Make You Banana Pancakes...

I recently took part in a five-day clean eating challenge, and had to share one of the breakfast recipes.

During my first trimester of this pregnancy, my established eating patterns of salads for lunch and egg-heavy breakfasts with reasonable dinners went out the window for the stomach-soothing caaaaaarbs. I heart gluten, that's certainly no secret, but I knew that if I stayed on the path I'd started down, they'd have to roll me to the hospital by month nine. 

This time around I'm determined to gain very little weight. Or none. (and unless you are my OB, please save the admonitions, this is not an unsafe thing to do if you're chubby to start with, are eating nutrient-dense foods, exercising sensibly, and your baby is growing at the normal rate)  As I've learned the hard way, the novelty of gaining 800 pounds over the course of a pregnancy wears off pretty quickly when you have to then work off said half-ton with a newborn. And older kids. And a life. On limited sleep.

That said, I was happy to find this protein-rich breakfast that honestly gave me all of the satisfaction of eating actual pancakes. I promise. They're good! I quadrupled the original recipe to feed myself and my three kids, with a few leftover for the next day...at which point they weren't very good. This is definitely a recipe that is better on the day it's fresh and hot. They were super fast, and if you make them small and let them cook long enough on the first side, they flip as easily as traditional pancakes. If you don't, they're an ugly mess, because they're just a smidge thicker than crepes. You've been warned. 

I love using a blender with a lip, because it eliminates the mess going from bowl to griddle with a ladle.

I chose to cook mine in coconut oil, but they would likely be even mo' bettah in a straight-up butter coated pan. Or, if you're boring, a naked non-stick pan. So bust out your blender and heat up your griddle; these babies are even quick enough for school mornings!

Banana Protein Pancakes (quadrupled)

Breakfast:

8 eggs

2 bananas

1 c. dry oats

2 t. vanilla

2 t. ground cinnamon

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until smooth.  Coat pan with ½ t. coconut (or olive oil or nonstick cooking spray...or grassfed butter) and cook just like pancakes.  

Spread with 1 T. almond butter or peanut butter. (make sure it's not straight from the fridge or you'll rip the pancakes). I also added a mix of fresh berries and you can add pure maple syrup or whatever your favorite pancake toppings are-get crazy.

Makes about 32 silver-dollar sized, thin, pancakes.  

Brick House Party

It's been a long time since I've taken time to post, but life, blah blah, you don't care; it's boring. Pregnant again, some more. This time it's a girl. Anywho. I'm back. This summer we were gone for H's birthday and between friends' vacation schedules and other availability I'm having his party a month late. Sooo...I thought I'd finally post about his last birthday.

I had a lot of fun planning a simple Lego-themed party. Pinterest is awash with crazy complex cakes and ideas, but I just don't have the time or patience to work with fondant so the cake I made (following this tutorial) ended up looking really, really sad but the kids thought it was fun. That's what matters, right? RIGHT?!

The Lego Candles really take the cake, right? Punny.

The cupcakes were the Best White Cake {Ever} recipe (and it really is) with simple buttercream frosting, and I made yellow mini-figures using candy melts and these molds, plus pure candy melt bricks out of the second mold in the set. They're silicone so they clean up really easily, which is always a plus for me.

Instead of filling the pinata with candy, I bought the big box of Lego Bricks and filled it with that...which was kind of a disaster when the legos flew everywhere on my patio but, again, the kids loved it and they got them all, so it was fine. It wasn't until the moment right before it busted open, however, that I realized what I'd done by filling it with tiny pieces. Ah well, live and learn.

After gathering their legos with lightning speed and playing outside for a bit, they brought their sweaty selves in for some cake, presents and lego-building with the leftover time. 

