Dana Brewer

Baking some good shhhtuff!!!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:24:12 -0800

After having gestational diabetes with both children, I learned to cook some low carb and low/no sugar foods. I know when it comes to baking you really need to be precise. I am never good about following directions so baking is sometimes hard for me. I am always trying to make substitutions for sugar and have failed many times. But alas, here is a recipe that i did multiple substitutions and it turned out great. So I thought I would write up a recipe since it has been a while.

Gluten free/Sugar free Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Ok, so the original recipe comes from the back of a Trader Joe’s Rolled Oats. But like I said I made quite a few changes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine:

1/4 cup of softened butter (yes that is all!!)

1 cup sugar substitute. *Important* please DO NOT use splenda or the other nasty options. I have found some great alternatives for sugar. Just go to your local coop or Whole paycheck, I mean Whole Foods and look around. My favorite right now and what I used for this recipe is coconut palm sugar. It is very low glycemic and good for you too. I actually used this for all my holiday cookies this year and no one noticed the difference. Sneaky I know!

So beat up the buttah and sugah real good. I also let it sit for a bit and warm up to the room temp.

Then beat in 2 eggs,1 tsp Vanilla, 1 1/4 tsp baking soda. Should be a nice creamy texture now.

Add a cup of almond butter and keep beating. Now the original recipe called for peanut butter but I kind of think sometimes peanut butter is too strong a flavor in a cookie. I want to taste the butter sugar and CHOCOLATE! We also have no peanut butter in the house because my husband eats almond butter religiously every morning. So, I made do with what I had and it turned out really freakin’ awesome!

Now add:

3 cups of rolled oats

1/2 cup of nuts of your choosing :)

AND, last but not least… chocolate. Now, I was sticking with the sugar free and I found a great chocolate bar at Trader Joes. I cut up the bar into little pieces and it bakes up very nice.

After it is all mixed up good together you bake the cookies for about 10 min depending on oven. Seriously they are so moist and chewy and darn good!

Enjoy!!

Nothing like a good friend! (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:15:34 -0800

Nothing like a good friend! (Taken with instagram)

Teething and breastfeeding

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:13:24 -0800

So Dillon cut his first tooth in this week. I am so glad it finally popped through, the poor guy was in pain. But alas, breastfeeding him now is a challenge because the little guy likes to bite down. Oh the joy of being a mother!

Happy Valentine’s Day (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:06:34 -0800

Happy Valentine’s Day (Taken with instagram)

My baby girl is 4 today. Happy Birthday Ruth Anne Elizabeth! I...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:41:08 -0800

My baby girl is 4 today. Happy Birthday Ruth Anne Elizabeth! I love you soooo much! (Taken with instagram)

Gifts from God

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:16:53 -0800

As I was laying Ruth down for bed the other night, we had just finished our prayers and she asked me, “mom do you think God will give me a gift for my birthday?” I said oh sure he loves to give gifts. She sits up straight in bed and says come here. She leans in real close and whispers in my ear (children whispering in my ear always gives me the giggles), “I want God to give me a husband like daddy and maybe a baby sister”. Oh Lord, I thought! Please do not let her have a little sister and please don’t give her a husband on her 4th birthday.

Oh how I love being a parent. It is these little moments that keep me going during all the hard ones.

Baby Dillon (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:58:46 -0800

Baby Dillon (Taken with instagram)

Two of my favorite people at Tartine. Happy birthday to me!!!...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:32:59 -0800

Two of my favorite people at Tartine. Happy birthday to me!!! (Taken with instagram)

Ahhhh!! (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:08:20 -0800

Ahhhh!! (Taken with instagram)

Cherished moments (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:24:37 -0800

Cherished moments (Taken with instagram)

New running shoes and some much needed alone time to break them...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:15:36 -0800

New running shoes and some much needed alone time to break them in. (Taken with Instagram at Embarcadero)

I have been following this lady’s blog for a while now. I...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:07:03 -0800

I have been following this lady’s blog for a while now. I don’t know why but just randomly stumbled on it one day and she being a creative soul made it all the more interesting. Any ways, she is now battling cancer and writes about everything, and documents with photos. Some may think this could be depressing but honestly it just inspires me and causes me to pray like I never have. That can’t be bad right? Ashley’s motto is, CHOOSE JOY! I like that because the truth is, it is a choice. When you boil it all down we get to choose it or not. It is really that simple. I am with you Ashley, gonna choose joy every day from here on out. If you have taught me anything it is that. I am thankful for you and even in a very strange way, I am thankful for that cancer, even though it can go back to where it came from. I BELIEVE IN LIFE for you! Your story, your life, is powerful and you should always, always keep writing.

