Magazine Muesli

I’m a magazine junkie.

I easily subscribe to over 10 titles every month. And now that I’m a mommy, I’ve added another four or five to my repertoire.

What I really love, though, is when I magically receive one for free.

Like I’m a doctor’s office or something.

Maybe they think I am because of my subscription numbers. Either way, I love it, so when I received Family Fun in the mail, I tore into it. Unfortunately, the activities were geared towards kids a little older, so I passed it on to my sister, but not before I tore out two recipes. One of which was delicious...

after a few minor tweaks.

I present no cook muesli for your breakfast enjoyment. Perfect for kids, dieters, or anyone who likes good food.

H.I.T. Arsenal Recipe #15: No Cook Muesli
The original recipe called for maple syrup or honey as the sweetener, but by using brown sugar and cinnamon, you can give this breakfast to your younger tots too! Another option is nixing the mixed in sweetener altogether and topping with a light sprinkling of Penzeys Spice's vanilla sugar. 

1 cup quick oats
3 6oz containers plain, 0% Greek yogurt
1 handful raw almonds
3 tsp brown sugar*
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Fresh berries

1. In a food processor, combine quick oats, almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon. Blend until oats and nuts are in small pieces (about 30-45 seconds).
2. Pour yogurt into three individual bowls. Divide oat mixture among three bowls equally. Stir to mix and top with fresh berries. Enjoy!

*I used 1 1/2 tsp of Splenda brown sugar.
**The recipe for the banana bread featured in the photo can be found here.

The One With the Blog

Eating dinner:

H.I.T.: You’re really not living up to your end of the bargain.

Husby: Huh?

H.I.T.: You’re not giving me any good blog material.

Husby, leans over and farts: How's that for blog material?

H.I.T.: Great. Thanks. I’ll just take another bite of my dinner now.

M.I.T. Mondays - What About Me?

Babes age: 3 months or 15 weeks

After we booked our first family vacation, I finally had an excuse to buy think about buying the iPad.

I kept hearing how great it was for traveling and figured it would be perfect if I could download some Baby Einstein favorites instead of lugging a bunch of DVDs across the ocean.

Wrong.

Baby Einstein® movies aren’t available on iTunes.

Neither are Brainy Baby®, Baby Genius®, or HBO’s Classical Baby movies.

Don’t bother looking for Elmo’s World or anything geared towards children under 2. Apparently they don’t exist in the world of Apple movies. Surprising, too, since first time parents are usually the ones who over buy (not like I would know or anything).

My next stop was Amazon, because if iTunes doesn’t carry it, they usually do...but I was still out of luck. I was shocked.

Since I was striking out in the movie department, I turned to Applications. After searching for several hours, I found a few gems that would suit Babes perfectly for this trip:

• Netflix*** (free) - Stream movies right from the Internet using your unlimited account. Get ready for lots of Wiggles, Barney and Blues Clues (to name a few...).

• Sound Touch Lite* (free) - Explore 144 sounds and images (animals, birds, vehicles, instruments, and household items).

• Baby Fun ($0.99) - Mesmerize your child with figures that float across screen. Watch what happens when baby touches them! 

• Bubbles ($1.99) - "Pop" bubbles as they float across the screen. 

• Tap Tap Baby ($1.99) - Follow this funny monkey through 3 clever games.

• Wheels On The Bus ($1.99) - Award-winning, interactive musical book.

• Baby Explorer ($2.99) - Bright fun colors and activities aimed to help hand-eye coordination. Designed for toddlers 3 months and up.

• Sparkabilities Babies 1** ($4.99) - Engaging clips from Sparkabilities "Babies 1" DVD and eight sets of flashcards. Designed for babies 3-18 months old.

I also found a few useful apps for me:

• Goby (free) - Bored? Not anymore - find fun things to do, whether traveling in the U.S. or staying home.

• Baby Milestones ($0.99) - Comprehensive guide that outlines baby milestones for the first 12 months.

• Baby Connect ($4.99) - Save paper and record almost anything baby related, including feedings, sleep habits, moods, and milestones.

So while companies like a certain mousey entertainment giant are failing to capitalize on a growing market (they only offer a My Baby Einstein application for iPhone), at least there are enough software developers creating applications that cater to the littlest members of society.

