The Breakfast of Champions - Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Bread

While I can't actually say in good conscience that I always feed my children a healthy breakfast, my children always do look forward to breakfast, especially when this is sitting on the table.  

This recipe is one I've adapted from several different sources and am consequently not sure where the original I started from came from. 

Anyway, here goes:

You'll need to

• put three bananas into a bowl and mash it up.
• add 1/2 c. peanut butter.  (I don't like to dirty up a measuring cup for this, so I just use a big spoon and eyeball it.)
• add 1/4 c. oil.
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• a splash or two of vanilla.  

Mix well.  Then in the same bowl (because I hate getting out another bowl- you can get a separate one if you want), add:

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

I bake this in loaf pans because I think they look prettier, but I'm sure you could put it in a bundt pan or even make muffins out of it.  I always grease my pans really well because the first several times I made this, they stuck like crazy.

When my pans are ready to go, I pour 1/4 of the mixture in each of the two pans.  Then I wait.

I wait while I mix some chocolate and cream.  More specifically, around 100 grams of chocolate (I have a great chocolate bar at my Carrefour, but I've used a Dove dark chocolate bar when Carrefour was out) and 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream.  Microwave this for 1 minute, and stir to get all the lumps out.

Then, I pour 1/4 of the chocolate mixture into each of the two pans.  I gently use a chopstick - what else? - to swirl it around.  NOT to mix it (like my house helper does) but to swirl it.  

Next, use the the rest of the bread batter and pour it on top of the chocolate you just swirled.  Use the last of the chocolate to make another layer of swirl on the very top.  [I like two layers of chocolate swirl, otherwise the bread to chocolate ratio is unsatisfactorily high!]

I bake this at 160C (which I was surprised to see was 320F!  Maybe my oven is weird?) but I keep it at a low temp because I want it too cook for a long time to let all the flavors deepen and love each other.  I bake it for around an hour, but sometimes leave it in a little while longer.  

It turns out really tender and very flavorful, and even though it should last my family much more than one breakfast, it never does.  

[If you want to save some hassle, you can just use chocolate chips.  We did that for a while, but chocolate chips are precious here!  Once I found an alternative I liked, I save my chocolate chips for higher priority things!]

why I love Black Beans

My parents are in town with us, so I'll be posting some generic food-related posts instead of giving and play-by-play of their trip here.  I thought it would be fun to share a bit of what eggrollmama feeds to her baby eggrolls all the time!  

Black beans are hard to get here.  And if you can find them, they're pretty expensive - like, $3 a can.  (Oh Walmart, how I miss your 76cents GV Black Beans!)  Nevertheless, I still find myself buying them a lot since I use them for so many things.  

I've got a little black bean concoction that I make, and it's so versatile.  You can use it to make mexican black bean soup, quesadillas, southwestern eggrolls, or serve over rice with cheese when you feed a crowd.  It's like J. Crew jeans for food.

Here it is:

In a bowl, mix:

• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can (or equivalent) diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 chicken breasts, diced and cooked
• any other veggies you like - diced onions, bell peppers, jalepenos, diced green chilis, etc

Mix it well, until it looks wonderfully colorful.

Then, start to season it.  This mixture is hard to overseason, so don't hold back.  I just shake things ito the bowl until it starts to have the combination of smells that I've come to recognize instantly.  You can customize this based on what your family likes.  Here is a rough idea of what I use:

• 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder (or more?)
• 1/2 Tablespoon cumin powder 
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt? (hmmm...maybe I should measure more when I cook?)
• a shake or two of cayenne pepper
• lime juice, maybe 1/2 teaspoon
• liquid smoke, just a few drops

You could add in hot sauce, chipotle pepper, or any other mexicany spice you like.  Mix well.

Mine usually looks something like this:

At this point, you could just leave the bowl in the fridge and wait for inspiration.  Here are some different ways we use this for meals:

• Put in a baking dish for 25 min (around 170C, or 350F).  Serve hot over rice; add grated cheddar to the top.  (This is probably our favorite way to eat this!)
• Add a package of Southwestern Philly Cooking Cream (or make your own with plain cream cheese & taco seasoning), milk and water to make a yummy soup!  Serve with chips.
• Use the filling to fry up some fab quesadillas!
• Have your helper make a load of mini-tortillas and wrap up a spoonful or two with some cheese (use a toothpick to make them stick)to make southwestern eggroll  (think Chili's).  Stick in your freezer.  When you're ready to eat them, fry them for 5-6 min with oil around 375f.  Everyone will recommend that the party always be at your house if you make this - which may change your mind about making them.  =)

The eggrolls take a little time, but for the other meal ideas, this is about as simple as it comes.  Open the can, mix and season, and heat.  So easy.  So good.

to the market! Quick! (Strawberry Lemonade)

Where we live, we're at the glorious intersection of strawberry season and local lemon season.

