Imagination At Work

It's so funny watching Tyler play with his toys. He's always combining different things and using them for something other than their intended purpose. For example he is constantly building parking garages and bridges out of his square foam puzzle pieces.

Today he was using his tinker toys to build a shed for his mini Thomas trains.

I don't know....Thomas and Percy look kind of high to me, but they don't seem to mind.

Back in the kitchen, I tried a new cornbread recipe to go with the Red Beans and Rice I made for dinner. I searched the web for a coconut cornbread recipe that used coconut flour, but I couldn't find anything. Instead, I used a recipe that that called for whole wheat pastry flour and coconut oil.

It baked up nice and golden, but the smell of coconut oil was really strong. If you don't know, coconut oil doesn't smell sweet like shredded coconut...it smells more like shortening. Not that appealing.

Here is the recipe I used, although next time I'll replace the coconut oil with regular butter or canola oil. That'll make it a whole wheat cornbread instead of a coconut cornbread, but hey!

Golden Coconut Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp honey

1 egg

1/2 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk, honey, egg and coconut oil. Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute. Grease a 9 inch pie plate or 12 muffin tins and pour batter in. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown around edges and 15-20 minutes for muffins.

The Dinosaur Show

I first heard about the Walking With Dinosaurs show while watching a segment of the Today Show. That was a year and half ago...at least! It looked super cool and I couldn't wait to go. The only problem was finding a venue that was close enough and convincing Rick that it would be worth the higher than average ticket price.

So you can imagine that I was out of my mind excited when I heard that the show was coming to Yakima....yeah, Yakima! We bought tickets within minutes of them going on sale online. They were the cheaper tickets, what might otherwise be known as nosebleeds. But in this case, with giant humongous dinosaurs, there weren't really any bad seats. No binoculars needed here.

The show was fantastic! The movement of the dinosaurs, the sounds, the mini history lesson, the action...I loved it all. So tell me, why...why, was Tyler bored to tears? How is that possible? I get that it's not cartoon characters singing and dancing about, but c'mon, you don't see this kind of thing everyday! I couldn't believe it. He acted like we took him to see a boring movie. He couldn't sit still, he was crawling around the floor, rolling his lips, asking if the show was over, that sort of thing.

Everything might have turned out better if Rick and I weren't such big buffoons. Our first mistake...electing to go to a show that ran during Tyler's nap time. Hello! Where were our heads! Even though Tyler doesn't take a nap every day, he is highly susceptible to crankiness in the afternoon hours. Our second mistake...not bringing enough cash to buy refreshments, as the show also coincided with snack time. Our brilliance is unparalleled, I know.

Putting all that aside, I have to repeat the show was awesome! You should definitely go if you get the chance.

The World's Best?

I saw a recipe for The World's Best Bran muffins in the April 2009 issue of Ladies' Home Journal. The picture looked fantastic and how could I resist making a muffin that claims to be the world's best...especially when it's a bran muffin. I tore the recipe out of the magazine and it's been sitting on the kitchen counter for a few weeks now, but I finally got around to making them today.

I usually prefer the texture of bran muffins the day after they're baked, but Tyler and I just couldn't wait that long. The anticipation was too great. So we tried one after about 45 minutes of cooling time. I won't write them off just yet, but I wasn't impressed. They were pretty dry. Maybe I baked them too long, although I took them out of the oven a few minutes before the recommended time. I'll see how they taste tomorrow.

(Update: These muffins taste much better when the batter is refrigerated overnight before baking...it gives the bran some time to absorb the liquid. Following that rule, these muffins are the best I've ever baked and I continue to return to this recipe.)

I also tried a new Rachael Ray recipe this week after reading a review over on the Everything Rachael Ray blog. It's called Moroccan Beef Patties with Couscous.

I thought they tasted great and the meat smelled sooo good while it was cooking up. Who knew? Cinnamon, Paprika, Cumin, and Allspice mixed with ground beef....yum! I didn't have any fresh parsley, so I used the dried stuff and it turned out okay. I also used a box of flavored couscous instead of plain, but really, the recipe is so easy that you don't need to take any shortcuts.

Happy Earth Day

Even though we really didn't do anything special today, we do try to do our part to take care of the environment. We use reusable canvas bags when we go grocery shopping every week. We drink filtered tap water, instead of buying bottled water. We use those new fluorescent bulbs all around the house, although they don't last quite as long as the package would suggest and they're a pain to deal with once they burn out. We also recycle all of our paper and most of our plastic products, which is all our silly recycling company accepts.

Anyway, it gives us a good excuse to wear our groovy Earth Day shirts (made with 100% Organic cotton).

