Adventures in Granola Making. .

I'm into making Granola at the moment. Here's my latest recipie (I actually have never made the same batch twice, Granola is quite easy to personalize. . but the basic start I use is this:

BUILD YOUR OWN GRANOLA. . . It's an art, not a science. . .

4 cups of regular oats (I actually the like texture of a "six grain" oat mix better with (Wheat, Rye, Barley flakes. . it's a little more crunchy)

THEN add whatever you like. . I usually add:
1/3 (ish) Cup flax seed meal
1/3 (ish) Cup wheat bran
1/3 (ish) coconut
1/3 (ish) sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, chopped pecans, sesame seeds, whole flax seeds (whatever sounds like fun)
3 TBL turninado sugar (if you like)

I like this mix as the "glue"
3/4 C pineapple juice
1/2 C apple juice

boil this until it reduces to about 2/3 Cup. And 1/4 Cup honey, (Or I usually add Agave Nectar instead, it's a bit sweeter than honey, so I put less, and Agave is thiner than honey, so the "pour factor" is easier) I've also added a couple tablespoons of peanut butter (which is good).

Add the juice mixture to the oat mixture, stir well, then spread on a jelly roll pan and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes. . stir it a couple of times during the cooking. (this too you have to watch and adjust as needed, I over cooked one batch and it wasn't as yummy)

I always add dried fruit at the end, after the cooking is done. . .I'm still working through memories of my "nanas" granola with COOKED Raisins.. I just don't like them cooked. . . they get a bit hard and burned. . anyway,

WHEN IT's COOL ADD:

some. . mixed dried fruit (I have a mix with apricots, rasins, pears, peaches, apples,that is all chopped up really small, it works great and tastes yummy)
I've also added banana chips (I crunch them up a bit), dried mango, cranberries. . really whatever sounds good!

Store in an airtight container. . one batch usually lasts about a week. SOOO easy and so much fun, each batch is completely different and yummy in yogurt or milk, or just by the handful!! :)

The Danger of Blogs

Lately I find myself almost obsessed with reading blogs. It's totally addictive reading the thoughts, lives, belives etc. of random people out there in the world. One blog leads to another, it's pretty crazy. (but totally fun, and man such a time "waster?". . )

Anyway, so one blog (happy foody) (See my blog roll. . I'm even learning the lingo. . ) issued a 30 day "Green Smoothie Challenge". . and being a sucker for, I don't know, a challenge, I thought I'd give it a try.

What's a green smoothie you ask? We'll yesterday my "green" (although it seemed a bit brown to me, see the picture and judge for yourself) was 2 Kale leaves, 1 whole orange, a bit of water, a handful of frozen mango/pineapple and 2 handfuls of frozen blueberries. . (all organic of course!)(a note on the organic: I've started being really mindful of that as I am breastfeeding and most experts say that breastfeeding women should make as much of an effort towards organic as possible. . ) They (IE: the other bloggers and other "challegers" say that they have so much more energy, alertness and less sugar cravings. . .) I have to be honest and say, I topped of yesterday's smoothing with a brownie. . so much for the sugar cravings!

As weird as they sound, they are actually pretty good. . the secret is adding sometype of greens to your traditional fruit smoothie (spinach, romaine lettuce, Kale are the most popular it seems). This whole thing is a hallmark of a "Raw Diet",I have not interest in that, I just like bread way to much to go "raw", but the smoothies are good, I know they are packed full of good vitamins and minerals (Kale is a good source of calcium. . important for the nursing woman) . . So I will continue with my green smoothies. I have learned you must really blend, blend, blend otherwise there might be a texture issues. I am generally not a texture issue girl, but I've had a couple that the texture really turned me off, but they (my fellow bloggers) say that if you blend the greens with water first, it works better.

Try one today, you might like them too (just shut your eyes because the color is sometimes a bit yucky, but taste is great!)

Growing. . .

This is our little guy in a 9 month outfit. . it fits way too good on a 3 1/2 month old!

When my parents were here last week my dad gave me a book (it's genetic!)by Eugene Peterson called, "Eat This Book: a conversation in the art of spiritual reading". GREAT book! It's quickly working it's way up into one of my top. .let's say 10 most influential books.

"What I mean to inisist upon is the spiritual writing- Spirit sourced writing- requires spiritual reading, a reading that honors words as holy, words as a basic mean of forming an intricate web of relationships between God and the human, between all thing visible and invisible."

