It all started so innocently....

Yesterday, we had a great day. We went to the beach. Island Dad and I did a dive while the kids stayed back with a friend of ours.

We went out to lunch with our friends, and the kids all had a great time. Towards the end of lunch, though, Island Boy started whimpering and making that noise that, when you hear it, you think "Ok, I really should know what that noise means. What does it mean, what does it mean?!" And then as soon as you figure it out, BAM! 

And thus, the beginning of what I've been calling Pukefest 2010. Island Boy is, thankfully, better today. But not before taking down Island Dad and Island Girl with him. Thankfully, Island Dad is not wanting to really be around anyone (including me) today, so has been good about staying in the bedroom (I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight!). Island Girl, though, has been so sick! She couldn't keep anything down this morning. We did, thankfully, finally get some Pedialyte into her, and now she's been napping for over 2 hours. Hopefully this will all help. Amazingly, through it all, she's been her normal happy self (except for right before she's going to throw up). Even more amazing in light of the fact that tooth #4 popped through the gum last night.

Here's hoping that all three of them are back to normal tomorrow, and hoping even more that I don't get sick in between (knock on wood). Island Dad has to go in to the office tomorrow, and I'd really like to not be feeling like crap when he has to leave me with two active kids again!

Getting Back on Track

Alright, we're past the holidays now.

I've been slacking on the blog lately. I am going to plan a blog for every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 2011.

So, as briefly as possible, here is what the Island Family has been doing the last month!

Island Boy: Has been picking up new words left and right. He is currently into fire trucks, crayons and coloring, and playing with his friends.

Island Girl: Can now stand up. She is so preoccupied with whatever she wants to reach by standing up, that she has occasionally let go of whatever she's holding onto. She then promptly gets a look on her face that says "Oh, crap! What did I just do?! I have NO idea how to do this!" then sits down and starts to fuss, because she scared herself.

Island Dad: Is busy busy at work. He also got to take a short trip to Korea at the beginning of December, part of which the rest of the family went along for. More on that in a bit.

Island Mom: Got SCUBA certified shortly before the Korea trip, and has been keeping quite busy with the Island Kids (especially Island Girl's increasing mobility).

As a family: We took the previously mentioned trip to Korea. We spent 5 nights in Seoul. It was absolutely fantastic! Even in cold weather, with two kids who are used to warm-weather in tow, it was hands down the most fun thing we've done since arriving in this hemisphere. And we've done some pretty fun things on island. It was so great to see a big city again. And do big city things. And then throw in all the history in Seoul, and it just was an amazing trip. There are so many places we want to see while we're stationed on the island, but given the opportunity, I certainly would go back to Seoul in a heartbeat. Especially at Christmas time. The snow and cold weather were exactly what I needed to get into the Christmas spirit our first year on this tropical island.

 

 

Too Good not to Share

So, I've been bailing on the pancakes lately, I know. With Island Dad home, I'm trying to get better.
Actually, his very presence is what led me to this week's recipe. Island Dad l-o-v-e-s eggnog.

Personally, my life would have been complete without "nog". And that is why I feel I MUST share this pancake recipe with you. Because, while I do not like eggnog on it's own, I could spend the rest of my life eating these Eggnog Pancakes and never tire of them. Seriously. They're THAT good.

Eggnog Pancakes
(base recipe found on allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2.5 tsp. baking soda
0.5 tsp. salt
1 c. eggnog
2 Tbsp. clarified butter
1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat a lightly oiled skillet or griddle over medium heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and pour in the eggnog, the butter, and the egg. Mix until dry ingredients are evenly moist.

Pour batter onto the griddle by 1/4 cupfuls. Cook pancakes until bubbly on top. Flip with a spatula, and continue cooking until lightly browned on the bottom.

I should add that I found it to be too thick with just the 1 cup of eggnog. An additional half cup seemed to do the trick. Also, I did not clarify the butter.

