Coconut Flour Dutch Babies

First, I have to say this isn't my recipe, but we enjoyed it so much I'm going to share it with you here.  This recipe was submitted by Karen over at the Coconut Recipes website. They have some fabulous recipes if you want to try baking with coconut flour. We LOVE coconut flour. It was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning, but easy peasy once you get used to it. Also, a half a cup goes a long way - so it's not as expensive as it seems.

We've been getting really sick of eggs so we switched it up this morning and my kids couldn't have been happier. The original recipe says it serves 6- 8, and umm, well, this morning it served three. SO, if you are big pigs like us, then I would say 3-4 servings. :)

We made this recipe completely dairy free (because my nursling just can't take it) but by all means slather these babies with butter and maple syrup - your taste buds will thank you.


Dutch Babies

Ingredients:

• Butter or coconut oil (to grease pan)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 6 tablespoons of corn starch
•  8 eggs
• 1 cup coconut milk
• Your choice of topping: maple syrup, honey, warmed apple sauce, raspberries, blueberries, etc.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Very generously completely slather bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 glass baking pan with butter or coconut oil.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together and quickly add and whisk in the eggs and coconut milk until batter is well mixed. Pour all directly into greased pan. 

Bake for about 20 minutes until puffed and cooked all the way through. Serve immediately.

We love ours slathered in butter and maple syrup - soooo delicious!

Enjoy!

- Sarah

 

"The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant."
-St. Anthony of Padua

Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange

If you ever get a chance to participate in a Jesse Tree Ornament exchange, go for it! I recently organized a swap in our community and it was a huge success! Each of the twenty nine ladies made one kind of ornament, then we gathered, exchanged and took home a whole set. The ornaments were beautiful and each one was made with love. I wanted to share pictures of all the ornaments, (because most of us got ideas from blogs just like this!) so you can see them too.

If you would like a little more information about what a Jesse Tree is, click over here. Most Jesse trees are about twenty four ornaments with the option of adding extra bible stories. I added five extra: Melchizedek, Aaron, Joshua, Ruth and Elizabeth. These are not necessary but I had enough ladies sign up so I added them in.

We each had a chance to talk about which story our ornament represented and how we made them. It was so much fun I would love to do it again someday!

Now for the ornaments:

From left to right we have the ornaments representing: Creation, Adam and Eve, The Fall of Man, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph

Here we have: Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Ruth and Boaz, Samuel, Jesse, David, Solomon and St. Joseph

 For the last of the Salvation History ornaments we have: The Blessed Mother, St. Elizabeth, John the Baptist and the Nativity. 

Now for the O Antiphons:

I found some more information about the O Antiphons on Father Z's blog, check it out if you are at all interested, I think it's fabulous. 

Here we have: Jesus is Lord, Jesus the Flower of Jesse, Jesus is the Key of David and Jesus is Radiant Dawn.

Now for the last O Antiphons:

 Jesus is King of the Gentiles, Jesus is Emmanuel and Jesus is the Light of the World.


I just want to give a big shout out to the WONDERFUL and beautiful ladies that made this all a possibility, especially to you, Gabi Karl for preparing your home and hosting all of us! I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Thank you, Thank you!

  ~ Sarah

"Advent is here. What a marvellous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real longing for Christ to come — for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! — He is about to arrive!"

- St Josemaria Escriva

Homemade Italian Spice Mix

I am working on a recipe for crockpot spaghetti sauce, but for now I wanted to share with you our homemade spice mix. I was in the habit of buying spaghetti sauce until I discovered how easy it was to make your own, not to mention cheaper! I love putting this mix together because of the aromatic spices, the smell is wonderful. Also, once you do this you'll never go back to buying expensive Italian Herb mixes!

Mix together in a jar:

• 2 tbsp Basil
• 1 tbsp Majoram
• 1 tbsp Oregano
• 1 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Rosemary
• 1 tsp Coriander

The great part about this mix is you decide which spices you like more of or which ones you don't like. Coriander is definitely optional - we like it in our sauce, but I also just happened to have it in my cupboard. Don't feel like you need all of the spices to make this mix, go ahead and make it anyway and see how you like it!

- Sarah

Linking up with Party Wave Wednesday

“You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”                                                            ~ St. Thérèse

Five Favorites: In which I show off my Bambinos . . .

Linking up today with Hallie from Moxie Wife. If you haven't seen her blog before, hop on over - you won't be disappointed!

Things have been sloooooow going over here for one main reason, which happens to be this:

1.

Luke Vincent! Let me introduce to you our newest Baby Doll! Born on August 26th - 9lbs 8 oz. This picture was taken when he was a week old, he is now six weeks old and things are just starting to feel normal. Well, as normal is it gets with a newborn! He is now giving me smiles and coos - my heart is overflowing with love for this little guy. . .

We had the most lovely home birth a girl could dream for. I started labor shortly after noon and had sweet little Luke on my chest before dinner. I can't say I am looking forward to my next birth, but this experiences was so positive that I feel more optimistic than ever. Maybe the third time's the charm? In any case I am so grateful to Our Lord for a wonderful birth and healthy baby!

Stay tuned for his birth story, I need to get it written down before I forget all the details!

 

2.

This is Peter.

This is how Peter walks around most of the day, with some sort of weapon in hand and a scowl on his face!

Ok, I don't give him enough credit, haha. He can be the most charming, sweet, loving and compassionate little boy I have ever been around. Things have been rough going since Luke was born, but he's coming around to his old self again and we get a kick out of things he says every day.

Peter has been hitting us with his sword lately so we put the sword in "time out" thinking he'd not have any weapons. Well, we watched Tangled the other night and this morning he was walking around getting all the bad guys with this frying pan!

3.

Gianna has been the sweetest little Mommy to Luke. Every chance she gets she's kissing and playing with him. Even though she's only four, she's been a great help with Luke. I can see how it'll only get easier as she gets older! 

I love seeing how my children act towards Luke - it's so sweet to see other people love Luke as much as I do. I feel as if every baby we have there's more love to go around and our hearts become more generous.

We have been doing some preschool activities with Gianna this year - and I know she would like us do to more, but life is tough with three little ones! Hopefully things will be a little easier when we start homeschooling for kindergarten next year - because im not sure how im going to do it!

4.

I put Gianna and Luke on opposite sides of my bed for a nap the other day and when I checked on them I found this. 

Heart melt. 

5.

The majority of days around are hard. Really really hard. Im in survival mode and I think it'll be like this for awhile. 

The kids wear their pajamas most of the day and I am constantly frazzled, exhausted  and grumpy towards the older kids. Forget having dinner made. 

That being said, I hate dwelling on the negative. So in case someone thinks its all lovey dovey and roses around here - it's not. For my own sanity, I need to savor, capture and share the beautiful in order to get through the rough.

This particular moment melted my heart and I snuck a picture before the kids saw me. Reading is one of my absolute favorite activities and I beam with pride when I see my children enjoying a book together. 

LOVE it. 

Thanks for letting me share my kids with you, have a blessed day! 

~ Sarah

"Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings  of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me."

- St. Faustina Kolwaska