homemade bread

Earlier this afternoon Cam was watching a movie and I wanted to bake.   I decided to experiment with bread for sandwiches.  I found this recipe which has SUCH a great, nutty flavor.  It’s not your typical store bought light and fluffy texture, so I’ll need to use thinner slices for the kids' sandwiches as one piece is pretty dense/filling.  I love how healthy it is and feel like it’s worth forgoing the nice fluffy texture of store bought for that reason. :)

p.s. It may look time consuming because of the number of ingredients, but I put both loaves together in about 10 minutes.

Healthy Sandwich Bread (makes two loaves)

1 tbls. active dry yeast

1/2 tsp. white sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 3/4 cups warm water

1/8 cup honey

1/8 cup molasses

1/4 cup olive oil

1 egg

1 tbls. lemon juice

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup flaxseed

1/8 cup sunflower seeds

1 tsp. salt

2 cups oats (measure, then grind in the food processor)

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup warm water.  In a large bowl, mix remaining 1 3/4 cup warm water, honey, molasses, oil, egg, and lemon juice.  Mix well.  Add yeast mixture and stir.  Gradually add whole wheat flour and stir.  Add remainder of ingredients and mix with your hands until well combined (like two minutes).  Divide in half and put into two greased loaf pans.  Cover with a towel and let rise until about double in size.  Bake at 350 for approx 25 minutes.

p.s. To speed along the rising, I put my oven at 250 for 5 minutes, then shut it off.  I then put the pans inside and the not to warm oven really speeds them along.

day #1 and #2

Cam and I have had such a fun time together so far.  Yesterday I picked him up from school and we headed to the park.

Next we went to Barnes and Noble to do some reading.  We were able to log a couple books for their summer reading program.  Next, per Cam's request, we had dinner at Wienerschnitzel.

Today we went to a very fun birthday party with a bike theme.  There were streamers to decorate your bike with and all the kids road to a nearby park before coming back for cupcakes/presents.

After the party I took Cam and his friend Jack to Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom.  They were insanely happy running between the bounce houses and outside to the mini golf.  I had intended on taking Cam anyway, but the addition of his good friend just upped the "fun factor" a ton! :)

This evening Cam enjoyed a "choose your own dinner" of a tortilla, graham cracker with Caramel Almond Butter, and applesauce.

Fun, fun times with my little guy. :)

cinnamon rolls

I might have posted this recipe before, but I've tweaked it again to make them even healthier.  The kids love them!!  I will say they are very heavy/dense.  So if your family is used to light and fluffy cinnamon rolls, it might take some getting used to. :)  But they are just so darn quick to make since they don't have yeast and you don't have to prep them the night before.

Quick and Healthy Cinnamon rolls (makes 8)

2 tbls. butter
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
2 tbls. flaxseed
applesauce
brown sugar
cinnamon

Combine first 6 ingredients.  Mix with your hands and roll out onto a floured surface.  Spread a thin layer of applesauce.  Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon (I'll admit I do a hefty amount of sugar).  Roll up.  Cut into rolls and bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes.

*We went to a friend's house for a playdate the other day.  She had baby chicks which were quite cute. :)

*A few months ago Cam requested a "momma/Cameron weekend", which we had done a couple years ago.  So this weekend Chris will take Kendall up to his parents and leave Cam and I behind.  I'm so excited to spend the weekend with just him.  I have some fun things planned.

*I LOVE meatloaf.  I used to order the meatloaf sandwich at Claim Jumpers and was sad when they took it off the menu. Tonight I tried this recipe I saw on a cooking show over the weekend.  It was good, but the sauce is what made it great (basically just add brown sugar to ketchup)!

*Yesterday I took the kids to the 99 cent store so Cam could pick out something with his toothfairy money.  He chose water balloons and they have been a big hit. I knew they would quickly go through the small stockpile I made (those little knots do a number on your fingers!).  So I turned it into a just a water activity time and Kendall was in heaven.  Cam isn't the biggest fan of getting wet, so he just farted around. :)

*Chris and I rented "Man on a Ledge" tonight.  Hope it's good!!

running

Chris and I have talked about doing a 5K sometime together.  We always talk about how nice it would be to work out together, but that is just hard with kids.

I've trained for two marathons in my life.  "Trained" is the operative word. :)  I never made it past 10 miles and gave up the training.  While I'm not thinking I want to tackle long runs again, I will definitely keep this up because I LOVED running this morning.  It's so nice to be outside in the morning when the roads are empty and it's just me and my music. :)  And while I think my normal workout (which I've grown to love) is a better workout overall, I'll enjoy switching it up with running.  It will also put me in a little better "runner's shape" for when Chris and I want to to do an official run. :)

Sorry the pic is a little blurry.  I love using Chris' tiny little iPod.  I remember the days when I would actually run holding a Discman!!! :)

palm springs

We escaped the cool weather to Palm Springs today.  We mixed up our normal routine a bit and hit the street fair.  I was hoping to find some knock off Crocs for the kids, but no luck.  We left with two frozen lemonades and two tiny bobble head animal toys for the kids.

Afterward we went to the park for a while.  The kids were VERY excited to find some turtles in the little pond.

After playing we hit up Costco on the way home for lunch and...

*Frozen veggies
*Eggs
*Peanut Butter
*Granola Bars (for Chris, since he's not a big fan of the ones I make for the kids)
*Meat

The kids didn't have much of an appetite for dinner as there were tons of samples today.   Favorites?

Me:  Pound cake with whipped cream
Chris: Guy Fieri seasoned chicken
Kids:  Healthy Choice Chocolate Ice Cream Bars

Fun day :)

food stuff

*I LOVE egg salad sandwiches (feel free to gag now, Susan).  I remember I used to get them daily for lunch in college on really soft squaw bread.  Mmmm...  It's very expensive to buy in the deli so I rarely eat it.  I make my own every now and then and always wonder why I don't do it more often.  Today's lunch included an egg salad wrap. Very yummy.

*I made some goodies for Cam's speech teachers for their last session.  I made these sugar cookie bars but instead topped them with Biscoff frosting from this recipe.  I can't believe they are so good, yet aren't chocolate. :)

*Tonight's dinner is Poor Man's Stroganoff.  We used to have this a lot growing up and I have not had it in ages.

Quote of the day:

This morning on our walk we saw a snail slurping across the street.  The kids were excited.  They were even more excited when I suggested we take him home and put him on our sidewalk so we could keep an eye on him (I was given strict instructions before Cam left for school to make sure he was kept safe).  Kendall commented:

"When I was a little girl, I touched a snail.  I touched the sticky part and I was all snail'd." :)