March Revisited

How did I let the entire month of MARCH slip by without even one post? Oh dear. I am sadly very lazy in the blogging department. Well, here's what we did last month...

I cooked up a few gluten free treats for the fam:

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins (w/ a rough draft of the recipe)

 Chipotle Chili with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

I was a huge fan of this hearty stew, but Jonathan deemed it "all right." The recipe is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's vegan cookbook Appetite for Reduction which I highly reccommend if you are interested in thinking outside the animal product box...

Ingredients:

1 t. olive oil

1 red onion, diced small

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. coriander seeds, crushed

2 t. dried oregano

3 chipotles in adobo, seeded and chopped

2 average sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces

12 oz. Brussels sprouts, quartered lengthwise

2 t. ground cumin

1 T. chili powder

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 c. water

1 16 oz. can black beans

1 1/2 t. salt

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:

In a 4 qt pot over medium heat, saute the onion in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, coriander seeds and oregano and saute for a minute more. Add the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice). Mix well. The sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts will be peeking out  of the tomato sauce, but don't worry, they will cook down.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cook for about half an hour, stirring ofter, until the sweet potatoes are tender but not mushy. Squeeze in the lime juice to taste. Let the chili sit uncovered for at least 10 minutes before eating.

And, of course, I couldn't have done any of this without my little helper.

Mom came to visit:

 Of course, I kept her hard at work sewing for me! She whipped out a rocking chair cushion and cover, four  throw pillow covers, and two crib skirts. =)



She barely had enough time to squeeze in some kisses from JD! We also picked out material for Emily Claire's quilt, and took a trip to IKEA which is always a good thing!

Story Time at the Library:

JD and his buddy Oliver. Very proud of these newspaper hats they "made" at the local library toddler story time.

JD turned TWO:

We had a small family dinner on JD's actual birthday and gave him his gift from us - the little red tricycle. Check FB for a hilarious video of him trying to figure it out... Then, on Saturday morning, we invited all of our friends to the park for homemade breakfast tacos (thanks Ashly Stacy!!), Starbucks coffee and cupcakes. I'm happy to say that we had fabulous weather and the kids and adults had an equally great time. I  was way less stressed about this party than I was last year about his first birthday party for some reason. Maybe I've given up some "control issues" about trying to make everything picture perfect (a two year old tends to have that effect on one, I hear). Or maybe I'm just lazier. Either way, it was super fun to host and see JD have such a great time surrounded by all his Austin friends.

We enjoyed the great outdoors:

 This is the sign of true tiredness. Laying down on the playground!

 We took our first real "family adventure" to Pedernales Falls State Park, about an hour away. JD thouroughly enjoyed himself. We ate at a local outdoor BBQ place with live music afterwards and you can bet, we heard some loud snoring from the back seat on the way home! We hope to establish a family culture of being active, getting outside, and exploring nature early on! March was a beautiful month, and we are trying to do as many things outside as possible before the heat of summer sets in.

So that was a little snapshot of March, I promise to do a better job of blogging in April!  This month should include other fun stuff like a maternity photo shoot with Whitney Runyon, a giveaway, more tasty gluten free treats, an update on the kids' room redecoration process, and more! Stay tuned!