Banana Molasses Bread

If you like banana bread, you've GOT to try this variation!  It's the most delicious quick-bread I've ever invented (and first).  I basically merged two different recipes together, then added my own twists such as replacing the egg and changing to whole wheat flour.

Here's the recipe for you to enjoy.

Banana Molasses Bread

Mix together:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup oil
- 3/4 cup molasses

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all of above together, then in a separate bowl mash and mix:
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons milk

Stir all ingredients together until blended, then pour into greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (toothpick should come out clean).

Serve immediately, or my favorite way- sliced then toasted then topped with cream cheese.  Delicious!  And also healthy as far as desserts go!  See below (thanks to this website where you can calculate nutrition based on ingredients).

Toddler-Proof iPhone

I've done it!  I figured out how to make my iPhone safe and fun for our little toddler to play with.

Here's what was the problem.  

As a baby, our daughter was happy to look into the phone, hold it, and flip it from front to back.  The best apps were those that would hold her attention, make interesting sounds, and not escape when she touched a certain part of the screen.  (see "iPhone apps for babies")

As she grew older, she learned how to hit the "home" button.  The little round button on the bottom of the phone that allowed you to escape any app you were in.  This caused frustration for her when the game would end sooner than expected, leaving me to jump in every few seconds to fix it.  The home button also made my phone vulnerable to her accidentally placing phone calls, moving things around, or even deleting programs.

So I searched high and low for the solution.
I figured all we needed was a way to temporarily block the home button, perhaps with a special case.  Simple, right?  WRONG.
Many google and amazon searches later, I had come up empty handed.  I even visited those phone kiosks at the mall, the Apple store, and the AT&T store.  They all said the same thing: "There's no iphone case that covers the home button, that would make the phone useless!"

Toxin-Free Kids

I didn't used to have any concern about the food available in the US.  I believed our regulating bodies of government had our best interests at hand, and that all food on grocery stores shelves were safe for consumption.

My feelings have changed, especially when it comes to feeding my young child.  There is clear evidence that a developing child's brain is highly vulnerable to toxin exposures.  Even those found in everyday goods.  See below for details, and how to keep your kids safe.

ORGANIC PRODUCE

For years I ignored the "organic food" section of the store, which appeared simply to be a more expensive version of the same thing.  Why pay more?  It all seemed like a fad, or a ruse that I wasn't going to fall for.  All the while that section just kept growing, with organic labels popping up on all types of food imaginable.

Bella Organic Farm, Sauvie Island

It's NOT Hard to be Healthy

Being in good physical health is so very important to our well being.  In this modern age filled with decadence and convenient shortcuts, it has become too easy to live a dangerously unhealthy lifestyle.  The cause of most of the medical problems US adults are facing today can be directly traced back to poor choices made in food, lifestyle, and activity.  In other words, we are often the cause of our own accelerated mortality.

We hear everyone talking about the problem: high and rising rate of obesity, heart disease, diabetes.
We know about the solution:  sensible balanced diet and exercise.

But all this talk seems to mean little to the masses who would rather try out a quick gimmick to reverse weight loss so they will feel like they look better.  Since when is this only about how we look?  What about what goes on inside our bodies that fuels our minds and guides our lives?

I though I'd share my point of view on being healthy.  I've never found it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.  People may say that I'm lucky, that it's genetic, that I'm blessed with a good metabolism.  Or even that I suffer and don't eat as much or as pleasurably as I want to.  I can tell you that none of that is true.  Why?  Because I have family members who are obese, and those who are healthy, and the difference between them is clearly the choices they make, the foods they eat, the activities in their day.  Nothing to do with luck.  And about my enjoyment of food?  It is 100% wonderful and satisfying, without ever going hungry or missing any type delicious experience.

As you will see, it is mostly about the food since it's much harder to exercise off extra calories than it is to avoid them in the first place.

Here's how I do it.

New Home Dreaming

The market is ripe with low interest rates and abundance of homes on the market, an opportunity that has us seriously considering buying our first family home.

I find myself dreaming of things that would make our new place ideal.