for the temple + happy weekend

Earlier this year, our stake president challenged us to attend the temple often enough that it felt like a sacrifice. I had been trying to attend once a week, but his encouragement helped me to step it up a bit and be sure to not miss. I am lucky that I only live a few minutes from the Mesa Temple, and I am grateful for the time I spend there each week. This morning while I was there, I felt peace about something that has been troubling me, and inspiration on how to move forward in my assignment at church. I know inspiration and peace can come anywhere, but I think they come more easily in the temple. Through my regular attendance, I have learned more about our Savior and gained a greater appreciation for His role in our Heavenly Father's plan. Attending frequently has given me better perspective and an increased desire to be a better wife and mother. I am thankful for the counsel I received to attend more often.

Another plug for this month of gratitude: President Monson said in 2001, "Think to thank. In these three words you have the finest capsule course for a happy marriage, the formula for enduring friendships, and a pattern for personal happiness." We all want to be happier, I think. Gratitude is a sure way to find that happiness.

I took Mabel and Oliver to see Borns perform last night (on a school night even! but we couldn't pass up a free concert and Electric Love is my guilty pleasure), so I am hoping for a nap later today. And maybe a batch of healthy cookies. I'm looking at this recipe. And then maybe dinner out with Mike. Ok, lofty goals for a Friday afternoon, but I think it's doable!

I hope you have a good weekend!

some things we've eaten lately

I am determined to perfect my biscuit making abilities. I have the fondest memories of my grandma B making buttermilk biscuits each time she visited. In my memory, hers were tender and fluffy and warm (and served with molasses, of course). Her recipe called for crisco, which I just can't bring myself to use, so I am always on the hunt for another recipe. My favorite so far is this one:

Buttermilk Biscuits, from the kitchn

6 tablespoons butter (I use salted, so I omit the salt called for in the recipe)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus a little more for brushing

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cut your butter into little pieces and stick in the freezer while you assemble the other ingredients.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the very cold butter with a pastry cutter, or with your fingers. Add the buttermilk and stir until just barely holding together. (It should be a mess.)

Dump onto a lightly floured surface and press the dough into a rectangle. Work fast and don't handle the dough too much. Cut it into three even pieces, stack them on top of each other, and with the heel of your hand, press it into a rectangle again. Repeat once.

Then roll or press the dough into a rectangle that is about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 6 or 8 pieces, depending on how big you want the biscuits to be. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush with a little buttermilk.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden and starting to brown.

I have always used a biscuit cutter to make round biscuits (like in the picture), but I made them last Sunday with this method of cutting them with a knife. I loved that there were no leftover bits that had to be re-rolled to form another biscuit. I'll be making them square from here on out. Also, don't substitute whole wheat flour, please. Biscuits are only biscuits if they're made with all-purpose.

Two other things we've liked lately (both from Cookie and Kate):
Banana Nut Waffles (minus the nuts)
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers

happy weekend

It's the time of year when the citrus is ready to be picked and juiced. Yesterday I juiced a few bags of oranges and my house smelled so fresh for the rest of the day. We got so many lemons this year! I used to freeze the juice to make lemonade all year long, but do you know what's in lemonade? Lots and lots of sugar, so I don't make it as often anymore, and now our main use of the lemons is to squeeze them on top of our Sunday morning german pancakes. Must research how to use more lemons (outside of my favorite lemon deserts: warm lemon pudding cake, lemon cake, lemon squares, and lemon poppy seed muffins).

Thanks to your comments, I tried a few new recipes this week. Rollup Blender Pancakes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe were probably the biggest hit (even though they were for breakfast and not dinner). We also tried Mel's 30-Minute Quinoa Enchilada Skillet (Mabel and I loved it), Our Best Bite's Black Bean Soup and Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. I would make them all again. Thank you! Oh, and we brought these Healthy Applesauce Oat Muffins to Sunday dinner and they were gone in a flash.

I printed out lots more recipes from those sites to try next week, too. Hurray!

This is the best time of year to be in Arizona, so we are going to do our best to soak it up this weekend. Yard work is on our to-do list, and hopefully we'll actually do it instead of loafing around like we usually do on Saturdays. Ha!

Have a happy one!

happy weekend

Happy weekend, indeed! My kids and I had a really fun trip to California this week, but we are happy to be back at home with Mike. We have nothing at all planned for the next few days except sushi with friends and a whole lot of laundry and homework catch-up. It sounds really nice, actually.

