In the moment

I woke up this morning with a major urge to write a blog post, I just HAD to do it! It never happens anymore because "I don't have the time". Truth is I have the time, but I can usually find a million other things I SHOULD be doing. Well I'm going to start making journaling (blog posts are almost always something I have journaled about) one of the things I "should" be doing, because it always puts me in a better mood! And what's more important then that?

I've been working on trying to be in the present moment more. And becoming more grounded. Like literally grounded. I have been trying to make a point at least once a day to step on the grass with my bare feet and really take in the sensation of the cool grass between my toes. And to work in the yard once in awhile with out gardening gloves to feel the plants and dirt with my own finger tips. To put on that little bikini in the privacy of my own backyard and let the sun shine on as much of my skin as possible. Sitting outside in the cool morning, turning my head to the fresh morning sun and letting it warm my face. To not only be outside but to really use all your senses. To listen to the birds chirping, smell the grass, feel the wind blow through your hair. I realize now so much of being in the moment is just making yourself aware of the world around you. It is so important to step outside at night, look up at the sky, and allow yourself to feel small. 

It was a couple weeks ago I was closing up the house and ready to head upstairs to bed. The last light to turn off was our back porch. Usually I turn off the last light and it's just blackness until I can feel my way up the stairs. But that night I turned the back porch light off and instead of blackness I noticed the whole back yard was lit up by a beautiful silver light. I could not resist stepping outside and being a part of it. I turned the corner to the side of the house to come face to face with the source of the light. I couldn't help but smile at the full moon. My God! How do we ever take the night sky for granted! It is breathtakingly gorgeous! I try to remember to step out in the night and look up at the stars every once in awhile, even if it's only for a few seconds. Makes all the difference in the world. 

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B's Dairy-Free Creamy Creole

I was craving a spicy creamy creole dish last night, but I could not find one single recipe online that didn't use heavy cream! So I came up with my own and it was soooo yummy! Here's what I did…

Ing.

- 1 med. onion

- 2-3 bells peppers, one red, one yellow and/or orange

- 3 garlic cloves

- Almond milk

- Chicken broth

- Tomato paste (I like to use the one with italian seasoning for more flavor)

- Creole seasoning (like Tonys)

- Shrimp

- Hot italian sausage

- Fusilini brown rice pasta

- *red pepper flakes

- *sour cream

- *parmesan cheese

Chop onion and saute in a pan with olive oil (can use butter for a richer flavor). When soft, add julienned peppers (remember they will cook down so add a lot). Add 2 t. creole seasoning and some pepper and continue to cook veggies a few minutes until the onions are caramelized and peppers begin to wilt. Add garlic and cook until garlic is slightly browned and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 2-3 T tomato paste with veggies and cook until combined. Add about 1/2 C. chicken broth, then about 1 C. Almond milk. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes at this point if you desire an even hotter dish. Bring to a boil and let it simmer a few minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. At the end you can add a dollop of sour cream for an even creamier dish but it's really not necessary, it becomes pretty creamy with just the almond milk. If the sauce gets too thick add more broth and almond milk until desired consistency. 

In the meantime while working on your sauce, cook pasta, sausage and shrimp. (I didn't have shrimp so I cooked up a salmon fillet I had in the freezer, it was really good in the dish! Something different). When the sauce is done add everything together in one big pot. Sprinkle with grated parm cheese when your ready to serve if desired. 

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Healthy Christmas Cookie Recipe Roundup

I woke up this morning and realized it's already Christmas Cookie Season again!

I better get a move on! Especially since I'm less than a month from my due date with Baby Girl #2!! I have my usual favorites from childhood, but I just can't bring myself to make those refined-sugar/flour cookies for myself, friends, and family this year. 

So I set out to find some "healthified" Christmas cookies that are festive, taste great, and that I would feel good about eating and sharing.

This is a long list, and I don't plan on making them all, but I thought I'd share my roundup of the recipes I'm considering trying out. I will let you know what I make and how they turned out!