I've never really thought about different kinds of writing requiring different kinds of reading. I guess it does stand to reason, and I engage in different kinds of reading on a daily basis. . I scan through the LA Times, picking sentences and paragraphs here and there to get the "gist" of a story. I pick up my "Streams in the Desert" and read slowly and thoughtful, pausing to ponder and apply a spiritual truth or insight, My mind relaxes and enjoys my latest fiction (Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral), I pick up a highlighter (with post-it tabs) when reading "Eat this Book". . And scanning blogs. . .So yeah, I do read different things differently. (By the way, that represents today) Peterson's challenge for spiritual reading, namely reading the bible is (so far) that the bible is STORY and those stories are included for a reason, and we must apply THE story to our story. . otherwise we miss the whole point. That the story of one of us, is in some part (or whole) the story of all of us. (Fredrick Buecher writes on this concept as well) This "ah" is changing the way I read the bible. I've been reading from Peterson's translation of the bible the Message. . and I can't tell you how much I've gotten out of Numbers and Deuteronomy as I start to take up this view point, that the text is meant just as much for me today, as it was meant for the Isrealites "way back when".

I loved the Streams in the Desert devotional today. .. (Joshua 1:3) "I give you every place you set your foot, as I have promised" The Isrealites didn't really take God seriously with this promise, because they only went "half-way" into the promised land. (or a third of the way according to Steams in the Desert) They got what they came for, (the promised land) and didn't keep going. . "They never possessed more than one-third of the land".. . So the challenge. . To not stop, to not become comfortable and complaciant, but to take God seriously on the promises that he makes. . .

Something to think on while I fold diapers tonight. .

Favorites . .

I LOVE this Burt's Bee lotions. . especially the "Mama Bee" Lotion for legs. . .the peppermint makes my legs "Buzz" for quite a long time. I've been trying to get products that don't contian Parabens. . . (It will drive a person crazy trying to avoid them, these products are Paraben free (yipee).) The honey handcreme has a "honey smell", that is quite nice!

I think Reid might be in the beginning stages of teething. . . He has started sleeping less at night. . drooling, drooling, drooling, a little runny nose. . not so interested in eating, sucking his hand like there is no tomorrow. . and much more general fussiness. A friend gave me a book of "Prayers for New Mothers". .I looked up a prayer for "teething". In the prayer that mama observed that "This is just one of many times in life when I can't take away his pain. . I can rock him and hold him, but he'll have to get through this himself."

And so begins the "long good bye" of raising children. . .

I'll love and cuddle you as much as I can Reid, I'll distract you when you will be let me, but ultimatly this pain, discomfort it's really for your own good. . bananas, avacados, chicken and chocolate chip cookie all require teeth.. .

Somehow my 3 1/2 month old doesn't quite get it.. but I think someday he will.

Little Feet

Some of our favorite shoes. . er. .socks. . .

Marking Time

a few days old. . .


3 months old. . . Today!

Book Report

I'm loving "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible"

Normally when I borrow a book from the library I try to respect the book, this is just so good that I find myself folding the tiniest corner of a page down so I can come back to a section either because it's quite funny, or more often because it's quite insightful. . . .

Take for example page 98. A.J. visits an "Atheist Meeting" at a Greek cafe in New York. Remember A.J. (the author) is a self-proclaimed agnostic who took on this project to see what he could learn (and because he had a book deal, no doubt) His observation when leaving the meeting was this, "It's hard to be passionate about a lack of belief" Which begs the question, "Am I passionate about my belief?"

Or page 122. A.J., in following Ecclesiastes 9:8 (Let your garments be always white), wears all white. He says, "But the thing is, I'm enjoying it (wearing all white). My white wardrobe makes me feel lighter, more spiritual. Happier. It's further proof of a major theme of this year: The outer affects the inner." I think this is such a profound statement. . . and so true I'm finding (as a new mom) that it takes just a bit more energy to look cute, as it does to just put on an old sweatshirt and sweats. The thing is, I feel better about myself, my home, my life when I have a cute pair of jeans and top on, and I wear real shoes, not my slippers. . . The outer affecting the inner.

And then there is page 220, this I thought was rather profound, and challenging, and quite frankly a pretty keen insight, that I'm not sure I've heard "preached" at many churches, so all the more insightful from an agnostic. He writes in the preceding paragraph about "Praise the Lord", and how uncomfortable it makes him feel to say that. (even though he is commanded to, and does) He said he thought it was sort of "over the top" "I'm used to understatements and hedging and irony. And why would God need to be praised in the first place? God shouldn't be insecure. He's the ultimate being."
Now this is the part I thought, WOW. .
"Now I can sort of see why. It's not for him. It's for us. It takes you out of yourself and your prideful little brain."

