Clean-Eating Coconut Rice Treats (Allergy-Friendly and No-Bake!)

* This recipe is Vegetarian, optionally Vegan, optionally Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Peanut Free, Tree Nut Free (though they do contain coconut), optionally Soy Free, and optionally refined sugar free.

This afternoon, I was looking for a no-bake treat to make for the kids because I didn't want the oven to heat up the house. I checked my Clean Eating Pinterest board and found this gem. I made some adjustments to use what I had on hand and the results were DELICIOUS!

Whether someone in your house is on a special diet or not, these will be a hit. My kids polished off 1/2 the pan and begged for more.

Coconut Rice Treats

Ingredients

• 1½  cups +  ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 6 Tbsp honey
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups Rice Chex cereal
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (optional: dairy-free chocolate chips)
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Directions

1. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan.
2. Place 1½ cups shredded, unsweetened coconut in a food processor. Keep processing until the coconut clumps and turns into a paste, about 3 minutes.
3. Transfer the coconut paste to a small saucepan and add the honey and vanilla. Whisk over medium-low heat until smooth, about 5 minutes. The mixture will be thick and sticky.
4. While the mixture is on the stove, add Rice Chex cereal to the food processor and pulse until they form small crumbs, about 20 seconds.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and gently stir in the remaining ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut and the cereal crumbs. 
6. Press the mixture into the greased baking pan, using parchment or plastic wrap between your hands and the mix, if needed. 
7. Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl 30 seconds at a time, until melted. Stir until smooth.
8. Pour the chocolate mixture over the rice mixture and spread evenly over the top.
9. Chill 20-30 minutes until chocolate topping is set. Cut into squares. 
10. Yields 16 bite-sized treats.

When You Give a Homeschool Mom a Morning (inspired by If You Give a Mouse a Cookie)

This morning, we waved good-bye as Mike and Ryan went off to church camp. Then I immediately dropped Kaylin and Jason off for a week of Vacation Bible School. I suddenly had three hours all to myself. 

Let me repeat that: THREE HOURS. TO MYSELF. 

Do you know how rare that is in my world? 

Do you know what three hours equals in homeschool mom hours??? Practically a week. 

I intended to run some child-free errands, but decided to head home and cross a few things off my to do list first. It was only 9am, so I had plenty of time to do both.

But before I sat down, I started a load of laundry and cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast. 

Then I sat down at my computer. My eyes wandered over to the cluttered desk around me. Papers, Legos, football trading cards, drawings, lists, receipts…I couldn't concentrate. I decided to spend 30 minutes re-setting my house. Clear surfaces, clean floors, tidy nooks and crannies. 

But I had to go to the bathroom first. Once in the bathroom, my sink counters made me cringe. With Mike gone for a few days, I decided to stick all of his toiletries under his sink. 

But the counter was still gross...toothpaste crusties and stray whiskers everywhere. So I quickly wiped it down. And cleaned the mirror. And while I was at it, I may as well clean the toilet and just call it, "done," right?

It took me all of 11 minutes, so I carted my cleaning supplies over to the kids' bathroom. 

As I walked past the schoolroom, I noticed Jason's bedding all over the floor. I had forgotten that he wouldn't stop talking to Ryan last night, so I separated them. I grabbed his pillow and covers and went into the boys' room to re-make his bed.

While I was in there, I tidied up a bit. Hangers hung up in the closet. Books on the shelf. Clothes in the hamper.

The hamper looked pretty full, so I grabbed the clothes to bring to the laundry room. While I was at it, I emptied Kaylin's hamper, too. And pulled the clothes out of my hamper.

After the clothes were sorted in the laundry room and the towels were moved to the dryer, I decided to clean the hall bathroom. And disinfect the kitchen sink. 

Then the dishwasher was ready to be unloaded. 

Then I noticed Ryan's birthday party decorations all over the house. Time to take those down!

Then I picked up all of the paper and peripherals from the kids playing "hotel" with their friends in the front room yesterday.

I casually looked at the clock. Only 10:15!??!!

Time for a snack. I poured myself some Rice Chex and almonds and gathered some stuff to bring upstairs with me. Like an idiot, I tipped the bowl and spilled Chex everywhere. I figured I should vacuum it up before accidentally stepping on them and made a bigger mess.

