Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (Gluten-Free): a sweet treat despite life's difficulties

My husband has multiple sclerosis.

This has been a part of our reality since he was first diagnosed in his early 20s. At times it has been extremely difficult. Other times, personally, I seem to forget (although I'm sure he never does). The thing is, my husband, John, appears to be the picture of health. He works out six days a week and eats "clean," meaning foods that are minimally processed and mostly organic. His healthy lifestyle has contributed to minimizing (or perhaps masking) his illness. However, every now and then, I am reminded that it is still there. It creeps under the surface, threatening flare up at any moment.

A recent MRI, revealing the further progression of his illness, prompted his neurologist to insist that he reconsider resuming his medication. (He has been living medicine free for several years with little to no relapses.) A difficult pill to swallow, rather needle to inject, John has yet to take this advice. His meds sit in the box untouched while he consults with his alternative doctor who encourages a more holistic approach.

"It starts in your gut," the doctor explains. We learn there is a possible connection between gluten sensitivity and MS. There are two recommended books/articles- The Wheat Belly Diet and The Best Bet Diet, both that preach the avoidance of gluten, among other things, to maximize health.

 

If it's a natural approach, my husband is all for it. Hence, in the new year, we have begun our gluten-free journey. Although I don't neccessarily need to go gluten-free myself, I am in it to show my support (fitting into my pre-Lila skinny jeans after 2 weeks of this is really just a perk). Plus, if he's going to do this, it makes sense to limit the gluten-containing products in our house. (Who needs bread, anyways?) 

 

When it comes to his health, John adapts to changes with ease. He just does it. "I don't eat gluten anymore." That's that.

 

I whine. First day, my stomach growls with complaints. "I want a muffin!!"

 

And so, I faced my first personal challenge in this lifestyle change-- I am a baker without flour! How is this going to work? My stainless steel Kitchen-aid electric mixer looks dull and rejected with the reflection of my pitiful face.

Baking is like therapy for me. I don't think about anything else when I'm baking. I can escape into the creative process and then indulge in the delicious finished product. But the best part (not to be corny) is sharing these sweet treats with other people. When I worked at a bakery, I sometimes would peek from the back to see a child's face when her birthday cake (that I made), adorned with her favorite character, was revealed.

And I loved that my husband loved my ginger cookies and my rum cake and... now what?

Apparently, this is not as big as a problem as I thought. With a quick Google search I discovered a plethora of gluten-free baking recipes. {Sigh of relief.} I also consulted some friends who have gone gluten-free.
 

This is my first attempt at Gluten-Free Muffins, adapted from wholelifestylenutrition.com. I have to say, they are delish!

 A sweet treat for my hubby and me...

 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (Gluten-Free)

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 2 very ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed
• a handful of mini dark chocolate chips
• a handful of mixed nut and ground flaxseed topping
• cooking spray

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375degrees F.
• Blend all of the ingredients together (except for the nut topping).
• Spray muffin tins with cooking spray (I use a mini-muffin pan).
• Scoop in batter, 3/4 full. Sprinkle with the nut/flax topping.
• Bake for about 10 minutes (Caution- keep a close eye on them. They bake quickly).

Health is wealth.
-Tara


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green smoothies for our girls

One of our new year commitments is to drink more green smoothies. Our go-to place for the best green smoothie recipes is online from some of our favorite health bloggers.

Here are Ellyn's top three smoothie tips:

1. Remember the liquid base!

Full Plate Blog is often my first stop for green smoothie inspiration. I like to follow the basic recipe for most of our smoothies: 

2 cups liquid + 2 cups packed greens + 2 cups fruit = 3 (2 cup) servings

When I first started making smoothies, I would sometimes add veggies and fruit without any liquid. This works for very water-based items like watermelon and cucumber, but most smoothies need a bit of extra liquid to get the right consistency.

Once I put in the two cups of liquid- mostly water for us, but sometimes almond milk, almost any other combinations of fruits, vegetables, and nuts seems possible. I think the experimentation element of making smoothies is something that appeals to me. Even if I make a combination I don't like, it's only a few minutes of time and a few ingredients, so it doesn't feel like a huge loss if it doesn't work. It probably helps that I end up liking almost everything in my smoothies, with the exception of celery. 

