summer 2012: treat tuesday #2, peach cobbler with almond biscuits

i am a big fan of the clean eating cook books and magazines. the july 2012 magazine has been my favorite so far. the headliner is "savor summer with american cookout classics." can you say yum-o?



my kids have been begging for peaches. since trader joe's sells a BIG box of 'em and there just so happened to be a delicious sounding recipe in my new clean eating magazine, i was inspired to make this treat...

Peach Cobbler with Almond Biscuits
(from Clean Eating Magazine, July 2012)

INGREDIENTS:
- 6 firm peaches (peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2 in. thick wedges)
- 5 tbsp organic evaporated cane juice, divided
-- 2 tsp potato starch
- 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
- 3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour, plus about 2 tbsp for shaping biscuits
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 3 1/2 tbsp organic unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/3 in. cubes
- 1/4 cup 2% milk, plus 1 tbsp for top of biscuits
- 1/2 tbsp sliced raw unsalted almonds



INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 3 tbsp cane juice, potato starch, and almond extract. Transfer to an 8-in. baking dish and bake for 20 min. (peaches should still be slightly firm).



2. While peaches are baking, prepare biscuits. In a separate large bowl, whisk flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, and remaining cane juice. With a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter. Add 1/4 cup of milk and stir until just moistened and a firm dough forms.



3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until dough just forms a ball. Divide into 6 equal rounds and flatten each into a 2 1/2 in. wide, 1/2 in. thick disk. (I used a star shaped cookie cutter for fun!) Place dough rounds in a single layer over peaches (it's okay if they touch). Lightly brush tops with remaining 1 tbsp of milk. Top with almonds, gently pressing into dough to adhere. ( I skipped on the almonds). Bake for 17-20 min., until biscuits are golden brown and peach mixture is bubbling. Let cool for 10 min. Serve warm.


 

before


after

we are saving our cobbler for dessert tonight, so i don't have any raving reviews yet. but if i were to judge how it tastes based on how it looks and smells, i'd say this is a winner. a perfect summer pairing for a savory summer cookout (dinner just so happens to be beef sirloin & bell pepper kebabs, also from the magazine. :)

happy treat tuesday!

summer list 2012

we've been working on our summer list for about two weeks now. haven't done too much yet, but it's always fun to check something off. i find it gives us a sense of purpose to our summer vacation. we are a family--the summer list serves as a guide for spending some intentional and quality time together. i love that!

this year's list doesn't look a whole lot different from previous lists. but that's okay. my kids know what they like! maybe they will carry on the tradition of craft thursdays and treat tuesdays with their own little ones someday.

2012

2011

2010

 

2009

do you have a summer list?  
what are you most looking forward to this summer?

summer 2012: craft thursday #1, name-bow rainbow

happy thursday everyone!

today's craft was discovered on another one of my favorite websites, teachers pay teachers. if you are a teacher or a parent looking for supplemental educational materials and you have not yet checked this site out, summer is the perfect time! you can find inexpensive lessons, units, art projects... you name it, all created by someone else and ready to go. i love that you are buying only what you need, you have as any downloads as you want, most everything is based on common core, and stuff is super cute! i've been very happy with all twenty something of my purchases.

back to our craft for today. i saw name-bow rainbow (or rainbow name-bow, if you prefer) on teachers pay teachers. it cost $1.50, but with a little elbow grease (as in creating your own cloud tracer and acrostic name worksheet) the idea could easily be duplicated without purchasing the project. but i will give credit where credit is due. this was not my original idea. it came from reagan turnstall at turnstall's teaching tidbits. here's the link to her teachers pay teachers activity page if you are interested in buying this activity or if you want to check out her other projects for sale.

you will need: colorful construction paper cut into strips, cloud templates, markers, gluestick



it's not needed, but you may want: a worksheet for listing adjectives (descriptive words). i made this one using microsoft word.



the idea of name-bow rainbow is simple. students (the lesson actually suggests having parents do this) come up with an adjective that starts with each letter of their first name. each adjective should describe the child in some way. this is called an acrostic poem. for younger kids this can be the most difficult part, which is probably why it was suggested to have parents do this part. with a little help, all three boys were able to come up with words for each letter of their name. i googled a list of adjectives listed in alphabetical order and had this open on my desktop as a resource for when we were all stuck. we learned there are not many "nice" adjectives for the letter n. ha! the kids filled out a little worksheet (see above) to help them keep track of and organize their adjectives.


