Authentic Tiramisu

I made a pretty amazing Tiramisu dish tonight if I do say so myself. I realized when I started this blog it was so that I had a place to keep things that I wanted to document, so here is what I did and how I did it for next time.

2 packages lady fingers (though if I can find the authentic cookies instead of the spongy stuff they sell here it will make this dish 10x better)

2 cups (16 oz) cold brewed espresso

2 Tbsp cocoa powder (divided)

3 Tbsp Brandy

6 eggs (separated into yolks and whites)

2 containers (16 oz total) of Marscapone cheese

first – make the espresso the night before and store in the fridge. Cold press was so easy (fill about 1/3 of the press w grounds and 2/3 water

next day, take out eggs and Marscapone and bring to room temp

press espresso into a shallow dish. Add in Brandy and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

in a CLEAN bowl, whisk egg whites and 1 Tbsp sugar until stiff peaks form. I learned the hard way you cannot whisk egg whites in the bowl that has any of the yolk in it, so make sure to do the whites first in the clean bowl.

gently transfer over to new bowl, then whip egg yolks with 3 Tbsp sugar until foamy. blend in all Marscapone until smooth and creamy. Then gently fold In the egg whites mixture until blended

Dip lady fingers quickly into espresso mix and cover bottom of dish. Layer with the cream mix and alternate until done. Top with Cocoa powder and chocolate shavings and refrigerate 4 hrs or overnight!

 

…..and he PASSED!!

gf muffin with baked milk and egg!

This is my second food challenge with our 3 year old and it was just as nerve wracking as the first, but hopefully it won’t be the last either.

After spending all morni

ng sitting at the allergist office, getting his blood pressure taken every 30 minutes and having little chunks of my muffin fed to him incrementally over several hours and having me constantly in his face and asking him how he was feeling, my 3 year old has PASSED his baked milk and egg food challenge!! Sort of funny since he’s not all about cake, cookies or muffins (maybe because they’ve nev

er tasted that great), but he ate what we told him to and didn’t have any reaction! At one point he started to get a little rash near his mouth which scared me, but instead of getting worse it went away and he never even said his mouth felt ‘funny’ or that his ‘tummy hurt’ which is more than I can say for some other foods that he eats! I’m so proud of my big little guy. In the past 7 days, he had his skin pricked and irritated with yet another RAST test, didn’t even flinch while having blood drawn, sat perfectly still at the dentist for his first checkup and teeth cleaning, and endured all morning with an anxious mom at the allergist passing his food challenge!

my favorite things:: cloth diaper edition

I decided to explore the world of cloth diapers before baby #2 while I still have some time to experiment and figure it out. I can’t say I really had a strong passion or desire to get into it, but after toying with the idea in my head for some time and talking to several friends who absolutely love it, I figured I’d give it a shot and see what I could learn.

While cloth diapers are significantly cheaper over time, cost was not my primary driving force to get into it. The idea of being able to have diapers without all the useless waste seemed quite appealing as I HATE changing a diaper only to find out 5 minutes later that it’s dirty and has to get changed again! The other factor was the fact my son has horrible allergies and eczema and can only wear Pampers Sensitive diapers or he will get a rash. This is fine and good except he’s a big kid and pees a lot which means that 1) the largest size they make may not fit him by the time he’s potty trained and 2) he’s soaking through them at night and waking up.  Not cool.  If cloth could give me more options for him then I figured it’s worth a shot. Not to mention any reusable diapers I get now will be around for baby #2 which makes them very economical!

So I started ordering some fun things to play around with it all, and here are a few of my favorites:

1) my favorite for everyday use so far is the BumGenius4.0 snap pocket diapers. I also tried a few of the Kawaii which seem great for the price, but I love the fact that when I use a BumGenius with the right inserts he still feels dry even when the diaper is soaked! I’m sure there are a ton of other great ones out there, but I didn’t want to bother trying them all since I found one pretty quickly that I really like.

2) my favorite insert is to use one of the BumGenius microfibers along with the BabyKicks Joey-Bunz (or Hemp babies are good too) hemp inserts. These really absorb well and keep everything away from his skin….and they don’t leak!

