Lunch Date

The other day Eric had the day off and we usually will go out somewhere to eat whether breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Downtown there has always been this small place on Railroad St. that caught my eye but never took the time to try, Man Pies. Its been a locally owned food spot since July 2010, by a woman and her husband. When you walk in the smell of the pies is the first sign that your in a good place. But the best part is you can look back into the open kitchen and see them hand making these little circular pie crusts while watching the steam arise from the oven when they pull a new batch out. Is there anything that really beats a homemade from scratch meal? They had about 6 choices on the menu and I went for the roasted chicken and veggies pie while Eric opted for the BBQ pulled pork. Both were really yummy and the flaky crust definitely made it for us!
After we went to another local Favorite, The Mallard Creamery. They serve house made ice creams in the craziest flavors. We had the sweet potato coconut but some of the wild ones like ghost pepper chili lime and white russian were a little too crazy. The inside is really fun and is decorated with little rubber ducks and the coolest chairs and couches. Ice cream is definitely my weakness when it comes to dessert and this place most definitely fulfilled my love for frozen flavored cream!
 Eric Next suggested we visit our favorite little toy shop in fair haven, Fairhaven Toy Garden. This play is filled with natural toys and fun games. We spotted the sweetest little kitchen we wanted for Isaac's birthday but the display was the last one! He had so much fun playing with it and when it was time to go he was so upset with us. I felt horrible so went went to the ski and bike shop next door and got Isaac his first bicycle helmet, its so cute on him! February 28th, you were a good day.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe.

I tried this recipe a few days ago and showed a few pictures through instagram and Facebook.  Heres what You will need:

Recipe.


1 3/4 cup of the all purpose gluten free baking flour.
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup of applesauce (you can use canola oil if you prefer)
2/3 cup of brown sugar ( do not substitute with white sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of xanthan gum ( a natural thickener used in a lot of gluten- free recipes)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of mashed very ripe bananas
You can also add a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts of you would like, I did not because I wanted Isaac to be able to eat them with our choking on a walnut.

Instructions.
Preheat your oven to 350
lightly butter a 9x5 loaf pan
(or use a 8x8 bar pan like I did)
cream together the eggs, vanilla extract, apple sauce and sugar
In a separate bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients excluding the bananas
combine the wet and dry and in small portions add the mashed banana
Do not over mix or you will end up with a really dense banana bread, yuck!
bake for 1hour in loaf pan and 50 min with a bar pan.

How can you get the gluten-free baking flour mix?
 At your grocery store there is usually a bulk bin section and in this section they usually will have a gluten free all purpose flour blend. It will contain either brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, Gf flour or probably a mixture of a few. I used this and used a recipe I found at the Co op I shop at regularly. If not they may have it pre packaged in your natural section at a regular market.

Here are a few photos from that same morning of my kitchen, I try and aways keep up on cleaning it because I'm in it so often. I really do enjoy cooking and baking though, a lot of experimental recipes go down in this room. Some good, some bad Thats all a part of the fun though right.?
My favorite thing to do in the morning is wake up turn on some great up beat music, push open all of the curtains enjoy whatever the weather may be and make breakfast for Isaac and I, such a mood boosting way to start the day. Whats your favorite way to start the day?

Front Page News.

The other day I had decided to take Isaac to Marine Park for a little picnic. While there a man began to take photographs of us sitting on rocks watching a boat pass by. At first I'm not going to lie I was a little creeped out but continued to just hang out and enjoy my time. Later on he came up to us and asked our names and told me he was from the Bellingham Herald and was going to put a small story of us in the paper. So I gave him our names and as he walked away he said you guys are going to be famous and I just kind of nodded and went back to what I was doing. The next day it was about 8pm and I was telling Eric about what had happened so I decided to check out the computer to see if we were actually going to be in the paper, sure enough we were on the front page! I know its not the biggest deal but I can't wait to someday share this with Isaac because we have spent so much of our time out on that bay together so I thought it was kind of special. Here is the picture and some from that same day.

11 months.

