White Bean Chocolate Cake

White beans are my new favorite friend.  They let me eat sweet desserts and fun breakfast foods (waffle recipe and zucchini muffin recipe coming soon!) that actually still taste like treats, not sad replacements for the real thing.

This recipe is an adaptation of the coconut flour brownies I've been making, and as much as I do enjoy those, this comes out a little less "wierd health food" and more like a very chocolatey cake.

White Bean Chocolate Cake

1 cup cooked and drained white beans

5 eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 Tbsp. almond flour

3 Tbsp. coconut flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor (or blend beans in blender and then use a mixer to add in the rest of the ingredients). 

Pour batter into an 8x8 pan.  Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the center is no longer jiggly.

Frost with topping of your choice.  This isn't a super sweet cake, so if you want it sweeter, use a traditional frosting.  Otherwise, you can top with whipped cream and berries, or just leave it as is.  

A Little Two Much Responsibility

We've been working on independence and responsibility for ourselves this summer.  I decided that as long as I was going to be the kids' full-time teacher, I might as well teach them some useful life skills this next year, along with everything else.  Actually, Daddy-o and I have been meaning to get some regular chores set up for years, but the last couple years have been full of pregnancy and baby distractions. 

And really, its more work for us to have them do things than just doing them ourselves, and more work did not sound fun these last 2 years.  As evidenced in the picture above, having them fix their own lunch or snacks can lead to disasters (but Bug now knows that pouring his yogurt from the container is not an efficeint way to serve himself).

But with Bean turning 8, we decided it really is time.  It's not that they have been doing nothing--they have set the table and cleared their own places for years.  They occasionally will pull the laundry from the dryer for me, and we all do a lot of picking up together, but they are so much more capable than that.

So now, they have morning chores which we do before we start that day's activities--emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming, feeding the dog, watering flowers, swiping the bathroom, starting the laundry.  It's only 15-20 minutes (if they stay focused--I haven't figured out how to make that happen yet). 

The laundry has been fun for them and a huge help for me--I just made a chart to show them where to set the washer and dryer for each load and then I bring down my laundry load of choice for the day.  They're getting pretty confident in how to put the load

And then we all work for 10 minutes in the zone of the week (following Flylady zones).  We also have laundry folding parties, a before-dinner pick-up, and a table setting/helping with dishes rotation.

 It goes a long way towards keeping the house from getting out of control, even with three kids around all day every day.  Once we can stop dragging it out for hours, I think we'll actually get a lot done.  And they are also learning how to clean up the messes they make along the way--good life skills.

Birthday Fun

 I got to spend my birthday with my three favorite kids and I took the day off from as much as I could--no church responsibilities, no schooling, and no laundry. As Bean pointed out in the afternoon, ("You aren't really doing anything exciting for your birthday,") it can be a little tricky to celebrate mid-week birthdays.  Daddy-o always takes good care of me, but having to go to work kind of hinders the reach of his abilities.  And I just couldn't come up with anything new and exciting that was indoors (high of 98 made that a must), not too expensive (the kids wanted to "take me" to Great Wolf Lodge), and a good fit for Peanut, as well as the rest of us.

We did go out to breakfast at Cafe 100, where I had probably the best omelet of my life--roasted veggies and cheddar cheese (yay for Peanut seeming ok with ME eating cheese--wish he could join in, too).  And we spent an hour at the craft store where they only asked me for a dozen or so things (and I went ahead a bought a couple of them), and then came home for some quiet reading time while Peanut napped and then a short swim (shortened even further by some tantruming--it would have been unrealistic to think that we could have a whole day free of tears and yelling).

We did birthday dinner and presents Friday, so I actually got a 2-day celebration!  No complaints here on the stretched out birthday.  And then some Olympic watching--which is fitting.  My mom always talks about how she was watching the Olympics and eating lots of cheesecake the week before I was born and then I interrupted their viewing that night.

This dessert was a very nice replacement for my typical cheesecake.  Raw Lemon Pie from here.  It's made from soaked cashews and Daddy-o was even pleasantly surprised by the flavor--reminiscent of a key lime pie.  For anyone who's brave enough to try the recipe: we did the lower end of the lemon measurement, packed the measuring cup pretty full with the cashews.  And while it might be more healthy than a dessert made with refined flour and sugar, it still is very much a dessert--very rich, and tons of honey, so I suppose I shouldn't eat the whole thing in one (or even two) night(s).

Raw Lemon Pie

Crust Ingredients:
1 T. honey
3/4 c. almond flour
1 T. coconut oil, melted

Filling Ingredients:
1/2 c. raw cashews, soaked in water 1-2 hours and drained
1/2 c. honey
1/3-1/2 c. freshly sqeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/2 c. coconut oil, melted

Equipment needed:
6 inch spring form pan
powerful blender such as a Vitamix or Bosch

Method:
1. Combine the crust ingredients in the spring form pan mixing with a fork. Press into bottom and up the sides about an inch. Set aside.
2. Combine all filling ingredients in blender and blend on high 1-2 minutes or until creamy. Pour into crust and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Garnish with whipped cream, lemon slices, or fresh raspberries.

