

Idea #1

and 

Idea #2

The photos below show the items that were opened on each day.

 

 

 "The Nativity: A Glorious Pop-up Book" by Francesca Crespi 

(we've owned this book since about 1995)  

This is the one book every child and adult must read every December!  We adore this book!

"Christmas Memories" fabric book

 Various Printed stories that have been collected by Aunties, Teachers in Church, Homemaking Activities.  One of my favorites is "Red Mittens" by Mary Moody.

(I cry just about every time I read it or it's read to me.)

The Salt Lake Temple Card read, 

"Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional @ 5:00 PM".

The Red Box was opened on Christmas Eve with a card that read, 

"Helaman 14:1-8".

(We always read the New Testament's Birth of Jesus Story on Christmas morning 

before opening any gifts.)

 These are the other books and movies (also "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" movie) we watched during the month of December.

(One of the days was attending the Ward's "Night in Bethlehem" Activity)

Here are a couple of our other Advent Calendars:

 At the beginning of the month, all the hanging ornaments begin on the stars around the tree.

As the month continues, each ornament is placed on the Christmas tree.

Auntie #1 made this years ago and we put it up every year. 

Our Thankful Tree was made in the month of November as a Family Home Evening Activity.  We liked it so much that we've kept it up.  It's helpful to remember our blessings year round. 

We try to make some type of home gifts to give to our home teaching and visiting teaching families.  Last year, we made THIS and THESE.  

This year we made THESE and THESE.

We've had a fun Christmas and hope that you've had a great one too!

February Events

Happy Birthday, Princess C!
(Very involved mom's first attempt at making a doll cake. Grandma A's doll cakes were amazing! And this brought back lots of memories.)

Hard working Dad and Son #2 hiked 13 miles near Folsom Lake.

&

Son #1 hiked Feather Falls.

Kata Contest





These videos are of Son #2 and Son #3 competing . They came in Second Place and Third Place respectively in their specific age/level divisions. The first video shows more of Son #3 doing his combative sequence during the competition. The second video shows Son #2 during his combative sequence during his weekly class. They've progressed so well!

New Recipes 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18!!!!

No-Bake Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Granola Bars (Lower-Fat)

Son #1 said that these granola bars were the BEST he'd ever had!
Definitely a recipe we plan to do again.

The only changes that we made to the recipe:
More Rice Krispies
used honey
1/4 cup peanut butter & 1/4 cup butter
chopped peanuts


Although, the ENTIRE flock enjoyed these Granola Bars, Mom and Dad especially like these next nuggets of yumminess.

Chocolate No-Bake Energy Bites

(sorry no pictures)
Instead of the sesame seeds, we used popped Amaranth.

Millet Hot Breakfast Delight

In my efforts to include more fiber in my diet, I've been excited about trying new grains. With Whole Foods, Elliott's Natural Foods & the Local Food Co-op not very far away from us, this goal has been getting easier with their Bulk Foods Sections.


I've also wanted this year of 2012 to make a new salad every month.

Here are the links to my first 2 salads of the year:

Mango Quinoa Salad
LOVED THIS SALAD!!
We made this salad for a family party at our home in honor of Grandma & Grandpa B coming home from their LDS Mission to Kenya, Africa.
The party and salad were a success!

Bean Breakfast Salad
We have a massive amount of Great Northern Beans!
This recipe was a uniquely delicious way of adding those beans to our menu for a few days.
(I had to alter this recipe a bit. No Raspberries, but more Strawberries. Used Whole Rye instead of Spelt. Total Omega Swirl was a whopping $26.99, so I bought Flax Oil and added the zest & juice of an orange.)


Lastly, for Christmas Son #2 and I made donuts.
Nothing healthy about these gems!
BUT OH SO SCRUMPTIOUS!

18 New Recipes TRIED!
GOAL COMPLETE!!!!
(10 new salads in the near future)

Not a Food Blog: New Recipes 11, 12 & 13

I've been trying a lot of new recipes lately. And it's been fun doing it! Some have truly been winners and others... I will not be saving the recipes.

