Whirlwind Woman [Happy Birthday Oreo Cake Batter Blondies!]

So, lately life has been a whirlwind.  I'm sure most people understand that.  Not enough time for anything, or just a little time for everything and nothing finished.  Kind of like how I clean the house, as I walk from room to room I stop and fold some laundry here, pick up some trash there, throw some toys in a bin over here.....the end result is nothing really being done.

But for now, I'm okay with that.  We recently decided as a family that I will be continuing my college education for oh, 6 more years or so.  The decision was daunting and it required a lot for me to realize that I will not, cannot be the Mom that does everything.  Taking a full college load, being a mother of 4 young children, working part-time in addition to being a wife, friend, and very sporadic blogger means I cannot do it all.  And on the worst days I can't do any of it.

I'm trying my best for now, to relax about it.  I have come to understand that my anxieties are not just my own but a burden on my family and also in direct relation to my trust in God.  If He has set me on this path I must trust that each day will take care of itself.  My laundry may never be completely done, my kid's might have unbrushed hair and unorganized rooms but ours hearts will be full.

So for now, while school takes priority over mopped floors and alphabetized blu-rays [yes, I do that.] I will do what I can.  And what I can do is make this awesome dessert in under 5 minutes.  Super easy. not healthy in the slightest, and my kid's loved them.  Hopefully when I've finished my Masters I'll look back at this time in our lives and be joyful about the things I let go.

Happy Birthday Oreo Cake Batter Blondies

• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix
• 15 Golden Happy Birthday Oreos, chopped. 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup sprinkles
• 1/3 cup milk 
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 11x7 pan.
2. Combine cake mix, coconut oil, egg and sprinkles.
3. Slowly add milk and stir together, batter will be thick!  This is good. :)
4. Once combined fold in 3/4 of your chopped Oreos and 3/4 of your sprinkles.
5. Pour into the greased pan and sprinkle reserved Oreos and sprinkles on top.
6. Bake for 28 minutes until edges are slightly brown.
7. Remove from oven and let cool completely so blondies can set.
8. Enjoy! 

The Vegan Challenge [Vegan Bluberry Muffins]

[Aloha home!  Until we meet again. <3]

Ok, I admit it.
 I feel a little bit better.  

We're on day three of our experimental vegan cleanse and I feel slightly better.

A little healthier maybe but my face is breaking out more?  Unrelated maybe, but still.

I read somewhere that a vegan diet for two weeks is a good cleanse for your body and after almost three weeks in California and eating a lot more Mexican food than usual I felt all gross and thought coming back home would be a good time to try it.  

We had no food at home because we got rid of almost everything before we left for California.  

We had ketchup and chocolate almond milk in the fridge pretty much.

So the day we got back from California, yes the same day, like after a 6 hour long flight with 4 young kids, I went grocery shopping.  Not a cool move, I felt like dying when we got home but anyways I got all the stuff we needed to start our Vegan diet thing and we began!  I know some Vegans, I know lots of people who have been Vegan at some point in their life and I am amazed by you.  I can't handle it, it makes me want to cry everyday thinking of all the eggs and cheese and crispy prosciutto I could have eaten.  But we're doing ok.  We're on day three and it has been hard everyday!  Haha.  I have no idea what to cook and beans are not in my repertoire.

 [A stop in Santa Cruz, the swings are just so pretty!]

My cousin texted me that she was going to go Vegan for a week too so we could text each other about how hard it is.  She's already a vegetarian so I think it's a head start, but still.  So here we go!  Looking forward to seeing how I feel on day 7.  We decided to go just one week instead of two because we're lazy and miss good food.  For me it's also a test of willpower.  I don't have any.  If I want something I figure out a way to get it but I wanted to test myself to see if I would actually do what I said I'm going to do.  I say random things I'm going to do all the time like: I'm going to join a roller derby team!  I'll take the bus.  I'm just going to Target for a couple things!  But then I never do those things, so I'm kind of forcing myself to do something I say I'm going to do.

[Sunflowers in Avila Beach!]

So here they are, Vegan Blueberry Muffins.  They taste good I'm just kind of weirded out about the avocado in them, hot or cold I couldn't really taste it so.....yum!  Try them out!

