It’s another Friday, the end of another week. It’s been a long week with lots of late hours of practice and homework and snuggles with sick children. We’re planning on just staying home tonight and making it a family night. And honestly, that sounds so refreshing to me. I don’t take time as our little family foursome for granted. I cherish it. Deeply.

This life season is intense and we need time to just look at each other and enjoy the ride. Because let me tell you, it’s the ride of a lifetime.

I thought I’d change it up a bit and instead of giving you a recap of our week which to be honest, it hasn’t been that exciting or that different from the past several weeks. We’ve finished our wheat free experiment and it confirmed everything that I thought it would, wheat and refined sugar aren’t good for us. Not in the copious amounts that we (and most other people) consume. But if you don’t eat bread and fill up on mostly fruits, veggies and protein you tend to be hungry because your body is actually using up all the fuel rather then just packing it away for some other time. Or else you feel full, until the sugar (and unless you’re eating whole grains, your wheat products turn into sugar as soon as they hit your body) crash happens and you must eat immediately.

So I’ve been re-stocking our snack shelves and snack ideas so that I have something that we can all nosh on when we want a little smackerel of something be it at 10 am, 3 pm, or 10 pm.

I’ve also been working on re-training the girls’ tastebuds (and mine) to enjoy vegetables more. It’s easy to reach for bread and jam but carrots dipped in hummus goes a lot farther in fueling our bodies. Just cutting up vegetables and having them ready to munch on in the fridge saves me a lot of time when the girls come clamouring. Children love food in little packages and so I serve up grapes and roasted chickpeas on their tea set and they love it.
They also love coconut oil and honey spread on ricecakes. I love it too. It fills the sweet desire but doesn’t leave me feeling blah and yucky.

Here are some of our favorites that have been in rotation the last several weeks. 

Apple Nachos : sliced apples, drizzled with a mixture of peanut butter, honey and coconut oil, topped with coconut and what other goodness you desire. Seriously. YUM. I could and have just served this up with some cheese and call it lunch.

Energy Bites : I have to hide these in the freezer from my kidlets, they LOVE them. And if you watch the add-ins, they can be healthy and delicious.

Sweet and Spicy Nuts : I made a double recipe and  mixed in some cransins. They became my go-to for my after work-out snack (which makes me sound much more hardcore then I am but I’m still working out and I need the protein), they also get packed in Jared’s lunch and are enjoyed in the evening with my tea.

Roasted Chickpeas : Think hummus but not blended up with olive oil and garlic. These are super simple to make, pack a powerful protein punch and my toddler loves them. Khaira ate the majority of the batch I made by herself (not all at once, not quite) and that for me, is a win.  It’s a different texture, can be eaten with her hands, and has the salty flavour that appeals to all of us.

What are you noshing on this week? What does your Friday night look like? Are you out and about or snuggled in cosy against the snowstorm?