20 Questions…Age 5

20 Questions…Age 5

20 Questions for Madison 2014, Age 5.

1.       What is your favorite color? Blue.

       

2.      Who is your best friend? Addison-can I pick Whitney too?

       

3.      What is your favorite toy? Ariel.

    

4.      What do you want to be when you grow up? Ariel.

    

5.      What is your favorite book? Halloween.

        

6.      What is your favorite food? Chicken Nuggets and pancakes and egg.

      

7.      What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play-Ariel.

        

8.      What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries.

        

9.      What is your favorite show to watch? Ariel.

        

10.    Where is your favorite place to go in the car? Disneyland.

       

11.      What is your favorite sport? 49ers football-andGore (that's our girl!).

       

12.     What is your favorite snack? Gold Fish.

        

13.     What is your favorite thing to do with mom and dad? Snuggle and give them hugs-and Sofia too.

        

14.     If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? To the movies to watch Frozen.

        

15.     What is your least favorite food that I make for you? The green part on the watermelon-thankfully she didn't say anything I have control over :)

        

16.     What is your favorite drink? Orange juice.

       

17.     What is your favorite holiday? Christmas.

       

18.     If you could have any pet, what would it be? Cleo.

        

19.     Which superhero ability would you like to have? I want to be a girl super hero that can fly and go under water.

20.    Do you enjoy these interviews every year? Yes.

Well here it is folks my annual post!  LOL I really should be better about posting here but life is-well it's life and I forget I even have this blog!  Hope you enjoy this years Q&A :)

20 Questions...Age 4

20 Questions for Madison 2013, Age 4.

1.       What is your favorite color? Blue.

       

2.      Who is your best friend? Addison.

       

3.      What is your favorite toy? Princesses and a castle.

    

4.      What do you want to be when you grow up? Rapunzel.

    

5.      What is your favorite book? About a princess.

        

6.      What is your favorite food? Mac n' cheese.

      

7.      What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with flowers.  And pick one for you, and daddy and my sister Sofia and me.

        

8.      What is your favorite fruit? Grapes.

        

9.      What is your favorite show to watch? Max and Ruby.

        

10.    Where is your favorite place to go in the car? Miss Michelle's house.

       

11.      What is your favorite sport? I can't pick.

       

12.     What is your favorite snack? Cookies.

        

13.     What is your favorite thing to do with mom and dad? Play.

        

14.     If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Across the street.

        

15.     What is your least favorite food that I make for you? I can't pick. 

        

16.     What is your favorite drink? Juice and water...and apple cider.

       

17.     What is your favorite holiday? I can't pick again...it's too hard.

       

18.     If you could have any pet, what would it be? A puppy and a kitty.

        

19.     Which superhero ability would you like to have? You.

20.    Do you enjoy these interviews every year? Yes.

Well here are the same list of questions that I asked Madison last year when she turned 3.  This is such a fun little thing to do...I am so looking forward to seeing how much her answers change or stay the same over the years.  And I am also looking forward to sharing these with her when she gets older too...I do have to say I wish she would like to venture farther than across the street...and I LOVE that she thinks I have super hero powers <3

Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Salad

I could eat this every day...seriously.  It is probably more of a summer dish since it is served chilled...so I might be packing this recipe away once the weather cools down, but since it was in the 90's today it was appropriate to make.  The recipe is incredibly easy and takes no time at all to throw together.

Recipe

1 (1 pound) bag of frozen (cooked) shrimp, thawed

1 tomato, cut into chunks

1 avocado, cut into chunks

1/4 cup red onion, diced

Juice from 1 lime

Cilantro, to taste, chopped

Dice red onion and put into bowl.  Squeeze lime juice over onion and let sit for about 5 minutes.  The lime juice will tone down the onion.

Take thawed, cooked, shrimp and place in bowl with onion and lime juice.  Add tomato and avocado and stir.

Add chopped cilantro and stir.

Best served chilled

Chickpea, Tomato and Quinoa Salad

This is a such a yummy dish.  It can be a meal, a snack or a side...it is pretty light so goes with just about everything.  I found the recipe online one day and decided to add the quinoa in after making it a few times.  So keep that in mind when you make it...if you either don't like quinoa or don't have any in the pantry.

