I found an awesome use for carrot pulp!

This is a pic of my newest creation, along with my morning coffee and a glass of milk...yummm...

So, I have a gallon Ziplock bag in my freezer full of carrot pulp from my last juicing. I've been searching high and low for a recipe that uses carrot pulp...there are some, but nothing that really caught my eye. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. And hour or so of tinkering around in the kitchen yielded some pretty tasty results! So here, for your viewing (or baking!) pleasure, is my recipe for Carrot-Banana Breakfast Medallions.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
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1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
3/4 c. dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 c. carrot pulp
1/3 c. raisins
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Instructions:

*Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with wax paper, spray with cooking spray and set aside.
*In a medium bowl, sift together first grouping of ingredients. Set aside.
*In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar.
*Add eggs and beat well.
*Add banana and carrot pulp. Mix well.
* Stir in raisins and walnuts.
*Drop batter by 1/2 cupful onto baking sheet. Bake for approximately 25 min., or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on baking sheet for 5 min., then remove medallions onto cooling rack.

These are great on the run or with a cup of coffee or milk!

It's been a while...

So, it's time to update my blog...it's been a while!! Here are a few recent pics of Gavin...Deklan is his same stinky self... "What?? The Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup Finals?? GO WINGS!"
He could stare at the fishtank for hours and hours... This is what you get when you sneak up on a baby and take a picture...
He's such a happy baby!!

So, things are going well on the homefront. I'm trying to round up some professional references for the agency, and I have to tie up some loose ends when it comes to paperwork. The whole CPR card fiasco is causing an issue yet again, so I'm just going to have to take the darn class again and get a card. I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach. It's getting more and more real...the fact that we could soon be gone from Florida forever! Wow. I've lived here for so many years of my life!

I'm going to start perusing the local thrift stores looking for wool...sweaters, blankets, etc. Until we settle down and buy a home where I have a craft area in which I can learn to spin, I'll have to buy my yarn. I've been talking about knitting a couple of soakers for Gavin, I just haven't done it yet. I also need to make some fitteds for Trav to use, and a couple of fleece covers. I want to venture into the realm of PUL, but first I want to knock out these first projects.



I learned how to wear Gavin on my back with my ring sling this week! Not the best picture ever, but here's what it looks like. I tried with my wrap (Tibetan high back carry), but it seems that my wraps are too narrow...18 inches in width. I'm thinking I'll need future wraps to be at least 22-24 inches wide to successfully do some back carries. I'd rather use a wrap for back carries...just seems more secure. My sewing projects are piling up!! I really need to get them done so I won't feel like I have a gazillion things on my plate when we head to CA...I'll have enough to do as it is, settling down in a new place, starting a new job, etc.


WWWWaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg for our stimulus check!!! Ack!

Well, I guess that's about it for now. I can't wait till I can post about WHEN and WHERE we're going when it comes to a contract!!

Gavin just pushed up for the first time!! I think this kiddo is going to crawl early...

Life in the ghetto

The bottom pic is what an intact tubing looks like. The top two pics are ours.

O.K. So I don't really live in the ghetto...we call it the 'hood. Typical low-income housing apartment complex. This is one of the sacrifices we made to come down and work with the business (knowing our income would be significantly less than what we were used to). It's not too bad, we think, as we first move in. It's gated, well maintained, in a decent area of town, etc. Well, we're so sick of living here now, we just can't WAIT to get out and get on our way to California! This morning I woke up and it seemed warm in the house. Well, it's not the first time our AC has bombed, so I didn't think much of it. "I'll just call maintenance when I get the kids up and dressed", I think to myself. Well, not two minutes after I realized there was an issue with the AC, there's a knock on the door. It's maintenance. He informs me that we'll be without AC for a while, they're not sure how long. I asked what was wrong. "Someone vandalized your AC unit, and cut the tubing to your AC. It's running, but it's not working." I ask how long...a day or two? He doesn't know. It depends on the weather (it's raining right now). So I think nasty thoughts about the packs of teenagers and pre-teens that lurk around our building, and go grab my robe. As I walked outside, I see my upstairs neighbors leaving their home. I ask if they are also without AC. Nope, it's just us. She told me how she heard a noise around 1:30am, and looked out her window to see the tubing flopping around like a snake. She called maintenance this morning, which is how they knew what was going on before I had a chance to call. I proceed out to the AC unit, where I find that all of the other units were untouched...only ours was vandalized. Someone had attempted to cut a large copper tube, but couldn't cut through it. It was, however, crimped completely closed. The tubing beside said copper tube was completely severed. My thoughts take me back three days to me calling the police on a pack of teenagers. They were standing outside of my building shouting and screaming profanity at each other late in the evening. Not only did it scare Deklan, but it also woke Gavin. I asked them nicely to be quiet or leave the area, I have children who are trying to sleep, etc. They were quiet, so I went back inside. As soon as I had closed the door, they started up again. I went back outside, and asked if any of them lived in this building. None of them do. I ask them to please go to their own building and cause a ruckus, but to please get away from mine. They glare at me and start swearing. I go back inside and call the police. They made a drive-by, and the pack dispersed. So, was it them who did it?? Maybe. Was it a random act of a vandal? Possibly. The point is...I WANT MY OWN HOME. So far since we've lived here, we've had our truck vandalized, our porch furniture stolen and then the new furniture broken, our water line broken, our gas line tampered with, our power tampered with, and now this AC issue. We've lived in two other similar apartment complexes, but even when the people were loud and their behavior questionable, they never vandalized. So here I sit, sipping my ICED coffee, windows and blinds shut and fans on, trying to cycle what cool air there is left and keep the hot, humid Florida air out, dreaming of California and saving for a downpayment on a house. We've moved so much since we've been married. Four times in six years. It's been by choice, of course, going on this adventure or that, but I'm SO ready to settle down into one place. *sigh* It's only a couple of years away!!