Gluten Free Chocolate Butter Cookies






Cut Out Grain-Free Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies






Almond Flour Cut Out Cookies





Grain Free Snickerdoodles





chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies





Pecan Maple Breakfast Cookies






Chocolate Almond Macaroon Cookies



















Wedded Bliss Soft Ginger Cookies





Auntie Angie's Soft Peanut Butter Cookies





Detox Blonde Macaroons



















Strawberry Walnut Thumbprint Cookies



















No Bake Peppermint Patty Bars

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Big Girl Room Inspriation: Pink and Blue

Now that I'm more than halfway through my second pregnancy, I'm starting to get antsy to move my First Born over to her big girl room so we can put Baby Girl #2 in the nursery. I've been a little sad for months thinking of her moving out of her crib, but I'm so excited about this new phase too.

Especially the decorating part! (It's better to focus on than how big my first baby is getting!)

I've been scouring the internet for the past few months already to figure out what I wanted to do in the new room for a "Big Girl", and think I'm finally at the point of finalizing some decisions.

I was originally thinking I would do light pink, dark pink, gray and white. I really want to do something that will be cute now, but that she won't outgrow in a few years either. I was looking for some pink bedding when I came across this duvet cover at pottery barn kids:



I typically don't like blue in my decorating (Or any color for that matter. Love my neutrals), so was a little surprised I was so drawn to this. If there's one thing I've finally learned in decorating though, its to go with my gut reaction of what I really love instead of what I "should do". So I changed directions a bit and found some other pink and blue room inspiration.


First of all, I saw THIS at justagirlblog and was totally sold and really excited about the pink and blue.


This picture also helped me solve the problem of wall color (blue) and curtain color (pink). I wasn't sure if the blue walls would be too much, but love it.

I also love this room from pottery barn kids. I debated between this duvet cover and the other for awhile, but just didn't like this quite as much. Still love the blue walls with the blue bedding and pink curtains. But I especially love the painted pink furniture and bringing in a few green accents too.

I think I'm going to go with these tiered ruffle curtains from pottery barn kids. I've had my eye on them for awhile now and am a little in love.

I really want to have a few personlized touches in the room. I remember always loving personalized stuff myself growing up.




And I think I'm going to go with this eyelet bed skirt, also from pottery barn kids:

I like that it kind of has that same romantic country feel of the duvet cover.

I really wanted sheets with a cute print, but love the light pink gingham.



I am normally pretty frugal about a lot of things, clothes for example, but I have all the pottery barn Penelope crib bedding and curtains in the nursery now, and there's just no comparison with the quality of the cheaper options in bedding and curtains. I've learned from experience that if I just settled on something because it's a cheap version of what I really want, I end up replacing it quickly..therefore spending more than if I had just gotten what I love in the first place.


Some other inspiration from around the Internet:


I definitely want to do some dark pink accents like in this nursery.




Love the color of the walls in this room and the pink floral accents with the blue.

And kind of love the white tree wall decals on the blue walls. I found this one on etsy that I like.





Gonna miss this room though:


So many wonderful, amazing memories in there.


We'll keep most of the things the same, but I want to change it up a little for #2 to have her own space and for it to feel a little different for me.

This is a little embarrassing, but here's where we're act with the room right now. Yeah. Yikes!

 

Hopefully things will be looking much different after this weekend! I will keep you posted. Can't wait to see how it all comes together!

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Free Halloween Cupcake Toppers and Party Printables

 

I'm really excited we were able to round up some friends to come over for Halloween this year! Every year after Trick-or-Treating is done, I'm always ready to hang out with friends and party, but most people usually have other things going on. Not this year! My two year old has a couple of her friends coming over and I cannot wait to see them dressed up and Trick-or-Treating.  

 

I'm keeping the food simple and making the family tradition of a crock pot full of Chili with all the fixin's, some Corn Chowder with Chilies, pumpkin bread (from the Trader Joe's mix..soo good) with homemade Sugar Free Slow cooker Apple Butter (so easy and SO good), maybe some homemade jalapeno bacon popcorn (my current pregnancy obsession!).