3) the other dilemma I hit was diaper rash cream. I heard you can only use certain ones with cloth and was NOT excited about trying any new creams or products on my son’s SUPER sensitive skin. After hearing rave reviews on pure coconut oil I figured I’d start there since it was only 1 ingredient and I would be able to easily tell if he had an allergic reaction to it.  To my delight, he did not react to the oil and in fact his dry eczema patches were better than ever! I was able to stop using his medication daily and can now save it for flare-ups which is big progress for him! It also helps to keep the diaper rash at bay and seems to work well with the cloth diapers.  The only down side to it is that it has oil stained a few shirts so we have to be careful when applying it and we learned not to lather his whole body in it and send him outside on one of the hottest days of the year (can you say heat rash? ouch). I LOVE the fact we can put it on his dry hands and I don’t have to worry about him ingesting harsh chemicals when he decides he needs to stick his fingers in his mouth. It’s organic, all natural and safe to eat!

4) the last fun find of the past few weeks are my wool dryer balls. I have not been able to use any type of dryer sheet or fabric softener with Evan’s skin condition so I was curious when I heard these not only cut your drying time significantly, but also work to soften clothes and reduce static. I bought one Bouncing Woolies brand and love it, but it was a bit pricey considering you really need several in the dryer at one time to do the trick. I then found a set of 4 on Etsy that are all natural colors and though they are a little bit smaller than the Bouncing Woolies ball seem to work just as well (and were 1/2 the price).  I now have all 5 in the dryer and they really do seem to cut way down on the drying time! I’ll be able to tell more about the static reduction once winter hits, but these are a fun addition to the laundry time no matter what.

Who would have thought laundry and diaper products could be so much fun? Not me, but I have really enjoyed all of this and just put in an order for more diapers! I sort of like doing the laundry and using all of this stuff (I’m sure that feeling won’t be around with 2 kids, mountains of laundry and more sleep deprivation) but for now it’s been a fun experiment AND we’re doing our part to reduce waste and be more eco-friendly!

*photos from http://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com and http://www.etsy.com

7,000 miles

Since my last post in March there’s not much in our lives that has not changed. What a great reminder that we are never in control (especially true when you are in the military). We received a 3 week notice that my husband was going to be deployed and frantically packed up the entire house and moved everything we owned into storage. Seeing as how I am going to have little boy #2 while he is away there was no option then to move back across the country so that I would be with my family for help and support.

Nothing about the past 3 months has been easy, but we are still very blessed that I have the ability to live with family and be surrounded by help during these times. Not a day goes by that little Evan isn’t changing and growing – he is so advanced for his age and despite his food allergy challenges is a very healthy strong little boy. I wish his daddy could see him right now since every day he is doing something new and entertaining. He misses his daddy so much and prays for him every night that Jesus would keep him ‘safe’.

I am coasting along with 5-ish weeks to go before we’re a family of 4 and our new little boy makes his way into the world. This has obviously been the hardest part of the entire deployment for me.  I know that the life we live calls us to sacrifice and that sometimes we have to be apart, but no father should have to miss being a part of his own baby coming into the world. Hoping it will only be a few months into his life before his daddy can come home to meet him.

So we continue day in and day out with over 7,000 miles separating us, but look forward to huge blessings ahead and a new little one joining us on the journey very soon!

spring in san diego

When is it ever not spring in San Diego, but it’s finally that time of year to plant the garden, flowers and spend as much time outside as possible.  Maybe I haven’t lived here long enough for the feeling of seasons to wear off (since we can go to the beach in December), but I love this time of year from St. Patty’s Day through Easter.  It inspires me to brighten the house, cook different types of foods and clean out everything that needs organized.

In other news, we’re expecting baby #2 in August! We’re very excited for our new addition, though I can’t help but wonder how in the world I will function with two children under two!

Thankfully Evan is doing great and acts much older than he really is.  He is running around like crazy and is already talking and saying all kinds of words.  He is a hilarious kid and constant entertainment.  He’s finally sleeping really well both at night and during a long afternoon nap.  I’m hoping baby #2 doesn’t change all that since they are eventually going to have to share a room (at least until we move on to the next house).  So my spring and summer will consist of cleaning out 1/2 a closet, determining whether or not my 20 month old will be ready for a bed or if we need to invest in crib #2, and the pros and cons of having a double stroller.  The fun part is that come mid April we should know if we’re having a boy or a girl and then to start picking out names!  Ok that part is more work than fun for us, but we’ll pray for some divine inspiration once the time comes.