And while the vacuum was out…I think you see where this is going...

Then I finally got back to decluttering the surfaces. It is now 11:20am, I have completely picked up my house, cleaned the bathrooms, done a load of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, vacuumed the kitchen, disinfected the sink, written this entire blog post, and I still have 30 minutes to spare before I need to go pick up the little kids.

What on EARTH am I going to do with myself for the next four mornings??!?!

Comfortable in My Skin

This morning, I saw this video on Facebook. It had such an impact on me that it's been resonating with me all day. 

Do yourself a favor - please follow the link and watch it.  You will be so glad you did! It's an Australian woman who had the "perfect body" and realized that it still wasn't good enough. Nothing changed about how she felt about her body, even after working so hard to "get a taste" of what it felt like to have an amazing, toned, perfectly in-shape, magazine-cover-worthy body.

To me, the strongest words in her video were, "How am I going to teach my beautiful daughter to love her body if her mom can't do the same?" Knife. in. the. heart.

I have never been comfortable in my own skin. As a young child, I was always the tallest in my class and a little thicker than all of my flat-tummied little friends. My single mom found the funds to put me in dance, tennis, and swim team. I was clearly an active kid, yet I always knew I was "bigger" than other kids. Looking at this picture below from my 6th birthday, my negative self-image seems ridiculous.

In 4th grade, my PE teacher did an annual fitness test. We did sit ups, push ups, ran, and we were measured. I remember exactly where I was standing in the gymnasium when my friends were discussing their weight. "I'm 64 lbs," "I'm 61 - less than you!" I looked down at my paper and saw that I weighed 85 lbs. I felt huge.

Today, Ryan is the same age and weighs about the same as I did. He is a fit, active boy, and he is solid as a rock. Yet he is perfect. Definitely not chunky, definitely not thin, just perfect. Thinking back, I'll bet I was, too. 

When puberty hit, I developed quickly and boys stopped looking me in the eyes during conversations…their gaze wandered down to my chest and never moved. I had a different reason to feel uncomfortable in my skin. Thankfully, baggy, oversized shirts were the "grunge" style in the early 90s. 

In high school, when eating disorders were rampant, I compared my flaws to others' strengths, never knowing what they were doing to stay so thin. I always felt like the biggest girl in the room. I refused to cut my hair too short for fear that it would make my face look chunky. 

In college, I went overboard, gaining the freshman 15 in a matter of months, then packing on a few extra pounds for good measure. I ate Golden Grahams for lunch and Pasta Roni for dinner. It was a carb-feasting phenomenon. I can't imagine what I would have weighed if I drank my way through college, like most of my friends!

By the time I graduated, I was a healthier weight and worked out consistently, but still felt disgusted by the image looking back at me in the mirror. I was so deceived!

It seems that the pictures I look back on with envy are those around the time each of my kids was about a year old. Could it be because I was carrying around a not-yet-walking 20-30 lb baby blob all the time? I remember finally feeling fit enough to run a 5K and thinking, "That picture of me crossing the finish line must have been a really good angle - because my butt and legs look great!" Or maybe…just maybe…my legs actually DID look great? At the time, I didn't think so. 

Here I am, after four pregnancies and three beautiful children, still criticizing myself in the mirror every single day as I get dressed.

Lately, even before watching the video above, I've asked myself, "When is it going to be good enough?" And the answer is most definitely, "NEVER." I am never going to be happy with the way I look unless I consciously decide to be.

My metabolism isn't what it was in my 20s. My hips aren't what they were before I gave birth. And even if I were at my ideal size and weight, my legs are getting veiny and gravity is starting to set in. It's very possible that I look better today than I will ever look again in my life. Very soon, I will look back on the pictures from May, 2014 and long to look like I do today. Right at this moment.

I'm done. I'm done with the self-loathing. I'm done critiquing the parts of myself that are imperfect. I'm done shaming myself for giving in to a sweet treat after lunch or eating one too many cookies at a pot luck. 

I am officially, publicly, accepting my near-40 year old body. This is me and I need to deal with it. Pouchy belly, back fat and all. I will continue to exercise and continue to make healthy eating choices, but I am DONE with the negative self image. 

I resolve to become comfortable in my own skin in 2014 and stay that way. Yee Haw! I feel more free already.

