Salt dough ornaments

My very least favorite part of winter is how early it gets dark outside!! Gone are our evening walks to the park and hello to more time in the house. It can really make a person feel cooped up and it's easy for a toddler to get bored and antsy.  So I decided it would help to have a few activities. As I was thinking of things to include doing with our advent calendar ornaments seemed perfect. Enter ... salt dough ornaments.

I used the recipe from Mommypotamus which simply consists of flour, salt and water. It comes together quickly and easily and is fun for the little ones in your life. 

I ended up giving Emersyn her own bowl with flour and water in it to stir and play with and she happily made a giant mess :)  We made the dough and baked them one day and then completed them the next day with glittery paint. Emy's favorite part!

Happy toddler Christmas crafting!! 

Toddler friendly advent calendar

'Tis the Christmas season!

Emy is finally old enough to get excited about a Christmas tree, opening presents, etc. Last year was fun but at 2 years old this year she definitely gets it a little bit more this year. I was always so excited for holidays with kids, it's just that much more enjoyable when you can see them having so much fun and I have such good memories growing up that I couldn't wait to partake in all the merriment with my own kids. I just never clicked when we first had Emersyn that it would be a few years before they can actually participate, ha. So this year ... I wanted to do something she could find fun in an thus, a hunt for a toddler friendly advent calendar. 

I wracked my brain and looked on Pinterest (of course) and I found one where someone had used paper lunch bags to open each day and I knew it would be perfect for Emy. First, I numbered them all and she got to decorate them:

My plan originally was to fill them all with something and then hang them up by the tree but it turns out I wasn't nearly organized enough to have them all pre filled. So I'm not gonna lie, they are all hanging up empty and I simply fill the bag for the day that day. She doesn't know any different ;)

I also write down some simple Bible verses for each day of advent. She doesn't quite get yet what we're reading but we're doing it anyways!

The next step was to think of a months worth of simple toddler friendly activities/treats, etc. For the first half of the month we've had:

1. Decorate the tree
2. Christmas stickers to play with
3. Watch the Caillou holiday movie
4. Drink hot apple cider
5. Make salt dough ornaments
6. Paint the salt dough ornaments
7. New Christmas jammies
8. Make Christmas cookies
9. Read Christmas books
10. A $1 reindeer headband I found at Target with candy
11. Played with some red and green balloons
12. Watched Arthur Christmas

Basically ... I tried to think of simple and cheap ideas that she would have fun with that wouldn't be too much work for mom because mom is busy with a 3 month old as well :) If the particular activity doesn't fit in the bag I put in a "clue" such as a cookie cutter for the cookies or some kind of candy/treat that she opens

More to come!

Thanksgiving 2015

Happy day after Thanksgiving!!

We went to Erik's mom's place for Thanksgiving, aka "Nana's" house.  Erik and I even got to sneak away and go to see the movie Creed. (We love Rocky!)

I'm now ready for all things Christmas!!! Warm cider/tea, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas movies, etc etc etc. I'm planning to make an toddler friendly advent "calendar" since Emersyn is old enough to understand and appreciate things a little bit more this year.  

Here's to the start of "the most wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeear" :p 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... everywhere you go.

This holiday season has really snuck up on me with a newborn and a toddler. The whole "days are long but the years are short" saying is proving to be so true!! Seems like just a few months ago Erik was staying up late on Christmas Eve putting Emersyn's kitchen set together and yet here we are at Thanksgiving with another kid!

We've been living in KC the past month or so while my awesome husband works on the latest project, Komatsu.  Amazing ramen coming at you soon!!!

Annnnyways, I plan to take full advantage of being in KC for the holidays and that will include many visits to Union Station to let 2 year old run around and get out energy while we bask in the Christmas delight, ha. Or something like that. Because dark at 5pm, people. Hashtag stir crazy.

Yesterday it was 60 degrees outside so I couldn't resist going outside to take full advantage of nice weather before it's too cold. We walked to the park and of course Emersyn was thrilled, as always, with "running" and playing outside!

Thanksgiving and Christmas ... here we come!

Back in Action

And we're baaaaack!

At least in some form.  Two kids, two restaurants and much more later, I've decided to come back to the blog world at least a little bit. Now that I'm getting settled in to life with two kids I miss the creative outlet it allows. 

I've tried my hand at having a kid related blog and a food blog and that obviously didn't work either. So here we are back at The Purple Carrot, where everything I feel like posting will be found. Kids, food, family, life, whatever ... Looking back, one of my favorite things about blogging is to be able to look to past years and remember what was going on and having a record of fun memories and different seasons of life.

So here's to another era of The Purple Carrot, whatever it may look like!

Emersyn's 2nd birthday

Happy 2nd birthday to Emersyn!

We are so blessed to be the parents of this sweetheart! She's a handful and has always given us a run for our money mostly in the realm of sleeping. Or more like not sleeping. But she also has the most beautiful smile and personality around! 

Happy 2nd birthday, Emy!!

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

It's the time of year for garden bounty!! So far in surplus I have zucchini. Lots and lots of zucchini. Giant zucchini and small zucchini. Straight zucchini and crooked zucchini. And what do you do with zucchini that's gotten huge in the garden? Make bread, of course!!

With chocolate chips thrown in. You know, for good measure.

Chocolate chip zucchini bread

Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded zucchini

- 1 1/2 cups cane sugar

- 2/3 cup melted coconut oil

- 2 teaspoons vanilla

- 4 eggs

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat oven at 350 degrees

2. In large mixing bowl stir together wet ingredients: zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs

3. Add dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon

4. Divide batter between two 8 inch loaf pans

5. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean 

6. Let cool completely before digging in

Eaten best with a large glass of milk. Yum yum!

