I felt that it was wrong not to share

And I will never be able to go back to regular oatmeal again. Ever.

I'm not really sure what to call this, I guess the best name for it would be:

'Peanut Butter Pecan Maple Syrup Cinnamon Oatmeal that you will wake up on time (or even a little bit early) to make'.

Just a  side note to explain why I even stumbled upon this little piece of breakfast heaven.

James and I have been trying to wean processed foods and animal proteins out of our diet.

Well, except eggs and dairy; we haven't got there yet.

And we both love meat. And will probably (or certainly) continue to eat it, on occasion.

At least for now, (and probably forever).

Anyway, we just felt like we need to take better stock of what we put into our (and our children's) bodies.

And after watching one too many food documentaries, and jumping on the juicing bandwagon, we decided to make some (very small) steps in the eating 'plant based, whole foods' direction.

So there it is.

I'm officially making myself more accountable.;)

Anyway, back to the yummy food.  

After about a week and a half of eating a lot of raw veggies, I got a little (or a lot) desperate to eat something that wasn't cold, raw, and in the form of a salad.

So I got online, and got some ideas.

And I also later realized that this was body's desperate attempt to get some form of sugar, which, I'm apparently addicted to.

And it did.

It's very clever, that serotonin makin' brain of mine (it wants sugar and it wants it bad).

So here is the recipe and some pictures that don't do it justice. 

1-2 bananas

1/2 TBS butter (or dairy free butter)

2TBS peanut butter

1 cup rolled oats

1-2 tsp chia seeds 

(and if you're like me and have no clue what chia seeds are they are this teeny tiny little seed, that absorbs 10x their weight in water.  Apparently they are the best form of omega 3 around, help control blood sugar, lower blood pressure, and they do a lot of other wonderful things that I don't really know about.)

1tsp cinnamon

2 cups milk (or almond milk)
1tsp vanilla

Topping:

1-2 TBS peanut butter

Pecans

cinnamon 

Milk

 (or almond milk, or I've also used coconut milk)

Maple syrup 

(1-2TBS, or you could go a little crazy and add a couple more)

It's super simple, first, dice up your banana and put into medium pot on medium heat along with the butter.  Cook for 3-5 min.

Then add the peanut butter, oats, chia seeds, cinnamon and milk.

Continue cooking and stirring for about 5-7 minutes.
Add the vanilla,

then dish out, add the toppings and relish making something that is not only 'whole' and healthy, but also  extremely yummy!
(This recipe serves 2 heaping bowls of oatmeal).

The original recipe is from here.  And a word of warning: this blog will make you incredibly hungry; I would advise not making a grocery list for the week on an empty stomach while perusing through all the amazing pictures of food she has. 

You will come out of Whole Foods a lot poorer.;)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

(I also think my husband's love for me grew a smidge the morning I made it).;)

Snow Days have their benefits

One of which is catching up on the ol' blog.

I guess I will start here.

Ahhhh, Colorado.  

It reminds me of when I was training, in decent physical shape, and had an extended weekend away with my hubby and good friends.

All good reminders in the middle of winter, when all I want to do is take a hot bath, curl up under a warm blanket and consume homemade cinnamon rolls in very large quantities.

I can still feel the inner-peace that was radiating from us in this photograph.

Still can't tell you what's happening here.

I love eating pictures. 

So humbling.

Gorgeous.

My dream backyard contains something similar to this.

Race day

Running around my backyard as a kid, jumping hurdles with my chocolate lab, Buddy, finally seems to have been useful for something.

I love the ferocity; there's no holding him back.

We made it!

And we're smiling.

Which is amazing considering I couldn't breathe at all up there.

Come to find out, it's probably a good idea to train for high altitudes.

I've filed that one away.....for next time.

And after swimming through really cold mud, we cleaned up and enjoyed the sights.

James will never live down finding the only gentleman that had never used a camera phone.

He seriously hadn't.

Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Nothing beats getting the whole drum of ice cream.

Except maybe running a 5k in Colorado with this guy by my side.

A word of advice for all you 20-year-old-somethings: Nerds make the best dads

It's true.

This guy went on a late night run to Target (in inclement weather), to purchase 200 bowls, so he could fill them all up with water, add food coloring, and put them (neatly) in snow trenches, so that they would freeze overnight, in order to build the kids their own personal igloo the next day.

Now that's some daddy dedication.

 And don't forget the snowball fight fort, that you could slide to from the igloo.

Thanks for setting the bar so high honey; that's one way to win over the neighbors.;)

 Add a lantern after dark, and.......

 It glows!

 Noble may have had a bit too much snow fun at this point.

 The igloo could fit 3 small children inside, or

 one large, fun loving, selfless, and completely wonderful man.

I'm tellin' ya, go for the nerds girls, go for the nerds.

Sledding Fun

Abundance

Snow days are so much more fun when James is around.

Like a mini, family vacation.....in the mountains....without the packing or the driving (and much smaller hills).

Every time I start daydreaming about life in the country (which I find myself doing quite frequently and they usually consist of charming white farmhouses, acres of land to roam, horses, chickens, babbling brooks, and more horses), I need to stop and remind myself of the joy of a neighborhood full of laughing, squealing children, coming out to enjoy the snow together.

And sledding down hills with them.

And being there to catch them on video when they totally bite it.

And watching them help each other get snow out of their boots.

And drinking the water they so thoughtfully brought to share. ;)

That's what it's all about anyway.

A Royal Valentines

We absolutely love Valentines day at our house; a holiday that is all about love?  Sign me up!

London has been making preparations for the last four weeks; one cold month, plus lots of time inside, equals a lot of red paper hearts. ;)

 James surprised us with the globe lights in the morning, it was so pretty!

Then off to two school parties.

London's was a royal engagement, complete with velvet curtains, a castle and a royal introduction of all the princesses and knights.

Cutest. party. ever. 

Even though there was a bit of the unexpected (lock down for armed burglar in Andover) Mrs. Braynock kept the happiness going.

I love this little girl, (who spent a large amount of time picking out the perfect royal attire the night before), and the really little girl on my lap. She joins us on Thursdays and helps satisfy my baby cravings. ;)

And then we were off to Noble's Valentines party.  He couldn't keep still, and hopped up from the circle twice to show me all the goodies we were going to eat.

His happiness is contagious.

Love, love, love him.

Priorities

Discussions about marriage and future spouses have been frequent at our house.
Noble's concerned about finding a girl to marry and will randomly approach the subject, say, when we are driving down the road.  "MOM, WHO am I going to marry????"
I've even over heard him singing about his future wife while cleaning his room, apparently he wants her to be "pretty, but not too fancy".  I guess he's not into the high maintenance type.
He's a smart kid.

And then there is London who, just this evening, told me her criteria for her future husband (she actually said that he must be like her in a lot of ways, and when I asked her in what ways, this was her response):
1.) He must sing praises to Jesus every night like she does.
2.) He must love God as much as she does.
3.) And he must speak with a British accent.

So there you have it.  We are all officially praying for a future husband/wife in this house, whether homegrown, or across the world.