I picked up Lisa Zeidner's Love Bomb at the library.  It was in the fiction new releases section and Babyface was fussing so I picked it up and hoped for the best. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  It was three parts relationship examination, one part wedding, and one part twisted.  I didn't love the beginning, particularly the bulleted paragraphs, but once I read a little further I got into it.

The novel takes place at a wedding in suburban New Jersey.  The bride and groom are known for being arty types so it takes the guests a while to realize that they are actually being held hostage.  The novel explores the connections between the guests, particularly the marriages of family members.   I liked it and found the ending to be a surprise.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffins

After last week's Peanut Butter Muffin Fail, I received a suggestion to add banana to the muffins so that they wouldn't be so dry.  I found a recipe and tweaked it until it was perfect for Babyface. 

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffins

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffins Ingredients:

1 1/2 c flour

1 c old fashioned oats

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/3 c vegetable oil

1/3 c brown sugar

2 eggs

2 mashed bananas

2/3 chunky peanut butter

1 c buttermilk (I just add a tablespoon of vinegar to whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes)

2 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used 365 whey protein powder)

Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir.  Put the oil, brown sugar, eggs, banana, peanut butter, and buttermilk in the mixer and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine until just incorporated.  

Pour the batter into greased muffin tins. Do not use paper liners.  Bake at 350* for about 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  This recipe made 18 regular size muffins with some leftover batter. I was out of muffin tins so I just baked all the leftover batter in an ovenproof bowl and ended up with one really big muffin. Let the muffins cool in the tins for about 10 minutes, then take them out and cool on a rack. He ate two for lunch that day.  I kept some out and individually froze the rest in a big Ziploc so we have a fast meal or snack ready. 

One Giant Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffin

These were great and a big hit with Babyface.  I really liked them too.  If I were making these for adults instead, I would probably substitute applesauce for at least half of the oil, egg whites for whole eggs, use skim milk instead of whole, and increase the sugar to 3/4 c.

This morning I woke up first, had a slice of homemade chocolate chip ginger banana bread my sister-in-law baked, read for a while before everyone else woke up, had a delicious breakfast that My Heart's Desire made (with a little help from Trader Joe's), met up with some folks I hadn't seen in a while, came home and worked out, snuck out for a pedicure (my first one in months!), browsed at the bookstore, gave Babyface plenty of hugs, kisses, and cuddles, went to visit relatives with Babyface, the baby bag, and plenty of snacks in tow, came home and fed him peanut butter pumpkin oatmeal and pear slices for dinner, gave him a bath, had a quiet dinner, and read before My Heart's Desire and his sister came back home.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles With Granola

It's been really hot here lately so I try to do baking and other hot things in the kitchen on cooler days.  Today I broke out the George Foreman and made waffles for Babyface.

I intended to make the usual Pumpkin Spice Waffles but when I opened the fridge to get the eggs, I saw a bag of homemade granola.  Yes, sometimes I make homemade granola.  So instead of adding oatmeal, I put in roughly the same amount of granola. It didn't make them terrifically crunchy or dry, it gave the waffles the right consistency with some added nuts for protein.

This batch made slightly fewer waffles, I'm sure because I just roughly measure when I pour in the batter. When they were all made (to Babyface's delight, he had a wobble for lunch), I layered them on a cookie sheet with parchment between the layers.  When they were mostly frozen (and when I wanted the tray to make some Healthy Cookies) I put them in a big Ziploc bag and they don't get all stuck together.
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Cleaning the Crock

You may have gleaned that I am a slow cooking enthusiast.  Sometimes when slow cooking, the crock can get kind of, well, icky.  With all of those slow and low hours of slow cooking, sometimes things get stuck on.  I used to scrub and scrub and scrub... Until I realized the crock could clean itself.  Eureka (in the kitchen)!

Just put some baking soda (I haven't measured, maybe a tablespoon or two) in the crock, fill it up with water past the stuck on food, and set the timer for an hour on high.  Voila!  The food falls away all by itself.  If it's still caked on, just add more time and walk away.  And if you forget about it, it's no big deal because the dirty crock is not going to go bad.  Just remember not to abruptly change the temperature of the crock.  I just dumped out the dirty water, left in the sink, and put it in the dishwasher in the morning.  