here is a photo of the work area all set up. not much to it, but in my experience, crafting is happier when everything is ready to go.



before we began, i explained what the kids would be doing and showed them a sample, then they went to work. i walked around the table and helped as needed. thankfully my cutie pie natalie kept herself busy with other fun activities, like army men in a box! 





first, the kids brainstormed and decided upon an adjective for each letter of their first name. it was fun to see them sharing, helping, and laughing about some of their ideas!







after the adjectives were decided upon, it was time to cut out the clouds. i had taylor (age 10) and zachary (age 7) cut out their own clouds, but i pre-cut ben's (age 5) cloud anticipating that might be discouraging for him. he was mad i cut it for him.



after the clouds are cut, the kids get to pick one strip of rainbow for each letter of their first name. i allowed them to choose any colors they wanted. ben was a little upset that he only has three letters in his name, therefore only got to choose three colors for his rainbow. we remedied that by coming up with five more adjectives for the name benjamin. lucky us!  this did leave me wondering how many kids have cried doing this project because they didn't have as many rainbow colors as the next guy?

 

next, we glued the rainbow strips to the cloud and then wrote the adjectives on the strips in name order. gluing the strips on first ensures that you won't accidentally write an adjective on the wrong side or cover the adjective partially when you glue the strips on. this is where the worksheet comes in handy!



finally, each kid wrote their name any way they wanted on the cloud. i encouraged them to write fancy, but some little boys are more interested in being done first than being fancy. :)

 here are our finished name-bow rainbows...







 we worked together to make a name-bow rainbow for little sister natalie, too. 



name-bow rainbows on display... so colorful and happy!

this project would make a sweet little homemade gift for someone. 
happy crafting!!

summer 2012: treat tuesday #1, sunflower seed spread cookie dough bites

good morning afternoon!

today is tuesday. treat tuesday, that is.

i spotted today's treat on a sweet little site called pinterest.  
oh, pinterest.
how much do you love that site?!

so today's treat... Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites.
that's kind of a mouthful, isn't it?!

the original recipe created by texanerin, is found here. it calls for peanut butter*. however, since we are a peanut free household , i substituted sunflower seed spread for peanut butter.

you can buy sunflower seed spread almost anywhere these days. we typically buy ours from trader joes or we get the sunbutter brand from target. these two varieties contain some sugar, which the kids prefer. without the kids knowing, i've purchased another brand that contains no sugar and they won't eat it. i think it's pretty good, but it's silly to buy something they refuse to eat, so we go with the sugared versions (3g per 2 tbsp).

baking with sunflower seed spread as a substitute for peanut butter has been easy. the taste and consistency are both great. i've read that sunflower seed spread can turn baked products green due to a chemical reaction, but this has not happened to me yet. just thought i'd throw that out there in case someone tries these cookies with sunflower seed spread and the next day they are green. that would be a little alarming.

so back to the cookies. er, cookie dough bites. if you haven't actually checked out the ingredients yet, you are in for a surprise. these little goodies are packed full of protein and fiber. the main ingredient... chick peas! (aka garbanzo beans, for those of you who are only familiar with this bean as the odd looking thing soaking in what smells like pickle juice at many a resturant salad bar).

what exactly does this mean? well, friends, it means this tasty little treat is not only yummy, but a healthier alternative to your standard peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. it means you can have two for breakfast and not feel guilty!

now for the recipe...

 Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons natural sunflower seed spread (or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your sunflower seed spread or peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used enjoy life dairy, nut, and soy free mega chips and i added probably an extra 1/4 cup, because well... i like chocolate!)

  
Directions (copied from texanerin's site):

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

a few things i did differently: i put the chick peas in the food processor first, just to make sure they were fully chopped up. you know, because they are chick peas. i also placed the dough balls on directly on my cookie sheet, as i don't have any parchment paper. they turned out fine and didn't stick like i thought they might. finally, my dough bites were not really dough bites. my dough balls were maybe 2 in. and i needed to cook them for about 15 min. the recipe yielded me 10 regular sized cookies. slightly squishing them with a spatula made them look more like cookies, as the way you put them in the oven is the way they come out--the shape doesn't change much during baking. i flattened them a bit once i took them out of the oven.

