Rants, Raves & Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies.

Holy crap, I don't know how it happens but I swear every time someone posts an article from Huffington Post its always some asshole that talks about how they're not going to tell people what to do, but then there they go and tell you what to do. 

The last article I read, I also blogged about when I was a fledgling blogger, oh....about 4 months ago.  It was a woman ranting why marriage under the age of 25 is stupid, she got a divorce, we're all basically the same, blah blah blah.   So I already thought "Yippee!" [in my most sarcastic tone], when I see this article going around lately.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicola-kraus/detachment-parenting-sears_b_1852579.html

It's another woman talking about how AWESOME she is a parent and how easy it is for her daughter to go to sleep.  All the awesome sleeping & screwing she does and once again, why her way is the best.

I honestly don't know why I let these things get to me.  

First off, I am not an attachment parent.  I won't label myself in anyway cause if I do, I'll fall short.  I already know it.  I REALLY don't like being told what to do, whether by some random blogger on the internet or Dr. Sears, I'm sorry but each family works differently.  I personally don't feel like some random guidelines are going to work well for each child and unlike the writer of this article I have 3, soon to be 4, not 1 that magically did everything I wished. 

[I couldn't think of any clever things to put with this blog so I'll just entertain you with my awesome Instagram pictures.  Here's one of a double rainbow I took the other day!]

I guess in any article of this nature the thing that bothers me is her righteous attitude about what fools attachment parents are.  Like I said, I am not an attachment parent, but please, if I have the choice lump me in with the lovers cause detachment parenting just sounds cruel.  Being proud of how you teach your child to self-soothe from the day their born to poking fun at Mayim Byalik breastfeeding until the age of 4 doesn't make you seem better.  It makes you seem rude.  It makes me think your children will grow up with the same attitude of superiority complex that you have. 

Yes, I breastfeed my children until one of us is ready to stop.

At almost 39 weeks pregnant with a 20 month old that time might come sooner rather than later. 

But guess what?  My marriage doesn't suffer from that.

Yes, I wear my children.  But surprise!  I put them in strollers and other dangerous contraptions too.

To say you know my marriage because you might have some idea of how I raise my children is wrong.

My husband and I put each other first FOR our children. 

That doesn't mean we don't get kicked in the back when one of the kids decides to get into our bed at night, or that we're not sometimes sleep deprived, I've been sleep deprived since I was 17 so really that's just a joke.  I've just traded in Halo marathon playing sessions with trying to get toddlers with night terrors back to sleep.  Same, same right? 

[Me at my maternity photo shoot last weekend at 38 weeks pregnant. 

 See?  I do love my self more than my kids. ;)] 

I'm not saying she's wrong.  For her family she might be right. 

But I would love to see if her own advice works for her 5 years & 2 more children from now. 

Any who!  On to food!

My midwife told me to drink more water & eat more protein to get ready for this impending, 

seriously could be anyway [ahh!] birth.  I wasn't digging the meat and I made Andy some quinoa salad and had been wanting to try this recipe.  These came out pretty decently although I have gotten tips to use a little more Peanut Butter or Maple Syrup which I definitely recommend.  These could be vegan too if you get vegan chocolate chips and peanut butter?  Is peanut butter already vegan?  Hmm.

Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies

2 cups cooked Quinoa

1/2 cup Peanut Butter [I used smooth]

3 tbs. Pure Maple Syrup

3/4 cup rolled Oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

[1] In a bowl mix together all ingredients until throughly combined.

[2] Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

[3] If you want chocolate-y looking cookies mix chocolate chips in while quinoa is warm,

mine are more studded with chocolate chips cause I used cold quinoa.  Either way is fine and tasty.

[4] Using a tablespoon pack the tablespoon tightly and drop cookies onto parchment paper. 

You can put these cookies as close as you want to each other, they won't spread at all. 

[5] Bake for 20 minutes and enjoy! We ate a whole pan of these in one day. Oops. 

S'Mores Cookies & Ewa Beach Hidden Corner.

So a few weeks ago our church decided to have our monthly home group at the beach instead of a usual member's home.  Our church is small enough that after asking around it ended up just being our family, my Dad's family and a group of 3 coming from Waianae.  

First off, I should know if my Dad is in charge of planning something basically that means he will stress me out enough that I'll start planning and the whole thing will unravel with two Type A personalities getting grumpy with each other about what the other was supposed to do. 

We went down to Hidden Corner Beach in Ewa Beach.  

If you're going there from H1, either way you will get off on the Ewa Beach exit.

Follow Ft. Weaver Rd.  the big main road in Ewa Beach ALLLLL the way down.

Seriously, all the way.  You'll dead end.  To the left will be a Country Club [I believe?]

And on the right, a beautiful beach!

There's plenty of shade, picnic tables, parking and bathrooms/showers.

It can be rough there depending on the tide, the kid's played but Andy was tense the whole time worrying about them.  Such a good Dad. 

It was a beautiful night, the moon was out early & there were tons of airplanes flying by for some reason so the kids were entertained. A few tips.....

1.  Don't try and move the picnic tables.  They have concrete blocks on the ends.  Well they should....my Dad & I tried to move one and it only had blocks on one end, it was too heavy for us to get anywhere and when we finally set it down it was now lopsided.  :/  Awesome.

2. Pack tongs!  And skewers! And defrosted chicken.  If you plan to BBQ.  They don't have BBQs there so bring your own.  We made corn & chicken and ate them about an hour and a half apart because our chicken was frozen.  All components were delicious if not spaced out.

3.  Do NOT use Tiki Torch fluid to light you're grill.  Andy, my Dad & younger brother almost have the no eyebrows as evidence to go along with this tip.   

4.  Don't leave your shoes at one end of the beach at the beginning of the day thinking you'll just go back and grab them when you leave.  By then it's pitch black dark & someone had stolen Lily's brand new silver Converse.  I can definitely tell I'm becoming an older Mom because this infuriated me to no end, even more so when she shrugged and said "It's ok, I have more." What?! 

It was still a fun night, beautiful weather & scenery and time with our church family. 

Our attempt at making Smores with a quickly dying fire and plastic forks tho does bring me to my next recipe......

Smore's Cookies!

adapted from www.farenheit350.blogspot.com

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, room temp.

2 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

2 packages graham crackers

[1] In a mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

[2] Add the eggs one at a time until combined, add vanilla. 

[3] Add in salt, baking soda and flour and beat until combined.

[4] Then fold in chocolate chips & marshmallows.

[5] Break the graham cracker sheets in half and arrange on cookie sheet.

You can put them close cause the cookie will pretty much stay on top of the cracker.

[6] Put a scoop of cookie dough on top of each cracker.

[7] Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  

Best served warm and you get the real Smore's flavor.  

Happy camping!