Backyard Campout

Jackson and I had an impromptu slumber party in the new clubhouse last night. He slept really well, I did not. Here are my observations from our clubhouse campout: Jackson is a bed (cot) hog, the sounds of crickets are very relaxing at night, drunk neighbors can indeed be louder than fireworks, I love my son very much (and I'm glad he didn't have any accidents last night!)

Peanut Butter - Raisin Spread

I seem to be all about food lately. I'd gotten kind of lazy about cooking (think box meals, frozen stuff, etc.) in the past couple of weeks, so I'm on a mission to cook more and eat healthier. I wanted to make this spread last week, but Jackson left the brand new box of raisins on the couch and the dogs devoured it, so I had to wait until I bought some more. I got this recipe from my friend Robin and it is soooo good! I could just eat spoonfuls of it! It makes a great snack or breakfast spread. I like it on bananas (my favorite!), apples, graham crackers, or by itself. It's a big hit for the entire family, especially Jackson. Good thing about it is you most-likely already have all of the ingredients at home. Here's the recipe. I highly recommend making it right now... don't delay!

Peanut Butter - Raisin Spread

1/2 apple juice

3/4 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups peanut butter (creamy)

2 Tb. honey

2 tsp. cinnamon

Bring apple juice and raisins to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes (or until raisins absorb juice). Then mix with peanut butter, honey and cinnamon.

I must go get a spoonful now. That's all.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

First of all, I need to learn to read the instructions before making anything in the kitchen. The first batch I mixed up was all wrong because I just started throwing ingredients in there that weren't even supposed to be in there. After I threw that out, I started over, carefully reading the cookbook. It took a lot longer for the pancakes to cook than normal pancakes, so we were really hungry by the time they were ready. Overall, I thought the taste was really good. Sweet and yummy. The texture, though, was not so great. They were a bit mushy in the middle from the sweet potato puree. I also added some cinnamon for added flavor... loved that! I might give these pancakes one more try to see if I can improve the texture somehow. Might try to use Bisquick instead of Hungry Jack pancake mix.

Here's the recipe if you guys want to try it:

Sweet Potato Pancakes (from Deceptively Delicious)

1 cup water
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup pancake mix

Mix water, puree and cinnamon. Then add pancake mix. Pour batter onto pre-heated skillet or griddle (med-high heat). Cook until bubbly and a bit brown, then flip.

Charles liked the pancakes, but thought the texture was a bit off as well. Jackson wouldn't touch them. He said he wasn't in a pancake mood.

I think I'm going to try the eggs with cauliflower tomorrow morning. He'd better be in an egg mood tomorrow because that's all he's getting. :)

Deceptively Delicious

OK.. I need to eat more vegetables. My children like veggies way more than me, but they could always eat more too. I borrowed Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious" from my friend Karly. The idea is to puree veggies and then mix them into recipes so no one will know that what they are eating is filled with a vegetable. Here was my shopping list: 3 sweet potatoes, 3 squash, 1 butternut squash, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 head of broccoli, 3 guacamole's. I spent about 3, yes THREE, hours cooking, baking, steaming and pureeing all of these vegetables. It took so long and had better be worth it! Some proof my children love veggies more than me... Jackson was actually eating uncooked cauliflower while I was cutting it up to put in the steamer. It wasn't even covered in ranch! Anyways, I wanted to do some carrots and bananas too, but couldn't take it anymore after that long. I'll just stick to recipes that have what I've pureed so far. I figure if it's a success, we'll be healthier for it. If it's not, Brady will have lots of fresh, pureed food to eat. I put all of the purees into freezer Ziploc bags. I put a few into the fridge for recipes this week and the rest in the freezer for future use. I'll be blogging about what I cook and how it turns out... so stay tuned.

By the way, I'm going to be doing an entire re-branding of this blog. I'm expanding it to include stuff about my cooking experiments, training for the half-marathon and whatever else is going on. I know you're all really excited about that. :)

Look Who's Sitting Up!

Brady finally got his balance just right so that he could sit up on his own a couple of weeks ago. Yea!

Here he is just as happy as can be... chewing on Pinky the bunny.

He loves to sit up in the cart now too. I love this picture... too bad I can't find that hat any more! I think it got left behind at swim class and I'm guessing it's on another child's head now. :(

Since Brady is sitting on the floor a lot more now, his toys are just sitting empty... but thanks to Jackson they are still getting some use. My little tiger loves to play with Brady's toys. I've found him sitting in his bumbo, bouncy seat, jump-a-roo and exer-saucer in the past couple of weeks. He's a silly boy.

Christmas Train

Every year the Arkansas-Missouri Railroad hosts a Christmas train ride with Santa. It was Jackson's and Brady's first train ride. It was a long, very cold wait for the train, but we finally boarded the train and rode from Springdale to Lowell and back. On the train we got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, but Jackson was careful not to get too close after the debacle at the Promenade... see picture below. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Here's the train we were on. It was built between 1914 and 1917 and was used in the movie Biloxi Blues filmed in Van Buren in 1987.

Jackson and Daddy waiting to board the train.

I LOVE this picture of Brady. He so happy all the time and is just giggling away here in his warm teddy bear outfit. It was a COLD morning... I think he was the only warm one!

Jackson is checking out the sites as we rode the rails. He was so excited!

Jackson is keeping his distance from Santa here. He loves Santa, but only from a distance.

The day before the Christmas train, we visited Santa in the mall. It didn't go over well with either child.

Nana and Grandpa's House

The boys and I recently visited their Nana and Grandpa's house in Fort Smith for a little fun... well, a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Jackson and Brady's cousins, Emma and Dakota, came over the first night we were there and had the best time! Here they are pictured in a rare moment... sitting down. They ran all over the backyard and house until it was bedtime and they were worn out!

The birds were out of food, so Emma and Jackson decided to fill up the feeder. I think more landed on the ground than in the feeder... at least the squirrels will be happy!

Brady rocking and relaxing with his Nana.

Jackson talking to his Daddy on the phone. Obviously he was excited to hear from him!

Before we left, Grandpa played his guitar for all of us. He used to play for Charles when he was little too. Jackson loved it! He danced and sang along... it was just adorable!