Banana Bread Porridge

One of our favorite books is about a little Tomten and a Fox. The Tomten protects the farm from the fox by sharing his porridge. Gracie's first question was "what is porridge?" Good quetion. Google to the rescue. Wiki actually. It is any grain that is cooked into a hot cereal. Often oats and we (mama and dada atleast) prefer them steel-cut instead of steamed and rolled. They get a bit old though. The same everyday. Butter. Honey. Cinnamon. And this week what I REALLY wanted for breakfast was banana bread hot out of the oven and smothered with butter. Why did I not think to combine the two earlier?What a revelation!!!

Banana Bread Oats:
serves 2
Soak 1/2 cup steel cut oats overnight in 1 1/2 cups of water
in the morning  cook on medium for 10-15 minutes
add butter
honey
cinnamon
chopped pecans
sliced bananas

Recipe Website

I found this website with LOTS of recipes that appeal to me these days.

Like 20 meals in 20 minutes!

Fast Slow Cooking!

Easy Cheesy Casseroles!

Quick Pantry Suppers!

Plus you can search for a recipe by ingredient so when you have a surplus of Butternut squash from the market, you can get ideas.

A Homemade Christmas

I am starting to think of Christmas gifts (gasp) because I would like to make as many of our gifts as possible this year. I am limiting the number of gifts to the girls and family so that what we give is more meaningful and deliberate. I would love to use this advice and only have three or four gifts for the girls. It seems appropriate as Gracie is only three and an exuberant amount of gifts is exhausting and mind-numbing and I don't like spending all Christmas day opening presents.

It would be great if I could get together with some friends to make some crafts and socialize a bit. Two things I am craving right now.

So let me know if it is something YOU would be interested in as well. I have some gift ideas in mind already. What are you making for loved ones this holiday season?

The Good and The Bad

Three Year Old + Construction Paper + Scissors = A Good Idea

Three Year Old + Freeze Dried Blueberries + White Furniture = Bad Idea

A Song Sacrifice

Mama: "I want to listen to some good music tonight."

Grace: "Well, I want to listen to stories. So you can listen to Pooh Corner before we listen to Winnie the Pooh."

Thanks honey. One song. Twenty stories. Seems fair. :-)

Ahhhhhh........

We mastered the Ergo infant insert today!

I L.O.V.E. my Ergo. It is hands-down the most important baby item in our family. We have logged hours, days, years, miles and miles in ours with Grace and here is Emily's first time.

What a relief for my shoulders! I also love my ring slings and wraps but this carrier is the best.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Grace and I in the Ergo.

Daddy's Birthday Hike 05.20.09

Simple Supper :: Bengal Chicken with Roasted Veggies

"Mama, I want to get brussels sprouts at the farmers market but fill the whole bag to the very, very top."

What three year old says that?

Bengal Masala Chicken:

One package of organic chicken thighs

dust with Bengal Masala Rub with Love (garam masala, cumin, brown sugar)

Halve Brussels

Chop sweet potatos

toss with olive oil S+P

dust half of the potatoes with African Peri Peri Run with Love (red pepper and citrus)

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

Christmas 2008
Thanks for the Rub with Love, Auntie Beth!!