The moving sale went well! We ran it Saturday and Sunday, and made $420. Not too shabby!! I can't believe we made $420 on stuff we were just going to give to charity! I still ended up dropping off a trunk-load of stuff at Goodwill, the remaining things that didn't sell. This means we can now begin to PACK!! Woohoo!!!

Busy as always!

Ah, yes...he has discovered putting things up his nose! He actually got a piece of cereal stuck in there the other day, but thankfully the candy corn was too big to get stuck! As you can see, the boys are growing so fast! I can't believe that Deklan will be four in a couple of months, and Gavin is almost 4 months old! Speaking of Deklan, he's becoming quite the artist! He drew an elephant the other day, and you could really tell it was an elephant! Here is a picture of a whale that he drew:

I'm getting ready for the moving sale this weekend. I just can't wait till it's all done...blech!!

I came across this picture on a friends myspace page. I liked it so much that I just HAD to share it. The earth is, indeed, alive!! Is this possibly a female Ent?? Was ol' Treebeard wrong when he said that the Ent women looked so much like the Ent men that you couldn't tell the difference?? (Or was it Gimli who said that about Dwarf women? Anyway...) So here, for your viewing pleasure, is the Dancing Tree!

Nothing terribly important going on these last couple of days, just getting paperwork ready for California and getting our stuff ready to sell. These weeks are flying by and I have no idea how I'm going to have everything ready in time!

Mother's Day

*sigh* This Mother's Day was a little rough. Well, it was basically just like any other day...cranky kids, tired me, house needs cleaning, etc. Trav was working last night so he was sleeping today, which gave me no relief. Well, that's real life for you! Maybe one of these days I'll actually be treated with the opportunity to sleep in and have breakfast in bed!

Well, the NHL playoffs are on. Detroit has been dominating, and I'm hoping they win the cup this year. I think it'll be Detroit vs. Pittsburgh for the finals. That would be a good final series for sure!

Even though my day hasn't been the best, I'm sitting here looking at my boys...Gavin is laying on the floor "talking", and Deklan is tickling his feet, making him laugh. Every time Gavin laughs, Deklan announces "He laughs!!" Deklan is in his pj's, and they're both looking pretty darn cute right now. We make cute kids.

I've been looking at some spinning wheels today. I can't wait till I can actually start working on my "To Do/Learn" list. These are the contents of my list so far:
1.) Learn how to sew diapers really well.
2.) Get an embroidery machine and learn how to embroider/applique.
3.) Knit some woolies for Gavin.
4.) Learn how to batik.
5.) Learn different ways of dyeing/painting fabrics and raw materials (wool, angora, cotton...)
6.) Apply my newly-acquired batik/dyeing/painting skills to my ring slings.
7.) Set up an Etsy site for some of my stuff.
8.) Make some really groovy clothes with my new groovy skills (hand-batiked/dyed/painted).
9.) Crochet some produce bags.
10.) Learn how to work with paper...specifically, I want to make my own calling cards with Deckled edges.
11.) Learn how to spin wool, angora, and cotton (which would require purchase of a spinning wheel).
12.) Learn how to tie-dye in really cool patterns.
13.) Learn how to watercolor.
14.) Learn how to make pottery. My goal is to make my own dishes.

