treat yourself in the thick of it

I don't know about y'all, but I for one am completely in love with Jessi's theme for November, In the Thick of It. As a working mom, wife, leader, writer and overall sinful perfectionist I find myself in the thick of it daily, working hard for myself and then realizing, daily, that God's grace is what I need more than anything.

Lately I have resorted to dealing with stress and anxiety via snacking constantly, sleeping instead of exercising, and otherwise not taking care of myself well. I'm not proud to admit it, but I know I'm not alone in these tendencies. I know there are other mommas out there trying to make it all work and sometimes we just feel like we deserve to eat something for all of our hard work. 

First of all, this notion is certainly true at times, we do deserve to give ourselves a little reward for working hard and loving well. But the problem comes when I choose to "treat" myself to something that does NOT do my body good and leaves me anxious or tired or unhealthy at the end of it. That's no treat, and I know it. 

I'm working on redefining the treat for myself. A treat should be something that I don't always have, but I also believe that a treat should also help me to feel better after eating it. Not sick or bogged down, but energetic and ready to keep working and playing. Something that helps me rather than hurts. Something that ultimately brings me closer to God. 

This silky soup is so easy to throw together. It has a truly luxurious texture that I find only comes from making your own pumpkin puree (it's seriously so easy - the canned stuff has nothing on this recipe!). I suggest making a large batch and storing it in the fridge for a fresh batch of soup whenever you want. The crisp apple is a great texture, and the toasted pecans add some great healthy fat and protein as well. 

I hope you guys can enjoy this soup as a way of treating yourself well. Rewarding ourselves in the thick of it doesn't have to be complicated and it can be good for us. Y'all enjoy!

SILKY VEGAN PUMPKIN SOUP WITH FRESH APPLES AND TOASTED PECANS

• 2 cups pumpkin puree, preferably from freshly roasted pumpkins like from this recipe
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional; if you're going full vegan maple syrup is a great substitute)
• 2 sweet apples (I love Honeycrisps)
• 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

Combine the pumpkin puree, stock, salt, pepper, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut oil and honey (if using) in a pot and whisk together. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the mixture reduces about 1/4 cup, about 10-15 minutes. Whisk it together again and allow to sit off the heat for a few minutes while you chop the apples. Serve hot with the fresh apples and chopped toasted pecans on top!

recitherapy AND grape leaves, oh yes!

Hey friends! Happy Thanksgiving!

I know you're probably eating up a storm of traditional holiday food today but if you need a recipe for tomorrow that will make your day-after-thanksgiving amazing, I know a girl:).

Or if you just need something read in while that turkey cooks/driving/while your husband is watching football, I'm here for you. 

Here is my precious friend Sid from Recitherapy! 

this is sid. She's kind of like a Lebanese Barbie doll with a crazy beautiful heart
 for Jesus and the voice of an angel.
I love her. 

...........

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope everyone has woken up to a home full of joy and thankfulness and is READY for the cooking, baking, praying, eating, laughing and cleaning up to begin! I for sure am and I'm so grateful I'm able to celebrate this beautiful holiday with my family... what a blessing!

Jessi, what an amazing, inspiring and encouraging woman you are... I am thankful for YOU.... For your transparency, your heart for your family and your desire to help women fully discover their potential as a daughter of Jesus. Thank you for letting me in on your life. Thank you for praying for those of us who read your blog, for really meaning it when you say it. Thank you for asking me to do this Thanksgiving post, I'm honored and blessed to be a part here! :)

Ok so I know it's Thanksgiving and you're probably in your pj's wondering why you're still sitting at your computer when you have 8 million things to cook... so I'm not going to keep you long! I'm going to give you a quick run down of how to make Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves! I know, I know, strange... but I was just telling my readers today that we like to use Thanksgiving as our excuse to make all the Lebanese food. Why? Because it's unique and different and we like to have variety at our Thanksgiving table! SO, if you've been looking for a little something to spice up your holiday meals, I hope you'll give these a try, they're SO worth the work! Here we go!

