Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BITES

15 pitted dates, rough chopped
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp chocolate chips

Place the dates in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade and process into smaller pieces. Add the remaining ingredients and process until thoroughly combined and ingredients form a “dough.” Roll into balls.

Fresh Summer Salsa

Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/4-1/2 of a medium sized red onion

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 large tomato, seeded and diced or cherry tomatoes, halved

2 ears of fresh sweet corn, cut off the husk (If you've never tried uncooked, fresh corn you are in for a treat!)

olive oil

1 lime

apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze the lime juice on and add a splash of apple cider vinegar. Stir it up and enjoy with tortilla chips. I also sometimes add cilantro or fresh avocado. 

Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

This is a simple recipe for a hearty make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings. We use either pork sausage patties or bacon but you could really use any meat you want. You may also want to scramble your eggs or add chopped up veggies like peppers or spinach. I like to make a batch of 10 and then freeze a half dozen for later. We just reheat them in the oven right in the aluminum foil for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees while we get ready but you could definitely microwave them for 2 minutes or so if you like. You may not want to toast the muffins if you plan on microwaving because it might make the muffin too chewy or hard. Just don't put the aluminum foil in the microwave! :)

Ingredients:
10 large eggs
10 slices of sharp cheddar cheese (I cut mine into circles but you don't have to do that)
10 precooked sausage patties, ham or bacon (I use Wellshire Maple Pork Patties from Whole Foods)
10 English muffins (I used the Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Wheat Muffins from Whole Foods)
Salt & Pepper
Butter
Aluminum Foil
Small ramekins

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease ramekins with butter. Crack one egg into each ramekin. Drag a knife through the egg to break the yolk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until eggs are set, about 15 minutes. You may need to do this in batches depending on how many ramekins you have. While the eggs are baking, toast each English muffin and lightly butter each side.  Slide the eggs out of the ramekins and allow to cool briefly. Place a sausage patty, egg and then the cheese on the English muffin to make a sandwich. Either enjoy immediately or wrap in aluminum foil and freeze.

Baby Boy Lucht

We've been on a roller-coaster ride this week. We want to keep our friends and family updated on what is happening so that people can pray and grieve with us but we don't want to have to relay the same information over and over.  Here is a copy of the email Brad sent out yesterday:

Friends,

Many of you know that we had a very important doctors appointment yesterday to learn more about what is going on with our little boy in Jessica’s womb.  If for some reason you aren’t up to date, you can find the previous email we sent out below...

We had our appointment at Cardinal Glennon yesterday.  We were there from 8:30 in the morning until after 2PM.  They were great to work with.  They were very kind and gentle with us as we received some hard news.  The bottom line is our boy has been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease.  

The good news is the amniotic fluid levels were stable so that the baby’s lungs can develope and Jessica won’t need to have any inutero surgeries.  It looks like the blockage is only partial at this point so the baby can pass urine.This is important because this means there is no indication as of now that Jess won’t be able to go full term with the baby and she should be able to have a normal birth.  That could still change but as of now we are hopeful.

In the afternoon we met with a Nephrologist (kidney specialist).  He confirmed what already knew that the right kidney is completely non-functioning and will remain that way.  That is the multi-cystic dysplastic kidney.  The new bit of information we received was that the left kidney is likely cystic dysplastic meaning it partially has the same problem the right kidney as but has not been affected fully.  At this point the doctor believes the left kidney will have some function at the time of birth.  How much function is the question.  Unfortunately we will not know the answer until the baby is actually born.  Right now, the baby is relying on Jessica’s kidney/placenta to do the work (just like a normal baby) and his will not kick in fully until he enters the world and his little body will have to take over for itself.  At that point the doctors will keep a very close eye on him to see how much function that little kidney will have.  

The doctor gave us two ends of a spectrum where our baby could land.  No matter where on the spectrum he lands, one thing that is almost certain is he will need a kidney transplant at some point in his life.  

Best case scenario:  The baby is born and his partially functioning kidney outperforms expectations and does the job well.  This is our prayer. The baby spends a week or two in the NICU to have a catheter put in his bladder to drain fluids and also likely a surgery to remove the partial blockage, then comes home.  We would continue to have regular appointments to keep an eye on things.  The kidney will then eventually decline because it is being overworked at which point he will need a transplant.  The Nephrologist told us that kids with this condition can go up to two decades before needing a transplant.  Most likely it will happen sometime in adolescence.  

Worst case scenario:  The baby is born with very little or no kidney function and will need to go on immediate dialysis.  We would spend many months in the NICU and eventually we would be trained how to do home dialysis which the baby would need every day until he is big enough to receive a transplant.  He would need to reach at least 22 lbs before a transplant is possible.  For a kid with this condition that usually takes about 1.5 - 2 years.  The doctor told us that about 50% of babies reach that point.  The ones who don’t make it usually die from infections or other complications.  

So right now the hardest part is the waiting.  Jess is about 26 weeks now which means we have over three months to wait before we will have answers.  We are convinced though that God is good is constantly proving himself faithful to us.  We know God will be glorified through the life of our son no matter what happens.  While we wait on the Lord to teach us and guide us, we pray humbly for a miracle.  We know God, who is the giver of all good things and the source of love itself, loves our little one infinitely more that we do so move forward the only way we know how, trusting in Him.  We are also praying that we would grow closer as a family through this.  I am not going to sugar coat things, we feel like we are in a wilderness right now.