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

[adapted from www.averiecooks.com]

Flesh from 1 very ripe medium Hass Avocado, mashed well.  About 3/4 cup.

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed.

1/3 cup Coconut Oil

1/3 cup Blueberry Coconut Yogurt

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. Cinnamon

3/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1 cup AP Flour

1 tsb. Baking Powder

1 cup fresh Blueberries, tossed in 2 tsb. Flour.

1.  Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F and line 16 muffin tins with liners.

2.  In a large bowl mash the avocado, the softer the better.  

3.  Stir in the oil, sugars, yogurt, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg until all combined.

4.  Fold in flour and baking powder until just mixed.  Do not overmix.

5.  Fold in berries tossed in fruit and divide batter evenly in lined pan.

6.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, lower to 350 degrees and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Veg on. 

Sunday Funday.

I'm sure I've said this before but Sundays are a notoriously busy day around our house, especially Sunday mornings.  Andy works his 2nd job 7 days a week and goes straight from his cleaning job to downstairs at the church to start doing sound check, etc. 

Which means grumpy Mama, who doesn't like to wake up early is also in charge of getting myself and the three kiddos up, dressed & fed in time to go downstairs for church by 10am.  This is probably not a big deal for other awesome Moms that can set their alarms and jump out of bed like they mean it.  Not for me.  I procrastinate, I check Facebook, I hit snooze, I complain and then I start running around like a chicken with my head cut off. 

So I'm gonna switch it around on this blog and give you a recipe first!  You might like this if you hate reading my writing or came here just to eat.  Makes sense.  But since Sunday mornings are so crazy it helps if I am smart enough to plan ahead and bake something on Saturday that the kids and adults scrambling to get everything done have something to grab and eat while getting ready.

This Sunday's breakfast was......

Snickerdoodle Muffins! 

I made these ones especially for the Praise Leader of our family since Snickerdoodle's are his favorite cookie.  I also figured all the kids would actually eat them since they don't really contain anything that might be considered good for you.  But oh well, cause they are tasty!

adapted from www.eatmedelicious.com

2 Sticks unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 tsp. Baking Soda

3/4 tsp. Baking Powder

3/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

3/4 tsp. Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt

2 1/4 cups AP flour

For the coating:

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbs. cinnamon

[1] In a stand mixer cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  A few minutes.

[2] Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, waiting for each egg to incorporate.

[3] In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, and nutmeg.

[4] Alternating flour mixture and yogurt add to your wet mixture.  Starting and ending with flour, scrape bowl if necessary.

[5] In a shallow dish whisk together coating toppings.

[6] Using an ice cream scoop, I like my stolen Jamba Juice "disher" spring loaded scoop.

Scoop the batter into your coating and roll each scoop around till it's fully coated.

[7] Place each ball into a greased muffin tin. 

This recipe made about 24 muffins for me!

[8] Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

So after a good morning of muffins, praising God and fellowship we left to go check out Olomana Gardens in Waimanalo.  Andy has been wanting to see this place for awhile and usually the tours can be a bit pricey.  But being the bargain hunters that we are we found out today was an open house with free tours and a potluck!  Can't beat that. 

Olomana Gardens has a huge aquaponics set-up.  Which I know nothing about but maybe Andy will get to guest blog about this someday for those that are interested.  The tour was pretty cool with lots of information and a beautiful backdrop of Waimanalo Valley. 

We saw their fish tanks, the duck weed they were growing, along with Papayas, Taro, tomatoes & pretty much anything else you could imagine.  The kids got to pet horses, chickens, and a pig so everyone was having a pretty good time!  Jonas was so excited cause he helps Andy a lot with their aquaponics system so he kept running ahead with the tour guide pushing a lot of older Asian men out of the way.  Rude, perhaps.  Cute, definitely. 

The open house was pretty neat too, free beer & aquaponics?  Andy was in heaven.

It's such a joy spending time with our kids as they explore new things, especially things we're interested in too.  And hopefully, somehow, tying it in with homeschool, just so we don't feel guilty for the days we miss in the classroom. ;) 

Made one last stop at Sweet Home Waimanalo to try out their famous smoothies and check out the food.  It's a bit pricey but definitely looked good if you're into organic, healthy, locally grown stuff.