 

And, of course, cupcakes...mostly because I want to put out a display of cupcake with these adorable toppers:

 

 

 

CLICK HERE

 

 

 

I've been looking for a recipe for healthy cupcakes, so this is a perfect chance to try these Chocolate Cupcakes (Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free) with Yam Frosting (Update:  . If I get super ambitious I'd like to try these Grain-Free Pumpkin Cupcakes from Nourishing Meals. I will let you know how they turn out!

(Update: The Chocolate Cupcakes turned out really good chilled in the fridge (weren't that great straight out of the oven still warm). I don't know if they are my perfect healthy cupcake yet..but I'm so happy to be able to give them to my 2 year old as a super snack. I used raw cacao powder (sooo good!) instead of the cocoa powder, which is full of antioxidants, fiber, iron, and protein (Healthy chocolate! Too good to be true!). The coconut flour is a great source of protein, and the coconut oil is a healthy fat source. I get all my weird ingredients like that (and a ton of other things) at Vitacost.)

 

And, even more exciting, you can find the links to 65 other free Halloween printables HERE.

 

 

Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

Peonies and Poppyseeds

 

 

Craftily Ever After

 

 

Love. Obsess. Inspire.

 

It Works for Bobbi

 

 

eighteen25

 

 

Happy Halloween everybody!!

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Hurricane Preparation Tips

Greetings from Hurricane Sandy Central. And I mean that literally. Every projected path but one has it headed directly at us!

Hanging out on the pile of outdoor cushions brought in from outside during storm prep!

I thought last night was supposed to be bad, but now it looks like today and tonight will be the worst. Last night and this morning it's just been raining from pretty heavy to light or not at all. Right now it doesn't even seem like a bad thunderstorm, except for the occassional wind gust that makes you go "Oohh..that's got a little power behind it. Clearly this storm means business." There is a tiny bit of flooding in the streets right now, but that pretty much happens with any heavy rain storm around here.

We learned some great lessons about how to prepare for a big storm hit and power outages from the massive storm this Summer. It seems like a lot of the prep tips out there are for major emergency, worst case scenarios. I thought I'd share some basic tips for being comfortable at home in case of a power outage and being prepared for a major storm like this:

-Get cash! This wouldn't have occurred to me if we hadn't dealt with it after the storm this past Summer. If stores don't have power or internet for taking credit cards, most were still open and taking cash.

-Get Gas! After the major outages this Summer, all of the gas stations in the area ran out of gas very quickly. I realized that if we had to evacuate, we may not have had enough gas to get us out of the area! Really scary thought.

-This might just be a sketchy Jersey thing (sorry Jersey!), but during the last storm people were freaking out and actually stealing gas out of neighbors cars sitting in their driveway! Can you believe that!?! So we cleared out my spot in the garage that was accumulating strollers and junk to lock my car up inside.

-I also realized with the last storm that I wouldn't have known how to open the garage door to get my car out if the power was out. I probably could have figured it out, but I feel better after my husband showed me exactly how to open the garage door and then lock it manually.

-Get all the basics you would need together in one spot. I have all the flashlights, batteries, candles, and other misc. emergency items together on the dining room table. No fun hunting around for all those things in the dark when you really need them.

-We already had flashlights, but I went out and got some additional lantern type lights to set up stationary in the rooms. This was something I wish I had with the last outage, when I realized that flashlights are really just most useful for walking around. Obviously candles would work well too, but the thought of have a bunch of them going with my two year old running around made me nervous. Still have some set aside though and at least one in each room to light if needed.

-I didn't do any major stocking up, seeing that we could probably last off all the food in the pantry for months! But do take stock of things you wouldn't want to be without for long term. I noticed we were almost out of dog food, so made a special trip for that. I also made sure we had enough disposable diapers and wipes, since we usually use cloth diapers.

-Speaking of cloth diapers...this probably doesn't apply to anyone but me...but the last major power outage struck unexpectedly with no time to prepare, so one of my biggest concerns was not being able to wash the load of dirty cloth diapers in the washing machine! Luckily we were only without power for a day. But this time around I made sure to wash all her diapers a few days ago and switch to disposables until the storm passes.

-My husband just called with a good tip. Turn down your freezer and refridgerator as low as they go before outages. For the last outage, the first thing we did was go out for bags of ice to stick in the fridge and freezer.

