Kisses + Caffeine

Sharing my journey as a mother, wife, homemaker, Jesus girl, entrepreneur and all things in between!

Archives for January 2020

Cheesy Spinach and Spaghetti Squash Bake (Gestational Diabetes & Keto Friendly!)

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Being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes was a bit overwhelming for me, as I can imagine it probably is for just about anyone! I was worried that I would have a hard time finding food that was satisfying to me, kept my numbers in check, and that my family would actually eat so that I didn’t have to do twice the work. 

I had pretty much given up on cheesy pasta dishes. But then I whipped up this little dish and it checked all of the boxes! Cheese? Check! Pasta (ish)? Check! Creamy goodness?? Check! And my toddler and husband actually really liked it too! Plus it all comes together so easily in a cast iron skillet. (If you don’t have one, you need one! I recommend THIS ONE)

Okay so, before you can make the actual recipe, we need to talk about cooking the spaghetti squash that it requires! For years, I dreaded any recipes that used it because cooking it seemed so time consuming. But then I found out about the microwave trick! It is so easy, and it takes minutes! CHECK OUT THIS POST to learn how to do it!

Okay, now on to the recipe!

Cheesy Spinach & Spaghetti Squash Bake

  • Servings: 5-7
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • 1 decent sized spaghetti squash
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4-5 cups spinach, chopped 
  • Small jar of sun dried tomatoes (Or you can use red peppers! But I like the tomato flavor myself)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 8 oz. of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • You will also really appreciate a Cast Iron Skillet because it saves dishes and adds more flavor, but it isn’t mandatory!

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cook your spaghetti squash until tender, and prepare the noodles. (I love the microwave method I mentioned above!)
  3.  Heat your olive oil in your skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Add your spinach and sun dried tomato (or red bell pepper) and cook until spinach is wilted. Make sure to stir frequently!
  4. Add your garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly so that your garlic doesn’t burn.
  5. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted.
  6. Add your spaghetti squash noodles and stir until everything is well incorporated. If you are using a cast iron skillet, you get to skip the next step! Yay you!
  7. If you are using a regular skillet, you will need to pour your mixture into a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
  8. Top your mixture with the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Your mixture should be bubbly and the cheese should be browning a bit on top. 

Would you look at all of that gooey, cheesy goodness?? I am craving some right now!

If you wanted to up the protein content even more, you could always add shredded chicken to this dish as well! Even as it is, It was a definite hit for us!

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Winter One-derland Sugar Cookies

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A sweet friend of mine reached out to me to do a set of cookies for her grandbaby’s first birthday party. Of course, I was so excited when she told me the theme, because I have been itching to do something different and this Winter One-derland set was perfect!

They wanted a combination of metallics, white and blush, which came together beautifully! There isn’t much more to say other than to just enjoy the simple beauty of this look! I dropped links to the cutters used at the bottom, just in case you are wanting to do a little winter one-derland for your own little one!

Cutters used for this set:

Trees

Plaques

Number 1’s

What Not to Say to the Woman Going Through Infertility or Miscarriage

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This post is meant to educate, out of love. At the risk of possibly stepping on a handful of toes, I wanted to help the general public, who hasn’t suffered the loss of a pregnancy or endured infertility, to understand the things that you should never say to a woman (or her spouse) that is walking that road. I truly do believe that most people have good intentions and are trying to be helpful, and until you have been there you may not realize the way that your words can sting. The person that you say them to may never tell you that your words hurt, but they have the potential to ache for years. I hope that this list will help to start conversations and provide options that may be better received. 

First and foremost, I am going to share what you should do. As someone who has gone through infertility as well as lost a child (more of our story here), I can say firsthand that this makes all the difference in the world. Working with women every day in my ministry, I see this play out for just about every situation. When someone you know and care about loses a baby or shares their struggle with you: 

ASK. VALIDATE. LOVE.
And then RESPOND.

  • ASK them how they are feeling. How they are coping. What is going through their mind and heart. And then truly listen to what they say. Not everyone processes or feels the same way.
  • VALIDATE their feelings. You may not understand, agree or be able to relate. But their feelings are their feelings and they are very real and raw and painful. If they chose to be vulnerable with you, honor that. I see a range of extreme grief, humor, confusion, anger, frustration…none of those feelings are wrong or bad. They just are what they are, and most people just want to feel heard and validated that their feelings are real.
  • LOVE them where they are. You don’t have to give the perfect “phrase” or verse or scripture right that second. You don’t have to fix it or have an answer. You don’t have to use any of these phrases that you may see below, thinking that they will explain things and make it go away. It is not our job to fix the pain, because we can’t. That is God’s job alone. 

