Sweet Potato Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 pot roast, lean, boneless, about 2 to 3 pounds
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules or beef base
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation:

Trim roast. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown roast on all sides. Browning the roast is optional, but does enhance the flavor a bit. Drain fat from skillet. Place sliced onion in crock pot; top with sweet potatoes. Place meat on vegetables. In a cup, combine the 1/2 cup water, beef bouillon granules, celery seed, cinnamon, and pepper. Pour over roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, until meat is tender (or cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours)serve with the beef and vegetables.

This is a great Paleo recipe for a Sunday dinner! My family loved it!

Hiking To The Waterfall!

We've been taking some family hikes lately. It makes a huge difference hiking with Court. It's actually a fun experience!! Today, we hiked up to the topish of bridal veil falls. As you can see, Xander slept while I carried him almost the whole way up. I'm going to count that as my "carry heavy things" for the day :)

Savannah has been doing awesome! We call her our supper hiker!

Xander woke up!

Xander didn't want any help. That boy has no fear! He reluctantly let me hold his hand. But, we had to stop every so often to pick up rocks.

Savannah found her fair share of "BIG" rocks too! I love hiking with my family!!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

• 1 lb mild turkey sausage
• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 15 oz can spaghetti sauce 
• 1/2 c roasted red peppers
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• couple leaves of fresh basil
• 1 butternut squash
• 2 zucchini and 1 summer squash

Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a saute pan crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions & garlic. While that’s going, cut the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Pull out the seeds. Slice the squash into the  planks. Also slice your Zucchini and summer squash into thin slices. ( I used fresh ones from our garden!)
Make the sauce by pureeing the pizza sauce, red peppers, olive oil and basil, in blender. chop up the red peppers and mix everything together.
Using a 9×12 oven safe baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash , trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, then summer squash and zucchini, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up…trying to reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.
Bake for 45 minutes. You’re looking for a bubbly pan with a crispy, browned top. Right out of the oven, the lasagna may by liquidy, let it set for a bit.

This recipe was a hit with everyone at my house! Butternut Squash is one of my favorite vegetables! And, it's much more flavorful than pasta! I can't wait to try this recipe again!!

Sage and Cinnamon Chicken With Pasta ( Sweet Potatoes)

Sage and Cinnamon Chicken Ingredients (For the full recipe: Civilizedcavemancooking.com)

• 6 Chicken Drumsticks
• 2 Tbsp Grass fed butter, I used salted, melted
• 1-2 Tbsp Sage
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper for taste

Sweet Potato Pasta ingredients, (For full recipe: Civilizedcavemancooking.com)

• 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes or Yams, long in shape
• 2 Tbsp Grass fed butter, I used salted
• 1-2 Tbsp Sage
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• Sea Salt for taste

My cousin told me about this amazing paleo blog, (Civilizedcavemancooking.com) that one of her friends has. Everything looks so good! I couldn't wait to try his recipes! This is the one that I really wanted to make! And, yes! It is delicious! I think I will try the Smoky Burgers with Pineapple Teriyaki Sauce next! 

They look so yummy!  I've also tried the Coconut Pancakes! The kids and I loved them! I can't wait to share it! I love this blog so much and I think I went a little crazy pinning recipes on it to my Paleo Pintrest board! LOL
Enjoy!

Wicked

  Last Christmas, Court gave me tickets for Wicked! So, I had Christmas in July! LOL! It was amazing! I love the music and the story line. The costumes were beauitful! Some of Court's family were there to. It was fun to see them again!  Court and I really enjoy going to the theater. We see a lot of the shows at the Hale Center Theater. It's so much fun! My favorite ones are the musicals! I Les Miserables is going to be at the Pioneer Theater next May!  That would be a neat one to see!

Hike The Y Trail

 Last week, one day I decided to take the kids and hike up to the Y. I think I ended up carrying Xander up and down almost the whole time. We didn't quite make it to the top though. It wasn't the awesome adventure and bonding time that I had had in mind yet again, just like our last unpaved trail hike experience, in which at one point I was carrying 2 screaming children down a mountain. But, Savannah and Xander pretty much cried the whole time again. I love hiking and I want Savannah and Xander to love it too but, it was just not happening, and Savannah's tripping on and falling every few steps didn't help. She would just cry harder and try to get me to carry her too. I finally gave in exhausted and my determination was beaten. But, if possible the steep way down was worse for Savannah than going up with a lot more tripping and falling.

