Do the Bunny Hop, hop, hop, hop!

(This is Violet, the bunny)

Happy Belated Easter. Here is an Easter run down.

Fun Traditions:
1. I always make something with eggs for breakfast. I figure if we can get some protein in our bodies, the candy won't hit our systems quite so hard. So I use this recipe from my sister. It is really called, "Breakfast Quiche" but that doesn't sound too festive, does it? So we call it, "Egg Pie" although my brother said we should change it to "Eggy Pie". Anyway, I don't like eggs really. I'll eat them b/c they are easy and cheap or when I'm pregnant to help get some extra protein but otherwise, blehk. Did you all know that some people put hard-boiled eggs on pizza in Argentina? Talk about gross.

Egg Pie
9 slices of bread, cubed (stale is fine)
2 ½ c. grated cheese (Colby Jack or cheddar)
1 c. chopped ham, 2 lbs. sausage, or already cooked bacon (use less salt if using bacon—like maybe just 1 tsp.)
6 eggs
3 tsp. dry mustard
3 c. milk
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. Italian seasoning
pinch of nutmeg (opt.)

In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer the bread, cheese, and meat. Combine eggs, spices, and milk together. Pour over layer in dish. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake at 325 for 1 hr, uncovered. I decided this year that a 9x13 is really too much for our family. I mean it is good, but after a breakfast, lunch, then breakfast, breakfast, you really don't want to see the Egg Pie until next Easter.

2. Fun hair-do for Easter day. I had all sorts of obstacles this year (my short hair included) but I counted myself successful when Tati didn't notice the ribbon in her hair and then didn't pull any of it out for the entire duration of church. I wanted Chloe's hair-do to be more intensive but she was so over it. I think I need to prepare some sort of special hair ornament to lure them into committing to a more time intensive do. Here is Tati's AFTER her nap. So much for the hair-do.
3. Everybody wears pastels. Something small but just feels really festive. It would be fun to all have coordinating outfits (shout out to Rebecca and Cyndi) but until we get to that phase, this is fine for us.

4. Go on the Easter Egg Hunt. We wanted to do it outside this year but Tati is still crawling so we kept it all inside for her. Next year we'll venture out though (assuming there is no snow).
Tati thought Peeps sucked. She thought the whole looking for eggs things was lame. She just wanted to eat! After we gave her a bite, she was reaching for something else. We finally wised up and just gave her one of her "special" eggs full of cheerios and raisins. Then she transformed into this.
I had to include this one because sometimes Greg puts the eggs in the most random, non-reachable places but Chloe loves it.
5. 12 Days of Easter-I'm sure many of you have seen this but it was pretty fun. I think it will be better when our kids are older. You fill 12 plastic eggs with different scriptures and items, for example, a dice is in one and the scripture talks about how people cast lots for Jesus' clothes. The 12th egg is empty just like the tomb after the third day. It is pretty fun and it also helps you to feel like you're not forgetting the real meaning of Easter.

6. Eat something Middle Easterny. I stole this idea from this girl here. We actually did this a few days before Easter. She was going to re-enact the Passover and stuff and though that all Mormons did that. I kind of laughed remembering when I was 14 and my seminary teacher brought us Passover food. She made unleavened bread and bitter herbs (they were dandelions from her front yard). Obviously we were studying the Old Testament. I just remember feeling so sad for Jewish people for having to eat this crappy food. Then again that was just one white lady's attempt at re-creating it. But no, Mormons do not re-create the Passover as a whole. Whatever people want to do for their own family traditions, go ahead. But I did really like the idea of making something from the Middle East to eat just to expand our culinary minds. I got this recipe from a Mennonite cookbook. My kids LOVED it. I was surprised at how delicious they thought it was. I thought it was a fun experience and I thought it was good and easy and cheap to make but nothing extraordinary. I do like to say the name though. It says it is from Egypt. I say close enough.

Kusherie
(Egyptian Rice and Lentils)

Rice and Lentils:
Heat in heavy saucepan or covered skillet:
2 T. oil
Add:
1 1/4 c. lentils
Brown the lentils over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add:
3 c. boiling water or stock 1 tsp. salt dash pepper
Cook uncovered 10 minutes over medium heat.

Stir in:
1 1/2 c. rice 1 c. boiling water or stock
Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes without stirring.

