Goodbye dear friend :(

I am going to have to say good bye to one of my best friends soon....and before you get too emotionally involved, I should warn you...it is not a person! 

7 years ago I recieved my beautiful cuisunart 7 cup food processor for christmas from my sweet inlaws.  From that moment on we were inseparable, whipping up countless sauces, pastas, even all of Brianna's baby food!  We have been there through thick and thin...literally, pasta dough can get pretty thick!  

About a year ago I noticed the plastic on my blade beginning to crack and I thought...I may need to get a new blad at some point soon.  I hadnt thought much about it since.  Today I got out my friend to whip up some pasta dough for pasta rollatini.  I thought again about replacing the blade and went about mu business mixing.....UNTIL.....

....it wouldn't turn on!  I pressed the button on then pulse then off....unplugged...plugged back in...it went finally...then the next three times it wouldn't...then it worked one time ...then the next three times it didn't....

I am sad...and grieving this great loss ...I love to cook and my cuisinart is used several times a week (which is probably why it is about to die)!  So right now I am waiting for it to die...it could be tomorrow, it could be next week...only time will tell!  Now to convince hubs (and the budget) to let me get a new one...I have a feeling he will be easier to convince than the budget...he really likes pasta! 

R.I.P. my cuisinart...you've been a good friend!

Almond milk and almond flour

Almond milk is not my favorite.  Especially store bought almond milk.  However, I wanted to try making it and I love using almond flour in certain baking products.  This recipe makes almond milk homemade and then you use the rest of the pulp to make almond flour.  

Start with 3 cups of almonds.  I used these almonds bc its what I had...but literally, use what you have or what you prefer.  I don't mind using the skin, but if you prefer not to, then either peel them or buy peeled almonds or almond slivers, or whatever you prefer.  

Pour 6 Cups of boiling water over the almonds and let them sit for about 1 hour.  If they sit longer its not a problem...you could also use room temp water and let them sit for 6-8 hours, but why make the process longer than it has to be...Right!

I added about 1Tbs of Vanilla to the almonds and water to give it a slight vanilla flavor.  I really liked that addition, I think in the future, I might add a vanilla bean into it cut open.  You could also add some prunes to the almonds and the water to soak to add sweetness to it.  Whatever you prefer.  

After the almonds have soaked, take the almonds and water in batches and puree it in a blender.  If you use an actual vanilla bean, I would not puree it, take it out before you puree.  It should look something like this:

Once all the almonds and water have been pureed, place a double or triple layered cheese cloth over a bowl or pitcher and pour the thick mixture over the cheese cloth. You want to be careful that none of the pulp leaves the cheese cloth and all the liquid is squeezed out of the almond pulp.  I got impatient and started squeezing before I adequately secured the cheese cloth and I had to strain it twice!

This is the almond milk...easy peasy!  This recipe left me with about 36 oz of almond milk.  I put mine in a bottle and used it as needed.  I actually liked it a lot better than store bought almond milk.  It had a better flavor!  Just remember to shake the almond milk every time before you use it.  It has a tendancy to settle and separate as it sits in the fridge.  

So now what....well, all that pulp that you strained out, put it on a baking sheet or two and preheat the oven to the lowest it will go (about 200*) and let it dry out for about 2 hours or so.  When I do this again, I will use two pans.  One pan seemed to take forever to dry and I didn't quite dry it out completely which I could tell when I took it out, but I didn't figure it would matter much...and it doesn't, except that by not getting all the moisture out, I ended up with moldy almond flour after about a week.  So...very important to get ALL the moisture out.  

Once the almond pulp is dry, run it through a coffee grinder or food processor.  You are left with this!

It was delicious!  I made pizza crust out of it and flatbreads out of it...Great!

1st softball game

Saturday was a busy day for us!!! We had a t-ball game at 11AM here in town.  Here is Mike and his team in their after game huddle!

While we were waiting for Mike to finish packing stuff up from the tball game, this little daredevil was convincing me that she is no longer scared of heights!

We left the tball game and headed straight to Mk's first softball game.  We picked up Subway for lunch on the way.  The game was about 25 minutes away.  When we got there we all donned our Diamond Diva shirts to support our team!  Before we knew the name of the team or colors or anything we had the opportunity to order parent shirts to support the team.  So we did, I figured it would be fun to support the team!  I talked to Mike and we ordered one for each of us and one for Bria.  About a week later Mk received her uniform and we started to wonder...will the shirts be the same as her uniform shirts...hmmmmm...and then yes, yes they were, so now my sweet husband who would do anything for his girls has a big old hot pink shirt with a tiara on it!  

So Mk has never played baseball or softball before...but she LOVES it!!! And she really isn't bad at it...in her first game she went up to bat 2 times and got a hit both times...the first time she was stranded on base with outs.  The second time, she was able to score a run!  

This little miss was so over the hot sun and baseball...after her tball game and sissie's softball game she was ready for a nap...

Softball is really cute because of all the little girlie touches that it has...for instance...after every game, they do high fives just like baseball, but then both teams circle up at the pitchers circle and do a little chant/cheer together!  Its great!

All in all, we had a lot of fun, Mk loves the game and is looking forward to the rest of this season and also to many future years of softball!