A great read.

This OR That

People say that we have the same eyes. . .

Each day I think of about five different things I could write about on this blog, getting around to writing them, well, that is a bit trickier!

I could write about. . .

The pile of books that I have to read. I hardly know where to start, I ordered three from the library, and three from Amazon, and they all came in on Thursday. . .

From the library:
Anny Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish
The Know-it-all by A.J. Jacobs
The year of living biblically by A.J. Jacobs (This is what I'm reading right now, it's SOOOO great. A.J. decides to follow the bible as literally as he can. He is a self-proclaimed agnostic with no "religious" training at all. It is hilarious, insightful, and informative. . did you know that there is a rule in the bible about not wearing mixed fibers? There are actually Rabbis who will check people's wardrobes to make sure they have not mixed clothing, intentional, or unintentionally. . .WHO KNEW?

From Amazon:
Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines by Stephen Cummings M.D. and Dan Ullman
When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference by Carolyn Custic James
The Blessing by John Trent and Gary Smalley

OR, I could write about yesterday morning when I was holding Reid while he was in that not quite awake, not quite asleep phase and he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and held is right up to my mouth and in my mind I could here a little voice say, "Here mom, you want to try it for a while, it's really good"

OR, I could write about my answer to the most common question I am asked these days, "What has been the biggest adjustment, or most surprising thing about becoming a parent?" It has been learning to trust my instincts. At first I wasn't really sure how to answer the question, because I've gotten use to waking up several times a night and it's not that big of a deal and while it takes some planning to go anywhere, it's really nothing that can't be handled. What is the biggest adjustment is the momentary panic comes when I hear one parenting expert say, 'You should always do this. ." and it resonates with me, and the next day I hear another parenting expert say, "You should NEVER do this". . and I panic, but yesterday someone said I should and it felt right to me, and you're saying that it's wrong?" My "Ah-Ha" moment came in this regards when I stopped panicking and thought about it. . thoughtfully (or I thought it was a thoughtful thought) I realized that NO ONE in the world knows my little guy better than I do, so really I am the expert when it comes to raising my little one. So my job is to filter all of the experts advice and see what MY expert thinks (IE: ME) and feels is appropriate for my little guy. What relief.

OR I could write, along the same lines as above, why is it that most of the "Parenting Experts" I run across are men? I am all for men, but it is curious that in most cases (not all) women are the ones who stay home and raise children, but men are the ones writing the books and hosting the radio programs on raising children???

OR I could write about how blessed I was earlier this week when a homeless lady who attends the women's bible study I go to and sits at my table this week prayed for me, and what a beautiful blessing it was, because of the faith and simplicity of her prayer, because she is (to be honest) quite challenging in our group because of her "victim mentality" that permeates every comment, and how beautiful it was to see that all stripped away in prayer. .

OR I could post picture about how our organization is going. . .

OR. . . I could stop now.

STEP TWO

2008 seems to be the year of "Clutter Busting" for the Hoppock Household. It wasn't something we set out intentionally to engage in. Rather, it feels like it's a lesson/journey, which has selected us. We've been rather systematically organizing each room in our home, using Peter Walsh as our guide (It's all too Much: An easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff). It's amazing how good and peaceful (for lack of a better word) it is to get rid of the excess that so quickly builds up in our lives. It does seem to add more space for just being when flat surfaces are clean, closets are organized and paper work is not in stacks and piles.
So apparently, that was STEP ONE.

I think we stumbled on STEP TWO yesterday, and I'm not sure where step two leads. . .
STEP TWO began yesterday when both Todd and I watched:

www.storyofstuff.com

It's about how we have a "linear" system in an ultimately finite system. (Watch the video, it will make you think, and all this will make more sense). The Story of Stuff really made us think about what we consume, and the impact that it does make in our world, whether we see or feel it immediately. The SOS sort of helps shed more light on the consumer driven society we live in. (Like the historic context for SPENDING as patriotic . . . after 9/11 we were told the best thing we could do was . . SHOP? That line of thinking for the US dates back to WWII. It's being demonstrated right now as the government contemplates tax refunds, so that we'll go SHOPPING. . ) We continue to ponder how to live responsible. Anyone have any thoughts about the Story of Stuff??

So anyway, I've got to go to the mall. . . (I really am going to the mall today, just to buy one plate to replace a plate that I broke last week.)

