Lily Bug is one month away from turning two and we are feeling the change in our house! She has started throwing tantrums and refusing to obey. But is still usually easy going and willing to do what Mommy and Daddy ask her to do. She is ever more aware of "the baby" but we still don't think she understands how much her life will change in just a few weeks. Here is a list of what is happening in our little lady's life:
Wearing size 24 month clothes
Wearing size 5-6 shoes
Favorite foods: pears, chocolate milk, and spaghetti
Favorite show: Curious George
Favorite song: If you're happy and you know it (she love the shout Hooray verse)
Sleeping about 11 hours at night and taking one nap a day
Still sleeping in her crib
Talks about going potty all the time, but hates sitting on the toilet to try
Loves brushing her teeth and getting ready to go somewhere...anywhere...she just loves to ride in the car and run errands with Mommy
Is always stealing Mommy's phone so she can call Daddy and Puna
Still loves to color and thankfully has not tried to color the walls yet!
When she is tired she will find her blankie and tell us she wants to sleep
She has discovered jumping and wants to jump on beds, couches, trampolines, pillows...anything with a little bounce in it.
Lily is so active and curious. She really keeps Mommy on her toes. We are learning a lot from her and hope she will like being a big sister soon!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Day of Zucchini
We have had an amazing crop of zucchini this summer. Despite the best efforts of the squash bugs to ruin my fun! I really do love zucchini, but Jeremy is.......not a fan. So I've had to hide it in things like soup and spaghetti sauce. Now that the weather is cooling down for fall, I took the time to bake up some more delicious ways to enjoy our bounty. Here are the three favorites I made yesterday.
Lemon Zucchini Bread
from longtime friend and kindred spirit - Calia Beougher Rodriguez
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups vegetable oil
3 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon (original recipe calls for 2 t. but I didn't want the cinnamon to overpower the lemon flavor)
4 t. grated lemon zest
Beat together sugar, eggs, and vegetable oil. Fold in zucchini. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir until just blended. Add lemon zest. Bake in 2 greased and floured loaf pans @ 325 degrees for 45 minutes, until knife comes out clean. Mine took 55 minutes.
I decided to jazz up this recipe with some tweaks of my own which made it over the top good. 1)I made my own lemon sugar by reserving about a teaspoon of lemon zest and combining it with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and a few drops of lemon juice from 1/2 a large lemon. I mixed it with a fork and really pressed on the zest to release its oils, but you could also combine the ingredients in a blender or food processer. I sprinkled half the sugar on the bottom of my loaf pans before adding the batter and the other half on top of the bread before baking to give them a sparkly, citrusy crust. 2) I also thought the batter for the bread was a bit dry so I squeezed the juice from one whole large lemon in with the lemon zest. I had put my zucchini on a paper towel to dry after shredding it. So if you don't do that, you may not need the extra lemon juice - but let me tell you....it is really good.
Zucchini Chocolate Cake
from The Essential Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3 (1 ounce) squares UNSWEETENED baking chocolate
1 T vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
In a large bowl combine oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl sift dry ingredients. (I am NOT a sifter, but I've found that it is necessary for this recipe to avoid dry white clumps in the batter). Add sifted mixture to wet ingredients with the milk and mix well. Melt the baking chocolate. Blend melted chocolate and vanilla into batter. Stir in zucchini. Bake in greased 9x13 baking dish @ 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until center is set and springs back to the touch. In my oven, this cake takes at least 35 minutes.
This is the cake Jeremy's coworkers look forward to every summer. It is dense and rich and tastes great with homemade chocolate frosting. Since I already have three of these cakes in my freezer from earlier in the season, I tried making the recipe into 24 cupcakes. I also added 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking. I don't know how they turned out, I just wrapped them up and put them in the freezer before I could be tempted to eat one. But they looked just as moist as the cake does. You really can't taste the zucchini at all in this recipe. Here are the little beauties!
Zucchini Mini Loaves 
Lemon Zucchini Breadfrom longtime friend and kindred spirit - Calia Beougher Rodriguez
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups vegetable oil
3 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon (original recipe calls for 2 t. but I didn't want the cinnamon to overpower the lemon flavor)
4 t. grated lemon zest
Beat together sugar, eggs, and vegetable oil. Fold in zucchini. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir until just blended. Add lemon zest. Bake in 2 greased and floured loaf pans @ 325 degrees for 45 minutes, until knife comes out clean. Mine took 55 minutes.
I decided to jazz up this recipe with some tweaks of my own which made it over the top good. 1)I made my own lemon sugar by reserving about a teaspoon of lemon zest and combining it with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and a few drops of lemon juice from 1/2 a large lemon. I mixed it with a fork and really pressed on the zest to release its oils, but you could also combine the ingredients in a blender or food processer. I sprinkled half the sugar on the bottom of my loaf pans before adding the batter and the other half on top of the bread before baking to give them a sparkly, citrusy crust. 2) I also thought the batter for the bread was a bit dry so I squeezed the juice from one whole large lemon in with the lemon zest. I had put my zucchini on a paper towel to dry after shredding it. So if you don't do that, you may not need the extra lemon juice - but let me tell you....it is really good.
Zucchini Chocolate Cake
from The Essential Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3 (1 ounce) squares UNSWEETENED baking chocolate
1 T vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
In a large bowl combine oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl sift dry ingredients. (I am NOT a sifter, but I've found that it is necessary for this recipe to avoid dry white clumps in the batter). Add sifted mixture to wet ingredients with the milk and mix well. Melt the baking chocolate. Blend melted chocolate and vanilla into batter. Stir in zucchini. Bake in greased 9x13 baking dish @ 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until center is set and springs back to the touch. In my oven, this cake takes at least 35 minutes.
