Because Cozy Cures

It doesn’t seem humanly possible that my family can have yet another strain of winter-born illness settling into our bodies this week but alas I am proven wrong again. We’re all a little under the weather, especially Gracie girl, which doesn’t bode well for trying to be a fully rested and calm Mommy. Such is life I suppose, so we gather up the cozy rituals- bubble baths, cold smoothies and popsicles, hot tea and chocolate, blanket snuggling- all those little things that help us carry on.

This morning I opened up a can of pumpkin to give Gracie for breakfast (that girl is the poster child for fall, LOVES her root veggies, she does) and not wanting the rest of the can to go to waste decided to whip up Pumpkin Pie milkshakes for Lilly and I. Turns out Grace is a big fan too (why was I surprised?? Grace LOVES pumpkin pie…) so it was a win-win-win all the way around.

“We’re having pumkin PIE for breakfast, Mom?! I loooooove pumpkin PIE, Mom!” I’ll miss it when it stops but damn that girl says Mom alot. Like 80 million gillion trillion gazillion times a day. It’s a necessary part of her sentence structure.

Our humble cast of characters this time includes a new staple in our house: Coconut Milk. Lilly hasn’t been tolerating cow’s milk very well and has some skin problems because of it. Much to my great shock, we took away the cow’s milk and gave her Coconut Milk and her skin issues are SO MUCH BETTER. Now I’ve always thought some of the allergy-crazy-new-age-exclusive-diets were whacko. I’ll admit it. I grew up in a family with ZERO food allergies or intolerances and enjoyed every minute of it. We eat meat, dairy, sugar- whatever. But I have to admit that after doing some research on cow’s milk dairy products- I’m much happier NOT giving it to my kids. I was scared that my milk loving toddler would refuse the coconut substitute as she hates Almond Milk, but she calls this new drink option “whipped cream milk” and I’m cool with that. It must be sweeter than her regular milk. Anyway, back to our pie…

Pumpkin Pie Milkless “Milkshakes”

About a cup of ice

About a cup of Coconut Milk

About 3/4 of a can of pumpkin (or the whole thing if your not feeding some to a little babe)

About a 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs

A pinch of ginger

A pinch of nutmeg

A few pinches of cinnamon

(we were really exact today)

*not pictured: two packets of natural truvia sweetener

Optional toppings: whipped cream, cinnamon, chocolate syrup or chocolate chips

Combine everything except toppings in a blender and give it a whir. I topped mine with whipped cream when Lill wasn’t looking. Bad Mommy.

So delicious {but surprisingly SO NUTRITIOUS too!)

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A simple addition to my etsy shop this week is a new listing for CUSTOM color block crochet blankets. You pick the colors, I make the blanket- any way you want. Now you have all the flexibility to order a blanket in the perfect colors for your babe or for yourself… either works 😉

(Or you can purchase the pattern and make your own!)

The lovely green chevron blanket that never made it into the shop has been snatched up by my daughters (Lilly says she NEEDS a blanket, and is REALLY COLD without it- how can I say no?)

Don’t worry, you can still order a custom chevron blanket too. One that perhaps won’t get snatched by any daughters? Just a thought.