Rainbow Stuffed Peppers

The Recipe:

6 peppers of any color

1 1/2 C water

3/4 C dry quinoa

2-3 Tbs. raw coconut oil

6 garlic cloves

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 C broccoli florets

4 C finely chopped kale

2 medium carrots, diced

1 C minced basil

2 tsp. Celtic sea salt

3/4 tsp. balck pepper

1 tsp. oregano

2 Tbs. low- sodium tamari( I use Bragg's liquid Aminos)

*Be sure quinoa has soaked over night and rinse well before using.

Cut top off peppers,  chop and save to add to filling.  Clean out any seeds from peppers.

Place water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, add quinoa and simmer until the water is absorbed and the grains become translucent and soft or about 10-15 minutes.  Pour into a strainer and set  aside in a bowl.   I use my rice cooker instead, which works wonderfully.

Saute the garlic in coconut oil until gently cooked, then add the onions, and stir until the they become translucent.  Add broccoli, kale, carrot, chopped pepper tops, basil and cook gently for a few minutes.  Add sea salt and other seasoning to the veggie mixture and stir it up.  And the cooked quinoa and mix everything together well.

Adjust seasoning to your taste.  The mix should taste slightly saltier than your taste, as the seasoning will be less concentrated as we stuff the plain bell peppers.  Once your satisfied with your filling, spoon it into each pepper, right up to the top.

Place peppers tightly together in a glass baking dish so they remain upright.  Bake at 350 for  45 minutes. Enjoy!!

Small update

So my computer has been having some major issues and so I haven't been able to post pictures from Christmas or our Utah trip or Brent BOBSLEDDING.  Yup, you read that right.  So this is to encourage you to stay tuned until I fix whatever problem has corrupted my iPhoto library.

I also decided to start my own PROJECT 365 this year and have been pretty successful at getting a picture taken every day so stay tuned for that as well.

I am on day 10 of doing the Metagenix detox and food elimination diet and am starting feel more energized and more like myself after eating terribly all November and December.  I love this plan because I notice such a huge difference in how I feel during the day, my outlook on life, my sleep habits improve, I get less migraines, and I realized I don't need all the junk I think I MUST have.  So I thought I would share with you some of my favorite recipes that I have been eating.

Today I had a Blueberry Cucumber Smoothie so I could use up all the cucumbers I got from Bountiful Baskets.  The recipe can be found here on the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen.

We also ate the Rice and Bean Breakfast bowls but for dinner since Brent refused to eat it for Breakfast.

The recipe is here.  I am in love with the avocado sauce and so is Katie.  Brent said it tastes like Chipotle. Maybe Chipotle won't be seeing us on Fridays anymore.  Actually I doubt that.

We had Minestrone soup last night and the kids gobbled it up.  I used wild rice instead of pasta since no gluten is allowed.

And of course one of my breakfast staples is Quinoa as a breakfast cereal.

I soak it over night.  In the morning I rinse it again to get the saffron coating off(gives a bitter taste if you don't do this).  I dump it in my rice cooker.  Fill with Double the H20.  I use cranberries or blueberries, almonds and sometimes dried, unsweetened coconut.  Cook till light says it is done.  Then I place in bowls with Almond milk, cinnamon, and Grade B maple syrup.  Yummm!  My girls eat it up and ask for it as a snack.  I love Quinoa because it has more protein than oatmeal and it keeps me fuller.

The Abundant Life

Reading the words of President Monson always makes feel better but I had no idea how perfectly his message would pierce my heart today. I'm so glad I chose to read his message today. I know that these words of inspiration can't be for me alone. So i hope that if you haven't read this message yet, you will find a few minutes to do so.

http://lds.org/ensign/2012/01/living-the-abundant-life?lang=eng

Courtney

A glimpse of my favorite pictures from a photo shoot I did of Courtney, Brent's assistant's and best friends daughter.  It was such a great learning opportunity for me.  I loved being in such a beautiful place with a camera in hand and someone to willingly pose for me.  We were able to go to property that Brent and Brad, Courtney's Dad, hunt on.  It was perfect.  Thanks for the opportunity, Hannah and Courtney!

Sienna's Baptism

Sienna was so excited for this day.  It came and she was beaming!

Thanks for all those who came and made it a special day for my little girl.  I was so grateful for the support of loved ones.  And I know Sienna was too.

It was such a simple and yet touching meeting and experience for me.  I was trying not to cry throughout the whole thing and somewhat succeeded.  When Bishop Gardner got up and said that the ordinance was the most important thing, I really felt such a sense of peace.  Afterwards he told me that he had been in Utah for Thanksgiving and had come home early so that he and his wife could be there.  I was astonished and asked him again to verify that he really left his family early to come to Sienna's baptism and his reply was, "I couldn't have missed this."  That is when I lost it.  I really lost it.  I couldn't even speak, I was crying so hard.  I was a bit embarrassed by my strong emotion, but mostly I was so deeply touched by his words but more by his actions.  His choice to be there and support Sienna and our family spoke volumes.  It spoke to a place in my heart that I had been needing to feel supported and loved.  I can't speak the words to thank him for that but I hope that my tears spoke what I could not verbalize.

As for Sienna.  I love this girl.  I was reminded on this day of how blessed I am to be her mother.  She brings such happiness to me.  I am so pleased with her devotion to God and to wanting to do what is right.  She is a wonderful person and a great example to me.

 Again, some pictures from my mom.  I couldn't focus on taking pictures and being with Sienna and everyone and I was sad I didn't have better pictures.  We tried to get one good family one and it was SOOO cold outside that it didn't go so well.

