Brownies on a Rainy Day

Today it rained and rained and rained. Much to Owen's delight, as he is always looking for an excuse to wear is goulashes and splash in puddles! I was looking forward to today all week...I had scheduled a facial to combat the horrid hormone happenings on my face from this first trimester. Okay, so it's not horrid, but I honestly can't remember the last time I experienced the wonderfully relaxing child free zone of a day spa. And it was fabulous! I almost didn't mind the burning sensation caused by the initial application of the "mint mask." (To be honest, I was nearly asleep, so it probably just startled me.)



After the facial and school, it was time for some sort of indoor activity. I decided on making brownies. Owen is a very good helper in the kitchen. He neatly sorts the silverware in the caddy when we're unloading the dishwasher, and he LOVES to pour and measure. Caroline is more of a "I need to be in the middle of everything, and my fingers need to be in everything" sort of girl. So we donned the aprons and began our baking. It was wonderful! Although I don't know if next time will go as well...Caroline had never before tasted the ooey gooey yumminess of chocolate brownie batter, so she wasn't as interested in the batter as she was in flexibility of the rubber spatula (yes, separate spatulas for the kiddos for sure.) Once she sampled the batter, she was hooked. Her eyes widened as big as the mixing bowl, and she clamoured for another taste. (Who could blame her??!) And she learned to say "brownie" almost as fast as she had learned to say "cookie" (about 5 nanoseconds after tasting them.)
We looked for worms for our worm garden (it's more of a compost, but Owen loves worms) and read books until the oven timer rang....the kids thoroughly enjoyed the brownies, but I have to say, I can hardly eat anything sweeter than a banana since this pregnancy. (I'm actually ashamed to admit it...my membership from "Chocoholics Anonymous" should be revoked.) But I'll take it as a freebie for next trimester when I down a whole batch in one afternoon : )


Just in case you're looking for an easy, healthier brownie recipe, this one is excellent:


Black Bean Brownies (don't wrinkle your nose...try them first!)

These sound strange, but there is NO trace of black bean taste or texture. They are moist and fudgy, high in fiber, low in fat, and much lower in calories than traditional brownies. (One note of caution: if your body's not used to lots of fiber and you eat more than 4 of these in one sitting, you may be sitting somewhere else in a hurry.)


1 Box brownie mix (any kind)
1 can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 8x8 brownie pan with nonstick cook spray. In a blender (or Magic Bullet), blend black beans with 1/2 cup of water (add more water if needed) until smooth but thick. Add black bean puree to brownie mix and add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup water. Mix until batter is wet. Stir in chocolate chips, or press into the top of the batter once poured into the pan. Bake 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Brownies will look "wet." Remove from the oven and let cool /finish baking for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Makes 16.

Apple Picking Party

Today was a glorious day! After I picked up Owen from school we ventured with some friends to Lawrence Farms, near the Beacon Bridge. Besides the acres of apples, grapes, pumpkins, and gobs of vegetables, they have hay rides (sleigh rides in winter), a duck pond, apple cider, freshly made apple spice doughnuts, AND a miniature town of about 8 kid sized buildings for the kids to run free and explore. We planned to first enjoy our picnic lunch, let the kids play a bit, and then find some tasty apples to pick and take home.



I hit the first snag 3 minutes into the drive. Being the super thoughtful mommy I am, I had packed a very nutritious and exciting picnic for the kids. However, I was so concerned the grapes would still be cold at lunch time that I neglected to pack the lunch bag in the car. The worst part was that I had grilled my panini at the last minute (scrummy goat cheese and roasted pepper, BTW), that I grabbed MY lunch and freshly brewed green tea. I did try and give the flat bread to Caroline on the car ride there, but she wasn't too interested. Luckily, Lawrence Farms has a small food line with super healthy items such as doughnuts, french fries, cookies, hot dogs, and pizza. The kids were actually quite happy with the pizza and apple cider (yum!) but I had that mommy guilt until every crumb of that pizza was swallowed.



The kids ran themselves silly in the little play town. Who wouldn't love a mini-sized firehouse with pole and slide, or a jail house with real cells??!!! I think they were ready to drop, but we moms were ready for our mission to find exquisite apples AND get some cute fall pictures of the kids picking apples. We rented a wagon and ventured out to the apple trees.