Summertime. . .

I know it's been quiet on here.  This summer has been going a little too fast and I'm not sure where all the lazy days have dissappeared to, but we're hanging on for the ride, for now.  The end of swim team was supposed to bring productive mornings, lots of long afternoons at the pool, playdates with friends, and that general feel of summer that I love.

Instead, we've had thunder storms most afternoons (its been two weeks since we've been to the pool!), morning chores dragging on for hours some days, and so many meetings and interruptions that have left me totally distracted and wishing that I could rewind to the summer four years ago when we first moved here and had nothing more to do  than explore our new city and take lots of naps.

It doesn't help that we've had a run of illnesses the last 3 weeks that have hit all of us at least once.  Daddy-o and I are still fighting sore throats and general icky-ness, but I'm really hoping this is it for awhile and we can finally get around to enjoying more of our summer!

Championships

Swim team is over for the season.  Last Saturday, they had their championship meet with all 4 teams.

 Bean's surprise event of the day--25 yd. breastroke.  She not only got a personal best of 30.27 seconds, which is about 4.5 seconds off her previous fastest time, but she ended up with a 10th place ribbon (out of 29 kids, so not bad!)  Our team is by far the smallest of the 4, and I think has the fewest year-round swimmers, so we had prepped her to just go for personal bests and not worry about placing, so that was a bonus.

Bean's other big achievement of the season--she can dive!!!  She practiced hard the last week or so and it all came together.  The blocks were too high up at the pool for Championships, so she dove from the side, but she went in head first!

 And last night, they had the award banquet and the midnight swim.  What a fun way to end the season! 

We didn't make it until midnight, although I think Bean could have, she was having so much fun and was totally wired.  Bug was freezing (wouldn't you know after a week of near 100 degree temps, it dropped to the low 80's yesterday and last night was actually chilly), and it was already past my bedtime, so I had to pull them out at 10:30.

This has been such a great experience.  Intense time commitment, but really fun and a good way for us to get to know some of our neighbors better.  We can't wait for next year when we'll have two swimmers!

20 Pounder!

 14 months and he weighed in at 20.4 pounds!!!  Honestly, if he hadn't gained some weight this last month, I would have been pretty discouraged.  He's been eating constantly and there isn't much more we can do.  Also on the eating front--he now seems to be tolerating nuts (which I think the almond butter is helping his calorie intake), he LOVES coconut flour waffles, bananas, watermelon, and cooked carrots.  His beverage of choice is still water or breastmilk.  Haven't convinced him that coconut milk is any good.

Other achievements this last month--first tooth came in a couple weeks ago, he's cruising a lot, has let go while standing a few times lately and can balance a couple seconds, says, "Ah, oon" for The Little Green Frog song, which he loves, and calls Bugaboo "Buh".  He loves the pool now, although still doesn't love the kids splashing him, has learned how to "fish" with his magnetic puzzles, and discovered the craft room, which is now his favorite place to try to sneak into if he can get there before we realize where he's going.  Sleep is still terrible, but everything else pretty much makes up for it.

Diving Board Fun

 One of the benefits of joining swim team. . .

 Lots of swim time at a pool with a diving board.  Our neighborhood doesn't have one, but the neighborhood we swim with does!

 And this little Bug has had fun with the diving board.

 Bean likes to join him after practice gets done.

 They both have gotten pretty good at cannon balls.

Bean has also been working on her dives.  The coach finally pulled a couple of them to the side today, last practice before the championship, and worked with them for 30 minutes on going in head first instead of letting those feet sneak in.  We'll see if it sticks for tomorrow!

Happy 4th!

 This year has felt a little strange--no symphony, no parade (it was just too hot today), and we didn't even make it to the pool because there was thunder during the 2 hours we were planning to swim, but we did make it to a firework show last night.

 We tried out the one and the US Whitewater Center this year.  While the center is pretty cool and the kids loved climbing around on the rocks and watching the rafters go by, the show itself wasn't anything special and the no outside food policy was pretty dissappointing (we'd brought along a picnic dinner like we always do for the other show.  I think we'll stick with our normal tradition in the future.

And this little Peanut--thanks to a 3.5 hour nap earlier, he had a great time crawling around on the blanket for hours, playing with water bottles and being silly.  But once the fireworks started, it only took him about 30 seconds to turn into a whimpering mess.  Luckily, some snuggles, and me holding his ears, got him through the show.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.

Bug was trying to help us understand where some creatures, including the biggest monster ever, live and we ended up having this conversation about his "Lands":

Me: So, how many Lands are there?

Bugaboo:  3!  Scary Land, Silly Land, and Magic Land.

Me: So, are Scary Land and Silly Land part of Magic Land?

Bug: Silly Land is part of Magic Land, but Scary Land is its own place.

Me: So, what about all the things that are scary and magical?  Where do they live?

Bugaboo (without missing a beat): On earth!

Guess we do have a reason to be afraid.