*The regular version is $1.99 and includes 288 sounds/images.
**There is also a Sparkabilities Babies 2 for babies 8-24 months old.
***Newly added. Thanks so much Beach Bum & Baby!

Gourmet Grilling

Now that we’re half-way through the grilling season, Husby and I have slowed things down a bit.

As in, goodbye hotdogs and hamburgers and hello veal, lamb and other delicious delicacies..

My favorite recipe to date?

A grilling spin on the Caprese Salad.

I know, boring, but my mouth is watering just thinking about this again. And the presentation was simply beautiful. It was a bit tricky to tackle on the grill, but the taste was well worth the work!

H.I.T. Arsenal Recipe # 14: Grilled Caprese Salad*
This recipe was adapted from Cuisine Magazine’s Grilling Vol. 4. We weren’t fans of the salad with the basil sauce, so we simplified the recipe.

4 large tomatoes, sliced into thirds
Fresh basil leaves
6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 8 slices**
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinaigrette

1. Turn on the grill and heat to medium-high.
2. Coat tomato slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill tomatoes, with top down, on one side for 1 minute, then flip (do not flip slices with stems). Arrange basil leaves on each slice (except stem pieces) and cover with a cheese slice. Continue grilling 1-2 minutes, or until cheese begins to melt.
3. Carefully assemble slices (they get a bit slippery) into stacks to resemble original tomato (two cheesey tomato slices topped with a stem). Drizzle with olive oil and vinaigrette. Enjoy!

*Photo to follow
**Not too thick - it needs to melt in 1-2 minutes.

Road Warrior

Dear Pretentious Town Driver,

Why are you so confused?

If you cut someone off, forcing them to swerve into the emergency lane to avoid being hit, they will, undoubtedly, honk their horn. Several times.

So why did you give me the finger?

Classy. Do you think because you’re in a sporty BMW and live in Pretentious Town, USA that you are entitled to drive as you please?

Well I’m a mother now, so while I can’t return the gesture, I can greet you with a smile and pageant wave. Hopefully your day went a little bit better than your morning.

And I thought I was high strung.

Hugs and Love,

One Mommy Road Warrior

M.I.T. Mondays - Stylishly Preppy on Etsy

Babes Age: 14 weeks or 3 months

Whew does time fly when you’re sleep deprived.

Shortly after Babes was born, I began scouring Etsy for homemade goodness. Luckily I didn’t have to search further than my inbox - Mommy designer and creator of Tula Designs already found little ‘ole me!

I was smitten.

Her adorable burpies and onesies can be personalized and they have just enough prep appeal while still remaining stylish for the stroller set. Who wouldn’t turn down a chance to review these pieces?

A few days later, our pretty package was waiting on our doorstep, ready to be freshly washed in Dreft.

I was a little skeptical about how the birds, flowers and other appliques would hold up in our high-efficiency washer/dryer. And it wouldn’t have been the first time that a homemade burpie fell apart by the end of the cycle...

Turns out my worries were ill-founded!

The clothes looked exactly like they did before I washed them. Perfection in an Etsy design! The onesies and t-shirts are made with 100% cotton, so the fabric was soft enough for Babes’s delicate skin. No red rashes here! And the burpie was made large enough to sit on my shoulder while catching anything that mistakenly drooled out of my little girl’s mouth (as if she would ever do something like spit-up!).

While the cost is a bit pricey ($11.95 for a single cotton burpie, Little Giraffe chenille burp cloths also cost $12), there is no skimping on the quality of these baby bits and the turnaround time can’t be beat.

My two cents?

Tula Designs is an ideal place to shop when you’re looking for something special, like a welcome home goodie basket for a new little bundle of joy.

We're Back!

Next week.

Fooled you.

Babes isn't sleeping any later, but now that she's sleeping for 6 hour + stretches, it's not nearly as rough waking up before the sun rises.

And I finally caught up with my to-do list. All that's left is blogging.

Woohoo!

See you later alligator next week.

p.s. The more observant type might have noticed that I succumbed to word verification. I'm sorry. I hate it too. It's just until those pesky spammers leave me alone. I'm tired of deleting comments. Thanks for understanding.