Let me say it louder for the people in the back: It is not your job to fix someone’s pain. That is God’s job! We simply need to love people.

  • RESPOND to them in a way that shows empathy and considers all of the aforementioned things. Sometimes you may not need to say anything. Sometimes actions are better than words. (post on that coming soon!). Your response to being let in on the most painful thing that a woman can go through can make or break her healing process. Always think of how your words will be received before you say them!

Now, onto what you should NOT say! These quotes are things that I hear often, and most are taken verbatim from women who have been there. I am breaking them down by category.

If they already have children:

“The most hurtful comments that I got after my recent 2nd miscarriage was: ‘It was not meant to be, you have too many kids already!’ But the worst and most hurtful was: ‘You’re better off, 3 kids is too much. A 4th? You’re crazy!’ There is nothing more I love than being a mom.”

“The most irritating thing so far with having ‘unexplained infertility’ is people saying, ‘You already have two healthy children. Do you really want to start all over again?’”

“’At least you already have a kid. You can always try again.’ As if I hadn’t already formed a bond with the child I was carrying and full of love and hope.”

“You guys don’t need another kid, you have three already.”

“‘At least you have one child. You should be happy with that.’ So now not only are you depressed about no more kids, but you feel like crap for feeling that way.”

“Both miscarriages after my boys I got told ‘You should be happy you at least have them.’ Umm of course I’m happy I have them but my heart got ripped out with each baby that passed away….”

“‘If you had that baby you wouldn’t have your others.’ Which I don’t think is true at all!”

“You have kids already, really you should be thankful and not selfish.”

“I was told I ‘really dodged a bullet’ because I didn’t need anymore kids.”

Spiritual Platitudes

This one in particular burned me up and caused pretty bad harm to my relationship with God and the strength of my faith. As a long-time believer and someone that works in ministry even. So I can imagine how much harder it may hit someone who doesn’t have a strong walk with the Lord (or any walk with Him) just yet. THINK about that. While many of these may have truth to them, they don’t really need to be said- as they can paint God in a bad light, or make the person that you are saying them to feel like they are not faithful enough or good enough.

“The worst comment was ‘You need to pray and fast, that’s why you don’t have a baby yet.’”

“Something was wrong with the baby that’s why you lost it.” “Thank God you lost it early.” “It wasn’t God’s will.”

“You’re not getting pregnant because you don’t go to church”

“On Mother’s Day while I was going through infertility our pastor prayed ‘for all the mothers and all those who it’s not in your plan to be mothers.’ I left the church sobbing, forgot my purse and made my husband go back in to get the purse.”

“‘They’re in a better place’” comes across like I am not good enough.”

“Everything happens for a reason”- MAJOR pet peeve of mine!

“Your baby is in a better place now.”

“‘God’s timing is perfect,’ which I don’t disagree with. But it’s not a comforting thing to say to someone who’s been trying to get pregnant for a while. I already have a daughter which I’m grateful for, and she was literally an answer to prayer, but we so badly want to give her a sibling. We wanted to have a huge family and it hurts to not be able to get pregnant so easily like others do.”

“I was told that I may not conceive a baby due to a medical issue. I was constantly being told ‘in Gods time.’ I know at the time it wasn’t meant as bad but to a woman truly wanting a child it hurt.”

The "Just Relax" Mindset

If you are thinking about saying this, don’t. Just don’t. Think of something else or just don’t say anything.

“Just relax”

“All the ‘When are you going to have children’ and ‘Maybe you should just relax’ comments hurt too.”

“’Don’t think about it. Just relax and keep trying.’ It’s been 9 years, no baby…. I personally am on the verge of giving up.”

“‘Stop thinking about it and it will happen.’ I get that one A LOT.” (By the way, it’s not that easy to “stop thinking about it!”)

“It just wasn’t meant to be. You aren’t ready yet.” (HOW do you even know if someone else is ready? My heart had been ready for years!)

