Sweet Potato Waffles with "Paleo" Caramel Sauce

You know what I'm thinking about right now?

People that pronounce caramel as "car-uh-mel". I pronounce it as "care-uh-mel" and you always sound much fancier than I do. Maybe I should start saying it that way.

*I imagine this in a sweet, Southern drawl, ala Scarlett O'Hara*

"Daaahhling. Would you mind being a peach and passing me the careuhmel?"

Or something to that effect.

Anyways. I got off topic.

Ever since we moved to our new town we've sort of fallen into the tradition of "Waffle Saturday". It actually started out of more of a "Pancake Saturday" until my grandad bought me a waffle maker and our year was made. Anyways, when Tim was playing baseball

Saturdays weren't any different from Mondays which weren't any different from Thursdays. When you play 7 days a week they all start to run together. 

SO.

When he got a "real job" we started taking advantage of the weekends! Which typically start with Cali and Tim sleeping in until 8 or 8:30 (I'm anxiously awaiting the day Nash and I can join in that tradition) and then making waffles, eggs, and bacon.

Always bacon.

I always mix up what kind of waffles we have and one of our favorites are sweet potato! So that's what I'm sharing with you today.

We aren't necessarily a "Paleo" family even thought a lot of what I cook ends up being inadvertently Paleo so these waffles are not. However, they can easily be made to be Paleo with a few tweaks that I'll list in the directions. 

This sauce is so good, by the way. It is made from coconut milk so there is a coconut flavor to it. You can always add some vanilla flavoring to help that out but we love coconut in our house so I didn't bother. If you're not a waffle fan (which, come on. Who isn't??) you can use this sauce on other things like ice cream, oatmeal, etc. 

Now, be patient with me for just a second. I'm going to geek out on you with some light nutrition talk.

If you know me at all you're aware that I'm a slightly obsessed with nutrition and food. It's something I got interested in while in college and it's only grown since. My husband gets pretty tired of all of the "research articles" I'm constantly quoting. HA!

 So here's a little FYI on this recipe:

The caramel sauce is made with whole fat coconut milk and coconut sugar. Whole fat coconut milk may be high in calories and fat but they're actually what's called medium chain fatty acids which digest slower and are used for energy. 

Don't let me lose you just yet.

The coconut sugar has a lower GI rating than table sugar, sitting around 35. WHICH MEANS that it doesn't skyrocket your blood sugar. 

OK. I'm done. Thanks for sticking with me.

Just so you know it was really hard for me to keep that so concise as I'm sure it was equally hard for you to read it. :) 

ANYWAYS. ON TO THE GOOD STUFF, WOMAN.

Here it is, guys. The recipes...

Sweet Potato Waffles

Ingredients

• 2 cups Flour (regular or whole wheat and you can sub with cassava flour for Paleo)
• 1 tbs Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• to taste Cinnamon
• 1.5 cups Milk (I used almond milk)
• 1/2 cup Yogurt (I used coconut yogurt)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 4 tbs Oil
• 1 tbs Sweetener (Honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc)
• 1 cup Mashed Sweet Potato

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat waffle iron. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients well (make sure sweet potato is thoroughly mixed in) and add to dry ingredients. Cook until desired crispiness in waffle iron.

"Paleo" Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Coconut Sugar (If you're not Paleo then this can be subbed with brown sugar)
• 13 oz can Full Fat Coconut Milk
• Optional 1 tsp vanilla

Cooking Directions

1. Heat on med-high until boiling while stirring frequently. reduce to low and continue to simmer while still stirring occasionally until desired thickness is achieved. This took me about 20-25 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

ENJOY!

Let me know if you make it and if you like it!

Family, House, Spoon.

YOU GUUUUYYYYSSSSSS.

Sorry. I forget I'm back in the south.

Y'ALL.

We are loving this fall(ish) weather lately. Seriously. We'll ignore the fact that the past two days have been in the 80's. For the most part, the weather has been PERFECTION.