What better place to spend this beautiful season though than sunny Southern California.  We are so blessed in so many ways and very grateful for all that God has provided.  I’ve been SO terrible about blogging that there’s no order to this post other than the thoughts on the top of my head.  Maybe I’ll start blogging with a purpose again…..who knows?

on the move…

We have been ‘on the move’ for almost 2 full months now, making it difficult to update everyone on our lives as we have been waiting to find out for ourselves where we will live and when! We finally have a lease on a new house in La Jolla, CA and should be moving in around October 1! So thankful for great friends in the area that have been gracious and put a roof over our heads these past 6 weeks.  Our little guy has been a trooper and will be over 9 months old by the time we have a home for him to settle into again. It’s been a challenge keeping him on any type of schedule, but I think we will all be happy to adjust to live in Southern California and get out and enjoy this beautiful place.

Evan is also ‘on the move’ all over the room and does not like to sit still for a second now that he realizes his mobility! He is going to be full on walking any day now. He’s already mastered the art of standing up unassisted in the middle of the room, then looks around and promptly sits when he realizes his balance isn’t quite there yet. He is a VERY tall baby (already 30″) and full of sounds and expressions. He is so much fun to have around!

Evan Luke Roush - 8 months

Did I mention we are loving California and the beautiful weather and scenery??

Stay tuned for photos of our new home!  It’s an older home that is in need of some renovation but within walking distance to the beach so we are pretty excited to get in and get things set up.

Evan Luke is here!

Our world has been changed forever as our family has gone from two to three and we welcomed our new little boy into the world! What an amazing gift he is! He is the best baby and we love him so much already!

goods from the garden

Just a quick garden update as the season is unfortunately going to soon come to and end.  Here is one of our favorite staples from the garden lately – bruschetta made from our vine ripened roma tomatoes and pesto from our abundance of basil.  SO easy and SO good.

garden bruschetta

For this dish, I used hamburger buns, well toasted and cut in half for a nice semi-circle shape, spread on some home made pesto and finely chopped tomatoes (mixed with chopped garlic and some EVOO).  A GREAT appetizer that presents well too!

Baby Roush

Though most have heard through various other means, I realized that I can now put updates on my blog about our little one expected to make a debut around New Year’s Day!  I will be 22 weeks this weekend and we found out a few weeks ago that we are having a BOY!  We haven’t come up with a name yet, but we are having fun preparing for this little guy already.  Here are the ultrasound photos we received from week 19.

not a great quality photo, but on screen we could see his little face

it's definitely a boy!

We have started putting together a room for a nursery so I will post photos as soon as we have something!  My parents spent their anniversary weekend up here slaving away on painting the room and staining some furniture which was a HUGE help!  We’ve been extremely blessed with some friends here who have given us a huge amount of baby gear that their little boy has grown out of, so we already have a good start.  New Year’s Day seems like it is still so far away, but September is just around the corner and hopefully we will be able to enjoy the fall season (but I’m hoping it goes by quickly as I’m already starting to feel large and uncomfortable)!

Breaking the Silence

I think after a month and a half of silence I have broken just about every blogging rule by now.  Things became busy, I wasn’t feeling well and then before you know it I had all but forgotten to come back to my blog!  So….here I am.  I am still alive and well!  Here are some brief highlights of the past month and a half:

• MAY: I turned 30 but it wasn’t so bad.  My husband took me out for a fun night in Georgetown with the best pizza and gelato DC has to offer.  My parents bought me a wii which provided hours of entertainment and they came up for a nice visit over memorial day weekend.

• JUNE: My husband and I had the opportunity to go on a cruise with my sister, brother-in-law, mom & dad (thanks mom & dad)!  It was a fabulous trip and we had 5 relaxing days in the Caribbean visiting Jamaica and the Grand Cayman.  More info and pics to follow.  Upon returning home we had a nice visit with some relatives who flew out for a long weekend from CO and explored more of the sights and food here in DC.

• JULY: Some friends of ours had a litter of Westie puppies and we couldn’t pass them up!  Knowing we would be out of our mind to actually take one and keep it we took in 3 puppies that were eventually going to other homes.  One of them went to my sister so we now have 2 little white dogs in the family although Obi wasn’t too keen on the idea at first.  We STILL have one of the pups and are fervently working to crate and potty train during this next week that he’s in our house.