So, how's that for a master list? Yes, it does seem as if I want to be a jack-of-all-trades. I'm sure I'll be adding more stuff to the list as time goes by. I have so many creative ideas, I just lack the time and the means to make them happen at the moment. Maybe I'll have to wait until after California to do these things. Maybe I'll get into some of it while I'm there as a creative outlet for my stress. In any event, I'd love to do (or learn to do) these things. The ideas are literally overflowing...I write them all down so I won't forget.

Gavin is making me laugh! I'm on the laptop in my rocking chair. He's on his back, scooting and pushing himself around the ottoman! Slowly but surely, he's made his way over to me...and he was about 3 feet away when he started! Amazing, the determination of a 14-week old!

The future...

I'm so excited! I talked to the people at Agostini today, getting the ball rolling to get out to California! What's more, the lady that I spoke with knows about the school that Travis wants to go to (Shasta Bible College) because her mom went there! She's going to dig up the file that I had with them 3 years ago and email me with the info that needs to be updated. I'm jumping out of my skin, I'm so excited! I know that it's just the beginnings, but it's so cool to be back in this position again, gearing up for yet another adventure. And THIS adventure will allow us to save up enough money for a good downpayment on a house! I know I'll be sick and tired of the hours and the work, etc. in 6 months or so, but two years is a small price to pay to realize our dream of owning our home. I've also been digging around on the Frontier School website today (for Midwifery) and been thinking about the idea of 4 more years of school. Again, a small price to pay for the realization of my dream of being a midwife. I'll have to do their ASN to MSN bridge program first, which is a year, then 2-3 years thru the midwifery program. With 2 (or potentially 3!) kids, I can't see myself blazing thru it in 2 years. But who knows? Maybe it'll work out that way. I'm looking at the long run, and realistically, I'm about 6 years from where I really, REALLY want to be in life...in Michigan, in our own home, and finished with midwifery school. I'll be 33 years old. That's not too bad! If we spend two years in CA, I'll be around 29-30 when we buy our first home. Travis will be 34-35. That's not too bad, is it? In these 6 years that we've been married, we've learned so much! About people, about life, about finances...it's really exciting to look at the prospect of being out of debt with money in the bank for a downpayment and being able to apply all that we've learned! After we have a house, I want to get pregnant again. Then most likely, I'll end up pregnant again toward the end of midwifery school. That would be decent timing, I guess. One at the beginning, one at the end!!! Then we'll most likely be done childbearing (but who knows??) and I can concentrate on working a little more as time goes by. *sigh* In 6 years, Deklan will be 10 years old, and Gavin will be 6.5! I can't even imagine my boys being that big!

Wish I could have stayed...

The benefit last night was awesome! I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to get home so Travis could go to work. I brought Gavin with me, and everyone loved my sling! I got to see a lot of friends and make some new ones...Carmela was the live entertainment (I seriously need to get a CD), and people actually bought raffle tickets for the bag I made!!! :) It makes me so happy to know that someone besides me liked it enough to buy it! My sis, Janna, also graduated from SPC yesterday. The whole thing brought back such memories. It was almost 6 years to the day that I walked that same platform. Then 3 weeks later I got married! *sigh* It made me look at myself (wearing a baby and holding the hand of my 3.5 year old) and think about how much those 6 years has changed me. I wonder what the next 6 years hold for me?

So, there's been a rash of "How old do I look?" posts in TAO on MDC. I wonder how old I look. Maybe I should ask them? I seriously look at my wedding pictures and think I look 10 years older, at least, when it was only 6 years ago.

I hate folding laundry. And putting it away. And hanging it up. Besides diapers. :) I love looking at a nice, clean, fresh stack of prefolds and pockets! I could do without folding all of the wipes, though. ;)

I still have a bunch of sewing projects to do. I'm waiting to see if my friend, Sarah, is going to have a boy or a girl. She should be having her US soon, and she's going to find out. Oh, and I also found out that my BFF, Lolo (Laura) is preggo again! And so is her sis April!! I'm so happy for the both of them, as they both lost their first babies...one to stillbirth, one to miscarriage. My heart still breaks for them, but I'm also revelling in their joy with them!

I can't wait till I'm finally a midwife! I know, it's years away. But I just can't imagine doing anything else with my nursing education than going futher with it and becoming a midwife. Not to mention that I LOVE having babies, being at births, etc. I SO wish I could be with Lolo when she has her bub in December, but we'll be in California by that time, so I won't be able to. Maybe with their second. I just can't wait to do something that I LOVE. I like nursing. I would LOVE to be a midwife!

Deklan just came up to me, pinched his nipple, and said "Look, Mommy. I have tiny boobs!" Oh, geez!