This morning when I woke up I rolled over next to an 11 month old boy. Thinking to myself I remembered how a  tiny newborn used to take place of this now chubby little, almost toddler. I know that it is hard for most to get used to the fact that there baby turns from just that into a walking talking little being, but I am so excited for him to mutter his first I love you mom and for him to be able to hop on his skateboard for the first time. Don't get  me wrong though it will be missed all the baby cooing and wobbly sitting. I just can't get over the fact that Isaac is getting so much more fun everyday and that it will probably only continue from here! His clothes are getting more grown up like and I can't help but to buy him way too many, his jabbering is more often and way louder than ever before, the backwards crawling is now a full speed sprint in crawl form, and a jungle gym is now what everything is used for. Also Im not sure if its possible but his eyes seem more blue every day. So while I will continue to enjoy these baby stages I will not be bitter when they leave because to me I will still always have a baby, I love you sweet boy.


Today.


 We did our usual routine breakfast, bath, play then nap time. We had been on the go for the past couple days and yesterday and today we decided to stay home and get back on track with what we are used to, such as scheduled nap times. While getting Isaac dressed today I couldn't help but put a plain white onesie on him! Reminds me of the summer time when he was so little and would wear just a onsie almost everyday. They are just one of those things that kids can get away with for so long so today I had to.
On a different note we started a gluten free juicer cleanse a few days ago and it has been going great. Yesterday I made gluten free banana bread bars and they were so good Isaac and I ate them all! Usually I only eat things that Isaac is able to eat as well. Avocados, bananas, waffles, oatmeal, lentil and pea soup are some of our favorites. This has changed a bit though due to the non gluten diet. Below Isaac is enjoying his new gluten free cereal with organic almond milk, its actually really good and so far have found that gluten free food doesn't actually taste bad at all! Eric and I have been feeling great so far besides the not being able to eat pizza part and I don't think isaac is having a hard time with it either, so I am hoping to keep it up as long as we can! I will eventually be sharing a few of the gluten free recipes we try and hopefully you can test out as well.
Happy Monday,
Breanna

Rainy Days.

We live in a one bedroom apartment, and honestly I don't mind it a bit. Yes sometimes I would love to have a two bedroom but with Eric's job we could move at anytime and paying a new deposit just isn't worth it. Sometimes the thought of leaving Bellingham is a little hard to swallow, but I know eventually it will happen. With summer on the fast approach we probably will hardly ever be inside anyways. Isaac's crib is next to the bed and though he still doesn't sleep there, he likes to play inside of it and look out the window. My little window watcher, so fascinated by the world around him. Taking in all the sights, sounds, trees and more. 

The rain is falling today, and pretty sure this first picture has me falling too. :)

a little video I made from yesterday. Click here!

Sunsets and Starbucks.

Yesterday Eric had a half day so we decided to take advantage of the semi "nice" weather. We hopped in the car and made our way downtown for a little apple fritters and hot chocolate. Those apple fritters Starbucks has are yummy, highly recommend them! After indulging in some delicious delectables we continued our outing with a little window shopping at a few of our favorite places and then headed back to our car. We had our sights set on home because of the wind and cold, but when we saw the sun setting we had a change of mind. Its hard passing up a good Bellingham sunset over the bay. We decided to drive to a nice little viewing spot from a marina in downtown Fairhaven. This spot is a special place to me. The day I went into labor I went there for a walk with my family to try and get my labor started since Isaac decided he wanted to post pone his due date, silly boy. I collected pretty shells and rocks and have them stored in jars from that day above my stove. Such a simple small thing that means so much. I may have had the biggest grin while typing that. Here are a few little photos of the sights today.

Instagram.

Currently.

Lately Isaac and I have been going for so many walks it seems. Can not complain though its been nice and we have been getting a lot of things done, and doing so much thrifting. I myself have been planning Isaac's birthday, spring cleaning and searching for the perfect bicycle! For this summer I thought the funnest way for the littlest and I to get around would be a bike. I think for his birthday one of his gifts will be a little helmet, how cute right? The weather here has been rainy and overcast for quite a few days and very cold from what we are used to! Makes me so excited for spring and summer though, I have so many fun things planned my mind could explode :) Happy hump day.

Always, Breanna

Birthday Festivities.

We baked cupcakes.

Sung happy birthday.

Made Eric a card.

Had a homemade mac and cheese dinner.

Smiled a lot.

Happy Birthday!!