What you'll need:

• 1 or 2 jars grape leaves in brine - 1 or 2 depending on how many people you're having for dinner. Each jar usually contains 30-40 leaves.
• ground beef - the amount depends on how many jars of leaves you're using.. you'll probably need 2 pounds to start with.
• uncooked white rice- 1 cup rice per pound of beef
• 1 teaspoon salt- per pound of beef
• 1 teaspoon pepper- per pound of beef
• juice of 8-10 lemons
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves, pressed

Now, these seem trickier than they are so don't get overwhelmed too soon! Let's walk through it step by step!

• Mix together the ground beef with the uncooked white rice, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands as to not leave any big bunches of salt or pepper in one place. Remember, the rule is one cup of rice to every one pound of meat. And 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper to every one pound of meat.
• Take the grape leaves out of the jar and lay them in a colander in the sink.
• Lay out paper towels in an open counter space area.
• Carefully peel away one leaf at a time from the bunch and rinse the brine off.
• Lay the leaf on the paper towels, veiny side up, unfolding all the pieces off of itself so that it lays flat nicely. (veiny side up so that when you stuff them and roll them, the pretty front of the leaf is showing)
• Remove the large end stems.
• Now roll a chunk of meat in your hand, about 1 & 1/2 inch long (depending on leaf size) and place at the base of the leaf.
• Carefully, start to wrap the bottom, then fold in the left side, fold in the right side and continue rolling while gently pushing down to finish rolling the leaf around the meat.
• Place in a stock pot, no water or seasoning. (yet!) :)
• Continue rolling each grape leaf and laying in the bottom of the stock pot. Once you have just covered the bottom of the pot, one grape leaf deep, lightly salt and pepper that layer and start to pile the next ones on top of the others going in the other direction. This is to ensure that all the air and juices can get to each grape leaf!
• Once you've reached the top of your pot or you've made what you think is enough, place an inverted plate on top of the grape leaves. (no lid, just the inverted plate)
• Now take the pot over to the sink and fill the pot with water until you see the water just meet the plate. Cook on 'low' for about 2 hours, or until the water is mostly cooked down.
• After this is done, remove the inverted plate with tongs or kitchen gloves (the plate will be piping hot).
• Now pour the juice of the lemons and the pressed garlic all over the grape leaves, making sure to get it into all the spaces!
• Continue to cook this on low, now with the lid partially on for about another 2 hours, or until the skin of the leaves is tender.
• You're done! Serve by themselves, with hummus, or with anything and everything else on your Thanksgiving table!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! They are a tradition for us and an authentic original recipe from my Lebanese grandmother, Tata. I can promise you this... you won't find better grape leaves anywhere in the world! You can hold me to it. :)

Jessi, thank you, thank you, thank you again for having me. Praying blessings, and joy and love for you and your family today as you're enjoying this great holiday together! New friends, I'm so happy to meet you and I hope to see you again soon! Jesus, THANK YOU for all that you've given us... we are humbled, happy and so so grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy eating! xo

one percent, a call to action

In total honesty, I'm reaching a little. 

This has a TINY bit to do with healthy living, definitely a good amount to do with spiritual & community health, but it's maybe more like a 7% change. Meh, maybe 4%. 

You decide. 

So I know we already have a 1% change club, right ladies?! 

(that's my best beyonce voice)

(oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh oh)

But can we start another club?!
I've had this on my mind for awhile and this is my official call to action. 

I wrote about this a year and a half ago, but here is my official challenge. 

My initial club meeting and you're all invited. 

Will you make a meal for someone just because?

If you're single or childless, please don't tune out. If you're in college, stay with us. 

If you're a mom or wife or taker-carer-of-others or just a WOMAN, you know what 4 or 5pm looks like on a random hard Tuesday. Maybe you're sweating over all you have to do, or you're discouraged or lonely, or tired. Or frustrated with yourself. Or just disillusioned with Tuesday. The answer is always Jesus, to let Him do the fulfilling, but can you imagine if a friend called at 4:11 and say, "hey girl! Oh I'm just listening to Beyonce, prepping dinner, and thinking, I should really bring you some food tonight!". 