2. Make your smoothie fun by drinking it in a fun cup or mug.

Kris Carr, author of Crazy, Sexy Diet was my original inspiration for trying green smoothies. I saw her speak at a workshop and she makes many compelling arguments for the benefit of drinking daily green smoothies, most notably that her green smoothie regimen helped to put her cancer in remission. Kris is good at making eating well feel fun. I like her tip to serve green smoothies in a mug or cocktail glass, anything to make it more festive. Serving green smoothies in a mug is also a helpful tip for introducing green smoothies to kids, so that the color doesn't create a negative first impression. I like drinking my smoothies out of a mug in winter because it keeps my hands from getting cold!

3. Lemon is a favorite addition to most smoothies- it brings out the flavor of other fruits and veggies well. Don't be afraid to mix it up with adding different veggies or fruits if you don't have what the recipe recommends.

Here is Tara's recommended smoothie shopping list:

As Ellyn mentioned, one of the best things about making smoothies is the experimentation that's involved. Lila and Clara love the idea of making "potions" and "concoctions," so the green element makes it seem mysterious, scientific, and fun! Together, you can just throw in handfuls of veggies and fruit and see what happens. Using many combinations of the following ingredients, we've never made a smoothie we didn't like.

Veggies:

Carrots

Cucumber

Beets

Celery

Kale

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Collards

Other leafy greens

 

Fruit:

Berries (Tip- throw in the whole strawberry including the green stem!)

Banana

Apple
Pear

Citrus

Mango
Melon
Kiwi
Pineapple
Peach
Papaya
Coconut
Any fruit can be used... (Tip- Use frozen fruit instead of ice.) 

Main Protein Sources:
Protein Powder (i.e. Whey, Casien, Soy) 
Yogurt
Kefir
Silken Tofu
Milk
Nuts
Nut Butter

Other Ingredients:
Ground Flaxseed
Chia Seeds
Dark Chocolate
Cocoa Powder
Vanilla
Mint
Parsley
Ginger
Wheatgrass
Oats
Honey
Liquid Vitamins

Although the above is a recommended shopping list, most of the time we are able to whip something up with the random items in our fridge. Making smoothies has helped us to save what would be otherwise wasted food. When our veggies are wilted or our fruit is bruised, we throw them in a smoothie. This is helpful during the summer when we do our farm share-- sometimes we have so many vegetables we can't get to eating them all. So, a quick solution is to blend 'em and drink 'em up!

"To good health!"



A green smoothie is a perfect quick, healthy breakfast on a school day!

We encourage smoothie-makers to be creative, but if you are looking for a recipe, here's a great one to try from Whole Life Nutrition, another favorite smoothie source. This New Year's Day, Clara and Ellyn started the new year with their favorite green juice recipe:

Cucumber-Kale Green Drink

2 medium cucumbers 
3 large kale leaves 
small handful fresh parsley 
1 small lemon, peeled 
½ Granny Smith apple 

Place all ingredients into your blender. Use the machine as directed, then stir, and drink immediately.

Yield: about 2 cups 

Cucumbers and lemons are two of our favorite smoothie ingredients so we really liked this one. We didn't have Granny Smith apples on hands, but another apple variety worked fine.

Clara loves loading up the blender, and sometimes adding extra ingredients that she thinks would make a yummy addition. It's definitely a collaborative effort.



Our blender is ready to go!

Serving our smoothie in a mug helps to keep us warmer and feels more special!

The blender is loud, so Clara and I keep our ears covered while it is running. :)

The hardest part of the cleanup is cleaning the green moustaches off of our mouths!

Cheers! Smoothies are always better when shared with friends.

We would love to hear your favorite smoothie recipes. Please share in the comments.

-Tara and Ellyn

A year in a jar: Opening our 2013 Memory Jar

For the entire year of 2013, a simple jar sat on the mantel over our fireplace. There are many special items with special stories on our mantel, mostly gifts passed down from my grandmothers and even my great-grandmother. The jar looked rather plain in their midst, and yet, each time I looked to the mantel, it was this jar that made me smile most of all. It represented memories and very small moments of our year, moments that normally would pass without recognition.


In January of 2013, I made a commitment to write down favorite moments throughout the year on a small piece of paper and toss them in the jar. I didn't create too many rules around the activity, just that I could not open any of the notes until New Year's of 2014. It was surprising how much anticipation and excitement we felt around the opening of this jar. I can't say that it surpassed Christmas in anticipation for Clara, but every time there was a mention of opening the jar, I can attest to witnessing squeals and jumping. 