I think the farm has 12 different types of apples, and the Fuji (my favorite) are virtually on the farthest corner of the farm...and since the boys were already exhausted, there would be no Fujis for me today. No worries! We had a blast. First we started in the vineyards, where the kids thoroughly enjoyed peering through the vines to find the grape clusters. Owen is a natural at this, as he practices the art of "peering and peeking" every time we visit a clothing store (fun for me!) The grapes were juicy and I could vividly imagine how fab the wine would be....maybe in 8 months I"ll taste the real thing. We were ready to pick apples...however, the first rows of trees we walked had no apples within our reach (much less the kids.) So THAT'S why they have those handy apple pickers! It looks like a long rake, only the end resembles more of a "claw" with a small basket to catch the apple before it falls among the rotted ones on the ground. The boys thought it was the best super hero weapon they'd ever seen! Needless to say, we walked away with probably 10 pounds of apples.



I highly recommend Lawrence Farms if you're in the Newburgh area. (They even have birthday party packages- what a great idea!) I also found a link that lists all the Apple Orchards in New York State in case you're interested:

http://www.lawrencefarmsorchards.com/

http://www.allaboutapples.com/orchard/ny05.htm

Tumbling Tuesdays

In our house, Tuesdays are "tumbling Tuesdays." It's a plan that I devised to teach Owen the days of the week. (I thought I was soooo clever, until he came home the first day of school singing the days of the week to the tune of "Macarena." Oh well.) It's also a handy tool to pull him away from bikes and buddies playing outside when I really want him in for dinner. However, to Owen, it sounds a little more like this:"Owen, Tumbling Tuesday! Time to tumble!!!!" It usually works like a charm.

Today we didn't quite get there. This was because Owen is attempting to avoid afternoon naps and he's way too grumpy by dinner time to be conducive to my scheeming. I have meticulously worked out our daily schedule so that both Caroline and Owen nap at the same time. (Okay, so I admit preggie me also naps daily now too.) When I am my "on the ball" self, I'm able to do quite a few chores and have email time and make dinner- all while they're napping. However, this whole "I'm not napping" thing is killing me. Two weeks ago Owen decided he was done resting after 45 minutes and walked out the front door to ride bikes with friends. Let me just say that my child is not yet 4. What is going on in his head??!!! Apparently the deadbolt is no deterrent, but thankfully our storm door is very loud when it shuts, so I was awakened in time to catch him before he rode off into the sunset. It was a little hard to react. Not because I was still groggy and could hardly open both eyelids, but because I really shouldn't be "sleeping on the job." Caroline is still in the crib, so she can't escape. But since Owen has mastered the "master lock," I really am up a creek! Ug.

I suppose I either have to give up my napping or get a security system (in other words, there is no way I'm allowing him to give up his naps!) Of course, you know what they say about parenting: "Never say never and never say always!" Oops.

Monday Monday

PR's gone this week. So that means I start at least one or two new projects. I've decided this week to work on the kids' Halloween costumes and make valences for my bedroom windows (but I'm NOT committed to hang them, let's not go overboard!)

Owen's decided he wants to be Peter Pan. Excellent! We already have a Peter Pan hat and shirt costume thing...but OCD me want it to be a complete matching set...so I'm researching costumes on ebay. And Caroline, by default, will be Tinkerbell. I've seen quite a few cute costumes from the Disney Store...but has no one thought about the poor souls who live in places where it is pretty darn chilly by Halloween? Yes, I've seen those Old Navy fuzzy fleecy costumes that look like the kid's wearing a sleeping bag. But they don't have a Peter Pan or Tinkerbell version, so I'm having to use my super creative skills. Do I start from scratch and try and make one that includes a turtleneck and warm pants, or do I buy the cheap nylon over commercialized costumes and put three layers on underneath??! Ug. I'm determined to figure out a way to make Tinkerbell cute, even in 40 degree weather.

As far as the valences go, I have the fabric and my sewing machine just came back from it's annual "check up." (I call it this because for $100, I hope they did more than just clean the fuzz out of it. ) I am just missing one key ingredient to getting the job done: motivation.