Would it change your life a little? 

Would it change your life a lot? 

So what if on a Tuesday or a Wednesday (or monday, thursday, fri, sat, sun.... ) that WASN'T the hardest for you, you just doubled up on what you had and took it to a friend. Single moms, moms to sixteen kids, not yet married friends, EVERYONE. Not just for a special occasion where everyone is already thinking to serve (new baby, adoption, death in the family), but for the person no one is really thinking to serve. 

It won't cost you much, but Lord willing - it will change your heart and theirs. 

And He'll get more glory. 

To get you started, I have the EASIEST (read: non-gourmet), CHEAPEST, filling recipe that can be doubled and made for two big families (or many portions for less people). 

vegetarian enchilada casserole

what you need: two cans black beans, two cans corn, two cans of diced tomatoes, some tofu (optional), chili powder & cumin, flour or corn tortillas, shredded cheese. 

Take two casserole dishes and layer like a lasagna: 

- diced tomatoes

- tortillas cut & pieced together to make casserole dish shape

- black bean/tofu/spice mixture mixed in food processor (or by hand with fork)

- corn

- cheese

- diced tomatoes

- tortillas

- bean mixture

- corn

- tortillas

- cheese

(bake at 350 for 20ish minutes) 

You can get crazy, mix it up, this just works best for me. 

Throw some fun ingredients in there, cilantro or fun veggies or meat if you so desire! 

This is just the CHEAP and EASY version. 

Grab a bag of tortillas for your friend and drop it off before dinner time. 

It won't make you any holier, but if you can spend some time praying for her/him while you make it, your heart will be inclined to them and the Lord. And you may just avoid your own 4pm slump. 

Will you try it? 

My goal is once a week, but they may be way too much or too little for you. 

Can we start a club? 

Will you ask your friends to join?

I think we should. 

Alright, despite my semi-reaching 1% change, I'm still so pumped to hear ya'lls. 
Link it up, ladies!

raw recipe numero uno

If you've got a one percent change, feel free to link up here! I'm not going to list one today, and I may switch off one percent changes with healthier recipes every week or so. 

It's getting a little hard to keep sharing GENUINE one percent changes, but feel free to keep linking up! 

I told ya'll a few weeks ago that I've been loving raw food and it's true, true, true. The more I read, the more I prepare (cause I'm sure not cooking it, hahahahaha) the food, the more I eat it, the better I feel. I haven't found too many great raw recipe sites, at least not any as great as some of the more well known vegan sites. 

(for reference, once again, my two faves are Peas & Thank You and Oh She Glows) 

But, without further ado - here is my favorite new raw recipe for 

RAW CARROT CAKE. 

Now, in full disclosure - this DOES NOT TASTE LIKE CARROT CAKE. It does taste like you're trying to make something healthy to associate with carrot cake. 

However, how great you feel after eating it and sharing it with friends or family is a feeling better than carrot cake. 

(crust) 

blend/process the following until you get a crumbly mixture - 

4 carrots

1 apple

1/4 cup almonds

4 dates

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

3 tablespoons lemon zest

(top with)

cashew cream

(blend/process: 1 cup cashews, 1/4 cup water, handful almonds, 

little vanilla, 3 tbs sunflower oil)

raisins, chopped cashews

Spread crust on plate and top with cashew cream. Refrigerate for a few hours or freeze for 20-30 minutes to help harden. It will still be soft and a little mushy, but ooooooh so delicious. I hope you super, super enjoy it! 

Ok, putting a link up - feel free to link up with 1% changes or just recipes to share!

Can't wait to see what you share! 

snow day, granola, benja!

I used to wake up early to check the news and see if school was cancelled. 

These days I wake up early to see if my husband has to go to work! 
I'm supposed to be unbiased - to want him to go to work so he can provide, etc. etc. 
But secretly, I was so thrilled the four inches in our front yard kept him home yesterday! 