My 11th New Recipe Tried is an altered version of one of my favorite after school treats when I was growing up. My mom would buy some canned coconut milk and make us Haupia ... maybe once or twice a year. I loved it! I loved when my parents would make Hawaiian food for us. I grew up eating rice pretty much every dinner but occasionally, we'd have fried rice & SPAM for breakfast. Every New Year's Day, my dad would make poi, Laulau, his special stew, long rice, Portuguese sausage drenched in soy sauce and sometimes Lomi salmon. Mom would make Haupia during the year, and I knew that it must be a special day.

Anyway, even though I loved this coconut pudding, I'm thinking that not everyone does. So when Hard Working Dad put together a missionary-themed ward activity and they needed desserts from around the world, I volunteered to make a twist on my beloved Haupia. I found the recipe, Haupia Squares. I think it was a success. Most of the pan was empty when we brought it home. But like I said, some people may have tasted it and said, "This is disgusting!" (Some people just don't like coconut). I thought however, that it was delicious!




My 12th New Recipe Tried: French Bread. My entire family thought this was probably the best bread recipe that I have ever made! It was truly scrumptious!



The 13th New Recipe Tried: Flax Bread. Maybe I followed the directions to this recipe incorrectly, but this bread did not taste quite right. It was just too heavy for me. I ate the entire sandwich that you see in the above photo. However, I will not be making this recipe again.

13 New Recipes Tried, 5 left to go!

New Recipes, 8, 9 & 10!!

I've decided to get more fiber into my diet and try to make a true effort at exercising. I'll be honest, though, I have LITTLE to NO motivation to exercise! However, once I start doing any type of exercise, I love it and feel GREAT after the workout. (That should be motivation enough, but it's not.) But trying to eat more fiber has been interesting.

The 8th New Recipe Tried comes from a magazine Living Without: Gluten-Free Black Bean Burgers. I actually really liked this recipe. As you can see from the picture above, my burger's bun is not gluten free. However, one burger has 8 grams of fiber! According to the American Dietetic Association, adults should have between 20-35 grams daily. The only ingredient that I couldn't find was the nutritional yeast.





My 9th New Recipe Tried is homemade juice! For Family Home Evening, I had the entire family watch this great documentary called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead about 2 men who make a journey to better health. In homeschool, we were discussing various body systems. We ended our unit on the Digestive System by watching this film that taught ALL of us about our bodies and how to be healthy by basically (unbeknownst to them) following the Word of Wisdom. In the film, the men start with a juice fast and later learn ways to just eat better. So I started juicing, too. The above photo was just pretty but tasted very GREEN! The photo just below actually tasted a bit better, though doesn't look as colorful as the first.

And these were the fruits and vegetables I used for the juice in the second picture.

So for my 10th New Recipe Tried, I decide to do something somewhat off the healthy chart. However, I still tried to implement the MORE fiber rule by putting half white, half wheat flour to make baked donuts. No picture here, though. The kids were watching me make, then watching the donuts rise and bake before, during and after the morning session of General Conference. They got eaten up far too fast once they were dusted with a bit a sugar! Even the child who HATES bread ate these yummy treats!

Though this quote comes from a financial expert, I think it applies here as I try to figure out the healthy habit goals:

If the truth were complex, we'd have figured it out long ago. The fact that it's simple is what has us stumped.

~Joe Dominguez
from the book, Your Money or Your Life

10 New Recipes Tried.... 8 Left to Try!

Something to Always Remember

This post features special guest writer, "Hard-working Dad."

I have a rather large quantity of pinto beans in storage. The last time I tried to make chili with them, they turned out a bit crunchy. This was after boiling them for an hour and putting them in the crock-pot all day.

We had the opportunity to host 4 missionaries at our house for dinner and I thought it would be a great time to make a big pot of chili for Navajo tacos. Remembering my last experiment with our food-storage beans, I wanted to make sure the chili was just right for our special guests.

At 4:00 on Saturday, I washed the beans and let them soak in the refrigerator until 7:45 the next morning. I put them on the stove and boiled them for an hour, then dumped them in the crock-pot with the chili ingredients. I cooked the chili on low for 8 hours and then added some water and cooked it on high for 2 hours... and the beans were.... crunchy. I was very disappointed. I apologized to the missionaries and told them of my trials with tough beans. They listened to my lengthy apology and explanation and gave some counsel that we should always remember, "Brother, you should have prayed first."