Sauce:
In a suacepan, heat together:
3/4 c. tomato paste 3 c. tomato juice, sauce or pureed tomatoes 1 green pepper, chopped chopped celery leaves 1 T. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cumin 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or crushed chilis to taste
Bring sauce to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Browned Onions:
Heat in small skillet:
2 T. oil
Sauté over medium heat until brown:
3 onions, sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced
To serve, put rice-lentil mixture on top of platter. Pour tomato sauce over. Top with browned onions.
Option: Omit the sauce (but not the browned onions) and serve with plain yogurt.

7. Take a Family Picture. Your picture's outcome can really get cramped by early morning church. Assuming all your hair-dos last you have hunger and tiredness to battle. Then of course there is the whole question of using the camera timer. Ugh. Next year we'll have to see if we can get another human to take our picture and preferably go outside.
I sort of lost it about half-way through the photo shoot and decided that instead of going crazy, I would just have to embrace the "real-life" photos that resulted. The lighting, the crowd, the cropping--it was all against me. Some would argue these pictures are better than the other kind anyway. Tati's reaction says it all.
Here's Chloe's best one. Too bad I cut off her head.
Here is Tati's best one. Too bad she is just being bad.

Here's the best one of the girls together. We were spraying water into Tati's mouth because she loves it and it usually gets a great smile but unfortunately the camera's timer and Daddy's hand were not in sync.

HAPPY EASTER!

Easy, Yummy Snack

Are mine the only kids who are always hungry? I swear as soon as I finish the dishes from breakfast, I'm already getting requests for snacks. It is enough to drive a Mommy coo-koo. The past few weeks, I've been doing something different for snacks. I'm making muffins. They are the perfect serving size and pretty nutritious--they do have wheat germ! My kids also like these for breakfast with a bowl of applesauce or with a yogurt. I got this new recipe from my friend. Make it the real way first and then make your own adjustments. The tricky part for me is the baking because my oven is so old and unpredictable so just watch em good the first time and then you'll know how long to bake. I've successfully done these a few ways: I've done honey instead of sugar(less than a cup b/c it is sweeter than real sugar), less sugar and then once they're in the liners, sprinkle some sugar/cinnamon mixture on top so they don't miss the sugar inside, done some brown sugar in place of all the white, I've added apples and cinnamon and today I did them with carrots and cinnamon with a hint of nutmeg, orange juice & zest (sort of carrot cakish). Let me know what you think. Also, if you have any great, kid snack ideas, hook me up.

This recipe makes 18 muffins in the normal size muffin liners or 12 of those extra large ones. I just use one of those small cookie ice cream scoops, 2 scoops in each muffin. The plain recipe is super yummy for breakfast with sour plum jam on top but unless you are one of my relatives, you probably don't have sour plum jam just lying around. Well and seriously if you are one of my relatives, you probably already ate it all and have to wait until summer again when my mom makes it. It is the best jam EVER but I suppose any jam would do. :-)

Wheat Germ Muffins

1 ½ c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1 c. + 2 T. wheat germ
1 c. +2 T. sugar
¼ +1 T. oil
2 eggs
¾ c. milk

Mix it all together. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min.

I know, kind of random measurements but they've turned out great every time. I think the key is equal wheat germ and sweetener b/c it is quite bitter alone. My other favorite muffins are from all recipes. I'll put the link. It only has 35 reviews so if you like it leave one there. You can read my review there if you look for it. I usually don't make anything from those recipes unless they have a lot of reviews but this gamble REALLY paid off.

You know you want some!

I'm sure. This totally looks like I staged this shot. But no, this is my fall table and I really did make this delish dessert/bread. This is probably my most sought after and revered recipe. Doesn't it look so good?! I got it from a lady in CO. I LOVE IT--but I love everything almondy. During this time of year, you can hoopty it up with a cup or so (I like lots so sometimes 2 cups)of chopped, fresh cranberries. I'm also waiting to add some chopped almonds to the mix. Basically without the poppies, it can be a general sweet cake base for lots of desserts like ice cream or fruit. With no glaze, it would be a to die for strawberry shortcake. But ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. Try the basic first and then you can pimp it up yourself. We call it "Cakey Bread" but here's the real name:

Almond Poppy Bread

3 c. flour
2 ½ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ c. milk
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/8 c. vegetable oil
1 ½ -2 T. poppy seeds
1 ½ tsp. butter flavored extract (optional)
1 ½ tsp. almond extract
Glaze:
¼ c. orange juice
¾ c. sugar
½ tsp. butter flavored extract (optional)
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract


For bread: Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla and eggs. Once mixed, add vegetable oil, poppy seeds, butter flavoring, and almond flavoring. Mix for 1-2 minutes with electric mixer until all combined. Grease two bread pans or one bundt and pour in mixture. Bake at 350.

