The Big 1-2

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Momzoo

On January 28th my oldest daughter turned 12 years old

(I am seriously not old enough!)

Twelve is a big birthday at our house, kind of a coming of agething. My daughter’s get to have their ears pierced, they can start wearing a little make-up (blush and mascara….period), and we go on a special shopping trip to pick out a special Sunday outfit.
(When children turn 12 in our church they get to go to the youth activities and Sunday classes)

So a few days before her birthday we set out on a shopping trip extraordinaire and picked out a very cute little outfit for her first Sunday in Young Women’s, we bought some make-up and then picked up Dadzoo for the piercing of the ears and a little dinner.

We had a great time.

although.

I am still in a bit of denial over the fact I have a 12 year old!

Oatmeal Pancakes

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Momzoo

For the last couple of years I have been making breakfast for my family. I started doing this for a couple of reasons, mainly, because I like the idea of us eating together in the morning, we also read scripture and pray together, also for health reasons. Even the very best cold cereals pale in comparison to whole wheat pancakes, or old fashioned oats.

One of my family’s favorite breakfasts is Oatmeal Pancakes, it is full of very nutritious ingredients, and the cold leftovers are a wonderful hearty snack. I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Oatmeal Pancakes

2c. old fashioned oats

2c. Buttermilk

(I have also used regular milk or yogurt)

2 eggs

2 Tbsp oil

(I use virgin coconut oil, it gives the pancakes a wonderful flavor and is very good for you, check out this link, or this one, for facts on coconut oil)

1/2c whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp sugar, or honey

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 sea salt

*Combine oatmeal, flour and buttermilk, cover and refrigerate overnight. This step is very important for two reasons, the first being, grains soaked overnight are easier on digestion and the nutrients found in the grains are made more readily available to our bodies (for more information go here, or here, or here). The second reason being, that the oatmeal needs to soften so it will be palatable in the cooked pancakes.

*In the morning, add all the other ingredients and fry on the hot griddle until cooked through, serve with pure maple syrup and enjoy!

Boy and His Toys

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Momzoo

When you have 4 sisters…..

Little Bit of Early Spring Cleaning

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Momzoo

Winter this year has seem particularly cold and long.

In Northern Utah we get temperature inversions in the winter. Basically a high pressure system sits over the valleys, trapping cold air, pollution and water vapor in the valleys. It will just sit and sit until a storm system, strong enough comes along to clean everything out. We can easily go several days or weeks with out seeing the sun or blue sky, everything is grey and foggy and down right gloomy!

This year has been colder than normal and the inversion seems to be more tenacious. We have had several storms move through, but while the fog and smog will clear out for maybe a half day, the inversion comes right back. I don’t know if it has to do with being in the yucky first trimester, where I am normally tired and sick, but this year seems so bad!

About a week ago my Brother-in-law came and painted my bedroom and cheerie shade of green. I took the opportunity to “spring clean” my bed room, moving furniture and washing curtains, something about a good deep clean seems to raise my spirits a bit. The next day when I ironed the curtains and hung them back up, we had a rare sunny day with blue sky, it felt like a breath of springtime and I was reminded that we are only about 6 weeks away from the first breaths of real spring!

Ironing my curtains, by a sunny window, I couldn’t help but admire how pretty it all looked.

Curtains all hung up in my sunny bedroom window, the cradle has already found its home, between my bed and the window. I can’t wait for baby to fill it.