Happy flowers (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:27:36 -0800

Happy flowers (Taken with instagram)

Jason and Ruthie (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:26:06 -0800

Jason and Ruthie (Taken with instagram)

Smoothie smiles (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:22:34 -0800

Smoothie smiles (Taken with instagram)

Running partner this morning. He rocks! (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:36:33 -0800

Running partner this morning. He rocks! (Taken with instagram)

Life

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:51:13 -0800

Good heavens it has been too long since I last wrote!!!

I feel like life always seems to be going at least 20 miles over the speed limit. Maybe I am just slow or trying to enjoy as much as I can, but I constantly feel “behind”. I am learning (key word) to not let this bother me or as Ruth so affectionately says, “father me”. I want to let things go and “live in the moment” but I also need to pay bills, change diapers, wash clothes, make dinner, shop for food for said dinner, clean the house, be a few steps ahead for my 3 almost 4 year old, and constantly nurse (and i mean all the FREAKIN’ time) my 5 month old. I don’t know how to do it all. I am the first to admit I can’t do it all, BUT I am also too much of an Aquarius to not try to do it all. So yes, there is a battle here in my world. Ahhhh…. I digress.

The truth is I have really nothing profound or exciting to write, just the day in and day out shhhtuff. So here it is:

Ruth had her first dance class this weekend. I don’t know who was more excited, her to get all dressed up and go be the ballerina that she dreams of being or me because I actually did what I said I was going to do. I have been telling her we would go for months. I didn’t purposefully make this a long, extended process I just honestly kept forgetting. Anyhoo, she was stoked and I love to see my little girl excited to learn, be free and her amazing, wonderful self. So, we (Josh, Dillon, Ruth and myself) all get there to the dance class not really knowing what to expect. All the parents drop off their kids and then leave. I usually am good about going with the flow but the mama bear in me decides I can’t leave my baby girl at this class all by herself. So, I make Josh and Dillon go and get coffee (and wine at Whole paycheck), while I wait out at the dance class. I just wanted to make sure all was good (I know I am crazy but I DON’T CARE!). What if Ruth didn’t like it?(if you know my daughter at all and are readying this now, you know I really am crazy!) But alas, the mom in me had to stay and just hover a bit. I am sure next week I will go and get a cup of coffee around the corner. Some times I am surprised at what comes out of me as a mom. It brings up so many things in me that I wish I could put into words, but for now all I can say is I want so much to find that balance where I can love my child, protect them, and also let them have the space they need. I am rambling now.

Today I worked in the garden with a good friend, Judie. Something about being outside and working hard felt soooo good. At one point I was ripping away at a vine and I told her, ‘Gosh it feels good to tear this all out and hack away with the saw and clippers”. I think I needed to let some aggression out. Not sure why but I have been feeling something boiling under the surface lately. Like I am just waiting to have that “big cry” that just won’t’ come yet or gonna melt a the worst possible moment. I know everything is “fine”, but it is a feeling I just can’t shake. Maybe it is lack of sleep or not enough time for the things I always want to do, or maybe it is being frustrated with not doing the things I say I want to do. Ay-yi-yi!!!! I am not making sense. Oh well!!! This is me writing late at night (8:45pm not so late but to me feels late). Josh is gone tonight out with a friend and I am thinking to maybe go read and fall asleep in bed. Exciting stuff! Will write more and sooner, than later ;)

Father and a Son

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:17:34 -0800

Love this!

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/nothing-good-gets-away.html

The joy of a morning nap (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:43:16 -0800

The joy of a morning nap (Taken with instagram)

Together again (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:51:00 -0800

Together again (Taken with instagram)