Graphic

We try to keep Nude-y magazines out of the house.
But apparently one slipped in.
Ooops!
At one of our excursions to D.I., our favorite thrift store, we found the most amazing collection of National Geographic magazines.
I think they were just trying to get rid of them because they were priced at 10 for $1.00.
That's right, just 10 cents each.
I could not resist. I grabbed a cart and went to town.
The photos are amazing.
Some of them are more than a decade old, but most of the information still seems relevant.
Take the January 1997 issue.
There's a fantastic article called Beneath the Tasman Sea.
Some of the creatures there look like fantastical monsters. We just stared with our mouths gaping open page after glossy page.
How they got those shots I'll never know, but I'm sure glad they did.
It is very unlikely that I'll ever see the bottom of the Tasman Sea in person, but I feel so lucky to have seen a glimpse of it.
Thank you National Geographic!
Their web site is amazing as well.
National Geographic was there for us when we were studying ancient Egypt and King Tut.
We had read books and seen pictures, but National Geographic was there with their cameras rolling as they took the mumified body from it's centuries long rest in the tomb.
We saw King Tut's remains as if we were there first hand.
It was gross, but the kids and I were enthralled with the discovery.
And just this morning we were all relaxing in the living room, each parent and child holding his own wondrous magazine when Beano pipes up, "Look dad!"
Dad looked and saw our ever so small boy looking at a naked lady.
Oh dear!
Then we decided National Geographic really is Geographic.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Hello Blog, sorry I've neglected you.
To show how sorry I am I thought I'd share one of our family's favorite recipes.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
I use my basic bread dough recipe for this.
I make 99% of the bread we eat.
Doodle says my bread is better than any other bread, she hates it when she has to eat store bought bread.
I agree. It fills the house with its warm, toasty aroma. There are few things I enjoy more than a fresh loaf of bread with melty butter (and drippy honey if I'm feeling really naughty). My mouth is watering at the thought.
So without further delay, my most used recipe, hands down.
Warning: I don't usually measure all of the ingredients, so these are my best guess. I really hope it's about right.

Honey Whole Grain Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup luke warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2-3 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour ( I use spelt flour for our family because of allergies and I end up using 3-3 1/2 cups of spelt flour)
3/4 Tablespoon yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil (optional)

Directions:
1. When I make bread I make 5-6 loaves at a time, so I multiply the recipe and throw everything in my Bosch (sweet Bosch of love, how I adore you!). I turn the Bosch on medium speed with the dough hook and let it knead for about 7 minutes, adding more flour as needed to give it the right consistency. If you are making bread by hand I would not do more than 2 loaves at a time, it can get really hard to knead. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir to combine, then knead for about 10-12 minutes or until it has the nice stretchability of bread dough.

2. For regular bread, oil the bread pan , shape the dough into a nice rounded loaf and place dough into pan. Some people let it rise once and then punch it down and then put it in the pans to rise again, I don't do that. I simply let it rise once and bake.
For cinnamon raisin bread roll the dough out on a lightly greased counter top. Sprinkle cinnamon and raisins to your hearts content (the more the better, in my opinion). Roll the loaf like you would for cinnamon rolls. Place the whole roll, seam side down, in the prepared pan. Cover your bread pans with a light, clean cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 20 minutes. You'll know your bread is done if you tip the bread out of the pan and the bottom of the loaf is golden as well. If it's not golden yet the middle of you loaf will still be doughy. There's nothing worse than doughy bread, so just pop it back in until the bottom is done.

4. Try not to inhale the entire loaf all by yourself. It's best to have people around to share with as to avoid this unwanted behavior.

Happy eating!