HumanBeing vs. HumanDoing

I heard an interesting thought on the radio today. A mother called into Rabbi Shmuley and asked about her son's overbooked schedule. He asked her if she was raising a human being or a human doing. I thought it was a pretty cleaver and powerful point to make. Am I a humanBEING or a humanDOING. . I'd so much rather be a BEING than a DOING. The Rabbi said that BEINGS know who they are and don't derive their value from the doing, rather it's from their being. . Being or Doing? It's a question Todd and I will have to keep before us as we shephard our little boy.

Speaking of the boy. . he's a bonifida thumb-sucker these days. . it's been sort of fun to watch the process, since birth he's sort of enjoyed his hand, over the past couple of weeks he's become much more focused and intentional (I guess you could say) about sucking the side of his hand, then last week he figured out, wait, it's a lot more fun if I suck my thumb. . Today he gagged himself a couple of times with his vigour and enthusaism about sucking that thumb. I figure a few more times of that and he'll figure out that he needs to becareful!

He's starting to move towards longer sleep cycles, last night being an exception. He only did about three hour stretches, (which was sort of disappointing since he had been doing 5-6) BUT it was sort of okay because I noticed that I wasn't being awakened by crys, rather by GIGGLES. Yep, he was in his crib at 12 and 3 GIGGLING and having a jolly old time. . . The good thing is, he doesn't mess around when it comes to nursing and he falls quickly back to sleep. .

Pondering Proverbs

Todd is doing a Wednesday night bible study on Proverbs. I decieded to "read" along reading one chapter a day (works out swell because there are 31 chapters in Proverbs). I keep my Message Bible by my nursing chair, and at one of my "nursing dates" with Reid, I read the days chapter out loud to us both. A passage yesterday hit me, a great prayer for my little guy, (and for us big kids too!)

From Proverbs 2 in the Message:
So now you can pick out what's true and fair,
find all the good trails!
Lady Wisdom will be your close friend
and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,
Insight will keep and eye out for you.
They'll keep you from making wrong turns,
or following the bad directions. . . "

I love how the message translations makes things so visable and descriptive. . Lady Wisdom, Brother Knowledge, Good Sense. . .it's quite easy to visualize a prayer of Lady Wisdom, sort of a mother earth, hippy type who exhudes wisdom about the world, God, relationships, nature. Brother Knowledge the "guy-next-door" sort of a know-it-all, but in the best possible way. Good Sense, the jewish mama figure, and Insight the college professor. . . Not a bad band of friends.

It is good to be reminded of the treasures that are in the book of Proverbs. So much down to earth, daily advice (wisdom if you will) for living. In the first few verse of Chapter 1 the writer says the Proverbs is "to understand what life means and where it's going, a manual for living. . . to give people a grasp on reality, fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate. . "

I'll keep you posted as Reid and I "ponder proverbs" this month.

Cuppa Tea

I'm in a bit of a "tea" phase these days. Maybe it's the overcast rainy days we've had here, or the "antioxidant" health/medicinal qualities, or just the inspiring "Yogi" tea boxes. . .These two are two of my favorites, they are completely yummy just the right mix of sweet (slightly) and other enchanting flavors. . . mmm good.

Speaking of tea. . When I was in the early part of labor leading to the birth of our little man, I told Todd and my mom quite a random thought. . but it was a thought that carried me through for quite a while. Here it is: I'm a bit of a "China Girl" at heart. I have almost a whole shelf of "China Books" on my shelf. In all the reading I've done about China, both past and present, one really can't get around learning about the beloved (or not so much) leader Mao. Mao was sort of know for his "Red Book" (a collections of his musings on communism) one that you read quite often is: "Revolution is not a tea party". . .at 3:30 in the morning with contractions 8 or 9 minutes apart, my thought was "labor is NOT a tea party" (but having a little guy giggle and coo with you. . THAT'S a tea party!

"If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
if you are depressed, it will cheer you;
if you are exhausted, it will calm you." -William Gladstone

A New Sleeping Habit. . .

He's started something new when he sleeps. . . Two days in a row I've found him sound asleep, sucking his finger. . . isn't it cute? Yesterday was a big day. He slept 6 hour. . S I X H O U R S in a row during the night. I figure that was probably the most uninteruppted sleep that I've had since about August! (yahoo) AND, AND. . we were at Bible Study and I went to check in him half-way through the morning to see if he needed to eat. . and he had just finished the bottle I took for him. (The biggest bottle he's eaten to date!)

Way to go bud!