#34 - Read the Bible every day for a month

I've been working on this one for a few months now, but I'm finally in the habit of reading my online YouVersion Bible app every morning before climbing out of bed. Sometimes I read a few verses, other times I read a couple of chapters. What's cool is that Ryan has been reading the Bible every day, too, and often our readings overlap and we can talk about what we read. This is a habit I've wanted to get into for a very long time.

The days that I also take time to pray for the kids, myself as a mom/teacher/mediator/arbitrator, Mike, my struggles in general…those are the days that run much more smoothly. I'm just excited that I'm in the habit again! And that #34 is crossed off my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list.

#54 - Pay the kids their allowance (personally) every week for a month

I have {loosely} given Ryan an allowance for a few years now, but rarely, if ever, actually handed him the cash. Someone told me about an online piggy bank website that tracks how much you owe your kids, let's you make virtual withdrawals and increase their allowance at any time, so I've relied on that to tell me what I owe Ryan. And let's just say I owe him a lot. He has 184 week's worth of allowance that I need to deposit into his savings account!

But times, they are a-changin'. We wanted to start teaching the kids to be responsible with money, saving and giving before they spend it all, and it's worked out beautifully. We're about 5 weeks in and the kids are officially in the habit of asking for their allowance every Saturday. Even Jason looks forward to getting his 4 quarters! #54 is crossed off the 101 in 1001 list!

Overnight Baked French Toast (easily made Gluten Free!)

I found this recipe on Pinterest with the comment "Perfect Christmas Morning French Toast". We've had our friends' kids staying with us for the past few nights and yesterday, I couldn't flip pancakes fast enough to feed our temporarily enlarged family. So last night, I decided to find a make-ahead breakfast. 

I messed with the original recipe to lighten it up a bit, including a few adjustments to make it Gluten Free. Our non-GF house guests loved the GF version and begged for more! Everyone had seconds, until the pan was scraped clean.

Ingredients

         1 loaf stale bread (I used Gluten Free)

         12 whole eggs

         2 cups milk

         1 1/2 cup almond milk (or use regular milk)

         3/4 cups sugar (reduce to 1/2 cup if using honey or agave nectar)

         2 Tablespoons vanilla

         1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or Gluten Free AP flour)

         1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

         1 teaspoon cinnamon

         1/4 teaspoon salt

         1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold butter, cubed

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. Slice or tear the bread into chunks and place them in the greased pan.

3. Mix together eggs, milk, almond milk, sugar (or honey or agave), and vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Before heading to bed, prepare the topping. In another bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter and mix until the batter comes somewhat together, like little pebbles. (I used a food processor) Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

5. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

6. Take the pan with the soaking bread and sprinkle the crumb mixture on top.

7. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Yields 8-10 servings.

This is what the pan looked like 15 minutes after it came out of the oven. We will definitely be making this again! Probably for Easter morning. Yum!

#26 - Teach Ryan to read a recipe and make it without help

(Dear Future Daughter in Law…you are welcome!)

Ryan has been my little kitchen helper since he was two, but lately, cooking is really clicking for him. Last week, I gave him a new Flourless Chocolate Chip Brownies recipe to make on his own and he nailed it!

Then this morning, he made us all pancakes without any assistance. I'd say #26 on my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list is DONE! I need to get this kid to start making us all dinner once a week so I can work myself out of a job!!! 

Tricky April Fool's Day Food

The kids got a kick out of waking up to my April Fool's Day pranks this morning. All day, they were suspicious of anything and everything…wondering what lurked around every corner. I had more tricks up my sleeve, but ended up running out of time and energy. I promised to save them for next year. 

Ryan helped me make cupcakes for dinner (meatloaf with mashed potato "frosting") and crinkle French fries for dessert that were really Tastefully Simple's GF Vanilla Bean Pound Cake. It was fun!

{directions here}

I need to figure out how to upload my phone videos onto YouTube without a hassle, because I got the funniest video of him and Mike eating their Cheerios this morning. Ryan's were frozen solid in milk. BAHAHA! His reaction was priceless! I posted a shortened version of the video on Facebook, but I know many of you don't have access to my FB posts. So if anyone has any tips for why my phone videos won't upload to YouTube, please let me know!