We've been super busy lately between church, visiting family, school, ballet, etc. I'm not entirely used to this and I'll be honest by saying it's taking time to adjust. I'm used to Tim playing baseball and being gone all day while Cali and I do whatever we want which usually included hanging out at the beach all day or walking around some sort of zoo. 

For real. We have visited a LOT of zoo/safari/wildlife type places now that I think about it...

Anyways. Having schedule things that we have to be dressed and on time for makes our free time much more enjoyable!

Side note: how cute are these pants??! They're Neve and Hawk that my cousin bought for Cali and I'm in love.

Cali is loving school and gets pretty upset on days when she doesn't get to go. Her teachers are GREAT and her current favorite pretend play is her being the teacher and me being the student. It's adorable and I'm so happy she loves it so much! 

Nash is growing faster than I can clothe him. Seriously guys. I buy, what I think, is a closet full of clothes sure to get him through the winter and the next week, he's outgrown them all and needs more. 

What. is. this. nonsense????

My little runt, Cali, wore the same size clothes for 2 years so I'm out of my element here. My (almost) 10 month old wears 18-24 month clothes and I can't keep up with his growth spurts. 

But he's getting so silly. He likes to play chase and will look at you, laugh, and then crawl away really fast. It's adorable.

Our family has some other big news.

We're buying a house!

The one we're currently in is a rental and we've been looking at houses for a while. We've pretty much decided to build and we meet with our realtor tonight to work on a contract to present to the builder!!!!!!

We are seriously SO EXCITED and I'm looking forward to sharing the process through the blog and Instagram!

Also, side note. Look at these adorable knit overalls from Old Navy!

Another thing we're pretty excited about? 

This NumNum GOOtensil!

This "pre-spoon" has been a life saver while Nash is learning to self-feed. There's two spoons; one for purees and one for more solids. This picture shows Nash eating his eggs with it. I just put the bite sized pieces on his high chair and he bangs the spoon down on top and the design allows for him to "catch" the food easily and feed himself! 

Our dog doesn't love it, however, because less food ends up on the floor for her to eat but this Momma loves it! And Nash's belly loves it. That's what counts.

:)

Do you know what else I love about this company?

They have a 'Bite for Bite' initiative that donates a portion of every spoon sold to ending childhood hunger which is an issue that I'm pretty passionate about! So, win/win.

Their Kickstarter campaign has ended but you can find more info there or  pre-order their new bowl here!

Nom nom nom.

or.... Num, num?

;)

Anyways, follow me on Instagram or on here to keep up with our progress on the new house and our family! I hope you guys are all enjoying this weather!

SaveSave

Snapshots

So, this post/new feature came about thanks to my wonderful grandmother who insists on reminding me at least weekly that I haven't blogged in a while. 

Thanks, Mam.

*eye roll*

I will be honest. Nash isn't sleeping and I'm exhausted, and sometimes it's just too much effort to think about something to write. But then it came to me.

Write about your kids.

Duh.

It's why I started this blog to begin with. To "frame" these special times in our lives. 

So I thought I would *try* to remember to do a new feature called "Snapshots" at least monthly. 

I'm sure my grandmother will remind me...

It'll just be me writing down things I don't want to forget about what's going on with us right now. The little things.

So, here we go...

CALI (3.5 yrs)

Guys, I don't even know where to begin with this child.

Seriously.

She is sassy, and witty, and wild. But she's also sweet, and thoughtful, and loving.

She is, most often, the hardest part of my day.

But, most often, the best part of my day. 

She is a contradiction at every turn.

I couldn't love her more.

A few things she's doing now that I want to remember:

She LOVES pretend play. She could play in her playroom for HOURS by herself, and she does! She's got baby dolls and school supplies, and grocery carts. She is very into being the teacher right now since she just started preschool!

Do you see those sweet arms wrapped around my neck??? Priceless.

She LOVES Nash. She's constantly saying "My baby needs me!" And he loves her! She loves to play the belly drums on him *eye roll*. She also has her daddy's very astute timing for flattery. She loves a well-timed "You're my best friend, Mommy" when she's getting a lecture or a "Just give me a big hug. I've missed you" when I'm telling her to clean her room.