We tried a Peanut Butter Bellows Smoothie & a Local Kale Smoothie and took a beautiful drive along the ocean back home. 

God is so good to us, I only hope that we do him justice in giving him everything he deserves from our lives knowing we can always give more. <3 

S'Mores Cookies & Ewa Beach Hidden Corner.

So a few weeks ago our church decided to have our monthly home group at the beach instead of a usual member's home.  Our church is small enough that after asking around it ended up just being our family, my Dad's family and a group of 3 coming from Waianae.  

First off, I should know if my Dad is in charge of planning something basically that means he will stress me out enough that I'll start planning and the whole thing will unravel with two Type A personalities getting grumpy with each other about what the other was supposed to do. 

We went down to Hidden Corner Beach in Ewa Beach.  

If you're going there from H1, either way you will get off on the Ewa Beach exit.

Follow Ft. Weaver Rd.  the big main road in Ewa Beach ALLLLL the way down.

Seriously, all the way.  You'll dead end.  To the left will be a Country Club [I believe?]

And on the right, a beautiful beach!

There's plenty of shade, picnic tables, parking and bathrooms/showers.

It can be rough there depending on the tide, the kid's played but Andy was tense the whole time worrying about them.  Such a good Dad. 

It was a beautiful night, the moon was out early & there were tons of airplanes flying by for some reason so the kids were entertained. A few tips.....

1.  Don't try and move the picnic tables.  They have concrete blocks on the ends.  Well they should....my Dad & I tried to move one and it only had blocks on one end, it was too heavy for us to get anywhere and when we finally set it down it was now lopsided.  :/  Awesome.

2. Pack tongs!  And skewers! And defrosted chicken.  If you plan to BBQ.  They don't have BBQs there so bring your own.  We made corn & chicken and ate them about an hour and a half apart because our chicken was frozen.  All components were delicious if not spaced out.

3.  Do NOT use Tiki Torch fluid to light you're grill.  Andy, my Dad & younger brother almost have the no eyebrows as evidence to go along with this tip.   

4.  Don't leave your shoes at one end of the beach at the beginning of the day thinking you'll just go back and grab them when you leave.  By then it's pitch black dark & someone had stolen Lily's brand new silver Converse.  I can definitely tell I'm becoming an older Mom because this infuriated me to no end, even more so when she shrugged and said "It's ok, I have more." What?! 

It was still a fun night, beautiful weather & scenery and time with our church family. 

Our attempt at making Smores with a quickly dying fire and plastic forks tho does bring me to my next recipe......

Smore's Cookies!

adapted from www.farenheit350.blogspot.com

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, room temp.

2 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

2 packages graham crackers

[1] In a mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

[2] Add the eggs one at a time until combined, add vanilla. 

[3] Add in salt, baking soda and flour and beat until combined.

[4] Then fold in chocolate chips & marshmallows.

[5] Break the graham cracker sheets in half and arrange on cookie sheet.

You can put them close cause the cookie will pretty much stay on top of the cracker.

[6] Put a scoop of cookie dough on top of each cracker.

[7] Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  

Best served warm and you get the real Smore's flavor.  

Happy camping! 

5 Things I miss about California. & 5 Things I don't.

5 Things I miss about California, and 5 Things I do not. 

I miss.

1.  Being close to almost all of my family.  Having my Mom & some of my siblings in the same town as me.  Family dinners on a whim, the kids being able to see my Grandma.  Helping out, family gatherings, BBQs around the fire pit in our backyard.  Coffee and shopping trips with my little sister.  My kids growing up with their cousins. The free baby-sitting.  Oh, the free baby-sitting. 

2.  The food.  In & Out. Chipotle. Not to mention all the places that are particular to Stockton.  Good sushi at Co Co Ro, fried chicken from Manny's California Fresh.  Oh the list could just go on and on.  Being pregnant just makes me want all the good food that much more.  I would kill for a carnitas taco plate from Tepa Taquiera right about now, well maybe not kill.....but stab for sure.