**From Very Involved Mom: The beans were edible and only had a slight crunch. The chili was still yummy.

Next 3 New Recipes Tried

I technically made 2 variations of the same cake recipe for last month's Ladies' Book Club.

I am not on a vegan diet however because I need to eat dairy free foods, I often find vegan recipes that fit perfectly.

The first recipe variation was a banana cake. I made a frosting for this cake from dairy free butter, powdered sugar, and hazelnut milk. Then I topped with chopped walnuts.

The second recipe variation was a chocolate cake with chocolate chips. This did not need frosting. The link below will take you to the recipe and give a few more variations. This is a great cake!

Vegan Cake

Okay, so the next new recipe I tried was actually on the back of a Trader Joe's Organic Red Quinoa box. A woman (she and her husband are usually always one of the top 3 chili recipe winners at our ward chili cookoff) in our ward had made a similar salad at last month's Relief Society BBQ. Everyone there RAVED about this salad! I'm hoping this is the same recipe... I think it's pretty close even if it isn't. I made this for a family get-together last Thursday and again, everyone who tried it RAVED about this salad.

Black Bean, Roasted Corn & Avocado Salad on a Bed of Red Quinoa

1 cup Red Quinoa (I used regular), cook with broth
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1-15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cups roasted corn kernels (I used canned)
1 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
3/4 cup Cilantro Salad Dressing
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Zest of 1 lime (I also used the juice of the lime)
sea salt & pepper

Cook quinoa with broth according to package directions. While quinoa is cooking, combine beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion. Top with salad dressing and toss gently. Add salt, pepper and lime zest (and juice) to taste. Add 1/2 of cilantro and gently toss once more. Set aside.

When quinoa is cooked, toss olive oil; add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool. When ready to serve, spread quinoa on a large serving platter and top with corn and bean mixture. Garnish with remaining cilantro.

Serves 6 as a side dish. (I think this made a lot more than 6 servings.)

So, that's now 7 New Recipes that I've tried this year... 11 left to go!

Side Note about my 40th Year Goals:
My #2 Goal was to attend 2 Days at BYU Education Week. As a student at BYU, I worked for the catering services there and would usually be the one passing out yogurts, bagels, sandwiches, etc. to the attendees during that week. The women and sometimes youth and men always looked so energized during those breaks. Occasionally, they would mention some snippet of knowledge they had gained in their classes. I've always wanted to attend. For my 40th birthday, Hard Working Husband bought me tickets to go not for just 2 days but the Tuesday-Friday tickets. I'M SUPER EXCITED!!! I'm especially thrilled to be seeing Chef Brad at one of the classes as well during that week. WooHoo!!!

~ Very Involved Mom

3 New Recipes Tried!

Tried three more new recipes to meet my "18 New Recipes" goal for the year.

The first is shown in the photo, "Cheese Popover Puffs". If you look closely, the "puffs" look a little different in each of the muffin tins. The tin to the top-right of the photo shows the original recipe. The tin to the bottom-left shows my altered version with non dairy options. Here are the recipes:

Cheese Popover Puffs (original recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all except cheese. Beat at medium speed of an electric blender until smooth. Stir in cheese. Heat a well greased muffin pan at 425 degrees for 3 minutes or until very hot. Spoon in batter, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce heat, bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately. Makes about 8 popovers.

Cheese Popover Puffs (Non Dairy Version)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Almond Milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon non dairy buttery spread
1/4 cup shredded rice cheese

Same instructions as above

I liked my Non Dairy Version! Everyone else in the family tried 1 of each version. HW Dad liked both. The children preferred the original version, but thought the non-dairy was okay.

The next new recipe was a Disaster! Why? Perhaps because some recipes just don't go as well with non dairy changes OR maybe because I used a vanilla flavored potato milk instead of an original flavored almond/rice milk. Either way... The Best Baked Corn was gross with my changes. I'm sure the original recipe is delicious?

The last of the three new recipes was a gift to my great husband who works almost non stop to provide for his family and to help those around him. I made pork chops for him. I think I can count on 1 hand how many times I have made pork chops in our 18 years of marriage. It's not that I don't love the flavor of it, but I physically have adverse affects on too much pork in my diet. However, HW Dad loves pork and there was a great price at the supermarket last week. So to show my love this Valentine Season, I made a Rachael Ray recipe "Pork Chops with Golden Apple Sauce" for him. (Think Brady Bunch with Peter's impression of Humphrey Bogart. Anyone else remember that?)

