Boom Boom Pow

A few weeks ago I was surfing radio stations with Bryce in the car. All of a sudden I hear a frantic "Boom, boom? Boom, booms?" I was racking my brain trying to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. Having no clue, I went back to changing stations. Then I hear Bryce in a much happier tone say, "Boom, Booms" and I realize he's talking about the song! It was Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow."

When we got home that day, and pretty much every day since, he asks for "Boom, booms." When he's throwing a fit, the song actually calms him down. It's pretty funny, really. On Friday Black Eyed Peas just happened to be on the Today show's Friday Concert Series and thanks to the magic of Tivo, we can now put it on the tv any time his heart desires. We caught some of his dancing magic on video, for your enjoyment...




P.S. I'm not sure what this whole falling over on purpose phase is... He even does it while we're out on walks now! Crazy boy.

Strawberries

After Bryce's nap today, we thought it would be fun to see what goodies the nearby farms had to offer. It's early in the season, so we weren't expecting too much. We just couldn't resist the U-pick at the first farm we visited. The strawberries were too inviting so Bryce, Brian, Mom and I headed into the fields. Bryce was in HEAVEN! I don't think he's ever been so focused on one thing for so long. He just picked and picked and picked, oh and ate.

Since we hadn't gone out with the intention of picking, we didn't bring our camera to document Bryce's first U-pick experience. Thankfully, a very nice mama saw Bryce being adorable and offered to take a few pictures for us.









We walked out with probably about a whole flat worth of yummy Hoods for only $16.00. We usually pay about $14.00 at the farmer's market for a half-flat, so it was so worth it. Too bad even 5 hours later, my allergies still haven't recovered.

Cookie-ish-healthy-cookies

I'm on a foodie roll lately :) Which is funny, since I don't particularly enjoy cooking. Actually it's not so much the cooking, but the cleaning up that I despise. Anyway, I was searching for a cookie recipe the other day with a limited number of ingredients. Since I don't cook/bake, I rarely have much in the pantry. I stumbled upon this little gem from allrecipes.com. It's a super yummy HEALTHY banana cookie. I emphasize the healthy, because it truly is. If you're looking for something sugary or chocolatey, this is not the treat for you. For us, it's perfect! The best part is Bryce digs it and I don't mind giving it to him because it has no added sugar. That's right. Zip!

What you need:

* 3 ripe bananas
* 2 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What I added/changed:

-subbed raisins for dates
-subbed natural applesauce for oil
-a drizzle of honey
-flax seeds
-cinnamon
-nutmeg
-unsweetened coconut (tried this with 1 batch tonight. Not bad!)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (the recipes calls for 350, I went for 325).
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in oats, dates, oil, and vanilla (and any other ingredients you fancy). Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet (those silpat sheets are perfect).
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown.

The recipe says it should yield 36 cookies. Obviously, it totally depends on your cookie size. I tend to get around 28-30 cookies.

These turn out quite moist, not the typical "cookie" texture. So, they're simply cookie-ish. Also, they keep the shape they're baked in so form them accordingly. I'd like to play around with other ingredients soon. That will require a trip to the grocery store though...

Quinoa = Yum

Bryce is practically a vegetarian. He hasn't liked meat so much since day one. I could definitely handle being a vegetarian- I hate touching/cooking the meat of birds, cows, pigs, etc. Ewwwwww. The only person standing in the way of our total conversion is a meat-loving-daddy.

So I am constantly trying to find yummy, protein-packed dinners sans any furry, hairy, feathery animals. Tonight I made quinoa and topped it with a sauteed mixture of whatever I had in my fridge. That happened to be a sweet onion, asparagus, fresh parsley (thanks momma!), and tomatoes. Oh, and of course some EVOO! It was super yummy. Brian even loved it. You should try it :)

p.s. Next time (after a trip to the market) I'll add some summer squash. Eggplant would probably be fabulous as well.

Warm Weather Food?

I'm so not a cook but I was doing pretty good the last few months with my crock pot. Now it's just too hot for my favorite crock pot foods. Soups just don't sound good when it is a very muggy 86 degrees. In fact, not a whole lot sounds so great on these warm weather days. So I ask, What do you make your families on days like these? Give me some ideas, please. Even better, do you have any favorite recipe websites?

And to my lovely sisters in Arizona and Texas where it gets much, much hotter- I better get responses from you!