Fun in January

On January 2nd we went out to the hills to do some tobogganing. The kids had a blast! It brought back many fond childhood memories. We spent many a Sunday at Sprucewoods skating and tobogganing when we were growing up. The only difference between then and now is that our kids had a Grandpa on a ski-doo to bring them back to the top of the hill!! We didn't! Ha ha.

Ashley

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

 I come across this recipe on Facebook this morning. I should have never made them because I want to eat the whole pan!!!!!!!!! They are so moist but not too moist, very chocolatey and they are hiding applesauce and zucchini in them! Definitely wishing I had put zucchini in the freezer this past summer. Here is the recipe, I had to share. I will share the link at the bottom of the page because there were more recipes that looked great as well.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp wheat germ
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ½ cup applesauce or other fruit purée
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini (approx. 2 medium)
• ¼ cup chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix flours, cocoa powder, wheat germ, hemp hearts, baking soda and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, mix canola oil, applesauce, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add shredded zucchini and chocolate chips.
4. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins (or use muffin liners) filling about 2/3rds full.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. Remove from tin and cool on rack.

I used all white flour and no chocolate chips because I did not have whole wheat flour or chocolate chips on hand.

Stealthy, healthy ingredients for your baking.

Ashley

A Summary of Christmas 2015 in (mostly) pictures

We had a great Christmas!! We took the kids into the hills to chop down a tree, did little to no Christmas baking, we did NOT build a gingerbread house (ran out of time lol), went to seven Christmas gatherings (missed one), made Christmas tree ornaments, attended the Christmas parade and our son's first school concert and had several sleigh rides. We did a lot more than that but that sums it up quite nicely.

The kids and I made one batch of sugar cookies and never took/found the time to make anything else! I bought the stuff to make a gingerbread house but we never ever did it! Mother of the year right there! We had very mild weather the beginning of December, so when we went tree hunting, it was in hoodies! I think we went December 7th. Anyways, here are some pictures of our Christmas season.

 Christmas morning!

 The calm before the storm Christmas morning.

 Our beautiful children all dressed up at Grandma & Grandpa Nelson's for our family Christmas.

 Whit's first Christmas - opening presents at home Christmas morning.

 Whitley and Auntie Barb at Uncle Bob's on Boxing Day.

 All the Friesen Grandchildren.

 My sister and I.

 Tanner at his first Christmas concert at school - he is in the brown costume.

 Roy pulling Santa at the parade.

 A few of the floats that were in the parade, they had a great turnout this year!

 Uncle Cornie's team.

 Daryl Jones Repair.

 Squirrel Creek Skidsteer Service.

 She was very enthralled with the Christmas tree! But the novelty did wear off and she ended up leaving it alone for the most part.

 First fresh snow was very exciting!

 Helping Grandma decorate her tree.

 Fun with Daddy on ski-doo.

 She loves the dishwasher whether it's clean or dirty.

 Decorating our tree.

 Tree hunting in hoodies! Mild December.

 Copper and Blaze with Grandpa pulling the 4-H beef club through the parade.

 We did a family sleigh ride on a Sunday and it was beautiful with all the fresh snow sitting on the trees.

 Daddy was away at a heifer sale and Grandpa took the picture.

 On the way to the cabin.

 Our little slice of heaven.

So that it our Christmas in a nutshell. Hope yours was as wonderful as ours was, surrounded by family and friends.

Ashley

Mooey Christmas!

We have had lots of Christmas shenanigans happening and I promise I'll fill you in via blog post soon!!!!! I just love love love our cheesy Christmas card.

Ashley

Homemade Vegetable Soup & other shenanigans

There are many times I feel like blogging by the end of the day all I want is my bed. What's been going on here? Well we are in full swing with chores with all the cows home and winter has hit. We have all had some form of sickness. Fever, sore throat, sore all over, runny noses - Thank goodness NO puking as of yet. Hoping the bugs leave us soon. My farmer has been sick for five days now and his taste buds have pretty much disappeared. Yesterday he commented that some of my homemade vegetable soup would hit the spot. (Unfortunately being Celiac he can't even has chicken noodle soup when he is sick!!) So I started making soup. He is not a big soup fan and so when he requests it - I make it! This is one of my favorite soups.

You will need:

-A large stock pot
-Water
-Soup bone, beef or pork
-Carrots, diced
-Potatoes, diced
-Celery, chopped
-Peas
-Tomato Soup
-Bay leaves
-Parsley
-Salt & pepper
-rice, macaroni or barley (optional)

Put your soup bones in the pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil and let them simmer for at least an hour. Probably more like 1.5 hours. DO NOT add water to the pot when you see it boiling down. When that's done take out the soup bones and discard. Strain the broth to get rid of miscellaneous from the bones.

You will notice that I did not add amounts of stuff on the ingredient list. I do not measure, especially with soup. The wonderful thing about soup is that if you feel you did not add enough, you just add more!!

Now add your bay leaves, parsley, salt and pepper and tomato soup. Now for the tomato soup, I added 2 quarts of my own homemade. You can use canned from the store as well. (it has gluten in it so I can't do that) You could also add canned tomatoes instead and I think it would be good too.

While the broth simmers with the greens chop up your veggies. For my large stock pot I probably did 8 cups carrots, 8-10 cups potatoes, 1-2 cups celery and 2 cups peas.

Add veggies and simmer till they are cooked through.

When the kids and I eat it we add whipping cream to the soup, my farmer does not. All depend son your taste buds and what you like. You could also add onions to this soup and it would be good. I can't cook with onions so I leave them out.

Then because it makes so much extra, I fill quart sealers and put the extra soup in the fridge. It will stay sealed in the fridge for a long time and is soooo handy for days when you don't feel like making lunch.

I am trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Not sure why. Maybe I'll feel it when we get our big tree up. I'm making myself finish Christmas shopping because we're still not done. And the kids have been asking to make snowman cookies.....so I will have to start Christmas baking sooner than later!!

We had a great 50th Birthday Party for my Dad last weekend. Most of the Friesen family and a few friends made for a full house!! It as faspa and cake and coffee. My Auntie Trudy and family made this awesome semi cake for my Dad. It was a great evening.

Anyways, have a great night!

Ashley

Throwback Thursday

Hold onto your shorts people - - - - - - This picture was taken two years ago on November 17!! I'm not ready for snow. Look at all that snow and how cold it looks. Brrrrr. Like I said, so not ready. but when are we ever ready for snow?!

Ashley

My late Halloween post

 Every year they get more and more involved. So much fun!

Our Bear, Princess and Tiger! The older two chose what they wanted to be this year.

Ashley