Do you use Quinoa?  It is one of my favorite grains...you cook it just as you would cook rice...I have made quinoa on the stovetop...but my favorite way to cook it is in a rice steamer.  It really doesn't get any easier than that.  Just like rice you use 1 part quinoa to 2 parts liquid, cook for 45 minutes in rice steamer, if you are cooking on the stovetop you basically bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until liquid is absorbed.  The packaging will have cooking instructions as well.  You can use water or the stock of your choice.  I prefer to use stock because it cooks a little bit of flavor into the quinoa.  To me quinoa is kinda like tofu...it will taste like whatever you mix in with it...so the possibilities are endless.  It is also a HIGH source of protein and it is a complete protein comparable to that which is found in meat, fish, poultry, dairy etc.  

Recipe:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

About 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

25 large basil leaves, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

2 TSP olive oil

1/2 BSP honey

pinch of salt

I just eyeball the quinoa but for the above ingredients I would say 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa is good...3 cups if you double the recipe like I do.

I usually double this recipe but still only do the amount of basil called for above...it has plenty of flavor and come on 50 basil leaves...kinda overkill.

Take all the ingredients, mix together and chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes...then enjoy!

I {love} Hummus

I {love} Hummus

This recipe comes from the Cooking with Trader Joe's Skinny Dish cookbook.  Not only is it a super easy recipe, as many of them are from these books, but it can be made without tahini (sesame seed butter).  Sesame is one of the foods I am allergic too and hummus is such a great snack...with veggies or crackers.  The other REALLY great thing about this hummus is that the caloric intake is way lower than with traditional store bought hummus.  I am not sure if you know this but 2 TBSP is a serving size of store bought hummus...and we all know that we eat WAY more that 2 TBSP in a sitting!  A serving size of this recipe is 1/2 cup and is only 110 calories...need I say more?

Recipe

1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained with liquid reserved

1 (14-oz) can artichoke hearts, drained

1 TBSP tahini (sesame seed butter), or 2 TBSP olive oil

1.4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, or 3 cubes frozen Crushed Garlic

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1 TSP cumin

1/2 TSP black pepper

FYI when an ingredient is capitalized (like the Crushed Garlic) it is a Trader Joe's exclusive product.  If the ingredient isn't capitalized it can be found at any grocery store.

1 Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor (I use a food processor) and process until smooth.  Add 2-3 tablespoons or reserved bean liquid for a thinner consistency (I haven't done this because I like the consistency of the hummus with out it).  Dip and go!

2 Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 6 days.

Makes 6 (1/2 cup) servings

Gluten Free

ENJOY!!

Tamale Bake

This is one of my FAVORITE recipes...it is super easy...and it is SO good!  The only problem is it has ingredients that don't fit into my food allergy diet.  Today I made this for our neighbor as a 'Thank You' for taking care of our dogs and fish while we were on vacation.  It is from the Trader Joe's Dinner's Done cookbook...if you haven't bought these books you should!  They are great and all the recipes are fairly easy...they are a must have in our house :)

So here's the recipe

2 (18-oz) tubes pre-cooked polenta, each tube sliced into 9 rounds
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped, or 2 cups refrigerated diced onions
3 zucchini, sliced
1 (12-oz) package soy chorizo, removed from casing, or substitute 1 pound ground meat cooked in 1 TSP taco seasoning or 1/3 cup enchilada sauce
2 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
1 cup fancy shredded mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Sour cream as garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Heat oil in skillet.  Sauté onion and zucchini until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add soy chorizo and stir.  Remove from heat.
3. Lightly oil a square baking dish.  Place half of the polenta on the bottom, overlapping when necessary.  Sprinkle on half of the chorizo mixture, black beans, enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.  Repeat with the second layer.
4. Cover and bake for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is piping hot,  Sprinkle cilantro evenly on top.  Serve with sour cream.

Serves 8

This is a HUGE dish perfect for when you have company...today I halved the recipe and it is still enough to have plenty of leftovers.

Enjoy!

Ally's Wild Stampede

Hey everyone I wanted to let you know about an upcoming event that benefits an amazing non-profit organization called Ride To Walk!  Ride To Walk (RTW) is a therapeutic horseback riding program for children and young adults with neurological disabilities.  My daughter Sofia is a rider in the program.  We were very happy when her physical therapist, the founder of RTW, let us know that she felt Sofia was ready to participate in the program.  Her first ride was the day before her 5th birthday...and what an amazing gift that was for our entire family.  Sofia really enjoys being on the horse each week.  Watching her up there is just amazing!  Sofia is so limited to the things she can do so to see her riding a horse, smiling and laughing is something truly special! 

