Whew, I have been busy

I can't truly say why--work, family, etc. but nothing horribly out of the ordinary.
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So here's "It's a Small World". They changed it since the last time we were there--they added dolls dressed in Disney movie character outfits. It was kind of fun trying to find them all. Here are two kids and some pirate's treasure. When I was a kid, the island at Disneyland was called "Tom Sawyer's Island"; now it's the "Pirate's Lair". They change things to keep current. Their shirts, by the way, came from Excalibur in LV. Several Disney employees noticed them and commented that they were "Phantasmic" shirts. Nope, sorry.

And here, as I promised, is a picture showing the crowds. There were lines up because a parade was supposed to be starting in about 45 minutes, but the crowds were like that all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Thursday morning was better and Friday we were at California Adventure and it wasn't nearly as bad.

So I'll give my vacation a rest now. How about on to some food?

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Sunday, son wanted pancakes for breakfast. I took my regular recipe and tweaked it a bit and they came out light, fluffy, and wonderful. I think they were the best I've ever made! I took the recipe and wrote out my tweaks so (hopefully) I can replicate the results. The were 100% whole wheat and had banana instead of egg and no dairy. I was impressed--usually when I make pancakes they are really hit or miss. One time they will be good and fluffy, the next time they will fall flat and have a crepe texture, or something like that.

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Saturday we went to the farmer's market and got Bok Choy--it was the first time I had ever had it. I stir fried it with onions, peppers, and garlic and a touch of teriyaki sauce. It was really good. Hubby said the leaves were tough but he liked the rest. We also got a big head of red romaine lettuce. I had several huge salads out of it.

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I need to harvest the garden again. I wish our tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, and cukes would get ripe--we are still at broccoli, onions, and kale.

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Well, I think I'll get back to work.

Ciao for now.

A really great weekend

Cooking wise, it was a really great weekend.

Saturday morning, the kids wanted pancakes. Son, in particular, wanted pumpkin pancakes. So here is what I did:

1 cup wheat
2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Turbinado
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Here's how: grind wheat in the vita-mix. Then add soy milk and run for a couple of minutes (not on high--high tries to cook it in the vita-mix. Add the rest of the ingredients--baking powder last (in fact, I usually stir in the baking powder with a wooden spoon instead of blending). Cook just like regular pancakes.

They were a big hit. We had leftovers for the kids to toast so they can have pancakes for breakfast for a couple more days. I like mine with a bit of vegan margarine and a drizzle of molasses.

For dinner I made "Sweet Potato Mash" from Kristen's Raw Holiday recipe book, steamed broccoli, and a "Magic Loaf" from the Vegan Lunch Box blog. My son really likes the Sweet Potato Mash; in fact, he asked for it again tonight.

Breakfast today was a smoothie while the carnivores ate bacon & eggs (the smell stuck around the house for way too long). Lunch was a bean-loaf sandwich w/ veganaise on a tortilla.
Dinner was a bean burger, mashed potatoes (mashed w/ a bit vegan margarine and soy milk), gravy made w/ soy milk, and cauliflower. (Son got his sweet potatoes last night so daughter got her potatoes & gravy tonight).

We also got most of the winter clean-up done around here. I can't believe how many leaves we have! We still have to do a little more, but we kind of got stopped because it ended up raining last night and all day today.

Since it was raining today, we ended up spending some time wandering around Costco, Wal-Mart, and Barnes and Noble. There was a book there I'd like called Raw Food Real World.

I'd like to move more to raw. I think I'd do better nutritionally. Like right now, I have totally vegan pumpkin cookies in the kitchen that I can't seem to keep my hands off. I think I'd feel better, too. I seem to still get into vegan baking and some of the things I make are sinful.

I like to do a green smoothie for breakfast. For lunch, I do a salad, or carrot/zucchini noodles unless I have leftovers. For dinner, I always try to do something at least someone in my family besides me will eat. For snacks I like to do fruit or veggies (unless I have cookies).

Right now, I've got one kid playing the Wii and one in the tub. Hubby made us a smoothie for a bedtime snack and he's in putting the dishes in the dishwasher .

Tomorrow I've got a lot of work to do, plus I need to leave right after the I get the kids home from school. I have a CPE class Tuesday and I hate making a 2 hour drive at 5 am so I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. I've got a friend in the class where the class is so we'll have dinner and then I'll stay at the motel where the class is being held and then I'll go to class on Tuesday and come home afterwards.

I hate being away from my babies, but they do fine. My mom usually takes them to school (hubby's already at work by the time they need to leave) and then hubby pics them up after school. If either my mom or my hubby aren't available, then they can walk; we live close enough. I miss them, though. I guess that's just part of being a mom.

Well, I'll go now so I can start getting them ready for bed.
Ciao for now.