If you get where I'm headed with this, you might be able to understand how truly addicted I've become to my homemade concoction of strawberry lemonade.  

I love making this because the ingredients are so honest and so easy.  Plus, my kids help, it's fun to do together and it's delicious.  So very delicious.

The first step is an important one - before strawberry season is over, go ahead and buy 6 or 7 pounds of strawberries.  [Don't know about all you guys living in the Land of the Free, but strawberries were running us about 60 cents a pound recently.]

After you wash your strawberries, put them in a blender with the filter on.  You want to get a nice puree that's minus seeds and weird stuff.  

I put in 1 1/2 cups of strawberries and puree it up, then stick that amount of juice in a ziploc bag.  My six or seven pounds of strawberries made 8-9 nice bags of strawberry puree.  Now that my freezer is nicely stocked, I'll be making strawberry lemonade for guests long after the last strawberry is sold at the market.  And since strawberry season is winding down, I'd suggest you go now to buy some!

Local lemons are cheap now too, and make your house smell super clean and fresh while you whip up this tasty drink.   Call your kiddos around the table and give each of them a lemon (or two, depending on how many kids you have! hahah! I use 4 lemons.)  Have them roll it around on the table to get it nice and warmed up.  Cut your lemon in half and ask your children to use their superpower strength to squeeze all the juice out.    

Abby particularly loves this part.  Her eyes bug out and her veins start to show, but she always asks to help with the squeezing part.

You'll want to strain out all the seeds and pulp.

I'm not super particular about measuring; I just use whatever juice came from those four lemons.

I add 1/3 of a ziploc bag of strawberry puree to the lemon juice.  [My pitcher is too small to make a large batch of lemonade, so I have to make two smaller batches.  One ziploc bag of strawberry puree will make me two batches of lemonade, then I add the final 1/3 to something Silas is eating - mangoes, bananas, applesauce, etc.]

Then I add a cup of sugar.  (I do realize if I die an early death, it will be because I've fallen in love with Strawberry Lemonade.)

Then I add 2 1/2 cups of water.

Stir well.  Prepare for bliss.

Recap, since I tend to ramble a bit:

Strawberries - 1.5 cup halved strawberries, throw into the blender, pureed.  Use only 1/3 of this (or more, depending on what taste you're going for.)

Lemons - 4, squeezed and strained.

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - between 2-2.5 cups (start with 2 and then add water til you get the taste you want.)

Stir well.

(If I had a large pitcher, I'd use 2/3 of the strawberry lemonade, 8 lemons, 2 c sugar and more water.)

Easter roundup

Not long after our sun-soaked selves returned home, it was time to start thinking about Easter activities. In my heart, I wanted to plan a huge, all-out Easter egg hunt like I've done before but I just didn't have it in me this year!  I also wanted to make sure that I was saving my best energy for focusing my family's hearts on the Resurrection and making sure there was energy left over to include our neighbors in the holiday as well....so a small egg hunt it was.  

One Wednesday morning, we walked across the street to a friend's house to utilize their patch of grass for the egg hunt.  The same baskets I made Emma and Samantha four years ago are still hanging in there pretty well.  Abby found a sack to use, and was perfectly pleased with it.  

I love watching my girls do things together.  Though it's not always a smooth endeavor, the big girls are pretty good about keeping Abby involved in what they're doing.  Abby does have a way of pushing and shoving her way into an activity, but her heart gets broken when she's left out!  =(

What's cuter than watching your girls walking hand-in-hand down the street?

On the way, we passed by the pool we enjoyed so much last summer.  It's nice to know they're getting it cleaned...but I think we've still got at least another month to go before it opens.  I was hoping it would be open before my parents got here, but I don't think it's gonna happen. 

Because of varied ages and abilities, we had two egg hunts - one for the littles and one for the bigs.  The big kids got to hide eggs for the little kids, and they thought that was pretty cool.  This picture marks the first time Abby has left a ponytail in her hair for more than 25 seconds.  

