I buy stuff at Target fairly frequently so I was pleased to see that they were expanding their grocery selection. When they sent me a $25 gift card to try out their new grocery department and blog about it, I figured it would make a good food post.

This recipe is one of my favorites, a green drink smoothie I make to pump my kids and myself full of vegetables. They’ll eagerly drink three handfuls of spinach when it’s pureed into this mixture but ask them to eat four leaves by themselves and they’ll act like their life is over.

Green Drink

2 heaping handfuls of fruit of your choosing
About one pound of fresh spinach
2 Cups fruit juice
1 Cup water

Throw your fruit in a blender. Stuff in as much spinach as you can. Pour your liquid over top. Blend until creamy and green.

I like to use at least one frozen fruit, my favorite being one banana and a huge handful of strawberries. For fruit juice, I just use whatever I have available. For this recipe I used frozen strawberries, a banana, a bag of spinach and Dole pineapple/peach/mango juice, all purchased with my gift card from the fresh grocery department of Target.

The dry goods selection is surprisingly good at Target, not to the level of a traditional grocery store, but decent and they have a good supply of basic produce if you’re not looking for anything fancy. They have meat, dairy and frozen foods now too. I found the prices to be really low on some things and high on others.

Tillamook cheese, for example, was $8.99 for a baby loaf, way more than I’m willing to pay. Their bagged spinach, however, cost less than I find it on sale at the grocery store.

Overall, I think it’s a convenient option if you’re going to Target anyway, but I wouldn’t make it my primary grocery source.

The school year started and my two oldest are both gone all day. I wasn’t happy to see them go. I felt sort of mad, like the school was kidnapping them or something. And then suddenly we had the house to ourselves, me and Wanda.

I had a church meeting. I put Wanda down for an early meltdown-induced nap. I made corn bread and thawed meat for our chili tonight. I baked bread and picked a few pounds of blueberries at a farm a few miles down the road and then I took Wanda for a walk. I played the songs I wanted on the stereo and nobody used the toilet and forgot to flush.

If the school’s going to kidnap my kids and educate them, at least I was able to distract myself with a surge of domestical energy. It was one of those days you just want to repeat over and over again.

My favorite part of the day was picking berries. Wanda and I wandered up and down the rows of fruit, each with our own bucket. She’d venture off and circle around to find me again, plopping berries into her mouth from the trees, the ground and my bucket. Unlike Little Sal, she never accidentally started following a mama bear around the field and she was not wearing overalls.

I was going to say that this is not becoming a food blog but I can’t really commit to that because I love making and photographing food and lately I’ve been drawn more to blogs that offer me useful information so I may be posting more recipes or links to recipes I love. Today, I’m giving you my recipe for easy delicious whole wheat pancakes. Enjoy!

2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground is best of course)
1 ½ cups milk
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Heat a griddle, cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan. I use a cool-touch griddle heated to 375F. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until they’re pretty well mixed and mostly smooth. I give the eggs a stir before adding the other ingredients but it’s not necessary.

Grease the pan as needed. I use cooking spray but butter will be just fine if you like the taste of deliciousness. Use your ¼ measure from the vegetable oil to spoon batter onto your pans. Cook until golden brown on the bottom. Then flip and cook the other side. Top with fruit, peanut butter, yogurt, applesauce or syrup but probably not all at once.

If your family likes to mow food like mine does, you can double this. A single batch makes about 12 pancakes and you can reheat the leftovers the next morning or as a snack.

Laylee just said, “Mom, you’re amazing! You can copy any voice and sound exactly like the person you’re imitating.”

“Yes,” I said, “If that person is a member of the Lollipop Guild.” I am known for my munchkin impressions.

“Also French people,” she added.

Ah yes. French people. Ziss I cannot deny. Ahn-han-han.

I’ve been enjoying The Prudent Homemaker, a website dedicated to feeding your family well on a tight budget, among other things. Today I tried out her French bread recipe which worked beautifully the first time around. I was so proud of myself that I started speaking like the chef from The Little Mermaid… badly. Apparently, it was extremely impressive. I now have a reputation as a master of vocal disguise.