Some people call these jars Gratitude Jars, and others make the art of decorating the jar a creative project. I chose to call my jar a Memory Jar, and I liked that it was such a simple jar and that I could see inside how many memories I built. Although I think of my jar as a Memory Jar rather than Gratitude Jar, I can attest that I regularly felt a tremendous and inevitable sense of gratitude looking over at this jar each day on my mantel. Look at all these happy memories, I thought, look at all these good things that happened. It was hard to feel down when a jar of happy memories sat beckoning, reminding me of a year of blessings. And the fact that I couldn't open the jar for a whole year made the notes feel mysterious and special.

For 2013, I wrote about 99% of the notes. I am hoping now that Clara is writing more that I can encourage her to participate more this year. Nonetheless, the revealing of our yearly memories felt like a family bonding activity rather than a solo adventure. We ceremoniously poured out all of the notes upside down on the table, and then took turns pulling each one from the pile to read aloud.  

There was a lot of laughter as we recalled favorite events and remembered special moments that had already been forgotten. Many of the notes were memories of a funny thing Clara said. It seems like her unique pronunciation of words represented nearly 10% of what I wrote down. And I'm glad I did, because I already forgot many of these idiosyncrasies. The most resounding reaction as we read through the notes was "Awww, I remember that." And for the memories we had already forgotten, the reaction was a feeling of joy and wonder at reclaiming a lost moment.

Overall, creating this Memory Jar felt successful and meaningful. It helped me to appreciate events in the moment (Oh, I should write this down for the jar!, I often thought) helping to reinforce the smaller moments of life that wouldn't have a place in Clara's baby book or more formal places. The anticipation of waiting to open the jar created a sense of excitement in our house, and the joy of reading the year in review as a family reinforced our sense of togetherness. So, if you're looking for a family bonding, memory reinforcing event for the new year, I highly recommend trying out your own Memory Jar.

Here are just a few of the memories we recorded last year:

January 20, 2013
Clara wrote: I had fun going to Lila's thumbs-up party. I watched a movie and ate popcorn and gummies. I did a dance with the balloon for everybody. And I ate dessert.

January 22, 2013
Clara got a pink yo-yo today from Sophia's birthday party bag and she loooved playing with it. She said, "I'm really, really good at this. I should take a yo-yo class!"

February 17, 2013
Clara finds a quarter on a cold, windy walk around our neighborhood. "Will ten dollars and this coin pay for my college fund?"

The backstory on Clara's knowledge of the "college fund" is that she found a ten dollar bill on a neighbor's driveway just a few weeks before finding the coin. I told her she was a lucky girl to keep finding so many coins and bills. When we tried to return the said ten dollars to the neighbor, she told Clara to keep the money for her college fund. Ever since that comment, Clara has assumed that she will can pay for college from her piggy bank. How great it would be if college cost only $10.25!

March 2013
Making smoothies in our new blender. Clara always says "Can I have a try?" even if its rhubarb & kale mix. Her favorite so far is apple-pear-raspberry-rhubarb-almond butter-almond milk!

March 2013
Driving on a long car trip and having the radio pop on after more than a year of not working... just when I most needed it.


May 21, 2013
I love how Clara tickles the soles of my feet while I'm doing push-ups for my cardio workout dvd. So funny how Clara calls exercise "extracise."

May 27, 2013
Clara woke up this morning and drew us a Happy Memorial Day drawing with an American flag. All day, she said, "Happy Morials Day!" When I said it is pronounced Memorial day, she said "that's not how I say it!"

We had a picnic on the beach, even bringing our own grill. We bought a kayak today, too!

May 31, 2013
Clara was happy that it was the last day of school and soon she will be visiting Nonna and going to Switzer-land (she pronounces it like it is two different words, and a long "a" sound).

From a very hot July day: July 17, 2013
Popsicles at the playground after an afternoon of swimming. Jump into the pool and then walk over to the playground barefoot, cooled off. Swing. Climb. Play! Strong, in our bodies, the joy of summer!


August, 2013
Meeting our newest niece who is all smiles and love. Camping in Colorado and seeing the endless stars at night.

September, 2013
Seeing Matilda on Broadway. Staying up until 2am talking with my sister-in-law afterwards. Impromptu four-hour lunch the next day with a neighbor I barely knew. I really like unexpected meetups.

December, 2013
Driving along the Pacific Coast highway. Walking through Muir Woods. Finding a spot after a hike through the woods where I can lie down nestling into the earth and looking up at the tall trees. Feeling adventurous and independent.


I plan to type up all of the 2013 notes so that we have a record of our yearly memories. And we are already gearing up for our next year. 

