Nutella and Banana Panini

Nutella is delicious. That is all. End of post.

No, I guess I won't leave it at that.  I will elaborate a bit.  Nutella is delicious.  You don't need to put it into any fancy recipe, all you need to do is dip a spoon in the jar and enjoy.  But if you do want to enjoy it with a little more than just a spoon here is something that is easy and oh so delicious.

I introduce you to the Banana and Nutella Sandwich, panini style.

The ingredients are simple. You more than likely have all of the ingredients on hand.  Make it for breakfast, make it for a snack, heck make it just because!

Ingredients:

Banana

2 slices of bread

2(ish)  Tablespoons Nutella

 Start with your bread, spread each side with butter on one side (grilled cheese style) and then spread the opposite side with your nutella. Don't forget to lick the knife!

 Slice your banana and place them on top of the nutella. I like to slice them length wise instead of in circles as to maximize the amount of banana in each bite.

 Place your bread butter side down in a hot skillet.

 Place your other slice of bread on top...nutella to banana.

 Don't peek too many times but don't forget about it!  Flip it when it looks like this.

 Slice it.  I prefer diagonal but if rectangle halves float your boat by all means do it that way!

Look at that chocolately, hazelnutty deliciousness!

Enjoy it with a glass of milk if you so wish. 

Recipe:

Ingredients

Banana

2 slices of bread

2(ish)  Tablespoons Nutella

Spread each slice of your bread with butter on one side (grilled cheese style) and then spread the opposite side with nutella.  Slice the banana and place the slices on top of the nutella.  Place bread butter side down in a hot skillet.  Place the other slice of bread on top...nutella to banana.  Don't peek too many times but don't forget about it!  Flip when browned and brown on other side. Enjoy.

Naps are for wimps...

This daylight savings business has got me and about a million other moms out there shaking their fists in the air and screaming "why, universe, why?!"  Add to that a trip across time zone lines and you've got a recipe for sleeping disaster.  Before we were even faced with adjusting to "falling back" we arrived in Chicago and went out to a nice dinner with my sister Edie.  At Adobo, a lovely little mexican restaurant with killer margaritas and even better guacamole prepared table side, we were faced with what we knew was coming eventually in our parenting lives. The clock has run out on bringing baby to a restaurant and both parents being able to eat a meal uninterrupted. It really wasn't as bad as it could have been, I didn't feel fellow diners boring holes in the back of my head but we did have to play a game of musical dining.  I would eat a few bites with Corey distracting Oliver, then he'd pass him on to me and get a few bites of his meal. So this is how it went for an hour.  A few hours later my other sisters, Desi and Kiley arrived.  Mind you Oliver has not slept at any point in the past 5 hours.  So of course the aunties had to get in their snuggle time and then I finally had to try and put him to sleep.  I will remind you that we were scheduled to run a 5K at 7:40 the next morning. The next six hours did not go well.  There was tossing and turning and crying, mostly from Oliver but a little crying from me too when I realized I was going to be lucky to get three hours of sleep before running.

So at 6:15 I peeled myself out of bed and gave myself a little pep talk and ran 3.1 miles.  Like I said in the last post I have only run about five times in the past year and am not blessed to be able to run 3.1 miles effortlessly.  So it was a pretty brutal run but I finished and it wasn't in last place. I'm not going to share my time with you because quite frankly it's a bit embarrassing.  A lot of people finished ahead of me but a lot of people finished behind me and that's fine by me.  It was a great course to run on and we all had a great time and we got chocolate fondue and Ghiradelli hot chocolate afterwards and I'll run 3.1 miles for that any day!

The rest of the weekend went way too fast and I found myself on so many occasions thinking about how grateful I am to have such great sisters and be lucky enough that they are all my best friends.  I wish that I could see them every weekend and spend our time window shopping and sharing waffles smeared with Nutella and laughing at stupid videos posted to You Tube.  As referenced above, restaurants with baby are a thing of the past so we stayed in on Saturday night and cooked together and enjoyed a fantastic meal that featured seasonal ingredients.  It was a meal almost entirely made up of recipes found on Pinterest.  You can find the recipes by following the links I've included.  Our meal was made up of a Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin, Butternut Squash Puree, Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges and some amazing brussel sprouts that Edie's boyfriend Tyler made.  It was unanimous that the Butternut Squash Puree was a favorite but it was all fantastic and they will all definitely be added to my rotation of fall recipes.

