So we're doing this house thing...

We hadn't really even started looking for a house so to speak. Robin had JUST landed a WFH job literally days before, so we started kind of poking around the weekend of June 16 in a small mountain neighborhood called Pinewood Springs about 30 minutes or so away from where we currently live in Longmont, Colorado, a bedroom community of Boulder. We stopped by an open house and scheduled to see another in the neighborhood the next morning. 

And that night we rechecked to make sure there wasn't something more we wanted to see- and we saw THIS HOUSE! At about the same price as the other- well under market.

So obviously we scheduled a showing. Along with a parade of other people that next morning. And it was just as amazing as we'd hoped.

We went up against 4 other parties with our offer barely 24 hours after this house went on the market. We crossed our fingers, and threw some fairy dust around. Oh, and we wrote a letter as to why we loved the home that referenced our personal histories in Western PA and Canada and Danny's obsession with detail in his craftsmanship, among other things.

So, you never know whats going to work in a multiple offer situation, but some combination of this did. We were lucky to get an agent who knew the area and was able to understand how to compete in this situation. And we know from speaking with the *amazing* sellers we got it in some part because the current owners two grew up in Dravosburg and Cheswick, just about 30 and 40 minutes respectively from Robin's hometown of Murrysville, PA. Who knew?!

So yea, we moved to the mountains and now we're REALLY moving to the mountains. It is isolated but not entirely in the middle of nowhere; it is in fact just 15-20 minutes to Estes Park and 10-15 to the vacation community of Lyons, CO. And we'd love to have our dear friends and family visit. Here's our lovely guest room and some drone footage of the house:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_4IxYg43aU

Dog friends: We will be promptly replacing the carpet so the house will be very dog friendly. The creek pools have been fully dog-tested and approved, though the granite can get slick in spots.

The community is rather amazing. Here's an article Pinewood Springs-it was heavily impacted by the 2013 floods:

https://www.denverpost.com/2013/09/23/pinewood-springs-residents-thrive-as-they-survive-flooded-isolation/

They're not Snyders, but they'll do

Honey-mustard onion Keto Crackers, baby

So I just (re)started a ketogenic diet. For many reasons. Brain health, gut health, body health, and to fight off this last 10 stinking pounds that will not leave my aging hips and belly. I'd lost about five earlier this year on keto and gained it back at light speed with a fervent dedication to chips, margaritas, and gnocchi.

So, I'm four days in. And I feel like would steal crunchy snacks from a baby, so I decided to try my hand at a homeade version of my favorite snack: Oily, yummy, honey mustard and onion pretzel bits from Snyders of Hanover.

So do they measure up? Um, no. But they stave the craving and I'm not stealing snacks from babies. And they help immensely with the constipation I tend to get on keto. If you don't like honey mustard just omit the optional ingredients. Again- these alone will be bland but they're good when you need a cracker to dip things in, put cheese on, etc.

To make:

1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup flaxseed meal (you can also just put flax seeds in a food processor and make flaxseed meal or just do a whole cup of whole flax seeds)
2 TB onion powder (optional)
1/4 cup mustard (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon stevia or other calorie-free sweetner


Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients and let sit for one minute. Spread thin on a cookie sheet (ideally with parchment paper) with a spatula or hands. If they are thicker they will be more bread-like; thinner more cracker like.

Score them with a fork along the top to make them easier to break into cracker size pieces.  I'm cooking at elevation, so its different than cooking at sea level, but mine take about 40-45 minutes to get golden. I'd suggest checking them around 30 minutes at sea level. Other recipes for similar suggest flipping but I do not find this makes a difference.

I also made a sweet mustard onion dipping sauce with 1/4 cup mustard, 1 teaspoon stevia, and a teaspoon of onion powder. I bet they'd be good with cheese, meats and other keto-friendly dips.

So this is approximate because I can't math, but each 2 inch cracker contains: 40 cals, 3 grams fat, 1.5 grams carbohydrate, 1.8 grams protein, and 1.4 grams fiber  (ie net carbs are only .01).