Here is our 2014 Memory Jar with the first note of the year for each of us. Happy memory making!

-Ellyn

My daughter the skeptic and Santa Claus

I believed in Santa Claus until I was at least ten years old or maybe even eleven. My disillusionment occurred swiftly, in one fell swoop.

My cousin who is six months older than me seemed to have absorbed all of the mysteries of life in one jam-packed playground tete-a-tete and excitedly shared her newfound news: there is no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, and no Easter Bunny, and then proceeded to share the facts of life including a detailed description of menstruation. It was a bit overwhelming to have all of this information revealed at once. Although I had reason to believe the Easter Bunny did exist for a couple of years more, her information about Santa Claus proved true when I found the "gifts from Santa" stored in our basement weeks before Christmas morning.

I think that Clara, who is just five years old, has almost figured out the ins and outs of Santa all on her own.

The first clue came a few weeks ago when we were singing, "Santa Claus is coming to town." She noted that it seemed unlikely that Santa would be able to watch what every boy and girl was doing at all times while simultaneously making toys and supervising the elves in the North Pole. It seemed to be too much multi-tasking even for Santa. I didn't know quite how to respond, and so I suggested that she ask Santa that question when she saw him.

Since last year, Clara has been very suspicious of the different Santas we see at shopping malls or holiday events. "I don't think that's the real Santa," she reminds us at nearly every stop.

Luckily, the Santa at a local holiday event did look real to her, and she sat in his lap with excitement and a sense of wonder. Until he started talking. 

"His breath smelled," Clara said. "And he said my favorite color is pink, and it's not really. My favorite color is purple or every color of the rainbow." "And he said that he wanted us to leave baby carrots for his reindeer because the big carrot we left last year was too hard for Rudolph to eat, but we didn't leave a carrot last year!" Hmmm, I thought, maybe Santa should stick to listening rather improvising small talk.

Then, yesterday, as we sat surrounded by wrapping paper, wrapping Papa's presents, Clara looked straight at me with her Robert DeNiro death stare. She likes to imitate his Meet the Parents "I'm watching you" expression ever since one of her older schoolmates showed her how to do it. 

"I think you are hiding presents from me right now. Where are my presents?" Her gaze was unrelenting. I laughed nervously and agreed that I had some presents for her but reasoned that if I gave them all to her now then she wouldn't have them on Christmas. She kept staring. I felt she was one sentence away from asking if I was Santa before I quickly changed the subject.

I admit that it has always felt weird to me that one of the biggest holidays of the year is focused upon the lie of Santa Claus. As a Christian, there's already enough challenging ideas to explain to my daughter in this season like the virgin birth and returning to your birthplace to be counted for the census. It can be confusing to keep up with all of the Santa statistics in addition. But, don't worry, if Clara figures out that Santa is not real, I will make sure that she doesn't tell your kid. I'm not a fan of spoiling the magic for others.

Despite Clara's consistent skepticism about some of the details about Santa, she is, for now, still a believer. Whatever her concerns are about Santa, she did wholeheartedly believe in the Gingerbread Baby, a runaway book character who was eating candy in the gingerbread traps she and her classmates left around the school. Each day, she came home from school, with another exciting addition to the saga of the runaway Gingerbread Baby.

What I most want is for Clara to have a sense of wonder and awe around the beauty of Christmas and about life in general. So, I won't be terribly disappointed if she figures out the Santa ruse, but I hope that she knows that there is more to life than logic and reason and intellect. I hope she always maintains the ability to believe in wondrous things beyond our understanding.

-Ellyn

Sweet Potato Casserole for Thanksgiving

Most of the dishes at our Thanksgiving table are the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, orange-cranberry relish, and pumpkin bread recipes that have been passed down for generations. One of the newer additions to our family's table is this Sweet Potato Casserole recipe from my stepmother.

It is one of my favorites because the addition of the orange juice gives the sweet potatoes a sweet and tart flavor. I like that the potatoes aren't mashed in this recipe but have some firmness to them because they are layered in slices. I usually make this dish the night before Thanksgiving and refrigerate it overnight, and then bake it in the morning.

6 medium sweet potatoes

4 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup raisins

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup maple syrup

4 tablespoons orange juice

1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil sweet potatoes about 40 minutes until tender. When cooled, peel and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place in dish and dot with butter and raisins. Top with salt, cinnamon, and syrup. 

