PINEAPPLE//FIG SMOOTHIE.

Portie and I awoke this morning before the girls. Dan had gone off to work before the sun came up and we woke just as the sun was coming up. I went through my first of the morning routine of: starting the coffee maker, taking Ari outside to relieve herself, coming back inside, washing up, dressing, and preparing for the day. Normally I do this before Portie or the girls are awake, but this morning Portie was up with a strong gusto for life and joined me in my routine. We found ourselves finished with the above to-do list and as I fixed myself an iced coffee and situated Portie with his morning drink, I decided to pull out the blender and make us a smoothie.

I had to stretch our food budget this past month so this week is our final week before we can go grocery shopping on Friday so we are getting creative with what is left over in the pantry and refridgerator! I grabbed a container of pineapple chunks, vanilla soymilk (We typically have almond, but this was free, and it was organic), two bananas, eight dried black mission figs, and eight deglet dates. 

Portie is at the age of endless wonder and awe and loves to discover and get his hands in on anything he can. What could be more fun for him then letting him get his hands wet and sticky with pineapple to fill up our blender? Not much! I first had him throw the dates and figs into the blender and I added some soy milk and we let the blender blend away for a minute or so. When the mixture was as smooth as I knew we would like I began to unpeel the bananas, letting Portie finish and throw them in. His eyes were filled with such delight and concentration as he was getting to help with such an important task. Next onto the pineapple chunks; he was in Heaven, I even let him splash in the pineapple juice ;) One more whirl of the blender until our desired smoothness, a spoonful of maca, a spoonful of hemp, we were good to go.

I poured us a tall jar of smoothie and of course Portie got the first sip. Or half, I should say. It was delicious and it really hit the spot.

Then this happened:

Yep, it's Monday.

Still a wonderful morning with Portie though and I enjoyed the alone time with him before the girls woke up. With three, sometimes it's hard to get that individual time with each, or as much time as we would like, but when we do get the time together, it is so precious.

Also, sometimes the best meals/smoothies/juices/snacks, come from cleaning out the pantry, don't you think? 

Light + Love,
Corrine

Wild Blueberry Pie.

 

 

Today was my first day off of the week and it was pretty awesome. Overcast, no warmer than 73 degrees, and a bit breezy with some on and off drizzles. Mara had been asking me if we could bake a pie the past week or so. We were overdue for a visit to Grammy's house so she can see how much Eisley has grown, laugh at Porter constantly trying to make phone calls, and so on. Today was pie day. I had some organic wild blueberries in the freezer, and so it was decided, blueberry pie it was! I got this recipe from here and tweaked it a bit. It was delicious.

Wild Blueberry Pie:
For the pie crust:
2 & 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

16 tablespoons of really cold Earth Balance

1/4 tsp of sea salt
+

For the filling:

6 cups of wild blueberries

4 tablespoons of cornstarch (this brand is NONGMO.)

1/4 fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup raw sugar (next time I want to try maple syrup)

dash of cinnamon

a cap full of real vanilla extract

Directions:
Make your pie crust by combining the flour, Earth Balance, salt and 6-8 TBS of very cold water. Combine in a food processor, or do what I did, and let your littles squish the dough (make sure to wash hands!) until it is a nice smooth pie crusty dough. Chill in refrigerator while your oven is preheating to 425F. When your oven is preheated, flour your countertop or cutting board, separate your dough into two equal pieces (one for the bottom crust and one for the top crust) and roll out your chilled dough. Fit your first half to your pie pan. Combine your filling ingredients and fill your pie pan up, roll out your second half and place on top. Pinch down the ends with a fork, cut some slits to allow venting, even decorate with some dough trimmings. Our dough "mountain" design was fun. Bake for 15 minutes at 425, and then turn it down to 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite pie recipe or blueberry recipe you like to indulge in? Share it with me in the comments!