Cake Smash Success! (Jagger Turns ONE)

Well how did THAT happen?  365 days and boom...Jagger-dude is 1 year old.  

He is the most perfect compliment to our crazy family.  His smiles and laughs make strangers smile and laugh everywhere we go.  He loves to be silly and mobile and hi big sister - well, he's a BIG fan of hers.

Some of you already know that our babies came with a little (lot of) help from science.  They were IVF miracles.  They also each survived a terrible pregnancy disease I had both times called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.  All this just to say, we are so. incredibly. BLESSED!

I believe we can find reason in everything we experience.  "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger." (One of my favorite quotes since I was a kid - from Nietzsche).  Our experiences have brought me to where I am today…I value my family and our health above all else.  I know what it's like to long for each of these.

Well, hello there!  (Jagger-dude - a few months old)

To my sweet Jagger Jack, Happy 1st birthday!  We knew we loved you long before you joined us Earth-side.  You've been such a bright star in our lives over the past year.  I have loved every minute of our 365 days together - watching you grow, play, and learn.  I can't wait for more todays and tomorrows with you!

Babywearing has saved me this year!  Having free hands to chase after big sis is always a good idea.

Now on to parties and cake smashes.  Here's what I learned:

1. January birthday parties in NY need snow dates as a back-up plan.
2. Using blueberries to color the icing actually makes purple icing, not blue.  Jagger is a very secure little dude, he doesn't mind purple….but, it didn't quite fit into the "Winter One-derland" theme that we were going for.  ;-)
3. Sometimes the "cake smash" turns out to be more of a cake fondle.  And that's cool!  He enjoyed it, and that's all I was hoping for.

We may have had to reschedule Jagger's party, but at least we got an unexpected day to play in the fluffy white stuff!

I started feeling pretty nostalgic as I made this recipe - the same one I created originally for Magnolia's first birthday.  I was a newbie to healthy baking, at that time, and ended up making about 7-10 versions of this one before it was "right".  That was wayyy back in 2014.  ;-)  I've come a long way!  Now I have TWO adorable reasons to keep me on top of my healthy baking (and cooking) game.

Magnolia enjoying her smash cupcake 2+ years ago at her 1st birthday party.  It's incredibly bittersweet to see how much she's grown in body and mind and how fast our memories are piling up as the months fly by.

This was also the start of the muffin magic.  What the heck is that muffin magic, you ask?  Well, it's figuring out that muffins can be made of all the healthy stuff you want your kiddos and your whole family to eat!  We're talking veggies, fruit, protein, healthy fats, and fiber.  I don't hide anything in there as I believe it's in the kiddos' best interest to know they are eating veggies and all the good stuff to give them the best foundation of health that you can.  So grab the little ones and let them help measure and mix and get very familiar with these healthy ingredients!

*Note: This recipe is for muffins.  Add the icing and voila - you have cupcakes!

Pumpkin Batter all mixed and ready for the muffin pan.

"Happy birthday to you…"

Pumpkin Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots (optional)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups almond flour
• 1/5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Blend together all wet ingredients in a blender.
3. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
4. Slowly pour wet ingredients from blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Fill greased muffin pan (or muffins liners) 2/3 full.
6. Bake 30 minutes.

*Makes 12 muffins.

"Is the goal to shove as much of this in my mouth as possible, mama?  'Cause that I can do!"

I switched up the kind of icing I made this time, as I wanted a nice shade of blue to go with our "Winter One-derland" theme.  Hmm.  That didn't work out, but it was a very pretty purple color. Haha.  And it was tasty!

Blueberry Coconut Cream Icing

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 T coconut oil (not melted)
• 1 T raw honey
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Place can of coconut milk upside down in fridge overnight.
2. Carefully open can and scoop out the hardened coconut cream.  This is what you will be using for the icing.  Save the watery part to use in other recipes.
3. Mix all ingredients in a blender (you will need to keep scraping down the sides and blending several times).
4. If you make in advance, it's ok to refrigerate icing, just be sure to give it a good blend/whipping before you use as it will harden a bit.

Jagger seems as surprised as we are that he's ONE already!

Vegan "Cheesy" Broccoli Soup

This week brought some much-needed rain here on the East Coast of the U.S.  The trees were happy and our bellies wanted us to hunker down and eat some warm soup!  

This vegan and gluten-free Broccoli Soup brought us just the warmth and coziness we were looking for.  For Magnolia, this doubled as a dip - as everything seems to these days.  ;-)

The secret to the creaminess without the cheese in this soup is cashews!  They get soaked for a few hours, drained, and the blended with the other ingredients to get the desired texture; plus extra protein, fiber, and healthy fat!

The cashews are getting a bath before go-time!

The kiddos enjoying some comfort food!

VEGAN "CHEESY" BROCCOLI SOUP

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cashews
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups broccoli
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 T turmeric
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak cashews for 4 hours in enough water to cover.
2. Drain and rinse cashews and set aside.
3. Put coconut oil, garlic, and onions in large pot and sauté for about 5 minutes.
4. Add vegetable broth, broccoli, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and turmeric.
5. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
6. Cook an additional 5-8 minutes - until broccoli is soft.
7. Use an immersion blender or transfer 1/2 the soup into a regular blender.  Add cashews and blend until smooth.  *Note: Carefully cover top of blender with a towel and hold top on to prevent the hot liquid from leaking out through the top.
8. Transfer second half of soup to blender and blend until broccoli pieces are smaller, but do not blend until smooth if you'd like more texture in your soup (for a very smooth textured soup, blend both batches completely).

Vegan "Cheesy" Broccoli Soup