Category: toddlers

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Best Friends and Giving Back

Hey there!!!  I hope you all are having a good week and looking forward to the downward slide to the weekend!  Ill start off by announcing the winner of The Book Only Love Today…..Cooking without Limits…please email me (simplytiffstx@gmail.com) where to send your book…CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Miss K has been a character and a half this week I tell you.  The things toddlers say are just too funny sometimes and how they decide to torture their best friends are even funnier sometimes.  Zeiss was treated to a slumber party inclusive of his own blanket at the Doseum located in my kitchen along with a serenade of “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” and the ABC song, and even got to karaoke to “Let it Go”.  I have to admit watching them play with one another is some of the sweetest moments of the day as I see the unconditional love they each have for one another…nothing better than a girl and her dog!

This week it was also time for me to give back…its become sort of a ritual really.  It feels so good to help others even if its as small/insignificant as donating hair from your head…that small gesture means the world to that person who receives your “gift” whatever it might be.   I have hair that grows very quick and of course its just hair so every few years I will bob it to donate to “Locks of Love”.  However, this time I have chosen to donate to an organization who provides FREE replacement hair to children under 21 called children with hair loss.

XOXO,

Tiffany

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Laughter Fills The Day

Today was an incredibly busy and productive day as I had product to make for my dear friends at Sisters, entertain an incredibly busy toddler, as well as train our big fat Buffy to lay her eggs in the appropriate space!

With all of these things to do, I had to start the day out with some caffeine! Lately, my go to has been cold brew and almond milk with a splash of maple syrup and scoop of vital proteins. Gives me the boost I need with some protein for these busy days 😬.

Once I had Miss K her protein smoothie and other goodies served, I made my way down to the coop to check on the girls and gather the eggs…I had decided to leave everyone cooped to try and get Buffy to lay in the nesting boxes rather than the flowerbed. Well about 9am I started to feel bad that everyone was having to stay inside the coop so I allowed all of the girls except her to go out to free range, well I didn’t imagine the chaos that would ensue…Mister Rooster was all bent out of shape as he ran from the garden area back down to the coop a million and one times because the Buffy was all kinds of ticked off. Well I finally decided about noon to go let her out after checking in on them several times without any egg layed. Let me just say when I opened that coop she darted up the hill to the front yard and into the flowerbed so fast, I was afraid an egg was gonna pop out at anytime. I have never laughed so hard before or seen a chicken move so fast! Needless to say she went right back to her previous spot and layed me a beautiful tan egg.

it wasn’t long after this, it was time for lunch followed by nap. In this house, nap time is the best time and today it was certainly necessary for all of us! I decided to open Miss Ks door after about an hour and a half and as I walked away I heard, “No, nap-time is not over mommy, shut my door, I’m trying to sleep!” I promptly shut that door to which I was greeted only a minute later with, “can we go swimming now?” Of course we did and as we headed out, Zeiss needed to potty, so he found a nice tree and Miss K said, “I think he’s holding on to the tree while he potty’s because he has to go outside instead of on the potty.” Of course this had to be one of the most innocent, creative and hilarious things I may have heard, but I just replied, “yes I think you’re right sweetheart” and we continued to the pool. Our pool time didn’t disappoint either as we found a locust, a snake 🐍 swimming in the pool…yes a snake came to visit and Miss K tried to coax Mr. Steve in by having Mister Crab pinch him.

We swam a bit later than I had planned so when got back, I spiralized and sautéed some zucchini and yellow squash from the garden as the spaghetti sauce was simmering.

What are some quick meals you put together when you are short on time?

Hope your day was good!

XOXO,

Tiffany

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An August Egg Hunt and Other Summer Fun

Good Afternoon!  I hope you all are staying cool or enjoying some cool weather where you’re at because it is quite warm and thick outside today in Texas.

Miss K typically has dance class on Wednesdays but todays class was rescheduled, so we enjoyed a nice day on the homestead.  Well, we really spent two hours in snake books searching for our Buffy who started disappearing periodically on Sunday for a few hours each day…I knew she was close/should be laying anytime, so I needed to find where she was hiding out.  Well, of course, I traipsed through the brush/weeds etc in my boxers, camisole and snake boots only to find her 2 hrs later in the front yard. Now, I had searched the front yard and flower beds a million times, but I guess it was that last time as several cars drove past I would find the “nest” in my Sunday best!  Now I’m hoping maybe leaving the girls cooped for the next several days will help her to lay them in the nesting boxes rather than the flower beds as I don’t need any snakes coming up for a little afternoon/evening snack.  Do any of you have any ideas on how to get her to lay in the nesting boxes?

Anyway, yesterday, we tried to take our friend Miss Lauren paddle boarding, but mother nature was not having any of it, as the winds gusted over the lake and small whitecaps formed.  We were a bit bummed, but being strong willed individuals we weren’t about to let the day waste away, so we settled for having a fun morning at Yanaguana Garden where we played chess, checkers, foosball, connect four, and enjoyed the splash pad and playground.  It is located downtown at the corner of Cesar Chavez and South Alamo and has a coffee and juice bar, popsicle shop and newly opened pizzeria.