3. Road trips.  There was SPACE!  Lots of it!  True, some places were far.  But we always loved a weekend of packing our van to the brim and going where the wind blew us.  Down the 1 to visit family in Pismo Beach or a little further down to the Santa Monica Pier.  Stopping at rest stops to run around and enjoy being together in our own little contained unit.  Nothing but wind in our hair, good music on the stereo, the sounds of kids arguing in the backseat, sunglasses and the knowledge that we still have hours to go.  Ahhh, my version of peace. 

4. My best friends.  Two women that will forever impact my life.  That taught me what REAL friendship was, after 27 years of living, to have two people show me THIS is what friendship is.  Not someone using me for their benefit, lying to me, back stabbing or generally acting as if all of life is a shitty fucked up high school experience. [Can you tell I didn't like high school?]  Who I rarely get to talk to now with an ocean between us but I know I could call them at anytime with anything and they would be there, listen without wanting, love without judging.  

5. Seasons.  I love anticipating each season as it comes.  Except maybe Summer in the Valley, ok especially not summer in the Valley.  But feeling those first breezes of Spring, opening up all the windows in our house and soaking it all in.  Or when the leaves first turn colors and the air turns crisp.  Each season bringing new things.  Apple Hill in the fall,  Christmas tree farms in the Winter.  Cherry Festivals in the Spring.  I miss it all. 

I do not miss.

1. The violence.  Coming from Stockton didn't scare me.  I wasn't afraid to walk down the street, to play with my kids in the front yard, to go to the movies at night.  Until people started getting shot everyday, for anything, pretty much anywhere.  I'm not a very paranoid person but I did start getting worried that a stray bullet might find me on a bad day.  Scary crap. 

2. The bad attitudes.  Something about people there gave off an air of entitlement.   I know this is a generalization and not meant to be but it kind of got old hearing people complain about how their welfare was cut or they don't have enough money but they were able to sell their food stamps cause they just "have to have their nails done every month."  I'm sure it happens here too, I just don't have to hear about it.  So that helps.

3. The obsession with looks.  Here in Hawaii you will see some big girls in bikinis.  I don't mean that disrespectfully.  I consider myself a bigger girl, but here big girls ARE beautiful.  Not just hypothetically in a song but really.  People are proud of their bodies, or simply just don't care what you think.  That is a refreshing idea.  When we lived here before and I was about 40 pounds heavier and 9 months pregnant I felt perfectly fine going outside to get my mail in a sports bra and shorts because I wasn't afraid of some asshole driving by yelling "fat ass" out there window like they had done to me in Stockton, while I was pumping gas.  Seriously?

4. Black Widows and Snakes.  We just don't have those here.  Oh yes!  It's nice not to think "There's a spider in my house, maybe it will bite me in my sleep and I'll die.  I guess we'll see." 

5. Running into people you know.  Some people might like this, might like reminiscing, talking about the good old days or other such tom foolery.  Not me, I would prefer not to see you unless I make a point to see you.  Most of the times it's just an awkward hello, like "Oh, hi, yeah I used to know you a long time ago but now I really could care less about what you're doing."  It just takes the ease out of that knowing I most likely won't see anyone I know.  Just because we both never left our hometown doesn't mean we have something in common.  It's especially nice when there are people I know if I saw I might have to practice my anger management more than I have worked on so far, so I just might rip their throat out.  Maybe. 

Introducing.....The G Family! Part 1. Mama & Papa.

I'm still new at this Blogger stuff and I'm always so inspired by everyone's super cool personalized blogs where they can put stuff like this right on the front page.  But alas, after an hour or so of looking at tutorials on how to customize my blog, change backgrounds, edit fonts, etc.  I gave up.

Computer stuff is not my forte, along with sewing, crocheting, patience, and hugging people I don't know.  So my blog is what it is, unless someone out there wants to help me? ;)

So our intro will go here.  In a blog, cause I know how to do that without pounding my fists into the keyboard and scaring my children.  Aloha!

The Gutierrez Family

est. November 20, 2004 <4

Our family's Pacific Northwest trip we took this past February. 