It was such a great weekend with so many moments to add to the memory bank.  Including but not limited to...
A couples sing-a-long with my husband to calm a baby sick of being in the car.  Note: we perform a killer Itsy Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus in case you were wondering.

Grocery shopping at Whole Foods Market.  I consider myself somewhat of a grocery snob.  I love myself a good grocery store and I wish that I could shop at a Whole Foods all the time.  Why wouldn't you want to shop amongst artfully marketed produce, artisan cheeses, gorgeous flowers and amazing desserts?

Making the most of a delayed race by compiling a list of things to keep us going while running when all we really want to do is walk. (To the the driver of the semi that got himself stuck under an overpass in downtown Chicago causing the race directors to divert the race route, you're kind of an idiot).

Each time I'm with my sisters we make memories that we'll be talking about for years to come.  Some of them are good memories and sometimes some not so good memories like our legendary blow-out sister fight the last time that we were home together before my mom got sick.  Even though we want to forget how disappointed my mom was in us for fighting we still remember it like it was yesterday.  We talked about that fight this weekend.  Growing up in a house with five girls there was no shortage of arguments over clothes, make-up, time in the bathroom or being looked at funny.  My mom was used to these arguments and her calm demeanor and level headedness always diffused the fights and within hours we were usually all back to being friends.  But this time her reaction to the fight was different.  I could tell that for days after she was still upset by it even though it wasn't any different than any other fight we'd ever had over the years.  Her disappointment was palpable even days later when I called to tell her I was sorry that we had fought.  Thinking back even though none of us knew she was sick, even her, I think in some way she did know that her days with us were numbered and that was why she was so disappointed that we spent them fighting.  Now when we are all together we don't fight as often, maybe because mom isn't here to fix it or maybe because we all know that our time together isn't infinite and so we need to make the best of each visit.  Regardless, after every trip to visit my sisters I'm always in a little bit of a funk for the next few days because I'm missing them terribly.  This time is no exception but I am comforted knowing that Thanksgiving is only 2 1/2 weeks away and we get to spend four days together.  We'll spend our time eating turkey and sweet potatoes, playing cards, talking about visits passed and making new memories.

Ghosties, Penguins, and Cops (Oh my!)

The pumpkins have been picked and the candy has been bought (twice if you must know) and Halloween is here!!  The fact that candy is one of my favorite things on the planet (see above comment) Halloween ranks right up there among my favorite holidays. I don't know if I just remember it differently 20 years later or if things really are different now. My Halloween memories consist of being pigeon-holed into a warm costume because it was always either raining, snowing or bitterly cold (all three if you were really lucky) and it was always pitch black out raising the spooky factor a good 50 percent.  Today trick or treating starts at 5:30 and ends at 8:00 so you really only get 30 to 45 minutes of spooky ambiance and the temperature is forecasted to be about 45 degrees with no rain, maybe those people talking about global warming are on to something?  Regardless of rain or shine it is still Oliver's first Halloween and that's pretty exciting. We had to pick out two costumes because when all the good stuff was in the store it was still about a month and a half away from Halloween and any one that has ever had a baby knows that a whole lot can change on the size front in a month and a half.  So we have the penguin (look at his cute little tail)...

and the policeman...

The mustache paci I saw on Pinterest and followed the link to an Etsy website where they were selling them for $15!!! I thought hogwash, I can make that, so with a bit of felt and my hot glue gun I did!  We'll see which costume fits tonight, either way pretty darn cute if you ask me.

I missed a post last week, sorry about that, we were really busy around here.  Grandpa and Grandma Rekers came for a visit.

We had all sorts of exciting things happening.  We had a Halloween party at the neighbor's house.  I made cake balls that looked like pumpkins and Nutter Butter Ghosties.

I've been making cake balls for several years but only since the cake pop revolution have I started putting them on sticks.  I'll give you my recipe for cake balls at the end of this post.  They can be time consuming but can be the perfect treat for any party from bridal showers to Christmas parties.  Make sure you eat a few after you make them because you more than likely won't get any at your party because they go really fast!

We're on hands and knees now people!

