Hello! How is your weekend going? It's been a bit slow around here lately. Jedidiah has been going on a lot of work road trips so the girls and I have been enjoying some quiet time at home. I hope to get back into fashion posts soon but with the weather still chilly it's made me too lazy to get out my tripod and shoot my own picts. It's much easier when the weather is warm and I have more time to tinker with my settings.

Anyhoo, this is just a quick post to share what we've been up to today. I celebrated my Valentine's day last weekend with the hubby. We went on a short but sweet getaway to Estes Park. It was too cold to get out and shoot photos but I'm okay with that.

Today the girls and I made these delicious mini apple & cherry pies. Dessert doesn't get easier than these little treats. I can't take the credit for this creation. I found the inspiration on Pinterest. I did however add my own twist with a homemade cream cheese drizzle topping. It wouldn't have been as good without it.


I regret that I didn't get any photos of Chloie this time. She was being kind of sour and it wasn't until after I put my camera away that she wanted to help...teenagers...


You can find this super easy and very affordable recipe here:

I regret I don't have exact measurements for my glaze recipe. I'm an eyeball sort of gal. I added butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, a dash of vanilla extract, and milk. I kept it thin but thick enough to hold it's shape.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

Xoxo,
Heather

Hello lovely readers, I'm super excited about today's post! Apple pumpkin spice pancakes with vanilla maple syrup. Mmm these babies are fantastic. They make the perfect autumn breakfast, although I would totally eat these all year round. Did I mention they are gluten free & dairy free?! This can also be adjusted to be vegan, I just haven't dabbled with substitutes yet... but I'm working on it!

A while back my husband and I decided to clean up our diets. After being on accutane and previous digestion problems I realized it was time to make a change. We've always been healthy eaters but I've never gone to the extreme. With our new diet I completely removed dairy, gluten, beef, most soy products, corn, white sugars (and high fructose corn syrup), and any artificial ingredients. I know I know but what else is there to eat?! I get asked this a lot. It's challenging but it can be done without sacrificing all taste.


While I'd like to live a vegan life someday, I'm just not quite there. And although I've given up dairy, I know on a special occasion I'll probably go to the Melting Pot or have a coffee with cream because I love almond milk and other non milk products cold but they taste just plain odd in hot drinks.

Anyhoo I'm rambling! When I dove into this diet, I realized it was impossible to find quick meals that were healthy, within our guide lines, AND tasty. Sure you can make toast or a salad but those things get boring after a while. It's time to get creative! During the fall I love everything pumpkin. Unfortunately most of it is drowning in sugar, milk, and gluten. *sigh* Oh cruel world! I created this recipe from an old recipe of mine and with a bit of converting I made it into this wonderful more healthier option.


These are quick and easy to make. If you have an extra pair of hands, you can split the measuring and make it even quicker! That's what my hubby and I do. We prefer our pancakes small and on the thinner side. There is something about a super thick pancake that really grosses me out. Then making them smaller makes it easy to eat up before they get too soggy. Of course if thicker pancakes are your thing, just add a bit more flour to your batter.

Start with peeling your apple and shredding it with your cheese grater or processor. I like to cut up my apple a bit further so it blends easier in the batter, however I've made it with just the shreds too. My favorite apples to use are honey crisp apples. They are just so sweet! You can use whatever you have on hand.


After you're finished shredding up your apple, give them a quick squeeze. You don't have to squeeze them dry, just remove some of the access juice. If you are using honey crisps like I always do, there is going to be a ton of juice! I love to drink it afterwards. Yummm! Set apple shreds aside and begin measuring out your dry ingredients in one medium sided bowl, and your wet ingredients in another medium bowl. Mix each well then pour your wet mix into your dry mix a little at a time until it's all mixed together. Don't over mix, some lumps are okay.


Now fold in your apples. Mix until just blended together. Because apples vary in size & juiciness add a dash more flour to thicken or milk to thin as needed. If you are cooking these on a griddle like I do, you probably wont need any oil or butter to grease your pan. However if you are using a skillet you might need to add a bit of coconut oil or butter.


Cook pancakes till bottoms are lightly golden and sides are lifting. This is about 1-2 minutes depending on your pan. Flip repeat.

While those are cooking measure out 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Cut 1/2 a vanilla bean and remove the inner paste. Add to syrup and whisk till well blended. Place in microwave and heat for about 20-30 seconds or till warmed. Alternatively if you don't have vanilla bean, you can use 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I've used both with success and sometimes I mix the two for added flavor.

Serve your fresh pancakes with butter and topped with vanilla maple syrup. Enjoy!




Dry Mix:
• 1 cup Gluten Free Flour (I use Bob's Red Mills all purpose baking flour)
• 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Mix:
• 1 cup alternative milk (almond, coconut, or soy) I love unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter alternative, melted & cooled
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

Add-In:
• 1 cup peeled & grated apple (medium honey crisp is best)

- coconut oil or butter for skillet if needed

Vanilla Maple Syrup:
•1/2 cup maple syrup, warmed (for a healthier choice go with pure grade b maple syrup)
• a half a vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. For an extra boost add both!


