Project Sorghum Part 2: The Briquette

Remember that 40 pounds of sorghum we were given? It's still hanging out in our kitchen. The other day I decided to get real about using some of it. One of the uses for sorghum that I found online was to pop it like popcorn. The instructions were pretty simple: A little oil in the bottom of a pot + sorghum grains + heat + some stirring = popped sorghum. Easy right? Wrong.

As I was popping the sorghum, Bulldog started crying, so I turned off the stove and went to figure out what happened. In the 4 minutes it took me to calm him down, the pot of sorghum went from oily kernels to smoke machine. The whole apartment filled with smoke. I got the kids outside and got the pot off the stove. I opened the doors and windows to vent the smoke. I added water to the pot to prevent the kernels from igniting. The contents of the pot had transformed into a large, black briquette. After a minute of hacking because of inhaling the smoke, I shut the doors (leaving the kitchen window open), grabbed the diaper bag, and decided to go for a drive. I took the kids to the park to calm them down. I called Hubby to let him know what happened and that we were okay.

My clothes and hair wreaked of sorghum smoke, so I took a long shower that night. I'm still trying to scrub the charred residue out of my pot. The apartment still has a smokey smell, but it's not as bad as it was. I'm not sure if it's fading or if I'm just getting used to it. Either way, I won't be popping sorghum for a while.

Oatmeal Breakfast "Cupcakes"

I start my internship in about a month. In addition to the newness of being away from my kids for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, we'll have to navigate a new morning and evening routine. Since I'll be the one in charge of feeding the boys breakfast before they head to daycare, I've decided to experiment with fast, easy, healthy recipes to see what will work for everybody. Babyzilla was really excited to get "cake" for breakfast. I was really excited to see the boys inhale a breakfast food that I can make the night before.

Oatmeal Breakfast "Cupcakes"

3 bananas, mashed
1 cup almond milk
2 eggs
splash of vanilla
2 1/2 cups oats (I use "old fashioned" oats)
1/4 cup berries OR chocolate chips OR cinnamon chips OR raisins

Mix all of the ingredients, except berries/chips. (Batter will be fairly thin.) Fold in the berries/ chips gently and scoop batter into greased/ lined muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes (15-20 for mini muffins).

Menu Plan 7/8/13

A few days late but here it is:

 Monday:
     Breakfast: Cereal and fruit
     Lunch: Cream cheese crackers, strawberries, and carrot sticks
     Dinner: At Mimi's
Tuesday:
     Breakfast: Eggs and plums
     Lunch: Quesadillas with black beans and grilled peppers
     Dinner: Black bean and quinoa burritos
Wednesday:
     Breakfast: Sausage, toast, and strawberries
     Lunch: Left-over black beans, quinoa, and broccoli
     Dinner: Pasta with peas and cherry tomato sauce with white beans
Thursday:
     Breakfast: Cereal and bananas
     Lunch: Macaroni and cheese, spinach, and carrot sticks
     Dinner: Crock-pot honey lentils, rice, and spinach
Friday:
     Breakfast: Eggs, grits, and fruit
     Lunch:  Peanut butter crackers, raisins, yogurt, and carrot sticks
     Dinner: Tuna cakes, macaroni and cheese, broccoli, and carrot sticks
Saturday:
     Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins
     Lunch: Grilled cheese and soup
     Dinner: Sorghum pilaf, curried cauliflower, green beans, and bread
Sunday:
     Breakfast:Cereal and fruit
     Lunch: Vegetable fried rice
     Dinner: Pork roast, roasted carrots and potatoes, and broccoli

Project Sorghum Part 1: The Challenge

A woman in our local mommy group was giving away a partially full 5 gallon buck of sorghum kernels/ berries/ whatever they're called. I pounced on it. I love using new, real ingredients. If nothing else, we need a bucket to hold the 25 lbs of rice we just bought from Costco. After getting the bucket home, I began to realize just how much sorghum was in that bucket. It's about 40 POUNDS of sorghum. "What they heck am I going to do with this?" I asked myself. "Use it," I answered.