"It wasn't meant to be" or "Something was wrong"

“‘It probably just wasn’t meant to be,’ right after I told a family member that I had to have a D&C at 12 weeks pregnant. It hurt SOOOO bad, that even though it’s been years I still struggle to talk to this individual about anything.”

“‘Something was wrong with the baby, that’s why you lost it.’ ‘Thank God you lost it early.’ ‘It wasn’t Gods will.’ Those three were the hardest.”

“‘You’ve tried for a long time, but I don’t think your meant to have a baby, maybe it’s time to move on.’  I literally did everything I could to hold back the tears as a friend told me this. Super hurtful!”

“You should thank God you lost it. I’m sure there was something wrong with it.” Again, not helpful to say, even if there is truth to it.

“‘It was not the right time. You need to get over it.’” The best thing my midwife said was,’I wish I had a magic wand to take your pain away.’”

“It’s totally natural, means there was something wrong with the baby.”

“It happens all the time.” Yeah? So do car crashes and heart attacks. That doesn’t take away the grief that a family feels.

Trivializing the pain or loss

“At least you weren’t farther along in your pregnancy. That way you weren’t so attached to it yet.” 

“The one that really got me came from someone extremely close to me. She told me a story about how she thought she was miscarrying, but it turned out it was just her period. As if I was mistaking the pain I was going thru as ‘just a period’ when I had actually heard the heartbeat by that point.”

“After my miscarriage at 8 weeks this was said to me by a man at our church: ‘You can’t be upset over something you never had.’ I cried for DAYS over this… and 6 years later it still is in the back of my mind.”

“It wasn’t really a baby you lost.” 

“There was probably something wrong with IT anyway.”

“This was God’s way of saying this baby isn’t perfect”

“At least you never felt a kick” 

“It happens to a lot of people, it’s really common and not that big of a deal.”

“It’s ok, your brother gave me 4 grandchildren, that is plenty.”

Adoption, While a beautiful thing, is not everyone’s answer and doesn’t always replace the desire for a biological child! It is a calling. You should never push that on someone.

“Have you thought about adoption?”

“‘Stop trying and it’ll happen,’ and ‘you can just adopt’ are the two worst for me.”

Making the mother feel at fault

“You don’t need to have a baby now anyways, lose your weight and then try it.” 

“You just aren’t meant to be a mom.” 

”You shouldn’t have been so active, that’s why you miscarried.”

Shaming fertility treatments or the desire to have a child

“You’re better off. Some people just aren’t meant to be parents.”

“Why are you wasting money on testing and treatments?”

“It’s selfish to do all of this when you should just be thankful for what you have.”

“If you were supposed to have children, it would happen naturally.”

Other things you just shouldn't ask or say...

“Why don’t you have kids yet? Aren’t you getting old?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have waited so late in life.” Maybe they didn’t wait. Maybe they’ve been struggling far longer than you realize? You never know someone’s story.

“‘Don’t worry, there will be other babies.’ I wanted to scream ‘but that was my baby!'” There will be other babies if their spouse is on board to try again and they are able to conceive again.

Another sweet friend of mine who suffered a mid-term loss put it this way, and I feel that it is the perfect way to end. I truly hope that this may help bring some awareness to the well-meaning comments and some healing to so many women who are having a hard time. It has been a labor of love that speaks so deeply to my heart.

“I believe most people mean well. But just acknowledge that they lost their baby…no matter if it’s an early miscarriage, mid pregnancy or late pregnancy. Hopes & dreams of a life a mother has already envisioned for their unborn child already exist. Just be there for them & say a simple, ‘I’m sorry’ if you don’t know what to say.”

Sweet friend, if you are this woman, THIS ONE is for you. Much love from me to you.

Gestational Diabetes Friendly (Keto) Pizza!

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I won’t lie, when I got my Gestational Diabetes diagnosis, pizza was one of the first things that I knew I would miss! See, my sugar levels are super finicky, and any white flour seems to send them soaring. Which totally stinks because pizza is a staple in our house and we eat it at least once a week! 

So I got to doing some homework, because I see so many low carb/Keto diet friends talk about the pizza that they eat. After scouring the web and Pinterest, I found a few different recipes that I married into one. And you guys….IT IS SO GOOD! My toddler, who loves her some pizza, devoured this and didn’t even miss the traditional crust! I was so excited to get this recipe together for you guys that I didn’t wait for daylight to take my traditional photos, so sorry for the weird picture lighting! 