I will not lie and say it doesn't work sometimes.

She's going through a pants-less phase. Seriously. She often doesn't want to leave the house and if you ask her why she'll say "Ee-cuz I don't want to wear short, Mom". Oh. That's another thing. She's insisting on calling us "Mom and Dad". Like she's a freaking teenager. I'm fairly certain she just does it because she knows I hate it. 

She started back ballet and still loves it. I'm hoping she eventually gets better at it because, I'll be honest, "finesse" isn't really her thing. She's more suited for something a little more... sturdy. Something like... football? Oh well.

She is still quite the Daddy's girl. He comes through the door after work and she get so excited. She runs to him yelling "DADDY'S HOME! DADDY'S HOME!!!" And gives him big hugs. Maybe one day she'll get half that excited to see me.

She's wonderfully patient with Nash. If he grabs her hair or pulls on her, she will just calmly say "No buddy. You're hurting me" then gently dislodge herself from him. 

She's also verbalizing her emotions these days. She likes to tell me "Mom, may I please have my privacy? You're fuh-strating me". *Alllllll the eye rolls* 

But hey, kid. I get it. 

Anyways, I could go on forever about her. Because as much as she drives me bat-sheesh crazy most days, she is one of my best friends. LOVE HER. 

NASH (9 months)

This sweet boy...

I realize that he's only a baby still but he is the sweetest. Seriously. He never really cries unless he's hungry (then you better feedtheboy), he's very serious about his food. He will just sit in your lap and smile and play and be content. He's a horrible sleeper, though. Seriously. He's currently waking up every 1-2 hours. Having already raised a horrible sleeper I know it passes so I'm just (im)patiently waiting for that day.

He always has a smile on his face. He's pulling up and walking around while holding on to furniture. He loves eggs, and bananas, but will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him.

He's taking two good naps a day.

Probably making up for all of the sleep we miss at night.

He likes to play "chase". If you put him down out of confinement, he'll crawl away SUPERFAST and just cackle. He's incredibly patient with Cali. She constantly wants to be all over him with hugs and kisses and (of course) belly drums and he just smiles and laughs at her. 

He is getting slightly better at the carseat. He still won't fall asleep in there. He is practicing his sounds saying a lot of "da-da-da-da's".

I hope (hope, hope, hope, fingers crossed) that he keeps his sweet, patient, nature. 

Maybe I shouldn't let him hang around Cali too much. She might be a bad influence.

;)

I love these kids.

A lot.

And this kid...

I love him a lot, too.

Mi familia...

Apple Cinnamon Butternut Squash

GUYS.

If you step out of my door before 8am, it is sliiiiiiiightly cool and kiiiiiiiinda feels like Fall.

CAN IT HURRY UP ALREADY?!? 

Fall in the South comes around December 1 and leaves December 26 but, whatever.

So in honor of the pseudo Fall-like weather, I'm posting a FALL RECIPE. 

I can, for the first time ever, say this is a family recipe. I was introduced to it a few weeks ago by Tim's aunt and we've had it a few times since. It's delicious, and sweetish, and fall-like and I could make a meal out of it just by itself. 

Before making this recipe, I'd never even bought a butternut squash. It looked too intimidating. But this is actually super easy and quick to put together. The cook time takes a while but the prep is a breeze.

You cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

This is actually MUCH easier than cutting a spaghetti squash or even a sweet potato. 

Then you fill it with the apples, sprinkle with cinnamon, and drizzle a small amount of your sweetener on top.

Then you wrap your halves in foil and bake!

I like to add walnuts.

To everything. 

:)

I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 butternut squash

1 large apple

cinnamon

1 tsp sweetener of choice (Maple syrup, honey, brown sugar)

Walnuts for topping (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Chop apple into bite size pieces and fill the center of the squash with the apple. Sprinkle your cinnamon on top (to taste) and drizzle/sprinkle your sweetener on top. Wrap your squash halves with foil and put into your pan. Bake on 350 for 1-1.5 hours until soft. Cook time will depend on squash size. 