I am also a master of short cuts so if you decide to make this simple bread, I found that you can make it even simpler by kneading the dough in your Kitchen Aid rather than by hand. It still rose quite nicely after 8-10 minutes in the machine. It wasn’t as blissfully domestic, but I was able to check email while the bread was kneading so I’m totally okay with that. Maybe next time I’ll wear a frilly apron while checking email and that will even the domestical score.

We were on vacation at grandma’s house last month and the kids had been outfitted with about all the candy and treats their bodies could handle. They were enjoying life immensely.

One night, after brushing his teeth, Magoo asked if he could eat more candy, specifically Nerds.

“But Buddy,” I explained, “You already brushed your teeth.”

“I know. It’s okay because I have a plan. I don’t even need to chew or suck on them. I’ll just swallow them down. Then they won’t get on my teeth.”

“But then you wouldn’t even enjoy them.”

“That’s okay,” he said.

Dan and I laughed about this and suggested that maybe we should just inject sugar directly into his veins, bypassing his digestive system altogether.

A couple of weeks later we were back home from vacation and I was multi-tasking when Dan arrived home from work. I was cleaning the kitchen like mad with my laptop on the stove, playing So You Think You Can Dance. It’s my favorite show but I wasn’t watching it, not even really listening to the music. I was checking it off my to-do list.

“What are you doing?” Dan asked.

With a sheepish grin, I responded, “I think I’m swallowing my Nerds.”

If you’re gonna eat something yummy, eat it. If you’re gonna watch a show, watch it. If you’re gonna spend time with your kids, be present. Make sure you at least taste the candy on its way down.

If you observe my children, you’ll start to think we have a series of very interesting rules in place in our home.

#8. Refuse to eat food that is more than five minutes old because it is “leftovers” unless it’s more than two days old and you find it on the floor.

[Read more at Parenting.com]

They might be worth something someday.

And may all your heart-shaped pancakes be fluffy!

I don’t watch Dr. Phil anymore. There was a time when I was a new mom with one baby when I would watch me a little of the doctor and the Oprah, of a weekday afternoon. But those days are no more. I’m too busy. I feel like I’ve seen it all before and if I haven’t seen it, it’s probably not something I need to be seeing.

I just don’t watch TV during the days.

But I’m glad someone does because a friend of mine was watching Dr. Phil and he highlighted a new diet program. Yes. I know. And I was talking to this friend about being at the absolute end, END of my rope with my body and the weighing what I did when I was full term with Wanda even though there’s no baby inside, and MOM ARE YOU SURE THERE’S NOT A BABY INSIDE, yes I’m sure. I could stand to lose over fifty pounds.

It’s called the 17-Day-Diet and I hate diets and it sounds cheesy and the book looks cheesy and the doctor who designed it wears a lot of product in his hair but the concepts make sense. It’s about learning to eat less and eat the right foods by eliminating a lot of things from your diet and then adding them back in slowly in 17-day cycles.

Photo credit: xenia from morguefile.com

So for phase one I’m eating lean meats and lots of vegetables and fruits, probiotic dairy and a small amount of healthy fat. That’s it. I’ve done this for 2 days and that means 15 more to go before I decide if I want to move on to phase 2 or stop. I can commit to anything for 17 days.

I’ll let you know how it goes. So far I feel really good. I haven’t been hungry, although I’ve had some cravings. My energy is good and weight is tumbling off. It’s designed to be a fast, healthy weight loss so I’ll let you know how much I lose after the first cycle.

Today I didn’t make it to the gym or out walking and then Laylee came home barfing from school so I was stuck inside on a gorgeous sunny day. I decided to get my exercise from the DVD that came with the book.

The exercise instructor was chattering away about how great I was doing and what to move next and just how I should shake it. Noticing her perky, patronizing tone, Laylee said, “Mom? It’s weird. It sounds like she’s talking to kids.”

And it really did, which is sad because why do we talk to kids like that? Nobody really likes to be talked to in that voice, especially when they’re sweating like a ham.

I think every parent’s arsenal should contain a couple of rounds of marshmallows.

[read more at Parenting.com]