I know, you can't really see them in the picture, but you get the idea.

See that confused look on Tyler's face? He's wondering if the timer on the camera has gone off yet. Psst, you missed it, bud.

After our little photo shoot, we hung out for a while at the park. Just as the forecast promised, the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees from yesterday, but the wind...that was a surprise. It was still t-shirt weather, nonetheless, and that's a good thing. Tyler spent some time on the playground, fed the ducks and geese, and took a few laps around the walking path...all the normal stuff.

Enjoy It While It Lasts

We've had a few days of really warm weather here in Yakima. It's been in the low 80's, really nice. I know it's not going to last for long though, that's why it seemed like such a crime to stay in the house today. We took a drive around town with the windows down, what a nice change.

While we were out and about, we stopped at the library to pick up some new books. I'm really proud of Tyler, he's becoming such a good reader. He's able to read a lot of the books all by himself. He'll ask for help on a word every now and then, but for the most part he's a great reader.

We left with a nice stack of books, but that won't last for long....they'll be devoured in no time!!

Back at the house, Tyler was quick to get his tricycle out of the garage and take it for a spin. Not for too long though. The bad thing about living in a new community is that there is absolutely no shade, whatsoever. All the trees are new and small, so there is just no hiding from the sun. Unfortunately, we all get sunburns fairly easily around here.

Not to worry, we'll do better tomorrow. We'll spend some time at the nice shady park. Besides, we've got to get it in before the weather turns. The temperature is supposed to drop by 20 degrees by the weekend.

The Project Continues

Now that the weather has warmed up to a pleasant temperature, Rick has gotten back to work on the never ending project, which is our backyard. He still needs to dig a trench along the fence that goes across the yard, install the sprinkler pipes and then cover it all back up. The majority of the sprinklers were put in last year, this is just the final stretch. Once that's done, we can finally lay down some sod and finish the landscaping. Sounds easy enough, except for the fact that the yard is once again COVERED in weeds. Ugh! Don't look at me!

I was smart and took care of my garden boxes last fall. I cleared out all the plants, pulled all the weeds, stacked the tomato cages and nicely coiled up the misting hoses. So I'm happy to say that my garden is ready to get started...I just need to head out and pick up some vegetable plants at the nursery.

Another thing to be glad about is that Tyler is now big enough to provide actual help in the yard. He was helping Rick fill in one of the trenches that was left open over the winter.


With two boys hard at work, I'm confident that our yard will actually get finished this year. Tyler was ultra proud of himself and was showing me his strong "garden muscles". Wow! Maybe they'll be done faster than I thought!

Rick also had a chance to hang up Tyler's birdhouse that he made at Lowes' the other week. Of course we don't have any trees in the backyard yet, but it doesn't look too bad hanging from the fence. I'm sure the birds won't mind.


It's a birdhouse, we know, but Tyler and I thought that it could also double as a feeder. Besides, food always attracts more birds anyway. There wasn't much room, but we managed to fit a few tablespoons of food onto the front platform. Now we just need to alert the birds...Come and Get It!

Recipe Roundup

I tried several new recipes this week, all in an attempt to get rid of some of the frozen hash browns I had sitting in the freezer. Using the Taste of Home Recipe Finder, I did a quick ingredient search and came across a few goodies.

First I made Mom's Oven Barbecued Ribs. I know, no hash browns, but don't worry, I saved that for the side dish. You can find the recipe for the ribs here or in the Quick Cooking Annual 2002.


I thought they were great and I loved that the sauce used basic kitchen staples such as ketchup, worcestershire sauce and a few dried spices. It makes a nice simple meal, as long as you have 3 hours to invest in the oven baking process.

To go along side, I made Hash Brown Potato Salad. The recipe is here or in the Quick Cooking Annual 1999.

I so wanted to love this recipe because it's super easy to make, especially when you already have hard boiled eggs on hand. However, it just wasn't quite right. The flavor of the sauce was great, but the texture of the potatoes was off. I don't know if I undercooked the potatoes, or if that's just how frozen hash browns taste in a potato salad. I think I'll give it another try though, because like I said, it just doesn't get any easier.

Finally, I tried Hash Brown Beef Pie...perfect to use up those shredded hash browns. The recipe is here or in the Quick Cooking Annual 1999.

I like this one, it reminds me of Shepherd's Pie but with hash browns on top instead of mashed potatoes. The topping has an egg mixed in, so it comes out of the oven with a nice golden brown crust. My only problem with the recipe is that it supposedly serves 6-8, which is ridiculous. There is no way you're going to feed 6 adults with this recipe, but hey, it worked great for our family of three.