If you read anything on the internet today, I hope it is this: In Defense of the Ordinary. And then have your kids read it, too.

A few excerpts: "Why isn't it enough to just be a kind person? Why can't we spend our time doing service hours because we love the Savior, not because we are trying to achieve the perfect college essay? Why can't we choose an extra-curricular or a class because we want to try it, not because it's going to help us reach some high goal or prove our worth? Not everyone is going to be the best at everything. In fact, very VERY few of us will be the best at anything. And that's ok.

"We are special because we are HIS. We are worthy because we were born. That is all that matters. And yes, that may make us average, in the sense that everyone qualifies for such a designation, but since when was that not enough?

"We should all strive for greatness, but we should expand its meaning and do it for ourselves, not society's expectations. It's about who we want to become, not who we want people to think we are. And it should be rooted in God's desires for us."

YES! Yes! Yes. I love this and I want my children to know it. Being kind and being good at loving others are far superior to maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

It's supposed to be rainy here this weekend. I always feel like baking when it's rainy. I made these whole wheat carrot muffins yesterday for the kids' afternoon snack. We are trying to get back to some good habits after our vacation and they really hit the spot.

Have a good weekend!

happy weekend

Oliver built a pretty epic cup tower last night. Elliot was crazy about it. Literally crazy. Ha!

Hooray for the weekend! I feel like we are really earning our weekends these days. Friday gets here and we all sigh with relief. We did it! We made it through another week! Phew.

I'm going to put 37 down as the year my body gave up on me. I was running the other day and realized that it was more of a shuffle than a run and I honestly couldn't pick up the pace. That was as fast as I could go! And I wake up with sore hand joints every morning. Does this happen to you, too? I've heard fish oil helps, but haven't committed to it yet. I've never minded getting older, but now I'm not so sure. My friend, Sarah, posted about this book about aging. I think I need to check it out.

I made this baked oatmeal this week and replaced the sugar with two mashed ripe bananas and it was delicious. There is still a sprinkling of brown sugar on top, which gives it just the right amount of crunchy sweetness. Someday, if I keep trying, my kids won't leave a pile of raisins at the bottom of their bowls, right?

This article made me laugh.

And I've seen this one floating around Facebook. Mike once went to a meeting where a family therapist was speaking about pornography. He said that smart phones were the worst thing that had ever happened to his practice. Our daughter, Mabel, is 14 and every single one of her friends has a smart phone. She doesn't even have a phone yet! I tell her she'll thank us someday. That's totally what teenagers want to hear, I'm sure. Do you have thoughts on this?

I have halloween costumes to sew and halloween party lip sync moves to memorize today. What are you up to?

Have a fun weekend!

happy weekend

Today marks the end of the first full week of school. I'm pretty sure we're all wiped. I've been making my way through my list of long-neglected chores. Things like wiping down the walls, cleaning out the little office off our kitchen, and giving everything a thorough dusting. (Dusting is the chore I skip most regularly, especially in the summer.) Mike and the kids have been busy expanding their minds and learning all sorts of new things, I'm sure. I think we're all ready to relax this weekend.

Two no sugar recipes we tried and loved this week: Chunky Monkey Breakfast Bake and No Sugar Added Banana Bread. For the breakfast bake: I quadrupled it to feed all four of my kids, subbed regular milk for the almond milk and peanut butter for the almond butter in the sauce (Mabel is allergic to tree nuts.), left out the maple syrup, added a tablespoon of coconut oil, and used just a few dark chocolate chips. For the banana bread: I left out the walnuts and next time I make it, I might add a pinch more salt. The bread really hit the spot (and uses a whopping 6 bananas!). It has almost the same texture as our old favorite banana bread, but none of the added sugar. It'd really be best with the walnuts called for in the recipe, but we don't want Mabel's throat to close up, so what are you going to do? But as good as these were, they mostly just reminded me of the chapter in Year of No Sugar called "Everything Tastes Like Bananas and Dates." Ha!

I know this feeling is fleeting, but I've actually been excited to pack lunches in the morning. I am challenging myself to do it with no added sugar or white flour. So far so good. We couldn't have made it without hard boiled eggs, the really sweet watermelon I picked up at Fry's, and Lara Bars. Those have been a big hit. Other things I've put in their lunches this week: tuna sandwiches on homemade buns for the boys (our mayo has sugar in it, but I've decided to let condiments go), unsweetened plain yogurt with raspberries and grape nuts, and these sesame and sea salt crackers for something crunchy. For school lunches, I try to stick to the one part sandwich, one part fruit, one part crunchy rule, maybe with a few extras thrown in.