-Think about anything you'd really like to do that you couldn't do without electricity. I vacuumed the whole house the other day and have been keeping on top of any laundry and running the dishwasher.

-Have disposable plates, cups, napkins, and utensils ready to go.

-We have the basement all set up to go with a bed for us, Elizabeth's pack-n-play, and bedding. We didn't sleep there last night, but it was nice to know it was all ready to go in case we needed to move down there. I also stocked it up with some water, food, diapers, and flashlights, just in case we were to get stuck down there, God forbid.

-This is something that I wasn't expecting with the last outage...completely losing internet and cell phone service! The iphones were especially bad. Our basic Verizon phones worked a little. I just assumed the internet and phones would still work, even if the electricity went out. Just be prepared for that. Have an atlas in your car or print out some maps (remember those?? :) of the area and possible evacuation routes. I also wrote down important numbers and put them in my wallet, since I don't really have any memorized anymore. Make sure cell phones are still fully charged though.

-Have an emergency plan. I already have my car packed up with things we would need in case of an evacuation or wouldn't want to lose in the house. Clothes for a few days, expensive electronics, the hard drive with all of our family pictures on it, dog food, diapers and wipes, important documents in a plastic bag, etc. I feel so much more relaxed knowing I could just grab Elizabeth and go at any moment.

-I have a list of things I need to do in case we have to leave, just so I don't even have to think about it. Turn off water line and hot water heater (have someone show you how ahead of time if you don't know how). Lock house. The few extra things to grab. Just nice to know I don't even have to stop and think about what to do.



So there you have it. Hopefully you feel better knowing we are so well prepared. Surprisingly, I'm really not scared or worried about anything at all, since we are so well prepared. It's actually been kind of fun an exciting so far. Famous last words, I know! :)

When Hurrican Irene hit last Summer (what's up with all these hurricanes slamming Jersey?? I thought we were supposed to be safe this far North!) I took stock of what's important and realized I was okay with losing everything in the house, as long as my family was safe. I don't think I would have been before that. It's really freeing to not feel tied down to any of your material goods.

And with the power outages this past Summer, it was really fun to focus on what you DO have and can use, and what's nice to have but not really necessary. I'm grateful we have a gas stove, grill, and hot water heater, so we will be able to use all of those still if we lose electricity. I'm grateful for a pantry full of food. For a nice basement for shelter. For great neighbors we can count on for help.

If something happens to the house (our biggest concern is a fairly large tree in the backyard), our first plan is to go to the neighbors. If they are in bad shape too, Brian gave me his pass to get on his military base where we can go stay in the bunker he's at right now.

We have a good plan and are well prepared, so just waiting it out and praying for everyone's safety. It's actually not even raining or very windy right now. The calm before the storm, I suppose. Elizabeth is watching TV in the basement, where we'll probably spend most of the day, and I'm finishing folding some laundry and wrapping up breakfast. I will keep everyone updated on how things are going the best I can. Stay safe everyone!!

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Simple Blueberry Cream Biscuits Recipe

So long Blueberry Muffins!

Brittany found this recipe in a magazine for Blueberry Cream Biscuits and made them for Easter morning this past year. They were SO good.

It's such a simple recipe, it's something I easily would have passed by.

But I'm SO glad she didn't. They are one of my new favorite treats. I'll take these over blueberry muffins any day now. Plus they are so simple and take just a few minutes to throw together. I stick any extras in the freezer and pop them in the microwave for a few seconds if I need a little snack with my tea or to have something nice to serve if a friend stops by. 

I'll definitely be making these for years to come!

Blueberry Cream Biscuits

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 t Baking Powder
2 T Sugar
1/2 t Salt
1/4 t nutmeg
1 cup Blueberries
1 1/2 cups Whipping Cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Stir dry ingredients together. Toss in blueberries with the flour mixture. Stir in cream just until moist. Move dough to a floured surface and fold over a few times. Place on parchment lined or greased cookie sheet. Form dough to a 7-8 in. square about 1 inch think. Optional: Sprinkle with a little sugar before baking. Back 17-20 min.

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