i have to say...

my newest breakfast obssession

I go through breakfast phases on a regular basis, eating the same thing repeatedly until I grow tired of it.  These days I am doing a yummy smoothie that is healthy and great-tasting!

This smoothie has protein from nuts and also pro-biotics in the yogurt.  The pro-biotics help you body to grow lots of good bacteria that attacks bad bacteria in your body.  Sounds kind of gross, but it is a good thing when sickness is going around.

Here is my super-simple recipe:

In a blender combine: one container of fat-free plain yogurt, a tablespoon of natural peanut-butter and one ripe banana (I like to add them frozen).  You may need to add a couple of tablespoons of milk to make this blendable.  Whir in the blender until combined and drink up.  It's great!

What about you?  What was on your breakfast plate--or glass--this morning?

i really need to eat....

....in the morning before I work out. 

I keep heading to the gym with nothing in my stomach and since I got light-headed on the treadmill this morning, I think it is time to quit doing that.

The problem is that I don't like eating breakfast for at least a couple of hours after I wake up.  Since I am heading out at 5:45 each morning, that won't work.

Breakfast cookies will do the trick, I am sure.

They are sweet without a lot of sugar (only 1/3 cup in the whole recipe) and the oats, whole wheat flour and two kinds of fruit make them good for me.  Hopefully a bit of energy to get me through my exercise routine.

Banana-blueberry Breakfast Cookies:  2 ripe, mashed bananas, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter (let it cool off a bit before adding to the mixture), 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 3/4 cup dried blueberries and 1-1/2 cups oats

Stir together the bananas, sugar, egg and vanilla until combined. Add the melted butter (let it cool off a little bit before adding to the mixture).  Add the flour, cinnamon and baking powder.  Stir until combined.  Add the blueberries and the oats.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on to a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degress for 12-15 minutes.  Don't let these brown too much on the top or they will be to crunchy.

Store the cookies in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

the "big" snow

Today seemed like a perfect pumpkin carving day, not only because it is 2 days away from Halloween, but also because it is cold outside.  Brrrrr!  The kids ended up with 3 handsome, laughing pumpkins and I ended up with a bunch of roasted pumpkin seeds.  I am pretty sure that I got the good part of that deal.

We had expected a foot of snow, but the storm passed us by, for the most part.  We did get a few inches and that made for some good fort-building material.  Aubry was surprisingly diligent in stacking the walls of her tiny fort.    When she wants something, she goes for it!

The boys were, well, boys and spent some time throwing snow at the garage, just for fun.  The used up a good patch from the lawn before their arms got tired. Now our garage looks like it has polka-dots on it.

I have officially finished my quilt and next week I will be here with pictures.  It is good timing since the baby is coming this weekend. 

There's nothing like the last minute, is there!  :)

cookies and a snowy day

Yesterday I tried Terri's yummy apple cookie recipe.  The kids liked them and weren't even aware that they were healthy (I used whole-wheat flour).   I am not above sneaking good stuff into my family's food. 

Today I am hoping to start machine-quilting my baby quilt. I sure wish I was one of those crank-em-out types who could get these things done quick.  right now.  i'm done. It's funny how running a fabric store makes it hard to find time to sew.  Silly, eh?

According to the weather forecast we are going to have heavy snow today.  The kids are crossing their fingers that this is true.  The boots, mittens and scarves are all still packed away so I may be crawling up into the attic to retrieve them.  It's worth the effort to secure some free time for myself while they pelt each other with snow balls.  You have to take these opportunities where you can find them!

I hope your day is a good one!

sometimes you just have to have fun...

...by making caramel corn at 10:00 in the morning.

I am not quite sure if this picture looks appetizing or not, but let me tell you, this is the best caramel corn EVER!  So crunchy and buttery and fattening.  Yum!

Occasionally I like to break out of the we-have-to-be-responsible "mom" mode and just have some fun with my kids.  As soon as the popcorn starting popping, they were surrounding me in the kitchen with smiles.  Apparently this was a long-needed break for us.  Life doesn't have to be serious and healthy all the time, you know.

I suggest letting the kids eat this all at one time, otherwise you will be snacking here, snacking there, all day long, until you realize you have eaten about 10 cups of caramel corn.  Not that this is from personal experience or anything, I simply want to issue the warning.  Just in case.

I hope your day is sweet!

a brand new school year

Today is our first day back to school.  Yes, I am starting on a holiday, but it is a holiday we don't celebrate and it seemed silly to add one more day to summer vacation.  We are ready--so ready--for a routine!