Silas LOVED the egg hunt.  As soon as he discovered there was candy in the eggs, he was all-in.  He may have resorted to stealing eggs from his sisters' baskets...

Ha! Yes, my crew is 66% of this egg hunt!  Doing such a small one was so easy and relaxing!  The weather was great and it was nice to have a few minutes to chat with my other mom-friend while our kids took years off their lives consuming massive amounts of candy.

My man Silas loves snacks.  It's a little scary, actually.

                                                      

     

During the actual Easter weekend and the weekend after, we had two egg dyeing parties in our apartment complex.  I can't believe we've never done it before - we had such a great time!  Children, parents and grandparents all huddled around our little table to participate.  Any easter picture round-up would be sorely incomplete without including this picture of our resident rock-star egg dyeing kid.  

Playdate - boys style!

A few weeks ago, two of the other little boys who lived here came over to play with Silas and the girls. They're all about the same age, so that actually makes it pretty easy to keep them all entertained.  We had such a fun time together - it's so cute to see my little boy with "friends"!  Never mind that they can't actually say each other's names, they are officially all friends!

One particularly funny moment was when they all wanted in Silas' bed.  There's not much room in there, so I wasn't sure what exactly they wanted to do....

...but Silas' face was SO funny!!

I threw some books in the bed, and they all grabbed one.  Don't be fooled by this picture - this moment lasted for 2/100ths of a second, then they were all up and down and trying to climb out.

Our house has a wonderful patio/balcony type area that is really fun to play on.  Josh's parents also gave the girls & Silas this playhouse for Christmas.  We've gotten so much use out of it already!

The other little boys had a great time opening, closing, and coming and going.

Then it was time for music lessons, and since they're so young we can teach several at the same time.  Ha!

Such a fun day with these cute guys!

phone's eye view

Several months ago, Josh changed my life by buying me a new phone.  

My old phone was pretty ghetto, and I felt like an idiot all the time because my language dictionary wouldn't work on that phone.  I felt like I was always missing out on that one word I could never understand because my dictionary didn't work.  Ugh!

Anyway, now I'm living large with an awesome dictionary and too many blingy things on my phone that I have no idea what to do with.  But there is a great camera, and though I will forever love my SLR, having my phone camera around captures moments that my pull-it-out-of-the-bag camera just can't compete with.

Here in no particular order are shots that show our life from a phone's eye view:

A few brief moments of quiet while everyone is occupied:

Finding a snail after a rainstorm:

A walk in the park:

A package from Gigi!

The box became his new favorite spot:

A new puppy moves in to the neighborhood:

Running errands.  Together.

Samantha always sits in the front seat of taxis when it's just me and the girls.  I figure we never go faster than 35 mph, so I've made my peace with it.  

Silas and his buddy, scoping out the fish:

Watching calligraphy at the Bird and Flower Market:

Loving on the Golden Retrievers, also at the Bird and Flower Market:

So good she can't put it down!

Emma's Birthday

Leaving our perfectly blissful beach vacation meant our family splitting in two groups.  We all traveled together to one city, then on arrival went in different directions.  

At the airport, there was a group of college students making balloon animals.  I'm sure everyone behind my children was ready to lose the static-cling that affected their hair while the girls zoomed their creatures through the air.  After taking this picture, I realized it's one of the few I have of us in airports.  Considering how much time we actually spend in airports, it's remarkable that I have so few photographic memories of our transit times.  But really, when we're plodding through airports - with strollers, overpacked carryons, hungry children and dear Lord please help us find the Burger King and we-only-have-how-much-time? - it's a little disingenuous of me to stop and say, "Hey everyone! Smile for Mommy!"

It was brilliant, really.  Why has this never been done before?  Free activities at the gate to keep squirmy children happy and occupied?  It was the most relaxing time we've ever spent waiting to board.

Ahhhh, but then the gate attendant told all the children they'd have to leave their balloons in Bangkok because they weren't allowed on the planes.  

And that must be why this brilliant idea has never succeeded.  Silas was not interested in giving his balloon up.  

The big girls and I eventually arrived in the location for our homeschool conference and had such a wonderful time catching up with old friends.  I feel so very blessed by the friends the Lord has given to me over the years!

On Day 2, we invited some old friends and some new friends to celebrate Emma's birthday with us.  When you live so far from your blood-family, the relationships you've had on this side take on a special significance.  It meant so much to me to share my girl's birthday with people that have known and loved us for years.