Of course, knowing me, I always have to alter my recipes, right? But this time only because I didn't have all of the ingredients. For the apples, I used 2 golden delicious, 1 pommes, and 1 honeycrisp. I didn't have raisins, so I used dried cranberries. I didn't have apple juice, so I used cran-pomegranate juice. We all thought the pork chops were yummo and 4 out of 5 of the family thought the applesauce was great with the chops!

14 New Recipes Left to Go!

New Recipe: 17 left to try

One of my goals (Very Involved Mom) is to try 18 New Recipes. Here is #1:

Bacon, Spinach and Cream Potatoes
by Rachael Ray

Altered it slightly. I only used 1 box of spinach. Instead of cream, I used Trader Joes' Original Almond Milk. (I must eat Dairy Free foods due to eczema. It has been quite challenging for the past year and a half!!! Do you know how many dishes and desserts that we eat in this house that have some type of dairy in it? If I sneak anything with cow's milk or cheese in it, within a few hours, I'm itching like crazy!)

Also, just noticed on the recipe that there was nutmeg on the list. Oops! Forgot to add that... no problem... I'll add it to my leftovers.

This was DELICIOUS!! The adults in the family will definitely be making this again!

Yum, Yum and More YUM!!!!

These Sweet Rolls were a labor of love,
(aka Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls)
but oh sooooo good!

I was absolutely crazy starting
these at about 9:00 PM and they were
completely finished by 1:30 AM.
INSANE, I know!

I made this big pan PLUS 3 pie plate-size pans.
I had planned to deliver
the extra 3 to friends or family,
but we ended up giving
only 2 away and eating the other one.

Since the original bake (about a month ago),
I made these one other time.
Just as yummy as the first.
Give them a try!!!

And thanks to a Friday Park Day Group Mom,
Jana, for sharing her recipe!
(I've tried her Pizza-Hut like recipe
and it's definitely a favorite in our house, too.)
Thanks, JANA!

http://addictiveallens.blogspot.com/2010/01/cinnabon-cinnamon-rolls.html
(note: I halved the Frosting Recipe and used Smart Balance
in place of the butter, in hope of lessening the
many calories that were probably gained during this adventure.)

40th Birthday Surprise Treats

Hardworking Dad turned 40 this last week.
The whole family joined him for lunch at Carl's Jr.

He's not one for big celebrations,
so Very-Involved Mom wanted to surprise him with .. Tiramisu.
If you know the treat, it usually involves coffee and rum extract.
She made 2 different nonalcoholic and caffeine-free Tiramisu recipes.
4 out of the 6 in our family did the taste testing.

Mitch's Root Beer Tiramisu
http://heavenlytiramisu.com/rcp-218.htm

and

Mormon Tiramisu (our coffee substitute was Pero, a 100% caffeine-free barley beverage)
http://kaysfavorites.blogspot.com/2008/09/mormon-tiramisu-by-breanne-foster-1-pkg.html

Those who tried the two recipes thought they both tasted good.
However, we all liked Mitch's more than the other.

Sorry... no actual photos were taken, but this is close...

English Muffins

I was checking out recipe blogs a couple of months ago and came across what looked like some yummy English muffins. I'm thinking that when you buy these at the grocery store,
they cost between $1 (on a good sale) to about $2.50 for a package of 6. The recipe that I found made 18+ muffins (there is an option to increase or decrease the amount on the website).
With my biscuit cutter, I was able to make 27 with this recipe!

I followed the directions except for the 1 pkg of yeast (I have bulk).
I would like to alter it slightly by replacing the shortening with butter the next time.
Hopefully, it will be just as scrumptious!

Here's the website:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/English-Muffins/Detail.aspx


I love McDonald's Sausage Muffins & Egg Muffins but have an intolerance to pork, so to be able to make my own with Deli Turkey or Chicken Sausage is a treat. Also, our family put butter & honey or butter & jam or peanut butter on these for a great snack.

Anyway, our family says "YUMMY" and to give a try!