New Recipes, a Run, and other Randomness

My little men gave me a nice gift of sleeping in this morning.  At first, I was frustrated with them because I had really hoped to have plenty of time for a morning run before heading off to story time, but I decided to choose a different attitude and seized the moment by getting cozy in the kitchen and prepping our meals for the day.  I tried out several new recipes this morning and still ended up managing to squeeze in my five mile run too.  This morning the air so crisp that I couldn't pass up a run but I did cut it pretty close getting to story time on time...lesson learned!  It sure does feel good to feel better.

Anyways, back to the recipes...For breakfast, I made us Peanut Butter Banana Waffles using this recipe.  YUM-O!  The only change I made was to use PB2 instead of Peanut Butter.  I topped mine with my mixed berry chia jam.  Delish!  We had plenty of leftovers which I threw in the freezer for future breakfasts.  These were definitely a winner with the boys.

In between waffle batches, I used some of my organic apples to make homemade stovetop applesauce, which the boys love.  I leave out the sugar when I make it.  Not only do they eat it by the bowlful, but I like to use it as a butter substitute when I bake as well.  I'm planning to use some later in the week to make pear bread.  I'm thinking of tweaking this recipe to make it healthier.  Anyone else have a good pear bread recipe?

The final recipe I whipped up was a broccoli pesto.  Thanks to Cecilia for introducing me to Smitten Kitchen which had a recipe that was the inspiration for my creation.   I basically followed her recipe, only I used extra olive oil in place of the butter and unsweetened plain almond milk in place of the heavy cream.  Oh, and I also used vegetable and whole wheat penne instead of spaghetti.  My boys and I DEVOURED this for dinner tonight.  It was SOOO good.  I will most definitely be making this again to get my boys to eat broccoli, since they're not big fans of the traditional green floret version of broccoli.

Here's my version with lots of crushed red pepper...

Today's story time picks included...

Yep, I'm still on the Karma Wilson kick.  Bear Says Thanks has great rhymes and spectacular artwork.  It teaches a great lesson too.  I probably should have saved it for November with Thanksgiving and all but I was afraid I would forget how great it was.  My other choice was...

This is a unique take on a well-known rhyme with silly animals and lots of instruments.  It's short, sweet and simple.  It's not my favorite, but my boys really liked it so I decided to share it today after all. 

Our other events of the day included a well child visit to the pediatrician and a trip to the Fresh Market for pumpkins.  They're 2/$10 there...not bad!  Mason and Colton are doing a fantastic job of growing and hopefully they won't be getting the flu after their quick little flu shots today.  They were tough guys.  We're all done with toe pricks now too since their iron is finally high enough now!  Woohoo!  They were actually more upset over the bandaids on their toes than the prick.  Silly guys!  

Check out their pumpkin selections.  Colton wanted the white "ball."  They are so funny.  He even picked it up to try to throw it in the Fresh Market.  Thank goodness it's heavy.  The orange one Mason picked doesn't even stand up on its own... Oh well.  We don't judge pumpkin choices in this family...

In other news...We had this little surprise waiting for us in our mailbox this afternoon.  A magazine for toddlers...how cool!  The pages are even extra thick.  Thanks Mimsy!  We are loving the pirate and the dog on the cover and the seasonal stories and rhymes inside as well.  Great suprise! 

Maybe they can use it for a little bathroom reading on their froggy potties.  One day they'll actually pee in them...I hope!

On a completely random note...in the last day or so, I have had at least half a dozen people remind me in various ways, probably some of them without even realizing it, to slow down, enjoy the moment, be grateful for EVERYTHING, and to find peace in simplicity.  I'm trying to do a little bit better at that each day.   Thought you might like the reminder too.  

Sleep tight!