16 Weeks!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I know we did. There is nothing better than spending time with family. I can't believe this time next year we will have 6(ish) month old to enjoy Christmas with.

We were very blessed this year for Christmas. Our families out did themselves and spoiled us a little bit. :)

We did get a few gifts for little Baby R.
Check out this precious nativity set. Brooklee has one and they got Baby R. one. I can't wait until next Christmas to put this out.

 Baby R. also got a Winnie the Pooh. Zach and both of his siblings had one growing up so his mom wanted to continue the tradition. I just love the little scarf!

Baby R. also got a beautiful yellow blanket and a crib!!! What a spoiled blessed baby already!

Of course, I do have a yummy recipe for you today. Zach's favorite holiday treat is called a Magic Cookie Bar. He has had these at Christmas time for as long as he can remember. Unfortunately, Zach was not going to be able to enjoy these this year because the crust is made out of flour. We are 100% gluten free ALL the time and Paleo 95% of the time (we will splurge occasionally on dairy or corn products... but this is very rare.) Anyways... back to the Magic Cookie Bars.

Zach found a recipe on Balanced Bites website for Paleo friendly Magic Cookie Bars. He was on cloud nine. So excited! He has been looking forward to making these for months. They were pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Zach's were a little thicker than the regular ones but Zach decided to double the ingredients.

Here is the recipe:
(From balancedbites.com)

Ingredients

1- 13.5oz can coconut milk (full fat)
1 Tsp honey
1/4 Tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
2 large egg whites
1 cup finely ground nuts / nut meal – almonds, pecans, hazelnuts – your choice
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup shredded coconut (3/4c go into layers, 1/4c goes on top)
1/2 cup chopped walnutsPreparation

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Simmer coconut milk with honey and vanilla over medium heat for approximately 20 minutes whisking regularly to keep it smooth until it’s reduced by half. The milk should be very thick after this – see photos to the right.

Beat the egg whites in a small mixing bowl and mix in almond or other nut meal and melted butter. Pat the crust mixture down evenly in a 9 x 9 pan (ungreased – parchment paper lining works well to help remove the bars). It will be a bit sticky but keep spreading it until it’s even and reaches all edges.

Layer chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter chips and walnuts.

Drizzle condensed coconut milk over the top.

Sprinkle the top with a little bit of extra coconut.

Bake 30 minutes. Cool completely then cut into bars or mini bites.

There you have it. Word by word. We did leave the peanut butter chips out because the ones Zach grew up with did not have PB chips on it. He, naturally, just added more chocolate! :)

So... back to Baby R!

*16 weeks

*baby Rounsaville is the size of an avocado

*only had to teach 1 spin class this week (thanks to the holidays)

*one abs class this week

*been pretty tired but I think that is because of all the holiday festivities 

*not really craving anything this week.

*sleep has been pretty good the last several nights

*2 more weeks until we know if Baby R is a boy or girl!

*starting to feel like I am showing

*anxious to feel this sweet baby for the first time!

I can't believe next week we will be entering into 2013!!! 

Happy Early New Years!!