This is Sofia and her physical therapist, Kris, riding at the program.  I think her smile says it all.  This program is something that not only we enjoy watching her do...but she LOVES it!

Ally's Wild Stampede is going to be on Saturday, July 21, 2012 out at the RTW Ranch in Lincoln, CA.  We have a great event including a 5k course with obstacles to traverse including a MUD pit!  Now don't worry if mud isn't your thing or you will be walking with a stroller or young children you can bypass the obstacles and still have a great time!  We are getting an expo together with various vendors for you to visit after you complete the course.  BBQ lunch will be served to each participant (included in registration fee) and there will also be music and a beer garden this year...you won't want to miss it!  We will also have some fun activities for the little ones too!  We are encouraging everyone to start teams to collect donations as well.  There will be lots of prizes awarded so make sure you get in the running for that!  If you want more information you can get all the information you need at 

www.ridetowalk.org/ally

There is a donation form that you can download from the above link to keep track easily!

If you would like to register here's the link

http://www.eventbrite.com/org/2239933541

Registration fee is $40 until Friday, July 13, 2012...same day registration is $45...registration fee is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!

There are many ways to get involved, if you are interested please let me know

For those of you who don't know Sofia's story here it is...

My pregnancy and labor were totally normal...or so we thought.  At 5 weeks of age Sofia had an episode where she went limp and lethargic.  We called 911 and when they arrived Sofia had come to, but was still not 100% so we decided to take her to the emergency room to have her checked out.  The doctors told us that she was fine, that what had happened was perfectly normal for a baby and that we were basically over-reactive new parents.  Being that we were new parents we took their advice and went home.  For the next few days we were going into the pediatrician for follow ups and has several phone conversations because her health had seemed to get worse.  She began to projectile vomit after feedings and was not her usual happy self.  After 4 or 5 days I told myself we would be taking her into the pediatrician that Monday because something just wasn't right.  Unfortunately we didn't make it through the weekend...exactly one week after the first episode Sofia had another episode of lethargy and limpness...only this time it was much more severe.  Once 911 was called she was whisked away to the hospital, we were unable to ride with her.  Once we arrived to the ER it was like watching an episode of ER or Grey's Anatomy in real life.  She was having her onesie cut of, she had been resuscitated and was being intubated to help her breath.  The doctor noticed that her fontanel 'was tense and bulging'.  She was then rushed off to get a CT scan.  The scan showed that she had three separate brain bleeds...one that was dated back to pre-birth/birth trauma, one that was about a week old and one from that day.  That was the beginning to a very long hospital stay for us all.  She was transferred to the  PICU at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento.  After about a week she was strong enough to be taken off of the ventilator which was AMAZING!  Sofia was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) before she turned one year old.  She has had more surgeries than I can count on both hands in her short five years of life.  She has a shunt to treat her hydrocephalus (too much fluid on the brain), she has a GJ tube for feedings (she doesn't take anything by mouth), she is unable to walk, talk or move her legs independently. 

Sofia has taught me about love that I had no idea existed.  She is one of the most amazing individuals I have ever known and I know that she was given to us for a reason!  As much as our day to day life is not easy I wouldn't have it any other way.  We also have a three year old, Madison, and to see the way they interact is truly special.  I cannot wait to see how their relationship continues to develop over the years.  Sofia has taught our family so much without ever saying a word.  Sofia enjoys spending time with her family, being outside and music.  

One of my favorite stories to share about Sofia is that when she was first hospitalized her (now former) neurologist came into her room and told us all of the things she would never do...I know he listed of many things but the one thing that stuck with me was that he said she would probably never smile.  Now as strange as it might sound to hear, having him say she might not walk or talk really didn't effect me.  It was the fact that he said she wouldn't smile...you mean to tell me that our child will never feel joy and be able to express it through smiling?  Well, as you will see in these pictures that doctor was wrong!
It took about a year but she does in fact smile...not only does she smile she will full out laugh at times!  Many of the families that have specials needs children will say 'what do "they" know' because they have all heard different things from the doctors that their children weren't supposed to do...and they were also wrong.  Never say never, right?