Oh the joys of Halloween

This is our first Halloween that she cares about. I'm excited to are if she has the courage to ask strangers for candy. 

Vegan Lactation Cookies

I've been making lactation cookies for myself for the last few weeks. I feel like they give me a little boost throughout the day. My poor vegan husband looked at my cookie jar longingly and with sad puppy eyes. So this time around I decided to make the few changes to make them vegan friendly.

Vegan Lactation Cookies

1 C soy butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
4 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp flaxseed meal

3 tsp Egg Replacer mixed with 5 Tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla
3 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 C Thick cut oats
2 C Chocolate chips (box of dates, raisins, toffee chips, butterscotch chips, etc)
2-4 T Brewers Yeast or Nutritional Yeast

                                               

1.   Preheat to 375  degrees
2.   Mix water and flax seed meal in small bowl and set aside.
3.   In large bowl cream butter and sugars
4.   Add Egg Replacer mix and Vanilla; mix well
5.   Sift together flour, baking soda, yeast, and salt- mix into creamed butter and sugar
6.  Fold in oats and chocolate chips
7.   Scoop medium size balls on well sprayed cookie sheets, kind of squish them down a little.
8.   Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Vegan Apple Butter- Slow Cooker heaven

Tonight I canned some apple butter. It's like a 24 hour process, but so simple and completely worth the wait.
Yes, apple butter is inheirently vegan- but labels are important.

• 5 1/2 lbs apples  (I use winesap or honeycrisp)
• 2 1/2-4 cups sugar
• 1c apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 c apple cider/apple juice/water
• palm full of cinnamon
• quarter size of ground cloves
• nickel size salt

1. Peel, core, finely chop the apple.
2. Toss all ingredients in a crock pot; it may be too tall for the lid but it'll go down after a few hours.
3. Cook on high for about two hours, stir occasionally (stir occasionally throughout the entire cooking process)
4. Turn down to low and let it cook for 15-24 hours. You'll know it's done when it's a deep brown and holds its form. It should have lost all of it's loose liquid.
5. The more you stir or whisk, the smoother it will be. I like mine pretty smooth. 

I canned mine, filling about 4 pint jars.  But Tupperware and freezing it is also an option. Don't be afraid to go heavier or lighter with the cloves and cinnamon, it's all about personal taste.
We picked our own apples this year at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City. It was fun, we got to take the girls on a hayrack ride. And the fresh apples only cost us $1.50 a pound.

The itti bitti awesomeness

I've had one itti bitti in my stash for quite a while now. It was a door prize at my favorite diaper store's grand opening (Top To Bottom Baby Boutique). I got one bitti tutto and a pack of the ultimate wipes in a luxury wet bag.

For about 2 months it seemed like the odd ball in my stash, the novelty amongst solid go to diapers. But in the last month or so I've really come to love it. I haven't had any leaks. It dries quickly. And once I YouTube'd the snap configurations- I love the soaker options it gives me. I even use it at night with no issues.

I really appreciate that it is so slim and good for my taller baby. The minky outer is nice, it's not vital to anything but who doesn't love soft fuzzy fabric? The feature I REALLY appreciate about my bitti tutto is the snap spacing. Some diaper snaps are horribly spaced and the cross over snaps never match up right.  This diaper has perfect snap spacing.

Obviously- I reccomend these diapers.
I love the wipes too. Super soft. My only complaint- they are a little too big. Oh my only other complaint- the wet bag doesn't have any kind of loop, handle, or strap.

Half Way Done, 5 Week Testing at Farrell's

This is fabulous week 5 of my 10 week program at Farrell's eXtreme Body Shaping. We did initial testing during week one, we do this mid way testing, and again at the end of ten weeks.

I improved on EVERYTHING (except weight). I'm 100% confident that my measurements and strength more than justify the static weight. My stats thus far, are as follows:

Weight	185	185
Body Fat %	33.6%	33.0%
Push Ups	20	57
Sit-ups	9	20
Mile Run	11:19	10:29

So, as you can see- I've gotten faster, stronger, and more flexible. This first 5 weeks has gone by so quickly. I love my 5am class. I love that it's loud and full and even entertaining.

Farrell's mid week 5

Today Was 1 of those cardio day Where you work your ass off I love it. Now my arms are killing but I can't wait to get on with my day.
I should apologize for the odd capital letter placement. I'm actually doing this from my car with speech to text. It may sound dangerous and dumb. But I'm a busy mother and I have no free time except in my car.

I'm really excited about 5 weeks testing I know that I've gotten stronger I'm really excited to see if I've lost any inches. But even if I haven't I feel fantastic everyday!  We're doing sit ups and pushups during the week. And on saturday we run the mile.

Speaking of the mile. I'm doing the beer and bagel run at quarry oaks on November 9th. I had convinced a few buddies to run with me. We'll see if they actually do. It's 4 miles if golf course, and after are the aforementioned bagels and beer.

Week 4 Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping Recap

Week 4 has been tough.
 We introduced several new exercises and started doing drop sets (6 reps, 8 reps, 12 reps- each one getting faster).
I did end up missing one class (no way I was getting out of bed). So I did a make up class at 6:30 pm. It had a totally different vibe, very mellow. End of the day classes are not for me. I need the big class at 5am- I LOVE my 5am buds

I haven't lost any weight. That might surprise you, but it's not a big deal for me. I know I feel stronger. I can tell my push-ups are better, I can actually do sit ups, and my planking kicks ass. So the weight will come off, right now I'm super excited to be getting stronger.

I'm getting pretty excited about the 5 week testing. Seeing if I've made any progress, well- I know I've improved I just want to know how much. I am totally drinking the cool-aid at this point. I think this is the way to get fit, stay fit, and live a happier life.

Nipple Jar

There are some ideas I am more proud of than others. This one is one of my favorites. It serves multiple purposes. I hate having missing, odd little bits lying around. Bottles are a big hassle to clean and keep all together. My solution was to toss the caps, nipples, and flat tops into a jar in the window sill. Sunlight is amazing, so why not? That's when inspiration hit....

1. A little dish soap, warm water, and a splash of vinegar. 
2. Shake or agitate with a bottle cleaner
3. drain, refill, drain
4. dump out on a towel to dry