Happy zucchini'ing!

Raw blueberry pie (with video)

This past Monday was National Blueberry Pie Day and I got invited onto Kansas City Live to help celebrate with my raw blueberry pie.  I hadn’t made this or blogged about it in over a year so I thought it was time for an updated post about it with better pictures! So here we are. Recipe complete with the Kansas City Live video.  Enjoy!
 
Video

As I said in the segment, this is a great spring and summer pie because it’s no bake, refreshing and so simple to whip up.Thanks for having me, Kansas City Live, it was a lot of fun!

Raw Blueberry Pie
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 cup natural almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (may need to add a little more depending on the wetness of your dates)
- Pinch of salt

Filling:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries (helps if they’re slightly thawed)
- 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey (honey tends to be sweeter so use less)
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- Pinch of salt

Instructions: Crust:
- Blend (or finely chop) almonds, coconut and dates one by one then mix together along with coconut oil and salt. Flatten into 9 inch pie pan.

Filling:
-Place all ingredients into high powered blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Pour over crust and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

il Lazzarone KC

Well, Kansas City … we’re coming for you!
As I’ve said before, Erik originally looked at putting a pizzeria in Kansas City but when we moved to St Joe, it made sense to start here! And we’re very excited to announce that il Lazzarone will be expanding to Kansas City Spring 2015!
We will be located in the River Market at 412 Delaware right next to our favorite coffee shop and friends, Quay Coffee.

Please visit our Facebook page for updates or follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

We look forward to joining the neighborhood and sharing some awesome pizza!

Long time no blog

Long time no blog! I probably have about 0 readers at this point but that’s okay.  Life has been full and is always busy with a 1 year old.  I’m not sure why but they don’t appreciate when mom sits on her computer instead of playing ; ) I find most of my “updating” happens via Instagram because it’s nice and quick.
So … what’s new?

• Our restaurant, il Lazzarone, has been open now about 7 months and Emersyn and I are enjoying our fill of pizza just about every day! Erik is working hard in his role as owner/pizzaioli and things are going well! We’ve been featured in many news outlets the most recent of which being The Pitch (Article can be found riiiiiight here)

Follow us on Facebook for updates!
 

• Emersyn has been growing like a weed! She’s 15 months old now and getting smarter and smarter each day! We were able to go on a family vacation to New York City a few months ago and we’re excited to spend our second Christmas holiday as a family of three!

   
May this be the beginning of a blog renaissance, ha.
Lesley

Emersyn's first birthday

Well, I'm practically not a blogger anymore, ha.  But one of these days perhaps I'll start up again on a more consistent basis.  For now ... a little recap of our sweet little girl's first birthday.  It's hard to believe how fast time has gone by and how big she has gotten.

I wanted to keep things simple while using up some of my garden bounty so I made a few appetizers inspired from Pinterest.

First up, caprese kabobs featuring cherry tomatoes sliced and topped with basil and mozzarella cheese sitting in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Next, toast bites which consisted of petite toasts topped with spreadable cream cheese, arugala, chives, salt, pepper and drizzle of olive oil.

Next up, I utilized some of my many zucchini by slicing it up and topping it with sun dried tomatoes, green onion, feta cheese, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  Along with that, I had some hummus and pita chips, chocolate chip cookies and of course … cake!

All were very tasty!





Next up ... the infamous smash cake! She didn't love solids for awhile so I wasn't sure how she would take to her "smash cake" but it turns out it was a big hit! I used a recipe inspired from here which had no added sugar sweetened with bananas and apple sauce.  The frosting simple consisted of cream cheese and apple juice concentrate.

Like I said ... Emy loved it, lol.

It was a very blessed day for sure! Happy 1st birthday, Emy!!

Easter 2014

Easter 2014

8 Months

8 months

My little girl is 8 months!! We love you, sweet Emy

Eight Months 

Eating: Besides our normal nursing, you've begun to actually "chew" on solids and maybe even like them. So far your favorites are mushed up ground beef or chicken, yogurt, and sometimes banana.

Sleeping: Uh, yeah, last month still complete it applies :p

Sleeping this month hasn't been your forte, ha. Nighttime is pretty hit and miss these days. You're waking up on average three times a night and haven't had more than a 5 hour spurt at all this month. You're still napping about twice a day for 45 mins to an hour. Your favorite place to nap is still on mom but you have napped in the stroller and car seat a little now too.

Clothes: Pretty much all 12 months with some lingering 9 months left. Mom has had a very hard time staying away from cute summer clothes. Hello, cute baby girl rompers!

Favorite Activities: Grabbing ahold of anything and everything Mom is holding onto

Least Favorite Activities: This month, sleeping "good"

Big moments/firsts:

- You had a modeling gig at Hallmark and got to go with mom to a live cooking segment. At Hallmark you were an awesome model and everyone on set of KC Live loved you!

- Babies first Easter

On Mother's Day

As I sit here nursing my baby girl this morning I can't help but think back to two years ago, Mother's Day shortly after our miscarriage. To the sweet life just 8 weeks growing who made me mommy that I would never get to cuddle or meet on this earth. It was a hard day with tears and sadness. And today I pause for a moment to remember my first baby who someday I believe I will get to meet.

But joy does come in the morning. This year, I'm so thankful to cuddle and snuggle Emersyn, this sweet baby girl who I get the opportunity and privilege to raise and teach and love. Words can't express how much I love her and how blessed I am to be called her mommy! 

So Happy Mother's Day to all, especially to those struggling to become a mommy and those that have experienced a loss. Special grace and peace to you.

And to Emersyn: 

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be.