My schedule looks great on paper, but it remains to be seen how it will work in real life.  This school year my word to remember is "focus".  I need to focus on the task I am working on and quit getting distracted by everything around me.  This summer I have developed a habit of allowing distractions to take me away from the things I want to do the most.  Little time eaters that nibble away at my goals and get me nowhere.  This means that the computer will be off for a good part of the day and if is not mommy's computer time, mommy stays away from the computer.  No more checking the shop, checking comments, checking blogs, checking other shops.......you get the idea. I need to pretend that I am one of the kids with a set time on the computer.  That way it remains a good thing.

Last night we made bagels to bring in our first school morning.  This recipe is simple and the finished product is SO GOOD!.  Give these a try and you won't be disappointed, I promise.  I added some cinnamon and raisins to my dough, but you can keep them plain or get creative.

Happy day to you!

i am loving the farmer's market these days

It is such a treat to load up on fresh, yummy veggies and sample homemade cheeses and buy the best tamales ever and visit with friends.  Too bad we are at the end of the season.  A few more weeks and it will be all gone.

I bought 9 ears of corn and we ate all of them.  They were amazing all drenched in butter and salt and pepper.  I don't skimp with the butter when it comes to stuff like this.  The potatoes and beans were steamed and then I added some olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme from the garden.  Should I mention the tomatoes sliced lovingly on a plate?

Yeah, that would be too much.

I am going to miss all of this, but it occurs to me that garden-planning time is just around the corner.  While we wade through another fall and winter I can dream of what next spring will bring.  What do I need to plant more of?  How can we get a better crop from the ones we already grow?  When is the first date of the farmer's market?

It's all going to come around again.  And again.  And again.

Life is just that way.

Lucky us!

princess applesauce

That's what Aubry used to call it a couple of years ago when she was in her "princess" phase.  It's pink because I cook the apples with the peels on and they dye the sauce.  Fun stuff, really!

Here is how we do it:

Core and quarter your apples, removing any holes or overly-brown parts.  Removing any worms is a great idea too!  As long as you cut them out, you can eat the apples, no problem.  Place them a pan (I use a large soup pot and I fill it almost to the top, but you can use fewer apples in a saucepan) and add water about 1/3 of the way up the apples and cover the pot.  Turn your heat to medium-high.  The water will be boiling in about 15 minutes and at that point just stir everything.  Put your lid back on for about 10-15 more minutes and you should find that the apples are completely soft.  You don't want any hard parts to remain.  The softer, the better.

Remove your apples from the pot (I use a hand-held strainer so the water stays in the pot) and place them in a strainer or a sieve.  I use this handy contraption:

Now you need to push the apples through the sieve so that the peel remains and the applesauce squishes out through the bottom.  The kids really like this job, but you need to remind them to be careful because the apples are hot.

I ended up adding a very small amount of sugar because our apples, while very tasty, were a bit tart.  For 10 cups of sauce, I only added about 1/2 cup of sugar, so no big deal.  You can add the sugar to taste or leave it out entirely.

I freeze my sauce in quart-size freezer bags and let me say that it tastes great in the middle of winter when produce is lacking at the store.

Now that you know how to make "princess applesauce" you can take your neighbor up on their offer of free apples from their tree.  This recipe is simple, although a bit time consuming, and your kids will love it. 

Have fun in the kitchen!

apple harvest

Aubry visited at a friend's house yesterday and she was able to do some apple picking. Lots of apple picking! 

We have bags and bags of these delicious, organic apples (organic as in "the trees weren't sprayed so you have to watch out for worms") just sitting and waiting to be made into applesauce. 

They aren't the lovely, perfect ones you find in the store, but they taste amazing and they were free.  Free is my favorite price, you know!

All I need is a recipe for Apple Butter.  I have never tasted it, but it sounds worth having in the winter when the fresh taste of harvest-days is so welcome.  My grandma's well-used recipe book will be my guide and I will report back next week.

Goodness knows that you need to be updated on my apple adventures!

Have a great weekend!

deliciousness

I am happy to report that our garden is in full harvest mode!  This weekend we picked tomatoes, potatoes, beets, peppers, onions, radishes, basil and other herbs.

Of course, the first thing we made was salsa.  My grandma is the queen of makin' salsa, so I use her recipe, if you can call a "little bit of this and a little bit of that" a recipe.  You can add the ingredients you like and leave the rest out, and you can add extra amounts of the things you love to taste.  We love the taste of the garlic, cilantro and the lime.

Here is the basic salsa recipe:

2 cups chopped, fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 chopped jalapeno
juice of 1/2 of a lemon or a lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste (sometimes when you can't get the taste just right, you need more salt)

Mix all ingredients together until you like the taste (the jalapenos will get a little hotter as the salsa sits) and then refrigerate it for about 2 hours. Serve it with tortilla chips.

You are going to want to make a lot of this so double it if you have more than a couple of people who will eat it.  The fun thing about salsa is that it is pretty much fat free.  Of course, the chips add fat but if you pile the salsa onto a few chips, you are doing just fine!

Happy snacking!