Love Bug

Valentine's Day was a huge success.
We decided to keep it really low key this year since we all took turns being sick.
We did not want to infect a poor unsuspecting babysitter with our nasty virus.
You're Welcome!
We decided to stay home and celebrate the day as a family.
It turned out to be one of the best Valentine's days ever.
We made homemade personal pizzas shaped like hearts, heart shaped pancakes, heart shaped pb&j at lunch time and homemade heart shaped ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
Doodle woke us up bright and early in the morning with 5 Valentine's each for all of us. She has been crafting in secret for months creating little loves for her family.
She made her brothers love bugs.
They had heart shaped bodies with pipe cleaner leggs and antenea. She made black spots on them and they were the cutest little love bugs I've ever seen.
She had such a good time and was thrilled to give away her gifts.
She is such a loving little girl.
The kids went around all day saying that this was the best day EVER.
I think they were just excited about all the hearts everywhere.
They even said that I'm the best mom in the whole world, several times.
I'm not gonna lie, that felt really good!
Jay even brought me some gorgeous roses, my favorite.
Best Valentines day ever.

This year I participated in a Valentine's exchange on the blogosphere.
In January I was reading Domestic Dork's blog and I loved the idea of a blind Valentine's Exchange, so I signed up!
After a few mix ups, Kimberli and I met on valentine's Day morning to exchange our valentines.
She is such a cute girl and I really enjoyed meeting a fellow mommy blogger.
Thanks Kimberli, you are so sweet!
I forgot to take a picture of the candle holder I made for Kimberli, but look at the cute, cute wooden block she made for me.
I am in love with it.
I am trying to figure out a way to keep it out all year long.
Maybe I'll just have to make a copy cat that will match my kitchen decor.
Something with apples and red...hmmmm

Love Hate

I Love Lego's
But I also Hate Lego's

I love the hours upon hours of imaginative play my kids get form these tiny toys.
If I pull out the Lego bin in the afternoon I will literally not see my boys until I call them for family jobs or dinner.

I love the things they create without directions, they just come up with these things all on their own.
I love the bonding all the boys get with each other while sharing a common passion.

I love the things Lego's have taught my children, like water tension.
Did you know that right after mom gets out of the shower and the mirror is all steamy that the Lego's will stick?
We learned all about water tension in my bathroom that day.
And it was the coolest thing ever because they figured it out all on their own, I did not have to show them that one.
I don't think I would have even thought to try that, but they did.

And that's what I love about Lego's.
They make my children think, but they really think they're playing.

This is what I hate about Lego's.
For some reason they cannot be contained.
They always end up all over the floor and the table and under everything.
When I put the Lego bin away I still find Lego's for a week after.
They like to hide.
Then some boy will find a half put together thing-a-ma-bob and the next thing you know all of them are swarming over it and fighting about who gets to play with the three stray pieces.
Then there is fighting and crying and sometimes hitting.
I really hate that.
I also hate stepping on them in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom.
I really hate that.
But I really do love Lego's...

The Truth

Sometimes I love Oprah so much I could kiss her.
Other times, well let's just say we don't always agree.
But today, let me tell you, she was spot on in my humble opinion.
I even took notes.

She had Michael Pollan on her show.
What? You don't know who he is?!?
He is the maker of a documentary called Food, Inc.
If you have not already seen it, you MUST!
This documentary should replace all the videos shown in any health and nutrition class in any school the United States over.
Bar none.
It will literally change the way you eat forever.
You may never eat fast food or anything prepackaged ever again.
So if you like your food the way it is, stop reading now.
Ignore the problem that is America's food supply a little longer until it continues to kill you ever so slowly and painfully.
I know I'm being a little harsh, but in all honesty, it's the plain truth.
We are killing ourselves.
And it's not a pretty death.
Michael points out that things like heart disease and diabetes and obesity and high blood pressure(the list goes on and on) did not become such an epidemic until about the turn of the last century.
150 years ago food was so much simpler.

