Life's a Beach Triathalon | Lido Beach | September 2013

I tried to catch as many Sun Hydraulics folks as possible!

Yearly Family Photo Books with MyPublisher

In 2010, I finally followed in the footsteps of my best friend, Maggie, and started the yearly photo book tradition. I couldn't be happier that I did! Each page is unique, designed by me in Photoshop. For each new book, I start with January's pictures. I try to keep up with the current month's pictures. I am pretty impressed with myself this year, because I am up to August 2013! It's around this time of year, though, when I get super busy with back to school activities, holidays, photo sessions, and the book gets put on the back-burner :(. Come January, I start playing catch-up to finish up the year. I have even taken on the monumental task of creating books for 2006-2009! (Luckily I didn't take half as many pictures back then as I do now, whew!)

When I know I won't have enough room in the book for all of our year's adventures (100 is the max number of pages!), I create a separate book for big trips or events.

MyPublisher is my favorite print shop to use for these books. The quality is absolutely outstanding. Their lay flat page option is awesome and the quality of the pictures is superb. I choose the Classic Hardcover (11.25"x8.75") with Photo Finish. They have excellent coupon codes and promotions throughout the year. I order 2 copies - one to enjoy and one to keep safe from the every day wear and tear that books go through.

I love my photo books. They are a labor of love. I don't even want to think about how long each takes me to make, but they are worth every second. I hope this will inspire YOU to create one!

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Flaxseed Wrap | Gluten Free

I've been reading a lot about how gluten free products aren't always a great alternative for those wanting to remove gluten from their diets AND consume foods with a low glycemic index. Gluten free products typically contain rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, etc, which have high GI values. So, I was cautiously excited when I found a recipe for flax wraps. Flaxseed has a super low GI value. I was hoping it would be a good alternative to gluten free sandwich bread. I was beyond excited with the results! The wrap is soft and delicious and I would almost call it a cross between a wrap and flatbread. I love making my almond butter and jelly sandwiches with it.  I've made several wraps at a time and they keep very well in the fridge. I've also made a wrap with hummus, hard-boiled egg, avocado, roasted red peppers and kalamata olives, which was to die for.

The original recipe is from the book Wheat Belly. I've modified it slightly to make it a little less savory. 

This makes 1 wrap:

3 TBS Bob's Red Mill Organic Flaxseed Meal
1/4 tsp baking powder (I use Rumford Baking Powderbecause the cornstarch is non-GMO)
pinch of salt
1 TBS Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, melted
1 TBS water
1 egg 

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then combine. On medium high heat, spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray (I use TJs coconut oil spray). Spread the batter around the pan all the way to the edges. Let it cook about 5 minutes, then carefully flip and finish cooking the other side.

One note, when making more than one it's best to combine the wet and dry ingredients right before you're ready to pour them into the pan. When flaxseed is mixed with wet ingredients and sits for a few minutes, it becomes very sticky and glue-like and it's harder to spread around the pan.

Enjoy!