Have a happy weekend!

happy weekend

It's been a big summer for Mabel's teeth. She got her upper braces on a couple of weeks ago, and then yesterday, in preparation for her bottom braces (just in time for high school!), she got three teeth extracted-- teeth with big daddy roots still attached. I almost had to put my head between my knees as I watched the dentist yanking them out. Don't feel too sorry for her. She is off to Sundance today to recuperate with my parents' ice cream packed freezer and her best girl cousins at the first ever "Granddaughters Week". Stella will be there, too, and I know they are going to have the best time.

A couple of you asked about meal ideas or resources for our no sugar/no white flour life. I know, I know that documentaries aren't the best places to find unbiased information, but Mike and I found Fed Up, Sugar Coated, and That Sugar Film to be very helpful/inspiring. They'll make you want to clean out your pantry asap.

Things we've eaten for dinner this week: tomato soup with homemade whole wheat rolls, shredded beef tacos on grilled corn tortillas with guacamole, chicken fried brown rice, and whole wheat oatmeal pancakes with fruit and very, very lightly sweetened freshly whipped cream. Since Mabel has become a vegetarian, I've made these black bean burgers and buns (subbing in all whole wheat flour) lots of times. We have fruit at every meal to satisfy our sweet tooth. And I've successfully made these muffins without the added sugar for a snack. I've put strawberries, blueberries, and raisins in them, and they've been delicious every time (although, to be real, my kids won't eat the ones with raisins).

I still make all of our bread, and I always use this recipe. I use half whole wheat flour, half white wheat flour. The recipe calls for three tablespoons of honey, but it's the only added sugar in my diet and I figure that three tablespoons spread out in a whole loaf of bread is a negligible amount, so I don't sweat it.

I found it easiest to go cold turkey. I cleaned out our kitchen and got rid of everything with added sugar and white flour (including white pasta and flour tortillas). (Ok, I moved all of the Ben & Jerry's to our deep freeze for special 'moderate' desserts. Ha!) I survived a trip to my parents' house and girls camp without eating added sugar, so I know I can survive anything. :) It was not easy, but it was possible.

We aren't perfect. For example: my kids had corn dogs for dinner the other night. I don't freak out when they eat sugar or white flour because I know that at home, where they eat the vast majority of their meals, we are making good choices. I don't want it to be a thing, you know? We do the best we can.

Have a happy weekend!

happy weekend

I think I officially hit my mid summer slump this week. This is when I start to wonder if the house will ever be clean again. Or if I will ever get out of the kitchen. Or if it will ever not be 115 degrees outside.

This means it's time to get out of town, I guess. Luckily our annual pilgrimage to my parents' house in Sundance is happening pronto. I can't wait!

On the bright side, Elliot has been wearing his new snorkel around the house. I'll walk into a room and he'll just be sitting there, breathing heavily and staring out the window. It is my favorite thing so far this summer.

Mabel found the best pancake recipe. Since they have no added sugar and are whole wheat, I thought I'd share her recipe here:

Oatmeal Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 teaspoons vanilla
6 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
3 eggs

Place all ingredients in a blender or large food processor. Blend until smooth, then cook on a hot griddle. This recipe makes enough to feed our family of 6.

We've been eating them with butter, peaches, blueberries, and bananas and haven't even missed the syrup!

Have a good weekend!

zucchini bread three ways

Last week, my neighbor gave me the world's biggest zucchini, which meant I just had to bake a million loaves of zucchini bread, right?

Right.

Slightly Healthier Zucchini Bread

3 cups of flour (I used mostly whole wheat, with a little all-purpose.)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup of oil (I used what I had on hand: a little bit of coconut oil, a little bit of melted butter, and a little bit of vegetable oil. Other alternatives: applesauce.)
2 1/4 cups of sugar (Or, 2 mashed ripe bananas plus 1 cup of sugar)
3 teaspoons of vanilla
3 cups of shredded zucchini (don't drain or squish the water out)
and some chocolate chips or blueberries or walnuts (Or in my case, all three.)

I doubled the recipe, which made 3 large loaves. Not doubling it would make two regular loaves.

Grease your pans and preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Sift the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.
Add the wet to the dry, then stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips/blueberries/nuts.