We haven't quite figured out how to put wheels in motion and move forward, but soon I think, very soon.  And then look out world and good-bye knick knacks on bottom shelves for you shall be packed away only to be re-introduced someday when danger has passed.

We're headed to Chicago again this weekend.  Daddy gets to come this time and all the aunties will be there with the exception of Karley.  We initially planned the trip so that we could run the Hot Chocolate 5K Run and it turned into a perfect weekend to reunite with friends and family.  We'll also be lucky enough to meet up with some of our dear friends that we met in Minnesota who now live north of Chicago so it looks like it's going to be a great weekend.  Oh wait, maybe not as great as planned, did I mention that I've run twice since I signed up for this race two months ago? In case you are wondering, no, I am not the type of runner than can pick up where I left off and run when I haven't run a race in months over a year. So if you need me this weekend I'll be laying in the middle of Grant Park trying to recuperate from the heart attack I am sure to have at about mile 1.


Cake Balls:
1 store bought cake mix
1/2 can store bought frosting (coordinating flavor, chocolate with chocolate cake mix, vanilla with vanilla etc.)
1 bag colored Wilton Candy Melts (you can find these at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and sometimes Wal-Mart)

Bake the cake according to directions on box and allow to partially cool.  When still warm break cake into about 6 pieces and put in large mixing bowl. Add half can of frosting.  Mix until all incorporated and sticky. This works best if you just use your hands, the heat from your hands and the warm cake melt the frosting.  Once it's the correct consistency (no cake crumblys left) roll into small balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Place a lollipop stick (you can also find these at Michaels, Hobby Lobby etc) in each ball but not all the way through.  Place in freezer for about an hour. Once the balls have been frozen for an hour melt your Candy Melts according to directions on the bag.  Dip each ball in the melted goodness and lightly tap against bowl to shake off excess coating. Place back on wax paper or if you want perfectly shaped balls  stick the stick into a piece of Styrofoam and let coating harden.  These also freeze well so you can make them ahead of time and they only take about an hour to thaw.  Enjoy!!

Fall in Love with Fall

It's been a busy couple of months around here and the next couple look to be even busier.  There have been a lot of overnight travel days for Corey and we really needed a couple of days to focus on our new family.  Plus Oliver is getting to that age where he is much more aware of his surroundings and so outings are becoming more enjoyable (usually).  So we planned a trip to a pumpkin farm and apple orchard.  This tradition isn't one that has ever required children, Corey and I have enjoyed going to pumpkin farms and apple orchards about every year since we've been married but I know that bringing along our baby and making it a family tradition is only going to sweeten the deal.

Our neighbors referred us to this little gem of an apple orchard.

We are kicking ourselves that we didn't know about it sooner.  It was kind of a drizzly day but we didn't let that ruin it for us.  The 45 minute drive to get there was like discovering a side of Indiana that we didn't know existed.  I have to be honest with you, Indiana is not always the most beautiful place in the world (shocking news, I know!) but the drive from Bloomington to the orchard just south of a tiny town called Trafalgar, was downright idyllic.  We passed a llama farm, a charming barn that was actually a country farm stand, horse stables, and lovely fences that went on and on.  I have to make another confession, the trip didn't start off in the most pleasant of ways.  Ollie was cranky, mom and dad were both exhausted and cranky and some not so nice arguments conversations happened on more than one occasion. As we drove, giving each other the silent treatment and one beautiful scene after another unfolded in front of us our crankiness faded and we realized that we needed to embrace the day that we had together and enjoy every minute.  The charm of this place made me anxious for the day when Oliver could actually enjoy the activities the orchard has to offer.   For now we were just spectators.

There was a lovely little train.

Rows of sunflowers bowing their heads and submitting to another year come and gone.

And this one little guy hanging on a bit longer.

Squash blossoms that look like fingers clenched in a fist.

Pumpkins waiting to be picked off the vine.

A charming covered bridge.

A petting zoo.

Baskets of gourds and squash.

Apples ripe for the picking.

