8.20.2013

Industrial Portraits

I had the opportunity to photograph Molly in an industrial setting and work closely with a friend who did her make-up.  I loved it because there was so many backdrops and posing options.  
Check all the photos of this shoot over at Blue Glacier Photography.

xo
Erin

8.19.2013

Allergy-Free Energy Bars

Ryan is big on eating energy bars throughout the day.  In attempts to save a little money I tried to make him some bars.  I tried one recipe and it turned out like banana bread but then I found a recipe from here.  It turned out better than I  imagined it would and the following recipe and instructions are from here but slightly altered by me to make them allergy free.

What you will need:

3/4 cup peanut butter 
3/4 cup sweetener syrup (honey OR GF brown rice syrup OR good quality Agave nectar)
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup unsulfured dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, blueberries, apricots, pineapple, raisins- use your favorite dried fruits in any combination)
4 cups gluten-free rice crispie cereal
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper 
Place  seeds and dried fruit in the bowl of a food processor o. Pulse several times, just until the mixture is coarsely ground.
In a large saucepan melt peanut butter with liquid sweetener over medium low heat. Stir and watch carefully to prevent scorching. When the mixture is smooth and bubbling cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add salt and vanilla and stir to combine. Use a large spatula to stir in seeds, dried fruit and cereal. Stir until all ingredients are coated with peanut butter mixture.
Scrape mixture on to the prepared baking sheet. Use the spatula to evenly spread the mixture on the pan. Place a large piece of waxed paper over the mixture and use a rolling pin to smooth the top of the mixture. Cover with the waxed paper and refrigerate for about 2 hours before cutting the energy bars into whatever sizes you prefer.
Wrap bars in waxed paper and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Yield- About 16 -32 bars depending on how they are cut. I made 16 large bars by cutting the mixture in half lengthwise and then cutting each half into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2 inches wide.
We love them so much that I will be making a second batch shortly.

xo
Erin


8.08.2013

A Beach Hike: Napatree Point

A few weeks ago we went to our favorite beach, Napatree Point, to hike to the end of it.  When we got there a fog rolled in.  We walked for miles with only seeing three people, also walking out, to go fishing.  I've never walked out to the end before (about two miles down) and with barely any visibility in front of me I really had no sense of distance when we were walking.
The beach hike was a total of 4 miles.  I think I would visit this beach every single day if I could.

More hikes in CT:

xo
Erin

8.02.2013

Dog Days: Fisbee

 My nephew found this water Frisbee on the beach and brought it home for Glacier.  He has been attached to it ever since, even carrying it for an entire 1 mile hike.
Happy Friday!
 
xo
Erin

8.01.2013

Camping With The Dogs

We went camping with both Azul and Glacier for the first time.  We've been camping with Azul before and he's a trooper and we have no issues with him.  I was a little worried about Glacier camping hoping he wouldn't bark at every noise he heard during the night.  We brought our huge tent that we haven't used in a couple years hoping it would fit all of us.  We have just been using the two person tent when we go without the dogs.  We had more than enough room in the large tent.  We could have fit 4 more people!
This picture of Glacier pretty much sums up his personality.  His tail is a blur from wagging it so fast.
You may be wondering...
What do I eat while camping because my diet is so restricted?
Well...
I ate mostly protein.  For dinner we had brats and for breakfast we had hash browns and sausage.
Azul was on vacation... he didn't even stand up to eat his dinner.  He has such a hard life, it's good we finally brought him on vacation.
 
They may have got some of our food for breakfast... but we made them work for it.
Glacier doesn't understand the concept of a screen.  He was trying to drop his pine comb in the tent for us to throw for him.
Glacier did better than I expected at night with no major barking.  The camping trip was a success!

xo
Erin