Drizzle with juice and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle marshmallows on top and bake for another 5 minutes until marshmallows have browned. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

 -Ellyn

What do you want to be when you grow up? Why not an engineer?

When shopping online for Lila's Christmas gifts, a quick internet search for "girl's toys" yields results such as: Fashion Headbands, My First Purse, My First Sewing Kit, Barbie Glam House, Disney Princess Hair Accessories, Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk, Disney Princess Castle... Princess, Princess, Princess, Pink, Pink, and more Pink! I've written about my frustrations with the on-going gender stereotyping that my own daughter has experienced- Not all girls want to be princesses!

Thank goodness for a breath of fresh air- Goldie Blox: Building games for girls to inspire future engineers. Debbie Sterling, engineer from Stanford, is the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox. Inspired by her math teacher to pursue a career in which women are underrepresented, Debbie explains that she would've never known what an engineer was if her teacher hadn't suggested it. How would she when toys designed  for girls to explore "grown up" roles are generally restricted to domestic tasks (cooking, cleaning, taking care of babies) or beauty and fashion (dressing up, styling hair, putting on make-up). With these limited options, what messages do our daughters receive about who they are and who they can become? I love it that Debbie Sterling is totally "disrupting the pink aisle" with toys that inspire young girls to bust through these archaic barriers. The Goldie Blox kits include a story book and construction set that allows girls to utilize their problem-solving skills while learning principles of engineering.

Like most, I discovered Goldie Blox through their highly successful commercial that has been circulating all over the internet. Moms are sharing and talking and giving each other high fives. The demand is there. We desperately want more toy options for our little girls beyond the "pink aisle."

I'm super excited that Lila will have Goldie Blox under the tree this year.

-Tara

 

 

My five-year-old, the wannabee teenager

My daughter is five years old, but if she could be any age, she would definitely choose to be a teenager.

Clara's eyes glow and her voice gets shaky with reverence whenever I mention someone who falls into the prized category of teen.

When we recently met a new person of said age, Clara turned to me whispering, "So, you're saying she is thirteen years old. So, that makes her a... teenager, right!?" as though being a teenager is the most magical thing one could be.

I am not sure what caused this absolute adoration of anyone between the age of 13 and 19. Perhaps it is because I teach teenagers. Perhaps it is because being a teenager is just close enough to her age that it seems a reasonable reach, more attainable than adulthood. Whatever the reason, Clara is absolutely hooked on the idea of being a teenager.

At some point about a year ago Clara and I witnessed a situation where a teenage girl was being rude and dismissive to her mom. I mentioned to Clara that sometimes teenagers think they are "too cool" for their parents and try to separate from them. I was trying to teach Clara that this is an annoying but necessary and natural stage of development.

Instead, Clara took my use of the word "cool" quite literally. She believes that spouting the word "cool" must be said in direct proportion to the number of times that "teenager" is said.

Whenever I mention someone who is a teenager, Clara turns into this valley girl teen from the 80's spouting phrases I haven't heard in twenty years: "Oh my gosh, like, wow, this is so cool." "Cool, man!" "That's cool, right, mama?"


Clara took me for a trip down memory lane this week when she asked, "Mama, were you cool when you were a teenager?"

"I was well liked. I had friends."

"That's not what I'm asking. Were you cool?"

I did not consider myself to be a particularly cool teenager. I was cool in the sense that I was an individual and followed my own passions. But I wasn't cool like the goth girls who went to raves every weekend or the preppy girls who had their hairs teased to the sky with their matching plaid pants rolled up at the bottom who met up with the boys from the football team on the weekends.

I racked my mind for something that might represent coolness.

"Um, do you know what a prom is? It's a big dance where everyone gets dressed and at the end everyone votes for the prom queen and king."

Before I could finish my story, Clara interrupted, "And you were the prom queen, right, mama? So, you were cool."

"Well, normally the prom queen is the most popular girl, but in my case, I was running against all the popular girls and their votes got split, so I won more by being the nice girl than the popular girl."

"So, you were kind of cool?"

"OK, I guess I was kind of cool."

Clara seemed satisfied with the knowledge of having a mom who was semi-cool as a teenager.

I am still struggling to find the words to explain to my teen-dazzled daughter that sometimes being "cool" isn't actually the point. I want Clara to know that being cool is relative and temporary. As she gets older, I will remind her that being cool as a teenager is usually based upon other teenagers' views whose motivations are often full of insecurity and judgement.

To current and future Clara, always remember that the coolest thing to be is to be yourself.

-Ellyn