But have no fear, I have two days left in the week! (PS. Monday is really not thought about in this house until Tuesday night at midnight....so I'm technically into Wednesday already. Darnit!!!)

Sunday is Homemade Pizza Night!

Our family has a tradition on Sunday evenings. We call it our "Pizza and a Movie" night. Original, huh? It's nothing fancy, but I generally make two or three small home made pizzas and we watch a movie of Owen's choosing, complete with buttered popcorn. My kids are actually pretty flexible on what they eat, so I'm able to experiment a bit with pizza (can you imagine how fun it would be to eat cheese and only cheese pizza??!!) I've also found a great pizza dough recipe I thought I'd pass along. The best part about it is it only requires 15 minutes to rest, so it's quick and easy. I'll also share our favorite pizzas : )

Pizza Dough
1 packet rapid rise active yeast
1 cup hot water (not boiling)
2 1/2 cups flour (I use a combination of whole wheat and bread flour)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1-2 tbsp evoo ( use 1 tbsp to cut down on fat and it tastes fine)

Dissolve yeast in water with a whisk. Add remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until dough moves as a ball (rather than sticky consistency.) Set aside 15 minutes. Roll onto floured surface to desired thickness. Place on pizza stone that has been rubbed with corn meal and poke generously with a fork. Bake in a 425 degree oven 3-4 minutes and remove. Add sauce (if desired) and toppings and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

Spinach Feta Pizza (our fav)
1 pizza crust
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2/3 cup spinach, chopped
1 medium roma tomato, diced
1/4 cup mushrooms, diced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tsp Italian seasoning)
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup marinara

Heat saucepan to medium high and add a swirl of evoo. Add spinach garlic and rosemary, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes and mushrooms and stir for additional 3-4 minutes. Spread marinara evenly over pizza crust, top with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle spinach and feta on top and bake until cheese is brown on the edges.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza (our second fav)
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Heat small saucepan over medium and add a swirl of evoo. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook an additional 6-10 minutes until onions are limp and opaque. Sprinkle cheese on top of pizza crust (no sauce.) Add onions and goat cheese and bake until done, 8-10 minutes. (Roasted red peppers can be added, too.)

BBQ Chicken Pizza - super easy!
1 cup cooked chicken, diced or shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 cup BBQ sauce, plus 1/2 cup for chicken

Combine 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and cooked chicken and let marinade for 15 minutes (at least.) Spread BBQ sauce on top of pizza crust, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Evenly distribute chicken, onion, and cilantro on pizza and bake until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Friday: Fort Montgomery

PR has this weird schedule where he ends up working on weekends, and then gets a weekday off...so Friday was his day off, and we decided to embrace the Hudson Valley history and visit Fort Montgomery. The Fort remains lay in a scenic hillside grassland, near Bear Mountain. You actually walk along a gravel path where the excavated Fort foundation lies. On October 6, 1777 the Fort was attacked and, because General Clinton and his soldiers were vastly outnumbered 7 to 1, completely devastated. The relics found are quite amazing, though. The most remarkable are a pair of buttons with "Liberty" inscribed.



The views from the grounds are amazing, especially now with the vibrant colors of fall. There is a nice little hike to a small pedestrian bridge as well. The Fort has a museum of artifacts and the staff performed a musket demonstration (Owen was a big fan of this....little boy, loud noises and guns...what could be better?)

If anyone is in the area, this Saturday, September 27th there will be a big event at Fort Montgomery, 11am to 6pm. Reenactments and more. Check it out if you have the opportunity!

http://nysparks.state.ny.us/sites/info.asp?siteId=36


We spent the latter part of the afternoon at West Point. PR had a doctor's appointment, so the kids enjoyed some time at the playground. I was AMAZED at Owen's compassion towards Caroline. He asked if she wanted to join him on the slide, and she climbed into his lap, he wrapped his arms around her, and they zoomed down- probably 15 times before she decided she was ready for a new feat. There could be hope for the jealous big brother after all!!

