As with Saturday, we had perfect weather again on Sunday.  We first went to church (in that beautiful building…look at those windows!).  Next we tried out a new restaurant called “Green”.  It is an all vegetarian & kosher restaurant specializing in comfort food.  I love to seek out new and interesting restaurants.   It was soooo good!  I had “sushi” rolls made out of hummus and pecan pate.  We were also bad and splurged with some red velvet cupcakes with white icing.  The sweet potatoe fries were to die for also.  The decor and service at this restaurant were outstanding.  We will certainly be back…may have to turn that place into our post church ritual (if I can stay away from those cupcakes).  On the way to the restaurant, we saw a beautiful 1956 Ford at the gas station and had a nice chat with the owner about how things just aren’t as pretty now-a-days as they were in the 50′s design-wise.  After lunch, we all went to the Dinosaur exhibit at the Witte Museum in the Alamo Heights neighborhood.  The big dinosaurs were great, but more impressive for Mom was the beautiful spanish landscaping in the back of the museum.  They even had a kids treehouse museum back there.   It was a full day.  Jake was asleep within 5 minutes in the truck at the end of the day.

So YUMMY!  I made these this morning after my workout.  Since I’ve adopted a grain-free diet, I have been using recipes for “baked” items with various nut flours.  More recently, I have been trying more Raw recipes for this reason.  I am actually liking the raw “baked goods” recipes more than the cooked ones with almond and coconut flour.  They are moister, sweeter, and less gritty in texture I think.  I picked up this book at the library.  I’m so glad the library had it because I was thinking about buying it, so now I get to try it out first.  This is the second Ani Phyo recipe I have tried.  I will definitely be buying this book.  This one is fabulous just like her chocolate raspberry ganache cake I tried last week.  This girl is a genius chef!  I really liked these “pancakes” even better than my panfried almond flour ones.  I only ate 2 of these (saved the 3rd one for later) as they were pretty filling/dense.  The cakes consisted mainly of ground flaxseed meal.   It only took minutes to make and I didn’t even have to use a food processor–just stirring in a bowl.  So much easier/faster than traditional pancakes (less mess) – a bonus!

You can buy the book here.

After the Easter Egg Hunt and after Jake’s nap (and instead of cleaning the house), the boys and I headed out in search of a bluebonnet patch for photos!  It is tradition.  Every spring Texans with kids seek out bluebonnet patches to takes photos with their kids.  I was so excited to find an area this year that was not right off the side of a dangerous highway.  I tried last year and even drove up near Austin, but was unsuccessful.  We are having good blooms of things this year! This was actually a huge field adjacent to Home Depot and away from any traffic.  There were some other parents there doing the same thing, so I was able to actually get in one of the shots.  Yay!

following big brother down the trail.

A little friend we met along the way.

Boys frolicking in the fields.

Running up that hill.

Yes, this one here below is my favorite of the day.

These pics were taken later that week.  Miss Janet put on a great egg coloring afternoon!

We are starting to see some real color in our backyard and around the neighborhood.  There are some bluebonnet looking type flowers around the flower bed area of a big tree in our backyard.  

My boys have been bringing me “flowers” lately (dandelions).  I don’t care if it is a weed.  They are pretty and the fact that my little men bring them to me and put them in water is so sweet!

I have been following a healthy eating diet lately called the Primal Blueprint.  I have been doing pretty well the last couple of months but have been craving some bad stuff lately.  Last night on the internet,  I found this recipe for a healthier version of cake….Raw Chocolate Raspberry Cake!!  I realized I had all the ingredients in the kitchen, so I resolved to make if for breakfast the very next morning.  I am so excited at how this cake came out that I had to take a bunch of pictures.  Jakie was so excited too that he stripped down naked and was running around the house.  Don’t know what that was about, but oh well.  

This cake is all raw (not cooked) and is made with walnuts, honey, dates and cocoa powder.  I didn’t have enough walnuts so I threw some almonds and macademia nuts in there too.  I also added a bit more honey, splenda, and also about  a TBsp of coconut oil to get it a little bit gooier.  This cake is surprisingly really good!!  The inner layer is lined with fresh raspberries.  It is really rich and moist so you only need a little sliver of a portion.  Although it does not have sugar or lots of carbs from flour, I’m sure this has some calories with the nuts and oil, so I would eat in moderation as a treat. YUM!!!  I may look into some more raw food recipes for deserts now that I liked this one.  I always thought making raw food would be time intensive, but this recipe took all of about 10 minutes and the only equipment needed was a food processor and measuring cups/spoons….so less work and less clean up than with baking.  I really don’t like baking.  I rarely do it….too much work and makes a big mess of the kitchen.

I am not about to become a raw foodist, but am just looking for some recipe options out there to replace the more unhealthy stuff like deserts, chips, etc.  

This recipe is by Ani Phyo.  The recipe is here, and check out a you tube tutorial here!  

I also looked through this book last night at Barnes & Noble and it looked really good.  This book is by a couple who run a really swanky raw food restaurant in NYC.  I must have this cookbook!  The photos in this book were gorgeous.  Gotta have photos in a cookbook!

Oh, the FROSTING….the coolest thing about this cake is the frosting!  It is made with Avocado!!!  Avocado, honey, dates and cocoa powder.  The avocado gives it that creaminess.  How cool is it that I snuck Jakie some avocados for breakfast and he didn’t even know it?!

Cake makes Jake a happy boy.  One of my nicknames for him is actually “baby cake jake”.

There are no pictures of hayden in this post because he did not like it.  He said “Yucky!”.   That’s fine…more for me and Jake.   Jake said “Mmmm….that’s yummy mommy!”  Jake, like his daddy, is not one to turn down sweets

I really like this kitchen.  I love the light we get from all the big windows.  I will miss it when we move this summer (except for that awful tile floor that shows all dirt and is impossible to sweep!).

The day before St. Patrick’s day I made special pancakes for the boys with green gel and sprinkles.  They loved it!  I made them the day before because I had to work on the actual holiday.  We also got a new book in the mail from Daddy which inspired Hayden’s desire to have green eggs and ham for breakfast.  He was a little disappointed that the eggs didn’t look exactly like the picture.  The tasted good though.  I put parmesan cheese in them too.