From the Garden, we decided to go have a bit of lunch at Rosarios off South Alamo, and let me just say as a first time Momma, sometimes just sometimes, you may want to watch what you say as you drive looking for an open parking space just as the Hanger starts in.  A combination of small parking lots along with folks continuously going the wrong way led this hangry momma to utter the phrase “seriously you idiot”  Now i wasn’t thinking my keen as a cat toddler was listening so intently in the seat directly behind me as she uttered “mommy, did you just call them an idiot?”  Now Lauren and I busted out laughing, and of course I had to fess up to the current situation and say yes as the questions continued to roll out regarding the comment.  Sometimes these funny episodes are good reminders to always be aware of the words flowing from our mouths, or at least this mommas.  We finally found a spot and had a delicious lunch and walked across the street to Steel City Pops (all natural popsicles with a large dairy/soy free selection) to enjoy some healthy treats before heading back to the compound for a much needed nap!

Where/what is your favorite summer hangout/park/activity?

XOXO,

Tiffany

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Dairy-Free Coconut-Pineapple “Cheesecake” Bars

Ingredients

Crust

Filling

Instructions

Crust

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Combine almond, coconut, and arrowroot flours along with salt in medium bowl.
  3. Cut in palm shortening with pastry cutter or fork until resembles course sand.
  4. Pulse with a food processor or mix in egg until dough forms.
  5. Press dough into greased 8″x 8″ baking dish.

Filling

  1. Using a hand mixer, in a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy and smooth.
  2. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until combined.
  3. Beat in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until mixture is smooth.
  4. Add crushed pineapple (with juice) and one cup of shredded coconut.
  5. Pour mixture over crust and top with remaining shredded coconut
  6. Place in oven for 60-75 min or until center is set and coconut is lightly browned.
  7. Enjoy plain or topped with cherries, strawberries or whatever your tastebuds are craving!

XOXO,

Tiffany

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Threenager in the house!

HELLO friends!!! I haven’t posted in so long and I have missed doing my daily/weekly blogs so much. We have been enjoying the fantastic Texas HEAT and a whole lotta SASS along with our library time, visits to the zoo, doseum and beach as well as some fun playtime with friends this summer.

My sweet little two year old princess turned three and let me just tell you, as I was warned on numerous occasions, it is a whole different ball game being played at this stage. When things are good, it’s good, even shall I utter the word FUN, but when things are bad, they aren’t just bad, they are horrible, horrendous, and some days, you just barely survive! So let me just share a few of our “fun adventures” in the last few weeks. First, on the list is a play date with one of our friends where things were going
great and everyone was having fun until the game of “hide and seek” began. Now, I don’t know who out there has ever wanted to be the counter, but my little girl and her friend wanted to both count and let me just say things escalated quickly from her telling him: “I am counting”—screaming, “I am counting” as he had his hands covering his eyes and counting out loud only
to be followed by her sprinting over with meanest look on her face while grabbing him by the shoulders and belligerently yelling, “I AM COUNTING!” Now as a mom, I was mortified and apologizing profusely as I promptly left our play date. Luckily our friends are awesome and didn’t even think one more second about the incident…thank the LORD!! Second, my little threenager was utterly in a tantrum not wanting to go return the coon trap recently, but we really didn’t have any other options, so she had to go. She cried the whole way there (25 minutes) so I quickly removed the trap and put it up and told our friend thank you and left with my raging friend continuing her deafening screams. Of course since my brain was in shock, I had a bright idea to try and calm her with a trip to the local Whataburger for some French Fries because when you have food allergies, that’s all one can have at a FF chain. Well friends, as I ordered she continued to scream (going on 50min) and we pulled to the outside lane as instructed where she raged through the carhop bringing us some water and collecting payment. At this point I had been editing the hair raising, ear-splitting tantrum for over an hour, so I exited my vehicle, unbuckled her and calmly placed her next to the vehicle where I crouched down and told her she needed to calm down if she wanted to get back in the car. Well let’s just say every car had gone around us and was gone from the drive-thru before there was silence and we were able to get back in the vehicle. Most recently, I had just finished cleaning the house: top to bottom, windows, baseboards, shutters, etc when I was greeted with “mommy I shined the door”…with almond milk no less…all I could say was, “thank you honey, maybe next time we could use water rather than almond milk?” If this doesn’t give you a little clue as to why after my friend goes to bed at night I haven’t been blogging, then I don’t know what will 🤪🤩.

The girls had another attack and the rooster was a bit scalped this time. All I have to say is that rooster is a tough little guy to have made it through the dog attack! Hopefully, we will be getting some eggs very soon. They better be some beautiful, golden, tasty eggs at that.

I’ve also begun cold brewing coffee and experimenting with making ice cream with it and oh boy oh boy is it good! Thanks for following and hopefully you had a few laughs and relatable moments as well as some feelings of “OH THANK HEAVENS IM NOT ALONE” in this awesome adventure we call LIFE!

XOXO

Tiffany