Directions:

1. Start with peeling your apple then shredding it with your cheese grater or processor. Lightly chop them further so they aren't too large.
2. Gently squeeze out the access juice from your apple. They don't have to be dry just remove the extra juice. Set apple shreds aside.
3. In a medium bowl, measure your dry ingredients and mix well.
4. In another medium bowl measure your wet ingredients, mix well.
5. Pour your wet mix into your dry mix a little at a time until fully blended. Don't over mix.
6. Now fold in your apple shreds. Again mix until just blended.
7. Oil pan with butter or coconut oil if required. On medium/ medium low pour your pancakes to desired size. Larger sizes will take longer to cook. 
8. Cook till bottom is lightly golden and lifting at the sides, about 1-2 minutes. Flip and repeat another minute or so. 
9. Mean while slice a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the bean paste. Place in microwave safe jar along with your syrup. Mix well and heat for about 20-30 seconds or until warm.
10. 
    Serve your pancakes with butter (or peanut butter) and topped with your delightful syrup!

Enjoy!

***
Note:
These pancakes are a huge hit with the family! We've made these several times. They aren't overly sweet as many are because we anticipate topping them with syrup. These are meant to be thinner, if you prefer thicker pancakes, try adding a bit more flour.

Share your thoughts! I don't share recipes often because I cook from sight and almost never measure anything. I'd love to hear what you thought of these! I have a ton of recipes I'd love to share.








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 Hello Friends!

 I have huge plans to post on here a great deal more and while I am determined to stick to that, with the holidays here it all went out the window. Furthermore I'm having a really hard time believing that it's almost Christmas! Wasn't it just Thanksgiving? I blinked my eyes and all of a sudden I'm smack in the middle of the holiday rush and I am completely unprepared. And while I applaud all the women who are completely on it with their many blog postings and Instagram picts I am so far behind dare I say it's been like 1 1/2 weeks since I washed my hair. Yeah I'm not proud of that one. Don't get me wrong I take baths regularly but washing hair is a whole day process for me. THANKFULLY a perk to being on Accutane (It's also a curse) my hair never gets oily. It stays perfectly fluffy even a week later...


My past few weeks have been filled with sooo many doctors apts. Dentist apts, Eye apts, Dermatologist apts, Physical therapy apts.... just so many appointments. Regrettably Accutane has greatly affected my overall health. I'm experiencing a larger number of headaches lately and it's been a lot of back and forth of finding what will safely work for me. Next up a neurologist! More appointments! Yea!??  I was prone to tension migraines before all of this so it's my great hope that I can get botox shots in my head (I'm open to anything at this point) to relax my muscles. Hopefully they will also tell me I'm in good health otherwise. (The hypochondriac in me needs to know this lol!)

Sooooo back to Christmas and the holidays, with all this on my plate I've been waaay behind on life in general. Last year I was totally on top of everything. I finished shopping before December even started. That left me plenty of time to focus on the fun activities I usually do with my family. This year however I still have shopping to do, presents to wrap, crafted gifts to make, gifts to build, and holiday activities to do with the girls. It's been an especially challenging week with Jedidiah out of town with schooling for work. Great timing Jed... I am so thankful he is back and the girls are finally out of school for the year. I feel that alone will greatly help. So the question I keep asking myself is, can do all of this in 6 days? I think so. I feel a personal challenge coming on.


And while this month has been terrible busy I am thankful I stopped to make time for the little things that were important to the girls. This past Wednesday Chloie and Piper decorated gingerbread houses. I made it extra special and set the whole thing up in the living room and we watched Christmas movies. Usually this would create a terrible mess but much to my surprise it was all contained and the girls did well too keep it on the table...phew!



How are your holidays going? Hopefully much better than mine. Do you have any special family traditions? I over heard a woman in Target telling her boyfriend that each year her family finds each other a pickle gift. Whether it was an ornament or a sweater with a pickle on it, it had to be something with pickles! Haha I thought that was a pretty fun tradition. Makes me want to start our own unique one. Well Merry Christmas Lovelies!

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

I love this signature look of his. Cracks me up every time!

Jed just loves to take picts of me when I'm asking for the camera back...

This is the last part of my Portland anniversary vacation . And I realize that some of this vacation didn't 100% take place in Portland but eh most of it did.

Anyhoo, last time I was talking about one of my favorite spots we visited in Oregon. The beach in these photos is Cannon Beach. I have to say this beach is amazing! And this coming from someone who isn't wild about going to the beach. We came at a perfect time, having the beach mostly to ourselves. It was overcast but the weather stayed comfortable. I wish we had gotten here sooner in the day cause I could have spent hours wandering around. We lucked out and came during low tide and got to enjoy all of the tide pools further out. I couldn't get over how many muscle shells there were and they covered most ever rock surface. The rock pools were filled with sea anemones and large star fish. Many of them piled on top of each other. We even saw a stranded jelly fish. What I loved most about this area was seeing forest surrounding the entire area. Not a building in sight aside from the light house in the foggy distance.

Back in Portland we ate at ¿Por Que No? This place was recommended to us by friends and WOW is this place AMAZING! Colorado Springs NEEDS to open a restaurant!!! The first time we tried to go here it was packed out the door with a line around the corner. It was insane! So we tried to go days later and lucked out with only a small line ahead of us. I can't express how amazing the food was. Jed and I had to refrain from licking out plates. We even debated on ordering more food but realized how badly we would regret that later lol! If you are ever in Portland you need to eat there.

Across the street from there was an awesome mural. I wish it hadn't been facing harsh lighting cause I totally would have done an outfit shoot over there. I love how busy it was. There was so much to look at.

The last photos are of a garden we visited (it wasn't worth mentioning) and from our plane ride home I took that killer shot of Mt. Hood.

Take Care & Enjoy,
Heather