These cool crisp mornings and mild sunny days make me want to read cookbooks, drink cider, eat soup that has been working away all day in a crock pot, and hunker down in my kitchen and bake.  But baking and cooking have brought on a whole new meaning with a little one in the mix.  The days of being able to spend hours in the kitchen are long gone.  Now I have to plan a lot more carefully, you can't really master an intense recipe that calls for "stir constantly" when there is a solid chance that at some point during the process there will be crying that needs to be attended to (the baby's crying, not mine...usually). I've had my eye on several recipes on Pinterest but most of them just wouldn't be the same if I was making them in the middle of summer, they practically require temperatures in the 60's, rainy day optional. Cue, this weekend. The forecast showed a 60 percent chance of rain both Saturday and Sunday so I decided this was to be a weekend of baking and cooking. I tried new recipes and also made some good ol' comfort food.

This chicken enchilada soup was super easy.  You pretty much just toss everything in the crockpot and 8 hours later you have a warm bowl of soup with a perfect balance of spiciness and a little bit of sweetness from the corn. This will definitely be in our fall/winter crockpot rotation from now on.

I baked this almond cake on Friday.  It was pretty delicious, how couldn't it be with 3 sticks of butter between the cake and the frosting?  However, you definitely need to add some tart fruit to the top to cut through the sweetness of it.

I wanted to make these caramel apple cider cookies but I couldn't find the instant apple cider mix anywhere in the two stores I visited.  Irritating!!  I have a 5 month old, I don't have the luxury of visiting 5 stores to find a simple box of instant apple cider.  Soooo, I'll keep you posted.  As soon as I run across a box (I know they have it in the stores in Iowa and I'll be back there in a couple weeks) I'll make them.  Stay tuned!

I used these beautiful apples from the orchard to make a big batch of applesauce for Oliver.  I never knew making your own applesauce could be so easy! Following the advice of a helpful worker at the orchard I chose Jonagolds.  They have so much sweetness on their own, I didn't need to add any sugar.  I peeled, chopped and boiled them for about 25 minutes. Then threw them in the food processor and added a bit of the cooking liquid to thin them out a bit.  That's it! My grandma used to make applesauce for us when we were kids and I guess I envisioned a much more involved process.  In reality it probably was for her, I'm pretty sure she did it all by hand and thinking of this gave me a whole new appreciation for her and for my food processor.

The weather man is predicting another full day of rain tomorrow so I'm off to enjoy what's left of this sunny day.  A comfy chair outside, this cup of cider,

and this little punkin' are calling my name.

Happy Monday!

Going to the Dogs

Life around here has definitely been turned upside down in the past few months.  Schedules have been pushed to the wayside, meals are eaten whenever they can be shoveled into your mouth in between naps and diaper changes.  And don't even get me started on the lack of cleaning that has been going on.  But when babies make their way into our lives we are somewhat prepared and ready for the day when life completely changes.  This is true for all of us humans but there is a species that for decades has been caught completely off guard to the changes that a baby brings.  The dogs.  Oh, the poor dogs.  They don't even see it coming. Oh, yea mom starts getting a little chubbier ever day, week and month.  Rooms get rearranged,  walks come more frequently in attempts to spur on labor but then, Bam! life gets turned upside down.  Mom and dad are gone for a few days and then they come home with this crying, screaming, pooping doll sized thing and the dogs get pushed aside and yelled at for barking and yelled at for getting to close to the pooping, crying bundle and yelled at for being too excited. But eventually life starts to settle down and friends start being made.

But that doesn't mean all is well.  The old adage has been proven true...children do make you go gray.  But I'm not talking about me, I've had grays sprouting up for a few years now (thank you to my wonderful hair stylists, Jamie and Leslie for keeping it a secret) no, I'm talking about Miss Lola.


Lola pre-baby and Lola post-baby (a little grayer and looking a bit defeated)

For those of you that don't know her, Lola was our first baby. Fur baby that is. And boy has she gotten the shaft the past 4 months. She has been going noticeably gray since we brought Oliver home.  I hope that it's due more to the fact that she is getting a little older and not so much from the stress that a new baby in the house brings. Pre-Oliver Lola definitely ruled the roost. You've heard the song that says "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets"? It very well could have been written specifically for our Lola.  In the world of spoiled dogs Lola reigns supreme. I do need to point out that it's not always me that she gets everything from.  She has Mr. Rekers wrapped very tightly around her paw. She knows just how to manipulate him to get an extra bowl of food, a few extra dog biscuits or a nice long walk just when she wants it. 

