Thursday, September 29, 2016

Early Eats for Autumn

Anyone else out there not a breakfast fan? I'm just not that hungry in the morning, but if I skip breakfast I let myself go to starving and make poor food choices. What's a girl to do?


I didn't start drinking coffee* regularly until a few years ago because caffeine makes me jittery. I also have trouble sleeping sometimes which might be affected by my coffee intake or the timing of my intake. I really like to drink something besides water, especially in the morning. So I mix up my morning beverage with different teas (chai, black, hibiscus depending on the day). Recently, I added hot spicy cocoa with 1/4tsp turmeric and hemp powder to my morning rotation. The cocoa and hemp powder does have a bit of sugar, but not too much (I don't sweeten my coffee because sugar makes me feel bad). The turmeric adds to the flavor, but doesn't overpower it.
The amount I make fills my favorite coffee cup twice. This cup was made by Parker and it is my favorite right now. I love the brown and blues in the pottery and it is a great size. Speaking of Parker, he is now hooked on this morning beverage too so he makes a big mug for himself.

*Not trying to dis coffee on National Coffee Day. I enjoy my coffee more when I don't drink it daily.

I've talked about being a savory gal when it comes to breakfast, but I've really been enjoying my new oatmeal routine. With all three of the kids homeschooling this year, morning are more leisurely, but breakfast is still kind of crazy. I wake up early with Rob and he eats toast with nutritional yeast or something light and quick. I drink my hot beverage and sit to chat with him before he goes to work. Often I walk Rob to work with the dog and by the time I'm home one or two of the kids are up. Most of the time Parker makes his own breakfast and maybe feeds a sibling or two. Since I've had a couple of miles under my belt, I am actually hungry. I used to make a big batch of steel cut oats, but now the quick rolled oats make more sense. I make just enough for me. I put all the ingredients in a bowl and heat up the water in the kettle, then let it sit while I deal with some dishes or laundry. It is "cooked" and ready to eat.
 I put 1/4 cup rolled organic oats, 1 tablespoon ground organic flax seeds, 2 tablespoons organic walnuts, 2 tablespoon organic barberries** and one cup of boiling water. After the oats soak the water, I add one cup of frozen blueberries. I'm full of energy without the weird crash I usually feel after sugar and I'm not hungry until well into the afternoon.
Something else I love to make, once there is a nip in the air, is applesauce. My family eats so many apples, an apple tree in my yard would cut my grocery bill by quite a fourth. The summer is not apple season so we buy less, but we still have them in the house. I had few left over since we bought some real autumn apples for snacking and those were disappearing, but the older apples just sat. No way will I compost apples so I cut them up, cook them down with some lemon juice, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. The kids love to eat fresh applesauce warm from the stove.

**

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

What We Did Over the Summer - Music Video

 I cannot even express how much fun this video was for all my kiddos. Several of their friends (adults and kids) were also involved. Elsinore has been one of their favorite local bands for years and Parker babysits for two of the band members' children. The director, John, was Dema's director for Listen and he is just amazing to work with. This video was shot at the end of summer vacation, but was just released yesterday. An old school friend of mine is also in the video so it was fun to catch up with him. Parker's girlfriend (at the time) and her sister are extras and they had a great time hanging out at the park, climbing trees, and laughing between takes. Enjoy!


Behind the scenes pics:
Dema, obviously, had very little experience with tennis prior to this video. One of the things I love about acting is learning new skills. All three kids have a desire to learn to play tennis now.

John getting some footage of Dema the ball boy. 
Emma (homeschooling friend), Josie having fun playing as things we set up. Parker getting into character as the cool famous ball boy. 
The tennis court where we filmed is at one of our favorite neighborhood parks, just about a mile from our house. Josie was so happy to play there again. 
Parker wasn't too cool to stay out of the trees.
From ball boy to tennis sensation. Dema thought the fizzy water was pretty cool until he took a drink. My kids aren't really into carbonation. They let him keep the shades and the trophy.