Peanut Butter Muffin Fail

Before my last family trip, my mom baked homemade mini-muffins and sent them overnight so we could have healthy snacks.  She made carrot spinach and peanut butter muffins.  They were great!  I really liked the PB muffins and so did Babyface.  In addition to loads of peanut butter, my mom also put in protein powder.   The muffins were great to eat when very hungry and surrounded by deep fryers. Babyface ate some in his carseat and they were not terrifically messy.

I asked my mom for the recipe but she couldn't find it (likely story).  So I looked online for a recipe and thought I'd try my hand at making some.  I put in about 50% more peanut butter than the recipe called for, half the sugar, and added currants for moistness.  I will spare you my recipe.  They turned out to be super dry.

I could barely eat one with an entire glass of milk. My Heart's Desire took one bite and I immediately saw his facial expression that means oh-this-is-no-good-but-I-can't-say-anything-because-Amina-made-this.  I let him off the hook and told him I knew they were way too dry. Like the Sahara. Babyface had no such qualms and has been enjoying them ever since.  I'm keeping my eye out for a different recipe that could be good for everyone.

This I Believe

While driving, I exclusively listen to books on CD that I've borrowed from the library.  Usually I like to listen to novels.  When else do adults get to hear someone telling them a story?

On a lark, I picked up a book I had never heard of.  This I Believe is a series of essays by many authors, each focusing on one strongly held personal belief.  The authors are all different types of people connected by these essays.  I listened to This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women and for some of the essays I drove slow.  The essays are all read by the authors and it's great to hear them in the author's voice, particularly Gloria Steinem's.  I recently mentioned the essay entitled "Always go to the funeral" to a friend and it sparked a very interesting discussion.  Some of the essays spoke to me more than others (I'll admit I skipped past a few). I'm glad I listened to it. It's had me wondering how I could sum up my most important belief so succinctly.

Today I am grateful for trying new things, super easy Healthy Cookies, the pleasure of being cold, actual quiet, a wedding to go to tomorrow, friends, this morning's workout, fresh fruit, appliances that work, prayer, and humor.

Good, Medium, Skip

I really liked Ayelet Waldman's Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, a novel about a woman who loses her one day old baby to SIDS.   This novel explores what happens afterwards to her marriage, her relationships with friends and her stepson, and her grief.  Honest and unflinching, this book was hard to put down.

As I've mentioned, I really like Marian Keyes' books.  I bought The Mystery of Mercy Close and practically inhaled it.  It did make me want to go to Ireland, as most of her books do.  It wasn't my favorite of her books but it wasn't bad either.  It's definitely something to check out from the library. 

There's been a lot of hooplah around The House Girl by Tara Conklin. I read some positive reviews and put my name on the list at the library.  While I was reading it, I was wondering if I was reading the same book as everyone else.  I found the writing to be mediocre, the story drags, and it had many elements that didn't pay off.  I also didn't connect with the present-day main character.  I finished the book waiting for something to happen to make me care.
 

Today I am grateful for sunshine, flip-flops, Netflix, a family visit to look forward to, my cough is finally gone, books, when the stars line up in my favor, sound soothing machines, and the way Babyface's face lights up when he sees an orange and says, "Oh!"

Bargain Day: Cloth Diapers

Before Babyface was born, I was convinced that cloth diapers were the way to go. However, in the hospital they used Pampers Swaddlers. The stripe that turns from yellow to blue when wet changed my mind. Especially when he was younger and not sleeping all that much. 

I've been spending $40 (Target brand) to $80 (Pampers) a month on disposable diapers. In addition to the price, they are no friend to the environment.  Yes, there is a cost to doing all the extra laundry.  The cost of doing cloth diaper laundry averages around $125 per year to use the washer and dryer.  Line drying is even less expensive.

I recently received an abundant supply of FuzziBunz cloth diapers and inserts from a generous mom that had some to hand down.  So the initial cost to me was $0.

It's been a few days and so far, so good.  I'm still using disposable overnights for overnight since he wears them for so long (12+ hours).

I do so much wash anyway it's not much trouble to do an extra load every day or so.  We'll see how it goes with the hippie baby. I already like not having to spend so much on disposable diapers or send them to the landfill.

Today was a gorgeous day; I did chores at home, slow cooked tonight's dinner (three bean turkey chili), had a great lunch with a friend, ran errands, walked to the park with Babyface, noticed the azaleas in bloom and all the fecundity of spring, and when I got home I realized I
had my shirt on inside out.