Working out with Cathe

This morning I dragged my lazy body from bed downstairs in time for the 7 am Fit TV Cathe workout. http://cathe.com/cathebio.htm Have you tried this before? The woman seems innocent enough, she's petite and she favors 80's Madonna music for her warm ups. However, five minutes into the routine, she's jumping and lunging and twirling and mamboing and sashaying all around her step like a Jack Russel that hasn't been out to tinkle yet. Worse yet, on her "weight training days" she picks up a body bar with 65 pounds and pumps out 22 squats without breaking a sweat. Needless to say, it's an awesome workout (even if I end up winging it as the choreography gets too tricky.) I always thought I was quite coordinated. I've done step and kickboxing and all those aerobic classes without a hitch. But this woman has you whirling and jumping in so many directions, I personally feel that it is virtually impossible for the non-bionic human to ape her moves. I will only stop complaining long enough to say that it's a great workout, she does have quite a bit of variety each day of the week (weights one day, step another, then balance or hi lo or something), AND your workout is done by 8 am!

If I miss her workout and it's not a "gym" day, I do like the "In Shape" with Sharon Mann. http://www.sharonmann.com/sharonmann/mall/main.htm She is a little too smiley, but I think that's her shtick. I have no idea how any person can smile like that while lunging or kickboxing or balancing on her head (okay, I made that up...but she really is very crafty!) She has one woman working on her "team" behind her named Sparky who's even worse. She does the high intensity version of the workout...she must chug the Red Bull before the workout or something, because most of the time she's just flailing her body around like a toddler playing with a rag doll. Boy am I critical today! The show is overall challenging, even if it is only 30 minutes. As far as the over excited-extra-happy face goes, she is Canadian. I've never met a Canadian that wasn't friendly and easy going, so perhaps that's the reason for the permasmile.

Or maybe she's just really really happy. I guess I'd be pretty ecstatic, too if I had three kids and still had washboard abs and perky DDs.

Bunko baby!

Tonight was Bunko, which is much bigger in the south than here...every month our group eeks by with 7 or 8. What's the deal? It requires absolutely no skill- maybe multitasking, if you want to munch or sip wine or chat while you throw the dice. I'm actually pretty terrible, the Irish in me has blessed me with zero luck. Pooo! But it's still a fun night out- no kids, no dishes, and munchies- how can you beat that?! Anyway, I guess some people aren't "game people."

I LOVE games. Well, some games. Trivial Pursuit is not on my fav list...but that's because PR kicks my butt in every subject except entertainment (that's the pink one) and whatever the brown topic is. The man studied maps for FUN when he was a kid, so how can I compete with that? Plus I'm terrible with sports trivia. I am much better at those "think quickly on your feet games" like Scategories and Scrabble and Gestures and Taboo...my favorite is Scrabble. Not because I have a remarkable vocabulary or stellar spelling skills (if it weren't for spell check, I'd be in serious trouble.) For some reason, I just love trying to get 31 points from a four letter word. Unfortunately, PR refuses to play with me (because he can't even win when he cheats.)

I've been campaigning for a "family game night" on Sunday (it's currently "Homemade Pizza and a Movie Night" but I can only watch Toy Story so many times...) Doesn't that sound cool? Granted, there are a limited selection of games you can play with two children under 5, but Owen goes wild for Hullabaloo and those other kids Cranium games. I had a friend growing up whose family played spades on Sunday nights and I always thought that was a cool tradition. As an only child, we didn't really have any traditions...we just went with the flow. I will continue to cheer on my game night idea....even IF the Hollywood types stole it from me. I read Salma Hyak and Demi Moore play monopoly or dominoes or something. Hmph.

PS. Also tried a recipe for PF Chang's lettuce wraps. I'd share the recipe, but I'm sad to report, they were not as good as the real thing. I did do a search for the actual PF Chang's recipe (or wannabe version) and found one that had 65 ingredients. I made it once, a few years back, before kids. It was okay but totally not worth the effort. Why can't we live by a big city that has all these yummy scrummy food options? I'm stuck with diners and Dunkin' Doughnuts. Ick.

Go Greek!

