Posts by admin:
- 6 large plums, seeded and sliced
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 3 Tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup whole wheat spelt flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 6 Tablespoons coconut oil
Friday Night Under the Stars + Brandywine Polo
September 17th, 2012
I hope everyone had a great weekend like we did. I felt like we were able to pack it in with fun activities. I find that we always enjoy finding new things to do when we live in a new place.
If you had not noticed I recently joined a new group called Philly Social Media Moms. I think the title fits everything that is my life plus much more that a lot of people do not know about me. I thought it would be a great fit for me because it would be a great group to meet other mothers like me. Well, I did not waste any time. One mom posted a great promotion to attend a polo match during a summer series called Friday Night Under the Stars.
This series started June 1st and ends September 21st. What was pretty amazing to learn is that the proceeds from June to August go to a non-profit charitable organization called All Riders Up, and organization that provides area residents with special needs a way to exercise. What a wonderful opportunity! Included with each ticket entry is a spot on the field to watch the games, music, and parking. You can eat on the grounds but that is an additional cost. The real great option is to bring your own food and have your picnic.
This event was definitely family-friendly and a very unique experience. Neither Ryan or I had ever been to a polo match so we eagerly agreed to pack up picnic items and blankets to make our 30 minute trek to the polo grounds.
When I say picnic items I only meant blankets, sweaters, baby food items and miscellaneous items. We decided we would try the food on the grounds which we later regretted. There was little tent that offered wine and beer along with some grilled foods, like hot dogs and hamburgers. I was excited to try the BBQ. Note to self, I am from Texas and BBQ in the East is so not like Texas BBQ.
I took one bite of the beans and said NO! It was full of cinnamon and too gooey. Gross. The pulled pork sandwich, well it was pork and gross. I prefer brisket. The corn was probably the best thing on the plate. That food went to waste I have to say. Chipotle was consumed a few hours later. 🙂
The polo games were quick but fun to watch. What was great was watching Julianne enjoy the horses running back and forth on the field.
She was easily distracted with the kids running around but as soon as the players came by our area, she was flapping her arms like crazy. Oh, the plus was getting to meet 3 other Philly moms from the group. It was nice to have a social gathering meeting total strangers which is better than going and not knowing anyone, right?
I would totally go again! Another plus was the 2 hours of music after the polo matches were over. We stayed for another 45 minutes despite the baby’s bedtime. She loved seeing the stars, the dogs running around and the band playing.
The group playing is called 2UESDAY NIGHT BAND. They were pretty decent for a party and dance band. There were kids dancing and adults getting up and doing the boogie dance. It was a lovely ambiance. After 2 hours, we headed out and called it an evening.
This event was a great start to our weekend and I recommend anyone to try it once. 🙂
Sharing is Caring!
Buddy Fruits Review
September 14th, 2012
While we were making out trek from Michigan to Pennsylvania I discovered this fun company while shopping in the early morning at Wal-mart when Julianne woke up real early. I first thought I would not be that mother that bought prepared foods but then I quickly found out that I kept running out of time and we found ourselves traveling a lot.
Food pouches to the rescue!
What intrigued me about Buddy Fruits? This company has a lovely story behind it. The owners, Fabian Milon and his wife, are French and when they found themselves in the US, they found it hard finding fruits and fruits pouches for their child. He was a restaurant owner in France and his wife a banker. Apparently, fruit pouches are very popular in France and so they decided to make it popular in the US.
Buddy Fruits does not only make fruit pouches but they also make smoothie pouches made from coconut milk and skim milk. They superfruit pouches and gummy candy too.
Did I feed Julianne the gummy candy? Of course not! Those were for me! Hee hee. They are dairy and gluten-free and under 100 calories. ALL-NATURAL gummies or fruit bites. So delicious!!
What did Julianne like? Well, every time she see a pouch she get so excited. She KNOWS it is food and demands it at once. It is quite hilarious. DO you know that she can finish a pouch in 1 minute? Each pouch contains 3.2 ounces and sometimes it takes 2 pouches to satisfy her. 🙂
Do you know that Chick-Fil-A carries these pouches? It is quite exciting! Even though they sell fresh fruit I give her the pouch because it is pureed and easier for her.
