Happy baby girl and Meatloaf!

Two Wednesdays ago Mataya went in for surgery...it wasn't a huge procedure or anything risky, she was only getting tubes put in her ears. I was so tired of the many ear infections she had gotten by the age of 6 months that I was ready for any type of relief, and it was a really good exercise in making me give my daughter to back to God. So that morning we knew we couldn't feed her pa:st 3:00 am and the surgery was at 7:30 am, needless to say I was very nervous that she would be a basket case by the time the surgery would begin.

Usually when Mataya sees me in the morning she is very insistent that she needs to eat right then, so when she woke up at 5:30 am, I was was super nervous; however, we decided to just load her in the car since we needed to be at the hospital at 6:30 am and drive around town for awhile. I thought she would fall asleep or cry, but she just layed awake quietly in the van while we drove around. When we got to the hospital I was ready for a huge meltdown, but God was with us and she did awesome. She was awake until the time right before the nurse took her from us and she stayed asleep while we transferred her to the nurse. God is SO GOOD! I was so thankful that she wasn't screaming and crying when they took her from us.

We headed to the waiting room and began praying that God would be there in the surgery room with her, and after about 15 minutes they came and got us! It was so quick and fast, and even though she was super crabby the rest of the day, we were so relieved to have the surgery done. Another blessing was that my amazing sister-in-law Grace brought us an awesome dinner (even though she is pregnant, has an infant, and is super busy!). It was so tasty that Micah ate practically the whole thing! He told me that I needed to blog about the recipe, so I decided to once again give tribute to my awesome sister:

Quinoa Meatloaf (So easy!!!)

2 lbs ground turkey
1 cu. quinoa (2 cu. water)
1 Onion
1 Green pepper
2 eggs
Salt & Pepper

-Saute the green pepper and onion. Boil the quinoa for 3-4 minutes then let it sit with the lid for about 10-15 minutes. Mix all the ingredients then put whatever kind of sauce you like on top of the meatloaf in a bread pan. My sauce usually includes about 1 cu. ketchup and 1/2 cu brown sugar or something like that. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until done in the middle. Eat and enjoy!

Thank the Lord that Mataya is doing soooo much better, and she has been basically sleeping through the night since the surgery. God is Good!

Bath time...can you say ADORABLE?

I don't have much to say, but I had to post the pictures of my adorable little girl in her bathtub. The rolls are just so cute I want to just pinch them all the time. I love my rolly polly little girl :)

Diaper Boxes Recycled!

Okay...so I have an obsession with baskets! Who doesn't like a cute fabric lined basket or box? Yes, I love to put baskets with fabric liners all over my house, and use them as decorative storage options. These are one of my favorite things to organize little piles in my house or in my closets or the numerous toys that are starting to accumulate in my house. I am always looking for clearance baskets at hobby lobby or michaels. So, when I was looking on pinterest the other day I noticed a DIY fabric box/basket recycling option. I was so excited to try this project because I had plenty of unused diaper boxes waiting to be put to good use. Yes, I will admit that often I just throw away my diaper boxes instead of recycling them like I should. Most of the time I just fill them with junk until it is overflowing and then I ask the hubby to take them out to the trash. So, I decided that I could do something good for the environment by recycling these boxes into something I am quite fond of: storage baskets! I also was excited to try and save a few dollars by doing it myself.

So I begged Micah to let me look for some clearance fabric while we were at walmart, and he gave me a budget that I was not supposed to go over! I scavenged their small collection of fabrics, and I was happy to find some really cheap canvas style fabric for 1.00 a yard. I was stoked!

I could go into detail on how I actually made the boxes, but I decided that I would just give you the original link I found these beautiful creations on so that way I wouldn't have to basically re-type what she already had put together.

lined canvas diaper box link

However, here are some of the pictures I took of my fun little project. They aren't the most beautiful boxes, but I was excited with how they turned out.

After I was done sewing I put all my sewing materials in the box! Perfect solution for my unorganized sewing materials.

Homeade Granola Bars

About a month ago I decided to go dairy free for a number of different reasons. I have always had a small intolerance for dairy, and I decided to see how my stomach and skin reacted to going dairy free. I haven't seen a huge improvement in my skin, but I did notice that my stomach was a lot more...well lets just say quiet :)

While trying new recipes I noticed that most granola bars in stores contain dairy. I was SUPER disappointed because I love to have granola bars in my purse or just around the house to snack on rather than just eating total junk. They are also a great energy booster in the late afternoon before dinner when I get the munchies.