Since this game on Saturday, they had games on mon,and tues, and they have a game tonight!  This weekend is the girls' ballet recital and Tuesday was the last ballet class.  We have all enjoyed ballet this year, but I am glad to have at least one thing off our plate for now!!!  So bring on the softball and tball games and the end of the year!!!  

Enjoy these pics of us and the girls from after the game!

This week

This week was so so busy!  It started off with a trip to dfw to do some hair...I did 17 clients in a little over 24 hours!  Crazy...I know!  But I love it!  The rest of the week was our usual grind of ballet...tball...softball...ga's...school...watching Emery...housework...etc...etc...but here are a couple pics of our week:

I didn't get to run all week, but finally made it out tonight.  Its amazing how much progress you lose when you lose a week of training.  However, I am more motivated than ever to keep going.  Halfway through my run I stopped to take a drink of water, turned around and was greeted with this gorgeous sunset!  Thank you Jesus for the ability to run and the beautiful Earth you created for us to enjoy!

My bookworm daughter decided to check out the dictionary from the library...for FUN!

Friday night I made chicken and waffles from scratch for the first time ever....it was DELICIOUS!  The girls and Mike agreed!

Mk had a sleep over and I was surprised...they were just as happy to play phone games next to each other...I made them not play the whole time...they also danced in the rain!

Why husbands don't do cards...

When you get married there are some unwritten rules, or understandings  that just exist.  For example, I don't know a marriage currently where it is not the husband's primary responsibility to take out the trash (unless of course there is a son old enough).  Also, women generally handle all of the appointments and medical stuff even for the husband.  The most common understanding however, is that once married the husband really only has to remember one birthday and anniversary and that is his wife's birthday and their anniversary...All others are handled by the wife.  This is how it has run in my household for the past 9 years. My husband decided out of the blue this year though that HE was going to handle his parents' anniversary card.  What you got was two things:

1) He picked out the card all by himself.  And while I agree that the card was humorous, HE DEFINITELY SENT HIS PARENTS AN ANNIVERSARY CARD ABOUT FARTING!!!  

2) Mike handled letting the girls sign the cards.  Apparently he didn't proof read what Mk wrote on the card.      His mom got the card in the mail and called to say thank you...AND ask what Mk meant when she said "have fun while you can" on the card!!!  Upon asking her she clarified that she meant exactly what it said...have fun because you are gonna die and not be able to...oye!  

After this card experience, my sweet husband has decided that it is best to leave the cards to me!  

Anniversary weekend

Last weekend, Mike and I got the chance to get away to celebrate our anniversary a little early.  We will be celebrating 9 years of marriage on May 15th.  May is so so crazy for us with t-ball and softball and ballet recitals and church stuff so we decided if we didn't go now we never would.  This was the first time since Mk was 9 months old that we went away just the two of us.  I wish it could have been for longer than one night, but I am grateful for the time we had!  It was nice to relax and reconnect!  Mike decided to take on the responsibility of hotel arrangements and decided he wanted to surprise me.  My surprise was a super cute bed and breakfast cabin in Buffalo Gap just south of Abilene.  Isn't this place cute!!!

Saturday night we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the UFC pay per view event, Jones Vs Sonnen.  Before you say anything, this was MY idea.  Yes I know, my husband is a very lucky man!  It was a great fight card and we really enjoyed going out to dinner without having to take a little girl to the bathroom or beg them to eat or behave.  

The back porch of our cabin backs up to a beautiful open view of the hills.  We enjoyed our DELICIOUS breakfast (delivered hot and fresh in a basket on our front porch) on the back deck with the birds singing and a nice cool breeze!  The view was magnificent and it was so peaceful!  

As with all good things, this too had to come to an end.  We absolutely adored this little bed and breakfast and will definitely be going back if we ever get another chance to!  

The inside of our cabin!

The front porch of the cabin!

T-Ball: Lets go Braves!

So as promised here are some more pictures from Bria's first T-Ball game!  It was a lot of fun!  Isn't she just the cutest little t-ball player ever???

Here is her first time up to bat...daddy is helping her remember where to stand and such as he does with all the players.  She loves to bat. If she could, she would be the designated hitter...however there is no dh in t-ball :)  

She usually plays 3rd base or short stop.  As you can see here, she usually has something more interesting that has captured her attention.  I can't tell you how many times I told her to stop playing in the dirt!  But the bugs and rocks are soooo interesting mom!!!  At least it was both teams and all the kids.  Randomly at any point in the game you could look out at the field and see players from either team sitting down and/or digging in the dirt!

We don't keep score in t-ball, it is all about having fun and learning the skills of the game.  In fact, everyone gets one base and no one gets out even if you tag them or throw them out, the kids go through the motions, but we want them to keep learning to run the bases even if they get out at first, so it works to just let them stay on base, so everyone pretty much has the same score in the end anyways!  Here is Mike and the kids going out to high five the other team after our two inning bout!

Good game! Lets Go Braves!!!

Update, no pictures, but at our second game the kids looked so good.  The first game really got them understanding what to do and how to do it and that its not just practice!  Bria still played in the dirt, but not as much...progress I tell you!