Some Old and Some New

Part 1 of this post I've been meaning to get up for a few weeks now and Part 2 is new...

Part 1
Rachel, Jared and Judah's visit to Texas (check out Rachel's blog and great mommy stories here). It was seriously great having friends in town and people to explore with. Not to mention seeing all of Judah's sweet baby smiles, quality time with Rach as well as Nick and Jared having some "guy" time together. Fun was had by all and we wish we could see them more often!

Of course, we had to take them to the Stockyards, just like we've done with my parents' visit in October and when my dad, aunts and uncle visited in August. It's just a great, timeless area in Fort Worth to check out!

Judah loved it :)

Billy Bob's - we were fortunate enough to slip in between the daily admission time and the nightly admission time so got to check it out again for free!

We also checked out the Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown Dallas on a beautiful fall day

And made Judah smile, because his smiles are SO cute!

Enjoyed Weeping Willow trees...

And crazy sculptures. By the way, I did NOT digitally enhance this photo at all, this is how my camera took it, in normal mode and it looks the same in a few photos I took of it. It looks like crazy bright blue and stark white which looks awesome! My camera has a mind of it's own and I'm impressed.

Rach and I outside the Sculpture Center - love her!

We found a great fall-ish photo op outside of the Dallas Museum of Art - love him :)

And Judah caught some Zzz's

My handsome hub with a cool water wall at the Art Center

Part 2
Decorating for CHRISTMAS!!! And a great snack recipe.

Breaking in my new candy cane candles! I couldn't wait to light them to smell the wonderful smells of the holiday season!

I put out some of our Christmas decor this past week, which I LOVE so much. This is my favorite time of the year! We have some items from Nick's family and grandparents and some from mine and it was so nice to bring them all out again and appreciate these gifts from people we love.

I love the great nativity set my mom gave us a few years ago. I set mini Christmas lights around it to let it glow at night and remind us of the Reason for this season.

I also love this little nativity scene Nick's cousin Erica got for us in Costa Rica.

Our wreath is on the door, the tree is up, next step is getting up the ornaments and I'll put up some photos of that too :)

I also tried this great recipe for Black Peppered-Sugared Almonds over the weekend for the NE/OU game... sad outcome of the game, but GOOD snack! That always helps, right? :) I can't stop eating them and seriously think I'll never have to buy those flavored almond cans again - I can make it myself now! This recipe is from Sara B's Consulting site/blog - one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
1 lb raw almonds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp course ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg white
1 tsp water

Directions:
Mix sugar and spices in large bowl, set aside. Whisk egg white in second large bowl and add water, whipping until frothy. Add almonds and coat with egg white mixture then pour them into the sugar/spice bowl, coating the almonds well.

Line a large baking sheet or jelly roll pan with foil + Pam or I used parchment paper and that was great. Spread almonds on pan in single layer. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring after about 1/2 hour. Once out of the oven, stir almonds to keep from sticking and let them cool.

They're SO easy to make , have many "good for you" ingredients and are seriously addicting. You could really experiment with this recipe and try other variations - I wonder about minced ginger instead of garlic? Either way, YUM. Enjoy!

Life Saving Foods

I want to share about a book I have been excited about for a few months. Nick actually won this book in a drawing a few years ago and our copy is signed by the author - cool, huh?! At one point, I read it every night searching for new foods we could try with great health benefits. I grew up mostly thinking food was about taste and making sure you ate 3 meals a day. I've been learning in the past year about how food is SO much more than that.


This book helped give me a new way to think about food: as a natural medicine. We've eaten these foods not even knowing the great benefits they have. This book also made me appreciate other foods I didn't realize had health benefits like cinnamon; I add that to most baked goods now, too! :)

Here are some examples of foods and their great health benefits (taken from this link on WebMD about life saving foods):

• Almonds: These nutritious nuggets are a good source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, and a variety of antioxidants. They can help with weight control and heart health, and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
• Barley: This whole grain is a rich source of vitamin E, fiber, B vitamins, and a wealth of antioxidants. Barley contains beta-glucan, which can help reduce the risk of heart disease.
• Quinoa: This is an ancient grain high in protein, fiber, iron, zinc, vitamin E, and selenium. It can help control your weight and help lower your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
• Coffee: In moderate doses, coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, improve mood and memory, and, for men, reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.
• Eggs: They are low in calories (75 per egg), an excellent source of high-quality protein, and rich in folate, choline, and iron. They can play a role in eye health and weight management -- an egg at breakfast helps to curb appetite.
• Grapes: They're rich in vitamin C, potassium and quercetin. Preliminary studies have shown that quercetin may boost the immune system.
• Kale: This super-healthy green veggie has vitamins A, C, potassium, lutein, and zeaxathan, which can help reduce the incidence of certain cancers and macular degeneration.
• Ginger: This spice with anti-inflammatory properties may help lesson arthritis pain. It also quells upset stomachs, nausea, and motion sickness.
• Pecans: These nuts are rich in gamma tocopherol, a type of vitamin E, as well as a rich source of antioxidants.
• Sweet potatoes: They're rich in vitamin A and C, high in fiber, and naturally sweet. Sweet potatoes are also an excellent source of lycopene which may fight heart disease, and breast and prostate cancer.
• Olive oil: This Mediterranean diet staple is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and plant compounds that have anti-inflammatory action to fight heart disease and cancer.

There are many other great foods with surprising health benefits in this book. Here is a link to the author's website for the book which has great video clips about some of these powerful foods. In the book, he talks about the origin of the food, preparation/storage tips as well as the life saving or life changing health benefits. Some of the foods help prevent heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. It's really an exciting book to read and made me anxious to get to the grocery store and try them out.

Check your local library, you may be able to test out this great book for free or at least flip through the pages at a book store nearby. The index in the back can be searched by health ailment too which is super helpful if there is a specific pain you're looking to eliminate. It's worth giving it a shot in my opinion!

Homemade Granola Bars

A coworker of mine brought these really good looking granola bars this week so I had to ask her about them. She said they were homemade and she brought one the next day for me to try. YUM it was so good, I had to get the recipe. Here it is:


Ingredients:
2 Cups Oats
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Ground Flax Seed
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Honey

Add-Ins: You can experiment with other add-ins and find what you like...
1/3 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Coconut - we didn't have any, so we left this out
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds


Mix all together except for honey, and once everything is mixed well, add the honey and that will make everything stick together. Bake in a greased pan at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Nick and I really enjoyed these - hope you do too!