365 Days in Washington: May 2012

So many months I've spent wondering when God will bless our voyage of life and all the while He's been blessing us under my nose . It's not like I snubbed the blessings, I was just looking for them in different forms. I know that we will eventually have a place of our own, with babies and chickens but for now, it's nice to be unattached, free and young.

So I've accepted that this is where God wants us to be for a while. In a house full of boys who love us dearly. And word on the street is that one will be moving out soon to pursue other adventures and we will swoop in and take his place in one of the bedrooms. Which will make our lives so much better.

I still don't have a job so if anyone is reading this, please pray for me. I keep going on all these interviews and nothing is working out. I really need prayers and I really need to persevere. Sometimes, I don't want to even apply for jobs anymore. I get discouraged. Keep praying.

I celebration of our new found happiness and contentment, Will and I have committed to a lifestyle change. We started a diet of sorts. If you want to read about it, click here And we've been hiking the crap out of SoCal. I will share a few of our recipes below: Whether you are dieting or not these recipes are incredible.

Pepper Steak and Cauliflower Rice

tonight we made my aunt's Pepper Steak. This was one of my absolute favorite meals as a kid and when she passed away, my uncle sent me her hand written recipe. I read it and could imagine her in the kitchen cooking it...

Top round boneless steak
-brown meat in oil (coconut oil) don't crowd it! Use two pans if you have to and add them together before simmering.

-add 1/2 cup water, or enough to cover the meat
2 tbs wheat free soy sauce
2 tsp salt
a sprinkling of garlic powder
-cover and simmer 45 minutes

add 2 cups sliced onions
1 bell pepper, cubed
1 cup celery
-add to meat and cook until veggies are soft
-add 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch (or potato starch) to 2 cups warm water and add to pot. Stir and serve over rice!

She used to serve it with rice, but our new diet forbids it so we made some cauliflower "sticky rice" instead. Recipe here . The only thing I did differently was add a little bit of rice wine vinegar to the finished product. It's not strictly paleo but it cuts the cauliflower taste and makes it taste more like rice!

For dessert we made dark chocolate almond butter mouse cups! It's the paleo version of peanut butter cups and they are the PERFECT little treat.

Will actually came up with this recipe in his head and I am quite impressed. Start this the night before so you can refrigerate the coconut milk!

1 can coconut milk, separated
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons raw honey
3 bars dark chocolate (trader joes has a nice 73% cocoa bar you can use) melted
silicone ice trays or candy molds (I got mine from Ikea for $1)
** It's better to use mini muffin cups or candy cups (found at cooking stores)

-melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a sauce pan over low heat
-line the bottom of the silicone tray with chocolate and let set in freezer for about 5-7 minutes

-melt butter, honey and almond butter and set aside.

-use the fatty, thick part of the coconut milk (discard the water) and whisk vigorously in a metal bowl until stiff peaks form. (also great on coffee or fresh fruit! it's just like whipped cream!)
-use about 1/4 cup of coconut whip and gently fold into almond butter.
-add a small dollop (1 tsp or less) of almond butter mixture to tray and cover with remaining chocolate
-let set in freezer overnight