homemade applesauce.

i found a recipe online a year or two ago for homemade applesauce, because i was in the mood to try something new.....but healthy. so voila! here is either what i made up, or what i remember. i don't quite know ;) the nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it personalized//super cinnamon, plain//whatever you like! enjoy, and please let me know what you think in the comments!

 

 

 



//peel 3 large, about 5 regular-sized, apples//my apples were HUGE, and I couldn't wrap my hand around them when they were in my palm, so you can judge for yourself how much that is, but whatevs :)

//dice the apples and stick them in a microwaveable dish//this is where I didn't take pictures, so just imagine what this looks like. microwave the apples for approximately 4 minutes, or until you can easily stick a fork through them//than stick the apples in a food processor or blender//blend until the consistency of applesauce//note: the applesauce will have some chunks and won't be as pureed as store bought, but the different consistency and chunks makes it good//than refrigerate overnight, or until cold

//after refrigerated, take the apples out and add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar

//i like my applesauce with cinnamon, so add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon//note: this is NOT cinnamon sugar, and a little goes a LONG way.......trust me

//lastly, mix all the ingredients together

//enjoy your homemade applesauce!

everyday aaron....

so i took this video thinking it was pretty legit......turns out i was wrong! anywho, this little stinker pot only wanted to see himself on the camera//figures//and so this is the nice video i produced//recorded.

 

young women activity: cake decorating!

for mutual//youth group//on wednesday, we did cake decorating! this is such a fun, easy idea for an activity to entertain a whole bunch of teenagers. one of our youth leaders does cake decorating professionally, so she came and told us how to do different swirly-things, and flowers, and a whole bunch of stuff!

 

if you're interested in maybe taking this idea to your young women's organization, here's what you do:

you'll need:

• frosting bags
• frosting
• enough small cakes so each girl can have one 
• plates
• any extra items (edible pearly things, doilies, etc.)
• excited girls!

have all the girls sit around the table and have them each choose a cake. what we did is there were chocolate and vanilla cakes, and each girl got to pick their own flavor of cake. the vanilla cakes were made from scratch, the chocolate from a box. it's really interesting to see the difference, so definitely do that when making your cakes. :) next, we cut our cake into two layers, so we could practice frosting the "middle". than frost the outside. this is good for just plan old vanilla frosting. our leader made buttercream frosting for us, but whatever works best for you is great! she than brought out different frosting tips, showed us how to do some basic "lining" of the cake, and than let our imaginations run wild! some girls did a piñata, others made theirs a coffin (teeheehee), while others just went with a plain gorgeous decorated cake.

 

i hope you can enjoy this activity sometime with your young women!

 

 

 

//my half eaten cake, i can't frost very well//:)

boys and breakfast.

oh my goodness! the boys are getting so big! it seems like just yesterday i was holding aaron in the hospital......he's 21 months old! that's SO crazy!

 

well, a few saturdays ago, i had the brilliant//or not so brilliant?// idea to take some pictures while all the boys were crammed on the bench. 

 

i apologize for the blurriness of the pictures. the boys were very "movey"//?//that morning... 

 

 

 

//this one is my absolute favorite!

//aaron's face had me cracking up for almost 5 minutes!

white bean hummus

my mom "hydrated" white beans the other day. she basically cooked the dried ones, but she overcooked them.......and now we have a whole container full of white bean mush. she didn't want it to go bad, so she decided to look up quite a few white bean dips and recipes, and the one she actually tried was a white bean hummus from food network. it was actually really good, and she's made it more than once in the past week. i hope you can enjoy it too!

 

//that is the white bean mush



//we used red onion, about 1-2 tbsp

//this is the type of tahini we used, and it worked great!//you can find it at walmart

//you DO NOT want to use the tahini when it looks like this, mix it up until it turns into a real paste

//that nasty brown gooey stuff?//that's what the tahini looks like after you mix it all up

//you want it to have a smooth consistency, with some chunks, but somewhat smooth

white bean hummus
from food network

1-2 tbsp. red onion
2 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. of tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 (19 oz.) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 garlic clove, peeled

combine all the ingredients in a food processor. process until the mixture is smooth

oh my gosh!!!

so yesterday was the last day before spring break (woohoo!), and my awesome school had a talent show and "panther day". Basically we're outside for a few hours with a DJ, bounce houses (yes teenagers like bounce houses), rock climbing, bungee jumping, etc. it was SO super fun and out principal danced in the talent show, and may i just say, you gotta check this out!

for those depressed moments.

do you ever get those moments where you just don't feel good enough? or you just never feel good enough period? well, here's a crappy poem i wrote because i am SO having one of those weeks.