these treats are really rich, in my opinion. we had them fresh from the oven and they were good and gooey. all i could think about while gobbling it up was that it would taste even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. texanerin and many of her commenters said these cookies need to be eaten warm. mine have been out of the oven for a while and are definitely room temp by now and they still taste pretty good, i think. i thought the dough was pretty yummy, in small amount. it was really sweet, but the cookie itself doesn't taste sweet... just indulgent.

i will definitely make these again. very few ingredients, super easy clean up, and most of all a healthier and delicious treat!

do you think this is something you will make? 

zach drying off the beans

zach chopping up the beans

ben wants in on the chopping fun

before

after

thanks for reading about this week's treat!

make it a mini goal kind of day

it's that time again... the summer list has been made and plans are underway for yet another wild and crazy parker family summer break! i will share the list soon, i promise. it's not on my list today. (more on that later.)

as i mentioned yesterday, i reaaallly needed this break, but once it started, all i wanted to do was relax and simply veg out or read a book. my batteries needed some serious re-charging  and i would've been so happy doing nothing at all... with or without starbucks (or a margarita) in hand. preferably with, of course.

on monday, i set out to do just that... relax with a venti iced coffee.

too bad for me, my children view summer break a little differently. i was a wreck all day, because i had nothing planned for them. they were bored and wiggly and getting on my each other's nerves... a lot. it was not a great day. i apologize to my dinner guests if i seemed a little grumpy--i was!

unfortunately, tuesday was not much better, as i was too tired to actually plan anything on monday to do the following day. bummer for everyone.... again.

wednesday started off with a dentist appointment... with all 4 kids in tow. exciting! who knew the dentist would be crazy busy, as in standing room only, at 8:15 in the morning?! but an hour later we left with treasures from the treasure chest, sealants on the teeth, and ... the new-found knowledge that natalie has an extra tooth! apparently this is hereditary and i hear my dad has/had an extra tooth? anyone else in the family want to claim responsibility for this little gift? we find it charming and just another reason our baby girl is so special :)

thursday (yesterday) marked the day where i truly got my act in order. it all started with a to-do list. lists are amazing things, i tell you. there is something very satisfying about checking things off! i felt very productive and the day registered low on my stress-o-meter. hooray for that, right?! we even did a little crafting. that's right, craft thursdays are back!

this really isn't a revelation. lists are a must-have in my everyday life. i have even been known to add things i've already done just so i can check something off. ha ha!

this is my list today.



check and check.

how cute is my to-do list? it's even more fun to get things done when your list gives you a little pep talk. you can get your very own mini goals notepad here.

what was on your list today? did you get it done?

ben turned 5... 4 months ago!

well hello there! it's been a while, i know. i just finished up a super busy school year and am ready for SUMMER!! (it couldn't get here fast enough.) i'm so excited to be back and share the on-goings of the parker family, but first there is something i need to do. i actually typed this post, oh, 4 months ago... on ben's actual birthday. i needed to add pictures and well, i just got around to it. but i can't continue my blogging adventure without wishing my beanie a happy (even if it is extremely belated) birthday post!

*********************************************

5 years ago today i met a little spunkster named ben.



my labor with ben was the longest and hardest labor. he was being stubborn and didn't want to come out of the only home he'd ever known.

at 7 lbs 9 oz, he was my smallest baby and i recall marveling at how tiny his fingers and toes were.



the hospital was pretty crowded that day, so we began the discharge process just 12 hours after his birth. the nurses said i was an old pro, no need to keep me in the hospital. ha! we were in the comforts of our own home the night of ben's birth day. kinda cool, i think.

 

ben was an easy going baby. he was a horrid napper unless he was snuggled up in someone's arms, but everything else was easy! i didn't leave the house for about 6 months after his birth, but that's another story!

 

 

at 5 years old ben is my cautious, but super enthusiastic kid. he has a lot of energy and a bit of a temper. i attribute that partly to him being the 3rd brother... sometimes he has to fight for what he wants or to be heard. it is something that has earned him a spot in the preschool "thinking chair" on more than one occasion. but he's learning from it!

 


 

 

 


ben is also very affectionate. he likes to cuddle and be near others. he loves to give hugs and kisses and he is very complimentary. rarely does a day go by that he doesn't say "i love you" out of the blue or tell me i look pretty. sweet ben.

 

ben has been looking forward to his 5th birthday for a long time. we made a chain to count down the days. ben loved this and it helped curb the "is today my birthday? what about tomorrow? how about the next day?" questions.




happy birthday to my big 5 year old ben! i love you sooo much!















leave a note wishing ben a happy 5th birthday!!