Do I Dare?

Last year, I thought this would get me posting more regularly. It didn't. But I'm going to do it again this year anyway.

Oh Wait...

Did you want a real update? Well, OK.

Malcolm is loving preschool. At first, he was a little apprehensive, but now he asks to go every day. I love the teachers and the other parents are really nice. We've noticed a huge increase in Malcolm's pretend play; I'm not sure if school is the influence or if it's just developmental.

We've been staying busy as usual. Yesterday afternoon, I took Malcolm to a Halloween party at Ari's house. The kids were so cute. Here's a picture of Malcolm the Monkey:


This afternoon, we're going down to the neighborhood shops for their Halloween Festivities. Malcolm is very excited to go trick-or-treating for the first time. We've been having a lot of cloudy & rainy days lately but today it's sunny and gorgeous. Perfect weather for being outside!

Breads

I'm posting these here so I don't forget the recipes. I like to bake and keep these kinds of breads around to snack on.

I'm going to give you the recipes exactly how I make them. However, you can omit the nutritional boosters and the bread will still taste great. I'll put asterisks next to the ingredients that are optional. If you are interested in cutting down on fat, use unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil - equal portions. And, you can always use 100% all-purpose flour or 100% whole wheat flour instead of both. I use a mix because the bread will turn out really dense when using 100% whole wheat flour. I use 'Super Flour' from the book Super Baby Food.

Super Flour
Combine following ingredients into a 1c measuring cup
1 Tbsp wheat germ
1 Tbsp soy flour
Fill rest with whole wheat flour

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup Super Flour
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
2 Tbsp Brewer's Yeast*
2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal*
2 eggs
1/2 cup refined sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 to 2 cups grated zucchini (small to medium zucchini)
1/2 cup chocolate chips or raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Beat together eggs, sugar, and oil. Blend in the grated zucchini, and then the sour cream. Mix in the flour, brewer's yeast, flaxseed meal, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 70 - 80 minutes.

Sweet Potato Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup Super Flour
1/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
2 Tbsp Brewer's Yeast*
2 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal*
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground all-spice
1/3 cup water
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 large to 4 small potatoes, steamed or baked. If you have a little more than 1 cup, that's OK! You can used canned, too)
1 cup raisins

Directions
1. Combine sugar and oil; beat well. Add eggs and beat. Combine flour, brewer's yeast, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, and spices in separate bowl. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and raisins.
2. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 2 small loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about one hour.

*Cough*Cough*Cough*

Welcome to the House of Illness. I'd invite you in, but that would be a bit rude since you'd be exposed to our unsightly germs. There's no sight of H1N1 or seasonal flu, but plenty of mucus to go around. Malcolm and Tony have been fighting the snot monster for a couple of weeks now and my lungs are trying to escape my chest cavity. Last week, I had a lovely head cold with slight cough, sore throat and ear ache that developed into bronchitis and a sinus infection. I went to the doctor's office yesterday to acquire prescription strength cough medicine with dreams of sleep that night. Even the codeine-laced Robitussin couldn't keep my cough at bay.

Autumn is in full-swing in Seattle and the changing leaves take my breath away. Cold season is also in full-swing and also takes my breath away.

Cold season, you can kiss my butt!

The Trials of Sleep

Ever since our trip to San Diego, Malcolm has been having a hard time with sleeping. Previous and during our trip, he slept through the night. Now, he wakes up 2-3 times a night, comes into our room and crawls into bed with us. Last night, he was up every 45 minutes from the time he went to bed until around 2 AM. We have no idea how to encourage him to stay in bed all night since we never had to do it before.

Thank goodness for coffee.

And here's some cuteness from San Diego:




To see all of the pictures I took during our trip, go here.