The one thing I didn't take a picture of, was the gift bag; it was cheap and easy. Just the way I like it. Instead of buying a bunch of colored handle bags, I busted out my package of 4,000 count brown paper lunch sacks, went through my paper stash and found primary colored card stock (which you could buy and it'd still be cheaper than buying colored bags) and cut a rectangle the same size as the front of the bag and affixed it with glue. Then punch out six to eight 1-or 2-inch circles with a large circle punch like this one, which you can usually find at a craft store with a coupon, and affix them to the front with 3-d foam squares so that they look like the studs on the Lego bricks. Boom, cheapo goody bags. In the bags I put a couple of the candy bricks in a melamine bag and they got to put their pinata haul in it for the rest of the goody. I'm not big on doing a huge gift bag for each person, but it's nice to have the bag for them to put candy or treats in if you're doing a pinata.

My bags were based on this idea...but cheaper ;)

That's really all I did. It doesn't have to be fancy to be fun!

This year Henry has request a Red Velvet Cake with Ice Cream filling for his birthday party. Thank the lord for Pinterest. 

Buy You a Penny Lick

For my fellow Downton Abbey fans, the Penny Lick shawl gets its name from one of the last lines of season four when Bates offers to buy Anna a penny lick as a peace offering after a season of tension and brooding between them. Plus, I'm like a twelve year old and it sounded kind of dirty, so...

Jimmy Beans Wool hosted a mystery knitalong for this season of Downton Abbey, the result of which was this beautiful and cozy shawl that I knit from Pepperberry Knits 100% cashmere in a retired colorway Mixed Berries. I've had this particular yarn in my stash for about two years, but because I had significant yardage of a single color (as opposed to enough to make one hat) I wanted to find just the right project and I think I did!

Crescent-shaped with a seashell lace edging, it will wrap around people of all shapes and sizes, swathing you in comfort, with the cashmere adding a touch of luxury. Whether you're going to work or curling up with a book on the weekend, I think this piece fits the bill! I had a lot of fun knitting it, and if you love it as well it can be yours! Just click on over...

Meal plan Monday Tuesday

Better late than never, right? This week marks the beginning of Lent, and with it the return if Fish Fridays. Here's what we have on tap for the next two weeks. I'm trying to clear out my freezer of some of the meat that's been there awhile, so I can make way for a partial beef and pig purchase.

Week of March 3rd:

Monday: Fruit, Cheese and Crackers-the first two Mondays of the month are Cub Scout meetings so it's a quick and dirty dinner after homework.

Tuesday: Fat Tusday! I'm trying The Pioneer Woman's new take on pancakes and putting them in mini muffin tins. Use whatever pancake recipe you love and scoop them out into mini tins, bake at 425 for 8 minutes for a crispy edge or 400 for 11 minutes for a softer finish.

Wednesday: rice noodles with tofu and peanut sauce

Thursday: pork chops and applesauce (just try to say it without curling your lip over your top teeth a la Alice.

Friday: salmon burgers and salad

Saturday: Manda's birthday celebration

Sunday: frittata and salad

Week of March 10th:

Monday: Quesadillas and fruit

Tuesday: Taco stuffed pasta shells

Wednesday: Slow cooker Salsa Chicken with brown rice and salad

Thursday: home made pizza: build-your-own

Friday: Grilled Halibut and salad (drill weekend)

Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs (drill weekend)

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner; WW English muffin breakfast sandwiches (drill weekend)

For Lent, my kids are giving up Candy! I will be holding them to that. They aren't giving up all sweets, but candy is a biggie because little treats add up over time. Movie night treats will still happen, but they won't be candy.

Cozy Up to the Oscars

This week's stash-buster is brought to you by my desire for a mindless craft that I could do while watching my favorite awards show. While the stars glammed it up, I slummed it on my couch with a glass of Washington White and a pile o' wool felt.

This craft is ridiculously easy and you can make a handful of them in minutes. Mind you, one side of the stitching is totally janked because I didn't take the time to fix the tension but, hey, I was whipping them out on a commercial break!

All you need is a stack of felt (make sure you get actual wool felt) a cut-out of this template, scissors and some pins.

I cut out the cozies while Pink rocked a tribute to Judy Garland and then stitched them up quickly using the chain piecing method during the next commercial.  These are cute, simple, and would be a great addition to a teacher gift, hostess gift or a simple thank you for a friend. Also, Easter is a'coming.

hmmm...which little xy placed a cup right in the middle of my coffee table?!