Thank you for your support and love.


Hey friends,
We are writing you all this email to let you know what is going on with our littlest one. We really covet your prayers in the next few weeks. We went in today for an ultrasound to check on the baby's kidneys. 4 weeks ago we discovered at our 20 week ultrasound that the right kidney was multi-cystic and not functioning at all so they wanted me to come in for monthly ultrasounds to monitor the healthy kidney and the rest of the baby's development.  If we understand all this correctly, a kidney becomes multi-cystic when there is a blockage of some kind and fluid builds up in the kidney which damages healthy tissue.  The doctors originally thought the blockage was at the entrance to the kidney and only affecting that one kidney.

Today when we went in we learned that the left kidney now has some fluid built up in it as well. This leads the doctors to believe that there is some sort of blockage in the urethra that is not allowing the urine to pass properly. The bladder looked very full as well. This is what they think is causing the fluid to build up in the second kidney.  If the second kidney is fully blocked, it will cause a decrease in amniotic fluids which are vital for the baby's development. Today my amniotic fluid levels were good so they said it is possibly only a partial blockage, not a full blockage. They want me to come back in two weeks, when I am 26 weeks, to check my fluid levels. At that point they will be able to know more clearly how serious of a situation this is. If the amniotic fluid levels have dropped then the situation could be very serious. If the levels are stable, then the prayer is that the second kidney won't have permanent damage from the fluid buildup. Regardless of what happens we will be working with a pediatric urologist and there is a good chance that I will be switched to a high-risk neo-natalogist.  Some of the possibilities that we discussed with the doctor today were extremely serious and concerning so we are feeling sad and scared.

Please pray that the amniotic fluid levels stay stable and that if there is a blockage that it would miraculously be removed. Pray that we'd be able to understand what the doctors are communicating to us correctly and that we'd have wisdom as we move forward. Thanks friends. We will keep you updated.

Canadian Bacon and Egg Cups

This is a great way make a usual breakfast a little more fun, it is super easy, and takes only 20 minutes start to finish to prepare and cook. You can tweek it however you like to meet your tastes. Add veggies (I would saute them first) and you can either soft-cook or scramble your eggs. This is also a great dish to bring to get togethers because it is individual servings. We do breakfast for dinner almost once a week at our house and this is always a crowd-pleaser. Also, now that I'm pregnant I'm always looking for ways to add protein to my meals. :)

Canadian Bacon Cups

Ingredients:

 1 pack of Canadian Bacon (We get the Celebrity brand from Trader Joe's which comes with 10 slices)

10 eggs

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Green onions (optional), finely chopped

Butter

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a muffin tin with the butter. Place one slice of Canadian bacon in the bottom of each muffin, pressing it into the bottom of the muffin cup. You can either just crack the eggs directly into the the muffin cups on top of the Canadian bacon or crack them into a bowl, add a splash of milk and whisk them before pouring them into the cups. Sprinkle each muffin with cheese, green onions, salt and pepper. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the eggs are firm and no longer runny.

Pickled Cucumbers

1 English cucumber

1/2 cup white-wine vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut cucumber crosswise into very thin slices (preferably using a manual slicer). In a bowl whisk together remaining ingredients until sugar is dissolved and add cucumber, tossing to coat. Marinate cucumbers, covered and chilled, stirring occasionally, 4 hours.

Whole Roasted Chicken

Roasting a whole chicken is so simple and so delicious but a little intimidating if it is your first time. Depending on the appetite of your family it can last you several meals. It typically lasts our family of 4 two full meals because we have big eaters. We eat roasted chicken one night and then use the rest for salads, sandwiches, pizzas, etc. the following day.  If I'm feeling extremely lazy I just remove the giblets, toss the chicken in the crock pot, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, pour in a little broth and cook it on low for about 6 hours. If we are having company or I want something crispier and prettier then I use this method. It is fool-proof and one of my favorite meals.  If you don't have or don't like rosemary then you could use other herbs like basil, majoram, oregano or thyme or even dry herbs de provence. If you aren't down with butter something is wrong with you  then you could substitute the butter for a 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.  I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman's blog.

Whole Roasted Chicken

1 Whole Chicken, rinsed and patted dry (I use an Organic Free-Range Chicken from Trader Joe's for about $10-14)

1/2 - 3/4 cup of butter, softened

3 Whole Lemons

4 Sprigs of fresh Rosemary

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Put the softened butter into a bowl. Zest two of the lemons and stir the zest into the softened (not melted) butter. Finely chop 1 sprig of rosemary and stir into the butter mixture. Give the mixture a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet that is lined with aluminum foil. Rub the entire chicken with the butter mixture making sure to get in all the joints and crevices. Rub butter in the cavity and under the skin.  Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice of one or tow of them on top of the chicken. Stuff the six lemon halves into the cavity of the bird. Stuff the remaining 3 sprigs of rosemary into the cavity of the bird as well. Roast in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. Skin should be golden and the juices sizzling.

Serve with fresh green beans and roasted potatoes. Yum!