I see him
for the very first time
I'm amazed
"what is this?" I think
"this feeling inside?"
I hope it goes on

he duplicates
into him, and him, and him
"dance with me" one says
"I have to dance with you,
because she said said"
says the other
not even a glance
from the last

I ponder it
what of me?
what am I worth?
they might care
but i'm sure
that they don't

the one
the first
I ask
could it be real?
but no
i'm too young
because a year
to him
makes all the difference

and so I ponder again
what of me?
what am I worth?
they might care
but i'm sure
that they don't

the second
him
he says
funny
sweet
awesome
I lift myself up
I'm free!
but the next hour
no word is spoken
and i'm back to no worth

I ponder it
what of me?
what am I worth?
they might care
but i'm sure
that they don't

the third
the one of joy
I see him
he sees me
he sees her
they glance
"oh, him"
she says to me
"oh, them!"
he says of the others

and I sit there
silently waiting
"why not me?"
I think
"why not?"

I ponder it
what of me?
what am I worth?
they might care
but i'm sure
that they don't

next activity
one of hers says
"to me
from him
i'm happy
oh joy!"
I smile
for her
though inside
the flower has died

no more pondering
all hope is gone
she leaves the flower behind
and flows
right when he
was going to say
she was worth it
but it's too late
she's gone

oh, and if y'all are reading those. feel totally free to post a comment! let me know what you think of my 5 minute blog posts. ;)

the dora addiction.

 munchkin has had an obsession with all his little baby tv shows since we got the roku and now have access to amazon prime. he watches barney, and dora. that 's all his attention span goes to. for the last few months, all we watched was barney, but now it's dora. he even says it "bo-bah! bo-bah!" he's growing up too fast! :( i'll turn on the roku in the morning's to dora, and as soon as he even has a glance of her, it's all hype in the land of chicken nuggets! yep, he's the little chicken nugget and munchkin now. :) haha, and of course, here are some pictures......

little cinderella.

look what i found munchkin doing as i was doing dishes.....

cranberry-apple crumble for one!

as a teenager, i guess you could say that i want to eat something wonderful at anytime without any big hussle. sounds about reasonable, right? well, not for me. with homework, piano, voice, etc, life gets crazy, so i can say that i am officially in love with single serving dishes and treats. i have been lovestruck. <3 br=""> There are some disadvantages though. whenever i make something, everyone else has to make it too. ah, don't you just love your family at these times? for example, i found a recipe for a brownie in a mug and thought i'd give it a whirl. sadly, it wasn't all that great, but right as i was putting the ingredients away, Reagan walked up and insisted that he should have one too. that means, i had to make one for him. haha, you gotta love him. :)

we proceeded to make his, when brandon walked over and said that he wanted one too. he can make things, well, not really, but he thinks he can make stuff, which makes it all that much more fun. i think it's almost harder to make things when you have to take them step-by-step, rather than you making it for them. well, atleast he has more experience and can now make that by himself.....hopefully.

i bring to you today that wonderful recipe of a cranberry-apple crumble (for one!!). this actually was pretty dang good, if you ask me. it was very sweet, and i would definitely recommend a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top, but it's still good by itself. hopefully you can try it! happy cooking!

cranberry-apple crumble for one!
originally from ivillage

ingredients:
1 tart apple (peeled and diced)
1 T cranberries
1 T+1 T all-purpose flour
2 pinches salt
1 T butter
1 T brown sugar
2 T quick-cooking oats
dash cinnamon

directions:
1) butter a 1-cup ramekin and add apples and cranberries. sprinkle with 1 T flour, sugar, and 1 pinch salt. toss gently to combine.

2) in a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave on high for 20-30 seconds. add the remaining topping ingredients plus 1 pinch salt. toss to combine.

3) spoon over the apples and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, or until apples are tender. (on high, a minute was perfect for my microwave)

4) enjoy!!

salsa.

we have an odd obsession with salsa. not necessarily me, but especially the boys.......

 

//oh my goodness, those nails need to be painted......

hot chocolate.

//is it bad that's it's February in texas, and we're still drinking hot chocolate?

hello there.

hello there cami. how are you today? doing well? you sure look like it. how nice of you to accept my presence than hide. i hope you enjoy your gourmet meal of ramen.

 

where did you come from?

 i left my camera on the table in the living room......and look what i found when i checked it.

//veggie tales