Last week I reverted back to my super brilliant idea of weekly menu planning. Because I am, um, well...a bit OCD. I like to make sure my meals have coordinating side dishes and even sometimes crudites. I'm also determined to try new recipes from my thousands of cookbooks (okay 57 to be exact, but isn't that still a little much?!) For some reason, about half of my cookbooks do not have pictures. I need to see the picture. So these sad little cookbooks sit in the dark, rarely opened. No more! I will be flexible! I will mentally picture a culinary masterpiece! But I will do it maybe one or two new recipes a month. This month, I decided upon something Greek.

We have zero Greek restaurants near us, which is quite disappointing. (When I say near us, I mean from here to NYC...and I'm not taking the kiddos into the city for a gyro!) Last week I came across a recipe for pita bread and was immediately inspired! I know, it's nothing too fancy, and I only made falafel sandwiches with a Greek salad and some hummus and sliced yellow peppers....but it was delicious! So, I'm sharing the recipe for any other Greek starved readers:

4 minute Pita
1 pkg quick rise yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
dash of sugar
1 cup bread flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water and whisk to blend. Add salt, wheat flour, and sugar and mix using a wooden spoon until well combined. Gradually add the bread flour until dough becomes smooth. Knead on floured surface, 5 min. Divide into 8 portions and stretch into rounds, about 6 inches in diameter. Place on pizza stones that have been sprayed with butter non-stick spray, flipping once to coat. Let rise 20-30 min and bake for 4- 6 min in a preheated 500 degree oven. Serve immediately.

Tatziki Sauce
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
2 cloves pressed garlic
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup dried parsley
1/4 cup peeled and diced cucumber

Combine ingredients and return to the fridge for 1 hour before serving.

Falafel Sandwiches
6 pita rounds, warm
18 pan sauteed falafel balls, 2 inches in diameter
prepared tatziki sauce
thinly sliced cucumber
thinly sliced tomatoes
1/8 cup red onion slivers

Assemble sandwiches so each pita has 3 pieces of falafel. Fold pita in half and serve warm with hummus and veggie sticks.


(Confession: my falafel was a box mix. Shhh!)

Fight on Trojans and yeah me!

This weekend was a sleeper, but I do have two exciting bits of news to report.

1. Lazy pregnant girl did the 5K with the marines! Shhh! I know, a 5K is only 3 miles. But this was a doozie, as it was either uphill or downhill the entire run (mostly uphill.) Also, I'm pretty out of shape, running wise. However, I really couldn't complain because PR was pushing the kids in the double jogger, which pretty much weighs 70 lbs....and the little lima bean in me weighs what, 2 oz??! Needless to say, I did finish and I only needed a three hour nap that afternoon to recover.

2. Second piece of news. I was able to sit through an entire USC football game without interruption! For the most part, it's tough being on the east coast when your team plays on west coast time (if you're an early to bed girl like the preggie version of me OR if you'd like to watch the game with friends but can't because it's past the kiddos bedtime and who wants to pay a sitter when you're two doors down and they're fast asleep??)

My last attempt at watching the game was over Labor Day weekend, when we were in a house FULL of people. I'm talking the four of us plus PR's Aunt and Uncle plus a cousin plus PR's brother and sister-in-law and their six kids....BTW, this is a three bedroom A frame. (Fun times, but it definitely takes a week to recover.) So, I completely got outnumbered when it came to which game we watched. It didn't help that SC was kicking booty and we had a few Virginie fans(Virginia didn't have a chance) but also there were quite a few other games that we "had to" shuffle back and forth watching, which drove me nuts.

So, Saturday I was determined to watch and enjoy. And I did. It was actually almost painful, as in the beginning Ohio had a tough time completing anything, and there were so many penalties called. Our neighbors are Buckeyes and challenged the greatness of SC earlier in the day, don't you just love competition?! I resisted calling them at half time.

Today (Monday) was actually pretty great. I'm finally starting to feel better, got up and went to the gym, and even returned home in time to jog to Owen's school to pick him up...this is all part of my "no waddle" plan for pregnancy. I absolutely refuse to gain 70 lbs and waddle like a duck. Plus, I'm already starting to feel the tightness of my shorts at the waist and this little one growing inside me is only the size of a lima bean. Not off to a good start, missy!