I came across this recipe on another blog and adapted it just a little bit to fit my needs and what I had in my kitchen. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can add pretty much whatever extra things you would like depending on what you have in your pantry or the mood you're in! I had a huge bag of craisins from a sams club trip the other day along with some chocolate chips, so I made Cranberry Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup Kashi Go lean Crunch
1/2 cup almonds (I have also made them without these because they tend to make the bars pricey, and it still tastes great)
1/2 - 1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
3 tablespoons peanut butter

1. Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Line the baking pan with parchment, leaving extra parchment to hang over the sides. Lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
2. Mix the Dry Ingredients: Mix the oats, cereal, nuts, and dried fruit together in a mixing bowl.
3. Warm the honey for about 1:30 in the microwave then stir in the peanut butter until it melts. Mix in the vanilla extract, salt, spices.
4. Stir the honey into the Dry Ingredients.
5. Press into an 8x8 pan.Use wet or lightly oiled hands to firmly press the mixture into the pan.
6. Bake the bars for 20-25 minutes for chewy granola bars or 25-30 minutes for crunchy bars. As soon as you remove the bars from the oven, press them again with the back of a lightly oiled spatula. This will help them stick together!
7. Cool the Granola Bars then lift out of the pan and score with a knife and store in a airtight container between wax paper.

Now enjoy these delicious and dairy free granola bars!

Okay so the picture does not show how delicious and addictive these things are!

Carrot Time With Daddy

Every night Micah begins his evening raid of the pantry and refrigerator after dinner (I don't know how he is still hungry after!), and his snack time usually includes a carrot or two. I have never really been one to snack after dinnertime because my family never really ate anything after dinner except dessert. Micah, on the other hand, LOVES to snack snack snack, and it just puzzles me every time.

However, I love it now when he pulls out the carrot every evening because I know he is going to share with Mataya. As soon as he pulls the carrot out he looks at Mataya and smiles and holds the carrot up, and she usually begins to flap her arms and yell loudly in impatience to suck on the carrot. They always lay on the floor and suck on their carrots together. It is always one of the sweetest moments of the evening for me to see this little tradition they are creating. Last night I was able to catch a few silly pictures of them laying down together sucking on their carrots.

 Daddy giving the carrot to Mataya

 Silly carrot time!

She wants the bigger carrot :)

Quinoa and Sweet Potato

I recently joined the lovers of quinoa due to it's healthier aspects compared to pasta. It has taken a little convincing to get the husband on board, but he definitely enjoys this tasty dish from my lovely and talented sister-in-law Grace! I have to admit that when she brought the dish to a family gathering and mentioned that it was vegan I turned my nose up at the food. I knew that I would try it just to be nice, but for some reason I have a bad habit of thinking that healthier/unknown foods will not taste good! However, I am very glad that I tried this delicious dish. It is SO tasty and very healthy for you, especially when it comes to casseroles or side dishes. Normally Grace serves this as a side dish, but I wanted to make it my main dinner dish, and because my hubby and I are huge meat people I added chicken to the dish to make it more filling. Here is the recipe:

Quinoa and Sweet Potato (and chicken!)

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 Cu. Quinoa (4 cu of water)
Chicken (I used about 3 small chicken tenders)
1 Onion
1 Green Pepper
Cranberries
Slivered Almonds

Dressing:
1/4 cu. olive oil
1/4 maple syrup
2 tbl. balsamic vinegar
2 tbl. juice (I used apple but orange would work too)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
(Whisk well)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut up the sweet potatoes in small chunks and toss in olive oil (or just use olive oil spray like I did) and put on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven until soft for about 20-25 min.
3. Meanwhile boil 4 cups of water and when it is boiling add in the 2 cups of quinoa and boil for about 3-4 minutes then turn off the burner and put on the lid and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
4. While the quinoa and sweet potatoes are cooking cut up onion and saute it in a small saucepan WITH the chicken.
5. Cut up one green pepper (no need to saute) or whatever veggie you have on hand!
6. Mix the sweet potato, quinoa, veggies, chicken, cranberries, almonds, and dressing all together and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until it is all warm.

Sorry the picture doesn't show just how tasty it is!

That's it! You definitely want to try this recipe because it is delicious! I will be posting later about another quinoa meatloaf recipe also from Grace that I absolutely loved...