Bake for 40-60 minutes

My favorite was the walnut loaf, but of course our kids would only eat the chocolate chip one. :)

less sugar buttermilk syrup

It's funny how what I think of as healthy has changed over the years. I used to think that no matter what was in a food, as long as I made it at home, it was healthy. For example: my first go at buttermilk syrup. I would never in a million years put corn syrup into something nowadays!

Once I started making most things from scratch, I realized that maybe I could choose better ingredients, or things with fewer ingredients. And definitely things with less added sugar. It doesn't matter if it's corn syrup or white sugar or organic honey, in my opinion. The less of those things in my family's diet, the better.

Who knows how I'll feel about that in a few years, but I suspect that I am on to something.

The fact remains that our family eats lots of pancakes and waffles and french toast. And those foods, as whole wheat and healthy as I make them, taste best when drizzled with sweet syrup. For a long time, this homemade maple syrup was my go-to. But even that has a full cup of sugar in it!

I found this recipe for buttermilk syrup and liked that it only has a few ingredients, but I didn't love all the sugar. So I cut the sugar in half. And you know what? It's completely delicious and totally sweet enough. My kids love it.

Less Sugar Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the buttermilk and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the baking soda and vanilla. It will foam up a bit, so make sure your pot is large enough.

Best when served warm. Store the leftovers in the fridge and pop in the microwave to warm it up before the next use. Since it's mostly butter, it will separate and solidify a little. Warming it up and giving it a stir is the solution.

hot school-day breakfasts

During the school year, I make a hot breakfast for my kids most days. Here are some of the things we like to eat:

Eggs. At least one morning a week I make eggs - usually scrambled with a little cheese and a left-over roll as a sandwich or alongside a nice, thick slice of toast, or in a burrito. Sometimes I'll bake a batch of muffins (like these or these) for an after school snack and serve them with eggs the next morning for breakfast. If I am feeling really generous (or have some extra time), I'll make buttermilk biscuits to go with them. I suppose those could always be made ahead of time, but there are not many things better than biscuits fresh from the oven. We're avoiding white flour during the week (except in tortilla form), so these haven't made a school-day appearance yet. It only takes a few minutes to scramble or fry eggs, and giving my kids a big helping of protein before their long school day makes me feel like a good mom.

Pancakes. This is probably my kids' favorite hot breakfast. This school year I've been using Kodiak Cakes. We like the Whole Wheat Oat and Honey Frontier Flapjack Mix. I love that they are quick (you can just add water to the mix) and they are made from whole wheat with no added sugar. I've been adding quick oats and an egg to our batter to beef them up a little bit. My boys love theirs with peanut butter and homemade syrup. Sometimes I'll make a few extra to stick in their lunches. They are just as good cold as warm. You could even make a big batch and keep them in the fridge to reheat throughout the week if you really wanted to save time, but they are really quick to make the day of. I try to serve them with a little fruit on the side.

Baked oatmeal is one of my personal favorites. This is prepared the night before, then baked in the morning for 30 minutes. I like that you can make it as sweet or not as you like. Sometimes I make it with raisins, sometimes blueberries. Sometimes I serve it with banana slices on top. Because it is prepared the night before, it frees up my morning for making lunches and my kitchen from dirty dishes. I always feel really on top of things when this is baking in my oven.

Oatmeal. Elliot would eat a big bowl of oatmeal every morning if the other kids were on board. I set a pot of whole milk and water (with a dash of salt) to boil, then dump in some quick oats, give it a few stirs, put a lid on it, and set it aside while I make the lunches. When it's done cooking, I top it with a good amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a sprinkling of brown sugar. My kids don't like fruit in their oatmeal, but I try to serve it alongside. Peaches go really well with it, I think.

Cream of Wheat is a new one for us this year. I grew up on it, but my kids had never really had it before. It cooks up in just a few minutes and is very filling. We top ours with a bit of brown sugar.

German pancakes are a special Sunday morning treat, but could work for a school day, too. They are best when they are made from all-purpose flour, so that's why we save them for Sunday. But my kids gobble them up every time I make them. I've changed my recipe to make them a little heartier. I blend 8 eggs, 1 1/3 cups milk, 1 1/3 cups flour, and 3/4 tsp salt together while 4 tablespoons of butter are melting in a 9x13 inch pan in the 400 degree oven. Once the butter is melted, I pour the mixture in and bake for 18 minutes. We like ours best with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Sadly, our waffle iron bit the dust this summer. I'm putting this one on my Christmas list. But if I had one now, I'd be making pumpkin gingerbread waffles or these favorite waffles (subbing in whole wheat flour) at least once a week. Waffles are always great to make ahead of time and freeze. Then you can reheat them quickly on school days. I like to keep fresh cream on hand to whip with a touch of sugar and vanilla as a waffle topping. My kids prefer syrup, but it's so sugary! I like having lightly sweetened whipped cream as an alternative.

