Roasted Chickpeas aka Garbanzo Beans

These have quickly become one of my favorite healthy snacks... easy to make and filled with good protein and fiber. I just have to measure them out first because it is easy to eat too many. YUMMY!

1. If using canned Chickpeas, buy 2 14-15oz cans of chickpeas. Drain and rinse your chickpeas. 
2.  If using dried Chickpeas, I rinsed them and filled my crockpot half full, filled crockpot with 2/3 water and cooked them on low for 8 hours while I slept. Drain and rinse. Using dried chickpeas is cheaper and gave me a bigger quantity to toss with the coatings, which made them even healthier.
3.  On a paper towel or towel, evenly spread your beans and let dry. I dried mine for about an hour, longer is fine.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Line a cookie sheet with either Silpat, foil or parchment paper.
6. Evenly spread your dried beans on cookie sheet
7. Bake for 40-60 minutes, stirring a couple of times. If they are crunchy, they are done. If they are soft, cook a little longer. Be careful not to burn. If you don't want them so crunchy, cook a little less.
8. After baking, quickly transfer to a bowl and mix with the 2 TBL olive oil or coconut oil.
9. Then add the premixed seasonings of whatever flavor you are using and mix well.
10. With the honey cinnamon flavor, after coating, you can put the beans back into the oven for 5 minutes or so to caramelize them.
11. Then spread the seasonings of whatever flavor you are using and mix well.
12. With the ranch recipe, mix 2-3 tsp of the whole mix into your baked chickpeas and refrigerate the rest for other recipes.

HONEY CINNAMON

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 TBS sugar (can be reduced)
2 TBS honey (can be reduced)

SESAME

1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 TBS sesame seeds

SPICY
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sea salt

BBQ

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp brown sugar (can be reduced)

RANCH

¼ Cup Black Pepper
1½ Cup Parsley Flakes
½ Cup Garlic Salt
2 TBS Salt
¼ Cup Granulated Garlic
¾ Cup Granulated Onion
2 TBL Dill Weed                                                                                              
You can make this in bulk and use 2 TBS at a time when flavoring your chickpeas

 

 

New Home for Bigelow's

Days continue to be crazy. Feels as though life has picked up a notch or two or three. Deadlines at AC were met and a new Big Box project has begun. Katie and Ransom bought a home. My heart feels like it is breaking because I have loved having them live nearby... walking distance for the kids. How spoiled is that? As I am whining, I realize how very blessed I am. Still it is a change to get use to. I was able to go with them to look at it and I believe they all fell in love with it at the same time... kids too. We talked to the neighbors and they said there is a good mix of young families and older people. Bigelow kids were already talking to neighborhood kids. It was awesome! The kids are so excited and all Phoebe can talk about is getting a dog because there is a fence and Ransom has his own wood working shed. They have been house hunting for awhile now. I know I overstepped a time of two when they were looking at townhouses but believed they could find a home with their own yard and space to run and be kids. I'll get a better picture later... it is already taken off the Utah Real Estate website. It is an adorable home packed with cuteness and character. Answered prayers.

Home sweet home for the Bigelow's

Ashlee continues to juggle Max and Maggie, upstairs and down

 The Beehives dropped by to see Ashlee and they made

Max and Maggie baby quilts and brought Jack a dinosaur,
who happens to be a dinosaur...

 Ward laundry... A team effort

 Planning our trip to Capital Reef was ADD Crazy!

If I am near Max and Maggie, spit up cloths and extra towels are 

close by.  Timing is everything and occasional they projectile

all over me and smile... Aren't they so loveable?

 Clearly we need more pink plates and cups...

Happy #31 Bday Ransom

The Week of the Blessings

Max and Maggie were blessed on Sunday March 6, 2016. Paul gave them both very thoughtful blessings and Ashlee bore a tender testimony. I followed after, though I feel like I always lose my mind a bit when I stand to bare my testimony. I wish my words flowed more smoothly. It was a beautiful day spent with family, though I wish Becky and family lived closer and could be here. I know I have many blessings, but I do miss my family. Ashlee worked hard all week getting ready for the blessing and I had to spend much of my time at American Crafts working on Pebbles Inc. deadlines. I feel like I am on a creative treadmill that is going faster and faster.

.