Thanksgiving

We were lucky enough to have family come to us this year for Thanksgiving.

We had the my Mom, my sister, Katie and her wonderful family and our fellow Coloradoans, the Egberts.

The greatest part of the day was that the men did all the cooking!  Us women set things up, did crafts with the kids and got everyone ready.  It was so nice to have Brent and Nate take care of all the food while we enjoyed each other and the kids.  I had every intention of helping but Brent just got her done!

Michelle brought her delicious rolls and home made cranberry sauce and the BEST pumpkin cheesecake!

Brent made 5 pies!  We really enjoyed them!

Beautiful Katie!

And her fabulous family.

Me and My Mama.

I didn't take enough pictures and didn't really take any good ones while Michelle and Hans were over.

Luckily my mom took some.  Here they are.

McKenna and Sienna.

Sage and Hunter.  Yes they are the same age. 4 weeks apart.  And they can't get enough of each other.  We hardly saw them the whole weekend.  I love these 2 together.

Ayla and Aspen.

We are so grateful for family.  Especially family that can come to us and we love all of these guys.  Thanks for sharing my favorite Holiday with us.  

We had Sage and Hunter find us a tree branch.  They did an awesome job and then we all took our place card leaf and wrote what we are thankful for and hung it on the branch.  It was so fun to read what everyone was grateful for. Sienna and McKenna and Katelyn had novels, Sage was grateful for himself(I love that).  Hunter was thankful for his family and hunting.  

Sienna's Baptism Invite

Sienna has been waiting for this all year!  She is so beside herself.

I love her enthusiasm surrounding her baptism and being a member of the church.

Eight

Sienna is EIGHT!  I can't believe that it has been that long since I was on crazy bed rest for eight weeks.  I can't believe it was eight years ago that Brent and I talked about names.  I told him that the baby was never going to come until we picked a name.  He suggested Sienna.  A name we had never even thought of previously.  I said fine and went up to bed.  Done.  Decided.  I was so done being pregnant that I didn't even care any more.  I went into labor that night at One AM.  She was stubborn then and she is stubborn now.  

She is a fiery little girl that loves dresses and climbing trees.  She loves "high heels" and her converse.  She loves gymnastics and getting her nails done.  She loves playing with babies and talking with the adults.  She keeps me guessing all the time.  I love her diversity and her complexity.  She is caring and giving and the most sensitive of all my kids.  She adores her family and probably nothing is more important to her than they are.  She worries about others.  She is passionate about dogs and would adopt every dog she sees if she could.  She is confident and loves her freckles and red hair.  She loves being unique.  She loves numbers and numerology.  She loves writing and telling stories.  She loves upbeat music and dancing.  She loves running and is so competitive.  It bothers her that she is only the second fastest girl in her class.  She loves playing the piano and begs me to let her take violin lessons.  She want to play soccer, take cooking classes and art, and go to yoga.  She is willing and craving to do everything.  There isn't enough time for her.

Notice her arms!  She didn't want me to post it but it is part of her story.  She has had hives since last Tuesday!  We don't know what it is from.  They come and go.  When she has Benadryl they leave and then they come back as soon as it wears off.  They are pretty aggravating and itchy.  They swell up and get red and angry.  She has been such a trooper in dealing with them.  I am frustrated that they wouldn't go away so I can take pictures for her baptism.  I decided to today to embrace the fact that this is what she looks like on her eighth birthday.  She hit the corner of her eye/cheekbone at gymnastics on Thursday while doing a front handspring.  It left a pretty nasty bruise.  She looks pretty beat up but that just showcases who she is and that she is living life!  We were laughing about the fact that on the first day of school she had a black eye and now when I want pics again she is sporting new injuries.  She is my rough and tough, princess girl.  And I LOVE HER! 

She is so beside herself about getting baptized.  She has been working on the Articles of Faith all year and almost has all of them memorized.  She has such a sweet faith.  She was crying last night about her hives and a large molluscum bump on her back.  She was having a hard time calming down.  She asked Brent to give her a blessing.  He did and she stopped crying, said thanks and went upstairs without another complaint.  She teaches me faith and love every day.

Happy Birthday, my big EIGHT year old.  I love you!

She stopped sucking her Fingers!

Ayla does things when she wants too.  She decides she is going to do something and then she does it!

She potty trained herself, against my wishes, at 21 months old.  

I didn't think she was ready, but she did.  

She was right.  She never had any accidents and she didn't regress when Elsie was born.

This summer she decided she was ready to ride her bike without training wheels.

Brent told her he would help her in a minute.  

She took her bike out the back to the church parking lot.

She got on while Hunter steadied it for her  and

She started riding.  She didn't need Brent or anyone else to show or tell her

how to do it.

She just does things.  In her own time.  In her own way.  

It's one of the things that makes her so lovable,

and so feisty!

She has loved her green baba for 5 long years.

When she went to Kindergarten she wanted to pack it in her back pack.

I wouldn't let her so when she came home from school she would go sit on her bed with her baba and suck her fingers until all was right in the world again.

She had no interest in stopping sucking those fingers.  Until one day she said that she wanted her ears pierced.  She knew the deal was she had to give up her fingers for 2 weeks before she could get them pierced.  She put her baba at the end of her bed and didn't sleep with it again.  She stopped right then and there.

Here she is before!

 Picking out which eating she wants!

 Waiting like the brave little girl she is.  She didn't bat an eye.  

She didn't flinch or give any indication that it hurt at all.

And the after.  

She was pretty thrilled with her birthstone, flower earrings she had chosen.

Way to go my buggie! 

 I love you and am so excited for you!  

Great work on accomplishing something that you worked hard for.