After our new early morning routine (he works out while I watch and read - gooooood system), we declared the day a cuddle-baking-reading-Dora-watching-festival of a day. And I made this vanilla granola that I've been just itching to find time to make! It's not all that labor intensive but there's not many hours in the day that I can commit to checking on the granola while it's in the oven with three ankle munchers around, UNLESS it's a snow day and the hubs is home from work! Hallelujah! 

surveying the sights and assembling our ingredients

I adapted this recipe from several different ones, but my favorite addition was crushed freeze-dried-bananas from Trader Joes. My sweet friend, Sarah, told her mom how much I love the TJ's and how much I miss it here in Columbia and her mom works there! She sent us the sweetest bag of TJ's goodies filled to the brim. I figured I could either eat all the freeze dried bananas in one swoop or preserve them for the days to come in our granola. 

I think I made the better choice. 

crushed banana goodness

Also. Can I tell you about something else? 

It's becoming more and more rare that I get on the internets and brag on my kiddos for hours on end - but man, I love their guts. I could just write about the wonder and weirdness of them for hours and hours and hours. 

They're all my favorite. All three of them, my favorite human beings that ever walked this earth (besides their Daddy). 

Today I'd like to bless your life with a new segment we'll call......

Bits and Pieces of Big Benj 

(some things you might not know but you DEFINITELY should)

- did you know our Benja sleeps till about 10am on the daily? That is no joke. And that little man goes to bed at 7 on the dot and takes a three hour nap still. Must be nice. I seriously miss him most of the day, because I just enjoy his cranky little company. 

- Oh, I haven't told you? He's the grump of all grumps. He's a little cranky and we like him that way. He's kind of like the grandpa of our family, who's fussiness is endearing and delightful. 

- His best friend in this whole world is his "pupppeeeeee". His giant stuffed puppy that is literally six inches taller than him. He sleeps with it, takes it with him in the car, and I honestly don't know what we'll do when it comes time to wash that fool. 

- He is talking all the time now. Most of his phrase/sentences are extremely slurred and hilarious. Things like, "mommmmmeeeee wher dat pupppeeeeee?!" or "mommmeeeeee i wan dat snacckkkkkkkkk". I'll try and get some on video because they're kind of too cute. 

- Two of his most favorite things in America: cuddling and eating. Tonight, for our snow day dinner - we let the kids eat on the couch to be closer to the fire, and he was in HEAVEN. Sitting on the couch with blankkeeee and puppppeeee, while eating pizza? Benja says hollah!

ok, back to granola. 

I enjoyed the granola atop a serving of my favorite smoothie ever. 

Benja & the big kids got some pasta with "butter" for snow day lunchtime. 

Delish. 

I highly suggest. 

You know what else I highly suggest - trying out one of Mama Kat's writing prompts. 

I'm taking the plunge back towards big girl writing and trying one tonight. 

You should too! 

Oh, and definitely make this granola. 

And DEFINITELY have yourself a 

Benja or come cuddle mine.

benja's favorite granola

4 cups of old fashioned oats

1/2 cup of chopped cashews

1/2 cup of chopped almonds

1/2 cup of chopped dates

1/2 cup of chopped freeze dried bananas

1/4 cup of sugar 

1/3 cup of vegetable oil 

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp vanilla 

1/3 cup of honey

Directions: heat last five ingredients in a saucepan until almost boiling. Combine all dry ingredients. Mix wet and dry. Bake at 275 degrees for about an hour, mixing every fifteen minutes or so. To finish mine off, I sprinkled it with a small handful of kosher salt & flax seed each. Enjoy! 

smooooothie for the rough days

There's not many things I know about in this world, blog. 
I don't know how to parasail or grow a beautiful garden (though I believe that will be a 2012 goal). I don't know how to paint my fingernails without getting bits of dark purple around the edges. I don't know to get my two year old to go to sleep EVER and I certainly don't know how to get straight, smooth silky hair. 

Here's one little tidbit I do know -
if you're having a rough day because the day before you drove seven hours in the car with three toddlers and the smaller two screamed their heads off for the last three hours and you barely got any sleep and your husband woke up with the flu and you weighed yourself and were a little shocked but tried not to care and you never got out of your yoga pants kind of rough day, 
treat yourself. To a nice lunch. 