This is the cake Jeremy's coworkers look forward to every summer. It is dense and rich and tastes great with homemade chocolate frosting. Since I already have three of these cakes in my freezer from earlier in the season, I tried making the recipe into 24 cupcakes. I also added 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking. I don't know how they turned out, I just wrapped them up and put them in the freezer before I could be tempted to eat one. But they looked just as moist as the cake does. You really can't taste the zucchini at all in this recipe. Here are the little beauties!
Zucchini Mini Loavesadapted from three recipes I found on the internet
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 to 3 cups shredded zucchini - I used 2 1/2 because it was what I had leftover
3 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
3 t. cinnamon
1 T. vanilla
1/4 cup applesauce
Beat oil, sugar, and eggs together. Stir in vanilla, then add zucchini. Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Add applesauce if batter is too dry. I added it because I like apples and the zucchini was a bit dry. Bake in two greased loaf pans or six mini loaf pans @ 325 for 40-55 minutes, depending on size of pans used. Knife or toothpick inserted in center should come out clean.
And here is a slice-view of the lemon zucchini bread. Isn't that sparkly crust pretty? Can you see the yummy lemon flecks in the loaf? This was one tasty bread. I love just about everything with lemon in it. I put a big piece in Jeremy's lunch today. I'll have to let you know if he prefers his zucchini this way too.
And here is a slice-view of the lemon zucchini bread. Isn't that sparkly crust pretty? Can you see the yummy lemon flecks in the loaf? This was one tasty bread. I love just about everything with lemon in it. I put a big piece in Jeremy's lunch today. I'll have to let you know if he prefers his zucchini this way too.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Lake Meridian
Papa took us for a ride around Lake Meridian. We fed the ducks, found some turtles, and enjoyed a beautiful morning on the lake.
Lily was not happy about having to wear a life jacket. We found a duck/goose with strange red markings on its face. Brady and Jeremy named it Duck Norris. There were so many ducks - and they were aggressive! But Lily still had fun trying to feed them and letting Brady chase them away.
Lily was not happy about having to wear a life jacket. We found a duck/goose with strange red markings on its face. Brady and Jeremy named it Duck Norris. There were so many ducks - and they were aggressive! But Lily still had fun trying to feed them and letting Brady chase them away.Jumpin'
Brady wanted his birthday party to be at a trampoline activity center. Lily loves to jump so she was in heaven. Here is Brady showing off some cool moves.
Lily didn't stop moving from the moment we arrived - until it was time for pizza. Since Mommy can't jump right now, Daddy had to keep track of her. She gave him a run for the money!
Everybody had a great time. Lily was so tired after two full hours of jumping that she fell asleep in the car on the way home. How can we get one of these things installed in our house?
Happy birthday Uncle Brady. Thanks for inviting us to your party!
Lily didn't stop moving from the moment we arrived - until it was time for pizza. Since Mommy can't jump right now, Daddy had to keep track of her. She gave him a run for the money!
Everybody had a great time. Lily was so tired after two full hours of jumping that she fell asleep in the car on the way home. How can we get one of these things installed in our house?
Happy birthday Uncle Brady. Thanks for inviting us to your party!Tuesday, September 7, 2010
I Love To See the Temple
We sing songs to Lily every night before bed. One of her favorites is a church song called "I Love To See the Temple". She usually just listens to me sing it, but tonight she tried to join in. One line in the song says "I'll prepare myself while I am young," Lily sang it "I peeper myso why I um yum." I don't know what it means to be "yum" but apparently Lily thinks that is what the words are and she really wants to be "yum."
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Kitchen Helper
I made some cupcakes for a church meeting and let Lily "assist" with the frosting once I had decorated all the cupcakes and made a few graham cracker & frosting sandwiches to freeze for later. I unplugged the mixer and let her use the spatula to scrape out the little bit of leftover frosting. She felt like such a big helper.
Come to me sweet cream cheesy frosting goodness!!!!
Yum! Mom should bake more often.
She loved the frosting and had fun scraping the bowl and licking her fingers. I suppose I should have her help me make more nutritious food too. But frosting is just so fun.
Come to me sweet cream cheesy frosting goodness!!!!
Yum! Mom should bake more often.
She loved the frosting and had fun scraping the bowl and licking her fingers. I suppose I should have her help me make more nutritious food too. But frosting is just so fun.Boise Balloon Classic
I've decided that we need to do more things that are specific to Boise. We've lived here for years and have missed out on some fun events. Tonight I convinced Jeremy to pack up Lily (past her bedtime) and go experience the balloons lit up at night. Lily was not too happy during the whole thing. Here is Jeremy making a "why did I agree to do this?" face.
It was pretty cool to see the balloons fill up and light up. It's too bad dusk comes so late in the summertime. Lily was way too tired to find the balloons even remotely interesting. We did decide to handle things differently if we go again next year and we found a better place to watch the action too. Now I can say I've been to the Boise Balloon Classic.
It was pretty cool to see the balloons fill up and light up. It's too bad dusk comes so late in the summertime. Lily was way too tired to find the balloons even remotely interesting. We did decide to handle things differently if we go again next year and we found a better place to watch the action too. Now I can say I've been to the Boise Balloon Classic.
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