These are all 100% fruit with no added sugars so I know that my child is receiving full nutrients. Even though we received some pouches with skim milk, I did not feed these to Julianne. I am not feeding her dairy so I could not try these.
I chose to let someone else to try them. Now I need to find the pouches with coconut milk. Yum!
If you get a chance, go to Wal-mart, Wegmans, Acme and more markets by checking out more locations HERE.
Thank you Buddy Fruits for making our feeding experience delightful and healthy!
Disclaimer: This review is entirely my own opinion. I was not compensated but only received the product for general review.
Sharing is Caring!
Orange-Scented Plum Crisp with Oatmeal Spelt Topping + GIVEAWAY
September 11th, 2012
I am seriously loving our fall weather lately! I have been very tempted to put the heater on already but I know that that is just plain silly.
We have taken our walks very seriously lately because it just feels so nice and it is just a nice break from being cooped up in the house. Julianne loves it. She stares at the sky, clouds and gets excited when she sees an airplane or helicopter. It is just precious.
We have been enjoying a lot of crisps lately because not only are they quick they are so delicious! Our local grocer has been carrying all kinds of plums and all I can think of are these yummy crisps.
I continue this week with another giveaway and with the same whole grain theme since, if you have not heard, September is Whole Grains Month.
So won last week’s spelt package? Karen Goodwin Delaney!
No worries if you did not win last week because you have another chance to win this week. This contest will run weekly until the end of September so it could be you next time!
I know you can’t wait to get your hands on some of these products because I have been enjoying them a lot. I had never tried a crisp or crumble with spelt flour before but even though I could not taste the difference I know I am getting the healthy benefits out of the flour.
Like I said, this dessert is super easy and very flavorful and perfect for fall evenings. I like the added crunch that the almonds give to the topping.
Orange-Scented Plum Crisp with Oatmeal Spelt Topping
by Noelle Kelly
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Keywords: bake breakfast dessert vegan recipes on recipage vegan spelt plums Oats summer winter
Ingredients (4 servings)
Filling
Topping
Instructions
Grease a 9×9 dish or a 9-inch pie or tart plate and preheat oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit.
Slice plums and place in a medium bowl. Add vanilla paste, cinnamon and sugar and mix well. Pour into desired dish.
Prepare topping: Melt coconut oil and pour into a medium bowl. Add the oats, spelt flour, and sugar and mix well. Add sliced almonds.
Spread evenly over the plum filling and bake for 30-35 minutes until the topping looks golden. Cool slightly and serve with favorite frozen vanilla ice cream.
Powered by Recipage
Check out the giveaway and if you cannot wait to get your hands of some of this flour, Vita-Spelt is running a special now.
Buy two 5-lb bags of flour and shipping is only $5! What a deal!
Enter the giveaway that starts today and good luck!
Sharing is Caring!
Mushroom Festival + Highlights
September 10th, 2012
Yay for a new week! Yes, I am excited even though I wanted the weekend to last forever. We enjoyed our first Pennsylvania festival in Kennett Square, a place known as the mushroom capitol of the world. They have more mushroom growing operations than anywhere else which is pretty boggling to realize.
I was happy to find out that Travelocity voted The Mushroom Festival as “one of the top 10 festivals in Pennsylvania. They are also featured on the Food Network’s All American Festival show.”
How cool is that? We were so glad we went!
We arrived 30 minutes after the festival started so even so there were a lot of people. We wanted to arrive early because there was a huge storm in store for the are later in the afternoon plus we have Julianne and we figured we could just take advantage of the time.
The festival ran through the downtown and most storefront restaurants had booths set up for lunch, even if lunch meant brunch or early lunch. Here are some sample menus:
Of course these places had mushroom-themed dishes while there were also non-mushroom-themed food. There always has to be some festival food available for those who just do not like mushrooms.
Don’t these menu items look simply delicious? I will show you what we chose a little later.
There were art and pottery booths featuring mushrooms. I thought this was the most unique booth. Looks a little like something out of Lord of the Rings, no?
It turned out to be a very hot day even if hot meant high 80s. It felt like 90s with the humidity. I am so glad we brought our own water too. The crowds kept on growing and growing too! There were lots of families and lots of excitement.
We visited one of the demonstration tents where farmers explained how the mushrooms were grown and the types of mushrooms that were available. I have always loved mushrooms but somehow after seeing the process, fungus surely stuck in my mind.