To be totally honest, I'd say I treat myself to a nice lunch almost every day. 
When those bebes pass out for naptime or at least I subdue them on the couch for an hour, I make myself a real, bonafide LUNCH. Usually a roasted sweet potato, or a black bean & spinach salad, or maybe if I'm feeling froggy I'll heat up a bean burger and feast on some veggie chips and hummus on the side. 
But for particularly rough days, I save this beauty. 
Healthy, beyond delicious, and the super hero green color convinces me that I can make it till 8pm. 

my favorite spinach smoothie
.5 frozen banana
1/2 cup almond milk
few cups of fresh spinach
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
1/2 apple
1 tbsp your choice nut butter
a few small pieces of dark chocolate
ice, if you so desire. 

It might seem kooky, but please for the love of all things delicious and wholesome - go with it. Just once.  There is so much goodness in there, you'll feel better by mid-afternoon. And if you don't, I suggest a second one at dinnertime. Or a roasted sweet potato. 

...............................

What's your fave smoothie, friend? 

friday domesticity report

I suppose this will be the post that concerns "homemaking".

Did anyone come up with a better name?

I think I like homefront. Or Domesticity Report.

Well, first and foremost - I'll tell you - about a week ago, I looked around my house and got a little panicky. We moved in about seven months ago, and while I love this little house - I couldn't believe how little I'd decorated. I have STACKS and stacks of frames outside in my garage, beautiful anthropologie lamps, a few pieces of art, and all I see around me is wall to wall beige and NO decorating. I think my mind was just so overwhelmed the past few months, it didn't even bother me - but now I can't look at the blank wall across from my sofa without getting at least one hive.

So I made a resolution to myself to try and decorate this home and make it feel extremely comfy, even with a ridiculously little budget. I found this idea and vowed to do it and started brainstorming a ton of little projects.... and then - we decided to move! Not because I was impatient with our lack of decorating, of course, but because we our friends have an amazing basement apartment they needed to rent out that is an AWESOME short term situation for us until we make our big move to Boston. So, no need in decorating THIS house - but I have lots of ideas floating around in my mind for our next one - even if it is short term, I'm hoping everything will transfer to MA well.

Here's what I'm thinking inspiration wise.

I'll let you know how that goes!

On to other matters....

Here is my laundry detergent recipe that so many of you mentioned! It's ridiculously easy.

Also - many online are for like 5 gallons. Mine is just for one. I don't have a five gallon container - so I just make it one every other weekish. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy and I cannot believe how well it cleans our clothes. Nick and I are both amazed. Seriously - do ya'll know what kind of coffee stains abound in my life? Major ones - this laundry detergent is powerful enough for all my coffee stained sleeves and toddler potty training accidents. And it smells HEAVENLY. Oh, and it's cheap. I found most of the ingredients at a big grocery store here and outside of the essential oil, all the materials cost under $10. And I'm sure they'll last at least a year. AT LEAST.

Some of you mentioned having good laundry recipes - I want to hear them!

ok, here it is:

Bring 1.65 cups of water to a boil.

grate 1/3 bar of soap (I use dove) and put in the boiling water

stir & dissolve.

Pour in 1 gallon of water & stir.

Add 1/6 cup of washing soda and

1/3 cup of borax. Stir.

While it's still in the pot, if you'd like to add any scents - now is the time. I don't have any certain amount you should add, just until you're worried it might be too strong I suppose! I use lavender & I honestly don't think I use enough. I'm going to start adding more, more, more until Nick says he doesn't like it.

Alright, up next week - bread baking.

As I delve into this little experiment, our house is like the anti-atkins association.

Thankfully I have a few good lady friends leading me, or who know what would happen.

What are YOUR good recipes for bread? Tell me!

(and - as a follow up to yesterday - I'll let you know what bang I'm going with whenever I actually decide, haircut is scheduled for next Wednesday!)