november seven

Mackie let me sleep in a bit this morning, only getting up after 7:30 am this morning, which was nice. I then got to close my eyes a bit longer while he had his morning bottle and he watched some children's programming in bed. (I can't even call it morning cartoons, because it's not - I allow the kids to watch Sprout).

I got our act together and took Mack for a haircut. He looks so handsome now with his new 'do. I am going to have to take Sean for a haircut this week - he's over due for one too. It's so much easier to take one kid at a time, which is why I took advantage this morning to take Mack. After his haircut we went to Costco to pick up some grocery items that I needed. I ran into an old high school friend, we chatted for a few minutes, and said we'd get together one of these days. Not sure if that will actually happen - but we'll see.

Mack took a very nice nap this afternoon (he was actually falling asleep in the car on the way home from Costco, but I tried my best to keep him awake until we got home). I fed him lunch and then he went for his afternoon nap. I got a lot of baking/cooking done this afternoon while Mack napped. I made a banana bread, and then set out to make a double batch of meat sauce (my step-mother-in-law's recipe).

Banana Bread

Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: 55 minutes
Oven: 350°F
Makes: 1 loaf (16 servings)

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 beaten eggs
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (5 medium)
1 cup sugar or splenda
½ cup cooking oil
¼ tsp salt

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar & oil. Add in egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). If desired, sprinkle any nuts on top.
3. Bake in a 350°F oven for 55 to 60 minutes for a 9x5x3 inch pan or 40 to 45 minutes for a 1.5x3.5x2 inch pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. If necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Enjoy the recipe! Let me know if you make it!

Jamie is going to be VERY excited that I made meat sauce. It's been months since I've made it - only because I was avoiding having protein with my pasta. Jamie's been begging me for a while now to make it again, and I just hadn't had the time. The prep time to make the meat sauce is a lot of work, and lengthy, but well worth it in the end. I ended up having some with dinner tonight, it was really good. The rest will go into the freezer for future meals.

Tonight, after bathing Mack and putting him to bed for the evening (did I tell you again how good of a baby Mack is?) I took care of a few things around the house, wrapped my brother's birthday gift for tomorrow, we're going out for his birthday which is totally actually (Happy Birthday Bro!), and caught up on some episodes of CSI (Las Vegas). I didn't realize that it was on again, and I am not sure why my PVR didn't record any episodes. So, I've now watched 3 of the 6 episodes I'm behind. I'll catch up on finishing those up tomorrow while Mack naps.

I miss Sean & Jamie like crazy, but honestly, I am enjoying some alone time. I'm also getting things done around the house that I haven't been able to with both Sean & Mack running around. Sometimes it's hard to get stuff done when it's all busy around the house. I can't wait to see Sean & Jamie tomorrow though when they return.

Before I go, I want to show you my latest design!

A List of Things.