I think I rather keep the picture of packaged mushrooms in grocery stores in mind form now on or maybe it is the fact that I am pregnant that made me a bit squeamish, yes, let’s go with that.
King Oyster mushrooms. YUM! So beautiful and magnificent at the same time. I believe I have used this in a mushroom soup.
Anyone ever had Hen of the Woods, or Maitake mushrooms? I do not believe we had but we sure did have them in a dish. They look so cool.
Yellow Oyster mushrooms look like they should be growing on the side of a tree.
Let’s get down to the eating portion of this post. You knew it was coming right? We, of course, had to try fried mushrooms so we split a bowl of button mushrooms. They had jalapeno and cheese poppers but we decided to go with the normal ones. They were so good and crispy.
Julianne wondered why she only got an applesauce pouch for lunch. She felt jipped let me tell you. 🙂
Ryan and I split a mushroom mac n’ cheese that was SOOOOOO good. This is the dish that had the Maitake mushrooms as well as some Shitake mushrooms. SO have to make a recipe at home.
We also had a Mushroom Spring Roll but the picture came out crappy and it turned out to be either too salty or weird tasting.
We headed to the children’s area where Julianne could see some fun action, like the limbo! She actually got excited to see the juggler! It was so cute.
I think one of the most unique things I had to eat was my cremini mushroom popsicle. Yes. Mushroom popsicle. It was store-made in town. I simply had to taste.
You know, it was strange at first but then it grew on me and I ended up eating the whole popsicle. Ryan had a bite and called it quits. It tasted quite unique for sure!
Another exciting opportunity we had was to watch a cooking demonstration by Antonia Lofaso. I had heard of her when she competed in the Top Chef series but I never got to watch it because we did not have cable. It was pretty neat seeing her prepare a warm salad with an assortment of mushrooms. It was also neat seeing her poach an egg in water. I really have to attempt doing that someday.
We did not get to sample the salad but I knew I had to prepare it at home. I probably could not have eaten another bite after all the goodies we had.
My body probably could not take anymore too because a present that the festival left with me was a gift of hives. Yes, I broke out in hives on both legs after leaving the festival. Not quite sure if it was the heat after 3 hours of walking and perusing the streets or the mushrooms, all I know is that my pregnant body did not like something.
Darn hormones.
Ever gone to a fabulous festival?
Don’t forget to enter the Whole Grains giveaway. Today is the last day to enter. Winner is announced tomorrow.
Sharing is Caring!
10 months old + Normalcy
September 5th, 2012
So it feels like our life is settling a bit for having moved in just a month ago. I think I put a speed track to it because I HATE having boxes around. I have a claustrophobia issue and well who likes feeling boxed in anyway?
We got to visit daddy at his new office at the university. I showed Julianne around even though it was quite past her bed time.
Julianne has been very much enjoying our new home. She has so much more space to roam and discover despite a few tumbles. I am teaching her about the little step from our entrance. Showing her and teaching her depth of perception is really neat. I figure if she bonks her head twice it is enough to figure it out. I love seeing her process it all!
We have a dairy / creamery farm right across from where we live so I decided to take Julianne to see the farm animals. She loved putting together the sounds of her farm toys to the real animals. It was really neat to see her take it all in.
Another neat thing we have in our area is a farmer’s market. It is a little pricier than the ones in Michigan but they are unique. There was even a food truck that was featured on Food Network!
They had gluten-free, vegan and regular cupcakes.I purchased their Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake that was egg-free since they ran out of all vegan cupcakes. I took it home and shared it with Ryan. It was super delicious. I cannot wait to try some of their other flavors earlier in the day.
We obviously were having a great time despite it being humid and hot. It was nice to have an outing from being cooped in our home. There were several instrumentalists playing which intrigued Julianne.
Our Julianne turned 10 months this past weekend and she has been standing up and wanting to stand on he rown for the past 3 weeks. She is gaining lots of strength too! This toy plays music and car instructions in English and Spanish. She loves it!
Julianne also has a big appetite. I gather this is from her continuous growth spurts but she happened to find a bag of goodies in her diaper bag and proceeded to tear it open and eat it. We are having all kinds of adventures. Every day is a new day and I thank God for the opportunity to raise this child
Don’t forget to enter the weekly Whole Grains giveaway!