                                       

                                       

I love that Samantha is excited about Emma's birthday, just because she loves Emma.  She knows there's nothing in it for her, but she's still thrilled for her sister.

                                       

We busted out the water balloons again, and with a larger group of older kids, the games went up a notch from Abby's birthday!

 At 7, Emma Brighton...

- has lost three teeth.
- has a head of curly hair that can be equally beautiful and frustrating.
- loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
- gobbles up books almost as fast as she does chocolate cake.
- is thoughtful and respectful.
- takes seriously her responsibility to love and protect her younger siblings.
- is quick to respond to the Holy Spirit's moving in her life.
- wants to be an orphanage mother when she grows up.
- wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
- has no trouble reconciling these seemingly conflicting occupations together.
- desperately wants a pet.
- is a beautiful example of cheerful submission (to us and to the Lord) to her younger siblings.
- loves helping me do the dishes.
- keeps all the clothes in her drawer neatly folded.
- also neatly folds her homework.  Into fourths, and sometimes eighths.
- is outgoing and quick to make friends.
- loves to run, jump rope, and ride her scooter.
- would love nothing more than for you to scratch her back.
- is a surprisingly good wii player!
- has grown in diligence and maturity SO much in the last year.
- is burdened for her friends that don't know Jesus.
- loves strawberry lemonade.
- is still willing to hold my hand even though technically, she doesn't need to.
- can't turn off the giggles once she gets started.
- can identify dog breeds from only a single glance.

She's my oldest girl - the baby I had when I had no idea what to do with a baby.  She is so forgiving and accepting of the many mistakes I make as her mother.  She is precious to me and to all in our family.  Now when I look at her, I start to see glimpses of the woman she is becoming and my heart swells with gratefulness that the Lord would entrust her to us.

She's seven.

She's a big girl.

But she's still my baby.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Finishing up the beach pics

I'm not sure when I started the habit of only blogging when Josh was out of town, but the habit is officially set.  We're all glad he's been around much more during the last few months, but that also means that the blog has taken a bit of a hit.  

I'm dying to get the last few days of our beach trip posted.  I know you're all dying know if Silas ever decided to make peace with the sand.

As you can see from this picture, Silas started actually wading in by himself by the last couple of days.  This was shocking to us, but was a good reminder that young children need repeated exposures to things before they're willing to embrace it.  I believe we have fed Silas green beans 1,349 times so I'm not sure exactly how many exposures you need, but there's got to be a lesson in there somewhere...  

Giving him something to hold helped him forget how much he loathed the sand.

Walking with daddy also helped.  I loved seeing my boys go exploring together.

 As our time at the beach ended, there were fresh recruits - new families coming in just as we were leaving.  My girls LOVED playing with some of the new faces.

They kindly shared their beach toys with Silas.

As you can see, we basically had a massive stretch of beach all to ourselves.  That's the way a beach trip should be!

As I stood alone - all the kids were otherwise occupied - I stared into the vast emptiness ahead of me and could almost feel my soul take a breath.  I live in a city, in a country, that has so much visual noise. There are high rises in every direction.  And where there are no high rises, there are nature's high rises - mountains that fill the space and cloud the horizon.  There are no empty fields here.  No place where you can go just to look at nothing.  Perhaps that's why looking at a uncluttered horizon was such a peaceful thing to me.

The waves didn't really make an appearance until our last two days.  I loved the calm water we'd enjoyed for so many days, but having the waves to splash around in was fun for everyone.

Those are my people!  *Sigh*  I love them.

The night before we left, we HAD to make a sand castle.  It had been on our list since Day 1, but kept getting crowded out by other things.  

The first step was putting the girls in charge of collecting all the shells they could find.  

Oh, how Abby loved helping out!  I still think of her as a baby, but she's really starting to grow up.  [The other day, she made a picture that I could actually identify AND she put the lids back on the markers, without being told.  Is there a more reliable indicator than that to prove her big-girl status?]

We had a huge moat, a castle that was held together by our prayers, and a King Crab that was deposited in front as a guardian of any "fair maidens" that might be inside.  It was a family effort, and it was fun.  After we came home and wrote about our beach trip, the family sandcastle was the unanimous highlight.

We were leaving the beach, but still had more fun in store.  Emma's 7th birthday was only two days away...