Choco-Nana Oat Cookies

Mom created a recipe of her own. It's a simple easy treat for everyone. They are delicious cookies! 

3 mashed banana's 

2 1/4 cup oats

1/2 cup no sugar added apple sauce 

1tsp vanilla

1/4 almond milk 

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (60% coco) We used Ghirardelli

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes exactly. It makes 1 dozen! 

Fresh Eating

Over the past year and a half, I have embarked on a life changing journey. My mother and I both have been trying to become more "simple" when it comes to food, and our day to day living. We love the idea of going back to "the way it used to be". Homesteading has been on my mom's mind since... well since I can remember. One day we will be true homesteaders. But as for right now we are growing a garden, buying our eggs from local farmers and trying to get our meats from local butchers. We have also taken up making our own laundry soap and other house holder cleaners. Some of these new endeavorers have stuck with us and others have slipped away... 

The past week my mom and I noticed we slipped off the healthy food track and have become way to dependent on candy, bread, and everything bad! After having a baby and the holidays all falling together we had drifted off into candy land and couldn't find our way back to reality. 

So after some deep thought and research, we are getting back on track. We found a local "fresh food" market (not to be mistaken for an organic store, they tend to be over priced). We got some basic healthier versions of our favorite food such as; B grade Maple syrup, coconut oil (instead of crisco or other shortenings), gluten free breeds and flours (Mom found out she is allergic to wheat and we are now trying to avoid gluten). We also bought a lot of fresh veggies and fruits since our garden wont be ready for a few more weeks. 

Our goal is to cut out overly processed foods and to cut back on sugars. We read a while ago that food is  medicine for the body and we couldn't agree more! We have learned over the years that food can either make you feel really good, really bad or really tired! It's all about what you put in your pie hole AND how much. 

Mom and I are still learning and tweaking this life style to meet our needs! But we hope you can grow and learn with us! 

Here are a few pictures of our experiences this week!

Scrambled tofu (olive oil, salt, garlic and cumin) with gluten free toast. 

Fresh kale, ripped up and baked with olive oil and sea salt! 

Quinoa Bars! I will post the recipe soon, I am going to play around with it one more time and see if I can make it even better. 

These are just a few interesting recipes we found and played with! There will be more to come!!!! 

Oh How a Garden Grows

After a year break from almost anything productive, we have decided to grow a garden! My mother does this annually, but had a rough time growing a garden in Texas. It usually only lasted a few weeks before the heat had its way with it!

So, this year we are taking advantage of the awesome weather here in Montana! Our first garden of many in this beautiful state. 

Yesterday we decided we would start as many veggies and flowers as we possibly could. Mostly tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and a few melons. The rest of the seeds need to be planted directly into the ground (root plants; carrots, onions, beets, to name a few!). We will plant those when we transplant the seeds we started inside. We are also growing peas inside around the kitchen window! I am extremely excited to try this out. My mom came up with this brilliant plan. (I will post pictures as they grow.) From what I understand, we will place a few "tacks" around the windows for the peas to hold on to. Again, I am so excited about this. I love bringing the outdoors inside! 

Here is our collection of seeds! We mostly use heirloom seeds. If you look closely, you can see our potatoes and burlap sack in the background. Another project we will keep you posted on. It's one of our favorite ways to grow potatoes. 

I just loved the look of the Forget Me Not seeds. They almost looked as though they were wet!

My son and I "sewing seeds". He had a blast putting the seeds in the dirt. 

We hope you stick around to watch our garden grow! 

~ Simplicity ~

Its Been a While!

SO... It has been a while (to say the lest) since we last did a post on our blog! A LOT as happened in the last year.

One, Jessica and her husband had a beautiful little girl! 

Two, we all made a big move to MONTANA! Talk about change! 

We are all starting new adventures and we hope you will join us on this incredible journey! 

Aquarium

My son and I recently took a trip to the Charleston Aquarium with a friend of mine! Oh what a blast we had. My son LOVES fish and he was hesitant to leave after the short walk through. I was a little bummed out because some of the aquarium was under construction! But I have been assured that when the aquarium is fully functional it's a lot of fun. So, I will defiantly have to go again! Here are a few pictures of our adventure! 

As soon as you walk in, there is a large tank full of colorful fish! He didn't realize there where more fish to see and objected to leaving this spot! 

He got to see his favorite! Turtles! 

This was fun to see! Bradley was blown away that someone was swimming with the fish! 

Stingrays! 

And last but not lest, he got to touch a starfish! He was pretty brave and really enjoyed it! 

I have a lot of fun trips planned out! One of which I will be visiting my family in Texas for my fathers homecoming from a deployment! I can't wait to share my adventures and projects with you all!!! 

Banana Bread Muffins

My Husband LOVES banana bread! I am always making it! He will eat a loaf in a matter of minutes, if I let him! SO, to try and slow him down, I decided to take my normal banana bread recipe and pour it into a muffin pan! I am all about individual serving sizes! I love this recipe! The banana bread turns out supper moist and nice a fluffy! I hope you all enjoy! 

Recipe: 

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1 cup (about 3 banana’s) mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Turn heat onto to 350. I am not going to lie, I just mix everything together! 

Grease and flour a loaf pan. This makes about 1 large loaf or 2 medium loafs. If you do a large loaf cook for about 50-60 min. For a medium cook for about 45min or until a tooth pick come out clean! For a muffin pan it will only need about 15-20 min. I didn't track the time when I made them, so keep an eye out!   

I hope you all enjoy! 

Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookie

Hi everyone! 

Sorry it has been a while! A lot has been going on these past few weeks and I haven't had a chance to blog! So, I thought I would bring back the blogging with a simple, yet OH-SO-YUMMY no-bake cookie! 

I know no-bake cookies are rather simple and I am sure most of you have one memorized by now! I know I have a few! But this is a simple twist from the normal chocolate no-bake cookie. 

Just PEANUT BUTTER! 

You will need: 

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 cup Milk

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

3 to 4 cups of Old Fashion Oats 

Directions: In a medium to large sauce pan, bring Butter, Milk and Sugar to a boil. Let boil for about a minute. After it boils remove from heat and quickly add Peanut Butter, Vanilla and Salt. Let the Peanut Butter melt into the mixture. Add Oats and then place on wax paper or a cookie sheet. Let cool down for about 30 min. You can put them in the refrigerator if you like! 

Enjoy!