 We stooped every once in a while for a water, Binky, apple banana brake

When we got home, I told myself I'd won't take them for a non paved path mountain hike for a least one more year, but we will see! Maybe, I can get Court to do some hikes with just me to get in my hiking fix!

Fried Apples and Sausage N' Cabbage "Noodles"

 

 We have found some really amazing Paleo blogs which have amazing family meals and snacks. I love that I can still be creative and have fun cooking for my family! This is a really neat Paleo blog, www.everydaypaleo.com I can't wait to get her family Paleo cookbook, Everyday Paleo!  Here are a couple yummy recipes! Xander and Savannah loved this meal! They even kept wanting seconds the next day when we had the leftovers for lunch! We haven't been very good at eating our leftovers until we started eating Paleo. I can't believe how fast they go!

Fried Apples,  From: Everydaypaleo.com

  

3-4 small organic apples, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
¼ cup raisins
½ tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons canned full fat coconut milk

In a medium sized saute pan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.  Add the apples and saute for about 5 minutes or until they start to soften.  Add the raisins and cook for 2-3 more minutes.  Add the cinnamon, mix well and add the coconut milk.  Stir the coconut milk in with the apples just until warm and serve.  Serves 4.

Sausage N’ Cabbage “Noodles” From Everydaypaleo.com

1 lb mild Italian pork sausage or other ground meat of your choice
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ head or 5 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
2 tablespoons grass fed butter (or ghee, or coconut oil)
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
½ teaspoon paprika
Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

In a large skillet brown the sausage.  Once the sausage is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside.  Add the butter to the same pan with the sausage drippings and add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions start to brown a bit.  Add the cabbage and cook for another 7-10 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and “noodle-y.” Add the sausage back to the pan, add the spices, mix well and serve! Serves 4.

Savannah's Potty Training Update

We are almost onto week three of potty training Savannah! She is doing amazing! Yes, I have told her that she gets a toy if she keeps going potty and tries to stay dry for 2 more weeks. She thinks that the bake shop play dough set at the store is hers. She gets so excited and tells me, "cupcakes, and cookies, and cakes, and ice cream!" That girl has the best memory ever! LOL! Every time I tell her to go potty, and she doesn't want to go I tell her she has to go so she can work towards her toy. I don't think she understands 2 more weeks and she thinks she gets it after she goes each time.  She still doesn't tell me when she needs to go, she almost always goes in between potty brakes in her pull up, usually doesn't realize when she goes in her pull-up, even number 2, and she only a few times has wanted to go when I ask her if she needs to go. I try to take her every hour to the bathroom and she is wearing pull-ups because she likes them and I don't have to keep cleaning up potty messes. At night she wears a diaper and wakes up, usually soaked.  Sometimes, I can just tell her to go potty and then we can do this...  And she will use her stool and be able to go by herself. I just have to check on her and sometimes help her. She is doing amazing! I am hoping that I can get her to just go every hour on her own because otherwise she just has no motive to go. 6 months ago I would have never thought that we would have gotten this far with Savannah! Yes, she is going on my clock and I'm pretty much training myself because if I don't make her go, it just wouldn't happen but, she is doing it and she's wanting to put back on her pull-up and she is happy!

Cauliflower Rice stir fry

Cauliflower Rice Recipe

 

1/2 Cup peas, 1/2 Cup Carrots, 3 Eggs, 1 Cup Shrimp, 1 Small head of Cauliflower , In a large pan, on medium heat, add 1 TLB. or Extra Virgin Oil or Coconut oil. Cook eggs, then set aside. Cook all vegetables until soft, add rice (Cauliflower rice), then add shrimp and eggs. Cook until shrimp is just pink and cooked. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste. Enjoy!

My family loved this recipe! We told Savannah and Xander that it was Cauliflower rice and I think all they heard was rice and they wanted seconds. We can't wait to try this recipe again!