Lola has definitely made our lives interesting the past 3 years.  We got Lola when we lived in Minnesota and picked her out on a rainy day in April.  It was a very spur of the moment purchase although I had been wanting a dog for quite some time prior. When we picked her out we had absolutely no dog supplies so our trip home was detoured by a trip to the local farm and fleet store to pick up the necessities. Dog kennel, dog bed, a few toys, food bowls and food.  All lugged in the house with this little ball of fur.

Before long I was seriously reconsidering my decision, and after all it was my decision.  When Lola was crying in the middle of the night Corey was very quick to point out that she was my dog, I'm the one that wanted her so when she needed let out every stinking hour in the middle of the night it was my responsibility.  We tried to do all the right things to make her the best, most well behaved dog.  Most of those things went right out the window.  Sleeping in her kennel? A little difficult when she could get break out of her kennel.  I still have no idea how she managed it but every time I would hear her whining in the middle of the night I would go out to the living room and there she would sit, right next to the couch with the kennel door open.  Houdini I tell you! I also didn't want to feed her people food because I didn't want her to be that obnoxious dog begging at the table (which she most certainly has become).  This was also hard to enforce because I had a husband who can't say no to her big ol' puppy dog eyes.  I should point out that the "my dog" thing was history after about day 4.  So Lola gets people food on occasion, usually I approve but every now and again she will sneak some herself.  The most famous of instances would be when she ate an entire stick of butter off the counter.  Hopefully her cholesterol count has improved.

So here we are, 3 years later and her life has drastically changed in the past 4 months.  If she could air her list of grievances I'm sure it would probably include the following atrocities:

1.) She no longer gets the stuffed animals. To which I must point out she hasn't been allowed stuffed animals for quite some time now because she rips them to shreds in a matter of minutes.  Even the strongest toys that claim they are dog proof, oh no, our Lola could chew through a tire.  As a matter of fact that she has chewed through an actual tire...at Yappy Campers where we boarded her when we were gone for a week. Nice work my friend.


2.) When we come home Oliver is who we rush to greet now instead of her.  I try to pay her as much attention as I can when I get home but it's sometimes hard with a baby on one arm and diaper bag and groceries on the other.


3.) The floor no longer belongs to her, it is now covered in blankets and tummy time for Oliver.  When I'm down on the floor with him jealousy sometimes overcomes her and she takes her moment to get in between the two of us to try and occupy my time.  Usually all she needs is a couple of minutes of ear rubbing and cuddling and then she's on her merry way.

4.) Walks aren't all about her anymore.  But at least she gets walks again, when Ollie first came home it was all we could do to get dressed during the day let alone venture outside. 


5.) She not only has to share her bed with two full size humans she now has to share a bed with a miniature human...although she doesn't seem to mind all the time.

I do need to point out that Lola has been fantastic with Oliver.  She recognizes his small size and is gentle and for the most part calm around him.  She mostly sniffs but does manage to get in the full face lick every now and again. She sits patiently while I let him pet her and I hope that she will always be this calm and patient around him.  Before we know it Oliver will be on the move and once again Lola's life will be rocked.  She is going to have to tolerate being used as a support, get used to tugs on the tail, and get used to having a tiny little face right next to hers while she's eating.

So this week I wanted to throw Miss Lola a bone.  She has tolerated a lot recently and I wanted to reward her somehow.  I ran across a pin on how to make your own dog biscuits and thought this would be a good opportunity to bake something that I won't eat an entire pan of and also make Lola happy. I couldn't find dog bone cookie cutters in any of our stores so I had to settle for fire hydrants. This is the recipe I used:

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 TBL baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Combine milk and peanut butter. Then combine the two mixtures. Roll out to 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes.  Spray cookie sheets with Pam. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Cool and store airtight in the refrigerator.

Lola approved!!

Lola is a little calmer these days. She knows that we will eventually fill her food bowl even if it's not always right on schedule. Her naps are more frequent. But she is still the same old Lola. When she sleeps really heavy she still dreams and moves her paws like she's running. I like to think she is dreaming of the day Oliver can run around in the backyard with her. But what I mostly hope is that she isn't dreaming of starting an uprising with all of the other dogs that have been neglected when new baby comes home.