Family First | Jeanne Oliver

Gluten Free and Paleo Pancakes {Yummy}

May 15, 2013 By jeanne 11 Comments

We have been gluten free in our home for over two years now.

Our tummies feel so much better but we feel the best when we also eat paleo.

You can easily eat gluten free pancakes but they are not good for you.

They may be gluten free but they are also health free.

You may find yourself eating more potatoes and white rice which = sugar!

Read your labels carefully and make your foods from scratch as much as possible.

I know it is hard at first ( I KNOW) but it gets easier, you will know exactly what is in your food and you will feel so much better.

I really try to rotate our breakfasts throughout the week.

This pancake recipe has been on our regular rotation for the past few years and we all love it!

Easy, easy, easy and the leftovers make a great late afternoon snack.

Gluten Free Pancakes

(This is for one serving. Multiply for the number of people you are cooking for)

*One egg

*One ripe banana

*One heaping tablespoon of almond butter

With a potato masher mash everything together.

I like to keep it pretty lumpy:-)

That is it.

FOR REAL!

I melt some coconut oil on the griddle and get cookin’.

At this point you just cook like regular pancakes. Make sure the underside is nice and golden brown before you flip.

We top the pancakes with fresh fruit, fresh jam or organic maple syrup.

I hope you love them as much as we do!

Filed Under: Family First, Made From Scratch, My Nest Tagged With: gluten free pancakes, paleo pancakes

Creating Your Own Outdoor Movie Night {summer is coming}

May 10, 2013 By jeanne 18 Comments

Summer is right around the corner and my mind is going crazy thinking of all the fun things I want to do with my family and children this year.

Summer is the perfect time for casual parties, afternoons with backyard water slides, water balloons and homemade popsicles.

When the weather starts to warm up I am more likely to invite friends over for a backyard BBQ or an afternoon coffee date while the children play.

I think I come out of hibernation in every way.

One of our favorite family end of summer traditions is our annual outdoor movie night party.

{we have also held a chili dinner before the movie}

It is so fun for us to put it on and I know that the families that come love it as much as we do.

We wait until late summer for the movie night so the little kids don’t have to stay up so late.

You could do it in the middle of summer just remember that the sun doesn’t go down until 9pm.

The day of the movie night we prepare the yard and start setting up.

Here is a quick list of how we prepare:

*We use our picnic table for the popcorn and large boxes of movie candy.

I buy all of the candy at Walgreens and we order the popcorn from our Subway in Wal-mart (weird but true).

I have a large metal bin that I use for the candy and I put all of the popcorn in popcorn boxes from Cost Plus World Market.

We open up the umbrella and we hang white lights so even when the movie is playing people can come and get refills of popcorn and candy.

*We use old laundry tubs (in the summer we use them for our herb garden) to hold all of our sodas.

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*We have a smaller table against the house that holds the coffee pot and the crock pot of hot chocolate.

I like to have a ton of whip cream available for the kids (who am I kidding…for me).

I also bring out my reproduction drying rack full of all my different mugs to use for the coffee and hot chocolate (the little kids use paper cups).

I try to have cream, sugar etc. on the table too. We also have another crock pot full of hot cider.

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*I have a large basket set on the patio full of blankets and quilts if people get cold.

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*Kelly always makes sure to get hundreds of glow sticks and glow necklaces/bracelets. The kids are usually full of them before the movie starts.

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*Our Maddy is a performer at heart and for a few years now there is a “pre-show” that includes the neighborhood girls singing for everyone.

A few boys get up there too.

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* You can rent an outdoor movie screen that blows up but we made our own.

We have a pergola in our yard that Kelly built.

Kelly made our own screen using PVC piping to wrap a kings size sheet at the top and bottom.

He also used PVC piping to create holders on our pergola so we could attach the “screen” to our pergola.

It works perfectly for us because our pergola is a little higher than the rest of the yard.

*We use self powered speakers or PA speakers. We place the speakers to the left and right of the screen.

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*We use a projector. You can use a LCD or PLP projector. We project the image from behind the screen but you can also project from the front.

We do it this way so the equipment is out of the way and no one trips on the cords or knocks over the projector on accident.

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* Check your sound before everyone arrives. You will need your sound to be louder than you may think.

With all of the children, adults, candy wrappers etc. you want the sound to be clear.

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* We love this kind of party because we get to cuddle up with 100 people in our backyard:-) Everyone shows up with their own blankets/folding chairs and we supply all of the snacks.

This is such an easy party to set up and it is so affordable when you think of how many people we get to invite.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

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If you are looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift for your favorite mom:-) or a treat for yourself, sister or best friend…

Jennifer Rizzo has an amazing new Santos Cage Doll e-course that will launch May 27th!

Click HERE for the details.

You can register directly on my creative network HERE.

If you would like to gift this course please email me at jeanneoliverdesigns@gmail.com and we will help you give the class.

Filed Under: Family First, Inspired, My Nest Tagged With: entertaining, movie, outdoor movie night, party, summer party

Getting Past The Ugly

March 29, 2013 By jeanne

One of the hardest things is pushing past the ugly.

When we are doing something new or something out of our comfort zone there is often the ugly that accompanies it.

I am the biggest cheerleader of my children to practice, try again and push beyond…it can be harder when it comes to me.

Have you ever had a hard patch in your marriage. Has it been hard? Ugly? Did you push past the ugly? Did you get to other side and make something beautiful out of a mess?

Have you ever had hurt feelings with a dear friend? Was it hard to apologize? Were things uncomfortable for awhile? Did you push past the ugly? Did you find the joy in a restored relationship?

Have you ever seen characteristics in your children that broke your heart? Did you not know what to do to help them? Did you push past the ugly together? Did you feel the peace of watching them grow into the people they are made to be?

Have you ever felt stuck in your life? Creativity? Direction? Did you push past the ugly? Did you work hard to figure out why you were stuck? Did you experience the richness of your gifts and where you are supposed to be using them?

Pushing past the ugly is hard.

Hard in life, loves and gifts.

I want to share a recent experience with you that revealed some things in myself.

I felt out of practice in creating.

We have been busy with collections and our e-courses and I had not been making time to make art.

The “art” of business was replacing the creating of art.

I wanted to create.

I said I wanted to create.

I would look at my studio longingly but not make the time.

I found myself procrastinating and couldn’t figure out why.

I started setting my alarm early to wake up and create when everyone else was sleeping.

Me. Music. Morning light. Coffee. Paints.