As I said above, I could probably live off of these pancakes for the rest of my life. They were that good. They had the smooth texture and dense consistency of buttermilk pancakes, with just the right amount of added sweet and spice. We will definitely be making these again before the end of the holiday season.

Thanksgiving week

Here we are at Muffin Tin Monday yet again.
This week's theme was Thanksgiving. Since we have not yet had our turkey dinner, I did my best to re-create the experience for Island Boy.

Top Row (l-r): Turkey-shaped turkey and stuffing sandwich (with turkey pick), carrot coins, tater tots
Bottom Row (l-r): Turkey-shaped swiss cheese, corn (with corn pick), turkey-shaped cranberry sauce

The turkey and stuffing sandwich is probably not quite what you're thinking. To creat this, I took two slices of bread, buttered them on one side, and then placed in the toaster oven for 3 minutes. I then sprinkled the buttered sides with a bit of ground sage, crushed rosemary, and the tiniest hint of onion powder. Then I put them back in the toaster oven for another two minutes. Placing the buttered sides on the inside of the sandwich, I put 3-4 slices of turkey lunch meat in between, then cut into the turkey shape. I can tell you, having shared the remainders of the sandwich, that it was nothing short of amazing, and I will be re-creating this very very soon.

As for Island Boy, he barely touched the sandwich. He might have eaten the head off of it. He went straight for the cranberry sauce and the cheese. Then he ate the corn. Surprisingly, the tater tots went pretty much untouched, too. And by now you can probably guess what happened to the carrots, haha. I'm still trying, though.

Muffin Tins and Nutrition

Here we are at yet another Muffin Tin Monday! This week's theme was the Food Pyramid.

The theme actually provided me with a good opportunity to consider what exactly Island Boy eats on a regular basis, what he needs more of, and where he's lacking altogether. He really does pretty well with grains, dairy, and fruits. He will devour fruit before just about anything else. He also loves all things carbohydrate based. Luckily for him, we tend to stick mainly with whole grains, so he's doing very well there. It is only on rare occasions (and not in our house that I can recall) that he's had just plain old white bread. He does alright with dairy, too. He loves his milk, and yogurt is a favorite of his, as well.

Proteins are a bit more of a challenge for him. He'll eat them, he just would rather eat the bread and fruit parts of meals first. But I've found that if we cut out his afternoon snack, he will devour literally just about anything we put in front of him for dinner. He INHALED some chicken enchiladas I made the other night. Faster than he's eaten anything. Ever.

Where we really hurt are vegetables. And I don't just mean Island Boy. The whole Island Family (well, maybe not Island Girl, as she will eat anything she can get to her mouth with her own two hands these days) needs to work on eating more vegetables. It's not that Island Dad and I don't like vegetables....I just somehow tend to forget to work them into my meal plan. I'm trying, though. I really am. But this is why Island Boy doesn't much care for them. He also claims to prefer them "not crunchy." This is the complete and utter opposite of me. With the exceptions of broccoli and green beans, I always prefer the raw veggies over cooked ones.

On to the meal!

Top Row (l-r): Raspberries, Heart- and Star-shaped toasted turkey and cheese sandwiches, steamed carrots
Bottom row (l-r): Plain yogurt with red sprinkles, cucumbers in ranch dip, watermelon.

Island Boy, enjoying his lunch (diving into the sandwiches).

He immediately dove into the "your-gurt," as he calls it. This surprised me, since it was, after all, plain yogurt. But the sprinkles were just enough, and he loved it! Raspberries were second. He loved the sandwiches as well. It did surprise me that he saved the watermelon for fourth. The carrots and cucumber, despite MUCH coaxing and assurance that neither were crunchy, remained uneaten. *sigh* He'll learn. Right?

Another great thing is that Island Girl has hit 8 months now, and as such, can have protein. Unfortunately, we discovered (after MTM day) that dairy might not so much agree with her. So we're back to holding off on cheese for now. But she did love the turkey and cheese sandwich bits, as well as the steamed carrot bites. So at least one of my kids loves the carrots!

Island Girl enjoying the "extras" from Island Boy's lunch.