At infamous Gasworks Park in Seattle, WA

Introducing Mama G.  aka Hippie Housewife aka Nicole Fury

I'm Nicole Hope.  28 years old.  Pregnant with Baby G #4.

I love my family, faith and children more than anything.

I am VERY pro-life, Republican with less and less liberal leanings everyday.

I play drums for our church, can cook like a beast & slowing getting better at baking.

I like lists, order, organizing, watching Hoarders and Modern Family.

I am what you would consider a Crunchy Mama, I guess?  And some would consider me an Attachment Parent although I'd rather not be put into a mold that I might not fit into.

I cloth diaper, try to eat organic when we can afford it, [not often] & drink iced coffee pretty much 24/7.

I love reading and learning.  Currently working on my birth doula certification through DONA and looking forward to going back to college this Fall after an 8 [!] year hiatus.

This is Papa G.  aka Andy Panda aka Andy Crowder Band [did you like that one babe? ;]

Also 28 years old.  Praise & Worship leader for our church, Risen Lord Community Church

and better at it than he would ever let himself believe.

Never voted in his life, tsk tsk.  Likes to eat everything I cook and also washes all our cloth diapers.  

We met in high school as Juniors and from the minute I saw his thrift store puffy vest and corduroys I knew it was love.  It took him another year or so to agree.

Loves music, playing the guitar & his children.  God gave one of us patience and it wasn't me.

Enjoys road trips, juicing, tapping on EVERYTHING, gardening,

 and being the spiritual leader of our home.

This man can calm my anxiety like no other and I truly believe we were intended for each other by God.  This year we celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary, which he says "doesn't count" and will celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary this November.

Song of Solomon 4:7 ♥
How beautiful you are, my love; how perfect you are!

So I guess for now I'll start off with us!

The kids will be in the next edition, since I noticed this was getting a bit long.

I think I'm getting a little too excited for this blogging adventure cause I've started a list of "fun topics to blog about" that and I'm always looking for a reason to make a list.

Recipes to come soon as well! 

Take a hike!

Took a hike today!

We wanted to get out of the house & I've been checking out this site called

www.outdoorohana.com

where they list a bunch of kid friendly hikes here in Hawaii.  

So our first hike into Waimano Valley begins! 

I consider this our test run since I'd prefer not to bring McDonald's cheeseburgers on a hike but hey, that's what happens when you want to go explore nature more than you want to go grocery shopping.

A pretty successful hike, it took us about 2 1/2 hours round trip.

The older kids Lily, 5, and Jonas, 4 did the hike on their own without much complaining although Andy ended up carrying both of their backpacks, as well as Oliver in the Ergo most of the trip, lesson learned.

And at 21 weeks pregnant, as of today!  A hike a 4 & 5 year old can do is about as much as I can do too. 

Here's Daddy with the kids before we started.  You can choose either the Upper or Lower hike & we let Jonas pick and he chose Upper.  You hit a spot where it becomes a loop so we ended up doing both parts anyways, either way would have been fine.  We ended up finding out later that there is a waterfall at the very end of the trail, we didn't make it that far but definitely want to try again!

The hike is easy, for the most part, but we did have kids sliding on their butts when they weren't willing to hold hands [Jonas "I'm being careful!" Gutierrez] there were some muddy slippery parts and you most definitely are on a ridge.  Here was a fun little rope someone tied to help you get along the steepest bit of trail. 

There was a nice little spot under a big mango tree with a beautiful view and lots of room to have a snack, let the baby stretch his legs & pee in a bush without being precariously near the edge of a cliff.

Some beautiful Hawaiian flora along the way & a look into Waimano Valley.

There were also some tunnels along the trail, we decided not to go through them cause I'm kinda creeped out and claustrophobic about things like that and Lily was scared of vampires.  Maybe next time....with flashlights. 

Following the lower trail on the way back you walk along a stream, or basically during dry season here a bunch of wet, slippery, mossy rocks.  Be careful!  So all in all an awesome hike to do with the family, fun & not too difficult but don't expect a paved path the whole way through.

Also note to self for next hike, bring mosquito repellent!

Anybody have a good natural concoction? :)

"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains
and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and
all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
Isaiah 55:12