What We Are Reading

So, recently I brought the kids in for our quiet morning at our neighborhood coffee shop and the girl behind the counter starts making small talk with my kids. It's easy to do. They are talkative and typically cute, as 2 and 4 years olds are.  Anyways, she is doing that thing that adults do where they talk through children (I do it all the time). Basically she was telling me she used to be a preschool teacher and she LOVES this book called The Circus Ship. She wrote it down on a piece of paper and slipped it to my 4 year old girl. Well, that little note was like treasure to A. She carefully kept it in her pocket as if the girl behind the counter had handed her the best secret ever. So I looked it up and decided we'd give it a try. And it was a great find!

We love it. Maybe its because we are New Englanders, but who doesn't love a story about circus animals finding a home on an island off of Maine when their boat crashes near shore! The story is very loosely based on true events and the illustrations are amazing. Its an adventure story! With good guys and a bad guy (aptly named Mr. Paine); a sweet tiger that saves a little girl; and the villagers figuring out that they want to be friends with these exotic, yet kind animals. The book is exciting and has a happy ending.  Both my 2 year old and 4 year old are entranced by it.  A fun filled book that's a great addition to any collection. Especially for us Sea-coasters. 

(no sugar) Carrot, Apple and Zucchini Muffins

As you can see by my posts these week, this fall blast has put me in the baking mood. It also helped that I have started attending this cooking & health lecture series and it has given me a ton of inspiration on getting even more nutritious things on the table for all of us.  There is this amazing restaurant here in Exeter, Blue Moon Evolution, and they have partnered with the Food and Health Forum to bring a cooking series for parents together. The first class was great! I felt refreshed, inspired and ready to bake!

Let me preface this recipe (that I got from the class) by saying that I have trouble keeping these around. They are so good that everyone can't seem to stop eating them!  I love them because there is basically equal part batter (to hold it together) and part grated fruits and veggies.  They are moist and sweet  but NO refined SUGAR in these!  Just maple syrup, which I love as a mineral boosted natural sweetener.  I'm thinking my next batch I'll add a handful of flax too.

Enjoy!

1 cup of almond flour
1/4 brown rice or oat flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or coconut oil)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg at room temp
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated zucchini (from 1 unpeeled organic medium zucchini)
1/2 cup grated apple
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup Pecans (optional)

Preheat 350
Line 12 muffin tins

In a medium bowl sift together the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add any solids leftover in the sifter to the bowl and mix.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the oil, syrup, and egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in the grated carrot, grated zucchini, apple and raisins.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.

Chalkboard Wall!

Have you seen our giant chalkboard wall?

We LOVE it but we were a little nervous to begin with because as you can see it was an enormous focal point in our kitchen/dining room. HUGE!

But we went forward with it and I loved it right away! 

Everyone, adults and children, use it all the time. 

I would highly recommend adding one to a big family space in your home.   My 2 and 4 year old use it all the time. It comes in spurts. They go a week with out touching it and then all of a sudden its all they do for 2 hours one night.  The mess is not bad at all, but I have found that the wall needs to be carefully erased.  We need to wipe the board down with a wet soapy cloth, and then rewipe with another clean cloth. This is after the chalk has built up for awhile and the traditional eraser does nothing but move it around eventually. 

And case you are wondering, the top is a piece of picture wire stretched tightly. I found these bird clothespins at Crate & Barrel.

Yum! Banana Bread

I had a couple of bananas today that were at the end of their life so I decided to make banana bread. Since I rarely do the same recipe twice I looked around online, found a recipe that looked good and then I changed a bunch of stuff to help make it a teensy bit more nutritious for the kiddos. The result was soooooo good!!! Yum Yum! Really moist and delicious!

Here it is:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temp

2/3 cups of sugar

1/3 cup of unsweetened organic applesauce

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

CREAM ALL OF THESE INGREDIENTS TOGETHER

Then add the dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour ( I used equal parts unbleached white flour, almond flour, oat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

MIX THESE DRY INGREDIENTS UNTIL JUST COMBINED

Add:
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup sour cream

We also added a 1/4 cup of dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of FLAX SEED for some sneaky Omega 3s.

Feel free to add nuts!

Give it all one last mix....

Put in a greased bread pan and bake at 350 for 55 - 60 mins

Let cool and enjoy!

What We Are Reading

Tonight A pulls this book "The Rabbits" off the shelf. An amazing, spot-on, illustrated book about colonization. I've never read it to her because I expected it would be more appropriate when she was older. But she insisted. She interpreted the book (at 3 years old) more as about the Rabbits not taking care of the planet earth, but I was impressed anyway. 

The last line of the book is "Who will save us from the rabbits?". I looked at her and she answered, "A Saver!" I asked her if that was her. She responded, "Mom, I'm not a saver. I'm just a kid! I am a helper." 

When I was doing my Master's in Education, and subsequently doing professional development with educators, I was constantly reminding teachers that kids can understand so much more than they are given credit for and more importantly interpret and internalize it in a positive way. Kids don't carry the same mental baggage that we do. What can seem too dark to us just isn't to them. They take the lessons they need and understand (and that we want them to have) from books and events that at first glance seem far above them.

My daughter proved this to me tonight.

Half Way to Christmas - The Truth About Santa

So I haven't written in a really long time. There are a lot of personal reasons for that which I am sure I will get into on my next post. But in the meantime, this is the first thing in over a month that has inspired me to take 5 minutes, dry my tears, and post.

Below is a letter written by a mother, to her daughter about Santa's existence after her daughter begged to know the TRUTH.

I LOVE this letter. Love it.

Dear Lucy,

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no. I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

I love you and I always will.

Mama

I remember clearly what it felt like to believe. And I remember BEGGING to know the truth at an age when many were years past "knowing".  I hope to share something like this one day for my kids too.

The full blog post is HERE

Win a KitchenAid Food Processor

For my son's first birthday we hired Brian Samuels to photograph a portion of the event. Brian also writes a really great food blog called A Thought for Food that I love to read. I love anyone who is as obsessed with food as I am. But he hit on a memory for me last week when running this great giveaway and asked: "What would you make with this KitchenAid Food processor". 
I immediatley remembered that my husabnd bought me a food processor years ago as a gift. I loved it! And then when we were packing to move last time he accidentily dropped it and it smashed into too many pieces to mend. :-(
Before the accident, what I actually did many times with that food processor was make fresh breadcrumbs for some italian family receipes that had been passed down to me. Stuffed artichokes especially. Yum!

I love that this giveaway got me thinking about my family recipes so I thought that I'd share the link for all of you. What would you do with your winnings?!?!