Some things that help our mornings run more smoothly: I always decide the night before what I'll be making for breakfast the next day. And I wake up early. I make sure I have plenty of time to exercise and still be in the kitchen by 6 to get breakfast and lunch packing started. We eat breakfast at about 6:35. Mabel and Oliver have to be out the door by 7, and I like to sit and read scriptures with them while they eat. Being up early helps me get all of this accomplished without feeling too frantic. Oh, and we totally eat cold cereal sometimes, too. Ha!

Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

We always seem to have browning bananas sitting on our kitchen counter. So, when we needed a treat for Family Home Evening this week, Mabel and Oliver tried a new recipe. We all thought it was a winner. They made Kelsey Nixon's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I had them swap the shortening for butter, halve the sugar, and use whole wheat flour because I'm like that. And they tasted great! Plenty sweet with only 1/2 cup of sugar. The bonus of making "healthy" cookies, is that I don't feel bad letting them eat them for breakfast.

Oh, and ours were done baking after about 18 minutes.

Sweet Potato Muffins

I'm sort of having a sweet potato moment. Some of my kids don't think they like sweet potatoes. In an effort to convince them otherwise, I made a batch of sweet potato muffins.

Sweet Potato Muffins

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In another bowl blend:

1 sweet potato, microwaved till soft, then peeled and mashed
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 22 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins

Some notes: The peanut butter flavor pretty much disappears in the baking. I wish it didn't! It was so delicious in the batter. My kids thought the muffins were fine, but they probably would have gobbled them up faster if I'd put chocolate chips in them. I think next time I will. Also, you can bump up the sugar a bit if you're not freaking out about added sugar like I am.

Recipe adapted from an almond butter + milk version on Minimalist Baker and a dairy-free, egg-free, gluten free from Madeline Nutrition.

banana blueberry muffins

I know I've mentioned this already, but we are trying to eat less sugar at our house. I have done this on my own before, but Mike and I both felt that our whole family could benefit from this change. My children get so much junk at school and church and everywhere else, that we don't need to have it at home, too. It has been a few weeks now, and we have been very pleased with how our children have adapted, and we are excited to continue this habit (hopefully for the rest of our lives). We are eating lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and protein, of course. But I still like to have something on hand for an after school snack. Something fresh from the oven, like a muffin. I've tried a few recipes in the past few weeks, but this one has been my favorite so far:


Better Banana Muffins

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or so blueberries (optional)

Mix the mashed bananas and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

makes 12 muffins

baked oatmeal, take two

A few of you shared your family's recipe for baked oatmeal after my post a couple of weeks ago. Thank you! I haven't tried them all, but I've made Karen's a couple of times and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with the rest of you. I hope that's ok, Karen.

Karen's Baked Oatmeal

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use melted butter instead)
3/4 cup sugar (I decreased this to 1/3)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup raisins (my crazy kids don't like raisins, so I just put a few in for myself)
2 tablespoons brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Beat the oil and sugar together. Mix in the eggs, milk, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Then stir in the oatmeal and raisins. Pour into a lightly greased pie pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cover, and refrigerate over night. In the morning, bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

Serve with milk and any fruit you have on hand, but you don't have to. It's great plain! I love the raisins in this one, and I really love the way the edges get a little crispy. Plus, it makes my whole house smell cozy and delicious first thing in the morning.

Banana Cake

I had some very ripe bananas sitting on my shelf this past weekend, but banana bread didn't seem to fit the bill for a Sunday dinner Super Bowl treat. So I found this recipe for a classic Banana Cake instead. I had just enough of the ingredients listed to make one little layer. There would be a few other desserts at Mike's parents' house that night, so I knew a small cake would be plenty. I halved this recipe:

Banana Cake
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)
2 1/2 cups cake flour (If you don't have cake flour, replace 2 tbl flour per cup with 2 tbl cornstarch.)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare two 9-inch pans (grease and flour). Mash the bananas in a small bowl. I like mine nice and smooth, but you can leave chunks, if you'd prefer. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a second bowl. In a third bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add the buttermilk to the mashed bananas, and then mix it into the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Once it's cooled completely, frost it with this:

Banana Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 1)
3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mash the banana. In another bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and the lemon juice. Then mix in the mashed banana. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a little bit at a time.


