Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Isaac's Birthday

My little brother turned 15 years old on Sunday.  I have to continuously marvel at how God has changed him, just over these past couple of years, from that cute little boy that I loved to this Godly, amazing young man that I love and respect.

Before we headed off to church, we gave Isaac his gifts and cards.  I bought him a chef knife-- something he has wanted for a long time.  You can see how excited he was by the look on his face.



His gifts from Mom and Dad were of a different nature.  Can you guess?  If you guessed that they had something to do with his little farm you were absolutely right.  They gave him a milking pail, a book on raising meat goats, and money for a goat.  Speaking of goats, I have news... but that's for another post.  More on that later...



After church Mom and I made Isaac enchiladas, one of his favorite dinners.  Isaac doesn't eat sugar, so instead of a cake, we made him a nice big fruit salad.  (He just loves fruit!)  I know, he's not your average 15-year-old boy, but I'm okay with that.  :)




 Cutting the cake  Stirring the fruit salad  :)


This is Isaac's face for, "Stop taking pictures!"




Happy Birthday my brother!
~Kiah

Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Tale of Snowflakes and Flapjacks

I am definitely a morning person.  I love facing a new day, feeling the crisp, cool weather of the early morning, and sipping a hot cup of coffee as I watch the sunrise.  It is in those moments that I feel the most joyous, the most blessed to have been given life on this earth.  One day last week I awoke to a very special morning, one that, every time it comes around, fills me with a special excitement and joy.  When I went to the window a landscape of white greeted me.  Our first snow!  It was truly beautiful.
 


My lovely morning did not end there.  As much as I hate telling it, I must share a rather embarrassing story before I can explain to you just why this morning got better as it went on.

You see, a few weeks ago, Isaac challenged me to a very fatal gluten-free pancake bake-off.  Gluten-free because my Mamma is trying not to eat gluten, and pancake because she was wanting something other than oatmeal or quinoa porridge for breakfast.  I accepted the challenge.  After all, how bad could it really be?  *Ahem*  After half an hour of frenzied mixing and flipping, all we were left with was a mass of so many inedible blobs.  To say that our flapjacks were a flop is quite an understatement.

However, I am happy to say that all that is forever behind us!  On the morning of our first snow, Isaac and Mamma surprised me by ingeniously creating a recipe for gluten-free pancakes, which are really quite delicious.  I cannot explain to you how delighted I was at how much they tasted like pancakes!  Thus my morning was completed.  I do not think it gets much better than eating scrumptious gluten-free pancakes with a cup of steaming coffee in front of a warm, crackling fire while just outside the window lies a blanket of snow sparkling as the sun's rays fall on it.  It was quite a lovely morning indeed.



Below is the recipe that helped make that snowy morning so wonderful for me.  Perhaps if you try it you will find that it can brighten up your morning as well.

Gluten-Free Oat Banana Pancakes
3 cups oat flour (we make our oat flour simply by blending oats in the blender)
6 eggs
3 bananas
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 c. almond milk

Mix together eggs, bananas, vanilla, and almond milk with an electric mixer or hand blender.  Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Drop batter onto greased frying pan on medium heat.  Flip when bubbles form in the batter.  Makes about 4 servings.

~Kiah