Bye-Bye Mr. Gingerbread Man

We don't want to catch you or your house.  We've upgraded to Mr. Rice Krispy and frankly I think we're sticking to it.  I stumbled upon a Rice Krispy house kit and thought we'd give it a try since you can't eat the gingerbread house and frankly - what's the point of all those wasted treats?  Matt took charge and the kids got to work crafting their snowmen (or Mr. Bill whatever is the preferred era).  I asked all the kids to show me their "men/Bill" and someone thought Ella's was pretty funny..no idea why?? After we got a shot of the finished product I let the kids dig in - it was totally yummy and Mr. Bill only cried "oh nooooo" a few times.

  

 

Grinch Cakes

I have hit an all-time high in the creative chef category (and that's saying something...or maybe I should be saying an all-time low he...he..).
The other day I was bantering with a friend about my impressive uses of spinach. He said he had me beat...I countered with an "IMPOSSIBLE - NEVAH!" and then proceeded to list off all my wonderful uses of spinach (which he also listed identically at the same time):
1. smoothies (no-brainer)

2. eggs/frittata ('nother no-brainer)

3. spaghetti sauce (courtesy of vita-mix)

4. salads

5. sandwiches

6. tacos/burritos

at this point I was wearing a huge smug smile which speedily turned to shock as he continued and I was left there hanging with my mouth open...

7.  OATMEAL

8.  PANCAKES

Pancakes??? really??? I couldn't believe it, but at the same time was so impressed.  Ever since then I have been scheming to take a shot at it using the same tactics I have before...mix it with something and the taste is masked - add a little fruit or spice and it's magical!  Pretty sure most people would scratch their head and say "why on earth would anyone want to do that?"  BECAUSE SPINACH IS A POWERFOOD.  PERIOD.  It's in the top 5 good foods of all time and your diet had better have 'em in there DAILY or sooner or later it will come back to haunt you (of course you could be comatose so I guess the haunting would be totally pointless by then.)  

I started this creation by LAUGHING MY HEAD OFF!  Seriously.  If anyone has seen the "Kid History" with Carpenters singing - this was me.  I couldn't stop laughing.  My kids heard me and looked over and said "why are you adding spinach to the pancakes??"  (There's a running joke about me and spinach).  To which, through peals of laughter, I replied in my highest of high voices, "because it's GOOD for you....and it's made with LOTS of love!".  I finally reduced my hysteria to a mere chuckle and began by throwing 2 handfuls of spinach and adding some water to the vitamix.  I processed it till it was velvety-smooth looking.  Then I used the Hungry Jack Healthy Wheat (no they aren't whole wheat but throw me a bone here I was in a hurry) and mixed 'em together till they were the right consistency.  Then and there I knew these must be referred to as "Grinch Cakes" and chuckled some more.  I ladled the cakes in the pan and then added some sliced bananas and apples to the tops.  Cooked a bit, then flipped.  Voila! Bright green awesomeness.  Added some butter (or healthy spread) and a tad bit of maple syrup/apple syrup and wolfed down 3 cakes.  Mac ate one.  Ella ate two.  Laina & Eiley had to be hunted down to finish theirs, I didn't care.  The house had consumed 1serving of vegetable before 10:00am.  So awesome.  Eye rolling may commence - at least I didn't show the sweet potato fudge :)

**P.S.  these will make another debut around St. Patricks Day as "leprechaun cakes".

Give Thanks.

I gave it (thanks).
Last week.
We had a blast.
I've decided that Thanksgiving HAS to be my favorite holiday.  I mean - a holiday based totally on creating the perfect family meal/gathering - what is not to love???  I love it so much that I usually make my own 2 weeks before the big day...just to get the stomach nice and coated in preparation for the actual event.  I also decided to send out a "Thankful" card.  We had a blast in the 15 minutes we spent taking pictures...Indy has been warned from here on out...any funny faces given shall be used in future cards....and Ella is just to young to know or care, but man I LOVE that rascal face she makes!

MY TURKEYS...ha..ha..ha

 

 

I must thank my friend Kris - who was kind enough to run over and snap the above pics for us - she did a great job!

We headed over to Henderson to be with Matt's sister (and family) for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Here we have a wonderful picture of our hostess for the weekend.  She thought of everything...and had everything planned down to the last minute details...and my children are in love with her pantry.

Not quite sure how we all would've survived without the pool and the CA-juzzi.

We had photo shoots and face masks going all day long.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky, lived a bull-frog...

And then we had the TURKEY TROT OLYMPICS.  I must apologize up front for the somewhat haggard poor images...between photographing, videographing, instruction-giving, and cheating-inspecting it was rough going! (Oh and the doubled-over-laughing too!) 

A proper stretch is a must.

The first heat consisted of backwards walking, with arms like a soldier, then hip circles, then a gobble walk, 3 tuck jumps, sprint, and skip back to your teammates.  Exchange turkey hat with next team member. 

Wheelbarrow races, followed by Uncle Mike's "Doing-doing" turkey walk. 

We are beyond grateful for all that we have been blessed with and are ready for the Christmas Season!