Michael Pollan wrote a book (which I'm itching to read) called Food Rules
Oprah discussed some of his rules on the show.
#2 Don't eat anything your great grandmother would not recognize as food.
Think Little House on the Prairie times.
There were no cookie and chip sections in the town grocer filled with more preservatives and flavorings than actual food.
There was no neon colored and flavored yogurt in little tubes you can just squeeze into your mouth.
If they wanted yogurt they had to make it from scratch, they flavored it with fruit or not at all.
Don't get me wrong, grocery stores are a wonderful modern convenience, and there are some things worth buying.
For instance Dannon's plain yogurt is all natural.
No thickeners, no additives, just milk and live active cultures, period.
Just how your great grandmother would have made.
If we have yogurt that's what we buy, then I blend frozen berries with a squirt of honey and mix it in and you know what, it tastes way better that the neon variety.
#12 Avoid products containing ingredients that a 3rd grader cannot pronounce.
We have got to read labels, people.
Really, we don't even buy many labeled foods anymore.
I make 95% of what we eat from scratch.
I buy brown sugar and rice and oats and wheat and spelt and barley and buckwheat and millet and rye and beans in 50 pound bags.
I either soak or grind the real food and bake or boil it.
It's really not that hard to do. I set aside 3 hours a week to bake.
I make things like granola bars, cookies, muffins, bread, bagels, English muffins, and on and on.
Not all in one week of course.
Basically, if I see something in the store that looks good, I come home and find a recipe for it and I make it.
No preservatives, no fillers. Just plain old good food.
#23(I think) Eat only foods that will eventually rot
Michael said, "Food is alive and it should eventually die"
Here we are again with more preservatives than actual food.
#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

I don't know how I feel about this one.
I do agree that we need treats, and I do make them on a regular basis, but all the junk food I want?
I don't think this man knows how much junk food I can put away.
If there is junk in the house I eat it until it's gone.
I have the worst sweet tooth and I think I'd weigh a million pounds if I just ate all I wanted.
I have lots more to say about this, but this is already long and boring.
For now can I just say, watch the movie.
Download it, buy it, rent it, borrow it, but please, watch it!

How to Dice a Mango 101

There are not many things in life as nice as a bowl filled with bright orange juicy sweet mangoes.
They are just so pretty.
And tasty.
The problem is, they can be a little challenging to dice with that huge pit in the middle.
Here's a little trick I learned to avoid that problem all together.

First, you want to cut the mango almost in half.
You are going to cut down both sides of the long, flat pit.
Go ahead and off center your knife just a hair.
As you are cutting through the flesh you'll feel the knife braise the pit, just let your knife follow the pit all the way through the fruit.

You can see the ridge where my knife hit the pit so I had to move my knife over.
Next you will take the knife and cut the flesh to the skin (but not through the skin), making a checkerboard pattern.

This is the fun part. Invert the skin of the fruit so all the chunks stand up.
My kids thought that was hilarious.
If you want to eat the whole thing fresh right then and there just go to town biting the pieces from the skin.
I only do that when I'm not sharing.
Unfortunately, with 4 kids I am always sharing.

Next, slide your finger between the fruit and the peel. They just slide right off.
You could use a knife, but who has time for that nonsense?
Repeat with the fruit from the other side of the pit.

Now they are ready to share, or put in a fruit salad, or freeze for smoothies, or for muffins or make this yummy Mango Pineapple cake.

Mango Pineapple Cake

Ingredients:

1 C sugar ( I use 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/2 C honey)
1 t vanilla
2 t baking soda
3 eggs, well beaten
1 t vanilla
1 8 oz can (or fresh) crushed pineapple with juice
1 1/2 C finely chopped mango (can substitute canned or fresh peaches if you don't have mango on hand)
1/2 C nuts (optional)
2 C flour (I use whole grain, freshly ground flour, usually spelt, but whole wheat works, too. My smallest can't eat wheat so I use spelt flour)

Directions:

Mix eggs, vanilla and pineapple. Add mango and nuts. Mix in dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into greased 9x11 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Easy Peasy!
And oh, so good.
Even without added fat from oil or butter it's incredibly moist!
Go ahead, buy a mango

Speechless

Baby and Dubs were playing with this toy and this is what I saw when I came in the room after they had abandoned their game.
Hmmmmm
How did that happen?
I don't even know what to say about that...