 

 
Jack was a helper all week long to get ready for the blessing

 

 

 
I love how Abby treats herself to flowers every once in awhile
in her bedroom. If her bedroom had a name it would be peaceful...
I love her room.

 
I took Katie and the kids to lunch after school on Friday.
Conrad and Phoebe got to choose and Arctic Circle won
with the outdoor playground ...

 Summer time is here and bare feet are the new brown on Morris...
the color of summer

 
Vacuum repairs... Thankful Larry can fix it.

A hit and run at Pebbles... 
 

 
Celebrating with Kelsie and Josh at Rockwell Ice Cream Parlor  for
Kelsie's acceptance into the NP Program at U of U. Yahoo and Yum
all rolled into one incredibly yummy ball of ice cream!
So proud of you!!
 

 
Hanging out with the Bigelow kids while Ransom and Katie are
on a date. I think I'm the lucky one. Perler Beads tonight
with these munchkins!
 

End of February Memories...

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Everything that I say is so important to me often gets put in the bottom of the busy life pile. It's almost like I think life is going to open up and suddenly make time for everything. Days become weeks, months, years and I feel burdened with thoughts that there is more I need be doing, by consciously doing less. Less is the new more. Today I started my personal journal writing to help clear my mind and give me myself pondering time. I also started my blogging again for family history and for my loved ones far away. 

I did have my knee scoped this past week. I thought it would be a quick and easy process and I would be good to go by afternoon. It has taken a little while to get over the tenderness, but the worse part is behind me. Walking is in my future to take better care of me. Something I have yet to grasp, but hopeful that I will get there. Here is what happened the past couple of weeks...

 

 The twins are two months and Maggie is going for the knock out punch.

 

Max and Maggie's Baby Blessing is first Sunday in March.
My hand crochet white swaddling blankets are ready to go...

 

Ashlee planned and looked forward to making these donuts...

now known as an epic Pinterest failure.

 

A quick scoping procedure on my right knee... 2-3 weeks and I will

be good as new. Larry took very good care of me.

 

I read this book quickly. Scary and insightful of what may happen if our 

country is hit with an EMP (Electronic Magnetic Pulse). Very

eye opening and I learned a lot... preparation and stand behind God in prayer.

 

I took Conrad to the bookstore to pick out some books for his birthday.

He picked out 20, narrowed his choices down to three and then last minute

wanted to trade them all in for some cool plastic dinosaur while we

were in line. No way! Stick with the books. He read all the way home.

 

Our love dinner that Larry and I made for the entire family. 

Chicken Marsala, Mashed Potatoes 

(Mashed Sweet Potatoes too), Green Beans & Carrots. 

I pray our kids will always know how loved they are. 

We have had love dinners on Valentines for our girls ever since they were 

very young. Now that most are married, we pick a day that is close

to Valentines so they can spend the day of love with their own families.

 

Afterwards. we exchanged our Valentines.

 

Trying to keep it healthy...

 

Saturday felt like April. The girls dropped by and helped rake the

dead leaves left over from Fall... yes they were still there, 

but now they are in the garden waiting to be tilled under. 

 

Hard to believe Ashlee had twins two short months ago. 

 

Ashlee should know better than dare me to put this on social media.

 

We had a date night with Kelsie and Josh. They made us a wonderful

dinner at their place and then we went to see Joseph and the

 Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Hale Center Theatre. We all loved it!!!

and it was so nice to spend time with the two of them talking 

about life and good fats :)

Happy Birthday Conrad #8

Katie and Ransom brought over games and a Darth Vader cake to help Conrad celebrate his birthday family style. The kids loved their lighted lazers and went around wacking balloons all over the place. Then they taped crepe paper up and down the hallway and took turns going over and under the strips, trying so hard not to tear them down. It was perfect and so very hard to believe that Conrad is now 8.

 

Halloween Season

A few days before Halloween, we all got together and went to the corn maize... Utah nights get cool once the sun goes down. I was disoriented most of the time and was just a follower wanting to get out and eat a donut.

The grandkids had a good time trick or treating, but had even a better time once they got back here and sat on the porch passing out candy. It was sooo cute to see. Trying to take their pictures all together can be tricky... but we keep trying. Abby was a flapper girl this year. I had to mend, mend and mend that dress and even still, everytime she moved, we lost beads. She was a beauty!