Yesterday however, was a different story. Perhaps it was tied to my higher-than-usual caffeine consumption, but I was on fire. It started at 4:40 a.m. when I woke up for my first class of the day. I did take a nap after that. I don't know how those people keep going about their day after their class. That is just early. Besides that first aerobics class, I had an 11:00 am Pilates class and a 5:45 pm fitness class. But in between, I managed to squeeze in a lot.
Our closet has been annoying me for sometime. T had a open box of ties he had yet to unpack from our move six months ago. The cats used it as a sleeping bag, and his ties were wrinkly and fur-covered. I made it my mission to remedy this. Also, his side of the closet was disastrous. He didn't even know about several items of clothing hidden away.
Yesterday, I hit Target and got a few Tupperware containers to slide under the bed. I unearthed his ties (pissing off the cats who are now forced to rough it amongst the shoes).
I rolled his ties and organized them by color in the container.
I also found a few robes and a belt stuffed beneath the ties. I put his sweaters in bins as well, and filled another with hats, goggles, and belts. I then organized his closet and labeled it with my super cool new label maker which I requested for my birthday last week.
My other mission for the day was to figure out a good recipe for healthy granola bars. We have been trying to use flax meal lately to give us Omega 3 fatty acids, since we don't eat fish. I want to give the kids (and T and me) a healthy snack without paying a ton for Kashi bars or something. So I searched the Internet, stocked up at Target and came up with these:
They weren't too hard to make and now are individually wrapped and ready for us. And, I can mix it up with chocolate chips or peanuts. For this batch I used dried apricots, peanut butter, and walnuts (for another boost of Omega 3s.) They are really tasty. I doubled the recipe and used a 13 X 9 pan.
1 and 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal (e.g., Rice Krispies)
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons ground flax seed (flax seed meal)
1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (preferably roasted or toasted)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (or honey, maple syrup, or light molasses)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/3 cup nut butter (e.g., peanut, almond, cashew, soy nut)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.
Bring the syrup and brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in nut butter and vanilla until blended.
Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (mixture will be stiff). Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 12 bars. (Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator).
Nutrition per serving (1 bar):
Calories 228; Fat 7.4g (poly 2.3g, mono 4.1g, sat 0.9g); Protein 10.8g; Cholesterol 5mg; Carbohydrate 34.3g; Sodium 156mg)
I also gave myself a manicure after breaking a nail on the wet trunk door and made veggie pitas for dinner. I was feeling pretty accomplished by the end of the day. I think I need a few lazy days to make up for this burst of inspiration.
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I woke up this morning to disaster. The boys were both jumping in R's crib. R was completely naked and Q had just a T-shirt on. Q had piled the contents of his dresser, changing table, toy basket, and hat rack into a "house" in the middle of the floor. I was not pleased. It was quite a clean-up operation and an exercise in patience.
I am in great need of a break and mercifully one is coming my way. Tonight I head out of town for two days to take part in a 50-mile relay in Door County. Five of us are doing it, so the mileage won't be too difficult. It is just a short getaway, but it will be nice to pack for one person and shirk my parental responsibility for awhile.
--MM
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