ENJOY!

Happy (Almost) Fall, Y'all!

5 Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

Parenting is hard, right?

Oh. It's not for you? Maybe it's just me. 

Whatever.

My point is that parenting is hard enough without worrying about whether or not your kid's getting the right nutrition. Now, I'm aware that we all have our "things". You know. Those things that are important to you that your kids get. Top of the priority list. 

Each family has different "things". 

Maybe you're super particular about your kid saying "Mam" and "Sir". Or, you're funny about having them read a certain amount of books every day. Or you can let a lot slide but your kids better look cute. Or maybe you just consider it a win if your child makes it through the day without rubbing poop all over the walls.

Whatever.

To each his own.

Whatever it is, I imagine most parents wouldn't be upset if their kid ate more vegetables. So, I've come up with a list of 5 (((easy))) ways to help encourage your kid to eat better. 

Maybe (if your kid isn't a complete turd) one or more of these could work for you.

1. Make sure YOU'RE eating your fruits and veggies.

This one maaaaay seem like a bit of a no brainer but really step back and look at what you eat in the day. Dad, are you strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy? Mom, are you surviving on Oreos and ice cream but insisting your child eat their broccoli? Prooooobably not going to work. Put your big kid pants on and eat your own broccoli. 

*Free parenting tip*

Don't throw those Oreos and ice cream away! Hide them in the freezer and trade off with your partner distracting the kids while the other hides in the pantry and eats all the good stuff. If you dump the Oreos out of their bag into an empty vegan burger patty box, the kids will never catch on.

Or so I've heard...

2. Make them taste like something else.

I'm not above trickery. 

Muwahahahaha...

This green smoothie my child is drinking? Tastes like a peanut butter milkshake. Not even lying. Frozen banana, peanut butter, little bit of maple syrup, and a crap ton of spinach. If your kid is turned off by the green color, throw in some dates or blueberries to give it a nice brown color. Or head to Pinterest and search for "Zucchini Bread" or "Zucchini Brownies" or something to that effect. Pinterest is the jackpot for finding recipes that hide vegetables.

3. Get the kids involved in the process.

If your child is old enough, let them chop the veggies, wash the potatoes, etc. The more they can help and be involved, the more likely they are to want to eat it. If they're smaller, let them feed themselves. Yes, it makes more of a mess. Yes, it'll be a (MUCH) slower process. But the trade off is worth it.

Most of the time.

4. Chop them small.

If you're putting Spinach on pizza or bell peppers in the pasta, chop them really small. This almost falls under the "hide them" category but not quite. They're just less likely to notice them if they aren't having to pull entire leaves of spinach out of their teeth.

5. Put them in fun containers.

I'm a big fan of the muffin tin meals. Again, if you've never seen them, Pinterest.

Cali loves to eat out of a muffin tin. I'm not sure what it is but she thinks it's hilarious. I could put anything in a muffin tin and she'll eat it.

Lastly (another free tip) don't stress over it. I know that's easier said than done but if you're trying, then you're already ahead of the game. They're kids. Popcorn, Pop-Tarts, ice cream, and even Oreos every now and then aren't going to hurt them. 

Actually, I'd venture as far as to say it's GOOD for them. I mean, ice cream is good for the soul and emotional health is just as important as physical. 

In my book anyways. 

Summer Lovin' and a Picture Update

We are half way through our first ever summer with no baseball. I'll be honest. 

I've loved it.

The kids and I have been to the beach twice. 

And we're headed back next month.

Poor Tim and his "real job".

Ha!

I thought I'd share some beach trip pictures with you.

I won't lie. 

Nash isn't a huge fan of the beach.

Yet.

He'll learn.

Speaking of summer fun, have you heard of the Primary Science Wow and Wonder Science Set? It's a cute little "science" set for toddlers. It comes with bubbles and color goggles to help them learn their primary colors and mixing colors. It also comes with a set of cards that will give you different learning activities that you can use the set for.

Cali loves the goggles and bubbles (obviously).

I hope you guys are having a great summer!

We'll be back with some more picture updates soon!