Cauliflower Rice

 

 Grains are out! Grains and carbs raise your bodies insulin levels. In BBS Diabetes tends to become evident in adolescents or adulthood and are insulin resistant.  When you are insulin resistant, any amount of carbohydrates will not be tolerated in your body.  It will turn to body fat and the more body fat you have, and the more insulin resistant you become and then less and less nutrients will be moved to your cells. So, you will be even hungrier and feel the need to eat more carbs. Grains are like poison to our bodies, especially for people with Bardet-Biedl syndrome. 

From what I have learned, quoted from another mother of a child with BBS, " With BBS, the body is in a physical state of starvation due to the decrease in Leptin, up regulation of the hormone receptors and various other mechanisms. So, the BBS child IS hungry all the time, regardless of what you feed him or her. That is why they have the abnormal fat distribution around the abdomen and thighs... The body immediately deposits the food in easy reach (of the liver) because it thinks it is starving. Also, the body has slowed the metabolism to try to decrease energy expenditure." She explained it so well. When I read this, I felt relieved! YES! This is Savannah and Xander, and this is why they are always hungry. With healthy natural fats and proteins, such as meats, vegetables and nuts, it should help to keep their bodies fill fuller, for longer periods of time.

 This is why we now, substitute vegetables and nuts for all pastas and grains. And, the big secret which our family has found out is that they actually are more flavorful and much yummier than pasta and rice! You just have to have the right recipe and give it a try! We all love Zucchini spaghetti noodles, butternut squash lasagna, and fried cauliflower rice, even Xander!!  Recipes to come!!

Chop cauliflower florets into small pieces and blend them until the size of rice in your food processor. It is supper easy! I think next time I will try to not blend it as much, so that the grains will be a bit larger. I added a little sea salt and black pepper. Then, cook the cauliflower rice just as you would with brown or white rice! My kids thought it was rice, (which is what we told them it was!) LOL!

Cauliflower Fried Rice with Shrimp

71 Toes: BBS conference at Duke University

The week of the Fighting Blindness Vision Walk there was the Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) conference which is held every two years. Hopefully, we will be able to attend the next one! It would be so neat to meet all of these amazing BBS parents and  not just through emails, facebook and the phone. It would be such a blessing to learn more about BBS from the experts on the syndrome. But, as I read this I feel the exact way as my friend. It just makes me feel paralyzed and so sad every time I realize how real that my children will  likely become completely blind. It truly is like a dagger to my heart, just as Shawni said. But, we are trying to be on top of everything as best as we can, and love our children with every being of our hearts.

71 Toes: BBS conference at Duke University: So Dave and I went on a “date” to the BBS Conference at Duke University in June.  It was kind of a pre-anniversary, pre-father’s day thing. ...

Fun With Homemade Pay dough

 Savannah and Xander love play dough! One day, I really just needed something for the kids to do so they would stop whining and fighting and so that I wouldn't have a break down, really. This play dough recipe was so simple and not too messy! The recipe HERE!It's a cute blog with lots of tutorials.

 Savannah loves her "Slippers!"

 Xander got the boysih cutters! I realized that I don't have too many of them.

 Notice the hair??? That silly little guy!

 

 Ingredients:
1 C Flour
1 C Water
1/4 C Salt
1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Cream of Tarter
Food Coloring 
Sparkles (For Fun!)
Sauce Pan and Wooden Spoon
Little helping hands.

I love doing crafts that my kids can help with! They just love to help! Savannah especially loves to pour and stir!  I like to talk to them and use it as a teaching tool. I have them make circles and other shapes in the pot with the spoon, and I try to teach them measurements and about being safe while using the stove. And, this is always fun on a rainy day!

 We love our flowers!

 I had to take the play dough away from him when he discovered that he liked the taste of it. Savannah tried to steal a taste every time she thought I wasn't looking too. LOL!

 We also love to use their play kitchen cups, knifes, and plates and stuff too with the play dough. We cut, roll, smash, and practice using our imagination and make tea parties!

Play dough can be lots of fun! And I love my little helpers who are usually, pretty good at helping mommy clean up!