Simple Dressing...or simply delicious

I am not eating buttermilk right now due to allergies so how can I make yummy salad dressing, I am wondering. Then the light bulb turns on and I see clearly that the answer is so simple. Creme Fraiche.

So with four simple ingredients I have some pretty good stuff.

Here we have homemade mayonnaise, homemade creme fraiche, fresh garlic and some dry dill. I am afraid I didn't measure...shocking to those who know me best. Equal parts mayo and creme,  a couple cloves of garlic, pressed, and a pinch of dill. 

I tossed it with spring greens and didn't even miss the Parmesan... although Parmesan is definitely a must if you can eat it!

Food

We Handermanns are doing a detox diet this month (and seeing great results with our eczema: we're pretty excited!). But right now our food choices are limited by that: it's been meat and veg boiled in broth for the last week, for every meal. Tomorrow we get to have scrambled eggs for breakfast and I am so thrilled. I keep talking about it. And really, I keep thinking about food in general -- all my favorite foods that I will be so grateful to get back to!

I hadn't realized before just how much food is part of my daily routine -- Ryan laughed when I said this to him. But, look, until this week I ate two eggs for breakfast every morning, I had a cup of tea with cream in it while Blaze was down for his nap, salad or soup for lunch, a meat dish for dinner and sometimes a little something sweet or even some popcorn for winding down with Ryan in the evening. Having just soup really throws off my day! It's hard to feel the rhythm without my markers.

A lovely side effect, though, is that during all the thinking I'm doing about food, I've been reminiscing about the key foods I remember throughout my life. So many of my big memories are tied up in food! Sitting with my dad at McDonalds, learning to eat french fries just the right way (two at a time, dipped in ketchup). Chocolate-tofu pudding during Mom's meatless kick. Dad's guacamole, and his omelets! Pumpkin pie for breakfast every Thanksgiving morning; swedish hots with berry syrup for breakfast on Christmas or New Years. Summertime shopping dates with my mom and sisters, getting Safeway chinese food and two-scoop waffle cones on the way home. Coffee shop cinnamon rolls during finals weeks at college. Barely-browned hamburgers with Ryan on our dinner dates while we were engaged. Just a spattering, but it's been a tasty life.     God has definitely given me my daily bread.

(I'm already making my recipe to-do list for next month...I've never wanted to meal-plan this far in advance before!)

Quiet On The Home Front

Well, the blog front anyways. In reality it's a madhouse over here! We've moved out of our apartment and are currently staying with our (super gracious) in-laws while we wait to move into a slightly more permanent abode. Which is why it's been pretty quiet over here! Everything is all packed up and I'm using this time of transience as a mini-vacation. (If you can call *anything* a vacation when you have a baby. :-P) But at least she's cute, right?

April

It's been a full month!

We did a little of this...

Blaze with our sweet friend Lynnette

And a little of that...

Trying out a dandelion crown, as we try to use up all the dandelions in the yard before they go to seed.

And a few other things:

Tasting frozen berries on an almost 90 degree day...they were not a hit!

And of course we've done more than just play outside, although that has been a hit with the crazy almost-one-year-old that hardly naps. We've been working on our garden, and Ryan is creating a bunch of bucket plants that we can use in the backyard. Our actual garden is at church, since our landlady understandably doesn't want us to dig up our lawn.

Good Friday -- Funeral in Preparation for the Most Glorious Day...Ever.


       As Christians, Easter is our most important holiday.

       The Son of God, Jesus, came onto Earth as the son of man, was murdered, conquered death, saved us from our sins and God's wrath, and then rose again. This is how we comprehend Easter.

       Easter is a huge celebration of Jesus having conquered the grave and washed our sins away, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus..." A familiar tune to most of us, right? Right.

       So why am I posting on this subject? I got this empty feeling one night as I was going to bed and thought to myself, "Instead of vegging out on Hulu or Netflix, why not watch a sermon?" It was Palm Sunday and I was sure to find something filling at Mars Hill. I did.

       I am compelled to share it with all of you today; it really hit my soul hard and maybe it will hit you, too. Here it is! I hope you gain from this. I was going to say, "enjoy" but this sermon doesn't really give you something entertaining to enjoy but rather something worth understanding and pondering.

       Dante warns his readers not to pass a certain point in his Divine Comedy unless they are reverent and truly pondering the worth and meaning of his words. He explains that entering through the gates of Hell in a lighthearted manner and looking for amusement will ultimately lead to destruction and death. Dante knew that people could find amusement in his Inferno.

        Hell is real. Sin is real. Evil is real. It isn't to be taken lightly. I'd like to give the same warning; I would encourage you to NOT watch this video if you are looking for amusement in listening to a Mark Driscoll rant. Granted, they are amazingly wonderful and Biblically correct and sometimes very funny -- not this time.

        I imagine some could find amusement in the most horrific of murders. After-all, don't we entertain ourselves when reading a murder mystery or listening intently to details of the latest murder on the news? Yes, yes, I'm pulling from Neil Postman -- appropriately.

        Ironically, and because of this murder, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, filled with joy, laughter, and God's blessings.


         Much Love,
                Kait


P.S. I know the video is an hour long but it is worth listening to. :-)  

Made Something from Pinterest!

Gingerbread "Larabar" Balls -- from here (she made hers into gingerbread men, but I made mine into little balls. :)). I found them on Pinterest, and they are definitely tasty.

Sorry for the blurry! My camera is being rotten.

I made the gingerbread ones, but the girl had recipes for lots of flavors. Most of them were girlscout cookie flavors, which I don't really like. But these gingerbread ones were SO yummy! I think I added some extra spices, but I left the other proportions as is. Oh, and I soaked & roasted the almonds to make them more digestible. I am definitely going to make these again! Next time I might try switching out some of the dates for a tarter dried fruit, because Ryan thought they were a little sweet. But I was really impressed that they didn't taste very much like dates!

Anyway, if you like Larabars, you should try these... :)

Love,
Courtney

Snack Fix

I get a pretty decent case of the munchies between meals but I seem to have a hard time resisting the bad-for-you stuff. However, after watching a video about the crazy stuff that's in processed foods yesterday I was feeling inspired so I made (drum roll, please!) Kale chips! And they weren't half bad. Haha, I mean if I was able to munch down a baking tray of them they really must have been pretty good! Although I attribute most of their eatability to the garlic. Also they shrink up a lot so what started out as a single layer of leaves filling a baking sheet cooked down to a teenie-tiny amount. (Note: To watch the video you sign in with your name and email but I haven't gotten a bunch of junk mail from them, also, the video is only up for another day or so... eh heh)

Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
1 bunch curly kale
1 TBSP cold pressed olive oil
1 clove garlic
(Optional: Sea salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, or chili flakes in you want some extra zip.)

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 175. (or 200 if that's as low as your oven will go, mine goes to 160 surprisingly)
2.Cut out the woody inner cores of the leaves and discard.
3.Tear or cut remaining leaves into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl combine kale, olive oil, and garlic. Make sure all the leaves are coated. (Because the leaves are curly I used my fingers to spread the olive oil into the nooks and crannies.)
4. Arrange kale in a single layer (no overlapping) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until crisp, approximately 2 hours.

(Notes in italics are mine.)

Happy Snacking!
~Noble