Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Problem is Not The Grapefruit


My husband enjoys a nice grapefruit snack on occassion.  Recently he asked me to pick him up some from the grocery while I was there. Being the ever loving wife that I am, I complied.

Yesterday, he lodged a complaint.

Him: you bought the wrong kind of grapefruit and we need grapefruit spoons.

Me: I didn't buy the wrong grapefruit. It's perfectly fine.

Him: It didn't look right when I cut it open.

Me: Well, how did you cut it? 

Come to find out, he cut longtitude instead of latitude. Oh boy.

Today, I showed him how to properly cut a grapefruit.

Yea, the grapefruit was not the problem.

Friday, January 20, 2012

A Ninja in My Kitchen

 
Meet my little friend!


You are looking at my brand new Ninja Kitchen System Pulse!

It's capabilities include juicing, blending, and food processing!

It also mixes cookie and bread dough!

And did I mention you can use it to make ice into snow?!

And do you know what the first thing I made with it was? Because yes, I tried it out already!



If you guessed coconut butter, you'd be right!

One cup of coconut butter, freshly made waiting for the next batch of fat bombs!

Fat Bombs ~ It's what's for breakfast!



Fat bombs, ya say? Fat bombs!  They are the bomb! 

And the newest food craze among my circle of friends - not kidding! 

So what's in that fat bomb?

The ratios, per my friend Temperance who we have to thank for this fabulous snack, are 1:1:1 nut butter, butter (no margarine!),  and coconut butter.   I used 1 c each.

Now if you're like me, you may be thinking "coconut butter? what is coconut butter?"  Exactly my first thought, but it is a REAL butter, and you can find it online here  or if you're lucky, at the local grocer (look hard!)

Thanks to another friend, I was introduced to The Coconut Mama's Blog  and her how to's on how to make your own homemade coconut butter!

But let me just say, as one who tried making the coconut butter with a mini chopper, and it took forever just to get 3/4 c of coconut butter, you definitely only want to attempt this if you already own a food processor.  As it is, we'll be going shopping and I'll own a food processor by next week. 

After I creamed together my nut butter, butter, and coconut butter, I then loaded the creamy mixture down with crushed pecans, coconut flakes, and dark chocolate chunks.  Spooned it all into an 9x9 brownie pan and set it in the fridge over night.

This morning we cut it for breakfast. 

The kids scored it at a perfect 10.

My husband tried a bit and said it "wasn't the greatest" but I noticed he didn't leave a single dab on his plate.  I told him we'll play with the fillers of fruits and nuts and see what he likes best (I'm totally thinking dried bananas and raisins here!) And I think next time I'll try drizzling chocolate over the top or dipping them in a chocolate.

So that's the long and short of it here....

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

De-cluttering and Brooder Boxes

Ok so I haven't kept up very well with the de-cluttering challenge, but I hope I made up for it today!

We cleaned out from under the kitchen sink today - but no I didn't take photos.  It's all wiped down and neatly organized.

The boys room is perfectly spotless, for once. 

Girls bedroom is all clean and organized. Just need to finish the decorating part. I'm hoping to acquire a stuffed animal net tomorrow for all of Squeakers stuffies. 

E will get the crib put together tomorrow, and all that will be left for me to do is place the girls names on the walls. I painted wood letters for both of them.

Both bathrooms have been scrubbed until near sterile and laundry is all caught up.

I also gave away some items today that I either wasn't using or probably wouldn't get around to using.

Less clutter in my house.

Our cleaning lady is worth every penny.

AND, these were picked up and brought home today...


The new brooder boxes for my chick adventures.

I already have a few dozen eggs in the 'bator. We're 5 days in. :)

I also have more eggs on the way.

And Salmon Faverolle chicks, thanks to a friend who made this post reminding me of the value of a Salmon Fav hen!  (and there's a lot of other interesting and helpful learning tidbits on her blog. Seriously, read about the pigs!)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Winter found us...

And we got snow.

Yay.

I can't complain, since for the most of this winter we've had a very mild one.  It was great.

And then today, we get snow.

I was outside every 2 hours rotating fresh waterers for thawed ones, added extra bedding to coops, and gave extra feed rations to everyone. 

I'm glad winter was late to the party, but I sure hope it's early to leave.

In the meantime, I'm setting up the 'bator and incubating some new eggs!

Here's a few pics of the farms newest arrivals...




Tuesday, January 3, 2012

We're 3 days in..

Three days into the new year.  I have spring and build it fever bad.  Really bad.

I've already placed a chick order for February.

I have a started pair of Mille Fleur Cochins (project color) coming next week.

I have not told my husband.

I got new overalls, matching jacket, socks, hat, and gloves, and the book Chicken Coops with 45 different coop plans (many I wasn't impressed with).

I have a pallet that our new wood burner came in on. Not big, maybe 2x4 max??  I am working on a mini-coop plan for it. I'm inventorying my stockpile of lumber tomorrow.

I need January to be over.  Now.

We're 3 days in.

Three days close to spring.

Three days closer to new chicks.

Three days.

Monday, January 2, 2012

January De-cluttering the house Challenge

So my friend Bubbling Brooks has started a de-cluttering challenge and I'm totally taking her up on it!
You can read about her challenge a bit here,

She started with batteries, I started with the hall closet.

And Christmas decor. 

We simply picked up some cheap rubbermaid tubs and completely packed them full with all of our Christmas items and any left over bows, ribbons, and wrapping paper. 

The Christmas clutter is now neatly tucked into their own little beds to be stored away for next Christmas. 

Now if I could just get my hands on a Christmas tree tote so we can do away with the tree box....

I'll think about tackling all the household batteries tomorrow...