Gestational Diabetes (Keto) friendly Pizza!

  • Servings: 12-16
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  •  2.5 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • 3 whole eggs, beaten
  • 1.5 cups almond flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
  • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (sharpness to your preference, or you could even use Colby Jack here!
  • A good low carb pizza sauce. Rao’s is amazing and very easy on us! You can get it HERE if you can’t find it locally. Walmart also has a decent store brand! 
  • Pepperoni slices, or other toppings of your choice!

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350.
  2. Mix the baking powder and almond flour together and then set aside.
  3. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt your Mozzarella and cream cheese together. (Takes about 1 min in the microwave, pausing to stir half way).
  4. While this is warming up, combine your Italian seasoning with your Parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
  5. After the Mozzarella cheese has melted, add your eggs and flour mixture.
  6. Pour the Parmesan mixture onto your work surface (to prevent stickiness) and then turn your “dough ball” out onto it, kneading well until all ingredients are incorporated.
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and then spread your dough out onto it.
  8. Top with pizza sauce, shredded cheese and any toppings that you want! 
  9. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the crust feels cooked through.
  10. Allow it to cool for a minute on the counter, slice and devour!

As I said before, this was SO good! I hardly even missed the traditional crust! What’s even better is that it was also incredibly filling. I couldn’t finish what I put on my plate, and wound up saving some for lunch the next day. Major win? My sugar levels were fantastic at the 2 hour mark! 

So whether you have Gestational Diabetes, or you are just trying to watch your sugar/carb intake, this pizza is for you! Try it out and let me know what you think!

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Magical Cake Release Paste

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Have you ever baked the perfect cake, only to be heartbroken when you flip it over and half of it sticks in the pan? Which leaves you with sad, crumbly edges or holes in your cake, that you then have to try and compensate for with icing and decoration? I’m about to rock your world with the number one cake baking hack that I have learned over the years! I believe that sharing is caring, and everyone wants those pretty, clean lines on their cake. Whether you use a boxed mix or whip one up from scratch, this stuff is a miracle. (yep! It even works for oddly shaped cakes, brownies, muffins…you name it!)

You guys…it is so complicated that I will have to spell it out for you. But it is worth the trouble.

I kid. I kid. It’s stupid easy! All you need is all-purpose flour, canola oil, and vegetable shortening. Scoop out equal parts of each (I did 1/4 cup of each in the bowl below, but since I bake so much I usually do 1 cup of each at a time). Mix it all together really well (you will have a few lumps, and that is ok!) and use what you need to coat your pans! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in your pantry for up to a month! 

Say goodbye to sad edges! Say goodbye to buttering and flouring and making a huge mess! Use this stuff. It works like a dream! And would you look at that smooth cake?!

THESE Wilton 3″ pans are my absolute favorite go-to cake pans! Those + this magical cake paste are a baking dream come true!

Try it and let me know what you think, and then share the love! (And while you’re here, check out some of my other baked goodies or recipes!)

Vintage Airplane Cookies for a Sweet 1st Birthday!

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Okay, confession time! Its totally okay to be obsessed with your own handiwork right?? Maybe not. Maybe that is considered vain. But I am so in love with how this little set turned out! My friend asked me to do them for her nephew’s first birthday, and I was determined to accomplish this precious theme without ordering a slew of new cutters! 

The little biplanes were actually pretty simple to pipe out (THIS little gem helps a TON when you are trying to do consistent detail work! If you are a new cookier, I highly recommend investing!) and turned out perfectly!

I opted to freehand the Happy Birthday circles, but this would be another great use of the projector if you need some guidance! 

The little 1’s were super simple but I think they add so much! A good food pen will go a long way when adding details like the little dashed lines!

These little helmets were also a freehand, copying a precious hat that the birthday boy’s mom got for him to wear! 

Overall, I could not be happier with the way that these came out. Most importantly, the birthday boy and his family highly enjoyed them, and that’s all that matters to me!

Cutters (and tools) used for this set:

Miroir Mini Projector

Circle cookie cutter

1 Cookie Cutter

Plaque Cookie Cutter Set

Bakerpan Pens

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