Kaake Family Blog

The Drive-Thru Challenge!
Today started out pretty rough.  I knew if I didn't get out of the house and do something fun I'd have a difficult rest of the day too.  I just had to get out of my head for a bit.  My 3 youngest kids are still home on summer break, so I figured, why not?  This could be so much fun!  For anyone who hasn't heard about the Drive-Thru Challenge here's how it works.  You pull up behind someone in a drive-thru line at a restaurant.  When it's your turn to order, you ask to order exactly what the person in front of you did.  You can also ask that they please not tell you what it is so you can be surprised.   Since there were a total of 4 of us, we stopped at 4 restaurants.  Growing boys are hungry and we had to make sure we had enough food.  Only one of my kiddos knew what we were going to do.  We all hopped in the car and while on our way to picking up our  lunches, I kept looking at the eldest and giggling.  He was going nuts trying to figure …

Wahlburgers just recently came to a city near me.  Everyone is in hysterics.  Kind of like when a new Chick-fil-a comes to town.  Everyone is excited! They show up before the restaurant opens for the day thinking "they" will be the first ones in line only to find out 25 other families/groups have done the same.  So we stand there in line, trying to smile all the while thinking, "they better not crowd in front of me when this line starts moving."  Come on, you know you've all been there.  Thankfully my first visit wasn't the opening day; Lord knows this body can't handle that anymore.  There were only a few people in line outside when I arrived and there were plenty of tables for everyone.  Whew! Smiles still bright and cheery.

I met two wonderful friends there today.  Ok, wait a minute...I need to back this train up.  My friend Tonya put on facebook the other day that she was at Wahlburgers with her eldest son.  What!  I wasn't the first one she w…

I was watching one of my favorite youtubers the other day - Katie Hespe.  She had a taco salad that looked so yummy.  I changed up a few things.  To date this is my favorite vegan meal.  It's definitely different from our typical taco salad that uses ranch dressing, and doritos but it's a nice healthy change.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  


Sweet Potatoes: 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 scant teaspoon salt Pepper to taste  Rice: Jasmine Rice Water 1 tablespoon like juice
Black beans: 1 can black beans Cumin Garlic powder Salt
Dressing - Vegan Cilantro Lime Dressing 1 cup just mayo 3 slices jalapeño 1/3 cup cilantro Zest of 1 lime 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, dill Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons water
Veggies: Spinach Onions, finely chopped Tomatoes, diced Avocado, diced
Instructions: Sweet potatoes: 1. Preheat oven to 375 …

Today is the last day of school. The boys and I are so excited!!!! One of the things I like to do is ask each child if they could only do one thing this summer, what would they want to do. We make sure to do those things, within reason of course, before the summer ends. Today we are hammering out the first one with camping - Daniel’s choice. I had reservations at a campground but had to cancel because of health issues. That’s not going to deter this mama! We will now camp in the backyard. Being intentional in this way has led me to have a lot fewer regrets on the way time is spent during the summer with my kiddos. 
Another thing I do is think of what each child needs to work on. Jonathan is getting closer and closer to adulthood so this summer he’s going to be cooking a meal once a week for our family to get more used to the kitchen. Joshua and Daniel are going to learn how to ride bikes without training wheels. Again, picking one thing per child. This helps the boys and I not only s…

Because it's that time of year.  I saw a recipe on facebook one morning and decided to make it my own.  I forgot an ingredient, added a few here and there and this was born.  The filling is perfectly sweet yet tart and gets nice and thick.   The boys loved this pie and I must admit I thought it was pretty good too.  I'm not really a crumble type of person so I could take or leave the top but they adored it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie
crust:
1 frozen deep dish pie crust

crumble:
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

filling:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb - about 2 stalks
2 cups sliced strawberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven according to the pie crust instructions.  No poking holes in this crust, we will be filling it.
2. Crumble - In a food processor add in the flour, sugar, salt and butter.  Process several times till the mixture looks like course crumbs.
3. Po…

I found a few recipes for banana bread and ended up merging them together.  This was created for my boys, 2 of whom found out they have multiple food allergies.  I'm so thankful to be able to make them foods they love while still avoiding their food allergies.  And who doesn't love banana bread?

Gluten Free Banana Bread
210 grams Krusteaz Gluten All Purpose Baking Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 duck egg (or two chicken eggs)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips, raisins (optional)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and grease a loaf pan.
2. Place the peeled bananas in a mixer and mix until well mashed.
3. . Add in the canola oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, duck egg, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  Mix until well combined.
4. Slowly add in the baking mix and beat just till combined on low/medium.
5. If adding in raisins or chocolate…