He's 3 alright.

 I feel like three is one of those things that no one tells you about until you get there, then all of a sudden everyone is saying ..."yup, 3 is tough--much harder than 2." Or maybe it's like the pain of childbirth: people mention it but you don't really get it until it happens to you. Finn is 3 and 3 months and wow. Yesterday was possibly one of my most difficult days ever, the kind of day where I broke down to tears multiple times and wondered if I could possibly be able to handle this parenting thing. The kind of day where I  finally understand why my mom had trouble being patient with me and I wish I could just call her up and say "sorry" and "thank you." I had to give myself time-outs to regroup and remain calm and consistent. There's pee on the floor, in the bed and threats of pee on the baby's head. Homemade granola is knocked off of the counter into the open drawers as I have one baby (who should be napping) on my hip and the other (who should also be napping) playing and peeing on his bed.  I'm spatchcocking a chicken and spilling the raw chicken juice everywhere. WE SHOULD ALL BE NAPPING, DAMN IT!

 And then there's today. My boy is back. He's making the baby laugh and then playing quietly while the other one naps. He's helping me clean up and he's actually agreeing to get dressed. I love you mommy.
I guess I can make it one more day....

Mango Lassi Tart Frozen Yogurt & Mango Coconut Ice Cream (dairy free)

Not a great photo...it was melting too quickly! 

Buying mangoes doesn't exactly support the local food system (something I like to do), but when you have a food budget like mine and see 9 mangoes for something like $5 at Costco...you've got to make some mango ice cream!  [Note: mangoes are also on the Environmental Working Group's Clean 15 list-- meaning that they had a low amount of pesticide residue in the fruit when measured--also something I care about.]

Mango Lassi Tart FrozenYogurt
Tart fro-yo was all over the place in southern California and I loved it. I can't find it up here in the hills... A mango lassi is an Indian 'smoothie' made with traditional yogurt cultures. For the frozen yogurt, I looked up how to make a mango lassi and then modified.
makes 1 1/2 quarts:

• 2-3 mangoes
• lassi (from trader joes in dairy section) or kefir or plain yogurt (use enough to fill up blender)
•  1 1/2 teaspoons (approx.) cardamom
• pinch or two of salt
• Raw honey or other sweetener to taste

Put it all in the blender-- taste to adjust amounts. Freeze it in an ice cream maker.

Mango-Coconut Ice Cream (dairy free)

• 2 mangoes
• Coconut milk (use enough to fill up blender)
• Juice of a couple of limes
• Raw honey to taste
• a pinch of salt

Throw it all in the blender--taste to adjust amounts. Freeze it in the ice cream maker.


 Yummy!

Pops!

Wow...where did July go? Too little sleep to post, I suppose. With all the delicious fruit of summer I've been making lots of popsicles and ice cream. Here's a taste:

  

Pictured above is a blueberry kefir coconut pop. I based it on a recipe in Martha's Everyday Food magazine (special issue 2011) ... it didn't swirl like I wanted...but it tasted delicious. Finn was all about these.  Here is an approximate recipe (for 8 pops):

• 1-2 cups of blueberries
• 1/4 -1/2 cup raw honey (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of sugar...but I thought they were sweet enough)
• 1 cup kefir (or greek yogurt)
• 1 cup coconut milk (original uses cream here)

Make a quick syrup with the blueberries and about a third of the honey (or sugar)...(3 minutes on stovetop).  Let cool in the fridge for about 30 min.

Whisk or blend together the rest of the honey, kefir and coconut milk until the honey mixes in (or the sugar dissolves). Pour the mixtures (alternating into pop molds and then with a skewer (or something similar) swirl the blueberry. (I think the swirling action would work better with a thick greek yogurt. My blueberries sunk because the kefir/coconut milk mixture was more liquid-y). Freeze until solid.

The next recipe (above) was also based on another from the same magazine. It has layers of blueberry and raspberry with kefir blended in to give it a nice texture. (Martha uses cream, I think...or maybe it was yogurt). These were Jason's fave.

Here is the approximate recipe (makes 8-10...I ended up filling ice cube trays too!):

• 1 lb each of raspberries and blueberries or blackberries

•  1/4-1/2 cup of raw honey (I can't remember how much I used. The original calls for 1 cup of sugar-- but raw honey is way too precious for that much and again, they were plenty sweet)
• 1 cup kefir (original calls for heavy cream)

In a blender, combine one color berry and half of the honey and kefir. Blend until smooth. Pour through a fine strainer, pressing on solids (should have about 2 cups). Then do the same with the other type of berry. (Discard solids).

Fill molds 1/3 full with one color mixture and the other four with the other color. Freeze for about 1 hour. Then pour a middle layer (alternating colors). Insert ice-pop sticks. Freeze for about 45 minutes.  Then top with final layer and freeze until frozen solid. (I don't think I waited long enough so my layers weren't perfect!).