Since the bucket is open, I made it a personal mission to use every bit of it before the end of the year. There was just one problem: I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with 40 POUNDS of sorghum. Naturally, I went where any red-blooded American woman goes when she needs ideas- Pinterest. This is what I learned from my 1 hour of  Pinterest "research":

• Sorghum is a gluten-free grain that grows well in hot climates.
• It can be made into sorghum syrup. (So not happening in my kitchen, but nice to know.)
• It can be ground into flour and used to make breads. (Good thing we have a grain mill.)
• It's easy to cook. Very similar to rice. Cook it in 3 parts liquid to1 part grain for 50 minutes.
• It can be popped in a pot on the stove! (Think of the old fashioned way to make popcorn.)
• It's really good in curries.

I won't lie; The task seems immense, but it also sounds like a lot of fun. The Lord provided us with this bounty, so I intent to make the most of it. That said, if you have any recipes for sorghum, please send them my way. I be here, under the pile of sorghum.

A Child's Prayer

About a week ago, we were gathering for evening prayer like we do (almost) every night. Hubby started to pray, but Babyzilla would have none of it, very unlike him. Hubby asked him what was wrong.
He replied, "I do it."
"You want to say the prayer?"
"Yes"
"Okay."
"YAY!"
We all bowed our heads and folded our arms to listen to Babyzilla's prayer. "Deew Henlee Fadder. Tank oo fuh my famee. Bwess Daddy an Mommy an Mimi an mu bwudder. I wuv oo. Name o Jeesuhs Cwis. Ahmeh."
Translation: Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for my family. Bless Daddy and Mommy and Mimi and my brother. I love you. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

How perfect is that? That came right from his heart. Both good and bad, children learn from the example of the adults around them. I'm so glad to know we're doing at least one thing right.

Quick Update

Bulldog now has all of his teeth. Pwew! The constant nursing (helps with teething pain), plus 15 month sleep regression, plus not having Internet access for 2 weeks, plus enjoying summer freedom equals a neglected blog.

Bulldog is now walking up and down the stairs! My back is thankful, but my nerves aren't. He's bowlegged and still getting the hang of this bipedal locomotion thing, so he looks like he's about to go tumbling down every time he takes a step. The kid also had the nerve to outgrow his car seat! We have the Graco MyRide 65. We bought it because it has one of the highest rear-facing capabilities of any car seat on the market, and isn't insanely expensive. Babyzilla outgrew it at 13 months because he's freakishly tall (WAY off the charts). Bulldog isn't as tall -"only" 99th percentile- so we figured he'd make it closer to the AAP recommendation of 2 years. We forgot to consider that he's off the chart for weight. (I swear I make breastcream, not breastmilk.) At his 15 month appointment he weighed 35 pounds (the max for rear-facing in his seat). He loves facing forward!

Babyzilla is getting so big! He's 2.5 now. His language has exploded this summer. He loves to dance and help clean up. He helps me in the kitchen (adding ingredients and mixing) and around the house by picking up toys, pushing laundry into the dryer (supervised, of course), sweeping, making the beds, and loading the kid dishes into the dishwasher. I've never drilled flashcards with him. We're learning letters, numbers, shapes, and colors sort of organically. He's picked up most of his colors through my use of language. For example, "Yes, that's a ball. That's a blue ball." One of the TV shows he watches is Super Why on PBS. He LOVES that show, and it's really helped him learn his letters. He knows capital and lowercase a, c, e, g, i, o, p, r, s, t, u, and y. Not too shabby. (While I'm not a huge TV fan, I am a realist. I'm a full-time student AND a mom. When I have papers to write and projects to do, I employ the electronic babysitter for an hour. When I graduate and get a paycheck, I'm making a big donation to PBS for keeping me sane.) He also loves circles and finds them everywhere.

We had a soggy 4th, and our neighbors set off fireworks until 3 a.m.

So that's what we've been up to for the past few weeks.