For glaze: Mix ingredients and then put on top of bread (duh). I like to use a basting brush to coat with the glaze.

p.s. I've tried to sub applesauce for the oil and it just isn't as good.
p.s.s. Tell me if you do a variation of this that I should try.

Breakfast

See Marnie, you don't have to have anything special in mind for a post!

I'm just curious what other people eat for breakfast. I mean, I know what my family eats for breakfast. For one it is some booby milk with some fruit later, for the others, it is cereal. Every single day just cereal. Then there is me. I guess I just don't really like cereal that much. My stomach isn't even hungry when I get up in the morning--mostly because my four year old is waking up way too early for me to be naturally nice let alone make breakfast. So I get the ball rolling like this: bowl, spoon, milk, cereal. I guess in that sense I'm ever grateful for its simplicity but truthfully how much cereal can one person take? When I was in college, sure you'd skip a normal meal for the quickness and simplicity of having a bowl of cereal instead of making a real meal. It gave you the added boost of energy in the afternoon or the wee hours of the night when that term paper was still being typed out. Maybe that is my problem. Maybe I overdosed on cereal. I used to love Blueberry Morning cereal. Now, I'm like, "Uh, it's ok."

I'm more of a hot breakfast girl. I could just as easily eat breakfast food for breakfast than I could eat dinner for breakfast. I love omelettes even though I don't really like eggs. Anything with bacon I will love or anything with fry or potato in it I will love too. But those warm meals are just so time consuming and the last thing I have in the morning is time. Back in the day in the U.S. I would just have a Chocolate Royale slimfast and maybe a peanut butter toast with it and call it good. That would keep me satisfied until lunch even but they only have the slimfast in cans here in CAN so I've long since kissed it bon voyage. I do like me some steel cut oats but they take 100 years to cook and for the life of me as I leave it to cook, 9 out of 10 times, it will boil over on me because I've impatiently turned the heat up. The cleaning of the stovetop later completely spoils them for me. I have had some 5 min. quick steel cut oats but alas again not available here.

Recently though, I’ve discovered cereal that I don’t get sick of—at least not yet. It’s coconut granola. I love granola but it is so expensive! I’ve tried a few recipes but I swear they call for so many ingredients that by the time I make it, it costs more than if I just went to the health food store and bought it. I vary things I add to it like: craisins, raisins, the nuts, the extract flavors, spices, etc. I also vary what I eat with my granola: white milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, fresh fruit, canned fruit, etc. It is easy to make, yummy to eat and it makes the whole house smell yummy. It is a fool-proof recipe and very forgiving. What I still haven’t tried yet though is to add some dried pineapple bits to make pina colada granola. That would be right up my alley. So here is a copy for all of yous. I got it from my friend Sondi who has lots of hungry kids and is a fellow frugal girl. Sold me.


COCONUT GRANOLA

Combine:
2 C whole wheat flour
6 C rolled oats
1 C flaked coconut
1 C wheat germ
1 C seeds (optional)
1 C nuts

Blend separately:
1/2 C water
1 C oil
1 C honey or corn syrup
2 t coconut extract
1 t salt

Mix dry and wet together. Spread out on 2 cookie sheets. Bake 45 minutes at 300°F until dry and golden. Stir frequently the last 15 minutes, so it doesn't get too toasted.

If you don't like coconut, do an extra C of seeds or nuts instead, and use vanilla extract. If you like to add raisins or dried fruit, do that when you serve it, or after it has baked and cooled. And don't be scared of all of the oil; use canola - it's a healthy choice, and the fat will help keep the kids satisfied for longer. Finally, if you're not going to eat it all within 4 weeks, store it in the freezer or fridge so that it doesn't spoil.

I will make one disclaimer. For people who have never had home-made cereal, it won't taste as sweet as you're used to. You can either just ween off that sugar cold turkey or lul yourself away from it by adding like 1/2 c. to 1 c. of brown sugar to the wet portion and then less and less each time. Or you could always throw a few fruit loops in too.

So tell me, what do you eat for breakfast? I need some ideas. Do you eat right away when you get up or do you eat hours later?