The frosting really packs a banana punch and makes this cake extra special. The cake was light and moist, and the frosting was creamy and rich. We all loved it. I might not go back to banana bread ever again.

baked oatmeal

I'm always looking for warm, hearty breakfasts to serve on long school days - something that will keep tummies full through morning lessons until lunchtime. Some of our favorites are thick slices of homemade toast with mint hot chocolate (recipe below), german pancakes, weekend waffles, whole wheat waffles, and egg burritos. My sister-in-law makes a really healthy version of baked oatmeal for her kids all the time, so I thought I would give it a try. The recipe I found is admittedly less healthy than my sister-in-law's no sugar version, but it was a hit with 1/2 of my children and I call that good enough.

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups quick oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the oats and mix until combined. Pour into a greased 9x9 inch pan and bake for 40-45 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Serve warm with milk and fruit.

I'm sure you could lessen the sugar content (which I will probably do next time), or even swap it out for honey instead. Since this was my first time making it, I followed the recipe exactly and was pleased with the results. I served it with blueberries and bananas. This is probably the reason why my blueberry-disliking boys weren't big fans. But I am willing to try it again (and again) until they like it. I think it'd be really good with stewed apples. Or a drizzle of maple syrup.

It has a rather long baking time, so it might not work well on busy early school mornings, but it can be baked the day before and kept in the fridge. My sister-in-law bakes hers in oversized muffin tins and freezes them for individual servings when needed.

Does your family eat something like this? I'd love to try out your recipe if you don't mind sharing.


Mint Hot Chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
a dash of salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in the hot water and cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Boil and stir for two minutes. Stir in the milk and heat, but don't boil this time. Once it's warm to your liking, stir in the peppermint extract. Serves 4-6.

You can swap the peppermint for vanilla extract and add a dash of cinnamon for a non-mint version. We love them both!

pumpkin gingerbread waffles

It's the first day of fall! Hooray! It might still be 100 degrees here in the desert, but that doesn't mean we can't eat pumpkin waffles and pretend that we are chilly.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Waffles

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 egg
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a whisk. Add the wet ingredients and combine. Cook on a preheated waffle iron until nice and crisp. I put my waffle iron on almost the highest setting. I think pumpkin makes things cook slower, so if you want them crisp, they almost need to be overcooked.

Serve with spiced whipped cream or good old maple syrup (and lots of butter, of course).

This recipe makes 4 or 5 belgian waffles.

Berry Syrup

Something that we've been loving at our house lately is homemade berry syrup. We eat a lot of waffles and pancakes and german pancakes, and berry syrup is a nice change from the usual, sugary maple syrup we put on top. I like that I can make it with as much or as little sugar as I want. I am always trying to reduce the amount of sugar we eat, and this is a good way to have something sweet, but not too sweet.

Berry Syrup

1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 to 1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
2 cups berry mix, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries

Bring all ingredients to a boil on medium high heat. Boil vigorously for about 5 minutes (careful, it will splatter), or until the fruit has broken down and is very soft. Then blend with an immersion blender, or mash with a spoon. I use our bean masher, and I keep it sort of chunky. Serve warm on top of your favorite waffles or pancakes with some freshly whipped cream.

(I like whipping my own cream. I think it tastes better, and it allows me to control the amount of sugar here, too. I use a small half pint carton with just a tablespoon or so of sugar and a little vanilla. I like it sort of runny, so I only whip it until it is nice and heavy.)

Bonus: Berry syrup is super delicious served over vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

This cake in no way replaces cinnamon rolls. But it comes awfully close. It is more like a coffee cake, and would be good to serve at a brunch or a baby shower. This weekend, I brought it to a funeral. That worked, too, I guess.

Cinnamon Roll Cake, from my friend, Brooke

for the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix everything together except for the butter. Then slowly stir the melted butter into the batter before pouring it all into a greased 9x13 pan.

for the topping:
1 cup softened butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix these ingredients together, then drop evenly over the top of the batter. Swirl into the cake batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-32 minutes.

for the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix these together and drizzle over the warm cake. (I needed to add a little more milk to make mine the right consistency for drizzling, just fyi.)