leah's cookies

Leah made some sugar cookies to bring to her friends at the library.  Our sweet librarians made a big deal out of it and Leah was very happy :)

thanksgiving/brianna's birthday

This was a Thanksgiving we could hardly wait for!  Brianna was coming home!  Thanksgiving just happened to fall on her 21st birthday so we got to celebrate her life as well- which just added to the element of thankfulness.

Brianna wanted to be sure to visit some of the city kids she misses, so we made sure to do that!  We delivered pies, bread, beanie babies, and winter hats- with lots of hugs too of course :)

We also made our annual visit to Bright Nights.  

We set up and decorated our tree (no real tree since Leah is allergic).  I couldn't get enough of seeing all my kids together again.  I have so much to be thankful for!

date sweetened apple cake

When Matt is looking for a "snack" I know he wants something sweet to eat- but I also know he doesn't want it to have much sugar and he wants it to have nutritional value.

I experimented today and came up with a really yummy snack I think fits the bill :)  Alissa loved it so much she begged me to write down the recipe before I forgot it.  So here it is!

1 cups pitted dates (cover with water in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain)

4 eggs

1/2 cup coconut oil

2 T coconut flour

1 t baking powder

cinnamon and nutmeg

2 cups of peeled, diced apples

In a vitamix (or other blender) put the drained dates, eggs, and coconut oil.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into bowl, add coconut flour and baking powder.  Mix.  Add apples and stir until evenly distributed.

Line an 8” square baking pan with parchment paper (or grease pan) and pour batter into pan.  

Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes