Monday, January 21, 2008

catching up...

well... i thought i was doing OK in keeping up with family "stuff" and pictures... expcept for the occasions when i just didn't TAKE a picture.... but I found some great stuff on my camera....

This is Anika at the Dove Kids Christmas Service. Her class used streamers and dance express thier Joy of the holiday -- to Felix Navidad. The class is almost all girls... so it wasn't a big stretch for them to participate in a dance!!

Can you see the gold star way up high on the baptristy ledge?? That is our Thor-man!! The kids did a Live Nativity -- with naration by some of the older kids and teachers... and the younger kids played the parts of the nativity "family." Thor was the Star... and wasn't real excited about being up so high... but that night his jitters didn't show at all!! The music leader, Greg commented that I was like Mary, willing to sacrifice my first born son (really, he wasn't in danger... it just looked like it... possibly).
The next joyous occasion in the family was the birth of Theo Gilbert Alan Montiel on January 17th. He was 7 pound, 7.7 ounces, 20 inches long (something like 57 centemeters) and was born at 12:27 p.m. I think 7 might be his favorite number?? Anyway, his is totally adorable... and has the BEST hair ever... stands up straight and tall, just like Holli puts gel in it every day! How cute. You can go to RCRH.org baby pages to see another picture of him. Holli and Jason took him home yesterday (Sunday).
Liv is growing... growing... She has officially denounced all forms of 'baby food' and most often refuses spoon feeding no matter the tasty morsels being offered. She far prefers hand to mouthing everything herself... and makes a royal mess... as you can see after this session of Ziti. I wonder if she got a bit of Italian in her somehow... she loves anything in spaghetti sauce??? She ate a whole beet last night at well (cut into bite size pieces)... and loves every kind of veggie we have tried. She follows her dads example... and picks out the green peas first, no matter what else is on her plate at the time.

So you might be wondering what a container of pureed beets and maple syrup and whipped cream have to do with each other?? My intention was to take a picture of the adorable pink pancakes we made together this morning for breakfast. The kids are home all day (vacation day, MLK Day)... and it's just too cold to go anywhere (-2). I used my new favorite cook book -- Deceptively Delicious. We made pancakes with beet puree! They are the most fabulous pink color ... and are light and delicious. No beet taste what so ever.... Amazing??!! Anyway -- the kids ate them up so fast, I never go a picture of the finished project! I barely got a taste of ONE pancake myself... Thor ate 15 (silver dollar size)... Anika at 13... the baby ate 3 or more...

Here is the recipe: (I had to alter the original just a bit becuase I don't have pre-made pancake mix on hand).
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 ts. baking soda
1 Tb. sugar
Mix together in a large mixing bowl.

In a blender combine:
3/4 c milk
1 egg
1/2 cup yougurt (i used vanilla flavor)
1/4 c pureed beets (from a can of cooked regular beets)
dash of salt
Blend until there are no visible spots of beet or yougurt (1 minute or less).

Add wet ingrediets to the flour mixture. Stir until all flour is incorporated. Let sit for 4-5 minutes while you heat up a frying pan, griddle or electric skillet. Spray with Pam or small amounts of butter. Use an 1/8 or a 1/4 cup measure to make "silver dollar" size cakes on your pan. Cook as usual. Serve with warm 100% maple syrup and a dot of whipped cream.

Each serving (1/4 of the batch) is a 100% of a childs need of protien and carbohydrate for one meal -- and a 1/2 serving of vegetable (again, per child)!! If you serve it with a fruit side-dish, they would have a balanced breakfast: protein, carb, fiber, fruit and veg!!

1 comment:

BareFoot Finn said...

What a cute picture of her! I used to do that to my pasta when I was little too!